Page 241 - 101 Ways to Market Your Business

101 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS

live is well known for producing the best mangoes in the
world. They are at their best at Christmas time so it seemed
logical to send a case as gifts to important customers. A
box of mangoes costs about $10 and the airfreight to send
them nationally is about $20. So for about $30 you have
the perfect corporate gift that is opened in the office and
everyone can enjoy it. Plus it shows that you have put some
thought into your gift, not just made the standard purchase
of a hamper or a bottle of cheap wine.

A friend of mine used to own a small dive boat. Most
of the business he received was from tour booking desks
and hotel concierges. Every Christmas his wife would bake
about 50 fabulous Christmas cakes and they would spend
a few days delivering them to the booking agents as a way
to say thanks for their support during the year.

I believe this is a very important point. It is better to
do something special, such as make your own cakes or go
out of your way to buy special pastries and cakes, rather
than go the cheap and nasty way. Every Christmas we are
given bottles of wine and spirits from media representatives
and printers that our business deals with. Of the fifteen
bottles received last year thirteen were the cheapest wine
you could buy. This has a negative effect and I believe these
companies would have been better off not bothering with
such tacky gifts.

One company gave us a cheap bottle of wine but they
made it a great gift by relabelling it. They had taken a
photo of all the staff at their recent Christmas party, which
happened to be fancy dress, and had it made into labels.
They renamed the bottle as ‘Rot Gut’ and put a very
humorous ‘how to use’ instruction list on the back. They
had turned a cheap, tacky bottle of wine into a great gift.
The other bottles we were given ended up being thrown
away (only one bottle was well worth drinking).

Why not pop in with morning tea for a prospective
client? Put your letter or promotional material in with your

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