!44: Glad Coupons Printable Ideas: Marketing

!±8± Effective Marketing Ideas For Your Coffee Shop

Most of what I am going to talk about in this article is geared towards the new coffee shop. However, it can be utilized and directed towards an established shop.

Outside of your regulars, coffee is an impulse buy because the customer saw your sign. Aside from your regulars, most folks do not set out to 'go to the coffee shop' like they would to a restaurant (unless you ask them to so more on this later). You need a steady stream of customers outside of your normal morning commute business.

The morning commuters are your bread and butter, the rest helps fill in the revenue holes. These are your impulse buyers. They are going to come to you mainly via your sign outside, so instead of sending out 10,000 post cards to your neighborhood residents, spend that money on a premium location, visible sign and branding your image. You'll be glad you did:

As far as your signage, get one that is AS BIG AS POSSIBLE. That is, as allowable by your city ordinance and landlord, without being tacky! The bigger the sign is, the more visible it is.

By branding your image, you are identifying your existence within your community. Be sure you have a unique logo. If you cannot design it, get one custom made by a professional! I have seen a lot of cheap looking logos that do not help the image.

Another step in branding your image is to secure your shop's name on the world wide web by registering the domain name. Try to get all the domain tags: .com, .net, .org, etc. This is for email, and your website. You will be glad you did because it gives you a more professional image. Remember, the more common your business name is, the more difficult getting it registered online is going to be because the name may be taken.

As for your website, get one! If you can do this on your own, more power to you here too. I know just enough to be dangerous but you can get a nice website, even with online sales capabilities done economically. Check around locally, I bet there are a few web gurus in your area.

Here is where you have the chance to have every customer take your name with them when they leave allowing others to see it. Whether you have sleeves custom printed or you use stickers and put one on each cup or protective sleeve, they are all part of your branding. Be sure the design is clear and defines your shop well.

The same goes for stamps. You can have a rubber stamp made to stamp your whole bean coffee bags with. Note that the brown Kraft paper bags are what you'd need for this. If you use the foil bags, your stickers will work well for this too.

Press releases are an inexpensive way to tell the world what you are doing. A carefully crafted press release sent to the right person at the right news outlet can be the best form of advertising for you. Just be sure that whomever is on the press release as the contact person is actually available to be contacted.

Another great form of marketing is your use of tee shirts, caps and other wearable's. These are walking billboards for you courtesy of the folks that buy them. You can give them away if you want, it's all good advertising. Yes, they are expensive but I consider this great advertising and an expense under that category. Better, yes if you can make up the cost on them. But put this cost into your advertising budget. See if you can get them locally, if not there are several reputable companies on the internet. You will pay about .00 each in the end, but again the investment is very well worth it.

Where would we be without business cards? Think about it: how many people have you run into that do not have a business card for whatever it is they do for a living? Not many that I can remember. This is your time to tell everyone you meet that you are in the coffee business. Everyone you meet should get one of these and a few to spare. Do not be shy about handing them out!

Menus are a great example of simple marketing. These are the take out type so try to keep it simple. Under four pages, printed on an 8.5"x11" sheet of BRIGHT colored paper and folded in half is best. You can leave them at area businesses if they allow it. You can also put them on your counter by the checkout and anywhere else your customers will see and take them. You can have them copied at any copy place, or see if you can have a local copy shop do them. They should cost about .10-.15 cents each. All you need is a place to make them on a copy machine. Menus printed on a printing press will be more expensive in most cases.

Support materials are also a good way to advertise your products. You can usually get POS materials FREE from any supplier you are using. This goes for tent cards to put on your counter to full color posters to hang in your windows. Check with your distributor. If they do not keep these kinds of materials on hand, a call to the manufacturer can usually get them in your hands relatively quickly.

Vinyl lettering on your vehicle is another form of advertising, and another type of moving billboard. There are several places online that will allow you to use a particular vehicle template to design your lettering. Again, check around locally for better service and pricing. I had vehicle lettering made for my SUV: rear window and both rear side windows or under 0.00. Your vehicle will essentially become a moving billboard.

Vinyl lettering can be gotten for your store windows too, which will be similar to your vehicle lettering. Check with the same source.

Word of mouth is an excellent source of marketing. Customers can be your biggest and best marketing source for you. It can also backfire on you if you tick someone off or if a customer ends up having a bad experience at your shop, for whatever reason.

Make every effort that all customers are satisfied before they walk out of your door. You may never have the chance to do it again and everyone that that dissatisfied customer meets may be told of the unfortunate incident at your store. They may not come to your store if there was ever that chance they would.

Talk to the world online via your blog. This has got to be the best invention since a website and the internet itself started. Where else can you talk about nearly anything and let the world read it? You may just develop a following not only locally, but around the world.

Have event nights. This is great for weekends and 'dead' times. Earlier, I spoke about customers coming to your shop if you asked them to. This is where you have that chance. Events that will bring in business are almost plentiful. A few examples are trivia night, open mikes, singer-songwriter and other music performances, book signings and poetry. It can also be just about anything else you can think of that is of interest to others.

A word of caution about playing DVD's and TV/cable shows: Most of these are copyright protected and although you may not think you are breaking any laws, it can be construed as such. It's a royalty issue because you are making money on your beverages, in your establishment showing a DVD bought for 'personal' use. Just be careful here.

It's been my experience that this coupon mailers are usually a waste of money in the specialty coffee industry. There are way too many coupons in most of these mailers and most recipients throw them out. I know I do.

Internet advertising is good if you can limit to advertising locally using your zip code. You can reach a captive audience on the internet. It's relatively inexpensive because you choose what to spend on each ad and only pay per click. This is also good if you choose to sell whole beans online, however if you do not roast in-house this may be cost and inventory prohibitive.

Be careful when using coupons in any form. Coupons tend to cheapen the specialty coffee industry so I do not recommend using them. Bogo's (buy one get one) are ok for some advertising, like opening a new coffee shop but, you will get your bargain seekers that wait for those coupons in order to patronize you. You could create more monsters!

You will also, occasionally get regulars that bring in the coupons. Even though they are as deserving of the coupon as anyone else is, your aim is to get NEW customers so the 'coupon' doesn't always work. The only way I recommend a coupon is for a first time customer. You can usually get mailing addresses of new residents from your chamber of commerce and do a select, targeted mailing to the new residents only. So there are some easy, mostly economic ways to effectively advertise and market your coffee shop.

Remember, your customer service and quality will always have to be top notch but you can skimp on some advertising dollars by being crafty and conservative.

Effective Marketing Ideas For Your Coffee Shop

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!±8± Chiropractic Marketing - The Holiday Bandit

You're about to see how to overcome the November, December and January objections, and make out like a "Holiday-Time Practice-Growth Bandit."

New patients during holiday season? Have I already overdone the eggnog?

No to the eggnog, and yes to the new patients. The truth is, the holidays are a premium time for you to market, because other chiropractors are not! This means lots of unclaimed new patient opportunities... and by following my below tips, they'll be yours for the taking.

Plus, when chiropractors hold off on marketing efforts during these few months, then smack... mid-winter, they're really feeling that "I need new patients" pressure.

What's The Best Kind Of Holiday-Time Marketing Method?

Conducting health presentations within your community is THE answer, because only this marketing method gives you a face-to-face opportunity to dispel the typical holiday (and any other) objections.

Before I give you some solutions... I know what you're thinking. "Everybody will be distracted, thinking about their shopping. This will never work."

Seems logical on the surface, but in truth this is incorrect!

People want the holidays, and the transition into New Year's Resolutions, to go off without a hitch. They've been planning their vacation for months, have invested money, will be seeing friends and family whom they rarely see, and are motivated for their impending diet. Low back pain that they may have tolerated on a "normal" day is now of utmost importance, as in "My ski trip will be ruined if my back doesn't feel better!"

And of course, the last thing someone needs during the stress of holiday shopping, is a headache that won't let up. You've heard it before: "Ugh, I have such a headache, I wish I didn't have to go shopping!"

This is a time when people want relief. They'll soak up your stress-reduction tips, and will thank you for your help.

3 Lay Lecture Closing Tips If They Say "I Can't Afford It"

Every lay lecture close should contain some type of new patient offer for your audience. For this time of year, try these ideas:

1. Give your audience a special holiday-time new patient incentive, that will save them either time or money with their shopping. Yes, this will cost you a portion of your patient's fee, but you'll make up for it as the patient continues care.

For instance, all people who schedule their first appointment before X date will receive a giftcard to one of three stores of their choice. Leave the giftcard blank, so they can use it themselves, or they can give to someone else.

Or, offer everyone a complimentary massage (with your own therapist, or one to whom you refer) when they schedule before Christmas. Give them the choice of using it for themselves, or giving it to someone as a present.

2. Offer your audience a holiday-time only new patient payment plan. Make sure to collect post-dated checks, or get a credit card number, and make sure the new patient signs an agreement.

3. Make sure your audience members understand the value of starting care right now! Remind your audience of the above concept: continued stress or physical pain means they will have wasted money on their cruise, their New Year's date will be a bottle of Tylenol, or their New Year's Resolution exercise regime will be spoiled.

3 Lay Lecture Closing Tips If They Say "I Have No Time"

No surprise that lack of time is the other common holiday-time objection. Try these 3 solutions:

1. Choose a few days of the week to extend your hours, or to open at odd times, so you can accommodate "the shoppers." If stores in your area open at 8am, try opening your office for a day or two at 6am. Choose a day or two to stay open until 9pm, or open on a Sunday. Advertise these hours on your lay lecture handouts, in big bold letters.

2. For some people, it's not that they can't find a day to come in; rather, they're afraid that no matter when they come, it will take too long. To solve this, give them a special "I Value Your Time" Guarantee: Promise they won't wait more than 5 minutes upon arrival, and that their appointment will be under 30 minutes. Of course, make sure this happens! To save time, you may want to mail your intake forms, for the new patient to complete prior to the appointment.

3. If they don't schedule until later in January, don't assume they're just putting you off. But make sure they don't forget: add them to your Holiday Card and New Year's mailings, so you stay fresh in their minds, and give them an appointment reminder call.

Who Will Want Me?

But wait... isn't everyone busy with holiday parties? What business or group will fit me in for a health class?

The truth is, there are indeed certain businesses and groups that will welcome you, because they must educate their employees year-round. The last thing they want is the added stress of finding guest speakers, so you'll be saving them effort! There are also places that will welcome you to join their holiday event, because you'll freshen up their usual gig.

Other locations will be glad you contacted them, and will ask you to come in Spring, but this delay is no reason for frustration... it's a big win. As the "Get Past The Gatekeeper Specialist"- scheduling fellow chiropractors onto speaking calendars throughout their communities, so they can use their lay lecture as a practice-growth tool- I've seen time and time again the enormous advantage of entering the New Year already knowing you've got speaking events locked in. The alternative? Entering the New Year, depending upon an early year new patient rush that never quite happens (sorry Doc, it's "too snowy" to drive, etc). Thanks, but no thanks!