65 Ways to Advertise & Promote Your Direct Sales Business

Direct Sales >> Direct Sales Articles >> 65 ways to Advertise & Promote your Business

Now that you have a home business, what do you do now? You need to advertise and expose your business to as many people as possible! Here are some QUICK suggestions & things you can do to advertise your business! A lot of them are FREE are very low cost!

#1) Use FREE email Signature Tags and attach them to every email you send!

#2) Register your website business on Every FREE search engine you can find (first) and then start targeting the pay per click search engines.

#3) Register your website with Online Shopping Directories.

#4) Register your website with Online Work At Home Directories.

#5) Register your website with Online Classified Ads if you are going to do any recruiting!

#6) In your spare time you can list your website on FFA Link Pages. (I personally do not do this due to receiving spam, but I do know of others who do recommend FFA pages) FFA Stands for FREE FOR ALL Link Pages.

#7) In your spare time, go to other peoples personal websites and sign their Guest Book, make sure you include the info so they can find your website too!

#8) Contact other webmasters and offer to exchange banners with them! If you do a online E-Zine or Newsletter swap banners with others and place them in your online newsletter and have them do the same!

#9) Run a Contest on your site for Newsletter Members ONLY and then list your contest at all the FREE Contest & Sweepstakes Web pages!

#10) List your website home business with online yellow page directories.

#11) Add your listing into your local telephone paper-version phone book!

#12) Scout out your local newspaper for the bridal announcements! You can send a catalog, business card and include a flyer for the new bride announcing your bridal registry!

#13) Scout out your local newspaper for classified ads for Home Based Day Care Centers! Send catalogs, flyers and biz cards to the home daycare owners! Point out how they can have a party and earn FREE items for their home based daycare!

#14) Scout out your local newspaper for baby announcements. If your company offers products geared to children or new moms you can try to match up their postal address with their name in the phone book. Drop into the mail a contact ME sheet, brochure or catalog, business card and any discount coupons.

#15) Do a Online Bi-monthly or monthly Email Newsletter! After you get your local customer base built up you can consider doing a print version for those with NON-Computer Access! This will keep customers informed of NEW Product Introductions, Sales & Promotions, Hostess Specials Etc. This will entice customers to purchase & hold parties more frequently!

#16) Exchange business cards or flyers with other work at home business owners! Use these as "bag fillers" and as you pack up Tupperware orders throw in one of their cards and have the other business person do the same! You both get FREE advertising! (don't do this with others who sell similar products as you)

#17)Network with other Home Business Owners! Schedule a Home Business EXPO locally in your area! Several of you can get together and come up with ideas on where to hold one!

#18) Entice First Time Customers to purchase from you! Offer them an incentive like a personal discount or a special FREEBIE for them making their first purchase with you! Once you rope them in, give them the BEST SVC so that they will come back for more and refer you to others that they know! Word of mouth is sometimes the BEST FREE advertising!

#19) Hold a Mystery Hostess Open House party! Do this 2-3 times per year! Send out invites to everyone and post flyers every where! Offer door prizes, refreshments, demo's etc! Tell everyone who comes and orders they get one entry, if they bring a friend they earn a bonus entry! If they book a party at your party they get 3 more entries and so forth! At the end of the party, draw a name and the winner becomes the hostess and earns all the FREE stuff for that party!

#20) Recruit Helper Friends! Have your friends help you spread the word! Give them catalogs, flyers & business cards! Tell them to pass them out, get you orders etc. Offer the "helpers" free items or personal discounts! Alot of times these helpers will end up being full recruits after they see how profitable & easy Your Home Business can be!

#21) Sponsor Online & Local Contests! Donate a Prize or Gift Certificate! This will help get your a lot of Business Exposure! If you do online sponsoring, make sure you pick HIGH Traffic Websites!

#22) Contact Local Business owners (usually smaller businesses work best). See if you can hang a flyer in their store window or set up a small table display. Offer them a personal discount or a freebie for allowing you this business exposure or swap "bag filler" business cards with them!

#23) Contact local Bingo Halls! Offer to donate a Prize for their Bingo games! Make sure you include a business flyer, catalog, business card etc with the prize you are donating!

#24) Network with other Consultants and find out what works for them and share your ideas with them too!

#25) Print out your own business cards or buy low-cost ones and pass them out every where! (I personally get all of mine from vistaprint.com)

#26) If you want low-cost photo-copying for your business flyers try the public library! A lot of times they are a lot cheaper for photo-coping then the big print shops!

#27)Distribute Flyers & Business Cards to: Apartment Complex Rental offices! Please display them in something attractive like a little Tupperware modular mate! New move-in tenants are always out shopping & buying "new" things for their new apartment or home! You could also do this with real estate agents etc!

#28) Get permission to hang up flyers at grocery store memo boards, school teacher lounges, public Laundromats, church directory memo boards, senior centers, nurses & doctor lounges etc!

#29) Contact your local hospital and ask them if they give out the FREE new baby bags filled with gifts etc to the new moms in their hospital? If so, ask if you can add a flyer, business card, coupon or catalog to the mix!

#30) Contact Local Fire companies/fire houses in your area! See if they would be interested in holding a Fundraiser or Party to earn FREE Items for their Summer Barbeques etc that they always have to raise money!

#31) Do you have local Job Fairs? If so, contact them about you setting up a table with Recruiting Info at your Local Job Fair! You can also contact local temp. agencies and see about you leaving info with them about the Your Business Opportunity!

#32) If you are into recruiting, place online classified ads every where! You can also place ads online at your local newspaper, TV stations and radio stations websites! Don't forget to also place a classified ad in your local print version newspapers too!

#33) Contact local TV stations & radio stations and offer to donate a Prize Package or Gift Certificate for one of their numerous contests that they are always holding!

#34) Offer to hold parties for friends, co-works & family members! You can get FREE advertising by having normal bridal shower, baby shower, anniversary parties etc! Try to tie them into your Business! Great to do if you sell Tupperware, Pampered Chef, Baby Products, Invitation & Stationary Companies, Lingerie Companies and so forth.

#35)Do you have children? If you participate in their bake sale activities make sure you take in the items in something that is Tupperware! i.e. the cake taker, cupcake taker, pie taker and so forth! I like to tape my business card onto the bottom of these so that I can make sure I get it back! This also works if you are a Pampered Chef Rep. or another Cooking type of Party Business.

#36) Going to a summer picnic or family/class reunion? Trying preparing something delicious from a Cookbook that your company has! If someone tells you its delicious and they want the recipe, that has now opened the door for you to talk about Your Business! (works well for Tupperware, Pampered Chef and other home cooking party plans).

#37) I carry my spare change around in a small Tupperware smidget! People ask me about it all the time! Tell them they can get ONE free if they place a $10 order with you! GREAT inexpensive way to get a new customer! Make sure you whip it out to make change every where you go! This also works well if your company sells something similar or if you can get a change purse and stitch or paint your companies name onto it.

#38) Make sure you leave info about Your Business on your answering machine or voice mail message! Not everyone who phones you knows that you sell or represent a particular company! (especially those pesky bill collectors & telemarketers)!

#39) Write your Website URL & email address on every piece of mail leaving your home, including the bills! Either get return address labels with it printed on or handwrite it! Do you know how many hands touch once piece of mail? GREAT FREE advertising for you!

#40) Give a product from your company as a gift as much as possible! Not only does someone really appreciate the gift but its FREE advertising & you are helping your own sales! Why buy something elsewhere and get NO sales credit for it or any free advertising! Works GREAT for all Holiday Gifts plus birthdays, anniversaries, wedding and so forth.

#41) Make up a colorful flyer and hang it in your car window! Passer-bys can see your flyer at a parking lot, red-light etc!

#42) I leave my business card behind every where I go! I even include one in the Hotel Maid's Tip envelope that I leave behind with my tip in it! You can also do this at restaurants, bars, clubs etc! Anywhere you might leave a tip behind!

#43) Contact your local Welcome Wagon Group! Network with them! See if you can add your business card, flyer, catalog to the Welcome Wagon Package in your area! If you have samples then donate one to their package!

#44) Take your outdated catalogs and randomly mail or distribute them thru-out your neighborhood! Make sure you stamp it OUTDATED and provide contact info for yourself so they can contact you if interested to get a current catalog!

#45) Talk about your business Everywhere you go!

#46) Don't be afraid to ask others to book a party from you or to check out your website etc! The worse thing that could happen is the word "NO" but in the future if they need service from you they will remember that conversation with you!

#47) Contact local kitchen & cabinet tradesmen in your area or local cabinet makers! See if you can set up a display in their shop about your Business!!! This works well for Tupperware, Pampered Chef and other Home Party Cooking Plans.

#48) Contact local Home-based Home Caterers or cake makers! Do some networking with them or offer them our GREAT party/hostess opportunity! They might be interested in earning FREE Kitchen & Cooking Products for their home-based catering business!

#49) Contact Local Sorority Houses! College Girls love to shop & spend money! They also love to have home parties, great way for them to earn FREE items for the Sorority House and great business tool for you! If you offer fundraisers, offer one to them too!

#50) Contact College Campuses & Private Schools and see if you can set up a Table Display during their open house days!

#51) When out and about....make sure you use a Tupperware LOGO sports bottle, thirst-quake cup etc for your beverages! Even if you purchase them at a convenience store...dump it into your Tupperware LOGO beverage cup! You want to expose your business to others as much as possible! (this works for ANY company! If your company doesn't have a logo sports bottle or commuter cup, have one made for yourself!)

#52) Update your personal Business Website as much as possible! People who regularly visit our website don't want to see the same thing over & over! Make sure you include detailed ordering & payment information along with contact information on your WELCOME or MAIN page! People don't want to guess at these things! Also offer as many payment acceptance forms as possible! Don't limit yourself to CREDIT CARDS only as a lot of people these days are trying to NOT use them and others are afraid to use them on the internet!

#53) Does your church hold spring & holiday bazaars? Don't forget to set up a table display with your business info! Volunteer your time for Church Bake Sales, Holiday Bazaars etc. In exchange, set up a table or booth with your info.

#54) Fundraising! A lot of opportunities here for you to expand and grow your business! Make a list of all the LOCAL groups in your area! Print out flyers about Your Fundraising Opportunity and include contact & business info about yourself! Every month commit yourself to mail out or to contact at least 5-10 of those group contacts per month!

#55) Do you know of a family in your area that had a fire tragedy recently? A flood or other home tragedy? Donate one of your Outdate Merchandise Items to them! Include your catalog and business card! As they get on their feet again they will want to replace what they lost and can contact you to do that! They are always so grateful for you kindness and this can be a GREAT opportunity for future business from them! At worse, you will feel GREAT for doing something so nice! This will also be a tax write off!

#56) Invest in BLANK postcards or invest in Business Themed Postcards! These are cheaper to mail out than using catalogs! Include your business & Contact info on them and mail them out to everyone advertising your business! This works well with random mailings from phone books as they are much more inexpensive to do and recipients usually tack them to the front of their refrigerator until they need to contact you!

#57) Business SALE aids and Advertising! If you can afford invest in getting some printed refrigerator magnets, snack bag chip clips, post-it note memo pads, pens, pencils etc....get these printed up with your Business Info on them! Pass them out to everyone! Everyone loves something for FREE!

#58) Encourage your party hostesses to strive for more! Offer Additional Incentives to them! Run a MONTHLY or Quarterly Contest for your Party Hostesses ONLY! Tell them that the Hostess who has the highest Party Sales will win an additional prize or Gift Certificate Etc.

#59) Make up inexpensive Gift Baskets! Fill the basket with all kinds of Gadgets & spice mixes! Add a bow! You can sell these or use them as door prize gifts! Include your business card with each one! Some customers who are looking for gifts will BUY quicker if their gift is already to give to their recipient! If you don't want to do that....offer gift wrapping service to your customers for an additional fee to cover your wrapping & bow expenses! These days busy people want things in a hurry and already completed!

#60)If you really want to go out on a limb for your Customers who live locally to you that you are offering gift wrapping services too, you could also add in local delivery for a fee or if they are out of the area, you could offer to package & ship the gift wrapped package for them....again for a fee!

#61) Business Gift Giving Program: Contact all the businesses in your area and provide them with printed info about the Business Gift Giving Program along with your contact info! I suggest you make a list of contacts and commit yourself to 5-10 a month that way you will not get over-burdened with time & money expenses if you make a reasonable goal for yourself to keep! A lot of Businesses look for unique affordable gifts they can give to their employees especially around the Holidays!

#62) If time is a problem for you, get yourself organized! When watching TV or a movie, stamp the backs of your catalogs, make up your hostess party info packages, stuff your envelopes for Fundraising and Business Gift Contacts etc! You can do this during the commercials instead of just sitting there & biting your nails LOL Enlist the help of your kids! Children love to feel that they have a "job" and offering them a few bucks or another incentive for helping you with your business!

#63) Contact NEW Graduates from High School or College in your area or hold an open house party just for them! A lot of graduates are moving into their own first apartment/home or going away for college! They younger they are when they start buying your products....the better! They could end of being a collector or a long term lifelong customer & faithful user of your particular brand!

#64) Get Business Themed Banking Checks! Your bank checks pass thru tons of hands that could become potential customers or party hosts! If possible get your email address or website URL preprinted onto them! I also suggest using preprinted postal address labels too! (try to get checks that have pictures of some of the products you sell on them or at the very least make sure some where on the check it says: Tupperware Consultant, Avon Rep, and so forth.)

#65) Get yourself a self inking or rubber stamp made up with your Website URL and contact info on it! Stamp everything with it! Not only does this save you time but you will be more "apt" to stamp up everything and anything if it ONLY takes a second to do it!!!

Most importantly is to be patient! If you work hard in promoting your business your Business will Flourish!