The winner of yesterday's Mamalicious Monday contest is #4 Jen E @MomBlogsALot. Winner selected by random. org...congrats!!! ;)
Welcome to the 6th week of my "Launching A Business" series! Click here to learn more about it.
The things we have talked about the last couple of weeks are:
1. Researching your product to see if there is a market for it.
2. How to price your product.
3. Finding time to work from home with small children
4. We talked about the different venues to sell your products: retail, wholesale, consignment, etc.
5. Making & selling your product.
This week I want to offer a few tips on exposing your business, or product, to media. Look for local magazines and newspapers to start with. You may want to look for articles written about local businesses, unique products, etc. What I have done in the past is simply contact the person who wrote the article directly. Introduce yourself, tell them what you make/offer, why it is unique. Ask them if they would be interested in writing a feature on your, your company, or product. The worst thing they can do is say no. A lot of papers/magazines will have the writer's email address or contact info. at the beginning of it, or at the end of the article itself.
I live just South of Atlanta, GA. One time I contacted a writer for the Atlanta-Journal Consitution, (via email) who featured new & interesting products. I asked her if I could send her a sample of my Body Butter, she received it, wrote about it, and the day it came out in the paper, I started receiving orders @ 5:30am that day and for days on end after that. It was great!
I also contacted my local home town newspaper and they came out and took pics of me making my product, and wrote a feature in the paper about my company. Another local magazine actually did a radio interview with me.
So, never take for granted what local media can do for you. You never know how many readers they have.
Another tip, not really media related...is to contact your local Small Business Administration, or look up the local website. They offer lots of great tips and advice for starting a business, including writing a business plan.
Again, if you have questions, or want to offer advice on any of this, please leave a comment here.
Would you like to get your product in front of thousands of readers? I offer multiple ways to do that here @ The Gift Closet. One is, for only $5, you can have your graphic at the bottom of my next Win It Wednesday post! These posts are the most visited on my blog. Email me today for more info. Heatherldt at bellsouth dot net
2 comments:
Those are great tips! I wish I had something to sell. I have the readers but no product...lol I guess I'll just stick with buying. :)
Offering to speak at group meetings is another way. Local chamber of commerce or more specific groups.
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