It never ceases to amaze me what small business people will do to promote their businesses! Take this years "Shopdropping" craze for example! What is shopdropping? Let me explain...
Shopdropping, also known as reverse shoplifting, is the practice of dropping products or business ads in high traffic retail spots. Three examples of this would be:
1. A personal trainer dropping cards in a weight loss magazine.
2. A local musician dropping free promotional CDs on the racks at Starbucks.
3. An author dropping self-published books on book store shelves.
These may seem like clever ideas, but this practice can get dangerous. If you read through this article, you'll see that some people even go as far as creating mock products to put on store shelves! The man that makes that action figures worries me a little!!!!!
Now it may be tempting to stick your cards in a few beauty magazines around town, and it may even work to your advantage from time-to-time! But PLEASE look at other marketing opportunities! There are plenty!! If you need some ideas, click over to this post for a great book on marketing or click on the marketing link in the categories section on the right hand side of this blog.
Shopdropping is a devious way to market, and deviousness DOES NOT inspire trust! One of the best pieces of advice I've received from one of my sharpener friends is, "The most importing thing in this business is getting your customers to trust you. The second most important thing is keeping that trust!"
Jim, GREAT BLOG SITE (I THINK THAT IS WHAT YOU WOULD CALL IT , my first time on it or any blog site as far as that.....not much time for computers.Anyway read your blog on shop bloging &couldn't agree more. I always tell my customers to tell a friend/relative about my bussiness & how I can help them also.Usually give them a couple cards or sign send them on there way. A couple years ago now a mall manager at our regional mall gave me a call (threat)to stop leaving cards on benches & in bathrooms (which I had not done & tryed to explain to him to not much avail)I told him one of my customers must be doing it & to this day haven't found out who it was.Good news the mall manager has done some bussiness with me a couple times now & hasn't brought up the incident again. Sincerely,Chris M / A B SHAVERSHOP/SHARPENING FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA.PS. WE ALSO DO KITCHEN AID MIXER/BLENDER REPAIR & SELL PARTS. ( ALWAYS MARKETING)
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