Advertisement Ideas: Keeping Your Doors Open!!!

   I was out collecting donations for The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Boca Raton on Wednesday (3/23/2016) when I went into OXXO Cleaners and the gentleman said he wasn’t in a position to donate and was giving me a sob story about how he was putting money from other businesses into this cleaning business to keep it afloat. I began to ask him questions and give him some solutions.He said you know what I am going to give you a donation and he handed me a $20 bill. W discussed further ways that we can be of service and value to one another. I share this story to illustrate to you that messages are coming to you and it is time to wake up and heed the messages as things are happening for a reason. The idea is to be in a position to keep your doors open and to make a profit. I have often said and I teach that if business isn’t coming to you go out and find the business. I was an assistant manager at a Footlocker Store in Wellington, FL and I managed to beat all the projections because everywhere I went I would hand out my Footlocker cards. When we did a Friends and family promotion I would ask for 1000 of the coupons because I knew if I walked the mall and the area around the mall and went to the high schools in the area we would see a return on our investment. When I did this the first time I was told by a district manager that is not what the promotion was intended for. I answered did we or did we not just increase our year to date sales by 200% by doing it this way. I was told yes but that was not the intention. I started to wonder if you are not increasing your sales then why are you keeping your doors open. I often wonder how people get into a position without a vision of growth. Sometimes to truly be successful you must do things differently to keep the doors open.  Every where I have ever worked I have been sales oriented and have done things a bit differently. My first retail job at Oaktree Men’s clothing in 1988 was quite the experience as I became the top salesman in the country.I was asked how I did this and I answered I simple shared who I was and where I worked with others and when they came to the store I asked questions and was able to find what they were looking for and as a result made many sales. The answer to keeping your doors open is being proactive in the market place and doing things a bit differently than others.

I have always thought of myself as a problem solver. I have found that those who put judgement and EGO aside and listen to me become successful as I come up with practical solutions. In today’s market place if you do not have a web presence you need to develop one by defining your target audience and giving them a reason to come to your store. I have found that those who think they know everything stat to lose everything because they are not open to outside thinking. The solution is to see what is working in the industry you are in and find a way to be a step ahead of everyone else. If you are a sports related store you should be doing things that are sports related in your marketing for example You know every March that The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Takes Place and is referred to as March Madness so why not do a special March Madness promotion that appeals to those who follow the tournament.  Every day there is a special day designated on the calendar so look up the special days and do promotions around the day. A great resource for marketing ideas is Heidi Richard’s Mooney’s Book Quirky Marketing Ideas.

The idea is to stand out from everyone else by being creative so that you can keep your doors open. When you come up with an idea it is important to implement it and promote it accordingly with enough lead time to make it effective. You can just say oh let’s do a 20% off sale today and put a sign in the window. You must plan the work and work the plan. It is paramount to go where you customers are and give them a reason to do business with you so that you can keep your doors open.

 A few years ago I partnered with Skyline Chili and did a monthly fundraiser that brought additional business to their Sunrise Location. I had a comprehensive plan which included making videos the night of the event to show people what we were doing. I would post these videos across social media and as a result over $5000 was raised for the charity which was 20% of the sales. I would also do shout outs on my radio show that I hosted at the time, Get Motivated with Jonathan JDOGG Lederman. If you want to keep your doors open you must be willing to do things differently. In this world there are two types of people action takers and excuse makers. Which one are you?