31 Oct

6 More Tips For Having A Hot Holiday Season

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 31.10.14 by John Meloche

Bleeding DebtHappy Halloween! Tonight is the night that people wait for all year long in order to get dressed up in their scariest of costumes. Whether it’s a party or a night trick or treating that’s on your agenda for tonight, we certainly hope you have a safe and enjoyable time. For business owners across Canada, getting in on the spirit of Halloween is a big deal. Handing out candy, wearing costumes and even creating a “haunted” in-store atmosphere are great ways to build buzz around a business.

However, once Halloween is over, the real “getting into the spirit of things” begins. It goes without saying that the next two months will be your busiest. At least, that’s what history has shown us. So what will you be doing to attract more business during the busy holiday shopping season? Over the past two days, we have been blogging about ways to build buzz around your brand with the help of Kabbage.com. In today’s blog, we will conclude our look at their list of tips. Here are six more.

1. Partner with other local merchants and help drive traffic to one another’s stores. Buddying up with like-minded business owners is a great year-round idea. As long as they are not competitors, there’s no reason to not try to find ways that you can help to bring each other more business. Perhaps, you can hand out each other’s sample products or even small promotional gifts. Scratch their back and they’ll scratch yours!

2. Hire a live band to play during busy hours. According to Kabbage.com, this will help to put shoppers in a good mood. And how could it not? How many of us don’t enjoy hearing holiday music during the holiday season? It’s a great way to boost the spirits of everyone who comes into your store. Not to mention, “the sounds of music will also bring people into your store from the street,” says the site.

3. Set up a gift certificate display. During the holidays, gift cards and gift certificates are all the rage. If you sell them at your place of business, they are bound to fly out of the store. They are great go-to gifts, especially for last minute shoppers and people on-the-go. As Kabbage.com affirms, “busy shoppers or those who aren’t sure what to get someone on their list will gladly grab a gift card or two.”

4. Offer complimentary shipping. Nothing beats free. And during the holiday season, when people are spending more than they usually would, being able to save money will greatly help them. If you’re saving them money, it will greatly attract them to your business. Many shoppers will need their items shipped. Would it be profitable to you to encourage more orders through offering free shipping? “Oftentimes, it’s even more valuable than a discount,” says the site.

5. Hand out coupons valid for the New Year. One of the most important objectives to promoting your brand during the holidays is to have shoppers come back once the holidays are over. January sales are traditionally slower. So coming up with ways to bring people back to your store in the new year will be a key to your company’s success these holidays. Offer coupons that are valid throughout January to make that happen!

6. Create gift baskets. It’s all about gift-giving during the holidays. And presentation is everything. Is there a way you can put together some items in a gift basket to entice more customers to buy them? “If your store offers products from local vendors, create gift baskets themed with a local touch so members of the community can share some of where they’re from with loved ones out of town,” reads Kabbage.com.

And remember to get your hands on some awesome promotional gifts to promote your brand throughout the holiday season. Call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 today!

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30 Oct

6 More Steps To Building Buzz This Holiday Season

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 30.10.14 by John Meloche

Depositphotos_11312934_xsHalloween is tomorrow! And you know what that means, right? The day after will be Christmas! Well, not exactly. But as business owners all across Canada are well aware, the holiday season practically starts once November kicks off. It’s a two-month shopping extravaganza that is widely known as the busiest shopping season of the year – by far. So that means business is definitely about to pick up!

In yesterday’s blog, we began to look at ways that you could promote your business for the holiday season. With help from Kabbage.com, we began going down a list of things that entrepreneurs could do to boost the levels of excitement surrounding their brands. Among those ideas was using social media to build awareness as well as giving out free treats to visiting customers. In today’s blog, we’ll continue our look at that list. Here are six more ideas.

1. Take business clients out to lunch. There are few gifts better than a free meal. And, in some cases, it’s your best gift for impressing your most important clients. According to Kabbage.com, taking clients to a holiday lunch will help to add that personal touch to your relationship. Your gesture will not only help you to get to know them better, but it will be a sign of how much they mean to your business. This is bound to secure their loyalty.

2. Get involved in a food or toy drive. It’s always important to remember that the holiday season is the season of giving. Getting involved with charities that offer food or unwrapped toys to those in need is a great way to represent your business. “Prominently display a donation station at your store,” suggests the website, “It’ll get people in your door that might not have come by otherwise and will show that your brand is community minded.”

3. Hire a graphic designer to put a holiday spin on your logo for the season. This is always a cool idea. It’s important to have your brand continually represented as one that is “up with the times” and “on the cutting edge”. When you update your logo on your website, for example, it shows online visitors that you are keeping things fresh and that celebrating the season is welcomed at your store.

4. Extend your hours. Let’s face it. The objective here is to make more money, right? One way to do that is to stay open longer. Most shopping malls are no strangers to holiday hours. You may want to take part in the practice yourself. As Kabbage.com reminds us, “shoppers are out longer and later trying to squeeze in every last gift. Do them a favour and stay open later. You won’t regret it.”

5. Organize a carolling group. Don’t fancy yourself as much of a singer? Not a problem. Christmas carolling involves a group of people who will adequately drown out your voice! In all seriousness, carolling is a joyous gesture that is bound to put smiles on faces and make your business look good. “Include employees, customers, friends, and family, and offer your store up for a pre-carolling shopping session beforehand,” recommends the website.

6. Run holiday email campaigns. Using email to promote your business is a great idea no matter what time of year it is. Creating and growing an emailing list should actually be part of your regular activities. However, according to Kabbage.com, “email is a great way to put your products and services right in front of customers where they might not otherwise look for themselves, especially at a time when they’re ready and raring to spend.”

And don’t forget to get your hands on some great promotional gifts. The holiday season is arguably the best time to give them out. Call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 today!

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29 Oct

6 Ways To Create A Holiday Buzz For Your Brand

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 29.10.14 by John Meloche

XCD-09-160x160With Halloween just a couple of days away, it’s going to be pretty hard for most business owners to avoid the fact that the holiday shopping season is practically upon us. Generally speaking, the day after Halloween represents the day that all of the shopping malls go all “Christmas-y”. With that said, it means that Canadian business owners need to begin considering the ways in which they plan on ushering in the holiday season at their stores.

This, of course, means that they’ll need to usher in more customers by way of promoting their brands with the holiday spirit. It’s no secret. Business owners do this each and every year. And while the time of year is often referred to as the “season of giving”, it’s also known as the “season of shopping” in the retail world. On Kabbage.com, a long list of ideas for how to create buzz around your company this holiday season is given. Let’s look at six of them.

1. Film a fun holiday YouTube video. There’s no questioning the popularity of YouTube. In fact, you’re likely to know a lot of young people who watch more content on this vastly popular website than they do on actual television. Why not gather together members of your team to film a holiday-themed video to upload to YouTube? As the website endorses, “share it using your social media channels, and show your customers how fun and personable your business is.”

2. Host a holiday themed Twitter chat. Not to be outdone by YouTube, Twitter remains one of the world’s most popular social networking platforms. Kabbage.com recommends that you focus on “either something your business excels in that consumers might want to ask you about or just on holiday trivia to get people in the spirit and interacting with your brand.” It’s a great way to get people interacting with you.

3. Hold a photo contest on your Facebook page. You didn’t think that Facebook was going to be left out of the mix did you? Right up there with YouTube and Twitter, it’s one of the most popular ways for people to communicate with each other these days. “Encourage your fans to send in photos of themselves using your product or at your store or doing something related to the holidays. Be sure to have a giveaway prize for the winner,” reads Kabbage.com.

4. Offer holiday treats in your store. Here’s an idea that you already should be implementing. Halloween provides the perfect opportunity to use tasty treats as a method to add to the customer experience at your store. As Kabbage.com puts it, “shoppers work up big appetites, so help satisfy those empty stomachs with cookies and other bites. If nothing else, hot cider will make your store smell just like the holidays!”

5. Create calendars with your business’ name on them. It’s pretty obvious that the end of the year is the best possible time to hand out calendars to your customers. At Synergy Marketing, our many years of experience providing Canadian business owners with the best promo products in the business have proven that to us. Be sure to check out our catalogue of calendars and choose your favourite design for 2015!

6. Offer holiday cards. “It’s never too early to get people in the giving spirit,” says the website. And we couldn’t agree more. Take a look at our fantastic holiday card selection and pick the one you like best. Handing out holiday cards is a great way to add that personal touch to your interactions with your customers. Our cards, by the way, aren’t regular greeting cards. They come with holiday music CDs!

You know who to contact for those calendars and holiday greeting cards. Call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 today!

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28 Oct

5 Steps To Advertising Your Brand Through Writing

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 28.10.14 by John Meloche

Depositphotos_6501329_xsIt doesn’t matter how many fans you have of your business, it’s not likely that anyone is going to care about it more than you. You started it from the ground up. You worked tirelessly to make it what it is today. So there’s no one who knows more about it than you. Who better to write about your business than you? What’s that? You’re not a writer? Well, there are ways to work around that which we’ll get to shortly.

However, the point must be made that your business should be written about. Blogs are all the rage these days. That’s why, for the past few years, we have been maintaining our very own Synergy Marketing Blog. Our daily posts provide loads of information about how to promote your business and often highlight the many benefits of using promotional products to advertise your company.

Writing is a great outlet and also an excellent way to personally connect with members of your client base. On MyCreativeArtsConsulting.com, Nancy Babcock writes that there are some specific steps that you should take when writing about your business. Taking these steps will help to ensure that the company you created is recognized by a much wider audience. Here are five steps to take you in the right direction.

1. Create A Schedule (And Stick To It). At Synergy Marketing, we enjoy posting a new blog each business day of the week. We also post links to our blogs on our Facebook and Twitter profiles daily. This has work wonders in attracting new friends and followers. Babcock suggests that you pick a schedule for your articles so that you’re able to stay consistent and stick to deadlines that keep your writing on track.

2. Choose a Niche Writing Area. Blogs are excellent ways to display your expertise. But they also work best when they can provide services to their readers. This is why, at Synergy Marketing, we enjoy posting “advice columns” that list several tips on how to better promote small businesses. Our blogs speak to a specific audience and remain in keeping with our business model to help Canadian businesses advertise themselves with promo gifts.

3. Create A Content Theme. “Having the theme helps tremendously when you are researching your article,” writes Babcock, “Make the theme as wide open as possible.” Various themes that we have covered in recent weeks include promotional ideas for the fall, back-to-school advertising ideas and concepts for promoting your brand around Halloween. Having broad themes so that you can build your articles around them is always helpful, notes Babcock.

4. Create A Comfortable Writing Style. Generally, we like to keep it light, here at Synergy Marketing. Our blogs are written in a very friendly voice, almost as if we were having a conversation with our readers. We feel that this warm, yet informative approach works for our brand. Pick a style that works for you. Babcock admits that she takes a lot of time to do research before composing articles. Other writers whip up posts within minutes. Find your style.

5. Hire A Writer. If all else fails, and writing is simply not for you, there are professional bloggers out there than can do the job for you. You may be surprised to find out just how affordable they are and how much their blogs can help to bring more awareness about your brand. We recommend the Bloggers For Hire at MeloTel. They’ve done a wonderful job for us. And they’ll do one for you too!

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27 Oct

5 Tips To Ringing In A Lucrative Holiday Season

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 27.10.14 by John Meloche

Christmas tree ornaments on the clotheslineWell, we’re officially in the last week of October. And you know what that means. Halloween is almost here! But, for business owners all over Canada, it also means that the holiday season is just about to begin. Can you believe it’s that time of year already? Before you know it, shops of all kinds will be displaying Christmas colours and decorations in order to celebrate the holiday season. What will you be doing to celebrate?

More importantly than just celebrating are the ways in which you will be promoting your business during the holidays. Naturally, the upcoming season encourages more people to do a lot more shopping. So that means that you’ll have many new opportunities to welcome new customers into your store. How will you advertise to them? It’s important to not simply assume that business will pick up.

And even it does – which it will – it’s important to impress your customers in ways that will encourage them to return to your store long after the holidays are over. On SocialSolutionsCollective.com, Nancy Babcock writes that “with advance planning and a well-thought out fall marketing strategy you can position your business to ring in the holiday season with a minimum of stress and sleigh full of success.” Here are five tips.

1. Plan Your Strategy. “Begin with a thorough review of your holiday campaign from last year to determine what should be repeated, tweaked or avoided,” writes Babcock. Letting your client base know that your place of business has much to offer them during the holiday season is an important way to ensure that they walk through your doors. Consider offering special coupons for discounts or gifts with each purchase.

2. Use Facebook. Is there ever a bad time to use Facebook to promote your business? We think not. Babcock suggests that you begin your holiday campaign via social media by offering “exclusive holiday discounts or insider sales for your followers. “Announce upcoming specials and offers; add eye-catching images along with your status,” she continues, “Ask your customers to post a review and analyze their engagement and interaction to your product or service.”

3. Use Twitter. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone recommending Facebook who doesn’t recommend Twitter as well. This awesome and incredibly popular social networking platform offers many unique opportunities to spread the word about your company’s holiday promotions. “Host tweet chats for target market areas. Use a tag to invite your local followers to tweet parties and discuss gift ideas with your target audience,” suggests Babcock.

4. Use Pinterest. Evidently, Babcock strongly believes in the power of social media. Who doesn’t, right? Pinterest is another great promotional tool, she reminds us. “Pinterest has new contest guidelines,” she informs, “If you host a holiday contest, make sure that your contest rules are clearly posted on your board or profile and that you follow the updated Pinterest Brand Guidelines. Pinterest wants people to pin based on inspiration and creativity.”

5. Use E-mail. Tried and true emailing is still an effective method for informing your customers about your store’s special deals and holiday events. Babcock encourages you to draft email newsletters to offer your client base compelling content that will draw more of their interest to you. “Strategically create subject lines with captivating ‘calls to action’ so your email stands out amidst the deluge of the competitions,” she advises.

And hey, don’t forget to give out those amazing promotional gifts of yours! Be sure to place your order for them by calling Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 today!

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24 Oct

5 More Haunting Ideas To Scare Up Sales This Halloween

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 24.10.14 by John Meloche

Halloween shoppingcartIn yesterday’s blog, we began to take a look at some scary solutions for boosting your business this Halloween! Okay, so maybe the suggestions weren’t all that scary. But they certainly made sense considering that the spookiest day of the year is fast approaching. In just one week, we’ll be celebrating yet another Halloween. The special occasion which is known for its elaborate and freakish costumes is enjoyed by nearly everyone.

So, it should go without saying that you should be celebrating Halloween at your business. There are many ways to do so that will attract more customers into your store. On Examiner.com, Jim Fletcher provides a list of ideas for small business owners to employ. He writes that they are both easy and inexpensive marketing tips that will help for entrepreneurs to secure a bigger client base long after Halloween is gone.

Among his ideas are the giving out of treats, the running of contests, the taking of photos and the offering of special discounts on future purchases. But that’s not all! In today’s blog, we’ll round out our look at Fletcher list of tips. But not before we remind you where to get your hands on the best treats that money can buy. Call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 to order the promotional product of your choice today! Now on to those tips – here are five more great ideas.

1. Contests. Yesterday, we suggested that you hold a contest in addition to giving out discounts as a way to attract customers and receive their contact information. Fletcher not only agrees, but offers an example of how to run a good Halloween-themed contest. “One idea would be to fill a fishbowl with candy corn and have customers guess the number of them in the bowl,” he suggests, “Their guess would be in writing and the name, phone number and email address would be on the slip of paper.”

2. Free tickets to a specific Halloween event. As we always say, people love getting things for free. This is one of the top reasons that our promotional products have worked such wonders for so many years. By giving out free tickets to a Halloween event, you will also be able to secure your customers’ information for future use. Choose the venue well, however, Fletcher warns, because venue rental can be expensive.

3. Demonstration of a Halloween related activity. Pumpkin carving is the name of the game during this time of year. So why not have a demonstration at your place of business? Pumpkins aren’t all that expensive. Grab a bunch and perhaps, make it part of the contests that you plan on throwing. For kids, be sure that their parents are helping them out. Provide an award for the best carved jack o’ lantern!

4. Story time. Telling scary stories is a big part of Halloween too. Why can’t it be part of what draws people into your store? “A character in makeup would tell a story related to the season,” writes Fletcher, “Usually, an employee in costume could be the actor. This is best in businesses where children are with their parents as it gives them something to do while the parents shop – and it gives the parents more time to concentrate on their purchases.”

5. Face painting. It doesn’t even need to be mentioned again that dressing up in costumes is huge part of Halloween. An always popular activity with children, face painting would be a great way to build a buzz around your brand at this time of year. “A supply of non-toxic face paints in appropriate colors and one employee with a little talent can keep kids happy while the parents shop,” advises Fletcher.

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23 Oct

5 Scary Solutions To Boosting Business This Halloween

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 23.10.14 by John Meloche

Halloween ShoppingcartWe’re only about a week away now! Halloween is fast approaching. And, by this time, it is likely that most people have picked out their costumes and know exactly where they’ll be wearing them. In addition to the kids going out for trick or treating on the night of the 31st, many adults enjoy going to parties and donning outfits that are in keeping with the spooky and scary nature of the occasion.

So what will you be dressing your business up as? Like any other special celebration during the year, Halloween is definitely a time of year when your business should be coming up with ways to spruce things up and attract more business. On Examiner.com, Jim Fletcher writes that “Halloween is the number two retail season in the business year, so what better time to introduce products and services on the theme and to use Halloween related marketing to bring in the customers?”

We couldn’t agree more. The way we see it, Halloween makes it easy. Finding decorations for your business is a breeze as they are practically available everywhere. And it’s hard to find someone who gets no enjoyment from the annual haunted event. Fletcher writes that “small businesses, with their flexibility and ability to react quickly, typically can make subtle changes that can draw traffic into their businesses without sacrificing too much space.” Here are five great ideas.

1. Give out treats. It’s an incredibly simple, yet effective way to use Halloween to your company’s advantage. After all, the collection of candy is often the number one thing that people associate with Halloween. Considering the current time of year, you may want to offer up some cost-conscious promo gifts such as pens to go along with the traditional candy to your customers. That way, you’ll give customers more reminders to come back once Halloween is over.

2. Mini-haunts. These “are always a big hit with adults and older children,” writes Fletcher, “With a little planning and about 100 square feet of space, a fun mini-haunted house can attract floor traffic as word spreads. It’s helpful if they must show a receipt for a purchase of some kind (to actually create some sales), but a donation to a charity as an entrance fee is always nice, too.” Be sure to make your mini-haunt age appropriate and not too scary! You want to attract customers, not scare them off.

3. Discount coupons for future purchases. Getting into the Halloween spirit to promote your business is smart. But making sure you give your customers incentive to visit you in the months ahead is even smarter. Fletcher writes that you should offer discounts on future purchases so that the adults who visit your store will be inclined to return. You may want even set up a contest to give away a grand prize to a lucky winner who enters.

4. A duck pond or ring toss. This is a unique idea. Fletcher writes that they “take up little room and are easy to build. Prizes would be sample sized products or other treats that cost little money. Discounts on particular items would work well, particularly if the items are low-cost high margin products.” It also gives people an additional reason to enter the doors of your store. If they recognize it as a fun place to be, they will be more likely to keep visiting.

5. Photos. With Halloween on the way, you’re given the perfect reason to dress up in your most elaborate costume yet. Fletcher suggests that you pose for pictures with those who visit your store between now and Halloween. You may want to use the opportunity to get email addresses and social media accounts so that you can share the pictures with the people you take them with. What a great way to keep in touch after Halloween!

Be sure to check back for tomorrow’s blog as we continue our look at ways to use Halloween to promote your business. And don’t forget to call Synergy Marketing at1-877-748-9884 to order the promotional product of your choice today!

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22 Oct

5 More Cost-Conscious Ways To Market Your Small Business

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 22.10.14 by John Meloche

business touching  with statistics graphIn yesterday’s blog, we revisited the topic of marketing your small business on a small budget. After all, that’s often what it means to have a small business, right? Not every business owner in the world is working with piles of cash that can be thrown at their marketing campaigns. And there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, small business owners have unique opportunities to develop stronger relationships with their customers.

That’s because, unlike major corporations, small businesses have owners that often work on the front lines. They get to meet their customers directly and develop relationships that can last long into the future. At Synergy Marketing, we know just how impactful our promotional gifts can be in this entire process. More than just conversation starters, our promo gifts help to grow relationships that often begin with signs of generosity.

Naturally, when a gift is given, it’s a sign of generosity that isn’t soon forgotten. Just as beneficial to business owners is the fact that our promo gifts are relatively cheap when compared to traditional modes of advertising. But as Susan Solovic points out on ConstantContact.com, there are many other cost-effective marketing strategies that can work wonders for the small business owner. In today’s blog, we’ll take a look at the second half of her list of ideas.

1. Create buzz. With the advent of social media, creating buzz can be a lot easier than it used to be. But that doesn’t mean you should just stick to tweeting and posting comments on Facebook. It requires making your business newsworthy. That way, you can get others to tweet and post comments about you. More importantly, you may want to send press releases to members of the media to see if you can get some coverage in popular local publications.

2. Ask for referrals. “Don’t be shy about asking for customer referrals,” insists Solovic, “The majority of people say they are willing to provide a referral if asked, but very few take the initiative to do it on their own. Referrals make it easier to get in the door with new customers. If you aren’t asking for them, you are missing opportunities.” Our experience has shown that promo gifts have long been great ways to inspire referrals from customers.

3. Build relationships. This is one of the overall themes of small business marketing. It goes a lot further than just selling products. It’s all about developing relationships to grow a loyal customer base. Not to mention, “it is a lot less expensive to keep a customer than it is to get a new one,” Solovic reminds us, “That’s why establishing strong relationships with your customer base is crucial. One of the ways you can do that is by launching an email campaign.”

4. Offer coupons. As mentioned, people love getting things for free. But they also certainly appreciate getting items at discounted rates. When you save your customers money, you ensure that you have happy customers. In addition, “coupons are a good way for many businesses to attract new customers. Research shows that people will go out of their way to use a coupon, proving that this method is successful in expanding your customer base,” writes Solovic.

5. Give it away. It all comes down to freebies again, doesn’t it? And you don’t have to take our word for it. As Solovic explains, “if someone has the opportunity to experience your product or service, chances are they will want to purchase more. Don’t be afraid to give someone a free trial or a sample. In today’s economy, people are more comfortable purchasing something they have been able to experience first.”

Looking for some great gifts to give away? Call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 today!

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21 Oct

5 Tried-And-True Cost-Effective Marketing Strategies

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 21.10.14 by John Meloche

business woman - growth and success graphAt Synergy Marketing, we fashion ourselves as experts in the small business marketing game. After all, for many years now, our amazing promotional products have helped business owners from all over Canada to reach new heights in very inexpensive ways. Promo gifts have long been known, in our country, as incredibly cost-effective ways to market businesses. Simply put, when they are handed out to customers, they make great impressions!

They aren’t just conversation starters – they are relationship builders. People love getting things for free and when those things are useful, handy and of high-quality, they are appreciated all the more. For business owners, it’s just hard to go wrong with promo gifts. Again, they cost so much less than traditional modes of advertising such as radio spots, print ads and those incredibly pricey television commercials.

But we could go on all day about how to promote your business on the cheap. In addition to promotional products, there are many other cost-effective ways to grow your small business. As Susan Solovic explains on ConstantContact.com, there are some “tried and true marketing strategies that can help you market your business on a shoestring budget.” Over our next two blogs, we’d like to explore these ideas. Here are her first five.

1. Craft an elevator pitch. “You should be marketing all the time,” insists Solovic, “wherever you are. Therefore, you need a compelling elevator pitch.” What this means is that you should be able to describe your business and how great it is in under a minute. In other words, the length of an average elevator ride should be enough time for you to meet someone and give that person an excellent impression of your brand.

2. Leverage your community. We have often said that the most important people to your business are those that live in the area in which it operates. Who better to market your brand to than those who live closest to it? “Think locally,” advises Solovic, “Sponsor a Little League team or a 5k charity walk/run. Print bookmarks and leave them at the local library. Get to know your ideal customer and think about how and where they spend their time.”

3. Collaborate. We’ve also blogged quite a bit about connecting with like-minded business owners who are not your competitors. The more people working towards elevating your business, the better. It’s the whole “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” policy at work here. Use it to your advantage. “By collaborating with each other, you can expand your customer base because you’ll be reaching new people,” says Solovic.

4. Network. People who get out and meet other people put themselves in better positions to succeed. Shake some hands and get to know people, Solovic advises. And don’t forget to do the same thing using social media as well. Sure, you can’t shake hands online, but tools such as Facebook and Twitter are commonly known as today’s most popular ways to meet and interact with people.

5. Give a speech. Are you an expert in your field? You should certainly have the confidence that you are. And although Solovic recognizes that “a lot of people hate public speaking”, she writes that you should “take a deep breath and volunteer” to speak in front of important business groups. “You don’t have to be a pro as long as the information you share is helpful to the audience,” she informs.

Be sure to check back for tomorrow’s blog as we continue our look at Solovic’s list of tried-and-true small business marketing tips. And don’t forget to call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 in order to grab some great promotional gifts to help market your business!

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20 Oct

5 Benefits To Using Calendars To Promote Your Business

Posted in Promotional Products on 20.10.14 by John Meloche

Kittens-160x160With just a couple of weeks left to go in October, preparing for the new year is bound to be on everyone’s plates. As a business owner, this provides you with a great opportunity. Not only are there tons of ideas (that you can be sure we’ll be blogging about in the coming weeks) about how to create excitement about shopping at your store for the holidays, but you also have the chance to begin a new marketing campaign that will work well into the new year.

As you know, Synergy Marketing strongly promotes the use of promotional products to boost your business. And when a new year starts, there is arguably no better promo gift than the calendar. Not only are they among our most affordable promo gifts, but they work all year round! Obviously, right? Just consider the impact of calendars bearing your company’s name and contact information on the walls of your favourite clients.

With calendars, it’s simply hard to go wrong. They go up on walls as daily reminders about the various things people need to do. But with your promotional calendar, your favourite clients will receive daily reminders about where to shop. Your place! It’s the perfect time of year to order the promo calendars of your choice. And, in case you weren’t already aware, there are many benefits to using them to boost your business. Here are five.

1. They save you money. Did we mention how inexpensive our promo calendars are? Easily among the best buys from our catalogue, our calendars go for only $1.98 each. You would be hard pressed to find a better deal on any calendar anywhere. The cost-effectiveness of calendars is reason enough to invest in them. Again, remember that they provide you with year-round advertising. How do you beat that?

2. They reflect your brand’s personality. With so many different designs to choose from, your promo calendars can help to provide a unique impression of your brand. For example, we have Classic and Exotic Cars designs that are excellent for those in the automotive industry. A degree of high-quality professionalism is communicated here. We also have Dogs, Wildlife and Kittens designs that could connote your love for animals or just simply your “warm and fuzzy” side. Your calendar choice can say a lot about you.

3. They provide long-lasting advertising. As we mentioned, and as is obvious, calendars serve great purposes for one full year. They are undeniably useful items that help to remind your recipients about your brand each and every day. Make 2015 your most profitable year yet. Of course, it will take more than promo calendars to accomplish that. But you certainly can’t go wrong with handing out these friendly daily reminders of where to shop.

4. They make advertising easy. Calendars truly belong in the “can’t go wrong” category. They’re not the type of promo gifts that are specific to any industry or any one type of shopper. Honestly, who couldn’t use a calendar? Practically everyone needs them so they are widely accepted. It will be pretty difficult to find a person who has no use for a calendar. If you want to make promoting your business with promo gifts easy, calendars are the way to go.

5. They are readily available. With the year winding down, it’s hard to choose a better time of year than now to invest in promotional calendars. Hand them out for the next two months and watch how happy they make your customers. Getting them is easy. Contact Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 to order the calendar of your choice today. They’re bound to help you have your best holiday season and new year yet!

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