Schewanick Computer Services

If you are in direct sales or a home party plan company you will want to market your business offline.
Here is a checklist of some Creative Offline Marketing Ideas!
#1. Take a small zip close baggie (snack sizes work well) and include the following in it:
Your Business Card, Business Oppty Mini Flyer, a Piece of Candy such as hard candy or a lollipop, mini flyer of current host specials, discount coupon (optional) etc.
Hand these out to the bank tellers, retail cashiers, at your kids sport events, every where you go!
#2. When I stay at hotels & motels I leave a mini catalog, my business card & discount coupon and the mini coin canister for the maid! I put her tip inside the mini coin canister! I have gotten 3 orders by doing this!
Be creative when you leave tips for Hotel Maids, Waitresses, Waiters, Hair Dressers, etc. Don't just hand them your business card, make it memorable!
You can also buy cute little beaded change purses at your local dollar discount store!
#3. Print out flyers with your contact info (not your personal address), your website address & email address along with any current specials you are offering.
Then contact local area mobile home park offices, apartment complex rental offices, housing developements etc and ask them if you can leave fliers in their office or hang on their tennants doors. Give the office employees a free gift or discount on their personal orders.
#4. Contact local area bridal supply stores, bridal gown stores, caterers, tux rental centers, wedding dj's etc. Ask them if you can leave your business cards & fliers about the great (Company Name) Bridal Gift Registry for them to give to their customers.
Offer store owners a free gift or a personal discount for helping you spread the word about your business.
#5. Daycare Centers! They are excellent to contact and leave business cards and/or fliers at!
I print out a flyer of just a few items from our Tupperware Childrens line and I attach my business card & a discount coupon. I get alot of orders by doing this!
So whatever company you represent, find some items that cater to children or to moms and make up a flier!
#6. Alot of churches hold a Spring and Fall Fest! Contact them about getting a table or a booth. Alot of times this will cost you under $15.00 for a space!
Make sure you take products with you along with business oppty fliers, plenty of catalogs, business cards etc.
Do a contest drawing at these types of events. Make up entry blanks that gather the customers info so that you can initiate contact with them again!
#7. Join your local area chamber of commerce! They are always holding local business events that you can participate in.
#8. College Campuses! Dorms & Housing Students are always looking to spend money! Alot of college students are also looking for an extra income so target them with the Business Oppty too!
Drop off fliers and business cards to the College Student Center! They usually have bulletin boards, tables and other things where you can leave your information at for FREE!
#9. Contact your local area Welcome Wagon or Welcome to the Neighborhood Group! Ask them about you leaving mini catalogs, fliers, business cards, discount coupons, freebie mini gifts, etc with them.
They are always looking for additional items to place in their Welcome Bags!
#10. Contact your local area hospitals and ask for Human Resources Dept. The Majority of hospitals hand out New Mommy Diaper Bags filled with products, samples and other stuff for New Moms who just had a baby!
It's FREE for you to add in your information! I have gotten party hosts, new customers and new recruits by participating in these types of programs.
#11. Contact your local medical offices, particularly Gynecology and OB Offices and Pediatric Offices and inquire about you leaving information with them.
This is a way for you to target Parents of Children with both the home party oppty, the business oppty and new customer sales.
#12. Donate a Product to your local area Radio Station, they have numerous contests and they are always looking for sponsors!
Your donation can be written off as a tax deduction plus you will get FREE Advertising & Business Exposure for your donation!
#13. Donate a Product to your local area Bingo Halls! They are always looking for sponsors of their Bingo Prizes! Bingo is BIG in alot of areas!
#14. Call your Chamber of Commerce and find out about Local Area Job Fairs. Get a booth and set up info about the fabulous business oppty!
#15. Call your Local Area Colleges and find out when their next job/employment fair is. Alot of times you can get a booth or table for less than $35 and you will get alot of GREAT new recruit leads by participating in events like these.
#16. Contact local area car dealerships. I have 2 in my local area that hand out a small packet that I made up for FREE to their customers who come in to take a free test drive!
#17. Target your local area gyms! You can get a table space for $20 or less in most cases! Make sure you have 3-5 products on display, plenty of catalogs, business cards and fliers.
#18. Network with others in your community who are in home business. Find out what events and activities that they participate in. They are usually "in the know" and can help you get started in networking in your community.
#19. Contact Companies in your area to see if you can come in and set up a table in the employee lounge or cafeteria for a employee shopping break! These days alot of companies will allow you to do this if you ask them!
#20. Does your local area tv cable company have a local information channel? Inquire about advertising! These ads will reach thousands of potential buyers for you! I recommend you only use your website address for these types of advertising and not your personal at home address.
#21. Contact local small companies and shops to see if you can offer an exclusive discounts or freebie gift to their employees. Companies are always looking for a way to "treat" their employees to specials from the local surrounding community.
#22. Small Home Town Newspapers! I dont get too good of a response when I do big newspaper city ads, however... when I target small town newspapers I usally get a great response. I even had them let me place an ad on their wedding and engagement announcements page which I advertised the Bridal Gift Registry.
So if you are going to do any type of newspaper advertising, inquire about getting your ads on specific pages in the newspaper that targets the group of people most likely to buy from you.
#23. Get a low cost outdoor banner printed up with your business information on it. You can usually get them done for $55 or less depending on who makes it.
You can have these outdoor banners displayed at outdoor music/concert events, outdoor childrens sporting events, outdoor adult sport events, outdoor neighborhood block parties, outdoor community events, carnivals, fairs, etc.
#24. Take your business on the road during nice weather. Contact local area parks & community centers to see what their schedule of events are and inquire about setting up a booth or table.
This is a great way to network & market your business to those in your community.
#25. Community Clipper Coupon Packs & Sales Flyer Mailings. These days alot of communities have mailings such as these, contact them and see how you can participate and advertise your business.
#26. Contact small local area businesses such as hair salons, massage parlors, boutiques, banks etc.
See if you can set up a table for 1 week with 3 of your best selling products on it along with some catalogs, fliers, coupons and your business card. Keep a basket on the table for any customer orders which you can follow up on after you return back to pick up your display. Offer the store owner or manager a free gift for allowing you to do this.
You can also offer to donate a prize for a contest if they let you display the prize donated & get a copy of the contestants entry blanks after the promotion closes.
#27. Contact local area pizza shops, diners, deli's and coffee bagel shops to ask them about advertising on their paper placemats! Customers do read those ads!
#28. Contact local area restaurants, bars and clubs and see about advertising on their paper beverage coasters!
#29. Local Television Stations are always holding on-air contests & website contests for their viewers, contact them about you donating a prize or gift certificate to sponsor one of their contests! Great business exposure for you!
#30. Attend Local Area holiday shopping events. Customers who are ready to spend holiday shopping money turn out for these events by the thousands! You can usually get a booth for less than $50.00 so they are economical to participate in!
#31. Hold a local area community Block Party at your home or local community center! Families are always looking for something to do during the nice weather seasons!
Optional: Attend your neighborhood block party and set up a table with your product offerings or samples. Get out there in your community and get your business seen!
#32. Get your business listed in your cities telephone book yellow pages! Alot of them also have a coupon section too!
#33. You can take this phone book advertising one step further by finding out what company makes the plastic vinyl phone book covers which have local business ads on them and get your business added to it!
#34. Get your business information printed up on pencils and hand them out to local colleges and technical schools for them to hand out to their adult students! This keeps your business information in front of them! (make sure you only donate them to schools with adult students).
#35. Get a vehicle banner made for your automobile. I recommend the vinyl window clings or vinyl cling ones that stick to your automobile but dont scratch or remove the paint. You can easily remove them when washing your vehicle!
#36. If your city has a travel guide that tourists request, contact that business and find out how you can advertise in it too!
#37. Local City Maps! These days even city maps have advertising on them! You can usually get a small business ad printed on them for an economical price. Don't advertise your personal location. If you dont have a business location then advertise your website address or email address.
#38. Contact local area hotels, motels and bed & breakfast inns and ask them if you can do up a Lobby Basket and leave it in their Lobby.
What is a Lobby Basket? You make up little packs of info about your business & products and put them into the Lobby Basket for their patrons to take.
They usually have a pamphlet wall or area too with pamplets from local area attractions etc. If they dont have a lobby basket area, inquire about leaving your business info in their pamphlet area.
#39. Get your business info printed up on balloons! This is very economical to do! You then distribute them to local community centers, sporting events and other types of places where parents book their childrens birthday parties!
These balloons can be displayed at the birthday party giving you business exposure. You can usually get them done for .3-.8 cents each. Your business name & website address is all you need on them!
#40. Find a few other self employeed business owners in your community and team up! You can all sponsor a local parade float, parade clowns etc. Make up signs with your business info imprinted on them so that you can receive some great business exposure during the parade!
#41. Get some T-shirts printed up with your business information on it (both front & back sides) and hand them out to some friends, family and co-workers and ask them to wear them out and about in the community. This is their FREE gift for helping you to spread the word about your business!
Optional: Get ball caps printed up with your business info!
#42. Get some canvas tote bags printed up with your business information printed on it. Find a few ladies who are very active in your community and ask them to use your tote bag and give it to them for FREE under the agreement that they will use it every time they go out in the community for errands & events!
#43. Get a license plate made up for your vehicle! If you have your normal license plate on the back of your car, put your business named one on the front of the car!
You can get one with just your business name on it for about $20-$30 per plate!
#44. Wear a business name tag every time you go out into your community! Get a Catchy Slogan printed on it such as:
A. Ask me about (your company name) Products!
B. I work from home, you can too!
C. Earn some FREE when you party with me!
#45. Local Area Magazines! Does your city publish a City Magazine? If so, contact them about advertising or if they hold contests for their readers offer to donate a product or service for their contest!
#46. Check out your local area State Fairs & Community Carnivals, there are always alot of them going on during seasonal weather.
Ask about getting a booth or table & set it up with your business information! People love to shop at Fairs & Carnivals and they are looking to spend money!
#47. Get some Business Card Magnets printed up and hand them out every where you go! Have your friends & family pass them out too!
People are more apt to keep a magnetic business card compared to a regular one which gets shoved into a drawer or wallet. By having a magnetized card, your business is kept in front of the potential customer/client.
#48. When you give gifts to family, friends, neighbors, co-workers etc. make sure you give them gifts from your own company! This allows other people to see & touch your gift meaning FREE business exposure for you! (plus, you bought the gift from yourself so you are saving money!)
#49. Invite your spouses co-workers over to your home for a little mingling party! Serve some refreshments or do a cookout BBQ and make sure you have a table set up with some product displays!
If you sell kitchen or food products, make sure you use them!
#50. Do a neighborhood childrens shopping party!
I do this before Christmas and again before Mother's Day. I invite the neighborhood kids to come by and shop for gifts for their parents and loved ones. They enjoy shopping on their own and parents enjoy a small break from the children!
To make this successful make sure the products you are offering are economical, I try to keep them under $25.00 each with most being around $10.00 each. Have a table set up with some inexpensive crafting supplies and let the children make their own greeting cards to go with the gifts they have purchased or have a gift wrapping table set up so they can personally wrap their gifts!
#51. Do a joint party with another consultant in a non-competing business. Partying with a friend is always fun! You can hold it at one hosts home, your home or at a local community center. Invite every one you know and have others help you spread the word. Hang up fliers at local centers & businesses too!
#52. Put an AD in the back of local high school yearbooks! You can usually get these ads for around $20.00 which makes it affordable advertising for you!
#53. Put an AD for your business in local Athletic Sport Programs! You can find these at the High School Level, Minor League Level and at Professional Sporting Events!
#54. Contact Local Churches & Religous Groups and see if you can place an AD in their weekly church bulletins & program guides!
#55. Do you have a local Community Play House? If so, get your business ad placed in their play programs! You can usually get ads in them for less than $25.00
#56. Co-Sponsor a Local Youth Athletic Group! Baseball teams, softball teams, cheerleading squads, gymnastic squads and swim teams, etc. are always looking for sponsors!
Co-Sponsoring a team will help get your business noticed in your local area!
#57. Get a Yard Sign! If you have a home business consider getting a Yard Sign printed up and proudly display it in your front yard!
#58. Does your neighborhood hold local Meet & Greets? If so, make sure you go out and attend them! Get to know your fellow community members!
#59. Donate a Raffle Drawing Prize to a Non-Profit Group or Charity in your local community! They are always looking for prize donations for their charitable raffles.
Note: Make sure you get a receipt for tax purposes!
#60. Do you have a Online Business & Website? Consider getting some computer mouse pads printed up with your website address & business name on them! This will keep your website & business in front of them every time they sign online! This encourages them to check out your website often for new products, updates & features!
#61. Local Bus Stops & Bus Sheds! Have you noticed that alot of them have local business advertising on them? Call up the company and see how much it would cost you to advertise there too!
#62. Does your local area grocery store allow advertisers to place business ads on the back of their cash register receipts? If so, contact them about getting your business ad on there too!
#63. Local baby expo's and baby events/contests! Set up a booth or table with your business info! These events are always very popular and a great way for you to reach new customers!
#64. Watch your local newspaper for Wedding, Engagement and New Baby Annoucements! Make a list and then go to: www.searchbug.com
to try to track down addresses. You can mail off your business info to them announcing your business, bridal gift registry, baby gift registry, etc.
#65. Stamp your business info to the outside of all outgoing postal mail! Include your business card on the inside. Do this for personal mail, business mail and for paying your bills!
#66. Contact your local Fire & Ambulance companies and see if you can set up a table at their next BBQ Event or fundraiser event.
#67. Contact LOCAL Assisted Living Centers for Senior Citizens (this is different then a nursing home!) and see if you can come in & offer a shopping oppty. to their Senior Residents! Seniors can NOT get out like they used too so they appreciate being able to shop from home and the majority of them don't own computers & if they do, they are not extremely computer savvy...so offer a one on one shopping experience with them! They also appreciate the adult company!
#68. Are there local small summer concerts held in your local parks? We have them here during the summer months! Ask about advertising options during these community events!
#69. BUY little boxes of Smartie (tm) Candies! Put your Business info on one side & on the front side slap on a label that says "Be a Smartie, Earn FREE (Your Company Name) w/a Party!" Hand them out every where you go!
#70. Make up candy packs with your business info attached to them and hand out to the Halloween Trick or Treaters!
#71. Exchange Business Cards, Fliers or Coupons with another Home Party Consultant in a NON-Competing Business and place her filler in your bags & outgoing packages & have her do the same for you! Sort of "scratching each others backs".
#72. The PUBLIC Library! I go in there often and see all kinds of local advertisements for businesses there! See if you can leave a catalog & a few business cards!
#73. Do a CATALOG SWAP with another party plan consultant (NON competing business). See if she will swap a few catalogs with you. You hand out a few of her catalogs at the END of your party and have her do the same! Hand them out as guests are LEAVING the party!
#74. I have a friend & fellow network member who prints out for me...mint books...she prints a pretty graphic on it, along with my business info...they look like matchbooks and inside is a piece of peppermint hard candy! They are inexpensive too! I think I paid $8.00 for 40+ of them! She includes the candy too! I can refer her to you if you want to try those! Tell Tonya that Shelly sent ya!
www.bboopsworld.com/
#75. Do a PARTY SWAP with a Consultant in another HOME party business! (NON-COMPETING!) Tell her if she holds a (Your Company) Party for you.....you will hold a XYZ Party for her!
#76. Ask about getting your info printed onto golf tee's and golf balls & then donate them to a local golf course or mini golf course!
#77. FOAM DRINK COZIES, the foam thingie you wrap around a cold beverage can! See if you can get some of those with your business info on them & hand them out at local sporting events!
#78. Indoor Concert Arena's. Have you attended a concert lately? Tons of advertising by local and national merchants at concerts! Check into doing some advertising!
#79. Children LOVE Stickers! Buy a slew of stickers with your business name on them....hand them out! Chances are that the kid's parents will see the stickers too!
#80. Temporary Employment Agencies...again drop off packets of info about Your Business Oppty to them. The Economy is sluggish in alot of the areas in the USA...ask Temp. Employment Agencies to refer some clients to you who may be interested in a (Your Company Name) Home Business!!! You could offer the staff a discount or free gift for referrals.
#81. Print up some flyers and get permission from local shopping centers to see if you can leave them on car windshields! Always ASK permission first!
#82. Does your community print up FREE Renters Guides, House Buying Guides Etc? (you can usually find them for FREE at your local supermarket). If so, contact them about placing your business ad inside one!
#83. Got a local ice cream man who drives around in his ice cream truck throughout your community? Talk to him about passing out flyers or letting you add a logo onto his truck via a vinyl cling logo banner!
#84. Do a web search for you local county, local township and surrounding areas. I found tons of websites for my area with FREE online business directories which I was able to get my website listed in. They also have offline ADS that you can advertise in too! A great way to also find out about upcoming local community events to participate in!
#85. Are there any professional moving companies in your area? If so, contact them! They usually give out new business packet info to their customers/clients to welcome them to their new home. See about adding your business information to their "New Move" Packs!
#86. Local small town radio stations that are usually found on the AM frequency usually offer very low-cost local area advertising on their small radio station. A great way to get your business info out to those in your local community.
#87. Get your business information printed out onto paper text book covers! You can make them yourself! Donate them to local area adult technical schools and colleges!
#88. Is there a local business in your area holding a upcoming Grand Opening? If so, contact them! Alot of times they are giving away freebies to the first few hundred customers plus they do heavy advertising announcing their Grand Opening. This is a GREAT way for you to capitalize on that!
#89. Get your business info printed up on inexpensive bookmarks! Then give them to local area colleges, adult technical schools, book reading groups, libraries etc. You can usually print up your own bookmarks with your business info on them for less than .8 cents each! This will keep your business info infront of those avid book readers! They are also great to give away for FREE with customer orders!
#90. Put your Business Knowledge to Work! Offer to teach classes to adults!
Examples: If you are with a kitchen/cooking company offer to teach adults to cook! They are always looking for fast & easy ways to prepare healthy meals!
If you are a scrapbooking consultant, offer to teach a class to new moms on how to scrapbook new baby pages!
If you are a Bath/Body/Spa consultant offer to teach pampering classes to women & moms!
You can find adult programs by contacting: Local Community Centers, Local Civic Groups and alot of High Schools & Community Colleges offer evening classes to adults. (continuing education).
This generates leads & sales and only takes a short amount of time!
#91. Put the word out to your friends, family & co-workers that you offer freebies to party go'ers. What do I mean?
Well, people who are holding baby showers, bridal showers, birthday parties, anniversary parties etc. contact me about my freebies. They make up party goodie bags and are always looking for things to stuff them with. Depending on what type of party it is depends on what I donate!
I print out pretty bookmarks, recipe cards, candy wrappers, gift bag tags, shopping lists, chore lists etc. with pretty designs on them along with my business info. I also attach a coupon. I keep my cost down to .15 cents per person. An inexpensive way to reach new potential customers.
#92. Print out your own Re-ordering labels! If you sell consumable goods (foods, spices, soaps, bath products, cosmetics etc) make sure you stick on a small re-ordering info sticker with your business info on it so that your customer can easily locate your information for placing reorders! This is also important to do considering some customers purchase items from you to give as a gift, this way the person who received the gift will also know how to contact you and will become a potential new customer for you!
#93. Establish a Referral program for your business and print out referral coupons! Offer established customers a free little gift or personal discount if they refer a new customer to you! I like to give out 3 Referral Coupons to every new customer I get so that they know they will be rewarded for referring new customers to me.
Established customers are more apt to refer new customers to you if they know they will be rewarded for that referral. Verbal referral programs don't work well, so print up referral coupons or referral promotion cards to hand out to your established customers. I also like to put a "referral reward" sticker in all of my Tupperware catalogs. You can also add a sticker to the backs of your business cards.
#94. Print out Coloring Pages with a small section on them advertising your business and donate them to local area restaurants, daycares etc. I was able to find 4pc. crayon sets for ONLY .05 cents a box which I also donated along with the printed out coloring pages! Parents hang them on the front of their refrigerators after the children are done coloring them which keeps your business in front of the parent daily! Cost: About .03 cents for printed out coloring page with your business info located some where on it and .05 cents for the mini box of crayons.
Try to find a design that relates to your business for the best effect.
#95. Contact your local area Girl Scouts, 4-H Club and other youth groups. Talk to them about you coming in to do a project with the youth's in the group. You can also talk to them about your business fundraiser program if you offer one. During the summer time there are alot of youth camps throughout the community. You can also find youth camps through local churches. Some are seasonal and some are year long programs. The YMCA is also a great resource!
For Example: If you are a Kitchen Consultant, come in and teach the youth how to cook or about kitchen safety. If you sell pet products, go in and talk about grooming a pet. If you sell candles, go in and make some mini candles or teach them how to decorate them for gifts. Be creative!
#96. If you are crafty with your computer you can print out tea bag wrappers with a pretty design on them along with your business information. I purchased a few boxes of individually wrapped tea bags and then put my printed business tea bag wrapper over it. You can hand them out throughout your community.
I like donating them to: Assisted Living Centers, Senior Community Centers, Daycare Centers (to be given to the parents & teachers), School Teacher Lounges, Employee Break Rooms etc.
Example of Cost: .03 cents for a printed color wraper and about .03-.05 cents per tea bag.
#97 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).
#98 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!
#99 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.)
#100. Get your business info printed onto matchbooks! Donate the matchbooks to candle shops, smoke shops, clubs etc. to help get your business name out in your community!

About The Author

Shelly Hill
I have been a working from home with a home party plan company for 2 1/2 years. I also manage a successful online women networking group. I have a total of 18 years of home party & direct sales experience.
http://my.tupperware.com/Ravish30