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Sell More By Giving Things Away

by Don Cooper    

An attendee and two of his colleagues were on their way to theseminar that morning and found themselves stuck in traffic next toa Snapple delivery truck.  They jokingly called out to thedriver, who was unloading the truck to make a delivery, “Hey,how about some free cases of Snapple?”  “Sorry,” the driver responded, “I can't dothat.”  “But,” he continued, “I CANgive you three bottles.”  He quickly handed threebottles of Snapple to the stunned occupants of the car, smiled, andwalked inside the building to finish his delivery.

The result?  As the attendee told the rest of the audience,“I'm going to buy a lot more Snapple from nowon!”  Three bottles of Snapple costs the distributorabout a dollar.  For a miniscule investment, that drivercreated three customers for life, not to mention the positiveword-of-mouth.

What can YOU give away to encourage people to buy fromyou?  Here are 34 ideas:

Samples

Accessories

Last year's edition

Gift certificates

Children's toys

T-shirts

Hats

Ad specialties: pens, coffee mugs, letter openers, etc.

Photographs

Software

Music: live or recorded

Books

Magazines

Referrals (If you help your prospects find new customers,they'll buy everything they can from you.)

Community service

Refreshments

Consultations

Bumper stickers

Window decals

Publicity

Information: white papers, magazine articles, surveys,newsletters

Textbook covers

Event tickets

Candy

Pre-paid calling cards

Lottery tickets

Key tags

Stuffed animals (especially if your company uses a mascot)

Temporary tattoos

Buttons and pins

Magnets

Calendars

Watches

Bookmarks


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Don Cooper is a partner in The Guerrilla Group, Inc., and is a contributing author of CONFESSIONS OF SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTERS, published by Success Showcase Publishing. You can reach him at 800-247-9145 or Don@GuerrillaGroup.com. Get your FREE subscriptio