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MattyMattyChooChoo 01-12-2007 10:48 AM

A little business advice?
 
I'm opening a kid business, and I could use some ideas for where/how to advertise.

So far, the catholic churches in town have advertising space on the back page of their bulletins, while the dozen or so protestant churches apparently don't have any place to advertise.

Businesses may only advertise in the public schools if the school board has approved first. I'm not sure about private schools, I still need to call around.

We recently purchased advertising space in LA Parenting.

Any other good ideas?

Isaac-Saxxon 01-12-2007 04:23 PM

You got to pay the advertising man his due
 
If you want to dance you got to pay the band and if you want to advertise you got to pay the man. Try radio, news paper or TV :D
Isaac

geodood 01-12-2007 06:33 PM

Matty, here are some general as well as specific ideas for targeting your market.

In a general sense, I like to keep in mind the 4 P's of marketing; Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. You have a Product already it sounds like. And also a Price and Place, so now it comes down to Promotion which is the heart of your question. The reason I mention this is because if your promotion is disappointing, you might want to revisit the other 3 P’s to make sure you have all of your bases covered.

If I was promoting a local kids business, I would take a look not only at churches but where they advertise as well. If it’s good for a church, it may be a good place for you too. You can advertise online, or else use more traditional means of advertising.

May I suggest contacting Eric McFarland at www.redriverkids.com as a start. He is a minister of Broadmoor Methodist Church. I bet he could offer some advice and maybe a chance to advertise on his sites such as redriverkids.com.

http://www.redriverkids.com

For more traditional means, Isaac pointed out paying for radio, tv or newspaper. I call this the "shotgun" approach and it often works, if your budget allows for that level of "name branding". But if you don’t have a lot of money to spend, it may require some creativity to reach your specific market. And a webpage may help you as well. If you intend on starting a day-care, you might even consider some webcams for your webpage, so parents can look in on their children throughout the day. Also think about offering an email Newsletter than anyone can sign up for.

Other places to research might include “coffee news” which redriverkids advertises in. You might even ask the people at shreveporttimes.com or shreveport.com what an ad would cost. ;-) But even if you don’t advertise online, you should post (for free) about your new company. Most discussion boards allow you to use your webpage address or phone number in your “signature” in every post and/or your “profile” page. So posting is like passing out business cards. You never know when one might lead to a new sale.

Another idea might be to contact Tom Pace at Cumulus Radio who sponsors the “Toys for Tots” program. Tom knows a lot of people in town and might have some ideas for you.

Also vinyl banners can be great if you know people who will allow you to hang on up in their business. I would make up 3 or 4 banners and see if you can “sponsor” a kids sport like soccer or whatever. Bowling is America’s #1 “family sport”. Holiday Lanes in Bossier hosts birthday parties and many kids events and programs. They have a “SWAT” ad on their clock. Maybe they are open to having other ads as well. You gotta turn off as many rocks as you can to see what might be underneath. (like you did by posting here!)

I wish you Good Luck in your new venture! And please let us know if you need any more ideas. :)


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