a thought about advertising

One of the scariest things when you run your own business is what you do about advertising.

There are loads of well priced and even free ways to advertise. You’ve just gotta do your research. It does take time, but before you sign a cheque for some company to print your ad in some paper or put you on some screen, ask yourself one question, “why should I do this?”

Ask yourself, have you heard of the place your advertising? If so why and how? I advertise in a local paper and the reason I agreed to that is that the place I worked when I was a student, used to advertise in it. So I knew the name, knew they were reliable, had built a good reputation etc, so I knew I could trust them.

But also don’t get sucked in by the big players either. There’s a huge directory everyone knows of, (they’re yellow) and they offer everyone a free listing, which is fab! But they will phone you and try to sell you there big products. Now, you know the name, you know they have been going for quite a few years, understatement of the year, but just watch because their product really only works for some many people.

I know quite a few businesses that live of the work they get from this directory they don’t advertise anywhere else, but I also know others that never hear a peep from them. Like if you are a bio chemist, I don’t think folks are going to look you up in an online business directory, but they probably will if you’re a pest control guy/gall! So maybe you don’t need anything more than the free listing.

But the thing that amazed me was that once you give one of these companies the time of day the rest come to knock at your door, and even more amazing they can be quite aggressive when you don’t want anything. "But why not? Surely you would be happy to take on more business?" well duh! “Then why don't you want to take an advert with us?" then come the stats as to how awesome they are! They really can pull you in! Learn how to say no.

But there is another way, my dad feels that when they call you it’s a great opportunity to sell them one of his fire extinguishers, he’s had no sales yet but definitely talked to a few more managers than he would have on the days they call. Maybe next time I’ll see if they need a t-shirt done up!

coz i'm a geek!

just wanted to put our other sites on, there's a few coz i love to sign up to everything! yes i'm sad, dont you judge me!

website www.pinknikdesigns.com
myspace www.myspace.com/pinknikdesigns
twitter www.twitter.com/pinknikdesigns
facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10955188724
bebo group http://www.bebo.com/pinknikdesigns
bebo profilehttp://www.bebo.com/pinknikd
business community site http://pinknikdesigns.bttradespace.com/

ok so now if your sad like me you can find more crap about me n my wee business, and possibly more random stuff i like!

finally a picture

right so i've really taken my sweet time here getting a picture of our stall up. i hope you've not been holding your breathe coz its not all that great! but its been my little slice of heaven for 2 weeks.

small business - mall trading final

BEING SELF EMPLOYED
Ok so from this experience I’ve found that;
a) This may not be the most suitable venue for my business. I either need someone up there full time to open and close and call me with any order – but here starts the problem of hiring someone!! Or
b) Get something full time so I can take all my gear up to the mall. Or maybe
c) Find some other way of advertising and promoting my business!
But while I can’t really gather all malls in one group it seems like a lot of people dictating how you are meant to run your business. Surely this takes the fun out of being self employed? I love the flexibility of being able to start and finish when I please, to display my products in a way that suit my tastes.
My experience working in the mall has not been a bad one, the 14 hours days I can do without, but while working on your own like have been in a workshop means no one to talk to for most of your day, this is a good opportunity to network and meet other self employed people or the folks that work for them. The banter is lively, especially since I’ve been in a wee group of kiosks and the mall staff very welcoming and friendly.
As usual this is not for everyone, if you have a product that is a bit easier to sell that customised t-shirts, then this would be the perfect thing for you. Being in the mall is not for me I love my freedom and space, in a way knowing I’m the only that can dictate 99.9% of the rules sits well with me. I have promised my staff we’d not do it again but I know I will, I’ll just have to bribe them to make sure they’re willing to spend the days up there when not much happens.

small business - mall trading cont'd

CONS!
But here’s the stuff you don’t get told:
· you have to be at the stall every hour the mall is open
· you can’t leave your stall unattended
· certain places have a dress code
· you aren’t meant to eat or drink at the stall
· no personal items are to be on display
· you may have to check that your display is acceptable to the mall management
· your time keeping is noted and will be logged
Doing all this is if there is only you in your business is hard! Who watches the stall if you go have lunch, coz you’re not meant to eat at the stall! Who takes orders if you have to go make them up! What happens if you leave early or start late one too many times? Remember they’re makes notes about this.
Now I’ve been quite lucky because I’ve only really been there for 2 weeks at a time I’m not give much grief about it as the mall staff know I’ve got to get my orders made up. But I have seen comments being made to others for packing up early, but nothing to much more. Although I have heard about other places that won’t give you your kiosk cover back until the mall closes. Does that promote flexibility?

small business - running from a mall kiosk

PROS?!

Well we're just finishing week 2 in the Mall. I miss the comfort of the workshop and can’t wait to get back, although the banter up here is great!

I’ve had a stall in the mall twice now and I can’t quite see how they can say they can help you build your business. The incentive for building a business in the mall sounds good but, in reality when you find out the small details that they don’t put in their sales pitch when you first hear it you may change your mind. And from what I’m finding this is pretty standard through most malls, my source for this is the other kiosk traders, as most of them have stalls in at least one other mall.

Here are the highlights from the pitch you get:
flexibility - you are not on a long term fixed lease, all your are committed to is a week at a time unless you agree differently with the management, unlike high st premises which could be as little as 5 years
Reasonable costs - most of the time your rent includes electricity, plus for location you’re not paying usual high st prices for premises. Plus your rates are low if you qualify for small business discount. Rates for 2 weeks with full discount can be as little as £1.99 if you don’t have any other premises.
great visibility - you are in an area you choose with high foot fall, with so many thousands of people passing you every day.

Ok so far this sounds perfect, as a newish business I need a place my products and service can be seen, but I have to watch the cost etc.