Small Business Makeovers

“If they don’t try you the first time, then they’ll never try you the second time and they’ll never try you the first time if you don’t give them an irresistible reason to!”

- T. Harv Eker, NY Times Best-selling Author of “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”

Harv tells a story about an ice cream retail store that was located in a low-visibility location in a strip mall. Business was slow and the owner was on the brink of closing the shop. She had tried all the usual marketing ideas and nothing seemed to work.  The problem was that nobody knew the store was there.

Case Study – Cones ‘R Us

Then Harv explained the concept of the irresistible offer: offer something at a ridiculous price or for free to get people to try you for the first time. So they put up “bandit” signs and posters all over the area that read:

FREE ICE CREAM CONES
Saturday June 12
Cones ‘R Us – 3345 Main St. Plaza

What do you think happened? The little store was swamped with people all day long. There was a line-up out the door of people wanting free ice-cream cones.

Now Cones ‘R Us was on the map. People had tried them the first time. Now the job was to get them to come back. This was accomplished by giving everyone who got a free cone a coupon for a $1 discount on their next purchase of $5 or more. The cost of the ice cream that they gave away was nothing compared to the profits that they made on the repeat sales to all those grateful and enthusiastic customers. Do you think people told other people about the free ice cream? You betcha.

That ice cream store was later sold for a tidy profit, all thanks to the irresistible offer.

Create Your Irresistible Offer

Okay, so maybe your product costs more than ice cream and giving it away would be nuts. I get that. But can you give away a taste, a sample, a trial, some advice, a consultation, an inspection, a seminar, a free report, free video or free CD.

Remember to tell people why you are giving it away from free. The best reason is because you want them to try you out. Other reasons might include that you are so passionate about what you do that you want to help as many people as possible. I’ll talk more about what to ask for in return the next tip.