by Susan Wilson Solovic, CEO, SBTV

    This article was published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

Because customers and clients are bombarded with advertising messages, it’s becoming tougher and tougher to make sure our marketing messages are heard. Think about how many ads you’ve heard already today. Now ask yourself how many you actually paid attention to and remember. Let me share with you how one creative entrepreneur captured media attention for her business. By the way, she just happened to have been my mother. 

Mom opened a children’s store in the small town where I grew in the late 50s. I’m sure she didn’t have a lot of money to market but she always managed to come up with some imaginative ideas. In March 1960, she read an article about the newly born Prince Andrew in England who was wearing hand-me-down diapers and she saw and opportunity. (This was before invention of disposable diapers.) She boxed up a dozen cloth diapers to ship to Buckingham Palace for the newly born Prince and notified the press. Here’s a copy of the front page of the March 14, 1960 newspaper with my mom on front and center. Pretty clever. 

Mass media advertising is expensive and you probably won’t get the results you desire. So what creative things are you doing to get the word out about your business? Think about ways you can tie into current events. Look for unique ways to touch your customers. Pay attention to where they get their information. What types of activities are they involved with?  Also, if you have marketing strategies that have worked for you and are willing to share, please do so. As small business owners, we are always looking for new ideas.

Susan Wilson Solovic is CEO of SBTV.com – Small Business Television.  SBTV.com is the first and only video news and information destination site for America’s small businesses. Solovic is the author of “The Girls’ Guide to Building a Million Dollar Business” which is consistently ranked among the top 25 books for women in business on Amazon and was listed as a “must read” in Entrepreneur magazine.  A winner of many prestigious awards and a popular guest speaker, Solovic has also spoken to more than 250,000 small businesses over the past four years. New members can sign up at SBTV and receive many benefits of membership. Solovic can be reached at: ssolovic@sbtv.com