Other methods may work for you

I haven’t included these other marketing methods on the site because, as I promised, everything on the site is based on my own personal experience. I have little or no experience of the following and apologise to anyone who has a real interest in any of these. You need guidance from someone other than me.

Trade shows
I have exhibited at many trade shows over the years, but never found them to be a very good source of leads for the products and services I was selling at the time. Many of the shows were attended by students and low-level information gatherers (or “tyre kickers” as they are affectionately known). Not many decision-makers made the effort to attend. I appreciate this is vastly different in many other industries, where trade shows are a major source of business. However, my experience does not allow me to speak authoritatively on the subject.

Trade show attendances have also dropped away alarmingly now that so much product information is freely available on the Internet,

Sales promotion
I haven’t covered sales promotion in any depth, although I have made references in places. The main reason again is that my experience in this area is limited. By sales promotion I mean the following which you may want to look at in more detail: promotional gifts; money-off coupons; competitions; prize draws.

Card decks & catalogues
These are like a cross between leaflets and hitch-hiking on someone else’s mailing, both of which I have covered. The basic idea is that your message is included with a number of others, typically between twenty and fifty. The recipient can use the card or your catalogue entry to enquire further. As an example, Marketing Week distributes card decks to its own mailing lists.

TV/Radio commercials
These are the most expensive advertising format, ranking alongside full-page ads in the national dailies. Short local radio ads may be effective for the right product or service, but I’ve never tried it either for myself or my clients. It just wasn’t right for the products and services I’ve worked with to date.