Donate Prizes To Bring In More Business
Every day brand new businesses make their start. Some of them fail, many experience a fair amount of success. Your direct sales business success is directly related to how many people know that you exist. One way to make sure people know about your business is through the goodness of your heart. Donate some prizes to organizations that need them.
Too often we forget about charity when we think of all the other ways to market our business. Giving to charity does imply that we’re giving away product for free, but that’s not the real goal of the gesture. The ultimate goal is to bring more exposure to our business by making ourselves known with our prize.
Donations to to local and charitable events can be of several varieties. There are:
- Auctions
- Fundraisers (fashion shows, dinners, recitals)
- Local sporting events
- School functions
- Conferences
- Community events (carnivals, parades, fairs)
- Team sports (Little League, soccer, cheerleading, football)
Almost all donations are made with the stipulation that the business doing the donating gets a mention for the product. This can be in a program, on paraphernalia at the event, or a voiced mention at the event. Online mentions can include a link or post on a blog or website, mention in a newsletter, on Twitter, etc. In any case, people find out that you exist and then want to take a look more closely at what you’re offering.
Charitable donations are also an effective way to website traffic. Most events create a logo specifically for the event. Ask for permission to use the logo and add it to your website under a heading like, “Supporter of this or that.” Also, a company that gives is looked on favorably by visitors as one that makes a contribution to their local or online community. That one thing can increase sales.
Whatever product you donate, make sure it’s appropriate for the type of event you’re supporting. For example, a fashion show may need jewelry donated for models to wear in the amateur fashion show. A local Little League team may be in need of new jerseys. If you’re into kids’ apparel or screenprinting, go ahead and donate the uniforms.
With the first instance, the sponsors of the fashion show may hold an auction for the jewelry after the show to raise more money. Here’s your chance to shine. You can design additional packaging for the jewelry, like keepsake boxes, with your contact info and business name on an address label attached to the box. Now whoever wins the jewelry will also be exposed to your products and have your contact information.
It’s the same with the uniforms. Your name would be stenciled on the back as one of the sponsors of the team or on their hats or something of that nature. Besides your name, add your website address. This is where having a separate website aside from the site that the company provides is helpful. Your domain (.com) name will be unique, memorable and easy to find on the Internet.
If you happen to be asked to donate products for a raffle, don’t include just the products but also give some self-labeled items. If you sell candy for your business, put some candy in a mug with your business name and website url on it. If you sell home décor, package a pillow for the raffle with a pillow cover bearing your business website name and address.
Prize donations out of the goodness of your heart pays off in bigger ways than just all those good feelings. You’ll get your name out there and people will be able to try your products, which will increase business and traffic to your website at the same time.
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