Anyone can start a business, but it takes customers to grow a business. Let's look at how to find customers, tell them about your product, and get them to buy. We call this process "Marketing."

"Marketing" is actually an "umbrella" term that means all the things you do to tell and sell. Advertising, sales, and public relations all come under the umbrella of marketing.

When you hand out business cards or put up a sign in your yard, you are marketing. When you knock on doors and ask for jobs, you are marketing. If you give away free samples of your cookies, that's marketing. Putting an advertisement in the newspaper is marketing.

Big corporations often have whole departments of people whose only job is marketing. But most entrepreneurs start out small like you. They have no employees and they do everything themselves. They invent the business and they market the business. Once they get customers, they do all the work (and they get all the pay).

Young entrepreneurs have to know how to do every job in their business. Marketing is one of the most important and creative jobs of a business owner. Here are some techniques other young entrepreneurs have successfully used:

1. Wear Your Ad--Create a t-shirt advertising your business, and wear it when you go out to sell. Other items you can put your name on are caps, jackets, sweatshirts, or thing you carry with you, such as duffel bags, clipboards, or briefcases.

2. Get Attention--Put balloons on your signs or streamers on your banners. Wear a costume when you sell tickets to your Halloween party. Forget the usual sales talk, and sing a rap song to sell your home-baked cookies.

3. Give Freebies--Put coupons on your neighbors' doors for one hour of free babysitting or a half-price car wash. Give free demonstrations on window washing. Offer free samples of your homemade candy and fudge.

4. Find Unlikely Places--Put a sign on your bike or in your car window. Ask a teacher to put your flyers in the teacher's lounge. Sell snowcones from your tailgate at the next swim meet.

5. Go to Press--Get your school newspaper or write an article for your community newsletter. If you're doing something unusual, call the local news reporters and invite them to attend.

You can probably think of many more marketing possibilities. Remember to promote your product or service whenever you can.

Bonnie Drew is the author of FAST CASH FOR KIDS (2nd edition), published by Career Press (1-800-227-3371). She is also the creator of the KIDS BUSINESS software for young entrepreneurs, available from Homeland Publications (713-332-9764).

Drew is also Editor of YoungBiz online magazine, published by Kid's Way, Inc., a company that helps youth prepare for business and the workplace of the 21st century. For more information, write to Kid's Way at 5589 Peachtree Rd, Chamblee, GA 30341 or call toll free 1-888-KidsWay (1-888-543-7929). YoungBiz magazine can be found at http://www.youngbiz.com

      

         

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