Contests as a Retail Marketing Strategy

Contests are an excellent retail marketing tactic for generating 'buzz' and increasing foot traffic to a retail store. Contests are also a method by which to collect contact data from customers, to be used for direct mail and e-mail marketing campaigns.

The types of contests a retailer can plan are as limitless as his imagination. The objective of any contest should be to create the best possible incentive to get customers into the store, and to motivate them to place their contact information into the drawing box. Usually the incentive is a valuable grand prize, but can also take the form of a small gift given just for entering.

One example of a contest idea might be to ask customers to help name a mascot or character associated with the business. A retailer can create an entry form providing space for a contest entrant's name, address, phone number, e-mail address and mascot name suggestion. If the retailer has a website, customers can enter the contest via an online entry form as well. The retailer can set dates associated with the contest such as an entry deadline, a first round selection of three finalists, and finally the date to announce the grand prize winner. The contest rules and progress can be included in all advertising and marketing campaigns within the contest timeframe, including the store's voicemail greeting, flyers, media advertising and website.

The grand prize for this contest might be an opportunity for the winner to appear in a series of local advertisements with the mascot and to have her name and photo appear on the air, in the press, and on the website. In addition, a prize basket could be offered to the winner and to the two semi-finalists.

Another tactic to collect additional contact data and to add longevity to the event might be to conduct the contest in two parts: once the three finalists have been selected, customers can be called back into the store or to the website to vote for their favorite of the three possible choices. In addition to being a fun idea, this type of contest can create great word-of-mouth advertising and a great deal of foot traffic.

Contests with media tie-ins are particularly good traffic builders, as the reach for potential entrants is greater than usual. An example of this type of contest might involve a retail store owner inviting customers to come into the store to obtain a lottery-type ticket of numbers, in exchange for entering the contest via the entry form providing their contact information. Customers would be instructed to listen to a particular radio station at a particular time, or to purchase the local newspaper on a particular date to obtain the winning numbers drawn and compare them to her ticket. The customer holding the winning ticket is the grand prize winner.

The publication or station printing or airing your ads benefits from a tie-in contest, as it receives an increase in listeners and newspaper sales on a particular day. A radio station may provide a discounted advertising rate to motivate a retailer to direct listeners to a show in need of a ratings boost, or to a particular section of the newspaper in need of readers.

Contests are great opportunities to obtain contact information, generate foot traffic, and inspire word-of-mouth advertising for a retail store. Include a series of contests in your annual retail marketing plan.

About the Author

Jim O'Donnell of Jaguar Consulting, Inc. in Kingston, NH provides marketing and business development services for small business and has developed a series of Retail Marketing Checklists designed to help small business owners achieve a higher growth and profitability. He can be reached at (603) 642-8338, JimODonnell@JaguarConsulting.com, or http://WWW.Checklists4Business.com to review all checklists that are currently available.

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7 Steps to 7K In 7 Days

Real estate wholesaling is a great way to make cash quickly and easily. In fact, virtual wholesaling, allows you to use the power of the internet to generate quick cash in as little as seven days.

Following, we will give you a step by step breakdown, on how you can make 7,000 in 7 days.

Step 1: Find a deal online and put under contract or option. You can find deals in many locations, including Ebay. You can also do a search for "investment properties" or "rehab properties". Those are great search terms. Some other specific websites that you can visit are hud, southernreo, ocwen, lendersreo, countrywide and propertydisposal. Ideally, you should be able to find pictures, price, contact and other pertinent information on the website. Remember, you are doing this virtually, so you should not have to leave your home.

The seller should have their contact information listed with the property. Give them a quick call, send them an e-mail or both, to do what you can to lock the property down. One of the virtues of wholesaling properties virtually, is that the deals DO NOT have to be in your hometown. If they are, that is fine, but you are not confined to any geographic location. You can literally search across the states, until you find the deal for you.

Step 2: Assess the deal. Basically, you want to make sure that the numbers make sense and that this is really a good deal. To do this, you want to compare recent sales in the area, with the deal that you are looking at. Be sure to take into account any repairs if any that need to be completed. You also want to compare deals that are the same construction and configuration. For example, if your deal is a three bedroom brick house with 2 baths, it would be a good idea to compare those types of sales. There are two online resources that you can use to make these comparisions and assess your deal. They are virtualinvestorcomps and zillow.

Step 3: Create your flyer or other marketing materials. There are key bits of information that you want to include. They are: a picture of the house, your sales price, the cost of repairs, and the ARV After Repair Value. You can probably use the same picture that you found when you located the deal on-line. It is also a good idea to put information about any other extras that the house may have. For instance, you can list hardwood floors, ceiling fans, appliances or anything else that makes the deal stand out.

Be creative and include the type of information that you would want to see if you were looking to buy the property. Be sure to include your contact information, so that prospective buyers know how to get in touch with you.

Step 4: Post the property. This will allow other investors to know about the deal that you have. Two good websites for this are craigslist and backpage. If you already have an e-mail list of buyers, you should send the deal out to your list right away. You can also do another on-line search to see where you can post your deal.

Step 5: Now is the time for you to communicate with your buyers. Respond to any e-mails questions or phone calls that you received. When you find a buyer who is willing to pay your price, put the property under contract. Ideally, you should e-mail them the contract and have them fax you the signed copy. You can always have them mail the original.

Step 6: Cash is king. This is something that you must never, ever, forget. Whenever possible, you want a buyer who can pay cash. You want to tell your seller that you can close with cash. This will help you get more offers accepted quickly, and at a lower price. Of course, if you say that, you have to be able to close with cash. So you always want to have cash buyers. This is not as hard as it may initially sound, and it makes everything flow much more smoothly. So, step 6 is to coordinate a cash closing.

Step 7: Close Most likely, your closing can be done virtually as well. Check on-line for closing attorneys and/or title agents that will do this for you. If you cannot locate one, choose one who will e-mail documents to you, your seller and your buyer. Once you all send in the originals, you will get paid

And thats it. This is your step by step guideline on how you can make 7K in 7 days using the power of virtual wholesaling.

Good luck and God bless


About the Author

We teach people how to use the internet and other technology and make six or seven figures a year buying and selling properties all across the USA. We offer a complete turnkey A to Z package to buy and sell properties all across the USA in any market good, bad or ugly. See more info at

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