Low-Tech Marketing in a High-Tech World
by Ken Hall

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She gets several copies of magazines that have articles of interest to people who have the money to travel. She buys the likes of Condé Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, National Geographic Traveler, Outdoor Life, Big Game Fishing Journal, and others. She gets several copies of each.

She makes labels for the magazines using stock she can print from her home computer. The labels read, “This magazine placed here for your enjoyment. If you see an interesting trip, call me right now at XXX-XXX-XXXX.”

The secret in placing the magazines is to find places where people have the time and are usually looking for something to read, like hair salons, barber shops, auto dealership repair waiting lounges, dentists, etc. She approached the manager and said she wanted to put one or two of her magazines in the waiting room for their clients to read. There was no charge and she planned on changing the magazines at least once a month, if not more frequently.

Her low-tech marketing doesn’t stop with just placing the magazines. When time permits, she takes new magazines in and rotates her “inventory” and then goes home and studies the magazines to see if she can determine if any of the stories have been looked at more than others. If so, she makes another label saying, “Many have found this an interesting idea. Call me and I can give you more information about it. Aimee, XXX-XXX-XXXX.” She sticks one at the beginning of the article, and one at the end, and then puts the magazines back into the waiting rooms.

The time required to launch this program is pretty minimal. When she got the idea, she went to her dentist and her hair stylist and told them what she was thinking of doing. They readily agreed, and she was off and running.

Does this program pay off for her? Absolutely – and the surprise has been the results from Outdoor Life and Big Game Fishing Journal. Those go to barber shops, and she stuffed them with flyers for fishing trips. She gets several calls a month from men wanting to plan fishing and hunting trips to Canada, Mexico, and even Asia.

Would a magazine program like this work for you? Think about your clientele. Where do they gather? Where do they spend time sitting and waiting to get in to see someone? Are there places where they have to kill time? Can you supply reading material in which they would be interested? Follow Aimee’s lead and look for low tech ways to find new clients.

Ken Hall is president of www.HomeBasedPros.com, a weekly e-letter with marketing and sales tips for the home-based travel agent. For more information and to sign up, go to www.HomeBasedPros.com.

(Credit: HomeBasedPros.com)