Day 67: Just A Little Off The Top.

I think today I'll mention a mode of marketing that perhaps some people haven't thought of.


I call it "Walkabout Marketing"...

The best example I can give you of this is the picture for today. I took the wife out for an afternoon of pampering and it included her getting her hair done. Over the course of the 2 hours or so that the whole process took we got to chatting with the women doing her hair and the topic of my being a balloon entertainer came up. Suddenly I was accosted by the employees of the salon all asking if they could have a balloon animal. I'm a man who knows not to argue with half a dozen females wielding scissors , so I went out to my car to get my balloons.


After making a few requests the idea of making a monkey holding scissors came to mind so I threw together the guy in the picture.
I hung him from the sign in front of the entrance to greet the new customers coming in.


The manager asked me to leave some business cards in case people ask about me. You read that right... The manager asked me to leave my cards. I didn't have to ask for permission, or go through corporate. I spent some time that I would have been sitting bored in a chair anyway making balloons for the girls that were taking care of my wife. She got a little extra pampering from them, which earned me brownie points. I now have a salon full of people that will be talking about my work for at least a week or so to most of the moms that come into their shop. I also ended up getting a discount from the manager when it came time to pay for the wifes hair.


This is a good example why I feel you should always have some balloons on you, or at least be willing to entertain the idea of making something for someone that is providing you a service.


See you tomorrow.