Promoting Your Business on CD

In the Music industry, whenever most independentmusicians release a new recording today, acertain aspect of their promotion entails theirdistribution and giveaway of FREE samples oftheir music on a separate promotional compactdisc. This serves as a 'teaser' in enticingprospects to then go to record stores to buy thefull-length recording.As 'writeable' promo discs can be purchasedinexpensively at stores such as Wal-Mart, afterwhich the music samples are copied from thehard drive to the CD, or by using what is known asa CD burner (high-speed duplicator), it shouldcome as no surprise that even the most financiallychallenged musicians are now embracing thisinvaluable and well proven promotional aspect forbringing immediate attention to their music.And, as this method has proven unanimouslybeneficial in terms of ease of finance, promotionand time, there is absolutely no reason that asimilar process cannot also work for your ownbusiness, albeit, a few elements properlycustomized (be sure your computer's compactdisc is a "writeable" type, and not simply a"readable" one).As such, I am providing a "from start to finish"outline that you should find very effective, almostimmediately, whether you wish to reach out to yourprospects locally, regionally or nationally.Hypothetically, let's say you are in the field ofCosmetology, and own and operate a hair salon.Though your industry has a ready-made market,with women repeatedly visiting on a regular basis,naturally, there is also a fair degree of competitionfrom other salons in your area as well.And, as such, you've noticed that your businesssales and clients, have either begun to level off,stagnate or, possibly, even diminish. What canyou quickly do to maintain and increase yourclientele and, accordingly, your salon's income?1. Why not take all of the elements of yourbusiness, such as your weekly specials,information about your salon such as its history,your web site address, email address, regularprices, business hours, contact information, alongwith the various products and services you offer,then format them into attractive files and placethem on compact discs for distribution?Your prospects are certain to be pleasantlysurprised with this new out-of-the-norm promotionmethod and anxious to see what surprise awaitsthem on the CD.2. Next, consider all the businesses women mightpatronize, such as women's shoe stores, women'sclothing stores, jewelry stores, supermarkets, mallstores, cosmetic stores, etc. Your goal is toconsider businesses that are complementary toyour own services, yet, are not in competition inany way.3. Now, contact the store managers and/or owners,informing them that you are a fellow local businessowner, and request to know if they will considerhanding out your CD of information to theircustomers and/or clients who have computers and,hopefully, have Internet service. You might evenrequest to enter into a barter agreement with thesebusinesses, whereby, you distribute their salesinformation as well.While all contacts you make might not be receptiveto this idea, undeniably, you will acquire more thana few who will be interested, if for no other reasonthan the opportunities to offer their customers alittle something extra and/or to get their ownbusiness information into the hands of newprospects (your customers) as well.4. Also, be sure to not only consider distributingyour CDs hand-to-hand on your own, alwayshaving them available on your person ready tohand out, but also having them available at yoursalon to give to your existing and new customers.5. Another avenue, is to consider doing a localor regional mail-out campaign. You could simplycontact prospects via telephone and attempt toqualify them by simply asking if they own a computerand, if so, that you would like to send them a CD ofinfo regarding your hair salon and its services.6. If your budget allows, yet, another method is tocontact an area print publication that specificallytargets women and request if you can pay to haveyour CD attached to one of their issues, orincluded as an insert.7. To backtrack for a moment, be sure that yourweb site contains a form readily viewable on it sothat when prospects with online service accessyour site, your form can readily capture their emailaddress, as well as their mailing address.This is vital information that you need in order toprovide your customers with any updates to yourproducts, services, prices or any other changesthat might occur. And, speaking of the provisionof updates, you should also consider starting anewsletter for this purpose as well if you have notyet done so.Again, you also want to be sure your CD containsas much vital information for people who don'thave online access although, practically anyonewith a computer these days, also has access.This aspect of promotion could serve to eitheroffset and eliminate any print, radio or televisionadvertisement costs you currently have, or serveto complement them. Your overall productioncosts (bulk rate price and time spent copying files)on the compact disc will probably be between $.30and $.40 per unit.If you distribute, say, 1000 info CDs at a cost of$400, and gain merely 10% (100) new customers,I believe you will find that the $400 will be a verywise and worthwhile investment, not to mentionthat you can continue and/or repeat the processas often as you wished.And, if you happen to reside in a small rural area,you could also experience great results by simplydistributing your CD information county-wide, orregionally.Again, this promotional analogy is applicable to,virtually, any business. Further examples include:1. Auto dealerships working with car partssuppliers, or vice versa.2. Lawn services working with lawn mower repairshops, or vice versa.3. How about photography services including theirCD of info in their yearly school/student packages?4. Even in an agricultural community, feed storescould include a CD of their info in farmers'purchases.5. Why not even go a couple of steps farther byplacing audio files or, perhaps, even video files onthe CD as well?Your audio could include your voiceover giving awelcome to the prospect at the beginning, andalso serve as a direction to the various businesselements on your disc. Likewise, your video couldintegrate animated video for an even morepleasing experience for your prospective client.As I stated previously, virtually, everyone, in allareas of your community has a computer and/orthe availability of online access through friends,relatives, area schools, libraries, etc. And, thecreativity of any part of the promotional CD isonly limited by your imagination.So, why not truly give some serious thought tobringing the marketing and promotion of yourbusiness into the 21st Century? At the very least,your promotion via CD should certainly get younoticed far above your area competition.