Free giveaways are a great way to drum up business

One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that when you are prospecting for jobs it’s easier to get your foot in the door when you are giving something away.

Whatever you are giving away doesn’t really have to have a ton of value per say, it just has to be free and useful to the prospect. Then all you need to do is combine it with some marketing info about your company. If you can do that you are in good shape.

In the past I have talked about giving away “Goodie Bags” as a way of drumming up business. Today I want to talk about one item in particular that has always gone over really well with potential clients (not to mention actual customers too).

This item is called “Spot Out”. In a nutshell this product is a small container (about 8 ounces) that holds a liquid spot remover for carpet. It’s a great general purpose spot remover for someone to have on hand when an accident occurs.

What’s so great about this product is you can order it and have your company name, logo and phone number plastered all over it. You can even add a coupon if you like! It makes you look EXTREMELY professional and looks like it’s worth much more than it actually cost you.

This Spot Out bottle could be given away as a stand-alone product or included in a goodie bag. I’ve done both over the years with great results. How I give it out just varies depending upon the circumstances.

When I’m creating goodie bags for a promotion I almost always include them because it adds so much “perceived value” to the person you are giving it too. It also adds some “weight” to the goodie bag, making people wonder “what’s inside the bag”.

I keep a case of them in my car so I can give them away to anyone I talk to about my services. Imagine for a moment having a conversation with someone about what you do and being able to say…

“Before you go Mrs. Smith, take this bottle of Spot Out for your carpet. It works GREAT at taking out stains on your carpeting”.

When you are able to talk to someone THEN give them something of value it really creates what’s called a Positive Moment Of Truth. Basically this is just fancy terminology for creating a positive impression with a customer.

The MORE positive impressions the GREATER the chance they’ll do business with you. It’s a pretty simple concept that has huge implications for business owners. Needless to say giving a bottle of this stuff away leaves a favorable impression with the person you gave it to.

Though I’m sure there are quite a few companies that can provide a product like this the only one I ever dealt with is a company called Jon-Don. I can’t speak highly enough about them. They are truly a world class company!

I was lucky enough to meet the founder of the company once at a seminar and was thoroughly impressed with how he ran his company. Anyway… you can get all the details about their private label program for “Spot Out” by following the link right here – Jon-Don Spot Out Program.

If your company offers carpet cleaning this is a PERFECT way to make folks think of you when it’s time to have their carpet cleaned. If you don’t offer carpet cleaning you can still make use of this product. All you have to do is just place a coupon for whatever you do offer on the label.

At the end of the day this product is very cost effective. It’s currently $1.21 per bottle with a four case minimum. Trust me when I say it will do wonders for spreading the word about your company. If you happen to have any questions about how to use this product just leave a comment below and I’ll answer it.

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