Archive for June, 2009
June 30th, 2009
Gods Diplomacy International Trade And The Macedonian Economy
A British politician Richard Cobden once (1857) wrote:
“Free Trade is God’s diplomacy and there is no other certain way of uniting people in the bonds of peace”
International free trade is particularly important to developing poor countries (among them the “economies in transition”).
Without international trade the local economy is limited. It does not manufacture and produce more than it can consume. If it produces excess products commodities or services no one buys them they accumulate as inventory and they bring about losses to the producers and often a recession. So in the best of cases even assuming optimal management and unlimited availability of capital a firm in a closed economy can expect to grow by no more than the rate of growth of the local population.
This is where exports mitigate population growth as a constraint.
An export market is equivalent to a sudden growth in the local population. Suddenly the firm has more people to sell to additional places to market its products in an increasing demand which really is unlimited. No firm in the world is big enough not to be negligible in the global marketplace. With 6.2 billion people and 170 million new ones added every year it is much cleverer to export than to limit oneself to a market with 2 20 or even 200 million inhabitants. In sum: local firms and as a result the economy as a whole can increase their production above the level of local consumption and export the surplus.
This obviously has the beneficial effect of increased employment. Export oriented industries in economies in transition are labour intensive. The more the country exports the more its industries employ. This equation led some economists to say that a country exports its unemployment when it exports products. Every product contains a component of labour. When someone buys an imported product he really buys the labour invested in this product among other inputs. See the Technical Appendix for more.
But free trade cuts both ways. Some products are so expensive to manufacture locally that it is more cost effective to import them cheaply. In aggregate the local economy benefits from this more efficient use of its (ever limited) resources.
It has been proved in numerous studies that countries benefit from certain kinds of imports no less than they benefit from exports or the resulting enhancement of local manufacturing. This is called the theory of “comparative relative advantage”.
Cheap imports (only as a replacement for expensive locally produced goods) have two additional effects: they reduce the costs of operating enterprises (and thus encourage the formation of businesses) and naturally they reduce inflation. Where cheap products are available inflation by its very definition is subdued.
So instead of wasting money on purchasing expensive products which are manufactured locally instead of paying high interest payments on liabilities due to high inflation the economy can optimally allocate its resources where they are at their productive best.
Free trade assists the economies of all players. It allows them to optimize the allocation of their (scarce) economic resources and thus maximize national incomes.
Optimal allocation frees up sizeable resources which were previously engaged in inefficient production or dedicated to defraying financing expenses or locked into the consumption of expensive local products. A consumer allowed to buy a cheap imported car instead of an expensive locally manufactured one saves the difference and invests it in a savings account in a bank. The bank in turn lends the money to firms and this is the relation between free trade and high savings and hence high investment rates. Free trade reduces the overall price level in the economy more money can be saved and the savings can be lent to more businesses on better terms. Plants can thus be modernized technological skills can be acquired more comprehensive education provided infrastructure can be improved.
Above all those who trade do not fight. Free trade pacifies countries. It leads to the peaceful and prosperous coexistence of neighbouring nations. It yields mutual collaboration on trade investments and infrastructure.
But free trade cannot exist in a legal and infrastructural vacuum. To achieve all these good outcomes a country must rationalize its trading activities.
First and above all it must gradually dismantle regulatory and tariff barriers to allow the unobstructed flows of goods services products commodities and information.
I used the word “gradually” judiciously. A poor country must make the transition from a protectionist environment heavily isolated by regulations customs duties quotas tariffs and discriminating standards to completely free trade in minute well measured steps. The influence on local industries the level of employment the national foreign exchange reserves interest rates and many other parameters economic as well as social should be gauged regularly to prevent unnecessary shocks. But these monitoring and fine tuning should not serve as fig leaf they should not be an excuse to prevent or delay the freeing of trade. The country must unequivocally announce its plans and intentions replete with timetables and steps to be adopted. And the country must stick by its plans and not succumb to the inevitable and forceful demands of special interest groups.
On the other hand the country must encourage foreign investment. (Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and even portfolio investments are a critical part of free trade. Investors build manufacturing plants which export their products or sell them locally substituting for imports. Direct investors are usually connected directly or indirectly to trading networks. Financial (portfolio) investors usually come only much later when the local capital markets have matured and have become much safer. A country can encourage the inflow of foreign investment by providing investors with tax incentives (tax holidays tax breaks even outright grants and subsidized loans). It can provide other incentives there are too many to enumerate here. Above all though it must protect the property rights of investors of all kinds domestic as well as foreign. Investors flock to secure places and no incentive in the world can convince them to put their money where they do not feel certain that they can always and unconditionally recover it. Property rights is the countries in transition’s weak point in this respect: the appropriate legislation is lacking courts are slow ignorant and indecisive law enforcement agencies are immature and uncertain of their authorities and how to exercise them. Some countries are outright xenophobic. This is not conducive to foreign investment.
But all this is not enough. A skilled well educated workforce is a prerequisite for the development of export industries. Even lowtech industries (textiles shoes) require the workers to be literate and to know basic arithmetic. As industries mature the workers are required to train retrain and requalify ceaselessly.
The nation must make education as a top priority. education is as much an infrastructure as roads and electricity. To think differently is to be left behind and to be left behind in today’s competitive world is to die a slow economic death.
All this will be to no avail if a country does not make an intentional conscientious effort to identify those things that it is good at its “relative competitive advantages”.
But should a nation leave the forces of the marketplace to take their course unhindered? Alternatively should a government determine the priorities of the nation within a very long term plan?
Personally I do not support fanatic views. The market has its flaws. It is never perfect. Governments should intervene (marginally) to fix market imperfections and failures. Otherwise who will supply public goods like defence or education?
The same is true for trading. Japan and Israel are two prime examples of extremely successful government involvement in determining national priorities and in pursuing them (the current slump in Japan notwithstanding). The all powerful Ministry of Industry and Trade (MITI) in Japan virtually dictated what should be done where with whom and how for decades. Israel actively encourages the formation of hitech labourpoor high value added industries. But both governments recognized the limits of their intervention and the difference between advice incentives and coercion.
The government of a country should identify its relative competitive advantages and reorient itself to materialize them.
This realization phase can be successful only if the country is an active and complying member of and participant in the international community of nations. It must peacefully and willingly adhere to international agreements on trade and investments and it must agree to resolve its conflicts within the international judicial and arbitration frameworks.
Macedonia is in a difficult economic spot but it is by no means unique. Almost all the newlyformed countries lost almost all their previous export markets simultaneously. COMECON and the USSR disintegrated almost at the same time as Yugoslavia did. Some countries have not adapted to the new situation:
Their GDP was halved their industrial infrastructure was demolished and they ran everwidening trade deficits. They preferred to mourn their situation and blame the whole world for it. Others have oriented themselves to become a (geographical and mental) bridge between East (Europe) and West (Europe). They adopted the Western mentality Western institutions and Western legislation regarding investments banking and finance. They emphasized their roles as transit countries in the best sense of the word: having a lot to contribute within the process of transit.
What is common to all the more successful countries is that they encouraged joint ventures with foreign investors suppressed xenophobia and ethnic discrimination shared economic benefits with their neighbours by collaborating with them imported mainly capital goods (instead of consumption goods) adopted sound fiscal policies and really privatized. In most of them lively capital and money markets have developed.
This is the future that Macedonia should aspire to. It can become the Switzerland of the Balkans. It has all that it takes. Ask the financial markets: they are paying for Macedonian government securities (almost) the same price they pay for Slovenian national debt. That means that they think that Macedonia is the Slovenia of tomorrow.
And that in my view is not such a bad future at all.
TECHNICAL APPENDIX
International Trade Inflation and Stagflation
Situation I
The exporting country has:
- An overvalued currency
- Low inflation or deflation as prices and wages decrease to restore competitiveness
The exporting country thus exports its deflation (through the low and competitive prices of its goods and services) and its unemployment (through the labour component in its exports).
The importing country’s inflation rate is affected by the deflation embedded in imported goods and services. Cheap imports thus exert downward pressure on prices and wages in the importing country.
This in turn tends to increase the purchasing power of the local currency and to cause its appreciation.
In other words:
The macroeconomic parameters of the importing country tend to REFLECT the macroeconomic parameters of the exporting country.
If the exporting country’s currency is overvalued the importing country’s currency will tend to appreciate as a result of the export/import transaction.
If the exporting country’s inflation is low it will exert a downward pressure on wages and prices (on inflation) in the importing country.
Unemployment will tend to decrease in the exporting country and increase in the importing country.
Following the export transaction the importing country will have:
- An appreciating currency
- Deflation or low inflation
- Higher unemployment
Why would anyone import from a country with an OVERvalued currency?
Because it has a monopoly or a duopoly on knowledge intellectual property technology or other endowments.
Situation II
The exporting country has:
- An undervalued currency
- High inflation as prices and wages increase (to restore equitable distribution of income)
The exporting country thus exports its inflation (through the higher though competitive prices of its goods and services) and its unemployment (through the labour component in its exports).
The importing country’s inflation rate is affected by the inflation embedded in imported goods and services. Expensive imports thus exert upward pressure on prices and wages in the importing country.
This in turn tends to decrease the purchasing power of the local currency and to cause its devaluation.
In other words:
The macroeconomic parameters of the importing country tend to REFLECT the macroeconomic parameters of the exporting country.
If the exporting country’s currency is undervalued the importing country’s currency will tend to depreciate as a result of the export/import transaction.
If the exporting country’s inflation is high it will exert an upward pressure on wages and prices (on inflation) in the importing country.
Unemployment will tend to decrease in the exporting country and increase in the importing country.
Following the export transaction the importing country will have:
- A depreciating currency (devaluation)
- Higher inflation
- Higher unemployment
The state of higher inflation with higher unemployment is called “stagflation”. So in this scenario the importing country imports stagflation as part of the goods and services it imports.
About the writer:
Sam Vaknin is the author of “Malignant Self Love Narcissism Revisited” and “After the Rain How the West Lost the East”. He is a columnist in “Central Europe Review” United Press International (UPI) and ebookweb.org and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory Suite101 and searcheurope.com. Until recently he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.
His web site: http://samvak.tripod.com
Posted in Business
June 29th, 2009
Find Your Fut
Discovering Your Blood Type and Trading Diet
Just like a diet where there is no right plan for everyone in trading there is no single plan for all traders. Before deciding whether to “cut out the carbs” “add more fiber” or simply avoid certain markets do some selfassessment starting with personality. For example are you hesitant or impulsive? Patient or shorttempered? Identify strengths and weaknesses and then let someone close to you help pinpoint those personality pros and cons. Have a tough skin; it’s for your own good.
To further understand your personality keep a trading journal to help zone in on specific traits and how they affect your trading. Remember understanding your personality is one thing; understanding it when you’re trading is another. While patience with children is good patience with a losing trade is not. A journal enables traders to review winning and losing trades and identify factors that aided in success or contributed to failure. After reviewing inner traits don’t forget to review the outer onesyour schedule and risk capital. Think long and hard about how much you have available in terms of time and risk capital when it comes to trading and don’t delude yourself. In addition look at how you are using your time and risk capital. Go over the market(s) you are trading the style of trading and time frames you are using. Is this market this style and this time frame suitable to your risk capital and personal schedule? Are they suitable to your personality?
Doing some selfassessment is absolutely essential to determining what type of trading diet you should be on as the examples later will make clear. But first let’s define the trading blood types and their respective diets.
Blood Types and Trading Diets
No Apositive or universal donor types are necessary here. Instead for our purposes let’s classify types by using NT PT DT and ST.
NT. Is trading suitable for you at all? That is the question. Trading require a desire to take risks and of course the ability to afford to take them. These simple suitability questions must be firmly answered in the affirmative before anyone can consider taking the plunge. Those who have little desire for risk have little risk capital to spare (and completely disposable income at that) and little time to devote to this very challenging exploit are classified as blood type NT (No Trading). The right diet is no trading at all. No carbs no cals no fiber no fat. Nada.
PT. Those who are either gunshy or trigger happy would be classified as blood type PT (Position Trading). With what kind of regime you ask? Clearly this type requires a rulebased diet. To develop those rules first and foremost means doing some homework after market hours. Once these rules are in place test any possible trade idea against those guidelines because each trade must pass this test before Mr. or Ms. PT enters the trade. This is the time to plan a trade from start to finish visualizing a few different scenarios with a possible action plan. It may also be the time to employ the assistance of a fullservice broker. His or her job should be to help implement the rules that will keep the triggerhappy trader from going nuts or help the trader with a fear of pulling the trigger to take the right kinds of actions.
DT. Some traders simply cannot take any positions home with them. It hurts the quality of their “aftertradinghours life” and makes them uncomfortable. Most of them also are impatient by nature and tend to over trade. They feel a need to be in the market at all times because they are scared of missing a good trade and scared of losing too much. This blood type is classified as DT (Day Trading).
Patience discipline and strategy are the main diet ingredients for this group but certainly not exclusive to it. Setting daily loss limits is a must and a daily trading journal will help them quite a bit. The correct training cycle for successful day trading involves education planning routine survival and getting to the point where a trader finds the set ups with which he is both most comfortable and can produce high success rates. A note here: More often than not the biggest obstacle DTs face is the patience for such a set up; they feel they are not working if they are not trading because they are day traders. This is one mentally crippling thought they must get over to survive. Being a day trader does not mean that the individual must be in the market with frequency only that he must be flat at the end of the session so as not to take his position(s) home with him.
ST. Then there are traders who try to go with the flow of the market and take small to medium bites out of market ranges or perhaps trade ranging markets between different support and resistance levels. Many will do it well for a period of time until they are almost married to it and get stuck with a loser. Let’s classify this group as blood type ST (Swing Trading).
The biggest problem most swing traders have is the ability to take losses. Too many traders even those who generally are good consistent traders fail by carrying one big loser one too many times. Is this stubbornness the inability to admit making a wrong move(s) simply a case of hoping instead of trading? Those who have walked in these shoes know who they are and should be ready for the ST diet placing stops and understanding that even the best of traders have more losers than winners. The math is very simple. Because many markets will trade sideways there are times when both longs and shorts will come out losers. Some trades simply don’t work. The bottom line is that the total of a person’s winning trades should outnumber losing trades.
How Two Traders Changed Their Diets
The following two examples which combine traits of various clients with whom I’ve worked over the years point out some of the considerations of which traders must be mindful as they try to figure out what trading diet is most appropriate. The names have been changed to protect both the “innocent” and the “guilty.”
Example 1. Karen was one of my first clients. A smart and outgoing woman she worked in the human resources department for a large company. During her first two years she had some winning trades but overall her account was down.
Karen juggled a busy schedule everyday. She had numerous meetings and often traveled yet she insisted on day trading stock index futures. I tried to direct her into a different approach but she resisted.
My advice did not sink in until she hit a period during which all of her trades were going against her and she was facing a margin call. When I spoke with Karen her normally selfassured demeanor had changed. She was scared. She was no longer looking forward to the next trading day. After losing most of her money Karen struggled to make a trading decision. The once confident outgoing and independent trader was now grasping for outside advice from a variety of newsletters and other resources. She was desperate.
On the morning after a long holiday weekend Karen called me and with a steady confident voice placed orders to get herself out of all of her positions. Over the weekend she had read a book or two and had some conversations with her husband. It’s hard to determine which of these produced the “epiphany” but she now wanted to try a different approach one of a longerterm nature (PT). After careful reflection Karen recognized that she was at times impulsive stubborn and simply not realistic (not good for a DT).
Even though she clearly could not devote the time necessary to be a day trader with her current work schedule and mentality she realized that her routine and dedication must change completely no matter what the trading time frame. She was now dedicating 30 minutes during the day and/or evening to go over the markets. She adjusted her trading size to fit a longerterm approach but most importantly she had a plan and that plan fit her schedule. She no longer had to make decisions in the heat of the moment. She started looking for longerterm trends that did not require hourtohour decision making.
Doing some selfassessment is absolutely essential to determining what type of trading diet you should be on as the examples later will make clear. But first let’s define the trading blood types and their respective diets.
Karen finally understood how to successfully incorporate trading into her life while having another demanding career. Her account has grown over the last two years through the changes she implemented in her routine behavior and trading style.
Example 2. John started trading about four years ago. He seemed an agreeable enough person but very businesslike with no time for chitchat. He wanted to trade online from the start because he had plenty of stock trading experience. John lived on the West Coast and was a real estate agent who did pretty well in the dot com bull market trading stocks until the market met its maker. Confident willing to learn and fairly disciplined he was trading with 25000 of pure risk capital adequate for a firsttime futures trader.
Days went by and every morning as I was going over my clients’ daily statements I noticed that John was trading coffee. Not only was he trading coffee but he was sometimes day trading coffee. I let him know that I would be pleased to talk with him about various markets if he wanted. He would call once in a while checking on fills and asking about different reports.
A few weeks down the road John called and mentioned he would be in the L.A. area and would like to meet for lunch. During lunch he mentioned his frustration over recent losses when trading futures. At this point his account was down to about 14000 over a sixmonth period. I asked him why he was attempting to day trade coffee and he said his brotherinlaw was a coffee importer/exporter and he thought that it would help him. The coffee market was open from 6:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. PST which perfectly suited his work schedule but as I found out later not his personality.
I asked him to start writing a trading journal which allowed him to look back objectively and find patterns in behavior that both helped him and hindered him. John’s journal revealed that he was frustrated with the slow fills of the openoutcry coffee market and so he was quick to get out of winning trades and too slow getting out of his losers. He was trigger happy and at times traded larger positions than he should have.
I suggested that we change his “trading diet” around a bit and introduced him to the U.S. Treasury bond and the EMini stock index futures; both trade electronically and provide instant fills. These markets were perfect both for his schedule and personality.
I felt that these were good markets for both day trading and swing trading and recommended a few concepts in money management and trade management. The first was the maximum daily loss that he should set and place in a visible way as a reminder. The second was the setting of a daily profit target. Though it was somewhat hard to implement if he could walk away when he was down to his maximum daily loss or when he reached his daily profit target he would last much longer as a trader. It also would give him a better chance of succeeding down the road in other words smaller steps down that longer road.
John is still down in his account but he is making progress. Here are a few tips that have helped him: Instead of buying and selling five contracts at a time and “starting and finishing” the trade this way he now gets into his trades in multiples of three. In the past John simply would buy five contracts when he thought he needed to go long and sell five when he felt he needed to take profits or cut his losses.
When John gets into a trade these days (let’s say in a long position) he will buy six contracts and place a stop loss on all six. Initially he looks for a small profit on the first two contracts. (It helps him mentally to know “I took a profit on this trade.”) He then raises his stop loss and changes it to a four lot. He looks for a second profit target for two more contracts based on his support and resistance levels. If that profit level is reached he can get “greedy” with the last two contracts. In essence he now knows how to manage his trades in a way that increases his profitability. And further and perhaps as importantly (based on his personality) he does not feel like he is missing out on big moves if they happen and he still locks in small profits when they present themselves by using the first and second targets.
Be Realistic
Succeeding in futures trading takes hard work and time and new traders need to be realistic and introspective right from the start. This is no time to devote anything but risk capital. Beginners should start small allowing periodic checks to learn from mistakes and from successes.
Just like anything else in life from diet and exercise to business and career choice one size does not fit all. Before anyone can succeed in trading he or she must spend time doing homework as well as ascertain personal strengths and weaknesses schedule risk capital and trading experience/ knowledge. Only with those in place can traders choose the trading diet that will work for their blood type.
About the writer:
Ilan started out as a professional basketball player in Israel where he played for 5 years until he suffered from a major knee injury. Ilan could no longer play Basketball at his full potential after undergoing knee surgery so he decided to go back to college. He received his MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After about a year of working in real estate he started a new job as an Institutional Account Executive in a startup internet company that led him to the United States.
As the V.P. of Cannon Trading Co. Ilan wrote several articles about trading and the trading psychology as well as being quoted a number of times in different publications in magazines such as: SFO (Stocks Futures Options) Futures and “Bloomberg” just to name a few.
http://www.cannontrading.com
http://www.cannontrading.com/blog/2007/06/findyourtradingbloodtype.html
Posted in Business
June 28th, 2009
100 Creative Ways To Market Your Business Offline
If you are in direct sales or a home party plan company you will want to market your business offline.
Here is a checklist of some Creative Offline Marketing Ideas!
1. Take a small zip close baggie (snack sizes work well) and include the following in it:
Your Business Card Business Oppty Mini Flyer a Piece of Candy such as hard candy or a lollipop mini flyer of current host specials discount coupon (optional) etc.
Hand these out to the bank tellers retail cashiers at your kids sport events every where you go!
2. When I stay at hotels motels I leave a mini catalog my business card discount coupon and the mini coin canister for the maid! I put her tip inside the mini coin canister! I have gotten 3 orders by doing this!
Be creative when you leave tips for Hotel Maids Waitresses Waiters Hair Dressers etc. Don’t just hand them your business card make it memorable!
You can also buy cute little beaded change purses at your local dollar discount store!
3. Print out flyers with your contact info (not your personal address) your website address email address along with any current specials you are offering.
Then contact local area mobile home park offices apartment complex rental offices housing developements etc and ask them if you can leave fliers in their office or hang on their tennants doors. Give the office employees a free gift or discount on their personal orders.
4. Contact local area bridal supply stores bridal gown stores caterers tux rental centers wedding dj’s etc. Ask them if you can leave your business cards fliers about the great (Company Name) Bridal Gift Registry for them to give to their customers.
Offer store owners a free gift or a personal discount for helping you spread the word about your business.
5. Daycare Centers! They are excellent to contact and leave business cards and/or fliers at!
I print out a flyer of just a few items from our Tupperware Childrens line and I attach my business card a discount coupon. I get alot of orders by doing this!
So whatever company you represent find some items that cater to children or to moms and make up a flier!
6. Alot of churches hold a Spring and Fall Fest! Contact them about getting a table or a booth. Alot of times this will cost you under 15.00 for a space!
Make sure you take products with you along with business oppty fliers plenty of catalogs business cards etc.
Do a contest drawing at these types of events. Make up entry blanks that gather the customers info so that you can initiate contact with them again!
7. Join your local area chamber of commerce! They are always holding local business events that you can participate in.
8. College Campuses! Dorms Housing Students are always looking to spend money! Alot of college students are also looking for an extra income so target them with the Business Oppty too!
Drop off fliers and business cards to the College Student Center! They usually have bulletin boards tables and other things where you can leave your information at for FREE!
9. Contact your local area Welcome Wagon or Welcome to the Neighborhood Group! Ask them about you leaving mini catalogs fliers business cards discount coupons freebie mini gifts etc with them.
They are always looking for additional items to place in their Welcome Bags!
10. Contact your local area hospitals and ask for Human Resources Dept. The Majority of hospitals hand out New Mommy Diaper Bags filled with products samples and other stuff for New Moms who just had a baby!
It’s FREE for you to add in your information! I have gotten party hosts new customers and new recruits by participating in these types of programs.
11. Contact your local medical offices particularly Gynecology and OB Offices and Pediatric Offices and inquire about you leaving information with them.
This is a way for you to target Parents of Children with both the home party oppty the business oppty and new customer sales.
12. Donate a Product to your local area Radio Station they have numerous contests and they are always looking for sponsors!
Your donation can be written off as a tax deduction plus you will get FREE Advertising Business Exposure for your donation!
13. Donate a Product to your local area Bingo Halls! They are always looking for sponsors of their Bingo Prizes! Bingo is BIG in alot of areas!
14. Call your Chamber of Commerce and find out about Local Area Job Fairs. Get a booth and set up info about the fabulous business oppty!
15. Call your Local Area Colleges and find out when their next job/employment fair is. Alot of times you can get a booth or table for less than 35 and you will get alot of GREAT new recruit leads by participating in events like these.
16. Contact local area car dealerships. I have 2 in my local area that hand out a small packet that I made up for FREE to their customers who come in to take a free test drive!
17. Target your local area gyms! You can get a table space for 20 or less in most cases! Make sure you have 35 products on display plenty of catalogs business cards and fliers.
18. Network with others in your community who are in home business. Find out what events and activities that they participate in. They are usually “in the know” and can help you get started in networking in your community.
19. Contact Companies in your area to see if you can come in and set up a table in the employee lounge or cafeteria for a employee shopping break! These days alot of companies will allow you to do this if you ask them!
20. Does your local area tv cable company have a local information channel? Inquire about advertising! These ads will reach thousands of potential buyers for you! I recommend you only use your website address for these types of advertising and not your personal at home address.
21. Contact local small companies and shops to see if you can offer an exclusive discounts or freebie gift to their employees. Companies are always looking for a way to “treat” their employees to specials from the local surrounding community.
22. Small Home Town Newspapers! I dont get too good of a response when I do big newspaper city ads however… when I target small town newspapers I usally get a great response. I even had them let me place an ad on their wedding and engagement announcements page which I advertised the Bridal Gift Registry.
So if you are going to do any type of newspaper advertising inquire about getting your ads on specific pages in the newspaper that targets the group of people most likely to buy from you.
23. Get a low cost outdoor banner printed up with your business information on it. You can usually get them done for 55 or less depending on who makes it.
You can have these outdoor banners displayed at outdoor music/concert events outdoor childrens sporting events outdoor adult sport events outdoor neighborhood block parties outdoor community events carnivals fairs etc.
24. Take your business on the road during nice weather. Contact local area parks community centers to see what their schedule of events are and inquire about setting up a booth or table.
This is a great way to network market your business to those in your community.
25. Community Clipper Coupon Packs Sales Flyer Mailings. These days alot of communities have mailings such as these contact them and see how you can participate and advertise your business.
26. Contact small local area businesses such as hair salons massage parlors boutiques banks etc.
See if you can set up a table for 1 week with 3 of your best selling products on it along with some catalogs fliers coupons and your business card. Keep a basket on the table for any customer orders which you can follow up on after you return back to pick up your display. Offer the store owner or manager a free gift for allowing you to do this.
You can also offer to donate a prize for a contest if they let you display the prize donated get a copy of the contestants entry blanks after the promotion closes.
27. Contact local area pizza shops diners deli’s and coffee bagel shops to ask them about advertising on their paper placemats! Customers do read those ads!
28. Contact local area restaurants bars and clubs and see about advertising on their paper beverage coasters!
29. Local Television Stations are always holding onair contests website contests for their viewers contact them about you donating a prize or gift certificate to sponsor one of their contests! Great business exposure for you!
30. Attend Local Area holiday shopping events. Customers who are ready to spend holiday shopping money turn out for these events by the thousands! You can usually get a booth for less than 50.00 so they are economical to participate in!
31. Hold a local area community Block Party at your home or local community center! Families are always looking for something to do during the nice weather seasons!
Optional: Attend your neighborhood block party and set up a table with your product offerings or samples. Get out there in your community and get your business seen!
32. Get your business listed in your cities telephone book yellow pages! Alot of them also have a coupon section too!
33. You can take this phone book advertising one step further by finding out what company makes the plastic vinyl phone book covers which have local business ads on them and get your business added to it!
34. Get your business information printed up on pencils and hand them out to local colleges and technical schools for them to hand out to their adult students! This keeps your business information in front of them! (make sure you only donate them to schools with adult students).
35. Get a vehicle banner made for your automobile. I recommend the vinyl window clings or vinyl cling ones that stick to your automobile but dont scratch or remove the paint. You can easily remove them when washing your vehicle!
36. If your city has a travel guide that tourists request contact that business and find out how you can advertise in it too!
37. Local City Maps! These days even city maps have advertising on them! You can usually get a small business ad printed on them for an economical price. Don’t advertise your personal location. If you dont have a business location then advertise your website address or email address.
38. Contact local area hotels motels and bed breakfast inns and ask them if you can do up a Lobby Basket and leave it in their Lobby.
What is a Lobby Basket? You make up little packs of info about your business products and put them into the Lobby Basket for their patrons to take.
They usually have a pamphlet wall or area too with pamplets from local area attractions etc. If they dont have a lobby basket area inquire about leaving your business info in their pamphlet area.
39. Get your business info printed up on balloons! This is very economical to do! You then distribute them to local community centers sporting events and other types of places where parents book their childrens birthday parties!
These balloons can be displayed at the birthday party giving you business exposure. You can usually get them done for .3.8 cents each. Your business name website address is all you need on them!
40. Find a few other self employeed business owners in your community and team up! You can all sponsor a local parade float parade clowns etc. Make up signs with your business info imprinted on them so that you can receive some great business exposure during the parade!
41. Get some Tshirts printed up with your business information on it (both front back sides) and hand them out to some friends family and coworkers and ask them to wear them out and about in the community. This is their FREE gift for helping you to spread the word about your business!
Optional: Get ball caps printed up with your business info!
42. Get some canvas tote bags printed up with your business information printed on it. Find a few ladies who are very active in your community and ask them to use your tote bag and give it to them for FREE under the agreement that they will use it every time they go out in the community for errands events!
43. Get a license plate made up for your vehicle! If you have your normal license plate on the back of your car put your business named one on the front of the car!
You can get one with just your business name on it for about 2030 per plate!
44. Wear a business name tag every time you go out into your community! Get a Catchy Slogan printed on it such as:
A. Ask me about (your company name) Products!
B. I work from home you can too!
C. Earn some FREE when you party with me!
45. Local Area Magazines! Does your city publish a City Magazine? If so contact them about advertising or if they hold contests for their readers offer to donate a product or service for their contest!
46. Check out your local area State Fairs Community Carnivals there are always alot of them going on during seasonal weather.
Ask about getting a booth or table set it up with your business information! People love to shop at Fairs Carnivals and they are looking to spend money!
47. Get some Business Card Magnets printed up and hand them out every where you go! Have your friends family pass them out too!
People are more apt to keep a magnetic business card compared to a regular one which gets shoved into a drawer or wallet. By having a magnetized card your business is kept in front of the potential customer/client.
48. When you give gifts to family friends neighbors coworkers etc. make sure you give them gifts from your own company! This allows other people to see touch your gift meaning FREE business exposure for you! (plus you bought the gift from yourself so you are saving money!)
49. Invite your spouses coworkers over to your home for a little mingling party! Serve some refreshments or do a cookout BBQ and make sure you have a table set up with some product displays!
If you sell kitchen or food products make sure you use them!
50. Do a neighborhood childrens shopping party!
I do this before Christmas and again before Mother’s Day. I invite the neighborhood kids to come by and shop for gifts for their parents and loved ones. They enjoy shopping on their own and parents enjoy a small break from the children!
To make this successful make sure the products you are offering are economical I try to keep them under 25.00 each with most being around 10.00 each. Have a table set up with some inexpensive crafting supplies and let the children make their own greeting cards to go with the gifts they have purchased or have a gift wrapping table set up so they can personally wrap their gifts!
51. Do a joint party with another consultant in a noncompeting business. Partying with a friend is always fun! You can hold it at one hosts home your home or at a local community center. Invite every one you know and have others help you spread the word. Hang up fliers at local centers businesses too!
52. Put an AD in the back of local high school yearbooks! You can usually get these ads for around 20.00 which makes it affordable advertising for you!
53. Put an AD for your business in local Athletic Sport Programs! You can find these at the High School Level Minor League Level and at Professional Sporting Events!
54. Contact Local Churches Religous Groups and see if you can place an AD in their weekly church bulletins program guides!
55. Do you have a local Community Play House? If so get your business ad placed in their play programs! You can usually get ads in them for less than 25.00
56. CoSponsor a Local Youth Athletic Group! Baseball teams softball teams cheerleading squads gymnastic squads and swim teams etc. are always looking for sponsors!
CoSponsoring a team will help get your business noticed in your local area!
57. Get a Yard Sign! If you have a home business consider getting a Yard Sign printed up and proudly display it in your front yard!
58. Does your neighborhood hold local Meet Greets? If so make sure you go out and attend them! Get to know your fellow community members!
59. Donate a Raffle Drawing Prize to a NonProfit Group or Charity in your local community! They are always looking for prize donations for their charitable raffles.
Note: Make sure you get a receipt for tax purposes!
60. Do you have a Online Business Website? Consider getting some computer mouse pads printed up with your website address business name on them! This will keep your website business in front of them every time they sign online! This encourages them to check out your website often for new products updates features!
61. Local Bus Stops Bus Sheds! Have you noticed that alot of them have local business advertising on them? Call up the company and see how much it would cost you to advertise there too!
62. Does your local area grocery store allow advertisers to place business ads on the back of their cash register receipts? If so contact them about getting your business ad on there too!
63. Local baby expo’s and baby events/contests! Set up a booth or table with your business info! These events are always very popular and a great way for you to reach new customers!
64. Watch your local newspaper for Wedding Engagement and New Baby Annoucements! Make a list and then go to: www.searchbug.com
to try to track down addresses. You can mail off your business info to them announcing your business bridal gift registry baby gift registry etc.
65. Stamp your business info to the outside of all outgoing postal mail! Include your business card on the inside. Do this for personal mail business mail and for paying your bills!
66. Contact your local Fire Ambulance companies and see if you can set up a table at their next BBQ Event or fundraiser event.
67. Contact LOCAL Assisted Living Centers for Senior Citizens (this is different then a nursing home!) and see if you can come in offer a shopping oppty. to their Senior Residents! Seniors can NOT get out like they used too so they appreciate being able to shop from home and the majority of them don’t own computers if they do they are not extremely computer savvy…so offer a one on one shopping experience with them! They also appreciate the adult company!
68. Are there local small summer concerts held in your local parks? We have them here during the summer months! Ask about advertising options during these community events!
69. BUY little boxes of Smartie ™ Candies! Put your Business info on one side on the front side slap on a label that says “Be a Smartie Earn FREE (Your Company Name) w/a Party!” Hand them out every where you go!
70. Make up candy packs with your business info attached to them and hand out to the Halloween Trick or Treaters!
71. Exchange Business Cards Fliers or Coupons with another Home Party Consultant in a NONCompeting Business and place her filler in your bags outgoing packages have her do the same for you! Sort of “scratching each others backs”.
72. The PUBLIC Library! I go in there often and see all kinds of local advertisements for businesses there! See if you can leave a catalog a few business cards!
73. Do a CATALOG SWAP with another party plan consultant (NON competing business). See if she will swap a few catalogs with you. You hand out a few of her catalogs at the END of your party and have her do the same! Hand them out as guests are LEAVING the party!
74. I have a friend fellow network member who prints out for me…mint books…she prints a pretty graphic on it along with my business info…they look like matchbooks and inside is a piece of peppermint hard candy! They are inexpensive too! I think I paid 8.00 for 40 of them! She includes the candy too! I can refer her to you if you want to try those! Tell Tonya that Shelly sent ya!
75. Do a PARTY SWAP with a Consultant in another HOME party business! (NONCOMPETING!) Tell her if she holds a (Your Company) Party for you…..you will hold a XYZ Party for her!
76. Ask about getting your info printed onto golf tee’s and golf balls then donate them to a local golf course or mini golf course!
77. FOAM DRINK COZIES the foam thingie you wrap around a cold beverage can! See if you can get some of those with your business info on them hand them out at local sporting events!
78. Indoor Concert Arena’s. Have you attended a concert lately? Tons of advertising by local and national merchants at concerts! Check into doing some advertising!
79. Children LOVE Stickers! Buy a slew of stickers with your business name on them….hand them out! Chances are that the kid’s parents will see the stickers too!
80. Temporary Employment Agencies…again drop off packets of info about Your Business Oppty to them. The Economy is sluggish in alot of the areas in the USA…ask Temp. Employment Agencies to refer some clients to you who may be interested in a (Your Company Name) Home Business!!! You could offer the staff a discount or free gift for referrals.
81. Print up some flyers and get permission from local shopping centers to see if you can leave them on car windshields! Always ASK permission first!
82. Does your community print up FREE Renters Guides House Buying Guides Etc? (you can usually find them for FREE at your local supermarket). If so contact them about placing your business ad inside one!
83. Got a local ice cream man who drives around in his ice cream truck throughout your community? Talk to him about passing out flyers or letting you add a logo onto his truck via a vinyl cling logo banner!
84. Do a web search for you local county local township and surrounding areas. I found tons of websites for my area with FREE online business directories which I was able to get my website listed in. They also have offline ADS that you can advertise in too! A great way to also find out about upcoming local community events to participate in!
85. Are there any professional moving companies in your area? If so contact them! They usually give out new business packet info to their customers/clients to welcome them to their new home. See about adding your business information to their “New Move” Packs!
86. Local small town radio stations that are usually found on the AM frequency usually offer very lowcost local area advertising on their small radio station. A great way to get your business info out to those in your local community.
87. Get your business information printed out onto paper text book covers! You can make them yourself! Donate them to local area adult technical schools and colleges!
88. Is there a local business in your area holding a upcoming Grand Opening? If so contact them! Alot of times they are giving away freebies to the first few hundred customers plus they do heavy advertising announcing their Grand Opening. This is a GREAT way for you to capitalize on that!
89. Get your business info printed up on inexpensive bookmarks! Then give them to local area colleges adult technical schools book reading groups libraries etc. You can usually print up your own bookmarks with your business info on them for less than .8 cents each! This will keep your business info infront of those avid book readers! They are also great to give away for FREE with customer orders!
90. Put your Business Knowledge to Work! Offer to teach classes to adults!
Examples: If you are with a kitchen/cooking company offer to teach adults to cook! They are always looking for fast easy ways to prepare healthy meals!
If you are a scrapbooking consultant offer to teach a class to new moms on how to scrapbook new baby pages!
If you are a Bath/Body/Spa consultant offer to teach pampering classes to women moms!
You can find adult programs by contacting: Local Community Centers Local Civic Groups and alot of High Schools Community Colleges offer evening classes to adults. (continuing education).
This generates leads sales and only takes a short amount of time!
91. Put the word out to your friends family coworkers that you offer freebies to party go’ers. What do I mean?
Well people who are holding baby showers bridal showers birthday parties anniversary parties etc. contact me about my freebies. They make up party goodie bags and are always looking for things to stuff them with. Depending on what type of party it is depends on what I donate!
I print out pretty bookmarks recipe cards candy wrappers gift bag tags shopping lists chore lists etc. with pretty designs on them along with my business info. I also attach a coupon. I keep my cost down to .15 cents per person. An inexpensive way to reach new potential customers.
92. Print out your own Reordering labels! If you sell consumable goods (foods spices soaps bath products cosmetics etc) make sure you stick on a small reordering info sticker with your business info on it so that your customer can easily locate your information for placing reorders! This is also important to do considering some customers purchase items from you to give as a gift this way the person who received the gift will also know how to contact you and will become a potential new customer for you!
93. Establish a Referral program for your business and print out referral coupons! Offer established customers a free little gift or personal discount if they refer a new customer to you! I like to give out 3 Referral Coupons to every new customer I get so that they know they will be rewarded for referring new customers to me.
Established customers are more apt to refer new customers to you if they know they will be rewarded for that referral. Verbal referral programs don’t work well so print up referral coupons or referral promotion cards to hand out to your established customers. I also like to put a “referral reward” sticker in all of my Tupperware catalogs. You can also add a sticker to the backs of your business cards.
94. Print out Coloring Pages with a small section on them advertising your business and donate them to local area restaurants daycares etc. I was able to find 4pc. crayon sets for ONLY .05 cents a box which I also donated along with the printed out coloring pages! Parents hang them on the front of their refrigerators after the children are done coloring them which keeps your business in front of the parent daily! Cost: About .03 cents for printed out coloring page with your business info located some where on it and .05 cents for the mini box of crayons.
Try to find a design that relates to your business for the best effect.
95. Contact your local area Girl Scouts 4H Club and other youth groups. Talk to them about you coming in to do a project with the youth’s in the group. You can also talk to them about your business fundraiser program if you offer one. During the summer time there are alot of youth camps throughout the community. You can also find youth camps through local churches. Some are seasonal and some are year long programs. The YMCA is also a great resource!
For Example: If you are a Kitchen Consultant come in and teach the youth how to cook or about kitchen safety. If you sell pet products go in and talk about grooming a pet. If you sell candles go in and make some mini candles or teach them how to decorate them for gifts. Be creative!
96. If you are crafty with your computer you can print out tea bag wrappers with a pretty design on them along with your business information. I purchased a few boxes of individually wrapped tea bags and then put my printed business tea bag wrapper over it. You can hand them out throughout your community.
I like donating them to: Assisted Living Centers Senior Community Centers Daycare Centers (to be given to the parents teachers) School Teacher Lounges Employee Break Rooms etc.
Example of Cost: .03 cents for a printed color wraper and about .03.05 cents per tea bag.
97 Make sure you leave info about Your Business on your answering machine or voice mail message! Not everyone who phones you knows that you sell or represent a particular company! (especially those pesky bill collectors telemarketers).
98 Take your outdated catalogs and randomly mail or distribute them thruout your neighborhood! Make sure you stamp it OUTDATED and provide contact info for yourself so they can contact you if interested to get a current catalog!
99 Get Business Themed Banking Checks! Your bank checks pass thru tons of hands that could become potential customers or party hosts! If possible get your email address or website URL preprinted onto them! I also suggest using preprinted postal address labels too! (try to get checks that have pictures of some of the products you sell on them or at the very least make sure some where on the check it says: Tupperware Consultant Avon Rep and so forth.)
100. Get your business info printed onto matchbooks! Donate the matchbooks to candle shops smoke shops clubs etc. to help get your business name out in your community!
About the writer:
Shelly Hill
I have been a working from home with a home party plan company for 2 1/2 years. I also manage a successful online women networking group. I have a total of 18 years of home party direct sales experience.
Posted in Business