Product Promotion: 2 Thoughts

Promoting one's product is a never-ending job for those of us who decide to manufacture and market our own inventions. I'm constantly thinking about promotion, and I thought I'd share two thoughts I had this week.

1. Unexpected Promotional Opportunities. I'm always on the look out for ways to promote my products. Last week, I got a notice from Google Alerts about a blogger who was writing about whiteboards: Jason Berke's wrote a blog entitled "A Brief History of the Dry Erase Marker." I was delighted that Jason chose this topic. I was also pleased to have this unexpected opportunity to promote my Whiteboard Paddles. I added a comment to Jason's post with a link to KleenSlate Concepts. I don't know how many readers Jason has, but a few adds up to many, and I've just let a few more people know about the paddles and KleenSlate. Plus by mentioning him here, I create a link back to my blog that some of his readers might follow. Like I said, "I take every opportunity to promote my product."
2. Give Something When Promoting Your Product. Everyone likes to get a gift, so when I'm promoting, I pass out markers, erasers, discount opportunities and sometimes just a suggestion. For example, when I commented on Jason's post, I let him and his readers know that soap and water is the best way to clean dry erase boards. This little piece of advice was my gift to him. You see in working with customers, they've told me that clean up is always an concern, so I've made a point to respond to that concern. Remember last week, when I wrote about listening your customers at trade shows? You can turn their needs and concerns into a practical piece of advice or a gift.

I'd love to hear how you grasp every opportunity to promote your inventions. Please leave me a comment and if a gift if you like.