Don't Bang Your Head

Do Business Like A Prostitute

Reprinted from Tamar Palgon  &  Quick Sprout

I know prostitution is illegal, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it. As you probably already know, it is known as the oldest business in the world. And because it has been around for such a long time, the profession has been optimized so much that you can actually learn a few things from it.

Location is everything

You don’t see prostitutes standing on every street corner, right? Of course not because not all locations are good for business. It’s the same reason why you don’t see a gas station or a McDonald’s on every block.

You need to figure out where your ideal clients are and try to place your business in the center. And even if you are a web based business, location is still important because your customers don’t live inside a computer… remember, they are actual people.

Location also doesn’t just have to be latitude and longitude coordinates, it could also be your search engine rankings on Google or an advertisement on an industry website.

Whatever it maybe, just make sure your business is in the best location.

You have to stand out from the crowd

Groupon: Really smart marketing for your business*

*If you operate a food business, retail shop, provide a consumer oriented service or host events, check out Groupon. It amazes me that the simplest ideas are most often the most successful. You know, the ones that when you see it, you slap your head and wonder 'Why didn't I think about this?".

What is it? A sure fire way to gain new customers without any upfront cost.

No, I haven't had anything to drink today. Read on:

Here's how it works: A business contacts Groupon and posts a one day special: personal massage for $20 instead of the retail $40; concert tickets at $15 off the ticket price; 2 for 1 dinners at a local restaurant, etc. Everyday, Groupon posts one special in one of their affiliate cities with one caveat: the business pre-determines how many people need to sign up before the special is 'On' ( if you signed up and the special is off your money is automatically refunded.). Groupon assists you with the copy and heavily promotes your deal. It must be working since Groupon claims to have sole over 3.8Million coupons.

Recent deals in Miami:

• $20 for a one year membership to the Miami Art Museum. Retail price is $45
• $14 for $30 worth of groceries at South Florida Kosher Market.
• $29 for a skin peel from the Skin Institute: Retail Price: $61

Why would a business join in?

• The Miami Art Institute had 129 people buy tickets
• South Florida Kosher had 481 people buy coupons
• and the Skin Institute had 677 people come to their spas

And there is no upfront cost- Groupon takes a percentage of each coupon sold.

Learn about Groupon for Business here and click here to sign up for daily email alerts.

This is smart, cost efficient marketing.

The impact of the unexpected

This video has  45,399,485 views on YouTube.If you haven't seen it yet, watch it. It will make you smile, even laugh, maybe you'll want to get up to dance or maybe you'll be mortified. But you will remember it because its truly not what you expect to see. It's unexpected and if its intent is to get your attention, it works.

We all promote: we promote our business, careers, causes,organizations or ourselves. Think about the power of the unexpected and how it can take your  promotion to the next level.

Enjoy and let this video spur your ideas on how to take whatever you are working to the next level.