Guerrilla Marketing, over 90 field-tested tactics to get your business into the frontlines
By: Jay Conrad Levinson.
76. THE VIP TREATMENT
Guerrilla Bill Symons treats every visiting salesperson who comes through his door as a very
special guest. His company will even take the visiting salesperson to lunch, rather than letting
them pick up the tab.
When salespeople leave his office, they have become unofficial ambassadors for him and go
on to spread word of his company wherever they go. The rapid growth of his company proves
this tactic and he feels much better at the end of the day.
77. USE WAL-MART TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
Guerrilla Jim Mayfield used Wal-Martʼs strength to his own advantage.
Jim is a small town specialty retailer of lawn, garden, feed and seed supplies. So when Wal-
Mart came to town and the other retailers ran for the hills, Jim launched a clever new media
campaign of his own.
The campaign said simply, “Go to Wal-Mart for paper towels, then come to Rainbow for your
feed.” and “Go to Wal-Mart for deodorant, then come to Rainbow for irrigation supplies.”
Each ad closed with “When you think of Wal-Mart, think of Rainbow AG.” During Wal-Martʼs
opening week they also created a sandwich board and handed out leaflets with the line
“THINK RAINBOW” in front of Wal-Mart. Results? His sales doubled during Wal-Martʼs opening
week, they havenʼt gone down since, and people still talk about the ads!
78. USE ADVERTISING SPECIALTIES
Guerrilla Thomas Kan got his Hong Kong internet marketing firm off to a quick start with
advertising specialties.
He sent out 3,000 promotional mouse pads just as he launched his company. Now heʼs getting
lots of calls. The promotion worked because of three things: (1) the mousepads all had a phone
number, (2) the pads were given away before most were thinking about the internet, and (3)
they were interesting enough to keep on a desk. If you think it might work for you and would
like find some suppliers, check out our Vendors and Resources Directory for suppliers.
79. SAY IT WITH CHOCOLATE
When Guerrilla Ann Douglas wanted the attention of a prospective agent, she had a local
chocolate store make up a large chocolate “YES” and she sent it along with a note that said, “I
hate to put words in your mouth, but I want you to say ʻyesʼ to representing my work…”
If her proposal is as good as the pitch, we should see her on the shelves soon!
80. REVERSE PHONE LISTING PROMOTION
Guerrilla Doug Hannan came up with a promotional offer that helps others to become
Guerrillas themselves. He was looking for ways to improve response to a newsletter for North
Star T-Shirts in Kimberley, British Columbia, when he came up with an offer for a reverse
phone directory.
Response to the offer was tremendous. Many readers reported using the reverse directory
to confirm information before returning unclear phone messages. Doug says the easiest way
create a reverse directory is by using one of the many popular CD ROM phone books, exporting
it, sorting on phone number, and then printing.
81. MAKE STAFF CHANGES A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
Most people lose customers whenever staff changes at a client company but Guerrilla Mark
Brodie finds new clients and profits whenever staff changes occur.
Mark works in the competitive field of graphic art and design. He scans the weekly want ads
for companies that have open positions in marketing, advertising and graphic design. He
waits a few weeks and then contacts the new employee, who is often looking for new vendors
and anxious to get things going.
82. DELIVER QUALITY
Guerrilla Ed Clark sometimes gets price objections for his resume writing service in Louisiana.
When a prospect gives him a big harumph or says “Iʼll write it myself,” he offers to rewrite it
without obligation.
If they donʼt like his work, they pay nothing (they also DONʼT get to keep it). To date, his
Guerrilla method is 100% effective. The secret? Deliver the best possible quality work.
83. INCENTIVIZE STAFF-GENERATED SALES LEADS
Southern New England Telephone Company rewards its non-sales staff every time they
generate a lead for the sales force. If friends of staffers express any interest in any product
or service, staffers give the company the lead by calling a toll-free number. The lead is
processed and the salesperson contacts the prospect within a few days. For generating the
lead, the employee receives a certificate for lunch at a local restaurant. If the lead becomes a
sale, the employee can win up to $25 in award points or a gift certificate for selected stores.
In l993, the program generated $1 million in revenue. The message of the program should
be the message even without a program—”You can make the difference.” Related item:
Southwest Airlines hires employees based on their sense of humor.
84. ELECTRONIC MARKETING TACTICS
Political Guerrilla Bill Barbee used the web and email to get a city councilman re-elected.
When he discovered that computer ownership in his county (Ventura, CA) was over 55%, he
decided to campaign electronically. His councilman went on to become mayor
Guerrilla Jeff McNeal wins business online with a rapid response. One recent prospect reported
that after contacting fifteen suppliers Jeff was one of only two to reply within 48 hours.
Other online vendors even replied with snail mail and fax and then did not include their email
addresses. Even though Jeffʼs rates were a little higher than the rest, he beat out all his competitors
with a 30-day, unconditional, 100% money back guarantee.
Guerrilla Greg Dale of Carrollton, TX sells all kinds of window coverings and wins against
even the largest competitors. He puts his email address on everything—from postcards to
letters, ads, business cards, his van and even his wifeʼs car.
Customers always mention the email address as something that gives them comfort in dealing
with them. Greg uses email for all kinds of things, quotes, follow ups and general correspondence
with our customers through email. Even though they operate from home, customers
say that they seem like a “real” business and not some “fly by night” operation.
85. TEST MARKETING ON THE CHEAP
Guerrilla Jim Servies has a great tale about how to develop a winning business name and logo:
“When starting my new business I took the advice of the Guerillas and hired a professional
graphic artist. When two different designs were decided upon, the Guerilla in me
took it one step further and let the waitresses at a local Waffle House pass it around to
their customers for a day.
With all walks of life seeing the two logo designs and marking the one they felt were
the most appealing (clarity, readability, and other considerations) I was able to make a
better choice. Measured and tested! test test test all that you do!”
86. USE HUMOR
Guerrilla John Weiss entertains prospects with offbeat humor and gets repeat traffic and great
word-of-mouth in return. His company created a website for an acne treatment product
that included a forum entitled “Confessions of a Pizza Face,” and an interactive game called
“Zit Hunt.” It may not be pretty, but it worked well enough to get covered in Internet Life
magazine.
87. FAXBACK RESPONSES
Guerrilla Jeff Rubin gets great direct mail business with a faxback form and a free report
offer. Instead of asking for business in his direct mail pitch, Jeff offers a free copy of a report,
“How To Produce Newsletters That Get Results.” Response is fast and painless because Jeff
lets them respond with faxback form. The information on the form qualifies them and gets
them a copy of the report. He gets 5-8% response on each mailing.
You can reach Jeff Rubin and Put It in Writing via email, jeff@put-it-in-writing.com, or phone
510-724-9507.
88. BUSINESS REFERRALS
Guerrilla Vince Furlong, with Micro Computer Solutions in Chicago, sells computer training
but doesnʼt do Macs.
Instead he refers all Macintosh training requests to a competitor. In return, the competitor
refers training requests for a course they donʼt do to Vince. So, even though they compete
on many courses, they have niches where they can cooperate. Most customers respect their
attitude and the word gets around.
89. 30-DAY REFUND POLICY?
Donʼt say “We have a policy of no refunds after 30 days, so I cannot return your money.”
Instead, say “Our usual policy is not to issue a refund after 30 days, but we donʼt want any
unsatisfied customers. What would you consider a fair deal?” Customers just love it when you
bend the rules for them.
90. USE A FUNNY PITCH
Guerrilla Peter Schroeder runs a collection agency near Toronto in Waterloo, Canada. He
sends gets postcards to prospects from Florida with the following on the back: “Please donʼt
send my overdue account for collection to Rampart Canada collection agency. I am having to
much fun with your money here in Florida!” He adds to the fun by forwarding them to Florida
for a more authentic postmark.
Response to his creative campaign is great, but there have been a few complaints. Non-
Guerrillas might think even one complaint bad, but when Peter explains that itʼs just a funny
pitch, they sign right up!
91. USE CONTESTS TO GENERATE IDEAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
PaperDirect of New Jersey sells computer paper via catalogs. They also run quarterly contestsfor new product ideas from customers, netting about 500 suggestions each time. Sales havejumped from $1.1 million in l990 to $17 million in l993. I wonder how much of that camefrom customer ideas?
92. FREE HOTLINE PHONES
Norwayʼs largest transport company, Toll-piost Globe, will install free hotline telephones onthe desks of Norwayʼs top 500 managers according to Euromarketing. Thatʼs micromarketing,Scandinavian style.93. ASK FOR A FEW SECONDSFinancial planner Michael Marteloni calls prospects and asks them for 43 seconds of theirtime. Itʼs such an odd number that people are curious enough to say yes. In 43 seconds,Michael introduces his firm, himself and his objective: a 50-minute face-to-face meeting.Around 10% of people agree to the meeting and of those, 10% become clients. Michael talksto a lot of people.
93. ASK FOR A FEW SECONDS
Financial planner Michael Marteloni calls prospects and asks them for 43 seconds of their
time. Itʼs such an odd number that people are curious enough to say yes. In 43 seconds,
Michael introduces his firm, himself and his objective: a 50-minute face-to-face meeting.
Around 10% of people agree to the meeting and of those, 10% become clients. Michael talks
to a lot of people.
Guerrilla Marketing, over 90 field-tested tactics to get yourbusiness into the frontlines
By: Jay Conrad Levinson.
61. TEMPORARY TATTOOS
Temporary tattoos are a fun way to promote your company at a conference or event. The SLO
Brewing Company of California put their name on a temporary tattoo and created quite a
buzz at a trade show. The SLO Brew Heart tattoo was picked by almost everyone that stopped
by the booth and proudly displayed by people all over the trade show floor. Get yours from
Boomerang Business Communications at 805/481-0760.
62 WOULD YOU LIKE TO REACH MORE
HOME-BASED BUSINESSES?
Home-based businesses (HBB) are rarely listed in directories and are shy about attracting too
much attention from local zoning authority. They can be pretty hard to reach.
Guerrilla Deborah Wilson had trouble reaching home-based businesses in her area, so she
suggested to her local chamber of commerce that they set up a special committee for HBBs.
They liked the idea and appointed her head of the HBB Committee and also let her use chamber
resources to organize the community. If your chamber doesnʼt have such a committee,
start one!
63. TROUBLE MAKING MONEY ONLINE?
MAYBE YOU NEED A NEW STRATEGY!
Guerrilla David worked for two years to develop a successful online sales effort before changing
objectives and finding success. David realized that it wasnʼt logical to sell their training
and technology products online so he decided to use their website to develop and qualify
leads instead.
They now provide useful information to prospects and collect information in online questionnaires.
They use the information they collect to follow up more effectively.
64. SILLY PROMOTIONS CAN WORK
Sometimes we avoid silly and obvious promotions but they can get the job done. Guerrilla
Terry Stone knows all about the great value of “cheap” things.
Terry gives away all kinds of promotional items with the business name and phone number
imprinted on them but rulers are one of the most effective items. Terry uses a corny opening
line for the rulers before a presentation, “Use these to measure the effectiveness of my presentation.”
It might be silly but Terry laughs all the way to the bank.
65. EVEN THE BEST-LAID PLANS CAN GO WRONG.
Stuff happens. Guerrillas know that itʼs what you do next that can turn it all around.
Guerrilla Larry Rudd was about to do his first trade show when the giveaway premiums
he had ordered showed up with the wrong phone number on them. The corrected items
wouldnʼt be ready in time for the show.
During the show they held a drawing for a free dinner and collected names from visitors to the
booth. Then, when the giveaway items arrived after the show, he sent them out with a letter
of thanks for visiting the booth and followed it all up with a phone call. Everyone remembered
him and the gift and sending them after the show had created a much larger impact.
66. MAKE THE MOST OF CHANGE
Guerrilla Melanie Deardorff knew that her company name no longer reflected her current services
and client base, so she changed the name of her company from Birchwood Publishing
to Birchwood Marketing Communications. Though the name change was not very drastic, she
wanted to make the most of this event.
After registering the name and converting stationery to the new name and logo, Melanie
developed a large postcard to mail out with images of the new $100 bill and her new logo.
The copy on the front said “Both got a new look…” and the back read “Only one increased in
value.” She then explained her expanded services and provided contact information.
67. ATTENTION-GETTING PITCH
Everyone has trouble getting the attention of a prospect at one time or another. So, when it
counts, Guerrilla John Rowley attaches one half of a US $20 note to a simple mail pitch. He
promises to give them the other half in exchange for 20 minutesʼ time. John says it gets him
an order from one in three attempts.
68. CUSTOMER LOYALTY PROGRAMS
Most customer loyalty programs are expensive to set up and manage but Larry Gaynorʼs
simple approach is the Guerrilla solution that turns it into a profit center.
Larry sends a Tootsie Roll Pop out with every order and attaches a client survey card. Each
week they get back hundreds of customer survey cards raving about the candy and good
service. Over 80% respond with some kind of comment.
The really positive survey responses get a follow-up letter from the president and a sample
issue of their paid newsletter. Over half of these customers go on to order the newsletter at
US $89 per year!
69. DO YOU FEEL FORGOTTEN BY
YOUR CUSTOMERS AND PROSPECTS?
Make sure they forget you not by following Guerrilla Helen Cottreauʼs lead. Before relocating
her business, she sent out packets of forget-me-not flower seeds with the announcement of
the move and the new address. She has not been forgotten.
70. TROUBLE SETTING PRICES?
Guerrilla Marvin Mansky tried letting his customers do it for him in an unusual promotion!
Marvin ran a promotion from Thanksgiving to New Yearʼs Day and let patients set their own
prices for his dental services. Patients got a complete basic exam and cleaning and then paid
what they thought it was worth.
Most patients paid close to the regular rate. A few paid very little, but had been putting off
dental care. And, some even paid higher-than-normal rates, because they so liked the whole
idea.
Marvinʼs dental practice was totally booked, and they had more new patient referrals than
ever before!
71. NEED CUSTOMERS FOR YOUR NEW BUSINESS?
Guerrilla coach Wendy McClelland suggested that her client build a bridal make-up business
by giving away free demos in local bridal stores every Saturday morning.
Some lucky bride-to-be gets a demonstration make-up session and everyone in attendance
gets some ideas for their own make-up. The audience for the demo also gets brochures and
drawing entries for free sessions.
Wendyʼs client got great exposure to prospects, referrals from stores, and a mailing list of
future brides and their friends.
72. LOW-COST COMPETITORS GOT YOU DOWN?
The Guerrillas at Karaʼs Hair Studio were facing new competition from a chain offering super
cheap haircuts until they decided to fight back. Karaʼs launched a radio and newspaper campaign
featuring victims of bad haircuts wearing bags over their heads. She also hired students
to wear paper bags on their heads and walk around outside the competitorʼs shop with
sandwich boards bearing her ad line. The message was simple, “Karaʼs fixes $5 haircuts.”
73. GIVE FREE SAMPLES
Free samples sell everything from cereal to software, so why not use them for your business?
Guerrilla Lil Zielke gives away work samples for a desktop design and layout business. Friends
collect flyers and promotional materials that they get in the mail. Then, Lil redesigns them,
marks them as “draft” and sends them off to the prospect with an introductory letter.
No one has ever complained and Lil has picked up plenty of business from the tactic.
74. COLD CALLS
Guerrilla Ramil Cueto gets through to prospects where others fail because of when he calls
and what he says. He is most successful with an approach using emotion and calls on his
prospects after 6PM!
He says that after work is when they are most relaxed and willing to talk. He asks the prospect
“why” they think, feel, or say what they do and shifts his approach to suit. This is no
simple “mirror” technique. Ramil says that sometimes it pays to surprise the prospect with
your tone and approach.
75. TOP TEN REASONS TO USE YOUR COMPANY
Instead of leaving business cards, brochures, pens, memo pads or the typical junk that gets
pitched as soon as you leave a cold call, Guerrilla Don Snyder will leave a list of Top Ten
Reasons they should be using his company.
List items are all true, sometimes humorous, statements why they are the best game in town.
He actually gets his prospects to call him and laugh about the list while he gathers data on
their needs!
Guerrilla Marketing, over 90 field-tested tactics to get your
business into the frontlines
By: Jay Conrad Levinson.
46. NEED A GOOD EXCUSE TO MAKE A SALES CALL?
Guerrilla Diana Ratliff consults Chaseʼs Calendar of Events (buy the book by email:
Bookserve@aol.com) to discover all sorts of holidays and “awareness weeks” that apply to
almost any business. She uses the events as reasons to contact customers and prospects.
One prospect was unaware of a holiday for “National Reminiscence Week” and used it to get
local radio coverage. Of course, the grateful prospect became Dianaʼs customer.
47. DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING UNIQUE TO SELL?
When Guerrilla Dennis Buchner of Bucʼs Aqua Farms had trouble selling his minnows because
there were too many on the market, he made a new fish! Dennis bought hybrid minnows
from more than a thousand miles away and then mixed them with others to create his own
fish. Now he has a product that no one else has and everyone has to have his minnows.
48. WHEN THINGS GO WRONG,
IT’S WHAT YOU DO NEXT THAT COUNTS.
Stuff happens, but Guerrilla Arthur Mickel-son knows how to get the sale even when youʼre all
wet. Arthurʼs customer wanted to see a sample before ordering some promotional umbrellas
but when the sample arrived, it was rusty! Arthur rushed over to see the problem. He got the
sale by acknowledging the problem, promising to fix it and keeping his sense of humor.
49. LOOKING FOR WAYS TO STRETCH YOUR AD BUDGET?
Guerrilla Jack Livingston found a way to get free radio time from his outdoor signs! Jack had
already arranged for outdoor ads to promote his antique mall when he heard about a new
oldies format radio station. He offered the station space on his signs in exchange for radio
promotion. The fit is great for the two companies and they are even now working on a radio
show about antiques. Fusion marketing!
McDonaldʼs and Disney do it all the time and you can too, for a lot less money. Itʼs called
fusion marketing and it means joining forces with another company that reaches the same
target market that you do. Guerrilla Jane Thompson found a way to promote her CD store at
local grocers with very little budget.
Jane created a cute coupon resembling a dollar bill and a counter-top box to hold them. Then
she approached local independent grocers and stores in the area and asked them to help by
putting them on their checkout counters. In return, she promised to take out an ad on her
first year anniversary and promote them all with a “thank you” message.
Every grocer she approached agreed to place the coupon box and they began to show up at
the CD store about a week later. One year later she ran that thank you ad and two years later
her business is expanding to a larger space.
50. DID YOU EVER NOTICE HOW MANY BUSINESSES
POST SIGNS ON WHAT THEY WON’T DO?
No change for parking meters. No change for the pay phone. No checks accepted. The list
goes on.
Guerrilla Shawn Bishop suggests that merchants start providing change and other services
and even advertise the fact. Shawn also suggests strategic placement of impulse items and
staffing with friendly and helpful people.
51. ASK NOT AND YE SHALL RECEIVE!
Guerrilla Dave Sunde was hoping for a celebrity endorsement on his companyʼs line of Tshirts
so he searched for someone who could reach his target: Evander Holyfield. He gave the
friend some free samples to pass along to Evander but without any request for endorsement.
The friend passed them along and almost immediately Mr. Holyfield was photographed with
one on. So, Dave sent some more along to Evander, but still without any request for endorse
paid endorsement shirt for another company!
The secret? Well the T-shirts were themed after something Mr. Holyfield cared about, his
religious beliefs, and they were given freely and without obligation. The results and impact to
sales were very strong.
If you have a product people care about, why not send out some samples today? Just remember
not to ask for anything in return!
52 TIMING YOUR PROMOTIONS
If timing is so important to marketing then why are we usually thinking about our timing and
not the customers? Guerrilla David Murphy has some classic ways to tap into your customers
timing with promotion.
Every event in the customerʼs life and relationship has a promotion at Davidʼs company. For
5 years of business they get an extra 5% off for the whole month. A birth brings an offer of
3 for the price of 2. Graduation gets a free upgrade or similar increase. Davidʼs examples are
many but you will have to adapt them to your own business. Davidʼs result from this approach?
Lifetime relationships with customers.
53 WONDERING WHY YOU MIGHT WANT A WEBSITE?
Guerrilla Michael Turco didnʼt need a website to get new customers because his prospects
arenʼt online. Still, Michael found some very compelling reason to have one for his business.
Retention, Service and Referral!
As a computer consultant, Michael helps local business with their computer installations.
Along the way he also gets them wired to the net and introduces them to the online world.
Heʼs created a website for his customers to use as a starting point and filled it with information
and helpful resources.
His new customers start their online journey at his home page. They really appreciate the
extra training and service he provides with the website and it becomes a reason and vehicle
for referral business.
54 TWO WORDS TO INCREASE SALES!?
Guerrilla Brian Morris waits until just before money is exchanged and then, with an expectant,
upward inflection says “Something else?” Keep doing this until the customer says “No.”
You are just helping the customer to think “Was there something else?” Test it. It will work
almost every time.
55 BUY SOMEONE A TASTY BEVERAGE
AND THEY’LL LEND YOU AN EAR.
Buy drinks for a whole group and youʼve got yourself a great Guerrilla tactic!
When Guerrilla Dave Forman noticed that a fundraising event had a no-host bar, he offered to
pick up the tab. Dave took care of the bar service in return for kind mentions in the program
and a chance to put his marketing materials on the bar.
He got five orders from the event and the group asked him back for their next event!
56. REPEAT TRAFFIC
Most of us know that the key to online marketing success is getting people to keep coming
back to your website but itʼs not easy to get repeat traffic. Guerrilla David Murphy figured
that the best way to generate return visits to his site would be to ask his readers for advice
and then use it! David ran an online contest asking for suggestions on ways to improve his
site and offered a nifty coffee mug for any idea they use.
He got a flood of suggestions in the first few hours and many will be getting their prize in
the mail soon. Of course, the handsome coffee mug prizes carry his logo, phone, website and
address information!
57. WORD-OF-MOUTH ADVERTISING
Every business we can think of needs good word-of-mouth advertising but so very few attack
this task head. Mostly we hope for the best. Guerrilla Gary Brody hunts down his wordof-
mouth advertising with an online marketing tactic.
Gary runs an independent record label and uses online music lovers to hype his new releases.
He visits online discussions, newsgroups, and forums, choosing people randomly to receive
copies of new releases for review.
Respondents supply their real world address and get free copies of new music. The music
comes with a request that if they like the music, to please post comments online and/or share
them with friends. If the music is not to their liking, then they are under no obligation.
58. ONLINE MARKETING
Junk email is surely the scourge of the net but an email list can be a powerful weapon for
online marketing. Guerrilla David Scherer uses mass email simply and appropriately with
great results.
David used to use a FAX to get out urgent bulletins but it took loads of time and cost plenty.
He switched to email and quickly built a list to replace his faxes. The reason that it worked
so well is that everyone on the list wanted the information and elected to be on the list and
David never misused his subscribers. Now they get the word out to hundreds in minutes, for
pennies!
Everyone knows that follow-up is essential to marketing and selling but the time and expense
usually get in the way of our best intentions.
Guerrilla Nancy Prince has a way to follow-up online that takes very little time or money. She
sends a note and a “virtual” gift after meeting someone new. Nancy sends different gifts to
different people; a virtual Porsche to a car dealer, a virtual bouquet to women, or a virtual
bottle of wine to a man. Along with each gift she sends a personal note.
Holidays, anniversaries, and other special events can all be acknowledged with a virtual gift
and everyone seems to enjoy them. Itʼs the thought (and very little more) that counts in a
virtual world.
59. NEED REFERENCES?
If your business requires a little trust from your customers then you need great references!
Guerrilla Ronald Smith develops new references with every new job using a customer satisfaction
survey.
Ronaldʼs company sells and installs a skylight product for home remodeling. He knows that
whenever people start work on their homes they are afraid of what might go wrong, so he
lets his current customers put those fears to rest.
They send out a customer satisfaction survey after they finish a job and ask for permission to
use comments in their marketing. They also offer a free dinner to anyone who refers a new
customer to the company.
Nearly 70% of the surveys are returned and about 90% of those agree to use of their comments
in marketing efforts.
60. WEB PUBLICITY
Marketing online can be like winking at people in the dark—youʼll never catch their attention
unless you turn the lights on.
Guerrilla Wendy McClelland turned the lights on for her website publicity by putting URLs (a
web address) on everything that left her office. T-shirts, fax cover sheets, stationery, press
releases, and even her car were plastered with the website address.
Wendy logged over 4,000 registrations on her web guest book in the first 2 months and got a
lot of local press coverage.
Guerrilla Diana Ratliff consults Chaseʼs Calendar of Events (buy the book by email:
Bookserve@aol.com) to discover all sorts of holidays and “awareness weeks” that apply to
almost any business. She uses the events as reasons to contact customers and prospects.
One prospect was unaware of a holiday for “National Reminiscence Week” and used it to get
local radio coverage. Of course, the grateful prospect became Dianaʼs customer.
47. DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING UNIQUE TO SELL?
When Guerrilla Dennis Buchner of Bucʼs Aqua Farms had trouble selling his minnows because
there were too many on the market, he made a new fish! Dennis bought hybrid minnows
from more than a thousand miles away and then mixed them with others to create his own
fish. Now he has a product that no one else has and everyone has to have his minnows.
48. WHEN THINGS GO WRONG,
IT’S WHAT YOU DO NEXT THAT COUNTS.
Stuff happens, but Guerrilla Arthur Mickel-son knows how to get the sale even when youʼre all
wet. Arthurʼs customer wanted to see a sample before ordering some promotional umbrellas
but when the sample arrived, it was rusty! Arthur rushed over to see the problem. He got the
sale by acknowledging the problem, promising to fix it and keeping his sense of humor.
49. LOOKING FOR WAYS TO STRETCH YOUR AD BUDGET?
Guerrilla Jack Livingston found a way to get free radio time from his outdoor signs! Jack had
already arranged for outdoor ads to promote his antique mall when he heard about a new
oldies format radio station. He offered the station space on his signs in exchange for radio
promotion. The fit is great for the two companies and they are even now working on a radio
show about antiques. Fusion marketing!
McDonaldʼs and Disney do it all the time and you can too, for a lot less money. Itʼs called
fusion marketing and it means joining forces with another company that reaches the same
target market that you do. Guerrilla Jane Thompson found a way to promote her CD store at
local grocers with very little budget.
Jane created a cute coupon resembling a dollar bill and a counter-top box to hold them. Then
she approached local independent grocers and stores in the area and asked them to help by
putting them on their checkout counters. In return, she promised to take out an ad on her
first year anniversary and promote them all with a “thank you” message.
Every grocer she approached agreed to place the coupon box and they began to show up at
the CD store about a week later. One year later she ran that thank you ad and two years later
her business is expanding to a larger space.
50. DID YOU EVER NOTICE HOW MANY BUSINESSES
POST SIGNS ON WHAT THEY WON’T DO?
No change for parking meters. No change for the pay phone. No checks accepted. The list
goes on.
Guerrilla Shawn Bishop suggests that merchants start providing change and other services
and even advertise the fact. Shawn also suggests strategic placement of impulse items and
staffing with friendly and helpful people.
51. ASK NOT AND YE SHALL RECEIVE!
Guerrilla Dave Sunde was hoping for a celebrity endorsement on his companyʼs line of Tshirts
so he searched for someone who could reach his target: Evander Holyfield. He gave the
friend some free samples to pass along to Evander but without any request for endorsement.
The friend passed them along and almost immediately Mr. Holyfield was photographed with
one on. So, Dave sent some more along to Evander, but still without any request for endorse
paid endorsement shirt for another company!
The secret? Well the T-shirts were themed after something Mr. Holyfield cared about, his
religious beliefs, and they were given freely and without obligation. The results and impact to
sales were very strong.
If you have a product people care about, why not send out some samples today? Just remember
not to ask for anything in return!
52 TIMING YOUR PROMOTIONS
If timing is so important to marketing then why are we usually thinking about our timing and
not the customers? Guerrilla David Murphy has some classic ways to tap into your customers
timing with promotion.
Every event in the customerʼs life and relationship has a promotion at Davidʼs company. For
5 years of business they get an extra 5% off for the whole month. A birth brings an offer of
3 for the price of 2. Graduation gets a free upgrade or similar increase. Davidʼs examples are
many but you will have to adapt them to your own business. Davidʼs result from this approach?
Lifetime relationships with customers.
53 WONDERING WHY YOU MIGHT WANT A WEBSITE?
Guerrilla Michael Turco didnʼt need a website to get new customers because his prospects
arenʼt online. Still, Michael found some very compelling reason to have one for his business.
Retention, Service and Referral!
As a computer consultant, Michael helps local business with their computer installations.
Along the way he also gets them wired to the net and introduces them to the online world.
Heʼs created a website for his customers to use as a starting point and filled it with information
and helpful resources.
His new customers start their online journey at his home page. They really appreciate the
extra training and service he provides with the website and it becomes a reason and vehicle
for referral business.
54 TWO WORDS TO INCREASE SALES!?
Guerrilla Brian Morris waits until just before money is exchanged and then, with an expectant,
upward inflection says “Something else?” Keep doing this until the customer says “No.”
You are just helping the customer to think “Was there something else?” Test it. It will work
almost every time.
55 BUY SOMEONE A TASTY BEVERAGE
AND THEY’LL LEND YOU AN EAR.
Buy drinks for a whole group and youʼve got yourself a great Guerrilla tactic!
When Guerrilla Dave Forman noticed that a fundraising event had a no-host bar, he offered to
pick up the tab. Dave took care of the bar service in return for kind mentions in the program
and a chance to put his marketing materials on the bar.
He got five orders from the event and the group asked him back for their next event!
56. REPEAT TRAFFIC
Most of us know that the key to online marketing success is getting people to keep coming
back to your website but itʼs not easy to get repeat traffic. Guerrilla David Murphy figured
that the best way to generate return visits to his site would be to ask his readers for advice
and then use it! David ran an online contest asking for suggestions on ways to improve his
site and offered a nifty coffee mug for any idea they use.
He got a flood of suggestions in the first few hours and many will be getting their prize in
the mail soon. Of course, the handsome coffee mug prizes carry his logo, phone, website and
address information!
57. WORD-OF-MOUTH ADVERTISING
Every business we can think of needs good word-of-mouth advertising but so very few attack
this task head. Mostly we hope for the best. Guerrilla Gary Brody hunts down his wordof-
mouth advertising with an online marketing tactic.
Gary runs an independent record label and uses online music lovers to hype his new releases.
He visits online discussions, newsgroups, and forums, choosing people randomly to receive
copies of new releases for review.
Respondents supply their real world address and get free copies of new music. The music
comes with a request that if they like the music, to please post comments online and/or share
them with friends. If the music is not to their liking, then they are under no obligation.
58. ONLINE MARKETING
Junk email is surely the scourge of the net but an email list can be a powerful weapon for
online marketing. Guerrilla David Scherer uses mass email simply and appropriately with
great results.
David used to use a FAX to get out urgent bulletins but it took loads of time and cost plenty.
He switched to email and quickly built a list to replace his faxes. The reason that it worked
so well is that everyone on the list wanted the information and elected to be on the list and
David never misused his subscribers. Now they get the word out to hundreds in minutes, for
pennies!
Everyone knows that follow-up is essential to marketing and selling but the time and expense
usually get in the way of our best intentions.
Guerrilla Nancy Prince has a way to follow-up online that takes very little time or money. She
sends a note and a “virtual” gift after meeting someone new. Nancy sends different gifts to
different people; a virtual Porsche to a car dealer, a virtual bouquet to women, or a virtual
bottle of wine to a man. Along with each gift she sends a personal note.
Holidays, anniversaries, and other special events can all be acknowledged with a virtual gift
and everyone seems to enjoy them. Itʼs the thought (and very little more) that counts in a
virtual world.
59. NEED REFERENCES?
If your business requires a little trust from your customers then you need great references!
Guerrilla Ronald Smith develops new references with every new job using a customer satisfaction
survey.
Ronaldʼs company sells and installs a skylight product for home remodeling. He knows that
whenever people start work on their homes they are afraid of what might go wrong, so he
lets his current customers put those fears to rest.
They send out a customer satisfaction survey after they finish a job and ask for permission to
use comments in their marketing. They also offer a free dinner to anyone who refers a new
customer to the company.
Nearly 70% of the surveys are returned and about 90% of those agree to use of their comments
in marketing efforts.
60. WEB PUBLICITY
Marketing online can be like winking at people in the dark—youʼll never catch their attention
unless you turn the lights on.
Guerrilla Wendy McClelland turned the lights on for her website publicity by putting URLs (a
web address) on everything that left her office. T-shirts, fax cover sheets, stationery, press
releases, and even her car were plastered with the website address.
Wendy logged over 4,000 registrations on her web guest book in the first 2 months and got a
lot of local press coverage.
Guerrilla Marketing, over 90 field-tested tactics to get your
business into the frontlines
By: Jay Conrad Levinson.
31. FREE P.R.
Canʼt come up with an angle to get your company in the news? Guerrilla Margaret Briggs has
an out-of-the-box tactic that will send you back to “school.”
It was just before a storm when she came up with this PR tactic and public service. Why not
announce their closing like kids schools do when the weather gets bad? Most everyone listens
to the news during a storm and every time they get a really big storm, Margaretʼs computer
training company has to think about calling off classes. Also, calling students by phone takes
time and money.
Margaret put together a local media list and sent out the “school” closing notice. She let
customers know they could stay home for the day and she got many mentions in the local
media.
32. HOOKING NEW CUSTOMERS
Youʼve probably tried many different tactics with sometimes disappointing results and so had
Guerrilla Betsy Berman, until she tried a simple tactic with a subtle difference.
Betsyʼs tactic of “hooking” is something most of us have tried but with one little difference
that almost everyone forgets. “Hooking” for Betsyʼs Charleyʼs Steakery is “sampling” to the
rest of us but they make it work like never before with measurement.
They measured and tracked the results of their sampling program, tweaking and refining
it until it became an efficient practice all their own. Betsyʼs company went from one underdog
outlet to more than 50 stores in only 6 years and it all started with something they call
“hooking.”
33. DON’T GIVE IT AWAY!
Ever tried to give something away only to find few or no takers? Guerrilla Wayne Schulz discovered
how to sell what he couldnʼt give away and gave his marketing a boost in the process.
Wayne used to advertise software demonstration seminars as freebies. Perhaps four people
would sign up and of those, only one would actually show up. In frustration he decided to
charge something for the seminars. Same content—only now people have to pay to attend.
Surprise! His enrollments went from four to fourteen! And because people paid, they valued
the seminar more highly and more actually attended the seminar.
34. A LAUGH DISCOUNT?
Have you run out of ideas for new marketing tactics? Guerrillas know that itʼs better to spend
marketing money on existing clients than it is to spend money looking for new customers.
The problem is that so many tactics get taken for granted and are quickly forgotten.
Guerrilla Drew Roberts came up with a “laugh discount” for his customers. Any client that
makes him laugh during the first five minutes gets a small discount. Customers love the
discount and never forget him. It also makes his work easier.
35. GIVE A WEB PAGE
Seems everybody with a website is either trying to get people to visit it or trying to make
more money with it. Guerrilla Thaddeus Frick did both when he started giving away web
pages.
Thaddeus gave away personal pages on his site to his clients to promote themselves and this
in turn brought traffic to his site and loyalty to his consulting practice.
36. BOLD AND DARING WINS
After 11 years as freelance voice talent, Guerrilla Mike Weiner had done lots of marketing but
it was all ho-hum until he got bold and daring.
Mike had often joked that he could do his work in the nude and, since most only hear his
voice, they believed him. So, he had a picture taken in his studio, behind the mike, with his
shirt OFF! Then he sent out a demo tape to prospects with the photo on the label and using
the headline: “The Naked Voice.” It was the best thing he ever did.
You might be better off to keep your shirt on but you might also want to think long and hard
about how to be really bold and daring. What can you do to cut through the clutter in your
prospects minds and touch them with your message?
37. MORE P.R. TRICKS
A new line of lawn furniture is no great media event but Guerrilla Cliff Stepp got great press
for his clientsʼ new product made from recycled plastics.
How, you ask? He dropped the press release in the plastic milk cartons that are used to make
the new lawn furniture. Then he mailed the cartons to the media. The milk cartons were
recycled but the press coverage was all-new.
Been wanting to do some direct mail that will cut through the clutter but stuck with a generic
budget? Guerrilla Jose Uribe ran out of money for direct mail at their custom blind company so
they had to get creative. Jose put stickers on blind scrap samples and mailed the scraps out!
They got way more response from the scraps than they had from their traditional brochure
mailer.
38. DRIVE YOUR PROMOTION
Looking for a great and inexpensive way to spread the good word? Guerrilla Jeffrey Ross was
thinking about his new business as he drove home in traffic when he noticed a pizza truck
just ahead. Everyone knows to put promotional messages on delivery vehicles but fewer think
to put ads on their cars but Jeffrey put “ webentrepreneur.com” on his car and most of the
employees cars too. Local visitors to their new website have been great!
39. FREE RADIO TIME?
Guerrilla Jack Livingston wanted to run a year-long radio campaign for a car dealership but
he only had enough in the budget for 30 days. Trading a car for that missing ad budget was
only part of the solution. Jack made sure that every one of the DJʼs got to check out the car
and drove the car to every station event and promotion. And later, when the station finally
gave the car away in a contest, Jack got attention from local TV and newspapers for the
contest and the lucky winner.
It all helped to make them the top selling area for the car company.
40. HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO RUN A CONTEST BUT LACKED
THE BUDGET TO DO IT RIGHT?
Guerrilla Scott Harvey at AOLʼs Hecklers Online built an online area that now reaches many
millions of people each month and keeps ʻem coming back with games and contests, using
prizes that he gets for free!
Scott gets prizes from other companies in exchange for great promotional plugs online. Want
to reach thousands or even millions? Give some prizes to a media outlet that reaches your
target market, in exchange from some promotional mentions.
Want to create a contest to boost interest in your company, service or website? Ask others for
prizes to give away in your own contest and be sure to give them loads of promotion in return.
41. MOST OF US WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE MARKET RESEARCH
But it usually falls under “nice to” and not “got to” in our list of priorities. Guerrilla David
Murphy used his research to find out about his market and then to create publicity and sales.
And, he did it all online!
While planning a website for his company, David needed to know what web browsers his
customers were using, what speed they were connecting at, and other important technical
details. David decided to ask visitors these questions in a simple web-based survey. And
when the results came in they thought others might also want to know the same things, so
they put the results in a press release that got them on the radio, in print, and landed them a
handful of new clients!
42. EVER WONDER HOW TO LAUNCH A PRODUCT
WITH NO MARKETING BUDGET AT ALL?
Guerrilla Danna Munley wanted to promote a software package for locksmiths but had no
marketing budget to spend.
Dannaʼs solution was to give the software to a few key groups; locksmith schools and associations.
Schools used it in training and recommended it to students. The associations gave
away a few copies of the software at their meetings and mentioned it in newsletters.
43. DO YOU FIND GETTING MEDIA ATTENTION
MORE PAINFUL THAN GIVING BLOOD?
Guerrilla Charles Larsen gave blood instead marketing and got plenty of attention. Charles
hosted a blood drive for his community and alerted the media about the event. He got all
kinds of attention from the local TV and radio stations. The blood drive was a success for
both the blood bank and Charles. Now lots of people know about his business.
You could also try the same approach with many other charitable acts and get the same
result. Youʼll do yourself and your community a favor.
44. LOOKING FOR WAYS TO STRETCH YOUR AD BUDGET?
Guerrilla Jack Livingston found a way to get free radio time from his outdoor signs! Jack had
already arranged for outdoor ads to promote his antique mall when he heard about a new
oldies format radio station. He offered the station space on his signs in exchange for radio
promotion. The fit is great for the two companies and they are even now working on a radio
show about antiques. Fusion marketing!
McDonaldʼs and Disney do it all the time and you can too, for a lot less money. Itʼs called
fusion marketing and it means joining forces with another company that reaches the same
target market that you do. Guerrilla Jane Thompson found a way to promote her CD store at
local grocers with very little budget.
Jane created a cute coupon resembling a dollar bill and a counter-top box to hold them. Then
she approached local independent grocers and stores in the area and asked them to help by
putting them on their checkout counters. In return, she promised to take out an ad on her
first year anniversary and promote them all with a “thank you” message.
the CD store about a week later. One year later she ran that thank you ad and two years later
her business is expanding to a larger space.
45. HOW TO BOOST SALES DURING THE OFF-SEASON?
People will always spend money to solve a problem before spending to improve something
that is already OK. Guerrilla florist Hugh Atkinson knows that this true in every area of life
and not just business-to-business marketing.
After all of the social expressions of the year-end holidays, flower sales can drop off until
Valentines day. His solution is a small road sign that simply asks, “How mad is she?” Heʼs
never had a busier January thanks to the sign.
Canʼt come up with an angle to get your company in the news? Guerrilla Margaret Briggs has
an out-of-the-box tactic that will send you back to “school.”
It was just before a storm when she came up with this PR tactic and public service. Why not
announce their closing like kids schools do when the weather gets bad? Most everyone listens
to the news during a storm and every time they get a really big storm, Margaretʼs computer
training company has to think about calling off classes. Also, calling students by phone takes
time and money.
Margaret put together a local media list and sent out the “school” closing notice. She let
customers know they could stay home for the day and she got many mentions in the local
media.
32. HOOKING NEW CUSTOMERS
Youʼve probably tried many different tactics with sometimes disappointing results and so had
Guerrilla Betsy Berman, until she tried a simple tactic with a subtle difference.
Betsyʼs tactic of “hooking” is something most of us have tried but with one little difference
that almost everyone forgets. “Hooking” for Betsyʼs Charleyʼs Steakery is “sampling” to the
rest of us but they make it work like never before with measurement.
They measured and tracked the results of their sampling program, tweaking and refining
it until it became an efficient practice all their own. Betsyʼs company went from one underdog
outlet to more than 50 stores in only 6 years and it all started with something they call
“hooking.”
33. DON’T GIVE IT AWAY!
Ever tried to give something away only to find few or no takers? Guerrilla Wayne Schulz discovered
how to sell what he couldnʼt give away and gave his marketing a boost in the process.
Wayne used to advertise software demonstration seminars as freebies. Perhaps four people
would sign up and of those, only one would actually show up. In frustration he decided to
charge something for the seminars. Same content—only now people have to pay to attend.
Surprise! His enrollments went from four to fourteen! And because people paid, they valued
the seminar more highly and more actually attended the seminar.
34. A LAUGH DISCOUNT?
Have you run out of ideas for new marketing tactics? Guerrillas know that itʼs better to spend
marketing money on existing clients than it is to spend money looking for new customers.
The problem is that so many tactics get taken for granted and are quickly forgotten.
Guerrilla Drew Roberts came up with a “laugh discount” for his customers. Any client that
makes him laugh during the first five minutes gets a small discount. Customers love the
discount and never forget him. It also makes his work easier.
35. GIVE A WEB PAGE
Seems everybody with a website is either trying to get people to visit it or trying to make
more money with it. Guerrilla Thaddeus Frick did both when he started giving away web
pages.
Thaddeus gave away personal pages on his site to his clients to promote themselves and this
in turn brought traffic to his site and loyalty to his consulting practice.
36. BOLD AND DARING WINS
After 11 years as freelance voice talent, Guerrilla Mike Weiner had done lots of marketing but
it was all ho-hum until he got bold and daring.
Mike had often joked that he could do his work in the nude and, since most only hear his
voice, they believed him. So, he had a picture taken in his studio, behind the mike, with his
shirt OFF! Then he sent out a demo tape to prospects with the photo on the label and using
the headline: “The Naked Voice.” It was the best thing he ever did.
You might be better off to keep your shirt on but you might also want to think long and hard
about how to be really bold and daring. What can you do to cut through the clutter in your
prospects minds and touch them with your message?
37. MORE P.R. TRICKS
A new line of lawn furniture is no great media event but Guerrilla Cliff Stepp got great press
for his clientsʼ new product made from recycled plastics.
How, you ask? He dropped the press release in the plastic milk cartons that are used to make
the new lawn furniture. Then he mailed the cartons to the media. The milk cartons were
recycled but the press coverage was all-new.
Been wanting to do some direct mail that will cut through the clutter but stuck with a generic
budget? Guerrilla Jose Uribe ran out of money for direct mail at their custom blind company so
they had to get creative. Jose put stickers on blind scrap samples and mailed the scraps out!
They got way more response from the scraps than they had from their traditional brochure
mailer.
38. DRIVE YOUR PROMOTION
Looking for a great and inexpensive way to spread the good word? Guerrilla Jeffrey Ross was
thinking about his new business as he drove home in traffic when he noticed a pizza truck
just ahead. Everyone knows to put promotional messages on delivery vehicles but fewer think
to put ads on their cars but Jeffrey put “ webentrepreneur.com” on his car and most of the
employees cars too. Local visitors to their new website have been great!
39. FREE RADIO TIME?
Guerrilla Jack Livingston wanted to run a year-long radio campaign for a car dealership but
he only had enough in the budget for 30 days. Trading a car for that missing ad budget was
only part of the solution. Jack made sure that every one of the DJʼs got to check out the car
and drove the car to every station event and promotion. And later, when the station finally
gave the car away in a contest, Jack got attention from local TV and newspapers for the
contest and the lucky winner.
It all helped to make them the top selling area for the car company.
40. HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO RUN A CONTEST BUT LACKED
THE BUDGET TO DO IT RIGHT?
Guerrilla Scott Harvey at AOLʼs Hecklers Online built an online area that now reaches many
millions of people each month and keeps ʻem coming back with games and contests, using
prizes that he gets for free!
Scott gets prizes from other companies in exchange for great promotional plugs online. Want
to reach thousands or even millions? Give some prizes to a media outlet that reaches your
target market, in exchange from some promotional mentions.
Want to create a contest to boost interest in your company, service or website? Ask others for
prizes to give away in your own contest and be sure to give them loads of promotion in return.
41. MOST OF US WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE MARKET RESEARCH
But it usually falls under “nice to” and not “got to” in our list of priorities. Guerrilla David
Murphy used his research to find out about his market and then to create publicity and sales.
And, he did it all online!
While planning a website for his company, David needed to know what web browsers his
customers were using, what speed they were connecting at, and other important technical
details. David decided to ask visitors these questions in a simple web-based survey. And
when the results came in they thought others might also want to know the same things, so
they put the results in a press release that got them on the radio, in print, and landed them a
handful of new clients!
42. EVER WONDER HOW TO LAUNCH A PRODUCT
WITH NO MARKETING BUDGET AT ALL?
Guerrilla Danna Munley wanted to promote a software package for locksmiths but had no
marketing budget to spend.
Dannaʼs solution was to give the software to a few key groups; locksmith schools and associations.
Schools used it in training and recommended it to students. The associations gave
away a few copies of the software at their meetings and mentioned it in newsletters.
43. DO YOU FIND GETTING MEDIA ATTENTION
MORE PAINFUL THAN GIVING BLOOD?
Guerrilla Charles Larsen gave blood instead marketing and got plenty of attention. Charles
hosted a blood drive for his community and alerted the media about the event. He got all
kinds of attention from the local TV and radio stations. The blood drive was a success for
both the blood bank and Charles. Now lots of people know about his business.
You could also try the same approach with many other charitable acts and get the same
result. Youʼll do yourself and your community a favor.
44. LOOKING FOR WAYS TO STRETCH YOUR AD BUDGET?
Guerrilla Jack Livingston found a way to get free radio time from his outdoor signs! Jack had
already arranged for outdoor ads to promote his antique mall when he heard about a new
oldies format radio station. He offered the station space on his signs in exchange for radio
promotion. The fit is great for the two companies and they are even now working on a radio
show about antiques. Fusion marketing!
McDonaldʼs and Disney do it all the time and you can too, for a lot less money. Itʼs called
fusion marketing and it means joining forces with another company that reaches the same
target market that you do. Guerrilla Jane Thompson found a way to promote her CD store at
local grocers with very little budget.
Jane created a cute coupon resembling a dollar bill and a counter-top box to hold them. Then
she approached local independent grocers and stores in the area and asked them to help by
putting them on their checkout counters. In return, she promised to take out an ad on her
first year anniversary and promote them all with a “thank you” message.
the CD store about a week later. One year later she ran that thank you ad and two years later
her business is expanding to a larger space.
45. HOW TO BOOST SALES DURING THE OFF-SEASON?
People will always spend money to solve a problem before spending to improve something
that is already OK. Guerrilla florist Hugh Atkinson knows that this true in every area of life
and not just business-to-business marketing.
After all of the social expressions of the year-end holidays, flower sales can drop off until
Valentines day. His solution is a small road sign that simply asks, “How mad is she?” Heʼs
never had a busier January thanks to the sign.
Guerrilla Marketing, over 90 field-tested tactics to get your
business into the frontlines
By: Jay Conrad Levinson.
16. CREDITS NOT COUPONS
Competition is fierce in Guerrilla Jack Barthʼs community of Orangeville, Southern Ontario. As
proprietor of of Barthʼs Cleaning Centre, Barth takes precautions against competitive interference
when marketing to his customers. Barth maintains his Guerrilla stance by opting to
give customers a credit on their account rather than a coupon, which might be accepted by a
competitor.
Barth sends customers and prospects personalized letters which canʼt be monitored by the
competition. Even if a competitor intercepts a few letters they wonʼt be able to estimate how
many similar letters went out and when the letterʼs content was revised.
17. AUTORESPONDER OR URL?
When Guerrilla Jim Daniels of Smithfield, RI created his Website, he made some changes to his
classified ads. He replaced the autoresponders—which had allowed his prospects to receive
sales letters almost instantly—with his URL in his classified ads. He assumed that people
would prefer to visit the site and view the color, sound, and graphics.
When his response dropped, he realized that there are literally millions of people who use
email but donʼt surf the web. So out went the URL address in favor of the autoresponders.
Daniels also had an email newsletter so he decided to do a little more experimenting. There,
his newsletter ads contained both the autoresponder address and the URL.
Finally he had the perfect mix. His total inquiries (autoresponders plus page hits) went up by
about 20% and remained there as long as his ad contained both contact methods. Along with
these increased prospects came increased profits. A valuable lesson learned.
18. BECOME A MARKETING MATCHMAKER
Guerrilla Dana Burke, of Mind Your Business, has a terrific idea that can be used by anyone
with a box of labels and some ingenuity.
Burke maintains a supply of her clientsʼ and associatesʼ business cards in her office and
distributes them to likely customers. Using return address labels, sheʼs created a sticker that
says “Referred by Mind Your Business.” Placed on the back of other peopleʼs business cards,
the stickers remind the recipient who she is and help them when they call on the prospect.
The customer is reminded of her business and her name is the first one the prospect hears.
Quite the win-win-win situation.
19. CAT SHOOT CAPTURES COMMUNITY’S CONCERN
Guerrilla Jim Valovic of Gloversville, NY concocted a controversial but effective event that
earned Vanʼs Harley-Davidson a tremendous amount of publicity.
Vanʼs advertisement for a “Cat Shoot” to be held at the store on June 1, brought calls from
the media, Humane Society, SPCA, local police chief and even the Mayor, wanting to know
what was going on. To all callers, they replied “show up on the first and find out.”
The media jumped on it. Vanʼs was on front pages of three major newspapers (“Cat Shoot for
real or hoax?” blared the titles). What everyone saw on the day of the event was a six-foot
high cartoon cat that they could shoot—with a paint ball gun at three shots for a dollar. Signs
announced that all proceeds would go to the Humane Society. Reporters and crews from
print, radio and TV showed up and Vanʼs got even more coverage.
20. FREE TEST MARKETING
Guerrilla C. Whitlock of Cellular One in Beckley, West Virginia, shares an innovative way to get
products test marketed. A customer who wanted to leave the store and run errands while her
cellular phone was being installed was loaned a special red pager. The customer was paged
when her car was ready. Instead of sitting in the waiting room, the customer was out and
about using the pager.
Whitlock plans to extend the red pager to other stores offering while-you-wait service. The
customers roam freely and Cellular One gets their pager marketed for nothing!
21. CUSTOMER ADVOCACY
Guerrilla Nicole Baker of Millennium Marketing Solutions suggests becoming an advocate for
your customers. Anyone can manipulate a customer into buying something they donʼt really
need or want. Baker found objectivity and honesty to be more efficient than a hard sell
techniques. Even if you donʼt make as many initial sales, you will inspire customer loyalty. If
youʼre honest with them, customers will see you as the ONLY person to ask when they need
advice or additional products or services.
22. RETAIL MARKETING FUSION
Looking for a free way to get people to step into your store? Guerrilla Gary Brummond came
across this idea recently at a local mall. Gary noticed a collection of pet portraits in a portrait
studios window with a little card in the corner that said the actual pets could be found in the
pet shop opposite the studio. The portrait studio got some fun subjects for their window and
the pet store got a little virtual window space. We bet their business relationship has grown
beyond this elegant cooperation.
23. GUERRILLA GREETINGS
Troubled by the high cost of keeping in touch with your customers? Guerrilla Ron Foster
keeps in touch with his customers year round using simple and inexpensive fax greetings.
Ron sends a fax greeting just before holidays, special events and personal events. His customers
really appreciate the faxes and even call him back when the greeting is particularly
creative. Either way, they enjoy the effort and remember him year-round.
22. RETAIL MARKETING FUSION
Looking for a free way to get people to step into your store? Guerrilla Gary Brummond came
across this idea recently at a local mall. Gary noticed a collection of pet portraits in a portrait
studios window with a little card in the corner that said the actual pets could be found in the
pet shop opposite the studio. The portrait studio got some fun subjects for their window and
the pet store got a little virtual window space. We bet their business relationship has grown
beyond this elegant cooperation.
23. GUERRILLA GREETINGS
Troubled by the high cost of keeping in touch with your customers? Guerrilla Ron Foster
keeps in touch with his customers year round using simple and inexpensive fax greetings.
Ron sends a fax greeting just before holidays, special events and personal events. His customers
really appreciate the faxes and even call him back when the greeting is particularly
creative. Either way, they enjoy the effort and remember him year-round.
26. DIRECT MAIL GAMBIT
Trouble getting good direct mail response on small mailings with short messages? Hereʼs an
idea from Guerrilla Pablo Naranjo that works almost every time! Pablo puts a headline offer
on his envelopes and makes sure that there is a phone number with the return address. Then,
he sends out the envelopes empty! Most people call him back to let him know that their
envelope was empty and this leads to a conversation about the message in the headline.
27. RICH OR FAMOUS?
If youʼd rather be rich than famous, Guerrilla Marc-André Rampon has a tip to build response
to you newsletters and websites
.
Marc-André knows that great content makes for great newsletters and websites but he also
knows that great content takes time or money that cuts into profitability. His solution is to
get volunteers to write his content in exchange for building their visibility and popularity.
Make them famous while you make you richer!
Be sure to make all submissions your property if used and gain all appropriate publishing
rights.
28. TARGETED AND FREE ADS?
Everyone would love to have an unlimited ad budget but most of us struggle with how to
stretch our marketing dollars. Guerrilla James Bond has a tip for getting free ads any secret
agent would love.
Jamesʼ company provides investigative services to law firms. He found it hard to reach lawyers
with his promotional message until he decided to try putting his card in law books at a
local law library!
Attorneys, paralegals and law students would find the cards and assume that other law firms
used Jamesʼ company. This gave him both recognition and credibility and resulted in some
nice new clients.
We have also heard of another Guerrilla who puts his card into bookstore books to generate
programming jobs.
29. FISHING FOR LEADS
Are you always looking for local leads? Guerrilla Cyndi Stout goes “fishing” for free leads all
over town and you can too!
Many stores and restaurants have a glass bowl for business cards and they give away some
kind of prize return for the cards people drop in. Cyndi simply asks these business if she
can have the cards in exchange for something. Sometimes they give them to her for free and
other times she pays for the incentive prize in exchange for the leads. You could even offer to
type up the names and give them to the store in text and database form. So far nobody has
turned down her request to share leads!
30. GET ONLINE LINKS!
If youʼve got a site but had trouble had trouble getting links and traffic, Guerrilla David
Gresser has a simple tip for you.
David has a catalog site for sheet music and brings people to his site with loads oʼlinks. His
method is easy and you can use it too. David searches for music sites online and puts links
to them on his website. Then he writes to the webmaster with news of the link he gave them
and asks for one in return. He quickly collected 50 links this way and his list is still growing.
Competition is fierce in Guerrilla Jack Barthʼs community of Orangeville, Southern Ontario. As
proprietor of of Barthʼs Cleaning Centre, Barth takes precautions against competitive interference
when marketing to his customers. Barth maintains his Guerrilla stance by opting to
give customers a credit on their account rather than a coupon, which might be accepted by a
competitor.
Barth sends customers and prospects personalized letters which canʼt be monitored by the
competition. Even if a competitor intercepts a few letters they wonʼt be able to estimate how
many similar letters went out and when the letterʼs content was revised.
17. AUTORESPONDER OR URL?
When Guerrilla Jim Daniels of Smithfield, RI created his Website, he made some changes to his
classified ads. He replaced the autoresponders—which had allowed his prospects to receive
sales letters almost instantly—with his URL in his classified ads. He assumed that people
would prefer to visit the site and view the color, sound, and graphics.
When his response dropped, he realized that there are literally millions of people who use
email but donʼt surf the web. So out went the URL address in favor of the autoresponders.
Daniels also had an email newsletter so he decided to do a little more experimenting. There,
his newsletter ads contained both the autoresponder address and the URL.
Finally he had the perfect mix. His total inquiries (autoresponders plus page hits) went up by
about 20% and remained there as long as his ad contained both contact methods. Along with
these increased prospects came increased profits. A valuable lesson learned.
18. BECOME A MARKETING MATCHMAKER
Guerrilla Dana Burke, of Mind Your Business, has a terrific idea that can be used by anyone
with a box of labels and some ingenuity.
Burke maintains a supply of her clientsʼ and associatesʼ business cards in her office and
distributes them to likely customers. Using return address labels, sheʼs created a sticker that
says “Referred by Mind Your Business.” Placed on the back of other peopleʼs business cards,
the stickers remind the recipient who she is and help them when they call on the prospect.
The customer is reminded of her business and her name is the first one the prospect hears.
Quite the win-win-win situation.
19. CAT SHOOT CAPTURES COMMUNITY’S CONCERN
Guerrilla Jim Valovic of Gloversville, NY concocted a controversial but effective event that
earned Vanʼs Harley-Davidson a tremendous amount of publicity.
Vanʼs advertisement for a “Cat Shoot” to be held at the store on June 1, brought calls from
the media, Humane Society, SPCA, local police chief and even the Mayor, wanting to know
what was going on. To all callers, they replied “show up on the first and find out.”
The media jumped on it. Vanʼs was on front pages of three major newspapers (“Cat Shoot for
real or hoax?” blared the titles). What everyone saw on the day of the event was a six-foot
high cartoon cat that they could shoot—with a paint ball gun at three shots for a dollar. Signs
announced that all proceeds would go to the Humane Society. Reporters and crews from
print, radio and TV showed up and Vanʼs got even more coverage.
20. FREE TEST MARKETING
Guerrilla C. Whitlock of Cellular One in Beckley, West Virginia, shares an innovative way to get
products test marketed. A customer who wanted to leave the store and run errands while her
cellular phone was being installed was loaned a special red pager. The customer was paged
when her car was ready. Instead of sitting in the waiting room, the customer was out and
about using the pager.
Whitlock plans to extend the red pager to other stores offering while-you-wait service. The
customers roam freely and Cellular One gets their pager marketed for nothing!
21. CUSTOMER ADVOCACY
Guerrilla Nicole Baker of Millennium Marketing Solutions suggests becoming an advocate for
your customers. Anyone can manipulate a customer into buying something they donʼt really
need or want. Baker found objectivity and honesty to be more efficient than a hard sell
techniques. Even if you donʼt make as many initial sales, you will inspire customer loyalty. If
youʼre honest with them, customers will see you as the ONLY person to ask when they need
advice or additional products or services.
22. RETAIL MARKETING FUSION
Looking for a free way to get people to step into your store? Guerrilla Gary Brummond came
across this idea recently at a local mall. Gary noticed a collection of pet portraits in a portrait
studios window with a little card in the corner that said the actual pets could be found in the
pet shop opposite the studio. The portrait studio got some fun subjects for their window and
the pet store got a little virtual window space. We bet their business relationship has grown
beyond this elegant cooperation.
23. GUERRILLA GREETINGS
Troubled by the high cost of keeping in touch with your customers? Guerrilla Ron Foster
keeps in touch with his customers year round using simple and inexpensive fax greetings.
Ron sends a fax greeting just before holidays, special events and personal events. His customers
really appreciate the faxes and even call him back when the greeting is particularly
creative. Either way, they enjoy the effort and remember him year-round.
22. RETAIL MARKETING FUSION
Looking for a free way to get people to step into your store? Guerrilla Gary Brummond came
across this idea recently at a local mall. Gary noticed a collection of pet portraits in a portrait
studios window with a little card in the corner that said the actual pets could be found in the
pet shop opposite the studio. The portrait studio got some fun subjects for their window and
the pet store got a little virtual window space. We bet their business relationship has grown
beyond this elegant cooperation.
23. GUERRILLA GREETINGS
Troubled by the high cost of keeping in touch with your customers? Guerrilla Ron Foster
keeps in touch with his customers year round using simple and inexpensive fax greetings.
Ron sends a fax greeting just before holidays, special events and personal events. His customers
really appreciate the faxes and even call him back when the greeting is particularly
creative. Either way, they enjoy the effort and remember him year-round.
26. DIRECT MAIL GAMBIT
Trouble getting good direct mail response on small mailings with short messages? Hereʼs an
idea from Guerrilla Pablo Naranjo that works almost every time! Pablo puts a headline offer
on his envelopes and makes sure that there is a phone number with the return address. Then,
he sends out the envelopes empty! Most people call him back to let him know that their
envelope was empty and this leads to a conversation about the message in the headline.
27. RICH OR FAMOUS?
If youʼd rather be rich than famous, Guerrilla Marc-André Rampon has a tip to build response
to you newsletters and websites
.
Marc-André knows that great content makes for great newsletters and websites but he also
knows that great content takes time or money that cuts into profitability. His solution is to
get volunteers to write his content in exchange for building their visibility and popularity.
Make them famous while you make you richer!
Be sure to make all submissions your property if used and gain all appropriate publishing
rights.
28. TARGETED AND FREE ADS?
Everyone would love to have an unlimited ad budget but most of us struggle with how to
stretch our marketing dollars. Guerrilla James Bond has a tip for getting free ads any secret
agent would love.
Jamesʼ company provides investigative services to law firms. He found it hard to reach lawyers
with his promotional message until he decided to try putting his card in law books at a
local law library!
Attorneys, paralegals and law students would find the cards and assume that other law firms
used Jamesʼ company. This gave him both recognition and credibility and resulted in some
nice new clients.
We have also heard of another Guerrilla who puts his card into bookstore books to generate
programming jobs.
29. FISHING FOR LEADS
Are you always looking for local leads? Guerrilla Cyndi Stout goes “fishing” for free leads all
over town and you can too!
Many stores and restaurants have a glass bowl for business cards and they give away some
kind of prize return for the cards people drop in. Cyndi simply asks these business if she
can have the cards in exchange for something. Sometimes they give them to her for free and
other times she pays for the incentive prize in exchange for the leads. You could even offer to
type up the names and give them to the store in text and database form. So far nobody has
turned down her request to share leads!
30. GET ONLINE LINKS!
If youʼve got a site but had trouble had trouble getting links and traffic, Guerrilla David
Gresser has a simple tip for you.
David has a catalog site for sheet music and brings people to his site with loads oʼlinks. His
method is easy and you can use it too. David searches for music sites online and puts links
to them on his website. Then he writes to the webmaster with news of the link he gave them
and asks for one in return. He quickly collected 50 links this way and his list is still growing.
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