What a rejected New Zealand suitor did that could buzz up your business bottom line? Paul Holewa reports how a man after his wedding proposal was rejected by his girlfriend used Twitter for a scavenger hunt to give away the expensive wedding ring.

Because your buyers want information, resources, and insight from their industry (right or wrong), why not give it to them. With this sales gimmick you are the ring master, by hosting an industry event for your customers you can bring together more buyers for fewer dollars.

You choose either a city-to-city tour, or just in your home town, create a trade show or expo for your very best target customers. Invite other companies who complement what you offer, share the costs, and you get huge amounts of free advertising.

This kind of event is news worthy, a great lead generation source, and an opportunity to pick the brains of your prospective customers. Include training, product demonstrations, and even a bit of fun — invite those who matter, but make it all about your prospects.

© 2009 Unusual Sales Gimmicks, All rights reserved.

Justin Hitt helps technical services selling professionals turn business relationships into profits guaranteed. Join his FREE newsletter for B2B selling professionals at http://InsideStrategicRelations.com/

What did P. T. Barnum know in 1843 about finding buyers that you don't know today? In a world of instant communications, social media, and trying to be noticed, you can reach more buyers by staying hidden. Here's one gimmick that will keep people talking.

In Joe Vitale's program “The Power of Outrageous Marketing” (from Nightingale Conant) tells of P. T. Barnum's Free Grand Buffalo Hunt. This kind of event makes you money secretly, while cultivating good-will and publicity.

Host an outrageous party, invite your best prospects, customers, and let them enjoy themselves. Make it interesting, fun, but keep them wondering who setup the event until after the rave reviews come. Use hidden selling, follow up, and good-will to profit.

© 2009 Unusual Sales Gimmicks, All rights reserved.

Justin Hitt helps technical services firms who sell to other businesses generate more leads, while creating and keeping profitable customers. Have a selling question for Justin, visit http://AskJustinHitt.com/

Before you even think about one of those ugly machine processed stamps that just screams junk mail, reach for a live stamp. If you want your mail opened, it must get the attention of a buyer.

Instead of just placing a stamp, let's get a little off center, placing the stamp sideways or upside down. Tests show you'll get better response with unique postage placement (as long as you are in the postal requirements.)

Test one stamp, two stamp, a sideways stamp, and more. Be unique, get the attention of buyers with your “probably done by a person look.” You won't have any chance of sharing your message if the letter is never opened, this helps.

© 2009 Unusual Sales Gimmicks, All rights reserved.

Justin Hitt turns simple contact information into profitable marketing campaigns for business-to-business technical services firms. Want results, ask Justin Hitt at http://AskJustinHitt.com/

Using on-line bill pay services, rather than returning bills by mail, may be opening the door to a powerful marketing opportunity. What to do with all those envelopes in bills? How about using them for sneak up marketing.

For small mailings recycled envelopes add punch to appointment setting letters, follow up, and lead generation. This sales gimmick is especially good for building curiosity because it looks like anything but an advertisement.

Just black out any addresses, put your return address (not company name) and address as usual. Your recipient will wonder who is writing, even with their address in print showing through the envelope window.

© 2009 Unusual Sales Gimmicks, All rights reserved.

Justin Hitt helps business-to-business selling professionals generate more qualified leads, set more appointments, and earn more now. For help with your next targeted campaign, visit https://www.jwhco.com/

Grabbers in marketing help get your prospects attention, however, they must be relevant and enhance your sales message. One exercise to find grabbers is visiting your local Dollar Store.

Look at small items you can mail, put a sales letter inside, or illustrate a benefit of owning your product. For example, barrel of monkeys becomes “Stop Monkeying Around With Equipment Service, …“

You don't need to have your company name emblazoned all over it. Start with an idea that connects your reader with one of the benefits of owning your solution. Done right, you'll get past gatekeepers and get the appointment.

© 2009 Unusual Sales Gimmicks, All rights reserved.

Justin Hitt helps technical services marketers connect with real buyers, improve b2b lead generation, and helps you keep profitable customers. Add life to your next campaign, visit http://JustinHitt.com/

With President Obama's election a number of tasteful marketing connections are made, while others lack any value at all. What these marketers are doing is connecting with celebrity status.

Done correctly you can bring attention to an important issue (or service), for example by making the smallest ever Obama images nanotechnology is featured.

How can you ride along with a celebrity in promoting what it is you do? Even better, who could endorse your solution? Done tastefully, the right way, you can borrow credibility and fame for your solution.

© 2009 Unusual Sales Gimmicks, All rights reserved.

Hitt Publishing Direct helps technology services firms connect with buyers, turning relationships into profits guaranteed. For solutions that grow your business, visit http://HittPublishingDirect.com/

By Justin Hitt, Professional B2B Copywriter

The US Postal Service is losing more than a billion dollars a year, Royal Mail's ‘one price goes anywhere' is losing money too, while other European services aren't doing much better. Is direct mail as a marketing medium dying?

You'll find a lively discussion at Hubspot on the failures of the US Postal Service, it however missing a fundamental point. This point is the value of copy writing that you are learning here.

If you copy sucks in print, it will suck on-line. There are just as many failures in marketing on-line as there are with direct mail, it just doesn't have as many direct costs.

Because you don't pay for mistakes on the Internet with an upfront investment as obviously as you do for direct mail doesn't mean mistakes don't cost you. It also doesn't mean they don't hurt the relationship you have with a prospect, in fact, making it more difficult to make a sale in the future.

It's the copy writing fundamentals people are missing. If your copy fails to connect a reader with a compelling offer, then in any media you have failed to do marketing. Let's examine the real costs …

Many think Internet and email marketing doesn't cost anything because they aren't being billed for middle transport service providers. When mailing by post, you pay for the paper, the envelope, ink, and postage. Online you just pay for hosting and e-mail (which can be free in many cases, or at least cheap.)

Because you aren't paying for the entire network from point-to-point, the Internet seems a lower cost medium for marketing. The Internet also provides many low costs tools to make marketing easy. Conversely, with the postal service you are paying the majority of costs associated with the transport of your message.

Most miss the bottom line here, it's not how much you paid to send the message, what matters is your return on investment on marketing investment. Advertising Agencies (or Consultants) pitching one medium over another are usually getting better commission or paid for related services. Don't make this mistake for your clients by teaching them about cost per lead, profit per sale, and other reliable measures of marketing success.

When you are able to write copy that sells, you could send your message by the Queens Guard, or Carrier Pigeon to the right audience to make the sale all the same. The determining factor of which method works best is how much that sale cost.

As long as your carefully crafted message reaches a buyer in a medium they use, using language they understand, and a story to which they can relate … you'll get the sale. Direct mail isn't dying, there is just a bigger need for qualified copywriters than there was every before.

A poorly implemented e-mail campaign is just as big a flop as direct mail in both it's cost and lack of production. Unfortunately, the bigger cost of marketing only on-line is losing a prospect forever due to short attention spans on-line, being blocked as spammer, or being missed by those millions who aren't on-line today.

If you want better success with your copy efforts, then use several mediums for testing your message. Deliver your copy with a mix of direct mail, Internet and email marketing, telephone, and any other method you can test. It's about reaching customers where they are, with copy that sells, in multiple channels with the right message.

© 2009 AdBriefing Copywriting Tips, All rights reserved.

Justin Hitt is a business copywriter who specializes in the technology services field, providing clients copy that sells. For more about his services, visit https://www.adbriefing.co.uk/