After Eight years of production, I am finally ready to launch my first new patented product.

It aids the consumer, to creatively custom design their own hangers in a different manner, also instantly. Tools are not really necessary. It is design to help economize clutter closets space furthermore to travel light, to avoid air lines extra charges.

I am looking for: Launchers, TV network, Reps, Launch mentoring, Access to Distribution, etc.

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Jay’s Answer: Before you create a website, get distributors, etc. first figure out WHO your target market is. I’m sure you’d want everyone that has a closet, but create a niche otherwise you’ll be doing mass market advertising that costs a lot and might not produce the return you’re looking for.

For example, maybe you want to focus on first year college students, who are bringing their stuff to a dorm and want to have enough room for everything. Then, you can focus your marketing message to campus newsletters and magazines for the demographic.

Once you’ve narrowly defined it, then you can find the best people to help you with that niche. Of course, you can then move to other niches, growing your business as you find success with each niche.

I have recently been hired as a sales rep for a newly developed organic skin care line, which was developed by a friend of mine. The ingredients are all natural, without toxins, harmful preservatives, etc., and it is a very professional upscale looking product line. She wants me to market the product starting with doctor’s offices, pediatricians, dermatologists, etc. She thinks it is an untapped market and is where she wants to start with the line. I thought that we should try health food markets like Whole Foods, or other places that share the whole organic philosophy, maybe full service salons or boutiques, etc. I recently took some samples to the Center for Holistic Medicine, and asked to be contacted with their opinions about the line and whether they are interested in carrying some products. Any advice on where to go and how to start?

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Jay’s Answer: It’s a big market, with lots of competition already. If you do get on the shelf at Whole Foods, yours will simply be another product on their shelves, and unlikely to generate many purchases.

Start by targeting under-served markets. Is there a skin problem that your products heal better than any other product out there? Maybe a location in the country where organic skin care hasn’t penetrated (and is the right demographic for you)?

Consider private labeling the product to high-end spas and private gyms. Also, cross-marketing with related products - high-end hair care, nail care, and even outdoors-related businesses.

You might want to sell B2C to get the word out directly. To get more consumer awareness, try doing something win-win: provide foot rubs for your local Avon Walk For Breast Cancer with your products (or provide the product for others to use).

We currently own a non franchised Maid Service and trying to create a how to manual. How to market, price and keep customers as well as having a web site for exclusive content and know how we’ve learned. I understand it’s a relatively easy business to start and operate. However, we are finding that a lot of information in many of the how to "start" a cleaning business are very general. We are in a vacation area and a lot of our business is servicing rental homes, condos, etc. We believe we have a niche if we could tell other aspiring and existing cleaning companies how to market and go after these clients. How do I do market research to see if it’s a viable idea.

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Jay’s Answer: To find out if people are looking for this information see how many people are searching for:

• cleaning business
• commercial cleaning business
• house cleaning business
• carpet cleaning business
• start a cleaning business
• starting a cleaning business
• how to start a cleaning business
• office cleaning business
• window cleaning business
• cleaning service
• cleaning services
• house cleaning service
• home cleaning business
• house cleaning services

You’ll find that there’s mid-low search interest, and high advertising competition.

Before you spend any money on advertising the solution, make sure you can prove ROI on your business (using these tips) and also that the information is transferable (others have followed the tips and they worked for them as well). Then, you have the "case studies" to sell the system - whether it be a book, video, seminar, franchise, etc.

As off-shoot main business (lg upscale consignment ) started thrift next to one store. Thrift separate store. Tiny. 700 sqft sales-19 years. Main business left unsold stuff becomes main business’ property but wanted to sell to benefit community. Solution - operate the thrift for a different group local non-profits’s and split sales quarterly. Cute/boutique like. No smells/junk. Decorated. Clothes, books, jewelry, small decoratives. Down outside hallway, around corner/cheap rent. Prices dirt. Get same customers. Don’t care $ for NP’s. 2 problems: How to advertise/get new customers w/out increasing public donations ’cause mostly crap/big labor/disposal costs. How to reward current repeat customers w/out giving away NP’s profits or train to wait for ’sales’. (Staff so tired of hagglers)

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Jay’s Answer: Your question is basically, how can my store (which supports non-profits and sells goods cheaply) get more customers?

A thrift store is basically like an indoor garage sale - you don’t know what’s there until you show up, and it can change daily. The people who are looking for a bargain will continue to shop your store, and haggle as well. So, you need to do something different. Make it easy for people who are looking for your goods to find them.

• Create a website for your store, and list the inventory (allowing searching).
• Create a service for people who are looking for something special to be notified when/if it comes in (and you could charge for this VIP service).
• List your new goods daily on Craigslist for your community.Connect with a local business that handles eBay (or other online) auctions. You’ll no doubt be able to sell your (better) goods for more $

The key is connecting your supply (of goods) with the proper demand.

We’re a small boutique located in the downtown of a city of 115,000. We sell business fashion to both men and women, and our average customer’s age is between 35 and 55. We rely very heavily on word-of-mouth and have a number of loyal customers who have been coming back for 20 years.

We’re nearing our 30th anniversary of the store’s opening (in about a year). This is a great milestone that we wish to leverage. We have two post-secondary institutions in our city and have ran a few seminars for the business classes on how to dress in the workplace. We’d like to target a younger audience and are searching for other ways to market to them. Our budget is not yet defined however I would greatly appreciate ANY suggestions on how to make the most of our upcoming anniversary!!

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Jay’s Answer: Ultimately, workplace dress is mostly about success, not to make a fashion statement (for most businesses). Therefore, teach how purchasing clothing from you is really a financial investment. Conduct surveys (or find them) that show how better dressed people in the workplace get more job offers, better job offers, better pay, better professional networking, etc.

Go to where your target demographic hangs out - whether it be the local gyms, coffee shops, library, or sports arena. Connect with them there. For example, co-market with the local gyms. If people care enough to work on their body, then how much better would they look with the right business clothes?

I am looking to develop a merchandising strategy for a University Athletics team. Currently there is a limited selection of merchandise available, however I am looking for a method to build interest in the items already there, not develop a new product line. The challenge is the University’s teams are not very good, and as such, the attendance and participation at the games by student is still fairly small. Any thoughts… ?

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Jay’s Answer: If you want an edgy approach: have contests to modify the apparel to convey the feeling of the team by the students.

Have an anonymous student daily find someone wearing the team’s clothing, take a picture of them (for the school paper), and give them a gift certificate (for food, iTunes, etc.). This ongoing contest might stimulate new purchases if the promotion got some school-wide coverage.

Sell to alumni. They might remember the “glory days” of the teams. Offer them as part of a package for reunions.

Give them as gifts to prospective freshmen, or have a special area that tours take prospects to to get their college shirt.

We are a small retail company that sells locally made products, souvenirs, and gift baskets. We have opened a new downtown location in a mid-size city with multiple hotels in close proximity. We have been brainstorming ideas about how to develop a rewards program for the hotels to encourage them to refer their guests to our store.

So far the only good idea we have is to give the hotels business cards with our info and possibly a discount or some sort for the customer. The card would also have the hotel name on it and when the guest comes to the store, they would give us the card and we track how many referrals have been given from that hotel.

This idea is the only functional one we have come up with. Please give any input on this idea, positive or negative or a completely different idea. I am very new to the industry and would appreciate any advice!

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Jay’s Answer: Focus on the reason for someone who’s staying at a nearby hotel to come to your store. Is it for a souvenir of their stay or a last-minute gift?

If you have attractive gift baskets, then see if there’s a public space (ideally, behind glass) in the hotel lobby that you could put your baskets in with your card.

A rewards program is just too hard to manage in your case. When someone new purchases from you, ask them if they’re staying at a local hotel, and if so, which one (and/or “How Did You Hear About Us?”). Then call the hotel (or write) to thank them for their referrals at the end of the month. If you want to make the referral tangible, gift the front desk & concierge with something you sell or a gift card for them to use (and visit your store).

Likewise, ask the local hotels for brochures of theirs to leave in your store. You can put them in a book (”Where To Stay”), etc.

We are a small production studio that just released a series of non fiction DVDs. Our target audience is guys and girls ages 17 to 26. I am currently thinking of possible advertising avenues to place our product in front of our target audience — any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Our advertising budget is quite small at the moment, so the best strategy for us would be to start with inexpensive advertising and use the profits to move on to reach more people in more expensive mediums.

This is the current list I am considering:

• Nightclub/Bar Bathroom Ads
• Direct Response Infomercials, Radio Ads
• Print Ads
• Mall Kiosks
• Banner ads on social networking sites

Are we on the right track here? Are there any other possible ways to advertise in malls or nightclubs? What other ways can we reach 17 to 26 year old guys and girls?

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Jay’s Answer: I’m assuming you’ll also have a website.

If your business is local/regional, the local nightclubs, malls, etc. make sense (don’t forget movie houses). But if you’re not limited, then the internet. Don’t forget free things like press releases (if you have something newsworthy/useful), sending press kits to key media influencers, and video teasers (on video sites - make sure your teasers have your website clearly listed).

We are going to sell a customizable product in the fashion accessories niche and because of the relatively big freedom our customization options offer we expect people who are confident about their look and appearance to be our (first) customers. They are the people who are “courageous” enough to use all the options we give them and some of them might have waited for exactly that. We don’t have a certain age group limit for our product but it is most likely that it will attract people between 20 and 35 who can afford to pay the premium price.

We will advertise mostly online and use public relations to our advantage. Because of our premium brand we also have to be careful what channels of advertising we use and how of course.

Any ideas for the look, feel and copy of our advertising campaign to appeal to our target audience would be awesome!

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Jay’s Answer: Since you’re selling a visual product, show your prospects how customizing will look. Use models in your target demographic for your visuals. If the product is being sold locally, use a local model in the demographic - their face may be helpful to selling it as well.

The language of the ads should be using your demographic’s language - use the words & phrases they use (for example, have a focus test of your product with a test group. Tell them about it in your language, and ask them to “sell” it to others in the group in their language. Make sure to record the session so you don’t miss anything).

Model the campaign after other successful ads targeting your demographic. Where are they placed? How do they look? You don’t want to clone them, but want to be able to place your ad side-by-side with them and be as “strong”.

I work with gift cards. We are trying to prove the “incrementality” of our business. There is, of course, an ability to measure sales uplift–that being the amount spent above the funds on the card which equates to about 35% more than the baseline value. I maintain there are greater incremental sales gained from gift cards but don’t know how to measure. This would be the revenues we wouldn’t have otherwise gained from having the program. I think it is a fairly high incidence. Any ideas on how to measure or compute? Many thanks for your ideas.

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Jay’s Answer: You can also track: time from purchase to redemption (one of the hidden benefits to gift cards is not all the people who receive them ever use them), number of visits required to use up a card, cards with outstanding balances (people may not bother keeping cards with under $5 on them, for example), and interest (potentially) earned from having people prepay for cards.