Small business marketing tips can come from strange places for those who keep an eye open. This past weekend, my parents held a garage sale to clear out some of their old items and, in their words, “tidy things up around here.” As the oldest child, I was recruited to man the cash box.

As I sat there collecting money from strangers for mementos of bygone bowling tournaments and bad boy-band records, I saw three small business marketing tips hidden in the simplest of businesses, the humble garage sale.

Halo Products & Services Draw Attention

Hanging from along the rail of the open garage door were three nearly new coats. In the center of the driveway was a beautiful desk. Perched against the side of the garage was an old door turned jewelry display covered in far too many coats of bright purple paint.

Taken individually, these items are a strange combination of obscure and unique. But taken together they formed a powerful method for luring in the would-be-just-drive-byers to have a closer look.

These items weren’t necessarily the “best” at the garage sale. In fact, two were left unsold at the end of the day. But they did manage to draw people in and spark curiosity. They served as a lure, creating interest for the garage sale overall. And once buyers stopped to take a look, they typically found other items that were of more interest.

The “halo” item is no stranger to the world of marketing. That’s why automotive manufacturers spend years and millions of dollars building exotic “halo” sports cars that few people will drive and even fewer people will own. They don’t typically make money on these rare vehicles, nor do they ever expect to. These cars create interest in the brand and demonstrate the capabilities of the company, all while building considerable buzz.

So I propose the question, what is your businesses’ halo item? Do you have something that draws and attracts, even if it’s not your best seller?

Find your killer piece of merchandise and use it bring in new customers.

Active Selling Works, and it Works Well

My father is the kind of guy who knows everyone at the grocery store. Mom will send him for a loaf of bread and he will inexplicably come back an hour later. So while I worked the register, he took to chatting up would-be customers.

“That jacket would look great on you, you should try it on!”

“My kids used to love playing that board game. Still has all the pieces too.”

“Wow, I think I paid $50 for this when it was new. It’s a steal at $5.”

I don’t know about you, but I can’t recall the last time I was “sold” anything at a garage sale. But judging by the amused faces and cracked smiles, I think that was part of the charm. People loved learning more about the random items now on sale for just $0.50. A backstory gave the item context and as a result, generated more interest.

My father’s ability to form a relationship with his customers (however temporary it might have been) clearly resulted in more sales. Sometimes this was simply reinforcing someone’s interest in an item with a simple, “That would look great on you.” Other times it was up selling other random items, “If your kids like stuffed animals, you should get a couple books for them too.” I think it demonstrates that relationship building works at all levels, no matter how small the sale or brief the interaction.

Advertising

When it comes to advertising the garage sale, my father relies on the tried and true method of duct taping GARAGE SALE signs to street posts around the neighborhood. But this year he tried something new, something that stressed his computer skills and competence. He posted an ad on Craigslist. Yes, my father had turned to digital advertising. And if he can do it, I bet you can too.

The result? We had a rush of people before the paper signs could even be posted. For someone who hasn’t worked retail in many years, it was overwhelming at times. It took us two hours to actually post signs, eventually encouraging a second wave of visitors to come by.

The online ad worked for a few simple reasons:

1. We tapped into a market already looking for what we had to offer. All we had to do was show them we were having a sale that day.
2. We reached a far larger market than our neighborhood. Posting signs might have brought in a few people, but what about people who were scouting garage sales the neighborhood over? We had exactly what they were looking for, but we needed to get in front of them.
3. Simply having a garage sale doesn’t bring in the kind of traffic necessary for it to be successful. Like a new website, if we had just waited for people to show up, we would have waited a long time. An online ad jumpstarts the whole process and bring people in fast.

The Tips

After four hours we had made a tidy profit of about $350. Not too bad for a Friday morning. And despite a few leftover items of $0.50 clothing now on their way to Goodwill, we managed to sell everything.

In the end, I think the biggest marketing tips for small businesses were also the most simplistic:

1. Have a few really attractive products or pieces of content. They may not sell well, in fact, they may be offered for free. But the point is to lure people in, then expose them to your other items or services. Build an audience by creating interest and attraction, then focus on turning them into customers.
2. Everyone is in sales, especially the business owner. Take the time to get to know your customers. Understand what brings them in, what their pain points are, and how your offerings can help to eliminate their problems. Search for potential opportunities to upsell and/or add additional value to their purchase.
3. Use advertising to put your business in front of new audiences. Use what you know about your current customers to help find similar groups of people and messaging that resonates with them. If possible, find customers when they’re already looking for what you have to offer. The closer they are to making a purchase decision, the easier it will be to turn them into customers.

So whether you want to grow your small business or just have a killer garage sale, remember small business marketing tips and inspiration can be found anywhere.