by Debbie LaChusa, 6FigureWorkAtHomeMom

While most people associate the "free taste" marketing strategy with the online marketing world, it has actually been around much longer than the Internet.

It all started with ice cream!

Baskin Robbins, the ice cream store that offers 31 flavors to choose from, has been around for 60 years. I don't know for sure, but I'd be willing to bet they were the first major retailer to offer the "free taste."

Remember those little pink spoons?

As a result, it has become known as "pink spoon" marketing.

I worked for Baskin Robbins for four years in high school and college, and nearly every customer who came in, took advantage of the pink spoon taste test. So I am VERY familiar with it!

What a great concept!

These days, when we think of the "free taste" concept, most people tend to think in terms of the online marketing world. The world where websites offer newsletters, special reports, e-courses, teleseminars and more.

Online pink spoon marketing

If your WAHM business is an online business, you are likely very familiar with this concept, and hopefully you offer a "free taste" to encourage prospects to opt-in to your mailing list.

This is such an important online marketing tool. It helps to build the "know, like and trust" factor in a world where we rarely meet our clients face to face.

Did you know it works offline, too?

The good news is, this marketing strategy also works like a charm in the offline world.

In fact, recently I was once again reminded of the power of the "pink spoon taste" to generate business.

Here's a great example

I was in Las Vegas with my husband, my daughter and my daughter's entire softball team. We stayed at the Orleans Hotel and when we checked in they gave us a booklet with a variety of coupons that could be redeemed within the hotel,
casino and restaurants for gifts or discounts with purchase.

On Saturday night, we all decided to go to the hotel's buffet for dinner. Not only had a few families eaten there the night before and reported the food was very good, but there was a coupon for a complimentary bottle of wine.

So 20 of us went to the buffet for dinner and to collect our bottle of wine. We were happy to get our wine, and at $14.99 per person for dinner, and two dinner purchases required to get the wine, I'd say the hotel did quite well that night, too!

I'm not saying the bottle of wine was the only reason we went, but with all of our other choices of places to eat in Las Vegas, it certainly tipped the scale!

But, it doesn't end there...

One of the other coupons in the booklet was for a complimentary gift from the hotel's souvenir shop. Now, I have been to Las Vegas so many times, I never buy souvenirs.

As a result, I don't bother to go into the hotel gift shop. BUT, since they were offering me a complimentary souvenir, I figured why not check it out?

We stopped by the hotel gift shop on the way back to our room Saturday night to pick up our complimentary souvenir: 3 strands of brightly colored Mardi Gras beads. The best part was, they were a gift; we didn't have to buy anything!

I noticed when we were in the gift shop, a lot of other people were also picking up their Mardi Gras beads, AND while they were there, they were looking around at the other merchandise available for sale.

Business was booming!

I also noticed every time we walked by the gift shop that weekend, there was a line of people at the register. I'd be willing to bet many of those people were like us and would never have stepped a foot inside that gift shop were it not for the complimentary gift.

Take my daughter for example. She went to the gift shop to collect her Mardi Gras beads and ended up buying a small souvenir for her boyfriend.

Tangible "pink spoon" gifts work in the offline world

This is a great example of a tangible gift in the offline world, that probably costs the hotel next to nothing to offer, and is generating sales for them every single day.

The complimentary gift, and the gift with purchase, are marketing strategies that work, both offline and online.

Do you have a pink spoon in your WAHM business?

The question is, are you using them to your full advantage in your work at home business? If not, I encourage you to spend some time this week brainstorming what you could offer to your prospects to either get them into your store (online or offline), or to entice them to purchase by sweetening the deal with a gift.

Then figure out the best way to get the word out to your prospects and clients about your gift or bonus. Be creative and come up with a plan to implement this tried and true marketing strategy, then sit back and watch your prospects and sales grow!

© Copyright 2007 Debbie LaChusa

Want to use this article on your website or ezine? 

You can. Just include the following paragraph, including live website links, and email me to let me know where you're using it. Thanks!

Debbie LaChusa feels blessed to be a work at home mom who gets to spend time with her family, do work she loves and earn a great living. She founded 10stepmarketing and 6FigureWorkAtHomeMom to help other working moms do the same. To see a free "Tribute to Work At Home Moms" video and register for free WAHM tips, visit http://www.6FigureWorkAtHomeMom.com.

 

Back to Free Stuff page