Can a bucket of bagels be a brand ambassador?
Racing out of town a few weeks ago to bring our much-loved local bagels (and much-loved selves) up to New York State, I got to wondering about the power of being portable. This simple bucket has created eager fans six hours away from Delaware, through ease of purchase and repetition. Here’s how portability can grow your business, too.
5 Keys to putting your product or service in a bucket:
Portability should extend your reach, not cut into your regular business
Portability may make you accessible to customers who couldn’t otherwise afford you
It can make you available to customers at times (in places) when you can’t be open for business
It can put you within easy reach of customers who don’t have the opportunity to purchase from you normally
It should expose you to a wider audience
What, no bagels or other product to put in that bucket? Well, then, how can you and I make our ideas and our services more portable?
A bucket of ideas:
Books—let me curl up in bed with you or take you to the beach
“Sampler” service, like Tapas—offer only a tease to the “lightly” committed, so they can fall in love with your company
Remote service—could you offer telephone/email consults?
Speaking/teaching/seminars/workshops—online or off, speaking gigs bring your ideas to life and can even make them more memorable
Giving it away—this one is your secret weapon. You must set limits, but a few wise words to a customer or prospect “off the books,” stays with him or her (in goodwill) and travels farther than you can imagine (in word-of-mouth)
Got a great idea for making small business offerings more portable? Share it in the comments!
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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24 January 2009, 9:30 am
Great way to start off the morning, a bucket of bagels. Yum.
McDonald’s does 60% of their business at the drive in window. 60%.
The Praline Connection on Frenchman Street, boxes their delicious pralines and sells them in a remote location at the airport.
Yale has podcasts available on itunes.
Hm, I took gifted girls on location to learn how to draw at the zoo, the aquarium, at the Ogden Museum.
And I have an idea I am trying to figure out, but it’s portable.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…Never Ending Brilliance
24 January 2009, 9:45 am
Janice,
Gosh, I’m surprised it’s not more than 60% when I look at my local McD’s. Food-to-go is so much easier to understand, because it’s so familiar.
Cartier-to-go, now that requires some heavy thinking.
Bob Ross, Donna Dewberry… one really hesitates to mention them to a true artist… it isn’t high art, but they get (got) portability right (and in Bob Ross’ case, a measure of immortality…).
Oh, and Yale’s podcasts—I’ve loved every one I’ve listened to. Great reminder.
Regards,
Kelly
24 January 2009, 10:03 am
Cartier-to- go, Hah…sign me up for some of that.
I think we want what we want when we want it and where we want it. Look at packaging for example, retort packaging made a lot of things possible. The how we get things, designing those kinds of things that’s a cool thing to be into.
And our Steve, he sure is into redesigning delivery systems.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…Never Ending Brilliance
24 January 2009, 10:25 am
A free bunch of inflatable bananas goes a long way towards getting repeat business from 20-foot inflatable gorillas.
Friar’s last blog post…18 Tips Guaranteed to Save the Planet……and Make you Miserable!
24 January 2009, 12:53 pm
Janice,
Amazingly I haven’t mentioned it here, with all the Steve-love… crossing my fingers for him right now. May his health return and his friends steward the ship of Apple well in his absence.
Friar,
And inflatable bananas are so portable—take all the air out, and away you go!
You know if you tried there could almost be a real lesson in there…
Until later,
Kelly
24 January 2009, 6:23 pm
I think we’ve responded well with this one. We have our drive-by consults and now our quick hit consults.
Fast service, great food, satisfaction guaranteed. Mmhm.
James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post…Putting the “Social” Back Into Social Networking
24 January 2009, 6:23 pm
I am so not touching inflatable bananas.
Go fish me out of moderation, K.
James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post…Putting the “Social” Back Into Social Networking
24 January 2009, 7:06 pm
James,
& you’re well-known as the tastiest bites around.
I agree. You are very portable Men, and any small biz can take a page out of your book to learn how to offer a sample that whets the customer’s appetite for the whole meal.
Until later,
Kelly
26 January 2009, 1:19 am
Given that the business I’m developing is completely web-based, it’d better be portable or I’m in real trouble.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post…Why bother with authenticity?
26 January 2009, 6:32 am
Alex,
LOL.
26 January 2009, 1:28 pm
I envision a time in the very near future when I will become portable. Right now I have started out land based. It’s what I know best. Eye to eye business, friendly smiles included. But it has always been my intent to stretch out to the net. And I’m all set for it with LLI. I look forward to it.
Wendi Kelly- Life’s Little Inspirations’s last blog post…Inspired Movies
26 January 2009, 5:01 pm
*achoo!*
Wendi,
I was trying to wait until I wouldn’t sneeze on you if I wandered out here, but obviously, today is not that day, so pardon me if I’m not at my most eloquent.
No reason why land-based can’t have a portable element to it, even before you make the big move to Internet portability. It’s certainly where I can think of the most examples.
Um, even in my current state.
Regards,
Kelly
26 January 2009, 5:07 pm
No worries,
I’ll share my virtual kleenex box with you. I’ve been sneezing for a week.
I do agree with that. Very much so.
Wendi Kelly- Life’s Little Inspirations’s last blog post…Inspired Movies
26 January 2009, 5:27 pm
It’s h-h-allergies.
blech.
Zanks for the virtual tissues. I need ‘em!