Attention Getting

Small Business Marketing Strategist

Category: 30-SECOND READ (Page 2 of 11)

My 30-second read blog posts give you a quick hit of marketing or small business knowledge.

Awesome Business Idea of the Week

October 15, 2023 /

this weeks awesome business ideaSearches for “Haunted Car Wash Near Me” are up 950% this week on Google. It shows just how popular Halloween has become, and how a seemingly unrelated business can take advantage.

Basically drive-through car washes (the ones where you stay in the car) are hiring actors to dress up and scare patrons as the car makes its way through. They also get to charge a little  more than the traditional car washing fee, and customers are loving it!

It really is a brilliant idea because you have to get your car washed anyway, so why not turn it into a fun Halloween experience. It is also a great way for the car wash to get some free local publicity.

So, is there anything about your business that you can turn into a haunted experience? Why you’re at it, start thinking about Christmas!

Find all kinds of creative marketing inspiration in my Etsy store.

©2023 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. 

The Hottest Tiktok Trends Right Now

May 30, 2023 /

If you use Tiktok to market your small business, you know that it can be all about trends. Here are some the hottest Tiktok trends right now that your business might be able to benefit your business.

#Cleangirlaesthetic

The clean girl aesthetic covers decor, fashion and beauty, and is all about minimalism and understated sophistication, along with prioritizing your self-care.  Simple, neutral color palettes, pared-down style, but high quality.

#Mermaidcore

The #mermaidcore trend is influenced by the release of the latest Little Mermaid film, and it has to do with fashion, jewelry and makeup involving pearls, ruffles, seashells, low-rise skirts, sequins and sparkles – all in the traditional mermaid color palette of purple, blue and green.

#Whimsigoth

This trend is inspired by any magic or witchy type TV show you watched in the 90s, so it focuses on vintage stars, moon and other celestial decor.

#Railscapes

Railscapes is a hot #decortok trend whereby houseplants line the balusters of your indoor staircase.

#Dopamine

The dopamine #decortok trend is all about decorating with things that are fun and whimsical that gives you a rush of dopamine when you see them.

#Paintedbread

Painted bread is a popular #foodtok that is basically handmade bread, which has been decorated with floral and vine graphics using food coloring and food gel.

#Teabombs

We’ve had hot chocolate bombs and coffee bombs, now tea bombs are the current rage, which are  a mixture of tea and other botanicals inside a dissolvable sugar shell.

#Cottagecheese

This retro health #foodtok is making a comeback with Tiktok users looking for recipes for cottage cheese pasta, cottage cheese ice cream and cottage cheese toast, among other things.

#Vintagecakes

The vintage cakes trend  has Tiktokers showcasing their over-the-top cake creations that are also ultra feminine with rows and rows of sugar pearls, an abundance of edible roses, an overload of piped icing, and just really gaudy, decadent designs.

#Customweddingnapkins

Your #weddingtok #bridaltok trends should include custom or personalized wedding napkins that come with a cute story about the couple or special messages from the bride and groom.

#Packanorderwithme

Many small businesses are packing customer orders on camera, and people seem to respond to this, including their customers excited to see their own purchase getting ready for shipment.

#Dayinthelife

A day in the life video follows a small business owner throughout their day so that the viewer gets some idea of all the tasks and activities involved in what they do. hottest tiktok trends right now

If you need more social media content ideas, be sure to download my 365 Social Media Ideas Calendar.

Also Read: 8 Instagram Reel Ideas and My Favorite Home Office Finds

©2023 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Hottest Tiktok Trends Right Now

My Latest Side Hustle Ideas

May 25, 2023 /

I love Google Trends because they give you so many ideas for small businesses and side hustles. Here are a few side hustle ideas I came up with based on some search trends from the last couple of weeks.

Summer Lessons and Teaching Kids

Google is showing that most searched “classes for kids” in the past month are:

  • Art classes
  • Swimming classes
  • Dance classes
  • Cooking classes
  • Coding classes

In my opinion, these could also be offered as private mommy and me or daddy and me classes. Did you know that 56% of all US adults cannot swim well enough to save themselves? If you’re a swim teacher with their own pool, you might want to consider offering private lessons.

If you own a restaurant that is not busy during the day, why not run a cooking class for kids, even if just in the mornings?

If you know how to code, either try to run a coding camp or offer this as tutoring or, again, private lessons.

Sleeping and Dreaming

Both “dream interpretation” and “sleep” are being searched at all-time highs on Google. Therefore, if you have any products or services that will help people improve their sleep, or you have the ability to interpret dreams, these are possible business opportunities.

Wedding Locales

It’s wedding season and Google Trends shows that the most searched wedding venues are below. While you likely do not own botanical gardens or a chateau or a winery, you could consider buying an old barn or farmhouse and turning it into a wedding and event venue.

  • Barn
  • Farmhouse
  • Botanical Gardens
  • Chateau
  • Winery

If you are planning to start a business, be sure to download my Best-Selling How to Start a New Business Planner, that I have on for a special price just for Memorial Day weekend.

Also read: Consider This Billion Dollar Small Business Idea

©2023 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Latest Side Hustle Ideas

The $242 Billion Business of Corporate Gifts

May 17, 2023 /

Are you making sure that your products can be sold as gifts for clients and employees?

COVID helped the Corporate Gift Market to double in size, and it now stands at US$242 billion annually, worldwide, according to a study done by Coresight Research. It is even a bigger gift market than Christmas.

Of this $242 billion, approximately 60% will be spent on gifts to clients and partners outside the organization and 40% for internal employee recognition and awards.

For sellers, there are even marketplaces designed specifically for corporate gift buyers, such as CorporateGift.com and gifts include everything from food and alcohol to candles and apparel to (if you remember my blog post two weeks ago) “experiences“.

The only caveat is you might have to be able to produce significant volume in a short time, and the company might want corporate personalization on the product.

Be sure to also read my post, “How to Get Corporate Holiday Gift Orders“.

©2023 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. 

Memorial Day Sales & Ongoing Offers for Veterans

May 11, 2023 /

Did you know that every May, “Memorial day sales” is one of the top searches on Google? In terms of annual sales, it is not as popular as “Black Friday sales“, but it is a more popular search than either “Cyber Monday sales” or “Labor Day sales“.

No matter what type of business you run – store, restaurant, realtor, etc. – if you offer any type of ongoing offer for active, reservist, veteran, and retired Military personnel, then let your local newspaper’s business writers know, as they will likely include you any editorial they are planning for the Memorial Day weekend. Stories like these are very popular this time of year, and again in November for Veteran’s Day.SEO Tip (4)

You should also include your ongoing offer to veterans and military personnel as part of your business’ Value Statement (a writing service I do provide).

Since Memorial Day is May 29th, you might want to take advantage and offer an early bird sale now to get ahead of your competition.

 

 

 

©2023 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. 

New Business Idea: Sell An “Experience”

April 25, 2023 /

You’ve heard a lot about turning your knowledge into an online course, but that approach has become pretty exhausted.

A different approach, which I think is more effective, is what Uncommon Goods is doing. Capitalizing on the gift market, they are selling “experiences” as gifts.

In fact, a survey by SurveyMonkey found that 67% of respondents said they’d rather receive an experience than a physical gift.

I actually wrote about a similar idea about a year ago, where 1-800-Flowers teamed with Alice’s Table to offer a mother-daughter online flower arranging workshop as a gift for Mother’s Day.

Therefore, chefs/restaurant owners, florists, artists, psychics, crafters and more, can sell their “experiences” as a gift on Uncommon Goods. The gift approach means you can buy it for someone, or buy it for someone and yourself to do together (two sales instead of one). Think couples gifts, bridesmaid gifts, corporate gifts, Father’s day, Mother’s day, etc.

The Top-Selling Experiences:
  • Paint Your Pet
  • Romantic Mapmaking
  • Astrology Chart Class
  • Flower Arranging
  • Mixology Class
  • Scandinavian Baking

You can also use the “experience” to upsell your products. Be sure to also read: All New Small Business Ideas for 2023

Click to download the planner.

Thinking of Starting a New Business?

Download my best-selling How to Start a New Business Planner.

©2023 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. New Business Idea: Sell An “Experience”

Consider This Billion Dollar Business Idea

April 20, 2023 /

Looking for that billion dollar business idea? Well, I have one for you that was just under a billion in 2022, but might reach that height this year, considering its 20% year-over-year growth since 2019.

The billion dollar idea is pet Halloween costumes!

When doing research for my new 2023 Etsy Holiday Sales Planner, I found that, according to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $710 million on Halloween costumes for their pets in 2022!

And, there is not as much competition as you think. There are only 3,000 listings for dog Halloween costumes on Amazon, and only 12,900 listings on Etsy. So there’s lots of opportunity!

Currently, 69 million US households own a dog and 45 million US households own a cat. Since the NRF also found that 1 in 5 pet owners plans to buy a Halloween costume this year, that’s 22.8 million costumes to be sold!NEW BUSINESS STARTUP CHECKLIST

Dogs costumes are three times more popular than costumes for cats. The most popular costumes for pets include a pumpkin, hot dog, bat, bumblebee, witch, lion, spider, ghost, super dog and devil. Consumers start searching July 31st and searches peak October 23rd.

My 2023 Etsy Holiday Sales Planner is  available now.

You might also want to read: 54 Small Business Ideas for 2023.

©2023 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Billion Dollar Business Idea

A Brilliant Co-Marketing Idea

April 10, 2023 /

I was writing something for a restaurant in Texas called Doña Maria Dominican Cuisine and they told me something unusual. They said that people who came to their restaurant, and had never even eaten cuisine from the Dominican Republic before let alone even heard of the island, loved the food and vibe so much that they ended up booking a trip to go there.

So, I thought, if you’re a travel agent, or sell vacation real estate, maybe you should be forming a business relationship with some of your local ethnic restaurants. You recommend them, and they recommend you. It’s a win-win.

In other words, the travel agent tells their clients to visit XYZ restaurant so they can try the food before they go, and the restaurant tells customers, if they love the food, then go visit XYZ travel and book a trip to go there. Don’t you love marketing that costs you nothing!

More Inspring Ideas:

©2023 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. This week’s brilliant marketing idea. 

Online Products to Sell

April 3, 2023 /

Are you looking for some new and fresh ideas for online products to sell?

When I wrote my latest ebook, 187 All-New Product Ideas for 2024, I brainstormed how to take currently top selling products and make them even more desirable to customers, based on feedback from reviews.  This is always the key to business success – improve upon an already successful, proven product idea. I also came up with with some new product ideas based on current customer needs and demand.

Since then, I have seen three of the products I suggested in my ebook now being sold online, so I guess I was onto something!

For example, one of my product ideas was for a Camping Blanket Hoodie. This is because it was the perfect combination of blanket and hoodie for sitting around the campfire, and camping continues to be a top activity. online products to sell

Then there was my idea for a Cold and Flu Remedy Kit, because COVID made people want to nip every cough and sniffle in the bud, and everyone loves a compact, all-in-one remedy.

I also had the idea for holiday pillows that had a dual purpose – one occasion such as Halloween on one side, and then another, such as Christmas on the other, so you are not drowning in holiday pillows for every occasion, plus you can charge twice the price as they are really getting two products in one. I noticed sellers are doing this with door mats as well. The company, MudPie, took it further and created a Four Sided Holiday Pillow.

online products to sell

Download these product ideas

I bet you’ll discover your next great product idea in my ebook download, 187 All-New Product Ideas for 2024.

You might also want to read my blog post: How to Create Products Editors Love

© 2024 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Online Products to Sell

How A Thank You Card Can Be An Awesome Marketing Tool

March 17, 2023 /

thank you card marketing toolA thank you card can be a very versatile marketing tool. Two things it can do:

  1. Gives you an opportunity to get repeat business by offering a discount off their next purchase, or other type of offer.
  2. Gives you an opportunity to be remembered by your customers, for repeat or referral business, by putting something useful on the back so they will keep the card.

 

For example, take my editable Thank You Card template shown here. Let’s say that you sell gifts. Then the back of the card having a calendar highlighting the various holidays throughout the year makes sense. The customer is more likely to keep this card and post it to their fridge, desk wall, etc., and remember your business as a result.

For example, in my Etsy Holiday Sales Planner, I always recommend including a Christmas cookie recipe card in every gift package, because the customer will keep it, and then pull it out year after year and remember your business.

Other Ideas for the Back of a Thank You Card:
  • For a Hair Salon: “10 Classic Nail Colors”
  • For a Travel Agency: “Travel Packing List”
  • For a Plumber: “How to Turn Off Your Home’s Main Water Valve”

Be sure to also read: What to Post to Social Media in April.

©2023 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. How a Thank You Card Can Be a Marketing Tool

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