Janice Roberts of Woodmere, New York asks:
“I created a new kind of greeting card company called Happy 2B Music, Inc. We create and produce original music relating to various themes for particular niches of people, such as brides, moms-to-be, and pet lovers.
“Each CD contains four original songs in a cute and colorful self-mailer with the lyrics printed on the package and space for your personalized message.
“These do not sell well in stores because people cannot hear them. We feel these make great promotional items for businesses to advertise on by giving discounts for future business. It’s also a great way for a business to say “thank you,” or a fun way to ask for referral business.
“We would also like to concentrate on the pet industry, because there are more and more pet parties and “yappy” hours (bars where people bring their pets and have a drink), and these would make a great addition to a goody bag.
“What can we do to promote these ideas? You can hear samples at the website. We are looking for an effective way to get our prospective clients to think out of the box, when it comes to marketing.”
Get yourself connected to any one of the service dog organizations, there are hundreds in the US alone. Most of them are non-profits, but they have very large databases. Everyone involved with the organizations is an animal lover. I recently was able to donate some product samples for a sWAG Bag (get it) provided to all attendees at a fund raising event called Woofstock for CCI (www.caninecompanions.org). Cost me hardly any money, supported an organization that is near and dear to my heart, and I’m still pulling in business. It’s a great way for you to expand your reach as well as theirs.
Neat product, to solve your audio problem I would try to form alliances with specific retailers that have web sites where you can get a sample listening like on your web site. Your most cost effective move would be to exchange links with these people & try to drive traffic to them.
ie: send people to a pet store web site for the dog & cat CD’s ………
You may also suggest to major retailers that this would be a perfect ‘thank you’ gift to one who has bought a $1000 dog or $5000 wedding dress, get them to buy in quantity with their message on it too.
Hi, Janice.
I would leverage the music as a gift product. And as such, the gift industry may be a better fit for you. I’ve met other businesses at pet trade shows who discovered that their lifestyle product(s) have an easier time breaking into the market with the gift industry.
Connecting yourself to any non-profit focused on animals is an excellent idea. Additionally, I would also try consumer pet shows. Have samples there for them to listen to and “hook” them. My final suggestion would be to approach a company like Petlane, who uses individual consultants for “Yappy Hour” parties. Entice them to include you in their catalog and provide samples for the consultants to use at their parties.
I hope this helps.
*Dara
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Dara Turransky
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Turransky
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