Selling cigars - all smoke and mirrors?(cont.)

Chapter 3 Developing the marketing plan (cont.)

Direct Mail:

Buy a relationship database such as ACT! to input in all of your leads. Commence a regular direct mail campaign. Here you'll be offering things such as:

• Educational evenings - perhaps once a month invite guests along to sample cigars and learn a little of cigar history, cigar smoking, cigar etiquette, etc
• Cigar Club Membership sales
• Direct sales

Web site:

Use the web site for educational purposes, positioning of the brand of the store, direct sales, lead generation, etc.

Newsletters:

Have a top quality doubled sided 2 page A4 glossy newsletter printed each quarter - distribute it to your mailing list.

Cigar Club:

As per what I mentioned on page 1 of this article, a Cigar Club could be a fabulous way to build a loyal base.

What else goes well with cigars? As I've already mentioned, golf does. And so does drinking. Which leads us to.....

Educational evenings:

Another opportunity to demonstrate your product. Invite all people who visit your store, every person who buys, your direct mail list, etc - and ask them if they'd like to bring a friend. Keep making offers.

Joint Ventures:

I'd approach the local quality Wine and Spirit Merchant and suggest a reciprocal deal. You'll include his flyer with his offer to your database if he does the same.

And you'll give a Gift Certificate for a free cigar for him to distribute to every person who buys a bottle of quality Champagne or quality Scotch.

Networking:

In this sort of business, networking is crucial. I'd be going to every function I could where businesspeople attend. Greet them, meet them and develop the relationship.

Click here to see how our 1 page marketing plan is looking now.

That's a good simple start (and cheap)

We've made an excellent start and all is looking good. We would have made a great number of contacts, started to develop our key relationships and made some decent sales (that's why we have exceeded our $5,000 budget by a little.)

To measure how we've done so far, use this simple Marketing Analysis sheet.

Read on for...

Why education is the key - and how to do it so it doesn't cost you a cent

1 2 3 4 Current Page 6 7

Brendon Sinclair