A smart business owner is always looking for creative new ideas to build traffic at the next store event. Whether it's your first grand opening promotion or one of your regular store promotions, adding an exciting attraction will draw crowds, increase sales, and even generate free publicity. One of the most popular event entertainment ideas is the money machine or cash cube. Money machine basics You've probably seen money machines at trade shows or other events. Maybe you've even used them yourself. The contestant steps into a booth of blowing money and has a limited time to grab as much cash as possible. It's fun and exciting, and the energy of the event brings curious onlookers over who might not have been planning to visit at all.
Think you can't afford this promotion? Sure, the high-end hardcase money machines have flashing lights, sirens, and customizable displays but there are other options for the budget-restricted business. Combine promotions for even more sales Instead of letting everyone try the machines, which leads to long lines and frustrated customers, try something like a prize wheel. Table top cash cubes or inflatable money machines are less expensive choices that still generate huge crowds. Money machines mean conversions With a little thought these terrific traffic generators can convert traffic into sales. The problem with cash is that the customer can have fun at your business, then go next door to spend the money! Instead of cash, fill the machine with vouchers for your business. Not only does this mean the winnings automatically go back into your store, but it gives the customer an incentive to buy. If they leave, they are throwing their winnings away. Cash vouchers are better than percent-off coupons.
Let's say you offer travel packages that average $1000 each. If a customer grabs a 10% coupon, there is an incentive to buy but not a strong one. It's still just a piece of paper that has no intrinsic value to the average person's mind. Replace that coupon with a $100 voucher and suddenly it feels like real money. It's a lot harder to throw away something that says $100 than something that says 10%. Combine promotions for even more sales Instead of letting everyone try the machines, which leads to long lines and frustrated customers, try something like a prize wheel. The customers spin the wheel and the grand prize might be 25 seconds in the cash cube. If you label every space on the wheel as a prize then all your customers feel like winners.
You can be a winner too by making those prizes small promotional items such as coffee cups or t-shirts, all emblazoned with your logo. The bigger the event, the bigger the attention. A large enough sales promotion can attract the attention of local media, meaning TV and radio promotions that you don't have to pay for. Smart business promotion means taking simple ideas and expanding them in new and creative ways. Anyone can find a money machine for rent, but the clever business owner can turn a simple promotional tool into a major sales event.
Even if I'm overestimating your exposure by a factor of 100... that's 62 times a day when the despairing ghosts are moaning at you from behind the curtains and the goblins are haunting you from your radio and TV.
Well, all I know is I don't need to hear whispers sixty-two times to put me off my dinner. Once, twice, three times is enough to give me the creeps. So my survival technique for surviving the ghouls is to remember the walk in the woods when I was growing up.
I remember creeping through the woods by our house after dusk. Every snap of a twig or brush of a leaf made me jump. I had that reaction even when I'd walked the same path easily in daylight a mere few hours before.
And of course it was even creepier when I was walking with other kids, as we all stirred each other with mutterings of fright - building a sense of helplessness and impending doom.
In the same way as that path was just fine during daylight, things are just fine when you shut off the radio and TV, put down the magazines and newspapers and focus on what you DO have control over.
I've had techniques I've used for years, that work for me, and work for my clients when they learn them. In the spirit of dispelling the gloom and wisps of despair swirling around you, I'm bringing them to light for you.
Choose Your Companions Well
Just as they were in childhood, some of the people around you thrive on anxiety, worry and fear. And they want companions on their path. Don't let yourself be roped into walking that path with them.
Turn off the news media, cancel lunches and dinners with bogeymen, and those who want to feed on your fright. Wish them well, and get your attention back to what you DO have control over: your time, your attention, your energy.
Surround yourself with people who look at life for it's possibilities, in good times and risky times alike. One of my coaching clients has started holding weekly conference calls with her entire team, with a light, up beat tone of voice. She uses the time to acknowledge the successes the team has created and cheer them on to each upcoming project.
Light a Lantern
The woods were spooky on a moon-less night. Not so during the day, or at night when the moon was lighting the way.
In your personal life and your business life, someone needs to put a light in the lantern and hold it up for others to see. I vote for you! Be the lantern bearer consistently and publicly and others will rally behind you.
I have a client who has contracts for the next five years. Can you imagine! You can bet that after our work together he is mentioning that fact weekly, reassuring his staff that their jobs are not in jeopardy.
He's already designing the quarterly bonuses he'll be giving out, instead of annually, to reinforce the message that every thing is OK, better than OK, for everyone.
Face The Path In Front Of You
Ghost stories work because they take us into our imagination. Brain studies have shown that anything you visualize, and I mean absolutely anything, is interpreted by your brain as completely real. So when you watch and listen to the drama being acted out on the political stage and the media pages, your brain is telling you "This is truth!" even when it's metaphor, ghost stories, fear mongering.
Replace all the 'what might happen' imagery that your eyes are seeing and your ears are hearing with information that will keep you focused in present time, on the opportunities for you, your business, your life. Right here. Right now.
- Post your business Vision and Goals where you and everyone else can see them.
- Chunk your daily time to 45-minute blocks and focus on what you have control over right here and now. Plan your week for how you'll use each day to keep your attention on the high payoff actions that will get you to your goals. One topic at a time.
- Focus your language with your team on what you WILL create with your business.
And I'll meet you in the sunlight on the other side of the woods
Both Manita Pd & Linda Feinholz are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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Linda Feinholz has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education Toys, Small Business and Your Online Business. Management expert, consultant, and coach Linda Feinholz is "Your High payoff Catalyst." Linda publishes the free weekly newsletter to subscribers w. Linda Feinholz's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.