The following step by step guide is completely foolproof, and one I have utilised successfully in the UK Franchise sector for many years.

This marketing strategy works for both online and offline business with amazing results. You will NOT be disappointed!

To achieve these amazing results there are key rules which must be strictly applied with no "tweaking" at all, the detail is extremely important to maximise the effect.... All promotional activity must be completed within a 10 Day timescale, so planning is key!

STEP 1: 1 Quality branded advertisement in a local newspaper. Look for days of peak readership for maximising results also ask your paper about late space for a really cost effective promotion, have your artwork on disc or a download to speed placement up.

STEP 2: 50 Word of Mouth, these must be to complete strangers, including your name and full contact information for your business, preferably accompanied by a business card. (Just talking about your business all the time is not the same as quality word of mouth.) Good places are the checkout queue, school gates to name but a few...

STEP 3: 2000 leaflets/flyers delivered to households. (if your business has a fixed address you would radiate out from this central point to the nearest 2000 homes) Always ensure you cover a concentrated area leaving no gaps, I advise street map planning for this. Also key to this element is the delivery day should only be a Sunday or public holiday when there are no regular postal deliveries, this minimises the postal sift into the bin!. Highly reccommend as many helpers as possible, 2000 leaflets equates to approx 15 hours, so 5 people means only 3 hours each etc..
with delivery do not be tempted to pay a paid delivery service or insert in a newspaper, these alternate routes are just not effective. also you could utilise this time to do word of mouth at the same time, double whammy!!

STEP 4: 50 posters covering the same geographic area (STEP 4). Points to remember professional branding/design but I recommend handwritten clear text- adds a human/personal touch. Place in newsagents, hairdressers, cafes, gyms etc...Always at eye level, with easy to read text.

STEP 5: Probably the most difficult to master, but fantastically successful..

EDITORIAL, basically a story about, you and your business or a customer of yours, printed in a local paper. Look for quirky angles, get to know your paper, Never Ever Pay that would be Advertorial and nowhere near as effective.
I will write more about Editorial in future articles.

To conclude completing all elements exactly within the 10 day timesscale compounds the effect.. to explain, on sunday I receive a leaflet, on Monday I see a poster at the supermarket, then on Thursday I read your advertisement in this paper, its the layering effect that makes this so effective, one element alone may not be enough to gain new business.

I will be writing further articles on each of the elements above in greater detail along with a problem solving guide.

along with this series of articles I will be featuring:-

Neuro Linquistic Programming, Body Language in Business, Interviewing Skills, Women & Career, Work Life Balance, Time Management, Successful Outsourcing, Psychology of Selling, Public Speaking, Facilitating Meetings, Presentation Skills and Handling Conflict.

So please look out for these.
Good Luck, hope you have great results