This isn’t my advertising idea but I still think it’s a great concept.  Whether you know it or not the majority of taxis are actually owned by individual proprietors, not big companies.  And like all small business every cent counts.

Taxi owners have lots of bills.  In addition to taxi license fee’s, fuel and running costs, they also have cleaning and maintenance bills plus making sure their taxis look clean and tidy.  This includes making sure the paint on the exterior of the car looks professional.

Advertising on Taxis can be mutually beneficial to both you and the Taxi owner.

If you approached a Taxi owner and offered to pay for the paint and design of the taxi, which included your business advertisements and contact details, I bet they’d say yes.  Who wouldn’t want someone else paying for his or her car to be painted?

Taxi advertisements are a great idea.  If you make your design stand out it will be seen all over town day and night.  Imagine that!  Your billboard in front of many different people in hundreds of locations, all day every day!

This sort of advertisement is priceless and you get it for the price of a paint job.

This is one I thought up the other day when I was stuck in traffic.  I have never actually done it so I can’t tell you how well it would work but I think the theory is sound.

Why not sponsor a tree?  I don’t mean you have to give it money or anything like that.  But find a great big tree that everyone can see on public ground and clean it up a little.

But why would you want to clean and maintain it you ask?

Once you have cleaned it up you can put a sign on it for everyone to see saying, “This beautiful tree is maintained by My Business and Phone Number“.

I don’t think your local council would really care because you’d be providing a public service and they’d be saving money in maintenance and you’d get some great free advertising.

Plus you might even make some waves in shock value, the old saying, “All publicity is ggood publicity” and people love things that are different and quirky.

In fact, imagine if had a whole bunch of trees stratigically place around your city in prime advertising sites.  You might be asked to take them down, you might now, but hey… thats all part of it!

I don’t know about you but I no longer take any notice of those massive advertisement signs on the side of the road.  I have never personally used one so I don’t know how effective they are but as a potential customer I can’t even tell you what are on the boards behind my house.

There is an alternative…

There is one sign in my neighborhood I do notice.  It’s for a handyman and the reason I notice it has nothing to do with its size or artwork.  In fact the sign is quite ordinary!

So why do I notice it?  Because it’s on somebody’s fence, next to a busy intersection, which has traffic lights, that me and many other people get stuck at every day.

You have to appreciate its simplicity.

I have spoken to the owner of the house who is also “the handy man”.  He’s not a professional advertiser but is willing to let me advertise on his fence for only a fraction of the price of professional advertiser on great big billboards.

And I am sure it is much much more effective.

I’m probably going to get in big trouble for saying this, but here goes anyway. Gyms are the male equivalent of the hairdressers for women, where men get together and talk and gossip also.

From my experience at the gym I’ve seen three very good ways to promote your business using the existing clientele already using the service.

1) Sponsor Board

Sponsoring a board at the main entrance of gym can prove very profitable and affordable.  By holding a promotion for “gym members only” your local gym owner will most likely allow you to do this for free because it’s good promotion for their gym.

Your promotion could include a discount for gym members upon showing their membership when coming to your business.

2) Noticeboard

Most gyms have a notice board.  Take advantage of people standing around resting or waiting to use certain machines.  Don’t forget about the power of the gold noticeboard.

3) Sponsor Gym Membership Cards

Ask your local gym if you can pay for the production and printing of their membership cards in exchange for your advertisement or promotion on the back.

Whats great about this is the gym owner is happy by not having to pay for the manufacturing of membership cards and you basically get your business card into lots of people pockets that are guaranteed not to get thrown out straight away.

Like I said earlier, “Gyms are a popular gossip place amongst men”.  Having a good promotion specifically for gym members is a sure fire way to get your service talked about and used by a large exsisting member base already in place.

Advertising on your car is another form of outside advertising signage.  However, unlike a stagnant sign in one particular location, advertising on your car can bring a lot more benefits than a sign in front of your shop or on the side of the highway.

Most business have at least one car active for their company.  But even if your business doesn’t have its own car you can still use your own or someone else’s.  If it’s on the road anyway, moving about and taking care of business, why not use it to advertise your service?

Benefits:

• Not subjected to sign rental agreements.
• More control over your message.
• Doesn’t even have to be your car.
• Cheaper.
• Being on the road in front and beside people forces the public to see your advertisements.
• More business.

Here’s a good Idea.

Ask your friends and family if you can advertise on their car.  You can swap them something in exchange like free access to your service or discount on products.

Eg. Recently my friend got a Brand New 4 Wheel Drive.  Surprisingly enough the wheel on the back of the car didn’t come with a cover.  Instead of him having to go out and buy a new cover, I offered to buy him one for free if he would allow me to put my company details and phone number on it.

He was happy because he didn’t have to spend even more money on his car and I was happy because I now have another advertisement on the road for my business.

Warning

If you advertise on your car or someone else’s and you are a bad driver, it will reflect very poorly on your business.

There are a lot of angry drivers out there; ready to complain.  Ask any business owner with their phone number on the side of their car how many calls they get every time one of their drivers cuts somebody off or drives aggressively.  If you are going to advertise on the side of a car make sure you drive appropriately.

Hints

• Most drivers will only see your sign for second.  Keep it short and sweet.
• Only use one key point.
• Add a Yellow Pages sticker.
• Make it easy for people to find you.
• Magnets are a good option for people who don’t want long term advertisements on their automobile.
• Don’t go over board.
• Don’t use too many colours (I use no more than three).
• Use a good cliche.
• Props like giant telephones on top of the car work well.
• Get creative and have some fun with it.