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Suggestions?

1. What do your best customers have in common?

   Identify the niche within the niche of your most likely customers. The more specific you get about recognizing their often common traits, the better you'll be at recognizing the most effective partners for a cross-promotion. If your market is women, for example, consider what ages, lifestyle habits, spending patterns, passions, and concerns the women you want to reach have in common. Consider other businesses, professional practices, nonprofit groups, and government agencies that reach your hottest niche markets. For example, what other outlets (food, clothing, gym, hospital women's center, child care, and such) does your niche group of women patronize?

2. How do your customers relate to your product or service?

   What do they most intensely discuss about your products – good and bad? What features most catch their eye? Are any features especially hard or easy to use? What ultimately triggers customers to buy? Is the purchase a necessity or a source of fun? Consider customers' habits as they relate to your products. What else do they use with your products – or could they use? Do they get to show off or feel competent, magnanimous, or have other positive feelings when using your product? If not, could you make changes in the way your product is designed, sold, promoted, or delivered that would generate a stronger positive feeling?

3. Beyond your connection with your customer, what matters to them?

   You never really know somebody until you see the choices they make. To learn how to have a strong connection to the kind of people who are most likely to buy from you, see who and what is important to them, and connect through their important connections. Take a close look at your customers and how they lead their lives. Where are their similarities – not just as they relate to your products but as they are similar to each other? How do they live their lives? Where do they pause, rush? What do they skimp on, indulge in? What do they wear, drive, or do? How do they spend their time and money? Who are their friends and heroes? Who do they admire? What most moves them? What most peeves them?

4. What other companies or public agencies do your customers like?

   Find managers of organizations who have similar values to yours, complementary "products," and a desire to reach the same kinds of people. Who would you like as ally/partners among the owners or managers of these outlets? The "Big Universal Three" all-round best potential allies for targeted local visibility are ones most everybody patronizes: the supermarket, gas station, and bank.

5. Are your potential partners' reputation & resources at least equal to yours?

   Consider these about you and your partner:

   • Good reputation/credibility for endorsements
   • Combo special offer
   • Meeting space
   • Mailing list;
   • Space on bill statements, receipts, counter tops, in windows
   • Free or reduced price products or services; different '"busy" times

     Consider "piggybacking" on a time of day or event or time of year when your joint promotion can ride an existing interest or need, that is, when customers are passing by on their way home, a popular community event is occurring, or a peculiar holiday happens that could be yours to publicize because of an obscure connection.

6. What first cross-promotion has the least risk and resource commitment and best chance of success?

   What is the most low-risk / high-profit & fun action with which to start? What smaller, simple cross-promotion could you do with one or two other partners? Consider cross-promoting special sales at the same time in both stores, with incentives for customers to patronize both places (special gift, price reduction.)

   What can you do together that multiplies your individual efforts? To get some easy and low-risk start-up ideas, look over the article on "14 Low-Risk Ideas." After your first successful mutual action, you and your partners will probably get more elaborate and imaginative.

7. What not-for-profit group's partnership could help you really stand out from your competition -- and do good?

   Involving a government or nonprofit agency in the offer or service further leverages your visibility and ability to serve. Let your customers who own or manage a local business see you as an ally and resource for their business. Display the Pocket Cross-Promotion book along with other positive books on growing small businesses.

   Have a contest for your customers to come up with the best cross-promotion they can create for your store. You could give product awards for "The Most Imaginative Community Cross-Promotions", "The Most New Customers Pocket Cross-Promotions", The Most New Customers Through Loyal Customers Pocket Cross-Promotions'", "The Most Community-Service-Centered Cross-Promotions, "The Most Unlikely Allies Community Cross-Promotions", "The Most Partners in a Community Cross-Promotion." Let your imagination go wild!

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Gut instincts expert, author, and speaker Kare Anderson is an upbeat conference opener or closing keynoter. Her warmth, memorably titled tips such as "Go Slow to Go Fast," dry wit, and frequent references to the situations of hottest interest to attendees, cause people to leave laughing and talking about what they've heard.

Learn ways to "Say It Better" in how you speak, appear, write, and create the work and other settings of your life. Whether you want to learn ways to lead, persuade, negotiate, sell, resolve conflict, or design a compelling physical setting, Say it Better is the place to visit again and again to see the latest ideas from our growing list of expert contributors.

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KARE ANDERSON : kareand@aol.com