If you’re ever in Banff, in the Canadian Rockies, and you need a taxi, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself in the back seat of Mike’s cab.
It’s not that he’s the only taxi in town.
But he is the most helpful. And the most creative.
Here’s what he does (a tip of the hat to the book Youtility, by Jay Baer, for alerting me to this):
Every so often, Mike puts together a one-pager called Taxi Mike’s Dining Guide.
It’s simply a piece of yellow paper, printed both sides with Mike’s recommendations for hot spots around the city. (He also includes a couple of ads, which no doubt goes a long way towards his printing costs.)
He then leaves stacks of his guide at strategic venues around town – restaurants, hotels and tourist locations.
Visitors to Banff find this inside information super-helpful. So guess who they call when they need a taxi? The guy who wrote the guide that they’d stuffed into their pockets.
Here’s the thing: you could do this too (without having to fill two sides of paper).
Here’s how.
Take one of our print format newsletters and replace one of the articles with some local information, such as a “what’s on” guide, important telephone numbers or useful local facts. You’re not targeting tourists, but there’s plenty of information that will be useful to residents.
Then distribute it.
Now…many of our clients are already doing this. Phyllis Adam, for example, was a runner up in our 2011 Newsletter Marketer of the Year contest for adding this kind of content.
When other real estate agents are all doing regular advertising, you can make yourself stand out by being that little bit different and by offering real value to your clients.
Here’s where to get started with a newsletter that you can change as much as you wish.