ls Home lmprovement Month

might be used to promote a clinic.

Newspapers

Tffi, you'll run several ads starting a week to ten days in advance of the clinic. The first ad plants the idea in the consumer's mind.

The second ad should run two to three days before the clinic. This ad reminds the consumer who planned to attend, and helps sell the consumer who is undecided.

The third, or last ad should be run the night before or the same day as an evening session. While ad Sl and #2 could be small, ad #3 should be the largest possible.

In addition to newspaper advertising, you might consider sending a short news release giving the place, time, and purpose of the clinic to the city editor or home editor of the local newspaper. After all, you are provid. ing a service by demonstrating how ceilings are installed, so your notice qualifies as legitimate news to be printed in the editorial pages.

Radio

Repetition is the key to effective radio advertising. Rates are based on volume commitments. Radio schedule should be flexible to reach both husband and wife. The wife is reached at mid-morning (IGII:30) and midafternoon (I:30-4:00). The husband is reached during driving time to and from work (6:30 a.m.-8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.-6:fr) p.*.).

Radio advertising is effective only if run close to the date of the clinic. This means starting about three days before with heavy advertiqing on the day of the clinic.

Direct Mail

The key to effective direct mail advertising is a good mailing list of the people you want to reach. These lists.can sometimes be purchased from a firm that specializes in providing mailing lists. Another good source is your own charge accounts.

For the most part, direct mail is an expensive way to advertise a consumer clinic and should be used only if other methods are unavailable.

Handbills

Handbills are a great way to advertise clinics. They are inexpensive because you don't have to buy newspaper space, and they can be printed in the thousands at a very low cost.

At the end of thb rep's presentation ask for questions from the audience but take care not to get bogged down in questions that are of limited or no interest to the group. A good way to end the question period is to announce that you will be available as Iong as necessary after the meeting to talk to anyone who wishes to stay.

It's very desirable to have a supply of product literature on hand that your customers can take home with them. Also, you'll want a record of who attended the meeting. The easiest way to get these names is to have each participant register for a door prize at the beginning of the meeting. The resulting list can be a valuable means of follow-up.

Send each individual or family a personal letter thanking them again for attending the clinic and ofiering your store's services when needed. The follow-up letter is an excellent way not only to "ask for the ceiling order," but to remind customers that you carry a full line of building materials for every remodeling need.