A Collection of 333 Successful Ways of Getting Business:
Souvenirs and Premiums

There is a great diversity of opinion on the subject of premium and souvenir giving. Some merchants are strongly in favor of the plan while others are as strongly opposed to it. As a matter of fact this kind of advertising may be very good or very bad and whether it is profitable or useless, usually depends wholly upon the premium or souvenir itself.
One common trouble with souvenirs has been their lack of originality and their very apparent cheapness. Cheap, flimsy souvenirs are always a poor investment, but if a souvenir is to be given away in large numbers, it must necessarily be inexpensive. The question, then, is, to secure something that is cheap and also good, and this is not always an easy matter. In order to have any real value as an advertisement, the souvenir must be either useful or novel, although it is by no means necessary that it should be costly. The following are a few unusual premium and souvenir schemes that have been successfully tried by merchants in different parts of the country.
84. Unusual Souvenirs and Premiums - An Illinois merchant contracted with a local nurseryman to supply him with a large number of small trees of different varieties for planting. On account of the large quantity, he got them very cheaply and they were distributed free to the farmers who visited his store. The idea was a new one and the little trees were in great demand. They proved to be an excellent advertisement, and it is safe to say that some of them will serve for many years as reminders of the merchant who gave them.
Along the same line, another merchant gave a rose-bush with each purchase of a certain amount and other merchants have given potted plants to their customers. The bulbs of Chinese lilies and other flowers have also been used with success as premiums.
A western merchant in a country town made an arrangement with a raiser of fancy poultry to supply him with a certain kind of eggs for a given period of time. He then advertised that he would give a setting of eggs with every purchase amounting to a specified sum. As the eggs were especially desirable, they proved quite a drawing card. In fact the demand for the eggs outran the capacity of the hens to produce them.
A California store-keeper offered to give a number of silk- worms, with directions for their culture, to ladies who purchased goods at his store. On account of its novelty this should make a very good premium. Canaries in small wooden cages and gold fishes in glass globes have been used in the same way.
There are many little oddities of Japanese manufacture that are sufficiently cheap and which would make excellent premiums. An Ohio merchant got hold of a lot of the quaint Indian pottery that is so common in the southwest and used it for souvenirs. This pottery is in reality only baked mud decorated with crude Indian painting in gaudy colors. It is made in small pieces suitable for ash receivers or match holders and is very cheap. On account of its oddity, this ware made a much better premium than higher priced, but more commonplace articles would.

Extracted from "A Collection of 333 Successful Ways of Getting Business". Download the complete ebook from SuccessEsource.com for $5 (PDF format).

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A Collection of 333 Successful Ways of Getting Business: Souvenirs and Premiums

A Collection of 333 Successful Ways of Getting Business:
Souvenirs and Premiums