Christine Jalleh

During a semester break, I answered a newspaper ad looking for telemarketers to promote a holiday resort in Cameron Highlands.

After qualifying the phone interview, I went up to a hotel room at Merlin Hotel (now Dorset Hotel) in Penang and met a friendly 30-something year old American in a business suit.

The two adjoining hotel rooms had cubicles flanked against the wall and around 15-20 young men, young women and middle-aged women sat or stood chatting in clusters around the rooms.

(Photo from here)

A tall, middle-aged lady with a bouffant hairstyle called out,

“Rick, I need coffee! Where’s the coffee???”

She mimicked the shivering hands of a drug addict suffering from withrdrawal symptoms and burst out laughing.

“Coffee coming right up, Dayang!”

Turning back to me, Rick passed me a application form to fill and then gave me an overview of the job scope:

“We are promoting membership packages for a new holiday resort in Cameron Highlands. It’s a fantastic package with great discounts for early bird sign-ups. It’s such a great package that YOU may even want to get yourself one! (winks at me.)

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Are you a mother with young children? Dream of having a home business but wonder, “How will I get customers when I can’t even leave the house?”

The good news is that you can use low cost and creative ways called “guerrilla marketing strategies” to reach your customers.

The great news is that you don’t even need to step out of your home!

Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. TELL THE WORLD
If your home faces a busy street or walkway, a signboard is a good start to advertise your business.

Keep it short and simple – write the name of your business, your product offering and your contact details to a maximum of 15 words.

Like a “Baby on Board” sticker, attach an A5-sized sign to your car’s rear windscreen for an ad on the road. Ensure that you still have a clear, unobstructed view of traffic behind!

Another adspace is your shopping basket – a sign there alerts shoppers and will have them knocking at your door when they need home-baked cakes, alteration services or a traditional massage.

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