I had a girls’ curry night last week and over mouthfuls of chicken korma, sag aloo and copious amounts of Muscadet, we all pooled together with bright ideas and not so bright ideas to help our friend Erika who was just about to take over the job of manager/promoter of a local riding stable. We came up with some fantastic strategies to help her increase her long term trade, plus become an integral part of the community and it was a great evening all-round.

That evening has inspired an idea that will help everyone and thats is …

TO ARRANGE A BRAINSTORMING SESSION

The point of this session is that it’s going to have a PR and marketing angle so you need to warn everyone in advance and ask them to bring along copies of magazines or publications that they think might be useful for you to target (and a list of TV and radio shows, websites etc). If you really want to get some wild and creative ideas to flow then you can practise some warm-up games like separating people in to teams and working out how many ways you can use a paperclip. Alternatively a glass of wine or a plate of cream cakes can often work just as well!

If you work alone then you can do this exercise with other business owners that you know (book a long lazy lunch somewhere – don’t feel guilty, this is work), or non-business owning friends who might be less constrained by accepted business practices and come up with something really unique. Just think about the stunts that have grabbed the headlines in the past (Batman visiting the queen and the storming of the Houses of Parliament). They were probably conceived in a meeting just like this. And, while I’m in no way telling you get your tights and underpants on and get out there, sometimes you just need to look at things from a new angle. Good luck!

Paula Gardner
Paula Gardner is the author of Get Noticed: Boost your small business profile in 30 days or less.