Taste Test It pays to get saucy.

When Dan Murphy and Brian Scoggins first started concoctingtheir own barbecue sauces, their products were real crowd-pleasers."Everyone kept telling us we had the greatest barbecue saucesin the world and we should do something about it," saysMurphy. "Fourteen years ago, we did."

Now the co-owners of Johnny D's Barbeque Co. in Cypress,California, have a larger audience--and a lot more competition.

But Murphy, 39, and Scoggins, 46, found a way to make theirbarbecue bastes and marinades the ones that people sniff out of thecrowd: They throw a good old-fashioned barbecue and let their SouthCarolina-style sauces do the talking.

"Our products are so different," explains Murphy, whohopes to gross $600,000 this year, "you just have to barbecuewith them so people can get an idea what we're allabout."

Nowadays, you can spot the pair throughout the country atbarbecue competitions, special events and charity functions. InMay, they even trekked to England for a barbecue and bluesfestival.

Typically, tasters will buy the marinades and bastes on thespot, but Johnny D's also sells nationwide through gourmetgrocers, butcher shops, barbecue specialty stores and mail order.Each sauce goes for around $4 and is suited for a particularmeat--like HawgWash for pork, Angus Stock for beef or Bird Bath forchicken.

Hungry, anyone?

Eye-Catchers

Give adcentives your clients will treasure.

Give a client a pen with your logo on it, and it might end up inthe trash. Stick your logo on a stainless steel commuter cup or astress ball, and you can bet your client won't let it get lostin the shuffle.

The point? "By making your advertising specialty different,you get clients' attention," says Rick Crandall, author ofeight marketing books and owner of Select Press, a Corte Madera,California, publisher of marketing books and newsletters. "Ifyou give away something clever and interesting, they'llremember you and tell others about you."

That means staying power that could lead to loyal customers, oldand new. "It's best to give clients something that'llsit on their desks--not in it--so that your name is always right infront of them," says Crandall.

The most common adcentives are calendars, T-shirts, mouse pads,refrigerator magnets and key chains. All good choices--but how canyou be more original?

Add your logo to diskette carrying cases, ID holders for use atconferences, letter openers, license plate frames, calculators,memo holders or cellular phone carriers. Depending on the client,you could also try yo-yos, puzzles and games, holiday novelties,shoelaces, towels--even toothbrushes or suntan lotion.

There are literally thousands of promotional products on themarket, so consider hiring a consultant to develop a themeappropriate to your budget. You can also try organizations like theAdvertising Specialty Institute (http://www.promomart.com) and thePromotional Products Association International (http://www.ppa.org) for fresh ideas, orconsult your Yellow Pages for local dealers.

Just make sure the adcentive makes sense for your company, andget to it. "Tie it in to your business," advisesCrandall. "Try to customize it to your [targetmarket]."

Free For All

Referral incentives: A painless way to get newcustomers

Let's face it: Unless you're selling $100 bills for 50cents apiece, it can be tough to sell your product or service.Competition is fierce in every market, and people need a reason tochoose you over Joe Schmo down the street.

Enter referral incentives--those nice freebies you offer clientsin exchange for new blood. "I can't think of one [type of]business that shouldn't go after referral business," saysJay Conrad Levinson, author of the Guerrilla Marketingseries of books and The Guerrilla Marketing Newsletter."It's much easier to grow your business that way--you keepyour marketing costs down and your profits up because you'renot spending money on getting new customers."

Bottom line: "People like free things, no matter what theyare," says Levinson. "They motivate action." Givecustomers something that connects with their initial purchase--forexample, a free CD to clients who purchase a stereo and referfriends to your business. You can also offer discounts or request afew names of potential clients at the cash register.

Referral incentives aren't a new concept, but they'refrequently forgotten in the quest for the holy new customer orunder the misconception that an incentive program will be toocostly. "One of the most [common mistakes] is not having a setway to get referrals," notes Levinson. "[Your technique]needs to be formalized in writing, and all employees should betrained to do it. It's very low-cost compared to mass marketing[techniques]."

Testing, Testing

What's your Marketing IQ?

Get out your No. 2 pencils. Or rather, get out your mouse andget online--it's test time.

If you've ever wanted to measure your marketing know-how,check out the Marketing IQ test from Copernicus (http://www.copernicusmarketing.com),a marketing strategy consulting and research firm in Newton,Massachusetts.

If you're like most BIZ Experiencess who've taken thistest, you might fall somewhere in the "typical marketer"range, where you could stand some brushing up on marketingbasics.

One important question: "Businesses today invest more moneyin finding new customers than in further developing currentcustomers." True or False? True--but more important, why doesthat matter? "A loyal customer is worth five times more than anew customer," says Kathy Backus, a marketing and publicrelations consultant and owner of Backus CommuniKations in MountPleasant, Michigan. "A lot of companies work so hard atgetting more people in the door, they lose sight of their currentcustomer base."

Here's another: "Every company should strive to hold onto all its customers." True or False? False. "Not everycustomer is valuable," says Backus. "It can actually costyou more to retain some customers."

There are plenty of other valuable nuggets in this test, socheck it out for yourself. And act accordingly to step up yourMarketing IQ.

Senioritis: The 50-plus generation comprises one-third ofthe U.S. population and will grow more than 40 percent over thenext 15 years.

Sweeten the deal: Try tailoring your products for aparticular holiday. For this past Father's Day, for instance,See's Candies offered chocolate cigars and ties, and alsomarketed everyday items like peanut brittle as something every dadwould love.

Fast Track

Name and age: Fran Lent, 42

Company name: Fran's Healthy Helpings, a healthyfrozen food company for kids based in Burlingame, California

Starting Point: $130,000

1999 sales projections: $3 million

The skinny: Lent knew she had a good thing when shedreamed up Fran's Healthy Helpings. "With my husband and Iboth working, there wasn't much time," recalls Lent, whosetwo little ones were just getting out of baby food at the time."But I would have felt guilty if I'd given my kids junkfood. Then I thought, `There must be a business opportunityhere.' "

Hey Mikey, they like it: Through market research, Lentfound that parents liked the idea of heating up simple, healthyeats for their kids (no shocker here). But the real key toFran's? Kids actually like the stuff--probably because they getto eat things like Lucky Ducky Chicken, Wacky Whale Pizza andSoccer-oni and Cheese.

Entree-ing the market: Fran's, now in 3,000 grocerystores nationwide, maintains an edge by pairing itself with otherkid-friendly folks and donating a portion of profits toorganizations like the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Recent endeavorsinclude nutrition talks by the Fran's registered dietitian atGymboree play centers and sponsorship of the children's musicgroup Cotton Candy Express. "We look for strategic partnersthat have already captured the same consumer we're trying tocapture," says Lent. "Our message is that we care aboutkids' well-being."

Contact Sources

Johnny D's Barbeque Co., (800) BASTE-IT, http://www.bbqn.com

Select Press, Box 37, Corte Madera, CA 94976, rpcrandall@aol.com