A Lovely Day for a Parade- Thoughts on Promotions?

[loves2hunt59]

Hello One and All,
  Ladies and Gentlemen we seem to be having a little trouble filling the lines here in Iowa. I know everyone  I've met at Appleseed would like to change that as soon as possible.  I also realize I'm a little late to the dance on posting this suggestion for this year but here goes anyway.
  Keokuk had it's Labor Day parade today. I spent the morning walking the parade route asking "Anybody here own a rifle?;  Know someone who does?; Like to shoot?/ hunt?"  and passing out Trifolds to anyone who showed the slightest interest.
  Does your community have an Old Settlers, Founders Day, Corn, Strawberry, Grape, Watermelon Festival? County Fair, Rodeo, Car show, Bike Rally?
Any activity  that  brings people out and concentrates them where you can 7Th step?  If so, and if you'd like some Trifolds or other Promo. material to post or hand out, Let me know in advance and I'll send some your way.
  Also if anyone has other , better ideas to share to help  promote Appleseed in Iowa please chime in here.  By working together I'm sure we can improve our results.
  Please be advised this is not meant as a criticism of ANYONE.  I know full well that  we all want to see this program grow and succeed.  This is only meant as a suggestion on one possible avenue to move forward and a request for other ideas. 
                                                                                    Vic

[mac3647]

Great idea Vic;  I will add that to my efforts along with the Gun Shows that we had such good results from. 

[Whisker]

Yeah it starts with simple one on ones.

Spent tonight handing out trifolds at a political event with a mini-insert with our winterset dates.

A lot of people have heard of Appleseed.

One guy saying, "I've been looking to do this, thanks!"  This chance contact could very well be the final push he needed.

Another saying he shot an Appleseed in Michigan, and glad to know we're doing it in Iowa and would love to get his family and friends some bruised elbows on our lines.

Many more have just been introduced.

If you need trifolds... just ask.

Put in a little Iowa specific insert that has the dates at your nearest range... with your contact info.  Make it personal and the seeds will be planted.

[mac3647]

My Chiropractor was interested in A/S; took her a Mona Lisa and a handful of tri-folds.  went back a few weeks later and she has a display setup.  took out some of her own brochures and put in the tri-folds in a very prominent position in the waiting room.  I go back and refill every few weeks.  Hoping to actually get her and her kids to an A/S this year!

[Two Wolves]

I had this weird thouhgt the other day and it's still floating  around in the cobwebs of my mind. I was envisioning an advertisement scheme were we ask businesses to offer a discount to someone who has a riflemans patch. In turn we would list them (insert in a trifold?) as a place where riflemen could get a discount by showing their patch. Make it a win win affair. We would try to appeal to the business owners sense of patriotism thus giving them a way to be apart of the solution for the ailments of their country while having the secondary benefit of increasing their revenue. In my vision there would be a sign or poster visible at the business that says, show us your riflemans patch and receive a 5--10% discount. Something along that line. This would spark peoples thoughts to pick up a trifold and perhaps give them an incentive to check us out.

Once you get into this thought pattern you can come up with grandiose national campains for Appleseed.

Just my random thoughts.

My America, my Appleseed, my mission~ Two Wolves

[Foppish Dandy]

This would definitely work well for national chains... However, it might be harder to implement for the smaller shops that would be more likely to participate. It would require a whole lot of customization of advertising materials on the local level for it to be really useful... Might work well if we were to approach online retailers... but then how to really show the patch...

Not to be a downer (I'd love to get a discount for showing my patch), but is it the current riflemen that we really want to target? I know it's supposed to be an incentive for new shooters to get their rifleman patch, but it seems a bit tawdry to me.  Maybe if we did something along the lines of listing out retailers that would give you a slight discount on ammo (or mats, cleaning supplies, etc.) when you show your printed ticket for an upcoming Appleseed.

The idea definitely has merit... Might be something you'd want to bring up on the promotions page once you flesh it out a bit more.

I had this weird thouhgt the other day and it's still floating  around in the cobwebs of my mind. I was envisioning an advertisement scheme were we ask businesses to offer a discount to someone who has a riflemans patch. In turn we would list them (insert in a trifold?) as a place where riflemen could get a discount by showing their patch. Make it a win win affair. We would try to appeal to the business owners sense of patriotism thus giving them a way to be apart of the solution for the ailments of their country while having the secondary benefit of increasing their revenue. In my vision there would be a sign or poster visible at the business that says, show us your riflemans patch and receive a 5--10% discount. Something along that line. This would spark peoples thoughts to pick up a trifold and perhaps give them an incentive to check us out.

Once you get into this thought pattern you can come up with grandiose national campains for Appleseed.

Just my random thoughts.

My America, my Appleseed, my mission~ Two Wolves

[Two Wolves]

Open your minds