Guerilla Marketing from Great Harvest Bread Company
I got this great marketing tip from Jay Conrad Levinson and have to share it with you as it is a practical example for us all to follow. 
‘Janene Centurione, who runs Great Harvest Bread Bakeries, a $1.75 million business in Michigan, knows the power of enthusiastic customers. She has formed a Bread Zealot Club, enlisting the most zealous of all customers to help spread the word about her company. She and her employees find these people from among the customers who ask the most questions and seem the most enthused about bread.
Each month, she sends postcards to nearly 7,000 bread zealots, representing a hefty 20% of her customers. The postcards reveal bread recipes, early notices about new products, occasional 10% off coupons, and other goodies about bread and the bread biz. When new customers ask for a new kind of bread, Janene knows it’s a zealot because the only place that bread is mentioned is on the postcards.
The cost of her program runs about $7 per zealot yearly, but each zealot brings in about $200 in new business yearly. Her net sales grew 18% a year for the first three years of her Zealot Club, and the number of zealots increased nearly 1000%.
She used to spend $80 per year for each new customer, investing it in traditional advertising. Today, she invests nearly her total budget in her sparkling referral program. Her primary marketing medium is the satisfied customer. Janene knows about geometric growth.’
Hope this gives you an idea or two!
Justin is the Managing Director of Active Management, which he began January 2004. He offers coaching to businesses worldwide in everything from start up and design to marketing and sales systems. Justin also facilitates four Australian and New Zealand ‘fitness industry roundtables’ events, which allows him to see a huge cross section of business models.