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As advertisers or marketers, we are always serving clients, planning for them, and coming up with creative ideas. Among us, I believe most have thought about the same question: If one day I started my own small business, what industry should I choose? If I chose such a highly competitive industry, how would I do it? Could I do well? Would my past experience help? What marketing, promotional, and advertising tactics should I use to win over consumers? How do I differentiate myself? Should I focus on making money first or building a brand first?......

There are no backward industries, only backward thinking; there is nothing that cannot be done, only minds that are unwilling to think.

After reading the story of the old newspaper-selling man below, do you still dare to say you are a qualified advertiser or marketer?

Every day, I take the 35W bus to and from work, and at the station there is always an old man selling newspapers. He is neatly dressed and looks energetic. His business seems to be doing well every day.

One day, it wasn't too late when I got off work, so I bought a magazine from him and chatted with him. "Master, business is good, right!"

"Well, it's okay, just getting by!"

"You seem busy all day, so you must be earning well!"

"Haha, not bad! At least I can support my wife and my daughter's education without any problem! Friend, don't judge by my ordinary appearance, my daughter is studying at Nanjing University! The tuition is expensive!"

"Oh, Master, you're really something! Not everyone has your ability!"

"Haha, you're quite the talker. But you're right, I can make 4000 yuan a month without any trouble!"

The old man opened up and chatted with me.

Two years ago, the old man was laid off from the factory. (FMCG Distributor Professional Management Consulting: kxpjxszyzxgl) The severance pay was so little, and the pressure of life made him start planning to sell newspapers to earn money. (Setting work goals). After several selections, he found that the 35W bus terminal had a large flow of people and many buses, so he chose to sell newspapers there (after preliminary market analysis, selecting the terminal sales point).

However, after a few days of observation, he found that there were already two fixed newspaper sellers at the station. (Marketing environment validation). One had been selling for a long time, and the other seemed to be an acquaintance of a station driver. (Preliminary analysis of competitors). If he went in directly without any preparation, he would definitely be driven out. So the old man decided to start with the station management (developing a PR strategy). At first, he gave each of the several managers a free newspaper every day. At first, they didn't know him and refused his newspapers. He said he had extra newspapers from selling nearby, and since the station managers weren't high-ranking officials, they gradually became familiar. The old man then started complaining about his situation, saying he was laid off, sales were poor nearby, and he could only sell a few copies a day, but his daughter was about to take the college entrance exam, and the high tuition was too much for him to bear. His daughter was such a good student, and it would be a shame to let her drop out...... (Contacting PR targets and gaining sympathy). Everyone has a heart, so the station managers kindly suggested: "Then you should come sell at our station. Business is good here; they sell hundreds of copies every day." Mission accomplished! With the station managers' permission, the old man entered the station openly. Of course, he didn't forget to give each manager a free newspaper every day (maintaining public relations).

But now that he was in, there were three newspaper sellers selling the same newspapers. The old man thought hard (conducting marketing strategy analysis), and then he had an idea! The other two sellers each had a small stall, one on the left and one on the right of the station. The old man decided not to set up a stall, but to bring newspapers to the waiting crowd and into the buses to sell (differentiated marketing, channel innovation, changing from store sales to direct sales). After selling for a while, the old man summarized some insights: among the waiting passengers, middle-aged and young men usually like to buy newspapers; among those boarding the bus, those with seats like to buy newspapers and read while eating breakfast (consumer analysis); when there is major news, newspapers sell particularly well (sales data analysis).

So, the old man came up with a new idea. When hawking newspapers, he no longer shouted: "Express, Morning Post, Jinling Evening News, three mao a copy, five mao for two." Instead, he changed his calls based on the news. For example, "Fu Mingxia marries 53-year-old Liang Jinsong," "Tangshan poisoning case solved," "The fall of a female prosecutor," "New progress in SARS epidemic, major breakthrough in virus research," and so on (analyzing the product, digging out the USP unique selling proposition). Indeed, this tactic worked wonders! Many people who hadn't planned to buy newspapers bought them. After a few days, the old man found that he was selling half more newspapers than usual!

At the same time, thanks to his good relationship with the station managers, the old man had his also-laid-off wife set up a small stall at the station selling soy milk. There were already about a dozen breakfast stalls nearby, and four or five of them also sold soy milk. But the old man was different: he only sold soy milk, and his soy milk was sealed with a sealing machine, so it wouldn't spill when held. He spent an extra 500 yuan on a sealing machine, and his soy milk was priced one mao higher than others. Because people who eat breakfast on the bus usually can't hold drinks for fear of spilling. With this sealed soy milk, the problem was solved. (Developing edge products based on the potential needs of target consumers). As a result, the old man's wife's soy milk stall had surprisingly good business!

After about half a year of this, one of the station's newspaper stalls closed due to poor business, so the old man took over the spot and set up his own newspaper stall. But the old man was different again: he bought a government-standard newsstand, which was grand and beautiful. (Having a unified VI helps improve image). His product range also expanded from just newspapers to selling some popular magazines (product line extension). Sales went up another level. The old man also offered promotions based on which magazines sold well, such as buying one "Reader" and getting a "Express" for free, because magazines had higher profit margins. (Promotional strategy: using products with larger profit margins for buy-one-get-one-free promotions, and choosing popular gifts). The old man's daughter worked part-time at KFC on weekends and often brought back coupons, which became another unique promotional weapon for the old man! Buy a newspaper or magazine, get a KFC coupon for free. (Integrating resources, creating differentiation)

At the same time, due to the good location and huge sales volume of the old man's newsstand, it was quickly noticed by Coca-Cola. They arranged for salespeople to come and put up Coca-Cola posters and place a small refrigerator in the newsstand. As a result, the old man's newsstand not only became more beautiful and eye-catching, but he also received some promotional fees and increased income from selling drinks (successfully developing new profit projects).

In this way, the old man's newspaper business thrived for two years. His monthly income was never less than 4000 yuan. Now, the old man has a new goal: the nearby cable factory residential area. He plans to open another new newsstand in the small alley at the entrance of the residential area (using mature management and shared resources to take the chain operation route), and earn the money for his daughter's future graduate studies!

Selling newspapers with such business philosophy, this old man is truly a hands-on marketer. If you were this newspaper seller, what would you do? If you opened a flower shop, what clever tricks would you use?

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