Jessie Mathisen

Commerce

Businesses Get Super Cautious

I own a tutoring agency, New York Academics, and although I haven't lost a single old students to the economy, getting new students has been tough. Thus, I've been working on a few new marketing ideas. My favorite is a child/teen-oriented coupon booklet.

The way it will work is that each participating business will submit a coupon, they will all be put together in a booklet, and then each business will distribute the booklets to their current clients. The only fee to participate is to cover printing costs, and will be under $100.

When I approach business owners, their initial reaction is almost always positive- usually along the lines of "Wow, what a good idea!". But, they are hesitant to participate, and the $100 is generally the sticking point.

Now, I started New York Academics in 2004, and I've tried quite a few types of advertising. $100 (or less)is cheap! I believe that business owners reluctance to risk a Benjamin is an example of how cautious people have recently become about spending money.