When he opened his first travel agency in Sheffied city centre, TTNG member Craig Goodrige hit on a unique marketing plan to reach potential new customers.
He printed his shop logo and contact details on 200 beermats, which he distributed to local pubs.
“I didn’t know if it would work, but for £20 I thought it was worth a try,” said Craig, who initially started as an Independent Travel Expert homeworker in 2017 before opening his shop, Craig Goodrige Travel, on The Moor in Sheffield.
“I was nervous asking the pubs if they would take them, I had my heart in my throat. I knew the chains wouldn’t, but my shop was near some microbreweries and independent pubs, and they were happy to help out. I also used them as business cards, customers loved them!”
Craig has since relocated from the city centre to Millhouses, an affluent suburb of Sheffield, where he hopes to get more footfall as it’s close to ‘an instagrammable’ cafe, several aesthetic clinics, a financial advisor and, crucially, a busy local pub. It’s also close to a retail park, offers free parking, and the rent is less.
Craig said the new store gives him more flexibility. “The last shop was in a council building, so I couldn’t open evenings, on Sundays or bank holidays, this new shop is better,” he added.
He’ll open his new agency with ‘fizz and cake’ on Saturday (18 October), and the local bakery has offered him use of their premises for meetings with customers. “My shop is quite small, so the bakery, which now only makes cakes to order, has said I can use their seating area as well.
“I’ll 100% print off more beermats with my new contact details. It was easy enough to do, TTNG sorted it for me, but what’s funny is that I haven’t had a drink myself for nine years!”
Craig also advertises in local magazines and newspapers, and TTNG produces a holiday magazine with his contact details, which is delivered to his local Tesco.
“Traditional print advertising still really works,” said Craig. One of his ads in a local free newspaper for a coach holiday generated lots of additional business, including a booking for a Wimbledon trip with Newmarket. “That wasn’t what I was advertising, but it was a good booking! I’m also always doing TikToks, but I don’t like spending money on social media because I don’t think it gets through to the right people.”
One of his marketing tricks is to include details of local buses that stop outside his shop in his ads. “It makes sense because a lot of my customers travel by bus, driving in Sheffield isn’t the best,” he added.
