Use Limited Editions to Create Buzz

The Limited Edition approach to drawing attention to your offerings is to add strange, even outrageous additions to your products and services to attract attention.  You may not sell many–or any–of these products, but the attention they create will be well worth your trouble in creating them.

Examples

The simplest examples are extremely high-end offerings.  If you rent vacation homes in the mountains, how about a weekend rental that includes a chauffeured limousine, all meals catered by a French chef, and free admission to anything you’d like to visit?  If you’re a tailor, how about an outfit consisting of a suit hand-made from South American Vicuna, the most expensive wool in the world, a shirt made of 480-count Egyptian cotton, and a tie made of Dupioni silk, all the most expensive fabrics in the world?  If you have a hamburger stand, offer the whole place for an evening, serving Kobe beef steaks and fine French wine.

The idea is to offer something that’s far off the scale for your business, something seen as outlandish or even ridiculous.

Promote It

Once you’ve added the Limited Edition to your offerings, then promote it like mad.  Issue press releases, blog about it, post about it on social networks, mention it in your newsletter.  Provide as many opportunities as you can for people to see it and tell others about it.  Be sure that you’re liberal in equipping all of your promotions with social media toolbars, to make it as easy as possible for readers to share what they’re seeing.  Don’t forget to let industry-specific magazines and trade groups see your new offering.

The Bottom Line

You won’t make a lot of profit directly from a Limited Edition, but you can attract a lot of attention.  If it goes viral and becomes hugely popular, the publicity you’ll receive, and the value on the incoming links, can be priceless.