Attention Getters Fresh ways to get a rise out of your marketing efforts.

Out of ideas? Looking for some inspiration? This month, we lookat some tactics guerrilla marketers have used to rejuvenate theirmarketing.

• A bakery prints a newsletter on the flip side of its breadlabels, which are inserted into the plastic bag with thebread.

• A brewery tucks a mini-catalog touting T-shirts and mugs intoevery six-pack. Today, orders are approaching 2,000 per month andclimbing.

• An appliance company offers a five-year warranty onultra-reliable products, costing the company hardly anything-andboosting sales noticeably.

• A coffee shop chain reduces the cost of direct mail andincreases profits with its coffee-of-the-month program.

• A mail order flower company gets as much as 40 percent of itsrevenues from a flower-of-the-month-club program, which helpssmooth out the seasonality of this business.

• A scarf company connects with an agent who knows his way aroundthe QVC home shopping network and ends up selling 250,000 scarveson the marketing channel.

• A gourmet grocery store increases profitability by offeringcooking classes at $20 per class. The classes only break even butbring in $600 per customer in post-class sales. Guerrillas knowthat customer education generates sales.

• A bicycle supply firm conducts 10 live, online focus groupsyearly to see what customers think. Cost of online focus groups:$0. Results: priceless.

• A furniture company puts lottery tickets into mailings, with a"Lottery ticket enclosed" message on the envelope. Themessage inside promises a follow-up call and the winning number.Seventy percent of callers listen to the pitch.

• A distributor of consumer products cuts costs and raisesprofits simply by changing its sales compensation system to takeprofitability into account.

• A security system manufacturer increases new customer revenue10 percent by paying an extra 1 percent commission forfirst-time customers.

• Another brewery sends digital color photos to 370 newspapers,along with a public relations story. The cost to the business owneris $725. The photo and story are picked up by 36 newspapers,including three in major cities.

• A home furnishings store sends a Polaroid picture of big-ticketitems prospects are considering. Closing rates have risen 25percent as a result of this marketing strategy.

• A software publisher reaps benefits from his online suggestionbox, which has resulted in several "great ideas," saysthe boss.

• Another bakery includes plugs for the businesses run by itscustomers right in its own newsletter, showing it knows how tothank its customers.

• The president of a medical supply company gives a one-minutesales pitch. He then departs, leaving a sales contract. When hecalls back, reminding prospects of his minute presentation, 90percent sign the contract.

• A large accounting software company makes sure its receptiondesk is kept well-stocked with yo-yos, candy and toys tocommunicate to employees and visitors that everyone is relaxed andhaving fun.

Jay Conrad Levinson is author of the internationallyacclaimed Guerrilla Marketing series of books and co-founderof Guerrilla Marketing International. For information on theGuerrilla Marketing Newsletter and other products and services,write to P.O. Box 1336, Mill Valley, CA 94942; call (800) 748-6444;or visit the Web site at http://www.gmarketing.com