Ailsa Page and her new book designed to help small businesses. 83725 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By LAURA WAKELY
SUNSHINE’s Ailsa Page believes marketing is in her DNA.
When she was seven years old she would rattle tins for charities, at high school she promoted school dances and afterwards spent years in customer service roles.
“I think I’ve been marketing knee-high to a grasshopper,” Ailsa said.
“I guess again, I didn’t realise what I was doing was marketing until I went back and did some post-graduate studies.”
Now Ailsa is sharing her marketing secrets in her first book, The Shoe String Marketing Kit for Small Business.
The idea came about after years of running her own marketing agency in Sunshine and lecturing at Victoria University, as she realised how many tips she had gathered for businesses on a low budget.
“It’s not just chucking an ad in the Yellow Pages or whipping up a website,” Ailsa said.
“So many people find marketing overwhelming.
“I would say it’s about looking at things from the customer’s perspective. It’s the science behind the sale, what you do to bring in sales.”
She said she particularly wanted to help small businesses.
“Small business is such an unsung hero in the community. They’re not seen, not heard. We’re very self-sufficient,” she said.
“The one thing I love about working with businesses in the West is the passion with which owners operate their businesses.”
The book has been more than six years in the making, but Ailsa said its “opened the flood gates” for more writing.
For information visit www.apmarketingworks.com.au
