I recently decided to drop off my clothes at a new dry cleaner’s near my house. When I walked in, they were celebrating their grand opening with 50% off, and had a slew of prizes for which you could literally put your name in a bowl. Among the prizes? $50 gift card to a popular local eatery, $25 gift card, and the grand prize – an Amazon Kindle.

I thought it was harmless, and there weren’t a lot of entries in there. After a couple of weeks went by, I suddenly got a phone call informing me I was the grand prize winner – the new proud owner of a Kindle.

Key Lessons:

1) Most people might consider these tactics to be somewhat gimmicky in nature, but it depends on your perspective. If the prize is legitimate (and in this case it was a very cool prize), it will generate interest. It’s also out of the box for a dry cleaner. They could have easily offered free dry cleaning services or something of that sort to keep you coming back, but they gave out a prize that didn’t really serve their interests in a direct manner.

2) Create excitement for people. Even the restaurant they picked with the $50 gift certificate is a small local restaurant that’s always packed. It shows locals that they put thought into the prize as opposed to a generic gift card to a big chain outlet like Chili’s.

How well does it work? Not sure. Receiving the gift might not necessarily make me go back again, but it leaves a positive impression and gets the winner talking about it – giving the business free and positive publicity.

Creating personal advocates is one of the hardest parts about starting up your business, and this one seemingly got it right.