Call her the queen of self-promotion

SHE'S a little unorthodox and her business is as well, so it makes sense that Melanie Regnier's marketing approach would also be off the wall.Newspaper, TV or radio ads? Nah, she can't afford them. So instead, the 29-year-old owner of the Hungover Empire vintage clothing shop at 357 Langside St. tapes $5 gift certificates to the stall doors in bars and restaurant washrooms around the city, where they're bound to be seen.

"It's the goodwill," she said Monday. "I give them something for free... and hopefully they'll come in here some day and use it."

Business cards? No way. They're too easy to lose. So Regnier hands out colourful stick-on cards instead, which will hopefully end up on someone's jacket, backpack, or fridge door.

She's also her own promotional dynamo, handing our oodles of flyers and gift certificates at local clubs and bars, including the Pyramid Cabaret where she still works part time as a bartender.

And to get a little cross-promotion going, she's created a section on her business website (www.hungoverempire.com) called the Local Independent Network of Companies. There, 13 other funky companies she wants her business to be associated with -- everything from other vintage clothing stores to the Park Theatre -- can post ads and links to their websites. And hopefully, she can do the same on their websites.

She also plans to put together a promotional pamphlet with information about each of the network members and see if local promoters would be willing to hand it out to bands and other entertainers who are visiting the city.

"A lot of these visitors may be looking for something unorthodox to do," she said. "But they don't know where to go, so they're missing out on all these smaller, underground places in the city where they might think it would be cool to go."

Regnier is the first to admit her marketing ideas are unconventional. But they're affordable, and she's convinced they'll also strike a chord with the consumers she's targeting -- people between the ages of 15 and 40 who are attracted to things that are different, such as vintage clothing.

She's relying on her instincts here, because this is her first stab at being an entrepreneur and she has no formal business education.

She's got her Grade 12 from Oak Park High School and more than 10 years of waitressing and bartending experience, but that's about it.

She's got a good imagination and a deep-rooted desire to blaze her own trail in the world. Which is why she has no qualms about trying something different. If it works, great. If it doesn't, she'll try something else.

To keep her costs down, Regnier has recruited friends who are willing to work part time in the store, do some website work, and do some modelling for her in exchange for free clothes from her store.

"They brag about where they're getting (them) and wear a lot of my clothes. And every time they get a compliment, they tell that person about my store. So it's totally worth it."

Regnier is a big believer in offering discounts to her customers and letting her employees offer discounts to their friends who shop at Hungover Empire.

"It makes people feel they're special... not just another customer."

Reg Litz, a professor of entrepreneurial studies who also teaches a creativity course at the University of Manitoba's Asper School of Business, said he likes many of the things Regnier is doing.

"She's on the right track," Litz said, noting many small businesses, particularly fledgling ones, don't have a lot of money to spend on marketing and advertising.

"So they have to pick your punches very carefully, and they have to get very creative with their punches."

"I also like what she's doing to minimize her cash flow. I think that's very important."

To draw more people to her shop, which is located across the street from the new University of Winnipeg students' residence, Regnier is hoping to open a small coffee shop at the front of her store later this summer. It will be owned and operated by her friend, Tony Hisco.

She also hopes to team up with another friend to open a small used-book section in her store -- another kind of store within a store.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 21, 2009 B6