Have you ever had to distribute door-hanger advertisements for your business?

Have you ever employed door-to-door sales techniques to increase your brand awareness?

Have you ever had to walk mile-after-mile repeating the sales pitch, over and over?

Have you ever had to stand outside of an arena event and pass out flyers to exiting patrons?

If you stop to think of the cold calling technique of door-to door advertising, you would discover how sometimes humiliating it is to have a disinterested and irritated individual slam the door in your face, yell insulting things toward you, or be escorted off of their property.  To combat this instantaneous humiliation, the idea of door-hanging advertisements gives the sales person a means of getting the word out to more people faster than before but more importantly, it saves the person the anguish of the advertised becoming irate over the interruption.  Having been in situations were I have used these techniques either selling for other companies or trying to gain customers for a newly opened business, I came up with the idea of trying a door-to-driveway or door-to-doorstep advertising campaign to build brand awareness for a national car sales corporation that needed grass roots advertising for the local area around their dealerships.

Basically, I was a car salesman that was responsible for bringing in customers to buy cars, and my pay was determined by how many people actually came in and bought.  Since I have leg injuries from an auto accident, I needed to find a way to cover the same amount of territory as my competing sales people.  The company already supplied a few thousand door hangers; however, the advertisement brought awareness to all of the local 11 dealerships and I wanted to build awareness just to the dealership that I was at, and more specifically, I wanted the traffic created to come specifically to me. 

Keeping in mind the flyer campaign I was apart of at a professional basketball game in which the sales team handed out 7,000 flyers to build awareness of a local college basketball season, I designed a half-page flyer text advertisement—therefore, two ads can be printed on every page—that put emphasis on my name, my contact information, and schedule.  You can substitute any advertising design on this half-page ad. 

I chose a colored card-stock weighted paper for printing because I needed paper weight for the distribution method used and a lower cost than the cost of printing in color.  Printing black and white on colored paper is easier and cheaper than printing expensive color ads, unless you can afford it.  But for the purpose of this campaign, you do not need to spend a fortune making your company look good in print.

Once the printing is done, cut the full-page printed page in half, which produces two half-page ads.  Next, take the ads and roll them into a cigar shape and secure with small rubber bands.  Tiny rubber bands can be purchased at the local office supply company, but the best bet for the appropriate size can be located at a local beauty supply company—ask for small hair braiding bands, usually kept in 500 and 1000 count.  Keep a large box handy to place the rolled ads in until it is time to distribute. 

Now it is time to distribute.  Normally, door hangers would take about 2 ½ hours to distribute 500 hangers and would receive a few inquiries for the effort; so being limited to the amount of walking I could do, I decided to drive a car and throw the ads onto the edge of the driveway at peoples houses.  I wanted the advertisement to be in the same placement as the local newspaper so the ad had the best chance to be noticed, picked up, and acted on by the potential customer. 

As a homeowner, I myself have had numerous advertisements thrown in my driveway, and as the homeowner I am responsible for picking up the ads in my yard.  I have seen ads for grass cutters, electricians, Avon sales, donations to thrift stores, and many more, so any kind of message can be placed on these ads. 

Now with the new way to distribute, I could get 2000 ads out in approximately 1 ½ hours and had responses before I returned to the dealership.  It makes me wonder how many people really do watch the front of their house and wonder what a slow moving vehicle was throwing at their house.  After seeing the instant results of my effort, every sales person at the dealership enacted the same door-to-driveway campaign for the shear fact of the number of ads distributed for the time distributed was achieved with far less effort than before.  Results we quicker and slightly higher; but, I do not know the exact increase numbers because I did not do any kind of analysis on exact number of responses for the number distributed.  I do know that I got a lot out a lot quicker than before and I didn’t have to walk anywhere except to the car.

A few things to keep in mind:
• Make sure it is NOT going to rain on the day that you distribute.
• Try NOT to distribute after 2:00 PM because of children being released from school and them walking and playing in the streets.
• Try NOT to distribute during the weekend because that is when you want people to be acting on the ad that has been delivered, and the kids are in the streets again.
• The perfect time seems to be between 10 AM and 12 PM, a two-hour break in morning commute traffic and the beginning of lunch hour traffic.
• Keep a map and mark the streets covered as to not deliver in the same area too often.

Written by eRix © 2004-08-28   Permission to Reproduce in Entirety. 

Webmaster to:
www.aimhockey.com
www.avonbymaki.com
www.quality-gifts-galore.com

eric b smith tampa, fl
b.a. marketing usf tampa, fl
a.s. information systems hcc tampa, fl

The humble little postcard has been getting a lot of attention in the marketing world. Along with this heightened interest comes some very good questions, such as… 

How Well Do Postcards Work?

Before we get into the "how well" part of this question, let’s look at how to measure the success of a postcard mailing.

APPROACH #1: Revenue Return Rate

If you use this approach, you decide that each dollar spent on your campaign should bring back, say, $10. Or $100. The amount is up to you.

APPROACH #2: Cost as a Percentage of Sales

With this approach, you benchmark the cost of your campaign as a percentage of sales generated. In other words, if you think that your campaign cost should be 5% of sales and your campaign cost is $500, then your campaign should produce $10,000 in sales.

Your cards will work well if they meet or exceed the standards you have set, whether it’s Approach #1 or Approach #2.

Martha Retallick, "The Passionate Postcarder," hails from Tucson, Arizona, USA. She is the author of Postcard Marketing Secrets, a downloadable PDF manual will show you how to put postcards to work for your business–profitably. Learn more about it at:

http://www.PostcardMarketingSecrets.com

Want to create print ads that get results? Below are three keys to get you started.

1. Write for the eye. Print ads are visual. Therefore, craft ads with the eye in mind.

Eyes are kind of picky, though. So, here’s a checklist of what eyes like and don’t like:

* A catchy headline that encourages them read more.

* Art, such as photos, illustrations, clip art, shapes, etc. Eyes like art. When you create the ad, create words AND the visual at the same time. Words and visuals should work together.

* Designed in an interesting, intriguing, attention-getting manner. Eyes like that. Remember, graphic designers are your friends. If you don’t have training in graphic design, I strongly urge you to hire a graphic designer to create your ad. The results will be well worth it.

* White space (blank space in the ad). Eyes like white space. Eyes don’t like print ads stuffed with words and/or art. Those ads look way too difficult to read and comprehend. So eyes will skip over those ads and find other open, clean ads to look at. (And if they do, you might as well have never bought the ad in the first place.)

2. Write for the busy eye. Nobody is reading a newspaper because they want to see your ad. (Okay, your mother is the exception.) People are reading the paper because they want information. Reading your ad is an afterthought. So, they aren’t going to spend a whole heck of a lot of time on it.

A common mistake is asking print ads to do too much. To be successful, print ads must:

* Capture the attention of your potential customers,
* Encourage those potential customers to remember what you want them to do,
* Then persuade them to actually do it.

That’s a lot to ask for one little print ad.

Print ads should have one message and one message only. The more "extras" about your business you start throwing into the ad, the more convoluted the ad is going to become, and the less likely your potential customers will act upon your ad.

Now at this point you may be thinking "Okay. We need one message. That message should be to get my potential customers to buy something, hire my services, donate money, become a volunteer, etc. Right?"

Well…

For one thing, that’s a pretty big leap for your potential customers. Getting potential customers to buy without first developing a relationship with them is, again, asking an awful lot for one little print ad. You might be better off inviting potential customers to take one small step in the buying process. For instance, stopping in the store for a free gift, logging on to your Web site to enter a contest, putting their names on your mailing list, trying a demo version of your product, etc. Let them get to know you.

3. Keep your target market in mind. Your message should be focused on your customers’ needs, not your own. Getting customers to buy your products and services is YOUR need. How your products or services solve your customers’ problems is THEIR needs. See the difference?

That’s why so many retail stores have sales. They’re effective because they’re solving a need (saving customers money). But saving money is not the only need. There are many others.

You should also think about ways to add value without bargaining on price (this position can backfire). Contests, free gifts, free reports, free food — stuff like that. Think outside the box. And use that value as a way to set yourself apart.

Creativity Exercises — Learn by example

One of the best ways to learn how to craft successful print ads is to study what’s out there.

Get out a newspaper or a magazine and open it. See where your eyes go. What ads attract your eyes? What ads drive them away?

Which ads have headlines that intrigue you? Graphics that capture your attention? Copy that encourages you to find out more? Why?

Now look at ads that do nothing for you. Why don’t you like them? Are they too cluttered? Too difficult to understand? Have a headline that makes you yawn?

Sometimes you can learn as much, if not more, from bad examples as you can from good ones.

Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, a writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.writingusa.com. Copyright 2004 Michele Pariza Wacek.

WHAT’S On The Page?
Typically, a Western audience reads from top to bottom and left to right. That doesn’t necessarily mean information has to be placed on a page in that order. As readers, we look at a page and attempt to figure out what is the important message on the page. If everything is shown the same way, same size, same spacing — no importance is established for anything on the page. It looks foreboding and unfriendly.

BUILDING Hierarchy
When you look at many well-designed ads, there’s a headline that is big and attention grabbing, maybe a large photo, and then the rest of the information is arranged to give each part more or less importance. There may be additional smaller photos showing details, or contact information or where to find a product. There may be copyright notices at the bottom of the page in small type. All of these things are designed, sized and spaced to help the reader move through the information logically. Readers aren’t forced to work through everything to find the important items. Even the paragraphs of this post help to distinguish parts of this topic. Adding subheads makes it even easier for the reader. If I wrote this as one long paragraph, with no breaks, it would be a lot harder to read. And I’d run the risk that you wouldn’t bother with it.

SPACING Unites or Separates
When you are placing elements on a page or even typing long documents, spacing can help the reader determine what items go together. A simple example is the subheads I’m using in this post. They are closer to the paragraphs they go with then they are to the paragraphs before them. You don’t have to think about what the subheads belong with; it’s obvious from the spacing.

Looking at well-designed ads, you may also see the use of a company’s logo or brand. It will probably be spaced near contact information, address, phone numbers, even Web addresses and the names of contacts. This is all information that fits together logically and so spacing these things together makes a unit out of them. It separates this important information from the rest of the elements on the page, therefore giving it a position in the page’s hierarchy.

SPACING Photos
Making photos look good on a page can be difficult, particularly if there are many photos or if they are all different sizes. But spacing things together that belong together can help here too. See if the photos break down into more than one subject or category and if they do, consider designing a couple groupings rather than just plopping them all on the page the same way. If they don’t separate into categories, there still may be some that are more important than others and those could be slightly larger. Or group one large photo with several related, but smaller photos. And remember to space the photos near any text that refers to them. Don’t make your reader search for the photo he is reading about, or for the description of the photo he is looking at.

LIMIT the Number of Important Points
Pretend you are the reader and look at the page. What jumps out first? Is that the most important thing on the page? Is that what you wanted readers to see first? What do you look at next? Does your design create a logical path through the information on the page? If you become confused at any point about what comes next or what goes with what, then the page layout needs work. A common error is to try to put too many important points on one page or in one ad or document.

MORE Isn’t Always Better
When too many things are presented with the same importance, then none of them look important. Even when you are talking about one subject, one product, one service, some information will be more important or relevant. Keep those relative importances in mind when writing the text and when sizing and placing that text on the page. If you have more than one or possibly two ideas, items, etc. that are of equal importance, it is probably best not to attempt to combine them in one project.

BOTTOM Line - Think About Your Reader
The main thing to remember is that you know more about what you are marketing or advertising than your reader does. It is unrealistic to expect that reader to absorb or even be interested in knowing everything you know. So don’t overwhelm him with too much significance. Keep it simple. One message at a time is best and when you must add more, be sure to build a hierarchy that the reader can easily follow. He’ll be more likely to read your message and more likely to understand and remember it.

The author, Cynthia Pinsonnault, has worked in advertising for an upstate New York fashion chain; for the media department of an Ivy League university; for a computer company marketing “Desktop Publishing” which was just hitting the marketplace; and as assistant art director for a full service ad agency. In 1989, she started Pinsonnault Creative in Houston, Texas, providing high quality graphic design and marketing and advertising consulting.

Awards - American Advertising Federation: Award of Excellence and Addy Award; IABC: Brazos Bravo Award and Award of Excellence; American Corporate Identity: Awards of Excellence.

Visit Pinsonnault Creative at http://www.pinscreative.com. Read more articles like this in our weekly newsletter at http://www.pinscreative.com/blog.

Are you or someone you know techno-phobic? Do you have a customer base who is still relies on an old fashioned pen and paper to record appointments, dates, times, places and people? Help you’re average “Joe customer,” yourself or your loved ones to a custom calendar. Conveniently record everything from all your children’s school activities, sporting events, doctor’s appointments, etc. How about keeping track of all your important meetings, lunches, dates, and times? A calendar print is just the way to go.

Having the capability to organize and manage a hectic lifestyle on one simple calendar can be a priceless tool. For the average consumer, adding a personal touch such as photographs or inspirational quotes can boost the overall productivity and usability of a custom calendar. To smile each and every time flipping through a calendar becomes necessary, will make things seem even more organized. The benefits to an average business owner can range greatly from increased productivity to increased customer base. Keeping on top of appointments and contacts can help increase sales, and to give out promotional calendars as advertisements can increase customer loyalty. Imagine satisfied customers using the custom calendar to schedule their hectic lives, and having a constant reminder of the person and/or business that helped get them there.

Whether creating a calendar for yourself, your loved ones, or your customers, many affordable options present themselves before you. Many local retailers such as Office Depot, Staples, Kinko’s and other printing services will gladly put together calendars for to promote growth of your business, or make great holiday gifts. When your loved ones use their new calendars they will undoubtedly think of you when they organize they thoroughly organize their lives. With many different sizes, formats, and options available to customize a calendar, the possibilities and styles veritably limitless. When ordering calendar printing services, especially from retailers, many discount programs are available, including reward cards, new customer discounts, and bulk discounts. As much as 10%, 15%, even 20% discounts are available on qualifying orders.

The whole world has not gone digitized as of yet, and so some people still take a pen to the paper to organize their lives, bringing yourself to them will help widen a customer base, and make great gifts at holiday time. With a variety of styles, quantities, colors, schemes, and sizes available, full marketability is at the fingertips of the business owner and awe at a great gift is within reach to the average person with something as simple and thoughtful as a calendar. With full customizability there will never be any doubt that what you see is what you will get. When receiving an attractive and eye catching document, such as a calendar, customer’s and loved ones alike remember who gave them such an impressive display of creativity and craftsmanship, along with exactly why. When impressing a family member, or a customer counts, or the need to just get organized rears its ugly head, a custom calendar is the number one solution to consider.

Our Printing Directory is dedicated to the printing industry. Find more information and other printing topics on our Calendar Printing resource page.

The ability to stand out from the crowd, gain recognition, and be known is an essential one in many facets of life. It seems as though everywhere we look sets of standardized template designs pervade our very existence. Everything from flyers, brochures, letterheads, logos, T-shirts, websites, and many more eye catching gimmicks seems to come from one of many similar sources. Uniqueness seems to be an antiquated concept. However the ability to have a design completely custom tailored to the fit the exact needs and specifications of any given purpose, for a business, or even for a musical group, are vital to generating exposure.

Eye catching printed material, or even printed apparel, such as screen printed T-shirt designs with a company logo is a great way to gain exposure from the masses. However, the publications and apparel designs must bring something to the table which will draw attention. A plain, boring, standardized concept will turn heads the other direction. A new and creative conceptual design brings forward the possibility for maximum exposure. Passersby will stop dead in their tracks to gawk at the material and keep the company and/or band name in mind. Such simple conceptual designs are not only thought up by professionals. In fact, an average person can easily create a work of great attention grabbing beauty when put to it. The possibilities are limitless for where and how exposure through custom printing can occur. Everything from custom websites, custom T-shirts, custom letterheads, custom brochures, custom flyers, and even custom logos (just to name a few) can be created and mass produced. With web hosting for only pennies a day, the internet has become the new vehicle for exposure.

With billions of websites, and millions more being added each day, the internet has become the worldwide marketplace for the free exchange of ideas and concepts. With web hosting services for just pennies a day, and a great wealth of tools for graphics and web design work, creating a custom logo, and/or website is well within the scope. With a wealth of design techniques, and limitless possibilities for graphics and presentation, the internet is the best places to create a custom publication of any sort. In conjunction with a strong campaign to attract the attention of the less technologically savvy, success is at the fingertips of the daring entrepreneur who decides to break away from the humdrum and overused designs.

Custom prints can be created at varieties of locations, from you local office supply store(s), to your own living room. The conceptual design is best left to professionals for reproduction. A few suggestions might be Office Depot, Staples, or Kinko’s to start. Many different companies can help create a custom and attractive website as well. Although this is something that can be done from one’s own living room, some of the technical and backend aspects are much better left to certified professionals. Clearly the possibilities are limitless when it comes to custom printing, simply begging the question, “Why doesn’t everyone do this?”

Our Printing Directory is dedicated to the printing industry. Find more information and other printing topics on our Custom Printing resource page.

Attracting the attention of young and old alike is a goal of any kind of professional printing services, whether it involves letters/letterhead, brochures, flyers, web pages, or poster. A bright and vibrant, yet easy to read and communicative presentation is a must. What’s the solution when you need to get a lot of information across in a short amount of time? The answer is simple, poster of course. A simple poster can communicate a wealth of ideas using simple use of color and aesthetic design. Grand opening events, special occasions, big sales, or even big family events would make a perfect application for a well designed and implemented poster.

Imagine attracting new customer and new clients with a big “GRAND OPENING” poster outside of a newly opened store, or to draw in a range of customers and/or clients who would otherwise not stop. A simple poster with the proper sale information and/or grand opening information can generate a great boost in sales and customer base. Posters in sizes ranging from 11” x 17” up to 24” x 36” (depending on retailer), and range in price(s) based on the quantity of the poster needed. Practical application for smaller posters can include to post at any given public place to attract the attention of passersby thereby drawing them in to your business. An important aspect to keep in mind when creating any advertisement of poster is that it should not be too flashy otherwise the prospective target group will simply pass it over. As a matter of practicality, the cost of the posters can easily be offset by the cost of the incoming business. Cheaper alternatives to traditional poster printing also exist in cyberspace.

The concept of attracting new business may be quite an appealing one to all ranges of business owners; however poster printing may be too costly for a new business owner. To help curb the cost, which may seem a little exorbitant to a newly started business, the option of banners and/or posters in cyberspace may be a little more cost effective. Banner space online, can be quite cheap and/or free when found in the right place. The design of the graphics and/or banner advertisements can be done at little or no cost, if done in house. One great advantage of banner ads over typical paper posters comes with the use of moving graphics and flashing, colorful text. Banners that say “BIG SALE” or “GRAND OPENING” with a company slogan and/or logo can attract momentary attention of surfers and attract them to invest even a little time in what they saw.

Banner and poster advertising has come a long way to where it is now, and offers a great variety of methods to come across with the needed information to the target audience. Poster printing is a cost effective and efficient way to bring in new people to any given cause whether it is a business or otherwise. With such a wide array of options, the only real question is “Why wait?”

Our Printing Directory is dedicated to the printing industry. Find more information and other printing topics on our Poster Printing resource page.

A professional business card says more about you and your business than any other tool in your marketing arsenal. You need a card that looks good, tells what you do and makes it easy to contact you.

Here’s how to use the necessary ingredients to create a great business card

Your name should be the biggest part of the card. Right there where the eye can pick it out without searching.

Avoid the old trap of name and phone number in 6 point type in the lower right corner.

Your card’s purpose is to get people to remember YOU and contact YOU. So put YOU in the middle, big. A fancy company logo is not you. YOU are the most important element of your business card.

The second most important element of your new business card should be your preferred method of communication. If you are a cell phone junkie, your cell phone number should be the biggest on the card. If eMail is your thing, your address should be prominent and near your name. No need to post every contact method. An option would be to add your company logo, albeit small, in the corner of your card.

Don’t use clip art to create your logo. No logo looks a lot better than one from page 23 of the clip art book. You can have logos professionally designed for less than $500 bucks.

Next, you need a one sentence version of your elevator speech. Condense your elevator speech to one sentence that will fit on your business card, under your name and contact info. Across the bottom is a good spot.

An elevator speech is what you say to someone who asks "What do you do?" in an elevator going down from the 25th floor.

For some tips about crafting an elevator speech, send a blank eMail to elevator@BIGIdeasGroup.com.

Your name, contact information and shortened elevator speech (let’s call it a selling sentence) are more important than any other elements of your business card. More important than paper stock (always use a high gloss card stock), colors (0nly in a photo or logo) or fonts (easy to read). Cards DO get passed around.

If someone who has never met you is given your card, they must be able to determine who you are and how you can help them. "Joe Jones, Plumber" might work, but it doesn’t convey what you can do for them. "Joe Jones, I show up on time, smell good and fix your leak, guaranteed", says a whole lot more. Now your business card is selling YOU.

For more about business cards, get my article "What Does Your Business Card Say?" BizCardSay@BigIdeasGroup.com

©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel, Professional Speaker and Former Major Market TV News Anchor. The BIG Ideas Group helps small business grow with mastermind groups, seminars and sales training. MailTo:Mike@BIGIdeasGroup.com

http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

Subscribe to "BIG Mike’s BIG Ideas" Newsletter subscribe-956603364@ezinedirector.net

Without a plan to distribute your cards, there’s no need to print them in the first place.

Many fall into the trap of thinking all the thinking about business cards is over once the order is placed. Wrong! The average person has more than half of business cards still in the box at any given time.

Make a plan to empty your box of cards in 3 months or less, after all, those little cards are your most pwerful marekting tool.

Always carry cards with you. Always have them handy. "Let’s see, I’ve got one here somewhere, no, that’s a card I got yesterday, no, that’s my kid’s picture, here it is, no, that’s not it either.."

Always keep them fresh and flat. If they look worn or dirty, pitch ‘em. You should be able to quick draw your card faster than Gunsmoke’s Matt Dillon. If somebody gives you their business card, you should give them yours in return, face up.

Think of your card as a print ad for you. Leave it everywhere. More ad exposure leads to more business. If you designed your card well, your home address is not on it so you can leave it anywhere without fear a burglar will come visiting.

Many stores, banks and restaurants have bulletin boards. Keep a few push pins in your car.

Always drop your card in the fishbowls offering a prize.

Enclose a card with every check you send to pay bills.

Leave one on the table with your tip (as long as the tip is not embarrassing).

Give one to friends "Do you have my new card?"

Keep a supply in a cardholder on your desk or at the front counter.

Ask your spouse to always carry your cards, ready to deliver should they meet someone who might be interested in your product or service.

Keep spare cards everywhere so you never have to grope for one, or worse yet, not find one and end up scribbling your name on the back of someone else’s card.

Put the info on your card in a sig file that automatically appears at the bottom of all your eMail. Get my article that show you how, step by step. MailTo:SIGFile@BigIdeasgroup.com.

If anything on your card changes, bite the bullet, eat the expense, and pitch ‘em.

Your business card is more than a reference tool. It can be your biggest marketing advantage for people to remember you and forget your competition.

For more about buiness cards, get my article "What Does the BACK of Your Business Card Say?" MailTo:BizCardBack@BigIdeasGroup.com

©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel, Professional Speaker and Former Major Market TV News Anchor. The BIG Ideas Group helps small business grow with mastermind groups, seminars and sales training. MailTo:Mike@BIGIdeasGroup.com http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

Subscribe to "BIG Mike’s BIG Ideas" Newsletter subscribe-956603364@ezinedirector.net

Business cards with nothing on the back are wasted opportunities to sell.

Use the back of your card to expand and reaffirm your selling sentence (which should be prominent on the front of your card).

If your Selling Sentence is "Where You Save 20% on Power Tools Everyday", use the space on the back to list the brands on sale every day. Another solid impression about you and your business.

You can use the back of your card to explain the high points of your business, quote happy customers or list the products you offer. If you quote, be sure to get permission. Implied permission is when you use a sentence with quotes around it and no attribution.

No need to fill the back edge to edge, but put something there that will work for you. Judicious use of white space front and back is the mark of a professional. Ever notice the isles in an expensive store are wider than Wal-Mart?

Find a way to work your name into what you put on the back. The back is an ad for you, a mobile marketing piece. Without your name there, the close is lost. Don’t repeat anything else from the front, but be sure your name is on both sides.

You can offer a quiz (or checklist) that will stimulate thinking and prompt a call to you.

Some folks put valuable information on the back (police, fire, hospital phone numbers, a calendar, or a football schedule). Some cards use handy tips or conversion tables or charts.

Turn the back of your card into a coupon. When they redeem the coupon, give them another card.

Another clever idea is to print the back of the card with enough space for you to give your prospect your direct number or your private 800 number by hand writing it in the space on the back.

"Here, let me give you my PRIVATE number" indicates in not so subtle tones not everyone gets that number or you would have printed it on there for all to see. The chance of that card making it back to the prospect’s desk are 10 times better than a ho hum card.

If you use color on the front, the back can be done in black and white. Information is usually presented in black and white. Nice physiological touch, and less expensive, too.

Dig out that pile of cards you have saved from meetings, conventions and networking. Few utilize the back for anything, let alone planned marketing.

For more about business cards, get my article "What’s on Your Business Card?" MailTo:BizCardOn@BigIdeasGroup.com

You stand out from the crowd when your business card is a professional marketing piece, both sides.

©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel All Rights Reserved

Mike@BIGIdeasGroup.com BIG Mike is a Professional Speaker and Small Business Consultant with over 30 years experience, http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

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