| |
| |
|
Advertising Information |
|
|
|
Make Your Business Cards Work
What's the cheapest, most under-used marketing tool you have? The answer's no secret ... it's your business cards. If you aren't making them work for you, you may be missing an excellent opportunity at leveraging a cost effective marketing tool. By the time you have read this article, you'll know several ways in which you can increase your profits by wringing every last cent of value from the advertising power of business cards. Business card content Everyone knows what a business card contains, so I'll keep this brief and focus on what some people don't have on their cards. Cost effective advertising The last supply of business cards I bought cost me 0.07 cents Australian per card; the last classified advertisement I lodged cost me $72. While the newspaper advertisement will get much more coverage for a day or two, I have no control over who reads it. Among those who do, thousands will have no personal interest in my offer and still others might never get to the classified advertisements pages. Many will throw out the paper in a day or so and my three line ad will be gone forever from their houses and minds. With my business cards, however, I can target where and when I leave them or to which individuals I hand them in order to get the greatest advantage. Of course, there is never a guarantee that where I leave them will result in sales, but at least people do keep business cards. The idea is to increase probability ... the probability that the recipient will want my goods or services. Here's an example. Target marketing Recently I attended a workshop about Email Marketing which was also attended by about 50 others. As the products I sell include three high capacity email management software systems, this was an opportunity I couldn't miss. I left a card at every place mat on every table. If the target audience was interested in email marketing, wasn't there a probability they might also be interested in email software? Sure enough, I received 11 enquiries within a few days of the workshop and sold three copies of the software. Had the workshop been about 'The Metallurgical Use of Sodium Cyanide' how successful do you think I would have been? When you use target marketing, you may have to offer a financial incentive for someone to distribute - or allow you to distribute - your card. If someone asks for a commission to distribute my business card, I'm happy to oblige, but I also expect to be allowed to leave a brochure. The incentive I offer is this: If you agree for me to leave my sales brochure, I'll use a code within the brochure that lets me identify a sale as coming from your workshop, shop, seminar or whatever. For every sale I'll give you a percentage commission. If you do this often, you can set up an affiliate program through Clickbank, Sharesale or someone else who provides affiliate management programs. But I don't create affiliates for short-term ventures that may last only a few weeks, it's too much work. Depending on the goods or services you sell, you can leave your business cards at business offices. For example, when I visit a real estate office I see business cards for insurance brokers. When I go to the insurance brokers, I see cards from real estate businesses. This can be a mutually beneficial arrangement that costs nobody. If you do it though, you must ensure you don't neglect your business card holder ... keep it stocked. When you get a chance, identify those businesses whose customers may also want your complementary products or services. Talk with the owners/proprietors and see if you can arrange to leave your cards there. Remember, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Even your friendly Chinese Cafe may be a good place to get some exposure. A cafe I visit every couple of months has a cork wall board bristling with business cards. Every time I go there I leave three or four of mine. They always need replacing, so someone is taking them. And let's face it, they aren't good for much else but reading. Ask your friends to pass your cards to people they know -their sphere of influence - referral is an excellent method of marketing. Hand them out to people you meet at work - at play - anywhere if you feel they are prospective clients. At the end of the day, you need to use every conceivable method to keep your firm's name in front of as many people as possible. After all, if they don't know you exist, why will they call you when next they want a new batch of widgets? The cheap, humble business card can be a very effective marketing tool if you use it wisely. How well are you using yours? Copyright Robin Henry 2005 Robin Henry is an educator, human resources specialist and Internet marketer whose firm, Desert Wave Enterprises, helps individuals and businesses improve their performance by using smart processes, smart technology and personal development. He lives at Alice Springs In Central Australia, but his online presence is available worldwide eg, lately he has been assisting US-based firms deal with Australian Government under the US-AUS Fair Trade Agreement. Visit Desert Wave Enterprises.
MORE RESOURCES:
Advertising - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Using The Popularity of Celebrities and Currrent Events to Promote Your Business In this article, we want to explore the idea of using the popularity of celebrities and current event (news) topics to help market any internet business.The IdeaCelebrities and news events are not only popular topics, they are also popular "keywords" in the major search engines. Imprinted Promotional Items - Their Many Marketing Applications There are many uses for promotional items. This means that they are just not used as freebies for a grand opening special. Fax Advertising : Hitting Your Target Immediately In the business of marketing and advertising, it used to be that companies that wanted to get the word out quickly to key customers on a new development would rely on email with follow-up phone calls. But with the new technologies available in fax broadcasting, fax advertising has taken over as the advertising medium of choice when it comes to contacting your customers at the speed of light. Bad Seduction - Advertising Techniques That Dont Work I just read some advertising suggestions on an Internet marketing site that are beyond annoying. They are flat-out bad advice. Avoid Being Vague We are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages daily?on television and the radio, on the internet, in magazines and newspapers, on billboards and other signs, and even at the bottoms and on the backs of receipts. The world is, indeed, a very noisy place. Getting the Most Out of Your Networking Group Here is my personal list of things to do at your networking group:(1) Bring your business cards. Sound simple? Well, I regularly meet people at networking groups who have forgotten their cards or their cards are at the printers. Printing - How Do I Buy It? Why should I care where I get my printed material from, I'll just go for tenders and go with the low bidder. If you do this probably you won't be in business for long or you'll never really run a successful business. Organizing Business Cards for Effective Contact Management Now that you've had colorful new business cards printed, and have been distributing them diligently, what do you do with the cards you collect from other people?If you're like most people, you have a stack of rubber-banded cards floating around you desk. Or you have been using them as bookmarks, toothpicks, and used gum wrappers and they are all over your office, car, wallet and purse?Without a good filing system, the information on those cards is useless. What Does the Back of Your Business Card Say? 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). How To Track Your Advertising Like A Hawk Tired of pouring endless money into advertising? Do you wonder which ads are "REALLY" working for the business you manage? Would you like a bullet-proof system for capturing the results from your advertising and marketing? Below are three concepts that will enable you to track your advertising and marketing like a hawk! Really, it's that simple!Developing a tracking system: As a business owner/executive/manager, you need an efficient way to record and evaluate the results from your advertising and marketing programs. To get started, you will need a "prospect card" which includes a list of ALL the places you advertise and market your company. Advertainment is Sneaking Into Music, Movies, TV and More The very name "advertainment" sends thrilling vibrations up the spine of anyone with marketing in their blood or communication in their genes. And it produces a strong shiver of disgust from many of my colleagues in the music industry. Diamonds Are For Evil The task of executing successful advertising campaigns for products made exclusively for women is understatedly tempestuous. Any Average Joe consumer would relay the message that feminine product commercials put him under a great deal of stress and discomfort. How To Create Instantly Compelling Ads Every Time Use This Quick 3-Question Evaluation Process, So You Can Be Sure Your Message Will Sell!EVALUATION #1: "Well, I Would Hope So!" When you make a claim, don't think about it in terms of words coming out of your mouth. Think of it in terms of words entering your prospects ears. How To Tell If An Advertisement Costs Too Much People say it all the time: "This advertising costs too much!" They practically go into cardiac arrest when they see how much the advertising for certain media in certain markets is going to cost them. It is pretty easy to get sticker shock when you see that a sixty-second radio commercial on a popular Los Angeles station could cost you a thousand bucks. Mortgage Marketing - Broadcast Advertising vs Direct Advertising Do you know how to design and deploy a marketing campaign?Even if your ad budget is small you should still plan and measure the results of you advertising. This process is the key to your ultimate success. What are Text Adverts? Not everyone is aware of what are text adverts? Text Adverts are a form of low cost advertising used by website owners to promote their website and services to a quality targeted audience.Online advertising offers an outstanding opportunity to efficiently and effectively target your desired audience. Advertising on a Budget -- Part 2: Thinking Small This is the second article of a three-part series. I'm illustrating the marketing challenges of a small business, PrescottWeddings. How to Make a Fortune from Unique Resistance-free Advertising One of the most powerful offers you can use in your advertising is the word Free.But, you may well ask? how can I make a profit giving my products and services away without charging for them?Which is the exact reason why you need to understand the 'LVC Formula' which stands for the Lifetime Value of a Client!Here's how it works. The Online Equivalent of an Effective Newspaper Advertisement is FREE Ask anybody who has been in business for a long enough and they will tell you how newspaper advertisements have for decades helped to build countless small businesses.The advantages of a newspaper advertisement are many, but what has attracted small business entrepreneurs for decades is the speed at which a struggling entrepreneur (short of funds as many starting small businesses always are, and looking for customers fast) is able to get a very quick response. Developing a Formal Brand Messaging Document Ensure everyone in your company sings from the same sheet of music when it comes to communicating a consistent brand message.Imagine one of your customers calling six different people in your company.
|
| home | site map | references |
| advertising-s.net © 2007 |
