3 Ways to Gain and Keep Customers Using Postcards

3 Ways to Gain and Keep Customers Using Postcards

by: Brett Curry

In today’s competitive (sometimes cutthroat) marketplace, savvy business owners need to constantly look for ways to get and, more importantly, keep their customers. When used properly postcards offer a great opportunity to do both.

1. Mail systematically to a targeted database of prospects. Most people who use postcard mailings as a way to acquire new customers mail to a list once and then stop. It’s far more effective (provided that your postcards have an enticing offer, and provided that you are mailing to a group of ขripeข prospects) to mail regularly to the same group of potential customers. Think about it this way. How many times have you received something in the mail or seen an ad on TV and thought, ขthat’s a good idea, I need to look into that.ข Only to forget about it the next day and never take action. That’s just human nature. And that’s why it’s better to mail systematically and regularly to a group of prospects than it is to just mail once or twice. It may take 3 or 4 contacts with a customer before they are willing to do business with you.

2. Systematically contact your customers. Once a business gains a new customer the tendency is to do nothing but hope that the customer will come back. Bad idea. It’s far better to be proactive and mail monthly, weekly, quarterly, etc. to your current customers offering them special incentives, additional products, or just to simply thank them for their business. It’s amazing what kind of growth you can achieve if you get even a small percentage of your customers to make an additional purchase or two throughout the year.

3. Allow your customer to be a hero. One great way to build a relationship with your current customers and potentially gain new customers is to send them a postcard with a special offer that is only good for previous customers or friends and family of previous customers. When you send a postcard with a coupon or special offer on it, state very clearly that your valued customer is free to use the coupon for themselves or they can pass it on to someone else. This will make them feel good, and will potentially build a repeat purchase, or develop a new client. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.

Postcards can quickly and inexpensively communicate your message to prospects and consumers. When used as part of an integrated system, post cards can be a very powerful tool to generate new customers and then ensure that those customers keep coming back to you over and over again. In business, what could be

About The Author

Brett Curry is a professional Marketing Consultant and the Marketing Director for Brochures.com. Brochures.com is the home of top quality, full color brochures, business cards, post cards and more at up to 70% off of retail.

http://www.brochures.com

This article may be reproduced provided that the above bio is listed with the article.

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 02

by Brett Curry

LowCost Marketing With Postcards

LowCost Marketing With Postcards

by: Bob Leduc

Hereกs a simple way you can generate lots of sales leads …or traffic to your web site. Use postcards. They’re highly effective and very lowcost. Plus, postcards provide the following 6 unique advantages over most other types of advertising.

1. Maximum Exposure for Your Sales Message

Postcards are delivered ‘ready to readก. Even people who usually ignore other advertising will find it hard to avoid looking at your message when itกs on a postcard …especially if you keep it brief.

With other types of advertising you often lose prospects who would have been interested in your offer …but they never saw it.

2. Simple and LowCost

Postcards are simple to produce and very lowcost. You can print 4 x 6 inch postcards on your own computer for less than 2 cents each. Or you can reduce the cost down to about 1 cent each if you print 4 at a time on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of card stock and cut the sheets into quarters.

Even postcards printed by a commercial printer are not expensive …usually about 4 cents to 8 cents each.

The postage for mailing postcards is low too. In the US you can send postcards by First Class Mail for only 23 cents. This reduced postage rate applies to postcards that are at least 3 1/2 x 5 inches but not over 4 1/4 x 6 inches.

3. Get Immediate Results

Because postcards are simple and easy to use they produce results quickly. Often your postcards can be mailed within a week from the time you decide to use them. You will start getting replies 2 or 3 days later.

4. Gain Control of Your Sales Activity

Postcards put you in control your sales activity. You can avoid getting too many or too few responses during any time period by regulating how many postcards you mail and how often you mail them.

That means you can quickly boost your sales activity anytime it slows down. And you can avoid losing customers you can’t handle immediately because you got flooded with too much activity at one time.

5. No Wasted Advertising Expense

Postcards enable you to spend your entire advertising budget on your best prospects. You don’t have to pay for advertising to a large audience in order to reach a few good prospects.

With a little advance planning you can make sure your postcards only go to prospects likely to be interested in what you offer …and who also have a prior history of acting on offers that interest them.

For example, analyze your customers and make a list of the characteristics they share. Then call several national mailing list brokers and tell them what you are looking for. Youกll be surprised at how specific some mailing lists are today.

6. Can Evaluate Results Quickly

Postcards normally generate 90 percent or more of their total number of replies within 7 to 10 days. This enables you to quickly and accurately evaluate the results of postcard advertising. Youกll know in about a week if you can confidently send more of the same postcards or if you need to make some changes.

Don’t overlook postcards when you want to generate sales leads or web site traffic. They’re highly effective, very lowcost …and they provide these 6 unique advantages you cannot get with most other types of advertising.

Copyright 2004 Bob Leduc

http://BobLeduc.com

About The Author

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards …and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. Youกll find his lowcost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 7026581707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

This article was posted on September 28, 2004

by Bob Leduc

The Best Of The Best In Postcards

The Best Of The Best In Postcards

by: Florie Lyn Masarate

There are some learning in life that people have to go through with in order to learn the lessons that come with it. This may sound dramatic but it really helps people in getting things right and knowing the best of the best.

This is also true in printing. People getting printing materials that tend to be informational or is into marketing certain products and services are clearly becoming an expert on what they consider the best not just in presentation but also in contents.

Take, for example, small printing materials like postcards. People receiving them have always been amazed at the development that these cards have undergone through the years. They started simply with the just some words and contact details, but now even graphic designs are being put into them. These cards are becoming marketing tools also, as they are handy and easy to give out to potential clients. Not only that, postcards is now sent through emails. Just look at what postcards have become. Other than these things what are the highlights that postcards must have?

Postcards are better off without an envelope. You know why? Because people being busy bodies always on the run, are likely not to have time to open these envelopes to look at what it contain. There are a lot of things that people have to do in a day, letters to read and reading your postcards will just add to the trash mails that people ignore most of the time. The tendency is for them to throw it away without even bothering to read what it says. So giving them postcards sans the envelope, you get assured that somehow, and even in a fraction of a second, they have seen and read what your postcards say. Having seen them first, before throwing them away is something that you cannot have done with an envelope. And the next time you send them that same card again, they will remember having received one before throwing it away again.

Promoting one thing at a time in your postcards and sending them time and time again helps, a lot. This is making them aware of what you are marketing, may it be a product or s service. Having them sent over again to potential customers is not necessarily wasting time and money. It is making them aware of what they are missing and what they should know about. Do not mind raising some tempers, at least they remembered you having sent them more than once. Repetition and persistence works, in time.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

About The Author

Florie Lyn Masarate got the flair for reading and writing when she received a subscription of the school newsletter in kindergarten. She got her first article published on that same newsletter in the third grade.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 03

by Florie Lyn Masarate

Modern Marketing With Postcards

Modern Marketing With Postcards

by: Bob Leduc

Postcards may be one of the best kept secrets of modern marketing. They produce even better results now than in the past. Thatกs probably because postcards deliver information the way people want to get it today …fast and with little or no effort.

Use Postcards to Generate Website Traffic and Sales Leads

A brief captivating message on a postcard with an enticing offer sent to the right prospects will generate a flood of traffic to your website or a large number of sales leads.

Keep your postcard simple. Make it look at first glance like a message from a friend instead of like an advertisement. This creates a pleasant emotional response from readers even though they quickly realize that it is a commercial message.

State the biggest benefit you offer to customers. Then briefly add a few other advantages or features you provide. End with a compelling reason for prospects to contact you ..or to go to your website for more details. Itกs that simple.

Tip: Don’t try to close sales directly from a postcard. Thereกs not enough space on a postcard to provide all the information your prospects need to make a buying decision.

People Read Postcards

Almost everybody will read a postcard even those who usually throw out other direct mail without opening it. Thatกs because itกs almost impossible to throw out a postcard without looking at the message.

This high rate of readership is the main reason why postcards produce a bigger response than other types of direct marketing. With other types of marketing you often lose prospects who would have responded to your offer but they never saw it.

Tip: Postcards are an excellent lowcost alternative to email. People get so much email today that even legitimate messages are getting deleted unread. But they get few if any postcards. Your message is guaranteed to get their attention when itกs delivered on a postcard.

Postcards are Cheap to Produce

Postcards cost less than 2 cents each to produce if you print them using your own computer. You can print postcards individually on blank 4 x 6 inch index cards or print 4 postcards on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of index card stock and cut each sheet into quarters.

Your postcards will cost between 4 cents and 9 cents each to produce if you use a commercial printer …depending on the number you have printed and the quality you want.

Postcards are Cheap to Mail

Even the postage for mailing postcards is cheap 23 cents each to send them by First Class Mail in the US. The only requirement for this special rate is that the dimensions of your postcards must be at least 3 1/2 x 5 inches but not over 4 1/4 x 6 inches.

Tip: Always use a real 23 cent stamp on your postcards. It produces more replies than a printed indicia (imprinted postage) …probably because people associate a printed indicia with junk mail.

Don’t overlook postcards the next time you want to drive a huge amount of traffic to your website or generate a flood of new sales leads. They’re simple to use, highly effective and very lowcost.

Copyright 2004 Bob Leduc http://BobLeduc.com

About The Author

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards …and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. Youกll find his lowcost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 7026581707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

This article was posted on April 15, 2004

by Bob Leduc

Why People Ignore Your Postcards?

Why People Ignore Your Postcards?

by: Florie Lyn Masarate

What is the fastest, simplest and cheapest way to promote your business? Postcards.

That is, postcards sent by direct mail. This way, you can send your message to prospective clients for less cost, including the postage fees. You can actually send your postcards repeatedly and still not paying too much for it. Amazing, isn’t it? If you are into postcards sending, you may already be aware of the reasons why you are sending them in the first place.

How do postcards work? You can create leads, generate sales, convince prospective clients to try your products and get your services. If they have gotten your services already, then encourage them to buy again and often. That is how postcard works for you.

Now that you know the purpose of your postcards, it is time to know why people do not response to your cards, why they do not buy from you and why they ignore you.

When people don’t buy from you, it does not necessarily mean that they have already brought from others. There are other reasons why they have not contacted or bought from you. One reason is that they may not have the need for what you are offering. Also sometimes, these people may need you but does not give much attention to that need. All they know is that they do not want what you are offering. If this is the case, all your effort, with time and money, is wasted. Target your marketing. Promote your business to those whom are likely to be serving them. Although there is a possibility that one of those you send randomly may need you, the chances are slim. Focus on more probable clients. Your effort, time and money would not be wasted this way.

Another reason is the money factor. Many people would have liked to buy from you but the money is a big consideration. They would think that they would rather spend it on something more important. The strategy to do here is to make them aware that getting your services would provide them with the most benefits. That what you can offer is better than others. Make them feel that they would not be losing their money on something that is useless. Give them the services and the products that they can consider a great catch and will be worthwhile. Money is valuable for them so give them something with that same value or more valuable.

Now that you know the whys in not getting a response to your postcards, you may want to rethink your marketing strategy and take these factors into account. You never know what it can do to your business.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.losangelesprintingservice.com

About The Author

Florie Lyn Masarate got a flair for reading and writing when she got her first subscription of the school newsletter in kindergarten. She had her first article published on that same newsletter in the third grade.

This article was posted on August 11

by Florie Lyn Masarate

Postcard Marketing – Low Cost Visibility

Postcard Marketing – Low Cost Visibility

by: Claire Cunningham

You need to be visible to attract customers, right? But how do you get that visibility when you’re short on cash? Here’s an idea that’s worked for many businesses. It’s postcard marketing, and it’s very affordable.

You can design your own postcards or hire a designer. Print the cards on 67# card stock to meet USPS requirements. Two or four cards will fit on an 8 ½ข x 11ข sheet so you’ll have to use a paper cutter. Postage is just $.23 a card.

Here are some ways to use postcards:

REFERRALS Send postcards regularly to your best contacts asking for referrals.

ANNOUNCE EVENTS – Send postcards to let folks know about events like classes, seminars, sales, open houses, etc.

PROSPECTING – Send a series of postcard mailings to identified prospects to ขsoften them upข before you phone them.

BUILD WEBSITE TRAFFIC – Use postcard mailings to tell people your site is there and when you make significant additions.

GROW YOUR NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBER LIST – Postcard mailings can publicize your newsletter to new audiences.

MAKE AN OFFER Do you have a booklet to give away? Are you offering a special discount? Postcard mailings can get out the word.

SAY THANKS – Use postcards to say thank you for business, referrals, or information.

Of course, for best results you need a good list. Make sure your mailings are going to the right people. Also, you’ll get a better response if you offer something of value.

Finally, repeat, repeat, repeat! As with any marketing, repetition is critical. A single mailing may get a disappointing result. Don’t be surprised or discouraged. Keep at it with a consistent look, message and audience, and over time your message will sink in.

A response rate of 13% is the average, but you may be able to generate significant sales from those responses. Referral mailings can yield business that’s three or more times the cost of the mailing.

Copyright 2004 Clairvoyant Communications, Inc.

About The Author

Claire Cunningham, president of Clairvoyant Communications, Inc., has 20+ years’ experience developing and implementing successful marketing and communications programs. Sign up for Claire’s monthly newsletter, Communiqué, at http://www.clairvoyantcommunications.com Claire can be reached at 7634793499 (Fax: 7634792809, email: [email protected])

This article was posted on December 07, 2004

by Claire Cunningham

Postcards Make It Rain Referrals

Postcards Make It Rain Referrals

by: John Jantsch

One of the simplest ways to expand your marketing efforts is through the consistent use of postcards. Create a list of narrowly targeted prospects and then hammer away at them with powerful marketing messages.

One of the most effective ways to get a prospectกs attention is to talk to them about problems you know they are facing. Create a card that describes, in some detail a problem a client had…then of course describe the brilliant solution you provided…and send them out to your clients, friends, contacts, and other network folks.

I would try to get in the habit of making this a monthly mailing. Over time, everyone on your list will begin to expect your cards and grow to see that you can solve their problems too.

But, I have found that one of the real ways to put this tactic into overdrive is you also ask them to forward this card to anyone they know who might have a similar challenge. The impact of this practice over time will create an automatic referral marketing machine. The longer you do it, the more effective it becomes.

One of the great challenges of most small businesses is that they usually offer a variety of products, solutions, and services…but most clients tend to think of you only for what they perceive it is that you do. Sending these problem solving postcards is a great way to gently introduce them to everything you might be able to offer them.

If you do this routinely you will be amazed at the results. Don’t just do it once and forget it. Design your campaign with the idea that you are going to do at least 6 times and you will be far better off right from the start.

Copyright 2004 John Jantsch

About The Author

John Jantsch is a marketing coach, creator of Duct Tape Marketing and the author of Referral Flood How to create a flood of new business without spending one dime on advertising. Find out more at http://www.referralflood.com.

This article was posted on December 09, 2004

by John Jantsch

People Pleasing Postcards

People Pleasing Postcards

by: David Phillips

Why are more retail jewelers turning to fullcolor postcards as a key form of promotion? The biggest reason is the simplest: You don’t have to open a postcard. It won’t get lumped in with all the direct mail envelopes that people toss without opening.

If the postcard shows a very glossy, wellphotographed picture of attractive jewelry, the recipient will very likely look at the picture and turn it over to see who sent it. She might well put it aside and think, ขNext time I’m near the store, I’ll go in and have a look.ข The postcard often sits out as an easy reminder of your jewelry store.

Cutting Costs on Mailings

When the economy is a bit shaky, you should increase promotion to keep your name in the minds of customers, but you also have to keep down your costs. To get maximum return for your marketing dollar, you can mail postcards up to 4 1/4 by 6 inches for between 17.5¢ and 19.5¢ each first class (the cheapest letter rate is 19¢ 24¢). If you find the right company, you’ll likely be able to have 5,000 postcards printed for less than $400.

Finding the Right Company

Most businesses don’t have inhouse marketing departments, so find a postcard company to help you. A postcard company can handle your mailing and save you money. It makes most of its profits from printing, not from consulting, selling, mailing lists and mailing, so it can often find you better deals on such services. The company should:

• Specialize in postcards. It shouldn’t just do postcards among other printing jobs. You’ll pay less because the company gangprints cards. In other words, the company will print many different postcards in one large press run.

• Have some marketing knowledge and experience. The company should be able to advise you on mailing lists, design and quantities.

• Offer UV coating (laminated), fullcolor and 4 1/4by6 in. postcards. This ensures you get the highestquality look and the biggest post card you can for the lowest mailing rate. The UV coating is essential for a very high gloss finish to make your product look good.

• Help with photography. Getting a good picture is vital to the success of your postcard. You might pay $150 to $1200 for photography and, generally, you get what you pay for. However, some photographers do a good job without charging the earth. Your postcard company should have contacts with photographers. Once you find a company (it doesn’t have to be local – many do business with stores all over the U.S.), ask for advice on creating the postcard. Many companies will help with everything from determining whether you should mail to your existing customers, mailing lists of potential customers or both. The company also will send you proofs. Make sure any corrections you request are made so you’re happy with the final product.

About The Author

David Phillips has set up several successful small businesses in the marketing and communications fields. He swears by direct mail marketing techniques which is why he writes for PostcardMania. Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998.

postcardmania.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 06

by David Phillips

Direct Mail – Don’t Assume, Just Test and Track

Direct Mail – Don’t Assume, Just Test and Track

by: Joy Gendusa

Where to Start:

Most novice marketers have definite fixed ideas about direct mail that are way off base most often in the area of what to spend and how much to do. You should determine what you are able to spend for your marketing budget, spend it, and determine the maximum number of leads that you can create. For instance, I’ve heard this statement quite often: กWe aren’t that large of a company. How could we send out 2,000 postcards all at once?ก because กWhat if they all call?ก – seems like a valid concern, right?

Here is the reality behind it: Unfortunately they won’t all call. However, a good deal of them very well may and making sure that your traffic in is not more than you can handle is something to think about. Truthfully, there is no sure way to tell exactly how many people will call if you haven’t done this type of marketing before. Think of it this way. What would happen if they did all call? You may not be able to handle all of them, but you would handle as many as you possibly could, right?

In this scenario, you would have maximized your income for that time period providing you could close up all those callers! You can also explore the idea of expanding your operation to handle the number of leads that you can create.

What if you didn’t max out your promotion at the very start? You can afford to send out 4,000 pieces every two weeks but you think that you will simply get too many calls to be able to handle them all. You, instead, send out only 2,000 and the response is decent. However, you still have some down time where you are having to try to ขmanufactureข sales.

You saved $400 in marketing money but you had enough down time where you could have closed quite a few more sales than you did. The question now is กWhich gives me more money in my pocket? Saving $400 on marketing or closing quite a few more sales and earning an extra couple of G’s potentially.ข More than likely the answer is to spend as much as you possibly can on your marketing, right?

By spending all that you can afford on marketing when you start a program you maximize your income almost immediately.

Okay, Time to Track Results:

Hopefully you have more than one way that you try to recruit new customers. So how do you know which ones are working and which aren’t? Set up a system to track the results.

Let’s take for example a situation in which you decide to start a Postcard Marketing Campaign for your business. The first week you send out 3000 postcards. When they start hitting homes you get 30 calls. Did all of these leads come from the postcards? Probably not. Because the week before you got 8 calls and hadn’t sent out any postcards yet. So how can you tell who actually got a postcard?

The Answer: All you have to do is ask them. กSo how did you hear about our company?ก The hard part is making sure that any employee in your company who answers the phone and may talk to a new prospect remembers to ask the question every time. The fewer prospects who answer this question, the less accurate your information will be when making future marketing decisions.

Now let’s assume that you have been sending out postcards for a while and you have a good number of calls coming in. If you ask the question กSo how did you hear about our company?ก they may respond, กI got your postcard in the mail.ก But, by now you have mailed postcards to 4 different lists, 3 times each. How do you tell which list and which mailing this customer was from?

The Answer: Put a marketing code on the postcards that will tell you which specific postcard they received and when it was mailed.

Give each list a name and work the date into your marketing code as well. And the only thing your representatives have to ask is กWould you mind reading me the marketing code above your address?ก This code should give you all the info that you need to know and help you keep your Marketing Results Tracking as accurate as possible.

Try not to operate off of assumptions about ขhow to marketข if you haven’t educated yourself. And make sure you collect all the data and make your future marketing decisions based on the facts.

About The Author

Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998; her only assets a computer and a phone. In 2004 the company did close to $9 million in sales and employs over 60 persons. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. Now she’s sharing her marketing secrets to others. For more free marketing advice, visit her website at www.postcardmania.com

This article was posted on February 11

by Joy Gendusa

6 Things I Know About Postcards That You Don’t

6 Things I Know About Postcards That You Don’t

by: Joy Gendusa

In my plethora of experience tucked away between these ears, I have managed to cull out for you what I consider the ขbest of the bestข – in other words, I took the most proven details about postcards that were significant to you starting a postcard campaign and really winning at it. So here goes the most incisive higlights about postcards.

1) I know that a postcard is better than something in an envelope.

For many reasons, the main one being, in an envelope you can’t make your potential customer see your message.

People are fast. We see and read very quickly – actually much more quickly than we even realize.. Think about yourself – how fast do you go through your mail and process out what you want to keep and what you don’t want to keep? Pretty darn fast. It takes fractions of seconds to go through and process in your mind ขbill, bill, advertisement, bill, advertisement, letter…ข And it also takes fractions of seconds to decide whether you are even going to bother giving more attention to the pieces that you designated as advertisements.

With a postcard, even if they throw it away, they already saw your message regardless of whether they think they did or not. They saw it enough to throw it away, didn’t they?

And the next time they get that same postcard in the mail, they see it again as they throw it in the trash.

Let’s face it junk mail gets thrown away. And postcards are junk mail to a lot of people.

Although they may be junk mail, postcards get read no matter what – even if thrown away without reading them, they get seen. It’s like the phoenix rising up from the ashes.

2) I know that if you are not doing repeat mail with your postcards you are flushing your money down the toilet.

Repeat mailings cannot be repeated enough. DO REPEAT MAILINGS! DO REPEAT MAILINGS! DO REPEAT MAILINGS! A one shot in the dark postcard mailing is not going to change your business, your bottom line, your life or your anything.

The long and the short of it is, if you are not up to confronting that you need to do a campaign then don’t bother being in business. Sorry if I sound a bit harsh!

3) I know that the best price is not best necessarily the best postcard.

The cheapest is not necessarily the best. The old adage ขyou get what you pay forข applies here. Get whatever potential postcard company you interview to send you samples. Make sure the postcard is a very good, quality, stiff card that catches your attention. Get them to give you customer references. Call those references and find out what they think of that company’s service, product, etc.

There is a lot of behindthescenes work that goes into getting your postcard done right. If they screw up printing, if they don’t get your mailing out on deadline, etc. – doing it dirt cheap might not mean getting the quality service you need or want.

4) I know that although most people, if surveyed, say they like full color on both sides, the truth is black on white on the back of the postcard gets a better response. Why? Because full color on both sides is confusing. On the other hand, if you have a very aesthetic, pleasingtotheeye front with a great headline you just want to turn that postcard over and simply get the message on the back. You want good eye trail.

Eye trail is where your eye goes when you look at the postcard. You can have good eye trail with full color on both sides – but it has to be done correctly. Usually when you give people a choice to do full color on both sides they go overboard and the creative juices start flying, not flowing, flying with, ขWOW!!! full color on both sides?!!ข And they make it too busy. You don’t want it to be dispersing – you want it to go like a trail. Have a start, a middle and an end.

Example:

Did YOU Notice this Postcard?

Your Customers Will Notice Yours Too!

5000 Full Color

Superglossy postcards

for only

$389

Look at it from the customer viewpoint – really look at it from their viewpoint and you can see what I mean by eye trail.

5) I know that you should promote only one thing at a time on your postcard.

Even if you sell lots of different products, you only promote one of them. It is fine to mention them on the back of the postcard bullet pointed. But your main focus on the front of your postcard needs to be one product, service, item, what have you – just one thing.

Say you have a flooring store and a furniture showroom in the back. Your postcard should only talk about flooring. It is not that people who are looking for flooring are not also looking for furniture – it’s just too much information on the front of postcard.

The purpose of a postcard is to get your prospect interested with one thing. You can put on the back as just a mention: ขWe also have a giant showroom full of furniture.ข

But on the front – one item! ONE ITEM!

If a company sells hot tubs, aboveground pools and jungle gyms they need to pick the one that gives them the most income and make their postcard about that.

6) And I know that a person could grow a company with no other marketing media.

With postcards alone, one could take a company from zero to over a million bucks in revenue or more. How do I know? Because I did it.

We mailed postcards every single week, and the more postcards we mailed out, the more we grew. Yes, it is good to diversify and as we grew and became more successful and had more money to try other media, we did. Some we kept and some we nixed. Postcards are a staple that works no matter what.

These six points of postcard marketing data are proven techniques of making your postcards WOW your prospective clients while at the same time being faithful to the timehonored methods that have proven to get more bang for your buck. These tips are what will put your postcard in a class all by itself.

About The Author

Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998; her only assets a computer and a phone. In 2004 the company did close to $9 million in sales and employs over 60 persons. She knows so much about postcards because that is the only marketing medium she used to grow her company in its first few years. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. Now she’s sharing her marketing secrets with others. For more free marketing advice, visit her website at www.postcardmania.com

This article was posted on March 15

by Joy Gendusa

Postcard Printing: Swiftly Meets Your Standard and

Postcard Printing: Swiftly Meets Your Standard and Budget

by: Maricon Williams

Postcard printing can easily take us from fantasy to reality. Thus, to be an effective postcard, it must have striking, colorful image plus crisp text. This will call for a situation of excellence in graphic design and photography. You can acquire the look you wanted by a file in your computer. If you don’t have any, then leave it to the expert in the printing industry. Printing companies will help you achieve the transformation through an electronic link between the image in your computer or their image and an offset printing process. With just a few clicks away, the postcard that has been haunting you in your imagination will come to life accurately produced, delivered and ready to market your business!

You may think that going from 1 or 2 color printing services to online printing for custom 4 color or four color printing is a complicated process. The truth is it is not! All color printing of postcards, business cards, bookmarks and the likes is gang run. It means that numerous files are on the same sheet. Thus, it is not that complex as we imagine it to be.

Compared to other forms of advertising, postcards are relatively easy to produce. Yet, oftentimes, inadequate production time is allotted. It can be exasperating and categorically unacceptable to have it scheduled weeks before the need. With an efficient, printing company, you will be assured that your postcards will be printed within the time stipulated thus, meeting your deadlines. In addition, there are companies who can speed up the printing and shipping if you are really in a rush.

Postcards need not be costly in order to come up beautiful and engrossing. Postcard printing quotes must be one of your most important budgeting considerations. As an intelligent purchaser, you must monitor the competitive printing prices and strive for the best possible price within your printing standards. Today, a secure online ordering process and reliable delivery system is available to guide you with your budget. Printing quotes online are essential tools to acquaint you with the printing price so that you can balance it with your budget.

In choosing the printing company to take care of your printing needs, be sure that they will free you with forthcoming worries about the quality printing you ordered online. They must have the integrity to reproduce a quality postcard just the way you wanted it at the price agreed upon in their printing quotes!

About The Author

Maricon Williams

I love reading. Give me a book and Iกll finish it in one sitting. Reading is the chance to be transported to a different world and so is writing. Iกm more enthusiastic about writing however, since you can relay your ideas to someone else. I can only imagine that feeling when I hear a complete stranger talking about my ideas which read on an article somewhere. To relay my message to as many people is the same as touching people with music. Only mineกs less harmonic. I try to make up for it with the color I bring with words. And most of the time, it’s more than enough.

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This article was posted on April 01

by Maricon Williams

Direct Mail Advertising: A Key Ingredient For Succ

Direct Mail Advertising: A Key Ingredient For Successful Business Growth

by: Keturah Whitaker

Direct Mail Advertising: A Key Ingredient For Successful Business Growth By Keturah Whitaker

In today’s highly competitive economy, it is essential that you promote your business with marketing materials that strategically position your business for increased customer traffic, expansion and growth.

A highly effective marketing tool that will dynamically promote your business is direct mail advertising. The success of your direct mail advertising will be highly dependent upon the perceived quality of your business, the design, the message you’re conveying, and the special offer. The combination of these factors determines if your direct mail piece will influence your reader to contact you or get tossed aside. You have exactly 3 seconds to make a lasting impression.

Customer Mailing Lists

To get started, you will need to compile and develop a database for your customer mailing list. If you are targeting different customer segments, then you should have a separate database for each targeted market. Also, your direct mail offer should be designed specifically for each market. For example, if you are targeting age groups 1520 and 5065, your direct mail piece for your 1520 target market must be designed differently than your 5065 target market. The term for this aspect of marketing is called differentiated marketing.

There are multiple sources for locating potential customers for your direct mail campaign. Excellent sources to search for your potential customers are the yellow pages, white pages, newspapers, trade publications, the local Chamber of Commerce directory and you may want to consider contacting mailing list companies for list building. Before you develop your lists and leads, it is vital that you conduct research to ขknowข who your customers are; their needs and preferences.

Types of direct mail collateral to send to your targeted lists:

Postcards

Postcards are quick and easy because the message is short and simple and they are inexpensive to have printed. Postcards can immediately advertise new products and services and announce a new store location. Postcards achieve an almost 100% readership versus an envelope, as it doesn’t have to be opened to read your special offer. Postcards can be converted into coupons for special customers or cross sell your other products and services.

Letter Mailing

This mailing consists of an introductory letter introducing your business or your offer and a flyer or sales brochure that will highlight your business services and products. This method is very effective. However, the costs involved with this type of mailing are more expensive than a post card.

Newsletters

Newsletters are the perfect way to notify your customers and potential customers of your current business news, introduce new services, promote new products, communicate special offerings, and demonstrate you are an established leader in your industry and community. Newsletters also make excellent handouts for business meetings, off site workshops, trade shows, networking seminars and community events.

Final thought: direct mail has always been a popular medium to advertise for any business, whether your business is homebased, a small business, a midsize business or a large business. Extraordinarily designed direct mail that communicates your business and introduces special offers, can open doors for excellent sales leads and contribute to your business bottom line: increased sales, capture market share, growth and expansion.

About The Author

Keturah Whitaker is the CEO/President of CoreNet Imaging Solutions®, an Atlanta based design firm that provides small business owners and nonprofit organizations, with graphic design services for brochures, newsletters, newsletters, direct mail, flyers, pamphlets, business cards, business forms, and print media ads. She can be reached by calling 7709530252 or via email at [email protected].

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This article was posted on March 18

by Keturah Whitaker