Create a Giant Postcard to Market Your Business and Get Results Fast!
A wonderful, hardworking marketing tool is a giant postcard! With colorful eye-catching graphics on one side and your promotional copy on the back, it will grab attention faster than an email, ad or sales letter.
Make it BIG
A giant postcard, also called an oversized, jumbo, or #14 postcard is a low-cost, effective device for branding your business and creating prospect response. Start with a 6″ x 9″ or larger size postcard and print in full color to make it stand out from the stack of white envelopes in today’s mail. Postage is the price of a first class stamp.
Customize It
Find a printer who can print “variable data” and you can customize the postcard with your prospect’s first name in the design along with their mailing address. Who can resist reading a postcard with their very own name in the headline? You don’t need to use peel and stick address labels anymore either!
Brand It
I recommend several mailings using the same brand, theme, or graphic to make a memorable impression in your prospect’s mind. Make your brand simple, unique and easily identifiable. If you are selling an informational product, workshop or seminar are positioned yourself as the expert, I recommend that you use an engaging photo of yourself somewhere in the layout.
Make a Series
Remember, it takes repeated impressions-some say 7 or 9 times-before your prospect will buy. Mail out your postcard or series of postcards before and/or after an event such as a tradeshow or conference where you are exhibiting or before your own event.
Use a Catchy Headline and Stunning Graphics
On the front side, write a provocative statement, compelling question or catchy headline directed to your target market. Add an unusual, colorful, or stunning graphic or photo. Check out royalty-free stock libraries for low cost photos and illustrations at these sites: www.istockphoto.com, www.photos.com, and www.bigstockphoto.com. If you lack creative talent, hire a graphic designer to prepare the file for your printer.
Keep it Simple
The copy on the back side of the postcard needs to be compelling, clear, clean and simple. No one will take the time to read a ” textbook” of tiny type. Use bullet points if necessary to break up the text and turn it into an easy-to-use list. Highlight your contact information (phone number and/or website) with a contrasting color or bold font. Be sure to leave 5/8″ margin of white space on the bottom end of the mailer side. This is where the post office will imprint a bar code, and you don’t want it to cover your important information!
Tell the Prospect What to Do
You may want the prospect to call you or contact you via email. You can direct him/her to your website for free offers. Then capture their email addresses when they sign up for your free ezine, report, audio recording. Be sure to follow up right away.
Don’t forget your call to action. Be absolutely clear with what you want your prospect to do next. This is the last line of text on the back side of the card, right above your contact information.
Put this hard working tool to work for you and just watch your response rate soar!
Copyright 2006 Karen Saunders
Karen Saunders is the author of “Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal: How to easily transform your marketing pieces into dazzling, persuasive sales tools!” Hundreds of business owners have used her simple do-it-yourself graphics guide to create stunning marketing materials that really SELL their products and services! FREE audio classes, articles and an eCourse on design and marketing tips are available at http://www.macgraphics.net.
Tags: branding, design, jumbo postcard, post card, postcard, royalty free, stock photosBuying a Used Car Assessing Your Needs
If you are buying a used car, you probably want to save some money. This means that you need to prioritize what is most important to you in a car. This article will help you assess your needs and your wants, so that you can find a car that suits you perfectly.
Cost
Look at the cost of a car. There is no point in window shopping at fully-loaded $40,000 trucks if you will only be able to afford a $4,000 truck in the first place. When you are establishing your budget for your car, be sure to account for how much the insurance will likely be, how much gas you will be spending (although this figure does change, it is best to go in having at least an idea), and regular maintenance. To budget for maintenance, you will need estimate the costs of 4 oil changes a year, plus some extra money just in case. Used cars are, well, used: they aren’t new are generally not under warranty. If you want a warranty, consider buying a used car from the dealership, who can often offer warranties even on used vehicles.
Suitability
What kind of driving do you do? You probably don’t need a four-wheel drive behemoth of an SUV if you do mostly city driving. Conversely, if you live on a gravel road, you might feel more comfortable driving in winter if you have something larger than a neon. For most drivers, the way that you drive a car will mean that you are open to many options. However, if this is a limiting factor, it is important to take into consideration.
If you are a commuter, then you will have to take other factors into consideration. You might not want to buy a car with a very high mileage, because you will be adding the miles to that odometer. You might want to find a car that has very comfortable seats to make your ride go better. Things that could be less important, like the stereo, become much more important when you spend a lot of time in your car each day.
Look
Some people would rather have a car that looks good or prestigious. It’s okay to admit that you are one of those people. For instance, for $3,500 you might be able to buy a 6 year old Honda civic; this same money could also buy you a much older BMW. If you value appearances, don’t lie to yourself when you are shopping. You want to get a car that you will love, and there’s no point looking at Ford Focuses if the only thing that will spark your delight is a Ford Mustang.
Load
How many people do you normally travel with? What is the most number of people that you have taken in your current car at once? If you don’t already have a car, estimate the number of people you will have with you on a regular basis. If you only drive around 7 people during the hockey tournament once a year, you can probably skip buying a minivan. However, if you normally drive three people around, it might be a pain to get a two door vehicle. For truck drivers, you will want to consider the amount of load that you generally put in the back of your truck to help you judge your purchase.
Your Loan
Not only do you want to get the right car, you want to get the right car loan. It is wiser to have your financing lined up before you go to a dealership. You can set up used car loans at any bank: but one often overlooked type of used car loan is to go to a credit union, where you can generally get lower interest than at a major bank. For more information on loans, (and we won’t even try to sell you a loan!) visit www.theguideto-carloans.com.
In the End
You will be the one driving. Make the decisions based on your needs and what you feel is right. Though it is great to get lots of advice (and sometimes it helps to take someone savvy about mechanics along with you to check out the car), considering these facts will help make you capable of choosing the right car.
Andrew Dillan is the editor of http://www.theguideto-carloans.com/used_car_loans/ The Guide to Car Loans. He is an automotive enthusiast, who currently drives a used car of his own. Find out about how to finance your car, boat, motorcycle, or RV from his information-only site (we’re not going to try to sell you loans, just help you ask the right questions when you go to get one).
Tags: budget, buy, car, Chrysler, deal, dodge, Ford, gm, Jeep, loan, money, new, sell, suv, truck, usedA Guide to Getting the Best Vehicle Shipping Quote
Preparation.
As with most things one of the key points to ensuring you are getting the best vehicle shipping quote you can is arming yourself with the appropriate knowledge. Research using the Internet and ask vehicle shipping companies any questions you may have, don’t be afraid to be foolish but do this before you ring for your vehicle shipping quote. Some pretty quick searching on the Internet will bring up numerous sites regarding a vehicle shipping quote and you should be reading more than a handful of these sites before you even think about starting to get quotes for your site. Write down anything you have any questions about and can’t find the answer to; also write down any services you require and anything that differs depending on the vehicle shipping company you are looking at. A good example may be level of vehicle shipping Insurance cover or whether they do door to door delivery. Armed with this information you will be better placed to get an accurate vehicle shipping quote.
Start your list.
From the services you have written down determine any factors that you consider essential. Perhaps you require door to door delivery and nothing else will do, in this case write that down.
Make initial contact.
Now, ring around as many companies as you can to get quotes. Make sure that you tell them of any services you deem to be essential. Tell the vehicle shipping company that there quote must include door to door delivery and you don’t want a quote that doesn’t offer that service. When asking for a quote tell them that you and a few friends are looking to ship your motorcycles and you’d like a quote off them for your bike to get an idea of the price. They won’t offer you bulk discount but they will probably give you a better price to try and win the larger order.
Compile and discard.
Once you’ve got a good number of quotes in, compile a list of the quotes with prices and key points (including services) for each of your vehicle shipping quote. Now, get rid of any that don’t offer the essential services you require; get rid of these regardless of the price of the quote; don’t forget these are services you can’t do without. Next, get rid of any outrageously high quotes that don’t offer anything exceptional. Even if they do offer something exceptional if it’s a luxury you should discard them too. You should be left with quotes at a reasonable price that offer at least everything you need. Now compare those you have left and get rid of the few that offer the least for your money. This will leave you with a shortlist of companies that are offering similar services for a reasonable amount of money.
Barter.
This can’t be stated enough. Ring all the companies back and tell them that you have a cheaper offer or an offer at a similar amount but with a little something extra. It’s amazing how often the absolute rock bottom price a vehicle shipping company has offered you turns out to have a little room for movement. You can keep doing this until all the companies have finally had enough and refuse to budge.
If you follow all of these steps you should be left with one company that offers you the best value for money from your vehicle shipping quote.
For more more information about best vehicle shipping quote please visit http://www.auto-shipping-tips.com
Tags: car shipping tips, car transport, shipping tips, vehicle shipping quote, vehicle transport