Business card and Postcard Advertising to promote my Web Directory

Background: I’ve been launching and promoting a Devon directory, which promotes arts and environmental concerns alongside general clubs, blogs and business listings.

Click this link to view all posts about launching the directory

23/9, continued: Postcard advertising
Having ordered a load of free postcards and business cards from , I was ready to start some more intensive offline advertising.

Decided to start with Totnes, as I feel more nervous in Exmouth with it being my current home town, and also more importantly, it’s nice going there: Totnes is Devon’s most new age and hippyish town, chock full of artists and environmentalists (surely!). Even a newsagent’s in Totnes is probably well-targeted advertising for me.

We were planning to go to Totnes as a family, to be combined with putting some postcards and business cards around the town, but it’s raining and one of the kids is asleep. Hopefully we can go soon though.

Emailed Lee with the suggested fix for her login problems asking her to please try it out and mentioning we’ve had quite a few visitors looking in her category. Hope she might add some more as she does various types of healing (though not website healing unfortunately!)

Emailed Jo about wildlife watch listing, asking as a personal favour and offering all features free.

Just received Recycle South Devon digest – I am the only listing in it! Hmm.

Went to Totnes. Most shops were closed as it was Sunday, but we managed to get a lot of cards and postcards around. Here’s where they went:

1. Fudge shop with an advertising display case outside, on the High Street: put a postcard in at 1.50 for 2 weeks
2. Gave a postcard and business card to some artists who were having an open studios event, in the hopes they might put it up or better still register themselves (nope!)
3. Found a wall covered in flyers – put a postcard there
4. Found a pub open with cards etc on 2 ledges just inside the door. They said it’s fine to leave stuff there so I left postcards and business cards on each – thanks
5. Found 2 public noticeboards – put a postcard on each, probably a bit rained on by now but should be ok enough!
6. Found a newsagent with a display case further up the high street: put a business card in at 2.00 for 4 weeks
7. Found a table covered in flyers etc outside a fruit shop. Asked in the fruit shop but they said it belonged to the cafe which was closed. Left 1 postcard there, as I didn’t know their rules – they can always throw it away.
8. Found a launderette with an advertising wall in aid of the Air Ambulance. No one was there to take the money so I wrapped up a card and 1.20 (for 3 weeks) in a note and put it through the staff letterbox.

Left with 1 postcard and a few business cards left – think we did well especially for a drizzly Sunday with 2 small children!

Got back, no new listings but a nice reply from Trinity on Sigsiu message board explaining a few things.

24/9 No new entries but Trevor from Flaxey Green has replied saying no harm done, it’s fine to keep their entry in and he’ll add us to his website links. So that’s good.

Hope the teething troubles will ease off now – I’m starting an OU course in web server maintenance today.

Feeling slightly bolder after Totnes, I took the nipper all round town in his pushchair to help me display more postcards and business cards. Here’s where they went:

1. Organic fruit and veg / food shop up the road: postcard in window (thanks!)
2. Toddler group church hall (lots of mums start small home businesses). Got there and the hall had been redecorated and the noticeboard taken down, but they said I could leave some postcards on the window ledge by the door (thanks!). So I did
3. Library noticeboard – postcard up for 8 weeks at 25p / week – cheapest paid advertising so far – thanks, library!
4. Card and Crafts shop up the road – card on the wall, business cards on counter, free – Hooray for the nice lady that works there
5. Mystique – new age / alternative clothes and gifts shop – Business cards and a postcard – hooray – thanks Mystique
6. Japonica – craft shop – displayed a postcard – thanks Japonica.
7. Busy newsagent near the station: card in the window for 4 weeks at 50p / week
8. Saw B Natural, the health food shop, have put my card up from last time – I had been wondering why they didn’t like it – but it’s ok!
9. Town Hall – left some postcards, town clerk has to approve them but they thought they would.
10. Carole’s bakery – busy newsagents and bakery near the seafront and lots of small guesthouses: paid advertising window.
11. Seeds bakery, another health food shop. They have a stand for complementary therapist adverts etc. I said it was related so they said ok – only put a couple of cards in there in case they changed their minds!
12. Exmouth Computers – he was standing outside his door for a smoking break when I was on my way home, so I gave him some cards – thanks!

Later on, we went to Exeter, where I also put cards in the following:

1. Crystal shop door – full of alternative therapists’ cards. (not sure if this one ever appeared)
2. Queen Street News – busy newsagents on one of Exeter’s busiest streets. They said at first it was full but I asked them to hold on to it until the next space was free becasue I don’t get into Exeter that often and they said ok. 50p / week for 4 weeks, starting next Sunday. There’s a lot of trust in this postcard advertising, and nothing tax deductible – I haven’t had any receipts for this.
3. Boston Tea Party. Studenty coffee shop full of green and artsy adverts. They said it was fine to put the cards anywhere as long as they weren’t offensive, so I left quite a few around their big upstairs room and some downstairs too.
4. Apparently all the cards from Exeter Arts Centre have gone. I think I have had at least 2 listings through those, so I will go back next week with some more.

Click this link to view all posts about launching the directory

Comments:

This kind of cold-calling / sales / promotional activity is all new to me – I was very nervous at first but eventually started to quite enjoy it. I think I’d probably like it more if I wasn’t trying to promote my own work!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Directories, Launching a Local Directory, Uncategorized, Website promotion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.