Start up businesses that have neither have an existing client base or an extensive marketing budget can get creative with postcard printing. There are so many diverse ways you can use this handy direct-marketing material that will surely win your customer’s approval and win you potential clients.
Step 1: Create Your Own Mailing List
Although you can get a mailing list from a printing company, creating your own mailing list can be a fun and productive networking idea.
• Ask for referrals from your friends, neighbors, the mail man, the local grocer, the barber shop, or the person you sit beside with at the bus. Letting them know that you’re starting a mailing list is a good conversation starter that can lead to giving you advice and insightful tips about your business. It can also give you a lot of leads.
• Work the yellow pages. Whether you’re working on a business-to-business campaign or not, you should let other businesses know about you. Look for those businesses who sell related products or services. This will open up partnership possibilities in the future.
• Attend clubs or meeting for your specific trade. These groups often have business directories, have trade shows, or sponsor related events. You can use these activities to your advantage.
Step 2: Designing Your Personal Postcard
There are many design templates you can use from online printers, but these tend to look too much like advertisements. With postcards, the idea is to humanize interactions to show that you offer personalized services.
Show your local flavor. You can use a popular local figure to endorse your products, use a popular park or landmark as a backdrop for your photo shoot, or find a way to associate your product with the local industry. This makes your products more familiar to your customers.
Step 3: Getting Printed
Any standard printer will do. Online printing companies are a convenient and inexpensive way to get printed. You can simply order online, upload your designs, make payments and wait for them to deliver. They also offer cheaper services than many offline printing companies.
Step 4: Copy Writing
• Leave the backside blank, or just have it lined with guides. Even if it entails plenty of time and effort, hand write the message on your postcard including the name of the recipient and the address. You should also use a stamp instead of an Indicia or the postal mark for bulk print. The special attention adds more value to your postcard.
• Use a friendly and casual tone in your card. You can use the initial card to introduce yourself and announce your store opening. Let them know what services you offer and why you decided to go into that business. You can talk about a particular unmet need that drove you to put up the store. And remember to close with a request or call to action.
Postcard printing is a cheap and effective way to get your marketing momentum going. You can follow up your postcard with brochures, phone calls, or other advertisements. The important thing though is that you start early and introduce your start-up businesses.
Related Articles
5 Postcard Uses for your Different Promotional Projects
By: Terry De Guia | 14/02/2008 | Printing
With the right postcards printing, you can transform this standard correspondence into functional pieces for your advertising campaign. These handy, easy to mail and easy to give away cards can be printed on with a full colored face to give the maximum impact you need to attract your potential customers.
The Five Goals That Postcard Printing Can Achieve
By: Carla San Gaspar | 09/04/2008 | Printing
Your work does not end when you have closed your shops and your employees have gone home. As a business owner, your job is 24/7. You must learn the value of every element, even of postcard printing.
Light on the Pocket - Postcard Mailing Solutions for Businesses
By: Carla San Gaspar | 25/03/2008 | Printing
If you don’t want to cut on your advertising and marketing campaigns, an economical solution you can use is postcard mailing.
Catalogs: Bring Out the Goodness in you Through Catalog Printing
By: Carla San Gaspar | 21/08/2007 | Printing
Admittedly, catalogs will require a lot of patience and skill on your part but once you got one printed out, you’ll know just what kind of wonders it can do for you. It will be a source of pride and accomplishment only a few might have successfully achieved.
The Road to Effective Full Color Printing
By: Maureen Pelayo | 08/10/2008 | Printing
Full color printing gives your print ads the added boost for people to look at them and actually dig into what you have to offer.
Faqs on Brochures Answered: Ideas and Guidelines
By: Jenabej | 18/07/2007 | Printing
Brochures, like may print materials, work effectively by delivering much needed information to its market or consumers. At the same time, it generates and arouses their interest that would motivate them to buy.
Postcard Printer: Printing Quotes and Design Tool Information
By: Carla San Gaspar | 15/10/2007 | Printing
A postcard printer is equipped with numerous features and accessories that will motivate you in your postcard printing projects. Printing quotes and design tools are such mechanism that will help you overcome the first phases of your printing projects easily.
Three Steps to Develop a Concept for Your Online Printing Projects
By: Carla San Gaspar | 29/04/2008 | Printing
Online printing gives you endless possibilities when it comes to advertising using the print form. This makes everything easier for you.
Got a Question? Ask.
Ask the community a question about this article:
Q&A Powered by:
Latest Printing Articles
Things to Plan Well in Advance for
By: Kate | 18/11/2008
I’ve just come off writing a series of articles talking about how planning ahead might cause you trouble if you aren’t willing to keep an open mind, so now I’m going to focus instead on why you should still plan ahead no matter what.
How You Frame Your Offer
By: Colleen Davis | 18/11/2008
This isn’t really about what exactly it is that you’re offering, but more about the way you present your offer. A lot of marketing is centered on a company’s ability to display their offers in a way that appeals to their customers.
How to Create Short But Powerful Ad Copies Through Custom Printing
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
There may be nothing wrong with what you are doing. But certainly you are lacking on some things. If you are utilizing the print medium for your ads, you can try custom printing for a change. This is to cut yourself out from everybody else, to give your image a boost and so that people can finally notice you.
Design Postcards – Designing Your Marketing Attitude
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
You must dwell enough time and thoughts in any advents with regards to this. This includes how to design postcards, how to make effective ad copies and other things that you have to decide on as you utilize different tools.
The Endless Possibilities With Digital Poster Printing
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
Do you own a small shop? Do not think that because your place is small, you cannot opt for bigger adverting means like digital poster printing. This can serve you in many ways than you may have originally planned.
Wholesale Printing – Leading Your Business to the Right Opportunities
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
Wholesale printing gives you an opportunity to take your chance in advertising to a larger crowd. This is mainly because this is affordable, so you will not think twice about taking the plunge.
The Larger Your Audience the More Unfocused Your Message
By: Kaitlyn Miller | 17/11/2008
As size increases so does diversity. Every state is going to have something unique about it. Every major city is going to have those specific traits unique only to them. Every section of that very city is going to have more and more variations
Place Your Product Into a Person’s Life
By: Kaitlyn Miller | 17/11/2008
When I look at a product I’m not immediately thinking to myself about how I might make use out of it. Typically I just see the product, see what it does, and that’s it. Yes, I’m sure that product could change my life
More from Terry De Guia
Designing Posters That Target Women Without Alienating Men
By: Terry De Guia | 19/02/2008 | Printing
If you want to maintain a competitive edge, design your 27x39 poster printing to actively and effectively seek out women without alienating men.
Questions to Ask When Planning your Postcard Printing
By: Terry De Guia | 19/02/2008 | Printing
Marketing may be more art than science, but postcard designs do follow certain guidelines to maximize their effectiveness. When planning your postcard design, use the following questions to help you in your conceptualization.
Why Send Out Save-the-date-postcards for your Events?
By: Terry De Guia | 19/02/2008 | Printing
Make sure you invest a small amount in save-the-date cards with postcard printing. It is an elegant and inexpensive way to get your guests planning and scheduling your special day in advance.
Basic Specs and What it Means for your Online Printing Jobs
By: Terry De Guia | 19/02/2008 | Printing
When you are stressed out from all the decisions you have to make with regard to your business, you can rest assured that printing is one less thing to worry about. With online printing, getting your prints ordered can be done in minutes.
Getting Winning First (and Succeeding) Impressions With Large Format Prints
By: Terry De Guia | 14/02/2008 | Printing
These large format posters are so easy to print and mount that you can renovate and update the look of your store as often as you want. Whether you need window signs or banner stands for your store front, or floor to ceiling wall wraps, large format printing companies can provide your printing needs.
6 Reasons Postcard Printing Can Work Better Than your Other Print Materials
By: Terry De Guia | 14/02/2008 | Printing
Small businesses for one can grow their business from simple advertising campaign like postcard printing. It delivers a high response rate for the least cost.
3 Additional Services You’ll be Happy to Have From your Offset Printer
By: Terry De Guia | 14/02/2008 | Printing
Small businesses who think they can save more money printing in their home inkjet are likely to find in retrospect that they could have saved more on time and money from having their done with offset printing. In addition, there’s plenty of unaccounted for opportunity costs.
5 Postcard Uses for your Different Promotional Projects
By: Terry De Guia | 14/02/2008 | Printing
With the right postcards printing, you can transform this standard correspondence into functional pieces for your advertising campaign. These handy, easy to mail and easy to give away cards can be printed on with a full colored face to give the maximum impact you need to attract your potential customers.
Advertising 
