I'm getting some postcards printed, and am having some qualms about this and that.

Here's what's going through my mind ...

* Should I advertise the freebies on my website, plus my main service, or just the freebies?

* How nice does it have to look? Obviously postcards with less text are easier on the eye, but then you don't get much across

* So, how much text usually goes on a successful postcard campaign

Has anyone here used postcards to market either their own or other people's businesses? Would you be willing to show me what you created, or what text you put on?

Thanks - I look forward to your replies,

Jane

as i begginner i can't establish new concept , but i think modestely that pepole enjoy postcard with few lines of text.

less then 4 lines.

imagine that you wrote for your boyfriend or girlfriend, the mean concept is to be intime (not too much intime but closer).

i hope it help.

ps: sorry to many mistakes, i know i have a lot to learn, perhaps you can help me.

I write postcards occasionally. I usually follow a pretty simple formula:
Attention-getting headline
Benefit-filled paragraph
Strong call to action
Contact info

I suggest using the postcards to drive people to your site for the freebies, but also mention your services as well. Something conceptually like "This marketing expert wants to show you how to attract hoardes of eager customers. To learn more, go to janeswebsite.com and download the free report on 8 Ways to Yada Yada Yada." If you could target it to a particular industry and focus on an industry-specific marketing problem, that would make it even stronger.

I used postcards to promote my own business when I first started 4 years ago. I look at it now and cringe, but I got a really good response to it. I used www.modernpostcard.com (a US vendor) because you can choose from their image gallery and build your postcard online; then they ship them to you. On the front was a picture of a bowl of jellybeans. On the back, the headline said, "Superior writing in a variety of flavors" and then just a list of my services and a call to action. I built a list of 60 contacts at marketing and design agencies within an hour's drive of me. I got 8 responses, 7 appointments, and 6 clients from it. I keep thinking I should do postcards again, but the referrals have been so good that I haven't been motivated enough to do so.

More info for you, Jane. The postcard I sent was 5.5 x 8.5. The front was used for the picture of jellybeans. The back was divided in half, the right side for the mailing panel and the left for copy. Including the headline, there were about 100 words on it.

thanks.

here is what i dislike so if this marketing expert is really an expert why, to notify it, why to use postcard? elementry.

i know i have a lot to learn here, i promise to be patient .

but really, are they stupid to believe that a marketing expert who can show then whow to attract hoard of eager custommers is doing postcard promotion?.

please help me to understand more then concept.

thank.

Hmm. And how else is a marketing expert supposed to demonstrate their ability to market, other than by, errr, doing some marketing?


Eileen,

Thanks for the info. Actually, I think what I'll do is advertise the freebies on the front, and the service on the back. Only because otherwise it's a very expensive way of "buying" ezine subscribers (which I can get for free any day of the week).

I'll give it some more thought - thanks.

Jane

Jane,

I've used postcards successfully and have helped clients to do so.

There is more than one strategy that works.

1)Target your ideal client's pain with a provocative statement and a way to get more information - either a free 24-hour phone message or a free download from your web site.

2)Show off your expertise so that ideal clients will believe that you are the person who can solve their problem. With this approach, you create a newsletter on a postcard, with a LOT of text crowded onto both sides.

One of my clients used strategy #2 and earned $240,000 from sending out around 220 postcards.

What I don't recommend you do is directly advertise your services on a postcard, unless your services are themselves extremely unusual.

There's an article on postcards on my web site:
http://www.yudkin.com/postcards.htm

Marcia Yudkin

Marcia,
Thanks for this link. I recently was approached to do a postcard campaign and was so confused about the right format to put this in.

I'm so used to creating long sales letters that I ended up in frustration because I couldn't "fit" everything I needed to get my point across onto a little 4 1/4" by 6" card

-- I ended up giving my clients deposit back and scrapping the whole project.

In the same way, I've had some hesitancy in doing yellow page ads.

So little space to say so much!

Here's a quote from your article that caught my attention (if you want it removed from this post, please let me know and I'll do so, but I think it is important to show here):

From what I gather, a postcard should be much like a "squeezepage" of sorts.

You simply want to give just enough information to grab the reader to take an action -- the selling portion should be on the back end.

Please correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Jane - Sorry for hogging your thread darlin' - I just find this a fascinating topic.

Arrrgh! I hate the term "squeezepage." Postcard marketing is just step 1 of the old offline "2-step" approach.

A 4.25 x 6 inch postcard allows enough space for 200 - 300 words plus some graphic elements to make it look interesting in order to get it read. I'd think in terms of a mini-newsletter to get people to call in or email in to get more detailed information.

http://i2.tinypic.com/sv3z1g.gif

http://i2.tinypic.com/sv3zbn.gif

Thanks muchly for the help everyone - I really appreciate it.

I've gone back to the drawing board and even changed my design environment (from Photoshop to Fireworks - much easier for dealing with text and positioning things exactly on the page).

I've decided to go for Marcia's/JayKay's idea of writing a mini-article to demonstrate expertise.

My target market is consultants and professionals (and maybe coaches). I want to go after those who are doing OK, but could do massively better with better marketing.

So the pain is something like this:

1. Business is stagnating or not growing as fast as they want (or maybe they've hit a plateau in earnings) The answer is either more clients or higher fees, or taking on staff to increase capacity. Either way, they need more business coming through the door.

2. There may be an element of feast and famine, caused by stop/start marketing, or serendipity i.e. business "just shows up" and they get too many projects at once, and then once they've finished those projects there's nothing in the pipeline. In other words, they're not in control of their marketing process, therefore the pipeline fills randomly. This can lead to periods of anxiety and stress (plus frenetic activity) when the next project isn't on the horizon.

What do you think of this headline:

What do 6 figure consultants and professionals do that others do not?

Followed by a 300 word article on what they should be doing, thus covertly positioning me as an expert on the matter.

Thoughts?

Jane

PS Some may already be earning 6 figures, but at the low end. I thought about saying Million pound consultants, but it might be a stretch too far?