Tips for Distributing Business Cards

As advertising these days can be quite expensive, it is always a good idea to research and try different ways to advertise for free or at low cost.

Business cards are a great way to do this, although they are not free you can have them designed and printed at fairly low cost. College and university students are happy to design you a business card that ties in with your website at very low cost and in return they get an example of work for their portfolio.

The free or very low cost part of business cards is advertising them. You can leave your business cards anywhere as long as you have permission to do so by the person who runs or owns the premises that you want to leave them on.

First of all, it is a good idea to sit and brainstorm some of the potential places you could leave your business card for people to pick up. Consider your trade or occupation, think of all the places your client may go and write them down, you can include other popular high traffic destinations too like the Post Office.

A few good suggestions are as follows;

Post Office - almost everyone will use the post office at some point, see if you can leave a stack of cards here for free or in the window, some places may charge a small weekly fee for this.

Newsagents - many people nip into the Newsagents on their breaks for lottery tickets, cigarettes, and a newspaper. You can ask to leave your cards on the counter or in the window here. They also may charge a small fee for this.

Library - many people still use the Library for research and for personal use. Leaving your cards here at the desk will be a fairly high traffic area.

Hotels - if there are any local or city hotels that may be quite popular with potential clients, it is always worth nipping into reception and asking politely if they would mind you leaving a stack of cards with them either at the desk or in the breakfast room.

You can also distribute your cards between your friends and your family. If you give them two or three cards to take and put in their wallet or purse, they may come across someone who could benefit from your services and pass them on for you. This is a fantastic method of getting in touch with potential new clients.

Always remember to check back in the place that you have left your cards every 3-4weeks to see if any of them have gone, and to top up where needed. This way you can keep a record of all the places that are not working so well, and think of a better place to put your cards. You can also keep track of the places that are doing really well. You can always leave a bigger stack here and come back on a more regular basis.