How Much Should I Charge Clients for 1, 5 or 10+ Displays?

indianajon |

Hi Dean,

I was just wondering if you would ever charge less for advertising in a lower traffic location versus a higher traffic location?

The blog is great, sharing this type of information will help us all!

Jon

Feb 20, 1:11 PM —

There is a couple of ways to think about this.

If you have 10 displays, and only 6 are located, then by all means, charge what you need to for the display in the less desirable location. You could even use it as your ‘bonus display’. What I mean by this, is that you may decide to do deals with certain people..like “if you pay me 6 months up front, i’ll put you in my display at this location (the lesser desired one) for free for one month”.

When you get to the point that you have all your business card displays located, thats when you need to make a decision on either removing the ‘lesser’ display to a better location, or buy more displays from your supplier.

Good luck and keep the questions and comments coming.

Dean

Feb 20, 4:33 PM —

deanc |

Hi Andrew,

When you say you charge $1 per day, is that fixed?

What I mean is, what if they would like to advertise in 10 of your displays, do you still charge that amount?

How about a 6 month contract as apposed to a 12 month contract?

We found that $1 per day seemed to be the going rate, but a discount always seemed to be the order of the day for a ‘bulk’ deal.

For example, advertising in 10 displays would be more like 80c per day per display. The multiple display deals are obviously what you want to get the displays filled asap.

Look forward to your reply.

Dean

Feb 27, 10:29 AM —

Great job Jon!

The pricing structure you have put in place for people to advertise in 10 of your units is great. 65c multipled over 10 units EVERYDAY works out very well. My thought when I read this is that you will fill your displays alot quicker which will then allow you to start charging more money as you progress.

There is nothing like confidence to propel you along, and having people going in 10 displays clearly demonstrates to you that there is value in what you are offering…no doubt about it.

See, people will by from you if you deliver your message with conviction…and conviction won’t be a problem for you from now on. So charging alittle less initially is the best thing you can do to ‘get the engine started’

Excellent angle Jon, and keep us posted!

Dean

Feb 28, 9:54 AM —

I have taken the Wal-Mart approach to pricing. I am selling low and filling the displays up. I have several displays from a manufacturer that has 30+ slots and I sell them for $250 including free business cards…not hard at all to close the sale. I sell another with 16 spots at $465 per year with free cards and offer exclusivity and use this display in more upscale locations. My only terms for payment are 100% up front or 1/2 down with 1/2 due at signing and half due in 30 days. I either have the charge card or a post dated check for the balance. It works for me. I don’t discount for mulitple units either. I use the full color 4/1 business cards because you cannot get the quality for the price…even at Office Max. They see the quality…SOLD!

Hi Derrick.

WOO HOO!

Thanks for sharing your creative thoughts on how you plan to ATTACK this business…you certainly have been thinking about it…excellent fee structure idea!

I really like the ’study’ of how the human mind works, then bringing it back into a practical format that can make us all more money, like selling adveristing space in our business card display boards (or soon to be in your case)!!

Firstly, your incentive for clients to offer bigger discounts is a great idea. The interesting part that shines through in your idea, is that what you’re asking for is congruent with your own offer. This shows the client you ‘walk your talk’…this would certainly help to get sales over the line. Please go back and read Derricks idea if you happened to just skim over it the first time. Love it!

Your thoughts about locating the best offers from left to right until it hits that imaginary line was well written, and certainly works. One thought that pops into my head right away after reading what you wrote, is that you could even explain this to the business owner, for a couple of reasons…

1) It shows your experience with what you are doing, and makes you sound like an advertising expert

2) After you explain this to them, it actually gives you alittle more leverage to get the deal over the line. So you could say “Mr/Mrs busines owner, if you decide to advertise in my business card display board on a 12 month deal, i’ll put you in the lefthand quadrant of my display to increase attention to your offer at no additional charge”. So it adds more value to your offer that YOU CREATED just prior to making the offer!

3) These ideas will both increases your chances of success.

Brilliant..I really love this stuff!

I remember when I used to advertise in the newspaper, I used to ask for the bottom righthand corner of the righthand page, because that is where people put their fingers to turn the page. This wouldn’t work in a business card display board because they are aren’t performing the same ‘turning a page’ action…but same type of idea.

Summary: Use Derricks ideas to create value during your ’sales pitch’, it’ll make it alot easier to justify the investment in the buyers mind.

Let us know about your website ideas whenever you feel the need, under the ‘websites’ section.

You can bring that type of input to this forum any day of the week you like Derrick…thanks!

Dean

Question for Dmiles and any other folks that have a large number of advertisers.
I see some have chosen to include business card printing as part of the main yearly fee. It looks as if $100 has been set aside to offset the printing cost, with many online printers $100 will buy anywhere from 500-1,000 4/1 cards. Now my question will not be able to be answered in one simple way. But I understand you could play it safe and by 1,000 cards for the advertiser or you could up your profits and only by 500 cards. Anyone can see the risk in this, so please shed some information on what you have done in the past and maybe how many cards are taken in 6 months, like a least and most figure.

Thanks!

Excellent results Dave!

My old calculator tells me that’s $17214 you’ve made in a month. I then went and pulled out my new calculator just to double check that figure…and it said the same….Bravo!!! You’re on fire! I’m sure many readers are drawing from your advertising/sales knowledge…I know I certainly am!

Remember everyone…knowledge is power. OH NO…STOP! Let me try saying that again. APPLIED knowledge is power.

Great work Dave.

Dean

I do sell the majority into multiple displays. However, I don’t really discount. Of course they ask and I simply tell them…”Unfortunately, I am not able to give you a discount for multiple locations. I chose to give everybody the absolutely best price whether they buy one location or ten…and aren’t you glad I did. However, if you take these.xxx number of locations…you are in essense locking your competitors out! Now which other ones do you want?” I also tell them that I have a waiting list on most locations so if they have just a little bit of interest…they need to act now while I’m here.

Dean…I guess I go in with the attitude that I have such a great offer for you that if you don’t buy…I have plenty of people who will…AND I DO BELIEVE THAT!
I’m not cocky…it’s just I have been selling electronic kiosk advertising for $3,000 per ad and selling ads for $300+ is just too easy and no need to discount. I have found that when I tell them its the same price for 1 or 10…they appreciate the offer more!

Yes…My first month was great…If you will remember when I first started…My goal was to sell 1 ad in the morning and 1 ad in the afternoon. That is pretty much what I am doing with a few 4 and 5 days thrown in…Don’t make this hard…2 SALES A DAY TIMES 22 OR SO WORK DAYS…kinda brings it into a very workable plan!

dmiles

Speaking of attitude - now that winter is over, people’s attitudes up here in snow country have greatly improved. Plus, my attitude has stepped up a notch upon hearing the results above! With a new season and the great support on this blog, I am reenergized. dmiles has the right approach for success that I will implement immediately - we have something every business owner needs and wants…exposure and new customers! If they don’t see it, the next guy (their competitor) will!

heresmycard,

Great to see you’re feeling pumped up about making money…it’s a great foundation to build off!
Yep, certainly take a leaf out of dmiles book…his passion comes through in every post, and he will have business card displays everywhere you look before to long!

To right! Every business owner needs exposure, customers and business cards…I think you have a solution!

There we go…a headline for you “DO YOU USE BUSINESS CARDS? DO YOU NEED EXPOSURE? COULD YOU USE NEW CUSTOMERS?” I can solve all those problems for you if you just give me 7 minutes of your time….

Dean

Great Stuff Dean! This is my 1st email and it is 12:00am so I am going to have to save all my questions for another email. I’ve recently moved from california to georgia and have placed 5 in 2 weeks. Due to customer service and faulty display engineering
I am not going to be buying anymore of these of those. Please give me dave’s number so I can ask him about the displays he
uses. I would love to hear from you.

P.S. This comment box is really difficult to write an email and proof read.

Sincerely, Aaron
Twin City, Georgia

Thanks Dean,
Since I am new to Georgia, the
first thing I did was go into
Establishments I thought might be a
good location. I would look to see
if there would be a good spot for
the display and how the flow of customer traffic moves. I also study the establishment to see where the customers are most likely waiting or will stop to view the display. By doing this I prepare myself for objections like “I don’t know where we would put it”. I can then immediately point to the location in the establishment that I would like the display to be placed. Instead of us both trying to figure it out together and have it end up somewhere it wouldn’t be effective. I am by no means a pro at placing displays. I just use my best judgment and try to think like a potential viewer.

I will give you a few of my favorite scenarios of the easiest way I have placed displays.

I found an upscale coffee shop in town that I wanted to place my display.
I had been in there 3 or 4 times trying to catch the owner. I had shown the “plan” to the manager and she liked it. They already had a cork board that was all junked up with fliers and cards and the mess was starting to move on to the counters where people picked up their coffee. I informed her that most the people that have their information there were not even patrons of the shop and they were just using them. I know because I see the same info everywhere I go.

I knew that by just relying on her to talk to the owner and trying to explain the concept, the words would come out wrong or she would just plain forget. So what I did was bring in the display and ask her if I could install it for the owner to see and try first hand. This way I knew she wouldn’t forget to mention it when they came in. I told her if the owner didn’t like it I would be back to take it down asap.

What I have learned is that some people are afraid of change in their establishment or trying something new. Even though we are providing a FREE service for their customers. Once the display is up it’s almost like the pain is over. They realize “that wasn’t so bad”. I always let them know when installing, that if for any reason they decide the display isn’t working out I will remove it immediately. This gives them a sense of control, but has never happened once. After a while having the display there grows on them and they get used to seeing it. It starts to just be a part of their establishment.

When the owner did finally come in he instantly noticed it and loved it. By doing this, when I got the chance to talk to him I then had the power of the take away. The display was already up and he didn’t want me to take it down. This was quite the reverse role of me trying to do anything to get the display up. I’m not saying you should do this with every location, but it did work well in this situation where the owner only comes in sporadically and you are dealing with a manager. Anyone can do this

More to come if you liked this blog

Thanks Dean. The thing I love about this forum is I can write something one day and by the next I will have a loyal follow up comment from Dean. Great way to manage the forum and keep everyone involved!

I have a question for everyone reguarding a stiuation I am faceing with a business owner of a busy carwash I would love to get a display placed in.

The carwash is only about 4 months old and the owner has already let people start putting their cards on the counter next to the register. He even gone as far as putting 3 sets of those plastic displays that hold 8 cards there. The owner likes the idea of my display, but is concerned that the people that already have put their cards there are his loyal customers, and if he takes away the ability to leave their cards for free they will stop patronizing his business. He also thinks that these people are coming in once a week and getting a car wash to be able to keep up on thier cards.

I suggested that if I could put a display in his establishment, he could keep those displays there. However.. There is a catch. The only people that would be allowed to keep and maintain their cards in his holders are the original people with cards there already. If he agreed I would write these business down and have the ability to take every other business that is not on the original list out in fthe future and use it as a lead for my displays. I figured this way we could see how loyal those customers really were. My hope is that after the cards run out people will not return to fill them and I can slowly have him remove all but one of his displays. The lead generator!

I havn’t got an anwser from him yet. Let me know everyones ideas of how they have delt with similar situations like this. Because this happens quite a bit to me.

I need to start posting these in the right areas on the forum, but this time I will post this right here