Interesting Advertising Idea That’s Making Some Great Cash - Use it as a Sideline to Your Business Card Displays!

Posted on April 21st, 2007.

Here’s an idea for you that may seem standard, but if you haven’t thought of it, then consider it ‘outside the box’.

This isn’t directly related to business card display advertising as such, but it’s an idea that you could well tie in with your displays, or even run as a seperate business!

I just got off the phone with a guy who is making $$$ doing this…so it works. You know when you go into the local coffee shop (you’ll love this if you own a coffee shop), and you sit there and drink out of a big mug that usually blue, black or white…and sometimes has the businesses name on it?

Well…

This guy makes his money by supplying the local coffee shops with mugs! BUT… guess what? He has sold ADVERTISING on the mugs to the local businesses, like real estate agents, accountants etc. He basically has four little ‘advertising’ squares on each side of the mug…so that’s a total of 8 advertising spaces. From there, he sells them off for $400 per year per square p/yr…so that’s $3200! He only supplys 40 coffee cups to the coffee house that cost him a total of $20 each to buy and get printed…so his hard costs are $800. He pockets $2400! Nice!

Now, get this….

That profit is PER COFFEE SHOP! He is making about $10,000 per month in his pocket…and it’s a simple concept!

The coffee shop gets the mugs for free, the advertiser gets great exposure, and he walks away with a fist full of cash everytime! Exciting hah!

Business Card Display Advertising is better, because you aren’t limited to just restaurants and coffee shops…but the concept is the same … make money for ‘renting’ advertising space!

Any thoughts, comments and feedback most welcome.

Dean

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8 Responses to “Interesting Advertising Idea That’s Making Some Great Cash - Use it as a Sideline to Your Business Card Displays!”

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Dean,

Great post with the mug idea. Very clever! It just goes to show you that people will pay for exposure, no matter ther media. Speaking of exposure, there’s a company that sells display ads that are positioned above the urinals and on the inside door of the toilets at restaurants. Talk about a captive audience! You’ve got someone’s undivided attention for a few moments (or a few minutes, for those on a low fiber diet). I think dmiles was looking at putting the biz card displays in bathrooms - if so, just curious how it’s working…

Dave

here'smycard
April 23rd, 2007

Dave…I have not put any in the bathrooms yet…thinking about it. I did the displays above the urinals and back of doors in womens several years ago. Very successful with it and sold 149 locations. My concern with the business card dispenser in bathrooms is the sanitary aspect of it. It’s one thing to look at a display ad and quite another to start touching to get a card. I dont know about you…I dont want to much too much in a public bathroom. There are so many locations to run out of before we head to the john! I’ll let you know if I ever do.

dmiles

dmiles
April 23rd, 2007

Let me offer a suggestion about add-on advertising. Whatever you do…don’t lose your focus.I’ve sold the mugs, the display ads above urinals, hotel room directories, electronic kiosk advertising, key jackets…I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING THAT BEATS THE BUSINESS CARD DISPLAYS for simplicity and price. My biggest problem with a product is I get bored! When I get bored…I try something else. I like to sell something new and unique and when it gets old and I get tired of it…move on to something new. However…I like to build a territory or in this case locations and I probably will sell them all and start over. Its just my nature or flaw if you will. It works for me and keeps me happy. If you are going to use something to supplement your display business…make sure it works together…i.e., business cards.

Good Luck
dmiles

dmiles
April 23rd, 2007

Yes…totally agree Dave about focus…focus on one thing and do it well, then diversify.

One of the reasons I put these ideas on here is to stimulate the ‘reticular activating system’(RAS). The ‘RAS’ is when you become aware of something, then you start seeing it everywhere! You know, like that nice shirt you just purchased, and you’re the only one with it…only to find that by the time you leave the shopping center you’ve passed two other people with the same shirt . That is because you are now tuned in, and you’re aware that shirt exists.

There are opportunities everywhere, but certainly focus on business card display advertising…as dmiles said, he’s been there done that…and this business opportunity certianly stands out to be one of the better ones around. Low start up,low risk, high upside.

Dean

deanc
April 23rd, 2007

Here’s how a restaurant owner doubled his clientele in a very short period of time…

I was actually sitting here today thinking about what to cook for dinner tonight, so I put the food channel on to see if I could get an idea of what to cook…and as soon as I switched it on, there was an interview with this guy who was telling all about how he grew his restaurant client base at a rapid pace. Here’s what he did…

Throughout the week, he would walk through the restaurant at peak time and thank people for eating at his establishment. Then, he would select 1 or 2 people per night, and invite them back for a FREE Saturday lunch (you’ll see why in a moment).

Can you see where this is going???

When they were at the Saturday lunch, he would then let them eat whatever they liked, and in return, he would simply ask them what he could do to improve his service/food.

Sounds like a good plan right? Yes it sure is, but there was another plan beyond just asking for their feedback…and it was a very simple plan that was executed with precision.

Yep, word of mouth…and wow did it work! What was happening was each person was telling 3-5 people about how great the food is, and how commited he is to improving his service. He doubled the amount of clients with this one idea within a few short months!

Very clever hah! It’s almost like he didn’t really care what their feedback was (to a certain point), the actual reason he did it was to look like a nice guy so they would tell all their friends…and they sure did! He said “the average person visits their favorite restaurant once per month, and he’s clients are now visiting twice per month”. (He probably gives them a discount also on each visit, but he didn’t say that).

I actually know another guy who used to give away half price main meals of Tuesday and Wednesday night, because he knew perfectly well that the highest profit margins were in the entree, drinks and dessert. And because they were getting a half price meal, they would spent up on all the trimmings. They were always profitable nights…and it made the restaurant look busy which is always a good look!

So there’s another ‘general’ idea on how giving away something for free can come back to you many times over! This isn’t directly tied to business card displays I know, but it’s marketing, and you may be able to think of a way to weave in a simular idea to your current business.

Hope this helps to open your ‘marketing mind’.

Do you know any clever ideas like this you’d like to share that could help others?

Dean

deanc
May 4th, 2007

Dean that is great info.

I got a couple of ideas to throw out here. They are not my own and I don’t remember where I got one of them(probably from one of your manuals). But here goes:

While the business you mention is a little off topic I just want to add the concept of lifetime value of a customer.

Basically, you take the average customer’s lifetime profit they pay you and it gives you an idea of what you can afford to pay or give away to gain a new customer.

Say you have a business that customers patronize a couple times a month and the average profit from their orders is $15 each time they walk in the door. That would equal $30 a month from your average customer per month or $360 a year.

Note: these averages would be calculated including people that only use your business one time and other customers spending more and less on each visit.

back to the $360 a year profit from your average customer. Let’s say you don’t apply the things I mention in my next idea and you can only retain your customer for a year not a “lifetime.”.

You don’t want to push the limit here but, in theory, you could pay $359 for each new customer and still make a profit. Obviously, you don’t want to do that. Maybe you just need to give them a free or discount meal every now and then(2x a year) and you’ll have to “eat” $30 in lost profits to maintain your $330($360-$30) in yearly profit from this customer.

The other idea goes with Dean’s post and how this business owner could maybe have exponentially improved his business and/or life.

I am reading a book written by Harvey Mackay,”Dig your well before your thirsty.”

I got this book at a GoodWill store for $2.75 in mint condition. Don’t think anyone ever read it. book store price is $24.95! Lots of good books in those stores. People die and leave libraries of books and they are given to GW sometimes.

Back to Harvey Mackay’s book.(I may have ADHD or be a fractal thinker, too much going on up there and have to type them when they come up, sorry)

He talks about really going the extra mile to make people in your life, customers and friends, appreciate you. And it is so simple.

The business in Dean’s post was on the right track but think of how much more word of mouth advertising he would get if he were able somehow to wish his customers Happy Birthday on their birthday, chat with them about a common interest they share, or send business their way if they are a business owner themselves.

I think word would get out about how this business owner really cares about his customers.

Don’t know how you could possibly get any of the info needed (birthday/hobbies/what business they own) to do that?

You are gonna have to read his book. It is simple and systematic.

I know this was a long post but I know I would be very impressed with a restaurant owner that wished me Happy Birthday or started chatting up about a subject I truly enjoy. More importantly, I would be telling my friends about this place where the guy seems to know about me and care about me and my family.

That’s it for now from Sunny and H-O-T Colombia.

JamesC

JamesC in Colombia
May 6th, 2007

Hi James…welcome to the blog!

Hey, that was a great post… and certainly made me realise that I need to brush up on a couple of basics in my business aswell.

After reading what you wrote about ‘a restaurant owner calling to say happy b’day’, I actually visualized it happening…and it felt good! That might sound abit weird, but it’s because it’s never happened to me before. Seriously, if a restaurant owner rang me to say ‘thanks for visiting’, I think I would be very impressed…and I would CERTAINLY be going back there for the simple fact that they ‘provoked a feel good’ inside of me.

We all love to be acknowledged from time to time, and what James has talked about above is a perfect example of how a basic idea can go aloooooong way towards making clients happy…and more importantly, increasing the probabilities of repeat business.

That’s why I have mentioned a few times in this blog about reporting to your business card advertising clients as often as possible, and keeping them posted on what’s happening with their cards…what locations are working best etc.

Great post James, it seems you have some business experience. Feel free to bring any marketing related ideas to this forum as often as you like. I’m sure you’ll have a few followers of your posts from now on! Got me!

Anyone else with general business and marketing ideas they’d like to contribute?

Dean.

deanc
May 6th, 2007

I got into a sideline yesterday as a result of selling an ad on one of my displays (yes, I sell 1 location ads). After we finished the agreement…he asked if I had any ideas for fundraising. He is president of a large high schools booster club. Of course I had some ideas!…I am a business card display operator afterall. Anyway…I told him I had several that I would put together and they would not be candy bars or cookies. Got on the Internet…got several ideas…sales kits coming to me…called him with one idea…he loved it…wants to see samples…AND if it goes through…I should make about $3k…Ya gotta love the independence this business offers!

dmiles

dmiles
May 18th, 2007