What Are The Best Type of Locations to Approach to Host My Business Card Dispenser Boards?
Here you will find who are the best ‘host’ locations for your business card displays. You might be suprised with results different people experience!
Dean
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51 Responses to “What Are The Best Type of Locations to Approach to Host My Business Card Dispenser Boards?”
deanc
March 2nd, 2007
indianajon |
Hi dmiles2,
You must be in the South because here in Indiana the golf courses are closed 4-5 months out of the year and we don’t have retirement home communities.
Just wondering what locations everybody is targeting as prime locations?
As a side note I have met Dean in person, don’t let him fool ya!!
Jon
Mar 1, 6:46 PM —
deanc
March 2nd, 2007
dmiles2 |
Indianajon…sorry…it was 70 today…I’m in NC. That’s my biggest problem…how to fit playing golf 4 days a week and finding time to work!!!
I took Dean’s idea of “partnering” with the location and placed two today in a very busy family medical practice. I am trying a license plate agency which are privately owned and you wait 35 min on a good day. I am just trying to think of places where people wait at least 10 minutes.
Later!
Mar 1, 7:29 PM —
deanc
March 2nd, 2007
Great news Dave!
Nice to hear tangible results coming in as a result of this forum.
Keep up the great work…we look forward to hearing your success story along the way.
Dean
Mar 1, 7:44 PM —
deanc
March 2nd, 2007
Hi Dave,
I haven’t heard of anyone locating in retirement communities, but this is certainly a great idea. There is so many of these types of locations and you certainly would have a target market for this type of location.
Anything from massage therapists, florists through to discount coupons for local eateries. You can label the display ‘discounts for retirees’. So you can use the top section of the display to catch their eye with an eye catching ‘headline’ to get them to take a card (this topic can be continued in the ‘top section of the displays’ section).
Good suggestion Dave.
Dean
deanc
March 3rd, 2007
Shopping centres v’s smaller locations…which is better?
This is an interesting question, I just got off the phone with someone who asked me this. Here is my answer…
Shopping centres: High Traffic, High Rental (generally), people are zooming past and aren’t going to stop to look at a display very often.
Small locations: The best location that I have heard about to far was from a business card display dispenser operator who had the display in a business that was only open 4 hours per day. It was a take out pizza store!
Why so good? Because people are standing there for 15 mins waiting for a pizza and had nothing else to do except look at the display and read the offers! This display had 144 cards taken in one month. In contrast, I have had a display in a high traffic shopping centre location have only 12 cards taken in a month.
So don’t get to caught up in going for the big chains…they may not be as good as you think!
BUT, getting a ‘chain’ can be a very fast way to get multiple locations fast…so don’t rule this option out because it can be very good and speed the whole process along.
My message here is not to flustered if a larger chain knocks you back…just move along and try a few different spots that have a captive audience like doctors waiting rooms, vets, pizza shops, coffee houses etc.
Thoughts and feedback please.
Dean
deanc
March 4th, 2007
I was just wondering if anybody has had any luck locating a unit in a national franchise type location. It seems that they want all of their locations to look the same, inside and out, and may be difficult to get a unit located there.
Jon
indianajon
March 5th, 2007
Jon,
In a past life (electronic kiosks) I found trying to locate units in national franchises a waste of time. Like you said…same inside and out. I promise you the local manager can’t make a decision. If you decide to try…find out who the regional manager is and contact them direcly. Good Luck!
dmiles
dmiles2
March 5th, 2007
Yes, I agree on this one…but never rule it out either.
My thought is to work on these bigger deals on the side, while getting other locations. If you take this approach of ‘taking your time’ with the national franchises and chains, then you are more likely to hit the jackpot. So don’t rush into these types of locations, just be patient and wait until you can actually meet the correct person. You will eventually land one big deal, then your business card display dispensers can be all over town in an instant. Eat the elephant one bite at a time.
Dean
deanc
March 7th, 2007
In response to Daves suggestion of locating business card displays in government buildings where people go to pay there taxes (was posted in different category).
This location is good because there are many professionals such as accountants, tax professionals and many others who can save people money on tax. I think they would be banging down your door to advertise in your business card displays, because it’s their target market!
If your location matches the potential advertising clients target market, then the probabilities of them going ahead with your offer in MUCH greater! Great idea Dave.
Dean
deanc
March 7th, 2007
Has anyone ever tried putting a display ina public library?(Don’t know if this would be allowed.) perhaps if you made it real community oriented.
Also, I am thinking a community park district building. Many times these places have bulletin boards for posting info
Julesey
julesey
March 7th, 2007
Good suggestion Julesey!
The reason this could work is because it’s one of those locations where people aren’t in a rush, and they are certainly in the mindset of ‘reading information’ given that they are in a library!
Lets shoot straight here … those bulletins boards are ugly! Not only that, competitors can just come up and take your advertisement off the board and replace it with theirs!
Have a business card display dispenser in its place can be a nice refreshing look and it’s certainly neat and tidy to look at.
Good thinking!
Dean
deanc
March 7th, 2007
I agree the more relaxed of an atmosphere the better!
Coffee houses would be excellent….people generally in a good mood getting their caffeine fixes.. you can find a community board in alot of these busineses
Julesey
julesey
March 7th, 2007
Here’s another idea… I don’t know if this has been brought up at all yet If you want to get a display in a grocery store or a larger chain etc. Do a little research & find out what favorite charity that they support. Contact that charity. set an appointment to talk about your unique fundraising project that will assist them in their fundraising efforts with little or no involvement on their part. Tell them that you will donate ______% of every account sold. All they have to do is write a sponsor letter on their charities letterhead. You can even draft the whole letter for them. This will definitely help with sales & locating a display & you can feel good about donating a portion of your sales to a good cause . You would approach the store explaining how this will benefit the charity & the store certainly would appreciate the exposure & good image. In turn you would give thema FREE display topper saying Trader Joe’s proudly supports
Habitat For Humanity. Take a look at our charitable business friends
(or something along these lines.) It’s a win, win for everyone.
Any other ideas?
Julesey
julesey
March 7th, 2007
I like the public library idea Julesey. I am using Andrew’s idea of putting on the display…”Supporting Austin’s Local Businesses”. I think they might be receptive to that. Thanks, I am going to try it.
dmiles
dmiles2
March 7th, 2007
I tried my local public library and got shot down. First, it was tough to find someone who could authorize the placement of a free display. Second, they didn’t want to come off as seeming to promote any one type of business. I was told that bulletin board is for community messages, and they don’t allow business promotions. Your town may be different - give it a shot!
heresmycard
March 8th, 2007
As some of you know…I have done a lot of “guerilla” advertising in the past and I am going to reach back and re invent one…but replace it with business card displays. Some of you may have seen display advertising in the restrooms of upscale restaurants and bars. In the men’s room we placed them above the urinals, in the womens…on the back of the stall door. We called them “Jonny Ads”. Anyway…I can’t wait to go to some of the clubs at the beach and place my displays by the hand dryer or towel dispenser. Really need a restaurant with a bar…they’ll go in several times during their visit (those of you with peanut bladders know what I mean). I know I’ll have to pay either a fee or give some free advertising or cards. Think about it…contact Bud, or Pepto Bismol…(don’t laugh..Pepto put urinal ads on 150 displays we had during the holidays), taxis, limos, financial planners, pool co…any advertiser that wants an upscale customer with plenty of discretionary income.
Good Luck!
dmiles
dmiles2
March 9th, 2007
Hi Dean and Everyone,
Please execuse me if I ask a question that has already been answered. I am a newby here, reading and learning as fast as I can, and trying to keep up.
Some locations will get more traffic than others or may be located in a high end market area. Do you set your fees based on such criteria?
Maryl
maryl2010
March 9th, 2007
Hi Maryl,
Good question.
I’m going to just refer back to one example that I have already used to help set the tone for this answer.
If I approached you as a business owner about advertising in my business card display advertising boards… and gave you these two location options, which one would you pick?
1) A busy grocery store that’s open 12 hours a day? OR
2) A small pizza take away store that’s only open from 5pm - 10pm?
Well some of you might know what i’m going to say here. I have had a report from a business card display board operator who has had 144 cards taken from one advertising compartment within a month from his display. An yes, it was the one in the pizza store. I have never had any reports of a result like this from a high traffic area.
So, what is the answer to your question now??? Puts a new spin on it.
Ok, here is my suggestion. Put your displays in a cross section of locations and see what locations gets the most cards taken. The business card displays advertising board that has the most cards taken obviously becomes your prime real estate.
Some business owners may not get their head around it when you say to them, “It costs $1 p/day to advertise in the pizza store, and 80c p/day to advertise in my shopping centre display”. You need to tell them exactly why it’s more expensive.
Here is the simple reply you could give them “Because in the pizza store, people are standing there waiting for 15 minutes to have their pizza cooked and are looking for something to read. As my business card display board is right their infront of them, they frequently look at all the offers, and they will certainly look at yours Mr business owner, whereas in the grocery store, mums can’t wait to get out of the place, and won’t stop to look as often…does that make sense Mr business owner?”. Then offer your other locations and close the deal (see sales techniques category for ideas on closing).
So there you have it, i’m sure this would clarify some of your thoughts.
Dean
deanc
March 10th, 2007
What about strange locations, unique locations, unusual locations?
If you are reading this post, how about you let us know the most ’strange’ place you have thought of to locate your business card displays boards. Even if you don’t own displays as yet, please leave feedback on this one. This could get very interesting … and certainly generate many more location ideas for everyone!
Let me start it off…
The strangest location for a business card display I have heard so far is in a bus! Yep!
The bus was a tourist bus that took people up into the mountains. It was filled with various ‘hospitality’ businesses trying to attract the attention of tourists. The display was located just next the driver. There are plenty of buses out there! If a bus company lets you put the display in one bus, they will most likely let you put it in many of their buses. This location could be restrictive for some of you, as the size of the display board would have an impact in this case. Either way, still gets you thinkin!
Lets get this topic rolling…so what do you think could be a ‘clever’ spot?
(To those of you reading this post long after it was posted, please leave your comment about this question anytime…like now!)
Dean
deanc
March 13th, 2007
Great Idea of the Bus…I am definitely going to try it!!!
I mentioned this somewhere else…I am placing a display in a national chain restaurant…but I am placing it in the restroom. I am going to put in on the wall next to the hand dryer. This could be a way to get past the chains who insist everything be “cookie cutter” I used to sell display ads above the urinals and we charged $595 for a year. I would definitly suggest putting the displays in upscale restaurants and bars…A Biker Bar may get jerked off the wall and broken.
Can’t wait to hear other unusual spots.
dmiles
dmiles2
March 13th, 2007
I forgot another location I am working on…Elevators! Think about it!
dmiles
dmiles2
March 13th, 2007
This works…I used to place a leather bound book on the counters of hotels. It was beautiful. I called it “We Recommend…” It was simply display ads I sold to local restaurants.
Take your display…approach the hotel manager and tell him you want to put a display of restaurant “coupons” in for his guests. Make it strictly for restauarants. Nice 4 color picture on front of card and map from hotel to restuarant on back. I think it would add to the card if you put coupon cut lines around the card…Guests have to eat… and who knows…you may pick up a restaurant location by trading space on the hotel.
Good luck.
dmiles
dmiles2
March 14th, 2007
dmiles,
You are on fire…great ideas!
The elevator idea. This is certainly a hot spot…imagine how many hotels you could get the business card display boards into!! The other powerful part about this is that they have nothing else to look at except this in the elevator. THEN they have to ACT QUICKLY and take a card because the elevator doesn’t take long. By default, the elevator is the call to action!!!!
The other nice part is that they ride the elevator multiple times per day!
Nice work Dave.
Dean
deanc
March 14th, 2007
I have discovered the need for a “leave behind” piece for locations. As I am sure most of you know…managers are typically managers in name only…they can’t make too many decisions and usually have to check with the owner or regional manager. I don’t have my website ready yet (working on it) which will help…I was just wondering if any of you use leave behinds with location prospects when they won’t let you get to the owner.
dmiles
dmiles2
March 19th, 2007
Here is what I would do about the above question.
Firstly, if a manger says to a regional manager “Some person came in today with this business card display thingy”…well you’ll have no chance of anyone getting excited. Actually, you’ll be lucky if that person remembers to tell the boss at all. Most staff members are thinking about is who will win American Idol, or which person in their corporate ladder can they back-stab so they can get a promotion.
So my suggestion would be to do this. Say to the manager “Do you mind giving me the bosses name so I can address a letter to him/her” (they will tell you 99% of the time). Then say “and what is the best address to send it to?”. Atleast this way you can go home and put a brouchure (there are samples in my manual) in an envelope and mail it off to the appropriate person. Using this type of personal approach will get the letter opened by the correct person, and they can SEE a picture of the business card display board…and your offer.
Mailing a hand written letter will increase your chances of getting somewhere towards a deal, because chances are you will never track a region manager down by randomly walking in.
With these types of locations that have managers that aren’t on site, chances are they are a more corporate business, or a chain of stores… so work on these deals on the side, and keep hitting the ‘one man bands’. Business card display advertising can work for all levels of business, it’s just some take more time then others.
Increase your chances of a deal by simple follow up as suggested above by getting the business owners name…and you may be suprises how many deals you might get that you thought were never going to happen.
Smart business operators appreciate good follow up, because they know the person is dedicated to whatever the product or service is they are selling. I mentioned in my manual I wrote about follow up by email. Email is ok AFTER you’ve met the business owner and they have seen your display board, but a letter in the mail with a hand written address is always the best way to get to the corporate big wigs to open the mail.
Dean
deanc
March 20th, 2007
Good Morning…Hotels are a great location, but often the competition from their local magazine companies is strong. However, putting your displays in the locker rooms of their workout facilities, with clients such as healthy restaurants, attractions and local juice bars and gyms would likely go over well with the hotel as it would provide a service not yet in existence at hotel gyms.
Later…Digimex
digimex
March 20th, 2007
I agree Digimex…I used to do hotel room directories. The difference between our display and magazines are “WE ARE INTERACTIVE”…that is they can take a card and the info/coupon with them.
Great Idea!
Thanks,
dmiles
dmiles2
March 20th, 2007
Hi Digimex,
I actually had that exact conversation today…pretty much word for word what you just said.
You are certainly correct with what you say, the locker room is a great ’stop start’ location. When I say ’stop start’, I mean that people are standing around and have time to look what’s on the wall, and certainly lots of potential ‘health orientated’ advertisers to boot.
One thing that could slightly interfer with the displays in the locker room, is the humidity. This would be a matter of testing to see if the cards will get alittle sticky … maybe, maybe not.
The hotels actually have a variety of potential ’spots’ within…like the gyms, elevators, foyers and even the actual hotel rooms! But I do agree that advertisers are already in the majority of hotels, so you need to set yourself apart whereever you can. If you go in there wanting to advertise just like everyone else, then you really create instant competition for yourself. Think of a different angle and you’ll do well.
Hotel are a good target.
Dean
deanc
March 20th, 2007
I like the bus and the elevator ideas, but a question comes to mind…Which elevator car and which bus? Multiple units would be needed for maximum exposure, but then your investment cost goes up per location. The same applies to rest rooms, which I thought of - you need a display for both mens and ladies rooms. Checking the ladies room display may pose to be a, um, challenge, being that I’m a guy and wouldn’t want to embarrass the ladies - LOL! Dean, did you sell the buses as a package deal, or did you sell each route individually? How did it go? Makes me think of a little tourist trolley bus that’s used in the summer at a local lake. Same lake also has tour boats - big ones - that ply the lake for a few hours tour. Going to have to check that out.
Dave
heresmycard
March 21st, 2007
Hi Dave in NY.
You asked about which “elevator car and which bus”. The elevator idea referred to the type in a hotel that you ride up and down to get to your room. It’s a good captive audience who have to make a decision quick, because by the time they look at all the different advertising offers in the business card display, they need to TAKE ACTION because the elevator ride will stop very shortly.
The bus idea refers to a tourist bus. You need to try to get the driver to just mention it to his passengers if possible. But if the header board on the display has an attractive headline like “DISCOUNTS FOR DAVE’S TOURS PASSENGERS ONLY”, then not much more needs to be said. We all love a discount!
Ladies rooms question….ummm. No problem, just ask a female staff member to do a quick occupancy check before you go in. It’ll only take you a couple of minutes to re-stock and you’re out of there. This is a great location because there are many products targeted at ladies that would suit this type of location.
Your probably best to stay away from ‘younger persons’ bathrooms where lots of alcohol is involved…male or female. The risk of vandalism could arise. If you have them in change room of the more mature folk, it’s most likely to be hastle free and used correctly.
About the little tourist trolley that you have noticed in your area, you may find that it’s better to leave the display where they purchase the tickets, rather then on the bus, because they’re standing around waiting for the bus, so more likely to take a card out of the display. Once on the bus, they can’t move.
Great ideas…keep’em coming!
Dean
deanc
March 21st, 2007
A couple of responses due here…The locker rooms… I am putting 2 displays in the locker rooms… in a brand new facility and the concern of humidity did come up. They have a system that virtually has eliminated the “fog”…My biggest concern is the cards turning up on the edges…I wrote the order with 2 other locations in mind within the facility to move to that are almost as good. I am putting a total of 3 in the Aquatic/Fitness Center. I actually could have gotten by with 1 display up front when visitors come in…I know this is going to be a “honey hole” and I wanted more spaces to sell.
Same with the elevators…a “honey hole” There are two elevators in a very popular building and I have no problem putting one in each. Quite frankly if this works…I would have no problem putting them in a building with 10 elevators. It’s all relative. Some advertisers will go on multiple displays and I have to assume that if there are 10+ elevators…there are a lot of people using them…and I have no concern being able to find enough advertisers to fill the displays.
I just beleive we have to look at all types of location possibilities and think outside the box. If you want to make 6 figures in this business and stay in your area…ya gotta think of different locales.
dmiles
dmiles2
March 21st, 2007
We are going to try to get our displays into the local ferries that transport passangers back and forth all day long. There are two types of ferry systems in our local area. One is for people commuting back and forth to work, and the other is a ferry boat that takes tourists to the outer islands.
They both have great potential, because it’s a minimum 15 minute boat ride, and some of them are 40 minutes…so people are walking around, even buying food from the little snack bar they have onboard. I went on one the other day and noticed people slowing walking around the boat to stretch, so they would certainly stop to look at a display with a good headline to catch their eye.
They stopped to look at a half ripped poster of a local arts museum, so the display would certainly get their attention.
We’ll try to get one on aircraft next to the lavatory! NOT LIKELY! JOKING!
nattytude
March 23rd, 2007
nattytude…
I realize there are people on this blog from all over the world…however,Are you trying to get them on the ferries that run on the NC coast (USA)? Just curious…Great idea! Sell ads on both sides!
dmiles
dmiles2
March 23rd, 2007
I have a question for dmiles2:
Since you’ve been selling advertising in various mediums for so long, please share with us the feedback from your advertisers on how effective their business card advertising is versus other forms of advertising?
THanks!
andrewinaustin
April 2nd, 2007
andrewinaustin,
I’ll be happy to share as soon as I get some feedback. Since I am just finishing my first month it would only be conjecture on my part as to the effectiveness of the displays vs other advertising I’ve sold. I will know more in another month or so.
I can tell you that the electronic kiosks I did got thousands and thousands of hits for most advertisers in a year. Hits is all we could measure and give an advertiser…how many of those hits actually spent money was anybody’s guess. If they had a lot of hits they renewed…if not they didn’t.
I did hotel room directories for several years and there was literally no way to measure success. This was both good and bad for me as a salesperson. I just had to hope that the advertiser had a good year and thought we helped contribute to that success and renew with me.
The reason that I am anticipating that the effectiveness of the business card displays will be greater is that the displays are interactive unlike traditional display ads. There is something physical for them to take. I do realize that a lot of cards will probably be taken and never used and not give any results to an advertiser.
I encourage the advertisers in my displays to offer a redeemable coupon…KEY WORD HERE BEING REDEEMABLE. It’s hard for people to resist a coupon…a good coupon that is. I encourage them to offer…FREE, 50% off, Buy one Get One Free, Free examination, Free evaluation, etc. Two cents off a bar of soap or a free golf tee won’t get results. If there is something of value for the customer they will be more inclined to take the card. Advertisers will be able to guage the success by the number of cards “redeemed”. Of course this could be a double edge sword as well. The advertisers that get cards redeemed will be elated and renew…the opposite will probably be true for the ones that get none or very few.
Realistically, I will be extremely happy if I get a 25% to 35% renewal rate. Maybe those that have been doing this longer can tell us if that is realistic or understated. In my opinion, the advertisers success will be directly proportional to how good the coupons they offer are.
I believe that over time there will be a waiting list to get on some displays as potential advertisers see their competitors in the display and want on.
Sorry for the long answer to a short question…I will share more as I get the real results. I will say that I am not as caught up in getting a count to give the advertisers as some others are…The coupons will tell the story.
dmiles
dmiles2
April 3rd, 2007
dmiles2 |
A good location I have found are golf courses…especially ones that have the Info Display Centers. Lot’s of professions want in front of golfers with discretionary income.
These display ads cost the advertiser $500 to $800 per year. They deliver responses…not results. and they fail because they are not interactive. Don’tell them they need a business card holder on them. By the way…a “response” is when somebody tells the advertiser they saw their ad….results are when they call or come in and BUY SOMETHING!
Has anybody tried Retirement Home Communities? (not nursing homes)
Mar 1, 1:00 PM —