What Should I Put On The Top Section Of My Displays?
The advertising board on top of your business card displays can be used a variety of way. This section will provide you with ideas on how maximise this part of the business.
Dean
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29 Responses to “What Should I Put On The Top Section Of My Displays?”
deanc
March 2nd, 2007
Yes…totally agree!
If I am interpreting your question correctly, you saying to put a generic ‘face card’ for say ‘Printers’ or ‘accountants’…one that will attact attention across all of your displays.
Some people have cards that are look good, but their writing isn’t big enough…so to save yourself redesigning their card that is already satisfactory, then the suggestion above will work really well in this case. I have never recommended designing cards…to time consuming.
Is that what you are meaning?
Dean
Feb 16, 7:27 PM
deanc
March 2nd, 2007
As you will see in the manual, there is a range of ’slogans’ you can put at the top of the display. One question I get asked alot is…”Do I have to print all the cards with special offers?”. Well my answer to that is…. if you customize the top section of the display in a certain way, then “no” you don’t. Please refer to the manual for ideas on what to do with this ‘area’ of the business.
Go on, get blogging and let’s turn this into ‘Ideas Central’ for all display operators.
Talk soon.
Dean
Feb 17, 9:31 AM —
deanc
March 2nd, 2007
Thanks for the question Cheryl
The top of the display can be used for multiple purposes. We sold half of the advertising space at the top to one company across multiple displays. The other half was used to write ‘take a card for free to support local businesses’.
So using the top section can create you cashflow in addition to the advertising spaces in the display. Just get creative with it.
We had one coffee house that hosted one of our displays, and they put ‘coffee and cake only $3 at the top. We had to give them that space in return for the wall space to locate the display.
Does that make sense?
Dean
Feb 17, 11:49 AM —
deanc
March 2nd, 2007
bigbri39 |
Has anyone thought of and or used a lighted message board with moving text mounted on the wall above your display? They are pretty cheap, about $150, and would attract attention and raise awareness for the displays. You could have an offer scroll by, then tell them to take a card below. Scrolling message reads:…..”Have you been to the new Smoky B-B-Q down the street?….take a card below for your free appitizer”….
This helps the other advertisers too, of course, they start looking at the other cards for another offer etc. You could sell that as a bonus. After your customer signs up, “For just another $3.00 per month, you can have a message scroll accross with a specific offer.” You could change if for them every 60 days or so. Message reads: ….”Grab your free card below for Jim’s oil change $9.99 special, it ends March 30th”…. They have to look through all the cards to find Jim’s oil change. This is a good thing.
Brainstorm with your customers on an offer they could put out there. It needs a call to action and a deadline. Message: ….The 20% dry cleaning special only runs throught Memorial day”…. The ideal place for this set up is the license branch! No, I am mistaken, nobody ever waits very long at the license branch. Forget it.
Terry
Feb 28, 5:10 PM —
deanc
March 2nd, 2007
deanc |
GREAT IDEA!
This is what i’m talking about. Now can you see why if everyone contributes we all make more money!
Good job Brian…this is great value for EVERYONE!
Dean
Feb 28, 5:24 PM —
deanc
March 2nd, 2007
Make sure you don’t caught up with thinking you have to put the same message on the top of every display.
For example: If you put a display in a retirement centre, then you could put across the top of the display ‘big discounts for retirees…FREE’. Now that would certainly catch the eye of a elderly person on a budget. Now that headline wouldn’t work so well in a gym.
So stay open minded and creative at all times by tailoring your display to the location.
Once you get one retirement home, then you will most likely get more of them because if it works in one, it’ll work for others! You then put the same advertisers across all of your ‘retirement home’ locations.
Go for it!
Dean
deanc
March 3rd, 2007
Another great idea about the goverment building where you pick up your licence your pay your taxes. Did not even think of that one.
Nice Job Terry ( bigbri 39 )
Man I love the ideas of blogging and to help those that are in the beginning stages like myself.
Also congrats to Dean for setting it all up.
TTYL ( Talk to You Later )
devans1
devans1
March 6th, 2007
Welcome to the blog Dave!
Great idea about the location above. I’m going to post my response in the locating category.
I’m glad you like the forum. This blog/forum is here to help everyone who owns business card display dispensers. Before long, a goldmine of ideas will emerge infront of your eyes. My outcome for this forum is to get it to a point where there are to many ideas, then people will be able to hand pick methods that will work best for their own personal skill level and confidence. You watch…give it a month or so. Just make sure you check in each day to see the latest posts, because they can be there and gone within the day, so just save the link to this site into your favorites and click it whenever you get the chance. (and leave comments).
If you are serious about making money, this is the blog to visit daily.
Dean
deanc
March 7th, 2007
Hi Dean,
How do you print the top display? Will the computer printer be okay?
cabdon
March 8th, 2007
Hi Cabdon,
Well this could have a couple of answers.
1) Yes you could use your own printer. If your design skills are good, and your printer can deliver the right size banner for the top…and the quality to match, then sure…why not.
2) Me, well I just get the local printer/designer for this one. Last time I did this it costed about $40 for the design, and $36 to have 6 printed off to the highest quality.
Once you have a design done, then the printer will have it on file and you won’t have to repay design fees. If you need slight changes, they might charge you a few extra dollars if it’s a minor alteration.
What I suggest is that you email mark at www.fullcolorresources.com and just ask him his thoughts. This way you get it straight from someone who should be able to give you the exact details. Doesn’t hurt to ask.
Dean
deanc
March 9th, 2007
Get sales people to do the work for you?
Each company who sells business card displays have different structures as to how they set their people up. To those who have purchased business card display boards through me as exclusive distributors, make sure you use the top of the display board to generate leads for yourself.
I know you may be thinking “yeh, but if they see the display then I don’t want them in my area”, and this is true, but what you can get out of it is potential sales people!
Having a sales person selling advertising space in your display boards can be good…BUT…the sales person MUST be just as passionate as you are about the business. Now, you may be thinking “that will never happen, how is a salesperson going to be passionate about my business”…well, it could work like this…
To start with, getting someone passionate about anything is a sales process within itself!
So how could you possibly get someone excited enough?
1) $$$. What is in it for them?
2) What is the growth potential for them and the business?
3) Do they get a certian % of the re-newal fees aswell as a carrot for ongoing income?
4) DO YOU GIVE THEM PART OWNERSHIP? (Hint hint)
5) Do they get a bonus for every location they secure?
There are many brilliant sales people out there that could make some great money selling advertising space for you. There are salespeople selling people into swapping credit card companies, banging on doors to sell whatever… and all sorts of other schemes that would cause anyone to have a hard time getting out of bed each morning! They are great at sales, but just in the wrong vehicle to make money.
If you can find a good sales person, make them an offer right away. If anything, give them a seperate town ‘as a project’ to build up if you don’t want them in your area.
AND…if you can do a ‘commission only’ based deal, you can’t loose!
Give that idea a swirl.
Thoughts and feedback please.
Dean
deanc
March 13th, 2007
That’s my plan Dean…I enjoy setting up the locations and then turn over to salesperson. I plan on taking this to seveal areas and hiring housewives, students or anybody that wants a part-time opportunity and lives in the area. Pay them a base commission of 25% with bonus up to 35%. I will pay renewals at the same rate as long as they have averaged at least 1 new display per month until they have 20.
BEWARE! If any of you hire a salesperson…pay on completed displays only!
As far as worrying about competition coming into your area…We drive by more locations than we will ever work. All you have to do to protect yourself is have your header designed by a pro with your name and number, logo to contact.
Depending on your perspective and mine is…I am glad that the majority of people that get in this type of advertising usually don’t make it. First they try to reinvent the wheel and get frustrated and give up. Those of us fortunate enough to be involved with this blog have a leg up on the “competition”.
Good Luck
dmiles
dmiles2
March 13th, 2007
Why some people reading this forum will still fail…
dmiles,
Thanks for letting us know your thoughts on how you plan to structure your commission.
Now lets talk about your 3rd paragraph….
I can tell by your input on this forum that you really are having success with your business card displays. Your have no fear about approaching business and you are passionate.
You say “you are glad most people fail”. Well, unfortunately a fair percentage will, and that is the exact reason behind the birth of this forum. Even with this forum, I can tell that some will still fail…and it’s the ones that don’t participate (most likely). Not that people ‘have to’ write here, but the ones that share info are the ones that have no fear about competition because they back themselves in no matter what….the cream will always rise to the top. They innovate, stay focused and are open minded.
To those who are struggling to make a success of yourself…you are missing out on vital answers by not asking questions. It’s only lack of knowledge that prevents success…THAT IS IT! Let me give you a simple & quick example….
If you took every single cent and asset away from Donald Trump, do you think he would be on the street begging for pennies with a hat and bad hair style? Well ‘yes’ and ‘no’. ‘Yes’ to the bad hairstyle and NO to the money. He would make money real quick. Why??? KNOWLEDGE. But you won’t get knowledge until you ask questions…or submit comments that would trigger comments. Really, you are shooting yourself in the foot.
What if just got in an aircraft and tried to fly it without asking the instructor any questions? You would crash. This business is no different, if fact, any business you purchase would be the same. There are some very successful people on this forum…3 millionaires that I know of, so ask quality questions and they just might blow you out of the water with a response that makes all the difference to you!
There are people reading this now who have great knowledge in their feild, I know there are accountants reading this forum, lawyers reading this, a stockbroker and many other specialists reading this forum. Now do you think if I tried to be a lawyer, stockbroker without asking questions or getting educated, that I would succeed?? No way!
It’s all about your ego. More about ego to come (i’m talking about ego on the inside)
If you’re in a job, you’re there for a reason. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just you haven’t invested the time and money to get the knowledge to get out of that job. The upside is that this can change in an instant. That ‘instant’ is when you make a decision to do nothing else but invest in knowledge. I’ve spent atleast $40,000 on education over the years on education. I remember the first time I put on a seminar, my business partner and I spent $25,000 to promote it (age 26), and had NO idea if anyone was going to show up! Luckily they did and we did about $220,000 in sales (70% profit). That was real education of a different kind. (Brown underwear required that day:)
Summary: YOUR BANK BALANCE IS A DIRECT REFLEXATION OF YOUR CURRENT KNOWLEDGE.
Ponder those thoughts for a moment (especially the summary).
Dean
deanc
March 14th, 2007
Bonjour…The top section of the displays…the header…will be my way of focusing an a theme that attracts attention. For example….”Around the House” will have one or two landscaping companies, one or two electricians, plumbers, cleaners, furniture refinishers, small appliance repairs etc… Residents of the community will know that they can get the lead to someone in those trades at this location. Additionally, and I really don’t like giving all my ideas away, but, I will (assuming Dean agrees to set me up with the displays) block my displays into groups of three. That way if a plumber wants to take all three in one specific area (all in “around the house” displays) he/she will get a “slight discount”. It is very easy to manage, it makes it easy to sell to tradesman, and only your imagination will limit the possible ideas for themes. Themes help focus your sales.
Digimex
digimex
March 14th, 2007
Great idea digimex!
The other powerful thing about using ‘theme’ locations as you have suggested, is it not only helps you target certain people/businesses, but it also makes you sound like you specialize in their feild aswell. This would certainly assist in the ‘perception’ that the potential advertiser creates about the concept.
YOU COULD EVEN TELL THEM THAT YOU SPECIALIZE IN THEIR INDUSTRY???
Could help to gain trust? Make sure you have some kind of evidence to back you up before throwing that statement out though.
The best part, is that you can do this with as many ‘groups’ of markets as you like! As digimex said, “your imagination will limit the possible ideas for themes”.
This idea will play a very important part in your success with the business card display boards.
Keep the gems coming digimex!
Dean
deanc
March 14th, 2007
Thank you digimex the theme idea is great!
julesey
March 15th, 2007
I put clear plastic headers on my big displays and my smaller ones come with a clear header. I have 5 golf course on my smaller displays and they are using it to keep the members/players informed…i.e., Up coming tournaments, remind members that handicap dues are DUE…quick dailey special, etc.
Those of you familiar with the smaller display…I did not screw the header in place…I just slide it in the slot and they can remove it and replace with whatever they want to.
Just an Idea!
dmiles
dmiles2
March 23rd, 2007
Good idea!
That’s interesting that you leave it up to the golf course to replace the header top. Makes life alittle easier! It makes sense though, because a location like that are continuously running competitions etc, and they have office printing equipment that could print out a nice quality ‘flyer/header’ with ease.
The other great point about this location, is the fact that members of the club will get used to the display top changing and will keep an eye out for changes…so repeat visitors to the display board will occur. And if there’s good offers in the display…all the better!
Great location!
Dean
deanc
March 23rd, 2007
Dean,
With Video Ads becoming so popular,is
there a way to mount some type of MP3
player to the top of a Display so you
can have a video ad playing to
advertise the host business?
I have video ads playing on a
Sony PSP Player.
There are MP3 players that run on
batteries. An electrical outlet
would pose a problem.
BillW
April 26th, 2007
Dean,
Thanks, keeping it simple makes sense.
Also, thank you everyone for all of
your great ideas and suggestions!
BillW
April 26th, 2007
Bill…I have added a LED scrolling sign on top of one display. It attracts a lot of attention. I gave it to the location as incentive to place the display. It is a nice one that can be changed via remote control. They can advertise in house any specials. Cost me about $180. Money well spent.
dmiles
dmiles
April 26th, 2007
Hi guys,
I am utilising the top of my display boards to advertise my classified ads website. The boards will all display just the simple domain name with contrasting colours to make it eye-catching and make it stand out. The plan is that more people will then visit the site and this in turn will drive more traffic through to my online ads and banners thus increasing revenue from Google and other paying advertisers.
Other options I am considering for the future include creating generic headers for each board depending on its location. So for example display boards in Gyms will feature the company’s logo with maybe a picture of some exercise gear. Similarly in a hotel maybe a golfing theme?
The top of the board is in my opinion key to the success of it in any given location.
Kev.
Kevin
May 22nd, 2007
Kevin - That sound like a great idea. I think it would be great to take the business card dispenser and website one step further by offering printable coupons of business card advertisers. Maybe it could be the same image as used for their card in the display. Of course there would be an additional charge in be on the website.
Thank you.
G. Kitchen
May 22nd, 2007
Hi Dean,
On the top of my displays I have my telephone number and contact details and how much I charge for advertising - $1 a day in pretty big letters This week I had a plumber ring me and tell me he wanted to go into 10 displays. I didn’t have to sell him on anything, he had done the math worked out it was a good deal just rang in with the order - easy.
Joe
December 6th, 2007
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Dana
Hi Dean,
Selling some of the space on your header is a good idea to help get people to pay attention to your display and have them want to be a part, particularly if it is a well known business. People will want to follow in the footsteps of successful businesses.
If you find businesses with distinctive business cards which will draw without having to create a custom plate, you can get extra cards and use them for fillers. If they get some calls, they will want to be a larger player.
Feb 16, 7:14 PM —