by Sharron Senter

Using bumper stickers is an effective and affordable advertising opportunity to promote your business. I rank bumper stickers right up there with postcards, electronic newsletters and road signs. They're basic small business marketing amore. I personally receive a handful of marketing tip sign-ups every month from my bumper stickers. True, four or five new prospects is not a lot. However, consider how the numbers add up to 48 to 60 per year. Plus, if only one of these prospects make a purchase, I've more than broken even.

BUMPER STICKERS

If you don't have a bumper sticker on your vehicle promoting your business, get one now! I just printed some fresh ones for my car, as well as for my friends' and family's vehicles. I had a great experience with https://www.makestickers.com. [I'm not an affiliate.] I ordered on a Saturday and received them four days later. You can order just one 3X10 for $4.95 or a pack of 250 at $169.95. Both prices include shipping and are full color. There are no extra charges for additional colors, which is unusual. Also, I found the design templates extremely easy to use. Frankly, it was fun.

Bumper stickers have many more uses than their original intent. For instance, you can include bumper stickers in all your product shipments or in your invoices. I know what you may be thinking; no one is going to put a bumper sticker on their car advertising your business. You couldn't be more wrong! If customers have a passion for your products and services, they'll sticker. Here's another example -- include a bumper sticker on the outside of large envelopes or shipping boxes, such as "Romantic Gifts Under $25 - RedGifts.com," "Food On The Go - ChefSusie.com" or "Make-up Artist - 000-000-0000."

DESIGN TIPS

Keep the quantity of words to a minimum, certainly no more than seven. Remember, bumper stickers are miniature billboards. Drivers will be speeding past you. The fewer the words, the larger the font size you can use so passersby can see your message. Also, you do not need to use the "www" in your URL address. A simple, "SharronSenter.com" is sufficient. The "www" is implied. Dropping the "www" can make a huge difference in the improved layout and size of your copy. [Notice I capitalized the first letter of each URL word. It's easier to read.] MakeStickers also allows you to order 4X6 oval stickers, which people would be more inclined to put on their bumpers, given that it's smaller. Finally, write your copy using initial caps. All caps are difficult to read. An initial cap is when you capitalize only the first letter of each word.

P.S....If you're short on money and time to market your business, bumper stickers work while you're elsewhere...picking up the kids, out to dinner, meeting a client, grocery shopping, etc. It's the best $4.95 I've spent in a while.

� 2003 by Sharron Senter

Reprinted with permission. This is an article excerpt from Sharron Senter's free weekly marketing tip, an ezine featuring low-cost online and offline small business marketing strategies. Subscribe at https://www.sharronsenter.com/fmt.htm and receive FREE Sharron's Small Biz Survival Report, "20 Excuses to Send a News Brief."

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