For those who sell handmade and hand crafted products, obtaining visibility for their store or shop can be slightly more daunting than for those who sell mass produced products. Probably the number one reason for this is the fact that those selling mass produced products have a two-fold advantage that we don’t have. It deals with marketing. Usually those selling handmade and hand crafted products don’t have major bank rolls for advertising and their products don’t get the general advertising (TV, radio, magazines, ect.) that mass produced item one would find in a Target or Wal-Mart store. The companies that sell these products have large advertising budgets that the average crafter will never see.
There are a number of ways however that the average crafter can obtain more visibility without taking out a second mortgage on their home. Most of them you can do for very little if any outlay of cash. Most crafters have realized that having business cards are a very inexpensive way of advertising. Many however are not using them to their fullest potential. Sure you can put them in the package when you ship a sold item and you can hand them out to everyone you come in contact with but have you thought about instead of just giving a single card to a person, giving them 2 cards. You ask them to give the second card to someone they think might be interested in you products.
Another way of using business cards is to simply leave one with every store employee you talk to when you go shopping. How about when you stop at an ATM? Leave one sitting on the ledge of the ATM machine. Give them to bank tellers, put them in the envelope when you pay your bills by mail. Leave one in the shopping cart after you have loaded your groceries in your car.
Anytime you go to the movies, leave one on the seat when you leave. Give one or two to the cashier when you by your popcorn. If you are real brave, you could even leave one when you visit the restroom. All these same tactics can be used at restaurants and other places you visit.
Business cards are just one of many avenues open to you for inexpensive advertising. The whole idea, is to get them to either buy from you in person or visit your web site.
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