Easy Postcard Marketing Checklist by Bob Leduc

Generating website traffic, sales leads and even sales with postcards is easy when you follow a proven system. This 10 point checklist lays out a simple step by step process you can follow to get your postcard marketing campaign off to a fast start ...and produce highly profitable results.

1. Define the Purpose of Your Postcards
What do you want your postcards to accomplish? Do you want to generate website traffic, new customers, sales leads, repeat sales or something else?

2. Describe Your Audience
Who wants or needs what you will be offering? Make a list of all the characteristics of the perfect prospect you can think of.

3. Find the Best Mailing List
If you're going to mail the postcards to your own customers you already have the list. Otherwise contact a mailing list broker with the description of that perfect prospect you developed in Step 2. Almost any mailing list you can think of is available through most mailing list brokers.

4. Settle on 1 Idea to Promote
You only have enough space on a postcard to promote 1 product, 1 service or 1 idea. If you want to promote more than 1 thing, develop a separate postcard for each.

5. Determine the Best Format to Use
Some advertisers use large oversize postcards (5 1/2 inches x 8 1/2 inches for example). But keep in mind that you can send your postcards by First Class Mail for only 26 cents in the US if you keep them between 3 1/2 x 5
inches and 4 1/4 x 6 inches in size.

6. Compose a Captivating Headline
Postcards get delivered open and ready to read. A captivating 3 to 5 word headline that can be read with just a quick glance at the postcard guarantees almost 100 percent readership ...especially if it promises a major benefit to the reader.

7. Create a Powerful but Easy to Grasp Offer
Try to state your offer in just one sentence. If you use more than one sentence, leave blank lines between them. If you have more than 3 sentences, consolidate several into short bulleted lists to save space and reading time.

8. Provide a Simple and Easy Way to Respond
Briefly tell the reader exactly what you want them to do in response to your postcard. Make it simple and easy. For example, visit your website, call you on the phone or come to your store.

9. Develop a Compelling Incentive to Act Fast
You can boost the number of responses to your postcard by giving readers a compelling reason to take action right NOW. For example, reward them with a discounted price, a special bonus or something else if they respond by a deadline.

10. Print the Postcards
You can have your postcards printed professionally or print them yourself using your own computer. An online search for "postcard printer" will return a huge list of professional printers you can use. Or, print them yourself on paper suitable for postcards such as 90 pound or 110 pound index paper available in most office supply stores. This 10 point checklist does not cover everything about postcard marketing. But it provides a proven guideline anyone can follow to create profitable postcards ...fast.

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

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Postcard Marketing Success Tips by Bob Leduc

Postcards may not be the most popular marketing tool in our modern high-tech business world. That's too bad because they can be a very cost-effective way to generate website traffic and sales leads ...if you do it right. Here are 5 proven tips that will help you create powerful marketing postcards guaranteed to produce a
big response.

1. Make a Big First Impression
People like getting postcards from friends and relatives. They don't like getting advertising mail. Make your postcard look at first glance like a message from a friend instead of like an advertising announcement. It creates a warm friendly reception for your postcard.
For example, use the same typestyle and layout you would use to send a postcard to a friend. Use a date at the top ...even if it is something like "Monday, 11:15 AM". And include a real "from" name at the bottom ...even if it's not handwritten.

2. Get Right to the Point
Postcards get delivered in a format that's ready to read. Take advantage of this by making the biggest benefit you offer the first thing the reader sees. This will make them want to read the rest of your postcard. For example, state your biggest benefit as a headline at the top of your postcard ...or make it the first item on a bulleted list of benefits ...or highlight it in bold type if it's in the body of your postcard.

3. Sell the Right Thing
Marketing postcards are most effective when they are used to generate website traffic or sales leads. They are less effective for closing sales because they don't provide enough space for a detailed sales message. Design your message to sell the reader on seeking more information instead of trying to close sales. For example, don't include much (if any) actual information about the product or service you are selling on your postcard. Instead, promote the major benefit (or benefits) they provide. Then persuade the reader to visit your website or to take some other action to get more information from a source where you can close sales.

4. Be Clear and Direct
You have only a few seconds to get the reader's attention and to persuade them to take the action you want. So keep your message brief and make sure the reader can clearly understand it with just a quick glance.

For example, limit your postcard to just a few short sentences with blank lines between them. Reduce several sentences to a short bulleted list to save space and reading time. Always end your postcard by telling the reader exactly what to do to get more details - and include a reason to do it immediately.

5. Stimulate Fast Action
Just telling your reader how to get more information is not enough. You have to give them a reason to respond NOW or many will put your postcard aside to do later ...then get involved with other things and forget it.

For example, offer them a discounted price, a special bonus or some other benefit if they reply to your postcard by a deadline.
Postcards are not new or high-tech. But that's not a reason to ignore them. They can generate a lot of website traffic and sales leads for a very low-cost.

Follow these 5 proven tips and you will discover how to create powerful marketing postcards guaranteed to produce a big response.

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

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Low-Cost Marketing With Postcards by Bob Leduc

Here's a simple way you can generate lots of sales leads ...or traffic to your web site. Use postcards. They're highly effective and very low-cost. Plus, postcards provide the following 6 unique advantages over most other types of advertising.

1. Maximum Exposure for Your Sales Message
Postcards are delivered "ready to read". Even people who usually ignore other advertising will find it hard to avoid looking at your message when it's on a postcard ...especially if you keep it brief. With other types of advertising you often lose prospects who would have been interested in your offer ...but they never saw it.

2. Simple and Low-Cost
Postcards are simple to produce - and very low-cost. You can print 4 x 6 inch postcards on your own computer for less than 2 cents each. Or you can reduce the cost down to about 1 cent each if you print 4 at a time on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of card stock and cut the sheets into quarters. Even postcards printed by a commercial printer are not expensive ...usually about 4 cents to 8 cents each.
The postage for mailing postcards is low too. In the US you can send postcards by First Class Mail for only 23 cents. This reduced postage rate applies to postcards that are at least 3 1/2 x 5 inches but not over 4 1/4 x 6 inches.

3. Get Immediate Results
Because postcards are simple and easy to use - they produce results quickly. Often your postcards can be mailed within a week from the time you decide to use them. You will start getting replies 2 or 3 days later.

4. Gain Control of Your Sales Activity
Postcards put you in control your sales activity. You can avoid getting too many or too few responses during any time period by regulating how many postcards you mail and how often you mail them. That means you can quickly boost your sales activity anytime it slows down. And you can avoid losing customers you can't handle immediately because you got flooded with too much activity at one time.

5. No Wasted Advertising Expense
Postcards enable you to spend your entire advertising budget on your best prospects. You don't have to pay for advertising to a large audience in order to reach a few good prospects. With a little advance planning you can make sure your postcards only go to prospects likely to be interested in what you offer ...and who also have a prior history of acting on offers that interest them. For example, analyze your customers and make a list of the characteristics they share. Then call several national mailing list brokers and tell them what you are looking for. You'll be surprised at how specific some mailing lists are today.

6. Can Evaluate Results Quickly
Postcards normally generate 90 percent or more of their total number of replies within 7 to 10 days. This enables you to quickly and accurately evaluate the results of postcard advertising. You'll know in about a week if you can confidently send more of the same postcards - or if you need to make some changes.

Don't overlook postcards when you want to generate sales leads - or web site traffic. They're highly effective, very low-cost ...and they provide these 6 unique advantages you cannot get with most other types of advertising.

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV