This is the kind of business that might grow out of a conversation
over a couple of beers at your favorite tavern. Imagine for a moment this
scenario: Someone suggests that the owner should sponsor a summer picnic or
softball game. The question then comes up as how to advertise it, and someone suggests
bumper stickers. And the basics of a very lucrative business are set in motion.
As you consider this idea for a source of
income, your first decision will be whether to first line up the people willing
to "wear" the bumper stickers on their cars, or the business owners who
will want to advertise in this manner.
A good friend of ours started such a
business several years ago, and he found it easier to sell the business owner
by telling him that 100 to 200 people were all set and willing to wear his bumper
sticker advertisement, because such people were known to be in the area.
All this boils down to a recommendation
that you talk to your friends, neighbors and co-workers first. Get as many of
them as you can to agree to "wear" a bumper sticker. You might offer
to pay $10 for three months, or $5 for six weeks. With inducement of money just
to put a bumper sticker on their cars or trucks, you won't have too many
turndowns. One person we know runs an ad in his weekly shopper newspaper,
advertising the fact that he pays money just for "wearing" a bumper
sticker. And of course, don't overlook the pulling power of all the bulletin
boards in your area.
This is an ideal business for constant
free publicity writeups in your local newspapers, plus interviews on radio and
TV talk shows. At first, you'll want as many people as possible to
"wear" bumper sticker ads. What you'll want to stress in any
publicity write-ups or media interviews is the fact that you've got the "vehicles
for exposure" lined up and organized so that any potential advertiser
needs only to give you a call, and you can launch his advertising program
immediately.
Next, you check w a number of printers and
determine the cost to to have bumper stickers made to order. Generally, you
should be able to get a thousand bumper stickers for $100 or less. Whatever the
cost, this initial outlay should be absorbed by your charge to the advertiser. So let's suppose you've got 100 people lined
up to "wear" one of these bumper stickers on their cars for six
weeks. Figure the bumper stickers will cost $100. Now, the problem of what to charge
the advertiser.
You should always charge on a
"per-car" basis, i.e., on a basis of circulation, as newspapers do.
So, you charge $5 per car per week, with 100 cars. This comes out to $500 per
week, or $3,000 total for six weeks, from the advertiser. Subtract $100 for getting
the bumper stickers made, add $500 as payment for the cars "wearing"
the bumper stickers, and you would end up with a profit picture of $2,400 for
those six weeks.
In the beginning, you should be the one
calling potential advertisers and doing all the selling. Once you've got your
first program organized and running smoothly, your next step is a natural
multiplication of your efforts. Run an ad in your local paper for commission
sales people. Brief them on the basics and get them out on the street selling
advertisers for you.
The best time to launch a business of this
kind is during the fair weather seasons, or just in advance of general
political elections in your area. Once established, however, the business can,
and should sustain itself year round.
The selling "keys" to this kind
of advertising are basically the same as those enumerated for "word of
mouth" advertising. You've got people all over town spreading the
word--talking about the advertiser. And these people are saturating the area
with the advertiser's name and message wherever they go.
It's easy! It's simple! and it works!
Compared with other, more traditional advertising methods, bumper stickers
advertising is very low in cost.
One of the tricks of the trade is in using
short, snappy, even humorous slogans or telegram styled messages. For instance:
Anderson's Cafe---6th and Main---That's where I'm going---How about you?
Another idea is to make the lettering on the bumper stickers luminous to the
headlights of the cars following. Most important, be sure to make your
lettering easy to read, and the message easy to comprehend at one glance.
Actually, you could start at the front of
the yellow pages in your phone book and probably never run out of places ready
to be sold on your -plan of bumper sticker advertising. Some of the more
traditional places to sell this kind of advertising include:
Taverns Pizza Houses
Physical Fitness Clubs
Political Campaigns
Radio & TV Station
Movie Theaters
Travel Agencies
Trade Schools
Auto Repair Shops
Insurance Companies
Flea Markets
Newspapers
Appliance Repair
Sporting Goods
Special Local Events
The important thing is to always be creative in your selling efforts.
Always show the prospect how his business can grow from advertising in this
manner, you propose, and how your method is more positive, more responsive, and
lower in cost than the more traditional advertising.
Remember, too, the more clever or
"catchy" the message on the bumper sticker, the more it will make
people talk and respond. For ideas along these lines, go back to the yellow
pages of your telephone book and read all those short, crispy one-liners.
Remember also that advertising is a form
of "brainwashing" and the more people see the message the stronger
that message is imprinted in their minds. Therefore, when they need or are in
the market for the services or product offered by the advertiser, they'll
quickly refer to the strongest, easiest to recall advertising message in their
minds. And that, of course, means that if the prospect sees a specific
advertising message on the bumpers of the cars in front of him day after day,
when he's ready to buy, that particular advertiser will be the one he will patronize.
You can expand this business to include
magnetic sign on the sides of cars, saddle-back signs on the back of cars, and
even signs in the yards in residential neighborhoods. As I've explained in this
report, line up your "method of exposure," determine your costs and
then go after the advertisers. It can be a very easy way to achieve real wealth
and independence for yourself!
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