Any luck with passing out business cards?

Targeted marketing campaign is the only effective method. Passing cards out randomly will only make the printer money.

I didn't mean "Stand there and pass them out". I meant I would go in with about 8 business cards and ask the person behind the counter if I can leave some cards on the counter. I'm not gonna stand there all day at one location and personally hand-them-out.

So anyone else do something like that?

But you must still target places where people are actually seeking a solution for their desperate situation. For instance, you would not target alcoholics just anywhere, you would go to courthouses, law offices, hospitals and police stations. It would be very ineffective if you place them at liquor stores or bars. You might think that's where they congregate, but in reality they come there on a high note. They're not interested in curing anything at that moment. On the other hand, if they're at the courthouse facing a DUI or their kids are being taken away, then they might be more receptive. Therefore, smart target marketing is the only effective way of getting the message to the right people. Placing cards at laundry mats, gas stations and schools will only increase business for your printer. Yes, there may be some slight interest, but the majority of the kind of people you're after are probably congregated at some other location.

Have you had any luck placing your biz-cards/flyers or whatever at a courthouses or hospitals? I can try more but those places in my city are picky about what gets left on their counters. Yea, I tried those. But I'm always open for suggestions.

Now you don't understand what I'm trying to say. The courthouse and hospital are only examples if I were in the business of treating alcoholics. The crux of my message is for you to aim and hit the right nerve. No sense in shooting in the dark if you can get your target in the crosshairs.

Ok, other than tracking down individual owners and going to their current residence and leaving a large flyer at each owner, where can I put my cards where mostly potential sellers will be?

Hand out those cards EVERYWHERE you can. Bulletin boards at the grocery store, restaurants, REI clubs, auctions, garage sales, estate sales, Home depots etc, etc. Give them to cashiers, servers, sales people, family, friends, EVERYONE you come across.

This is a marketing business. You must constantly market your business. Targeted and non targeted. Do it ALL!!

Michael

Laundry mats, bars, resturants, grocery stores, Lowes, HomeDepot, contractors,painters, mailman, friends, family....EVERYWHERE/EVERYONE!

Wear shirts (IBUY HOUSES), magnet car signs, Bandit signs...

I STILL ask ppl "DO you own or rent?" "Know anyone that needs to sell, buy or facing Foreclosure? or behind on taxes, estate sales, death"

Tell them you PAY for deals you buy! 500-5000$ CASH

Attend REI meetings, pass out business cards-network, build buyers list

FOCUS and do the work.

I like the way you all think....I have 1000 more business cards commin and I improved the design without cluttering it. May they get here quick!

Now take action,Jim

I hand out as many cards as I can everyday! I leave them all over. We have had more than one time a person called on a card. Just today, I had a person I had spoke to in January come into my office and give me his business. This guys business will pay for my business cards and postcard for the entire year
Do not let anyone discourage you. I never know where the next lead will come from.

I just got back from placing out my biz cards and there is this cash advance place I put my cards at several times already over the course of a month. I talked to the person at the front desk and she's worked there for months so she's been around. She has noticed my biz cards and told me that people take them cause they seem interested.

She has told me that no one has taken and thrown them away...so the only people taking them seem like they want the card for whatever reason. So people ARE taking them according to her (she has no reason to lie. I believe her).

So the BIG question is....why the lack of response? I must have left a total of 30+ cards there over the past month. Sure some are people looking to rent. That is okay and all. But all the card takers can't just be people looking to rent. If it were my competition, they would swipe all the cards and throw them away.

It's just weird.....Thoughts?

You never know...maybe someone picks up a card because they're thinking of selling, then they decide not to..Biz cards are easy to accumulate. You put the card away..maybe you'll need it one day. One investor I know gets calls from cards and signs he put out over a year ago..you probably will, too.

As I said earlier, the only true effective marketing strategy is a well thought out surgical strike. For instance, if you're selling mattresses you would not go buy billboard space on skid row. Sure, you might hit a home run every once in a while, but those are few and far between. Instances like that would be considered luck and basing a marketing strategy on luck alone is doomed to fail. This is marketing 101. Unfortunately, many posters here did not offer anything of value. They were all to happy to praise and pat you on the back. But praising and patting will not get the results you're looking for. It's absurd to think you can shoot aimlessly and expect the golden goose to run into the path of the bullet. This type of marketing strategy is wishful thinking par excellence. Life in general, and business in particular, is harsh. There is no such thing as easy pickins in our enlightened age, you must play smart to get ahead in this or any other industry.

I see what you are saying CaREI. I would LOVE to know where I could do the 'surgical strike' as far as motivated sellers go. I even went to a couple of mortgage places/brokers to see if I can leave my marketing material there. Some said let me others didn't. Short of that I been straining myself as to where I can leave my cards at that would have the greater chance of coming across motivated sellers. Always open to more ideas-

Randomness will get you nowhere. Select a farm of about 400 houses and target that area monthly with postcards and door knocking. This will obviously put you on the map for that particular area, but more than that, you will be expanding your footprint to other areas through referrals. The rapport you build with the people in your farm will become the conduit to spread your message to countless other people in other areas. These people will tell their family and friends and in turn they will tell their family and friends and so on and so forth. Effectively, you will expand your sphere of influence without effort by simply employing the surgical strike approach. This is the smart way of doing things. Not some pie in the sky theory of leaving your cards here and there and hoping the goose that laid the golden egg runs across it. Building trust through relationship and rapport is the heart and soul of this business.

Have you or someone else you know tried the business card thing I am doing? If so what were their results? As soon as I get paid I will target several neighborhood as you suggest. I have done this before...but I didn't keep doing it because I ran out of marketing money at the time. I defiantly want to do what you suggest as well.

Using the random business card approach will melt you away light a candle. Sure, a candle gives off light and aroma for a time, but eventually it withers away without recourse. Same with the card approach, you spend time and money in all the wrong places and it will eventually burn through your wallet. In my opinion, you must do it smart or not do it at all. Knocking on doors and talking to people does not require money. Even handing out flyers or placing signs in the neighborhood costs much less than printing business cards. So the excuse about running out of marketing money does not fly with me. The reason why people don't do the right thing is because the right thing takes time, effort, and dedication. Everyone would like to simply put their cards at the laundry mat, wait for the phone to ring and let the dough roll in, but unfortunately, this is not the way the real world works. It takes blood, sweat and tears to reap the benefits of any meaningful endeavor.