Where are your business cards?

Last night a Realtor friend sent me a link to a blog entry about a lady who hands out in excess of 5,000 business cards every year. At first I thought that was a huge number, but then I thought about it.

I recommend to my clients that they hand out 10 cards per day, every day, and don't go home until its done. If they followed my instructions that would be at least 2,600 - assuming they didn't leave home on the week-ends.

You should be handing your cards to everyone you meet throughout day - even if you gave them one the day before. When they ask why, simply tell them it's so they have plenty of extras to hand to other people. That plants the seed in their minds that they could be recommending you to others they meet, and lets them know that you really do want that kind of help. Strange as it may seem, some folks don't realize that you really do want their referrals.

You can leave cards with waitresses, gas station attendants, grocery store clerks, pharmacists, florists, and everyone else you might shop with. And of course, you need to hand one to each and every customer or client you talk with.

In the course of an active day, you could well give out 20 cards instead of 10.

Remember there are some spots where you should leave more than one. For instance, with your barber or hairdresser. Think about it. What do you do while your hair is being done? You visit - you talk about things going on in your life, and sometimes you hear all the local gossip. Don't you think that if someone mentioned a subject that had to do with your specialty, your hairdresser would mention your name - and hand the person your card if it was available? I think so, because in reality, we all like to help each other.

You should also make use of the bulletin boards at restaurants and shops you frequent. You just never know when someone might wander over and be captured by that little card. And since it costs so little to be there - it's goofy not to be!

But back to the lady and the 5,000 cards. Obviously, she's very diligent about handing cards to everyone she speaks with. But she takes it a giant step farther... she puts a card in every piece of mail that leaves her desk or her home. That includes the bills she pays.

That sounds silly, because the people who open mail in some office a thousand miles away aren't going to come in and do business with you. Or are they?

In her case, she had been enclosing a card every time she paid her credit card bill - and the same person had been opening that mail and processing her payment, month after month. The result - when that person decided to move cross country and happened to be relocating in her town, she got a call!

Considering that the cards cost about a dime each, and perhaps she'd been enclosing one for a couple of years - it cost her $2.40 to gain a customer that bought a home and earned her a commission of many thousands.

I call that a very positive return on investment!

And it really doesn't matter what business you're in. Someone you're mailing to could very well be coming to your community and needing your services very soon.

So... before you leave the house tomorrow morning, be sure you have a good supply of cards where you can reach them easily. Then remember to pull one out each time you talk to anyone.

And the next time you sit down to pay bills, put a stack in front of you so you don't forget. You just don't know when those little ten cent reminders can pay off in spades!