| Creative Do-It-Yourself Promotional Giveaways | | | | "bookof wisdom" using quotes, or prompts for |
| | | | family history, ortips pertaining to your |
| Is your advertising budget non-existent? | | | | particular field. Or glue afold-out image |
| | | | inside to make a pop-up business card. Cutthe |
| Scanned your checkbook, and decided store | | | | greeting cards in half (or thirds, or even |
| boughtpromotional items were a no-go? | | | | quarters) todouble (triple, quadruple) your |
| | | | supply, and make awallet-size booklet. |
| Do it yourself. | | | | |
| | | | Make your own flower seed packets, using |
| Small business owners and organizations | | | | either glassineenvelopes, or tiny Kraft |
| sometimes requestitems for goodie bags; this | | | | envelopes, and add a sticker to thefront you |
| is an ingenious way to promotenot only | | | | design and print yourself on plain white |
| themselves but to share the "wealth" so to | | | | addresslabels; you can also use small plastic |
| speak,without it costing them a dime. You | | | | "jewelry" bags (checkout Uline or Browncor), |
| could do the same;offer to trade with other | | | | or the candy bags Wilton sells. Orglue a bag |
| small businesses. But yougenerally need a | | | | inside greeting cards. Gurneys sells seeds |
| minimum of fifty, and possibly hundreds | | | | inbulk. |
| orthousands of giveaways. | | | | |
| | | | I found plain greeting cards at 75% off |
| I scanned the internet for ideas, but found | | | | clearance; thedesign was discontinued. Look |
| only ads. | | | | for bargains, and planahead. |
| | | | |
| I know from experience that Oriental Trading | | | | Create your own word find puzzles, or |
| offers bulklots of everything from pencils to | | | | crosswords. |
| stickers to magnetscheap. Book Depot sells | | | | |
| book remainders (new books that areoverstocks | | | | Print coloring pages you make using Dover's |
| or out of prints) in bulk (currently $250 | | | | copyright-freeblack and white images; for |
| minimumorder) for as little as 20 cents to a | | | | large quantities, have themphotocopied at a |
| dollar each; itssister company, Book | | | | copy shop. |
| Closeouts requires no minimum, but theprices | | | | |
| are about double. I've even made ornaments | | | | Print, for free, tons of stories from Project |
| from lacein the past, but that takes a great | | | | Gutenberg. |
| deal of time and effort;besides, who wants | | | | |
| "snowflakes" in July? | | | | Design, with clipart, award certificates, |
| | | | such as World's |
| The Microsoft Office/Word site offers a | | | | |
| selection of freedownloadable templates for | | | | Greatest Mom, or World's Greatest Kid; or |
| business cards, certificates,coupons, etc., | | | | print a calendar,highlighting holidays, |
| as does the HP website | | | | particularly ones pertinent to yourbusiness. |
| | | | |
| ( A search of the net producedtemplates for | | | | Or print coupons, and add a code so you can |
| door hangers and bookplates, and | | | | trackwhere they originated from. Most people |
| eveninstructions to make miniature books from | | | | won't redeem them,so you can't lose. |
| sticky note pads,with cardboard covers glued | | | | |
| on (URL). | | | | Make your business cards stand out by typing |
| | | | a single quoteon one side, and your business |
| I have created bookplates with clipart and | | | | contact information on theother. Choose an |
| the words, "Thisbook belongs to ______," | | | | inspirational or humorous quote peoplewill |
| printed on plain white shippinglabels. | | | | carry in their wallet. |
| Combine these with one of the | | | | |
| aforementionedinexpensive books for a double | | | | We all know you can adhere peel and stick |
| punch. | | | | magnet backs tobusiness cards, but instead of |
| | | | your sales pitch, print anoriginal recipe on |
| But all that costs money, and did I mention I | | | | it, for something simple like a smoothie,or |
| even ran outof color printer cartridge, and | | | | again, a quote or joke that will be posted on |
| my budget currently does notallow for even | | | | therefrigerator; your contact info or URL can |
| that? | | | | be typedunobtrusively at the bottom. |
| | | | |
| When the money runs out, the creative get | | | | For mothers, try a business card that reads, |
| going. | | | | "Mom's Time |
| | | | |
| Office supply stores stock preprinted papers | | | | Out," or "Time Out," for when Mom needs a |
| for a fewdollars a package, but a less | | | | break. Adapt themessage to fit your target |
| expensive alternative is tocreate a black | | | | audience, but everyone has |
| "frame" from clipart in a word processing | | | | |
| orgreeting card program, and center a few | | | | "those" moments when they want the world to |
| favorite quotes, ora poem, inside the | | | | go away. |
| "frame;" print on plain white paper. Tosave | | | | |
| even more money, have them photocopied. I | | | | The HP site included things like photo frames |
| type my URLon the bottom in slightly smaller | | | | printed oncard stock, and ideas like "My |
| print. Rolled intoscrolls and tied with a | | | | Family" sheets or bookletswith prompts for |
| ribbon they literally stand up--andout--in | | | | writing one's family history, and "My |
| goodie bags. | | | | Trip"sheets to record vacation memories. |
| | | | Apply the same idea tocreating your own child |
| Craft mini books with paper, card stock, and | | | | identification sheets, leaving spacefor a |
| a papertrimmer. Leave blank, include quotes, | | | | photo and fingerprints, and include prompts |
| or add any poem orprose in the public domain. | | | | for basicinformation such as name, height, |
| Or create a "My Family" journalfor jotting | | | | weight, hair, and eyecolor. |
| family history. Staple the edges or the | | | | |
| centerfold, or punch holes and bind with | | | | Design a family tree for recipients to add |
| leftover yarn or ribbon. | | | | theirinformation. You can either draw a tree, |
| | | | use a cliparttree, or use lines to represent |
| Or just print a list of starter questions to | | | | the branches of a tree. |
| get a buddinggenealogist started; this is | | | | |
| great forgrandparents/parents/children, but | | | | I'm sure you can come up with lots more ways |
| who isn't interested intheir family history? | | | | to utilizeyour printer and word processor! |
| | | | Always remember--there isan advertising |
| Create larger "books" with greeting card | | | | solution for every budget. Or lack thereof! |
| papers for thecover, by stapling sheets of | | | | |
| paper, trimmed to fit, to thecard in the | | | | Happy promoting! |
| center fold; leave them blank or create a | | | | |