Creative Do-It-Yourself Promotional Giveaways

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