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30 Tips For Distributing Your Business Card

The market is changing around us and many are starting to feel the crunch. Here are some great ideas for ways to get your business card out into the public eye and hopefully drum up some business. SOme we've all heard, and some are new. Give them a whirl and let us know what kind of results you get.

Give them with your money at drive thrus
Leave them at the gas pump
Send them with your money at the bank drive thru
Stick them in the envelope with your letters, bills, invoices, Netflix movies, etc.
Use them as bookmarks in your library books and return the books with your business card.
On Bulletin Boards at Supermarkets, Starbucks, hardware store or anywhere else that has a bulletin board
Leave one with your tip at restaurants, hair dressers, etc.
Work out an arrangement with other service providers - if they mail your card with theirs to their clients, you'll do the same with their business cards to your clients.
Attach them to gifts (ex. At Halloween put little bags of candy together and tie your card to the bags - give one to each kiddo).
Join Bookcrossing.com and leave your business cards with the books that you "place"
In the pew's at church
Send your business card to all those credit card companies that send you junk mail by using the Postage Paid envelopes enclosed (mail it on their dime!)
Drop them into those "win a free" something jars in stores and restaurants.
Give them to your friends and family to hand out if they run into potential clients for you.
Leave them on the seat of the Bus
Leave them at your doctors, dentist, etc. office
Walk around your neighborhood and put one in every newspaper box
Give them to kids - they love to feel important, and the card is usually left in some random place that you would never expect.
In your hotel/motel room
Bus stops
Participate in Geocaching.com, and leave your cards at the treasure hunting sites.
Leave them at the playground
Toll-booth attendants
Parking lot attendants
Bridal Stores and Tuxedo Rental stores - newly weds need homes too! J
At the gym
College campuses
Use your business cards as price tags on items at your yard sale
Leave them in elevators
At the ATM Machine

What unique ways do you have for distributing your business cards?

Bonus Tips:

I found these on the internet, but I don't recall where - if you claim these ideas, let me know and I'll give you credit.

1. Take a colored envelope, face the front of the envelope towards you and upside down. Fold the envelope into thirds and turn it over. The flap of the envelope makes a cute little holder for your business card - great to use in mailings!

2. Run a promotion on your website - Show me one of my business cards and get a free __________! (Free CMA, Free Home Warranty, Free tickets to the movies, etc.)

Tips from Fellow ActiveRainers:

1. Send a note of appreciation to your clients, fellow Realtors, bankers, attorneys. Those folks who help you through the transactions that we all love. Insert one of your cards in the note, remind them that you are never too busy for their business! (Thanks Fran Rokicki)

Posted by Kelly McDonald on 09/20/2007 10:36 AM

Comments (98)

real estate marketing, kelly mcdonald realtor, semonin realtors

Post is included in group: The Art Of Marketing You
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98 Comments on 30 Tips For Distributing Your Business Card

SEP

2007

Some good and interesting ideas. Thanks!

Here's one to add, send a note of appreciation to your clients, fellow Realtors, bankers, attorneys. Those folks who help you through the transactions that we all love. Insert one of your cards in the note, remind them that you are never too busy for their business!

It's a Good Life!

Fran Rokicki, Clubnet~Mentor

Troy - You're welcome! :)

Fran - I'm adding it to the list! Thanks

Kelly: Good list. I've been doing these types of things for some time. How many clients have called you from one of the things on the list (i.e. not getting your card from another person).

Jeff - none yet, but I just started doing this as another way to get my name out. How has it worked for you?

You have some Great Ideas in this post... Its all about Prospecting, and it really doesnt matter how you do it, as long as you do it.

Jay - Thanks! I agree, prospecting is the key!

Thanks for sharing some great marketing ideas! I have used a few of these that have turned into multiple transactions!

Kelly--Wonderful reminders for all of us! There are many places to hand out those cards. I don't do it often enough!

awesome reminders. I have a booth in an antique store. I may change the price tags to my business cards. What a great idea!

Michael - I'm glad these have worked for you!

Teri - I don't do it often enough either - this was a reminder for me too!

Christy - Oooh, I love antique stores! I think changing the price tags to your business cards would be a great idea!

SEP

2007

Kelly,

Great blog. You've come up with some ideas I never would have thought of. I especially like the one about leaving your business card in the library books. I use my business card all the time as a bookmark but I always take it out of the book before returning it. Not anymore!!!!!!!!

Kelly-I loved your #12 return your card to credit card companies when they pay the postage, the only thing is that they will call you and harass you with solicitations can be very time consuming.

Courtney - I'm glad you this post! I thought the library one was a good one too :)

Gary - Yeah, they could call and harass you, but at least then you'd know they received your card! :) Before I started sending my cards I use to just send all of the junk in those credit card mailings back to them in their envelope on their dime. They're wasting my time sending it, so I'd waste their money on sending it back to them (pre-paid by them).

SEP

2007

Kelly, that's so true about the kids. My son grabbed a handfull of my cards and passed them out to his 2nd grade class. I didn't know about this until parents started letting me know that they got my card.

Do you think RESPA will object if I raise his allowance? :)

SEP

2007

Kelly, this is a comprehensive list. I don't think I would personally use a lot of them just because it doesn't suit my target marketing but for those looking for a way to reach out these would be great.

Joey - Gotta love kids! My daughter tells everyone she's going to be a "Real Estater" just like her mommy. Diane - it's not for everyone, but maybe there are 1 or 2 things on the list that will benefit you :)

Real Estater...that is adorable! While on the subject, we drove over the railroad tracks and my son said "We just went on the choo-choo floor!" :)

SEP

2007

Choo-choo floor - Love it! :)

OCT

2007

Wow, you got my wheels spinning now! Thanks for the great ideas. I'm thinking of using some of these and maybe even making larger and more eye-catching cards that I can place wherever I go when I'm back in CA, since a lot of Californians move to Maui.

OCT

2007

Lisa, I'm so glad that you found these helpful! Let us know how it works for you!

Awesome List thank you for posting! The more idea's the better!

Thanks Luke. I agree with you - the more ideas the better! :)

OCT

2007

Great Ideas! Not all suit me, but enough of them do!

OCT

2007

Kelly - Great post. My fav. was to mail them to the credit card company in the return envelopes. I`m book marking this one

OCT

2007

Jayne - I'm glad some of these ideas work for you! Dan - I like that one too :) Thanks for posting!

I do Geocaching. In fact my name is Triumph and I have not gone for sooooooo long but I went last weekend and I am going again on Wednesday.

Kelly, yeah ummm well that was my list you found on the net. Ha NOT. Kidding just kidding. Loved the list, I personally leave my cards after a meal at a restaurant. So far I have not received any business, but you never know. Another one I heard was in while grocery shopping and you remove an item from the shelf, leave on of your cards in its place.

OCT

2007

Tina - Isn't Geocaching fun! It's a great way to get to learn new places in your neck of the woods too.

Rob - You're too funny! I always try to leave my business cards after a meal at restaurants too - never gotten any business from them, but like you said, you never know! I like the idea of leaving a card on the shelf in place of the item that you too - but with the way I do grocery shopping, I would have cards all over that store before I was done!

Kelly: I love numbe 12! This is now on my to do list and I may actually start looking forward to getting junk mail. How clever you are.

Donna - with the amount of junk mail we get on a regular basis - there's no reason why we can't use it to our advantage! :)

OCT

2007

I have been doing most of the things mentioned in your list for a while now. I leave business cards everywhere I go. I was actually thinking about getting magnetic business cards made up so that I can stick them in more places.

Great advice!

Some wonderful and unique ideas!! Sometimes I feel I lack creativity when it comes to things like this and its nice that you have shared your techniques! Thank you!!

Scott - if you had magnetic ones, you could leave them on the side of mail boxes, on cars, metal doors, in the elevator, the ideas are endless!

Glenda - I'm the same way - I lack creativity sometimes too, so when I come up with ideas, I like to share them because I know I'm not the only one who has a "brain fart" sometimes!

OCT

2007

I'm going to disagree with this one. Studies show that over 75% of deals are done with agents that are known, liked and trusted by the seller. For all the money you spend on business cards, you could put together a very nice program to appreciate your clients by sending them cards and gifts. In turn, they will send you more referrals.

If you need help putting something like this together, see my profile.

OCT

2007

Oh my goodness! Soooo much smartness!!! I just emailed this post to some other people too. Thanks!

Sarah - Thanks! I can't take credit for most of these, but I like having all of the ideas in one place. Makes it so much easier to find :) Thanks for sharing it with your friends!

OCT

2007

Kelly you have some great ideas. Thanks for sharing. Also you can leave them at the dry cleaners. Another idea I got from reading Realtor magazine is to pay for the person behind you at a drive thru and tell the cashier to please put your business card/postcard in the other customer's bag.Also,if you have those free real estate magazines ( Ex: Harmon Homes,real estate book etc. ) that are always at the bus stops and super markets,staple your business cards on every one of them. I got two responses- a seller who listed with somebody else and a renter who is hopefully going to buy within a year from now so I haven't gotten a buyer or listing yet. And I like 12 as well. But I am scared they might end up selling my number to some stupid telemarketer. But I am definitely going to try it. Great post.

NOV

2007

Kelly... I've heard of most ideas for business cards, but you've captured some good ones that I haven't yet heard. Nice job.

All excellent ideas. Thanks for sharing.

NOV

2007

Lanre - put your number on the no-call list. They may sell your number, but they still can't call you.

Max - Yep, most of these are old school, but I'm glad there were a few you hadn't heard of before.

Bob & Carolin - You're welcome!

NOV

2007

Kelly, these are great tips. Thanks for sharing.

NOV

2007

Some very good ideas... dont know about leaving it at the gas pump/ ATM though.. to me that is littering. I also wouldnt leave them in the pew at church- takcy. I am sorry I do like some of the other ones though..Let see, I like leaving a bunch with my hairdresser, and on bulletin boards. (Sorry to sound negative)

Darleen, Thank you! Kim, You're not negative at all! Not all these ideas work for everyone. I don't do all of them either, they're just suggestions of places to leave your business card. I wouldn't leave my card on the pew at church too, but I'm sure there are some people out there that would. I'm like you though, I leave a bunch with my hairdresser too. :)

NOV

2007

The more places you distribute the card, the more potential clients you can pick up.

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I leave them in the FSBO's mailboxes along with information about myself and my company. As well as when I have outgoing mail, I'll leave a business card on the inside of my mailbox for the postal worker driving the route for that particular day. And I give one to the UPS driver that drops off my packages.

Matthew - Yep, you're right. The more you pass them out, the more clients you could get.

Alana - be careful putting things in peoples mailboxes. It's illegal to handle anyone's mailbox but your own. Giving out your business card to the UPS driver and leaving it your mailbox for your postal worker is a great idea though! :)

I like these! There are quite a few places I never thought of leaving my card. Its time to order more, I'm gonna run out of them real fast!

DEC

2007

Very good tips! BTW- I have family in Louisville and always enjoy visiting there! I look forward to trying out some of these ideas that are new to me.

Thanks!

Wow, these are some really great ideas!!! Thanks for sharing.

DEC

2007

You are bookmarked. Great post. Great suggestions. Economical and creative. Thank you for sharing.

You just never know where that next customer got your name!

I use a lot of these ideas.

And they work!

Yeah, a lot of them hit the trash, but quite a few come home to roost. But I get more than enough back to make it well worth the effort.

I typically go through about 10,000 cards a year. Get them for about $300.00 at VistaPrint.com.

Some very good ideas. I want to staple them to some realtor mags to see how that works. I may have to take them from the store and return them with my card. :) (LOL)

DEC

2007

I love these tips! And with Vista Print's free business cards (& other freebies, even magnetic biz cards) how can you lose?

DEC

2007

Lynnette - Don't you just love Vista Print? I'm glad you enjoyed the tips! Latonia - Good luck with the Realtor Mags. Erby - Wow neighbor, you go through a ton of business cards in a year - that's awesome! I need to take some lessons from you. Dionne - Thank you for the bookmark! Tyghre - Thank you! I'm glad you like them! Melissa - the next time your in Louisville visiting family drop me a line! Steve - let me know how these ideas work for you! Merry Christmas everyone!

Very creative list! Some that I had never even considered! Thanks for sharing.

DEC

2007

How many people do we meet in a day? If we gave a card to everyone we see - people who don't know you - now know you and people you do know that know you are in real estate - ask them if they know anyone that is thinking about buying or selling a home..........great list.........thanks for posting....

DEC

2007

Julie - great points. If we handed our card to everyone we see, we'd get our name out in no time! Stefanie - I'm glad you liked the list. Let us know how they work for you!

DEC

2007

PLEASE do not leave your business cards in GEOCACHES!!! People dont hike for miles in the woods to find a geocache only to get spammed in their face with business cards. This is a STUPID idea. Before you start leaving your business cards in geocaches, check out their forum and see what people think about it first.

One might argue that people don't hike for miles in the woods to get any significant prize. Aren't they getting Tupperware full of little toys and trinkets anyway? A business card won't hurt...If they don't like it they can recycle it.

Cool list....anyone ever get a call from leaving a card at the gas pump?

DEC

2007

Alex - Thank you for taking the time to comment. Jim - I am in agreement with you. I don't see how a business card would hurt either. One could leave this in lieu of signing the book/journal/piece of paper that is usually found with these geocaches to show that you've been there. Also, if one of the searchers finds the card then it could also be viewed as a common interest between you and the potential client. Personally, I don't foresee thousands of real estate agents taking on this method of distribution anyway so seeing hundreds of business cards at a geocache site most likely won't be a problem. As for leaving a card at the gas pump - I haven't had any luck, but I'd be interested to hear from someone who has.

FEB

2008

LOVE IT! Thanks for the great ideas.

Kimble - Thanks! Let us know if you try any of these out! :)

Kelly - tip #18 is so cute (and so true)! I also loved Joey Aszterbaum, Hemet Home Loan Guy's comment - I think I know what his son will do when he grows up!

Add rest rooms on the list.

FEB

2008

Go to a bookstore and stick them in all the real estate books

Jackie - #18 is my favorite too. Kids love to feel important!

Sharon - Yep, restrooms are always an option. Some even have those little display boards on the back of the stall doors.

Ryan - Be careful when doing that at book stores. They don't always tend to appreciate that method of advertising.

Kelly,

Thanks for the excellent post and ideas. Keep them coming.

FEB

2008

There are definitely some great ideas on that list. Thanks for posting this!

When going through a drive thru restaurant, I look in the rear view mirror to see how many people are in the car behind me. I'll order a dessert item for each of the heads I see and ask the employee to bag those separate. When I get my items, I have the employee put my card and a pen in the dessert bag and give it to the car behind me with their order. It doesn't cost me as much as buying their entire order, and gives them something they probably weren't going to order themselves. I especially love the carmel apple empanada's at Taco Bell!

Thanks Benjamin!
Lissa - I love this idea! Thanks for sharing it.

FEB

2008

Thanks; These are a great addition to my marketing!

MAR

2008

These are great ideas!!! I am going to give my son some business cards to give to his classmates.

APR

2008

This will keep me busy for weeks. Great Ideas!

APR

2008

Kelly ~ These are really great tips for distributing business cards. I already do a few of them - but your post gives me additional ideas.

That is great, I love number 12

APR

2008

those are some pretty good ideas, thanks

APR

2008

Thanks for the reminder. There are some great ideas. I better order more cards.

Good post Kelly, I'm a 1 year old REALTOR and need all the suggestions I can find.

Great list, thank you!

Thanks for the excellent post. I am not a rookie realtor but I could sure use these ideas. Some great ideas at that.

Kelly....Fantastic list! Prospecting is key. I think it is important to keep the business cards companies in business :-) The more we get out there, the more we need. The more cards we get out there, the more people that know about us. Keep up the awesome work!

I've bookmarked and will print out, thanks for all the tips.

MAY

2008

Fantastic list! Business cards are cheap marketing. I was already doing some of these, but I could always be doing more!

Kelly-Some of these I have done, but there were quite awhile I had not thought about...thanks for sharing with us.

MAY

2008

Great ideas, I like them a lot and I do that with my cards as well as postcards

MAY

2008

Sorry I do not have time to read all the comments as I have clients waiting so if this is in the list of comments, my apologies. NEVER just one card. Always give at least 2 sometimes 3 judging on the character of whom you are giving your card. This will afford them the opportunity of keeping one themselves and be sure to ask them to pass along the extra card to someone they feel will benefit from your services. Regards, DAVE

You have some AWESOME & very creative ways of marketing yourself!! I will try that in Saint John, New Brunswick, CANADA. Thanks for the info.

MAY

2008

Yvonne & Terry - Glad I could help!
Dave - I never thought about doing this with postcards too! Great idea.
Dave - You're right, giving out more than one business card is always a good idea. You never know who they might run into that could use your services.
Ann-Marie - I'm always looking for good marketing ideas, and I just love to share them. Let us know how it works for you in New Brunswick!

MAY

2008

I never would have thought of more than half of those! Great tips; I don't care where you found them, thank you for sharing them.

MAY

2008

Tori - I love hearing that many of these aren't common ideas. Thank you!

MAY

2008

Kelly, be assured that this information will be printed for future use! I look forward to any more tidbits of information you might have.

Michelle - yay! Thanks for printing this post! :)

Great post Kelly! I really enjoy reading about differnt and unique ways to market ones self.

MAY

2008

Kelly: thank you so much for sharing your great but simple ideas, your tips are a great reminder...This list must have taken days to compile.

MAY

2008

Wow great ideas! I will have to start utlizing some of them. Thanks for posting.

JUN

2008

Great tips Kelly. I used to drop my card in those win a free meal jars at food places all the time. Suddenly I began getting too many solicitors calling my cell and began to wonder if someone was selling my info from these jars.

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