2. Come to grand opening of your remodeled store.

3. Use discount on your new product or service.

This, in essence is what sets direct marketing apart from conventional advertising. Most conventional advertising is aimed at building an image of a company. This requires a lot of repetition of an advertising message, and as you would expect, process can take a long time and cost a lot of money.

On other hand, direct marketing isn't so much concerned with building an image as it is with getting people do something NOW. This is a much more cost-effective approach for small business.

Tip #6: Follow Your Printer's Instructions Carefully. This one goes without saying, but I have a confession to make: I delayed printing of a crucial promotional postcard by sizing card to wrong dimensions. The printer was kind enough to fix my error without charging me, and for that I am very grateful.

Printer's instructions can be lengthy - and confusing. There's a simple solution to this problem: Ask Questions. Most printers are happy to help, especially if you contact them before you actually send them stuff you want printed.

Tip #7: Proofread Once. Proofread Twice. When I worked in editorial field, I found myself on receiving end of many a Boss Tirade about importance of proofreading. This was because I wasn't very good at it, and a lot of Boss-Annoying errors got by me.

If you're a lousy proofreader with a lot of money, you can hire others to do it for you. If your budget isn't that hefty, you'll have to do it yourself. If I'm faced with onerous task of proofreading, here's how I do it:

I read every word out loud. Slowly and carefully, just like I did back in first grade reading class. Sometimes, I decide to have some fun and do my proofreading in form of dramatic readings. Hey, it makes job go faster…

Tip #8: Who are you? Where are you?

My cards include following contact information:

Lrpdesigns Web & Graphic Design P.O. Box 43161 Tucson, AZ 85733 Telephone: 520-690-1888 E-mail: Info@Lrpdesigns.com Web: http://www.Lrpdesigns.com/

I include all of this information so people can get a hold me by mail, Internet or telephone. Most of my responses tend to come via phone or e-mail. The return address is there so post office can get card back to me if a recipient's address is no longer valid.

Tip #9: Maintain Your List!

If your mailing list grows to any size, maintaining it can get to be a chore. And this task can be quite time-consuming. It is for me, but I like to have an accurate list. More of mail gets through that way.

Occasionally, people will call or e-mail and ask to be taken off my list. I do so immediately, no questions asked.

Tip #10: Keep At It!

This is another one of my dad's favorite expressions. But those three words reveal a lot of truth. Like other marketing efforts, postcard mailings must be done over and over again to have a positive effect on your bottom line.

Although postcard marketing can cost less than, say, a campaign of magazine advertising or promoting your business in Yellow Pages, it is not cost-free. On a yearly basis, my postcard printing and mailing costs run around U.S. $2,500. However, I believe that this is money well spent, so I keep doing it.

Martha Retallick is an avid (and some say rabid) postcard marketer from Tucson, Arizona, USA. Examples of her postcards can be seen at:

http://www.Lrpdesigns.com/cardshow.html

You can subscribe to her free Postcard Marketing Secrets e-zine at:

How costly? Well, according to research conducted by Price Waterhouse accounting firm, 70% of people who leave a supplier do so because of lack of contact, follow-up or individual attention. That's not good. But think of how easy it would be to make your business stand out from crowd if you sent your customers a regular postcard...

3. Another idea to ponder, and this one has actually been proven through numerous studies: It costs 6 times more to win a new customer than it does to make a sale to an existing customer. What this means that if you have a customer list, and if you send regular postcards to people on that list, you'll build repeat sales for your business and become more profitable in process. This leads right to our fourth and final Reason for Repetition...

4. A business that customers hear from is one that they'll keep in mind -- and keep on patronizing.

Martha Retallick is an avid (and some say rabid) postcard marketer from Tucson, Arizona, USA. Examples of her postcards can be seen at:

http://www.Lrpdesigns.com/cardshow.html

You can subscribe to her free Postcard Marketing Secrets e-zine at: