A Washington Post-ABC News survey showed that "65% of American public was at least 'concerned' that letters containing anthrax bacteria had been sent through mail."

That's bad news if you just mailed a promotion.

All of these circumstances might make you want to consider one of my favorite advertising strategies ... simple and cheap direct mail postcard.

You can use postcards to generate leads, close sales, convince customers to buy more and encourage prospects to give you a try.

I asked my friend and client, Markus Allen for his top 20 postcard promotional ideas. He has an online, step-by-step program to help you launch a monthly, multiple-exposure postcard marketing campaign with very little expense, and that's always a plus.

Check out his free information at:

http://www.markusallen.org/ezpostcards

Here's his list of postcard marketing ideas that almost any business can put into immediate action:

* Copy and paste a picture of your Web site on a postcard. The mere mention can bring a rush of visitors to your site.

* Mail to a list of people who've recently moved into your community. Offer a great deal to get them to try your product or service.

* If your average customer usually spends $1,000 with you, offer a discount for purchases over $1,500.

* Remind customers it's time to come and see you. Dentists often mail "It's time for your next cleaning" postcards, while auto shops remind you, "It's been 6 months since your last oil change."

* Tell customers about new products and services. For example, many software firms mail postcards to promote program upgrades.

* Announce a price increase. Let customers buy as much as they want, at current prices.

* Hold holiday promotions. For example: "Bring Mom to lunch for Mother's Day, for only $14.95."

* Offer a lifetime membership program to generate quick cash flow.

If you are like me, your initial response was to say that four horses can pull 18,000 pounds. Sounds reasonable--but its wrong!

Four horses can actually pull over 30,000 pounds. What difference? It's something called synergy. Synergy is energy or force created by working together of various parts or processes.

Synergy. That's power behind what is commonly called Joint Venture Marketing. In a "Joint Venture" or "Endorsed Offer," two parties leverage their assets (client lists, finances, technological expertise etc.) for mutual benefit of both.

Joint Ventures are commonplace on Internet. If you have ever exchanged links with another web site or perhaps traded ads with an ezine publisher, then you have engaged in a rudimentary Joint Venture. Unfortunately many marketers stop at this point--failing to enjoy profit potential of this incredible marketing strategy.

You want to be different, right? Well, I am going to give a simple 1-2-3 formula that will allow you to profit using Joint Venture Marketing.

STEP ONE: You Need a GREAT Product!

This is key to real success in any business, isn't it? Unfortunately so much of what passes as "useful products" on Internet is just plain garbage. Too many people promises moon but delivers nothing but cheese.

Listen, if you give your clients something of value up front then they will become happy customers for life. They will come back and buy over and over again.

Got your product? Great! Now let's move on to...

STEP TWO: You Need a Joint Venture Partner(s)

Here's one of best methods around for finding Joint Venture partners. Visit http://www.alexa.com and download "Alexa." This will soon become your secret weapon for finding information you need to make a significant Internet income. Play around with Alexa and you will soon learn how to use its many important features for developing a powerful and PERSONALIZED Joint Venture proposal letters.

Assuming you've got "Alexa" loaded and running, use your favorite search engine and check for key words like:

* Internet Marketing * Marketing * Business Success * Advertising * Online Sales * Making Money * MLM * Entrepreneur * Email Marketing * And any other key words that will find you business owners, e-zine publishers, etc.

If you've done your searches you are ready for next step. It's now time for...