My recent post on holiday greeting cards elicited a comment from Bruce Brightwell, an attorney who sends his list a magnetized refrigerator calendar. “People love the calendars, and I am in front of them for the whole year,” he said.
This is smart marketing. A practical gift that keeps your name and contact information in front of clients and prospects that is inexpensive and effective.
Calendars are a great year end gift. What can you do the rest of the year?
Do a search for “advertising specialties” or “ad specs”. That’s what they are called in the trade. You will find a mind numbing array of possible items you can offer:
- Pens
- Key chains
- Calendars (wall, refrigerator, desk, wallet)
- T-shirts
- Baseball caps
- Book bags
- Book ends
- Paper weights
- Coffee mugs
- Thermoses
- Book bags
- Mouse pads
- Business card cases
- Book marks
I like pens. You can get them in bulk for under .25 cents, and nice ones for under a dollar. People use pens and carry them, and if they lose one, someone else will pick it up.
I also like note pads. They are very inexpensive (any printer can make them for you) and you can get them in different sizes. Real estate agents send them pre-printed with lines for a grocery list. This is good for consumers. For businesses, I like a 4 by 5 1/2 size that can sit on a desk or next to a phone. While taking notes, your prospect looks at your name and smiling face at the top of the pad, draws a mustache and eye glasses and darkens your teeth. It’s a note pad and a game!
A disadvantage of note pads is that once they have been used, they’re gone. But this gives you an opportunity to get in front of clients and prospects several times a year to replenish their stock.
In choosing an item, keep in mind the amount of room available for printing. A pen has very limited space; a calendar has much more. More space lets you include an “advertising” message: your practice areas and/or an offer, e.g., “‘Free Report: How to save 20 to 50% on legal fees this year’ at www.mywebsite.com”.
You can, of course, have more than one gift item. You could mail everyone a calendar at year end, give coffee mugs to visitors to your office, and give a more expensive item (e.g., Polo shirt) to new clients.
Have you used ad specs to market your practice? Did it bring you new business?
