Putting flyers on car windows...

[JustaWizard]

This may be repeat, but some towns/cities have laws against, if memory serves, "handbills" - I put postcards on drivers' side windows for a niche specific product at college and high school graduations around town - got a call from either the police dept. or the city warning me to stop or I'd get fined.

Hope that helps!
David

[LifestyleTrans]

I'd avoid fliers... it's going to cost money and time, which could be better spent.

[davidomni]

One huge problem I can see with this method is the "leads" arn't targeted enough...
Unless its a particular parking lot for a specific niche!

[HeyAdMan]

Years ago I placed flyers on windshields under wiperblades. The first call I got and they said "I just got your flyer on my windshield."

I got all excited because I was about to make a sale. What I wasn't prepared for was ... "You owe me for a broken windshield wiper".

Find out the laws in your area for this type marketing and then proceed with caution when you know that there are no repercussions.

[blur]

Working in the nightclub industry for years I have so much experience in this it really isn't funny...a little embarrassing.

I admit, I haven't read the whole thread, but here are some of my applicable 'lessons learned' from this. Mind you,some aren't for the do gooders of the world.

1) - Put a fake ad/promotions agency on the flyer. If you get complaints about the flyer just tell them you hired an agency to distribute the flyers. Yup, it's crappy but it gets the job done.

2) - Don't use 1/4 flyers if don't have to. Use business cards and keep the advertising short and sweet. When putting them on the cars, stick them in the driver side window where the glass meets the rubber. This takes the paper off the windshield.

3) - Malls are good but they are a lot of work. We used to flyer apartment complexes like crazy. After I finished DJ'n we'd down a few drinks and walk over the apartment complex and flyer away.

4) - You can also post your flyers anywhere with a cork-board. Laundromats are great because have nothing to really do except read what's on the walls

5) - If you go at night, don't dress in black - you look like you're up to something.

6) - Watch out, you might get sent a bill for clean up of parking lots. If they call you, offer to personally clean it yourself. (Then apologize about your fake promo company)

I touched on this before, but there are so many ways to distribute flyers it isn't funny.
- leave one in public restrooms placing them where people 'read' the most
- leave one with your tip at restaurants
- Staple tabloid size ads to telephone poles (of course local laws would apply)
- I've even stuffed flyers in the shoes and purses for sale at JCPenny
- Around places where people congregate in malls (food court, couches, play areas)
- etc....

When I was actively promoting a forum for my local area I would keep a stack of business cards in my pocket and just place them around. Not too many to look like you were spamming the place but just so people could 'find it.'

Look around, printers are always doing $25 business card specials. Or you can try Vistaprint for their $5.95 special. For High Quality cards try PKGraphic.com.

[hjalte81]

Originally Posted by MarketingMama

i'm trying to think of ways to write off my gas mileage on taxes when i go to malls and such...

Couldn't you just buy something related to your buisness. Ink for your printer, paper, pens whatever... as long as it's buisness releated.

I bet it would be cheaper than getting flyers printed.

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by MarketingMama

bad idea?

i know most people think it's annoying, but maybe that's cuz it's usually just an advertisement of some kind of promotion or discount or something.

what if i'm offering something for free, something that most people would like and use? would that make it "less" annoying?

i'm trying to think of ways to write off my gas mileage on taxes when i go to malls and such...

In some areas, it is ILLEGAL! It is just DUMB! Few read it, few care, it is expenxive, annoying, etc... ALSO, it is LITTERING!

Steve

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by Gary McCaffrey

I can't believe there are so many litter bugs here. I hope when you say 'throw away', you mean dispose of properly and not throw on the street!

Seriously though.

My previous apartment was on a street very near the city center so it was constantly used by drivers for free parking then they'd walk into the city, always packed with cars and it was very popular for people to slip business card underneath the drivers door handles.

I assume that it worked because they were back advertising the same thing again and again in all the streets around my area.

The litterbug is the jerk that puts it on the car!

Steve

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by MarketingMama

you guys are funny!

there seems to be people on both sides of the fence for this one.

like i mentioned, i was thinking of a way to write off mileage to the malls. i probably wouldn't specifically go to a place to put flyers on the cars. i would already be there for another reason. (that's between me and you, though. if you work for the irs, then yeah, i'm going to the mall for the sole reason of advertising my business... )

unless i've forgotten something i've read (it's possible with my short term memory) no one here has actually tried it. they've just seen other people try it or have heard of people who have had success (or not) with it. i suppose that's a start though...

i really doubt someone would "drive off" with an 8.5" x 11" bright pink piece of paper stuck to their windshield....

but i suppose stranger things have happened.

and yeah, i suppose ultimately if i don't want to tick people off, then i shouldn't do it.

Where I used to live, they passed a law AGAINST it! I have NEVER seen it where I live now!

BTW many malls have a rule against it, and you COULD be detained and cited for trespass, among other things, EVEN if there are no "laws" against flyers.

BTW milage used for duties that could be considered personal, or illegal probably doesn't count.

OH, and tacking things to other fixtures, such as telephone poles, is often illegal. when I was a kid, I heard of fines of up to $400 PER INCIDENT!

Steve

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by myob

It's $1,000 on freeways and highways; for first offense. That is the main reason why I only put flyers on cars that are parked in public streets. And it is done infrequently (every month or two) only to test ads.

Why don't YOU MYOB and keep your hands off of other peoples property? And "public streets" STILL have the PRIVATE car, s/he may have paid for the space, and the county/city/state laws still apply.

Steve

[Chris Jones]

Get your message out using any method you can think of. I once had t-shirts made up with my website address on it. Then I took boxes of them to various homeless shelters around the city. That was more than two years ago and I still see them pop-up from time to time around town. They'll be in circulation forever.

[Ken Durham]

I have a local client that I work with that gets the local newspaper boys to include her fliers once per month in their newspaper deliveries. They are already delivering the newspapers to the houses so they charge her very little to include the fliers. She gets about 1%-2% returns on these

Another Great low cost local advertisement method I have got her using is large helium balloons.
We attach a vertical banner to this like the example below. It works great to generate curiosity and is a low cost reusable source of advertisement. (except for the helium)
These are much like a mobile billboard except a hell of a lot cheaper.

96spacebuster



If you shop around a bit you can often find the Blimp types at discounted rates. Especially during the winter when they are not selling well. A little more pricey than the above method but they last a very long time and can be reused and easily relocated. Find an event, park near by, tie it off to your car bumper. Just be sure to follow the height restrictions on how high you let them fly. Causing aircraft to crash might not be good for business.

Advertising Balloons, Inflatables, RC Blimps, Searchlights - Above & Beyond

[Jon Tees]

Fliers actually work if you get them to the right people in the right places. Most people will discard them, but many will respond either for more information or to actually take advantage of your offer. In most places putting fliers in mailboxes is illegal so check first before putting them anywhere else as well. I have seen people place them on and inside of doors and on (but not in) certain mailboxes particularly the ones that have the “arms.” on the bottom of them or whatever they are technically called and of course fliers on windshields as well.



Personally speaking, I probably wouldn’t distribute them through questionable and possibly illegal means. My business is entirely internet based so if I gave them my website it would pretty much scream “come give me a ticket if you object to this.” plus if they don’t have internet access it would do them little good.

[kevin jackson]

This thread is only a few pages long so I actually read each entry in the thread. Some people apparently have the habit of reading the thread title and immediately posting their thoughts and don't care to read the comments contained within that conversation.

So I won't mention again anything about fines, tickets, littering, getting sued or arrested or whatever. Some also seem to have a particularly strong distaste for flyers on their own cars. Some also seem to have a strong distaste towards the entire idea of having an offline flyer or circular printed up for an offline or online business.

I myself don't particularly care for finding some landscaper, house painter or Mary Kay salesman's flyer on my own windshield. Flyers are just a form of advertising. They still work. The question is how can they work legally and effectively? I liked the deejay's idea. I am about to enter into the nightclub business myself. This industry has used flyers for years to announce upcoming events.

The point is that there are many ways they can still be effective. It takes some out of the box thinking but they can still get your phone ringing or get opt-ins to your site. The same rule applies for almost any direct advertising medium.

[Jon Tees]

I’m not exactly sure what people are offering. But based on my experience in network marketing, it works best to talk to actual prospects or people who might be interested in your opportunity and give them the fliers in person. Or mail the fliers to prospects where this isn’t possible. Same with customers as well, talk to potential customers and give them the fliers and mail fliers to potential customers who you wouldn’t be able to speak to in person. It really works best to tell the person about what you are offering in word of mouth and give them something physical that reinforces what you’ve told them to decrease the likelihood of them forgetting about it or getting the website address wrong while trying to remember it.

[zachary0611]

Its real annoying if starts raining lol you turn on your windshield wipers and you got this flier going back and forth