Why Postcards are So Important in Your Marketing Plan

I know I have hinted at this before, but I wanted to make sure that you knew the details about postcards, when to use them and why they work.

First, business cards have been all the rage for years. I'm not saying you shouldn't use them; I am saying that postcards will get the news out about you and what you do much faster than a name, address, phone number and perhaps, "author" printed on the business card will get you.

Most of my postcards have these features:

On the Back of the Card

A synopsis. You always want a short synopsis of your book no more than 3 paragraphs long.

A QR code. I don't always used a QR code, but I am using it more often than I used to. A QR code does wonders (it's actually a postcard add-on) for anyone that takes a picture of it with their SmartPhone. In an instant they will be taken to a site of your choosing. My QR code goes to this site.

Get your QR code at: http://www.the-qrcode-generator.com/#/. There are many free options on the Internet.



QR Code

My contact information. I include my full name, phone number, email, website and Twitter handle. You may also want to include your Facebook handle.

I sometimes include blank lines near the bottom back side of the postcard. This space is good to write a special note to the person you are giving the card too; something personal like, I hope you enjoy the book.

If you're going to be mailing your postcards, you will only have half the space in back, so keep in mind that the synopsis might be only one captivating line, and you probably will only have room for the date, time and place of your event, and probably not the QR code.

On the Front of the Card

 

I always include the book cover. This fills up the entire card.

 

Postcards are much harder to lose than a business card and provide your future reader with enough information to get online and learn more about your book. Postcards also make great bookmarks and are great for book signings and speaking events. I pass mine out during presentations, and always have them at the table when I'm doing a book signing.

 

If you have any questions about using postcards that I haven't mentioned here, don't hesitate to ask.

 

Happy Marketing!

 

Kathryn

Get Smart!

Get smart about your writing! Take yourself seriously!

When I was a beginning writer I should have had business cards made up to promote myself as a writer! Instead, I snuggled under my down comforter and wrote my heart out. I didn't see myself as a writer then, just a writing fanatic. I wrote whenever I got the muse and this satisfied me. My husband knew that I was a writer, but I didn't share my dream with others.

This was a mistake!

Today I tell my writing clients to create a business card with "writer" written on the top, talk about their writing to anyone who will listen, take writing classes where they can meet other writers and get their work seen, start a blog; in other words, get the word out!

The best way for others to see that you're a writer is for you to believe it first. If you have to write it up on paper for you to say every day, do it! If you have to look in the mirror and say, "I am a writer," fifty times, do it! No more excuses for you today. Today is the first day of your "get smart" writing career.