Wide Area Promotional Bookmark Distribution

There are numerous companies that print custom promotional bookmarks. It occurs to me that a custom bookmark is the ideal promotional item for authors to distribute. An inexpensive little bookmark is an item that a buyer of books (the very items we are selling) would find very useful. Better yet, they can always use more than one bookmark.

Furthermore, I have read that advertising researchers have determined that a customer needs on average, seven exposures to your ad before they make a decision to buy. The people who receive promotional bookmarks are exposed to your message when they first receive your bookmark and then again everytime they pick up and reopen a book in which your bookmark keeps a page marked. You can get your seven exposures for the cost of one little promotional bookmark.

Now further imagine you are a part of an alliance of independent authors where every author has 500 of their own promotional bookmarks and five of you get together and exchange stacks of 100, 50 or 25 promotional bookmarks with each other through a central distribution point (me). Then each author takes a stack of these bookmarks to his or her local library or book store (with permission of course) and leaves them for readers there to pick up for free, Now instead of marketing in your own isolated area, you are distributing promotional materials in many different locations. Below is just one example as to how it might work.

Click the Map to see where your bookmarks will be distributed if you join, check the map often, we hope to see if change often. If you join ... YOU will change the map!

If you are interested and either want more info or want to be involved E-Mail me.

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Proposed plan for a wide area bookmark distribution plan

1)      I schedule a promotional bookmark exchange date.

2)      I post notices and send e-mails indicating that a PBE (Promotional Bookmark Exchange) is scheduled and I list the deadline and instructions. Each author who wants to participate has three responsibilities.

1.      Send a PBE packet to me including:

1.      A specified number of their own promotional bookmarks (Let's say 75). {Note: 75 bookmarks will fit very nicely into a padded CD mailer}

2.      A postal money order for $3.00 made out to the administrator (Me) to cover the costs of mailing.

2.      When you receive your return packet, take the bookmarks that you received to the bookstore or library that you plan to cover within one week's time.

3.      E-mail me to verify that you have completed your distribution.

3)      The day after the deadline, I create a stack of bookmarks for each participant and mail the evenly mixed stacks back out. Any packets received after the deadline will be saved for the next distribution date.

4)      Each participant takes the stacks of bookmarks to the bookstore or library he has targeted, for free distribution to readers and then the author E-mails me to verify that they have completed their distribution as they said. (I include verification because there's one in every crowd who just tosses them out.)

5)      I call to verify that our promotional bookmarks have been placed. (or do you think we implement the "honor system"?)

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Your thoughts on this?