To me, a bag of flyers would be like the ad section in a newspaper: too much info I didin't want. I'd be less likely to pitch (at least, without looking at it) a single ad than I would a bunch of ads in a bag.
We get flyers like that now. I looked at them one or two... and even occasionally after that, but once I saw that the businesses weren't services I needed, I just tossed the whole bag in the trash.
Speaking as the potential recipient, I'd think that once a month is a bit much to get the same 6 to 10 flyers. Either distibute every other month or have something like 21 businesses and only showcase 7 at a time. At holidays, you can give a special price to the businesses and put all 21 in at once - for holiday specials and the like. BUT - I'd insist that to be a part of that holiday group distribution some special offer would be required.
Of course you'd have to have certain zipcodes targeted.
we get the "valu-pak" (I think it's called) in the mail... get 'em once a week for years now... I've only opened them twice... but I do know that some folks open them cuz I've heard about the money I lost out on saving...
now... door hangers... we don't get a bunch in a bag, but lately we've been getting one long door hanger with 8 to 10 advertisements on it... I almost always take a quick glance at it and once took advantage of an oil change offer...
so you might try that... or what you're thinking about doing...
Easier to dump 6 flyers in the recycling bin once than 6 individual times.
Honestly, I hate flyers. To me, they are no better than litter. They never offer anything I want and if I forget to take them in, they are a sign to thieves saying I'm not home.
Tom was right, There is a company that does that -"Valpak", I knew someone who worked for them for awhile. They sell franchises and locals run it, and have the whole setup worked out. They figure it so it is acheap way for Eds Market or Joes Roofing to each reach XX thousand households, then bulk mail the entire packet every week to a town , a few towns or a county depending on what the advertiser wants. They might throw in a "free donut with your coffee" coupon for a mom and pop restaurant somewhere, specials on oil changes and things like that, that small businesses use to attract people.
I know Valpak here, a small two man office, does OK. They sell the adv, design the flyers, print them, do the mailing, and the collecting-it seems to work for them.
Honestly, mine generally gets tossed, but if a small business can get even a small percentage of new customers out of a weekly mailing (or one of those baggies) they'd probably be doing OK.
The concept works, I dont see any reason to have to pay the franchise fee to do it..
in my town you get fined for putting up those pesky garage sale signs and for solicitation and handing out flyers is just that (advertisment )unwanted, to petition ) and here the police will ask you to move on and give you a ticket for litter and solication.
im not trying to dash your dreams but i suggest you check with your local zoning and ordinance before heading out or asking somone eles to do this, it could be illegal .
Also the value packs are delivered by the federal govt the US mail system, and they go through the regular checks and balance for safety.. remember the threat of the white powder?
here it would be prosecuted as a crime if you left papers of any type unless registered and oked by officials.
and yes i agree with it. or eles every jo with a great idea or a need would leave something to heck with that!
It's conflicting because I know small business folk need to advertise and to do so as cheaply as possible. Val Pak is rather popular here in my area in addition to a "newsletter" called Everybody's Business or something like that. I like it better than Val Pak because it's in a "book" form whereas Val Pak is a bunch of little pieces of paper.
Regardless, I am a "paper hater" and despise finding those fliers on my driveway, on my front porch, tied to my doorknob, etc. I like to keep my yard neat and I do not like for people to know I'm not home. I very rarely even glance at those things and can't recall a single time when I have actually called on one of them. If I need something done, I generally ask a neighbor for who they use.
I'm extreme, though, I think. I have called all the credit card companies and told them not to send me a single piece of mail. I am totally paperless for all my bills that have that option. I locked access to my credit report so I don't get unsolicited credit card offers, insurance offers, and other junk mail generated through that method of 'market research'. I've also registered on the Do Not Mail list. All those things have worked.
The only mail I get now is very, very sparse - "occupant", magazine subscriptions and the occasional personal letter/card are the only things in my mailbox. I can go for days without getting a single piece of mail and I like it that way. :)
We get 2 papers every Tuesday tossed into our driveway. I've looked through them once or twice in the 3 years I've lived in this home. I don't care what's in there that I might be able to use. I don't like them in my driveway.
When I travel they're one more detail to be sure to ask someone to take care of so it doesn't alert the wrong people that we're not home. I use timers on lights throughout my house to make it look like someone's inside. Why those people who dump that trash in my driveway want to interfere with my peace of mind like that really offends me.
I'm going to find out who to talk to to get off their list. To me it's throwing trash in my driveway - I'd like to collect up about 6 months' worth and go dump it in THEIR driveway.
As far as the ones who actually approach my front door and attach junk to it - I hate them worse. I have 2 small dogs and they go bonkers whenever someone comes to the door. I work at home. When these people come here, they disturb my work day. I can't hear what I'm listening to because of the dogs, then I have to calm them down. Fortunately, I have a security camera on my front door and when I see those pests attaching something to my doorknob, I go out there and ask them to remove it and not come back.
I know how to find what I need. If you MUST advertise that kind of way, I'd sure prefer it in the mailbox.
Belle, I used your registration link... even though I have the feeling that since they "require" an email address that now I'm gonna get spammed...
...it will be nice if it works, I've asked the postal carrier if they can just not leave all that junk in my mailbox.. they said no... I tried to register the name "occupan" at my address but it wouldn't let me...
:) I hope so, too, Tom. I did all this years ago and I did anything and everything I could find to stop it. If I recall, it did take a while for things to trickle down to practically nothing, but it has worked.
Now that you've mentioned worry about spam... I'm worried if I put the wrong link in. :(
Why not try publishing a free, small 8 1/2 x 11 advertizing circular and distribute it to convenience stores, grocers, apartment buildings, retail stores and real estate offices? Just charge for advertizing.
Flyers at ones door require few words and key words to be large, if they are too wordy or what's being advertized takes more than 2 seconds for the reader to ascertain, they they'll wind up in the circular file and will be rendered usueless.
Some HOA's and residential developments, apartment buildings, etc have rules that don't allow flyers to be distributed. And it is very hard to find someone who will be responsibile and actually go door to door to all doors and not skip some doors, blocks, upstairs apartments, etc.
Each city if different, what works is unique to your area, and might not work somewhere else.
If I found that I was getting this much trash left on my door, I would stay home from work one day to wait for the person to bring it, then beat the sh!t out of them. I am sick and tired of these jackasses leaving their trash on my door. If I want their services, I will come and ask them for it.
If I sound bitter, it's because I hate people that fill up my mailbox with trash and those that leave trash on my door even more because it all falls and makes a mess when I open the door. Also, I'm bitter because it's just after 4am and my daughter has been up all night screaming, and there's nothing I can do for her since it appears she is teething. Maybe I should call up those numbers of the businesses inconsiderate enough to trash up my front door and record long VMs of her screaming.
It's unorthodox, but my doctor told me to give a half dose of Children's Benadryl before bedtime. (I forget the exact amount.) It not only made them drowsy, but it also alleviated the discomfort of teething.
I think you may be getting the general drift that bags of fliers are not really appreciated. Of course we have two statistical concerns here: the small sample size and the likelihood that animated dissenters are more likely to respond than agreers or the uncommitted. Still, I think you might reconsider this activity.
A quick note to Mr P Mosh & Doojable's about the benadryl. That works for some kids--making them sleepy, but it makes some kids hyper--mine were the ones that got hyper--so they were miserable AND hyper ARRRRGGGGGGHHH!!
As to my idea about the flyers, I see more people dislike them than are "okay" about them. My guess is that would be the response I would get from the homes I deliver them to. And would have to be aware that if a person who hates them was home while i dropped them off, I might get a face melting. When I read this the other day, George's was the last response, so the count of "okay's: and "No-ways" was close enough. I thought maybe I would carry a few $5 gift certificates--to something like Starbucks or something, and if someone stopped me at their door, I would apologize and give them one of the gift certificates. (I was guessing the percentage of people that would stop me at their door would be small). Being this would be my own little business, I wouldn't miss whole streets or houses.
So how can I know that the one house I am going to next might be the one where they were absolutely furious about it, and how can they know I am not the same person who left the flyers the day before and the day before that? And I'm not likely to keep a record of which houses I have gone to and which ones REALLY hate it. I thought it would be more polite to knock and ASK if they want a flyer, but I personally hate it when I have to go to the door if I am in the middle of something-- the flyers on my driveway or doorknob are a whole lot less bothersome (And i would look at every one of them! LOL!)
I absolutely hate confrontation, and hate it even worse when someone yells at me, so I'm kinda leaning against this idea! LOL!
But the suggestion from ~but now I see~ is a thought --publish a small advertising flyer and put it at convience stores--then people can choose to take them or not. It certainly would be less offensive to the people who absolutely hate the doorknob flyers!
...So how can I know that the one house I am going to next might be the one where they were absolutely furious about it...
My brother was a real "young businessman" when he had a "Green Sheet" (add newspaper. little news, just cheap want ads) paper route when he was a kid.
Each week he would not deliver a section, and those that complained, he made a list. Then he delivered to those who complained about not getting their Green Sheet.
The papers he did not deliver he saved up and sold at the recyclers. He had a Red Chevy convertible at the time and it would haul a lot of newspapers to the recycler.
That's what Brother Bob did to identify potential real customers.
I hope you can get something out of this. Bob had a great time doing it ("Don't you think this is the way Rockefeller started," he said to me one time.) :)
These *star* ratings which appear on our GS profile keep changing? What’s the deal and who are the folks doing the popularity ratings?
It isn’t The Way International at HQ voting on our comments by chance? Or are we being “monitored” by Big Brother behind a door marked with an unknown Avatar...Larry can you help me here?
This has been addressed elsewhere, but the gist of it is, when people look at your profile, they can vote on it. The number of stars you see is the average.
This has been addressed elsewhere, but the gist of it is, when people look at your profile, they can vote on it. The number of stars you see is the average.
George
That’s interesting because just the other day, I rode over to the sheriffs dept., the boys that monitor quality control and stuff, and they all got themselves *5* star ratings! Now just a readin’ thru a few of them posts, I was a wonderin’...who’s a ratin’ them sheriff’s postins those *5* stars? them or us civilians?
Bumpy, I don't know who the "sherrifs" are that you speak of... but I just went to your profile and spent about 3 minutes clicking on the stars for you...
Would everyone please stop by Bumpy's profile (at your liesure) and click on his stars please? A happy Bumpy is a good thing.
(I tried voting on mine... but I guess you can't!)
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GeorgeStGeorge
To me, a bag of flyers would be like the ad section in a newspaper: too much info I didin't want. I'd be less likely to pitch (at least, without looking at it) a single ad than I would a bunch of ads in a bag.
But that's just me.
George
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doojable
We get flyers like that now. I looked at them one or two... and even occasionally after that, but once I saw that the businesses weren't services I needed, I just tossed the whole bag in the trash.
Speaking as the potential recipient, I'd think that once a month is a bit much to get the same 6 to 10 flyers. Either distibute every other month or have something like 21 businesses and only showcase 7 at a time. At holidays, you can give a special price to the businesses and put all 21 in at once - for holiday specials and the like. BUT - I'd insist that to be a part of that holiday group distribution some special offer would be required.
Of course you'd have to have certain zipcodes targeted.
Just brainstorming...
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Tom Strange
we get the "valu-pak" (I think it's called) in the mail... get 'em once a week for years now... I've only opened them twice... but I do know that some folks open them cuz I've heard about the money I lost out on saving...
now... door hangers... we don't get a bunch in a bag, but lately we've been getting one long door hanger with 8 to 10 advertisements on it... I almost always take a quick glance at it and once took advantage of an oil change offer...
so you might try that... or what you're thinking about doing...
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WhiteDove
What a great idea now I can get all my pork specials coupons in one bag. :)
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Jim
Easier to dump 6 flyers in the recycling bin once than 6 individual times.
Honestly, I hate flyers. To me, they are no better than litter. They never offer anything I want and if I forget to take them in, they are a sign to thieves saying I'm not home.
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mstar1
Tom was right, There is a company that does that -"Valpak", I knew someone who worked for them for awhile. They sell franchises and locals run it, and have the whole setup worked out. They figure it so it is acheap way for Eds Market or Joes Roofing to each reach XX thousand households, then bulk mail the entire packet every week to a town , a few towns or a county depending on what the advertiser wants. They might throw in a "free donut with your coffee" coupon for a mom and pop restaurant somewhere, specials on oil changes and things like that, that small businesses use to attract people.
I know Valpak here, a small two man office, does OK. They sell the adv, design the flyers, print them, do the mailing, and the collecting-it seems to work for them.
Honestly, mine generally gets tossed, but if a small business can get even a small percentage of new customers out of a weekly mailing (or one of those baggies) they'd probably be doing OK.
The concept works, I dont see any reason to have to pay the franchise fee to do it..
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pond
Jim is right, it is litter.
in my town you get fined for putting up those pesky garage sale signs and for solicitation and handing out flyers is just that (advertisment )unwanted, to petition ) and here the police will ask you to move on and give you a ticket for litter and solication.
im not trying to dash your dreams but i suggest you check with your local zoning and ordinance before heading out or asking somone eles to do this, it could be illegal .
Also the value packs are delivered by the federal govt the US mail system, and they go through the regular checks and balance for safety.. remember the threat of the white powder?
here it would be prosecuted as a crime if you left papers of any type unless registered and oked by officials.
and yes i agree with it. or eles every jo with a great idea or a need would leave something to heck with that!
sorry but really.
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George Aar
I find this type of advertizing very intrusive and annoying.
Hey, it's MY front door, MY yard, MY porch. Stay the hell out, unless you're invited.
That's the way I would look at it. And the crap that comes in the mail? I get literally POUNDS of the junk every week.
Why should I have to deal with that mountain of litter? Grrrrr,
Not the way to endear your product or services to me
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Belle
It's conflicting because I know small business folk need to advertise and to do so as cheaply as possible. Val Pak is rather popular here in my area in addition to a "newsletter" called Everybody's Business or something like that. I like it better than Val Pak because it's in a "book" form whereas Val Pak is a bunch of little pieces of paper.
Regardless, I am a "paper hater" and despise finding those fliers on my driveway, on my front porch, tied to my doorknob, etc. I like to keep my yard neat and I do not like for people to know I'm not home. I very rarely even glance at those things and can't recall a single time when I have actually called on one of them. If I need something done, I generally ask a neighbor for who they use.
I'm extreme, though, I think. I have called all the credit card companies and told them not to send me a single piece of mail. I am totally paperless for all my bills that have that option. I locked access to my credit report so I don't get unsolicited credit card offers, insurance offers, and other junk mail generated through that method of 'market research'. I've also registered on the Do Not Mail list. All those things have worked.
The only mail I get now is very, very sparse - "occupant", magazine subscriptions and the occasional personal letter/card are the only things in my mailbox. I can go for days without getting a single piece of mail and I like it that way. :)
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bowtwi
We get 2 papers every Tuesday tossed into our driveway. I've looked through them once or twice in the 3 years I've lived in this home. I don't care what's in there that I might be able to use. I don't like them in my driveway.
When I travel they're one more detail to be sure to ask someone to take care of so it doesn't alert the wrong people that we're not home. I use timers on lights throughout my house to make it look like someone's inside. Why those people who dump that trash in my driveway want to interfere with my peace of mind like that really offends me.
I'm going to find out who to talk to to get off their list. To me it's throwing trash in my driveway - I'd like to collect up about 6 months' worth and go dump it in THEIR driveway.
As far as the ones who actually approach my front door and attach junk to it - I hate them worse. I have 2 small dogs and they go bonkers whenever someone comes to the door. I work at home. When these people come here, they disturb my work day. I can't hear what I'm listening to because of the dogs, then I have to calm them down. Fortunately, I have a security camera on my front door and when I see those pests attaching something to my doorknob, I go out there and ask them to remove it and not come back.
I know how to find what I need. If you MUST advertise that kind of way, I'd sure prefer it in the mailbox.
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Tom Strange
Belle, I used your registration link... even though I have the feeling that since they "require" an email address that now I'm gonna get spammed...
...it will be nice if it works, I've asked the postal carrier if they can just not leave all that junk in my mailbox.. they said no... I tried to register the name "occupan" at my address but it wouldn't let me...
thank you (I hope)
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Belle
:) I hope so, too, Tom. I did all this years ago and I did anything and everything I could find to stop it. If I recall, it did take a while for things to trickle down to practically nothing, but it has worked.
Now that you've mentioned worry about spam... I'm worried if I put the wrong link in. :(
Here's more that a person can do to eliminate junk mail. And here.
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now I see
Why not try publishing a free, small 8 1/2 x 11 advertizing circular and distribute it to convenience stores, grocers, apartment buildings, retail stores and real estate offices? Just charge for advertizing.
Flyers at ones door require few words and key words to be large, if they are too wordy or what's being advertized takes more than 2 seconds for the reader to ascertain, they they'll wind up in the circular file and will be rendered usueless.
Some HOA's and residential developments, apartment buildings, etc have rules that don't allow flyers to be distributed. And it is very hard to find someone who will be responsibile and actually go door to door to all doors and not skip some doors, blocks, upstairs apartments, etc.
Each city if different, what works is unique to your area, and might not work somewhere else.
Good luck!
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Mister P-Mosh
If I found that I was getting this much trash left on my door, I would stay home from work one day to wait for the person to bring it, then beat the sh!t out of them. I am sick and tired of these jackasses leaving their trash on my door. If I want their services, I will come and ask them for it.
If I sound bitter, it's because I hate people that fill up my mailbox with trash and those that leave trash on my door even more because it all falls and makes a mess when I open the door. Also, I'm bitter because it's just after 4am and my daughter has been up all night screaming, and there's nothing I can do for her since it appears she is teething. Maybe I should call up those numbers of the businesses inconsiderate enough to trash up my front door and record long VMs of her screaming.
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bowtwi
Mr. P - have you tried zweibach toast for your daughter's teething?
My kids both seemed like that really gave them relief. They didn't cry while gnawing on the toast.
It's messy, but they didn't cry while gnawing on the toast.
I'm sure you've tried Oragel or some topical numb-er and/or baby Tylenol.
How to make zweibach toast
Cut wheat bread in slices not too thin. Place in a warm, not hot,
oven, and allow it to remain until thoroughly dry and crisp. Place in
a toaster or a wire broiler over a hot fire and toast a golden brown
and allow it to remain in the oven until toasted. Keep in cool place
until used. Zweibach is considered more wholesome than fresh bread.
(From http://www.homemadecookies.ca/Recipe/zweibach.html)
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doojable
Hey Mr. P -
It's unorthodox, but my doctor told me to give a half dose of Children's Benadryl before bedtime. (I forget the exact amount.) It not only made them drowsy, but it also alleviated the discomfort of teething.
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Tom Strange
See! ...THIS is what GSC is all about!
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GeorgeStGeorge
Psalmie,
I think you may be getting the general drift that bags of fliers are not really appreciated. Of course we have two statistical concerns here: the small sample size and the likelihood that animated dissenters are more likely to respond than agreers or the uncommitted. Still, I think you might reconsider this activity.
George
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Psalm 71 one
Thank you all, your input is valuable to me.
A quick note to Mr P Mosh & Doojable's about the benadryl. That works for some kids--making them sleepy, but it makes some kids hyper--mine were the ones that got hyper--so they were miserable AND hyper ARRRRGGGGGGHHH!!
As to my idea about the flyers, I see more people dislike them than are "okay" about them. My guess is that would be the response I would get from the homes I deliver them to. And would have to be aware that if a person who hates them was home while i dropped them off, I might get a face melting. When I read this the other day, George's was the last response, so the count of "okay's: and "No-ways" was close enough. I thought maybe I would carry a few $5 gift certificates--to something like Starbucks or something, and if someone stopped me at their door, I would apologize and give them one of the gift certificates. (I was guessing the percentage of people that would stop me at their door would be small). Being this would be my own little business, I wouldn't miss whole streets or houses.
So how can I know that the one house I am going to next might be the one where they were absolutely furious about it, and how can they know I am not the same person who left the flyers the day before and the day before that? And I'm not likely to keep a record of which houses I have gone to and which ones REALLY hate it. I thought it would be more polite to knock and ASK if they want a flyer, but I personally hate it when I have to go to the door if I am in the middle of something-- the flyers on my driveway or doorknob are a whole lot less bothersome (And i would look at every one of them! LOL!)
I absolutely hate confrontation, and hate it even worse when someone yells at me, so I'm kinda leaning against this idea! LOL!
But the suggestion from ~but now I see~ is a thought --publish a small advertising flyer and put it at convience stores--then people can choose to take them or not. It certainly would be less offensive to the people who absolutely hate the doorknob flyers!
Thanks!
thanks George! We were posting at the same time!
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Kit Sober
Each week he would not deliver a section, and those that complained, he made a list. Then he delivered to those who complained about not getting their Green Sheet.
The papers he did not deliver he saved up and sold at the recyclers. He had a Red Chevy convertible at the time and it would haul a lot of newspapers to the recycler.
That's what Brother Bob did to identify potential real customers.
I hope you can get something out of this. Bob had a great time doing it ("Don't you think this is the way Rockefeller started," he said to me one time.) :)
In hope,
Kit
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Bumpy
This is my “market research” question...
These *star* ratings which appear on our GS profile keep changing? What’s the deal and who are the folks doing the popularity ratings?
It isn’t The Way International at HQ voting on our comments by chance? Or are we being “monitored” by Big Brother behind a door marked with an unknown Avatar...Larry can you help me here?
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GeorgeStGeorge
This has been addressed elsewhere, but the gist of it is, when people look at your profile, they can vote on it. The number of stars you see is the average.
George
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Bumpy
That’s interesting because just the other day, I rode over to the sheriffs dept., the boys that monitor quality control and stuff, and they all got themselves *5* star ratings! Now just a readin’ thru a few of them posts, I was a wonderin’...who’s a ratin’ them sheriff’s postins those *5* stars? them or us civilians?
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Tom Strange
Bumpy, I don't know who the "sherrifs" are that you speak of... but I just went to your profile and spent about 3 minutes clicking on the stars for you...
Would everyone please stop by Bumpy's profile (at your liesure) and click on his stars please? A happy Bumpy is a good thing.
(I tried voting on mine... but I guess you can't!)
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