How To Make And Use Your Own 3D Ad Cards

photo credit: treviño

In this category I want to focus on different approaches for us to effectively market our blogs (or anything else, why not?).

Business cards have been around for a while, and they seem to work, make a good impression on people. The purpose of Ad Cards is to advertise, and not at all to be exchanged in a business matter. Business cards are simple, elegant, and meant to be kept in your wallet and be given to people you interact with, to introduce yourself or your business. Ad Cards are not meant to be kept in a wallet, are not meant to be handed out to individuals you meet, but meant to advertise your business aggressively, and “scream”  ”take me with you!”.

Make some unique looking cards. You can find examples of what I mean on the Internet. If you don’t have the money to invest in cards, do it yourself. They might not look as good, but it will still be effective, and in time you can improve your style.

For example, buy some thick paper (like the one used for the cards), you can find it cheap at Wallmart, in big sheets of all colours. You can buy a printer that prints on thick paper and use it all the time, or you can print on regular paper and then glue it to the thick paper.

Use a program like MicrosoftWord to edit your card, add pictures, borders, colours, experiment and see what works for you. Word is really easy to use, if you’re more advanced, you can use programs like Photoshop.

Once you make a bunch of these cards, cut them off and add something extra to make them pop out. For example, buy some bright material and glue a piece on each of the cards, in the shape of a heart, or if it’s winter you can add a Santa picture to the card, then glue some real cotton on his beard on each. That will make them fun, and stand out against the usual, boring cards. You can ask different stores to hold your cards for free, tell them you’ll write a good review about the store on your blog, and everybody will love those cards for the Holidays!

You need to take a pencil and paper first, and brainstorm some ideas. You have a site about cooking? You can draw a fat cook (or use someone else’s drawing), use a program to add some text to it: “The Big Fat Cook recommends: www.thecookinggoodsite.com Yuuummy!” Buy some small buttons and glue one or two on the card where the cook’s coat is. Then buy some crepe paper and add a bit to his hat to give it some dimension. This glued-on things will really make the card pop out, and look 3D. Then take them to stores that sell gourmet foods, bakeries, etc.

You have a site about music? Why not buy really cheap CDs and design you card in a round shape?  Print it, cut it in the dimensions of the CD and glue it on. Now you’ll have a CD card! Take those CDs to music stores, and they’ll be a hit!

Another thing you can do is talk to the owner of the store before making the cards. Tell him that you want to advertise in his store, and say you’ll return the favour by writing about his business on your site and add his store’s name on the business cards. If you have different stores you’re advertising in, you can make different looking cards for each, and of course give the credit to the location they’re in.

You can even advertise a small, personal blog in this way. Just say something on the cards like: “A personal blog about my interests - you are more than welcome to visit and share your thoughts!”, then place the cards in small massage parlours, hair salons, etc. If you make them look interesting enough, the owner will be more than glad to keep them there. You can advertise their business on one side, and yours on the other.

 Conclusion

If you don’t have the money to spend on professional ad cards, it’s easy and cheap to make your own.

Look at other ad cards you see in stores, next to the register, or in doctor’s offices, salons, etc., and think what you like and don’t like about them. Try to make yours better.

Instead of making the ad cards plain, add some dimension, that will make them pop out and seem 3D. Think about the theme of the store they’ll be in, about an upcoming holiday, or anything else that might sparkle interest.

The element of interest on your ad card can be controversial (like a question on top saying “Is Barack Obama The Right One Or Not? find out on this site:….), funny (a funny picture), inviting, cute, just think of something that will make it stand out. 

Plain is not the way to go with ad cards, so use colour and size to your advantage, and make them as “unusual” as possible.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the post. What do you think about ad cards? Did you ever try real-world advertising? Would you? Do you have any other ideas? Please leave a comment if you have anything to say (even if you don’t).

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