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There is a big money business that can be started for next tonothing, with low risk, that involves giving away special cards.These cards are DISCOUNT CARDS, wallet-sized cards that allowthe bearer to receive discounts at participating businessesThese businesses pay to have their advertisement on the card.They profit from the increased exposure and from gaining newcustomers who come in for the discount and become returncustomers. The card-holders benefit from the discounts they canreceive. And YOU benefit from the profitable advertising yousell!

This is a relatively simple business to explain. Here’s anoverview:

Design your card.

Figure your expenses and set your ad prices.

Contact businesses that frequently use discounts or coupons(potential advertisers for you) either in person or by mail,with an information package.

Gather the ads (and the money!) and print them together onwallet-sized cards.

Distribute the cards to the public.

That’s all there basically is to it. Of course, there are moredetails you need to know, and those will be covered in thisreport.

This business works especially well if there is a college inyour town, or any large number of people who either vacationthere or move to town, but it can be run successfully in anyarea. The best part (besides money) is that you can run thisbusiness from your kitchen table! Here’s exactly what you needto do to make great profits in the discount card business.

First, think up a name for your card. A catchy name that haswords like DISCOUNT, SAVER, MONEY, BUCKS, BIG, FREE or otherdollar-saving words will stick in people’s minds. If you (or afriend) have artistic ability, design a logo, either with yourcard’s name, or a picture conveying the money-saving features ofthe card.

Next, design how your card will look. It should fit easily intoa wallet, so stick to credit card size. On the front, your logoshould appear, along with, at most, six ads, in three columns oftwo. The back should be divided into, at most, twenty ad spaces,again in three columns (7 on the sides, 6 in the middle). Thismight sound like a lot, but they will be readable. Don’t forgetto put your business name, address and phone on the front orback, at the bottom of the card.

You should also put together a poster with your logo andinformation about the card. Leave space for a list of locationswhere the card can be obtained, and for a list of theadvertising businesses. This poster will be inexpensive for yourprinter to produce, and can be produced on your computer, if youhave one, reducing your expenses even further.

Now figure your costs. The major cost to you will be printing,so check with a number of printers for price quotes. You willwant a one or two color glossy card, with price quotes forquantities for 1,000 - 10,000 cards. Find out at what quantitiessignificant price breaks occur. This can help determine exactlyhow many cards you want to produce and distribute. This numberwill be important when it comes to contacting your advertisers.

Don’t be put off by how much the cards will cost! You won’t haveto worry about laying out a lot of money for the production ofthe cards, because you should require that advertisers pay atleast half of their advertising price at the time they decide toadvertise, the remainder when cards are distributed. Somebusinesses will prefer to pay 100% up front, which is just fine!You shouldn’t deal with businesses that won’t pay anything upfront, unless you have some desire to deal with collectionheadaches.

You should be thinking about how to distribute these cards. Ifthere is a college in your town, here’s a few ideas. Contact theadmissions department at the college, explain your discountcard, and see if they would consider putting a card into theorientation materials each incoming student gets. Also, find outplaces where you may put a stack of cards for students to take.Prime locations are cafeterias and dining halls, snack bars,libraries and any other places where students group.

For the general public, great distribution spots are similar tothe college spots. Restaurants, grocery stores, theaters,apartment buildings, anywhere where there are large groups ofpeople. Don’t forget that you can give a good supply to eachadvertiser, to give free to their customers. All you need to dois a few good, persuasive phone calls, and your distributionwill be taken care of easily. Stress to the person you’respeaking with that making the cards available to their customerswill be good business for them, even if they don’t advertise onthe card, because their customers will appreciate being giventhese discounts and will look upon the business as their friendfor doing so.

Now that you have your printing quotes, determine how much youcan charge for advertising. Estimate what your phone,advertising, driving and postage expenses will be. Lump theseall together and you have an idea of what your costs will be.Now, multiply that figure by five. Divide that figure by thetotal number of advertisers you will have on your card. Thenumber you end up with is the average price you could charge perad. Does this sound reasonable, considering the number of cardsyou’ll be distributing? If so, it should make a good startingpoint.

For example, if you are planning to distribute 8,000 cards with26 advertisers, and your estimated expenses will be $1,200, theformula is ($1,200 x 5)/26, or $230-77 average ad price ($28-85per thousand), and your profit would be $4,800. Considering thebenefits the advertiser will get from the cards (they will bekept and used for a long time, usually 3 to 6 months, and 8,000people will be exposed to their ad repeatedly over that periodof time), this will probably be reasonable. You need to considerthe economy in your area, the size of your area, and anycompetition you might have, as this can effect what you may beable to charge.

When you decide how much to charge for ads, here are a fewthings to keep in mind. Ads on the front of the card should bemuch higher priced than on the back, and, as a result, should beslightly larger. On the back you can set two different ad ratesby putting using “boxed ads.” An ad with a black box around itwill be noticed more than one without, so it can be slightlyhigher. A good example of ad prices corresponding to the aboveaverage ad price would be $200 for a plain ad on the back of thecard, $230 for a boxed ad on the back, and $260 for an ad on thefront of the card.

Now’s the time to contact potential advertisers.  Here is ashort list of the types of businesses that will be most likelyto take advantage of this service:

Restaurants, particularly fast-food and snack establishments

Theaters

Oil change and auto parts businesses

Hair salons

Printers

Travel agencies

Formal wear stores

Dry cleaners

Clothing stores

This is not a complete list, but it should give you an idea ofthe types of businesses you need to contact.

Put together a list of the businesses you want to contact, andsend them a sales package with full details about the cards, thepopulation you will be distributing them to, and ad rates.Include a postcard they can use to contact you if they’reinterested. Here is an example of what you can put on the card:

Yes, I am interested in talking with you about (card name). Agood time to contact me would be _____________.  Please ____call or ____ visit.

Name _____________________________________

Business __________________________________

Address ___________________________________

__________________________________________

Phone ______________     Fax ____________________

If you are selling 26 ads, try to send information to at least200 businesses. This will help you easily get enough interestedbusinesses.

When you contact businesses in person, be professional. Breakall the costs down so you can show them exactly how inexpensivethis advertising will be. For example, if your card will be”active” for six months, distributed to 8,000 college studentsand the ad the business is considering is $230, show them thatit will only cost 4/10 of a cent per month per cardholder ($230divided by 8,000 people, divided by 6 months)! Also, show themthat you’re distributing the cards to an audience that will needand use their services. College students will always buy pizza,so if a particular pizza restaurant can snare the incomingstudents with this discount card, they’ll have the edge over theother pizza restaurants. This is how you will make successfulsales. Stress the benefits that the business will get fromadvertising with you, as well as the fact that this advertisingis targeted to a specific group, instead of everyone, which willmake this advertising more effective than, say, a newspaper ad.Also, let them know that you will be preparing postersadvertising the card and the businesses that are advertising onit, and that this will be extra FREE advertising for them.

When the conversation moves to payment, insist (nicely!) thatthe business pay at least half up front as a good faith gesture.You are trusting them to pay the remainder, as they are trustingyou to deliver on your promises. Honest business owners shouldhave no problem with this.

Advertising copy must be direct and short, due to the limitedspace. Ads should be three lines at most, with the first linefor the business name and phone, second line for a shortdescription of the business, and third line for discount. Forexample,

JOE’S PIZZA 555-1234.

Best pizza in town!

10% off large pizza.

When you have your advertisers and their ads, get together withthe printer you’ve chosen. Your printer will help you with thecard layout, if you’re inexperienced. If you have a computer anda good typesetting program, you may be able to produce themasters for the printer, lowering your expenses.

While the cards are at the printers, put up your posters. Putthem in high traffic areas where the people you will bedistributing the cards to will see them. Always get permissionbefore you put the posters up.

When the cards are done, distribute them to the locations you’vepicked out, and collect the remaining balances from youradvertisers. This whole process can be done in your spare time,and should take no than four to six weeks. The example aboveyielded a $4,800 profit, which is pretty good for that shortamount of time!

Once you’ve done one card, do another one! Differentiate it fromthe first by using a different name distribution to a differentgroup of people, and different advertisers. Here are some targetconsumers groups to start with:

Senior citizens

High school students

Families with children

Women only / men only

Singles

By distributing your cards to highly targeted markets likethese, and contacting businesses that cater to these groups, youcan successfully build up a full-time business that will behighly profitable!