By Jack Bastide

According to the Guinness book of World Records the Greatest Salesman  of all time was Joe Girard.   During his fifteen year selling career, he sold 13,001 cars … an amazing feat.  What was his secret?  Greeting Cards! Every month, every person who had ever bought a car from him got a greeting card. It didn’t matter if it was Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, or the person’s birthday … Joe was a card sending machine!

By sending cards Joe was able to keep his name in front of his customers to the point where it entered their subconscious.   In the minds of his customers Joe had become part of the family; in fact he sent them more cards then their real family did!. When they (or somebody they knew) needed a new car the first person they thought of was Joe!

Last year my wife and I each bought a new Jeep … a Grand Cherokee for myself and a Jeep Liberty for her.  After the guy sold me my Grand Cherokee I never heard from him again. It was quite a different story with the person who sold us my wife’s Jeep Liberty. If you would ask me right now who sold me the Grand Cherokee I couldn’t tell you. If you asked me who sold us the Jeep Liberty well that’s easy … It’s Martha of course!

A few months after we bought the Liberty it was my birthday … I got a birthday card in the mail from Martha. The next month was my wife’s birthday and she got a card too! Martha sent us a nice holiday card as well.  Last month was the one year anniversary of us buying the car … would you believe she sent us an anniversary card? So here’s the million dollar question … Who am I going to buy my next car from? Martha of course!

A friend of mine is an attorney and he built his business by sending birthday cards to the children of his clients.  He would often get a call from the parents thanking him for the card and recommending a friend or family member who needed an attorney!

Who else can use this technique? Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, Sales People, Insurance Agents, Dentists, Doctors, Chiropractors, Printers, Network Marketers, Small Business Owners, Consultants, Business Coaches etc. In fact I have a hard time thinking of anybody who can’t use Greeting cards to build their business

Power Card Sending Techniques

1 – Send Birthday Cards To Your Clients

Whenever you get a new client ask them for their Birthday and send them a birthday card. You may be the only one doing it! This will cement your image in their mind and when they need you services they will think of you instead of your competitors

2 – Send Birthday Cards To Your Clients Children

This is a Killer Technique which was first introduced to me by my friend the attorney. What do you think is going to happen when the child receives the card? Do you think he may go to his parents and ask “Mommy who is this John Smith, CPA guy who sent me a birthday card?”   Out of the mouths of babes …Relationship marketing at its best!

3 – Send Cards At Unusual Times

Starting right after Thanksgiving until right before Christmas more cards are sent then any other time of the year. Companies feel obligated to send a holiday card once a year. The problem is people are getting so many cards yours will be lost in the shuffle

Now you have to Send a Holiday Card  but there are other cards you can send throughout the year. Why not Send a “Happy Groundhog Day“Card?  How about a “Happy First Day of Spring” Card?  These cards will stand out a lot more then simply sending a once a year Christmas card

4 – Put Your Picture On The Card

Remember the purpose of sending card is to build a relationship with you client and keep your name in their mind. There’s no better way to do that then sending your picture in the card. Studies have been shown that people will not throw out a business card with a persons photo  on it … well the same goes for Greeting cards

5 – Enclose A Gift

Want to really impress a client? Enclose a gift in the card!  If you can find  a store that your client likes send them a gift certificate for that store. If not,  enclose a gift card for a popular store like Waldenbooks or Starbucks.

6 – Design A Custom Card

There are places you can go to get a custom greeting card designed with your logo, your personal photo or anything else you want. This is an incredible way of branding yourself and your business

7 – Send Unexpected Cards to “Future Clients”

Is there anybody you would like to meet but can’t get past the gate keeper? This technique works like a charm. Get their address from their website and send them a greeting card … you will be amazed with the results.  I have used this technique to my advantage many times … It Works!

With the new technology it’s not necessary to spend your time in the card store. There are online card sending services where you can send  “REAL” physical greeting cards from your computer.  The one I use is http://www.SendCardsFast.com They have a ton of features and are very inexpensive (under $1 a card).

One time I wanted to get in touch with a well known Internet Marketer and author. I tried emailing him with no response. I went to his website got his Physical address and sent him a card. I got an email from him 3 days letter with his home phone number!

I have since repeated the process numerous times with great results. One technique that I have used is to go to their website, download their picture and upload it to the Greeting card. When they open the card they are starting at a picture of themselves. … needless to say this grabs their attention a bit!

So whether you are looking to build relationships with current customers or gain new ones … “Success is In the Cards!”

Copyright © Jack Bastide All rights Reserved

Jack Bastide is a Marketing Specialist and an  Entrepreneur. His revolutionary techniques will help get YOU get more business Contact him at:  http://www.JackBastide.com Get a FREE $97 Report On How To Fire your Boss and Create Wealth at http://www.SickOfTheBoss.com

One of the most powerful, yet over looked weapons in your marketing arsenal is your business card. If designed properly this little 3 x 2.5 piece of paper will not only let people know how to contact you it will also tell them why they should contact you. In order to be effective and get you more business your Business card must stand out, and get noticed.

How a distinctive business card resulted in a $5,000 Sale

A friend of mine and his wife recently went furniture shopping. By the end of the day they had gone to 8 stores and had 8 Business cards. 7 of the Business Cards were your garden variety white cards with one or two color writing on them.

One card was a little different. The salesman, we will call him Bob, had decided to make his card stand out a little by putting his picture on it along with a couple of color pictures of his furniture. Bob’s business card made an immediate impression.

The next day they flipped through the all the business cards that they had received the previous day. They immediately remembered Bob from his business card. They went to Bob’s store and spent over $5,000! All because of a business card.

5 Tips to make your Business Card Stand out

1 – Use Full Color Printing

In the old days full color printing (4 color printing) was extremely expensive. You could pay over $200 /1000 for high quality full color cards. Prices have dropped and you can now get beautiful full color cards printed for about the same price as a plain two color card.

2 – Use a Tagline

A “tagline” is a one sentence benefit statement. Think of your Business card as a “Mini Billboard”. Pretend that you are writing a classified ad for a newspaper. You only have a small amount of space to describe your product or service in an intriguing way … what would you write to describe it? For example: A Realtor could say “Helping Build dreams one home at a time”

3 – Put a picture on it!

I highly recommend that you put a picture on your business card. Studies have shown that people are more likely to hold on to a Business card with a photo on it.  It could be your picture, a picture of your product,  or a combination of both. Picture cards get attention!

4 – Don’t use Business Card “Templates”

There are websites you can go to online where you can choose from pre-made business card designs called templates.  The problem with this is that the more people who use these templates the more you card starts to look like everybody else’s. You want to have a business card that stands out from everybody else’s, not one that gets lost in the crowd.

5 – Let a Professional Design It

Unless you are a professional graphic designer designing your own card is like performing root canal on yourself. Its going to take a lot of time and you may not be happy with the results. Leave the designing to the professionals and use you time doing what you do best … selling your product or service!

Copyright © Jack Bastide  All rights Reserved

How Can I Improve My Credit Score

Your credit score lets lenders know what kind of a credit risk you are. They know whether to trust you and give you better loan rates. Landlords can determine whether you are likely to pay your rent on time. Employers can use your credit score to determine whether to trust you with a high-responsibility job that requires you to handle money.

So if you are wondering “How Can I Improve my Credit Score” here are some tips:

1. Pay Down Your Debts – Lenders like to see that you are using less than 50% of your available credit. So if you limit on a particular card is $5,000 try to keep the balance below $2500 on that particular card.

2. Be careful of inquiries on your credit report – Every time you apply for credit you get an inquiry on your credit report. Lender don’t like to see a lot of inquires at once because it looks like you are applying for a lot of credit and trying to overextend yourself.

3. Dispute errors on your credit report – Credit agencies aren’t perfect and make mistakes. You should make it a habit of getting a copy of all 3 credit reports and disputing any inaccurate information.

You can get a Free Copy of your Credit Report by contacting the 3 Major Agencies

Experian ……….  888-397-3742  ….  www.Experian.com

Equifax …………   800-685-1111  ….   www.Equifax.com

TransUnion …..    800-888-4213 ….  www.TransUnion.com

4. Pay your bills on time - 35% of your Credit Score is determined by how you pay your bills. This easy step is one of the best ways to boost your credit score.

5. Avoid excessive credit cards – Having a lot of credit cards, even if you aren’t using them, can lower your credit score. Don’t apply for lots of credit cards “just in case” you need them. Try to keep to only one or two credit cards

By taking these small but powerful steps you can have a dramatic impact on your financial life

Copyright © Jack Bastide  All rights Reserved