Leafleting | Letterbox marketing | advertise your business

Finding Pablo

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:57:42 +0000

It was a call like any other, asking for a quote, but the distribution was needed very fast.

What is it regarding? We asked.

Well…we have lost our cat, from many days we have tried to deliver fliers ourselves but with no success, we think is the time to call the professionals to cover larger areas, can you help ASAP?!

Of course we will try, it’s a bit tight as a deadline, but we will do our best.

They were two kind girls, Kamlyn & Kate, very upset that their cat was nowhere to be seen.

During our course of work we receive some unusual requests, some are emergency ones to notify the community late at night about a burst water-pipe, some are weird ones a Uni’s PR lady wanting us to pull people from the street, “could we persuade members of the public to register and commit 4-5 years of their life just like that?” – of course not.

Others, are stranger still, like the suburban GB who found her hubby with another woman in bed, printed 300 home-made fliers and wanted us to find a printer to print 5.000 more and stick them on trees, shops and drop them through letterboxes to tell “whole world” Tomorrow…what a cad he was. Of course we said no, we have rules and can’t deliver defamatory or insulting material despite “the pay being very good” in her own words. We have quite some stories to tell. The story of Pablo is a heartwarming one. Usually we just complete a good delivery and our operatives move onto the next job, not all clients tell us about returns or the flow of inquiries and anyhow most know that returns with the best possible delivery are outside of our control, but Finding Pablo is one of these tales that can make our job worthwhile and raise a smile.

In their Thank You note they wrote:

Hi the team at Lads-3DJust wanted to say thank you for such a speedy service last week.

It might have been a bit of a strange one but it worked!

Someone called last night who had been sheltering Pablo the cat for the last 3 weeks, and he’s now safely home.

We can’t thank you enough.Best wishes, Kate D.

It was one of those days, all the guys and girls working in that area couldn’t have been happier. These two girls, our clients, spent a lot to find their beloved cat, a 10 month old tabby called Pablo. He was well kept, micro-chipped and received the best care and attention.

To find him, it took his owners persistence and love, a printing company, a distributing company [LADS-3D] and two teams of our operatives covering a large area. All in all, in our estimation around 20 people were involved. Pablo was found. Operation “Finding Pablo” was a success.

From now on he will be kept on a shorter leash.

Teamwork

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:53:58 +0000

The concept of teamwork is extremely important to the success of our teams. Teamwork is the capability to comprehend and recognize the diverse strengths and abilities in a group setting and then applying them to one final solution.

We always try to help the team-members learn from each other by combining the efforts of more experienced operatives with the newer ones coming through. Any group of people trying to achieve a common goal, in our case a good distribution rate, should realize that this can only be completed by the co-operative efforts of every one.

Team leaders monitor performance based on targets reached, also on speed and thoroughness of delivery in order to find solutions to maximize performance. By nature Leaflet Distribution is hard physical work, teams working outside in the field, need monitoring, the right amount of organization and constant logistical support.

The key to a successful distribution is Adaptation. Leafleting takes us to different places. Area density can change, as can the speed of delivery and client’s specifications also vary, in turn it is up to our distributors to adapt very fast to any change that is needed. Working outside in different weather conditions and at different parts of the city makes every job a little different than the previous one.

All of our teams understand that without Teamwork a successful delivery will not be possible, that is why all individual operatives are aware at all times that Leaflet Distribution is a collective effort.

Up to December last year one of the best teams was Red Team directed by Anil, working with Sam, Raj and Deepak, the guys did area saturation in Kensington, Chelsea, Noting Hill, Holland park and Shepherds Bush.

This month’s example is the Green Team that covers Camden Town, St Johns Wood-Maida Vale and Hampstead areas. Rakesh, Paveen [T. Leader] Mo and Manu.

Promotions and Handouts Pt II

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:35:00 +0000

Some of our clients prefer Handouts rather than door to door for several reasons:

handouts allow you to target the campaign more efficiently
a certain group can be targeted with accuracy
useful feedback given to advertisers by the public
our operatives can engage with the members of the public
the response rate, sometimes, is better than d-2-d.

Handouts will bring success if the leaflet is cleverly designed to attract the client’s interest, if some special offers are included and adding a voucher or a discount for your perspective clients.

An attractive Promotional Material combined with benefits and discounts for your client, has more chance to catch the attention of anyone reading your fliers.

Usually handouts are carried out in high density areas like shopping centers, tube stations, stadiums, etc. but also in supermarkets, main roads, busy junctions-traffic lights etc.

Whatever your needs maybe, with any idea you want to discuss, write to us with your plans and at LADS-3D we will make sure prepare a course of action tailor made for your business alone and how to get the best from your Local Advertising Campaign.

Seasons Greetings

admin — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:36:30 +0000

At LADS-3D we leave a busy year behind, so many things to remember and talk about. Different situations, new clients, old ones we have become friends and many, many stories.

We’d like to remember our team members, their hard work, charities we support [all charities we deliver for get a 10% discount] and of course the main point has to be this Season of Festivities and Good Will. To all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

What is the best leaflet format?

admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:06:16 +0000

The question we get most asked by many customers is:

What is the best leaflet format?

It depends on the business you run. If you want your leaflet to be like a letter (an estate agent) then it could be A4, if you want to include some information but to keep it short, with some prices, directions and offers then A5 is the answer. For a shorter message, to use your flyer as a token, voucher or as a ticket, then A6 fits the brief.

As you are aware A4 is the standard printing paper, fold that in half you have A5, if A5 is folded in half again then we have the A6 –postcard size [ A6 is ¼ of the standard A4] Typically, a leaflet will be produced in these different sizes, A4, A5 or A6.

A4 - 210mm x 297mm. A4 size is best used for large amounts of information. The larger size of the A4 format makes it possible for double sided leaflets to be folded to produce multipage leaflets such as 4 page A5 leaflets, 6 page DL leaflets etc.

A5 -148mm x 210mm. A5 has room for a good amount of information and may be better suited to applications where size is a consideration such as mail shots or door-to-door leaflet drops. A5 leaflets can be printed on both sides.

A5 leaflet as delivered by LADS-3D for www.capitalhomesestates.co.uk

Visit CapitalHomes, Estate agents operating in London. A reputable player in the UK Real Estate Industry, with emphasis on the Greater London area.

A6 -105mm x 148mm. small amounts of information, used as handouts to promote specific businesses or events in a more general way. A6 on some considerable gsm ( 300 + ) are easy to deliver, to keep and pass on that other formats.

Eurocenters A6 flier an International English School, as delivered by LADS 3D. Visit Eurocentres web-page, one of leading colleges in UK with 30 centers and students worldwide. Personal & business tuition & courses, Eurocenter gives Cambridge accredited degress and certificates, English language preparations up to academic level. They are regular clients of ours www.eurocentres.com/en

We distribute them in 4 busy centres as Handouts in Victoria tube st. South Kensington, Knightsbridge and Sloane Square. Distribution door to door the were separated in two parts, Chelsea, Fulham, Victoria, Belgravia, Batersea and Clapham, also in Greenwich, Blackheath and Beckenham.

DL or 1/3rd A4 DL or 1/3rd 99mm x 210mm. This popular size is often referred to as a DL leaflet, (the term is from the envelope size of it). DL leaflets offers economy and an effective size, they can be double or single side.

It is up to you to chose if you want your Leaflets Printed on 1 side or both.
Single Side Single sided leaflets are a good option if on a budget and where the info has to be kept at a minimum, like street handouts, letterbox deliveries, promotions of particular events.Double Side If the amount of info is considerable and you want to go for a creative design then double sided leaflets are the one to consider and compose properly, then to find a good printer.

Folding - Using Imagination Why don’t you make your investment and money go further, with some creative thinking anyone can fold large format leaflets to create multi-page ones. That will tell your clients that you are a serious business, creative and intelligent. Also it will give you the chance to divide your leaflet in chapters, subheadings and so on. Something that if done on a brochure, almanac, etc will cost considerably more. Imaginative ways to save money and add Pages & Content.

*A4 folded in half = 4 page A5 leaflet. Fold A4 twice vertically, it will produce a 6 page DL one (1/3 of A4). A mini brochure for the fraction of the cost.

Leafleting or Cold Calling

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:53:43 +0000

While someone might suggest that leafleting, technically, is similar to cold calling, I will argue that it is not. With a leaflet you are in control, what to say ( include) and leave the other one to make up his mind, in his own time whether they want your services/ products or not.

Cold calling is aggressive, interrupts your day and mostly proves to be counter-productive. For more info on cold-calling, read this Freer e-book Frank J. Rumbauskas, http://www.nevercoldcall.com/ColdCalling.pdf

1. Cold calling destroys your status as a business equal.

2. Nobody likes having their day interrupted by a sales pitch no matter how good or well delivered it is.

3. It is invasive and disruptive

4. People do not like to be sold to

5. It’s limited to the number of people you can reach through only one or two mediums

6. It is a whole lot easier in the information age to find buyers rather than sell to people

7. The conversion and drop out rate for cold call generated appointments is several times higher than getting buyers to come to you

8. You can sell without cold calling and cut out 90% of the time you would spend in situations that will not buy.

9. Spending time in situations that will not buy is the number one reason sales people and new businesses fail

10. I could easily go on.

Buying and self marketing. It’s a difficult one to understand at first, but essentially “buying”, as Frank suggests, is the act of willingly purchasing something that someone needs – whereas “selling” is attempting to convince someone to purchase something whether they need it or not.

Self marketing, as Frank discusses, is about leverage and about scaled down, low-cost, marketing efforts to help promote and market you and your business. These include:

• Use flyers and use a flyer distribution company to make it automatic

• Use email instead of phone, and use auto-responders to make responses automatic. Use video email to get a better response.

• Use direct mail, and sales letters to a prospecting list then follow up via telephone or email.

• Build a website or a blog and keep it up to date and make it easy to understand your products, services, benefits and contact you.

• Use a free newsletter and send prospects free, valuable information.

• Become an authorized expert by writing articles and posting them on your blog, sending them into a newspaper/magazine.

• Write your own PR pieces, or hire a PR consultant and put them on a retainer.

• Conduct your own seminars, and make them free. If you’re seen as an authorized expert you could charge for the exclusive content.

• Employing trust-based selling to become truly consultative and not another sales rep.

• Networking. Join business networking clubs, forums, etc and get yourself seen.

• Follow up and make your appointments• Make your sales

• Keep your customers/clients happy.

Leafleting if done properly, in a clever, peaceful and reliable way, is cheaper, brings more results and leaves people that “breathing space” that they need to think-and-take-a-decision in their own time; something that not every marketer or salesperson understands clearly. Leafleting or cold calling? You decide.

Now the costs.

*If you engage a call calling team, the costs are considerably more than calling on a leaflet delivery team.

* delivering 10.000 leaflets takes 2-3 days, making 10.000 phone calls can take weeks/ months.

* to produce a leaflet costs 2-3 pence, to deliver it around 4-5, a phone call costs more than 6-7 pence and in most cases considerably more for mobiles.

* once the clients puts the phone down on you, he will forget you, even if s/he needs your products, but a leaflet/ flyer will be there on his table as a reminder.

Reasons are plenty, its you that decides what to do and what method to employ, we suggest Leaflet Distribution anytime over cold calling; not as its our bread & butter, but because one of main reason many new businesses fail is persistent cold calling and bad sales techniques. Go for Leaflet Distribution. By Fast Letterbox part of LADS-3D Ltd. Masters of Local Advertising075 300 577 53 - www.leafletdistribution-lads-3d.co.uk

Promotions and Handouts pt.I

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:51:57 +0000

Lately the demand for these methods is on the increase as many businesses are seeing returns from them. It is a simple fact, that to reach out to customers one must get as close as possible to the public at large and that is where handouts and promotions came in.

LADS-3D engages often in different types of distribution, according to client’s specific requests, such as in shopping centers, major tube and train stations and at large gatherings of people like theatres, cinemas, stadiums, shopping centers etc. We distribute for a wide range of businesses, from the creative individual working from home up to large organizations like NHS. All our clients have one aim to reach the members of public at large.

As a rule, handouts are more expensive and take more time to plan and organize, but they have several advantages over door-to-door advertising:

· Leaflets are handed out directly to the people.

· Distributors can engage with the public feedback exchanged both ways.

· To spread a message very fast [alongside with billboards, text messaging, radio, morning papers, handout-fliers are amongst the fastest to spread the word]

· Used near the place of promotion [bar, club, restaurant, supermarket, shopping centre] they can contain discount tokens or vouchers and exchanged right away.

· Are more concentrated and can target more people at any given time.

· Accuracy, with handouts it is easier to target urban professionals 25-40 y/o, young families or OAP.

· Door to door, is more time consuming, physical and harder to organize and control.

· The penetration level or attracting the attention of the customer, isn’t easy to achieve.

· Door to door distribution has to compete with other promotional materials coming through the letterbox.

· Door to door leaflets as a rule have a higher degree of wastage. Unlived properties, ones that are being renovated, families in holidays or places where the distributor is unable to deliver-for different reasons.

· Door to door distribution attempts for area saturation and as such is indiscriminate, so it may be hard for an International College of English to target young people from 18-24 y/o by using such a method.

Handouts are often used in stadiums, tube stations and shopping centers; businesses can use them for a restaurant opening, a premiere, shows, musicals, theaters or simply to spread a message that will benefit their sales, increase exposure and achieve brand recognition at a particular place.

Numbers must be taken into consideration. Leafleting as the simplest form of advertising is a numbers game, the higher the numbers the bigger the chance to get you better known in the community. Handouts require careful planning and serious organization. The Handout Operatives need to be well trained, supported and supervised.

By the nature of delivery, people carrying handouts must be well spoken with a high degree of understanding and spoken English, they have to be confident and presentable. Once the printing work has finished and you are ready, get in touch with your Distributor and communicate clearly your aims:

· demographic groups you need to target.

· places where handouts should take place.

· time frames [do you need the morning commuters or people at own leisure]

As per any kind of leafleting in general, Promotions & Handouts are no exception; they work in the long term in order to bring gradual and steady returns.

Hi Guys: Little update.

admin — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:38:36 +0000

Hi we have been so busy and not posted in a while. We know its late in the year but hope so far it has been great and our leaflet distribution guide have been helpful to so many of you. I will be making some changes to leaflet distribution website soon so stay tune.

Focusing on Promotions

admin — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:45:11 +0000

Many companies lately are focusing on promotions preferring to leave their materials directly on customer’s hands. Be it shopping centers or tube stations at every request LADS-3D did rise to the challenge, by completing a good handout and reaching out to the community, commuters or shoppers.

Link Assistant Down

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:47:09 +0000

Link Assistant the makers of SEO Spyglass seems to be hacked.

Update: looks like they are up again