Title: Selling in Today’s Tough Market Word Count: 467 Summary: Postcards have several advantages over the other means of contacting customers. Whether you use them as announcements or reply cards, their size makes them more affordable, quick and easy to address and mail out. Keywords: postcards, printing, color, digital Article Body: In today’s tough market with competition in every corner of the industry, it is important to improve your marketing strategy to keep your name and your business in the minds of the customers. But you also have to keep your costs down. Sure, internet marketing can allow you to reach a lot of people in just a few clicks of the mouse. But not all people visit the web 24/7. And this is a costly mistake that most business owners often make. They tend to overlook the marketing potential of offline advertising. But this is where you can take advantage of the situation. This oversight of other businessmen can be an opportunity for you to reach potential customers before your competitors does. For this reason, in order to get maximum return for your marketing dollar, you can consider including postcards in your marketing approach. Postcards have several advantages over the other means of contacting customers. Whether you use them as announcements or reply cards, their size makes them more affordable, quick and easy to address and mail out. Likewise, they are more convenient to fill out and return. You don’t have to depend upon your prospect opening an envelope or having the time to read through a lengthy brochure. Your prospects are given instant visibility to what you have to offer. Hence, many recipients are likely to read a postcard than an unsolicited letter. There are many ways that postcards can be used. They can spread about a handful of messages for just about any product, service or event. But before you get started with your postcard design and printing you’ll want to take a look at your options and decide what works best for your business. If you don’t have an in-house marketing department, you can find a postcard company to help you create your postcard. A postcard company can handle the design and printing process, assist with mailing and save you money. But deciding how the postcard should look like can be a bit of a dilemma. But by and large, your budget will help you determine whether you should go for a full-color glossy postcard or a simple black and white card. Which ever style you use both can be designed to look chic with a classy design and a professional printing job. If you have a lot of different products, services and events to promote, you can order discounted bulk postcards with prints on one side only and still have the flexibility of changing your message on the other side. So make your postcard fun, inviting and cordial. Your customers will think kindly of it and you’ll have the opportunity to make that all-important sale again. Remember that there are big marketing results from these small pieces of paper.