The power of POSTCARD promotion!
Sep 21 '07
The Bottom Line Postcards are a very affordable and effective way for bands/artists to promote their music/art.
I can't believe more bands/artists aren't promoting themselves with postcards these days. I'm not talking the cheap postcards with a photo on front and a blank backside of the past that you find in tourist shops, I'm talking super-slick, full-color glossy postcards, and these things are cheap to have made these days and easy to produce if you have any graphic art skills, which many musicians do. You see these things all the time in coffee shops advertising business and miscellaneous events, but why are bands not using them too?
You can have five hundred full-color double-sided postcards made for around fifty bucks (google "cheap postcards" like I did and you will find the best deals), that's only a dime a piece. Most online postcard printers have a minimum order of only 100. For my own band, I've produced two band postcards so far, with a cool band photo on the front and a pic on the back of our CD with all the info-- band members, contact info, website, etc. etc. I've also made two "solo" postcards of myself, (yes, I'm a super-Leo!)-- a "sexy" shirtless postcard for the ladies, and a "rock action" postcard for everyone else. These things are great, ain't nothing like walking into a joint with a deck of postcards, they really do impress. People love these things, I hand them out like candy and I've never had anyone hand them back. I drop off a pile of 25 postcards at the local rock clubs and guitar shops and music stores and they're gone in a week, people take them home! What they do with them, I don't know, but I like to think that my postcards are under the pillows of every sixteen-year old girl and on the cubicle walls of every office girl in Seattle. Sweet! I also include postcards with every CD order that I fill and send them in promo packs. And fellas, having your own postcard is a great way to impress the chicks. And oh yes, you can even mail these out to friends and fans to announce upcoming events, new CD releases, what have you! Super cool!
It's pretty easy to produce a post card, if you have a good page layout progarm. I use Adobe Indesign myself, I do all the photo editing in Photoshop and then plop in the photos and add the text and extras (logos, etc) in Indesign. You can upload your final design to most online postcard printers (there are many that specialize in postcards and business cards) in several different formats (tiff, jpeg, PDF) but I upload all mine as PDF files, that way the text will remain smooth and easy to read. You can also have your postcards varnished for extra gloss and thickness, but if you have any intention of writing on your card, do NOT varnish them, the ink just beads up even with a Sharpie! I have the front side varnished and leave the back unvarnished. The cards I've had made are very high quality, sexy hot, and will last for a hundred years!
Seriously, you can have a lot of fun with postcards and people really do love them. Forget about the 8x10 glossies, those are "out", postcards are "in". Not only are they cheaper to have made than 8x10 glossies, they are more versatile in ways to use them and easy to carry around with you like I do. You never know when you might meet someone who might need a card. In my book, "if you ain't got a postcard, you ain't jack!"
Now go rock!
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Epinions.com ID:
Paulblow
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Location: Seattle, WA
Reviews written: 108
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About Me:
Paul Blow: A man for all seasons, a man for all reasons.
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