PRODUCING RESTAURANT PLACEMATS AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM

PRODUCING RESTAURANT PLACEMATS AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM

The concept is simple: Give free paper place mats to restaurants in your area

with either a prominent color ad or their menu in the middle, and two-inch

by two-inch ads around the edge. These ads will make so much profit for you

that if you run up against a stubborn restaurant owner, you can even pay him

or her to take your place mats and come out way ahead. They'd be a fool to

refuse!

The first step in to contact printers in your area and find out what kind of

blank or ready-made paper place mats they can either print or have printed

for you. Get a quote on at least 5,000, including at least two-color printing.

Compare your quotes and find the printer that will do the best job for the

best price. Make sure this is a printer that will work with you on the

layout of the place mats, if this is new to you.

Once you have your printing costs, which will be your primary costs, you can

figure out how much profit can be made. Your profit will depend, in part, on

how many ads you can put around the perimeter of the place mat.

For example, if the place mat is 11 x 15, you can put a total of 20 ads

around the sheet, leaving a one inch margin around the edge for the printer.

Divide the printing cost, together with your other estimated costs (phone,

postage, travel) by the number of ads, and you have your cost per ad.

For example, suppose your estimated expenses will be $600. Divide that by

20 ads and you have $30. This is how much each ad contributes to covering

the cost of the place mat. Now, figure a target profit margin. In my area,

an ad that will be seen by 5,000 people over an extended period of time

could go for $90. This would be a $1,200 profit!

Now, make a list of restaurants that would be likely prospects for this

service. The best prospects will be locally-owned family-oriented

restaurants that are visited by residents of the area. Small, family-owned,

restaurants will be your best bet.

GETTING THE RESTAURANTS: Offer to provide the restaurant 5,000 free paper

Place mats with either a large color ad or a color menu printed in the middle

of the place mat. Local advertisers will be featured in small ads around the

outside. When you say the words "5,000 free paper place mats," you probably

won't even have to go any further! If the owner's a hard case, offer to pay

them to take your place mats! Offer $50 and 5,000 place mats. This breaks

down more barriers than you can imagine!

If the restaurant owner has a pre-made ad or menu available, this can be

reduced or enlarged by your printer to fit the center area of the place mat.

Be sure the restaurant's section dominates the place mat.

Now, contact businesses that are in the immediate area surrounding the

restaurant. Good prospects will be video stores, dry cleaners, grocery

stores, book stores, any business that is frequented by families. Tell them

that you have an advertising opportunity which will put their name and offer

in front of 5,000 people for an extended period of time.

Contact as many possible advertisers as you can. The more you contact, the

more ads you'll sell. If your prices are competitive and you deliver honest

facts, you should have an easy time selling the place mat ads.

Now, take the ads to your printer and layout the place mat. Put the

restaurant's ad/menu in the center, and the other ads around the perimeter.

Have the printer print the requested quantity, and deliver them to the

restaurant. It's that simple!

This whole process can be done easily in less than a month. But, even if it

takes you a month, the example above cleared $1,200 profit (or $1,150, if

you actually had to pay the $50). Once you've done your first one or two and know what

you're doing, you will find that you can run more than one at a time. If you run four place

mats per month, you could clear over $55,000 per year! This is just an example, and your

profits could be higher or lower, depending on your area. But, it should be fairly obvious

that this can be an easy-to-run, profitable business that you can start part-time and quickly

move into a full-time business!