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Ideas/Section-8
The objective of this
report is to show you how to produce a simple discount card for
merchants and consumers in your community. We will show you how
to get the merchants to participate, how to get your cards produced,
and how to market your discount cards to people in your community.
GETTING A SPONSOR
The best starting point when producing a discount card for your
community is to get a sponsor who will be the beneficiary of the
project. Local youth groups or any other charitable group will prove
worthy and would mutually benefit from a project like this.
GETTING THE MERCHANTS
Discount cards work. Whether a merchant will admit it or not, they
love discount cards. It brings new customers to the business, and
brings old customers in more often.
When producing your discount card, you have to decide on a format
or theme for your card. You have to decide what types of merchants
to feature. (restaurants? hotels? retail stores? ) You have to decide
how many merchants and the amount of discounts each has to offer
in order to participate in your program.
For many merchants, participating in a
discount card program is the cheapest, no-money-out-of-pocket way
to advertise their business. All they have to do is offer discounts
to customers who are already willing to purchase something -- the
people who have your discount cards.
15 RESTAURANTS 15% DISCOUNT
For the purpose of this report, we will produce a discount card
that features 15 restaurants offering a 15% discount on meals. These
restaurants can range from the low-end family diner to the most
expensive restaurants in your area. In fact, it is the more expensive
restaurants that like discount cards the best!
Once you have decided on your theme or
format, it is time to start writing the restaurants in your area.
You can mention to the restaurant owners that only 15 restaurants
will be featured in your discount card, and that the sale of the
discount cards will benefit the local youth club or whichever your
charity sponsor may be.
You must prepare a simple one-page agreement
where the restaurant owner or manager can sign, agreeing to participate
in your discount program and promise to extend a 15% discount to
anyone who presents your discount card when paying their bill.
PRINTING YOUR CARDS
Print your cards the size of a business card or a credit card. On
one side, put the name of your card and the name of your sponsor.
For example, you call this card the "dine-around-town"
discount card featuring 15 restaurants offering 15%. Use a colorful
design to make it attractive and difficult to duplicate.
On the reverse side of the card, list all
the 15 restaurants that are participating in your program and have
their phone numbers and a brief description of the type of cuisine
they serve. (Continental., French, Italian, Greek, Chinese, etc.)
There are two details you must attend to
when producing your discount card: (1) Get your cards numbered.
You can use a numbering machine which you can buy for around $60
each, or you can have them numbered by your printer. (2) Get your
cards laminated after they are numbered. Not only will this prevent
pilferage, it will also make your cards last longer.
Altogether, with 2-sided printing, a second
color ink, numbering and laminating, expect to pay around 25¢
for each card. This means that if you ordered 2,000 cards, your
cost is $500.
15-15-15
Get 15% discount at 15 restaurants for only $15. That's the slogan
by which you can promote and sell your discount cards. But here's
the clincher... You don't do any selling. This is where your charitable
group/sponsor will come into play.
By selling the cards for $15 each, you
can offer your charity sponsor to split the sales 50-50. You've
done all the work, now it's their turn to market the cards to offices,
other merchants and to consumers.
GETTING YOUR $15,000 IN 4 WEEKS
For every card they sell, you get $7.50. You and your charity sponsor
must mutually decide and agree how often you will do your accounting
and how often will they have to give you money.
In general, if you have an influential
group as your charity sponsor, they should be able to sell all 2,000
cards in a matter of 4 weeks. If such were the case, you can make
an arrangement where they remit money to you every Friday. With
a share of $7.50 per card, 2000 cards would bring you $15,000 -
possibly within a short four weeks.
