The following traffic generating ideas do not require costlyset-up fees or minimum orders. Two of them can be printed in fullcolor with no extra charge. They all can be given away at tradeshows, as free gifts with orders, to new newsletter subscribers,etc. Try one or all three and watch your web traffic increasenext time your vehicle is caught in traffic.
1.) Vinyl Lettering - Peel and stick individual vinyl letters onyour bumper or rear window to spell your out URL. You canusually find vinyl lettering at your local hardware store or craftshop. The hardware store usually only has black on white or whiteon black. Online craft supply stores such as Dick Blick ArtMaterials, joann.com, or MisterArt.com offer several colors ofvinyl letters.
Why advertise for your car dealer? Carefully peel off the cardealers vinyl sticker on the rear of your car and replace orcover it with your own URL. One disadvantage of using vinyl, itis usually only available in all upper case.
2.) License Plate Frames - A lot of car dealers put their ownlicense plate frames on new and used cars so you can advertisefor them while driving around. Why not replace it with your ownlicense plate frame and advertise your website? If you have theright size vinyl letters, you can stick them over the existingframe. Sometimes you can simply turn the frame over and stick thevinyl letters on the blank back. For less than fifteen bucks youcan design your own custom full color metal license plate frameat CafePress.com. Here are a few sample license plate frames:
3.) Bumper Stickers - Got a rusty bumper? Why not cover it upwith your URL? Think of a catchy slogan that relates to yourwebsite and make sure to include your URL on the bumper sticker.You can find many do-it-yourself bumper sticker kits availablefrom just about any store that sells office supplies. I have nottried any of them so I can not comment on how well they last. Ihave made custom bumper stickers at CafePress.com that seem tolast. Here is one example:
Only use top level domain URLsThe shorter the URL the better because it will be much easierfor the other driver to remember since most people don't writedown what they see while driving.
Eliminate "http://" and sometimes "www"Typing "http://" is not required in most browsers and is just awaste of space. In most cases, adding the "www" before the domainname is not necessary (ie. www.mrgoodbeer.com is the same asmrgoodbeer.com). Make sure to test your domain name without the"www" before using it in any advertising.
Capitalize when appropriateUse both upper and lower case letters in your URL to help thereader identify and remember your site (ie. MrGoodbeer.com ismore appealing and memorable than mrgoodbeer.com). Note, mostindividual vinyl letters are only available in upper case so thisis not possible with them.
Use colorBright colors attract the driver's attention.Try red on yellow oryellow on red.
Read the guidelines carefullyIf using CafePress.com, make sure to read their "Image Workshop"at http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/help/images.aspx to take fulladvantage of available space on the merchandise.
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