I spent all day today out in Providence applying a little guerilla marketing by posting flyers for my upcoming seminar, "Smile; You've Been Laid-Off". While doing this, many thoughts were running through my mind; my childhood and my start in marketing, as well as how in today's marketing world, a good ole' fashioned handbill has not only taken a backseat to what I classify as "arm-chair marketing," but how to many, it is viewed as 'sub-standard' marketing.

Reminiscent of Childhood

If anything, I may be a little partial to flyers because it is how I got my start in marketing. At age 13, my mother had me helping create and distribute flyers promoting her neighborhood video stores. I'll never forget walking around in the rain, handing these flyers out to people or going onto their porch to put it in their mailbox.

As simplistic as it may seem, the campaigns were extremely effective. The competition was relying on expensive Sunday newspaper ads (remember those? I mean newspapers...). We, on the other hand, were using colorful sheets of paper placed directly into a hand or a mailbox, explaining the free bag of popcorn with every movie rental. The campaign complemented our brand and message - a neighborhood video store where people were friendly and took the time to talk to you.

The Power

A well done handbill can have extraordinary power. When presented in the right place and at the right time, it can capture someone's attention at a moment when they are not prepared to filter out the usual onslaught of advertisements. A flyer in the waiting room of a hair salon or on the board of a coffee shop can speak to someone when they are actually looking for a distraction.

The Rules

Executed correctly, flyers can effectively create buzz and developing word-of-mouth advertising in any campaign. If you are going to use flyers, observe some rules:

1) Use the Three C's: Clear, Colorful, Catchy

Click image to for more information about the seminar

When creating a flyer, it is important that it does not look messy and thrown together. The message and information is clearly stated. Color draws attention, and a catchy statement or phrase (as with the title of my seminar) further creates a sense of curiosity.

2) Always Ask First

Never place a handbill in someone's store until you have asked. Even if there are a hundred other flyers posted do not assume it is OK for you to intrude on the owner's space. There are two reasons for this:

a) You never know if there is a policy for flyers, and by asking you stay in the owner's good graces.
b) You draw the owner's and/or employee's attention to the flyer

The second one is just as important as the first. Explain to the employee (or owner) what it is you are providing; you never know when an employee could be interested in your service or product, or knows someone who is.

3) Proper Placement

Find the sight-lines. If you are placing the handbill in a coffee shop, look to see where the door is; sit down at a couple of tables and envision the most likely place someone will look. If you can place it in a window, shoot for eye-level.

4) Place and Arrange NICELY!

Do not create more of a mess than when you first got there. In fact, if the area is messy, straighten it up. The business owner will appreciate this gesture. In addition, you can manipulate the space to best display your flyer.

5) Take Notes

Yes, there is actually going to be a science to flyer placement. Write down the name and address of each business you place your flyers in, while also taking note of how many flyers you leave. Check back in 5 days. If the flyers have been taken, replace with more flyers. You now know that this location is a great place to flyer for future campaigns. If you return to a business and see none of your flyers have been taken, you may wish to reconsider using that specific location for the next campaign; it may be a waste of time.

Old Meets New

At one of the businesses, I saw a flyer for Alexandra Morgan's Animal School. I know Will who works there and immediately tweeted to him about seeing his flyer. His response is very true,

Gotta tell ya, the guerilla flyer posting trips still work, and it's a good cheap way to advertise!

Marketing campaigns must always employ a strong mix of all channels. In the beginning of this article I used the term "arm-chair marketing." There are a lot of arm-chair marketers out there. Collecting email addresses; sending email after email; tweeting incessantly about this or about that; calling themselves marketing gurus because they can click 'send' on a message, or because they promise huge spikes in web traffic.

This type of marketing assumes, wrongfully, that electronic is the way to go. It is only one way. All marketing campaigns must be comprised of a mixture (remember the term marketing mix?), for the simple fact that people are all different and gather their information in a variety of ways.

So do not be afraid to try the 'old' ways. And if a marketer tries to tell you that paper campaigns are antiquated, RUN! People are human, and sometimes it just takes some good ole' fashioned walking, taping, and sweating to reach them.

So be human.