Saturday, June 5, 2010

A Greener way to do Flyers - a work in progress

For a long time I have been frustrated with flyers. They get taken by the neighbors, stolen by kids or destroyed by rains. It seems like a waste of paper, yet sellers like to have the information in front of the house and drive-by buyers want to know about the house.




I'm trying two solutions at the same time. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK:



Solution 1 -- All the signs in my brokerage say at the bottom: To see this listing go to m.TexasPrideRealty.com which is version of our website set up for mobile phone browsers.



Solution 2 -- I took my old, dirty, broken down flyer boxes and modified them. Here are the steps



















A Greener Idea for Flyers
1. Take your old, yellowed, dull, dirty flyer box. You know you have 10 of these in your garage.
2. Wearing closed shoes, step on the box and break it off the post. Recycle the plastic. Also, place the post on the ground by a curb or other elevated surface. Step on the post gently to put a small bend in it so the completed product will hold the flyer packet and a comfortable reading angle.
3. Take a metal mesh "inbox" that is sold at most office supply stores. Your local Max / Depot / Staples should have one for about $8.
4. Use zipties to attach the Inbox to the post securely. If necessary, use a phillps-head screwdriver to increase the size of the holes in the mesh inbox.
5. Create your presentation and have it laminated to protect it from the weather. Punch holes in the laminate for binding later. I get the lamination done at the same Max/Depot store.



Be sure they leave a left margin large enough for you to punch holds through without punching through the paper. That will prevent water from seeping in and ruining your work.



I included a front page to my presentation that listed a mobile phone site that would allow the reader to walk away with the information as well.



Note: I am currently testing to see how this holds up in UV rays and rain. But it can't be worse than plain paper and ink jet ink.
Bind the presentation to the stand using loose zipties. Give it enough room so that readers can flip the pages and see all the features.
I will monitor the two stands I have up (a third goes in next week) to see how they hold up, what client and buyer reactions are. More to come.



This product should resist most weather, reduce the cost and waste of printing, ink, and the gas for the trips to reload the old boxes. It should show off more of the property to the looker and give them a better feel for the place before they call for a showing.