Scratch off stickers in your business

Looking for affordable and unique business promotional products is not always easy. Most businesses use the same old products including pens, pencils and magnets. Most people have a draw full of these items at home. What can your business do to stand out above the rest?




Customers like to feel appreciated. They also like to feel like they are winners. How can you make your customer feel like a winner, yet have it be an affordable advertising option for your business?



Scratch off cards equal FUN. Everyone loves to “scratch”, and your customers are no exception.



Scratch off cards can be created to look just like a lottery ticket. You can easily create your own cards using scratch off stickers.



The first thing you would need to do is create your special promotion on a business card or post card. You need to decide if you want to offer a special discount or free gift. If you want to get more elaborate you can have letters printed on the cards that customers have to collect to spell out a special word in order to win a prize. The possibilities are endless and you are only limited by your imagination.



You will need some form of a graphics design program. Many computers already have some form of a design program. Graphics programs are also available for purchase. You could also hire a graphics designer to assist you.



After your cards are printed you will need to apply the scratch off stickers to them. You can apply the scratch off stickers directly over the promotion (discount, prize, letter…).



To apply the scratch off sticker you need to peel the scratch off sticker from the liner and apply over the promotion. It’s that easy! Now your promotion is a scratch off card ready for your eager customer to scratch and get rewarded. Best of all your promotional product will not end up in the trash or in a junk drawer.



Scratches off stickers are also very inexpensive. Your customers will have fun and you won’t have to spend a fortune on promotional products.

Scratch Off Stickers -make your customer feel like a winner!

Do you want to make your customers feel like a winner? How do you do this and make it an affordable advertising option for your business? Scratch off cards equals FUN. Everyone loves to scratch. Your customer is no exception.


How do you create your own scratch off cards just like the lottery tickets? It’s easy with scratch off stickers.

1st-Create your promotion on a business card or post card. You can design a scratch off card in your graphics program, or hire a graphics designer.

2nd-Print your promotion directly on your card. After it is printed you can apply your scratch off stickers over the promotion. To apply the scratch off stickers, peel the scratch off sticker from the liner and apply over your promotion. It really is that easy. Now your promotion is a scratch off card ready for your eager customer to scratch and get rewarded.

Get the Party Started with Scratch Off Stickers

Getting together with family and friends to celebrate a special occasion is something that many people enjoy doing. Some people prefer to attend parties and other enjoy hosting parties.



Being a host means that you have a lot of responsibilities and duties. Some people enjoy every aspect of planning a party, from what foods to serve to what type of music to play.



One challenge many hosts face is finding the perfect party favor to give guests as a special memento of the occasion. Often this is the most difficult thing for hosts to come up with. You want something that guests will enjoy as well as something that is affordable.



A fun favor idea that will have guests “scratching” are scratch off cards. Scratch off cards are an exciting party favor that are great for any occasions including baby showers, birthday parties, anniversary parties and weddings.



Games are some times played at parties, especially birthday parties and baby showers. Instead of offering a specific prize to the winner of each game offer them a special scratch off card instead. The winner can then scratch off the card to reveal their prize, adding to the excitement. It’s fun not knowing what you could win, especially when there are multiple prize options.



Another option would be to make up multiple cards, each one revealing a different prize. Ask the winners to resist scratching their prize cards. At the end of the party the winners can choose to swap cards with other winners and perhaps trade up for a bigger prize or end up with the door prize. This is a great way to get people really excited about what they can win.



Another fun idea is to give each guest a scratch off card with multiple scratch off stickers. Have a prize listed behind just one of the stickers and ask your guests to choose just one sticker to scratch off. They could be a winner or a looser. They won't know until they scratch off the stickers. This also could double as a fun game.



Scratch off cards are not only unique and affordable party favors but they also make great party games. Scratch off cards are a fun way to get the party started.



Give each guest a scratch off card or place them all in a bowl and let each guest take one. You can have one winning card or several. Guests will have to scratch off their cards to reveal if they are a winner. Many people enjoy these fun games of chance. It's similar to the scratch off cards for the state lottery but instead of winning money your guests can win other great prizes.



Scratch off cards are also great for use with trivia games. You can create scratch off cards with different trivia questions on them. They can either be random trivia questions or trivia questions about the guest of honor. Party guests will have to see if they can answer the question before they are allowed to scratch off their card.



Trivia questions are a great way to get a conversation started among guests. Ask your guests pair up or assign them a partner. Each person can take turns answering their cards. The person who answers both questions correctly can win a prize.



Your scratch off cards can be personalized with names, date and the reason for the celebration. After the party is over guests can hold on to the scratch off cards and use them as bookmarks, place them in scrapbooks or use a magnet to tack on the fridge as a constant reminder the party.



When it comes to scratch off cards, you are only limited to your imagination.

Start a business from scratch

The current trend is geared towards more home-based businesses. They require lower overhead and startup money- making them easier for entrepreneurs with limited funds to start up. If you are thinking about starting a home-based service business, here are a few tips for getting started on the right foot.


What is a service business?
Service businesses are those that provide help to others. This can be anything from mowing the lawn to managing business accounts. The basis of a successful service business is one that supplies a need. In your area, it may take some research to discover the top service needs and then figure out which one you can provide. Use those around you and try to fill a need. Around here we need a fast food delivery place, a drive thru desert place (who also delivers), an entertainment zone for the teens to spend time at. These are just a few examples of service businesses that are needed in my area. My mother owns a business offering residential and business cleaning services. What is the need in your community and how can you fill it?


Benefits of a home-based service business
There are several benefits to running a home-based service business. First of all, you can run the business from your home. Since you already pay a mortgage, utilities and car payments, the only thing you need spend money on now is the equipment for your business. And, if you are running a service that began as a hobby that means you probably already own most of the needed equipment.

Secondly, a home-based service business requires low overhead and startup costs. We alluded to the startup costs above and the low overhead means no employees but you. The key to keeping the overhead low is taking on only as many projects as you can safely and efficiently handle by yourself. Start small and then grow and invest your business. Every business I've ran, I've started small with one client, one service or one product.

Home-based service business options
As we mentioned, you can usually run these service businesses out of your home. Establishing a website for selling your services lowers the overhead even more and maximizes your profit. With the Internet as your potential customer base, the opportunities are endless for marketing and finding clients. Here are some home-based service options.

There are considerations before beginning any type of business even a home-based one.
1. Check out the local laws for registering and zoning a home business. Most home businesses require no zoning issues unless you will be meeting clients in your home and posting signs in the yard.

2. Small business tax laws. Now that you are a business, you are subject to different tax exemptions, deductions and payments. Sites like www.irs.gov can give you the information you need.

3. Set up a separate work space at home. This could be as simple as using a spare bedroom or den with a door to keep your work separate. If you rely on the telephone a separate phone line can be added. When a workshop is needed, consider using a garage or purchasing a large outbuilding.

4. Use on and offline marketing methods to find clients. This includes: viral marketing, newspaper and Yellow Pages ads, flyers, scratch off coupons, direct mailings, email marketing, and article marketing
5. Create a schedule to divide time between work and family. Balancing both is hard. Scheduling time and sticking to it means more gets done and no one is slighted. This is how it's supposed to be, in real life you will have interruptions and feel like you can't get it all done. Hang in there and get your schedule set and teach your friends and family that although you are working from home, you are not availalbe to chat, visit, or run their errands-unless you are running an errand service.

A home-based service business is an alternative for people who want to experience entrepreneurship without spending a lot of money in upfront costs. If you have a talent and can meet a need, consider a home-based business.
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Terra Williams is a work-at-home entrepreneur who balances a home, career, husband, and four kids . She enjoys helping others market their business using scratch off stickers . 

5 Tips to keep your direct sales team motivated

Motivate Your Team Using These 5 Simple Ideas


Looking for some quick and easy ways to get your direct sales team energized and active? Try these five simple ideas for motivating your team and you'll be amazed at the results you see in their increased sales and success rate.

1) Weekly Emails
Taking the time to create a weekly email for your direct sales team will pay off greatly in terms of added sales, team unity, and longevity of team members. Staying in contact with your team keeps them motivated and reaching towards their goal.


2) Online Team Chats
If your team is scattered across the country as many direct sales teams are in our cyber-age, holding a weekly sales meeting at a local restaurant becomes a challenge, to say the least. But that doesn't mean your team can't get together.
Instead of a local meeting, host an online team chat that will serve the same purpose. This will help your team develop stronger relationships, as well as keeping them updated with important information.


3) Training Tip Sheets
If you aren't able to prepare a full-fledged weekly newsletter or detailed email, offer your team some monthly, or bi-monthly, training tip sheets to help them succeed. You can do this in addition to your weekly emails if you are able. Your team members will appreciate all the business building help they can get.

Cover one training tip at a time and help your team learn to sell more, book more shows, promote their businesses, deal with difficult customers, build a website, handle rejections, and anything else you can teach them to better their business results.


4) Contests
Monthly or quarterly contests can be advantageous to your business and will  help motivate a large number of your team members. Look for simple ideas such as the most sales in a given period. Offer a prize, then let your team's ingrained sense of competition take over and make it fun. Send out a scratch off card for them to scratch to find out what they have won.


5) Recognition
While money motivates some people, and the sense of freedom in entrepreneurship motivates others, some people will be more motivated by simple recognition of their efforts and successes than by anything else. Let your team know you're proud of them. Use your weekly emails to share team members' successes such as a first party, a record-breaking sales week, a birthday or anniversary, etc. You might be surprised at the encouragement this provides.

There are any number of ways to get your team members excited and wanting to sell more. For starters, use these five simple ideas for motivating your team. Then look for more ideas that will work for your specific team members and put even more team-building ideas in place to boost moral, and sales, even further!

Marketing to Moms

The goal of any business is to make money. And, we’re not just talking about the short term but long term goals of increased revenue. To that end, many businesses are missing out on a multi-billion dollar market: moms. Marketing to moms is the wave of the now and the future.



Why are moms so important?



Moms are enterprising. According to BSM Media Inc., mom spending is already over the trillion dollar mark. That’s more than the budget of some third world countries.



Also according to BSM Media Inc., almost 90 percent of moms consider themselves the financial head of the home. Her husband may bring home most of the bacon but it is the moms who decide how to spend it. They shop for everything related to the household: kids clothing, appliances, electronics, outdoor furniture, accessories and home improvement items.



Any husband that shops for these things is going to consult their wives before buying them. Why? Wives do the research into these products to find the best on the market. Moms influence as much as 85 percent of the purchases for the home. That’s over 70 million women we are talking about here. It doesn’t get any bigger than that.



Think about all of the tasks that moms handle in a day. They take care of the housework, shuffle kids from school to sporting events to other activities, cook dinner and manage the finances. In order to keep everything straight, they employ a wide variety of technology. It’s not uncommon to see a mom sitting in the park watching her kids play while listening to an iPod or browsing the Internet on her iPhone.



Moms are also savvy on the Internet. The trend for many years has been moms coming out of the workplace and starting their own businesses at home to spend more time with their kids. To that end, moms have developed a network of blogs, websites and forums designed to teach moms everything from designing websites, starting Internet businesses, marketing to other moms and managing their homes all the while. Their buying power increased exponentially with their knowledge.



Manly mistake?



Traditionally the only products marketed towards women were household products and cooking items. This goes back to the archaic thought that a woman’s place was in the home. That has been a huge detriment to many companies as they are beginning to see.



Women and moms have made an imprint in the man’s world in many areas. Women are not limited to office jobs; they are CEOs and CFOs. They don’t just surf the Web, they are becoming entrepreneurs with widening influence over Internet marketing. Having moms shun your product because you are not marketing to them means they are also spreading the word to other moms across the world (via the Internet) and in their own communities.



The future



Moms are influenced by other moms. Several generations of moms are coming together to influence the spending habits of major corporations. In the future the trend will continue. As moms become more “connected” in the world, their spending will increase. No product is off limits to mom advertising.



Moms do rule the world. Gain the support of savvy moms with your products and your business will reap the benefits.

Scratch off promotions

Using scratch off stickers to create your own scratch off promotions in your business.
You can use scratch off stickers on  your business cards, without them being specially printed.
You can write in your promotion on your business card with a pen and cover the promotion up with a scratch off sticker.
You can also have custom cards created and designed even if you don't have a logo.
How will you use scratch off stickers for your next promotion?

More Scratch Off Templates

Free Scratch Off Templates- I just added a new printable scratch off game

If you're feeling lucky, head on over and get your free scratch off printable games. I even made it in a pdf file so you can simply apply your scratch off stickers, print and cut. No wasted time designing!