6 ms·

Guerilla Marketing : Source code on the Business Card

9 points by luckystrike 18y ago

jacobbijani 18y ago
How is that guerilla marketing?
froo 18y ago
The best Guerilla Marketing thing I do, is ensure my business card makes it into any book/magazine that I can get my hands on. Whenever I'm down at the news agent, I ensure I slip my business card into any Magazine that a small business owner might be interested in (Time, BRW, MyBusiness) and I do the same at a bookstore I visit whenever I'm there. I would do the same for libraries, but I figure that it would be a waste. This has actually been the most cost effective (and profitable) thing I've done and have generated a good amount of business out of it as it literally gets my business card into the hands of people who might find use for my services.
- eru 18y ago
  Might also work for getting dates. Though you probably should not use a business card. A friend of mine has observed that using blank business cards generate a far higher callback rate for him than preprinted cards. (Of course he writes his number etc on the blank card as he hands them out.)
  - froo 18y ago
    A friend of mine has observed that using blank business cards generate a far higher callback rate for him than preprinted cards. (Of course he writes his number etc on the blank card as he hands them out.) What industry is your friend in out of interest? I think that how ones business card is presented says a lot about that person, for example a person who is into design might seem strange having a plain standard white boring business card. Similarly a person who has a typically white collar job (accountant etc) would do well with a more classic or professional look card than something with vivid colour. Just looking through my business card file now, I don't remember half of who these people are, but when I come across a fantastic card I have that instant recognition of who the person is, the card acts as a visual cue. Completely unrelated, but have a look at some of these if you've never seen this, it's a photoset of fantastic business cards on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dailypoetics/sets/72057594104389710/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/dailypoetics/sets/7205759410438... Might also work for getting dates. Though you probably should not use a business card. That depends on the woman I guess as there are no doubt some women out there that would or wouldn't date a man depending on his job title (and the implied financial status that goes with it) EDIT - actually still looking through my file I came across one of my uncle's business cards I got my hands on several years ago. His company is not glamorous one by any stretch of the imagination (his factory makes custom wooden crates/boxes for shipping) but his card instantly stands out. It is actually made out of a thin sheet of pine which was then printed onto and I think that it is not only appropriate given his customer base, but it's the kind of card that you remember and I don't think too many people end up throwing them away.
    - eru 18y ago
      My friend works as a freelance developer. He always carries both set of cards. The blank ones are not only standard boring white --- they are literally entirely blank.
      - froo 18y ago
        Interesting indeed. I probably couldn't do that as my handwriting is terrible. Bouncing off that for a second though, one of the more interesting ideas I saw were business cards for a second hand store. What they essentially did was get other people's business cards and literally cross out the contact information and replace it with their own.
        eru 18y ago
        Very thematic, indeed. Do you have any more information? Does it annoy the crossed out people?
        froo 18y ago
        No more info & I honestly don't know if it annoyed the recycle-ee's as it was something I saw in passing. Sorry about that.
  - DaniFong 18y ago
    It worked in Amelie, and real life. :-) Also, recall the quote by Jacques Cousteau in Rushmore, written in the book's cover...
oofoe 18y ago
Check out Paul Heckbert's ray tracing business card at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ph/ http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ph/ (you'll need to load the page, then search for "business card"). The files themselves are chunks of PostScript code -- they can be viewed with GhostScript or Illustrator.
gruseom 18y ago
Cool card. The code not so much... e.g. anybody notice the comments? nc = new NetConnection(); // New Connection mic = Microphone.get(); // Configure Microphone Oh dear.
- eru 18y ago
  They should have written it in K: b:4>@[n;&0n=n:+/_sqr 50{c+(-/xx;2/x)}/c:+,/(-1.5+2(!w)%w),/:\:-1+2(!w)%w:200;:;4];`mic 6:"P4\n",(5:2#w),"\n",_ci 2_sv'-1 8#,/+(2#w)#b

9 points by luckystrike 18y ago

How is that guerilla marketing?

froo 18y ago

The best Guerilla Marketing thing I do, is ensure my business card makes it into any book/magazine that I can get my hands on. Whenever I'm down at the news agent, I ensure I slip my business card into any Magazine that a small business owner might be interested in (Time, BRW, MyBusiness) and I do the same at a bookstore I visit whenever I'm there. I would do the same for libraries, but I figure that it would be a waste. This has actually been the most cost effective (and profitable) thing I've done and have generated a good amount of business out of it as it literally gets my business card into the hands of people who might find use for my services.

eru 18y ago
Might also work for getting dates. Though you probably should not use a business card. A friend of mine has observed that using blank business cards generate a far higher callback rate for him than preprinted cards. (Of course he writes his number etc on the blank card as he hands them out.)
- froo 18y ago
  A friend of mine has observed that using blank business cards generate a far higher callback rate for him than preprinted cards. (Of course he writes his number etc on the blank card as he hands them out.) What industry is your friend in out of interest? I think that how ones business card is presented says a lot about that person, for example a person who is into design might seem strange having a plain standard white boring business card. Similarly a person who has a typically white collar job (accountant etc) would do well with a more classic or professional look card than something with vivid colour. Just looking through my business card file now, I don't remember half of who these people are, but when I come across a fantastic card I have that instant recognition of who the person is, the card acts as a visual cue. Completely unrelated, but have a look at some of these if you've never seen this, it's a photoset of fantastic business cards on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dailypoetics/sets/72057594104389710/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/dailypoetics/sets/7205759410438... Might also work for getting dates. Though you probably should not use a business card. That depends on the woman I guess as there are no doubt some women out there that would or wouldn't date a man depending on his job title (and the implied financial status that goes with it) EDIT - actually still looking through my file I came across one of my uncle's business cards I got my hands on several years ago. His company is not glamorous one by any stretch of the imagination (his factory makes custom wooden crates/boxes for shipping) but his card instantly stands out. It is actually made out of a thin sheet of pine which was then printed onto and I think that it is not only appropriate given his customer base, but it's the kind of card that you remember and I don't think too many people end up throwing them away.
  - eru 18y ago
    My friend works as a freelance developer. He always carries both set of cards. The blank ones are not only standard boring white --- they are literally entirely blank.
    - froo 18y ago
      Interesting indeed. I probably couldn't do that as my handwriting is terrible. Bouncing off that for a second though, one of the more interesting ideas I saw were business cards for a second hand store. What they essentially did was get other people's business cards and literally cross out the contact information and replace it with their own.
      - eru 18y ago
        Very thematic, indeed. Do you have any more information? Does it annoy the crossed out people?
        froo 18y ago
        No more info & I honestly don't know if it annoyed the recycle-ee's as it was something I saw in passing. Sorry about that.
- DaniFong 18y ago
  It worked in Amelie, and real life. :-) Also, recall the quote by Jacques Cousteau in Rushmore, written in the book's cover...

oofoe 18y ago

Check out Paul Heckbert's ray tracing business card at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ph/ http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ph/ (you'll need to load the page, then search for "business card"). The files themselves are chunks of PostScript code -- they can be viewed with GhostScript or Illustrator.

gruseom 18y ago

Cool card. The code not so much... e.g. anybody notice the comments? nc = new NetConnection(); // New Connection mic = Microphone.get(); // Configure Microphone Oh dear.

eru 18y ago
They should have written it in K: b:4>@[n;&0n=n:+/_sqr 50{c+(-/xx;2/x)}/c:+,/(-1.5+2(!w)%w),/:\:-1+2(!w)%w:200;:;4];`mic 6:"P4\n",(5:2#w),"\n",_ci 2_sv'-1 8#,/+(2#w)#b