This fall, some writing colleagues and I are holding a cold-calling marathon to drum up new business. As a way to follow up with new business leads after hanging up the phone, I’ve created the postcard above.

This is the third postcard I’ve used to market my business, and over the years postcard marketing has only gotten cheaper, easier and more effective.

Let’s start with cheap. If you type the code “POSTCARDSALE” into OvernightPrints.com, you can get 100 full-color, glossy postcards for about $12. Upload your own postcard design or choose from a variety of templates.

I uploaded my own design. With shipping, the total came to about $20. That means that for the postcards to be profitable, they’ll have to bring in less than half of one billable hour. Not a bad return of investment.

What makes a postcard’s design effective? I’ve learned a lot from making and sending promotional postcards over the past three years. Take the postcard above, which I created to advertise a blogging e-book I wrote. I thought it looked attractive, and it was a nice promotional tool when I gave lectures about blogging for business, but it didn’t sell a single damn copy of my e-book.

Why? The design, while attractive, is busy. No one wants to read all that text. And I don’t propose a single benefit for purchasing the book. I did include a coupon code on the other side of the postcard, but even that wasn’t enough to entice people.

This is the second postcard I sent. It resulted in a few assignments, but looking at it now, I know I could do better. For starters, it lacks a clear target market. The woman in the red cape is eye-catching, but she looks young and inexperienced. This may be a turnoff to some business owners, especially males.

The copy isn’t very specific, either. What’s “free marketing help?” Who does it apply to? What benefits does it offer? Nothing about the copy or the design makes it clear. (I also screwed up the back.)

This is the newest postcard I’ve created, and it’s specifically for internet marketing companies. Most internet marketing companies promise their customers lots of web traffic, so the the copy is provocative. The back reads:

…if your copywriting doesn’t convert.
Don’t waste marketing dollars.
Call a copywriting pro: Kelly Watson.

If I wanted to make this stronger, I could have included a free offer – maybe a secret link to a free report on web copywriting mistakes. Direct mail is always more effective when you have a compelling giveaway or other call to action. Otherwise, people are likely to file your postcard and forget about it.

I’m still pretty happy with this postcard, though. I anticipate it will provide the highest return to date … and not just because I paid $20.

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions for me? Leave them in the comments section below.