Bulletin boards!

It's a place where communication can take place--in a most organic and low-tech way.

These low-tech, high-touch communication devices still work marvelously well. They don't need batteries or other forms of electricity, and they can be easily modified.

I've seen two ways of businesses using them to their advantage.

The usual way is to have a smallish 3-foot by 5-foot corkboard near the door or checkout counter. Here patrons can post their business cards and local groups can post their announcements for events and such. Special store events can also be posted here. Because the board is so small, a bit of management may be needed--such as putting dates on the items posted and removing them after one month. Nevertheless, by putting a board up like this at your business establishment, you can generate interesting traffic as well as provide a "community service" for your regular customers.

The other way is a bit more unique--you won't see it very often, but it is usually impressive if it has been going for a while. This is the wall of cards--one of our favorite restaurants in Albuquerque was Papa Felipe's at the Coronado Mall. As you entered the restaurant from the main entrance, you had to walk by a wall covered from floor-to-ceiling and for a full 25 or so feet length in business cards. Because sometimes we had to wait for a seat, it was amusing to look at the business cards and see where some of them were from. There were cards from Asia and Europe and other states, in addition to the local folks posted there. There's a restaurant in Tracy, California on Central Avenue across from Big-O tires--they, too, have a wall of business cards--not quite as extensive as the one in Albuquerque, but also an interesting mix of cards.

Either of these two ways of displaying business cards is using the power of the miniture billboards to attract attention and drive business.