Are You Losing Your Customers?

Some businesses are in out-of-the-way places. Others are in relatively accessible, but crowded areas. Many are in places that, although known to the locals, are obscure to those who have to travel a bit to get there. So, a good tactic to help folks find your business is to put a map on every piece of advertising. Don't waste the back of a business card--put a map there.

But... if you are going to put a map on your advertising materials--be sure to do it correctly. Otherwise, you'll only confuse many customers who will just resign themselves to going someplace easier to find.

What do I mean when I say "correctly"? Follow some standards used by all mapmakers. North should ALWAYS be toward the top of the map. And, it's helpful to position an arrow on the map with north at the point of the arrow (of course, you make sure that the arrow is pointing to the north!). Put at least one labelled "cross-street" on the map along with the labelled street you are on. If there are distinguishing landmarks or if your business is in a shopping center with a well-known, billboarded name, indicate the location of these on the map. If there's a major thoroughfare or freeway near your street and cross-street, indicate that also on the map.

There are other considerations to map-making--but the above mentioned items are the most important.

Then.. always get a *proof* from the printer before getting a whole run of the printed advertising materials. Reason? Sometimes, mistakes can happen. I recently received an advertising flyer from one of our local car dealerships--and it had a map on it. One problem. No one proofed it. Although it had the "arrow" with North at the top of it, somehow the map itself had flipped and reversed... such that what was supposed to be north was now south, and east and west had also flipped. The printing was still correct in that it wasn't an upside-down, mirror image; but the mess of streets in the wrong locations, and the location of the dealership was on the wrong corner. Whoever cooked up the final version of the map for printing obviously had no sense of spatial dimensions or navigation at all. Just wonder about those new to the area, who are trying to find the place.

Try driving to your business establishment by using your own map. You'll find new ways of helping to guide folks to your business. If in doubt--ask a Boy Scout or a Pilot--they know how to read and create maps.