The following traffic generating ideas do not require costly set-up fees or minimum orders. Two of them can be printed in full color with no extra charge. They all can be given away at trade shows, as free gifts with orders, to new newsletter subscribers, etc. Try one or all three and watch your web traffic increase next time your vehicle is caught in traffic.
1.) Vinyl Lettering - Peel and stick individual vinyl letters on your bumper or rear window to spell your out URL. You can usually find vinyl lettering at your local hardware store or craft shop. The hardware store usually only has black on white or white on black. Online craft supply stores such as Dick Blick Art Materials, joann.com, or MisterArt.com offer several colors of vinyl letters.
Why advertise for your car dealer? Carefully peel off the car dealers vinyl sticker on the rear of your car and replace or cover it with your own URL. One disadvantage of using vinyl, it is usually only available in all upper case.
2.) License Plate Frames - A lot of car dealers put their own license plate frames on new and used cars so you can advertise for them while driving around. Why not replace it with your own license plate frame and advertise your website? If you have the right size vinyl letters, you can stick them over the existing frame. Sometimes you can simply turn the frame over and stick the vinyl letters on the blank back. For less than fifteen bucks you can design your own custom full color metal license plate frame at CafePress.com. Visit the link at the bottom of this article to see some license plate frame examples.
3.) Bumper Stickers - Got a rusty bumper? Why not cover it up with your URL? Think of a catchy slogan that relates to your website and make sure to include your URL on the bumper sticker. You can find many do-it-yourself bumper sticker kits available from just about any store that sells office supplies. I have not tried any of them so I can not comment on how well they last. I have made custom bumper stickers at CafePress.com that seem to last. Visit the link at the bottom of this article to see some bumper sticker examples.
Sticker and Frame Design Tips:
Only use top level domain URLs
The shorter the URL the better because it will be much easier for the other driver to remember since most people don't write down what they see while driving.
Eliminate "http://" and sometimes "www"
Typing "http://" is not required in most browsers and is just a waste of space. In most cases, adding the "www" before the domain name is not necessary (ie. www.mrgoodbeer.com is the same as mrgoodbeer.com). Make sure to test your domain name without the "www" before using it in any advertising.
Capitalize when appropriate
Use both upper and lower case letters in your URL to help the reader identify and remember your site (ie. MrGoodbeer.com is
more appealing and memorable than mrgoodbeer.com). Note, most individual vinyl letters are only available in upper case so this is not possible with them.
Use color
Bright colors attract the driver's attention. Try red on yellow or yellow on red.
Read the guidelines carefully
If using CafePress.com, make sure to read their "Image Workshop" at to take full advantage of available space on the merchandise.
Mike Snyder is the owner of MrGoodbeer.com. For more info about Mike visit http://www.mrgoodbeer.com/aboutus.shtml
You may reprint this article (can be found at http://www.mrgoodbeer.com/bumpertobumper.shtml ) in any form but all links to MrGoodbeer.com in the credits, title, body, and this footer must not be altered.