Advertising The Old Fashioned Way (Or Trying To)

There is a meme going around about Chinese restaurants. It goes something like:

 "I've been alive for __ years and I've never seen a Chinese restaurant commercial."

While the meme is true for many of us, we have seen ads from Chinese restaurants. They advertise via flyers on our doors, in our mailboxes, and sometimes they leave the flyers on our cars. One restaurant regularly passes out a menu at the drive-through when customers are getting their meals to go. So while the meme is interesting, we know these restaurants actually pay for advertisement and make sure the words gets around about them. 

This year I decided to utilize the tactic of paper flyers and try to get the word around that way about me. How else are new people going to find out about this amazing writer? By using social media, I'm only enticing the people that already know about me. I have no problem with receiving the support of the ones that already care, but I also recognize I need new faces in order to elevate my life. I need more buyers in order to get my lifestyle to where it needs to be. 

I didn't make colorful flyers though. I just created some new business cards and was determined to pass them out. I wanted to purchase more books and walk around looking for readers with cash like New Yorkers do, but that's not how it works in Houston. So I created colorful cards and looked for a good spot to pass them out at. 

What I should have done was go to a popular club area and stick the cards on doors like strip clubs owners and realtors trying to gentrify a new area do. Maybe I'll do that soon. However, I chose to find a spot and pass out the cards to people walking by. I knew bouncer at a bar, so I sat next to him one night. 

I wasn't ready. I wasn't brave enough. That night I handed one card to a college student carrying a bag  full of stuff. She stopped to speak to the bouncer, so I found out a little information on her. 

While it was cool handing out that one card, the bar was ultimately not a good idea. It was filled with lots of people on the verge of being drunk and many talking and walking by fast. It was too much for an introvert like me. 

I'm going to try this again one day in a calmer area. Wish me good luck on my career. Oh, and if you haven't gotten your copy already, grab your copy of Woman Manifested: A Poetic Tale today.