About three weeks ago I attended a business conference in New York. I took with me fifty business cards I had made up as a test which contained the phrase "Make Money Or It's FREE" and my domain name right underneath it. I left two or three on my seat when I went to lunch; they were gone when I got back. I also dropped two or three on the table by the entrance to the conference room and those disappeared as well. By the time the conference was over at 4 pm I had given out all fifty cards.

Fast forward three weeks. I was driving home with a friend of mine and stopped by the car wash at his insistence. Something about driving with a dirty windshield not being safe. It was one of those fancy car wash places with a big sit in place and nice comfortable seats. I remember being amazed at the treatment my ar was getting. Is the blue foam thing really necessary?

While immersed in my admiration for the spa treatment my car was getting I noticed my friend reach out to the seat next to him and grab something. He game  me a troubled smiled and game a card. I started laughing at once. That card was one of the test cards I gave away at the conference some thirty miles away. I explained to him that I had purchased those cards to test their pull and went on to tell him how I gave them away at the hotel where the business conference took place.

I am not sure if non-entrepreneurs have a different brain from us, but he felt bad for me because, to him, someone had thrown away something that was important to me. To me, in the other hand, was validation that the cards worked. If that one card travelled thirty miles, how far did the other 49 go? How many people had seen the car I found in the car wash? Finding this card in the car wash meant the money I invested in them was stretched. 

   When I first bought the cards I figured only fifty people would see them. Now I was witnessing my money work for me; this card was seen by at least two people. What if I could repeat this with something else? That's when I thought about pens. Have you ever picked up a pen you found in the street? I have. What about if that pen had my website on it? You see my point? I know that giving away pens with your information is not a new concept, but for small business or start ups that pen ca do a better job than AdWords or an expensive email campaign.

   My point with this story is to help you think outside the box. Test new inexpensive campaigns and explore the unexpected when it shows its head in your life. One last point I'd like to make is that you need to get a short and catchy domain name. My cards had "Make Money Or It's FREE" with www.VIPCashMakers.com underneath it. This is something easy to remember and that you need in case you get a batch of traveling business cards.