If you're trying to boost sales, or get new customers at least in the door, your best bet, is still to print the coupon yourself, but then add a number to it to identify that coupon, and then, when someone uses it, ask for the name. If you're worried they won't give it, say that everyone using the coupon is being entered into a drawing for something free, or for a 10% discount card on their next purchase. People love free crap, and so you'd be surprised how well that would work.

The reason for an ID number and name, would be basically, that way, you can simply send them out in snail mail. You could also have a sign made (The crap kids use for school projects can work if you have someone good enough at drawing) and stick it in with window of the store, or, put some on plywood and make a sign yourself.

Whatever you do don't light the thing up or make it flash, that's a sign of desperation in business.

You could also take out a small add in the local paper. They usually charge based on word count, so you should be able to get "Huge sale at this place" for pretty cheap.

Also, call your cable company. Here at least, the cable company gives discounts for ads on TV to local business people, so you can use that route too.

You also can hang up signs on Telephone Poles.

Another way to get this working is to get your local area council to create a Bulletin Board. Think of it as an analogue forum


An old grocery store in my old neighborhood actually still has one. It's basically a big display where local business people advertise free, and people can offer services too.

The community I live in for example, has a big one where girls advertise baby sitting and other things to make money. When I checked the mail today they were offering free kittens.

Also, don't forget the power of cheap. When my Uncle was trying to get rid of these HUGE display Beepers (He owned a Beeper and Cell Phone shop) and didn't want to pay to ship them back to the company who in turn didn't even want them...

He made a sign saying "free" and left them out in the entry way. NO ONE looked at them.

I asked if he'd like my help and he said yea... I changed the sign from "free" to "$5.00" and in an hour someone stole them all. Got rid of them, and it's not like anyone took them when they were free.

Literally these damn balloons were sitting out there for 4 hours with free on them and no one even touched them. As soon as I put a price on them, a half hour later someone stole them.

It seems dumb I know, but exploiting human stupidity for fun or profit.... Well, no laws against that. If there was, used car salesmen would be in prison.



EDIT:

By the way....What do you sell anyway? If I knew what you were trying to get people to buy, I could probably give you better suggestions. I'm pretty good at this and the fact that I don't have a great paying job does in fact surprise me.