4 Flyer Distributor Mistakes That Drain Earnings & Productivity
by Admin Joe
published – May 31st 2019
You might not think it, but there are plenty of easy mistakes you can make in a flyer distribution job. These will affect your productivity and most importantly your wallet.
How do I avoid making mistakes in flyer distribution? Like anything, you will likely make mistakes (even if you go out of your way not to) in life and in this line of work too. This will mostly be through trial and error, just like I did when I first started.
Around 9 out of 10 households will take time to read any distribution material that is delivered to their address. This is great! For brands, getting eyeballs on their products and services is half the battle in business. Distribution marketing offers them an effective tool for their arsenal.
Based on this statistic, it’s vital that we reduce mishaps to a bare minimum. This is so that we can get the most out of the people who read our flyers, leaflets and posters.
If you have a bit of knowledge beforehand about the inner workings of flyer distribution work then there is a chance you can avoid errors altogether. That’s where I swing in like Spider-Man to save the day and help you.
It may surprise you to hear that I’m not really a superhero … or a narcissist. Really, the only reason I know about these mistakes is because I’ve been stupid enough to make them as a flyer distributor, personally. Subsequently, I had to learn from them.
What are the most common mistakes that you can make in flyer distribution? Together, let’s take a look at the kind of things that flyer distributors need to dodge while on the job.
1. Illegitimate flyer distribution
Posting any kind of advertisement without consent from the proper authorities (land owners) is commonly known as “fly-posting“. You should normally avoid doing this.
It can sometimes even be considered illegal depending on the laws of the country you are in. Asking permission is not relevant under every circumstance in flyer and poster distribution work. However, it certainly helps.
For instance, if you are slapping a poster on a notice board then you don’t really need permission. Clearly, that’s what notice or bulletin boards are there for. People expect to see various advertisements on there so it’s generally fine, in my view.
You just have to use your common sense sometimes in these situations. If you can see other posters all in one place then there is a good chance you can post yours as well. There is no added hassle of having to ask beforehand.
You might put up an advertisement in an establishment. If the proprietor doesn’t like it then of course they are in their right to take it down and throw it out. Why not take that extra step to talk to them and tell them exactly what you want to do as a flyer distributor. I find that it can really pay of if you do. Tell them about:
- yourself
- what you are distributing
- you could even sell them on the idea of how the poster might help their business
Be careful if you do put up an advertisement without permission. If the land owner takes it down then you are letting down the client who you’re working for, in a lot of ways.
They might even refuse to pay you for the completed distribution job if there is evidence of the advertisement being removed. Proceed with caution.
The longer a poster stays up, the more eyeballs will see it. For this reason, you might want to ask consent every time for longevity, just in case.
2. Forgetting about the weather
There isn’t a lot you can do about vandals (those damn vandals). On the contrary, you can take steps to guard your advertisements (particularly outdoor posters) from the weather.
If you are distributing a poster outside in a public place then you might want to take a few precautions. This is in case you have any problems with weather conditions.
It’s wise to place the poster inside of a plastic wallet or sleeve
The poster will be as good as garbage if this were to happen. Clearly, you still want your advertisement to remain readable. Evidently, it is well worth going to these extra lengths, believe me.
In my experience, you should use plenty of strong and sturdy push pins or thumb tacks
The person you’re working for obviously doesn’t want their poster to suffer from weather damage. Any good client should provide you with these additional materials for their own sake. It will benefit them too seeing as it’s their advertisement.
Alternatively, they may ask the poster distributor to arrange this themselves, The is accompanied by the promise that they will reimburse them for any costs.
It’s not just the advertisements that you need to protect from the weather, you need to worry about yourself too. You would be wise to wear the appropriate clothing to protect yourself from the elements.
Door-drop and catalog distributors don’t have to worry about the weather as much. This is down to all of their flyers, leaflets and catalogs are going straight through doors into the shelter of homes. Good for them.
[bctt tweet=”It’s wise to place your poster inside of a plastic wallet or sleeve. This is done in case of heavy rain. Water can ruin posters and cause the colors to run & fade.” username=”@athomegrind”]
3. Being confrontational
Confrontation is a fact. It’s an especially hard pill to swallow for flyer distributors and people in other customer-centric jobs similar to this. The important thing is to not let it negatively affect you and to deal with rudeness in the right way.
Tensions may begin to flare up occasionally. You need to remain calm and be able to defuse the situation in a professional and reasonable manner. It takes a very level-headed person to work a flyer distribution job when scenarios like this arise, in my opinion.
You need to have the self-control not to retaliate and be aggressive back to the aggressor. If you do fall into this trap then this will negatively affect yourself and the flyer distribution company that you are working for. No good can come from behaving as poorly as these people.
Unfortunately, your employer may take disciplinary action against you if it goes too far. They might even end up suspending or firing you if you are overly aggressive with recipients, however unfair the situation is.
Certain people don’t like to receive junk mail (as they like to call it) from flyer and leaflet distributors for whatever reason. They might see distributors as salespeople (which is sort of true in some respects). I believe this is one of the biggest reasons for the amount of venom that people throw at them.
I can tell you that rudeness is pretty rare in flyer distribution work. Don’t let it scare you away from this career path altogether. However, being able to deal with conflict and confrontation well is a truly beneficial trait to have as a distributor.
4. Wearing shorts
Wearing shorts in the summer when distributing flyers can seem like a great idea for many obvious reasons. Although, I wouldn’t advise wearing shorts when distributing flyers and leaflets to homes, particularly. Try to remember to wear full-length, practical trousers or pants.
For door-drop distributors, some residences will unfortunately have overgrown bushes in their front or back gardens. These might have sharp nettles and thorns. They may even be trailing across pathways. This can easily lead to your legs getting stung and scratched.
Getting stung once is bad enough. However, if you are distributing to several houses like this then your bare legs are going to take a thrashing throughout the day. I foolishly wore shorts when I was a flyer distributor. I then immediately learned a valuable lesson.
We are all bound to make mistakes when doing anything for the first time. That’s fine, it’s all part of the learning process. No one is an expert on day one.
Additionally, we can run into difficulties as flyer distributors. This is true when it comes to having the right gear with you or dealing with recipients in the correct way, for example.
We can learn that there are places that you can and can’t distribute. You need to be able to know the difference if you don’t want it to negatively affect your distribution work. We also know how important it is to prepare for all kinds of weather.
The next thing I suggest you should do is study up some more about the subject of distribution work. One great way of doing this is by reading books about flyer distribution
The important thing is teaching yourself something from your experiences. You will progress forward after inevitably stumbling (through no fault of your own).
I live in hope that some of these points should help you on your journey as a flyer distributor (if you didn’t already know about them before that is).
In summary, we have a general idea of what not to do. Now let’s find Which Are The Best Flyer Distribution Employers To Work For?
Can you think of any distribution mistakes that I might have missed? What is the biggest mistake the you have made as a flyer distributor? Please don’t forget to share this with your friends and comment below. Thanks for reading!
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