If you're doing any sort of marketing effort, whether it's getting news coverage or sending a postcard, you must be prepared for what happens next.

If you're sending postcards promoting your business, and you have people working for you, tell them that you sent the card.

There's nothing worse than having your customers, postcards in hand, coming into your business and being greeted by an employee who says "Huh? What special promotion?"

Fortunately, there's any easy way to solve this problem. Here's an idea from one of my postcard marketing workshop participants: Whenever she has a mustn't-be-ignored announcement for her coffee house staff, she puts it in their pay envelopes.

So, in a nutshell, chance favors the prepared marketer.