This past weekend I went out to my car to find a small white piece of paper tucked under the windshield wiper. Great, a parking ticket, was my first thought, but since I wasn't illegally parked I quickly realized it was just a flyer. The message was short and sweet--Medium One Topping Pizzas, No Limit, $3.99. The reason? Customer Appreciation Day. The special was for one day only, from a national chain, only at one location. Intrigued by the special (where else can you get a pizza for $3.99?) as well as by the reason for the special, I took a little detour to order some pizzas and speak with the owner. It was early for pizza, but I decided to take home several pies and while I was ordering, I asked the owner how his flyer effort was working out. He said it was early yet but that he had gotten at least 10 orders that he wouldn't have so far. I guess my order made that 11, since I certainly hadn't been planning on purchasing pizza from him. In fact, until I got the flyer on my car, I didn't even know the business was there. "That's the problem," he said. "The city won't allow me to put up a sign on the main street." The business was located in a strip mall/business office park situation that was positioned back from the road, with large parking lots in front of the businesses. It's true, you would never notice the business from the main road, unless you drove in the parking lot. I told him I thought the flyers were a great idea, one that I myself have used many times in the past when I owned several retail engraving stores. If you don't have a location that generates a lot of foot traffic, you need to be more creative in trying to bring customers into your store. Flyers don't need to be expensive. The flyers for the pizza special were printed on plain white paper, 2 up, and then cut in half. He also had the cost of paying someone $10 an hour to distribute the flyers on cars. When people respond to your flyer, it's a good idea to ask them where their car was parked and see if you get a better response from a particular parking lot. If it works for pizza, it can work for t-shirts. What are some ideas for a customer apprecation day that you can offer with a heat press? How about FREE NAMES? For one day only, you can offer to add a name for free if they purchase the shirt in your store. Whether you use die cut lettering or can cut your own with a  cad-cutter, you will most likely not lose money on the sale. Which is more than I can say for the pizza store owner. $3.99!