Freebie table (HNA 2015)
With Haiku North America around the corner, it’s time to think about the freebie you’ll bring to the conference. A freebie is a promotional item you give to attendees at a conference. A freebie can take different forms: bookmarks, leaflets, postcards, 3D objects.
Whatever format you chose, a freebie must fit certain criteria to be successful.
The best freebies are:
- Beautiful
- Well written
- Good promotional tool for the author
- Portable
Now let’s look at each criterion with some examples.
1. Beautiful: does your freebie have a wow factor? A nice cover that will get people to pay attention? Is it printed on good quality paper? Color paper? Is the shape unusual?
Leaf-shaped haiku freebie by Deborah P Kolodji (HNA 2015)
2. Well written: Have you included your best haiku? Is the contents free of typos and grammar mistakes? Extra points if your contents fit the theme of the conference.
Booklets by Tanya McDonald
3. Good promotional tool for the author: have you included your name and contact information? The main goal of a freebie is promotion, so don’t forget these important details. A freebie is your business card.
Bookmark by Frank Carey.
4. Portable: is your freebie small enough to fit in a luggage? Or is it cumbersome? I took a picture of this beautiful rock by Jeff Hoagland (HNA 2015). Although I really liked the haiku and the concept, there was no way I could have brought back this massive 1 pound rock in my suitcase.
Haiku Rock by Jeff Hoagland (HNA 2015)
In the next couple days, I’ll show you more examples of promotional items for writers and share some tips about creating a freebie for your next conference.
Do you know what freebie you’ll bring to your next conference?
Old Pond Comics 