So you have invested all that money on catalog printing? You have a wonderfully designed print catalog that your competitors will drool over. It has a full color quality finish with the best paper for catalog printing money has to offer. All seems ready for your market dominance using your catalogs. But, now comes the main event, giving away your color catalogs.

You may think giving a full color catalog is easy to do. However, there are still some pointers that you need to understand to maximize the efficiency of distribution of them. This is not a flier where you can just literally, ?spread to the winds?. Catalogs are bigger, and require a conscious and targeted approach to distribution. To help you in giving away your marketing catalogs, we have a collected a few of the most common methods firms use to distribute their catalogs. We hope that one of these may be the best method for you catalog distribution.

By Mail Service

The most common and obvious method for distributing your color catalogs is by using the postal service. The main advantage with this is that it has a nationwide/worldwide distribution capacity. Catalogs can be easily adapted for the mail service by adjusting its design and you can directly deliver your catalogs to the front door of the people you want. Mailing your custom catalogs is comprehensive, easy and can be targeted to certain people or groups of people.

Of course, using the mail means you have to have a list of mailing addresses. This is the hard part of mailing your catalogs. If you have a mailing list of current customers, then that is fine. However if you want to reach out for new potential customers then you have to widen that mailing list of yours. You can research for mailing addresses yourself, or buy the information from some specialty companies that research these kinds of stuff. Of course make sure that their lists are up to date if you can.

Target addresses that are perfect for your target market. Some mailing lists can be organizes by area, age, sex, ethnicity, civil status and other demographic information. This ensures that your catalog will be given to the best possible person who will be interested in buying your products. So try and find the addresses of the demographics that best suit your purpose. If you don't want all the hassle of figuring this out, there are also professional catalog distributions services that can help you decide and distribute your catalogs.

Distribution By Hand

Of course if you have an open shop in the middle of town, or near a busy sidewalk or a shopping mall then you can give your color catalogs by hand. You or a member of your staff can give away the catalogs as people walk by. If you have a good eye catching design for your custom catalog, any person walking through might be interested and pick one up. You can also give the catalogs to your friends and colleagues. Ask them to put them in their office waiting areas, or even their own stores if possible. Also try and give them to doctor's offices with waiting rooms, hotel lobbies, train stations and other places where people wait and might want something to read. Lastly, always keep a copy or two with you just in case you meet a potential customer as you go about your day.

Online Distribution

To keep up to date with the times, you can setup an online catalog for people to see. With the amount of people going online today, its highly likely that people will stumble upon your online catalog and see what's for sale. Of course, use web practices like link building, and Search engine optimization techniques so that more people can find you. Also, have a nice web form ready for people to fill up if people want to be sent a ?physical? catalog updates in their ?snail mail? as well. This is so that you can build up your mailing list.

That about wraps up the main methods of distribution for your marketing catalogs. Try them out, or think of new and creative things to give away your catalogs. Maybe you can include them with your Holiday gifts? Or design a pop-up catalog and give them out as toys. The only limit is your imagination. So good luck with your distribution!