"I live 30 miles from anything and my book stays full,” says Pam Smith of Nails at Last in Left Hand, W.Va. The secret to her success? Pens.

“I have had about 30 or more people call me or e-mail me just because they have been handed a pen with my information on it.” The flowered pens, purchased from www.pens.com, have her name, address, phone number, and e-mail address printed on them. “I put them in store pen holders, I replace pens in restaurants, and I even give them to car dealers. Bank tellers and teachers particularly like them,” she says. “Also if they lose the pen you know someone else will end up with it.”

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.