Occasionally, when I’m at a store that sells do-it-yourself artificial nail kits and press-on nails, I’ve been known to tuck my business cards into a few boxes and leave them laying around on the shelves.
Cari Baloun
Salon Nouveau (South Bend, Ind.)
I’ve left cards in the ladies rooms at restaurants and even down at the shore. You never know who will pick one up.
Dawn Haremza
Abbey’s Nail Salon (Burlington, N.J.)
While vacationing on an island off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, I thought it would be interesting to put my business card in a sealed bottle and toss it off a cliff into the Carribean Sea. The tide was very turbulent, so I had high hopes of it reaching somewhere soon. I’ve yet to get a response, but who knows, these things take time.
Carmella Brown
Shear Precision (Eagle River, Wis.)
About 10 years ago, my partner Joan and I were in California at a tradeshow. While we were driving to Malibu, we decided to visit the famous Rodeo Drive. Entering fine stores, such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton, we left our business cards in as many handbags and wallets as we could possibly get our hands into. The next stop was the Beverly Hills Hotel, where we placed our cards on a large marble table in the lobby.
If that wasn’t enough, Joan really wanted to see the “Pool of the Stars.” While she carried on a conversation with the towel host, I snuck past the gate to the outside villas, and from bush to bush, I made my way sliding our cards into each of the screen doors. Then, upon scurrying back through the lobby and out to the tree-lined street, we left cards on a few limos and a Rolls Royce. No one ever did call us. You’d think someone might have made it out here to Jersey.
Joan Ferrara and Susie Bonham
Nail Classics (Matawan, N.J.)
I left a card on the billboard at Dole’s Bait and Tackle store in Pine Flat Dam. My husband and I stopped to buy some bait for our fishing trip, so out of curiosity, I left my business card to see if anyone would call. Guess what? It worked.
Cyndi Gomez-Gonzales (Reedley, Calif.)
I’ve left my cards with tips at restaurants and with the drive-up bank teller. I even gave one to the cop who was giving me a speeding ticket.
April Hall
In the Nails (Huntsville, Ala.)
One day I decided to leave my business card at a public phone. I left it lying there as though someone had just used it to call me. Would you believe I got a client from that? She said she saw it while making her call and put it in her purse. I never told her I was the one who left it.
Georgette Torrell
Hottest Touch Nail Salon (Satellite Beach, Fla.)