Business Cards With a Major Twist

[ratsbew]

To me it is obvious that Ron Paul needs a serious boost or he will NOT come even close to winning the primaries (2-3%), we can all sit here in our own little world and think that suddenly he is going to catch on and suddenly top the polls. The truth is this will never happen without serious name recognition.
We have all seen the 250 Handouts for $5.25 (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=92) before which is a great start, but I envision something more. The basic design of that card is great, it is straight to the point and easy to distribute. The one major thing lacking is incentive for the recipient of the card to ever further research the topic. Here is my proposition, and only a community like this can make it happen:

First and foremost this project has to be somewhat centralized so that there is a certain level of control over it. The project would have a centralized website where supporters register as "distributors" so that they can buy/be given business cards in bulk that have all the relevant Ron Paul info on them and also a blank that says something like "Code:_________________". The "distributors" then can log on to the website and go to a page to randomly generate a code that they can write in the blank on the card. This code will be linked to their account and when someone who receives the card inputs the code into the website the distributor will be credited with the "referral" and the person who was given the card will be given a plethora of information along with the opportunity to register with the website (forums...potentially these) and become a distributor. The user who received the card now becomes a co-distributor of that code and is asked to pass the same card along to others.
The website should be interesting and have tons of stats (where has this card been (via users' zip code or dropping a pin on a google map and extracting coordinates), how many people have entered it's code, ect); stats will be fundamental to keeping people interested in the community, and interest in a community equals voting with the community.

If I had programming skills I would be on this in an instant but unfortunately I possess little skill beyond HTML. Also if anybody takes this project up make sure to get up AdSense or similar advertising to help cover the costs.

I think that somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-20 million cards in distribution would help an extreme amount (we need a big push). And the great thing is that the cards don't even have to be "official", you could write down the website and the code on public magazines, or even on your website.

Also this thread needs to get made popular on digg/reddit/del.icio.us so we can try to tap into the programming/website skills on those sites.

Thoughts

[angrydragon]

Hmm, seems like extra tedious work.

[denvervoipguru]

Hold a 4ft X 15 feet "Who Is Ron Paul?" sign over a local over pass in major city during rush hour (make sure it's done SAFELY and SECURELY)

10,000 people will see it in a few hours.

Cost: $160.00 for the vinyl banner.

[EvoPro]

I think it's a good idea to have this type of common card. And it draws people to the internet.

[Nathan Hale]

I think we're past the "who is ron paul" stage. Asking that leaves viewers with a vague sense of wonder. Offering them a campaign sign that tells them he's running for president and they know immediately who he is so they search with a more targeted sense of purpose. I think supporters of the "who is ron paul" strategy overestimate the curiosity of people. Telling them that he's a candidate for president at least clarifies the basics so they know what they're going to see if they're interested in following up - I think that in America in 2007, curiosity takes a little more than the mention of a name, it takes a context. If you ask me:

The number of people who see a "who is ron paul" sign and are curious enough to look him up is LESS THAN the number of people who see a "ron paul for president in 2008" sign and look him up.

[EvoPro]

I agree, the "who is Ron Paul?" slogan is not very effective, but the idea for a website based on Ron Paul business-size cards is a good idea. Who really sees a political sign for a candidate and goes to the internet and looks that person up. I never have, it would only build name recognition. But a card with relavent information could spark enough interest for someone to research the candidate.

[Bryan]

First and foremost this project has to be somewhat centralized so that there is a certain level of control over it. The project would have a centralized website where supporters register as "distributors" so that they can buy/be given business cards in bulk that have all the relevant Ron Paul info on them and also a blank that says something like "Code:_________________". The "distributors" then can log on to the website and go to a page to randomly generate a code that they can write in the blank on the card. This code will be linked to their account and when someone who receives the card inputs the code into the website the distributor will be credited with the "referral" and the person who was given the card will be given a plethora of information along with the opportunity to register with the website (forums...potentially these) and become a distributor. The user who received the card now becomes a co-distributor of that code and is asked to pass the same card along to others.
The website should be interesting and have tons of stats (where has this card been (via users' zip code or dropping a pin on a google map and extracting coordinates), how many people have entered it's code, ect); stats will be fundamental to keeping people interested in the community, and interest in a community equals voting with the community.

If I had programming skills I would be on this in an instant but unfortunately I possess little skill beyond HTML. Also if anybody takes this project up make sure to get up AdSense or similar advertising to help cover the costs.

I think that somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-20 million cards in distribution would help an extreme amount (we need a big push). And the great thing is that the cards don't even have to be "official", you could write down the website and the code on public magazines, or even on your website.
This is an important effort- several things to note:

Some groups are working on some organizational efforts on this- send a PM to tangent4ronpaul for some info.

There is another group that is looking at doing this some of this as well- get info at: RON PAUL FRIENDS USA P.O. Box 25348 Houston, TX 77265 Email: keeptherepublic@pdq.net

Take a look at this free campaign software: http://www.advokit.net/
There is a demo you can login to by going to:
http://www.advokit.net/sandbox
Username: chief
Password: advokit

Our meetup (Houston) received 2,000 free push cards from the campaign- these are high quality and have the message that they want to promote. I'd try and get some of those, the business cards are good for some applications but not the best for all.

[literatim]

This is an important effort- several things to note:

Some groups are working on some organizational efforts on this- send a PM to tangent4ronpaul for some info.

There is another group that is looking at doing this some of this as well- get info at: RON PAUL FRIENDS USA P.O. Box 25348 Houston, TX 77265 Email: keeptherepublic@pdq.net

Take a look at this free campaign software: http://www.advokit.net/
There is a demo you can login to by going to:
http://www.advokit.net/sandbox
Username: chief
Password: advokit

Our meetup (Houston) received 2,000 free push cards from the campaign- these are high quality and have the message that they want to promote. I'd try and get some of those, the business cards are good for some applications but not the best for all.

You should post this in the Campaign Material or Strategies For Success forum as a thread by itself.