Flyering
If you’ve ever visited UC Berkeley and walked through Sproul Plaza on a weekday afternoon, you probably passed by lots of people trying to hand you a flyer.
There are usually so many students flyering on Sproul that it desensitizes everyone. The whole point of flyering is to publicize an event or meeting that your organization is hosting. I think flyering is a very ineffective way to get the word out, due to its extreme impersonality and passiveness.
I’ve flyered many times for my organizations and I have definitely gotten more than my fair share of “No, thanks” replies and disinterested looks. Many times, I’ve even been completely ignored by passersby. It’s pretty discouraging to be rejected again and again.
Flyering on Sproul Plaza
But through experience, I think there are little things that you can do to get people to notice you and your flyer.
First of all, use a catchy message that will instantly grab someone’s attention. If you can get your message into their head and get them to think a little bit, you’re already halfway there.
Secondly, make it personal. Instead of yelling out your message and trying to pass out flyers to a mass of students walking by, get one person’s sole attention and make them feel like they’ve been selectively chosen to receive your flyer. If you invest that time in that one person, they just might want to reciprocate.
Lastly, just smile. It makes you human. You are no longer just another automated flyering machine, but a genuine person. And smiles are contagious. If they see that you’re flyering for an organization that makes you happy, you’ll make them think, “Hmm, maybe I’ll become happy from going to this organization’s event as well”. After all, who can reject happiness?
:)
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Oddly enough, when I flyered for ballroom, the strategy I found best was to smile at people and just hand them a flyer without saying anything.
Also, if one or two people have just rejected your flyer, the people behind them who saw that happen will probably not take it either, so skip them and go for the next ones.
But yes, smiling is very important.
Hmm… I’ve always gone with smile and talk. I’ll have to try the smile and silence method the next time I flyer.