Entrepreneur distributes others' business cards

Public Record, The, Jul 13, 2004 by Kleinschmidt, Janice

Sarah Joseph was working in marketing and as a concierge for Marriott's Courtyard and Residence Inn properties in Palm Desert when she "stumbled" on her current business. For the past four years, Joseph has owned a one-woman operation called Concierge Selection. The company provides foldout business cards that provide tourist information - generally restaurant menus, descriptions and coupons that are displayed in hotel lobbies and other visitor locations.

The company's previous owner was servicing a card rack at the hotel where Joseph was working and the two got to chatting. The woman was getting married and selling her business. When a buyer fell ill and backed out of the deal, Joseph stepped up and bought the operation, although there were only a few clients signed up for the cards.

"I just started pounding on doors," she says. Although she had been coming to the desert since she was 15 and had a timeshare at Palm Canyon Resort & Spa in Palm Springs, she didn't have any business contacts. She had moved from Hermosa Beach, where she grew up, to the Coachella Valley a couple years earlier following a divorce. "I didn't know anybody," she says. She also didn't have a lot of business experience. What she did have was heart. "All I can tell you is I promise you hard work," she told prospective clients.

These days, Concierge Selection has about 25 restaurants, an urgent-care facility, golf course, hot air balloon company, salon, and realtor advertising themselves through the pocketsized cards. Joseph says tourists often take cards home with them to show friends where they ate. She knows because she still works as a concierge four days a week at Marriott's Desert Springs Villas in Palm Desert.

"The two [jobs] work good together because I can hear what guests have to say. But I stay very neutral. My jobs are completely separate," Joseph says. She uses the feedback she hears as a concierge to make recommendations to her clients. "I can suggest certain things, but they make the final decision of what they want to put in [their card]," she says.

When Joseph initially meets with a client, she prepares a map showing their location, which generally goes on the back of the card. Then she and the client discuss what information they want included in the card. Most have their own logo they want on the front. Joseph takes the materials to a graphic designer. "We go back and forth until it is exactly the way they want it," Joseph says. It can take several attempts to ensure the four-color printing results meet the client's approval.

Once approved, Joseph has 15,000 cards printed and delivers them to the Concierge Selection racks at 68 locations throughout the Coachella Valley. Advertisers pay a $650 setup fee, which includes the design of the card and the first printing. Monthly fees are determined by a number of factors, including the length of the contract and whether the advertiser is open yearround or seasonally.

One of the free services Joseph provides to clients is distributing flyers to card locations if they have a special menu or event they want to promote. And she gives them complimentary, individualized card holders to display on their own premises. When their supply of car

ds runs low, Joseph has another 15,000 printed and only charges them cost - unless they totally redesign the card, which requires another setup fee.

Display locations include hotels, the Signature and Bermuda Dunes private airports, Palm Desert and Palm Springs chambers of commerce, and the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority. Joseph provides the racks, monitors the card supply and restocks them at no charge.

During holidays, she personally prepares small gifts for locations that display her card racks. "I know who likes what candy," she says. "It's my [way to show] appreciation to them.

"I never take for granted anything," she continues. "I just believe in being very respectful to everybody I deal with. I just like everybody to be happy, so I try to go the extra mile if I can."

Working as a concierge, visiting prospective and existing clients, and maintaining card inventory keeps Joseph working seven days a week. "I have no time off except when I take a vacation once a year," she says. "But I love what I do.

"I am not going to get rich doing this. I know that," she adds. "I just like my little business."