Finding Printers and Artists
You can use the Internet to search for a company that specializes in cartoon maps. Try to localize your search down to your area. Key words like "cartoon," "map" and your city's name can help with that search.
Or you can go as far as your yellow pages. Most phone books have a section called, "Advertising-Promotional Products and Services," or a similar title.
You probably won't be as lucky to find a company named, "Cartoon Maps." But calling the companies listed in this section is a good start for finding a cartoon map company.
So What's It Going To Cost You?
Many factors decide the cost. The city you live in. How many companies will be featured on the map. How many cartoon maps will be printed. The
more advertisers, the less cost it will be to you.
Depending on where you live and the number of advertisers involved, you can pay between $100 and $500 to be featured on a cartoon map. The cost will definitely vary based on the factors mentioned above.
The printing company will generally charge a flat fee for having the artist illustrate your company on the map. However, if you are one of a handful of advertisers, you will all pay more simply for the cost of printing. If you're one of many advertisers, you will pay the fee for the artist but you can generally get a much better deal since a larger number of advertisers will knock that printing cost down since you'll technically be splitting it between all of you.
Distributing Your Cartoon Map
Before you sign up to be on a cartoon map, find out where the map will be distributed. If you're spearheading the cartoon map project among many businesses, find out if you're local city's chamber of commerce will agree to distribute the map once it's printed. This will be a much easier sell if you have a regular city map on the other side.
You won't be charging them for the maps. You'll be giving them the opportunity to distribute free city maps at their location. Your cartoon map just happens to be on the other side promoting many businesses.
Local restaurants and other businesses, including your own, are also great places for you to give away your maps. Be sure the other business owners who are featured on the maps know this is an invaluable way for them to distribute maps as well. Handing out stacks of maps to businesses for their customers to take with them gets your map out there and gets your business seen.
An alternative is to get a sponsor for the map. Many non-profit organizations are always looking for ways to raise money.
Non-profits are a fantastic way for you to get a big name on your cartoon map. You can offer them space for their logo on the map, even contact info.
They may also want to sell the map to raise money. You've paid for advertising your business as an illustration and they benefit from distributing the maps for you to raise money for their organization.