Five Tips Guaranteed to Reduce the Cost of Your Yellow Pages Advertising

When you read your Yellow Pages contract you will see initials for various items success as BLN, WBLN, WFL, and ABLN. Most of these items cost between $ 7 and $34. Do you ever ask your sales Rep "what the heck is this?" The reason you don't ask is because the item only cost $ 30 dollars, and you had it last year, and you don't want to appear stupid asking questions about $ 30.. The problem is that these unidentified items can add thousands of dollars to your advertising bill.
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When you read your Yellow Pages contract ask the publisher's sales Rep what all the initials are and why do you need them. In almost all cases you don't need them because there is a cheaper or free version available.

White page listing (WBLN) - If you have a business phone you are entitled to a free listing of your business name, address and phone number in the White Pages and the Yellow Pages. You will be told that it's much easier for your customer to read a bold listing (BLN) and it only cost $31 than the semi bold free listing. Unfortunately it is not $31 but $372. The $31 is for one month but the contract is for a year. It is very clever the way the publishers show all costs on your contract by the month instead of by the year, even though the contract is for a year. Ninety percent of all business name listings in the white pages are the free listings version and their customers seem to be able to find them. People read the white pages alphabetically and the bold print can actually be confusing.
Tip! Free advertising isn't really free. It takes a great deal of time to post free advertisements all over the net.

White Feature Listing (WFL) - This is the super big print that you see in the white pages. A bold white page listing (WBLN) cost $31 a month while the super bold (WFL) listings cost $90 a month or $1080 for the year. Can you imagine paying $1080 for something that is free, yet thousands of businesses have WFL's.

Anchor Bold Listing and Number (ABLN) - If you purchase a display ad you receive a free Incolumn listing in the same heading the display ad appears. You will be told that it's much easier for the customer to read your name if it is bold. An anchor listing is the business name, address and phone number and where your ad is located (see our ad on page 456). The price of a bold anchor listing can ranges from $30 to $114 a month or you can get it for free (ARL). As my son would say Duuuh.
Tip! If a newspaper is delivered twice daily (morning/evening), it often offers 'combination' rates or discounts for advertising in both papers. You usually can reach more readers, so this kind of advertising may be something to consider.

Buy the largest display ad -All advertisers are told that the largest display and will receive the most calls. However research shows that the ad that contains the most pertinent information that the consumer is looking for, in an easy-to-read format, will receive the most calls regardless of size. Spend your money on ad design and copywriting instead of Yellow Pages ad space and you can reduce your advertising costs by 50% or more.

Process color ads - The Yellow Pages sales Rep will bring in a sample ad for your business that looks like it's straight out of Time magazine. Unfortunately a process color ad adds 40% to the cost over a black and yellow or spot color ad. There is no evidence in any study of Yellow Pages advertising that a process color ad increases customer calls.

Businesses that have followed my advice have been able to reduce their Yellow Pages costs by as much as 50%. Take charge of your yellow page program, and examine every item on your contract.

Never let the Yellow Pages publisher design your ad because they design all of your competitor's ads. The best money you can spend in Yellow Pages advertising is for a professionally designed ad. Remember the best designed ad will get the most calls.
Tip! Name what you are advertising in your headline If the headline is all that your prospects read, then at least tell them the name of what you are selling. If the name sticks, your ad will have at least made your readers familiar with your product.

Michael Warner, known as Doctor Yellow Page to many yellow pages advertisers, has operated a successful Yellow Pages consulting and design company for over 20 years, and can be seen and contacted at http://www.doctoryellowpage.com The good Doctor offers a free evaluation of your Yellow Pages ads and contracts.

New Tendencies in the Art of Advertising

How to sell things has become a science more than an art in the last few decades. Crowds of people of different professions work hard to find the way to be "different". They use all their creativity to be appearing.

New tendencies in advertising seem to be based on the idea "the first impact should be long-lasting and conservative". The more shocking an advert is the easier it remains in one's mind.

Ideas in advertising often rise depending on the kind of customers you are referring to and based on a complex market analysis.

Some tips for a trendy advertisement :

- Be short! Be creative!;

- try to have strong visual impact;

- put yourself in the customers shoes;

- use "scientific" messages (e.g : use "scientific acne treatment" instead of "acne problems");

- use statistics;

- express freely your own personality, beliefs, philosophy and values;
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- be funny, even humorous.

One of the new tendencies in advertising is to avoid focusing on a small percent of people. If you are selling an acne treatment product you should not design your advert for the adolescent target group.

If you are advertising a junior product you have to think about how to convince parents, grandparents and the children themselves to make sure that a connection rises in their minds so that they will buy your product.

About the author: Monique Barb is also writing for FamousWhy.com

FamousWhy.com - Famous People... Famous Regions and a Lot Of Articles

Advertising Strategies - Alternatives to Print, Alternatives Within Print

Is print advertising headed for extinction? No way, but I am seeing more and more companies pulling dollars from their print advertising budgets and moving them into other alternatives. The reason? To brand their product or service more effectively by balancing their ad campaigns and reaching their targeted demographic audiences from different angles. And even within the print medium, the playing field appears to be changing. Newspaper and Yellow Pages advertising has suffered a blow from the growth of the internet. Googling, Yahoo-ing and online news sources are pulling from their numbers. With internet research more easily available, more advertisers are targeting their prospective customers with direct mail campaigns which gives them the ability to pinpoint the demographic they are trying to reach by age, gender, income and location.

The internet is a growing alternative. Google Ads and Yahoo Sponsored Search "Pay Per Click" advertising is grabbing a growing share of ad budgets. This new medium gives you the ability purchase a keyword and only pay for it if someone clicks on your website. The way it works in a nutshell is, when someone does a search using your keyword, your website url and a three line promotional ad appears on the right side of the search results page. It can be as inexpensive as a nickel per click and you can limit what you spend per day, so that Google/Yahoo shuts off your ad campaign for the rest of that day when your budget "limit" is reached.
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Outdoor advertising and signs on buses and transit systems is often in the mix of successful advertising budgets.

Radio utilizes the magic of music and imagination to reach an audience in a lasting way. Of course this is one of my favorites because music, jingles and ad production are what I do. But all bias aside, radio is a way to reach a broader audience with the ability to drive home a message.

One lesser know alternative within radio broadcast advertising is the traffic or weather sponsorship. This is a ten second (or less) message that is read within the traffic report: i.e. "Today's traffic is brought to you by ________ ". Metro Networks, the Westwood One company created the traffic sponsorship industry years ago by putting a fleet of planes and "news" copters in the air to monitor traffic in the largest US cities. Instead if selling their services to the radio stations, Metro made a trade for advertising "air" time. So most of the flying traffic reporters that you think work for your local radio & TV stations are really Metro Networks employees who have cut a deal with the local stations. The local stations also sell traffic and weather sponsorships but they are usually not during the report, they come before or after it. So if you hear two traffic sponsorships for the same report, it probably means one was a Metro sponsorship and the other was a station sold sponsorship.
Tip! If a newspaper is delivered twice daily (morning/evening), it often offers 'combination' rates or discounts for advertising in both papers. You usually can reach more readers, so this kind of advertising may be something to consider.

Television advertising is a traditional advertising medium we all know well but the advent of cable television has changed the face of the industry. With cable advertising, you can now reach a more targeted demographic, very similar to direct mail, by age, gender, income & location and it can be done on a smaller budget. *If you decide to go in this direction, or in the direction of radio advertising check out my site and drop me a line. I will be happy to go into detail about branding alternatives to help you get maximum effectiveness from your campaign.
Tip! Free advertising isn't really free. It takes a great deal of time to post free advertisements all over the net.

With all these advertising options, it's best not to put all your eggs in one basket if you have the budget. The most successful advertisers use a balance of advertising mediums to reach their audience creatively and consistently.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email: barry@soundad.com.

Hope this helps... Good luck with your campaign!

Barry Volk is a former producer/staff songwriter/producer for ABC/Dunhill and Screen Gems-EMI Music Publishing, a 20th Century Fox solo recording artist, Musical Director for the West Coast Theater Company and National Director of Marketing for Metro Networks/Westwood One. His music production company, Barry Volk's Sound Advantage http://www.soundad.com, creates and produces jingles and custom music and comedy spots for radio and TV advertisers worldwide from small market to national in scope.

The 5 Biggest Mistakes in Direct Response Radio Advertising

How do we know what the 5 Biggest Mistakes are?
After over a decade in direct response, we have peered "under the hood" of hundreds of direct marketing campaigns across every type of category imaginable. Sometimes a new client will come to us after a failed attempt with another agency, or simply to get a second opinion on whether their campaign was or is being run optimally. As a result of this extensive experience, not only have we seen which decisions make campaigns successful, but also which decisions condemn campaigns to certain underachievement of their potential.

The most difficult part of writing about the "5 Biggest Mistakes" is narrowing down the list. It would be easier to write about the "Top 20 Mistakes". Nonetheless, this paper presents the blockbuster mistakes that are a) way too commonly made, b) sure to doom a direct response radio advertising campaign, and c) relatively easily avoidable. In other words, get these things right, and you'll live to face the lesser challenges with greater strength and greater knowledge.
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Biggest Direct Response Radio Mistake #1: Faulty or non-existent testing methodology
There are many ways for a testing methodology to fall short, which is why this is #1 on the list. Testing the wrong variables, testing in the wrong order, testing too many variables, testing too few variables. The list is long. The point to remember is that success requires a scientific approach. That means disciplined and well thought out - a "ready-aim-fire" approach verses "fire-fire-fire". Any good direct response agency has staff that understands the process for conducting scientific research, particularly research methods, statistics, and database management. The best DR agencies have applied this knowledge over time and have developed a proven testing methodology, along with the supporting technological infrastructure, that will get you from testing to profitability with the least amount of up-front time and money.

If you don't follow a well-defined, proven testing methodology, you are throwing your ad dollars away. Period. You simply will not know why one ad works better than another or whether there are other approaches that could work better. You will just be out of money before you can determine whether your campaign has legs.
Tip! If a newspaper is delivered twice daily (morning/evening), it often offers 'combination' rates or discounts for advertising in both papers. You usually can reach more readers, so this kind of advertising may be something to consider.

Biggest Direct Response Mistake #2: Inadequate data capture and analysis
The power of direct response radio stems in part from the ability to collect and analyze results from the bounty of data that can be collected - and to distill insights that drive further refinement of the campaign. As all experienced marketers know, it is the insights that lead you to grand successes. With the right tools, technology, and processes, it is possible to conduct station-by station analysis, look at performance by market, format, day of the week, daypart, and a whole host of other variables to understand what's working and what's not for a particular campaign. This is vital to the process of optimizing campaign profitability.

Yet many avoid this process, shield it from their clients, or conduct "analysis lite" on the data. The problem is that you can't distill the insights if you don't dive into the analysis. As a result, perfectly viable campaigns are being deemed failures. In these situations people declare "radio just doesn't work", and proceed to run away as fast as possible. Avoid this mistake by making sure your media buys are backed by thorough, detailed analysis, not a cookie-cutter approach cloaked in unproven, formulaic assumptions.
Tip! Include your selling promise in your headline The best headlines promise readers a benefit, such as fewer cavities, cheaper gas, whiter clothes. Your selling promise is simply the greatest benefit that you are advertising about your product, so include it in your headline.

Biggest Direct Response Mistake #3: Flying blind
It still astounds us how many people, smart businesspeople, ask us to move forward with advertising before they know the basic key metrics associated with their campaign. We refer to this as "flying blind." It is not unlike deciding to fly a plane surrounded by instruments that are providing you data you can't use to make important decisions about flying the plane. Turn left, turn right, speed up, ascend, descend? Scary thought? It should be, because absent a tremendous amount of luck it spells sure death.
Tip! Take advantage of advertising specials. Many publishers offer ads on a 3-for-the- price- of -2- basis, or 4-for-the-price-of-3, etc.

Every direct response campaign has a similar set of key profitability metrics and each one has a hurdle or break-even level that must be met in order to achieve some level of profitability. The big mistake is spending a dime before this exercise has been completed. Why? Because when you get the test results back, you won't know what to make of the data. You won't have a context within which to assess whether what you are looking at is good, amazing or awful. Bottom line: model the campaign, identify the key metrics, and know what those numbers have to be. And by all means, make sure your agency knows so they can maximize the profitability of your media campaign.

Biggest Direct Response Mistake #4: Having the wrong people on the bus
Each DR campaign is comprised of similar vendors. This includes a manufacturer, a creative and media buying agency, a sales center, a customer service group, and a fulfillment center. You can poll any one of these groups of vendors and there is one thing they would all agree on: not one of them alone can make the campaign a success. This is a classic team situation. If one member drops the ball, the whole team fails. As the client, perhaps the single biggest impact you'll have on the success of the campaign is how you decide to choose the members of your team - who you put "on the bus". Sales centers will always tell you they will meet the needs you've expressed (guess what, they're good at sales!). Big agencies will always try to convince you that only they can get the lowest rates and only they can grow your campaign really big (as if suddenly the laws of market economics don't apply). Will you choose the ones who say they've been around since the beginning of time and believe they know all there is to know, or the ones who are experienced but also unassuming enough to be constantly learning, improving, and giving birth to new ideas? Will you choose vendors who play nice with the other team members, or those who throw the others under the bus at the first sign of trouble? If you don't choose wisely, your campaign could fail for reasons you won't even understand.
Tip! Google Adsense: This PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is probably the most popular and widely used of all internet advertising web publishers, probably because it is the most nondescript and doesn't involve any animated banners that draw attention away from your website. You serve the Google text ads on your site and you get paid any time someone clicks on one of the ads.

Biggest Direct Response Mistake #5: A corrupted creative process
Once you communicate the definition of success, allow the creative process to unfold. A professional direct response ad creator is someone who has learned a tremendous amount about what works and what doesn't, on millions of other people's dimes. We've built a large database of direct response wisdom that can save you a lot of time and money. If you define success as an ad that reaches a certain CPO, and trust the creative process, you're much more likely to get an ad that produces successful results. Now that will make you proud.
Tip! The Right Message. Unless you have millions of dollars in your advertising budget, don't try to mimic those who do.

Final Words
Now that you are armed with knowledge of the top 5 Biggest Mistakes in Direct Response Radio, you are well on your way to boosting your chances of Direct Response success. To be sure, there are other mistakes to avoid. Knowing about these mistakes is half the battle. Knowing how to avoid them is the other half. How do you produce insights? How do you approach testing methodically? How do you know which vendors to choose? How do you develop breakthrough creative? How do you get the remnant rates on the best time slots?

Radio can be an enormously profitable customer acquisition channel for many businesses.

Brett Astor, Vice President at Strategic Media, Inc., http://www.strategicmediainc.com, has over 10 years experience in direct response marketing and radio advertising.

Radio Advertising Commandments

In my last article "Local Advertising - The Biggest Mistakes" we took a look at the major media available for local advertisers to market their products. To follow up, I'd like to discuss the many uses of Radio. Sort of the 10 Commandments Of Radio Advertising. This will take up several pages, for sure, so I'll start by asking the most obvious radio questions.
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Q: How do I know if radio will work for me & why should I use radio?

A: I usually have gotten these questions when a client is afraid & can't stomach the idea of paying for an Advertisement that they can't physically hold on to. In other words, they think that if they can't SEE their Ad, then no one else can. They seem to have a hard time believing that a disembodied radio voice can move people to buy their product.
Tip! The Right Follow-Up. Advertising is an investment that requires a tracking system to ensure effectiveness.

Yes, it's probably true that most advertisers get their feet wet with print advertising. Your typical print advertiser will place an Ad in a local weekly or daily newspaper and bingo, the next day - traffic. The results can be quite immediate.

Radio is a different animal and although it can work as effectively as print, it can be equally disappointing to a seasoned print advertiser.

Local radio advertising can turn off a new advertiser who expects immediate results, but it doesn't have to be this way. Here are 10 reasons why "immediate results" are hard to come by:
Tip! The Right Message. Unless you have millions of dollars in your advertising budget, don't try to mimic those who do.

1) the spots were not aggressive enough

2) the offer was not strong enough

3) there was not enough weight (number of spots) booked

4) the wrong local radio station was used to reach the desired market

5) not enough radio stations were booked

6) only radio was used

7) spots were poorly placed throughout the day
Tip! The Right Plan. Look at advertising as one part of your marketing plan.

8) the production was poorly executed or the wrong announcer used

9) timing of the campaign was off
Tip! Ezines mean flexible advertising.

10) the new client had no name recognition

This brings me to Commandment #1

Don't Underestimate The Power of Radio.

The voice is a wonderful thing.

Used properly, it can move you to tears, unleash a fury of anger, sooth both physical and mental pain, irritate you like chalk on a blackboard, hypnotize you into the most embarrasing behaviour, fire you up & motivate you to accomplish the most daunting tasks, fire up a nation to battle, seduce the most cold-hearted soul and yes, it can certainly convince you to happily part with your money.

In fact, the people who make radio production their livelyhood, are paid quite handsomely to get you to do things that are not on your priority list.
Tip! The Right Reason. Advertising can be a powerful ally, but only if done in a fashion to ensure you get the most out of every dollar you spend.

Ever listen to a movie trailer? Listen to the announcer. His job is to get you to see that movie. Whether you realize it or not, the impact of that voice lasts longer than you may be aware of.

You may remember the visuals, but it is the EMOTIONAL AUDIO IMPRINT that leaves you with a "I've got to see this when it comes out!" memory.

It is the same subliminal effect that radio can create.

The problem faced, is that most radio production quality can often be sub-standard.

Let's face it - the radio station copywriters are under the gun to write & produce dozens of spots a day & there just isn't enough time to write super creative & dynamic commercials. Even if the copywriter can squeeze out something really hot, there is often a lack of voice-over talent to make it happen. Let's not talk about the studio engineer's backlog!

This doesn't mean that you can't have an effective radio spot come out of a radio station. It just means that to make it more effective, you may have to go to a third party production house to get your spots professionaly produced.

This brings me to Radio Commandment #2

Get The Best Creative Production Possible
Tip! Sell your product in your headline David Ogilvy, an advertising pioneer of the 1960s and 1970s says that, on average, five times as many people read your headline as read your copy. So it follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90% of your money.

Why do you want the best creative possible? Well, there are several reasons.

1) it makes your advertising more effective

2) the cost of your campaign can actually be lower if more people respond to a better commercial, as fewer spots are necessary to make the same impact

3) better creative is more memorable.

4) strong creativity entertains and sells at the same time

5) powerful creative radio spots get people talking about the spot & consequently the product

"OK," you're saying, "but this sounds like it's going to cost a fortune!"

Nothing could be further from the truth. What will cost you a fortune, is a radio advertising campaign that falls flat because the production was not up to scratch!

Remember, advertising is an investment if you eventually get back more than you paid. It's a fortune if you don't get back anything!
Tip! If a newspaper is delivered twice daily (morning/evening), it often offers 'combination' rates or discounts for advertising in both papers. You usually can reach more readers, so this kind of advertising may be something to consider.

In order to make sure that there's a payback, I highly recommend you look at all the variables and creative production is high on the list!

This brings me to Radio Commandment #3

Develop A Strategy & Stick With It

There are many ways to use radio. Short campaigns, long campaigns, image building, promotions, product launches etc.

The first thing to be aware of is that new advertisers have to develop name recognition with a station's audience. This isn't as important for long time advertisers who have used other media, but it is crucial for first-timers.

Well known advertisers are seen as reliable and trustworthy. The longer you advertise, the more favour you win with listeners. It is like money in the bank.

I advise all new advertisers to start with an introduction campaign to highlight who they are, what their product is and the benefits of shopping at their store.

This doesn't mean that you can't break the rules and have a grand opening with a fantastic door crasher special. Certainly that will work. But ideally, the best results for that type of scenario come when a "teaser campaign" precedes the grand opening.

Let me state that much of the advice offered here is what I believe to be the "safe route" to effective radio advertising. Even under less optimal conditions, radio can be quite effective!

What you want to do, however, is not succeed by throwing tons of money into your advertising, but rather cover all the essentials so that you have an effective and cost efficient campaign.
Tip! Google Adsense: This PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is probably the most popular and widely used of all internet advertising web publishers, probably because it is the most nondescript and doesn't involve any animated banners that draw attention away from your website. You serve the Google text ads on your site and you get paid any time someone clicks on one of the ads.

Good planning can go a long way.

In my next article I'll continue with commandment #4

Use The Right Music Bed

Noah Salzman runs NoaSound Productions - a full service Ad Agency where for over 25 years, he has advised clients in the retail sector how to effectively market their products and services. His areas of expertise include: Graphic Design, Packaging, Jingles, Retail Advertising, Copywriting, Photography, Online Marketing, Web Design, Audio/Video Production. http://www.top10internetgurus.com

Humor and Advertising Don't Mix? You Just Don't Have a Sense of Humor!

Humor: One of the Best Advertising Methods

Sex, money, and religion. What do they all have in common? They are the three subjects that are most powerful when getting a person's attention. However, when it comes to developing catchy advertising, I can add another subject to that list: Humor.

Humor works and that's the bottom line. People always say to be wary of humorous advertising because it can work against you. These people believe that when you use humor you could offend some people by being stereotypical, too clever, not clever enough, or flat out insulting. But when advertising works against you, it can still work very much for you.

Before you jump all over me with your arguments, let me first lay out some ground rules for this article. I'm assuming that no business would be dumb enough to run an ad simply to offend people. You pull that kind of a stunt and you're going to get what you deserve - a lawsuit. Additionally, I'm assuming that when you run a humorous ad that has the potential to offend, you take that into account when planning the overall reaction to the advertisement.

Dispelling the "Offensive Humor Only Hurts" Story

Your business has a target market. And your advertisements, if done correctly, are geared towards this target market. This is the general rule companies follow. But other demographics are going to see your ad. You can't possibly stop this from happening.

So when Spike TV advertises some extreme wrestling match or a Sport Illustrated photo shoot, they are most likely going to use scantily clad women and crude jokes in the ads (if you don't believe me, take a look at their website). Some women will naturally be offended by this. But you know what? That woman will sit around with her husband, her sons, her brothers, or male co-workers and talk about how she was offended. These men, who the ad targeted in the first place, most likely enjoyed the ad, but it probably did not make a huge impression upon them. Having this woman bring up negative comments about the ad will actually remind the target demographic of how much they enjoyed it (or at least it acts as another impression).
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Let's take into consideration that this offended person does not talk to the target demographic like in the example above. These conversations still act as impressions even when these people did not see the ad. It is the truest type of buzz campaign - a campaign that gets people talking about a company's ads and products.

Don't Worry If You Offend People!

As I said before, no business advertises itself simply wanting to offend people and expects their ads to get published. However, the chance you offend someone with a humorous ad is definitely out there. But, you know what? That's good. Not everyone is going to love you or your sense of humor.

We can take our above example and combine it with the general rule of thumb that a satisfied customer will tell 1-3 people and a dissatisfied customer will tell 10 or more people. If you failed arithmetic in elementary school then please do not read on...

Let's say you're offending 10% of the people with the humor you use in your ad. This one person will have 10 conversations about your advertising. And they're most likely talking about your advertising - not your product! You could still have the greatest product in the world and this person is just criticizing your ads. As mentioned before, these 10 conversations could be with people who loved your ad or simply forgot it right after viewing it. Either way, this one person is getting 10 people thinking more about your ad. Now that's what I call good advertising!
Tip! Google Adsense: This PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is probably the most popular and widely used of all internet advertising web publishers, probably because it is the most nondescript and doesn't involve any animated banners that draw attention away from your website. You serve the Google text ads on your site and you get paid any time someone clicks on one of the ads.

Your Humorous Advertising Should Stir Things Up

If done correctly, your ads will inform your target market about your product and get them talking about it. Now if you are successful in generating a little bit of buzz, you'll reach even more people outside of your target market and your customers will start doing the advertising for you.

Humorous advertising, although risky, can be very beneficial. Your target market will most likely understand your humor. Viewers outside your target may get offended, but this will actually work for you. As long as you're not trying to offend someone, then the buzz that gets generated by your ads will be very positive to your advertising campaign.

Just remember, people that like your ads aren't going to tell you they like them. It's the dissatisfied or offended people that will make a big deal out of it. So take advertising complaints in stride and stick in there. Everyone has a different sense of humor. And if you're stirring some peoples' emotions up, then you're doing your job as an advertiser!

Marketing Tips Provided to You by: Heather Loftiss, President of Water Design Studio (http://www.waterdesignstudio.com), Author of The Customer Connection (http://www.morerepeatsales.com)

Advertising: Relationships vs Business Decisions

Successful businesses know the importance of building and maintaining good working relationships, whether it is with partners, employees, business or trade organizations, the government, media representatives, vendors, consumers, or the community at large. A business must carefully balance the benefits of these interpersonal relationships and should never allow these relationships to blind their judgment especially when it relates to what is in the best interest of the business's continued success and growth

Buying advertising media based on interpersonal relationships is a common mistake made by many small businesses. This strategy throws the business's strategic marketing plan into the winds of chance in exchange for the warm and fuzzy feelings that come with doing business among friends. However, when the smoke clears the business has made costly advertising expenditures with little or no results and the long term negative effects may not readily be seen. Simply, the marketing / advertising expenditures have been made, the budget may or may not be busted, and the results may be none to little measurable penetration into the business's target demographic market segment.
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Is buying media from a friend in the business always bad? No, however in order to choose the most effective media channels a business must first consider the audience or customer it is trying to reach. Developing a strong sense of the target demographics' buying and shopping patterns, interests and hobbies, entertainment and media choices for example will lend itself a tremendous benefit to making informed media buying choices. Once the advertising business has developed a strong sense of what media channels may prove to be the most effective it should try each a little at a time carefully tracking the results of each. Once this is complete the business will be able to make an educated decision on where to invest its marketing dollars, prioritizing expenditures into the mediums that have proven results for the business.

It is true that strong interpersonal relationships skills and the ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with a variety of people, businesses, and other organizations are imperative in today's business environments. However, the importance of a well designed and implemented strategic marketing plan can not be understated and is paramount to the business's development and longevity never taking second seat to friendship.
Tip! Include your selling promise in your headline The best headlines promise readers a benefit, such as fewer cavities, cheaper gas, whiter clothes. Your selling promise is simply the greatest benefit that you are advertising about your product, so include it in your headline.

Amy Dube has over 16 years of sales experience and currently works in advertising for a major publishing company.For more free Articles and Marketing Tips go to http://adube.info

The Best Advertising Money Can Buy is Absolutely Free!

If your business involves selling a service, such as consultancy, you might find blatant advertising is counter-productive. After all, no-one wants to hire someone to help make their business more profitable when that other person is so obviously hungry for money!

But you can't just sit back waiting for customers to find you; it simply doesn't work that way. You must get out there and drum up business yourself, based on subtle marketing methods that sometimes go unnoticed. But work wonderfully well, drumming up valuable advertising while costing little or even nothing. These neat ideas will get you started...

NETWORKING

Networking simply means building a client list, comprising potential customers for your business and people who might recommend or refer you to others. Networking involves making and using contacts from various circles, including colleagues and friends, family and neighbours, established clients and customers from an earlier business, and so on. The whole thing is about keeping yourself in the public eye but unobtrusively. Next time one of your network contacts decides they want the particular product or service you provide, they should think automatically of you.
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For example, a leading consultant reveals his easiest, cheapest, most profitable method of generating business is to produce alerts about his area of business which is e-mailed regularly to established and potential clients.

Other networking ideas:

* Telephone just to say 'hello' whenever possible, but not too often - once every few weeks is about right.

* Find out when their birthdays are. Send a card or invite them out for a drink.

Get Listed In Directories and Similar Publications * This includes being listed in professional directories as well as trade and business journals and yearbooks. It also means having your details included in telephone and other advertising publications, including ‘Yellow Pages'.

ATTEND MEETINGS

Attend as many meetings as possible where referral sources and actual or potential clients are likely to be. Suitable gatherings might include association meetings, professional seminars, trade meetings, and so on. Always make a point of being seen but not by monopolising the proceedings. If you are an expert on some newsworthy topic, volunteer to be a speaker at some well-attended event or ask leading questions, provide answers, and so on.
Tip! Name what you are advertising in your headline If the headline is all that your prospects read, then at least tell them the name of what you are selling. If the name sticks, your ad will have at least made your readers familiar with your product.

MAKE SPEECHES AND PRESENTATIONS

Offer your services as speaker at popular events or to present awards, and so on. Appropriate contacts include trade and professional associations, civic groups, business clubs, large companies, and other high profile organisations.
Tip! Negotiate ad rates. Oftentimes advertising rates are negotiable.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Having your letter published - and more importantly, your name - increases your visibility and establishes you as an authority on your chosen subject. For example, a close colleague who is a management consultant, writes regular letters to management and business journals, always ending: 'M.D. is a management consultant specialising in Conflict Training and can be contacted on...'

RADIO AND TELEVISION EXPOSURE

Radio and television producers are desperate to fill odd gaps during the day when advertising falls short or other news is patchy. If you can be called on at short notice for a studio or telephone interview, you'll find plenty of takers. A friend specialising in conflict management has appeared on countless radio programmes as well as national and satellite television shows. Showing how it works he related a recent incident where the story of a local shopkeeper who had been assaulted hit the headlines locally. Mark specialises in training retailers to manage and control conflict and aggression and, following e-mailed and phoned messages to TV and radio stations, he was invited to appear several times in the days following the retailer's assault. Within hours he had also been approached by several organisations keen to have him address their employees and staff trainers in the art of tackling dangerous situations at work.
Tip! Take advantage of advertising specials. Many publishers offer ads on a 3-for-the- price- of -2- basis, or 4-for-the-price-of-3, etc.

PRESS RELEASES

A press release, as the name implies, means 'releasing' information to the press in the hope it will be published. It could be about a book you have written or a recent invention, providing it interests readers of particular magazines. Press releases can be sent - posted, faxed or e-mailed - to all kinds of publication, including trade and business journals, national and regional newspapers, professional journals, and so on. Response can be immense and can even generate more business than some firms can handle. A leading Canadian publisher, for example, sold over 20,000 books on the strength of one press release in one major magazine!

Avril Harper is a triple eBay PowerSeller and editor of eBay Confidential and webmaster of http://www.publishingcircles.com and offers many free articles and reports at http://www.pimpernels.com

Competition in Advertising for the Customers Interest

Good marketing and advertising is not easy for small business on a small budget however it can be done with the proper strategies. There is a lot of competition in advertising for the customer's eyeball and interests. Everyone is competing to get the customer to listen to their marketing and their offers. But are you asking yourself if the customer is listening to you? And have you thought to yourself why should they listen to you?
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Does your potential customer understand that your offer is credible and that the reputation of your business is long-standing and can back up its offer? Have you given the customer a reason to care about what you have to offer? Do you have any proof that your offer is better than your competition? Have you explained this in a clear and concise way to your potential customer in your advertising and marketing?
Tip! Ezines mean flexible advertising.

You cannot expect your customer to care in advance of what you are going to do for them or what your company is going to do in the future. But if you can show them statistics or proof perhaps in testimonials then you might have a chance. You must remember you are not the only company out there competing for the customers time or interest. He therefore have to make your case very quickly and back it up with information that can be digested very quickly. Have you done that?
Tip! Classified ads – This is the cheapest form of ezine advertising. Some publications offer free ads in exchange for your subscription.

Why not take a look at all your marketing and advertising right now and read it from the customer's perspective and ask yourself why you should the customer care about what I'm offering and why should they be interested if my competition is offering nearly the same thing. If you do not see this in your marketing and advertising you need to add it. And the sooner the better so, please consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Does Your Advertising and Marketing Talk to Your Customer?

It is paramount that your advertising and marketing in your company that you put out into the public talks to the customer. So often, small business brochures and advertising talks about the company and not about what is in it for the customer. You may have a great company and you may be very proud of this fact. But your customer cares what you can do for them not which you can do for yourself. Let's face it you are asking the customer to come to your store and buy something from you or to purchase services.
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When the customer does business with you it will cost them money and for this exchange of currency they want to know what they're going to get and what benefit it is to them. They are not interested that your company has been in business since the creation of religion or that your company has 30,000 ft. or that your company has 10 delivery vehicles. As a matter of fact if you make your company sound too big you will make it sound like you charge too much and you might actually turn away your customer.
Tip! Free advertising online does nothing to target your audience. In most cases, free advertising venues are actually counterproductive.

You need to make sure that your marketing materials and brochures, as well as all your advertising and marketing communicates a clear message to the customer of what is in it for them. You need to do this in a clear and concise fashion and you should avoid using industry buzzwords. Please consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Advertising Brochure Designs

So often, new business people will print custom designed threefold advertising brochures to give to new customers. I have seen new business owners spend two or $3000 doing this and defend only using half of them because they had changed their business or their prices.

It seems like an incredible waste of money and it may be smart to not print custom designed free folds glossy advertising brochures when you first start your business.

Having been in the franchising business for nearly 2 decades and launched our franchisees in hundreds of cities it became quickly apparent to me that even with our business model a basic virtual cookie-cutter there were regional variations in the things we had to change once we got started that made the brochures and valid.
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And this is coming from a franchisor who specializes in everything been the same to protect the consistency and quality of our services that represent our brand name. If a franchisor warns against advertising brochures right out of the gate of a new business, the you can be sure they know what they're talking about after setting up hundreds of units.

Regional variation is something that is very important and the best industry Association cannot tell you exactly what your response will be in your given community even based on the exact demographics and similar cities and other regions. You see, all politics is local and all small-business marketing campaigns must be personalized. Please consider this in 2006.
Tip! The Right Reason. Advertising can be a powerful ally, but only if done in a fashion to ensure you get the most out of every dollar you spend.

Lance Winslow

Ego and Advertising Do Not Mix

So often when small-business people design their advertising or their glossy three full-color brochures they do way too much bragging. It is if they are trying to impress themselves with all of their achievements. Your potential customers are probably not concerned about how great you are, but rather what you can do for them.

There are ways to tell your customer of all the great things that you have done in a way that also tells them why this is good for them. For instance, if your company is a family-owned business and it has been in business since 1965 that is a good thing. But what your customer really wants to know is that you do business the old-fashioned way, you do which you say you were going to do and you have built a reputation for quality and service. And therefore the customer can see the benefit to them.
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After setting up franchises in 23 states and several hundred cities I had noticed that our competition often tried brag on their flyers and brochures about how many trucks they had or how large the company was. In fact, they often made her company looked 10 times the size actually was. Many times their customers would tell us they wanted to do business with us because we were a local company and small-business.
Tip! Free advertising online does nothing to target your audience. In most cases, free advertising venues are actually counterproductive.

Actually we were a franchise in 23 states. Apparently their potential customers felt as if they were too big and great to do business with and they felt that it might cost a lot of money. Indeed, the truth was that our prices were higher and we were a much bigger company. So, you can see the problems that arise when you embellish yourself in your brochures simply for the sake of ego. Please consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Advertising Balloons – Pretty and Effective

There was a time when balloons were nothing more than kid's toys but now they are used for so many different things. One of the most popular uses of balloons is for advertising. Advertising balloons are popular for so many reasons but the most important one is that people notice them. There is something about a balloon that is fascinating to adults and children alike. We all find out eyes drawn to these colorful floating things and we always want to see what they say on them.

Advertising balloons are pretty and they are effective. They also come in many different sizes. Some advertising balloons are gigantic and are as big as a small plane while others are tiny. Some balloons float while others hand from different things, things like walls or poles or flags, anything really.
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These days the most popular kinds of advertising balloons are those shaped like different characters. You will see some shaped like giant gorillas or certain cartoon chartacters like Bart Simpson or Mickey Mouse. These are popular and they catch the eye as you drive down the road, some can even be seen from miles and miles away, they are colorful and fantastic.

The vast majority of advertising balloons are filled with helium gas so as to float in air with one end tied to the support that does not allow it to wander away. One good quality about advertising balloons is that they do not burst as they are not made from flimsy material. They have thick skins that keep them from getting poked and exploded by birds.
Tip! The Right Reason. Advertising can be a powerful ally, but only if done in a fashion to ensure you get the most out of every dollar you spend.

Though advertising balloons are dying out when compared to other neat things like laser beams that are used these days, they are certainly not going to leave the market anytime soon. Next time when you see a advertising balloon floating in mid air just think what it took to come with to come with simple yet such a brilliant method of advertising.

Balloons HQ http://balloons-hq.com/ for information about balloons from advertising balloons to weather balloons and much more.

Advertising Balloons

As a consumer, you probably have been in contact with different forms of advertising. Like most people, you have grown tired of the usual advertisements and commercials that seem to assail you anywhere you turn.
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While you watch your favorite program or listen to the radio, you are bombarded by an array of commercials in the process. If you surf the Internet, you will find an incessant flow of advertisements from pop up windows to big flashing site banners. Reading the daily newspaper also seems to shower you with different products and services available on the market. For most people, however, these advertisements do not achieve recall and do not stick in the minds of their intended audiences. There is suddenly a need for innovative forms of advertising and promotions to recapture the public's attention.
Tip! Negotiate ad rates. Oftentimes advertising rates are negotiable.

One of the more unique ways to advertise your company, event, product, or service is to use advertising balloons. These are big blimps usually mounted on top of a building. Advertising balloons are used mainly by companies so as to attract and bring in customers and patrons. They are mostly mounted outside or on top of a company's building so as to ensure a great range of visibility and reach. These advertising balloons come in different shapes, sizes, colors and hues, and designs. They also hold advertisements and promotions, and they could be customized as per the company's preferences.

Using advertising balloons is a huge advantage for businesses and companies. Compared to using and renting a billboard space, they allow companies to save more. The simple reason behind this is that utilizing advertising balloons means that there would be no billboard fees, rental fees, or advertisement fees to pay. The companies would only have to spend for the advertising balloon itself, and they would not have to worry about any other expenditures.

Since most of these advertising balloons are used outdoors, they are made from sturdy material so as to withstand different conditions. They can, however, also be used indoors. Some of these are ready for immediate delivery, but most require several days or weeks of notice before they could be actually delivered.
Tip! The first and most important rule in ezine advertising is: 'Track your Ads!'. You might place your ad in 5 different ezines and get a hundred responses, but if you don't track your ads, you won't know which ezines were pulling responses and which weren't.

Balloons provides detailed information on Balloons, Hot Air Balloons, Advertising Balloons, Balloon Bouquets and more. Balloons is affiliated with Medieval Swords.

Advertising Ingenuity

An observation I've had recently is about the commercialization of... everything. There are advertisements for curing depression/anxiety, and advertisements for learning to speak and write better; or as I like to say, "write more weller better good." Well, yesterday on the radio, I heard an advertisement for a program/product which claimed to help people speak better in social situations. It added that you would not have to worry or be anxious anymore about saying the wrong thing to someone.

Now, this basically combines the two ideas I just mentioned about phonetics and depression/anxiety. This actually sounds like a very interesting product, and could have helped me on more than one occasion. I sometimes worry about saying the wrong thing -- and usually do. The first one that comes to mind is the last time I came to work late. Before I even sat down, my boss asked me, "Why were you late?" to which I replied, "I was with your daughter most of the night, and we had a wonderful time exploring each other's anatomy and finding new methods of achieving ecstasy which would be incomprehensible to a balding, smelly man such as yourself."

My problem is now obvious. I said the wrong thing. The proper response -- a response I thought of later -- would have been something to the effect of, "My car broke down on the Interstate." If I had been less anxious about sleeping with his daughter and being late for work, I could have thought of a good lie, however, I was far too anxious at the time, which resulted in poor speech.
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Andy Alt
Mental Dimensions
http://mentaldimensions.blogspot.com/
A humor column for people who enjoy observational humor, political farce, comedy editorials, satire and spoof, along with an occasional dose of non humor

Can It Be? Is There Advertising People Actually Love?

You bet there is! And you are already very aware of it. The type of advertising I'm referring to is promotional items, also known as advertising specialties. It's anything a company would put their logo and contact information on, and then give away. They are used by many businesses all over the world to help maintain, and increase the amount of business they do with their customers every day.

Why do people love it? Because we view the item more as a gift from the giver instead of an advertising tool. Have you ever been handed a logoed scratch pad, coffee mug, pen, coaster, calendar, etc. and then said THANK YOU? Of course you have. We all have.

When you accept it, an emotional (almost an obligation to do business with) type of attachment is created in you. A kind of warm & fuzzy feeling if you will. For a long time they'll remember the gift you gave, and in order to show their appreciation to you, almost instinctively, they'll try to do more business with you. That's the secret behind this type of advertising!!!

And that's why it's The ONLY type of advertising people love. AND it'll work powerfully for you too!!

The next time you're pondering ways to increase your business, consider using promotional items.

Scott Rauber , Biz Promo, LLC


727-733-8387 getmorebiznow@verizon.net

Scott Rauber


In the business of helping business get more business. Has started several businesses over the past 15 years and is now focusing on helping others succeed in business. Master in finding prospects using little or no money!

getmorebiznow@verizon.net

Cheap Advertising Methods That Work!

Advertising is necessary to get name recognition for your business and attract customers. But, what steps can you take to advertise your business if your promotion budget is limited?

Plenty!

The following methods are some of the best and cheapest ways to promote your business online.

-Start An Ezine That's right! Start your very own ezine. This is an excellent way to get immediate recognition for your business without spending a dime. It's easy to start a special interest ezine on the Internet. Several free list hosting services will handle all the emailing duties and subscribers. Here's one source below:

http://www.topica.com

-Ad Swaps...Once you have an ezine start swapping ads with other ezine owners. You will score big time if you swap ads with a major player.

-Trade Links..trade links with similar sites. Your search engine rank will increase if your site links with many sites. Leading to more website visitors.

-Search Engine Submission. Submit your site to the top search engines. Pay close attention to meta tags and headings to get a higher listing. Sprinkle a few keywords in your web page copy. Here's a few sources to automatically submit your website to search engines.

http://www.addpro.com

http://www.urlsubmitter.com

-Write Articles. Compose articles on popular topics. Submit your work to online article directories. If your articles are popular, you will get immediate free promotion, and recognition as an expert in your field. Here's a good guide to writing articles for the Internet.

Confessions Of An Ezine Writer:

http://hop.clickbank.net/?xy123/johncolanz

-Write An Ebook! Great free promo idea. Need I say more? Write an ebook on a unique topic and give it away to website visitors. Encourage them to distribute to online associates. Include links in the ebook leading to your website.

How to Write your own eBook in 7 Days! http://hop.clickbank.net/?xy123/7dayebook> Click Here

-Signature Files! This is your opportunity to promote your business or affiliate links. Include them in all your emails. Example Follows:


----------------------------------------------------------------

BB Lee is the editor and publisher of SmallBizBits Newsletter.

Visit: http://www.angelfire.com/zine/smallbiz

----------------------------------------------------------------


-Free Classifieds are more important than you think. They give you experience writing copy before you plunk down hard cash on more extravagant ads. Many marketers still manually post their ads and browse the free classified afterwards. A few interested readers will visit your site.

-FFA Links are important too. When you submit to the ffa pages your website's search engine position increases because it links to more sites. (Although it is temporary and you'll have submit on a regular daily basis.) This will circulate your name to a wider Internet market. And before submitting to the ffa pages, get a free email account to receive the multitude of ffa responses. You certainly don't want these responses mixed with your regular email account.

That's it! Experiment with the methods above! And have fun learning what works for you!

BB Lee is the editor and publisher of SmallBizBits Newsletter.
Join SmallBizBits Today And Receive Your 5 ebook bonus package.
To Subscribe!...mailto:Smallbiz-subscribe@topica.com
Visit: http://www.angelfire.com/zine/smallbiz
Contact BB... mailto:smallbiz@angelfire.com

The Psychology of Colors in Advertising and Marketing

Are you stimulating emotions while marketing with your
business logo, stationary, business cards, brochures, signs
and with your website?

If you know it or not, colors speak very loud to our
subconscious and have a positive or negative reaction within
90 seconds. On the web you have less that 30 seconds to make
a good first impression.

Are you using the silent language of color to impress,
motivate, divert and persuade your prospects to buy from
you?

BLACK suggests authority, power, boldness, seriousness, is
distinguishing and classic. Business wise it's great for
creating drama and is good for a background color (except on
websites, it is very hard on the eyes). It is ideal for text
on a light background. Black also implies submission and is
associated with evil.

BLUE suggests security, authority, faithfulness and dignity.
For business it suggests sanctuary and fiscal
responsibility. It is the most popular and the second most
powerful color. Blue can also be cold and depressing. People
are more productive in blue rooms.

BROWN suggests richness, politeness, helpfulness and
effectiveness. In business it suggests less important items.
Solid, reliable brown is the color of earth and is abundant
in nature. Light brown implies genuineness while dark brown
is similar to wood or leather.

GRAY suggests authority, practicality, earnestness and
creativity. Business wise it is traditional and
conservative.

GREEN suggests health, fertility, freedom, freshness,
healing, tranquility and jealousy. Businesses use it to
communicate status and wealth. It is the easiest color on
the eye and can improve vision. It is a calming, refreshing
color.

ORANGE suggests pleasure, cool, excitement, cheer,
endurance, strength and ambition. For business it is good
for highlighting information on charts and graphs.

PINK suggests femininity, gentleness, well being and
innocence. For business you must be aware of it's feminine
links and implications.

PURPLE suggests spirituality, royalty, luxury, wealth,
sophistication, authority and mournfulness. In business it
is upscale and works with artistic types. It is also
feminine and romantic. However, because it is rare in
nature, purple can appear artificial.

RED suggests excitement, strength, sex, passion, vitality,
aggressiveness and commands attention. Business wise it
associated with debt, is great for boldness and accents. The
most emotionally intense color, red stimulates a faster
heartbeat and breathing.

WHITE suggests refined, purity, devotion, contemporary and
truthfulness. For business it can be sterile and refreshing.
The best color on the web for a background color. Doctors
and nurses wear white to imply sterility.

YELLOW suggests warmth, sunshine, cheer, happiness, jealousy
deceit and cowardice. Business wise it appeals to the
intellectual types and is a good accent. Yellow enhances
concentration, hence its use for legal pads. It also speeds
metabolism. It is the most difficult color for the eye to
take in, so it can be overpowering if overused.

Green, brown, and red are the most popular food colors. Red
is often used in restaurant decorating schemes because it is
an appetite stimulant.

People respond more to non verbal cues than verbal ones.
Make sure you use the psychology of colors in all your
marketing, especially when you can't be face to face.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kurt Geer has been helping folks online since 1999.
The Internet if used properly can be a
VITAL source of profits, not Instant Riches.
Visit for more info.

Attract Media Coverage Without Spending Advertising $$

Advertising is expensive. PR is often low cost or free.
Try these ten tips for attracting free PR to your business. But here is a word of caution. When sending press releases to the media, remember that less is more. The journalist who encounters a press release from your company every week learn to ignore anything with your name on it.

1. Capitalize on an Anniversary
Is your business having a significant anniversary? Tenth year in business? Ten thousandth customer served? Five thousand books sold? Arrange some sort of celebration, draft a press release and contact your local media. You can never tell. You must might coverage from the local newspaper, radio or television station.

2. Donate Something
Does your networking group have draws for door prizes? Offer to donate the prize, then give something that's heavily branded with your businesses name and contact information. Similarly, find out if local charities are engaged in fund raising opportunities. Offer one of your products or services as a prize or to be auctioned.

3. Host a Special Event
Have a Singles Night, a Kid's Night, or a Senior Citizen's Night. Send a press release to your local media. A supermarket did a smashing business following a well publicized Singles Night complete with dancing in the aisles, games and contests.

4. Sponsor Something
Provide sponsorship at a trade show, a convention, a sporting event, or an arts festival. Sponsor a local kid to attend an event in another city. Sponsor a kid's sports team. Offer a scholarship to help a young person attend university. Remember to send the press release.

5. Decorate Creatively
Put up a stunning decoration or window display for the Holidays, or for spring, or fall, or in recognition of some particular event in your city. Then invite the media to take a look. The key is to have something unique or original that'll warrant pictures and video taping.

6. Write Articles
If you're in business, you're an expert on some topic. Write articles on your area of expertise. Submit them to local or national media, magazines, web sites, trade journals or other pertinent publications. Your article should not be a promotion of your business, but should inform readers about a topic of interest. Accountants might write articles on tax tips, for example, or florists could write about plant care.

7. Let Them Know You're an Expert
When newsworthy stories become available, media often look for a local expert for quotes and comments. Contact your local or national media, and let them know you are available to comment on topics within your area of expertise. Suppose your expertise is ecommerce, for example. Next time your local paper has an ecommerce-related story, they just might contact you for a comment. You (and your business) will get some excellent and cost-free publicity.

8. Get T-shirts and Go Public
Decorate t-shirts with your company's logo. Sign up your staff to participate in charity walks and other community events. Ensure that everyone wears the t-shirts.

9. Donate Something to a Local Charity
Donate books, used computers, products or services to a school or charity. In one community, local businesses attracted enormous publicity by organizing an event in which they outfitted adolescent youth from low-income families for the spring prom. Participating clothing shops, beauticians, florists, even taxi companies got in on the act and attracted enormous publicity while doing good works.

10. Publicize a New Product, Service or Research Finding
Have something new to offer? If it's at all unique in your area, write your press release and send it to media and trade journals. Even if you get mentioned in the gossip column of a trade journal, it's still good publicity!

11. Offer Something Unique
Local shops in one community worked together to hold a Men's Night and shortly before the Holidays. Males received assistance in purchasing lingerie, perfumes, jewelry and accessories for the woman in their lives. It was a new concept in the area and a big success. The media loved it.

================================================
How to Write Business Plans, Business Proposals,
JV Contracts, Human Resource Package, More!
No-cost ebook "Beginners Guide to Ecommerce".
Business Writing by Nightcats Multimedia Productions
http://www.nightcats.com
================================================

About the Author

June Campbell is a self-employed writer. Her work has appeared internationally in print and electronic publications.

Email Advertising

Sending out emails these days is fast becoming a joke. To achieve an order is getting harder and harder because of the large quantity of email needed to sent out, to secure an order,

My research has indicated that with a click thru rate of just 1% of all emails sent out, at a conversion rate of 2% - on average - one order should be achieved every 5,000 emails sent out. Keeping in mind that Spam filters block, at least 39% of emails being sent out. This means, if you can purchase 5,000 emails at $0.001 each, which equals $5 per 5,000 – and is very good value for money, providing you are selling a product or service for about $20. However, the click thru rate can fluctuate, depending on how good you are at writing headlines, to promote your product or service.

The reason why it’s necessary to send out so many emails, to secure an order, is because most people avoid quoting their prime email address, when submitting their website to directories or classifieds because usually once a website has been submitted to a directory of classifieds, the website owner receives hundreds of emails in return, within a short time, which is a little annoying. If people could be persuaded to use their prime email address when submitting their websites, the 1% click thru rate would increase dramatically because many more emails would be read, instead of being classed as junk mail and discarded, unread.

Recently I discovered two new programs that offered me the opportunity to submit my website and only receive one email in return, from each. The name of the programs are Search-o-Rama.com and OnSeek.com - When I submitted my website via my prime email address free, to their comprehensive directory, I only received just one email in return, from both programs. Search-o-Rama.com and OnSeek.com - also invited me to purchase 5,000 emails at a low purchase price of $5, which is $0.001 per email and send out my adverts via their own system.

Search-o-Rama and OnSeek.com - are unique, quality and uncomplicated programs, with a first class easy to set up, affiliate program. There are also facilities for monitoring advert statistics i.e. click thru % rate ECT.

To submit your website free to – Search-o-Rama.com and OnSeek.com – directories, please click the following links:

http://search-o-rama.com/jrnjames.htm

http://onseek.com/jrnjames.htm


About the Author

perpetual@m999.fslife.co.uk
http://www.finitesite.com/jrnjames/article.html

Joseph Robert Neil James - resides in Warwickshire, England and is an author, husband, father, grand father, and Great Grand Father. Having spent many years in the "Direct Mail Advertising" business, whilst living with his wife and four children in Australia - joseph is now retired and enjoys working with his computer and reseaching with a Pendulum.

Advertising Sucks! Long Live The Web!

How much does an advert in Yellow Pages cost? How many enquiries would you expect to get back for that investment each day? 1? 10? 100?

What about an ad in the local newspaper or a trade publication? They don't come cheap. When was the last time you heard an advertising salesman say:

"If you're not happy with the volume of responses and sales you get from the ad I will give you your money back."

How many times have you heard an ad salesman say:

"I will tell you exactly how many people view your advertisement, how long they read it for and which ad they were looking at before they starting reading your ad. You can use this to work out the profile of your potential customers."

Hardly likely is it? Yet this is the kind of information that you can get your hands on via your website.

Expensive is a dirty word. Nothing is about cost - everything is about value. Having a great profile on the web can not only bring you more customers and sales but it can boost the perceived size and stature of your company.

As a business owner of course you want to see your website at the top of the search engines - everyone wants to be higher than their competitors - what value would you put on this?

Imagine placing an ad in a magazine and asking the salesperson:

"Can you guarantee me more sales? Will you give me my money back if people read the ad but don't buy my product?"

It just wouldn't happen. And yet there is a lot of scepticism surrounding the web - I come across it every single day.

"Mike, we've had our fingers burned in the past and though I like what you're saying how do I know you're not one of the cowboys?"

Ultimately nobody will ever buy anything from anybody unless buyer confidence is establsihed - no matter what is being sold. And the only way to establish buyer confidence is to develop a lasting relationship built on trust, two-way communication and transparency of information.

I don't believe that website marketing is, or should be, a black art. I don't believe that copywriting or accounting are black arts. They are all just things that, if you want done right, you need to get the professionals in to do.

*TOP TIP*

Want to know what people are looking for on the web? Visit the following link and type in words related to your business and this nifty tool will give you an indication of what phrases people are typing into search engines to find the products and services you provide. Cool eh?

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

Mike Cheney


www.magnet4web.com

[You have my permission to use this article in your newsletter, on your website or anywhere else for that matter as long as it remains unedited and includes the resource box at the bottom.]

You can get free access to lots more of my articles plus a Free Bonus Special Report "How To Turn Your Website Into A Customer Magnet" worth a value of £47 ($85) here: http://www.magnet4web.com/website_services/?page=freeguide

Can Knowing The Basics of HTML Boost Your Email Advertising

Thousands of Internet marketers are using email as a major part of their advertising campaign. This is not the most effective form of advertisement due to the fact that there are lots of websites that offer online email software that allows promoters to reach thousands to millions of prospects using their safelist programs. Due to overwhelming response from promoters to use their lists we now face the issue of Spamming (emailing in bulk or by single mailing, about a product/service to anyone who has not specifically requested the information directly from you or flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it).
But no need to fear their is a proper way to reach lots of interested buyers and co-afiliates without becoming black listed as a spammer. You need to deal with companies that will sell you fresh email lists that haven't been sold to hundreds or thousands of people.
Email list websites
http://www.email-lists.biz/
http://www.thetrafficstream.com/?source=k
Now stands the battle between Text vs HTML email formatting tactics for the fall 2004. Tests have been conducted and Ross-Simons' Internet Marketing Director Anne Driscoll said "We tested HTML when years ago just like everybody else, and it was four-times as effective as text. However now we're testing to see if text can convey an urgency that's not necessarily there in HTML."
Turns out it's "as effective or even more effective than standard HTML" for an urgent reminder that a sale is about to end. "It's less to do with deliverability and more to do with the way a customer interprets a message," notes Anne.1
What's the difference?
When you see colored text, graphics, words that are underlined (besides hyperlinks), bold text, etc., in an email, you are looking at an HTML email message. HTML allows you a variety of ways to format your message text, graphics and color.
A plain text message looks like something written in a basic text editor. Notepad, which comes loaded with your PC’s operating system, is a great editor for sending text messages. Most professionals who send text messages use Notepad to edit their copy.
"Both formats can work very well in email marketing. A well-written text message without any graphics can perform very well and deliver results. Text messages are easy to create and closely follow the format of a professional sales letter which many marketers are already familiar with. HTML campaigns can capture their audience with a few well-placed visual focus points."
"Well-written copy sells better than weaker copy with fancy graphics. If you’re new to online marketing, my suggestion is to start with text. If you really want to use HTML, you need a good designer. Collect some examples of HTML email advertisements you have responded to and model your campaign after them."2

Where to learn the basics of HTML websites:
http://www.htmlbasix/. com/
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4204/html.htm
You also need to have a few sales letters ready to get the ball rolling.
Sample letters
Sample #1
[Date]
[Mr./Mrs./Ms./Dr.] [Customer's Full Name]
[Title]
[Company Name]
[Address] [City], [State] [Zip/Postal Code]
Dear [Mr./Mrs./Ms./Dr.] [Customer's Last Name]:
Don't lose this letter, or you'll lose your free gift!
[Name of Your Store] is having our [Name of the Sale] Sale, and we want you to be there, for outstanding savings on everything in the store.
And a FREE gift everyone will love.
Beginning [First Day of the Sale, Including Month, Day and Year] and Ending [Customer's Last Day of the Sale, Including Month, Day and Year], [Name of Your Store] will have huge discounts, up to [Highest Percentage Customer Can Save During Sale]% on items like these:
[Highest Percentage Customer Can Save During Sale]% off all [First Type of Product On Sale at the Highest Discount]. or [Highest Percentage Customer Can Save During Sale]% off all [Second Type of Product On Sale at the Highest Discount]. or [Highest Percentage Customer Can Save During Sale]% off all [Third Type of Product On Sale at the Highest Discount].
And not only will you save, but if you bring in this letter during the [Name of the Sale] Sale, we'll also give you a [Name of the Free Gift], absolutely free.
Mark your calendar now for the [Name of the Sale] Sale: [First Day of the Sale, Including Month, Day and Year] - [Customer's Last Day of the Sale, Including Month, Day and Year]. Come to the sale early, and don't forget to bring this letter, because our [Name of the Free Gift] supplies are limited.
And there's no telling when we'll run out.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Title]
[Your Company Name]
P.S. Tape this letter to your door--mail it to yourself--put it in the glove compartment of your car--just don't lose it or you won't get [Name of the Free Gift] for free.
Sample #2
[Date]
[Mr./Mrs./Ms./Dr.] [Customer's Full Name]
[Title]
[Company Name]
[Address] [City], [State] [Zip/Postal Code]
Dear [Mr./Mrs./Ms./Dr.] [Customer's Last Name]:
NEW! We've just received a shipment of thousands of new [Name of the Product] and we need to get them moving!
So we've knocked off the price about [Percentage Customer Can Save By Ordering the Product from You]%--you can get your [Name of the Product] right now for just $[Price of Product].
We've never offered [Name of the Product] before, and we don't know exactly how you will respond to them. That's why we're offering them at such a low price.
We'll keep this low price for as long as we can, but if the demand is high, we'll be forced to raise our prices.
Sorry, but those are the laws of supply and demand.
So order yours now, while we're still offering this incredible introductory price--just $[Price of Product]. Call [Phone Number Customers Call to Place Orders, Preferably a Toll-free or 800 Number] right now, and give our brand new [Name of the Product] a try.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Title]
[Your Company Name]
P.S. Don't forget about our return policy. Return any product to us within [Number of Days the Guarantee Lasts] days, and we'll refund your purchase price.3
Finally you need to decide which method works best for you.
Getting The Big Picture?

reference
1. Anne Holland http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2848
2. Jason Lexell http://www.businessemaillists.com/articles/text-vs-html.asp
3. Sandi Stevens http://www.bizine.com/salesltr.htm

Copyright © 2004

About the Author

Treci Cauthen is a Writer/Internet Marketing Coach.
Natural-Cures-Info
webvillage.bravehost.com naturalcures.bravehost.com
Kevin Trudeau

Essential Guide To Pay-Per-Click Advertising

Which Engines Should You Use?

Following Goto.com's (now known as Overture) phenomenal success
with pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, more than 160 PPC startups
have sprung up.

Out of these 160 PPC engines, only a few may actually have the
search volume to generate a respectable number of clicks for your
site.

Most PPC startups require between $10 to $25 of setup fee which
can be applied to clickthroughs. They offer low minimum bids of
$0.01. But with limited search volumes, they may bring you only a
few clicks each day!

My recommendation is to go for established PPC engines with high
search volumes that can generate higher clickthroughs. The big
boys are Overture (previously known as Goto) at
http://www.overture.com, Sprinks at http://www.sprinks.com,
FindWhat at http://www.findwhat.com.

Overture is the best because they serve over 2 billion search
queries monthly through their partnership with major search
engines such as America Online, Lycos, Altavista, Netscape,
Hotbot and InfoSpace.

You can test the startup PPC engines but commit only the minimum
setup fees. If they generate decent traffic, you can always top
up your account. That way you minimize your risk to only $10 to
$25 per PPC engine. For a list of over 160 PPC engines, see
http://www.payperclicksearchengines.com

How To Find Relevant Keywords?

Since you are paying for each clickthrough on your bid, it makes
good sense to ensure that your keywords are relevant to your
target audience.

One of my favorite tools is Overture's Search Term Suggestion at
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

Enter a keyword and it shows the number of times the word was
searched - which indicates its popularity. The more popular the
keyword is, the higher are your clickthroughs. Overture also
generates a list of similar keywords and their search counts in
the previous month.

Overture's tool is one of the best ways for finding good keywords
to bid on. Another alternative is to download Good Keywords at
http://www.softnik.com/products/gkw/index.htm

Enter a keyword into this free software and it will display a
list of relevant search terms and their search counts across
multiple PPC engines.

You can also try JimTools' Keyword Toolkit at
http://jimworld.nu/keywords.html

JimTools can generate a list of related keyword possibilities,
some with search counts, from Goto, Google, Magellan and
WebCrawler.

How Much Do I Bid?

The bigger PPC engines such as Goto and Sprinks require a minimum
bid of $0.05. Startup engines have lesser minimums of $0.01.

How much to bid depends on your return-on-investment (ROI)
calculations.

For example: If you bid $1.00 per visitor, and 1 in every 10
visitors buys your product, your cost-per-sale is $10.00.

So if each sale of your product produces a gross profit of $15,
then your net profit will be $5.00 ($15 gross profit minus $10
cost-per-sale).

Your return-on-investment (ROI), before non-marketing expenses,
is 50.0% ($5.00 net profit / $10 cost-per-sale). Always price
your bids to achieve a positive ROI!

A great tool that you can use to compare bids for a specific
keyword across multiple PPC engines is at
http://www.compareyourclicks.com

To read about how you can maximize your returns from PPC engines,
go to http://internetmarketingfocus.com/article.php?sid=53

You'll learn how to reduce your bids while still maintaining the
same ranking or get a top 3 position for maybe just 1 cent more!

How Do I Track Clicks?

Most of the time, you'll notice that the number of clicks tracked
by yourself is between 15% to 30% more than the clicks the PPC
engine reports.

This is because reputable PPC engines such as Overture have
installed anti-cheating mechanisms that prevent your competitors
from repeatedly clicking on your listings and wasting your bid
fees!

They will count multiple clicks within a specified timeframe from
the same computer as only one clickthrough while your own log
will usually register the multiple clicks.

There was once when I noticed that my log was registering less
clicks than Overture's reports. They were experiencing some bug
which prevented clicks from being properly delivered to the
advertiser's website.

Because I was tracking my clicks, I notified them of the problem
and they credited my account for the bad clicks. Tracking your
clicks give you a more reliable picture of how well your PPC
campaign is performing.

If you have access to your CGI directory, I recommend LnkinLite,
a small yet powerful tracking software that can track clicks to
your site in the background. Get it at
http://www.dtp-aus.com/cgiscript/lnkinlte.shtml

Otherwise you can consider free online trackers at
http://www.hypertracker.com or http://www.linkcounter.com

About the Author

Michael Low is a widely-published marketing consultant. He
provides top-notch press release (PR) services at affordable
rates. Check out his full-range of PR services at
http://www.prbuilder.com/pr.cgi?a003

10 Effective Advertising Tips!

10 Effective Advertising Tips!
by BB Lee (c)2002

(500 words)

Writing a classified ad to sell your product isn't as hard as you might think, if you spend time researching effective copy writing strategies.

Here are a few to try NOW!

1. Never try to sell expensive items from a small classified ad.
Use the two step method. Request the reader visit your site
for free information or email an auto responder address
for more details where you will respond with longer
ad copy to effectively sell your product.

2. Study how other marketers write their sales copy. This is a no brainer. Simply study the ads in newsletters you are subscribed to.
Or surf to a few of the free classified ad sites and study the ads placed there. Don't copy their ads word for word but use them as an effective design to write your own adverts.

3. Advertise in the right Newsletter. That's right. This is basic stuff. Don't place your ad for cooking lessons in a Sports Trivia Newsletter. Or High Tech Ebooks on Java-Scripting in a Romance
Writers Newsletter.

4. Target several appropriate publications. Subscribe to the
publications and study their classified ads for several editions
before placing your ads. Practice writing adverts following their
basic ad writing guidelines.

5. Advertise in more than one publication at a time. Why?
You want to pull in as many interested readers as possible in
order to make sales.

6. Change your ad copy if it's not working. If people read the same old
ad copy in the publication every month they will get bored and
probably ignore your copy. It's human nature to do this.
Freshen up your copy with new headlines, different lengths, new
wording, power words, appropriate humor, details, interesting facts,
testimonials.

7. Key your ads to find out which one's are working. Or simply have
several email addresses or auto responders and calculate which
email address receives the most response to your ads.

8. Keep records of every one who responds to your ads. Follow up
with appropriate messages about your product. Of course give
them the option to opt out of receiving further correspondence.

9. Free Classified Ad Sites are a great way to test your ad
writing skills before placing paid ads in publications online.
Study how other marketers at these sites write their ads.
Respond to their ads to see how they further market their
product. Don't forget to set up a free email account
especially to handle your request.

10. Study offline publications. And, advertisements you receive
by snail-mail to see how they put it all together. This will
help to build your ad writing skills and confidence in your copy writing abilities.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BB Lee is Editor/Publisher of SmallBizBits Newsletter.
Visit the site at http://www.angelfire.com/zine/smallbiz
Limited Time! New Subscribers Request Your Free Ad!
mailto:smallbiz@angelfire.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


About the Author

BB Lee is editor/publisher of the home based business newsletter SmallBizBits. And a published writer of articles and non-fiction books.

SEO

The next part of our campaign is the advertising bit, having a site that no-one can see is like having a shop with no windows or doors, everyone will shop elsewhere as they don’t know what you have to offer.

We have dealt with the tags so the search engines should be happy when they find you, now you have to shove your site in a few places that get indexed on a daily basis.
This ensures that your website will get indexed by google, yahoo and alike as quickly as possible. These next 4 steps are free and necessary for the continued growth of your internet business.

The first site we want to visit is http://craigslist.org
When you get to the site you will want to find the small biz ads section and find the relevant area for you. If you don’t live in the USA or England then please use the area closest to you.
Please respect this site and do not spam it, he provides a valuable service and you will be banned if you misuse it.
Add your website, make sure you make use of the title tags as described in DIY seo prt 2 (just google the title if you haven’t read it) and you will get a valuable link from a high PR site for a week or so. Because Craig’s gets indexed on a daily basis your site will be included by the bots.

The next visit you will want to make is to http://blogger.com, if you already have a blog you can skip this section.
Blogs as we all know by now are a favourite of the search engines and blogger is another high PR site that gets regularly visited.
Open an account, get a snazzy title and get blogging. If you can make at least one post a day for a month then you will get the googlebot visiting you on a daily basis. Put a link back to your site from your blog page that the bot can follow, make sure your content is relevant to your website and include those valuable keywords you worked so hard on.
Make sure in your blogger dashboard that you have the “notify weblogs.com” box ticked, we need all the exposure we can get.
In the site feed tab you have the option to publish the site feed, make sure this is ticked and make a note of the feed URL, you will need this for the next step.

The next step for now is for you to get along to http://feedburner.com and open an account.
Add your URL from blogger and get hold of your feed link in the publicise section.
You can also grab a little orange button so your visitors can syndicate your site.
Finally, go to http://pingomatic.com and open an account. After EVERY post you make in your blog, skip over to pingomatic’s site and get pinging.

By completing these 4 steps you should find a significant increase in traffic to your website and you will get googled, yahoo’ed and msn’ed on a regular basis, this is good.


About the Author


Mark white has been involved in IT for 16 years and has been active in internet marketing and web design for 5 years.

For affordable SEO services visit http://get-listed-quickly.com

For help , site reviews and advice please visit http://small-website-advice.com

Subscribe to free monthly newsletter Here (http://tinyirl.com/83jyp)

Email Advertising Doesn't Get Any Cheaper Than This

What is the most powerful marketing tool a web site owner has?
I'll give you a hint - it's not banner advertising! It's e-mail -
nothing else even comes close.

Have you ever really considered just how many people use e-
mail? There are millions upon millions of people out there who, if
they're anything like me, just plain love to get e-mail and
communicate with others using this wonderful medium. Part of the
beauty of e-mail is that people pay attention to e-mail. People will
actually read your advertisements if they're mixed with information
that's valuable to them. E-mail is the ultimate marketing tool.

How to Harness the Power
---------------------------

"Great," you say, "but how do I use this 'awesome power?'"
There are an unbelievable number of innovative and really effective
ways to use e-mail to advertise yourself and your business on the
Internet, but for the scope of this article, we're going to focus on
one.

E-mail Signatures
--------------------------

E-mail signatures, or "sigs," are one of the easiest and most
effective ways for an Internet marketer to promote his web site (or
other people's sites, for that matter.) For those of you who don't
know what an e-mail signature is, here's an example of one I use
on a daily basis:

Sincerely,
Micah D. Cranman
Sybren Design
http://sybren.net

========================================
Would you like to tap the money making potential
of the Internet with a powerful website? If so,
contact Sybren today for a FREE consultation!
http://sybren.net | mdc@sybren.net | 770-971-9868
========================================

(NOTE: Signatures can also be an effective tool when used in
newsgroups, discussion groups, or message boards. Use them
anywhere possible!)

Signatures can be easily set up in any e-mail program that's worth
something, and usually very easily. Just look in the "help" section
or browse around the program menus and you should be able to
figure out how to set them up pretty quickly. I personally use
Microsoft Outlook Express, and have found it to be totally
sufficient for my needs. (www.microsoft.com) Others swear by
Qualcomm's Eudora Pro, (www.eudora.com) and still others by
other programs. Just pick one that suits your needs.

Now, there are three key components to a signature, each with a
different purposes:

1. The closing of the letter - this is the first four lines you see in the
signature above. It's purpose is two-fold: to avoid having to type
a closing to save time (which can really add up if you get a lot of e-
mail), and to provide information about yourself, and possibly,
some contact information.

2. The advertisement - this is where you try to generate interest
for whatever you're trying to promote in the recipient of the e-
mail. It should in someway catch the reader's eye or stir up some
emotion that will impel them to act. (Note: FREE works especially
well as an attention grabber. Try to offer something free in your
signature.) This "ad" of sorts should be no more than 5 or 6 lines
long, and should probably be separated in some way from the rest
of your message, as seen above.

3. The information which shows the reader how to act - you have
to include some form of information about how an interested
reader can access a deal, contact someone, visit a web site, or
whatever else you're trying to get that reader to do. So, offer
them a way (or several ways) to go about "taking action," with
contact info, a web address, a phone number, etc.

How to Use "Sigs"
-------------------

Signatures can be a powerful tool for the budget-conscious web
site owner, if used effectively. If used poorly, they're simply a
waste of time and effort. So, in order to use signatures in a manner
that will produce positive results, here are a few things that you
should do:

a) Use as many different signatures as you can. Don't just send
one signature you've developed over and over again to the same
people. Think of several different ones you could use for your
business, and alternate. Also, signatures are an excellent tool for
promoting an affiliate program that you're involved in. Again, have
as many as you can, and rotate.

b) Test the effectiveness of your signatures. Don't just keep
sending the same group of signatures if it hasn't generated good
results. Try some new ones, testing each particular signature for a
little while to see if it's working better than other sigs you've tried.
And once you've improved on your initial results, don't just stop
experimenting. KEEP trying to improve upon your signatures
more and more and eventually, you'll really be generating some
good results.

c) Have a signature for every "type" of message that you send. If
you make a signature for every different situation and "type" of e-
mail you encounter, you can boost their effectiveness. For
example, since most of your friends probably don't want to hear
about your business or some affiliate program you're promoting,
think of something else that they would like and would benefit
them. Here's an example: you ever hear of those "get paid to
surf" programs? Well, since it would be unprofessional for me to
try to get people to sign up for them on this site, I promote the
programs to my friends through the use of e-mail signatures. I
could use something like this:

Regards,
Micah

P.S. Have you heard of those new "get paid to surf the web"
programs? Well, I signed up with one called AllAdvantage.com,
and they really work! I got a check for like $30 last week in the
mail. If you want to sign up for one, just go to:
https://www.alladvantage.com/joinsecure.asp?refid=ASU-673

See how effective that could be? And that applies for ANY e-mail
"situation" you might encounter.

Get to Work!
-------------------

Now that you're aware of all the benefits of using "sigs," you have
no excuse not to start. So, start thinking about a few signatures
that you could use. Jot them down on a piece of paper, revise
them, edit them, and USE them. Good luck!

About the Author

Micah D. Cranman owns and operates Sybren Design,
a web design firm specializing in helping small businesses
build effective and attractive websites. Visit Sybren
today at http://sybren.net or call 770-971-9868.