Unusual approach to closing in on why your advertising aren’t working

Get out all the ads you ran last year. Go ahead. Tear them out of your magazines or newspapers (if you’re lucky enough to have proof sheets, so much the better). Tear out your competitor’s ads too—as many as you can get your hands on. Next, fold the company names, addresses and logos out of view.  If the company names are in the headlines block them off with paper and tape. Now tape them up to the wall, putting yours on top, your competitors’ below.  Now back off, at least five feet. We’re going to gradually close in on the most effective ad in the group (hopefully one of yours). 

The “Eye Test” View

First, and this is very important, don’t read any of them. Instead give them a quick, visual once over—what I call the “Eye Test.” Do your ads stand out? Or do they dissolve into the mush of sameness? Remember, your audience will see your ad, not in a vacuum but with dozens of competitive ads in the same or similar magazines or newspapers. If your ads stand out, you’re ahead by a length. 

Step in, Feel the Image

Now move in a little closer to your ads. Close enough to get the feel or image they project Like a new salesperson who walks through the door, the first thing people react to is the overall image he or she projects. It’s the same with advertising. The colors, the design, the typeface should be consistent with the image of your company. A tennis shoe salesperson can wear a referee shirt and a whistle around his or her neck, a medical sales rep can’t. If your ads are in sync with the image of your company, you’re a step closer to your audience—and a sale. 

Are You Projecting a Consistent Look?

Next comes an equally important aspect: consistency. All your ads should project the same image. No, they don’t have to have the same visual or the same headline. They should, however, look like they all come from the same company. After all, this image is your “familiar face” in the crowd. It’s also something you worked very hard to create. And it’s uniquely yours, no one else’s. Just like a good salesperson who finally got in the door to make that first sale. You wouldn’t dream of switching salespeople after that. If your ads look like they came from several different companies, your audience might assume your product does. If your ads pass this test, effective advertising is within your reach. Which is exactly where you need to be for the next step.

Arm’s Length for Positioning

An arm’s length away from your favorite campaign of ads. The object of this test is to see how well you’ve positioned yourself. Yes, you can now read your ads, but not for details. How you position yourself should be fairly evident by the time you finish the first paragraph. Positioning is basically how your audience perceives your product, service or company. For example, businessmen, engineers and students all need computers, yet each has a different idea of what computers can do for them. Advertise a computer to a businessman and you might do better to position it a management or accounting tool. Students might respond better to an ad showing computers as a writing and study aid. And engineers would be better persuaded to buy a computer if you positioned it as a design or research tool. In each case, the products are the same but the positioning generates the unique appeal for any given market. And the greater the appeal, the greater the sales. If you’ve done your research, your positioning should bring the reader a little closer to your ad and your product.

Move in to One Ad

We’re now going to concentrate on one ad. So pick your favorite one and move in close enough to read it in comfort. The headline and visual should answer the question “what’s in it for me.” If it doesn’t do that quickly and effectively, your audience may gloss over it without ever bothering to read it. Some of the best salesmen in the world start their pitch with a direct customer benefit—even before they introduce the product. They’ve learned that customers want to know right off what the product can do for them—the big benefit. If your product’s benefit is buried in the body and your main visual is an un-involving product shot or a photo of earth floating in space, your ad won’t go the distance. And the sale will go to your competitor. 

The Revealing Close-up

Ok, time for the close-up: the body copy. It should “payoff’ or back up the claim you made in the headline by forcefully and effectively communicating your product’s key benefits. In essence, you still have to answer the Question “what’s in it for me,” but now you have more room to do it. You can be flowery, you can be humorous, you can even get technical. But you must convince the reader that there is a strong benefit to be gained in choosing your product over the rest. If you‘ve done a good job, your ad goes the distance. What’s left is what all good salesmen do before they leave. 

Close in and Ask for the Order!

For this, you’ll have to get in close to the bottom of your ad. Close enough to read your call to action, which should be short and direct, leaving no doubt in the reader’s mind what to do after reading the ad—call, clip a coupon, circle a bingo card. It should also be clear as to what the reader can expect to receive—more information, arrange a demo, have a salesperson call, get a trial sample. The reader shouldn’t have to get too close to read this either (don’t put this or your phone number in fine print). Remember, when a salesperson asks for the order or gives his or her phone number, it’s always loud and confident, never a whisper.

There are obviously many market, demographic and personal factors we haven’t considered. But if you meet the key objectives we’ve introduced, your audience can’t help but close in on your ad—and your product. And that’s what effective advertising is all about.

Determining the best method of advertising for your items

Even with the growth of online classifieds and the increase in popularity in sites such as Craigslist, newspaper classifieds are still the preferred method of advertising for many wishing to sell unwanted items.   This is evident in the number of print classified ads listed daily in newspapers and magazines throughout the country and worldwide.  These advertisements may cost more than those which can be posted on the Internet, however, posting your classified advertisements in the newspaper will likely increase the chance of a sale as you are reaching a more local market.  It is unlikely that someone from across the country or around the world will want to purchase your used furniture, lawn mower or Kenmore washer and thus much of the traffic that would come to your Internet ad would be useless.  However, due to the fact that most newspapers that feature classified advertisements have a local circulation, the chances of completing a sale through the newspaper greatly increase since the product can easily be obtained.   On the contrary, if you were to find a motorcycle for sale online and the seller lived in Florida while you resided in California, it would be very difficult to purchase the item.  Furthermore, with the decreasing costs of advertising in the newspaper, many people find it a viable method of advertising the products they no longer need.

Another reason why classified advertisements are so popular in newspapers is because of the reach that many larger newspapers get. For example, a newspaper such as the Boston Globe, had hundreds of thousands of readers throughout the Boston area and throughout Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire and Vermont. Hence, if you are selling a product such as a car or other high-ticket item, many of these people may be interested in traveling a bit of a distance to make a purchase. By advertising in the classifieds section of larger newspapers, you are reaching an even greater number of potential customers within your local market.

Internet classified advertising does have some benefits such as it is very easy to post your ad and in certain circumstances your Internet classified advertisement may attract more visitors than your advertisement in the newspaper. Therefore, it is sensible to advertise your product on the Internet as well.  By combining your newspaper and Internet advertising, you are sure to reach a large number of potential buyers in both the local and distant markets.

There are two types of classified advertisements which I would strongly recommend advertising primarily in newspapers. These types of advertisements would be promoting the sale of automobiles and low paying jobs. Many newspapers have a special section for these products/services and thus advertising these products in the newspapers is likely to reach more buyers in the local market.  Advertising higher paying jobs and hard to find items, such as a classic car, can do well on the Internet since people may be willing to travel far from home for these types of jobs or to acquire a unique item. If you are selling smaller sized items, such as jewelry, clothing or books, they can be sold utilizing online portals such as Ebay, since these products are fairly easy to ship to their destination and finding a local buyer is not as imperative.

In conclusion, you need to determine the best method of advertising for your item.  Newspaper classifieds should always be considered since this medium can very often bring you the customer you are looking for to complete the sale.   Depending on the type of item you are selling, advertising in the newspaper classifieds and locating a buyer within your locality can very well be the key to a successful transaction.

How to create a good Christmas decorative and celebrative atmosphere at your home?

Planning of an exhilarating Christmas celebration this year? Keep in mind that the Christmas celebration can be fulfilled only by creating a good decorative and celebrative atmosphere at your home. It will offer you a proper consideration of every aspect of Christmas. Enjoying Christmas more closely then ever before can be achieved by our giant Santa balloons or angel balloons. Christmas is the most awaited celebration through out the whole year. People want to celebrate this period with leaving all their anxieties behind and aloof from all of their usual schedules. Most of the businessmen worldwide think that Christmas is the right time to launch new products as well as they like to explore new marketing standards for their business promotion these Christmas days.

For the fulfillment of all the needs of Christmas celebration Worlds largest Christmas display.com has introduce its Christmas balloons or Giant Santa balloons. These balloons are highly capable of promoting a product in the shopping area and can be a good source to decorate your house in this Christmas time. Our Christmas Balloons can add more taste to your home decoration this Christmas. Some of them are Giant Santa balloons, Parade balloons, Angel balloons, dancers, Single and double legged balloons, etc. These balloons comprise of number of favorable characteristics. They are easy to use and environment friendly. They are cheap, durable and can be reused several times. The Largest Christmas Display has wide range of event specific balloons which are tough and reliable than traditional PVC balloons. These Christmas balloons are made up of best polyurethane material available in the market. The Christmas balloons are available in all combination of colors and sizes. These advertising inflatables can be easily configured to any possible shape to accomplish every minute requirement of the client. Since its inception, ‘Worldslargestchristmasdisplay’ has been associated with this business and has a large client base. Our team of designers takes ample care of the wants of customers and gives them services to utmost satisfaction.  

When we speak of "getting away from it all," we usually indicate our dissatisfaction with the turmoil of modern living. Perhaps one of the reasons why Christmas is such an enjoyable experience is that it gives most of us an opportunity to indulge that frequently expressed desire to "get away from it all." So why spoil the whole happiness which we are about to receive this Christmas? Christmas balloons can add more flavor to your enjoyment.

What is the difference between a business card which is a hit and a business card which is on the contrary?

Simple, isn’t it? The first is a success and the second is a failure. The former entails more sales while the latter may mean waste of money, time and effort. Therefore, where do you think lies the demarcation line?

First impressions last. You may be a non-believer of this maxim but when it comes to marketing items like business cards, this maxim must be given a wider leeway. You do not want your business cards to rot like tomatoes, do you? 

That best thing to do is to plan a catchy and functional business card. If the design requires, have it in full color to boost its potential to catch attention and be a head turner. Aside from that, never forget its functionality. Place in there the indispensable details of your company or yourself. After reading it, your information must be accessible to further guide them to your call of action. Whether you want them to purchase a product, subscribe a service or simply make yourself available for their queries, it is a must to give them the details that they will need in the future.

Business cards must leave a lasting first impression, that is. Before they can convince the potential readers to read them, they must invite them first to come closer and take a look at them. They must have captivating design and appearance to entice the receivers.

To complete the formula, you must entrust your would-be masterpiece to a master in business card printing. If you have doubts regarding the printing process, the colors and materials like paper and ink to be used, ask the pool of experts that the printing company has. They will help you solve your business card printing dilemmas. 

To make your planned business card a reality, be sure that you use the right materials, printing process, ink, plus a dash of creativity and intent. Bear in mind that business cards are not just tiny pieces of paper. They may mean a lot to you and your business. 

Make your business cards do what they are suppose to do. Make them capture your probable customers to your advantage!

How to build a good catalog advertising?

The principal prop of most businesses in marketing their products and services is the catalog. Of course, its preparation and creation is a matter of more than passing care and study. If your business is to create a saleable catalog, you must analyze first the good points of your business. You must write down all the important information and study catalog design over and over again, adding a fresh thought from time to time, eliminating an unnecessary paragraph or sentence and presenting the facts desired to complete the catalog. 

Understand that the foundation of a good catalog is the idea. The idea is the basis of the advertisement. It is the prime and primeval requisites of ads. Without the idea nothing can be stated. Remember that the better the idea the better the statements and the stronger the advertisement. Thus, is it important to study, absorb, and think out the ideas carefully. Words are the vehicles of ideas and when you are able to conceptualize a good idea you may as well be able to use creative and appealing words. 

Ideas may consist of facts related to the business together with out-side thoughts – thoughts that have indirect bearing to the business. Ideas come from many sources. You pick up a newspaper and your brain receives a score or more of ideas. You pick up a book and the author’s ideas are tincturing your mind. And when you come in contact with other people and you are at once inoculated with their thoughts. Thus, a mind that is trained in ad writing can study a business and pick out the best advertising phase and the best set of ideas. So as a business owner seeking to create an effective catalog, you should study your readers with great consideration. Advertising, in a sense, may be defined as the influence of mind over mind, thus, the psychological element in advertising is the most important one.

After devising the idea, you are now ready to write out your catalog. Your first draft may be satisfactory, the second better but still not up to your expectation, and the third is near perfection and the fourth and fifth feels that you are ready for the printing press. At this point, it is vital to emphasize the importance of giving the catalog a good printer. Keep in mind that a poorly printed catalog is a poor salesman – it misrepresents instead of represents. Thus, aim for a printer that offers a dignified, business-like and impressive printing. 

After having gone through with producing your stunning catalog, you are now ready to put your ad to the test. This is the time you will know whether your idea and creativity works.

How to develop a “Master List” of what your daily chores for your website?

Developing a “Master List” of what your daily chores for your website can be daunting and time consuming.  You then are faced with budgeting questions such as, “How much can I afford?” and “Will this really work, or am I wasting my time?”

One of the best steps any Internet Marketer can take is implementing a free program (or at the least very low cost) that is easy to use, drives results, and is not laborious.  There are fantastic ways to do all of this; it’s just a matter of rolling up the sleeves and implementing it.

Some of the best ways to do this are article submissions, blogging/forums, ezines, and press releases.  These are all free, or at the very least, low cost solutions to begin building the foundation of your website.  

Internet Marketers need to be leery of traffic generation websites and SEO’s.  Traffic generation sites often promise the world to you (of course), but rarely can effectively drive quality traffic to your site.  If you are selling sporting equipment, why would you want to pay for a visitor who is in the market for vitamins?  Perhaps a bad analogy, but you get the point.

SEO’s are fantastic, if you can budget thousands of dollars a month.  Most Internet Marketers are small businesses looking to create a supplemental income monthly, not change the world.

Start small and have patience.  Focus on boosting your backlinks and page ranks.  Put in that elbow grease and blog about what you have.  Don’t oversell yourself; you don’t want to get booted out of a good forum, but educate people.

Most importantly, have fun.  Internet Marketing in one of the few ways a person can invest little money and time, and create a nice little income at the end of the day.

Build your mailing list before you lose any more money!

Is having a mailing list really all that important?

You bet it is. Without a mailing list you are at the mercy of the search engines and their ever changing regulations. Don't get me wrong, doing your SEO is vital to your business but it's not the end of the story. 

If you don't have a mailing list, your online business, once it gets off the ground, will eventually die. You can not sustain business without a customer base. Online or offline, repeat customers are the backbone of any business. It's even more important online because the competition is greater and they probably have a list.

Your list is your best form of advertisement. The people who are on your list have been to your site and have an interest in your topic. You will have to remind them on a regular basis that your site is a place they like to visit.

Don't bookmarks and favorites lists work the same way?

Not even close.

What happens when you get information about the most exciting piece of software ever created? You join the affiliate program to promote the software and add a link to your website Now you have to hope someone will find it and click on it. Of course, there is a lot of other information on your website so the likely hood of every one who comes to your site seeing that fantastic offer is pretty slim.

Let's go even one step further. Lets say the super software is very cheap right now but the price is going up in a week. Now you add this information to your website and have to remember to go back and change it in a week to reflect the new price. If you forget to do this, you are going to get a lot of angry emails when your visitors buy the software and pay a lot more than you were advertising.

OK, do you can see where you are going to have problems actually getting any sales from the super software? 

Now, let's go back to the first moment you heard about the super software and the fantastic price. You join the affiliate program and immediately send a notice about this great offer out to your list. 

The people on your list get an email. They open the email and see one offer. A super special offer with an unbeatable price. They don't see any other interesting information that may distract them. They see your offer and nothing else. They are totally focused on what you have presented to them. You tell them that this offer has a special price and they will have to act fast or pay more later. 

Out of all the people who open your email, how many do you think are going to see this offer? 100% right? Of course. There isn't anything else to see. You have just raised your profit potential by a huge margin.

Can you see how you are losing money by only having your website and not having a list? It's pretty obvious isn't it? So, we're all in agreement, you do need a list.

How do you get this list? 

First I want to tell you what you don't do. You don't go out and buy a safe list from some email address collector. These people don't want your email and you will be reported for spamming. You will have to build your list from people who are interested in your business.

Ask yourself this... who is interested in what you have to offer? The people who come to your website right? Yes! These people found your website by either doing a search in the search engines or were told about you from another site or a friend. In any case, they came to your site because you have the type of information that they are interested in.

While they are there, offer them the opportunity to join your mailing list. Have a sign up form on every page in a very prominent place. Tell your visitors that you will send them valuable information when it is available in exchange for their name and email address.

Some people think you should offer a free incentive to get people to join your list. There is a lot of controversy on this subject. You will have to decide what is right for you.

The only thing I offer people for joining my lists is future information and offers. The people who join most of my lists know I am going to try to sell them something so when they see an email from me, they aren't surprised when I ask them to get their credit card.

Be honest right from the start. Don't make your list joiners think they are on a list of freebies if you are planning on selling them products. They will quit the list as soon as you send your first offer. Trying to trick people to join your list will leave you with a bunch of angry subscribers and no sales.

If your website looks professional and you have valid information on your site, people will want to hear from you again. They will gladly join your list so they won't miss the great information you have to offer.

Treat your business like a business, not a scam, and you will prosper.

Now go build your list before you lose any more money.

How do you design the right brochure?

A successful business strategy is often defined by a good advertising and marketing plan. Look around. Any venture that lacks the proper come-on to customers is almost always doomed to fail. 

Take a start-up Web design company, for instance. If its proprietors do not make the business known to prospective clients by placing ads on the Internet or by informing the local neighborhood of their services, they will mostly likely get only one or two orders a month, majority of which will be from relatives and close friends who are really left with no choice but to help their friends' ventures flourish.

This is where an effective and catchy brochure comes in. In an age where the Internet is the weapon of choice for most advertisers, a lot of people still prefer the feel of something concrete in their hands, as if to prove that the business truly exists and is not fly-by-night. Printing a brochure that strikes people's attention easily will do the trick.

Why do you need a brochure? 

If designed and distributed properly, a brochure printing could the singlemost important traditional advertising strategy your company could have. Sure, a poster does the same thing, too, but brochures are easier to hand out and pass around and don't take up much advertising space. 

Brochure printing is synonymous to traditional advertising as milk is to coffee. You may not have a brochure printed for your business, but doing so would make the experience sweeter and more interesting. If you're chatting with someone you don't know too well and would like him to know about your business, you could start with a brochure that sums up all you have to say. 

A brochure is non-intrusive and non-aggressive. That means, the person you give it has the option to take a look at it now or set it aside for later. The important thing is, he will most definitely take a look at it. And if your brochure is printed in an enticing way, it will be something he will never forget. 

How do you design the right brochure?

Most brochures are printed in the tri-fold, 8.5 by 11-inch layout, but you can experiment with their size, depending on the look you want to achieve and your budget. They can either be full-color and two-color. Full-color brochures are relatively expensive because they require more printing processes to be completed. 

Full-color brochures are not always the more effective choice. If you're artistic and know how to play with different shades of gray and white, you can produce a brochure that trumps even the most gaudy looking ones. 

Of course, the content on your brochure should be brief. The purpose of brochure printing is defeated when you try to write a semi-novel on it. Remember, majority of businesspeople and clients have short attention spans because of the plethora of advertisements around. Keep your pitch short and simple. 

To sum up, brochure printing should answer the what, where and why of your venture. Your mission fails when the brochure reader will not be able to identify what your business is all about. 

Brochure printing is not an obsolete advertising tactic, no matter what other modern marketers say. After all, brochures are the ones that more often end up being stuck to refrigerator doors and used as makeshift bookmarks. They have better recall.

Important tips to keep in mind when you hire a freelancer or agency to design your brochure

The purpose of your brochure may differ from business to business. Some are designed to display services, whereas others are focused on selling an idea. 

No matter what the focus of the brochure is, it needs to be readable, intriguing, and functional. The brochure must grab a viewer’s attention and hold it long enough to deliver the pertinent information. 

How do you grab your customers’ attention with just a piece of paper? 

You could try by giving the viewer a paper cut, but that’s not the kind of attention you want, is it? 

Seriously though, with so many brochures out there, how do you stand out? The answer is quite simple. Make sure your brochure is professionally designed, written, and printed. 

Here are some tips to keep in mind when you hire a freelancer or agency to design your brochure: 

Text is the key. Anyone can write copy, but only a skilled copywriter can write easy-to-read, strong sentence structures that articulate your company’s message. Wouldn’t you rather go to a specialist? 

Question all. No matter who is writing your copy, make sure the headline on the front of the brochure is in the form of a question. This question should make the viewer want to open the brochure to learn more. 

Focus on a problem that is most common in your target industry then tie it directly to a solution you provide your clients. 

Color matters. Stay in tune with your corporate colors. This will help keep an overall brand image in tact as well as strengthen the brand. 

Type Issues. Typography should be relevant and thought out. Type is so strong that it can make or break a brochure. 

Stay away from typical fonts and try to stand out from other brochures in your field. 

Picture This. If you do not need pictures to articulate a message, then do not use them. Most of the time people are prone to use so many pictures in a brochure, they don’t realize they are clouding their message and making their brochure ineffective. 

Pictures are great, especially when relevant, but they draw reader’s eyes away from the copy which you have spent so much time perfecting. So, use pictures with taste and if at all possible, don’t use them at all.

If you try to cut corners on your brochure you will end up spending more money down the road when you have to get it redesigned. Make sure you do it right the first time, and you will have a brochure that helps you make the biggest return on the investment.

Five useful tips to help you find your brand

There is such a lot of talk going around about branding, but what exactly is your brand and how do you use it to help you reach more people and market your products or services? 

Your brand is the core of your marketing, the central theme around your products and services.

Your brand is not your Logo or your Company Name, unless of course you are Microsoft or the Yellow Pages online directory.

For people to come and hire you, or buy from you in droves, your brand needs to be crystal clear, attractive, exciting and powerful. In fact your brand needs to be powerful enough to rouse your customers into action, and at the same time it needs to actively express you, what you’re about and your uniqueness. 

Once you're sure of your brand you also gain a tangible and easy way of talking to people about what you do. It makes it so much easier to do your marketing when you have it clear in your mind what it is you’re selling in the first place. 

When you're creating your brand you are creating a memorable marketing message that will inspire people to take action and choose you over your competitors.

Here are five useful tips to help you find your brand: 

Your Brand Tip 1 

Your brand is the core of what you do. What feelings or emotions does your business inspire in you and in your customers? Did you know that peoples’ decision to buy is based on emotions, not facts? 

Your Brand Tip 2 

Think about how you present yourself, not just on your website but when people see you, talk to you on the phone, or read your email. Is your marketing consistently saying what you want it to? Are people getting confusing messages from you, or is it clear from the start what you do? 

Your Brand Tip 3 

Think like your potential customer, try to get inside their head and see your products or services from their point of view. How do they experience what you do, and how does it make them feel? 

Your Brand Tip 4

 What is it you do that makes you stand out from the crowd? If you don't think you do, then you need to think of a way that you can, because your brand should be somehow different from everyone else's, its not enough to be just the same as others but better. 

Your Brand Tip 5 

What are your best abilities, do you know your greatest strengths? Choose an unbiased person, who knows you well, to help you decide what your top attributes are; your brand should be based around your unique strengths and abilities. 

Ultimately, creating a strong, memorable, compelling and meaningful brand is essential for successful marketing, and something you can do with a bit of thought, and may be a bit of help from your (unbiased) friends.

How a brand conveys its promise and how your product/service itself denotes the promotional mix it needs?

Branding is easier said than done. Advertising gurus the world over are still mulling over what exactly defines branding. Why does one brand score over others and why does one fail to generate customer confidence despite everything going supposedly right for it?

Is it the logo? 

Is it the color? 

Is it the design of your ads, your brochures, the packaging of your products/services, the look of your corporate office, etc? 

Or is it the promise that a particular product or service conveys – the promise of quality, authenticity and credibility?

Hmm…….actually it is a combination of all this. But primarily, it is the 4th point which matters most – the promise! Why is it that some products or companies are able to build up high brand recall and brand loyalty in the minds of their customers? 

Whereas for some others, no amount of big budget advertising and marketing expenditure can help register their product as a brand people may keep coming back to?

Quality + Marketing = Winner

It really depends on two vital things – one, the quality of your product/service and two, the promotional and marketing mix you develop to reach out to your customers.

First and foremost, if you have a good quality product with great performance, coupled with warranties and the right kind of value for money, you have the arms required to win the war. That’s step one.

Now for the ammunition, that is the promotional mix that will position it as a brand that assures reliability. It is not enough to have a slick-looking logo, a trendy color combination, a visually appealing packaging and some hip ads splashed all over the TV channels, newspapers and the internet to win over the customer. 

You must first know, what exactly is required to build up brand equity for your product. As an internet guru explains, a brand is like the cherry on top of an ice-cream pie where it conveys the brand’s promise. In fact, how you brand your corporate identity goes a long way in establishing your product/service in customer conscience.

While the ice-cream scoops stand for your products and services, the apples represent your corporate environment and crust in the pie is actually your systems and how effectively they work and respond to customers. 

How does a brand convey its promise?

That’s actually quite an interesting way to look at branding. This promise of the brand is conveyed through quite a few factors:

• the product’s reputation (the company’s own reputation also goes a long way here), 
• its experience (particularly if the product has been in the market for some time – a perfect material for viral marketing), 
• the product’s name – a catchy, easy to remember name helps 
• its logo – though innocuous looking, a logo is a stamp of authority 
• its positioning in the market and accordingly its pricing 
• news and reviews about it – the web 2.0 world is all about sharing notes, information and experiences through social networking sites and what is written about has become vitally important 
• advertising – a good tag line or slogan can race into public memory 
• marketing collateral – depends upon your product/service and what media suits it best such as flyers, sales letters, direct mailers, and so on)

Developing a promotional mix depends on the character or features of the product/service.  For instance for some products/services may just need a direct marketing campaign and not TVCs or print ads at all, such as home-based businesses. 

Or some such as debt management services may bank on a well done corporate video production to create a brand presence in business fairs.

Watch out for my next article in which I discuss the vital ingredients needed for preparing an effective media mix, particularly in the context of interactive advertising.

Do these kinds of boot camp programs really work?

The term ‘boot camp’ can have a multitude of meanings, though through them all there remains a common theme – hard work, and no talking back! Perhaps most frequently associated with the military, the phrase has been adopted by a variety of other organisations seeking to imbue their efforts with the same no-nonsense mentality, and as the popularity of boot camp type programs increases, it seems that a touch of discipline is what many of us need. 

The question of whether societal expectations have undergone a gross unleashing is not a new one, and it is a fairly well established tradition that any generation will lament the habits and preferences of the one that follows. It is arguably only in recent years, however, that criticisms of the current generation’s excesses have trickled down from above and younger people find themselves questioning their own choices. While debates rage on regarding our apparent unwillingness to assume responsibility for our actions, an increasing number of people are taking drastic action to change their lives for good by engaging in boot camps of various kinds. 

While one of the most notorious types of boot camp must remain the one to which parents send their errant teens, a huge number of these discipline driven programs are specifically designed for consenting adults who find themselves unable to deal with particular problems alone. ‘Fat camps’, for instance, are available for overweight people who have been unsuccessful in losing weight with solitary dieting. Employing the strict routines and rigorously filled timetables formerly associated with the military, these camps help those who may have been unable to help themselves. 

But do these kinds of programs really work? Some would argue that while immediate effects are certainly seen, the achievement of more long-term results requires something more. It could even be argued that rather than bypassing our ‘blame-someone-else’ culture, these boot camps perpetuate this mindset by using what might be described as bully tactics to forcibly change the subject’s lifestyle. And while behavioral therapy can be effective, can what was learned in the strict environment of boot camp really be translated into every day life? 

Most experts agree that boot camps are not a long-term solution, but rather a stepping-stone toward more permanent change. Providing a short, sharp shock, they deal out a quick reality check that can lead a person to seek out a more enduring plan for change. Boot camps are perhaps not the answer, but they are a good place to start looking for it.

Proper knowledge, information and tips about commercial printing

Printing jobs if done correctly can be very rewarding but can entail a great deal of working hours and a great deal of knowledge and skill. Commercial printing is the industry that produces hundred of billions of print materials that are integral and important part of the daily activities of a business. When you need high quantity and quality color printing, perhaps turning to commercial printing is a good idea. With the continuous demands of printers for high quality, distinctive outputs, not to mention the never ending rise of color printing technologies, commercial color printing has become a flourishing business today.  

Some say that commercial printing has put the fun back in their businesses. It allows for endless possibilities when it comes to design, product and printing processes. Nevertheless, commercial printing has brought a lot of challenges. But these challenges can be easily avoided with proper knowledge and information about commercial printing. 

As a printer, avoiding these problems can be done by considering the following tips. First off, know what your customers really want. Make sure that you understand what they expect from their materials. Keep in mind that oftentimes customers have unrealistic expectations for their commercial printing projects. Ensure that the quality that they want matches the amount they are willing to pay. Question your customers about their expectations before the project begins to prevent unnecessary hitch.  

Second, have proofreaders available always. Printers say that mistakes on commercial printing jobs often happen because customers don’t check their materials carefully before signing them off. When you have proofreaders at hand, you can prevent these problems and win the confidence of your customers.  

Lastly, discrepancies in file formats often happen when customers supply text and graphics on disk. To avoid this problem you can create information sheets for your customers to fill out before submitting the disk for printing. 

On the other hand, if you are a customer make sure that before you submit your material for printing that you have talked with the commercial printing company and have come with an agreement with them. Make sure that they understand what you want and constantly talk with them throughout the course of the print job. 

The online marketplace is a good place to search for commercial printing companies. Make sure though that you familiarize yourself with the services they offer as well as their prices before you avail of any service. When you have done this you will feel more confident in the company that you choose.

Is advertisement on people’s bodies worth it?

Advertisers are always trying to think of new ways and new places to display company logos. Now there’s a new advertising medium to throw in the mix: people’s bodies.

Remember the 20-year-old Nebraskan who auctioned off his forehead on E-Bay for a month’s worth of advertising space? The winning bid went to SnoreStop, who paid $37,375 to put their logo on the web designer’s face for 30 days, got quite a bargain for all the exposure they received. Consider it this way: a full-page ad for one day in the Wall Street Journal costs more than $23,000. One full-page ad in American Idol: The Magazine costs $45,000.

But here’s an interesting tidbit about a woman who is yet to receive payment for literally branding herself with a company logo.

The logo placement occurred when a 27-year-old woman fell off her skateboard in Manhattan onto a manhole cover that was searing with heat. The hot metal, which is located over a steam pipe, burned the woman just above the buttocks and on her left arm with part of the Consolidated Edison (Con Edison) logo, a New York utility company. The woman said she heard her skin sizzling and saw and ‘O’ and ‘N’ etched in her skin, according to an article on allheadlinenews.com. The scarring is permanent. 

The woman has sued Con Edison for negligence, carelessness, recklessness, and culpable conduct. No word yet on how much Con Edison will have to pay for the partial advertisement.

Is billboard advertising still relevant?

Everyday on your way to the office or school, you pass by them. They are usually put up on buildings, walls or posts. They seem to be popping up everywhere these days. But what really are these type of advertising called? They are called billboards. These billboard advertising refers to large electronic display boards which are used for outdoor advertising. Everywhere you go, no matter what city you live you will see billboards around. Billboards are generally good for information dissemination and for informing of upcoming events. 

The current billboard explosion has roots in changes in market demographics, improved technology and competitive prices. Billboard advertising is considered the hottest advertising medium of the third millennium. They are a unique advertising medium. They are cost effective, have huge visual appeal and highly targeted. 

Perhaps you have designed a new product or service and would like to announce it to new and existing customers. Reaching a lot of customer needs you to have a wide-ranging thorough advertising material. Perhaps putting up billboards across town will do the trick. So let’s say you have finally decided to put up a billboard. You have already asked the help of a professional designer to help you create an attention-grabbing billboard. Your next concern would be finding the company that offer billboard spaces and the cost of billboard advertising.

No matter how you slice it, billboard advertising is on the rise in America. The cost of billboard advertising ranges from about $700 to $2,500 a month. That sounds a lot of money but note that a full page ad running for one day in a major newspaper costs about the same. The advances in technology have also contributed to the cost effectiveness of billboard advertising. In the past, billboards have to be hand painted, a costly and time consuming endeavor. But today, with the introduction of computers, billboards are designed on a computer, printed to poster paper or vinyl and glued to the billboard. The result is a better quality ad in less time, effort and money. 

But keep in mind that the amount of information you can include in your billboard is limited. So keep your ad short and appealing. Likewise, if you want to effectively reach your target market, view billboard advertising as one part of a balanced marketing strategy. An integrated marketing strategy that can include print, broadcast media and billboards is the key to drawing and keeping customers.

Finding the Best Internet Marketing Strategies

Do you have a list of words that you like?  I used to have a pretty extensive list.  I had lots of words on there, but unfortunately I have forgotten many of them because I wasn’t thinking about them enough.  This is depressing because that list was such a simple little pick me up to maintain.  I also liked that I liked the words for absolutely no logical reason.  For example, the word “fusia” was on there and I’m not even one hundred percent sure what color that is, but I like the sound.  Incidentally, I’m thinking fusia is a burgundy-ish color.  

I once was out to eat with a girlfriend named Kit (actually her name was Katrina and for some reason it was shortened to Kit rather than Kat).  The relationship was clearly coming to a close, but we still had a few dinners and drinks in us before the official end.

Anyways, that night she told me that she liked the word “perpendicular” and although I was mentally tainted in my thinking about her, because I knew that we were going to break up, at the moment that she said that, she seemed to me the most beautiful woman in the world.  I like words and I like people who like words.

Anyways, I just realized that I also like the word “strategy”.  I’m not sure why.  I like it and moreover, just thinking about it makes me wish I had a strategy…for anything…except marketing.  I don’t want a marketing strategy and I definitely don’t want an internet marketing strategy.  Much like my feelings towards Kit in a positive way, I think that I would be negatively influenced by someone who had an internet marketing strategy.

I don’t even want to think about what I’d feel towards someone who claimed to have the best internet marketing strategy.  So in conclusion, I feel that the word strategy is cool and I also feel that actual strategies are cool, but a marketing strategy to me reeks of exploitative intentions and to me that is just not cool.

Finding the best small business advertising that works

The best advertising, whether for a small business or large, is advertising that works. The price a small business owner pays for advertising would not be an issue if the outcome of the ad was known. 

If a small business owner had a choice of paying $1000 a month for advertising that brought in a guarantee of at least $2000 a month profit, or paying $500 a month for advertising that brought in $750 worth of profit a month, there would be no hesitation. That savvy small business owner would gladly shell out $1000 each month for the advertising.

Small business advertising has no such guarantees however. It’s not like buying a refrigerator that is guaranteed to keep the milk and eggs cold. $1000 of advertising might bring $8000 of profit, or it might bring in zero. So, what’s a small business owner to do, especially if faced with a limited budget?

The best answer is to use small business advertising that only charges the owner when and if it works. There are several ways of doing this.

The primary method is called pay per click. This Internet option is available with numerous online merchant sites as well as hundreds of newspapers across the country and the globe. Simply put, a small business agrees to pay a specified amount to the publisher, or the merchant site, for each ad that entices a consumer to come to the small business site. The price paid is generally an amount that the small business owner has bid on. More and more newspapers are offering this option as they struggle to maintain competitive online with eBay, Craigslist and other pure play classified and marketplace sites.

Another option for pay per click and inexpensive advertising for a small business that wants to concentrate on local customers is with regional publications or some of the larger metropolitan newspapers and groups that are introducing citizen media sites. These zoned products offer a much less expensive buy because the small business advertiser is buying the local neighborhood instead of the total metropolitan circulation of the metropolitan paper.

Companies such as YourHub, a product of the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, are licensing these citizen media sites to other newspapers in other areas and those welcome small business advertising and discount the price. They also encourage citizen journalism. The small business owner can contribute articles, photos and local stories, although the paper will undoubtedly edit something too unabashedly self-serving. This is still a great way for a local entrepreneur to introduce himself or herself to the neighbors in a friendly, casual and soft sell way.

Be single minded in advertising industry

You’ve read about the importance of being courageous, rebellious and imaginative. These are all vital ingredients in an effective advertising campaign. However, they must be tempered with the most important ingredient of all—strategy. 

As long as the advertising industry has been in existence there has been debate about whether advertising is art or commerce. Quite frankly, this kind of divisive argument is a waste of time and has only helped to diminish what little respect the industry has earned through the years. Besides, the answer is simple. Advertising is the art of commerce. 

It can’t be pure art because pure art won’t engage the consumer on behalf of the brand. Art can certainly get people’s attention, but it rarely causes them to take action. If the consumer is not actively engaged, the brand won’t grow. If the brand doesn’t grow, the company won’t profit. And if the company ceases to make a profit, it dies and takes its brand with it.

On the other hand, advertising can’t be mere commerce because capitalism, in and of itself, is not pretty. It doesn’t make people sit up and take notice. Pure commerce deals with the exchange of money for goods and services. How boring is that. Besides, you don’t want to encourage simple commerce. You want to promote branded commerce. That is what makes strategy so important. 

Let’s be clear. We’re talking advertising strategy. Advertising is not marketing. Marketing involves several disciplines including product, pricing, packaging, distribution, customers and promotions (which encompasses public relations, advertising, point-of-sale, direct marketing, e-marketing, etc.).

If your ad agency can’t tell the difference between marketing and advertising strategy, run like hell. You’re liable to waste a lot of money. Now some agencies do understand the balance between the broader marketing picture and the narrow, targeted advertising scope. If they are capable and comfortable operating in both realms, they will be a very valuable partner to you.

The importance of a strong ad strategy can’t be stressed enough. Creating ads without strategy is like throwing a ping pong ball at a speeding car in a wind storm. There is little chance you will hit your target. 

With a sound advertising strategy, however, even a company with a limited budget can compete against deep-pocketed competitors. Such is the power of the single idea that remains constant over time. This, my friend, is the essence of long-term branding.  

You must start by knowing to whom you are speaking and to whom you should be speaking. What are their hot buttons? What kinds of things are they paying attention to (art)? What would make them want your product or service (commerce)? What kind of life do they lead? What are some of their daily hassles? Can your product or service help with any? 

The key, of course, is to begin thinking about your customers and potential customers. Focus on their needs instead of your own. By offering solutions to their needs, you will fulfill your own profit needs. It doesn’t work the other way around. Trust me.

Only after you know your audience, should you start thinking about how to communicate with them. Because only then will you know how and where to reach them.• 

This article introduced the fourth of twelve steps. Challenge yourself, your staff and your advertising agency to revolutionize your ad program. If you missed a previous step, contact the author for a complimentary copy. And, remember, every revolution begins with just one step.

Jeff Berney is a freelance idealist, brand evangelist and writer. He can be reached at jeff@jberney.com.    

© 2006

Two keys to creating a successfully rebellious advertising campaign

In order to get consumers (whether they are retail or service customers or business-to-business audiences) to notice an advertising message, many companies resort to loudness and one-upmanship. Neither of these tactics works in the long run. 

If your competition is talking loudly and you decide to yell louder, what do you think they will do? Yep. They’ll start to scream. Nobody wins a shouting match when it comes to advertising. And usually you’ll find you even lose a few customers in the process because they can’t stand the noise. 

It’s the same with one-upmanship. If you have to compete on more and better coupons or more and better discounts, giveaways or incentives unrelated to your core product, your revenue per sale decreases as well as your number of sales. 

Customers see these types of games as gimmicky, fake and disingenuous; and they leave. The ones who do stay now view you and your competitors as commodities with no difference except your price. That is a dangerous place for a company to find itself.

The answer to clutter is not more clutter; it’s finding who wants to hear you and speaking to them. So how do you compete if you can’t out shout or out discount your competition? You get rebellious and radical with your advertising. 

Do those words scare you? That’s okay. Remember, you’re being courageous now. You can handle it. Besides, rebellious and radical aren’t dirty words. They will help you draw attention away from your competition without resorting to screaming and insulting your customers. 

It’s not about being outrageous just to get attention; it’s about being remarkable. An advertising campaign with a strong rebellious strategy is, by its very nature, different from anything your audience will find from your competitors’ marketing efforts. It’s unexpected. It’s surprising. It’s effective. 

There are two keys to creating a successfully rebellious advertising campaign. The first is the big idea. This idea comes from a strategy that is derived directly from your customers and their relationship with your brand. You arrive at this idea through a discipline called account planning. We’ll get into the details of both the big idea and account planning in later articles.

The second key to a successfully rebellious advertising campaign is attention. You can’t gain attention if you don’t learn to identify and then steer clear of the norm. It doesn’t matter how great your product or service is or how large your potential market, if your target audience doesn’t pay attention to your message, your ad budget has been wasted. 

Think about these two keys while you flip through the newspaper or a magazine. Ponder them while you watch TV. You should notice something almost immediately. Most ads today don’t seem to be based on any big idea. Many are so boring that you flip right past them without noticing them. Others get your attention but the ads don’t have much to do with the product so you quickly forget the brand the ad was supposed to sell you. What an opportunity for your brand!

Now, there is a caveat to being rebellious. Your ads should never be different just for difference sake. The difference should be derived from your brand’s uniqueness.• 

This article introduced the second of twelve steps. Challenge yourself, your staff and your ad agency to revolutionize your advertising program. If you missed the first step, contact the author for a complimentary copy. And, remember, every revolution begins with just one step.

Jeff Berney is a freelance idealist, brand evangelist and writer. He can be reached at jeff@jberney.com.    

© 2006

Challenge yourself, your staff and your advertising agency to revolutionize your ad program

What’s the easiest way to kill a great ad campaign before it even begins? Take it too seriously. Advertising is not rocket science. You shouldn’t need a degree in the physical sciences to create or understand an ad. 

And you should never, ever, under any circumstances, kill an ad because it is not literal enough. On the contrary, if you find your ads are too literal, you should destroy them all and start fresh. 

Are Volkswagens flawed pieces of junk? No, but an ad with the headline “Lemon” gets your attention, doesn’t it? It makes you want to read the story, which goes on to explain how the particular car shown in the ad would never be driven because VW cares so much it weeds out the lemons so you never get a bad car. Think what an opportunity would have been missed if the folks at Volkswagen had taken that headline too literally.

Think about it from this angle. Why do people read an ad or watch a commercial? The majority do so because they find them entertaining and informative. If your ads are all information and no entertainment, you’ve wasted your budget. 

This is not to say that an ad should be created purely for entertainment purposes. Again, a great ad is both entertaining and informative. The entertainment value should be derived from a feature of your product or brand. In other words, what you’re selling should be the star of the show. Sounds simple enough, but it is often hard to strike the right balance. That’s what makes advertising so fun. 

How much information does your audience really need? What kind of story will they find entertaining? These are questions that should be asked and answered early on so that when you finally are presented with an ad or a campaign, you can judge the work according to these preordained guidelines.

A good campaign will reach your target audience and talk to them on a personal level. This has a valuable effect on your sales and reputation. A great advertising campaign will do more than that. It will create a buzz outside of your target audience.

Apple Computer’s “1984” commercial ran only once. But it is still one of the most talked about commercials because it was rebroadcast on every major news show and written about in every major newspaper for weeks and months. And none of this cost Apple anything more than a single TV buy.

It’s worth noting that Apple’s Super Bowl commercial helped make the company a household name and created unbelievable demand for the new Macintosh computer-yet the ad never showed the product or explained any details about it.

BMW’s Mini Cooper was one of the first cars to be introduced in the United States with no TV advertising. Blasphemy! Instead, they bolted the Minis to the roofs of SUVs and drove them around major cities. They created tongue-in-cheek billboards, interactive print ads and great guerrilla promotions. Most importantly, they created a waiting list of customers who couldn’t wait to get a Mini.

Companies that think bigger become bigger. It’s a self-fulfilling cycle. If you just think like a local operation, you might miss the opportunity to expand regionally, nationally, or even internationally. Your advertising campaign should reflect the direction of your company—even if you’re not yet there.

Challenge yourself and your agency to think bigger.• 

This article introduced the third of twelve steps. Challenge yourself, your staff and your advertising agency to revolutionize your ad program. If you missed a previous step, contact the author for a complimentary copy. And, remember, every revolution begins with just one step.

Jeff Berney is a freelance idealist, brand evangelist and writer. He can be reached at jeff@jberney.com    

© 2006