"Can you hear me now?"

You’d be hard pressed to find someone in the US who doesn’t know the company behind that question.

So why do big companies, like Verizon, hammer us with the same message over and over? Because it works. And it can work for your company too. But it takes time and repetition to get your message out and heard by your target market.

Most small business owners will try something once then give up. They expect customers to come pounding down the door to their business after just one message.

It won’t happen.

How do you help your customers hear your message? Think long term. Before taking the first step to getting the word out about your product or service, determine the time frame.

Consider at least a six-month time frame for executing your actions to deliver your message. Then identify the steps you will take — identify how, who, what and when. Spread those steps out so you are taking action at least once a week. Remember that consistency in delivering your message is key.

Place the steps on your calendar (a wall calendar that you see every day is great for this) and execute them based on your plan.

About the Author

Denise O’Berry frequently speaks to professional organizations, is the author of three booklets, and several "how-to" manuals. She writes a weekly small business column, hosts an online small business owners forum and is called upon regularly by publications such as Entrepreneur, Bank Rate Small Business, Florida Trend, Inc., various newspapers, radio and television to provide expert comments on small business issues.

http://www.whatspossible.com
http://www.justforsmallbusiness.com
http://www.deniseoberry.com

Ever wonder how to put more jingle in your pockets? Recently I was invited to join the “staff” of a local accounting firm, under the sheer guise of increasing business and profitability to a company with consistent net gains in their profit margin. The owner’s intent is rather clear; he wants more money jingling in his pocket.

While this isn’t a bad thing and nobody is condemning him for his intentions, a better objective might be “improving service”, or “broadening the market”. Either of these or more money in your pocket would appeal to most business owners, because the bottom line is simple, more jingle.

Improving service, broadening the market, and bringing in more business consistently are common results of a solid business marketing plan with high numbers of contact within the client market of the business. It’s all a numbers game, is probably an understatement.

Proposing a miraculous solution for this issue requires thought and planning, and is definitely a can do project. Just follow the steps:

* Know your product. Have an identifiable and recognizable name for your product; know what it does, how it can be used, and specifically how it will help the client.

* Know your market. Have a specific description of who will purchase and use your product. Know your clientele and have a good plan for communicating with them personally.

* Know how to promote your product/service to your client.

* Be willing to go the extra mile to promote your business or product.

The purpose of business is to make money. If that is not your intent, your business probably won’t make any money, and it’s NOT a viable tax shelter either.

Put your marketing skills into effect, by pursuing your client with thoughtful well planned market directed advertising. Bring in the people and your business will be profitable.

Copyright © 2005 – Jan Verhoeff

Effectively market your business with client directed advertising that brings in the people. Make every advertising dollar count by knowing your product and your market. For more information in this area of business marketing and planning, ask one or our consultants at: http://makemoremoneyon.tripod.com

Branding your comapny should be the first thing a company does. You have to convince potential customers to buy from you. Very few people have a monopoly like Microsoft or Ebay, Everyone else need to steer business to their company or product. When people think about your company, what is their impression. For my company, Solutions Ink, I wanted to portray a fresh, professional, ease of use type of company whoose product meets their quality needs while helping their business. I wanted to portray Solutions Ink as always on the fore front of the printing and promotional product industry’s.

To achieve this I needed to tell potential customers of new and innovative products for the printing industry. Variable data, large format digital printing, digital printing with pantone colors, label and form combinations, magnet and form combinations and e-commerce ordering systems. How best to show customers then actually devise a campaign where the product you are trying to educate your customers about is sent out to them to give them ideas how to use this product to help their businesses. One campaign I organised was to compile a list of fashion retailers whoose logo’s were specific pantone colors that are not reproduced well in 4 color process printing. Today with 6,8 and 10 color presses you can print in 4 color process and 2 pantone colors quite easily. This keeps the integrity of the company’s logo intact in their big marketing or flyer campaigns. This is OK for large run printing jobs. The problem is that even for large chains, you tend to have regional sales in a small amount of stores. In store displays usually are done in small numbers and are printed digitally. Today there are certain digital presses that can insert pantone colors on top of the 4 color process printing. After devising a mock up campaign and targetting by variable data the buyers of these retail fashion chains, I was able to secure 2 large accounts for present and future business.

This technique can be applied to any industry. The key is to really now your product and the strengths of your company. The next step is to educate your customers on your company’s merits. Then you must reinforce your image constantly to stay in your existing customers mind, as well as peak the curiousity of potential new customers.

Once you have achieved this, giving out promotional products is a useful way of staying on their minds. The trick is to find a great promotional product, that fits you budget, is useful to the end user and doesn’t shout your name too boldly. Humour is a great way to have your customers keep your stuff. The items seen most times for an office person are calendars and coffee mugs. To be different in the Montreal Promotional Product market, Solutions Ink sent out to all existing customers a 14 ounze special mug which was imprinted with thermochromic ink. The ink is heat sensitive and evaporates on heat and returns on cold. With this you can print something underneath the thermochromic ink which is revealed when cold. On the outside we simply put the word STRESS in red over a black background. Most people who work know about stress. The humour side was that when you poured your hot coffee the message turned into stress free at Solutions Ink. A simple inexpensive idea that our customers really enjoyed and every time I stop at one of their offices I readily spot our mugs. On top of this I received 4 orders from these customers for these mugs with a different message for their customers.

Another great way for your company to be branded positively is to become associated with a worth while charity. Today we must give back to those less fortunate. Sponsering an event gives your company great exposure but the real treat is in knowing that you’ve helped others. Money is not the end all, all the time. A funny thing, helping others usually rewards yourself if not immediately some time in the future.

The trick is to plan out your actions. Research the market, research your company’s attributes and brand your company’s image positively and constantly. Following these steps should help your company stand out from the competition and make yourself more successful Best of luck. If you need help you can contact me at 514-337-2238 or visit us on the webb at www.solutionsink4u.com

Steven Schneidman

Steven Schneidman has a B.A. in Psychology and an MBA from Canadian Universities. He also served as a professor at a Montreal University and worked for the secong largest Canadian bank. I have owned 2 very successful printing and promotional product companies. My greatest achievement is my wife and 3 kids.

What does your vehicle say about your business? You drive to work, commute through traffic, stop at the shop for refreshments, park up outside your business, take care of deliveries and run some errands during the day, finally, you drive home in the evening. How many people did you pass or meet today? All potential customers, but did they notice you?

Grab a significant advertising advantage over your competitors by covering your vehicle with your business image or message in the form of an eye-catching digitally printed self adhesive vinyl advertisement known as a vehicle wrap and take it for a drive around town to promote your business.

Vehicle wrapping is now being recognized as an extremely cost effective and unique form of outdoor media for all sizes of businesses and company promotions. Many companies are finding out that vehicle advertising wraps and full colour fleet and car graphics are a great way to reach new and existing customers. Compared to other forms of media, wraps are extremely cost effective and generate millions of impressions each year.

An innovative method of advertising a business by creating a moving billboard on a vehicle, vehicle wraps provide companies with a method of advertising on cars in three dimensional form, providing an extremely high retention rate among those who see the vehicle. Vehicle wrap advertising uses semi-permanent graphics that can be removed without harm to the vehicle if desired. It is typically used on vans, but also on cars, trucks, fleet vehicles, buses, trains and even aircraft, in fact anything on wheels or that has an exterior shell.

Many customers with vehicle wraps take advantage of their advertising in areas that normally would be very expensive. Booking advertising at such venues as trade shows, sports events, concerts and grand openings may need to be done well in advance and rates may be very expensive, this is ideal for your wrapped vehicle, simply drive around or park at a conspicuous location. Another advantage of this type of advertising is it is not like print, radio, or television. It cannot be switched off and the channel cannot be changed.

There is no standard price for advertising wraps which are normally installed by specialist signage companies, It depends on a number of factors including the total number of vehicles to be wrapped, how much printing is involved, how much vinyl material is required per wrap, designer time, how many installers will be involved and how long it takes to fit, All that becomes the basis for pricing a project.

Wrapping a vehicle is a sophisticated process of being able to print on vinyl films and perfectly cover the vehicle with that advertisement. A good wrap must be able to cover, but not hinder window visibility and all materials must be weather resistant to heat, UV, cold and wind. Good adherence to the vehicle body is important, as the wrap must stay on without it peeling off before purposely being removed. The process involves cutting edge software, durable printing inks, high performance adhesive vinyl materials and laminates. It begins with an accurate engineering drawing known as a template which is taken from the vehicle, the advertisement is placed on the template on a computer, this is printed on large vinyl decals which are then fitted properly into a seamless image by professional installers.

If the company doesn’t want to invest in vehicle wrap advertising, it can place advertising on vehicles in the form of magnetic signs, bumper stickers, window decals, etc. Companies seeking to attract business with a different format have found advertising on vehicles using these methods to be effective, without having to go the full vehicle wraps direction.

Vehicle wraps are like giant billboards, only more imaginative, they move in the area your company services and they create a visibly striking presence. They work all day, generating awareness for your company and are constantly reaching new and potential customers. Vehicle advertising is the best and most cost effective form of advertising available.

(c) Copyright 2005, Tim McCarthy. All rights reserved.

D-Signs, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland
Signs, Printing and Display

Visual processing is the most important way for gathering information for all human beings. A good design or graphics work is remembered for ages and that is what drives the multinational companies to spend millions of dollars on developing their logo and other branding material. They would go to any extent to create a solid visual impact and leave a permanent impression on their customer’s mind.

While designing your logo and providing the necessary details to your designer you need to always keep in mind what you want your customers to feel about your company when the see your logo. A logo design can actually be a compressed story for your business and tell your customers about the nature and attitude of your business.

"Logo Design" Begins at Home

Yes, your home is the place where you take the first step of your logo design process. Look at the different bottles and pouches you are using everyday in the kitchen, look at the logos they have, look at the logos on your electronic equipments, check the logo on the bag that you got from the shopping mall yesterday. Everyday we come across 1000s of logos but we remember just a few, if we look around, we can find different types of logos around us. Also, visit the local supermarket to check the logos on the array of products they have. It is always better to check out the logos of your competitors who are in the same industry. While doing this, you are sure to find some logos that stand out from the others and this is going to help you conceptualize your logo design.

Once you have made up your mind on how you want your logo to be, its time you write them down clearly demarcated into small objective points which can work as instructions for your logo designer.

One thing you should be careful, while going through different logos of other companies you must not be so influenced by any of them so that your logo becomes a replica or modified version of another logo that you saw. A good design often affects our sub conscious mind and we unknowingly duplicate certain parts of it. It is extremely important that your logo design is unique. A unique logo design increases the likelihood for getting a trademark protection. It is advisable that you take the assistance of a trademark lawyer for your trademark search and to ensure that you do not run into the risk of infringing some other companies trademark symbol or logo.

Using ClipArt

If you area small local business or a mom-n-pop shop you might not be that keen in investing towards a logo and establishing your brand (though I sincerely believe that’s very wrong). In such situation, you can try using some high quality royalty free clip art combining it with a suitable typeface to put your company name. You can also use more than one clip arts to create the total graphics for your logo.

However, you should keep in mind that clip arts would never give you the effect of a custom logo and they can be easily duplicated or stolen. Even if you are modifying a clip art, it is almost impossible to get a trademark on that. In future, once your business grows to the level when you need to have trademarked logo you will have to get a total new logo (may be something closer to the one you have) and start with your branding efforts once again to establish that new logo.

To avoid all this problems it is advisable that you get a unique custom logo and it is not always that you need to spend a lot on your logos. There are companies on the web that offers custom logo design at reasonable price.

Some More Logo Design Tips

1)Keep it simple: Remember, simplicity is the key. Most of the great logos are absolutely simple and it is always easier for us to remember and recognize a simple design than to identify a complicated artwork. If you want to have some complex illustration for your logo, try to minimize the number of lines and make it as simple as possible keeping in mind that the viewer should be able to understand what has been drawn.

2)Typography: You should be careful while deciding on the typeface that you intend to use for your logo. Choosing the correct typeface can make a lot of difference. For example, a finance company depicting strength and stability would like to use some bold, thick font. Also, the letters can be twisted to create simple yet nice logos. Some ideal examples of logo that contains only letters are "SONY" and Dell - remember the twisted "e"?

3)Always Use Vector Graphics: Always ask your designer to provide you the logo as vector graphics. The advantage is, vector graphics can be resized without any loss of details and image quality. You can resize it as per your requirement. In addition, vector graphics take lesser memory capacity in your computer.

4)Choice of Color: You should be careful while deciding on your logo colors. It is advisable to restrict yourself to RGB or CMYK colors so that your logo looks equally good in print as it looks on web. Also, ensure that your logo looks good in black and white as well, mind it, you will also have to use your logo on while faxing any of your marketing material or corporate documents.

Finally, it is always better if you are employing any specialized logo design firm to create your logo design than doing it yourself. It is their profession so they would know it much better than you do and neither is logo design always very costly. Definitely, there are companies that charge you $500 for a logo, however there are also companies that offers equally good services with very much affordable pricing (Corporate Logo Design). It is just a matter of locating that designer and you can be on your way to having a wonderful custom logo design.

Ray Smith is a marketing Expert with years of experience in different industries and specialized knowledge on branding and Internet marketing. corporate logo design

Have you used Yahoo!’s new local-search function? If you haven’t, you owe it to yourself to check it out. They’ve upgraded it with fantastic features geared to make searching for local businesses and services a breeze. Some of these features include user recommendations and reviews of businesses, real-time updates on local event information, and the ability to search for businesses, events, and more within specific neighborhoods rather than forcing the user to wade through the search results for an entire city. In addition, the search engine company has also upgraded its mapping capabilities.

Users also have the option to receive updated search information via RSS – Rich Site Summary, otherwise known as Really Simple Syndication – feeds. This particular feature has, arguably, impacted the scope of the heavy-hitting search engines in Internet users’ lives the most. The race between Yahoo!, Google, MSN, and AOL for market share is never-ending, and each has added its own brand of improvements. The major search engines’ new local-search features are all fantastic for the end user, but what do they mean for local businesses?

In the history of local search, there has been a lot invested in the form of user-friendly improvements by search-engine companies, but these improvements haven’t yielded a noticeable return-on-investment (ROI) for the companies. You might recall search trailblazers Citysearch and MSN Sidewalk – these two engines were an early example of the race to improve search functionality – then again, you might not remember them at all. It wasn’t until Google’s explosion onto the search scene in recent years that the general public really became aware of the power of search on the web. Now “Googling” is a verb.

Much of the public awareness of Internet search comes from Google’s innovations in technology, but until recently, local search wasn’t really a consideration for most Internet users or the businesses featured in search results. However, the improvements that the major search engines are adding are changing that, and if you’re an owner of a traditional local business, you should be paying attention.

More functionality for users means more accountability for business owners. Now that patrons can voice their opinions about the establishments that they frequent, potential customers have an all-access pass to virtually unlimited information about a business before they ever step foot inside the door. The days of businesses relying on a fancy façade and some good ol’ TV ads are quickly fading. Now businesses have to be accountable for just about every step they take, no matter how large or small they are. If a patron of a restaurant or theatre or dentist or landscaper has a bad experience, they have the ability to tell a lot of people all about it quickly and easily.

The prospect of being scrutinized at every turn might seem like a frightening one at best, but there is a definite upside. Just as negative views can spread like wildfire, so can positive perspectives. If you’re putting a concerted effort into your customer service and integrity is integral to the way that you conduct business, you’re bound to get good feedback. And, now more than ever, good feedback with go further than it ever has before.

Perhaps more importantly, though, it’s up to traditional local businesses to make sure that they have online presences. I live in a mid-sized community, and I was surprised to find as many reviews about local eateries, mechanics, and events as I did. It’s not just businesses located in large cities that need to take heed. The proliferation of the Internet – and local search capabilities – is affecting communities far and wide. Since more and more people are utilizing the web to find the goods and services that they want, it only stands to reason that you should ensure your business is in front of them. These folks are your potential customers, after all.

There are a lot of ways that you can improve your online presence, but the first step of putting yourself in a position to grow your traditional local business is being aware that the Internet will affect your business one way or another, negatively or positively. It’s up to you to take control of which way you want things to go. Take some time to surf the web. Use the new features that the search engines are rolling out. Pay attention to what customers are saying about traditional local businesses. Accessing that information now will be invaluable to your success later.

© 2005 Low-Hanging Fruit

Author: Tom Swanson
Web Site: http://www.lowhangingfruit.com
Email: tom@itimeinc.com
Phone: 563-323-4609

Tom Swanson’s experience in sales, design, marketing, copywriting, multi-media advertising, and publishing have given him incredible insight into the world of marketing both online and off. Combining creativity with real-world, hands-on experience, Tom writes articles to help local businesses learn to strategically leverage their Internet presence and capture easy online profits. His articles include thoughtful, down-to-earth explanations of various marketing media and philosophies, and local businesses can take away simple tools, ideas, and techniques that they can implement to shape their local Internet marketing efforts.

If you’re looking for some high-impact content that’s chock full of information, look no further than the articles of Tom Swanson.

© 2005 Low-Hanging Fruit

Is Your Image Working for You?

Ten seconds is all it takes to make a first impression – whether it’s your personal presentation or the first contact a potential client or customer has with your company. When you walk through their door – or they walk through yours – your image is imprinted in the first moment. Make sure you know what it is.

Research has proven that 67% of first impressions are accurate. Your image tells the world who you are and where you are going. Your company image says the same. Every email, voicemail, and phone call you make creates the first impressions that build your self-brand. In person how you shake hands, make eye contact, conduct yourself in social situations and the clothes you choose to wear continues to build your self-brand.

Your image is like the weather. People notice when it’s extremely good or extremely bad. First impressions, often based on appearances alone, can indicate to a potential employer or client, one’s sense of taste, ambition and self-esteem. The moment another person looks at us, sight-identification is in effect.

There is no doubt that personal presentation plays a big part in succeeding in your career and business operations.

Personality Profile

Another measure of your success in dealing with people is due to personality. The dictionary defines personality as, “the quality which distinguishes one human being from another, individuality, distinctive personal characteristics”.

In the corporate world the professional must discover his or her personality type. Self-analysis, discovery of plus and minus personality traits is important before an adequate self-satisfying self-image can be developed. Aggravating speech habits, lack of good manners, sloppy dress and grooming are your worst enemies.

Your personal manner speaks loudly to other people. Your voice, way of talking, eye contact, body language and the way you develop relationships at work all count towards giving you a ‘manner’. We’ve all at times been horrified or surprised at hearing second or third hand what impression we’ve made on someone.

The best approach is to be yourself – but keep in mind an awareness of how you may strike other people and recognition that you can’t just let your manner work itself out because it’s the little things that can make the crucial difference.

Punctuality, your tone of voice, these are the things about you that speak loud and clear to others. Make sure that they’re working for you. I’m sure you’ve all experienced the front office receptionist who looks the part, very corporate and presentable but when she opens her mouth it’s another thing all together. Or the savvy salesman who is very convincing and authoritative on the telephone but when you meet him in person his sloppy dress and manner let him down.

We invest a lot of time, effort and money into learning or upgrading our skills for the job or setting up our own businesses – why not invest some time and effort into ourselves – making the most of what our natural image is. Learn how to develop your professional image and present yourself in a way that is unique to your person.

* Brand all letterhead, newsletters, email messages for a professional image

* Personal branding – establish a strong visual image – be aware of grooming and professional dress sense, walk tall

* Self image – get rid of bad habits, develop self-confidence and charm – smile!

Sue Currie is a professional speaker and the director of Shine Communications Consultancy an executive development company. Sue’s strategies help boost your public profile and increase profits by enhancing your professional image and building brand visibility.

Through her training and speaking programs on personal branding, image and media, she helps you to grow your company’s major asset – You! Sue enjoys helping others to bring out their personal best and Shine. To find out more visit http://www.shinecomms.com.au

There are a number of great ways to promote your online business offline. Combining offline advertising with your online presence will create momentum and increase your profits. There are a number of ways to promote your business offline.

Generate traffic. Produce sales. Increase profits.

Those words are gold to every business with a Web site. But an overwhelming majority of entrepreneurs don’t ever reach their goals of gold.

This is mainly because there seems to be an unwritten code of Web advertising. It states you can only be successful on the Internet if you are using online advertising methods like search engines, banner ads and buying online ad space. True, this should be a factor in any company’s marketing efforts but there’s an old rule of advertising you should Consider… offline.

There are three main offline-advertising mediums worth investing in to drive people to your site. Print, television and radio ads are fairly inexpensive and have the power to promote your dot com presence effectively.

It’s cheaper and more effective than you think.

Print

Newspaper advertising

Newspaper advertising is an easy way to get your message in front of a large audience. When placing these kind of ads you want to put them in the business opportunities or work at home section of the classifieds. If you are only going to run them one day a week focus on the Sunday edition as this normally has the highest circulation. If possible run the ad consistently as this will build some familiarity with the readers and will lead to better response. Be sure to find out the circulation and compare the cost with the circulation to find the best deals. I would also suggest you “test” a few different ads and keep track of the results of each. Here are some examples of ads I have run recently:

STOP reading classified ads make money from them instead… If they’re making money you can too:

For example:-

We recently signed up to the affiliate program at www.cashloopholes.co.uk, They pay 50% commissions on their product. In the national exchange and mart it costs just £80 for a one week advert in the business opportunities section. There were other betting guides in there and they have been for a long time so I knew they were making money. This one guarantees to win, 100% of the time. None of the others can do that so we was one step ahead already by promoting such an exceptional product.

The ad read

FREE MONEY LOOPHOLE
If You Could GUARANTEE, With Absolute Certainty, The Outcome of an Event BEFORE You Placed a Bet… How Much Money Would You Invest? HTTP://WWW.CASHLOOPHOLES.CO.UK

As it’s in the business opportunity section this ad immediately captures the attention of the reader, it’s intriguing and causes the reader to want to know more

We placed the ad for 4 weeks and we set up an ad tracking service so we knew how well we were doing with it.

In all we received Approximately 500 hits a day and made on average about 10 sales a day. Do the maths and you will see how profitable offline advertising can be.

During the 4 week tester period we also had 46 people sign up as an affiliate under us earning us 15% of whatever sales they made.

I am not saying this is the only or best product to sell, This is what we first used when we first started advertising off-line and it paid of extremely well for us. We have increased the ad size now costing £290 a week but the increase in traffic makes up for the extra cost 10 fold. Its always good to start small and cheaply first though. Always test the market before ploughing all your advertising budget on it.

Lastly I would recommend trying at least three different papers with three different ad copies and expand from there as your budget allows.

Direct Mailing

put yourself in the shoes of your direct mail recipients. Avoid direct mail deadly mistakes or your materials will end up in the trash too.

Before you even begin to put your direct mail campaign together, you’ve got to know who your target market is. Are they women? Parents? Young? Old? Understand what motivates them. What are their likes and dislikes?

Write as if you’re talking to them. And even use terms these types of people would use.

But all the fancy graphics and the most beautifully created sentences in the world won’t do you a bit of good if you don’t carefully select the people on your mailing list. If you’re selling adult diapers, you want to target senior citizens…not 23-year-olds.

Tighten your mailing list as much as possible to be sure it’s tailored to your needs. It’s tough to make people believe they need your product and even harder to convince them they need it now. But if you’ve researched your list, you have a higher chance of hitting potential customers instead of the trash can.

You’ve made your list and checked it twice, so-to-speak. It’s the perfect list. Now it’s time to write. Define your objectives before you start writing. Stay focused and hit the points of your objective. If you get off track, your reader is going to stop reading.

Spend a lot of time on your headline. Just remember how you feel when reading mail that comes to you. After you read that headline, do you keep reading? The headline can make or break your direct mail campaign.

Does price really matter? Not unless you know what you’re getting for that price. Hook your reader with all of the product benefits. By the time they get to the end, they should be saying, "I can’t live without that!"

And then you let them in on the price. Even if the price is extremely low, you have to tell potential customers about the product first.

Disclosing this price shouldn’t put people into shock. Is your product priced according to the market? If you’re selling a new teddy bear, it should be priced within reason. Not many people will pay $90 for a tiny teddy bear, right? Truth is, a lot of direct mail goes unanswered because the products are unreasonably priced.

Success! Your potential customer read all the way through your mailing. Now what?

Did you tell the reader what you want them to do? You can’t sell if you don’t tell.

Your readers need a call to action. Tell them to send in the card, call you, etc. Then tell them again.

Once your direct mail is ready to go, test several smaller mailings before sending out a huge chunk. Test each of these mailings by changing a few items when you send them out.

Have two or more sales letters you test against each other. By testing, you will find out which of those mailings are bringing in more responses and - hopefully - more orders.

Stick with the clear winners. Remember the saying, "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it."

Direct mail is a waste of money for a lot of people. But it doesn’t have to be for you. Understanding direct mail deadly mistakes — and avoiding them — will lead you to sales success!

Flyers

The next offline advertising method I am going to talk about in this article is a simple flyer. These are a great way to get your website in front of a wide audience. Make 1000 copies and dedicate yourself to handing out all of them in the next 7 days. Here are just a couple of places to hand these out: around your neighbourhood or a large neighbourhood nearby, place stacks at local restaurants, dry cleaners or other places of business, or go to your local college campuses and find areas you can place your flyers.

Novelty advertising

There are loads of novelty ways to advertise. Use your imagination and be original.

Depending on the product you could have your web address printed on t-shirts and give them away to tourists. If you make them bright enough they will wear them with big smiles on they’re faces all day advertising your website

Try printing on mouse mats, pens, balls or any other novelty item. It doesn’t even always have to be related to your product to get good results although a related gimmick can work wonders.

Million Dollar Bills are another great way to advertise offline. If you haven’t heard about these before you can check them out at "http://www.milliondollarsource.com." These can be used a number of different ways including as an attention getter, door opener, response generator, networking device, or simply to get a smile out of the recipient. I would recommend ordering a minimum of 2000 and handing them out as quickly as possible. You can even hire someone to hand them out for you if you are short on time. As strange as this may sound to some of you this method works great and is worth the cost.

Statement inserts

Even huge corporation’s send statement inserts. You’re going to send a statement to your customers anyway, why not throw in some advertisements for yourself?

This can also be done when paying bill, you think all them people sat at there desks all day don’t want nothing better from life.

You get all the advantages of direct mail without paying extra for a separate mailing. Take a look at these numbers:

Complete direct mail packages run between $200 and $600 per thousand. In contrast, statement inserts are only $6 to $15 per thousand. A huge savings for you.

You can also use statement inserts to test a new product. If your product doesn’t generate much interest, you can easily change your advertising angle. But if you’ve pumped all your ad dollars into commercials, print ads and a solo direct mail campaign without results, changing direction is much harder and more costly.

Now the bad news. You get your statement and there’s an insert for a high-ticket item inside. Chances are, you’re not going to shell out the big bucks for something knew when you’ve just received this blow to your billfold in the same envelope.

That’s why your statement insert should advertise a reasonably priced item. Save your top-dollar items for your high advertising dollars. Those big prices won’t pull in a lot of orders off a statement insert.

Be sure to watch the weight of your mailing too. You can pack a lot in a 34 cent mailing. But anything over one ounce will cost you more in postage.

You should also consider using a large statement insert. Packing your mailing full of smaller inserts may seem more logical but research indicates larger inserts have higher response rates. Three panel is most popular, followed by two panel.

If you choose to send out a single panel, pack it with information. Deliver the offer, product, copy and audience to pick up the slack in size and details.

Order forms must be easy to fill out as well.

Keeping your customers waiting for several months, even weeks will reduce your chances of that customer becoming a repeat buyer.

Consider having a customer service department solely devoted to your featured product. If someone doesn’t receive their order or has other complaints, you need a staff that will handle those concerns immediately. Handled correctly, a good CSR can turn an irate person into a satisfied customer. And that customer will tell a friend about how you solved their problem.

Get the most out of postage rates and your ad dollars with statement inserts. Who knows? Your customers might even start looking forward to receiving your bill!

Radio

A 30- or 60-second radio spot is quite a bargain. Rates vary depending on your area’s population. Even still, you can negotiate a cheaper price and receive a better rate if you buy a bulk amount of commercials.

One of the many advantages of radio is that you can target your audience. Specific age groups and lifestyles are all defined by the station’s format. Ratings also help determine this information and can help you choose the best station and time slot for your company’s commercial.

The key components of your radio commercial include your name, address, telephone number and selling message. But be sure to ask listeners to visit your site. Repeat your URL at least twice and, again, tell them what they’ll gain by visiting.

Television

Get ready to shatter the myths about television commercials. You don’t have to be a major corporation or have tons of disposable ad dollars to hit the airwaves.

Buying airtime on your local television station is actually very affordable. But for an even lower rate, check the cable TV companies in your area. Airtime is significantly lower than broadcast television ad rates.

You also have the added benefit of reaching a specific target audience. If you sell sporting goods, your ad can run on SportsSouth and ESPN for the best possible prospects. Your cable operator can even gear the commercials to a zip code or local community.

Infomercials aren’t too far behind commercials as a low-cost, traffic-building tool. Even a 15-minute infomercial can explain your products/services and promote your Web site at the same time.

Just like with print, make sure your URL is prominently displayed in your commercial and/or infomercial. Keep in mind, not everybody has a big screen TV at home and this can make a huge difference to a potential customer with a 19" screen.

Conclusion

New technology forces us to adapt to new advertising means. But sometimes old school techniques are overlooked when, in fact, they can actually help propel business into the money-making wave of the future.

Don’t just do it once and be happy with your results, if something works keep repeating it and as you make money put more money into your venture.

Best of luck to you all.

Izzy Brewer

Izzy Brewer
22 from the uk
http://www.cashloopholes.co.uk

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Personal branding is important to stand out from the crowd. Essentially branding is a function of public relations. And public relations is "relationships" with your "public". So here’s some tips on how to Brand You … to Stand out and Shine.

* Do a personal audit to determine your values and vision, your future goals and strengths for you and your company. Defining who you are aligns with your deepest passions. A clue to discovering the feeling or emotion of who you are is to identify where you are and what you are doing that makes you truly happy. For me it’s swimming in the ocean, feeling the warmth of the sun, the colours of sunset and sunrise over the ocean, those feelings and colours help me to shine.

* What do people say about you, how do they perceive you? Pay attention to how others describe you when they introduce you and how they treat you. Are you described as fun loving, compassionate, professional or creative? Do these descriptions align with your values and what you stand for?

* What sets you apart from the crowd, what is your unique "shining" point? What achievements and accomplishments, dreams or desires reveal the emotional, inner side of you and how do you promote that side of you. Customers and clients want to feel they know and trust you enough to do business with you.

* Take a look at some of the outside factors that represent your personal brand, such as the company you work for or the company you keep. Who are your friends, alliances and partners? What networking groups do you belong to?

* Your business tools also say a lot: find one look or message that describes your business and stick with it. Use the same colour scheme, fonts and design throughout your marketing materials, business cards, letterhead and website. Pay attention to your email messages and voice mail messages.

* Your dress and appearance plays an important part in how others see you. Develop a picture file of looks you like that reflects your emotional side and uniqueness. Start to build a wardrobe showing your style but also appropriate for the work you do and image you’d like to project. Buy the best quality you can afford and make sure your clothing fits well.

* Little things like quality accessories also play a part in your personal packaging. Note quality leather shoes, bags, watch, jewellery and pen. Take care of personal appearance including grooming and appropriate hairstyle.

* Personal manner also plays a part in how others perceive you. Be aware of plus and minus personality traits such as self confidence level, your way of talking, manners and social skills.

* Your surroundings and environment project who you are also. You want your business to leave the right impression on your clients, customers, employees and all visitors. Does your desk, signage and place of business reflect an image of efficiency, quality, professionalism and hospitality? Does Brand You say your business is the best?

Sue Currie is a professional speaker and the director of Shine Communications Consultancy an executive development company. Sue’s strategies help boost your public profile and increase profits by enhancing your professional image and building brand visibility. Through her speaking and training programs on image and media, she helps you to grow your company’s major asset – You. Sue enjoys helping others to bring out their personal best and Shine. To learn more visit http://www.shinecomms.com.au

In the mid-Fifteenth Century, when Johann Guttenburg brought moveable type printing to the western world I doubt he envisioned the industry he would create. Today, printing is a significant line item on every business budget. Invoices, contracts, business cards, letterhead, and brochures are all part of the day-to-day operations of every business.

Often when the bill comes, it feels like you are carrying the whole

$90 billion industry by yourself. There are, however, ways to save money on printing, if you know the right questions to ask..

The most important thing to remember if you want to save money on printing is that printing is a production business. Large jobs and long runs are less expensive than short ones, so plan ahead! The most expensive part of the process is the set up. Once the press is running, your per piece cost goes down with every page you print. For example: I recently designed a small tri-fold brochure for a client. The printer’s quote looked like this:

500 pieces $450

1,500 pieces $650

2,500 pieces $750

This is fairly typical whether you are printing 500 or 5,000 pieces. The more you print, the lower the per piece cost. It was easy for this client to make the decision to print the higher quantity instead of planning a reprint six months later. But what if you really don’t need more?

Ask about GANG RUNS. When you print 1,000 postcards your printer is actually laying them out on a larger sheet of paper possibly 4 to a page or 8 to a page like this:

When printing is complete, the printer will cut the page divide the finished project into piles. It doesn’t matter to him if the four piles are the same or different, but your savings could be tremendous. Using the Gang Run format, you can actually create four different cards and print them at the same time. Look at the potential savings on four batches of 1,000 postcards:

Printed separately $500 each run for a total of $2,000

Printed in a gang run for a total of $750

The benefits are obvious, but there is work involved. You must invest time up front to think about your printing needs for the next six months or year. Then bring that plan to a meeting with a printer, and let him help you look for ways to save money.

Another way to use the gang run is to create a “shell”. Letterhead is an example of a shell. With your logo and address at the top, the center is blank so you can run individual letters through your desktop printer one at a time.

This same strategy will work with postcards or newsletters. Working with your printer, design a shell and pre-print a one-year supply in color. Then when you need some, you can either print small quantities on your in-house printer, or have the commercial printer overprint the specific information in black ink. The result; the finished product has a professional, full color look, for significantly less.

Creative use of color can also save you money. Black and white doesn’t have to be boring! Using reverses and ½ tones you can create the illusion a piece has more than one or two colors. Also, one color in doesn’t have to be black. Dark blues and dark greens are extremely legible, and much more eye catching, without being any more expensive.

Talk to your printer about paper. Find out about their “house sheets”. These are usually adequate quality for most projects, and because they buy large quantities, your price is lower than for a specialty paper. Sometimes, changing paper grades from 100# to 80# can cut your cost, but you may not be happy with the quality so always ask for a sample. This is where printers will look to cut cost, so if you are getting multiple bids, make sure you get paper samples.

Establish a relationship with one printer, rather than looking for the lowest bid every time. In the long run, this relationship will save you time and money. A printer who knows you are price shopping they will quote a low price, with no extras, because they know you will go somewhere else next time to save a few pennies. However, if they are working with you on a regular basis they will look for ways to add value.

For example, my printer checks all my files before they go on press. She has caught spelling errors, or other small mistakes I missed. Yes, I pay a bit more, but it is a lot less expensive then re-running the project.

We work together to schedule my projects. She is willing to give me a small discount, if I can give her extra time to print a project. Sometimes, she will tuck my small job into a hole in her production schedule or combine it on a gang run with another one of her customers. And every now and then she throws in the little extra, over-runs at no extra charge, or a paper upgrade because she has a small supply of really nice paper left over from a larger project.

Printing is a big part of your budget, but with upfront planning and the right relationship you can manage your costs!

A twenty-year veteran of corporate America, Lorraine is an accomplished marketing professional, who has won regional and national communication awards. She is a certified teacher, facilitator and college instructor. Lorraine Ball is a frequent guest panelist featured on "Sound Advice," the popular online audio program from What’s Working in Biz.

Her articles on marketing, team building, and business development have been featured in Contracting Business, The New York Forum and The ACH&R News. In addition, her books: "The Entrepreneur’s Notebook" and "Confessions of a Networking Junkie" are quickly becoming "MUST READS" for new business owners.

Today, her company, Roundpeg http://www.roundpeg.biz helps small business owners discover the secrets to big company marketing!