Colour is essential to building a strong brand.

Many of you know my passion for wearing red ties. I believe congruency with your personal and corporate brand is essential for professionals in the services-based industries, especially consultants, coaches, speakers and trainers.

A Special Report by Mairi Macleod in the New Scientist Magazine on 18 May 2005 argues red is the colour if winning is your game.

She reports the Washington Redskins, Manchester United and the Welsh rugby team have all been playing with an unfair advantage. Just seeing their red kit is seemingly enough to cow their opponents into submission even before a ball is kicked.

The report highlights how Russell Hill and Robert Barton of Durham University in the UK tracked success in four Olympic sports: boxing, taekwondo, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.

According to the report, in these sports athletes do not wear national colours, but are randomly assigned either red or blue.

The article journals of 441 bouts, reds won 242 and in all four sports reds triumphed in more contests. And the red advantage was higher in close encounters: 62 per cent of red-garbed competitors won these. But in pushover contests there were similar numbers of red and blue winners.

"If you’re rubbish, a red shirt won’t stop you from losing," Barton says in the article.

The same is true in soccer. Five teams in the Euro 2004 competition who had predominantly red in one of their two kits all did significantly better while wearing red, scoring around one extra goal per game.

Such effects could be due to instinctive behaviour, says Barton. In animal displays red in particular seems to vary with dominance and testosterone levels. Human competitors might experience a testosterone surge while wearing the colour, he says, or feel submissive when facing a scarlet opponent.

Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar from the University of Liverpool speculates that primate eyes may be particularly sensitive to red. "The significance is then a matter of context," he says. Red fruit is good; red competitors are bad.

Performance director of the Great Britain taekwondo team, Gary Hall, says most of his athletes don’t have a strong colour preference. But he says that if red is an advantage the sport should consider changing kits. "We should take out any anomaly like that," Hall told New Scientist.

Source: New Scientist Magazine on 18 May 2005

Colour is essential to both personal and corporate branding.

Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries.

You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom’s blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com.

Recently, a woman called to ask about replacing a magnetic sign she had purchased from another company. Her original sign had actually blown off the side of her car. I had visions of the sign flailing around in the wind and striking some poor motorist behind her or worse yet, some fellow on a motorcycle. I inquired as to whether she had tried to get her money back. But it seems the company refused to refund her money and worse yet, claimed it was her fault. Appallingly, they accused her of placing the sign on a dirty car surface.

Although surfaces should always be cleaned before any type of sinage is placed on them, rarely should a magnetic sign “blow” off, if ever. The sign company that sold her the original magnetic probably made two glaring errors. 1) They used an inexpensive magnetic material not meant for vehicles, especially moving ones. The sign business is intensely competitive and some disreputable companies turn to cheap material for an edge. 2) They cut corners and I mean literally! They cut square corners instead of rounded corners. Rounded corners prevent the wind from “catching” an edge.

In fairness to the company, maybe they didn’t know any better. There are tricks of the trade that can come only with experience. But that does not help the woman that lost her sign. And even though these companies don’t last long because they loose repeat business, it agitates me to see a customer have a bad experience buying a sign.

So if you are off to buy a magnetic sign, concentrate on getting the right material. Make sure you ask for 30 mil thickness with rounded corners. And don’t let them charge you for the rounding. It should be a standard!

Written by: Tony Nagy
Email: info@designasign.biz
To learn more about Magnetic signs and other types of signs please visit http://designasign.blogspot.com/ to purchase Magnets, Vinyl and just about every type of sign imaginable visit http://www.designasign.biz

Design is a very subjective thing, therefore, if you ask me how to come up with a first class design for your marketing collateral or publishing mediums, it would be very unfair for me or anyone else to tell you what is a good design and what is a bad design. But there are certain elements and principles that we should look for in a design to determine whether the design and layout of the material will be able to carry the message across effectively to the readers and your potential market. The main aim of every design material related to advertising or promotion is either to sell something, promote something or brand a company.

Keep the design and layout simple and clean
The more cluttered or messy the layout and design is for your marketing collateral, the harder it would be for your customers to find the important stuff. So, don’t overcrowd the design of your marketing materials. First and foremost, it should be kept clean and very simple. Yes, we all want to fit as much information as we can into the design but hey, keep the purpose of the design of the marketing stuff in mind. You want to design a novel or design something that sells.

Design Colors
If you have a set of corporate colors (like the colors that you use on your logo, letterhead, envelopes…etc), keep to the same colors in your design. You should present a very simplistic, unique, corporate, professional, consistent image, not a haphazard one. How can anyone rely on you when you have that kind of image, right? It’s best that you not use too many colors for your design. And another important point about designing marketing materials is this; avoid using all the colors of the rainbow in one design! You’re not trying to confuse your customers, you’re trying to make it easy for them to find information, attract them and urge them to buy something from you! I would say using 2 or 3 main colors from your corporate color for the design is good enough.

Fonts
There are tons of free fonts (quite incredibly attractive ones at that) that you can find off the Internet for the design of your marketing stuff – but the sad news is that it’s not always possible to use all of them. Keep to one single font for the content in your design, and if you wish to, you can use a different (a bolder and louder font) for the headings and titles in your design.

Images in your design
Unlike web publishing, using images in the design of your brochures, flyers, menus, company profiles is always a good idea. Enticing your customers with useful pictures or diagrams that illustrates your point or including pictures of your products in the design of your marketing stuff is encouraged. Be careful and weary of using stock photos from the web for your marketing material. One, the resolution of such images (those that you can get off the Internet) is never good enough for printing purposes. Two, you’ll get in trouble with the people who actually owns the rights to those images. So, if possible, if you want to use pictures or illustrative images in your design, it’s best to either get the pictures for the design yourself (with your digital camera) or you should just purchase it.

© 2005, Marsha Maung
Email: marshamaung@yahoo.com
Site: http://www.marshamaung.com

Feel free to reprint or publish this article on your website, ezine, magazine, newsletter…etc. Please include the bio, links and credit intact.

Marsha Maung is a freelance graphic designer and copy writer who works from her home in Selangor, Malaysia. She loves nothing more than blowing bubbles in the park with her 2 kids, Joshua and Jared. She designs apparel and premium items at http://www.creativejooz.com and is the author of "Raising little magicians", and the popular "The Lance in freelancing". More information can be found at http://www.marshamaung.com

I suspect that everyone has an idea of what lamination is even if you have only seen it in passing. Restaurant menus are a common example. A plastic finish is placed over the menu to protect it from food and stains. But did you know that you can laminate just about anything that is flat? If it needs to be protected and reused, it is something to consider for lamination. The laminate also makes the original material stronger and more durable. All of our signs can be laminated, but the reasons are varied and not all signs should be laminated.

A number of our customers have fondly taken to our dry erase laminate. They can have engineering plans, tables, or other diagrams printed on almost any of our substrates (for example, PVC or aluminum). Once we cover them with the dry erase laminate, it allows the users to mark up the signs with dry erase ink which can easily be wiped off. It is wonderful for talks and demonstrations.

But our primary use for laminates is to protect signs and give them longer life expectancy. For example, our UV inks used in digital printing have a life time of about 3 years before they begin to fade without lamination. But a laminate can give them an additional 2 to 3 years without fading.

We like to encourage our customers to laminate the magnetic car signs we produce, because it protects the inks from abrasions – the roads constantly kick up dirt and dust which strike the signs. You should also consider laminates for signs that are frequently taken down and put back up. Real estate signs are a perfect example. They can come easily scratched without lamination. The user can also roll the sign up after meetings and reuse it without fear of the sign becoming warn.

And finally, we like to use laminates because they give the sign a nice professional finish. There are two basic types of finishes that can be achieved from laminate: matte and gloss. Matte finishes look a bit granular and are not reflective, but they tend to make colors on the sign more striking and vivid. In contrast, gloss finishes are reflective and tend to make bright colors radiate with strong definition.

There are two basic types of laminates: hot and cold. Hot laminates are placed on signs at approximately 220 to 300 degrees F. The process is a little more expensive than cold laminates, but the laminate lasts a bit longer. Unfortunately, some inks used in digital printing will melt under the hot conditions. You also cannot use hot laminates on heat sensitive papers.

Under these conditions, cold laminators are required. They use pressure sensitive adhesives to secure the lamination film. We also use a spray laminate (cold) to protect signs when cost is an issue. Spray laminates protect the sign but do not give a gloss finish or make the material more rigid.

Written by: Tony Nagy
Email: info@designasign.biz
To learn more about Magnetic signs and other types of signs please visit http://designasign.blogspot.com/ to purchase Magnets, Vinyl and just about every type of sign imaginable visit http://www.designasign.biz

On question I have been asked over and over again from prospective franchisees of our companies has been one in which I am very adamant about it; do we require prior experience? No, like many franchise companies we actually frown upon it and think it is such a detriment that we usually disqualify the franchise candidate if they do have prior experience. And we always ask the prospective franchise buyer what sort of experience they have in our industry. When people find out we specifically do not want to sell franchises to those in our industry we are often ask; “Why Not,” as it would appear that a franchisee with prior experience has a leg up on the world and would have a better chance of instant success in our business models.

Generally it is like Ray Kroc found, I would rather take someone with no experience than one with experience. What he was saying in "Grinding It Out," his autobiography, which I recommend was someone with restaurant experience comes with preconceived notions, and since he was re-inventing the restaurant business, that would only hinder his progress. I agree. So I do not want people in my industry as franchisees, only to join the Founders Round Table (my master mind group). Mostly people I met by chance at places like Starbucks: Venti Mocha Power frappachino please…no whip." Need to go where people’s neurons are transmitting fastest otherwise I get board and have to leave. Our business is customer driven; we cannot stop it if we had too. They want service and they want it now, and they demand that it be us, we are in the cleaning business and our franchise system has grown from customers desires to have things cleaned. The problem is how do you wash every house, roof, awning, mini-blind, window, deck, dock, boat, plane, tractor, truck, car, and then change the oil, wax them, and coat them? You have to divide it into smaller pieces because it is too ominous of a task. KISS-keep it simple. Specialize and over deliver, thus strengthening the brand.’ THE GUYS." S

o what we did is what we had to do. If our franchisees are in a neighborhood washing houses but are suppose to be washing cars at the golf course, then how can we give good service? We can’t. So we find the best people in the world at each type of washing and have them join our team, we train the team from those best and knock out the 20-year learning curve. Presto! We have a franchise that is actually worth more than just a name. With the synergy of each additional brand in the area and the sharing of customer databases it is easy to have power of presence. When someone thinks washing they think us. This way our franchisees get more calls and can service more customers and create more word of mouth and grow faster. In theory it looks easy. But it is a giant undertaking. Each new franchise we start and the more customers we service the better we get to service them more efficiently by learning from our network. The more valuable our franchise is to the newest team member and the faster the ROI, so the more trucks they can buy to service the more customers who call in. Our customers ask us for additional services. We should co-brand with ourselves, why? As not to lose secrets. Andy Grove is correct only the paranoid survive. Now if I could only double my speed and half the time to half the labor to do twice the work. The goal is simple we want to clean up the world.

I think any franchisor who goes for brand extension needs to be very careful about how they go about it. There are many ways to excel in the market thru co-branding and franchising or licensing and equally as many theories of how to do it. In the end you need to pick a formula that is working and just go with it. Think on this.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

The sinage marketplace is competitive! Consequently, some companies are going to focus on price and neglect quality. To complicate the situation, companies that produce stock vinyl banner material offer a bevy of different materials based on weights/thickness, color, reflective properties, ink absorption properties, etc. Take a gander at just one description of one type of banner from a leading manufacturer’s website: http://www.averygraphics.com/pls/avery/avery_ext_util.display?p_name=JUPITER_13_OZ_BANNER.PDF It is not surprising that consumers get overwhelmed (sign makers too).

I will try to keep things simple and cut to the chase. The consumer needs to weigh price versus use. For example, if you are looking for an indoor banner, keep the weight to 10 oz. I also recommend hems (sewing the banner so it will be reinforced) and grommets (metal rings placed about every two feet on the banner – usually only on the top and bottom) to make sure the banner is supported sufficiently when hung. But there are caveats. I know some business men and women that use their company trade show banner over and over again as needed. In this case, a 10 oz banner will not be able to handle the continuous wear and tear resulting from rolling it up, packing, etc. I strongly recommend a 13 oz banner for these situations.

Outdoor banners must contend with the elements. Not only does this include storms but also the everyday pounding from the sun and wind. Different parts of the country have different variations in the elements which must be considered. The sign industry was booming here in Florida after the 2004 hurricane season. The only common sense thing to do when a hurricane is approaching is to take your outdoor banner down! Make contingency plans to be able to take your banner down quickly and easily when any major storm is approaching (I suggest twine on the four corners or rope on the top and bottom so the sign can be untied quickly).

For most purposes, a 13 oz banner will do fine for outdoor use, but make sure it has hems (double hem) and grommets. If it is digitally printed, you may want to have the sign laminated. If cheap inks are used, their life expectancy will be diminished substantially. Make sure your sign company uses top quality UV inks. You can generally expect 2 to 3 years from digitally printed signs without lamination and an additional 2 to 3 years with lamination. The sun is the enemy here and inks will eventually fade. Lamination helps protect the fading.

If you are in a traditionally windy area (e.g., Chicago or the northwest) or you have an exceptionally large banner (greater than 10 sq. ft.) you have to consider wind vents (flaps) or mesh (tiny holes in the vinyl). I once refused to sell a 3’ x 20’ street banner to a customer who insisted on buying the sign without wind vents, because I knew it would not handle even brisk breezes.

Finally, it seems that many sign companies will do a double sided banner on any material. But this is not fair to the consumer. Only 16 oz banner material is thick enough (and opaque enough) to prevent the sun from shining through it. If the sun shines through a banner, the other side can be seen and the banner message is lost in the sun. I can’t tell you how many banners I have seen where the sun shines through them. Most consumers don’t understand and go for the lower price. I refuse to print a double sided outdoor banner on anything but 16 oz and above and your sign company should too.

Written by: Tony Nagy
Email: info@designasign.biz
To learn more about Magnetic signs and other types of signs please visit http://designasign.blogspot.com/ to purchase Magnets, Vinyl and just about every type of sign imaginable visit http://www.designasign.biz

As many people know Industry Trade Journals in America have gone through a tough time in recent years due to slowing of advertising dollars. In franchising there is no difference. They use to give away subscriptions to Successful Franchising on franchise web sites; unfortunately that magazine was unable to weather the storm. They stop publishing in October of 2001. Now we see a re-emergence of Franchise Times, who has hired a new salesman, who is going to all the franchisors and telling them to advertise.

Most franchisors have theories of where it is best to advertise. Most DO NOT advertise in such trade journals. A few do, mostly for brand name recognition, although in my opinion it is a total waste of money. Franchisors who really care about their franchisees would spend the advertising dollars to get new franchisees in places that would help both getting new franchisees and helping their own franchisees get new customers; a much better way to advertise. I feel sorry for people like the sales man who called me trying to peddle these display ads and combat what must be an unending amount of rejection. I feel even more sorry for franchisees of any system whose franchisors blow money on any advertising, which does not help their franchisees. These costs are obviously passed on to new franchise buyers, who probably came to the franchisor’s site through a web site or from a referral from an existing franchisee where they bought a sandwich, did dry cleaning, got their hair cut or got taxes completed. We have found that this sort of advertising in places like Franchise Times has never worked for our company, we believe it is a waste of money, even worse than attending trade shows.

As advertising dollars continue to dry up and even with all the media consolidation, there seems to be a very aggressive approach to sales tactics of these salesmen/women and a touch of unnerving arrogance among the editors, publishers and self-important writers. I guess that arrogance goes with the job, however I think it is time for all Industry Journals and media for that matter to come back to Earth, realize their relative value in our society. Everything has an intrinsic value and an actual value and we need Industry Journals to find equilibrium, because as it stands in my opinion, it is not even close. Why would any franchisor waste money on such advertising? Perhaps they themselves want to see their pictures in the ads, perhaps if the advertise they can get the editors to go ahead and do a story on the company? Maybe we have just too many egos in franchising? What say you?

Would you want to buy a franchise from a franchisor who blows money on such advertising, that could be better spent helping the team succeed together? I know I wouldn’t. Maybe you should buy a magazine and then make sure to delete the franchisors that advertise in it as wasteful and not inline with financial responsibility, simply do not buy any franchise of anyone advertising in that way?

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

1. Attract prospects with your headline
Use your headline as a flag to attract readers who are interested in your product. If you are selling a solution to premature hair loss, put PREMATURE HAIR LOSS in your headline. Your headline will catch the eye of everyone who suffers from this predicament. If you want teenagers to read your ad, put TEENAGERS in your ad. Be careful that you do not put anything in your ad that excludes prospects. For example, if you are selling a cellular phone that can be used by men and women alike, do not slant your headline toward men alone. That will only cause women to think that your ad does not apply to them.

2. Appeal to your reader’s self-interest with your headline
Make every headline you write appeal to the interests of your prospect and not those of the company that is selling the product. Instead of saying SPIRITOL WILL CURE YOUR HEADACHE, say GOT A HEADACHE? CURE IT WITH SPIRITOL. Begin your headlines with YOU rather than WE.

3. Sell your product in your headline
David Ogilvy, an advertising pioneer of the 1960s and 1970s says that, on average, five times as many people read your headline as read your copy. So it follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90% of your money. So your headline should do some selling whenever possible.

4. Include your selling promise in your headline
The best headlines promise readers a benefit, such as fewer cavities, cheaper gas, whiter clothes. Your selling promise is simply the greatest benefit that you are advertising about your product, so include it in your headline. This often makes for headlines of at least 12 words. People read long headlines as long as they (1) promise a benefit, (2) complement an intriguing visual, and (3) are part of an attractive ad design. Don’t shy away from long headlines. A headline is too long only when it uses one word more than is needed to sell its message.

5. Name what you are advertising in your headline
If the headline is all that your prospects read, then at least tell them the name of what you are selling. If the name sticks, your ad will have at least made your readers familiar with your product. And that is a vital role in advertising — keeping your product’s name at the top of the consumer’s mind.

6. Avoid award-winning cleverness in your headlines
Puns and literary allusions may be clever (to you) but they don’t necessarily sell your product. In the average newspaper, your headline competes with 350 others for your reader’s attention. Readers skim fast through these headlines. And readers do not stop long to decipher obscure headlines. Clever headlines, while they may win awards at advertising galas, often serve to draw attention to themselves and away from the product. Don’t write clever headlines just for the sake of it.

7. Say things in the positive in headlines
Avoid negatives in your headlines for two reasons. First of all, negative statements leave a negative impression, while positive statements leave a positive impression. SPRINTAB CURES YOUR HEADACHE is a positive way of saying SPRINTAB WILL NOT LET YOUR HEADACHE STAY FOR LONG. Stick with the positive.

Secondly, statements phrased in a negative way often mislead readers. They think your negative way of phrasing a positive thing says the opposite of what it actually says. Thus, some readers will see the headline OUR BEEF CONTAINS NO ADDITIVES, but will mistake it to have said OUR BEEF CONTAINS ADDITIVES. This headline is better re-written as OUR BEEF IS 100% PURE.

8. Avoid “IF” headlines
Be declarative in your headlines. Avoid conditional phrases, such as IF YOU BUY THIS LAMP, YOU’LL SAVE MONEY ON YOUR ELECTRIC BILL, and IF YOU NEED A PLUMBER, CALL JOE’S PLUMBING. Conditional phrases drain the power from your headlines.

You are better off: (1) putting the prospect right into your headlines, (2) assuming that your prospect has the need that you are addressing and (3) speaking as though the prospect is already satisfied with your product. For example: WATCH YOUR ELECTRIC BILL SHRINK WITH THIS ELECTRIC LAMP, or “JOE’S PLUMBING SAVED MY HOUSE FROM FLOODING.”

9. Say things in the present tense in your headlines
Put vigour and drama into your headlines by saying things in the present tense instead of in the past or future tense. The present tense is stronger and more immediate than the past tense: “I SAVED $1,000 WITH MY MIDLAND BANK MORTGAGE” is weaker than “I AM SAVING $1,000 WITH MY MIDLAND BANK MORTGAGE.”

The present tense is stronger than the future tense: T.E.S.T. COMPUTERS WILL MAKE YOU MORE PRODUCTIVE is weaker than T.E.S.T. COMPUTERS MAKE YOU MORE PRODUCTIVE.

10. Make headlines work with the visual, not the body copy
Make your headline tell one part of the story and have your visual tell the other part. Don’t use a headline to repeat what the visual is saying. And don’t simply illustrate the headline. Let the headline and the visual work together. Avoid blind headlines that make no sense unless the reader reads the body copy underneath them. The majority of readers only read headlines, so you must write headlines that are complete in themselves.

Alan is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter and lead generation consultant. As President of Sharpe Copy Inc. (http://www.sharpecopy.com), Alan specializes in helping businesses generate leads, close sales and retain customers, using cost-effective, compelling direct mail and email marketing. Alan also uses his direct mail advertising services to help charities raise funds and raise awareness of their causes, using fundraising letters.

How do automotive detailing companies start? What makes them work and how do they grow? How do they choose which services they will offer? This is an interesting case study about a test market of a franchise company in the cleaning business and how they went about setting up Auto Detailing Shops. It maybe of interest to your business study and research; I am familiar with this story because it is one of the companies that I founded.

It all started in Reno, NV where we had set up a mobile car wash franchise of the Car Wash Guys for a franchisee there. www.CarWashGuys.com . Because we have significant market share in Reno NV, we wanted to expand into different lines. So we looked at co-branding with Ziebart, yet their corporate culture did not mix with our Entrepreneurial Fiber and the cost of their franchises were quite high. On top of that they had sold so many franchises in the US, there would be a problem later if we decided to roll out our system nationwide or continue buying their units to expand with our current franchisees, still we felt this might be worth pursuing. So instead going thru all the mistakes, which had already been learned we wanted to buy into a proven system and wanted to exhaust this possibility first. They turned us down. So we have decided to take the market, city by city. But first we needed to establish a prototype unit and this is where our Reno Franchisee came into play. Ziebart instead of partner would become a challenge, as they had 216 units already up and running. We visited many of their locations including Hilo, HA at the time.

We decided we would put in co-brands at car washes as well, express detail centers. Also at Park and Flys and High End Parking Structures. These permanent Detailing Centers would provide a wide array of services. We are detailing for large dealerships, adding oil additives, which are guaranteed by Lloyds of London for 100,000 miles, bed liners, gold plating, window tinting, auto accessories, pin striping, Gold Plating, Dent Repair, Windshield Repair, Wood grain and Interior Paneling, Vinyl and Leather Repair, Paint Touch-Up, Engine Steam Cleaning, Rust Proofing, Odor Elimination. The business plan is extensive, and the training intense.

We determined to be able to handle all the services we wished to provide the Centers would have to be 8 bay Detail Shops the largest of all organized Detail Shops. By having other WashGuy.com franchise systems customers to draw from there would be enough customers to allow maximum synergy. This is where the tires meet the pavement. The Super Centers are exactly that. The smaller co-brand version was tested at our fixed site car wash franchise prototype in WA. Now realize we have been in the detailing business for years, www.detailguys.com and we know what we are doing and we are good at it.

This company was founded out of necessity to service the customers. Paul our franchise in Reno of the car wash guys kept getting detailing offers from the dealerships he was washing. One offer led to an onsite takeover of their in-house detailing facilities; a four-bay detail shop, which he grew out of in less than three months. Then he moved into an 8 bay detail shop keeping the four bay for a total of 12 bays in two shops. Before his second year he was on pace to do about $600,000.00 this year. He had only been in business 18 months. He was so busy trying to divide his car wash with all his detail work he had decided to sell part of it. We wanted him to be successful so we allowed the partial transfer and he will be using the money from the sale of one of his car wash guys franchised territories to fund his new detail center. He maxed the old center out and had to move into a bigger shop, and then at one point even that was not enough so he had to keep both. The next year we had set up smaller Detail Guys Centers in other parts of the country and established co-brands in WA, OK, OH, TN, and CA.

The entire business grew out of a mobile car wash operation, without any detailed advanced strategic thinking on our part until we had the customers breathing down our throats yellowing “We need more services” and that folks is how many opportunities are found in the market. You get into business and get tough and follow opportunity, this is why all the text books and business plans are not all they are cracked up to be and why reality based entrepreneurship come from the real world where people can. Not from the academia world where all they know how to do is teach. If you want to go from 0-60 in four seconds sure it is nice to have a venture capital bankroll, but all the real companies I know about started from scratch and then became built to last. From starting small to finishing big is all in the market place and minds of the greatest people on Earth, the Entrepreneurs.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Your website is done, your business cards have been delivered, and your brochure has received accolades. In the promoting department you have everything you need, right? Well, there is one item you lack and by having this item in your arsenal it can be a dealmaker for you.

When I pitch my services to potential clients I always have on hand copious amounts of business cards. I drop them almost everywhere. I want people to look at my cards and then get online to view my website. So far, so good. However, besides a brochure there is one item I have learned to use — and modify — as needed. This item is a promotional flyer. That’s right, a simple 8.5 x 11 sheet of buff paper outlining what I have to offer.

Why do I use a flyer? No, I do not pin this information all over the office nor do I pass them out as frequently as my business cards. Instead, when I run a promotion — which is always — I feature the "special" on paper and hand it to prospects along with my business card.

I have found that people want information at their fingertips. Sure, going to my website is important, but I also want them to know that the "deal" I am currently running is something they need to know about up front.

What do I put on the flyer? For starters, I put in big bold letters my special. Currently, one of my web packages is on sale for $549. So, the top of the flyer says: $549 Web Sites!

Immediately after in four short paragraphs I list the following information:

1. Qualified customers will receive my $795 package for 30% off.

2. I list all the features of the package. Did I say I use bullets? You bet!

3. Other services I am offering at the same time are listed briefly. I also state when the promotional period ends.

4. All my contact information including my name, phone number, email address, and web address are given.

What have I learned from implementing this method?

1. Black lettering on bright [not neon] paper gets attention. Leave out the graphics and simply state your offer. Underline, italicize or make bold certain keywords as necessary. Why not use neon paper? Neon equals cheap or tacky. Stick with pastels, they are elegant.

2. People are accustomed to receiving special offers. All the stores and most everything you purchase online today is priced lower than the sticker price. Slash your price and people will gladly reap the savings.

3. You can change your offer at any time. Go through the expense of creating a brochure and you cannot make changes to it without incurring additional charges. If your flyer matches your brochure consider "tri-folding" your flyer and sticking it neatly in with the brochure.

Remember, you are marketing not only your product but you are marketing yourself. Design a promotional flyer that you can be proud to call your own and reap the benefits of being able to modify your campaigns as necessary. Your customers will receive "a deal" and you will receive needed work.

Matt Keegan is the The Article Writer who promotes his business online as well as in person. For samples of some of his work, please visit: http://www.thearticlewriter.com