Visual elements are a major part of your business’s brand identity design. The keystone of that design is the logo, but in many cases, the logo isn’t enough to convey all of your brand attributes. A visual vocabulary is a way to reinforce and add to the messaging that is contained in your logo.

A company’s visual vocabulary consists of the secondary design elements that are used in conjunction with your logo to form your brand identity. The visual vocabulary is composed of font styles, colors, shapes, layout conventions, backgrounds, photographic library, text treatments (such as taglines) and even the type of paper you choose.

These elements should be used consistently throughout your stationery set and marketing collateral and have the following 9 advantages over use of a logo and text alone:

• The elements of your visual vocabulary become a graphic language, which takes your viewer deeper into your graphics and materials. They add visual interest and continue to tell your business’s story. They are another way that you can communicate about your business with potential clients and prospects, aside from the actual words and text about your business.

• Graphics in a visual vocabulary are a method of communication that’s more quickly understood than text alone. A viewer can absorb the meanings of colors, symbols, photos, shapes and even font types much more quickly than by reading text. So, in cases where time is of the essence – when you’re marketing to busy people, creating motion graphics such as animations or commercials or designing items that people will quickly pass by, such as car graphics or billboards, this is an important consideration.

• Many people have a deeper emotional connection with graphics than they do with text. Customers will be more likely to form an emotional bond with your brand and company if you use more graphics, as opposed to just using your logo and text on a letterhead, business card, datasheet or brochure. Color and photography are two of the most effective visual vocabulary elements to use to affect this emotional brand connection.

• You can communicate some of the “personality factors” of your business through your visual vocabulary. You can make your company look more professional or people-oriented, more contemporary or traditional or communicate any of your company’s values by varying the shapes, colors and fonts used as the surrounding visual vocabulary. So, if you choose your vocabulary elements carefully, the story of the personality of your company can be told through those elements.

• Using a visual vocabulary consistently throughout all of your corporate materials will automatically make your materials look more coherent, credible and professional, through the repetitive use of consistent elements.

• The right combination of visual vocabulary elements can also make your materials more eye-catching. When your materials are in competition with others – in a stack of proposals, on a table with other brochures or even a postcard coming out of a crowded mailbox – they’ll have a better chance of getting noticed when they are designed with stunning and unique visual vocabulary elements.

• Forty percent of viewers better remember visual elements. A visual vocabulary will increase the memorability of your materials as well, since people will have more visual elements to remember in your materials.

• Elements of the visual vocabulary can reinforce your logo to help quicken the brand recognition building process. One common way that we do this is to use a large version of the company’s logo, or a portion of the logo, as a watermark on the letterhead, business card, envelope or website. Not only does this vocabulary element effect add visual interest, but it will help to speed the time that it takes for your potential customers and existing clients to recognize and remember your brand.

• A visual vocabulary becomes a tool kit from which you can easily pull visual elements to create new marketing materials. If you have a business card and brochure and need to create a post card quickly, then many of your visual elements, such as color scheme, font styles and even layout and photograph choices can be pulled from the existing marketing materials and rearranged to create a new piece. This is especially convenient when you have a short time or low budget to produce new marketing materials.

The bonus function of a visual vocabulary is that when you’re doing a special promotion, launching a new product or extending your services or product line, you can vary elements of the visual vocabulary or even develop a new set of visual vocabulary elements, to make the materials for your new promotion stand out. While consistency throughout a campaign is important, the elements of your visual vocabulary aren’t as set in stone as your logo. This is especially effective when you work just with the colors and drawn elements and leave the text and tagline treatments the same. That way, your materials will still be partially consistent with your other company materials, but you can give your new product or promotion’s materials a voice of its own.

Adding some visual vocabulary elements to your brand identity makes communicating with your audience easier, quicker and more emotionally charged. This gives you a highly effective way to increase your visibility and memorability. When used correctly, they can increase your credibility as well. They even can help add some personality to your brand identity and can make future marketing materials easier to develop. And, unlike your company logo, you can modify the visual vocabulary elements you use from time to time to spice up your business communications.

About the Author

Erin Ferree, Founder and Lead Designer of elf design, is a brand identity and graphic design expert. She has been helping small businesses grow with bold, clean and effective logo and marketing material designs for over a decade. elf design offers the comprehensive graphic and web design services of a large agency, with the one- on-one, personalized attention of an independent design specialist. Erin works closely in partnership with her clients to create designs that are visible, credible and memorable – and that tell their unique business stories in a clear and consistent way. For more information about elf design, please visit: Logo design at http://www.elf-design.com

What I’m about to reveal are myths that most people think are ‘true.’

They seem set in stone yet they are deadly to the advertiser.

I’m certain you’ll be surprised. Certainly you may even doubt what I reveal to you. But I’ve discovered that these myths must *NEVER* be followed - unless of course you like throwing your hard earned money down the drain!

There are essentially five common ‘Newspaper And Magazine Advertising Myths’…

Before I go any further I have a proviso to what I’m about to reveal to you about advertising. Here it is…

Everything I talk about here has one goal: To help you make more money - substantially more, with your marketing, sales, and advertising.

If you’re looking for ‘pretty’ advertising or advertising that looks good without getting you leads and orders then you should look elsewhere.

So when you’re reading through these advertising myths and facts, be aware that I’m only talking about newspaper and magazine advertising that makes money - plain and simple!

So let’s get started…

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Advertising Myth 1: Your ad must first ‘look good’ before it is placed in any publication

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Many people (not your prospects by the way!) judge newspaper and magazine advertising on the ‘look and feel’ of the ad. In fact one of the mysteries of the modern world is having advertising awards for aesthetically appealing ads. That’s just plain nuts!

It doesn’t matter how good your ad looks. What counts is how much money you made from the ad!

Of course I’m not saying your ad cannot look good. What I’m saying is your number one objective is to get the sale (or at least a response.

Never forsake this goal for creating a good looking ad!

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Advertising Myth 2: Your company name needs to be prominent in the ad

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Regardless of how familiar your company or service is to your prospects you should always place your company name at the bottom of the ad. Never ever put your company name at the top of the ad.

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Advertising Myth 3: You should never use a reply coupon because it looks ‘unprofessional’

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Many design agencies frown on response coupons because once again they don’t look ‘good.’ A coupon has the ability to *double* your response instantly.

You must therefore have a very good reason not to use a coupon in your ads. (By the way I’ve never come up with a good enough reason - unless of course you’re restricted to space!).

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Advertising Myth 4: You should use a design agency to create your ads

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Like all professions there are good and bad design agencies. However only use a design agency that uses ‘direct response’ advertising principles.

All other design agencies will never get the results you should expect with your newspaper and magazine advertising.

In almost every case you are better equipped to create your own advertising rather than using a design agency.

You’ll save thousands of dollars and almost certainly make more money from the advertising you create.

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Advertising Myth 5: Your ad must not have too much copy (words) and have lots of white space

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This is the number one mistake people make with their newspaper and magazine advertising.

You cannot ever hope to get a high response to your advertising if you don’t give people a reason (or several reasons) to respond. This means that your ad needs to be *FULL* of copy.

Contrary to popular belief an ad crammed full of relevant and benefit written copy always *substantially* wins over an ad without lots of copy.

***

So there you have it. If you want more sales and more success from your newspaper and magazine ads you must step outside the box.

You must break from tradition. You must forget about creating good looking ads. Do this and I promise your sales and profits will soar!

JAMES C. BURCHILL is a 20-year veteran entrepreneur and information technology executive who now provides strategic marketing consulting services to a select group of clients. He is a published author, a passionate advocate of technology and the Internet, as well as an avid study of classical advertising and marketing strategies (which he uses during ‘Internet alchemy’ experiments.) James is an expert in information and data management, Internet marketing and online networking. A self confessed ‘information and technology enthusiast’, James brings a wide range of valuable skills to any venture. Of singular note is James’ ability to assimilate complex subject matter and produce clean clear ‘easy-to-understand’ messages. James has been interviewed many times and caused quite the media buzz when a client ‘double-dog-dared’ him to prove you can get front page coverage for $0. The details and that ‘dumb stunt’ are now part of EBay legend. Currently James lives in Ontario, Canada with his wife and family, their Siamese cat and one very nervous fish. Visit http://www.JamesBurchill.com for details.

Franchisors often have issues when they own a brand which has service vehicles; where franchisees wish to operate in non-franchise assigned territories. We had this as a re-occurring issue in our franchise system. We came up with this policy, which is also in our Confidential Operations Manuals. Here is a sample policy for our franchisees:

“Unlicensed Areas”

“If you are called into an unlicensed territory for service, you may service that particular client. You will obviously pick up additional clients in those areas from referrals, leads and people who see the truck. It’s ok to service these customers. However, you must:

Not have over one-third of your clientele out of your exclusive territory

Give up these clients if we sell that adjacent territory to a new franchisee

You must let us know which other area you are working in

We don’t recommend washing cars outside your exclusive territory because it will cost you many hours in travel time over the course of a week. Fifteen minutes here, twenty minutes there. It adds up, trust us. We have assigned you an exclusive area, which will more than suffice. After all:

You know the area

You live in the territory

You have a perfect mix of business

We spent money marketing that area

If you are occasionally called to a non-assigned or unlicensed territory and you find another franchisee is also working that area, it’s ok to split the area amongst yourselves with the understanding that which ever buildings/customers they were doing prior to your coming in that area you should honor. You and the other franchisee might both have to give up those customers if we sell or assign that territory and retreat back to your exclusive territory. Be advised that this can happen and it has before. If these customers you have been servicing are very important to you, you may want to purchase that additional area. We of, course, would love for you to have this as part of your exclusive territory because you are one of our best franchisees. Contact your regional director to start the negotiation process. And, by the way, don’t bring your attorney to the negotiations. This is a very informal procedure.

We are all on the same team. If you can handle the additional customer demand and our staff likes you, I’m sure we can negotiate a fair deal for all concerned.”

If you are a franchisor of a home based or service franchise system you must address this situation or you might wind up in court defending what is generally understood by all parties anyway. Think about this and get your policy ready and let it be known.

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

The great Claude Hopkins (Author of Scientific Advertising) once said, “Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck. They leave no impression whatever.”

To say, "Best in the world," "Lowest price in existence," etc. are at best simply claiming the expected. But superlatives of that sort are usually damaging. They suggest looseness of expression, a tendency to exaggerate, a careless truth. They lead readers to discount all the statements that you make.

— A Dog & Pony Show

It’s true that people accept a certain license in ‘sales talk.’ A person may say, "Highest quality" without seeming a liar, although you realise other brands are just as good. We expect a sales person to ‘sell’ and we excuse some enthusiastic exaggeration. It’s for that reason general statements count for very little. And a person inclined to grand statements and superlatives must expect their claims to meet a healthy dose of scepticism.

However, someone making a specific claim is either telling the truth lying. We know advertisers cannot lie in the best mediums, so a definite statement is usually accepted. Actual figures are not generally discounted. Specific facts, when stated, have their full weight and effect.

— Just The Facts Ma’am

This is very important to consider in written or personal salesmanship. The weight of an argument may often be multiplied by making it specific. Say that one brand of light bulb gives more light than another and you leave some doubt. Say it gives 354% more light and people realize that you have made tests and comparisons.

A dealer may say, "Our prices have been reduced" without creating any marked impression. But when he says, "Our prices have been reduced 27 per cent" they get the full value of their announcement.

— The Pre-emptive Advantage & Specificity

In the old days all beers were advertised as "Pure." The claim made no impression. The bigger the type used, the bigger the folly. After millions had been spent to impress a platitude, one brewer pictured a plate glass where beer was cooled in filtered air. They pictured a filter of white wood pulp through which every drop was cleared. They told how bottles were washed four times by machinery. They he went down 4,000 feet for pure water. How 1,018 experiments had been made to attain a yeast to give beer that matchless flavour. And how all the yeast was forever made from that adopted mother cell.

Now don’t misunderstand – any brewer might have easily made these claims. They were mere essentials in ordinary brewing. But this one company was the first to tell everyone about them, while the others simply kept repeating the worn out statement "pure beer." This one brewer made the greatest success that was ever made in beer advertising.

— The Art of Leverage

Remember, one advertising statement may take as much room as another, yet a definite statement is many times more effective. The difference is vast. If a claim is worth making, make it in the most impressive way you possibly can.

All these effects must be studied. ‘Salesmanship-in-print’ can be very expensive. A salesperson’s loose talk matters little when it’s simply one-on-one. However, when you are ‘talking’ to many at great cost, the weight of your advertising claims is important.

Remember, no generality has any weight whatever. It’s like saying, "How do you do?", when you have no intention of inquiring about one’s health. And specific claims when made in print are taken at their value.

So the next time you are dreaming up adverts and offers for your business – BE SPECIFIC!

Author: http://www.JamesBurchill.com - James is a freelance writer and consultant

You can have first-rate products and services, but if you can’t establish the need, communicate the benefits and differentiate yourself from the competition in ways that make people want to do business with you, you’ll forever be selling up hill.

As Robert Krumroy, Identity Branding, Inc. says: “Branding is about the customer–who has never met you–being able to answer the question: ‘Why you?’"

Your “Value Proposition”

Your brand can be based in large part on your “value proposition,” which is what differentiates you from your direct and indirect competition—and, if it’s good enough, will draw people to you.

Your value proposition should be a clear, concise statement of why your business is unique and a better choice. Your market positioning, competitive analyses and SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) gives you everything you’ll need to develop a value proposition based on your strengths, your competition, what your “ideal” customer wants from you, and how this benefits people in your markets.

This message must be delivered to your markets consistently and repeated frequently. If prospects understand what they need, trust you and connect emotionally with your message, sales resistance melts before your eyes. Yes, it’s that powerful!

My Value Proposition:

First Impressions, Last

Short-term, smart professional branding gives you the immediate recognition, market access and momentum you need to attract customers and build sales; long-term, it can help increase market share, foster customer loyalty, sustain your client-building efforts—and practically guarantee clients will eagerly refer you to others (“Hey, look what I’m part of! You should be too!”).

Branding should be part of your annual marketing/advertising expense budget. The Small-Business Administration advises entrepreneurs to use 5% of gross sales on advertising, but that varies depending on sales volume and location.

Everyone Has a Brand

“Everyone has a brand, like it or not,” adds John Melchinger, The Marketing Coach™. “You have one. It may not be the one you want and you may not be nurturing it, but it’s yours nevertheless. Not to shape your brand rigorously and nurture it is to leave it to your public to decide. That is the much less effective alternative.”

Building Your Brand

The purpose of this exercise is to create a short message people will remember whenever they think about you. When part of a coordinated marketing plan, your professional identity brand will drive customers to your business. You will also need to give some thought to which medium to use.

Example: This is Joe Financial Advisor’s brand identity. It’s deceptively simple, yet sends a compelling message to his target market, Tool & Die Makers:

Insurance Solutions – Precision Business & Personal Planning

Why are we a Tool & Die Maker’s insurance solution? Because we care and take the time to understand your unique needs.

Write your own message here:

Need help building your brand? Try this…

• Give stamped, self-addressed envelopes to 25 personal and business acquaintances.

• Ask them to write down how they’d describe you to someone who doesn’t know you or what you do. Let them know you’re looking for objectivity, not what they think you want to hear.

• Don’t pressure them; they don’t even have to tell you who they are their replies (it would be better if you didn’t know).

Compare the results of this survey with your own view of who you are and what you do based on your value proposition.

• Brainstorm: begin jotting down key words that could become part of your businesses brand name and slogan.

• Compare against your SWOT analysis.

• Then stop: leave these alone for a week, then come back and repeat this exercise until you’re satisfied with the results.

Choosing media

Brainstorm ideas for communicating your brand. Write them down, confer with others, research…

• Which media will be the most effective?

• Which media will be the most efficient?

• Which media will integrate well with each other?

• Which media do you have the resources to implement and sustain now?

• How frequently should you communicate with your audience?

• What combination of effectiveness, efficiency and simplicity will best reach your audience with available resources?

When you’re ready, summarize your conclusions in your Marketing Plan (you do have a marketing plan, don’t you?).

But can you do all this yourself? Should you?

Of course, hiring a full-time marketing professional for your small business may not be feasible. That’s why outsourcing might be your best bet

Want More? Send questions and comments to w.willard3@knology.net.

Bill Willard has been writing high-impact marketing and sales training for over 30 years—but as Will Rogers put it: "Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Through interactive, Web-based "Do-While-Learning™" programs, e-Newsletters and straight-talking articles, Bill helps small-business owners and independent professionals get the job done: profitably improving performance, helping grow your business, skipping expensive mistakes, making the journey to success faster, smoother, easier. And fun!

Depending on whom you ask, you will get told many “truths” about advertising. The question I have for you today is this – “Is the only bad advertising, no advertising?”

Before we begin, it might help us to agree on what advertising is, so here’s one definition:

“Advertising is the non-personal communication of an individual’s paid persuasive information regarding products, and or services via various media.”

In other words, someone is trying to “sell” us on something – be it a product, or a service, or just picking up the phone. Advertising is all about getting people to do something – well, for the majority of us, it should be.

So, if advertising is about selling stuff, then perhaps we can answer our question now: “Is the only bad advertising, no advertising?” Of course not! You could create a really bad advert that did a terrible job of selling… and that would easily be a bad advert.

“Repetition, repetition, repetition!”

Is the battle cry of the ardent advertiser. “You must have repetition to have an impact.” Do you believe this? A healthy dose of scepticism is always handy at a time like this. But before you start patting yourself on the back thinking that you’re right I think you might want to hear this.

Repeating an advert works. Studies have shown conclusively that a ‘sale’ regularly occurs between the fifth and eighth exposure to a sales message (sure it can happen sooner, the point is that one-hit-wonders are rare). So repeating an advert works – BUT… and this is quite an important “but”… the advert must be having an effect (or working) for the repetition to be meaningful.

Flogging a Dead Horse

Permit me to explain. If your advert tanked on the first run you may have a bad advert on your hands. You will need to think carefully about what you do next. Experience tells us that this might be a fluke or a freak of circumstances so it warrants at least another run – may be two.

However, if the advert is not performing at all well after a couple of exposures to your market place, exposing that advert continuously will NOT (I repeat NOT) improve it. In this instance, repetition is quite simply a waste of time and money.

However, if your advert worked well then keep running the advert. For how long you might ask? The answer to that is actually very easy. Keep running performing adverts until the numbers tell you to stop. That’s right, let the sales numbers tell you when that advert needs a rest.

Great Adverts Need A Vacation Too

Adverts are like people, they get tired and need a break. Just because an advert eventually loses some steam doesn’t mean that after a suitable ‘rest’ it cannot go right back to work – performing flawlessly. So how do the numbers tell you when to pull the advert or give it a rest? When all the costs of running the advert outweigh the sales the advert is bringing in. Remember to take a more pragmatic view and consider the long term sales value of a new client. In a previous article I explained that a client you acquire has a ‘lifetime value’ not just a ‘now-time value’. Include the future sales this client will bring you when deciding if the advert is no longer effective.

Size Does Matter!

So how big should your advert be? That’s easy, it should be ‘dominant’. After all, your advert is trying to do its first job – CATCH ATTENTION! This is easier to achieve with a larger advert. All things being equal on the page, the bigger ads get more ‘eye time’ than the smaller adverts. As with all things though, there are exceptions to the rules and a small advert developed properly will outperform a big advert that is poorly designed.

There are other advertising ‘secrets’ we copywriters have learned that help us gain the edge when writing adverts. For instance we know whether colour makes a difference and when to use it, we know which single colour out performs all other colours and why, and we know which fonts (yes fonts) make a difference to an advert… but sadly I’m out of space again so we’ll have to save those tidbits for another time.

JAMES C. BURCHILL is a 20-year veteran entrepreneur and information technology executive who now provides strategic marketing consulting services to a select group of clients. He is a published author, a passionate advocate of technology and the Internet, as well as an avid study of classical advertising and marketing strategies (which he uses during ‘Internet alchemy’ experiments.) James is an expert in information and data management, Internet marketing and online networking. A self confessed ‘information and technology enthusiast’, James brings a wide range of valuable skills to any venture. Of singular note is James’ ability to assimilate complex subject matter and produce clean clear ‘easy-to-understand’ messages. James has been interviewed many times and caused quite the media buzz when a client ‘double-dog-dared’ him to prove you can get front page coverage for $0. The details and that ‘dumb stunt’ are now part of EBay legend. Currently James lives in Ontario, Canada with his wife and family, their Siamese cat and one very nervous fish. Visit http://www.JamesBurchill.com for details.

One of the critical drivers of business success is having a unique competitive advantage. Most managers understand that to attract a larger share of the market, or find enough customers prepared to pay a premium price, they must provide something of greater value than their competition. For most managers, competitive advantage boils down to providing superior quality and service. Think about it. Is this what you are aiming for?

Now, striving for quality and service sounds to me like what Americans call “motherhood and apple pie.” The purity of these things has an appeal that you can’t argue with. But I have a problem with the concept. You see, whenever I ask my clients what their competitive advantage is, realizing that there can be only one “cheapest” competitor, they almost invariably tell me that it is quality and service. The trouble I have with that is, if everyone provides quality and service, where is the competitive advantage?

The problem with just saying quality and service is that the concepts are too vague. Think about it. Can you give me a definition of the word “quality”? It’s not that easy is it. There is something intangible about “quality” because it is a relative term. When I ask my clients what they mean by “quality” or “service,” they have the same difficulty. The danger is that their idea of quality is something less than their customer’s. Unless you can define exactly what “quality” and “service” means to your customers, you don’t have a tangible competitive advantage.

What does “quality” mean for your product or service? How is that different from any of your competitors? You need to get very specific. Merely generalising about quality and service doesn’t give customer’s anything to go on. Can you prove your product is better, stronger, faster, more reliable? Just presenting quality and service in general terms isn’t enough to demonstrate a clear competitive advantage. Customers don’t believe vague claims and they don’t believe you, unless you can back up your statement with irrefutable facts. The same goes for service. What does better service mean?

Is it faster, more personal, more user friendly? How can you support your claims?

Whether you use these statements in your advertising or selling situations, statements that are specific and verifiable will always be more believable and therefore more effective, than vague generalizations. So if you promote your product or service on the basis of superior quality, start working on defining exactly why it is superior and provide measurable proof of its superiority. This will achieve one of two things. First, you may find out that your product or service isn’t really that much different or better than your competitor. That’s OK. At least you now know and can get to work on finding out how to make it superior. Secondly, if you can define your superiority and provide measurable proof, now you really have a competitive advantage which gives you a unique selling proposition to advertise.

Look at the following claims. “Our product is the best on the market.” Or. “Our product was shown in scientific trials to be 37% more effective in ….. than competing products.” Which do you think would be more effective in advertising?

If you can’t test your product or service to measure its superiority, you can provide independent verification of your claims in other ways. For example, using client testimonials is a very effective way of overcoming customer skepticism. When independent people talk about your product or service in a positive way, describing the benefits they have received, it is much more believable than when you say the same things yourself. It is even better if your customer is specific .

So, what is your competitive advantage? Don’t say quality and service. That just doesn’t mean anything to your market. Get specific, get the facts and be believable. Then use that unique selling proposition in all your promotions and selling activities to drive home your competitive advantage. You’ll see a difference in your results that makes it worth the effort.

(c) 2004 Greg Roworth, Progressive Business Solutions Limited

Greg Roworth is the Managing Director of Progressive Business Solutions Limited, a business development consultancy firm with branches in Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand. Greg has created a unique business development program that assists business owners transform their business from a state of total dependency on them to a state where the business works so well they don’t have to.

Greg is also the author of "The 7 Keys to Unlock Your Business Profit Potential," which descibes the fundamental keys a business needs to achieve this transformation. Find out more, get 2 free chapters, or buy the book online at http://www.small-business-success.ws

Each year there is a Yellow Pages arms race where competitors in each category are encouraged to out spend each other. There is only one winner in this arms race, and it is not you! Too many advertisers waste their money on Yellow Pages advertising without first considering their marketing strategy. Here are seven ways you can waste your money.

1. Attempting to outspend your competitor

As soon as Yellow Pages has convinced you to increase the prominence of your ad, they get your competitors to match or outbid you. This becomes an annual auction, with some categories containing pages of half and full page ads. A buyer can be overwhelmed with choice and may make their decision before they even get to your ad. Priority in listing is given to those who have advertised the longest in a category for a given ad size. You can only get closer to the front by upsizing your ad or if someone else closer to the front ceases advertising.

2. Putting all your eggs in the Yellow Pages basket

An advertising decision is something you should only make after you have developed a marketing strategy. Many businesses rush into advertising in the Yellow Pages, just because that’s what everyone else does. You don’t become a leader by following the herd. You need to consider your payback for your investment in this marketing channel. Ask your Yellow Pages consultant how many leads a particular size ad generates in your category. Then ask yourself how many of these leads will you convert into sales, and then decide whether this is a good investment.

3. Engaging in destructive Head to Head Competition

When you advertise in the Yellow Pages, not only can potential customers see your ad and your offer, so can your competitors. This can result in price competition that can turn your product or service into a commodity. Yellow Pages make comparison shopping easy for buyers and market research easy for competitors.

4. Spending too much on prominence

When spending on a Yellow Pages ad, you can invest in size and colour. Size is important, but what you put in the ad, your copy, is far more important. It is better to go down a size and spend the money you save on a copywriter. Good copy can generate up to 20 times the response as poor copy. Colour is also important, but not as important as size, so go up a size rather than go to colour, which is expensive for its return. If your category is cluttered with large ads, investing in your copy is essential.

5. Relying on Yellow Pages free design service

Ad design is important. Yellow Pages do offer a free design service, but its worth what you pay. The typical design is done in 15 minutes. As they are designing tens of thousands of ads you can’t really expect any special attention- especially as there is no charge for the service! When they design your ad, they will appeal to your vanity rather than to your customers. So they will put “Joe’s Plumbing” in the headline. But buyers don’t care who Joe is, and are far more interested in why they should use Joe. This requires some marketing analysis of your points of difference and ultimate service benefits, which won’t happen in 15 minutes!

6. Putting your ad in the wrong category

If you are a plumber, the decision of where to place your ad is easy. But if your business is in a fairly specialised market such as oil refinery plumbing, there probably isn’t a good category for you. In fact, for many B2B businesses Yellow Pages is a poor marketing tool. Ask yourself the question, where would a buyer look to find out about your business- it might not even be in the Yellow Pages.

7. Depending on old technology advertising

Every year internet advertising increases, with less being spent on print advertising. Yellow Pages is now available online and for certain businesses this is a better option, particularly with a link to their website. When being sold paper Yellow Pages ads, you may be offered complimentary online advertising. However, unless your ad is near the front, you will be invisible to buyers who rarely will browse further than three pages. It is also worth paying for a link to your website.

The Yellow Pages consultants are on commission to sell you advertising. They only interested in getting you to spend as much as possible, not on providing the best marketing solution for your business. Advertising is not the same as marketing! Good marketing advice on whether and how you should advertise is money well spent. Not only can this increase sales, but it can save you thousands of dollars in advertising.

Before making a decision on Yellow Pages advertising, you should consider all your marketing channels, and make decisions on how much you invest in each dependent on their ability to attract leads. Having determined how much you will invest in Yellow Pages, do some market analysis and invest in your ad copy. This is particularly important for larger ad sizes. Yellow Pages advertising can be rewarding, but should only be considered as just one part of your overall marketing strategy.

Copyright 2005 Empower Business Solutions

Dr Greg Chapman assists small to medium sized businesses with business planning, business systems and marketing strategy. To find out how you can Multiply Your Profits & Make Your Business Run without You, and to find out How Good Your Business Really Is with a Free Online Business Medical, go to Empower Business Solutions website at: http://www.empowersolutions.com.au

A successfully positioned business sometimes doesn’t win a new client. And that, my friend, is the point. Let me illustrate with an anecdote.

Recently I was making a new business pitch to a Charlotte area professional services firm. The second meeting took place after I had provided a detailed proposal to the company on how I work. From the two meetings and the proposal it was made abundantly clear that I take a comprehensive, strategic approach to communications.

One of the partners asked me if there was a "PR light" alternative. This meant that he wanted a tactical program that required very little involvement or input from him and the other partners. I assured him there was, but that was not my approach.

I guess I could have taken the company’s money every month just to perform a few tactical activities, but it would have been wrong for both of us. I wouldn’t feel right taking their money, nor would I be happy implementing a program that a PR intern could accomplish easily.

Needless to say, the firm selected another communications agency. To understand why this new business loss was a success, we need to look at a definition of positioning.

Positioning Defined

An organization’s brand identity must be a reflection of three things: market perceptions, the organization’s acumen, as well as its aspirations. Positioning is where these three elements overlap.

The point of positioning is to develop a platform from which all communications emanate. Positioning defines who we are, the kinds of customers we want, how we will compete, and how we are different.

So, before you can hone your brand identity, and before you develop and implement a communications plan, you must approve a positioning statement. From a communications standpoint, it is the heart of your brand.

Let’s look at the elements of positioning:

Market. The kinds of clients we want to do business with. Hoover ink’s market definition is: For organizations that are serious about their success and that understand the need for focused communications,

Competitive Offering. The products/services and/or type of service we will provide. Hoover ink’s competitive offering is: we are the PR and marketing firm that carefully defines its clients’ audiences and develops market-based positioning,

Differentiation. The benefit that makes us special. Hoover ink’s differentiation is: so that we can help our clients communicate to all of its constituencies clear, concise messages that have a bottom line impact.

When the prospect called to say they had selected another agency to handle its PR program, I was told that my approach was too strategic and comprehensive. I’ll take that as a compliment any day, and as an indicator that my positioning is on track.

Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, Verbatim and Youth Link USA.

Ever hear the term ’sexy’ advertising? It’s not necessarily what you think. Sure, some people’s idea of sexy advertising is hot babes in bikinis spraying beer all over each other, but that’s overtly sexual and not what we’re about to discuss here.

Do you engage sexy advertising in your marketing campaign? If not, you should.

"Sexy" advertising refers to ads that are highly targeted, yet artfully subtle - and therefore, extremely attractive to the key consumer.

I’m going to try and curb my use of the word ’sexy’ now because I think it’s quite blatant, and therefore not sexy at all. So from now on we’ll try and call them ads that are "attractive."

What makes an ad (or a person) attractive? People perceive the world through their senses- sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. So if you can appeal to them in any of these five ways, then you may very well become attractive to them.

Let’s talk about the word sensual. Not sexual, but sensual. What’s that mean?

Are you a sensual person? Maybe you savor the feeling of cool water against your bare skin on a hot summer’s day. Perhaps you’re easily carried away on a wild reverie by something as simple as the smell of fresh cut grass. More people are sensual than not sensual, and this greatly affects their buying habits. Appeal to their senses in just the right way, and you’ve got paying customers!

Did you know: too much stimulation actually dulls the senses. If your brain is bombarded with a high concentration of sensation all at once, it just tunes out! Sounds crazy but it’s true. Ever see someone who went overboard with the Botox? Whoa, keep those crazy lips away from me! It’s like this: if your eyes are big, and your nose is sort of big too, then your lips should be small. Too much Bigness = NOT a good thing.

Too much Bigness in your advertising is not a good thing either. Again, it’s about sensory overload. If your website is flashing, waving, winking, blinking, making loud crashing noises and also has a very long diatribe on it that puts the fear of God into your reader… well, who do you expect would sit there and take that? NOBODY! A sensual person knows to take it slow and easy, one sensation at a time. So does a smart marketer.

In advertising and in life, you are the master of how people perceive you. Solid branding is simple, direct, and consistent - and appeals to the customer by way of their senses. That’s attractive advertising. That’s the kind of advertising that will bring in SALES.

Let’s ponder this attraction thing a bit more.

Attraction is not only about a visual, auditory and tactile presentation, but it’s also about pure energy. The key is to be subtle. Energy that’s too strong sends people running the other way!

Direct your energy. Be in the right place at the right time. You can’t be attractive if you’re not even there! So join the entrepreneur and special interest clubs, participate, speak out, pay a few dollars for those memberships. Visibility is the first step in becoming attractive. Get yourself noticed!

Use subtle messages. Suppose you’re a fellow who’s trying to get a little from your lady. How to approach the situation? Well, you could grab her by the hair. But here’s a better idea: be subtly suggestive. Hold her gaze for a little longer than usual. If you’re walking together, brush against her ever so lightly. Maybe later you might gently press your hand into the small of her back, and in this way, quietly plant some thoughts in her head. It’s this slow, steady directing of energy that says, "Let’s get it on, baby" - without actually SAYING those words! You need to be equally subtle in your advertising. You don’t want your customer to know what you’re doing. You just want them to be very, very aware of you.

Attract your customers with advertising that intrigues, teases, and piques their curiousity. Imagine your reader, meandering along, exploring your website with its taseful, understated message and thought-provoking design. They’re not really thinking much about it on a conscious, active level. But underneath, it’s sinking in and getting to them, slowly but surely. THIS is sexy advertising, doing its thing!

Suppose you sell flowers and plants - both of which are quite lovely and don’t need much hype to attract attention. In your advertising, use quality images that really zoom in on the details… a single dewdrop on a velvety petal, some delicate ivy creeping along a handsome stone wall. Sell your product with understated elegance, tasteful design, short copy and text that’s easy on the eyes. That’s how to attract a customer!

The most important and yet most often overlooked fact about attractive advertising is this: You must emotionally connect with your audience.

Let’s talk about that hypothetical skilled lover guy I mentioned earlier. "Prince Charming," we’ll call him. Why’s he so charming? He is able to gauge his lovers’ emotions, know their fears and weaknesses, and then say just the right thing that will make them feel safe, protected and appreciated. In doing this, he charms, or mesmerizes the object of his desire. In doing this, he mentally connects with them- and that’s the biggest attractor of all.

Everybody’s talking about hypnotic copy. It’s the kind of writing that, like Prince Charming, puts a spell on your customer, attracts and endears them to you, and most of all, makes them trust you.

A huge part of branding is trust. When your customers feels connected to your brand, they’ll come back again and again. They’ll tell all of their friends about you. They’ll invest their money in your product beause they really believe in you!

Want a perfect example of attractive advertising and expert branding? Disney. You love and believe in Disney, right? How did that happen? Disney slowly and steadily positioned themselves as an icon of childhood dreams, a safe haven for the imagination and a company that’s as devoted to your family as you are. Disney cares… right? Of course they do. They said so, in their advertising! They make those movies with tender baby animals, and mommies and magic and true love, and it’s so emotional and the animation is so perfect, that you can see the love dripping right down the movie screen and you can feel it beating right along with your heart.

Talk to your customers they way that Disney talks to theirs. Show them love, every day. Do it in your written materials, and also in your daily interactions with them. They should feel like they’re being heard, catered to, appreciated and understood. This is the stuff that big, big dreams are made of, and it is damned sexy advertising.

Okay, let’s review. We want our ads to be sexy. We want to attract and mesmerize our key customers. How do we do this?

1. Stimulate their senses (but don’t overload them)
2. Direct and focus your energy
3. Keep it subtle
4. Establish an emotional connection

Now you have everything you need go out there and captivate your audience of buyers. They’re ready for love, so give it to them. Charm them and disarm them, with attractive advertising that sells your product and keeps them coming back for more. Go on, I know you can do it! You sexy thang.

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Find out how crisp, targeted copywriting can make a world of difference for your business. Dina Giolitto is a Copywriting Consultant with ten years of experience. Visit http://Wordfeeder.com for free tips on branding, copywriting, marketing, and more. Request a project quote by email: seniorcopywriter@yahoo.com.