Advertisers have seized upon a new way to get the word out about their products: slap their ads on your vehicle. Actually, this isn’t an entirely new way to promote products as it has been in the experimental stages for years in limited markets. Now, however, the practice has become so widespread that companies around the globe are doing it. Soon, many cars in Mexico and France along with vehicles on the streets of California, Florida, and elsewhere will be sporting ads pitching a variety of products. In some cases the advertisers will pay you a monthly rental fee to place ads on the car you already own, while in other cases you could find yourself behind the wheel of a brand new car.

When I first heard about this concept, I thought: what’s the catch? While every program is different and there are probably scammers mixed in with the legit companies, for the most part these “ads on wheels” or “rolling billboard” programs are on the up and up. You’ll have to check with the individual program for contractual details, but this is what I have found out about what some of them are offering:

Drivers must be of legal age, generally age 18 or above.

Drivers must reside in targeted countries with the U.S., Canada, France, the Philippines, Mexico, Japan, and Britain as being popular locations.

Drivers must do what they do best: drive, a lot! Yes, no letting your wheels stay put; you’ll be expected to put some serious miles on your car, especially around town where everyone can see and look at your ride.

In some cases, you can use your own car and get a monthly check. In other cases, you will be given a car for a certain period of time. In the latter situation, you may be responsible for gas, maintenance, and insurance, so make certain that what you get from the “rolling ads” is worth it to you.

So, who are some of the advertisers? Without specifying names, I have seen vehicles for a certain gecko insurance company, another for a big box retailer of consumer electronics equipment, while still another one for a local restaurant with it’s “can’t miss” repainted PT Cruiser. In addition, there are many other advertisers who see the value and uniqueness of the program and are joining in.

Yes, there are exaggerated claims of how much you could make each month or what type of car you might be getting. Sure, a Viper with ads would be cool, but can you afford the gas and the $3000 car insurance bill? Probably not. Therefore, do some “due diligence” to find out the plan that is right for you.

Rolling billboards are a novelty, one that many drivers will want in order to gain access to a new set of wheels or a repaint of their current ride. Still, for a lucky few, these types of programs will certainly help their cars get noticed. When the bill is being picked up by someone else, it could be a fun if not lucrative way to get around town.

Copyright 2006 – Matt Keegan is a freelance writer covering cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs. You can keep your Chevy, Nissan, GM, VW, or other fine tuner running and looking its best by shopping the Import Auto Parts superstore for name brand automotive parts and accessories.

Well, Super Bowl XXXIX is history. Too bad for the folks who consider themselves the always-pullin’-for-the-underdog type. The Bandwagon team won.

But, as far as Super Bowls go, the losers played well. For those who care, the Eagles actually covered the 7-point spread. T.O. is the deal, too. At least on the field, anyway.

They had a chance late in the game, but poor field position and bad clock management did them in. Scoring from 95 yards out with 48 seconds left? That’s a tall order.

So is getting/maintaining ad recall 48 hours after the final gun. Whose $80,000 per second ad was worth it? Who would’ve done better by writing me a fat check for $2.4 million?

Read on, and find out. True to school yard rules: Suckers Walk. Losers are up first.

Losers:

Sorry, Donovan, but your three picks lands you in with GoDaddy.com, Quizno’s, and Silestone. I don’t care if you were ill.

GoDaddy.com had a decent concept that quickly went bad. OK. Boopsie talking to a Senate subcommittee on C-SPAN about indecency. Good start- if they cut out any hint to last year’s halftime debacle. But… they couldn’t resist. So the buxom wench wearing a GoDaddy.com t-shirt has a near wardrobe malfunction. One of the craggy senators has to hit the oxygen mask.

This ad was supposed to run again, but Fox pulled it mid- game. Good idea. I bet their stomachs were in as many knots as Donovan McNabb’s.

The Quizno’s ad was mediocre at best. This talking baby concept is tiresome. As cliché as it may be, it’s still 80% less annoying than those whack rodents in pirate hats from a couple of years ago.

The one stinky Bud Light ad was one that the ESPN crowd really dug - the parachute-less pilot heading out the door for the six of Diet Bud. Dumb. The desert island one with Cedric the Entertainer was iffy, too.

Speaking of stinky… what was up with Napster’s ad? Ugh! It could wind up doing more to shut them down than the Supreme Court.

This bad concept was in stark difference to their introductory spots featuring Flash animation based around their logo. Those were well-designed and entertaining. This one was as fat and ugly as the seven shirtless blops they decided to show with a letter on each of their overdeveloped beer guts to spell N-A-P-S-T-E-R. It was done in house and, boy, did it show.

The manufactured “reality” of the game and its atmosphere was lame and no one bought it. An ad taking place at the Super Bowl should be IN the Super Bowl- done real time. And… trying to take on Apple’s iTunes on price? That was the second dumbest decision of this ad. No wonder it finished dead last in likability and recognition.

Now… Silestone. Valiant effort of an ad featuring Chicago sports legends. Voice over was good. It was shot nicely. But, it was a little too jumpy in the cuts to get the whole picture the first time through. The quick cut style hurt the name recognition of the line of counter tops.

Silestone and Diana Pearl are not exactly household names. And Dennis Rodman slurred his line. It sounded like "Dinah Pearl, rather than, "Diana Pearl." I’m sure the director or writer got dissed when they said, "Uh, Worm… it’s ‘Di-A- na’."

"Sure. Dinah."

As a side note, why were only Chicago Bears in it until Dennis Rodman at the end? No Scottie Pippen or Slammin’ Sammy?

On to the good ‘uns…

Winners:

This year, the game was nearly as good as the ads, as there were a surprisingly good number of breaking spots. Leading the pack was Career Builder, FedEx, Mastercard, and Anheuser-Busch.

FedEx likes to make ads relating to advertising on advertising’s biggest stage. They did it again - patching together 10 "tried and true" Super bowl ad conventions to great results.

Career Builder put a great spin on a stale category with the best work since Monster’s "I Wanna Be…" [a brown noser, forced into retirement, etc.] from ‘98. Three ads featuring a hapless chump working for chimps managed to put their name into mind share largely dominated by two others.

MasterCard got a bunch of animated branded food icons together for a meal and a nice touch of nostalgia. Ad fans and agency folks dug this one.

A-B hit emotional hot buttons with a near-public service ad saluting troops retuning home. Yes, they were real military - not actors. Their uniforms just did not have any insignias, so the common soldier would be represented. For their light beer category, the ad with the head on the wall and the designated driver spot were the best for Bud Light.

Pepsi’s second year of an iTunes promotion kicked off well. They ran a humorous spot featuring people opening winning bottles for a free song. When the bottles were opened, a song reflecting the drinker’s taste in music would play. Although the spot was humorous and worked, Pepsi could’ve really hit a home run by involving the older “authority figure” more into the ad. But, keeping with brand tradition, they kept the focus young.

AmeriQuest had two entertaining spots revolving around the themes of misunderstanding and jumping to conclusions. Their message was, “We don’t prejudge.” The ad featuring spaghetti sauce, a cat, and knife will certainly make some ‘Best Of” reels this year.

Decent work also included Honda’s new pickup/SUV product introduction. Good detail with benefit highlights. Left the "Honda" out until the end. Cadillac and Volvo had solid ads. Volvo should have bought another ad, if not two, as many people missed the early run. The audience also may have missed the details on their unique contest. But they did follow up with some net portal ads the day after. Ford’s F-150 Biker spot was OK. Their line that "it makes YOU tough," really undercut the effectiveness.~

John is a freelance commercial writer based in Omaha, Nebraska. He publishes a free monthly e-zine focusing on branding, advertising, and marketing from his web site http://www.brandedbetter.com Speaking with both agency and in-house experience, he knows the most valuable asset of a business is its brand.

“Sales All Day”…I wish I hear you yell…one sale would be great!

”Under The Radar Advertising Strategy”…sounds like something out of a Star Trek Movie!

You see in the world of advertising as quick as you can say “Beam me up Scottie”; new tools are constantly being created in order to differentiate one company from another. These innovations try to as much as possible, maximize resources, minimize costs, and optimize the results of any advertising campaign.

So much money goes into the brainstorming for these new and innovative tools you could travel around the world on the lunch meeting costs alone. If you’ve worked in the corporate world you know exactly what I mean and if you haven’t count yourself very lucky indeed. Businesses could save themselves a small fortune on advertising campaigns if it looked at previously employed advertising strategies and modifying them to suit their needs.

Some of the most widely used advertising strategies and marketing strategies in existence are multi-level marketing, audio visual advertising, catalogue advertising, telephone advertising, and even person-to-person distribution of marketing tools. One, however, stands out in terms of potential and even capacity to translate advertising strategies with tangible sales.

This my friend is what is known as advertorials. Seemingly a new linguistic concoction, advertorials were in fact first conceived in the early 1960s as a combination of the words, advertising and editorials. This more than sufficiently describes the purpose of an advertorial.

An advertorial is basically an advertising strategy designed to resemble an objective editorial. This would lend the degree of objective credibility to you the advertiser, as well as make the advertising pitch most believable even to the most skeptical of consumers.

How will this necessarily build sales profits?

Advertorials are usually written as special promotional features with a form similar to that of a press release than an editorial. What is most beneficial in comparison to other editorials is the fact that the advertiser has control of the content that will appear on the advertorial.

First, these advertorials are written at times within already well-established columns or sections of a newspaper. These sections, with the following that they already have, assure the readability of the advertorials. Placed in sections where people are predisposed to reading articles close to the form of advertorials, the strength of the promotional approach of the article will not necessarily offend or ostracize any of the readers. Read that again…”placed in sections where people are predisposed to reading articles close to the form of advertorials”…this is the Under The Radar effective a work!

Moreover, advertorials afford the option of discussing the strongest characteristics of the product and service, and at the same time printing the various locations and contact details of the company or establishments offering the product or service. This means that the moment a consumer finds his or herself convinced of the merits of the product or service, no extraneous effort on their part is necessary in order to find where to get access to it. They can also incorporate another profit pulling advertising strategy by having various testimonies from some previous impressed purchases of your product ore service.

More importantly, advertorials come with the persuasive strength of an editorial, with a simulation of authority and expertise produced in the article. Consumers may be likely to trust the content of the advertorial with this sort of approach and semblance of authority and expertise than an individualized pitch derived from the company purse. Objective and informative information packaged as truth can very well fuel the entire company’s sales!

Another way by which advertorials can help assure business sales is the fact that its content may be screened and approved by the company. While it is not likely that an advertorial will discuss the weaknesses of the product or service, this level of control is still necessary especially when hoping to avoid any sort of dangerous slant or suggestive statement that would imply a weakness or flaw. Moreover, control over the content of the article can assure that the advertorial will be in-line with any and all marketing and advertising strategies that the company is currently employing. This can both strengthen and supplement the collective campaign and create a consistent message that can stick to the consciousness of the consumer.

At the end of the day, these various features of the advertorial help provide the level of recall that will translate to sales if used correctly. Moreover, its very form can best maximize person-to-person referrals, especially when one reader or consumer finds his or herself quoting and referring to the advertorial as a particular objectively written piece. While it may be unpopular with many companies, the potential of the advertorial is very much viable and tangible for today’s companies. It may very well be that innovative new idea that is needed to boost your profits.

Scott Wilson is the author of “How to Create Money Sucking Ads That Work on Autopilot While You Go Fishing” a free 12 page report available for a limited time at http://www.smarterbusinessleads.com

"Do we need to cast a voice-over talent for this project?"

That’s a valid question any producer might ask when creating an advertisement, corporate audio-video presentation, video game, etc. Of course, the answer depends on what elements the producer and client feel will best communicate with the audience.

For a radio ad, a fully sung jingle with no voice-over could work best. A TV spot or corporate narration might be most effective using scrolling graphic and text, again without an announcer. But very soon producers could be pondering whether their productions need a voice over talent for a more disturbing reason. Vocal utterances produced by air passing through folds of tissue and formed by lips, teeth, and tongue may, simply put, become obsolete. Yes, the "virtual voice talent" may very well become a reality.

Welcome to the Machine

In the May 2004 issue of Mix Magazine, in two separate articles, Stephen St. Croix and Paul D. Lehrman relate their experiences with a new piece of software ominously named "Vocaloid." This little computer-coded wonder is a speech synthesizer that’s being used to synthesize background vocals on actual recordings that are being sold to the public–background vocals so good, you’d be hard-pressed to recognize they’re fake singers. Now, considering the dubious singing talents of many of our current pop stars, maybe a Vocaloid virtual diva named Britney isn’t too far-fetched. Audio manipulation, including pitch correction, equalization, compression, reverb, have been used for decades to save the bacon of many a pop star’s performance in-studio or on stage. Technically, it’s just a short step from this point to a "singer in a box."

In fact, in the letters section of the July 2004 issue of Mix Magazine a person identified only as "BC," referring to the St. Croix and Lehrman articles, boasted that he’s created a "band" called The Bots, "…created wholly from speech synthesizers and 3-D graphics." BC further states, "I use Vocaloid among a variety of other speech synths to make it more into an ensemble. The Bots have released two CDs, a ‘record deal’ with Magnatune, and a second video in the works. It’s been a long and painful ordeal, but I’ve finally gotten them to the point where they seem as real as any other band out there–except no live concerts."

I’ve Gotta Sing

And that’s the crux of the matter. The appeal of virtual entertainers probably will be quite limited–at least for the foreseeable future–because they can’t tour, do drugs, get into fights, sue their record labels, promote world peace, raise money for charity, or do anything live flesh and blood performers can do. We, the audience, love the performer as much as the performer’s music. And, in this case, that’s a good thing. Tony Bennett, the White Stripes, Diana Krall, Toby Keith, Frederica von Stade, and all of the American Idol wannabes are quite safe from Vocaloid elimination.

Speak Now of Forever Hold Your Peace

But voice over talents may not be so lucky. Voice talents are not seen. They don’t have adoring fans, except their moms and, maybe, a few other voice-over talents. They perform in short increments: 30 seconds, 60 seconds, a 30 minute narration on how to make a million in real estate. If speech synthesis has reached a point of sophistication sufficient enough to create virtual singers, what’s to prevent a software genius from developing a program to replace voice talent? Write the program.

Sample 300 to 500 voices, male and female, each with unique characteristics, incorporate them into the software and, voila, Instant Announcer in a Box. Just load your script text into the program, which converts the text to perfectly uttered speech. No retakes. With a few clicks of the mouse to tweak inflection, emphasis, pacing, dynamics, etc. to polish the natural feel of the voice-over and you’re done.

Far-fetched? If entertainment’s got a virtual band call The Bots, why can’t advertising and marketing have its own virtual Don Pardo?

Well, it seems maybe they can…

©Peter Drew

Peter Drew, a freelance voice-over talent and copywriter/producer with decades of experience, is heard on radio and television stations, corporate presentations, web sites, and messages-on-hold across America and countries around the world. To send an email regarding this article, please visit Peter Drew Voiceovers at http://www.peterdrewvo.com/

A variety of definitions of advertising exist but the best I’ve found yet to cover what advertising is can be summed up in the following 2 statements:

ad•ver•tis•ing n.: The activity of attracting public attention to a product or business, as by paid announcements in the print, broadcast, or electronic media.

Also defined as "the non personal communication of information through various media, paid for by the advertiser and is usually convincing in nature about the need to buy products and services" - the advertisers of course.

Advertising your company’s products and services to your targeted audience is essential to maintain a long lasting and prosperous relationship. If you’re not continually winning your customers over than the competition will.

So, What Does An Advertising Agency Do?

If your business can afford it an advertising agency will really help you allot. Advertising agencies spend all day long just doing advertising for various businesses. They will already know the cost/thousand numbers of the various media available in your area, they’ll also have a good idea of what will or will not work well for your type of business. This will come at a price but will definitely be the short track to your businesses success, unless your time is not worth much to you, and in that case go ahead and waste it if you’d like. (:–) A successful advertising campaign will strongly depend on how the advertising agency has designed your advertisements; therefore I’ve provided the following help.

Tips For Choosing An Advertising Agency 1) The popularity and reputation of the advertising agency 2) The charges / work ration of the advertising agency 3) The working efficiency of the advertising agency

The longevity and overall success of your business can be obtained by the help of a good advertising agency saving you precious time and huge amounts of money should you not know what your doing.

The Latest Types Of Advertising

Now a days advertising on the internet has become a very popular and effective tool to promote and reach your target audience. Known as digital advertising, pay per click advertising or internet advertising marketing, the benefits are huge. Considering the cost savings of knowing ahead of time what the consumer response of one advertisement over the other is will be essential information to a great ad campaign.

With an online advertising campaign you have the immediate benefit of testing of your campaign rather than waiting till it’s over with traditional media. Through text advertisement programs like Google Adwords for example you can have a campaign up and running within minutes to test how well various words will be clicked. You can than test this further to ensure the clients that are going to your site are the type of customers you want and not just "tire kickers" so to speak.

Once your online advertisement campaign is able to draw the right clientele you’ll be in a better position to launch an offline, more expensive traditional style advertising campaign.

An online advertising agency can help you plan, design and implement internet advertising of your products and services to take the confusion out of the web if online advertising is new to you.

Many advertising careers exist and have for years. With the advent of the net of course a new stream of advertising career has been opened up for those desiring to work from their computer rather than the traditional face to face approach. Myself, I recommend a combination of both online and offline for total success of your business.

Submitted by Chad McDonald to provide info. about the internet advertising marketing industry and digital advertising in general.

We’re surrounded by advertisements that desperately compete for our attention. Everywhere we look, we find ourselves inevitably drawn to images of scantily clad attractive men and women that are supposed to somehow inspire us to purchase products they endorse. Sure, this attention-getting strategy is popular. But, is it effective?

Sex appeal can increase the effectiveness of an ad or commercial because it attracts the customer’s attention. It’s human nature to be curious about sex. A pair of long legs on a billboard is more likely to catch (and hold) a guy’s attention than a puppy, regardless of how cute it may be. Even women are drawn to them, perhaps with the desire of having goddess-like legs.

However, misuse of sex appeal can be costly. Many campaigns deemed offensive have started brand boycotts that affect sales and damage brand reputation. Abercrombie & Fitch has been involved in several scandals, the latest from their most recent catalog entitled “XXX Wet, Hot Summer Fun.” On April 18, 2002, only a week after the catalog hit the stores, the Illinois State Senate passed a resolution condemning A&F’s advertising tactics. This resolution, backed by several nonprofit organizations, suggests citizens and shareholders boycott Abercrombie’s products and to take a stand against the company’s marketing strategies. Although sexy images in catalogs are not at all uncommon, “XXX Wet, Hot Summer Fun” featured naked boys and girls frolicking in natural settings. Not quite appropriate for an apparel catalog targeted at teenagers.

Sex in advertising has stirred controversy for many years, an advertiser must be careful when incorporating it in a campaign. Great advertisers consider not only the attention-getting power of an advertisement or commercial, but also what kind of emotional response it provokes in customers. Studies show that the attractiveness of the endorsing model provokes positive responses. Nudity and graphic erotic content, while still increasing consumer’s attention, doesn’t really generate positive feelings among viewers. In other words, advertisers must be careful to avoid the “cheap shot,” which may negatively affect a brand’s image.

To avoid that, the sexual content in advertising must be appropriate to the product category and have a proper underlying message. In 2000, Heineken launched the “It’s All About the Beer” campaign. One spot, called “The Premature Pour,” shows a beautiful seductive woman pouring Heineken into a glass. When a guy across the bar responds by pouring his own, he nervously pours too fast and spills foam all over the table and himself. The sexual content is implicit, yet direct. The sexual reference in this and other spots in the campaign worked, causing sales to rise 13% in the first two quarters of 2002. However, Steve Davis (VP of marketing in Heineken USA), claims that, “Provocative is a very good place to be, as long as we’re not inflammatory. But the spots also work for a different reason. From the tag line to the plot, they are about a desire for Heineken. Our ads make the beer the hero.”

Sex sells, yes, but only when used “in good taste.” As marketers we must think not only in getting customers’ attention for the short term, but also in building a brand reputation that will yield long-term results.

Mark Levit is managing partner of Partners & Levit Advertising and a professor of marketing at New York University. Partners & Levit’s clients include Procter & Gamble, UnitedHealth Group, and GE Commercial Finance. For more information call 212-696-1200 or visit http://www.partnerslevit.com.

It appears that most gurus if you want to call them that represent themselves as experts. In several statements that I’ve read, they refer to other marketers as making mistakes. Yet, when they make the same mistakes, they call it testing.

I read a quote one time about a child learning to walk. When the child is serious about learning to walk, falling is simply a form of learning. However, it’s not looked upon as a failure or mistake.

Another word that I’ve heard plenty of times this year is the word “secret”. Actually, that word has been overused and over abused. As anyone knows, if it’s a secret on the internet, most everyone knows about it. Secret is also known as a power word.

You can compare secrets to fishing. I know of a web site selling secrets of catching crappie at night. The secret has been around since 1947 and very few fishermen know about it. Well, if you know anything about fishing, then you can guess where I’m going with this one. More than likely it’s the difference between a fairy tale and a story from a cowboy.

Now, that you know that you haven’t been given the right secrets to success and everything you do is wrong, you may as well face the fact that someone out there is undoubtedly going to tell you more goof ball lies.

It may be time to wake up and realize that marketers that sell “marketing information” will never tell you exactly what to do in order to make money. If they did, you wouldn’t be a customer any more. Also, it amazes me that they’d want the competition.

“Saturation” is a word you should learn. There will be a point on the internet where the most unpopular word around will be considered a keyword at a price most people starting out cannot afford. I’m talking about pay per click advertisements.

At some point, you may even figure that the people selling books on google adsense and google adwords are creating an irreversible mountain of competition for themselves. It’s my opinion that the ones writing these books are slowing down on the profits and needed another avenue.

It’s been said over and over again that you need your own product, but I think you’d still be right where you are today if you did not do everything you’ve done so far. The one thing you must not do. Do not quit. This is the only sure way of failure.

You’ve learned a great deal and you may have even got burned out. You may have been scammed and ripped off. You may even be one of those unfortunate people that had their identities stolen. Just learn from it and go on. Don’t follow those footsteps.

Do not join chain letters, matrixes, money making machines, or anything where a product is not a reasonable price. Last, if it cost you money to get into a business selling for someone else, “run”. Now, only you know why you haven’t made any money. Write down everything you’ve done and figure out what you could have done different. Most of the time it comes down to not doing enough. If you still believe you can work 2 hours per day at this business starting out, then think again. Marketing is a full time job.

PS. I have no secret that you haven’t been told before. I don’t figure you’re doing anything wrong, you just haven’t figured out what you want.

Randall Stafford has been marketing on the internet seriously for the last 2 years with some success. He’s been on the internet since 1994 and dabbled with it. If you want to succeed, you don’t quit.

Advertising will make or break your business. It is crucial to your success that you learn to write great ad copy. Here are a few simple concepts to get you there.

1. The Headline

This is THE most important part of your ad, especially when using online advertising. The point of the headline is to grab a potential customer’s interest and then entice the reader to go on and read the rest of your ad. The best headlines tend to be those that emphasize the benefits to the customer, ie. what your product or service can do for them, WHY they MUST have it - right now!

2. Formatting

If your ad is taking the form of a webpage, or any other ad that allows the use of HTML/formatting, take advantage of it. Make sure your headline stands out from the rest of your ad by using a larger font, bolding, italics (careful here: make sure it is readable, some fonts aren’t), or a different color. Remember to ensure that the overall look is business-like.

Some ad sites (like AOL) allow you to post a graphic along with your ad: definitely do so! It will really make your ad stand out compared to the ads of those who haven’t bothered and makes you look much more professional.

If you’re advertising to safelists or using any other type of email advertising, use interesting characters to make your subject line stand out, some examples: >> << /// $$$ ~~ Also, make sure you can actually READ the most important part of your subject line - it would be awful if you were to create the World’s Best Subject Line, only to have most email clients cut off the ‘best part’ so it’s never even seen!

3. Focus

Don’t try to sell with your ad. The point is just to get the potential customer interested enough to click on the link to your website or autoresponder: that’s all!

4. Unique Selling Position (USP)

Whether you’re a reseller, selling your own product, or are a member of an affiliate program, you need to find something UNIQUE about purchasing from YOU. Why should a person buy a product from you, when they can buy the exact same thing from thousands of other people, at the same price, with the same guarantee, etc.?

If you have your own website, offering a bonus of some sort is an obvious solution here. If you DON’T have your own site yet, it’s a bit harder. However, what you CAN do is tailor your advertising to a unique AUDIENCE instead. For example, write ads aimed at different target markets: moms at home, the elderly, students, retirees, entrepreneurs, disabled persons, etc. Emphasize what your product can do for THIS person, in their particular situation, and you may give someone an idea they hadn’t thought of, to your advantage!

5. YOU!

Inject some of YOURSELF into your ads! Using your own experience, or testimonial, can be HUGE in getting through to your customers. Explain how it has helped you, how easy/profitable/inexpensive it is. Your enthusiasm and passion for your product can be your best ally when writing ad copy.

6. Call to Action

Oddly enough, research has shown people are FAR more likely to click on a link, buy, or subscribe if you simply tell them to. So, including a "Click Here" or "Visit Our Website Now" can actually result in a higher response rate than ads without these simple instructions.

7. Ad Tracking

Don’t even bother advertising without ad tracking. It is absolutely essential to your business success. You MUST know which ads are working, when, and where. You will probably be surprised: sometimes an ad you love will be a real dud, another you might find somewhat questionable will blow up your hit counter! Play around with different headings, wording, where you post, categories where you place your ads - they can all yield different results. I like to test my headlines on free FFA and Classifieds sites, then use the winners as subject lines for my safelist advertising.

Keep these seven Essential Elements in mind when creating all your advertisements (you might even want to print out this article for easy reference) and you’ll soon have customers clammering for your products and services!

Lynne Homewood, Editor of Your Business Builder Newsletter and President of Global Epro, has been building online businesses since 1999. Her latest venture, an automated Home Business Success System with a unique vision is changing the way business is done online. http://www.bestinternetincome.com

When you’re all alone in the privacy of your home office, surrounded by your computer, your phone and your business idea, have you ever asked yourself, "Where’s the line between me in my business and the business in me"?

With hundreds of thousands of home-based businesses starting every year, and few ever flourishing, the topic of branding has become hot, hot, hot. And thanks to experts touting the need for a personal brand in sole proprietor businesses the confusion is growing. It’s no wonder.  Business… personal… personal… business– what IS the big difference any way?

Last week, I was guiding a client (a service-based sole practioner) through the same step-by-step process that I take every company (sole practioner, entrepreneur or a business of any size) through to develop their brand and I noticed that as we got deeper and deeper into the process, she was having more and more trouble coming up with answers.   The very answers that would separate her from other people engaged the same exact business and distinctly establish her brand.

In the middle of working on the most important step in the branding process– the brand statement–I asked her the simple question, "Why does she do business she does?" she burst into tears. Halfway into the box of Kleenex she finally, revealed the most amazing answer as to why she was in her chosen field in the first place. Honestly, I think she stunned herself. We both sat silent for over a minute in awe of the power she had tapped into with her discovery. (Don’t let anyone fool you, this is from where the true power of branding comes.)

Then doubt reared its ugly head and like a butterfly emerging from a new cocoon, a series of questions poured out of her: "Is this my business or is it me?" "Is why I do what I do really that important?" "Why is it so hard for me to stand in the power of my business and really make something of it?"

You get the picture? You may even be standing in a similar picture, even wrestling with the same questions yourself. Bless you if you’re not.  Let’s look at the difference between ‘your business’ and ‘you the person’ and see if we can clear up this question once and for all.

A business: (be it Niketown or Bob’s Shoe Bonanza) Delivers a product or service to fulfill a customer need. You: Deliver a product or service to fulfill a customer need.

A business: Establishes a certain value that a customer can rely on from every contact with their product or service. You: Establish a certain value that a customer can rely on from every contact with your product or service. (If not, get on it immediately!)

A business: Communicates consistently to reach the customers that have a need for their product or service. You: Communicate consistently to reach the customers that have a need for your product or service. (If not, what are you waiting for?)

A business: Enjoys a financial reward equal to the amount of customers that it serves, AND a personal reward for the creator/C.E.O. You: Enjoy a financial reward equal to the amount of customers that you serve AND YOU get to experience the personal reward yourself.

If you look at just these four basic, bottom-line points, the difference between a business and you as a sole business owner is… nothing; unless you count the added bonus of you getting a financial AND personal reward.

At the start of every single business, throughout history, there has never been a separation between the person starting it and the business itself. If you asked any business figure-head today, Bill Gates of Microsoft, or Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com, or if they took over a company like Meg Whitman for Ebay, or Carly Fiorina for Hewlett- Packard, they would tell you that there is no difference in who ‘they are’ and what ‘they bring’ to their business. Why? Because there’s no room for a difference.  It’s the alignment that makes it possible to reach the highest of the heights.

It’s challenging enough to make any business succeed. It’s tough enough to make any business reside in the mind of a customer. Why would you remove the very power of ‘you’ in every shape and form from your business?! Why not every day do the thing that moves you the most?   You are the only thing that sets your business apart– you just need a process of tapping into your power, connecting it  to your business, and a systematic way of communicating it to your customers over and over and over again.

When developing your amazing business as a brand, throw the doors wide open. Create it as you would if you were reaching millions.   You can always decide exactly how many millions later. Thinking of your brand as just a ‘personal’ one will do the opposite.  Keep it small.

If you work for yourself, be it your own business, network marketing, or even an agent/broker condition under a corporate umbrella, you are the CEO of your business. Every CEO brings themselves personally to their business. The great ones bring every thing they are to their creation, every moment.

The majority of our lives are spent doing what we call work. As an entrepreneur or business owner, you have the wonderful opportunity to make it more. Make it your creation. Think of yourself as the Creator of an Entrepreneur Organization. When you wake up tomorrow, instead of saying to yourself, "I’m going to work" say "I’m going to create." And the operative word is I’m. The true power of really making something in your business will come from investing in it the most valuable commodity you have– you.

There is no separation on the road to big business success: just because you’re personally on it. True big business success comes to those who know, it’s not just business– it’s personal too.

Written by Kim Castle, the Co-founder of BrandU™ — the home of only step-by- step process for developing your business as a brand from the inside out!

To get information on upcoming BrandU one-day workshops: http:// www.whybrandu.com/Public/events/workshop/index.cfm?semID=13

Get your Why You?!(sm) monthly ezine for easy-to-read tips and informative insights on branding. To subscribe: http://www.whybrandu.com/

“BrandU™ — Big Business Success No Matter Your Size”

CPR CPA CTR… what does it all mean? What it means is dollars "out" of your pocket instead of "in" to your pocket. Advertising dollars are gaining in value, meaning the regular advertiser now gets MORE for his dollar than he did a few years back.

An advertiser used to pay for "impressions",meaning everytime his ad showed on a web page it was counted as an impression. He would buy 1000 to 100000 impressions for his ad. Ad rates depended upon the web site. Educational sites could get a higher CPM rate, (cost per thousand impressions), than a site selling laundry detergent.

Things have changed somewhat… Now they want to buy CPA ads, (cost per action), meaning they want to pay per "action". An "action" is not considered a click. If they place an ad on your site, it doesn’t matter if it gets 10000 impressions or 50000 impressions. It doesn’t matter if it gets 1000 clicks. They are ONLY going to pay you if someone actually clicks on the link AND buys whatever they are selling on their site. Sounds great huh?

The other great ad inventory they want to purchase is the CTR offer. This is for "click through rate". That means their ad can again show 10000 times or 50000 times. It doesn’t matter. They are only going to pay you if someone actually clicks on their ad. Another yummy prospect huh?

What is going on here? Are we so desperate for ads that we will allow someone to use our web pages to flaunt their products for free and only get paid if someone clicks their ad or acually signs up for something they are selling? What is wrong with this picture, people?

Let’s see…. I want to rent a new business building, but I have informed the landlord that even though I will be taking up their "prime space", I will only be paying partial rent on customers who actually buy something. It doesn’t matter if I have a crummy storefront, a disorganized shelving system, or an unmanageble way to navigate about the store. I am still only going to pay them for their prime spot IF I actually get a sale out of the building. Now this sounds more to my liking!

Also, I am going to be contacting some National Newspapers. I want to place an ad on their "front" page along with some other ads in the rest of the newspaper. I am going to inform the newsletter that I don’t care if they have 100,000 subscribers who will see the ad. I am only going to pay "IF" someone actually uses the ad and buys my product. Now hurry up and get my ad placed on the front page of your newspaper!

Let’s wake up ladies!

As long as you keep accepting advertising on these terms, you are going to be giving away your "prime business space" and your "front page space" to some clever marketing agent who just saw a new victim when he landed at your site.

I would LOVE to see these guys try to pull this stuff in the real world! H-E-L-L-O… This may be a virtual world, but it still takes "real" people to read your ads and real people to buy your products.

Maybe you advertisers only want to pay on a click through rate or a click per action rate because your ad might stink or it’s in a "testing" phase. In the meantime they get to be your guinea pig while you test around to see which ads got the best performance as you showed the ad millions of times but only had to pay for actual clicks on your ad. What a deal you got!

I think I’ll make up the blandest ad I can find, but make sure the words "Digital Women" are in it because I just want people to remember the name. I don’t care if they click or not because I am just after brand recognition at the moment. Then I won’t have to pay anything to the poor sap that showed my ad 500,000 times but I can still get the brand recognition that I need to succeed at my present goal, which is just making sure my "name" is seen around the world on lots of people’s web sites.

This article is not meant to sound bitter. It is meant to open your eyes to what is being handed to you like it’s something special. It’s not special and they couldn’t pass this off in a real newspaper or a real magazine or a real business development mall or shopping mall.

Stop being a victim to these guys. If they offer a CPA or CTR send them out the same door they came through. Wise up! That is your prime advertising space. Stop "giving" it away.

What are your best options if:

If you "accept" advertising, make sure you offer a flat rate for your prime space. You can offer a CPM which is a cost per thousand impressions, or you can offer a flat monthly rate based on how many impressions they can get in 30 days.

Your rates should be in line with what your site offers as content. Adres has a chart but I think it is a couple of years old. You can check out the CPM rates there. When you hit the site, look to the right for a link to "sample rates": http://adres.internet.com/adrates/article/0,1401,,00.html

Have a clear ad rates page set up. We suggest using an advertising agency to sell ads for you. They know all the ad terms and communicate better with those who buy ads. One great place we know that specializes in advertising for women is the Queen of Pizzazz. You can find that advertising agency here: http://www.thequeenofpizzazz.com

If you "buy" advertising, make sure you have a budget in place before you start looking. Also you will need to have several different ads to try at different places. If you don’t do some sort of ad tracking or some sort of program in place where you can see which of your ads did the best then you will be wasting valuable ad dollars.

Again we suggest using an ad agency that will do all that for you. The above site also offers the service of buying ad space for you. Try them out.

To sum up…

About The Author

Rebecca Game is the owner/founder of Digital-Women.com an international online community for women in business. If you are a "woman with her modem running…" come join us!

http://www.digital-women.com, mailto:marketing@digital-women.com