There are a lot of things that contribute towards the success of a business. Having a good quality product doesn’t necessarily assure the success of a business. To build a long term impression on your customers, it is vital that you have a proper marketing strategy and something unique about your company. Here comes in the importance for having a custom logo design.

I think it is absolutely important for all corporate bodies to realize the importance of having a custom designed logo. A professional logo design goes a long way to establish the identity and exude the attitude of the company. Now, when we say ‘professional logo design", we must understand that it is not a child’s play, its a specialist job and better if it is assigned to a professional logo designer. The corporate bodies need to appoint the specialist in the field to get it done. I definitely do understand that its lot of fun to design your own logo; You play with colors, try out your drawing skills and spend some idle time to think what should be the design, at the end you land up with a very common concept of having the initials of your company in some twisted fashion or putting in a sleazy slogan to say your product is the best or some other things like that. However, that is not how your logo should be, it is not just a small graphics to appear in your business cards and letterheads. A logo, if done properly can leave a long and deep impression on your customers mind. They go a long way in depicting the image of your business. You can well understand, how powerful a logo can be if you think about the golden M of McDonalds—the moment you see that, you know its’ them. Just think about the IBM logo or Swoosh of Nike, do you even take a moment to think, to whom does that logo belong? That shows how powerful impact a logo can create in the mind of your customers. Wouldn’t you like your company to have an equally powerful logo?

A professionally designed custom logo can be very powerful in representing the company profile, the nature of job they do and the attitude of the company. It helps to build the identity of the company and distinguishes your service from your competitors in the industry.

These days its really easy to find a professional logo designer and the best part is that they offer the service at real cheap rates which can be afforded by the smallest of business houses. There are so many logo design firm that offers excellent custom logo designs at unbelievable low rates. There are even companies that would happily do a quality logo for you for just $60-$80. Some companies would even allow you to quote "Your price" for "Your Logo" and they will do it at whatever price you quote. What can be more wonderful than this? Does it really make sense not to have a good logo even when you can have it so cheap?

The good news is, these days the corporate houses have started to realize the importance of establishing their brand and they are acknowledging the crucial role that a company logo plays in this process. The sooner the business houses realize the importance of professionally designed custom logo and stationery the better it will be for them and also for the graphic designing industry.

Ray Smith is a marketing Expert with years of experience in different industries and specialized knowledge on branding and internet marketing. Affordable Logo Design.

Moving message display are designed to be installed into environments where vast amounts of information need to be conveyed to large audiences both quickly and efficiently, also in the world of indoor and outdoor displays. This gives you enormous flexibility for creating interesting text message on Moving message display.

Moving message displays are becoming very popular in the areas like airports, banks, auctions, church, receptions, promotions factories, companies, groups, government and high streets outlets to transmit information to large groups of people quickly. This is possible because of technology called LED lighting, which stands for light emitting diodes. The important thing to remember here is that LED technology is very much efficient than standard incandescent lighting.

LED technology is one of the most advanced technology today as they are very efficient and do not waste any electricity in their production of visible bight and eye-catching light.

As a result, in addition to being extremely bright and eye catching, Moving Message Displays, using this technology, also energy-efficient with attractive design that that be clearly seen with great distance.

Standard color comes in red, yellow, or green, but any combination in multi color scheme can be chosen to make display more effective and brighter in sense. In addition to this, size is also variable. Character sizes usually range according to the need. The technology behind LED moving message displays is so advanced, there are literally thousand of variations on the standard electronic display. Jayex Technology , the leading manufacturer of Moving Message Display has variety of options that give wide choice.

Most importunately, these Moving message Displays are easy to set up , program and handle, they allow the outlet to simply and clearly present the scrolled text. Most Moving Message Displays are connected to local power supply and can switch on and off automatically at pre-programmed times. Moreover they can be controlled remotely that least concern about the location.

About The Author

Paula Jones

Jayex Technology Limited, based in London specialise in advanced information display systems. Established in 1978 we have pioneered the development of the LED display market and now have over 18,000 customers worldwide. We offer, probably the largest range of models from small single line signs to big screen Megavision screens that can display live video and action replay in stadia.

jayex.co.uk

Moving message boards are used in the areas where continuous announcements, or other information are need to be displayed in to either indoor or outdoor. Used most widely in churches, schools, airports, other transport stations, banks, production and administration department of organization as marquee information billboards.

Moving message boards uses the technology of LED which stands for light emitting diode. With the power of LED’s, you can have a renewable advertisement that is not limited to a single declaration. Boards are easily programmable, meaning you can display anything you want at any time you wish with different scrolling options.

One need not to have high knowledge to operate these electronic boards. As they are accepted with high demand all over the world, the manufacturers are being pushed to created signs that are more user- friendly.

Moving message boards can be controlled remotely via usual methods when connected to personal computers or to any other source. In addition it is also possible to use an infra red keyboard to control the boards, which gives immediate results.

New technology allows these electronic signs to be operated from an almost every sources. Fibre optic networks and tcp/ip , private newswires, radio, pagers and some cellular phones can all be used to operate electronic displays.

Most importantly, these boards are used as “silent sales man”. They can be programmed to automatically be switched on and off given a time frame. Thus they become easy to use and with no maintenance cost.

About The Author

Paula Jones

Jayex Technology Limited, based in London specialise in advanced information display systems. Established in 1978 we have pioneered the development of the LED display market and now have over 18,000 customers worldwide. We offer, probably the largest range of models from small single line signs to big screen Megavision screens that can display live video and action replay in stadia.

jayex.co.uk

Everyone wants his company logo to be the best but how good is good? How do we define a good logo? Is it necessary to be colorful or an exquisite piece of art? Can a simple design work as a good logo? We are often in a dilemma.

Now to define a good logo design we first need to understand the purpose of having a logo. A corporate logo is one of the most essential branding elements for your company. It should be instrumental in building your corporate identity and should successfully exude the company’s attitude. The viewers must have some idea about the disposition, character, or fundamental values of your company through your logo. The functionality of a logo does not end here, I have not yet mentioned the most important function of a corporate logo. Your logo should be able to build a positive, strong and long lasting impression on existing and prospective customers. The very moment a person views your logo, even a part of it, he should think of your company.

Just think of some of the all time great logos, McDonalds’, IBM, Nike— the moment you see their logos, even if you see a part of it or may be in Black and White (there comes another important aspect!) are you able to think of anything else than the respective company? The answer is definitely NO! The first thing that comes to your mind is the name of the company. This shows how strong an impression their logo leaves in our mind. Isn’t that, what all of us are looking for?

How do you get your logo to leave such a strong long lasting impression? The key to this question is to make it easy to remember. Companies often make the mistake of thinking that a complicated artistic design might work well for them, while the reverse is true, in most cases. The simpler your logo is, the easier it is to remember and so it leaves a stronger impression on the people.

You also need to think of all the possible mediums where you are going to use your logo. You are not going to use your logo in only one medium, you might use it on your business cards and stationery, you might use it in your website, you might also use it in the conventional media like newspaper classifieds and magazines. This is why it is most important to inform your logo designers about the possible mediums where you are going to use your logo. You should also check if your logo looks good in Black and White, because tomorrow if you need to get a document in black and white with your logo on it, it should be very easily compatible to that as well.

In the beginning of this article, I have mentioned, that your logo can successfully convey the character and nature of your business to its viewers. How do we do that? There are a host of factors that are considered before designing a logo. When you place an order for a logo design, as a client it is your responsibility to give a clear brief of your company profile, the industry you are in and the nature of logo that you are looking for, to the designers. If you are not sure about the nature of logo that suits your company, let the logo design firm decide on that. There are many logo design companies who are experienced and they will be much better equipped to suggest you the correct type of logos. Any good logo design firm would conduct a market research about the different types of logos used in your industry by your competitors and their impact on the people. Based on that they will deliver you a set of logos from which you can choose any one and then they will customize that to your perfection.

If you have any corporate colors, as we have red for McDonalds’, it will be wise to suggest the designers to use that color in your logo-any good designer would anyhow do that.

One last word, as with any other industry, it is definitely beneficial to buy professional service than to go for any amateur designs just to save a few dollars. You might be the best in your industry but they know their job better than you, so if you want to get a good result, try to depend on your logo design company. I do understand that there are certain logo design companies that charge exorbitant rate to create a logo design but the industry is changing. These days there are companies that offer excellent logos for nominal charges. So before you decide to place your order for your logo design, check the portfolio of the company and then check the price tag. You can definitely find some professional logo designs at affordable rates.

Ray Smith is a marketing Expert with years of experience in different industries and specialized knowledge on branding and internet marketing. Affordable Logo Design.

Many people in business lay-out (design) their own ads. That old adage "If It Is To Be It Is Up To Me" prevails. Do it yourself and you may get what you want. Many newspaper salespeople are poor at conveying customer wants to the design department, and slow are retunring proofs. The result is an ad with errors, not approved by the cusotmer.

If your expenditures will be moderate, you might be able to afford a graphic designer or advertising agency. It costs nothing to find out, call a few ad agencies in the phone book and ask for an account rep. Explain you may be in the market for an agency and let them ask the questions. A quick determination will not be long in coming.

There is a lot to be said for finding a way for someone else to do your ads so you can use your talents for what you do best, running your business. Designing your own ads (a furniture store I visited had a complete drafting table, magnifying light and glue pot in the corner) is about the same as fixing your own leaks and asking the plumber to come by and inspect it.

Your ad will have less than eight tenths of a second to get a reader’s attention. You must stop the reader’s eye in less than a second, and hold it for at least three seconds to make an impression. Think about the ads you pass when you read the paper, You fly by some of them faster than you can say "one-Mississippi" (a half a second).

Collect a folder of ads thet grab your attention. Gather a list of hot words. There are articles and lists throughout the internet of "selling" words. Type "Words that Sell" in any search engine.

Always Stress the Benefits A feature is what something is. A benefit is what it does. Advertise the benefits of your product or service, not the features. People don’t buy something to get a feature, instead they always buy to get the benefit produced by the feature.

The jury is still out on the effectiveness of color vs the cost of color. Look at the big boys, most don’t use color in display ads (only the car dealers, for some inexplicable reason).

There are Already Enough Egos Look through any paper and count the mug shots of the owner, pics of the kids or staff. Not to mention the photos of the business building or award. Ego is easy to sell to the advertisers, but it doesn’t sell the customer. The paper uses ego all the time to sell you more ads. The billboard people are especially notorious for this practice. Focus on the benefits and forget your smiling head and shoulders shot.

Put it on the shelf After you put an ad together, put it on the shelf, in a drwaer or file it in your computer for a day. Don’t look at it or think about it. Wait at least 24 hours to take a fresh look. Can you remove at kleast 5 words? It will sell harder with less words. You don’t read jumbled ads, they don’t either. Does it have to be that big? Cut it by a third and you can buy more for the same money.

Sell the benefits with class and your advertising can be very effective.

For more about advertising, get my article "Your Billboard is Showing" MailTo:Billboards@BigIdeasGroup.com

©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel, All Rights Reserved MailTo:Mike@BIGIdeasGroup.com BIG Mike is a Business Consultant and Professional Speaker. His BIG Ideas Group helps small business grow with mastermind groups, seminars and training. http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

Subscribe to "BIG Mike’s BIG Ideas" Newsletter MailTo:subscribe-956603364@ezinedirector.net

If you’ve been searching around for business cards that will best represent the image you want to portray for your business, then you’ve no doubt encountered many options. The Big Two, as I like to think of them, are "Raised Letter" and "Full Color."

What are the differences in raised letter and full color business cards? What are the price differences? What looks best for how I want to represent my business? These are all questions I hear on a daily basis.

1. The difference between Raised Letter and Full Color printing is in how the ink is applied to the card stock. Thermography is the type of printing that produces ink that stands up off the page slightly. When you run your fingers across the surface, you can feel the printing on the stock. Each color that is printed has a separate plate, and the cards have to be run through the press for each color chosen. These types of cards have a very elegant and refined look about them, especially if the colors and stocks chosen are complimentary. There are hundreds of varieties of stocks and inks to choose from.

Full Color printing is much like printing from your ink jet printer at home. All the inks are printed on the page at the same time, and combined to create hues, shades–photo images. So, one run through and the cards are printed. These cards have been traditionally used by real estate agents, insurance agents and the like. But now, with this type of printing becoming more affordable and available, anyone can choose this option. These designs most of the time seem jazzier, sharper, more upbeat.

2. The cost difference is an oddity. Spot printing (the process of laying the colors on one at a time, as in Raised Letter cards), can be much cheaper–if only one color or black is chosen. White plate (65 lb stocks) will be cheaper than a cordwain or linen. But, if you start adding more colors (equals more time through the press) then you’ll start racking up the cost. If your colors touch each other (called registration–the printer must make sure the cards run through correctly) then you’ll tack on some extra expense there.

If you have a full color logo, the least expensive way to go would be with full color (process printing). But, you generally have to get a minimum of 1000. You can get 250 from some places, but you’ll pay about the same price. It’s the setup fee from the printer that is the biggest expense. Printing them is the cheap part, which is why the more you get, the better the price.

3. To choose the look that’s right for you, I would think first about the image you are projecting for your company. Are you a doctor? You probably would rather have a classier linen stock with black and gold inks. Same for lawyers and other professionals. A handsome bordeaux (burgundy) on grey fiber stock would speak volumes about your professionalism. The raised letter would add to the expensive feel. There is really no need to add more than 1 color and black in printing raised letter cards. If that’s the way you’re heading, then you probably have a flashier business image and would need full color cards. A doctor or lawyer is usually using cards to provide clients with contact information, not get more business.

Full color is proven to get a 30% better response rate than regular printing, but this is only a bonus if your business aims to use the business cards to get more business. If you sell a product, using full color cards would be a brilliant idea–you can have a photo of it right on the cards. If you’re in a service industry like real estate, you’ll want your prospects to remember your face. Add your professionally taken photo to your cards. If you’re trying to express a concept of what you can do for customers, then finding the right stock photo image can speak thousands of words with just one image!

In reality, cost usually dictates the biggest part of your decision making process. However, I would caution you to consider your IMAGE first. You might find that if you choose the card that has the best representation of your image, the cost ends up being less than if you choose the wrong one.

About The Author

Business card designer, Mitoné Cooke, specializes in full color business card designs at her website http://drbusinesscards.com. You can also give her a call at 1-800-431-3407 to order raised letter cards! Mitoné can be reached by email at moi@mitone.com. Sign up for the free e-newsletter about Business Card Marketing by sending a blank email to bizcardmarketing@getresponse.com.

The elements and functionality of the basic stationery system is changing. With the advent of email, fax, web and cell phones, stationery systems must be adjusted to meet the needs of today’s business.

Business Cards

The biggest change by far in business cards is the amount of information they contain. Current cards often juggle multiple phone numbers, email, and web addresses as well as one or more street addresses. Companies are adopting logos with taglines and sometimes sub-taglines. We have even seen mission statements and bullet lists of services and product lines printed on cards. To corral the potential chaos, think carefully about the purpose of the card and how the end viewer will use it.

Secondary information such as alternate addresses can be positioned away from the key content on the back of the card. Web and email addresses are now easily identified and no longer need "http://," "web" and "email." Alternatively, try a mini CD — a business card sized disk that can contain an interactive presentation.

Letterhead

It is not what letterhead says, but how it is used – and not used that is changing. Many businesses now use email for their primary correspondence. Sending invoices, thank you notes and proposals electronically drastically reduces the reliance on printed stationery.

While situations remain where professional communication requires a printed letter, the quantity of letterhead ordered can be reduced for many businesses. Corporate address, main phone and fax numbers and website should be still be included. Reserve personal information, such as email and cell phone numbers for individual business cards, even if there is only one person in the business.

Envelopes

The standard #10 business envelope is still around. Known as the "bill" or "invoice" size, we like to create distinctive designs that stand out and beg to be opened. Invest in having your logo printed in your corporate colors on paper that matches your cards and stationery. Mismatched mailings look unprofessional and derail your brand-building efforts.

Whether professionally done or output on your desktop printer, affixing a label that coordinates with your other stationery instantly turns plain 9×12 and other envelopes into pieces of your branded system without having to invest in printing envelopes in sizes you only use occasionally.

Some things never go out of style

When developing a stationery system, don’t just think about what you "should" have, think about how you work and plan a system that helps you get the job done from both a practical and a marketing perspective.

About The Author

Beth Brodovsky is the president and principal of Iris Creative Group, LLC. Brodovsky earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design from Pratt Institute, New York. Before launching her own firm in 1996, she spent eight years as a corporate Art Director and Graphic Designer, providing a sound foundation in management and organizational standards and structure. Iris Creative specializes in providing marketing and strategic communication services to clients in service industries and small businesses. For more information contact Beth at bsb@iriscreative.com or 610-567-2799.

1) Include a coupon in your large ads. This can increase response from 25 to 100 percent. Your coupon could offer the prospect your brochure or catalog.

2) Use a benefit headline on your coupon that affirms the prospect is getting valuable, needed information. E.g. “Yes, I want to reduce my inventory costs by 50 percent.”

3) Include a picture of your brochure or catalog in your ad.

4) Use a sidebar in your ad packed with tips that your prospect will find useful. E.g “10 Ways To Reduce Your Phone Bill.”

5) Concentrate your copy on the prospect, not on your company. Tell your prospect how your product or service will solve their problems. Use the words “you” and “your” frequently and “I” and “We” less.

6) With a smaller ad, you can ask the prospect to tear out the ad, attach their business card and mail it to your company.

7) Consider converting your ad into an advertorial. This format looks more like an article and contains valuable information. It attracts people who normally skip over ads because advertorials look like editorial content. If the publisher will allow it, use the same typeface as the publication the advertorial appears in. To see advertorial samples, visit the “Portfolio” section of my website http://www.dc-infobiz.com/

8) Put quotation marks around the headline. This can draw 28 percent more attention than a headline without quotation marks.

9) Consider running your ad in black and white if you’re using mostly text in the ad. Without colour, the ad looks more like an article.

10) The headline is the most important part of an ad. Spend time creating a powerful, benefit packed headline. If you don’t stop the reader in their tracks with a good headline, few will bother to read the rest of the ad.

About The Author

David Coyne is a copywriter and marketing consultant. Need help writing your brochures, ads, web pages and other marketing materials? Contact David at his web site: http://www.dc-infobiz.com

This article will show you how to cut your printing costs to a penny and have your postcards addressed for free without doing it all yourself, reducing the time you invest in your mailing to almost nothing.

So, you have a list of hot prospects in hand; you need a way to get your marketing message in front of them with the hope that a reasonable percentage will call you. You decide that you want to send a postcard to each prospect.

You open the yellow pages and randomly select a printer.

After explaining what you want, she gives you a quote of eleven cents per postcard. That seems like more than you wanted to spend, so you call a few more printers. Several phone calls later, you finally get a quote that meets your budget–six cents each.

A week later you have the postcards in hand. You sit down with your list on one side and a pile of hundreds of postcards on the other side (if you aren’t sending at least hundreds at a time, don’t expect much of a response). You pop a couple of your favorite DVDs into the disc changer and settle in for an evening of addressing your postcards.

You finish the first and cross it off your list. After scribbling through the first fifty, you look at the clock and realize this is taking much longer than expected. All the same, you are determined so you continue.

Two movies, two pens, and one band-aid later (for that pesky papercut), you finally reach the end. The smile that cracks on your face is broken by the thought that you still need to stamp them. One movie, one sponge, and hundreds of stamps later, you really reach the end.

Despite the feeling of accomplishment, you can’t help feeling dread at the thought of going through the process again in two weeks when you mail to the list again (if you are not following up with your prospects multiple times, again, you are wasting your time). There must be a better way.

Does this scenario sound familiar? If so, then keep reading. I am about to show you how you can change that. You will be able to quickly setup multiple mailings in advance, sit back, and just wait for them to go out on the specified date.

For those who haven’t yet experienced preparing your mailings by hand, feel free to try it for yourself once and then we’ll see you back here in a couple weeks when you are ready to appreciate what I am about to share.

Leveraging Your Time Effectively

Time is as precious as your cash flow and it should be leveraged just as carefully. Developing efficient systems and automating repetitive tasks is essential to your success as a business. When it comes to postcards and other similar mailings, the United States Postal Service has taken care of this for you. The postcard mailing system I am about to share with you is based on a service available online at:

http://www.usps.com/mailingonline

The first time you visit the Mailing Online web page, you will need to click on the Sign-Up button. Signing up for a personal account allows you to save postcards and mailing lists so that you can easily reuse them in the future. Now let’s talk about some of the benefits that this service has to offer.

A Penny per Postcard for Printing

Normal postage for a postcard is twenty-three cents. The cost of mailing out a postcard through Mailing Online is twenty-four cents. This is like getting your postcards printed for a penny each and addressed for free.

Avoid Numerous Steps and Saves Hours of Your Time

Avoid picking up your cards from the printer, addressing and stamping them by hand, and delivering them to the post office for mailing. The money saved is significant and the time saved is huge.

Use Ready-Made Templates to Create Your Mailing Pieces

Mailing Online provides templates for you download and open in several popular applications such as Microsoft Word. This makes designing you postcard easy. Then you upload the postcard to Mailing Online to use in your mailing campaign.

Easily Upload Your Mailing List

Mailing Online allows you to easily upload your mailing list from several different file formats including Excel and MS Word.

Verify Your Addresses against Official Post Office Records

Mailing Online will automatically check you mailing list against official post office records. You will be told if any of your addresses do not match. Then you can decide whether to eliminate these addresses so that you don’t waste money on invalid addresses.

Choose from Several Mailing Formats

You can also choose to mail a variety of other mailing pieces including brochures, letters, and self-mailer flyers. Mailing Online provides the templates you need to create these mailers. However, I suggest using this service primarily for postcards. I have not tried their flyers, I think brochures are pointless, and I imagine their letters are label-addressed which is puts your mailer in the junk pile as soon as is seen by your prospect.

Saving Mailing Lists, Postcards, and Mailing Campaigns for Future Use

You can save your lists and postcards to be easily reused for future campaigns without uploading them again.

Schedule Mailing Campaigns to Go Out at a Future Date

You can pick a date in the future for you mailer to go out. You could even set up an entire sequence to go out on autopilot. For example, you could schedule a postcard to go out right away, another one in 10 days, and another in a month. This allows you easily follow-up with your prospects.

Your Postcard is Only as Good as the Marketing Message it Delivers

Without getting into a discussion on copywriting, I want to make the following points about your postcard design:

1. Your postcard will only be as good as your marketing message. You have about two seconds to attract the reader’s attention before your postcard ends up in the garbage. The best way to accomplish this is with a well-written headline.

2. Don’t waste a lot of space on your logo or other fancy graphics. Don’t waste a lot of space on your company’s name or your contact info. Focus on telling the reader what you have that can benefit them.

3. Make sure you make it clear what you want the prospect to do next. Most likely this will be to call you or a message hotline.

4. Since postcard space is limited, just share the most important aspects of your marketing message. Tell the reader how they can get more info if they are interested by sending them to a web site or by asking them to call you to receive more information (i.e. the rest of your marketing message). This is called two-step marketing.

About The Author

Jason Van Orden

www.jasonvanorden.com

"Discover how to attract more leads and maximize revenue with a minimum investment of your time and money."

Admittedly, I have not seen your advertising flyer. Then again, I probably don’t have to. I have reviewed hundreds, if not thousands, of advertising flyers for small businesses. After 30 years I have found that nearly every small business ad flyer contains the same mistakes and missed opportunities. Avoid these seven common mistakes, and your advertising flyer - and your marketing in general - will be stronger for it.

Advertising flyer mistake #1: A Blah Headline (Your Company’s Name)

Remember, your flyer is an ad. It needs to SELL. Your potential customers aren’t interested in your name. They’re not even interested in what you do. Sounds cruel? Well, it is but that’s life. Get over it!

Prospective customers are interested in their own needs and wants. So, hit them with a headline they can’t ignore, because it addresses their needs.

Instead of:

Sheri’s Pet Grooming

Try: Smelly Pet Stinking Up The House?

Or:

We Treat Your Cat Like The Royalty They Are!

Or:

Man’s Best Friend Deserves Something Special!

You get the idea. Figure out what’s important to your potential customers. Then, use your headline to immediately answer their question: "What’s in it for me?"

Advertising flyer mistake #2: Not Solving A Problem!

Although your ad flyer copy should include your key features or services, each feature or service should be attached to a clear, customer-oriented, benefit that addresses a problem, or hassle, or pain. Also, tell - or, better, show - how those benefits prevent or solve problems for your potential customer.

Think about all the problems, both real and potential, that could stem from not using your product or service. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Talk to them. Listen to them. Learn what their problems are. Identify benefits about your product or service that make a difference to your potential customers. Emphasize in your flyer the problems and solutions that set you apart from your competition.

Advertising flyer mistake #3: Be A Friend!

People buy from people they like. One key thing your potential customer needs and wants is to feel good about you. Are you knowledgeable? Are you trustworthy? Do you understand my problems? Am I comfortable doing business with you?

The more comfortable someone feels about buying from you, the more likely they are to do so. That’s why I recommend that you have an "I" section - a section where you talk about yourself, your qualifications, your values, your personal commitment. Help them understand who you are and who they will be doing business with (hopefully).

Advertising flyer mistake #4: Going Quietly Into The Night!

This is the typical close to a flyer: "for more information, call 555-5555." Instead, create a “call to action”. Here are three basic, proven closers:

· Buy before (DATE), and receive $10 off. This closer is effective at getting immediate action, and works especially well for one-time purchases or regularly purchased items.

· Act before (DATE), and get (VALUE-ADDED PRODUCT/SERVICE), FREE with your purchase! This closer offers an incentive for fast action. It also works "free" into your flyer. "Free" is a very powerful word.

· Purchase before (DATE) to take advantage of our slow-season! This closer attaches a negative consequence to any delay or hesitation. Note the more believable the reason for the limit, the more powerful this closer becomes.

Advertising flyer mistake #5: Forgetting There Are Two Sides!

With an advertising flyer, the printing or photocopying is but a small part of the overall expense. The larger expense, in time or money or both, is distribution. So, distribute a two-sided flyer, for twice the opportunity to make a sale! Just make sure your second side doesn’t compete with your main message side.

The second side could be used for:

· A comprehensive list of your services

· A map with driving and parking directions

· Customer testimonials

· Relevant tips or advice

· Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Use the second side to support, expand upon, or enhance the message on the main side.

Advertising flyer mistake #6: One Good Shot!

One-time advertising efforts are seldom effective. It is a rule of thumb among marketing professionals that you need to reach people at least eight times before they really notice you. Your prospective customers need to see the your ads over and over.

So, plan a series of distributions as part of your strategy. I recommend that you plan to hit each household at least eight times with an ad flyer. Mix the message up a bit! Change the color of the paper you use. Change the headline. Keep track of which flyer drives the most business.

If possible, combine your flyers with other localized advertising, so you reach those homes through a variety of media channels. At the very least, combine door-to-door distribution with posting in public areas where allowed. Community centers, schools, stores, and libraries often offer public bulletin boards.

Advertising flyer mistake #7: Flyers Gone Astray!

You should keep two objectives in mind when targeting neighborhoods for your flyer distribution.

· It’s much more cost-effective for you to have clients in convenient clusters instead of scattered all over town. Concentrate your ad distribution within and around your existing clusters of clients.

· Reaching the right people within the target area is also critical. An advertising flyer for a landscaper is largely wasted if it’s delivered to residents of an apartment building. The added advantage to walking your "territory" house-by-house will be giving you a better understanding for what services or mix of services you should offer.

Promotional flyers are one tool in the small business’ marketing arsenal. Learn to use them well and you will create customers while saving yourself time and money.

Michele Schermerhorn calls herself a “Corporate Freedom Fighter” dedicated to freeing cubicle prisoners. She has over 30 years experience in the business world and over 12 years running her own successful online businesses. She is President of Online Business Institute Inc. (http://www.obinstitute.com), authors a marketing blog (http://www.imarketblog.com), and regularly conducts free online seminars. Online Business Institute Inc. exists to “Create Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Time”.