101 Small Business Marketing, Advertising
Ideas, Tips & Tricks
By Tom Egelhoff
One of the great things about being older
is having had the opportunity to work with some very intelligent
and creative people over the past thirty years. It is a thank
you to them that I share this information with you.
Since the information wasn't mine to begin with, it only seems
right to pass it along to you as they did with me.
I hope the following 101 tips will be helpful to you and your
business.
1. Know who your customers are.
a. Describe the person most likely to
want or need your product.
b. Why should they want to buy your product?
c. When you know the motivation, you can target the product to
the correct customer base.
d. You can't sell a product until it is defined and positioned.
Note:
A pharmaceutical company shelved a cold medicine because they
couldn't correct the drowsiness it produced. Someone renamed
it NyQuil and sold it as a bedtime cold medicine. It became the
largest selling cold medicine on the market. Just because your
product is good doesn't mean it will sell. It must be positioned
correctly. That's what marketing does.
For More See: Target Marketing: Who They Are, How To Find
Them
2. Promote with postcards.
a. First Class Postcard Postage is .20¢
(1¢ less than bulk mail - 20.8¢) This will be changing
in January 1999
b. Postcards convey a sense of urgency to the customer. They
may not read your letter but they will turn your postcard over.
(You have 3 seconds to get your message across. The average time
people look at an ad.)
c. Postcards will keep your mailing list clean (Address Correction
Requested), First class returned and corrected free of charge
by the Post Office. (Bulk Mail letter correction cost .32¢
each).
d. With a postcard, your message is out in the open. Other potential
customers will see it too, not just the person it's addressed
to.
Also See: Direct Mail: Why It Works And How To Use
It
Formulas for
Success: How Much Should I Mail to Make A Profit?
3. Create A Survey
a. Mail a survey to customers to find
what motivates them to buy.
b. Where do they work? What magazines do they read? Age Group?
c. This information will tell you where and how to reach your
targets.
d. Offer a gift or discount for completing the survey.
4. Use A Two-Step
Approach
a. Offer complimentary business related
information to potential customers.
Step 1: Offer a free "fact sheet" to customers that
shows your expertise.
Step 2: Add these customers to your mailing list and mail to
them often.
5. Say "Happy
Birthday"
a. Mail greeting cards to your customers
(dates from your survey #3)
b. Include a coupon or special offer or tell them about your
product that they should give themselves as a gift.
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6. Team Up With Another Business
a. Share advertising costs with another
company.
b. Sharing costs makes high-quality printing and larger ads affordable.
c. Can your product be teamed with another product? (Motor Oil
packaged with your new funnel invention.)
For More See: Build You Business With Co-Op And
Co-Branding Advertising
7. Be Consistent and
Committed
a. Research shows a message must be
repeated to be remembered.
b. Send multiple mailers to the same people.
c. If you advertise, do it where you can afford to do it often.
For More See: 25 Low Cost Advertising Tips
8. Use The Telephone
a. Test a new idea by phone before you
commit to costly promotions.
b. Response from 100 phone calls will be similar to 1,000 pieces
of mail.
c. You'll receive faster results, it costs less, and you'll generate
greater input and feedback.
For More See: How To Sell On The Phone
9. Raise Your Prices
a. Has your competition raised their
prices? Maybe you should too.
b. Higher prices separate you from the crowd, and implies your
product is better, an deserves a premium price. BMW does not
compete with Yugos.
c. Be careful in this area. The customer must see the value of
the higher price.
For More See: Pricing Methods And How To Use Them
and
How Pricing
Affects Your Business
10. Promote Trends
or Current Events
a. Can you tie your product or service
to the environment, Olympics, World Series?
b. Gain valuable credibility and interest by association with
known groups.
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11. Add Personality to Your Business
a. Use photos of you and/or your staff
in your promotional materials.
b. A quote from the person pictured
conveys friendliness and builds confidence in your company.
c. Responses to seminars and programs
are dramatically higher when photos are used.
12. Use Deadlines
a. Make sure you put a time limit on
promotional materials.
b. Watch your expiration dates. (What day does your offer end?
Are you losing an extra weekend of business?)
For More See: Understanding Why Customers Buy
13. Fear Of Not Having
Your Product
a. For products that increase personal
security, personal safety or health, fear can be an effective
business-boosting tool.
b. If they don't buy your product now, they will miss something.
A discount, premium free gift, etc. Fear of loss is more powerful
than expectation of gain.
14. Use The Media
a. Send letters covering topics related
to your business to local publications.
b. Connect your product or business to some current event that
is making news.
c. Your name and business name will probably be used if your
letter is printed.
d. You will be perceived as an expert in your field.
e. You are holding this information because of an Internet site
or a local or national promotion.
For More See: How To Be Perceived As An Expert In Your Chosen
Field
15. Make Advertising
last
a. Buy ads that last months, not minutes.
(Yellow pages)
b. Magnetic signs for car or van. Don't forget the back of your
vehicle. Put signs on truck tailgates and rear windows. Most
customers don't drive alongside your vehicle and copy down the
phone or address. They are more apt to do it at a stop sign.
c. Use clever bumper stickers or T-shirts.
d. If you're printing an expensive color piece, ask the printer
to quote the price of his house paper.
e. Design the outside of the brochure
to be permanent and the inside for future changes. That way you
can print up large quantities (5,000 or more) of the outside
only and have the printer keep them on hand. Then as your message
changes you only have to print the inside.
f. You will save by doing a large run in the beginning. You will
also save by only printing what you need as your company changes.
Avoid outdated brochures.
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16. Examine Promotional Materials
a. Make sure business cards, letterheads,
brochures and packaging materials are first class. This is not
the area to spare expenses.
b. What types of materials is your competition using?
c. If you can't afford 4 color brochures use 2 or 3 color. Use
of color increases response by 26%.
d. If you can't afford 2 color... use screens. (See Below)
Note: Screen is another word for shade (darker) or tint (lighter).
For example: A florist wants red flowers around the borders of
his brochure and black ink for the text. That's two colors. Pink
is a 50% tint of red, it is not another color. You can have some
pink flowers and some red flowers with little or no additional
cost depending on how your printer handles screens. This process
will give the appearance of three colors; red, pink, and black.
Use gray (a tint of black) and presto, a 4 color brochure (red,
pink, gray and black) for a 2 Color price. It looks expensive
but isn't.
For More See How To Design A Basic Brochure
17. Make a Memorable
Business Card
a. Make your business card a mini-brochure.
If you need a map, or other information, use the back of the
card. Your card is there long after you are gone.
b. One thousand two-color business cards run around $30.00 -
$60.00, and its worth it.
(Use shades - See #16 above and have 3 or 4 color business cards.)
c. What do your competitors cards look like? What message do
they convey to you?
d. Give several cards to business associates who might be able
to promote your business. Give a card to everyone you meet, and
put one in every letter (even bills).
Note: Joe Girard, the famous car salesman, used to throw handfuls
of business cards, like confetti, out of the upper deck at football
games, onto the expensive seats below. On the back of each card
was a discount on any car bought the following Monday.
For More See: How To Market Your Business When A Business
Card Is All You Have
18. "Thank You"
- Magic Words
a. Thank customers with a special offer.
b. Thank anyone who refers business to you with a personalized
thank you card, phone call, discounts, flowers, dinner or even
a commission.
c. Thank your reliable suppliers with a letter and increased
orders.
d. People will remember your kindness.
For More See: Customer Phrases To Watch For
19. A Business Card
for All Employees?
a. Counter people? Drivers? Yes. They're
important enough for this tiny investment.
b. They'll be proud to leave their card with every customer and
every prospect.
c. They'll use the card with friends and relatives and your name
will be in many more places.
For More See: How To Market Your Business When A Business
Card Is All You Have
20. Do What The Winners
Do.
a. Is there a company you admire? Analyze
its marketing strategies.
b. Adopt the ones you can use and improve on them.
c. Use what works. Collect advertising that attracts your attention
and adapt it to your business.
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21. Throw a Party
a. Invite clients and friends to your
home based business or store, serve refreshments and plan an
interesting demonstration of your product or service.
b. Make it EASY for customers to buy or order your products or
services. Accept credit cards, checks, eliminate long complicated
credit forms, etc.
c. Alert the media. Let the business editor know something special
is happening. They love to cover the unveiling of interesting
new products.
d. Be friendly and outgoing. If this is not your personality
ask a friend to be a greeter.
22. Give A Gift
a. Offer a specialty item that's useful
enough to save and that also serves as a reminder of your business.
Letter opener, coffee mug, paper weight etc. Look in Yellow Pages under novelties.
23. Three Secrets
of Marketing
a. You must be committed. Commit the
money and leave it alone. Plant the seeds that will grow later.
b. You must be consistent. Why does McDonalds advertise every
day on every channel? Is there anyone in the USA who hasn't heard
of McDonalds? The marketing message must be constantly reinforced.
Your customers will forget you if they don't hear from you.
c. You must be confident. Most marketing plans take at least
60 - 90 days to produce even minimum results. Be patient, your
efforts will pay off in the long run.
For More See: How To Use The Eight Basic Marketing Functions
24. Don't Try To Make
Money
a. Offer customers genuinely useful
products or services that make you and your customers happy.
b. Do what you love and the money will follow.
25. Establish A Board
of "Champions"
a. Every quarter or so, put up a dozen
of these advisers (friends, family, business associates whose
opinions and judgment you value) into a room and allow them to
critique every aspect of your business. For the cost of a nice
lunch this "board of advisors" can give you a different
look at yourself.
b. Don't be "thin-skinned", they may be hard on you
or your product, but that's the purpose. They may see problems
that you don't. Grow from the experience.
For More See: Advisory Boards: How To Create One &
How To Use It
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26. Use A Dipstick Now And Then
a. When explaining your product or service
to customers, stop every 30 to 45 seconds and ask a question
to see if your message is being received. If they ask you to
continue or ask to take notes you know you're on the right track.
b. You can't sell it if your message is not being received.
27. Never Assume
a. Never assume any of the following:
1. The customer can't afford it.
2. The customer won't buy it.
3. The customer doesn't understand the product.
4. The customer won't buy more than one.
5. The customer won't price your competitors.
6. The customer won't like you.
b. On the other hand, don't assume the opposite is true either.
c. Have confidence in your product or service and the need it
fills.
For More See: Understanding Why Customers Buy
28. Take Little Bites
a. Eskimos eat whales, and tiny termites
eat mighty houses the same way.... a bite at a time.
b. Starting a company or introducing a new product is a monumental
task if you approach it as a done deal. General Motors didn't
start at its present size, its doors opened on the first day
of business with no customers just like yours.
c. Good management, a good product properly positioned, and a
"never give up" attitude.
d. Even with small bites the meal may become more than you can
swallow.
NOTE: In the September 1992, issue of Success magazine is the
story of Herb Vest. He started a company that was against CPA
regulations in every state. He financed his business with personal
credit cards. At one time he was $400,000 in debt and had judgments
filed against him. The bank repossessed his car. But he never
gave up. "I always knew I'd succeed." he said. Nine
years later 9 states had changed the rules and Vest is CEO of
a $36 million company. This is the kind of determination, drive
and attitude it takes to be successful...Do you have that kind
of determination, drive and attitude? (See #38 -39)
29. Use the Public
Library
a. The library has more information
on business than anyone can possibly read.
b. The librarians will research and find the information you
need. A real time saver.
c. Look the books over for two weeks and buy the ones you want
to add to your business library.
30. Use One Media
to Direct Your Customer To Another
a. If the best way to reach your target
market (i.e., Teens) is with radio, but you have a long story
to tell, use your radio spot to tell them about your big sale
ad in the paper.
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31. Invite Complaints About Your Business Or
Product
a. Make it easy for your customers to
complain about your business. Call them after the sale. Send
a post card "Was everything OK?" "How're we doing?"
etc.
b. If your product has a problem how will you know about it?
Isn't it better to get complaint feedback right away rather than
wait until you have hundreds of unhappy customers.
For More See: Customer Key Phrases To Watch For
32. The 100% Perfect
Problem (Or the 90% Done Problem)
a. If you continue to work on an ad,
brochure, mailer long enough, eventually you will get it perfect.
This is false.
b. The reality is that no communications project is ever more
than 90% perfect There's always something that could be revised
and improved.
c. It is better to accept a 90% perfect project and finish it
so it can begin to do its work, rather than keeping it caged
while chasing the elusive 100% perfect goal.
d. If you have a new business or product, the important thing
is getting some kind of message out there. You need customers
or clients and you need them fast. Every day you delay the better
chance your competition has to reach your customers. Your materials
will go through several evolutionary changes over the years and
you will never be totally happy with them.
For More See: How To Design A Basic Brochure
33. Start a "Swipe
File."
A swipe file is a collection of ads
and brochures that copywriters and artists collect, or swipe
from other artists, for those times when they are stumped for
a good idea. Don't copy them exactly, but many good ideas can
come from what the guy down the street is doing. And if they're
doing something, so should you.
34. It's Important
to Us, So It Must Be Important To Our Customers
a. Just because issues are important
within an organization they do not automatically have relevance
to your customers.
b. This is a by-product of "fuzzy-thinking" and the
problem points to managers that lack experience.
c. When you consider any project look at it from the customers
point of view, not the company. The rule is "take care of
the customer and he'll take care of the company".
For More See: Understanding Why Customers Buy
35. Give Your Customers
More Than They Expected
a. Instead of the 101 business tips
you expected, you will get an extra 13 you didn't expect.
b. What small thing can you do for your customers that will surprise
them without additional cost to the company?
c. Good service generally goes unnoticed, and does not receive
a comment. Exceptional service does; so does exceptionally poor
service.
Note: Avoid
the customer service trap of trying to be all things to all people.
You should provide a level of service that you can maintain consistently
and profitably. Don't try to WOW them. If you do, how are you
going to WOW them the next time? Or the time after that??
For More See: Customer Service: (How to get first time
customers to come back)
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36. Use Suppliers
and Vendors For Information
a. Talk to your suppliers and salespeople
who call on you, they know more about your competition than anyone
else. Sometimes in the course of casual conversation they may,
unknowingly, give you important information about your competition's
future plans.
b. If your competition is a public company, buy stock. As a stockholder
you will receive all their annual and quarterly reports.
37. Pay Attention
to People with disabilities.
They are becoming a big market. If you
can serve some subgroup of that market effectively you may be
able to capture a loyal and lucrative customer base.
38. Know The Demographics
of Your Sales Area
a. Demographics are the breakdown of
the area you live in or plan on servicing. How many Whites, Blacks,
Hispanic etc. What are the income levels? Number of homeowners,
etc. This is important information because if the area can't
afford or doesn't want your product then you're out of business
before you even start.
Demographic information is available from the following: (These
are not the only sources).
1. Local Newspapers - Ask for an advertising rate kit.
2. Local Chamber of Commerce
3. City planning commission
4. Public Library - Ask the librarian for assistance.
5. Local TV and radio stations
For More See: The U.S. Census Bureau
39. Subscribe To Industry
Magazines
a. Keep up with changing events in your
industry by subscribing to trade magazines.
b. Lists of all available magazines are available at the library.
c. Many of these magazines do surveys of their subscribers that
answer questions such as:
1. How much should I spend on marketing, advertising, insurance,
etc. each year? How much should I charge for my product?
2. What age group buys the largest amount(s) of my product?
3. What is the most successful advertising medium to promote
my product? TV, Radio, Direct Mail?
For More Look for the "Encyclopedia
of Periodicals" at your local library. A complete listing
of trade magazines and newsletters.
40. Subscribe to Magazines
That Help Your Business Self-Esteem
a. No matter what the state of the economy
is people are always starting businesses. People are still running
successful businesses every day of the year. Look for magazines
that deal with positive business messages. There are plenty of
them out there. Here are a couple to start with:
1. Success - Positive messages to keep your spirits up.
2. Inc. - The Magazine for Growing Companies.
3. Entrepreneur - The Small Business Authority.
These are available at most grocery stores, newsstands and the
library.
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41. Join Organizations
That Can Help You
a. Most industries have organizations
that support that industry.
For Example: Your local video store may be a member of the V.S.D.A.
(Video Software Dealers Association).
b. I wonder where we can find a list of these organizations?
The library, perhaps.
c. Talking to people in the same industry can give you a good
idea of what to try and not try in business promotion. There
is always someone at these meetings who can help you succeed.
The organization exists to benefit your business or product.
d. Many organizations have conventions that are closed to the
general public. The Video Software Dealers have one of the largest
conventions in Las Vegas every year (sorry, Video Dealers only).
Conventions are a gold mine of good information.
42. What If I Can't
Match A Competitor's Offer?
a. If your competitor is offering 50%
off over a four day weekend and you can't afford the extra inventory
or the mark-down for that long, what can you do?
b. Offer a better deal for a shorter time. Try offering 60% off
on Saturday only. You will still drain off a lot of his customers
on a busy sale day and you will be perceived as a better place
to do business.
For More See: How To Advertise: Planning Your Ad Budget
Strategy
43. Track Your Clients
Special Needs
a. Create a form to keep track of clients
requests for special services and products and whether you can
meet these requests.
b. By studying these forms periodically, you can track interest
in new products or services that you should offer.
44. Make Sure Your
Clients Can Reach You.
a. Print your company name, address,
and fax number on all materials including, packing slips and
invoices.
b. Provide customers with business cards and Rolodex cards.
c. Customers who have to search for your number may come across
your competitor's number first.
45. Learn More About
Your Customers
a. Learn more about customers than just
the business they're in.
b. Pay attention to local newspapers and let customers know you
read about them.
For More See: All The Customers You Need Are In
The Newspaper
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46. Be An Expert
a. Offer seminars, establishing your
company as an expert on the subject.
b. Seminars help cement relations with current customers, attract
prospects, and increase your company's exposure.
c. Choose a topic with broad appeal among your client and prospect
base.
d. Follow-up with attendees by mail or in person.
For More See: How
To Be Perceived As An Expert In Your Chosen Field
47. Write Sales Letters
a. With e-mail, fax machines and cellular
phones most of us don't write letters any more. But they are
an effective means of communication and unlike phone calls, almost
always reach the intended audience.
b. Letters enhance a company's professional image, help avoid
misunderstandings and often make a sale.
c. Write letters explaining your company's services, detailing
how your company helped another well-known client or thanking
a customer for an order. Hand write "Personal" on the
outside for better response.
d. Keep a library of well-written letters for employees to use
as models.
For More See: How To Write A Direct Mail Letter That Gets
Results
48. Listen To Your
Customers
Pay attention to questions new customers
ask you. The may be telling you about an unpleasant experience
they had with a previous company. If they ask about service,
exchanges, return policies, etc. Have an employee meeting and
go over some of the phrases that might be "red flags"
to watch for. Armed with that knowledge you can let these customers
know that you will solve the problem with no hassles or problems.
For More See: Get Closer To Your Customers, Listen
and Earn!
49. Use Personalized
Post-It Notes To Promote Your Company
a. Every office uses these little "sticky
notes" and they stick them to everything. With Personalized
Post-It notes everyone from the CEO to the receptionist will
see your company name almost every day.
b. If they have a problem you can solve, your name and number
are right there stuck to the page.
50. Rate Your Customers
For Surprising Results
a. Assign customers a category such
as "A", "B", "C", "D",
etc. based on several criteria. Include profitability, time spent
handling orders and special requests.
b. You'll quickly realize that some high-volume accounts are
not contributing significantly to the bottom line.
c. Develop a plan to inform all employees who the most profitable
customers are and who should receive the best efforts of the
company.
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51. Marketing is not
a battle of products it's a battle of perceptions.
a. Campbell's Soup is number one in
the United States but not in the United Kingdom.
b. Heinz Soup is number one in the United Kingdom but not in
the United States.
c. It's a matter of perception Would you buy Pennzoil Cake Mix?
Why not? Because we perceive Pennzoil to be a motor oil. They
could make the best cake mix in the world and it would still
be a very tough sell for most people.
For More See: Understanding Why Customers Buy
52. The best way to
succeed is to ignore the competition.
Too many people worry so much about
their competitors that they forget what they are doing. If you're
confident in your vision, don't worry about your competition.
For More See: How To Research Your Competition
53. Be tenacious in
your vision
Don't be discouraged by setbacks. They
aren't failures. Failure is simply failing to persevere. Whatever
you are doing, if you are getting any kind of results, persevere.
For More See: Small Business Failure: The Three Reasons
You'll Fail And How To Avoid Them
54. Tips for magazine
advertising. (Also see #55)
a. A two-page spread attracts about
one-quarter more than a one-page ad.
b. A full-page ad attracts one-third more readers than a half-page
ad.
c. People respond better to illustrations or photos showing the
product in use rather than those that show the product just sitting
there.
d. Ads with people in them attract more attention than those
without.
55. Is bigger better?
a. Should you use your limited advertising
budget to create larger, more visible ads that restrict you to
advertising less frequently, or smaller, less visible ads that
you can then afford to run more frequently?
b. The Answer: smaller ads more frequently. Most people even
those who are likely candidates for your products typically don't
respond to ads the first time they see them.
c. Prospects may need to see the ad a number of times before
they take action.
For More See: How To Advertise: Planning Your Ad Budget
Strategy
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56. When emotion and
reason come into conflict, emotion always wins!
While people like to believe they react
rationally to offers, etc., the truth is they react emotionally
and then look for the rationale to confirm their decision. So,
the smart marketer will acknowledge the motivator and the need
to rationalize in presenting his/her product or offer. Have you
ever bought a CD just to get one song? Have you ever considered
the color when buying a car? Is that logical?
For More See: Understanding Why Customers Buy
57. Look outside your
industry for the best in-class examples.
What firm has the best billing system?
The best sales force? The best customer service? If you only
measure yourself versus your competition, you'll only be as good
or a little better than they are. But is that who you're competing
against? No. Your customer is experiencing those best in-class
processes from someone and they are measuring your delivery against
those some ones.
58. The two basic
tenants of selling.
a. People buy from other people more
happily than from faceless corporations.
b. In the marketplace, as in theater, there is indeed a factor
at work called "the willing suspension of disbelief."
Who stands behind our pancakes? Aunt Jemima. Our angel food cakes?
Betty Crocker. Our coffee? Juan Valdez. It's all myth but the
myths are comforting.
59. The most important
order you ever get from a customer is the second order.
Why? Because a two-time buyer is twice
as likely to buy again as a one-time buyer.
60. Catalog rule #1
Best seller in the upper left?
Turn the page of any catalog and the
first thing you look at is the upper left hand corner of the
spread. That's where to place your best seller, your bread and
butter, right? Well, what if your best seller is a visual dog?
What if, for instance, your mainstay is black shoes? Kill the
rule, raise another flag. Put a pair of wild socks in the upper
left for stopping power and direct your reader to the old tried
and true elsewhere on the spread.
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61. Know your audience. Then write to one individual
within that audience.
Don't address the sea of 500,000 nameless
and faceless people who will receive your info. In your ads,
brochures, mailings etc. pick one customer you know and like
and write the copy to that one individual as though you were
sitting down and having a conversation about your business.
62. Get on the ball
Be ready to be where your customer wants
you, when your customer wants you, with what your customer wants.
Just-in-time marketing is crucial as people become spoiled by
24-hour, seven-day-a-week customized products and services.
63. Beware of the
negative
Make sure you deal with all your customers
in good faith and with integrity. Negative word of mouth, especially
on computer bulletin boards and systems like the Internet, can
cripple your business even more than positive public relations
can help it.
For More See: How To Promote Your Business By Word
of Mouth
What To Do If Your
Competition Is Lying About You
64. Focus on the smaller
market
For every trend, there is at least one
counter trend. It's sometimes better to focus on a smaller market
one nobody is serving because they're all off catering to the
bigger trend.
For More See: Target Marketing: Who They Are And How To
Find Them
65. Direct Mail
Pick up any business book, by any author,
and they will tell you there is no other way to sell a product
that is cheaper and more successful than direct mail. PERIOD!!
Forty-six per cent of all Americans have purchased something
by direct mail. If you think of it as junk mail, think again.
It's Solid Gold mail.
Here's a simplified version of how it works:
1. A full page ad in Time magazine is approximately $80-$90,000
and reaches 2 million people.
2. What if we could have two pages, three pages, eleven pages
to tell our story? Could you tell the story of your product on
11 pages?
3. However, not all of the 2 million readers of Time have a need
for our product. These people go right past our ad without a
second thought. The money we've spent to reach these people is
wasted.
4. Wouldn't it be nice if we could only have our 11 page ad delivered
to the Time subscribers who were interested in our product?
5. The answer: A mailing list and direct mail. A list of people
who should buy our product based on our product position and
their past buying behavior. If we sell baby products, wouldn't
a mailing list of prospective new mothers be nice. How about
first-time mothers?
6. Now we can send our eleven page ad for substantially less
than the Time ad, we don't have to compete with other ads in
the same magazine, and our message is reaching a target audience
that has demonstrated that they have a definite need for our
product and a history of buying it.
For More See: Direct Mail: Why It Works And How To Use
It
Formulas for
Success: How Much Should I Mail To Make A Profit?
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Would you like
Tom Egelhoff to speak on any of these topics
at your business function or convention?
Click here for
information, topics and pricing.
Listen
to a radio interview with
Tom and Entrepreneur Magazine - Click Here!
Click
here for info on
Free Monthly Small Business Teleseminars
With
Small Business Expert Tom Egelhoff
66. Newspaper Specials
Each year newspapers often do special
inserts or sections on topics of local interest. Bridal Fairs,
Real Estate Home Shows, Craft Fairs etc. These sections usually
have a larger readership than the regular newspaper and your
ad can generate more business. Note: Look at last years edition
and check with advertisers and see if the response was worth
going in these sections. In many small towns, it is.
For More See: What You Should Know Before You Place A
Newspaper Ad
67. Newspaper Placement
Where your ad appears in the paper can
have a dramatic impact on how successful it will be. Many people,
even if they don't believe in it, read their daily horoscope.
Depending on your product, being near the horoscope will increase
your ads exposure.
For More See: Where Should Your Ad Appear In The Newspaper?
68. Newspaper Ad Design
When running newspaper and /or magazine
ads the salesperson will sometimes recommend they do the design
of your ad as a money saving option. This is usually a bad idea.
Not because they can't do it, or don't have the ability, but
because newspaper designers are under a deadline to create many
ads in a short amount of time. In most cases your ad won't receive
the care and attention to detail it deserves because of the time
constraints.
If you doubt this pick up almost any paper and proof read the
ads or look for corrections and retractions of past incorrect
ads. Even though it may cost a little more, have a professional
design your ads.
For More See: What You Should Know Before You Place A
Newspaper Ad
69. Save with the
professional designer
When doing newspaper or magazine ads
have your designer create pieces of advertising. Your logo, text
for upcoming events, etc. You pay one fee for all the pieces
and assemble the pieces needed for each ad you place.
70. Some tips to remember
when using photos in the newspaper
1. Make sure the photos are not too
dark or too light.
2. Take the photo to a print shop and have a PMT (Photo Mechanical
Transfer) made. The printer can lighten and darken each photo
as needed. The cost is about $5.00 each in most markets.
3. If the photos are similar in lightness and darkness, t |