Another Perry

Does Your Yellow Page Ad Perform Like It Should?

2006-05-06T01:02:00.000-07:00

When my wife and I owned a retail store we ran a number of yellow page ads. My wife and I tried the small local book including paying extra for a page of discount coupons. We also advertised in a larger regional phone book. We paid for the largest ad in our category. We tried a different design each year.

In reality our ads looked much like the other ads in the book. If you own a gift and collectible store that also sells fashion jewelry and women’s clothing like we did I have some other strategies that worked better than the yellow pages. But that’s a story for another day.

We found out the size of the ad did little to help our store traffic. We redeemed two coupons all year. We had asked some friends of ours if they had success with their coupons. They claimed to get a lot of business from the coupons.

After the coupons didn't work for us, I took an informal poll of business owners I knew. I found out that the majority of coupons torn out of the phone book and redeemed were for two items. Discounted pizza and carpet cleaning. Of course our friends own a carpet cleaning business, which is why they recommended spending the money on the coupons. Before you pay for coupons I recommend taking a poll of 50 to 100 people on their coupon habits. You may find they don’t pay.

However the size of the ad really is important in most catagories. You don't necessarily need to be the largest but your ad needs to be large enough to get your message across effectively.

I probably should have used my own consumer behavior as a guideline. The only coupons I have ever used out of the phone book were for pizza and a discounted oil change. The funny thing is by the time I paid for the extra little things the gas station charged me for the oil change I paid just as much for it as I would have at the quick lube down the street. And it took almost three times as long.

Knowing what I know now, I would design entirely different ads and I would bet a nice weekend get away at the coast we would achieve a large increase in foot traffic in our store. Whether that means more buyers depends on if they like what they see once inside.

What’s it all mean to you?

So how do you make your yellow page ad not only pay for itself but attract a healthy increase in business? The two most important aspects of a yellow page ad are the headline copy and the offer. The headline copy entices your prospect to read the rest of the ad. Without an attention-grabbing headline your ad looks just like all the other ads in the book. You definitely don’t want your ad to look like everyone else’s.

Remember, the yellow pages are playing to an already qualified prospect. They wouldn’t be reading in the plumber section if they didn’t need a plumber. The headline copy needs to reach out and grab the prospect by the eyeballs. Yes, it’s a cliché but it’s the truth. Your ad should be powerful enough to drag them away from your competitors’ ads. Don’t use your company name as the headline except in the unusual case where the name of your company has a very strong pull.

For the most part graphics are much less important than the written copy. However if your ad is fairly large, say a quarter page or larger, then pictures or graphics can add emphasis to the copy. Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking the graphics are more important than the copy. One exception to this rule comes in the case of professional services offered by an individual such as a lawyer, doctor, or chiropractor. A nice conservative portrait of the owner can lend a lot of credibility to the ad. But it won't make the sale. The copy does that.

Your ad needs to be pleasing to the eye and easy to read. I don’t always have my glasses handy and can’t read very small print anymore. Make sure the fonts you use are easy on the eye. Avoid fancy cursive and artsy type fonts. If an ad is hard to read you’ll lose customers because of it.

So make sure your headlines attracts attention, your copy describes your products in vivid detail, and the design is easy and attractive to the eye. You’ll already be way ahead of your competition.

That’s not all there is to an effective yellow page ad but it’s a great start. My advice: hire a copywriter or business consultant that really understands advertising. You can get the yellow page rep and agency to do your ad for free. But generally you get what you pay for. The money you pay a professional will come back many times over. In fact in today’s business environment it may mean the difference between staying in business or not.

What's the Real Truth?

2006-03-15T02:58:00.000-08:00

As a copywriter I am tasked with finding a way to sell a product via the written word. This involves market research and a lot of hard work. Interviewing the creators of the product and buyers helps round out that research.

Then comes the writing. As a writer my job is to find a way to create compelling copy that makes people open their wallets and spend their hard earned money. This is much easier if the product is something people already want.

I just read about a product that I have purchased myself many times through the years. The sad truth is I was probably ripped off. So are most of the other folks that buy this product.

How many of you have bought “stone-ground flour”? If you saw those words on the label of a bag of flour I bet you assumed the flour was actually stone-ground. I know I did. Apparently the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) doesn’t have any specific requirements set up for this product. So just about any type of flour can be sold with this label. According to an article in the March 14th version of USA Today General Mills sells Gold Medal stone-ground flour. But according to a company spokesperson that only means “the flour product has passed through an actual stone mill at least once”.

Apparently there are only a few dozen stone mills left in the US. It’s just too expensive to mill flour this way, plus you can’t make white flour in a stone mill.

I’m not sure what that means but the article states most flour sold in the US as “stone-ground” probably never rubbed up against a piece of stone. I don’t really feel all that strongly about stone-ground flour one way or the other but I don’t like to be lied to or misled. If the label says it’s stone-ground, I expect it to be ground up into flour by stones, not metal rollers.

If I wrote an ad or sales piece and made claims that simply weren’t true my client and I would both be in big trouble with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). How do these folks get away with it? I don’t know but I will certainly examine the next package of “stone-ground flour” I see. Maybe the label will be more forthcoming. And I doubt I will buy any more unless the package can guarantee me the flour was ground between real stone millstones.

This article opened my eyes. I wonder how many other food products we buy as consumers assuming the label means exactly what it says. So if stone-ground flour is important to you, a little research can help make sure you are getting what you pay for. For me, I guess I just want to be told the truth.

My BS meter just jumped up another notch. This just reiterates the importance of making sure my sales copy maintains believability and explains the truth about the products I am selling. I think I’ll do some research myself. Find all the stone mills and offer to write some sales copy for them. Maybe we can sell more of the real stone-ground flour to people that thought that’s what they were getting all along.

How Can a Few Questions Help Grow Your Business?

2006-02-20T23:28:00.000-08:00

Ask yourself a few questions about your business. Your answers can help you make more money.

These are some of the basic questions you need to ask yourself about your business.

Does your product or service offer real value to your customers?

Who wants or needs your product?

How do you inform these people about your product?

How often do you advertise?

Do you collect the names and addresses or email addresses of your customers?

How often do you contact your regular customers?

How does your offer compare to the competition?

Does your product or service offer real value to your customers? If your product doesn’t fall into the food, basic clothing, shelter, or transportation categories, then you can have a difficult time selling it. Gary Halbert - http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/ - writes about finding a starving crowd. A product that serves a starving crowd is much easier to sell than one that has little or no demand.

Who wants or needs your product? Figure out who your customer is. Direct your marketing and advertising efforts specifically at this group. Don’t waste your money trying to sell wheelbarrows to inner city apartment dwellers. Focus on people already interested in what you have to sell.

How do you advertise? It’s important to find the best way to advertise your business. This is how you gain new customers. By the way, these are the most expensive customers to acquire. It’s much cheaper to get repeat business, or backend sales, from your existing customer base. That’s why it’s so important to find the most effective method of advertising your business so you don’t waste your advertising budget.

How often you advertise is based on what you sell. Study your competitors and monitor how often they advertise. Test your advertising. The only way to find out for sure what works is to test different methods and timing of your advertising. If something doesn’t work change your methods. If something does work, try to figure out why it worked so you can duplicate the success over and over again.

One way to make sure you make more backend sales is to collect the names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of all your customers. This gives you a great way to contact known buyers of your products and sell them some more. If you own a retail business, you should be contacting your customers almost every week. Mail postcards once a month, send out an email newsletter once a month or every two weeks, or phone them a couple weeks before their birthday or anniversary. This can be very effective. Direct mail marketers send multiple mailings to good lists. Why? Because it works.

How often do you tell these people that you exist? Get your business and products in front of your market regularly. Marketing studies have shown people need to see or hear your ad as many as seven times before responding. Find ways to get your product or advertising seen often.

How much better is your offer than your competitor’s? Check out your competition. Offer a better product, better value, better warranty, or something else to differentiate your product. If you can’t do this then the cheapest price will likely win.

Do you give something extra of value to your customers? Discounts, a free report, frequent buyer programs, or other incentives all add value. People definitely respond to free extras.

My wife and I sold Italian Charms in our retail store. As part of the sale we offered a free business card with ten boxes on the back. The customer received one stamp for each charm they bought. Once they accumulated ten stamps, we gave them a free charm valued up to $20. People would get really upset if we didn’t offer to stamp their card. We had people coming back in trying to get extra stamps, telling us we forgot last time even though we had several signs posted telling our customers there would be no make up stamps and it was their responsibility to ask if we forgot.

The point is, we generated a huge amount of repeat business by offering something extra to our regular customers. At the peak of the fad we went through thousands of those cards. They really worked. If you have a retail business I suggest you figure out a way to reward your regular customers in some way. They will definitely come back more often.

Answer these questions and you’re on your way to building a bigger business.

Does Your Advertising Pay for Itself?

2006-02-17T00:18:00.000-08:00

Most ads you see today, whether on TV or in print, fall into the image ad category. Not that a good image isn’t important. Every business needs one. But if you don’t ask for a response you probably won’t get one.

How can you tell if your image advertising is getting you more clients or sales? Tracking results from this type of advertising can be tricky. You can certainly track your sales weekly or monthly. But how do you know if your ad brought in those customers? They may have just seen your business while driving by or another customer may have referred them.

Direct response ads are specifically designed for an immediate response. These ads sell. In fact, the hardest working salesman you employ is your direct response ad. And if you aren’t satisfied it’s doing the job you can change a headline or a few key words or phrases and run the ad again.

Two common methods successful businesses use to track the response to an ad are coupons and response codes.

Make the entire ad a coupon. This serves two purposes. One, the customer can’t forget where you are if they have the entire ad in their hand. Just make sure your address and phone number are in the ad. Two, you can count them at the end of the day or week and tell immediately how many of your sales were generated by your ad. When we still owned our retail store, my wife used to staple a copy of the cash register sales slip to the ad. That way we not only tracked how many sales were made but we could compare the quality of the sales vs. the average sale. This kind of information is invaluable. It enables you to tweak and test your sales copy for the number of responses as well as the quality of the sales.

A good method of tracking an online ad or sales site is the offer number. You can program this function into your shopping cart or response mechanism so it is completely transparent to the customer.

Many mail-order catalog companies print a key code on the address label. When you call in to their toll free number the operator asks for this code along with your name and address. This provides automatic feedback on what is working. If you have more than one version of a catalog or your offer expires in a limited time frame the key code is a necessity.

If you run more than one yellow page ad, the simplest and most effective way to track which book is sending you the most customers is to use a different telephone number for each ad. Keep a pad by each phone and teach your employees to make a mark each time that particular phone rings. You will likely find only one or two books drive most of your sales. Another great thing about using this method of tracking is the fact you can try different ads in various books and see which one works better.

No matter what methods you use, track your ads carefully. It’s the only way to see if your ads pay for themselves or if you are just wasting your advertising dollars.

"The Web's Best-Kept Traffic Secret"

2006-02-16T23:07:00.000-08:00

- by Jim Edwards

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Did you realize that thousands of website operators use a
simple technique to generate targeted visitors to their
websites without paying a dime in advertising? It's true.
In fact, the technique works so well that many of them
don't want you to discover how they get those thousands of
website visitors and make so many sales on virtual "auto-
pilot."

Their method?

Creating tightly focused articles other people publish in
their ezines (online magazines and email newsletters) and
post on their websites. This method rates so powerful that
some even call it "the web's best kept traffic secret."
Now, you may ask, "Why would an ezine publisher or website
owner publish my articles for their subscribers?"

The answer: Content!

Over a 100,000 ezines and newsletters operate on the web
(along with millions of websites) covering everything from
pets and cooking to investments and real estate. Many of
them need tightly focused content and they simply can't
produce all of it themselves.

Look at it this way... it's the same reason newspapers use
the Associated Press. Individual newspapers often can't
afford staff writers to cover every story, so they accept
articles from outside their organization.

You can do the exact same thing for various ezines and
websites catering to your niche audience!
You can get valuable publicity -- exposure you often
couldn't even pay for if you wanted to -- by providing
valuable, content-rich articles in exchange for a byline
and a link to your website (called a "resource box")!

The following represent only a few of the enormous benefits
of writing and distributing simple articles online:

** Attain "Expert" Status **

Let's face it! In the eyes of virtually everyone who reads
your articles you rank as the "expert" on the subject.
Just look at people who write newspaper columns. You
may disagree with their viewpoints, but they still have an
elevated status in your mind compared to the "average Joe"
off the street.

** Pre-sell Website Visitors **

If your article appeals to a niche audience hungry for more
information on a very focused subject, you actually pre-
sell them better than any sales pitch. In their minds,
you've already delivered content they really want so when
they click over to your site you already have a
"reputation" in their minds.

** Traffic Lasts Longer **

Even though the Internet changes very quickly, webmasters
are usually very slow to remove content from their sites.
Once you get an article posted on another person's website,
you have an excellent chance of that article staying there
for weeks, months, even years.

** Increase Links To Your Site **

In a recent search I found just a dozen of my articles
posted on over 813 different websites! Not only do those
postings bring me traffic, but they also help my search
engine positioning because of my increased "Link
Popularity."

** Builds Your Affiliate Base **

Fact: Affiliates always take the path of least resistance.
If you provide excellent articles they can easily post on
their sites or copy and paste into their ezines, your
affiliates will promote you more often and more effectively
compared to those who don't give them tools.
Plus, as you make more sales and publish articles, other
people will see you providing excellent tools and will want
to sign up as your affiliate so they can use them too!

** Build a Huge "Opt-In" Email List **

You can use articles to build up a huge list of subscribers
by simply compiling several articles into a series and
delivering them at preset intervals.
Often called a "mini-course," this technique allows you not
only to prove to your subscribers that you deliver great
information, but enables you to capture their name and
email adress so you can send them articles and special
offers in the future (with their permission).

** Requires No Special Skills **

People often think they need to be a "writer" in order to
publish articles, but that's not true!
FACT: If you have a passion for a subject and can talk and
explain things like you would to a friend over a cup of
coffee, you can write articles people will love to read.
So if you operate a website selling virtually any type of
product or service (whether your own or as an affiliate),
publishing and promoting with articles should rank high on
your list of traffic generation strategies.
No other method of generating targeted traffic to your
website provides the quality, quantity and steadiness of
traffic in such a simple, straightforward, and cost-
effective manner.
----
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-
author of an amazing new ebook, "Turn Words Into Traffic,"
that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly
drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or
affiliate link! Click=> http://hop.clickbank.net/?jpdsales05/ezarticles

Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations: What's the difference?

2006-02-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

“In good times people want to advertise. In bad times they have to.”

Bruce Barton, founder of BBDO advertising agency

Many small business owners fail to understand the difference between marketing, advertising, and public relations. Each of these help make your business successful but serve different and specific functions.

Marketing

Marketing exposes your products to the marketplace. There are several ways to accomplish this. Placing your store on the corner of Main St. and Central Ave is a marketing decision. Whether you choose image advertising or direct response advertising is a marketing decision. Giving free workshops on how to use a product you sell qualifies as marketing.

Public Relations

Any method used to inform the public about your business falls under public relations. Writing a press release for your local newspaper or trade publication is the most common form of public relations. Giving a talk at the local Kiwanis or Rotary Club is another form of public relations. Unfortunately it’s difficult to predict the results of a public relations campaign. Publications may decide your press release isn’t appropriate for print. Public relations informs people your product or service is available.

Advertising

Advertising attempts to sell your product or service. The two most common forms of advertising for a local business are space ads in the local newspaper and yellow page ads. Google Adwords, Google Adsense, and Yahoo Search Marketing (Overture) are the most common ways of advertising on the internet.

Done properly, advertising reaches your customers, convinces them to buy, and tells them how to do it. Advertising persuades prospective customers to spend their money on your product or service.

Effective advertising tells people your business exists. If done right, it creates an image that people will remember, but more importantly persuades them to buy from you. One form of advertising you don’t pay for directly and can’t control is “word of mouth” advertising. However, you can influence it by providing the best customer experience possible. Paid advertising works faster and you control what it says.

Effective advertising tells people what you sell. It educates the public about your product. No matter its form, advertising makes sure people know what your product is or does. Not only that your ad tells people where you are located. In the case of internet advertising it links people directly to your website.

Most importantly, advertising tells people why they should buy from you. You must persuade people to buy from you rather than the business down the street or at another website. Here is where excellent sales copy and design make all the difference for your business.

Flying isn’t So Fun Anymore

2006-02-10T22:37:00.000-08:00

This week I went out of town on business for a couple of days. Not unusual but this time I flew instead of driving. My destination was Phoenix. The only direct flight from Fresno was on America West Express.

Over the years I’ve flown plenty of different airlines. I’ve even flown America West one other time. However I’ve only flown ten or twelve times since the twin towers came down on 9-11. Generally my experiences have still been positive. But my distaste for flying is growing. I am frustrated by the calisthenics you have to go through each time you go out to the gate.

Pull the laptop out of the bag, take off my belt with the metal buckle, remove the change from my pockets, stick the cell phones (yep I carry one for work and a personal one as well) in the computer bag, hope the breath mints with the foil wrapper don’t set off the metal detector, and take off my shoes. Do they really need to x-ray my tennis shoes?

I usually check a bag but this time I made the decision to stuff two days worth of clothes and my bathroom kit in my laptop bag. I didn’t need to check any luggage but they sure checked out that bag in the x-ray machine. I hope they didn’t find any holes in my socks or underwear.

Watching some of the women coming through the line is entertaining as well. They are stripping off necklaces, bracelets, watches, and other assorted metallic objects many women like to wear. I know the metal detector can’t tell the difference between jewelry and a knife or gun but it’s amazing how much stuff some women wear. Plus, since you can’t lock your checked luggage anymore so it can be searched by hand, you can’t leave any thing valuable in there. So if a woman wants to wear some jewelry when she arrives, she needs to wear it on the plane. There has got to be a better way to make it safe to fly.

One of my co-workers says he would be willing to go through some type of prescreening with a retinal scan on file so he wouldn’t have to go through this each time he flies. He might be onto something. This might be an opportunity for a savvy technology company to come up with a better way to screen people. Of course it would likely already be implemented in Israel if something were feasible. I still think a creative engineering/marketing firm might be able to capitalize on this in some way.

At least the terminals aren’t as crowded as they used to be. All the family members have to stay out beyond the security checkpoint now. Now at least more travelers can find a chair to sit in while waiting to board.

I usually don’t mind the airplane itself too much. I feel compelled to say something about the plane this time. It’s a good thing the plane was only half full. The seats were smaller than usual and they were like sitting on a board. When the flight attendant announced the seat cushions could double as a flotation device in the unlikely event of a water landing, I did a double take. These seats had no cushioning in them. They felt like a board with a piece of cloth on them. By the time I got to Phoenix my rear end was numb. Several other passengers grumbled about the lack of padding as well.

The funny thing is, on the return trip, the pilot announced that Mesa Air (the airline that operates America West) had just won the Airline of the Year award. I can guarantee the judges didn’t fly in the two planes I did. When they turned off the cabin lights it was pitch black in the cabin except for the no smoking and the fasten seat belt signs. It took me three or four minutes of poking the ceiling to hit the right button to turn on the reading light.

What’s all this mean to the small business owner you ask? I’m not completely sure. The ticket was quite expensive for an hour and a half flight. I’ve flown all the way across the country for less many times. It cost me less to fly to Hawaii last year and that was with a one-day notice.

I would recommend planning ahead as far as possible to minimize the ticket cost and bring your own seat cushion if you are going to fly America West. Oh yea, and bring something to eat. None of the airlines I’ve flown in the last year have provided a meal without asking and paying for it in advance. I don’t bother. I just take a couple of pieces of fruit and a sandwich. Believe me I have enough reserves to make to the next city without starving to death.

And I guess all those workers that used to work for the airline catering business now work for the TSA screening passengers and their luggage.

How About Those Super Bowl Commercials?

2006-02-07T00:20:00.000-08:00

How About Those Super Bowl Commercials?

Out of the 72 commercials I counted shown between kickoff and the end of the game only three commercials from the 2006 Super Bowl made me laugh out loud.

I actually thought the Fidelity commercials did a good job of illustrating the need for their retirement planning services and asking people to contact them. They and their ad agency seem to understand the direct response form of advertising. And they did it well. I didn’t laugh but I did remember the name of the company and if I were in need of their services I would probably call them for some information.

The three that made me laugh…

Number 1. - The cell phone with the built-in anti-theft device was the best. I doubt a real cell phone would work after bouncing of someone’s head and the surrounding lockers a couple of times. But it made me laugh. Funny, I don’t remember the company name though. Although the commercial made me laugh, apparently it wasn’t real effective at getting the most important piece of information remembered. The name of the company. This can’t bode well for increased sales at that company. But I found it pretty entertaining. So did my daughter.

Number 2. - The Bud Light magic refrigerator commercial. It was sort of stupid but I still laughed. This one made my 16-year-old daughter laugh too. At least this commercial got the brand to stick in my mind. But it didn’t actually ask anyone to go out and buy Bud Light. Nor did it tell me how it tastes or why I should drink it instead of some other light beer. It did imply the beer was too valuable to share with friends, although the neighbors definitely benefited.

Number 3. – Caveman didn’t use FEDEX and the package didn’t get through. I loved the circular logic. Package didn’t get through. Did you us FEDEX? No. You should have used FEDEX. FEDEX doesn’t exist yet. That’s no excuse. I know I didn’t get the quotes right but that was the general Idea. Pretty funny. I do wonder just how much FEDEX needs to advertise. There are only two main companies doing what they do. There are a few other competitors but UPS is the main competitor. I doubt FEDEX will gain much business from this ad but I could be wrong. As a side note I like the UPS “what can brown do for you” commercials. I think they get the message across well.

One aspect of Super Bowl commercials that I hadn’t thought of in the past is their viral nature. Because so many people watch the ads and then talk about them later, they become a form of viral marketing. The more people talk about them the more the brands stay in peoples’ minds. Does this translate into more sales?

Because no matter how creative and funny the ads are, if they don’t pay for themselves then they are just a stroke to some executives ego. I believe that advertising needs to pay for itself and actually turn a profit. Maybe not on the initial acquisition of the customer but certainly on back end sales. It’s much more expensive to gain new customers than it is to sell more goods or services to an existing one. For most businesses repeat business makes the difference between good profits and bankruptcy.

I wonder how many of these companies actually do analysis on sales before and after running these commercials to see if there is an increase in revenue.

Oh, and before I forget – the dog of the ads. Burger King. Wow, this one was just bad in my opinion. Lots of dancing girls dressed up like buns, lettuce, a hamburger, etc. My daughter works there after school and she just looked at me after this one played and said “That was stupid”. I was thinking the same thing. What a huge waste of money. It’s a good thing they didn’t run it more than once. At least I only saw it once.

The big spender: by my count Budweiser. I already drink Budweiser Select once in a while any way. They may actually increase their sales from all these commercials. They did get a lot of exposure. And they now own a magic frig. That’s gotta be cool.

How much do Super Bowl ads cost?

2006-02-06T23:09:00.000-08:00

Your advertising budget needs deep pockets to air a commercial during the Super Bowl. This year ABC is charging $2.5 million for a 30 second spot. Plus many of the advertisers spend up to another $2 million to produce the commercial.

I heard an advertising executive on the radio tonight. He was talking about some of his favorite Super Bowl ads through the years.

I agreed with him on one ad. Mean Joe Green is won over by a little boy offering him a Coke. In the end Mean Joe tosses his jersey to the kid in thanks for giving him the Coke. I liked that one a lot. I watched this one when it originally aired.

Actually I like most of the Super Bowl commercials I watch. But just how effective are they? I can’t say since I haven’t done any research on the matter. I would say it is difficult to track just how effective the advertising dollars spent on these commercials are.

But I want to get back to our ad executive for a minute. During the interview he was asked what the most important aspects of a commercial to be aired during the Super Bowl are. He said two things were important. They must start with a great idea. He stated that a great idea could be gotten for only a few hundred thousand dollars. The second important item was it must be creative. He claimed most advertisers spend more than they need to on the production of a commercial. I guess the advertisers think if it’s expensive then it must be good.

What ever happened to the idea of selling your product directly? If your ad wins an award but doesn’t increase sales enough to pay for the production and airing of the ads, what kind of service are you providing for your client?

I will be watching the Super Bowl this Sunday with great interest. I love football but I also love the ads. I will be taking notes. (I know, I’m weird) One of the things I will be looking for is if any of the ads are direct response in nature. I doubt it but you never know. There may be at least one enlightened ad agency out there. It takes two to tango though. First the agency must know the direct response format generates more sales for the client and then must be able to convince the client that this is true.

So I suspect most of the ads will be “building the brand” rather than asking for the sale. If I had a product and the budget appropriate to the Super Bowl I would forget about monkeys and all the other creative branding. Show the prospect your product. Solve their problem and give them a good reason why your product solves it best. Then ask them directly to buy from you. This can be done in a creative way, just make sure you are asking for a response, whether it’s to purchase your widget, call a toll free number for information, or what ever you want your prospect to do.

I wonder just how much more profit would be generated if these advertisers did a targeted direct response mailing campaign rather than spending $2 million on producing an ad and then another $2.5 million per 30 second slot to air it. Not all products lend themselves to direct mail or sales on the web but many do.

There’s a little food for thought. Don’t forget the Budweiser either. I always look forward to their ads.

I’m going to do a little market research too. My daughter and her best friend work at Burger King after school and on weekends. Since they are doing a huge Super Bowl promotion this year I am going ask my daughter whether they get any busier than they were before the Super Bowl. I’ll let you know if what my anecdotal non-scientific poll finds out.

That’s my two cents worth.

Dogs Are Big Business

2006-02-01T00:37:00.000-08:00

Dogs Make Business Owners Big Bucks

Once only our best friend, our dogs are now part of the extended family. How many people do you know or see carrying a small dog in it’s own carrier or in their arms? I can remember seeing Paris Hilton and Britney Spears (on TV – not in person) both wearing a live dog as an accessory recently. The smaller the dog, the more spoiled they are. Jewel studded collars, hand knitted sweaters, and matching carriers are all the rage these days.

According to a recent article in the New York Times pet supplies added up to a $37 billion industry in 2004. Remove food and services such as grooming and there is still about $8.5 billion left over. Petco, one of the largest retail pet suppliers, claims the pet supply market is growing about 7% a year. The New York Times also reports the pet services sector is growing fast as well. Dog grooming, dog walking, and pet sitting are all growing businesses segments.

What does this all mean to a small business owner or internet marketer?

If you own a small bricks and mortar retail store you should consider adding a line of pet products. A women’s accessories retailer could add the Louis Vuitton pet carrier line and display them with their purses for instance.

An internet marketer could find several ways to ride this trend to increased business. Find a wholesale source of pet supplies and put together an e-commerce website to sell them. Develop a website that caters to the luxury dog and cat accessory market. Don't try to compete by selling food or large heavy items. The shipping cost will take the all the profit.

Find a few retired folks that love to knit. Buy them some yarn, give them the patterns, then give them a portion of the profits when the dog sweaters sell. If you know someone that likes to sew make the same deal. They sew the dog shirts and share in the profits.

Phyllis, my wife’s nail technician, owns a Chihuahua that wears a shirt or sweater everyday. This dog will not allow removal of her clothes until bedtime. If you tug on her shirt she growls and tries to bite your hand. My mother-in-law knits dog sweaters during the winter and Phyllis sells them in her salon. Since the salon’s customer base is small the sales aren’t huge but a couple of hundred extra bucks is greatly appreciated by a retired woman on a fixed income. I think this could be a good niche market on the internet.

Write an e-book and sell it on Clickbank. How about one on “Do it yourself grooming”, or “How to train a show dog to win”, or “Knitting patterns for dog sweaters”? The pet service and supply business lends itself to a wide range of information products that could be sold on Ebay or your own website.

My daughter just bought a purebred Shih Tzu a week ago. This little bundle of joy looks a lot like an Ewok in the face. Since it was her money I didn’t object too strongly but this dog didn’t even have papers, yet she paid $700. Once the rest of the accessories were added on she spent over $900. She bought a crate, food bowl, water bowl, a water bottle, several chew toys, and you guessed it. A faux leopard-skin dog carrier. Yep it’s cute when she carries it like a purse with a little Ewok face sticking out. She also bought a small sweater since puppies shouldn’t get cold.

Don’t prejudge your market. My daughter is 16, works after school, and will be paying for this dog’s care and upkeep. She has wanted a dog of her own for quite a while and made this decision on her own. Even the teenage market has money to spend.

There is a huge market demand out there. Many of your current customers own pets. Find out what type of products they want and sell them some.

Graphic Design, Direct Response Ads - Make Your Ad Jump Off The Page in 3 Easy Steps

2006-01-26T00:42:00.000-08:00

By Clayton Makepeace

Step #1: Keep The Message Clear.

Despite what some have been led to believe, no-one is in the business of spending a fortune to sell acres of white space or pretty pictures to art-starved consumers.

Your mission is to make a sale.

Don’t cut sales copy for massive margins, vast areas of empty “white space” or ponderous photographs. You’re just asking for trouble and, quite possibly, you could blow the sale.

Step #2: Great artwork doesn’t always sell.

This isn’t about art. It’s about business. Specifically, it’s about selling a product or service.

Art is subjective. Certain techniques have been proven over many years to be more effective at generating attention, readership and response than others.

The first lesson that great designers have learned is that design does NOT sell products. Copy sells the product. Great design helps the copy do its job. Bad design gets in the way of the sale.

You only have a limited amount of space in each promotion. Every element that gets through to final draft displaces something that didn’t.

Every unnecessary graphic element you add means crucial sales copy has to be smaller, shorter – or worse, cut altogether.
That means you sell less. Bottom line.

Step #3: Recognize that your design only has to accomplish two, simple but essential tasks.

Graphic designers’ first job is to help the copy grab the prospect’s attention. Do this one thing well – and yes, that usually means big, “ugly” headline and deck type – and you’re 60% of the way there.

Their second job is to convert that attention to readership and to help keep the prospect reading until he responds.

Do these 3 simple things well, and you’ll create more responsive ads and bigger winners, more often!

Clayton Makepeace is a direct response consultant and copywriter whos marketing brainstorms and copy have sold over $1 billion worth of products for his clients in his over 33 years in the business. Clayton's e-zine THE TOTAL PACKAGE shares his billion dollar copy, design and marketing secrets for direct response professionals FREE in your in-box every Monday. To sign-up and claim your FREE copy of Clayton's latest guide "Beat the Blank Page Blues - 3 beginning outlines for every type of copy you'll ever write" visit: http://www.MakepeaceTotalPackage.com/?s=M151&e=63030

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Clayton_Makepeace

Monarch Butterflies, Elephant Seals, and RV Camping

2006-01-22T12:10:00.000-08:00

How do you find motivation to write while on vacation? I don’t work all day when I’m on vacation but I try to write daily. It’s Sunday and we are in Pismo Beach, CA. Right now I am sitting in the sun, drinking coffee, talking with my wife and mother-in-law.

This morning many of the other RV campers are packing up and leaving. We just arrived last night and have reservations through next Sunday night. So far we’ve watched a mated pair of Mallards waddle through camp, a few crows and pigeons looking for handouts, and various other songbirds flitting about. I mentioned roast duck to my wife but she didn’t think it was funny. I guess hamburgers will have to do.

Usually I take my stunt kite out to the beach for a couple of sessions but I left it home this time. I don’t think it’s windy enough to fly it anyway. Plus I’m going home tonight. My wife and her mom will be staying all week. My daughter and I will come back next Thursday for the weekend. My wife’s brother will be here with his RV too. We’ll barbeque tri-tip, sit around the campfire, make s’mores, drink beer, and generally enjoy ourselves.

Even though it’s January the weather is great. It’s about 55 degrees at 1045AM. The sun is shining and a slight breeze is blowing the tree branches about. It’ll probably hit the low to mid 60’s by mid afternoon. After enduring the tule fog of the San Joaquin Valley this is pure heaven.

The butterflies are here this time of year. This area of the Central Coast of California attracts Monarch Butterflies for the winter. It’s one of the special attractions we enjoy seeing. They are particularly attracted to the eucalyptus groves in the area. According to scientists up to 225,000 Monarch butterflies spend November through February here. They travel from as far away as Central Canada to winter here. Imagine how strong and tough these seemingly delicate creatures are to fly that far twice a year.

There’s another natural attraction just north of here this time of year. The elephant seals are on the beach, fighting, mating, and generally doing what elephant seals do. Mostly they lay in the sun and sleep. If you go north on Hwy 1 about 45 minutes you get to San Simeon. San Simeon is where Hearst Castle is too. The seashore in this area is rocky with a series of small sand beaches. The elephant seals love it.

Federal law protects the seals and you shouldn’t get too close. The bulls are very large and quite dangerous. They move surprisingly fast and can kill or maim you without a second thought. The dominant bulls protect their harems fiercely from any other male that gets too close. They end up with bloody necks from the fights. Generally the challenges don’t last long. It takes a big and experienced male to take over a harem.

Come and enjoy the Central Coast with us. It’s rejuvenating, relaxing, and the award winning clam chowder at the Splash Café always satisfies.

Develop An Idea In 7 Short Days

2006-01-19T23:39:00.000-08:00

Good ideas don't come easy. But they don't come as hard as you might think either. Once or twice a month I sit down with a yellow legal pad and brainstorm with myself. I write down every idea I can think of. I also consolidate all those little pieces of paper I have collected since the last session. I try to write down an idea as soon as it pops into my head. If I don't, they tend to go away and be lost forever. Once in a while I get an idea that's worth pursuing. Those are the ideas I don't want to miss.

I had an idea last weekend. I am going to look into getting a mini-voice recorder. If I find one that will fit on my key ring I might buy it. If anyone out there knows about a good one leave a comment with the information. I'd really appreciate it.

Then I can collect ideas any time. Once a day I could write them down. Maybe I'll pay my daughter to transcribe them. (Now there's a good idea for saving some time.)

You could call it "One a Day Multiple Ideas". Might not be as nutritious as the vitamins but one good idea can bring in a pile of money if implemented properly. Not only that I could write sales copy at the speed of sound. Now there's an idea. Too bad it wasn't mine. Alex Mandossian gets the credit for that one.

I am still working on a new list. So far I have 23 ideas to turn into e-books. Not all of them are good ideas. But I keep making the list bigger just so I can find the gems mixed in with all the dirt. The diamond on my wife's ring is much more beautiful than a rough diamond still in a mine in South Africa. It took cutting, polishing, and a nice setting to make it pleasing to the eye. An idea needs the same type of attention to detail to be made into something pleasing to a customer's eye.

Here's an idea I had a few weeks back. I decided I needed to start writing and selling e-books. I haven't written one yet. But I am collecting information to do just that. How long do you think it might take to research and write a book? My first thought was at least a year. Thankfully it doesn't have to take that long.

How does 7 days sound? I found an e-book written by Jim Edwards and Joe Vitale that simplifies the process of writing your own e-book. Here is where you can find out How to Write and Publish your own e-book in as little as 7 Days without breaking a sweat. I'm four hours into researching mine and I can start writing any time. I saving that for this weekend when I am sitting in my fifth wheel trailer at Pismo Beach.

Of course if the wind is up I'll have to take a break to fly my stunt kite. That's more fun than trying to put a sweater on one of our cats. Where did that idea come from? In fact it's much more fun than that. My wife says I would have an easier time putting a sweater on our beagle. I think she's right. Besides the beagle gets cold easily and the cats don't seem to mind the cold.

But pet clothing is a subject for another day. Thanks for reading.

Taxes on my Mind

2006-01-18T21:46:00.000-08:00

Today I was thinking about taxes. By the end of the month most of us will have all the documents we need to get our income taxes done. I must admit the last 3 years I have done mine in October. The deadline for the filing is no later than October 15th. That is if you filed two extensions. Of course you need to pay what you owe or at least a close estimate by April 15th.

My father was a CPA and you would think I would be an expert on the subject, or at least competent. Nope. My dad always did my taxes and so I never bothered to learn how. At least not past the 1040ez. He died ten years ago but his firm continued to do my taxes. But I didn't live near them and I found it to be too much trouble to continue doing business with them. They didn't seem to understand my business either. That is probably no reflection on them. How many accountants see people with multiple streams of income. A job, retail business owner, internet marketing, writing, ebay, I guess that's enough. Maybe they were just more conservative than I am. Anyway I found a new accountant several years ago and am happy as a clam with him. He came highly recommended by a family member that is a very successful business man. Turns out his recommendation was on target.

This year will be different for me. I finally have my act together. So my accountant will get everything he needs from me by the middle of February. How cool is that?

How did I do that you ask? More than anything else I made the decision at the beginning of the year to keep up on the books for my business. It was simpler this year because my wife and I closed our store on 12/31/2004. So we don't have as many things to keep track of.

Really, you can do it too. Make it a goal. Write it down. It has to be on your weekly goal list. If I let go to the end of the month I really regret it. It takes more time than I like to give. I make sure once a week I post everything to a ledger. I know. What about Quickbooks? After fighting with that program I gave up. I threw in the towel. I put it on paper. The accountant comes up with a set of books and the tax return. My wife and I sign it and we are done. He is exceptionally proficient, a small business tax expert, and really doesn't charge much. I consider it money well spent.

I am one of the weird people out there. I like paying my taxes. I don't like to pay more than I legally owe but if I owe taxes it means I am making money. And that is a good thing. After all I have one kid in college and one just got a drivers license. But that's a story for another day.

More Thoughts on Harlan and Tina's Seminar

2006-01-17T19:50:00.000-08:00

I learned more in 4 days at this seminar than I learned in the last 2 years. The massive brain dump that took place truly overwhelmed me. I am so thankful my wife said go for it, don't worry about how much it costs. We failed previously in a bricks and mortar business. One of the lessons we learned the hard way was that successful people have knowledge inside their head that we need.

Harlan and Tina, along with the other presenters, Joel Comm, Alex Mandossian, Jim Van Wyck, and David Garfinkel, gave us a full E ticket ride. I came away with enough information to get started on a 6 figure copywriting business. And the best part is, I can do it without clients (other than one - me) unless I want some.

However, I also learned some things that will help me write much better copy and that skill can be applied just as easily to writing for clients as it can while writing for myself. David Garfinkel is an outstanding copywriting teacher and a downright nice guy too.

It was absolutely great meeting so many I have known from some forums I frequent from time to time but not in person.

Just a few that I can think of: Vickie Heron, Beth Erickson, Pam Marshall, Cheri Nikkel, Lisa Lehr, Mike Morgan, Matt Marshall, and of course Harlan and Tina. I also got to meet many other incredibly talented and motivated individuals. There were a few folks that were there that I didn't get to meet that I wish I had. John (jdrits - sorry John but I didn't want to mis-spell your last name), John Carlton, Zack Romero, and Ryan (his last name escapes me for the moment). If I left you out and either I did meet you and forgot or didn't see you I apologize.

However for all you unlucky folks that couldn't attend there is a way you can still participate. It's rumored (Harlan whispered it) there will be DVD's produced and will be offered for sale later. I will definitely be an affiliate when that product comes out.

All in all a truly inspiring weekend. Tina's husband Ron and Rusty the wonder dog were also two of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. I was lucky enough to eat dinner with them along with Sandra (Harlan's administrative assistant - a truly nice person and also did a great job). Not only that Tina insisted in paying. That was truly gracious and not necessary.

So I now have a new blog, a new outlook, and a new plan. I have written my goals for the year. I believe I now have the tools and information available to make it happen.

I now have more adsense, can write copy at the speed of sound, know how to find information that I need, how to test, how to find a market, how to write good copy fast, how to find out what people really want, how to build a website without waiting for my son to code it, how to get traffic to it, and how to monetize it 6 ways from Sunday.

You should have been there.

Thanks Harlan, Tina, David, Joel, Alex, and Jim.

Just Starting Out

2006-01-15T22:29:00.000-08:00

Harlan and Tina's Seminar

This evening I finished the last of three days worth of incredible education. I've been working on copywriting (the art of writing direct response sales copy) and internet marketing for the last two years. I am still in San Francisco (Burlingame actually) at the San Francisco Airport Hyatt Regency. As I type, I am surrounded by like-minded people all working feverously building websites, blogs, and autoresponders. Dr Harlan Kilstein and Tina Lorenz put this seminar together so they could do a brain dump. I think the knowledge was begging to be let out. Believe me, it flowed out.

Not only did Harlan and Tina feed us massive amounts of knowledge, the other presenters did the same thing. David Garfinkel not only showed us how to write a sales letter in two hours but we actually wrote one. The power of his copywriting templates flowed around the room inspiring us all in a positive way.

Joel Comm taught us how to use Google Adsense to fill the tip jar so to speak. Incredibly powerful. Alex Mandossian showed us how to build a tele-seminar business in such simple terms anyone could do it. Not only that he showed us a powerful way to write incredible copy. Jim Van Wyck laid on the testing emphasis. He showed us how he turned a poorly performing sales letter into one that sells like my kids eat pizza. Fast and as often as possible.

The extra two hour session with David Garfinkel taught me more about writing good copy than I have learned in months of study on my own.

Well worth the time and money spent. Stay tuned for more.