Consistency is key

One of the things that stops many small business owners or managers from starting to advertise is that they feel that they can't commit to running the ad that they would like to run on a regular basis. This idea is both a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Let's look at the good side for a minute. This school of thought is good because it keeps the business owner or manager from investing in a large ad and then stopping because they didn't see results right away. Usually when that happens they are left with the impression that advertising doesn't work and then refuse to try it again. The most effective approach is to start with a smaller ad that you can commit to run at least twice a month, then as it delivers results you can increase the size, add color, or both. Remember, people are bombarded each day with numerous advertising messages so you should usually not expect to see measurable results until you've run your ad a few times.

Can You Control Your Customer s Mind

Republishing Guidelines * You may republsih this article with the author's bylines. * An email to mafoor@mafoor.com is appreciated if you do. * You may make slight changes to avoid spa'm blockers. * Words: 878 Lines: 146 * Email: mafoor@mafoor.com SMS: +94 777 763682 Can You Control Your Customer's Mind? Is it possible to control your customer's 'buying' decision? Let me start off with an example. Say many people selling bags in one place and John wants a bag. John buys the bag with the most attractive packaging. What influenced his decision? The packaging. This bag had something better. So in a different view, this bag influenced the 'buying decision' of John. This is just a simple example to get you familiar with the concept. Almost all of the mode marketing campaigns are designed to be effective from the customer's point of view. They all try to control the customer's feelings. You must follow the trend or you'll be a loser. Just brainstorm / think what can influence the decision to buy 'your product'. You can come up with a lot. Call each of them a strategy and jot them down in a paper. I will discuss 3 generic strategies that can be used with any business and how to apply them, so it will give you some idea as what to think of and how to apply them. 1. Curiosity 2. Because / Reason Why 3. Greed Curiosity ----------- What is it? Curiosity can be defined as "the desire to know the unexplored" in simple terms. People want to know things that many others don't know. They like to discover the 'secrets' that only some people know. The desire to know is a compelling force in marketing, so we have: * Secrets of the Diet Industry Uncovered * What Time Share Companies Don't Want You To Know * Msteries of A Youthful Appearance Revealed * The Hidden Keys of Car Buying People don't want * How to Diet Successfully or * A Guide to Buying Cars for example. First set of titles surely outshines the second set of titles because the former takes advantage of curiosity. You must design your advertising in a way that arouses curiosity. Getting to see the powerful of curiosity? (When compared the two sets above) Because / Reason Why ---------------------------- Telling people a valid reason for your action is another great influencer in human behavior. People will trust you if you can offer a reason for what you are doing. Say you offer a 50% discount on your digital cameras for the last 10 days in this month. People are too smart today and start to think it's probably because you want to get rid of your defective products or because its 2 days before the expiry date (in case of food items). Wouldn't you and I think the same way when we see a similar message? Give them a true believable reason. For example, let's say you have a slow time of the year and you want to increase your business during this period. Make a special, limited time offer. Offer to throw in an extra free bonus or a special discount simply because it's your "slow time" and you need to pay your staff anyway. Don't you think people will believe it? If you can give a solid reason for a particular action, people will have no doubts about what you say - there is simply very little room for doubt. Greed ------- People are greedy. I'm not talking about food but 'greedy' in a marketing perspective. Everybody feels from "what's in it for me" syndrome. They really want to know how your product can benefit them. Notice that, the "customer's will buy benefits and not products". Confused? You'll see what I mean in a minute. Analyze the following list of benefits written about a digital camera. * Can store over 200 photos * Supports every color you can see * Manual included so you can start even if you have no previous experience This will certainly open the eyes of a person who has an idea of bu'ying a camera one day. This is in complete contrast to the following, where the 'product' is described. * Has a memory of 6000k * Supports 16-bit colors * 60-page manual included Customers don't want a memory of 6000k, but they want to store 200 photos. Get it? You must clearly tell the customer how will they benefit by bu'ying your produc't. You can then describe the prod'uct itself, when they are looking for more information. To make this point clearer, understand that, "Customer's will bu'y benefits and 'not' the features." Okay.. Whats the difference between features and benefits? Features describe the product itself - what it has. Benefits describe the advantages a customer gets by bu'ying the product. The first list above is a benefits list and the second is a features list. Benefits will drive customers to explore more information about the product. This is when you should give them the features and describe the product itself. To summarize, get customers into looking for more info by telling them the benefits and then describe the prod'uct. This will assure the best results. I laid out just 3 powerful strategies here. There are many more 'explored' and 'unexplored' tactics, and hope you can discover a few too. Please let me know if you do. I hope this information was helpful to you and wish you good luck and success in your future mark'eting efforts.

Advertising Strategies Alternatives to Print Alternatives Within Print

Is print advertising headed for extinction? No way, but I am seeing more and more companies pulling dollars from their print advertising budgets and moving them into other alteatives. The reason? To brand their product or service more effectively by balancing their ad campaigns and reaching their targeted demographic audiences from different angles. And even within the print medium, the playing field appears to be changing. Newspaper and Yellow Pages advertising has suffered a blow from the growth of the inteet. Googling, Yahoo-ing and online news sources are pulling from their numbers. With inteet research more easily available, more advertisers are targeting their prospective customers with direct mail campaigns which gives them the ability to pinpoint the demographic they are trying to reach by age, gender, income and location.

The inteet is a growing alteative. Google Ads and Yahoo Sponsored Search "Pay Per Click" advertising is grabbing a growing share of ad budgets. This new medium gives you the ability purchase a keyword and only pay for it if someone clicks on your website. The way it works in a nutshell is, when someone does a search using your keyword, your website url and a three line promotional ad appears on the right side of the search results page. It can be as inexpensive as a nickel per click and you can limit what you spend per day, so that Google/Yahoo shuts off your ad campaign for the rest of that day when your budget "limit" is reached.

Outdoor advertising and signs on buses and transit systems is often in the mix of successful advertising budgets.

Radio utilizes the magic of music and imagination to reach an audience in a lasting way. Of course this is one of my favorites because music, jingles and ad production are what I do. But all bias aside, radio is a way to reach a broader audience with the ability to drive home a message.

One lesser know alteative within radio broadcast advertising is the traffic or weather sponsorship. This is a ten second (or less) message that is read within the traffic report: i.e. "Today's traffic is brought to you by ________ ". Metro Networks, the Westwood One company created the traffic sponsorship industry years ago by putting a fleet of planes and "news" copters in the air to monitor traffic in the largest US cities. Instead if selling their services to the radio stations, Metro made a trade for advertising "air" time. So most of the flying traffic reporters that you think work for your local radio & TV stations are really Metro Networks employees who have cut a deal with the local stations. The local stations also sell traffic and weather sponsorships but they are usually not during the report, they come before or after it. So if you hear two traffic sponsorships for the same report, it probably means one was a Metro sponsorship and the other was a station sold sponsorship.

Television advertising is a traditional advertising medium we all know well but the advent of cable television has changed the face of the industry. With cable advertising, you can now reach a more targeted demographic, very similar to direct mail, by age, gender, income & location and it can be done on a smaller budget. *If you decide to go in this direction, or in the direction of radio advertising check out my site and drop me a line. I will be happy to go into detail about branding alteatives to help you get maximum effectiveness from your campaign.

With all these advertising options, it's best not to put all your eggs in one basket if you have the budget. The most successful advertisers use a balance of advertising mediums to reach their audience creatively and consistently.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email: barry@soundad.com.

Hope this helps... Good luck with your campaign!

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

Buying Radio Time Read This and Don t Waste Your Money

Buying radio? First off, let me say, I'm not knocking it. But read on and see how to use it to your best advantage. If you've been in a direct-to-consumer business for even 6 months, or are listed in the phone book, you've probably been pitched to by a radio station. No doubt you've listened to, and then quickly deleted, messages from account execs from stations from all formats. Maybe you've even entertained them in your office. Hopefully you didn't have to sanitize your phone or office afterwards. Well, radio can be great way to gaer awareness cheaply... ahem, inexpensively... if you do it right. But, remember... 97.823% of all radio ads S-U-C-K. That leaves you to carry the banner for great radio advertising. And when you do, you will get noticed. Believe me, you will get noticed. Why do so many radio ads suck? Between the screaming car ads, and nasally voiced business owners who should never get anywhere near a microphone reading their own ads, and the next "tukey" business opportunity, they are all dressed in their plaid suits and resorting to hucksterism. They want your money and they want it now. They forget one thing. Well, actually a lot of things, but the main thing they forget that people are not tuning in for their ad. Listeners want Rush, Rome, Al, Laura, music, sports, news, or whatever. People aren't saying, "Gee, I gotta hear great heating and air conditioning ads today!" Your ad is interrupting what they listen for. By nature, you are already behind the eight ball before you start in radio. But there is hope. First off, do NOT let a radio station employee write your ad. If your exec isn't a writer (you may luck out in that some radio execs are copywriters in training looking for an agency gig) and you don't insist, your ad will probably get written by either: The Station Producer- who may have already written 4 or 5 other ads that same DAY, who doesn't have enough time to fully attend to your needs, and thereby wasting your money; OR a Disc Jockey (strange term- they don't spin wax anymore, Daddy-O) whose annoyed he or she has to write an ad, or who's not a talented writer to begin with, also wasting your money; OR by The Inte, Secretary, or Other Employee - who may relish the opportunity, but may not have the writing chops yet, or is being pressured to write something "quick and dirty" so it can produced and on the air -- also thereby wasting your money. You have creative control and the ultimate yay or nay, so feel free to choose your writer. Hint and Shameless Plug: entering http://www.brandedbetter.com in your browser window will direct you to an excellent radio writer. Now, when it comes down to concepting and reviewing scripts, remember this: Radio is called Theater of the Mind for good reason. Use it to your advantage. Recall your disadvantage before starting. Cleveess will grab attention. But... it must be on strategy to be effective. Give your writer ONE benefit to express. How does that benefit resonate with the target audience? Even if you have a "mundane" or "boring" product or service, there IS cleveess to be had. Give a good writer enough information, and they will find it. A few of the BEST radio ads I've ever heard was for a soil conditioner. Yup. A soil conditioner. Two voices. One performed by the writer. The other performed by mid-level (read... talented, and non-union) voice talent. Writer as The Hick Farmer. Non-Union Talent as the Smart Farmer. Hick Farmer: Hey, nay-bor...Whatzzat on yer roof? Smart Farmer: (obviously) It's a satellite dish. Hick Farmer: Whazzit fer...? Talkin' to the Martians? You can almost hear the slack jaw in your head. And it makes you want to hear more. That's your goal for radio. Another ad for the same product was even better. Smart Farmer: Hey, neighbor... Why so glum? Hick Farmer: Aw... the weeds, the bugs, the disease... my crops are about ruined... I've had an awful year. The wife has been pickin' her tooth for leftovers. Now, I'm not a farmer. I never heard of conditioning soil. But, you can bet I understood what it did after these ads. And did I mention I was wondrously entertained when receiving this information? While I can only hint at the hilarity of this ad series, one thing to make sure of is that you progress through to your benefit without losing the audience. Tough, but a good writer can do it. And, notice that word... 'series.' If you have a good concept, it may be worth your while to think in terms of multiple executions rather than just one. To be fair, these ads were produced by an ad agency with a good sized budget. The campaign also won some ad awards and some industry awards. The point is-- a good ad isn't loud, repetitive, trite, condescending, or tries to jam as many words possible into the time frame. In fact, silence works to your advantage. Silence in radio (or even TV) is like white space on a print ad. It tastefully surrounds the content for maximum effectiveness, drawing the eye (or in this case, ear) in to read (hear) copy. Voices are important, too. Ever listen to the radio and hear the same voice all over the ads? That's usually Mr. or Ms. Producer-- the person who makes sure the ad gets made. That's why they don't have time to write a good one for you. Many freelance writers, me included, know something about voices and casting, and can probably get you the best talent for your dollar. Some writers can even voice their own copy. Yes, it'll cost more, but at least you can differentiate. And think twice, no, three times, before reading it yourself. Oh, and if you're wondering what length of ad to buy? In most cases, go for the :60. For just a few dollars more, you get twice the time to play with. If you are spending money on radio, use ALL the resources available to you to create the best possible ad. And that usually entails going outside the radio station walls to get it. If you do it well enough, you may even get a little backlash. Remember what I said before about being noticed? In addition to increased traffic, calls, and sales, you may get an increase in complaints. But it's not all bad news. Breakthrough advertising breaks some rules, and smaller minded people will complain. Never pull the plug on an ad because of ONE or TWO complaints. These people simply don't get it, and probably wouldn't make good customers for you. Either that, or they just really like bad advertising. Good... Day!

Advertising that won t cost you a Dime Oh and it works too

We all know that businesses must advertise to attract customers and make sales. It's a basic trade principle that has been in existence for centuries. The problem with a great many advertising opportunities though is that they require money up front from the advertiser. When there's no guarantee that the advertising media chosen will produce the desired results, it really is more a leap of faith than anything else! Of course, there are alteative 'free advertising' avenues that can be pursued. But again, these may not produce results, either because they are ineffective (hence they are free) or because they are saturated by ads from the other one million and one businesses using the service. So, what is the solution? The Shared Advertising Concept The solution, as it tus out, is really quite simple! Find companies with whom you can 'exchange' advertising. A prime example of this shared advertising concept in action can be found on the Inteet. Companies that have a shared economic interest - i.e. their products or services, although different, appeal to the same target audience - arrange to place advertising on each others web sites. By doing so, both companies benefit from free advertising to a highly targeted audience. Finding companies who are interested in pursuing this idea is pretty easy too. Joint venture search companies specialize in bringing together businesses that want to work together like this. To kick-start the process all you need do is register your interest with a joint venture facilitator, such as www.jvbase.com and let them match your company up with other parties who are interested in exchanging advertising space for free. It's a solution that works and one that is guaranteed to boost your sales inquiries too!

Five Common Online Advertising Mistakes

In a fast paced world in which we live in, marketing your website effectively can make or break your business. Marketing online is much different than in the 'real world' as there are so many more websites competing for the same visitor. You are now marketing globally instead of locally. So, how do you go about grabbing people's attention and have them visit your site? Sadly, many online business owners often advertise in ways that actually frustrate the entire advertising process. The same mistakes are being make over and over again. It's not their fault though. These mistakes are very easy to do. Mostly because they are not automated. So many people want to take the quickest, easiest, and least time intensive ways of operating an online business. Unfortunately, that's why so many people are forced to give up. Are you making any of these mistakes? Thinking online advertising is unimportant. Advertising your website might sound like that's a no-brainer, but many people just don't think that this is the most important part of their business. I work with people all the time who have never done much advertising because they didn't think they had to. They thought the search engines would do everything. One of the reasons there isn't much emphasis on advertising is because a lot of people have a misconception that it has to be expensive. Effective and profitable advertising can be done cheaply. Not targeting an audience Online marketers want to reach everyone. The goal has been to get as many people to your site as you possibly can. If you can get thousands of people to your site, then some of them will probably buy from you. And effective marketing strategy is to target. There's a saying that says if you aim at nothing chances are that's exactly what you'll get. Targeting is a narrow focus towards an audience of people who has the greatest chance of doing what you want. When you narrow your focus to a very specific type of buyer your conversion rates will skyrocket. You'll see a lot more profits and a lot less spent out in advertising. Not being watchful of the needs of your audience People's needs will change over time. If your product is for a weight gain product, keep watch over the newest products and what is working the best at the time. This is the product people will be looking for. If your advertising is tailored to inform people you have this product, they will buy from you. If you are an affiliate for golfing products, then keep an eye out for what is the hottest trend in golf at the time. Are people looking for how to lengthen their drive or are more people looking for information on their short game. Always be watching the needs of your audience and then create your advertising accordingly. Not connecting your business communication to visitor's needs Is your website outdated? Do you still have the same information on it? When people go to your site are your articles, autoresponder courses, ebooks, and other informational products updated to reflect your visitor's needs? Most importantly is your ezine always connected to the needs of your visitors? Not following up on a regular basis No matter what you do in your advertising campaign. If you fail to follow up on any sales, any ezine sign ups, any correspondence... your marketing will be very ineffective. Simply for the fact that you have to spend advertising dollars to reach that person again. If you dedicate time to following up with people you have another avenue to build a relationship with each and every visitor. This is a very powerful advertising strategy that is sadly under-used. Take a look at your advertising campaign. Are you making any of these mistakes? Can you see areas where you can improve upon? Are you trying to take the easy way out? Your business is directly linked to your advertising effectiveness. Make it your priority today to concentrate on your advertising more and you'll see an increase in profits and a longer lasting business.

Free How To Get Hoards of Targeted Visitors to Your Site Starting Today For Free

Free! How To Get Hoards of Targeted Visitors to Your Site Starting Today For Free! Discover the Secret New System That Top Inteet Marketers Are Using Now! By Mark Meyers (c) 2004. All rights reserved. http://www.Inteet-Income-Advisor.com I'll bet you know that there are a lot of ways to get "Targeted" visitors to our site(s) right! The problem is that these methods can be pricey and/or they could be a lot of work. :( Take article writing for example: It's free, and it will give you and your site good exposure. but it can take awhile to come up with a good article. And then you have to find article directories or eZines that will publish it. So it's not exactly free, because your time is worth something right? Now don't get me wrong, writing articles is one of the best long term traffic generation strategies, but you won't always get traffic right away! And that's what I want to tell you about today... How To Get Hoards of Targeted Visitors to Your Site Starting Today For Free! Now let me ask you a question... How many web pages do you visit in a day? Ten? 30? 100? more? How would you like to use that activity and leverage it to have someone lea about your product, service or opporunity? Think about that for a second... You keep doing exactly what you are doing now, and more and more people will lea about your site. Does that interest you? There is a breakthough new advertizing system that installs a simple toolbar into your web browser (MS Inteet Explorer only at this point). The toolbar basically does two things: 1. Adds to a counter each time you visit a web page. 2. Displays a simple text ad. And that's it! I assure you it doesn't track which web page you visited, it isn't spyware or adware. But here is the really nice thing: Your text ad will be at the very top (the best position?) of thousands of people's web browser each and every day, and it doesn't cost you a single cent. People will only click on the link when the ad message is interesting to them, so these are people who are interested in what you are offering (read "Targeted") coming to your site. Is that exciting? Some top inteet marketers like Mark Joyner, Mike Filsaime and Tellman Knudson to name just a few, are using this to explode their lists and sales right now! As with anything that is successful, there will soon be copycat programs, but this is the first. I am updating my results every few days and you can read about it here: http://www.Inteet-Income-Advisor.com/Super-Free-Ad-System.html I hope this helps you build your inteet business, Have a super day! Mark Meyers

Blog Blaster Advertising

"How would you like to have your ad on 2 Million Websites ?" I'm not pulling your leg! Discover the new way of advertising on the Inteet! This Tool is one of the hottest - if not the hottest - marketing tools available! http://toya0327.blogboost.hop.clickbank.net Discover the power of the Blog Blaster! Brandnew software revolutionizes the power of online advertising -never seen before!- BRAND NEW FOR OCTOBER 2005! How would you like 2 Million Sites linking to your ad ? Hi, my name is Sebastian Foss. Are you like me? Frustrated by the lack of traffic coming to your Site ? After all, how many times a day are you BOMBARDED with some lame "get-traffic" scheme on the Inteet? Well, I've got great news for you. One day I had an idea. An amazing idea actually. Weblog or blog population is exploding around the world, resembling the growth of e-mail users in the 1990s. Post your ads where people read them! - What if you could place your ad on all these sites ? Right, that would mean you would have millions of sites linking to your ad - and my idea actually works. I have developed a software that automatically places your ad on millions of blogs. You will receive thousands of targeted hits to your website as Blog Blaster places your ad on blogs that match your ad's category. This method has never been released to the public before. Very few, if anyone has implemented this. http://toya0327.blogboost.hop.clickbank.net Features of Blog Blaster -Blog Blaster automatically posts your ad to more than 2 Million Websites! -Be among the first to use this brandnew method of online advertising and dominate the web with your ads! -Blog Blaster will automatically create thousands of links to your website - which will rank your website in a top 10 position! -Receive hundreds of targeted hits to your website every day from the links in the blogs! -Post your ads where people read them! -The software is not complicated - it's as easy as 1,2 - 3 -No matter if you are a professional advertiser or new to online advertising - -Blog Blaster is suitable for everyone. -You can use Blog Blaster for as many ads as you like - no limitations! -You do NOT have to pay monthly fees to use Blog Blaster - pay once and use it forever! -Your ads stay visible for a long time - daily submissions are not required! -I personally guarantee that if the software does not increase your website's traffic you will receive a full refund! There is absolutely NO RISK! -Advertising using Blog Blaster is 100% SPAM FREE advertising! You will never be accused of spamming. -24/7 Support for our customers! You will even receive my personal email address so I can assist you. Be among the first to use this brandnew method of online advertising and dominate the web with your ads! http://toya0327.blogboost.hop.clickbank.net

Banner Stand Industry

The worldwide banner stand industry is booming. Both indoors and out door banners are in great demand especially in the advertising world. A well-executed banner arranged in an attractive and interesting way, whether in a trade show exhibit, museum display, stage setting or retail store, is a sure way to drive the message home to the target audience.

Exhibit builders look for two criteria while sourcing banner displays- creativity and value addition. For example, a pole banner stand is sturdy, simple and easy to install. Installation can take about 5 minutes. Other than set up time, another valuable addition is flexibility to hide exhibition space such as graphics and literature that has to be stored. Some banner stands come with telescopic components allowing for compact packing and shipping. A variety of mount options include heavy duty, tripod and tubular are available according to the creativity of the user.

Graphics are another element of banner stands. Some companies have five colors; high-resolution printing that produces 1100 dots per inch on fabric. By using dye sublimation printing, this process provides a wider color spectrum for reproducing graphics. The adjunct industry of outdoor graphic printers is also booming thanks to the spiraling demand for outdoor banner stands.

The banner stand industry is faced with the realities of today's market conditions. For one, technology is changing fast. There is cut throat competition in the banner stand industry, so minor details and advanced innovations is key to leading the way the market regarding minor details and innovations. Innovation is key to big bucks in this effervescent market.

Banner Stands provides detailed information about banner stands, retractable banner stands, roll up banner stands, banner stand exhibits and more. Banner Stands is the sister site of Promotional Advertising Specialties.

Advertising Specialties

Advertising Specialties play a significant role in improving a company's brand recognition. There might be other strategies that companies adopt to get a competitive edge over other companies; however, Advertising Specialties play a major role in seeing that a company scales great heights.

The list of Advertising Specialties available is extensive, ranging from apparel to tote bags, bubble pens, umbrellas, clocks, coasters, coloring books, new-year diaries, indexes, calendars, pens, flat lights, key rings, magnets, medals, mouse pads, coffee mugs, pen pots, ribbons, rulers, caps, stickers and much more. The list is endless. All these items could be personalized with your company, club, association or school logo, either by having them engraved, embossed with gold foil, or screen-printed, which is the most common method adopted for personalizing Advertising Specialties. Advertising Specialties play a vital role in building customer awareness.

The American market has a number of manufacturers who supply a varied range of Advertising Specialties. The American market being very competitive, the right Advertising Specialties could create a great impact on the customer. Advertising Specialties build credibility, find more prospects for the company and increase repeat business. They can be used at company events, trade shows, and fundraisers, they can be used to promote employee goodwill, and they give the sponsor a firm foothold in the market.

Corporate Advertising Specialties make a lasting impact with the target audience, will last a long time, and help build their clients' trust. No matter what set of advertising specialties you choose to employ, make sure the message is consistent. That way, your brand will gain the most exposure.

Advertising Specialties provides detailed information on advertising specialties , advertising specialty companies, advertising specialty distributors, advertising specialty manufacturers and more. Advertising Specialties is affiliated with Full Service Advertising Agencies.

Advertising Secrets

When I first got into the online advertising business, I was looking for the magical combination that would put my website into the top search engine rankings, catapult me to the forefront of the minds or individuals looking to buy my product, and generally make me rich beyond my wildest dreams!

After succeeding in the business for this long, I'm able to look back on my old self with this kind of thinking and shake my head.

If you're reading this article and you've come this far, you're probably looking for the magic answer yourself. You've probably read a few dozen or a few hundred articles just like this about pay-per-click advertising, maximizing retu on investment, keyword stuffing, black-hat seo tactics, text-link banner exchanges, and the list goes on.

Well, I'm here to tell you that I have the one be all end all answer and I'm sharing it with the world!

The truth is that there is no magic secret to online advertising. No one method will generate the largest amount of income/exposure for every website or business imaginable - it's all a matter of trial and error, time and talent.

That's a pretty weak answer, I know. It would have been much cooler for me to tell you that buying tiny classified ads in your local paper was the key to success and riches. Well, I'm sorry. For the few of you that have been down this road before and are starting to get it, you'll hear a ring of truth in my words. The sooner you stop looking for a quick fix to make your message stick, the better.

For what it's worth, these are my thoughts.

1) The inteet has only been alive for a few short years, and in that time it has changed dramatically many times over. Remember in 1995 when everyone first discovered the cool little animated envelope .gif that you would click on to send them email? Where was your online bill-pay, instant messaging, and dynamically generated page content then? And only a few short years later you can see how far we've come and use that as a measure for how far we can go.

The point is that the inteet, like other forms of media, is a rapidly evolving monster. What works for online advertisers today might be completely ineffectual only a few months from now. That's why the best advertisers are constantly researching and creating their own unique marketing strategies. The trick is to find out what works for you, and to make sure that you revisit it from time to time to tune it up as the market changes.

2) You Have to Spend Money to Make Money. It's a tired line, but it's that way because everyone says it. Don't be afraid to add fuel to your advertising fire and take it to another level. Try investing (note that I said investing and not spending) five, ten, or fifty thousand dollars in advertising. If you don't jump out a window the first time you do it, you may walk away with a big smile and a little pocket money!

The hard part about investing a big chunk of money is coming up with it in the first place. If you already have $50,000 laying around for advertising and are just looking for a place to put it, give me a call. If you're not that lucky, try looking at the Small Business Administration for ideas on how to get a small business loan.

If you don't want to go farther than your mailbox, examine some of those credit checks your bank keeps sending you in the mail. A lot of people take advantage of their fairly reasonable interest rates to fund projects.

3) Presentation is Key. You'll find that excellent writing skills and good marketing go hand in hand. As you improve on one, the other is bound to follow. Knowing how to write, and how to write well will give you an extraordinary advantage of the majority of individuals vying for your customers' attention. I don't know about you, but I get a lot of spam for people wanting to sell me their "good, cheap, A+ #1 $$$ rolex watch, discount Viagra, H0t s1utz, etc."

Needless to say, I have never purchased anything from them and most likely, neither have you. If you have, please drop me a line and let me know how it worked out. I'm always wondering how many of those are a scam.

The emails and circulars that I do purchase from come from GoDaddy, buy.com, Google and a host of other professional companies that take a few minutes to ea my trust with good punctuation, grammar, and quality content.

If you don't have a talent for writing (and you know who you are) you have two choices:

Get better - easier said than done. Like most things, writing is one part talent and nine parts hard work. Take some classes, do peer editing suggestions, or send it to me look over (first ten-thousand submissions only).

Or, get someone else to do it - leaving more time for you at the helm. I like this option not only because it's a time saver for me, but also because the work generally comes out better than anything I could have done. This article is an excellent example. I provided a detailed outline, some good anecdotes, and the strategies above and the copywriters at danifer.com did the rest. I made a deal with them to write the article for $149 and we share the syndication rights. Not bad for half an hour's work.

If you can't afford to hire a pro, be courteous to yourself and your audience by simply re-reading your work, running a spell check, and letting your wife/husband/friend/co-worker look it over. You'd be surprised at how many things invisible to you will stand out to a fresh set of eyes.

OK. That's all I've got for now. Stay tuned at howtoadvertise.net for more advice on how to get started with online advertising. Please remember though that how far you go is up to you. There is no substitute for your own work and effort in succeeding in this business.

Good Luck!

Keeton

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Keeton Harrington is the self-made entrepreneur responsible for howtoadvertise.net , a free collection of online marketing strategies and tips. The original publication of this article can be found at www.howtoadvertise.net/advertising_secrets.php

Critique of Adverting Impressions on the Human Mind

Some self-proclaimed marketing gurus say that each person in the United States of America is exposed to over 3,000 varying and different messages every day. And if you are driving around the city each sign is competing for your eye-ball.

While you read the newspaper each add also competes for your brains visual imagery capacity. Indeed these stats seem appropriate and realistic, yet your mind often does not allow even a slice of its attention to what you consider junk.

So, when marketing folks talk about over kill in the information age your mind is not necessarily even looking, in fact you would be surprised how much your mind blocks out and it does not matter if it is in a phone book, radio, billboard, side of a bus, newspaper or brochure on a counter top.

When you study how the brain works and why it works the way it does you will begin to understand that it is not just the headlines, which sell or help you achieve a favorable impression. Much has to do with how that headline is placed, colors used, etc. and then and only then does what the headline says even matter.

Some marketing gurus, marketing book writers and self-proclaimed marketing specialists want you to believe you either need to lea how to write better copy or hire them as consultants. The truth is most of these folks are old school straddlers of the fence in a changing paradigm of the new click happy, fast paced world, where human block out junk and their eye-ball and brains move fast.

It might be better to study the aspects of the human mind and visualization of the brain. And thus perhaps we need a few less know-it-all marketing specialists and you need to read a few more MRI white papers from the top Universities on what the brain is scanning for and why. Consider all this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

Art Advertising and promotion

There are many companies out there selling art and listings. The biggest without doubt, is Ebay! The problem with Ebay is that listings are for set periods only and you may need to pay again to re-list your items if you are unfortunate to get a sale. With Ebay there is no set fee either. There is a new company, www.thebronzecollector.com/index.htm (thebronzecollector.com)just launched last month November giving art sellers and promotors the opportunity to list their art at a flat rate until the product is sold, no matter how long it takes to sell they will keep it advertised. Companies can also advertise their business and artist can promote their exhibiions. They have five broad categories: Asian Art, European Art, African Art, The Americas and Tribal Masks where you can list your items. Registered companies are allowed display of their company email address beside their listings and details of payment requirement, however, in the interest of fraud prevention non-registered companies and individual products are paid in their paypal account and held until goods are delivered which is an excellent system. You may visit them at www.thebronzecollector.com/index.htm where you can view their 'Advertise With Us' page for further details. N. Peart

Advertising Through Moms

Moms have a very powerful influence on what their families eat, drink, wear, do, and buy. Moms are not only the driving force behind their families, but also the economy.

Moms Have The Power!

Moms have the power to start a trend or "nip it in the bud". Moms want a reasonably priced, high quality, safe, and reliable product. Do you have such a product?

What Are You Sitting There For?:

Tap into this market! Advertise to moms in your church, at your child's school, little league games, reading groups, moms clubs, or the gym. The possibilities are endless because, in case you haven't noticed, Moms are everywhere!

Don't Be A Pusher!

Moms have brains! They can smell a "dead rat a mile away". You don't have to "push" your product if your product truly is what you claim it to be. Gently offer them the information and let them make an educated decision. Don't over hype or under sell either. Don't use fear tactics or "deal of a life time" approaches. Granted these may work on some moms, but most are pretty aware of "corporate" brainwashing.

Moms promoting Each Other:

In the Cyber world of today there is an ever-growing community of Moms who are supporting each other by promoting one another. Ever heard of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you"? This is exactly what thousands of work at home moms are doing each and every day.

By promoting each other they are doing one of several things:
1. Getting free advertising for their site/business/opportunity
2. Building business and personal relationships
3. Branding their business name
4. Supporting work at home families
5. Reaching out to the community
6. Sharing the wahm/wahd Message
7. Offering discounts and freebies to new and retuing customers (which by the way saves Moms money)

How Do I Get Involved?:

You can join this growing movement by visiting a number of networking sites. Some I have listed in the resource section. You'll need to print off some business cards—Vista Print has an excellent deal--, develop an advertising campaign, track your advertising campaign with a coupon code and then Make Your Packs!

1. Ziplocks/Baggies/Envelopes
2. Cards,coupons,samples,brochures *tip samples and coupons are the best bet
4. Distribute the packets to local merchants, with your orders, at school functions, etc..
5. Exchange with other moms so they can advertise for you..

Resources

Mom Packs – The original "moms promoting moms" group.
http://mompacks.com

Jessies Goodies – Yahoo Group http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/JessiesGoodieBags/

Advertising Moms Perks Packs- http://www.advertisingmoms.com/perkpackflyers.html

Karma Kards – http://www.allnaturalme.com

Sara Duggan lives with her family in Califoia. She enjoys crocheting and writing in her spare time. For more articles and family activities visit Mommie-Care News or sign up for her newsletter at http://mommie-care.com

Covert Advertising Psychology through Confirmation Bias

Title: Covert Advertising Psychology through Confirmation Bias Length: 698 words (body); 65 cpl Author: Dorian Greer Email: editor(at)seducingthebuyer.com Category: Marketing / Advertising / Psychology Copyright 2005 Web Address: http://www.SeducingTheBuyer.com Blog Address: http://www.SeducingTheBuyer.com/MT/ Permission to publish this article is granted. Include: Live Links; Author Source & Copyright. May NOT be used in conjunction with unsolicited email. ---- Article ---- Covert Advertising Psychology through Confirmation Bias by Dorian Greer Confirmation bias is a tool of choice for covert influence. It's agreeable, it's easy to use, and can motivate the smartest of people to believe in the weirdest of things. WARNING: This article gives an example of confirmation bias used to make otherwise intelligent people believe impossible things. The example chosen is based on pervasiveness, to make the point obvious, but some might be offended. Publishers beware - the example MAY adversely affect some of your audience. What is Confirmation Bias? Source: http://skepdic.com/confirmbias.html "Confirmation bias refers to a type of selective thinking whereby one tends to notice and to look for what confirms one's beliefs, and to ignore, not look for, or undervalue the relevance of what contradicts one's beliefs." This simple yet profound definition is why prejudice won't die, why smart people believe weird things, and why facts seldom (if ever) change a strong belief. Reinforcing the Factually Untrue The feedback loop created by selective thinking is classic hypnotic methodology. Confirmation bias is thus a way of "pacing one's self" into a state of hypnotic belief. When used in advertising, confirmation bias is the pacing of choice, for raw hypnotic influence. To wit: The more one absorbs information that agrees with what they already believe, contrary evidence holds less and less value. This is why a person can be "talked" into a hypnotic belief system that is contrary to the real world. Try these examples by answering each question TRUTHFULLY: 1. Does Santa Clause really exist, (led by flying reindeer)? 2. Is our moon made of Swiss cheese? 3. Can snakes talk? 4. Have you ever witnessed magic flying carpets, or a real genie? 5. Do horses fly (Pegasus)? Now notice that none of these have any factual basis as being true. But they all exist in fantasy, make-believe worlds. The trick in the hypnotic process is to confuse the believer into merging the make-believe with the real. And this can be done through confirmation bias! Example: Mass Hypnosis through Confirmation Bias In the list of make-believe stories above, can you recognize where the situation from item #3 comes from? It's from the story of Adam of Eve. This alone makes this article controversial, but I needed an obvious example. There are probably millions in the United States alone that, every Sunday, have impossible stories reinforced to the point where they become merged with real life, to become literally indistinguishable from reality by the believer. It is pure hypnosis through confirmation bias that causes a seemingly logical, rational, person to accept and believe something that they know cannot be true. Even children understand that snakes can't talk, and yet... Many believers would rather admit that talking snakes are not possible while STILL maintaining the belief, than change the belief! Want proof? Ask any devout Christian if snakes can talk, and they will likely tell you that "back then, it might have been possible, because...", and then everything else that follows will be just as pure fantasy as the story itself! THIS is the power of confirmation bias when it is continually reinforced. People will violently oppose the truth, even when faced with unequivocal fact. (But note: the confirmation data need not be true either; it just needs social ratification!) An Equal Opportunity Deceiver It should be noted that confirmation bias is a constant enemy we all share. It's a common problem we experience in science, in religion, in advertising, and in everyday perceptions. Eugene Schwartz, in Breakthrough Advertising; page 131, states: "If you can channel the tremendous force of his belief - either in content or direction - behind only one claim, no matter how small, then that one fully-believed claim will sell more goods than all the half-questioned promises your competitors can write for all the rest of their days. This channeling of belief is so powerful that, if properly directed, it will even support otherwise-absurd claims." Notice The Last Sentence Even smart people can be led to believe stupid things with the right pacing of belief by utilizing the technique of confirmation bias. (It's true in psychology; it's true in religion; it's true in hypnosis; it's true in advertising.) Would you like to know more about covert influence? Continue to Here: "Seducing The Buyer" http://www.SeducingTheBuyer.com/MT/ Copyright 2005 Dorian Greer, Editor - Seducing The Buyer.

Buy American

Americans need to support each other! That's what Dave Seek, of Kodiak Cutting Tools, announced at a luncheon last week in Williamson, NY. Kodiak markets metal cutting tools on the inteet at www.kodiakcuttingtools.com. With more and more jobs being shifted overseas, we are positioning ourselves for failure. We have seen an increase in our web-based business over the past couple years as Americans are beginning to catch on, Seek commented. They are looking for American solutions. Kodiak takes extreme pride in offering the finest carbide end mills, drill bits, npt pipe taps, aircraft drill bits and roughing end mills at very competitive prices. We stock over 8000 items in our warehouse. For more information visit them at www.kodiakcuttingtools.com Kodiak Cutting Tools, LLC located in Williamson, NY recently introduced a new line of aluminum cutting end mills. These tools are made from sub-micro grain carbide and are available in regular and long lengths. Additionally, they can be ordered uncoated or with a high performance zirconium coating. Kodiak markets American made tooling on the inteet and has been serving customers for over 2 years. They offer a full line of metal cutting tools such as...end mills, drill bits, threadmills, micro end mills, hand taps, NPT Pipe taps, S&D drill bits, and center drills. For more information visit them at www.kodiakcuttingtools.com

Cooperative Advertising

Advertising is expensive. As a result, successful businesses are looking for more and more ways to save money on their marketing packages. Co-operative advertising is taking on many shapes and faces. It can be online or offline. It can be in multi-piece packages or multi-message single page flyers or fillers. The concept of co-operative advertising is not new. It is a great way to stretch your advertising dollar and to reach additional pockets of your target market. When multiple people pool their advertising dollar they can reach more people. Its like the choice between sending 1000 color brochures or 10,000 black and white ones. Your message may be watered down a bit by the additional material but it also has the potential to reach so many more people. The power of co-operative advertising is the opportunity to reach so many more people. Every advertiser participating broadcasts their message to their primary markets. And your advertising message gets to piggy back along for the ride. Speaking of piggies, one of the most interesting co-operative advertising efforts, The Mom Pack, was founded by piggy bank artist Lynn Korff of http://www.korfforiginals.com Lynn has spearheaded a group of work at home moms who share co-operative advertising distribution. At http://www.mompack.com work at home mothers send their samples, business cards, flyers and fillers to one another. When each participant ships an order or attends a craft fair, festival, or event they hand out packets (MomPacks) of information from other members. MomPack has evolved quite a bit from its beginnings. The site bosts a membership directory, text links, contest listings, and resources for moms who run home based businesses. http://www.MomPack.com has become a great way for women to network and co-operatively advertise to people who already shop from work at home moms. Shopping With Women is also a great way for advertisers to co-operatively get your marketing message in front of targeted groups of people. When someone needs a booklet to distribute at their event, they request it from http://www.ShoppingWithWomen.com and then advertisers purchase spots in the upcoming booklet. These booklets are going to specific groups, organizations, and locations so that they offer advertisers inexpensive yet targeted advertising opportunities. Shopping With Women is unique in that its advertising opportunities are ever changing. Bookmark their upcoming events page and check back often for ways that you can reach very targeted markets in a co-operative advertising venue. Another brand new advertising co-operative, and really neat women's group is located online at http://www.mywoman2woman.com These ladies are producing joint mailings and catalogs that you can participate in. There are also many ways that you can develop your own co-operative advertising efforts. If you participate in home party sales, you might wish to coordinate with several other people representing different home party plan companies. You could each supply a few items to be used in your own show displays and keep business cards handy for any guests who are interested in your co-op's products. You know that your samples will be seen by people who already attend, host, and shop at home parties. You might want to get co-ops together for booths at craft fairs, business opportunity seminars, or demonstration meetings. You can share the cost of the booth and share the leads obtained. This is especially helpful with multiple day events as no one has to man the event around the clock. With multi day events, you can even put together a co-op of people representing the same company. Another co-operative advertising effort that has grown steadily over the years is the WAHMfest events. These are held nationwide throughout the year and target women who are considering starting a work at home business. Visit them online at http://www.wahmfest.org. You can participate in currently scheduled events or sign up to host an event of your own. This is an especially effective co-op because many people are participating who reach varied segments of a geographic population. Since all participants help to promote the event, you are likely to reach people you would not otherwise come into contact with in your own hometown. A finaly way that I would like to suggest co-operative advertising initiatives isn't really my idea at all. It is a part of the efforts of Shopping With Women. But the concept can be spun and utilized in many different venues. Have 15-30 people come together and print tote bags, book bags, shopping bags, or even three ring binders for a specific event or venue. Examples could be Christmas Shows or Festivals, Church Sponsored Events, Training Seminars, Open Houses, etc. Each participant pays the same amount towards the printing of the bag or binder. Ads are printed on the final product for each participant. Then the bags or binders are given away for free at the open house, show, party, or farmers market. These are just sample ideas. But it is a great way to be sure that event attendees take home something with your marketing message. Advertising co-op participants might also include samples, coupons, flyers, or business cards in all the printed bags. Co-operative advertising is a good way to stretch your advertising budget and reach more people with your marketing message. Always be on the look out for people that you can participate in advertising co-ops with. You'll get a bigger bang for your advertising dollar and continue to build your network of influence.

Customer Preferences in Online Advertising Part 1 of 3

Online consumers have given some very explicit information regarding their preferences when it comes to advertising. According to research conducted by Jupiter (www.jup.com), a worldwide authority on Inteet commerce, there are several things online business people need to be aware of in order to increase their advertising effectiveness. I have created this 3-part series of articles as a commentary relating to the results of Jupiter's study entitled, "Inside the Mind of the Online Consumer". It will help you understand what the information means to you. Taking heed to the recommendations Jupiter reveals will most certainly improve your advertising response rate. Customers Use the Inteet for Information Forty-eight (48) percent of consumers online use the Inteet primarily as a utility device, not an entertainment device. This means they are using the Inteet as a tool, not a toy. Because of that fact, consumers are primarily looking for information, not games. This is not a new revelation. However, how this fact relates to advertising is new. Customers Want Information-Based Ads According to the customers in Jupiter's survey, they respond to advertising that compliments their online activities. Forty (40) percent said they respond more readily to online ads that are informative rather than entertaining. This would include new product developments, benefits-oriented ads and those focusing on service issues. Notice that one of the categories listed is "product benefits". This is where the majority of online advertisers fall to pieces. It is simply imperative that online advertising copy be filled with benefits. Online consumers are looking to answer the question, "What's in it for me" over and over again. They are seeking information and the advertising you give them should fill that need. How to Build An Information-Oriented Ad So now that we've leaed that customers are ready and waiting for us to provide them with information- based advertising… how do we do it? Does that automatically mean you have to go with long copy? No, not at all. According to Jupiter, "Advertisers that are marketing high-consideration products, which require a more informed purchase process, should focus more exclusively on consumers' online information needs. Advertisers that are marketing low-consideration products - for which consumers require little information in order to complete a purchase - have more leeway to take a less informative and more entertaining approach to their advertising." It's just as I've stated for years. Let your target market lead your decision to use long or short copy. Those seeking information on affiliate programs, MLM programs, high-investment products or services, etc. are going to be seeking more information than someone in search of a new bathrobe. For more detail in this area, visit http://www.ktamarketing.com/articles_longcopy.html. Here are some suggestions you can use to help build a successful information-type ad: 1.Include statistics - When you make a sales claim, back it up with information, including statistics. You might say, "Our saucepans have a non-stick coating that's guaranteed for life. In actual, in-home testing, food did not stick to our saucepans 98.3% of the time." 2.Include targeted benefits - You must include targeted benefits to make your message hit its mark. Let's take the saucepan example a bit further. "Our saucepans have a non-stick coating that's guaranteed for life. In actual, in-home testing, food did not stick to our saucepans 98.3% of the time. You get omelets that come out of the pan whole. You get sautéed chicken that makes a beautiful presentation on the plate. You get less waste, less but food and more healthy cooking because you use no oil." Now those are benefits any chef would think are important. 3.Provide content on your site that backs up your claims - As you surf the Web take note of information that supports your advertising claims. Surveys, research, reports, testimonials, etc. can all provide valuable information that could move a customer from the point-of-decision to the point- of-purchase. 4.Submit articles - Customers looking for information are much more likely to respond to a URL listed in an article than a bold-faced advertisement. Because articles provide information in a non-threatening way, they work along the same level as endorsements and referrals. Write articles relating to your area of expertise and submit them to article archive sites and Ezine publishers. 5.Offer a free report - Give away information free with a purchase or subscription to your newsletter. Since information is what surfers are looking to receive, it will work as a big incentive. Next in the series will be a focus on ads that are avoided and shunned by online customers… and how to be sure yours isn't one of them!

Fundraisers

Helping others is very rewarding for you, your business and your workers, associates and clients, as you see those you help reap benefits while eaing some recognition for your company efforts in the process. Plus check out the words from inspirational pro Zig Ziglar, "If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want." Here are tips to help with your own fundraiser marketing campaigns. 1. FLYERS - Create flyers for bulletin boards of the organization involved in the fundraising and for local area stores, shopping centers, community centers and other places. On the flyer, make sure to include complete contact information with your website, email address and a phone number. To save on full color printing, print with standard black ink on colored paper. Along the bottom of the flyer, have tear out tabs with your website link and phone number on them so that people can tear them and off and take them home. Tip: pull off the first tab to get the motion in action. Otherwise, passers-by will think your flyer is too pretty to tear and won't take any strips home for following up. 2. COORDINATE - Make sure the group or organization you are helping takes part, too. Have them cross promote, linking your fundraiser web page to their own website. Create a special email message for them to send to co- workers, their own clients and other contacts. And help by submitting a newsletter article about the fundraiser to their company newsletter. Speak often with the person coordinating the fundraiser within the organization to develop and follow through with your joint marketing plans. 2. PRESS RELEASE - Announce your fundraiser to local media; print, radio and television. Have digital photos on hand to supplement and plenty of information for follow up in a media kit - online is great for quick reference and handy downloads. Include a link to your media kit in your press release. It helps to have someone available for speaking opportunities. Radio and television hosts may want to interview someone about the event. If you have an open house or kick-off event, invite the media, too. Have media kits on hand to distribute (in print and on CDs, if possible). So reach out and help others with fundraiser marketing. Helping others is a great way to help yourself, in the process. And do remember to include your website and email address on all of your marketing tools.

Close more prospects in one week than most do in 1 Year

I Hate Cold Calls Long before I started my business, I realized that I wasn't good at telephone sales and that I would need to generate leads in another way. I developed a sure-fire way to generate those leads, interest in me, and my business, through the use of telephone market research. There are many benefits of doing market research including the ability to lea more about my target market's behaviors and opinions, honing messages and presentations based on real, first hand responses, as well as, to test out new messages or theories prior to wide release. As a website developer and consultant, my large market is businesses and my main target group is small business owners. In order to contact these owners I would need access to their contact information. For my target market, I found a regional business development directory to be very complete including names, addresses, phone numbers and website information. Some of the information was a little out of date but it was going to be far better than just cold calling to reach "The Owner or Manager" and get successfully past the front desk person etc. For other Business-to-Business companies I might suggest the local Chamber of Commerce or Business Association. Contact lists may be purchased or leased from outside sources, however, that is beyond the scope of this article. For a client of mine, who is in the property care and landscaping industry, I was able to suggest hitting the phone book in the areas he wanted to generate business in and call every twentieth or thirtieth name in the book. The only criteria his respondent had to meet, was that they are a homeowner or property owner. In his case, my client is located in a small town and most respondents would be homeowners. If he were in a major city I would recommend that he be calling property management companies and target areas of the city with a high concentration of houses. Most cities still have their phone books broken down by community or borough. Developing the Survey The first step in this process was to develop the survey. To do that you first need to determine the subject of the survey. This should also relate directly to the message you wish to communicate to the lead. For my company I wanted to find out one of two things: if the respondent had a website; what were the circumstances, experiences and opinions of having it, or if the respondent didn't have a website; the circumstances and reasons for not. Tuning in the Respondent As you can see, these questions relate to only one specific service - websites. This allows the respondent to easily understand what subject area you are talking about so that when you switch to providing your message they are already thinking about that subject. In my case, the respondent could easily tell that I was asking questions about websites, they probably figure that my business has something to do with websites. Keep Questions Open Ended The survey questions should be as open ended as possible. This is not scientific, as it cannot be quantified in small sample sizes, but it is the best way to avoid leading the respondent to a perceived answer. They may feel that you are looking for a particular response. This can happen when you use a scaled response survey such as ratings of 1 to 5 or 1 to 7. In my own personal experience this type of survey is best left to academics. In most cases you are looking for opinions and experiences of an individual. Ask questions like, "Could you explain how you felt about the experience when you last purchased a car?" Keep Things Brief There should be no more than 10 to 15 questions on the survey. The fewer questions and the more open ended the better the dialogue with the respondent and the more valuable the information. The Wrap Up At the end of the survey when I ask if they are interested in more information about my company and services they already have an idea of what to expect and are more likely to be open to hear and receive my message because there is no surprise and I was not beating them over the head with message. I merely made them think about their website or lack thereof. Script = Professionalism Once you have developed your survey you should write a script. I know - I can hear your sighs now - you don't want to sound like a robot or just another telemarketer but the use of a script will ensure that you sound like a professional. The danger with a script is that it might not be conversational or may not consider the person on the other end of the phone. To avoid sounding robotic and like you are reading a script you should read it aloud to yourself. If you are unsure about how it sounds try it out on someone in your home or office. The worst thing you can do is to call up someone and start in with, "Uuuhhmmm, could I speak to - uuuhhmmm?" Your script should include a brief introduction. In my case my introduction went like this, "Hello, Mr. Adams. My name is Jay Gilmore. The reason I am calling is that I am doing some market research for my business services company in your area and I wanted to get some feedback from fellow business owners, like yourself." Note that I didn't mention the name of my company. This shows the respondent that I am a person calling to talk to another person - people like to talk to people and not businesses. Removing the Common Objection The next words that come off the script are very important, "I am not going to try to sell you anything, and I just want to ask a few questions to help in planning my business." This has worked every single time to break through the, "I'm not going to listen to a sales pitch" instinct that so many business owners and consumers have developed over the years. Ask for Their Time Now that I have broken through their resistance I am able to request permission and their time to do the survey. Be respectful of the respondent's time by making sure that the survey may be completed in less than five minutes. Tell them how long it will take - and be honest. It is not very professional to lie or mislead people about the time you are asking them for. Once the survey is complete you should conclude by thanking the respondent for assisting you with your research. The Marketing Starts Now - Actually it Already Started The marketing part is next. In closing you should briefly introduce your company and the service being marketed. An example would be, " Thank you Mr. Adams for all your help. I would like to let you know that my business, Joe's Flowers is a local flower shop that specializes in arrangements and designs from North American plants and flowers. Would you be interested in receiving more information about our services and our company?" After answering questions in your survey about flowers and their buying habits they are probably ready to find more information about your company and its products or services. Get their mailing address and / or email address and any other information you require to send them the information you want. What to Send Sending the information about your business can make or break this relationship. You have already gotten willing permission to send information to the respondent - now you have to send them something that will lead them to choose to buy your product or service or refer a friend or colleague. The contents of the information package - be it electronic or print- should be a letter of introduction and thanks for the participation in the survey and some free and useful information that they will relate to regarding your product or services. This information package is a first step to an ongoing relationship that will allow you to nurture goodwill and relationships with people who are actually interested in your business. The respondents will be expecting some form of marketing message but don't overdo it. Pushing too hard to close a sale at this stage will not work with this piece. This is not a direct mail promotion so don't treat it as such. That being, said don't hesitate to place importance and urgency on the message. Use benefit oriented copy to entice readers to take some form of action. Follow-up Will Make the Sale - Well Some Anyway As you bring the respondents closer to your business's products and or services by providing valuable information and examples of how it can better their lives many will choose to buy your products and services. Give Up The Cold Call You have now just read a great way to expose you business to new markets, new people, lea more about those markets and people, and get your message out - all with nothing more than a telephone and a list of phone numbers. What is best is that you were able to get people to willingly accept your message without the anxiety and resistance of a sales cold call.

Custom LED Display

Custom LED Display, as the name specifies, facilitate control anything with any message that you can think of, from hours of operation to daily specials. These are used by almost all industries like factory, banks, airports, universities, libraries, and many others.

Custom LED displays are based on LED technology which gives it a mode sleek and thus the improved performance. This innovative technology enables the production of affordable giant displays.

LED's are solid-state devices with no moving parts and by producing little heat and being energy efficient, our current LED sign designs are at least five times more efficient than their incandescent counterparts.

These are designed to be lightweight and easily mountable. Moreover these are durable and reliable as they are made to be impact resistant. Custom Led displays can be designed according to the need of the user and considering all above aspects so that they can be maintained easily. Of course the maintenance helps improve the life of any electronic equipment, measures are taken into consideration while production, so that the cost of maintenance reduces at a great extent.

The customer can be provided with any specified LED colour and design package, with samples delivered, from initial approach, in less than four weeks, whether the product is rotary encoder for a state-of-the-art digital sound deck or a meter for a milling machine.

Custom LED displays are mounted on the wall or hanged from any ceiling for broadcasting information that sight from any distance. Moreover the brightness of these custom LED displays help sight from any distance very clearly.

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

Banner Ads How To Quadruple Clickthroughs Using Proven Techniques

It's a fact… Businesses right now are wasting thousands of dollars on ineffective advertising. In fact, a large majority of business owners are satisfied when they place a banner ad and double their investment. Are you in this category? Do you pull mediocre results from every banner ad you place? Want to start placing ads that pull 4, 10, even 20 times the amount you invested? Of course you do! Here's how to create devastatingly powerful banner ads that get people clicking! First, you need to walk a mile in your prospects shoes. What tus them on? What key words will stop them dead in their tracks? Understanding who your ad is talking to is the first step. Your second step is understanding the dreams and desires of your products audience. Ask yourself some questions: Are they motivated by money? Do they want to do something better? What's the emotional reason your target prospect would be interested in your product? For instance, a home business offer would go after prospects interested in money, right? But there are other underlying benefits that speak to your targeted audience too. Maybe they want freedom from a time clock? Maybe they hate answering to a boss? For instance, if you wanted to target a niche market of RV owners for your business opportunity, you might write a banner headline like "RVers! You Can Travel The Country, And Get Paid Very Well To Do It"! The headline above addresses two powerful motivators for someone that owns an RV. First, money, a universal motivator. And second, traveling in their RV. This creates excitement for an RV enthusiast reading the headline and lures them into the copy. Second, a banner ad works better when it appears interactive. Create buttons on your banner that the reader can click. Perhaps a survey where the user clicks radio buttons to reply. Or, something that looks like a drop down menu that the user clicks. Third, as in any form of effective advertising, you need to create a sense of urgency. Banner ads need to pull the reader away from the website they're already viewing. So, aside from an offer that speaks directly to them, you need to give them a reason to stop searching the site they're on and choose to visit the site your banner points to. "Click Now" works, but an even more effective urgency creator would be "limited supplies" or "special discount for the first 100 visits"! Fourth, make sure your banner design is simple. Key words should stand out. Graphics should be light, and only used to capture attention. Use color schemes that compliment one another and draw the eye. Using these ideas in your own banner ads can dramatically increase clickthroughs. By applying them to your own banner marketing you can set your own personal records for clickthroughs and profits.

Artist Marketing Selling Your Art on Ebay

Artist Marketing - Selling Your Art on Ebay As an artist, you've probably already realized that the "creative" end of your profession is handled. It's the "marketing" of your work that is the challenge! In a previous article, I covered some of the key points of traditional Artist Marketing through participating in Art Shows and Festivals. This article will cover one online approach to marketing your work -- Selling on Ebay. As a venue for selling Art, ebay is a much debated issue. Some artists say that ebay devalues an artist's work and that one should never sell their work on ebay. This is certainly a valid opinion -- a large percentage of ebay buyers are looking for bargains. That being said, here is another way to look at it: selling work on ebay to obtain exposure and advertising of one's work, along with making sales. Let's face it, there is no way to get around the fact that MILLIONS of people visit ebay everyday with the express intent of SHOPPING. It is unlikely that any other online site for marketing artwork will generate that volume of traffic. A few years ago, before many artists entered the ebay marketplace, competition was light and making money on ebay a bit easier. Presently, ebay has grown to the point where jumping in and making a living selling your art exclusively on ebay would be challenging at best. If you can approach ebay as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy, as opposed to "putting all of your eggs in one basket," the ebay experience can be quite valuable. As far as selling prices go, yes, often times ebay prices are below other markets. If this bothers you, stop now -- ebay may be a waste of your time. However, if you don't mind having some pieces sell for less than average, the ebay experience can simply mean well spent Advertising Dollars in addition to income. And what about those customers who paid full price for your work? Business is business. Your response, should they ask, can be that you dedicate a limited number of pieces to auction for advertising purposes. (Countless artists have donated their work to fundraisers, with zero input on the final selling price.) If you are going to "protect" the value of your work, you have to market it... The actual "how to" of listing items on ebay is quite simple, though time consuming. There is no need for a "how to lesson" here, as every aspect of the ebay selling process is explained through onsite links to additional information. Any questions you have about fees, guidleines, etc. can be found right on ebay with a little patience. The "philosophy" of the approach is up to you. I will suggest some guidelines for making ebay part of your over all marketing plan: If you already have your own website, or plan to start one, great. Ebay can be used as a method for getting people to your main site. While you can't advertise your website on an auction page, you can mention your site in the "About Me" section of your Seller Preferences. Also, you can mention your site in correspondence email to anyone who contacts you through ebay or wins one of your listed items. Ebay is quite particular about Sellers advertising other websites (ebay would of course prefer that all business transact through them!) so make sure to exercise care and only respond to those who contact you first. (See the ebay User Agreement for details.) If you don't maintain your own website, or even if you do, you may want to consider opening an ebay store. It's relatively inexpensive, with basic stores starting at $15.95/month, you can list as many items as you like in the store. Listing fees for store items are far less than listing fees for auction items. Of course, there is a catch -- only auction items show up at the top of a search when folks go looking for items to buy. So, your store items will seldom be found by the average shopper. However, you can advertise your store on your ebay auction pages. So one approach is to continually keep several items up for auction, and loudly declare that you have many more available in your ebay store (active links to your store help!) Also, you will find that after items have been in your store for a period of time, they may be indexed on Google and Froogle! Given the intense competition for site ranking on Google, an ebay store is a great way to get your work out there to be seen. It probably goes without saying that you will need to post a picture of your artwork, and that image quality is very important. Try to avoid sitting your painting or sculpture on the sofa and just snapping a picture. Well displayed and well lit images will help a great deal. Also, you will need to consider how you plan to ship the item before listing it. Ebay will require you to enter shipping options and pricing that you plan to offer to the winning bidder. You will also need to decide if you are willing to ship inteationally or to US-only destinations. A final note on listing your items, whether at auction or in an ebay store: remember to chose quality KEYWORDS! This is most important in the Title line of your item. Put yourself in the buyer's shoes. Few people are probably looking for "Look at this very pretty view of flowers in a vase." A much better title, littered with popular search words, might be: "Floral Painting, Still Life, Art Print, Limited Edition." Ebay provides a list of popular "Keywords" to assist in your homework. One great way to prepare yourself for entering the ebay market is to BUY something on ebay! In this case, try buying a piece of art. This will give you experience from the Shoppers perspective on searching, bidding and winning an item. You can use your likes and dislikes of your experience to create a plan all your own!

diamond jewelry india diamond jewelry manufacturer

Everything you wanted to know about diamonds and the global diamond business, industry, and trade. Djewels is a complete on-line shopping portal that provides information on the exploration activities of Diamond Industry. The site allows users free access to information about new discoveries, exploration projects, corporate financing, and acquisitions and provides complete market information. Our site http://www.djewels.org sells fine quality and ideal cut diamonds, diamond jewelry including engagement rings, ring settings, diamond and fashion earrings, pendants and bracelets. Djewels, the company who is pioneered in using latest techniques, implementing newer ideas, cost & manpower management was originally founded in 1985, and started wholesale readymade Jewellery business, under the brand name of Djewels. Having more than 19 year's family experience in Diamonds, Color stones and Gold Jewellery business, the company has set so many new quality standards. With 19 years of experience, the Djewels is specialized in the manufacturing of good quality Diamonds & Diamond Jewellery. The founder of Djewels Pvt. Ltd., is a well known and highly respectable in the Diamond industry worldwide, he is also a qualified / certified gemologist. Djewels offers bouquets of very special services to all customers. Honesty, Accuracy, Hospitality, perfect price and above all Customer satisfaction. Djewels on-line shopping literally takes you behind the scenes of the worldwide diamond business - to the diamond bourses and the cutting centers including a map of Indian diamond calendar of events and conferences; jewelry trade shows, dealers information about polished manufacturers and exporters; the history of diamonds, and more. If you have any queries Please contact feel free our website: http://www.djewels.org/forum.asp Thanks (Swapan Kumar)

Free classifieds Using them to promote your stuff online

Classified advertising is a form of advertising that is particularly common in newspapers and other periodicals. A classified is usually textually based and can consist of as little as the type of item being sold, and a contact number to call for more information. It can also have much more detail, such as name to contact, address to contact or visit, a detailed description of the product or products. There are generally no pictures or other graphics within the advertisement, although sometimes a logo may be used. Classified advertising is generally grouped within the publication under headings classifying the product or service being offered, for example: Accounting, Automobiles, Clothing, Farm Produce, For Sale, For Rent, etc. Classified advertising is different from display advertising that often contains graphics or other art work and which is more typically distributed throughout a publication adjacent to editorial content. The free classifieds are part of free classified advertising. The free classified advertising is the advertising free of cost. In recent times classified advertising or classified ads are not merely confined to print media, rather expanded to inteet network. The free classifieds and free classified advertising have become hot online catchwords. Craigslist was one of the first online classified sites. The free Inteet classified advertising is rapidly growing trend of recent times. There are numerous companies and websites that offer the free online classified ads. These websites receives free classifieds ads and advertise them free of cost. There are also country specific classified online sites like usfreeads.com for United States. There are a number of agencies throughout the world that have made a business out of the classified advertising industry. For example: Wide Area Classifieds has created their own classified networks in which businesses and individuals can place ads in hundreds of different papers across the country. According to market researcher Classified Intelligence, in 2003, the market for classified ads in the United States was $15.9 billion (newspapers), $14.1 billion (online). The worldwide market for classified ads in 2003 was estimated at over $100 billion. Free Classifieds Using Them to Promote Your Stuff Online

Classified advertising is a form of advertising that is particularly common in newspapers and other periodicals. A classified is usually textually based and can consist of as little as the type of item being sold, and a contact number to call for more information. It can also have much more detail, such as name to contact, address to contact or visit, a detailed description of the product or products. There are generally no pictures or other graphics within the advertisement, although sometimes a logo may be used.

Classified advertising is generally grouped within the publication under headings classifying the product or service being offered, for example: Accounting, Automobiles, Clothing, Farm Produce, For Sale, For Rent, etc. Classified advertising is different from display advertising that often contains graphics or other art work and which is more typically distributed throughout a publication adjacent to editorial content.

The free classifieds are part of free classified advertising. The free classified advertising is the advertising free of cost.

In recent times classified advertising or classified ads are not merely confined to print media, rather expanded to inteet network. The free classifieds and free classified advertising have become hot online catchwords. Craigslist was one of the first online classified sites.

The free Inteet classified advertising is rapidly growing trend of recent times. There are numerous companies and websites that offer the free online classified ads. These websites receives free classifieds ads and advertise them free of cost.

There are also country specific classified online sites like usfreeads.com for United States. There are a number of agencies throughout the world that have made a business out of the classified advertising industry. For example: Wide Area Classifieds has created their own classified networks in which businesses and individuals can place ads in hundreds of different papers across the country.

According to market researcher Classified Intelligence, in 2003, the market for classified ads in the United States was $15.9 billion (newspapers), $14.1 billion (online). The worldwide market for classified ads in 2003 was estimated at over $100 billion.

About Author: The Author owns a website on free classifieds. The website provides a quick and easy way to promote / sell your business and products. You can even post and find Special Offers on lingerie.

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Creating an Advertising Plan

Pick up your palette and slap that paint on the canvas……We are about to prepare a masterpiece! Creating an advertising plan is a mix of analytical preparation and creative conceptualization. Who are you trying to reach? What do you want to say to them? How, when and where are you going to reach them? In preparing the guideline or framework for your advertising plan you need to concentrate on defining your target market. You want to look at their age, location, marital status, income, and life stage. Strap down your easel and get ready to develop, is time to begin the creative process and strategy. We want to concentrate on appealing to the needs or wants of the consumers or target base. We need to focus on where people are going to first see our product/service to make an immediate lasting impact. Remember it is all about getting noticed, we need to create ads that resonate on the minds and hearts of our viewing audience. There are numerous forms of advertising media we can use, such as; direct mail, public relations promotions, display advertising, directories, brochures/flyers, door to door leaflets, transit ads, inteet, TV, radio, Cinema, exhibitions, and trade shows. In its simplest form, your creative strategy needs to answer these three things: What benefit are you promising and what's your selling proposition? Who are you making it to? Why should they believe you? There are two modes that our customers shopping habits can be classified as, transactional and relational. Transactional customers focus on today's transaction and they fear paying more than they should have. They are very research oriented and they enjoy comparing and negotiating. At the same time these costumers are great for word-of-mouth advertising. Relational customers think of today as a beginning to all the transactions to follow. Timing is an important aspect when placing advertising. If you place an ad too soon, people may forget about your event. If you place an ad too late, people may already have plans or purchased another product. For a seasonal plan, you may want to begin running a campaign early enough to catch the people who plan and continue running your ad in order to catch the last-minute trip crowd. When developing your plan you need to concentrate on the timing of your advertising. We refer to this as the purchase frequency –that is, the more frequently the product is purchased, the less repetition is required. Companies need to consider the rate at which your advertisement is forgotten, or the speed at which buyers forget the brand if advertising is not seen nor heard. Most approaches to advertising are divided into two timing schedules; continuous and flight schedules. The law of "3" has long applied to visual and audio advertising. That is, if a target customer can read your message 3 times in a short period of time, or hear your ad 3 times, it will increase the chances of them remembering the product. When developing slogans, phrases, or any words that we will use in ads we need to use evocative words. Words that evoke a reaction from the viewer, remove them from their current thoughts, and place them on your message. The most important part of developing an advertising campaign is to be consistent. If the product/service can be recognized in numerous areas of placement through a consistent message delivery, it will become a part of the consumers buying habits. When deciding which type of firm to use in implementing your advertising plan you should look at the options. A full service agency does research, selects and purchases media, and develops ad copies and produces artwork. A limited-service agency specializes in one aspect of the creative process and they can provide a range of services depending on the company needs. Your last option is visiting a business incubation professional who can help you develop a plan utilizing a mix of limited services and consulting based on in-house resources you can use to do it yourself. If you utilize all the tools that have been mentioned in the article you will be able to develop and implement a great guideline for your advertising plan. © Copyright 2004-05 by www.motivatedentrepreneur.com

FREE FLASH animated banner ad for all new clients with any purchase click here

Greetings, ProBannerAds.com is offering ONE FREE FLASH animated banner advertisement OR animated GIF banner for your online business with any other banner or graphics purchase. Our clients include Inteet.com, Charles Schwab, Conseco Direct, Gambling.com and many other successful websites across the Web. View our vast portfolio of highly successful banner advertisements, animated graphics, html email designs, FLASH animations and headers by clicking: http://www.probannerads.com/portfolio.htm To receive this amazing offer, simply email your contact information to "pro@probannerads.com" or you can manually send this information to us by using our submission form at: http://www.probannerads.com/submitinfo.htm Our company designs high-end creatives, advertising banners, pop-ups, html email campaigns, logos, illustration, web design, animation and all varieties of advertisement on the Inteet today. We also offer fully customized graphics, animation and flash designs to help get your site noticed. Tuaround time is usually less than three days and our pricing structure is below the industry standard for superior quality creative designs that get results. We have formed many strategic alliances and offer our creative design skills through various sites and networks to increase our reach. Our most recent partnership with 'InfluenceOne' has been wildly successful, and is enabling us to offer our expetise and experience at these unbelievable prices. We bring an elite technology to the online advertising world. Please stop by our website and see for yourself. With our most recent breakthrough, you can now have a banner ad advertisement (created by 'ProBannerAds') that lets your new customer click on your banner ad and enter their phone number directly into a field built into the banner. The Phone number is then immediately sent to your call center where you can have one of your operators/sales staff or automated system retu the call! 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Check it out at the following web address: http://www.probannerads.com/onecall.htm To discuss any type of partnership/affiliation possibilities, please do not hesitate to call. Feel free to contact me, Sam Feuer, directly with all inquiries at (718) 840-2826. I look forward to working with your company! Thank you, Sam Feuer ProBannerAds.com marketing@probannerads.com (718)840-2826

Create Your Dynamic Elevator Speech

So, what's an elevator speech, and how do you get one?

What Is It?

An elevator speech is a short (15-30 second, 150 word) sound bite that succinctly and memorably introduces you. It spotlights your uniqueness. It focuses on the benefits you provide. And it is delivered effortlessly.

Elevator speeches are intended to prepare you for very brief, chance encounters in an elevator. But elevator speeches are not just for elevators! You should use it whenever you want to introduce yourself to a new contact. That could be in the supermarket, waiting in line at an ATM or when you get your moing latte.

So, who better than you to describe with passion, precision and persuasiveness what you do? A great elevator speech makes a lasting first impression, showcases your professionalism and allows you to position yourself.

And if you want to network successfully, you need an elevator speech!

How to Prepare an Elevator Speech, or What's My Line?

Now for a short course in preparing your elevator speech, or unique selling proposition.

First, and most important, think in terms of the benefits your clients or customers derive from your services. Trust me, no one is going to be riveted if you say:

"Hi, my name is Stanley Manly, and I'm a public relations executive with twenty years of experience."

Or:

"Hi, I'm Sally Hopeful, and I'm an executive recruiter.

Two big yawns.

What's In It for Me?

Do you recall that old radio station, WII-FM: What's In It For Me?!

If you remember that people are always more interested in how you can help them, you're on the right track. Keep that top of mind when composing your speech.

Here's how to improve the two examples mentioned above:

"Hi, my name is Stanley Manly, and I help inventors tell the world about their inventions."

"Hi, I'm Sally Hopeful. I partner with companies that need to find talented people to help their business growth and become more profitable."

Now, you've got my attention!

Let's use my elevator speech before and after as an example:

Here's my before version (and I wondered why people looked at me with a frozen smile!):

"Hi, I'm Dale Kurow, and I'm a career and executive coach. I hold a Master's Degree in Career Counseling and have been trained by a master level coach. (Who cares!) I've been an HR director for a multinational cosmetic company, run a PR agency and taught college-level business courses. (So what!) I believe that coaching can be the catalyst to change your life. (Are you asleep yet?)

See how that was all about me, me, me?

Now for the revised version:

"Hi, I'm Dale Kurow, and I help people become more successful at their work. For example, I've helped a client change jobs with a 40% salary increase, I've helped a client develop the skills to deal with a difficult boss, and I've helped a manager devise new ways to keep her staff motivated."

Here are a few more examples:

I know an Avon representative who says:

"I help women look beautiful."

Or a business coach that says:

"I help you get more clients than you know what to do with."

And here's my favorite, one that is used by an IRS agent:

"I'm a govement fund-raiser."

Action Steps

So, here's what you need to do to craft your elevator speech.

First, write down the "deliverables" -- the services or features that you provide. Then, think in terms of the benefits that your clients or employer could derive from these services. You could use several successful client outcomes, as I did.

Once you've got that written, create an opening sentence that will grab the listener's attention, as our Avon representative did above. The best openers leave the listener wanting more information. And you do not have to include your title, especially if you think it has a negative connotation (an IRS agent, for example).

Finally, your elevator speech must roll off your tongue with ease. Practice your speech in front of the mirror and with friends. Record it on your answering machine, and listen to it. Do you sound confident? Sincere? Is it engaging? Tweak accordingly. Then, take it on the road.

Dale Kurow, M.S., is an author and a career and executive coach in NYC. Dale works with clients across the U.S. and inteationally, helping them to become better managers, figure out their next career moves and thrive despite office politics. Visit Dale's web site at http://www.dalekurow.com/newsletter to sign-up for her free monthly ezine "Career Essentials," chocked full of useful career tips and strategies you can use immediately.