If You're Tired Of Adverts That Don't Work And Letters That Don't Sell, Then You Must Read This

Over the 32 years I've been involved in sales, marketing and management, I've discovered that there are two fatal marketing mistakes made by business owners. They are?

· Lack of focus

· Lack of implementation

There's certainly no shortage of ideas and information - the world is full of it - but what are you doing with it all? Let's do a quick reality check here and now:

· How frequently do you get in touch with your customers?

· How far up your hierarchy of buyers do you go?

· What actions are you taking to make next week, next month or next year better?

Pick one thing you've always meant to do and do it tomorrow to start marketing your business more effectively.

It may be to focus on a market sector, write an article to gain you more exposure as an authority in your industry or it may be to write a better Yellow pages advert.

The more you do now, the more you will have to do down the road. There are all kinds of lame excuses and I've heard most of them. Excuses like "I don't have time" or "Maybe when I'm less busy"

Here's a blinding flash of the obvious - the best time to market yourself IS when you're busy. Why? Because one day you won't be? You see, how you get less busy is by NOT marketing yourself.

To make sure you have a constantly increasing flow of customers, develop and implement marketing processes that you can put on autopilot. They run whether you're busy or not.

Of all of the things you've read or heard that you could or should do, how many have you actually done? You know what it's like - you go to a seminar or read a book and say, "I should do that" but you never do.

Successful strategies are based on solutions and information. Your customers don't really care about you or your company - what they care about is what you can do for them. Yet sadly, far too few companies bother to tell their prospects what they can actually do for them.

No, they're far too busy "getting the name out there" or "promoting our logo" If this is a little too close for comfort, consider this provocative statement:

"If you're advertising for any other reason than to generate leads or sales, you're wasting your money"

Run this checklist over your Yellow Pages advert and see how well it rates. Score 1 point for each Yes. Those points may save your ad from oblivion?

1. It looks like an article instead of an ad

2. It has a strong, benefit-rich headline

3. It includes a personal photo

4. It promotes benefits NOT facts

5. It uses testimonials

6. It states your performance guarantee

7. It contains an irresistible offer

8. It has a strong call to action

9. The phone number is clearly displayed

10. The Company name and logo play a very small part

How many did you score? Six or more? Good, your advert might work for you. Less than four? Good luck?

© James Yuille, Brisbane, Australia, 2004.

About the author:

James Yuille is a sales and marketing consultant and trainer with over 32 years experience. He is based in Brisbane, Australia. His free weekly sales and marketing newsletter provides topical information for business owners and salespeople. Find out more at http://www.jamesyuille.com

MORE RESOURCES updated Thu. May / 17 / 2012

TIME

Facebook Advertising Shows 'A Lot Of Potential But It's Not A Slam-Dunk' Huffington Post By Nicola Leske and Kate Holton NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - General Motors Inc's decision to stop advertising on Facebook may be a wake-up call for the No. 1 social network, but Top advertising executives say it's far too early to know if the site will ... Facebook's biggest problem is that it's a media companyWashington Post Is Advertising on Facebook Worth the Expense?TIME Will Facebook Adapt to Mobile or Will Mobile Adapt to Facebook?BusinessWeek AdAge.com -Detroit Free Press -MarketWatch (press release) all 1,003 news articles »

NPR sees sharp downturn in advertising revenue, leading to talk of cuts Washington Post Halfway through its fiscal year — and six months into Gary Knell's tenure as chief executive — Washington-based NPR has seen a sharp downturn in corporate “underwriting,” or advertising revenue. The falloff has led to projections of an annual ... and more »

CTV.ca

Does advertising on Facebook pay? San Mateo Daily Journal But ahead of the IPO, a debate emerged between two of the nation's largest automakers: Does it pay to advertise on the social network? General Motors, the nation's largest automaker, said it would abandon Facebook ads after concluding they were ... Companies ask: Does advertising on Facebook pay?Seattle Post Intelligencer all 6,414 news articles »

Seattle Post Intelligencer (blog)

Skechers agrees to pay $45 million to settle charges of sketchy advertising of ... Seattle Post Intelligencer (blog) By Rita R. Robison Kim Kardashian, fresh from a sweaty workout and pictured in a variety of steamy, suggestive poses, decides in a TV advertisement to dump her personal trainer. “It's not someone else, it's something else” Kardashian, a reality TV-show ... Sketchy ads? Skechers agrees to pay $50M to settle false-advertising allegationsThe Star-Ledger - NJ.com Skechers settles with WA over false advertisingBusinessWeek Shoe-maker accused of sketchy advertising settles lawsuitAccess Washington KRMG -vtdigger.org -Patch.com all 1,216 news articles »

Viewers Want Choice, Control and Relevance from Online Video Advertising ... San Francisco Chronicle (press release) New York, New York (PRWEB) May 17, 2012 Vibrant Media, the global leader in premium contextual advertising, has released key research findings that determine what viewers want in their video advertising: choice, control and relevance. and more »

New Mobile iPhone Application for Location-Based Virtual Advertising Sacramento Bee By They Creative Advertising HOUSTON, May 17, 2012 -- /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- They Creative Advertising introduces Knibbler™ iPhone application, a location-based advertising tool for individuals and small business owners. Using the dynamic Knibbler™ ... and more »

Why I Lost My Faith In Facebook Advertising Forbes Long before GM pulled its $10M in advertising from Facebook, I lost my faith in the platform. As an online media buyer for American Apparel, I had cut the majority of my spend each month for the preceding 12 months. From the time that Facebook stopped ... and more »

Sydney Morning Herald

Apple Moves to Dismiss Siri False Advertising Suit PC Magazine But Apple's main counter-argument appears to be its contention that the plaintiffs' complaints lack the specificity that would be required to back up their claims of false advertising—failing to provide "a single actionable misstatement" on the part ... Apple Responds to Siri Class Action LawsuitsiPhone FAQ all 278 news articles »

Street Fight

Local Ad Spending Moving More to Mobile and Online; BIA/Kelsey's Media Ad View ... MarketWatch (press release) CHANTILLY, Va., May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- According to BIA/Kelsey's Media Ad View reports, local advertising spending will experience a compound annual growth rate of 2.6 percent between 2011 and 2016, with revenues climbing from around ... BIA/Kelsey: Local Ad Spending Moving More To Mobile And Online, Radio 'Holds ...All Access Music Group Forecast: Locals Ads Hit $150 Mil By 2016, Trad Media HoldsMediaPost Communications Social-Media Ad Spending to Jump to $9.8 Billion in 2016Bloomberg Fiercemobilecontent all 34 news articles »

Coca-Cola Dodges Federal False Advertising Claim Courthouse News Service By TIM HULL (CN) -- Pomegranate juice purveyor Pom Wonderful cannot pursue federal false-advertising claims that Coca-Cola's pomegranate blueberry drink contains mostly apple and grape juices, but it may be able to revive its state law challenges, ... and more »

Imprinted Promotional Items - Their Many Marketing Applications
There are many uses for promotional items. This means that they are just not used as freebies for a grand opening special.

What are Text Adverts?
Not everyone is aware of what are text adverts? Text Adverts are a form of low cost advertising used by website owners to promote their website and services to a quality targeted audience. Online advertising offers an outstanding opportunity to efficiently and effectively target your desired audience.

9 Tips for Better Billboards
It is a given that billboard advertising "outdoor" is not a "quick fix". If sales are down, you can't quickly put up a few boards to boost the numbers.

Can I Write and Print My Own Business Brochures and Business Cards?
If you have a computer and a printer, preferably one that can print in color, then you can make your own brochures and business cards that are very professional-looking! Be sure to use good quality paper (that is available at any office supplies store like Office Depot or Staples) for anything that you are going to hand out or send to potential customers and clients. Writing Text for Your Brochure and Business Card The very best thing to do is to get a few examples of business brochures and business cards, preferably from the same type of business as the business you are starting.

When Advertising Wears Out
One of the challenges facing marketers is determining the most effective level of advertising exposure for a brand, while maintaining a given budget. Conceptually, the media planner could choose continuous advertising (even exposures spread over a period of time) or follow a strategy of pulsing ("on" for some months and "off" for others).

What Happened? Troubleshooting Poor Response from Ad Campaigns
Too many small business owners today run ad campaigns that get little to no results, and they have no idea why. When you have the knowledge to troubleshoot the poor responses, you also have the knowledge to make the needed changes so that - next time - your sales improve! Let's take a look at the breakdown of an ad campaign, and how to determine what went wrong.

Advertising In The Local Press
There are three main reasons why I would hesitate when deciding to advertise in the local press:? Everyone else is doing it? Nobody buys a paper for the adverts? The odds are it won't work Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean it's a good thing, or more importantly - that it actually works! However it seems the natural thing to do - you need to raise your profile, make the local community aware of your company, so you why not advertise in the local paper? Well, because? Nobody buys a paper for the adverts. In fact, do most people buy a local paper these days? As many local papers are free, their only income is through selling advertising space.

Advertising Inserts
One of the best and easiest ways to advertise without having to worry about shelf life of those who would most likely use your services or buy the products from your small business is to use inserts in your local newspaper. A marketing piece might also be to insert our flyers in the daily newspaper.

Localized Advertising - Door-to-Door Ad Distribution on the Fly!
Have you ever had to distribute door-hanger advertisements for your business? Have you ever employed door-to-door sales techniques to increase your brand awareness? Have you ever had to walk mile-after-mile repeating the sales pitch, over and over? Have you ever had to stand outside of an arena event and pass out flyers to exiting patrons? If you stop to think of the cold calling technique of door-to door advertising, you would discover how sometimes humiliating it is to have a disinterested and irritated individual slam the door in your face, yell insulting things toward you, or be escorted off of their property.  To combat this instantaneous humiliation, the idea of door-hanging advertisements gives the sales person a means of getting the word out to more people faster than before but more importantly, it saves the person the anguish of the advertised becoming irate over the interruption.

How Well Do Postcards Work?
The humble little postcard has been getting a lot of attention in the marketing world. Along with this heightened interest comes some very good questions, such as.

Magnetic Business Cards: Make Your Marketing Message Stick
What is it about magnets that draw people to leave them on fridges and file cabinets for years at a time? Many people like to have the contact information handy for common service providers without flipping through a bulky phone book. Magnets are the perfect solution for being seen in this situation.

What Does Your Business Card Say?
Business cards are the most underutilized and misunderstood marketing tool in business. Many people spend the bucks for cards and don't make an effort to get them into the hands of those who can hire them or buy from them.

Customer-Involving Signage and Selling
Here's some easy ways to create signage that will attract, not annoy customers (and local government agencies that regulate signage):1. Since movement always attracts attention, any banner, sign set of a pole that might move with the wind or electrically-turned sign will stand out from the static messages around it.

Ten Ways To Sell Advertising Space Fast
1. Give your customers a discount when they spend over a certain dollar amount for ad space.

Persistent Advertising Will Do No Harm!
From my experience, I've been on many discussion groups and have spoken to many other like minded people. The one topic that always seems to arise is how to get massive sales right away.

Indoor LED Displays
To promote the audience, staff, customers and other people the Indoor LED displays are most widely used. By incorporating the latest technology Indoor LED displays provide exceptional service for a great value.

Double the Effectiveness of Your Company Brochure
Let's face it - most brochures go straight into the bin. But if you know the big mistake to avoid, as well as the secret to make people keep your brochure - and read it, over and over again - you're laughing.

Using The Popularity of Celebrities and Current Events to Promote Your Business
In this article, we want to explore the idea of using the popularity of celebrities and current event (news) topics to help market any internet business. The Idea Celebrities and news events are not only popular topics, they are also popular "keywords" in the major search engines.

How Much Money Do I Need to Spend on Advertising?
Q: I've never really done much advertising for my business; I've always relied on networking and word-of-mouth. Now I'd like to launch a small campaign, but I'm frightened it will cost a lot of money.

Never Be Caught Card less Again: Five Tips to Help You Remember Business Cards
Sorry, I Don't Seem to Have a Business Card With Me..