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 Well this has been a busy day. I am
truly fatigued. So I may cut my writings today short, but
not cheap. We set a sales record today and entered more
new printing orders than any other day since our inception
in 1989. Today was a banner day...great.
What I want to write about today was advertising. 1) When
should I advertise? 2) How should I advertise? 3) How much
of a budget should I allow?
These are the three BASIC questions each business needs to
answer before listing in any advertising campaign, online
or offline. I will address each of these points very
briefly in a matter of opinion.
1)When should I advertise? When you're busy. Many
businesses make the mistake of advertising when they are
not busy. This will often lead to the 'feast or famine'
result. The time to advertise is always. If you need to
start somewhere advertise when you are busy and watch the
peeks and valleys level out. 2)How often should I
advertise? Repetition is good, it helps create brand
awareness. Find the venue that works best for you and
stick with it. Keep flow charts running so you can
calculate return. Advertising, done properly doesn't
cost...it pays. 3)How much of a budget should I allow?
This answer usually comes from your business plan. Work
your plan and plan your work. If you come in under budget
and achieved or exceed projected results put the funds
into growth of your business.
Here are a few free tips that may help you:
Tip 1: Do me a favor. The next time you are
shopping at your local Wal-Mart, Home Depot or Tops,
create a third eye for ADVERTISING. Walk the isles you
would normally walk and buy the items you would normally
buy. At the same time, keep your third eye opened. You
will begin to recognize some common factors. Signage
colors, placement of merchandise, free sample booths or
aroma of baked goods. Allow these corporate giants to show
you some advertising psychology that has proven success
and apply these concepts in your world. Helpful Links
Psychology of color- http://www.weprintcolor.com/moodofcolour.htm
What do you see? http://www.cs.toronto.edu/%7Emoraes/illusion.html
How does color affect your mood? http://www.weprintcolor.com/usingcolour2.htm
Tip 2: If you are an online business, exposure to
search engines is becoming increasing difficult. Search
engines are where most websites receive visitors from.
Once your website is completed and ready for business
submit it to search engines, guides and directories.
Especially the more prominent ones such as Google, Yahoo,
MSN. You may even want to consider a paid listing at
Yahoo. Google offers AdWords and AdSense, great programs.
AdSense offers you revenue opportunities fir running text
ads on your site. Every time the ads get clicked Google
will pay you. On the other side there is AdWords. AdWords
offer you an opportunity to advertise your product
offerings in the text ads that appear on there search
pages. In both cases all you need to do is apply: AdWords-
https://adwords.google.com/select/
AdSense- https://www.google.com/adsense/
How to make money with AdSense- http://www.createonlinebusiness.com/adsense_index.html
Tip 3: Design and print quality marketing material.
So many businesses try to cut costs in the wrong areas,
when it comes down to your image don't cheap out. Also do
not forget to print your website address all of your
company's printing and marketing material. It would
surprise you the amount of times I see this being
overlooked. Keep all of your expensive, high quality
printing brief in content and more about image. Why, you
might ask? Unfortunately, in my business I have seen my
share of wasted printed matter because someone didn't
proof read the properly, product information changed or
prices changed. Display all of this information on your
website, changes are far easier and cheaper to implement.
Helpful links: Full Color Business Cards with Free
Coating- http://www.weprintcolor.com/
The importance of Logo Branding- http://www.designlogos.net/
Download Business Templates- http://www.cardtemplates.com/
Well that's about it for me today, I'm on my way to
Walmart.
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