How To Use Advertising

How important is advertising? It can make or break your business. People need to know you exist, what you have to offer, and how they can get what you have. No business can succeed without proper ad placement. Advertising is very important to the success of any business venture. If you don't have the money to advertise in a national publication, advertise locally. If you can't afford to advertise locally, think outside the box. How can you advertise your business inexpensively, yet still show yourself as a "professional"? A one-time placement in your local newspaper, on television, on the radio, or in a national publication will be a total waste of your time, money, and effort. Consumers need to see your product a minimum of 7 to 10 times before they will even consider ordering your product or service. Your best bet would be to purchase a business-size card ad, with two or three colors, a graphic, and a bit of information about your product or service. Advertise in the same publication for six months. If after three months the advertisement doesn't trigger any new sales or clients, change the ad, but keep it in the same publication. Last year, we had a new coffee shop open up in town. Though many coffee shops have come and gone, this one picked up gusto and earned enough revenue to open a second shop in the next town. How did the owners prevail? They knew how to advertise their business. They placed the same advertisement in the same spot, in the same paper, every week—without fail. And they learned to use their public relations skills to gain free radio time as well as television time. When sitting down to develop your advertisement, keep these things in mind:

• What advertisements do you read over and over again, even though you pretty much know what the ad is going to say? What is it about that ad that continues to capture your attention?
• Which advertisements do you automatically gravitate to when reading the paper? What is it about those ads that draw your attention to them?
• What do you want your advertisement to do for your? Promote your business? Offer a sale? Inform the public?
• What is your product or service's biggest seller? Should that be mentioned in your advertisement?
• Don't crowd your advertisement with tons of colors, words, or pictures. Less is truly more.
• Place a "call to action" in your advertisement...call this number, visit our store, sign up for ____, or visit our website to download free ____.

Finally, remember that you can't always rely on the results of others as to a "good place" to advertise your business. If your business isn't geared towards the readers of a certain publication, your results will not come close to that of the person who recommended that publication in the first place.