Advertising is an investment in your business and is similar to other investments that are designed to improve and expand your business. The return you receive depends on the planning and thought that precede the actual commitment and expenditure of advertising dollars. By first developing an effective advertising plan, you increase the likelihood of a positive return on your advertising investment, regardless of the amount of money you spend.

Four Basic Questions

The basic premise of an advertising plan requires you to thoroughly analyze the answers to key questions before you can make effective advertising decisions. There are four key questions to ask yourself:

1. What do I want my advertising to accomplish?


2. Who should my advertising speak to?


3. What should my advertising say?


4. What advertising medium should I use?

In a specific business situation, each question has any number of potential answers. As you think about each question, do not accept any answer until you have considered and explored the full range of possibilities.

What Do I Want My Advertising To Accomplish?

The first step in developing your advertising plan is to specify your advertising goals. Be as precise as you can as to why you are advertising and what you want to achieve. Everyone wants advertising to increase business, but for your advertising plan to work, it requires you to be more precise. Some possible goals for your advertising are:

To increase awareness of your business.
To attract competitors’ customers.
To increase the likelihood of keeping current customers and developing their loyalty.
To generate immediate sales or sales leads.

It is possible that you may want your advertising to achieve all of these goals plus some others. What is important is that you prioritize your goals. Advertising works best when it is developed to meet one specific goal at a time.

Who Should My Advertising Speak To?

Once you determine your advertising goals, you can then select the target audience for your message. Keep in mind that advertising that tries to reach “everyone” rarely succeeds. Successful advertising is written with a specific customer in mind. Try to picture the person you must reach in order to achieve your advertising goals. Try to describe your target consumers in each of the following:


Demographics: such as gender, age, income, location of residence or business, etc.
Behaviors: such as current awareness of your business; the products, services or vendors they currently use; loyalty to either you or your competitor’s business, etc.
Needs or desires: such as what benefits consumers look for, the basis on which they will decide whether to use your product or service, how your business can fulfill those needs, etc.

What Should My Advertising Say?

Once you know who your target audience is and what they are looking for in terms of the product or service you offer, you can decide what your advertising will say. Advertising should always be written to communicate a message that will be seen as important by your target customer. Your advertising should clearly and convincingly “speak” to your target audience, explaining the important benefits your product or service offers. In deciding how to discuss the major benefits of your product or service in your advertising, keep “AIDA” in mind: attract Attention, hold Interest, arouse Desire and motivate Action.

Where Should I Place My Advertising?

Every month, new advertising options become available. Beyond “traditional” media you can place ads in airports, on ski lifts and on television monitors in the front of grocery carts. Where you place your advertising should be guided by a simple principle: Go where your target audience will have the highest likelihood of seeing or hearing it. Many advertising media work well to reach a diverse range of target consumers. There is no single medium that is inherently good or bad. In fact, a good medium for one product or service may be a poor medium for another. As you consider media choices, look for one that fits your advertising goals, reaches your target efficiently and cost effectively and is within your advertising budget.

Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. Beware of the common mistakes presenters and persuaders commit that cause them to lose the deal.

Conclusion

Persuasion is the missing puzzle piece that will ***** the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you’ve seen some success, but think of the times you couldn’t get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade. Professional success, personal happiness, leadership potential, and income depend on the ability to persuade, influence, and motivate others.

By: Kurt Mortensen

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Here’s a handful of small business advertising ideas that you can use to get free advertising for your business. Today’s tough economic climate has made us all pull in our belts and trim the fat, especially from our advertising budgets. The money saved this way can be put to better use in your business.

There are a number of ways to bring buyers in without having to spend a lot.

The classifieds

The local classified section usually has a section for free ads. This is a bonus to the small business, as hundreds of potential buyers see your ad. Use as many free classified ads but keep a record of sales from them. Once you find which works best you can gradually cut down on the ones not bringing in the business and only use the sales generating ones. This tracking of ads takes some time at first but it’ll be well worth it at the end.

Message boards and local shops

Most malls and larger shops, even some small ones have a message board for customers to post messages. If you regularly use certain shops, ask the owner or sales person if you could leave some flyers or business cards on the counter, put up a flyer on the board, a small message/notice in his window, and you could advertise his business in the same way if he is not a competitor.

Any public and social venue you attend, leave your business cards for the public. Especially if the social gathering is related to your line of business, is an industry event, or in a public building. One person I know leaves cards in public restrooms on the counters, and within minutes (not hours) they are gone.

Donations

This one is not entirely free but it is a small price to pay for the exposure it gets your business. Offer a local charity, fire department, police station, or any public service a new product or related service of yours, then let your local paper know about it as an item of interest for their readers. You might be pleasantly surprised by the response and interest of the public. This is a good way to advertise and it’s free.

Word of mouth

This is the very best and most effective free advertising any business can have. If your service/product is great, people will talk about it. Networking at social events can work wonders. If you are an “online person”, Twitter can create buzz for your business. Make lots of friends on Facebook and tell them about your business, but don’t spam or give them a sales pitch. Join in discussions on forums and give other members value first before discussing your business. Blogs are great for giving and getting feedback. Also, writing or paying someone for an ezine article about your product/service (discussing or reviewing your product) can lead to sales as long as you don’t hard-sell.

There you have it. These small business advertising ideas can save you some hard earned money and boost your business at the same time. Almost forgot: consider creating your own blog about your business.

By: Marlene Dewitte

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