Month: October 2009

Advertising Your Business – Response Or Brand Advertising?

Posted by – October 27, 2009

Advertising Your Business – Response Or Brand Advertising?

Marketing your business properly is one of the most fundamental skills required to achieve success. In order to have a successful, established business, it’s important to be sure you are advertising your business in an effective, value for money way that’s likely to generate a return on investment. Not all advertising works, and where some advertising campaigns may turn out to be incredibly successful, others will have minimum or only short term effect.

Crucial to learning to properly market your business is determining the difference between direct response advertising & brand advertising.

Direct response advertising is far more important, at least in the short term, to the success of your business. This is advertising that demands an action from the target. Examples could include details of a specific offer, a new promotion or launch of a new product. This is advertising designed to tug at the emotions of customers, prompting them into action, and it is this form of marketing that will boost sales and cash flow in the short term.

The alternative, and less effective for a new or small business is brand advertising. While this might be a successful technique in some niche markets, generally it is a more expensive way of building sales than employing direct response advertising techniques. By strategically promoting the brand and the underlying brand values, this form of advertising ultimately vicariously promotes the individual products and helps to build customer loyalty.

Deciding which route is most relevant for your business is the first step in ensuring that you are advertising your business properly and effectively.

Brand advertising is pretty effective for big businesses or a business in a particular small market niche which may find it profitable to appear to be a brand leader. However it does require much more significant investment, because of the lack of direct responses generated and the more subtle effect it has on bottom line sales. Thus for a new business on a start-up budget, it might be best to steer clear of brand advertising – at least, initially.

The next step is to find some way of tracking your return on investment (i.e. response) from each specific advertising campaign. This could be achieved by only advertising one offer through a particular medium, or by advertising with slightly different phone numbers to manually record the number of leads from two different advertising strategies. Also, remember to take account of the cost of different advertising campaigns. Work out overall which advertising strategies are most cost effective for your business.

Finally, advertising your business must be viewed as a cumulative process. To start with, going for direct offers is the best way to encourage first-time buyers, which could then hopefully translate into a loyal customer based. Continuing to grow your business through advertising of this nature is perfectly plausible, and over time it may even prove cost effective to switch to some brand advertising techniques.

It is important not to rush in to advertising in a big way until you have tried out some mini campaigns to evaluate the response.

Naz Daud – CityLocal Business & Franchises

Online Business Ideas and Opportunities

Posted by – October 25, 2009

Online Business Ideas and Opportunities

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If you are looking for alternative incomes from jobs other than your usual white collar, 9-5 job, then it’s time to get net savvy. Online business ideas and opportunities offers you a wide range of options for smart and easy money but first, it is important to check whether or not the business you are getting into is legitimate otherwise you may land in a complete soup!!

Blogging is perhaps the most popular and effective way when it comes to listing online business guides, more, because there are limited complications. To start with, you do not have to invest your money in any software. You can use free blogging spaces to put forth your ideas. Since, a blog is a very free flowing platform; you need not always be technically correct. Just present your views and earn money but blogging might not be devoid of controversies. You might receive a lot of flak or ruffling feathers.

Giving online tuition has come up as a recent trend and picked up as a popular online business idea. Enrolling in sites which offers the facility helps you keep track of your pupils, their requirements, documents, schedules etc. Again, there is no software to be installed.

According to most online business guides, article writing is another way to earn a wealth but contrary to blogging, it is enriched with ideas and thoughts. There are many who are unable to present their ideas via books and cannot get hold of a proper publisher. Online article writing might just be your outlet.

Freelancing is another option which you can use to substitute your income. Freelancers in computer graphics designing, article writing and copyrighting focus on their specializations and go ringing all the way to the bank.

What might be completely worthless to your friend might be worth a fortune to you. Online auctioning cashes in on this idea. Your old, used and antiquated items can now be sold for a lump sum on the net. Another trend is to buy items on e-bay before their value increases and selling them for twice the amount.

Affiliate marketing has also been in practice for quite some while now on the online business guide charts. It is completely Internet based and provides rewards for each customer brought in by the program’s marketing strategies.

With such a wide range of online business ideas to choose from substituting you income or simply pursuing your hobby should not be a problem.

Online Business Sources is a complete for online trade providing all information about and Employment Contact Guide. For more information about trade shows, online business news, tips and advices please visit .

Winning the Game of Advertising and Promotion

Posted by – October 25, 2009

Winning the Game of Advertising and Promotion

As a business owner, no doubt you’ve often thought about the question as to how much you should spend on advertising, and where exactly you should spend it. For most people who own small businesses, these questions simply give you more headaches beyond those simply suffered in the normal everyday operation of your business.


No Simple Answers


In fact, there aren’t any simple answers as to how much you should spend on your advertisement.


Depending on your business, there are those who suggest that you should spend anywhere from 4 to 10% of your gross receipts on advertising.


Of course, the conundrum is, it’s likely that your business is not going to survive unless you have a continuing flow of new customers. However, it’s not likely, either, that you’re going to get those new customers without spending at least something on advertising and get the word out about your business.


How to Develop Effective Advertising


Have you found yourself in this situation? You pay for advertising and then sit back, waiting for new customers to arrive. The only thing is, you sit and sit and sit, and they never come. Sound familiar?


Don’t worry; that has happened to many of us as well.


What most people don’t know is that you don’t have to just worry about knowing where to spend your advertisement money.


You also have to establish the following about advertising:


You have to have a marketing plan.

You have to have an advertising strategy.

You have to know about headlines, ad copy and visual presentation.

You have to know how to track the success of your advertising campaigns.


Your Marketing Plan


Your marketing plan is used primarily for you, so that you can identify what your products and services are, what they cost, their particular strengths and weaknesses, and finally, what your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses are as well.


Your Advertising Strategy


You need to understand just exactly what you expect to get from your advertising.


For example, do you just want to get your name out there so that customers will think of you first when they have a particular need you can fulfill? Or do you want your customers to come to you on a particular day, like Saturday?


Do you want your customers to come in and simply browse, whereupon they suddenly come upon an object they can’t do without? Or do you want them to come in and buy a particular product?


Do you want enough customers so that you can pay for your ad? Or do you want a customer who will come to you again and again, becoming a lifelong customer who will help pay your advertising costs over the next several years?


Once you know what you want, you can better formulate just how you should do it.


Ad Copy, Headlines and Visual Presentation


Many businesses actually put money into advertising without thinking much about their sales pitch or presentation; simply, the quality may not be as up to par as it should be. If your advertising is not quality, then it doesn’t matter how much money you spend on advertising or on your distribution, for example.


Make sure you test the advertising you plan to use in smaller markets before you put a lot of money into it to go to larger markets. You have to know that your advertising is going to have value before you put a lot of money behind it.


Track the Success of Your Advertising Campaigns


One particularly successful advertising campaign might be that you can tell your customers to save another 10% if they mention your ad. Or, you can suggest that they can register to win a free sample of product if they fill out a form and tell you how about your business. You can also advertise a particular product in your ad and then track how well that particular product sells.


It really doesn’t matter how you track your advertising, as long as you do.


In Conclusion


The best way to spend your advertising dollars is to make sure you target an advertisement specifically to the customer base you want to serve.


If you don’t track your advertising, then you are simply “shooting blind.” This is a waste of your time and money.


Even with more widespread advertising, if you are still “shooting blind,” then you’re only making a bigger mistake. You have to track your advertisement so that you know what’s working well and what you need to change. If you don’t, you’ll simply repeat mistakes over and over again, and further waste your time and money. This can actually make your business fail.


If you only rely on instinct, this isn’t necessarily going to help you; you may be choosing wrong so that your advertising dollars aren’t getting spent to the best benefit. And in fact, you may lose all of your money for no gain.


When it comes right down to it, if you want to make money from your advertising, you need to prepare, plan, track and study your advertising campaigns and see what the results are. Base your advertising decisions on facts and on the results you see. Once you’ve made the right advertising decisions, making profits from your business should come much easier for you.

John Navata has helped thousands of people in over 200 countries around the world start and run a successful home business. Discover 3 easy steps to start your own home business and subscribe to “Residual Wealth Factor System” Free Internet Business Secrets Mini-Course. You’ll receive a complimentary 3 days and 2 nights for two when you subscribe at

Auto Dealers Always Looking for Qualified Auto Financing Leads

Posted by – October 24, 2009

Auto Dealers Always Looking for Qualified Auto Financing Leads

With the coming of the new year, auto dealers are usually in heavy clearance mode. They are looking for customers who can drive a car off their lot to make room for this year’s new models. With the economy being weak, people are in need of financing now more than ever. Auto dealers are looking for customers who can get financing for a new or used car and are aggressively pursuing auto leads in search of new customers.

Finding leads has become easier with online services that provide auto dealers with pre-qualified special finance leads that makes the sales and financing process go smoothly and gets the customer in their car and helps the dealership increase sales and commissions. There are leads that are categorized so the dealer knows what kind of customer they are approaching in terms of financing. There are subprime car leads, bad credit auto leads and special finance leads which help the dealer figure out a financing package that will work for the customer and help them sell the car fast.

Auto financing is tricky and dealers want to make sure that the customer can maintain the monthly payments. They do not want to go through the hassle of the collections and repossession process. This eats into profit which is crucial for a dealership’s survival. Car dealerships, like every other business, are feeling the crunch of the current economic situation, so they need to have good leads on customers who can qualify for financing so they can move cars off the lot.

Finding special finance leads can be a breeze for dealerships who know where to look for them. Having pre-qualified auto leads can take the guesswork out of the financing operation and the sales process. Thousands of customers are applying for auto financing before they are even stepping into a dealership. Having these leads in hand will help a dealership structure a financing plan that will close the deal and make the sale.

Depending on the type of dealership, there may be a specific customer that they may be targeting. Some potential owners are good candidates for subprime auto financing. If a dealership wants to target these customers, they can get subprime auto leads that are pre-qualified for financing and draw these customers into their showrooms. Many dealerships specialize in selling cars to people with bad credit. While there is a risk involved, bad credit auto leads can be a good source for business because many of these customers are in the process of repairing their credit records and are able to make good on the monthly car payments. With the economy struggling and many people still needing a car, these leads can be valuable to a dealership that has excess inventory and needs to move a number of cars off the lot to meet their monthly quota. It can turn into a win-win situation for both the potential car buyer and the dealer when a good financing plan can be arranged that will get the car off the lot and into the hands of an owner.

Using auto leads for financing can really make a difference in sales for a dealership that may be struggling to move inventory. These pre-qualified leads can help bring in more customers and sell more cars and really boost sales for a dealership.

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What Do Customers Say About Aerial Advertising?

Posted by – October 23, 2009

What Do Customers Say About Aerial Advertising?

The aerial advertising companies think that airplane messages are incredibly worthwhile. Advertisers might be enchanted with the novelty of having their ad flown over a busy beach or festival.

But what do consumers think? It would seem a waste for advertisers to spend a good deal of money on advertising that won’t be worthwhile, that consumers won’t respond to, that won’t bring customers and money to the door.

Advertisers will be happy to know, then, that consumers think highly of aerial advertising. They enjoy watching the banner ads, and they remember the ads long after they are gone.

In 2004, a Miami Beach survey of 2,194 beachgoers backed this up. After seeing airplane messages in the sky, they were asked some questions about the advertising. The results were interesting and useful to potential aerial advertisers.

Other forms of advertising might be remembered for a short period of time, especially if the message is unique, but most consumers don’t recall the information for very long.

So what’s enlightening is that in the survey of beachgoers a stunning majority of people not only remembered the banner ads they saw, they remembered them for a long period of time.

Beachgoers were asked if they remembered the banner that passed over in the past 30 minutes. The response? 88% of them had. It’s hard to imagine another advertising medium that could boast of 88% of the people remembering it 30 minutes later.

In fact, most people pay little attention to advertising, unless the message is unique or the way of communicating the message is unique (as in a duck, cavemen, or something similar). But sometimes how you present that message is what’s unique (as in aerial advertising) and that’s what people pay attention to. Once you have that attention, you can get your message across in a clearer way than you might think.

The advantage of airplane advertising is that it is unique. It’s not like all the advertising that we see on any given day – billboards, radio ads, and newspaper and television ads. When that plane flies over, towing a banner and a message, we all look up. We pay attention. We remember.

And this statistic bears that out – 79% of the people questioned remembered what was being advertised on the airplane banner. This is 30 minutes after the banner passed over. This backs up what aerial advertising companies already know – airplane messages work. The medium is unique enough that people notice it and they remember it. An advertiser can ask for little more than that.

Finally, the best news for advertisers – 67% of those beachgoers surveyed said they remembered at least half of the message of the airplane advertising. When people remember the message, they remember the advertiser. They seek out the product or service being advertised.

The bottom line is, consumers respond to aerial advertising. They enjoy looking at it, they pay careful attention to it and (best of all) they remember it. Whether alone or combined with other forms of advertising, an advertiser’s dollar goes far when used for plane advertising.

Aerial Advertising services are available from companies that specialize in this type of advertising. The Internet is a good source of information when it comes to choosing aerial advertising services. Arnold Aerial Advertising Inc, www.arnoldaerial.com is one of the companies that provide such services.

Michael Arnold is the Director of Arnold Aerial Advertising Inc. www.arnoldaerial.com/ They conduct all forms of Aerial Advertising: NASCAR, Indy Car, Spring Break, Concerts, Conventions, Rush Hour Traffic, Football, Baseball, State Fairs, all Beaches, Parades, Cruise Lines, etc. and produce the custom banners as well. Located in New York, http://www.arnoldaerial.com, Arnold Aerial Advertising provides nationwide service with affordable rates.