Advertising - For Small Businesses (Part 2)


How to do it

People skim through newspapers and magazines and they aren'tnecessarily looking for information on products or services(unless they're reading the classifieds) It's thereforeabsolutely vital that your advertisement grabs theirattention and encourages them to read more. Many ads aredesigned merely to create awareness of a product or service,however, small to medium size businesses need a result.

Use words that attract attention in your headline - The twomost powerful words in a headline are - YOU and FREE. Othergreat headline words are - How to - New - The Secrets of -Amazing - Breakthrough - Announcing - Discover - Protect -Facts you - At last

Don't worry too much about a photograph or a graphic - Agood headline is what you need to grab attention anddifferentiate you from your competitors. There are severalads in my local paper for plumbers. All but one has the nameof the plumbing business at the top of the ad - "Fred SmithPlumbers." One of the ads has "DYNAMIC PLUMBERS" at the topof the ad. I had to read more to find out what made thisplumbing service "DYNAMIC." To me - one plumber is much likeanother; however, this one grabbed my interest.

Offer something free - A sample - an hour of your time -information - a drink - a coffee - some food - a place forchildren to play - a book - an audio or video tape. Offersomething that has a high perceived value for the customerbut a low cost for you. Remember - you want them to respondto your ad, not your competitors.

Use simple language - Get to your point FAST - remember,people will only spend a few seconds looking at your ad, sodon't beat around the bush.

Offer benefits - Tell the customer how your product orservice benefits them or solves their problems. Don't startsentences with - "We do ??." start with - "You will ??."

No jargon - Watch out for abbreviations, jargon, buzz wordsand technical information. You might understand the languagebut does the customer?

Don't be boring - Don't use words like -"Quality service"(What does that mean?) - "Established in 1862" (Who cares) -"We provide an individual service" (Doesn't everybody?) Lookat what some of your competitors say in their advertisingand do something different.

Touch the emotions - Make your ad look and sound human, warmand friendly. Perhaps put a name in - "Call Jim now for aFREE quotation."

Use testimonials - Put in the names of people and businessesthat you've worked with and what they said (with theirpermission of course)

Call for action - Your advertisement must prompt people todo something. You must ask them to phone you - come and seeyou - ask you to see them or place an order - NOW! Make itas easy as possible for them to do that - a free phonenumber - a freepost address - a simple tear-off coupon tocomplete - something free or any other incentive for them totake action NOW!

Discover how you can generate more business without havingto cold call!Alan Fairweather is the author of "How to get More Saleswithout Selling" This book is packed with practical thingsthat you can do to ? get customers to come to you . Click here nowhttp://www.howtogetmoresales.com