Archive for February, 2010
Traditional Print Advertising Vs Online Advertising
As fashions and other trends reflect looks and styles of times that some might prefer to forget, the term “everything old is new again” has never rung more true. This adage can also be used when marketing your business.
While it is true that the Internet has become easier and more accessible to marketers and advertisers, never underestimate the power of a well printed – and well placed – brochure, postcard or flyer. In fact, with many companies focusing their marketing online, print advertising has the advantage of remaining the “tried and true” method. In addition to including online marketing in your advertising budget, utilize the Internet’s search options to find an online printing company to affordably produce your full color brochures, advertising flyers and other print collateral to round out your marketing efforts.
Including traditional print marketing allows for a cross section of advertising on a variety of levels. For example, direct mail is an ideal, cost-effective way to target specific neighborhoods quickly and easily. Use flyer printing or postcard marketing to announce new services, special offers or grand openings. Postcard printing is easy and affordable and will ensure your name reaches your local area quickly and efficiently.
Full color brochures are an ideal follow-up for networking events, sales meetings and cold calls. Include brochure printing with your direct mail efforts to double your impact. Brochures and advertising flyers can be mailed directly to prospective or existing clients to further illustrate your products and services and drive sales. Consider using one panel as a registration or order form to round out your marketing push while also creating a multi-purpose collateral item.
Just as there are multiple levels of learning, so are there multiple levels and options in advertising. For example, a well-known performance group maintains a very consistent website, advertising upcoming shows and events. To advertise upcoming events, they utilize direct mail and postcard marketing. When attending local festivals or other public events, you will find full color brochures and advertising flyers on the table for patrons to review and keep. All of these efforts are enhanced by regular email newsletters and all print collateral drives traffic back to the website; definitely a case of one hand helping to feed the other.
Rather than sinking your entire marketing budget into Internet advertising, spread the wealth. You might be pleasantly surprised at the handsome return on your investment.
By: Lynne A Saarte
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Advertising Flyers and Postcard Marketing
Advertising Jingles and Commercials – Radio & TV
By now, after spending some time researching your advertising idea looking at radio and TV, you are ready to commit to an idea and company, but aren’t sure who to put your faith in. With so many supposed “experts” with a myriad of businesses from media companies, music houses, and those just looking to take your hard earned money, where do you go?
Finding “companies” or individuals lining the Google adwords column, offering a “proven” method or sure fire way to get you going with your advertising campaign, makes your job of not getting taken and getting the right people in place at reasonable costs, seem all that much harder. So where should you turn, who can you trust, and what’s really important as a small business owner trying to make a splash in the water to increase your sales?
Let’s begin with rule number one – “Nothing is as good as it looks or as bad as it might seem.” You’ve heard that expression before and it holds true here as well. Companies making outlandish claims or offering services well under reasonable competition gives way for serious questioning. Therefore, it is imperative that you find the right company offering the right services and at the right price – not the cheapest, but the right price. Most of these companies that you should be looking at have been around for a while and have more of a track record than the pay per click advertising on the right hand side of search engines. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with pay per click, and we use it with ReelMusicianPro.com but you should be aware of the ease of entering the marketplace with no real substantive experience and setting up shop virtually anywhere with or without experience.
Rule #2 – Set your goals realistically and do not go with a media or music company because of a high price. Don’t go with the cheapest, but going with the higher priced company does not insure a great commercial or great sounding music. Go with the company that has the portfolio that shines, is easily accessible, and takes the time to really get to know your products and service.
Rule #3 – Don’t expect more than what is reasonable for the budget that you are working with. It is better to have fewer elements in the video or music behind your commercial that sound exceptionally good, than to try and cram the latest and greatest video effects, etc.
Rule #4 – Be careful with humor. Humor is great in commercials when pulled off well. But be aware, that writing and executing really good humor is not easy to do and so be advised to be careful with the “funnies” When not done right it cheapens your commercial and image as well.
Rule #5 – Be flexible with your creative team. If you’ve found a really good company like ReelMusicianPro.com to work with, then give them the creative freedom to work with your initial idea and concept. There’s nothing wrong with having a good idea of how you want things to go, and you should, but be prepared to look at some hybrid ideas that might actually make your end goal of effective advertising and increased sales all that more successful.
In short, do your homework and find a quality team and not the low priced or necessarily the high priced team, expressing a desire to have a quality commercial being careful with humor and not expecting more than what your budget can deliver.
By: Tom Gauger
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Grab Customers’ Attention With Advertising Balloons
Let’s face it: most small- and medium-sized companies don’t have huge advertising budgets. Traditional media, such as print, television, and radio advertising are far too expensive. And, for those businesses that rely on walk-in traffic, Internet advertising won’t reach the intended audience. Thankfully, there’s another advertising medium that’s incredibly effective for a variety of businesses: advertising balloons. Advertising balloons – also known as advertising blimps and advertising inflatables – are an incredibly cost-effective method of gaining the attention of passersby and turning prospects into customers. Starting at slightly over $100, the cost of an advertising balloon can be recouped in no time at all. There are several different types of advertising inflatables. Advertising blimps have the traditional blimp shape, but come in a variety of sizes. They are easily customizable with a company logo, special message, or unique combinations of colors. Advertising blimps can be large enough to attract attention from miles away, or small enough to catch the eye of a trade show attendee. Larger advertising blimps can even be lit at night to garner notice 24 hours a day. Round advertising balloons are also attention-grabbers. Again, they come in all sizes and can be flown high above the ground, acting as traffic magnets for a business’ location. A business can also buy a pre-made advertising inflatable, such as one in the shape of a hot air balloon that says, “Grand Opening.” Eye-catching shapes and colors are sure to attract customers. Similarly, dancing balloons (also called wind dancers) are eye-catching. Inflated with a cold air blower, dancers will delight both adults and children. However, they’re generally made with a light material that doesn’t hold up well in sunlight or strong wind. For that reason, a tarp should always be placed under a wind dancer. When you order custom balloons, you first need to think through the various elements that will give your advertising balloons maximum impact. Here are attributes to consider: Lettering: If readability is important, stay with a small number of letters on one or two lines. Determine the distance at which you want your advertising balloon to be read. For maximum impact at 30 feet, for example, letters that are three inches high will suffice. On the other hand, letters that are 12 inches high have maximum impact at 120 feet but are still readable at 525 feet. Colors: There are specific color combinations that will give your advertising balloon more impact. Black lettering or art against a backdrop of yellow, white, or orange is the most effective, followed by blue on white, white on green, green on white, red on white, and white on red. Like everyone else, you probably look up when you see an advertising balloon in the sky. Just imagine how much recognition you can get from your business from the relatively small investment of an advertising balloon!
By: Chris Robertson
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Advertising Before Mass Media – Vintage Signs
Today we are inundated with advertising everywhere we go. From TV and radio advertising, to internet and billboard advertising, its almost impossible to go one day without seeing some form of advertising.
Before modern advertising, companies had to work with what they had in order to advertise. Broad media outlets either did not exist or were not used by many. Other than newspapers, companies did not have broad access to consumers as much as they do today.
So how did some of these old companies manage to grow so large before the days of TV and radio ads? Many chose the medium of tin signs. Today we know them as vintage signs or antique signs. These colorful painted signs advertised everything from soda and beer to oil and laundry detergent.
Antique auto signs have become popular to collect. Of course there are vintage signs made by Ford, GM and Dodge, but if you’re lucky you can find antique tin signs from companies that no longer exist.
Vintage and antique signs have become a very popular item to collect. For history fans, antique tin signs offer a glimpse into a simpler time and give insight into how business used to be.
Why Would Companies Choose Tins Signs?
Tin signs were a great form of advertising. People could hand them up inside or outside of business establishments and they did the selling. They could be mailed to places where they could be displayed and it would benefit both the company and the retailer. Obviously tin signs worked as an advertising medium since many of the signs still exist and many of the companies that used them are still in business.
Consider popular antique tin signs made by Coca-Cola and Pepsi, as well as Quaker State and Ford Motor Company. These signs still exist and many are in original condition, which makes them popular with collectors.
By: Blake Hygate
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Marketing And Advertising Your Tanning Salon
In order to guarantee your success in the tanning business you must have solid marketing and advertising plans. This will also be a very big part of whether or not your business is able to obtain the funding required from investors if this is how you plan to fund your new business.
Our first recommendation is starting a website. Based on your budget, this doesn’t have to be anything fancy. The website should have your logo, mapped directions to your location, phone number, and any current promotions you are running. Be sure to list the state, county, and surrounding cities in text on your website as well as all services and products you offer. Submitting this website to search engines will be beneficial and in time may bring leads for your business. If you’re interested in perfecting this aspect of your business you should research search engine optimization and search engine marketing.
Second, you will want your business listed in the yellow pages and any popular local classified ads. Make sure you purchase a larger ad than just a listing if your advertisement budget allows you too. Larger advertisements always attract more attention. Your ad should focus on why customers should immediately choose your salon over the other ones listed in the same area or perhaps even offer a coupon of substantial value. Remember, if someone feels comfortable tanning at your salon they will return.
Radio advertisement is also an excellent way to increase the popularity. Whether you are purchasing a commercial or actually have the radio station broadcast from your location you will be instantly reaching thousands of listeners. This is often much cheaper than television advertisement and truly reaches people in your community.
Making arrangements with local businesses is a great way to network. Small shops often place each other’s flyers or advertisements on each other’s sales counters to share their wealth of traffic. As long as you don’t sell the same service or products there can be no harm in advertising with each other. If your business neighbors are friendly speak with management and see if this can be arranged.
During a grand opening it is often cost effective to flyer local subdivisions to try to jumpstart the business. Aside from the cost of paper and ink, a little leg work can definitely generate some business and open people’s eyes to how convenient the distance to your location is.
Each of the methods detailed in this article should be locally priced and researched to make sure it is cost effective for your tanning salon and has an acceptable return on investment. Prior to your business opening, your business you should have many ideas in place.
By: Steven Cancel
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