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Digg it UP - How to Promote Your Online Business Offline
Feeding the Small Business Ecosystem you can check them out at "http://www.milliondollarsource.com." These can be used a number of different ways including as an attention getter, door opener, response generator, networking device, or simply to get a smile out of the recipient. I would recommend ordering a minimum of 2000 and handing them out as quickly as possible. You can even hire someone to hand them out for you if you are short on time. As strange as this may sound to some of you this method works great and is worth the cost.Forgive what may seem like a bit of a theoretical argument today. Sometimes you have to step back and get a sense of the biggest picture in order to understand how all the simple, practical parts relate.Small business is often held together with sweat, creativity and a heavy use of duct tape. (In case you ever wondered where I came up with the term Duct Tape Marketing.) That's the outer reality of small business. The inner reality, the part that most don't see and even the owner of the business might not understand, is more like a living breathing ecosystem.I didn't really excel in science in school, but to me the parallel is obvious. In an ecosystem, the many parts are dependent upon each other for success. In a small business, this is equally true and just as hard to measure and control.There are lots of small businesses out there that appear healthy and happy on the outside but are being held back by some component of the overall system. The very first thing you must do is acknowledge this idea of dependant parts. If one isn't thriving, isn't even noticed, others will suffer.It's very hard to have a healthy business if the employees don't feel appreciated. It's very hard to have a healthy business if clients don't know how your business is unique. It's very hard to have a healthy business if your referral partners don't know who makes an ideal client for your business.There are countless examples of growing businesses that ignore what I'm suggesting, but I wonder if they are fun places to work and do business with?Thinking strategically about your own small business ecosystem requires understanding who all the players are, the experience you w Statement inserts Even huge corporation’s send statement inserts. You're going to send a statement to your customers anyway, why not throw in some advertisements for yourself? This can also be done when paying bill, you think all them people sat at there desks all day don't want nothing better from life. You get all the advantages of direct mail without paying extra for a separate mailing. Take a look at these numbers: Complete direct mail packages run between $200 and $600 per thousand. In contrast, statement inserts are only $6 to $15 per thousand. A huge savings for you. You can also use statement inserts to test a new product. If your product doesn't generate much interest, you can easily change your advertising angle. But if you've pumped all your ad dollars into commercials, print ads and a solo direct mail campaign without results, changing direction is much harder and more costly. Now the bad news. You get your statement and there's an insert for a high-ticket item inside. Chances are, you're not going to shell out the big bucks for something knew when you've just received this blow to your billfold in the same envelope. That's why your statement insert should advertise a reasonably priced item. Save your top-dollar items for your high advertising dollars. Those big prices won't pull in a lot of orders off a statement insert. Be sure to watch the weight of your mailing too. You can pack a lot in a 34 cent mailing. But anything over one ounce will cost you more in post The Rubik's Cube Interview There are a number of great ways to promote your online business offline. Combining offline advertising with your online presence will create momentum and increase your profits. There are a number of ways to promote your business offline.Nearly everyone has heard of the Rubik’s Cube. For most, it’s a challenging puzzle, but for some it becomes an obsession. How can we apply the Rubik’s cube in our daily business practices? Simple, use the Rubik’s Cube as a tool to test perspective employees. By observing and analyzing their problem solving process, you the employer, can determine if the candidate is the right for the job.Step 1: During the final interview process, present the candidate with a scrambled Rubik’s Cube. Tell the prospect that their mission is to return with a completed Rubik’s Cube within 2 hours. They may use any resources necessary.Step 2: Watch and observe how the interviewee approaches the problem. For the first few minutes, most people will play around with the cube trying to logically solve the problem. Most will recognize that they will need some form of assistance to complete the puzzle. For those who do not use outside resources, this will become a highly stressful and frustrating 2 hours. The first crowd will turn to the internet, they will search for instructions and video demonstrations on how to solve the Rubik’s Cube. Perhaps they will even come across this article. Others will dismantle the puzzle and put it back together piece by piece. Finally, some will purchase a completed Rubik’s Cube. You might find that employees will start selling completed cubes, or that the prospect drives to a nearby game and puzzle store to purchase one.Step 3: Analyze the results. The purpose of the exercise was not to complete the Rubik’s Cube, but rather to understand the problem solving process. The group that struggles to complete the project on his or her own might find it difficult to wo Generate traffic. Produce sales. Increase profits. Those words are gold to every business with a Web site. But an overwhelming majority of entrepreneurs don't ever reach their goals of gold. This is mainly because there seems to be an unwritten code of Web advertising. It states you can only be successful on the Internet if you are using online advertising methods like search engines, banner ads and buying online ad space. True, this should be a factor in any company's marketing efforts but there's an old rule of advertising you should Consider... offline. There are three main offline-advertising mediums worth investing in to drive people to your site. Print, television and radio ads are fairly inexpensive and have the power to promote your dot com presence effectively. It’s cheaper and more effective than you think. Newspaper advertising Newspaper advertising is an easy way to get your message in front of a large audience. When placing these kind of ads you want to put them in the business opportunities or work at home section of the classifieds. If you are only going to run them one day a week focus on the Sunday edition as this normally has the highest circulation. If possible run the ad consistently as this will build some familiarity with the readers and will lead to better response. Be sure to find out the circulation and compare the cost with the circulation to find the best deals. I would also suggest you “test” a few different ads and keep track of the results of each. Here are some examples of ads I have run recently: STOP reading classified ads make money from them instead... If they’re making money you can too: For example:- We recently signed up to the affiliate program at www.cashloopholes.co.uk, They pay 50% commissions on their product. In the national exchange and mart it costs just ?80 for a one week advert in the business opportunities section. There were other betting guides in there and they have been for a long time so I knew they were making money. This one guarantees to win, 100% of the time. None of the others can do that so we was one step ahead already by promoting such an exceptional product. The ad read FREE MONEY LOOPHOLE As it’s in the business opportunity section this ad immediately captures the attention of the reader, it’s intriguing and causes the reader to want to know more We placed the ad for 4 weeks and we set up an ad tracking service so we knew how well we were doing with it. In all we received Approximately 500 hits a day and made on average about 10 sales a day. Do the maths and you will see how profitable offline advertising can be. During the 4 week tester period we also had 46 people sign up as an affiliate under us earning us 15% of whatever sales they made. I am not saying this is the only or best product to sell, This is what we first used when we first started advertising off-line and it paid of extremely well for us. We have increased the ad size now costing ?290 a week but the increase in traffic makes up for the extra cost 10 fold. Its always good to start small and cheaply first though. Always test the market before ploughing all your advertising budget on it. Lastly I would recommend trying at least three different papers with three different ad copies and expand from there as your budget allows. Direct Mailing put yourself in the shoes of your direct mail recipients. Avoid direct mail deadly mistakes or your materials will end up in the trash too. Before you even begin to put your direct mail campaign together, you've got to know who your target market is. Are they women? Parents? Young? Old? Understand what motivates them. What are their likes and dislikes? Write as if you're talking to them. And even use terms these types of people would use. But all the fancy graphics and the most beautifully created sentences in the world won't do you a bit of good if you don't carefully select the people on your mailing list. If you're selling adult diapers, you want to target senior citizens...not 23-year-olds. Tighten your mailing list as much as possible to be sure it's tailored to your needs. It's tough to make people believe they need your product and even harder to convince them they need it now. But if you've researched your list, you have a higher chance of hitting potential customers instead of the trash can. You've made your list and checked it twice, so-to-speak. It's the perfect list. Now it's time to write. Define your objectives before you start writing. Stay focused and hit the points of your objective. If you get off track, your reader is going to stop reading. Spend a lot of time on your headline. Just remember how you feel when reading mail that comes to you. After you read that headline, do you keep reading? The headline can make or break your direct mail campaign. Does price really matter? Not unless you know what you're getting for that price. Hook your reader with all of the product benefits. By the time they get to the end, they should be saying, "I can't live without that!" And then you let them in on the price. Even if the price is extremely low, you have to tell potential customers about the product first. Disclosing this price shouldn't put people into shock. Is your product priced according to the market? If you're selling a new teddy bear, it should be priced within reason. Not many people will pay $90 for a tiny teddy bear, right? Truth is, a lot of direct mail goes unanswered because the products are unreasonably priced. Success! Your potential customer read all the way through your mailing. Now what? Did you tell the reader what you want them to do? You can't sell if you don't tell. Your readers need a call to action. Tell them to send in the card, call you, etc. Then tell them again. Once your direct mail is ready to go, test several smaller mailings before sending out a huge chunk. Test each of these mailings by changing a few items when you send them out. Have two or more sales letters you test against each other. By testing, you will find out which of those mailings are bringing in more responses and - hopefully - more orders. Stick with the clear winners. Remember the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Direct mail is a waste of money for a lot of people. But it doesn't have to be for you. Understanding direct mail deadly mistakes -- and avoiding them -- will lead you to sales success! Flyers The next offline advertising method I am going to talk about in this article is a simple flyer. These are a great way to get your website in front of a wide audience. Make 1000 copies and dedicate yourself to handing out all of them in the next 7 days. Here are just a couple of places to hand these out: around your neighbourhood or a large neighbourhood nearby, place stacks at local restaurants, dry cleaners or other places of business, or go to your local college campuses and find areas you can place your flyers. Novelty advertising There are loads of novelty ways to advertise. Use your imagination and be original. Depending on the product you could have your web address printed on t-shirts and give them away to tourists. If you make them bright enough they will wear them with big smiles on they’re faces all day advertising your website Try printing on mouse mats, pens, balls or any other novelty item. It doesn't even always have to be related to your product to get good results although a related gimmick can work wonders. Million Dollar Bills are another great way to advertise offline. If you haven’t heard about these before you can check them out at "http://www.milliondollarsource.com." These can be used a number of different ways including as an attention getter, door opener, response generator, networking device, or simply to get a smile out of the recipient. I would recommend ordering a minimum of 2000 and handing them out as quickly as possible. You can even hire someone to hand them out for you if you are short on time. As strange as this may sound to some of you this method works great and is worth the cost. Statement inserts Even huge corporation’s send statement inserts. You're going to send a statement to your customers anyway, why not throw in some advertisements for yourself? This can also be done when paying bill, you think all them people sat at there desks all day don't want nothing better from life. You get all the advantages of direct mail without paying extra for a separate mailing. Take a look at these numbers: Complete direct mail packages run between $200 and $600 per thousand. In contrast, statement inserts are only $6 to $15 per thousand. A huge savings for you. You can also use statement inserts to test a new product. If your product doesn't generate much interest, you can easily change your advertising angle. But if you've pumped all your ad dollars into commercials, print ads and a solo direct mail campaign without results, changing direction is much harder and more costly. Now the bad news. You get your statement and there's an insert for a high-ticket item inside. Chances are, you're not going to shell out the big bucks for something knew when you've just received this blow to your billfold in the same envelope. That's why your statement insert should advertise a reasonably priced item. Save your top-dollar items for your high advertising dollars. Those big prices won't pull in a lot of orders off a statement insert. Be sure to watch the weight of your mailing too. You can pack a lot in a 34 cent mailing. But anything over one ounce will cost you more in posta How the New SEC Regs Affect Compensation Committees ey pay 50% commissions on their product. In the national exchange and mart it costs just ?80 for a one week advert in the business opportunities section. There were other betting guides in there and they have been for a long time so I knew they were making money. This one guarantees to win, 100% of the time. None of the others can do that so we was one step ahead already by promoting such an exceptional product.An interesting aspect of the proposed new Security & Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations on Executive Compensation relate to the need to supply justification for their decisions (see February 2006 issue for details of the proposed regulation). Currently, most Boards provide a written section, which discusses their general philosophy, such as “providing a total compensation package for executives that is competitive with a group of comparable companies”. In recent public filings, the narrative has even spelled out relative to the measures that will be used in evaluating the level of performance achieved, in order to show that the Compensation Committee has imposed realistic performance metrics as the justification for granting incentives and equity based awards.In the past, the specific numerical targets have not been provided, even though the performance measures have been identified, the rationale being that this would offer confidential, strategic business information to competitors. Some have argued, however, that by not stating the exact performance requirements up front, the Committee has left some “wiggle room” that will allow them to modify the requirements later to levels below the original expectations, and thereby granting awards when they are not truly deserved. Until the SEC issues its final regulations, it will be interesting to see how the Compensation Committees handle this issue, which in effect requires them to provide sufficient information to shareholders without disclosing confidential business information.It is interesting to note, though, that the SEC regulations only cover a small percentage of employers that exist in the United States. While S The ad read FREE MONEY LOOPHOLE As it’s in the business opportunity section this ad immediately captures the attention of the reader, it’s intriguing and causes the reader to want to know more We placed the ad for 4 weeks and we set up an ad tracking service so we knew how well we were doing with it. In all we received Approximately 500 hits a day and made on average about 10 sales a day. Do the maths and you will see how profitable offline advertising can be. During the 4 week tester period we also had 46 people sign up as an affiliate under us earning us 15% of whatever sales they made. I am not saying this is the only or best product to sell, This is what we first used when we first started advertising off-line and it paid of extremely well for us. We have increased the ad size now costing ?290 a week but the increase in traffic makes up for the extra cost 10 fold. Its always good to start small and cheaply first though. Always test the market before ploughing all your advertising budget on it. Lastly I would recommend trying at least three different papers with three different ad copies and expand from there as your budget allows. Direct Mailing put yourself in the shoes of your direct mail recipients. Avoid direct mail deadly mistakes or your materials will end up in the trash too. Before you even begin to put your direct mail campaign together, you've got to know who your target market is. Are they women? Parents? Young? Old? Understand what motivates them. What are their likes and dislikes? Write as if you're talking to them. And even use terms these types of people would use. But all the fancy graphics and the most beautifully created sentences in the world won't do you a bit of good if you don't carefully select the people on your mailing list. If you're selling adult diapers, you want to target senior citizens...not 23-year-olds. Tighten your mailing list as much as possible to be sure it's tailored to your needs. It's tough to make people believe they need your product and even harder to convince them they need it now. But if you've researched your list, you have a higher chance of hitting potential customers instead of the trash can. You've made your list and checked it twice, so-to-speak. It's the perfect list. Now it's time to write. Define your objectives before you start writing. Stay focused and hit the points of your objective. If you get off track, your reader is going to stop reading. Spend a lot of time on your headline. Just remember how you feel when reading mail that comes to you. After you read that headline, do you keep reading? The headline can make or break your direct mail campaign. Does price really matter? Not unless you know what you're getting for that price. Hook your reader with all of the product benefits. By the time they get to the end, they should be saying, "I can't live without that!" And then you let them in on the price. Even if the price is extremely low, you have to tell potential customers about the product first. Disclosing this price shouldn't put people into shock. Is your product priced according to the market? If you're selling a new teddy bear, it should be priced within reason. Not many people will pay $90 for a tiny teddy bear, right? Truth is, a lot of direct mail goes unanswered because the products are unreasonably priced. Success! Your potential customer read all the way through your mailing. Now what? Did you tell the reader what you want them to do? You can't sell if you don't tell. Your readers need a call to action. Tell them to send in the card, call you, etc. Then tell them again. Once your direct mail is ready to go, test several smaller mailings before sending out a huge chunk. Test each of these mailings by changing a few items when you send them out. Have two or more sales letters you test against each other. By testing, you will find out which of those mailings are bringing in more responses and - hopefully - more orders. Stick with the clear winners. Remember the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Direct mail is a waste of money for a lot of people. But it doesn't have to be for you. Understanding direct mail deadly mistakes -- and avoiding them -- will lead you to sales success! Flyers The next offline advertising method I am going to talk about in this article is a simple flyer. These are a great way to get your website in front of a wide audience. Make 1000 copies and dedicate yourself to handing out all of them in the next 7 days. Here are just a couple of places to hand these out: around your neighbourhood or a large neighbourhood nearby, place stacks at local restaurants, dry cleaners or other places of business, or go to your local college campuses and find areas you can place your flyers. Novelty advertising There are loads of novelty ways to advertise. Use your imagination and be original. Depending on the product you could have your web address printed on t-shirts and give them away to tourists. If you make them bright enough they will wear them with big smiles on they’re faces all day advertising your website Try printing on mouse mats, pens, balls or any other novelty item. It doesn't even always have to be related to your product to get good results although a related gimmick can work wonders. Million Dollar Bills are another great way to advertise offline. If you haven’t heard about these before you can check them out at "http://www.milliondollarsource.com." These can be used a number of different ways including as an attention getter, door opener, response generator, networking device, or simply to get a smile out of the recipient. I would recommend ordering a minimum of 2000 and handing them out as quickly as possible. You can even hire someone to hand them out for you if you are short on time. As strange as this may sound to some of you this method works great and is worth the cost. Statement inserts Even huge corporation’s send statement inserts. You're going to send a statement to your customers anyway, why not throw in some advertisements for yourself? This can also be done when paying bill, you think all them people sat at there desks all day don't want nothing better from life. You get all the advantages of direct mail without paying extra for a separate mailing. Take a look at these numbers: Complete direct mail packages run between $200 and $600 per thousand. In contrast, statement inserts are only $6 to $15 per thousand. A huge savings for you. You can also use statement inserts to test a new product. If your product doesn't generate much interest, you can easily change your advertising angle. But if you've pumped all your ad dollars into commercials, print ads and a solo direct mail campaign without results, changing direction is much harder and more costly. Now the bad news. You get your statement and there's an insert for a high-ticket item inside. Chances are, you're not going to shell out the big bucks for something knew when you've just received this blow to your billfold in the same envelope. That's why your statement insert should advertise a reasonably priced item. Save your top-dollar items for your high advertising dollars. Those big prices won't pull in a lot of orders off a statement insert. Be sure to watch the weight of your mailing too. You can pack a lot in a 34 cent mailing. But anything over one ounce will cost you more in post Consumer Buying Habits in the UK t market is. Are they women? Parents? Young? Old? Understand what motivates them. What are their likes and dislikes?Key Note's fourth Market Assessment report on Men & Women's Buying Habits shows fundamental shifts in the traditional balance of economic power between men and women. The impacts of both prolonged prosperity and the rise in the number of women entering the workplace have brought male dominance of big ticket consumer spending to a new tipping point. Similarly, the growth in Internet retailing has brought a reversal in the previous male dominance of this distribution chain. Key Note research indicates that women are now the leading Internet shoppers, in terms of both volume and value. Elsewhere in the economy, new developments i retailing and marketing are challenging those stereotypes that had influenced strategic thinking in retail.The UK economy underwent a short, sharp shock in 2004, after interest rates rose. Consumers were forced to rethink outstanding credit arrangements and to rein in their spending. Consequently, consumer expenditure slowed in the latter half of 2004 and beginning of 2005 and the levels of savings began to rise again. Key Note research indicates that this shift in attitude was particularly significant among men who tend to carry higher levels of debt and to have more concerns about repayments. The underlying strength of the UK economy remains undisputed, as other key indicators of low unemployment and inflation do not fundamentally challenge the pattern of rising consumer expenditure set in the 1990s. Leisure and holiday markets continue to benefit from the rise in prosperity.Other key demographic data are also of primary importance in considering gender differences in buying habits. This report highlights the rapid rise in employment among women. A Write as if you're talking to them. And even use terms these types of people would use. But all the fancy graphics and the most beautifully created sentences in the world won't do you a bit of good if you don't carefully select the people on your mailing list. If you're selling adult diapers, you want to target senior citizens...not 23-year-olds. Tighten your mailing list as much as possible to be sure it's tailored to your needs. It's tough to make people believe they need your product and even harder to convince them they need it now. But if you've researched your list, you have a higher chance of hitting potential customers instead of the trash can. You've made your list and checked it twice, so-to-speak. It's the perfect list. Now it's time to write. Define your objectives before you start writing. Stay focused and hit the points of your objective. If you get off track, your reader is going to stop reading. Spend a lot of time on your headline. Just remember how you feel when reading mail that comes to you. After you read that headline, do you keep reading? The headline can make or break your direct mail campaign. Does price really matter? Not unless you know what you're getting for that price. Hook your reader with all of the product benefits. By the time they get to the end, they should be saying, "I can't live without that!" And then you let them in on the price. Even if the price is extremely low, you have to tell potential customers about the product first. Disclosing this price shouldn't put people into shock. Is your product priced according to the market? If you're selling a new teddy bear, it should be priced within reason. Not many people will pay $90 for a tiny teddy bear, right? Truth is, a lot of direct mail goes unanswered because the products are unreasonably priced. Success! Your potential customer read all the way through your mailing. Now what? Did you tell the reader what you want them to do? You can't sell if you don't tell. Your readers need a call to action. Tell them to send in the card, call you, etc. Then tell them again. Once your direct mail is ready to go, test several smaller mailings before sending out a huge chunk. Test each of these mailings by changing a few items when you send them out. Have two or more sales letters you test against each other. By testing, you will find out which of those mailings are bringing in more responses and - hopefully - more orders. Stick with the clear winners. Remember the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Direct mail is a waste of money for a lot of people. But it doesn't have to be for you. Understanding direct mail deadly mistakes -- and avoiding them -- will lead you to sales success! Flyers The next offline advertising method I am going to talk about in this article is a simple flyer. These are a great way to get your website in front of a wide audience. Make 1000 copies and dedicate yourself to handing out all of them in the next 7 days. Here are just a couple of places to hand these out: around your neighbourhood or a large neighbourhood nearby, place stacks at local restaurants, dry cleaners or other places of business, or go to your local college campuses and find areas you can place your flyers. Novelty advertising There are loads of novelty ways to advertise. Use your imagination and be original. Depending on the product you could have your web address printed on t-shirts and give them away to tourists. If you make them bright enough they will wear them with big smiles on they’re faces all day advertising your website Try printing on mouse mats, pens, balls or any other novelty item. It doesn't even always have to be related to your product to get good results although a related gimmick can work wonders. Million Dollar Bills are another great way to advertise offline. If you haven’t heard about these before you can check them out at "http://www.milliondollarsource.com." These can be used a number of different ways including as an attention getter, door opener, response generator, networking device, or simply to get a smile out of the recipient. I would recommend ordering a minimum of 2000 and handing them out as quickly as possible. You can even hire someone to hand them out for you if you are short on time. As strange as this may sound to some of you this method works great and is worth the cost. Statement inserts Even huge corporation’s send statement inserts. You're going to send a statement to your customers anyway, why not throw in some advertisements for yourself? This can also be done when paying bill, you think all them people sat at there desks all day don't want nothing better from life. You get all the advantages of direct mail without paying extra for a separate mailing. Take a look at these numbers: Complete direct mail packages run between $200 and $600 per thousand. In contrast, statement inserts are only $6 to $15 per thousand. A huge savings for you. You can also use statement inserts to test a new product. If your product doesn't generate much interest, you can easily change your advertising angle. But if you've pumped all your ad dollars into commercials, print ads and a solo direct mail campaign without results, changing direction is much harder and more costly. Now the bad news. You get your statement and there's an insert for a high-ticket item inside. Chances are, you're not going to shell out the big bucks for something knew when you've just received this blow to your billfold in the same envelope. That's why your statement insert should advertise a reasonably priced item. Save your top-dollar items for your high advertising dollars. Those big prices won't pull in a lot of orders off a statement insert. Be sure to watch the weight of your mailing too. You can pack a lot in a 34 cent mailing. But anything over one ounce will cost you more in post Invoice Factoring Companies: A Valuable Funding Resource ng. Now what?Invoice factoring companies can provide immediate, short-term funds for companies that are unable to obtain a traditional bank loan. Financing from traditional banks generally requires commercial borrowers to have two years in business and showing a profit. Banks tend to favor loans secured by tangible assets like machinery, inventory, equipment and real estate.Working with factoring companies, in contrast, are less restrictive. When you sell your invoices - often called factoring - you don’t incur any debt so there are no monthly payments. Plus, you can control your cash flow by determining how much to factor and when. Young, growing companies or those with tax liens - and even bankruptcy - can still qualify for an invoice factoring account. This makes factoring companies a viable source of funding for many businesses.How It WorksIn simple terms, here’s how invoice factoring works: Factoring companies purchase your accounts receivable or freight bills at a discounted rate and issue you a lump sum payment. Essentially, your company sells its accounts receivable or invoices at a lower value for quick cash, instead of waiting the usual 30 to 45 days for the invoices to be paid.After you deliver your product/service and generate an approved invoice, factoring companies can provide your money in as little as 24 hrs. In essence, working with a factoring company can help speed up your cash flow. The influx of cash can better enable you to meet your financial obligations. For example, you can use the money to increase your working capital, pay bills or taxes, pay up front for equipment or supplies, and even take advantage of early payment discounts offered to you by Did you tell the reader what you want them to do? You can't sell if you don't tell. Your readers need a call to action. Tell them to send in the card, call you, etc. Then tell them again. Once your direct mail is ready to go, test several smaller mailings before sending out a huge chunk. Test each of these mailings by changing a few items when you send them out. Have two or more sales letters you test against each other. By testing, you will find out which of those mailings are bringing in more responses and - hopefully - more orders. Stick with the clear winners. Remember the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Direct mail is a waste of money for a lot of people. But it doesn't have to be for you. Understanding direct mail deadly mistakes -- and avoiding them -- will lead you to sales success! Flyers The next offline advertising method I am going to talk about in this article is a simple flyer. These are a great way to get your website in front of a wide audience. Make 1000 copies and dedicate yourself to handing out all of them in the next 7 days. Here are just a couple of places to hand these out: around your neighbourhood or a large neighbourhood nearby, place stacks at local restaurants, dry cleaners or other places of business, or go to your local college campuses and find areas you can place your flyers. Novelty advertising There are loads of novelty ways to advertise. Use your imagination and be original. Depending on the product you could have your web address printed on t-shirts and give them away to tourists. If you make them bright enough they will wear them with big smiles on they’re faces all day advertising your website Try printing on mouse mats, pens, balls or any other novelty item. It doesn't even always have to be related to your product to get good results although a related gimmick can work wonders. Million Dollar Bills are another great way to advertise offline. If you haven’t heard about these before you can check them out at "http://www.milliondollarsource.com." These can be used a number of different ways including as an attention getter, door opener, response generator, networking device, or simply to get a smile out of the recipient. I would recommend ordering a minimum of 2000 and handing them out as quickly as possible. You can even hire someone to hand them out for you if you are short on time. As strange as this may sound to some of you this method works great and is worth the cost. Statement inserts Even huge corporation’s send statement inserts. You're going to send a statement to your customers anyway, why not throw in some advertisements for yourself? This can also be done when paying bill, you think all them people sat at there desks all day don't want nothing better from life. You get all the advantages of direct mail without paying extra for a separate mailing. Take a look at these numbers: Complete direct mail packages run between $200 and $600 per thousand. In contrast, statement inserts are only $6 to $15 per thousand. A huge savings for you. You can also use statement inserts to test a new product. If your product doesn't generate much interest, you can easily change your advertising angle. But if you've pumped all your ad dollars into commercials, print ads and a solo direct mail campaign without results, changing direction is much harder and more costly. Now the bad news. You get your statement and there's an insert for a high-ticket item inside. Chances are, you're not going to shell out the big bucks for something knew when you've just received this blow to your billfold in the same envelope. That's why your statement insert should advertise a reasonably priced item. Save your top-dollar items for your high advertising dollars. Those big prices won't pull in a lot of orders off a statement insert. Be sure to watch the weight of your mailing too. You can pack a lot in a 34 cent mailing. But anything over one ounce will cost you more in post RFID Technology Simplifies Distribution you can check them out at "http://www.milliondollarsource.com." These can be used a number of different ways including as an attention getter, door opener, response generator, networking device, or simply to get a smile out of the recipient. I would recommend ordering a minimum of 2000 and handing them out as quickly as possible. You can even hire someone to hand them out for you if you are short on time. As strange as this may sound to some of you this method works great and is worth the cost.Toronto, ON, Nov, 2006 - There are many applications for how RFID systems help manufacturers and warehouse operations; these applications can be as unique as the enterprise they help. However, there are some common areas in these industries related to their logistics of getting the finished product to the customer or to another distribution center. Bottlenecking of the goods at the shipping door has implications on the costs to ship goods, lowers revenues when there are fewer shipped goods to bill and puts a drag on productivity gains you have made in other areas of the enterprise.As product moves onto pallets, cases, boxes or whatever the means of preparing it for shipment, an RFID tag is read that is attached to the pallet, as an example. With the appropriate applications software, then all relevant data is transposed onto the tag, the inventory of product, which customer it is for, delivery information, the method of transportation, etc.Once that pallet passes through a specific point at a shipping dock, then the tag is read and the contents of the data loaded earlier gets processed into the enterprise software. This in turn will generate invoices, initiate courier tracking, adjusts inventories, initiates material purchases to name just some of the impact RFID can have for your day-to-day business. Gone too are many of the headaches associated with bottlenecks in the shipping process such as verifying shipments against the bill-o-lading while drivers queue up for their pick-ups, the potential for human error in getting the wrong product on the wrong truck.The ability to ship manufactured or warehoused goods efficiently and with less cost is what RFID technology ca Statement inserts Even huge corporation’s send statement inserts. You're going to send a statement to your customers anyway, why not throw in some advertisements for yourself? This can also be done when paying bill, you think all them people sat at there desks all day don't want nothing better from life. You get all the advantages of direct mail without paying extra for a separate mailing. Take a look at these numbers: Complete direct mail packages run between $200 and $600 per thousand. In contrast, statement inserts are only $6 to $15 per thousand. A huge savings for you. You can also use statement inserts to test a new product. If your product doesn't generate much interest, you can easily change your advertising angle. But if you've pumped all your ad dollars into commercials, print ads and a solo direct mail campaign without results, changing direction is much harder and more costly. Now the bad news. You get your statement and there's an insert for a high-ticket item inside. Chances are, you're not going to shell out the big bucks for something knew when you've just received this blow to your billfold in the same envelope. That's why your statement insert should advertise a reasonably priced item. Save your top-dollar items for your high advertising dollars. Those big prices won't pull in a lot of orders off a statement insert. Be sure to watch the weight of your mailing too. You can pack a lot in a 34 cent mailing. But anything over one ounce will cost you more in postage. You should also consider using a large statement insert. Packing your mailing full of smaller inserts may seem more logical but research indicates larger inserts have higher response rates. Three panel is most popular, followed by two panel. If you choose to send out a single panel, pack it with information. Deliver the offer, product, copy and audience to pick up the slack in size and details. Order forms must be easy to fill out as well. Keeping your customers waiting for several months, even weeks will reduce your chances of that customer becoming a repeat buyer. Consider having a customer service department solely devoted to your featured product. If someone doesn't receive their order or has other complaints, you need a staff that will handle those concerns immediately. Handled correctly, a good CSR can turn an irate person into a satisfied customer. And that customer will tell a friend about how you solved their problem. Get the most out of postage rates and your ad dollars with statement inserts. Who knows? Your customers might even start looking forward to receiving your bill! Radio A 30- or 60-second radio spot is quite a bargain. Rates vary depending on your area's population. Even still, you can negotiate a cheaper price and receive a better rate if you buy a bulk amount of commercials. One of the many advantages of radio is that you can target your audience. Specific age groups and lifestyles are all defined by the station's format. Ratings also help determine this information and can help you choose the best station and time slot for your company's commercial. The key components of your radio commercial include your name, address, telephone number and selling message. But be sure to ask listeners to visit your site. Repeat your URL at least twice and, again, tell them what they'll gain by visiting. Television Get ready to shatter the myths about television commercials. You don't have to be a major corporation or have tons of disposable ad dollars to hit the airwaves. Buying airtime on your local television station is actually very affordable. But for an even lower rate, check the cable TV companies in your area. Airtime is significantly lower than broadcast television ad rates. You also have the added benefit of reaching a specific target audience. If you sell sporting goods, your ad can run on SportsSouth and ESPN for the best possible prospects. Your cable operator can even gear the commercials to a zip code or local community. Infomercials aren't too far behind commercials as a low-cost, traffic-building tool. Even a 15-minute infomercial can explain your products/services and promote your Web site at the same time. Just like with print, make sure your URL is prominently displayed in your commercial and/or infomercial. Keep in mind, not everybody has a big screen TV at home and this can make a huge difference to a potential customer with a 19" screen. Conclusion New technology forces us to adapt to new advertising means. But sometimes old school techniques are overlooked when, in fact, they can actually help propel business into the money-making wave of the future. Don't just do it once and be happy with your results, if something works keep repeating it and as you make money put more money into your venture. Best of luck to you all. Izzy Brewer
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