Advertisement Ideas: How To Increase Your Visibility!!!

One of the catch phrases of the last 3 years has been visibility. The question is how do you increase your visibility so you are on the top of the mind of the client that is seeking your product or services? Most small businesses do not have a Nike, Coca Cola, or Budweiser budget and struggle with the concept of getting known. Today I will give you some effective and affordable ways to increase your visibility in the market place. As you are aware I have been doing marketing and media relations in one form or another since I was an 11-year-old. MY quest to be visible began with a backyard carnival for The Muscular Dystrophy Association. My biggest challenge was how would I get people to come to this event? The answer was easy promote it everywhere and anywhere I could. I the kit came posters and I was fortunate to find a local printer to print more for me at no cost in return for me handing out his brochures. I took the posters and hung them at the major supermarket, local restaurants, in my school, and around my neighborhood. When the event was run I had many people in attendance and was able to donate $1,000 to The Muscular Dystrophy Association. I was invited to present a check to MDA on The Skipper Chuck Show. The local newspapers ran stories about me. This was the beginning of how I began to help others increase their visibility.

Over the years I learned that it is important to know that you are your brand. People are doing business with you because they know you, like you, and trust you. The question is how do you create visibility for your brand? There are several ways to create visibility, many include? Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: How To Increase Your Visibility!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Taking Advantage Of Opportunities!!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Taking Advantage Of Opportunities!!!

Today’s blog post was inspired by The Pet Shop Boys song Opportunities. As I began to listen to the song I understood that it was talking about collaboration. Collaboration is a an excellent way to maximize your message and also reap the benefits of strengthening your brand and increasing your revenue. When it comes to advertising sharing the expenses with other businesses makes sense as everyone can get their word out and reap the rewards. Let’s take for example that a FULL PAGE AD in La Bonita Kidz and Teenz, www.labonitakidz.com, costs $500 you can find 4 other businesses to split the costs and each business pays $100 and all 5 of you get maximum exposure with your own message and thus making the advertising affordable. It is finding ways where everyone benefits that you have the most success.

It is through team work that you can lift other people and thus lift yourself. Think about it you have a sub shop and down the block is a movie theatre. You visit and meet with The General manager and offer them discount coupons to your sub shop and in return they give you FREE Movie passes to give to your patrons. This creates a great cross promotion where everyone benefits and in return both businesses increase their exposure and their revenue. The idea is to look for great opportunities to create abuzz in the marketplace that will benefit everyone involved. The opportunities are endless when you begin to get creative and proactive. Ask yourself what have I passed up in my advertising and marketing as I made excuses to not take advantage of the opportunity. Think of what could have happened had you invested in an offer to pay $140 + tax to La Bonita Kidz and Teenz for a 1/4 page ad and a write up to appear in the magazine and reach 5000 mothers of middle school and high school aged students. You could have leveraged the write-up to build credibility and create interest in your product or services. When making an advertising decision ask yourself what does a client/customer represent to me? Think how many new customers/clients do you need to justify the investment in advertising? Make sure the advertising is hitting your target audience, do not get fooled by circulation/distribution numbers. There was a local pre-school who decided to get caught up in numbers and bought an ad for $1000 in a publication that is distributed to 50,000 residents not realizing that 42,000 were being delivered to over 55 years of age communities, not exactly his target audience. When making the decision to promote or advertise make sure that the avenue you choose reaches your target audience. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: Taking Advantage Of Opportunities!!!!

Advertisement Ideas: How To Avoid Slow Times?

In business this is the one sign you never want to see. I can not tell you how many times I have heard well times are slow as I am out selling advertising for La Bonita Kidz and Teenz, www.labonitakidz.com. Each time I hear that I ask well what are you willing to do to change that? The answer I usually receive is I am just going to wait and see what happens. My reply is generally good luck with that as I leave the business or end the conversation. As I walk away I think that business won’t be there for long or that person will be joining another company soon. About 80% of the time I am right. A case in point occurred a few weeks ago when a flower shop owner told me they didn’t need to advertise and they never do print. I wished him luck as stated if he changed his mind to connect with me as I can be of service and value to him. I went by the shop yesterday (7/8/13) and guess what there was an eviction notice on the door and the store was closed. The moral here is if you do not advertise you die. If you wait for something to happen chances are you close your door. If you was to avoid slow times follow the tips listed below as they have helped many businesses who have chosen to work with me to succeed.

Advertisement Ideas: Tips To Avoid Slow Times!!!

1: Eliminate using the term slow by beginning to plan your work and work your plan. If you do not have a strategic marketing plan develop and implement one. A good tool to use is Heidi Richards Mooney’s book, Quirky Marketing Tips. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: How To Avoid Slow Times?

Advertisement Ideas:Plan Your Work And Work Your Plan!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Plan Your Work And Work Your Plan!!!

The Jaycees is an international organization of young men and women aged 18-40 who provide leadership training through community service to its members. I was a member of The Jaycees from 1989-2002 and again from 2003- 2008. I served in many offices including Chapter President, District Director, Regional Director, State Vice President, State Chairman, and State Director of Training. One of the greatest tools that I acquired in The Jaycees was The Chairman’s Planning Guide, which helped to plan, implement, and evaluate the various projects that The Jaycees held. This tool taught me to plan the work and work the plan. It asked questions like the primary purpose of the project, the goals of the project, who was responsible for certain tasks associated with the project, what the budget for the project was, and the time-table for completion. This tool has been used by many to successfully launch business. As I reflected back on the days of my involvement with The Jaycees I realized that in all of our plans their was a marketing component. This made me ask the question to you do you have a marketing plan? I then asked if not how are you reaching your potential clients/customers?

This is a question all entrepreneurs and marketing professionals must answer. To evaluate this ask where am I marketing, how am I marketing, what returns am I receiving? Many times a business decides to do a print campaign and they try to put everything into their ad and thus it looks to busy and people pass over it. When placing an ad remember a catchy headline a great offer, your contact info. Ask yourself what pain does my product or service take away? Then develop a campaign around that which is consistent with your brand messaging. In social media and TV and Radio many people try to over power the audience and oversell and thus do not get the anticipated results that they expected. To avoid this remember that facts tell stories sell and use these mediums to engage your audience by having a story that is relevant, entertaining, and resonating. The most effective way to reach customers is to be where they are. For example if your target demographic is mothers of middle and high school aged students in Broward County you want to check out www.labonitakidz.com and consider being in their Fall Issue with a message as to who you are, what you do, and why people should use your products or services? Continue reading Advertisement Ideas:Plan Your Work And Work Your Plan!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Be A Champion Like The Miami Heat!!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Be A Champion Like The Miami Heat!!!

What does it take to be a champion in advertising to be like The Miami Heat? It takes hard work, dedication, knowledge, a commitment to excellence, a dedication to being of service and value, and the willingness to see advertising as an investment not an expense. The Heat’s General Manager, Pat Riley, put the components in place and assigned a coach to guide them to a championship. The plan they put in place came to fruition in the form of Back To Back Championships. Much like the Heat it is important to put the correct team in place so you can be a champion in your business.

Micky Arison of The Heat empowered his General Manager, Pat Riley, by given him a clear-cut plan and what his goals and objectives were for The Miami Heat. Like Micky Arison you as a business owner must empower your managers to make advertising decisions based on the directives that you give them. If you do not have a team and are a sole proprietor then you will desire to create a plan to be a road map for your marketing. A strategic plan is a necessary component to insure for your success. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: Be A Champion Like The Miami Heat!!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Getting Past The Gatekeeper!!!

As a sales rep for La Bonita Kidz and Teenz, www.labonitakidz.com, I do a lot of cold calling on the phone and I run into many gatekeepers. The first thing I learned is to be polite and friendly regardless of the tone of the person answering the phone. The second thing to understand is that like you have a job to do and that is to sell them on your product or service they also have a job to do. The third thing is to be honest and let them know why you are calling. You may get the we’re not interested response, which is fine. I generally answer I know your not interested at this time, however can I email you information for future reference. I have heard that person isn’t available. to this I will say no problem can I have their email address and can you put me through to their voice mail? Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: Getting Past The Gatekeeper!!!

Advertisement Ideas: The Fortune Is In The Follow Up!!!

In all that we do in business from advertising to networking we must realize that the fortune is in the follow up. As a sales representative for La Bonita Kidz and Teenz Magazine, www.labonitakidz.com, I approach many people about advertising. I have learned that the people I leave literature with will not call me back so I must contact them to close the sale. Today I stopped by a few places that I had approached a couple of weeks ago and left the copy of the magazine so they could see the finished product and decide if it would be a good fit for them. In the next few days I will call and email them to remind them of the opportunity to maximize their message.

Once you advertise and get people to do business with you it is important to cultivate that relationship as people will continue to do business with people they know, like, and trust. Are you gathering the clients information and sending a thank you note or other information about your products and services. By keeping in contact with clients/customers you will build a tribe and they will begin to recommend you and thus strengthen your brand. The key is to follow-up and be aware of who is doing business with you and to show them appreciation. With potential clients/customers you want to show them how your product and service will be of value and service to them without overselling. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: The Fortune Is In The Follow Up!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Why A Full Page?

As an ad executive and marketing consultant with La Bonita Kidz and Teenz Magazine, www.labonitakidz.com. I am often asked why a full-page. My answer is always because it gives you an opportunity to tell your story because facts will tell but stories sell. The second answer I give is because it allows you an opportunity to section the page off and promote many things about your business. My third answer is because for $500 + tax you are getting maximum exposure in the market place over a 3 month period of time as we are a quarterly magazine. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: Why A Full Page?

Advertisement Ideas: The Importance Of Another Voice!!!

As I am determined to be of service and value to all those I come in contact with I am always amazed when someone isn’t open and receptive to ideas that can help their business to grow. Many times I find entrepreneurs that are so married to their business that they shut out outside ideas and thus do not grow as much as they could. Sometimes the entrepreneur is set in his/her ways and thinks they know what is best for the business because they come from a position of fear and ego. The fear is often coming from the fact that they are afraid to take a financial risk or they think they are so big that they know more than the other voice. The importance of listening to another voice is that voice may have something you didn’t think about. I recently had this happen when I made a suggestion to someone to approach the colleges in the area to find sales people for her project. her answer was I wouldn’t have thought of that. Just because someone may never have owned a business do not disqualify them as they may have been around business for a long time and helped those businesses to maximize their message. I am often amazed by the lack of creativity shown by entrepreneurs and marketing directors and then I amazed that they wonder why business might be slow.

Advertisement Ideas: Case Studies On Why Another Voice Is Important!!!

I walked in to my local Chase Branch to speak to the branch manager about La Bonita Kidz and Teenz(www.labonitakidz.com) and I gave her an idea to do a Dollars and Cents Column to educate the readers about saving and investment programs that are available. Her answer really floored me as she said “I don’t think we have anything like that.” This floored me because I would think a financial institution would have ready to print SEC approved materials so as to build their brand in the local market not only to create brand awareness but a feeling of trust amongst existing customers and potential new customers. She took the information and forwarded it on to the marketing department. Chase should have a strategic local marketing plan as any financial institution should have because what works in Tamarac, FL may not work in Jupiter, FL as the communities are demographically different. This is why having an outsider that is not emotionally attached to the business is important as the outside person may help to develop programs that are instrumental in retaining existing clients/customers while attracting new customers.

I worked with Coach Shantel Springer on publicity and as a result she received media coverage thus giving her credibility and attracting new clients. She exemplified the idea of listening to another voice. Shantel walks her talk and invests in herself and as a result has been able to create a network of individuals to go to for assistance as she understands that everyone can be helpful in some way. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: The Importance Of Another Voice!!!

Advertsiement Ideas: Lessons From Celebrity Apprentice!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Lessons From Celebrity Apprentice!!!

On Sunday May 19, 2013 The All Star Celebrity Apprentice will be named. It has come Down to Penn Jillette and Trace Adkins. Both of them have been great competitors and represent great charities. Penn is representing The Inclusion Project and Trace is representing The American Red Cross. Through this season I have observed many lessons. As I watched the final task, which was to design a DELISH Ice Cream Flavor for Walgreens and then present it at the party I began to think who is going to bring in the most money? Trace used a lot of his key contacts on task one which he won teaching us to strategically plan when you can use your key contacts again. Penn has a huge contact list and is well liked teaching us that it is important to treat everyone with dignity and respect.

Each player taught us a lesson that we can use to improve our personal and professional lives. Continue reading Advertsiement Ideas: Lessons From Celebrity Apprentice!!!