Since most of us are always online and our business is online, we often forget the importance of advertising our business offline. Print advertising can be one of the best forms of advertising for your buck. Why? Well, with print advertising it's in the form of hard copy and is always in view of your potential customers. Thats just one small example. Think about your daily newspaper...try hiding that in your email box! The following are just a few hints and ideas for you to consider before you place an offline advertising campaign.
--->Expiration Dates
You want to be sure to include an expiration date so that the possible customer sees that there is a limited time BUT don't make the date to end too soon. Why? You want to give an "extended expiration date" on printed material especially because for one thing printed material has a chance to "lie around" longer, it may not be the "right time" for the possible customer OR they may know of someone else that may be interested in what you're offering. Give them time to pass it on or "come back later".
--->Track your ads
If you have anyway of tracking your ads, use it. A couple of ways you can do this is:
Have the customer email/call/mail their orders to you.
Have a special code they need to use to receive the special. Use a different code for each advertising campaign you use. If you don't have the ability to use coupon codes you might want to check out PayCodes.com which is a new service developed by PayPal to help you in this situation.
--->Types of Ads to Generate Interest
Freebies! Everyone loves freebies!
Offer the prospective customer a free gift with their purchase.
Have them email/call/mail for a free sample.
When you send them their free sample, send them a card for another free sample to give to a friend.
Have the ad offer free shipping and handling.
Offer a "Buy One Get One Free" Promotion.
Have them contact you for a free catalog.
Discounts.
Offer a discount (ex. 10%, 15%, 20% off) for their first purchase.
Offer one product at full price and the second ½ off.
Drawings/Contests.
1) Have them email/call/mail you for an entry to a free contest. Use your products as the prize. (Be sure to offer an additional discount for the winner.)
* You've gain interest, now what?
Once you've had someone contact you with some interest in your business/products be sure to keep in contact back.
* First of all reply to them in a timely manner and be sure to thank them for their interest.
* Next, offer them yet another form of a discount.
* If they are requesting a free sample, free catalog, entry into a contest or any other form of interest offer them a discount of 10% off their next order.
* If you have a newsletter/ezine make sure you ask them if you can add them to your mailing list to receive announcements of discounts/specials/contests first hand.
* When you've sent off their free sample/free catalog/order/prize be sure to contact them again in a few days. Let them know that you wanted to make sure they received it and that everything was okay. Ask them for any thoughts/questions about it. Let them know that they can contact you for anything.
Anita DeFrank a WAHM of two and co-owner of DirectSalesHelpers.com which was created specifically for those in Direct Sales. Do you find yourself asking how to make more sales? The above is only a small taste of the wealth of information available at http://www.directsaleshelpers.com. Stop on in if you're serious about your direct sales company and want to know how you can make more sales.
Help keep Advertising Advice available by donating any amount.
Should Food Advertising to Children Be Restricted? New York Times Once again, the food industry objects to tougher advertising standards. It claims its own voluntary guidelines are sufficient to protect public health, ...
Present at the Birth of Modern Advertising Wall Street Journal In the nascent days of advertising, in the first half of the 20th century, no one was more successful—or more influential—than Albert ...
RELATED ARTICLESGiorgio Armani: A Persuasive Campaign Lets examine the use of Giorgio Armani Company's advertisements for a persuasive campaign. My reasoning is because the company is separated into several different divisions, while each tries to sell their product, the advertisements must maintain an overall company image.The Truth in Advertising Most of us have seen at least a dozen different toothpaste commercials that claim, "Three out of four dentists recommend..."How To Write Eye-Grabbing Headlines That Catapult Your Prospects Into Your Ads If you're interested in improving the selling results of your ads, tweaking your headlines is a great place to start, because your headlines influence the sales results of your ad more than any other element.What Makes A Winning Online Ad? Most people who have been involved with sales & marketing for any length of time have heard the axiom, "Sell them what they want, then sell them what they need".Take Advantage of Your Foes Let's take an example that is easy to check: I am French. Among the readers who reacted while reading that, an half felt their painful stomach ulcers starting up again while the others remembered their burning desire for visiting France.Which is Better Digital or Offset Printing? As technology continues to improve, the quality of digital prints also improves. Technology advancements have also made it easier for more and more businesses to enter the printing industry.Classified Ads That Get Results Classified ads do not have the big market appeal that a full color display ad has, but they are still one of the most economical ways to get your business into the public eye. And, because classifieds do not demand expensive eye-catching designs or ingenious wording that you often see in direct-mail campaigns, they are a perfect marketing avenue for even new entrepreneurs.Advertising on a Budget -- Part 3: Frequency, Frequency, Frequency This is the third article of a three-part series. I'm illustrating the marketing challenges of PrescottWeddings.LED video Displays LED video displays give you the power to communicate, to motivate, and to entertain. Led video displays are seen to be sited for outdoor advertising, in casinos, for events like sporting events in stadium and arena, for staging and mobile display etc.Localized Advertising - Door-to-Door Ad Distribution on the Fly! Have you ever had to distribute door-hanger advertisements for your business? Have you ever employed door-to-door sales techniques to increase your brand awareness? Have you ever had to walk mile-after-mile repeating the sales pitch, over and over? Have you ever had to stand outside of an arena event and pass out flyers to exiting patrons? If you stop to think of the cold calling technique of door-to door advertising, you would discover how sometimes humiliating it is to have a disinterested and irritated individual slam the door in your face, yell insulting things toward you, or be escorted off of their property. To combat this instantaneous humiliation, the idea of door-hanging advertisements gives the sales person a means of getting the word out to more people faster than before but more importantly, it saves the person the anguish of the advertised becoming irate over the interruption.How to Write Ads that Pull Orders If your ads aren't paying off then you need this quick method in writing ads that get orders. Step 1 - Write a headline that will draw attention to your product or service.Advertainment is Sneaking Into Music, Movies, TV and More The very name "advertainment" sends thrilling vibrations up the spine of anyone with marketing in their blood or communication in their genes. And it produces a strong shiver of disgust from many of my colleagues in the music industry.Marketing Tips - Advertising Typical methods of advertising-newspapers, radio and television are effective if used properly, but there are other, less expensive ways to get your company's name out.Local or cable television is an inexpensive alternative to the traditional forms of advertising.How You Can Create Advertising That Sells A well-planned and properly executed marketing program should include a sufficient commitment of capital resources to an on-going, well executed advertising program. Yes, this includes your business.Increase Business By Being Nice I have been reading articles on increasing sales using search engine optimisation as well as writing them for a very long time and I have not seen many which point out the best way to increase sales. The answer is obvious yet often overlooked; you just have to be as good to your customers as you would expect any other site owner to treat you.Reach vs. Frequency: Touch 100 Once or 25 Four Times? Reach and frequency are terms generally used when planning advertising campaigns. However, the concept of reach and frequency applies to any promotional activity you undertake: direct mail, direct selling, and even networking.Nine Power Words To Punch Up Your Ads As every professional politician and public relations man knows words have the power to entice, persuade and motivate people into a specific course of action. There are certain words that I refer to as "Power Words" that I learned, back in the dawn of time, when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth.Hit Them With Benefits More about advertising from BIG Mike McDanielIt makes no difference what media you use to advertise, the rules are the same. Benefits, benefits, benefits!The SKINNY on Radio Advertising From meager beginnings in 1920, radio has grown with us to be a major player in advertising. The radio industry says they get about 8 percent of all advertising bucks.Imaging Isn't Everything Many home improvement contractors attempt to use advertising to expand their client base and increase profits. Whether it be yellow pages, mailers, ads, or valpak; for many it's a total waste of time and money.
