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WHERE SHOULD YOU ADVERTISE?If you're a small business owner, you probably don't have $10,000 to spend on hiring an expensive design agency to create a revolutionarily unique website. However, that doesn't mean that your small budget merits a sub-par website. Potential customers will judge your business based on their first impression, which is often your website. If your homepage is anything less than professional, attractive, and easy to use, your visitors will instantly relate that experience to working with your company. Below you'll find a couple of ways to examine your site to see if it's time to find a new designer Clear Purpose When you begin thinking about "where to advertise," it is like asking a group of people where they want to eat. There are too many choices, and nobody agrees. Television, newspapers, phone books, magazines, telemarketing, billboards, skywriting, blimps, those annoying things people hang on your door, these are just a sneak preview of the plethora of options that await you. The first thing everyone thinks of is television commercials, but these are usually far too expensive for small businesses. Next in line is the newspaper, and then usually the Yellow Pages. In the past, these would have been the strongest options; but just like the seasons, things change. The current "sweet spot" of advertising is found in nearly every home in America. It can also be found at work, at Starbucks, and even cell phones. I present to you: The Internet! "Oooohhh, Aaaahhh After implementing a new advertising campaign, the next step is to determine how effective it is. This common problem is not an issue for anyone running an online campaign. By installing a tool Google provides webmasters called "Google Analytics" to your website, you can track exactly how many visitors are seeing your site and when. Beyond that, you can tell where they came from, and did they click a link on another site? Did they find you on a search engine? If so, what keywords did they type in? How long did they spend on your website? How many pages did they view? All of these questions are quickly answered by this incredible, 100% accurate tool. Overall, the major benefits of Internet marketing are that it reaches more people, it is more cost effective, and can be tracked much more accurately than other forms of advertising.
DO YOU NEED A NEW DESIGNER?If you're a small business owner, you probably don't have $10,000 to spend on hiring an expensive design agency to create a revolutionarily unique website. However, that doesn't mean that your small budget merits a sub-par website. Potential customers will judge your business based on their first impression, which is often your website. If your homepage is anything less than professional, attractive, and easy to use, your visitors will instantly relate that experience to working with your company. Below you'll find a couple of ways to examine your site to see if it's time to find a new designer Clear Purpose Don't count on visitors reading paragraphs of content to discover information, it simply won't happen. Instead, expect a visitor to give your site a three second glance before moving onto the next site in their search engine results. To capture a visitor's attention in these three seconds, use clear concise headlines, brief bullet copy, and attractive visuals that communicate your purpose. If your designer can't deliver this kind of experience, it's time to look elsewhere. Clutter & Poor Alignment The items on the page should not be randomly scattered to take advantage of every scrap of white space. Instead, every object on the page should have a clear spatial relationship with everything else. If some of your content is center aligned while other content is left aligned, the result is a visual mess that must be sorted through by the reader. Instead, your content should have clear alignment, a logical hierarchy of importance, and an easy to follow flow of information. Once again, if your designer is not providing this type of work, you need to take action. Quality Design that Fits Your Budget
HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR ADVERTISING BUDGET INTO A PROFIT MACHINEWhere's My Advertising Budget Going The truth is, they're probably not. Newspapers are going under, people are forsaking radio for the more convenient iPod, and the Yellow Pages are nearly defunct. If you're advertising through traditional mediums, you're witnessing the painful symptoms of an advertising system that seems to be knocking on death's door. But where do you go to get yourself noticed again? Is it worth the money to advertise, and if so, how in the world are you going to figure out the next wave of marketing before it's too late? How Do I Make My Ad Money Work For Me Again What's my solution? Improving your online visibility with resources that the Internet offers not only more cheaply, but also more effectively than traditional methods. Since nearly 100% of young people – and a growing number of adults – are online daily, if you can get word of your website and services to them, then your advertising will be effective again. But as a business owner, you know that having a website just isn't enough. That's why Advertising Educators utilizes a host of avenues to get you noticed. Check out a sampling of what we do:
We'll Do It For You P.S.: All it takes is $795 a month to beat your competition to the newest wave of marketing! Drop me a line for more information, and I'll tell you how you can get an advertising plan that works, 100% satisfaction-guaranteed.
Before you start advertising to expand your customer base, it is important to find out if people don't do business with you because they don't know about you, or because they do. When you find the answer, you will know whether you have a marketing problem or a public relations problem. Whether or not you have a public relations problem now, managing your web presence today will help to ensure that you don't have one tomorrow. When consumers want to find out about you, the first place they usually go is the web. No matter how large or small your business is, you will have some unhappy customers. While prevention is key, the role you play in your online presence may be the difference between whether a few unhappy customers are a speed bump in your business plan, or a nail in your coffin. You cannot eliminate all sources of negative information about your business, but you can ensure that much of the information that will be found is positive. Start with what you can control. You can determine much of what is on Blogs, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and \YouTube that pertains to your business. If you don't use these forms of media, you are missing out on an opportunity to communicate with your potential customers. Posting information on these sites will also cause your business to be found in search engine results. Not only can you help your business to become known to more people, you can control much of what is known about your business. Helping Others Will Bring You Business
Do your salespeople determine what the best option for the customer is and then present it to them? If they do, they are giving the customer an easy opportunity to say no. Even if the customer says, "I will need to think about it," anyone in sales knows that this usually means no. To close more sales, provide more than one option. Presenting three options is often the best approach. More that three options and consumers are likely to become confused. Less than three options and the lack of choice makes it easy to say no. The goal of presenting options is to give customers the opportunity to pick the choice they feel is best for them, rather than being forced to make a yes or no decision. Phrase the closing question this way, "which option do you think would be best for you?" and you will make more sales by empowering customers to make their own decision, instead of them thinking that you made it for them. Are You Selling or Helping?
When ads appeal only to customers that are in the market for your product today, ads are an expense. When ads educate consumers as to why your business is the best one to use when they need your product, ads become an investment. When consumers build an image in their mind of your business as being the one to use not now, but when they need you, you are putting dollars in the bank of brand equity. These consumers are not waiting for a sale from your store; they are simply waiting for the moment when they need what you have to offer. Don't try to convince people that you have the lowest price. Few will believe you, and those who do will be easily swayed by any business claiming to have a lower price. You will spend a fair amount of money for every new customer your advertising attracts. Look for those who will become loyal customers by explaining everything that is unique about what you do that no one else can say. Be sure to let your customers know that they would be crazy to do business with anyone else regardless of price! Advertising in a Recession Let's examine what happens when businesses everywhere start to cut their advertising budgets. First, advertising becomes much more affordable as everyone selling advertising has more inventory available. Second, your ad budget goes much farther as you have a greater share of voice. If your competitors cut their ad budget in half, your advertising becomes twice as powerful! It will cost you far less to rise to the top when times are slow. While all of your competitors are sitting on the sidelines waiting for things to get better, start winning the hearts and minds of consumers so that as soon as they need your product, they will be beating a path to your door. 
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