|
For example, the high cost of a yellow
page display ad, could conceivably wipe out the entire ad budget of a
beginning entrepreneurial type business. Not to mention the difficulty
of writing an effective yellow page ad. And not being able to test
copy changes for an entire year.
Along the same vein of reasoning, TV and
radio advertising is probably too costly and too difficult to test and
track for the average start-up business.
We're not discounting any of the
foregoing advertising models. We're merely focusing on the
probabilities of a new business owner's inexperience and lack of
marketing skills.
As you know, an experienced direct
marketer could conceivably make a profit, or break even, using almost
any advertising medium. But, marketers of that caliber are busy making
more money, not reading 'how-to' articles.
We'll leave them outta this...
So how does a new business get their
offers in front of real prospects? With classified advertising.
Uh, you were ready for that, I'd wager...
-
Regardless of marketing budget size,
classified ads are an excellent strategy for a new business to
discover what their potential clients are looking for.
-
Classified are usually priced within the
budgets of most start-ups. Plus, they're fairly easy to write, track
and test, even for a novice... if they're willing to learn a few guidelines.
Firstly, don't make the following
mistake...
Attempting to sell
directly from your classified ads!
There're two basic
reasons why this is a foolhardy strategy:
-
Classified ads don't
provide enough elbow room to fully tell your 'Selling
Story'.
-
Unless it's a
commodity type purchase, a buyer takes 'it'
(buying) personally. Classified ads aren't
spacious enough for you to get
"up-close-and-personal" with potential buyers.
Hm, if you can't use classified ads to
make a sale, why bother with them?
Classified advertising is an efficient
method to separate 'prospects' from everyone else.
Here's an easy
strategy for accomplishing this:
-
Use your headline to state the result of using your
offer's biggest benefit.
-
Clearly identify your target market either in your headline or in your ad's
second line.
-
Use your second or third line to give your reader a way to quickly and
easily get more information. Free report, web page, recorded call, etc.
-
Let your free report, web page, etc, move your prospect into your
ordering process.
Online, it's really easy to use this
simple 3-step formula...
-
Let people raise their hands as being interested in the main benefit your
offer provides.
-
Your ad provides them with an autoresponder link they can 'click' on and
get more details.
-
When they clink on your link, they're automatically entered into your
follow-up data base of pre-written, content-driven messages.
Your series of follow-up autoresponder messages should always include your
contact info, a link to your sales page and your order page.
Remember you must always track your
advertising. Otherwise, you'll never know which ads and advertising
mediums are giving you the biggest return on you investment.
To learn how easy it is to use
autoresponders as a simple tracking method, go to this page...
Click Here
|
