Do you re-use your print advertising and positive publicity?

Have you run newspapers and magazines ads? How about blog posts? Are there any articles that have been written about you, about your business, or about your products and services? People may be impressed when these articles and ads run the first time, but how many of them are ever seen again by the public?

Running an ad can be very expensive, so you may not be able to run an ad for an extended period of time. Articles written about your business that get printed in the media have a short shelf life. When the current issue of a publication that contains the article about you or your business is taken off the shelf, people won’t be reading your positive press anymore.  But you can re-use these items in other marketing efforts of your own.

When ads for your business (or positive articles about your business) are printed in a newspaper, Website, blog or magazine, have them copied or reprinted at a local “quick print” shop. You now have the ability to use these reprints in a lot of marketing projects.  Here are some inexpensive ways to distribute your reprints:

• Scan or save as a pdf and e-mail your ads to clients and prospects.
• Post your ads on your web site and blog or Facebook
• Mail reprinted materials along with statements and invoices.
• Include reprints with your next direct mail effort.
• Have some high school students put reprints on parked cars or on the “community posting boards” at the local library or college.

As you are making your reprints, be sure to add the caption, “as seen in (Publication Name),” under the actual ad or article. This caption will give your new marketing effort added credibility.

I ran a small ad for my book “97 Marketing Secrets to Make More Money” in the Wall Street Journal and you can bet I captioned all of my reprints and other marketing efforts with the phrase “as seen in the Wall Street Journal.”

Your advertisements can also be enlarged and displayed at your place of business. This will remind patrons about the offers in your print ads. Your advertisements may only run once in print, but they can live forever. You can reuse them for years.

The same technique can be used to extend the life of any positive articles that are written about your business in newspapers, journals, and magazines. Another great idea is to take these reprinted articles and distribute them to any of your clients and/or prospects who you feel might have missed seeing them in the original publication.

If you want to re-use or re-print an article, you may have to get permission from the author or original publisher and pay a small fee. Remember that it’s priceless when someone who isn’t connected with your business, writes positive comments about you or your business in the media. You can use these comments forever.

“This is like deja vu all over again.”
- Yogi Berra

It is wise to collect and save all the advertisements that you run, all the positive articles that are written, and all the testimonials that you receive from satisfied customers. Put these materials into a binder, and use it as a brag book. Use the material regularly in your marketing efforts, to build credibility and help people feel more confident about making a decision to do business with you.

How many old advertisements or positive press articles do you have lying around that could be reprinted and used in your future marketing efforts?

Three Revealing Tips To Writing A Profitable Ad?

Are you frustrated because your ads are not getting the response you thought they deserved?

Here are three tips that are 100% guaranteed to help you improve any ad.

Tip One:
Write a powerful headline that stops your reader dead in their tracks.
Get them say to themselves. “I’ve gotta know more”

To create great headlines, run to your nearest magazine rack. Swipe and use the tested headlines from the most popular publications. Publications like: The National Enquirer, People, Sports Illustrated and Games. They have spent huge bucks testing and proving that these headline work. Headlines get the publishers magazines flying off the shelves. Use them as models to create your headlines.

Tip 2:
What do you want your future client to do AFTER you’ve convinced them that they need what you are offering?

A powerful technique is to take your reader, viewer or listener by the hand and tell them exactly what to do. Tell them to call your phone number now. Come into your shop today. Go to your website and order right now.

Put simply, people want to be lead.
They need to know exactly what to do… or,
they won’t do anything at all.

Tip 3:
Tell stories in your ad.

People are naturally curious.

Since childhood, we love hearing stories.
We also love picturing ourselves in the story.

When you use stories to tell the real reasons why you are offering what you are offering, people trust and believe you. Why? It’s human nature and you can’t fool with Mother Nature.

“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp.
The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.”
-Ursula K. LeGuin

One of the most important parts of storytelling is being totally honest.
People can smell a fake story a mile away.

Also, when you mention, in your stories a minor problem with what are selling, it keeps you honest and builds trust.

So, there you have it. With a little practice, you’ll use these three tips to improve any ad you are running anywhere. On the web, in the paper, on the radio or TV.

Imagine what would happen if you found more tips like this on this blog.
Some people will find a lot more marketing secrets, strategies and tactics here too.

Does your business communicate a positive attitude?

Do you have a written “Mission Statement” that explains what your business is about?

Does this statement represent the vision, purpose, and aspirations that your business communicates to the world?

More importantly, do you tell your customers and prospective clients about your mission statement in every marketing effort that you create?

What should this statement include?
Typically, it will include your USP or SOB (statement of benefit). It also will include what “attitude” your business is trying to communicate.
Is your business and marketing attitude friendly, exclusive, or inviting?
Is It classy, low-priced, or responsive?
The list could be endless.

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you can do.
Attitude determines how well you do it.”
- Lou Holtz

It is important how you integrate your attitude into your marketing.
If the public sees and hears your positive attitude, then they will know and understand that you are proud of what you sell.

They also will know that you are very serious about your business and are willing to go the extra mile to keep them happy.

Your attitude should tell them that your business is ready to be their sole source —their “go-to” solution.

Your attitude should be communicated in everything that you do and say. If each of your marketing efforts is consistent and professional, then prospects will pick up on your attitude.

When the statements that you make in your marketing efforts are positive and consistent, your clients and prospects should understand that you will deliver on them.

This builds their confidence in you and will increase your sales. Consistency and attitude are the keys to getting people to remember your business.
Do you know what your company’s attitude is?

Are you getting this message to your customers and prospects every day?

Do you ask yourself regularly, “Is this information reaching my clients?”