They say advertising is excessive: it interrupts TV series, preceding movie shows and dominating music award ceremonies. Some even lament that advertising not only occupies the media, but is also present everywhere else; the latest music editor softwares could be seen at bus shelters, and online VoIP products pictured in public telephone booths. It is irrelevant and disruptive.

If you agree with my last sentence above, continue reading. You might decide to change your mind.

First of all, I don’t think advertisers occupy the media. As a matter of fact, it is the media that courts companies, maybe except for over-popular shows. TV stations need funds to run your favorite programs, and radio broadcasts have to pay for the Music on Demand. It boils down to us consumers: we demand, and the media provides, at a price of course.

Ah, you might now argue that it is the advertisers who flock to the media and pay for available ad space. True! But how many time slots are so coveted over? Shows like the Super Bowl Football are rare. Other less endowed channels, in fact, have some hard time securing long-term ad contracts to be financially sufficient. It is thus fair to conclude that advertisers and the media, and us, are in a multilateral relationship.

Besides its commercial relevance, there is more to this misunderstood industry that we often miss out on, like how advertisements might effect cultural understanding, especially in this globalizing world of business. HSBC features newspaper ads of cultural differences across countries. FedEx has their TV ads filmed in Japan, showing the way Japanese people live and work. And I actually learned from a MasterCard ad that in India, people release white doves for luck. Interesting, isn’t it?

In addition, informative ads feed useful information to our preoccupied minds. Public service messages could be conveyed effectively through ad-works on air. And people get to know the latest products available on market during review hours. I mean, it would be a pity if we work so hard to produce all these commodities just to, in the end, know nothing of them. And because we work so hard, we could hardly afford to find out about what’s going on ourselves. Informative ads keep our society functioning as it is meant to.

But most of all, advertisers are creative (e-mails are not advertisements; they are spam). The appealing advertisements that crack you up or hook your eyes for the hundredth time take much more than the 30 seconds of airtime. Creativity, and the resulted attention, increases sales, and the advertising environment is so competitive nowadays it truly stimulates the human edge of creativity and nurtures it to flourish. Advertising signifies the human drive to succeed.

To me, what makes modern advertising desirable, besides bridging cultural gap, informing the populace or generating new ideas, is that it empowers every individual possible. It no longer takes an established firm to put up an ad. Any one anywhere can promote their ideas, products and even themselves through the thriving medium of the internet. 15-year-olds can now economically design and effect ads to promote their companies (yes, don’t look down on these young entrepreneurs). Any one could adopt different voices using voice changer softwares, and edit audio as well as video ads with the many music editor softwares and video editor softwares available. Because advertising could so omnipotently enable far-reaching creativity of expressions, it is relevant to our human society that values progressing thoughts and selective reception of ideas.

The staunchest critics of advertising might ask, what would be the future of advertising, now when people are able to get rid of the commercials. MythTV offers a plug-in that automatically filters out commercials during recording, whereas video editor softwares allow you to freely cut out unwanted ads from pre-recorded clips. Yes, people are actually paying to be free of advertisements.

But hey, think again! Advertising is not that inconsiderate. Have you ever listened to radio broadcasts so excessively loaded with audio commercials it’s impossible to follow? And advertising might be excessive and disruptive, but I suppose only to a minority few. In fact, like I have said, informative ads are actually desirable. Don’t you or your children feel excluded if you are not aware of the new iPod, or the latest music editor gadgets?

Trust the media. They are doing their work. Isn’t Google putting into place keyword-related ads to better suit your preference? Trust the authority, too. They approve all circulating ads, or at least those we often see. And most of all, trust the advertisers. We are mutually dependent; we need them for our TV shows, and they need our money votes.

Josh Nowell is a Media Morpher writer keen on advertising trends. He could be contacted at [email protected]

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I enjoyed some much needed rest, relaxation and time away from my business over the past few weeks and once again I found myself inspired and full of insights. That alone is a great argument for taking frequent breaks or vacations. Something many solo-professionals and entrepreneurs DON’T make the time for. I can relate … my office is in my home and I love my work. And, because I never seem to have a shortage of new ideas, there is always plenty of work to be done.

But as I look back over the past year, I can see that many times I have been working too hard. Almost forcing success to happen. Even though I know better. When I sit back and ALLOW success to come to me, the path is much easier.

So what does this have to do with marketing results?

Well, for the most part, I think many people are simply trying too hard. When instead, they could answer a few questions, create a plan, put that plan into action, and then let the results be their guide. Instead, what most of us do is try something without giving it too much forethought, and when it doesn’t result in an instant home run, we give up and move on and try something else.

Following are some steps you can take to get better results from your marketing more quickly so you can get that new business up and running, or take your existing business to the next level with the least amount of struggle.

1) Decide what you want to achieve.

Call it goal setting or visioning or whatever you want. The bottom-line is if you don’t know specifically what results you want to achieve, you’re going to struggle and get frustrated.

Deciding what you want, and writing it down has a way of grounding all of your actions. It helps you determine what to do to get there. Yes, it’s simple, but it’s still THE most effective way to create success.

2) Determine how much you are willing to spend on marketing.

The other day a client emailed me uncertain whether she should pay to post a press release online to promote an upcoming teleclass.

My response to her was two-fold: First, I asked her if it supports her goals for the year. If she pays to post this press release, will the potential results move her closer to achieving her overall goals?

Second, does the cost fit within her overall marketing budget for the year? If the answer to both questions is “yes” then she should pay to post the press release online. If the answer to either question is “no” then she should reconsider. Yes, it’s that simple.

3) Identify your most probable clients.

When you know WHO you are trying to reach, it’s pretty easy to determine whether or not you should be using certain marketing avenues. You decide what to do by how likely that marketing activity is to reach your ideal clients.

Not sure which magazines to advertise in? Find out who the magazines reach. Contact the advertising sales department and request a media kit. Carefully review the circulation data. If it reaches primarily your ideal clients, and it’s within your marketing budget, advertise. If not, don’t.

4) Identify marketing avenues that will put your message in front of them.

Clients frequently ask me “what’s the best way to market an __________ business? (fill in whatever kind of business you want). While there are some general rules, there is no hard and fast answer.

You must identify all the possible ways you can reach your ideal clients. Then pick the ones that best reach them at the lowest cost. Choose as many marketing avenues as your budget will allow. And, be sure to do each of them consistently over a minimum of 3-6 months (one-shot marketing rarely works). If you’re wondering if you should market online using pay-per-click ads or article marketing, ask yourself, is my product or service something my ideal clients search for online? If so, online marketing makes sense.

However, as one of my clients recently lamented, she spent an entire year spending a lot of time, energy and money on Internet marketing, only to realize that her audience doesn’t use the Internet to find her type of services. No wonder she wasn’t getting the results she wanted.

Know your product or service. Know how your ideal clients search for information on it, and be sure your marketing is THERE. If you are unsure, do some informal research. Call and talk to past clients. Do a quick survey. Knowing this information helps you make marketing choices that will get the quickest results, and will keep you from wasting money on marketing that is destined to fail.

5) Select the marketing avenues that best reach your audience and that are within your budget.

For any given audience, product or service, there are a variety of ways to market, at a variety of price-points. Your job as a business owner is to select a mix of marketing activities that will reach your ideal clients repeatedly over time, within the budget you have available.

The first year I launched my company, I spent very little on marketing, because I simply didn’t have the budget. So I focused on public relations, article marketing, email marketing and relationship marketing, which for the most part only required my time. Because back then I had more time than money.

I went from zero web presence to tens of thousands of references and links to my online business in less than a year. I also received national media exposure. All through consistent, concentrated free marketing efforts.

Now that I have more budget and less time, I utilize marketing avenues like paid press release postings and pay-per-click advertising. Yes, they cost, but they also generate broader, quicker results.

Both strategies yield great results as long as I implement them with focused, consistent efforts.

6) Put your marketing to the test.

By far, the quickest path to success is through testing. If you are currently doing marketing and you are not tracking your results, you could be wasting valuable time and money. When you choose marketing avenues that you can test, you know immediately whether or not they are working. And you can constantly fine-tune them to make them work even harder.

For example, when I introduce a new product, I test it for at least a month to determine if there really is a market for it (does anyone buy?).

I test to determine the best price (you may be surprised that sometimes a higher sales price generates more sales). I test my marketing, including headlines, copy, graphics, offers, bonuses, etc. And only when I know what gets results, do I roll it out. If something doesn’t sell well, I don’t spend any more time or energy on it. I use what I’ve learned and move on to test a new idea.

If you feel like you’re hitting your head against the wall to get anyone to buy your product or service, it’s time to re-evaluate what you are selling and how you are marketing it. Test all elements and if it still doesn’t sell, move on!

7) Fine-tune based on your results.

When you test, you are able to constantly improve your results. If something doesn’t work, try something else. Test different marketing strategies against each other to see which ones works best for your product or service and your audience.

For example, when I run pay-per-click ads, I always run two ads at one time. I test different copy to see what generates the highest number of clicks and sales.

And I retire the least-performing ads each week and replace them with new ads. In this way, I am constantly improving my results. And when you fine-tune every week, you can increase your results very quickly.

Keep doing what works.

If you find something that works, keep doing it. Remember that you will tire of it faster than your audience will. Continue to track your results and stick with it until your results start to diminish. And when that happens, move quickly to test something else.

There is no glory in going down with a sinking ship!

9) Stop doing what isn’t working.

We can’t always know what is going to work. Sometimes we try things and we are confident they will work, and then they don’t. Sometimes we don’t even understand why.

Often, our pride prevents us from admitting that it just didn’t fly. Push your pride aside … don’t take it personally … and move on. The quicker you stop wasting time on what isn’t working, the sooner you can begin testing new products, services, and marketing to find out what will work.

10) Don’t over-think any of this – trust your gut and follow your instincts!

When all is said and done, pay attention to that little voice inside. Sometimes, we want something to work so badly, that we look for all the rationale reasons and research to justify it. When if we had just listened to that little voice we would have moved on long ago.

Don’t take your business personally. Know when to stick and when to quit . Give things time to work, but when your gut says its time to give up, don’t delay. Move on and you’ll expedite your path to success!

© Copyright 2009 Debbie LaChusa

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Everyone needs to be advertised. No matter what type of business you are running and wherever you may be based in, you would still need to have yourself advertised if you want to build a solid client base from which you derive your earnings. Advertisement is responsible for getting you the necessary clients that will make or break the success of your business endeavors.

Construction businesses are not an exception. Construction businesses need clients badly. Without clients, there won’t be anyone that will avail of a contractor’s business to create their buildings and other structures. There are big fishes available for construction contractors. These businesses have to reach out to these “fishes” before they can make use of them to earn money, though.

That is where commercial advertising comes in. Investing in these advertisements give construction businesses the edge they need to make it through the very competitive world of modern business. Commercial advertising can be done in many ways, and these include:

TV Commercials. TV commercials are useful for capturing the attention of a certain demographic group. This is because TV is a widely used instrument both for entertainment and for information. People watch TV most of the time, especially to catch the latest news. TV ads, when inserted at the right time, can be very effective.

Newspaper Advertising. Newspapers are unappreciated venues for advertising. Just because newspaper ads run on small spaces – depending on how much the advertiser is willing to pay the newspaper for running their ads – they can still attract the eyes of those that read newspapers from time to time. Just like television ads, newspaper ads can do several wonders to your business if placed in the right place at the right day.

Outdoor Advertising. Next to television ads, outdoor advertising is one of those effective modes of advertisement that is available for everyone. One advantage of outdoor advertisements is constant exposure. Unlike TV and newspaper ads, outdoor advertisements like billboards and banners can be seen the whole time without any specific time restrictions. Who’d want to take down billboards and banners every hour to replace it with another advert? No one would want to do that, obviously. As long as you position your outdoor advertisements strategically, you can be sure that it can attract the attention of anyone, no matter how old or what their profession can be.

Out of all three, outdoor advertising is the most recommended as well as the preferred mode of advertising for any business in this world. You can see now effective outdoor advertisements really are. They are like untiring salesmen; they knock on doors all the time, and no one can refuse them. Even those that are not interested in your product can see these advertisements each time they go to work, to drive the kids to school, or simply pass by your advertisements. There’s no denying what a billboard or a banner can do; you just need to be able to take advantage of that for the sake of promoting your business.

Do you need help for commercial advertising Australia? Visit Adphence for more information.

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Successful marketers play the marketing game to win. Struggling marketers play the marketing game trying not to lose.

Marketing is really just a game. And successful small business marketers play the game to win. Now that doesn’t mean they are necessarily the best marketers. It’s just that they are typically more clear in their purpose and intent in marketing their business.

Struggling small businesses play the marketing game just hoping not to lose.

• They don’t want to lose money.
• They don’t want to lose credibility with clients and potential clients.
• They apparently don’t want to lose precious time because they don’t use it for proactive marketing.

Playing a game not to lose is an entirely different mindset than playing a game to win. But, it’s exactly the attitude and mindset that way too many small businesses take into their marketing. Because they’re not experts at marketing, they tend to just dabble in marketing when they desperately need new business and hope it doesn’t cost them too much.

The primary concern of struggling small business marketers is just trying to survive the rough times and until things turn around. You end up just trying to do enough to get a few more clients and then just praying that the current slow down will end soon.

Because struggling small business marketers are just trying not to lose, they also fall prey to “just trying to keep up with the Jones.” You’ll know this is happening to you when your approach to marketing is watching what your competitors are doing and then just trying to do them one better.

Be careful. It often ends up being the blind following the blind. Because you see them spending time, money and effort on some tactic you assume it must be working. So naturally, you need to spend some time, money and effort as well just to keep up. What you don’t know is that they’re also a struggling small business marketer that is just trying not to lose.

What is your marketing mindset? What is your purpose and intent when it comes to marketing your business? Are you playing the marketing game to win or simply trying not to lose?

Successful small business marketers win because they think, and therefore act differently than struggling marketers. It is not because they are more creative, smarter, or better at what they do for a living. They expect to win and intend for their marketing to result in a flow of high-quality prospects. The good news is that you can choose to think, and therefore act differently to start playing the game to win.

So what is it that makes successful small businesses winners at the game of marketing? Let me offer a few suggestions:

* Successful marketers are great students of the game. They understand the rules and how to apply the proven principles of marketing in their business. They are always paying attention to what works and what doesn’t work as well as looking for little ways to improve their game.

Think about professional athletes such as Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. There’s no doubt that these guys are tremendous athletes. But, what put them at the top of their games is that they are huge students of their game. It’s not just the hours and hours of practicing, but also the commitment to studying and learning that creates a winner.

* Struggling small businesses resist learning about the game of marketing. They don’t invest the time or effort to learn what it is they don’t know to better market their business. They’re content to tell themselves and others that “I’m just not good at marketing.”

* Successful marketers are clear about the purpose and intent of all their marketing efforts. You’ve certainly heard the popular sentiment of beginning with the end in mind. As it pertains to marketing, that means being clear on what your most desired outcome is for any effort.

When you’re clear about what outcome or result you want to produce, you’re more likely to get it. It might be getting your target audience to request more information or to add subscribers to your email newsletter list. Knowing what you are trying to get helps you better define the steps it takes to make it happen.

* Struggling marketers tend to develop marketing without any sort of clearly defined most desired result. Too many small businesses vaguely define their desired outcome as creating more name recognition or letting people know what services they provide. How do you possibly measure something like that?

* Successful small business marketers believe in the value of preparation. Effective small business marketing is about 90% preparation and about 10% application. Successful small business marketers understand that, and that is a big reason they win more often.

* Far too often, struggling marketers rush into doing things without adequately planning and preparing. They mistake activity for forward progress, but it is actually all the activity without thinking and planning that holds them back.

While planning and preparing is important, you don’t want to get paralyzed by the planning process. Successful marketers do make a commitment to planning, but they aren’t afraid to make things ‘good enough’ and then put it out there. Because they understand that marketing is a game, they’re willing to risk failing every now and again in order to win in the long run.

Here’s the bottom line: If your goal is to not lose, then don’t expect to win at the game of marketing consistently. But, if your goal is to win and to win consistently, then chance are you won’t have to worry about losing things like your time, money, credibility, or integrity.

Marketing is just a big game, so play the game to win!

About the Author:

Kevin Dervin is focused on helping small businesses and self-employed professionals who are tired of struggling to attract more great clients consistently! Find more FREE articles and resources at http://www.MarketingActionClub.com

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The word of mouth begins and ends with people, in fact your customers. Your customers will talk good or bad. But, you definitely want the talk to be good and your satisfied customers generate a good talk. So, what all you can do to have the good talk flowing? Let’s explore the factors.

Factors Catalyzing Positive Word Of Mouth Marketing

The word of mouth plan: Whatever plan you adopt for generating a word of mouth, should be well drafted. It is very important to pilot test your plan so that in case it is against your business interest, it may be dropped then and there without it reaching your customers at large.

Transparency: Your business motive, your products, and your customer service all have to be honest and genuine. Because its credibility works in the word of mouth marketing. Have a transparent business attitude with your customers. Honor them. After all, they are the force for keeping you in business.

Incentives: When announcing any referral scheme, be very transparent in your approach and lay down the rules and regulations clearly. You must not resort to any hidden move. Any undeclared condition will disgust your customers. They may go away never to come back.

Accountability: You should have proper system of controlling. Every person involved at your end in the word of mouth marketing should have a specific role to play and he or she will be accountable for any deviations from his or her expected roles.

Involve customers: Involve your customers in your business by seeking their advice in designing your products and services. Customers can also guide you in elevating the quality of your products and services in line with the needs and desires of the target markets. Enlighten your customers about your forthcoming products and services, the utilization of your offerings, maintenance, annual maintenance contract, etc.

Endorsements: Nothing works like positive endorsement from your customers. If you hear customers talking favorably about your offerings, you may use these testimonials in your advertisements. Of course, after the customer’s permission and maintain the testimonial document for any future reference.

Distribution channel: Your distribution channel plays a crucial role in building your reputation. Enlighten and encourage your channel to talk about you in good light. They are actually potential influence vis-à-vis a purchase decision by a customer.

Building a word of mouth is a serious and not-so-easy exercise. Every minute detail about your business is to be taken care of. Even a slightly wrong move may cost you fortunes. So, be right, serve right, price it right and your customers will talk right about you.

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