Many of you don’t do Yellow Page advertising anymore, but for those of you that do, here’s what I suggest.

When someone is looking in the yellow pages, they are actually ready to buy, so your ad has got to jump out at them, and then have them contact you instead of all of the other so-so ads that are listed.

I often hear many business owners grumble about the high cost of Yellow Pages advertising, but those who insist it costs them anything are simply foolish.

For 70% to 80% of all business, you have to work at Not making a profit from Yellow Pages advertising. In most of the businesses I created, Yellow Page advertising wasn’t useful. But for the others it was a Gold Mine. For most businesses, Yellow Pages Advertising will work.

The reasons many Yellow Pages ads do not pay off for their advertisers are very simple and common. All you have to do is look and you will know what I mean. They can be summed up as not having a direct response ad at all.

-They don’t have a headline to grab the reader
-There aren’t any reasons to choose you verses the other advertisers.
-No offer
-They look just like all the rest of them.

Here’s just one example

FREE Special Report Reveals What the Real Estate Industry Never Tells you About.
“How you can get top dollars When Selling Your Home in Today’s Slow Market!”

Call 1-800, 000-0000 Extension 11 for Free Special Report and Recorded Message.

It will jump out at the person looking for your specific product. If you do advertise in the Yellow Pages, change it to the above and let us know the results you get.

Technorati Tags: acquire customers, acquiring customers, acquiring leads, ad testing, ad writing, Advertising, attract clients, attract customers, attracting leads, Attracting More Clients, attracting prospects, boost sales

Probably 99.9 times out of 100 prospects, will not spend the time to read your unsolicited ad or direct mail piece.

The reason is that you are “interrupting their lives.” The simple act of having an ad or sales letter before a prospect will bring them to the proverbial “fork in the Road” and forces them to make a decision to either read on or not read your message.

Every time their eye moves from one word to the next, from one sentence to the next sentence, from one paragraph to the next, they reach yet another fork in the road. Now they have to decide whether they are going to keep reading the ad or not.

What makes your prospect make the wrong decision and drop your ad into the nearest trash bin?

Unsuitability: Your prospect already has what you are offering and quickly decides your product is of no interest to them.

Boredom: Most of the time ads are very boring so they stop reading it.

Disbelief: Your claims are too exaggerated or even dishonest and they figure that they can’t trust anything you say. So always tell the truth.

Exhaustion: Your ad is so difficult to read and impossible to follow, that they simply give up on reading any more.

Interruption: This is probably the number one reason a prospect stops reading your offer. Something just happened to take their attention away from reading. They now will deal with the immediate crisis instead of continuing to read your offer.

I’m sure you can come up with more items but this should give you a start. Let us know why you stop reading an ad or sales piece.

Technorati Tags: acquire customers, acquiring customers, acquiring leads, ad copy, ad story, ad testing, ad writing, Advertising, alex mandossian, all marketers are liars, attract clients, attract customers, attracting leads, attracting prospects, creating customers, customer acquisition, magazine ads, promoting your business

If you are on LinkedIn, you joined to use this social media venue to create potential customers/clients.

The greatest stumbling block has been that once you joined, you found that the Linkedin culture frowns upon self promotion. That may have discouraged you. Or you may not have found a way to talk about yourself within the constraints of that culture.  

Once I understood the culture, I too decided not to pursue self-promotion.  Instead I started a few discussions to help everyone with ideas on creating customers and sharing my vast experiences.  When someone commented, I responded.  It grew so well, that all of a sudden I became a "celebrity".  That’s right!  I started receiving many messages from other Linkedin members asking me questions. 

This resulted in creating a bond between a large number of members and me.  You can do the same. 

An idea I’ve given a lot of people on my groups is to make weekly comments on my discussions and weave in the message they have for introducing themselves.  I’ve seen that if this is done over an 8-week period, each and every week, individuals in the group get to know who you are and then reach out to you when they could use your services.  

So, I would suggest that you go to LinkedIn.com, and if you aren’t using this medium, sign up….it’s free.  You can join my groups or any other groups that fit you.  If you type in Ken Varga in the people search bar at the top of the page, you will get my profile and you can see the groups I belong to. The groups are listed at the bottom of my profile page.   Make comments each week on my discussions when I make posts and/or when others make comments.   

Let me know how it works out for you.

Technorati Tags: Finding Prospects, getting prospects, leads, leads generation, turning prospects into clients, turning prospects into customers

For many retail and service businesses, Val-Pak and Money Mailers are what they use consistently and what I will call “basic” advertising media.  And they should be.  Their success is because they are “low cost and have a high readership since they go to so many people.

 I’ve read that over 80% of the recipients open and browse through the mailings, probably because everybody knows there will be coupons inside that they will use.  Because it gets opened is the reason it is so successful.

This media can work for odd businesses also and should be tested by a wider variety of businesses that don’t currently think about using it. 

There is also a nationwide card deck that goes “business-to-business.  I have found this works best when you have a multi-step process of follow up, which could include follow-up phone calls to the businesses.

Here comes the interesting part.  I believe that all businesses should do their own shared-cost, co-op mailings.

A dentist, chiropractor, dermatologist, optometrist, podiatrist, etc., are logical co-op candidates.  All of the stores in a shopping center, carpet cleaners, gardeners and plumbers, just to name a few more, are candidates for co-op mailings.

I’ve always believed and suggested to everyone that all merchants can have a much greater impact by working together rather than individually. 

And guess what?  When the big “Giant” comes into town, the small merchants often either prosper together or hang separately.  By banding together, they can survive the onslaught of the large companies. 

If any of you have used Val-Pak or Money Mailers, let us know your results.  Remember, most of the time the inserted piece was put together by the salesperson and isn’t responsive. When I receive them and open them, I’m in awe as to how much money is wasted. 

Can you imagine if your piece was direct-responsive, with more than 80% of them being opened, the results you would get and how many new customers/clients you would have coming through your door?

All you have to do is create a short report.  You can say, call (your number) for a free report that reveals (whatever) before you buy from anyone.

Just one example…

 If you are in the carpet cleaning business you can say the following: “Call (your number) for a free report that reveals the 3 questions you should ask before you hire a carpet cleaner.”

I’m sure you get the general idea. 

Again, If you use Val-Pak or Money Mailers, let us know your results.

Technorati Tags: b-to-b advertising, b2b advertising, business-to-business, card deck, co-op mailings, low-cost advertising, low-cost mailing, money mailers, val-pak

It never fails to astound me that when I’m looking through a magazine or newspaper and reading the ads, that not only do they all look alike and are boring, but almost none of them ask for a response.

Go grab a magazine right now and look through the display ads.  You’ll see ads saying things like: “Open an account”; “Apply now”; “Get started”.  But there is no direct-response mechanism.

Most of the ads are just institutional ones that just tout the company and end with the telephone number, the website address, or the name of the company.  They are not direct-response ads that encourage the reader to contact the company to get something the reader wants and by which the company can create a lead or customer.

The ads merely talk about how great the company is. The ad designer then hopes that the ad copy and images are so great that people hop on the phone, or whatever, and contact the company.

If your prospect sets your ad or sales letter aside to “deal with it later”, you have probably lost them as a customer.  What I suggest is that you should do everything you can think of to induce and create an immediate response from them.

First, make sure that you offer a free report, a free sample, a free service or whatever with each ad you create.

Then along with that, include deadlines of some sort to make the reader think twice about not acting NOW.  Here are some examples:

1. Penalty pricing.  Let them know that the prices will go up on a certain date.

2. Have your offer expire by a certain date.

3. Have a “Mystery Bonus” if they respond within the next 24 hours.

4. Let them know there is a limited supply and that you may run out.  Even if you do not have a limited supply, you can create an illusion that there is.  You can say, “We will return your check uncashed if we run out of the item.”  This suggests that there is a limited supply without you even saying there is.

I’m sure you get the idea.  The first thing I’d like you to do is to get out your ads and promotions. Review them with the thought of what you can add that will motivate the prospect to immediately respond. 

Let me know what you come up with. 

Technorati Tags: acquiring leads, attracting leads, attracting prospects, customer acquisition, lead generation, prospect conversion

I spent almost 5 hours trick or treating with my grandchildren.  It wasn’t house to house like it was years ago.  Today it was a section of three local towns that had almost 10 blocks of stores. 

I bet in the three towns that I took my grandchildren, there were at least 100 businesses in each of the towns that missed the opportunity to capitalize on this holiday season. 

There were hundreds and hundreds of children with parents walking up and down the blocks. 

Here are two examples of opportunities these businesses missed…

The first opportunity…missed business.  Three out of four storefronts were closed and never took advantage of the opportunity to generate customers or business from the crowds that were walking up and down the streets.

The second opportunity…none of the businesses, except two, handed out any flyers.

Here are some examples of what they could have done.  

Children’s shoe stores could have handed out a flyer announcing a magician and face painting event for next week.

Beauty salons could have handed out a flyer for a free haircut this coming week.

Restaurants could have handed out a 50% discount card for the coming week on their slow nights. 

Dress shops could have handed out a flyer announcing a fashion show this coming week, where champagne and snacks would be given.

Any way, you get the idea of what could have been done. 

Out of over 300 businesses, only two did something out of the ordinary.  One handed out a 10% coupon on their next visit and the other store a 35% coupon for shopping in the coming week if they spent over $50.00.  Big deal.

This holiday, like every holiday, should be viewed with the idea that there is opportunity to create a prospect and/or a new customer.  Events such as the three I attended with my grandchildren were missed opportunities for their owners. 

We, as grandparents, and my daughter were standing around while the children trick or treated.   We could have been engaged in a conversation by someone who worked for the business.  He or she could have helped us understand how it would benefit us to try them out.  They could have possibly gained a customer.

There are probably many other things you can think of to capitalize on holidays.  Let’s hear some ideas from all of you. 

Happy Halloween.

Technorati Tags: halloween marketing, halloween marketing opportunity, halloween's marketing opportunities, holiday marketing, holiday marketing opportunities, holiday marketing opportunity, holiday selling opportunities, holiday selling opportunity

Who’s right?  Who’s wrong?

Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, and Malcolm Gladwell are going at it about “FREE”, the book recently written by Chris.

Personally, I side with Chris and Seth, even though Malcolm makes a strong argument for his position. 

I think it’s clear that if you look at the trends of “free”, you can see how it has grown more and more pervasive over time, and people expect free samples or free trials of whatever they are considering buying. 

For instance, whether it says “Free Trials” or not, people expect 100% of their money back if they are not satisfied.  This amounts to a free trial.  “Free” has been woven into the fabric of American society so much that I believe most people see it as an economic birthright.

As such, I believe everything is trending towards free first-time usage. The “free line” (the amount of free things given) will move higher and higher as competition continues to grow and “free” embeds itself even deeper and deeper into the American psyche. 

As more and more companies build “free” into their business models (not just as a marketing cost), it’s going to force other companies to lower their prices or change their models.

Sure “free” has been with us for a while, but it has been slowly evolving and has been slowly changing the game.  Chris Anderson is giving us a status report.  Read it.  You definitely want to know where we are now so you have a better chance to get where you want to go.

If you want to follow the debate, check out Seth’s, Chris’ and Malcolm’s positions.  Chris’ and Malcolm’s debate center around paid versus free journalism; Seth’s expounds on ‘free”:

Seth: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/malcolm-is-wrong.html
Chris: http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2009/06/dear-malcolm-why-so-threatened.html
Malcolm: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/07/06/090706crbo_books_gladwell?currentPage=all

To get a FREE 25 PAGE EXCERPT from the book, go here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=lLZbXN2odVYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

To buy the book, go here:

Technorati Tags: business model, Chris Anderson, Free, Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin

I ran across this magazine ad a couple weeks ago.  It’s a good ad because it tells a story and is personal (Excuse the quality of the image; I had to copy and scan it.).  Take one of your ads and massage it to be like this…to tell a story and be personal.  Then test it out and tell me your results.

Too see a larger version of the ad below, click on this link: http://www.kenvarga.com/Oregon_Fishing_Person_Ad.jpg

Technorati Tags: ad copy, ad story, ad writing, story telling

A million dollar idea

Last evening, I had the opportunity to visit my local Chamber of Commerce’s meeting, whereby they had approximately 52 tables set up by various local vendors.  They called it “Sizzling Summer Business Expo 2009.”

They also invited all of the restaurants in the area to rent a booth and created an area outside the exhibiting area, just for those nibbling on the offerings from the restaurants. 

Here are a few lessons from this experience…

The companies there paid $250 for a table, and no one…and I do mean NO ONE…thought to offer a response mechanism…something that would prompt the attendees to communicate with the vendor.  Sure, they gave out many items as gifts with their name on it, but nothing to prompt anyone to do business with them. 

Also, there were 22 local restaurants, which created 3 or 4 various dishes.  There were lines for the food, but guess what?  The attendees got their food and moved on.  Why didn’t these restaurants offer a coupon, for let’s say 20% off your dinner when you come in?  They didn’t have anything to give out to generate a customer.  Sad!

But let me tell you about a million dollar idea I gave one of the exhibitors.  His company does pest control.  Two years ago, I was having a problem with birds nipping away at the caulking around my skylights, and I put an item called a Bird Repellent Spider on the roof near the skylight.  In fact, I put 4 by my skylights.  This exhibitor had one of these on the exhibiting table and when I mentioned to him that I also had Spiders on my roof, he was happy to hear that someone had installed the them.  He asked me what pest control company installed them. I told him none.  I googled bird repellants, found and bought 4 of them, and hired someone to install them on my roof.

When I asked him how many homes his company had installed these units on, he said “None.”  He mentioned how difficult it was to convince a homeowner how important it was to install these spiders.  To make a long story short, his company had no way of convincing a home owner about why they needed these Spiders and how they would benefit by installing them. 

Here’s what I said to him.  Research the damage birds do to a home, or building, and the health ramifications that would result when someone catches a disease that many birds ccarry, then present it to the homeowner as a health and safety issue.  He and the others at the table loved the idea.

I then told them to research articles or studies that were done where birds have done serious damage to light posts along the road, light posts in Marinas, or any kind of poles.  They can create a new market to sell to by extolling the reasoning that the Spiders installed atop the light posts will stop birds from destroying the metal, and over the long run save the township, or marina, money.

This product, the Bird Spider, can be used in many other areas as a deterrent, so I told them to think of other areas to create a new market.

I asked them what this idea meant in money to them, and they said over a million dollars and that is why I titled this article “A Million Dollar Idea.”

Let me know your thoughts on this or any input you might have.

Technorati Tags: create a new market, creating a new market, lead generation, restaurant lead generation

Which is more important?  Marketing or Selling?

Whenever I do a seminar, or when you look at the questions I receive from my subscribers, there most often is the question of what is more important, Selling or Marketing?

I receive statements such as, “I’ve been going to various seminars, reading many books, and as a result I’ve been collecting marketing ideas over the years.  I also have a stack of promising leads that I’ve accumulated over a period of time thru networking at my local Chamber of Commerce, Direct Mail, and Advertising.”

“I realize how important it is to continue networking, but then I create more and more leads.  How should I prioritize all of the leads and marketing ideas I’ve accumulated?”

Have you ever asked yourself this question?

If so, you might have lost sight of a very important truth.  The way to win in the marketing game is not to collect the most leads.  It’s to make the most sales.  Without sales, marketing is just another exercise.

Marketing that increases your number of sales is very good, and activities and things you do that don’t result in sales, aren’t good, even if they bring in plenty of leads. 

If you don’t follow up immediately on the leads you gather, you are just wasting your time and money.

The primary purpose of all marketing strategies like writing articles, networking, advertising, public speaking, etc., is to gain visibility and credibility.

Ask yourself this question. “Why do you want to be visible and credible?”

It’s not because you want people to know who you are and what you do.   It is so they will do business with you.

Use this rule.   Follow up on hot or even warm client leads immediately.  Customer leads are always more important than marketing for more visibility.  They result in profits.

When you have promising leads that could result in customers or clients that you aren’t contacting, then the follow-up stage is definitely stuck somewhere.  Gather your stack of leads and sort them into three categories.  Prospective clients, useful networking contacts, and others.

Then sort them into groups of Hot, Warm and Cold. Stop here and follow up with the Hot and Warm leads.

Action is the most important part of this exercise.  I see many individuals who sit on qualified leads and never turn them into sales. Don’t be one of them.

Technorati Tags: lead generation, marketing, selling