Advertising Information

Design Your Own Newspaper Ads


Many people in business lay-out (design) their own ads. That old adage "If It Is To Be It Is Up To Me" prevails. Do it yourself and you may get what you want. Many newspaper salespeople are poor at conveying customer wants to the design department, and slow are retunring proofs. The result is an ad with errors, not approved by the cusotmer.

If your expenditures will be moderate, you might be able to afford a graphic designer or advertising agency. It costs nothing to find out, call a few ad agencies in the phone book and ask for an account rep. Explain you may be in the market for an agency and let them ask the questions. A quick determination will not be long in coming.

There is a lot to be said for finding a way for someone else to do your ads so you can use your talents for what you do best, running your business. Designing your own ads (a furniture store I visited had a complete drafting table, magnifying light and glue pot in the corner) is about the same as fixing your own leaks and asking the plumber to come by and inspect it.

Your ad will have less than eight tenths of a second to get a reader's attention. You must stop the reader's eye in less than a second, and hold it for at least three seconds to make an impression. Think about the ads you pass when you read the paper, You fly by some of them faster than you can say "one-Mississippi" (a half a second).

Collect a folder of ads thet grab your attention. Gather a list of hot words. There are articles and lists throughout the internet of "selling" words. Type "Words that Sell" in any search engine.

Always Stress the Benefits A feature is what something is. A benefit is what it does. Advertise the benefits of your product or service, not the features. People don't buy something to get a feature, instead they always buy to get the benefit produced by the feature.

The jury is still out on the effectiveness of color vs the cost of color. Look at the big boys, most don't use color in display ads (only the car dealers, for some inexplicable reason).

There are Already Enough Egos Look through any paper and count the mug shots of the owner, pics of the kids or staff. Not to mention the photos of the business building or award. Ego is easy to sell to the advertisers, but it doesn't sell the customer. The paper uses ego all the time to sell you more ads. The billboard people are especially notorious for this practice. Focus on the benefits and forget your smiling head and shoulders shot.

Put it on the shelf After you put an ad together, put it on the shelf, in a drwaer or file it in your computer for a day. Don't look at it or think about it. Wait at least 24 hours to take a fresh look. Can you remove at kleast 5 words? It will sell harder with less words. You don't read jumbled ads, they don't either. Does it have to be that big? Cut it by a third and you can buy more for the same money.

Sell the benefits with class and your advertising can be very effective.

For more about advertising, get my article "Your Billboard is Showing" MailTo:Billboards@BigIdeasGroup.com

©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel, All Rights Reserved MailTo:Mike@BIGIdeasGroup.com BIG Mike is a Business Consultant and Professional Speaker. His BIG Ideas Group helps small business grow with mastermind groups, seminars and training. http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

Subscribe to "BIG Mike's BIG Ideas" Newsletter MailTo:subscribe-956603364@ezinedirector.net


MORE RESOURCES:

Reuters

New York Times now offers front-page advertising
MarketWatch - Jan 5, 2009
"In 2006 we began testing ads on some section fronts and received a very positive response from the advertising community," said Denise Warren, ...
Video: Money Minute: Times Ads, Hyundai, Construction AssociatedPress
NY Times debuts front-page ad; new revenue source The Associated Press
New York Times to sell front-page display ads Reuters
AFP - Chicago Tribune
all 333 news articles


The NAD: A Primary Forum For Resolving Advertising Disputes
The Metropolitan Coporate Counsel, NJ - 27 minutes ago
Hugh Latimer, Chair of Wiley Rein's Advertising Practice, has experience in a broad range of complex litigation involving advertising, sweepstakes, ...
Wiley Rein Assists Client To Secure Significant Win In ... The Metropolitan Coporate Counsel
all 2 news articles


The Slate Group Names Matthew Turck Vice President of Advertising ...
WELT ONLINE, Germany - 1 hour ago
The Slate Group, publisher of Slate, The Root, The Big Money and Foreign Policy, today named Matthew Turck Vice President of Advertising Sales. ...


BBC News

Strikes greet Sarkozy's TV reform
BBC News, UK - 18 hours ago
President Nicolas Sarkozy's changes will ban advertising on prime time public TV from Monday evening. The president says the reforms will increase quality, ...
French unions decry TV advertising change Forbes
France bans adverts on state TV during primetime guardian.co.uk
French TV adverts ban sparks wave of strikes Irish Times
Telegraph.co.uk - Media Guardian
all 56 news articles


mediabistro.com

From Advertising To Catholic Pop Star
mediabistro.com, NY - 5 hours ago
Who says there's no life after advertising? One ad man left the ad game, forged a new path and is now using his powers of selling to spread the word of God. ...
Million-Dollar Advertising Executive-Turned-Priest Appears in ... Catholic Online
all 2 news articles


mediabistro.com

Publicis expects 2009 sales to fall - paper
Reuters - 5 hours ago
PA) expects sales to drop this year, the world's fourth largest advertising group told the Financial Times newspaper. Publicis Chief Executive Maurice Levy ...
Publicis expects digital to see double-digit growth this year mad.co.uk
Levy Holds Steady In The Face Of The Economic Black Swan mediabistro.com
all 6 news articles


Canada.com

Hyundai Super Bowl ad to feature music by Yo-Yo Ma
Reuters - 11 hours ago
But advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, which produced the Hyundai spot, said it expects the ad to resonate with many of those watching the ...
Yo Yo Ma Teams Up With Goodby For The Super Bowl mediabistro.com
all 6 news articles


Cramer's Lightning Round - Google a Hostage to Advertising (1/5/09)
Seeking Alpha, NY - 1 hour ago
Google (GOOG): “ …is a decent stock but in the end it's hostage to advertising. That makes it only a mild buy." Ultra Petroleum (UPL): “Natural gas is done ...
'Mad Money Lightning Round": Go With Best Buy TheStreet.com
all 2 news articles


Research and Markets: New Agency Model Brings New Growth to ...
Earthtimes (press release), UK - 11 hours ago
In 2007, Internet advertising revenue accounted for only 1.6% of China's total advertising revenue. Advertising via traditional media continues to dominate ...
UNITED STATES: Internet Advertising Revenues in Q3 ''08 at Nearly ... IBLS INTERNET LAW (subscription)
all 6 news articles


For Advertising, It Wasn't a Very Good Year
NewsFactor Network, CA - 21 hours ago
By Stuart Elliott One reason that so few people paid attention to advertising this year was a race for the White House filled with milestones, ...

Advertising - Google News

home | index |site map
© 2006