Creating Advertising Ideas From A South African Perspective

Writen by Andrew Smit

All opportunities are based on an idea, but not all ideas represent genuine opportunities. Creative thinking refers to the mental attitude of always trying to improve on existing designs, products and services.

Always think actively, watching television, reading the newspaper or even taking to friends will supply the mind with a flood of great and useful ideas. Always asking yourself the question: "Is there an idea in this?" will train the creative mind to always be on guard, and the ideas will begin to flow.

Another great tip is to record all your ideas its worth it trust me, this will give you a chance to possibly modify ideas and combine them into a new concept. When trying to find a new concept for an advertising idea you really have to think out the box. I often read something of which i know nothing about this is a great way to find ideas and mould them into something which can be used for the task at hand.

We as creative individuals often get into a routine of doing things and this is a major factor for us designing or creating "flat" ideas. Believe in your ability to be creative, and concentrate on opportunities rather than threats. It is very difficult to conjure up great ideas if you are constantly doing the same thing day in and day out. Try spending a whole day, week or weekend without something which is part of your daily routine - i guarantee you will start the the next creative process with a totally new and fresh outlook.

The process of generating fresh ideas can be enhanced by the following techniques.

BRAINSTORMING: Define a problem, get your colleagues to help with this one. Choose one person to write down the ideas as they are generated by everyone. Do not evaluate or comment on any ideas until every possible angle has been evaluated. Then, start discussing each idea and start eliminating until you reach consensus on the most workable idea.

FORCED CONNECTIONS: Take two concepts which have nothing in common and then try to make a connection between the two. ( sausage + bread = hot dog) (wheels + board = skateboard) This technique is one i use over and over because it never fails to bring out the best and freshest ideas for me.

MIND MAPPING: In the centre of a page write down a word or phrase describing the topic to be explored. Think of anything associated with the topic. every time and idea come to mind, write it down and join it to the central topic with a line. Continue this process, constructing branches until the page is full or you have run out of ideas. Mind mapping allows you to explore promising lines without loosing track of the central theme.

I have used these techniques ever since i was taught them 16 years ago, they have been the basis of every creative idea i have ever come up with. As i have stated before creative thinking is a metal attitude its the same for any endeavour an individual partakes in, whether you are a business person, a sports person or a designer.

Ideas are all around us, some have the guts to persue them and others just doubt their own ability. If you are a designer listen to your client carefully they usually have their own ideas about the project at hand. You never know half your work might already be done.

Your Eye Catching Publicity Flyer

Writen by Matthew Keegan

Your website is done, your business cards have been delivered, and your brochure has received accolades. In the promoting department you have everything you need, right? Well, there is one item you lack and by having this item in your arsenal it can be a dealmaker for you.

When I pitch my services to potential clients I always have on hand copious amounts of business cards. I drop them almost everywhere. I want people to look at my cards and then get online to view my website. So far, so good. However, besides a brochure there is one item I have learned to use -- and modify -- as needed. This item is a promotional flyer. That's right, a simple 8.5 x 11 sheet of buff paper outlining what I have to offer.

Why do I use a flyer? No, I do not pin this information all over the office nor do I pass them out as frequently as my business cards. Instead, when I run a promotion -- which is always -- I feature the "special" on paper and hand it to prospects along with my business card.

I have found that people want information at their fingertips. Sure, going to my website is important, but I also want them to know that the "deal" I am currently running is something they need to know about up front.

What do I put on the flyer? For starters, I put in big bold letters my special. Currently, one of my web packages is on sale for $549. So, the top of the flyer says: $549 Web Sites!

Immediately after in four short paragraphs I list the following information:

1. Qualified customers will receive my $795 package for 30% off.

2. I list all the features of the package. Did I say I use bullets? You bet!

3. Other services I am offering at the same time are listed briefly. I also state when the promotional period ends.

4. All my contact information including my name, phone number, email address, and web address are given.

What have I learned from implementing this method?

1. Black lettering on bright [not neon] paper gets attention. Leave out the graphics and simply state your offer. Underline, italicize or make bold certain keywords as necessary. Why not use neon paper? Neon equals cheap or tacky. Stick with pastels, they are elegant.

2. People are accustomed to receiving special offers. All the stores and most everything you purchase online today is priced lower than the sticker price. Slash your price and people will gladly reap the savings.

3. You can change your offer at any time. Go through the expense of creating a brochure and you cannot make changes to it without incurring additional charges. If your flyer matches your brochure consider "tri-folding" your flyer and sticking it neatly in with the brochure.

Remember, you are marketing not only your product but you are marketing yourself. Design a promotional flyer that you can be proud to call your own and reap the benefits of being able to modify your campaigns as necessary. Your customers will receive "a deal" and you will receive needed work.

Matt Keegan is the The Article Writer who promotes his business online as well as in person. For samples of some of his work, please visit: http://www.thearticlewriter.com

What To Think About When Designing A Business Card

Writen by John Gibb

So you really want some business cards – you think it's going to make people take you seriously and get in touch with you. What you have to realise, though, is that a badly designed business card is much, much worse than none at all, and will actually lose you business. Before you go ahead and make business cards on that spiffy machine that does them for pocket change, take a little time to consider exactly what you're going to put on the card and where.

The first, and most important, thing you should put on is your name! Don't be modest – make it big and bold, so people can spot your card in a pile. It might feel a little egotistical, but remember that you're doing it to help them find you, not because you think you're really important.

The next thing to put on is some kind of description of what you do – whether that's a job title, or just which industry you're in. If you're undertaking a specific project at the moment that is somehow notable (you're the producer of a popular TV show, for example), then it's worth putting that on too.

The two vital pieces of contact information to have on the card are your phone number and your email address – these are the two primary means of communication that people will use to contact you. Website addresses are also a very good idea, as they offer someone a quick, easy way to find out more about you.

Your street address, on the other hand, isn't really necessary unless you own a shop or otherwise expect people to visit you, and your online instant messaging address runs the risk of looking somewhat unprofessional. Depending on what business you're in, a fax number might be useful – in general, if you get more than one fax per month or so, it's probably worthwhile putting it on there.

John Gibb is the owner of Business cards For more information on Business cards check out http://www.business-cards-resourcesk.info

Why Most Advertisements Stink

Writen by Shawn Meldrum

Question: What do you think the most important part of any ad is?

Your company name?  Your telephone number?  Your offer?

Look at your own advertising.  What stands out?  What is in the largest print?  If it's your company name or logo hold out your wrist so I can whack it with a stick.

What's the answer?  THE HEADLINE!!

You see, without a good compelling headline it won't matter much how great your copy or you offer is, because few will ever read it.

REMEMBER: The Only Job Of A Headline Is To Get The Reader To Read The First Paragraph.

It should be big, bold, dark and easy to read.  But more importantly, it must force the reader to read on.

"HEADLINE TEST"

How do you know you have a powerful, effective headline? 

Here's a great acid test: separate the headline from everything else, out of context, and treat it as a classified ad; nothing but the headline and a response instruction....then ask yourself if people would respond.

So if your headline is, say, the name of your company, the classified ad would read:

"Acme Mortgage, No. 1 in service
and reliability.  For more info,
call 1-800-000-0000."

Trust me, that does NOT work. 

But if the headline is;

"6 Things You Must Know Before Getting
A Home Mortgage.  Free Report Tells All.
Call 1-800-000-0000".

That does work.

Put every headline you use in your ads, letters, flyers, brochures to this test.

Tips For Stronger Headlines

1. Telegraph a dynamic benefit or promise.

 (You want to evoke emotion in every advertisement, always answering the reader's questions, "What's in it for me?  And why should I continue reading this?")

Example:  "You Can Laugh At Money Worries -- If You Follow This Simple Plan"

2. Add "How To" to the beginning.

Example:    "How To Escape the Debt Rat-Race And Get Debt-Free, Fast....."

3. "Flag" your targeted prospects.  Let them know who the ad is talking too. 

Example:  "Credit Card Payment Sufferers: How To End The Pain In 3 Days!"

4. Arouse curiosity. 

Example:  "What Your Banker Doesn't Want You To Know"

5. Use meaningful specifics.

(3 days is more "specific" than "in days").

Example:  "I Instantly Saved $103,239.83 and Never Took The TV Remote Out Of My Hand"

6. Use powerful attention-grabbing words.

(Like "Warning", "Guaranteed", "New", "Now.")

Example:   "WARNING: Credit Card Users May Be Paying To Much"

For a free instant reference guide that reveals time tested formulas to create dynamite, attention-getting headlines visit: http://www.leadgenerationadvertising.com/

Shawn Meldrum has spent the last two decades marketing everything from almonds to landscape lighting.  He currently specializes in marketing for mortgage brokers, loan officers and real estate agents.  For free mortgage marketing articles and much more visit: http://www.mortgagemarketingtips.com

Preparation Of The Marketing Campaign Advertising

Writen by Javier Cristobal

Keyword Concepts: factors that influence advertising

Advertising: Of all the promotional mix elements, advertising is the one with the greatest similarities worldwide. The reason is that most advertising everywhere is based on American practices. The trend towards global marketing and economies of scale have prompted many firms to stress the standardization of advertising procedures.

The factors that influence advertising are: the type of product, availability of media and the foreign environmental forces.

1) Type of product: buyers of industrial goods and luxury products act on the same way worldwide, thus the standardization approach may be applied in these cases. This enables manufacturers of capital goods to market these goods worldwide with very little modification in the various markets. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Avon, and Levi Strauss use this international approach successfully.

2) Availability of media: Even when the campaign message is standardized, advertisers may find they cannot use the same media mix in all countries.

3) Foreign environmental forces: Like variations in the media availability, the foreign environmental forces act as deterrents to international standardization. Amongst the most influential of these forces are the socio-cultural forces. A basic cultural decision for the marketer is whether to position the product as foreign or local, and which way to go depends on the country, the type of product, and the targeted market. Close to these forces are the legal constraints applied in the local country. There are laws affecting media availability and also limitations on the type of products that can be advertised. For example some countries apply a special tax on advertising on certain media.

Javier Cristobal

CEO

IOL Enterprises Inc.

http://www.iolenterprises.com

How To Make Classified Ads Work For You

Writen by Matt Sherborne

Right now, dollar for dollar, classified ads offer the best return for your advertising buck. Classified ads are easy to write, easy to place and only require a simple follow-up to bring in thousands of dollars in sales.

Classified advertising as a distinct advantage over most other forms of advertising because they are not interrupting. You benefit by writing a non-interrupting classified because your reader is looking for products or services that appeal to them.

The most successful classified ads relate to the home, car, employment, or business opportunity. Those that do not fall into these categories might want to consider a fractional display ad. All classified advertisers should consider using their classified ad as a lead generator.

The majority of readers of the classified sections are looking for something specific. You can count on these readers looking over the headings for subjects that interest them. Savvy advertisers will promote products that enhance the reader's lives in some way. One of the greatest benefits of a well-written classified ad is that it creates a strong anticipation in the mind of the individual for more information.

The reader that responds to your ad has a genuine interest in acquiring the benefit promised in the advertisement. You can be sure when someone responds they can't wait to get more information. It is your duty to follow up on this hot prospect by making it is easy as possible to justify their already established decision to buy.

The most important thing you can do is to satisfy their desire at once. Act promptly and deliver your marketing follow-up as quickly as possible. You want to close the sale while you're fresh and the prospects mind by delivering an emotionally charged sales message that delivers the exact benefits desired by your potential customer.

Your follow-up marketing message should create a strong anticipation of the benefit promised and stimulate action now!

Never procrastinate in following up with your potential customer. Strike while the iron is hot before their interest fades away. Do not delay and you will get the most from your classified ad.

Matt Sherborne is the Author of Get Rich Trading E-Currency and Explode Your Ad. To get the inside info on marketing trends visit: http://www.xperior.com/ads/ To learn more about Trading Ecurrency visit: http://www.dxingold.com

Economical Advertising

Writen by Kurt Mortensen

If you think advertising is a high-stakes gamble, one that is full of risks and gimmicks at expensive prices, think again. Advertising follows, in fact, some very logical rules. The first is that good advertising is based on market research. Before you advertise, you need to understand the customers you're trying to reach. What are their needs? What factors influence their decisions to buy? What features of your products or services offer what they truly want? And what weaknesses in your competitors could bring these target customers to you?

The second rule is that when you are advertising, particularly with different media, you must always measure your advertising results. Only through consistent, systematic evaluation can you determine the percent of return you're getting for each ad dollar spent. Moreover, by pinpointing which advertising is working and which is not, you can capitalize on your successes, cut your losses and revise your program by trying a different sales approach or different media.

Track your advertising religiously. Always ask new customers how they heard about you. Put a dedicated phone number in your Yellow Pages ad; the number of calls coming in on this line will quantify the effect the ad is having. If you advertise with coupons, count the coupons redeemed. If your advertising spotlights a certain product or service, monitor its sales.

A third rule is that like anything new entering the public environment, advertising takes time to catch on. Although some famous print ads and television commercials have had immediate impact, most advertising builds slowly through consistency and repetition. Thus your advertising must appear frequently enough to become a familiar presence; think of it as something that customers must see three or four times before noticing it's there.

Besides being logical, advertising can also be inexpensive - even free. So after you've identified your target customer and defined your strategic sales message - the prerequisites to all forms of advertising - explore the following cost-saving advertising alternatives.

Kurt Mortensen's trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life. If you are ready to claim your success and learn what only the ultra-prosperous know, begin by going to http://www.PreWealth.com and getting my free report "10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands." After reading my free report, go to http://www.PreWealth.com/IQ and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis to determine where you rank and what area of the sales cycle you need to improve in order to close every sale!

Predictions For 2010

Writen by Dave Chase

2005 puts us at the mid-point of the first decade of the new millenium. What will things look like at the end of the 1st decade of the new millenium in the world of advertising? I thought I'd project where the ad industry is headed and what 2010 (or sooner) might look like. This two-part article will take those discussions a few steps further. First, we'll look at a scenario that is likely to be common by 2010 when the heretofore separate worlds of TV advertising, search marketing, behavioral targeting and inventory yield management blend together. If you buy some of this scenario, it's interesting to look at the implications for ad agencies. In part two, I'll speculate on the likelihood of Google being the biggest "ad agency" in world. If you look through the prism I lay out, it will cause you to think differently about where the industry is headed whether or not you agree with some of the specifics.

Search marketing, Behavioral Targeting and Yield Management's alchemizing effect on TV advertising

The accountability and efficiency of search marketing, behavioral targeting and publisher inventory yield management can look pretty compelling to a media planner compared to the relative lack of trackability of a TV spot today. What happens when you combine the best of these worlds? Let's look at a scenario that might take place when these worlds are combined.

It may easy to write this off as the ramblings of a guy who has spent too much time in the technology industry but before you do that, consider the following:
• All major search engines keep a search history indicating your interests, needs, likes, etc.
• Forrester projects that over half of TV households with have a DVR device by 2009.
• Today, most DVRs keep track of what we could be considered a "search history" of everything that your household has watched and what you plan to record in the future.
• With your implicit approval, that "search history" of your TV behavior could be combined with your online search and surfing behavior which would create a profile that would be quite precise regarding your preferences and interests. Whether one company delivers all of this technology (e.g., Microsoft or AOL) or a deal is done between DVR suppliers and search engines, this can easily be accomplished.
• Most people's broadband Internet access is provided by cable companies today. Setting a cookie applicable to both the TV and internet access is relatively trivial.
• Tacoda, a leading behavioral targeting company, has over 80% of the North American Internet audience in their network. They have a wide variety of non-personal demographic information about their users.

So let's fast forward five years and look at a scenario with a couple in their late 30's we'll call Mike and Jill. Periodically, they talk about the need for a vacation but have had a hard time agreeing on a location. Jill's idea of a great getaway is a "spa weekend" with mud baths, cucumber bodywraps, aroma therapy and countless other "treatments" that sound like some form of torture to Mike. Meanwhile, what Mike would really like to do is make a trip to a Final Four as his alma mater is in the Top 10 and he's sure they are going to make it a long ways in the "Big Dance". Whenever he talks with his buddies about the "Big Dance", Jill is confused Mike has never liked to dance.

One thing they can agree on is their enjoyment of watching Alias together although they are watching Jennifer Garner for different reasons. The rest of Mike's TV viewing largely consists of watching ESPN, Fox Sports and ESPN2 so he can be smarter than his buddies when it comes to filling out his bracket. Meanwhile, Jill loves watching the Travel Channel and shows on other networks about "getaways" whether they are about "romantic getaways" or "girls' weekends".

During the week, Mike often eats his lunch at his desk while reading some of his favorite websites (www.foxsports.com, www.ESPN.com, etc.). He's checking out the latest rankings to see where his alma mater is ranked and analysis from experts on the "Road to San Diego" (the site of the 2010 Final Four). He notices one of the ads on the webpage he's reading is about a San Diego vacation. Though he's never been to San Diego, he knows it has a nice climate and gets the bright idea that he could kill two birds with one stone if he suggests that a trip to San Diego would be a nice place for a trip with Jill and another couple friend (the husband of that couple also happens to be a college buddy who enjoys hoops as much as he does). Suddenly, the $500 daily spa fee doesn't sound too bad for Mike if it means he can attend the Final Four.

Since Jill had Arizona in mind for a "spa weekend", he figures he needs to sell Jill on San Diego. He surfs over to his DVR home page to see if he can find some shows that highlight San Diego that he can highlight and record for Jill. It turns out one of the shows is in 30 minutes on the Travel Channel so he's able to record it for later viewing even though he and Jill aren't home at that moment. It also turns out that one of the past episodes of Alias had Jennifer Garner's character incognito at a beach party at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego (she snuck into the private party by swimming in from the ocean in scuba gear with a party dress in stow).

Over dinner that evening, Mike brings up the idea of San Diego as a great location for a vacation and that late March is a particularly nice time to visit (failing to mention that the timing happens to coincide with the Final Four). He lets her know that he's marked some San Diego shows for her to watch including the Alias episode since they have a "Season Pass" for Alias (i.e., it records/stores all Alias episodes). Jill is surprised and impressed that Mike has gone to this trouble.

Meanwhile, let's take a look at what's going on behind the scenes. The cookie that the cable company has stored is keeping track of various actions that Mike and Jill are taking (sites they visited, shows they watched, searches they performed). This behavior is combined with the ad marketplace system running at Google or the particular search provider of choice. This system is similar to Google's Adwords system or Overture's Precision Match. In the future, it's likely to include "behavioral targeting" attributes as well.

In this ad marketplace, millions of similar actions are aggregated and offered up to what by 2010 will be millions of advertisers for sale in a real time automated auction. These marketers will have established their spending levels, behavioral and demographic profiles. In the time it takes for an average search to complete, several advertisements have already been sold against each of the programs recorded for Jill. On the media outlets' sites, they are doing additional optimization (aka "inventory yield management"). This optimization determines what the optimal type of ad to serve is. In one situation it might be a textual advertisement while in other cases, it might be a more traditional form of TV ad.

As Jill goes to watch the shows Mike has teed up, the ad delivery system is poised to take action. The way in which the ads are viewed will be dependent on the couple's billing preference with the cable provider (yet another yield management variable). They may have chosen the free cable option that requires them to watch ads at set periods. As the show starts, a number of advertisements appear at the bottom of the screen. A couple of these have a dollar sign next to them indicating that they can reduce their cable bill if they watch them. This is attractive particularly since Jill wants to watch them anyway since they are infomercials for a San Diego area spa. She can choose to watch them now or later.

Later on in the evening she checks her email before going to bed. The ad delivery system knows this is the same person who has been watching ads about San Diego area attractions so it serves up some discount offers for packages to San Diego which she emails to Mike with a message about how excited she is about going to San Diego. Who knew that an ad delivery system could enhance marital harmony?!

Will these sort of events transpire five years from now? My belief is that they are largely foreseeable. Undoubtedly, the specifics won't take place exactly like this, but it's not a huge leap to get to this place with consumers and businesses that are more than willing to benefit from the experience.

If you buy all or part of this scenario, what does it mean for the parties most financially vested in the ad marketplace – media outlets, ad agencies and marketers? It means further evolution in their business models. Perhaps the most radical impact will be on ad agencies that have already seen their business evolve. In part two, I'll make the provocative statement that Google will be the largest ad agency in the world by 2010. While this potentially ludicrous notion may not seem worth thinking about, viewing the ad agency business through a Google prism should cause ad agencies and their clients to experience profound insights.

If you want to have more fun with the previous scenario, you can weave in various other variables that include, but aren't limited to, the following factors:
• Product placement evolution. At one time there was a website that allowed you to buy products that were shown in TV programs. Think about that woven into the aforementioned ad marketplace. This is an evolution of what AdvertisingAge's Madison+Vine regularly reports on.
• User reviews. User ratings of various advertiser products could become another variable determining which ads get served. Amazon-like collaborative filtering can be facilitated thus increasing content consumption.

Will Google be the biggest ad agency in the world by 2010?
In part one, I laid out a future of how Internet-based advertising models will pervade the TV world. If you buy some of these factors, there are inevitable industry changes that will happen to the ad industry. I will make the provocative statement that Google will be the largest "ad agency" in the world by 2010. While this potentially ludicrous notion may not seem worth thinking about, viewing the ad agency business through a Google prism should cause ad agencies and their clients to experience profound strategic insights.

Dramatic industry shifts usually don't happen from obvious places. Ample evidence of that exists if you look at various businesses whether you look at the music business, the encyclopedia business, the newspaper classified business, the retailing business or many others. Companies that too narrowly define their competition inevitably have their business cratered from unexpected places. Aggressive, growth-oriented companies whether they are Google or Wal-Mart don't care about pre-existing industry dividing lines. If it wasn't them, some other organization would gladly eat away at incumbents' businesses even though the leaders of the change are attractive "bogeymen" for those under attack.

If you take a step back, the purpose of ads and search are to connect buyers with someone selling what buyers want (even if they don't know they want it yet). In both cases, fees are collected from the people who have something to sell for connecting them with buyers of those items. No one is rushing to categorize Google as an ad agency -- "they're in the Search business". You don't have to study Google very hard to realize they aren't limiting themselves to the "search business" which is increasingly hard to define in any case. It's important to recognize that Google isn't charging for search; their income is from advertising. As the old saying goes, if it looks and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. If they were considered an ad agency, they'd already be in the top 5 with a much stronger trajectory than any of the top 5 agencies.

You may be saying, "wait a minute, they are more like a media outlet than an ad agency" (which is largely true today) but withhold judgment for a moment and some interesting insights can be drawn. To begin with, they are already doing media planning if the business has a high volume of clicks and it's highly likely they are working on ways to make that easier (and thus scale to smaller advertisers).

If I walked into most offices of the leaders of the largest ad agencies in the world today and stated that Google/Yahoo/MSN are their competitors, at best I'd get a polite laugh. They may say that I don't "get" the ad agency business. Having been on both sides of the challenger/incumbent equation, I can say unequivocally that not "getting it" is usually an advantage for the challenger. The challenger isn't shackled by the current way of thinking and perhaps more importantly, the current business model. Like virtually every other company (especially a public company), Google and "their competitors" are inspired by what will make them the largest sum of money. Today, Google's revenues are advertising-based, but tomorrow they may have increasingly more characteristics associated with the agency business. Comparing some of the assets that agencies have versus Google is instructive. I'll put these in context of some of the criteria I used to evaluate the ad agencies that I worked with when I held large ad budgets.

1. Efficiency with my budget: When my team owned the relationship/budget with an agency, I counseled them to look for padding and inefficiencies as the model shifted from a commission-based model (which had its own issues) to a salary multiplier that seemed like a fair approach based upon the number of people on the account. Furthermore, it was hard to know how well the agency negotiated with media outlets to get the best CPMs. With Google's Adwords, you bid on how much you are willing to pay for a click which can range from pennies to dollars depending on the term. Google has a great feature where if you bid $1.50 for a click and the next highest bidder is $0.75, they'll adjust what they charge you to $0.76. This looks like a more efficient way of spending my ad dollars and infinitely more trackable.

2. Consumer insight/research: I've worked with some fabulous media buyers and account planners. Their ability to dive into various syndicated research to identify the media properties with the optimal demo/psycho-graphics often impressed me. However when you combine the almost unbelievable volumes of click behavior across many thousand websites that provides a very robust picture of brand motivation and preferences. It's an approach virtually any cold-blooded capitalist selling stuff would appreciate and is unrivaled by other means of capturing actual buyer behavior.

3. Ability to reach my target buyers where they "live": Google's Adsense offering (i.e., syndication of their contextual search ads) has major implications and makes them look an awful lot like a media agency. Not only does Google serve up ads on their own high-traffic site, they are syndicating their ads to virtually every nook and cranny of the web. As an advertiser, it gives them an efficient way to reach into highly targeted sites that would be impossible to buy in a manual manner. Anecdotally, I'm seeing Google ads on all kinds of obscure and relatively low traffic sites that happen to be highly relevant to me professionally or personally.

4. Ability to service local, regional and international markets: This has at least two dimensions: First, can you run particular ads for people who live in particular geographies whether that is England, New England or Boston? Second, is it easy to localize the advertisements themselves? Particularly on the first point, it's much easier to do this with Google than the machinations an agency has to go through to make it happen (e.g., working with dozens of different media outlets around the country/world). On the second point, it's comparing apples and oranges since localization of text ads is easy compared to localization of ads that involve more than simple text. That said, they cover many languages and countries today so it's a straightforward process.

5. Focus on driving results vs. their ego: Since much of the execution of a campaign on Google is strictly driven by machines, there is no ego involved. From time to time, one runs up against this dynamic with agency creatives where they are more focused on winning awards than selling your product.

6. Creative work: This is an area where it would appear that agencies have a clear advantage if for no other reason that the creative palette is very limited with Google today. If you look at some of the trends outlined in part one combined with increased bandwidth and broadband penetration in the next five years it seems inevitable that the Google creative palette provides won't be so limited. The advantage Google has in this scenario is that the cost to launch and test a new campaign is low so creatives can refine their creative and copy while avoiding the high stakes and slow turnaround of typical campaigns of today that are bogged down by approvals at the client level. This quick turnaround should shift creatives perspective from thinking of how limited their palette is to relishing the opportunity to get immediate feedback on campaign ideas that may be conceived of, executed and killed/expanded in less than a day.

7. Account service: This is an area where agencies should maintain a clear advantage for the foreseeable future as people-oriented service is a core part of their value proposition. As Google and others gain an increasing share of their customers' wallets, there will be an expectation of increased account service for large accounts. In a competitive market, Google will respond if Yahoo or MSN try to offer better service. This factor can diminish the inherent advantage agencies have.

8. Media neutrality: Most agencies like to claim media-neutrality but it's virtually impossible to find in practice. The core obstacle is that the client's budgets aren't media neutral. There are often different teams, let alone different budgets for different media – print, online, broadcast, etc. This makes it virtually impossible for agencies to be media neutral. The philosophy behind Google's technology is media neutral. It just so happens that it's all executed on HTML webpages right now. Take the notion of delivering ads in the content you prefer to consume, on the device (PC, mobile device, etc.) you happen to be using at the moment and delivering the most relevant ad at the moment you consume it and extend it beyond online. It's not hard to imagine this happening when your TV and radio have their own IP addresses along with your more traditional computing devices (this is already in process).

9. CRM: Marketers and agencies working on their behalf spend large sums of money to create and maintain an accurate customer database that helps paint a picture of their customers' behaviors, likes & dislikes, demographics etc. It's not unusual for a marketer to spend millions each year just keeping their database up to date with basic information such as addresses. Meanwhile, Google's customers do much of the maintenance work themselves as their cookies capture every web search, links you clicked on and when you did it. One area that Yahoo & MSN have a clear advantage over Google is a much larger database of demographic information via their email/IM users (certainly one of the drivers for Google launching Gmail to much fanfare). Combine the demographic information with the surfing and searching behavior, and there isn't an agency in the world who wouldn't die to get their hands on that rich picture of their clients' customers.

Conclusion
Is Google explicitly out to get the agencies' business? Unlikely. It just so happens that when you look at the natural progression of their activities, it ends up dramatically impacting the agency business. The ironic thing is that they are probably spending significant sales & marketing resources cultivating agency relationships with complete sincerity. Like many other successful businesses, over time they will have more and more channel conflict where parties who were previously 100% complementary start to step on each others' toes. In the end, Google won't look like an ad agency anymore than eBay or Craigslist look like a newspaper classifieds business, but they will capture money from the same customers as the business that they are pilfering. It's the agency leaders that should ask themselves what facets of Google's business do they need to develop or co-opt. Agency leaders would be wise to ensure they don't have blinders on regarding their current business and their partners, or they are liable to be victims of an inevitable force.

Dave Chase is a partner with Altus Alliance, which specializes in driving revenue traction for emerging businesses. Before joining Altus Alliance, Chase spent nearly 20 years in the industry with over a dozen years at Microsoft in various senior marketing and general management roles, including his role as MSN's managing director for industry marketing and relations. In that capacity, he was responsible for MSN taking a leadership role within the Interactive Marketing industry to grow Online's share of the overall ad market in concert with AOL, CNET, Yahoo!, Google and other market leaders.

Chase played leadership roles in launching several new businesses within Microsoft including Microsoft's entry into the enterprise software and server business which is now an $8B business. Starting at the dawn of the commercial Internet, he was integral in Microsoft's entry into consumer internet businesses that achieved both critical and financial success.

Advertisements Varieties And Forms Reviewed

Writen by Donald Hammond

From the psychological point of view advertisements may be classified according to their general purpose or intention and also according to the particular tasks which they set themselves. Thus we may have the three following types, according to the task attempted:

1. Classified Advertisement. Takes initial attention, interest, and memory for granted, and merely seeks to direct the response.
2. Publicity Advertisement. Takes for granted the elements of persuasion, decision, and response, and merely tries to accomplish the tasks which the Classified Advertisement explicitly ignores - namely, to attract and hold attention, and to fix an impression in the reader's mind.
3. Complete Advertisement. Attempts to perform all the various tasks of an appeal. These are, in their logical order:
   • to attract initial attention;
   • to hold attention in an interesting way;
   • to bring about an association or impression which will have permanence or memory value;
   • to convince, persuade, or induce;
   • to suggest and lead to specific response

Still differently classified, according to the psychological mechanism they employ or invoke, advertisements may be classified as follows:

1. Reflex Appeals. Directed in a mechanical way toward the simple reflexes, such as bright flashing lights, moving objects, alternating signs, curious noises, etc. These do not attempt to sell goods, nor usually even to set up any kind of mental association. They are merely devices for getting the eye or ear of the casual visitor directed toward some other appeal, more strictly an advertisement.
2. Short Circuit Appeals. Concentrated appeals to one or more specific instincts, feelings, emotions, or ideals of the reader. The attempt here is to influence by simple suggestion; argument and deliberation are avoided, no mention is made of rival products, but some strong feeling is played upon. This short circuit, "human-nature" may be either through reading matter, picture, or arrangement.
3. Long Circuit Appeal. So-called "reason-why " copy, which argues, deliberately invites comparison and argumentation, weighing of selling points and advantages. This will usually take the form of text, although other devices may also be frequently employed.
4. Rationalization Appeal. This fourth type has special psychological interest and is based on a principle which is only recently showing itself in the field of advertising. One of the striking tendencies of human kings is to act, judge, believe, or vote on strictly instinctive, emotional grounds, and then, after the act is committed, to try to justify or defend it by intellectual and logical reasons. Thus we believe in immortality because we prefer it, want it, and have an instinctive and emotional yearning for it. Then having formulated our belief on these purely non-rational grounds, we search and search for arguments which we can give to our neighbors in justification of our belief. We would like them to think that we ourselves believe on the grounds of the logical arguments. But in our heart of hearts we know that we first believed, and only when our belief was challenged did we search for logical proofs or reasons.

Donald "DonOmite" Hammond has been a freelance webdesigner and programmer for over 10 years. He has done marketing of himself and his products as well as customers' products on their websites.

Persistant Advertising Will Do No Harm

Writen by Martin Lemieux

From my experience, I've been on many discussion groups and have spoken to many other like minded people. The one topic that always seems to arise is how to get massive sales right away.

Not only massive sales but quick sales. Well let me clear something up for you. Creating MASSIVE sales takes much dedication, persistence and especially patience. Not to mention planning & money!

See the unfortunate part is that people give up. Not only do they give up but they usually give up right before they succeed. I have a friend who's tried 4 times to start a roofing business and keep it going. I asked him, what kind of marketing plan did you have?

He said "well none actually, I was trying to rely on word of mouth advertising to get me started and a few ads here and there".

Now, don't get me wrong, if you can get a fantastic "word or mouth" campaign going then you won't have any problems. See the problem wasn't that my friend couldn't do the work but that his "sphere of influence" was very small. Hence he was having problems getting word of mouth working for him!

So I suggested to him that he place a very small ad in the newspaper around the surrounding area. It turned out that he had already tried an ad in the paper but, he had placed a one time ad almost the size of the whole newspaper and hardly got any business out of it. Which never mind cost him a fortune.

I explained to him that persistence is the key, yes a lot of people will see the ad, but as soon as they are done reading it, they will forget it ever existed. So I said to him, grab a small 15-20 word ad and put it there for the rest of the year!

So moving on a little, his ad started off small but then grew more and more profitable! See it takes about 21 times for your visitors to see your ad until you make a sale.

21 times Martin???

Yes about that... we are so saturated with ads it has to be imprinted in our minds before we can even remember just one specific one. So the reason for having my friend put out a small ad instead of one massive full page ad was to allow his potential clients to get used to the fact that he wasn't going anywhere and his business seemed legitimate and profitable.

It's all about getting into your prospects sub-conscious and staying there until they are ready to buy!

So just remember when you're trying to decide between a one time shot that might cover coast to coast or a smaller ad that will cover coast to coast 12 months a year, always stay with persistant advertising!

About The Author

Martin R. Lemieux

owner

Smartads Information Centre

Canadian Entrepreneur Advertising Resource & Research!

http://www.smartads.info

Read over 200 articles on advertising!

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You may use this article on your site as is but you MUST send me a note support@smartads.info. Thank You!

The Adventures Of Wolley Segap Taking Love For A Spin

Writen by Jeffrey Hauser

Our love affair was coming to a close, I was afraid. I had done my best, but the handwriting was on the wall. She had been really good to me all those years. She had provided everything a man could want, and probably more. She was always prompt, efficient, reliable and there for me. And the way she moved and gyrated. Oh my! I even liked her fresh smell after taking in a particularly large load. But that was a distant memory now. It was a warm Friday night and I just stood and watched her in silence. She was staring back at me, just about pleading to be back to normal, while looking white as a ghost. I almost cried. But, I realized I still had work to do and came to my senses.

I had pulled her away from the wall, in order to get to her more important rear entry. After removing the back panel, I had her right where I wanted her. But I couldn't find anything obviously wrong. It was pretty upsetting, that a man couldn't perform at that level. But then again, I was no spring chicken. So I did what any other man would do in this situation. I admitted defeat and slowly crept toward the Yellow Pages. I went directly to the appliance repair section, looking for "washer service." It was a slightly older model, but, frankly, at this point in our relationship, I was willing to take what I could get.

To say I was disappointed was putting it mildly. Most of these big ads touted, "Service Today," or "Emergency Experts," or "Affordable Repair." That's not what I wanted. After all, she was almost a member of the family and deserved better. I sank into my favorite living room Lazyboy chair and considered my options. I hated the thought of getting rid of the old lady, just because she was having issues. So I sat in contemplation when a strange event occurred. A jolly elf-like character resembling a huge phone book appeared out of nowhere and actually spoke to me. "Don't look so glum. I'm here to help. Check this out." And with that, it sprang open to an interior page and displayed an ad stating, "Maybe Your Appliance needs a Tune-Up or Part. Ask us Because We Care!"

Immediately I perked up. Imagine, someone that really cared. I was elated and sought out the phone. I dialed their number and got a technician to come out that very evening. I decided that maybe there was hope for the old gal after all. The grinning phone book on skinny legs said, "Just remember that Wolley Segap came to your rescue,"and then vanished as quickly as it appeared. The end… or is it?

This little story was designed to serve a purpose and illustrate the need for effective advertising. So, attention business people: Is your Yellow Page ad doing its job? If not, let this serve as your wake-up call. I've witnessed many companies that thought they had an ad that worked, while, in reality, it had a flawed headline, lousy copy, or pathetic artwork. How do I know?

I was a YP rep and consultant for nearly 25 years and, prior to that, had my own advertising agency. I also have a degree in marketing. I've been designing Yellow Page ads for the past three decades. So I have expertise in YP creation and have advised almost 7000 companies on how to put together the most effective YP ads. If you have a display or in-column ad, regardless of size, color or position, I can tell you it most probably needs improvement in the headline, artwork, body text, placement, book, or heading. You must understand the ROI or return on investment and learn how to track the results as well.

So consider getting some expert advice before you place your next ad. There are many good and inexpensive places to turn, some available on the internet. Make sure the consultant is well qualified with at least 25 years experience. Otherwise, you'll be wasting your own time and money. Then, hopefully, you wont' really need Wolley Segap coming to the rescue after all.

Jeffrey Hauser's latest book is, "Inside the Yellow Pages," which can be viewed at http://www.poweradbook.com He was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master's Degree in teaching. He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. Currently, he is the Marketing Director for thenurseschoice.com, a Health Information and Doctor Referral site.

Advertising Balloon Blimps For Your Business

Writen by Low Jeremy

Have you ever seen an advertising balloon blimp? It is one of those elongated floating mammoth balloons that seem to get your attention whenever it passes by. It has become a very popular form of advertising medium.

Advertising balloon blimps can generate a lot of immediate excitement about your business, trade show booth or event. Such balloons can help spread the word about your business or event to a wider audience at any one time.

Your advertisements in magazines and newspapers can only provide you a rather large but not as immediate coverage. But with an advertising balloon blimp, you can do both at the same time. What is more ideal about advertising balloons is that they are portable, reusable, aside from being able to create immediate excitement.

There was a time not long ago that balloons were considered as nothing more than just toys that kids play with. But now balloons are being used for a variety of different things. And one of the most popular uses for balloons today is for advertising. Advertising balloon blimps are very popular for so many reasons.

But the most important one is that people just don't fail to notice them. There is something balloon blimps that make adults and children alike so mesmerized whenever they see one. Once seen, people seem to find their eyes drawn to these colorful floating things and would want to see what they have to say.

Advertising balloons are not only very appealing to look at, they are also very effective in getting anybody's attention. Advertising balloons can come in many different sizes and shapes. Some advertising balloon blimps can be so gigantic that they can be seen from miles away. Some advertising balloons are designed to float while others are being used hanging from different locations like walls or poles or flagpoles.

Advertising balloon blimps can be used to appear at major events such as auto races, air shows and other important events. An advertising balloon blimp you can provide major exposure for you business in your chosen events since such balloons never fail to stand out from the various activities the spectators are expecting to see.

Advertising balloon blimps can be a very effective sales and promotional tool for any business. It has an interesting appeal to people of any age that makes them stand out from other forms of advertising. If you are looking for immediate impact, you can always rely on advertising balloon blimps to give it to you.

Low Jeremy maintains http://advertising-balloons.articlesforreprint.com This content is provided by Low Jeremy. It may be used only in its entirety with all links included.

Speak Out And Promote Your Message Put Em On Wristbands

Writen by Chris Angeles

Colorful rubber wristbands- a hit then, still a hit now. For almost 3 years now, rubber wristbands are used as a way of communicating people, organizations', and companies' message discretely.

We can see these colorful rubber wristbands being worn by people. These rubber wristbands always catch our attention because of their colorful design. We always tend to look at these rubber wristbands no matter who wears them. I know you know what I am talking about.

But did you know that there are a lot of varieties of these rubber wristbands? They come in different sizes, adult, medium and youth sizes. This means that they can be pretty much worn by adults, teenagers and children. You have a market for all age groups.

What other available designs are there for these rubber wristbands? These wristbands can be as simple as single-colored, and can be as complicated as multi-colored swirled wristbands. Most people on a tight budget prefer the single-colored rubber wristbands because they are much cheaper as compared to the other ones with complicated designs. But for people or organizations with budget to spare, they usually go for the multi colored bracelets.

There are also three processes manufacturers can produce. They can produce imprinted, debossed and embossed rubber wristbands. The imprinted wristbands' message will be silk-screen printed on the wristbands, while the debossed and embossed rubber wristbands undergo the same process. The only difference is that the debossed rubber wristbands message will be raised, as compared to the engraved message of the embossed rubber wristbands.

So you see? You can use these colorful rubber wristbands for a lot of reasons. They can also be produced in different colors, processes and sizes. You can go for simple designs or you can go color-crazy.

Chris Angeles is the owner and founder of http://www.kulayful.com, a company that specializes in creating Custom Silicone Bracelets, which are customizable from the Message, to the Logos, to the Color. http://www.kulayful.com offers one of the lowest prices in the market, without lowering the quality of the bracelet. We have seen all those other low-quality bracelets before, and we are fed up with them as they are disgusting. We absolutely guarantee 100% satisfaction to all our customers. Free set-up molds! Free shipping! Also a Free custom artwork sketch even before you even decide to order from us! We can also be reached at sales@kulayful.com.

Calling Cards A Forgetmenot For An Entrepreneur

Writen by John Gibb

A calling card or business card is a small rectangle of cardboard with the name and contact details of an individual or company printed on it. The card will usually have a telephone number, email address, business address and full name. It may have a logo, a small picture that is officially representative of the company or the individual, and maybe a motto or mission statement, which the company puts on it's advertising. All of these are meant to advertise and to inform the recipient of the card. They are considered effective as they are cheap to produce and will often be tucked into a pocket or put on a shelf instead of discarded.

Calling cards started in antiquity and would be used by aristocracy. They were originally visiting cards, simply used to state a person's name and introduce them rather than advertise business. The servants of a card owner would give the card to the household staff of the recipient. They had a status as a tool of etiquette and proudly displayed coats of arms and used fine printing techniques and elegant script. They serve a second purpose of providing a list of those who had visited a person or as a contacts directory. Later on they increasingly became the tool of merchants who to this day give out the cards as cheap advertising. The cards may have a map to the shop and may, particularly with nightclubs, be redeemable for a service such as cheaper entry or a free drink. The distinction between a business card and a visiting card is largely ignored except in a few social circles. To some, leaving a business card instead of a visiting card or vice versa is a breach of etiquette.

Calling cards are often of high quality and may have a colour photograph of the individual. They are usually the size of a credit card but variations occur. There are even CD-ROM business cards, essentially a small CD in the shape of a normal business card. Apart from the normal details on the front they can be accessed by a computer's CD drive, allowing the individual or company to put a variety of information on it. They can display video, images and have links to websites and other online documents. These cards are still in low circulation.

John Gibb is the owner of calling card guidance For more information on calling cards check out http://www.calling-card-intelligence-info.info

7 Tips For Better Ads

Writen by Mike McDaniel

The content of advertising is basically the same no matter what the media. It is good and it works, or it is bad. Some TV ads are so clever people tend to remember the cleverness and forget the product.

Here are seven tips to help you create better ads. Better ads for Newspaper, Radio, Billboards, Cable, Yellow Pages, anything with your name on it.

1 It's Not About YOU. Sell the benefits. The benefits of coming to your store or doing business with you is what the customer wants, They say "What's In It For Me?" Your mug shot on a 40 foot billboard can't answer that question.

2 Be Consistent Pick a theme and stick with it, in all your print, radio and TV ads. Pick a look and stick with it. Every ad builds on your brand, don't change the concept because YOU are getting tired of it. The exposure level with potential customers is much less than with you.

3 Sell Benefits not Features. Once you get the customer in the door you can brag about the features of your product or company, but lure them there with a promise of a great benefit. "Brushless Car Wash" is a feature "Cleaner than new in two minutes" is a benefit.

4 Be Different. Check your Sunday paper to see how many ads look alike. In the supermarket, most mustard is in a yellow package, most Ginger Ale has a green label. In advertising sameness is suicide. Don't look like or sound like your competition.

5 Use a Great Headline "Jim's Locksmith Shop" at the top of an ad is NOT a powerful headline, or a good opening for a radio ad. "We can Pick ANY lock!" or "Locked out? We Can Get You Back IN" are powerful and answer WIIFM ("What's In It For Me?")

6 Make it Easy to Find You The best ads, in print and in the air are directions, NOT address. Pay attention to ads you see this week. "809 Main" doesn't say much, but "On Main Street Downtown across from the firehouse" is a good as a map. Note: If your advertising will cover several communities (most do) be sure to include your city or community. No need to use state. "On Main Street in Downtown Smallville across from the firehouse"

7 Avoid Phone Numbers With the exception of Yellow Pages Advertising, where people are looking for telephone numbers, most folks don't carry a pad in the car or keep one next to the TV to jot down numbers. Remember how hard it was to find something to write with when you saw something on a TV news show that you really wanted to call about? By the time you found the pencil, it was gone. Same with advertising. Focus on getting them to remember your benefits and your name. Phone numbers are a big NoNo.

To have the best advertising, YOU must become the advertising expert. Advice from the person selling advertising is usually best only for the media being pitched and does not help you with the others. Become an astute observer of others who advertise and use the best elements you see.

For more about advertising from get my article "15 Tips for Better Yellow Pages Ads" Send a blank eMail to the MailTo:15TipsYP@BigIdeasGroup.com

©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel All Rights Reserved Mike@BIGIdeasGroup.com BIG Mike is a Professional Speaker and Small Business Consultant with over 30 years experience, http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

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

Classified Ads Pros And Cons

Writen by Tony Jacowski

The job search has one more face: now you can place your 'position wanted' ad on Internet message boards or in classifieds. Of course, placing ads in the classifieds is nothing new. Again, it is not without its share of pros and cons. But, now the hot point of discussion is the advent of help wanted ads on the Internet and their pros and cons.

When someone got through to an interview a couple of years ago, it was not the usual thing, for it was because he had advertised on the positions wanted classified.

Pros Of Wanted Ads

There are many upsides to advertising when you are in need of a job; you can do this in addition to posting your online resume. You can use this combination cleverly by linking them to each other. However, the clear advantages of posting "position wanted" ads are here:

1. Since these 'job wanted' ads are placed by you, you can be sure that you can use the space to your advantage. Try to post the message exactly as you want it. It gives you flexibility and freedom to plan your ad yourself. Be prepared to spend a few dollars if you want to do this. Some placement advertising sites ask for a monthly fee, which ranges from $9.95 to $29.50.

2. They keep your identity almost anonymous by automated transmission of messages to your mailbox. Websites protect their candidates' identity and privacy very strictly so replies and all correspondences thereafter will be channeled through them. But when they allow personal identity, use a free email account created for this purpose.

3. Updating your ad can't get easier than this. You can go on refining your ad very easily and whenever you want. Be specific in stating who you are and what you want; eliminate any possible ambiguities in the ad language. Furthermore, you can also specify the salary you expect.

Cons Of Position Wanted Ads

This is the other side of the coin which can't be completely eliminated. Here are a few cons of advertising yourself:

1. There are not too many websites to advertise position wanted ads; therefore, the low popularity attracts very few recruiters and hiring managers. Secondly, they draw far less web traffic than résumé databases and job placement sites, meaning that headhunters and job seekers prefer resume databases to placing ads.

2. Technically speaking, both resumes and ad sites are equally searchable depending on the optimization work that they have had done. As all are keyword searchable, the keywords play a key role in making your ad searchable.

3. Some recruiters appear to disregard advertisers as desperate people wanting a job but that still couldn't pick up the phone and talk to recruiters.

Other cons may include misusing of your email ID by spammers and junk mailers. However, when all is said and done, and when all that matters is bagging a good job, it is not a bad idea to advertise yourself.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions – Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Infomercials As Seen On Tv Products

Writen by TK Healey

Infomercials have been around for a long time. Have you ever caught yourself glued to the television watching an infomercial on a new TV Product that intrigued you? Wow, will that really clean my floors and make them look new again? Will just steam kill all those germs? Only five minutes a day to lose weight! Many celebrities stand behind and endorse these products. Infomercials advertise many types of products such as exercise equipment, fitness, diet, weight loss, health, beauty, kitchen items, toys, gadgets and more. We've all seen these ads and most of us have some of these products in our homes. How can you not want to give these items a try?

A number of celebrities endorse these products. One product that has been around for a while is The Thighmaster, endorsed by Suzanne Somers. She also endorses other exercise machines, beauty products, and even appliances. Suzanne has made a real impression in the infomercial world. Celebrities definitely help these As Seen On TV products to sell. These are people we can relate to and if they're endorsing a product and putting their name to the infomercial product it must be worth buying, right?

Some infomercial products have turned the spokesperson into a celebrity, like Ron Popeil. Most people know who he is. When you hear his name, "Set It and Forget It" comes to mind. His rotisseries focus on getting rid of the unhealthy fats from your foods and being able to walk away while your food cooks. Ron has come out with a whole line of helpful kitchen products.

George Foreman also got into "Get Rid Of The Fat" products. The George Forman grill is useful for making sandwiches, hamburgers, cooking bacon and is easy to clean. Every year it seems he adds new products and upgraded features to his line of convenient cooking appliances.

Infomercials can easily draw you in. Sure, some are just ridiculous gadgets that we really don't need and just end up in the back of the closet after a few uses. But what about the products that you see advertised all the time and have been around for awhile? They must be living up to their claims?

Here is just a sample of some of the products that have been advertised on TV:

1001 Pest Free Property, 3D Abs, 6 Day Express Diet Plan, 6 Week Body Makeover, 8 Minute Abs, 20001 Kitchen Secrets, Ab Chair, Ab Swing, Aolette Skin Care, Alpha Calm, Bandflex, Banjo Minnow, Beach Body Products, Bun and Thigh Roller, Cardio Cruiser, Carleton Sheets, Core Secrets, Core Sculptor, DiGi Draw, Doggy Steps, Dual Action Cleanse, Flat Hose, Flavorwave Oven, Floam, GeMagic, Grip Wrench, GT Xpress 101, Hair Plus, Inside Approach, Jack Lalanne's Power Juicer, Kim Vo Hair Products, Lateral Thigh Trainer, MaxiGlide, Miracle Blade, Nutrisystem, Orbitrek, Ove Glove, P90X, Q Ray Bracelet, Ronco Showtime BBQ Grill, Ruthless Entrepreneur, Scunci Hand Held Steamer, Slim in 6, Smartware, Total Body Makeover - Bob Greene, Total Trolley, Urban Rebounder, VCR Co-Pilot, Walkaway Abs, WalkFit, Winsor Pilates Circle, Zantrex 3, Zip Lure.....and many, many, more.................

Television partnered with celebrities is a very powerful way to advertise and can help a product become an instant success. The internet has become another great tool for advertising these products.

What will be the hot As Seen On TV Product this year?

TK Healey chief editor for SurfTilYouDrop® a consumer based website focusing on As Seen On TV Products. Seen on TV exercise, fitness, weight loss, cooking ,beauty, health products, reviews, video clips and more! Visit http://www.surftilyoudrop.com today!;

The Best Way To Save Money On Advertising Target Locally

Writen by Linda Stevens

Over the years I discovered exactly what derails an ad. More often thatn not, when an ad fails to produce results, the problem isn't with the ad. The problem is with WHO the ad reaches.

Before you start blaming lack of response on your ad, stop a moment to consider who it is TARGETED to.

Let's take a moment to look at Internet advertising. First off, let me say I dearly love advertising on the Net. The advertising rates for search engines and ezines are far, far lower than advertising your business on traditional media like TV or newspapers. For what one TV commercial would cost, I can advertise a business extensively for weeks, even months.

But, as I'm sure you've realized by now, the Internet is no magic advertising medium. Just as often as with anywhere else, your ad can pull less than expected response. The problem is with lack of targeting.

If most or all of your customers live in the geographical area of your store, using a search engine to reach people all over the world doesn't make much sense. You can consider your money wasted when somebody who will NEVER walk into your store reads your ad.

The solution is to advertise on sites or ezines that reach YOUR customers at a very high rate. This could be a local site that provides sports scores for dozens of local sports teams. Or a site that lists a great many local building contractors. Very specific information needed by people in YOUR area will draw just the kind of local crowd you can capitalize on.

We're seeing a sudden rise of local pay-per-click search engines. These use the same popular technology as Google and Overture, but limit their reach to businesses in a particular city, state, or region.

Often these local pay-per-click sites have very low rates, as little as one cent per click. Many offer as many as 1,000 free clicks to any business that signs up.

Be sure to check if the pay-per-click site has plenty of businesses listed in their database. An empty site won't attract many visitors and you may not reach enough audience to have any effect on your sales. Also watch out for a pay-per-click that is promoting in your area. If they are visible to you, they are probably getting the attention of lots of your customers.

About the author:

Linda Stevens is CEO of http://MyCalgaryClicks.com, the local Pay-Per-Click search engine for Calgary, AB Canada. Linda believes in following her own advice and is offering $10 in free bidding cash to any site that signs up to advertise.

Service Buyers And Product Buyers Dont Seek The Same Yellow Page Information

Writen by Lynella Grant

Yellow Page Directory Users Have a Variety of Motivations

For your Yellow Page ad to be effective, it needs to anticipate and answer the questions that customers have in mind. That's what made them pick up the directory in the first place. What those questions would be differs for each directory category — a restaurant or tire store don't have much overlap.

The key to getting calls (and sales) is anticipating exactly which information will suit their needs. That's why several businesses providing nearly identical products or services can have such different responses from their ads.

Service Buyers Probe for Intangibles

When people are considering making a purchase of services they seek out more information because of the intangible nature of what they're purchasing.

David Frey notes, [There are] "slight differences between consumers who are looking for businesses selling products versus businesses selling services. The consumers looking for services want to know about the quality of their work, their experience and credibility, and an indication that they can be trusted. This information makes a BIG impact on how you will develop your yellow page advertisement."

Visit his website: http://www.markingbestpractices.com

The kind of service a business provides often dictates whether people would make their choice from the Yellow Page listings. They're more likely to rely on a Yellow Page ad to choose a tree surgeon than a medical surgeon. Expensive or skill-sensitive services are usually selected through referrals, rather than from any kind of advertisement. In such a case, the directory is used primarily for contact information, not to assess the relative merits of the providers listed there.

Product Buyers Want to Find More than Information about the Goods

Sure, product buyers may want to know about features, sizes, colors, brands, etc. But they, too, will be searching for the intangibles that set one operation apart from the others. Can you service the product? What are your payment options, etc.?

After all, they know that they can buy a particular product from many different sellers. But what sets those merchants apart in their mind is how sellers would make the sale most convenient for them. And they're examining your ad for signs that you're going to be easy to do business with. That goes way beyond your listing products carried.

Counteract the Widespread Mistrust Factor

People have been burned, and are less trusting than they used to be. They've seen the television exposes of shoddy businesses and dishonest service people. They've been overcharged and manipulated, and they don't want more of the same. So they're less and less likely to trust any ad's self-declarations. Build in confidence-building elements like testimonials, guarantees and return policies, certifications, awards, and other quality assurances. Trust building information may be the tie breaker with other similar ads.

The directory jams all the competitors in together. And they look pretty much the same. So you need to study what your competitors are doing (and not just in their ad), so you can point out differences that matter to directory users. Start with the businesses within your heading. But you have other less apparent competition, you should check out as well. If someone doesn't buy from you (or someone else in your heading), where are they most likely to go instead?

For example, if you sell draperies, you might find that buyers decide to get blinds or awnings instead. If you can solve all their window or too-much-sun challenges, make that clear. Or you might see the need to place a small ad in those headings also.

Get to Really Know Your Customer

Buyers have more choices than ever. And they're better informed. Many rely on the Internet search engines, even when they're going to buy from a nearby supplier. So the directory is only one way they get desired facts. But unless you're in tune with the stated and unstated information they're looking for, your window of opportunity can pass in seconds.

Directory users really are looking for a reason to choose one business from the rest — so they can move to the next stage in their buying process. Make their task simple by knowing their preferences well enough to provide exactly what they want to know. That makes you their only logical choice.

Copyright 2005 Off the Page

Dr. Lynella Grant Author, Yellow Page Smarts: Make more money from your directory ad in tandem with your website http://www.yellowpagesage.com Smarter ways to attract more YP customers. Local Search resources Off the Page Press (719) 395-9450

Designing The Perfect Business Card

Writen by Jeffrey Hauser

I've been a designer and advertising consultant for over 35 years. I've seen my share of business cards and I have a few words addressed to those companies that might benefit from my expertise. I'm not talking to those professionals that are categorized by attorneys, physicians, dentists, insurance agents and accountants. You've seen their cards that are traditional black raised print on a white uncoated cover stock paper. They probably also contain a tastefully, understated logo, or credential, of their profession. To those of you I say, that's barely adequate.

Instead, I'm speaking to the average company that has a basic logo and spent between $50 and $100 on a thousand stock cards that a local 'Quick Print,' provides. They often have a plethora of sample borders, backgrounds, and other templates from which you can choose. Then one gives the printer the pertinent data and bam! You have a profession-looking card.

Now so fast. Have you ever considered what the business card means to the business? That lowly piece of 2 x 3.5 inch paper represents the entire company. It is often the first place someone is introduced to the firm. When the card is handed to the potential customer, what does it really say? Besides the obvious name, address, and phone number, does it convey an accurate image of the company?

Or does it say, "Hey, I didn't have the time or patience to really think this thing through, so this is the best I can do for now." Is that what you want the public to think?

Those professionals I first mentioned, have a secret society that wants their card to be more of an after-thought. For them, it says, "I really didn't have to make this card at all because I'm already overwhelmed by clients, but here it is and treasure it. I rarely give out cards to the little people like you anyway."

But for everyone else, allow the card to be a silent salesperson. Give it the attention it deserves. Use full color to display a dynamic logo or photo. Print it on glossy 12 or 14 point stock with a aqueous coating to make it appear even more shiny. Insure that all the type is 12 points or larger for good readability. This is especially true for the phone number. I've seen several cases where that important number is tiny and hard to find. Try a bold color and a display typeface.

And don't forget the back. Spend a few more bucks and print a message or special offer on the reverse side. It can be a coupon or promotion. It can be additional information that couldn't fit on the front. But make a small note or indicator on the front, referring them to the back. Don't forget to promote your website if it's of value.

Try to be daring and different, simple and bold. Use the card as a point of action that compels the recipient. As long as the message communicates your company's image and purpose, you've done your job. I hate getting a card for 'ABC Enterprises' that never actually tells me what they do. They assume I must know or else why would I be given a card? But, can't I pass it on to someone that may not of heard of them? Consider all the possibilities. Also, don't be afraid to post a picture of your product or building on the card. The cost for full-color is the same whether use have 3 or 33 colors on the card.

Finally, pass them out. They're cheap enough to reprint. Carry several at all times and make sure every relative, friend, or business associate, has one. They do no good collecting dust in a desk drawer or file cabinet. They're the least expensive promotional tool you'll ever own. And it's one of the few things you'll benefit from by giving them away.

Jeffrey Hauser was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master's Degree in teaching. He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. He has authored 6 books and a novel, "Pursuit of the Phoenix." His latest book is, "Inside the Yellow Pages" which can be seen at his website, http://www.poweradbook.com. Currently, he is the Marketing Director for thenurseschoice.com, a Health Information and Doctor Referral site.

Closing In On Effective Advertising

Writen by Alex Kecskes

Get out all the ads you ran last year. Go ahead. Tear them out of your magazines or newspapers (if you're lucky enough to have proof sheets, so much the better). Tear out your competitor's ads too—as many as you can get your hands on. Next, fold the company names, addresses and logos out of view. If the company names are in the headlines block them off with paper and tape. Now tape them up to the wall, putting yours on top, your competitors' below. Now back off, at least five feet. We're going to gradually close in on the most effective ad in the group (hopefully one of yours).

The "Eye Test" View

First, and this is very important, don't read any of them. Instead give them a quick, visual once over—what I call the "Eye Test." Do your ads stand out? Or do they dissolve into the mush of sameness? Remember, your audience will see your ad, not in a vacuum but with dozens of competitive ads in the same or similar magazines or newspapers. If your ads stand out, you're ahead by a length.

Step in, Feel the Image

Now move in a little closer to your ads. Close enough to get the feel or image they project Like a new salesperson who walks through the door, the first thing people react to is the overall image he or she projects. It's the same with advertising. The colors, the design, the typeface should be consistent with the image of your company. A tennis shoe salesperson can wear a referee shirt and a whistle around his or her neck, a medical sales rep can't. If your ads are in sync with the image of your company, you're a step closer to your audience—and a sale.

Are You Projecting a Consistent Look?

Next comes an equally important aspect: consistency. All your ads should project the same image. No, they don't have to have the same visual or the same headline. They should, however, look like they all come from the same company. After all, this image is your "familiar face" in the crowd. It's also something you worked very hard to create. And it's uniquely yours, no one else's. Just like a good salesperson who finally got in the door to make that first sale. You wouldn't dream of switching salespeople after that. If your ads look like they came from several different companies, your audience might assume your product does. If your ads pass this test, effective advertising is within your reach. Which is exactly where you need to be for the next step.

Arm's Length for Positioning

An arm's length away from your favorite campaign of ads. The object of this test is to see how well you've positioned yourself. Yes, you can now read your ads, but not for details. How you position yourself should be fairly evident by the time you finish the first paragraph. Positioning is basically how your audience perceives your product, service or company. For example, businessmen, engineers and students all need computers, yet each has a different idea of what computers can do for them. Advertise a computer to a businessman and you might do better to position it a management or accounting tool. Students might respond better to an ad showing computers as a writing and study aid. And engineers would be better persuaded to buy a computer if you positioned it as a design or research tool. In each case, the products are the same but the positioning generates the unique appeal for any given market. And the greater the appeal, the greater the sales. If you've done your research, your positioning should bring the reader a little closer to your ad and your product.

Move in to One Ad

We're now going to concentrate on one ad. So pick your favorite one and move in close enough to read it in comfort. The headline and visual should answer the question "what's in it for me." If it doesn't do that quickly and effectively, your audience may gloss over it without ever bothering to read it. Some of the best salesmen in the world start their pitch with a direct customer benefit—even before they introduce the product. They've learned that customers want to know right off what the product can do for them—the big benefit. If your product's benefit is buried in the body and your main visual is an un-involving product shot or a photo of earth floating in space, your ad won't go the distance. And the sale will go to your competitor.

The Revealing Close-up

Ok, time for the close-up: the body copy. It should "payoff' or back up the claim you made in the headline by forcefully and effectively communicating your product's key benefits. In essence, you still have to answer the Question "what's in it for me," but now you have more room to do it. You can be flowery, you can be humorous, you can even get technical. But you must convince the reader that there is a strong benefit to be gained in choosing your product over the rest. If you've done a good job, your ad goes the distance. What's left is what all good salesmen do before they leave.

Close in and Ask for the Order!

For this, you'll have to get in close to the bottom of your ad. Close enough to read your call to action, which should be short and direct, leaving no doubt in the reader's mind what to do after reading the ad—call, clip a coupon, circle a bingo card. It should also be clear as to what the reader can expect to receive—more information, arrange a demo, have a salesperson call, get a trial sample. The reader shouldn't have to get too close to read this either (don't put this or your phone number in fine print). Remember, when a salesperson asks for the order or gives his or her phone number, it's always loud and confident, never a whisper.

There are obviously many market, demographic and personal factors we haven't considered. But if you meet the key objectives we've introduced, your audience can't help but close in on your ad—and your product. And that's what effective advertising is all about.

About the Author

Alex Kecskes is a former ad agency Copy Chief who has created effective copy and concepts for a wide range of ad agencies, Fortune 500 companies and startups. As owner of ak creativeworks, Alex provides strategic copy for brochures, mailers, multimedia, articles, newsletters, PR and web content. He has published articles in a variety of publications about health, business and technology--this includes copy for over 130 different products and services. He has won such national awards as the Andy, Belding and One Show. For more information and samples, please visit http://www.akcreativeworks.com

Why I Like The Ads I Hate

Writen by Yvonne Finn

It's been said that the antidote to liking/loving is not hating, but indifference. So, when an ad makes you angry or disgusted or evokes any other strong emotion, it has done it's job. That is what advertising is supposed to do! Isn't it?

There is an advertisement currently running on T.V. that makes me so disgusted that I spent quite a few minutes last night discussing it with my sister,

The ad is for a well known brand of toothpaste that is being recommended for people with sensitive teeth. Nothing wrong so far. There are plenty of people with sensitive teeth and I have no personal knowledge of the truthfullness of the claims made by the manufacturer.

My objection is to the presentation of this product. There is a beautiful women, dressed only in camisole and under wear parading around as she touts the benefits of using this product. There is nothing wrong with that either. But what is the connection? Do you have to be beautiful, female and barely dressed to benefit from this toothpaste?

I am sure the manufacturer would not want to limit his market to that niche only. What a waste of his advertising money? It is getting harder and harder to get your message noticed, with so many other products vying for the same market shares that you're after.

Why get that consumer's attention, only to then turn them off or away, with an inappropriate advertisement.

So, I like this ad because it certainly demonstrates that advertising gets you noticed and talked about.

It is up to you. however, to target your market appropriately and benefit from your hard won exposure.

P.S. By the way my sister hates the ad, too!

Advertising is like beauty, you must strike an almost perfect balance to achieve and maintain the desired results/effect. Yvonne invites you to visit her website at: http://www.herbalhealthyskin.com for your free beauty balancing tips !

All You Need To Know About Classified Advertising From A South African Perspective

Writen by Andrew Smit

Compiling your classified advertisement

1. Even though these adverts are routine and limited in style, you can still use striking words or phrases.

2. Present your facts in as complete a manner as possible. Give a full but brief description of the goods, service or vacancy on offer.

3. State the price where products are involved.

4. Always make sure your contact details are correct, check again if you have to it is important.

Placing your classified advertisement

1. You can place your advert by visiting the newspapers office where trained staff will assist you in compiling the advert.

2. You can make use of any computerised outlet where standard forms are provided by the larger newspapers.

3. If you are a telephone subscriber, your advert can be placed by phone or fax and an account will be sent to you.

4. Newspapers have deadlines, so find out what these are from the publication concerned.

5. Inform them of the number of times, and on which days you want the advert to appear. These are referred to as insertions or 'inserts'. Some days of the week attract a larger readership so you should ask which days these are.

6. Certain publications offer free classified adverts as the cost is covered by the selling price. Some have minimum charge rates for a certain amount of words and extra for any additional words added.

Display advertisements

Although display adverts are sometimes used as 'fillers' (an item filling space in a newspaper,etc) as the need arise they usually appear in the classified and / or business section of the newspaper. They extend over two or more column widths and are more complete than the 'smalls' adverts, as fuller sentences are used. Display adverts are often highlighted by means of decorative frames and, in the case of adverts for vacancies, the firms log or emblem is included. The writer should consider the 4 points described in compiling your advert above. The readers attention can be caught by means of bold lettering, unusual layout, simple drawings and striking phrases.

Employment advertisements

1. The name of the organisation or company should stand out.

2. The position or post advertised should be highlighted.

3. Requirements from applicants should be mentioned, for example qualifications and experience.

4. A broad outline of the position should be given.

5. Details concerning fringe benefits should be mentioned but the salary need not be disclosed as this is often negotiable.

6. Instructions as to how the applicant should apply, the name of the contact person and the date applications close should be supplied.

Advertisements on products and services

1. Provoke an emotion in the intended buyer; e.g. 'Don't settle for anything than the best, you deserve it!'

2. Put as many ideas as possible into a few short sentence; e.g. ' Guaranteed Savings on selected items, or your Money back!'

3. Present difficult ideas in pictures that can be seen in the mind's eye.

4. Influence the reader to react positively; e.g. ' Use our service to improve your health. Don't delay-time is precious!'

http://www.turtleherbestate.co.za where you will find Global solutions and ideas. Turtle Herb Estate Holdings consists of 3 forward thinking entrepreneurs with expertise in marketing & DTP advertising, farming culinary and medicinal herbs, web design and online marketing, horse breeding (sport horses),animal health products, import and export, engineering and industrial design (water solutions), arts and crafts. With a combined wealth of 80 years experience in various lines of business, we embrace a holistic approach to entrepreneurship.

How To Make Your Advertising More Successful

Writen by Joe Love

Advertising is the most visible form of marketing. It is one the most effective marketing tools you can use to build a share of the prospect's mind. If you know exactly what you want to gain from your advertising, where to direct your message, and how to say what you want your audience to know, your advertising will be effective.

Unfortunately advertising is also one the most misunderstood forms of marketing. Many ads you see today are full of catchy slogans, an endorsing celebrity, or the ultimate in graphic design and animation. The ads tell people how great and wonderful the business is. They are designed to keep the compnay's name in front of the prospects, and ultimately fail.

If your advertising is going to be successful you have to understand that people don't care how great your business is. All they care about is what unique benefit your product or service offers them that others don't. How are you going to improve their lives? How are you going to make their lives easier? Are you going to make them richer?

They want to know how you're going to enhance the quality, enjoyment, and the profitability of their lives. Very few ads today address that. People don't care what you want. To be effective your advertising must address what benefits you're rendering the prospect.

However, they do want to know that you're qualified to help them. So, in your advertising you need to establish credibility. If you've got expertise and people don't appreciate your knowledge and expertise, find a way to explain it. If, in fact, you've been in the field longer than anyone else, you've received a higher education honor, or you're a dry cleaner who specializes cleaning very expensive material, you need to tell people about it.

It is very important that you put your advertising in the right place. With direct mail that means carefully selected mailing lists. With print and broadcast advertising, it means putting your messages where your prospects will most likely see or hear them.

For example, if you are selling fishing equipment, it wouldn't do you much good to advertise in a magazine for racing cars. If you sell mutual funds it wouldn't do you much good to advertise in a magazine for antiques and collectibles, unless you knew that a large number of those readers were also interested in mutual funds.

What you say, and how you say it, is every bit as important as where you say it. To bring in profitable new business, your print ads, once you've placed them where your prospect will see them, should include four important elements:

1. A compelling headline, one that catches the attention of the readers and motivates them to read your entire message. It is very important to have a powerful headline on the home page of your Web site and in all of your Internet ads.

2. A specific offer attractive enough to inspire people to respond immediately.

3. A convincing explanation of the benefits customers will receive by purchasing your product or service. This reinforces the headline and offer.

4. Clear, precise information on how to order from you. Always ask for an immediate order in every ad you place, and make sure you tell your readers exactly how to order.

You never know how well you advertising is actually doing unless you test. You won't know which headline pulls best for you until you test one headline against another. Nor will you know which offer works best for you until you test one offer against another.

Keep in mind that there are basic power words that will help you get better results with your ads. Some of these words are: "free," "easy," "amazing," and "bargain." When you include any of these words in your ads it will almost always increase your response.

When you're writing an ad it is helpful to think of your prospects as nice people you want to please. By doing this it will help you stress the specific benefits you can bring into people's lives. It will help you advertise from the customer's point of view, the only point of view that counts.

When you advertise, your message will miss its mark if it doesn't address the most important interests and desires of your readers, listeners, or viewers. So, before you even start to work on composing an ad, ask yourself, "What is it that will most likely get the undivided attention of the people I'm trying to reach?"

Find out what people in your target market need or want the most. An easy way to get this information is to survey your target market. You never want to make risky assumptions about people's interests or simply guess. If you do, it is easy to loose thousands of dollars with your advertising.

Are they the most interested in getting the lowest possible price? Is it really what they want most? Is it a feeling of personal security? Is it financial gain? Is it status? Is it freedom from pain? Is it something that will quickly improve their physical appearance? Is it simple fun, or sheer novelty?

Whatever "it" is, make "it" the focal point of your message. With print advertising, put "it" in the headline of your ad, and then let "it" echo and resonate throughout the supporting copy, all the way down to the order coupon at the foot of the ad.

This is also true of effective Internet ads. The "it" should be in the headline of your ad and resonate throughout your supporting copy to get the target audience to click on your ad and go to your Web site. And once a prospect gets to your site make sure the "it' is in the headline of your home page and resonates through your supporting copy, and to your offer.

Let me also mention two words that you should not use in your advertising, "quality" and "courtesy."

Quality is a vague word, as well as being something that every business claims to have. Instead of simply saying you have "quality," spell out the benefits you can deliver that prove your high quality.

Courtesy is a weak word standing alone, because customers expect to be treated courteously. Instead, cite specific, courteous things you do, like free delivery.

You can build irresistible qualities into any ad, radio spot, or TV commercial. It doesn't matter whether you're selling perfumes or vacuum cleaners, if you stress the greatest possible benefit to a prospect, you will get their attention and very likely their order.

Copyright©2006 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many of America's largest corporations, on the subjects of leadership, self-esteem, goals, achievement, and success psychology.

Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com

Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com