How to make your advertising work 3x better (in just 2 minutes)
Advertising – it’s the one area most business owners think alike. They believe advertising is a necessary evil. They think it’s expensive, wasteful, and they are completely at a loss when it comes to exactly what makes advertising work. And they believe it’s about the only thing they can do to grow their business.
Most business owners are correct about their advertising being expensive and wasteful. But, they’re wrong about advertising as the primary way to grow a business.
They also get no help from their local “experts”… media companies and advertising agencies. Here’s why: media companies (your local TV, radio, print, digital, etc.) are not marketing experts. They barely know more than the average SMB owner. That’s not meant to “bash” media people. It’s simply the fact that local media companies are not marketing firms – they are sales organizations. Period.
You see, what they sell are message delivery systems. Just like the US Postal Service, except the USPS actually knows to whom they’re delivering your message. Local media doesn’t have a clue. Their audience is whatever it is at the time. They build ads for one purpose: to have something to deliver!
While it would be reasonable to assume advertising sales reps know something about advertising, most don’t know as much as you might think they should.
It’s not the reps fault. They are paid to sell. They are trained by their employer to sell. To keep their job, they must sell. Unless your rep takes it upon him/herself to learn marketing on their own time and their own dollar, they won’t know anymore about advertising than you. And, take it from me, their employer y won’t spend one minute teaching marketing.
How do I know this? Well, I spent about 30 years in media. From being a lowly, on-the-street Account Executive, to sales manager, then General Sales Manager, to Director of Sales, all the way up the management ladder to Corporate Director of National Advertising for two top media companies.
I’ve worked in television, radio, newspaper, cable, and digital specifically for the experience – to see how it’s really done. No theory or industry propaganda here. But, this is not about me. I tell you this only so you can believe that I know what I’m talking about.
Media reps are taught how to sell, along with a mandate to increase their sales year-over-year… even if it doesn’t help their clients. To make things worse, they are commission salespeople. The more they sell, the more they earn. Again, regardless of any of the advertising produces results for the advertiser. So, their advice is inherently biased towards their own media.
Most media outlets do NOT require their reps to have a marketing degree. Sure, they’d prefer it, but it’s not required. The people they hire, while good people who have no ill intent, are trained in sales, not marketing. They have one job and that is to SELL their ad inventory to anyone who’ll buy it.
Therefore, they don’t know what they don’t know about marketing. And what they don’t know is costing you… big time.
So, in that context, I ask my clients if they would ever allow their postal carrier to design their direct mail piece. Of course, they all say “no”. When I ask them why, almost universally they say something to the effect of “because they have no understanding of marketing”. Exactly. And, neither does your ad rep!
However, most small business owners rely on media people to guide them or offer suggestions and ideas for marketing their business.
That’s why your ad reps rarely have any ideas and, if they do, it’s usually a gimmick like a sale or discount that kills your margin. They’ll offer you specials, packages, and events, but no plan. They come to you, as the expert in what you do, and rely on your expertise in your industry to tell them what you want to advertise. They’re asking you WHAT to advertise instead teaching you HOW to advertise.
When it fails, then it’s your fault.
You see, you don’t need an expert in what you do. Who knows more than you about your business? What you need is a marketing expert to work WITH you in devising strategies and employing tactics that actually work.
That’s supposed to be what a MAREKTING person does. That’s supposed to be their expertise, their experience. Yet, local media people rely on YOU to provide content in designing what is basically a tactic, not a strategy.
As far as advertising agencies are concerned, they’re not much better. In fact, if you have an agency that recommends an ad schedule on, say, television, check-out the background of president of the agency. You can pretty much bet that person worked in television. Same with radio and print agencies. That’s what they know. But, it doesn’t mean they know marketing.
But, it doesn’t have to be that way… or difficult.
There are only four components to effective advertising. Four. Your media outlet uses only one, sometimes they’ll use two out of shear accident and when they do, it’s done poorly because they have no idea what those four components are or how they relate to each other in terms of what motivates buyers to take action.
Local media will try to mirror what Madison Avenue agencies do for their multi-billion dollar clients with multi-million dollar campaigns. Those campaigns use only two components because of time limits on their preferred mediums, TV and radio. They can get by with that because they are marketing national, house-hold name brands. That’s not the average small to medium size business.
So, those two components combine in what’s called “branding” campaigns. Branding is just that… promoting a brand with no real call-to-action or consideration of The Buyer’s Journey. Most SMBs have no brand. If your local rep tries to convince you to “promote your brand”, run. Run quickly.
Those three words tell you that your rep is mirroring what they hear and have no clue. Reading Advertising Age (trade magazine) doesn’t make them marketers.
Yet, if only two components can work (if that’s what you want to call it) for national brands, it makes no sense to think that same tactic will work for Main Street businesses without national brands, national budgets, or national audiences.
That’s exactly why local medias promote “frequency” with their clients. Frequency means “more often” as in run your ad more often. The more you run your ad, it’s a mathematical certainty that it’ll have a better chance of colliding with someone wanting or needing what you sell. Frequency translates into spending more money as well as (wait for it) … a guaranteed diminishing return on your investment. That’s good for the media company but not so much for the advertiser. That’s not much of a strategy.
So, I try to help out where I can.
In fact, one afternoon each week I pick up the phone and dial random business owners I find online, in the Yellow Pages, or even a billboard that I might drive by. I offer to fix their advertising… permanently and for free. I offer to give them the four components that are critical to making their advertising work a minimum of 3 times better than it does currently. I do it right then, over-the-phone, in just 2 minutes.
Of course they don’t believe I can actually do it, but since I also tell them I’ve been in media advertising and sales for over 40 years, they’re usually curious enough to give me 2 minutes of their time.
That 2 minutes is actually about 15 seconds more than I need. You see, I’m not trying to show-off… it’s really just that simple.
I’ve detailed “the secret” to effective advertising (it’s really no secret) in my new book that tells you everything you need to know to do this yourself. It’ll also show you exactly how to find $10,000 in your business today. Not next month, not next year. Today.
You can download the book for free by clicking the button below:
If you don’t want to take the time to read my book, I understand. You can always just call me and I’ll give it to you over the phone, for free, in just two minutes. No sales pitch. I don’t need a sales pitch.
Why do I do this for free? Good question. You see, this one is so easy, I want every small business owner to understand the proven methodology I’ve used for 25 years that allows them to leave their daily stress behind. I want to provide some UNBIASED ADVICE that can help many owners, not just those that spend big money with me.
While I’m sure you might think that’s admirable, you’re probably wise enough to believe I’m only doing this for free because there’s something in it for me, right? Well, that’s NOT the reason I do it, but yes, there is something in it for both of us. While I’m not looking to make a sale, I know if you actually implement what I show you for free, you’ll quickly see for yourself that the advice is real, I’m for real, and you’ll see for yourself that I know what I’m talking about.
So, if you don’t know me, I’m offering credibility that speaks louder than any client testimonial, any case-study, or any referral.
As well, when you see what I can deliver in 2 minutes, you’ll be more inclined to see what I can do in 45 minutes. Then, you’ll come back for my 45-minute Business Breakthrough Session in which I’ll find a minimum of $100,000 in new recurring topline revenue in YOUR BUSINESS without you spending another dollar in marketing or advertising and without cutting costs or staff. Again, I spend 45 minutes with you specifically on your business… for free.
But, what good is knowing there’s $100,000+ hidden in your business if you don’t know how to retrieve it?
I’ll give you, again for free, the Roadmap that provides a calendared timetable detailing WHAT to do, WHEN to do it, and in what ORDER things need to be done in your business SPECIFICALLY to collect the found and fully documented new recurring revenue. Oh, and I promise you, the Roadmap contains nothing disruptive to your business. There’ll be some new things, but primarily it’s usually some tweaking to what you’re probably already doing… just not doing it very effectively.
Why do I do this for free? Well, because I can… seriously, because I know out of every 10 business owners for whom I do a session, 7 or 8 of them will want my help in implementing the plan. Then, they pay me (or one of my personally trained coaches) to help guide them based on performance. I answer questions, offer my 40+ years of marketing, sales, and business experience in Exponential Growth, and make any necessary adjustments to the plan along the way.
I ask prospective clients this: “If I gave you $100 on the condition that you would give me $10 back, would you do that”?
Of course you would. In fact, if you wouldn’t make that trade, you likely have issues I can’t fix.
The 2 or 3 that don’t need my help, well, I’m okay with giving them the “Keys to the Kingdom” for free. You see, when business is good, it’s good for everyone. I’m more than okay with that.
Whether you want to fix your advertising permanently in just 2 minutes or you could use an extra $100,000 in just 45 minutes without spending more money to do either, click below to download my book. Even if you don’t read it, you’ll get an email with my calendar link if you’d like to schedule a brief discussion.
Don’t worry, you won’t get a sales pitch. If it’s not for you, that’s okay. I’m not interested in your money until we BOTH know I can help you like nothing you’ve seen before. Unless you’re experienced in our proprietary Profit Acceleration and Exponential Growth methodologies, I guarantee you an eye-opening initial 15-minute discussion about YOUR business.
I’m here to help if I can. I might be able to help you… and I might not. You see, I don’t take anyone who can afford to pay me as a client. You must be coachable and you must be able to implement. Yet, neither of us will know until we talk about YOUR needs.
One thing for sure… no one, and I mean no one, will provide you with an assessment of 12 areas of your business most owners underestimate or totally overlook and find compounding efficiencies equal to more than $100,000 in new recurring revenue… and give you the 15-25 page Roadmap documenting EVERY dollar, with STEP-BY-STEP guidance, and in the correct ORDER to actually collect it. No one will do all that for free. Except me.
I’m giving you my time, experience, and the actual Roadmap before you ever spend a dime – just because I can. If you’re curious, don’t wait… I can’t give away my time forever as there are only so many hours in a day and it’s first-come, first-served. Be smart… what have you got to lose?
