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Banner advertising can be controversial. For some time now we have been told that banners are a thing of the past. Well, fortunately there are plenty to be seen around wherever you go on the net. It would be a dull place without them.

What Are They Doing To Banners?

From time to time we have been told that traditional pictorial banners are pass

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MANY INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS COME INTO PLAY MAKING A SUCCESSFUL AD:

1. PERSUASIVE SELLING COPY. The wording is the single most important element in determining a successful ad. What counts most is what you say and how you say it.

2. PLACEMENT IN APPROPRIATE PUBLICATION. This might seem obvious, but it is often neglected. If the right people don’t see your ad, they can’t respond.

3. SPACE/PRICE IN PROPORTION. You simply can’t sell high priced merchandise from a small classified or one inch ad space. These should be considered as a low cost means of building a mailing list by asking readers to write for more information. If you expect to sell directly from an ad, the size of the ad will have to increase in proportion to the selling price. Two or three inches of space for items selling for 42 to $5… half or full page for items selling for more than $5 up to $20. When the price goes above $20 it is usually best to run inquiry ads and follow up with a printed sales presentation. There are exceptions, but this is a fairly safe rule to follow.

4. TESTING ALL THE ELEMENTS. Unlike institutional advertising (toothpaste, cars, soap, etc.) which must rely on extensive market research, analysis, surveys and a lot of psychology to achieve success, mail order selling has a built-in “watchdog” to guard against waste and loss, and to help assure that every dollar spent will produce a profit…or at least tell you why it didn’t, so you won’t make the same mistake twice. This method (unique to mail order) is called KEYING. By inserting a number or letter (or combination) into every ad you run, you can tell which ad works in which publication and in which issues it works best. More sophisticated forms of this testing technique can be carried thru by trying a new headline, a different testimonials,guarantees, etc. The testing technique know no limits, but there is also danger in becoming test-happy. To use the testing principle effectively, be certain that the results will justify the time and expense of making the test. If it merely means adding to your paperwork without adding profit or reducing cost,it isn’t worth it.

Copyright 2004 by DeAnna Spencer
This article may be reproduced freely on the Internet as long as the resource box remains intact.

DeAnna Spencer is a virtual assistant that helps entrepreneurs run a successful business by providing affordable administrative help. She also publishes a blog for small business owners. Visit this small business resource today.

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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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