WARNING Small business Owners Before You Advertise Read This Simple Checklist
WARNING Small business Owners Before You Advertise Read This Simple Checklist
These 23 advertising ‘rules’ are based on direct response advertising principles from books like ‘Tested Advertising Methods’ by John Caples and ‘Scientific Advertising’ by Claude Hopkins.
1. Have you clearly researched and defined your ideal target market?
2. Have you written your advertisement directed solely to your ‘ideal target market’?
3. Is the marketing piece being placed/sent/posted where your ideal target market will easily see it?
4. Have you calculated how many sales you need to make to make a profit on this advertisement?
5. Have you considered any other ways that you can reach your target market that may be more cost effective for you?
6. Have you made an offer that’s easy for your reader to understand, and irrisistable for them to refuse?
7. Does your headline ‘sing out’ your ‘ideal target market’ so that they know, that your advertisement is written especially for them?
8. Does your headline ‘grab’ your ideal target market’s attention and excite them?
9. Does your headline offer or describe to your target market a major benefit that’s important to them?
10. Have you written your advertisement so that your headline is approximately 5 sizes larger than the body copy font size?
11. Does the body copy of your advertisement naturally continue on from what the headline suggests/says?
12. Through out the body copy, have you continued on with the benefits suggested in your headline, and described more benefits to your target market of using/owning your product/service?
13. Have you focused your writing on what your product/service will do for your target market, rather than just mentioning how good your business is?
14. Have you used ‘sub-headings’ above some paragraphs to allow ‘skim readers’ to get the main thrust of your advertisement, just by reading the sub-headings?
15. If you have included a picture of a person, is the person (or people) positioned so that their shoulders are facing into the body of the advertisement?
16. Have you included a picture that shows the reader what the benefit(s) of buying and using your product/service will be?
17. Have you taken the ‘buying risk’ away from your ideal target market by letting people know that they are safe to buy from you by either including a guarantee and/or using testimonials?
18. Have you used specifics like 5, 7 and 11 in your copy, rather than using generalizations like large, limited or top quality?
19. Have specifically asked your ideal target market to call, buy, or in some way take action to contact you in a hurry?
20. Have you included your contact details on your advertisement so it’s clear and easy for readers to contact you, or take action effortlessly?
21. Have you communicated with your staff so that they know when, why and how the advertisement is being published?
22. Have you trained your staff so that they know how to handle incoming calls, e-mails and shoppers when they contact/visit your business?
23. Have you communicated with your staff on how they are to record the results of the advertisement so you can track whether it’s profitable or not?
The above 23 points are pretty comprehensive, and will help you make your advertisements comply with sound direct response advertising principles.
By following them, you can ensure you’ll be closer to creating profitable advertisements for your small business growth.
Business Coaching expert Casey Gollan helps grow businesses by $1 million to $10 million in 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 his coaching programs have added over $375 million to small businesses. Go to his Melbourne Business Coaching website and watch a free business growth video series.
WARNING Small business Owners Before You Advertise Read This Simple Checklist - To learn more about this author, visit Casey Gollan's Website.
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If you’re writing advertisements for your business follow these 23 principles to ensure you get maximum return for your advertising dollar.
These 23 advertising ‘rules’ are based on direct response advertising principles from books like ‘Tested Advertising Methods’ by John Caples and ‘Scientific Advertising’ by Claude Hopkins.
1. Have you clearly researched and defined your ideal target market?
2. Have you written your advertisement directed solely to your ‘ideal target market’?
3. Is the marketing piece being placed/sent/posted where your ideal target market will easily see it?
4. Have you calculated how many sales you need to make to make a profit on this advertisement?
5. Have you considered any other ways that you can reach your target market that may be more cost effective for you?
6. Have you made an offer that’s easy for your reader to understand, and irrisistable for them to refuse?
7. Does your headline ‘sing out’ your ‘ideal target market’ so that they know, that your advertisement is written especially for them?
8. Does your headline ‘grab’ your ideal target market’s attention and excite them?
9. Does your headline offer or describe to your target market a major benefit that’s important to them?
10. Have you written your advertisement so that your headline is approximately 5 sizes larger than the body copy font size?
11. Does the body copy of your advertisement naturally continue on from what the headline suggests/says?
12. Through out the body copy, have you continued on with the benefits suggested in your headline, and described more benefits to your target market of using/owning your product/service?
13. Have you focused your writing on what your product/service will do for your target market, rather than just mentioning how good your business is?
14. Have you used ‘sub-headings’ above some paragraphs to allow ‘skim readers’ to get the main thrust of your advertisement, just by reading the sub-headings?
15. If you have included a picture of a person, is the person (or people) positioned so that their shoulders are facing into the body of the advertisement?
16. Have you included a picture that shows the reader what the benefit(s) of buying and using your product/service will be?
17. Have you taken the ‘buying risk’ away from your ideal target market by letting people know that they are safe to buy from you by either including a guarantee and/or using testimonials?
18. Have you used specifics like 5, 7 and 11 in your copy, rather than using generalizations like large, limited or top quality?
19. Have specifically asked your ideal target market to call, buy, or in some way take action to contact you in a hurry?
20. Have you included your contact details on your advertisement so it’s clear and easy for readers to contact you, or take action effortlessly?
21. Have you communicated with your staff so that they know when, why and how the advertisement is being published?
22. Have you trained your staff so that they know how to handle incoming calls, e-mails and shoppers when they contact/visit your business?
23. Have you communicated with your staff on how they are to record the results of the advertisement so you can track whether it’s profitable or not?
The above 23 points are pretty comprehensive, and will help you make your advertisements comply with sound direct response advertising principles.
By following them, you can ensure you’ll be closer to creating profitable advertisements for your small business growth.
Business Coaching expert Casey Gollan helps grow businesses by $1 million to $10 million in 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 his coaching programs have added over $375 million to small businesses. Go to his Melbourne Business Coaching website and watch a free business growth video series.
WARNING Small business Owners Before You Advertise Read This Simple Checklist - To learn more about this author, visit Casey Gollan's Website.
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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