Self-Devpt. Nuggets™

I sent huge amounts of my working capital down "newspaper advertising drainpipes", when I first started out, because I did not have a proper understanding of the important considerations for deciding on how and where to place my ads.

My thinking about advertisements, and how to use them to attract business for myself was terribly "confused".

As is very often the case when one has the benefit of hindsight, after making many mistakes and learning how it should NOT be done, I offer you the following ideas to consider in deciding how to go about getting marketing/advertising exposure for your business.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since we all differ in the way we look at issues, and of course in how we interprete the experiences we have, it is possible that you may not agree with some of the ideas offered in this article.

As I always say, THAT would be okay: Simply take what you need, and leave the rest for others to consider. Understand also that I make no promises or guarantees that the ideas you get from here will work for you.

It was not that I did not try to get help or advice from those I believed would know, but it was that – with the exception of a few – most people I met with did not somehow manage to get around to telling me(that is of course if they knew) what they knew about the subject, much as they tried to help.

Let me tell you a few things I have since learnt about cost-effectively getting marketing/advertising exposure for my self, through sometimes quite painful(AND "pocket-draining"!) experiences.

1. It Is Often Not How Big They Are, That Matters

Consider this true story. Back when I was in my teens, I was actively involved in competitive school/state level handball. At one time we had a team mate who was rather smallish(compared to the rest of us).

But he was so skillful that virtually everyone he played against had to make extra effort to keep him for scoring on EACH attack his team made. Over time he earned the nickname "Small but mighty" and all who had faced him in "battle" agreed that he was!

As I said in my article titled "How To Choose The Right Web Design Company", size does not necessarily equate to competence – or as is more appropriate to this article: "An advert’s big size will not necessarily make it more potent or effective".

It’s not so much the size that really matters, but how well crafted the message contained in the advert is. To arrive at what would be a well crafted ad, you will need to have built for yourself, in your mind, a clear "profile" or your target audience – demographics like age, income group etc.

Sounds simple and obvious doesn’t it? Which is why I felt stupid for not knowing it.

Looking back, I think I missed it because it required doing A LOT of up front THINKING before going out to pay for ANY advert. Unfortunately, THAT(i.e. "thinking") was not something I did not do much of in those early days after leaving a salaried job.

I just thought I needed to get out there, place the ads, and start responding to enquiries that resulted. Well, my empty bank account soon taught me to slow down – and learn!

What I write in this article, can save you needless, avoidable pains like those I had to endure.

2. You Need To Determine The Right Placement/Location

The placement/location of a well-crafted advert in the medium chosen can make or mar the advertiser’s efforts of getting the maximum possible exposure through it. Classified ad boxes can deliver quite good returns depending on your intended target audience.

You might want to study the different newspapers and magazines to see what type of adverts people place in them. A little 4.5 x 5cm ad box(like one of many that I came across in an edition of the UK Magazine "Management Today"), if placed on a page(s) readers know they can find advertisement, can get sighted/read as frequently as one that is a big as a quarter of a page.

But that’s not all. That kind of box advert very often has the potential of generating even greater returns for the advertiser, if complementary e-mail/internet marketing is used to support it.

3. Research/Use The Right Advertising Medium For Your Target Audience

You need to place your advert in the right news medium. Instead of putting it in a general subject news medium like many of the dailies, consider getting better exposure in a smaller, less widely circulated publication which is mainly consumed by persons likely to be interested in your product or service.

For instance you are likely to get better results by advertising in a paper newsletter titled "Weekly Insights For HR Professionals" sent out to HR Managers of companies in your area, than placing the same ad in a general subject weekly publication.

So, depending on the area of business you’re into, you will have to study extensively the most economic and effective medium of advertisement to use. A good method would be to approach those who have been using them and ask their opinion.

That most people use Tuesday Guardian does not mean you should. Sometimes, that edition can get too crowded that an advert not strategically placed to catch the eye as pages are turned will probably not be seen by any of those who need to see it!

4. What’s The Shelf-Life Of Your Intended Advertising Medium ?

Another factor to consider is the shelf-life of the medium you wish to place your advert in.
You must try to analyse how long you think it will take those you want to reach, to sight the advert. Most publications have a shelf life of 24 hours to one week depending on the type (some are weeklies).

You will have to consider this in placing your advert, because you want to be sure that as many as possible of the kind of people you want, get to see it before another edition is published and the old one becomes obsolete.

Summary – AND A Warning!

Most times you need to do A LOT OF THINKING BEFORE you decide on what advert type to place, and where. My experiences at a point made me decide upon adverts that announced my Excel VB products/services or Speaking/Coaching programs without date/time indication.

My website and auto responder addresses included in those adverts invited interested persons to find out more. This advert was then placed in a monthly publication whose readers generally had interest in the area advertised, and who often read old issues of the magazine.

Since the advert did not reflect a date or time, any reader of the old edition still found it appropriate to follow it up – getting me the prolonged exposure I sought.

Note that these techniques I have described/strongly advocated, help you to cut down drastically on your advertising expenditure. In many cases you might find that using website and e-mail marketing techniques effectively could on their own generate multiplier effects however, that is of course if the kind of people you need to patronise your business use the Internet/e-mail.

A FRIENDLY WARNING! Just in case you are "fortunate" enough to discover your intended target audience are NOT THE kind just mentioned above, I have this to say to you:

Going by the fact the fact that most advancement in societies/businesses across the world today, is technology driven, I would PERSONALLY be wary of spending much of my marketing/advertising budget targeting prospects who have an aversion for using PC/Internet resources!