Advertising doesn't cost...it pays!

 Well this has been a busy day. I am truly fatigued. So I may cut my writings today short, but not cheap. We set a sales record today and entered more new printing orders than any other day since our inception in 1989. Today was a banner day…great.

What I want to write about today was advertising…
1) When should I advertise?
2) How should I advertise?
3) How much of a budget should I allow?

These are the three BASIC questions each business needs to answer before listing in any advertising campaign, online or offline. I will address each of these points very briefly in a matter of opinion.

1)When should I advertise? When you’re busy. Many businesses make the mistake of advertising when they are not busy. This will often lead to the ‘feast or famine’ result. The time to advertise is always. If you need to start somewhere advertise when you are busy and watch the peeks and valleys level out.
2)How often should I advertise? Repetition is good, it helps create brand awareness. Find the venue that works best for you and stick with it. Keep flow charts running so you can calculate return. Advertising, done properly doesn’t cost…it pays.
3)How much of a budget should I allow? This answer usually comes from your business plan. Work your plan and plan your work. If you come in under budget and achieved or exceed projected results put the funds into growth of your business.

Here are a few free tips that may help you:

Tip 1
Do me a favor. The next time you are shopping at your local Wal-Mart, Home Depot or Tops, create a third eye for ADVERTISING. Walk the isles you would normally walk and buy the items you would normally buy. At the same time, keep your third eye opened. You will begin to recognize some common factors. Signage colors, placement of merchandise, free sample booths or aroma of baked goods. Allow these corporate giants to show you some advertising psychology that has proven success and apply these concepts in your world.
Helpful Links
Psychology of color- http://www.weprintcolor.com/moodofcolour.htm
What do you see? http://www.cs.toronto.edu/%7Emoraes/illusion.html
How does color affect your mood? http://www.weprintcolor.com/usingcolour2.htm

Tip 2
If you are an online business, exposure to search engines is becoming increasing difficult. Search engines are where most websites receive visitors from. Once your website is completed and ready for business submit it to search engines, guides and directories. Especially the more prominent ones such as Google, Yahoo, MSN. You may even want to consider a paid listing at Yahoo. Google offers AdWords and AdSense, great programs. AdSense offers you revenue opportunities fir running text ads on your site. Every time the ads get clicked Google will pay you. On the other side there is AdWords. AdWords offer you an opportunity to advertise your product offerings in the text ads that appear on there search pages. In both cases all you need to do is apply:
AdWords- https://adwords.google.com/select/
AdSense- https://www.google.com/adsense/
How to make money with AdSense- http://www.createonlinebusiness.com/adsense_index.html

Tip 3
Design and print quality marketing material. So many businesses try to cut costs in the wrong areas, when it comes down to your image don’t cheap out. Also do not forget to print your website address all of your company’s printing and marketing material. It would surprise you the amount of times I see this being overlooked. Keep all of your expensive, high quality printing brief in content and more about image. Why, you might ask? Unfortunately, in my business I have seen my share of wasted printed matter because someone didn’t proof read the properly, product information changed or prices changed. Display all of this information on your website, changes are far easier and cheaper to implement.
Helpful links:
Full Color Business Cards with Free Coating- http://www.weprintcolor.com/
The importance of Logo Branding- http://www.designlogos.net/
Download Business Templates- http://www.cardtemplates.com/

Well that’s about it for me today, I’m on my way to Walmart.

About the Author

Robert is regarded as an industry expert is print and design. Online since 1999, Robert was one of the pioneers that brought graphic design tools to the web. For online graphic design solutions visit http://www.weprintcolor.com/

 Robert Kennedy

More Articles 

3 Ways to Effective Traffic Exchange Advertising - Stacy Hensley
Many people will tell you that traffic exchanges are not effective. For some this may be true depending on the service or product you offer. I, however, have had several customers that found my services through my advertising on traffic exchanges....

Advertising - For Small Businesses (Part 1) - Alan Fairweather
Is it right for you? If you decide to advertise your product or service then you must ask yourself - "Will potential customers read this publication and will they take action having read my ad?" National newspapers - Read by a huge cross section...

Tall Tale #10 “You can’t control word-of-mouth advertising” - Jimmy Vee Travis Miller
"Ten Tall Tales of Traditional Marketing That Cost You Tons" Tall Tale #10 “You can’t control word-of-mouth advertising” By Jimmy Vee & Travis Miller We genuinely feel sorry for anyone who believes this. Almost everybody agrees that the ideal form...

The Case for Overture to Enter the Mass Contextual Advertising Market - Dave Lavinsky
Contextual Advertising is, by definition, text-based advertising. As opposed to search engine results which show up when a user types in a specific request, contextual ads appear alongside text on all websites that opt to show them. The market...

The Most Underused Component in Web Site Advertising Web Marketing Series - Alan Richardson
Perhaps the most powerful component of any Web site sales copy is the use of testimonials. Inserted in your sales copy, unbiased words of praise from satisfied customers have the following potent effect for your prospect. Effective testimonials;...

How Much Per Year Do You spend On Advertising? - Robert Puddy
If you are a serious player (or you want to be) then advertising should be your largest expense, getting your message out to as many places as possible should be your number one priority. There are a lot of people out there telling you to join...

Pet Website Advertising At Its Best! - PetPixelHomepage com
Most of the online marketers are probably aware of this latest craze of Pixel advertising. Pixel ads has been sweeping thorough the Internet for the last couple of months. The idea of selling pixels as advertisement was created by Alex Tew...

Dirt Cheap Free Advertising... - Shahnaz Rauf
There are so many simple yet extremely powerful marketing tactics that are grossly under utilized. It`s a wonder why every website owner is totally overwhelmed by internet marketing - specifically attracting a targeted traffic jam. One such high...

Advertising And Marketing, Finally, A Plan!! - jim Peters
First things first, let's define the two. Advertising is the act of getting your message in front of an audience. There are any number of ways to do this, that's really not the theme of this message. Being able to track a sale backwards to the...

Covert Advertising Psychology through Confirmation Bias - Dorian Greer
Title: Covert Advertising Psychology through Confirmation Bias Length: 698 words (body); 65 cpl Author: Dorian Greer Email: editor(at)seducingthebuyer.com Category: Marketing / Advertising / Psychology Copyright 2005 Web Address:...