Over coming months you will have the opportunity to confirm your advertising intentions for the 2008-2009 Yellow Pages Directories.
In many instances businesses literally waste their money and the directory ‘consultants’ become the people they love to hate.
If you feel this way it’s probably because you:
• Are taking advertising space to keep up with the Jones’s (i.e. your competition). There is a myth that the bigger the ad the better the response. This is not necessarily true. The reality is the bigger the ad, the more profits that directory publishers make; after all they are essentially selling space.
• You know that you are getting some response from the ad but are not sure how much and what it’s worth to your business.
• It may have crossed your mind to not advertise, but thoughts of business and financial ruin flash through your mind. Remember those “Not happy Jan” ads from Sensis.
• You have not been happy with the content of your listing but have not known where you can go to get professional copywriting assistance.
So what can you do about it?
I am not saying for one moment that you should definitely not advertise in print directories. Although for some businesses it may well be a waste of time and money and online directories could be a much more economic option, this should be assessed on a case by case basis.
TEN STEPS TO GETTING MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
1. Make sure your listing has a benefit driven headline.
2. Make sure the advertising contains benefit driven copy.
3. Make sure you tell your potential customers what they need to do next (don’t assume they know what to do).
4. Consider offering an appropriate incentive for those who buy from you as a result of the advert.
5. Make sure you are tracking the responses (you need appropriate systems in place in your business to do this so you can make informed choices about your return on investment).
6. Don’t assume your ‘friendly’ consultant is the best person to advise you on the content/layout of your ad. Remember they are selling space after all and they may want to make their own jobs easy.
7. Don’t fall into the ego trap of having your company name up in lights as the major focus of the ad – particularly if you do not have a well known brand. It may do your ego good but, let’s face it, your customers in reality care little about the name of your business but they do care a LOT about the result (benefits) your product/service provides.
8. Remember that your directory listing is effectively your salesperson in print. You would not send a sales rep into the market place with only the company name, phone number and a couple of bullet points about your product or service features and expect them to write business. So don’t do it with your ad.
9. Don’t listen to your mates in the office or down the pub – yes, it’s true they’ll have an opinion if you ask … but opinions are like armpits, everyone has at least two etc. Always seek professional advice from a business coach/consultant with knowledge of copywriting (such as the writer) who can help you develop an ad that will improve your response rates and ROI.
10. Ensure your listing/s (or indeed any marketing that you do) is a planned and coordinated part of your business’s overall marketing plan. (After all you do have a marketing plan – don’t you?). If not, well…you really are leaving your business success to chance and should consider asking for our help.
Launch of Million Dollar Mindset Secrets
Finally, on a different matter, a business associate of mine Mike Gardiner, after months of work, has just put out the most authoritative and integrated study of how to get a millionaire’s mindset (worth hundreds!) It's fantastic!
Anyway, he's just told me that I can pay it forward as a gift to just 5 people.
It's over 3 hours of Audio and study material and it's F*R*E*E - if you get this invitation - but you have to be fast.
Mike is launching this on Tuesday 9 October 2007 and as Your Business readers you have an opportunity to be one of the first to benefit.
Click the link below http://www.paulwright.biz/recommends/MDMindsetSecrets | 
