All online business owners are eventually confronted with a serious dillema -- how

to advertise, in which medium, and which is the best deal for each dollar

spent.

Do newspaper ads outpull radio spots -- or is the power of television the

only way to go? The answer is different for each business, each situation,

each location and each product.

The following are the pros and cons of each medium. Knowing these can help

you decide which medium is right for advertising your product.

NEWSPAPERS

The Good:

* It's fast. An ad in a magazine may take three months to break. A

newspaper ad can come out the next day. If you need business fast, this is

great.

* Newspapers have wide array of editorial topic selcition to match what

you are advertising. For example, if you are selling car parts, you cac

place your ad in the paper's automotive section, or have it placed next to

news stories about cars. Newspaper also have international news, local

news, etc., all of which help you focus your advertising effort.

* You get a lot of room, if you need it. Remmeber, long copy always sells

better than short copy. The broad area of a newspaper page is ideal for

long copy.

* Newspapers can insert your catalog, flyer or whatever preprinted

matreials you might have.

* You can use them to distribute reader response items, such as coupons,

contest entry forms, surveys, and other such things.

* Radio advertising is sometimes called "invisible ink." That because it

is gone as soon as it is broadcast. With a newspaper, you can give the

customer something to clip, or something they may see a second time if they

read the newspaper a second time.

* Nespaper can reach large numbers of people, depending on circulation.

Lage urban dailies, for example, may easily reach 1 or 2 million potential

buyers overnight.

* They are available nationally, regionally, or locally.

* Newspaper allow you to reach possible nonreaders who might be part of

your secondary target audience.

* Tend to be cheaper than other media, depending on a number of variables.

* Newspaper ads are easier to produce, and thus less costly. A TV ad, for

example, may require special effects, actors, video footage, etc.

* Newspaper are good for repeat exposure, a vital element of effective

advretising. Readers need to see something an average of six to eight

times before they "see" an ad or respond to it.

* Newspaper can reach people who othrewise have little access to other media.

* Many people buy newspaper not for the news, but to find out what's on

sale today, or what's happening today. Movie ads are a prime example.

* They have better local market penetration than magazines.

* You have more options in terms of space and unusual ad configurations

* You can use dealer listings.

The Bad:

* Newspaper tend to charge relatively high-cost premiums for less than

full-run purchases.

* They are flat, and more than literally. In other words, they don't beep,

squeek, blast and make noise and colorful moving images as do radio and TV

* Do not have the reach other media forms, such as national magazines.

* Are not conducive to last minute changes beause of tight printing schedules.

* Newspapers do not produce as high a frequency level as other media forms.

* Large space ads are very expensive and their longevity is fleeting.

* Ads in newspaper tend to compete heavily with other ads on the page.

Clutter is not good for your ad, but in a newspaper, their is usually a lot

of clutter

* Use of color is crappy, and does not equal that of magazine color quality.

* Tend to deliver only an adult audience. If you have products targeted at

teens or even college students, a newspaper probably won't reach these

people.

* Newspaper are usually only viewed by one person at a time.

RADIO

The good:

* Radio offers a wide array of formats which can reach listeners during a

specific state of mind, which can complement a specific advertising

message. Many people listen to radio while driving to and from work, other

listen in the evening while relaxing next to a cozy fire.

* Delivers your message to everyone in the room or car at the same time.

* In fast. Your ad could be heard the next day if production is available,

ad copy is written and studio time is available.

* Radio advertising is intrusive -- it butts in on your listening, and your

only opiton is to listen or chage the channel, (or shut it off!)

* Reaches a national, regional or local audience.

* Can be effectively targeted to consumer segments, such as teen-agers vs.

seniors, or men vs. women.

* Can be repated often, thus driving the message home. Once again,

repeition is the heart of effective advertising.

* Radio ads can be heard 24 hours a day.

* Radio can reach people as they are on their way to the store. Messages

delivered just prior to actual shopping are very powerful.

* Tends to be cheaper per announcement than either TV or print, and in fact, is probably the most cost efficient of all media.

* Uses "theater of the mind." Radio uses voice and sound effects to conjur

up images in the listener's mind by engaging the human imagination. This

can be more powerful than any pre-developed TV image or still photograph.

* Reaches people who do not like to read newspaper or magazine, or people

who do not view outdoor mediums, such as billboards, and those who do not

like TV.

The Bad:

* Most people have the radio on "for noise." That is, they are usually

otherwise engaged with something while listening, and often are only

half-listening.

* Repetition is more important to overcome general lack of attention on

behalf of the listener, and thus, you have to spend more for more spots,

which can make up for the lower cost.

* Makes it difficult for the listener to take physical action as a result

of the advertising message. For eample, most listeners do not have a pen

in hand when they hear an 800 number to call or an address to remember.

* You generally need more up-front money to buy up the large number of

spots you need to get the job done.

* Is not visual, and many people retain better what they can see than what

they hear. Also does not move, another aspect of captugring vidual

attention.

TELEVISION

The Good:

* Is usually in vivid exciting color, and color is a prime motivator of the

human mind.

* Uses all elements of sight, sound and movement at once to form a powerful

package that hits on all level of human senses (except touch and smell).

* Can deliver your message to all people in a room simultaneously.

* Is fast, but not as fast as newspaper or radio because it tends to

require more production.

* Like radio it is intrusive. The customer does not have to seek out the

ad, like they must to find a movie listing or a rummage sale. The ad comes

to the viewer.

* Available nationally, regionally, or locally.

* Television ads can be purchased to focus on concentrated geographical

areas, especially with the adventof cable.

* Has a wide variety of programming to match the nature or subject matter

of your ad. Want to sell rock-n-roll CDs? Buy ads during Beavis and

Butthead or Melrose Place. Want to sell feminine hygiene products? Buy

time suring soap operas.

* TV has more reach than any other medium in terms of all segments of

society. Just about evreyone watches TV, but not everyone reads newspapers

or magazines.

* Is good for repepetition of ads.

* TV can deliver your ad at any time of the day, 24 hours a day.

* You can get an exclusive, that is, your ad need not compete with a

clutter of other ads -- but you may have to pay dearly for it.

* Tends to be more cost efficient in terms of number of responses it

produces compared to dollars invested.

* Is probably best for reaching those people who tend not to use any other

form of media.

The Bad:

* Most often is very cluttered. your commerical may be sandwhiched deep

within a string of other commericals, which have long since caused the

viewer to head to the refrigerator. Also weakens long-term memory of your

product message.

* Is sometimes hard to get. There are usually a limited number of TV spots

available, and you may not get the program you want.

* Is perhaps the most expensive. There are a lot of production costs

related to TV advertising.

* May be less demographically selective as some other media forms, although

cable TV has helped in this category.

* Your audience can fluctuate widely. If 10,000 people see your ad one

night, a mere 100 might see it the next if a high-interest program airs on

another channel.

* TV is cost-inefficient when you are after highly focused target markets.

* VCRs are helping TV ads get beyond the "invisible ink" proplem of

broadcast media. A taped program may be viewed again and again -- on the

other hand, your commerical may be fast forwarded.

MAGAZINES

The Good:

* Magazines offer a wide variety of subject matter and editorial focuses to

reach readers when they have a state of mind you are looking for. Thus,

you can tailor your message to a high degree of specificity.

* Magazines have glossy, polished paper that makes color photographs and

other graphic elements look like works of art. You ad will look superb.

(That doesn't mean it will sell, however!)

* Can reach very specific target markets without having to waste time or

money on markets you do not care about.

* Like newspaper, you can have long copy. Full or even multiple page ages

let you make a pretty long and detailed pitch. Do people really read all

that fine print? Yes! If you have their attention and interest.

* You can insert your catalog, card, flyer or whatever into the magazine.

* Like newspapers, they allow you to include reader response materials,

such as coupons, entry or order forms, and more.

* They are not disappearing ink. In fact, magazine are even better on this

count that newspapers because people are much more likley to re-read or go

over a magazine a second time. Many people even collect magazines or go

through them for research in the library, giving your ad the chance to be

seen again and again.

* Can reach a huge audience, easily in the millions with the bigger zines.

* Magazines allow for a breathtaking array of creative options: pop-ups,

special inks, holograms, unusual space configurations, personalizing

elements for each reader of the publication, etc.

* They have national, regional and local reach.

* Magazine ads can reach specific demographic segments within the total

readership of the magazine. That's because most magazines have departments

and areas of specific topic or subject matter, helping you to target your

customers.

* Magazine ads can reach possible nonreaders who might be part of an

advertiser's secondary target audience.

* Because they are more highly focused and need less repetition, as in

radio, they can actually be more cost effective than any other media form.

* Frequency of exposure is high, as we said, because magazines are often

read more than once and by more than one person. Also, they may read other

similar magazines you have targeted for your ads.

* May reach people that other media do not. Many people prefer to read

magazines to newspapers, for example.

* Magazines can accommodate your listings.

The Bad:

* One of the biggest drawbacks is the long period before you buy the ad and

when it appears. A magazine ad may take three to four months before it

appears. If you need fast cash and customers, this is no help. Also, a

reader may not get to his or her magazine right away upon receiving it.

* Tend to be expensive for one-time runs.

* Do not offer sound of movement, although some cutting edge ads, such as

pop-ups or those with micro-chip intsertions are breaching this drawback.

These are mega-expensive, however.

* Because they are more highly focused, they have less reach, which many do

not consider a drawback.

* You must submit your final copy and ad prep many months before deadline.

Some magazines have a fast close, and other will call up repeat advertisers

with last minute deals, often because they have space to fill or when

others back out at the last minute.

* Although once they start printing, you cannot backout. Generally, once

you buy a magazine ad, you are locked in no matter what. Refunds are rare.

* You do not get high frequency unless you buy an entire year's worth, but

then readers will see them about once a month for most magazines.

* You only get exposure to one person at a time, as opposed to a whole room

or call-full as in radio or TV.

SUNDAY MAGAZINE SUPPLEMENTS

The Good:

* You get superior quality color on high quality paper, allowing for

effective product presentation, if you are willing to pay top dollar.

* Great for insertions. You know the way it is with all Sunday papers and

magazines -- lots of extras which many readers actually buy the publication

for in the first place. Many people live to scan and clip coupons.

* You get ample opportunity for long copy. Sunday magazines are among the

best place to make a long, detailed ptich.

* As we said, people love to clip coupons, and this is the place people

will most likley use any kind of special insertion, from coupons to

sweepstakes, contests or surveys.

* Have better chance of repeat exposure to your ad than newspapers or

magazines. People tend to hang onto the Sunday paper longer and also give

it a better read because they are more relaxed and have more time on Sunday

to linger over the paper.

* Can reach large numbers of people in a short time.

* You can get very creative, as you can with magazines. This means

pop-ups, specials inks, scratch-and-sniff -- even insertion of product

samples.

* Distribution of the advertisement to possible nonreaders who might be

part of an advertiser's secondary target audience.

* Because of high readership and better repetition factor, can be a good

deal for the your scarce advertising dollar.

* Production costs for your ad will be less than all other media, except

for newspaper.

* Can reach people who do not ordinarily read newspapers or pay attention

to other media. Many consider the Sunday papre "special."

* You get immediate delicery to entire audience -- even millions of people

-- in just oen day.

* They can have national, regionaly, or local distribution, although

national is less likely with mst Sundays, except the real biggies, such as

the New York Times.

* Sunday publications have higher penetration and greater readership

locally than do competing publications or other media.

* You can use dealer listings.

The Bad:

* Ads do not force themselves on reader as in radio or TV. In other words,

they are nonintrusive.

* No sound or movement in general.

* Usually require advertising materials well in advance of issue date.

Some even have longer lead time time than magazines.

* Relatively inflexible for accommodating last minute changes. Most Sunday

ads are set in stone after you issue a check. You won't get a refund.

* Frequency is lacking because they only come out on Sundays, and people

don't make connections from one Sunday to the next, in most cases.

* Are extremely expensive if you want national or regional coverage.

* Large space ads are very expensive and they are here today and gone

tomorrow most of the time.

* Again, they are relatively short-lived, and quickly end up lining a bird

cage or wrapping a fish.

* Are not good for delivering ad messages to young people: teens, young

adults and children.

* Most often only expose ad to one person at a time, unlike radio or TV,

which can deliver a message to a roomful of people all at once.

There you have it. Based on what you have learned above, you should now be

in a better position to decide which medium is best for your business,

product or service.

Of course, the only perfect way to make a final decision is through test

marketing with each medium. You can do that by starting out with small,

inexpensive adds in each medium. Those that bring the best results deserve

to get your future business and a larger share of your advertising dollar.

THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! is a post from: Work From Home

"American Way". For proof, check the sales figures on the

number of self-improvement books sold each year. This is not a

pitch for you to jump in and start selling these kinds of books,

but it is a indication of people's awareness that in order to

better themselves, they have to continue improving their

personal selling abilities.

To excel in any selling situation, you must have confidence, and

confidence comes, first and foremost, from knowledge. You have

to know and understand yourself and your goals. You have to

recognize and accept your weaknesses as well as your special

talents. This requires a kind of personal honesty that not

everyone is capable of exercising.

In addition to knowing yourself, you must continue learning

about people. Just as with yourself, you must be caring,

forgiving and laudatory with others. In any sales effort, you

must accept other people as they are, not as you would like for

them to be. One of the most common faults of sales people is

impatience when the prospective customer is slow to understand

or make a decision. The successful salesperson handles these

situations the same as he would if he were asking a girl for a

date, or even applying for a new job, or a work from home job

Learning your product, making a clear presentation to qualified

prospects, and closing more sales will take a lot less time once

you know your own capabilities and failings, and understand and

care about the prospects you are calling upon.

Our society is predicated upon selling, and all of us are

selling something all the time. We move up or stand still in

direct relation to our sales efforts. Everyone is included,

whether we're attempting to be a friend to a co-worker, a

neighbor, or selling multi-million dollar real estate projects.

Accepting these facts will enable you to understand that there

is no such thing as a born salesman. Indeed, in selling, we all

begin at the same starting point, and we all have the same finish

line as the goal - a successful sale.

Most assuredly, anyone can sell anything to anybody. As a

qualification to this statement, let us say that some things are

easier to sell than others, and some people work harder at

selling than others. But regardless of what you're selling, or

even how you're attempting to sell it, the odds are in your

favor. If you make your presentation to enough people, you'll

find a buyer. The problem with most people seems to be in

making contact - getting their sales presentation seen by, read

by, or heard by enough people. But this really shouldn't be a

problem, as we'll explain later. There is a problem of

impatience, but this too can be harnessed to work in the

salesperson's favor.

We have established that we're all sales people in one way or

another. So whether we're attempting to move up from forklift

driver to warehouse manager, waitress to hostess, salesman to

sales manager or from mail order dealer to president of the

largest sales organization in the world, it's vitally important

that we continue learning.

Getting up out of bed in the morning; doing what has to be done

in order to sell more units of your product; keeping records,

updating your materials; planning the direction of further sales

efforts; and all the while increasing your own knowledge---all

this very definitely requires a great deal of personal

motivation, discipline, and energy. But then the rewards can be

beyond your wildest dreams, for make no mistake about it, the

selling profession is the highest paid occupation in the world!

Selling is challenging. It demands the utmost of your

creativity and innovative thinking. The more success you want,

and the more dedicated you are to achieving your goals, the more

you'll sell. Hundreds of people the world over become

millionaires each month through selling. Many of them were flat

broke and unable to find a "regular" job when they began their

selling careers. Yet they've done it, and you can do it too!

Remember, it's the surest way to all the wealth you could ever

want. You get paid according to your own efforts, skill, and

knowledge of people. If you're ready to become rich, then think

seriously about selling a product or service (preferably

something exclusively yours) - something that you "pull out of

your brain"; something that you write, manufacture or produce

for the benefit of other people. But failing this, the want ads

are full of opportunities for ambitious sales people. You can

start there, study, learn from experience, and watch for the

chance that will allow you to move ahead by leaps and bounds.

Here are some guidelines that will definitely improve your gross

sales, and quite naturally, your gross income. Here are the

Strategic Salesmanship Commandments. Look them over;

give some thought to each of them; and adapt those that you can

to your own selling efforts.

1. If the product you're selling is something your prospect can

hold in his hands, get it into his hands as quickly as possible.

In other words, get the prospect "into the act". Let him feel

it, weigh it, admire it.

2. Don't stand or sit alongside your prospect. Instead, face

him while you're pointing out the important advantages of your

product. This will enable you to watch his facial expressions

and determine whether and when you should go for the close. In

handling sales literature, hold it by the top of the page, at

the proper angle, so that your prospect can read it as you're

highlighting the important points.

Regarding your sales literature, don't release your hold on it,

because you want to control the specific parts you want the

prospect to read. In other words, you want the prospect to read

or see only the parts of the sales material you're telling him

about at a given time.

3. With prospects who won't talk with you: When you can get no

feedback to yours sales presentation, you must dramatize your

presentation to get him involved. Stop and ask questions such

as, "Now, don't you agree that this product can help you or

would be of benefit to you?" After you've asked a question such

as this, stop talking and wait for the prospect to answer. It's

a proven fact that following such a question, the one who talks

first will lose, so don't say anything until after the prospect

has given you some kind of answer. Wait him out!

4. Prospects who are themselves sales people, and prospects who

imagine they know a lot about selling sometimes present

difficult selling obstacles, especially for the novice. But

believe me, these prospects can be the easiest of all to sell.

Simply give your sales presentation, and instead of trying for a

close, toss out a challenge such as, "I don't know, Mr.

Prospect - after watching your reactions to what I've been

showing and telling you about my product, I'm very doubtful as

to how this product can truthfully be of benefit to you".

Then wait a few seconds, just looking at him and waiting for him

to say something. Then, start packing up your sales materials

as if you are about to leave. In almost every instance, your

"tough nut" will quickly ask you, Why? These people are

generally so filled with their own importance, that they just

have to prove you wrong. When they start on this tangent, they

will sell themselves. The more skeptical you are relative to

their ability to make your product work to their benefit, the

more they'll demand that you sell it to them.

If you find that this prospect will not rise to your challenge,

then go ahead with the packing of your sales materials and leave

quickly. Some people are so convinced of their own importance

that it is a poor use of your valuable time to attempt to

convince them.

5. Remember that in selling, time is money! Therefore, you

must allocate only so much time to each prospect. The prospect

who asks you to call back next week, or wants to ramble on about

similar products, prices or previous experiences, is costing you

money. Learn to quickly get your prospect interested in, and

wanting your product, and then systematically present your sales

pitch through to the close, when he signs on the dotted line,

and reaches for his checkbook.

After the introductory call on your prospect, you should be

selling products and collecting money. Any callbacks should be

only for reorders, or to sell him related products from your

line. In other words, you can waste an introductory call on a

prospect to qualify him, but you're going to be wasting money if

you continue calling on him to sell him the first unit of your

product. When faced with a reply such as, "Your product looks

pretty good, but I'll have to give some thought", you should

quickly jump in and ask him what specifically about your product

does he feel he needs to give more thought. Let him explain,

and that's when you go back into your sales presentation and

make everything crystal clear for him. If he still balks, then

you can either tell him that you think he product will really

benefit him, or it's purchase be to his benefit.

You must spend as much time as possible calling on new

prospects. Therefore, your first call should be a selling call

with follow-up calls by mail or telephone (once every month or

so in person) to sign him for re-orders and other items from

your product line.

6. Review your sales presentation, your sales materials, and

your prospecting efforts. Make sure you have a "door-opener"

that arouses interest and "forces" a purchase the first time

around. This can be a $2 interest stimulator so that you can

show him your full line, or a special marked-down price on an

item that everybody wants; but the important thing is to get

the prospect on your "buying customer" list, and then follow up

via mail or telephone with related, but more profitable products

you have to offer.

If you accept our statement that there are no born salesmen, you

can readily absorb these "commandments". Study them, as well as

all the material in this report. When you realize your first

successes, you will truly know that "salesmen are MADE - not

born".

-30-

ACHIEVE EXCELLENCE IN SALES is a post from: Work From Home

Budgets and personal finances are not most people’s favorite topics, and certainly not one of mine. Even bank executives have problems in this area, but if you’re an entrepreneur so do you. You’re concentrating so much time on your business, your personal checkbook takes a back seat. Then one day you are met with the startling fact that you’re not saving enough for lean times and you panic.

Well, just apply your professional talents to the situation and become your own personal CFO. By using your CFO eyes on the situation, it somehow tempers the pain of dealing with your own money. To get started, here are 5 rules for treating your personal finances like a business:

1. Be Your Own Board of Directors. To make good decisions, you must know what you’re trying to achieve. In business, Board of Directors write mission statements to keep the company on track with goals. At home, it’s up to you to define your mission and make sure you’re fulfilling it by writing down your goals. Not just your financial goals either, but your “life” goals.

2. Know Your Operating Costs. Do you know what you spend every month on average? Businesses do because they base their budgets on historic spending patterns. Most people, however, don’t know what it costs to keep their lives running. You can make out detailed budgets, but find out at the end of the month that you haven’t stuck to it. So instead of doing a budget that dictates how much to spend, do a “cash flow statement” that records how much you actually spend each month broken into several categories.

3. Know Your Net Worth. Companies measure progress toward goals through balance sheets which list their assets and liabilities. Your net worth is your balance sheet where you list everything that you own. That means your checking and savings accounts, investments, car, house, etc. minus everything you owe. Track your net worth quarterly to make sure you’re moving toward your personal goals. Without this step, you might not see the impact of your money decisions until it’s too late.

4. Forecast Money Decisions Results. When a business makes important decisions, they use a process called “scenario planning”. They look at the possible outcomes of one choice compare to another. You can use the same process to make smart money decisions. For any choice, pick two options, and then look at what each answer would do to your cash flow and net worth. Remember, there are no “good” or “bad” choices – only choices that put you closer or farther from your goals.

5. Track Progress by Annual Reports. Just as companies assess their progress in their annual reports, you need to review your list of priorities every year. Have you accomplished any goals? Have your spending patterns changed? Did you spend less than you earned? Did you save as much as you planned?

You need to treat your money like you treat your business. Give it the time it deserves, because in the end the time you spend is really an investment in yourself and your dreams.

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