Stop Your Ad Spend From Becoming Obese

If you don’t have a budget and a plan your ad spend will blow out due to persuasive ad reps.

You spend a little here… a little there… a discounted radio package pops up, a newspaper lift-out (all your competitors are in it… you don’t want to miss out), a TV run of station deal… little by little your wallet is emptied and your ad spend becomes obese.

To rub salt in the wound, all this disjointed media buying produces little if any return.

Here’s how to keep your ad spend trim.

1. Calculate how much you can invest in 12-months
2. Determine the media that will give the highest and best use of your money
3. Book that media
4. Say NO to all the ad reps who knock on your door for the next 12-months 

(By Craig Arthur, Wizard of Ads Partner @ WizardOfAdsAustralia)

How to Write Persuasive Ads

Get to the point. It is better to tell one idea well, than to tell ten badly. Are you trying to put too much into your message?  Try to strip all the information bare and find the strongest message, so you can tell that story well.

Avoid commercial speak. My rule is simple - write the way you speak.

Delete clinical words. Clinical words are are cold, generic or overused… words like ‘entertainment’, ‘convenient’, ‘quality’.

Use short sentences. Short sentences can carry a massive amount of impact.

Write for the customer. Don’t get trapped into writing about you. Write about how you can help the customer.

Back up your claims of greatness. Being ‘great’ or ‘the best’ even ‘better than the rest’ are now advertising clichés. Don’t make a claim if you can’t back it up with proof.

( By Sonya Winterbotham, Wizard of Ads Partner @ WizardOfAdsAustralia)

The Secret to Successful Persuasion

Question: Is it more effective to communicate with others as you would have them to communicate with you, or should we strive to communicate with others in the manner they prefer to be communicated unto?

Courage, Feelings, Stability and Intellectare the pillars in the Palace of the Temperaments. Strong communications have points of connection to each of these four pillars.

The person who values intellect needs to understand your logic.

The person who values feelings needs to perceive your motives.

The person who values stability needs to know it has been tested.

The person who values courage needs to hear you speak of action.

If you are wise, you will speak to each of these 4 people every time you attempt to persuade. Put something in your presentation for each of them.

This secret, is called “inclusive communication by design.”

(Read original article Speak in 4-Part Harmony by Roy H. Williams the Wizard of Ads @ MondayMorningMemo.com)

Story Creates Handles for Easy Carrying

Whether it’s on the radio, in a magazine, or across the web, the secret sauce of success is story. A story well told stirs action, gets remembered, passed along.

A snowstorm of facts isn’t storytelling. Facts don’t sell. Facts typically weigh a story down. Stories are about ideas.

Whether creating an ad, developing content, or producing a video, start with these three questions:

1. What is the story about? The degree of story relevance determines interest.

2. Where will it take the consumer? Its movement from start to finish holds attention.

3. How does it change their lives? Its impact on the consumer’s life measures your story’s persuasive power.

Take any one away and you got zip.

As consumers become more sophisticated and jaded the power of story only becomes more effective.

Developing a well-crafted story is your first step in creating effective messaging.

(Read original article Storyselling’s 3-T Secret Sauce by Charlie Moger, Wizard of Ads Partner @ WizardOfAdsGulfCoast.com)

My Clients Use Radio Successfully

But we don’t use it like a lot of traditional businesses tend to use radio – which is for spot buys, for short flights to promote events or sales.

Rather, we see radio as a marathon runner who’s in it for the long haul, who uses the intrusive power of sound and story to communicate and anchor feelings and emotions of a brand, of values, to a business, to a customer.

It anchors them together so that when a customer needs a product or service he thinks of our client first and already feels good about them.

We reach as many people in a market as we can afford to reach three times a week, every week of the year.

Most people fall into the trap of buying way too many people, way too much reach at a sacrifice of too little frequency.

(Read original article How Do You Own Radio Real Estate? by Tim Miles, Wizard of Ads Partner at TheDailyBlur.com)

How to Create Ad Cocaine

Creating a short-term successful hype ad is simple. 

Here’s all you need:

1. Intrusiveness. You’ve got to get their attention.

2. Offer. Make it too good to pass up.

3. Logic. Add supporting evidence to make doubters believe.

4. Urgency. There’s got to be a time limit.

Plus

5. Frequency. Lots and lots of frequency.

Leave out any of these ingredients, and you’re dead in the water.

The trouble is with Ad Cocaine the advertiser becomes instantly addicted.

But the Law of the Universe says, “Anything that works quickly will work less and less well the longer you keep doing it.” The magic always fades.

Sadly, like all addicts, these advertisers resist taking the long-term view, and they continue to measure success on an extremely short time horizon.

Constantly running hype (Sale) ads is no way to grow a profitable business.

(By Roy H. Williams, The Wizard of Ads @ MondayMorningMemo.com)

Make it Easy For Your Online Customers to Say YES

There’s a sim­ple principle amongst direct response copy­writ­ers: “make it easy for the cus­tomer to say yes.”

Sounds like a “duh” piece of advice, but it’s amaz­ing how often this advice gets botched.

Here’s how to do it right.

1) Your copy should make it easy for the cus­tomer to real­ize WHAT she would be say­ing yes to. In other words, your site should clarify:

• WHAT is for sale 
• HOW MUCH it will cost 
• WHY this is a good deal 
• WHEN it will be delivered

2) Your copy should make it clear HOW to say yes and take that next step.

Hav­e a nice, clean, sim­ple Call to Action. If prospec­tive customers have to decide between 14 options just to buy, you’re making them work too hard, and your sales will suf­fer accordingly.

(Read original article So Here’s the Deal by Jeff Sexton, Wizard of Ads Partner at JeffSextonWrites.com)

The Danger of Rapid Growth

The race for business growth and increased profit can lead to business failure. 

In Smart Growth, Building an Enduring Business by Managing the Risks of Growth, author Edward D. Hess writes, “(1) small changes can add up and can have a big impact; (2) rapid growth can dilute a company’s culture; (3) rapid growth can dilute the customer proposition; and (4) the pressure from the public market to grow can cause dilution of quality controls. All of these outcomes can result in a competitive position vulnerable to attack by new competitors.”

More specifically, all these outcomes can result in customers leaving NOW… they won’t wait for a new competitor to open.

As a business owner you must evaluate each expansion, marketing and cost saving decision by asking: “Will it strengthen or dilute our customer’s experience?”

Dilute the customer experience and watch your business collapse.

(By Craig Arthur, Wizard of Ads Partner @ WizardOfAdsAustralia)

Should We Stay on the Same Station Week After Week?

The short answer is Yes, we want to keep reaching the same listener over and over, long-term.

Don’t abandon one to move to another. I know it seems like common sense would tell us: “Once we’ve reached these folks, wouldn’t it make sense to move on and reach some new ones?”

But people stay reached like a lawn stays mowed. Our goal in long-term advertising isn’t just to reach a listener, but to turn that listener into an evangelist. This requires an astounding amount of repetition.

To achieve our goal of becoming a household name like Starbucks, we’ve got to reach whomever we reach relentlessly.

The average person has about 250 people in their “realm of association.” We have to absolutely OWN a listener if we’re going to turn him/her into an evangelist for our brand.

(By Roy H. Williams, The Wizard of Ads @ MondayMorningMemo.com)

2 Ways to Overcome Writer's Block

1. Don’t start with a blank page. If an idea for any sentence has popped into your head, write it down. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first sentence, middle sentence or, closing sentence, or even a bad sentence. WRITE IT DOWN. It’ll stimulate more ideas that you can write down.

2. If you’ve come to a blank page with no idea for writing already in your head, look at the room around you. Choose 3 or 4 objects. The less connected they are, the better. WRITE THEM DOWN.

Then start writing using the words you’ve chosen. Keep writing and let your imagination take over. Don’t stop to edit out mistakes or crappy writing.

Once you’ve finished, you can go back and edit out the random words, add in sentences where needed, refine imagery or correct spelling and grammar.

NOW GO WRITE SOMETHING.

(Read original article Kick Writer’s Block in the Face by Peter Nevland, Wizard of Ads Partner at HowToWriteWorkshops.com)

The Key Elements of Landing Pages

After optimizing thousands of landing pages, I want to offer this framework for understanding the key elements of a landing page.

The visitor needs to identify who they are potentially doing business with. Place your logo upper part of page (left mostly).

Once the visitor knows who you are, they need to figure out why they should do business with you. You should communicate this in a simple statement.

Your headline should reinforce the scent from the ad that delivered your visitor to the page.

Your offer must be clear and concise.

Provide supportive copy on how your offer will benefit your visitor.

Calls to action should stand out.

The visitor should always know what is the next step they should take.

Use testimonials, customer reviews, and point-of-action assurances near your call to action.

All pages should have contact information and privacy policies.

(Read original article Anatomy of a Landing Page: Design Elements Exposed by Bryan Eisenberg, Wizard of Ads Partner at BryanEisenberg.com)

Web Strategy in a Nutshell

Your website must…

1. Be findable in search engines

2. Have persuasive copy

3. Be designed for easy conversion

The non-SEO solution for Search Optimization

Write your copy in the language of your customers. Talk about what’s important to your customers. Do this and your organic search results will do well. One of the best ways to start getting good organic search results for this type of traffic is content marketing or blogging.

Persuasion

Persuasive copy helps you convert more traffic. But not all of your visitors are persuaded by the same information. They have different values, needs and levels of patience. You need to address all.

Conversion

Have you made it easy for your visitors to do what you desire them to do on your site? Do you have strong and easily understood calls to action?

The above is simple… but not easy.

(By Dave Young, Wizard of Ads Partner at ShortCutBlogging.com)

Making Meetings Work - 2 More Tips

When to Schedule

Try to schedule meetings (including calls) during your least productive time. I’m more productive, creative and effective in the morning. Therefore, I try to schedule meetings in the afternoon – and back to back if possible. It’s harder to re-groove after one meeting when you know you’ve only got an hour before the next one.

How to End

If you have a meeting, make sure there’s an agenda in advance. Stick to the agenda. No meeting ends without action items, assignments and deadlines. If a meeting ends without those, congratulations – the meeting organizer just wasted everyone’s time.

So, the meeting ends?

Get back to your workplace and work.

(Read original article The Green Vegetables of Work by Tim Miles, Wizard of Ads Partner @ TheDailyBlur.com)

The Difference Between Branding and Call to Action (Sale Advertising)

Branding is “commitment”.

Branding is long-term strategy.

Branding is the tortoise, not the hare.

Do not expect call to action results from a branding campaign. You are telling people “why” they should buy from you, not “when” they should buy from you – they will decide the when.

Call to action is a quick fix and done regularly erodes your brand and profit.

Branding builds your business. 

Budget… Check your finances before you commit to a branding campaign. Can you afford this advertising over the long-term?  If you’re after an instant gain in profits to cover the costs of branding – think twice before signing on the dotted line.

(By Sonya Winterbotham, Wizard of Ads Partner at WizardOfAds.com.au)

Things to Remember When Scheduling Media for Business Growth

1. Allow the same listener to hear the same ad at least 3 times every 7 nights sleep (sleep erases advertising)

2. Give up reach (the number of people who will hear the ad) for frequency

3. Own the same audience 52-weeks a year 

4. Don’t try and predict the moment of need (Tell the customer why and wait for when) 

5. Dominate one medium (do one thing well)

6. Long-term, intrusive media (sound) beats passive media (sight)

7. You need patience (the longer your product purchase cycle, the longer it will take for your ads to start working)

8. Don’t buy station “branding packages” (they are designed to be affordable for small businesses but FAIL the first two points above)

9. The greatest media schedule will fail if your message is not relevant and persuasive

(By Craig Arthur, Wizard of Ads Partner @ WizardOfAdsAustralia)

2 Ways to Make Staff Meetings More Productive

1. Set a time limit. Try 30 minutes. If you need more that, it could be a sign you’re relying too heavily on staff meetings to get information.

2. Create an agenda. When there’s no agenda, there’s no control. When there’s no control, there’s no buy-in. A fixed agenda, sent out 24 hours before the meeting, symbolizes your commitment to getting the important stuff done without wasting the staff’s productivity time.

(Read original article 3 Reasons Your Staff Meetings Suck - And How To Fix Them  by Michele Miller, Wizard of Ads Partner @ WonderBranding.com)

Do You Make This Common Sales Mistake?

Every sales presentation should answer the customer’s question, “What’s in it for me?” 

However, most sales presentations are focused on the features of the product. But customers don’t care about a feature until they know what it will do. So why is it that we always name the feature first?

If your goal is to powerfully persuade, you must cause others to imagine themselves enjoying the benefit you describe before you explain the feature that makes it possible.

This “name the benefits first” technique will not only make your sales presentations more productive, but your ads more convincing and your speeches more compelling.

Win the heart (big picture focused right brain) and the mind (detail focused left brain) will follow. Name the benefit first - then name the feature.

You’re going to be amazed at the difference it makes.

(By Roy H. Williams, The Wizard of Ads at MondayMorningMemo.com)