Some people were concerned that spending money on marketing campaigns and advertisements could become an exercise in flushing money down the toilet.

True. If you have no idea what you are doing, what you want to achieve and you have an agency that is resonating at the same plane as you are, you might as well just give us the money now. We can flush it for you, easy.

But then, to "pay on results" or "pay by performance" is not as simple as it might appear. Marketing, advertising and communications is largely a skill based, creative industry; where the "products" are ideas and actions. Just as a beautiful fireworks display is over when its over, ideas exposed can not be taken back and re-used. Viewed in that light, I am sure you can see the challenges of a "pay by results" program.

There are parts of the program that are what we can consider as "sunk costs". These are costs that any agency will incur no matter what. Being a service industry, it is rather difficult to quantify such costs. However, it is not impossible. The real costs that are hard to measure are the creative costs. Have you ever wondered why the "Mona Lisa" is worth millions and millions, while your rendition of Miss Universe 2007 (who of course, will look mucho better than Mona), is only appreciated by your little nephew? Will you pay the millions for Mona to smile at you? Not me. I have neither the means, nor the passion to spend my blood on that.

I would like to enumerate the various challenges that needs to be overcome before a "pay for results" approach is viable.

Objectives

Clear objectives must be established right from the beginning. Such objectives should include not just the intent of the campaign, but also clear, measurable results. Each item should be definitive. For example, sales revenue is a clear measure, top-of-mind-recall is a clear measure too. Whatever the metrics, these must be spelt out explicitly at the start. They cannot be made up as you go along. That is neither fair nor sensible.

Measurablility

When the objectives are clear, there is another hurdle to cross. Measurability. How do you measure the results of specific items? As an example, if sales revenue were the measure, is this all sales or just sales in the targeted market? How would that be measured in a consistent and objective manner?

On top of that, the results must be attributable to the campaign in question. Marketing noise like tactical sales offers from dealers, one-off promotions and other such actions could influence the results one way or another. To be fair, you would not want the results to be inflated and be misled, neither would the agency want it to be suppressed and get paid less.

Accountability

The marketing campaign is merely one cog in the complex web of this activity called a "business". Deals, alliances, partnerships all affect the progress of the business. Whether the marketing, advertisement or event was responsible for the good (or bad) results, needs to be clearly defined. Again, such measurements and assignments should be made at the start, and not the end, of the exercise.

So, if you want to pay when you see the results, you will also have to be willing the pay the price of measuring the results in an objective and impartial manner. Proper cost accounting, systematic surveys and audits are just some of the systems you need to have in place for this to work well.

Having said all this, most of the time, it is impossible to get a clear enough consensus for this to work. For small companies, they will not have the proper control systems in place for a truly objective measure. The large companies prefer a known budget as opposed to a "moving target". Agencies of course, simply worry about getting paid their dues.

Its a tough world out there in Marketing. For the agencies, it is the fight for due respect and to get the piper's pay. For the marketers, it is a struggle to get the best deal (in price and in results).

There is no single, simple answer. Most important is for each to find a trust-worthy partner, and work together. Don't go it alone. Find a friend.

“Revealed…The 3 Laws of Selling…And How You Can Exploit Them To Have Your Customers Pleading With You To Take Their Money”

If you follow these 3 simple rules in all your marketing and advertising you’ll sell more of your products and services.

Customers like to buy and not be sold to.

People buy for emotional reasons and not rational reasons.

But once they decide to buy, they instantly justify their buying decision with logical reasons.

Think about it. Nobody likes somebody giving them a hard sell. We like to decide to buy for ourselves. But that buying decision is always ruled by our emotions. That’s why your copy needs saturating with the right emotions for your target market. Such as these:

Greed – Who doesn’t want more money, to save money or get something free? But people aren’t solely focused on greed. There’s much more to a person.

Fear – Strike fear into the hearts of your customers. But don’t over do it. Reassure them you’ve got the only answer to their impending disaster.

Laziness – offer a quick, easy and simple answer. Everybody wants a quick fix nowadays.

Vanity – Flatter your clients. Tell them they’re special. Massage their egos.

Hope – Give your prospects some hope. How their lives will change for the better if they only buy from you.

Curiosity – Use this in your headlines to drag reluctant readers into your copy so people have to read on to discover what it’s all about. Note the headline for this article. It appeals to curiosity, hope and greed. Check for yourself.

Altruism and Guilt – Charities and fund raisers exploit these all the time to great effect. And long may they continue to do so.

Patriotism –Make your customers feel proud to be English. Exploit the ‘Made in Britain.’ Forget those foreign imports. Buy British and you’re helping your country.

So how do you know which emotions to appeal to? Draw up a profile of your prospect. Their wants, beliefs and desires. What keeps them awake at 4am? You’ll find you have a combination of emotional hot buttons to hit. Use them all. And write to one person.

And afterwards include some benefits, hard facts and figures so your reader can justify their buying decision.

Remember don’t hit your audience with logic. Capture their heart and their head will follow. Wishing you more effective salesmanship in print.

Postcard serves as your mini billboard. It stands and serves as your representative in contacting people. They are tools that are perfectly used for advertisements, business reply, coupon cards, invitations and greeting cards. With the postcards you are able to make your business known globally and thus making a successful communication among people around the globe.

First and foremost postcards are regarded as the most traveled promotional tool. These cards may possess designs of significant historical places, images of heroic deeds and occasional designs. At first we only regard them as a tool used this way yet because of the valuable service that it can give but as time moves on these cards were developed and can now be used as a promotional tool for your campaign and advertising.

How do you communicate with clients through postcards?

1.Inform and keep clients aware – with the cards you can simply inform your clients of the latest update that your business can bring. Keeping your clients updated of your business through postcards will be a big wave for a successful business venture.

2.Provide clients with information regarding your location or address – the most important factor that you need to include is your address. This will keep your clients’ on tract on how to easily reach out for you. Your address you write on your cards will serve as the postman guide of delivering the cards right on your client’s doorstep. Your return address will serve as the reference of your clients. Additionally the advantage of having a return address is that in case your clients no longer lives on that place you will be notified because the card will be returned to you.

3.Follow up – your postcard can be used for follow ups. Let say you are promoting something and your prospects had notified you that they are interested with what is advertised and yet they take too long to respond, you can send a postcard for follow ups.

4.Keeping an open communication – by means of sending your clients with greeting cards during special occasions is a plus factor of keeping a good bond between you and your clients. Through the cards that you send somehow you make your clients feel that you really appreciate and thank them for their never ending patronization and support for your business.

Look at this simple tool, they are only small and handy yet it possesses a feature that can make business boom their sales and profits.

Generally in business it is a plus factor that you are able to keep an open communication among your clients. In this way you are well assured that you keep you business alive and come up with many chances of making your business successful.

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The battle in the industry had totally perked up into tight and stiff competition. Businesses had used different marketing strategies in order to be recognized and be on top of the line in the business. Numerous advertising methods and plan were used and among the very most effective one are the utilization of brochures.

Brochures can help you introduce vital information regarding your business products and services. Making use of them is a good start because you can attract people and end up with a successful business closure. They can help your business by means of providing sufficient information. This material can also be a good passport to convince target clients to try out products and services.

Basically as a tool that you use for your advertising and promotions you need to deal with brochure printing jobs that work. Here are hints that you can use in order to successfully work with brochure printing jobs producing brochure documents.

1.Introduction – Your brochures talks much about your company. It provides information that your clients need. So therefore, in order to successfully meet the desired need for your campaign and marketing providing uniquely printed brochures can be a good start.

2.Delivering the message – In writing the content of your brochures the message you want to impart must be understandable in order for your clients to easily understand and relate on what is being advertised. In delivering your message it must inform your clients why there is a need to render for your printing jobs, what benefits you can provide and how they can easily contact you.

3.Designs – think about how you will design your brochures. Often times there are brochure printing companies that can provide you with templates or online design services that will allow you to easily work on with the designs. With the efficiency and fast services you are assured that the designs you have in mind will be more likely with what you are expecting of.

4.Colors – go for colors that are vibrant and brilliant. This will add appeal and grab your client’s attention. Commonly application of the four color printing process will allow you to apply colorful graphics and logos. The four standard colors are utilized CMYK bringing a more brilliant print.

5.Printer – your printer must provide you with all your needs for printing. Only a reliable printing company must handle your printing jobs. This is because as a customer paying for the job, it is just your right to get what is due you.

Armed with knowledge and know how to deal with your brochure printing project will more likely yield to a better and successful marketing campaign.

Flyers are highly regarded as one of the most handed out promotional tools. This print material is effectively used to deliver persuasive informative messages about companies’ products and services. Its production can be done using different printing processes and application. The printing production works to develop and print striking and sophisticated flyer prints.

Each developmental process involved makes an application of good graphic designs and informative text content that will make clients aware of the good products and excellent services provided. However going for a flyer printing jobs might be quite expensive if you purchase minimal pieces of flyer prints. Sequentially to lessen the printing cost and attain high quality prints you can go for a reliable flyer printing service.

Flyer printing is an effective printing process that entails to provide compelling flyer prints ideal for your marketing campaign and promotions. Going for flyer printing jobs can give in numerous advantages that will help you economically lessen your printing budget and achieve total satisfaction.

The following are among the reasons why there is a need for flyer printing jobs.

•Economical – flyer printing provides affordable printing services just within your means. They can help to lessen printing budget and attain to have quality print. A reliable and professional printer can help you to save money, time, and effort.

•Fast turnaround printing time – with the materials and printing equipments used there is no reason for you not to meet the deadline set by your clients.

•High-quality flyer prints – every printed flyer is made up of quality paper stock applied with the right colors and inks. The brilliance of the printed flyers will bring more attraction and attention grabbing appeal that will make your target prospects turn their heads.

Generally rendering your flyer printing jobs to a reliable and professional printer will help to deliver quality prints at affordable printing rates. Moreover, the success of your flyer printing jobs relies on the professional printer you had chosen. This is because your printer is knowledgeable on the processes on how you printing jobs will be done.

In case you find it hard to conceptualize ideas what you want for your material you can seek for their professional help. With the help of these printers you will be able to come up with a print that you had visualized. With the untamed service provided businesses are able to come up with their desired number of prints without worrying bout the quality produced.

With the valuable services that flyer printing jobs can do for your advertising and promotions, you are well assured that you will succeed in introducing the good services and products that your business can give.

To the editor: I read in the newspapers and also saw on the news that the Snickers TV commercial that was shown on the Super Bowl was pulled off the air because it offended gays and lesbians. I’m glad because, although I am not gay, that Snickers commercial really upset me and my co-workers (who are not gay either). To see two guys kissing is one thing I don’t need to see again in my life but that’s not what bothered me as much as when they realize what they are doing, then recoil, and to prove their manliness they tear out their chest hair and scream in agony. Stupid, right? I thought so and so did the guys at the shop and we’re not talking about the gay part because none of us are gay. We are mechanics and we wouldn’t do that – the kissing or the hair pulling part. It’s dumb.

But there it was for the whole world to see -- on the Super Bowl of all places. My wife, my son, my two daughters and my mother saw it as we have seen it before – mechanics made to look dumb and dirty. Why is it always the mechanics are the ones made to look like idiots? Always with the bad fitting dirty uniforms and ignorant expressions and bad haircuts? Is it because we work with our hands and not in fancy office buildings? Is it because we work with tools and cars and not books? (By the way, computers are one of the most important tools we use to diagnose engine problems.) Can you see lawyers working in that Snickers commercial -- or airplane pilots?? Never happen - it’s always the guys who work their hands, ‘grease monkeys ‘who are humiliated in front of the world.

The gay and lesbian population demanded the Snickers ad be taken off the air but in my mind it should have been the Auto Mechanics Union – because it made us all feel ridiculed and disrespected. And it has to stop. Do you have any idea of the education and the hours of study and textbook reading that is required to stay up on today’s sophisticated cars?

I am right with you gays and lesbians who were upset by that commercial – but you have to get behind us mechanics first because it is we who are owed the apology. Remember, Snickers commercial makers and the rest of you image makers, we can pour sugar in your gas tank and irrevocably corrode your engine in a second’s time, we can tell you your valves need to be replaced when they are fine and you wouldn’t know, we can triple charge you when you have no recourse and we can hike your gas price whenever we want – so next time be sensitive with your stereotypes just to sell your candy.

Joey the Wrench AKA Michael Mark NYCA, San Diego

When Google was still an internet starlet and not yet a digital A-lister, phoney clicks and AdWords adverts were the Posh and Becks of their generation. Racking up as many column inches as the incumbent media darlings, the click fraud phenomenon filled newspapers and technology magazines on a regular basis.

But as the initial media frenzy died down, it appeared that click fraud had enjoyed its moment in the spotlight and retired gracefully into obscurity.

Not so according to a new wave of advertiser complaints and a $90 million lawsuit filed against Google last summer by disgruntled pay per click account holders. Click fraud occurs when users click on a pay per click advert not out of interest but simply to make the advertiser pay for the click. These clicks can be grouped according to human and computer activity. In its human form, click fraud may be carried out by competitors seeking to use up their rival’s advertising budget. The purpose is two fold; the advertiser pays for a wasted click and the budget is depleted, limiting advert exposure to real consumers. Computerised click fraud works along similar lines but is actioned by small programmes known as web bots which are sent out to crawl the web and replicate human click patterns. Human or robotic, these wasted clicks cost the same as a real click and with only a limited number of spaces available on page one of search engine results, competition for cyber real estate is intense. The top spot, second, third or even a fourth place ranking for relevant keywords is worth its weight in gold to advertisers and their direct competitors because user eyeballs very rarely venture further than the first few offerings. If a competitor can knock its rival off the top spot by artificially using up the daily budget, traffic levels and online sales are directly affected. One of the most frustrating aspects for advertisers and management consultancies is that it’s hard to quantify the size of the problem when each search portal works to its own set guidelines. Detection and implementation of suspect clicks lacks consistency across the board. What is certain is that the latest batch of industry reports shows the reported rate of fraudulent clicks is growing in tandem with the online advertising market. Search marketing trebled in size in the three year period 2003-2006, a trend mirrored by the findings of the most up-to-date Click Forensics report. It found that in the last quarter of 2006, fraudulent clicks on search-related online ads rose 14.1%, up from just over 13% at the beginning of the year.

For their part, Google and Yahoo are both crying ‘wolf’. They’re united in their denials, offering up a series of measures as proof they’re winning the war against click fraud crime.

Their first line of defence is a sophisticated system of filters, designed to weed out suspect clicks before they hit the advertisers account. If cyber criminals breach this virtual blockade, Google also has a team of specialists in place to investigate advertiser claims of click fraud and deposit credits for clicks deemed illegal. They analyse advertiser data, seeking spikes in advert clicks and irregular click through rates over brief periods of time.

An industry-wide effort to create comprehensive lists of known robots being used to click repeatedly on adverts is also been cited by the search giants as proof of their crackdown on cyber fraud.

Thanks to a $90 million court case last summer, click fraud is once again big news stateside. But advertisers in the UK should also beware; click fraud is not contained by geographical boundaries. The size of an account is also immaterial. Depending on competitiveness of the industry and variables such as cost per keywords and targeting of the advert, any pay per click campaign can be vulnerable to fraudulent clicks.

The good news for advertisers is that digital marketing is growing with renewed vigour. Household names are moving bigger and bigger chunks of their advertising budgets online, fuelling advertiser confidence and ensuring effective measures are put in place to protect this highly desirable client portfolio.

Advertisers worried about click fraud can take a number of steps to protect themselves from phoney clicks. In the short term, spreading the advertising budget across a number of pay per click formats and appearances will help to reduce the risk of a concerted attack.

Using tracking software is also worth considering for peace of mind – programmes are available which analyse activity on a per click basis, flagging up potential problems before they become a real threat.

In the longer term, the importance of vigilance can not be over estimated. Keeping regular pay per click log data means the search engines have a starting point for their investigation if foul play is suspected.

Do you ever wonder sometimes how you are going to get your website out on the internet so people can see it? Finding new places to advertise where nobody else does?

With the internet being so overloaded with work at home jobs, business opportunities and regular jobs it's hard to come across new, undiscovered places to advertise. Here are 8 tips to help you get your website seen:

1) Use message boards. There are lots of topics out there that you can talk about. Get to know people on the boards and introduce them to your company. The more friends you make the more they will trust you. Seek out boards on topics you enjoy. If you enjoy cooking, seek out cooking boards. If you enjoy music, seek out music boards.

2) Get a banner/button made. Exchange links if you can. It’s all about FREE advertising.

3) Plug boards. These are new to the advertising world. it’s a simple 88x30 button and you can submit it to a lot of work at home websites and other company websites.

4) Articles. Submit your articles to message boards and article directories. If you are a subscriber to an ezine, consider submitting your article to the ezine publisher for inclusion in a future edition.

5) Contests. Enter yourself in contests. Some websites have featured companies or mom/dad of the month where you can post your information on their site for a month. Once again FREE advertising. Sponsor contests. The contest you sponsor will be advertised, and your name and website will be attached as a contributor. Run your own contest and submit it everywhere you can, contest websites, message boards and sweepstakes sites.

6) Fillers. A lot of people are looking for fillers to put in their work at home packs. You send them your business card or flyers and they include it in their pack of information.

7) Free classifieds. This is another great way to promote your site. Some sites allow you to post once a week. Other sites allow daily submissions. Be sure to read over their rules before you post.

8) Myspace/Ryze. Myspace and Ryze are two great ways to network with other people that have their own home businesses. Join their networks and share your information about your company with other moms and dads that are also working from home. Also get great resources from these networks on how to build a successful business.

These are just a few tips to help you get your advertising going. There are lots of resources out there that you can use to help grow your business. Find good work at home resource sites to get updated articles and sign up for their newsletters. Join some networks and network with other work at home mom and dads. Have fun building your business and making friends.

A friend of mine was asking me just how am I succeeding with my Google advertisement while he was getting no results.

He had spent some money and got some clicks, but he complained that every time he entered his keywords, his ads didn't show.

Have you checked with Google? I asked. They do have a monitoring policy (Sandbox) for ads where they let your ad run very low until they check and approve it. The approval depends on what you are advertising, your audience, your landing page, and whether you are offering what you are advertising. There seem to be many factors involved.

Are you referring people to your home page where that big noisy music is heard with the nice looking but completely irrelevant flash animation thing with no skip button to relieve the poor and completely stunned first time visitor? Well, that could be one reason to get disapproved.

You have to narrow your ads to specifics and take people to exactly the page were you offer what you have advertised. And make sure the next step is the information on how to buy or contact you. Advertisements like: Hay I'm here and here is my site with all the goodies you can buy, will most probably get you a big advertising bill with no sales.

Advertise one book. And make sure your landing page displays the information about the book and how to buy it.

And start low. Don't go out spending too much per click. Start with ads that would cost you 3 to 5 cents. Find keyword that doesn't ask for too much. If they want too much, let them sit for now.

Key words should be repeated in the ad. That is one way to be relevant. If you have new keywords that don't relate to your ads language, just create a new ad group. Don't create one campaign with large number of keywords. Create small groups of campaigns with few keywords in each and ads that relate to those keywords and also in each ad send the visitor to a page were you offer that specific service or product. Then use trial and error and test.

To your ads, always make small changes at a time and let the two ads run together and see which one performs better. Keep the better performing one and delete the other. Then create another ad with the next change and let the ads again run side by side until you know which one is better. Keep the good one and stop the other. This way, you keep growing steadily but surly.

Advertising on Google is an art and science. You have to be patient, creative, and think the way a visitor would think. Put yourself in place of a visitor, someone who wants to buy your product and ask yourself what would you have done?

And continue testing products to find niches in your industry. And when you find that niche, then bring in the artilleries and good luck

Advertising is one of those business requirements that we all hope we don't have to do, put off as long as we can, but eventually need to do. Advertising and marketing are often very challenging because there are many ways to do it, places to do it, and we often are left wondering just exactly what it did for us, if anything.

As a Professional Organizer, you probably have a small company, perhaps with just a few employees, and more likely, just yourself. Needless to say, most Professional Organizers do not have big "corporate" advertising and marketing budgets. You have to be very selective on where you spend the money you do spend. Running ads or creating marketing materials need to generate results, no matter how little you spend.

But what if you could advertise and market your business without spending any more money? What if you could promote yourself in a way that reaches the most targeted audience, those who are specifically looking for your services?

It's All About Targeting and Timing

Good marketing and advertising is all about targeting. Spreading your message to the world, hoping that someone hears it that is actually interested, is not very cost effective, yet this is exactly how most advertising works. This really shouldn't be that surprising.

Imagine you have an ad promoting your services and 1,000 people see it. Whether it is a TV commercial, a radio spot, a billboard, or even a print ad in a local paper or magazine, the actual percentage of people out of that 1,000 who realize they need your services, are interested in your services and are actually seeking your services is going to be very small. This is a very important factor that people often forget about... it isn't just about reaching those who need your services, they also need to want your services and the ad needs to connect with them at a time when they are able to act on it.

The reality is, we are exposed to so many messages every day, that most of it gets lost if it isn't acted on. You've probably experienced this yourself. You saw an ad for something that you were interested in, but weren't able to act on it at the time... and now have probably forgotten about it or can't remember who the ad was for anyway.

Getting More Out Of What You Have

So how do you advertise and market your Professional Organizer business without spending more money on advertising? You have to better utilize what you already have. The best part is that you will find that you can not only save money, but that you'll be more able to reach those who need and are looking for your services and are in a better position to act on that need.

A website is, or should be, the most powerful marketing tool a Professional Organizer has. I know what you're thinking... "My reputation and referrals is the most important marketing tool I have." Yes, those are extremely important, but they may not be the most important and here's why. Professional Organizers provide very specialized services. Unlike say, someone looking for an auto mechanic, most people are not going to be able to make recommendations because most people haven't used a Professional Organizer. Because of this, people are less likely to even ask for a referral. They don't expect that their co-worker, friends, or even their parents could give any advice or refer anyone. They do expect that they could probably chime in on an auto mechanic, a hairdresser or even a dry cleaner though.

You also have to keep in mind that they may have reservations about asking for recommendations. They may be worried about what this "says" about them. Does this mean that they are disorganized or messy? Even if they did ask, the person you helped might suddenly be reluctant to make a recommendation for the same reasons.

Most people don't go around making unprompted referrals. So even though they may be more than happy to make a referral for you and they may know people who are seeking your services, if those people never specifically mention their problems or ask for a recommendation, the referral may never come up.

24/7 Just In Time

What your website can do for you though is be that perfect referral. People perform searches everyday online to find information, products and services. And more of these searches are being done everyday for things that are local as people learn that the web is about more than just "world wide."

People may not even realize that they need a Professional Organizer. This is where your website can really become a powerful tool. These people may be searching based on their problems, rather than solutions. Makes sense... you have to identify the solution before you can search for it. So your website enables you to connect with potential clients very early on in the search process, when they are seeking that information and are able to act on it. You may have heard the phrase "just-in-time." This has become popular in supply delivery and manufacturing, enabling the ability to request and receive parts or products when they are needed. That's the beauty of your website and search engines... just-in-time delivery.

But, your website isn't going to magically make this happen. Search engines return results based on what they feel most relates to what the searcher is seeking. The problem is that your website probably doesn't tap into the searcher's needs. Your website probably promotes your business as a Professional Organizer. You've probably listed some of your experience and some information about you as well as some of the areas you specialize in. But this means that your site is probably heavily focused on you and what you do versus your visitor's problems and needs. This may seem like a very subtle difference, but it is probably much bigger than you think.

You have to connect with them by identifying with their problems first, then educate them on possible solutions, then inform them on how you can help. You do this by adding useful information to your website. This information goes beyond just telling them about you and your services. You need to begin building a rapport with them by creating content that relates to what they are searching for. Create content on your site that talks about the problems they are experiencing. Show them that you understand their needs. Help them understand the problem and then provide some information about solutions.

When you add useful, relevant information that matches with what people are searching for, you increase the chances of your website being returned in search results for those searches. Because people are searching for this information, they are more interested in what you have to say and in a position to act on it than just seeing an advertisement somewhere else. You will drive more visitors to your website and increase your potential for new clients. If you have provided useful information on your website, you will have already shown that you can help them. You have just started to build a relationship with them and you haven't even met or spoken to them yet.

Your website can be the most powerful marketing tool you have. As a Professional Organizer, you know that half the battle is using what you already have in a more efficient way. Every time your website is returned in search results and gets clicked on, it doesn't cost you a penny, and has the potential to connect you with visitors who are seeking and able to act on your services. However, your website will only be as useful and powerful as you make it. If it serves as nothing more than an online business card or brochure, then that's all it will ever be.