Ok... So you have your cash producing businesses setup and you are having a rough start?? Or perhaps you want to attract even more people to your site... then keep on reading...

What would you say if I had a method for you to advertise your site and business to millions of people virtually for FREE? Well today you can take advantage of the same method that I personally use to advertise my ventures! Myspace has MILLIONS of members which equals millions of potential hits for your site.

Steps to Myspace success:

1. Create a Myspace account.
2. Customize your myspace page with sites such as TopMyspaceRanks.com
3. Start adding friends to your account. You will want to have at least 500 friends before you start sending out any kind of message (except for thanks for the add comments)
4. Create custom messages and comments that promote your site

You make ask yourself... How long is it going to take me to send 500 friend requests?? What if they all dont except??

Well the truth is they wont all except so you will need to send out even more friend requests just to get to 500. This could take you days or even months.

Here is the solution.

The myspace automatic Friend Adder This program allows you to automatically and simultaneously send up to 500 requests a DAY!!! Thats right you can send 500 requests in ONE day!!! Imagine how many people you can friend with this program! Think of the number of hits your site will get with a HUGE friend list!!! I will tell you in advance... this site sells the Friend Adder, Friend Commenter, and Friend Messenger separately or together as a discounted package. I highly recommend you get all three to automate the whole entire process. I started out with the Friend Adder and quickly found myself falling behind. With several thousand friends its IMPOSSIBLE to comment or message them with out this program. Order the Friend Adder, Commenter, Messenger Combo Pack today and dont waste any more time!

I believe I have truly mastered using this program. This is why I highly endorse it. If you have any questions feel free to email me.

1. Choose the right creative approach.

Who are you selling to? What are they buying — really? Choose the angle that will attract customers’ attention, stimulate their interest, and “hook” them on what you offer. Don’t be in a hurry to start writing your ad. There are several components to the creative approach that must be decided before creative work begins.

You’ll need to:
- Identify the target market.
- Define the offer — will you be promoting your overall brand, or a specific product or product line?
- Choose a benefit with emotional appeal. What problem are you going to solve? What disaster will you keep at bay? Substantiate the claim. Prove how the company, the service, or the product delivers the benefit promised. Support your brand. Consider how the tone or style of the ad reflects on the public image you’ve created so far. Be consistent.
- Before you start writing, jot down a few words summarizing each of these components of your creative approach. For more about the creative approach, see “Using your ad strategy to hook the ‘big idea’.”

2. Write compelling ad copy.

Shut the door. Unplug the phone. Don’t start to write — yet. Why? It’s easier to write great copy by sneaking up on it. To warm up your brain, try the “features-into-benefits” exercise, described in “Using your ad strategy to hook the ‘big idea’.” Next, look for the action. Action is the heart of any good story. What activity best conveys the problem and the powerful way your offering solves it? Like the man who sat down at the piano and astounded his friends, your story will convey a dramatic conversion from “before” to “after.” Copy, supported by photos or illustrations, must set up a believable context, describe benefits, and create a desire to take action. Imagine you are your target customer. Use the tools on this site to help you “get inside” their minds. Ad copy can take a number of approaches, from straightforward “reasons why” to storytelling to humorous puns and incongruous images. Which you choose depends on your skill as a writer and your brand identity. Explore several ideas before you decide.

Regardless of the copy approach, your ad should follow the same “AIDA” formula that has proven to be effective in all print and broadcast advertising. This mnemonic reminds you to:
A — get Attention
I — arouse Interest
D — create Desire
A — stimulate Action

If your ad moves a reader through this sequence, you’re on the right track.

How long should the ad be? For a complex offering, it might take hundreds of words to get from attention through interest to desire and finally action. For a simpler appeal, seven to 10 words might do it. The honest answer is: as long as necessary and as short as possible.

3. Test the ad copy on humans.

In many ad agencies, creative teams work together to develop ads. The benefit of the team approach is that two heads — any two heads (human, that is) — are better than one. So, once you have written a copy draft or two, get two heads together. Show the drafts to someone who’s familiar with your business, your market, and the publication in which the ad will appear.

Take the reader’s seat for a moment and ask “why should I care?” Then read your ad. Is it clear what you promise, and how you substantiate your claim? Is the benefit you promise one with plenty of emotional power? And finally, does the ad copy make it clear what you want the reader to do next? The “call to action” is critical. Do you want them to call? Say so. To visit your Web site? Offer an incentive: a bonus or contest waiting for them there. Test the copy against the creative approach you defined in step No. 1. Then, apply your pencil and eraser, to tighten and brighten. Try reading it out loud. Anything that’s hard to say will be hard to think. Re-write again. Much of good writing is really good editing after the first draft.

4. Design a clean, easy-to-follow ad layout.

There is only one great layout for any ad. Yes, that may sound like a gross exaggeration. But it’s true. The basic grid layout has proven its effectiveness over the years. Leaf through any magazine and you’ll find many slight variations on this tried-and-true formula. You’ll see a photo, then a headline, then copy, then at bottom the call to action and the logo, centered or to the right. The headline may come above the photo; the copy may be in one column or two. But the basic grid will be the same.

This formula leverages our natural tendency to view ads with an “S-curve” motion of the eyes, sweeping from top left around through the middle, coming to rest at the bottom right. Why mess with what works?

To lay out your ad, use a computer program such as Quark XPress. If you don’t have access to layout software, use your word-processing program to mock up the ad, then rely on the publication’s in-house production service to finish it. What visual imagery do you have in mind? Browse the stock photography available on the Web; you’ll find many options. Purchasing the right to use a photo or illustration will cost you less than $100 in most cases, and the quality is top notch. If you don’t find what you have in mind, talk to local photographers or illustrators, or search an online talent broker such as Elance or Guru.

5. Test the layout on humans.

Make a prototype of the ad that looks as much like the final ad as possible. Place it in the venue where it will be seen. If it’s going to run in a magazine, tape your prototype into a magazine. Then, test it on friends, colleagues, or better yet, typical customers. Big advertisers do considerable testing before they commit an ad to print. Consider holding a focus group to explore several ideas, or several executions of one idea. (For more on research techniques, see the article, “Do some customer research — or you’ll never know.”) What do readers recall about the ad after having read it? Ask questions, and then, tailor your ad copy or layout based on what you’ve heard. Simplify anything that seemed confusing, and then test again.

6. Produce “camera-ready” artwork for submission.

You’ll most likely be asked to submit your ad as a collection of electronic files. These will include graphics files, font files, and a layout file that brings those elements together on a “page” precisely the size of the ad. These files will go on a disk, accompanied by a hard-copy prototype that shows exactly how you expect the ad to look when the files are imaged and the ad appears in print. When it comes to production, remember the old saw “garbage in, garbage out.” What you send to the publication determines what appears in print. If you send them your ad poorly prepared, there is very little they can do to make it better. Printed images require higher resolution (expressed as dots per inch, or DPI) than images prepared for display on Web pages. Make sure that the photos or logos you use weren’t simply borrowed from your Web site — the resolution of those files won’t be high enough to make a sharp printed image. When in doubt, trust the publication to guide you — they’re professionals at this, and they have an interest getting your ad right, thereby keeping you happy. Ask them to review your files for potential problems. Submit your ad well in advance of their publication deadline — no one’s going to hold the presses while you scramble to get your ad finished.

7. Measure your results.

From the beginning of printed advertising, advertisers have kept records of inquiries produced by different ads, in order to learn what works. The same method is just as helpful today, but today’s advertisers have a few more tricks at their disposal. Scientific advertising research uses techniques like statistical recall scoring, in-depth interviews, motivational research, and post-publication surveys. The ads you see in mainstream publications from national advertisers have survived many rounds of testing before you ever see them. The point of such research is to determine how well the ads are working, and how they can be made to work better. Tracking inquiries is a tried-and-true technique. In your ad, ask for a specific behavior, such as calling for a free sample, then track how many calls you receive. For more comprehensive research, consider surveying a sample of the publications’ subscribers. You can speed up your learning curve, by applying a technique known as A/B splits. To do this you start from a known baseline (the “A” ad), then change one factor at a time, testing whether the “B” ad performs better or worse than the “A” ad. You might change a headline, or a photo, or the size of the ad, and then measure response. By changing one factor at a time, then tracking what works, your ad will evolve to its utmost pulling power.

Be wary, though, of appearing to change too radically or too often. Consistency is important in building your brand image. Keep placing ads and keep measuring the results; drop what doesn’t work and go with what does. If you find that your ad is pulling in a good response, and you’re making sales as a result, consider using some of the profits to expand your advertising program. By increasing your advertising and continuing to test and track its performance, you will grow your business.

Conclusion
It’s difficult to break through the clutter of ads out there, and even more difficult to get readers to respond with action. If you follow this seven-step technique, your odds of creating an ad that works will dramatically improve. Now you have a great print ad — get your mileage out of the time and effort you’ve invested! What else can you do with this ad? Think of all the possibilities... print copies to include in your sales kit, or to hand out at your next trade show. Display it on your Web site. Enlarge and frame a copy to display in your lobby. Each “re-purposing” extends your investment, and consistently builds your brand — the real secret to great advertising.

Many people know the value of newspaper inserts, dircet mail, and sales flyers, but drop the ball when it comes to making people react to them. Obviuosly, it is always a better looking flyer when professional designers and copywriters are used. But, even they sometimes miss the boat on getting action. The best way to get any action on your sales flyer is to "give your customer a reason to come in and try you out". That's right, the "what's in it for me" approach. Think of yourself like a consumer. What would it take to get you to try a new product, or try a new vendor, etc.?

It is all in "The Offer". Yes, you may not make as much money on their initial visit. But, they're first impression of your store is what the consumers take with them after that first visit that is crucial. If they leave happy and impressed, they will return (at regular prices) over and over again. You may have to discount a few items, or even give something away for free. But you will also want to upsell them other goods and services while they are in your store. Another point to remember on the offers; is to make them valid only during your slow times. You may not need new customers at peak times, nor do you want to discount these best hours.

Full-color, glossy print inserts are one of the best marketing methodologies available for small businesses looking to grow their sales and attract new customers. For decades, print advertising has been among the most rewarding, effective, and lasting forms of marketing. The results of print inserts in particular are fast, measurable, and hugely cost-effective when carried out properly. For example, small business owners can purchase 10,000 full-color, two-sided, glossy newspaper inserts for only $375 at internet print resource centers such as Print And Deliver.

With such an excellent advertising vehicle (newspapers) and such an outstanding advertising medium (print inserts), one would think that the newspapers have mastered their sales processes and developed their advertising departments into well-oiled machines, right? Nope.

Newspapers are undoubtedly losing loads of advertising revenue as a result of their own inefficiencies, lack of sales training, and inability to effectively manage their prospective advertising customers. I have written this article after conducting numerous calls to newspapers across the nation. In total, I called ten newspapers of various sizes and circulations in every major region of the U.S., and unfortunately, the results were almost always the same. Nine out of the ten publications that I contacted had disappointing and ineffective advertising sales processes. Here is a brief summary of my experience in trying to order newspaper insert advertising. I have randomly selected one out of the nine newspapers for this review which I'll refer to as "The Daily News" for this article’s purpose.

Week 1:
(Thursday) 10:00- 10:20 AM Called to inquire about pre-printed inserts at The Daily News Newspaper. Automated call answering service without correct advertising department option

Directed to Classifieds advertising dept. (closest available option for my needs) Sales Rep was confused when I asked about print inserts, transferred me back to beginning of automated menu system. I hung up frustrated.

10:30 – 10:45AM
Called back, Rep seemed confused about where to direct my call, sent me to voicemail of wrong department’s manager.

Week2:
(Tuesday) 9:00 AM
Requested Pre-Print Insert Rates from The Daily News Newspaper via email (after spending 10 minutes searching for the correct email online).

11:00 AM
Received call from The Daily News Newspaper informing me that they only have a flat rate newspaper insert fee of $699. This is for 12,000 8.5x11 distributed weekdays.

1:15 PM
Received call from The Daily News Newspaper's parent company, informing me that they do pricing of $55.50 CPM for 8.5x11, two-sided, full-color newspaper inserts. They were unaware that I had already been contacted by their publication. I was also informed that there are no flat rates and that there are different pricing options dependent upon the print insert’s specifications and the distribution dates.

Overall Experience: After approximately one hour worth of transfers, incoherent sales reps, and battles with automated menu systems; emails to nameless newspaper reps; and call-backs with misleading information...I have decided that switching my college major from journalism/newspapers to writing/marketing was the best decision I ever made. It would be difficult working within such an inefficient and uncoordinated industry on a daily basis.

How Can Newspapers Improve the Pre-Print Insert Advertising Sales Process?

•Clearly list pre-print advertising rates on newspaper’s website

•Offer print insert targeted delivery by zipcode feature on website with CPM rates

•Establish a preferred vendor relationship with a cost-effective printer. Provide advertising prospect with printer’s information and a coupon for savings. Printer will then send pre-printed inserts to paper for advertising/distribution.

•Hire different (well-versed) advertising sales reps for pre-print and classifieds

•List easy-to-access circ information for weekdays and weekends

•Provide advertisers/prospects with a unique telephone assistance number

•Coordinate rates and follow-up communications between papers

•Automatically generate multiple advertising packages and send via email after customer inquires about pre-print advertising rates. Make it easy to advertise!

Postcards had been valued to be very effective material used to advertise campaign and greet clients’. As a material for advertisement and campaign the cards are designed to contain the services and products offered. As a greeting material greeting cards are made out of them in which are then sent on special occasions and holidays.

Handling postcard printing jobs is no longer a problem this time. The gradual changes in the printing technology had totally eased the burden of postcard printing jobs. With the capacity and knowledge of printing companies, postcards are developed and creatively done with top notch quality and professionalism.

The postcards that are graphically designed and colorfully printed have better chances of influencing prospects. However are you aware where these materials can be designed and produced? Thus only a reliable printing company can handle to print and produce your postcards.

Easy postcards printing jobs can be highly achieved through the commercial printer you render your printing job. However in choosing for the right printer for your jobs, there are following factors you need to look up onto.

1. The company must provide result-generating ideas.

•The company you choose must be result oriented because the ideas that they will contribute will help to identify your materials in the market. The ideas they give will merely work to bring positive results of attractive and alluring designs that will persuade and grab customer’s attention.

2. Familiarity

•A knowledgeable company can feed excellent and satisfying service. Being familiar with the design processes and production will result to work on a smooth printing workflow that will lead to easier and faster production.

3. Originality

•A postcard printing company must know how to handle custom postcard printing jobs. This is because the originality and uniqueness of your cards will be the basis of the identity that you would want to impose in the market. The originality of your postcards will help your clients easily identify you among others.

4. Technological capacity

•This simply pertains to the equipments that your chosen printing company has. Being equipped with the latest trends of printing equipments and printer, you will be guaranteed with a design that will best suit with your marketing theme.

5. Working Team

•The success of postcard printing jobs still varies on the manpower handling the job. The working team must be skilled and well trained in order to succeed with the printing job.

Generally with the numerous printing companies that are sprouting at present, you could easily locate and survey for the one suited for you. However in choosing them, they must have the capability to handle and confidence that they can produce the kind of postcard that you want.

Surveying for a postcard printing company is a first step for a successful postcard campaign and promotions.

Melbourne Business Information

Before I tell you about doing business in Melbourne, let's take a quick look at the history of Melbourne...

Founded by free-settlers in 1835, 47 years after the first European settlement of Australia, the famous Victorian gold rush of the 1850s transformed Melbourne from a small pastoral settlement situated around the Yarra River into a vibrant metropolis.

So much so that by 1865, Australian’s were calling the city “Marvelous Melbourne"

Melbourne even served as the temporary national capital from the Federation of Australia in 1901 until the construction of Canberra in 1927.

The City of Melbourne (pronounced Mel-ban NOT Mel-bourne) is located on the south -east part of Australia and has the second highest population of any Australian city - approximately 3.7 million.

Melbourne is the state capital of Victoria and is home to over 70% of all Victorians. The positive outlook of its people makes Melbourne is a great place to be in business.

Today, Melbourne is a major centre of commerce, industry and cultural activity. Melbourne has a well-deserved reputation as the "cultural and sporting capital of Australia".

A number of surveys have seen Melbourne voted one of the most livable cities in the World.

So What is it Like to Do Business in Melbourne?

Melbourne business owners are:

* Hard working
* Open to new ideas
* Entrepreneurial
* Friendly
* Passionate about the city and football!
* Progressive
* Turning to the Internet in great numbers

Melbourne is home to three of Australia's largest business corporations:

1. Telstra
2. BHP Billiton
3. and the National Australia Bank,

The Business Council of Australia, the Melbourne Business School, Australian Council of Trade Unions and many of the top companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange have their headquarters in Melbourne.

Numerous multinational corporations also have their main Australian office in Melbourne.

TRIVIA:

* Melbourne is "the third largest Greek city in the world" according to the 2001 Australian Census, there were 151,785 ethnic Greeks in the metropolitan area, and 40.4 per cent of all Greek Australians live in Melbourne.
* Melbourne has some of the best restaurants in Australia making it the perfect city for a good business lunch.
* Melbourne is home to one of Australia's most comprehensive business websites Melbourne Business Portal
* Melbourne's current mayor, businessman John So, was Born in Hong Kong and was recently re-elected for a second consecutive term. His positive attitude and heart felt passion for 'all things Melbourne' has endeared him to people throughout Melbourne.
* Currently, 650,000 people live, work and visit inner city Melbourne each day – a whopping 25 per cent increase on just four years ago.
* Experts say that by 2014, that number will increase over 50 per cent again. In less than ten years from now, the inner city alone will host one million people each weekday.

If you are thinking of doing business in Melbourne, my advice is to 'go for it' Melbourne is great!

Find out how a writing and blogging campaign can help you to achieve uncommon results.

Are you using the power of content-rich articles and blogs to deliver more bang for your buck?

You should be!

Traditional advertising is expensive and often fails to deliver the desired results.

I've been there and done that. I have sunk countless dollars into advertising that literally did not do diddly squat for me or my business. In essence, the only one who benefited was the publisher and sales rep who sold me the ads.

There is only one reason to advertise- to make money.

Anyway that you look at it, advertising is an investment that should yield a measurable return to your bottom line and not just to the bottom line of the publication.

Uncommon results are achievable. But you need to employ uncommon practices to release them.

You need to think outside of the box of traditional advertising.

With content-rich articles and blog postings, you can accomplish so much more for so much less.

Don't you owe it to yourself to step beyond the ordinary into the land of the extraordinary?

Five Ways To Add More Bang To What You Are Currently Doing

1. Write content-rich articles and post them to top Internet article sites, like ezinearticles which is considered the best article resource on the Internet.

2. Write and post your articles on a regular basis. Develop a strategy and follow through on it.

3. Start a blog and post daily with content-rich postings relevant to your niche.

4. Create additional blogs that are specifically niched to your targeted markets.

5. Ping your blogs with google and technorati.

(c) Kathi Dameron, Kathi Dameron and Associates www.kathidameron.com

Now that you have your home business established, you will want to start advertising. There are many avenues of advertising, for this article we will stick to the free to low costs methods.

The first thing you will want to do is send an email to all of your family and friends announcing your new business (make sure it is just to your family and friends as you don’t want to spam). Give a brief description of your business and ask that they forward your email to 3 of their family or friends. This should not be an email pressuring them to purchase or sign up in any way. Rather, to do you a favor of passing along your announcement. You will be surprised at how many people this will reach and all for free.

Next, you will want to put your web site address (if you have one) on all of your correspondence. Start with adding it to your email, return address labels and so forth. If you do not have a web site, perhaps you could use a phone number, email or some other source of contact information. The important thing is to get the word out.

Invest in some business cards. There are several ways this can be done. If you are handy with the computer, you can make them yourself. It does not have to be anything fancy. Just something with your business information will do. There are several different styles of business cards you can choose from to print on. Another way is to have them made professionally. Now before you go off spending a lot of money, do some research. There are some companies, such as Vista Print, that offer free business cards. Yes, I said free. They will ask if you want to upgrade and add extra options to your cards, but that is up to you. I would just stick to the free cards for now. You can always go back at another time and order something else.

Once you have your business cards, put them everywhere. I mean everywhere. Send one out with each piece of mail (yes, even your bills). Leave them at restaurants with the tip. On bulletin boards at supermarkets, laundry mats, colleges, etc. Always make sure you have some in your car and on your person at all times.

Another good method of advertising is your vehicle. Bumper stickers or signs are a good means of getting the word out. Again, if you do some research, you can find some great deals on custom made bumper stickers. One such place is makestickers.com. They offer a reasonable price for a quality sticker. Your neighborhood office supply store should have the supplies needed to make a sign for your car. This would involve a magnet and some self adhesive lettering.

The important thing to remember is to get the word out to as many people as possible. If you use your imagination, the possibilities are endless.

Therefore, it is very important for you to get a very well designed logo so that it can attract customers or to leave an impact on them while being amongst other logos.

A customized logo is essential for one’s company. It portrays the company’s message and if it is a well made one having a proper strategy behind it then for sure it portrays the company’s message effectively. A custom logo must bear the company’s name.

Certain important features of a custom logo are given below:

Colors
Generally, it is suggested that you incorporate your company's selected colors in your custom logo. A customized logo must not have more than 3 to 4 colors. The reason behind this notion is that a custom logo should be recognizable at an instant. This stage can only be achieved if there is less and specific colors used for your custom logos.

The design
The overall design of your customized logo designs is the main thing. The design should be cost effective and compact. It should also be less complicated so that just one look of a person recognizes your company’s product or service.

The over all look and impression
The main thing is that whatever your logo looks like it should just be the perfect one for your business. It should have all the components necessary for making the perfect impression on your consumers.

In a nutshell, fine looking custom logo designs are essential elements which can present your company or product in very effective manner in the market. There are various companies that have feeble custom logo designs. Such custom logo designs prove to be the company's weakness rather than its strength.

I'm sure this is the interesting question you had pondered often. Even your creative agency returned with a fantastic concept, you would still be wondering if you should accept that $3900 or $59,900 quotation.

What, exactly, are you paying for? Many think that they are only paying for that piece of advertisement or poster, the artwork. That would be very far from the truth. Behind that seemingly simple A4 artwork is a complex web of research, analysis, planning, conceptualizing, copywriting, experience, testing, creativity and execution.

"But there's only a few lines plus one photo and my agency took no more than a few hours!" Sure, it may look simple but, simple doesn't equate to easy. Also please understand that many brains, several hands and umpteen years of experience made that quality and speed possible. One mentor told me "A job that takes 20-minutes to accomplish doesn't mean it is only worth 20-minute of time. Behind that 20-minutes lies 20 years of experience."

It is not always easy to tell when slip-shod work is produced. Sometimes, a quick turnaround can produce a nice looking piece of work. A "nice looking" piece might be just that, eye candy. A detailed, professional critique could tear it to pieces. For example, is the headline relevant (catchy, maybe, but relevant?), is the product shown correctly (it might be upside down, I have seen it!), is there a call to action, is the company logo unduly big that it became an eye sore... and so on.

A correct price is when you and your creative agency agrees that it is a fair deal. So what should you pay for and what price is fair?

Ideally, paying by performance will be fair and it is usually a win-win situation for both parties. However, if a fee-based compensation is better suited and you are using your regular agencies, you can consider these factors against the quoted fees:

* Target Accomplishment - Does the agency always meet or surpass the objective, goal and expectation?

* Work Quality - Does the agency always have a refreshing idea even if based on the same old promotional mechanism you used for the past 3 years? Is there a finesse that made your brochures look a tad more "premium" than your fiercest competitor?

* Delivery Punctuality - Does the agency say "Tuesday" and you only get to see your ads on Friday?

* Service Responsiveness - Does the agency respond to all your queries immediately or do they take their time getting back to you? Is there a dedicated support staff or team other than your AE?

* Calibre of staff - Does the agency have experienced marketers to be your think tank? Do they have daredevils that forge ahead through the creative frontiers?

These should form the basis to determine a fair price. Do not look at the artwork only. That is just one piece of a much bigger picture. And please, do yourself a favour by not doing any of these: * Get 3 quotes and award the job to the lowest bidder. (Seriously, do you buy ALL your dresses at the discount bin?)

* Get 3 quotes and ask the best qualified bidder to match the price of the lowest bidder. (Ever hear of "pay peanuts and get monkeys"?)

* Start bargaining AFTER the agency has delivered the final piece of work

All in all, the idea is to be fair. The creative people have spent many years to earn their stripes. Just as you will not expect your top sales managers to draw the same salary as the junior secretaries, why then would you expect to pay your agency less than the best?

Vivienne Quek is a seasoned veteran in the advertising industry. She has worked in small local outfits to large international agencies servicing multi-million dollar accounts. Today, she runs two agencies providing a wide range of marketing and communications services