Recently I mailed my subscribers an offer of a free report in exchange for answering one question. The response was terrific. I got thousands of people to download the report and got tons of data about what people are looking for. But then I got one person who wrote in and asked,

“How do you use your marketing to get people to contact you?”

Didn’t he see how I got him to contact me? Was I being too subtle?

If you haven’t done so already, sign up to get the 7 steps to build your business and increase your profits. It’s written for small business owners and marketers and it’s free, at least for now. Use this link to claim your copy >>

Am I being too subtle? Sign up before I start charging for this exclusive report.

- Charlie
Small Business Marketing Based On Results Not Opinion

Allstate has a commercial currently running that poses the “What If…” question. I can’t remember each one, but they included:
- What if someone rear ended your car crashing your car into another car?
- What if you had an accident with a car that was worth over $60,000?
- What if a friend borrows your car and trashes it… are you covered?
- What if a branch falls on your car… re you covered?
etc.

You get the idea. At the end it makes you wonder - heh am I covered?
If you have the youtube link to this video, please let me know.
(Want to view other great video ads? Here’s the best video commercials I’ve found >>)

Now ask yourself:
- What if when you sent out a mailing, instead of getting dozens of responses you got hundreds, or when you reviewed your web sales instead of just a couple of sales you saw thousands.
- What if your marketing actually worked?
- How much more money could you be making?
————
- Charlie
MarketingForSuccess.com

What’s one of the most effective ways of getting people to your web site and your business? With a great viral video ad, one that your target market will share and help people learn about your products and services.

I just added 5 more videos to the list of the best video commercials. Take a look and let me know if you have a favorite you’d like to see included.

1. Is this ad the answer to the Apple airbook. See this video ad for yourself >>

2. Sometimes exaggeration works to demonstrate your product. Take a look at this video commercial >>

3. What’s the best way to demonstrate your product’s capabilities? Here’s how a good example of how to use fantasy in your viral videos >>

4. It’s all about demonstrating the problem. That’s what this video ad does with humor >>

5. And finally how to use a celebrity in your ads and make it funny too. See this video commercial with an unexpected ending >>

Have more videos you’d like included. Let me know and we’ll review them.

- Charlie
Small Business Marketing That Gets Attention and More Business

Most small business owners spend tens of thousands of dollars each year on advertising that doesn’t work. They spend thousands of dollars on print and pay per click advertising that costs more than it brings in in sales. Sound familiar?

The secret to using ads to generate more revenue is to stop using them to sell.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re saying to yourself, “aren’t ads supposed to sell?”

The answer is NO!

Click here to discover how use advertising to market and grow your business in this week’s article >>

Charlie
Small Business Marketing That Puts You Ahead of the Competition

Have you ever spent money on an ad and gotten a limited response?

You’re not alone. Everyone who has ever advertised has run an ad that failed at least once. Doing it the first time is educational; running an ad that isn’t working again and again is throwing good money after bad.

Want to know how to write ads that attract twice as many buyers?

Use this link to find out which small business marketing ideas generate more leads and sales. >>

Want more small business marketing ideas? Use this link >>

Charlie
Business Small Business Marketing Ideas That Make You More Money

If you’ve ever wanted to look for ideas you could use for marketing slogans, radio commercials or video ads - you’ve probably been frustrated. To find the good marketing ideas you have to search through all the trash that’s out there.

Wish you could find one place to go to where someone already had put together the best video commercials, radio as and marketing slogans?

Finally there is a resource you can use to get marketing ideas and advertising ideas for your next marketing campaign. Use this link to check out the best business advertising ideas >>

Charlie
Marketing Ideas That Make You Money

How many TV commercials and ads actually work?

You’re watching TV, one of those channels that still have ads and the commercial break starts. When it ends how many caught your interest and do you remember the products they were promoting?

Most TV ads are a waste of money. They:

- Are totallly forgettable,
- Don’t define grab your attention,
- Use humor but aren’t funny,
- Forget to clarify the problem the product or service solves,
- Neglect to feature the products benefits,
- Miss including the call to action,
- Suffer from poor copywriting.

And now it’s easier than ever for anyone to put up a low-cost video online as part of their small business marketing strategy. Yikes! Will we see a proliferation of the same type of lousy video commercials that businesses pay good money to have run on TV?

I hope not! To get you headed in the right direction I’ve posted a selection of the best TV ads and commercials
I could find. You can view them at www.video.marketingforsuccess.com

- Charlie
Small Business Marketing That Works

I recieved the following two questions last week about the Best Radio Ads I posted.

1. “I love the page of radio ads you posted at MarketingForSuccess. I found one that works perfectly for my business. Can I use it or is it copyrighted?”

Yes radio ads are covered by copyright law and you can’t just “borrow” them to use for your own use. I added them to the site to provide you with ideas and inspiration for your marketing. Just because you can’t actually view the copyright doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. The writers and producers went to a lot of effort to come up with just the right marketing copy and idea to get your attention and keep it. Learn from what they created but be careful not to violate copyright law.

2. “Remeber many, many years ago when Chevy ran the “Heart Beat of America” ads? They spent 60 million on it. People loved it, they were singing the jingle all of the time. Chevy lost major market share during that promotion. As I remember it was 8%. How do you know which ads are the best?”

The only way to tell if any ad works, web print or radio is to test it. Run the ad for a limited number or days and see if it generates leads and sales. If it pulls in prospects you know you’ve got a winner and you may want to run it more widely.

If if hardly generates any response, it’s a bad idea to keep spending on it or spend even more.

Of course to make the sale you need to have a product that people want. Even the best ad only works to generate interest, it can’t close the sale.

- Charlie Cook
Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work

“I am going to be an expert witness on the impact of an ad campaign. The ad has already proven to show a great ROI with testimony that the campaign increased sales by 39% from the Director of Marketing. The problem is that I need general information on what ads should expect to generate as a ROI from high to low. To show the nexus between sales and advertisnig. Any advice?” - Ed

Any ad that can increase business by 39% is a success! Typically most ads bring in far less new business.

What’s the key measurement of ROI?

Cost of sales minus the cost of the ad campaign. If the numbers are positive then the campaign was a success, if negative, it needs rethinking, rewriting and redesign.

Could an ad bring in an even higher ROI than 39%?

Yes it’s possible. I wrote one newspaper ad at the begining of my career for which I only charged the client $450. In the first 3 weeks the ad generated over $180,000 in sales, tripling the client’s business within a month. I’ve also rewriten clients web sites and increased their sales by 4-15 times.

What’s the nexus between sales and advertising?

A successful advertising campaign pre-sells the prospect minimizing the effort that needs to go into sales. I’ve detailed this approach in ‘Eliminating Obstacles to Sales‘. Use this link to get the details >>

- Charlie Cook, Small Business Marketing That Works

“Advertising is very expensive for newspapers. Is there a way I can cut this expense. I am advertising for students and teachers.” Lisa Yang Butler, San Gabriel Valley, CA

The best way to reduce advertisng costs is to get a better response with your advertising. I.e. if ten times as many people respond each time you run an ad you won’t need to run it as often and you’ll end up saving money.

Learn how to write ads that get a better response with The 15 Second Marketing Guide.
- The Small Business Marketing Response Expert, Charlie Cook