Newspaper advertising is a robust little monster.  If you’ve ever been “privileged” enough to sit through a newspaper advertisers sales pitch, you will have noticed that there are more choices available for advertising than there are articles in each issue.

The area of the newspaper I am going to focus on is the most profitable for direct sales/leads efforts: the classifieds.

The thing that makes the classified section the most profitable for most businesses is the audience that you reach.  Anyone who goes through the classifieds is either browsing, whether it is looking for deals, better jobs or a new place to live OR they are specifically looking to buy something.  Both of these audiences are very profitable.

Now there are some best practices to keep in mind when creating classified ads.  Although each deserves their own post, I am just quickly breaking them down so you know what they are.

1) The Headline Rules – Make sure your headline reels everyone in to read the ad.  If your ad is getting overlooked, your marketing dollar is going to get absorbed quickly.
2) You Must Have A Clear Call To Action – Your CTA should be clear, concise & easy/fast to do.
3) White On Black Almost Always Out-Pulls Black On White – If you are able to make your classified black with white text you will usually make more money from your campaign.
4) Make Sure You Are In The Right Section(s) – If you need to put the same ad in the classifieds twice to ensure you reach your entire prospect base over multiple categories you should (but talk to your rep about giving you a min. 25% discount).

The classified section should generally be used to serve 2 purposes.  The first purpose is to generate leads.  The second purpose is to sell a product or service.  What’s really great is you don’t even need to have a product or service.  You could approach countless service businesses and offer to generate leads for them through the classifieds.

You can generate leads, sales or even potential employees on the companies behalf and set it up on a “per sign-up” fee.  To maintain control of you leads you simply need to direct them to your own phone numbers or landing pages.

Once you test a business ad a few times you will have a general idea of the conversion rates and will be able to ensure you always make the best profit margins available when selling leads.

Of course, if you can find a product that is deliverable, you can duplicate your successful ads nationwide.  This is certainly the most profitable means, however, there’s no reason why you couldn’t duplicate your successful joint ventures in the service sector nationwide as well.

If you look around at service business, you will notice that there are many who are more than willing to pay anybody $50, $75, even $500 for leads that convert.  When you compare this to the costs of $20-$200 to run an ad for an entire month which could generate as many as 20 leads for you to sell, you see that the classifieds truly are the most profitable pages in the newspaper.

Some people cringe when thinking about selling through the telephone.  If you are one of those people then forget it.  Go read up on selling by snail mail or something, because you need to be into selling by phone to sell by phone.  Usually, the insane profits are enough to instil passion about telemarketing.

Telemarketing is still a numbers game, and if you simply follow the basic rules of selling by phone, the mathematics of telemarketing will do the heavy lifting for you.

The basic rules of selling by phone are simple;

Ignore the first 6 NO’s

Always have the other person’s best interests at heart

Be Polite Professional & Friendly every second of the telephone call

Know Your Product

Stand & Smile When Speaking

Be Persistent

Do Not Stand Idle.  Always Be Dialing, Talking Or Listening (unless You have a profile of the prospect, then you should spend time researching… just be careful you don’t spend too much time researching).

If you follow these rules then you will have done everything you can to be successful.  The offer and the list will determine how successful.

The mathematics of telemarketing are as follows

Number Of Dials = Number Of Contacts = Number Of Pitches = Number Of Decisions = Conversion Rate

The more you increase the number at the top level (Number Of Dials) the more the bottom level number (Conversion Rate) increases.

Here’s an example:

100 Dials

60% Convert To Contacts  = 60 Contacts

25% Are Available To Listen To A Full Pitch = 15 Pitchs

80% Make A Decision On The First Phone Call = 12 Decisions

8% Make A Purchase =  1 Sale

If you increase the number of dials you make in a day from 100 to 1,100 you can be pretty certain that you will gain about 10 new customers.

I am completely at your command. Half the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed - you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great people; and alas, of all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures. I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a human.

You may run me for a profit or run me for ruin - it makes no difference to me. Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.

WHO AM I?

I AM HABIT.”

The internet has no ends to the places you can place a link to your site that may or may not generate any traffic.  I believe that to be among the most over-used, under-utilized means of advertising that exists today.

For some reason there’s people who believe that we internet users spend our days going through comments on obscure blogs looking for a comment that reads “hey check out my site.  It is The bomb, www.PROzaQ.com/thodfnnvfrjbktjhjyujyouktykdflklfkdvvnd.html” so we can shop for something that we didn’t know we needed.

I do believe that as internet advertisers we need to approach consumers throughout the buying cycle to offer relevant helpful advice and information while continuously leading them to our products & services.

The very best place I have placed links is through Yahoo Answers.  Now, I would say that there are a dozen other sites similar to YA that are just as useful, if not that they’re smaller, and if you can invest the resources into being a participant on those sites, you should definitely do it.

Basically, I use YA as my customer service department.  I believe the internet will evolve to emulate the benefits of retail stores.  This includes having a customer service person you can ask questions to.

These questions can be related directly to the product (is it small, is it useful, does it smell, etc. etc.) or it can be related to the end use of the product (What’s the best…” I need XXX, Should I Buy AAA, BBB, or CCC? Etc, Etc.).

The main focus is developing a relationship with the shopper throughout the buying cycle.  The buying cycle always starts with a problem or a desire arising.  To approach this part of the buying cycle you would look for questions related to the problem the product solves or the benefit/end use of the product.

The next part of the buying cycle for most consumers is when they know what product they need in order to fulfill their need, and are now deciding on the important attributes of it.  This is where you will educate them on the product’s features, and answer their questions on quality, cost ranges, and durability.

When they are fully informed about the products features they will want to compare the products that fit inside their internal cost range.  Here you will show them the different products available to meet their need.  You will show the positives and negatives of each, as well as offer your own opinions (if you have one) about which to buy.

The final part of the buying cycle is when the consumer knows the exact product they want, and are looking for the best deal.  At this point there are a number of variables.

I always look at my contributions to the consumer throughout the buying cycle as “buying decision currency.”  You see, I don’t believe people gauge the best deal solely on the price.  I see it more as a sliding scale, like this:

Price =                               20% - 70%
Trust =                               20% - 50%
Guarantee =                    10% - 40%
After Sale Support =   30% - 60%
Current Relationship = 60% - 95%

I have to offer a wide range of percentage because the importance each consumer places in these core areas varies greatly from person to person.

By using Yahoo Answers to answer consumer’s questions throughout the entire buying cycle I am winning their trust while properly educating them on your guarantee and after sale support.

And when they have reached the buying stage of the buying cycle, you have formed a current relationship while branding yourself as the expert to this consumer.  This will generally put you closer to the 95% range in the Current Relationship category.

I can not stress enough how important it is to offer really good quality, relevant information.  You must be thorough (willing to write 400-2,000 word answers) and offer links to your web pages only when appropriate.

I generally get 3-7 links into my responses, but I don’t believe one of them is inappropriately placed, and my high click through rates strongly agrees.

People are always asking me how to increase their business potential.

The answer to any successful online or offline business is Knowledge. The “how to” is all that makes the difference between coming second or first.

Visit http://infinitenewcustomers.com or http://infinitenewcustomers.com/blog

Headline has the power to create the very first and good impression on the reader’s mind. Though you have written a wonderful article, but if you have not given an apt headline or if you give an unattractive one, people will lose interest to read further.

Apart from grabbing the attention of readers, an avid and interesting headline also has the ability to convey the entire meaning to prospective clients. In fact, headline is necessary for enticing the readers to read your entire document.

Rules for Effective Headline Writing:

1.      Communicate and convey something informative   This is the most significant thing when you want to invite traffic to your web site. Thus, providing factual and appropriate information in your headline will tell the people what the entire document is offering. Always keep the headline brief. However, state what is important in a simple yet powerful way, which will lure the readers to read further.

2.      Know your target audience   Your headline in a way needs to clasp people. However, be aware of your target audience and frame the headline accordingly. Thus, bind the readers accordingly with your headline. In simple terms, your document’s headline needs to emphasize something interesting, eye-catching, and newsworthy for the audience to read.

Remember that what is interesting to your target audience may not sound interesting to an average person having no interest to such things. Similarly, remember that what seems catchy and interesting to you may not exactly be the same for your audiences.

3.      Do not try to be cute   Many times people opt for writing cute words in their headlines. This is viable for any local newspaper. However, if you are publishing your article online, never do so. Clever and cute headlines are often misunderstood. People are not able to relate to the headline with the main content and thus tend to flee away from your web page.

4.      Stand Alone   Always remember that the headline in your article has to stand solo, as your headline may appear in RSS feedbacks or Internet search results probably with minimum relevancy. Thus, the headline has to speak significant ideas on its own. You cannot rely on photos or teasers to fill up the context.

5.      Put in your prime keywords   The keywords your article has to appear in the headline also, because it is a primary search engine optimal strategy. If the headline is communicating in a clear manner, you may include those keywords throughout your article. This will help readers to understand the essentials of your article.

6.      Use active voice   Efficient headlines involve reasonable sentence formation, powerful verbs in present tense, and active voice. Excellent headlines always include good and active verbs.

Overview: Finally, writing an appropriate headline will not only establish you as a popular blogger and writer, but will also help you to be a profitable businessperson.

Learn how to leverage your business online and offline visit http://www.infinitenewcustomers.com Work smart not hard

The real power of blogs is the ability to tap into the blog suppliers search engine.  For example, I have blogs that were developed to lead readers to my web sites.  These blogs get 28, 76 & 180 hits per day.  This is genuine traffic that comes from blogger.com & wordpress.com.

To create a blog that will generate traffic you need to initially put yourself into the shoes of the searcher.  You need to be SEO conscious of course, and use keywords that are relevant to the searcher you are looking to attract.  You need to think of what keyword phrases you would use to find information you are presenting in your blog.

You also want to create headlines that would make you stop scrolling to read.  Most people glance for a whole second at your blogs caption.  If you can’t hook someone that quickly, you won’t be generating much traffic.

Your blog posts will display higher in the rankings providing you are updating your blog regularly.  If you can add 1-10 blog posts per day, you should see constant traffic being sent for free.

The blog posts you create should not have any links put into the first paragraph unless it is completely appropriate to do so.  The reason is, the search engine uses the first part of your post (usually the first paragraph) in the search engine results page.  If you have links in your post people will immediately believe it to be spam and will move on.

Obviously strong spelling, grammar & punctuation skills are standard.  Any more than one mistake in your blog post and your readers will have formed a very negative opinion of your writing.  You can correct 99% of errors by simply running a spell check on your work.

You can link your blog posts to keep your reader reading.  For example, if you have written a post about Baby food, you may want to offer the reader your past blog post on diapers.  Linking relevant articles will keep the reader within your “web.”

Always start your blog with your end goal in mind.  If, for example, you want to sell a product, then you should clearly define that as your goal when starting your blog.  Knowing the goal of the blog will allow you to keep your posts consistent, and you will flat out make more sales.

Most importantly, stick with it.  I can’t tell you how many blogs I’ve seen just stop updating right before it was going to take off.  If you don’t give your blog time to develop you will not have very much success blogging.

If I were to send you to 20-30 random sales letters on the internet today you would find that the testimonials section is there 100% of the time.  You will also notice that 99% look and sound identical.  If you can switch gears from an entrepreneur to a consumer and read through these testimonials you will feel very un-easy about the authenticity about any one of them.

Testimonials are so important in the sales process.  For the 95% of us who do not run multi-national corporations, we need to constantly work at building trust quickly and more importantly fully.  Trust is the one key ingredient to a sale being made.  If you do not build a certain level of trust in your marketing efforts you will never sell a product.

So, now that I have successfully freaked everyone out about their own testimonial efforts, let me direct you on some ways to build trust through your testimonials, while avoiding the negative condemnation that the generic testimonials convey.

The goal of the testimonial section is to show your prospect that you have served people like them before, and that they have been satisfied with whichever areas you are promoting.  If the prospect believes that the testimonial was fabricated, they immediately devise a negative image of your business, and certainly don’t buy anything.

One of the most effective ways I’ve been able to convey that my testimonials are authentic has been through an audio testimonials campaign.

To begin, I promoted the testimonials by phone throughout the web site.  The banners and text links I used basically all said something like, “Had A Great Experience?  How About A Terrible One?  Phone The Testimonial Line Right Now And Record Your Experience For Other Consumers.  ALL TESTIMONIALS GET PUBLISHED.

Now, if you promote at all testimonials get published, you should be ready to step up to the plate during customer problems or you will be getting negative testimonials sent.  If you don’t list them the person who left the negative testimonial may go viral about exposing your “Fake Testimonials” and the business can expect to die shortly after.

On your sales letters, offer the MP3 audio file of the testimonial calls you have gotten, as well as the written highlights from your testimonials.  By doing this you are showing people that your testimonials are authentic, and that you are proud of your reputation with your customers.

If you do not have the means to get audio testimonials you can also do the same with video (although this has been done, and still has the “fake” feel to it), or handwritten letters.  Handwritten letters about your business have a certain level of authenticity to them; however, if the handwriting looks the same, or the “voice” of each person sounds the same, people may feel like they’re reading fake testimonials.

Newspaper advertising is a robust little monster.  If you’ve ever been “privileged” enough to sit through a newspaper advertisers sales pitch, you will have noticed that there are more choices available for advertising than there are articles in each issue.

The area of the newspaper I am going to focus on is the most profitable for direct sales/leads efforts: the classifieds.

The thing that makes the classified section the most profitable for most businesses is the audience that you reach.  Anyone who goes through the classifieds is either browsing, whether it is looking for deals, better jobs or a new place to live OR they are specifically looking to buy something.  Both of these audiences are very profitable.

Now there are some best practices to keep in mind when creating classified ads.  Although each deserves their own post, I am just quickly breaking them down so you know what they are.

1) The Headline Rules – Make sure your headline reels everyone in to read the ad.  If your ad is getting overlooked, your marketing dollar is going to get absorbed quickly.
2) You Must Have A Clear Call To Action – Your CTA should be clear, concise & easy/fast to do.
3) White On Black Almost Always Out-Pulls Black On White – If you are able to make your classified black with white text you will usually make more money from your campaign.
4) Make Sure You Are In The Right Section(s) – If you need to put the same ad in the classifieds twice to ensure you reach your entire prospect base over multiple categories you should (but talk to your rep about giving you a min. 25% discount).

The classified section should generally be used to serve 2 purposes.  The first purpose is to generate leads.  The second purpose is to sell a product or service.  What’s really great is you don’t even need to have a product or service.  You could approach countless service businesses and offer to generate leads for them through the classifieds.  You can generate leads, sales or even potential employees on the companies behalf and set it up on a “per sign-up” fee.  To maintain control of you leads you simply need to direct them to your own phone numbers or landing pages.

Once you test a business ad a few times you will have a general idea of the conversion rates and will be able to ensure you always make the best profit margins available when selling leads.

Of course, if you can find a product that is deliverable, you can duplicate your successful ads nationwide.  This is certainly the most profitable means, however, there’s no reason why you couldn’t duplicate your successful joint ventures in the service sector nationwide as well.

If you look around at service business, you will notice that there are many who are more than willing to pay anybody $50, $75, even $500 for leads that convert.  When you compare this to the costs of $20-$200 to run an ad for an entire month which could generate as many as 20 leads for you to sell, you see that the classifieds truly are the most profitable pages in the newspaper.

It has been my experience that there is only one adviser that will tell you exactly what kind of business to build to be successful.  This advisor is the people within your market segment.  The very best way to begin a business is to do a strong market research campaign directly within the market segment you plan to cater to.  The sample size needs to be significant to be successful.  I’ve used 100% of my market segment to conduct market research with.  Not all 100% of them wanted to participate, but every single one was asked.

The questions you ask need to reflect your goals of the market research.  For example, here’s a list of generic goals that you may have for your market research;

Find Out What Products To Sell
Find Out The Importance Of Price
Find Out The Importance Of Service
Find Out The Importance Of Quality
Find Out The Price Points To Use
Find out The Demographic, Psychographic & geographic effects within the market segment.

By determining these things you can build a business that your market wants.  If you find out that price is the absolute only thing that matters, then all you need to do is position yourself as the lowest price provider.

Your customers will tell you what they want.  If you call on or mail to a prospect within your market segment and they don’t want to take part in your survey, don’t worry about it.  These people always make up the 80% of consumers who account for 20% of your business.  I don’t want to go so far as to say that their opinions don’t matter, but I will say that the top 20%, which make up 80% of your business matter most.  It is their needs,
wants & desires that you should focus on satisfying.

There are benefits with conducting market research directly to your customer base.  See, if you can reach 100% of your market segment and have them tell you what they want, you are essentially re-affirming these things to the consumer.  Remember, you are usually much more involved in your product or service than your consumers are.  By getting your
consumers to ponder the product, you are helping to remind them of what they want, don’t want, and can’t live without.  If you are able to follow-up with a marketing campaign within the subsequent eight weeks, you can capitalize on the market research and raise your conversion rates significantly.

If you can take any one thing away from reading this post it should be this; your market’s opinion is more important than yours.

It is fascinating what the information age has exposed.  Since the first commercial inception of the internet the people have created the largest depository of information in the history of the planet… And we have done it in less than 15 years.

This is due to the power of the “Wiki.”  The power of the wiki refers to the power of the combined resources of a community.  What’s incredible are the benefits to using this power for your businesses growth.

One of the greatest leveraging of the wiki I have ever seen came from a radio station in western Canada (although I’m sure others have used this technique).  The station offered a prize of $50,000 for the single best advertisement anyone implemented.  This was open to the entire city, and there were very few rules for the advertisers to adhere to.

Guess what happened.  The entire city was lambasted with advertising.  There were giant banners made from 40+ giant sheets hanging over overpasses.  There were entire high-rise building covered in advertisements.  It was insane.  Assuming you could get the proper permits to even pull off all these advertisements on your own, an internally created campaign of equal proportion would’ve cost millions of dollars.  Instead, it cost a measly $50,000.

Viral marketing on the internet works similarly, but with minor differences.  Basically, any advertising campaign that has a goal of being distributed or passed along by members of the community constitutes a viral marketing campaign.

Most traditionally, online marketers have opted to “Give-Away” e-books.  Inside these e-books are countless affiliate offers and back-links to products.  Some of the really bad campaigns are basically sales letters that are in PDF format, and being sold as “A Valuable White Paper Report.”

You can get creative when determining your own viral marketing campaign.  Just look for opportunities to have your audience market for you.