Have You Become An Advertising Victim?

If you have…don’t feel too bad.  In our previous lives
(as financial advisors) we made this mistake repeatedly
in the early years.

It’s all too easy to make.

Why?

Because business owners are usually good at the “thing”
their business does for their clients.

For Example…
carpet cleaners are good at cleaning carpets,
mechanics are good at fixing cars,
retail shops are good at carrying and displaying merchandise
that people want,
restaurants are good at creating the right atmosphere and
serving great food,
copier sales companies are good at knowing how a particular copier
will help you be more efficient or save money.

You get the idea.

Unfortunately most business owners are not trained in the
art and science of response driven marketing (and don’t have time
to learn it).  So like we did back then - they simply take the
advice of whom they are advertising with (yellow pages, val-pak,
local paper, etc).

Seems logical, doesn’t it?

I’m sure you have had advertising people tell you “You need to get
your name out there so when people think of (fill in your business here)
they call you.” This is the advertising salesperson’s standard pitch.

They want you to put your face on restaurant place mats, on billboards,
on shopping carts, penny saver, on radio, TV, newspaper ads, etc.
It seemed logical to us way back when, so that’s exactly what we did.

The only problem was that it didn’t work.

When I confronted these sales people, I found out that they must get
this a lot since they all had a standard reply, “You got to give it time.
Keep running it and you will get responses.  Remember, the key is getting
yourself noticed and getting your name out there.  It’s all about repetition.”

That’s a load of Bull!!!

Before you judge what I’m saying…let me say that many of those advertising
mediums would/could work if, and this is a big IF they are done properly.

The sad truth however, as much as 90% of these DO NOTHING to bring in
more business.

The reason: Most of these ads are nothing more than a business card.
They give name, address, phone and a little about the company.  Things
like…”10 Years of Great Service to Area Residents”, or “Million Dollar Producer”.

Most all of these ads are ME or Company focused.  Not a good thing
if you actually want someone to respond.

So what’s the big lesson for today?

YOUR ADS SHOULD BE ABOUT A SPECIFIC BENEFIT TO THE PROSPECT!!

NOT YOU OR YOUR COMPANY!   People care about what’s in for them.

Not about your years in business, or awards you’ve won, or really anything
else—except what value you can bring to them.

You can always tell them later about your years in business and the
awards you’ve won.

But this I am pretty sure of…if you start there you will never get
the chance to help them with your product or service because they most
likely never respond to your advertising!

Dedicated to increasing your cash flow,

Karry and Chad