Posts Tagged ‘direct response marketing’

Business Cards, Yellow Page Ads, And Val-Pak Coupons: What You Need To Know About Them

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

In today’s world, businesses are faced with many decisions when it comes to marketing and advertising. How do you get started? What media to use in your marketing campaigns. These are just a couple of the immediate challenges. The reality is that all of the options available will work to one degree or another. The key to your success, regardless of the medium you select, is to present yourself in a manner that appeals to your prospect. When this is understood, you can be successful regardless of your selection.

Very often people follow the generally accepted trends and styles. This happens with the clothes we wear (anyone remember Beatle Mania?), the beer we drink (what age are you) and the way we advertise in publications such as the Yellow Pages. Look in the Yellow Pages and you will see page after page of similar looking business card layouts and wording. What happens is we start to mentally purge the look-a-likes and carry on until we see something that is different.

The most interesting, and different, ads that I have seen appear as a public service announcement. They have headlines like: Warning! Don’t Even Think of Using a Travel Agent Before Calling FREE Traveler Awareness Hotline! Copy below this ad would offer free advice on how to book the best rate for your next trip. I was scanning the travel section because I was looking to book a trip. This advertisement, because it was different, caught my eye. To make it really successful it also had an 800 number at the bottom to call for a Free Report. There was no sponsor so the whole presentation was non-threatening. I was given a safe way to get information I wanted without having to speak directly to a Travel Agent whose job it is to push, and sell me.

This same method can be used regardless of the medium you select for your advertising. It can be Yellow Pages, Business Cards and Val-Pak Coupons. The key is to use the criteria that make it different, interesting and non-threatening. Even though the principles are basic there is a definite knack to this type of marketing.

There is a company that, over the last 12 years, has developed automated systems that allow business people to incorporate any type of marketing advertising into an overall Marketing Strategy. That company is Automated Marketing Solutions or AMS. They differentiate themselves by not only providing marketing solutions, but by educating their consumers on the proper techniques to use, including how to create the right message depending on the medium being used. It doesn’t stop there. AMS provides the capability for a company to place their ENTIRE Marketing Program on Auto-pilot. Once a business marketing program (including voice messages, e-mails, faxes and other broadcast and mail out collateral) is compiled and sequenced, their Lead Management System or LMS provides the unique ability to maintain and control that program without any further human input.

The benefits to this system are significant time savings on what would otherwise be labor intensive tasks. It also allows for consistency in marketing messages. It means that businesses never need worry about losing customers who misinterpreted your lack of contact for lack of follow up. If you would like to hear more about Direct Response Marketing and how it can benefit your business, visit Automated Marketing Solutions today. Find out how quickly and economically you can implement and start benefiting from AMS tested and proven technology and experience.

If you would like to hear more about Direct Response Marketing and how it can benefit your business, visit Automated Marketing Solutions today.

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The Miracle Of Recorded Messages And How They Make You Money

Friday, January 15th, 2010

As you know, a Recorded Message is a message (recorded in your voice or someone else’s) that automatically starts running when someone calls your special 1-800 number -very similar to your answering machine. Also known as Toll Free Recorded Message Hotlines, recorded messages have been around for many years. Their durability is testimony to their effectiveness. Even with the immense popularity of the Internet, you are still only accessing about 70% of people that you want to. Everyone, on the other hand, has access to a telephone line. Having a Toll Free Recorded Message Hotline as part of your Marketing Program means you don’t have to restrict how a potential prospect might identify themselves to you.

There are many benefits to using this type of technology when you deal with a reputable vendor. They are relatively inexpensive and they can be implemented almost immediately. The only down time is time spent getting your ad placed in a publication targeting your identified niche or prospect base. Hotlines are also simple to include on all of your marketing materials. With a Hotline, your business card now becomes more powerful. The fact that an 800 type number appears in your marketing materials means that people are offered a less threatening way of accessing the information you are making available to them. Therefore there is no fear or anxiety that comes with having to deal with a live person. People are given the time to digest the information you want and make a well informed decision in a time frame of your own making.

The really good companies out there also provide a series of reports that allow you to maximize the potential of your recorded messages. You can see which ones work and which ones don’t and adjust to increase your response rate. You will also see what advertising media is working better so you focus your budget were it will do you the most good. Finally, the Recorded Messages are working for you 7 x 24 so they will outperform any other media you select.

I have discovered a company that provides a full array of marketing technology tools and processes including Toll Free Recorded Message Hotlines. That company is AMS. Their twelve years of experience in Direct Response Marketing has allowed them to develop tested and proven methods for using Recorded Messages. It includes advertising headlines and content to recording the messages themselves. Their experience ensures that even the beginner can quickly integrate and take advantage of the benefits of their technology. And it doesn’t stop there. AMS provides the capability for a company to place their ENTIRE Marketing Program on Auto-pilot. Once a business marketing program (including voice messages, e-mails, faxes and other broadcast and mail out collateral) is compiled and sequenced, their Lead Management System or LMS provides the unique ability to manage and control that program without any further human input.

Significant time saving and consistency in marketing messages are just a couple of the benefits of what would otherwise be labor intensive task. Their system allows for businesses to never worry about losing customers who misinterpreted your lack of contact for lack of follow up.

If you would like to hear more about Recorded Messages and how they can benefit your business, visit Automated Marketing Solutions today. You will be surprised at how quickly and economically you can implement and start benefiting from AMS tested and proven technology and experience.

To learn more about Hotlines and how they can benefit your business, visit Automated Marketing Solutions today. You will be surprised at how quickly and economically you can start using, and start benefiting from AMS tested and proven experience and technology.

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“What 7 Print Yellow Page Ad Design Errors Cost Advertisers the Most Money?”

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

Deadly Yellow Page Ad Design Mistake #1 – Is using Image style advertising and your business name as your headline in your print or Yellow Page ad design. This is the number 1 blunder I see in the hundreds of print and Yellow Page ads that I audit. Small business advertisers try to emulate the huge multi-national company’s ads with Image and Branding style advertising. Image and Branding style advertising is only viable for companies with sales in excess of $100 million per year.

What small business marketers need to be using is Direct Response advertising and marketing strategies. Use the best 2 to 3 benefits cherished by your prospect to create a great direct response headline. To arrouse curiosity my mentor, Dan Kennedy, prefers using a question over a statement as the headline. Either way, you want a compelling headline that rivets your prospect’s attention so that they read every word of your ad. Your business name is unable to accomplish this effect.

 

Deadly Yellow Page Ad Design Mistake #2 – Letting your print or Yellow Page salesperson design your ad. Are you as shocked as I was that the Yellow Page publisher’s aim is to design their ads so that all of them generate the same number of replies. When one ad outperfoms the others, it creates potential legal liability for the publisher due to apparent special favors. So their goal is to design all the ads to perform equally.

Your advertising sales representative has never successfully built a business of their own with highly profitable advertising so they have no track record of success in print or Yellow Page ad design, so they ask, “Do you have a business card?”? I’ll just design your ad from that”, and you get a mediocre ad design. Look for a print and Yellow Page ad design expert who has a track record of success in direct response marketing. Your increase in ROI will more than pay for their money-making marketing strategies.

 

Deadly Yellow Page Ad Design Mistake #3 – Is failing to include an offer. Without an offer, your ad is not a direct response marketing ad. The marketing strategy of an offer for new clients is what gets prospects to call your business first. It is the offer that makes you the prospects best decision to call first and buy from you. Risk-reversal offers make the best offers. To create the most compelling offer, try a free sample or trial offer that removes 100% of the risk of your target prospect sampling what you sell.

 

Deadly Yellow Page Ad Design Mistake #4 – Is failing to include testimonials. No one believes the claims you make about your own business. But testimonials from satisfied clients are pure gold in your advertising. When you use a testimonial system like I have in my Gold Mastery system, 100% of your clients will commit to sending you a great testimonial. Some marketers encourage writing the testimonial for the client. This is an unwise and unscrupulous practice that the FTC is cracking down on with new laws and huge fines being imposed. By letting your clients write their own testimonials, you will get better testimonials than you would writing them yourself. Testimonials are great because they allow a prospect to “hear” what was said even when they weren’t there. The use of testimonials in my marketing agency has dramatically increased the effects of “word of mouth referrals” by expanding their exposure.

 

Deadly Yellow Page Ad Design Mistake #5 – Is failing to use risk-reversal and have a guarantee. Having a guarantee in your ad answers the second question in the prospect’s mind which is, “What is the downside of doing business with this company?” When you offer a risk-reversal guarantee, it lowers the barrier of the new prospect doing business with you, and lets them prove to themselves what a terrific value you provide. Ads with a well conceived guarantee will outperform ads with out one every time. Don’t make the mistake of undervaluing this direct marketing strategy.

 

Deadly Yellow Page Ad Design Mistake #6 – Is describing features, not benefits in your bullet points. I know that small business owners are proud of the equipment they own because they display them in their ads. But the prospect is not familiar with the machine, so listing the machine’s name offers no obvious benefit to them. Simply extract and display the benefits from the features in your ad design?Now make a vertical list of these benefits as your bullet points.

 

Deadly Yellow Page Ad Design Mistake #7 – Is using too many graphics and uncaptioned photos that kill the eyeflow through the ad. You should be able to take a pen or pencil and draw a continuous line through your ad where the eye would go. Adding too many photos and graphics causes the readers eye to miss the copy and moves the prospect’s attention to the next ad. When you use graphics and photos incorrectly, it kills your profits from the ad. I have invested 3 years training in my graphic artist for my direct response marketing agency so that the eyeflow is perfect every time.

Larry Conn has been building his expertise in advertising and direct response marketing for the last 34 years. He is an in-demand direct response marketing expert, marketing strategist, copywriter, author and speaker. Dan Kennedy, Bill Glazer, TJ Rohleder, and other top direct response marketing experts have all included Larry in their books and products due to his Yellow Page ad design and effective application of direct response marketing strategies. Larry offers a 60 Point Advertisng Audit for FREE (0.00 Value).00 for simply visiting his website at www.InstantYellowPageProfits.com

Using Recorded Messages To Generate Profits

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

A Recorded Message is a message (recorded in your voice or someone else’s) that automatically starts running when someone calls your special 1-800 number, much like your answering machine. Also known as Toll Free Recorded Message Hotlines; recorded messages have been around for years. Their longevity is testament to their effectiveness. Even with the immense popularity of the Internet you are still only accessing about 70% of people you want to attract. Everyone, on the other hand, has access to a telephone line. Having a Toll Free Recorded Message Hotline as part of your Marketing Program means you don’t have to restrict how a potential prospect might identify themselves to you.

There are many benefits to using this type of technology when you deal with a reputable vendor. They are relatively inexpensive and they can be implemented almost immediately. The only down time is time spent getting your ad placed in a publication targeting your identified niche or prospect base. Hotlines are also simple to include on all of your marketing materials. With a Hotline, your business card now becomes more powerful. The fact that an 800 type number appears in your marketing materials means that people are offered a less threatening way of accessing the information you are making available to them. Therefore there is no fear or anxiety that comes with having to deal with a live person. People are given the time to digest the information you want and make a well informed decision in a time frame of your own making.

The successful companies provide a lead for a series of reports that allow them to maximize the potential of your recorded messages. You can see which ones work and which ones don’t and adjust to increase your response rate accordingly. You will also see what advertising media is working better so you focus your budget were it will do you the most good. Finally, the Recorded Messages are working for you 7 x 24 so they will outperform any other form of media you select.

Recently I came across a company that provides a full suite of marketing technology tools and processes including Toll Free Recorded Message Hotlines. That company is AMS. Their twelve years of experience in Direct Response Marketing has allowed them to develop tested and proven methods for using Recorded Messages. It starts from the advertising headlines and content to recording the messages themselves. Their experience ensures that even the beginner can quickly integrate and take advantage of the benefits of this technology. And it doesn’t stop there. AMS provides the capability for a company to place their ENTIRE Marketing Program on Auto-pilot. Once a business marketing program (including voice messages, e-mails, faxes and other broadcast and mail out collateral) is compiled and sequenced, their Lead Management System or LMS provides the unique ability to manage and control that program without any further human interaction.

Significant time saving and consistency in marketing messages are just a couple of the benefits of what would otherwise be labor intensive task. Their system allows for businesses to never worry about losing customers who misinterpreted your lack of contact for lack of follow up.

If you would like to hear more about Recorded Messages and how they can benefit your business, visit Automated Marketing Solutions today. You will be surprised at how quickly and economically you can implement and start benefiting from AMS tested and proven technology and experience.

About the Author:

You Can Make Money From The Internet, Even If You Don’t Know Anything About Computers!

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

In marketing circles we refer to the Internet as On-Line Marketing and NO Marketing Program is complete without an Internet presence. That being said, let’s look at some of the reasons why you need to be there.

Websites are an effective way of doubling and even tripling the number of leads you get each month. Why? Well, the Internet attracts a different audience than some of the more traditional marketing methods do although those in the know always explore both avenues. Therefore, when you are on the Internet with your own website you are appealing to a different group of people. You also take advantage of these people surfing because it is easy and non-threatening for them.

This brings up an important consideration. To stop those surfers dead in their tracks your website needs to be credible. This includes the design of the site itself, the content, third party validation and more. This is why it is important to work with a company that not only understands how web sites work but how they look and can provide proven and successful Direct Marketing response techniques to entice and capture those surfers as well as the individuals that know what they want.

An Internet presence also provides your Marketing Program with yet another option of staying in touch and relationship building. It gives you an excuse to send along a friendly e-mail, fax or voice broadcast letting existing clients and prospects know that there is something new at your site that they may be interested in.

The real importance of the Internet to Marketing Programs could fill volumes. But if you are interested in finding out in a crisp and informative way, just what a Website delivered through a knowledgeable marketing partner can do for you, then I would suggest you visit Automated Marketing Solutions today. Here you will find a complete article explaining why you need an Internet presence, how it works, how to integrate it with your current marketing technology, the mistakes you need to avoid and much more. You will quickly see that the Internet is nothing to be intimidated by but a Marketing Tool that will complete and enhance your overall Marketing Program.

About the Author:

Automated Lead Generation, Multi-Step Marketing, and Your Business

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

We are talking about relationships when we talk about marketing. We know that the positive relationships are based on regular contact through a variety of different methods. We call our friends; send cards and flowers to our wives, and employ many other ways of demonstrating our affection to those we care about. When setting out to develop a successful Marketing Campaign it is recommended that we follow this same line of thought.

Selling today is a multi-step process because it has been demonstrated that up to 95% of the people you may touch with your advertising will not yet be in a purchasing mode. This makes it essential to maintain contact with anyone who responds to your marketing efforts. You build the relationship and condition them to the fact that you can be trusted and are knowledgeable about your product or service. This way when the time to purchase arrives, your company will be the one that they associate a solution to their need with.

Although the solution to our marketing challenges sounds simple when we condense it into a couple of brief paragraphs, the reality is quite different. The following scenario is an example of what I mean. Imagine you attract 20 new prospects every month through your marketing and you touch base with each prospect 3 times every month. Touching a prospect 3 times in a month is not excessive by the way. Over a period of 6 months, following this same pattern, you would have to manage 1,260 touches. If you are doing it properly you are also doing this through different media. Imagine the time constraints managing this type of activity would put on your day. The unfortunate reality is that you can’t afford not to do this when statistics demonstrate that you will close 75% more prospects when you DO stay in touch with them over the course of a year.

Recently I came across a company that has spent the last 12 years developing a systematic and fully media featured marketing program that has automated a multi-step marketing capability. That company is Automated Marketing Solutions or “AMS”. AMS provides a full suite of marketing technology tools and processes that allow any company to deliver a comprehensive marketing program using tested and proven methods. But the most significant aspect of their development is that the entire process can be automated. They refer to it as putting your marketing on Auto-Pilot. Heres how it works. Once a business marketing program (including voice messages, e-mails, faxes and other broadcast and mail out collateral) is compiled and sequenced, their Lead Management System or LMS provides the unique ability to manage and control that program without any further human interaction. It captures leads that respond to marketing and places them into the appropriate program for follow up by the LMS itself. Very little, if any, human interaction is required. The benefits to this system are significant time savings on what would otherwise be labor intensive tasks and consistency in marketing messages.

An additional benefit of using their LMS is the retention capabilities of the system. As we know, once you have sourced and converted a prospect, your next most important task is to keep them as a customer. Using AMS Lead Management System means that businesses never need worry about losing customers who misinterpreted their lack of contact for lack of interest. Finally, because of AMS years of experience in building multi-media marketing programs they are able to assist and educate their users on the best methods to use as they build their own campaigns.

If you would like to hear more about Lead Management Systems and how it can benefit your business, visit Automated Marketing Solutions today. You will be surprised at how quickly and economically you can implement and start benefiting from AMS tested and proven technology and experience.

About the Author:

Business Cards, Yellow Page Ads, and Val-Pak Coupons: What you Need to Know about Them

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

In todays world, businesses are faced with many decisions when it comes to marketing and advertising. How do you get started? What media to use in your marketing campaigns. These are just a couple of the immediate challenges. The reality is that all of the options available will work to one degree or another. The key to your success, regardless of the medium you select, is to present yourself in a manner that appeals to your prospect. When this is understood, you can be successful regardless of your selection.

More often than not, people follow the generally accepted trends and styles. This happens with the clothes we wear (anyone remember Beatle Mania?), the beer we drink (what age are you?) and the way we advertise in say, the Yellow Pages. Try scanning the Yellow Pages and you will see numerous pages of similar looking business card layouts and wording. What happens is we start to subconsciously purge the look-a-likes and carry on until we see something that is out of the ordinary.

The most interesting, and different, ads that I have seen appear as a public service announcement. They have headlines like: Warning! Don’t Even Think of Using a Travel Agent Before Calling FREE Traveler Awareness Hotline! Copy below this ad would offer free advice on how to book the best rate for your next trip. I was scanning the travel section because I was looking to book a trip. This advertisement, because it was different, caught my eye. To make it really successful it also had an 800 number at the bottom to call for a Free Report. There was no sponsor so the whole presentation was non-threatening. I was given a safe way to get information I wanted without having to speak directly to a Travel Agent whose job it is to push, and sell me.

The same method can be used regardless of the medium you select for your advertising. Be it Yellow Pages, Business Cards and Val-Pak Coupons. The key is to use the criteria that make it different, interesting and non-threatening. As much as the principles are basic - there definitely is an art to this type of marketing.

I have learned of a company, that over the last 12 years, has developed automated systems that allow business people to incorporate any type of marketing and/or advertising into an overall Marketing Strategy. That company is Automated Marketing Solutions or AMS. They differentiate themselves by not only providing solutions, but by educating their clients on the proper techniques to use including how to create the right message by the form of media being used. It doesn’t stop there. AMS provides the capability for a company to place their ENTIRE Marketing Program on Auto-pilot. Once a business marketing program (including voice messages, e-mails, faxes and other broadcast and mail out collateral) is compiled and sequenced, their Lead Management System or LMS provides the unique ability to control and manage the program without any further human interaction.

The benefits to this system include significant time savings on what would otherwise be labor intensive tasks. It also provides consistency in marketing messages. It also means that businesses never need worry about losing customers who misinterpreted your lack of contact for lack of interest. To learn more about Direct Response Marketing and how it can benefit your business, visit Automated Marketing Solutions today. See how quickly and economically you can implement and start benefiting from AMS tested and proven technology and experience.

About the Author:

Automatic Money Making Secrets - and the Miracle of Recorded Messages!

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

As you know, a Recorded Message is a message (recorded in your voice or someone elses) that automatically starts running when someone calls your special 1-800 number -very similar to your answering machine. Also known as Toll Free Recorded Message Hotlines, recorded messages have been around for many years. Their durability is testimony to their effectiveness. Even with the immense popularity of the Internet, you are still only accessing about 70% of people that you want to. Everyone, on the other hand, has access to a telephone line. Having a Toll Free Recorded Message Hotline as part of your Marketing Program means you dont have to restrict how a potential prospect might identify themselves to you.

This type of technology offers numerous benefits when you deal with a reputable vendor. Hotlines are relatively inexpensive and they can be implemented almost immediately. The only lag time is getting your ad placed in a newspaper or magazine targeting your identified niche or prospect base. Another popular feature of Hotlines is that they are simple to include on your marketing materials. Think of how your business card now becomes more powerful. The fact that an 800 type number appears in your marketing means that people have a less threatening way of accessing the information you want them to receive. Consumers have no fear or anxiety of having to deal with a live person. They are afforded the time to digest the information they want and make a well informed decision in a timeframe of your own making.

The smart business owners also provide a series of reports that allow you to maximize the potential of your recorded messages. You can see which ones work and which ones dont and adjust accordingly to increase your response rate. You will also see what advertising media is working better, which allows you to focus your budget were it will do you the most good. Finally, the Recorded Messages are working for you 7 x 24 so they will outperform any other media you choose.

Recently I came across a company that provides a full suite of marketing technology tools and processes including Toll Free Recorded Message Hotlines. That company is AMS. Their twelve years of experience in Direct Response Marketing has allowed them to develop tested and proven methods for using Recorded Messages. It starts from the advertising headlines and content to recording the messages themselves. Their experience ensures that even the beginner can quickly integrate and take advantage of the benefits of this technology. And it doesnt stop there. AMS provides the capability for a company to place their ENTIRE Marketing Program on Auto-pilot. Once a business marketing program (including voice messages, e-mails, faxes and other broadcast and mail out collateral) is compiled and sequenced, their Lead Management System or LMS provides the unique ability to manage and control that program without any further human interaction.

Consistency in marketing messages, and significant time savings on what would otherwise be labor intensive tasks are just a couple of the benefits of this system. It also means that businesses never need worry about losing customers who misinterpreted your lack of contact for lack of interest.

To learn more about Recorded Messages and how they can benefit your business, visit Automated Marketing Solutions today. You will be surprised at how quickly and economically you can start using, and start benefiting from AMS tested and proven experience and technology.

About the Author: