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5 Important Advertising Tips

1) Advertising is Key! Truth is…you can’t afford not to advertise. Statistically speaking, research shows…companies that maintain their advertising throughout a recession are poised to reap benefits over their competitors, who do not advertise, especially once the market begins to recover. Therefore, slightly increasing your advertising in order to get the edge over your competition is a good idea. However, if you’re not in a position to do that, try to maintain your normal spending levels if at all possible. First and foremost… advertising is the promotion of a company’s products or services carried out essentially to drive sales of the products or services, but also, to build a brand identity and communicate any changes or new products or services to the customer base. If you want to grow your company’s profitability and improve your bottom line…you must ADVERTISE!

2) Choose your advertising method wisely. Here are some options.

a) Print advertising: newspapers, magazines, brochures, fliers & direct mail

b) Outdoor advertising: billboards, kiosks, trade shows and events

c) Broadcast advertising: Television, Radio and Internet

d) Covert advertising or in layman’s terms “product placement”: now this is the advertising you see in motion pictures-or with sitcoms on TV…this is a unique form of advertising that companies do to showcase their product or service.

e) Public Service advertising: is traditionally reserved for socially relevant messaging, political integrity, poverty, religious or civic events, nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organizations.

f) Celebrity advertising: of course this is when a famous person is asked to be a spokesperson for your product or service. Today there are growing companies that bank on the power and influence of celebrity advertising. In most cases, the celebrity lends instant credibility and influences the target customer base positive manner thereby increasing the company’s profitability.

3) The difference between having an advertising plan and having an advertising strategy is critical. It’s like this…if you want to get from point A to point B that’s your plan. Your strategy is how you’re going to do it. For example if my plan is to drive to Savannah then I have to formulate a strategy on how I’m going to get there…either by car, plane or train etc. Once I determine the how, then I must map out my route…that’s my strategy. Your advertising plan consists of what your goal is. For instance, let’s say your plan is to increase sales by 30% and promote your special July 4th sale including half off of everything in stock. Well the advertising strategy must include the execution of the plan. If you want to inform your prospective customers about your sale…you’ve got to figure out “the how factor”…how are you going to get that message across? What vehicle will you use? Then you must strategize an effective campaign relaying the pertinent information to the target audience utilizing a creative advertisement to effectively communicate your message. You may decide to combine flyers, TV, radio & internet along with a celebrity endorsement. So the advertising plan and advertising strategy are very different but function in partnership…because one doesn’t work effectively without the other.

4) The one key word to use in advertising The best word in advertising is…”FREE” anything free is going to instantly grab attention and make your customer curious to find out what is being offered for free! However, if you’re limited on what you can offer for free…there are other advertising techniques you can use…i.e., special offers are nothing more than good old fashioned “bribery” because you hook the customer with the BUY ONE GET ONE OFFER or Buy TWO GET ONE HALF OFF! This technique is very effective because you have given the customer an incentive to spend more!

5) The most important element in effective advertising The industry terminology is called “THE CALL-TO-ACTION.” But I like to call it, the WOW Factor or the “Special Sauce.” In today’s society we are spoiled. Most of us want everything now, at our convenience and deeply discounted. Consumers today don’t want to spend too much time or energy looking for a great deal. Most importantly we look for a quality product or service at a great price. Thus, the key for any company or business…is to offer their target audience something unique that’s going to “knock their socks off!” However, you must offer something that will influence the target customer to take action right away! The WOW Factor equals activation! To make sure you get that activation; you must give it the KISS test; KEEP-IT-SWEET & SIMPLE!

The Finer Points of Internet Auctions

WHAT IS A PENNY AUCTION?

Penny auctions have exploded in popularity with the massive growth of the internet. However, few people know the true origins of penny auctions.Beginnings actually stretch back to the Great Depression. Those were hard times for everyone, but even harder for farmers. Farmers struggled to bring in steady income because of droughts and crops not selling as well as they had previously. As a result, the banks would foreclose on the farmers who couldn’t keep up with their mortgage payments.

The banks weren’t satisfied with just repossessing the house, they wanted to raise as much capital as possible, so they resorted to selling off the possessions of the owners of the repossessed houses. There was not much the farmers could do about it so they began bidding ridiculously low prices, pennies, on the items while threatening others who dared to bid higher than a few pennies.

The auctions of today hardly resemble their tremulous beginnings. Being part of a penny auction today is exhilarating, fun, and addictive. It combines the selling format of auctioning with a little bit of chance factored in.Auctions are a game of strategy but also a game of luck.

The premise behind penny auctions is giving people the chance to win an item at a drastically reduced price.Auctions make that possible by spreading out the cost of the product among multiple bidders. In order for a person to take part in an auction, they must pay a set price for each bid. For example, if a person wanted to bid on a fifty dollar Amazon gift card then he would spend a dollar for each time a bid placed. If he ended up winning the gift card, then he would only have spent a few dollars for a fifty dollar gift card. Usually penny auctions sell bids in packages.

HOW PENNY AUCTIONS WORK!

The main foundation of penny auctions is the pay-per-bid format. It is the key that allows bidders to win items at the fraction of their retail value and allows the auction owners to keep their site profitable. Most y auction sites run on the same premise: people pay a set amount for each bid, whenever a person places a bid within the closing seconds of the auction time will be added, the last person left with a unique bid after the clocks runs out will win the item. There are a large variety of items that can be won, but they tend to be popular electronics or gift cards to popular stores.

There are two types of auctions: lowest unique bid auction and highest unique bid auction. Lowest unique auction sounds confusing but it is actually quite simple. A unique bid is when only one person has a bid at a certain price. Bids usually start at one penny, a bidder can then place a bid at two pennies. Until another bidder places a higher bid, the most recent bidder will be the lowest unique bid because that was the only bid at two cents and nobody bid higher. However, penny auctions generally don’t stop at one penny. It is not uncommon to find auctions that end up at a couple hundred dollars based on the popularity of the item being auctioned. However, the same principles apply for those auctions. Highest unique bid auctions follow the more traditional auction format such as eBay. The person with the highest bid at the end of the auction wins the item.

Auction site owners turn a profit by selling bids. Say twenty people are bidding on a ten dollar gift card at one dollar per bid, at the end of the auction if there were twenty bids placed in total then the site owner would have made twenty dollars with a ten dollar profit.Auctions do seem like a win-win situation:The site owner makes money while the bidder gets an item for dirt cheap. However, not everyone wins in penny auctions. The people who paid one dollar each bid but left with nothing to show for their investments will not be so happy.

HOW TO WIN!

Penny auction has a lot of chance mixed into it, but one can incorporate strategy that will help raise the chances of winning. Playing smart can make all the difference between gambling and auctioning.

The first crucial tip to winning penny auctions is to know how to manage your bids. Your goal should be to win as much as possible without spending a ton of money buying bids. Managing your bids means that you should already know how much you are willing to risk in order to win an item. The amount of capital you are willing to risk will determine how many bids you can use. Once you know how many bids you have to spend on an item, then you will be better able to manage how and when you place a bid. That will keep you from blowing away all of your bids in the first few seconds of the auction.

The next tip is to practice time management. When fighting in the trenches of penny auctions, you have two enemies: other bidders and time. Knowing when to bid is a must if you want to have success. Placing a bid when there is a lot of time left on the clock is never a good idea. You have to remember that the key to winning a penny auction is being the last one standing when the clock runs out and that each bid increases the amount of time left. It would be a good practice to wait until the last few minutes of the auction before you begin to bid.

The final tip for successful auctioning is to keep your emotions under control.Auctions have a lot of similarities to gambling, and just like gambling, your spending can get out of control. If you keep your emotions level, it will keep you from making rash decisions and blowing loads of cash. Keep your mind clear so that you can gage the behavior of the other bidders and outsmart them.

HOW TO AVOID SCAM SITES!

Penny auctions are a great addition to the web whether you want to win an item that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford or if you simply enjoy the thrill that comes with bidding in auctions. Unfortunately, scam sites have tarnished the reputation of the legitimate penny auction sites. However, there are ways that you can protect yourself from scamers and enjoy your auctioning without having to worry about losing your money due to dishonesty.

Checking the reputation of the auction site before you start spending your hard earned money is always a good idea. Chances are other people have tried the site before you and some of them have left reviews. The reviews are your way to gage whether a auction site is trustworthy or not. If a site is getting overwhelmingly negative reviews, then that is a clear indication that you should steer your business elsewhere.

Another tool you can use to protect yourself is checking the Alexia ranks of the auction sites. Alexia rank will give a solid view of how much traffic the auction is getting. If you see a huge difference in the amount of traffic Alexia is projecting and the amount of active bidders on the site, then warning signals should be ringing in your head. Some auction sites have been known to set up robots that automatically bid on projects in order to keep the auction going and inflate the price. That is known as shill bidding. You can sniff out those sites by comparing the traffic the site should be getting to the amount of users using this site.

CONCLUSION!

New legislation may come out later down the road that will officially make penny auctions gambling, but until then, it is a fun, exciting auction that allows one to win the item they’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford.Auctions are also quite lucrative for the site owners because of the pay-per-bid strategy they’ve incorporated. Penny auctions had humble beginnings with farmers who just wanted to get back at the banks who kicked them out of their house. More recently, auctions have enjoyed an explosion in popularity with the rise of the internet.

There are two main formats fora auctions, lowest and highest unique auction, however they both run on the same premise where the last unique bid wins the item. Winning a penny auction will require a certain amount of mental tactic and a bit of luck. However, you can increase your odds of winning by practicing certain techniques such as managing your bids wisely, learning how to work with the time, and keeping a level head and your emotions under control. When you combine those three strategies to your bidding plan, you will find that you win a lot more often.

It is important that you do your due diligence to protect yourself when participating in auctions. Not every auction is run by honest and trustworthy people. There are people out there who just want to take your money. You can protect yourself by ensuring that you only bid on sites that already have a very positive reputation from real users.

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Starting A Home Based Business In Today’s Economy

Starting a home based business is scary!A home based business can be one of the most rewarding, yet scariest, events of your life. It is very risky, but the potential rewards can be very appealing. This post explores tips to help make your endeavor successful.Make success your goal! When you are starting a home based business, it is important to keep your focus and have a plan. Figure out what you want to accomplish with your business! Determine what success will mean for you.Here are tips for starting a home based business successfully:Don’t let your home business prevent you from networking. Starting a home based business means you’ll have to increase your networking efforts. You’ll need to look for local events where you can show off your business. You’ll be able to meet potential customers and network with businesses you may want to affiliate with.Thinking of running a business from your home? Be sure to research the price ranges of the products or services you will market. Also, know how much you need to make from each sale and how much your clients will pay for your products or services.Do not let your home business blog or website distract customers from your home business! Otherwise, your efforts will suffer! Make sure the blog or website has minimal distractions. You want customers to want to digest the information on your blog and explore it easily.If you are planning on starting a home based business where clients will visit your home, you will need to purchase business insurance. Your business policy will provide coverage for your business assets and liability coverage in case a customer gets injured on your property.When working from home, don’t forget to eat properly! Eating healthy foods is very important to your brain! It will keep your mind clear, efficient, and functioning. Also, don’t over-eat. It’s awfully tempting to raid the kitchen during the day.When starting a home based business, be sure to remind yourself that it is still a business. Keep all receipts for home business expenses, like mortgage, phone, energy, and insurance bills. A percentage of these expenses for maintaining your home can be deducted when you file your taxes. Also, make certain when you begin a home business to consult with an accountant to ensure that you adhere to all local, state, and federal laws regarding starting a home based business. It is essential to keep accurate financial records. An accountant can advise you about available tax benefits.It is sometimes easy to become overwhelmed when running a business from home. Be sure to take time for yourself. Work “me” time into your work schedule so you don’t forget to take some time off. Try not to forget where work ends and family time begins.There are several factors that can increase your chances of success when starting a home based business, despite the hundreds of variables at play. This post is just a fraction of the information you will need to gather as you continue increasing the traffic of your home business blog or website.Does starting a home based business sound right for you?