Small Business Advice: Don't Lose Your Shirt Buying Ads
Self employed people typically think of buying ads as a way to get the word out about their small businesses. I recently sat next to a woman who spent her last $1000 on an ad hoping and praying that it would bring her loads of customers. It didn't. Many small business owners think of ads as the entire marketing process, when it is only a tiny fraction of the marketing options available to us.
When I moved to Georgia, an ad sales person was hot on my trail trying to persuade me to purchase an ad in their publication that goes out to 100,000 people. I said no-thanks. Here are 4 problems with ad purchasing for small business owners:
Ad Sales Are Not Results-based:
When you buy an ad, the ad sales person is selling you on statistics. That is, how many people their publication reaches and sometimes how many businesses like yours have purchased ads in their publication. But what you really want to know is whether the ad will work. Meaning, will the ad actually bring you clients and customers. That's the goal, right? But unfortunately, self employed folks rarely ask about the results of ads as experienced by other ad buyers. They are blindly sold on the how many people receive the publication.
Is the ad in front of your ideal client:
It doesn't matter that the publication is going out to 200,000 people. The question is, are they your type of people - your ideal client? Often, the root of the problem here is that the business owner has not really identified who their ideal client is, so they're dazzled by the 200,000 number without thinking about whether the profile of the reader matches the profile of their ideal client. You'll need to clearly understand the demographic of the publication to know whether it matches your ideal client and who you're looking to attract into your business.
Do you know how to write an effective ad:
Most ads I read are not effective. It says name of business, phone, location, period. Boring. Ineffective. It's missing important ingredients like a compelling headline and a "call to action." Action wording that invites the reader to do something. Call a number for some important information, come get something for free, etc.
You cannot run an ad once:
Well you can, but it's unlikely to work. This is a common mistake and the ad sales person often doesn't tell you this when they happily take your credit card for that one ad. The small business owner runs one ad with a hope and a prayer (like the woman I mentioned above). The trouble is, one ad is rarely effective. You'll need to run an ad a few times (think months) in the same publication because with marketing, repetition is what works. Unfortunately, ads are so expensive that few are able to afford thousands of dollars to run ads repeatedly in order to achieve the desired result.
So for self-employed people who are trying to market their businesses on a shoe-string budget, ads may not be the best approach. As I mentioned, there are countless ways to market your business. And many business owners effectively market their business without running ads at all. I'd say try some "guerilla marketing" approaches before you go down the path of losing your shirt buying ads.
And now I'd like to offer you the FREE Audio for solo entrepreneurs "How to Create a Steady Stream of Clients And Cash For Your Small Business" at: www.GreatSmallBusinessAdvice.com Copyright ) 2008 Allison Babb International LLC. Allison Babb is an author, speaker and Small Business Coach to solo entrepreneurs. She is also the creator of www.TheSmallBusinessSuccessMovie.com
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