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By Bob Leduc

These 5 common advertising mistakes cause you to lose sales. But you can easily avoid these mistakes once you become aware of them.

1. Stop and Go Advertising 

Many businesses reduce their advertising when they are getting plenty of sales. Then they increase their advertising when sales decline. This pattern of stop and go advertising creates a repeating cycle of high sales volume and low sales volume. It also prevents the business from growing.

Develop and follow a plan of regularly scheduled advertising regardless of your sales volume. Continuous advertising produces steady growth. It also reduces the time you have to spend on making advertising decisions.

2. One Shot Advertising

Businesses often devote all of their advertising efforts to attracting new customers. But they devote little or no effort to cultivating these prospects for future sales.

Most prospective customers will not buy the first time they hear or see your sales message. But many will buy later if you follow up with them. Your follow up can be as simple as contacting them periodically with a new offer.

TIP: Customers are prospects too. Stay in contact with them. Find or develop other products or services you can offer them. It’s easier to make a sale to a previous customer than to someone who never bought from you.

3. Copycat Advertising

Businesses often copy their competitors advertising ideas. This can be effective for a short time. But results quickly decline as more and more competitors copy the same idea.

Instead of copying your competitors advertising ideas, improve on them. Create something better - something your competitors cannot copy.

For example, give your customers a reason to buy from you instead of from a competitor. This can be as simple as including a unique bonus only you can offer - or providing the personal attention your competitors are not willing or able to provide.

4. Scatter Shot Advertising

Many businesses get poor results from their advertising because they reach too many prospects with little or no interest in what they are selling. This often occurs because they choose the cheapest advertising instead of looking for low cost targeted advertising.

Take some time to research and plan your advertising efforts. Look for ways you can reach concentrations of prospects likely to be interested in your product or service. Then design your message to appeal specifically to their interests and needs.

TIP: Look for alternative media your competition may be overlooking. For example, many online marketers have started using direct mail postcards to generate traffic to their web sites. It’s a low cost way to bypass the heavy competition online.

5. Self Focused Advertising

Advertisers often promote facts about themselves or their products in their advertising. But facts don’t sell. Benefits sell. For example, which of the following has more impact?

1. “We provide complete marketing services for starting your own business”
2. “No more time clock. Work when you want. Take long vacations”

The first focuses on the company and describes the service it provides. It’s boring and unattractive. The second focuses on the benefit provided by that service. It attracts attention and creates excitement - and generates more sales.

These 5 common advertising mistakes cause you to lose sales. How many are you making? Apply the information revealed in this article to avoid these mistakes - and maximize the results you get from your advertising efforts.

Bob Leduc is a Sales Consultant with 30 years experience in building successful businesses. He just released a revised and completely updated New Edition of his manual, “How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards”, and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. Email: BobLeduc@aol.com Subject: “Postcards” Phone: 702-658-1707 after 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

By Bob Leduc

You will always have competitors. You cannot control their activity. But you can minimize their impact on your business. Here are 3 ways you can position yourself to generate sales with little or no competition.

1. Use Unconventional Marketing Methods

Most businesses use the same marketing methods as their competitors. Adapt some unconventional marketing methods to distinguish yourself from your competitors. Your unique marketing will attract more attention and get more sales.

For example, most online businesses only use online marketing methods to generate traffic to their website. By including some offline marketing, they can bypass the heavy competition online and produce more traffic - and more sales.

Tip: Print your best small ad on a postcard and mail it to prospects in your targeted market. Postcards are inexpensive and easy to use. Most recipients will read a brief message on a postcard.

2. Uncover Overlooked Markets

You cannot avoid competition when you market to the same prospects as your competitors. Look for some new niche markets you and your competitors overlooked. You may uncover a market you can dominate with little or no competition.

Revise your ads, web pages and other sales messages so they appeal specifically to the unique interests and needs of prospects in your new niche market. For example, I recently spoke with a network marketer who singled out the following 3 niche markets. She customized her sales approach for each market to emphasize a different major benefit.

* Stay at home moms: emphasizes the advantages of working part-time at home.

* Corporate employees: emphasizes the opportunity to escape the corporate environment and build your own business.

* Retirees: emphasizes the benefits of generating extra income without schedules or supervision.

3. Establish Yourself As A Specialist

One of the most effective ways to beat your competition is to establish yourself as a specialist in a narrowly defined area of your business. Prospective customers perceive a specialist as an expert in their field - someone with special insight who can to help them in a specific area.

You do not have to abandon your current marketing to establish yourself as a specialist. Just select a unique product you offer or a service you perform especially well and emphasize it in your marketing. Include testimonials from customers and endorsements from other experts to prove you are one of the best.

Tip: A service business that specializes can often charge a higher fee. Customers or clients expect to pay more for specialized service. Some will even consider your higher fee as evidence you are the ultimate expert.

You will have competitors as long as you are in business. But these 3 ways of positioning yourself will minimize their impact and allow you to generate sales with little or no competition.

Bob Leduc is a Sales Consultant with 30 years experience in generating low-cost leads. He recently wrote a manual for small business owners, “How to Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards”, and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. For more info: mailto:BobLeduc@aol.com?subject=Postcards Phone: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

By Bob Leduc

Each of these 3 marketing strategies creates permanent growth for your business — and obstacles for your competition. You can use them repeatedly to add new layers of income to your business.

1. SET UP JOINT PROMOTIONS

Identify the characteristics and activities of your most profitable customers. Look for other non-competing businesses already reaching them. Then devise a way to set up some joint promotions. This proven strategy produces dramatic results — for very little expense.

For example, I once saw a clever joint promotion by a health club and a gourmet restaurant. Both catered to young professionals and business executives in the same town.

The restaurant’s menu included several special dishes recommended by the health club’s nutritionist. It also distributed discount membership coupons for the club. Even their advertising mentioned the affiliation — to attract health conscious customers who often avoid food prepared in gourmet restaurants.

The health club’s monthly newsletters included a reprint of the restaurant’s healthy new menu items recommended by the club’s nutritionist. They also distributed the restaurant’s discount coupons to their members.

2. UNCOVER NEW NICHE MARKETS

Continually look for new niche markets you can serve. Then develop customized versions of your advertising appealing to the special concerns of prospects in each niche. Offer specific solutions to their unique needs and you’ll uncover new groups of customers eager to buy from you.

For example, I recently bought a new computer system for my business from a company because they catered to my specific needs. An ad in a business publication listed their special web site for small businesses customers. There I was able to order the exact configuration of hardware and software I wanted at the price I was ready to pay. They won the sale by catering to my niche.

TIP: One way to find a new niche market is to evaluate your existing customers. Look for groups of customers with similar characteristics you don’t currently cater to in your advertising. Then create new versions of your advertising appealing to their specific needs. You’ll attract a lot more customers just like them.

3. EXPLOIT EMERGING TRENDS

Pay attention to changes you notice in your business and your markets. Try to spot trends you can turn into new sales opportunities — before your competitors. The first company to identify an emerging trend and take action often becomes the market leader in their industry.

For example, many small businesses took advantage of the Internet early in its development. They used it to attract new customers they weren’t reaching off-line and to capture customers from competitors who didn’t yet recognize the business potential of a web site.

TIP: Don’t make sudden major changes in your business to exploit a new emerging trend. Instead, add something to your business to accommodate it. You don’t want to alienate customers who aren’t ready to adapt to the new trend.

Start using these 3 marketing strategies to create permanent growth for your business. Use them repeatedly to continue adding new layers of permanent income without inviting competition.

Bob Leduc is a Sales Consultant with 30 years experience in generating low-cost leads. He recently wrote a manual for small business owners, “How to Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards”, and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. For more info: mailto:BobLeduc@aol.com?subject=Postcards Phone: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV