The Humble Postcard Is Making A Comeback

By George Dodge

If you were a contestant on Jeopardy and the answer was "Postcards," what would the question be?

How about:

"What is one of the most incredibly effective, yet under-utilized methods for driving qualified buyers to your business or website?"

Many businesses think postcards are a little old-fashioned for this era of Internet Marketing, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Online marketers are discovering that using email lists as an effective form of marketing is fading fast due to the unfortunate avalanche of SPAM (unsolicited commercial email)!

Internet Service Providers and individual consumers are now trying to filter out the ever growing glut of SPAM. But, unfortunately the software developed to assist in SPAM control is not terribly accurate and a very large amount of legitimate communications between a business and its customer base is being unintentionally blocked by these filters.

And even if the email does get through, it is often lost among the other 200 or so emails in the receiver’s inbox and simply gets bulk deleted. As a result, email is no longer a reliable method of maintaining contact and building a relationship with customers.

Yet, most small businesses do not have large budgets to conduct full fledged direct marketing campaigns. The humble postcard comes to the rescue! The humble postcard can serve both online and offline businesses well, driving traffic to both brick-and-mortar stores as well as commercial websites.

Famous copywriter Gary Halbert says most people sort their mail over a waste basket. As they mentally separate the mail into two categories, junk and personal, the junk mail drops directly into the wastebasket unopened. But the postcard is already open. It is small and easily read at a glance so the likelihood of the message getting through is increased greatly. And at the same time the production and mailing cost remain economical.

Postcard advertising and postcard marketing are back in vogue. Marketing postcards can be sent to customers as personalized postcards for any number of occasions, including holidays, birthdays, special events, or special offers.

The simple postcard economically helps keep businesses in touch with their customer base and develop that all important relationship between the business and the customer. Promotional postcards should be in every marketer’s bag of tricks!

Are they in yours?

About the Author: George Dodge is owner of Postcard Campaigns a resource site where you can discover how to create winning postcard marketing campaigns for building your business on a budget and where you can download 3 FREE Chapters from the Market with Postcards course

Source: www.isnare.com

Are you content with your online advertising expenses?  Schedule a coaching session with DeAnna Spencer today.  She will design an affordable advertising plan for your small business.
Visit her small business resource site today for more details.

Maximizing Your Advertising Budget
By Spencer Hoyt

Trying to communicate your company’s message can be quite difficult if you’re working with a limited advertising budget. One of the biggest problems with having a small budget is that reaching your audience becomes more challenging since you may have fewer opportunities to put your message out. In order to effectively get your message out you need to make creative choices when deciding which types of media to use.

Buying ad space for TV, radio and magazines can add up quickly giving you a hefty bill to foot each month. To avoid high monthly costs for ad space consider using any space that your company may already own. For instance, if your company is already using vehicles for its everyday business, think about taking advantage of that space for advertising. Fleet graphics are a great way to maximize the use of your company vehicle and make the most out of your advertising budget. Everywhere your company vehicle travels it will take your message along for the ride.

Targeting a specific audience can be complicated at times. You must consider the audience’s demographics before placing a single ad. And then you still have to take a chance and hope that they will see or hear the ad when it airs. Fleet graphics can offer a solution to this common dilemma. Since they are a mobile form of advertising they are constantly coming in contact with different audiences at various times of the day and week in multiple locations.

For some companies the main concern with advertising is whether or not it is working. They want to advertise and then see business increase quickly. The use of fleet graphics can create the fast turnaround that is craved by many business owners. You do not have to wait for your ad to be aired or published for customers to see it. Once it is on the company vehicle it can begin to work for you whether it’s on the road or in a parking lot somewhere.

Various types of fleet graphics are available to meet your needs and reach your audience. Car magnets and vinyl decals can provide you with signage for any vehicle. If you’re looking to make a splash with fleet graphics, bus wraps may be the way to go. Advertising across the side of a bus really commands the attention of passersby. Fleet graphics are durable and long lasting. They are able to remain in good condition even in the harshest of conditions so you can get lots of affordable advertising from them again and again.

Spencer Hoyt is a freelance writer for Pixus Digital
Printing. Pixus is a short
run producer of various types of Adhesive Graphics including Fleet
Graphics.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Spencer_Hoyt

Are you content with your online advertising expenses? Schedule a coaching session with DeAnna Spencer today. She will design an affordable online advertising plan for your small business. Visit her small business resource today for more information.

The Bible – The Source Of All Copywriting Secrets

By Ray L. Edwards

I’ve been a student of the Bible for practically all my life. There is a lot of reason why this book remains the number one best-seller year after year. I think that it is the source of ALL wisdom, yes, including successful copywriting!

What do I mean by this?

Simply put, every copywriting strategy can be found FIRST in the Bible. This may appear to be a strong statement but I challenge the reader to prove otherwise. As I did the research for my latest ebook "77 Ways to Skyrocket Your Website’s Conversion", I kept saying to myself "but that’s in the Bible … that’s in the Bible."

I would like to take a look at FIVE copywriting principles and show you that they are as old as the Scriptures. This article is not meant to ‘convert’ you so read with an open mind … ready? Let’s go!

1. Stress benefits not features.

It’s the Garden of Eden. The serpent approaches the woman Eve to get her to take of the forbidden fruit. Does he rave about the color, taste and texture of the fruit? No, he sells Eve on benefits. "Your eyes will be opened, you will be like God …" (Genesis 3:4). Now that’s a benefit, not a feature at all. And did Eve fall for it? She surely did.

That may seem like a ‘negative’ example – a plain deception. But look at what the book of Revelation promises the "overcomer". Eternal life, health, recognition, wealth and mansions without mortgages.

2. Use lots of testimonials.

If you have just a cursory knowledge of the Bible you know that the gospels of Matthew, Mark Luke and John make up the first four books of the New Testament. They all cover the same ground and share many common stories. So why would we need four different people saying practically the same thing?

You see they all wanted to tell THEIR story about the Rabbi Jesus Christ. So the writers (all satisfied customers) relate the life-changing encounter they each had – the more testimonies the better.

The entire Bible relates stories of peoples encounter with the supernatural and how it affected their lives. In fact, Jesus related to the disciples after His miraculous resurrection that all the Old Testament was really about Him.

3. "Create a damaging admission and address flaws openly"

That’s the title to chapter 3 of the master copywriter Dan Kennedy’s book "The Ultimate Sales Letter". He goes on to explain that if you openly admit the drawbacks of your offer then your credibility goes up instantly with the customer. For example, your price may be higher than your competitors so you may say: "If you are looking to save a few bucks then you can find many other companies who will be willing to give you some ‘quick fixes’. But we provide a very thorough and expert service, hence the higher price"

You are admitting that you are expensive but showing why – the customer gets a superior service.

In the gospels we see many potential disciples who wanted to follow Jesus and he told them openly that it was a sacrificial walk. He told them in no uncertain terms that it involved a "cross", leaving father and mother behind, even possible death – but you will gain eternal life in the process. Talk about a "damaging admission.

4. Place a limit on your offer to motivate procrastinators.

This is a very important element of the "call to action" section of any sales letter. Humans are naturally procrastinators. We always put off what should be done now for a ‘later’ that never arrives. That is why the copywriter must show that supplies are limited or the special offer is for a ‘limited time only’.

In many ‘call to action’ sections of the Bible we see the same warning to procrastinators. "Today if you hear my voice do not harden your heart .." (Hebrews 3:7). In the story of the great flood procrastinators were found outside the ark. Jesus told the story of the covetous farmer who built bigger barns to store his grains not knowing that death would come knocking on his door that very night.

Jesus never sent one of his listeners to go away and think about it. Today … now, was the only time that anyone had. His message was "ACT NOW!"

5. Research your potential customers to know their problems and needs.

Dan Kennedy refers to this as "getting into the customer". Getting into the head and experiences of the customer -walk in his moccasins.

The whole Christmas story is about Jesus getting into the skin – literally – of the customer. The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus is touched by our feelings and infirmities. He became like one of us so that He may understand "the customer" better. That is why he could speak to the needs of the human heart with such authority because he knows what is in man.

I’ve just briefly looked at 5 copywriting principles but this applies across the board. Whether you accept the Bible as just another book or as inspired writings, there is no denying that the principles are there.

I would love to hear from the reader if he or she would like to challenge me on finding a useful copywriting principle that’s not in the Bible.

About the Author: Ray L. Edwards is a master copywriter, published author and Internet Marketing Consultant. You may find more of his inspiring articles by visiting his website. More Copywriting Articles

Source: www.isnare.com

Are you content with your online advertising expenses?  Schedule a coaching session with DeAnna Spencer today.  She will design an affordable advertising plan for your small business.  Visit her small business resource site today for more details.