Advantages and Disadvantages to a Few Advertising Mediums

In our bustling consumer society, we are absolutely surrounded by advertising--some effective and helpful, others superfluous and obstructive.But what business owners want to know is what types of advertising can really tap into their market base without crossing into the realm of propaganda or worse, obnoxiousness?

As we all know, there are countless ways to reach an audience.Let's go over some advantages and disadvantages of a few of them.

First, we have the inevitable advertising method that arose with the advent of cars and highways: the billboard.Depending on the location, renting a billboard for advertisements may either be very cost effective or extremely expensive.In the heart of Los Angeles, it may cost you up to ten thousand dollars a month, while in a rural location or a small town, it may be as little as three-hundred dollars a month.

The main reason why advertisers choose to use billboards is because they are huge and eye-catching.It is very hard for passersby to miss a huge, brightly colored sign.They are particularly advantageous on long stretches of open highway, where there is little else to look at!

Furthermore, there are now electronic billboards which are able to shift between advertisements.This has been a great technological advancement for advertising on billboards, making them more brightly lit and striking.

However, a billboard can say little, as any important information must be written in large enough print to be read from afar.This means that meaning is often conveyed through pictures, which also help to keep the advertisement interesting.But the more "artwork," that is included, the more costly the billboard becomes.

Another very large ad comes in the form of pre-movie showing commercials which are featured before the upcoming movie trailers.Like billboards, they have the advantage of being difficult to miss, as they are directly in front of potential consumers.

But one major disadvantage is that as movie-goers shuffle into the theatre, get settled, or get up again because they realize they really do want popcorn, it is unlikely that many people will absorb and remember anything advertised.Before a movie begins, many people are also unlikely to fix their attention to the screen.

On a smaller scale, a common method used for local advertising is the distribution of printed fliers.They are cheap and require no maintenance after they leave your hands.But the issue with this is that they so often get discarded.
One way to rectify this problem is to place a flier in hallways or public restrooms, with tear-off contact information for any interested parties.This wastes significantly less paper, which saves you money in the long run.

Another popular route is that of the advertising refrigerator magnet.Even in mass production, they end up being fairly reasonably priced, but do be mindful that if they are discarded, it would cost you more than a simple sheet of paper.Also, they take longer to produce, so if you are in dire need of an immediate advertisement, this may not be the solution for you.

But the great advantage is that many people do end up saving magnets due to their sheer usefulness.Even if they do not act upon the advertisement right away, they will have plenty of time to see it on their refrigerator day after day, and constant exposure is a great tactic in advertising.

About the Author

If you are interested in ordering a customized advertising magnet for your business, be sure to check out American Printing & Promotions (http://postcardmagnet.

com/), the leaders in professional but cost-effective magnet making.Art Gib is a freelance writer.

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Tell Your Business Book's Story To Everyone . . . But Spend Little

Everything comes to him who waits -- among other things, death.

--Francis Herbert Bradley

Most of what people will tell you about promoting a new business book is a lot of nonsense.

How do I know that?I spent a lot of time, money, and effort following what turned out to be bad advice.

Here's what you should do instead:

1.

Put up brief excerpts where people who like to read business books will find them (snippets located at online book sellers are especially effective).

2.Send excerpts by e-mail to anyone who wants them.

3.offer to convert parts of your book into materials that others want to promote for their purposes both online and off.

4.Let anyone who reviews business books and wants a copy have one or a PDF.

5.Write lots of online articles that include key concepts from your book.

Here's how I know that's good advice: I learned it gradually after many business books for which I tried to follow the traditional advice.In fact, most of your readers will come from these methods rather than direct promotions or word of mouth.

Now don't get me wrong: If you are a famous CEO, you can follow the traditional advice.If you merely have good ideas that will help people, you'll need to follow the advice that I've given you.

As a new author, I received a lot of advice about how to successfully launch a business book.I spent time discussing the subject with friends who had written business best sellers.

I also read interviews with best-selling business authors about what they felt had contributed to their success.Members of the 400 Year Project steering committee also had ideas about how to get the word out.

Clearly, everyone had an idea for how to get someone else interested ...but no one seemed to want to take the exponential solution process into his or her own organizations or personal life.That reaction should have told me something.

But I was so caught up with the advice for attracting others that was so enthusiastically given that I didn't notice that the well of enthusiasm for our work wasn't very deep.

A common piece of advice was to get advance copies out to as many decision leaders and influencers, such as CEOs of major companies, authors, media figures, reviewers, and social leaders, as possible.Having heard that advice very often, I took the direction seriously.

Thousands of advance copies and autographed versions of the first printing poured out of our office like a hundred year flood.Federal Express probably had a record year based on our heavy air freight volume.
I waited.I waited some more.Then I waited a little longer.

Then I got the first clue that hit home: A friend who worked in Harvard Square reported that the copy we had sent to the Harvard alumni magazine where I had labored as a youngster was being offered at a local used book shop for $1.00.

I later learned that the people I had sent the materials to often received as many as 100 books or advance reader copies a day.Some local charity, library, or used book seller was the inevitable recipient of this unsought largesse.

I should have remembered our own surveys of CEO reading habits: CEOs are busy people and usually don't read many books until after they retire.Even then, business books are low on the list of preferred reading.

We finally realized that the advice to distribute advance copies was only good for those who could command attention because of who they were, something that didn't apply to me.

Fortunately, our publisher prided itself on doing a great job of attracting book reviews, and I soon found that some of our review copies found their way to people who were writing favorable reviews.Unlike Broadway where you find out whether or not you've got a hit by reading the reviews just a few hours after the curtain goes down on opening night, book reviews trickle in.

But within four months, I learned that people who read the book almost always liked it even if they didn't seem to apply it.That was some good news.

About the Author

Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage.

Read about creating breakthroughs through and receive tips by e-mail through registering for free at

http://www.

2000percentsolution.com

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