Thursday, July 13, 2006

Placemat Ad Advertising

Starting a placemat ad business can create more business for you; free advertising and income all while helping other local small businesses advertise their business all at a reasonable price.

This is an idea not new by any means, but it can prove to be very profitable to you if done right. After you have your clients lined up, you will target small local diner's, many will jump at the chance especially when you explain it is "free" it is key to stay away from large establishments like McDonalds or Burger King since the franchise probably supplies the placemats they use.

We all have seen placemats with ads of business offers discounts, coupons or just an announcement that they are around. Many of these ads have games, pictures for kids to color, word find puzzles and more.

Placement ads can be the right vehicle that allows you to advertise your business without paying for all the cost to do it. Here is what you do; go around to local businesses like the pizza shop, new laundromat, auto body shops, new area businesses etc.

You can call around or visit these businesses offering ad space on the new Jonas Placemat Ads give them the best price, target 8-10 businesses the first time around offer them an introductory price, one that will you costs for printing, and mileage and other related costs for getting the placemat ads made.

Try to get these businesses to offer a coupon like ad customers love these type of ads, plus it will get them reading the ads as they are waiting for their meals to be made don't forget to make it fun for the kids as well, remember many of these ads are targeted for kids, you can add a twist by adding the ads of local business as well.

Remember to leave at least two slots empty for your ad and one for the printer so that you can negotiate the price for the absolute lowest you can get.

It may be a good idea to offer the printer the free ad space on each printing as long as he is willing to give you the absolute lowest and best price. If this does not work with you on this shop around someone will be willing to take you up on this offer it can be a win-win situation for both of you.

You can start with 2,000-3,000 at first make sure you make it clear to your clients that the price they are buying the advertising at is only an introductory price of $59.95, so when you follow up with them in a few weeks or month or two later they are aware that the cost is up a little because it was the introductory price. Going up $10.00-$20.00 dollars may not seem so bad especially when you explain that they could not get such a wide audience at this low of a price elsewhere.

Try to keep the cost under $99, this is sure to be hit, also if you can fit somewhere on the ads that in order to get the discount offered you must bring in the ad. This will also show as proof the business owner or manager that it is in fact working. This may also be a key factor in getting them to re-new advertising with you in a month or two on follow-up.

The key here is you to get out of the deal 1) free advertising for your business and 2) the printing costs (at least a large part) paid for by your clients who have buy the ad in your new Jonas Placemat Ads service.

In conclusion, as you can see just from some of the ideas presented here this could be something that could be very profitable for you plus the possibility of a new side business for you. While creating a vehicle for you to advertise your business for free. It is key to keep it at a reasonable price (under $99) so that other business will be happy to give it a try.

Michelle Cobbs is the site administator of several sites ranging from home business ideas to building a real estate investing business. Visit here online at http://home-making-money.com/

Advertising For The Long Haul and Not the Short Term Gains

New Age Media Concepts issues its first article of many that will focus on the advertising and marketing industry.

"If a young man tells his date she's intelligent, looks lovely, and is a great conversationalist, he's saying the right things to the right person and that's marketing. If the young man tells his date how handsome, smart and successful he is -- that's advertising. If someone else tells the young woman how handsome, smart and successful her date is -- that's public relations." By S.H. Simmons.

Welcome to New Age Media Concepts, Inc. where we understand your needs and how to maximize your marketing dollar.

Marketing is your strategy for allocating resources (time and money) in order to achieve your objectives.

People have their own unique perceptions of the world based on their belief system. The most innovative ideas, the greatest products, or a superior service succeed only when you market within the context of people's perceptions. This is true from something as simple as the pet rock craze of the 1970s to the marketing muscle of Wall Street and the Internet boom of the 1990s.

Context can be many things, singly or simultaneously. To name a few, you may market to your customers within the context of their wants, needs, problems solved, or situation improved. Current and potential advertisers need to be aware of many other contexts, such as social and economic trends or governmental regulations.

People don't just "buy" a product or a service. They "buy" the concept of what that product will do for them, or help them do for themselves. People just don't "buy" a laundry detergent, they buy the perceived notion of what that laundry detergent brand says it can accomplish for them. Otherwise every brand in the supermarket will be a no-frills. This is not to say that if a product fails to meet the customers' expectations that product will be successful in the long haul. No amount of advertising and marketing will help a failed product succeed in that scenario.

To have a successful campaign a product or service must understand that they need to start out with something a consumer needs, wants, or improves their situation and that product or service actually does help the consumer for the long haul.

The New York Times said it best in a recent article, "Companies can't Buy Love with Bargains" Building brand loyalty is more than just hyping the consumer into buying a product, it's gaining their trust and the trust of their family both today and for years to come. One example of great brand building is H.J. Heinz, (NYSE: HNZ) they have been around for decades and they gained the loyalty and trust of the consumer spanning generations, now that is great brand building.

Anyone could hype a brand for short term gains but that doesn't accomplish the goals of the advertiser or the consumer. It looks good initially but what happens when the product isn't flying off the shelves any longer and the consumers have lost trust in the product or the company?. Of course you need new and innovative ways to get your message to the consumer but this message has to be geared to building consumer loyalty and not just hype. Even the largest companies make this mistake and pay for it with decreased sales and profit margins.

So whether a consumer is buying a car from Ford (NYSE: F) , a can of beer from Anheuser Busch (NYSE:BUD) or software from Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT), the advertiser needs to cater to the needs of the consumer.

Louis Victor has been involved in the investment, advertising, marketing and public relations industries for close to two decades.
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