1. Grab their attention.
Many business owners make the mistake of putting an informational headline at the top of their ad. When in fact, the reader just wants to know: “What’s in it for me?” Your headline should be attention grabbing. And the old adage of keeping it simple still applies so try to keep it to seven words or less.

2. Give them what they really want.
Now that you’ve got their attention, let them know what you are going to do for them.
Keep it easy to read and speak to their needs. Instead of saying, “We offer great deals on pet insurance,” try saying, “You’ll save money with our pet insurance.”

3. Make it simple to understand.
Offer a few bullet points of how you can help your audience. Don’t clutter up your ad with too many photos and text. And of course, do not use technical jargon. You want your audience to understand your message loud and clear.

4. Tell them what to do.
Now that you’ve got your reader’s attention, they need to know what to do next. So tell them. Call today…Visit our Web site at… Act now…etc. If they are interested, they will act.

5. Use the right photos.
If you plan on using a photo to enhance your message, make sure that it is in good taste and high quality. Just because you have a digital camera does not mean that your photography and lighting skills are up to par.

If you plan on using stock photography, make it your own. How many times have we all seen the photo of the woman in the white, one-piece bathing suit wearing an oversized hat looking at the ocean? I can count at least a dozen times and they were for different types of businesses. From tanning salons, to spas, to travel agencies. Whatever happened to branding? No one is going to remember your company if you look like everyone else.

6. Font-astic.
Here again, keeping it simple is key. More than three fonts is too many. If you choose to place text on top of an image, white or yellow text is easiest to read on a colored background. You might have to add a halo or drop shadow depending on the clarity.

Also, headlines in all caps are much harder to read than ones that include upper and lower case fonts. This is especially true with script fonts. They are simply not designed to be used in an all-caps format. As for colored fonts, use them sparingly. You’ll lose impact if you have everything colored.

7. The write choice.
If you can afford it, I would highly recommend that you consult a professional for both your design and copywriting. There is an art to both and many times the two are not found in the same person.

Often when you place an ad with a newspaper and some magazines, they offer their design services. Just be sure that you are clear on what you want your messaging points to be and do not let them bully you into accepting something that is not your brand identity. It may seem like you are saving money, but in the long run, if your audience doesn’t know it’s you and is not motivated to act, your effort and money spent will have been in vain.

8. Location. Location. Location.
Where you choose to place your article is important. Are you reaching your target market? Make sure that the demographic reach of the magazine or newspaper is in accord with your target demographic. If not, don’t waste your money.

9. Don’t blow it.
Don’t spend all of your money on running your ad once. You should place it at least three times. Five to six times would be even better.

Ever listen to a radio ad in your car? How many times do they tell you their phone number? You guessed it, three.

Ever watched a commercial on television and said to yourself, “hey that’s funny.” But you couldn’t remember what it was advertising? The same goes with print material. If people aren’t familiar with you and your company, they need to see you a few times to trust you and to remember you. So don’t blow all of your advertising dollars on a one shot deal. It’s all about repetition.

Hopefully, some of these points will help you make wise decisions when it comes to promoting your business or products. If you have any further questions, call us: (559) 227-0890

Call Central Valley Classifieds for all your Advertising needs!

Central Valley Classifieds
90 E. Magill Ave #102
Fresno CA. 93710
(559)227-0890
sales@cvcads.com
http://www.cvcads.com

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Why Should You Develop a Website?

Offline Business:

First, determine if a website will be a successful marketing tool.

If you are managing an off-line business (a construction company, a bookstore, a restaurant, or any company in the business of producing a product or service in real time) then trying to maintain and promote your own website is going to be a very difficult task.

Your energies must be concentrated on the day to day functions of making your business run. Marketing your business must be handled quickly and cost-effectively, usually by paying someone else to advertise (newspapers, phonebook, radio, magazine ads, brochures, etc.).

However, there are reasons why you would set up a website:

If you have flexible resources, either an employee that you can dedicate to maintaining your website or an advertising budget to pay someone to promote and maintain your site, then setting up your own site could pay off.
Also, if you are interested in a unique way to present information to perspective clients, a website may be an option. This type of website would not necessarily require online promotion. You could begin by promoting your site in your offline advertising. Eventually, you could start promoting online, as well. Basically, you start small and work your way to an effective online presentation.
Online Business:

Two types of online business:

You are considering starting a business or have a business at present which deals in any way with the internet (computers or internet services such as hosting and web design).
You are in the business of marketing other people’s products and services, then a website can be a cost-effective method of promoting your business.
In either of these “offline” instances – a website could be the primary way for you to market your products or services.

Developing and maintaining a website is a time consuming venture:

Whatever type of business you are in – you must realize that developing, maintaining, and promoting a website takes a lot of time and energy. In most cases, it’s not going to happen overnight. Think carefully before you venture to spend money on a website.

Ask yourself these questions:

What is the main goal of my website? Am I trying to get sales or am I trying for a unique way to present my company?
Do I have 20 hours a week to spend updating and promoting my site?
Do I have the time to learn HTML or should I buy a program to help me develop my site?
Do I have the money to spend on the tools that I will need to maintain and track my site?
Do I have the knowledge to create graphics that will make my site look professional? Should I try to stay away from graphics if I don’t have that knowledge?
Do I have an organized plan to promote my site? How much time will it take me to develop an organized plan?
These are only a few of the questions you should be asking yourself. Simply – sit down and think about it before you even attempt to develop a website.

Call Central Valley Classifieds for all your Web Design needs!
Central Valley Classifieds
90 E. Magill Ave #102
Fresno CA. 93710
(559)227-0890
sales@cvcads.com
http://www.cvcads.com

–> ADVERTISING 101<–
“The Basics of Classified Advertising”

Print classified advertising is of the most cost-effective and successful means of advertising available. However, not all ads will do well and there are a variety of reasons why this is the case. Following a few basic guidelines will greatly improve response and take a campaign for a product or service from mediocre levels to that of great success. Success in any advertising campaigns depends on four things: a good product or service, good ad copy, the right market and repetition. The item or service that an advertiser is promoting is a major variable in the equation for successful advertising. Unfortunately, that is something that companies such as ours cannot help you with. Once you have the product or service that you are going to promote and you are certain that it will be of value to others, then we can help! Here’s where we start…

How to write an effective classified ad…

The single most important thing in an advertising campaign is GOOD AD COPY. We all understand the importance of having an ad that illicits positive responses from readers. What everyone does not understand is how to achieve this. To assist you, we have come up with a few basic rules to writing an effective classified ad. Here’s where you start…

Effective classified ads should have three basic parts.

1. THE HEADLINE
2. THE BODY
3. THE CALL TO ACTION WITH CONTACT INFORMATION

THE HEADLINE is the most important part of your ad. It is in the headline that you will either get the readers attention and pull them in or you won’t. If you don’t spark their interest with the headline, then you have lost them and they simply will not read you ad. A good headline should have action verbs that encourage the reader to do something. It should also be believable. Examples of how to use action words in headlines are as follows.

“Earn up to $3000 per month!”
“Save $$$ on grocery bills!”
“Get the financial independence you’ve dreamed of!”

THE BODY is where you need to elaborate on the headline. Don’t overdo it, keep it short and simple. With a classified ad, you are generally trying to keep the word count to 15 to 25 words, so you never want to actually sell the reader in the ad, you just want to spark their interest enough to make them want to learn more.

A common error that many unsuccessful advertisers make is trying to put too much in an ad. This results in a busy ad that lacks focus. To make matters worse they often abbreviate words to the point they lose meaning. Through the years, we have made many a telephone call to customers to have them explain to us what they are trying to say in over-abbreviated ads. Unless, an abbreviation is commonly recognized by the common person avoid using it. You do not want sacrifice an ad campaign to save a buck!

THE CALL TO ACTION is basically the end of the ad. Generally, it isn’t much more than a sentence in length. Effective classified ads will not have just a phone number or web address at the end of the ad. They will have contact information paired with action words. Sometimes in trying to keep the price down for an ad, advertisers will omit simple words like “call now” or “log onto”. This is not recommended as readers need this simple call to action to entice them one last time to respond. Studies have been done and it has been shown that these simple words increase response to classified ads.

Here are well written examples:

“For FREE information, call now! 1-800……”
“To get started, visit http://www……”
“Call Toll-Free! 1-877….”

One last bit of advice for this portion of the ad is to pair it with a special offer. Being able to use statements like “limited time offer”, “special bonus to first 100 customers” or “this week only” can significantly increase response.

How will your customers contact you?…

Here are a few more pointers that advertisers should know. The means that customers respond will dramatically effect results. A toll free telephone number is still the best means to generate leads. This is not used by all advertisers for a variety of reasons, but those who have the capability and the budget are encouraged to include a toll free number. If a toll free number is not in the budget then a regular long distance number is the next best thing. A live person answering the calls is going to result in more sales than an answering machine providing the operator is knowledgeable and courteous. The easier you can make it for a reader to respond and buy your product or service the more successful you will be!

Web addresses are more and more popular in classified advertisements. Adding web addresses to ads, will generally increase the responses, but if it is in conjunction with a phone number (which we recommend) you will get fewer calls as some readers will simple go to the website instead of calling. So make sure the website is professional and properly functioning. If you are considering using a web address in the ad as a sole means of contact, please keep in mind that not all people have web access or are comfortable doing business online so you will be limiting the number of potential responses.

Anytime readers are required to write for more information, responses drop. However, the up side to this option is that there is less expense to the advertiser. Through the years, we have seen a variety of successful advertisers utilize write in responses, so it can be done. The most important thing to remember is to have professional literature to mail to the potential customers. This literature will make or break your sale so make it good!

Probably, the worst method of responding that we have seen time and time again is asking the customer to send money in the mail for a product or service. These will not work for a variety or reasons. First, you are requiring a small classified ad to sell something in three or four sentences. A difficult task to say the least. Second, most people are understandably wary of sending money in the mail to a company that they know nothing about. The public has been warned time and again about scam companies who prey on people using this means of advertising. If you have a good product or service avoid going this route. You simply will not be pleased with your advertising results!

Where to Advertise and How Often?….

Once you have a good ad written, the next step is to seriously consider your budget. We get calls from new customers regularly who ask for guidance in what program they should purchase. The first thing we always ask is what is your monthly budget. It is surprising to us that many advertisers cannot answer that question. Before you begin, look at your finances and figure out what you can comfortably invest in advertising on a monthly basis. Take that figure and divide it by four to get a weekly figure.  For example, if you have a $175 weekly budget, we will see if there is anything that would suit your needs. Keep in mind that you could run one buy for $175 or several smaller buys to meet your budget. 

The most important thing is to stick to a budget so that you can afford to run the programs for a four week run. There are several advantages to this method. First, you will get repetition which will greatly improve your response rate. We will talk more about this a little later! Secondly, we have several programs that offer multiple week discounts at four weeks. If you purchase four weeks at one time you can save a great deal of money and possibly allow you to buy into an additional category with your savings!

As for the importance of repetition, we cannot emphasize enough how critical this is! Repetive advertising builds credibility in your advertising campaign and allows the reader to feel comfortable in responding to your ad. Repetitive advertising also builds responses. In college, we were taught the Rule of Seven. Basically, the Rule of Seven claims that a reader must see an add seven times before he or shee will respond to it. New advertisers are often surprised by this number because they are not realistic in their expectations. The facts are that a newly published ad may not get noticed the first few publications, then when a reader see it, they may or may not respond. Most customers do not respond to ads the first time they see an ad, but each time they see the ad, you are building trust with them. As you get more and more visibility, you will get more responses and increase sales. The first week you advertise will never be your best. If you do a four week trial run for any program as suggested, you will be off to a good start and get a good feel for what the program will do fo you.

Email us if you would prefer us to write the ad copy for a nominal fee that will apply to your first order. Contact us for details. sales@cvcads.com or
Contact us at:
http://www.cvcads.com/contact/contact.php

Central Valley Classifieds Inc. also provides in depth telephone consultations to advertisers who would like detailed personal assistance for their business. This service is a nominal fee that will apply to your first order. Contact us for details. sales@cvcads.com or
Contact us at:
http://www.cvcads.com/contact/contact.php

Thanks for stopping by. We look forward to helping you grow your business!!

Central Valley Classifieds
90 E. Magill Ave #102
Fresno CA. 93710
(559)227-0890
sales@cvcads.com

http://www.cvcads.com

http://www.cvcads.com/CVC_Press_Kit.pdf