Thursday, April 30, 2009

How Radio Can Make A Difference in Your Business








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Here's a little story on NPR that says alot about how you can increase your business using radio.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

It's the Price Stupid

Do you remember waaaaay back when then candidate Bill Clinton trailed in the race for the presidency? One of his advisers is rumored to have said, "it's the economy stupid."

Focus is key in today's economic environment. And just like it was on that presidential campaign, it's now one thing in retail advertising. "It's the price, stupid."

Not to be crass but it gets the point across.

According to Don "the guru of ads" Fitzgibbons, price is "rearing its green head in categories that have previously been void of any such blatant calls to action."

According to Fitzgibbons, there are 4 natural patterns of growth in any business category:
  1. Initial phase
  2. Growth phase
  3. Maturity phase
  4. Death phase

We'll tackle each one of these individually in future blogs. But for now, begin thinking this thought ... those who advertise price in a slow economy will be the first ones to grow sales.

My good friend and advertiser, Jake Bullard, understands this. That's why he's been one of the first in his category to offer a $600 upgrade just for mentioning his campaign.

It's working. I talked with Jake a couple of days ago and he shared that we have produced 130 quality leads since January 5th of this year -- far outpacing any other advertising source he's using.


Will you be brave?

Will you step out and be the first to advertise price in your business category?

If you get up the nerve, give me a call.

I always say the first one to pee in the pool owns it.

Wanna go swimming?

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

How the Reticular Activator Works in Advertising



Welcome to a special video message this week on the "reticular activator." The client cited, Amdro Fire Ant Killer, did what guest blogger, Stu Gordon suggested when they created a customized url: http://wwww.baitisbetter.com. Watch to understand the secrets of using the reticular activator to your advantage.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Customized URL's: Your Ticket To Profitability

Today we welcome my esteemed colleague and guest blogger, Stu Gordon, to Results With Radio. He writes about an easy way your business can increase your results with customized URL's. Enjoy this 9-year radio veteran's insights.

Getting the most from local/direct spot advertising can be a challenge for any broadcast seller. The attraction of an advertiser to local radio is the prospect of new business generated. Fail in delivering that and you fail. What’s worse—failure can extend to the advertiser’s confidence in the medium overall. (Ever hear, “I tried radio once—it didn’t work!”?)

So, it’s up to the seller to figure out how to make every spot interesting, attractive, and memorable. And…how to make contact with the advertiser as easy as possible for the audience. This last point is what I want to focus on here.

One way I believe we can increase results is via custom web domains. Domain names are incredibly easy to acquire—and for a very small investment in most cases ($10-$20 per year). You can search for available domain names easily on the internet—just query “domain name search” with your favorite search engine.

Now—an example. What’s easier to remember:

“Call Smithfiedl Vinyl Windows today at 770-387-9871. That’s 770-387-9871. Or see SmithfieldVinylWindows dot com.”

“Check out Smithfield Vinyl Windows at MyNextWindows dot com. That’s MyNextWindows dot com.”

The custom domain can be easily linked to the client’s website.

So, when “MyNextWindows.com” is accessed it automatically transfers to the client’s website (or to a custom splash page on the radio station’s website linked in turn to the client’s). For sellers with a hot vinyl windows prospect, this domain name really is available!

The custom domain accomplishes several things at once.

It gives back time so often taken up in the spot by non-memorable phone numbers (it takes 5 seconds to deliver a 10-digit phone number one time).

Use this bonus time for more creativity!

It takes away the likelihood that consumers won’t get to the client’s website because they mis-spelled a component of the URL. (How many people really know how to spell “vinyl?”)

It allows you to track the incoming responses for the client.

That’s about it.

Just make sure the domain name you choose is easy to remember and foolproof to spell. For more information on this concept see http://www.sellingradiowithreallycoolcustomdomainnames.com.

(Just kidding!)

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Advertising Driving Away Potential Customers


This comes from Dan O'day, accomplished radio advertising expert. I read his blog entry and thought he said what I wanted to say but he said it better. Please visit Dan's blog @ http://danoday.blogspot.com/. Now enjoy this informative blog post.

This is a Sushi-ish restaurant in a strip mall in Los Angeles. I like Sushi. I like Japanese food. But I've never gone into this place, because I've never been able to see what it looks like inside.

Is it tiny? Spacious? Tastefully decorated or unappealing to the eye? Lots of happy customers inside, or is it empty?

Who knows? They've covered virtually every viewable inch of glass with pictures and posters that are intended to "sell" the restaurant but which in reality discourage new customers from entering.

Drives me crazy every time I see it.

What Does This Have To Do With Radio Advertising?

A good radio commercial offers the listener a "test drive" of the results offered by the product or service. When you clutter up your spot with bells & whistles, jokes, and extraneous audio, you obscure any potential consumer test drive.

We did a "test drive" with a local varicose vein center and generated 18 calls in the first two weeks of his campaign. If you'd like for us to do something like this for your business, I've got 450,000+ listeners each week. A % of those people will do business with somebody in your business category this week. Give me a call @ 404-995-7343 and let's talk about how we can persuade them to do business with you with a clear concise radio selling message.