Small Business Marketing Help #1: The Diary An Angry Ad-Man

This week something unbelievable happened. Monday was the first day of a brand new radio campaign for a brand new client. I won't name the client, the station, or even the market this happened in.

Due to budget restraints on the client-side, the spot was produced by the station (read free). Of course the script was written by your truly and my trusty copy-writing sidekick. The spot was finished last Thursday - and on Friday I gave my stamp of approval.

Monday morning I received an email from the station rep saying that they had decided to make a few changes to the commercial - just a few "small things" - and the new commercial started running that morning.

Calmly, I asked for a copy of the new commercial.

At about second 6 my jaw dropped so far down that it hit the desk. My other orange half swiveled in his chair and stared at me in disbelief.

"Did that just say 'one stop shop?'" he asked? Indeed it did.

It seems that the station sales manager felt the spot needed to be rearranged a little bit - and was lacking a few lines. So they made some changes - without consulting me.

Well, I was steaming mad. But, I quickly saw an opportunity through this adversity: I can write a journal entry about this! So here we are.

The primary point I want to make is to illustrate the difference between our script and their script. Why the minor changes could have made tremendous negative impact. Ultimately, I hope you'll learn some good copy writing pointers and understand why you shouldn't let a radio station, newspaper, or anyone else who sells ads write your ads.

Our Formula:

Introducing something new

HUGE PROMISE, BIG BENEFIT

Who can take advantage

Smaller benefits

Basic features

More benefits

Personal name to contact

Call to action

Limited time

Call to action again

Their formula (made by rearranging our script, adding one line and deleting one line):

Introduction
One stop shop for all your ____ need. (Statements like these are drivel, amateur and cliche and have no business in real marketing. Even worse, they are all about you - the seller, instead of them, the buyer. One stop shop is the listener's cue to stop listening, make a cell phone call, or change the channel).

Features

Features

Smaller benefits

and the rest was basically the same.

What got cut out was the HUGE PROMISE/BIG BENEFIT. The benefits that were left were pushes toward the middle, buried underneath the self-centered discussion of one stop shops and a laundry list of features.

When I "asked" the station about this they told me that they were looking out for the client's best interest. They were concerned that listeners may not understand exactly who the client was or what they did - or exactly what the package contained.

Guess what? In a sixty second radio they shouldn't learn those things. The purpose of the ad is not to get the person to completely understand the offering and make a buying decision. That can't happen in 60 seconds - unless you're selling gum or erasers or something.

The purpose of the ad was to get the listener to say, "Hmmm...that big benefit sounds good...oh and they're talking to me...and those other benefits sound very fine...oh - a few features, that sounds like something I could use...so that's the person I need to talk to to learn more, and there's the number - eh....better hurry - it's only good for this week - and there's the number again." The point is to get arouse the listener's curiosity, engage their greed-glands, get them to picture themselves with the benefit in their lives, then to call and learn more.

But as soon as you throw the self-centered cliche gorilla snot in there, the entire process breaks down and the listener disengages.

Incidentally, the station manager admitted, "I guess I could have chosen a better line than 'one stop shop'...that is pretty cliche." Mty point exactly.. So why did he change it?

It makes me think we're not charging enough. Most copy writers at our level charge $15,000 a pop for a campaign. I'll bet if my client had paid $15,000 for that script, an act of congress couldn't have changed that ad without my agreement. Interesting.

My parting message to the station - and to you - is this: Let the stations and newspapers do what they do - which is sell the advertising, and leave it to us to make the advertising.

Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller are the authors of The Ten Tall Tales Of Traditional Advertising That Cost You Tons and their newest release, The Small Business Owners Guide To The Galaxy: Jim & Traviss Super-Stellar, Out Of This World, Step-By-Step Guide To Generating Leads, Attracting Customers and Making Sales. Get FREE small business marketing tips, shortcuts and secrets - RIGHT NOW - at www.GravitationalMarketing.com">http://www.GravitationalMarketing.com

What to Do When She is Pestering You With Questions About Her Looks

This is the moment all guys dread. Your lady is trying on zyban new dress mesothelioma law firm drops the bomb- "How do I look in this dress. Does it make me look fat?" Look, here's the thing. Women never ask you direct questions like that because they want to hear a truthful answer.

Never.

This goes against everything that guys are used to. When their buddy asks them a question or asks for helps, guys are used answering directly and in a logical fashion. In this case, that's just about the structured settlement companies thing you can do.

See, she's not asking you uncomfortable questions about her appearance because she has a deep curiosity that mortgages for bad credit to be answered. No, her question is not really a question at all, but actually a request.

A request for approval.

Your girl wants to feel like you think that she is the most gorgeous, beautiful princess in the world. She obviously knows that she's not the most beautiful woman in the world, but no matter. She wants YOU to think that. So when she puts on that dress and starts feeling insecure, she wants you, her MAN, the one who thinks she's the hottest stuff in the world to REASSURE her that she is.

Next time you get a question from you lady about her figure or her hair or her makeup or whatever, just remember, Remortgages only one approved answer that would satisfy her needs. Tell her she's the most beautiful woman in the world. And mean it. She will be reassured. And you'll be reassured knowing you've avoided an ugly incident.

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