In-Tune News You’ll Want To Use

Think of a vehicle wrap as a billboard on wheels. While a static billboard can only reach the people that drive past it (mostly the same people each day), a bus drives around a large portion of the city, bringing your message with it.

The wrap visual is also larger than most mediums…this plus motion equals eye-catching! While bus sizes vary, a side wrap can be 40 feet long while an image on the back end can be nearly ten feet wide. Imagine your logo driving around, several feet wide.

Another advantage to the bus wrap is that it’s a fairly new advertising medium, which equates to availability and affordability. Also, if a new client is not lined up to take that space after you, your ad may run longer than contracted for free!

When preparing your ideas, be sure you have a good quality logo, as well as any other images you might wish to use. Generally they are able to print over the window area, so be sure to ask so that you can maximize available space. (Also, printing on the dark windows creates extra contrast which increases visibility.) Try to keep your message short and sweet…long website addresses or lengthy directions are not memorable nor great for quick readability. A good rule to follow is Image - Tag - Logo. In other words, have an eye-catching graphic/photo, the tagline that ties it in with your company (like, “The Zoo Will Drive You Wild!”), and your company logo. You can put an abbreviated form of the address, like an intersection rather than an actual numeric address, or a phone number or website address if they can be easily memorized. And don’t be afraid to include a short offer! Just add the tag, “Say you saw it on the bus!”…it’s a great way to quantify results!

Like I said there shall be enough material to make this ad busting into a series. In fact I have to restrain myself on most occasions when watching some of the “new” stuff on air at the moment.

Millions of Rupees and in some cases Dollars are spent on a few seconds and the following is sometimes what gets dished out. We start with the Fanta commercial with Rani Mukherjee making some weird sounds to an equally obnoxious soundtrack/jingle. The visual realm also suffers here with what seem to be the single most barf inducing graphics ever in an ad. There is no thought behind this project. If there is please let me know and put me out of my misery.

The high point of the ad is when they rhyme the words, “P.K. Bose” with, “Fanta ka dose”. How this ad ever got on air is anyone’s guess. My heartfelt condolences to the client.

Next on this list of shame is the latest Clipsal switch ad where, this lady seemingly a helper dressed in an over sized white frock is going about doing her dusting albeit rather grudgingly. We see a horrible Plaster of Paris statue scaring the crap out of her as well as us, and then for apparently no reason what so ever she flings some books towards this switchboard on the wall. Then again for no reason at all, the entire house begins to crumble. Things around the house come crashing down as if she has hit a switch that controls high magnitude earthquakes. Once again what’s going on here and more importantly why - has got me in a right twist.
Maybe one day I shall have answers to my humble queries.

What has to be my favorite or should I say my anti-favorite recently though has to be the new Indica Diesel ad. You know the one that takes forever to setup and flashes you the actual product on sale so quickly that it seems like they almost don’t want to show it to you. Usually teasers are only 5 to 10 seconds long. What we have here is like a 50 second ad with a 45 second setup. And a 5 second product shot, which is so blurry that you, cannot see much anyway.

Why oh why is this happening. May be TATA has too much money and they don’t know what to do with it. Showing a guy setting up a fishing seat in the middle of a lake for so long and then barely showing the actual product that’s on sale seems like an unsuccessful attempt at hoodwinking the masses. Why do we have to be so clever? Why do we need to waste 50 seconds selling something we don’t actually show?

I am full of questions swimming around in my head that are drowning me…. Help!

If you’ve ever stayed at a Ritz-Carlton hotel, you know that when it comes to customer service, the Ritz does it right. Every employeefrom the bell hops to the bartendersmakes you feel welcome. And special.

So what’s this got to do with PR? Everything.

Think about it. If you’ve had a more than pleasant stay at a Ritz-Carlton, you’re going to tell your family and friends about it. Some might call this word-of-mouth or buzz marketing. I call it brilliant PR.

On the contrary, if you’ve had a less-than-satisfactory experience, you’re also likely to tell others about it. Buzz gone bad.

So the Ritz makes sure you’re welcomed with open arms. Every employee greets you with a smile and a “Good morning,” “Good afternoon” or “Good evening.”

As William Aruda notes on the MarketingProfs.com site: “Every employee gets it. They just get itand are able to deliver on it consistently. That is what makes the Ritz-Carlton brand synonymous with extreme customer service, and that’s what turns customers into evangelists.”

Amen.

So what can other businesses learn from the Ritz? They can incorporate customer service best practices into their employee training. They need to rethink how they think about PR.

At its most basic level, PR is not about a fancy-schmancy press kit or how many mentions your business gets in the media. It’s about customer service, plain and simple. That’s why it’s called public relations. A business that can relate well to its customers understands the importance of PR.

Maybe “PR” really stands for “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”

Specializing in e-commerce and direct mail, copywriter Darcy Silvers began her career in journalism and still gets an adrenaline rush from deadline pressure. She “defected” to advertising, working for Orlando’s RY&P and suburban Philly’s TJP agencies, where she wrote copy for Nabisco, M&M/Mars, Johnson & Johnson and more. Her passion is PR; she served as PR director for a 7-county governmental agency in Florida, and is accredited via PRSA and IABC.
http://home.comcast.net/~thehiredhand/

HOW TO KNOW WHEN YOU’VE DONE A GOOD AD.

A good ad is a marvelous, magical thing. An object of emotion as
well as intellect. A work of art.

Once you’ve done one, you know what a good ad can do. Turn
nerves taut. Make fellows mellow. Raise eyebrows or raise hopes.
Inspire or intimidate or influence. Impart information that
motivates action.

A great copywriter once wrote, “A good ad is like a good sermon:
It not only comforts the afflicted, it also inflicts the
comfortable.”

But the question of the moment is this: How do you know –
before a single living colleague, client or consumer has laid
eyes on it — that you’ve done a good ad? That it’s the right
time to stop all the thinking, talking, writing, doodling and
designing. The right time to click on “save” and call a meeting?

It ain’t easy, knowing that moment. Because a good ad isn’t like
the 99-yard run kickoff return that everybody in the stadium can
follow as it turns into a touchdown. Or the 4th of July
fireworks display that gets everyone oohing and aahing in unison.

A good ad is hard to recognize. Often because it’s hiding in
blah advertising meetings and windy memos. Lost in dim product
descriptions and lengthy creative briefs. Or even gone missing
inside another ad.

A good ad is difficult to get your hands on. Like a glob of
mercury on a glass tabletop. Slippery and elusive. (On the other
hand, Leo Burnett said, “I have learned that any fool can write
a bad ad, but it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a
good one.”)

A good ad will sometimes show itself when you least expect it.
While you’re in the shower, at a movie, listening to the latest
from Eminem, or having a couple of quiet beers. Sometimes, even
when you’re working on something else.

Every now and then, a good ad will sneak up on you from out of
the blue. Or from within yourself. A dream, a hunch, a personal
experience. David Ogilvy, in The Art of Writing Advertising,
wrote: “Some of the good (ads) I have done have really come out
of the real experience of my life, and somehow this has come
over as true and valid and persuasive.”

A good ad is a subject about which you’ll hear a lot of views. A
lot of people will tell you an ad is good if it wins awards.
Some will say a good ad is one that “sells product.” Others will
say an ad is good only if it “tests well.” And more cynical
others will say a good ad is “any ad the client buys.”

John Caples, who created enough good ads in his career to get
him into the Copywriters’ Hall of Fame and the Advertising Hall
of Fame, opined that “… you’re almost sure to have a good ad,
if you come up with a good headline.” And Bill Bernbach of
Volkswagen “Lemon” fame believed that good ads are often the
ones that “take chances.”

Still, while all the preceding identifiers may be interesting,
they are all descriptors after the fact. None of them tells you
how to know, at the moment you’ve done it, that you have done a
good ad. How do you decide when to take this beast you’ve
created and lock it up in a cage for all the rest of the world
to see?

Two little words: Your gut.

Intangible, unsupportable, unprovable. But unbeatable.

You may be suspicious of it, but you know it’s never failed you.
You can’t evaluate it easily or readily define it but, deep
down, you know you can’t ignore it.

You know a good ad when you know it in your gut. And that’s an
easy thing to know.

(c) Burek Group 2002

Marketing your business is a must if you want your business to succeed. One method is via leaflet distribution which is a proven and effective method for getting your business name infront for your target market. It is important you know where and who your target market is as canvasing an area will produce poor results. When doing your leaflet distribution your distribution company will be able to give your vital information about your target demographics. They use data from the royal mail that let them know where your tarhget market lives as well as their income and age group. Knowing this before you distribute can increase your response rate and give you a better outcome for your campaign.

As your leaflet distribution campaign is on the way you can check up on the progress of your campaign by calling your leaflet distribution company and asking for a progress report. A reputable leaflet distribution company will be able to provide this without any problem. Do remember as with any marketing results can be predicable but not guaranteed.remember that the results of leaflet distributoin aren’t guaranteed. A poorly planned or targeted campaign will be a waste of money, which can put you out of pocket if you are a small company.

You may already have thought about the following 3 ways and some of you may already have them in place on your website. If so - congratulations - you’re well on the way to having a website that will bring you more business. So here they are then - the 3 Simple Ways To Dramatically Improve Your Website..

1. You’re Fishing For Visitors - You’ll Need This To Hook Them.

Ever been surfing on a website that held your attention and then the phone rings? You take the call, take some notes, get distracted, visit another website and before you know it you’ve forgotten all about the website you were viewing. It happens all the time and if you don’t have a Bookmarking tool on your website it will be happening with the people that come to your website. A Bookmarking tool is just a simple link or logo that your visitors can click on in order to bookmark your website or add it to their favourites.

It is best to have the button located on the homepage but an even better option is to have a bookmarking button on every page so a visitor can actually bookmark each specific page of your website for safe-keeping. Look to the left of this article and you will see the bookmarking button we use - click on it to see how it adds this specific page to your favourites - nifty eh?

2. ‘X’ Marks The Spot.

Visitors come to your website and if you’re lucky - they like it and click beyond the homepage. Excellent. But they can’t find what they’re looking for. Uh oh, you could be in trouble. There’s a lot of information on your website and Mr. Visitor doesn’t have time to sift through it all to find what he’s looking for. You’d better hope that he’s either very patient or that you’ve provided him with a simple map to help him get to the ‘treasure’ he is looking for. A Site Map is an essential item - particularly on larger websites.

There is nothing more frustrating than hunting around for something and wasting time when just a simple one pager that presents a summary of all the information on your website could be used. A Site Map should be reachable from all pages of your website in just one click and should have clickable links on it so that a visitor can zoom straight through to their desired location without having to hunt around. If you don’t give them a map your visitors may become frustrated searching around for that desired piece of information and they may leave your website never to return.

3. Don’t Make Your Visitors Have To Write An Email To Contact You

If you are inviting enquiries or contact from visitors to your website you need to provide them with a way of doing this that is as easy as possible for them. Just posting your email address on the website is not the best solution. Why? Because when they click on it they need to then create an email from scratch.

Do you know how busy your visitors are? They hardly have time to read the content of your homepage - never mind create an email from scratch. The solution? You need to use a simple form. A form enables you to standardise the responses that you receive and it also makes it very simple for your visitors to get in touch with you - all they need to do is pop in their name, email address and tick a few boxes and that’s it.

Making it easy for your visitors to contact you isn’t the only reason that using a form is a great idea. Doing so means you can get some information back from each person that fills in the form. You can ask them how they discovered your website, which other websites they like to visit - you can ask them anything!

Anything that is going to help you learn more about them, more about who they are and more about what will make them buy from you. You think they would tell you all this if they were creating an email from scratch? No - of course they wouldn’t! That’s why you need a form.

Michael Cheney is Author of The Website Marketing BibleTM. Take the Free 7-Part Course “Internet Marketing Made Easy” and get your free sampler of ‘The Bible’ here: http://www.websitemarketingbible.com/marketing/

The process of searching for an inflatable air mattress can be a very tedious task if you’re unsure of exactly what you are looking for. Following are a few things to keep in mind when doing your research. The entire process does not have to be a headache and with a little research you should have no problems finding the right inflatable air mattress for you.

The internet is always a good first place to start when doing research. You can gain a vast array of information from various sources in quite a short time. From the internet you can obtain information such as prices, specifications and details of all models of inflatable mattresses available. Many websites will also have detailed photographs showing exactly what it is you are buying. Having done your research beforehand will be of great benefit in making a quick and efficient purchase. Reviews written by other people who have already purchased an inflatable air mattress are a great way of discovering the pros and cons of each mattress before you commit to any purchase and part with your hard-earned cash.

On the other hand you may prefer face to face contact to obtain the desired information. In this case you can always visit a retail store and find a salesperson who is experienced in this matter. The salesperson may be able to give you more detailed information than you could possibly find on the internet, and can recommend an inflatable air mattress which is currently popular or would suit your specific requirements.

Researching your product thoroughly in the first instance will definitely help you to choose the most suitable inflatable air mattress for you. Research does not always have to be via the internet. If you prefer to talk to a “real” person you can personally visit the stores or send inquiry letters to salespersons in your local area. To ensure you purchase an inflatable air mattress that will meet your requirements for years to come, it is a good idea to find out all the options available before you buy.

Jodie Phillips is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Ultimate-Air-Mattress.com and she provides more inflatable air mattress facts, tips and advice on finding the best inflatable air mattress on her website, where you can research in the comfort of your own home.

It is an age where whims and needs mingle in euphoric dance to satisfy the passion of desire.

Image: a 20-year-old male sits in a black leather chair, looking out his panoramic view of the city through a window that touches the floor. The pronounced beat of the bass thuds methodically from behind him through LCD speakers with single blue lights, gleaming elegance. The doors open and enters his girlfriend, placing the solitary car key down on a granite counter. He slides his arms around her and kisses her briefly, but strongly, his biceps squeezing her sides. Image stop.

This life is a dream, distanced only by a single click. Life is not what becomes of you, it is not what happens; life is what you make it. The average life expectancy is less than 90 years old. What proportion have you already expended? Too much. The time to live is now, because tomorrow and tomorrow are fleeting moments that if not grasped will fade away.

How will you fulfil your dream? Try this. A Digital Camera to capture the memories you share with friends - of nights on city streets, with heat and happy sweat. Picture a laugh, head thrown back, hair blowing in the wind. Click. An Mp3 Player to bring the beat of parties through your dreary day, until the night springs up again, and you can live. Click. A notebook to power through the net, to watch, to know, to see.

When you decide: to live to dream, to die perchance to live - to grasp a single moment in perpetual exuberance. We’ll be there, so you can be the best.

Digital 1 is home to over 30 000 digital cameras, mp3 players, home theaters, printers, scanners, telecom, flat screen tv, and specials. Be The Best.

Buy Now: Digital Cameras | Mp3 Players

Learn How To Use These Six Explosive Marketing Techniques To Explode Your Website With Traffic

You could have the best opportunity, product, or service on the internet, but if you are not getting any traffic to your website, what does it matter? Getting massive traffic to your website is just the beginning of being successful over the internet. Nevertheless, it’s not the end.

Although getting traffic to your website should be your main focus, there is just more to it than just getting traffic to your website. In the next following section, we will talk about the six explosive marketing techniques that you would have to apply to your internet marketing efforts in order to become a successful internet marketer.

1.Testing - When you are marketing over the internet, you are going to have to know what works and what doesn’t. That’s why you are going to have to experiment with different types of advertising to find that out. If you are experimenting with different types of advertising, how are you going to know what type of advertising is working? This what leads me to the next following marketing technique, Ad-tracking services.

2. Ad-tracking Services - Ad tracking services are a great way to test which form of advertising is working and which is not. Some of these services are capable of keeping track of your hits, sales, etc. To find an ad tracking service, just go to a major search engine and type in “Ad tracking services” and plenty ad tracking services will come up. After this happens, do some investigating and choose the one that is best for you.

3. Website Design - You want to make sure that you have a decent looking website to promote your product or service. Don’t get to caught up in all the fancy graphics when it comes to designing a website. These fancy graphics that you see on other websites could cause your website to load real slow. You must remember when people are browsing on the internet, they like to get on a website to find what they are looking for and get right off. If your website takes a long time to load, you could loose a lot of sales. When you design your website, make sure you use gif or jpeg graphics because they load really quick. Remember, the amount of time it takes your website to load, could determine how many sales you are going to make, or lose.

4. Good Content - It’s very important to have good content on your website. The product or service that you are promoting should strongly state the benefits. You should talk about how the benefit of your product or service could improve the quality of their lives. Remember, people are not concerned about the features of your product or service, but they want to know what it can do for them.

5. Website Traffic - If your internet business is going to survive over the internet, you are going to need a lot of traffic, but just not any kind of traffic. When you are marketing over the internet, you are going to need to get “targeted traffic.” What do I mean by targeted traffic? For example, if you are promoting a service that deals with selling envelopes, you are not going to promote it to people interested in health care are you? Absolutely not. You want to make sure you market to an audience that is interested in your product, service, or business opportunity. For example, if you are promoting a service selling marketing software, make sure you find an audience of “interested buyers” who are interested in marketing software. If you don’t target your audience, your career as an internet marketer will be short lived.

6. Time Management - Again, going back to the ad-tracking service. If you use an ad-tracking service to track your marketing campaigns, you could use the statistics from the ad tracking service to tell where you should spend your time marketing. For example, lets say you use two different methods of marketing such as e-zines, and submission software. Now you go to your ad tracking service to check the results of the two marketing methods that were just mentioned. You find out that your marketing in e-zines bought you 1,000 hits, and your marketing using the submission software bought you 100 hits. I would not tell you to stop using the submission software because obviously it’s bringing you hits. It will make more since to spend most of your time marketing in e-zines because it brought you more hits. I’m definitely not saying what was mentioned in the above example will happen, but it just gives you an indication where you should spend most of your time marketing.

This article was not written to critique internet marketers in any way. It was written to help internet marketers become more efficient and smarter when it comes to marketing over the internet. Some internet marketers only focus on getting traffic, but some neglect things such as web design, testing, and good content which could make a big difference. Remember, getting traffic to your website is just half the battle won, but converting it into sales is a complete victory.

For more info about website marketing techniques, please visit: http://www.ad-alyzer.com/727/explode