I was reading this book the other day about the death of advertising.

It was a book written by a web 2.0 search engine fan and he was saying there was going to be a death of advertising and everything would be done via search engines, social media, etc. going forward.

Now that’s partly true.

Things have shifted.

Twenty years ago the media was dominated by television and newspapers.

And that was the only way to get your name out there on a mass level.

And that’s certainly all changed.

But I was thinking the other day about some of my larger clients.

There’s an 80 / 20 rule in business that… 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients.

Now I haven’t crunched my numbers enough to know if this is absolutely true in my case, but here’s what I’ve noticed about four of my top clients which generate a large percentage of my business.

One was generated by a referral.

And three were generated by picking up the phone or sending these guys letters / emails directly to get them on board.

And NOT because they suddenly fell across me online via search engines, blogs, social media, etc.

The message: Don’t fall for all the hype.

If you know who your target market is then go after them.

Don’t just rely on search.

Because with search you cannot control who you attract.

Sure, you can control via keyword.

But you cannot say I want a business who is turning over a minimum of a million dollars a year in the manufacturing industry for instance.

You can with direct mail.

Of course, you need to use the strategies you’ll find in http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au/cashflow to make sure you do it right and hit the nail on the head.

But once again, as with my last email you need to zig when they zag and not just follow along blindly according to what everyone else is saying and doing.

This article previously published here.

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Scott Bywater is an advertising copywriting expert and the author of Cash-Flow Advertising. To gain access to all of his copywriting tips on how to get more customers via his eye opening “Copywriting Selling Secrets” newsletter, simply head on over to his web site at http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au/

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When businesses begin evaluating marketing strategies, many start with basic print or television advertisements. The importance of choosing the proper medium can be the difference between a successful, effective campaign and a campaign which flops. With all the types of advertising out in the world today, every company is looking for that new and innovative idea for great exposure.

Taxi advertising is just one of the many varieties of outdoor advertising. The three main forms of this subset are wrap advertisements, trunk advertisements and top of hood advertisements. Some people will often neglect these ads since there are so many of them out there, but the truth is people are almost forced to look at these advertisements when they are stuck in heavy traffic or stopped waiting at a crosswalk.

An innovative form of taxi advertising will soon be introduced to the Boston market; putting ads on the back of receipts handed out to cab customers. This works by handing out receipt rolls with company ads on them, onto which the Taxi Drivers print their receipts and hand them to customers after every ride. These ads could consist of anything imaginable that would fit on the normal size receipt. In heavily congested cities or cities that are temporary homes to business travelers, this form of marketing has the opportunity to be effective in the taxi advertising market.

A similar type of advertising has been previously applied to Mexican cities. I personally was down in Cancun last year and upon paying the bus toll or taxi tab, a small slip receipt was handed to me. Generally these receipts had discounts to Mexican outlets, restaurants or entertainment shows. The slip ended up being useful as we were able to save money on our dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

In Boston alone, approximately 45,000 people take a taxi every day of which 80% request a receipt. Therefore, about 35,000 people are currently being missed as potential targets per day. This is a relatively small portion of the market, as Boston is not even considered in the top 20 for largest US cities. Much of the general target market would consist of business travelers. These businessmen do not have cars in the cities they travel to, and furthermore, they need to obtain a receipt for the cab trip in order to be reimbursed for their expenses. Thus they must pay attention to what is being handed to them. Make this relevant, and you have an interested potential customer.

Advertising in the United States last year totaled over 400 billion dollars. Traditional forms of advertising are now expensive and over-populated. As the market for traditional advertising declines with the fragmentation of consumers into tight groups, this ads one more way to target a particular group. Taxi marketing thus provides the ability for a business to reach a wide audience, at a more reasonable cost than other forms of advertising.

For businesses seeking more information about Taxi Advertising please visit Taxi Ad Works’ website at www.taxiadworks.com

This article published here.

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Taxi Ad Works is proud to offer taxi advertising and taxi marketing services in the Boston area. Boston cab advertising is growing as people seek to diversify and target their marketing efforts in order to justify their budgets and ad spend. We feel that this form of promotional advertising can contribute to a healthy marketing mix for the right firms and offerings. Please let us know your thoughts at info@taxiadworks.com. Written by James LaGrange, Project Manager at http://www.taxiadworks.com/

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Two characteristics will mainly differentiate direct marketing from other forms of marketing. Involving in a direct relationship with the customers and measuring the customer feedback are the two most prominent aspects in direct marketing.

Most businesses are thankful for direct marketing strategies that have helped their business become such a success. To many marketers, direct marketing is attractive because its positive effect can be directly measured. It certainly does work given the right direct marketing strategies to work with.

Unlike in the conventional marketing aspects via email, direct marketing strategies will give the customer an ease of communicating with the company. ”loss leader” is a major aspect in direct marketing, which is a free give away. Emailing has become the most popular and the easier way of direct marketing. Email should be used to build relationships as it is very easy method to respond to. Some criticises are there to call direct marketing as spam.

Building up a reliable customer database would be a good build up to a powerful direct marketing firm. Build customer loyalty by offering greater customer value through a more personalized approach for products and services. Having a consistent customer profile mentioning the dominant target markets is the first step towards direct marketing. Success in direct marketing will come through proper analysis and implementation. Set up measurements to analyze and asses the success of the direct marketing strategy because it is important to determine the level of success.

A few direct marketing strategy used in business today are package inserts, magazines, newspapers, radio, television, internet, email, banner ads, billboards and digital campaigns. Not every type of marketing is considered to be effective. Some times direct marketing will create a bad impression on the customer if they feel they are been spammed by unwanted advertising. It is usually telemarketing when invasion of privacy is considered. Before selecting any direct marketing strategy for your products, always consider the potential consequences that may impact your product, service, targeted audience and company.

When an individual has an amazing idea for an online business, they usually fall over themselves in excitement and eager anticipation. They can’t wait to get to market, unfold their vision and ride the high waves to financial freedom. Of course, enthusiasm and vision are incredibly important, but you still need to take the necessary time to work out most of the fundamentals. Before you even think about telling anyone about your new idea or what you might have available to sell or to promote, you should first finalise your branding.

When you establish a brand, you make yourself readily identifiable, and distinct from the competition. This identity allows you to establish a bond of sorts between your company and your target market, convert your prospects into clients and then develop a loyal customer base. Branding has a great many facets to it, and you have to make sure that you pay particular attention to every one.

Before you start, you’ll need to work out what your overall message is. People out there will perceive you and your organisation according to your message; first impressions are very important and you must leave a good one.

One of the first things to do when you’re establishing a brand is to come up with a company name. A lot of people use the same name for their company and their website domain. It’s important to remember that while your legal corporate name might be one thing, your “doing business as” name, whatever it might be, should always get your full branding attention, and it should accurately reflect your business aspirations too.

If you’re very clever with your trading name, you can much more easily go on to achieve great heights. You’ll know you’ve reached the pinnacle of success when your company name also becomes a popular verb, such as “Hoover”, “Google”, or ”Xerox”.

Along with the selection of your company name, you must make sure that your domain name is perfectly relevant. Let’s face it, no business can survive without a website these days, and your website will likely be the first line of attack when it comes to client marketing. Creativity with website development is the key, but you must make sure that – technically speaking, your domain name will make sense in the world of search engine optimization and have a high level of viewability. Your domain name should ideally incorporate your primary keyword or keywords, which relate exactly to whatever you are promoting or selling. So, in an ideal world, the keywords relating to your “hot potato” new marketing idea should appear prominently within your domain name and within your company name.

Keyword selection is quite a complex subject which we have already touched on in (R – Right Keywords) but, as we have seen, is important within your branding set up. Keywords should appear within your mission statement and in all marketing materials. It’s essential that they accurately portray what your potential client is looking for from you.

Visual image is everything. Once you have a great company name, domain name and the keywords selected, you can move on to create visuals. Your logo should essentially sum up what you’re trying to achieve. The logo doesn’t necessarily have to incorporate your company name or your domain name or your keywords, but it should be a great visual representation of all of these and project the very reason for your company’s existence. The logo is one of the first things that a potential client will see, so take as much time as you need in this area, as it’s likely to leave the biggest impression.

Once you’ve established your logo, you should create all your marketing materials according to a particular style and presentation. Maintain this throughout your organisation and don’t dilute your message by going off point.

Your website is your window to the world. A correctly composed website speaks volumes about your business. Don’t forget that in business it’s all about perception, and if you don’t maintain a storefront of any kind in the real world, people will judge your business by looking at your website. You should always maintain a high degree of professionalism and clearly display this throughout your site. It doesn’t matter if you’re a one-man band; you should still give people the impression that you’re a highly successful, well-organized and thoroughly established enterprise.

Pay careful attention to branding and maintain your position throughout your business cycle.

Michelle Dale is The Managing Director of Virtual Miss Friday, an accomplished Executive Virtual Assistant Service which helps companies of all sizes reach their commercial targets. Want to get more information about online business building success strategies that really work? Contact VMF today!