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Small Business Marketing Review - Confessions of an Advertising Man Lesson 1Tip! Like a newspaper, there are numerous websites that are specifically designed for free business advertising. Based on the simple theme of sharing information for overall profitability, these free classified ad sites offer free advertising tips for anyone who wants to harness the power of Internet online advertising. David Ogilvy was the most famous advertising man of the twentieth century. So, what can a small business owner that can't even afford the services of a small ad agency possibly learn from the head of a huge advertising agency brimming with Fortune 500 clients? Plenty, if that man built his agency from scratch the way Ogilvy did. Like many of us in small business, Ogilvy began and abandoned several different business ventures before settling on the one he pursued for the rest of his life. Unlike most of us, Ogilvy's chosen business allowed him to become rich enough to retire comfortably to France. In his book Confessions of an Advertising Man Ogilvy shares his secrets in a fairly candid, autobiographical way. Ogilvy may seem a bit arrogant, but it's an arrogance born from the conviction that he knows what works in advertising, coupled with an impatience for "creative" advertising that doesn't sell. Again and again in the , Ogilvy stresses the importance of what sells in advertising. Indeed, the thirty plus pages of Chapter Two: "How to Get Clients" is more a primer on sales than it is on advertising.
Ogilvy likes lists, and his lists are valuable because they teach not only how to advertise, but also how to sell and keep clients. Not all these lists are bullet-pointed or numbered; some are buried as the lead sentences of a series of paragraphs. Read through the following with highlighter at the ready, and see which lessons you can easily apply to your own business situation:
- Last Will and Testament (p. xvii).
- Ten Criteria for New Accounts (pp. 46-51).
- Steps to Eliminate Turnover (pp. 57-60)
On page 9 Ogilvy delivers a quote that could be etched on a plaque and hung up in any successful business: "In the best establishments, promises are always kept, whatever it may cost in agony or overtime." The third chapter, "How to Keep Clients" doesn't contain a "how to" list of customer service recommendations, but it does offer a manager or sales person fantastic advice on how to bond with the client as time passes. Again and again today we hear how important it is to service the customer and to maintain the customer for life and yet you know as a small business marketer how hard that is and how little resources most of us can (or will) devote to this. Rather than a "how to" Ogilvy reveals a "how I did it" overview of client retention. Tip! Online internet advertising is all about reach and can turn any idea into a profitable online business idea or a profitable home business if it reaches out right. Free business advertising adds wing to an idea at no extra cost and success stories abound on the Internet. Page 60 contains a vitally important tip on discretion. Make sure you read this advice--and heed it. In our next article we'll cover some more of the marketing gems revealed in Confessions of an Advertising Man. Remember: Brand (who you are) + Package (your Face to the Customer) + People (customers and employees) = Marketing Success. © 2006 Marketing Hawks Craig Lutz-Priefert is President of Marketing Hawks, a firm providing essential marketing vision for small business. Marketing Hawks also sponsors the ongoing small business adventures of entrepreneur Crystal Trino at JourneyToday. |
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