CHYBNU Business Blog

There are six laws you need to adhere to in order to advertise your small business successfully. They are:

Law Number 1: Convey a single message.

Don’t confuse your target audience with the message you would want to impart. Too many ideas would only spoil your marketing efforts. Try to quickly communicate your main message in not more than 3 seconds and you’ll be able to get your target audience to understand your business better.

Law Number 2: Make it real and credible.

Advertising has become one of the words that people dread. The mention of it would set not only aversion but also distrust among your prospective clients. Anything that reeks of dishonesty would definitely get immediate disapproval. Hence, if you have a claim to impart, make sure that it is real and credible. People are wise to any advertising antics and anything that we distrust we generally avoid.

Law Number 3: Testing…1,2,3.

With a small budget to work on, you don’t have the luxury to waste your hard earned money and effort. Testing your advertising campaign before you launch them at full blast would help you measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. You can always try a simple testing method of asking around if customers have heard about your product and how.

Law Number 4: Include all contact information.

Every marketing material you have, be it full color printing materials or the basic black-and-white, you need to include all your contact information to make it easier for your target audience to get in touch with you. You’ll say, sure, everybody knows that, but you’ll be surprised how many still forget to enter their contact details when they’ve finished color printing their promotional collaterals.

Law Number 5: Advertising that match your target.

Focusing your marketing efforts to your target market not only eliminates wastage but more importantly, it helps you tailor your advertising campaign to your target customers. The key is to focus your message to match that of your target market.

Law Number 6: Generate interest and curiosity with your advertising.

Advertising per se does not sell your product or service. It actually generates interest and curiosity for your product that makes your target customer want to know more. That is successful advertising.

Finally, all these laws boil down to one main principle: the success of your advertising efforts is based on the message you want to convey. A clear and precise message would more than likely get you the success you want than any amount of money in the world.

By: Janice Jenkins

Do you ever feel that it is taking forever for you to see the results of your marketing efforts?

You are not alone. This phenomenon can be compared to something called the “Flywheel Effect”.

The Flywheel Effect is a term coined by Jim Collins, author of the best-selling book, Good to Great. In this book, he analyzed companies in the U.S. over a forty-year period to find out what made them outstanding in their industries. One of the traits they had in common was sustained focus - being able to stick with an activity or direction until they achieved the goal or desired outcome.

In his flywheel analogy, he describes a massive metal disk. It is 100 feet in diameter, 10 feet thick, and weighs 25 tons. Wow! Think of that flywheel as being your company. Your job is to get that flywheel to move as fast as possible, because momentum is what will generate superior economic results over time.

Right now, that flywheel is at a standstill. To get it moving, you must make a tremendous effort. You push with all of your strength and might, and finally, you get the flywheel to inch forward.

After one week of sustained effort, you get the flywheel to complete one entire turn. You keep pushing, and the flywheel begins to move a little bit faster. It takes a lot of work, but at last, the flywheel makes a second rotation.

You keep pushing steadily. It makes three, four, five, and finally six turns. With each turn, it moves faster, and then — at some point, you “break through” the invisible barrier that seemed to be holding you back. The momentum of the heavy wheel makes it spin faster and faster, its own weight propelling it. You are not pushing any harder, but the flywheel is accelerating, its momentum building, and speed increasing.

This analogy describes the effort that must be put in to marketing activities before results are noticed. It takes effort, sustained focus, and patience. Many people give up before they even get the flywheel moving.

Keep pushing on that flywheel. Don’t give up. With the right mix of marketing activities effort, and professional guidance, you’ll get your flywheel moving and begin to see results!

By Bonita L. Richter