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There are only two reasons any business (including nyou) advertise...nn 1. To either get someone to buy the products or n serves you're offering, or... n 2. To generate interest in potential customers so n they will contact your business (either call or n visit you) to obtain information that will enable n them to make a buying decision. nnThe question you need to be asking yourself is... how neffective are the ads you're running at accomplishing at nleast one of these two objectives? Are your ads ngetting you all the clients and customers you hope for nwhen you place them? nnIt's no secret that clients and customers are the nlifeblood of your business, no matter if you run a nservice-oriented business or you operate a nprofessional practice. And it takes a steady stream of nnew clients and customers to keep your business alive nand prosperous, and to replace the customers you lose nthrough attrition. nnIn order to gain more new customers, your ads and npromotions have to be strong enough to convince your nprospects (your competitors' customers) that it is more nadvantageous for them to do business with you than it nis for them to continue doing business with your ncompetitor. nnYour competition isn't going to let their best customers n(your best prospects) go easily. They're going to do neverything they can to retain those buyers... to keep nthe money in their pockets rather than letting it flow ninto yours. nnOn the flip side, your competition is at this very nmoment, making plans and actively taking steps to ntake your clients away from you. So not only do you nhave to be proactive in the protection of your clients nand customers, if you want your business to grow you nhave to also be proactive in aggressively recruiting nmore new clients away from your competition, and nconvincing potential clients who may be shopping for a nbusiness to buy from why yours is the best choice. nnYou can't afford to be complacent in this area. When nyou allow your competitors to hang on to their current nclients and you let potential clients slip into the hands nof your competition, you lose in two ways. First, your ncompetition picks up the money that those customers ncould have spent with you. And second, your ncompetition will use those dollars to strengthen their nrelationships with their current clients, and in their nmarketing efforts to attract your clients away from you. nnFor most businesses, advertising plays a big role in nhelping bring new customers in to your business. But nadvertising isn't free; it costs money. Sometimes a LOT nof money; especially if you run a decent size ad, you nrun more than one ad, or if you send a lot of direct mail nwith multiple contacts. nnIt stands to reason then, that to be an effective nmarketer and get the greatest return on your nadvertising dollar, that you should know the best ntechniques possible to make your ads and sales letters nstronger, make them stand out, and produce the ngreatest number of responses. nnYour Ads MUST Bring You New nClients And Customers nnThe entire reason you run ads is to bring you new ncustomers. Your ads have to produce results that are nmeasurable, quantifiable, predictable, trackable, and nmore importantly, profitable. nnAs a smart business owner, you must realize that if nyou are investing your money in advertising, it's critical nthat you know how many leads or responses your ads nare pulling and decide whether it makes sense to run nthe same ad again. nnOr if you need to make appropriate changes before nyou repeat the ad in order to make it perform better. nYou may even decide to stop running the ad altogether nif it didn't get the result you hoped for or that you nexpected. nnIdeally, as your potential clients read your ad they nshould learn how their problems can problems can be nsolved, minimized, or eliminated by doing business with nyou; be enticed by an offer they can't refuse to take nadvantage of; and then be presented with a ncompelling reason to contact you to either buy or to nlearn more about the benefits and advantages of what nyou have to offer. nnA "Catchy Ad" Isn't Enough. You've Got To Give Your nReaders A Compelling Reason To Contact YounnHere's a quick checklist to help make your ads more neffective: n ? Do you have an attention-arresting headline n that tells the reader specifically who you're n targeting, and why they should read the rest of n your ad? n ? Can you take your name, address and phone n number out of your ad and insert the same n information from one of your competitors and n have the ad work just as well for them as it n does for you? n ? Does your ad take full advantage of the n available space, and make it easy for your n readers to focus their attention on your offer? n ? Do you make it very clear what you can do for n your readers (potential clients)?n ? Is what you can do for your readers different in n a beneficial way from what your competitors n say they can do? n ? Do you give clear and persuading reasons for n them to do business with you as opposed to n your competitors? n ? Do you make a compelling offer that they can't n refuse? n ? Do you tell them exactly what you want them n to do and what steps to take next? n ? Do you make it easy for them to respond or to n contact you? n ? Does your call to action include a sense of n urgency to get them to respond now? nnIn other words, does your ad not only stand out from nthe others, but does it give your readers the ninformation they need, and sufficient reason to rush to nthe phone or jump in their car and come to your place nof business? That's what an effective ad does. nnLook at your competitor ads. How do they compare? nDo ANY of their ads answer the above ten questions npositively?nnGaining The Upper Hand In Advertising Doesn't Have nTo Be Complicated Or DifficultnnIt really doesn't take much to create an ad that out npulls your competition. And if you want to capture a nlarger share of your market, that's exactly what you're ngoing to have to do. But before you jump into creating nan ad, here are some questions you should consider nconcerning the products you're selling or the service nyou're providing:nn ? What problems or challenges does your n product/service solve for your prospects? n ? What specific benefits does it provide them? n ? What distinguishes the products you sell from n those your competition sells? n ? Why should your prospects choose what you n sell or provide over those your competitors n provide? nnThese questions are designed to get you thinking nabout what your products, your services and your nbusiness has to offer that will be of benefit to your nprospects and customers, and more importantly, why nthey should buy from you as opposed to any other noptions they have.