I Don't Want to be Different


To succeed in today's crowded marketplace where most of the products and advertising look exactly the same, a small business owner must stand out, shouting above the din with a message so clear and compelling that prospects stop and take notice. It's a matter of business survival. Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs quickly retreat to the supposed security of sameness, soon to be lost in a sea of anonymity and a tidal wave of frustration. In effect, albeit at a subconscious level, they are saying, "I don't want to be different".

In back room offices and store fronts everywhere, salespeople are telling business owners they should do this or that kind of ad because it worked so great for their competitor. The owners nod and sign on. It's already proven to be a winner, right? WRONG! Change the name, background color and a font style and you've got sameness. Put those ads in the yellow pages, a coupon magazine or a TV commercial cluster and you've got advertising death. Want proof? Ask a small business owner how well their advertising is working. Don't stand too close waiting for the answer.

To make your advertising work, follow the principle if your competition is doing it, don't. Go where they aren't and win the battle without a fight. Resist the urge to get a listing in the phone book because that's where everyone else is. A coupon direct mailer that features 6 or 7 of your competitors is a poor choice too. Look for new opportunities in direct mail and email campaigns. Look at direct response ideas. In short, try to find the biggest number of clients you can find in one spot. Fish in a barrel, not the ocean.

When you've chosen different channels to attract your customers, make sure you overcome the "so-what" factor in your copywriting. An ad for a heating and air conditioning company that says it has certified technicians that will fix your problem quickly is a so-what line. No one is looking for uncertified slackers that will get around to the problem whenever. A moving company that mentions superior insurance coverage makes you think they'll probably break something. Be creative and write copy that will compel prospects to take action.

Consumers are bombarded by thousands of ad messages every day. There is so much overload they tune everything out. To get their attention, look within your business and find all that you do differently and decide which of those elements your customers most want. Decide how to word it best. and where to position it. Decide you really do want to be different. You have to. Your business depends on it.

Brian Grinonneau is the general manager of McMann and Tate Advertising in Perrysburg, Ohio. His firm specializes in helping small business owners cut through the clutter in a crowded advertising marketplace.


More Resources

What are Text Adverts?
Not everyone is aware of what are text adverts? Text Adverts are a form of low cost advertising used by website owners to promote their website and services to a quality targeted audience.Online advertising offers an outstanding opportunity to efficiently and effectively target your desired audience.
Secrets to Profitable Mail Order Products
The most profitable mail order products are simple 3-to-5 page informational reports such as this one. Once you've got your act together, these 3-page reports can be produced for $10 per hundred or less, and sold for at least $200 per hundred.
How to SAVE Yourself from Spending too Much Money on Advertising!
How much money have you spent in Advertising, Promotion & Marketing? If you're like most people you've probably spent over $1000 or more. Many individuals and companies have spent $2000 to $50,000 in Advetising within a course of 1 Year.
Advertising Costs Getting Too High?
Everyone knows that advertising is essential to growing a business. One problem that small business owners have always faced is the high cost of marketing.
Advertising That Annoys: The Real Story
Critics conclude that entertaining or "creative" commercials sell better than those that are bland. But liking the commercial may not really be that important in the scheme of things.
Does Post Card Advertising Really Work?
You've decided to try advertising your business with post cards. The idea came to you from the post cards you receive from other businesses.
How To Write Eye-Grabbing Headlines That Catapult Your Prospects Into Your Ads
If you're interested in improving the selling results of your ads, tweaking your headlines is a great place to start. Because your headlines influence the sales results of your ad more than any other element.
Why People Fail in Mail Order
Mail order is a very complicated business. Every phase must beplanned, analyzed and tested.
Graphical LED Display
Graphical LED Displays utilize high-resolution graphics and video to transmit the information. You will find them sited in world's great cosmopolitan cities.
How To Make Your Resource Box Sell
Ezine Articles - they're everywhere!And little wonder. They're one of the fastestways of building traffic to your website.
Where To Call For Free Advertising And Free Business Advice
Believe it or not, there are plenty of opportunities out there for you to get your written materials free of charge, for free advertising space, and free business advice. For free advertising space, many publications will write an article about you or your product if you purchase advertising space with them.
Lamination of Signs
I suspect that everyone has an idea of what lamination is even if you have only seen it in passing. Restaurant menus are a common example.
When Advertising Wears Out
One of the challenges facing marketers is determining the most effective level of advertising exposure for a brand, while maintaining a given budget. Conceptually, the media planner could choose continuous advertising (even exposures spread over a period of time) or follow a strategy of pulsing ("on" for some months and "off" for others).
The Importance of Your Business Card
What are you trying to say with you business card?We have talked about collecting other people's business cards and also about how they are often tough to differentiate from one another. These are things you should avoid for your own business card.
11 Ways To Make Your Business Cards Work For You
1. Spend money on decent quality business cards.
How To Write Super-Effective Ads and Sales Letters!
"The more things change, the more they stay the same". That saying couldn't be more true, especially when it comes to writing ads and sales letters.
Print Your Marketing Postcards For A Penny, Address Them For Free, and Automate the Whole Process
This article will show you how to cut your printing costs to a penny and have your postcards addressed for free without doing it all yourself, reducing the time you invest in your mailing to almost nothing.So, you have a list of hot prospects in hand; you need a way to get your marketing message in front of them with the hope that a reasonable percentage will call you.
How You Measure Yourself Is How You Motivate Yourself
One of the keys to strong positive mental attitude is what you compare your personal performance to. Do you compare your sales results to the top producer in your industry? Do you compare your basketball playing ability to Michael Jordan? Do you compare your last presentation to a speech delivered by Ronald Reagan or JFK? Or do you compare your results today, to those you had yesterday? Sports, sales, and the media teach us to compare our success against that of others, living or dead.
What the Newspaper Ad Person Won't Tell You
Newspapers are considered the PRIMARY advertisingmedium by 99.4% of all retailers.
How To Make A Fortune With FREE Advertising!
How To Gain FREE Advertising That Will Make You Rich!Okay-Just What Exactly Is "Free Advertising"???Before I get into the specifics of actually HOW to get free advertising - it's important for you to completely understand exactly what free advertising is."Free Advertising" is any mention, listing or "blurb" about your product in a magazine, newsletter, book, manual, directory etc.

More Advertising Information:

Related Articles

Business Ideas: 5 Uncommon Ways To Generate More Online Business
Sometimes, it is not an obvious business idea that will makeyou more money.It may be what is not so obvious, which most people never thinkof that may make you money.
What Does the Back of Your Business Card Say?
Business cards with nothing on the back are wastedopportunities to sell.Use the back of your card to expand and reaffirmyour selling sentence (which should be prominenton the front of your card).
Fax Broadcast Services Get Your Message to Millions
If your company is one of those innovative businesses that has taken advantage of new fax broadcasting technologies to get your message out, you've probably come to realize that the fax broadcasting services industry is ever-changing and new developments are coming out all the time.It's pretty much a full-time job just to manage a fax broadcast database of any size, not to mention keeping the related fax broadcasting software updated and operational.
How to Write Ads that Increase Your Business
I caught myself wracking my brain over what kind of article I should write for newspapers that would be useful to business people. It struck me that I was making a solid effort to get into the mind of my target market.
How To Write Super-Effective Ads and Sales Letters!
"The more things change, the more they stay the same". That saying couldn't be more true, especially when it comes to writing ads and sales letters.
15 Tips for Better Yellow Page Ads
Yellow Pages advertising is one of the mostpopular forms of advertising in the country today.Almost every home in America (96.
Double Your Sales Potential With Double-sided Business Cards
Swapping business cards is one of the most basic and common forms of networking in the business world. With something that is so common practice, people often hand out cards blindly while not really thinking about what the card does AFTER you hand it out.
Do Your Adverts Get You More Sales?
Philadelphia retailer and US Postmaster General, John Wanamaker, once said, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."If you're spending $10,000 a month on advertising $5,000 is going straight down the tubes.
Advertising Inserts
One of the best and easiest ways to advertise without having to worry about shelf life of those who would most likely use your services or buy the products from your small business is to use inserts in your local newspaper. A marketing piece might also be to insert our flyers in the daily newspaper.
The Key To Marketing New Ideas!
Imagine tossing a pebble into a crystal clear pond on a still day, & watching the ripples make their way to the shore. A tiny cause has a massive effect.
What Is Most Important - Copy Or Pic?
When, some little time ago now, I first descended upon the advertising scene, we were a good deal more concerned than most people seem to be today about the nature of the business we found ourselves in. We were always holding debates - in the saloon bar of the Coach & Horses in New Bond Street, to be tiresomely precise - about the meaning of advertising, the significance of advertising, and the past, present and future of advertising.
The Man With The Grasshopper Mind
The title of this article also happens to be one of the "20 Greatest Headlines Ever Written."Did you know, just changing the headline has been known to dramatically improve the effectiveness of an ad or sales letter by up to 1700 percent? Yes, headlines are that powerful--and that important!However, over the last few years, I've noticed a proliferation of badly written--or just plain weak headlines--both online and off!Particularly disturbing is the copycat syndrome.
How to Write Great Headlines
According to experts, just changing the headline of an ad or sales letter has been known to dramatically improve the effectiveness of an ad or sales letter by up to 1700 percent! Yes, headlines are that powerful--and that important!An effective headline will do many things at once. It will attract the readers attention, convey benefits by appealing to the readers self-interest and it will set the stage for what is to come.
Grab Your Share of Untold Amounts of Advertising Dollars
If you advertise in any way, the following information could show you how to find and utilize untold advertising dollars you may not be aware of.In the mid 80's I was an account executive for a radio station located in Santa Rosa, California.
Electronic Score Boards
Wide range of electronic Key venues around the globe has turned to Electronic score boards that not only look breathtaking from every angle and distance, but provide consistently reliable performance year in and year out.Different type of sports including athletics, track cycling, running events, street cycling and mountain bike, swimming, synchronized swimming, diving as well as inline skating, water polo, ball spots, motor sports, alpine skiing, cross country and biathlon are some of the areas where Electronic score boards perfect fits solutions for.
Which is Better Digital or Offset Printing?
As technology continues to improve, the quality of digital prints also improves. Technology advancements have also made it easier for more and more businesses to enter the printing industry.
Write Attention Getting Advertisements
The most important aspect of any business is selling the product or service. Without sales, you aren't generating any income and your business will die.
How to Make Your Claims Believable
When you hear claims like??Best Lawnmower in the country?Absolute Lowest Prices In Existence?Leaves your hair cleaner than any other shampoo?do you believe them?Or is there a certain degree of doubt in your mind about their credibility? Or whether they are 'hyped up'?Think about it. Everybody expects advertisers to exaggerate their claims.
Dont Put All Your Eggs in The Same Basket
Solution: You can protect yourself by partnering with other lead sources because it is unlikely that they will all have a problem or technical issue at the same time.Other alternative: It doesn't hurt either to use a few marketing tools to generate leads for your business.
How You Can Create Advertising That Sells
A well-planned and properly executed marketing program should include a sufficient commitment of capital resources to an on-going, well executed advertising program. Yes, this includes your business.