Become a Storyteller Not an Advertiser and Watch Your Traffic Increase


When you read the newspaper, do you read advertisements as closely as you read news stories? Do you believe advertising as readily as you believe news stories? I don't and neither do most people I know.

Because we have advertising shoved at us from every angle we tend to ignore it, but we pay attention to news or public interest stories. Not only do we pay more attention, we also are more likely to believe news stories than your basic advertisements. When your news is published either online, on the radio, TV or in newspapers people automatically feel that since it's being published it must be worthy information.

I read somewhere that "Advertising is what you pay for. Publicity is what you pray for". This is so true. You can spend a fortune on advertising and yes, it will bring you some traffic but traffic is only part of what you need and it stops when the advertising stops.

What you really need is PUBLICITY - free publicity so that your information reaches your potential customers and people will begin to get to "know" you. When people see and hear your name over and over they will begin to think of you as an expert in your field. They will trust your judgment and buy your products or the products you endorse. They will also recommend you to others which in turn cause a chain reaction and the process starts all over again. One of the best ways to get free publicity is by writing articles and press releases then submitting them to the third party sites and newspapers for publishing. Plus with a price like FREE, why not take full advantage of it?

The most important thing to remember when writing news is to write a STORY not a sales pitch. Don't you hate it when you ask someone about a product and instead of them telling you what it is and how you could benefit from it they go into this "elevator speech" about its features and why it's a good product ("it comes with this and that, plus as an added bonus you get?.") Please! If I wanted to hear a sales pitch I'd turn on the TV.

Sales people call it "selling features instead of benefits" but among news editors this is called, "selling the store, not the story" and it's the WRONG way to get your news published.

You should be trying to sell a STORY connected to the product instead of trying to sell the product itself. Why you ask? Because people love stories! We've been listening to and telling stories for centuries and we will continue to for a long time to come. People will pay attention if they think they're going to hear a good story but will turn away if you give them a sales pitch.

By writing like a storyteller, you will get free publicity which will increase your traffic and your sales.

** Melody Spier is a work at home mom of two teens. She is the owner of Ballyhoo Virtual Services a Virtual Assistant business catering to women in business. She specializes in business marketing and promotion with article and press release submissions, blog maintenance as well as many other services.


More Resources

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.

More Advertising Information:

Related Articles

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.
Marketing Tips - Advertising
Typical methods of advertising-newspapers, radio and television are effective if used properly, but there are other, less expensive ways to get your company's name out. Local or cable television is an inexpensive alternative to the traditional forms of advertising.
Advertising Your Holistic Business
The most basic answer is the same answer as to the question, how does advertising work? Advertising works through repetition, and Holistic Hometown offers you that repetition.What all successful companies know is that advertising it a process.
Is there anything new under the sun? Heres how to find out if your bright idea is unique.
"There's nothing new under the sun" is probably the one phrase no inventor wants to hear, seldom believes, and is always trying to prove wrong. However, moving too quickly to prototype stage and first disclosure can turn out to be costly for the inventor who doesn't take the time to find out if his or her invention is already patented.
Become a Storyteller Not an Advertiser and Watch Your Traffic Increase
When you read the newspaper, do you read advertisements as closely as you read news stories? Do you believe advertising as readily as you believe news stories? I don't and neither do most people I know.Because we have advertising shoved at us from every angle we tend to ignore it, but we pay attention to news or public interest stories.
A $40 Million Dollar Little Known Referral Strategy
Would you like to know how a car wash chain with only 12 locations has cleaned over 33,373,975 cars and has an annual revenue of over $40 Million (that is not a misprint) using little to no paid advertising?Well, sit forward because I'm about to tell you. The company name is "Car Spa" and here's how I discovered their brutally effective referral strategy.
I Dont 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.
Secrets of Getting Free Advertising
The opportunities for getting free advertising for your product or services are limited only by your own imagination and energies. There are so many proven ways of promoting your own objectives without cost that it literally boggles the mind just to think of listing them.
Mortgage Marketing - Broadcast Advertising vs Direct Advertising
Do you know how to design and deploya marketing campaign?Even if your ad budget is small you should still plan and measure the results of you advertising. This process is the key to your ultimate success.
Get Better Results from Your Advertising with a Disruptor
When you spend money on an advertisement you want to get the best return possible. To do that you need to get people to STOP and LOOK at your ad.
Heard A Good Radio Ad Lately? Neither Have We
To many ad agencies, radio is considered advertising's ugly stepchild. It's not sexy like television and is treated as a necessary evil with little effort put into it.
What Makes A Winning Online Ad?
Most people who have been involved with sales & marketing for any length of time have heard the axiom, "Sell them what they want. Then sell them what they need".
Media, the Internet, Yellow Pages, and Your Business
If you are reading this article, chances are you could use a little extra money. With the advent of the internet and the migration of advertising dollars from print to electronic (and this time, it's the real thing, I swear! Not one of those 1999 tech busts!.
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.
Printing - How Do I Buy It?
Why should I care where I get my printed material from, I'll just go for tenders and go with the low bidder. If you do this probably you won't be in business for long or you'll never really run a successful business.
Scrolling LED signs
Scrolling LED signs is type of LED signs that displays Scrolling text and can be used as outdoor and/or indoor outlet. Wide variety of businesses uses this equipment to spread news and other information quickly and efficiently.
Boost Headline Believability With Specifics
Don't use vague generalities in your headlines. Be as specific as possible.
Hiring an Amateur Could Mean a Potential Lawsuit for Your Business
These days, everyone's looking to save a buck. But if you plan to cut corners by using a fledgling copywriter or marketer, expect to put the money you just saved towards a really good lawyer.
How to Advertise with Flyers
When you first start out on your business venture, money is usually tight but you still need to advertise. One of the most affordable, yet very effective, ways to begin your advertising campaign is with flyers.
10 Reasons Why Your Company Needs Custom Invitations
I am always amazed when I hear about companies who spend tens of thousands of dollars organizing a make-it-or-break-it company event designed to celebrate a company milestone and/or impress prospective customers. Sometimes these events have big contracts or sales at stake! Yet, often planners will fall short on the most critical aspect of planning the event-the invitations! After all, before a client steps foot into your venue, or even confirms attendance, the invitation sets the tone and leaves the first and most important (and lasting!) impression!Have a look at this compelling list of "10 Reasons Why Your Company Needs Custom Invitations".