In my direct response print and Yellow Page ad design business, I offer a FREE 60 point ad audit at my website www.InstantYellowPageProfits.com. Because of this FREE Offer, I review hundreds of print and Yellow Page ads per year, and they all have the same 3 profit killing mistakes.
The first profit killing mistake I see in small business advertising is having a weak headline. The weakest headline you can usually have is the business name which normally contains no benefit for the consumer. What would happen if you had a pipe leaking at your home and you went to the Yellow Pages under the “Plumbers” heading to find a competent professional to fix your leak.
You review ads under the heading, and the first 2 have the following headlines. Let’s say ad example #1 has “Joe’s Plumbing” and ad example #2 has, “Get Your Leak Fixed In 60 Minutes or Less!”?Which ad appeal most to you? When you use the headline, “Joe’s Plumbing” all you’ve proven is that Joe has a big ego. That fails to be a benefit to your prospects. This is a far better benefit in the headline to get your leak fixed in just 60 minutes.
So when you are writing your headlines, ask yourself, “What is the greatest benefit I can offer my prospects, and what is their greatest desire when they are viewing my ad?” If you take those most sought after benefits and include them in your headline you will dramatically increase response to ALL your advertising.
The second profit killing mistake is to have no offer. Including an attractive offer in your ad design will double or triple your response. Not having an offer in your ad is advertising suicide.
So what is the best type of offer to include in your advertising? I recommend a New Client Offer. This could be a “dollars off” offer on their first service, or an added bonus for just for new clients. Most ads do not include an offer, so you can make your ad stand out and outperform your competition with a well crafted offer.
The third profit killing mistake is to not include a guarantee. A guarantee is something all small businesses need to include in their advertising. Small business advertisers find that adding by a 100% Moneyback Guarantee they increase ad response by removing the risk of a new client trying your business. Most of you are thinking, “Larry has lost his mind. If I offer a 100% Moneyback Guarantee, no one will pay me.”!”
I know how you feel, because I felt the same way before I included a 100% Moneyback Guarantee in my advertising. I worried that everyone would rip me off and not pay me, but when I implemented the guarantee good things happened. This 100% Moneyback Guarantee DOUBLED my advertising profits and ROI. I was shocked that in 7 years of having a Moneyback Guarantee, there were only 2 clients that requested a refund. In both cases, things did not go according to plan and these clients deserved and got their moneyback. If I had not given them their Moneyback, I would have had 2 lawsuits that would have exceeded the price of my refund. This moneyback guarantee did double duty by increasing my advertising response and profits while simultaneously removing legal liability when unusual things happened.
Businesses that can not have a 100% money back guarantee, can guarantee a portion or part of the first purchase even if this means limiting what services you provide on their first purchase. When you reduce or remove the risk with a risk-free guarantee, you lower the barrier to entry and the downside of doing business with you.
So you can see that having doubled my business from the same size ad and having only 2 (deserved) refunds in 7 years and over 1500 jobs is a tremendous financial gain.
So upgrade your print and Yellow Page advertising by having a great headline, a money back guarantee and a new client offer. This gives you a long-term competitive advantage because when you get 200% response, you are getting new clients at only 50% of what your competition has to pay.
Larry Conn’s personal experience in advertsing and direct response marketing has been built over the last 34 years. He is frequently booked months in advance due to his recognition as a leading direct response marketing expert, speaker, and copywriter. In just the last 24 months, 4 top direct response marketing experts have featured Larry in their top selling books and products due to his skills in designing profitable marketing strategies and writing copy for high ROI print and Yellow Page ad design. At his website www.InstantYellowPageProfits.com Larry offers a FREE 60 point Advertising Audit worth $150.00.