Paula's Marketing Words

Are you thinking like a big business?

"Why doesn't my ad work?" This is the burning question for many small businesses. The reason so many ads fail is that there was no research performed to devlop the messages. The ad doesn't connect with the target. The target doesn't buy. The ad fails.

Without direct customer research or competitive research, it's impossible to know how to sell your product or service. Sure some businesses succeed without it but as world becomes smaller through the internet, knowing how to connect with the customer is becoming vitally more important.

I am thoroughly disheartened when I here of a business spending thousands on tv, radio or print campaigns. Or hearing that the complete marketing budget was spent on one ad, one web site or one sign. For most businesses, it's much better to put effort into a variety of inexpensive outlets instead of just one single effort. And I truly believe it's better to spend this year's budget on research so the advertising planned for next year succeeds.

If you don't believe me, consider the tv ads during any major sporting event. These are heavily tested to ensure connection with the target audience. Even before they are prepared, they are planned based on the latest product research. That's why big business gets bigger. So if you want your small business to get bigger, maybe you should think like a big business now. Maybe a little market research is the step you need to take this year.

Paula Mahony
Marketing Strategist
www.wordsatwork.us

PR -- there's more than one way to get attention!

When there's an importany story to tell but the local paper won't print it, what do you do? Guerrilla PR.

That's the case with ADCO Electric in Massachusetts. You see, Gary Ajamian, owner of ADCO happens to be friends with Paul Buckley, Fire Chief for the town of Needham. One day they got talking about electrical fire safety. Come to find out, Chief Buckley has some serious concerns that he wants homeowners to know about. So Gary took on the project to hire a writer (me) and try to publish a story about fire hazards in the home that everyone should know about.

We wrote the article but the papers won't print it because they think Gary has a vested interest in it. Too bad they can't see that his vested interest is really to prevent fires and perhaps to save lives.

So what is this new fire hazard lurking within our homes? rechargeable gadgets.

How many devices do you own that requre periodic recharging? How many of them do you plug in each night? How often do you plug more than one into a single outlet or strip? That's the hazard.

Each of those items draws electricity which creates heat. Too much heat in one outlet will cause a fire. It's simple. Problem is, these fires get started at the time of day when there is the least supervision. Most of us plug this stuff in when we don't need it...ie while we sleep.