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by Meena Chauhan, Mee

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. Most, however do not realize that there is an effective way to reduce the cost of your advertising while - at the same time - increasing its reach.

Advertising co-ops are nothing new. Usually they are a "perk" offered by major manufacturers to encourage retailers to promote their products. Because the retailer has direct access to customers that would want to buy certain products, it only makes sense that they should do joint advertising. You have seen it - McDonalds mentioning Coke in their commercials, Dell stating that you get a free Epson printer with purchase and so on.

The retailer does not make the product the manufacturer is providing, but it IS a great match with what they DO offer. Nobody would want to eat a Big Mac without something to drink, and a computer would not do a lot of good without a printer.

Now you can use this same strategy to create your own advertising co-op to increase the reach of your ads and drastically reduce the cost, too.

--- How It Works

Generally speaking, the cost of any advertisements (bulk emailings, ezine ads, banners, newspaper, etc.) would be split equally between all participants. If you and two associates decide to purchase a solo ad, you would each receive equal mentions in the ad and you would each pay equal portions of the cost.

So if the solo ad were going to a list of 200,000 and cost $150, each of the three would pay $50. You get to reach 200,000 people for 1/3 the cost you would have normally paid. And, because this ad relates you to other types of businesses, you actually expand your advertising reach.

--- Getting Started

So who would be qualified to enter into an ad co-op with you? It depends on the nature of your business. Think of others that reach your same target customer and make a list. If you design Web sites, you might approach hosting companies, graphic artists, copywriters or programmers. If your business is landscaping, you could invite yard maintenance companies to join you.

Once you have a list of one or more business types think of current associates you know who belong to those groups. Also, ask others if they know of any reliable businesses that fall into the categories, you have outlined.

--- Making the Approach

When you have a list of businesses to approach, simply write or email them with your offer. Be sure to point out the benefits such as

* a win-win situation

* reduced cost of advertising

* expanded reach of advertising

* larger, more prominent ads for a fraction of the cost

Also, be sure to ask about the advertising outlets these businesses currently use. You will likely find new avenues that lead to greater exposure.

--- Finalizing the Deal

you will need to work out payment arrangements with your partners prior to placing the ad(s). The best way I have found to handle the finances is for each party to pay me for their portion of the cost with a credit card. I then place the ad order with MY credit card. This way, you are assured of receiving the dollar amount due to you; and your partners have the assurance that - should you default on your end of the deal - they have recourse for getting their money back.

Working in cooperation with other businesses can lead to tremendous successes with advertising. When like-minded companies pool their resources to reach one target audience, the impact is doubled while the cost is reduced by at least half. That is the best advertising bargain around today!

It is clear and simple when it comes to advertising responses. The better the response to the advertisement, the more efficient it is. The efficiency of the advertisement is the ability of the ad to attract attention in the first place and the ability of the ad to generate feelings and action in the person looking at, or listening to it. In fact ads can be visual, audio, written, video, etc, so the media used can be quite varied. This is good because there's a better chance of hitting the right note through one of the different forms of advertising. Some people are affected more by video, and others are affected more by the written word. People vary, and so advertising varies.

1) Build Confidence: The first step toward getting good responses to your ads is to build confidence in the readers. They are looking for something they can relate to and somebody they can trust. They want to see some real life in your advert. The majority of people are affected by feelings, and a robotic “buy this now” offer is not attractive, and people will not respond well to that. Instead make it more conversational, and pose questions to the targeted customers. It is in the advertiser's best interest to start building confidence from the first point of contact. That is the advertisement.

2) Follow Success: There is no need to re-invent the wheel. There has been a lot of work done out there in the field of advertising. Just think for a moment of the millions spent by Coca-Cola, and McDonalds on advertising. You can bet they spent a big fraction of that on research. The knowledge is out there. You will need to check out the techniques used by the top dogs in your niche, and follow suit by doing similar advertising.

3) Utilize a USP: The unique selling proposition of your business should be put forward to best effect in your advertising so that it stands out above other similar offers. Ask yourself: what is the special feature or features of my service or product? What could I do to get people to see that unique feature? Could I boldly state that in a question at the start of my adverts? This is important because if you can get immediate attention to your USP at the start of your advert, you will attract more targeted traffic.

4) No Hype: Hype was the king in the 80s but now in the 21st century, beyond 2000, it doesn't cut it anymore. It is almost gone full circle now because now the first sign of hype is usually a sign to stay away. Nowadays, advertising is based on building trust and confidence, and quiet confidence about providing a quality service and looking after the customer's interests. So for example, if you are in a sales company, it is advisable to not start your advertisement with; Wow, Amazing…..Buy Now, Buy Now. That focuses too much on the product and not on the customer.

Following some of these steps and techniques should steer the average advertiser away from the major blunders in writing or creating ads. It should help you to achieve much better responses. ® All Rights Reserved

Article Source : Pg. 36

About Author

Both Meena Chauhan & Brendan Brosnan are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Meena Chauhan has sinced written about articles on various topics from Affiliate Programs, Investments and Hair Care. www.infozabout.comwww.advertising.infozabout.com. Meena Chauhan's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.

Brendan Brosnan has sinced written about articles on various topics from Work From Home, Home Internet Business and Work From Home. . Brendan Brosnan's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.