But simply “placing tiny classifieds ads in newspapers” does not work for most business-type applications – despite what you may have heard on those infamous infomercials.
If you're buying and selling items of personal property like vehicles, furniture, antiques, or sports equipment -- newspapers may be the natural choice for your “one-of” product. You're bound to find someone who is interested in your offer. But as a business owner, you're looking for numerous sales of your product to a narrowly defined group of prospects.
Would it be profitable for you to advertise locally and/or expand “nationwide” through hundreds of newspapers as some profess?
My guess: No! Here's the reason:
Think of your typical newspaper. Now... why do people read it? Everyone has their own preferences, but in general, readers pick up the newspaper to peruse one or more of the following sections:
* national news
* international news
* weather
* sports
* local news
* business news
* special feature information
* comics
* travel information
* obituaries
Heck... some readers might even look forward to scanning the classified ads to see what's new. But how many of these readers are actual candidates for your product, business opportunity, wonder gadget, or your amazing new health elixir?
Very few.
You see, newspapers attract a large cross-section of the general population as a whole. So right off the bat, the percentage of readers who are good potential candidates for your product, is relatively low. These people are simply not good prospects for your product.
Look... if you were in the market for a solution to a specific problem, would you be scouting newspaper classified ads for that special product that could change your life, business, finances, or health forever?
Highly unlikely.
You'd probably start by choosing business magazines, trade journals and carefully targeted newsletters. You might consult with other business owners, or access online discussion groups to solicit suggestions. But it's not very likely that you'd go directly to the newspapers for this kind of thing.
Newspapers tend to reach everyone and “everyone” cannot possibly be prime, grade-A prospects for whatever product you happen to be offering.
The real value of magazine-type classified ads is that you're able to specifically pinpoint your target prospect, based on the subject matter and focus of each particular publication.
When someone responds to your ad in Entrepreneur for business information, you can be fairly certain that they fit your prospect profile. With this kind of a match, (product to audience) your chances at success are far superior.
