Business advertising

If you own a business, you know the importance of advertising, marketing and promotions. Without doing some type of all three your business will surely never get off the ground unless through some luck and a lot of word of mouth hype.
This is especially true if your business involves selling products. When it comes to selling products, not only do you need to advertise what it is you are selling, but who is selling it. In print advertising, costs can soar with the more space you eat up. If you go by way of TV or radio, the longer your ad airs, the more expensive it will be. So lets touch on how to maximize your advertisement, by focusing in on key components. Lets say for instance, you sell widgets. Write down at least 10 positive points about why you are the best widget dealer in the area, country etc. Do you have the largest supply? Maybe the most options in colors? Maybe you are the only certified reseller of widgets. Whatever your positive points are, you need to write them down.
Now that you have your list, come up with the headline that can incorporate the best positive point and the name of your business. For example, "The largest selection of Widgets in the country, only at Joe`s Widgets". You will obviously modify it for your needs.
Now that you have grabbed your readers or listeners attention, you want to use the remaining advertising space to focus in on the types of widgets that you sell, what you have to offer, maybe some pricing on featured widgets and so on. Don`t forget to add in a disclaimer, such as "while supplies last" or whatever pertains to what you are selling. The last thing you want to do is seem like you are misleading or pulling a "bait & switch" on customers as they walk through your door or call you on the phone.
Never, never, never forget to put into the advertisement a means by which someone reading or listening can contact your company or purchase your products. If you are an online business, use email, web address, blog site, or whatever it is you use to sell your products. If you are a retail store, don`t forget a phone number, address and hours of operation. Too many times I have seen advertisements that forget this basic information and then the advertisement flops because customers can not get a hold of anyone. Do not forget your contact information.
Try to make the body of your advertisement more appealing. If it is within your budget try using some color, maybe add some photos of your widgets and so on. You not only want to make your advertisement stand out above the rest of your competition, but you also want to look more professional than the others. A cheesy ad, well, makes you look cheesy.
Finally, know where you are going to advertise. If you sell carpeting, would you run an advertisement in a video game magazine? No of course not, that is ludicrous. Find out what publication or section of the newspaper is right for your products. If you are an online business, take a wild guess as to where you need to advertise. I`ll let you chew on that one for a second....OK enough time. Online of course. It does your advertising campaign no good, regardless of how well the advertisement is written, if it is in the wrong place.