Small Business Advertising Laws

Those of us who have our own business understand one thing...
ADVERTISE!
This is a given but as a small business owner myself, I found there are a few rules/laws that should be followed.

1. Use One Message: A high response rate ad usually conveys a single message.  For example NordicTrack's message of the "World's Best Aerobic Exercise" was simple and compelling. Your small business advertising needs to quickly communicate its core message in 3 seconds or less. Another example, if you are fearful and overwhelmed by technology, which computer book, do you buy? "DOS for Dummies" began a best-selling phenomena because its message was easily understood and to the point.

2. Add Credibility: It has become human nature to distrust advertising. Claims need to be real and credible. Roy H. Williams, best-selling author of the "Wizard of Ads" says, "Any claim made in your advertising which your customer does not perceive as the truth is a horrible waste of ad dollars."  Ivory soap's advertising success was attributed to its credible statement that ivory soap is the 99-44/100% pure. NordicTrack added enormous credibility from a University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse research study, ranking the cross-country ski exerciser first in the areas of weight loss, body fat reduction, and cardiovascular fitness.

3. Test Everything: Large businesses have a greater margin to waste capital and resources without testing advertising. Small businesses do not have the luxury. Use coupons, codes, and specials to measure the headline, timing, and placement of your ad. Test only one item at a time and one medium. Testing can be as simple as asking every customer for several weeks how they heard of your business.

4. Be Easy to Contact: Every single brochure, box, email and all company literature should have full contact information including: website and email address, phone and fax numbers, and company address. It seems simple but is forgotten by most companies. I know team members of VitaMist put stickers on the caps of their products so their customers always know how to get hold of them. Just think where can I put my information?  The answer is everywhere.

5. Match Ads to Target: Successful business advertising speaks to one target market only. To go back to the example of NordicTrack, the ads were tailored to each market. An ad in a medical publication preached the cardio-vascular benefits of cross-country skiing to heart patients. Ads in women's magazines discussed the weight-loss and calorie burn from cross-country skiing. Focus the message to the target group.

6. Create Curiosity: Successful business advertising does not sell a product or service. Create ads that generate interest and make the customer want more information.  Having a poor response is not the medium's fault. Often the problem is the message. Small business advertising is not a quick fix solution to marketing your company. It takes planning, testing and constant exposure to have an impact on your business. Done correctly, business advertising can be a winning strategy.

More about the VitaMist Affiliate Program...
SEO Marketing
VitaMist Affiliate
Waibel Online

You can blog better

When it comes to SEO, blogging is a must. You want to communicate what you know and how you can help your visitor with whatever it is you are offering.
Did you like that last statement?
Do you know WHY you liked it? In a word, "YOU"!
The most effective keyword you can have in a blog post or twitter post is the word “You”. “You” makes the post familiar. Using generic words like them, they, us, me and I are not as effective.
Make your articles focused on the reader, not the writer OR the product. You can only motivate your reader when they think you are talking directly to them.
Let’s be honest, people are basically interested in fulfilling their own desires. If you don’t appease them, aren’t interesting to them, offering them value, they will not be back, they will find that post that does.
So, you change your post to be directed to the reader. What happens? YOU become the next viral buzz!
Next time you blog, before you post it, count the numbers of “you” words. Count the “I” and “me” words and adjust. Make the post about and for your reader.

SEO the SEO co-op Way

SEO co-op brings real people hand in hand and coordinates their enterprise to promote each other.  These are internet marketing tools that truly work. We will make sure your articles get socially bookmarked by the other members of the co-op.  It’s hasty fame and instant recognition for your efforts.  Anyone can write a amazing article, getting it noticed and socially bookmarked is the brutal part.  SEO co-op makes sure your articles are sworn and affirmed and passed on through Twitter, Digg, Reddit, StumbledUpon and many other social bookmark sites.  You post your article, tell us where you posted it and we will cast members out there to Digg it.  Let the co-op know which site you are promoting and SEO co-op will make sure your link is posted by other members as a reference site on associated topics.  Using the capability of the co-op membership we make sure each and everything you do gets noticed and shared.  SEO co-op brings people together from all over the country and coordinates their efforts in promoting and sharing the co-op sites.  There is on other SEO marketing business that takes SEO to this level.  SEO co-op is a extraordinary set of internet marketing tools.

More Information:  http://www.seoco-op.com
Website help:  http://www.WaibelOnline.com

Cooking the Cougar Way

Okay, let's face it, part of being a cougar is being mindful that you've wrapped up your time as chief cook and bottle washer and have reached the continuous tenure in your chronicles when you do what you want when you want. While memories of days consumed putting nourishing meals on the table every night are sweet, they are dead and gone and not missed. Cooking is done when and only when they feel like it, it is no longer a project expected of you by those who would otherwise starve were it not for your dedication.
So why a website about cooking with cougars? They happen to be the most experienced cooks in the world, possessing skills that can not be taught in any culinary school. These women can take fifty dollars and turn it into seven extraordinary well balanced meals without even thinking. These women are able to purchase in bulk and turn one average pot roast into three completely diverse meals. These women are the reason comfort food exists. So, while it's not something you would opt to do given the choice, you can cook cougar.

Access Upgrades. The Good, the Bad, the UGLY

The time has come to migrate that great Microsoft Access (MSA) 97, 2000, XP or 2003 database to MSA 2007 or 2010. There are many questions that can arise. Is it easy? Do I need a consultant? Better to rewrite or migrate? I hope to answer at least one question in this article.


The Good:

The migration process is rather easy if you are looking at a simple database or if it is nothing more than a data container. Just open the mdb with MSA 07/10 and click Upgrade. There is a table, MSysACEs, in the old access databases that will not convert as Access 07 and higher doesn’t use it. You will get an error that some objects did not migrate. Once the database opens, go to Tables, then the Conversion Errors table. This table displays all the objects that 07/10 could not migrate. If the only object is MSysACEs then life is GOOD!

The Bad:

If you have a Front-end (FE) to Back-end (BE) mdb, then the migration can take a bit longer. I convert the BE first, then the FE. Be sure and open the FE with the Shift key pressed so the application doesn’t try to run any macros or code. I spend some time on my knees HOPING there is not a ton of VBA Code otherwise I will be spending some time, hours sometimes, walking the code looking for the old MSA defaults (like A_Form) and converting them to the MSA 07/10 equivalent. Depending on the intricacy of the Application, your best bet may be hiring a professional.

The UGLY:

MSA 07/10 security is completely dissimilar to previous versions of Access. You will notice a Security Warning bar just under the ribbon. As a default, the only directory MSA allows auto execution of code and macros is the %Programs%\Microsoft Office\Office12\ACCWIZ. If you have an application running in any other directory, you will need to open the trust center and add that directory to the list of paths that MSA trusts.

These are some of the problems I have encountered when doing a migration. I have no doubt that others have hit other issues.

I work from home, do you?

The data collection business did over $14 Billion in revenue last year; A 12 point record on an individual is worth up to $35.00 and a 7 point record on a business is worth up to $10.00; The Direct Marketing Association says companies spent $191 billion last year on direct- response advertising. The category that includes direct mail and telephone solicitations produced $1.7 trillion in revenue.

Automobile and Truck Tag data entry is just the tip of the iceberg and are only Phase One of the Data Network Affiliates simple plan of action. We have begun to roll out DNA Connects (Phase Two) which will offer even more income opportunities and be just as simple to obtain. More information...

The Department of Justice reported 797,500 children (younger than 18) were reported missing in a one-year period of time studied resulting in an average of 2,185 children being reported missing each day; 203,900 children were victims of family abductions; 58,200 children were victims of non- family abductions. ONLY 492 children since 1997, has the AMBER Alert program been credited for the safe recovery. DNA can help in such safe recoveries. If DNA helped save ONE MORE CHILD it’s worth it?

Just to surf can be enough

I have been surfing the net and have just fell in love with UrbanSpoon.com.

I use Urbanspoon to keep track of my most and least favorite restaurants. If you use Urbanspoon too we can compare notes on the best places to eat.


Urbanspoon is a website where you can find everything there is to know about local restaurants -- with menus and maps, as well as reviews from newspaper critics and food blogs.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/

Creating a service in VS 2005 and VB.Net

I was asked to provide a software solution last week for work.  I was like, "Sure, I can do that, no problem!"  WELL....

Problem:  Need a better way of transferring a Windows profile from an old machine to a new machine.  Currently takes the Config team 2 to 3 hours.

Solution: Part One:  Make a User application to define the Source Computer and Destination computer, define the user to transfer and create an XML file with the requested directories.  File to be processed by a Windows service located on another machine.
Part Two:  Create a service to run at a specific time to copy the requested folders to the new machine.

Part one was a breeze.  I created a VB.Net application that can PING both machines and verifies that the profile is on the source and the "user" has logged in at least once on the new one.  It loads an XML file with the directories to be processed, allows the user to remove those directories not wanted.  Just a really nice app.

Part two was a monster.  I knew that you could create a service in VB.Net, it was the HOW that was needed.  As usual, I Googled, and googled and googled.  Searching for "vb.net Windows service" was the best but not totally accurate.  I tried 3 of the "samples" that I found only to figure out that as soon as I logged off, so did the code!  This was not at all what I wanted.  I needed a service that would run no mater who, if anyone was logged in.  Three days and a few hundred lines of code later, I finally figured it out! 

Turns out, System.Timers.Timer is the guy you want to use.  the System.Windows.Forms.Timer will NOT work in a service.  OK, I kind of expected that, so I went with System.Threading.Timer.  This did not give the required response either.  Then I found out about System.Timers.Timer.  What a NICE control!  I was able to set up the interval using the TimeSpan.TotalMilliseconds and the service Just runs! 

If you are working on a VB.NET service and need a hand, let me know.  I will be more than happy to assist, you can email me at WaibelOnline.com

Rob