Saving Money Doing Business Virtually

I was just sending my new rates off to a company that I ghostwrite for. I'm not sure it's proper to post their location at this point in time, but I'll check on that and get a link to you, if it is considered appropriate.

In any case, I have one rate for online clients and another for offline clients.

The reason is simply that I can charge less if I don't have to put on make-up, do my hair (and deal with all the appropriate appliances and hair goop to accomplish a somewhat professional look), get dressed and then get into my increasingly expensive car to make an in-person presentation.

Which brings me to my point of how you, as a small business owner, can save money by hiring virtually. Of course, buying local is important for most (if not all) of our physical products, but there are times when buying virtual makes sense.

Of course, some specialists, even those that work from home, will always command higher prices. Such cases are rare, for the most part the cost of services is much lower through a home based business than a comparable business with a storefront.

It's less expensive to provide services from home than they are from a traditional office setting. With less overhead, the savings can be passed on to the client.

Pay Per Play Audio Advertising

Apparently, the latest buzz out there in audio is pay per play audio commercials. The gist of what I've read so far is that a small piece of code is put onto a blog or website and once the program is up and running (bidding is due to start next month in Feb '08) short audio ads will play automatically when a visitor comes to the page. Website owners will be paid every time the audio ad plays for one of their visitors.

Now being that I am all over audio as a great advertising medium, the idea intrigues me.

The problem is I really can't wrap my mind around how it will work.

Oh, I get the technical side to a certain extent. It's Java Code and it does it's thing when a visitor comes to the page and a script plays. I get that.

But the thing is I don't see how five second ads are going to work to move the listeners through the buying process - and if it doesn't motivate buyers, what exactly are potential advertisers paying for and hoping to achieve with this type of campaign?

People speak at a rate of about 3 words per second. That means the ads will be about 15 words on average. That is one colossal challenge! To create a complete compelling audio message that encourages action within 15 words?

It would take an amazing talent to be able to craft messages that short with any degree of effectiveness. There are few enough writers who learn the craft of creating a compelling thirty second commercial which is why listeners suffer through hackneyed, inefficient commercials! But at least with 30 seconds, brilliance and clarity are achievable. I don't know that we can really say that about 5 seconds.

Every writer I know will acknowledge that writing short is hard! Personally, I find it downright excruciating to write with a tight word count. I've done as few as 30 words professionally for a results driven piece. I don't know that I could do 15 with my sanity intact. (Not to say my sanity is exactly intact as it is, some days)

Maybe the ads have another purpose - some branding through repetition scheme? Which would have to make that a pretty complicated little code in order to ensure a listener heard the same ad enough times for it to even have a statistical chance of effectiveness.

The other thing that bothers me is the automatic nature of these ads. I don't know about you, but I hate audio that I'm not expecting on any website. Give me a play button and I'll listen if I'm interested. That is the essence of permission based advertising. I mean, even with the radio, I know if I'm going to listen I'm either going to pay a subscription fee (satellite radio) or I'm going to be hearing commercials. I know and accept that trade as part of the commerce of content. But to be subjected to an ad when I don't even know it's coming, that would irk me. Even if it is only five seconds. It wouldn't put me in a good disposition towards the site or the advertiser.

Anyway, those were my first thoughts when it came to pay per play.

Evidently there are also issues with the company (NetAudioAds) that is launching this platform. There are concerns that the advertisers they say they have lined up have denied being involved. There are concerns that many social media users have Java blockers up when they surf, so the ads won't even reach them, which puts the 100% conversion figure into immediate question.

Bah! While initially intrigued, I'm now thinking this whole thing will not be good for audio advertising at all.

The good thing is, that with all it's inherent flaws - it's not likely to be an issue for long.

On the right track...

I've been feeling a little off lately. Sales at the station have flattened, mostly because I've been trying to deal with personal issues. I find I never sell well when I'm feeling desperate on the inside. No matter how much I get out and play the "fake it till you make it" game. So I've been feeling somewhat like one of those little smiley guys on the forums - beating my head up against the wall.

It will turn, it always does.

Meanwhile, something I read at Marketing Roadmaps, perked me up considerably. The first part is about the blog I cited last week, but the part that jumped out at me was:

"The best social media marketing people won't be PR people. Or marketing people. They will have a skill set that blends both disciplines. Whether you are at an agency or in a company, start developing this -- in yourself, in your teams.

Stop worrying about whether PR or marketing is going to win. The answer is neither. And both."

This captures the essence of the message that I have been trying to communicate. It is what I have envisioned for Easy Results with Radio, when I began to tighten my focus to the three areas of radio advertising, podcast advertising and publicity as I explained in my interview with Kelly McCausey on WAHM Talk Radio this week.

Though I didn't describe it as such, I really do see this project of mine as a synergy between public relations and marketing.

It is so nice to see it confirmed by someone else. I needed that.

The first commercial

Yippee! It's done and approved...the first commercial I've written and produced for my job at Moms Talk Radio...

I wrote it for Solutions for Busy Moms to promote the free Busy Moms Stress Relief Kit, which I have to admit is an awesome find for any busy mom. It's so much easier to write and develop a commercial for someone when you've tried the product and liked it.

Here it is for those who want to listen in...

The One Money Saving Marketing Technique You Need

Want to know the one thing that will cost you nothing but time and net you a return of almost 40% off some of your marketing costs?

It’s really quite simple and I bet you’ll be kicking yourself for not thinking of this one yourself.

Ready?

It’s a plan.

Yup, all you need to save up to 40% on some of your marketing costs is a plan.

If you know how are you going to market this coming year, you can save money on most of your direct and indirect marketing costs. Once you figure that out you can start making contact with potential advertising sites, start coming up with press releases and in general get your marketing campaign underway.

Breaking it into grocery store terms it’s like buying bulk versus per use sizes, you end up paying for convenience.

Advertising With a Plan vs. Seat-of-the-PantsBuying Habits

I thought it best to illustrate it with a comparison...

Store X comes up with a yearly marketing plan. They use it to roughly sketch in dates for print advertising in the newspaper, public relations events, outlines for their in-house customer appreciation lists.

Store Y makes do with buying when the newspaper lady drops by or calls with special offers and doesn’t do much to contact customers outside of flyers and in store displays.

Store X takes advantage of lower overall pricing and can integrate several branches of their marketing plan at the same time. He's also able to plan around co-op marketing dollars that some of his manafacturers offer and commit the savings to personal branding efforts.

In order to do the same Store Y will have to bring together each of his marketing branches within a short period of time, resulting in a possibly lower newspaper invoice coupled with higher prices for rush advertising at his printers and web developer. Due to his lack of planning, he often misses out on coop dollars by not gettings his ads and proofs to the manafacturer by the appropriate deadlines.

Store X can get all of his printing needs for the year met within one visit during a slow time in the printing industry and will be able to take advantage of seasonal discounts. The same holds true for his web development work and public relations.

Buying in advance helps Store X resist sales offers that don’t fit in to the overall marketing plan, whereas Store Y can often be tempted by time-specials that may not fit his overall target market.

Store X overall spends less time deliberating decisions and more time executing decisions.

Who would you rather be?

I’ll be uploading my Business Basics Guide to Planning over the next few days. If you want to learn how to build a business plan sturdy enough to support your marketing, but simple enough to develop in a week – then stay tuned to the Easy Results with Radio launch list. Members of the list get first dibs at extra sweet pricing.

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Rejection brings clarity to my mission statement

I was in a negotiation today, hoping to secure a client as a test for a podcast experiment. However, it just wasn’t quite the right fit. The potential clients’ interests were more in guerilla marketing techniques rather than paid opportunities. I personally believe that guerilla tactics should be mixed with sound and deliberate paid advertising.

I got the feeling I lost the sale because I wasn't clear in clarifying my intentions with this potential client. I have a feeling he thought I was just after the sale. I was after the sale, but not for alltogether selfish reasons. Yes, I'd make a commission - but I'd make nothing if the experiment failed. I think that's as much of a guarantee as anyone should be expected to make.

Anyway, it really got me to thinking about what I want to accomplish through this business.

I want to make sales, for sure. But I'm not going to knowingly steer anyone in the wrong direction. I don't believe in a one-size-fits-all brand of marketing. No one method is superior in all ways for all markets.

It's a natural assumption that as someone who sells advertising, I’m not of the mindset that paid advertising is something to avoid. On the other hand, I do generally advise caution and study before jumping into something new.

Advertising is something you need to learn how to harness. Advertising exists because good advertising works, and when backed by a great product – it’s a winning combination for a successful business.

My main focus is not on what works in general, but on what will work for your particular situation. In most situations, both paid advertising and guerilla tactics should be combined for the best return on investment.

Publicity, for example, is an outstanding guerilla tactic. However, I don’t believe it should be attempted as the sole marketing technique employed.

Whether you mix your publicity up with direct mail or email marketing or any other paid form of advertising – you should always have a mix of complimentary marketing methods in play at any given time.

In order for there to be a return of investment there has to be an investment. Whether it’s in the form of pay-per-click or affiliate commissions or any of the multitudes of advertising choices available, there is usually some form of advertising investment that is inherent to the running of a successful business.

Quality outsourcing is another key to a successful business. I think that is an essential to outsource and automate appropriate tasks so that you can concentrate on providing top quality goods and customer service. In the end, that is what creates returning customers.

I believe that bringing new customers in should only be the beginning of your marketing efforts. Treat prospective customers well, but treat your paying customers like gold. Because they are!

Across the board you will find this to be true – satisfied customers hold the biggest impact on our bottom lines.

Satisfied customers are the absolutely best guerilla tactic in the world. Most marketers would agree that testimonials make the best advertising copy!

Marketing is a circular process that can be largely automated so that you can largely set it and forget it. Not only that, if you can commit to planning for a year at a time, you can save up to 40% in some of your marketing costs.

Stay tuned to this blog for more on:

Money Saving Marketing Techniques

Using Audio Advertising to boost your market share

Creativity and the Captive Audience

Increasing your publicity returns with advertising

Outsourcing and the Bottom Line