he money you make from the advertisement is less than the cost of the ad stop doing it! This is especially true with yellow pages ads. One way of measuring yellow pages ads is to connect a new telephone number and to only give that number for the yellow pages ads. Simply count the calls and then test it against an average sales conversion number. OfWe are concerned that many small businesses are being lured into advertising that isn't suited to their size and finances. Recently a client of mine received a proposal for a complete rebranding of their business. The problem was that the amount of advertising they suggested was close to the total of their turnover per week. This leads to the question, what type of advertising suits a small business?

There are basically 2 types of advertising

Brand Advertising

- This is commonly used by large corporations trying to position the company in their market, with a specific message. If you have huge advertising budgets and huge turnover this is important. Small businesses are best to develop their own distinctive image on business cards, letterheads, websites and promotional materials with the same theme. Try to create an identifiable look and make it consistent. Don't be sucked into expensive television commercials that try to brand like public companies such as McDonalds. In a small business you just don't have the funds.

Direct Response Advertising

- This means that for each ad that you place you can measure the results. Test and measure is the best way of thinking of it. An example would be to place an ad in the local paper and give people a special deal. You know by the number of responses and the net profit from the ad whether that advertising works. If the money you make from the advertisement is less than the cost of the ad stop doing it! This is especially true with yellow pages ads. One way of measuring yellow pages ads is to connect a new telephone number and to only give that number for the yellow pages ads. Simply count the calls and then test it against an average sales conversion number. Of

on, what type of advertising suits a small business?

There are basically 2 types of advertising

Brand Advertising

- This is commonly used by large corporations trying to position the company in their market, with a specific message. If you have huge advertising budgets and huge turnover this is important. Small businesses are best to develop their own distinctive image on business cards, letterheads, websites and promotional materials with the same theme. Try to create an identifiable look and make it consistent. Don't be sucked into expensive television commercials that try to brand like public companies such as McDonalds. In a small business you just don't have the funds.

Direct Response Advertising

- This means that for each ad that you place you can measure the results. Test and measure is the best way of thinking of it. An example would be to place an ad in the local paper and give people a special deal. You know by the number of responses and the net profit from the ad whether that advertising works. If the money you make from the advertisement is less than the cost of the ad stop doing it! This is especially true with yellow pages ads. One way of measuring yellow pages ads is to connect a new telephone number and to only give that number for the yellow pages ads. Simply count the calls and then test it against an average sales conversion number. Of

o develop their own distinctive image on business cards, letterheads, websites and promotional materials with the same theme. Try to create an identifiable look and make it consistent. Don't be sucked into expensive television commercials that try to brand like public companies such as McDonalds. In a small business you just don't have the funds.

Direct Response Advertising

- This means that for each ad that you place you can measure the results. Test and measure is the best way of thinking of it. An example would be to place an ad in the local paper and give people a special deal. You know by the number of responses and the net profit from the ad whether that advertising works. If the money you make from the advertisement is less than the cost of the ad stop doing it! This is especially true with yellow pages ads. One way of measuring yellow pages ads is to connect a new telephone number and to only give that number for the yellow pages ads. Simply count the calls and then test it against an average sales conversion number. Of

Direct Response Advertising

- This means that for each ad that you place you can measure the results. Test and measure is the best way of thinking of it. An example would be to place an ad in the local paper and give people a special deal. You know by the number of responses and the net profit from the ad whether that advertising works. If the money you make from the advertisement is less than the cost of the ad stop doing it! This is especially true with yellow pages ads. One way of measuring yellow pages ads is to connect a new telephone number and to only give that number for the yellow pages ads. Simply count the calls and then test it against an average sales conversion number. Of

he money you make from the advertisement is less than the cost of the ad stop doing it! This is especially true with yellow pages ads. One way of measuring yellow pages ads is to connect a new telephone number and to only give that number for the yellow pages ads. Simply count the calls and then test it against an average sales conversion number. Of course it is best to record your conversion as well but that is best left for another article. You can have the calls monitored and thus ensure that you know whether your advertising is working. Luckily the internet has its own built in measuring with most pay per click advertising companies like google, yahoo and msn. The will record the impressions and clicks on your advertising so that you know exactly what is working and what isn't.

No matter what type of advertising you do, it is always best to test and measure. Get a scrap book and everytime you advertise, cut out the ad and paste it in your scrap book. Record the number of calls and the profit from each ad you make. It is easy to forget where you advertised 6 or 12 months and make the same mistakes again. A successful ad is like a licence to print money. Spend $100 return $300. How many times would you run a successful ad? The short answer is as many times as it is effective.