In my print and Yellow Page ad design business, for years I offered a FREE 60 point ad audit at my website www.InstantYellowPageProfits.com. Because of this FREE Offer, I have reviewed hundreds of print and Yellow Page ads per
year, and they all have the same 3 profit killing mistakes.
The first profit killing mistake I see is having a weak headline. The weakest headline you can usually have is the business name which normally contains no benefit for the consumer. Imagine you are a consumer with a leaking pipe and you go to the Yellow Pages under “Plumbers” to find someone to fix your leak.
You review ads under the heading, and the first 2 have the following headlines. Ad #1 has “Joe’s Plumbing”, and ad #2 has “Who Else Wants Their Leak Fixed Within 60 Minutes?” Which ad would you read and reply to? It is obvious that the only thing you learn in the “Joe’s Plumbing” headline is that Joe has a big ego. That’s not a benefit to the consumer. Getting your leak fixed in 60 minutes is a HUGE benefit to the consumer with a leak so this is a far better headline.
So when you are writing your headlines, ask yourself, “What is the greatest benefit I can offer my prospects, and what is their greatest desire when they are viewing my ad?” If you take those most sought after benefits and include them in your headline you will dramatically increase response to ALL your advertising.
The second profit killing mistake is to have no offer. Adding an offer will dramatically increase your response. Not having an offer in your ad is advertising suicide.
So what is the best type of offer to include in your advertising? I recommend a New Patient/Client Offer. This could be a “dollars off” offer on their first service, or an added bonus for just for new clients. Most ads do not include an offer, so you can make your ad stand out and outperform your competition with a well crafted offer.
The third profit killing mistake is to not include a guarantee. Every business can include some sort of guarantee in their advertising. Some businesses will be able to have a 100% Moneyback Guarantee which completely removes the risk for a new client doing business with you. I know what you’re thinking, “If I offer a 100% Moneyback Guarantee like Larry says, everyone will ask for their Moneyback and rip me off!”
I know how you feel, because I felt the same way before I included a 100% Moneyback Guarantee in my advertising. I worried that everyone would rip me off and not pay me, but when I implemented the guarantee good things happened. My guarantee more than DOUBLED response to my advertising.
In 7 years of having a Moneyback guarantee, only 2 people ever asked for their Moneyback. And both times everything conspired to go wrong outside my control, and they deserved their money back. If I had not given them their moneyback, I would have had 2 lawsuits that would have exceeded the price of their refunds. So not only did the money back guarantee double my business, but it also let me out of legal trouble when unusual circumstances arose.
Businesses that can not have a 100% money back guarantee, can guarantee a portion or part of the first purchase even if this means limiting what services you provide on their first purchase. What you want to do with a guarantee is reduce or remove the risk of the new client doing business with you. Medical professionals can offer a Personal Promise of the service and care a new patient can expect in place of a guarantee, as guarantees are generally not allowed in medicine.
So you can see that having doubled my business from the same size ad and having only 2 (deserved) refunds in 7 years and over 1500 jobs is a tremendous financial gain.
Upgrade your print and Yellow Page advertising by having a great headline, a money back guarantee and a new client offer. You’ll get more profits from the same size ad and new clients at 50% of what your competition has to pay which is a HUGE long-term competitive advantage for your business.
Get my free report, “14 Amazing Ways to Stand Out from the Competition WIHTOUT Cutting Your Prices” by going to www.InstantYellowPageProfits.com and opt-in for the free reports at the bottom.