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Posts Tagged ‘guarantees’

In my direct response print and Yellow Page ad design business, I offer a FREE 60 point ad audit at my website www.InstantYellowPageProfits.com. Of all of the hundreds of ads I audit each year, most include the same 3 profit killing mistakes.

The first profit killing mistake I see in small business advertising 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. Let’s say ad example #1 has “Joe’s Plumbing” and ad example #2 has, “Get Your Leak Fixed In 60 Minutes or Less!”?” 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 fails to be a benefit to your prospects. Your prospect will be attracted to the headline benefit of getting their leak fixed in just 60 minutes.

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. If you want to increase your response to any advertising, I recommend you add a compelling offer. You kill your advertising response and profits when you fail to include an offer.

So what is the best type of offer to include in your advertising? Including a offer for your new customers is what I recommend. A “dollars off” offer or an additional bonus on thier first service is a good welcome offer 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. A guarantee is something all small businesses need to include in their advertising. Small business advertisers find that adding by a 100% Moneyback Guarantee they increase ad response by removing the risk of a new client trying your business. 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. My concern was that my prospects would rip me off, but when I tested the guarantee I saw positive results. My guarantee more than DOUBLED response to my advertising. I was shocked that in 7 years of having a Moneyback Guarantee, there were only 2 clients that requested a refund. In both cases, things did not go according to plan and these clients deserved and got their moneyback. If I had not given them their Moneyback, I would have had 2 lawsuits that would have exceeded the price of my refund. This moneyback guarantee did double duty by increasing my advertising response and profits while simultaneously removing legal liability when unusual things happened.

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. The best guarantees reduce or remove the new client’s risk of trying your product or service.

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.

So upgrade your print and Yellow Page advertising by having a great headline, a money back guarantee and a new client offer. This gives you a long-term competitive advantage because when you get 200% response, you are getting new clients at only 50% of what your competition has to pay.

Larry Conn’s personal experience in advertsing and direct response marketing has been built over the last 34 years. He is celebrated world-wide as a top direct response marketing expert, copywriter, speaker and author. Top direct response marketing experts recommend Larry in their books and products for creating profitable marketing strategies, and writing copy for high ROI print and Yellow Page ad design. At his website www.InstantYellowPageProfits.com  Larry offers a FREE 60 point Advertising Audit worth $150.00.