What does your advertising say about your business?

Do you think first impressions matter? Studies show that they do. At what stage is the first impression made in business?

The first impression must surely be when a potential customer sees your advertising material. It could be a flyer, a billboard or a banner advertisement.

What does your advertising say about your business? Does it say that you are just starting out? Or does it say that you know what you are doing?

At this point, why don't you visit your letterbox tomorrow after all the advertising mail is delivered and go through the array of literature produced by both large and small business. Lay all the items out on the table and have a look. There will be catalogues, real estate flyers, flyers advertising maintenance, house painting or other such services. There will be a vast array of 4-page brochures advertising jewellery, furniture, and the list goes on.

What common elements do most of these items share? Are they colorful? Do they use images? How much text in relation to images do you see? Can you see any black and white flyers with no images but only text? What do these black and white flyers advertise? Do they advertise the local handyman offering his services? Or maybe a local painter advertising his house painting service?

Does it make a difference whether you use black and white flyers as opposed to full colour flyers containing lots of images and little text? Well think about why successful businesses spend more money on full color advertising when it would be cheaper to produce black and white advertising material. Is it because they like to spend more money and make life more interesting for us when we visit the letterbox? Of course not! The reason they produce full color is because it makes a difference. It makes a difference to their bottom line! No other reason.

Most people are attracted to full color. Most people find images more interesting than pages of text. Most people don't have much time to take in your message and images say a lot more in a short space of time than the text equivalent. When customers notice, then read your advertising, it is more likely that they will buy. If they are bored by the presentation before they even start reading, then it is more likely that your black and white flyer will line the recycle bin way before any of the other more appealing advertising material.

What if your business is new and your budget is tight? Well then, you may have no other option but to produce simple black and white flyers. But don't just accept this as your lot in business. Investigate options. Research whether other businesses can provide full color flyer designs at the fraction of the price it would cost you to develop. Such options exist. Don't buy into using boring advertising just because it is cheaper to produce per 1000 copies. It may be cheaper to produce but how effective is it?

Something else to think about is whether there is a good fit between the presentation of your advertising material and the message. If your black and white flyer promotes business opportunities claiming that incomes in the thousands of dollars per month can be made, it is unlikely that most people will believe that to be true. There will be a disconnect in the minds of most people between the message and presentation of the material. This of course does not mean that no one will respond to a black and white flyer. The point I am making is that you will be making it more difficult for people to respond and your first impression through advertising may not attract the people you really want to attract.

In summary, it is a good idea to think about what your advertising says about your business. Does your advertising promote the credibility of your business? If you are advertising a lucrative business opportunity, does your advertising showcase your success? Learn from the experts - other successful business owners. Do what they do. Don't just keep doing the same thing because that is all you could afford in the beginning. What about now? Stay current. Investigate options. I wish you all the very best success in business.

Authored by Rebekah Raftopoulos, 2009
http://www.workfromhomeadvertising@blogspot.com