Breast Cancer Awareness Month is coming up in October. It is time to start thinking about ordering you PINK promotional items, shirts, and other materials so you get them by October 1st!

We have a wide array of Breast Cancer Awareness items and we can help you choose the one that will be perfect for your campaign. Give us a call to discuss your options, and will find the right one for you at the right price.

Click on the link below to view a few a PDF of just a few of the promotional product we can make:Breast-Cancer-Awareness.pdf

1. Have you written down your business goals for the next 12 months?
2. Is one of your goals to grow your list of qualified prospects by 5% each month?
3. Do you have a written marketing plan that guides your daily, weekly and monthly marketing activities?
4. Is the first and most prominent element in your marketing materials a one-sentence explanation of how you help your clients?
5. Do you feature client testimonials or case studies that provide proof of the results your products and services generate?
6. Is at least 50% of your marketing copy in your materials focused on your prospects' problems and concerns relative to your products and services?
7. In your sales materials and on your web site, do you use a free offer with a clear call to action to prompt prospects to contact you?
8. Does your free offer prompt hundreds of people to contact you each week?
9. Do you reply to each prospect inquiry with an immediate response and have a follow up plan for the next 5 communications?
10. Do you continue to stay in touch with qualified prospects and your current clients at least once a month, sharing an idea they can use and demonstrating the solutions you provide?

Count the number of your "Yes" answers and to calculate your marketing strength.

1 to 3: You're a marketing wallflower. You have limited data gathering or marketing systems in place. You may be brilliant, and you may have great products and services, but your prospects have probably never heard of you and aren't buying from you. Make a small business marketing plan and discover how to create a steady stream of prospects.

3 to 6: You are on your way to becoming a successful marketer and growing your business. However, your data gathering and marketing systems need attention. Expand your marketing plan and create a marketing calendar to generate more leads and more sales

7 to 10: You're an aggressive marketer and have strong marketing systems. You've been in business for at least five years and understand the core marketing techniques that provide results. You may just need to tweak your message or execution and focus more on consistency.

Call Ad Trends Advertising, Inc. today for help with your marketing plan. We offer as little or as much assistance as needed to help your business grow.

Start with a FREE 1-Hour Marketing Consultation. Call: 816.228.1123

Where's Social Networking Headed?

Millions of consumers are using social networks now.
Just like email and voicemail those now archaic technologies that we don't even think about, social networking is becoming mainstream. Social media marketing is here to stay and can bring tremendous value to those who know how to leverage it. From gaining new clients, to gaining visibility, branding, and credibility, not to mention leads, social networking is becoming invaluable for businesses. It is also fun, quick, and a cost-effective way to get visibility and it provides the ability to connect with anyone, anywhere in the world.

Many small businesses remain offline and are positively scared of using social media websites.
Business owners are worried about the lack of privacy and a misconception that they need to be technically savvy to use such websites as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. They also mention lack of time and lack of trained marketing resources which prevent them from taking the social media marketing plunge. However, social networking is one activity that everybody needs to "find" time for and "create" a budget for. It means visibility at a very low cost, and your competitors will be taking advantage of it sooner or later. Doing nothing is not an option!

Social Networking means buzz, visibility, website traffic, leads and sales!

To take advantage of social networking you will have to:

Make time. Either make time for social media marketing for yourself / business OR find an expert who can do it for you. Here at Ad Trends Advertising, Inc we help business all over the US start and maintain social networks. We will offer as little or as much help as you need.

Be professional. If you don't want to end up fired or end up in jail, be careful about what you say online. Professional behavior should be the norm (even for teenagers who don't realize the impact of what they put out there on Facebook). Prospective employers, prospective clients, current clients, and anyone who wants to look you up, can and will. Once you've put something out there, it is out there forever.

Have a clear target or goal. Remember the impression you want to cultivate online. You wouldn't go to a face-to-face networking meeting and complain "how tired you are", "how sleepy you are" etc. Then don't do it online either. Online networking has reached a new level and you need to show your "networking" savvy by creating an impression which will land you the next connection, a new client or whatever you seek.

Know frequency matters as much as content. Blogging at least once a month, writing a tweet at least once every week, and posting a status at least every other day is the only way to grow your visibility. All marketing activities require frequency, consistency, and long-term effort. You wouldn't expect one advertisement in the Kansas City Star to generate leads immediately and ongoing. Similarly, marketing online requires consistent, frequent, and long-term effort.

Reap what you sow. This saying applies very well to Social Networking. If you don't begin leveraging social media websites to promote yourself or your business and especially if your competition is, you'll be left behind in the dust of their visibility & buzz. Sow the seeds of communication in social networks, and make sure you follow up to reap the rewards of your time and effort.

On a regular basis, you should aim to:

1. Write about your industry in a way that is useful to your audience, especially with articles. Keep on subject and submit it to the major article sites. If your blog has an associated RSS feed, such as WordPress, all the better. Enter it in the major social media sites as well.
2. Then Tweet it. Twitter is in its infancy, albeit a precocious little chap, and you may see no point in publishing your story as your "followers" are mainly unknown to you and therefore unlikely to read about what you have to say. Do not be deterred as this is the wrong approach: Twitter is here to stay and develop. If the Economist is backing Twitter against CNN, this medium has to be taken seriously.
3. Blogging and article writing should be done regularly. Just writing the odd story on a casual basis is not good enough. You should be consistent in the posting your articles and thorough with your research.

Set up your profiles today and start networking!

We will be your first friend! Find us on these social media sites:

LinkedIn Twitter Facebook MySpace Plaxo Pulse

If you need help with Social Networking, call Ad Trends Advertising, Inc. - 816.228.1123

As the economy continues to waver, even some of the most successful companies are taking some precautionary measures. For starters, Google has laid off a small number of workers, most recently a couple hundred sales and marketing folk. They've also cut back some of their generous cafeteria and child care offerings. The tricky part may be figuring out how to take these cost cutting measures without destroying some of the goodwill they built up. One trick may be to use cool employee gifts, which have a high perceived value, but cost a lot less over the long run than serving up food all day.

Another idea is to have events that explicitly celebrate the workforce, like this Sum of Google event. Again, having regular events to celebrate employees is probably significantly less expensive than providing other perks day in and day out. Commemorating events with t-shirts and other items can also probably extend the lifetime of the goodwill they generate. There's also the added benefit of having a more explicit message, a celebration of their employees, rather than simply a perk that turns into something they take for granted.

As you plan for the future, consider starting an employee incentive program. Whether it is a small gift to reward individual performance or a group event to celebrate hitting a company goal, a little goes a long way with your employees. You don't have to be as big as Google to keep an eye on employee moral...

Give us a call, and we will help you find the right product or idea to help keep your company on track!

• Includes BOTH full custom branded card and the VISA Gift Card
• Give the gift of choice
• VISA Gift Cards are welcome at over 14 million locations
• Numerous branding opportunities available
• FREE Proof - No Risk - see your card before you purchase
• Cards available in 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 dollar amounts
• Buy from 100 to 5,000 cards at a time!

Price includes: Custom card design, 4/1 printing on plastic cards, program management, 12-month expiration, and 10-14 day production time. One-time set-up fee may apply.

Call Ad Trends Advertising, Inc. today to discuss your options, design and pricing - 816-228-1123

We hate the word "recession" and all the talk about the down economy. Some businesses are having tough times right now, and others continue to grow and position themselves for the future. It is your choice whether you want to sit back and blame the economy, or you want to work hard, grab more market share, and grow your business. Here are 10 marketing strategies that will help you right the ship, or just take advantage of the down market:

10. Market harder.
The additional spend of advertising and marketing dollars when others are pulling back propels you onto higher ground and into higher visibility, way past others, to the top of the "Hi! I'm over here!" visibility peak.

9. Market smarter.
Market with greater precision. Take precise aim at your best fundraising sources — you know, the ones on the list you don't share with anyone. Spend the additional time up front, and don't waste hindsight expense by going after people on the edge who "may possibly buy if they are in the right mood and if they feel like it that day." Dig deep. Aim for the low-hanging fruit.

8. Invest in your own success.
An investment in marketing dollars at this time is worth more now than when everyone else is also in the mix, (and mediums have fat ad contracts.) With less competition for your buyer's attention, you stand front and center.

7. Take advantage of the better deals.
For example, the pulling back of the giant media-buying machinery of the sinking automotive industry has left great media, ad-space, direct mail and cut-sheet paper deals on the table for the rest of us. Look around. Great deals abound. Find them or...

6. Negotiate.
Make your own deals. Lots of firms that were so, so hoity-toity and steadfast on price now will negotiate. Go after them.

5. Go ahead, make a ridiculous offer.
Don't be afraid to call and make a low-ball offer. You might not get it at that price, but you might wind up paying much less than list.

4. Remember that not everyone is in a recession.
Not every industry suffers. Some industries flourish in recessionary times. Head over to those markets. "Studying the markets" has meaning outside of the traditional mumble jumble of the stock market — where, you know, your investments just tanked.

3. Some firms you dislike are in the blender — enjoy it.
If only the phone companies, big software companies and computer-hardware firms would get out from under their foreign-made products, poor service and unpatriotic out-sourcing of telephone help lines offshore to people who, when the going gets tough, hang up on you. Was there really a reason I was on hold for over an hour besides, "We are experiencing higher than normal call volumes?" How about, "We need to increase our telephone staff to actually give you quality service." Doesn't that fit a little better? Yeah, there are some firms I’d love to see go belly up. Get even in the new year - buy from the smaller firms in the USA that really do care.

2. Hang in there.
Shorten those buying cycles. Market with greater accuracy and effectiveness to reduce costs. Test smaller cells, and read and interpret results more closely. Market more frequently to your current clients - they already know you and like you. Call them just to say hello or to let them know how their money is being spent. Don't be foolish in your marketing, but don't be afraid, either.

1. And stay cheerful.
Reminds me of a sign I saw: "Cheer up — things could get worse!" So I cheered up, and, sure enough, things got worse. Seriously, if it ain't fun, do something else. Life's short - work hard, play hard, have fun.

We have been working with a lot of Real Estate agents lately, and have been researching a ton of websites and Internet marketing ideas. Here is a list of the top 5 things every Real Estate agent should know about Internet marketing:

1. Go Long. You need to prepare yourself for a sustained campaign. Internet marketing and lead generation require a steady effort over time. It's not a one-shot deal. Think of a marathon instead of a sprint. The upside of this is that you can afford to stumble a bit in the early days, because there's plenty of time for trial and error.
2. Offer Value. When it comes to Internet marketing and lead generation, value is the key to success. The more value a home buyer perceives in a certain action, the more likely they are to take that action. If the action you desire is to have people contact you, you'll need to explain the value and benefits of that action. This value might come in many forms -- instant answers to their home-buying questions, an easier home search, etc. More value equals more buyers leads.
3. Write Plenty. When writing content for your website or blog, you should cast your net far and wide. You would be surprised by the wide variety of search phrases that home buyers use when researching real estate online. So by creating more content, you'll gain more website traffic. Write about current events in your city, real estate trends, mortgage topics, home staging, new neighborhoods and subdivisions, home builders who operate in the area ... you get the idea.
4. Experiment Constantly. Other agents might tell you what has worked for them in the past, and you can certainly learn from this. But you shouldn't feel that you need to duplicate their techniques to the letter. Likewise, just because a certain technique failed for somebody else doesn't mean it won't work for you. You need to learn for yourself what works best on your website. Build your lead-generation program around your own trial and error -- not what you hear from others.
5. Remove Distractions. I've seen agent websites with a tremendous amount of clutter on them. In fact, it seems to be a trend in the real estate industry (more so than any other industry I've worked with over the years). Some agents love to scatter buttons, logos, graphics, "widgets" and other virtual knick-knacks all over their websites. This creates distraction and dilutes whatever lead-generation techniques you may have in place. Trust me on this one -- you'll produce more home buyer leads with a clean, uncluttered website.

If you need help with your Internet marketing plan, call us today for a free 1-hour marketing consultation. We will take a look at your website, it's code, content, and call-to-action and give you some solid reccomendation to improve your results.

Call 816-228-1123 and ask for Michael,
our Internet Marketing Director!

For EVERY product below purchase at stated quantity and standard pricing, get one of the products designated as FREE. Only one free product may be selected per product purchased.

• Standard pricing, minimums and set-up charges apply on product purchased.
• Artwork may differ from purchased and free products.
• Free product is limited to one-color imprint.
• Artwork must be the same for all units of the free product.

OFFER EXPIRES SEPTEMBER 15!
Call now to order 816-228-1123 and ask for Angela!

The Perk of 'Buying It Forward'

Check out an Ad Trends Advertising, Inc. marketing client making the national news! You can see the awesome publicity the Steamin' Bean is getting, our cool logoed apparel, signs, and cups, and learn a little generosity in the process...

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you had the power to convince people that your product or service was exactly what they needed, and as a consequence your in-box was filled with inquiries and your e-commerce site was stuffed with orders. Wouldn't that be great? And isn't that exactly what you want to achieve with your website?

The problem is you are part of a giant online bazaar called The Web; and just like your local weekend flea market The Web is filled with crap, con-men, and contraband. Without understanding some of the underlying psychological principles involved in shaping audience preference you are in danger of being regarded as just another mangy flea market hustler, even if what you offer is the greatest thing since

The subject of shaping public perception, or in our case Web audience preference, is complex and convoluted but there are basic principles that if followed will help you achieve your business objectives, no matter how you define them.

The Four E-Essentials of Internet Marketing Strategies

All the Google ads, search engine optimization, linking strategies, social networking, and Twitter tweeting will be for naught if you don't implement four essential marketing communication techniques: engage, enlighten, embed, and re-enforce.

These four website presentation elements are easy to grasp but not always easy to implement. If you've read any of our other articles you will know that we think Web-video is the most effective way to implement these elements on your website and in your Web marketing. But just because you use video on your website, doesn't mean it's going to be effective unless you understand the psychology behind the e-essentials.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate how these elements work is to rent or find on YouTube a clip from the 1947 movie "The Hucksters" starring Clark Gable and Sydney Greenstreet. Now I haven't seen this movie in twenty years and I remember almost nothing about it except for one scene, a scene that illustrates better than anything, the four e-essentials of marketing and branding communication.

Engage, Enlighten, Embed, and Re-Enforce

Picture an old style boardroom, you know the ones with wood paneling, high-backed deeply padded chairs all filled with a bunch of executive flunkies and sycophants. At one end is Clark Gable, and his dapper boss Adolphe Menjou, and at the other end is an empty, ornate leather chair, almost like a throne.

An older heavy-set gentlemen, played by Sydney Greenstreet, walks in wearing a dark suit, light colored vest, and a matching pork-pie hat. He is the client, the owner of a large soap manufacturing company, 'Beauty Soap,' that has hired Gable's agency to help sell his product.

He proceeds to sit down at the head of the table, throws back his head, and expectorates (spits) onto the middle of the table. He then dramatically takes out a handkerchief from his breast pocket, wipes up the mess, and carelessly tosses the hankie on the floor, after which he tells the assembled ad men...

You've just seen me do a disgusting thing, but you'll always remember what I just did. You see if nobody remembers your brand, you aren't going to sell any soap. ...I'll tell you a secret about the soap business. There's absolutely no difference between soaps, absolutely none, except for perfume and color... soap is soap... oh... maybe we have a few manufacturing tricks, but the public don't give a hoot about that..."

Embed The Brand

You may not like to hear it, but the truth is, most products and services are pretty much the same as their competitors. Sure some have a little more this, and others have a little more that, but for all intensive purposes, they're the same, the same except for one major thing, The Brand!

This sixty second clip from "The Hucksters" illustrates the need to engage your audience with a dramatic gesture, enlighten them with what they need to know, and do it all in a entertaining manner that embeds the brand, and what it stands for, in the audience's mind.

The Repetition Caveat

The last twenty seconds of the scene are a bit more controversial in my mind and if taken at face value can lead to a misunderstanding of the re-enforcing principle.

Greenstreet continues his rant by banging his fist on the table over-and-over again while saying,

"Beauty Soap, Beauty Soap, Beauty Soap, repeat it until it comes out of their ears, repeat it until they say it in their sleep, irritate them Mr. Norman [a reference to Gable], irritate, irritate, irritate them, never forget, knock them dead, until they never forget."

All the while Greenstreet emphatically bangs his fist on the table to emphasize his point. When he finally finishes his rant, he sweeps his hand dramatically across the table knocking a glass of water halfway across the room. He finishes by saying calmly, "See what I mean?"

Web Videos Shouldn't Be TV Commercials

Television advertisers seem to have taken the "irritation" part to heart, but I think the basic principle is dramatic repetition not irritation. Irritation may generate name recognition but with the wrong mental and emotional associations, while dramatic repetition shapes audience opinion and establishes brand preference. Not understanding the psychology behind the four e-essentials can lead to unsatisfactory results.

This scene from "The Hucksters" was satire and commentary on the nature of advertising, and its point-of-view was decidedly cynical, and with good cause. Television commercials drive the public up a wall with irritating repeated interruptions of the same hackneyed commercials over and over again, until the viewing audience goes numb.

As well, pointless user-generated videos may bemuse but without any targeted psychological influence or directed commercial purpose beyond attracting a lot of viewers.

Even expensive commercially produced viral videos that are clever, entertaining, and technically superb often forget to enlighten the audience and embed the brand. The recent viral Evian baby video maybe a brilliant technical achievement and superb film-making but does it sell more bottled water, or even distinguish Evian from its competitors. The problem is the brand gets lost in the technique, and the baby images over-power the product.

Gaining Competitive Advantage

It is human nature to want easy answers to complex questions, but people are frustratingly complex, and cannot be "pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered" like Patrick McGoohan's 'The Prisoner'.

Search engine optimization, social networking, user-generated videos, and viral-for-viral's sake are nothing more then marketing 'Pablum' that takes advantage of naive marketing newbies; they are trendy technical answers with the appearance of sophistication but with only the slightest understanding of subconscious human desire.

Technical answers to human questions ultimately won't work, or will only work with limited success because they ignore the need to understand the human condition, what makes you and everybody else want, what they want.

Gerald Zaltman, Professor Emeritus of Harvard Business School calls it understanding the "mind of the market." To quote Professor Zaltman from his book 'How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market,'

"...the ability to grasp or understand the mind of the market and creatively leverage this understanding represents the next source of competitive advantage for marketers."

The Choice Is Yours

The average website business will continue to follow whatever trendy technical solution shows up on the blogs. But your competitor's willingness to follow the herd leaves the way wide open for you to take advantage of their failure; their misreading of what works.

Recognize the best way to communicate your offering to your Web audience is with a presentation delivered by a real human being, a presentation that engages, enlightens, and embeds in that audience's collective memory.

And when you're done, do it all over again in an even more memorable, dramatically entertaining manner.

About The Author
Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a website design firm that specializes in Web-audio and Web-video. Visit http://www.mrpwebmedia.com/

You can also use this formula to determine if a marketing campaign is a good idea before you invest in it. You can use estimated response rates and averages for close rates. If you want to determine what cost per acquisition you can afford for pay-per-click or other advertising, you can run this equation backwards:

Cost Per Acquisition = Life Time Value X Close Rate X Response Rate

Example: $10,000 X 0.90 X 0.01 = $90 per Lead

If you average client is worth $10,000 over the course of a year, you close 90% of your leads, and 1% of your clicks turn into legit leads, then you can afford to spend up to $90 on marketing to attract that client.

Conclusion:

If your total marketing profits are more than your investment in the campaign, it is probably a good idea. There are always intangible benefits too like brand recognition, residual leads after the campaign ends, and good will generated from the campaign, but generally a good marketing campaign will cover its costs within the first third of its run.

To learn more about our Total Profit Marketing Plans call816-228-1123 or email: customerservice@adtrendsinc.com

Ad Trends Advertising, Inc. specializes in Total Profit Marketing Plans. That means that each and every product or service we reccomend is specifically designed to generate profits for your company. Sure there are other benefits involved like branding, goodwill, and others, but when we design a marketing plan for you, you can be sure that we expect it to directly generate profits. So, how can you tell if your marketing campaign is making you money?

Definition of Terms:

• Impressions:
  The number of times your ad will be seen during the campaign.
• Response Rate:
  Total number of impressions divided by the number of leads.
• Leads:
  The number of people taking the desired response from your campaign.
• Close Rate:
  The number of leads divided by the number of actual sales generated from the campaign.
• Life Time Value:
  An average of all your clients – profit-per-order multiplied by orders-per-year multiplied by the duration-of-loyalty, number of years you retain the customer.

Formula:

Impressions: ________

X Response Rate: ________

= Leads: ________

X Close Rate: ________

= New Customers: ________

X Life Time Value: $________

= Total Market Profit: $________________

Example:

10,000 Impressions x 0.01 = 100 leads x 0.75 = 75 New Customers x $4,000 = $300,000 in Profit

If your marketing campaign reaches 10,000 people, gets 1% response rate, you close 75% of the leads, and each new customer turns into $4,000 profit over the course of the year, then you will generate $300,000 in new business. So, if you spent less than $300,000 on your campaign, then you will make a profit!

To learn more about our Total Profit Marketing Plans call
816-228-1123 or email: customerservice@adtrendsinc.com

A well thought out, cost effective promotion is extremely powerful in attaining your company’s sales goals. High impact promotions can be simple to execute, and can make your sales explode. Now you can run the hassle-free promotion you have always wanted. Stop worrying about lack of funds, time or resources and start marketing today!

• Hassle-free promotional execution
  All execution details are planned in advance including sales presentations and follow-ups.
  
• Cost effective delivery of the promotions
  Promotions are designed around delivery methods that are high impact at lowest possible cost.

High Impact Promotions + Low Operating Cost = Big Profits

Maximize your marketing budget and increase your
profits today with a Total Profit Marketing Plan.

Call Ad Trends Advertising, Inc.
816.228.1123

Determining how much to spend on marketing can be a tricky, but there are ways to do it logically. The following formulas will help you determine how much to spend on marketing and whether your efforts are turning a profit. First, there are a couple general guidelines and statistics may be helpful:

2009 Marketing Dollars Spent In the United States

• 33% of companies spend 3-5% of total revenue on marketing.
• 30% spend 1-3% of revenue.
• 21% spend 6-10% of revenue.
• 16% spend 11-20% of revenue.

For a start-up company, initial investment may be high and then come down as the company grows. Also, you will need to consider your profit margins. That is why a percentage works well for most companies. If you can set out a budget based on your company’s structure before the year starts, it will help you decide which items in your marketing mix you can afford. Here are the top 5 mediums for your marketing:

2009 Marketing Mix In The United States

• Email Marketing
• Thought Leadership
• Direct Mail
• Search Engine Marketing
• Mass Media

Last year, 25% of marketing dollars moved from direct mail, while about 15% moved from mass media to the Internet. Many businesses are choosing pay-per-click advertising and email marketing over Valpak ads and the yellow pages, because these results can be tracked and adjusted quickly. Thought leadership is quickly growing in all business marketing because of its affordability and results. Thought leadership is publishing newsletters, blogs, white papers, articles, or webinars to position your company as an expert in a certain area. It often has great results in search engine marketing and branding simultaneously. Choosing the right medium for your advertising is the key to turning profit.

Coming soon on this blog, we will discuss the formula for calculating your marketing profits.

DISCONTINUED Baby Pique Knit Sport Shirts

Welt collar and cuffs, ples locker patch, side vents, double-needle hem, pearlized PING logo buttons and tonal PING embroidered logo on the right sleeve. In 7.1-ounce, 100% combed cotton.
$22.99 each (38% OFF)

DISCONTINUED Dry Fiber Dynamics Jacquard Sport Shirts

With embossed PING mother-or-pearl buttons and PING tonal embroidered logo on the right sleeve and inside placket. In 4.5-ounce, 100% micropolyester.
$28.99 each (46% OFF)

24 Piece Minimum, same decoration. Pricing includes one placement embroidery up to 6,000 stitches and is for only sizes S-XL. Larger sizes are available at an additional cost. Price does not include digitization and sew out for new embroidery set-ups. Customer pays all freight charges and applicable sales tax.

Call Today: 1.877.707.0882

WHILE SUPPLIES LAST ONLY!

Top 20 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Hit Send:

1. Does your headline speak directly to your potential customer and give them a strong, specific benefit of your product or service?
2. Did you start with the strongest benefit of your product or service, then work your way down to include the least important benefits for your potential customer?
3. Do you explain how your product or service is better or different than your competitors?
4. Does your sales letter speak directly to your prospect?
5. Do you use "you" twice as often as "I" in your sales letter?
6. Is your sales letter easy to read using short sentences and paragraphs?
7. Do you use power words and write with the goal of keeping your reader's interest?
8. Do you show your potential customer their problem; agitate it by telling them how troublesome it is, then offer your product or service as the solution?
9. Is your copy clear, easy to understand, and follows a flow from one paragraph to the next?
10. Are your strong words and phrases highlighted or bolded to draw attention and keep the reader focused?
11. Is your sales letter written in a friendly, active, conversational," me to you", tone of voice?
12. Have you used specific numbers and facts in your copy to build instant credibility?
13. Have you included credibility creators, like why you're an authority on the subject?
14. Are you confident about your grammar?
15. Does your sales letter have a nothing-to-risk guarantee that shows your confidence in your offer?
16. Do you include a reason why you're making this offer?
17. Does your email give your contact details and a call to action?
18. Do you make it easy for your potential customer to act on your offer?
19. Are you offering bonuses to increase response or do you create the perception of high value for your product or service?
20. Did you create a sense of urgency in your letter, explaining that the price is for a short time or quantities are limited?

Click here to start email marketing to your customers.

When it comes to advertising, the best ads are the ones that actually get used and seen by thousands of people. It is called FREE DISTRIBUTION.

Promotional products are not ads like you hear on the radio or TV. They are not follow up tools like postcards, or sale announcements like fliers. They are however "advertising". Depending on the nature of the promotional item, it can be very effective at keeping your business name, logo, and contact information out there for brand recognition.

Unlike many forms of traditional advertising, where you pay every time the ad is run or clicked, with promotional gifts you pay once, and every time the gift gets used, the advertising message gets repeated for FREE.

So what are the most "given" business promotional products? Well, according to Counselor Magazine, "Clothing ranks first, followed by writing instruments, business accessories for the desk and office, ceramics, glassware and calendars." No matter which promotional gift you choose, quality is more important than quantity over the long run. Usually the higher quality item will last longer, providing more return on your advertising dollars.

So what is the number one "head and shoulders" above the rest promotional idea... the most useful gift in terms of advertising? The one offering the most visibility and exposure? It's the humble t-shirt. Yes... according to Blue Sky Inc, "One t-shirt worn by one person in one average-sized city can be seen by over 100,000 people in it's lifetime!"

Now think about this, if you get 50 high quality t-shirts made for about $7 each and give them as gifts for people to wear, that's a potential 5 million people that will see your ad over the next couple of years. That seems like a better deal than spending $10k on a TV or radio campaign to 100,000 or so people. There is no doubt promotional gifts can be advertising dollars well spent.

When planning your marketing, make room for promotional products and give us a call. We have been producing successfull promotional product campaigns since 1993, and we can help you choose the right product for your business, event, message and audience.

Click here to browse some of our available promotional products.

	The Art of War by Sun Tzu
	Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
	Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive by Harvey B. Mackay
	The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
	Over the Top by Zig Ziglar
	The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
	Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
	Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson
	Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug
	Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Jim Collins

Full Color 13 oz. Vinyl Banners!
Draw attention to your business during the summer months with a full color banner!

Banners are a great place to showcase specials, launch new products, or draw attention to most anything.

For the month of July, Ad Trends Advertising is producing full color, 13 ounce vinyl banners with hemming and grommets for only $4.50 per sq ft. for all banners 4’x6’ and larger!


We have a full service graphic arts team waiting to bring your artistic visions to life on a large format banner. Call us today to get your project in motion!

$4.50/sq. ft. with artwork provided

4’x6’ Vinyl Banners - $108.00

with artwork provided
Orders must be placed by 7-31-09
Design fee for 4’x6’ banners is $50.

Having an organized marketing calendar is critical to the success of your company. We have developed a marketing calendar that makes staying organized easy. The calendar is electronic so every marketing opportunity or event can have reminders set up, allowing everyone involved in the event to be informed. Reminders can be set for production details, email marketing deadlines, website updates, execution dates and customer follow-up dates. Having the next 12 months of your marketing plan completed will give you peace of mind, and keep you focused on running your business.

• Organized marketing calendar - Keeps you on track with your promotions & marketing campaigns.
• Electronic based reminders - Reminds you of marketing opportunities and upcoming promotion details.

Maximize your marketing budget and increase your
profits today with a Total Profit Marketing Plan.

Call Ad Trends Advertising, Inc.
816.228.1123

Next Up: Execute hassle-free and cost-effective promotions 7/15