The Money Lab

Attending a trade show can be a very effective method of promoting your company and its products. And one of the most effective ways to optimize your trade show display and increase traffic to your booth is through the use of banner stands.  A banner stand for your trade show display draws attention to your booth and helps you deliver your message to prospective clients, current customers and business contacts at what is usually a highly competitive event. Your trade show display should stand out from the crowd, and a banner stand is a great way to make sure it does. Banners themselves are typically constructed with either fabric or vinyl. There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of material, so you should consider how you will use your banner stand before deciding between fabric and vinyl. Fabric banners are durable and long-lasting. Fabric doesn’t reflect light like vinyl, which can decrease your banner’s readability.  Fabric banners also don’t bend or crease so t...

Successful businesses have many things in common, today we’ll look at the big ‘R‘of recognition and how a digital advertising network may help. Recognition can be illustrated by two individuals entering a crowded room at a party.  Both walk to the far side of the room, one of them slips through the crowd easily and unnoticed as they reach the far side.   The second person takes much longer to reach the far side because they are engaged in conversations along the way as they continue to meet acquaintances and friends during their path.  Which type of person would you like to model your business after?   Your business is in a continual battle for your customers’ recognition whether you know it or not.  If you happen to be fortunate enough to be in a marketplace with very few competitors, that will not last for long.  You need your business to be at the forefront of your client’s minds so that when they require your products or services, you are the ...

In today' s modern, sophisticated and fast world, online classifieds have become a medium of communication among the internet users. On one end it is informative and on the other end it is convenient and cost effective. In this scenario, the online classified websites have occupied one among the top ranking sites on the internet due to its vast popularity among the users. Today there are n number of classifieds sites on the internet and some of them are not only useful but are also impressive giving its users a chance to place ads in different categories such as jobs, real estate, for sale etc.  Where as newspapers has limited approach to people compared to on line classifieds where it can reach the millions of people at single click. This can be said as one of the major reasons for the recognition of the classifieds sites. The responses one receives through placing their ads in classifieds sites is far more than compared to news paper ads or print media ads.  Due to these eff...

With the internet still in its infancy stage, there is always the next big thing when it comes to advertising.  The first one was e-mail marketing, the people that started e-mail marketing in the very beginning have made and will continue to make loads of money.  If done properly with no spam and with a highly targeted list, as long as you have a solid product, e mail advertising will make you loads of money.   Then came the “pop up” and in my opinion that was not good for anyone.  Pop-ups are annoying even if you do click on them every now and then, they are still annoying.  It's sort of like when you move from your home you have to handle everything in your house, whether you are moving it to take with you, or if you are going to be throwing out, it has to be handled.  Pop up ads have to be handled. Fast forward past all of the obvious ways to advertise online.  Now we come to the pixel craze, and that is the next big thing.  Some of the be...

You need a website, but how can you tell the professional business web site developers from the college kid in his basement? The answer is fairly simple if you know what kinds of questions to ask.  Professional web site developers are just that - professionals.  They have college degrees and/or experience related to web site development. They understand small and medium size businesses for it is likely they are one too. Most importantly, they speak to you in your language, not theirs. Purchasing a web site is a form of advertisement for your business. Would you pay for the development of a radio or television commercial if you were not sure you would get a return on your investment?  Why risk your professional reputation by trying to get the cheapest site possible just so you can put the www.yourbusinessname.com on your business card? If you have seen the work of a web site developer and the pages look great, do they contain keywords, titles, and descriptions to help sear...

Affiliate marketing is all about the promotion of products of an online company. The affiliate sign-ups with the advertiser or marketing arm of the online company and the affiliate becomes an active searcher of potential clients. Such set-up of affiliate marketing can become easily successful if the affiliate is aware of the importance of advertising. Advertising is the means to make a great portion of the consuming public become aware of a certain product or service. Thus, advertising should be attractive and should be appealing to the consumers. If the advertising is not appealing enough, it will not be effective. If the advertising has pulled the attention of the consumers, then such advertising is powerful. To make one’s advertising effective and powerful, an affiliate must use the smart methods of advertising. One such method of advertising is the re-use of one key concept of affiliate marketing. This key concept is the harnessing of human resources. That is, an affiliate may tap ...

The main aim of advertisers is to communicate and influence the prospective customers to buy a particular brand’s product. Often they also advertise in order to improve the brand image. For this purposes every major medium and advertising tool is used to deliver their message. Some of the key mediums like television, radio, cinema, magazines, newspapers, video games, the Internet and billboards are used extensively. To advertise, a company usually appoints an advertising agency or advertising industry to send their message across. Commonly, advertisements are seen on carts, airport, on the sides of buses, buss shelters, etc. Advertisements are cleverly placed at places where viewers can easily and regularly access visual, audio and printed information. Mentioned below are some forms of advertising: Advocacy Advertising: This type of advertising is done mainly for economic, political, or social issues. Advocate Advertising can be in the form of advertisement, message, or public communic...

Imagine how much simpler your life would be if you had all your business contacts together in one place. One click of your mouse would reveal how effective your latest marketing campaign has been. Know at a glance which of your products/services is the most profitable. Your custom-designed database will put this information right at your fingertips. Today, I'd like to share with you my tips for ensuring that your database gives you the business information you need, when you need it! What is a database? A database is a collection of information relating to a particular topic kept together in one place, for you to access whenever you need. You can use a database to simplify your: MARKETING CAMPAIGN--set up a database to plan your marketing  campaign; track results of your marketing campaign; or analyse trends in your marketing campaign. CLIENT & CONTACT MANAGEMENT--set up a database to keep track of your clients and contacts; analyse your business--which products/services are th...

Apart from newspaper advertising, a system of leaflets, cards and catalogs can be operated to a business advantage in marketing its products and services.  One week a business owner may send out leaflets, next week he may mail cards with a nicely written message calling the attention of the recipient to make some action, then the week after that a tasty catalog may float along – talking about good work, good stock, prompt deliveries and affordable prices.       As most of you are probably aware of, catalogs are a good way to market all kinds and types of products. From products with general appeal to products that fits a specific market, catalogs and other direct marketing materials can be your key to being successful in the ever crowded marketplace. Catalogs offer new and interesting products to their customers each month, quarter or year depending on the business. Catalogs also like to promote products that are not easily found at retail stores, products that ...

Giving business cards is an art, not only because they are needed to be considered successful or because, in fact, they represent your corporate or professional identity, but also as an opportunity to impact your existing or prospective customers, and stay in touch with them, helping you to deal confidently. The scope of business etiquette includes considerations that many professional ignore, or simply do not pay enough attention in the belief that a business card is just a small paper rectangle with a name and phone numbers to introduce yourself.  Color business cards demonstrate that there is something else beyond a simple paper cut; otherwise, they simply would not exist. Certainly, all over the world business cards are used to provide information about a company and/or the employee or professional who holds it, as well as contact information and other details such as business acquaintances or personal details. Some of them include expressly empty spaces to write certain detail...

Well talking about flyers, compare to other advertising tool such as posters, banners, catalogs, booklets, etc. a flyer is also one of the great way to communicate.  In a sense that you can send flyers through mail, you can post flyers in strategic locations, you can give a copy of your flyer for every customer who walks in and walks out in your business establishment or you can hand out a flyer to the passing customers, and if you are really determined, you can get some volunteers to pass some out of your flyers at the local mall or shopping area. You can easily spread them around. The good thing about these flyers is that they are a quick and easy tool for relaying information to your target consumer. Not only that, a single flyer is easy to create and inexpensive to produce. For those who do not know what a flyer is, a flyer is normally a single sheet document printed in one or two colors or in a full color process.  A flyer acts as communication between you and the reader,...

Jo knew that events could be advertised in the Trade Magazines linked to her company's line of business but, as a newcomer to event organization, with a non-existent advertising budget and with no marketing expert at her elbow; where should she begin? Some of the best advertising you can get is editorial written about your event or your company. Print media like trade journals, magazines and newspapers are often looking to fill their pages and you may have noticed that articles about companies and their activities are often surrounded by advertising for related businesses.  Most print media is paid for by the advertising, so this type of article has benefits both ways. If the topic of your workshop or roadshow is a controversial, exciting or popular subject, it is more likely that an article about it will be printed however you have little control over the timing. The article might be included in any month and will be driven more by space than by your deadline. To get an article pr...

While there are a host of benefits for companies and websites that choose to advertise via the Internet, there are many negative facets to online advertising as well. These aspects include advertising activities that many deem immoral or even illegal. 

So why do you think, flyers fail to serve its purpose? There are reasons behind it and here are some of it:

Advertising involves a lot of analysis. It is an analysis of the good points of what you have to offer. You need to analyze your offerings carefully, bring to light all the good points and let the full glare of advertising shine upon them. A good advertising writer is like a sponge. He absorbs every idea within reach and if he does not use the ideas and suggestions the moment they come in, they are absorb in his mind to be later pulled out when required. 

What is your reaction to advertising? Well, do not tell me that it annoys or irritates you. I know that. The same goes for me. I’d like to know how you act after reading some advertising piece.