Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

When I meet with local business owners for the first time, the first question I alway’s ask is “Are you currently advertising in any or all of these? (yellow pages, newspapers,magazines etc)

The second question I then ask “are you sure that this advertising is working?

And then I get the what I call the TROUT LOOK.I know it’s goofy but I’m Canadian and it’s fishing season.

Unreal but true. Around 95% of local business owners I meet with have no idea whether or not their advertising is working.

So why do they do it?

I ask them and I get the same answer again and again. “I advertise in the Yellow Pages because all my competitors advertise there.”

Let’s be honest here, these hard working local business owners (many are friends and family) are being RIPPED OFF by an advertising industry that makes a fortune by convincing local business owners to buy advertising that will NEVER and I mean NEVER work.

They hire, train and deploy a bunch of slick salespeople or highly scripted telemarketing staff that get local  business owners to part with their hard eaned cash by using scare tactics like your competitors are there or  by playing the RATE card game of well I’ll give a huge discount off our published rates.

It may be legal but in my mind it certainly is not ethical.

Just because your competitor is advertising there it does not mean it’s working and I assure you from our research that it’s probably not.

AND

50% OFF something that does not work means nothing whether you paid $3000 or the huge discount rate of $1500.If I sell you a used car for 50% OFF and it does not get you from point A to point B will you call me up and thank me that you didn’t pay full price or would you rip my head off?

Listen I’m not saying there is anything wrong with advertising.Done properly with the video marketing strategies, systems and tools we use here at  LocalAdPower.com I can GUARANTEE you will get a great ROI on your investment and not only will you see results you’ll actually be able to measure your advertising spend.

So the next time your Yellow Page or any ad rep walks into your local business make it clear  that you have no interest in what your competitor is doing or how mush of a  discount your getting if you sign up today and that You will only ever pay for results –and that’s what determines what you are willing to spend.

Rick Comtois
CEO & Founder
Local Ad Power.com

Author Info: Rick Comtois is the CEO & Founder of LocalAdPower.com a small online video marketing firm based in Sudbury.ONTARIO.Canada. Rick & his team at LocalAdPower.com use the power of online video and the internet to help local small businesses get more leads, faster,cheaper and more effectively then any other form of advertising. Get his FREE special report “Secrets To Winning At The New Game Of Local Advertising” here : www.LocalAdPower.com

Came across this great new FREE Google Video Creator tool that you can use to promote your local business story.

A Google Search Stories video is the perfect way to get  that instant local credibility you’ve been searching for.

The power of this video creator can put your local business on the map…for FREE.

You can  tell the video to display:

• Your company’s address in Google Local maps
• Images relating to your local business
• Your contact information
• Your products or services

And it does all the work for you.

PLUS:

1. It’s FREE.
2. It’s so EASY (I made this one in less then 5 minutes).
3. It’s POWERFUL and POPULAR
4. It’s instant LOCAL CREDITBILITY for your local business.

Go here now and make your own Local Business story

http://www.youtube.com/user/SearchStories

Enjoy

Rick Comtois

CEO & Founder

www.LocalAdPower.com

Reach More Local Customers…

Faster | Cheaper | More Often

Look we aren’t knocking these offline methods per se.

And we like the Yellow Pages, it’s great for propping up the picnic table on that end with the bad leg.

Seriously though offline methods CAN be good, but not how you are using them.

IF you learn how to use them (we’ll show you how in a minute) they can be highly effective.

But you gotta change the way you think.

You are careful in so many areas of your business – the building, the supplies, your inventory, your hiring, lots of other places.

You are a master of your craft.

But you stink at advertising and you are wasting your money.

We’re here to show you how to spend less and make more.

• How to get tons of more customers/clients
• How to keep the customers/clients you do have coming in again and again and buying from you,
• How to make sure your customers/clients spend more money with you
• How to get massive referrals from current customers/clients
• How to increase your profit margin…

All while spending LESS money than you currently are on advertising

In this short document we will show you the core of the secrets we have learned about advertising online and offline.

And at the end we’ll give you resources for where you can find more.

Just following along in this short version of Local Ad Power will put you ahead of 99% of all other local business owners!

How do we know?  Because we talk to local business owners every day – smart guys and gals, masters of their business or profession – and they act like we have come in from outer space.

The vast majority of business owners don’t know one bit of this and the few who do have ignored it and gone back like a beaten dog to the old familiar ways of advertising.

Come hang out

Local Ad Power

http://www.LocalAdPower.com

-Dr. Max Vogt

-Rick Comtois

What do you use to do your advertising?

Do you spend money on Yellow Page ads?

Do you buy spots on the radio?

Do you use ValPaks?

Do you buy space in the newspaper?

Probably you use these methods… one or all of them.

However if you are like most business owners, you might as well be taking the money and flushing it right down the toilet.

You’d have more fun blowing it in Vegas.  And at least you’d be having fun (until you see the credit card statement).

We know one guy who is spending $34,689 a year on Yellow Page Ads and when we asked him “exactly how much of your traffic comes in from Yellow Page ads” he had no answer other than “well we think it works.”

It sure is a pretty ad … so many pretty colors… so beautifully designed… so freaking useless.

Of course if you are going to shell out $35k a year, you’d better at least pretend in your own mind that it’s a good investment.

The same thing happens with radio spots, newspaper ads, classifieds, local or regional advertising.

You buy those spots because, well, because that’s what people do, and because you are used to doing that.

It’s “the way things are done.”

What are you getting for your hard-earned money?

Maybe something, maybe “F-all” (probably the latter).

But you don’t know because you aren’t using measuring or testing techniques.

You literally have no eay of knowing if your advertising efforts are working or failing other than guessing.

That’s why we call it hunting blind in the dark.

You are just firing into the darkness and hoping you hit something.

Dear Friend

We hear ya…

Local business people are sick and tired of being swindled!  We are and we’re sure you are too!

We wrote this Manifesto to show you the tricks and techniques we are using for ourselves and for our friends and clients to help them do successful business advertising.

What do we consider “successful” advertising?

It involves three things:

1. Brings in new customers, repeat customers and generates referrals.

2. Makes you more money than you spent (profits!)

2. You can PRECISELY MEASURE RESULTS of the advertising.

Well ain’t that obvious?  Not really…

Here’s the kicker.

You probably think “sure, that’s right” about the first one.  You know the purpose of your ads is to bring in new customers, repeat customers and generate referrals (duh)

And you know the whole idea is to make more money than you spend (duh)

But do you know how to measure the results and be able to tell down to the penny exactly how well your advertising efforts are paying off?

Now your eyes are starting to glaze over, aren’t they?

If you are like most business people we meet day in and day out, you are “hunting blind in the dark”

First, here’s the mindset you must have.

This is absolutely essential.

If you are going to play a sport, say baseball, you have to know a few fundamentals before you can even get in the game.

You must know bases, positions, how to throw, how to run, how to hit and the rules at a very minimum, right?

So here are the fundamentals of business advertising.

Once we’ve talked about this I’ll show you how to apply it into your offline and online marketing

I put it into an acronym called

C ustomer
U nique value
S urvey
T ease
O ffer
M easure
E valuate
R e-test
S pend wisely

Your focus needs to be not on your product but your customer.

Who is your ideal customer?

What do they really want?

Who are they?

Male? Female? What age? Ethnicity?  Customs?  Values?

What are they dreaming about at night or worried about?

What problems do they have that YOU have the best answer and solution to solving?

This focus applies exactly the same whether you are promoting offline or online.

We’ll look at the “U” tomorrow…

Till then, be well

Local Ad Power

http://www.LocalAdPower.com

-Dr. Max

-Rick Comtois

Let’s say you sell auto and home insurance.

What’s your specialty?  What are you known for?

http://www.LocalAdPower.com

Your CSA or Customer Satisfaction Advantage should be the core of everything in your business.

Which business would you rather own?

http://www.LocalAdPower.com