AdVerb is dead: long live ‘SPE Update’ After more than 12 years, we’ve retired AdVerb – the long-running Ballistix periodical. We’ve replaced AdVerb with SPE Update – an email update of new posts, as I publish them, on my blog. As you probably know, my blog has been in existence for some time now. But [...]

How to develop an ideology-based marketing strategy. So you think you’re going to publish a newsletter? Hey, that’s not a bad idea! If you make it an e-mail newsletter — like the one you’re reading now — it’s a particularly cost effective exercise. Your distribution costs are nil. Your publishing costs are equivalent only to [...]

How to sell expensive (or complex) products and services [Listen to a seminar on this subject!] If your organisation sells expensive (or complex) products and services, odds are, you get most of your new clients by ‘word of mouth’ or referral. If you’ve tried your hand at advertising, you’ve probably discovered that, even if an [...]

Following is the sad story of the entrepreneurial Harry Edgecliffe and his ruthless competitor Spot Pet Foods. Although neither Harry nor Spot exists, their tale provides a number of invaluable lessons for all marketers. Harry Edgecliffe is not a happy man! In recent months, the business he toiled for so many years to build has [...]

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what percentage of their sales they should be spending on advertising, I’d be writing this column from Aspen! Problem is, it’s simply the wrong question to ask. And I’ll show you why… Let’s assume that the objective of your advertising is to generate sales. [...]

If you’ve attended any of our recent breakfasts, you’ll know that I am a big fan of e-mail perodicals – or ’eBulletins’, as I call them. Now, whenever I mention eBulletins, someone asks, ’But Justin, isn’t broadcast e-mail spam?’ My answer: ’Well it is, and it isn’t!’ You see, it all depends on your definition [...]

Follow this simple process to transform your brochure into a powerful sales tool. Go on: admit it… Most brochures make you yawn so hard you fear your jaw’s about to snap! You know, the ubiquitous picture of the board, standing rigidly to attention. The bland letter from the CEO, explaining his company’s revolutionary policy of [...]

Use our simple five-step formula to turn under-performing advertisements into high powered sales tools. Bill King and son, Stephen, were facing a dilemma, common to many business people. They had a great product on their hands. Something handymen and tradesmen would jump at. But they were having trouble launching it into the marketplace. As the [...]

If it’s done well, newspaper advertising can be an extremely cost effective way of attracting new customers to your business. However, done poorly, this is one sure way to waste large amounts of money in an amazingly short period! Newspaper advertising gives you access to a large audience for a very low cost per reader. [...]

I’m often asked for advice on this one. And with good reason … media exposure is probably the most cost-effective way of communicating with your marketplace. Follow these steps and you will discover that it is surprisingly easy to get exposure for your business. Choose a publication that communicates with your market. Write a newsworthy [...]