"The spider looks for a merchant who doesn't advertise so he 
can spin a web across his door and lead a life of undisturbed 
peace." --- Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Although Samuel L. Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, lived in a time 
when there was no radio broadcasting or television, he was no 
fool. His gift for the written word influenced generations of 
Americans --- and his sharp wit and wisdom exposed the truth’s 
of life, so much so that his words still ring true today.


THE BASICS OF BUSINESS SURVIVAL AND SUCCESS

Let’s face it, in order to survive in business, you must 
advertise. There are no if’s, and’s or but’s about it.

But the questions that haunt the thoughts of small business 
owner’s everywhere is: How, When, Where and How Much? 


UNDERSTANDING THE FEAR FACTOR

Small business people have great fears to contend with when 
contemplating the questions of their own advertising.

Deep down inside they know that Mark Twain was right about the 
importance of advertising in the survival of their business. 

But, it is far too easy to dump thousands of dollars into 
advertising and then to receive little or no response on that 
advertising. Many businesses have crumbled in the attempt to 
generate, through advertising, enough new customers and sales 
to keep their businesses afloat.

When facing the quandary of spending their limited financial 
resources on an enterprise that may or may not produce positive 
results, small business owners naturally become justifiably 
concerned.


SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

The How, When and Where of advertising will be learned from 
trial and error. This cannot be helped. We can read the advice 
of people who tell us about their own advertising successes, 
but the truth is that what has worked for them, may not actually 
work for us. 

The trick of the How, When and Where is to try different 
variables and test the results generated from each. If the 
variable used generates more income than what has been spent, 
then it is worthy of another run. If the variable used does not 
generate the appropriate level of income, then it should be 
phased out. 

With this having been said, please bear in mind that if an 
advertising outlet fails you, it is not necessarily the outlet 
that failed. In fact, radio, television, newspapers, magazines 
and many other outlets have proven themselves effective over 
time. If your message fails you, then the problem will likely 
reside in the message you have chosen. 

The question of How Much can only be approached with a strategy 
of starting small and slowly building up the resources you 
invest into the mediums and the messages. Only through measuring 
your results will you begin to truly appreciate how to grow your 
business into the next year, decade and century.


AN ADDITIONAL CHALLENGE IN ADVERTISING

In television and radio advertising, you are generally limited 
to thirty seconds to share your message with your particular 
target customer.

In newspapers and magazines, you are limited by the amount of 
money you have available to buy space.

Yet, for some businesses, it is absolutely necessary to share 
more information with their prospective customers than what can 
be achieved in thirty seconds or two column inches. 

Remember, the point of advertising is to share enough 
information with your prospective clients to help them decide 
to purchase your products or services, or to entice them to 
seek more information.


NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN ADVERTISING VEHICLES

In 1995, the global Internet broke wide open introducing the 
world to new way of doing business and finding information, 
products and services. 

A simple website on the Information Super Highway can serve a 
business well by educating the business’ target customers in 
a way that no other medium can. The cost of building and 
maintaining a website is miniscule compared to the cost of 
continued advertising in other mediums. 

To provide the same level of detail, that a website can offer, 
would cost thousands of dollars per month in another medium.

No matter how well your web site is designed or presented, your 
message will not reach its intended recipients unless you can 
bring your target customers to your web site. 

Your web site can only tell your message. Additional advertising 
is required to bring people to your message. 


TECHNOLOGY DELIVERS NEW WAYS TO ADVERTISE

Macromedia Flash has brought us new ways to utilize technology 
to the benefit of telling the message of our business. Using 
the flash technology, we can employ high quality images, moving 
pictures, voice talk-overs, background music and text messages 
all within the context of an interactive presentation where both 
you and your target customers can determine how your information 
should be presented. 

This tool is ideal because you can tell the story of your 
business in much the same way as you could tell it with a 
30 minute infomercial.

This tool is also ideal for your customer’s because they can 
retrieve only the information that is important to them.


PROOF OF CONCEPT

A few years back, Quixtar brought the promotion of their 
business opportunity to “electronic business cards” or  
“business card cd’s”, refered to herein as BCCD’s.

A BCCD is a miniturized compact disc --- the size of a business 
card --- which contains a Macromedia Flash presentation that 
automatically launches when it is placed into a computer cd-rom. 

By using a BCCD, Quixtar was successfully able to tell their 
story with a consistent and high-powered presentation. They were 
no longer forced to rely solely upon the human element in their 
structure to convey their message to new contacts. 


BUSINESS CARDS --- POWERFUL, YET COST-EFFECTIVE

Business cards have been used for decades. They are a very 
inexpensive method to put your business’ name into a prospective 
clients’ hand --- and into their mind. 

While a bit more expensive than a business card, a BCCD still 
remains one of the most affordable advertising options 
available. Offering more than just a name and a phone number, 
BCCD’s are 50 times more likely to get noticed and reviewed.

Even during recessionary periods when regular advertising rates 
fall in price, the BCCD is still one of the most cost-effective 
and efficient ways to deliver your business’ message to 
prospective clients. 

You owe it to yourself and your business to explore this 
advertising medium further and to give it a try for yourself.