Coin Collecting on a shoe-string budget Learn how anyone can build up a nice coin collection even if they have a very limited income Probably everyone at one time or another has collected coins. Some people save old wheat pennies they find in change and throw them in a jar. Other ... Create and Maintain a Budget The first step to avoiding the troubles of financial debt is to create and maintain a budget. It's not as intimidating as it sounds, don't worry. First off, create a list of all your monthly income and also a list of your monthly expenses. When ... Realistic Time Budgeting I'm sure we've all had the experience of having a certain block of time available, and our to-do list tasks or goals that we want to accomplish in that time frame, only to turn around at the end of that period of time to have the frustrating experience of ...
Advertising on a budget -- Part 2: Thinking small
Our goal was to both build the PWC brand and drive traffic to the Web site. Advertising regularly was essential. Yet it was also essential to keep our costs down. So we leveraged our monthly newspaper advertising to stretch our marketing dollar as far as we could. How did we do that? We "thought small." We bought one inch by two column inch ads (a column inch in this particular publication is approximately 1.88 inches). The ads were one inch high and almost 4 inches long. To reflect the small ad, the copy also had to be short and sweet. Like so: www.PrescottWeddings.com. Everything you need to say "I do." Just the name of the business and the slogan. We put the name in large type and made the tagline much smaller. Did it work? The first day this ad ran, we garnered 350 hits on the Web site and several phone calls from business owners who wanted more information. And that was just the beginning. Hits steadily grew during the campaign, and every time it ran we always noticed a jump. Not bad for a little ad. Conventional wisdom says bigger is better. And while it is true that big ads stand out (after all, they do take a big chunk of real estate on the page) it doesn't mean big is the only way to go. Small ads can pack a punch too. Why did the PWC ad work? First of all, it got noticed because it stuck out (yes, small ads can stick out). It had an odd shape -- long and thin, not a square like so many other ads. The name was big -- bigger than many other fonts surrounding it. (But not so big that the ad lacked sufficient white space.) But probably the biggest reason it worked was because the message was simple. This is clearly a Web site about having a wedding in the Prescott area. Therefore if you're involved with weddings, whether as a business or on a more personal level, and you're also associated with Prescott, then this is a Web site clearly worth taking a peek at. People instantly got the message. And they got it even if they only scanned the paper. It was quick and painless for them -- something all ads should strive to be. What's also interesting is how this ad hit its target market. I've spoken to people (mostly men) who have no interest in getting married and have never seen the ad even though they read the paper. Conversely, businesses in the wedding industry and brides have said they see the ad all the time. Now, you may have a business name that doesn't capture your business' products or services as well as PrescottWeddings.com (my business name for example). In this case, why not think of a catchy tag line you can use in those small ads to drive people to your Web site? Web sites can be huge, wordy, information-stuffed selling tools. So use short, sweet one-message statement to get people to go look and learn more about your business rather than try to shove everything in an ad. Don't forget to include your business name and logo for branding purposes. About the Author Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, a writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.writingusa.com. Copyright 2005 Michele Pariza Wacek.
Budgeting News
The wrong people pay for Schwarzenegger's busted budget Los Angeles Times, CA - 15 hours ago The man who coasted into office by railing against his predecessor's borrowing plans proposes to meet a looming $40-billion budget deficit by borrowing ...
Uncertainty advances, prolongs budget process The Daily Beacon, TN - 2 hours ago “News on the budget continues to worsen,” Nolt said. “This week the Governor announced that the state shortfall has reached a billion dollars. ...
FM balances budget Burlington Hawk Eye, United States - 4 hours ago By NICHOLAS BERGIN Members of the Fort Madison City Council Wednesday wrapped up budgeting sessions and firmed up its $4.58 million in revenue and ...
