Advertising Layouts that Work

The difference between a well-written and designed display ad and a bad one comes down to one test. Does the reader understand the product offering in just one second…does something in the ad capture their attention long enough to get them to read the ad, and even better, act on it? Whether you're advertising in a magazine or newspaper, you have to attract your audience with magnetic ad copy and layout. A great ad will:

1.     Grab the readers' attention.

2.     Pique customer interest.

3.     Build brand awareness.

4.     Talk benefits of your product or service.

5.     Identify your unique selling position.

6.     Have a call to action.

Keep it simple Many beginning advertisers make the mistake of trying to say too much and filling up the white space with too much copy. A better approach is to keep your ad short and simple. Great ad copy tends to follow a spare formula that includes these basic elements: a catchy headline, a compelling lead, a proving statement, a close and your contact information.

Tell them what’s for sale Use a large Dominant Illustration … Studies have shown that an ad with an illustration that takes up 50% or more of the ad space increases readership by as much as 37%.  (NAA) When designing your ad layout, remember that research shows that the image is the first thing readers look at, followed by the headline and then body copy.

Write headlines that grab David Ogilvy said… “If your headline does not include a selling message, you may be wasting 80% of your dollars.”  A headline is the make-or-break element of your ad. It's what either draws the reader in. The best headlines are clear and concise, and they mention a key benefit of your product or service, provide solutions for a common problem or generate curiosity.

Design your layout with one reader in mind Design your layout to speak to the one ideal prospect for your product offering, (hopefully there are many of them), people read ads that speak to them… not the mass market. 

Improve your copywriting skills You can make words jump off the page if you arm yourself with the fundamental rules of copywriting. No matter what you're selling, your ad should be conversational and directed to ideal client you want to reach… use short sentences and be free of any spelling or grammatical errors. 

Armature The layout should carry the reader’s eye through the message easily and in proper sequence: from headline to illustration to explanatory copy to price to the store name. 

Get to know the Ogilvy basic ad layout The Ogilvy & Mather ad agency has created some of the world's most successful ads. Many of those ads follow a simple layout formula; a strong visual at the top of the page, for photos include a descriptive caption, use a strong selling headline, create desire with effective ad copy & place your contact information (signature) in the lower right corner. That's generally the last place a reader's eye gravitates to when reading an ad.

Simplicity is key, avoid overuse of typefaces, overly decorative borders and large areas of reverse type or reverse areas with small-point type. These devices are distracting will reduce the number of readers who receive the entire advertising message.

The same principals apply to online display design. Here are a few additional tips; Choose colors for your banner ad that get attention and will contrast to the background color of your website or landing page. Stick to brief, concise content for banner ads. Use legible fonts, Make it easy by asking them to “Click Here” to get more information by clicking through to the clients’ site. Try not to include animation for animation’s sake… remember simplicity sells.

Low-Cost Ways To Show Employees They're Highly Valued by Roberta Chinsky

http://www.fastcompany.com/1822943/low-cost-ways-to-show-your-employees-they-are-highly-valued

Small businesses can compete for talent without breaking the bank. Yes, you still need to pay competitive wages to get people in the door, but it’s the perks that will help you retain them. Here are 30 low-cost ideas for small businesses who want to show employees that they are highly valued.

1. Flex time.  Some organizations require employees to be at work during core hours, and employee can set their schedule around this. Others allow employees to put in hours at their own discretion. Most require employees to have a set schedule so managers can plan for coverage. The schedule may be adjusted to accommodate personal matters like doctor's appointments.

2. Innovation days.  Set aside several days a year to allow employees to step away from their usual responsibilities to tackle projects related to the way they work and the spaces they work in. Results are shared in a company meeting the following morning.

3. Monthly commuter benefits.  Offer a monthly stipend ($100 or so) for those who commute by public transportation. In many cities where mass transit is used, companies offer tax-free transit fare programs; you can learn more about the options available from programs like TransitChek or Commuter Check. These programs also save companies money in payroll taxes. 
4. Fully stocked kitchen.  Provide free coffee, soft drinks, and snacks for employees during work hours. Want to bump this up a notch? Keep organic milk in stock and add fresh fruit and healthy options to the shopping list.

5. Wellness benefits.  Employees can receive reimbursement for purchases related to fitness (up to $300/year). Typical items reimbursed include gym memberships, running shoes, yoga mats, bicycles, and so on.

6. Free lunch.  Order in for all your employees once a week to foster community and give employees a break from packing their lunches.

7. Canine colleagues.  Got an office full of dog lovers? Then invite house-trained visitors to join the team.

8. Parental leave.   As this infographic shows, the U.S. has some of the weakest paid family-leave benefits anywhere--while some states guarantee paid leave, it's not a federal mandate. You can immediately differentiate your company by making sure all employees are eligible for paid time off after the birth or adoption of a child.
9. No dress code.  Relax--ties are optional in this work environment.

10. Summer hours.  Employees kick back early on Fridays during the summer months, allowing them to beat the heat as well as the traffic if they're heading out to the beach for a weekend.

11. Free chair massages.  Fifteen minutes in the chair once a week, and employees will return to their desks refreshed and ready to tackle their to-do lists.

12. Optional telecommuting.  In an increasingly mobile and digitally connected world, many employees can easily and successfully work from home part- or full-time. Here are some tips on working from home that will make the transition smooth.

13. Tech neutrality.  Offer the choice of PCs or Macs so employees can work on the machine with which they're more comfortable.

14. Flexibility in paid time off.  Employees can choose how to use their paid time off bank (vacation, sick, and personal time) to best meet the needs of their individual situations.

15. A culture of work/life balance. Create an atmosphere where it really is okay to leave the office before 8 p.m.

16. Perks for part-time employees.  Many organizations treat part-time workers like they were temps. Provide part-time workers with perks and they’ll be acting like full-time workers in no time.

17. Cultural extras.  Keep the workplace exciting by mixing in rewards like concert tickets, movie outings, or passes to sporting events. Don’t forget to throw some cash your employee’s way to cover the babysitter.

18. Sabbaticals.  Offer month-long sabbaticals after five years of service, or two months after 10 years of service.

19. Laundry service.  Employ a service to pick up employees' clothes and drop them back at work, clean and folded.

20. Car care.  Who has time to take their car in for an oil change? Companies have arranged for a service to come to the office and take care of this messy task while employees are working.

21. Gift matching.  The company matches employee's charitable donations, with the match based on what the company can afford.

22. Adoption assistance.  This financial assistance can be used for legal expenses, adoption agencies, or other professional fees.

23. Take-out meals.  To help make things easier, new moms and dads are able to expense up to $300 for take-out meals during the first three months that they are home with their new baby.

24. Employee referral programs.  Good people know other good people, and the best employees are usually hired through referrals. Those who refer candidates who are hired receive a cash bonus award.

25. Green initiatives.  Preferred parking and/or subsidies for those who purchase and drive hybrid vehicles.

26. Paid time off to volunteer.  Employees are given a specific amount of time to volunteer in their communities.

27. Cleaning services.  Sweep employees off their feet--hire professional cleaners to tidy up employees' homes every two weeks.

28. Tuition forgiveness.  Offer to pay a percentage of tuition owed, per year of employment, for hard-to-fill positions that are appropriate for recent grads.

29. Easier dinnertimes.  Take care of the people who matter by enlisting a vendor to deliver ready-to-eat healthy dinners that employees can elect to purchase and take home to their families.

30. Acknowledgment of significant others.  When employees do have to work late hours, the people who really pick up the slack are their spouses who are forced to work double duty. Acknowledge their contributions by sending flowers or gift cards, along with a personal note to acknowledge their contribution.

Incorporating perks like these into your organization will help you attract top talent, increase employee satisfaction, and reduce costly employee turnover, which in the end is far more profitable than scaling back on your benefit expenses to save a few bucks.
Have you incorporated any of these benefits into your business, or found any other unique ideas that work? 
Author Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions (yourhrexperts.com) and author of Suddenly in Charge: Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around

Dan Pink on "The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us"

A highly simplified but no less compelling statement of self-determination theory–one of the most vital psychological theories of human motivation...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=player_embedded

The Time Management EDGE

Have you ever felt you the needed to be more organized and/or more productive? Have you ever had that day… you know the  one…  a frenzy of activity and then at the end of the day wondering why you hadn't accomplished the most important things you set out to do?

Time Management skills are especially important for sales professionals, who often find they are performing many different tasks during the course of the day. You can be in control and accomplish what you want to accomplish – first you’ve come to grips with the time management myth and take control of your time. The following time management tips will help you increase your productivity and invest your time where you receive the greatest return… time spent with clients.

1) Realize that time management is a myth. No matter how organized we are, there are only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn't change. All we can actually manage is ourselves and how we invest the time that we have. Effective time management is not a course you take and implement… it is a commitment to assessing your internal compass daily to ensure you are doing the right things to maximize productivity & selling time and avoiding those things that derail us from our goals.

2) Find out where you're wasting time. Many of us are prey to time-wasters that steal time we could be using much more productively. What are your time-bandits? Where do you spend too much time?  We all know some areas where we may be spending too much of our time but we are not fully aware of just how much time and the true cost to our productivity. Tracking your daily activities will give you an accurate picture of where you have spent your time… the first step to effective time management.

3) Create time management goals. Remember, the focus of time management is actually changing our behaviors, not changing time. A good place to start is by identifying & eliminating our personal time-wasters. Now we must create SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic & Time Deadline) for achieving what you need to accomplish. For example: setting a set number of sales calls for each day on existing products, services and customers as well as a set number of new business development calls. Setting the target number of real contacts with customers will ensure we are focused on maximizing time spent in front of clients.

4) Implement a time management plan. Think of this as an extension of creating time management goals. The objective is to change your behaviors over time to achieve whatever general goal you've set for yourself, such as increasing your productivity or decreasing your stress. So you need to not only set your specific goals, but track them over time to see whether or not you're accomplishing them and adjust accordingly.

5) Use time management tools. Whether it's a Day-Timer or a software program, the first step to physically managing your time is to know where it's going now and planning how you're going to spend your time in advance.  Microsoft Outlook lets you schedule events easily and can be set to remind you of events in advance, making your time management easier. You can even use Outlook as your own Customer Relationship Management system, capturing all that valuable new business development information we acquire in our needs analysis in the notes section of the contact you have created for every new business you meet. You can even simplify your prospecting process by setting up categories for every product or service you represent and then reviewing each contact to select all the special sections, features and online opportunities that speak to their customer base… prospecting 101 – simplified.

6) Prioritize ruthlessly. You should start each day prioritizing the tasks for that day and setting your performance benchmark. If you have 20 tasks for a given day, how many of them can you truly accomplish? Are you maximizing your time with clients? Remember to exercise integrity in the moment and evaluate as the day progresses… if you have a meeting cancel… who else in that area can you cold call or drop in to see instead of simply driving back to the office…

7) Establish routines and stick to them as much as possible. While crises may still arise, you'll be much more productive if you can follow set routines most of the time. Set time aside for email, voice mail, a call block of time for setting new business appointments etc...  You will really see an improvement in your productivity if you have a plan and follow it on a daily basis.

8) Get in the habit of setting time limits for tasks. For instance, reading and answering email can consume your whole day if you let it. Instead, set a limit for each task and stick to it. (I.e.; email & voicemail 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. & 4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. and then only check and respond as absolutely necessary during the remainder of the day)

9) Be sure your systems are organized. Are you wasting a lot of time looking for files on your computer? Is your filing system slowing you down? Take the time to organize your files so you can quickly lay your hands on what you need. The time you will save in a moment of crisis urgently seeking that necessary file or customer information will be truly worth the investment of time getting organized.

10) Don't waste time waiting. From the proof that isn’t ready yet to the waiting room of your next client meeting, it's impossible to avoid waiting for someone or something. But we don't need to just sit there and twiddle our thumbs. Now you can re-invest that down time in planning, organizing your calendar, answering the email you’ve been meaning to reply to, or even making appointment setting calls from your car between client meetings. You will be amazed at the return you will receive from investing those minutes (that add up to hours) in high return activities such as planning, setting appointments, organizing your calendar and time or replying to or sending a business email.