I wrote this in a song once about Faith. “To believe in something you can’t see, a way of life or philosophy, creates a strength in a man’s soul that carriers him through and keeps him whole.”

If you are smart, and have confidence in your business, you spent money on advertising last month. There should be a bill around there somewhere. Skip down for tips on maximizing your investment.

If you have confidence in your business, and you are smart, maybe you came here because you want to devise a plan now and start cookin’. GOOD.

But, first timer’s take courage! You must have Faith. Many have succeeded doing this and you can. Just be ready for the challenges.

Challenge Number One: Your new ad plan should have no end date.

This is going to be a short read for you if you can’t commit to spending the right amount of money on yourself every month. As long as you still pay the power bill, you should be expecting a bill for advertising. This is called ‘Stamina’. Prepare to spend this money forever or don’t spend it.

Honestly, Stamina is just about the only thing that matters in your ad plan. Even a terrible ad, delivered on a regular schedule, week in and week out, will work. But smart business people want to multiply their investment. So, in addition to Stamina, add several more ingredients to the stew.

Your secret sauce is the ad copy. The only thing people will know about you and your business through advertising is what you tell them. The secret of the secret is the that more authentically your recipe tell’s your story, the better it tastes, so more people buy it.

Here’s how to begin to tell your brand story:

Write down 12 things that either made you start your business, or that you believe in. You just wrote the topics of your first 12month’s ads. Throw them into a hat and rearrange them for year two. Be wise though, copywriting is not a job for most super busy people. Hiring great talent to do the writing for you will be a huge time saver and will really stretch your ad dollar. Keep them honest and demand excellence.

Ingredient Number Two: Set Your Expectations Correctly.

For most businesses a media buy should be part ‘call me now’, which is led by Google, or ‘Here’s My Story’ which is led most commonly led by radio. Google is transactional advertising, and you should expect it to work faster than radio, which is relational advertising. I like to tell clients to take 90 days to tweak and adjust before they really start looking for results with Google. (Remember Faith?) Sorry, It’s a year for radio. Stay strong and do both kinds of advertising in your new plan, even though Google is a shiny penny and wants to suck out every dollar for itself. You need both.

Get Started

Of course, there is a lot of nuance and knowledge that comes with this new journey. You will learn a lot about media, your community and your company, as you muster the courage needed to create and continue this investment in what you believe in.

I would love to hear the story of your journey. And, if you need some help along the way, hit me up!

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