The
greatest expense you're going to incur in conducting a
successful
business is advertising.
You
have to advertise. Your business cannot grow and flourish
unless
you advertise. Advertising is the "life-blood" of any
profitable
business. And regardless of where or how your
advertise,
it's going to cost you in some form or
another.
Every
successful business is built upon, and continues to thrive,
primarily,
on good advertising. The top companies in the world
allocate
millions of dollars annually to their advertising
budget.
of course, when starting from a garage, basement or
kitchen
table,you can't quite match their advertising
efforts---at
least not in the beginning. But there is a way you
can
approximate their maneuvers without actually spending their
kind
of money. And that's through "P.I" Advertising.
"P.I."
stands for per inquiry. This kind of advertising most
generally
associated with broadcasting, where you pay only for
the
responses you get to your advertising
message. It's very
popular--somewhat
akin to bartering--and is used by many more
advertisers
than most people realize. The advantages of PI
Advertising
are all in favor of the advertiser because with this
kind
of an advertising arrangement, you can pay only for the
results
the advertising produces.
To
get in on this "free" advertising, start with a loose leaf
notebook,
and about 100 sheets of filler paper. Next, either
visit
your public library and start poring through the Broadcast
Yearbook
on radio stations in the U.S., or Standard Rate and Data
Services
Directory on Spot Radio. Both these publications will
give
you just about all the information you could ever want about
licensed
stations.
An
easier way might be to call or visit one of your local radio
stations,
and ask to borrow (and take home with you) their
current
copy of either of these volumes. To purchase them
outright
will cost $50 to $75.
Once
you have a copy of either of these publications, select the
state
or states you want to work first. It's generally best to
begin
in your own state and work outward from there. If you have
a
moneymaking manual, you might want to start first with those
states
reporting the most unemployment.
Use
some old fashioned common sense. Who are the people most
likely
to be interested in your offer, and where are the largest
concentrations
of these people? You wouldn't attempt to sell
windshield
de-ice canisters in Florida, or suntan lotion in
Minnesota
during the winter months, would you?
At
any rate, once you've got your beginning "target" area decided
upon,
go through the radio listings for the cities and towns in
that
area, and jot down in your notebook the names of general
mangers,
the station call letters, and addresses. be sure to list
the
telephone numbers as well.
On
the first try, list only one radio station per city. Pick out
the
station people most interested in your product would be
listening
to. This can be determined by the programming
description
contained within the date block about the station in
the
Broadcasting Yearbook or the SRDS Directory.
The
first contact should be in the way of introducing yourself,
and
inquiring if they would consider a PI Advertising campaign.
You
tell the station manger that you have a product you feel will
sell
very well in his market, and would like to test it before
going
ahead with a paid advertising program. You must quickly
point
out that your product sells for, say $5, and that during
this
test, you would allow him 50% of that for each response his
station
pulls for you. Explain that you handle everything for
him:
the writing of the commercials, all accounting and
bookkeeping,
plus any refunds or complaints that come in. In
other
words all he has to do is schedule your commercials on his
log,
and give them his "best shot." When the responses come in,
he
counts them, and forwards them on to you for fulfillment. You
make
out a check for payment to him, and everybody is happy.
If
you've contacted him by phone, and he agrees to look over your
material,
tell him thank you and promise to get a complete
"package"
in the mail to him immediately. Then do just that.
Write
a short cover letter, place it on top of your "ready-to-go"
PI
Advertising Package, and get it in the mail to him without
delay.
If
you're turned down, and he is not interested in "taking on"
any
PI Advertising, just tell him thanks, make a notation in your
notebook
by his name, and go to your next call. Contacting these
people
by phone is by far the quickest, least expensive and most
productive
method of "exploring" for those stations willing to
consider
your PI proposal. In some cases though, circumstances
will
deem it to be less expensive to make this initial contact by
letter
or postcard.
In
that case, simply address you card or letter to the person you
are
trying to contact. Your letter should be positive in tone,
straight
forward and complete. Present all the details in logical
order
on one page, perfectly typed on letterhead paper, and sent
in
a letterhead envelope. (Rubber-stamped letterheads just won't
get
past a first glance.) Ideally, you should include a
self-addressed
and stamped postcard with spaces for positive or
negative
check marks in answer to your questions: Will you or
won't
you over my material and consider a mutually profitable
"Per
Inquiry" advertising campaign on your station?
Once
you have an agreement from your contact at the radio station
that
they will look over your materials and give serious
consideration
for a PI program, move quickly, getting your cover
letter
and package off by First Class mail, perhaps even Special
Delivery.
What
this means is at the same time you organize your "radio
station
notebook," you'll also want to organize your advertising
package.
Have it all put together and ready to mail just as soon
as
you have a positive response. Don't allow time for that
interest
in your program to cool down.
You'll
need a follow-up letter. Write one to fit all situations;
have
250 copies printed, and then when you're ready to send out a
package,
all you'll have to do is fill in the business salutation
and
sign it. If you spoke of different arrangements or a specific
matter
was discussed in your initial contact, however, type a
different
letter incorporating comments or answers to the points
discussed.
This personal touch won't take long, and could pay
dividends!
You'll
also need at least to thirty-second commercials and two
sixty-second
commercials. You could write these up, and have 250
copies
printed and organized as a part of your PI Advertising
Package.
You
should also have some sort of advertising contract written
up,
detailing everything about your program, and how everything
is
to be handled; how and when payment to the radio station is to
be
made, plus special paragraphs relative to refunds, complaints,
and
liabilities. All this can be very quickly written up and
printed
in lots of 250 or more on carbonless multi-part snap-out
business
forms.
Finally,
you should include a self-addressed and stamped postcard
the
radio station can use to let you know that they are going to
use
your PI Advertising program, when they will start running
your
commercials on the air, and how often, during which time
periods.
Again, you simply type out the wording in the form you
want
to use on these "reply postcards, and have copies printed
for
your use in these mailings.
To
review this program: Your first step is the initial contact
after
searching through the SRDS or Broadcasting Yearbook. Actual
contact
with the stations is by phone or mail. When turned down,
simply
say thanks, and go to the nest station on the list. For
those
who want to know more about your proposal, you immediately
get
a PI Advertising Package off to them via the fastest way
possible.
Don't let the interest wane.
Your Advertising Package should contain
the following:
1. Cover letter
2. Sample brochure, product literature
3. Thirty-second and sixty-second
commercials
4. PI Advertising Contract
5. Self-addressed, stamped postcard for
station
acknowledgement
and
acceptance of your program.
Before
you ask why you need an acknowledgement postcard when you
have
already given them a contact, remember that everything about
business
changes from day to day---conditions change, people get
busy,
and other things come up. the station manager may sign a
contract
with your advertising to begin the 1st of March. The
contract
is signed on the 1st of January, but when March 1 rolls
around,
he may have forgotten, been replaced, or even decided
against
running your program. A lot of paper seemingly "covering
all
the minute details" can be very impressive to many radio
station
managers, and convince them that your company is a good
one
to do business with.
Let's
say that right now you're impatient to get started with
your
own PI Advertising campaign. Before you "jump off the deep
end,"
remember this: Radio station people are just as
professional
and dedicated as anyone else in business---even more
so
in some instances--so be sure you have a product or service
that
lends itself well to selling via radio inquiry system.
Anything
can be sold, and sold easily with any method you decide
upon,
providing you present it from the right angle. "hello out
there!
Who
wants to buy a mailing list for 10 cents a thousand names?"
wouldn't
even be allowed on the air. However, if you have the
addresses
of the top 100 movie stars, and you put together an
idea
enabling the people to write to them direct, you might have
a
winner, and sell a lot of mailing lists of the stars.
At
the bottom line, a lot is riding on the content of your
commercial---the
benefits you suggest to the listener, and how
easy
it is for him to enjoy those benefits. For instance, if you
have
a new book on how to find jobs when there aren't any jobs:
You
want to talk to people who are desperately searching for
employment.
You have to appeal to them in words that not only
"perk
up" their ears, but cause them to feel that whatever it is
that
you're offering will solve their problems. It's the product,
and
in writing of the advertising message about that product are
going
to bring in those responses.
Radio
station managers are sales people, and sales people the
world
over will be sold on your idea if you put your selling
package
together properly. And if the responses come in your
first
offer, you have set yourself up for an entire series of
successes.
Success has a "ripple effect," but you have to start
on
that first one. We wish you success!
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