ADDING VALUE TO YOUR AD SPACE

The most powerful word in marketing, the most powerful word in selling is still the word "free." And -- whenever you offer free things with your ad space -- you're increasing the value of that ad space in your client's mind.

So if you can add some 'Special Reports' on using advertising, some tip booklets on selling, some folders which each contain 10 examples of an advert which has pulled great business -- all for 'free' -- then you add value to your ad space and demonstrate to your client that you care what happens to them AFTER they've advertised.

The whole point of this is that these bonuses are often the reason that somebody will end up buying your ad space.

There's something called "the psychology of the second interest." That means that people will often buy your primary product because of their interest in your secondary product.

So, in other words, when you're offering advertising space -- that's the primary interest. But for many clients the freebies might, in fact, be the real reason that they advertise with you .... rather than with another publication.

DESCRIPTION OF YOUR AD SPACE
Another way to add value is by the way you describe your ad space.

Just imagine that there's two lemonade stands. You're a little kid and you're selling lemonade. Your neighbor across the street or right next door is selling lemonade, and you're both selling it for 25 cents.

You may both get equal business or one may get more than the other, depending if there's a shade tree over you or something like that. But what if you changed your sign and said, "Lemonade, 50 cents," but added a couple of words?

So you have the competing neighbor still saying, "25 cent lemonade, get it here." But your stand says, "50 cent lemonade, made with clean water."

Who do you think people are going to go to? They're going to go to the 50-cent one because you added a couple of extra words. Both lemonades are, no doubt, made with clean water. But the one who said "with clean water" and charges 50 cents is signalling, through a couple of simple words, that you get more value. And they'll spend more money with you.

KEEPING TO THE RATE CARD
Keeping to the rate card and refusing to discount also adds value to your ad space.

There's five reasons why you don't want to go with price buyers:

You don't want to lower your price because price buyers, FIRST of all, aren't loyal. They're going to just shop for the lowest price at any time, all over the globe, and you're going to be fighting tooth and nail to get them. And they will not keep coming back to you. So there's no long-term sales. Because price-buyers aren't loyal is the first reason not to sell on price.

The SECOND is that price-buyers are the biggest complainers. If you've got people who are complaining about products and services, it's usually the ones who paid the lowest price for them.

And the THIRD is they're the ones that are going to stiff you on the bill. The price-buyers tend not to even pay their bills. They're price-shopping because they're broke most of the time or they're maxed out on their credit card.

The FOURTH reason is they end up bragging that they ripped you off, so they're out there passing around negative publicity that reverses the word-of-mouth publicity that you want. And it's a kind of gossip, where they're bragging and you're losing.

And the FIFTH is they think you're cheap. You don't get any respect.

CREDIBILITY
You also boost value with credentials or credibility. Which means testimonials.

I saw one statistic that said, "Testimonials can increase sales by 250%." That's a whopping statement, a 250% increase in sales just by having your raving fans write down that they're raving about you so you can use it in other promotions.

WHENEVER anybody says they liked the results which they got from advertising with you, call them and say:
"Thank you. I'm very glad that you're pleased. Can I write down what you've said and use it?""

Most of the time, these people will immediately say "Yes".

Then add:
"I know you're busy. How about if I write down two or three lines that summarize what I think you said about my product or service, and you can change it or you can okay it so I can use it in my promotions?"

That's it. That's how simple it is.

What do you look for in a strong testimonial?

The first thing, it must be in THEIR words. Don't worry if it is incorrect grammar or punctuation or spelling. You don't want it to sound like a copywriter. You want it to come from their heart, their dialect, their idiosyncrasies, their personality. So you want it to be real -- to be sincere. That's the first thing.

The second thing -- the more specific -- the better. So if a client thanks you for the ad and just says: "The ad worked great,"
..... that's not as good a testimonial as if she wrote back and said, "The ad produced a terrific response. I made $43,000 in two days."

You see the difference? The one testimonial that just says, "Your publication is great" isn't as good as the one that says, "I used your publication and I made 57 new customers."

That's three ways to add value to your 'intangible' ad space.

If you take the trouble to add this value, and your competition doesn't .... who do you think will make the sale?

But if they're adding value this way and you're NOT -- who do you think will make the sale?