Well……As I entered 2008, I was focused on getting my company out into the public eye and generating new business. I thought in order to get new clients I needed to spend some money on “traditional” advertising. Print advertising seemed the logical choice. I spent some money on what I thought was a nice print ad and signed an 8 issue contract with my local newspaper. The newspaper is popular and has a good size circulation, so I thought this would be great! I timed the ad to run during the busy tax season when people and businesses are typically scrambling around trying to get their books in order. Again….I thought this was genius! I was basically the ONLY business in the paper at the time offering these types of services. How can I be stopped? The calls will come flooding in!
If you’re a good judge of sarcasm, then at this point you can pretty much tell how this story ends…….
But wait….The “advertising story” is not complete. I don’t want to leave anything out. In my infinite wisdom, which I thought at the time was spot on, I decided to run the same ad in a local civic association’s newsletter- but in a different part of town that I had identified as a great spot for new clients. I eagerly signed up for two issues.
OK…now the results that you’ve been waiting to hear. Approximately $2,000 later, I have received exactly ZERO calls and ZERO leads from this investment. And for me and my company, $2k is a pretty good size investment! Needless to say I’m not exactly thrilled with the results. It was a big step for me to open up my wallet and try this advertising. I don’t want to dismiss the idea all together, but based on this experience, it may be a while before I do that again. What this lesson has highlighted for me is that the best form of advertising (especially for a service related business) is word of mouth referrals. I’ve been fortunate to this point that friends, business contacts and some clients have been kind enough to send people my way. I will always work hard to ensure that I treat people the right way – give them my best effort – and look out for their best interests. If I’m successful at that, then my rewards will come in due time.
Posted by dansteiner 
