Small businesses and practices just don’t have the budgets
that the bigger companies do. The big
companies have marketing departments with graphic designers and media planners &
buyers and can frankly afford it if some of their advertising “misses”. Small companies don’t have that kind of
luxury.
To balance the playing field, small businesses must be smart about advertising. The best advice that I can give is no matter what the advertising medium…print advertising, website, direct mail pieces, etc., use a strong headline to grab the readers’ attention.
There is definitely an art to headline writing, and when
done correctly, can produce results that the big guys experience. Without a strong headline, you blend in with
everyone else and will be missed.
I just finished browsing through a local newspaper. 95% of the small business ads in there use
the old technique of stating or listing what the business does in hopes that
the reader will make the connection
themselves. While there might be some
response depending upon competitors and a couple other factors, I’m quite sure
that they won’t get the demand they’re looking for. A good headline would do that for them.
Remember to grab the reader’s attention with a strong
headline and you’ll be more than halfway home.







