A Guide to Sidestepping Common Advertising Pitfalls

A Guide to Sidestepping Common Advertising Pitfalls
Copyright © DeShawn Ducksworth
Eight Star Diamond Factory

For too long, too many people have gotten into advertising with some strange ideas, founded
more in emotion than logic and research. One of the most common myths along these lines is the
idea that advertising should be safe and homogenous in order to reach and connect with the
largest possible demographic. Perish the thought. First of all, your advertising has no business
trying to reach the largest possible demographic. The best advertising is targeted advertising, and
you will need to know your audience before setting forth. Secondly, the most egregious sin in an
ad campaign is to create an ad that is instantly forgettable. Better to offend Grandma (who would
have had little to no interest in your business to begin with) than to have an ad that no one can
remember. Of course, creating inoffensive advertising isn’t a deathtrap in itself, but it shouldn’t be
your primary focus, if it is a focus at all. These and other advertising pitfalls are covered in this
article.

If you want to create the kind of advertising that sticks in people’s minds and makes them
remember you and think of you when they need your service, the last thing you want to do is copy
the competition. Can things be learned from the competition? Certainly. There’s nothing wrong
with seeing what works on a deeper psychological level and using some of that to your own
benefit. But that’s where the emulation should end. If all advertising sounds or looks the same,
people stop paying attention. If you drive around a neighborhood where every house looks
identical, does anything draw you to stop and stare at any particular house on the block? Of
course not. You might as well keep on driving, with the houses simply falling into the background
scenery. On the other hand, if there’s a house on the corner with pink walls, an audacious lawn
ornament, a hedge maze, and a pig running around the front yard, you’re probably going to stop
and figure out what the hell is going on. The same concept applies to advertising. Don’t be afraid
to step way out of the box. That’s the kind of advertising that gets people talking.

At the same time, don’t get so enthralled with your ability to create wacky ads that you forget you
have a product to sell. Plenty of companies make this mistake as well, trying so hard to entertain
their audience that they fear doing anything traditional because they don’t want to come across as
just another ad. You’re not making movies here, you’re selling your business. At some point, you
have to get across a message. You can and should do it in an entertaining and fun way, a way that
has never been tried before. . .even an annoying way, but you must do it. People can scratch their
heads after seeing your ad and try to figure out what it meant, but they must at least know what it
was advertising in the first place.

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A Discussion of Ethics

At a Crossroads with Management: A Discussion of Ethics
Copyright © DeShawn Ducksworth
Eight Star Diamond Factory

While it may be a truism to say that most of us would like to either be independently wealthy or
work four ourselves, building our own brand of business, the reality of the situation is that few of
us, statistically speaking, will ever achieve that dream. This leaves us with the necessity of playing
the office politics game, getting on the good side of management, and trying not to rock the boat
too much. Of course, there may come a time when you are presented with an ethical dilemma
when it comes to your relationship with your boss. There may come a time when your boss asks
you to do something that is slightly off the path, ethically and morally speaking. And at that time,
you will have to make a choice: go with the flow and do as they say, breaking your own code of
ethics in the process, or go against the grain, stand up for yourself and your beliefs, and risk losing
favor with management, or even risk losing your job.

Of course, much of the decision making power will have to do with the specific situation
involved. If you boss asks you to do something clearly illegal, which could cost you much more
than your job, the choice will be a lot easier than something on a smaller, subtler scale. Say for
instance your boss wants you to begin a surveillance program, keeping track of everyone’s
internet activity in the office. You may feel this is an invasion of privacy, even if you are not
breaking any laws. Your friends and coworkers in the office would lose respect for you if they
found out about your surveillance, and it may even be a case where if you won’t do it, someone
else will. This is where you will have to decide where and what you want to stand for. If you
agree to the task, you might be breaking your personal code of ethics; if you deny it, you may risk
losing your job or, more likely, be passed over for that next promotion.

Situations like the one described above are never easy. There are many considerations to take
under advisement, and it would behoove anyone in such a situation to consult with their family
and the people they trust for counsel before proceeding. In the end, of course, you must make the
decision that feels right to you. If you feel, for instance, like perusing the internet activity of that
girl in accounting is a light transgression, it may be easy to decide to go with the flow in this
instance. On the other hand, if you feel strongly that management has no right to invade their
employees privacy in this way, it may be a situation where it is worth the penalty to stand up for
your beliefs.

With many ethical considerations, there are no clear cut answers. There is only your personal set
of beliefs, staged against another’s. These situations can be the most difficult to conquer, as they
may come down to nothing more than personal disagreements. Neither of you may have an
objective stance of right or wrong, but both of you may feel just as strongly about your opinion.
In the end, it will fall to you to make the decision you can live with.

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A Concentrated Campaign to Generate Word of Mouth Advertising

A Concentrated Campaign to Generate Word of Mouth Advertising
Copyright © DeShawn Ducksworth
Eight Star Diamond Factory



One of the most common mistakes young businessmen make when jumping into their chosen
fields is making the assumption that word of mouth advertising is something that happens by
chance. Rest assured, it is not. While providing great customer service, competitive prices, and
excellent products will give people something to talk about, it only takes one dissatisfied customer
to equal a hundred satisfied ones. Word of mouth works both ways, after all, and angry people
talk a lot louder than those who had a pleasant experience. If you want the word of mouth
advertising that will bring in the business, you’ll need to generate it yourself. In this article, we’ll
take a look at some of the ways to get people talking (in a good way) about your company.

As stated, it’s harder to get people who are satisfied and pleased with your business to go out and
tell one friend than it is to get one dissatisfied customer to tell the world. This is an inherent trait
in most of the human population and it is a roadblock nearly every company most overcome.
People love to deliver bad news. They feel they are doing people a great service by telling them to
avoid a certain business. In addition, this gives the customer an illusion of power. If they have
enough friends and enough scope of influence, it’s more than an illusion; it’s a fact. Just one angry
customer can create enough bad publicity to undue the goodwill garnered by a thousand happy
customers. If you want to counteract this truism, you have to go above and beyond to make sure
the people who had a good experience with your company go and tell their friends about it.

One of the easiest ways to generate positive word of mouth advertising is to enlist the help of
those close to you. Get them to tell their freinds and coworkers about your business. They can do
so with full disclosure, or they can act as though they were just customers. Either way can create
goodwill throughout the community. If they opt for the full disclosure method (which may be
necessary with their closest friends), the people they tell will naturally want to use your business
as they will be helping out people they know. If they don’t tell people they know you, then they
come across simply as happy customers compelled to get the word out.

Since the first days of business, when word of mouth advertising was all there was, nothing has
done more for companies than to have people saying good things about them. People believe
word of mouth advertising in a way they will never believe paid ads. Even if this word of mouth
advertising has to be generated by you in the beginning, it can turn friends, neighbors, coworkers,
and their network of acquiantances into new customers. From there, it should be smooth sailing
for you and your small business. Just make certain that once you have the customers, you don’t
dissapoint. After all, that one angry customer. . .she makes all the difference.


About the Author:
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To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
Eight Star Diamond Factory
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