How to Advertise in the Wall Street Journal or Investors Business Daily and Skyrocket Your Earnings

What follows are my random thoughts on advertising your product or service to the readers of these business publications.

1. Newspapers are not dead.

Everyone thinks that the Internet has killed most of the print media. But it is not true. What is certain is that you have to watch the costs. Your cost per lead and cost per sale. But don’t count the newspapers and magazines just yet. I have a client who advertises in the newspaper in Reno, Nevada. He posts 3 ads a week for $483.00. You get about 12 leads a week. And close 40% of leads on a $4,000 product/service.

Those are good numbers. You are paying about $40 per lead with your newspaper marketing. By other means, he admits he pays between $250 and $300 for a track.

Newspapers are not dead. The WSJ and IBD are good outlets for generating leads and sales. Readers have above-average discretionary spending money. They are the first buyers. That is, they will often be the risk takers and will buy new and unheard of products before they really catch on. Joe Sugarman made a good living running full-page ads in the WSJ in the 1970s selling high-tech gadgets that were new to the market. He operated out of his home base in the Chicago area.

Readers of these posts imagine they are more thoughtful than other shoppers. Thus, they will read a long-winded ad, feeling like they are getting information… not talking to a “salesperson.” But YOU, the smart salesperson, know the truth. You know that every ad, especially a long-winded ad… IS your seller. A salesperson on commission who doesn’t sell doesn’t cost you much. But an ad that doesn’t sell costs you a lot.

2. Pay close attention to this concept. Write it. It’s important: People won’t read long ads!

Objective will OUTLOOK.

If you want them to spend money with you. You must give them interesting and useful information. You can’t bore them into reading your ad. But if it’s written in a useful and interesting way… Prospects will read any amount of text. If you think nobody reads anymore… then why or why do they buy the WSJ or the IBD? They want information.

They want products and services that help them make more money… Enjoy life more… get ahead in their careers… prepare for the future… They want more sex. They want more time. They want solutions to a number of problems they are having. They want peace of mind. They want pride of ownership. They don’t want to feel embarrassed by the decisions they have to make. Can your product/service solve some of these problems? Then YOU should consider advertising in the WSJ or IBD.

3. These are passionate audiences.

Years ago, my mail carrier told me that the two most angry customers on his route were those who DID NOT get his Wall Street Journal…or those who DID NOT get his National Inquirer. Please note: Both ends in hearings. But both were passionate about their publications. You can usually tell which posts had passionate audiences. It is the publication that has a section of healthy classifieds. For example: Popular Mechanics magazine has several pages of classifieds. This is your clue that a full page ad in that post will have a lot of selling power for you – passionate audiences.

4. Newspapers are not dead, but they are struggling.

Therefore, you can negotiate the price. Like the client mentioned above, if you’re selling a $4,000 product, you can afford to attract leads at a cost of several hundred dollars. But you have to know your costs. Lead generation cost, conversion cost, customer repeat buyer cost, churn cost, etc.

5. Generally speaking, your message in the IBD or WSJ should be the same message that you are using on the Internet or in your sales presentations. Especially if you have tested your message and found that THIS message gives you the best response. The buyers you get from the newspaper or the web or direct mail… they’re all the same. Everyone wants the benefits of your product or service. What is your strongest message? That’s the message you want in your newspaper ad.

6. Give your ad a title.

It’s ridiculous how many ads in the WSJ or IBD don’t have headlines. The headline is the part that readers of your ad scan to see if they want to spend more time with your ad. If you don’t have a headline, it’s best not to post your ad. Headlines are so important that for years and years, marketers testing various elements will tell you that one headline can drive 19x more orders than the same ad with another headline. Give your ad a headline and make it a good one.

7. Note the second “Honey”.

Very often, if you are selling an expensive item, the prospect will read your ad and be convinced that it is a good deal. But there is a “honey” they should discuss things with BEFORE the purchase decision is made. If your ad is good, they will often cut it out of the paper to use as ammunition with which they can convince their spouse or boss, etc., to also buy the product or service. Give them all the ammunition they’ll need to make a convincing argument. They want the conveniences and benefits you offer, but you have to convince them. Then they must convince themselves. They then have to convince others who might say “Why do you want to buy that?”

8. Call your audience.

Who reads these posts? Contractor investors. managers general directors financial directors Politicians. inventors Some educators. People who want to get ahead. These two publications are read by people who are at the forefront of social evolution. They are the shakers and movers. They are the debaters of our day. If you want to sell your product to a small portion of your readers, CALL THEM. Say: Investors beware. However, ATTENTION BUSINESSMEN. Etc.

9. Talk to each group of readers.

Some people are visual. Some are sensitive. Some are accountants. Some are types of audio. Do you hear what I’m saying? Can you see the good in this? Doesn’t this fit your way of thinking? You can describe the house itself as full of light coming through the windows. Or build to withstand the strongest winds.

10. Repeat yourself.

Repetition is the juice of good direct response advertising. If you make a statement once, it won’t sink in as easily. But if you say the same thing three different times, from three different angles, you increase the chances that the reader will OWN the idea and think it’s their idea to own the product.

11. Repeat yourself.

Brand advertisers repeat the message many times over the course of a year. Direct response advertisers should repeat the selling points in the same ad, long enough until it is created and acted upon.

12. Give them a call to action.

It’s one thing to make your case for buying your product or service. But you must tell them what to do next. Call now. Order by Wednesday to get a free sample. Mention my name for a special delivery.

13. Use a “small talk” approach.

Most of us have emotions. We don’t want to do business with a nameless, faceless corporation. We want to deal with a real person. We want to trust the seller. We want to know that you have done your homework and feel our pain. We want to know that your solution has been tried and tested. That others have tried it and are delighted with the results. Consider today’s Chrysler and GM bailouts…with the Chrysler bailout in the 1980s under Lee Iacocca. Mr. Iacocca splashed his face on every advertisement that came out selling cars. He spoke to us “man to man.” We feel the honesty and sincerity of him. Chrysler sold a lot of cars then. Today, the auto company bailout has no name… no face… no one with a home that we can identify. Deep in our souls we hate collectivism. We want to deal with someone who is real. Someone to sit with us and have a “fireside chat.”

14. Use these ideas and you can be a tireless advertiser.

Even in a medium that seems expensive on the surface. But when you measure cost per lead and cost per sale, it’s likely to come out much cheaper than a $1 classified.

Call me if you want to discuss these ideas for your marketing.