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Tag Archives: advertising

Networking

14 Saturday May 2011

Posted by Lowell Lane in advertising, business, Kingdom Business, Leads Group, Life, marketing, Networking, sales, Uncategorized

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advertising, BNI, Networking, Social Media

Are you a networker?

Do you do social networking? Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Yahooo groups??

 

Do you attend your local BNI group? I visited a group this week and there were over 70 people there. It is an awesome group. They only allow one type of business per group. Each person in the group then works as a referrer for your business. It is a great group and this year they have generated over 3 million in sales for there group.

Networking is a very powerful form of word of mouth advertising. If you are not doing it, check out some of the these ideas.

Blessings!

Advertising in Today’s Marketplace

18 Saturday Apr 2009

Posted by Lowell Lane in advertising, business, Kingdom Business, marketing, Uncategorized

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advertising, business, cutting expenses, Internet Marketing, Kingdom Business, marketing, recession, tough times

I have had 15 years experience in selling advertising.  I have sold Radio,  yellow pages, and worked with Internet.   Advertising is an interesting business; and, as the economy changes, so do advertising trends.

Cut advertising expenses first!

Cut advertising expenses first??

I was getting gas this evening and ran into a friend who owns several radio stations.  I asked how the radio business was, and he said things were great.   He then told me he has been in radio through 4 recessions, and it has never really effected their business.  He said that this year was not as good as last year, but better than the year before; and,  it was an all time record.   Much of it is because of the area we live in; and if we lived on the coast or in a large metropolitan area, he would be telling a different story.  He asked me how my business was.

In yellow pages, the industry as a whole is down slightly.  The last book we did ended up better than the year before.  We are working on a new book at this time; and, it is going OK.

Before this conversation, I spoke with a body shop owner.  He said that he has been in businesses for over 40 years and that it seems to him that when the economy is bad his business is better.

I talk to business people every day; and ,I hear both sides of the story.   I hear the gloom and doom; and, I hear the success stories.   Yes,  there are folks out there that are truly having a hard time keeping the door open; and, I know how they feel because I have been there.

The number one difference I have seescared-to-write-a-business-plann is the business owner’s attitude.   The people I have personally met who are struggling  are scared to death of what may happen with the economy and have chosen to start cutting everything possible.  Many start with advertising.  I had a salon owner tell me the other day that advertising is the thing she cuts first because it is a controlled cost.   That makes sense in the checkbook; but,  in the big picture it often proves to be a mistake.

Advertising during hard times is an awesome opportunity.  Since there are those who are cutting, it opens the door for you to take their share of the market.

Time to Advertise

Time to Advertise

Yes, I agree you have to be careful where you put your money, but cutting advertising is a mistake.

Before you cut your advertising, ask yourself several questions.

1.  In my overall budget, what is my current advertising cost?

2.  Where are my advertising dollars going?   Make a list of the last 3 -6 months advertising and break it down by category such as Yellow pages, radio, television, newspaper, and other.    Where are the majority of your funds being spent?

3.  Once you determine where your dollars are going,  you need to look at how effective the ads are.  EXAMPLE:  If you are an at need service company, you need to consider the fact that people don’t think about your business unless they need you.   80% + turn to yellow pages at a crisis time such as this.   They will not remember your phone number from an ad they heard on the radio 2 weeks ago going 70 miles per hour going down the freeway.   On the other hand,  if you having a slow month and you need to generate some fast income, then running a special time sensitive ad on the radio might make them react and go ahead and have the work done at a better price.

4.  Re-direct your advertising dollars for maximum effectiveness.   Example:  If you are running television spots at
$80.00 per 60 second spot. and they are running 2 times a day 6 days a week, then you are spending $960.00 per week or $3840.00 per month.   If you would like to run some specials for the last 2 weeks of the month but you can’t add the expense, then you can re-direct.   If you simply did one spot per day then you have a budget of $ 1920.00 for the month to run your specials.    After your special is over, you can then resume your regular schedule.   This will give you a chance to evaluate the effectiveness of your ads by judging the results.

5.  The last thing before cutting your advertising it to look at your entire budget and expenses and see what else is a cost that you can cut.

Remember cutting advertising is cutting your customer flow; and, cutting your customer flow is cutting your income.

If you are fearful of the economy or just want to know what is really going on, not just what you hear on the media….

Click the Banner on the right for TOWN HALL FOR HOPE   WITH DAVE RAMSEY!

Blessings!

For more information,  we have several really good articles on http://www.kingdombusinessjournal.com, Check them out!

Networking – Is it for you?

26 Friday Sep 2008

Posted by Lowell Lane in business, customer Service, leadership, Life, management, marketing, sales, Uncategorized

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advertising, business, Chocolate Blues & Business, customer Service, marketing, Networking, relationships, Saladmaster, sales, Shepherds Guide, Springfield Mo

Yesterday I attended an awesome event, “Chocolate Blues & Business“.  What a combo!

This was a fun event held in the beautiful Tower Club in Springfield, Mo.  There was hundreds of people there and all kinds of vendors.  Everything from The Shepherds Guide Christian Yellow Pages to Saladmaster Cookware, and all kinds other products.

This was an unusual event for me because I was able to take my wife along.  I thought that she could use a bit of a change of scene from kids, the house, and Carthage.  Want to get her view of the event?

Are events like this for you?

Networking has many forms.  Social events, personal relationships, business acquaintances, customers, Internet social networking, and referrals.  You could do nothing but networking, and not get anything done.  You have to be selective, so I use a few simple criteria to select how I am going to do networking.

Who is your customer?

I work with The Shepherds Guide Christian yellow pages and my target customer is the Christian Business owner or Manager who makes buying decisions about advertising.

Where can you find them?

I am looking for places that companies go to get the word out about there businesses.  Home shows and fairs, Networking groups such as KBJ Network.  Events where pastors or lay leaders will be.  Family faith based events.  Christian concerts that have Christian vendors.

How do you get them interested in what you have?

What I look for is companies that in some way are displaying or stating that they are a Christian business’s.  Do they have a fish or scripture reference on there advertising or company vehicles?  Do they have Christian information displayed?  Are they openly talking about Christianity?

I hope these tips helped.

Be selective!  Be Productive!  Be Successful!

Blessings

Lowell

Are you an expert?

09 Wednesday Jul 2008

Posted by Lowell Lane in customer Service, family, Finance, leadership, management, marketing, Religion, sales

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advertising, authority, business, business planning, Christian Business Consulting, expert, goal setting, Home Based business, Kevin McCarthy, on-purpose person, Professional, small business

What is an expert?

Someone asked me the other day, “what are you an expert at?”  I had to stop and think.  I have done lots of different things over the years, but am I an expert?

Expert: a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field; specialist; authority: a language expert.

People- I have dealt with all kinds of people in all kinds of situations over the years.  Some say I am a people person.  The DISC assessment testing says I am a communicator.  I am good at communicating information or ideas.  ?

Advertising- I have 12 years experience as a Yellow Page advertising sales representative.   I have build thousands of ads over the years.  Each one being different and I have become very good at building content and designing ads that get results.

Business planning- I have done 4 complete business plans.  Two were for my businesses and two where for others.   All were very good.  I actually had the banker tell me that it was the best business plan he had seen in 20 years.

Goal setting- I have been setting goals for over 15 years.  I have seen many of these goals become reality. 

I am not trying to pat myself on the back.  These are experiences I have had that may qualify me as an expert. 

What are you an expert at?

Write it out as I have. Does your resume reflect these things.  Does your employer know this about you?

This is a great tool to help build your self image and your professionalism.

If you would like more information about discovering who you are, I suggest you visit www.on-purpose.com

Lowell Lane

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