Came across this print ad for Dickey’s Barbeque Pit. The photo isn’t two ads, it’s actually the front and back of one ad. If you’re very perspective, you’ve already noticed that the front and back are the same thing! Apparently they thought they’d save money by not paying for a different design on the backside; yet I wonder why they even paid for double-sided printing to begin with. That, however, is not the major mistake of this print ad. Look closely; very closely; and the one thing you will not see is a call to action! Where is this place, how can I get there, can I order by phone for pickup? Nothing, notta! No method to contact the company or explain where they are located is on the ad! What a huge mistake!!!

I found this print ad at my place of work; so I would assume it’s close by and that an employee of Dickey’s dropped it off. I like BBQ and would consider going there for lunch one day; except I have no clue where it is without looking it up on Google Maps.

Hey Dickey’s: If you’d like an awesome print designer and marketing guru at your service, contact me!

After looking them up online; I now know they are a national chain… So I can only assume that the print ad was a generic corporate printing that  they couldn’t put a phone number on. For goodness sake though, they could have at least put their website address on it and said something like, “Find A Location Near You: www.dickeys.com”.

Wondering why your website isn’t generating any sales? Why no one seems to be commenting that they saw your newly developed website and thought that it looked nice. If this is the case, here are some possible scenarios and how you can go about changing it…

1) You have a bad domain name

If you’re serious about your business, you need an actual domain name! Not a {something}.wordpress.com or a Google pages website, but an actual {domainName}.com website! Not only that, but the domain name needs to be something memorable. For example, if your business name was “Digital Solutions Studio”, you might want the domain name, “digitalsolutionsstudio.com”. Generally, the shorter the domain name, the easier it will be for people to remember and type in their browser; but it also has to make sense.

Created this business card mockup for my home church. The perfect compliment to their website with the same look and feel. The layout was somewhat based on a previous business card I did for another church. The main information is clearly presented: who is Brad, where does he work, and how can he be contacted. The basics of a great business card without any fancy extras: plain and simple = I Love It!

What do you think… Would you do anything different? Should the word “Pastor” be before Brad’s name?

“Where are all the customers?”… A common question asked by business owners all the time. We could all use more customers walking through our doors, calling us, emailing us for quotes; but where are they all at?

Unless you live under a rock, you know that people are still out there in the world; shopping, buying and browsing, but why is it that we sometimes feel like we can’t drive any business into our establishments? While there are probably several reason for this, let’s discuss just one in this blog article: Be In Their Face!

When was the last time you went TO your customers and marketed TO them, instead of hoping that they come to you? Have you posted print ads on bulletin boards in restaurants and other places that your future customers frequent? Every bulletin board in your city that doesn’t have your logo on it is missed advertising potential. It may seem trivial, but consistent brand awareness is one of the keys to marketing your business. Someone might see your brand 10 times until they even think about purchasing from you. The more often potential customer see your name (in the proper spots), the better.

If gaining customers and increasing your bottom line seems like something that interests you, please sign up for our marketing advice newsletter on the top right of this page. You’ll get special tips and tricks on how to market your business and increase sales. It’s free – so what do you have to loose. — Now get out there are start posting your brand in people’s faces!

Have you paid an enormous amount of your marketing dollars towards getting a fancy website up and running from a professional web agency, yet can’t seem to see any profit that it’s bringing in? There are probably several reasons for it, but Levinson says one of them well in Guerilla Marketing (a book that every business owner should read through at least once)…

“the first rule of which you should be aware is the rule of thirds: You should determine the budget you’ll have for online marketing, then invest one third in developing your site, one third in promoting your site, and one third in maintaining your site. Most ill-advised online marketers invest three thirds in developing their site, then wonder why they aren’t earning landmark profits.” ~ page 216