Ready for your history lesson?

Let’s start with radio. The first radio advertisements were simply announcements that benefited the owners of the stations. No money ever traded hands, however it didn’t take long until savvy business owners took advantage of this new medium. In 1922 Remik’s Music Store (based out of Seattle, WA) sponsored a program on KFC, a radio station that was partly owned by a Seattle based newspaper. Remik’s sponsored the radio show by promoting the program with large ads in the newspaper and invited people to buy songs that were just performed. Radio ads proved to be very effective compared to advertising in print alone, and even more so when owners combined both print and radio advertising. Soon, local DJs started to build reputations with their audience. Their listeners purchased the products or services that were mentioned by the on-air celebrity. Later, professionally produced spots included sound effects, background music, dialogue with numerous personalities, and jingles became an effective way of advertising to listeners. Studies showed that the quality of the commercials was just as important as the number of ads that they heard.

Television gives radio a run for it’s money. The first television advertisement was for a 20 second Bulova spot before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. It displayed an image of a clock superimposed on a map of the United States accompanied with a simple voice over that said “America runs on Bulova time.” (For anyone keeping score, the Phillies beat the Dodgers that day by a score of six to four). It wasn’t until 1990 until advertising on television became affordable to small businesses. Personal computers had advanced to the point where local broadcasters could use them for video production on local cable TV stations. Unlike radio, advertisers could represent their brand visually as well as with sound. Some ads, such as the Winston cigarettes commercials became so popular they ran for 20 years.

Television is still the dominant advertising medium today, Even though 50% of all TV homes will use a DVR by 2016, most viewers are still watching commercials. In fact, DVRs actually increased the rating for commercials by 44%. 

Internet now competes with radio, and television. Prodigy, a company owned by IBM and Sears, ran the first advertisement on the internet and promoted Sears products  in the early 1980s. Prodigy even ran advertisements for AOL, which one of Prodigy’s direct competitors. Global Network Navigator was the first commercial web publication offering clickable advertisements which we all know as banner ads. Internet advertising has grown to include many forms of advertising such as:

• Search engine result pages: Probably the most popular form as everyone is familiar with Google’s textually relevant ads

• Rich Media Ads: These are ads that have video and/or audio. They are typically using Adobe’s Flash technology, but ads written in HTML 5 are starting to appear as well.

• Social network advertising: If you use Twitter, then you’ve probably seen companies talking about sales, coupons, or just bringing their followers up to speed. The same is done on Facebook as well.

Internet advertising is getting more and more popular. Internet advertising revenues hit  record spending amounts in 2011. This is partly because affluent persons are actually using the internet more than television. Internet based advertising is only going to increase, especially when companies like Hulu are able to provide valuable free content.

What else is out there? There are literally thousands of different advertising ideas that you can use for your small business. You will need to base your decisions on your demographic, and what you are able to offer to your customer. Sometimes a special niche form of advertising might provide you with the results you are after. For example, a travel site might want to advertise on the mini-TVs in metropolitan taxis because that is the demographic they are trying to attract, or an smartphone case maker may want to advertise on a smartphone app because they can target customers that only have smartphones.

America has a love and hate relationship with advertising. It’s up to you to ensure that you stay loved.

For more information on how Tonangi Design & Media can create a website or produce a video for business visit www.tonangi.com

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Number 5: Poor grammar and spelling

This sounds like an easy one to fix, but unfortunately it happens way to often. Seeing mistakes (especially spelling errors) is a big turn off to many customers because it makes them feel like the website was done in a hurry with no care to detail. A customer may think if that is how a company treats an important marketing tool. They might think 'how would they treat a customer' ? There are easy solutions to this. There are paid tools that you can use to scan your website and and send you reports on spelling issues if your website is already live. The best solution is too stimply use a word processor that can check for simple spelling and grammar errors.

Number 4: Unusable on popular mobile devices

There is no doubt that smartphones and tablets are becoming more and more popular. Gartner predicts that mobile devices will overtake PCs as the most common web access device by 2013. These devices are allowing customers to use technology on-the-go. It s a shame that so many mom and pop places have utilized web designers that created entire websites that are completely unusable on mobile devices. This means customers that are searching for more information about the products or services you offer are simply just going to use a competitor that doesn't have this problem. This problem is really apparent with many restaurants and bars.

Number 3: Poor taste

Some small business owners want to put so many bells and whistles on their site, that their website starts to look comical, rather than a professional website hoping to attract new business. Now, I m not talking about poor user interface design (we ll talk about that in a minute), I m simply talking about websites that have poor taste. One of the sites that stick out in my mind is www.vacaway.com. The overly utilized flash-based animation, and lack of a clear sales message sends customers to competitors that help individuals understand what products it offers and the differences between them.Oh, and btw if you think their home page is bad, then you probably won't want to visit their product page. Your website should be clean and simple. Animation and motion design is not necessary a bad thing if done the right way, but there is a difference between annoying designs that use animation for no purpose and one that is done the right way and has a purpose.

Number 2: Lack of content

People come to your small business for one of two reasons. Either they are looking to make a direct purchase, or they are looking for information. If your website doesn't have the content that customers want then your website serves little or no purpose. Information doesn't have to be only in text. Your information could be in the form of a video which many people actually prefer, but you must provide your customers with appropriate content.

Number 1: Poor UI (user experience)

This is the number one reason because ppor UI design has contributed more to the loss of revenue than almost any other reason that I've listed here today. I could present quite a few examples of poor UI design, but I doubt any would come close to this. When customers can't figure out where to go to perform a certain action they will leave. Statistics show that customers will wait between 4-7 seconds before they decide whether the site will provide them with the information they are looking for.  If customers have difficultly using your site they will not stick around, and you will loose revenue.

It s critically important that your website creates a positive first impression, and ensures that a customer can easily research the information they are looking for, and find a way to purchase the product or service that they are interested in buying. For some companies, that can be as simple as a contact form, but for eCommerce websites it is important that customers can easily find a way to research and purchase your product or service without having to stare at a sitemap or a diagram.

Design matters!

For more information on how Tonangi Design & Media can create a website or produce a video for business visit www.tonangi.com

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Many times your website is the absolute first interaction that customers have with your company. Some businesses do not feel that their website is of any great importance, especially when they have a brick & mortar store where they expect their customer to make their first impression of their business. However in today's world this is simply not the case.

Customers are using technology to find businesses that offer the products and services that they want and ultimately a customer uses your website to determine if you can offer the product or service that they are looking to purchase. There are many factors that a small business should consider when designing (or redesigning) their website. This includes: colors, branding, usability, typography, layout, and overall quality of your presentation. Even though there are some do-it-yourself templates usually offered by hosting companies, these typically do not take make use of up to date technology and can make your website seem amateurish. Another problem is that many of these templates simply don't work on mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads. There have been many times I have been walking around looking for a place to eat or drink and when I try to visit a restaurant or bar's website it's completely unusable on my mobile device. So I do what most people do -  I simply just try the next closest place. Those businesses probably don't think that their website is very important, but if customers can't see the content on their website then they are not going to visit your establishment.

So now that we have established that your website should be considered a priority, what can you do about it? Even if you happen to know HTML, CSS, and Javascript do you really have the time to design and code a website that can be used on virtually every device? Do you know how to create a website that is Google-friendly? The solution is to hire a professional to design your site with your needs in mind. This does not have to be an expensive undertaking, nor does it need to take months to accomplish.

Tonangi Media & Design has added web design and development to the services that we can be provide. Over the past two years, we've seen small businesses struggle with their website, and we have made redesigns for companies that have utilized us for video production in the past. This change comes naturally, as I, Vinod Tonangi (founder of Tonangi Design & Media), have been creating websites since 1999. Tonangi Design & Media  can develop your website, create a video for use on television and the web, and advertise your company using various methods.

For more information on how Tonangi Design & Media can create a website for business visit www.tonangi.com

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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The client informed us that even though the information is readily available on their website very few (if any), of their customers bothered to read the information. In general, we have found this to be quite true. Potential customers will not spend their time reading information, however if the content is shown in short, well produced video your message will be heard.

Tonangi Media created 5 separate videos for them. Each one described a certain service and featured their own employees. Since these were not trained professionals they needed assistance both in the form of direction during the shoot as well quite a bit of post production editing. Here is the result of one of the videos that we produced:

These videos are helping The Skin Spa attract customers by having these videos available on the web for viewers to watch, as well as on their website, and played in their locations. Even though these videos were primarily shot for the web, Tonangi Media recorded and produced all videos in 1080p. This means when they want to do something new they have the possibility of saving production costs in the future by utilizing shots that were already recorded. These recordings can be used for television commercials, for display purposes in the office in High Definition, and can even be used to display these videos in hotels, or other tourist areas to drive even more business to the Skin Spa.

Without spending an incredible amount of money, The Skin Spa was able to attract customers, and have ready to use high definition custom recorded content for future use. 

For more information on how Tonangi Media can create a video for your small business visit our website at www.tonangi.com

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Then small businesses moved over to using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, but now that so many other large companies are using it to advertise their products and services, real users of these sites now view the majority of company accounts as spam and rarely even visit or read any of the information that is posted. 

With the recession decreasing the amount of customers that usually are willing to pay for your product or service it may seem like small businesses have no other alternative but to give up. Many small businesses already have, but there is hope because there are other solutions for small businesses to use. 

Small businesses can combine guerrilla marketing with traditional advertising strategies to gain exposure, and acquire paying customers. Let the current technology work for you instead of against you. It's amazing how many small businesses contact me for television commercials but don't yet have a website. In this day and age you can create a website with little or no technical knowledge, and place photos, videos, and other information so people can get the information they are looking for. If you don't want to do it yourself there are literally hundreds of thousands of web developers all over the world that can create one for you very cheaply. Personally, I recommend NY Web Design. However, this is only the first step. A website simply contains information about your product or service, but if no one knows about your company then it will never be visited. 

Many customers ask me to create videos under 3 minutes in length to post on their site, as well as other video sites such as YouTube, Viddler, DailiyMotion and countless others. This creates exposure for your company on sites where millions of people are already watching hundreds of millions of other videos. These sites are free to join and even offer sponsorship opportunities to increase your exposure.

This strategy works quite well, because video results on YouTube tend to show up before other Google search results. This means you don't have to spend all that money on SEO (search engine optimization). You can simply create a video and upload it to ten or twenty video sites and when people search for your keywords they will watch your video and get to your website where they can then contact you, or purchase your product right online.

Creating a video does not have to cost a fortune. In fact, Tonangi Media has reduced its prices in an effort to help small businesses remain in their marketing budget. For more information on how Tonangi Media can create a video for your small business please visit our website at www.tonangi.com

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Whether you are advertising on the internet or on television it is important to define your demographic. This will define how your advertisement will look. Your demographic will dictate the publications that Tonangi Media will choose to advertise your products and services on. It is never necessary to advertise to all people. Targeting your advertising will save you money, increase your conversion rate, and lower your customer acquisition cost. Defining your target demographic is one of the most important elements that a small business can work on even before you start your advertising campaign.

With television advertising, Tonangi Media has access to hundreds of networks, however we will choose only the networks that meet your specific target demographic requirements. The same will happen if you choose to advertise on the internet. For example if you are trying to sell a book targeted to business minded adults it would make no sense to advertise on children's stations like Nickelodeon or the Cartoon Network, yet this is exactly what many advertising agencies do. Many agencies simply want to attract customers with the amount of spots that they can provide, but if these spots are not targeted directly to your potential customers then you are not 'getting a deal', but you are instead simply wasting your hard earned marketing and advertising dollars.

Don't make this mistake. Work with advertising agencies that can help you define your target demographic and will give you quotes based on reaching your potential customers. It's very easy to see hundreds of spots and get excited, but the details of when and where these spots play are extremely important.

For more information on how Tonangi Media can help you advertise on television or the internet please visit www.tonangi.com

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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This is a statement that I hear almost on a daily basis. Almost every company is struggling financially right now. So, unless you are one of the lucky ones that received a huge government bailout (ahem!) your business most likely doesn't have the advertising budget that it used to have. Without advertising you can't bring in customers, and without customers you obviously can't exist. So, what's the solution?

Some businesses have been trying to save money on their advertising campaigns by utilizing methods like radio and newspaper advertising because rates for these mediums have dropped considerably. However, they are finding out that they are not able to save money. They usually end up wasting money. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Television advertising works. Television advertising doesn't need to cost you a fortune. Broadcast television advertising is very costly, and a 30 second commercial can cost you between $70,000 and $200,000 during prime time. Virtually no small business can afford this method of television advertising, however local cable television advertising can be extremely cost effective. Even large business have started to see the power of cable television advertising as opposed to broadcast television advertising. As advertising revenue for broadcast television slips, cable television advertising continues to grow - even during this recession. With an average budget of $5,000 - $7,000 thousand dollars a month you can reach millions of viewers on cable channels that meet your specific demographic.

Many people confuse "local advertising" to mean that they can only advertise in one area, but this is not true. You can advertise in virtually any region in the United States. Instead of advertising as a corporate sponsor on a television program, Tonangi Media has the ability of purchasing media time in any locality on virtually any cable network. This means that you can run a local cable television advertising campaign in many different cities at the same time. This allows you to target only your specific demographic and allows you to only spend money where you will get the most return. For example, if you know that most of your customers live in metropolitan areas, why would you want to advertise in the entire state of New York, when you could simply advertise in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. This is why local cable television advertising is so effective. Your advertising budget can be dramatically lower then a national campaign yet be even more effective and attract millions of customers.

If you add internet advertising in addition to your television advertising campaign your message will become even more ingrained in the brains of the individuals that watch your advertisements. Small businesses can no longer waste money on mediums that don't have viewers or listeners. Every penny must be properly spent. Just because radio or newspaper advertising is slightly cheaper then television advertising does not mean it is more cost effective. In fact, it's the opposite. While the audience for radio stations and newspapers diminishes on a daily basis, the audience for television and internet keeps increasing. Americans dedicate 35 hours a week to watching television, and 32 hours a week on the internet.

Every business is struggling right now, but can you afford NOT to advertise? If you need to attract customers to your business then the answer is a resounding "no".

For more information on how Tonangi Media can help you advertise on television visit www.tonangi.com

Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Both of these commercials tried to invoke an emotion. The pizza ad tried to be humorous, while the sleep ad tried to instill fear. Both of these commercials failed at their attempts because of the execution. Although being bizarre and humorous can often help people remember advertisements -  people should recall the commercial positively. If people associate your brand with incompetence then you will find it hard to attract customers to your business. Local television ads do not have to look like they were made by a 3rd grader (no offense to the 3rd graders that are reading this blog). Low budget TV ads can be produced professionally. At Tonangi Media one of most popular video production packages is our Bronze media package, simply because of the cost. For only $1,000 a small business can have a professional TV commercial that will be targeted to the appropriate demographic. Any good advertising agency will review your competitor's marketing strategy. By understanding your competitors, your target customer, and your product, a highly customized television ad with a professional voice over can be produced for a relatively low cost.

Or, you could take your chances with an unreliable advertising agency and hope your ad doesn't turn out like these:

A television commercial is not only used to get your name out to the public - it is also used to have people associate your commercial with your brand. When people associate a poorly produced commercial with a brand they typically stay away from the company. Just having your brand name out there for the public to see is not enough. A message with an emotion must be conveyed to your audience. It is not enough for the commercial to be compelling to watch, it also has to convince people to purchase from you rather then your competitors. Even if your commercial states that you are cheaper, more convenient, or trustworthy no one will believe you if your commercial does not reveal some sense of professionalism. When it comes to television advertising just remember you definitely get what you pay for. Don't fall for the free production that many local stations will try to persuade you with. They know their productions are not good enough for your needs, which is why they offer them for free. Of course, you will usually have to commit to a year of advertising - something that is not necessary with advertising agencies, like Tonangi Media.

 For more information on how Tonangi Media can help you advertise on television visit www.tonangi.com

Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Although it is possible to obtain emails through "member only" offers, tech savvy customers have to believe that they will get valuable information from you repeatedly. If they believe that your offer will only provide them with valuable information only once then they will not enter an email address that they check often. Many tech savvy customers now have separate email addresses that they keep for sites that require email authentication.

The most effective form of email communication happens when you have products or services that you offer on your site and your customers are eager to find out when you have promotions that they can take advantage of, however even this type of communication has to be kept to a minimum in order to avoid your emails to be improperly identified as spam.

Use technology to target your customers so your communication efforts will result in the highest conversion rates possible. Let me give you an example. Amazon.com sells thousands of products. I purchase Blu Ray DVDs frequently from Amazon. Amazon will send me email communications when other Blu Ray DVDs are available because their software understands that is the type of product I am most likely to purchase. Because Amazon.com's emails are of interest to me I continue to let them send me emails again and again, instead of adding a quick filter to my email program or unsubscribing from their email newsletter. If they would have sent me emails about sales offers for products that I am not interested in or sent me emails to frequently I would have unsubscribed immediately.

Email communication is a vital form of marketing, however use is it sparingly and target your customers as much as possible. It is not necessary to send ALL of your users the same email at the same time. Send targeted emails, send them infrequently (1-2 times a month at the maximum), and make sure the content is of interest to your customer. 

Companies that send frequent email communications will find that their conversion rates will be extremely low, and fewer and fewer of their emails will actually be seen by their customer. Customers also actively avoid companies that send frequent emails, and thus this type of advertising can directly hinder your sales revenue if it is not properly utilized. Email campaigns, for the most part, should be used to update your customers on new products, and sales offers. There are quite a few technical considerations you should think about before you start your email campaign, but what is even more important is to put yourself in place of your customer. Make sure that your customer will be intrigued by the content of your email. It only takes one click before your email never shows up in your customer's inbox again. Email marketing should be used to communicate with your existing customers. Trying to find new customers with email marketing rarely works and can be detrimental to your existing business.

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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This is important to small businesses, who thought that advertising on television would be cost prohibitive. Running a local or national cable television advertising campaign is no longer for just large companies. This also means that small businesses don't need to work only with their local cable company as many have done in the past. Advertising agencies, like Tonangi Media, have access to advertise on cable television networks in all 50 states.

From the Nielsen report: "What’s interesting is that we’re not just seeing a rise in spending for recession-friendly products like fast food restaurants. We’re seeing a lot more promotion of technological innovations like smartphones, computer software, and consumer-driven web sites. These advertisers see potential for their products despite our stressed economy and are leveraging advertising to drive their success.”

For more information on how Tonangi Media can help you advertise on television visit www.tonangi.com

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265| fax: 619.566.4043

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As a small business owner, you should ask more for more. When small businesses struggle many decision makers stop thinking clearly. This is because when someone works in the same industry for many years it is entirely possible to create a wall that blocks innovation. When a small business has been successful for a long time but suddenly starts loosing money, it is important to think of creative ways to generate revenue without significant investment. Advertising agencies, like Tonangi Media, work with many businesses in different industries on a daily basis and we have helped our clients form partnerships, and create new avenues for revenue growth while focusing on these new ideas in our advertising strategies.

For years larger companies, such as JC Penney, have worked with advertising agencies that not only generated creative advertising for a specific demographic, but also initiated new products and services that increased sales revenue. It is not enough for an advertising agency to simply create an ad and run it on television and the internet. It is important for any small business to select an advertising agency that can be an extension of your business development department. 

For more information on how Tonangi Media can help your small business, please visit www.tonangi.com

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Usually I like to discuss strategies that can help small businesses succeed, whether you want to advertise on tv, the internet, or use social networking to increase your exposure. Today, you will not be reading one of those posts. Today's post (if you indulge me) will be a rant.

Palm launched the Palm Pre to be a competitor for the iPhone. The Pre has a seductive mobile operating system, and Palm created a buzz when it first announced the device in January. One of the Pre's biggest selling points was that its phone would seamlessly sync with iTunes, something that no other phone maker has ever guaranteed. Palm created a 'workaround' by identifying it's hardware as a genuine iPod. When Apple released an update to it's iTunes software the Pre's ability to sync with iTunes was removed. Later on Palm updated its firmware on it's phone to again sync with iTunes. This is not the way to launch a product that is supposed to save a company from bankruptcy.

Palm advertised that their product would sync with a competitor's software solution, and Palm made these statements without any agreement or authorization from Apple. What did Palm expect? Did they think that Apple (a competitor in the mobile phone market) would allow the Pre to utilize its software? It seems Palm did not see this coming - which in of itself is quite baffling. Palm sent a formal request to the USB Implementers Forum asking them to force Apple to allow their device to sync with iTunes. The USB-IF disagreed with Palm's request and told Palm that their intent to "masquerade as an Apple iPod when talking to iTunes" was against USB-IF policy. Palm's latest firmware update did not include a 'fix' to sync the Pre to iTunes. Their customers have not been formally told that a reliable solution will be created. The Pre no longer can sync to iTunes without the use of 3rd party software, yet their own website details still claims to be able to sync to iTunes - however if you read the fine print you might see this statement "Compatible with iTunes v8.2. Compatibility with future versions not guaranteed."

No matter what mistakes Palm made initially they should have released a solution to their customers. Though I believe Palm never should have advertised iTunes compatibility without an agreement from Apple, they could have handled the issue professionally instead of seeming like their company was run by 2nd graders. Any business - large or small, can learn from their mistakes. If you make a mistake, talk to your customers, and compensate them. Amazon did this when they deleted books on the Kindle that were already paid for by customers. It was reported everywhere - even on CNN. Customers were upset, but later understood the problem and the issue evaporated. Palm did no such thing, and this continues to upset its customers, its investors, its competitors, and even non-profit organizations (the USB-IF).

Bad Palm. Bad. 

If this was the only flaw they wouldn't be the subject of this rant. Oh no, they have much more to answer for, like this ad:

This ad was considered 'creepy'. Here are some of the comments that were written about this ad:

InuEars546: I HATE THIS LADY.

swigglys: shes a creepo!

Calyntheartist: She's the reason i won’t get that phone

Again - what was Palm thinking ? The ad resulted in so much 'hate' that a rash of parodies started to flow over the internet. Unlike, the "Can you hear me now?" parodies I blogged about before there was no laughter, and no positive emotion. Viewers were not intrigued - they were actually turned off. Although Palm won't announce it's actual sales for the Pre it definitely did not turn out to be the iPhone killer that they claimed it would be. The iPhone sold over 1 million handsets the first weekend when the iPhone 3Gs was launched. Palm has yet to sell even 500,000 units to date. 

Bad public relations + bad advertising + and bad management = Palm. A failed company, that unfortunately that does not understand how to market and advertise a product successfully.

Don't be the next Palm. For more information on how Tonangi Media can help you advertise on television visit www.tonangi.com

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Here are a few examples:

If you ask most iPhone users about their phone many of them will say that having an iPhone doesn't just mean that you are using a portable multi-function device. The would say that it's a lifestyle. iPhones users have an emotional attachment to their phone. So much so that there are blogs and podcasts [iTunes Link] dedicated to this single mobile device. Usually it is a brand (as opposed to a single product) that gets this type of attention. You can see this with luxury companies like Mercedes or Louis Vutton, but this is not limited to just expensive brands. Verizon Wireless has a huge following of customers that are willing to sacrifice the type of devices that they can use on the Verizon network to get the best service in the country. Verizon took wireless service, which is typically considered a commodity, and created a highly successful campaign around a simple phrase, "Can you hear me now?" This was based purely on one emotion: comedy, yet it reinforced Verizon's reliability. It was so successful that numerous amount of parodies started showing up on the net, which reinforced the original ad and continued to increase Verizon's exposure.

Most small businesses do not consider what they offer as an 'emotional' product. You may happen to own a pizza place or a used car dealership, but don't feel left out in the cold. A good ad agency will be able to take your product or service and create an ad that evokes emotion in people. Depending on your target demographic and your product you may want a feeling of 'coolness', empathy, comedy, excitement, or even fear to help attach an emotion to your product. Simply stating the facts is not memorable enough for the majority of consumers.

Unfortunately, when small businesses make their first attempt to advertise on television they usually talk to local cable companies who pressure them into entering a long term agreement. This requires a large minimum fee, and in return these cable companies produce the ad either very cheap, or for free. These ads always come off as 'cheesy', or irrelevant and can actually damage your brand. Potential customers can easily be 'turned off'. How many times have you seen a local television commercial and thought "How is this even on TV ?" This is not the impression you want to give to your potential customers.  After such a poor experience, and very little return on their advertising investment, small businesses begin to reject the idea that television advertising can work for them. 

This is why it is important to realize that the content of your advertisement is just as (if not more) important then the publisher that is distributing your advertisement. An ad can not simply state the obvious with text and logos fading in and out on the screen. A good ad agency can develop a concept that is right for your target demographic, and can also make sure that you don't waste your advertising dollars on ads and air time that won't generate positive results.

For more information on how Tonangi Media can help you advertise on television visit www.tonangi.com

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Radio Advertising

Radio is no longer a cost-effective solution. In the not-so-distant past listeners of traditional radio mostly utilized the medium in the car or in the gym. Now many people are using their iPods, satellite radio, or their cell phones to help pass the time. The amount of hours the average American now listens to traditional radio has dropped significantly to under 7 hours a week. This is quite small when you compare the fact that Americans watch 35 hours a week of television, and go online over 32 hours a week. Radio stations had no other choice but drop their advertising rates considerably, which is why many small businesses still consider traditional radio advertising an effective medium - unfortunately this is not the case. The radio industry has tried to promote HD Radio, however it seems that has also failed. (Do any of you that are reading this blog post know what HD Radio is? Post a comment and let us know.) In the very near future, terrestrial radio will be aimed at the very poor and the very old. Is this the demographic you want to reach? We have to face the reality that traditional radio is dead. 

Newspaper Advertising

There is no doubt you must have read about the decline of newspapers in the United States (actually you probably saw a story about it on TV). Most Americans simply don't see a reason to buy a newspaper that is often out of date when you compare it to their online, and television counterparts. Americans don't plan on needing newspapers in the future either. In fact, just yesterday Editor & Publisher released an article that stated that 8 out of 10 Americans would oppose any plan to spend tax dollars to aid failing newspapers. 45% of those surveyed think the internet is "adequately covering for failing newspapers." Like radio, advertising on newspapers has become less and less effective as the audience continues to decline. Newspapers are dying.

Internet and Television Advertising

Now that we have discussed the depressing news, let's discuss other mediums that can make us happy again. If radio and newspapers are dead, what can we use for a cost effective advertising campaign? Well, I'm sure the subtitle of this section must have given the answer away. Television is still the most popular form of consuming media, and 74% of Americans have readily available access to the internet. Together these two advertising mediums cover virtually every single American in the United States. With quite a bit of overlap utilizing both mediums simultaneously can increase your branding efforts tremendously. According to a recent CNN International report "brands who choose multimedia campaigns to communicate their advertising messages are more memorable to consumers and are more likely to enhance perception of their brands." An ad on television alone was recalled an average of 20% of the time by viewers, however that number jumped to 33% when simultaneous TV & internet advertising efforts were introduced. The study also introduced eye-tracking technology which found that viewers responded well to video content on websites, taking between 66 to 80 per cent of their attention.

By using local cable television advertising and video on the web simultaneously, your small business can dominate your competitors that are still utilizing radio and newspapers to advertise their products and services. For more information on how Tonangi Media can help you advertise on television or the internet please visit www.tonangi.com

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Should you be worried about DVRs (Digital Video Recorders) like TiVOs? No. Only about 17% Americans have DVRs. Nielsen's study is the first to look at how many DVR users actually watch ads. The data suggests that about 50% of DVR owners skip ads. This means out of 264,472,157 people that watch local cable television ads, about 22,480,133 skip them. That's only a marginal 8.5% that would skip through your ad. What is even more interesting is that Americans are now watching television almost 5 hours a day, and many Americans are watching television on bigger sets in high definition.

The poor economy has given advertisers with cash flow an advantage over their competitors. Television advertising revenue has already dropped by 13%, and both local and national television stations are scrambling to acquire new advertisers just as many small businesses are trying to find new customers. Television stations are offering more spots for a much lower cost then ever before. Ad agencies, such as Tonangi Media, have already negotiated better rates with most partners. These cost savings make it more attractive to advertise on television exactly at a time when television viewership is growing. 

If you are interested in advertising your business on television please visit www.tonangi.com for more information.

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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In a recent white paper made available for download, by Adobe they noted that:

"We are clearly on the cusp of a major video trend and progressive marketers are starting to use video in ways beyond the obvious product video demonstration. Video can be leveraged to engage shoppers and provide an added value—value that may mean the difference between a shopper choosing your site as the final destination, or continuing on in pursuit of more information.... Products featured in videos outperform products that are not."

Simply put, customers feel more comfortable purchasing on your website if they have seen a video discussing the product in detail. Of all online retailers surveyed 43.3% have said that they plan to add video or streaming media to their website to increase their sales.

Here are just a few interesting statistics that may put things in perspective:

• 36% of Web retailers have already deployed product and education videos on their websites, and 53.3% expect to do so within a year
• 66.8% of U.S. marketers plan to focus their online marketing budget on video

One of the greatest benefits of creating video product and service tours is that the video can be seen on hundreds of other websites, not just your own. These videos can be uploaded to YouTube, Yahoo Video, Google Video, DailyMotion, Viddler, Veoh, Revver and countless other sites. By uploading your product videos on these sites you can increase your brand awareness and exposure without spending a dime on advertising. There are also sites that cater to niche markets, like this one that caters to the Real Estate market. By uploading your videos on these sites you will also organically improve your SEO which will increase your search engine page ranking. Customers that search for related keywords will see the video and will go on to your website to find out more information. However, utilizing video does not stop there.

Thousands of premium publishers like CNN.com, Hulu.com, ABC.com New York Times.com, CBS Sports.com, NCAA.com, and MTV.com utilize pre-roll and post-roll video advertisements between their video clips. With 81% of the total US internet audience watching online video, advertising with video has never been so appealing.

If you are interested in creating a video to advertise your product or service on the internet or on television, please visit www.tonangi.com for more information.

 Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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It was back in 2001 when I first starting using Google AdWords to promote products online. I was the Creative Director for a retail communications company that sold virtual phone cards. Part of my responsibilities included marketing the company on the web and Google AdWords was a highly effective solution. In fact, considering all other forms of advertising, it was the most cost effective solution at that time. The cost-per-click bid rates were significantly cheaper back then, and because it was not a widely used medium for most large companies at the time, it allowed smaller companies to utilize the power of advertising on the Google Search engine. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. A few thousand dollars in AdWords advertising doesn't really go as far as it used to. 

Google AdWords continues to be a great form of advertising through search engines, yet when many small business owners hear about the “buzz” that has been created with Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace they want to know if they should be moving their advertising dollars over from Google to other mediums. Many companies have already started to utilize them, however before I can discuss cost effective advertising opportunities it’s important to discuss some basics about the importance of organic page ranking as it relates to this form of advertising. 

Google continuously ‘crawls’ the web in order to find out what websites are linking to you. It also tries to determine what is the ‘quality’ of each of these websites that are linking to you, and how often these websites update their information. If you post links to direct people to your website on forums, blogs, or other web sites that have low traffic volume your SEO (search engine optimization) activities will not mean as much. If you posted links on sites that were created solely to try and fool Google’s search engine software then Google (and other search engines) will not only lower your existing page rank, but they could also end up blocking your entire site from their search results. This is why organic search engine optimization is the preferred method when you are trying to improve your page rank instead of hiring a company that tries to increase it artificially. This information is not new. In fact, I’ve discussed this a previous blog post. So what does this have to do with other advertising opportunities? Read on:

Facebook: One of the advantages of creating a Facebook page is increasing your Google page rank organically within Google’s search results without even paying for advertising. Facebook has over 300 million users worldwide, and it is quickly becoming one of the most visited websites on the planet. [Facebook's user statistics] Creating a company page will definitely help increase your page rank, but that is not the only benefit. 

Facebook Ads: Facebook has created an easy way to target users that fit in your demographic. For example, Tonangi Media’s ads on Facebook (take a look on the left) targets small business owners that are over the age of 25 and are located in the United States. In a few minutes you can determine your maximum bid, upload a picture, add some text and start running your campaign. This is another option that will allow you to lower the amount of expenses to your Google AdWords account and get more exposure on a different, yet highly used website. With Facebook ads you can create advertisements that point the user to your Facebook Fan page, or directly to your own website. You can link a company page to your own personal account if you wish, although I highly recommend creating a separate account instead of linking your personal and professional accounts on Facebook.

However, even this solution is not perfect. Seventy (70%) of it’s users are outside of the United States, and many users utilize a mobile version of the website, where ads do NOT display. While you won’t pay for an ad that does not fit your target demographic it does lower the amount of people that you can successfully advertise to. However, it is a cost-effective option that can supplement (although not replace) your Google AdWords campaign.

Twitter: What are all the ‘tweets’ about? Twitter can be used to communicate with the public, or just to the people that choose to ‘follow’ you. Certain companies such as AT&T have started to interact with their customers over Twitter when their brand name started to be associated with ‘bad service’, and it seems to be working at least somewhat.  Even if your product is not exciting enough for your customers to ‘follow’ you, is it worth it getting a Twitter account? Yes. It is - Even if you utilize it for no other reason other then to improve your exposure and page ranking on Google and other search engines. Twitter is also a great way for you to meet other small business owners that you most likely would never be able to get a direct response from. Twitter will not help you increase your sales directly and there is no way to advertise to other Twitter users. Speaking only in terms of business use, it is currently meant for self-promotion, however with a growth rate of over 1000% in the past year it’s not hard to understand that having a presence on Twitter will likely be more important in the future. The more you ‘tweet’, the more people will know your company exists and the products and services it can provide.

MySpace: Myspace is becoming more and more marginalized as a social networking tool for both personal and professional use, however there are a few niche markets where it does make sense to spend some time creating and promoting a MySpace page. These areas are specifically within the realm of music. Soloists, Bands, and Independent labels find MySpace a good way to share music and create awareness online. If your business is not directly or indirectly related to the music industry it probably is not worth your time creating a page; never mind spending your hard earned dollars advertising on this network.

LinkedIn: There is no reason not to have a personal free linked in account. LinkedIn is a great way to create a summary page of your work experience. If you own a small business and your name is made available online then you should have a LinkedIn account. In fact, if your name is not disclosed it probably should be. When people ‘Google’ owners of small businesses, or any company your public LinkedIn profile will show up in some of the very first searches on Google and other search engines. When people can read about your work experiences, and see that you have been recommended by other users in LinkedIn, and see how long you have been in the industry it makes your company seem more reliable. LinkedIn is also a good way to find contacts to may want to partner with your existing business. LinkedIn, however, is not a useful place to spend your advertising dollars. Most users do not login to their linked in account on a regular basis, and LinkedIn’s advertising solutions are not innovative, or interesting to the end user.

Hopefully you have an understanding of how to use social networking to generate brand awareness, and increase exposure for your services and products online. Of course there are many other ways to successfully promote your business and your products utilizing other mediums such as local television or pre-rolled video ads online. For more information on how Tonangi Media can help you produce your video and promote your business through television and internet advertising please go to http://www.tonangi.com for more information.

Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Many online retailers think that driving traffic to their website should be the number one priority. There are millions of online retailers in the United States alone and most of them spend quite a bit of time, energy, and money trying to promote their website when they should be focused on selling their products instead. Some hire SEO (search engine optimization) companies, and others spend time trying to improve their page ranking organically. If you are an online retailer there are other options for you.

Amazon.com has tens of millions of existing customers that frequent their online store on the web, and on mobile devices. Amazon.com gives users the power to sell directly on their online store. For about $40 a month you can sell a range of products on Amazon.com. There are other sites such as eBay.com that have special stores for businesses that sell directly on their site. By distributing your product on sites that have existing traffic you don't need to worry about promoting your website. This leaves more time for you to focus on your core competency and that is to successfully run your business by lowering your costs, and offering new products to your retail customers.

Of course, you can not simply sign up with these large online distributors and stop marketing and advertising. Both Amazon.com and eBay.com have thousands of users, and it can be difficult for customers to find your specific product. This is where Tonangi Media can help you. By creating an advertising campaign, both on the internet and on national television, we can generate brand awareness and increase exposure for your products. By indicating that your products are available on Amazon.com, your company will reflect a sense of credibility that you otherwise wouldn't achieve.

Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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If you are a small business that wants a website that is both functional and creative for a largely American demographic, and the development does not need 100+ hours of labor then it might be cost effective and less frustrating to work with a company in the states. For most companies your website is the first interaction a potential customer has with your product or service. Trying to save a few thousand dollars on the creative and development processes of your website (or other project) can be extremely short sighted, and costly adjustments may be required to appropriately fit your target demographic. On the other hand if you are a business and you need frequent manual updates, or your project is very labor intensive then outsourcing will most likely be your best option. It's up to to the business to decide what is right for them based on their needs. Get multiple quotes, review portfolios, and talk to the developer's previous customers before a decision is made.

Saving a few thousand up front can cost you millions in the long run, and spending too much money on development can leave you with very little money for marketing and attracting your customers to your website, or other place of business.

Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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Real SEO happens organically. This means that you add your business on directories that already have high page ranks such as Yelp, Merchant Circle, and Yellow Pages. Don't stop with just a few - you really need to add your site on hundreds of directories. You should continue to participate in blogs (such as these), but you should try to include your URL as well as other basic company information whenever possible. This will also raise your page ranking. Have you noticed that when you search for certain terms Google will now place YouTube results ahead of other search engine results? Utilizing video can help your SEO efforts.

Many small and medium sized business do not think they can afford television advertising and resort to mediums that are simply not as effective such as artificial search engine optimization, direct mail, radio, or newspaper advertising. Tonangi Media is able to keep your advertising costs low by constantly negotiating with our local and national partners to provide targeted and cost effective advertising both on television as well as the internet. Think how much you have spent on other marketing mediums in the past. These methods may be cheaper but if they don't bring in customers is it really cost effective or is it a waste? With a budget of less then $6,000 you can obtain 1/2 a million views (in most areas) - and target ad placement based on gender, income, and geographical location. We have customers that spend as little as $2,000 a month and customers that spend well over $25,000 a month. You decide your budget and Tonangi Media will help you meet your goals.

Tonangi Media is a full scale video production and advertising agency. We can create your concept, record a custom, video complete with professional voice overs and original animation sequences that will make your advertisement stand out.

Vinod Tonangi | www.tonangi.com | phone: 201.252.7265 | fax: 619.566.4043

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