Become a Storyteller Not an Advertiser and Watch Your Traffic Increase

When you read the newspaper, do you read advertisements as closely as you read news stories? Do you believe advertising as readily as you believe news stories? I don't and neither do most people I know.

Because we have advertising shoved at us from every angle we tend to ignore it, but we pay attention to news or public interest stories. Not only do we pay more attention, we also are more likely to believe news stories than your basic advertisements. When your news is published either online, on the radio, TV or in newspapers people automatically feel that since it's being published it must be worthy information.

I read somewhere that "Advertising is what you pay for. Publicity is what you pray for". This is so true. You can spend a fortune on advertising and yes, it will bring you some traffic but traffic is only part of what you need and it stops when the advertising stops.

What you really need is PUBLICITY - free publicity so that your information reaches your potential customers and people will begin to get to "know" you. When people see and hear your name over and over they will begin to think of you as an expert in your field. They will trust your judgment and buy your products or the products you endorse. They will also recommend you to others which in turn cause a chain reaction and the process starts all over again. One of the best ways to get free publicity is by writing articles and press releases then submitting them to the third party sites and newspapers for publishing. Plus with a price like FREE, why not take full advantage of it?

The most important thing to remember when writing news is to write a STORY not a sales pitch. Don't you hate it when you ask someone about a product and instead of them telling you what it is and how you could benefit from it they go into this "elevator speech" about its features and why it's a good product ("it comes with this and that, plus as an added bonus you get?.") Please! If I wanted to hear a sales pitch I'd turn on the TV.

Sales people call it "selling features instead of benefits" but among news editors this is called, "selling the store, not the story" and it's the WRONG way to get your news published.

You should be trying to sell a STORY connected to the product instead of trying to sell the product itself. Why you ask? Because people love stories! We've been listening to and telling stories for centuries and we will continue to for a long time to come. People will pay attention if they think they're going to hear a good story but will turn away if you give them a sales pitch.

By writing like a storyteller, you will get free publicity which will increase your traffic and your sales.

** Melody Spier is a work at home mom of two teens. She is the owner of Ballyhoo Virtual Services a Virtual Assistant business catering to women in business. She specializes in business marketing and promotion with article and press release submissions, blog maintenance as well as many other services. You can contact Melody by visiting http://www.BallyhooVA.com or by email Mel@BallyhooVA.com

---

Moving Message Board

Moving message boards are used in the areas where continuous... Read More

What the Newspaper Ad Person Won?t Tell You

Newspapers are considered the PRIMARY advertising medium by 99.4% of... Read More

Pros and Cons of Establishing an In-House Ad Agency

There have been several ads promoting books and reports on... Read More

How To Write Ads That Get Response

Your print ads should do more than just get noticed.... Read More

Understanding Internet Banner Advertising

Banner advertising is an effective way of getting your advertising... Read More

What Is Most Important ? Copy Or Pic?

When, some little time ago now, I first descended upon... Read More

The Secrets of High Money Classified Ads

When used effectively, classified ads can be one of the... Read More

How to Write Ads that Pull Orders

If your ads aren't paying off then you need this... Read More

Custom LED Display

Custom LED Display, as the name specifies, facilitate control anything... Read More

Top Jingle Companies: What to Look For, What to Expect

The internet offers you the opportunity to seek out jingle... Read More

Present Your Product On A TV Show for FREE

Would you like to get your new or existing Internet... Read More

How To Tame The Buying Beast Inside Your Customer

What if you can understand and control your customer's mind?... Read More

Predictions for 2010

2005 puts us at the mid-point of the first decade... Read More

CD Business Cards- Why Use Them?

CD Business cards are the electronic version of the now... Read More

Seven Ways to Waste Your Money on Yellow Pages Advertising

Each year there is a Yellow Pages arms race where... Read More

Why Not Use the Humble Fax in Your Advertising Strategy?

When my daughter complained recently about the prohibitive cost of... Read More

Persistant Advertising Will Do No Harm!

From my experience, I've been on many discussion groups and... Read More

Where To Call For Free Advertising And Free Business Advice

Believe it or not, there are plenty of opportunities out... Read More

How To Write Eye-Grabbing Headlines That Catapult Your Prospects Into Your Ads

If you're interested in improving the selling results of your... Read More

Getting the Most Out of Your Networking Group

Here is my personal list of things to do at... Read More

Hit Them With Benefits

More about advertising from BIG Mike McDanielIt makes no difference... Read More

How Can All the Radio Stations Be #1?

Are you confused by all the information you receive from... Read More

LED video Displays

LED video displays give you the power to communicate, to... Read More

The TV Shoot, The Spoiled Brat, And A Painful Lesson

It was two days before our shoot. I was in... Read More

Radio Interview 101

Different Types of Station ContactReaching radio hosts (for the purpose... Read More

Ads Dont Sell - People Do !

More about advertising by BIG Mike McDanielAdvertising is not a... Read More

Harness the Power of Direct Marketing - More Small Business Power Tools

One of the most powerful tools available to small businesses... Read More

How To Write Really Good Ads

All sales begin with some form of advertising. To build... Read More

Top 9 Reasons To Advertise

Advertising is not for every company. But some require it... Read More

Humor in Advertising

Many of the most memorable ad campaigns around tend to... Read More

Advertising Basics for Beginners

So many of us who have decided to do business... Read More

Latino Television Programs Fill a Void in Hispanic Advertising; While Advertisers Look to Attract

Advertisers that are beginning to focus on the young Hispanic... Read More

How To Write Super-Effective Ads and Sales Letters!

"The more things change, the more they stay the same".... Read More