5 Unique Ways To Get FREE Advertising

1. Give Testimonials: When you purchase a product or service and it exceeds your expectations e-mail the business a testimonial. Tell them in the testimonial the benefits you got from the product or service. Give them permission to publish the testimonial on the web site if they include your sig file at the end.

2. Leave A Message: When you visit a web site with a discussion board leave a message. You could post a question, interesting content or a compliment about their web site. Include your signature file at the end of the message. Some discussion boards let you post your banner ad or text link.

3. Sign Guest Books: When you visit a well designed web site leave a compliment on their guest book. You could give them a compliment on their content, ease of navigation, graphics etc. When you post your compliment include your sig file so other people will see it when they sign the guest book.

4. Write A Review: When you visit a web site you enjoyed a lot write a review for the web site Write about the benefits you gain from the site, the web site design, interesting online services it offers etc. E-mail the review to the web site. Tell them they can publish it on their web site if they include your resource box at the end.

5. Send An E-mail To The Editor: When you read a good article or enjoy a certain e-zine, e-mail a compliment to the editor. Give the editor permission to publish the compliment in their e-zine if they include your signature file at the end. The editor may post it on his or her web site.

Get a Competitive Marketing Edge with PR Techniques

One of the least understood, most underutilized marketing techniques in the business world is public relations. That fact represents an opportunity for small business owners and managers who are willing to devote a little time to cultivating relationships with reporters and editors in their community.

Advertising is the obvious approach to self-promotion, so a lot of your competition is doing it. Generating free or inexpensive publicity through press releases and media relations is not as commonplace, so it offers a much more uncluttered arena for gaining visibility and name recognition. The 'cost of admission' consists of a newsworthy story and a little insight into how the process works.

Potential Pitfalls and Opportunities

The bad news is that editors, radio news directors, and other media gatekeepers receive dozens of press releases every day, and that's just in the small towns! Releases get tossed in the circular file for three primary reasons:

1) They look unprofessional, 2) They're an ad masquerading as a news story, or 3) They have little or no news value.

Three other fatal flaws in a news release are: a failure to get to the point right away, an abysmal absence of formatting, and glaring typographical mistakes and grammatical neglect.

Although it may sound like there are 101 ways you can go wrong (so why even try?), it's actually more a matter of common sense, persistence, and following a few basic guidelines. It might take a little experimentation to discover whether you get better results working directly with specific reporters, instead of editors (and using email vs snail mail), but as you fine tune your approach and make yourself known to local media people, your success rate should rise significantly. You may ultimately find that public relations is the missing link in an otherwise lackluster media campaign.


Cardinal Rules of Press Release Writing

As in any type of marketing, presentation and image can make a big difference in the quality of the results produced. Here are a dozen guidelines for putting your best foot forward with the media.

1) In the headline and the body of the release, emphasize the news value of your story. If it fails to catch an editor's attention or sounds remotely like an ad, the odds of it being published or broadcast are slim.
2) It will have more of an impact if the first paragraph contains the most important information, with the rest of the material arranged in order of descending importance.
3) One simple, but useful guideline for writing a press release is the old journalism standard of focusing on the five "W's", namely: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and sometimes, How?
4) Write it from the perspective of an objective observer, not from the point of view of a business owner or manager
5) Use short sentences and double spacing between paragraphs.
6) The last paragraph should be reserved for a brief bio or a few boilerplate sentences about your company. Journalists know to look there for that information.
7) One page is the ideal length for a press release. The media will call or email you if they have questions or want to interview you.
8) Formatting elements: After the headline at the top, the following information is generally inserted: the words "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE", one or two contact names and phone numbers, and, right before the first sentence of the release, the location and date of the news story.
9) Maintain an up-to-date mailing list of reporters and editors, and get to know them, whenever possible. Jot down a few notes about each one.
10) Suggest article ideas, occasionally, and let it be known that you're available for interviews. IDEA: One way to establish a reputation as a valuable resource for the media is by preparing for them a printed list of experts, spokespeople, and authorities on topics related to your profession or industry.
11) Emailing tip: Reporters and editors intensely dislike email attachments, as a rule. Get around that by including the press release in the body of the email.
12) Perhaps the most important consideration when working with the media is that they're always under an impending deadline, especially at daily newspapers and broadcast news departments. Among the worst violations of media etiquette is not returning phone calls promptly and requesting the chance to review articles prior to publication.


Opportunities to Send Press Releases

Countless opportunities to send out press releases and receive valuable, free publicity get missed every day. There are literally dozens of newsworthy opportunities for getting positive media exposure, including mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, office expansions, new employees, awards, workshops, speaking engagements, fund-raising campaigns, lobbying activities, the launch of a new web site, announcing survey results, sponsorships, or taking a public position on an industry-related issue. Business milestones are often a good reason to issue a press release, such as the grand opening of a new office or announcing a business's 25th anniversary.

The bottom line is that being written about (or broadcast) in the media conveys more credibility than messages communicated through paid advertising; and it can be a vital element of any integrated marketing campaign. Although 'Familiarity breeds contempt', according to Aesop, the ancient Greek fabulist, one area in which that usually doesn't hold true is modern public relations and marketing. With few exceptions, the more ways people hear about you, the better.

Proven Techniques for Writing Persuasive Ads & Letters

Whether you're writing a marketing message to one person or a million, your chances of having an impact on them really takes off when you understand what makes them tick. You're then in a strong position to tailor your message directly to their interests, problems, needs, and aspirations. Easier said than done, but that's where market research, asking clients the right questions, personal observation, and marketing plans fit into the picture.

A marketing plan, even an abbreviated one, can be an invaluable starting point in the development of an effective ad, commercial, promotional brochure, or sales letter. Doing an analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) associated with your business or the services you offer can serve as an excellent launching pad for writing persuasive advertising and sales messages.

Laying the Groundwork

In addition to a dash of writing talent and marketing knowledge, creating effective ads and letters require a clear focus. Knowing exactly what outcome you're aiming for before you begin writing is comparable to mapping out your travel route before embarking on a cross country drive. For example, if your goal is to generate leads or to qualify prospects, your strategy might be radically different than if you were trying to make immediate sales or simply attract visitors to your web site.

Sell The Sizzle! (not the steak)

The copywriting process tends to flow a lot more smoothly if you have in front of you three lists consisting of benefits, features, and competitive advantages. Organizing them on one page in a column format is the easiest, most efficient way to manage the information. F.Y.I.: There may seem to be a thin, if not invisible, line between "features" and "benefits", but understanding the distinction can make all the difference in your marketing success. Features are important and need to be mentioned, but benefits are the selling points that clients and prospects can relate to and identify with. Basically, benefits are features that have been personalized, elaborated on, and projected into the future. It answers the questions "What's in it for me?"..."Why should I care?"...or "How will my life be enhanced by buying your product or service?"


Crafting the Message

Catching people's attention and arousing interest can sometimes be as simple as incorporating your strongest selling point into the headline or the first sentence of your ad or letter. Several tried-and-proven headline devices for drawing people into your message include asking an intriguing question, making a thought-provoking statement, or beginning the headline with the words "How To". Headlines that convey a sense of urgency, contain a short testimonial of a satisfied client, or have the feel of a news announcement also have been shown to get people to stop and read.

By the way, one of the most powerful and successful advertising headlines of all time, which was also the title of a best-selling book written in 1936, is "How to Win Friends and Influence People", by Dale Carnegie. The title/headline is filled with benefits, it contains the words "How To", and it speaks directly to everyone's strong desire to be well liked, to be in control of their lives, and to feel important. Another popular book Carnegie wrote tapped into that same formula. It's entitled "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living." Apparently, that double-barreled approach was especially effective for him.

Many well-intended ads, brochures, and letters start out with a good head of steam, but peter out as they approach the moment of truth, namely: the call for action! If you don't make it 100% clear exactly what you want the prospect to do after hearing/seeing your message, and if you don't give them a compelling reason to do so, there's a good chance you'll lose them.

As the acronym AIDA suggests, a response-producing ad or letter must first grab the Attention of the target audience, arouse Interest, trigger Desire, and then prompt Action. Without all four of those "cylinders" firing at the appropriate time, that delicate sequence of events could quickly come to a grinding halt.

Positive Thinking and Effective Marketing Go Hand in Hand

Successful sales and marketing requires persistence, continuous improvement, and the expectation of a positive outcome. If one doesn’t approach every aspect of marketing with enthusiasm, creativity, and a positive mental attitude, then it’s like embarking on schooner race with no wind in your sails. You’ll have no momentum or direction, and the competition is guaranteed to overtake you.

Attitude has an insidious way of infiltrating everything we do; and it can lift us up to great heights or pull us down to the depths of failure. It can energize us to do and say all the right things at the right time, or it can undermine our motivation and cause us to sabotage our own best laid plans.

The bottom line is this: either we own our attitude or our attitude owns us. Every now and then, it’s necessary to make a conscious decision to take charge of our thoughts, attitudes, and habits. An unfocused effort, whether it involves marketing or any other aspect of business, is sure to produce inferior results.

Allowing negative thoughts to infect your mind creates a cascading effect of self-defeating behavior. In direct sales, one needs to have a winning attitude and a magnetic personality to influence and persuade prospects to become customers. That’s only the tip of the iceberg, though, because a successful salesperson also needs to have the finesse and people skills to win back lost customers, negotiate the best deal, ask for and get sales referrals, inspire teamwork, and have the energy and optimism to overcome setbacks and keep moving forward in the face of temporary failure. Without a positive mental attitude, none of that is going to happen.

Cultivating a positive attitude also feeds the creativity and optimism necessary for nearly every other aspect of marketing ranging from sending out press releases and sales letters to placing ads or launching a web site. If you don’t believe it’s going to work, either you’re not going to try at all—or your efforts will be weakened and half-hearted. In both cases, you’re doomed to failure before you even get out of the starting gate.

On the other hand, if you make up your mind to be an ‘eternal optimist’, you’ll be willing to take calculated risks and put your best foot forward. Getting there may involve an integrated program of reading motivational books, listening to self-improvement CDs, making a concerted effort to identify and avoid (or filter out) a lot of the negativity in your environment, and establishing daily habits that will tend to attract beneficial people and circumstances into your life.

Being an entrepreneur and running your own business is an intrinsically risky endeavor. If an expensive marketing campaign falls flat or a major client signs on with the competition, you might find yourself scrambling to make up for the loss. A positive state of mind not only helps you be creative, resourceful, and energized, but it also enhances your ability to anticipate, adapt, and regroup.

While many aspects of marketing are considered a gamble by anyone’s estimation, the best way to hedge your bets is by adopting a focused, optimistic, and positive mental attitude

Vital Component to Marketing Success: Establishing Credibility

As a salesperson or the owner of a small business, do you consider yourself to be qualified, experienced, and dependable? More importantly, have 95% of your customers had a satisfying experience doing business with you or your company? If your answer is ‘yes’ to all those questions, then your services or products have the potential to be in high demand. The trick is effectively communicating that information to your target market.

Let’s assume that you have what your prospective customers are looking for: excellent service, high ethical and quality standards, a near-perfect track record in living up to promises and producing desired results, and the skills or knowledge to help your clients achieve their goals or solve their problems. Think about it. You are exactly what people are scouring the Internet or Yellow Pages for and spending countless hours researching. If you’re not in demand now, then you ought to be!


What’s Standing in the Way?

In all likelihood, your phone isn’t ringing off the hook because you haven’t convinced your prospects that you can offer them all these desirable qualities and benefits. That’s where marketing strategy comes in!

Whether or not people ask you these questions, you can be sure it’s almost always on their minds: "How long have you been in business? What are your credentials? Are there people who can vouch for your dependability (provide references)? Why should I feel secure choosing you over the competition for this important project/need/solution?

Strategies for Establishing Credibility & Trust

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a minute and try to think like someone who’s in the market for your services. At some level, they’re thinking, “Why should I put my faith in this person or business?”

One good way to project an image of reliability is to join the Better Business Bureau and display their logo in your ads, stationery, brochures, and web site. According to their web site, “members of local BBBs are businesses and firms which meet tough BBB membership standards, agree to follow the highest principles of business ethics and voluntary self-regulation, and have a proven record of marketplace honesty and integrity.”

Another approach to making a good impression is to join professional organizations and display that affiliation, wherever space allows, in your ads, letters, and marketing literature. Someone who’s a member of a professional or industry organization usually cares about ethical standards, working cooperatively with others, and keeping their training up to date. It also conveys the impression that they take their profession seriously and that they’re not a ‘fly by night’ operation. Membership in Chambers of Commerce can also be an image-enhancing investment.

Some other ways to establish credibility and trust include being active in the community, earning professional credentials, appearing in the media as an organizational or industry spokesperson, conducting seminars, teaching classes, writing a newspaper column, and speaking at public events and meetings. Having a well-designed, up-to-date website (that’s not ‘under construction’), professional-looking business cards, and an impeccable reputation are also important facets of branding you and your company as a dependable and quality-conscious source of products and services.

http://www.marketingsurvivalkit.com/marketing-credibility.htm

Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization: Any difference?

For many casual internet users, the terms SEM and SEO rarely enter their minds when they are busy jumping from one website to another. However, it is these terms that determine much of what comes out on the results page whenever we type in a word in the search tab of any accessible search engine. These terms are also responsible for all those advertisements and pop-ups that link us to even more websites, whether they may be connected to our original search or not. So just what are SEM and SEO?

In the simplest way possible, SEM and SEO are tools which website creators, especially those who are promoting and selling a certain service or product, use in order to gain a lot of exposure and better ranking for their website. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, the simplicity ends there.

To make it a tad bit complex, SEM and SEO are not the same. As suggested by the names, SEM, or Search Engine Marketing, deals more with how a website is marketed to gain exposure in the different search engines available on the internet, while SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, deals with how the web creators develop and re-develop the content, quality and structure of their entire websites so that whenever an internet user types in a particular word in the search tab, their websites have a better chance of appearing on the first few search engine results pages (SERPS).

Now, to make it even more complex, although the functions of SEM and SEO seem different, they are more effective when used together. Since the main function of SEM is to gain more exposure for a website, the more common means for attraction are online advertisements, blogs, internet articles, partner and sponsored websites, and anything that can catch the eye of the internet user. SEM also makes use of PPC (pay-per-click) and paid inclusion to further push a website’s visibility. Lastly, it is also an important process in SEM to submit the name and URL of a website to different search engines and web directories if only to inform them of the website’s existence. All this is carried out to ensure the popularity of a website.

So how does SEO come together with SEM? Well, despite having all the advertisements provided by SEM, it is truly the SEO that allows the internet user to easily and conveniently find what he is looking for. Since the function of SEO is to gain a better ranking in the SERPS, the web creator has to constantly optimize his website in order to cater to the needs of the internet user and to make it easier for spiders or web crawlers to judge whether the website’s content is relevant to the word/s being searched. Optimization is not a simple and easy task. It involves having to restructure the website regularly (by editing the html code and meta tags, changing content, reorganizing the site map, developing an easier navigational structure, etc.) so as to adapt to the rapidly changing demands of the internet user. Still, when done properly, not only does SEO help a website become more useful and therefore, more often visited by the internet user, it also helps gain more exposure since it increases the website’s chances of gaining a better rank in the SERPS.

Both SEM and SEO success rely heavily on the words or context which Internet users type in whenever they search for something on the internet. Take PPC under SEM, for example. PPC is an ad that is triggered by a particular word or context used by an internet user. Once a particular word or context is searched, a corresponding PPC ad for a website comes out. SEO works in the same way. The web creator inputs a particular Meta tag (or keyword) in his html that he believes many internet users will use when searching for information, information which the web creator’s website may contain.

Although all of these processes involving SEM and SEO are tedious and time-consuming, it all boils down to knowing and serving the target audience. A web creator must be discerning enough to know what the internet users need and want, and at the same time he must have the real passion to inform and provide the internet users with the right service and product.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_3685.shtml

The Most Powerful Tool A Marketer Can Have

In the Internet Marketing there are many tools that you can use in order to build your business or increase your income, you can find lot of software, books, videos, but you have to know how to use them.

Before you begin to use them you need to have clear many things, but there is a tool maybe you don't know well, and it is the most powerful tool that we all have, it is the mind.

Nothing can compete with your mind then you have to use it well. With your mind you'll be able to control everything. Did you know that Yoga experts can stop the beats of the heart or to have a surgery without anesthesia? Maybe someone doesn't believe it but it is true and in Internet Marketing is the same, If you are using your mind in the right way you'll get good results and you'll have a high percent to be successful.

In order to achieve your goals you need to be concentrated and have a clear vision of all the way you'll have to travel. You have to create the conditions for a good concentration removing all marginal distractions possible and ignoring others.

It's important to prepare a long term plan and divide it into levels and each level into a step by step process. Once you get level one you go to level two and so on. In all this system your mind plays a fundamental role because there is not software able to build your system, you are the only one that can build it, because you know what you want and where you want to go and this is the point, your mind is your guide it controls the whole process and it's stronger than any other tool you can have.

The essential thing is to maintain an attitude of mental activity, and to avoid anything that will reduce this and make you passive. Thinking and applying systematically will help you to grow, you'll discover the power of your mind. Train your mind.

Don't be afraid to make a mistake. Remember nobody learns from the mistakes of the others, you have to try and believe in you. Such fears should be put at rest. You only have to think, think and think and in this way you'll learn how to act and how to do everything right.

It's obvious that you'll have to face some problems traveling for your road, then your mind will come to help you and you'll find the solution in a short period of time. A powerful mind accomplishes results in the shortest time and with least waste motion.

In order to be successful in Internet Marketing you have to focus your niche and to pay close attention to it. Ask yourself, what am I looking for? Keep it in the background of your mind and search for the answer. Knowing everything about you and about what you want, will help you to develop your business.

Keep your mind free, keep a sharp lookout, at every point, to see that you build into the foundation only those materials and that workmanship which will support a masterly structure.

Everyone has difficulty in the concentration of attention, workers in business and industry, students and even professors, complain of the same difficulty. Attention seems in some way to be at the very core of mental activity.Therefore paying attention to your niche and working only in this direction is crucial.

Using your mind as a tool is the most effective factor to be successful.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_3686.shtml

How To Get Higher Converting MLM Leads For Less

If you are involved in an mlm or network marketing business then you probably have tried to find the best ways online as well as offline to get qualified people either to your website or to the companies website. There are many different ways to find qualified people who are actually looking right now at starting a home based business.

The thing that you first need to realize is that most people who are looking for a home based business are not actually realizing what it is they are looking for and for the most part are simply getting some answers. These types of people are the non targeted leads that you will find being sold by countless mlm lead companies online.

These types of mlm leads for one have a terrible conversion rate and also end up putting your excited mood into one that makes you start second guessing yourself and possibly the opportunity you are marketing. What is needs to not only help you build a successful mlm business as well as the right mindset to succeed is actual quality mlm leads from an actually mlm leads company with proven results.

If you were looking to compare mlm lead companies odds are you would start possibly with your sponsor or upline in the business you are currently marketing and this method is actually not the best method at all. What will end up happening is your upline simply trying to get a commission or a bonus off of you by sending them to one of the low converting mlm lead companies.

You may take the above statement as being rude or labeling all sponsors but in all honesty most people in mlm and network marketing companies are following the same pack of people barely making any real income. What you need to do is set yourself apart from the pack and become a leader in your company.

If your sponsor in your company and or business is trying his or her best to teach you the correct methods on building your business but has not actually seen any real success themselves then you need to find a new method in which to build your business. Mlm is mainly duplication of a proven method and if your sponsor is not seeing the large monthly income then that is something that I personally would not try and duplicate.

With all the many different ways to get mlm leads which can be done with pay per click accounts and even door to door methods there is one truly proven method that has the highest conversion ratio as long as it is done correctly.

You need to find a mlm lead company that not only has proven results but also offers you a residual income that will actually end up paying for your leads as your downline signs up under you for the leads also. There are only a small handful of mlm lead companies that are even worth comparing and sometimes they can be hard to sift through. Most mlm lead companies are selling leads that have been sold 1,000 times already and will not convert for nothing.

What you should do if you are actually looking to build a solid mlm business is to research and compare mlm lead companies. You need to look for a company that allows you to buy at minimum 72 hour fresh leads. Along with being extremely fresh you also need to find a mlm lead company that actually offers a monthly residual income plan. Having a matrix payout plan attached to a solid mlm lead company can actually end up paying out more then your mlm company is paying you.

Remember also when researching and checking the many mlm lead companies out there that you will most usually get what you pay for. Any company offering you 1,000 fresh leads a day for $20 is nothing but a scam style company and will end up giving you a very bad name in the mlm community. Find a company that has been proven successful and has mlm leads that are actually converting into real mlm sign ups and sales.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_3688.shtml

Direct Mail - the Deadly Sin Of Not Testing

If there's one thing that makes direct mail a reliable method of drumming up new business, then that would have to be the ability to test if different version of a pack achieve a better return on investment. Having processed many mailings over the years, I can attest that clients rarely take full advantage of this feature. In fact, more often than not, clients don't test at all.

Not testing is commercial suicide. In today's competitive climate, if there is anything that can be done to reduce the cost of acquiring a customer, then it must be done. It's a no brainer. Research shows that in times of depression, those that continue to advertise are those that do well. It also shows that those that continue to advertise also make efforts to stretch their budget even further.

You decrease your direct mail costs by application of a little commonsense and by testing which produces the best response. We'll take the example of direct mail pack that comprises five parts in all.

The parts of the pack are as follows:

1) Envelope
2) Personalised letter
3) Brochure
4) Leaflet/Order form
5) Business reply Envelope

Looking at this you would think that this it, but we've forgotten the most important part of all:

6) The data

So, there's enough there now to get your message out.

Experience shows that the most important part of the mailing is the data, so we must test this part. A badly produced but well targeted letter will almost certainly produce a better return than a well written badly targeted letter.

You may have a particular target audience already decided, for example, lawyers. You will be able to get lists of lawyers from more than one source, that can be tested. Equally you'll have the option of mailing to a named individual, or to a job title, so you can test that too. So far that's at least four permutations provided you use 2 data suppliers. It would be 6 if you used 3 suppliers. If you hadn't narrowed your field to one sector, then the choice of tests to run could be massively increased, but it's not practical to take it to the extreme.

Targeting is everything, you must get that right, and you can only find that out if you test.

Looking at the envelope, you have a huge number of choice here too. You can send plain with a stamp, or printed with a message. You could make the material from an unusual paper, print in full colour, use different sizes. You could print different designs, use different taglines and the like.

Depending on how your envelope is made you may be able to run multiple designs for a minimal charge. The nature of some jobs is that they are printed 2 or 3 or up on a sheet, so you will be able to produce equal quantities of more than one design. Even if it's not free, chances are that it won't be hat expensive for a plate change.

For the letterhead, you can change the material. Studies by paper merchants have shown a 20% increase in response just by changing to a textured paper. The copy itself on the letter can be changed, offers can be changed. The number of options to test here is almost limitless.

Moving on to the leaflet, the same applies here as did for the letterhead. Copy, material, imagery; they're all fair game.

Last but not least we move on to the BRE. There's not a huge amount you could do here. White or manila envelopes perhaps? Maybe even a coloured BRE? if it isn't going to cost a lot, why not try it.

Using these methods over time you can increase the effectiveness of your mailings. Always test, even when you think you have the perfect pack, continue to run a test campaign against it, even if the difference between the two is really quite small. If you continue to do this, your costs to acquire a customer should fall and fall.

Overall, the point is that there an almost infinitely large and almost limitless opportunity for testing. Maybe it's this huge scope for testing that puts people off, but I don't think it is. I think it's just a lack of awareness of what you can do. You don't need to complicate things, you can just run two packs with one difference between them and see how it goes.

Whatever you do though, don't commit commercial suicide and fail to test.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_3689.shtml

Make Your PR Stand for Perfect Resource

When you think of public relations or publicity, what comes to mind? For some people (even for some PR types), it may mean hounding or even badgering the media to get them to generate a story about you, your product or your business. Sometimes that works, but often it doesn't. As a PR professional, I realize the media has very little need for PR in the traditional sense. What the media does need is their own meaning of PR -- Perfect Resources.

MAKE THE MEDIA COME TO YOU!

Put together a brief bit of information highlighting your expertise for the media outlet's easy reference. I have even gone so far as to compile information labels for clients and simply attached them to the back of a business card or a Rolodex card that the media can then put in the "future file." Simply mention that you would be happy to share your expertise with them when a "newsworthy need" arises. And believe me, the need will arise sooner than you or the media think it will.

Once you are established as a Perfect Resource in your area of expertise, media outlets will turn to you when a newsworthy issue that relates to your industry comes to light. For instance, when the stock market soars or tumbles, what do media outlets immediately do? As a former TV news reporter/producer, I know what I did. Reactively, we tried to dig up a Perfect Resource financial planner or stockbroker to get a reaction or to localize the story. The resources we used in the interviews were more than likely those who had done some proactive PR—Perfect Resource—homework. BINGO! Instant, FREE publicity and the related consumer response; once the interview was printed or aired, the source would invariably see an increase in business and/or calls.

This type of PR may not lead to immediate media interest or exposure. To generate some immediate response..

spoon-feed those hungry media mongrels! Turn breaking news into your news. If a story that pertains to your area of expertise breaks or is about to break, whether it is local or national, make a quick phone call or fax that says, "I can help your readers/ viewers/ listeners understand what this means and how to react." Many reporters will interview you on the spot.

Your expertise doesn't have to be restricted to quips and quotes in your local newspaper or on the local airwaves. Start locally, and then move regionally, then nationally and maybe even internationally depending on your scope of expertise. If you truly have a product, information, research or expertise in a particular industry or medium...swim with the big fish. Consult with a PR professional who can help you research your applicable media market on a national scale. Compile a list of those media outlets that are not only able, but also willing to give you a platform to share your expertise. Many of the national news programs on networks like CNN and MSNBC are always on the lookout for articulate interview sources for their shows—but you have to know how to make yourself presentable to them. In the past few months, I have landed a number of clients on CNN and CNNfn and have others scheduled for national shows in the coming months. We used the PR—Perfect Resource—platform and created our own news.

Remember, these programs have to generate enough information to fill five shows a week. And as much as they hate to admit it, they secretly love us PR types... especially those of us who can make that editor's, reporter's or producer's job a lot easier with a little PR gift: you as the Perfect Resource. What will that gift mean for you? As one great ad slogan once chimed... "It's the gift that keeps on giving."

http://www.bplans.com/ma/article.cfm/131

The Increasing Power of Publicity

The call came into my office and the voice on the other end was very energetic, almost giddy: "I have finalized my marketing budget and need your help launching an advertising campaign for my new product," he breathed. "Congratulations," I replied, "but before we implement an ad campaign, I want to make sure you have explored potential PUBLICITY opportunities that could generate some cost-efficient media exposure first." Then, silence. "I never thought about that," he sighed. "Frankly, I don't know much about it."

He is not alone. It's a common conversation. Although many entrepreneurs or business people know a bit about publicity or media exposure, the majority of them simply don't understand the full benefits of "publicity placements" or how to go about generating them successfully. Publicity placements have always been a cost-efficient way to market a product/business and generate clients or customers, but because of lack of knowledge or a misunderstanding of what publicity is and does, many entrepreneurs don't take full advantage of publicity opportunities -- and that can lead to missed marketing chances.

I recently surveyed a few dozen business owners and entrepreneurs in newsgroups and business chat rooms about their knowledge of "publicity placements" in the media. I found that only 37% knew that a simple "product profile" in a magazine was generated as a result of publicity efforts. Most thought the company had paid the media outlet to run the feature, much like an ad. And of that 37%, less than half of them knew HOW to generate a similar placement.

Another interesting fact, because of the recent slowdown in the economy, expensive advertising budgets have been slashed. As a result, many businesses, like your competitors, are turning to publicity/PR campaigns as a more affordable means of marketing to compete with other companies. Here are some ways to use publicity placements to help your business:

Editorial Placements/Media Notification:

What some entrepreneurs might not realize is that we see editorial placements from publicity efforts everyday in the media: product profiles, feature articles and contributed by-lined articles in magazines, newspapers, trade industry newsletters, or on TV/radio/cable newscasts and shows. This is not advertising, this is "EDITORIAL Placement" or "Media Notification" of a product, business or industry expert. Notify the appropriate media that your newsworthy product is on the market or your business is offering a unique new service and let them run a feature placement that will spread that message to your consumer market. These placements can detail your product or business very effectively, giving consumers some objective, pertinent information that may well entice them to become future customers.

These editorial placements are looked upon much more credibly than ad placements. That is not a slam on advertising. Paying for advertising placements is indeed an effective way to market your product. But the fact is, a positive editorial placement such as a product profile in a magazine or a newspaper can be much more persuasive than a glossy, over-hyped advertisement -- and a fraction of the cost. My point is that editorial placements are an overlooked marketing vehicle for a business, and that entrepreneurs should understand the full benefits of these placements to make the most of their marketing efforts.

Editorial placements are a wonderfully reciprocal way for you and the media to work together for the betterment of your business.

The media needs to fill its pages and airtime with interesting information -- and you need to get the word out to your market. Research the media market to find those media outlets and editorial contacts with which you can forge that mutually beneficial relationship. But you have to do your part and do it right, or the media will forge that relationship with your competitor. Make sure your media message is solid, contains newsworthy angles and isn't disguised as overly commercialized ad copy. Have high-quality photos and media samples available and do all you can to make the media's job of featuring your product as simple as possible. It also helps to have some sort of clipping service in place to track your placements and get you copies so you can use them in your secondary marketing programs.

Expert Branding:

This type of publicity placement generating takes advantage of the expert knowledge within a particular business. It is an effective tool for entrepreneurs whose businesses are more service related, like consultants or specialists. Expert branding basically treats the expert like a product. Alert the media as to your expertise on a specific topic and avail yourself to serve as an expert interview resource for future articles or news feature segments. Additionally, the expert should write a few brief articles on a specialized topic and make them available to editors for review and possible publication. The challenge of this type of publicity placement is the tedious task of finding out which outlets accept "expert editorial contributions" or contributed by-lined articles in their publications. Again, it comes down to meticulously researching your media market to find those media outlets that may be in need of the editorial content that you can provide them.

With some creativity, expert branding can be effective for product-based businesses as well. One client of mine runs a fresh wild salmon distribution business in the Pacific Northwest and was looking to increase consumer awareness of his products. Based on his more than 20 years of experience in the wild salmon harvesting business, we are expert branding him as a viable interview resource to health/food editors for features detailing the differences and benefits of wild salmon over farm-raised fish, as well as other related topics. In this case, my client (the expert) is identified and quoted in features and the name of the business and even a link to a website are often included for consumers to check out. This is great credibility building exposure at little or no cost.

Overall, when using the media to help market your product or business, take advantage of as many FREE media opportunities as you can. If you lack the expertise or time, a PR agency or publicist can generate the editorial placements for you. The fee you pay them is a FRACTION of what it would cost you to buy similar sized ad placements. And those publicity placements typically lead to a much better consumer response right out of the gate -- which is just what you need to boost your business to the next level.

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Marketing and Advertising Forums

Forums related to marketing and advertising are generally seen on the Internet newsgroups and other online services or the BBS. Forums are mainly formed to exchange information on various products and subjects aided by a conferencing capacity. This allows participants to participate in question and answer sessions. They also comprise of various downloading fixes and demos. There are a number of marketing and advertising forums online that provide details about the industry as well as different products and also offer a number of trade links in order to connect with the manufacturers directly.

There are innumerable free marketing and advertising forums where classified ads can be posted to thousands of active clients. These forums are absolutely free and provide information about advertising and its growing importance, various products, services and programs. Although these forums are totally free, they require a registration before posting any free classifieds. This is generally the case when the forum is visited for the first time. Today marketing and advertising forums are a good way to gain the best possible information about different brands and products. These forums are also advertised using various techniques. Networking is considered a good option to advertise a particular forum. It is recommended that the name of the forum be advertised and should be posted on the message boards of people who are likely to be interested. Creating a newsletter is another good option to advertise since a number of active forum participants can subscribe to this newsletter informing family and friends about it.

Marketing and advertising forums are important sources for information and adequate knowledge about the marketing and advertising industry. These forums give a clear idea on the various prospects of this industry through question and answer sessions with a number of participants sharing their individual views.

Advertising to Augment Returns

The consumer spending patterns across the world have greatly altered in recent times. The process has been gradual yet consistent. In fact consumer awareness has increased manifold and therefore most of them now take a decision after taking into consideration all possible options available in the market. The role of advertising and the support extended by the Internet in tapping the huge market potential that exists is definitely not questionable. At the same time, advertisers are also becoming smarter as they look for various modes of free advertising to give their sales a boost without making much of an investment. This works as a means for them to tap at least a portion of the market without denting their financial situation. With the increasing accessibility of the Internet and its popularity across the world, advertising business Internet marketing is now the route to success for most entrepreneurs. In fact research suggests that Internet marketing web advertising go a great way in multiplying profits for all kinds of businesses across the world.

Well planned out advertising campaigns
Advertising business internet marketing is gradually becoming a science as the advertisers now understand the consumers mindset and plan the internet online marketing advertising business strategy accordingly. In order to sell Internet advertising, a number of websites provide the research support that would be required by entrepreneurs to plan the campaign. The main aim of all advertising campaigns is to convert raw traffic into consumers. A well planned out internet online marketing advertising business strategy can be employed to do this and the best way of strategizing is by employing experts who have an understanding of the market and consumer expectations. On the basis of this understanding, a proper campaign can be developed to take advantage of the resources and the wide consumer reach that the internet offers.

Taking advantage of the existing competition-Opting for free advertising
Most websites are now vying with each other to sell internet advertising and are looking at means of selling classified ads, and are offering competitive packages for advertisers who are considering internet marketing web advertising. And at the same time this class of entrepreneurs is steadily increasing as the advantages of Internet marketing web advertising are becoming evident. At the same time, opportunities for free advertising are also increasing. Free advertising on websites can greatly help in increased traffic and high search engine rankings. At the same time, before selecting a website for free advertising the advertiser should take into consideration the traffic that the website generates and if this traffic would be beneficial in achieving his marketing goals. It is also important to understand if this effort made for advertising business internet marketing would in anyway add to his consumer base. There are certain portals that extensively market themselves and leave no stone unturned to sell internet advertising, but it has to be the decision of the investor to decide whether or not the internet online marketing advertising business base offered by the portal would be beneficial for him or not. At the end of it, you need to understand that a portal can boost your sales not by the free advertising opportunity but by an increased visibility and credibility.

Tapping the dormant segment- Advertising based business free home opportunities
To generate a response and tap all possible segments a number of sites also offer advertising based business free home opportunities that can be made use of by specialists to promote the information selling advertising portals. These people are provided requisite information selling advertising knowledge and are given certain targets that they have to achieve. The information selling advertising knowledge can be leveraged to achieve these targets. Also there are a number of other opportunities that are brought forth for specialist looking at advertising based business free home options.

Competition arising from newspaper advertising
In the changing scenario and the increasing usage of the Internet selling newspaper advertising is gradually becoming tougher. Yet, marketing executives who specialize in selling newspaper advertising still manage to generate the advertising response that is required to for the medium. Selling classified ads has never been much of a problem, as this is an established medium that has proven its effectiveness over time. To ensure that the Internet does not take lead, a number of dailies even offer free newspaper classified advertising. For entrepreneurs who function at a local level, this free newspaper classified advertising can be much more beneficial than the free advertising offered online. And further, this free newspaper classified advertising can be used for selling classified ads and also for selling newspaper advertising.

Hispanic Marketing and Advertising Explosion

The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) announced the results of its survey assessing trends and influential factors in US Hispanic advertising over the past decade. More than 90 percent of respondents indicated that they anticipate corporate ad spending targeting the fastest growing segment of the US -- Latinos -- to increase in 2007 and more than 30 percent are predicting budget growth of more than 10 percent.

The majority of respondents (75.9%) believe the finance industry will increase spending most significantly over the next five years followed by entertainment (58.6%) and pharmaceuticals (55.2%). Travel is projected to increase ad spending to reach US Hispanic consumers as well as cited by 27.6% of survey takers.

The survey, part of AHAA's reflection on the industry in celebration of its 10-year anniversary, questioned AHAA member agency principals about events affecting their businesses and their projections of future investments by corporate America to reach the approaching $1 trillion in US Hispanic consumer spending.

The 2000 Census data, affirmed by an overwhelming majority of respondents (93.5%), is considered the most significant milestone attributed to the growth of the more than $5 billion US Hispanic advertising industry. Even with the government statistics to support the power of the US Hispanic consumer, more than 80 percent of respondents agree that the greatest challenge facing US Hispanic advertising agencies is persuading clients to invest more of their ad dollars in the burgeoning US Hispanic market.

"The Census data quantified the influence of Hispanics in the US and brought recognition to the significant clout, buying power and expected growth of this population segment," says Carl Kravetz, chairman of AHAA and chairman/chief strategic officer of Los Angeles-based cruz/kravetz:IDEAS. "It is an ongoing process to educate corporate marketers about the value of marketing to Latinos as more than just a project but an integral part of every marketing plan. We need to move beyond the 'why,' however, and begin to discuss the 'how' -- partnering with clients to engage this brand-loyal audience and connect emotionally with them using the language of cultural identity rather than getting bogged down in a debate over whether to use Spanish or English. It requires a deep understanding of the true Latino identity that Hispanic agencies are uniquely prepared to define for marketers."

In fact, segmentation of the Hispanic market is considered the leading influencer of agency business over the next five years. Further defining the complexities of Latinos as well as slices of this multifaceted population is viewed by more than 63 percent of respondents as the top significant change in the US industry. The influx of ad dollars to reach the coveted Hispanic segment was recognized by more than 56 percent of respondents and marketing with the Latino cultural identity in mind (53.3%) -- a real shift in the approach to reaching this audience -- were viewed as other significant developments that will shape the industry moving forward.

Internet Marketing Advertising Needs a Police Patrol

You will always know a leader when you see one. That is because you never have to announce the coming of a leader.

Leaders, you see, announce themselves, just as naturally as they step forward the instant they perceive that something should be done in a certain situation when nothing is being done. So it is with Internet Marketing advertising today, it is, in a word, a "mess" waiting to be cleaned up.

It is not that anything so terribly illegal is going on (at least I hope not). Marketers are exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of speech when they offer their goods and services on the Internet, some a little more zealously than others, and a few are camped out in a circle reserved for the most devious among us.

Devious as in showing a skillful use of underhanded tactics to achieve their goals, such as lining their pockets at someone's expense.

Virtually everything that appears to be a "mess" is under the protection of the First Amendment. You will recall the Constitutional Convention formally drafted the U. S. Constitution in 1787, in Philadelphia. The U. S. Constitution was adopted in 1789 after being ratified by nine states.

(Would you believe that Philadelphia in the 1750s was the largest city in America with a population of 23,000. When Benjamin Franklin went to London, London was the second largest city in the world with 750,000 inhabitants, second only to Beijing with 900,000.)

Two years later, 1791, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution (commonly known as the Bill of Rights) were ratified.

The first of those amendments said "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Some Internet readers have discerned what I have discerned, that while no laws are being broken (at least not yet), some marketers' lack of judgment has left them with little regard for exaggeration, loose facts and personal credibility.

Everyone appears to be looking the other way, either because they are making money hand over fist and do not want to interrupt their good fortune, or because they are afraid to recognize what is happening and throw up a caution sign. Therefore, an Internet Police Patrol might be in order to identify the worst advertising with the least credibility.

And since leaders announce themselves, we need not worry about creating some overblown bureaucratic organization to do the job. A few of us may just step up to the task on our own.

Maximizing The Effectiveness Of Your Network Marketing Advertising Dollars

It is common to assume that you want to advertise to get leads or prospects to look into your network marketing program and potentially have these prospects join your organization.

What is not commonly known to most networkers is that they can maximize the effectiveness of their advertising dollars by getting their money back either when their prospects join or do not join their program.

While this method can easily be done online, you can find a way to do it offline as well.

For the sake of this example, let's assume that you have an online MLM to start with.

1. Your network marketing program as a back-end profit

Your intention is to quickly recoup your advertising cost before your prospects even take a look at your network marketing program.

You can do this by selling quality infoproduct, such as an ebook - educating your prospects about network marketing in particular or the products or services your network marketing company has to offer.

For example, if your prospects are internet marketers, it makes sense to tell them how internet marketing and network marketing can work together hand-in-hand nicely to further increase their income. If they have not looked into network marketing yet, it could be their big mistake as network marketing industry is not the same as it was before ten years ago.

So, creating an ebook about the topic above will probably be a good choice to introduce network marketing concept to internet marketers in general. Then, make sure you suggest a company (your network marketing company) for them to check out.

In this case, you already made upfront profit from selling your ebook, and if your customers join your network marketing program, it will be a bonus residual income for you.

What if you couldn't create an ebook?

Try creating an e-course or starting a newsletter. Then, charge a small fee for your e-course or newsletter subscription. That will work too.

2. Your network marketing program as a front-end profit

This is a direct approach with a little twist.

You advertise your online network marketing program but before you let your prospects know more about your products or services, make sure you get their contact information first.

Their contact information could be their names, emails and phone numbers.

Then, get this information into your autoresponder or your mailing list software.

While introducing your MLM program to your prospects, your autoresponder can do an automatic follow up with your prospects.

After mailing your prospects 7 or 8 times, your prospects would either drop off from your mailing list, join your network marketing program or are not interested to join but want to keep in touch with you.

This is when you'll introduce complementary products to your MLM business.

For example, you can inform your prospects that they can build a website to do prospecting or simply to sell something on the internet.

If your prospects are network marketers in different companies, they will be interested to know how to effectively find prospects online. If your prospects are those who look for a way to make money online, your resource will be helpful to them too. Either way, you have both covered and you'll get commissions from every sale you recommend the complementary product.

At the same time, you still want to mention your MLM program in case they change their minds and join you in the future.

For your information, these are the two strategies that have been used by many top network marketers to make sure that they will always be in a win-win-win situation.

Now that you have this knowledge, go out and apply either one or both strategies. Of course, there are pros and cons to doing everything. So, check with your upline if these ideas might bring more success to your team.

Moving Forward Requires Letting Go of Dollar-for-Dollar Mentality

Media Companies Must Completely Reinvent Themselves

It's time to stop waiting for a dollar to be a dollar.

There still seems to be this magical belief in some circles of the old ... er, traditional ... er, let's say "established" media business that all balance will be restored when that dollar lost in magazine advertising revenue or CD sales or TV spots is made up for with a dollar earned online or through another digital channel. Sorry, but it just won't be that simple.


But what if the total coming in from digital channels fails to cover the full dollar publishers and broadcasters are losing from declining revenue in their traditional channels? | ALSO: Comment on this column in the 'Your Opinion' box below.
But what if the total coming in from digital channels fails to cover the full dollar publishers and broadcasters are losing from declining revenue in their traditional channels? | ALSO: Comment on this column in the 'Your Opinion' box below.

That last 10%

There's no evidence that will happen any time soon, and it shouldn't be the magic moment we're all waiting for. Instead, companies have to revise cost structures, eliminate biases from legacy business models and find new ways to make up for the decline in traditional revenue streams. If you've traditionally been a magazine publisher, maybe half of that lost dollar can be made up for in online-ad revenue and another 20 cents from conferences and 10 cents from overseas licensing and 10 cents more from premium subscription services. And that last 10 cents may have to be made up for in reduced costs.

Those numbers are completely made up, of course, but that's the mind-set needed to reinvent the model. The point is to have necessity be the mother of invention rather than to wait passively for the dollar that's disappeared from your left hand to show up in your right.

As has been noted in this space at various times, Ad Age (and our parent, Crain Communications) faces many of the same challenges as the companies we cover. I've used this column periodically to discuss those, not to polish our image or tout our successes but rather in the spirit of opening a dialogue on the evolution of the media business.

Embrace the digital revolution

It's not easy, this transition, but it is exciting to be one of the people charged with figuring it out. Besides, we have no choice. Keith Ruby -- who was honored at Ad Age's Marketing 50 event last week for helping turn a woman's MySpace popularity into a profitable business -- offered this bit of advice: Embrace the digital revolution, because it's going to happen "with or without you."

That sentiment was echoed by a denizen of the established-media universe, Dow Jones CEO Rich Zannino, who told Forbes.com that print will eventually make up less than half of his company's revenue. "Our plan is not without risk," Rich said, "but the risk of the status quo is even greater."

The same is true at our shop, which is why Ad Age goes to market as a brand that exists across many platforms rather than a media product defined by a method of distribution. It's why the digital/online and events/conferences segments are the fastest-growing parts of our business, even as print remains the biggest and most profitable (and, for many in our audience, the most highly valued expression of our brand). Ultimately, it's not about one segment vs. the other; it's about serving the customer.

Mind-set transition

Once we accept that a dollar here isn't going to be swapped out for a dollar there, more creativity and innovation should result. But a true mind-set shift is a necessary first step.

I was reminded of that again when I recently spotted a headline that read, "Digital Music Up 80%, but Shy of Lost Revenue." It quoted an industry group's estimate that digital-music sales increased from $1.1 billion in 2005 to $2 billion last year. But the story quickly deflated that achievement by noting that the rise in digital sales failed to "cover the decline in CD sales."

That anyone thought it should betrays a dollar-for-dollar mentality. The music business shouldn't look for one stream to replace another but should explore multiple revenue sources, including ad-supported distribution models that have so far seen little industry support.

Maybe those who crack the code can even find a way to turn that lost dollar into two earned ones.

Lite-Brites, Big City and a Whole Load of Trouble

It's sure to be remembered as one of the silliest marketing efforts of all time, trumped only in its absurdity by the reaction it provoked -- a reaction that should ensure the Turner Broadcasting promotion a place in history not only as a superlative folly, but perhaps one as of the most cost-effective campaigns of all time.

What started out as a small-budget guerilla street promotion for cult TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" on Cartoon Network, some light boxes featuring the show's Mooninite characters surreptitiously dotted around Boston, quickly descended into a full-scale emergency as they were taken for explosive devices. Then, almost as swiftly -- thanks to cable news, newspaper websites and an army of bloggers -- the whole incident was transformed into a national debate on whether this was marketing run amok or whether the authorities might have been able to defuse it with the help of a 15-year-old or a Google search rather than a bomb squad.

Even with the $1 million in reparations that Turner may have to pay the city for the blind panic it caused last Thursday, it could still consider itself in the black in ROI terms, given it dominated the media for 48 hours -- even upstaging hype for the world's biggest ad showcase, the Super Bowl.

But all publicity is not good publicity, a Turner spokeswoman said. The company was damned by many, notably Boston authorities, who missed no opportunity to express their disgust, and, of course, Fox News, which seemed to relish the misstep.

Marketing experts and associations said much of the condemnation was deserved (see sidebar) but also pointed out that Turner was unlucky the reaction spiraled so rapidly. Turner should have cleared the campaign with authorities, some said, while others noted that putting a small black box in a public place should have raised alarms at the agency or marketer -- even if it was a small black box displaying a Lite Brite-like cartoon character.

Experts also said there is no room for deceptive or dishonest tactics in today's world. "There's a difference between guerilla and stealth," said Paul Rand, communications director, Word of Mouth Marketing Association. "We ... have to make sure we all as an industry stay self-correcting. That doesn't mean you can't do really good, thoughtful guerilla campaigns. You just have to do it honestly."

Whether the snafu boosts "Aqua Teen's" ratings and its forthcoming movie remains to be seen, but awareness among the show's target demographic of 18- to 34-year-old males must have risen considerably in the wake of the incident. It will be interesting to see whether the characters are lifted from cult status into the mainstream. "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is shown during the Adult Swim lineup, which last year drew an average of 369,000 viewers 18 to 34, most of them (234,000) men under 25. The cost of Mooninites on eBay last week rose from around $250 to around $4,000; none seemed to be on sale at press time.

Jason Maltby, president-national broadcast at MindShare, described the media fallout as a "double-edged sword" for Turner from a publicity standpoint but said the coverage should resonate at least with core fans. "Adult Swim does a very good job of reaching young males with a certain taste for certain types of comedy," he said. "This will not have any negative impact on business. If it has any positive impact, it will probably be small, in terms of maybe getting people to tune in and find out what 'Aqua Teen' is all about."

The widely viewed performance of Sean Stevens and Peter Berdovsky, the campaign's executors -- in which they barely tried to contain their knowing smirks and spent three minutes riffing on the history of the dreadlock -- spoke volumes about the audience for this kind of marketing. The same college kids who watch Adult Swim are the ones advertisers asked to create their consumer-generated campaigns and are hoping to receive comments from on their Super Bowl spots on YouTube. Cable-news outlets, in fact, noticed that the earliest e-mails coming into their websites were from young men who were first to identify the Mooninite character and note the unlikelihood that this was a terrorist act.

Meanwhile, Super Bowl marketers were getting little press at all. "It's a very interesting question if advertisers start to connect dots on why they didn't get a lot of buzz," said Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing officer, Nielsen BuzzMetrics. "The bigger cost is to marketers who really put a premium on consolidated attention coming into the biggest marketing event of the year. I've heard people say, 'Oh my gosh, I'm sure [Turner's] secretly happy, they've built the brand,' but it definitely raises some tougher questions. "

He added: "There's some collateral damage emerging from some of these attention-at-all-costs initiatives. ... That's where the marketing community might have to take a step back and say, 'OK, are we kind of hurting our own to get ahead?"'