advertising

How to Turn Your Instagram Account Into a Paying Gig

Camilla Cheung — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 09:30:10 +0000

When it comes to digital marketing, Instagram is at the top of the heap. With 800 million users as of September 2017, the visually-driven platform is a big moneymaker for brands who are savvy about social media marketing.

So how can you leverage that marketing power to make some money off your own Instagram account? Assuming that you're just a regular individual who has built an engaged following, there are certainly ways to make an extra buck or two, or even support yourself, using your Instagram account. (See also: 5 Social Media Stars Who Earn Way More Than You)

1. Create sponsored posts

If you have a lifestyle or product-driven Instagram account, doing a few sponsored posts can provide a neat little side stream of income. Once your account has amassed a few thousand followers, you can start reaching out to brands (or they'll reach out to you) about doing a paid post. How much you'll be compensated varies greatly depending on the brand, how specialized your niche is, how engaged your followers are, and whether you'll include other services, like writing a blog post or hosting a giveaway.

Be wary of fatiguing your followers with constant sponsored posts, however. The whole reason why Instagram marketing is so popular is because it seems more authentic and engaged with its audience than traditional forms of marketing. Too many sponsored posts could make you look like you're just a brand mouthpiece.

2. Create content

With the growing importance of Instagram marketing, many brands are focusing more of their ad budget on creating content for social media channels, and often they hire freelancers for this rather than employ full-time staff. With this comes a whole new job category, the content creator — someone who is paid to create photos and written content for Instagram posts.

You don't need to have a huge following to sell your services as a content creator, but you do need creative photos and captions. Many brands are finding that it is less expensive to hire a content creator than to hire a professional photography studio — the photos don't need to be as detailed or as formal-looking, and can often be taken with natural light. You can also sell your Instagram photos through services like Snapwire, Foap, and Lobster Media. (See also: Earn Extra Income With Your Smartphone Camera)

For written content, instead of going through a marketing firm, some brands (especially smaller ones) are hiring freelance copywriters instead. What this means is that Instagram users with clever captions and descriptions are able to find work in content creation by using their Instagram accounts as an online portfolio.

3. Turn free products into paid work

Influencers, even small ones with just a few thousand followers, are often inundated with offers of free products in exchange for an Instagram post, a review, or a shoutout. While free products can be fun, they don't pay the bills.

What you can do, however, is turn these offers of free product into paying gigs. For products that I'm interested in, I'll often create an Instagram post using the free products. If the brand reacts favorably, I might email my contact at the brand offering freelance writing or photography services. Quite often, pitching brands for paid work turns into an opportunity to blog for them, create a set of product photos, or for long-term collaboration. (See also: How I Scored Tons of Free Stuff By Building a Small Social Media Audience)

4. Become a brand ambassador

Becoming a brand ambassador can set you up for steady income every month. Brand ambassador programs can vary greatly in compensation, from free products and an affiliate incentive, to monthly paid partnerships. Here, your status as an influencer will play a large role — the more engaged your followers are, the better a package you can negotiate. It's always best to work with a brand you truly believe in, so that you are authentic to your followers when you promote it on a consistent basis.

5. Do brand consulting

Once you have amassed a good number of followers who respect your opinion, some brands recognize that you may have good feedback to give them on how they market their brand. They may be willing to pay for that feedback. I personally know a few bloggers/Instagrammers who have been paid to spend a few hours chatting with a company about their products and how they can improve their brand image. There's also a whole category of Instagram consultants who help small or new accounts and brands polish their social media strategy and their Instagram feed.

6. Earn through affiliate networks

Earning money through an affiliate network means that every time someone makes a purchase based on your influence (by clicking an affiliate link with your unique code attached to it), you gain a commission. Affiliate sales can be a great way for influencers to earn income, but they tend to be more effective if you have a large following or if the product you're marketing is super popular. Nevertheless, affiliate sales can be another way to diversify your income stream, and for some influencers they can be extremely lucrative.

Because personal accounts on Instagram allow only one live URL (the link in your profile bio), and do not allow direct linking through Instagram photos, affiliate marketing on Instagram is different from blogs or other forms of social media. Some influencers have turned to third-party apps like LIKEtoKNOW.it, which send subscribed users an email with links to buy the products when users click "like" on an influencer's photo. You can also send users to your blog or another website where you have your affiliate links available.

7. Adhere to federal requirements

It's important to remember that the Federal Trade Commission notes that all Instagram posts (even the temporary posts on Instagram Stories) should fully disclose if the creator received compensation in any form for the post. This applies to free products as well as to monetary compensation. On Instagram, you can use the hashtags #ad, #sponsored, or an explanation in the caption. If you're going to be making money off your Instagram account, you must be upfront about it with your followers.

You must also be responsible for reporting your income and paying taxes on it, so you will want to factor that into your asking rates. Brands who pay you are reporting their expenses on their end, so you must also report them when you file your income taxes to avoid a potential penalty.

If you've spent time building a following on Instagram, why not make it work for you financially? You might be surprised at how our growing social media use has resulted in a growing industry where you could earn some extra money, or even start an unconventional new career.

Like this article? Pin it!

This article is from Camilla Cheung of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

8 Misleading Gadget Marketing Gimmicks

Samantha Stauf — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 08:30:18 +0000

Consumers now have thousands of computers, tablets, e-readers, phones, game consoles, and other gadgets to choose from. Unfortunately, technology marketing teams have a frustrating history of creating misleading marketing campaigns — from the commercials they create to the facts listed on product listings. Here are eight misleading marketing gimmicks to be aware of before you purchase any new tech toys.

1. PlayStation 4 Pro's 4K graphics

The new PlayStation has been marketed as a new 4K gaming experience. Despite the marketing claims, developers have begun to admit that the console doesn't have the processing power to render a true 4K image. Instead, the PS4 Pro fills in half of the required pixels for a 4K image (like a checkerboard) and utilizes an algorithm to fill in the missing pixels for a 4K screen, which will still result in a high definition gaming experience, but not technically 4K.

The PS4 Pro will be close enough to 4K image that most gamers won't be able to tell the difference. Mislabeling the PS4 Pro as 4K isn't malicious, but it's still indicative of an industry that continually oversells image quality as true 4K.

2. Video game trailers with misleading images

Video games, every once in awhile, mislead gamers about the quality of the graphics. Gamers awed by the trailers, purchase the game, and then are disappointed by the poorer-than-advertised image quality. Game marketers hoodwink gamers in two ways: pre-rendered images and cross console game images.

No Man's Sky has come under fire (and an investigation by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority) for using concept art and pre-rendered footage to advertise their game in a manner that over-exaggerates the graphics.

In 2010, Final Fantasy XIII's trailer was banned by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority for using PlayStation 3 clips to advertise the Xbox 360 version of the game. The trailer convinced individuals to purchase the game, only for them to discover the Xbox 360 version of the game had lower quality graphics.

3. Available storage space

Available memory is an important aspect of many purchases. Is 8GB enough? Or would a 32GB device be better? Each consumer needs to make an educated decision which device best fits their needs. The problem is that tech manufacturers often choose to not advertise how much of the memory has already been used by preinstalled software and hardware.

How big can the discrepancy between advertised and available storage be? In the past, Apple iPhones and iPads had 20 percent less storage space than advertised. And in one case, one of Microsoft's tablets had less than half of the advertised storage space.

Before you purchase a new device, check user reviews for the product, and the product listings on Amazon, as the site tends to list both overall and available memory.

4. Laptops with overinflated battery power estimates

Laptop manufacturers rarely advertise a realistic battery estimate. Major tech companies have fallen into a maddening habit of unrealistically tweaking power tests to skew the results far higher than most consumers can expect.

Users might get the projected battery power out of the laptop if they dim the screen far lower than comfortable, increase battery power saving settings far higher than useful, and never play games or watch movies.

On average, laptop power projections tend to be two to four hours lower than what the company claims. If you're in the market for a new computer, you can find out just how much each major computer company over-exaggerates their battery life by checking computer battery tests conducted by Which.co.uk.

5. E-readers with misleading battery calculations

The manufacturers of e-readers are slightly more honest (if you read the fine-print) about their attempts to mislead consumers about the battery power of their devices. Amazon's Voyage's specs at the very top of the page state the "battery lasts weeks, not hours." At the very bottom of the page, Amazon reveals that it will only last weeks if it is used half an hour per day.

It's not just Amazon. Barnes & Nobles advertises that their NOOK GlowLight Plus has "weeks of battery life" and later reveals the 30 minutes of reading time per day formula they used to come up with the number.

6. E-readers cause "no eye strain"

Amazon has claimed for years their Kindles don't cause eye strain. Recently they softened their claim by advertising their newer Kindles can be read for hours without eye strain.

It's true that the Kindle is slightly easier on the eyes in some circumstances, but it won't necessarily eliminate the chance of eye strain after hours of reading.

The New York Times explains that e-readers can be great in bright settings but cause strain in dark settings due to E-ink low contrast ratio and the backlight on the screen. An e-reader can eliminate some eye strain, but integrating breaks into your reading binges every 20 to 30 minutes is a far more useful method.

7. Unlimited phone data plans

Are you tired of meticulously monitoring your data consumption each month? Phone companies have an answer for that pesky problem. Just sign up for an unlimited data plan.

These plans sound wonderful, but the reality is slightly less than ideal. For example, Verizon's plan only ensures 4G LTE service for the first 22 GB of service. After that, they can decrease your speed of service. Other networks offer similar caveats. T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint all have policies that allow them to decrease the speeds they grant individuals once they reach 22 to 28GB each month.

Think very carefully before signing onto an unlimited plan, the cost might not be worth the service offered. (See also: 15 Ways to Prevent Your Smartphone From Wasting Data)

8. Surround sound headphones

Headphones are often marketed as surround sound gadgets even if they don't offer a true surround sound experience. When consumers pay for a surround sound experience, they expect that the headphones or stereos used will send sound toward an individual from every direction.

A large portion of the marketplace offers simulated surround sound headphones and other gadgets that have two speakers and utilize internal and external amps that turn stereo sound waves into a surround sound experience.

Simulated headphones are typically cheaper, but they don't offer the same level of high quality surround sound experience.

This article is from Samantha Stauf of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

8 Creative Ways to Make Money on Super Bowl Sunday

Mikey Rox — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 16:01:11 +0000

I don't watch football, I don't like football — heck, I don't even know how to play football. And I won't apologize for it. So what will I do when the Big Game takes over the first Sunday of February? The best thing I know how — make money!

Join me in exploring these options for lining my pockets with cash this Super Bowl Sunday. You can be all counterculture, too.

1. Provide a Party Setup Service

While most people plan their own Super Bowl parties, there are some folks out there who'd rather hand over the reins to someone else. I know when I host parties, I'm beat by the time the festivities begin after cleaning and cooking all day. If you've got the skills to set up a memorable get together, advertise those skills locally on social media, the Nextdoor app, or Craigslist. Keep your rates affordable ($20 an hour or less; it's not like you're discovering a cancer vaccine) and factor in the cost of goods if the host doesn't already have things to decorate and set up.

2. Drive for Lyft or Uber

I've been driving for Uber and Lyft sporadically for about six months, but I always make sure to get on the road during holidays and big events. You might not realize it, but days like Black Friday and Super Bowl Sunday are great opportunities to make more cash than usual because more people are out and about. And since Super Bowl Sunday goes hand-in-hand with drinking too much beer, you can expect that many revelers will need rides to and from their destinations that evening.

3. Tap Into Influencer Marketing Programs

In addition to blogging about personal finance, I also run a media company wherein I provide PR services to some of my clients. Recently, this has included hiring social media influencers, mainly on Instagram, to wear my clients' products and post about them. The influencers get paid for their posts, and the brand reaches targeted demographics who may have never heard of their products before. For the Super Bowl, these kinds of opportunities exist as well (but not through me; please don't contact me). Kamiu Lee, vice president of business development and strategy at Bloglovin', a leading lifestyle and social discovery platform, explains.

"If you have a successful blog or a strong social media following, the Super Bowl is a perfect time to get involved with influencer marketing," she says. "Brands that don't have that multimillion dollar ad budget still want to be a part of the biggest advertising event of the year, and in order to do so, they're looking to work with influencers who will help them reach their niche target audiences."

Of course, you should have a decent-sized following of at least several thousand to be considered for these kinds of marketing programs.

4. Become a Freelance Delivery Person for a Day

It should come as no surprise that Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest pizza delivery days of the year, along with Halloween, the day before Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. While you won't get any work delivering pies for the likes of the big guys, there are still opportunities available — especially if you live in cities where third-party delivery services, like DoorDash, are popular.

According to a DoorDash representative, Super Bowl Sunday is one of the busier days for delivery on the app.

"With orders for buffalo wings increasing by 500% and pizza deliveries by 300%, likely due to all the parties happening at people's homes, anyone can make several deliveries via DoorDash and still be home in time to catch the game," the company says.

5. Offer Child and Pet Sitting Services

There are several ways to get in on the lucrative baby and pet sitting game.

If you prefer child care, sites like UrbanSitter, Care.com, and Sittercity can help connect you with parents who'd like to be child-free while they whoop it up for their favorite team. Services like DogVacay and Rover.com, on the other hand, will match you with pet owners who need a helping hand during the game. Personally, I enjoy participating in the latter — I watch dogs from DogVacay frequently — and there's really nothing better than getting paid to play with puppies. Completely relaxing and satisfying.

6. Sell Your Winning Team Memorabilia After the Game

Have special or signed memorabilia from members of the winning team lying around the house? Maximize your earnings by timing the sale of these items for the team's big win. List the memorabilia on eBay and see what you get. If it's a particularly amazing game, you might make out better than you anticipated.

7. Advertise Small-Scale Catering

Like party planning, many party hosts don't want to deal with cooking all the gameday junk food if they don't have to. One alternative is to order everything in, which can get pricey — and the quality isn't always top-notch considering that takeout joints are pushing food out the door at warp speed that day.

Another alternative, however, is to order food from a small-scale caterer — and that's where you come in. If you've got skills in the kitchen, offer to prepare a spread for a friend, coworker, or family member's party. Create a menu, prepare the food, deliver and set it up, and take care of cleanup afterward. This scenario lets you enjoy the game (at least a little bit) while making money doing something you love. Again, keep your rates reasonable and research the cost of all ingredients and materials (aluminum trays, etc.) before providing a quote; the idea is to make money, not spend money you don't even have.

8. Clean Homes Before or After the Festivities

Since Super Bowl Sunday is not a national holiday — despite what many people might think — somebody's got to do that evening's or the next day's dirty work. If your schedule accommodates cleaning up after a Super Bowl party, post an ad on Craigslist or Nextdoor offering your services. If you live in a particularly festive area, you're likely to get a bite or two if you keep your prices affordable — say, no more than $20 an hour.

Like this article? Pin it!

This article is from Mikey Rox of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

How Many of These "Frugal Virtues" Have You Mastered?

Tim Lemke — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 11:00:11 +0000

What does it mean to be truly frugal?

It's more than just trying to save money. In many ways, being frugal is a lifestyle. It's a virtuous one, too, if you can handle the commitment.

To embody a frugal attitude requires you to follow a philosophy based on simplicity, discipline, and an awareness of yourself and the world around you.

These are the Frugal Virtues. How many have you mastered?

1. Stifling Instant Gratification

You buy a $5.99 cappuccino because you feel like you need caffeine immediately. You buy a new car because it's shiny and awesome and you just can't wait to have it. You're the first to get the next iPhone, and absolutely must see the next Star Wars sequel on the night it comes out. You're not the type to wait for things. Unfortunately for you, when it comes to spending, patience is a virtue. New products are almost always cheaper if you wait to buy them. And when you wait to buy something, you may realize you don't need the item after all. Spending to satisfy every immediate urge is not part of the path to financial freedom.

2. Seeking Efficiency

To be efficient is to have maximum productivity with the least effort and expense. This concept of efficiency can be applied to a number of areas of personal finance. It could mean driving a car with good fuel mileage, or finding an air conditioning system that gives you the most bang for your buck. It may mean investing your money so that you can generate income with little effort. It could mean spending a small amount of time planning meals for the week, so that you're not wasting time and money later.

3. Looking for Free Stuff

Why pay for something if you can get it for free? One major virtue of frugal people is their ability to find a cost-free option for many items that the rest of us usually pay for. It might be using a coupon for a free meal at a restaurant, checking out books from the library, or grabbing a perfectly good lawn chair that's been placed out in the trash. It means being happy with over-the-air television, and dressing the kids in hand-me-down clothing. Not everything in life can be had for free, but you'd be surprised what you don't need to pay for.

4. Ignoring Advertising

When you watch TV or surf the Internet, you're bombarded with companies trying to get you to part with your money. Marketing folks are experts at manipulating people's emotions, ultimately convincing them that they need a product or service. Frugal people don't get swayed by commercials and banner ads. They don't jump at the latest email promotion or Facebook ad, and they know when something is baloney or not. When they buy things, they are motivated only by their own needs, and aren't swayed by outside influence.

5. Ignoring What's Popular

So everyone you know has a wide selection of clothes from LuLaRoe. They have the newest smartphones. They have awesome sunglasses and eat at the trendiest restaurants. A frugal person ignores this, and avoids making decisions based on what is popular or cool.

6. Avoiding Financial Traps

A financial trap is something that, on the surface, seems like a good deal but is more likely to harm you in the long run. Adjustable rate mortgages, quick payday loans, and even car leases are often considered traps because of their potential to hamstring a person financially if they aren't careful. A frugal person understands the potential pitfalls of every financial decision they make, and stays away from these traps.

7. Embracing the Sharing Economy

Do you and your neighbor both need a high-powered leaf blower? Why not buy one for the two of you and split the cost? Do you have an extra property that you could rent out on Airbnb? Could you save money through a ride-sharing service rather than buying a new car? The sharing economy is based on the notion that we don't need to "own" things as much as have access to them whenever we need them. By reducing what we own, we can save money, clutter, and possibly our sanity.

8. Staying Informed

There are reasons why stock prices go up and down. There are reasons why the cost of goods and services can fluctuate. There are reasons why you're paying more for housing than your parents did. When you understand how markets and the economy work and pay attention to financial news and world events, you're in a position to make smart decisions at every turn. Frugal people know how to read the tea leaves to make the right financial moves. The most frugal people don't just avoid spending; they also make informed choices when it comes to their money.

9. Understanding Value

The concept of value is a bit nebulous, but we've all heard the term "bang for your buck." In essence, this means getting the most out of every dollar you spend. It doesn't necessarily mean buying the cheapest item every time. Rather, it means avoiding luxury for luxury's sake. And it means taking into account things like overall quality and durability of the items we buy.

This article is from Tim Lemke of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

How to Earn Extra Income With Twitter

Kat Tretina — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 09:30:31 +0000

If you spend time on Twitter, you have likely seen promoted posts from celebrities hawking products. Kim Kardashian, the queen of social media, reportedly makes $10,000 a tweet. But even if you are not a celebrity, you can still make plenty of money from social media. If you have a strong following on Twitter, you can turn it into an income stream. (See also: 6 Ways Social Media Can Save You Money)

What You Need to Make Money

To make money off of Twitter, you need to have an account with a following. The money you can charge is based on a variety of factors. If you have a smaller fan base, but your followers are very engaged with your posts, you can charge more than someone with a large but disconnected following.

To be able to charge clients for tweets, you should build an audience of several thousand followers. Build your following by regularly posting content throughout the day. But most importantly, be social. Reply and tweet to other people to start conversations. Participate in Twitter chats to meet new people and get your name out there.

How to Get Connected to Advertisers

There are many different ways to get connected to advertisers, including sites that act as the middleman.

Use PaidPerTweet

PaidPerTweet connects advertisers with millions of users, from celebrities to bloggers and everyday people. For a fee, advertisers can select a user to issue a tweet from their account. Fees range from $1 a post to $5,000 a post. For example, comedian George Lopez charges $2,000 a tweet. "Camibeth33," a self-described social media junkie, charges just $1 a tweet to reach her 9,000 followers.

Reach Out to Brands Directly

While PaidPerTweet can connect you to advertisers, there is no guarantee anyone will select you out of the millions of users. That's why it makes sense to skip the intermediary and reach out to brands yourself. For example, if you tweet often about beauty products and style trends, connect with growing brands to see if they'd want to get their products in front of your followers. Many times, a groundswell of normal people can launch a brand more successfully than hiring a celebrity spokesperson, as the regular person has more credibility and authenticity.

Post Great Content and Sit Back

If you post great content regularly and build your audience, chances are, brands will come to you. List in your profile that you are PR friendly, and you will likely receive messages from companies asking you to post reviews of their products in return for free trials or a fee.

Other Ways to Make Money on Twitter

Besides getting paid to tweet, there is another way to make income from your Twitter account. Sign up for affiliate accounts and tweet links to your favorite products.

Some sites, like Shopstyle, pay you per click. Every time someone clicks on a link you tweet, you get a few cents. On other platforms, like Amazon's affiliate program, you get a percentage of whatever purchase users make. If they click on your item, but buy other things as well, you also get a percentage of those sales.

When using affiliate links, it's best to focus in on a specific niche, such as fashion, beauty, pet care, or technology. The products you feature should fit the theme of other content you post regularly. So if you post a lot of dog pictures, tweeting out links to kibble brands or grooming tools will be a natural fit.

Use affiliate links sparingly so it doesn't become spammy, and post products you have actually used and like. That will be more appealing to your followers and encourage more clicks and purchases.

Like this article? Pin it!

This article is from Kat Tretina of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The 10 Best Personal Finance Jingles of All Time

Paul Michael — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 11:00:16 +0000

Since the early 1920s, advertising jingles have been coaxing their way into our conscious, and subconscious, minds. Advertising agencies use them as a way to plant a seed, so that when you need a specific product or service, you are instantly reminded of one in particular. They don't even need to be poetic, or artfully crafted. Perhaps the most famous jingle of all time was the one that ended the Mad Men finale recently — "I'd like to buy the world a Coke." And who can forget the Oscar Meyer wiener jingle? Even the dull old world of personal finance can be livened up with a jingle.

Here, in no particular order, are 10 of the best personal finance jingles of all time. They are catchy, they are memorable, and while you may have otherwise forgotten about the product or services they recommend, you certainly haven't forgot the tunes!

1. FreeCreditReport.Com

You cannot deny the instant hits that were the FreeCreditReport.com jingles. There were nine of them in total, and they garnered millions of hits on YouTube. Chances are, you're already humming the tune after seeing the title.

The most memorable of the nine talked about a guy trying to buy a car. It began: "Well I was shopping for a new car, which one's me? A cool convertible or an SUV? Too bad I didn't know my credit was whack, 'cause now I'm driving off the lot in a used sub-compact. F-R-E-E that spells free, credit report dot com baby."

Of course, someone had to pay for those ads, and that money came from signups that were not free at all; you had to pay for a $14.95 per month service after a $1 seven-day trial. The truly free credit reports AnnualCreditReport.com where you can request one from each of the three major credit-reporting bureaus every year.

2. State Farm

It's impossible not to start singing "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there" when you see or hear the words "State Farm." Specializing in insurance products, the company was founded in 1922 by a retired farmer and insurance salesman called George Jacob Mecherie. The ads and jingles have actually evolved from something quite sappy and sentimental into something more memorable and witty, with the latest being about State Farm insurance agents magically appearing when regular members of the public (played by actors) sing the little ditty. Admit it. You're singing it now.

3. Kars 4 Kids

Personally, I think this has to be one of the worst jingles ever perpetrated on the American public. It's just awful. It's mundane, it's monotone, it's irritatingly repetitive…and yet, when you hear it you are humming it for the rest of the day. Of course, it doesn't hurt that this is a product we can all get behind. Instead of just giving your old, broken car to a junkyard, you can donate it to Kars 4 Kids and also get a nice write-off on your taxes. But oh, that jingle…make it stop!

4. American Family Insurance

This is hardly an inspired jingle, lyrically speaking anyway. The advertising agency simply put the name of the company to music, using a woman's voice to sing the name instead of speaking it. However, sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. It may have been years since you saw or heard a jingle my American Family Insurance, but now that five or so seconds of warm and fuzziness is stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Sorry about that.

5. Marine Midland Bank

You have to blow the dust off the archives to remember this one from a bank that no longer exists (although if you're part of the HSBC banking group, MMB is in there…somewhere). The jingle will bring memories flooding back to many of you though — "Tell it…to the marine!" Tell what? Well, whatever you wanted, from a loan to a decent interest rate, MMB was the place to go.

6. Bank of America

Considering the double meaning of the word "bank," it's surprising more financial institutions didn't use a "You can bank on us" direction for their tagline or jingle. Clearly the biggest one to exploit this was Bank of America, who in the late 80s employed the jingle — Bank On the Leader, Bank of America. It's catchy and memorable to this day. (Scroll to 9:01)

7. JG Wentworth

Something that a good jingle will do (and remember, in this case good doesn't mean clever), is drill the company's phone number and service into your head. If it can do it quickly and with a tune you cannot forget, you have a winner. JG Wentworth is still getting mileage out of this operatic jingle, which goes "Call JG Wentworth, 877-cash-now!" Repetitive, and infuriatingly impossible to get out of your head once you've heard it, you cannot deny it works. As for the service they provide, learn the downsides before cashing in an annuity or settlement.

8. TSB (Trustee Savings Bank)

This one may be unfamiliar to anyone who did not grow up in England, but it has to be included for the way it made the word YES become synonymous with a bank. The jingle, "TSB…the bank that likes to say YES!" was everywhere for a few years in England, and it was an approach that not only made the bank appear friendly, but also very open for business. At a time when many banks were saying no to people for loans, both business and personal, TSB had these ads running. The clever part — it doesn't actually mean anything! Just because they LIKE to say yes, it doesn't mean you're getting your loan. It doesn't even mean you're getting an account. Smart thinking from the ad agency.

9. GoCompare.com

Another one from the UK, you will be humming this one all day even if you've never heard it before. As jingles go, it's right on the money. It's repetitive, it includes the company name a bunch of times, and it does it with all the subtlety of a sledge hammer — "Go compare, go compare, to be sure when you insure first go compare!" And it's all done with some bizarre parody of a Pavarottian-style singer whose moustache is curlier than wine corkscrew.

10. Mastercard International

We've saved the jingliest jingle for last (Scroll to 3:03). It's odd to think this one came out of the 80s, it has all the style and sophistication of an ad from…the 1970s! Yes, it's "So worldy, so welcome, so worldy, so welcome." Looking at it now, it seems a tad dated. But in the 1980s, it was too, so don't feel too bad. However, this is one that will be stuck in your head when you're trying to get to sleep tonight. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Which personal finance jingles do you remember, even when you don't want to? Post your favorites in the comments section.

This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Choosing the Wrong Color Can Cost You Big on These Purchases

Max Wong — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 16:00:08 +0000

People generally chalk up color to personal preference when making a purchase, but what about those times when that choice can actually cost money? Strangely, I spend a lot of brain space thinking about the impact of color on my finances.

I'm typing this article from the comfort of my new coral pink yoga mat. Coral is one of my favorite colors. Also, I am way more excited than I should be about the fact that it looks like a giant stick of chewing gum.

Even though my yoga mat comes with a lifetime guarantee and I bought it at a 15% discount, it wasn't the best purchase I could have made. If I had been focusing on long-term savings rather than how I could add cinnamon fragrance to my mat for the ultimate Big Gum Workout Experience, I would have bought the black version of the same mat.

Here are some other ways color can affect your purchase.

1. Black Hides Dirt — and Requires Less Care

A black mat would hide a lot of dirt. By buying the coral mat, I've basically resigned myself to spending extra time, water, and money keeping my yoga mat clean… forever.

Who am I kidding? I know I'm going to be known by my fellow yogis as "that girl with the filthy pink mat."

I'm so grateful that I look good in black. Because otherwise I would be wearing some dingy looking clothes. As much as I fantasize about wearing white jeans, it's not going to happen. Just thinking about the cost of dry cleaning gives me hives.

By now most people have heard about the environmental damage and human misery caused by clothes manufacturing. What continues to go under-reported is the fact that the care and cleaning of clothing is actually more taxing to the environment than clothing production. How you clean your clothes and how often you have to clean your clothes can really make a difference to the planet. (See also: 11 Laundry Mistakes You Didn't Know You Were Making)

2. White Cars Roll Cooler — and More Visibly

Light colors are not without benefits. The Car of Torture I drove in high school was burgundy. During Arizona summers, a dark paint job turns an automobile into a furnace on wheels. Although I literally drove home from my summer job everyday wearing oven mitts (pro tip: don't touch a black steering wheel in 120 degree weather with your bare hands), I still have scorch marks on my back fat where I accidentally branded myself with the metal end of the seatbelt.

After the unrelenting sun exposure oxidized the burgundy paint job on my car, giving it a distinctly scabby look, my parents agreed to repaint the car white. The color change instantly lowered the interior temperature by 10 degrees.

As an adult living in Los Angeles, I only drive white cars. Although the smog keeps my white car looking disreputable at all times, it saves me money in two major ways.

First, who has right of way at a four way stop in Los Angeles? The driver of the crummiest car, obviously. A dirty white car saves me on fender benders because other cars give me wide berth.

All kidding aside, I drive a white car for visibility at night… to other drivers. My father, a retired head and neck surgeon, only drives yellow cars because he knows from years of treating accident victims that yellow cars are among the least likely to be passively involved in accidents. Most car buyers don't think about paint color as a safety feature, but the cost of buying the wrong color car could be your life.

Despite its connection to fire engines, red is actually a hard color to see, especially at night, when people's color vision is distorted. In fact, the common belief that drivers of red cars get more speeding tickets is an urban legend.

Secondly, the clear coat on my white car has also oxidized, but the damage is much less obvious than it would be on a darker color, and much easier to repair with Clay Bar detailing versus new paint.

Finally, in hot climates, light colored cars get better gas mileage, because they stay cooler without the use of air conditioning. While I love the look of leather seats, I can't look at a black car with a black leather interior and not think the driver doesn't have brain damage. Or, maybe those drivers are just really into pain and never wear shorts.

3. A White Roof Is Cheaper, Too

Dark colored cars aren't the only way people are wasting their air conditioning. I'm getting ready to paint my black asphalt tiled roof white to reflect heat and save energy. White roofs have been touted as a major way people could help slow global warming. However, repainting the roof is a big no for people who live in areas that have cold, dark winters because white roofs make homes harder to heat.

4. Color Is a Powerful Advertising Tool

Color is also a powerful tool for driving consumer purchasing. Just like my yoga mat purchase, 85% of shoppers place color as a primary reason why they buy a particular product.

In addition to aiding in brand recognition, an award-winning study in 2013 revealed that even the background color on a webpage influenced spending. Researchers discovered that shoppers were more likely to spend more money on an auction site like eBay after being exposed to a red background. However, the same shoppers were less likely to spend money on a fixed priced site after being exposed to red.

Men seem to be especially sensitive to red, even tipping red uniformed waitresses more money.

5. Some Colors Stimulant Appetite — and Spending

Red and yellow are also appetite stimulants, which is why just about every fast food chain uses those colors in everything from their logos to their décor. Cornell University psychology researchers discovered that plate color affects how much people eat. When researchers reduced the color contrast between food and the plate, study participants served themselves 22% less food. Just reducing the color contrast between the plate and the tablecloth reduced consumption by 10%!

Over the past decade well-meaning consumers have been snookered out of their hard earned cash by an increasing number of products pretending to be environmentally responsible. In addition to greenwashing, consumers now have to be on the lookout for pinkwashing. Caused-based shopping as charity is problematic because everyone from fracking companies to gun manufacturers have tried to clean their dirty karma (and carcinogenic products) under the guise of helping find a cure for breast cancer.

Luckily, pink isn't just used to defraud charitable shoppers. It's still used for good by medical professionals. Some researchers discovered that Baker-Miller Pink (AKA bubblegum pink) has a calming effect. Just looking at the color slows people's endocrine systems and loosens muscles.

Baker-Miller Pink. The perfect color for a yoga mat. I feel so vindicated.

Does color influence your spending decisions? What color will you pay more for?

This article is from Max Wong of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Buy This Product, Friend: The Hidden Power of Testimonials

Thursday Bram — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:36:32 +0000

When we make purchasing decisions, we like knowing that we’re doing the right thing. Every day there are more options out there, whether we’re talking about groceries or automobiles. Testimonials are one of the easiest ways for sellers to reassure buyers that a particular product is the right choice. After all, if someone else is willing to tell you that she’s truly pleased with her purchase, you can expect that you’ll be pretty happy, too. And therein lies the problem. How do we know we can trust the testimonial? (See also: Advertising Jargon That Aims to Mislead)

Interpreting Testimonials

As you’re reviewing testimonials available for a given product or service, you want to make sure that you're seeing a reliable recommendation. You want what's called "social proof" — a recommendation that can be linked back to a real, identifiable person. Marketers consider video testimonials and other indisputable recommendations to be the most effective, and for good reason.

But Is It Trustworthy?

Even if you're looking at written testimonials, there are a couple of characteristics worth considering. If the seller has posted a text testimonial with just a first name (or maybe even no name), we’re tempted to trust the testimonial as honest or reliable. But if someone doesn’t want their name to run with their testimonial, maybe there’s something else going on. It’s good to see a full name at the least. Even better is a link back to a review, social media account, or website.

Strength in Numbers

You also want to see more than one testimonial.

If a business has been operating for awhile, there should be plenty of examples of how well they can do, just as there may be multiple reviews of the business on Yelp and its counterparts.

It’s a little concerning if the testimonials all sound the same, by the way. It’s not necessarily an indicator that the seller didn’t get the testimonials from a wide variety of buyers, but it can mean that the seller gave suggestions on what to write or asked submitters to follow a certain format — which is less helpful for shoppers deciding which product or service to buy.

Understanding the Appeal of Testimonials

When you're purchasing, it's important to understand the impact a testimonial can have on you — on a basic level, we're programmed to trust other people's opinions. A survey conducted by Nielsen in 2009 found that 90% of consumers will trust recommendations from people they know. Seventy percent will trust opinions posted online, which can include reviews and testimonials.

Most of us are more willing to make a purchase when we see a testimonial. It's not the only factor, but it's one that we need to be aware of in order to make an accurately informed decision.

This article is from Thursday Bram of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Great Ways to Advertise Your Yard Sale

Thursday Bram — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 09:48:44 +0000

I’m in the process of packing for a cross-country move. By the time I was three boxes in, I was committed to making sure that I had to move as little as possible, so I scheduled a yard sale. I’m in a particularly tough location to rely on people driving by and stopping to shop — I live on a dead end with no through traffic. So I went into advertising mode. (See also: How to Have a Successful Garage Sale)

Depending on the details of your yard sale, you may want to tweak your advertising plans to make sure that you’re getting the information in front of people who are actually likely to buy. These options target a general audience, but if you’ll be selling something very specific that you know a certain type of person will be interested in, like supplies for a certain hobby, reach out directly to that audience, such as by emailing the local groups that practice that hobby.

Your Social Networks

I know that my friends have a lot of the same interests I do, so when I decided to hold a yard sale, my first step was to set up a public Facebook event and invite all of my friends in the area. I listed some of the items that I thought they’d all be interested in and got a huge response. In fact, I got a few requests from out-of-state from people who saw something on the list and were willing to pay to have me ship something their way!

Of course, you can take your advertising offline and tell your social groups in person. Making a point of mentioning your garage sale at work and at social events can have a similar impact.

Put Up Signs

It’s tried and true — putting up signs in your neighborhood will always help bring shoppers to your yard sale. I put up signs from the closest high traffic route straight up to my house, with arrows at each turn. Make sure your signs are big enough to be easily read from a distance. A single sheet of paper probably won’t cut it — invest in some poster board and think big.

Advertise in the Classifieds

There are plenty of places that you can advertise your garage sale inexpensively or even for free. Personally, I rely on Craigslist because it’s free and easy to post to. But local newspapers and newsletters will often let you publish a classified ad for only a few dollars. You do have to plan these ads further out — at a minimum, you’ll probably need to place your ad a week before your yard sale.

The Yard Sale Sites

There are some devoted yard sale shoppers out there, and they follow certain sites closely, particularly because they include listings of local yard sales. Yard Sale Search and Garage Sales Tracker are good places to start.

Community Bulletin Boards and Newsletters

In your area, there are probably plenty of different opportunities to connect with your neighbors — the library or church or grocery store down the street may have a community bulletin board that you can post to. The neighborhood or community association may have a newsletter where you can send out updates. It’s just a matter of getting your yard sale listed.

Be Creative

You can do as much or as little advertising as you’d like for your yard sale. Doing a little more, of course, increases the chances that you’ll sell everything you’d like to. If you’re not sure if you’ve reached enough people through these advertising options, get creative. It’s just a matter of telling as many people as you possibly can.

This article is from Thursday Bram of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Innovations In Advertising

Kentin Waits — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:46:59 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/articles/innovations-in-advertising

Marketers are a creative bunch. Having been a digital media strategist and email marketing manager for nearly 15 years, I’m always noticing new and innovative ways that the advertising world reaches consumers. Once you’ve been in the field for awhile, it’s hard not to think of the physical areas where people slow down and congregate as ad “avails” and it’s always fascinating to see how other advertising professionals are thinking about public spaces and using them to stay in front of the crowd.

Let’s explore a few innovative offline ways that advertisers reach audiences today. Some of them have been around awhile, and some are new on the scene, but all reflect a drive to stay in front of the consumer in an ever-increasing competitive landscape where attention spans are short and distractions high.

TSA Screening Bins

Wasn’t this inevitable? Those dull gray bins that are the receptacles for cell phones, lap-tops, shoes and belts make great little rotating billboards. I noticed my first “bin-bottom” advert about six months ago on a flight from Portland to Chicago. I’m surprised it took this long for the industry to realize bored, anxious consumers standing in line in the comfort of stocking feet might make a receptive (albeit captive) audience. Voila! A new form of advertising is born from the new realities of air travel and airline security.

Parking Spaces

I’m not an avid mall shopper, so I may be well behind the curve on advertisers sponsoring individual parking spaces or even entire levels of parking structures. I first noticed these branded spaces about two years ago and my initial thought was, “Well, why not?” It’s a great way for shoppers to remember where they parked their car (“weren’t we parked in the Pizza Hut space on the Pepsi level?”). What a delicious mnemonic device.

Supermarket Floors

This isn’t the latest method of advertising, but it’s one of the first I remember noticing in the new league of smaller, slightly bolder physical marketing. You usually find these near the dairy products or frozen food aisles of your supermarket. They often complement horizontally what we see vertically, adding a reinforcing component to those coupon-dispensing machines or eye-level product placement. When you think about it, this is another stroke of genius—the aisles of most supermarkets are wide, the clean floors glisten with overhead lighting, and little kids (closer to the floor already) are all-too-eager to alert mom or dad to what they’ve stumbled upon.

Shopping Cart Handles

If successful advertising really is about the sheer number of eyeballs hitting a logo or marketing message, then the person who thought of advertising on shopping carts surely got a big bonus. We shop when we’re in a hurry, we shop when we’re bored, we shop when we’re stocking up for the week—and most of us grab a cart to do it. Advertising on the very space where we lay our hands is putting the message on our pulse—literally.

Potholes

Perfect for cash-strapped municipalities, restaurants, electronics stores, coffee shops, and booksellers are lining up to patch those potholes with fresh asphalt that’s sealed with an ad. I can’t think of a better way to create instant goodwill than fixing and then branding a section of street where I otherwise might have popped a tire or bent an axle. At the risk of showing my age, could this be the new millennium’s answer to Brylcreem® billboards? Tell me a story along the way or write a jingle about how my favorite shampoo will not only detangle my hair; it will smooth out my commute too. Brilliant!

In-Store Digital Signage

Once reserved for hot shot advertisers on Times Square, a new generation of thinner, lighter, and cheaper LCD and plasma TV technology is making smaller electronic “billboards” commonplace. Big box stores use them to sell everything from groceries to face cream. This really is the ultimate in tailored messaging. The ad can change on a whim. It talks, it sings, it can communicate more information than any other type of message in the same space. To say these mini-billboards will become ubiquitous parts of our retail landscape in just two or three more years isn’t much of a leap.

We’re becoming a society that’s simultaneously saturated with advertising and savvier about its techniques. Advertisers will continue to innovate how their messages are delivered, and direct those messages in smarter, more novel, and more highly-targeted ways. This evolution will continue to change our public and private spaces—and keep old marketing folks like me wondering what’s next and small business owners like you wondering how to develop surprising ad avails of your own.

This article is from Kentin Waits of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The Ads That Are Part of Your Life

Paul Michael — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:36:20 +0000

How much does advertising affect you? You may not think it has any real affect on your everyday life, but it's an extremely powerful tool that has a major impact on so much of what we do, say, buy, wear, or talk about. (See also: Advertising Jargon That Aims to Mislead)

I could write a book on the psychological impact of advertising on purchasing decisions, but many others have already done so, and the books are great. Not only that, but they also give you a scary insight into the manipulative forces at play in even the smallest decision — like Pepsi or Coke, Walmart or Target, or even which type of gum you'll chew. Seriously, how much does one type of minty gum differ from another? It's all about branding, and brands are now so iconic and popular that they have become part of the fabric of our lives.

Today I present five of the more recent branding campaigns (sorry Nike fans, Just Do It is awesome, but it’s been around for decades) that have become a part of popular culture. Ironically, advertising usually takes elements of something already existing in pop culture and regurgitates them, so it's easy to see why they are so readily accepted when reborn as ad campaigns.

1. The Most Interesting Man In The World (Dos Equis)

A brilliant piece of branding in a marketplace crowded by sexy bikini-clad girls and claims about coldness. The man at the center of the campaign has done it all. He's the epitome of "been there, done that." His background makes him uber-cool. He's wise. He's the man. So when he tells you what he likes to drink, well, you take notice. This is not a new concept at all. In fact, the idea is remarkably similar to Chuck Norris facts (Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door, etc). But the way they signed off the campaign has become something that has spread across the Internet and in workplaces. The line "I don't always drink beer, but when I do I prefer Dos Equis" has been turned around in hundreds of different ways, most of them really funny. Here are a few I laughed at recently:

"I don't always use the toilet at work, but when I do I prefer the handicapped stall."
"I don't always use Internet Explorer, but when I do it's to download another browser."
"I don't always work from home, but when I do I don't actually work."

See many more examples on Reddit.

Watch video

2. The Old Spice Guy

You know you're onto something when every Tom, Dick, or Harry in the office is parodying your advertising. I've been in meetings where the presenter started with "look at me, now the PowerPoint, now back to me..." and so on. This is in fact a very similar campaign to Dos Equis — presenting someone so cool he's beyond cool, and then aligning him with a brand. In this case, the Old Spice brand was dying. Now, it has new life, revived by a campaign that has copycats everywhere. When your mom calls you and recites the Old Spice monologue, you've hit pay dirt. And even Fabio is getting in on the action.

Watch video

3. I’m a Mac, I’m a PC

Another landmark piece of advertising from TBWA\Chiat\Day. Around water coolers, on Internet chat sites, at the gym, people were asking — “So are you a Mac or a PC?” And surprisingly, although the ads portray PCs as unhip and out of date, many people responded with the answer PC. Why? Well for a start, Apple products are extremely expensive compared to PCs, something which of course the ads don’t really go in to. Also, PCs are made by many different companies, including Sony, Toshiba, and HP. Macs are made by Apple. That’s it. So getting hold of a PC is much easier. There are way more game titles for PCs than Macs, and PCs are much easier to customize and build. Oh, and let’s not forget, the guy who plays the PC — comedian John Hodgman — is a really funny and intelligent guy. So, who are you? Personally, I’m someone who wants to be a Mac (and will one day own one), but I’ll probably always be a PC.

Watch video

4. Allstate Insurance Mayhem

I was going to put Geico on the list, but after speaking to friends and family, I discovered that Allstate’s new Mayhem campaign is way more popular with them. And one that they laugh about and parody all the time.

From the ads:

“I’m the key against your side door…”
“I’m a hot babe out jogging…”
“I’m a raccoon…”

Heard from the people who love the ads:

“I’m the guy who plays the same song over and over and over…”
“I’m the girl in the coffee line that stands too close to you…”
“I’m the boss who tells you not to take vacation while they’re on vacation…”

The basic premise, if you haven’t see the ads, is that a man in a suit (played expertly by Dean Winters) is basically becoming the things that can wreck your car, your home, or anything else that needs insurance. In a recent ad, he becomes a raccoon in your attic, and it’s funny. Very. Plus, it’s memorable. Of course, now people are using the same premise to say that they’re anything that’s annoying in life. Right now, “I’m the kid who refuses to go to sleep even though it’s 10 p.m…” is my Mayhem.

Watch video

5. Snickers Hungry Alter Ego

Who do you become when you’re hungry? That’s the premise of the Snicker’s campaign, and it has compared hungry guys and girls to Betty White, Richard Lewis or Roseanne Barr, Gladys Knight or Liza Minnelli, and even a famous ballet dancer in Russia!

Me, I get compared to Joe Pesci all the time. "Hey Pesci, we’re eating in ten minutes, so keep it down." I just want to say, I’m only that angry when I’m waiting to go out for Indian food.

Watch video

So which recent ads (not Budweiser’s "Wasssuuuppppp?!!!") have seeped into your daily life? And how does it actually make you feel about the product it’s advertising?

This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Fundamentals of Online Advertising

Thursday Bram — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:12:21 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/articles/fundamentals-of-online-advertising

Online advertising has become a crucial part of many companies’ marketing mix. Where once a business could develop an effective reach just by placing an ad in the Yellow Pages, it has become necessary (and easier) to pinpoint specific demographics online with contextual ads, as well as ads placed on sites catering to specific niches.

Compared to traditional print ads, online ads can be dramatically cheaper. Rates can be as low as a few cents per action or impression.

Of course, while you can keep your budget fairly low when using online advertising methods, you can also wind up spending more money than you might have intended. To make sure you get the most bang for your buck, take a close look at a variety of online advertising strategies and get a clear picture of what you have to pay to generate the impact you need.

Evaluate and Test

It is not an entirely uncommon story: someone not particularly familiar with an online advertising tool sets up an account, chooses a few keywords to advertise around and winds up with an unexpected bill for several thousand dollars.

It is perfectly possible to keep your online campaigns under control, however, and avoid such surprises. The key is having detailed information to work with as early in the process as possible and testing the advertising opportunities you identify.

Mikel Schwarz thoroughly tests the online advertising he uses to promote Deo-go and RibbedTee.com. He suggests allocating “a specific amount of money for an online advertising ‘test’ each month. Don't go over that spend...Since you can tell online advertising performance pretty quickly, prepare more than one ad creative, and test.”

But before you even get to the point of testing, you need to narrow your list of potential advertising venues, so you can focus on creating a valuable test. That means vetting advertising opportunities carefully – just as you would if you were working offline. Schwarz uses three specific criteria to do an initial check to determine whether a site is worth advertising on:

Check Alexa and Compete ranking/traffic information to see what the historical information shows. Since those sites are not 100 percent accurate, look for trends (going up or going down) and gross traffic values, generally looking for traffic above 20,000 visitors per month as a starting point.
Ask the advertising vendor for any click rate or conversion expectations. If they can't provide any, that's a warning sign.
Attempt to contact existing advertisers to see how their ads are performing overall.

Determine Your Audience and Reach Them

Don’t be afraid to go looking for ad networks beyond those that you’re already using. While there are a few big players – specifically the major search engines – you can get more targeted results by looking at the ad buys offered by social networks, such as Facebook, and other sites.

Michael Podlesney, owner of Average Person Gardening, along with its Seeds of the Month Club, has tested his advertising mix: 40% to Adwords, 40% to AdRoll and 20% to Facebook. “We have found,” he explains,” that the best results for Facebook advertising occur when you are sending someone directly to your Facebook page. As far as AdWords, we use the pay per click model, using keywords derived from our analytics to drive customers to our seeds club page. We then use AdRoll in what is called “ad retargeting”. If a person visits our Seeds club subscription page and simply leaves, AdRoll will then put our ads on a variety of sites that the person may visit so it keeps our company on the top of their minds.”

Podlesney developed this approach through targeted research.

“For our Adwords,” he says, “we use the keywords from our analytic software that tells us the exact keywords people have used to find us. So we only bid on those keywords. As for the Facebook portion of our advertising we can use our industry data that we collected from various studies from the NGA and the USDA and pinpoint our exact customer demographic. We combine that data with buying data reported by various trade publications and can then narrow down to days of the week and certain times during those days.”

Podlesney’s is a complex process, certainly more complex than anything new advertisers may be ready to develop. But the fundamentals are the same for every advertiser, in print or online: find your audience then find the pitch that brings them to your site.

This article is from Thursday Bram of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The Enemies of Frugality

Kentin Waits — Mon, 23 May 2011 10:36:24 +0000

There’s a lot of talk today about embracing simplicity and rediscovering frugality, but what are the culprits — obvious and hidden — that undermine our efforts? At root, what are the emotional, logistical, and social forces that conspire to figuratively reach into our wallets and pluck our cash day after day? Let’s explore the seven challenges to frugal living. (See also: Endurance Frugality: Staying the Course and Being a Winner)

Stress

Stress may be roadblock number one on the road to frugality. So many of us seem to be overworked, over-scheduled, and overwrought. Stress forces us to take the path of least resistance, and that path is typically the most expensive. When we’re stressed, we make bad decisions about our health, our diet, and our money.

Competition/Ego

Keeping up with the Joneses is expensive — especially when the Joneses don’t have a clue what they’re doing. It’s a financial game of chicken, really. Our neighbors buy a new toy and not to be outdone, we follow suit. Everyone on the block ends up with new toys they can’t afford, and no one learns a thing. What’s wrong with appearing a bit restrained in this country? When did frugality and poverty become synonyms? What’s more, when did poverty become a crime?

Exhaustion

The complexities of modern life can be exhausting, and often the only thing that can keep us going is the promise of a grand reward — sometimes just as exhausting, but slightly more exciting. After a year of 60-hour work weeks, a ten-day spa vacation seems not only warranted, but deserved. Demanding a bit of mental “spa time” each day gives way to one grand and deliciously expensive extravagance once a year. Price be damned and frugality banished!

Convenience

Sometimes it’s just easier to pay someone to mow our lawn, wash our car, clean our house, or make our dinner. We’ve all been there — after a 10 or 12 hour work day, the thought of coming home only to cook and clean for another 3 seems like cruel and unusual punishment. At these moments, simple exhaustion dictates our financial decisions and frugality goes out the window.

Immediacy

Sometimes life throws us a curve-ball, and we need an item or service immediately. Maybe the family car finally dies, or you forgot about class pictures tomorrow, and your son needs a new white shirt. There’s no financial planning to do, no research to mull over, and no time to bargain-hunt. Immediacy typically means more cash.

Uncertainty

Living a frugal life takes no small amount of commitment and daily rededication. Not only do friends, family, and work colleagues often not understand simplicity and frugality, they can be openly antagonistic about it. Truly embracing the path we’re on in the face of our “culture of more” is the key to long-term success.

Advertising

If financial wisdom and rationality were a clear pool of water, advertising would be Baby Ruth bar floating by (a reference not lost on all you Caddyshack lovers out there). Advertising creates unrest, encourages fear, and often muddies the water of our financial minds. An uneducated consumer easily manipulated by suggestion is an advertiser’s best-friend and frugality’s worst enemy.

Reviewing this list, it seems like many of these "enemies" are new to the scene. With the exception of number two, doesn’t it seem like stress, exhaustion, convenience, immediacy, and the prevalence of advertising are relatively modern phenomena — at least at their current (epidemic) levels? What’s lost in the bargain we make between our time, energy, and our money? Is the exchange a fair one, or one that simply keeps us on the treadmill to run another day?

This article is from Kentin Waits of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Free Advertising: The Magic of Getting Media Attention

Kate Lister — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 22:52:08 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/free-advertising-the-...

Whoever said there's no such thing as a free lunch obviously didn't know about PR. A single public relations stunt can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in free publicity. No, I'm not suggesting you stash your son in a barn and send the National Guard on a wild balloon chase — that's dishonest.

But there are plenty of honest ways to garner media attention. I've run three businesses over the past 20 years. The first was a consulting firm that helped businesses find financing. The second was a vintage airplane "flight-seeing" operation (think Snoopy and the Red Baron). And the third is a telework research and consulting firm. Without the "free ink" in newspapers and magazines, none of those businesses would have survived, let alone prospered.

Newspaper and magazine ads, direct mail campaigns, and other conventional marketing tactics, meanwhile, are expensive and risky. I know. I've tried them. One $5,000 magazine ad, or rather the total absence of calls from it, was particularly memorable. A pre-show ad at the local movie theater seemed like a good bet for the flight-seeing business; after all, it’s a visual sell. Fortunately, a fire at the theatre allowed us to cut our losses on that contract. The aerial banner towed behind our biplane that read "R-I-D-E-S • 1-8-0-0-S-K-Y-L-O-O-P" felt like a sure thing too. Sadly, the only call we received was a noise complaint.

By contrast, PR efforts are cheap and effective. But your business is too boring to make headlines you say? I say "horse puckey." Financial consulting and telework research aren't exactly Barnum and Bailey, but we've scored media hits in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Washington Post, and other publications. Any business, no matter how boring, can be newsworthy when a bit of creativity is added to the mix.

Let’s say you own a neighborhood shoe store. The latest wingtips aren’t exactly headline material, but you can create your own with a bit of creativity. These ideas might get you a foot in the door at the local newspaper:

For Valentine’s Day, you could run a safe "socks" sale or joy of "socks" special.
Declare April (or May, or June, or...) Foot History Month and hold a contest for the best essay about feet that have made history. For example, did you know that Warren Harding, our 29^th President, had size 14 doggies? How’d you like to fill those shoes?
Speaking of presidents, wait for the next political slip of the tongue (you shouldn’t have to wait long) and parlay that into a press release about famous foot-in-mouth moments.
Flip-flops can go on special when the local democrat turns republican.

Of course, not all PR has to be funny or even quirky. The possibilities are endless. Just about any holiday, any headline, or any historical event holds the potential for a story about you, your business, your customers, or even your suppliers. Just find the angle and make the pitch.

Best of all, PR isn't rocket science. It's something you can do on your own with very little training. You just need to find a hook that will reel the media in.

How has PR helped your business succeed? Do tell!

This article is from Kate Lister of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Change Your Life with Storytelling

Philip Brewer — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:00:06 +0000

The most powerful tool that marketers use to sell you things is one that you can snatch from their grasp and turn to your own use: Telling stories.

I first discovered this tool back in the 1980s in the catalogs of Banana Republic and J. Peterman. Those catalogs, instead of describing the products they sold, described the sort of person who bought the item. As a marketing strategy, it was a great success: The catalogs would describe each item as the sort of thing that exciting, sophisticated people used in their thrilling adventures — and people bought it.

The same technique is available to you. Tell your own stories.

Flip the Technique

At the most basic level, you can use stories as a magic shield against this sort of marketing: Spot the story in the advertising and tell yourself a more accurate story. There was a time when I wanted the sleek, powerful sports cars I saw in ads, but I learned to counter their appeal by telling myself the true story — the story of the hopelessly debt-ridden wage-slave who took out a six-year loan to buy a car that burns fuel faster than he can earn the money to pay for it.

All the story-telling tools that the marketers use are available for your own use.

One in particular that I've seized upon is the technique of suggesting that some item is multi-purpose. A catalog might claim that its blazer could go from the boardroom to a private jet to the writer's bar at the Raffles hotel, or that a dress is just as perfect for an embassy party as it was for one in an off-campus house. Now I put all my potential purchases to the same test: If I can't use it everywhere, maybe I should keep looking until I find one that's a bit more versatile. I've avoided spending a lot of money by just waiting for something a little more perfect to come along. (And I've also bought very useful items when I've stumbled upon things that met my very high standards.)

But these basic techniques — telling counter-stories and repurposing the marketer's stories — are just the beginning. The real power comes from crafting a larger story.

Understanding the Power of Storytelling

Everyone knows the power of the transient want — the allure of the thing that's so shiny you must have it, even if you know perfectly well that you don't need it or that there'll be a better, cheaper one next year.

It's possible to control such wants with sheer willpower — most frugal people do. But telling stories is far more powerful. Telling stories lets you change what you want.

After all, that's exactly what those catalog companies were doing. When they sold a messenger bag by telling a story about how it was designed for military couriers and then had been discovered by war correspondents, they weren't marketing to people who had already decided that they wanted a new messenger bag. They were marketing to people who wanted to be more adventurous, and somehow created in them the sense that this bag would make them more the person they wanted to be.

That's the power of telling a story. But marketers have no monopoly on stories. Think what you can do if you tell your own.

Craft Your Own Story

Does your life differ from the life you want? Part of the work of getting from where you are to where you want to be is making real changes. But that's not the place to start.

Start by imagining the life you want. Imagine it in some detail. (Some might call this daydreaming.)

Don't get off course by imagining someone else's life — the life you'd want if your parents were billionaires, or the life you'd want if you won the lottery. Imagine your life if you were the sort of person you want to be.

Now tell the story. How would that person get from where you are now to where that person would want to be?

In my case, I wanted to be a writer. I put aside imagined lives in which I lived in a big house, drove a fast car, and owned all the latest fancy tech gadgets — which would have been possible, if I'd wanted to go on being a software engineer — and instead imagined a life where I did exactly what I wanted to do: Jump out of bed every day so I could spend a few hours writing.

Telling myself that story was a key step in making it happen. It didn't just give me a reason to save money instead of buying something; it changed me from the sort of person who bought those things into the sort of person who didn't buy those things — because he was a writer.

Tell yourself the story of who you want to be; that's how you become that person. Don't leave that power in the hands of the marketers.

This article is from Philip Brewer of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: