Why We Advertise

     This topic I am very familiar with even though it's a little on the left field in regards to what I usually post on this blog. Most people think of advertising as a way to promote a business offering a much needed product, service, or even just advice on just about anything. The truth of the matter is advertising is essential to reach a wider demographic audience and for the individual or business doing the advertising, a better exposure.

     In order to advertise effectively, there is a question of how we deliver our ads. What I mean by that is before we consider a platform or a medium to use in order to promote our business we need to go back to the basics. What's the "basics" in advertising you ask? Well, most advertisers don't know how the human mind works, or how human nature works. I know I'm beginning to sound a little weird now so let me describe it to you in just two words- Marketing Psychology.

     In the past word of mouth advertising was the norm and how a business gets exposure depends on how good that "word of mouth" was. Was the person convincing?  Did he or she lay on the butter really good? In the same regard, let's say you were driving down the freeway one day and saw this ad for some tow service. Of course everyone needs a tow truck when their car breaks down on the freeway right? Well, let's just say you couldn't remember what the name of the tow truck company was or even the 1-800 number printed so boldly at the bottom BUT you remembered the phrase-" Tow Me Away",written on a piece of cardboard held by a beautiful young lady, blonde hair in complete disarray, frowning and looking at her cars steaming radiator. Do you see what I am getting at? Textual and visual manipulation is important in a successful advertising campaign. But before we consider how to that, lets cover some basic groundwork first.

     Every ad campaign must answer the following 5 questions truthfully in order to be deemed feasible and potentially powerful. I say potentially because it is not enough to simply master the art of advertising catch-words or phrases. Of equal importance is the demographic you will be targeting. Are you aiming for a selected group of individuals or are you going for a larger audience or may be even the general public. This is crucial in how you select the catch-words or phrases for your ads because of the generation gap and social backgrounds will vary. Ok, on to the 5 questions I mentioned earlier:

1. Have I convinced my potential buyer that he or she has an inherent need of my product or service?

2. Have I included in my ad the reasons why my product or service is of a better quality AND value than that    offered by my competitors?

3. Have I explained to my potential buyers that my product addresses their NEED?

4. Can I assure my potential buyer that I have removed all risks involved should he or she not be completely satisfied with my product or service?

 5. Have I been fair?

Simple these questions maybe but you'd be surprised how many people out there were sold a bogus product or service. I know, at one time or another in my life, I was one of them. You see you can only go so far with false advertising. Besides losing your loyalty base of customers its illegal too. So when you start your ad campaign its wise to consider that.

     So, to start, let me give you a little advice on catch-words or phrases. Use words that COMPEL a person to ACT. Words like NOW, GET, IF, and TRY- are merely suggestive, the person reading your ad may or may not act on it, depending on his or her mood. Words, however,like HURRY, RECEIVE, FREE, UNLIMITED and phrases like ACT NOW, LIMITED TIME, NO RISK, GET YOURS NOW, and 50-70% get a potential buyer to be compelled to act if the advertised product or service fulfills a need. Also, it's wise to remember that most, if not all of us, don't really like to part with our money. In order to convince someone to part with his or her hard earned cash you need to instill upon them, through proper, directed advertising, that what you offer is worth more than what they are willing to pay- that is VALUE. You can never go wrong with value.

   

Your Recommended Daily Allowance of Relaxation

Stress is the curse of living in modern times. Everyone suffers from stress. And the stress we suffer takes a heavy toll on our bodies, emotions and minds. Feeling stressed out, worn out by fatigue or just simply having a miserable day, the best thing to do is relax. The first and foremost method of relaxation I highly recommend is simply a change in attitude. When we condition ourselves and our minds into putting little relevance in stressors we can establish a habit whereby we learn to neglect things, events, and maybe even people, which we know often brings us stress in our daily lives.
 Watching television may be a form of relaxation for some, but is not a recommended method by experts. When we watch TV we are bombarded with commercials, ads, sounds and images. So how do we achieve,and more importantly, establish and maintain relaxation in our daily living? If there are thousands of ways we can get stressed, one of them is not meeting deadlines, there are also many ways we can relax.
 In recent studies, experts have determined that heart disease is linked to anger and irritability is linked to mental stress. Too much stress brings about ischemia that can lead to or cause a heart attack. Relaxation takes on added importance in light of this matter. Managing your anger and attitude is significant to heart health, and relaxation can help you manage stress.
 One way of relaxation is transcendental meditation. Recent studies have also shown that this method might reduce artery blockage, which is a major cause for heart attack and stroke. People practice transcendental meditation by repeating uttering soothing sounds while meditating, this is to achieve total relaxation. The researchers found that practitioners of transcendental meditation significantly reduced the thickness of their arterial wall compared with those who didn't practice transcendental meditation. Another study on another method of relaxation, acupuncture, seems to reduce high blood pressure by initiating several body functions for the brain to release chemical compounds known as endorphins. Endorphin helps to relax muscles, ease panic, decrease pain, and reduce anxiety.
 Yoga is also another method for relaxation and may also have similar effects like acupuncture. In another study, participants were subjected to several minutes of mental stress. Then they were subjected to various relaxation techniques, such as listening to nature sounds or classical music. Only those who did Yoga significantly reduced the time it took for their blood pressures to go back to normal. Yoga is a form of progressive relaxation.
 Breathing is one of the easiest methods to relax. Breathing influences alamost all aspects of us, it affects our mind, our moods and our body. Simply focus on your breathing, after some time you can feel its effects right away. There are several breathing techniques that can help you reduce stress.
 Another easy way to achieve relaxation is exercise. Make a daily regiment of just walking in a park, along the shore, or even just around your block. Try different routes regularly so every once in a while you see different views. By exercising you reduce stress and lose weight.
 Another great way of relaxing is getting a massage. To gain full relaxation, you need to totally surrender to the handling and touch of a professional therapist. There are several types of massages that also give different levels of relaxation.
 Another method of relaxation is Biofeedback. The usual biofeedback-training program includes a 10-hour sessions that is often spaced one week apart.
 Hypnosis is one controversial relaxation technique. It is a good alternative for people who think that they have no idea what it feels like to be relaxed. It is also a good alternative for people with stress related health problems.
 Drugs are extreme alternatives to relaxation. They are sometimes not safe and are not effective like the other relaxation methods. This method is only used by trained medical professionals on their patients.
 These relaxation techniques are just some of the ways you can achieve relaxation. Another reason why we need to relax, aside from lowering blood pressure in people and decreasing the chances of a stroke or a heart attack, is because stress produces hormones that suppress the immune system, relaxation gives the immune system time to recover and in doing so function more efficiently. Relaxation lowers the activities within the brains' limbic system; this is the emotional center of our brain. Furthermore, the brain has a periodic need for a more pronounced activity on the right-hemisphere. Relaxation is one way of achieving this.
 Relaxation can really be of good use once a relaxation technique is regularly built into your daily life. Here is what I recommend you should do; take a minute to get pen and paper and make a list of the daily stresses you encounter giving each stressor a numeric value of 1 to 10, ten meaning, of course, being the gravest. After you have made your list make a suggestion to yourself how you should deal with each respective stressor. You have to understand that there are other things going on during the day you simply have no control over and must deal with them appropriately when they do come.Remember that not all relaxation methods may work for you. Find one you are most comfortable or familiar with and stick to that. Good luck and remember," Don't worry, beeee happy".