Im so excited, Ive been invited to a wedding! Or have INot the wedding itself, but the reception to follow itturns out - but it gets even better.
On August 4th, I received a mailing with the subject line: Theresa, I need your RSVP.
Okay, I bite, basically because I thought it was true.I read:
Did you get the invitation to my wedding reception last week Because I havent received your RSVP yet...
Yes, I did panic a bit at first thinking Id overlookeda good friends invite and... well you know that feeling.
Then I read on... !
Turns out Im one of 1,500 complete strangers invited tothis well-known persons wedding reception. It alsoturns out Im expected to foot part of the bill for a seat at said wedding reception. Now, how strange is that
I thought weddings and the like are supposed to be filled with only your nearest and dearest Those invited shouldbe the ones willing to wish you well, even against the greatest of odds (marriage) with the divorce rate at an all time high. These same people usually truck on over to your reception afterwards, dont they Or am I just old-fashioned
Recently I attended two weddings, and both receptions,free of charge I might add, except for our personal gifts and the like. I went for the reason I stated above, to wish them well and be there for their happy moment.
Now, I guess you could say with the offer, oops I meaninvitation, I might be getting a pretty good deal sinceId be able to hob-nob with this persons wealthiest friends (email words not mine).
But come on, give me a break. Your friends and relatives come to your reception. Complete strangers with money in hand do not qualify as your nearest and dearest.
Okay, maybe its just me.
I have to warn you... Even though Ive rented out the BIGGEST ballroom I could find, I still only have room for 1,500 guests... And while that might sound like a lot, this invitation is going out to over half a million people! So your chances of getting a seat are less than 1 in 500!
Whatever.... LOL!
Honestly, Im positive this invitation has to rank right up here as one of the greatest sales moves of all times!And more power to him/her!
This person is sure to have some among the 1/2 millionjust chomping at the bit to meet these wealthiest friends. Maybe they are willing to do anything to get that chance, even if they have to pick up the tab at a weddingreception.
But, frankly, it just struck me in a truly funny way.And I sit here still, marveling at the complete audacityof this internet guru.
Im invited to a wedding reception and expected topay for the privilege... and I thought Id seen everything :)
Theresa Cahill - All Rights Reserved. Feel free to distribute this article. Please keep it intact and with the resource box included below.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Theresa Cahill, a two decade veteran of marketing, is the owner of and invites you to take a look at the services of MWA and download fr.ee helpful information and more at
Ever wonder which form of advertising is best for you
The answer is the method you can afford that will gainyou the greatest bang for your buck.
Over the past several years, Ive had a.dvertisers callwondering which service would I choose if I were them.
My number one answer above all answers The clas.sifiedad; nothing beats the 6 line clas.sified for long-haula.dvertising.
For one thing, the price is right.
The small town weekly we used to pick up for fr.ee charged 10 cents a word, regardless of length. Some papers may charge higher, some lower, but if (for examples sake) every word in your ad was 5 characters, using all 6 lines of available space, that local newspaper ad would run $7.20.
The circulation for my example newspaper had a potentialreadership of 15,000 give or take a few hundred - thosetraveling through and picking up something to read atthe local gas station or small casino.
Now consider the online clas.sified ad.
As of this writing, My Wizard Ads has a potentialreadership of over 1 million.
That same 6 line, 60 characters per line ad will costyou $25, but anyone can join the MWA two-tieraffiliate program for fr.ee and, using your ownurl, save yourself an additional 35%.
Your total outlay is $16.25 to reach a potential one million (join first and click your own url before placing any order.)
Now, lets head back to our local newspaper example above for just a second.
For easy math, lets say the first local newspaperhas the 15K readership, but I want to make sure myad reaches a potential one million readers.
Lets also assume I want to reach a smaller, tightercommunity of readers so I set my total readershipaccordingly.
After diligent research I manage to find additionalout-of-the-area newspapers each having 40,000 potential readers. To reach my one million mark, Id need to locate 24 other papers, plus one25K circulation (plus my original 15K) for a totalof 26 newspapers.
My next step would be to contact them by phoneor mail (or maybe the internet) and place that admyself.
The total cost to reach my one million potentialreaders in print, assuming each charges 10 cents per word ... $187.20
But, keep in mind that doesnt include my time,postage, or long-distance. Nor does it includeprinting paper and ink nor the gas for that trip to the post office if needed.
Hmmm...
Online 1 million... $16.25
Offline 1 million... $187.20 plus, plus, plus.
[This is conservative for offline a.dvertising.I recently received an email from a friend who paid $500 to one magazine with a potential 800,000 readers.]
So now weve got an idea of cost.
Lets harken back to why Im even writing about online 6 line clas.sifieds in the first place.
The 6 line clas.sified ad:
1. Is easy to place
2. Reaches a huge potential readership
3. Is filled with readers looking for that perfect
program, product, or service
4. Is affordable (top priority).
Your starting point A monthly budgeted clas.sified.The cost is do-able and budget you must. Onlinemarketing is not a flash in the pan approach. Youmust be systematic and consistent month after monthafter month.
You now know that setting aside less than $20 a monthwill keep your text ad in front of millions, and you must keep it there for the most obvious of reasons.
Does the Pepsi commercial expect you to jump up andrun out to buy that Pepsi now No, but they arelaying odds youll remember when you next go groceryshopping how much youd just love that Pepsi.
How many times have you read an a.d, bypassed it for the moment, seen it again, again skipped the chance, seen it again, etc., etc., until presto! you click the link and discover oh my! this IS what Ive been looking for
Think... Longevity and patience and budgeting equalsbranding equals sales.
Will your clas.sified do all the work for youNo it will not. Does it serve its purpose to brandyour ad in the minds of readers at an affordablemonthly budgeted price It most certainly does.
Should you go on at that point with solos andwebsite traffic, and maybe guaranteed signups orleads You bet.
But for those with limited funds, go clas.sified.
For those with greater means Still, dont forgetthe humble classified :)
Marketing and gaining traffic is an never-endingquest for the savvy internet promoter. Hunting downand making use of additional fr.ee and pa.idmethods of gaining ex.posure is a JOB. You maynever have to leave your house, you may neverget out of your jammies, but its still a JOB.
All businesses must have a plan and a workable,manageable a.dvertising budget. Pick what you canafford. Commit to a long-haul mentality andimplement it.
It just makes cents.
Theresa Cahill - All Rights Reserved. Feel free to distribute this article. Please keep it intact and with the resource box included below.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Theresa Cahill, a two decade veteran of marketing, is the owner of and invites you to take a look at the services of MWA and download fr.ee helpful information and more at