Ad HustlerConfessions Of A Serial Internet Entrepreneur

This is a guest post by Internet Gangsta Kris Trujillo From CashTactics.net

The Holy Grail of Local Offline Advertising

About a year ago I got into advertising in local classified ads.  When I first started out I was quite surprised by the return on investment that I could make in certain niches.  However… my ultimate goal was to advertise on a Billboard!

Now, you may think that Billboard advertising is expensive… But I will be the first to tell you that it really isn’t. Often times I could pick up advertising spots in local areas for cheaper than the cost of adwords in the same geotargeted location.

I got an idea a few months back when I saw a “Single in McKinney” sign. I had recognized the little black and white message in several other suburbs.  So I figured to myself… If they are successful enough to have these signs on every major intersection than how profitable would it be to purchase a spot on a Billboard.

I did some digging around.  On average you can get a Billboard spot for $500 for 30 days. Talk about CHEAP.  While on the phone with some of these Billboard companies I asked questions like “how many people pass the sign in a given month” (impressions) and they would give me their best guess.  See, companies that place Billboards have to know their numbers.  And if they don’t… Then their no good.

Anyways… After some more research I thought I would start out advertising on a bus… So I jumped in with $1000.

The bus company I went with was “trimet”.  They are the mass transportation providers in the Portland Oregon area.  I used to work for Trimet when I was in highschool.  So I contacted a few people that I know still worked there and I got in contact with their marketing department.  Sure enough… Trimet offered many different marketing plans.  I just had to pay for the banner creation and placement for a 30 day period.

I found that my $1000 could grab 3 banners roughly 6′ wide by 2′ high for 30 days.  That didn’t include the actual banner design. So I had my banner created and placed on 3 different buses.

The trimet marketing department estimated that a banner placed on the right side of the bus would be seen about 300,000 times in 30 days.  That means that my banner would would receive 300,000 impressions in any given month. Now, I had 3 banners placed.  Thats a total of 900,000 impressions combined.

For my $1000 spent and my 900,000 impressions received I spent a total of $0.001 per impression.  If I had continued to use the banners then the cost would go down as I would not need to pay for more banners.

Okay so we’ve figured out the cost of my advertising… Now let me give you some hints on promoting other people’s offers. You have to be careful how you promote when it comes to billboards or other mobile advertising.  If I was to promote a netflix offer I couldn’t just put up a netflix ad.  Instead I had to tailor the advertisement in such a way that people would want to go to my landing page instead of the traditional netflix page.  To combat this you can create your advertisement with the city in mind.  For example, Portland is known for rain. So… every one of of my advertisements played on the rainy portland days.

My banners looked like they were washing away from the rain AND the URL was memorable to Portlanders. I won’t give you the exact URL but here is an idea of what I used… “StuckInsideWithNetflix.com”.  Do you get it?  People are stuck inside because of the rain… and they have netflix to watch videos!

Anytime you can humor your audience you will grab their trust!

My landing page had quite a few hits. In the 30 days that I had the advertisements running I had approximately 10,000 hits which equated to roughly 1.1% clickthrough rate. And my actual landing page was just a HUGE banner… And honestly… I had it stuff the netflix cookie onto the visitor incase they decided to leave and visit netflix direct.

So let me talk to you a little about what I made that first month.  I spent a total of about $1000 so in order for me to make a profit I had to convert roughly 45 people to break even.  To be honest with you… I didn’t make my goal… I was short of my original spend by $100. BUT … that was ok and here is why…

If you remember we spent $500 to create the actual ads.  This was a cost that I didn’t have to spend month after month.  Instead I just have to spend about $500 each month that I want the advertisements to continue running. So in two months if my profit remains the same I would have spent a total of $1500 and made $1800… That is only $300 profit for two months… But what about three months?  Or 4? $2000 spend for 3 months with roughly $2700 profit! $2500 spend for 4 months with roughly $3600 profit.

Do you see how you can benefit from this?? It may take a while but that is only because you have initial costs to create the actual ads.  You don’t have to pay for new ads every month… You can re-use ads month after month until you want to change up your campaign.

So… If you haven’t looked into advertising on a Billboard or some sort of Mobile advertisement I would highly suggest you give it a shot… Just remember… If you don’t risk it you won’t make it.

Kris Trujillo is an internet marketing veteran and writes CashTactics.net

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This is a Guest Post By Ad Hustler Contributor: Kim Ann Curtin, Life Coach

Big, Selfless & Simple

“Find the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” ~Frederick Buechner

Most of the clients that I’ve worked with either immediately or eventually discuss their dissatisfaction with their careers. Some of them are in positions with companies that don’t challenge them in any way and don’t utilize their strengths effectively. Then of course there are those that have created their own businesses yet feel it is more challenging than they expected it to be and although they don’t want to return to “working for the man” they are still anxious for improvement.

I’m a big believer in finding out what one’s needs are. Once we get our needs identified (which are actually hiding below our wants) we stand a much greater chance at having them met thus attaining satisfaction and happiness in every area of our life.

And its because of this I’m very excited about Rick Smith’s new book called The Leap.  After his assessment (www.primarycolorsassessment.com ) which determines our needs and natural gifts, he then provides us with an unusual measuring stick. He asks us to create something Big, Selfless and Simple from these gifts. He states that once we can do that, we’ll propel our career from good to great.

Smith actually believes it’s possible to find the career that will satisfy and fulfill you, as well as be profitable.  That’s right, profitable. You don’t usually see the word “selfless” next to the word “profitable” often however the interesting truth is that those selfless ideas are usually the ideas that really generate. To be selfless means that you are focused on meeting others needs; i.e. the needs of the market place. If that is job #1 and you really focus on other people and their needs and where and how those needs can be met by you or your service/s then you will absolutely find yourself a smash hit.

What he identifies as “myth” is the story that those that make The Leap must reinvent themselves, charge forward alone or be a daring risk taker; when in reality he argues, they actually are those that become more completely themselves, are carried to success on the shoulders of others, and are keen risk mitigators.

For me personally I’m happy to hear this because as much as I like adventure and see myself as courageous, I’m still someone who checks the cables on the safety nets before I go swinging from any trapeze bar. I actually don’t like to gamble in Vegas or anywhere else. Maybe a wee bit for entertainment but the whole time I can’t help but think what a waste – fully aware the odds are against me. This “Dare Devil-Come What May” moniker that my non-entrepreneurial friends gave me has never fit. I always said that being an entrepreneur required me to be resilient and unstoppable more than anything else.

Of course being an entrepreneur does require chutzpa, I will attest to that, but it’s time to put to rest that there is anything irresponsible about it. I actually believe that there are those out there who have been so indoctrinated with this perspective that that alone keeps them from venturing out even in small ways in their career choices. As a coach, I’m all about people stepping into new perspectives, yet I’m aware that this one is very challenging for the majority of folks. Most are sheep following the path others have set for them. As for your being an affiliate marketer, yes it’s true that you are stepping further out than a nine to fiver yet are your really blazing your own new path?

Fear holds most people back be it from ourselves or our responsibilities to our families that it’s challenging to considering what we might create professionally on our own that is brand new.  This is why in addition to reading books such as Smith’s one needs to create a support system. Whether it is a coach or a group of like minded entrepreneurs that will support your investigating other avenues as well as encourage you to find your sweet spot.
Having honest, supportive and challenging peers around you will allow you to see the bigger picture. Sometimes we simply can’t see the forest for the trees without at least one set of neutral eyes.

And remember this doesn’t mean you stop what your doing, just begin the investigation.  Do it incrementally, like Vaynerchuk says, after hours is plenty of time to cash in on your passion.  I realize that making cash is awesome. And most likely you are experiencing that right now however imagine not only creating income but also enjoying and feeling satisfied with your efforts as well. That’s true wealth. This is why finding out what our “deep gladness” is is the first step.

Discovery your strengths so you can create a business that will utilize them effectively. You have the opportunity to build your career house on a solid foundation identifying your strengths early on so that your unique gifts will be brought into your venture from the start. And this will mean assuring your deep gladness will meet the world’s deep hunger.  And isn’t that what pleasure is all about both parties satisfied?

Kim Ann Curtin – Website | Blog | Twitter | Youtube

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