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Diary of a REACH magazine ad in Dayton, part 3

January 10, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

Today the final ad came to me via email. I made up some extra copies that Paul can hand out if he wants to. In addition, I am posting it here. I mentioned this to Paul and he said that would be fine. If you print out the ad, you can redeem the coupon even before the ad is delivered in the Beavercreek area. Also, not everyone who gets a REACH magazine will receive a magazine that has this ad in it. This ad is only going into one of our 7 available zones in the Dayton market.

If you want to look over our zone map, you will be able to see how you can target your advertising so that it reaches people that are geographically close to your retail location. Service businesses don’t have to worry about location because they come to the customer, but for location oriented businesses with only one or a few locations it is important to reach your primary market, those consumers closest to your location. People who are closer to your location tend to become regular repeating customers much more easily than those that have to travel a great distance to get to your location.

As in my previous post, I asked you to try out the restaurant and tell me if I got the flavor of the place right in the ad. Here is the ad. Please tell me how I did. Thanks, Peter DeMott • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com • REACH Magazine

If you click on the ad it will display at full size and you can print yourself a copy.

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Featured, Growing your business Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Beavercreek, Business growth, Coupons, Dayton, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business

Diary of a REACH magazine ad in Dayton, Ohio

January 6, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

Yesterday I sold a small ad in a zone to a restaurant. I thought it might be interesting to give you a diary of a REACH magazine ad over a couple of posts from consultation to sale to ad development to proofing and final distribution.

Restaurant owner talks with other restaurant owners

One of my other clients had eaten at this restaurant. The owner is an interesting fellow with a lot of character. He talks with all his customers and when he was talking with my other client the conversation moved over to how to get the word out about his restaurant and he asked about effective advertising in Dayton. My other client specifically said that he should call me, Peter DeMott, about REACH magazine.

Consultation meeting

Paul called me and I came to visit him to find out more about what was going on, his needs and goals. After many questions and a tour of the place we went over the REACH magazine program and various options. In the past Paul had heard something about REACH and thought it was too expensive, but once we had discussed various options we came up with something that would fit better into his small budget. I left him many samples from other restaurants in Dayton and Cincinnati and told him that I would come back the next day with a proposal for him.

Program proposal presented

On my next visit, I had put together a proposal for his business including several mailings to get him started. He pointed to the pile of samples that I had left the prior visit and said, “they had good things to say.” He had called each restaurant and talked to the owners and each had indicated they were pleases with their results from REACH. In a couple of cases I had given him several samples from the same restaurant to show that they were repeating. Nobody would continue if it was not working for them, I explained. But, for him, he took it one step further and took the time to make the calls.

Pictures taken, offers discussed, paperwork signed

“What are we doing today?” he asked and I told him that we needed to get his page reservation in to hold the spot for him. I also spent about 15 minutes taking various pictures of him and his restaurant to use in the ad. I explained that I wanted to try to capture some of the character of the place and of him in the ad I put together for him. As I stated before both the place and the man have a unique feel and character to them and I wanted to capitalize on these points in his ad.

We also discussed his incentive offers as they related to his prices and average ticket for two. We came up with some ideas and I pulled the various ideas together to take to my graphic designer. As I am typing this, Kim is working on creating an ad that reflects what I explained to her. With all that I had discussed with Paul, I could have put together a small book, but I had to hone that down to a half page ad in REACH magazine. With many businesses that can be quite a challenge, but one that I enjoy.

He called his printer to have them send me a computer file of his logo which I received via email the next morning.

Ad given to graphic designer for ad creation and proofing

Before I show you the ad, perhaps in my next blog post (I would have to have it approved by Paul before even publishing it here), I thought I would encourage you to go visit the place and have a lunch or dinner. You will experience the character of the place and you can tell me in the comments if you think that I have be successful in capturing some of that in my ad for him.

Paul Mussolino is a chef from the Broncs. He has a fairly heavy New York accent which adds a bit more reality to the City Views Diner restaurant name. He has a huge picture of the twin towers with ribbons and plaque in memorial of those lost in 9-11. On the other wall are large pictures of scenes from the streets of New York. He has many years experience in diners and is also a retired military chef with experience running the officer’s club on the Wright Patt Airforce Base and others around the world. The place is meticulously clean throughout (He took me on a tour of his kitchen). Fank Senotra and other old time favorites play lightly in the background such that a family can actually have a conversation while eating.

Stop by the restaurant so you can tell me if I capture the flavor of the place

I hope that you will give the place a visit. It’s just a little ways East of The GREENE on Indian Ripple Road in the shopping center just past the Speedway gas station. This is on the other side of I-675 from The GREENE, but only a short way off if you happen to go to try to get in at one of the restaurants at The GREENE and find that there is a long wait. This would be a completely different experience. The restaurant closes at 8pm.

Here are some of the photographs that I took to use in his ad (some will not be used depending on the design that Kim comes up with):

Tell Paul that Peter sent you

And last of all, if you do give it a try before I show you the ad that we come up with, could you tell him that Peter sent you?

Next in the diary is proofing the ad with my new client. He will be able to review it, make changes and adjustments, then it is off to the presses for printing and distribution throughout his area.

Peter DeMott • REACH Magazine • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com

Make your own informed decision about REACH magazine, get the details now

Please call me if you want to know more about REACH magazine here in the Dayton market. Make an informed decision about your advertising dollars. As a senior experience sales rep, you can trust me to give you the straight scoop. If I don’t think that REACH can help you, I don’t want you in the magazine and I will tell you so.

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Featured, Growing your business Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Incentive marketing, REACH Magazine, Target marketing

Hot Head is a hot franchise available in the Greater Dayton area

December 30, 2010 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

One client of mine has been using ads in REACH magazine from day one of starting his fast food restaurant, HOT HEAD BURRITO. Over the past several years he has gone from one location to 12 locations in the greater Dayton area and several more in the northern Kentucky part of the Cincinnati market.

When I stop by to see Ray Wiley to go over his ad for the upcoming month in REACH magazine he is always talking with someone about construction or remodeling or perhaps specking out locations for traffic and other factors that relate to the success of each restaurant location. There are always plans laying out on a table near by showing signs, landscaping, and floorplan layouts of stores that are in process.

Fast food is not something new for Ray. He and Cindy have had years of experience as the owners of many Subway store locations here in the Dayton market. His locations always have good managers and are run very well. With his experience from Subway Ray and his wife Cindy have been hard at work since the opening of their first HOT HEAD location. After opening several more locations, they began work on becoming a franchisor. With all that behind them, they are in expansion mode looking for new franchisees and area managers for HOT HEAD Burrito. This is still a baby franchise and this could be an opportunity to get in early. They are looking for area directors for OHIO, KENTUCKY, INDIANA, WEST VIRGINIA, AND PENNSYLVANIA right now.

In the Dayton area Ray (Ray is the Area Director for Dayton Metro) mentioned that he was looking for franchisees who wanted to open locations in Springboro, Miamisburg, and or Fairborn (there may be a couple other key areas that he is looking to fill). Considering the cost of a franchise from other major brands of Burrito fast food restaurants, HOT HEAD is very reasonable. Of course you have to go directly to Ray so he can present you with the program and follow all the proper steps as the franchisor. I cannot share specifics. I just know from our discussions that by comparison these stores have a much lower entry level to the purchase of a successful business model and system.

If you are interested in learning more you will need to contact Ray Wiley at 937-395-3611 to review all the franchise paperwork and discuss his plans for growth in this area and the region. Tell him Peter sent you.

It is gratifying to me that as his REACH magazine representative, I have been a part in the success of this business. Ray has shown me floorplans, taste, operations, logos, ad designs, offers and much more over the last several years.

Below is one of the first LOGOS that got things rolling as we developed his a for REACH magazine. I think that my first ad for Ray’s new restaurant was in May of 2007 when he opened his first restaurant location in Kettering.

You can also learn more at his web site: http://hotheadburritos.com/

If you would like an advertising consultation for your business concerning REACH magazine, please do not hesitate to call me, Peter DeMott, at 937-478-6222 or you can email me at peter@photosbypdemott.com.

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Business opportunity, Featured, Growing your business Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Dayton franchise, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Hot Head Burrito, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business, Your brand

Using a self hosted WordPress Blog to improve SEO for your business web site

December 30, 2010 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

Today when I stopped by Mowery Contruction company to review Jason’s proof for his February REACH magazine ad, he asked me if I would help him out a little bit with understanding and getting started with his WordPress blog. Months earlier I had discussed this with him and he had asked his web guy Larry Davis of E-3design to set it up so he could get started. Now he wanted a few pointers about what to do and how to do it.

We went over how Google gives higher ranking to web sites that have frequent updates and how the WordPress Blog within the web site could make that happen. We also discussed how “content is king” with SEO and that as he adds more and more blog posts, google will have more and more words to bring people to his web site. I explained that when he gets to 30-40 posts, that his visitor graph will begin to show significant increases in traffic. Then we talked about being conversational AND informative, but to avoid a hard sales pitch in the posts. When someone visits his web site because they googled “heated tile floors in the bathroom” they want to hear about that so that is what his post needs to be about. The fact that he created this beautiful bathroom for his customer is evident and he does not have to talk about his business in the post. A few pictures and explaining that his customer LOVES stepping out of the shower onto a warm tile floor is all he needs to put in that post. From there the curious prospective customer will explore his web site to find out how they could get a similar project done.

Because he has set this up as a self hosted WordPress Blog, there are “plug-ins” that can help integrate other social media. Jason had just set up his business page on facebook and I explained that one handy plug-in takes whatever he posts on his blog and puts it on your business facebook wall. He doesn’t have to create one post for facebook and then do it again on his blog.

I also explained that by using words in his blog posts that people might use to make google searches he will have more and more organic search activity on his blog and web site. That means that the visitor came from someone putting several words into the google search box and clicking search. Those visitors will not cost him a thing. By coming to his blog, they will see the other menu items that tell more about his business including testimonials, additional examples of his work, as well as contact information. I also explained that this is a place to start RELATIONSHIPS with prospects rather than to use the blog for HARD SELLING.

It was a good lesson for Jason. Although he is an outstanding contractor in the Dayton area, this social media stuff is somewhat new to him. I think his activities on facebook and his blog will help increase the effectiveness of his web site and his advertising in REACH magazine, which is after all one of the most fun parts of what I do as a sales executive for REACH magazine. We’ve been working together growing his business for the last 10-15 years. We will add the “FIND US ON FACEBOOK” logo to his REACH magazine ads in future issues.

http://www.moweryconstruction.com/about/

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Service, Featured, Growing your business, SEO Search Engine Optimization, Social Media for Business

Restaurant daily sales 3 to 5 times better already – Dayton REACH magazine

November 10, 2010 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

It’s gratifying to work for REACH magazine, Dayton’s favorite direct mail coupon magazine when I can go into a restaurant the week after our magazine hits the streets and see excitement and even relief in the eyes of the servers. I’m not going to publish the name of the restaurant in my blog, but if you want to hear about it in person I would tell you. But, I had lunch there today. I asked the maitre d’ how things were going this week. He saw that I was with REACH magazine and with a smile on his face said that their daily sales were between 3 times and 5 times higher than they had been in many prior weeks.

I could see that having people to serve was a relief as he seemed to have lots of energy in his step.

Weeks before, when I was talking to the owner about REACH, the owner explained that he was spending $300 for this and $400 for that and business was very slow. Why should he pay more for REACH magazine? I explained the secret about REACH magazine, that just about everyone LOVES Reach magazine and that it will stay around the home much longer than magazines made with newsprint or ones that have a bunch of ugly coupons on the front cover. And REACH is not by subscription like the newspaper so everyone in his primary marketing area will receive it and see his ad.

He listened, then he reluctantly signed for 6 issues of REACH and given the situation and his concern about being able to pay at proof approval with each issue, I explained that I would allow him to skip or postpone a mailing if money was a problem. In fact, I said, if you are not completely happy with the results, I will let you cancel the the remaining agreement so long as he notified me well in advance of the proofing deadline. I picked up the first payment for the first ad when business was still very slow.

Now I will have the pleasure of asking for payment for something that may actually save his restaurant. For some reason I don’t think it will be as difficult to write that check.

Our November REACH magazine cover features the Wright State basketball team. On the back is a coloring contest for kids to be able to win a family package to The Nutcracker Ballet sponsored by Kettering Health Network and Vectren. Until our kids were in high school, we made it a family event each Christmas to go out to dinner and then to The Nutcracker Ballet. When I interview random consumers about REACH magazine, they tell me that things like this are some of the things that make them LOVE Reach, then they go on to explain that having restaurants and a variety of different businesses to look through makes REACH fun to look at and worth keeping ahold of for many weeks.

Since I’ve been representing REACH for many years I know this about consumer views. It just always surprises me when I go to present REACH to a business and many business owners have no idea. If there are others in the room, sometimes I will just hold up the most current magazine and loudly ask, “DOES ANYONE GET THIS AT HOME?” Immediately people chime in with, “Oh yes, we love REACH magazine.” or something of that nature. At that point the business owner becomes more receptive to discussing the value of advertising in REACH. But, still it surprises me that retail, restaurant, and service businesses do not ask their customers about things like this. It sure would make my job a whole lot easier if they did!

If you would like me to go over how REACH works, just give me a call at 937-478-6222 any time. That’s my cell phone number since I am out and about quite a bit.

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Featured, Growing your business, more customers, More profits Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Facebook marketing, Facebook marketing for businesses, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, restaurant advertising, Target marketing, Tools for business

Using Facebook for your business in Dayton Ohio

November 6, 2010 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

This morning I received a facebook message from one of my other clients. She has a friend who is changing salons and wants to announce it in the next issue of REACH magazine.

It is becoming more and more clear to me that every business and business person should have a Facebook profile and perhaps a business PAGE on Facebook. Linked In and Facebook and Twitter are all linked together now. If you put something on Linked In, you can have it automatically posted to your twitter and Facebook profiles with a single click if you like. In addition you can have messages from Facebook forwarded to your email or as text messages to your smart phone.

For those of you who don’t “get it” what you have to understand is that these programs are about relationships, not about posting silly things like, “I’m having a cup of coffee at Starbucks.” Now and then, comments like that are just fine, but in the context of knowing that person it can be a tiny bit more that you know about them. When you post to your personal profile, it is important that you are not the person with the one note post saying, “business, business, business” over and over again. People will tune you out or turn you off. You have to step out of the box and start sharing things about who you are and what interests you.

I have now had clients message me with referrals, with requests for appointments regarding advertising in REACH magazine, and with questions about my photography business as well. More and more today, people are choosing who they want to do business with based on relationships. Understand that quality of product and service have to be there as well, but given those if someone feels they know you even just a little bit, then they are going to be more likely to do business with you.

As I work with businesses selling them advertising in REACH magazine, many times I also pass on the knowledge that I have about running a WordPress Website/blog along with having a profile and a PAGE on facebook. Over a year ago I made a conscious decision to embrace technology. What I mean is that I purchased a smart phone (iPhone for me), I started a profile on Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter, and I am making a conscious effort to learn more each day about how people and businesses can use these to enhance their lives.

Here is a story about a photographer client and how Facebook has made a difference in a strong and unusual way:

http://photosbypdemott.com/2010/11/lydias-song-the-loss-of-a-horse-and-a-story-of-love-accomplishments-and-companionship/

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Featured, Growing your business, Social Media for Business Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Facebook marketing, Facebook marketing for businesses, Grow your business, Reaching consumers, Social Media, Tools for business, web site marketing

The secret about REACH magazine revisited for businesses who do not know

October 25, 2010 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

Last week I spent the evening at the Beavercreek Chamber of Commerce Business Expo at the Nutter Center. Just for fun, I would ask people as they passed by, “Are you familiar with REACH magazine?” There was not one person who didn’t say something like this, “Oh we love REACH magzine! or Oh, yes we use coupons out of there or something of that nature. At that point, I would ask them if I could do a mini video interview of them that I would place on this blog for businesses to see. Some would say, “a video, not I can’t do that”, but others were willing and I made about 6-7 short video clips of these interviews.

Here are 5 for your review. As a REACH executive, it amazes me that more businesses are not looking into advertising in REACH magazine. We have to go out and tell businesses about REACH and of course we sometimes sound just like many other advertising media. The difference is that we have real proof that REACH is Dayton’s most popular coupon magazine (See results of THE MEDIA AUDIT for the last three years). And it is fun for me to do these little mini interviews with random people to share with you.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about REACH magazine in Dayton. Do you use coupons from REACH? Does your husband or wife use coupons from REACH? Is what happens at your home similar to what happens in the homes of these folks that I interviewed last week?

Click on the comment link on this post and tell me more about you.

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Perception, Featured, Growing your business, more customers Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, REACH Magazine, Tools for business

Good marketing takes planning ahead for back to school

June 18, 2010 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

One thing that always frustrates us here at REACH Magazine is the business owner that calls us two weeks before our magazine goes out and wants to get into that issue. The problem is that we put it to bed (that’s printer lingo for sent it to the printer) the week before.

Some types of business have “prime times” when consumers are more active in your category of business. Plan far enough ahead that you don’t miss critical deadlines and so that you are not rushed on your advertising decisions and development of advertising copy and creative.

Back to school is not just for school supplies

Many decisions about family involvements are made as preparation for school is happening. Sometimes a child going to school suddenly frees up time for mom to be employed or to take on volunteer work or other involvements. What sporting activities are our kids going to be involved in. Even though some of these decisions are made in September and October, if your business is effected by these decisions you will want to get out in front of your prospective customers early enough to prime the pump and get them thinking that you are one of the options.

Because of all the changes that happen in the back to school time period there are many businesses that are impacted significantly by marketing and advertising during this period.

Consider these businesses and how they might be effected by changes and plans that are made for back to school:

• Shoe stores

• Day cares / after school programs

• Clothing stores

• Technical schools / for mom’s coming back into the work force because their kids are now in school

• Dance Schools, Gymnastic Schools, Sports training, fitness, recreation

• Shipping stores (what did junior forget to take to college on move in day?)

• Computers, electronics

• Carpet cleaning and house cleaning

• Salons and spas

and more…

We are currently working on REACH magazine’s Back to school edition which will arrive in homes the first week of August. If you want to be in front of consumers with a compelling message and in the vehicle that consumers LOVE, please call me soon because we will put this issue to bed before you know it. Peter DeMott 937-478-6222

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Featured, Growing your business, more customers Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Direct mail, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business

Duct Tape Marketing, great advertising and marketing resource for businesses

June 10, 2010 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

I have been following Duct Tape Marketing with John Jantsch for some time. In fact when I was doing my advertising and marketing course for equine photographers online a couple of years ago, he donated a couple of his best selling book on advertising for small businesses. Now I subscribe to his blog via an email subscription and I also subscribe to his podcast via iTunes.

This particular podcast was interesting in that I have been using WordPress for this blog and my photography business web site for about six months. The title of this podcast is “Marketing in the age of Google” and it is an interview with the author of the book by the same name. Their conversation moves over to using WordPress as a complete web site which is what I do.

In just six months my photography web site has gone from 500-700 visits per month to over 5,000 visits in the month of May. Hope you enjoy this podcast and if you would like to meet to discuss advertising here in the Dayton area, I would love to meet with you. We can talk about WordPress websites, facebook pages, REACH magazine and THE BIG DEAL on eREACH.com Feel free to call me at 937-478-6222 or email me at peter@photosbypdemott.com . I have over 20 years experience working with small businesses in this area, helping them to grow through advertising and advice.

You can listen from his web site here by clicking on the link at the top of the post.

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2010/05/20/marketing-in-the-age-of-google/

Or you can go to iTunes here and listen to the May 20th podcast here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/small-business-marketing-blog/id78797836

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Featured, Growing your business, more customers, SEO Search Engine Optimization, Social Media for Business Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Grow your business, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, SEO for small businesses, Tools for business, web site marketing

Finding a job in the age of the internet – start a blog

June 2, 2010 By Peter DeMott 1 Comment

David Meerman Scott has a blog called Web Ink Now about marketing and leadership strategies. Today’s blog post I found to be very interesting. There are many things that recent graduates can do to make themselves attractive for hiring.

His main idea for this post is that if students will start a blog while in school they will have accumulated a mass of data that search engines will serve up to prospective employers. If a business is looking for someone who is able to communicate, they will be able to see it in the blog. If they need a idea leader, they will see it in the blog and so on. Go visit David’s blog and sign up for email delivery as I have.

http://www.webinknow.com/2010/06/job-search-advice-for-university-students-and-recent-graduates.html

I found another concept interesting for college grads. This came from another blog that I subscibed to, however I cannot recall who it is right now. Consider this. If someone is looking to hire someone is it more likely that they will see what they want in the grads who live at home and watch TV half of each day and look for a job an hour or two each day or each week, or will they see more potential in the “go givers” who since they are not employed volunteer for 20 hours each week at the charity of their choice? How will it come across to the prospective employer when in the interview they have powerful answers to things they are doing right now to help others and make a difference in the world? What if this was a student currently in college with good grades and who is volunteering while still in school rather than just going to parties, sleeping, eating, studying and going to classes and in that order?

One more idea to add, in addition, joining a business networking group like Rainmakers will present a new grad with opportunities to meet face to face with business owners and perhaps find a good fit in a non-threatening environment. How might a prospective employer feel about someone, again who is a “go giver” who actually provides their company with connections that will help their business through networking. Is that the type of person you might want to hire?

I hope that you have enjoyed these ideas and will pass them on to the recent college grad that you know that is looking for a career. For that matter, if you know a Junior or Senior in college, send them a link to this blog. Perhaps the light will go on and they will start their blog early enough so that there is a mass of data for prospective employers to review and consider.

Filed Under Featured, Giving Back to the Community, Rain Ohio, Social Media for Business

Diary of a REACH magazine ad in Dayton, part 3

Diary of a REACH magazine ad in Dayton, Ohio