On-Hold Advertising – An Inexpensive Form of Marketing

In a tough economy such as the one we face now, businesses are looking for inexpensive ways to advertise, and are trying to think outside the box to come up with innovative ways to attract new customers and lure back old ones. You need not look far – on-hold messaging is an inexpensive, creative and effective advertising tool which can work wonders if used properly.

Compared to yellow page advertising, which can cost $600 plus a month, and other forms of traditional marketing such as newspaper and magazine ads, radio and television commercials, trade shows, billboards, direct mail, and telemarketing, on-hold advertising is extremely inexpensive. For under $100 per month, a business can have a fully customized on-hold recording, and also have it updated several times throughout the year.

Now, I am not suggesting that you fire your telemarketing staff and replace it with an on-hold message. But on-hold advertising is extremely effective as a more subtle form of marketing, and is a great image enhancement tool. It is something that should not be neglected, and is so affordable that every business should utilize it, especially in times such as now when business are looking for creative and inexpensive ways to get more business.

It is a fact (and our clients report this all the time) that people make purchases after hearing about products and services while on-hold. Here are a few creative ways to make the most of your on-hold recordings:

- Update your recording periodically so it’s fresh and new
- Include promotions and specials on the recording
- Promote a giveaway or contest
- Use celebrity impersonators to make people laugh - coming soon from Watt Media! This will work wonders!
- Use humor or trivia on the recordings

Keep in mind – the first impression a prospect or current customer gets when calling your business is the voice of the person answering (or your auto attendant), and then, what they hear when they’re on-hold. Will they hear dead air? The radio? Or will you use that time to your benefit?

Make a great first impression with a customized on-hold message! And remember, attaining repeat business is much less expensive than attaining new business – your on-hold recording can certainly help there, with promotions and advertising. So enhance your image and advertise with an inexpensive yet extrememly effective medium – on-hold advertising.

How to Ask for Links

Link Building has become an essential part of search engine marketing. The basic idea is, the more links that exist on other websites that point to your site, the more important your site looks to search engines, which will make it rank higher.

But what's the best way to get other sites to add your link? A great article by Jennifer Laycock explains it well: http://www.searchengineguide.com/jennifer-laycock/link-building-i.php

How To Create a Favicon

Y'know those little icons that appear in your browser next to a url when visiting a website, and the ones you see next to the site name when you bookmark a page? Well, if you want to create one for your site, it's pretty easy. All you need is the graphic you'd like to use as the icon, best in .jpg format. (It's best to make it a simple and small icon, since it's so small when it appears on your site's url.)


Then, go to this site: http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/favicon/ to convert the .jpg file to a .fav file, and then upload it via ftp to your site's root directory, and your done. In some cases your favicon may take a few days to show up, and please note that certain older versions of Internet Explorer may not show them for some strange reason.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

In a recent post I listed what are, in my opinion, some of the more important books for a businessperson to read. Among them was How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I recently reread this book, and was reminded of just how great it is, and how essential it is, not just for the businessperson or entrepreneur, but for anyone who wants to learn how to deal with people and get ahead in life. I truly believe that it is the ULTIMATE self improvement book. Written in 1936, all of the subject matter still applies today, and it's easy to see how it influenced the gurus who came after such as Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins, and Jack Canfield. It has become one of my favorite books of all time, and I believe it to be "The Bible" for how to treat and deal with people.

Do I Need a Phone System to Play On-Hold Messages on My Phones?

Typically, businesses can have telephone on-hold messages playing by hooking up an audio source to their KSU or PBX-type phone system. Since all of the office phones are controlled by a central “brain” (the phone system), any time a call is placed on-hold, the caller hears the recording.

But what if your business doesn’t have one of these “phone systems,” but instead has a simple two to four line phone which was purchased at your local office supply store? Good news – with the use of a special adapter, you can still sound like the big boys and have an on-hold recording.

An on-hold adapter hooks up to one of your phones, regardless of how many phones you have in your office, and an audio source (CD or digital player) hooks into the adapter, and voila – you’ve got on-hold messages. You will of course need a custom on-hold recording professionally produced – that will cost you around $300, or you can get a package of several recordings, allowing you to update the content several times throughout the year for maximum effectiveness.

There are several on-hold adapters available, some being compatible with certain model phones, and others being universal. There’s usually a catch with using the universal ones, though – you may have to press the “star” button on your phones to place calls on-hold, or you may need other devices that hook into your phones’ receivers, so make sure you do your research (or call Watt Media) before purchasing one of these.

The price of on-hold adapters ranges from around $225 to $325. These are typically sold only through qualified dealers, and your best bet is to go through an on-hold company like Watt Media who can provide you with the adapter and the professionally produced on-hold messages.