A good idea is worth the wait By John Foust, Advertising Trainer When I was a kid and jumped to conclusions about something, my father often said, “Hold your horses, son.” That’s an old saying that means, “Whoa! Stop and think carefully before making a decision.” Dad had a lot...
The importance of proofreading
The importance of proofreading By John Foust, Advertising Trainer Proofreading is one of the most important skills in the advertising world. While anybody with a sense of humor can appreciate a harmless blooper (one of my favorites is the sign that read, “Ears pierced while you wait”), no advertiser wants...
Advertising’s blast from the past
Advertising’s blast from the past By John Foust, Advertising Trainer In order to look ahead to a new advertising idea, sometimes it helps to take a look at the past. When an advertiser has been in business for a number of years, there are plenty of possibilities.Let’s take a look...
One way to make presentations more memorable
One way to make presentations more memorable By John Foust, Advertising Trainer Samuel, the ad manager at a community paper, told me about a simple technique his sales team uses at the end of meetings with prospects and clients.“I once read that people remember only about 25 percent of what...
Would you mind showing me around?
Would you mind showing me around? By John Foust, Advertising Trainer One of the most important questions you can ask an advertising client is, “Would you mind showing me around?”Think about it. When you have a conversation in a client’s office, you get a filtered version of that person’s business....
Do you have an eight-inch frying pan?
Do you have an eight-inch frying pan? By John Foust, Advertising Trainer There’s a story about an old man who was fishing from a pier. He was catching more fish than anyone else, so a crowd gathered to learn his secret. His behavior was unlike anything they had ever seen....
Cut down on exclamation marks
Cut down on exclamation marks By John Foust, Advertising Trainer Lately I have noticed a disturbing trend in print and online advertising: the overuse of exclamation marks. They’re all over the place. Interestingly, no grammar book I have ever seen has suggested using more exclamation marks – or exclamation points...
Catch more customers for your advertisers
Catch more customers for your advertisers By John Foust, Advertising Trainer My friends Mark and Sandy invited me to spend a couple of days in a vacation beach condo they had rented, about a month before their first child was born. Mark and I decided to do some fishing, so...
The advertising sales cycle
The advertising sales cycle By John Foust, Advertising Trainer Let’s take a look at the sales cycle. For our purposes, the focus is on advertising media sales, but this concept can apply to any business. Although the cycle has a beginning and an end, the end leads to a new...