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As an entrepreneur it’s your job to lead. Lead your company. Lead your vendors. Lead your employees. Lead your clients.  And MOST importantly, lead your prospect through the confusion of the marketplace to make a purchase from you.

Despite what ad reps would have you believe, creating ads isn’t a complicated process.  It’s a matter of simply communicating what you have to offer, how it will satisfy your prospect’s needs, and then telling them how/where they can purchase your product/service.

Here are four of the biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make when advertising:

1.  Demanding “Creative” Ads

Trying to be creative (or polished) for the sake of looking good is a complete waste of your energy and effort.  The goal of your advertising is to acquire more clients… right? Trying to be creative or polished forces attention away from what should be your primary goal.  Sometimes creativity is a crutch. Here’s some sage advice from David Ogilvy.

“It’s only creative if it sells.” – David Ogilvy

2. Being Boring/Predictable

Being predictable you’re certain to accomplish one thing… waste money. (I lied, there are two things that will happen.  Not only will you waste money, but you’ll also be boring.) The first challenge of all marketers is to gain the attention of those they’d like to communicate with. The companies that advertise during the Super Bowl are great at capturing attention and not being predictable. However, these ads often fail to earn a positive ROI because they capture the interest of those watching, but then fail to stir up desire.

3.  Not Stirring Up Desire

It’s great if you can capture your audience’s attention, but capturing their attention will never be enough.  Your ad must stir up desire within your audience. You think your product or service is great, but your prospects don’t… yet. This is where you begin instilling enough motivation so that it will eventually lead to action. This is rarely done by using facts and figures.

4.  Ignoring Action

You can capture attention and stir up desire, but if you don’t have a clear (and concise) call to action your ads will fall short of their full potential. You’ve got to tell people exactly what you want them to do next. It’s really not complicated. If you want them to call, then say, “Call us right now at 123-345-1234.” If you want them to visit your website, then say, “Visit our website at www.UglyMugMarketing.com in the next 12 hours and save $100.00.”

Not sure about your ad?  I’d be glad to take a look at your ad.

Send your ad to me at wayne@uglymugmarketing.com.