The Difference Between Marketing and Advertising: 

Advertising- paid message communicated through the various media by industry, business firms, nonprofit organizations, or individuals. 

Advertising is persuasive and informational and is designed to influence the purchasing behavior and/or thought patterns of the audience. 

Advertising is a marketing tool and may be used in combination with sales promotions, personal selling tactics or publicity.

Marketing- process associated with promoting for sale goods or services. The classic components of marketing are the four P's: product, price, place and promotion-the selection and development of the (product), determination of (price), selection and design of distribution channels (place), and the aspects of generating or enhancing demand for the product, including advertising (promotion).

Most advertising isn't interesting or fun to read. In fact, too often it is boring. Don't let this happen to you! Providing products and services is a people business. And people like to hear good news for a change. They also like to have a good excuse to smile or laugh, too.

You can combine humor with attention-getting messages... 

...that will make your phone ring with calls or people showing up at your door.

I hope you're starting to get enthused about what you're seeing here. I can show you how to get a lot more business than the "old ways" of marketing you've been taught.

I trust you're noticing a big difference between the kind of ads, postcards, etc. you've already seen, and the ones that most business owners or sales people mail out. 

You see, its not just lead generation I'm talking about. You'll see examples of ads, and you'll see examples of sales letters and other things that are designed to get people to read and respond.

Remember, advertising isn't supposed to be boring. It also isn't supposed to be so professional and so uninteresting that nobody pays any attention to it.

Advertising that works has got to create interest, which means that it cannot be boring.

For example, I get people sending in things for me to review all the time. If they're in financial services, they send me a brochure that says things like...

"Planning Retirement: We here at of the believe that planning for retirement is one of the critical objectives in securing your future. There are many different ways to meet future financial needs - from stocks and CDs to IRAs and Keogh accounts: These and other financial products can help you meet contingencies while you save...blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...”

See what happens? This sounds so professional and so boring that even if anybody was the slightest bit interested, you'd lose them right in the beginning.

Advertising and marketing that works is never boring.

Now, you have to be honest with yourself. Is the stuff that you are sending out, or giving to people, or advertising with - boring?

One of the biggest mistakes business owners, professionals and sales people make is thinking that what's interesting to them is what's interesting to a potential or actual customer.

Think about this carefully.

Is your marketing interesting to you and your peers? Do you talk about all the features and technical details of your products or services - things that would be interesting only to another person in your field? Or, do you talk about the benefits of what you can do...and what those benefits mean to people?

Keep in mind that people only care about what's in it for them. People are only concerned with themselves and their own problems. They couldn't care less about what you think is interesting. If you want to ensure that little attention will be paid to you and your marketing, just maintain the boring, professional stuff, and you won't be disappointed. 

What's In It For Them

Yes, just like you, others are only interested in learning what's in it for them. And, if we accept the fact that people are only interested in what's in store for themselves, we have to accept the fact that this selfishness must be the center of all your marketing.

You only have a couple of seconds to get their attention. Just the blink of an eye. If you have some message that might potentially interest people, they may stop for another couple of seconds. Maybe. But, if you just get their attention and then bore them, you lose them...Like that!

Your message has to get, and keep, people's interest the entire through your entire message. Imagine if you had to stand up to that kind of test. Would your marketing hold up to such intense scrutiny? Well, you'd better think about it, because your marketing does face that same sort of pressure.

If your prospective customers get bored, they won't click you off, they'll just dump the piece in the trash, or turn the page. Remember, boring marketing is ignored marketing!

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