The full title of this book by Jamie Sylvian is
“Newspaper & Magazine Advertising That Works: A Simple 10 Step Guide to Creating Adverts that Get the Phone Ringing“.
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Four Stars. This means it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
For business owners who want more customers
This is a very short, straightforward guide to help owners of small businesses to make better use of advertising in newspapers and magazines. Marketing advisors and copywriters who are knowledgeable in direct response advertising won’t gain much, if anything, from it.
There is little to disagree with in what it says but, in the goal to keep it short, I believe that a few important points have been missed which stop me giving it a strong buy recommendation for new or inexperienced business owners. It would be nice to think that the following could be remedied in a second version.
i) The book doesn’t give any tips about buying advertising space or choosing appropriate media.
ii) It doesn’t give tips on measuring the results (if the business has several different lead generation techniques) or on testing and improving the advertisement.
iii) It doesn’t explain why you should keep advertising or the subconscious brand building benefits that direct response marketing can have. It rightly criticises tombstone style advertising that starts with the business name but I believe it’s useful to have the name clearly shown so that it’s picked up by the subconscious in peripheral vision. None of us read newspapers for the advertising but the latest brain research shows that we pick up far more subconsciously than we consciously notice.
iv) The examples in the book show highly discounted offers that may not be individually profitable at the transaction level. It’s therefore useful to explain why it can be helpful to “buy customers”, even at an initial loss, because of the profit over the entire relationship.
v) I’d have also liked to have seen a discussion of two step lead generation because of the restrictions of expensive space. It’s easy to see the attractiveness of an offer that gives you 50% off the cost of a meal with a free bottle of wine thrown in but many businesses sell products and services that are harder to explain.
Despite these criticisms, I still believe it’s a good book for business owners who are dissatisfied with the results they get from their newspaper and magazine advertising. There is so much bad practice out there that wastes rather than generates money and which still serve as poor examples of “how to advertise” for other business owners.
These tips will make a difference and many business owners will appreciate that the book is short and concise. As a business coach I find marketing exciting and enjoy reading about it but I know that owners are often frustrated and irritated by the need to “do marketing” and don’t find it interesting.
It is available to buy from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
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