How To Market My Business

Q:I am scared that when I roll out my project, that someone else with a lot more money, and smarts than me will copy it and end my chances of growing. I realize that it will be difficult to answer this question without knowing what my project is all about, but I dont know how to ask any other way without giving too much info. I also dont know who to trust as I am feeling a little overwhelmed right now and would like to talk with someone/s about my project.

A:I am not talking about signing on with a major ad agency to work up a huge campaign, that I can understand. I am talking about the small weekly newspapers that charge A LOT of money for small B&W cookie cutter ads. They say their circulation is such and such, but most people I talk to say they don't even look and just throw them away. The ad reps for the weekly say that your investment comes out to .00X cents per customer but if most people dont look, it seems that it is money spent unwisely. Yet week after week there it is in my mailbox with a new batch of ads. I did some admittedly un-scientific surveys of my own. Of the 200 or so people who live in my neighborhood only 6 or 7 said they even look at they weekly ad paper. As I drive down my street I see the Pennysavers rubber banded to the mailboxes, getting soggy in the snow and rain, I see the Advo cards littering the ground, and now the plastic bags marked Gorillads laying in the gutter. Outside of the obvious environmental concerns, I wonder if the business owners in this area who spend their money on these ads are that blind that they don't see what I see. Some of my other research was, taking the weekly ad paper and going page by page and measuring their ad space and then using their rate card to figure out approximatley how much revenue they bring in each issue. Since I dont know exactly how much it costs in printing, mailing, and salaries, I cant really know how much it costs to put out. I am sure that they are making a tidy profit, though. I guess the answer to this question is that the ads go for what the market will bear, but, MAN it seems like a lot of money being spent on an ineffective medium. Is this because the owners don't know these rules, or is this the mark of ineffective marketers and ad salesmen? I will let the point of the business owners not knowing any better stand on its own, as I know too many business owners that have no idea what they are doing, and somehow manage to stay in business. I do wonder about the marketers and sales reps, though. Isn't the goal of advertising to build business, not just momentary peaks when you have a sale but long term growth? Then wouldn't it behoove the sales reps to help educate the business owners on more effective ways to build business, or is it just easier to keep doing the same thing and keep collecting the paycheck? I realize this kind of answers itself, but doesnt this problem really open the door for someone with a new and better idea to come in and make a killing?? Like me?? Well I guess your bellys must hurt from all the laughing your doing right now, so I will end this. I would really appreciate your comments and answers. I guess you may have figured out that I am interested in marketing and advertising. If there are any good web resources or usenet groups that anybody would like to point out, I would like to hear about them. I read through all the questions and answers that have been posted here and I find the members of this group to be very nice and helpful as well as knowledgeable. That is very misleading. Newspaper and magazine ads are very effective. My first job as a teenager was for a local electronic store. One of our biggest sources for clients was the local weekly circulation - Pennysaver. For a small business, the cost of such an ad is very small. Don't forget, spending one or two thousand dollars a week for a small business is not a large investment. The long term ROI (Return On Investment) will usually compensate for the short term cost. Publications such as the Pennysaver are nothing more then a booklet of ads. People know this. So do the businesses. What the businesses count on are people who look to support their local business and purchase products or services such as plumbing, used cars, insurance, real estate, electronics, etc. These people will take in their Pennysavers for the sole purpose of finding a specific business. In fact, just last week my parents rummaged through their Pennysaver to find a local charity to donate their car to. A small $700 ad got a local charity a $4,400 car. An ad like that needs only one reply in six weeks to pay for itself (not including other costs).