Occupy Wall Street Naples Fun

Having a little fun at the "Occupy Wall Street" rally in Naples, Florida on October 15th.

As a graphic designer, I am not proud of the aesthetics of these signs, however I'm proud of the fact I whipped them up hastily during the 1st half of the Ohio St game at a nearby restaurant.

Many who have seen the pictures asked me if anyone objected or said anything. The answer is no. I kept a straight face and didn't talk to anybody. I am under the impression that folks either didn't read the signs, figured I was on their side but I was more whacked than they were, or they agreed with me.

Anyhow, below are a few photos of my day at the rally.

Straight Answers About Direct Mail

If you could get your company's message in the hands of a prime member of your target market for less than $.75 each, would you be interested?

Post card direct mail campaigns offers this opportunity. If executed properly, you can expect a response rate of between 10% and .5%, depending on the quality of your mail list and the strength of your offer.

Here are the 3 steps that comprise a direct mail campaign and the associated cost.
1. Identify your market. As an example, your company washes and grooms dogs.

Your first step is to pay for a list of all dog owners in Collier County. In addition, I want to cater to higher end clients, so I narrow my list to homeowners with home values over $250,000.

List cost start around $100 per 1000, and increase as you add layers of parameters to your request.

2. Design and print a postcard. This piece has about 45 seconds between the mail box and garbage to pique the interest of your customer. This is achieved with eye-catching graphics accompanied by a hard-to-resist offer and a deadline to respond.
Design cost $100. Print cost for 1000, 8.5" x 5.5" postcards, $175.

3. Send the postcards to a direct mail distributor. This company will let you borrow their bulk mail permit number, which your graphic designer included as part of the card design. The distributor will address each card using the list you provide him, and sort the mail by zip code or mail carrier route.
You will pay the standard presort postage rate of between $.19 and $.24 ea. The distributor's fee is about $.10 per card.

Campaign Breakdown for 1000 postcards
List Cost - $150
Postcard design and print- $275
Distributor fees - $100
Postage - $220
Total cost - $745 or $.74 per potential customer.

If 3% of you list to responds, you will receive 30 phone calls for your efforts. If you are a good salesperson and convince half the responders to become clients, and you provide good service, you'll obtain 15 long term customers at a cost of $50 each.

Where do you find all these different people to help with a direct mail campaign? Contact me and I will execute the entire process for you. I provide up-to-date mail lists and use dependable distributors.

Now that is a marking campaign that'll give you something to bark about!

Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising
See http://davehortonads.com/ or visit me on Facebook
Email me at davehortonads@gmail.com

Free Logo Art From Any Company

Have you ever faced a dead end when searching on line for a company logo? Say you are working on a project and the logo art provided for you is low resolution and can't be used. Maybe you need your favorite sport's team logo in high resolution.

Brands of the World is the world's largest library of brand logos in vector format available to download for free.





After creating an account, simply type in the company's name in the search area and the vector logo and variations of it will appear. Then click download and save the logo to your file.

Be sure to read the intellectual property of the copyright rules associated with use of any logo.

Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising

See http://davehortonads.com/ or visit me on Facebook

Email me at davehortonads@gmail.com

The Easiest Way To Fix Photo Red-Eye

An otherwise great photo is ruined by red-eye. You don't have Photoshop, and you try to color the eyes with a cheap Paint program, only to find your efforts makes your subjects look like Zombies.

A FREE and easy way to fix red eye is by using Picnik, an online photo editing service. See how I edited a photo using Picnik.

1. Go to the Picnik website and click Get Started Now!, then on the next page click Upload a photo.

2. Once your photo is displayed, tell Picnik whether the subject is a human or furball.

3. Hover the tool above each eye and click once. Picnik automatically fixes each eye.

4. Save photo. It's that easy!

Picnik also offers other photo editing tools such as cropping, rotating, color adjustments, exposure and auto-fix.

If you have difficult photo restoration that can't be solved with Picnik, please contact me, as I can do cool stuff like eliminate ex-spouses out of family photos or add a person to a staff photo who was absent on picture day.

Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising

See http://davehortonads.com/ or visit me on Facebook

Email me at davehortonads@gmail.com

Why Not Just Pay To Be #1

As I discussed in a previous blog, being on Google Page 1 is very important if you wish to reach your target market. There are two ways to get to Page 1, either by natural search listing, or pay to appear on Page 1.

Effective natural search listing is done through skillful SEO (Search Engine Optimization) using proper meta tags, keywords and other tools.

Sponsored links are pay-per-click listings that appear on Google page 1, usually on the right side of the page or in a pink box. No SEO work is needed to achieve this ideal position.


It's easier to pay and get results immediately, but is this the correct decision?

A recent Google study found that searchers were 72% more likely to click on a listing that is naturally ranked than a pay-per-click listing.

Why?

Searchers know that natural listings have been vetted by a secret Google algorithm which ranks sites by relevance. Searcher know a naturally listed site is more relevant because it's position was earned, not bought.

Why I am most qualified to build your website or tune up your existing poor performing site?

As an exercise, type "Naples Advertising Agency" into Google.

You will find my company in the all-important #1 position. My #1 position is extra cool since advertising agencies are the pros at SEO. There are many ad agencies below me in Google that brag about their SEO talents. Why are they not above me in their own category?

Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising

See http://davehortonads.com/ or visit me on Facebook

Email me at davehortonads@gmail.com

Stimulating Sign Savings

Across America, every road project paid for with federal stimulus money will have one detail in common: a big green sign that advertises your tax dollars at work.



In New York, the biggest, 84-square-foot signs could cost up to $8,300 each to make ($98 per square foot.)

I could save the taxpayers of New York $7,208 per sign as I can make an 84 square foot sign for only $1092 ($13 per square foot.) In addition, I could bring commute time pleasure to motorists with a more pleasing and logically arranged sign, like this one I designed for a construction client in Naples.



My signs are created on my desktop computer using the latest graphics programs, and outputted on full color vinyl, laminated and mounted on either treated wood, PVC board or metal. Signs I create include a 3 year full warranty.

When calling for your next sign, please ask the sign company how much a sign costs per square foot. If their cost is over $13 per square foot, you are paying too much, like the tax payers in New York.

See some additional signs I've designed and installed on my website.

Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising

See http://davehortonads.com/ or visit me on Facebook

Email me at davehortonads@gmail.com

Signs Without The Hassle

"I just put up a sign for my business, and code enforcement busted me the next day!"


I've heard this refrain from clients countless times over the years.

To counter this problem with an effective advertising tool, I've recommend using roadside "Human Billboards" to many clients.


Here are the 3 reasons why...

1. Motion attracts attention. People are inundated with still images everywhere they look, and when they see something moving, it catches their eye. In addition, a simple message with a moving arrow creates awareness and an immediate call to action.

2. Cost. A 2' x 4' sign only cost about $200 and it's a one time expense. The cost for a billboard on a major road in Naples begin at over $1000 per month.

3. No permits are needed. According to Diana Compagnone, Collier County Sign Reviewer, the only restrictions for human billboards are "Signs need to be hand held, and off the road or on the sidewalk and pose no danger to vehicles."

The Black Eyed Pig BBQ Restaurant is located just off Pine Ridge Rd. Owner Carl Osborne estimates business has increased over 20% since he began using a human billboard I designed.

If you want to increase traffic to your business in this cost effective manner, contact me for a free consultation today.

Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising

See http://davehortonads.com/ or visit me on Facebook

Email me at davehortonads@gmail.com