A Good First Impression for $59

Your first impression to a potential client will usually determines whether he will do business with you in the future or not. Your business card is an inexpensive self-promotion tool that allow you to stand out from the pack and give yourself an edge. A well designed business card printed on a quality card stock shows that you value the quality of your work and that you are likely to offer the same service to customers. A poorly designed card on cheap paper serves as a warning to others that you cut corners promoting yourself, and will probably do the same with customer's work.

"I can do it myself. I have Publisher!" I hear many say when I offer to design and print cards for them. Most times their well intended efforts yield poor results after many hours of frustration and wasted time.

Below offers a typical example of a home made card a client put together and the card I designed and printed for him.

I design, assemble and print 1000 business cards printed on 14pt. UV coated card stock (the glossy cards) for only $59. This offer is extended to anyone in the United States.

Become a follower of my blog in the month of April. On May 1st, a random follower will receive 1000 FREE Business Cards.

Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising

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

Email me at davehortonads@gmail.com

Please Stand By

A great way to save 50% - 80% off regular advertising rates is by running a "Stand-By Ad".

A stand-by ad is a print advertisement that a newspaper or magazine uses when, hours before press run, "holes" in the publication appear that requires ads for filler. If you submit a stand-by ad and it is ready to print, the ad can run at a huge discount.


The downside, of course, is that there is no guarantee your ad will appear on any given day.

It is important that your stand-by ad catches the eye of the reader. This can be achieved by utilizing the services of a graphic designer who uses basic design principles effectively. Please see a selection of ads I've designed on my website. Please contact me, and I will design and assemble your stand-by ad. In addition, I will also negotiate fees with your local publication.

Please Stand By.

Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising

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

Email me at davehortonads@gmail.com

My Business Lifesaver

When the real estate market crashed, so did my business. I was in real trouble, as my builders and developers stopped operations. I needed to find new clients, quickly!

A friend suggested a networking group called BNI (Business Networking International) because BNI help grow his business. I was skeptical, because I had been a member of various business groups in the past, which was great for happy hour fun, but not for increasing my customer base.

BNI became a business life saver for me. The group I joined has about 25 members, all representing different occupations. I became the exclusive Advertising Agency of the group and was afforded the weekly opportunity to share with the group details of what I do, and what type of referrals I am seeking. The other members became my sales team, and they responded with many great leads for me. In return, I've been able to pass along many leads to the others in my group, as I've made countless business contacts throughout the 25 years I've been in Naples.

The results? At the conclusion of my first year in BNI, revenue generated through referrals totaled over 20 times my membership investment.

The secret? BNI trains members how to ask for referrals properly, and also how to listen and respond to other's requests efficiently. There is no shame in asking others for help. This was not the case in the other business groups I've associated with.

BNI is not exclusive to Naples. Groups can be found in anywhere. BNI rules allow 2 free visits before you are asked to decide to join.

I highly recommend you do.

Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising

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

Email me at davehortonads@gmail.com

Why I Am So Narrow Minded

If everyone is your customer, then no one is your customer.

That is, if you fail to focus your message to a specific group that is interested in your product, you will waste time, effort and money trying to reach those that have no interest in what you are selling.

Let's say, for example, you are selling new glow-in-the dark baseballs.

If you use a poor "shotgun" approach to selling (marketing to the masses), you would use the following logic..."I need to sell a lot of glow-in-the-dark baseballs, so I will run ads in the publication with the highest circulation."

In order to reach your target buyers for glow-in-the-dark baseballs more effectively, I would suggest the following...

1. Identify your market. In this case it would be children who play baseball.

2. Narrow your focus and identify specility magazines that children read or parents of children who play baseball read, then insert a strong ad. See my offer below if you wish to receive a comprehensive list of niche publications that reach your target market.

3. Design a highly visible banner and hang it on the outfield wall at the local Little League ball park.

4. Run an eye catching ad in the local minor league baseball team program.

These simple marketing examples will enable you to direct your message to baseball families at a much more reasonable cost and offer a greater response in return than the "shotgun" approach.

Every business has different clientele, assets and budget. That is why it is important to consult a marketing expert before you summon random hordes of salespeople into your office.


I offer FREE consultations and recommendations to improve your sales. In addition, I always include a cost quote to implement my plans.

When it comes to advertising, I am very narrow minded, and I encourage my clients to be narrow minded too.

If you click the button to the right and become a follower to my weekly blog, I will send you a link to a great website that offers a long list of niche magazines and publications that appeal to most all demographics.

Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising

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

4 Tips That Saved a Business

Carl's BBQ restaurant was struggling. Even though his small diner was located on a major through road, customers didn't know he was there. He contacted me last summer and asked for advice. Here are the 4 marketing tips I recommended...

1. Change your restaurant's name. Carl's Classic Cafe does not indicate BBQ.
Solution - He changed the name of the restaurant to Black Eyed Pig BBQ.

2. Design a strong, immediately recognizable logo that gave his restaurant credibility and provided customers with a sense of familiarity and comfort.
Solution - I designed the Black Eyed Pig logo.

3. Install HUGE, highly visible signs. His strongest asset was his location, and by simply letting people know he is there and open would certainly generate sales.
Solution - I designed large aluminum signs that were installed on the roof facade. I also installed 5 foot high, bright orange B-B-Q vinyl letters on the windows.

4. Generate a web presence.
Solution - I designed and assembled a website for him, locked in a solid domain name and installed keywords in his code that got him onto page one on Google within weeks.

The results...
Carl's traffic has increased 4 fold since my recommendations were implemented. His business has been so overwhelming, he is thinking of opening a second diner, even in this weak economy.

Every business has different clientele, assets and budget. What worked for Carl may not work for the next restaurant down the road. That is why it is important to consult a marketing expert before you drop a nickel on advertising. I offer FREE consultations and recommendations to improve your sales. In addition, I always include a cost quote to implement my plans.

After following my recommendations, you will clearly discover my advertising and marketing services are not an expense, but a wise investment in your company.

Ask Carl.

Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising

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

Email me at davehortonads@gmail.com

Who's Been Visiting Your Website?

Now that your keywords are in place and your website is live, you now wonder if anyone is actually visiting the site. A recommended and FREE tool to monitor traffic to your site is Google Analytics. You can view a daily report of hits to your website, bounce rates (how many people come to your homepage and leave without clicking to another page) and average time spent on your site. In addition, you can see a map of the world that indicates where your hits are coming from and most importantly, Google Analytics shows you which search engine words people use to find your website.

How do you set up and use Google Analytics?

Step 1: Set Up Your Account
In order to use Google Analytics, you will need to set up an account. Go to www.google.com/analytics/ The steps are easy to follow, and should take less than 10 minutes to complete.

Step 2: Insert The Google Analytics Code Into Your Web Pages
After you finish registration, you will receive a wacky code. This code needs to be inserted into the HTLM on your website. Simply find the < / body > tag near the bottom of your page and insert the code above it. You will need to do this on every page of your website. If the last two sentences are jibberish to you, simply email the code to your webmaster. He will know what it is and how to install it.

Step 3: Anaylize Your Website Performance
The day after installing your code, go to your Google Analytics page. In the center of the page is a section titled Website Profiles. Click on the View Reports link. This will bring you to the Dashboard. This is where all the information is stored. I recommend bookmarking this page for easy daily access.

This information will show your where your customers are coming from and which search words they used to find you. This information allows you focus your efforts towards reaching those and like customers.

See a selection of websites I've designed and assembled.

If you wish to automatically receive more of these quick advertising tips, become a follower of my blog by clicking the button to the right.


Dave Horton
Dave Horton Advertising


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


Email me at davehortonads@gmail.com

5 Steps To Improve Your Website's Google Ranking

You've just taken your new website live and now you wait for the phone to ring. Only it doesn't. Your site is on the web, but no one can find it. What did you forget to do? How do you get eyeballs on your website?

The answer is "You need to insert effective keywords into your website code."

"Wait a second...I don't know anything about code. That stuff is Chinese to me!"

Relax, there is very little you need to know about code to enhance your search engine ranking. Following these 5 steps will help your website ascend to or near the top on Google and other search engine rankings.

1. Assemble a list of words or phrases (20 - 50) that customers would use on a search engine when they look for your business, including your city and state location.

2. Type in a few of those words or phrases into the search engine and see who's website comes up first.

3. Right click onto the website that comes up on top and look for the "View Source" command. A bunch of code will appear. Somewhere near the top of all that crazy code should be a line that begins "META name", then "keywords", then "content="

4. After the "content=" appears a series of keywords your competitor has used to propel him to the top of the search engines. Note these keywords and assimilate them into the list of keywords you've already assembled.

5. Ask your webmaster to insert these new keywords in your website code. Make sure he does this on every page of your site. He should then resubmit your site to the search engines.

Don't expect immediate results, as your ranking will advance depending on numerous factors, one being the amount of local competition you have. In future blogs, I will explain other methods to even further enhance your search engine rankings.

Thanks for reading and following my blog. The 1st person to email me at davehortonads@gmail.com will receive a complimentary keyword evaluation.

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