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They Say They Don't Advertise Met a person in business the other day, we got talking and I mentioned Twitter and whether it would be useful for their business. Just to tell the people out there that they exist. The reply: they don't advertise, don't need to, they have regular client base. And they do, after many years of hard work; they have made it, found their niche and are quite happy. Lucky you may say, they have talent for the job, but this on its own is not enough, there is also perseverance, setting a high standard and working to attain and maintain it. Listening on, they said they said when they started, they advertised but as business picked they cut back and eventually cut it out all together. Now they just run a card system, a database of clients to whom they write on a regular basis, but they don't classify this as advertising. This got me thinking if they don't classify contacting their clients as advertising, what do they classify as advertising. Have we a disconnect, the old school way of thinking verses the new school. The old school: advertising is what you see in the newspapers, hear on the radio, watch between programs on TV or find in the back of a telephone book The new school: using the technology available today to reach the customer, because unlike the old school, today there is no captive audience, we have no idea where our customers are likely to come from. And technology, an all encompassing word to describe the various processes and applications that enable the person in business to do their own advertising. To enable them to become their own advertising agency, not reliant on the old school enablers of Print, Radio and Television to get the message out. I am happy for my business friend, they may say they don't advertise but they do, they don't own a computer so all the applications and processes are foreign to them. But in common with those who use Websites, Blogs, Social Networking, Social Media and the like to advertise their presence and be their own advertising agency, they too have become their own advertising agency without being aware. They have a card system (a database) and send out letters to the clients. We all cannot be as friend is, but we can all learn a lesson, and that is to use the tools available to business people today, the website, the social media, because customers are not waiting around to be informed via the old style enablers, people in business today have the tools to do it themselves The sad part to this tale concerns all the other small business owners who rely on the old school enablers. If using Print Radio and television is the sum total of their advertising knowledge I fear for their businesses. Contact Firstsearch

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