These 5 common advertising mistakes cause you to lose sales. But you can easily avoid these mistakes once you become aware of them.

1. STOP AND GO ADVERTISING

Many businesses reduce their advertising when they are getting plenty of sales. Then they increase their advertising when sales decline. This pattern of stop and go advertising creates a repeating cycle of high sales volume and low sales volume. It also prevents business from growing.

Develop and follow a plan of regularly scheduled advertising regardless of your sales volume. Continuous advertising produces steady growth. It also reduces time you have to spend on making advertising decisions.

2. ONE SHOT ADVERTISING

Businesses often devote all of their advertising efforts to attracting new customers. But they devote little or no effort to cultivating these prospects for future sales.

Most prospective customers will not buy first time they hear or see your sales message. But many will buy later if you follow up with them. Your follow up can be as simple as contacting them periodically with a new offer.

TIP: Customers are prospects too. Stay in contact with them. Find or develop other products or services you can offer them. It's easier to make a sale to a previous customer than to someone who never bought from you.

3. COPYCAT ADVERTISING

Businesses often copy their competitors advertising ideas. This can be effective for a short time. But results quickly decline as more and more competitors copy same idea.

Instead of copying your competitors advertising ideas, improve on them. Create something better - something your competitors cannot copy.

For example, give your customers a reason to buy from you instead of from a competitor. This can be as simple as including a unique bonus only you can offer - or providing personal attention your competitors are not willing or able to provide.

Desire makes us go out of our homes late at night for some Ben and Jerry's Ice cream.

The desire for more money, a bigger house, a new car even something as simple as pair of new shoes will make us search for a ways to attain them.

Desire makes us work harder, stay up later and dream of ways we can get things we want.

Think about it. How many times you have worked overtime or taken on an extra job just so you could have that one thing you were longing for? Think of way you strived and planned to achieve your goals.

It is amazing what people will do to have what they DESIRE.

I know what your saying, yes I've done that but how does that apply to my business?

First take a look at what your selling. How can it help people achieve what they desire?

For example in my business I have a lot of mothers that are looking for a way to work from home. That is what they desire, so I put together a simple package that will help them learn just how they can do that.

Concentrate on how your product can help people achieve a goal fulfill a need, a want, YES I'm going to say it again. How can it help them attain what they DESIRE!

Now that you have thought about it. Think about how you can incorporate it into your business. There are many ways you can use peoples desire in your ad copy or on your website.

First let's talk about your basic classified ad back bone of most businesses.

Let's say you sell "I'm not gonna say widgets" I'll say a spray cleaner that cuts grease 10 time faster than all rest.

Your ad could read: