Radio commercials should sell benefits (not features)of your business/product and should be on same page with print, TV and billboard. A major problem in business advertising today is lack of coordination of a campaign where all media are targeting same message. The newspaper ad says one thing and radio commercial doesn't seem to fit anywhere. Wasted money. Hit ‘em with same message across board and you increase your reach.

Radio commercials at smaller radio stations are typically created by radio salespeople or announcers. In most cases, neither are trained at selling benefits. It’s your money and you shouldn't spend it on amateurish and/or totally ineffective commercials.

The biggest mistake many business people make is letting station staff come up with commercial copy and finished product. When they play it for you, you can tell they really love it. They wrote it, maybe they voiced it. It’s me, me, me. They love all fun they had making it. They don't know squat about selling benefits.

Effective radio commercials Remember Tom Bodett for Motel six? A great campaign, it was Tom delivering benefit for staying at motel with a little music in background. Award winning. And Motel Six business shot off charts. Benefits sell. Yet few local radio people would be comfortable with a straight voice Tom Bodett style ad. They want you to feel like you are really getting something for your money. so they produce a grand scale dud.

Here are BIG Mike’s tips for better commercials

Don't Do It Yourself You may be able to write it, after a little practice, but don't get fooled into thinking you can do it better than a professional announcer. The radio people will want you to voice it because some of your fiends will tell you they heard you on radio and you will be convinced radio works. Phooey. That’s an old way to sell ads. The high powered ad agency worked with David Orreck for several days to get those vacuum cleaner commercials to sound like one-takes.

If your expenditures will be moderate, you might be able to afford a graphic designer or advertising agency. It costs nothing to find out, call a few ad agencies in phone book and ask for an account rep. Explain you may be in market for an agency and let them ask questions. A quick determination will not be long in coming.

There is a lot to be said for finding a way for someone else to do your ads so you can use your talents for what you do best, running your business. Designing your own ads (a furniture store I visited had a complete drafting table, magnifying light and glue pot in corner) is about same as fixing your own leaks and asking plumber to come by and inspect it.

Your ad will have less than eight tenths of a second to get a reader’s attention. You must stop reader's eye in less than a second, and hold it for at least three seconds to make an impression. Think about ads you pass when you read paper, You fly by some of them faster than you can say "one-Mississippi" (a half a second).