I found it!

Good Day,

It seems almost impossible that we have gotten to November already. Time passes so fast. It must be a product of age since it goes faster every year. Anyway, it has been a while since I have been here but I have been busy. Got married, moved again, and lots of other stuff. Oh well, stuff happens.

Today I would like to address one of the most difficult tasks you can face as a business owner. If you are in business for yourself you are faced with many challenges. None more stiff than how to market and advertise your services and products. After all one of the hardest things to do is tell where your advertising dollars are working. If you have a traditional bricks and mortar business you are faced with the overwhelming task of deciding just where your customers and potential customers are looking when they need what you offer. I mean, if you choose radio, which station(s) should your ads be on? If you want a cross section of folks you almost have to advertise on multiple stations because those that listen to classic rock don't often listen to country and vice versa. If you choose the newspaper, do you go with the local paper or the one from the larger community 50 miles away? If you choose direct mail do you mail to your town or to your town plus the surrounding towns where your type of business doesn't exist?

On top of that the experts tell us that only about 50% of our advertising efforts really work and who knows which 50% that is? If you choose the radio you probably listen to a lot of music you don't really like just to make sure they are playing your ad and hope others are listening at that exact moment as well. If you use the newspaper, you probably search through it to make sure they are running you ad as you wish and hope others are not just reading the comics. If you use direct mail you probably send it to yourself and all your friends and relatives and pray it doesn't just get round canned before getting opened. How are you to know? Unless you are running an incredible special or you remember to ask everyone who comes in how they found you it is almost impossible to track which ads are working and which mediums are successful. Add to that the cost of these campaigns and you can find yourself pulling out your hair when it seems you are spending hundreds if not thousands and getting minimal results.

This only applies to the brick and mortar type advertising mediums. We now have the Internet! The Internet has become central in almost every one's lives. The first thing many of us do in the morning is check our e-mail. If you thought the Internet was going away after the bubble burst in the 90's you were wrong, seriously wrong! The Internet is now fast becoming the central location for almost all information acquisition and an incredible advertising and promotional medium. People are spending more time on-line than watching TV these days and if you do not have at least a basic web site you are fast becoming a dinosaur that will disappear due to a perception of being out of the loop. If you do not have a web site because you think it costs too much then you should visit www.atdmarketing.com/web.htm and/or give me a call at (217) 443-0989. We specialize in creating web sites for the small to medium sized business that needs web presence but can't or doesn't want to spend a fortune to do so. We will leave this topic for another time, but think about it. Can your business afford to ignore a medium that accounts for several billion dollars in sales each year as well as allows you to reach an incredible number of people who are just looking to purchase what you offer?

On top of that, the Internet now doubles the confusion we face about what is working and what is not. Once you have that web site you must do the same thing for it that you do for your brick and mortar business. Drive TRAFFIC to it. If you have no traffic you have no on-line sales and your web site cannot help drive people into your real world location. Now you not only have to advertise in the real world you have to advertise in the virtual world as well! The Internet does however, provide us with a much easier way to track what is working. Most of us have some type of counter on our sites. I hope it is invisible to your visitor as a visible counter can actually be counter productive, pun intended. This is another topic we will discuss at a later date. These counters can provide you with certain statistics that help you understand if you are getting traffic, where they are coming from, how they are finding you and much more.

But, how do you drive traffic to your site. Well, I bet if you are serious about your web presence you have signed up for numerous e-zines and newsletters and e-courses that tout all kinds of ways to get traffic to your site. I have so many of them I rarely read them because I am just overwhelmed by them. So, what good do they do? Not much! I have discovered a new service that is on the very cutting edge of technology yet can be made available to anyone with Internet access. It is something that can be given away FREE and has excellent value for any of us who use the telephone.

It is a service that can integrate your on-line world with your real world and help you retain your current customers as well as bring in new ones. This service is provided by BusinessTalk 360. You can get an overview at: www.businesstalk360.com. This service is not very expensive and as you will see allows you to give FREE VoIP to your visitors who sign up for your VIP Club.

What is VoIP, you ask? VoIP is Voice over Internet Protocol. It allows people to call anyone in the U.S., Canada or Mexico on any phone using their computer; absolutely FREE! Now, this will provide quite a draw for your customers, especially those who are Internet savvy. After all, who wouldn’t like to save on their long distance calling? It is so simple. After you sign up you place a button on your web site inviting your visitors to join your VIP Club. For doing so you give them FREE VoIP calling and a coupon for a discount on an item or a service you offer. They fill in a form giving you certain information you wish to have including, but not limited to, their name, e-mail address, birthday, etc. This gives you permission to send them e-mails about your business including special offers, special events, etc. You can now keep in touch with them over the most powerful medium now available, the Internet. This also allows you to drive them back to your web site or into your establishment where they will gladly remain a satisfied customer and purchase again and again.

This program is so simple, yet so effective and it is a complete turnkey approach to retaining and garnering new customers as well as providing a steady stream of traffic to your web site. If you would like to know more about this incredible, very affordable program just call (217) 443-0989 and we’ll get you all the details. It costs nothing to find out and it could profit you more than you know to have this exciting promotional tool available to your business. You can join our VIP Club at: www.atdmarketing.com and begin making your long distance calls for FREE!

Try it out, what have you got to lose? It’s FREE and it’s simple and if you want more business and more traffic you can’t go wrong with this service. You get your own account manager, you get a professional look to all your correspondence and you get more sales and higher profits for a very reasonable investment in the one thing that makes a difference in your life, YOUR BUSINESS!

Until next time, this is Joe Massey, wishing you success in ALL you do.

Finally

Well, I finally got the update done. If you haven't seen the new look at www.atdmarketing.com, you should go there now and check it out!

Actually, I still have a lot to do, but at least the beginning is new and if I do say so myself, I think it looks much better. We now have links to many more of our supplier's web sites so you can search right on-line. When you find what you want just contact us and we'll pay Attention To your Details.

After much effort, our Printer's Resource Directory is finally done and in eBook format. You can get your copy at www.atdmarketing.com/business.htm This little eBook can put you into the printing and ad specialties business or add a new revenue stream to an existing graphics business. If you have wanted to own your own business and have the desire to succeed, you can start this business, run it from home and make a decent living by providing businesses with essential items for support and promotion. You don't have to be a printer or know how to operate printing equipment to succeed as a print broker in the ad specialties industry. The companies who supply you can provide all the technical assistance you will need. If you are a graphic artist or already involved in the graphics business, this ebook can provide you with a new revenue stream and enhance what you already have to offer your clients.

We compiled this eBook using eBook Pro software. This software makes creating secure eBooks a snap. You can control all the results. Don't want your book printed? Set it to not print. Want your customers to be able to register the eBook only once, set it that way. Want your eBook to be free and used as a viral marketing tool? Just tell eBook Pro and it's done

Are you wondering "Why an eBook?" Get our FREE eBook "Why an eBook?"
by sending this blank e-mail. You will receive an auto response from www.streamingaudio4u.com with the download link and the code to unlock the eBook. Read it and decide for yourself if you too have an eBook in you. Then you can get eBook Pro and do it yourself or let us do it for you for a reasonable fee.

At ATD Marketing we mean business. We can provide you with support, we can provide you with business opportunities! We are extremely excited about our newest addition, Remote Buddy. This publication is going to provide those in the Danville, Illinois market with quality TV listings and be an excellent advertising medium for area businesses. With a distribution of 10,000 copies per week Remote Buddy will penetrate the Danville market like no other local publication. Danville area residents will no longer have to depend on the newspaper for their TV viewing guide. Each month there will be a drawing for a $25 gift certificate to a local restaurant. There will be articles of interest, a crossword puzzle and other word games along with shopping information from local businesses. It is slated to begin publication before the end of 2006 and if you live in the Danville, IL area you will find it at many local retail locations. If you have a business in the Danville area, contact us at: (217) 443-0989 to find out how you can participate. If you would like a Remote Buddy for your town give us a call and we'll see what we can do. We would love to provide this service for you as well. Ask about how Remote Buddy can put you in business!

Gee, it seems like there is a lot going on! It is exciting to see change and progress at ATD Marketing. Our years of experience in printing, marketing, direct sales can be yours to use. Just check us out at www.atdmarketing.com, or any of our other sites: www.antiqueshopsinindiana.com, www.streamingaudio4u.com, or www.audioebooks4u.com. We mean business and we can help you with yours.

One last bit of information: If there is one book you should have if you are in business or hope to be in business, it is "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. You can now get this classic book in audio format as well as in eBook format at: www.audioebooks4u.com. You can get the first chapter FREE! This book is timeless and can offer you invaluable insights into what it takes to be successful.

Until next time, this is Joe Massey wishing you success in ALL you do.

Just can't stay silent anymore!

Well, I just can't keep silent anymore. I treasure my freedom and my country's legacy of providing freedom and liberty for all and as I see it being destroyed by self-serving, so-called conservatives I find I must speak out. So, as promised in the heading of this missive it is time to start talking politics.

Here we are in the middle of the first decade of the 21st century and instead of the larger freedom many of us thought would be available to us as we reached the age of power in America we find an almost facist state with power mongers even worse than those we faced in the 60's and 70's.

How have we Americans allowed this to happen? How have we allowed ourselves to be lied to again and again and just swallowed the lies and gone on as if the truth no longer matters? How have we allowed a government that had planned to go to war in Iraq long before it even became appointed by the Supreme Court as the government of the land to tell us the big lie and send our children and grandchildren into a war that was unecessary and has made things much worse in the Middle East than they were before we decided we knew what was best for a people who did not want our help, did not want their freedom and were not willing to help us get if for them.

In the 90's the so-called conservatives were incensed by the fact that President Clinton got a bj from an intern and tried to hide it for the obvious reasons. They were so outraged that they sought to impeach a sitting President for a personal act which had absolutely no impact on National Secuirty or our place in the world. Now those same super patriots stand idly by while our entire Executive Branch hijacks the country, tells blatant lies, terrorizes us daily with its selective release of 'terrorist' threats, puts us into a war with an enemy that, while vile and profane, was no direct threat to the American people.

Now, I am not going to suggest that 9-11 was planned by our current leaders and their cronies, but I will say that 9-11 played directly into the hands of our current leadership and has allowed them to advance their goal of instituting a one world government which they and their descendents will control.

We must start thinking for ourselves again before we can no longer think. I am not going to try and convert anybody, but I do ask that you think about things and what is really happening. If you look past the political crap and the diversions put forth you cannot help but come to the conclusion that something is going on and that things are not right in America today.

When I was kid in school and taking typing they gave us this little phrase to use to practice. Now, I hate POLITICAL CORRECTNESS but I will rephrase it just a bit, so here it is: 'Now is the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of their country.' This statement could not be more appropriate today. If you are truly a good citizen of these Untied States of America it is time for YOU to come to the aid of YOUR country!

Since 9-11 our governement has used that tragedy to restrict our freedoms more than at any other time in our history. They have done and are continuing to do this all in the name of protecting us from harm. Well to that I say crap! My fellow citizens if you don't know this fundmental truth about freedom you need to go back to school and relearn your history lessons. Freedom is dangerous, even our so-called leader says this over and over again, just before he says we need to be protected and only the government can do that. Granted, it is the government's responsibility to keep us safe from some threats and I am all for them doing that. However, I am not in favor of giving up my dometstic freedoms because of some ethereal threat from some unknown source. I am not in favor of my government being able to access my library card to see what I am reading so they can determine if I am a terrorist. This missive right here could very well get me investigated. After all, I am not toeing the line of the big lie and wosrt of all I am putting the dissenting thoughts out for others to see and that might change a mind and in the wisdom of those who control things that might represent a threat to their rule. I don't care, I am a good American and I can support war if it makes sense and our security is truly threatened. I can support assisting others in their wars if they are truly fighting for their freedom and willing to die themselves for the freedom of their grandhchildren.

What I can't support is a government that lies to its citizens in order to pursue a course that is imprudent, unecessary and exacerbates a problem with no solution in mind. For that reason I cannot support this government and its actions. I am 100% behind the troops in the field as they are just pawns in this and must use whatever means necessary to do the job they are assigned while the rest of us figure out how to get rid of the General's and their bossses who have lead us down this path.

While I know the war in Iraq was wrong and a terrible mistake that will take generations to solve we cannot abandon our troops who are there doing a job they were told to do by those they and we entrusted with the decision making process. They must have all the tools necessary to do their jobs and that includes our support while they are there and when they return home. The prudent thing to have done was not to have gone to war. Since this government never does the prudent thing, only the expedient thing, we are left with the prospect of several more years of conflict in which our sons and daughters, grandsons and grandaughters will give the ultimate sacrifice. This sacrifice must not be in vain so I find myself supporting the misson while we find a strategy that will best serve the American people. Not that I want to abandon the Iraqi people, but there is really little influence we can exert on the ultimate outcome in Iraq. All we can do is patrol, shoot back, and expend huge sums of money and lives until somebody figures out how to bring the troops home.

We cannot stop a civil war from erupting, we have actually caused it to happen. Had it happened before we came into the picture and the point of the war been the Iraqi people gaining their freedom from a dispicable despot I and all of us could have been proud to support it. But it did not and it is not and as it happens we cannot run from the fact that our actions in Iraq caused it and it is not for the freeedom of the Iraqi people but for the dominance of one sect over another. This is not democracy or freedom and no matter how often our leaders tell us the lie that it is it never will be.

We, the citizens of the Untied States of America still have the opportunity to take our country back from those who would steal the wealth we create, the freedoms we cherish and the lives we live from us and give, sell and transfer them to their cronies in the big corporations and oil rich countries of the Middle East. Now, we probably cannot do it at the barrel of a gun but we can still do it at the ballot box.

It is YOUR DUTY as an American to go to the polls and vote. Even if you think you can have no effect on the outcome your DUTY is to VOTE. If you don't see anyone you can suport then write some one in. Even if it is your dog. This will not effect the outcome but it will register your displeasure with things as they are. You must ask your self if those in your city hall, your county courthouse, your state capital, and Washington D.C. are representing you and the American values of freedom, respect, loyalty and tolerance and if they are not you MUST vote against them no matter what party they represent.

Today we find ourselves at a crossroads. There are at least two distinct paths we can choose to follow. I call them safety and freedom. I will always choose freedom as my path as I cherish that more than most anything I have. I can do things to increase my personal safety just as you can. I don't need the government to put a gendarme at my door to make sure nothing bad happens to me. Homeland security begins at home. The government has no place deciding what I can read, who I can e-mail, what I can think or say and it has no business terrorizing the citizens in order to advance its Orwellian goal of total control.

There are more of us than there are of them. The only reason they have control is because we have abdicated our responsibility and duty as citizens to make sure they don't get control. Our Founding Fathers called it the tyranny of the minority. You see, when a country reaches the point where its citizens are so comfortable and lazy that they wish the government to do everything for them so they don't have any responsiblity for themselves anymore then the minority who are more vocal and usually on the fringe of the true thinking of the people can gain control. Just for arguments sake let's say that in any given election only 40% of those eligible to vote actually do so. Right off the bat you have a minority controlling things. So those who get a majority of the votes were elected by a majority of the minority and the majority is no longer in control. It is not hard to understand if you think about it. It is our duty as citizens to make sure that those who get a majority of the votes get them from the majority of the people not a majority of a small minority of the people.

So, this year it is your duty to get back in the game and start controlling what your government does by controlling those who control it. If you can vote and do not you are an idiot! If you vote for some one just because they belong to a party you support and not for what they believe then you too are an idiot! It is YOUR DUTY to think and act as if your freedom depended on ever decision you make, BECAUSE IT DOES!

You can no longer set in your recliner and watch CNN and Fox and let the government take care of it. YOU are the government and if you don't take care of it at the ballot box they will take care of you . I guarantee you there is more where this came from and I will put it here from time to time.

It is my duty as a citizen to speak out when I see wrong being done and it is my legacy as a child of the 60's to stand up and tell our government that enough is enough. I love my country, I cherish my freedom and I will not let any politician take it from me even in the name of safey! It is YOUR DUTY too! We all know they WILL shoot us, but we must take that chance if we wish our grandchildren to live in a free society where they too can express their opinion even if they are not those of the government and its minions! It is our grandchildren that I worry about and so should you.

Until next time, wishing you success in all you do.

Joe Massey
ATD Marketing

You'll Be Rich I Say!

You hear it blasting from the TV set. You get it in your e-mail box. Everyone, it seems, has a plan that will make YOU rich beyond your wildest dreams. You don't even have to have any money, any experience, any idea of what to do. You only need $30.00 + 9.95 S&H!

Yes, my friends. Just $39.95 and you'll be rich! If all it took was $30.00 why are these people still screaming at you to send them your $30.00?

If they have made so many millions of dollars with their system, why do they need $30.00 from you? Have you ever thought about that?

Well, the answer is...They may very well have made millions from their ideas and methods and you could too. However, they almost always leave something out.

What they so conveniently forget to tell you is this. No matter how good any program is. No matter how much potential it holds for profits. No program will work itself.

Little classified ads can make you rich beyond your wildest dreams! I would not dispute that claim. However, I would qualify it by saying that you must remember, 100 $5.00 ads still costs you $500.00!

I believe I could almost guarantee anyone a $15,000.00 profit from an ad campaign if they have three things that are imperative for success. First a good product that people will buy. Second a reasonably good ad and or sales letter. And third and maybe most important: $45,000.00 to advertise the product!

Yes, I said $45,000.00 to advertise. This program would utilize some of the largest circulation publication in the country, such as Star, National Enquirer, etc. This type of ad campaign almost guarantees success, but can you mount one?

Now, if you can do this you can earn a substantial income from your program and continue it over time to get very, very rich!

But, what if you don't have $45,000.00! Well, you can succeed with these programs without such big bucks to start, it just takes longer. You may find that these so-called opportunities are really opportunities for those selling the $30.00 plan and more of a challenge for you.

While I am not saying you can't get rich using these plans I do caution you to remember that $30.00 does not a fortune make. Fortunes are made by those who have the courage to go out on the proverbial limb and act!

If you purchase one of these $30.00 businesses you may very well make lots of money. If you do, it will not be because you spent the $30.00, it will be because you acted after you received the program. Your actions, not the program, will determine if you do indeed become RICH!

Just as a web page or a full blown web site will not guarantee you success on the Internet, a $30.00 mail order program will not guarantee your success either on-line or off-line. Only your efforts can guarantee that you will achieve any success in life.

So, don't fall for the "You'll be Rich, I tell you" claims. Remember, only your efforts can guarantee the success of any business opportunity. Examine any opportunity before you send in your money. Make sure the effort required to make it successful is effort you are willing to expend. Without your effort no program will work no matter how much those that sold it to you insist it will.

Until next time, wishing you success in ALL you do.

Joe Massey

ATD Marketing

P.O. Box 251

Covington, IN 47932

www.atdmarketing.com

www.antiqueshopsinindiana.com

www.streamingaudio4u.com

business@atdmarketing.com

(479) 659-4682

PS: The above advice pertains to any program we may offer you. All are excellent programs that can make you a lot of money, if you work them, but you have to work them. We do, and they work for us or we wouldn't offer them to you. However, we make no claims as to how successful you might be because we don't know how hard you are willing to work to make them work for you. That question can only be answered by you.

The importance of a business card

Good Day,

In this post I want to impress on you the importance of a business card in your business. You might ask yourself, "just how important can a little business card be?". After all, they are only a
2" x 3 1/2" piece of paper. What effect can they have on business?

A Lot! You see, a business card is usually the first thing anybody sees concerning your business. They pick it up at the counter, you give it to them as they leave or as you come in. Whether you believe it or not perception is often viewed as reality. And as the old adage goes, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.

Many times your business card is the first impression your potential customers get of your business. It is imperative that you make this first impression a good one. If you don't, you could lose very important business. Let me give you an example.

In the early 80's when the energy crisis was so bad I started my first real business. I called it Energy Miser and I sold window film, shower heads and other energy saving items directly to the consumer. The window film had very specific benefits and it was especially good at removing glare, heat build up and fading due to Ultra Violet rays from the sun.

Now, I was having some success at this and a friend asked if he could sell for me. I said sure and got him set up. I was a savvy business person and thought I'd save some money if I got business cards printed with both of our contact info on them so I could buy 1,000 and split them up.

After just a few weeks my friend decided direct sales wasn't for him and returned all his stuff, including most of the business cards I gave him. Now I had paid good money for those cards and all that was wrong was my friend's name and phone number were on them. Now remember, I am a savvy businessman so I just take my magic marker and cross out his name and number.

Now in the town just across the state line is an Elks Club. They had a golf course and looking out over the course is the 19th hole. It has a huge window facing south and the glare and heat transfer made using this window uncomfortable at best. I decided that the Elk's Club would be a great referral and was prepared to install the film of their choice at a very reasonable price as a loss leader to use as leverage for more business in the town.

I went into the office and asked for the person who handled capital improvements and lo' and behold he came right out. I handed him my business card and he got a very strange look on his face. He pointed to the black line on the card and asked me what that was. I told him about my friend and saving money and he handed my card back to me and said something I will never forget. He said, "Mr. Massey, if you cannot afford to have new cards printed I don't think we can afford to do business with your company, good day." I was stunned! I got no opportunity to make the sale because I wanted to save $25.00! Needless to say, I have never given out a marked up business card since.

Another short story about business cards. I know a printer in Indianapolis who told me this story one day. He had just started his shop and had been going around like crazy setting up the equipment and getting his first jobs. He had a school friend who was the purchasing manager at a large Indianapolis company. He was just sure he would get an account from his friend and towards that end called and got an appointment to see his friend. When he entered the office he was asked for a business card and he replied, "I have been so busy setting up the shop I haven't had time to print cards for myself." His friend bid him good day and told him that then he got cards to come back and they could talk. Fortunately for him he got a second chance and landed the account. But had the man not been his friend he would probably have lost that account just as I lost the Elk's Club.

The moral of the stories, everything you handout with your business name on it must look good and be the proper item for the job. Don't hand out computer generated business cards. They are cheap, they look cheap and they make your business and you look cheap. Yet they can cost you a lot more than real printed cards. (That ink jet ink is expensive!) In fact, at atdmarketing you can get 1,000 Full Color Business Cards for just $72.00! Check it out.

Thanks so much for clicking in and reading my missive. Feel free to comment about what I have written and visit us at atdmarketing.com.

Until next time, this is Joe Massey wishing you success in all you do.

No Punches Pulled

Good Day,

This is my first post on my first blog, so please be patient as I find my way. I hope to make this a source of quality business information and support but I reserve the right to go off on a tangent about situations I feel need discussing. So, it is possible that along with a discussion about business cards and their value to your business you might find comments about the political situation we find ourselves in.

No matter what the topic I promise to pull no punches. If you know me you know that I have no problems speaking my mind. So, I hope that you will find this blog informative, thought provoking, somewhat controversial at times and fun to read.

I have no problems discussing any topic, no matter how controversial, I just want it to remain respectful, courteous and honest. Having said that, I refer you to atdmarketing.com where you can find out what all ATD Marketing has to offer you in the way of business support as well as how we can get you started in your own home based business.

Until next time, I wish you success in all you do.

Joe