Are you experiencing "the power" of mutual collaboration? That's what signature pages in the newspaper are all about. People place their ads on a page of the newspaper under a single banner. By businesses buying a whole page and placing in it one of their display ads, they get a cheaper rater to advertise. Well, what if you cannot find enough people to go in on a full page in the newspaper? Do you simply pay the full price for the ad and rip yourself off? Perhaps.

But, when you are a member of a community like Ryze, I don't think you should. Instead, I think you should make an effort to collaborate with other Ryzers to accomplish that same goal. So what if you cannot purchase an entire page in a newspaper. Purchase a quarter page and divide the cost between the advertisers can get the same job done. Select one person to place the ad. Everybody else send their copy of a display ad via email attachment. Send money to pay for the ad via PayPal. Indeed, why not get the job done for less money via mutual collaboration?

Now, you might need a little help with this effort. Why? Because more than likely the display ad you create using your computer is low resolution. Print publications require high resolution photos. If you do not know how to add pixels to your photos, you need to connect with someone who does.

I have friends who know how to add pixels to photos. So, I can help you in that regard. In fact, placing ads in publications for other folks is one of the things I do as part of my PR optimization process. This includes the placing of ads in publications and creating a "buzz" around them so they get noticed. No point in placing an ad in a publication and not getting noticed, right?

In my opinion, the best way to promote anything cost-effectively is in collaboration with other people. And, that includes advertising. Here is a collaboration of an ad that involves four different businesses - a vacation rental in Hawaii, a bed and breakfast in Lower Lake, CA, a Thai restaurant and a convenience store in Hidden Valley Lake, CA. But, here's the kicker. The designer of the ad lives in Kansas. You see, with the advent of the Internet, the idea of "shop local" for your business needs is irrelevant. Don't do without just because you cannot satisfy your needs via local folks. Seek out CARING PEOPLE - wherever in the world you can find them. And, it is easier than ever before to find them via networks like this one right here.

Take a look at this amazing ad. It's not just beautiful, it's clever! To the newspaper publisher and to your eyes at first glance, this looks like just one ad. But, it's not. It's four separate ads. That means everyone participating got a bargain rate from the newspaper. Yes, here are four businesses all together in one ad space helping each other out. Want to see what this mutual collaboration looks like? Take a look - The Art of Mutual Collaboration.

Want to make some marketing magic happen for your business? Well, I just want you to know folks are doing that very thing right here on Ryze via mutual collaboration. No one need be left out. Sometimes the best things you can do for your business are the simplest. Just ask for help.

Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!

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Is there an alternative?

Is "Calling in my markers" the same thing?

Bestest.

Teddy Towncrier CPP Towncrier-Media.com Supercharging Your Visions.

Private Reply to Bobbi Jo Woods

Did you take a look at that Quarter Page Ad? That ad is an example of a mutual collaboration effort between me, Eileen Brown, Elaine Marie, Charlie McFarling and Sandy Hamilton. Sandy and Charlie are not even Ryze members. It takes a team to make cost-effective magic happen. Going solo is the equivalent of swimming upstream.

Ryzers can be a powerful force for business networking any community CARING RYERS so choose. I am focused upon Lake County because that is the county where I live. But, what's happening with those 100 to-do-list boards here (the buzz that is being created) I believe could be created in any community - even the one where you live. All that is needed really is a group of 12 CARING PEOPLE who want to make some marketing magic happen. FedX Office stands ready to help. They can actually laminate to-do-list boards. Wal-Mart stands ready to provide the magnets. We have designers right here on Ryze that can design such boards. Is there a Chamber of Commerce near you that could use a little branding during the Christmas Season for the coming year? Why not let us here on Ryze know if there is a need in your community? We'll pursue it as a group and make some wonderful things happen.

Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!

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Here's the interesting thing about mutual collaboration. The newspaper is only interested in selling the ad space. they don't care that I buy the space and place four ads for other businesses in it. But, those four businesses should care. Why? Because I am saving them money through this collaborative effort. They get to be in a quarter-page ad without having to pay the quarter-page ad price. They also get a bargain because the ad will run between Tuesday and Thursday, which happens to be the bargain rate days. The reason those are the "bargain days" is because that is because readership is always higher Friday thru Monday.

So, the question needs to be asked, how can an advertiser really benefit from advertising on the lower readership days? Answer - PR optimization. Run press releases on the Friday through Monday time slot drawing attention to the ad running in the following Tuesday through Thursday time period. In other words, create a "buzz" for your ad in the media before it shows up.

I believe this can be done with any newspaper where you have a cleverly-crafted display ad. You don't have to garner enough businesses to purchase an entire page for what is commonly referred to as a "signature page." You can do it very effectively with a quarter-page ad.

How many people do you know place ads in newspapers and get know feedback whatsoever? Probably a lot. But, ask those same people if they ever bothered to promote their display ad with a press release or PR optimization and I will bet it never even occurred to them.

Thanks to CARING Ryzers, we now have a system here on Ryze to help people advertise their business in a cost-effective manner through mutual collaborative efforts. It could be a to-do-list board for the holidays. It could be a quarter-page ad in almost any newspaper in the United States. Just put the word out here that you are interested in making this happen for your business and let's see what develops. The results may pleasantly surprise you.

Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!

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Scott,

I never said what I am doing has never been done before. Saving money has always been important, too. But, when our own government abolishes programs regarding healthcare for the elderly, this does more than impact the elderly. It impacts those in the healthcare industry. Just this past weekend, I met with a dentist who said his number of patients has been severely decreased due to California canceling certain healthcare programs. All of a sudden a dentist who never needed to advertise because he always had plenty of patients is having to advertise online, in the newspaper, wherever he can. And, he does not really have any kind of a strategy. Why? Because he never needed one before. Our economic mess is forcing professionals who have no clue what to do or how to do it to do something. It is really astonishing.

Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!

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Kurt,

You see that article about the Hidden Valley Food Mart hosting a workshop? That's on Page 2 of last Thursday's Lake County Record-Bee - the county's largest newspaper. The article says it is written by "staff reports." What do you suppose that means? I will tell you exactly what that means. It means someone gave the paper the news. In this particular instance, that someone was me. I simply wrote the article on my computer and sent an email. Then, I picked up the phone and called the newspaper and said I would really appreciate it if they would run the article. That's all there was to it...out here. Don't expect that to happen in major metropolitan areas. When I lived in Atlanta, I waited SIX MONTHS for the Atlanta Business Chronicle to post two lines of text about my computer user group in the paper. It never happened and I finally gave up trying. You can do amazing things with the media in rural areas because in many cases you are the media. The Middletown Times Star does not even have any reporters on staff. It simply has administrative staff people who assemble the news that is given to them by the public.

When you know how the system works, you are better equipped to make the system work for you. For example, if you do business with the paper here - submitting ads as I have done - the paper wants you to be a "happy camper."  That means they go out of their way to post your press releases when you send them. They have come to understand that there is a correlation between Lamar's press releases and his ads.  We form a bond by helping each other out.  I need press releases printed for my clients.  The paper needs ad revenue to stay in business.  I am one of their ad revenue suppliers.  They want to keep me happy.  And, with professional ad design help from distinguished Ryzers like Sherry Simoes and Eileen Brown, I help make these local newspapers look better to the general public than they have ever been.

Understand how this works.  The newspaper account belongs to me - not my client.  Therefore, all the perks from the newspaper for posting lots of ads for other folks, come to me.  This empowers me to do more for my clients.  That is why every client I have also has at least one Squidoo lens. The paper will even send me a PDF of the entire ad page if I request it.  The Middletown Times Star even subscribed me to their own newspaper. Why pay to subscribe when the newspaper will gladly incur the cost?  And, why does the newspaper bother to do that?  Because they want more business from me.  So, what we do is design a win/win relationship.

The whole point to business networking to me is to build win/win relationships with people.  It's not simply to sell more of this or more of that.  It's not a number's game.  It is a relationship experience.  And, everyone in relationship with other people should strive to build upon that relationship to make it better.  Remember, the one non-renewable resource we all have in come is TIME.  Do you want to make the most of your time?  Think "better together."  That is why wikinomics and mutual collaboration efforts are so important. It helps you maximize your TIME.

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Private Reply to Scott Wolpow

All of a sudden a dentist who never needed to advertise because he always had plenty of patients is having to advertise online, i

@Lamar .... It's going to take much more than a single ad (Co-op or otherwise) to jump start a decimated practice!

What's your strategy for burning your client's name into the community's subconscious and make them understand that they would have to be stark raving mad to select anyone else for their Oral Health?

The other docs are already eying and scheming to grab your doc's market.

There's upwards of $100K PA on the line here. Every dollar has to do the work of five and it's going to take a carefully crafted, serious commitment to business development in order to stay in business and flourish.

BTW ... I don't see any 'economic mess' ... Both Ford and Mercedes sales are up significantly. ... I do see new opportunities and a need for different strategies, though. ... You have 36 Million souls in your back yard. ... Identify the solution required and dump everything that doesn't get you there.

Bestest.

Teddy Towncrier CPP Towncrier-Media.com Supercharging Your Visions.

Scott,

The dentist is just one example of a lot of people who have suddenly found themselves in unfamiliar territory and need guidance. This dentist never needed to advertise. The government supplied him with a steady stream of patients through the Dental Cal service program. But now, thanks to crooked politicians, bankers and investment bankers, that program is gone. All of a sudden this dentist needs to advertise to stay viable.

I think this dentist is being taken to the cleaners by a video production company. They designed an online ad for him. But, guess what? It is only showing up one place - on the home page of an online newspaper. That's not right. And, the production company who produced the ad should know that. But, my guess is they simply don't care. And, that is one of the big problems with society today. People have stopped caring for each other like they should. Well, fortunately for him, our paths crossed. This dentist now has both a Twitter and Ryze account. He's on that to-do-list board. He's on his way to carving out this market niche in Lucerne, CA. In fact, he will be attending my social media workshop on Nov. 8th.

Ignorance is not bliss. But, it can cost money that you should never have had to spend.

Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!

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Teddy,

I agree. There are no "magic pills." No one ad is going to work miracles. But, a strategy of promotion can make a tremendous difference - especially when you willingly collaborate with others. Just look at what your retweeting can do.

Just look at what Microsoft is doing with Windows 7. Microsoft is encouraging the public to gather together to have "parties" around how to use their latest OS update. While I think the video I saw about it was absolutely atrocious, I think the idea behind it is a powerful one. Entice the public to freely spend their money and their time to gather together and promote a Microsoft product. Yes, by all means, get someone other than the company that makes and manufactures the product to promote it. Nothing like "free advertising."

Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!

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Kurt,

I apologize for the confusion. If I am going to have an ad running in the Thursday paper, I don't write a press release simply to announce on the previous Saturday that you will find an ad for a particular business in the Thursday paper. But, I do create "buzz" in the public arena for the businesses involved in the upcoming ad. I don't restrict myself to the newspaper running the ad, either. I try to create buzz all over the newspaper's targeted community and beyond. I work for my client, not the newspaper. But, I use the newspaper to benefit my client as best I can.

Anyone has the opportunity to generate "buzz" for a business - so long as there is a newsworthy angle. It simply make good sense to do that BEFORE you run an ad for the business so the public can make a "connection." In other words, have a "design" for what you want to accomplish. Don't simply play a "numbers game" expecting people to care about what you have to offer in the paper simply because it's there as an ad in the newspaper all the time.

Understand that advertising is an interruption. Yes, advertising pays the media bills. But, advertising is NOT why most people go to the media. They go to the media for news and entertainment. That is why you have "advertising campaigns." There is a method to the madness.

When you are online in the social media space know that folks do not like to be sold there, either. They want to build relationships. That's why people offer insightful tweets on Twitter that have absolutely nothing to do with a sale or service. It's all about building relationships. That's also why people often say "good night" on Twitter. Folks who do that are not stupid. They are simply acknowledging in a clever way that they have an audience are are responsive to them.

What's sad is that for a lot of small businesses there is no method. But, there is a lot of madness when money spent on advertising does not generate more business. And, for that reason, I think it is wise to collaborate your marketing needs. Think "better together" with a mutual benefit for yourself and those who assist you.

Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!

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Walter,

I have no idea how much it would cost to place an ad in Life Magazine. Do you have any idea?

Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!

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Private Reply to Scott Wolpow

Scott,

I understand where you are coming from. But, the government - not the dentist - set up the program to help the citizenry. Then, the citizenry took the program to the dentist. You can't blame the dentist for the government's own program any more than you can blame the citizenry for the mortgage crisis that has devastated our entire economy. But, you CAN blame select bankers, investment bankers and politicians like Congressman Barney Frank. They knew that giving loans to people who could not pay them back and then securitizing those loans as CMO's and then trading them on Wall Street was wrong. But, that did it anyway to make a short-term profit. Two former hedge fund traders from Bear Stearns are currently going to trial I understand. One of them, Ralph Cioffi, is an acquaintance of mine. He's a brilliant man - not a crook. My feeling is that these guys have been set-up to take the fall for an entire mortgaged-back security industry that has been corrupted by greedy people who likely have their hands is the "bailout till."

So much for my rant. Let's get back on track here.

What can people do to mutually collaborate with one another?

1) They can collaborate on a single ad? I currently have three businesses collaborating on a quarter-page ad space.

2) They can collaborate on a to-do-list board. The Ryze To-Do-List board designed by Sherry Simeos and currently being circulated in Hidden Valley Lake has 12 different business card slots for advertisers.

3) If you happen to have a store-front that gets a lot of foot traffic, you can become a FREE Wi-Fi hot spot and set up Wi-Fi digital photo frames that show slides regarding your business and those of other businesses. Those other business in the community should actually pay you a fee for the exposure. That fee could easily reimburse you for the cost of the digital frame and the Wi-Fi in no time at all. At the same time, the fee you charge others for the promotion would likely be a fraction of what exposure via traditional media - like newspaper ads, radio and TV commercials. Yet, the Wi-Fi digital photo frame promotion is non-stop and 24/7. An attractive deal, indeed.

What are some other ways folks can "mutually collaborate?" Yes, let's talk about it. But, let's also see about how we might actually do more than just talk. Let's see how we might take specific action.

Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!

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