First of all, we would like to say that this page may seem a bit lengthy. However, we believe that if you truly want a definition of the entire collective advertising concept, you should find this very informing.  Still, we believe that the best way to fully understand the entire concept is to simply schedule an absolutely free consultation.  An account representative can then help you understand the entire concept and teach you ways of how it will work for your small business.

 We have all seen collective advertising strategies before and many of us may not have recognized it when we saw it.  Those who did recognize it, probably didn’t take too much time to think about it.  Collective advertising, in a simple form, would be a newspaper page where several advertisers "collectively" advertise together usually sponsoring an event of some type.  It is usually organized by the specific media itself and small businesses alike can all purchase (at a discounted rate) a small add that is published next to other ads of the same size.  Small businesses are “sold” on the concept because, at the time, it seems affordable, it gets their name "out there", and it is occasionally for a good cause.  

Here’s the problem, NEWS FLASH!!  Who reads all of those ads?  Better yet, how many people actually read any of them? Reflect back on the last time you saw this type of advertising and ask yourself how many ads you read?.  Not only have we posed that question to ourselves, but we have asked hundreds of others as well.  The bottom line is that only a small percentage of readers polled actually took the time to read through each and every ad on these type of pages.  Therefore, as a small business, you may have purchased what appeared to be a "great deal" for your ad. However, if no one saw it, and no one responded to it, how great of a deal was it?  

You would  be better off taking that same $100 to $200 that you spent on this type of ad, break it down into $1 bills, and throw it out into the street or sidewalk in front of your business for people to fight over.  At least  you would be able to see some activity for your money.  Someone might even get shoved in your front door during the scuffle. Then you'd have a potential customer.  As ridiculous as this may seem, ask yourself how many times have you purchased this type of advertising and experienced little to no increase in traffic? The reason these collective advertising methods aren’t effective is because 1) they are seldom read and 2) the collective effort ended as soon as the advertisers were grouped together on the page.

Yet, another form of collective advertising would be those value mailers we have all received in our mail boxes.  This method is where 20 to 40  businesses are consolidated together through a direct mail program that delivers a type of magazine or postcard style , piece, or pieces, directly into your mailbox.  We've all seen them in one form or another.  There is so much of it in the mail today that it has even been given a name.  People often call it "junk mail".  Personally, we believe that mail itself has been given a "bad rap" because of this.  People, for the most part, really do like getting mail.  Try to recall the last time you opened your mailbox and found nothing at all?  You have to admit that you yourself were a bit disappointed weren't you?  We've all had those similar thoughts like: Did the whole world forget about me today?  Did my mail accidentally get delivered to my neighbor? or Is today a holiday that I've forgotten about?.  The fact that people alike all have those similar feelings of "awww" only proves that people really do like, for the most part, to get mail.  

So why is it that this mail has been labeled today as "junk mail"?   We believe that the answer to that lies in the fact that we continue to see the same "ol'" piece of mail, month after month, over and over for years.  There is really nothing new and exciting about it anymore.  Most of the people we've polled admitted to browsing thru it on occassion,looking for pop or pizza coupons if they even looked thru it at all.  The overwhelming majority of people admit to just "tossing it".

 We personally find this sad because this method of collective advertising (direct mail) has perhaps the most potential of all, in our opinion. If only the organizers somehow someway could get more creative, then more people would actually read it. In turn this would increase the response rate.  However, just as in the first example, the collective advertising concept again ceased as soon as the advertisers were grouped together and then mailed.

 Having said all of the above, we believe that successful collective advertising is much more complex than just grouping together ads in one form or another.  Notice we said complex, and not complicated!  We consider it "complex" because it shouldn't stop at the point of merely grouping together ads or advertisers.  This grouping of the advertisers together should only be the beginning.  

Successful collective advertising strategies not only group the advertisers together, but also group together several medias. It involves utilizing different medias by consolidating them together in conjunction with the advertisers being grouped together.  Then, each advertising media begins to work collectively with the others.

The glue, or common bond, that makes all of this "stick together" is a advertising method that many small businesses today have never used.  That is the World Wide Web.  People today spend more and more time in front of their computers. When you have your very own website people can get to know you whether they have the time to visit your business now or not.  You can then attach your website to each and every other form of advertising you do. That would not only include the medias mentioned above, but also your business cards, brochures, and invoices.  At this point you tie your website into a system called a hub.  This allows traffic to flow both directions A) from the web to your business and B) from your business to the web. Consider it like catching a fly.  We ourselves can't do it very well, but, a spider does it all the time.  What does a spider use that makes this so much easier for him than us?  He uses a "web". When websites are linked together and traffic is routed from both directions, the web we weave as small businesses working together becomes bigger and bigger thus making catching our customers easier.

Now comes the affordability part.  This is really as simple as the "bulk purchasing" concepts.  We all know that in many scenarios we can save money if we buy in larger quantities.  Successful collective advertising strategies work in a similar manner.  For example, how many small businesses have the luxury today of working with a professional advertising agency to research and develop new and improved ways of successful advertising?  Not very many of us, if any at all.  Why is that?  Because it is far too expensive for the average small business today.  You alone, by yourself, are "small potatoes" to the advertising agencies.  

They have bigger "fish" to fry.  Sure, they will work with you if your willing to pay them the kind of money they are accustomed to. But, the average small business can't possibly find that affordable.  However, when a group of advertisers bond together "collectively"  suddenly now, we all become the bigger fish.

  Now collectively we have the purchasing power to not only hire an advertising agency (which, for the record, has already been done for you when you join us), but we can also pool our monies together to begin to do  research and development into successful solutions.  That may be newspaper, radio, television, direct mail or a combination of any or all of them.  This is important because each and every market is not only different but it is also constantly changing.  

Collective Advertising Solutions will give you these luxuries as well as many others.  Our design team is currently working on a brand new form of advertising media that when introduced, will put your business on the "cutting edge" of technology and in the next generation of advertising concepts. What's even better is that most of the time, all of this is accomplished without increasing your advertising budget.  To learn more about this new and unique concept, schedule your 100% free consultation by clicking here, or learn more about it in our FAQ's area