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Recently a Federal Trade Commission Report on Franchising has been looking into what should be allowed on Franchisor websites, as some information could be considered advertising for franchise buyers. Most websites of businesses in the franchising industry are set up to sell and give information to consumers of the end product; Submarine Sandwiches, haircuts, hotel rooms and things of this nature.

This has been one of my major complaints in franchising. States like CA dictate what we can say on our website if we wish to sell franchises there. We have 13,000 pages online on all of our websites, the Department of Corporations in CA had once asked us to submit our website to them, so they could look at it since they wish to regulate advertising. I asked how, they said just print it out and send it in with the registration renewal. Oh great and how long is that going to take to go thru it all? They do not have the staff and the year will be over and it will be time to renew again before they get done. They said that was our problem. Needless to say, we are doing company owned units in the Great State of California these days even with the 110% of payroll workmen’s comp costs.

What the The Federal Trade Commission fails to understand is that they are merely one agency and business people have to deal with all agencies and everyone is busy making rules? Why? To reduce fraud? What fraud? The only fraud is that which is against the entrepreneurs and business people that provide the jobs, tax base and stability to civilization by the regulators in the first place. That is a complete fraud against humanity and must be stopped.

Of the 13,000 pages on our websites, only a few pages on the franchise opportunity sections have anything to do with franchise sales, no sense in repeating the 180-230 pages in the UFOC, they are constantly changing anyway. We need to be careful how we regulate things, which change all the time, since who is going to monitor it anyway? Who will enforce it, will we have business people turning in competition and the Federal Trade Commission as the secret police for competitive advantage? Seems we have a little of that now; don’t we? You do not have to answer that, you can take the fifth, I understand how all this really works, the Federal Trade Commission has taught me well, but why can’t we have a little reality at the agency which claims truth, justice and the American way, hmm, just a little is not too much to ask is it? What say you?

I have been in my industry some 27 years, write trade journal articles in 22 different industries that we service, which brings us business offers for all kinds of interesting things as well as contacts for services for our franchisees and/or company. Such articles do belong on our websites. We are put at a competitive disadvantage in franchising by not putting up things like business plans, sector surveys, industry information, etc., which are common knowledge in the industry. It is not right for people who sell equipment in the industry to be able to offer training and put up such things and since we are franchising, we are barred from doing so. That is lunacy.

Sometimes franchising does not fit into the type of business our customers want to do with us, so we offer consulting services. Our franchisees benefit from working with industry leaders and from our strengths from mere association. If we do not put up such information we are constantly running at half speed. Such a general media rule would in fact limit the success of the franchisees as well as our efforts to achieve the goals for our company, in turn help their reputation and increase their sales. The FTC in even bringing this up proves they have lost touch with the modern era in business, forgotten the lessons learned from strategic partnering and generally do not care to learn. It is all about a bunch of outdated rules which have absolutely nothing to do with reality, which is consistent I guess with all government, perpetuated by morons of linear thought. Deny It, I have proof, observation and experience to back me up.

Many companies have franchising divisions and company owned divisions, consulting divisions, business opportunities, signage agreements, for instance look at Shell Oil in their auto lube businesses. All sorts of different programs, some came from mergers, some from distributors. They are a solutions provider and a product manufacturer as well as a retailing and service franchise. People have needs and they have figured out how to service those needs. Sometimes when you are the dominant player in an industry, you are called upon to fix things, solve problems and provide solutions, that is your job and folks that is what makes the world go around. That is why we are the greatest nation in the world and the FTC has no right to tear that down. Franchising is one such method although with the over regulations and increased litigation a less profitable one and often an impossible one due to the customizing of documents on a short time line. Why? Because the Federal Trade Commission is trying to help the consumer from fraud where no fraud exists?

Being the best in the world at what we do did not come over night, it is hard work and it always will be, we accept this, but condemn the Federal Trade Commission for making it even harder for no apparent reason. As we read the dribble and bogus arguments of the FTC latest report on franchising and what if, scenarios from attorneys; one has to laugh, because in the real world, you do what ever it takes to get it done and move on to the next opportunity which comes your way. If you cannot get it done, then no one is going to buy from you anyway.

Franchising can serve a niche where other formats cannot. Every possible combination in the playbook should be available to entrepreneurs, business people and corporations like Shell Oil. It is for this reason I agree with the commission on this point of contention that franchisors should be allowed to put up press releases on their website, just like any other company provided it does not appear on the franchise opportunities section or place on the site offering information about a potential franchise if those press releases contain information of earnings claims which is not backed up in the UFOC or available upon request from legitimate franchise buyers only.

We should not be bogged down with all kinds of incessant rules to cover every possible business eventuality otherwise we end up boxing companies into holes and therefore do not receive their innovations or best efforts, that causes a sever loss in the general productivity of an industry which must compete with foreign and domestic players who do not have the same rules. I therefore believe the Federal Trade Commission is correct in allowing such information as long as it is not used in conjunction with franchise sales. Under the earnings claims section of the UFOC negative declarations can be used to protect the consumer as are currently in play in most UFOC which do not contain such earnings claims. Think on it, I am right and will not yield the mike to the gentleman from the state of confusion at the FTC.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

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Everything happens Quickly and Instantly on the Internet. In the blink of an eye your easily transported around a whole planet. It’s a smorgasbord !! The web site you just visited could be in Singapore, the e-mail your reading now could have come from Alaska. The Internet is just one big Soup Bowl of Information just waiting for you to come and gobble it up.

We live in a world of “Everything Quick”. Quick Food, Quick Money, Quick credit, Quick Advertising, Quicker Cars and the faster we get Quicker, the better!!

Not only is it possible, but it’s not that complicated to achieve. Most experts agree that advertising in ezines is THE quickest way to effectively generate more traffic to your website and increase your sales.

Ezine Classified Advertising is incredibly popular which means most ezines are being filled with classified ads. Some people use their lunch time to glance over their e-mails while chowing down. The average ezine reader sees hundreds of headlines and classifieds every day, taking a quick peek to if it might be worthwhile. So, How does your Classified Ad Look ?!

The 3 things

Every ad needs 3 basic things. A HEADLINE that stands out, Quick and easy to understand CONTENT, and an ADDRESS on how to get there.

Your HEADLINE should say everything in 5-7 words or less. It should for all intensive purposes “make the sale” Some ads look fantastic using all capital letters and then switching to lowercase for the content, but on the flip side, remember it can end up looking tacky as well.

Your CONTENT should always be very specific. It has to or it becomes cyber-trash very quickly. A favorite Internet saying i’ve heard is to ” KISS IT ” or, in it’s original form, * Keep It Simple Stupid !! * Big words can be overwhelmingly impressive but i have found that shorter words easily read and just work better. ….. (ironic eh)

Part 1 The Headline is your menu

How do you make eye grabbing HEADLINE? I’ll bet you didn’t know it’s always been right in front of you the whole time, and your going to wonder why you never thought of it. Ready??….. Your email box.. It’s a treasure trove of headlines just waiting to be found. Now, i’m not saying that you steal someone else’s headlines. That wouldn’t be nice at all, now would it!!

That doesn’t mean you can’t get idea’s from them though. Here’s a simple way to find a few “catchy headlines” (You need to do this fast OK. Really Fast!!) Every time you open your email box, Quickly scan the contents. Which one do you remember the most?

It doesn’t really matter which one it was, just be honest with yourself. Begin a list of catchy phrases and write it down somewhere. If you have more than one email box use it too. (Build’s your list quicker)

The next step is the Fun Part. Sit down and start butchering these Headlines!! Go for it!! Grab a word here, a phrase there, change a couple words around in a sentence. Replace words that would better identify your opportunity or service your promoting.

Soon you will have a nice selection of Headlines you created yourself. No one has a monopoly on words, so i’m certain the Internet cops won’t bother you for this apparent “theft” of words…..ya think??

Part 2 The Content is your appetizer

Most classified ads usually contain around 25-50 words each. You only have so much space, and you have to say everything in a little teeny tiny spot. I can’t emphazise how very important it is that the content “grabs” the readers attention. This is the meat of the ad.

Create an irresistible offer. Tantalize your readers, entice them into wanting to take a bite. Make an offer that is so overwhelmingly attractive, that they would have to be insane to pass it up. Give them a tidbit by adding something free. Anything, just make it free.

What’s that?

You say your not so good at writing classified ads like that? I’ll wager a bet you are!

There is a way to write great ads quickly. Yup you guessed it!! Read a few of the emails and save the ones that caught your eye. Get out the knife and cut up those ads using the same technique you used for Headlines.

Once you have 6-8 contents ads written, simply get the Most Excellent Headlines YOU created and start slicing and dicing. Mix them up, change them around until your happy with them. You might end up with over 20 different ads to chose from… (bummer huh)

CHOP-CHOP time again!! You don’t want those 20+ ads… do you? Some of these ads aren’t quite as as good as the others. That’s OK, it’s time to trim the fat anyway. Select the 5 choicest ads and remove the remaining ones

Part 3 The Address is the dinner bell

E-mail address or Website address. The person reading your classified ad has 2 options. Read the next ad or click your link. They have either eaten enough of your ad, or their ready to gobble up the main course.

Your ADDRESS is a way to get more information about the opportunity you are promoting and is achieved by putting either your Web site ADDRESS to take the visitor there or an E-mail ADDRESS to contact you directly.

You can spice up your address by giving your webpages catchy names, but a draw back is the length it may create. problem is, People don’t like 86 character website addresses. Their either too hard to remember, or mistakes are made when entering it into their browser. You just lost a prospective sale right there. (another bummer huh)

Another option is using a re-directed address. There are several companies that offer this service FREE, which allows you create nice short, easily remembered website addresses. Two places that give you 3 different addresses are rename.com and iBoost.com Thats 8 different addresses leading to the same page

***Caution; It’s not wise to submit these redirect addresses to the search engines because, they don’t like being tricked. Duplicate sites usually get “UN-indexed” …..rather quickly and forever too!

Dinner is served! Pass the Gravy!!?

You have a visitor!! Hopefully your ad was tasty enough to bring you the Gravy too!! You got them there so give them your main course. Make sure you get a counter or some kind of tracking system set up to follow your ads progress to see which ones worked the best…… (i’ll save that for another article)

About The Author

A.L Haines is the editor for several leading Internet Marketing publications supporting free Internet marketing opportunities and resources.

http://alhims.tripod.com

http://articlesarchives.netfirms.com

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Six years ago I started my small Virtual Assistant business with a non-existent marketing budget. I borrowed marketing books from the library, read countless articles on the Internet and joined a professional trade association of my peers. I learned hundreds of marketing techniques and one valuable lesson. The lesson I learned is that the financial ruin of large companies is often achieved by incredibly expensive and glitzy marketing plans that do not take into account the company’s ability to earn a profit. Over time, I found that the most effective marketing techniques that allow a company to make a profit are those that are inexpensive or free. What a fantastic discovery for me at that time! This knowledge, combined with hard work and excellent customer service, enabled my small business to expand at a phenomenal rate.

When developing your marketing plan be aware that frugal marketing techniques take more time and a great deal of personal creativity but they DO produce results! Following are a few of my most successful frugal marketing techniques:

Website

It is not necessary to spend thousands of dollars on a beautiful website. Some of the most effective and interesting websites I have seen were built on a frugal budget. Far more important than the cost is the content of a website. At a minimum your website should include your company name, contact information, tagline or slogan, company/owner biography, a list of services, a client list or list of testimonials, articles or press releases you have written and any interesting information related to your business that might be of help to your visitors. It is essential that you use a paid web host and not a free service. Free hosting may exclude you from search engine listings and may brand you as a neophyte in your field when that impression may not be correct. Inexpensive hosting is available and many hosts provide free or low cost web templates that will give your site a polished and consistent look. For a list of affordable web hosts visit the Web Host Directory and Host Review. Having a well-developed website will help you leverage the results of your other frugal marketing techniques and, in the long run, will save you money by reducing the overall cost and shipping of your marketing materials.

Public Relations

Create a press release and submit it to your local newspaper. Highlight the unusual aspects of your business and educate the reader about your business and your industry. Do not simply promote your own company, but promote the industry as a whole. Position your business as unique in that industry by explaining, for example, how your company takes a novel approach to delivering products or services. Take the same press release and format it for the Internet. Submit it to as many free press release sites that you can find such as LocalBusiness.com, PRWeb.com and USA News. For added impact, search the Newslink website to find other community newspapers in your state that might be interested in your business news. Follow standard press release formatting and be sure to add that you are available for interviews in your contact information section as this opens the door for feature interviews during slow “news” weeks for local papers. Send out a press release every quarter or at least twice a year. Always include your website’s URL in any marketing materials and press releases. For more information about press releases including formatting visit the Netpreneur Exchange, Infoscavenger and Pertinent Information.

Contests

Sponsor local or on-line contests by providing a prize. This could be one of your products or a coupon for two or three hours of your services. In return you will receive valuable free publicity. Find local contests, which would welcome your participation by scanning your community newspaper. Target on-line contests by surfing for well-established companies that compliment your own. For example, if you sell wine glasses, you should seek a company that sells wine and offer a set of wine glasses as a contest prize. Another option is to search for e-zines (on-line newsletters) that cover a topic related to your business and ask the editor about partnering to offer a contest to readers with your product or service as the prize. You can find e-zines by searching on-line directories such as BestEzines.com, The Ezine Directory or Ezine Search.

Publishing

This is my favorite technique. Write an article about an interesting or timely topic related to your business that would be of interest to your target market. Ask a friend or loved one with editing skills to proof your article for you. Create a four or five line biography at the end of the article that includes your contact information: your company name, e-mail address and company URL. Add a copyright statement at the very bottom of the article. Then submit the article to on-line article archives, e-zines and appropriate websites. This technique helps establish you as an expert in your field, publicizes your business, and creates incoming links to your website to increase your link popularity and search engine rankings. You can begin submitting your article to: Article City, Expert Articles and GoArticles.com. These three resources will get you started but a quick Internet search will provide an extensive listing of thousands of venues on-line.

Networking

Research your local chamber of commerce and start attending their networking events. Develop and rehearse an interesting “elevator speech” that summarizes your business and your talents in less than thirty seconds. Introduce yourself to as many people as possible, give your elevator speech and hand out your business cards and collect the business cards of prospects. Take the business cards you collected, use the back of the card to write down what you discussed or other important information about the prospect, and FOLLOW UP! Write and mail a quick note on your business stationery to say how nice it was to meet them and mention something memorable you discussed. Keep in touch with them on a regular basis.

Join on-line communities such as newsgroups, discussion boards, e-mail lists, etc. where your target market and peers congregate. Introduce yourself and your business if introductions are allowed by the community guidelines and encouraged by the list moderator. Establish your credibility and promote yourself by responding to questions in your field of expertise. Join an affordable, well-known and professional association of your peers on-line or locally. If it is permitted, announce your availability to take on sub-contracted work from your peers, but read the guidelines and do not “spam” these lists which will result in a loss of your credibility and professionalism. Become involved locally with a worthy charity by donating your time, products or services.

Over time, as your business grows, you can and should add a few paid marketing techniques to your marketing plan. But you must continue to use the most rewarding of your free and inexpensive marketing techniques to maximize your profit. Never forget that creativity, hard work and excellent customer service are the keys to growing a successful business while keeping your marketing costs in check.

(c) 2002, Davis Virtual Assistance. All rights reserved.

Article marketing guru Bonnie Jo Davis offers free and paid article marketing resources on her Squidoo Lens and at her membership site Article Submission Sites.com.

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