Whatever you and your small business sell, you need to place yourself in the shoes of your intended prospect. Too few small businesses understand why they need to do this and exactly how to go about it.

Identifying your own unique selling position is difficult when you do so from your own perspective rather than from the perspective of your customer.

You need to understand why and how people read newspapers in order to create effective newspaper ads.

WHY is simple: to get the news-especially news about their local community. Many people enjoy the portability that newspapers offer. Others simply do not care to read from a computer screen regardless of their increasingly mobile and varied lifestyles.

Google ad copy and you will have your choice of 85,000,000 websites! With so much information available on this subject, I find it puzzling that the majority of newspaper ads have weak copy.

Pick up any newspaper anywhere and actually read the copy in the display ads.

Here is a quarter page ad for an electronics store headlined ALL OUT BLOW OUT! This ad crams 20 tiny photos of various electronic products into 32 square inches of space with a large price, the name of the item and one measly line of copy.

We do this. We do that. We have. We are. We can.

If your ads are going to sell anything, you need to convert we to you. Your ads need to address what is in it for your customer. They (customers or prospects) could care less about you!

Here is a piece of copy I recently lifted out of a Minnesota newspaper ad: We have been in business 92 years.

The only purpose of a headline is to target the person you want to reach and to sell that person on wanting to read the rest of your ad. You have zero chance of closing the sale unless you get a hearing with your prospect.

The name of your company is NOT a headline! The name of your company belongs in the signature (usually the bottom) of the ad.

Every small business owner and manager needs to know this number. You need to place an annual or lifetime value on each customer who buys your product or service. Here is an example of what I am talking about:

Some years ago a burger restaurant placed a $100 coupon ad in a newspaper for whom I worked. One ad: two offers. Cents off on a hamburger or cents off on a milk shake.

First of all, a niche is not a gimmick encased in a silver bullet. A niche is nothing more than a fancy word for a specialty and specializing is the name of the game in growing a small business today.

Niches are at the heart of every successful business, product or service. Niche marketing is the polar opposite of mass marketing. Mass marketers often have their own niche as in always low prices.

I do not know exactly what your customers are looking for. But you better know. No room for guesswork or generalizations here. No need to go into a philosophical discussion on needs vs. wants.

In order to effectively grow your business and create ads that get acted upon (not just seen!), you must understand that almost all customers buy mostly on emotion and rarely on logic.

Confusing a customer is an absolute no-no in all businesses but especially in a SMALL establishment. If a small business flunks consistency and service, they will rely on advertising to constantly attract NEW customers.

Most people do not automatically return (at least not soon) to any business that treats them indifferently or delivers inconsistent quality or service.

Niche marketing means marketing to a select group of people that share a common interest. Niche marketing is the exact opposite of trying to appeal to a general group of people that have little if anything in common-as in everyone.

Here are seven guidelines that will help you set up or revise your niche:

1. Every product, service or small business either appeals to or has the potential to appeal to a concise definable group of people in a concise definable marketplace.

Whether you own a mature business or are just starting up, brainstorming sessions need to be a regular happening in your business model.

Not too many years ago, brainstorming was only being done in advertising agencies in major cities. Not any longer. Brainstorming has become a must for ALL businesses.

Customer attitudes are changing before our very eyes.