Most small business owners and entrepreneurs make the same fundamental mistake when they put their hard earned money into advertising.

The reason why is obvious, but little understood. They simply copy the big end of town and do what big companies do because they think that's how to advertise successfully. After all, aren't those companies successful?

Unfortunately it's the last thing small business should ever do.

The second step to the 7 secrets of advertising is to get more prospects to read your ad till the end. After all, if we don't get to fully inform our reader how can we expect them to make a buying decision. And fully informed means, reading your ad right to the very end.

Here are 3 effective strategies to help you achieve this.

1.

The number one secret to the 7 secrets of advertising success is to get more prospects to take notice of your advertising. After all, if they don't even notice you, that's a done deal and you've totally wasted your money.

There's a whole bunch of ideas you could use, and here's 5 top ways to get you started.

1. Captivating Headlines

Advertising guru, David Ogilvy says that four out of five people only read headlines - nothing more! Think about that.

The third step to the 7 secrets of advertising is to get more prospects to trust what you say.

Take it for granted that no-one believes you. Now, that sounds rather blunt, doesn't it? But people don't know you so why would they believe what you say?

Now you will also have heard that people buy from people they know, like and trust so here are 5 simple tips to build trust that you can put to use right away.

Direct response advertising is all about making an offer and getting a response.

Whether you're asking your prospect to make a purchase, pick up the phone to call you, or simply to provide their email contact. Your objective is to get them to respond and take the next step in your sales process.

Here's 7 proven ways to get more prospects to want to respond.

If you want to increase your sales then you must get your prospect really excited about your offer. Not just your product or service but the whole package of benefits they'll receive by being your customer.

There's a whole bunch of ideas you could use that, added together will mean they can hardly wait to whip out their credit and buy from you.

Direct response advertising is all about getting your prospect to take the action you want. And the sooner they do that the better your conversion rate will be.

There are many techniques and they work in combination so use them all to maximise your results. The idea is to build urgency, make it easy to respond and give no reason to put it off until later.

One of the secrets to advertising success is to Get More Prospects To Respect Your Value.

Isn't it a pain when people don't respect the price you charge? Well, it will also be painful to hear that it's your fault! That's right. If your customers are "shopping around" you haven't convinced them of your value. And while respect is related to trust they are not the same thing at all.

Direct response advertising and direct marketing methodology are the dynamic duo that have been used by successful marketers for decades to build long term customer relationships a.k.a. relationship marketing.

But it's the introduction of new media like blogging and social networking sites that web 2.0 strategies provide, that has got two-way dialogue humming.

Choosing a niche is more than just focusing your marketing efforts on one group of people, often referred to as "your target market". And the task can bring up all sorts of fears and resistance that can result in overwhelm and non action.

Thoughts like, what if I pick the wrong one? If I pick one I have to leave some people out. Or I'll miss out on other opportunities if I focus on just one.

How you spend your marketing time and money is a key decision that will determine not only your eventual success but how long it takes you to get there.

If you want to maximize your return on both of these precious commodities you simply must include teleseminars and/or webinars in your marketing mix.

For a start, no matter what product or service you offer, virtual seminars are the ultimate vehicle to deliver your information from the comfort of your own home or office.