If you develop websites and do not use a UNIX prompt, you are at a major disadvantage to those that do. Knowing your way around a UNIX command line allows you to accomplish more in a shorter period of time and often offers a better way to manipulate, edit, and work with files on your [...]

Pros: Direct mail is a precisely targeted medium, can be personalized, keeps marketing information away from your competitors, permits split run testing, and it takes very little creative investment.
Cons: Direct mail pieces require a long read time by the viewer, involve extensive mailing list management, typically require follow-up letters or calls to be effective, and [...]

Pros: Radio reaches a large audience, offers niche targeting, can provide personality to the ads, and offers negotiable pricing.
Cons: Radio ads work best when several stations are covered, repetition is a must, and it relies on the memory of the listener to complete call-to-action.

Pros: Television ads reach out to a large audience, capable of involving more senses (sign and sound), and they are excellent for branding and imaging.
Cons: Television ads involve a vary large creative and production cost, lead time for ideal spots can be rather long, and time constraints can be limiting.

Pros: Yellow Pages appeal to “ready-to-buy” consumers, are relatively inexpensive, offer a long shelf-life, and provide easy results tracking.
Cons: Yellow Pages have very long lead times, ads are always positioned directly next to the competition, and creatively in ads is limited.

Pros: Magazines offer specific demographic targeting, longer lasting shelf-life, greater reader involvement, and high quality reproduction and color.
Cons: Magazines have a longer lead time, higher costs when compared to newspapers, smaller audiences, and require more catchy and creative ad design (higher cost).

Pros: Newspapers target a large audience, make geographic targeting possible, provide split-run testing ability, and offer immediate exposure.
Cons: Newspapers are cluttered and print with poor quality reproduction, most ads focus on sales and promotions (rather than branding), and they have a very short shelf-life.

When you develop an advertising campaign, a careful consideration of the available media outlets must be part of your plan. Every media outlet comes with its own individual pros and cons. A great media outlet for one company may not necessarily be a good option for another – even in the same industry. Even a [...]