What to do When Your Advertising Doesn't Work.

All too often I have heard clients say "Advertising doesn't work for us" after a single appearance of their ad - sometimes even after trying only one media.
Pro Historian
024-7060.9694
Independent with my own idealism.

There are a number of things you can do if you want to know for sure whether advertising works or not for you. The first of them is to give your ad a fair chance.

Follow these basic rules and enjoy learning what the best way is for you to advertise. If your advertising doesn't work, it is probable that one of these rules has not been followed.


Rules for making your print advertising work


1. Give yourself a fair sample to evaluate. As a rule of thumb, you
should take no fewer than 3 insertions in a weekly or monthly
magazine and 5 insertions in a daily title. Only the fanatical
reader will read front to back of every issue. You need to allow for
readers going on vacation, or just those who might miss an issue.
You also want to give them a fair chance to have a need for your
product. You can only make a decision about whether a publication's
readership provides a viable source of leads once you have given
them all a fair chance to respond.


2. Ensure your ad is given prominence. Why do the bad boys sit at
the back of the class? So the teacher pays them less attention. In
advertising you want to be right at the front of the class all the
time. Unless you ask for it, you're not going to get it. Always ask
for a right-hand page (it really makes a big difference). Don't be
afraid to press for other positions too if you think they will make
a difference. You can even make them bargaining chips in your
negotiation. For example, "Promise me top-right of a right-hand page
and I'll book the ad now". Few Ad Sales reps will be able to resist
that!


3. Compare results over a number of different media. Don't put all
your eggs in one basket – and don't move sequentially from one media
to the next until you find one that works. Test 3, 4 or more if you
can, all at the same time so you can compare results like for like
over the same timeframe.


4. Perform tests to maximize response. A fair test is one that is
directly comparable to another. Ideally therefore, you should give
each test exactly the same terms. (Same shelf life in the same
publication). The sort of tests you can try include:
a. Headlines
b. Copy
c. Call to action
d. Ad size
e. Colour/mono
f. Other creative changes – register at Advertsuccess.com and get a
free copy of "8 Creative Techniques for Small Press Advertisements",
for more test examples.


5. Allow for differences between publications. Sometimes, certain
media really do not work – even ones that we thought had to produce
a ton of leads have been known to disappoint. There is normally a
rational reason for it –perhaps it is not a readership that responds
to classified advertisements; perhaps the readership figure is
actually a lot lower than the circulation figure.

In our experience, we have found that controlled circulation or free
publications are those most likely to produce disappointing results.
It stands to reason after all, if you get something for free, you
are less likely to read it from front to back than one you pay good
money for.

You should allow for this in your campaign consideration so that you
don't expect too much from a publication that cannot deliver. There
will be other criteria too that will affect what sort of response
you should expect – criteria such as the circulation volume,
demographics, frequency. Take account of these criteria when
planning an acceptable level of response.




6. Beware the advice of your Ad sales rep. Whatever you do, if your
advertisement gives disappointing results, be careful before you
take the advice of your friendly sales rep. S/he will argue that you
should try running it with a bigger size, perhaps to allow a larger
headline – or to give it a longer span so the readership have time
to respond properly.

Remember, however helpful they are, media sales people have
completely different motives to you. Of course they want your ad to
work. Then you'll be more likely to advertise again. But just
remember, they get paid the same whether you get one response or a
hundred. You don't. Always remain in control of your ad spend and
don't let them tempt you to deviate from your budget.

I hope you will find this useful in planning your ad campaign. If
you follow the advice I have given here, I am confident that you
will enjoy more success with your print advertising campaigns.




Pro Historian
024-7060.9694
Independent with my own idealism.




The best brands always try to do the right thing, so that their
reputations will remain unsullied. But beyond that they grow, evolve
and get better with time, while maintaining their special qualities
from the past.

We all have a personal brand with social, cultural, intellectual, and
personal needs that may not necessarily be addressed in our daily
work. Address these needs and you begin to improve your brand. Here
is my agenda for building your brand.

Join and participate in community and professional organizations
Generate media coverage about your brand
Stay in touch, or renew old ties with friends, family and business
associates
Let?s examine how each one improves your brand.


Join and participate in professional and community organizations
The best brands grow, evolve and get better with time, while
maintaining their special qualities from the past.

Professional and community organizations provide ample opportunity to
learn and grow.

They provide professional development opportunities. They allow you
to network with peers as well as with people you would not
necessarily ever meet in the normal course of your workday.

For instance, I am a member and served on the board of our local
International Association of Business Communicators chapter. This
allowed me to broaden my contacts in the corporate communications
world, as well as form a number of friendships I probably never would
have developed. I?m also a member of the North Carolina Citizens For
Business and Industry. Here I meet people from all walks of life and
all work disciplines. Finally, I am involved with Charlotte Reads, a
local non-profit that focuses on literacy issues. This allows me to
use my communication experience in support of an issue I feel very
strongly about.

But it?s not enough to just join groups: you must participate to
benefit fully. As a participant you have the opportunity to stretch,
to gain confidence in yourself. Learn to lead by involvement on the
board or in a special project.

If you are a communicator by trade, try being treasurer for the group
to exercise the other side of your brain, or take on a special
project about which you feel strongly.

Generate media coverage about your brand
All that professional and community involvement will certainly lead
to opportunities to leverage that involvement into news about the
brand called you. And, of course, there will be promotions, new
assignments, and awards at work, too. More opportunities to make
headlines.

Your achievements are of interest to local print, broadcast, and
online media, particularly the business pages. In Charlotte, the
Observer has a weekly feature called On The Move spotlighting someone
in a new position. The Charlotte Business Journal has a similar
feature called Moving Up. If it is a big enough move and your company
won?t do it, pay the estimated $150 to place it on BusinessWire or PR
Newswire. Consider it an investment in your future. Don?t forget
trade publications serving your industry and alumni publications.

Seek out speaking engagements and write guest articles, too. This is
yet another way to publicize your brand. And don?t forget to do news
releases when you make a speech or write an article. It?s all about
merchandising.

To stay top of mind, you might even want to develop your own monthly
e-newsletter like Think, the Hoover ink publication. Keep it mostly
informational and limit the commercial material.

Stay in touch, or renew old ties with friends, family and business
associates
Everyone you know can be a brand ambassador for you, so stay in touch
or reach out to those you haven?t talked with for a while.

Yet another reason for having a monthly newsletter that shares your
expertise.

The network of contacts you have built over your lifetime will be
instrumental if you decide to start your own business, or change jobs.

So, heed this word of advice: always deal fairly with people. One bad
experience with your brand can negate 10 positive ones.

Now, get out there and start branding.


Pro Historian
024-7060.9694
Independent with my own idealism.

Kekuatan unggul ilmu sejarah

Keunggulan sejarah dapat dilihat dari kemampuan handalnya menembus berbagai lintas bidang menjadi satu kesatuan yang utuh bukan malah semakin terdiferensiasi.

Sifat ilmu sejarah yang multidimensional sebab memanfaatkan waktu sebagai pengikat dan katalisator analisis fakta dan peristiwa terangkai dalam kronologis yang utuh.

Imajinasi Sejarah: Penyatuan Serpihan Materi Peristiwa

Menulis sejarah merupakan suatu kegiatan intelektual dan ini suatu cara yang utama untuk memahami sejarah (Paul Veyne, 1971:71; Tosh, 1985:94).

Apakah itu imajinasi? Apakah sejarah memerlukan imajinasi dalam penulisannya? Tidak takutkah bila imajinasi tersebut dapat berkembang menjadi sebuah fiksi? Bagaimana cara membatasi sebuah imajiasi dalam penulisan sejarah? Mungkinkah imajinasi tersebut nantinya menjadi sebuah imajinasi yang cukup obyektif?
Pertanyaan-pertanyaan seperti tertulis di atas kadangkala “menggelitik” para sejarawan dalam menerapkan metode penelitian sejarahnya. Memang, imajinasi yang berlebihan dapat menjadikan obyek yang di-imajinasikan bisa jauh dari keadaan yang sebenarnya. Maka dari itu, dibutuhkan suatu pembatasan yang jelas tentang peng-interpretasi-an imajinasi tersebut.

Menurut Kuntowijoyo, seorang sejarawan, dalam pekerjaannya harus dapat membayangkan apa yang sebenarnya, apa yang sedang terjadi, dan apa yang terjadi sesudahnya (Kuntowijoyo, 2001:70). Dalam kasus seperti ini, batasan yang dipakai sangat jelas. Pembatasan yang seharusnya dilakukan adalah, membatasi imajinasi yang berkembang khusus pada keadaan yang sebenarnya terjadi. Jadi jika imajinasi yang berkembang menjadi meng-interpretasi-kan keadaan yang bukan sebenarnya terjadi, maka telah terjadi manipulasi peristiwa yang sebenarnya.

Imajinasi dalam Sejarah dan Imajiasi dalam interpretasi Fiksi

Imajinasi dalam sejarah dan imajinasi dalam interpretasi fiksi sangat beda. Oleh karena itu, di sini penting memilah antara imajinasi sejarah dan imajinasi fiksi. Imajinasi sejarah merupakan imajinasi yang dilakukan seorang sejarawan atau seorang sumber sejarah dalam mengungkap sebuah peristiwa sesuai dengan keadaan yang sebenarnya terjadi. Imajinasi fiksi (seperti sastra atau ruang lingkup fiksi lainnya) secara singkat dapat dikatakan sebagai pengungkapan imajinasi yang terus berkembang tanpa batas yang jelas.

Walau dalam novel sejarah, ada beberapa kasus sejarah yang berusaha ditampilkan atau minimal sebagai bahan “pembangkit” awal masalah atau mungkin “hanya” sebagai pendahuluan yang dikonstruksi sebagai jalan masuk ke dalam cerita (latar belakang peristiwa atau tempat atau bahkan sebagai pendahuluan), tetapi sebagian besar cerita dalam novel tersebut telah “tercemar” dengan faktor imajinasi sang penulis. Untuk itu perlu ditegaskan di sini bahwa imajinasi sejarah dan imajinasi fiksi merupakan dua hal yang beda.

Sebagai contoh, dalam imajinasi sejarah, seorang sejarawan harus mampu untuk ber-imajinasi tentang sejarah yang akan digalinya. Misalnya, dalam Perang Aceh, ia (sejarawan) harus mampu berimajinasi mengenai pantai, hutan, desa, meunasah, istana, mesjid, dan bukit-bukit. Mungkin ia akan bisa memahami Teuku Umar melalui pemahaman imajinernya tentang pantai, erlawanan Tjoet Nyak Dhien melalui hutannya, dan penyebaran cita-cita perang Sabil lewat imajinasinya tentang desa, meunasah, dan mesjid (Kuntowijoyo, 2001:70).

Tuntutan dalam Interpretasi Sejarah

Petualangan yang menguntungkan dalam penelitian sejarah hanya dapat kita memulainya bila mengidentifikasikan suatu masalah yang membingungkan dan kemudian merumuskannya dengan benar (Consuelo G. Sevilla et.al.:63). Dalam kasus ini, seorang sejarawan dituntut untuk dapat meng-interpretasi-kan sebuah masalah dengan cukup obyektif, sesuai dengan materi yang sebenarnya. Di sinilah imajinasi dalam sejarah diperlukan. Sebuah imajinasi dengan batasan keadaan yang sebenarnya. Penggunaan imajinasi dalam interpretasi dan eksplanasi menjadi mutlak disaat kasus yang sulit menjadi penghalang dalam meng-interpretasikan masalah yang dihadapi.

Selain batasan tersebut diatas, faktor continuitas dan akronisme menjadi faktor yang harus diperhatikan. Kesinambungan dan urutan waktu dalam interpretasi maupun ekplanasi menjadi hal yang wajib ditaati agar tidak terjadi fallacies (kesalahan-kesalahan dalam penulisan). Sangat lucu jika fakta yang kita rangkai tidak sinambung dan urutan waktunya berloncatan. Maka tuntutan seorang sejarawan dalam meramu fakta secara continuitas dan akronisme, sangat mutlak dilakukan. Hal ini untuk menghindari kerancuan dalam sejarah dan sebagai landasan yang kuat dalam menerima serbuan kritik.

Referensi

Consuelo G. Sevilla et.al. Pengantar Metodologi Penelitian. UIP.

Helius Sjamsudin. 1994. Metodologi Sejarah, Departeman P & K, Direktorat Jenderal Pendidikan Tinggi. Jakarta: Proyek Pendidikan Tenaga Akademik.
Kuntowijoyo. 2001. Pengantar Ilmu Sejarah. Yogyakarta: Bentang.


Artikel disadur kembali oleh:
Hamdina Organizer
024-7060.9694
D'professional historian with excellent entrepreneur skill.

If u want to be a Sejarawan.

Semua orang bisa menjadi sejarawan, apabila telah mengetahui hakikat dari ilmu sejarah dengan baik dan benar serta mampu mengaplikasikan ilmu tersebut secara bermanfaat.



TUNTUTAN untuk mereinterpretasi sejarah nasional merupakan imbas yang tidak terelakkan. Tesis Ralph Waldo Emerson, There is Properly No History; Only Biography agaknya lebih cocok dengan rentang perjalanan sejarah nasional Indonesia. Sejak dimulainya penulisan sejarah istana-centris pada masa kerajaan-kerajaan, sejarawan selalu dekat dengan kekuasaan. Demikian juga dengan historici kolonial. Mereka akan menulis orang-orang di seputar kekuasaan dan reputasi baiknya tanpa kritik. Belum ada sejarawan amatir yang diakui sebagai bagian besar optimalisasi yang mandiri dari penulisan sejarah dan menulis keadaan masyarakat secara umum yang diakui setara.

The main objective of this presentation is to explore the ways this blog can help you develop a love of history like a 'sejarawan'. "Perhaps with the increased personalization and individualization of learning, we can return to a Socratic dialogue between novices and experts in a mass education system rather than in one where education was for the privileged minority (...). One of the significant features of dialogue is that it emphasizes collective, as opposed to solitary, activity." (Michelle Selinger, Connected Schools, Cisco Systems)

If we accept the perspective that the teacher's main task is to facilitate "learning" we will set in our aims tha need of providing "elements" to learn (call it contents that develop objectives and are assessed according to pre-set criteria) and "reasons" for learning. It is an accepted standard view that more "teaching" time does not lead to more "learning". I believe this blog, on humanistic grounds (i.e., as a tool to foster guided and/or independent work; as a strategy to help students "face" the multi-faceted aspects of a given topic; as a lead to "unveil" knowledge, but considering that the use of blog is part of a whole where classroom interaction, collaboration and respect for others in their capacities) can help and foster autonomy and can produce a good deal of collaborative work. Our role might be "leading" to the use or in the use of those programs allowing room for creativity, for collaboration and for extra-classroom extension.

Tragisnya, sampai hari ini sejarawan akademis tidak pernah merasa bersalah apalagi menangisi kematian kebebasan menafsirkan sejarah obyektif bangsanya, lingkungannya, masyarakatnya, dan setiap personal. Sejarawan senior, Kuntowijoyo, dalam pembuka buku Metodologi Sejarah menandaskan, sejarawan adalah penulis sejarah! Tidak peduli dia bekerja sebagai apa. Kenyataan ini sering diingkari karena setiap penulisan sejarah selalu didominasi sejarawan akademis yang terpayungi otoritas keilmiahan sampai kenegaraan.

Sejak seminar nasional sejarah pertama dekade 1960-an, yang kedua (1970), sampai ketiga (1981), isu besar yang dibahas adalah pencarian bentuk kesepahaman penulisan sejarah nasional yang bisa mencakup semua titik-titik puncak sejarah lokal yang berdimensi nasional. Pada saat yang sama juga dirumuskan berbagai macam urusan metodologi dan aneka pendekatan yang lebih mutakhir dalam penulisan ilmu sejarah. Hasilnya adalah buku sejarah nasional 7 jilid yang kini dikritik habis-habisan, bahkan oleh pihak-pihak yang dulu mendukungnya.

Bagaimana pun sejarah merupakan hal penting. Di dalamnya ada landasan eksistensi, harga diri, kebanggaan, kritik, dan alasan untuk introspeksi. Pekerjaan penulis sejarah, jika diartikan sebagai profesi independen yang disandangkan pada sejarawan akademis, dapat diubah pada pengertian yang lebih sederhana. Kerangka penguatan sipil sebagai landasan otoritas tertinggi dalam negara demokrasi tetap mengharuskan dihormatinya institusi independen yang lahir dari rahim masyarakat sipil yang mempunyai dinamika tersendiri. Sehingga berapa pun rezim berganti, masyarakat akan selalu berminat untuk menuliskan sejarahnya dengan mandiri.

Akhirnya, sejarah nasional bisa diartikan sebagai rangkuman sejarah masyarakat dalam tingkatan lokal yang tertulis dengan lebih beragam. Sejarawan akademis tidak lagi memegang proses tunggal normalisasi sejarah nasional dan interpretasinya yang bersifat menghakimi. Sejarawan akan kembali menjadi milik masyarakat, bukan negara, dan setiap penulisan sejarah dalam semua level akan saling memanfaatkan satu sama lain untuk tujuan universal penulisan sejarah.

Indonesia History

History has emerged as an increasingly prominent field of study in Indonesia at least since 1980’s, after being neglected for several decades. New theoretical, philosophical, and empirical analyses of Indonesian history were tought widely at university and appear in professional journals and books.

At the same time, a new generation of students and young scholars in a variety of fields was being made aware of the interrelationship between their fields with history. Above all however, there are growing doubts about the truth of Indonesian history at any level of society following current political changes after the resignation of Soeharto in May 1998. Indonesian history is considered primarily as a product of social and political engineering of the New Order rather than an appropriate scholarly apparatus. Consequently, Indonesian historiography is no longer appreciated and people are simply asking for a new history, a deconstructed history.

The most vocal and trenchant criticism of existing historiography, however, has come not from within historian community. This is an irony. The need to deconstruct contemporary Indonesian history is not an important issue in academic or professional historian community. The polemic took place mostly in daily newspapers, popular weekly magazines, or tabloids rather than in highly recognised historian forum. Most prominent historians at the university obviously had chosen a different path from the one which was being led by recent popular viewpoint. Instead, politicians, journalists, and other social-humanities scholars took over the place of historians in discussing the truth of the past.

Many students have changed, though. They are empowered by the internet, searching out their own answers and bringing these into class discussions, according to both media reports and history experts. Alternative explanations for the 30th of September Movement proliferate on the web in both English and Indonesian, for example. The government no longer has a monopoly on information. Little wonder, then, that in response to the teachers’ questions about the right way to teach history now, just want give some advice, you have to ‘be creative’.