Get-Rich-Quick Radio Ads
 

Why do they never mention dollars. The so-called testimonials claim, :I made fifty thousand in two months." or "I made six hundred thousand last year." Does this somehow absolve them of liability for their b.s.?

They are either talking pesos or pennies. ;)

I can't believe radio stations run these ads. Yes, I understand that they cannot vet every advertiser, but you'd think they'd toss out the blatantly fraudalent ones to save their own reputation.

Hmmm...let's see...an ad that promises you will make tons of money but doesn't really explain how...probably legit.

The sleaziest ones are the real estate ads. Ever notice they (deliberately) never give prices? Not even ranges.

"Yea, come live the lifestyle you've always deserved in beautiful secluded, blah-blah-blah" with pretty Italian piano music softly playing in the background or whatever.

Translation: Come live in our glorified apartment complex stacked on top of your neighbors and saddled with HOA restrictions up the ying-yang. Oh, and if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it (the developer has a boat payment due this month ya know).

Puke.

I like the debt relief "programs". Everyone has a program, get rid of all your debt using our program! They're like Obama, lots of great claims, no real substance.

But...these ads must work, or they wouldn't be running them. P.T. Barnum was right. Geeze, all one needs to do is realize that if these systems were such a sure thing, they wouldn't be advertising them...they'd be on a beach somewhere, surrounded by hot babes, spending their millions...

Have done a few infomercial products.

Interesting psychology in them.

You are correct, if they were not working you would not be hearing them.

The frequency that you hear them indicates how well they are doing.

Infomercials "find" their demographic.

Works this way;

Networks all have inventory which is defined as airtime. No network sells out 100% of their inventory but they do need to fill it. Nothing like dead air to get people switching stations. So they will either run a paid spot more than contracted for, issue "make goods" (when they f'd up and owe you time,) or they will sell time for pennies on the dollar.

So infomercials buy time at the last minute and they are able to buy 3-4 times the frequency for the same dollar.

This allows you to "shotgun" across multiple stations/networks not worrying if the demographic fits or not.

Since they are all tagged with a phone number, unique to each station, you get a report the next day telling detailing where the spots ran and how many times the phone rang for that unique number.

Now you are starting to get your CPL/O, cost per lead/order. You are looking for a MER, (media efficiency ratio) of 1.5 or better, meaning for every dollar you spend on airtime you are making $1.50.

You can do 2 week spot test for as little as $10k.

Then you start cutting, toss out the stations that did not perform and buy more time on the ones that did.

In a couple of weeks you've found where all of the interested consumers are and you hammer the snot out of em. Repetition is key at this point as frequency drives response.

The right product with the correct "message" can make craploads of money in a very short period of time.

They are also interesting because you have virtually no inventory costs.

Ever notice the "Allow 4-8 weeks for delivery"? That's because the product is built on PAID orders received and not on forecasts.

You keep 1-2 weeks of inventory on hand for the people that have to have it in a hurry but then you charge more for rush delivery.

BTW, S/H is a profit center.

When you see/hear a spot that says "Try Free, just pay s/h" That usually means the product can be manufactured cheaply enough that the s/h covers not only the shipping but the cost of goods as well.

The real money is in the upsells, once you call the operator will try to convince you to buy "additional products" A good operator can turn a $9.99 call into $50 in the blink of an eye.

My advice, stay away from them.