Article about Great Cottages revised website on the Travel Alberta website
April 12, 2006
Read the article
Article about Great Cottages in Canadian House & Home
July 2004
Cottage
for Rent
Turning a cottage into a cottage industry
The more things
change, the more they stay the same. According to Statistics Canada,
while many people dream of owning recreational property and demand
is strong, the percentage of Canadians owning it has changed very
little in the past 20 years - rising only from six to seven percent
in the late 1990s. Stats Can says the average Canadian vacation
home owner is 52 years old and lives in an urban area; 74 percent
of cottage-owning families don't include children. Not surprisingly,
the rest are borrowing, visiting, renting (and waiting to inherit)
cottages.
A SATIRICAL LOOK AT THE WORLD OF ADVERTISING
by R. Gilbert-free lance writer.
What is advertising, and why is it so expensive, and does it really work?
A while ago, I had the pleasure of hearing a famous Canadian multi billionaire, speak at an advertising conference. I cannot quote exactly what Mr. Jim Pattisson said, but here is the paraphrased comment he made.
Advertising works 50 % of the time, and if I knew which 50 % worked, I would not waste my money on the advertising mediums that do not work.
We are bombarded experts say, with about 3000 advertising messages daily. With all this clutter, it is a wonder that any advertising is successful?
As I write this article, this is only my opinion, and I cannot provide any verifiable statistics.
The most common today is television. At last count, I heard somewhere, that with satellite, and cable channels, a consumer can access over 200 TV stations. Wow.
You do the math. 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour, 18 minutes of commercial content, broken down into 10, 15, 30 and 60 second commercials, will anyone see your ad?
Radio- Yes, radio is cheaper than TV, but now again with satellite radio, this opens up over 300 potential stations to listen to. When will you have the time? Early morning while rushing around the house, feeding the children, making your lunch, finishing your personal grooming, and darting off to your car, public transit or a car pool?
At work, you might catch a few songs and words here and there, but you are not focused on actually listening to the radio.
Newspapers-great for lining the birdcages is what comedians tell us. Not as many choices, but so many sections to read. Who has time? The news of the day, Lifestyles, Sports, Entertainment and oh yes, the classifieds to name but a few. Who will see your ad, and what are the chances? If they miss it today, and you do buy more than a few days of advertising, the cost is more expensive. If your customer is not looking today specifically for what you are advertising, you have just wasted your money.
Billboards-Big and garish, often hidden by buildings, traffic, trees, big trucks, and other obstacles.
If you only buy 1 billboard in a prime location, Minimum contracts are 6 months, you pay for the art production of the billboard, often over
$ 2,500.00, and then of course, your rental of $ 3,500.00 a month or more. This is only for big companies. Who else can afford them?
Magazines- There are an estimated 10,000 magazine titles in North America alone.
There are of course many more advertising mediums. Everyone wants your money. Gladly, they will give you all sorts of viewer stats , listeners counts, visual impressions and or readers per day, but who is actually counting?
Current estimates in a variety of surveys done for and by major companies show that over 82 % of ALL searches start on the Internet. This medium has become the fastest growing and most successful in delivering targeted results. Now again, there are many search engines, millions of sites featuring a myriad of topics, and all there for you to find. How?
The Key word here is targeted. If you are looking for an automobile, you have so many sites; it would take you a lifetime to research them all. If you do an advanced search specific to your topic, define the geography, and search for exactly what you are looking for, your search is narrowed to a manageable number.
Go a step further, and search the presented sites you have located, and you will filter out many more sites that are not relevant. What you are left with, is a handful of sites that match exactly what you are looking for.
In 5 or 10 minutes, voila, you have reached pay dirt; you review the specific information you were looking for, and make your buying decision.
Oh yeah, the sites offering you the product or service you are looking for, are there 24/7-365 days a year for a fixed price.
Now I ask you, where would you rather spend your money? The decision is up to you!
I know, for our money, that the Internet sites offering us and delivering a targeted audience are the ones we will spend our advertising dollars with.
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