Free resources from Actual Wizards.

Traditional marketing agencies are designed to capture the greatest amount of revenue from a client, regardless of results. Every last item is billed and expensed to the client. Typical “full service” agency fees can represent a whopping 55% of the entire advertising budget. That means a 5 million dollar advertising budget, you would spend $2.75 million on agency fees.

Think of Wizard of Ads® for Services as the Anti-Agency.

Our income is not tied to your advertising budget. Our income is exclusively tied to your growth. Our goal is to maximize your advertising impact with the lowest reasonable spend. This allows you to spend only what is necessary or to put extra horsepower into aggressively growing in your market.

The genius of this model is that it perfectly aligns our motivations as true partners for exponential profitable growth without the pain of being unaffordable. Ultimately, we are confident in taking the risk of being underpaid in the first few years because we know the results always speak for themselves.

Next, we do not accept commissions, referral fees, kickbacks, or other compensation from any service providers we recommend or engage for production work. Most agencies do. This includes the 15% agency commission for media buying. This approach is considerably different from the compensation plan employed by most advertising agencies, as it eliminates any potential conflicts of interest and allows us to focus our entire attention on helping you grow your business profitably as a true partner. For example, a $500,000 annual media buy would involve a $75,000 commission that we would have removed directly from your media providers' invoices.

This is the perfect pricing model for services-based companies.

By tying ourselves to gross revenue, we only have one motivation. Your motivation. We have no motivation to convince you to spend more money on marketing than what is necessary, and since we are a variable expense to sales, we NEVER become too expensive to have us on your team.

With or significant buying power, message impact, and understanding of holistic marketing mix, we can do more with 85% of your budget then you can do with 200%. In almost every case, we end up lowering the amount of money you spend, or spend the same amount with significantly better results.

We will stay within your planned marketing budget, including your media spend, production, and our Annual Fee. Add on the fact that you get any and all commissions back for media buys and various services provided by outside providers, and you will actually save money having us on your team.

With national buying power and proprietary algorithm, every dollar you spend buying media, Wizard’s only spend 27 cents. This stretches your reach, impact, and frequency in a way no other agency (or yourself) can achieve on your own, saving you hundreds of thousands of dollars, eventually millions, every single year.

Clients who heed our advice and embrace our Marketing Strategy quickly add $1 million in incremental revenue to their business, making your investment a smart bet and a bit of a no-brainer.  

There is no longer any guesswork, hope, or fear that our marketing strategies are going to work. When our clients abandon their limiting beliefs about marketing, deliver operational excellence, and play the long game, our marketing strategy will accelerate their profitable growth.

Wizard of Ads® for Services pricing model is based solely on your company's topline revenue. It consists of an Upfront Fee and an Annual Fee. These fees are inclusive of scheduled travel, services, and all other expenditures as outlined in the Consulting Agreement.

The Upfront Fee covers the intensive Uncovery Process, the first year’s Media Negotiation, the Creative Process, and the Market Research.
‍The Annual Fee goes toward implementation, ongoing creative development, consulting, channel alignment, and next year's media buy. The Wizard of Ads® for Services Creative Lead will create the ad copy, cast the voice actors, source the production house, direct the performance, pick the music bed, manage all the edits, and provide you with the completed ad for final approval before sending to air on your behalf. This is included in our fees.

You pay for the ads to run, production house, actors, royalty-free music, and jingles directly to avoid any potential for markups, commissions, or management fees.

We have many friends in the industry who give our clients good deals due to the large volume of work we provide them. We will introduce you to them.

While the upfront does have an initial pinch, it is easy to amortize the investment over the many years we will be working together to grow your business. Wizard of Ads® retain clients for 10 years, on average. The sale of the business is the number one reason for termination. We actively terminate the bottom 1% of clients who are unwilling or unable to follow our strategies.

Wizard of Ads® for Services believes that all rewards should be directly correlated to the success of our clients. This means that the Wizard of Ads® for Services only receives a raise when the company achieves growth. 

For example, if your gross sales for the year have increased by 25%, the Annual Fee you pay us in the following year will also be increased by 25%. Likewise, if your gross sales decrease, our Annual Fee will decrease by the same percentage during the following year.

This is an exceptionally easy and fair way to track and reward success. This model was developed by Wizard of Ads® over 35 years ago and has served us well because it serves our clients well.

As a rule of thumb, we take the risk of working for considerably less than our actual value in the first few years as we help accelerate growth. This means you need to be willing to pay us exceptionally well when you start doing even better.

If you’re a great operator who knows you can do better with Wizard of Ads® for Services as your partner, give Wizard Ryan Chute a call to see how we might work together. 

You hear a lot of talk these days about how no one listens to the radio anymore.

Interestingly, the people who make these claims offer no evidence beyond the fact that commercial free music can be obtained through online streaming. This reminds me of that famous malaprop by Yogi Berra, “No one goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”

If you want to see raw numbers, look at the Nielsen Audio Ratings. But I submit to you, as a supplement to those happy numbers, a few observations fueled by my investment of tens of millions of dollars in advertising expenditures each year for more than 25 years.

Radio advertising is more cost-effective today than it has ever been, mainly because rates have been suppressed by the myth that “no one listens anymore.”

This is great for media buyers. Bad for station owners.

Four of my friends own large, online companies, and each of them tells me the exact same thing. “To do real volume online, you’ve got to have a big enough markup to let you spend 30 to 35 percent of gross sales on marketing.” The first time I heard this, I couldn’t believe my ears. Most of the advertisers I’ve known spend 5 to 6 percent of gross sales on advertising. The really aggressive ones spend 10 to 12 percent. “You’ve got to be selling products with a 10 to 20x markup or you’re not going to make any money using pay-per-click,” one of them told me while the other three nodded in agreement. The smallest of their online companies does almost $40,000,000 a year. The largest did $85,000,000 last year and one-third of that was spent in online marketing.

Fortunes are being made online. This isn’t a secret.

But any brick-and-mortar business that abandons broadcast media – and I include television in that definition – and tries to replace broadcast with pay-per-click or social media or content marketing is going to lose a fortune online.

I’ve seen it happen again and again.

Ryan Deiss is the principal of digitalmarketer.com, a highly regarded educational site for persons who need to know how to make online advertising work. When Ryan spoke to a roomful of long-term radio advertisers recently, he showed them the 8 sequential things that online marketing can accomplish. The first of these 8 was awareness. “No one in this room should be spending a penny online for awareness,” he said. “The cost of creating awareness online is incredibly expensive compared to radio. You just need to maximize the online traffic that radio can easily drive to your website.”

He spent the rest of that day telling those advertisers how to generate more online leads and increase their online closing ratios while cutting their online ad budgets by half.

Ryan got a thunderous applause at the end of his session. People love the advice of honest, straightforward experts.

One of the business owners in the room that day was Ken Goodrich, the owner of Goettl (rhymes with kettle) Air Conditioning in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Tucson. When Ryan’s session was over, Ken raised his hand to say, “My cost of lead generation for A/C system replacement was about $441 per lead, roughly the national average for my category, until I cut my online budget by half and moved all that money into 52-week radio. Two years later, the sales volume of my 78 year-old company had more than doubled, and my cost per online lead these days bounces around between $39 and $47.”

Ken Goodrich went on to make it clear that his customers are still going online before they call him. Some of them are reading reviews and some are just looking for his phone number, but most are typing the name of their city and “air conditioning” into the Google search string. Goettl Air Conditioning pops up, of course, alongside all its competitors. But unlike the other companies listed in those search results, Goettl leaps off the screen. “Hey! I know those guys!” says the prospective customer. Goettl gets the click, the call, and the sale.

Consistent radio advertising creates echoic retention, a powerful recall cue.

But the credit that belongs to radio is often given to SEO consultants and other digital marketing weasels who pretend that broadcast is dead. Remember what Goodrich told us? His customers are still going online before they call and they’re still seeing his name pop up. But it was only after he became a household word through radio that a much higher percentage of them began clicking “Goettl.”

My only goal today was to open your eyes a little wider to seven fundamental truths you’ve always known:

1. Fifty percent of the population in your city spends enough time listening to broadcast radio each week to make them easily and cheaply reachable through that medium.    
2. The best way to use radio is to become a household word before the customer needs what you sell, then wait for them to need you. This requires a 52-week schedule.  
3. The customer is still going to go online before they call. (Ryan Deiss told us that 94% of all retail products and services were sold by brick-and-mortar stores in 2016, but that 97% of those purchases were made by customers who went online before they bought from those brick and mortar stores.) Your online presence definitely matters.
4. The cost of generating awareness through radio is a tiny fraction of the cost of generating similar awareness online. In 2016, my cost of generating a 3-frequency each week (reaching the same listener with the same message 3 times,) 52 weeks a year, ranged between 14 cents and 72 cents per person/per year, depending on the city. Fifty-two week radio is the best way to achieve involuntary, automatic recall, and effectively own the hearts and minds of up to half the people in your community.
5. The biggest mistake made by radio advertisers is that they too often try to create a sense of urgency. This works okay for products with a short purchase cycle, like food and entertainment, but it’s a lousy way to build a relationship with the customer.
6. Businesses don’t fail because they were reaching the wrong customer. Businesses fail because they were saying the wrong thing.
7. Nothing matters so much as your ad copy. When you’re saying the right thing, people remember it and repeat it. Your customer is surrounded by influencers. Quit trying to target the perfect customer. Just win the hearts of whoever happens to be listening.

At Wizard of Ads®, we house the psychological marketing strategies you need to stop the scroll. If you're looking for nostalgic ads that will break through the noise, book a call with Ryan Chute today.

The door to immediate action is easily kicked open by the steel-toed boot of urgency.

If you want people to take immediate action, you’re going to need a credible shortage.
A shortage of product. “Only 11 remain!”
A shortage of time. “Sale ends Saturday at 6PM!”
A shortage of capacity. “Only 128 seats are available!”
Some kind of shortage.

But smart marketers don’t create a series of non-stop urgencies.
Smart marketers create a bond with future customers.
And you don’t create a bond by crying wolf.
You create a bond by telling a story.

Do you want to inspire your customer?

Inspirational stories are never about accumulation.
They’re about sacrifice.

What have you sacrificed and why? Are you willing to tell that story?

Scientific American published an essay on May 8, 2013, in which Jag Bhalla quotes Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind, “The human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor. Everyone loves a good story; every culture bathes its children in stories.” The purpose of these stories is to engage and educate the emotions. Stories teach us character types, plots, and the social-rule dilemmas prevalent in our culture.

Stories explain how the world works and help us understand who we are.

“Research consistently shows that fiction does mold us. The more deeply we are cast under a story’s spell, the more potent its influence. In fact, fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction, which is designed to persuade through argument and evidence. Studies show that when we read nonfiction, we read with our shields up. We are critical and skeptical. But when we are absorbed in a story, we drop our intellectual guard…”

“We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories. But why are humans storytelling animals at all? Why are we, as a species, so hopelessly addicted to narratives about the fake struggles of pretend people? Anthropologists have long argued that stories have group-level benefits. Traditional tales, from hero epics to sacred myths, perform the essential work of defining group identity and reinforcing cultural values.”
– Jonathan Gottschall, The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human

Stories are what shape and define a tribe.

Make no mistake, people who bond with a brand are people who have joined a tribe. And that’s a healthy thing. According to Professor Alison Gopnik, “other people are the most important part of our environment. In our ultra-social species, social acceptance matters as much as food.” *

We include ourselves in dozens of tribes. Tribes of geography, school, sport, faith, music, nationality, art, hobby, history, family affiliation, hair color, age, gender, lifestyle, transportation, recreation, food, fashion, tattoos, facial hair and footwear. We buy what we buy to remind ourselves – and tell the world around us – who we are.

Our purchases tell our story.

Most ads are full of information. They don’t really tell a story.

Story = character + predicament + attempted extrication.

“Stories the world over are almost always about people with problems,” writes Jonathan Gottschall. They display “a deep pattern of heroes confronting trouble and struggling to overcome. Stories give us feelings we don’t have to pay full cost for.” Stories free us from the limits of our own direct experience and allow us to learn from the experiences of others.

Online reviews are stories told by customers about their experiences.
Testimonial ads are another type of story told by customers about their experiences. But we listen to these stories with a grain of suspicion as we seek to pierce the veiled motives of the storytellers.

Propaganda is a story that represents itself to be the truth.

We believe it only to the degree that we trust the storyteller.

Entertainment is a story that doesn’t represent itself to be the truth.

If a story doesn’t claim to be the truth, there is no reason to doubt it.
This is why we are more willing to believe fiction than nonfiction.

Entertainment is the currency that will purchase the time and attention of a too-busy public.

Have you found your story?
Are you telling it well?
Are people entertained?

How’s business?

If you need new branding guidance, book a call with no other than Wizard of Ads®. We'll help you figure out what new perspective on branding can work for your business.  

(1.) Adrenaline is a neurotransmitter that increases blood flow to the muscles during times of excitement and creates involuntary recall of events.

When there is adrenaline in the blood, you are more likely to remember the moment. This is why advertisers try to make their ads sound exciting.

(2.) Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter that produces feelings of connectedness and bonding.

This is how powerful brands are built.

More than 240 years after the fact, we continue to admire John Adams and his amazing wife, Abigail, because they left behind words of bonding, both to one another and to the ideals they shared. John said, “I believe there is among our people a fund of wisdom, integrity, and humanity which will preserve their happiness.” John Adams wanted the best for us, and he believed the best about us.

We likewise admire Thomas Jefferson because he, too, gave us words of bonding that showed us his heart. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and were given by their Creator the right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Thomas Jefferson wanted the best for us, and he believed the best about us.

These people showed us what they valued.
They showed us what they believed.
We call them Patriots and Founding Fathers.
They gave us oxytocin.

But we have no deep admiration for Thomas Pinckney, although he served with distinction during the Revolutionary War, then became Governor of South Carolina where he presided over the state convention that ratified the United States Constitution. In 1792, George Washington appointed Thomas Pinckney ambassador to Britain and envoy extraordinary to Spain and in the Presidential Election of 1796, Pinckney gathered almost as many votes as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson! But Pinckney was a man of action – adrenaline – rather than bonding. Pinckney gave us no oxytocin.

Bonding – that feeling of connectedness – is a product of oxytocin.
And bonding produces loyalty.

Bonding and loyalty… what words those are to a marketer!

Are you sharing words of bonding in your ads?
Are you encouraging your customer?
Do they believe you want the best for them?

Sadly, most ads are built on logic and adrenaline. “Act now! Save money! Don’t miss this event!” But the best marketing is built on stories that trigger the release of oxytocin.

“The human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor. Everyone loves a good story; every culture bathes its children in stories.” – Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind, p. 287

When a person proposes marriage – the ultimate expression of bonding and loyalty –  they choose not only their words, but also the time and place of expression.

1. What is the Emotional Environment that will precede your advertising? What will the customer be feeling in that moment before they encounter your ad? What chemicals will be flowing in their blood?
2. Emotional Environment is dictated by where you spend your ad budget.
3. Adrenaline in the blood (excitement) will give your message a higher likelihood of recall.
   Oxytocin in the blood (bonding) will give your customer a feeling of connection to your brand.
4. Sporting events provide adrenaline excitement mixed with the oxytocin of bonding (with a team.)
5. Romantic stories, romantic TV shows and movies, and romantic music provide adrenaline excitement mixed with the oxytocin of bonding (with a lover.)
6. Adrenaline without oxytocin is “fight or flight.” Politics make us fighting mad and fear makes us feel like running away. Mix your ads with politics or fear and you will be remembered, but never loved.
7. Words of bonding are the essence of Community Content.
8. Words of bonding are the keys to not having to discount.
9. Words of bonding are expressed by characters in stories.
10. Bonding and loyalty are triggered by the stories you share in your ads, videos, podcasts, and blog posts.

Are the characters in your ads interesting and credible?
Does the public love and trust them?

I leave you now to do with this information as you will.

If you're struggling to craft killer direct response ads for your business, Ryan Chute from Wizard of Ads® can help. Book a call.  

Two brothers were locked out of their home, so they climbed onto the roof and entered the house through the chimney. When they crawled out of the fireplace, one of them had soot on his face, the other did not. The clean-faced brother immediately went into the bathroom and washed his face. The brother with soot on his face did not. Why?

We are confused by the actions of the brothers until we put ourselves in their shoes and see the world through their eyes.

The clean-faced brother looked at the sooty-faced brother and assumed they were both in the same condition, so he went and washed his face. Likewise, the sooty-faced brother did not know he needed to wash, because he was looking at the brother whose face was clean.

We assume that we are like other people, and that they are like us.

This is the assumption that misinformed the brothers.

This is the assumption that misinforms the salesperson.

Do you put yourself into the shoes of each customer and see the world through their eyes, or do you assume that they are like you?

Do you unconsciously assume that your customer has your financial limitations?
Do you secretly believe that they should do what you would do?

These are the reasons you struggle as a salesperson.

You believe you are being empathetic, but you are not.

You aren’t putting yourself into their shoes; you’re putting them into yours.

If you're struggling to craft killer direct response ads for your business, Ryan Chute from Wizard of Ads® can help. Book a call.  

Wizard of Ads® for Services works with healthy, growing service-based business owners, hungry to grow by multiples, like you.

Here are a few examples:

Professional Services

• Insurance Companies
• Healthcare Practitioners
• Law Firms
• Accounting Firms
• Funeral Homes
• Mortgage Brokers

Residential Home Services

• HVAC Contractors
• Plumbing Contractors
• Pest Control
• Electrical Contractors
• Roofing Contractors
• Garage Door Contractors

‍

You are ready, willing, and able to grow your business. You are open to change and are seeking a distinctive angle of approach to capture the time and attention of a too-busy public.

You know that lasting relationships take time, patience, and good energy to nurture and cultivate. We carefully enter into every arrangement with the intention of working with you for as long as you own your business. You prefer lasting partnerships.

You are already a solid operator. You have successfully grown your business and appreciate the impact the right brand story will have to get to the next level in your operation. You know a strong relational message takes time to gain momentum, but it’s worth the one-time short-term discomfort for the endless long-term gains.

You’re looking for a holistic solution. You’re tired of cobbling together a bunch of independent ad-hoc tactics in the hopes of improved lead flow. While you understand that Wizards of Ads®  for Services is not a full-service agency, you do know we will build a single, fully aligned sales and marketing strategy that can be implemented with confidence and 100% commitment. 

You know great marketing will not fix a failing business, but that’s not your company. Sure, you are a work in progress, but you’re operating with an accurate moral compass and a strong work ethic. You know how to identify and improve gaps of service, and are actively in your business daily.

You’re focused on lasting change that leads to exponential, profitable growth, not just sales at any cost. Intuitively, you know that communication that enhances every element of your buyer’s experience and your employee's culture is the key to your success.

If this sounds like you, it’s time to reach out and connect with Wizard Ryan Chute to see how we might take your business and your brand to the next level.