Business owners rarely have any understanding of what works and what doesn't work in advertising.

They start out on a hit-or-miss basis. They occasionally are successful the first time out. Usually, they fail. They don't know why. It the case of Yellow Pages advertising, they don't even know if the ad is working or not.

I train people in how to write ads, beginning with my free advertising course. I follow through in my manual on writing Yellow Pages ads.

If more businessmen knew what works and why, they would not become dependent on ad agencies. Few agencies explain the basics of tracking an ad;s performance. After all, why kill the goose that lays golden eggs? Why provide the buyer with a way to assess the seller's performance?

Don't start a business without first studying the basics of advertising.