“Cheers.” A simple phrase, but so many meanings.

Where everybody knows your name? Thanks? Hooray? All this from one word.

Art expresses different emotions in different people. The above graphic is meant to imply comfort, but it could have implications beyond that. For instance, the setting appears to be at a bar, which could be construed as something entirely different than comfort to someone else. Sure, it looks pretty cool, and I enjoy it from an artistic standpoint, but if I were to use this professionally then what, exactly, am I trying to say?

Times are tough for everyone, we know this. Money does not flow as freely as it used to, so advertising money should be spent on objectives. Ask yourself when you advertise: What do I want from this? And when you are finished with your project, then ask: Does this directly ask for what I want?

If not, then go back to the drawing board. I can promise you this one thing: You will lose more money subliminally asking for something than you ever will reconfiguring your directives.

“But I want to go ‘viral’.”

Sure, just like everyone else does. Viral marketing is amazing when it works, but it doesn’t work that often. How often?

A study from Slate.com shows just how hard it is to go viral. Slate used web-crawling software to track more than 10,000 videos on YouTube, the home of viral videos. The results? 65% of their videos got more than 50 views. That’s 50…not 50,000. And the videos that got more than 10,000? A mere 0.3 percent. So, in reality, your odds are better of you hitting the lottery than launching a successful “viral campaign.” http://www.slate.com/id/2221553/?from=rss

But what about the “big companies” that launch viral videos all the time? You’re not them. They spend millions of dollars on advertising to go “viral.” They have millions upon millions of loyal consumers behind them that are ready to take their videos “viral.”

Does this sound like your business?

For the rest of ‘mortals,’ we must offer a quality product, and we must tell the consumers why they need it and why the benefits outweigh the costs. This takes honesty, directness, and asking for what you want. And if you don’t want to put in the work, spend a couple minutes simply posting 10,000 videos on YouTube, and maybe you’ll hit the lottery…