Basic Rules of Billboard Advertising

Basic Rules of Billboard AdvertisingBasic Rules of Billboard AdvertisingConsumers are no longer looking at billboards in the same way they did 20 or 30 years ago. While billboards may still be considered premium advertising space, consumers are engrossed in their smartphones, tablets, and gaming systems. Eyes are down, not up, for much of our lives. However, that doesnt mean billboard advertising is to be discounted or ignored. Billboards are everywhere, and even though we remember just a handful, they can still have a powerful branding impact. With outdoor advertising upping the stakes and becoming increasingly mora competitive, plus digital advertising becoming the medium of choice, its important to know how to make your advertising count. Six Words or Fewer Considering were on the move when we read billboards, we dont have a lot of time to take them in. Six seconds has been touted as the industry average for reading a billboard. So, around six words should get the message acro ss. You can push this to a few more words depending on their length and ease of reading, but as a rule of thumb, less is more here. Concision is tough, but headlines that are small paragraphs will not get read. And that means if you have a complex brand, product or service, you probably should stay away from billboards. Get Noticed, But Dont Be a Huge Distraction Most of the time, billboards are aimed at drivers, bikers, cyclists, or pedestrians (which is why you have just a few seconds to get a message across). It causes an interesting dilemma for the advertiser. You want to get noticed, but you dont want to be responsible for major, or even minor, accidents. So, while being distracting is paramount in many media, its a fine balance with the billboard. Not the Placefor Direct Response There are some truly awful billboards covered in phone numbers and website addresses. And without a doubt, 99.9 percent of the people who read the billboard will not call or visit the website. A billboard is a secondary advertising medium, which means that its ideal for brand-building and supporting a campaign, but it just cannot do the heavy lifting. If you want a more intimate conversation with your target audience, use print advertising, television, radio, flyers, websites, and direct mail. Billboards are the wrong medium for anything other than a quick message. However, if your website or phone number is the headline, and makes sense, then you have an exception to the rule. Be Smart, But Not Too Clever A boring billboard will be ignored. A smart billboard will grab the attention and leave a lasting impression. A billboard thats trying to be too clever, well, it will get lost on the audience. As a rule, you dont want billboards to make people scratch their heads and wonder what is going on. Complex visual metaphors are no good here. They say advertising should be like a puzzle to solve and should give the audience a sense of fulfillment to know they figured it out . But billboards should be much simpler than that. Youre in the business of advertising, not showing off how clever you are. More Is Better One billboard is not cheap. But its also not very effective either. Billboards are a mass market medium, but they need support. Every billboard has a rating, called Gross Ratings Points (GRP), based on traffic, visibility, location, size, and so on. This rating gives you a showing score between 1 and 100. If its 50, it means that at least 50 percent of the population in the area would see one of your boards at least once a day. If you have only one board, your impact chances are less than if you have four or five. You want to get close to a 100 showing, but thats not going to be cheap (and may end up being more annoying than impactful). Dont Say It, Show It Get creative with your billboard ideas. A flat billboard is standard, but it doesnt have to be the norm. You can go 3D, have moving parts, have people interacting with it, and even ha ve your billboard animate. There is no reason that it just has to be a large, simple print ad. It is your opportunity to do something eye-catching and memorable, so go for it. The upside to this is it can create additional press, for free. Be Wary of Logo Size One of the most parroted pieces of client feedback ever given in advertising is make the logo bigger. The reason for that is easy to understand. The client is paying a lot of money to advertise his or her brand and wants the consumers to walk away with that brand planted firmly in their heads. However, there is a balancing act that has to be played. Too big, its horsey and distracts from the message. Too small, its a clever ad for a brand no one connects with. Do The Arms Length Test So, you have followed all of the rules above. Youve designed yourself one fantastic billboard. Its clean, its concise, its got contrasting colors, its interesting, and it will work. But will it be seen? Will it be read, and understood? Her es a quick test to ensure you are not wasting everyones time and money. Print out your billboard to the size of a business card. Now, hold it out at arms length. Are you still getting everything you were when it was displayed on your 27-inch monitor? If not, go in and refine it. It needs to pop. And remember, you have roughly 10 seconds to get your message across.

What Not to Do at a Casting Call for Kids

What Not to Do at a Casting Call for KidsWhat Not to Do at a Casting Call for KidsHaving a good audition is the only way to ensure that you will book an acting gig. Whether you are auditioning or your child is auditioning, there are certain rules of decorum that you will need to take into consideration. An audition is similar to a job interview. There are anumber of things that you need to be aware of before ever setting foot in a casting room. Additionally, you need to be sure to prepare your child on how to behave properly. If you are a parent to a child actor, be aware that you are being judged as well. Casting directors want to know right off the bat that if they hire your child that you will be easy to work with as well. While you can only prepare your childs performance so much before they set foot into the casting office, there are a number of things you can do to help increase the quality of their audition and the likelihood that theyll get the part. Below is a list of things parents should elend do at a casting call. Steer Clear of Chewing Gum Although it seems obvious, you would be amazed at the number of kids who walk into a casting office snapping their chewing gum. Now, unless chewing gum is an actual character choice you and your child have decided upon, this is elend something that will go over well with a casting director. Dont Avoid Eye Contact When you teach your child about how to behave in a casting room, make certain that they understand both proper etiquette and how to make eye contact with the casting director. It doesnt mean a scene should be entirely played out while looking at the casting person, but when your child introduces themselves, they should make direct eye contact, have confidence and be confident in who they are as people. Dont Overdo It Your child should do three things when they enter a casting room. 1) They should clearly say hello and make eye contact with everyone in the room. Keep in mind, more than likely they wont need to mention their name as everyone in the room (if there is more than one person) is expecting your child to enter. 2) They should perform their scene. 3) They should say thank you and goodbye and exit the room. They shouldnt ask how they did, or when to expect a callback/any such question. The casting director will find them if they need to. Dont Make Excuses Everyone makes mistakes in auditions this is completely expected and natural. Casting directors are often quite patient and understand that the actors performing for them might be quite nervous (especially those who are first timers). Although it is okay to ask to start over if you make a mistake, avoid making excuses. Casting directors will usually prefer that you just keep going. Never Make Excuses for Your Child Even if their poor performance is a direct result of something, you did. Assume every casting director you meet has not only heard every excuse in the book dozens (if not hundreds) of times, t hey wont care. They simply have too many other potential candidates to see and wasting time listening to your lame excuses why little Jimmy (Timmy, Donny, Robbie, insert your childs name here) doesnt know his/her lines is not something any casting director wants to do. Unless Specifically Requested, Dont Bring Other Siblings A casting session is usually set up for one particular type of child. If you bring your kids brother or sister because you think the casting director may want to meet them will almost guarantee that your child will not be considered. Focus your attention on the child youve chosen to bring, and thats it. If the casting director asks about your other children, then you can speak about them. But unless they DIRECTLY mention that they want to see them, chances are they are simply making conversation to make you and/or your child feel more at ease. Avoid Bringing Overly Tired or Wired Children to Auditions If your child is simply too tired, wired or even suff ering from a cold, youre better off passing on the audition altogether rather than hoping to suffer through it. It certainly wont help your childs chances with this particular job, and it might hinder their chances at getting other work because the casting director who sees your whiny/wired child will remember their behavior more than their performance. Never Coach or Scold Your Children in Front of a Casting Director One almost certain way to ensure your child fails to get an acting job is to instruct them or scold them in the presence of a casting director. It is often cited as the most uncomfortable moments of any casting directors careers, so avoid it whenever possible. Acting As a Child Should Be Fun and Voluntary If you find that you are living vicariously through your child and forcing them to do something they dont have any interest in, understand that a casting director will more than likely pick up on this sooner rather than later. Casting directors are looking for those parents who will serve in more of a silent partner capacity for their children and root for them from behind the scenes. If your child dreams of an acting career, then we encourage them to go for it. But to help better their chances of actually landing something, be sure to take these tips into consideration.

Rejection Letter Samples for Job Candidates

Rejection Letter Samples for Job CandidatesRejection Letter Samples for Job CandidatesDo you use applicant rejection letters? You do if you are earning a reputation as an employer of choice. You do if you want your candidates to feel important and communicated with regularly.There are four instances when an employer of choice will want to communicate with their job candidates. Unfortunately, the concept of ghosting has become prominent. Ghosting occurs when a prospective employer cuts off further communication with a job prospect at any point in the recruitment process. The job candidate may call and call but the employer fails to communicate that they have rejected his or her candidacy. This is cruel and disrespectful. Ghosting is also relevant when a job candidate stops communicating with an employer at any point in the recruitment and selection process. For example, Human Resources managers leide that they have set up interviews with job candidates who never show up forthe intervi ew. They have offered a job to a prospect who never responded to their offer. Employers have called and left a message for the employee to return their call when they want to set up a second interview. This is dumb on the candidates part. In all of unterstellung cases, the prospect or the employer has been rejected- but never told about the rejection in a rejection letter, email, or phone call. Come on people, you all can do better than this. Show a little class and reject candidates and employers appropriately. Candidate Sample Rejection Letters Here are sample rejection candidate letters for the applicants who did not get the job. Use these sample rejection letters to develop your own letters to politely and kindly turn a job candidate down. Use rejection letters to kindly and classily communicate with your applicants at each step in your hiring process. Candidate Rejection Letter Sample Not Selected for an Interview The following is a sample rejection letter for a candida te who did not appear to be a good fit for the open position or for your company. You can only learn so much from reviewing a resume and cover letter or an online application but often, what you learn is enough. For example, a developer who prefers to work alone will not effectively contribute to the team environment in your company where the team sits together in an open format. You will not want to spend precious employee time on this candidate. DateName of ApplicantApplicants AddressDear (Applicant Name)This letter is to inform you that you were not selected to undergo a phone screen or an onsite interview for the position for which you applied. We appreciate your interest in our open position and that you took the time to send us your credentials and an application.Again, thank you for applying for the (Name of Job) role.Regards,Samantha KamalaHR Generalist and Recruiter Expand Candidate Rejection Letter Sample Following an Interview In this sample rejection letter, the emplo yer wants to let the candidate know the following information. The job candidate is rejected.The reason? They found other candidates with mora experience directly relevant to the job.They liked this candidate but not for the current opening but he is encouraged to apply again. DateName of ApplicantApplicants AddressDear (Applicant Name)As you know, we interviewed a number of candidates for the (Name of Job) position, and we have determined that several other candidates we interviewed have more experience that is directly relevant to the requirements of our job opening.This letter is to let you know that you have not been selected for the position.Thank you for taking the time to come to (Company Name) to meet our interview team. The team enjoyed meeting you and our discussions. You are kindly encouraged to apply again in the future if we post a job opening for which you qualify.Regards,Real Persons Name and SignatureExample HR Director for the Employee Selection Team Expand More S ample Candidate Rejection Letters See a standard applicant rejection letter that you use to respond to applicants who are not as qualified as the applicants you decide to interview.See another sample, simple rejection letter sample for applicants whom you reject without an interview.Here is another sample rejection letter for applicants whom you choose not to invite for an interview.See another sample rejection letter for use when youd like the candidate to interview for a different job in your company.Here is a sample rejection letter for a candidate you hope applies again in the future good cultural fit. Find another sample rejection letter for an applicant whom you hope reapplies in the future.This is a rejection letter for a candidate who was not selected following a first interview.Find a sample rejection letter for a candidate who is rejected following an interview.