The marketing message is more important than the marketing medium

Choose the message before the medium. New business owners often get a barrage of inquiries from media representatives trying to sell them advertising. Local newspapers, radio stations, cable TV networks and the like all want your advertising dollars.

But, says Doug Hall, it's critical to remember that the message is the most important element of any marketing activity. "If you spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a Super Bowl [ad, but your] ad has zero effectiveness, zero times hundreds of millions is still zero," he explains. "Don't listen to people who tell you they have a cool radio station. It's the message that makes a difference."

On to Test your marketing for effectiveness...