Advertising Without an Agency: A Comprehensive Guide to Radio, Television, Print, Direct Mail and Outdoor Advertising for Small Business

Rating:
Summary: Very helpful to new business owners
Review: As a new business owner,I really appreciate the information in this book. I feel confident that I am advertising in the right places and to the right people. Worksheets get done by my reps and save me tons of time. The book showed me how to use the budget I have (it's little) in the best possible way. Easy to read, understand, and refer to...a really great tool for the small budget advertiser.

Rating:
Summary: It's decent, but the radio part is limited
Review: EDIT: I'm putting my review below on hold as I've realized I've got an original version of the book- 2 prints out of date! Will read newest version and re-review. So take with a grain of salt. Ross
-------------------------------------------
This book is a nice easy read, and simple to work through. However, but having been in radio (marketing & promotions director, years in sales, my own small agency) since 1992, I thought her knowledge of the radio format was somewhat limited...this made me think that perhaps some of the other areas that I'm not as knowledgeable about (outdoor, direct mail) she might be limited as well.
Kathy states that there are only 2 tried and true ways to buying radio, either tactical or strategic, with schedules of 5x a week or up to 24x a week. Well, these may work, (or have worked in the past), but they are fairly old methods of radio advertising. She mentions TAP and :30 commercials, things you just don't see much of anymore.
She makes no mention of OES (Optimum Effective Schedules) or the importance of frequency or other methods (and better I might add) that have come along in the last few years. It's a changing medium, and methods should change also. So I'd just take the radio part as one general read on how to buy radio, certainly not the only way to buy!

Rating:
Summary: A good investment...
Review: Great book! Gives advertisers all the inside secrets that take years to learn. Especially good is the section about how to get the most value from the advertising salespeople who call on you. Clearly written and fun to read.

Rating:
Summary: This book is a lifesaver!
Review: I own a small business and this book has helped me get through the confusion of advertising by myself. The worksheets took all the guesswork out of advertising on my own. I also have a better idea of how to work with sales reps when they approach me for commercials.You can tell from the way the book is written that the author really knows about business. I wish I had this book as a guide 5 years ago when I started out!

Rating:
Summary: This book will give you the edge over your competitor.
Review: I recently finished school and was in the process of opening an agency of my own, with only my wife for a part-time evening co-worker. This book helped me side step many costly mistakes that any beginner could easily make. The detail this book provided, exploring every aspect of the advertising process, is worth its weight in gold. Excellent job.

Rating:
Summary: Advertising without an Agency
Review: My eyes are now open. I am a small business owner and needed some finacially sound ways to build my business and had no idea where to start. I felt like she knew exactly what I was feeling regarding advertising and getting the best for my budget.
I want to say thank you again for the book and your willingness to share.