Cause-Related Marketing

From Steven Van Yoder

Cause-Related Marketing May Be The Key To Your Target Market

Altruism. Corporate responsibility. Philanthropy. These are often used to describe cause-related marketing, an activity in which businesses join with charities or causes to market an image, product, or service for mutual benefit.

Embracing a cause makes good business sense. Nothing builds brand loyalty among today's increasingly hard-to-please consumers like a company's proven commitment to a worthy cause. Other things being equal, many consumers would rather do business with a company that stands for something beyond profits.

Powerful Marketing Edge
Cause-related marketing can become a cornerstone of your marketing plan. Your cause-related marketing activities should highlight your company's reputation within your target market. Cause-related marketing can positively differentiate your company from your competitors and provide an edge that delivers other tangible benefits, including:
· Increased sales
· Increased visibility
· Increased customer loyalty
· Enhanced company image
· Positive media coverage

By choosing a cause you are passionate about, cause-related marketing is emotionally fulfilling.
It's a way to merge your profit center with your "passion center" and build a business that mirrors your personal values, beliefs and integrity. If your cause also resonates with your target market, your activities will generate tremendous goodwill and media attention can be its side effect.

Real-World Cause-Related Marketing Success
Cosmetic dentist Mark McMahon made himself a media mini-celebrity with a thriving practice due in part to his high-profile pro bono work in his community, a strategy that landed him radio and TV appearances in areas where he worked.

McMahon established partnerships with local charities, including a homeless shelter and a shelter for battered women, and offered free dental services to their members. Before each event, he contacted local media and let them know what he was up to. Several TV crews showed up, filmed him treating patients, and later aired the segments on the evening news.

"These events were surprisingly easy to arrange, and every year, they'd help us get press simply by doing these charitable promotions," McMahon says. "Local television news stations loved the emotional element. And it was obviously rewarding to see patients after we'd treated them who'd been in pain for months talking about how glad they were to be relieved of their toothaches."

Another project involved the Delancey Street Foundation, a residential education center for former substance abusers and ex-convicts. "I agreed to treat some of their members' acute dental needs," McMahon says. "I quickly appreciated the media appeal of transforming the appearance of these rough-looking guys with terrible smiles."

McMahon captured the event with before and after photos. "These guys had missing teeth and terrible smiles," he says. "So I had a professional photographer capture before pictures of these guys in street clothes with their snarling faces. After I fixed their teeth, we took more pictures, but this time dressed the guys in suits and ties, now looking like lawyers and accountants, with me sitting right in the middle. The media loved it, and it was great seeing these men looking like new."

McMahon's TV appearances created name recognition. "After I did the story on a local television show, I was recognized in my gym by a masseuse who had seen the show," McMahon recalls. "She said, 'I was thinking about you this morning while I was flossing my teeth.' She became a great source of referrals."(Excerpted from the book Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort, by Steven Van Yoder.)

On the next page, Steven Van Yoder explains how you can get started with cause-related marketing. Click to continue reading...

Getting Started With Cause-Related Marketing
Cause-related marketing yields mutual benefit. Look for partners with a similar agenda whose goals can be better achieved by partnering with your business. Take inventory of the assets that make you an appealing partner in a cause-related venture.

There are many types of mutually beneficial relationships you can form with your cause-related partner, including special events, sales promotions and collection plans. An easy way to embrace a cause is to team up with a charity.

Whenever Johnny "Love" Metheny, a slightly famous nightclub owner in San Francisco, opens a new club, he shares the limelight with a local charity. "I have a history of including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in my grand openings," says Metheny, who was voted the society's Man of the Year in 1991.

"It's not only something I feel good about, but it helps us market our businesses to the community and media at the same time."

Volunteer with an organization. When Eunice Azzani, an executive recruiter, volunteered to serve on the board of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, she didn't anticipate that it would connect her with executives from Mervyn's, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo Bank, all of who eventually hired her to work for them.

"People don't hire a piece of paper or a process. They hire people they trust," Azzani says. "Volunteering for a position at a local organization makes you very trustworthy." She advises business owners to target causes they believe in. "If you're helping with a cause you believe in, people will see that you care. And they'll realize you will probably care as much about your work."

As your partnership takes shape, become ambassadors for each other. Talk about the charitable organization and have flyers available. Promote the organization (and your partnership) on your website and in your newsletters. Ask your partner to extend the same courtesies to you.

Never lose the marketing focus of your community partnership efforts. Even though the work is philanthropy, your cause should generate interest in your company and motivate people to buy from it. Select a cause that is important to your target market, and make sure your target market sees that connection.

Steven Van Yoder is author of Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort. Visit http://www.getslightlyfamous.com to read the book and learn about 'slightly' famous teleclasses, workshops, and marketing materials to help small businesses and solo professionals attract more business.

In Marketing You Must Know Your Target

From Laura Lake,Your Guide to Marketing.

Identifying your marketing targets enables you to find opportunities and tap into them. It gives you the information needed to focus on the buyers that are interested in what you have to offer. This can save you both time and money in an ever-changing society.

There are three prime areas that you must identify when it comes to developing your marketing strategy. They include:
· Target Market
· Purchasing Target
· Communications Target

It's not enough to be familiar with these terms, you must understand how these components work together.

Your target market is who you aim your marketing efforts to. This is the group that you want to sell your products or services to. They have an interest in what it is that you have to offer. Your target market can be broken down into segments that can include demographics, psychographics, income levels, and age levels.

Your purchasing target are the individuals or businesses within your defined target market that needs your product or service and can actually afford to purchase it.

The communication that you use to target this market is referred to as your communication target. It is the different methods or styles that you will use to reach your defined target market or audience. The message you send through your communication target can be presented both formally or informally.

As you can see each piece is equally important and works together like a jigsaw puzzle. By identifying and knowing who your target is it is easier to develop your marketing effectively and aim for the bull's-eye. It will enable you to design special offerings and promotions. It will also increase your ability to convert your marketing efforts into sales.

Marketing vs. Advertising: What's the Difference?

From Laura Lake,Your Guide to Marketing.

FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

You will often find that many people confuse marketing with advertising or vice versa. While both components are important they are very different. Knowing the difference and doing your market research can put your company on the path to substantial growth.

Let's start off by reviewing the formal definitions of each and then I'll go into the explanation of how marketing and advertising differ from one another:

Advertising: The paid, public, non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identified sponsor; the non-personal presentation or promotion by a firm of its products to its existing and potential customers.

Marketing: The systematic planning, implementation and control of a mix of business activities intended to bring together buyers and sellers for the mutually advantageous exchange or transfer of products.

After reading both of the definitions it is easy to understand how the difference can be confusing to the point that people think of them as one-in-the same, so lets break it down a bit.

Advertising is a single component of the marketing process.
It's the part that involves getting the word out concerning your business, product, or the services you are offering. It involves the process of developing strategies such as ad placement, frequency, etc. Advertising includes the placement of an ad in such mediums as newspapers, direct mail, billboards, television, radio, and of course the Internet. Advertising is the largest expense of most marketing plans, with public relations following in a close second and market research not falling far behind.

The best way to distinguish between advertising and marketing is to think of marketing as a pie, inside that pie you have slices of advertising, market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement. Advertising only equals one piece of the pie in the strategy. All of these elements must not only work independently but they also must work together towards the bigger goal. Marketing is a process that takes time and can involve hours of research for a marketing plan to be effective. Think of marketing as everything that an organization does to facilitate an exchange between company and consumer.

Brand Packaging: Are You Reflecting the Right Company Image?

From Laura Lake,Your Guide to Marketing.

FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Branding is your identity in the marketplace, is yours saying what it should? Your company image is all about the appearance of your packaging. What is your company image saying to the marketplace?

It's important to realize that packaging always either has a negative or positive influence on the purchaser. A negative impression can detour a potential customer, just as a positive reaction can influence a customer to buy. A time to pay special attention to your packaging is when you are in the launch of a "new" brand. If you've already built a strong brand that others recognize often people may not pay as close attention to the packaging.

How can you package your brand so that it is an integral part of your business and represents a strong identity? Keep in mind that I am not speaking of packaging has only a box that contains a product, but as a vehicle that reflects your company's brand and image.

Packaging can be judged and represented by the following common business tools:
· business cards and stationery
· web site
· answering system
· email address

What image are you putting across with these business tools that you use everyday? What are they saying about your company? Take a few moments and lets look at each one of these.

What are your business cards and stationery saying? Are they saying we are strong, we are confident, and we can succeed in helping you? Or does it reflect an image that says we are flimsy, our dynamics are minimal, and we will try but we cannot guarantee continuity?

What does your web site say about your company? Does it reflect professionalism, clarity, and show them that you respect and care about them? Or does your web site confuse viewers, project an untrustworthy image of your company and ultimately drive potential customers away?

What does your answering system and call return policy say about your company? Does it say we are here to help, eager for you business and will do what it takes? Or is it putting across the message that you are too busy to cater to new clientele, don't care about their needs, and wish they would just quit calling?

What does your email address say about your company? Does it suggest your role in the company, is it easy to remember, and does it something about you and your business? Or does it project a meaningless or generic emptiness? If you are using the email address hotbabe4u@hotmail.com for your business dealings................it's time to change!!!!!

As you can see all these things speak volumes about your image and they either strengthen or weaken your brand. Your image is all in the packaging. Would potential clients take a second look or is your message getting lost? If you thought these things were not worth the investment or didn't matter, you were wrong. Clients and customers will make assessments of your company based on these things and while not always conscious, that customer appraisal says much about your business, your attitude and your priorities.

Brand Beyond Marketing

From Laura Pasternak

Imagine you are about to embark on a trip of a lifetime. You’ve received brochures for a luxury resort. The rooms are lavish; the grounds impeccable. Photos of the restaurant’s signature dishes look delectable. You’re sold.

You go to the hotel. The room is musty and a tad dirty. The food is barely passable. Service is brusque and spotty at best. When you complain to management, you’re met with indifference, or worse, silence. You leave disillusioned and disgusted. For all the resort’s slick marketing, they’ve fallen woefully short.

Branding goes well beyond marketing. It will not be successful without ensuring that all aspects of your business reflect and support your intended brand. One of your most valuable assets—your people—must be well-trained in articulating and delivering on your brand.

This step is particularly important for service organizations that don’t have concrete products. Their offerings are soft assets like knowledge, experience and people.

When employees don’t deliver the brand, it can be the kiss of death for a business. Don’t believe me? Visit a hotel review web site like TripAdvisor.com. Peruse travelers’ comments and you’ll likely come across more than a few who cite poor customer service for their negative hotel reviews. Conversely, employees who represent the brand flawlessly and consistently can propel a business to stardom.

Brand: The Sum of All Its Parts
Despite what many believe, brand isn’t about your logo, tagline and glossy brochure. Instead, a strong brand integrates multiple components, all of them necessary, including customer interactions, employee communications, corporate philosophy and advertising/marketing efforts. Your brand extends to your employees, customers, the media and even the general public as the above story illustrates. If these components don’t consistently reinforce your brand, customers will become dissatisfied. The negative impact of their perception, should they voice their opinions to other potential customers or even the media, could have a ripple effect on your business. This can erode your brand equity and create misperceptions about your company in the market, that in turn could lead prospective customers, employees and investors to pass on your organization.

On the other hand, brand consistency throughout all levels of the organization helps drive an organization to grow and prosper. Strong brands can drive an increase in sales. The company is better suited to attract and retain the best employees. Vendors can see value in your brand and look to establish partnerships with your business, while investors will see the business and your brand equity as a valuable commodity.

Branding Through Your Employees
Your employees are one of the most critical touch points for your customer. Here are several steps to ensure that they are representing your brand in the best light possible.

· Develop a Company Philosophy.A thoughtfully planned philosophy that guides how your company operates is the first step to reinforcing your brand among your workforce. The prestigious Ritz Carlton Hotel Company is an excellent example. They have created the following five “Gold Standards” for their business operations that reinforce the brand and detail an employee’s role in delivering on this brand:

1. A vision to revolutionize hospitality in America by creating a luxury setting for guests and a credo that states the company’s commitment to the genuine care and comfort of its guests.

2. A motto that exemplifies the level of service for its guests: We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.

3. Three Steps of Service:
§ A warm and sincere greeting that uses the guest name, if and when possible
§ Anticipation and compliance with guest needs
§ A fond farewell that uses a guest’s name, if and when possible

4. “20 Basics” that outline the responsibilities and expectations for how the company delivers on its service (including #13—Never Lose a Guest)

5. The Employee Promise (“At The Ritz-Carlton, our Ladies & Gentlemen are the most important resource in our service commitment to our guests.”)

· Maintain Brand Consistency

This step is essential to building a strong brand. However, it is often one of the first steps to unravel. You must establish consistency throughout all aspects of your organization. But setting the standards is not enough. You must constantly evaluate your actions. Establish checkpoints for each aspect of the business that interacts with customers and the general public. Ensure that each employee is empowered to identify and address inconsistencies in your brand. Fail to deliver on brand with one customer, and he or she might forget. Fail to do so for another, and he or she might not be so forgiving. It only takes a scant few to dispel the brand you are touting.

· Practice What You Preach.

The best way to lead is by example. If your brand projects your organization as one which supports its employees and then reneges on that promise, your brand (and sales) will suffer. Case in point: Wal-Mart. The company says, “We believe that one of the keys to our success is our people and how we treat them.” However, the retail chain has been the subject of unfair employee wage practice lawsuits. Moreover, though they say they value their target customer (the hard working middle class) their actions aren’t necessarily consistent with the rhetoric.

· Implement Brand Guidelines.

In order to ensure brand consistency, your organization must establish a framework or set of brand guidelines for all to follow. We’re not merely talking about logo or corporate identity guidelines, but actual brand guidelines that communicate the company’s brand positioning statement, key messages, core values, brand attributes, measures of success and processes for handling customer issues or feedback.

Federal Express was an early pioneer in this idea. The international shipper utilizes an Internet-based program which outlines the company’s brand guidelines. This detailed approach provides guidance on everything from the graphic standards for use of the company logo to how cultural differences affect brand (particularly important for global companies). Establishing brand guidelines leaves no room for misinterpretation and helps maintain consistency throughout all levels of the organization.

Understand and Address Cultural Differences.

With advancements in technology, communications and the Internet, we are truly becoming a global economy. Considering cultural differences when building a brand is more important than ever, particularly if your business has international reach. Words and phrases in America might not translate to the same meaning in another country. What customers value and perceive as positive in the United States may be perceived radically different elsewhere. In the past, the United States was the model that all others wanted to emulate. That isn’t necessarily the case today. Therefore, it is incumbent on corporations to ensure that their brands can transcend these cultural differences, if they are to have a greater geographical reach. Brand extends well beyond your marketing efforts. Your brand is only as good as the people behind it...and the people in front of your customer. Take the time to effectively build a corporate culture that mirrors your brand. Train your employees to represent that brand. Evaluate your consistency in delivering your brand across all aspects of your business. In doing so, you will strengthen your brand equity and position your company for greater success.

Developing Your Marketing Mix

From Laura Lake,Your Guide to Marketing.

FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Your marketing mix is a combination of marketing tools that are used to satisfy customers and company objectives. Consumers often call the marketing mix "the offering." Your offer is controlled by the following variables often referred to as the four Ps in marketing:
· Product
· Price
· Place (Distribution)
· Promotion

By using variations of these four components you have the ability to reach multiple consumers within your target market.

Creating a successful marketing mix that will increase results often takes experimenting and market research. There are many methods that can be used, both in person and the use of impersonal presentations. The key is to not always depend on "one" mix always explore other avenues. The combining and coordination of these elements will be more effective than depending on one.

You must coordinate all elements so that the prospective consumer is not being sent mixed messages that can cause confusion. Do all of your elements contain the same message? Take for example the following scenario:

We are a company that specializes in marketing services and we cater to physicians, however the products we offer fulfill the needs of lead generation for lawyers. Our price is geared an enterprise budget and our magazine advertisements and promotions are being placed in magazines that have a subscription base of senior citizens.

Do you see a problem with this? While in this scenario it is very obvious, I guarantee that by looking at your marketing mix you may find discrepancies that surprise you. Always make sure that your marketing mix has a message that speaks in unison.

For instance make sure that if you have a practice that caters to a niche market that your product is geared towards the need of that market, your price is within the budget of that market, you are distribution your product or service where it will be seen by that market, and gear your promotion to solve the problems that they are encountering.

If you remember one thing from this article it is that one of the main keys to the success of any marketing program is the ability to work effectively in shaping marketing mixes that meet the nature and needs of your specified target market.

Breaking Into the Career Field of Marketing

From Laura Lake,Your Guide to Marketing.

FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

A career in marketing is enjoyable and fun. Most people who work in marketing will tell you it provides them with the challenge they have always wanted. The reason being is marketing is always changing; there are always techniques to learn, cases to study, and strategies to research.

Do you have what it takes?
· Can you communicate your thoughts, ideas, and information clearly and concisely both in writing and verbally?
· Are you able to recognize problems and devise an appropriate plan of action to resolve that problem?
· Can you organize and interpret complex data?
· Are you good at generating new ideas? Can you then take and organize those ideas and communicate them verbally?

If you possess the qualities above then you could be a good candidate for entering and being successful in the career of marketing.

Marketing offers various career opportunities, so it's easy to choose one that reflects your interest, values, and personal style.

As a marketing major you can gain experience in your chosen career by participating in an internship or volunteering in service learning and community projects. Samples of potential experiences include:
· Conducting Market Research for a Fortune 500 Company.
· Promoting products through development of Point-of-Purchase displays.
· Spending time reviewing potential cost, price, and market research for service programs.
· Learning how to research customer base potential using available data.
· Designing an advertising or promotional campaign to promote new services.
· Developing a marketing plan for a global business.

What if you don't have a college degree in marketing?
Don't worry. I think you will find the statistics in the chart to the right not only interesting, but encouraging. The table below shows the percentage and the degree background of new graduates that have begun a career in marketing.

So now that I've given you hope, how do you get your foot in the door? It will take determination and persistence, but it can be done. You will find that a start in marketing will normally put you in an entry position as a market research assistant, print buyer, general management trainee, or you can enter a program as a graduate trainee.

A few companies that offer marketing graduate trainee programs include:

Mars Mars does not have a specific marketing training program for graduates. They run a cross-functional management development program, through which graduates have access to opportunities in marketing. Recruits to the program are typically given three to four assignments, the first of which may be related to their experience or studies. The remaining assignments will be in other areas, and one may be overseas. Their goal is to broaden trainees' experiences.

NestleNestle has recently changed its approach to hiring graduates. Nestle recruits in a similar fashion as to how they recruit other employee levels. Each department now recruits graduates throughout the year on an 'as-required' basis. Vacancies will be posted and advertised throughout the year.

Proctor and Gamble Procter & Gamble's graduate training program recruits graduates into one of eight career tracks, including consumer and market knowledge and marketing. Consumer and market knowledge involves sophisticated and proactive market research-based work to identify business opportunities, including new product development. The marketing function involves growing the value of brands within the P&G product range. Marketing trainees will learn about advertising, PR, consumer bonding, direct marketing and project management within their first two years. The applicants are selected according to application form, a problem-solving test, interview, and site visit, where they will meet prospective managers and colleagues.

If you decide that the graduate training program route is not for you; you can still break into the field of marketing by being persistent. You will need to be willing to take on an entry-level position in most marketing agencies and work your way up. If this isn't a problem then it's time to begin your first marketing assignment, which is marketing you by developing that resume.

Branding From the Inside Out

From Laura Lake,Your Guide to Marketing.FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

We spend days sometimes weeks developing our "marketing message." Examining and experimenting with taglines and logos. It's also not unlikely to spend hours of overtime determining our company colors before we set out to launch. There is however an area that is almost always forgotten in the planning phase of a new company or the restructuring of an old company. That area is training staff to understand and reflect our message and brand.

Truth is marketing starts from the inside out. Do your employees believe in your product and the services that you offer? Are they standing 100% behind you in the mission of your brand? Are they living your brand? It is important that your employees are informed and involved in new initiatives and strategies that are taking place within your company.

If your staff is unable or unwilling to support your marketing efforts it can have detrimental results. How can you begin your internal branding campaign within your company?

· Step 1: Synchronize Your Brand Personality, Values and Corporate Culture

Your marketing team should be working closely with your Human Resources team to ensure that the common values of your company internally and externally are in sync.

· Step 2: Get Your Employees Behind Your Brand

Align your criteria for recruiting and rewarding employees with the criteria of the brand value. Look for the right skills and aptitudes that will represent your brand promise effectively.

· Step 3: Reinforce and Repeatedly Explain Brand Values and Behaviors

Use your internal communication to reinforce and explain the values and behaviors that reflect your brand promise. Continuously do this until they become second nature.

If you thought the process of involving your staff was not important take into account that your employees meet, greet, and assist your customers in many different ways. They are the face of your brand. Engage your staff right from the start and encourage individual input. Use your staff as a focus group - after all who knows your clientele better than they do? By doing this you will not only get support from your staff but you will be given insight and ideas that you otherwise may not have considered.

Is a Career in Advertising Right for You?

From Apryl Duncan,

Your Guide to Advertising.

Have you ever watched a commercial and said: "I can do better than that!"
Then you may be considering a career in advertising. But how do you know if this career is right for you? See if these elements line up with your personality and career goals:

The Creative Department

If you are creative and like to write or design, you've already added advertising to your top five list of career opportunities. Working in a major ad agency's creative department is a dream job for most but you may find you would rather work in a small ad agency, in-house agency or even on your own as a freelancer.

You'll be working as a team and your creative personality will not only be valued, it will be relied upon every day. Even if your copy comes back with red marks all over it, you're the one the Creative Director is counting on to write that ad.

If your design is marked up, you're still the one that needs to make the changes to get the ad completed on time.

Advertising Jobs Aren't Just for Creatives

When you think of advertising, you may automatically imagine a room full of creative people hammering out ideas into one solid ad campaign. Copywriters, graphic designers, creative directors, art directors and other creative people do work together in these types of settings.

However, there are plenty of other types of people involved in a successful ad campaign that don't actually create the ads. Account executives, traffic managers, media coordinators, media directors, researchers and other non-creatives work in the advertising industry.

These people are just as crucial to a client's successful ad campaign as the creatives who develop the campaign's concept. Many of the non-creative positions in advertising also work directly with the client. For example, an account executive (AE) is a liaison between the client and the creative department. An AE must work closely with both to make sure the client's needs are being met in every step of the ad campaign.

High Pressure Environment

People have lost their jobs over a failed ad campaign. When a client pulls his ad dollars because he wasn't happy with the results, the proverbial heads do roll.

You're partially responsible for an ad campaign's success or failure. This is great when the campaign is a huge hit. You share in the glory. When the campaign is a flop, you also share in the bad times with your colleagues.

This high pressure environment isn't for everyone. Short deadlines, last minute changes and sitting in the boss' office when it's time to take the heat for an unsuccessful ad campaign, have caused many ad professionals to change careers.

Wear Thick Skin

You must have a thick skin if you're going to work in advertising. Not every idea you have is going to be well-received. Your work will pass through many eyes before the ad campaign is released and will undergo many changes.

You may have written your best copy yet but you're asked to start over and do it again. You have to handle criticism very well. Don't take offense to being asked for changes to your work. It's just part of the job.

The client has very specific needs and a very specific vision about his company. You're part of a team creating the client's ad campaign and you can take solace in the fact that pretty much everyone on that team is going to be asked to change at least one aspect of what they were working on.

You would be surprised by how many changes a simple print ad can go through before it reaches final approval.

This holds true even for major ad agencies with big name clients.

Not Your Typical 9-5

TV and movies make advertising look like a glamorous life. Working in the field is very rewarding but it does take a lot of work and a lot of long hours.

If you enjoy being home by 6 p.m. to eat with your family every night and have season tickets to your college team's football games every Saturday, you may want to weigh the value of your free time vs. your career time before you start working in advertising. You'll put in a lot of days and nights that seem to run together. You'll probably even have last minute changes that come up and your whole schedule has to be cleared on a moment's notice.

Low Pay...At First

Are you willing to start out at the bottom of the totem pole and work your way up to the corner office with a view? Advertising salaries won't make you rich overnight when you're just starting out.

Full-time agency copywriters can start off in the low teens before working their way into $60,000 or more positions. Full-time agency account executives can work their way into positions that pay close to $80,000. You'll also find many seasoned ad pros making six figures in their accomplished careers. Being determined and hard-working will help you land bigger positions with better pay.

If you're still unsure about a career in advertising, an internship will help you take a behind the scenes look at an ad agency and also give you valuable connections you can use if you decide to pursue your career in the industry.