Everybody loves a bonus, a free prize. When we finished writing the 6 Secrets of Successful Advertising, we felt it needed just that a little extra, like the temporary tattoo found in a box of kids cereal. Maybe even a whacky wall walker. You know, those little free prizes sell more cereal than anything else.

Our free prize is Jim and Travis' Small Business Marketing Secret #6.5. Arguably, this little half-a-secret is more valuable than the other 6 secrets combined, and its certainly more enticing.

Havent you been curious about what in the world the half secret would be? This half secret is the glue that makes the others work together.

Your hooks will be sharper and catch more customers. Your message will spread more quickly and to more people. Your existing customers will be much more likely to buy from you again.

If you dont believe us, try a little test and measuring. Test your ads without using this secret, then once again after youve put this extra horsepower into your business.

Traditionally, advertising only exists at the surface of an organization. The creativity and the attractiveness found in a companys advertisements dont permeate into the organization itself. Sometimes, sadly, the advertisement is outright false. Weve all had an experience with false advertising.

Today, for advertising to truly make a difference in your company, you must truly exude the spirit of the advertisement from the inside out.

Indeed, a good ad is scendsational; a successful ad advertises a scendsational company. The distinction is one of communication vs. consumption. The single most important thing you can do to increase your business, whether or not you advertise, is to be scendsational.

Be scendsational at the core of your business: mission, vision, values, goals. Employee training, customer service policy, quality policy. Mediocrity is policy at many businesses today. Reject that and rise above. Submit to it and be average.

Offer a scendsational user experience: be the biggest, the fastest, the hottest, the ugliest. Be more expensive, easier to find, or funnier than your competition. Give your customers something worth laughing about or something worth crying about or something worth talking about.

Communicate scendsationally: say things they wont expect, put your ad in unexpected places, make your ad the most outrageous one in the book, make your audience mad, excited, or motivated.

Scendsational advertising gets scendsational attention. When its done for a scendsational company, it gets scendsational results.

We appreciate you taking time to listen to our ideas. We have a genuine desire for you or your business to somehow benefit from the information weve presented. We love to hear your stories or suggestions, so please dont hesitate to talk to us.

Be orange. Be scendsational. Be known.