Sit down. Pour yourself a stiff drink. Then, on one side of one sheet of paper write down all the reasons why you think you should be advertising. After you’ve done that, refill your glass, turn over that same sheet of paper, and write down all the reasons why you shouldn’t be advertising. Only if the reasons on the first side of the sheet outweigh those on the reverse should you consider committing a portion of your hard­-earned revenues to an ongoing ad program.

Let’s consider what some of those reasons might be. The pros could be:

• You’re in a start­up mode; you need to let people know you exist.
• You’ve been around a while, and people still don’t know you from a hole in
  the wall.
• Your competition advertises.
• Your competition is killing you.
• You have a deep­-seated desire to kill your competition.
• You think you have a unique product/service.
• You are convinced you have a unique product/service.
• You want to be the next GE/IBM/Nike/P&G.
• Everyone else seems to advertise.
• Your wife/husband/partner/dog thinks it’s a good idea

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