â??The early bird catches the worm.â?

â??Win-win situation.â?

â??Thinking outside the box.â?

â??Bring out the â??Aâ?? game.â?

You have certainly heard all of these phrases before. They are all famous and long-lasting business clichés. In addition, they all have their own place in the business world. They can be wonderful motivators to use in a board meeting. You might throw one out there to describe an employeeâ??s performance in understandable terms. To be sure, there are uses for these, and all the other business clichés.

However, they are definitely not for use in your advertising campaign!

Business clichés are better off without being used in your advertisements. They can certainly muddle the things you would like to convey to your target market.

Do not make the mistake of using clichés in your advertising. It is tempting, I know, because they are so readily available, and you see them in a lot of advertising already. Nevertheless, think about it for a second. Clichés are so common that when a customer hears one, they do not really register. They hear the â??clichéâ?, but they do not hear what you are trying to tell them. Your message gets lost behind the cliché.

Consider the following example. I am going to write the same simple, text ad twice. The only difference will be in the headline.

A Cut above the Rest!

At Anybusiness, we pride ourselves on providing quality commercial color printing for your company. No matter what your needs, we will meet them with expert precision. No other commercial color printer can guarantee you high quality service and outstanding success like Anybusiness.

Expert Commercial Color Printing Done Your Way!

At Anybusiness, we pride ourselves on providing high quality commercial color printing for your company. No matter what your needs, we will meet them with expert precision. No other commercial color printer can guarantee you high quality service and outstanding success like Anybusiness.

Now, because you knew what I was doing, you may have read the entire ad. However, most customers will not. They will see the headline, which is a tired old cliché in the case of the first ad, and they will move on to something else. Clichés just do not grab the readers (or viewers) attention.

By contrast, in the second ad there was some interesting information provided in the heading. Imagine if your company was searching the newspaper for a commercial printer. You would probably never stop to read the first ad since you have no idea that it is advertising or promoting a commercial color printer. The second ad, however, tells you right in the heading what the ad is promoting, and then the ad itself tells you more specifics.

There is no better way to kill your ad campaign than by using a cliché in your headline. So do not use clichés in your ads. In addition, put some catchy, relevant information in your headings and sub headings.

Today, many people are complaining that they do not have any time to do what the want. Working people feel that they are stuck in a dead end job. Worst of all, peoples’ stress levels are at the highest point ever. You can use clichés to solve some of these situations.

I am not going to tell you how to solve all of your problems, but I can share with you some creative solutions to help you move forward. Using clichés, I will help you sculpt the life that you have always dreamed about.

A little background about myself; I am a person who strongly feels that if you do not get advice where there is a similar cliché already available, the advice is probably not worth anything. (Reread that last line it is a killer.)

If somebody tells you that you should do the right thing right now or else it will come back to haunt you, it translates to the cliché, “A stitch in time saves nine”.

When a friend advises you that you should probably stop arguing with someone, you made your point, the cliché, “Quit while you are ahead” is interchangeable. Clichés are based on redundancy and years of experience. You can be assured that they are factual and true. Advice that can not be related to a cliché, is simply untested. Perhaps some day it may become a cliché but in the mean time I’m not applying it until it is a cliché.

HOW I FOUND OUT CLICHÃ?S ARE SO POWERFUL

When I was writing my first book, “Millionaires’ Secrets Revealed, I conducted countless hours of research. I interviewed self-made millionaires. I read self-help books. I studied success classics like, “Think and Grow Rich”, by Napoleon Hill. (Incidentally, the book’s title is practically a cliché these days. Entire motivational speaking careers have been built on this single phrase.) As I researched my book, I kept seeing the same advice phrased in different ways.

In the beginning of my research it seemed like a coincidence. As the same information continued to surface I knew that I found some common factors that made successful people. Essentially, many of these authors took a cliché and turned it into a chapter. This article will show you how to take a chapter and return it to a cliché. A cliché is probably the most sincere form of the truth.

For example, most successful people insisted that you must care for your body. You must exercise and eat well. This translated to, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” It can also be said that, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” These days the cliché is forming, “eat well and exercise.”

BAD ADVICE IS NEVER TURNED INTO A CLICHÃ?

Have you ever heard this one? “Sticking your finger in an outlet saves the amp meter”. OR, “Lying to friends, makes amends.” What about this one, “An ounce of procrastination is worth a pile of time.” These will never make the mainstream because they are all bad advice. This further proves my point that when advice become a cliché it is absolutely true.”

NOW LET’S FIX SOME OF YOUR PROBLEMS WITH THE RIGHT CLICHÃ?

First we must address the dead-end job and your high stress levels. We will need my favorite cliché. “I would rather be the watch maker than the time keeper” (that cliché made it into my book.) What does this mean? Lets suppose that you work in a retail store. If you did not show up for work, the schedule would probably be ruined. You would fall into the category of “Time Keeper”. Is your job, “mission critical”? Do you have to trade with people to get days off? Are you the only person who performs certain tasks? Do you need to plan in advance to get time for yourself? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are a “Time Keeper”.

The solution, take small steps today that will take you closer to becoming a “Watch Maker.” The “Watch Maker’s” job is finished when the watch is made. From that point on it is up to the person who purchased the watch to check what time it is.

You don’t have any time for yourself. Why don’t you, “take a moment to smell the roses.” Lets break down this cliché. ‘Take’, is an action. ‘Take’, empowers you to do something. It is up to you to give yourself the time. If you rely on others, they will only ask you to do something for them. ‘A moment’, is a small period of time. Sometimes it is just a little nap, or a small break that will recharge your energy.

In closing, I would like to leave you with a little investing advice, “Buy low and sell high.” Before you give any investing advice yourself, you should, “Put your money where your mouth is.”

Keep applying those clichés and you will improve your live. Always remember, unless it is a cliché, it is not worth listening to. A cliché is the most notable quotable!