A friend of mine recently asked whether he should advertise in a trade publication, write an article for it, or both. Carefully considering his question while unshelling a few pre-dinner peanuts, I avoided jumping onto the PR soap box, where I usually proclaim its great superiority over advertising.

It's a belief that I've held for 24 years in the business, stretching all the way back to my newspaper days. But I've softened my hard-line, "advertising-is-a-necessary-evil" viewpoint. Though I still believe most readers view ads with skeptic's eye, my colleagues and I have watched campaigns perform well, generating leads, some of which convert into real, live customers.

Back at the supper table, my friend waited patiently. "Hmmm," I delayed, then offered, "Why not do both? We sometimes "grease the skids" (so to speak) with ads; often, it motivates publishers and their editor friends to suddenly show more interest in our stories." Just don't ask them to admit it.

Even if the journalistic separation of church and state (advertising and editorial) are too much to overcome, a well crafted ad campaign can pay off handsomely. The key is developing advertising that draws attention. We once created and roller coaster ad for a metals company that stood out from every other ad in industry magazines. It offered a quick story and a call to action. Not surprisingly, readers took notice and sent or phoned in replies.

Dusting shells off of the table, I continued, pointing out the importance of an article opportunity. "If you can sell the story idea to the publication, go for it," I advised my friend. "People view most articles as more credible than advertising. Put your byline in the article with an email address. I'll bet that you get a few good leads."

They say that it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Maybe that's true, but this publicity hound is not past taking another sniff at advertising, PR, or any other effective vehicle that delivers compelling stories to the right audience. Keep an open mind, and like my friend, you can be on the path to a successful promotional campaign.

Following are a few of Kirk's tips for creating advertising that gets noticed:

1. Know your audience and select the right medium. When visiting customers, look around. Find out what they are reading, on and offline. Ask.

2. When targeting printed or online publications, cruise through a few issues and take a look at your competitors ads (and every ad in the journal is a competitor). Most will begin to look alike - boring. Your advertising needs to look different. Make it stand out.

3. Run your ad or ads more than once. Frequency is important. Running a fractional-page ad several times often yields better results than running a full-page ad once or twice. This is a campaign folks.

4. If the publication supports the format, try alluring half-page-island formats. Magazines often embed these ads in articles. This positioning is hard to beat for the price. I also happen to like the back cover better than the inside cover. Guess which of the two positions gets noticed most often in my mail box or flat on my desk?

5. Grab readers by appealing to their need to have problems solved. Use the headline and images to get that point across.

6. Make them an offer that they can't refuse. No, that doesn't mean offer to send a salesman by for a visit. This could be a free white paper that helps lead them find a solution or a free registration to a seminar or conference. Use your imagination.

7. Finally, never ever put the final touches on your advertising without telling the audience what to do next. This is their call to action. Leave them guessing and risk not being their answer.