Central Savannah River Area small businesses that sell products or services to pet owners should sit up and take notice.  Local consumers will spend $126.6 million this year on behalf of Fido and Fluffy. This amount has increased 323% since 1994, with no sign of letting up.

According to the American Pet Products Association, here's how local spending on furry companions breaks down:

• Food: $51,896,000
• Supplies/OTC Medicine: $27,846,000
• Vet Care: $31,644,000
• Live Pet Purchases: $3,797,000
• Other Services: $11,391,000

The biggest month for sales of pet-related products and services in the Augusta area is, by far, December. That is when 10.5% of all annual spending happens in this category.

Mark Twain has some script writing advice for Central Savannah River Area  small business owners who depend on radio advertising to market their goods and services.

"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter - 'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning," advises Mr. Twain.

In other words, fill your commercials with lightning, not bugs!

Currently, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, there are 171,476 in the English language. A handful of these words, CSRA small business owners can't use in their radio commercials. The Supreme Court of the United States says so.

Of all the words that can be used in broadcast advertising, however, there is one word that should be shunned: 'get' and all of its nasty derivative forms including 'got' and 'gotten'.  Here's why.

Two things are remarkable about voting day in 1920.  It was the first time, ever, women could participate in the selection of the U.S. President. It was also the first time live election results were broadcast on the radio. Not to mention, it was also the first radio broadcast, ever.

The voters' choice that night was between Warren G. Harding  and James M. Cox.  Both men had derived their political power as successful newspaper publishers.  It is quite ironic, then, that one of these men would reach the highest office in the land on the same night that the nascent radio broadcasting business began its takedown of the newspaper industry.

Nowhere is this takedown more apparent than locally, where radio has become, by far, the advertising medium with the largest reach among Central Savannah River Area consumers.

"Endorsement commercials on Augusta radio is now our predominant form of advertising," says Jeff Rucker. He is the owner of three Mathnasium franchises throughout the Central Savannah River Area with locations in Augusta, Evans, and Aiken.

"We originally signed up for a six-month campaign," he says. "but, it worked so well we are now on Augusta radio every weekday, 52 weeks a year."

"Mathnasium," explains Mr. Rucker, "is similar to a gymnasium. At a gym, people go to keep their bodies fit.  When parents bring their kids to us, it's for a mind workout. Our instructors help school children from grades 2-12 develop their math skills, exercise their thinking skills, and help them with their math homework."

"And, like at a gymnasium," he continues, "parents pay a monthly membership so their kids can come to us as many times as they need to be successful in school."

One of the reasons radio advertising performs so well for Mathnasium is the medium's ability to reach CSRA parents with school-age kids.

Suppose you found a 100-year-old machine in your attic. You, then, quickly learned that every time you deposited a dime in the machine, one dollar popped out.  How many dimes would you drop in that machine?

Good news for Central Savannah River Area  small business owners: such a machine exists and you probably have one in your car, at work, at home, even on your phone. It's called local radio.

Over the past few years, Nielsen has conducted over 20 studies to determine what type of return-on-investment (ROI) a business can expect from radio advertising.  Although the results varied by industry, the average company generated $100 in sales for ever $10 invested.  Turning dimes into dollars.

Of all the advertising options available to Central Savannah River Area business owners, streaming audio services like Pandora and Spotify are the least effective.  Here's why.

According to Nielsen, after the content of a commercial is considered, the element of an advertising campaign that drives sales the most is reach. In other words, making sure the most people possible are exposed to the advertiser's message is crucial.

When it comes to achieving reach among consumers, Pandora and Spotify rank dead last.  Advertising on Augusta radio stations can reach 201% more consumers than these two streaming-audio platforms combined.

Forty-percent of contractors nationwide report that they have turned down jobs this year because they don't have enough skilled blue-collar workers. In Georgia, over one-third of contractors say they would add 25 more employees this year if they could recruit qualified candidates.

The labor crunch isn't confined to construction. Overall, half of all CSRA employers say they are having difficulty hiring enough blue-collar employees to fulfill the increasing demand from customers. This includes truck drivers, plumbers, HVAC technicians, electrical workers, machinists, metal workers, landscapers, janitors, and mechanics.

Local business owners can benefit from a study by The North Carolina Works Commission. The NCWC found that the recruitment efforts of many employers in that state are failing because they depend on hiring strategies from a time when qualified candidates were plentiful.

These failing strategies include posting on job boards like Monster and Indeed; publishing employment ads in local newspapers; and pleading on social media pages. Some small business owners still depend on hanging help-wanted signs.

"Radio advertising, truly, put our store on the map," says Suzanne Lilly Honeymichael. She and her late husband Ray Lilly started Hardwood Floors & More in Evans, Georgia during  the late 1980s.

"For the first years we were in business," she says, "We worked out of our home."  In 2006, though, the business had grown large enough to move into an 800 square foot showroom which they outgrew after just a year.

In 2007, the Lilly's expanded into the 8000 square foot store on Washington Road, where it has been ever since.

"I was hesitant to start advertising back then," says Ms. Lilly Honeymichael. "I just didn't realize what a strong return-on-investment advertising could bring for us. So, we started slowly."

The National Retail Federation has predicted that this year's back-to-school shopping season will set a new record. Households with school-age children are expected to spend, on average, $696.70 preparing their kids for the first day of classes. This tops the previous record set in 2012.

For Central Savannah River Area small business owners, this means there is $155,483,400 of back-to-school bucks in play between now and the first bell of the school year.

According to the NRF, here's how the $696.70 per household will be spent.

• Clothing & Accessories: $239.82
• Computers & Electronics: $203.44
• Shoes: $135.96
• School Supplies: $117.49

To grab the largest share of back-to-school spending will require small business owners to advertise.  By any metric, advertising on Augusta radio stations will be the most effective.  Here's why.

The number one job of every commercial on Augusta radio is not to sell products.

The number one job is not to build store traffic or to create top of mind of awareness.

The number one job of a radio commercial is not to build brand or deliver ROI.

The number one job of every commercial on an Augusta radio station is to be heard. Period. When a commercial is heard, then all the rest will follow. But being heard is not easy.

At the exact second a radio commercial begins, 11,000,000 other pieces of information are all wrestling for the listener's attention.  Sadly, a consumer's brain is only capable of dealing with about 50 bits of that information at a time.

If you are a Central Savannah River Area business owner who would like to secure a larger share of the $8.6 billion local consumers will spend this year, then what you say first in your commercial is crucial to winning the battle for a consumer's ear.

When a Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) small business owner buys a 60-second commercial on an Augusta radio station, she is limited to about 160 words to persuade listeners to become customers.  To be successful, then, each word needs to be carefully selected to fulfill the desired marketing objective. 

A telephone number comprises seven words. Ten if the area code is included.  If the number is repeated three times during the commercial, then it will consume 21-30 words or up to 18% of the total.

So, should a CSRA business owner sacrifice a significant portion of a radio commercial to insert a phone number? Except for certain circumstances, described below, the answer is no. 

Here are the facts.

Eight months ago, Jonathan Wingard opened his own State Farm insurance agency in North Augusta, South Carolina. Since then he has added 120 new households as clients.

After about 30 days in business, Mr. Wingard began advertising on Augusta radio stations. "New customers come in all the time," he says, "and say they heard about us on the radio."

Mr. Wingard always knew he wanted to be in insurance. "I was introduced to the business in college by one of my elementary school teachers who had become a State Farm agent herself.  I liked her confidence. I liked the way she listened to people. I liked her professionalism.  I knew I wanted to be like that, too."

Before opening up his own small business, Mr. Wingard worked for another agency to "learn the ropes."  After four years, he was ready to go out on his own by absorbing 800 accounts from an agent who was moving out of town."

"When I started my business," says Mr. Wingard, "there were already six other State Farm agents in North Augusta. So, I knew I had to build my own brand to differentiate myself. Advertising was the way to go." 

"I do as much as I can afford," he says. "Since I opened, I have invested about 8% of the income generated by my existing accounts back into advertising."