A database of contacts for printers, news directors, newspapers, radio stations and other important information ties all of these components together. Operators are given professional contact list in spreadsheet form; a list Looser says is probably worth more than the price of the entire software bundle.

“We have had [feedback] saying the resource directory was worth the money alone. It is a major comment all the way down the line. There’s a depth of information that you’re not expecting for $400,” she says.

The guide also permits the user to download all of the information in PDF form and provides customer and employee satisfaction survey templates. Mystery shoppers’ forms are also available. The contact information database can be formatted as a Microsoft Excel document so that the information can be modified and disseminated to fit the needs of the business.

Tara Hayes, a Chick-fil-A director of local store marketing and community relations in Flowood, Mississippi, compared Your Ad Department to five college courses rolled into one. “It’s so easy to use. You can click on public relations and open a template to help you set up a press conference or do crisis management,” Hayes says. She also uses the software for marketing research and the contact database.

Hayes also supports the idea that this software can help a small business grow without the help of a heavy-duty professional agency, if used properly. “It has the potential to make a profound change. It really depends on the user exploring the tool,” she says.

The program comes in four regional versions: Northeast, Southeast, Central, and West. Each version has its own unique set of professional contact information and county-by-county demographic data. Additional regions can be purchased for $99 and updated database information are available for purchase each year.

Looser created a new company, Step-By-Step Communications LLC, to produce and release Your Ad Department. Step-By-Step now has 30 employees. While attending a Harvard Business School executive education program, Looser says she saw a specific need for small operations in a business environment dominated by big players.

In her professional experience, Looser encountered many potential clients who simply did not have enough money to hire her firm. She believes an endless number of businesses could benefit from her software.

Although corporate parents of quick-serve franchisees provide some help with marketing, this software, Hayes says, can totally change the equation. In Hayes’ 18 years of experience, she amassed a collection of contact information that is now easily accessible to everyone in her organization. “I can transfer the information so easily to the girls who work in marketing and public relations for us. It is a way for them to jump-start their career or business. It is a way for mom–and–pop businesses to search demographics and know when it’s best to do certain types of advertisement,” she says.

So how much does Hayes think the software is worth? Her salary multiplied by 18 years, she jokes.