Why people buy

Posted on June 20, 2011 by admin

If you have a product or service to promote, you need to understand that people don’t really want to buy what you’re selling. Because of this immutable truth, you have to sell what they want to buy, which may not be what you think you’re selling.

Huh?

Well, think about it. A book is a stack of paper glued together, worth perhaps a couple bucks. A CD is a plastic disc, worth even less.

Worse still are the intangible products. Weight loss? Starvation. Exercise? Hard work and lost time. Giving up a bad habit? Deprivation.

The reality is, selling is harder than it looks, because nobody wants to buy what you’re selling. So you need to figure out what you’re really selling—and when you do, selling it suddenly becomes much easier.

Books? Adventure, escape, the tools to create a better life. Music? Relaxation, happiness, inspiration to create and produce wonderful things. Weight loss and exercise? A whole new “you,” one who’s more attractive, more desirable, better able to enjoy the good things in life.

Nearly everybody wants certain things: money, leisure time, a bright future, good relationships, attractiveness and desirability; perhaps prestige, convenience, bragging rights, inclusion in an exclusive group. Figure out how to transform your product or service into one of these things, and it will practically sell itself.

That’s why we marketing people learn to understand what motivates humans to buy. And that’s why people who have products and services to sell need us marketing people.

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More about making your customers happy

Posted on June 13, 2011 by admin

I had a personal experience that illustrates how a company missed an opportunity to make me happy and keep me as a customer. I’d been ordering from an online business that supplied food products, and one day they advertised a free pound of a certain item. As I began to place the order, I realized I was going to pay more in shipping charges than I would pay for the item if I just bought it at the grocery store.

I e-mailed them to ask if this was correct: the item was free, but shipping was on the customer. No response. I tried again; still no response. Needless to say, I didn’t get my “free” item. I also stopped ordering from them completely. If they can’t be courteous enough to answer a loyal customer’s legitimate question, I will take my business elsewhere.

Here’s what they could have and should have done:

–Answer me promptly with an apology. “Sorry for the confusion” would suffice.

–Better yet, “Sorry for the confusion” plus “We’ll change the wording on our website to make that clear.”

–To really go above and beyond, they could have offered me something free—for real.

They did none of the above. They lost me as a customer. I’m gone. I have no idea whether they learned their lesson or not…probably not.

Business is just like the rest of life: relationships count. If you don’t treat people as if they matter, you don’t have a relationship. And if you’re in business, you soon don’t have a business.

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The importance of making your customers happy

Posted on June 6, 2011 by admin

Anyone in business knows how important word-of-mouth advertising is. It happens with no effort on your part, it’s credible, and it’s free. Right?

But what about negative word-of-mouth advertising? You know—where an unhappy customer tells everyone they know about the bad product or service they received. It’s said that an unhappy customer will tell several times more people than a happy one. When you multiply that out, with each person telling several more people, that’s a lot of people hearing about a bad experience!

Think about it: while people might enjoy passing along a good tip, those “idiot salesperson” or “lemon product” stories are so much more interesting. And often they get embellished with retelling. If you’re the product or service provider, that’s something you probably can’t afford to let happen.

But you can avoid it. If you make a mistake, make it right. First, apologize. Then repair or replace. Then go the extra mile: give them more than they asked for in the first place. People even tend to remember problems that were fixed better than they remember experiences with no problems attached in the first place, so milk those mistakes for all they’re worth!

Except for those rare customers who are so annoying you really don’t want their business anyway, do whatever you can to make them happy. Your business depends on it.

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The wrong way to save money in “this economy”

Posted on May 31, 2011 by admin

I keep hearing this from business owners: “I don’t have much of a marketing budget, considering the economy. Could you write me a [some kind of marketing piece] for [a certain price]?”

And my answer is almost always the politest way I can express “no.” I’m emphatically not one of the most expensive copywriters out there, but I’m not the least expensive either, and I deliver what the client pays for—usually more. You see, the value of my work is not measured by how many words I compose, how many hours I spend, or even how “good a writer” I am. It is measured by HOW MUCH MONEY I HELP YOU MAKE.

That’s it.

When potential clients try to get more out of me for less by second-guessing my advice, micromanaging how I do my job, or asking me to “fix” their “pretty good” brochure/ website/ whatever for less than letting me do the job correctly by myself, they are missing the point.

The point is this: you’re looking for a copywriter (or someone has recommended you do) because you need a professional to create your marketing materials. If you could do it yourself, you’d be a copywriter, not whatever your profession actually is.

Do you want your business to succeed or not?

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You Don’t Have to Be a Helpless Victim of “This Economy”

Posted on April 7, 2011 by admin

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of hearing the phrase “in this economy.” As in: “Everyone’s trying to save money…in this economy.” “Who can afford this, that, or the other thing…in this economy?” “Good luck getting a job, making a profit, running a business…in this economy.”

It’s as if “this economy” is a catch-all excuse for failure, inaction, and stuck-ness. Okay, certain things are out of our control. But let’s not throw everything that is within our control into the same hopeless bag. If you’re a business owner, there’s a lot you can do to secure an advantage over your competition who’s given in to the doom-and-gloom mentality of “this economy.”

Here are some starters:

  1. Figure out your USP, and tell everybody what it is. If you’re not sure if you even have a USP, it means “unique selling proposition.” So what makes you so special? If you’re not the biggest, the oldest, or the closest, you must have something else that no one else has. Dig it out, polish it up, show it off. Hint: what do your best customers say about you.
  2. Make sure your website is as good as it can be. Please don’t tell me you don’t have a website! (Okay, do tell me…I can help.) Forget the flash and snazzy graphics. You need a clean, easily navigable, informative website. The more content, the better—both for getting more web traffic and for making your readers know, like, and trust you. People who know, like, and trust you will buy from you! And on that website…
  3. Put an opt-in form in a prominent place. This simple tool can literally bring in 90% of your sales. If you’re not sure what this is, I’m sure you’ve seen them on other websites: people enter their name and e-mail address and give you permission to keep in touch with them. Voila, when they need the product or service you offer, guess who’s top-of-mind—you!
  4. Be famous. Not celebrity-famous—but establishing yourself as an expert in your field will put you light-years ahead of your competitors. This means you offer articles, news releases, blog posts, case studies, white papers, even an informative Yellow Pages ad—all kinds of free, no-obligation content that gets your name “out there” and convinces people you know your stuff. Secondary benefit: all that “free stuff” makes people feel indebted to you—and more likely to choose you over your competitors.
  5. Have materials to hand out. Called “marketing collateral,” these are all the print pieces that support any sales messages you have: brochures, free articles, point-of-sale take-home pieces, catalogs, magalogs, white papers, and so on. These offline pieces have a “stickiness” that online content doesn’t have: people will keep, re-read, and pass along to others informative reading material. Make sure your contact info (including your web address!) is on everything.

Advertising can be expensive. And that “I can’t afford to advertise…in this economy” mentality has led to the failure of many businesses…especially in this economy. But the above relatively simple and inexpensive strategies will give you the visibility, authority, and distinction you need to remain competitive in your field. Even in this economy. Especially in this economy.

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Six secrets to shortcut moneymaking

Posted on March 29, 2011 by admin

Want to make money in business? As much as possible, and as fast as possible? If you’re in business, of course you do. Here are six secrets to shortcut moneymaking.

  1. The first secret is…there is no real shortcut. There is, however, a shortest distance between where you are now and where you want to be, and everyone knows the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The straight line in business success is a plan that includes no unproductive use of time or money.
  2. Figure out your USP—your unique selling proposition. Especially if you’re a local business with some competition, you’ll need to stand out from the crowd. What makes you different? Spend some time figuring it out.
  3. Advertise your product or service. Do all that your budget will allow. If your budget is small, start with inexpensive (and free) forms of advertising. As you begin making sales, roll as much as you can back into your advertising. This is where your highest ROI will come from.
  4. Ramp up your marketing as your budget increases. Always stay in front of your target market. Even as your product or service takes hold of the market, and word-of-mouth advertising spreads—unless you’re getting so many orders you just can’t keep up—continue advertising. (And if you are getting so much business you can’t keep up, you can do one of two things: increase your prices, or narrow your offerings to the most lucrative products or services.)
  5. Upsell. It’s a basic principle of selling that there are three ways to make more money: get more customers, get your customers to buy more often, and get your customers to buy higher-priced products and services. The third one is the most cost-effective. If your customers like your product or service, and if they trust you, they are more than happy to spend more money with you.
  6. Work with a professional copywriter. Many companies have tried to crank out their own marketing programs, and even as that tactic has failed, have continued to try. You’ve probably heard the definition of insanity: doing the same thing and expecting different results. Give your business the competitive edge by letting a professional take charge of your marketing program.

There you have them: six secrets to shortcut moneymaking. The truth, however, is that they’re not really secrets—most smart marketers already know them. And they’re not really shortcuts—they’re just the shortest possible route to where you want to be: making money with your product or service.

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Profitable Coupon Strategies for Small Businesses

Posted on March 21, 2011 by admin

Coupons are an especially effective strategy for brick-and-mortar, local-clientele businesses. They can work for online businesses as well, but too many potential buyers will decide not to print the coupon because it requires too much ink, because too many clicks are involved and they bail out along the way, or for any of a number of reasons associated with the short attention span Internet use is so famous for.

But coupons that are already printed and right in front of the customer’s face are tempting. So how do you leverage the power of coupons? Here are a few ideas.

Have a stack of them on your counter or in some high-traffic, prominent location at your business. You can mail them, but that can be costly, and without doing some market research, you’ll be mailing them to everyone rather than just your target market.

Swap coupons with another, complementary business. By complementary, we mean businesses that attract the same type of clientele. Pizza and ice cream go well together, as do pizza and video rentals; massage and fitness go together, as do massage and manicure; fitness and fast food aren’t as good a fit, and pairing pizza with manicure isn’t particularly obvious either. Choose your partner business carefully.

Here’s another strategy: a “50-50″ coupon offering. Because of the time constraints of the deal, it works best if you have a website with an opt-in and a list of subscribers so you can send the offer to a large number of people at once. This is done as a broadcast, as explained in an earlier post about “the tool that can bring in 90% of your sales.”

So you send a limited offer to your list, say once a week or once a month. Depending on the size of your list, let’s say 100 coupons are available, and when they’re gone, they’re gone. People hurry to your website and those lucky 100 download the coupon. Yes, they will have to print it—but they will be motivated to do so.

The coupon is worth double its face value. For example, the coupon costs $25, and they can purchase $50 worth of goods or services with it. The catch is that they must pay for it immediately–they don’t simply print it and risk losing it or forgetting about it.

You get your $25 right away. The customer is motivated to make a purchase with you because he or she has essentially put down a $25 deposit. Depending on what your product or service is, the average customer may very well spend above and beyond the $50. If you’re a restaurant, for example, where a group of four will spend $100 on a nice dinner, they’re getting a bargain because they’ve saved $25. You’ve made a profit, and you’ve gained four loyal customers. Everybody wins!

The small business owner who capitalizes on simple strategies like these will be the one who survives in any economy.

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Does your website suck?

Posted on March 14, 2011 by admin

Everyone knows by now (or should) that if you have a business, you must have a website. Even if you have a brick-and-mortar building and a strictly local clientele, you need a website to stay competitive. Many people toss their phone books into the recycle bin as soon as they get them, so they’ll never know you exist unless you have an Internet presence. Potential customers check out your location, your hours, and what makes you stand out from your competitors before they consider showing up in person.

Okay, so you have a website. Can you cross that off your list now?

In a word, no. Because the reality is that your website probably—statistically speaking—sucks.

If people are bored, confused, or turned off by what they see, or if you just haven’t given them the information they were seeking, they leave and do not become buying customers. It’s that simple! So how do you get your website to “not suck”?

That’s pretty straightforward too. Here’s a basic checklist of what your website must do, be, and say in order to be effective:

Does it clearly tell your site visitors what you do?

Is the look-and-feel consistent across all pages?

Is your unique selling proposition clear?

Is it focused on the customer, not on you?

Does it tell your site visitors what you want them to do?

Chances are, you’re not even sure of the answers to all these questions. You may not even understand what the questions mean! That’s okay, because effective web copywriting is probably not your business.

Does your website suck? If so, run, don’t walk, and get help with it before it “sucks” your business right down the drain.

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Are you ready to get serious about your marketing?

Posted on March 7, 2011 by admin

Business owners can easily get stuck in a vicious cycle: Business isn’t so good. They can’t afford to outsource their marketing. They do it themselves, results remain poor, and business remains not-so-good.

How do business owners get out of this vicious cycle? It’s not easy, but it’s simple: they make a decision to get serious about their marketing before they lose their business altogether. If you’re a business owner finding yourself in this rut, here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Define your audience. If you try to market to everyone, you end up marketing to no one. Who’s your target market? Once you’ve figured this out, you may discover you don’t have to spend as much money on marketing as you have been.

2. Find a copywriter. Ask other local business people or do an online search. You can work with someone locally or long-distance, as you prefer. Fee structures vary. After you’ve interviewed a few, it’s best to choose one in the mid-range. Highly paid copywriters are the best, but a lot of their cost is simply their fame. Don’t choose the lowest bidder—you’ll get what you pay for.

3. Get a website! It’s mind-boggling that some business owners still don’t “get it” that a website is absolutely essential. Many potential customers want to “check you out” before they call you or come into your place of business. If they can’t, they may well go to your competitor instead. It’s really not a highly technical task anymore, but if you don’t have the skills or the time to do it yourself, outsource it.

4. Put an opt-in box on your website. Collect names and e-mail addresses. Keep a list. Then keep in touch with your list. It’s that simple.

5. Have a call to action. This can work in harmony with the opt-in, such as “download your free report,” or separately, such as “call for a free consultation.” But be sure to tell your website visitors what you want them to do.

6. Give them free information. It may seem counter-intuitive, but giving away information accomplishes two things: it establishes you as an expert, and it makes people feel indebted to you. Free information can take many forms. Ask your copywriter about it.

7. Take advantage of free publicity. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and several other social media tools are free. Learn how to use them.

8. Leverage testimonials. The first thing you need to know is that you (almost) never use a testimonial word-for-word. That would be akin to recording a real-life conversation and transcribing it as-is for dialog in a novel. (It really doesn’t sound very good.) If you don’t have testimonials (maybe you’re a new business), your copywriter can help you work around thi

9. Leverage customer complaints. Complaints are not all bad! Among other things, they tell you what you need to improve. While an unhappy customer spreads the “bad” word much farther and wider than a happy one spreads the “good” word, you can turn an unhappy customer into a happy one.

10.  As a local business, you can create a “coupon swap” program with another local business and double your potential customer base.

11.  Ask your copywriter what kinds of marketing collateral would benefit your business. White papers, news releases, fliers, brochures, postcards, and many others are all in the repertoire of any good copywriter.

These are all ideas I thought of in just a few minutes. If any of them sound mysterious to you, it’s probably because you don’t have the marketing expertise that a copywriter has. And that’s fine; you’re not expected to. That’s what copywriters are for.

Get serious about your marketing. Talk to your colleagues, log on to Google, do whatever you need to do to find a copywriter who will make your marketing work…before your business becomes another victim of the vicious cycle.

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No website? Get with it already!

Posted on March 1, 2011 by admin

In an earlier post, I talked about the importance of autoresponders: those little automated messages that your website visitors get when they opt in to (i.e., put their name and e-mail address in the boxes) your website. In doing some outreach to local businesses recently, however, I discovered that not only does the average local business not have an autoresponder series…they don’t even have a website!

Business owner, the 21st century is calling: you need a website.

These days, getting a website up and running is not a major project that you need to budget thousands of dollars for. You have many options with a range of prices and skill requirements. Check out XSitePro, FrontPage, Dreamweaver, and Godaddy’s Website Tonight. You can even set up your website as a blog using WordPress and choosing from their many free themes; you also have the choice of installing the blog directly on the domain name and forgoing the “/wordpress” extension. If you can’t (or don’t have time to) do this yourself, hire a teenager or someone from Elance.com.

Once you decide which way to go, the important thing is not flashy graphics or the latest technological bells and whistles, but good content. You’ll need plenty of informative material that establishes you as an expert in your niche. Besides making you look like a genius, free content has the desirable effect of making people feel indebted to you. End result: when they need your product or service, they come to you, not your competition.

Articles, downloadable free reports…free content takes many forms. And don’t forget the opt-in—that’s how you stay in touch with your prospective customers and maintain that top-of-mind awareness.

Now, how many business owners reading this will decide that this is the final piece of convincing evidence they needed to put up a website? And how many of them are your competition?

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