Marketing 101

Yesterday when I stopped to have lunch I looked around for something to read - and found the local "freebie" newspaper (weekly, 8 pages). After glancing at the 7 articles (yes, always 7) I then turned to the advertising.

I have to hand it to the ladies at the newspaper - they must be very good sales people to get so many local businesses to place ads. It's not their fault that at least 80% of those ads say nothing at all - that part isn't their job. They are often called upon to take the advertiser's information and turn it into an ad, but there's no way that they can do a copywriter's job. Even if they've been taught the difference between a useless ad and an effective one, they simply don't have the time to do more than arrange the information given to them.

Maybe I should take out an ad myself and offer a course in Marketing 101 - It would include things like:

• Have a reason to place the ad
• Take time to come up with a headline
  
• Know who you are trying to attract
• Let them know what it is you actually do
  
• Tell your prospects what they stand to gain by doing business with you
• Include your name
• Include your phone number
• Include your address
  

I don't guess I'll do it, but it's fun to think about.

Meanwhile - I'll keep on writing letters and e-mails and web copy for my clients, and turning occasionally to watch the snow fall outside my window.

I did have to leave my cozy office for a while today - to shovel some of that beautiful white stuff. So much fell off the roof that the pile was threatening to run into the satellite dish that keeps me connected to the rest of the world. Can't have that! And then I had to shovel enough so I could open the gate and feed the horses. I don't think they'd appreciate an excuse in place of dinner.

Life in North Idaho right now seems to revolve around snow - plowing, shoveling, and wading through.

Hope you're warm and cozy tonight!

How NOT to build your list

Grrr... I'm really steaming this morning.

I've been working to get rid of the junk mail that arrives daily, so every Monday take a half hour and click on the unsubscribe links for those that provide it.

Today it was ConAgra Foods. How did I get on a list about food? I only cook when I have to and sure don't want recipes and advertisements for processed foods full of God only knows what kind of chemicals.

Anyway, I clicked the unsubscribe link and went to a page where I was required to enter a password. I don't have a password, so clicked another link. A while later I got an email directing me to a page where I could enter a new password and log in. Guess what, they said the password is invalid. Too bad for me.

In other words, this company refuses to let me unusubscribe without some long hassle. I suppose I could get through it, and probably waste an hour or more of time just to get off their list.

I then went to the contact page, where I could send them an email and complain - but ONLY if I give them my full name and address. They don't need my address.

Talk about a lesson in how NOT to win friends and influence people. Why would you want someone on your list is so angry with you that every time they saw your email they'd curse? I really don't think that would get you any sales, do you?

Networking, an effective piece of your overall marketing plan

Everyone talks about networking, and about working a room, and a lot of people try to do it but with little success.

I'm one of them - shy and quiet in a crowd. I can hide in a crowd better than anyone I know, in spite of the fact that I love meeting and talking with new people. It's just that reluctance to "butt in" that stops me. So I stand around and look stupid until someone talks to me. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they form an opinion that I'm stuck up so they leave me alone.

My favorite thing is to spot a kindred soul - someone also standing looking stupid - and then I have the nerve to go say hello.

So, I was tickled to find a good "how-to" article today. It's by Ilise Benum, a top expert in the field of self-promotion.

You can read it yourself at: http://biznik.com/learn/articles/business-networking/how-not-to-network

Even if you aren't the shy type, the article will give you tips to make your networking more effective from a marketing / self-promotion standpoint.

Best success!
Marte

A quick pick-me-up for your web copy

Have you ever noticed that when you think something is a direct quote you're more apt to stop and see what it says?

If you're reading a newspaper article and you see quotes, your eyes are drawn to them, just as they are to a photograph.

So try this: Go to your website and put your headline in quotes. Then scroll down the page and if there's a sub-head that looks like it could be something you are trying to "say" to your prospects, put it in quotes too.

According to Joe Vitale, it works. So, since he's the guru of hypnotic marketing, it's worth a try. The best part is, it only takes a minute to make a small change like that one.

Of course, to make a truly hypnotic web page, you need several more elements, but most of them mean re-writing your copy. This one is quick and easy.

Yours for success,
Marte

P.S. If you're ready for that re-write, write me first. I create web copy that's friendly to both your prospects and the search engines.

Is your copy layout hurting your sales?

Years ago, newspaper ad reps used to tell people that they needed plenty of white space around their copy. Most people I talked with had the opinion that the advice was just a ploy to sell bigger ad spaces.

But it wasn't.

You really DO need some white space. Breathing room, so to speak. And now that we're using the web it seems more important than ever. We've all gotten in a hurry - so we look at a web page almost to see if we HAVE to read it. It's true - we're looking for an excuse not to.

This is a completely different situation than we have with a newspaper or a magazine. Those you might read while eating a solitary meal, or while riding a bus or an airplane. At those times you're looking for something interesting to read. On the web, most of us are not. We're looking for information, and scanning to see if what we want might be there.

And who can scan a wall of copy? Who even wants to try? It's easier to click away and find a friendlier page.

Even in print the white space around a headline or between paragraphs is helpful. It gives our eyes a rest and lets us focus in and find what we want to read.

And yet - I see web copy so dense, and in such a small font, that the only way I'd read it is if I believed it held something I absolutely needed to find.

I get marketing emails in the same format - but I can't tell you what they're selling, because I've never taken time to read any of them.

Right now you might be thinking about some of the long running ads that are dense copy covering an entire page in something like the Enquirer. But think twice about them. The copy is long, but there are definitely paragraph breaks, and sub heads and bullets scattered throughout.
Those elements keep pulling the reader's eyes along the page - so even if they're scanning, they've got a place to stop and see what's next.

Before you send your next letter, go back and make sure you've left space between your paragraphs - and slice up those paragraphs so that none is over 7 lines long - less is better.
If it's a sales letter, take some of your information and put it in bullet form - and add some sub-heads to build interest and keep your reader moving.

Meanwhile, check your web site. Make sure the font size is large enough to see when you're sitting back in your chair relaxing. Then check the white space for both readability and visual appeal. You don't want all of your sentences the same length, by the way.

Make everything you send out look easy to read - that's the key. Let your reader quickly scan to see what you're offering - and if that's the right person for your product, they'll go back and read everything in between.

Call or write if you need some help!

Marte
writer@marte-cliff.com
208-448-1479

Marketing without revealing the price

I've made up my mind - from now on curiosity can motivate the cat, but not me. When I get a promotion that doesn't reveal the price, I'm hitting the delete button.

How about you? Will you keep on clicking that buy now button just to see how much it is - and be drawn in to the next step in the letter to get you buy, buy, buy?

I remember a LONG time ago reading some of the rules for promotion. I mean the rules beyond giving the prospect a good reason why they should buy, appealing to emotions, being conversational, and remembering to include both some proof and a call to action.

These rules had more to do with ethics, or perhaps common sense, if you want your prospects to trust you.

One was to give your name and a way for would-be customers to contact you. Don't hide behind your copy and hope no one finds out who you are.

Another was to be up front about the price. I think maybe the final was to be honest - but hopefully that's a given.

Anyway, right after I read that, some of the "big guns" in internet marketing started leaving the price out of their promotions. It made me cranky then, and it makes me more cranky now.

So - add that to my New Year's Resolutions. No price, no curiosity. Just delete.

I'd love to hear your opinion!

Marte
writer@marte-cliff.com

Marketing Resolutions for the New Year

Did you make a New Year's Resolution? I hadn't really thought about it until tonight, when I read an ezine suggesting some cool ways to build business by resolving to do one thing each day toward that end.

It could be working on your marketing, it could be writing and publishing an article, it could be reaching out to get one new client, or it could be thinking up some new way to improve some part of your business. For us copywriters, he suggested writing a mini-ad each day for business we'd like to work for - and then sending it to them as a gift. Now that sounds like fun.

How about this? Monday write an article and send it to article site #1, Tuesday do a Craig's list posting, Wednesday write an article and send it to article site #2, Thursday call a past client, and Friday call someone you'd like to have as a new client.

You could come up with any combination of the above, but doing one thing each day to market yourself or your business would have to make a difference by the end of the new year!

Go for it! Make 2008 the most fun and profitable year of your life (so far)!'

Yours for prosperity,

Marte
writer@marte-cliff.com