Are you driving away prospects with offers that are too good to be true...

Today I got a postal mail promotion from a well-known company - in it was a letter about a "system" for making money on the internet that "anyone can do" even if you have to go use the computer at the library.

It promised rich rewards for being an "Internet deal maker." I read the whole thing because I thought that this particular company couldn't afford to send out something completely bogus. But... in spite of the temptation, I didn't mail in the payment.

Why? Because I learned a long time ago that things that are too good to be true usually aren't true.

If I told a copywriting client that my letter would absolutely quadruple his sales within 2 weeks - would he believe me? I hope not. I know a good sales letter could do that, and I'd be glad when it did. But since there are so many other factors to consider, if I promised it I'd be a fool, or a liar.

Look at your own promotions. Are your promises reasonable? If not, tone it down a bit and see if your response doesn't improve.

And if you need a sales letter that speaks to your prospects, or a web page that shows what you can do for your prospects, drop me a note. I'd love to help.

Yours for prosperity,
Marte

Use the holidays to spark your marketing creativity

Did you do a promotion for St. Patrick's Day? I'll have to admit that I did not do any promotion for my copywriting business - but I think we all should be looking at each of the holidays that come along as a good reason to make contact with our client lists, and even reach out to new prospects.

The bars and some restaurants do a good job - after all, this is the only time of year you can buy green beer. Not that I want green beer - that actually sounds kind of awful - but who doesn't love a reason to celebrate?

Hmmm... what do I drink that's green? Green tea perhaps, or lime flavored soft drinks. For whatever reason, the only things that seem like they should be green are veggies. But color and marketing is a subject for another day.

What could you have done? Some kind of promotion dealing with luck? Could you have hidden a "pot of gold" in your store or on your website and offered a discount to customers who found it?

It's too late now to do something for St. Patrick's, and if you're using print media it's probably too late to do Easter, so what's next?

April Fool's day seems like a good time to do a fun promotion, and if you act quickly, there's time to get something in the mail or the local newspaper. And of course there's time to tweak your website a bit.

Today, take out the calendar and look at the events coming up. Then write them all down and let your imagination run wild with ideas about how to tie them to your promotions. Be silly, be outrageous, be creative - and something really spectacular will come of it. In fact, get some friends and family to sit down with you and toss out ideas. Sometimes the best ones come from something that sounded ridiculous at first.

Just do it - and remember to laugh a lot!

Marte