Lead With Your Prospect’s Problem

Here are two of the most important reasons to start your marketing message by addressing your prospect’s problem:

That’s where your prospect’s mind is most of the time.

And, few of your competitors are doing it.   

Most of us focus on pain. Our problems, issues, challenges, predicaments, worries, – all the stuff that isn’t right. 

Since problems are where your prospects have their attention focused, effective marketing simply becomes an exercise in demonstrating you understand their problem and likely have the solution. Read More→

Beware of This Silent Prospect Thief

I was listening to the radio the other day and a report came across that sales of some consumer electronic product sales were down 6%.

Nope. It wasn’t the Gazillion-inch Big Screen TVs that were hardest hit.    

The casualties?

DVD and MP3 players and GPS devices were the ones left sitting on store shelves.

Much of this accelerated rate of decline in these older technology categories can be traced to the flood of cell phones on the market today that seem limitless in what they are able to do for users. Read More→

28-Point Checklist: Marketing Communications Audit

In today’s economy, it pays to make every marketing communication count.

 This simple audit is designed to help you identify your most pressing marketing communications challenges as you head into 2012 so you can start working on ways to eliminate them. 

That way, you can communicate with your target markets more effectively, and get better results from every dollar spent on advertising and promotion. Read More→

 How to Overcome Marketing  Procrastination                                                                                                                                       

 by Gerry Black 

Success as a business owner or entrepreneur can be boiled down to one thing:

How good you are at doing the right things faster and either getting rid of the other stuff, delegating it or creating an automated system that can free you up to do things you like to do.

One of those “right things“ is marketing. Referrals are great but what about when they dry up? Then what?

Investing in your marketing today – maybe creating an email follow up campaign, or rewriting your web copy so your site will actually send qualified sales leads your way or crafting a guide you can use as a lead generation tool – will pay off down the line by minimizing those feast or famine stretches we all go through at some point.

So, if marketing can help us generate more sales with less heavy lifting, why do so many of us keep putting it off? Read More→

A Costly Marketing Mistake (exposed)                                                                       

Got a call last week from someone I hadn’t heard from in two years who needed some copywriting and marketing help.

As soon as I heard the voice, the flashing lights started going off, red flags were popping up everywhere and I knew that whatever happened from that minute on was probably going to end up with me wasting time and feeling totally frustrated.

So what’d I do? Read More→

Got a YOU In Your Website?  

Over the years, Psychology Today has done numerous studies designed to uncover the characteristics of successful sales people.

The author of one of those studies found the best salespeople first establish a mood of trust and rapport by means of “hypnotic pacing’ – statements and gestures that play back a prospect’s observations, experience or behavior.

The objective? Suggest to the prospect ‘I am like you. We are in snyc. You can trust me.’

Now, if you are skeptical about selling and salespeople in general, you may be tempted to interpret this as manipulation. Read More→

Are You Marketing What Your Customers Want?

I’m driving past a cemetery yesterday and there’s some construction going on which has me stopped dead (sorry) right at the entrance.

I look over and there’s a sign beside the gate that says, ‘Premium sites available.’

Hmmmmmm. Let’s see. You’re the guy in charge of filling the place and that’s what you come up with?

I get it if you’re selling parcels of land on Lake Tahoe or corporate tents at the British Grand Prix or something like that.

But a burial plot. Read More→

How Much Time Should I Spend Marketing?

You’ve probably heard the expression regarding working ON your business instead of IN it?

 Well, marketing is an ON activity and for many of us, finding time to make sure we do it on a consistent basis can be like pushing water uphill with your nose.  

Most days, I do a pretty good job of finding my way past the icebergs, enjoying the adventures and ensuring I make time to do things that will help me grow my business.

As a copywriter, I know how important marketing is and understand that a significant chunk of time should be directed toward this activity that represents the lifeblood of any business.

Experts say you should spend about 60 % – 70% of your time marketing your business. More if you’re just starting out. Read More→