3 Reasons Why The Copy You Hate Will Bring Profits You Love

3 Reasons Why The Copy You Hate Will Bring Profits You Love

 

 

Every copywriter's nightmare. We write a beautiful copy for a client, who takes one look and says, "You can't be serious! This is too sales-y...or too simple...or too different..."

 

In response, I tell my own clients, “You may not like this copy. But you’re not the target market, even if you think you resemble your clients.”

 

Here are 3 reasons why.

 

1. Customers Live on a Different Planet.

 

If you hang around the Internet, you develop a unique lifestyle. For instance, some of my best friends are people I’ve never met. We exchange emails and phone calls for years. My favourite web designer is an American living in Brazil.

 

And you hear the same promises over and over. “Bring traffic to your website.” “Attract all the clients you can handle.”

 

But if you’re targeting ordinary people (i.e., those who have actually met their best friends in person), many of our ho-hum phrases will seem fresh and exciting.

 

“Hype-free marketing? I like that,” purred an earth-dwelling prospect recently. “That’s a whole new way of looking at marketing.”

 

Your world may not be the Internet. Maybe you live fitness, coaching, cooking, or finance. But chances are your familiar phrases will seem fresh and exciting to your target market.

 

2. Customers Want to Be Sold.

 

They know you’re not putting up websites and creating brochures so you’ll feel good and collect gold stars for your Permanent Records.

 

And if they want your service, they’re looking for reasons to say “yes.” Think of all those Madison Avenue ads with the theme, “You deserve it.” Or, “You’re worth it.” They’re giving us permission to spend our money.

 

As long as you’re tasteful and – drum roll – meeting their real needs, your customers will actually appreciate learning about what you offer.

 

Recently I was pitching my services to “Frank,” a prospective client who sells fitness services. Hesitantly, I referred him to a website I’d written for “Tom” – a financial professional who was terrified we were selling way too hard.

 

Frank was impressed. “This isn’t the least bit pushy. It’s so warm and friendly! Tom sounds like such a nice guy.”

 

We’re still talking. But when Frank sees his own fitness site, I bet he says, “Um – do you think we’re selling too hard?”

 

3. Customers Don’t Want to Stop and Think.

 

Some words and phrases slow us down. For some good examples, pick up your college textbooks and maybe a couple of academic journals. You’ll see words like “moreover,” “counterintuitive,” “although,” and more. (I know. I wrote many.)

 

How did you read your college textbooks? I bet you read slowly, made marginal notes and hung on tight to your yellow highlighter pen.

 

Alas, website visitors don’t study our copy the same way. We have to help them create highlights and move along fast.

 

Which gets read more:

 

(a) “Although you can work very hard, you may not see results for a long time.”

 

(b) “But you can work really hard and wait forever for results.”

 

Bottom Line: Expect surprises when you unveil your copy to your clients, especially if you’re new to marketing yourself and your own products. When I first wrote the title Your 21-Day Extreme Career Makeover, I cringed: Was my site becoming the virtual equivalent of a used car lot? But my target market – professionals and senior executives – started buying. And the rest, as they say, is history.

3 Powerful Tactics That Motivate Customers To Buy

3 Powerful Tactics That Motivate Customers To Buy

 

 

Wooing customers is a little bit like dating.  No, you can't present the engagement ring on your first date!  

There's a two-way relationship that grows one step at a time before it leads to the church doors.  

You can't rush it... you can't skip it... if you're looking for the satisfaction of a life-long commitment.

 

Getting to know your date, or getting to know your customer takes a little time and effort.  The personality, likes and dislikes of each date are different, but customers share some commonalities that you, the marketer, can grab onto.  

Give them what they want, and they'll become the loyal, life-time customers that make your business prosper.

 

1. Forget About Selling... Put The Emphasis On Buying

 

People like to think that all of their buying decisions were reached due to their own great ideas and skillful shopping.  Hey, no one is fond of a pushy salesman.  A salesman who "HELPS" them discover the best buy for their buck on the other hand, is a hero. 

 

Really, when a person walks into your place of business, they are most likely thinking of making a purchase before they get there.  You don't have to persuade them to buy.  You can take it easy, and simply help them decide what the best purchase is.

 

Keep your focus on the customer and his needs.  Think... what benefits would he be most interested in?  What is the price range he can afford?  Basically, keep in mind that you are there to serve his needs, not persuade him.  Ah, the pressure's off!

 

2. Make Purchasing  A "Sure Bet"

 

Buying is a "risky" business.  The higher the price tag reads, the higher the risks are!  Yep, a customer is just looking for a product that satisfies the needs he purchased it for.  The question they ask themselves is... "Is it worth it?"

 

Hey, it's a legitimate question.  The world is full of scams where you spend your hard earned cash and end up with trash that doesn't last and that you can't get serviced.  A few tough lessons leave customers wary about off-the-cuff purchases.  They want something they can trust.

 

A money back guarantee alleviates a great amount of concern in the mind of the consumer.  There's peace in knowing that if the product doesn't live up to its claims, they aren't stuck footing the bill for a piece of junk.

 

Customer testimonials also clearly tell "would be" buyers that you really do deliver customer satisfaction.  No one can say it better than a satisfied customer, but don't carelessly use testimonials.  You need a method to your madness.  Pick clear and specific testimonials to use, and include as much about the customer as you possibly can to lend credence to his testimony.

 

3. Let Them Know That It's An Easy Process

 

Simplicity... ah, it makes life so much easier.  Yeah, your harried customers are busy and tired.  They don't want to mess around.  Most of the time, they just want to make the purchase and head home.  Convenience stores testify to the fact that quick and easy often overrides a better price!

 

Make the buying process as simple as you possibly can.  Remember that not everyone prefers the same method.  The more options you have available, the more customers you will please.

 

When you're planning your marketing campaign, don't forget to point out the quick, fast, and easy benefits of your product.  Remember that value isn't everything. It's pretty easy to charm your customers when you know what they like!  Keep these 3 tactics in mind as you go about the daunting task of growing your business and expanding your customer list... and watch your profits go through the roof.

 

3 Foolproof Ways To Soar Through A Recession

 

 

Winners are always looking for ways to grow their business.  

They trust their company, trust their customers to come through for them, and realize that a financial crunch offers advantages that aren't available during better economic times. 

 

1. Get More For Your Advertising Buck

 

When the economy makes a turn for the worse, it just makes sense that your advertising will give less of a return than during an economic boom.  Sure there's a lot less money being spent, but you don't have to have to watch your profit margin plummet!

 

Advertisers are feeling the recession just as much as you are, and are more desperate for clients.  It's the perfect atmosphere to negotiate your way to lower costs - even if you are already getting a good price.  Every advertising penny you can save, is that much more profit you'll earn on the products.

 

Have you thought about getting free publicity?  Local newspapers are always looking for something of local interest.  Make the news!  Publicity can be free, but a wonderful way to get your business in front of potential clients.

 

Do your advertisements really need to be as big as they are?  We tend to think the big is better, but the facts are that short ads with 11 words or less often generate higher response than large ads.  Give it a try, and trim some costs right off your advertising bill.

 

2. Take Advantage Of Big Ticket Sales

 

Not all of your customers suffer during a recession.  Remember that there are always people who are thriving financially, so don't be afraid to make big ticket sales offers.  Additionally, when money is tight, people who place a lot of stock in your product will value it even more.

 

Think about ways to create products similar to yours, but with much higher prices.  Internet marketers often create members-only sites and sell their products at much higher prices.  Hey, they'll obviously make fewer sales, but the people who really value the product will buy.  Each sale will net an immensely higher profit.  Think about it like this... even though the sales are fewer, the actual profit may be even greater than when it was sold at a lower price. 

3. Maximize The Customers You Have

 

Your customers already know that you have great products and provide satisfactory service.  They trust you to come through for them.  Think about it...  it's much easier to make sales to someone you already have a relationship with.

 

Use every opportunity to increase your sales volume within the customer audience you already have.  Do you have a product that goes with the one they are purchasing?  Offer it to them at the register.  It's a proven and effective method for increasing sales.  You may be shocked at the additional sales you can generate from those who are already buying from you.

 

3  Elements That Make Your Ad Successful

 

 

When was the last time you bought a car?  Did you really NEED a car?  I mean REALLY need a car? 

Chances are the one you were driving was still running when you bought the car you have now. 

Yep, people rarely buy because they need... they buy because they want to experience the feeling that comes with buying.

 

We enjoy new purchases.  Sure, we can convince ourselves that we really needed a new one, but if we're totally honest we'll have to admit that we could've got by without it. 

What does this mean to your advertising campaign?

 

1. State The Benefits Of Your Product or Service

 

Capitalize on the ways a customer will improve his lifestyle by making the purchase.  Will he increase his own business profits by 50 percent?  Say so in the opening statement of your sales letter, or at the top of your Web page.

 

Don't obsess with the features of the product itself or your credibility.  Frankly, customers could care less.  Let's face it... they're a bit selfish when it comes to dishing out their hard earned money.  All they want to know is what's in it for them.

 

2. Paint Word Picture That Let Them Experience the Benefits

 

"Wake up tomorrow, with no boss!  You can spend the day with your family or on the golf course... there's nobody to tell you what to do."

 

A Multi Level Marketer may want his audience to feel the freedom of having no one to answer to if they become successful in the business.  He'll dramatize that desire, and put the listener in the seat to inspire it to take hold until the listener is ready to sign up and get started.

 

3. Inspire Immediate Action

 

Hey, let's face it... the longer a customer lolly gags, the greater the chances he'll never take the plunge.  Don't let him off the hook that easily! 

 

Set a deadline.  Put on the pressure to buy now, or miss out on the deal.  Chances are pretty good that the procrastinator will get with it just to save a few bucks.

 

What about your sales materials?  Have you taken a good look at the things you are advertising? 

Make sure you are focused on the benefits the consumer will experience from the purchase, and not on the features of the product or service.

5 Steps To Supercharge Your Referrals

5 Steps To Supercharge  Your Referrals

It is no secret that “word of mouth” or referral business is one of the most effective ways to bring in new clients while simultaneously strengthening relationships with your existing customer base. But even though it is extremely powerful and virtually free (or at most costs very little), very few business owners or coaches use it anywhere near it’s potential!

 

Consider this: if you got just one referral from each one of your clients, over the next 60 days you’d double your client base! What would that mean to your potential income and how many more people would you be helping in supportive and uplifting ways?

 

So, how do you maximize word of mouth in your business? Here are 5 Steps you can start to take right now…

 

1. Really appreciate your clients and let them know consistently that you value them

 

This is the most important, yet overlooked element of creating endless referrals. Many businesses focus more on profits than on people. Focusing on profits alone can be detrimental to success and ‘Word of Mouth’ success comes from looking beyond just profit into how you can enrich your customer’s lives.

 

Action: At least once a month, take the time to communicate to your clients and show them you appreciate them. Send them something of value, something unexpected, a bonus report, a special piece of news you just found. Make it relevant to them and do it regularly.

 

 

2. Create an exceptional experience each time they deal with you or your company

 

If you can make doing business with you an exceptional experience, your clients will want to tell a lot of people. People want amazing experiences!

 

Here is an example: There is a Life Coach who has a special relationship with a city coffee shop. Once every 8 weeks he invites his in-person clients to a ‘brain trust’ meeting and the coffee and cake is on the house. Every client that attends gets a card and a voucher from the coffee shop owner to say ‘Thank you for joining us today, we would love to see you again soon’. The voucher is a ‘buy one get one free’ coffee voucher. So they are encouraged to come back again. And because the coffee shop owner is exposing his business to potential new clients, the coach pays just the cost price on the coffee and cake his clients eat. Normally about 8 clients attend and the cost is around $30. Just a little extra touch can make dealing with your business that much more of an exceptional experience!

 

Action: What can you do now to add little things that make an exceptional experience? Perhaps you can use the above example or something similar in order to network with other professionals while simultaneously providing amazing value to your clients. Remember, start creating exceptional experiences today.

 

3. Give your customers incentives for giving you referrals

 

If you’re being passive about referrals then you’re sitting on a gold-mine. Come up with ways of rewarding your clients for referring business to you. They could receive free gifts, such as a 90 minute coaching session with you, a certificate for a massage or a nice dinner, or perhaps even a financial reward (i.e. $100 Visa gift card). No matter what you choose, the key is making sure that whatever you choose to offer is something that your client will really be attracted to!

 

Action: Reward your clients for referring people to you. Come up with rewards that will be beneficial to your clients. If you work with clients who routinely use alot of equipment in their job or enjoy shopping, an Amazon gift card might be a very motivating reward for them! And if you are stumped on a gift idea, just remember that money is always a great motivator as well!

 

 

4. Make it easy for clients to give you referrals

 

If you want to get lots of referrals, you must make it incredibly easy for your clients to tell their friends. Don’t expect them to go way out of the way to help you grow your business. Make it as simple as possible.

 

Action: Develop a ‘referral package’ that you give to your clients. Ask your clients to be an ambassador for your business as you wish to work with people similar to them. The package would include a professionally designed document explaining why referrals are important to you, and a series of referral cards/ invites/ links that your client can easily share with others and post to their social media accounts. Always make sure to present everything very professionally in order to increase the perceived value of your offer/ services and to put your best foot forward with your new potential clients!

 

5. Ask at the right time!

 

When is the best time to ask for referrals? Any time! If you have followed the steps listed above…you’ve let clients know they are appreciated, you have consistently given them an exceptional experience, you have provided an enticing incentive to share your message with friends, and you have made it incredibly easy for them to do so. At this point, you should not only be able to ask your clients for referrals at any time, but you should also receive very positive results from it as well!

 

Action: The key is to do something now. Draft up an email today and just send it off to your clients letting them know how much you value them, how much you have enjoyed working with them in the past, and include something that is going to be helpful/ provide some value to their lives. Then over the next 4 to 6 weeks develop your ‘referral package’ and start to use it. Take yourself out of your comfort zone and take action…. Your business and new referral clients will definitely thank you for it!