When you undertake a campaign you’ll experience a synergistic effect by promoting it via a variety of media. So, if you’re promoting your seminar in the newspaper and you also utilise direct mail you’ll get more responses than you would by running two campaigns promoting separate services.

Why? People may glance at your ad and think, “Mmmm…nah, that’s not for me.” But then they may also receive a direct mail invitation. Because they saw the ad in the paper first, they’re more likely to read the letter and vice versa.

Also, pillar promotion is very important in maximising your reach. For instance, certain people simply won’t read local papers but instead they may listen to the radio or read direct mail.

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Everyone I talk to in business has a profit generating secret for this and a profit generating secret for that. Some have 7 secrets. Others have 10 vital secrets. Others still have 20 or more.

I often get asked the question, “I don’t have time to put in place dozens of initiatives. What are the one or two things I can do to significantly increase my business profits without spending a lot?”

In all my 17 years consulting to small businesses I’ve found that there are (obviously) a number of things businesses can do to achieve profit improvements but two of them stand out as offering a massive impact for a minimal outlay.

Let’s take a look at what they are.

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In my opinion, small business owners are true heroes. Not only do they employ over 60% of the workforce but they also have to overcome huge personal challenges to become successful. And lets face it, the odds are stacked against them with 90% of new businesses failing in the first 5 years.

But when you think about it, just about every large business can trace its origins back to one or two people with a good idea.

For instance, Henry Ford started the Ford motor company at around the age of 40 working from his kitchen table. The Google guys, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Michael Dell all started much younger and from their bedrooms or garages.

So what makes the likes of Henry Ford, the Google guys, Gates and Dell succeed like crazy when so many of their counterparts are slaughtered along the path in their pursuit of wealth and independence?

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At a seminar I ran on Customer Attraction Secrets we talked about the fact that the more attractive your business is, the more customers you’ll attract via word of mouth. We also talked about the Attraction Quotient being a key to that.

Let me explain…

Imagine owning a business that is SO attractive … that you have queues of people lining up out the front waiting to do business with you.

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By now, most people have seen the movie, “The Secret”. If you haven’t heard it, I’ll fill you in quickly. It focuses on the Universal Law of Attraction.

In simple terms, “like attracts like”. In other words, what you think about manifests. At a basic level, think great thoughts and watch great things happen in your life. Think insecure, unconfident thoughts and watch your results suffer.

The Law of Attraction comes into play a lot in marketing too.

Most people can remember times like these when you desperately needed to bring in more sales and for the life of you, you couldn’t manage to close a deal. And then there were other times when you went into sales presentations not really caring whether it came off or not, and it was like you had the Midas touch. Everyone wanted to buy.

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Claude Hopkins is clearly a legend in advertising circles. He was the author of Scientific Advertising and also the creator of the famous Schlitz Beer campaign that sent their sales through the roof and illustrated the importance of thorough research.

Here is just one of the pearls of wisdom that Hopkins shared over the years.

“Almost any question can be answered, cheaply, quickly and finally, by a test campaign. And that’s the way to answer them – not by arguments around the table.”

“Ad writers forget they are salesmen and try to be performers. Instead of sales, they seek applause.”

“Whenever possible we introduce a personality into our ads. By making a man famous we make his product famous.”

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It’s a fact. Adding a sense of urgency to your copy will give your marketing responses a big boost. Here are four ways to do that …

1. At the end

Obviously, it’s important that you end an ad or letter by asking the person to respond.

2. P.S.

With direct mail or online sales letters, feature a P.S. that reminds them of the urgency of the offer. Also mention again (in a different way) what their lives will be like if they don’t respond to the offer. In both our Direct Mail and our Website Copywriting Courses we talk in depth about the power of the P.S.

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1. Does your business name appear in your headline?

If it does, your ad stands a good chance of not getting noticed because you’re not offering a benefit to your reader.

2. Does your photo appear in your Yellow Pages ad?

If it doesn’t your reader can’t really relate to your business

3. Does your ad tell your reader why they should ring you and not your competition?

Standing out from your competition is vital if you want your Yellow Pages ad to work and work famously.

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Picture this …

One summer Sunday afternoon, four guys in their thirties were relaxing with a few beers watching the cricket at the local pub. They were having a great time “downing scooners”, yelling out their own play-by-play commentary of the televised proceedings.

When the cricket match stopped for lunch, two beautiful, blonde, promotions girls walked into the bar. They walked up to the guys and the most scantily clad of the two leant over them and said, “Hi fellas. Having a great time?”, with a big smile and a flirtatious look. “Would any of you like to buy a can of the new X brand Bourbon?”

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By Claude Hopkins and Kristina Mills

Claude Hopkins is widely recognised as the father of advertising. His insights are so simple yet so profound and they apply just as well today as they did decades ago when they were first used.

Here are three lessons, in Claude’s own words. Please note that due to the era that it was written in, the language may be a little dated and that he uses the word “man” instead of “people”.

1. An advertiser suffered much from substitution. He said, “Look out for substitutes,” “Be sure you get this brand,” etc. with no effect. Those were selfish appeals.

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