Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

The most incredible marketing and life lessons often come from the most unexpected places.

A few weeks ago I was on Facebook and saw a status update by a New  Zealand Facebook friend.  The update said, “What do you think the role of a parent is?”

At the time, my son Zac was standing standing next to me so I asked him what he thought it was. The answer he gave me really changed my perspective on a number of things.

I expected Zac to respond with a 2 or 3 word answer. To my surprise, his eyes lit up, his back straightened, and he spoke as if he was giving a  speech to an audience of thousands.

Smoothly and fluidly parenting advice flowed from his mouth as he shared his view in a way that  was focused on enlightening the world with his wisdom. And wisdom it clearly was.

Zac talked about how parents should teach their  kids. How the truth is very important. How love is important. How teaching your child based on their age, is important. And many more pearls of wisdom (3 or so minutes of uninterrupted speech).

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s official! Touch has a powerful effect in sales and in marketing. A recent study proved that men take bigger risks after being touched by a woman (on the shoulder ).

Here’s how the survey worked.

There were two groups of men. Both were ushered to a seat by a woman. In the first group, each man was lightly touched on the back of the shoulder as he sat down. In the second group, no touching took place.

These men were then given a choice - to accept a fairly large sum of money as a gift or to have the opportunity to gamble that sum of money for a potential return that wass substantially larger than that initial amount. If they were to win they would keep the winnings. If they were to lose they would lose the initial sum of money.

The result?

Read the rest of this entry »

If joint venture possibilities excite you, let me share my experiences with you. I have received well over 400 JV proposals and offers from people over the years, receiving up to 7 a week at one stage. I reject most proposals however there are some that I do say YES to. Some have been very profitable. Some have been a massive waste of time, money and effort.

Here are some of the rules I now follow. I hope you find them to be useful in your situation.

1. The upside must give the potential to earn at least 3 times what we would earn if it was a fee for service arrangement. It also needs to be fun.

2. We must have control of the sales process. If there is no control over the sales transaction I will not participate because there are too many factors outside of our control, that can affect sales results.

3. If the opportunity is to co-author an e-book/course/online product, is the topic of the book or product in an area where we’d like to be known and therefore build our profile for future opportunities? If it is, fantastic. If it isn’t, the only determining factor becomes $$. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, that’s what I still experience after 18 years of being in business and seeing thousands of cards travel across my desk. It’s also the opinion of this veteran “pitch man” in the video.

Business cards are vital branding and selling tools for any company - here’s why:

To start with, they are, in many cases, the first impression a customer receives of your business so the design, the content and the professionalism says a lot about your company.

I then makes sense to ensure your card sells.

For instance, imagine what would happen if your business card include information that people refer to all the time … so it’s not just a boring name, rank and serial no. card.

What kind of impact do you think that would have on your sales?

Most business owners give and receive hundreds if not thousands of business cards each year so it makes sense to ensure they sell.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve ever been green with envy looking at your business competitors or neighbouring businesses wondering why they seem to be flying … why they seem to have a ton of time off while you spend your time working 90 hour weeks in your business, identifying and fixing one or more of these business mistakes may be the answer.

The other night I was sitting on my deck enjoying a few glasses of Shiraz with a business consultant friend of mine, and we soon got talking about our Business Transformation program. Anyway, one thing led to another and we started discussing the key mistakes that business owners make when it comes to having a wildly successful business that runs without them. My friend then mentioned a list he had developed -  I thought I’d share that list here with you. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Feature powerful benefits

2. Use “punchy” or unusual words so they attract more attention

3. Use the word “YOU” or at least imply it (eg. How to)

4. Mention your Unique Selling Proposition

5. Be very specific with your claims. Specific numbers attract more attention eg. 732 instead of 700

6. If your product appeals to a specific target audience, flag down the audience in your headline eg. Vegans …

7. If you have a powerful guarantee, mention it in your headline

8. Always write the headline in upper and lower case

9. If you’re making a shocking statement, use an exclamation mark

10. Put your headline in quotation marks and your reader will perceive it to be a quote

Could your headlines do with a make-over? Ask about our headline make-over service. Our expert copywriters will cast a quick eye over your marketing piece and come up with 3 new and powerful headlines for you to test.Call us on +617 3353 1107.

Here’s an excerpt from our copywriting course. I thought you might find it to be useful …

… So - in a sales letter or ad or any other piece of marketing material include a “call to action”. A “call to action” asks the reader to take the next step – to call, email, write, register for a seminar, buy, make an appointment etc.

The act of asking for the sale or asking for the next step is something that can be applied very successfully to all areas of a person’s life.

Many people simply don’t ask for fear of offending someone … putting them out … interrupting them. And with that, they often don’t get what they want in life. Simply because they don’t ask.

So – start asking your people for commitment to the next step. Start asking people to complete tasks for you and gain their commitment to a completion time. Start delegating even more of your work to others. Approach leaders and mentors and ask them questions. Read the rest of this entry »

1.Establish Key Performance Indicators

… which measure a variety of financial areas within your business eg. cost per enquiry, cost per sale, profit margins, lifetime value of a client, average transaction value and so forth. That way you have some very clear benchmarks or yardsticks to base any future profit enhancement initiatives on.

Now, against each key performance indicator, write down 4 initiatives you and/or your people can undertake to improve these figures. From there, write down action steps and delegate the tasks. Naturally, it’s important that these KPIs be monitored on a regular ongoing basis to assess
performance.

These KPIs might be cost per lead, cost per appointment, cost per sale, average dollar sale value, lead time and others.

Read the rest of this entry »

I often get asked what sorts of sales pieces does a business need to maximise their sales conversions and repeat sales.

Well - every business IS different, but here is a good starting point.

Generating leads …

1. A Yellow Pages ad that sells (if you’re in a classification where there are a large number of large ads featured).

2. A variety of appointment generating letters with unique gimmicks - designed to be followed up with a phone call to gain an appointment. Continually test new approaches to see which one delivers the best result for your efforts.

3. Appointment rain check letter - for people who don’t agree to the appointment (refer above letter). This is designed to say thanks for their time and to give them some additional information about the company with the view of gaining an appointment down the track. Read the rest of this entry »

Ever noticed this … that if a sales promotion, offer or argument is accepted by many in the industry it is perceived to be accepted by the masses, or by the person’s peer group, your customers will accept the proposal as well.

People like to be accepted. They think that if it’s okay for their friends, their peers or the people they look up to, it’s okay for them too.

Notice that when you go to an event and one person starts applauding, the rest of the room follows … even if the performance isn’t worth applauding.

You can capitalise on the “Me Too” Principle in the sales process by showing prospective customers testimonials from clients who are of a similar profile to them or are leaders in their field. That way they can see that someone similar to them has chosen to purchase the product AND experienced great results. And – in their minds, if it worked for those people it will work for them too. Read the rest of this entry »

Certain members of the community wield great influence over the buying public. With that, their opinions are treated like gold. For instance, when a doctor recommends a health solution, people listen.

The same goes for your accountant. Your accountant is seen as the “trusted advisor” to business. So when an accountant recommends a solution to their business clients, those clients listen. Think about it. When your accountant gives you advice, how often do you sit up and take notice as compared with any other advisor who gives you advice.

There’s also the dentist. When a dentist recommends a certain toothpaste we believe that toothpaste is the best.

Also, University lecturers wield authority and power over their students and so their opinions and recommendations are highly respected.

The Power Persuasion Principle is the reason why we see Doctors endorsing health supplements. And that’s why we see Olympians endorsing breakfast cereal too. It’s also why we see dentists advertising toothpaste. And – it’s why we see high profile veterinarians promote dog food. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you’re a professional copywriter, a marketer, a sales person or your business hires copywriters, marketing people or salespeople you’ll know that when it comes to promoting your product or service people often focus on trying to write copy or communicate only the benefits of a product … how the product or service will transform the buyer’s life in some way. How it will help buyers solve that problem.

Trouble is, not every product is perfect. In fact, many products have a flaw … a flaw that, if not written about or communicated in the right way, can detrimentally effect sales.

What’s the solution? Read the rest of this entry »

Compare successful entrepreneurs with unsuccessful entrepreneurs and you’ll find that the biggest difference between them is their communications skills - or more specifically, their skills of persuasion.

Successful people have the ability to connect with others, to build warm relationships with others, and to persuade others to do what they want them to do.

The greatest business leaders, spiritual leaders AND government leaders of all time ALL have at least one thing in common. They were ALL masters of persuasion. Read the rest of this entry »

You know it - doing business with certain retailers, suppliers or service providers (especially the Government) can be boring. Yes?

But what if there was a way to turn those mundane parts of the transaction into fun experiences for your customers? How would it make them feel? And how would that feeling affect your sales, the mood of your people, and your lives in general?

In a previous blog I spoke about “touch points” or “moments of truth”. The way your customer experiences your brand at each touch point has a large bearing on the perception of your organisation and whether or not they purchase from you or stay loyal to you. Make it fun at each touch point and you’re onto a winner.

Read the rest of this entry »

Aussie readers may know that Kraft Foods has just released the name of its new-look Vegemite after running a much-publicised competition to come up with a new name. And you’ll probably also know that there has been an uproar with virtually the whole nation bagging the new name, “I-Snack2.0″.

First, let me say that Kraft involving their customers in the naming process is a fantastic idea. It gives them power. It achieves buy-in on the new product. It creates loyalty. All awesome stuff. Plus, it gets Kraft a lot of publicity.

But what happens when that power you give to the customer blows up in your face?

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Increase your marketing spend but do it smartly

Many companies reduce their marketing spend in a recession which is counter-productive, to say the least. Make sure you don’t. In fact, I recommend that you increase it,  but increase it smartly.

Let me explain …

First, ensure all your advertising and marketing is measurable. Then - rigorously test and measure all your advertising efforts – all your promotional offers, your sales copy, your headlines, your sales copy, your landing pages, the media you advertise in, the list you market to, the timing and more.

Read the rest of this entry »

In this article we take a deeper look at words that sell, dissect two of the most popular headlines of all time written by legend copywriters, discuss why they were popular and how you can tweak them and profit in your copywriting and advertising material.

1. “They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano But When I Started To Play”

Everyone loves an underdog. Everyone is also very curious. This headline marketing piano lessons appealed to both of these human conditions. Not only that, the use of a story-telling is a also very powerful hypnotic copywriting device that master copywriters use regularly.

Read the rest of this entry »