“I think that some of the direct mail I get is spoiled by the old-fashioned sin of pride…it’s all too easy for us to start to feel superior to the great multitude of readers out there. And sometimes, without really meaning to, we write down to them. I think that this shows through in the finished product and turns readers off. So when I’m working on my stuff, I try to keep in mind two things from the Good Book of Direct Response. One: Write unto others as you would have them write unto you. Two: Pride goeth before a flop.” – Martin Conroy
Donnie Bryant
Edging Out the Competition
Thousands of new businesses will open in the coming months. There will be really good ones, really bad ones and everything in between.
What can you do to outmaneuver your ever-expanding number of competitors?
How will you establish your uniqueness in the market?
What makes you more attractive to your chosen audience? How can you build on that foundation?
A.) Do you have a specialty? A very sharply-defined expertise or niche? You may or may know this, but specialists tend to be able to charge higher fees than generalists in any given field. Think brain surgeons versus general practitioners.
It’s also easier to get noticed and establish yourself as an authority in a small corner of any industry, rather than compete with everyone else.
B.) Do you possess a rare certification? Have you worked with a famous client who got outstanding results? Do you have a pile of testimonials from clients who will sing your praises?
If any of those distinctions apply to you, put that information in the foreground.
C.) What activities are you doing that others are not doing? Where are you available that your peers can’t reach? What can you add to your repertoire to take the strategic advantage?
D.) What are you willing to do that none of your colleagues has the guts to try? What ways can you think of to differentiate yourself from the pack?
E.) What special ways are you touching and helping people? Society? The world?
F.) Is there an unusual guarantee that you offer to your clients? Specific results you basically promise that they will experience?
Don’t take for granted that would-be clients know these things. Tell them!
If others make the same claims about themselves truthfully, you have some more work to do to find your unique value proposition (UVP).
If your peers could make the same statements, but don’t, you can preempt them and take ownership of those claims. Be the first, and everyone else becomes a copy-cat.
What is the biggest, boldest claim about your services that you can honestly make? Say it!
The idea that you should “under-promise and over-deliver” is another myth that can cause considerable damage if you believe it. There is no question about over-delivering – you should always do that. The problem lies in under-promising.
Under-promising can be suicidal for your business. Imagine a dentist who advertises “Your teeth will probably be fairly clean when I’m finished,” because he wants to under-promise. Who would ever set up an appointment with that dentist? No one will find out how amazing the final delivery is; they will visit the dentist who guarantees that his patients’ teeth will be sparkling white and healthy.
That only makes sense. Under-promising sets a low expectation, which makes the over-delivery all the more pronounced. The hope is to surprise and delight the customer. But, weak promises will keep a customer from ever considering the purchase.
Make the strongest claims you can make. Otherwise you end up blending in with the competition. A reliable way to secure a steady flow of the type of clients you want to work with is to be great at something (the very best if at all possible) and make sure as many people in your target audience know about it.
Is a Recession a Bad Thing? That Depends on You
You don’t need me to tell you that times are hard. The words of Charles Dickens ring true today: “It is the best of times. It is the worst of times.” How you position yourself and your business will determine whether you experience the best or the worst.
I recently spoke to a well-known certified resume writer/business owner. He described this paradox to me very clearly. “Job seekers need my services more than ever,” he noted. “But this is also the toughest time to spend the extra money to put together a really strong resume.”
The distinction needs to be made between an expense and an investment. Hiring a resume writer who can help your job hunt end satisfactorily is an investment, not an expense. It pays off.
The same is true for marketing, training and business development.
Many people and businesses are scaling back, pinching their pennies and cutting “non-essentials.” The problem is, they need to be good at attracting customers and clients more than ever before. Employees need to be equipped to deliver better service than their competitors, who are too busy saving money to properly train their people.
During “good times,” when money comes easily, the budget has plenty of room for these initiatives. But when revenue starts drying up, most people react in fear. As Samuel Taylor Coleridge said, “What begins in fear usually ends in folly.” You can’t grow a business that way.
When the going gets tough, people and businesses need more information, better direction, more counsel, more inspiration. They need more help. Those who provide the help people need so badly are in position to make these “the best of times” for their businesses.
That is why it is absolutely critical that you:
1.) provide real, tangible value,
2.) present yourself as a trusted advisor, not another money-drain. An investment that will yield a profitable return.
Fear is natural. Implementing defensive strategies is instinctive. But both are counterproductive. You can’t advance and retreat simultaneously.
Retreating is what your competitors are doing.
Statistics show that businesses that maintain or increase aggressiveness in their investments such as marketing and coaching during recessionary phases grow more than 200% more than those that pull back. (See “When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Don’t Skimp on Their Ad Budgets.” )
The challenges are daunting; the opportunities are awesome.
How are you responding to the economic climate we’re facing now? How does this affect your interactions with clients and prospects?
Counteract This Trend
You’ll do well to consider different strategies to make your services accessible to your target audience. Low-cost entry items, pared-down basic coaching, and group sessions are possible choices.
Whatever you do, do not devalue yourself or your services. The attitude that says “I know it’s hard out there, so I’ll discount my prices,” is a position of weakness. You are not a commodity. You are not less valuable just because the economy is in bad shape currently (If anything, you could charge more because of inflation!)
A better move would be to present alternative options, multiple ways you can help different people in different financial situations.
The quality of what you deliver is of paramount importance here. If you sell a book that makes marked improvements for the reader, not only will he be more likely to purchase your higher-level offers, but he’ll be more able to do so because of those improvements.
Business is not a zero-sum proposition. Your clients are not $2,000/month poorer because they retain your services. They pay you (you win), you help them achieve their goals (they win), and everyone is richer and happier.
Companies who approach their practice from the perspective that someone wins and someone loses are forfeiting some of the benefits they should be getting. They may be doing more harm than good.
You’ve probably heard it said that more millionaires were created in the Great Depression than any other time in American history. It seems that “bad times” aren’t bad for everyone. It’s up to you to decide if you’re going to use this downturn as an excuse for mediocrity and failure, or if you’ll look for the opportunities to gain the ground everyone else is forfeiting.
Death of the Web?
In August 2010, Wired Magazine published an article entitled The Web is Dead. Long Live the Internet. The authors describe the dramatic change in the way people use the internet compared to how it’s been used in the past 15 years.
“Sure, we’ll always have Web pages,” Chris Anderson says. “We still have postcards and telegrams, don’t we?”
But as technology evolves and our use of it adapts, the traditional ways businesses have used the internet to build their brands and expand their influence will no longer be effective to the same degree. What worked yesterday simply will not work tomorrow. You may have noticed that downward trend is already taking impacting your online efforts.
Take a quick mental inventory of the time you’ve spent online lately. What are some of the traits you notice? Avalanches of information, often conflicting other sources. Mediocre content quality. Spam and scams. Wild pitch fests.
And everyone is an “expert,” even if they’re not.
Do you remember high school economics class? One of the first concepts you learn is supply and demand. As the supply of anything increases, its value decreases. On the internet, we’ve pretty much reached the maximum capacity for information demand, but the supply continues to grow exponentially.
So, you see the two causes for the general decline of perceived value of online information: 1) the low quality of the majority of content and 2) the super-abundance and ease of access.
On some level, everyone over the age of 16 senses this deterioration.
Seth Godin, one of the most popular marketing minds in the world recently wrote in his blog:
“…Prepare for a continuous erosion of what you pay for digital content, at the same time we’ll see a sticky and upward trend for what you might be charged for the… the scarce or custom.”
The world wide web is increasingly becoming a content flea market, so much so that internet giants like Yahoo and AOL are struggling with their current business models.
Don’t misunderstand. Although it seems contradictory, the internet is more important than ever. The rules are changing, and you will have to modify your online initiatives to take full advantage.
Counteract This Trend
To overcome the quality erosion of online information, you absolutely must offer something unique and indisputably valuable. You also have to be able to successfully deliver it to your core audience, the people who can most benefit from what you have to offer. Exclusivity can also protect the perception of high worth around your content.
Unique – It’s cliché, but you have to be yourself. Do the hard work of getting to know yourself and defining your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). Then you have to get the message out.
A large percentage of your peers heavily model themselves and their business after someone they admire. Modeling makes sense – up to a point. But imitation is a problem.
Legendary adman Bruce Barton notes that everyone possesses a “single spark of divinity that sets you off and makes you different from every other living creature.” Nurture that spark instead of copying someone else’s.
Not only do you have to have a one-of-a-kind persona, you have do conduct business in a way that differs from your competitors.
- What can you do that others can’t or won’t do?
- What do your clients experience while working with you that no one else can claim to provide?
- How can you reach your audience in a way that the competition doesn’t?
Valuable – Everything you do should be impressive. Your personal brand and your reputation depend on showing yourself to be someone who improves the lives of others, not a peddler trying to sell stuff. (People love to buy, but they hate to be sold.)
Value starts with understanding what your target audience wants and needs, then helping them attain those things. A hefty percentage of people online are openly egocentric and their efforts online revolve around trying to suck money out of their customers’ wallets.
Quite a few businesses, entrepreneurs and service providers adhere to an online strategy that emphasizes quantity over quality. The more pages you have on your website, the more visible it becomes to search engines. More articles on more directories put you in front of more potential clients. Blogging every day will keep readers from forgetting about you and help you stay relevant…
That’s a lot of pressure! Placing so much attention to creating large quantities of content makes it difficult to make each piece shine. All of the information you make available to clients and prospects is a reflection of who you are and what you’re about. If your content is highly-visible but poorly crafted or boring, what have you accomplished? Not much more than demonstrating to more people that you’re nothing special. The last thing you want to be is average (or worse).
Search engine optimization (SEO) is another facet of your promotional efforts that can be tricky. Do you write to be attractive to search engines or to have the biggest impact on your readers?
Of course, you want to rank well in search rankings. There are benefits to being on Google’s first page. But, again, if you spend your effort to please the algorithms search engines use (which are constantly changing), you can lose out on opportunities to communicate more powerfully with your audience.
Focus on value. Remember that quality trumps quantity every day of the week
Exclusive – You are unique and valuable. You are not a commodity. Being too available decreases your sense of worth. Exclusivity gives the impression that your content and services are even more valuable. Make potential clients qualify themselves through opt-ins, purchases or other requirements.
Making some of your material available only to qualified individuals heightens the value and significance of that material.
The same is true for making some of your content or products only available in physical copies rather than electronic form. That increases your fulfillment costs, but that is part of what makes going offline work. It feels more expensive. Your prestige factor increases when your readers and listeners know that you’re “putting your money where your mouth is.” (This will also force you to deliver high-level quality because it costs you time and money to produce these items.)
Examples:
- books
- CDs
- DVDs
- print newsletter (free, paid or bundled with another service or product)
- columns in print magazines
This distinguishes you from nearly all of your competitors and everyone else online. Rarity increases actual consumption of your content. Your teachings have little effect if they never enter your clients’ brains and get put to use.
Exclusivity builds a sense of belonging and entitlement. The effect creates a formidable emotional and intellectual bond between your audience and you, even while they’re forgetting everyone else.
Marketing Quote of the Week
“In a sense Ford was both the most brilliant and the most senseless marketer in American history. He was senseless because he refused to give the customer anything but a black car. He was brilliant because he fashioned a production system designed to fit market needs. We habitually celebrate him for the wrong reason, his production genius. His real genius was marketing. We think he was able to cut his selling price and therefore sell millions of $500 cars because his invention of the assembly line had reduced the costs. Actually he invented the assembly line because he had concluded that at $500 he could sell millions of cars. Mass production was the result, not the cause of his low prices.” – Theodore Levitt, The Marketing Imagination
Need I say more?
Devious Plans for World Domination
How’s 2012 going for you so far? I hope your plans are big ones! Big visions are what leads to big breakthroughs. Why settle for small progress?
What if your goal was to rule entire planet? What would it take to pull that off?
While world domination is not in my schedule for this year, ask your favorite conspiracy theorist and he’ll be more than happy to describe who is plotting a global takeover and exactly how they plan to do it with minute detail.
Conspiracy theorists are usually written off as paranoid nutcases with too much time on their hands. But have you ever noticed not fiery adherents of any particular theory get when expressing their ideas? How loyal they are to their chosen “whistleblowers?” Could you stand to have some of these kinds of followers?
I don’t have a figure for how much money is floating around in the conspiracy theory space, but some people build full-blown careers out of it, Alex Jones possibly being the most notable example.
As business people and communicators, there are numerous lessons we can learn from how the “good” theorists operate. Let’s look at two major takeaways today.
(Note: For the record, I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I’m not saying real conspiracies never take place…)
Dramatic Characters
No one can deny that the people who concoct these vast conspiracy theories are dramatic personas. They tend to have intriguing pasts; they used to perform experiments in Area 51, or they worked in a secret office at the Federal Reserve. Because of their experience, they’ve become privy to information that is being concealed from the rest of us regular citizens.
There’s a good chance that there have been attempts to kidnap or even assassinate them to silence their voices.
These whistleblowers take a passionate stand against the bad guys (whoever they might be) and against secrecy. They stand passionately for truth and for the good of the population at large (or at least those who will listen).
Are you or your business passionate advocates for your customers and clients? Do people in the market for what you offer see you taking a strong stand for their good? Are you boldly standing against their enemies and anything that might endanger their well-being?
Are you revealing information clients need, but can’t get anywhere else? Are you telling them the truth when no one else has the guts to?
This sort of pathos is uncommon. It will anger a lot of people. But you will also attract more committed followers than you could ever get otherwise. You’ll definitely be harder to ignore.
Intense, Comprehensive Stories
It’s nearly impossible to find stories with more intricate detail than good conspiracy theories. They dive deep into the shadows of events and organizations we don’t fully understand, uncovering clues of hidden agendas. They paint pictures illustrating the reality behind the mysterious. They answer unsolvable questions, point out inconsistencies and point fingers at people we know (but don’t really know). Breaking news meets secret history.
Controversy is appealing. Mystery is magnetic. These narratives take our curiosity and run. You almost have to question everything you thought you knew.
And they cover all their bases. Claiming George Washington was a Martian invader won’t cut it. They provide extensive “documentation” to prove it! Then they explain all the implications of those facts.
Are you making big statements that call into question harmful myths that are hurting your audience? Are you appropriately controversial?
Do you add proof elements and “documentation” to back up the claims you make about your business? Do you offer complete solutions and have answers for any questions your customers might want to know?
Do you have a well-thought out, customer-centric company narrative, culture and/or value system?
Conspiracy theories also create a scary bad guy, or at least define exactly who the bad guy is. They channel paranoia, distrust and anger toward this source of evil. Having an enemy is a powerful motivator. Assembling a group around a common enemy creates an incredible bond. Think of the Cold War. Every American knew who the enemy of world peace and progress was: communism, most clearly expressed in the Soviet Union. The culture and many of the policies of the entire nation were shaped by the fear and hatred of the enemy.
Americans also knew the threat posed by this enemy: nuclear war. That’s what was at stake.
Who or what is the “bad guy” your audience is up against? It could be something like a lack of respect they face in the marketplace or a difficulty getting clients. It could be a governmental policy that’s bleeding them dry.
What is the threat this enemy poses? What’s at stake for them? Bankruptcy? Heart attack? Embarrassment when speaking in public? Don’t be afraid to attack the bad guy! You can be the knight in shining armor, helping your customers fight off their foes and protect them from their version of nuclear war.
Most of your peers promote their products and services like this: “We are Acme Co. We sell anvils and dynamite to coyotes like you.” But Wile E. doesn’t want anvils and explosives. He wants to finally catch that slippery Road Runner and have a tasty meal. How much more interesting would their message be if they talked about that?
Think about it.
Maple Syrup Marketing Trick
I haven’t had maple syrup in a very long time, and I’m willing to bet that you haven’t either, no matter how often you eat pancakes or waffles.
The American companies that make syrup aren’t being very upfront about this fact.
I didn’t realize it, but the syrup I’d been using for the longest time is imitation maple syrup. There isn’t one drop of real maple in it. After a follow-up investigation at the grocery store, I found that the same seems to be true about all the popular brands.
How long has this been true? Why didn’t anyone tell me?
Real maple syrup (the stuff that comes out of trees) is available, but it’s three times more expensive.
Now, I don’t suppose there’s anything wrong with selling a knock-off as long as you’re honest about it. But like I mentioned, not everyone sees the value in honesty. Observe:
See what they did? A little mind trick. This brand is for sale at Aldi stores.
This particular syrup maker chose the name “Aunt Maple’s” so they could sell “Maple’s” syrup. Rather than saying “Maple-flavored” they chose “Original” and stuck the word at the bottom of the label.
Sneaky!
This tactic reminded me of one used by a student of Gary Halbert to increase the readership and credibility of his newspaper advertisements.
If you ever look at magazines and newspapers, even search engine results, you’re familiar with the “Advertisement” label that tells readers what is editorial content and what’s an ad.
One marketer innovated a clever way to make his paid ads look like regular articles (Joe Polish goes into detail about the concept here). Take a look:
Using what are obviously ads, he created a buffer between the advertorial piece and the “Paid Advertising” label. This technique improved the response to the ad by an impressive 750%.
Perception is powerful.
I was upset to find out that the syrup makers pulled a fast one on me. (Maybe I should have been mad at myself for not noticing sooner) Dishonesty is not something I advocate, but it’s hard to be mad at the creative approach they’re taking to position their product in the minds of consumers as real.
Do you need to improve your customers’ perception of the products/services you’re marketing?
I’d love to talk with you about it.
Are These 8 Copy Mistakes Ruining Your Website?
1. Hype. I strongly advise online businesses to make the strongest claims about their products and services that they can honestly deliver. But remember, big claims demand big proof.
The excessive use of exclamation points, generic adjectives (e.g. “awesome” or “epic”) and hard-to-believe promises (like anything in the “get rich quick” category) can scare away more prospects then they attract.
2. Clichés. While it’s important to talk to your customers in language that resonates with them, clichés can hurt the effectiveness of your copy. They may be evidence of laziness and a lack of creativity on the part of the writer.
Visitors to your website are looking for a new solution to their problem. It’s essential that your offering is clearly differentiated from the competition. Clichés often blend in rather than stand out.
3. Obviously ripped-off copy. This is a major turn-off. Your potential customers do a lot of research; they shop around. If they see the same sales copy on 2 or 3 or 6 different websites, their chances of buying are low.
4. Unfocused writing. Find out what your customers want. Then show/tell them why you’re uniquely qualified to help them get it. Drive that point home.
Going off on unrelated tangents is usually a bad idea.
5. Being boring. I can’t say it any more clearly than one of the forefathers of modern advertising, Claude Hopkins:
“Always bear these facts in mind. People are hurried. The average person worth cultivating has too much to read. They skip three-fourths of the reading matter, which they pay to get. They are not going to read your business talk unless you make it worth their while and let the headline show it.
“People will not be bored in print. They may listen politely at a dinner table to boasts and personalities, life history etc. But in print they choose their own companions, their own subjects. They want to be amused or benefited. They want economy, beauty, labor savings, good things to eat and wear.”
6. Selling too many things. Studies have proven time after time that too many choices lead to paralysis. Visitors can’t click your Buy Now button with a paralyzed finger. Sell one thing at a time.
If you have several products or services, make it as simple as possible for visitors to immediately find what they’re looking for.
7. Too many mistakes. Run-on sentences, spelling and grammar errors, and overall lack of attention to detail can ruin a sale. They show a lack of professionalism (that’s a nice way of saying mistakes can make you look really dumb).
It always helps to have a second pair of eyes to proofread. There’s also software that will read the text out loud, Sometimes you can hear the mistakes you missed visually.
8. Talking over your reader’s head. Using technical jargon, big or obscure words or complicated sentence structures will alienate readers. Why should the reader have to work hard to understand what youre saying? If your competitor enables his customers to read and buy without having to think too hard, who do you think will get more sales?
This is by no means a comprehensive list. But anyone who follows this advice will save themselves from a lot of problems with the copy on their websites.
My Secret Society
When people say to me, “the economy sucks,” I ask them, “Whose economy?”
That’s not to say that time aren’t hard: they most certainly are. But not everyone is suffering. (Hence the Occupy movement.)
Rather than curse the macro-ecomony, you’ll get much better results focusing on improving your personal economy.
To that end, I’m teaming up with a group of 6 brilliant entrepreneurs to deliver a series of webinars and teleseminars designed to help you give your business the boost you need to make 2012 your best year yet.
You may already recognize some of the names: Mike Seddon, Ian Brodie, Dov Gordon, Bnonn Tennant, Bill Silverman, and Steve Washer. These are some of the smartest business minds I know. I’m blessed to have the opportunity to mastermind with them periodically.
Now I want to share their knowledge and expertise with you.
Visit The Magnificent Seven Ride to find out more about my colleagues and our upcoming presentations.
You won’t want to miss these. We’ll be covering topics such as:
- video marketing
- conversion rate optimization
- creating consistent flows of customers
- pay per click advertising
- persuasion
- and more.
I’m signed up to attend all 6 of the sessions. Well, 7 if you count mine.
Hope to see you there!
The Strongest Incentive
Curiosity is one of the strongest of all human incentives. Once it’s been aroused, we can hardly sleep until we satisfy it.
How can you add curiosity to your business, product, or service? To your marketing message?
Have you ever heard of the Zeigarnik effect? It’s a psychological phenomenon that can boost your persuasiveness. When people are given incomplete information, such as a story that is cut off before the end, the brain feels a strong need to “close the loop.”
This is why television shows and movies use cliffhanger endings. The audience just has to know what’s going to happen next.
Using the Zeigarnik effect is effective in both marketing and in-person selling situations. When you make a unique claim, make the person who reads or hears wonders “How is that possible? How can she do that?” (Copywriters often call these “can’t-do-it” bullets or fascinations.) Their curiosity will compel them to find out the answer. Now, instead of chasing clients, they are coming to you, wanting to hear what you have to say.
That’s much stronger positioning.
But this doesn’t mean that you embrace ambiguity. That will have the opposite effect. You want your readers, hearers and viewers to know exactly what you’re talking about. That’s what makes the information interesting and relevant to them. Build curiosity around how and/or why.
The information has to be specific, relevant and unique. If it is too vague, it won’t be important enough for them to want to find out about. If it’s irrelevant, who cares? If the claim isn’t unique, or if the missing portion is too predictable, the curiosity disappears.
(More on how to avoid this costly mistake in the video below)
Take for example one of the longest-running advertising headlines in history: “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?” Anyone who wanted to speak intelligently 80 years ago (when this ad was written) was overcome by curiosity.
You can’t read that headline without wanting to learn more. This question implies there’s a strong possibility that the reader could be making embarrassing mistakes without realizing it. The word “These” indicates there are specific mistakes you could be making. It’s hard for your brain to just ignore that curiosity gap.
It also implies that reading the article (or advertisement) would be the first step to fixing the problem.
So, how can you add curiosity to your marketing messages today?
April 2019 Update: In the quest for more opens and clicks, many copywriters and marketers have strayed into the danger zone of ambiguity.
I explain you why this is such a major issue in “The Cost of Cheap Curiosity.” It’s the unauthorized recording of a private call with Agora Financial.