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As this is my first post of 2012, I have to officially say … HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that this year proves to be the happiest and most successful year yet…

With a new year ahead of us, now is the perfect time to re-evaluate your business and mark out areas for improvement. In terms of your advertising and marketing copy, that could mean giving it a boost with a re-vamp. Sometimes, the smallest changes can yield the biggest results.

As for other areas, this week’s article may help. It’s the second part of an old favourite and you can find it here.

I hope you enjoy reading it, and please do post any questions in the comments box below … or, indeed, any other insights that may help other readers. Thank you.

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For this week’s main article, I want to turn back the clock to a feature I originally wrote for MediaMinister’s newsletter, Communiqué for Success. Although a few years have passed since, it is still as relevant now as it was then.

The two-part article takes a look at ten of the major lessons learned in marketing, and how they can help ANY entrepreneur or business-owner when the calendar turns to the next year.

You can read part one here.

I hope you enjoy reading it, and please do post any questions in the comments box below … or, indeed, any other insights that may help other readers. Thank you.

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You own a business. You want it to succeed (hopefully!). Your competitors (and there are plenty of them, mark my word) are constantly fighting for a share of the same market niche. And it’s getting tougher out there . . . So how do you ensure that YOUR products or services stay in the limelight?

The following article is one that I first wrote several years ago, but is as relevant now as it was then. It shows you how to get the ‘X factor’ for your business. Something that’s increasingly important in an increasingly tough business landscape. I hope you enjoy - and benefit from - reading it.

* * * * * * * * * *

This weekend I couldn’t help but turn on the TV set just in time to watch the inaugural episode of the latest series of The X Factor (I know, I know, but I am sure there is a hidden alto in me!). When one crushed hopeful stood on the stage and listened to what Simon Cowell had to say about his performance, I, well cringed more than usual.

This heartbroken contestant had just been told to jack it in. He’d tried out on another popular signing contest about six years prior, where he’d met then-fellow contestant and and most recent The X Factor judge Cheryl Cole. He didn’t make it then, either.

She, on the other hand, went on to join one of the world’s most successful girl band ever, Girls Aloud. And now this unfortunate chap was told that while he can sing OK, he simply does not have the ‘X factor’.

So what is that elusive ‘X factor’ and how it can help you attract more clients (and sales) to your business?

A Starring Role For Business?

On the hit TV show, it refers to a rare something extra that can’t be manufactured or bought. It’s that elusive, likeability ’star’ quality possessed by only a few . . . something that draws us to them . . . and takes them to the very top of their careers.

How does this apply to business (and, more importantly, YOUR business)?

Well, most of us have heard about the mysterious ‘X factor’ that will take our businesses to the next level. We all have one, whether we know it or not. There is something unique about each and every one of us, and each and every business.

You just have to discover what it is.

And there’s the rub. Most marketing managers and business owners do not know what it is about their business that makes it stand apart. They never find that elusive ‘X factor’.

Who Cares?

When I asked one of my mentoring clients, a life coach, why her business was different to the plethora of other life-coaching organisations, she replied: “I care. That’s what makes me special.”

Clearly, she’s very passionate about what she does, but like I said: “All life coaches care about their clients. That’s the very nature of what they’re about.”

“No, but you don’t understand, I REALLY care about my clients!” she retorted.

In the end, we worked out her USP (unique selling proposition) and she went on to attract not only more clients, but also more of the type of clients she prefers to work with.

Stand Apart From the Competition

Also known as the ‘point of difference’, the USP was coined by Rosser Reeves in the 1950s and later made popular by marketing genius Jay Abraham. It points to what it is about what your business, product or service that makes you stand out from your competitors.

Like it or not, every business has competition. So it goes without saying that it is incredibly important to your bottom line to be able to stand head and shoulders above them and offer your clients something that they don’t.

Everyone can ‘cold-brew’ beer. But the first company to offer ‘ice’ brews stood out - and made a small fortune, to boot.

What They Really, Really Want

What about you? Why should people choose YOU over your competitors? Worse, what if there really is nothing that differentiates you from everyone else — what do you do, then?

To get your USP, think about what it is about your product or service that makes your customers’ lives infinitely better. And if that’s too difficult, think about what your customers really, really want.

For the life coach I mentioned earlier, the majority of her clients wanted lasting, positive change. Some of them wanted to change careers. Others wanted to get out of a relationship rut. And still others wanted to take control of their finances.

Once you have pinpointed your customers’ ultimate wants or needs, you simply tie that into your USP. For example, if you’re a search engine-optimisation specialist, your clients would obviously want to achieve top-ranking results for their businesses or websites in the search engines. And let’s say you can not only help them do that, but can also prove you’ve helped clients achieve a number one spot on the biggest search engine, Google, in a few weeks. So your USP could be: “Getting you the #1 spot on Google in just 2 weeks.”

When you have honed your own ‘X factor’ — ideally boiled down to one short, compelling sentence — be sure to use it in ALL your advertising and marketing materials, including on your website, and also when you introduce your business to people. As well as being a powerful marketing tool, your USP will help create a brand in your prospects eyes - IF it is used often enough.

One final thought: Offer that all-important proof whenever possible . . . and ALWAYS deliver on any promises made with your USP.

By Tracey Dooley, Copywriter | Creative Consultant

Got your USP nailed down but having a difficult time marketing it? Then consider a ‘power coaching’ session. I can give you everything you need to know to create a compelling USP, positioning statement or marketing message that will appeal to the best customers for you — plus LOTS of other crucial techniques to help you fill your sales pipeline. You can read more about my marketing consulting programmes — including one-off sessions — at:

www.business-marketing-advice.mediaminister.co.uk

(Why struggle needlessly when you can get expert help and/or affordable mentoring and have fun accelerating your sales through credibility?)

(C) 2008-11 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

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Anyone involved in a small business will tell you the truth: boy, it can be tough. As business-owners, we’re often so busy wearing many different hats and working IN our businesses that it can be nigh on difficult to find the time to work ON our businesses — that is, strategically add business growth.

And yet increasing the profitability of your business needn’t take up much time. What’s more, it can reward you rather well . . . IF you know what to concentrate on. 

There are two areas of profitability that most business professionals overlook (no matter whether we’re talking offline or online). As a result, they end up out of pocket. And we’re talking big money. Money that could have easily been coming in for just a few hours’ work.

Key Performance Indicators

Before we get to the actual KPIs (key performance indicators), let’s take a quick look at what a KPI is. A key performance indicator is a measure of performance that allows you to monitor the ‘health’ and therefore profitability of your business. KPIs can show you how effective your marketing, PR and sales campaigns are at any given time, but especially over the longer term.

The main value of any KPI is to allow you to take corrective action before it’s too late. So, for example, if your KPIs are indicating a downward trend, then you should make practical changes to your campaign[s] to turn around the situation. If you ignore your KPIs, then you are simply wasting valuable business resources . . . not least your money.

The KPI that most businesses get wrong is their conversion rate.

Many small-business owners think their conversion rates are much higher than they actually are. So it’s a good idea to accurately measure (or start measuring) your conversion rates.

How do you do that?

Simple. It’s just a question of totting up the number of people who respond to any given marketing or sales message. It might be the number of website visitors who complete an online survey, for example.

What Does Your Conversion Rate REALLY Mean? 

Another example is newsletter subscriptions. Suppose you publish a monthly ezine (and I strongly recommend you do, at least once monthly). All you need do is to divide the number of people who have subscribed to your online newsletter/ezine by the number of unique visitors that viewed your ezine registration page. That will give you your conversion rate. To make it really easy, I suggest you use your web host’s analytics program or try Google Analytics, which won’t cost you a penny if you install it yourself.

By the way, don’t just measure your conversion rates; instead, you need to ANALYSE what they really mean to you and your business. For example, consider the following statement:

“The conversion rate for our top 10 key words has increased considerably in the last two months.”

So what? What does that mean, exactly? Nothing, really. It gives facts, but not SPECIFICS. But if we change that statement to:

“Our pay-per-click (PPC) campaign is converting at least three out of every 10 visitors, and we should re-allocate funds to the top seven keywords that show the most promise.”

Do you see the difference? The latter statement is helpful; it gives arecommendation for ACTION.

Small Changes, Big Results

Here are some other tactics you can try to increase your results:

* Change your offer to make it more attractive.

* Create a follow-up system for ‘unconverted’ prospects AND communicate with them on a regular basis.

* Improve your sales skills or train up your team.

* Offer a free trial and/or a solid guarantee.

What’s the point? Well, apart from all that I’ve said so far (you have been listening, haven’t you?!), you can significantly increase your revenue and even your average order value.

Let’s look at some figures:

What’s 200 unique sales with an average order value of £100? Exactly £20,000.

Sounds like a lot, right? It is.

But let’s say that those 200 new customers came from a marketing campaign that attracted 5,000 leads. That means just 200 of those turned into actual customers. With that your conversion rate is just 1 in 25, or 4%.

So what would happen, then, if you put in place some of the measures above and increased your rate ever so slightly from, say, 4% to 7%?

Your customer numbers would jump to 300, which would end up bringing in an extra £10,000 in sales, or a total of £30,000 (instead of £20,000).

And if you managed to tweak your campaign so it produced a 30% response rate (possible), instead of the original 4%, then you would be seeing 1,500 new customers and a substantial £130,000 increase in sales. That’s a total of £150,000.

Hopefully, you can see just how important this KPI can be to your bottom line.

Increased Sales Transactions

Now let’s take a quick look at another important business metric. By doing making one or more seemingly insignificant changes, I’m going to show you just how easy it can be to increase youraverage order value from £100 to £120.

For the purposes of this exercise, I’m going to assume you have already put in place some measures to increase your conversion rates and while a 30% increase is more than achievable with the right strategy, we’ll use the more conservative 6% conversion rate. That means your customer numbers are currently sitting at 300 with a total revenue of £30,000.

When you increase your average transaction value from £100 to £120 your revenue leaps to £36,000 — a healthy 80% increase from the £20,000 starting figure.

Or, to put it another way, an extra £16,000 in your pocket.

Please don’t mistake these kind of results as pure hyperbole. One of my clients has experienced some incredible results by cross-selling other products to their customers. And another business-owner is doing well since I helped implement a ’suggestive (aka soft) selling’ campaign.

So what can YOU do?

Here are some ideas to get you started:

* Up-sell to a more premium-priced package before the order takes place — for example, you might offer a gold’ and ’silver’ option, where you communicate the value of upgrading to the more expensive gold package.

* Offer a ‘bounce-back’ — that is, a follow-up offer, often presented as a time-limited discount or voucher, that is sent to the customer just after the sale.

* Cross-sell other services or products that complement what you’re selling. These can be your own or those of a joint-venture/alliance partner.

* Increase your prices by a nominal amount. I suggest 10-20%.

* Create great-value ‘bundle’ packages.

These are just some ideas that will hopefully get those creative juices started. There are others that may be more suited to your business model. The point is to try at least one of the above initiatives . . . and do it well. KPIs were developed for a reason. Use them.

By Tracey Dooley, Copywriter | Creative Consultant

Need help implementing some of the above ideas, or want to work with me to discover how your marketing can get better results with minimal effort? My mentoring programmes can help you start off — and keep you — on the right track:

www.business-marketing-advice.mediaminister.co.uk

(Why struggle needlessly when you can get expert help and/or affordable mentoring and have fun accelerating your sales through credibility?)

(C) 2010-11 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

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You may THINK you have the best product known to man (and woman)kind, but why is it then that you keep losing sales to a competitor with a weaker product that is more expensive?

How about the last time someone said, “Your client list is really impressive. We’ll definitely get back to you,” but never did?

Losing what should, by all accounts, be sure-fire, dead-cert sales can make even the most veteran of salespeople a little, well, bewildered. 

“What went wrong?” they ask, scratching their heads. Often, it’s the seemingly minor things that make all the difference…

Here are five ways you may be leaving money on the proverbial table — and what you can do to turn things around:

1. You Fail to Grab Attention

A poor advertisement will pull in more sales than a great one IF it is better targeted. By that I mean, knowing your buyer well enough to write a headline that calls out directly to her. Writing a headline is easy, but does yours REALLY want to make your prospects take notice and want to know more?

Most people sum up a story or list a feature in their headlines. But a headline that is too general or bland will not stand out or get noticed. To be effective, it should be specific to your audience. Try incorporating a benefit that will entice your readers to read on. Or ask a question, state a startling fact or statistic (backed up in the rest of your copy), or create some kind of intrigue.

Again, it all boils down to knowing what your customers want. An easy way to determine this is to survey your existing customers to see what attracted them to buy from you in the first place.

2. You Merely Inform, Rather than Build Desire

Desire is one of the most powerful motivators of all. Think about it, we all want to feel loved and accepted. Most of us want to do better, feel better, be better . . .  and will press that ‘order now’ button based on pure emotion, later justifying the purchase decision using logic.

The problem is if you don’t recognise these emotional wants and needs in your buyer profile, then you can hardly use them in your marketing message to connect with and so persuade your prospects to buy.

3. You Don’t Give People Reason to Trust You

The very act of buying can be risky, especially when done online. So you have to give prospects a reason to trust you. Offer them a money-back guarantee, if possible. Be sure you come across as authentic and professional. And certainly back up any claims you have made about your product, service or business. You can also show you walk your talk by using customer testimonials and case studies.

4. You Don’t Test Your Promotional Copy

Many people will go the trouble of writing content for their website, or copy for their sales letter, but not bother to test it. They leave it as it is. That’s fine . . .  IF it does a handsome job of selling for you. But what if it doesn’t? And even if it does, how do you know it couldn’t reap more sales?

The key to any and all advertising and marketing copy is to test, improve, and test it again. By doing so you can be sure of achieving the highest possible response rate.

5. You Fail to Ask For the Sale!

There is no point overcoming every other sales barrier, only to ignore the close. Every piece of copy should have a call to action — and every phone or face-to-face sales presentation should end by attempting to close the deal. So be sure to direct your prospects as to what they need to do next, why they need to this (what’s in it for them? What’s the big benefit?), how they need to do it, and by when.

NB: My blog post “Why People Will — and Won’t — Buy From You” lists more reasons why people aren’t buying your products or services, and gives 14 other reasons why prospects WILL become your customers. If you have any to add, or have any thoughts, please share with others in the blog post’s comments box.

http://bit.ly/ciNKLA

By Tracey Dooley, Copywriter | Creative Consultant

Not getting results? Let Tracey teach you how to write email copy that impresses the spam filters AND your readers: http:tinyurl.com/onlineROI . Having trouble with converting visitors into buyers once they get to your website? Check out Website Copywriting Secrets that Convert Web Readers into BUYERS.

(Why struggle needlessly when you can get expert help and/or affordable mentoring and have fun accelerating your sales through credibility?)

(C) 2008-11 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

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Do you believe that Carlsberg is “probably the best lager in the world”? I mean REALLY believe it? Probably not. I’m not sure I do, either. But then, truth be told, my opinion is worthless, considering I don’t drink lager, or beer for that matter.

OK, I get the joke. The “probably the best” line — first used in the 1970s and evolving in many different directions over the years — is saying that Carlsberg drinkers are successful but enjoy having a laugh at themselves. Some would say that the slogan is taking a swipe at the advertising industry as a whole.

But, as refreshing as the original slogan is, it’s a difficult claim to substantiate.

If you are going to make a bold statement such as Carlsberg’s, then surely you need to have a product that’s good enough to back it up. This, however, is a major flaw in Carlsberg’s slogan. My other, better half — a fairly keen lager drinker — is adamant that Carlsberg is NOT the best lager in the world. He doesn’t really like it. Plenty others agree, he assures me, preferring the likes of Stella, Becks, Grolsch and, for the flat and malty beer brews, Hoegaarden and Erdinger Hefe.

Feel the Difference

Consider another outlandish claim: “The best a man can get”; can you tell what it is yet?  ;0) 

Apart from putting on a blindfold and seeing if you can feel the difference between Gillette’s twin-blade swivel-head razor and, say, the equivalent from Wilkinson Sword (er, blindfolded? No thanks! Imagine the agony of all those razor cuts!), one has to guess that Gillette is simply using its market dominance to fudge over the fact that it really isn’t the best a man can get. (Is it?!)

I’d have thought a new Ferrari might arguably have the edge for most men. But not according to Gillette. Nope, give your nearest and dearest a good shave any day of the week. Even if he does prefer another brand of disposable plastic razor.

Spread the (Believable) Word

So, would YOU get away with such blatant cheek? I’m willing to bet “no”.

For a start, you’re unlikely to be the market leader in your field. (Yet.) And I’d wager that you’d rather stick the razor in your right eye than spend countless millions advertising on an ‘airless’ claim.

So you’re left with only one choice: Show your target market PROOF of how your product or service will benefit them. Provide evidence such as facts and figures, awards, testimonials, case studies and so on. You do NOT have to have millions or thousands to do this effectively. Crikey, you can even get away with a shoestring budget and make an impact . . . while maintaining your credibility.

In the 21st century, cynicism is running at all-time high. Your prospective customers are not going to believe that you have the “best” this or the “greatest” that unless you can walk your talk. Really, they are not. Not on face value, in any case.

Show, Don’t Tell

A client recently told me that her company is the “Number one choice for offering financial advice.”

“Great!” I said, with an obvious air of flippancy. “Now prove it.” (I’m a LOT nicer than this makes me sound. Really. See my client feedback, if you don’t believe me!)

When I was a journalism student, my tutor used to repeatedly say that the key to a great story was “show, don’t tell”. After all, anyone can promise the best quality, service and reliability day in, day out. But your prospects won’t believe it until they either experience it firsthand or are shown evidence of some kind.

The best writers are able to get their readers to ’see’ the story, as if a personal movie was running in the reader’s mind. Authors don’t state that the main character was afraid, for example, but instead show through description the sheer terror running through the character. This same principle can be applied to advertising and marketing.

Think carefully about the messages you are sending to your prospects. And always, always back up your claims with benefit statements, testimonials, pictures of your product in action, quotes or stats from scientific-research studies and more ‘proof’ elements.

Be ruthless — push yourself hard: Be a “yeah, yeah, right” sceptic when you read every single sentence of your marketing message (and certainly BEFORE you send it out to prospects). What can you change to make your copy almost impossible to refute?

Any business can strengthen its advertising or marketing efforts by improving the credibility of what is being said or implied. And doing so doesn’t have to cost the equivalent of a fleet of yachts. Simply foster confidence in your prospective customers’ minds and the world is your oyster. Probably. ;0)

By Tracey Dooley, Copywriter | Creative Consultant

If you’re not sure how to create your most compelling offer or marketing message in the first place, then now is the time to take action. As well as offering worksheets and home-study tools, I can give you profit-multiplying advice and pointers on things you can do straight away to attract new business with my Powerfully Effective Marketing sessions. 

(Why struggle needlessly when you can get expert help from a seasoned copywriter?)

(C) 2008-11 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

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Copywriting master John Carlton is renowned for obsessing over every single word he writes, especially when it comes to headlines, which are key to any marketing campaign’s success.

Is he paranoid about using the wrong word? No. Just smart. Because it can take just one word change here and there to boost the responsiveness of your advertising or marketing efforts –– doubling, tripling or even quadrupling your sales or opt-ins.

Professional copywriters know this and, in order to truly understand what makes consumers ‘tick’, will therefore test their headlines, pre-heads, lead sentences and paragraphs, etc, in the market place. Of course, a good copywriter will only test one change or ‘variable’ at a time.

If you’re not testing your copy, and that includes website content as well as ‘offline’ copy, then you should be. Start by making small improvements to your copy today, and then test each variable to see which pulls best.

By Tracey Dooley, Copywriter | Creative Consultant

Mind a Blank? Pushed for Time? Lost for Words? Try Tracey Dooley at MediaMinister: 

http://www.mediaminister.co.uk

(Why struggle needlessly when you can get expert help from a seasoned copywriter?)

(C) 2007-11 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

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Whenever I tell people what I do, the word ‘copywriting’ typically draws a blank face. If I follow up with the words “writing marketing and advertising material” there’ll be a flicker of recognition. Yet copywriting is a much, much bigger area, covering a large and rather impressive range of communications, including, but by no means limited to:

• advertorials
• annual reports
• brochures
• ebooks
• ezines
• fundraising materials
• marketing materials, such as flyers, invitations, posters, etc
• press releases
• radio or TV scripts
• sales letters
• speeches
• web pages
• and more.

Put simply, copywriting is the CRAFT of writing advertisements, direct-response sales letters and other communications used to promote, market, and sell products and services. It’s about motivating customer action through (usually, written) words.

Essentially, copywriting involves the process of turning words into cash. Selling your product or service through effective language. Online, it’s the equivalent of your best salesman. Your ’shop front’, if you like.

So it is certainly worthwhile getting to know all about copywriting (or at least the basics) so you can determine whether or not you are clearly communicating the VALUE of your product or service.

Whatever form it takes, copy has two traits:

1. The author of the piece remains anonymous (there is no “by” anyone to be seen).

2. The language used attempts to persuade the reader to do, feel, or believe something. It’s writing that gets things done: making sales, building leads, stimulating interest . . . and so on.

What’s this got to with you? Put simply, copywriting is one of the most expensive skills any solopreneur or business can outsource. And, worryingly, not all copywriters are created equal: I often get asked to work my magic on copy that a client had previously paid someone else to write in the first place.

With good copywriting, however, anyone can make a connection with their customers or potential customers. A connection that ultimately results in improved business performance.

And the best part?

You can do it yourself. You don’t have to be a great writer to write or identify great copy. And when you can recognise powerful copy you are able to get your message noticed, read and responded to.

That said, you will need a firm grip on the proven copywriting principles in order to write copy that is customer-oriented and customer-motivating.

Here then are some copywriting tips to get you started:

1. Before you write one single word of copy it’s essential that you define your product or service. This is so that you can appropriately appeal to and connect with your target audience. You do this by listing all the features and benefits of what it is you’re selling or offering, and then focusing on a one or several of the strongest ones.

2. Headlines sell. That’s a fact. So make sure you include a strong headline, and write it from your prospective customer’s point of view, not your own.

3. Make ample use of one of the most magical words you can use in advertising, marketing, promotional, or web copy . . . the word “you”.

4. Avoid ‘patting self on the back’ copy at all costs.

5. Ideally, your copy should address at least one of the six main human ‘motivators’: duty, gain/greed, love, pride, self-indulgence, and self-preservation.

6. Make sure you answer the WIIFM proposition. No matter how diplomatically you put it, there’s only question that your readers will be interested in: “What’s in it for me?” Or, rather, what’s in it for your reader? Why should your readers listen to you? Successfully answering that question can go a long way toward establishing a positive relationship, and help get your copy read — and acted upon.

7. Use specific, powerful and — most important of all — genuine customer testimonials (make sure you get permission first) to back up your claims.

8. Use the active rather than passive voice. In other words, make your subject do things rather than have things done to him or her. The copy reads more dynamically that way.

9. Follow the AIDA rule: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.

10. Overlook the grammar rules you learned at school. Instead, use sentence fragments, split infinitives, and contractions to make your copy more conversational in tone.

11. Don’t forget the ‘call to action’ – what do you want the reader to do after reading your copy? Ask! Better still, tell them.

So there you have it: As well as dramatically reducing your marketing costs, being able to recognise the fundamentals of effective copy will help ensure your message is something that prospects will want to read . . . and ACT upon.

By Tracey Dooley, Copywriter | Creative Consultant

Want More Detailed Step-by-Step Help, With Examples You Can Model? See my quick-start audio programme, “Better Writing Skills 101 - Write Your Way to Blockbuster Results and BOOST Business to Boot“: 

http://snipr.com/10sq8m

(Why struggle needlessly when you can get expert help and/or affordable mentoring and have fun accelerating your sales through credibility?)

(C) 2008-11 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

Want to use this tip (or any article, tip or post on this blog) on your website, blog, a message board or in an ezine? Not a problem! But please give credit where it’s due. You MUST include copyright info above, along with the following:

Tracey Dooley is a freelance copywriter, editor and marketer. She also runs KingfisherCopy.co.uk. She has spent 18-plus years crafting compelling concepts and copy that successfully sell, inform, educate or entertain. Her expertise runs across many different sectors and her client list includes marketing agencies, a leading supplier of personal computers, semi-conductors and telecommunications equipment and the UK’s largest TV and interactive production company =====>  www.mediaminister.co.uk

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AIDA is one of the most popular time-tested formulas used in writing winning ads, as well as any other piece of ‘responsive selling’ using the power of words. And that applies to both offline and online communications. The acronym stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action, and it boils down to one over-riding principle: Every single word you pen MUST be relevant to your target audience if they are to take note of and identify with what you are saying. And particularly if you wish to take your business to a new level…

Here, then, are 12 top tips to getting it right:

1. While striking visuals do get attention, perhaps the best way to attract it is via a compelling headline — that’s the hook on which your overall message is pinned. Imagine you’re in the middle of a crowded, sold-out event of some kind. You spot someone you really need to get an important message to. They can’t hear you, of course. So you shout to get their attention: “Hey, Robert!” (Obviously, in real life, I only advise doing this IF it’s an emergency, else you’ll probably get a lot of cold stares from the crowd itself!) A headline is your online or in-print equivalent. Use it wisely.

2. Use benefits, offers, news, and so on to grab that all-important attention.

3. But don’t overdo it — you really need to come across as credible.

4. No matter how skilfully you gain your audience’s attention, the real test is sustaining that interest long enough to achieve the desired result. Begin to build interest by giving your readers a good reason for reading on, then hopefully they will. So again, you focus on the NEEDS of your audience in order to get that.

5. Reinforce the promise made in your headline, or tap directly into the emotions of your reader, to build interest.

6. Never underestimate the reader’s emotive response to your words. Choose them carefully. People don’t like to be sold. Whether you’re writing a sales letter, your classified ad or your website, don’t apply pressure. Avoid phoniness, too. And certainly never lie or rely on hype to do the selling. Instead, tempt your prospects by appealing to their feelings and desires.

7. Try to make each and every one of your readers feel as if you have written your message purely for their eyes — and benefit — only. Talk to them using “you” throughout — it’s actually one of the most important words that any business can use in direct-response copy.

8. Build desire by making your offer as irresistible as possible. Your readers can’t feel or touch your product like they can in a store, for example, so you have to communicate the VALUE of your offer. Tell them HOW they will benefit and what great things they’ll get for their money. Give them the big picture of what lies ahead. Draw them into the full experience. And always, always make sure you answer the question: “What’s in it for me?” (That’s your reader, not you!)

9. Testimonials, case studies, and statistics all help build the case for credibility, and therefore boost the desire for your product/service.

10. People are lazy — or, more so these days, easily distracted. You have to literally demand action. Make sure you spell out exactly what you want them to do next and HOW. Would that be to call you? Be sure to give them the number. Should they send off for a special report? Make it obvious why they should bother.  Tell them and convince them. And make sure it is easy to apply (common sense, really).

11. It’s a good idea to recap the key message and main benefits of what you’re offering before you end your copy.

12. Above all, make sure what you write is relevant and from the reader’s point of view.

By structuring the way you approach each piece of business or direct-response copy using Aunty AIDA as a guide, the less likely you’ll start with a bang and finish with a whimper. Try it, and see for yourself. Business might just thank you for it.

Adapted from Website Copywriting Secrets that Convert Web Readers into BUYERS.

By Tracey Dooley, Copywriter | Creative Consultant

There’s always room for improvement. If you would like to improve your marketing ROI, get me to review your marketing material to add a bit of zing and power, or create copy that sells for you, just go to: http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/contact2.htm

(C) 2008 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

Want to use this article (or any article, tip or post on this blog) on your website, blog, a message board or in an ezine? Not a problem! But please give credit where it’s due. You MUST include copyright info above, along with the following:

Tracey Dooley is a freelance copywriter, editor and marketer. She has spent 18 years crafting compelling concepts and copy that successfully sell, inform, educate or entertains. Her expertise runs across many different sectors and her client list includes marketing agencies, a leading supplier of personal computers, semi-conductors and telecommunications equipment and the UK’s largest TV and interactive production company. =====>  www.mediaminister.co.uk.

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Picture by ’snigl3t’ via Flickr

Some of my clients originally came to me courtesy of their competitors! They knew the competition were doing something really well with their marketing and advertising, but didn’t know how.

Having spoken with them and researched the competition, it quickly became clear that they hired copywriters.

Hiring a professional wordsmith has been shown time and time again to be a wise investment. Dozens of companies — including Lastminute.com, Independent Newspapers, NEC, IPC Media, Holland & Barrett, Centaur Communications, National Magazine Company and FilmFour — certainly think so. And who am I to tell you any differently? I’d soon be out of work if I did!

So, have you ever hired a copywriter? Do you really need to? Yes!

All businesses – no matter what size or type – have ongoing communication needs. Think of staff newsletters, press advertisements, website content, news releases and a number of other written materials. These are all communication vehicles used to best reach targeted audiences, whether made up of your employees, partners, customers or prospective clients.

When it’s wise to bring in the professionals

“Yes, but I know how to write,” you’re thinking.

That’s great, but do you have the time? (Good, effective writing is time consuming and labour intensive.) Can you really be bothered? (You want to be free to concentrate on what you’re best at.) Even if you could, do you have the necessary skill sets to communicate your company’s message effectively to its target markets?

Let’s face it, you wouldn’t expect someone without a medical background to operate on you. A copywriter is an expert at using words to position your business favourably.

During one summer, I got a call from a client. He’s absolutely fantastic at what he does but admits he’s not writer. Even so, he reckoned he knew enough about his own product to give writing his sales brochure a shot. He called to ask me to “give it a quick once-over” and make sure there were no typos. There were a few misspellings. That didn’t worry me too much. What did was the fact that, while he had included his company’s core messages, it was all very confusing. After a re-write, he agreed that the brochure was much easier to understand.

Make the right kind of splash

Most freelance copywriters work in varying industries. However, that’s not as important as their main speciality: persuasion through language. They do more than produce copy that merely informs; they analyse the way people are in today’s changing global marketplace and craft your message in such a way that it really makes a splash. In turn, that gets the attention and sustained interest of the audience you wish to reach and prompts buyers to do just that – buy.

Even if you do get your reader’s initial interest, this age of information overload and heightened scepticism means you have to work harder to bypass the “Why should I care?” and “Yeah, right!” objections that your target markets will share. That’s where a copywriter comes in handy.

When you hire a copywriter, not only are you paying him or her to write – you are paying her to think how she can overcome any potential problems. She’ll use a selection of proven techniques that appeal to the emotions without hype so that your copy gets real results. The desirable kind that can help your business grow.

Perhaps the best thing is that you can use and pay for copywriting services only when you need them. The only time it isn’t cost-effective is when you don’t get results. Investing in a proven professional copywriter is an investment that should pay off not just once – but time and time again.

By Tracey Dooley, Creative Consultant | PR Guru | Marketing & Alliance Strategist

(C) 2007-11 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

Want to use this article (or any article, tip or post on this blog) on your website, blog, a message board or in an ezine? Not a problem! But please give credit where it’s due. You MUST include copyright info above, along with the following:

Tracey Dooley is a freelance copywriter, editor and marketer. She has spent 18 years crafting compelling concepts and copy that successfully sell, inform, educate or entertains. Her expertise runs across many different sectors and her client list includes marketing agencies, a leading supplier of personal computers, semi-conductors and telecommunications equipment and the UK’s largest TV and interactive production company. =====>  www.mediaminister.co.uk.

================================
Add my RSS feed to your reader now so you never have to miss a post.
================================

Want to use this in your ezine, blog or website? No problem! Just let me know. I’ll send you a short resource box/bio to include.