MarketingMoment

The lead article in MediaMinister’s latest newsletter, Communiqué for Success, shows you how to get the ‘X factor’ for your business and ensure that YOUR products or services stay in demand. To read, please sign up first. (You can unsubscribe at any time, and I NEVER abuse my subscriber’s email address. Your details are safe with me.)

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The lead article in MediaMinister’s latest newsletter, Communiqué for Success, is a must-read before you waste any more time or money running poor-performing ads! It will also give you some ideas of getting more out of your marketing materials. 
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The lead article in MediaMinister’s latest newsletter, Communiqué for Success, is entitled, “The Most Crucial Business Skill of Them All”. To read, please sign up first.

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According to an interview with Kelly Goto, author of Web ReDesign 2.0: Workflow that Works, the three most common website re-design mistakes are:

1. Failing to hire someone specifically to write the content.
2. Not having a clearly defined brand ‘vision’.
3. Having no, or inefficient, specific measurable goals.

It never ceases to amaze me how a company can spend a fortune on flash design, but will bear little regard for the actual content.

The thing is, while a flash intro page is often pretty to look at, the search-engine spiders usually just pass it by. Yet if that page was full of relevant, quality copy, they would no doubt pick up key words and phrases and rank them in the engines.

You really can’t put a high enough monetary value on good writing. And to get that, you have to either have or bring in someone who has the necessary experience and skills. This applies whether you are creating a website from scratch or vamping up an existing one.

One essential tip for creating effective content is to imagine your ideal customer saying, “So what?” and “What’s in it for me?” As you write, be sure to answer both.

Whatever you do, don’t get so engrossed in describing your business, products and features that you fail to appeal to the visitor specifically.

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I’m often asked if my blog works on a business level, and whether it’s “worth it” in the short and long term.

I say yes! For me, keeping a blog works on several different levels. As well as being good for business (some clients have found me via my blog), it helps to keep up the traffic on my main website . There’s also the all-important creative element – as a writer, it’s important to find some creativity in everyday writings. Well, you could sometimes call my writing more of a rambling, but I do try.

With MarketingMoment, my aim is to combine revealing the core of who I am with good, solid content that is useful for those times when one thinks, “Help! I need new business – and fast!”

To make it worthwhile, I’d say you really need to be posting to your blog at least once per week. Ideally more. (I initially aimed for 2-4 posts per week, but soon found that running two businesses and wearing all hats for each meant that I had to settle for a more realistic 1-3 posts per week.) And for ideas for your blog, keep in mind your target market at all times.

Remember: there is no business with customers. And a blog helps you attract and keep in touch with current and potential customers.

What about you? Do you have a blog? If so, why, and how is it for you?

Possibly related posts:

• Does More Equal Less?
• Blogging IS Big Business
• English Corner: Which Is It?

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The trick to writing flyers that sell is to keep it simple. But not too simple. Many people think (wrongly) that they can get away with printing up just a workshop title, venue, date and maybe the main tutor, say. I’m sorry to say that, unless you are the workshop equivalent to Pink Floyd or Prince, the orders ain’t gonna come flooding in. 

What you need to do is engage in a dialogue with your readers, understand where they’re coming from and what their needs are, explain why you’re writing to them, recommend a solution… And all in under 150 words or less.  

So be sure to choose every word carefully.  Adapted from “How to Create Flyers that Stop Prospects in their Tracks“, first published in the 30th of April edition of MediaMinister’s newsletter, CfS. 

To read the full article and gain *hidden links* to recent CfS newsletter editions, you’ll have to become a subscriber. (That’s a good thing, by the way, or so CfS readers tell me!) As well as being FREE, you’ll receive a business-building report and audio CD that can dramatically improve sales simply for signing up and trying it out.  

Subscribe here. 

Recent CfS newsletter issues cover:

• 5 Ways to Get ANY Business Out of a Slump
• How to Get People to Buy From You
• Create a Buzz for Your Business With Twitter
• Can the X Factor Help Your Business?
• Be a Client Magnet
• Recession-Proof Your Business
• Stand Apart from ‘Me-Too’ Competitors
• Stop! Don’t Post that Letter!
• Common Mistakes that Can Kill Business
• The Most Important Action You Can Take For Your Business This Year 

Subscribe here.   

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In keeping with the current global economic meltdown, I have decided NOT to raise my copywriting, marketing, PR and editing/proofreading fees.

Instead, MediaMinister.co.uk will deliver the same valued-added service at 2008 prices to help clients continue to generate within budget the desired response from professionally crafted communications.   

So whether it’s business writing, staff communications, tenders and proposals, marketing material or publicity you’re after, you can now make your budget go further without diluting your results.

For the time being, all prices for my revenue-boosting tools and laser-focused “do-it-yourself” kits will be frozen, too. 

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A press release that generates a one-page article in a high-circulation publication is worth more than six times the value of equivalent advertising space. However, less than 50 per cent of press releases ever get printed — much less lead to interviews, articles or sales. There are many reasons for this, but the most obvious one is sloppy copy. It is the kiss of death for any business or author.

If your copy lacks sparkle, a professional feel or is chockfull with errors, it might confuse your target reader at best. He or she WILL certainly think that you are either partially illiterate or remarkably inconsiderate, and will immediately form a negative impression of you. Your credibility is lost — and so is your news release; off it promptly goes, straight into the ‘circular file’ (aka bin). 

Even a single spelling or grammatical error can destroy everything. So do make sure you thoroughly read through and check ALL your copy before publishing it or sending it out to your target market. But do not rely on your computer’s spellchecker: this has been proven to miss even the most obvious of errors. 

Remember, sloppy copy = bad publicity. Will yours make a positive impression?

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The lead article in the latest issue of MediaMinister’s Communiqué for Success offers plenty of ways to prospect more effectively — whether you are ready to mix it with the champions’ league of business, or simply want to have a leg up on the competition.

To read the full article and gain *hidden links* to recent CfS newsletter editions, you’ll have to become a subscriber. (That’s a good thing, by the way, or so CfS readers tell me!) As well as being FREE, you’ll receive a business-building report and audio CD that can dramatically improve sales simply for signing up and trying it out.

Subscribe here.

Recent CfS newsletter issues cover:

• Create a Buzz for Your Business With Twitter
• Can the X Factor Help Your Business?
• My Five (Business) Mistakes from 2008 — and How You Can Profit From Them
• Be a Client Magnet
• Recession-Proof Your Business
• Stand Apart from ‘Me-Too’ Competitors
• Stop! Don’t Post that Letter!
• Common Mistakes that Can Kill Business
• How to Bolster Trust on Your Website
• Just How Believable Are You?
• …and much, much more that you really can’t afford to miss out on if you are serious about making it in business.

Subscribe here.

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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.

The return on investment (ROI) from email has always surpassed other channels. And, despite the best efforts of saboteurs such as spammers, it seems set to do so for the foreseeable future, according to a new report from the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

Email’s ROI in 2008 was $45.06 (currently £31.94) for every dollar spent on it, according to the DMA’s annual ”Power of Direct” economic impact study. This compares to $48.34 in 2007, and a projected $43.52 in 2009.

Yet despite these encouraging figures, a new survey by Emailvision reveals that far too many email marketers continue to make simple — and costly mistakes.

“In today’s economy, return on investment has never been more important as marketing spend is now analysed and questioned by senior stakeholders,” said Nick Gold, UK managing director at Emailvision, an email marketing software-on-demand provider.  

“Companies can’t afford to be making such simple mistakes and missing potential sales. The fundamental aims of any campaign should be high deliverability, targeted mailing, maximum click-through rates and basic personalisation — don’t let the email be the reason customers go elsewhere.”

What’s more, as competition for the all-important inbox increases more quickly than consumer spending, email relevance and targeting is more important than ever before. So be sure to offer your email recipients products and information they would be interested to hear about. And be selective with your email timings. Don’t just send straight promotional messages every other day. Rather, cut back on the mail-out frequency and give your readers a little bit extra — news they can use, tips and tricks, etc.

In short, get to know and then delight your subscriber list for the best ROI. For now is an ideal time to improve your overall email marketing strategy.

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