MarketingMoment

“People like to buy products and services from people and companies they like . . . Customers want you to create some kind of relationship with them,” says marketing veteran and consultant Don Debelak in his book Marketing Magic (published by Adams Media Corporation).

He goes on to list 14 reasons why people might buy from you as opposed to your competitors:

1. “Your product solves a problem that no other product solves as well.
2. “The customer perceives your product or service to possess one feature or benefit lacking in other’s products or services, and that feature is relatively important to him or her.
3. “Some people feel your product or service works best.
4. “Some people feel more comfortable using your product than others’ products.
5. “Some people feel that your product has higher quality.
6. “Some people feel that your product is the lowest-priced or the highest-value product.
7. “Some people will buy from you because they like you or like the way you do business.
8. “Your return policies, guarantess, and support are important to some people.
9. “Your product or service carries a prestige image that some customers appreciate.
10. “Your business offers a wider choice to customers.
11. “Your business location is more convenient to some customers.
12. “Some people will continue to buy from you from habit.
13. “Some people will buy from you because you always have the newest or most innovative products.
14. “Your offer a product that makes people feel goot about themselves or others, makes them look good in others’ eyes, or offers a way of showing love or appreciation.”

Perhaps you recognise some of them with your own product or service. Is there one that you can develop to use as your USP (unique selling proposition)? If you already have an USP you are happy with, maybe you can use the above to help fine-tune it so it really works in your favour.

As well as knowing why people are buying your product or service, it pays to know why they aren’t.

Debelak offers the following list:

1. “Business buyers may fear [they are] making a mistake in buying from you.
2. “Some suspects may not have developed sufficient trust in you or your product.
3. “Some suspect may perceive that your products or services are of questionable quality.
4. “Your products or services do not address an important problem of theirs.
5. “Some suspects won’t think they need your product at all.
6. “Many prospects are likely to have satisfactory relationships with one or more of your competitors.”

So you can see finding out why people won’t buy from you is just as important, if not more important, than knowing why your customers do buy from you. When you understand both sides of the coin, you can effectively set up a comfortable environment — through your promotional materials, your in-store layout, your website,  and so on — in which people are likely to buy.

================================
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.

Picture by Intersection Consulting via Flickr

People do business with people (or ‘brands’) they like and trust, and social media provides the bridge between companies and consumers. But what are the other compelling reasons for using social media? Here are the top 10:

1. It allows you to reach your target market by simply engaging in the right conversations with the right people. This can be much more effective (and a heck of a lot cheaper) than advertising.

2. You can create and build relationships with people who might not otherwise know about your products or services.

3. At least half of Facebook and Twitter users admit to being more likely to do business with a brand that uses social media than one that doesn’t.

4. You can drive high-quality traffic to your homepage/blog/other online sites via call-to-actions, and SEO (the Google search engine loves Twitter updates.

5. It allows you to learn more about, and tap into the wisdom of, your market — which ultimately leads to better positioning and therefore sales.

6. You can listen AND respond to what’s being said about your business (and your competition).

7. Social media allows people to gain a better insight into the company persona - it makes you ‘real’ to consumers.

8. It’s a tool that your ‘fans’ can use to spread positive word of mouth about you.

9. Offering help and advice related to your area of expertise/your products in a spontaneous fashion gives you authority.

10. Because your customers and competitors are using it.

Originally published in the newsletter, Communiqué for Success!

Copyright, T L Dooley. All Rights Reserved.

================================
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.

Picture by ‘Rubens LP’ via Flickr

There really is no more effective sales clincher than the words of existing clients or customers. As well as boosting your sales, good, believable testimonials can bolster your credibility — an important factor in an increasingly cynical world.

Nine times out of ten, customer testimonials, or even positive feedback on Social Media sites such as Twitter, will outsell any fact, any other ‘proof’ factor or, indeed, hype.  It works on the idea that not only are you a business to be trusted, but also if everyone else is doing something (buying your products, enlisting your services…),  then others are going to want to do it as well.

If you are going to use other people’s praises for your marketing/promotion purposes, make you get permission first.

Another thing you may want to consider is to get testimonials in formats other than the written word. For example, people call a given telephone number and their feedback is recorded to be used as an audio clip. You can even video your clients when you meet up with them (with their permission, of course!) or ask them to video themselves and send you a copy. The idea here is to have testimonials that are as authentic as can be.

At the end of the day, testimonials form some of the most low-cost, high-impact ways to gain new business. So use them!

Copyright, T L Dooley. All Rights Reserved.

================================
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.

Picture by Jack Dorsey via Flickr

Choosing a good business name is important not just for the legalities of operating a business, but also for making sure your prospective buyers choose you instead of your competitors.

Some experts say that your business name is the first thing that any potential customer will notice and is therefore more important than your sales pitch or even your end product.

I wouldn’t necessarily go that far, but it is certainly true that the name you choose will strike either the right – or wrong – tone with your potential customers.

Successful organisations don’t just invest in developing good names, they work hard to develop a brand name. Because, over time, a brand is capable of doing the selling for you…

People remember a good business name. So what does yours say about you?

A lot of ‘modern’ business names either use the name of the person (if it’s a consultant, for example), which is fine, or they play on words.

I’m not a huge fan of using a play on words in a business name. My feeling is that it doesn’t make the name any more memorable (which is presumably the intention), and it can look a little on the conceited, self-important side.

Another mistake is putting the personal element in a business name. You’d do a LOT better if you chose a name that immediately gets across what you sell or do, and perhaps how you stand apart from the competition.

Speaking personally, if I were to choose my own business name again, I would choose something that adds more of a perceived value, without being ‘cutesy’ about it.

A good business name should be short, unique, memorable, distinctive, catchy and, more importantly, easy to remember and to spell!

When you do settle on a name, make sure you do a search on the internet, just to make sure you are not unintentionally offending someone – often words translated into a different language or culture can really mean something else! Finally, make sure you always consider the legal ramifications of your chosen company name.

If you want professional help with finding and selecting the right business name, just let me know. Prices start from just £97 for up to five original names from which to choose.

Copyright, T L Dooley. All Rights Reserved.

================================
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.

Picture by Kimba Howard via Flickr

Fellow blogger Brad McCarty has a very interesting and useful post on social media, sparked by TWiT’s Leo Laporte anti-social media rant. It’s worth a read, especially if you are a fan of social media, as Brad defends its corner in a tight way.

But I think his last sentence is the key: “It’s your time, so spend it how you choose.”

Social media will work for the right people in the right circumstances, but there’s no denying that it can take time. Not just in terms of learning as much as possible about how to use each social media outlet, but also taking the time to ‘know’ your audience and give them what they want as well as work out how best to deliver it via social networking.

Moreover, I think it’s worth asking yourself what you want to get out of social media. Far too often, people jump on the bandwagon that’s carrying the latest craze without stopping to work out WHY they’re joining up in the first place.

So, if someone were to ask you what you want to get out of social media, would you know instantly?

Once you are clean on your objectives, then surely you are better placed to come up with a strategy for a better return on your investment … of time.

What do you think — is it time to re-think your own approach to social media?

================================
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 at the end of the article.

Despite the official end to the recession, the UK’s economy is still wavering and the immediate future looks anything BUT bright. So it’s little wonder if you’re feeling like most people in business; looking over your shoulder, wondering if you’re next in line to lose your job. If you own a business, then it’s likely you’re worried about the latest ’sales slump’. One thing is for sure; you can’t afford to be complacent right now. You absolutely MUST continue to market … perhaps more aggressively than ever before. (See my blog post, Business Survival Tools: Don’t Get Left Behind: http://TwitPWR.com/au6/)

The lead article in MediaMinister’s latest newsletter, Communiqué for Success, shows you how you can promote yourself in new, creative and low-cost (or F.R.E.E.) ways to bring customers through the door in ANY economy.

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.

(You can unsubscribe at any time, and I NEVER abuse my subscriber’s email address. Your details are safe with me.)

Recent CfS newsletter issues cover:

Subscribe here.

================================
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.

Picture by ‘irum” via stock.xchng

If you read copy written by someone other than a copywriter, chances are it will scream Features! Features! Features! OK, features are a very good thing indeed and, yes, readers do need to know about them. But not all of them. And NOT right up front.

Instead, you need to do what every good copywriter 
MUST do in order to educate or make the sale: turn features into benefits, and put those benefits at the beginning of your copy.

These benefits must be tied into your readers’ desires, needs and wants. So, when you solve your readers’ problems, they’ll go looking for the features — meaning they WILL bother to read the rest of your marketing message.

================================
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.

Picture by Clix via stock.xchng

According to internet marketing master Marlon Sanders, the top six ways to drive traffic to your websites are:

1. Getting affiliates to promote your products to their lists.
2. Article marketing — see http://bit.ly/9eMN3j and http://bit.ly/9KpIfn for more information.
3. Buying ads in other people’s ezines.
4. Search engine optimisation (SEO) — to generate more organic traffic.
5. Google Ad Words — and other pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
6. Banner advertising — once dismissed, now making a comeback.

Here are a few others you might want to try: joint ventures (JVs) … co-registration … social media/networking … PR … postcard marketing … blogging.

Source: Bob Bly email, 1/7/09

================================
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.

Picture by Alifarid via stock.xchng

When I used to work at the largest consumer-magazine publishers in the UK, the one thing that used to really grind away at the section editors was time-wasters. Specifically, people who would send in long, meandering, non-newsworthy or just totally unfocussed press releases. Rather than try to make sense of the tens of releases like this they would receive each day, they simply went into the ‘reject’ pile…

So if you truly wish your release to stand out and make sure it has a future, take note of the the ‘press release wish-list’:

1. Do your homework. Get to know your editor’s audience, and make your release appeal to that audience. How? By studying at least several of the latest issues of the publication in question.
2. Make sure you have something newsworthy to say. Although it sounds obvious, you’d be surprised to learn of just how many releases I saw that did not make this crucial grade.
3. Place your news at the beginning of the release, preferably in the headline or at the very least in the opening sentence.
4. Provide nuggets of information the scream “must be interviewed”. Be fresh, be original.
5. Include a short yet compelling bio (aka boilerplate) at the foot of your release. Ideally, your USP, or point of difference, should be here, too.
6. Finally, proofread your release for errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. On the magazines I mentioned earlier, if we spotted more than one error in the first paragraph, we’d throw the release in the bin (unless it was a REALLY great story). If people couldn’t take their work seriously, why should we have?

Need more structured help in finding the right story angle, hook, even publications for your release? Powerhouse Publicity – How to Profit from the Media and Get FREE Publicity is a step-by-step system offering ‘tried-tested-and-proven’ techniques that, when followed, can give you the tools to publicise you, your company, your product or service! It’s packed with facts and tips that you can start applying straight away, too.

================================
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.

[Brighton, UK, 3 June 2010] ––– MediaMinister.co.uk today launched a new service aimed at small business-owners, business executives, entrepreneurs and independent service professionals who recognise the commercial traction of social media but have neither the time, skills nor inclination to exploit it for themselves.

“Social-media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook can really put a business in the spotlight … WHEN leveraged properly,” says Tracey Dooley, owner of the boutique-style communications site MediaMinister.co.uk. “The problem for most business owners and solopreneurs is having the time or the know-how to make it work for them. That is where I come in.

“My ‘ready-made’ social-media marketing packages take the hassle and mystery out of social media and can put a business or brand firmly on the online map.”

Essentially, Tracey becomes your virtual marketing director and ghost-writer in one, learning everything she can about you or your company and, as your ‘brand ambassador’, spending her time on social networks on your behalf. It’s about helping people improve their online business visibility or simply get more out of it…

“Social media can enhance a company’s image and create favourable relationships with its target market and potential joint-venture partners. My goal is to help people create a social-media presence that is painless, engaging and defines their position within their field. Once I’m briefed, clients can simply relax and trust me to do a professional job on their behalf.”

For more information or to buy a social-media marketing package, visit:
http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/socialmedia.htm

About MediaMinister
MediaMinister specialises in providing copywriting, editorial, marketing and creative-management services to clients worldwide. Services include: writing (journalism, creative and business), marketing, editing, proofreading and consulting. For more information or to set up a free communications evaluation, visit: www.mediaminister.co.uk

About Tracey Dooley
Tracey, a Brighton & Hove-based copywriter, marketing strategist, and editorial and creative consultant, has more than 15 years’ experience providing communications and public relations counsel to local and worldwide clients. She also helps entrepreneurs, authors, publishers and FTSE 100/250 companies boost response rates and attract new customers.

================================
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.