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Archive for June, 2010


To Blog or Not to Blog? (Is that really the question?)

Monday, June 28th, 2010

It seems that everyone and his dog has a blog (And that’s not just a catch phrase. Check out http://www.dogswithblogs.com.au/ and see for yourself!). But just because “everyone else is doing it” does that mean your business should have a blog too? The real question, however, is why would you blog?

There really are some good reasons for writing a blog of your own. Here are just a few.

You establish yourself as a thought-leader. If you’re talking about an area in which you’re knowledgeable, a blog can help establish you as an expert. If you’re credible and share what you know, people will look to you for expertise.

You grab mindshare. If you are in front of your customers on a regular basis, who will they think of first when they have a problem you can solve? And if they’ve already been helped by what you’ve shared, they will be more inclined to take the next step and pay you to help them.

You take advantage of word-of mouth. We all know that word-of-mouth advertising is the best kind. If you share content that really helps people, they will pass it on. Will it “go virile” and spread like wildfire? Maybe. But that doesn’t really matter. Most businesses aren’t equipped to handle that anyway. But “friends telling friends” about how you know your stuff can make a significant impact on your business.

So should you blog? What are you hoping to accomplish? If you’d like to set yourself apart as an expert; if you’d like to grab mind share among your potential customers; and if you’d like to get people telling their friends about you, then there’s a good possibility that you should. But there are a few more key questions you should ask before you begin—and we’ll explore those next time.

Any other ideas about why it might be good to blog? Let us hear from you!

Posted in Blogging, Copywriting, Social Media | No Comments »

The Importance of Being Real

Monday, June 21st, 2010

We all want to be respected. We all want people to think we’re smart. And if you’re in business, you want your clients to look to you for expertise. Hey, it’s one of the things that keeps them coming back—right?  But nobody likes a phony. Nobody respects someone who pretends to know more than they really do. And it doesn’t take long for your customers to figure out if you’re bluffing.

It’s important to be real. It’s OK to admit that you don’t have all the answers. But just because you don’t have the answers doesn’t mean you can’t help customers or prospects. Sometimes the best advice you can give your customers is to encourage them to talk to someone else.

The way business is done has changed a lot over the last few years. Perhaps the area of marketing has seen some of the biggest changes. Traditional forms of marketing and advertising continue to have less and less impact. The emergence of the Web and Social Media dramatically impact how businesses get their message out—and move their business forward.

We try to help businesses use traditional, web-based, and social media methods of marketing. But we don’t have all the answers. That’s one reason we encourage clients to read what companies like Hubspot are saying about inbound marketing. It’s why we send tweets with links to articles about how other businesses are using social media tools. Do we run the risk of losing clients to other experts? It’s possible. But the information is helpful. And ultimately, an educated client will be a more successful client.

So get off your high horse. You don’t have to know all the answers. It’s OK to point your customers to a place where they can get better information. Chances are, they’ll thank you for it and come back to you for help in implementing it.

How are you helping your clients get better educated?

Posted in Direct Marketing, Real, Social Media, Strategy | 2 Comments »

ARE YOU A FATHEAD?

Monday, June 14th, 2010

In case you haven’t noticed, the business world has changed in the last few years. It’s not just the economy that’s troubling businesses. The fact is that the way people do business has changed. What used to work (especially with regard to marketing) doesn’t work today. What does it take to succeed in today’s marketplace? Based on what I’ve been observing and reading lately, I think it requires that you be a FATHEAD.

Here’s what I mean.

Flexible: Companies need to be flexible today. That means they can’t cling to the things that they are used to and comfortable with. It’s not about you. It’s about your clients. What are they comfortable with? The methods you use to reach your audience need to work for them.

Adaptable: This is a bit different from being flexible. This is more of an “on-the-fly” reaction and adaptation. This reflects the ability to move from one method to another. Today we constantly hear: “Print is dead”; “Advertising is dead”; “Direct Mail is dead”. Chances are (even if these things are dying) the corpse is going to twitch for a while and companies need to be able to adapt messaging to what works—or combinations of methods.

Transparent: One of the major characteristics of new, inbound marketing is that marketers need to be transparent. The fact is, that we are anyway. People (eventually) see through us and our clever schemes. And people don’t like to be tricked. They want to be treated with respect. And people don’t like it when we’re not transparent—it sends the message that we think we’re smarter than they are. Guess what? We’re not!

Honest: This is related to being transparent, but it’s even more basic. It starts with having a good product. If you lie about how good your product or service is it will become apparent pretty quickly. It also extends to making mistakes. If you make one, admit it and make it right. Don’t make promises you can’t (or don’t intend to) keep. Under-promise and over-deliver.

Empowering: Marketing today is about empowering your clients/customers—not trying to sell them something they don’t want. Consumers want to be empowered to make the right choices based on good information.

Active: You can’t just throw something out to the market and wait for the results. Today’s consumer wants to engage with other people. Your marketing messages need to be two-way conversations—not sermons. This means (among other things) asking your clients what they want and then doing something about it—including closing the loop with them.

Disciplined: If you are going to engage your clients and prospects in a new way, you need a plan—and you need the discipline to keep at it. You can’t start and then let lit lag. Having said that, don’t forget about being flexible and adaptable. Just because you make a plan doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. You will probably have to make adjustments—but you can’t abandon your plan—you just need to make mid-course corrections.

Any “FATHEADS” out there?

Posted in Direct Marketing, Direct marketing creative, Strategy | 2 Comments »

Make a Prediction

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

If you want to get peoples’ attention, if you want them to listen to what you have to say, if you want to start a discussion about a topic important to your business or industry . . . make a prediction.

You may argue that you’re not clairvoyant, and you’re probably right. Maybe you’re afraid that your prediction won’t be 100 percent accurate. Again, you’re probably right.  But it really doesn’t matter.

Chances are that if you’re in business you have a certain amount of knowledge, and understanding about how your little corner of the Universe works. You probably have enough experience to allow you to see the patterns that develop in your particular area of expertise. There’s a good chance that you understand your niche better than someone who hasn’t spent years doing what you do.

You don’t have to be arrogant with your prediction. You don’t have to be a “know-it-all.” As a matter of fact, you don’t even have to call your prediction a “prediction.” You can call it a projection or a supposition or a strong possibility. The point is, you have knowledge and experience that you can share with others. You can say something along the lines of: “After fifteen years in the industry, when I see ‘X’ happening and I can be pretty sure that ‘Y’ will happen within six months.”

People are desperately looking for someone to help them make sense out of things they don’t understand. If you have some credibility, you can help customers or prospects make sense out of things they lack the experience or knowledge to evaluate. You may want to avoid giving specific advice (“Sell all your stock and buy widgets.”), but you can suggest what you see as a trend.

If nothing else, you’ll start a discussion. And starting a discussion is a great way to find out what peoples’ needs are—and how your company might meet those needs.

(By the way, our prediction is that not everybody will agree with what’s been said here!)

What do you think?

Posted in Copywriting, Facebook, Social Media, Twitter | No Comments »

Too Much Information?

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

In business, we’re always looking for fresh, compelling ways to get our message across. But is it possible to share too much information?

Absolutely. Let’s look at a couple of ways businesses do this.

Assumed Interest
An 8-year old boy once asked his father, “Dad, what’s sex?” The father swallowed hard, wiped his sweaty palms on his pants, took a deep breath, and launched into a 45-minute detailed description of the birds and the bees. When he finished he asked his glassy-eyed son if he understood. “I guess so,” said the boy, “but on the sign-up for soccer camp it says, ‘SEX: M or F’ and I still don’t know what to circle.”

In business, we sometimes provide much more information about our products and services than our customers ask for. And not only do we bore them to tears with our answer, but we don’t even give them the information they really want. When you communicate your message to your customers, make sure you’re giving them what they really want to know—rather than trying to impress them.

Enough is Enough
In “traditional” marketing (direct mail, print ads, catalogs, brochures, etc.) there has been a long-standing debate about whether long copy or short copy is more effective. And there are studies that validate both positions. The real answer is: Your copy is too long when people STOP READING IT. If what you’re saying is truly interesting or helpful, you can talk about it all you want. As long as your customers respond with “Tell me more”, you’re safe.

The same thing is true with new media like blogs and Twitter. Some people post a new blog daily. Some people send numerous tweets every day. If they are providing helpful, interesting content, their audiences will come back for more. Some industries change so rapidly that constant updates make sense. Most industries move a little slower. For most of us, quality is much more important than quantity. Wouldn’t you rather read one good idea a week than five useless ones? What you want to hear from your customers is, “Tell me more!” not “TMI!”

What helps you get the right amount of the right information to your customers?

Posted in Copywriting, Direct Mail, Social Media, Strategy, Twitter | No Comments »