Ben Edwards' Marketing Blog

Achieve Dramatic Growth With Niche Marketing

2007-02-05T12:24:00.001-05:00

One of the most difficult concepts for many business owners to grasp is niche marketing. This is the strategy of identifying a few narrowly-defined groups of ideal potential buyers and adjusting your marketing to address each group separately.

It’s difficult because many business owners mistakenly believe that everyone is a good prospect for them. Unless you sell an essential, every-day commodity like soap, your ideal target market is NOT everyone. Even within the soap category there are niche markets: designer soaps; facial soaps; bargain soaps, etc.

How do you identify your niches? First, look at your current customers. Who buys from you regularly? Who buys your most profitable items? Who do you like working with?

Next, attempt to classify your best customers demographically, geographically and psycho-graphically. Who are they? Where are they? What made them buy from you in the first place?

Next, analyze where they came from. Print ads? Broadcast ads? Internet? Referrals?

Next, create mini-marketing campaigns that speak directly to each niche group by addressing the important issues that each group has that your product or service solves.

Now, launch each campaign using the medium that worked the best to bring you those good customers and monitor the results. Test and tweak your campaigns. Adapt your success to other niche markets.

Most highly successful small businesses today have utilized the strategy outlined above to grow their businesses dramatically. They are meeting a need or solving a problem of a very specific type of business or consumer, and they are reaping the rewards.

What is preventing YOU from following in their footsteps?

To gain more knowledge about niche marketing and ways to position and grow your business faster and with less effort and expense, download our free report The Three Secrets of Intelligent Direct Marketing. It's also available in MP3 audio. For further assistance, contact marketing strategist Ben Edwards at 617-670-1888.

Turn Your Business Card Into a Top-Producer

2006-02-07T13:28:00.000-05:00

If you’re like most business people who are active networkers, you probably have a business card collection that’s been built up over the years. If so, take this challenge:

Go through those cards and pick the ones that jump out at you with a compelling reason to call that person immediately.

Having trouble finding any cards that pass this test? It’s probably because most of the cards use the standard formula of presenting just the basic contact information, perhaps with a logo and a cute but ineffective tag line.

Now take a look at your business card. What about it, if anything, would motivate a qualified prospect to call you now? If it’s just your name and contact information, you may be missing an easy opportunity to turn your business card into a top producing sales rep for your business.

Many people may not realize that a business card is, or should be, an advertisement for your business. As such, it should contain the basic elements of a good ad.

Attract attention with a headline.

Yes, your business card should have a headline that addresses a key problem your target market has that you solve. Because you don’t have a lot of space, your business card headline should be short and to the point. It should be compelling, bold and could be controversial or outrageous. The more your headline stands out, the more people will pay attention to it.

Create interest with a targeted benefit.

Who is your target market? The most effective ads are designed for as narrow a market as possible while still having enough viable prospects to make a profit. You should consider naming your target market on your business card. What is the most valuable benefit you provide? Ideally, you should address a single benefit that appeals to your target market.

Motivate action with a desirable offer.

The most effective ads make an offer that stimulates people to take some kind of positive action on your behalf. Your business card should make such an offer, ideally for something that’s free. This could be an introductory special; a free consultation; a free special report; a free CD or DVD — something to get people to call you, visit your website or go directly to your place of business.

Create a card that’s professional.

Many business people—especially those who are just starting out—use desktop publishing software and sheets of business card stock to create and print their business cards. If you do this, you may leave the wrong impression—that you don’t believe enough in yourself and your business concept to make the small investment necessary to have your cards at least printed professionally. Your business card should reinforce your image. A self-printed card may give the wrong impression.

After all this, I would imagine you're wondering if I follow any of my own advice! I'll take this opportunity to give you my card so you can be the judge.

If you’d like assistance with any element of your print marketing, including that 2"x3.5" sales rep you keep in your wallet, Ben Edwards can help. Call Ben today at 617-670-1888, ext. 1 for an evaluation of your present card or to discuss a current marketing challenge.

Testimonials: An Important Part of Growing Your Business

2006-01-31T21:47:00.000-05:00

If you've ever watched an infomercial, you've probably noticed how they use testimonials to support their claims.

There's a reason for this: testimonials make an offer much more believable.

You've probably also noticed that the most believable testimonials seem to come from ordinary-looking and real-sounding people.

Perhaps you've seen those business opportunity commercials where they use people who appear to be actors. Do those testimonials seem staged to you? They probably seem staged to other people, too.

Staged or contrived testimonials can do more harm than good because today's consumers are more observant than ever. They can smell a phony a mile away.

You've probably noticed how the most convincing infomercial testimonials state specific benefits derived and results achieved from using the product. There's a reason for this, too. The more specific a testimonial is, the more believable it will be.

Most good testimonials describe the problems the person was having and go on to state how the product solved those problems. This is done for a reason: credibility.

The infomercial producers want viewers to relate easily to the plight of the people giving the testimonials. They want us to feel their pain and agony. Then they want us to understand how quickly and easily their solution solved the problems. They want us to share in the feeling of relief the product brought to the people giving the testimonials.

Another aspect of most good infomercials is showing real people - perhaps from a studio audience or right off the street - using the product and getting results on the spot. This can be very powerful when skeptical consumers are won over right in front of us. And when they confirm the positive results, we are ready to get out our credit cards and order.

How you can apply these methods to your business

First, use real people in your testimonials, never actors. Get them to give you permission to use their full names, city and state. NEVER use just initials - unless the nature of your product or service requires confidentiality.

Note: You CAN use an actor for an endorsement, which is different from a testimonial.

Second, try your best to get people to state the specific results they got from using what you offer. This is more than just saying how great your product or service is. Get them to say exactly how it helped them.

Third, whenever possible, use photos or video that captures people in the act of using your product; or before and after shots; or sound bites that describe specific results.

And finally, NEVER make up testimonials - EVER. This can be fatal to your business if the media ever finds out.

Three Ways to Make Your Company Brochure More Effective

2006-01-02T18:11:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to my friends and clients in Greater Boston and beyond! If you plan to produce a company brochure in 2006, this blog post is sure to help you.

First, let me pose a simple question:

When you get a typical brochure, what do you usually do with it? If you’re like many people, you tuck it away someplace where you’ll never see it again or you throw it away immediately. Rarely do you keep it front and center. Why? It’s because most brochures are boring, self-serving to the company they try to promote and contain useless information that doesn’t support a buying decision.

Most brochures are ineffective because the people that create them don’t understand the true purpose of a brochure, which is to support a sales presentation rather than to make a sale directly. A good brochure serves as an adjunct to your other sales materials and bolsters your credibility and your brand.

Front panel

The biggest mistake people make when designing a brochure is not having a compelling front panel. The front panel is like a headline in other marketing materials. It’s the ad for your brochure. It’s what makes a reader open the brochure.

Most brochures I’ve seen use the company name and logo on the front panel, perhaps with the company’s tagline. Please understand that your company name is NOT a headline! If you want people to open your brochure and read it you MUST give them a good reason. Many company taglines try to be cute or humorous, or are so vague you don’t really know what the benefits of working with the company are. Relying strictly on your company name, logo and tagline to get people to read further is the brochure kiss of death.

What works much better is to use a compelling headline in much the same way you would in any other ad. For example, “Inside… 7 Reasons Why You Should Call the XYZ Company Before Your Competitors Do.” Or you could ask a question: “Which of these 7 costly mistakes do you make when selecting an X company? Find out inside!” The main purpose of the front panel is to get people to open the brochure and read it. A good headline will do that.

Initial Inside View

Depending on how your brochure is laid out, people may see two inside panels or the back panel and one inside panel when they open your brochure. It’s absolutely critical that you address the issues you talked about on the front panel in the initial inside view. In other words, if you promised “7 Reasons Why…” you MUST have a panel header that says, “7 Reasons Why…”

You should avoid using long paragraphs. Instead, use short paragraphs with sub-headlines and bullets whenever possible. This is because people usually skim sales copy first and then focus on items that get their attention. If your benefits are buried in a long paragraph, they will likely be missed.

Whatever you do, avoid stating biographical details about your company and its personnel unless you can tie those details to specific benefits that are important to your target market. For example, the fact that you have a PhD in sociology is meaningless unless it relates to what you’re doing now. If you belong to an industry association, make sure you state why that’s relevant to your audience.

Back Panel

The third component of your brochure is the back panel. This is what people see when your brochure is placed face down. Your back panel should contain some kind of call to action, meaning a valid reason why people should contact you immediately. This could be an offer of a free report, consultation or trial of your product or service. Your phone number, address and a map to your location if appropriate should be easy to see and read.

Remember, a brochure is like a silent sales assistant. It should reinforce your more personalized sales messages and provide useful, relevant information that gives more reasons to buy from you.

If you want a constructive review of your current brochure or would would like assistance developing a new one, call Ben Edwards today at (617) 670-1888, ext. 1 to arrange for a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation.

The Most Important Factors in Writing Copy

2005-12-23T13:46:00.000-05:00

If you want to make sure your sales copy will work, consider these benchmarks to insure your message is persuasive and to the point. These are an important part of the process I and other professional copywriters use and you might want to do the same.

Attention-getting headline and supporting lead-in

Studies have shown that 80% of the impact and success of just about any type of ad is contingent on the effectiveness of 20% of the wording. And that 20% consists of the headline and lead-in or opening equivalent. When you think about it, doesn’t this make perfect sense? The headline is the “ad for the ad” and the lead-in is the confirmation that whatever you promised in the headline will be delivered.

Therefore, it’s imperative that you spend enough time on developing a good headline and lead-in. Give yourself (or your copywriter) two deadlines: One for the headline and lead-in, and one for the rest of the piece.

When you or your copywriter has crafted the best headline and lead-in, it’s time for a little subjective testing. Separately show your headline and lead-in to at least four unrelated people and ask them to grade your work on a scale of 1 to 4, with 4 being the best. Here’s what you want to know:

1. If you had the problem addressed by the headline, would it get your attention and cause you to read the lead-in?

2. After you read the lead-in, would you want to know more?

If you don’t get at least a 3 from everyone on both questions, get some constructive suggestions. Ask what they thought they’d read after the headline (as opposed to what they did read). Ask them why they would read further after the lead-in.

This exercise is important because copywriters are only human and as such they have their own life experiences to guide them. Sometimes a copywriter will write from his own perspective rather than from the point of view of a qualified prospect. It’s always a good idea to get a subjective read from third parties to validate the direction of a promotion before you invest a lot of time and money in it.

Reasons To Believe

Once you’ve decided on the headline and lead-in, it’s time to credentialize the benefit claims you made. This is known as “proof.” In other words, you or your copywriter must now prove to the audience that you will deliver on your promises.

Ideally, it’s best to make one strong promise and then support it with as much substance as you can, However, this is not always possible because often you can’t know for sure what benefit is the most important until you do a little testing. Studies have shown that people will get confused if you discuss more than three benefits up front. So keep your benefits to one to three.

Now make sure that each benefit is supported by at least three types of proof. These could be based on research, testing, personal or customer experience, etc. The more specific and quantifiable your proof statements are, the better they will be believed.

Call to Action

The final portion of your promotion should be to ask people to do something. This is your call to action. Many top copywriters create their call to action first, and then they write their headline, lead-in and the rest of the ad. Think of the call to action as a destination and the rest of the copy as the journey. You must know where you’re going if you want to plan the best route to get there. It’s the same with advertising.

Your call to action should be specific: “Call Now!” “Visit our Website Now!” “Come in Today!” And if all possible you should create a sense of urgency by adding a “kicker.” “Call in the next 24 hours and get a free bonus of X, a $Y value.”

Take a look at the last advertising piece you or your copywriter created, and then use the three benchmarks above to help you get the most from your efforts.

For assistance with copywriting and marketing strategy that can help you reach your goals contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext. 1. Ben uses a proven system that guarantees more effective advertising copy.

Why Good Copy is Essential to the Success of Your Marketing

2005-12-23T13:33:00.000-05:00

Picture this… The President of the United States walks up to the lectern for the State of the Union Address. Instead of speaking, he holds up pictures that he hopes will represent the concepts he wants to convey to the audience. Some of the pictures have a few words on them, like “Just do it,” “We’re with you,” or “That was easy.” There is a noticeable discomfort in the audience as people start to wonder what’s going on. They don’t understand what the President is trying to communicate. Would you want a president who couldn’t communicate his positions?

Most people would answer no. But when it comes to communicating the benefits of buying their products or services, many business people use the same kind of image-based communications. They couldn’t understand what the President was trying to say, yet they use the same method to talk to their customers.

When communicating your message to the world, please realize that it’s the WORDS that sell, NOT the graphics. Yes, it’s important to use relevant images where appropriate to make your message multi-dimensional. But it’s the headline, lead-in, support statements and call to action that motivate people to buy, NOT the pictures (unless, of course, you SELL pictures).

It’s important to choose the right words, especially if you have a limited budget. If you’re like most business people, you can’t afford to use image-based words, either. It’s possible that Nike has ingrained the words, “Just do it” into our psyches. But do these words really motivate people to choose Nike shoes over Adidas or New Balance when they’re walking next to a wall full of athletic shoes? Sure it’s possible that they might look at Nike shoes first, but ultimately it’s the look and feel of the shoe, along with the price, that will be the deciding factors.

Quick: Who uses the following slogans? “We’re with you.” “That was easy.” (Circuit City and Staples) If you didn’t know you’re not alone. A national survey found that NO ONE could identify or remember these two slogans.

So when contemplating your next ad campaign, remember that it’s the words, not the graphics that sell. And be sure to choose words that convey a specific benefit that is meaningful to your target audience. This is where a good copywriter can help you avoid wasting your money on ads that won’t work.

Podcasting - The 21st Century Way to Tell Your Story

2005-11-21T17:57:00.000-05:00

Unless you've been stranded on a desert island for the past four years, you've probably heard of the Apple iPod®. It's a hand-held device that stores MP3s and other files for playback or retrieval.

The iPod® has become Apple's main profit center with more than 28 million units sold since the product was first introduced in 2001. As a result, many competing companies have created their own versions of the iPod®.

The popularity of these devices led to what's known as "podcasting." Pod, for iPod®, and casting for broadcasting. Podcasting was coined by former MTV personality Adam Curry, who has now become known as the "father" of podcasting.

Podcasting grew in popularity as a way for young people to play downloaded MP3 music.

Podcasting has now become a way for anyone to play any kind of MP3 file, whether it is music or a voice-only production.

This is important to you because you can record information about your company and its products and services and make that information available online for people to download and listen to.

You can create your own podcasts and cash in on the growing trend to assimilate information audibly instead of or in addition to reading it.

Podcasting can serve to brand you as an expert in your field who is on the cutting edge of technology.

Podcasting opens up the opportunity for you to create information products you can sell for real money.

Podcasting can take several forms:

Web page messages
Online seminars, workshops and clinics
CD and MP3 "how-to" programs
Internet radio programs
Downloadable MP3s
Teleseminars
Professional interviews

Podcasting is relatively new as a business building tool and most of your competitors are probably not taking advantage of this form of communication.

You can get the jump on them by creating podcasts for your business.

Basic podcasting can be done by simply recording into an iPod-type device, transferring the recording to your computer, and then uploading it to your web server for access by visitors to your website.

You can also buy inexpensive software to record directly into your computer using a microphone plugged into your computer's microphone input.

You can buy additional software to process the file to make it louder or softer; remove any mistakes you made; and to add special effects, like music.

You can have someone interview you about your business and record that interview. You can use the recording as a sales tool or, if it's good enough, you can even sell it.

The possibilities are endless.

Like any new technology, podcasting has a learning curve. Once you master the basics, a whole new way of promoting your business will unfold before you.

Experience this exciting new marketing tool right now by listening to the Write Marketing Group Podcast!

For assistance with the latest marketing strategies that can help you grow your business faster and leave your competition in the dust, contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext. 1.

How to Boost the Chances Your Ad Will Be Successful

2005-11-21T12:01:00.000-05:00

Recently I was reviewing competitors' websites in preparation for meeting with a client and I made an interesting discovery.

Of the ten websites I reviewed, not one made any kind of compelling offer to get visitors to take a most desired action.

By that I mean, not one of the websites gave people any meaningful incentive to call, complete a web form, or visit the place of business.

These companies had invested money in having a website built and maintained but had missed a great opportunity to capitalize fully on their investments.

They were spending money to drive traffic to their websites but were letting the ball drop there because they hadn't provided a good reason for visitors to take the next step.

Unfortunately, the lack of a compelling offer is an all-too-common marketing mistake made by the vast majority of advertisers both online and offline.

To prove my point, just pick up most any magazine or newspaper and take a look at the display ads.

I'll wager that nine out of ten of them have no compelling offer of any kind.

What's a compelling offer?

A compelling offer is a meaningful incentive for a reader, listener or viewer to take the next logical step, called a most desired action, or MDA.

Your MDA could be to call, complete a web form, or visit your place of business.

In today's highly cluttered world, competing for and holding attention has become more difficult than ever before. Once that has been accomplished, if you aren't able to get people to take your MDA, your ad dollars will be wasted.

It's not enough that your product or service does great things. Many products and services do that. If you want to motivate people to choose you, you must give them additional reasons to do so. That's where a compelling offer can help.

Compelling offers can take many forms, the most common of which is a price offer. However, when your main drawing card is price, people may come to expect price concessions from you and delay purchasing until your next price promotion.

Another form of offer is a free trial or free sample. Another is a free bonus with purchase.

One of the most cost-effective offers to make is for free information that solves a problem your target market has. This can be accomplished via a special report, tips sheet, booklet, ebook, CD, MP3 download, or DVD.

When properly positioned, free information can have a high perceived value to the recipient, but a low cost to you to deliver, making it the ideal form of compelling offer.

It's easy to determine what kind of information might be appropriate for your target market. Just ask them. This not only can provide the basis for creating your free information, it can also tell you more about what your customers, clients or patients really want.

Remember, if you don't give people a good reason to take action, they probably won't.

For assistance with advertising copy and marketing strategy that can help you reach your goals contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext. 1. Visit our website now.

For the Online Marketer Who Wants More Sales

2005-08-28T12:51:00.000-04:00

Would you like to know how to make your website more productive? If so, you might want to pay close attention to the 10 Performance Points below. You may discover some ways to improve your website using this checklist of the key components necessary for maximum profitability.

1. Curb Appeal—Does your home page make the right first impression? Is it appropriate for your industry? Is it blatantly obvious to your visitors why they should stay and learn more? Is the look and feel consistent with the image you want to project? Is your text readable? Does the immediately viewable area contain unproductive dead space?

You only have a few seconds to get and keep viewers' attention. These points are critical if you want people to understand what you do and how it will benefit them.

2. Design Components—Do your graphic elements look professional and load quickly? Are they relevant to the message you want to convey? Are elements such as Flash, JavaScript navigation buttons and other interactive components creating barriers to your site's effectiveness?

Usability studies consistently show that most people dislike Flash intro pages, popup windows and music that starts automatically. Why annoy people needlessly?

3. Home Page Text—Does your home page copy instantly convey the key reasons for doing business with you? Does it contain customer-focused, benefit-laden words, or does it ramble on with meaningless "name, rank and serial number" information?

Does your content build trust? Does it describe how you are different from your competition?

4. Home Page Navigation—Are your links action-oriented? Will they motivate people to click? Is it obvious why someone should click on each link? Is there a logical flow to your navigation structure? Are your navigation arrays confusing? Are they consistent?

You can't make it too convenient for people to learn about you.

5. Site Content—Do you make it easy for visitors to contact you? Do you provide complete details about your company's location, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.? Do you have a privacy policy?

It's surprising how many companies bury their contact information within a website. Why make it difficult for prospects, customers and the media to contact you?

6. Sales Copy—Is your sales copy targeted, relevant and meaningful to a potential customer? Does your copy focus on the reader, rather than on your company? How often do you use the words "you" and "your?" Is your copy filled with confusing industry jargon? For more on effective advertising copy that focuses on the reader, view my July 12 blog post entitled, "Is Being Inner-Focused Hurting Your Business?"

Before they get to know you, most people are only interested in what's in it for them if they stay at your site. Give them good reasons to stay and they will.

7. Compelling Offer—Does your home page make an irresistible offer that will motivate qualified prospects to eagerly hand over multiple contact details? Do you have an automated response system in place to follow up with prospects? How are you keeping track of your prospects? For an example of this, view the free reports and mp3 audio available at the Write Marketing Group home page in exchange for contact information.

A website is only as good as its ability to compile contact information for follow-up, or make sales directly. The more complex your offering is, the more critical it is to have a method of gathering contact details along with permission to re-contact.

8. Call(s)-to-Action—Do your pages each have at least one call to action? What is the most desired result you want from each of your pages? Do you have a newsletter or ezine strategy that delivers relevant, targeted content that is interesting enough that people will actually read it? How do you know if people are reading your messages?

Just like in the offline world, many websites fail to ask the reader to take action. Since you may not get a second chance, it's imperative that you tell people very clearly what you want them to do.

9. Ordering Process—Is your order process easy to understand and easy to use? Is it secure? Do you explain what happens after someone places an order? Have you addressed every question a potential customer might ask? Do your customers get an immediate confirmation when they order?

Confidence and trust are the keys to online ordering success. Make it easy and safe for people to order from you and they will.

10. Search Engine Readiness—Are your home page meta tags in place? Do you have relevant keywords appropriately placed to maximize your chances of getting listed? Are you listed with the major search engines? What is your link popularity? Are your keywords too broad to generate targeted traffic?

Many websites look good on the surface, but underneath—where the code is—they are poorly designed for search engine robots. At a minimum, make sure your title and description tags are optimized to the keywords you want to emphasize.

How did you do? Did your answers convince you that you need help? If so, contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext. 1 for a complimentary 30-minute evaluation.

Is Being Inner-Focused Hurting Your Business?

2005-07-12T08:49:00.000-04:00

In the course of my copywriting consulting practice I routinely review advertising copy for prospective clients using a special ten-point system that checks for the key components needed for maximum results.

One interesting benefit of using this system is that it allows me to objectively evaluate an ad from the perspective of a person reading the ad.

Unfortunately, all too often, ads are not written from the perspective of the reader — meaning they are not outer-focused. Instead, many ads seem to be written with an inner-focus — meaning solely for the benefit of the advertiser.

For example, I reviewed a full-page magazine ad for a bank with the headline,

"Go ahead, judge us by the company we keep."

The rest of the ad simply displayed the logos of five of the bank's customers, followed by the bank’s logo and contact info at the bottom.

This is what I call an ego ad. It's 100% inner-focused. By that I mean, it's all about the bank and its other customers, with no mention of any benefit for potential NEW customers.

I guess the idea is that a reader is supposed to be impressed that the bank has these other customers. I guess the bank's management thinks that should be enough reason for a new company to use them.

This is a classic example of an inner-focused ad that is all about the advertiser and provides no reason at all for people to read it. There's absolutely nothing in it for the reader.

What was really eye-opening was that most of the other ads in this business magazine suffered from the same flaw: “Inner-Focus.”

Now, if you don't care whether or not people respond to your advertising or if you just want to boost your ego, this kind of ad is perfect.

On the other hand, if you want to get actual results from your advertising, then you absolutely must write your ads from the perspective of what's in it for the reader, instead of what's in it for you.

You may have heard of the AIDA formula for writing ads:

Attention - Interest - Desire - Action

This is a good rule of thumb to use when creating your ads. (I discuss this in greater depth in my June 17 blog post entitled, Copywriting tips that increase advertising response rates.)

You must get attention with a headline or equivalent that speaks to readers in a way that suggests a solution for a problem they might have that you can solve. And your headline must be specific and targeted to the market you want to reach.

"Go ahead, judge us by the company we keep" could apply to ANY company in ANY industry and, therefore, appeals to no one specifically.

While knowing who the advertising bank's customers are might be interesting to the bank's competitors, new potential customers really don't care! Therefore, when writing an ad, you must create attention in a way that will appeal to new customers.

The bank ad completely lacked the third and fourth components: desire and action.

There was nothing at all in the ad that would even remotely stimulate a potential customer to want to do business with this bank.

And finally, there was no call-to-action, meaning no statement of what a person is supposed to DO after reading the ad. I guess the bank assumed that people would want to come in based on the company they keep. Would that make you dash right in for a loan or to open up a new account?

The point is, if you want your ads to work; if you want them to motivate qualified people to seek you out, you absolutely positively MUST make sure your ads are outer-focused. They MUST clearly and convincingly convey what's in it for the reader if he or she reads the ad and takes your most desired action.

If you want a constructive review of your ad using the ten-point system, call Ben Edwards at (617) 670-1888, ext. 1 to arrange for a complimentary no-obligation evaluation. The worst that can happen is that your advertising will be more effective.

What's Your "Only-One Advantage?"

2005-06-18T11:21:00.000-04:00

What if there was something about your business that literally forced people to buy from you? How would that affect your income and your lifestyle?

Not possible or practical you say?

Please consider the following. It will help you develop a strategy that could potentially stun your competition and leave them scratching their heads about what to do. And it just might help you corner the market in your industry.

First, get out a piece of notebook paper and make a list of all the things you do for your customers. Just do a brain dump of everything you offer from price to service. Now cross off every item that is also offered by your competitors.

How did you do?

Is there at least one thing that you do that your customers must have that your competitors don't do? If not, then why should people do business with you versus your competition?

If you have some things that you do that are unique to your business, the next step is to evaluate them in terms of their relevance to your customers.

Suppose you offer free delivery or a free service contract or free replacement parts. Those items all sound good, but unless you prove they are meaningful to your customers, they won't be the tipping point that makes you indispensable.

The simplest and best way to prove your benefits are significant is to ask your current and past customers what they like best about what you do. You may find that what they really like is different than what you thought they'd like. This can be an eye-opening and highly rewarding process for you. When you can identify what your customers really like, you can focus on those things in your advertising and promotion efforts.

Ideally, at least one of the things your customers like about you will be something that your competitors don't offer. You can then test this as your only-one advantage.

Or it could be that what your customers like about you is also offered by your competitors but they don't publicize it. Something that might be standard operating procedure yet unpublicized might be extremely important to your customers. If you are the first to publicize it, you can preempt your competition. If they start publicizing it they may appear to be copycats.

If you don't have an obvious only-one advantage, you may have to create one. The key is to test it first to make sure it's both meaningful to your customers and profitable to you.

For example, let's say you're a dentist and you heard that offering spa-like amenities would be an advantage to you in your trade zone. Before you spend lots of money, you might want to poll your patients first to learn how they perceive your environment now. If their feedback indicates that your office could use a makeover, only then should you consider making the investment.

What if you've thought and thought and you can't seem to come up with an only-one advantage that makes sense? You can use a fall-back advantage that is easy to implement and test in most cases: a bold guarantee.

First, take a look at your competitors and see what they do in the way of a guarantee. Most guarantees are shallow and toothless. Can you design an iron-clad, no-holds-barred, outrageous guarantee that is so powerful, it will be a no-brainer for people to try you out?

Federal Express, Dominos Pizza and Sears all built billion-dollar businesses based on some kind of strong guarantee. So if you don't have anything else, you can implement a better guarantee as your only-one advantage.

For assistance with marketing strategy and developing your only-one advantage contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext. 1.

Copywriting Tips that Increase Advertising Response Rates

2005-06-17T22:52:00.000-04:00

We read advertisements to discover and enlarge our desires. We are always ready -- even eager -- to discover, from the announcement of a new product, what we have all along wanted without really knowing it.
– Daniel J. Boorstin

Back in my first college advertising class, I was introduced to the AIDA formula: Attention, Interest, Desire, & Action. I’m sure many of you are aware of it. In case you are not, AIDA refers to the four things an advertisement must stimulate in the reader.

The AIDA Components:

Attention – Your ad must grab the reader’s attention with words and images that pull them in and make them stop in their tracks.

Interest – Once you’ve gotten their attention, you must maintain it by holding their interest.

Desire – You must instill in the reader the motivation to take action. A strong desire to have your product or service.

Action – This is the key step. Getting the reader to act on their desire and take the appropriate step you are seeking. This might be to contact you by phone, visit your place of business or website, etc.

Although people are aware of the AIDA formula, many don’t implement it effectively. In this post, I will provide a few tips that will enable you to utilize the AIDA outline to write better ad copy and increase the response rates of your advertising.

Before focusing on the four AIDA points, I can’t stress enough how critical it is to spend sufficient time learning about your audience and what their problems and concerns are. This will help you match the benefits of your product or service to a specific need and therefore write a more effective ad.

First, let’s talk about what it takes to get the reader’s attention.

Start by trying this experiment:

Pick up a magazine that covers an area you are interested in. Flip through it, glancing at every ad and ask yourself one simple question:

“Why should I care?”

If the headline catches your eye and stops you for a moment, and the ad seems to speak to YOU then it is has effectively accomplished goal #1 - getting the reader's attention.

Your ad should contain a compelling headline that speaks directly to the interests of the reader. It could contain a major benefit or simply a teaser that draws the reader into the copy.

Interest is our next area of focus. And the next question for you to pose when glancing at the ads that caught your attention previously is:

“What’s in to for me?”

Good ad copy supports the headline and tells the reader how the product or service can be of value to them by meeting a need or solving a problem they have.

Select all the ads in the publication you are holding that meet this criteria for you.

There is a big difference between the recognition of a need and the desire to act. Your copy must now generate desire in the reader. Desire is a motivation to act and your copy must help provide that motivation. Here’s how:

Tell a convincing story. Make it very clear how the benefits your product or service offers will solve the reader's business problem.
Show how other people have used your product or service and how it has helped them. Use testimonials the describe specific results.
Use scarcity to create demand. Show how your product, service or offer will be available for a limited time only.

Select all the ads in the publication you are holding that meet this criteria for you. The ones that generate desire in you for the product or service.

Action! The final step.

Well, let me ask… you started this exercise with a magazine full of advertisements. How many do you have left? How many ads did you choose that got your attention, held your interest, created sufficient desire for you to take action and brought you to this final stage? At least a few I hope.

Now it’s time to act.

A good ad contains a simple and obvious call to action for the reader.

Look at the ads you are left holding and locate the call to action. Is it clear and evident what the advertiser want you to do? Call an 800 number to place an order, visit their place of business or website, request a catalog, etc. If the answer is Yes, you’re very likely to take that action in short order.

When you’re writing a call to action, tell the reader exactly what you want them to do and make it easy for them to do it.

I hope these tips prove helpful.

By the way, don't blame me if you ended up buying something as a result of this exercise.
Blame the person who wrote the highly effective copy.
On second thought...what ad did you select?
Maybe you should blame me!

What Lesson Can Today’s Business Owners Learn From a 10-Year-Old?

2005-04-18T21:31:00.000-04:00

Last week, for the second year in a row, I had the opportunity to visit Barrows Elementary School in Reading, Massachusetts and speak to three classes of fifth grade students about writing, Boston history, careers and goals. The school uses my book, One April in Boston, as part of its Social Studies curriculum. The book, a work of historical fiction, teaches the value of goal setting and the power of a child’s imagination.

At the beginning of my talk, I shared copies of the first book I had ever written at age 10. It certainly gave the students a good laugh but also provided proof for a theory I relayed to them: Who we become can develop from interests we have, goals we set, and action we take at an early age.

As a young child, I was determined to be a writer and create things that I could share with others. I followed through on this commitment by writing and publishing a book, an audio book, and developing a marketing career that utilizes strategic thinking and strong writing skills to create effective advertising campaigns for my clients.

I asked the children if any of them could picture the type of job they wanted to have when they were older. In an instant, nearly every hand in the room went up. One by one, I heard every response you could imagine: author; accountant; lawyer; doctor; nurse; veterinarian; medical researcher who finds a cure for cancer; architect; professional baseball player; jet pilot and on and on. These kids knew exactly what they wanted to be. I posed a question that could help them get there by asking, “What can you do now to make that dream come true in the future?”

We had a discussion about the steps they could take, just like the main character does in my story, to bring them closer to their goals. The children welcomed the advice and understood that it’s never too early to start taking action.

So where’s the remarkable insight in all this that can help you as a business owner?

Children, like successful entrepreneurs, truly believe that anything is possible. They focus on their goals and not on the obstacles in their path no matter how daunting they may be. Kids are open to new ideas and grow with the aid and support of outstanding teachers. Winning entrepreneurs know this lesson well. They are goal oriented and surround themselves with people who have skills and abilities they do not possess. All for the specific purpose of helping them reach their objectives.

The long list of remarkable people who have used this approach includes Thomas Edison, Walt Disney and Henry Ford. Edison surrounded himself with men of great talent who helped bring his ideas to life. Disney’s team of imagineers did the same and Henry Ford sought the perspective of others and made learning a lifelong commitment.

It’s interesting to note that when Thomas Edison, the most prolific inventor of all time, was asked what he considered to be the greatest invention in the world, his answer was “the mind of a child.” That’s an invention today's business owners should make use of every chance they get.

For assistance with marketing strategy, direct response copywriting and innovative design that can help you reach your goals contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext 1.

How User Friendly is Your Website?

2005-04-03T11:51:00.000-04:00

What helps people, helps business. – Leo Burnett

A business website can be a valuable and effective marketing tool if it presents your sales content in a manner that helps the viewer find what they are seeking quickly and easily.

Why is this so important?

Individuals read far differently online than they do in print. According to web usability consultant and author Steve Krug, people spend very little time reading web pages, instead they scan them. This occurs for various reasons, all of which are addressed in Chapter 2 of his book Don’t Make Me Think – A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability.

I believe that if you don’t optimize your website experience for scanners, you’ll frustrate potential customers and lose sales.

Here is an example of a page that has been written and created with the needs of a typical website reader in mind. It is easy for the viewer to see the services offered and identify the benefits. Paragraphs are short and sub heads, emboldened type and bullet points make the text scannable. Clearly defined links (in standard link blue) make it obvious what’s clickable and offer easy access to additional information.

Take a fresh look at your web content with this perspective in mind. If needed, use some of the techniques outlined above to make your website a more user friendly marketing tool.

For assistance writing direct response and website copy that gets results, contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext 1.

Marketing with Postcards

2005-04-02T11:08:00.000-05:00

Postcards have become a popular direct mail format for lead generation. They can be mailed less expensively than a letter in a first-class envelope and don’t require opening or unfolding. With the aid of strong copy and design, postcards can have instant impact.

We’ve written and designed postcards for a variety of clients and have used the same convenient printing source, Modern Postcard, with great success. You can use this source to save money and get your postcards printed quickly.

The Modern Postcard website gives you everything you need including:

Products and pricing
Postal regulations
Mailing services
List services

Our most recent postcard project was for C and G Engineering LLC, a firm founded by two former engineers from Polaroid. That particular postcard promoted their latest invention Sound Stripes, a digital recording device that adds high quality audio messages to any scrapbook or school yearbook. The postcard was 6” x 8.5” and printed 4/1 (full color on one side and black ink on the back) at Modern Postcard.

Our postcard copy and design has the same look and feel as the Sound Stripes website (another recent project) and drives prospects to that site to order the product by mail or locate a retail store close by that carries it. Sound Stripes is using this postcard for targeted direct marketing and also as a booth handout at regional and national trade shows for scrapbooking enthusiasts.

Why Direct Response Beats Image Advertising

2005-04-01T20:17:00.001-05:00

Imagine investing your hard earned money with the assistance of a financial advisor who couldn’t promise any measurable ROI and wouldn’t be held accountable for his advice.

Now picture yourself gladly paying him a commission for his services and continuing to do so for an extended period of time with the hope that his advice might eventually pay off.

Would you ever do this?

I hope not.

But many companies utilize this approach when it comes to promoting their businesses by investing in general or “image” advertising. Image advertising influences the reader, makes them feel better about a product or service and creates brand awareness. Some agencies steer clients in this direction because image ad campaigns are normally lengthy and guarantee them consistent media placement commissions that average 15%. They inform clients that image campaigns take an extended period to work and that they must have patience.

While you’re being patient and taking all the risk, they’re still getting a healthy commission check each month.

You deserve a better approach.
It’s called direct response advertising.

What makes direct response so effective?

A direct response message doesn’t merely influence the reader or build awareness, instead it entices, promises things they desire and gives them a compelling reason to act now and take your most desired action. This could be to phone you, return a BRC, visit your website and download a free report or anything else you desire. In all instances, it is a response you can actually measure.

With such results, your agency or marketing firm can be held accountable for the success or failure of the advertising. Agencies aren’t big fans of the short term accountability inherent in direct response. If the results aren’t good, they risk losing the account and missing out on media commissions that would have been guaranteed with a longer general advertising campaign.

If the ad or direct mail package is getting acceptable results, with direct response advertising you can begin to implement testing strategies and change one element at a time in an effort to increase the response rate even further. This method will increase your ROI and save you money because you won’t have to run the ad as often or mail as many pieces to get the return you need.

One last bit of advice when selecting a firm to help you with your advertising. A good marketing firm isn’t afraid to be held accountable. They have confidence in their ability and utilize direct response methods and testing strategies that are proven to work.

For assistance writing direct response copy that gets results, contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext 1.

Differentiation is the Key to Real Success

2005-03-31T18:23:00.000-05:00

If you don’t have a successful role model to emulate, look at what all the other people are doing and don’t do it. – Earl Nightingale

If you want to be really successful in business, you must differentiate your product or service in a meaningful way. I consider this the golden rule of marketing. Disregard this rule and, in the eyes of potential customers, you will appear the same as everyone else. In such situations, customers make their buying decision based mostly on “price.” As a result, your profit margins will suffer needlessly. Follow this rule and promote the compelling benefit your product or service offers and you’ll be in the driver’s seat, selling on “value” and achieving higher sales volume and higher margins while your business grows and prospers.

How can you clearly differentiate your business and put yourself in this position? When developing your unique selling proposition (USP) look for an advantage that customers can get only from you and make sure they perceive it as being valuable. This advantage should be something that your competitors are not offering and cannot easily copy. Even if they make an effort to copy it later on, you would still be able to position your firm as the first company in a particular market or industry to offer it.

Here is an example of differentiation:

Boston is well known for its rich history and many historic sites easily accessible on foot. Its nickname is "America's Walking City." According to the Feb. 4-10, 2005 issue of the Boston Business Journal, 3,000,000 people walked Boston’s Freedom Trail in 2004. The majority of these individuals took self-guided tours while others participated in group walking tours offered by several organizations. I’ve taken many of these tours myself.

By the time I decided to establish my own walking tour business in the city, I had studied the competition, knew exactly what they were offering and made a distinct decision not to emulate them. Not because I thought their tours weren't well run, I simply felt the last thing the city needed was another guide doing the exact same type of tour. I was determined to offer something completely different.

My two hour tour would cover 14 historic sites along Boston’s Freedom Trail but would also take participants back in time in a way that no one else ever has or could. I would reveal stories passed down in my family for over 200 years about life in early Boston including a connection to the Sons of Liberty and Paul Revere. Participants would “hold history in their hands” as I shared my extensive collection of rare newspapers printed in colonial Boston from 1769-1805.

I would position myself as a published children’s book author who had done extensive genealogy research and turned the story of his early Boston ancestors into a tale of historical fiction. The audio version of my book, One April in Boston, would be given away free to each group as a unique premium. Again, something that only I could offer.

The tours were promoted to schools, families and groups with great success and I continue to offer them, mainly on weekends, each year. As a tour guide, I don’t dress in colonial costume (that would be emulating the competition) but participants find it intriguing that my early Boston ancestors actually did!

I hope this example of differentiation will start the wheels turning and motivate you to develop unique ways to set your own product or service apart.

Fall Update 2005 - The differentiation continues... the MP3 download version of One April in Boston was just released and our school programs expanded.

Every student who participates in our school programs receives free access to download the MP3 audio files which can be played on a home computer, burned on 3 CDs or transferred to an iPod. Participants can also view illustrations and color photos from the book itself online.

For assistance with your marketing strategy, including developing a compelling USP that will strongly differentiate you from the competition, contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext. 1.

What's in it for Me?

2005-03-28T12:39:00.000-05:00

That’s the exact question your target audience is asking every time they read one of your marketing communications. So many marketing pieces and websites are ineffective because they don’t address this basic issue. They are self serving, “inner-focused,” telling the reader how great “we” are and what “we” do and don’t address what’s in it for the prospect – such as how “you” benefit, how “your” concerns are addressed and how “your” needs are met.

Here are two simple tests that will help you analyze your existing advertising and identify what makes you take action:

Test #1

Take an objective look at your current marketing, both in print and online. Does it convey a compelling benefit and speak directly to the prospect or is it self serving and company focused? How many times do the words “you” or “your” appear, compared to “we,” “us,” and the name of your company?

The Write Marketing Group website is an example of a marketing communication tool with a strong “you” focus.

Test #2

In your mail, on television, and online you see plenty of advertising each day. Pay close attention to the ads and direct mail pieces that peak your interest and get you to take action. What is it about them that worked? Were you attracted to some self serving drivel about how great the company is or how impressive their services are or did the ads promise a solution to “your” problem or contain a specific benefit that really got your attention?

For assistance writing customer-focused advertising and direct response copy, contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext 1.

Nothing Happens Until Something Moves

2005-03-28T12:22:00.000-05:00

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." – Goethe

I love this quote. When I started Write Marketing Group, I located these words on a note card and decided to use the card to announce that I was officially open for business. I included a press release and sent it to all my clients and prospects.

I do quite a bit of reading on a variety of topics, both business and personal, and recently saw the second sentence of this same quote referenced in a book called Action! Nothing Happens Until Something Moves by Robert Ringer.

Robert Ringer’s books have appeared at the top of the New York Times bestseller list and he is one of the most successful self-published authors of all time. As a self-published author myself, I know the hard work and commitment that takes. Now, I’m not trying to start a book of the month club or anything but I can recommend Ringer’s latest book highly.

In Action!, Ringer notes that Goethe’s words had a great impact on his life and that he chose to modify them for his personal use to read, “Action produces genius, magic, and power.”

Like Robert Ringer, I believe that in business and in life bold action can lead to great things. For all the entrepreneurs reading this, another quote from legendary management theorist Peter Drucker comes to mind, "Wherever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision."

On the path to continued growth, you’ll forever be faced with such decisions. How you respond determines your destiny in business and in life. It’s that simple.

As a marketing consultant and copywriter my objective is to create direct-response advertising that overcomes inertia and motivates people to take action. And to take action now. That’s what my clients are looking for.

Many small business owners are also in an inert state, afraid to act because they either don’t have the proper knowledge or are frustrated because past image advertising campaigns have drained their marketing budgets with little ROI to show for it.

With the right information, differentiation strategy and proper positioning all of this can change. Often times all it takes is an open mind and an experienced consultant to help you see what’s possible. Then you can make an informed decision and take action with confidence.

Remember - nothing happens until something moves.

Integrating a Blog Into Your Business Marketing Strategy

2005-03-28T12:07:00.000-05:00

“Business has two basic functions, marketing and innovation.” – Peter Drucker

Successful marketers are constantly educating themselves about the latest innovations in technology and communication and finding ways to integrate these breakthroughs into their businesses models. In marketing lingo, they become early adopters.

You fit this mold as a consumer if you couldn’t wait to get your hands on a DVD player or an iPod once they hit the market. If that sounds like you, we’ve definitely got something in common!

We live at an exciting time. Innovation is everywhere. Much of the terminology hasn’t made its way into the dictionary yet. Are you up on the latest?

• Blog – (short for web log) is a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and web links.

• Podcasting – A web-based broadcast medium that delivers audio content to iPods and other portable media players on demand, so that it can be listened to at the user’s convenience.

• PowerShow – The web’s cost-effective answer to a traditional TV commercial. A multimedia presentation that utilizes music, audio and testimonials to sell a product or service with impact and emotion.

The focus of this post is blogs. To the visionary business marketer, blogs aren’t merely a diary of personal thoughts, they’re a convenient way to add fresh content to a business website that keeps readers/customers coming back. Blog templates enable you to update a web page via a browser without the need to launch an HTML editor. All the templates and extra features you’ll need are at your disposal and with blogger.com, it’s simple and free!

For business applications, I recommend writing your blog posts in a conversational style, and combining personal experiences with content and web links that offer real value to the reader. In addition to free reports and industry white papers, blog posts and links are an excellent way to expand your education-based marketing strategy.

Add blogging to your marketing tool kit today!

Who is Ben Edwards and How Can He Help My Business?

2005-03-28T11:23:00.000-05:00

Thanks for visiting. Here's a little about me that family, friends and clients know. At least I think they do! I obtained my marketing education at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island where I also developed a serious interest in journalism. After college, I followed the path of one of my favorite historical figures, Benjamin Franklin, and became a printer when I purchased a small commercial print shop in Connecticut with my college roommate.

Yes, I actually did work on the press, but wasn’t very good at it. Much like Ben Franklin I sought more creative pursuits like writing, and also marketing and sales. When we built and moved to a larger facility two years later, I opted to utilize my marketing education, writing and sales skills to benefit the business full time. No more ink on my hands just in my pen!

The company, Edwards Printing Services, eventually surpassed $3 million in sales and during that period I developed and acted as a consultant to several key accounts, the largest being BIC Corporation. In 1997 I started to establish clients in the Boston area including the Paul Revere House.

I’ve always had a passion for the city my Edwards ancestors called home during the American Revolution. In fact, my namesake Capt. Benjamin Edwards was 20 years old, married and living in the North End in 1706, the same year Ben Franklin was born less than a mile away!

You can find my complete bio here, along with links to special free revenue-enhancing reports and further information on the many ways I can help you grow your business.

Back to the story. A return to Boston combined with my writing and marketing abilities soon spawned a children’s book, audio book and later, a unique tour business. All created and promoted utilizing methods and resources available to my clients.

Write Marketing Group was established in early 2004 and my client base continued to expand. Edwards Printing Services was sold later that year to a competitor. Today I focus my efforts on helping small to medium-size businesses, non-profits and professional practices differentiate themselves from the competition and grow their businesses.

After business hours, you’ll find me networking, at the gym, on tour (actually “giving a historical tour” on the weekends is more accurate, although “on tour” sounds more impressive), at a coffee shop or restaurant with friends, or catching a game at Fenway Park. Yes, I’m a major Red Sox fan and have written a few articles about personal experiences at Fenway.

So, if you ever want to trade field box seats next to Ben and Matt for some marketing advice, just let me know!