Most of us only read the headline and take a quick glance at the photo on direct mail pieces – using less than five seconds of our attention to decide if we are interested to know more about this product or service. LESS THAN FIVE SECONDS! The same is true for a radio ad and television spot, too.  Our ears are finely tuned to discern an ad spot from a news spot. We as consumers are inundated with new offers every day. The novelty of direct mail and other advertising venues has worn off. The sheer volume of promotions being pushed at us is overwhelming.

Use your five seconds wisely by getting to the point and getting there fast!

For example, tax season is here. If you’re a tax preparer, it’s prime time for you to advertise … right along side your competition. Which of these headlines have the best chance of being noticed?

A.  Taxes ‘R Us offers fast, dependable service.

B.  Put More Money in YOUR Pocket on April 15th!

For my money, “B” gets my five seconds of attention. As the client, I want to either pay less or get back more. That’s my bottom line benefit. “A” tells me too much about YOU … I dont’ care about you, I want to know about ME.

Here’s a three-step process to help you create your client’s or customer’s bottom-line benefit headline:

Step 1:

Using a two-column page format, make a list of features of your product or service in one column. Directly across from that, identify the “bottom line benefit” of that feature for your client/customer.

For example, in the above tax preparation ad, a feature of your business would be: “We work hard to find every tax deduction possible for your individual return.”  To transform that feature in a benefit, simply ask, “Why does my client care about that?” What good is it to the client for you to find every tax deduction possible?

Answer: You save your client money in what they have to pay in, or you put more money in their pocket with a refund. That’s a bottom-line benefit for your client.

Features focus on you. Benefits focus on your clients. List as many features and benefits as you can.

Step 2:

From your finished list choose a recurring benefit or one that is unique that can’t be claimed by your competition. Maybe you are equipped to process returns in 48-hours or less. If that is unique to your company be sure to say so in your ad to differentiate yourself from your competitors. (Caution … don’t promise something you can’t deliver.)

Step 3:

Once you’ve chosen your strongest bottom-line benefit, experiment to work it into an eye-catching, PERSUASIVE headline. Try to keep it to ten words or less. Five words would be even better to make the benefit unmistakably clear. And remember, when crafting the verbiage, clients don’t really care what you can do; clients care about what you can do for them!

It’s difficult to master bottom-line benefit advertising, but if you take the time — or spend the money — to develop just one great ad headline, it can double or triple your ad response from your targeted audience.  And that kind of return on your investment puts MORE profits in YOUR pocket!

After a few email exchanges to determine how she was approaching clients, I was a bit stunned to learn the way Donna was going about it. In a nutshell, she would send her clients thank you notes and include about a dozen of her business cards, asking them to hand them out to others who might need her services.

Yikes!

Now, let me first say that the thank you note is a great idea. But the sincerity of appreciation is kind of kicked to the curb by asking the client for something in return. At the very minimum, when asking for referrals keep the same client-benefit perspective in mind that you had when you first attracted the client to you.

Donna is a seamstress, so here are just three things she might do differently:

1.  Use “give to get” enticements.

Instead of enclosing business cards, Donna could enclose a few small postcards that offer a 20% discount on services – for BOTH the referrer (your client) and the referral (your potential client).

The message she would be sending would say, “thank you” in a beneficial way by giving something to get something: the offer benefits your client, and it allows that client to pass on a benefit to someone else.

2. Partner with a complementary business.

Donna’s business would share clientele with (without being a direct competitor of) a nearby dry cleaning service. The two businesses could simply agree to place business cards at each others’ place of business. Better yet, they could each print up discount coupons for customers to take.

3. Propose a direct mail joint venture with a complementary business.

Donna could seek out one or more complementary businesses (like the dry cleaner) to propose sharing the costs of a promotional mailing. Each business contributes an equal number of contact addresses and they share the printing and mailing costs.

Asking for referrals doesn’t have to be elaborate and it doesn’t have to be difficult but it does have to be well thought out. Think through the process and place yourself in the other person’s chair. What would entice YOU to pass along a referral? Then act and react so that it becomes effortless and profitable.

We give it out to (almost) anyone who asks for it.

We conduct research and gather valuable information with it.

We rely on it for communication with associates, friends and family.

“It” is e-mail. And there’s no denying that e-mail is as common of a communication tool as telephones — maybe even moreso. Regardless of whether or not you have a Web site, if you are NOT using e-mail marketing for your products and services, you are ignoring a very low cost (and often no cost!) marketing tactic with high-return (and profit) potential. Why not squeeze every ounce of communicative powers e-mail has when dealing with clients and customers?

How? By using this easy four-step process:

Step 1. Develop a list of Frequently Asked Questions

Every business receives telephone calls from customers/clients or potential customers/clients asking for the same information over and over again. Retailers get questions like “Where is the business located?”; “What are your store hours?”; “Do you sell such-n-such brand name?”; “What is your return policy”, etc. Service businesses field calls asking for a description of services, pricing, and credentials or references.

Make a list of the calls your business gets most often and use this list to document these frequently asked questions – along with the answers.

Step 2.  Add an opening and closing paragraph to each document.

For each response:

1. Add an opening paragraph that specifically thanks the customer/client for requesting the information,
2. Provide the information, and
3. Add a closing paragraph that, again, thanks them for requesting the information.

Sign off with a specific contact name and phone number with an invitation to contact you directly for further assistance, to place an order, set up a meeting, or whatever else might be a “next step” to continue the communication. If you have a Web site, be sure to list it here and invite readers to visit it to find out more about the company, products, services, you, etc.

Step 3.  Develop a follow-up e-mail.

Just as you would initiate a follow-up phone call with a prospect, so should you prepare a follow up e-mail. Prepare a message to be sent a day or two (or longer depending on the information requested) after the first one. This e-mail should ask recipients if they received the requested information and if there are further questions you can answer. This would also be an appropriate time to announce a current special or sale, offer a limited-time-only discount, or introduce a referral program.

Step 4. Create a computer file containing the questions and answers.

Set up a folder on your computer that contains as many Q & A documents and follow up e-mails that make sense for your business. Some of the information may be best combined into one document, like store location and business hours. Other documents will require separate files.

The objective is to be able to easily access these response files so you can quickly send them to people asking for the information.

Once you have these documents ready for use, USE THEM! The next time you get a phone call asking for information you have created in your Q&A file, you can say, “I’d be delighted to give you that information. Do you have e-mail? I can send it to you right away!”

As your list of email addresses grows, so does the opportunity to reach a targeted group of current and potential customers with updates, promotions, or special offers. This kind of list is a small business marketer’s goldmine. Start building your list today!

Note: The above article is an excerpt from a more in-depth how-to for using this marketing tactic. The remainder of the article can be found in “29 Ways to Increase Profits and Productivity” – the FREE eBook available by entering your name and email address in the above right-hand box.

– Abraham Lincoln

Abe was probably talking about leadership, but the above quote is excellent advice for marketers. Go in the direction your customers want to go, and it will be an easier sell. In other words, make sure the marketing you do for your products and services reflect what your customers want, not what you want them to have. Marketing based on convincing someone he or she “should” have something is less effective than marketing focused on what your customers are already convinced they want. If you’re struggling with a SHOULD marketing strategy, heed Honest Abe’s advice: “ride a horse in the direction it’s going.”

I’ve recently received an increasing number of emails from micro business owners and independents sharing the many fears that come with such economic uncertainty. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to survive the downturn, a good place to start is to “read between the numbers.”

How?

We are all quick to notice that the economy is affecting profits. Yet, it’s important to identify what’s really going on by examining the numbers of your own sales reports more closely. Compare your most recent report to one that was more profitable, then ask yourself questions like:

• Am I making fewer sales-per-customer?
• Am I making the same average sale-per-customer, but getting fewer customers?
• What products or services attract the majority of sales?
• What products or services attract the least amount of sales?
• How much business came from new customers? Where did those new customers come from? What are they buying?
• How much business came from repeat customers? How often do those repeat customers come back? What are they buying?
• What promotions spiked sales, but resulted in minimal profits?
• What promotions contributed to my greatest profits?

Gathering and comparing this kind of information puts control back into your hands.

Then what?

The worst thing you can do is sit back and hope the economy will turn back in your favor. The best thing you can do is take action and move your business in the direction your research points you. Armed with this comparison information you can:

Reassess what your customers are doing. Customers and clients are moving targets. What they wanted yesterday may not be what they want tomorrow. Ask yourself:

• Does my target customer still exist?
• Can that target customer still afford, or still want, what I have to offer?
• Has a different target market emerged BECAUSE of the changed economy? If so, how can I revise my marketing strategy to reach them?

Reassess what you’re doing. Are the products and services you offer still valuable to your target market? The products and services you offer must be valuable to your customers. If they aren’t, no amount of promotion will significantly change the numbers you found on your profit and loss statement. Ask yourself:

• What product/service do I count on for the majority of sales? Has there been a significant decline in demand for this product/service?
• How can I update, add to, or reposition this product/service to add value for the customer?
• If I can’t, is there a secondary product/service that is a potential candidate for becoming the primary?

Implement change. By reassessing your target market and your products / services, you’ll be able to determine what, if any, changes need to be made to get your business back on track. Do you need to:

• Change your target market to better fit your products and services?
• Change your products and services to better fit your target market?
• Change your methods for reaching – and keeping – new and repeat customers?

Being able to ask yourself honest questions and adapt to the changes you can’t control, by implementing changes you can control, will keep your business strong, and force you into practicing the kind of flexibility needed for long-term existence – and growth.

I’ll be first to admit that I’d rather devise some incredibly creative marketing promotion than stare at and analyze numbers all day. Yet, I’m also willing to concede that, by taking the time to ‘read between the numbers’, that creative marketing promotion is destined to bring in far more profitable results in a challenging economy.

So what can we do? Methods for lead generation revert back to more traditional advertising and publicity tactics in order to “pull” customers toward your business, rather than “pushing” your products and services toward the customer. Either advertising budgets will need to be larger, or campaigns must be more targeted.

For many of us, efforts to get new leads will result in a higher cost per customer. Those leads need to be carefully tended like seeds planted in a new garden. To achieve cost-effective results, it is imperative that your follow up practices produce greater conversion rates. In other words, “seed those leads” to make them grow!

Here are five ways to refocus on lead conversion for better profits:

1) Don’t take “no” for an answer, without asking, “why?”

If you’ve amassed a database of leads, then you have in your possession people who initially expressed a “yes, I’m interested” response to your offer. When you conduct your first follow-up with that lead, don’t simply take, “no” as the answer. You need to find out WHY they’ve suddenly lost interest in something that initially attracted them to your product or service. Only then can you begin to address objections, and refocus your approach to find out what they want – and give it to them.

2) Ask permission to keep leads on your follow up list.

Every “no” doesn’t mean “never” – it often means “not now.” The price might be more than they can afford, the timing may be wrong, etc. Accept a “no” for the immediate promotion, but be sure to reinforce the benefits of remaining on your follow up list (i.e., they can receive valuable information, notification of special promotions on other products and services, discount offers, new product or services being introduced, etc.). Give people a reason to want to hear from you again.

3) Create a follow up system that starts and ends with you.

Too often, businesses do everything right to attract new leads, yet fail to do much to keep them. Capture contact information to build your database of potential, future buyers.

If you have a retail business, you may advertise a special promotion to generate traffic coming in the door, but you must also give them a reason to give you their contact information so you can continue to market long after the initial promotion ends. Use prize giveaways, signups to win free merchandise, or a shopping spree, etc.

If you have a service business, you might generate leads by offering a free report, analysis, or quote. Don’t send out literature to inquiries and then sit back and wait for a response. YOU must follow up to make sure the information was received, remind them of benefits, advise them of discounts, find out their objections, etc.

4) Develop total recall.

Keep detailed files of customer feedback and responses so your future follow-ups are specific to their concerns and purchasing roadblocks. Prices too high? Quality poor? Selection too small? Service too slow? Hours of operation inconvenient? You can’t overcome objections if you don’t know what they are! The more you show your customers and clients that you listen to their concerns, the greater your chances for acquiring – and keeping – a loyal customer.

5) Ask for and reward referrals.

Word of mouth advertising rarely just happens. Promoting your business will seldom be at the top of your customer’s “to do” list. However, providing incentives for your customers to refer you to others, will give them a reason to consciously do so. Use your marketing and sales history to determine your cost to acquire a new customer, and the lifetime value of a loyal customer. Use these figures to determine the incentives you’ll use for both the referring customer, and the potential new customer.

The cost of attracting potential new business is high. Now, more than ever, lead conversion is a critical component of your sales process. Never let a lead go by without doing everything you can to convert it into a buying customer, or a paying client. Take the time to “seed the lead” and you’ll see a steady increase in your profit column.

So are these highly creative, high-priced ads effective?

Not if the creativity is all you remember about them.

Most of this year’s new ads were oozing with creative genius. My disappointment is that, for the most part, they were remarkably memorable for creativity alone – not the product or service they were promoting.

Is that money well-spent?  Not in my small business-minded opinion.

Especially when you consider that on this ONE day, viewers are actually WILLING and EAGER to see your ad. On any other given day, during any other television program, people would be wielding their remote controls to channel surf once the programs they are watching fade to commercial.

You and I don’t have 2.3 million dollars to spend on a one-shot chance to reach our audiences. We can’t afford the arrogance of assuming people will like us or our products based on a “clever” commercial. The people we market to need to know what good we are to them, their lives, their businesses, etc.

Now, I’m not suggesting you avoid using creativity in your advertising. I’m just asking you to remember that creativity is the icing, not the cake. Creativity enhances an ad; it cannot take its place. Don’t try to frost something that’s only half-baked!

Specific marketing techniques are not exclusive to either offline or online businesses … and that’s the GOOD news for those of us who have previously relied on expensive direct mail and advertising campaigns that quickly suck the life out of a marketing budget!

Here are just five profit-building reasons to use online tactics as one of your targeted marketing methods:

1.  Cheap, Cheap, Cheap!

When it comes to costs, online marketing can’t be beat. You can test a promotion, get results, and then tweak and test again – all in a matter of days – and for a fraction of the cost of a direct mail campaign. Once tested, your final campaign is launched and, again, within a matter of days, you’ll have results.

What typical direct mail campaign can offer that?

2.  Hands-off Personalized Attention

I suppose you could argue that it’s contradictory to say you can be ‘hands off’ while still giving personalized attention, yet it bears some truth. Ever wish you could make personal calls to all of your customers or clients whenever you had something new or fabulous to tell them? Email lets you do that. A personal letter from you with timely information, valuable offers, and helpful tips is convenient for you to write and send, and convenient for your customers and clients to receive. Personalize each email with the customer’s name, and you have a simple, hands-off, time-saving contact with each and every one of your customers.

3.  A Virtual Upselling Machine

How would you like a salesperson that flawlessly performs upsells and back end products/service sales without demanding the lion’s share of commission? Online marketing is your answer. It can become a highly successful back-end product (or service) promoter that piles repeat sales at your doorstep. With a little upfront planning, you can create a virtual “sales force” that does all the follow up and promotion for you. Your customers open and read your offers or visit your website when it is convenient for them – a time that they’ll be most receptive to your message.

4.  No-Brainer, Instant Referrals

Have you ever tried to initiate a referral program with your customers? In the print-and-paper world, it’s expensive, and it requires your customers to take action – the kind of action that needs a conscious effort, like handing someone a promotional offer or “chatting you up” around the office water cooler. Even your biggest fans will unlikely carry through on their good intentions. It’s just not their priority for the day. With email, a referral is often as easy as the click of a “forward” button to their personal email list. All you have to do is provide them with a product or service they’d gladly recommend, and ask them to do it. No cost. No hassle. No brainer.

5. “Set It and Forget It” Automated Marketing

If you’re like me, you don’t have time to continuously oversee every intricate step of a timely, well-executed marketing campaign. And most of you already know I’m a huge fan of using business systems to free up time and keep overhead costs low. I want to “set it and forget it” – and that’s exactly what you can do with your email campaigns and online marketing efforts. Systematic implementation lets you do all the planning upfront, set it in place, and let ‘er rip!

How much easier can marketing get?

Is your business idea built on market research or a hunch?

Entrepreneurs often fall in love with their products or services before they determine if there’s a real market, and they throw fistfuls of money into the venture. If you, your spouse, your uncle, and your neighbor think you’ve got a winning idea, that’s simply not enough qualified input to run to the bank and drain your savings account!

Avoid this mistake by:

>>>Conducting your detective work (research).
>>>Testing your business idea with the real marketplace.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake #2: Believing that, “If You Build It, They Will Come”

Do you think you have a product or service that will practically sell itself?

Trust me — you don’t.

There is a misconception among small business owners that, with the right product or service, your customers will simply “find” you when you open your doors for business. Whether you have a physical storefront on a corner lot in the busiest part of downtown, or a graphically pleasing online storefront offering easy access to your hot products and services, your customers will not find you if you do not market to them.

The day you open for business is the day you put on your “marketer’s hat” and never take it off. You must consistently move product, or schedule service time.

To stay in business you must profit.

To profit you must sell.

To sell you must market.

The good news is that, with a marketing strategy, you take the control out of your potential customers’ hands and put it into your own. If you have a product that will “practically sell itself,” then your marketing job will be easy. Just remember that the job must still be done.

Avoid this mistake by:

>>>Defining your niche market and USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that differentiates you from your competition.
>>>Developing a marketing action plan and strategy to reach your niche market with your USP message.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake #3:  Trying to Reinvent the Wheel

Marketing is an age-old practice with some very basic principles. Yet, I’m sure you’ve read many marketing information products that stress the importance of being innovative and creative with your marketing efforts. It’s easy to get caught up in the innovation process and forget that the REAL focus should be on results.

Avoid this mistake by:

>>>Emulating success instead of trying to create something completely new. Please note that I am not saying, “copy” what others are doing. Look at the basic structure of a tactic, campaign, advertisement, or event and use the same formula as a basis for developing your own tactics.
>>>Realizing great marketing ideas are used over and over again with just the right twist to make them fit a specific business. Focus on results, and choose imitation over innovation to create your own twist on a proven, winning technique.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake #4: Over-Preparing and Doing Nothing

The fear of failure can be powerful. So powerful that we do everything we can think of to prevent it. Yet, there is a point at which we are so busy preparing, organizing, and researching to prevent failure that we never get around to the actual marketing of the business. Here are two things to remember:

1. Activity is not productivity.
2. In order to sell a million of something, you have to sell the first ONE.

Avoid this mistake by:

>>>Doing something! If you believe in your business and have done your detective work, it’s time to dive into the marketing pool. Start small, track results and build from there.
>>>Not being afraid to make a mistake. Mistakes are the entry to success. At the very least, a failed promotion means you have SUCCESSFULLY determined what promotion does not work. And, to learn what does NOT work is a valuable tool in getting you closer to discovering what WILL work. So, go ahead. Fail a little. It will make your eventual successes even sweeter.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake #5: Boredom

When I was working for an ad agency many years ago, I had one client that was running an extremely successful ad campaign. After about six months, I received a phone call from the client. He wanted to develop an entirely new campaign. When I asked, “why?” he simply said, “I’m bored with the one we have.”

What?

That client may have had the money to spend on a new campaign due to “boredom” but you and I usually don’t. Yet, I’ve often seen my small business clients switch promotions for the same reason. This is detrimental to your business!

“Losing money” is a reason.

“Boredom” is not.

Avoid this mistake by:

>>>Remembering that, what is old to you, is new to an untapped target market. If you have a promotion that is consistently getting you results, stick with it until results show you its time for change.
>>>Testing new promotions without abandoning the current one. Then track results. Never swap a current promotion with a new one that hasn’t been tested.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake #6:  Relying on Networking to Generate Sales Leads

Joining the Chamber of Commerce and schmoozing at association meetings can put you in contact with vendors and possible joint venture partners, and will be invaluable exposure for you as a community supporter – but it will rarely generate substantial sales leads.

Everyone else who attends these “meet and greet” assemblies is there to do the same thing you are. You may be able to make some valuable contacts for future ventures and promotions, but one-on-one networking is time-consuming and results are unpredictable.

Avoid this mistake by:

>>>Treating networking opportunities the same as any other marketing tactic. Track results by determining your costs and measuring your payback.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake #7:  Doing What Your Competitors Do

It’s important to be aware of what your competitors are offering, but do not let it dictate the strategy you use for your own business.

If your competitor wants to be the low price leader, let him. Don’t try to become the “lower price” leader. Chances are this will lead you to financial problems because it will thrust you into an ugly price war.

If your competitor wants to tout low prices, then you focus on value. Bargain hunters don’t necessarily want the lowest price. They want the best VALUE.  Make what you have to offer something of value.

Avoid this mistake by:

>>>Finding an unmet need or want of your target market, and fill it to differentiate your products and services from your competitors.
>>>Giving customers a reason to choose you over your competitors. Define your USP (Unique Selling Proposition), and identify your niche market.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake #8: Not Targeting a Specific Market

If you believe your market is “everybody,” you will struggle to attract people who will buy from you. The value of target (niche) marketing is one of the toughest sells I make to my clients. They understand the logic of it, but the “fear of losing a potential customer” gets the best of them.

Avoid this mistake by:

>>>Viewing the practice of niche marketing as inclusive, not exclusive.

Think of your business as part of a person’s support group. It’s logical to say, “Everybody needs a support group so my business should attract everyone.” But, will it? People – your customers – want to go to a support business that understands their specific concerns, needs, and wants. Make sure you ARE that business by targeting a niche market.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake #9: Targeting a Market You Can’t Reach or One That Can’t Afford You

Targeting a niche market is the smartest way to market. Yet, targeting a market that is too specific will limit your ability to succeed long term. For example, a market that might be too specific would be: female pilots under the age of 35 who fly ONLY New York to London flights. That’s a pretty narrow market to sustain your business in the long term unless you can capture the ENTIRE market with a product or service that has a high profit point and customers need to use or replace it often.

In that same vein, a market that is begging for the service or product you have but cannot afford it will also be a business impossible to sustain. Never compete for someone’s rent money. Your target market must have the means to buy your products and services.

Avoid this mistake by:

>>>Creating your customer profile to identify characteristics of your potential buyers,
>>>Identifying a niche market,
>>>Examining the long term potential for new and repeat sales.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake #10: Focusing On Acquiring New Customers Instead of Promoting to Current or Previous Customers

When you first start a business you have little choice but to focus on gaining new customers. The cost of finding those new customers can be expensive, which is one reason it is so important to really target a specific niche. However, once you’ve made just one sale, you’re ready to start looking at other marketing options.

Wouldn’t you like to:

… slash your marketing costs by half or more?

… reach proven buyers for your service or products?

That little goldmine of proven buyers available to you “on the cheap” is already yours in the form of current and previous customers.

Any respected marketing guru, past or present, online or offline, will tell you that the biggest asset your company has is your customer base.

Avoid this mistake by:

>>>Realizing that, when a sale is finalized, it is the beginning of your relationship with that customer, not the end.
>>>Offering additional products or services to current customers. If you don’t have your own to offer them, then develop a referral, joint venture or product bundling program so you can reap profits from your already-interested (and buying) customers.

MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake #11: Not Systematically Following Up on Leads

The least expensive part of business is making the sale. The most expensive is generating leads – finding the people who are interested in what you have.

Once you find people who express an interest in what you have to offer – whether they buy from you or not – you MUST develop a follow up system that will keep marketing to those interested prospects. A person who has expressed interest in your products and services is far more likely to eventually buy from you than someone who did not respond at all!

Avoid this mistake by:

>>>Curbing the tendency to become obsessed with generating more leads until you have exhausted the ones you already have.
>>>Developing an easy, systematic follow up for leads, designed to convert a “maybe” into a “yes.”

The above is excerpted from Susan Carter’s book, SPLASH Marketing for Overworked Small Business Owners.