W
WizardEdd
Guest
I shared a few marketing and advertising ideas at the West Coast Art and Frame show in Las Vegas this past January, and several people asked me to post a few of them somewhere. I thought this was the best, most accessible place, plus, if someone isn’t interested, they don’t have to be bothered to read my ramblings.
Here is my opening question to you, what kind of business are you? Or better stated, what brings people to your business? Pull out your yellow pages ad, or a direct mail piece you have sent out, or whatever is the latest piece of advertising you have done. Now, cross out your name and insert your closest competitors name, could the ad still read the same (other than the address and phone number perhaps)? If your answer is a begrudging ‘yes’ or ‘yes if the customer doesn’t know any better’, then ‘Houston we have a problem’! So often when we write our advertising pieces, we gravitate towards what we have seen ‘others’ do, or what we see our competitors do. Unfortunately our prospects don’t know the difference if we don’t’ tell them. So my first tip is, reevaluate your advertising from a prospects perspective, if you get the impression that you look just like your competitor, so will your prospects. Time to change the message! Read a few of your competitors’ ads, you will be amazed by how many of them say they are the ‘best’ or have the ‘highest quality’ or ‘most experience’. Remember, your prospects don’t know the difference yet so if your ads say the same, well ….. then your prospects think you are just the same.
My marketing tips come with an unconditional money back guarantee. I will reimburse you double what you paid me for this tip if it doesn’t help your business (how’s that for an offer?). Actually, I welcome your comments (criticism) and I will continue to post more tips if I get the impression that a few of you are interested.
Here is my opening question to you, what kind of business are you? Or better stated, what brings people to your business? Pull out your yellow pages ad, or a direct mail piece you have sent out, or whatever is the latest piece of advertising you have done. Now, cross out your name and insert your closest competitors name, could the ad still read the same (other than the address and phone number perhaps)? If your answer is a begrudging ‘yes’ or ‘yes if the customer doesn’t know any better’, then ‘Houston we have a problem’! So often when we write our advertising pieces, we gravitate towards what we have seen ‘others’ do, or what we see our competitors do. Unfortunately our prospects don’t know the difference if we don’t’ tell them. So my first tip is, reevaluate your advertising from a prospects perspective, if you get the impression that you look just like your competitor, so will your prospects. Time to change the message! Read a few of your competitors’ ads, you will be amazed by how many of them say they are the ‘best’ or have the ‘highest quality’ or ‘most experience’. Remember, your prospects don’t know the difference yet so if your ads say the same, well ….. then your prospects think you are just the same.
My marketing tips come with an unconditional money back guarantee. I will reimburse you double what you paid me for this tip if it doesn’t help your business (how’s that for an offer?). Actually, I welcome your comments (criticism) and I will continue to post more tips if I get the impression that a few of you are interested.