Three Revealing Tips To Writing A Profitable Ad?

Are you frustrated because your ads are not getting the response you thought they deserved?

Here are three tips that are 100% guaranteed to help you improve any ad.

Tip One:
Write a powerful headline that stops your reader dead in their tracks.
Get them say to themselves. “I’ve gotta know more”

To create great headlines, run to your nearest magazine rack. Swipe and use the tested headlines from the most popular publications. Publications like: The National Enquirer, People, Sports Illustrated and Games. They have spent huge bucks testing and proving that these headline work. Headlines get the publishers magazines flying off the shelves. Use them as models to create your headlines.

Tip 2:
What do you want your future client to do AFTER you’ve convinced them that they need what you are offering?

A powerful technique is to take your reader, viewer or listener by the hand and tell them exactly what to do. Tell them to call your phone number now. Come into your shop today. Go to your website and order right now.

Put simply, people want to be lead.
They need to know exactly what to do… or,
they won’t do anything at all.

Tip 3:
Tell stories in your ad.

People are naturally curious.

Since childhood, we love hearing stories.
We also love picturing ourselves in the story.

When you use stories to tell the real reasons why you are offering what you are offering, people trust and believe you. Why? It’s human nature and you can’t fool with Mother Nature.

“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp.
The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.”
-Ursula K. LeGuin

One of the most important parts of storytelling is being totally honest.
People can smell a fake story a mile away.

Also, when you mention, in your stories a minor problem with what are selling, it keeps you honest and builds trust.

So, there you have it. With a little practice, you’ll use these three tips to improve any ad you are running anywhere. On the web, in the paper, on the radio or TV.

Imagine what would happen if you found more tips like this on this blog.
Some people will find a lot more marketing secrets, strategies and tactics here too.

How much do you love your clients and their business?

Even more importantly, how much do you love helping your clients?

How passionate are you about it?

I have met so many business owners over the years who are just not very passionate about what they do or sell.

This makes me wonder, “Why did they go into business in the first place?”

Having passion for your business is an essential part of successful marketing.

In fact, the passionate drive to succeed is a huge factor in the success of any business.

If you love what you are doing, then your success will be so much greater than what you will achieve if you don’t.

Whether or not you are truly excited about what your business has to offer will be very evident to all of your customers and prospects. It will come across in every¬thing that you do, in all of the words that you write, and in how you speak about the products/services that you offer.

If you really believe in your business, then your intensity will be transferred to your employees in the amount of effort that they put forth, and to your cus¬tomers and prospects in a way that will increase their interest in your products/services.

If you are passionate about what your business does, the result will be more sales. It does not matter what motivates your passion, whether it is making money, or loving the “in-charge” feeling that you get with self-employment, or enjoying the freedom of setting your own hours.

If you maintain a love and passion for your business, you will find that many people will want to do business with you, both now and in the future. Passion breeds success, and success breeds more success.

If you don’t love what you are doing—if you are not totally passionate about it—then go find something else!

“Passion is everything.”
-David Copperfield

People will have a hard time believing you if you don’t have passion for what you are doing. Your clients and prospects can sense it in you when you don’t believe in what you are marketing.

You might fool them once, but you won’t fool them twice.

Be passionate about your business. It will catch on fire.

What are you doing to show how much you love what you do and the things that you sell?

How would you like to be on the top of a best-seller list?

Well, then, why not create your own “best-seller list”
and feature it prominently in your marketing efforts?

People buy what is popular.

The higher up on the best-seller list that an item is—i.e. the more “popular” that it becomes—the more that sales for the item will climb.

For example, if you own an ice cream parlor, create a best-seller list of the most popular flavors of ice cream that you sell.

Post the list at several highly visible locations.
When folks come in, watch the sales of your best-selling ice cream soar!

You can create a best-selling list for any
product/service that you offer.

The power of suggestion helps people who do not know
what they want as well as those who are having trouble choosing what they want.

Many people just can’t make a decision
(sometimes even a life-saving decision), so why not help
them along by showing them what other folks like the best?

Some clients of mine (a husband-and-wife team who run a
carpet-cleaning service) were having trouble selling their service.

We created a best-seller list of the services that
the company offered by using good, better, and best offerings.

This list helped the couple’s prospects to choose the
services that they wanted based on what other people had done in the past.

The sales and profits on these “best-sellers” have increased dramatically.

This means that the sales and profits for the company
are up overall, which was our goal in the first place!

How can you create a “best-seller” list for your products/services?

How many of your clients Love You?

How many people send you a complimentary letter or email?

Your love letter may arrive by way of the U.S. Postal Service, via a fax or e-mail, or through a voice-mail message.

There are two great reasons why you should save a copy of every love letter or “white mail” (positive messages) that you receive.

Here’s the first:

When clients tell you what they like about your product or your service, you’ll discover you may have the ability to improve the things that they like.

If they approve of a product, then you can make or acquire more of it.

If they like your service, then you can make sure that you maintain its quality.

Odds are good that if one customer takes the time to send a message to you, then the way that they feel would apply in a similar way to many other customers.

Negative comments can also be turned positive.

How? They show your honesty.
They show you are not perfect.
They show you are human.
People know mistakes happen and that nothing is perfect.

The second reason for hanging on to your “Love Letters” is to use its comments as positive testimonials about your product/service.

Unsolicited remarks tend to be more open and honest than testimonials for which you have to ask.

If you want to use a customer’s comments in your promotional material, you should ask for his/her permission.

Oh. By the way. It’s okay to paraphrase and/or edit a testimonial so long as you do not change the meaning of the message.

Or you could pull out a short phrase. Even a word or two and use as a testimonial.

Give him/her credit in your marketing by including name, city, and state.

Phone numbers, e-mail addresses and photos also are extremely beneficial.
However, only use them when your client gives you specific written approval.

Sometimes, I’ll use a stock photo of a different person that fits the same age range if I can’t get permission.

Some people are overly concerned about their privacy, but most people probably will grant you the permission that you seek.

I can’t stress it enough:
Testimonials are a great tool. Use them to your advantage.

When you talk about how great your product/service is, people assume that it is part of your marketing and salesmanship—and rightly so.

However, when someone else praises your product/service, it sends a much more powerful message.

Now, what are you going to do with the Love Letters that you receive?

What marketing efforts are your competitors using?

• Call your competitor on the telephone and pose as a prospective client.
• Talk to their sales staff
• Ask the right questions and most salespeople will tell you exactly what you want to know about their business. Many salespeople love to talk about themselves and their business. This can help you with your research.
• Collect your competitors’ brochures, ads, and sales letters.
• Record their voice messages and their radio and TV commercials.
• Visit their booths at trade shows and go to their showrooms.
• Also, check out their Web site(s).
  Most Web sites will give you a lot of information about how the company does business with its clients. The site may even provide a list of clients, which can become a great “target list” for your own sales efforts.
  While visiting the Web sites of your competitors, request more information regarding their companies and their products/services. Then, keep an accurate record about how quickly they respond.

Here are the fatal seven “selling mistakes” that many people make.

They are not in any particular order.

You will know which ones are costing you money and need improvement.

“While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.”
-Henry C. Link

Fatal Mistake 1:
Failing to become a welcomed guest.

Bonding and rapport is critically important part of every sales call. It does not matter if it’s a first call, fifth call or a milk run call.

Look around, find something that you have in common with your prospect/client. Find a way, anyway, to link with him/her. It could be a mutual friend, a business associate, or a leisure activity.

Try talk about your connection long enough to become comfortable with each other before talking about business. It’s far better than wasting time talking about the weather. People like to do business with people with whom they feel comfortable with.

Fatal Mistake 2:
Thinking that the prospect doesn’t have enough money.

A prospect almost always can find the money to purchase what you are selling if they need it badly enough. Explain all of the benefits that your buyer can begin to get from what you have to offer. Ask questions to create or expose needs. Find things that are so important that solving them overrides the cost.

If you can show someone that s/he can’t live without what you are selling, then that person will find the funds to purchase your solution.

The bottom line is that it’s up to your prospect to come up with the funds. It may be wise to offer them some creative payment options if that will help you close the deal, but your main job should be to create, expose and have the perfect fit solution to their needs.

Fatal Mistake 3:
Failing to ask the right questions.

Ask prospects specific questions to find out if you actually can solve their problems with your products and services. Ask questions to qualify them as decision-makers. Ask “Who else besides yourself will be involved in the decision-making process?”

Ask questions about financial matters, such as “How will you pay for these services?” Ask questions that separate you from your competition. Try beginning most of your questions with the words: When, What, Where, Who, and How.

As an experienced sales person, you’ve heard it all before. You here common problems and objections from everyone. Use that common information and ask questions to get the real problems out on the table.

If you are just getting started in sales, ask a successful sales associate for help. Ask your mentor what questions have been successful for him/her, it will shorten on your learning curve and lead to faster sales growth.

Test and track what questions work and what questions fail. Once you have discovered the perfect questions, keep using them, hone them razor sharp and keep using them until they stop working.

Fatal Mistake 4:
Talking too much.

Ask questions. Then shut-up and listen to the answers. Talk no more than 37% of the time (even that may be too much). Get your prospect to do most of the talking. Ask pointed questions, and keep your prospect answering.

Keep full control of the conversation, but let the buyer think that s/he is controlling it. The more that you let your prospect talk about himself or herself, the more that s/he will like and trust you. This may lead him or her to close the sale for you—all you have to do is listen.

Fatal Mistake 5:
Putting down the competition.

Sell for yourself and not against someone else. Substitute the words “industry standard” for “competition.”

NEVER say one bad word about your opposition. If you have to talk about them at all, praise their work and position in the industry or community.

Then point out how you do things “differently.” What makes you, your products and services unique or unusual. Slamming the competition only comes off as sour grapes and will never help you close a sale.

Fatal Mistake 6:
Failing to follow up.

If you say you will call back at 2 p.m. on Thursday, then do it, no matter what. People WILL remember when you DON’T keep your word. Always let your customer know when you will get back to them, and make sure that you do.

Also, consistently follow up all your marketing efforts. It’s proven that one-shot marketing rarely works. It’s also proven that it takes seven or more contacts to finalize many deals. Be patient, be persistent and be profitable.

Fatal Mistake 7:
Failing to use your time wisely.

Know the difference between “pay time” and “no pay time.” “Pay time” is the time that you spend talking to or meeting with prospects and clients.

“No pay time” is when you stop at the car wash, eat lunch alone, fill out paperwork, or do anything else that does not contribute directly to the creation of income.

Beware of email and the Internet.

They are sneaky time wasters. How many times have you open a email and follow a link to a Website… the next thing you know, you’ve waste a half-hour that you can never ever get back.

Spend 100% of your time doing those things that lead you to making money. This will separate you from the pack and increase your year-end bottom line. Schedule a given amount of time every week to spend prospecting for new business. “ABC”—Always Be Prospecting. Always have prospects in your “pipeline.”

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Fatal Bonus Mistake 8:
Placing blame on everyone and everything but yourself.

Take a look in a mirror. Most of the shortfalls of selling start from the six inches between our ears. We must commit to working smart.

Many of us are afraid of failing and forget that we learn from failure as well as success. Blame ourselves, but don’t be afraid of failing. Everything is on the other side of FEAR.

How many of these selling mistakes are you making?
How will you correct them and prosper this year?

What Is The Difference Between Sales And Marketing?

There is an important distinction.
Successful businesses know how to use both.

Selling is interpersonal, one-on-one human communication. It includes telephone calls, networking, and face-to face meetings between you (or your sales staff) and your clients and prospective customers.

Marketing is developing various programs designed to reach out to and persuade prospects to raise their hands and say, “I’m interested in what you have to offer.” Marketing includes public relations (PR), advertising, direct mail, e-mail, and more. Marketing efforts are designed to target a specific group of people who have a need for your products or services.

Your efforts will educate these prospective customers about the features and benefits of what you have to offer and move them toward taking action – usually (but not always) making a purchase.

Salesmanship takes over after your marketing does its job. The job of sales could be handled by your clerk at the counter, or by customer service on the telephone, or through a face-to-face sales call to your prospect’s office. Closing some sales may require several contacts with the prospect. These contacts could include a marketing effort or a combination of marketing and an interpersonal sales call. Others sales are simple to close: just send one marketing message or make one personal sales call and it’s done. Sold.

Building a successful business takes the combination of marketing and sales efforts working together to reach out and persuade people to buy your products and services on an ongoing basis.

For example: You receive a letter or postcard mailing from your local phone company with some strong offer (marketing effort). A week later, you get a phone call from one of their sales reps asking about the mailer, offering to answer any questions that you might have about it, and trying to close the sale (salesmanship). This is marketing and sales working together in a coordinated way.

How do you handle your marketing and sales efforts?

Is your plan in place?