Copywriting, Advertising and Marketing… Learn Something!

Monday, December 28th, 2009 at 9:00 pm

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If you own a small business, this is for you

For those of you who don’t know, I write ads. Both online and off. Small business owners can be very difficult to work with, do you know why? Most are megalomaniacs (power drunk)

Almost every offline small business I work with is focused on their image. Almost all online businesses are focused on sales. It is an interesting dichotomy.

I started with a offline local business and I can’t tell you how blind I was. Let’s face it, most small business owners can’t sell toilet paper to a family with food poisoning…

I asked one business owner I was writing for to describe what separates him from his competition. He told me he cares more. How in the hell do you sell caring?

Hire Me Today to Build an Addition on to Your Home, because I care

Do you ever see the ads or websites where a company goes on and on about customer service? I promise you that has ZERO effect on getting sales. In fact it may be losing sales. People don’t care for one, but they also don’t believe them. Have you ever bought anything because you thought they cared more. Be honest

Does Wal-Mart care more than Target? Does Ford care more than Toyota? Does Dominoes care more than Papa John’s? Have you ever thought about who cares more?

Most times I get a coupon when I am hungry and order a pizza. If the pizza guy wants to mow my lawn, that’s cool. But I called because I am hungry and they had a quick fix. I don’t even like these pizzas!

What people are buying is the end result. Not a smile, not a thank you card. First they need to want what is being pushed on them. Customer service is not worth anything to anyone but the business.

It comes after the sale.

Branding is another area I butt heads on a lot. 99.9% of businesses look at McDonalds and Coke and say "I wanna be that in my local area. When they think of _____ they think of us". Well, that is silly and near impossible. Seeing your signs, trucks, logos or whatever does nothing because there is no meaning.

If people are getting hit with 3000 ads per day, it is impossible for you to position yourself without stopping them dead in their tracks. They need to ignore the other 2999 ads, their kids, the late credit card payment, the ringing phone and Oprah.

The best way to do that is to hook them and sell them right then. Don’t give them time to think about it or forget. This is where online businesses beat the crap out of offline. They know that person may never come back.

Don’t worry about image, ego or branding. If you get them as a customer then you can show them how much you care. Then your brand means something to them.