8 BIG Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make In Marketing

There are always things you should do in marketing, and thing you shouldn’t do in marketing that are usually pretty obvious.  However, there are also things you should and shouldn’t do in marketing that aren’t always so obvious, and can derail you in record time if you aren’t aware of them.

BigGirlBranding.com

When I am writing someones sales page I need to research their product or service.

A lot of the time I see a lot of value in what they offer, yet
they charge almost nothing…. and then lump on a bunch
of bonuses or freebies.

I had a client with a business selling plans for building
a contraption for car hounds. I took one look at his
price and raised without even seeing anything.

Actually, I almost doubled the price. I knew he was positioning
his products as "poor mans plans" and I don’t see a profitable
outcome there.

He about crapped his overhauls but he raised the price and
sales INCREASED.

Obviously writing him a new sales page helped, but
we were not hitting a new target market. These were
the "tightwads" he believed would not pay more.

If you’re going to sell a product or service think about
the price. Experiment with a higher price point first. Let
the market tell you what sounds good.

For those of you writing your own ads, really look at the
value of what you are offering. Convey the value with
a justifiable price and sales will increase.

I am not saying raising prices is the answer to more sales,
but most focus on how cheap it is rather than what it’s
worth. They focus on cheap and so does the customer.

I see WAY too many under-priced offers out there. It cost
no more to sell something for $57 than it does $17.

Don’t jump over the dollars to get to the dimes.

go get some

Paul

Please feel free to leave your thoughts on this. I would love to hear what you think.

Have you got eleven seconds to learn a simple principle?
A principle that will radically change the way you do things?

You do, don’t you?
Ok, tick, tick, tick….here’s the principle.

==========================================
It’s called..um…the 70% Principle
==========================================

So what’s the 70% Principle?

If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing 70% right.
You can always come back to do the 20% later.

Yes, read it again, and no, the math isn’t wrong.

If you’re going to build a website, a 70% effort is fine.
If you’re going to do a presentation a 70% effort is fine.
If you’re going to bake a cake, for that matter…do you need
all the ingredients?

The perfect cake? With all the perfecto ingredients?
Or the cake with ‘70%’ of the ingredients?

The ‘perfect’ wording on a website?
Or the ‘70% perfect’ wording on the website?

==========================================
And nope this isn’t a case for mediocrity
==========================================

No one is telling  you to do crappy stuff. No one’s
saying that you need to keep your project unfinished.
But in the quest for perfection, most of us never start.

The 70% principle is about getting your best effort
out and into the hands of your clients. That you don’t
need to start off with a 100%-kaboom-wow-start.

==========================================
So let’s tell you about our ‘who pushed me?’ start in 2002
==========================================

We started Psychotactics,in the year 2002, with a 16 page booklet.
We called it the ‘Brain Audit.’ And indeedy-doo, it started
with just 16 pages. Those 16 pages, we cheekily sold for $20
or thereabouts.

And you know what?

We weren’t trying to keep the pages down to 16 pages, but we
certainly weren’t trying to pad up the contents of the book either.

The 16 pages of information were all we knew at the time. And yes,
we could have made it 100% perfect, but decided to put our 70%
effort out anyway.

==========================================
Did I say, put it out? I meant, I got ‘pushed’
==========================================

You see, I wasn’t keen to sell the Brain Audit. I wanted to get
the e-book just right. But I was forced into putting it on the
market.

I was forced to putting it on a sales page, by another marketer who
promised to promote the book to his audience.

==========================================
And he never did promote the book
==========================================

I reminded him. Gently. Then became a bit of a nag. But that
promotion never, ever happened. What did happen was that the
‘Brain Audit’ began to sell.

And as it turned out, I was able to add the next 20%,
and the next 20%, and the next 20%.

==========================================
And yes, the math still adds up
==========================================

Because all along, that ’so-called incomplete’ product was selling.
And when you think about it, which product or service of yours is
ever complete?

As your knowledge grows; as your customers ask more
questions; as you apply the concepts in different ways, your
product
or service gets better all the time.

And today, the Brain Audit is a comprehensive document that not
only helps you understand how the customer thinks, but is also the
basis for being a member of 5000bc; for doing any of our
courses like the copywriting course, product-creation course.

What started out as a ‘who pushed me?’ product, now helps us get
thousands of customers. And helps us grow our business considerably
from year to year.

==========================================
Kinda like the iPod, you see
==========================================

When the iPod came out at first, it was just 10GB (yeah, pathetic
ten gigs).

Then it went up to 30GB. And hey, we got video too. Then
whoopsy-doo, it was 60GB. And uppity up it keeps going, both in
size, features and ease of use.

Where’s the market for the perfect iPod?

There’s no market for the perfect product or service. The product
or service that your customers want, is the product or service you
have now.

That 70%-perfect product/service, will do fine for your customer.

==========================================
How can I be so sure?
==========================================

Could this article have been at least 30% better?
Couldn’t I have found more examples? More case-studies?
Put in more details, perhaps?
Tweaked my words just so to make it richer, more vibrant?

==========================================
Sure I could. But you’ve got the point, right?
==========================================

If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing 70% right.
You can always fix the 20% later.

====================================================
Product Offers: Links you should visit
===================================================
1) "I received more response from my direct mail and email
advertising than I have in the past."

I would recommend the Brain Audit, because it lays out a
successful approach that I was immediately able to apply,
unlike all the other "systems" I’ve invested in the past."

Becky DeGrossa, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Judge for yourself
http://www.psychotactics.com/brainaudit

2) The Sec’ret Life of Testimonials:How and Why you need to
use testimonials as part of your strategy.
http://www.psychotactics.com/testimonial_secrets

3) Find Out The Psychological Sec’rets of Compelling Websites…
http://www.psychotactics.com/website-secrets

4) New Product: Do you want to put some sanity into your design
even  though you are not a designer? Have a look at
http://www.psychotactics.com/design-clarity

Sean D’Souza

Being that I write ads and sales pages I always find myself
in a situation where I need to qualify my client’s position.

This happens a lot in the ‘relationship’ niche.

It can be very hard to position somebody as someone with
the answers when they don’t have a body of work or
proof (like degrees, awards, expert testimonials, etc)

You likely have had to (or will be) trying to convince people
to buy your thingy or service based upon your know-how.

A lot of niches can do this with screen shots and testimonials,
but a lot of others do not have these tools.

My favorite example of someone completely forcing his will
upon people to believe him is Tony Robbins.

Here we have this troubled man with no degree in anything
talking about changing peoples lives in 15 minutes.

How did he do this? Back in the mid 80’s when he started out he grasped
onto NLP. He studied this little known method to great detail and
wrote a book.

He took what he knew and simply challenged psychiatrists that he
could ‘cure’ their patients in front of a live audience. He convinced a
woman deathly afraid of snakes not to be in 15 minutes!

Here is a guy who was absolutely nobody. Took on a niche where
you HAD to have a formal education and became one of the most
famous self help people to ever walk the earth.

He started having private sessions with people for $500 an hour
and ‘cured" them in one session! He quickly charged $5000 a session.

He VERY quickly proved to the world (despite being criticized
by every expert as a charlatan) that he was indeed someone who
can teach you to help yourself.

Dr Phil did much the same thing.

If you are a part of what you are selling, you need to give the reader
something other than "I’m the expert". Reveal stuff in your ads, give
out some ’secrets’.

I promise you if you divulge some awesome free advice/tricks/
strategies you can get around fighting to get them to believe you
are the expert.

Find a way to show them you are the expert that can help them

go get some

Paul

Here’s why ‘WHY’ is such a profit-making marketing trigger.

“Stop taking two and three plates of food,” my mother said to me angrily.

I was at a wedding and seven years old. Back then, at a lot of the weddings we used to go to, the food would be pre-served on a plate. I could never get enough of those calorie-ridden platters. Waylaying different waiters, (so I would not be recognised), I’d polish 3-4 plates without blinking an eye.

Mum wasn’t impressed, and told me to stop and desist.

“Why?” I’d ask. Her stock reply was always, “It’s bad manners to do that.” This Dustbin Hoffman (yes, I do mean Dustbin and not Dustin) act obviously got her goat, but it left me unfazed. It must have bugged her more than I expected though, because in a short while Dad was peering down at my food-stuffed face.

My question remained unchanged. “WHY?”

“If you invite a hundred people to a wedding, how many would you cater for?” he asked. “A hundred,” I answered, proud of my analytical genius. “If you ate four plates,” he continued, “how many would remain?” He prompted quickly, “Ninety-six right?” I nodded vigorously. “That means some people don’t eat. If you’re so hungry, we can go out after the wedding and get something to eat, but don’t deprive others.”

Dad Made Sense. Do You?

Dad understood psychology. He had to sell my brain an idea that my rumbling stomach didn’t want to understand. And he did it by answering the question, ‘WHY?’ How many of us ignore this powerful trigger in our marketing because it seems too obvious, almost too simple?

Why ‘Why?’ Puts Elvis’ Shaking and Moving to Shame

Let’s examine the six honest men. What, How, When, Where, Who and Why. Which one of these is the most powerful psychological movers of them all? This would be better answered with an example.

Let’s assume you needed to go to the supermarket. All the other triggers (how, when, where, who and what) would make absolutely no difference if you didn’t know ‘WHY’ you were headed there. Everything else would be totally irrelevant. Once you know WHY you’re doing something, everything else is just a matter of logistics.

Why Does 90% of Advertising and Marketing Communication Go Down the Drain?

Simple. Look for the WHY in advertising and scarcity pops up instantly. All the fancy layouts and the smart headlines can’t quite compensate for the niggling question that goes unanswered. All your customers want to know is, Why should I choose you? Why should I take this decision? Why should I spend this money? Why should I look at your website? Why should I read your brochure?’ Why should I listen to your speech? ‘Why? Why? Why?’

Dump the cotton woolly fluff. Get your customer’s brain to go scrambling like an over-enthusiastic pup after a Frisbee. Once you have enough WHY factor built into what you’re selling, everything else is just clip, clop, fall in place stuff.

Be an Accountant, Do an Audit

Look at your communication. Like reeeeeeeaaaaally look at it! What about your website? Does it answer the question WHY straight up? And does it do it on the first page? How about your brochure? Does its headline make it a cinch for dustbin land? What about your speech? Do you have enough beds to compensate for your lack of WHY?

I could go on, but I suspect you get the message.

Be merciless. If the WHYs don’t stack up, dump the communication. Or chop and change it till it does.

Finding the Right Level of Why Power

If you noticed, Mum actually answered my WHY question. She just didn’t answer it to my satisfaction like Dad did. Herein lies a subtle, yet formidable difference.

It’s not enough to simply have the WHY question answered. It’s got to be the most ‘Rambo in your face’ answer, or it will bounce higher than a defaulting cheque. Let your WHYs loose on each other, and let only the one with the most testosterone come out shining.

Aristotle — Man, Was he Smart or What?

All communication must lead to change.

That’s what the old wise man said over 2300 years ago. Not some or most communication.

All.

Yet we are dealing with customers that inherently detest change. WHY is the only motivator that allows them to make that shift. Change is still a scary word, but at least the justification sits nicely in their cranium.

In fact, if you look closely, even a WHAT question like, What’s in it for me?, is really a "WHY" issue. All it is saying is ‘Why should I pay attention?’ Give your customers the WHY factor and their buying sprees will reflect nicely in your growing bank account.

This is simple, down to earth advice. Yet it represents one of the most powerful psychological triggers why people buy. WHY on earth would you ignore it?

Sean D’Souza

http://www.psychotactics.com/

The Power of Marketing With Gift Certificates

Gil-Ad Schwartz is a direct response copywriter and marketing consultant who specializes in persuasion psychology and NLP. You can learn more about him at his site, http://www.gil-adschwartz.com

The Great Marketing Separator — Nonconformity

Today I am going to focus on those of you who have small businesses. When I was running my local service business I was afflicted with the disease of sameness…

I never focused on what made my company different, but yet I would always say ‘no other company is like mine’. The problem is we think one way and the marketplace thinks another.

This post is not about getting your message out there, this is about the truckloads of cash you may be screwing yourself out of…. because you are a true conformist.

Rather than focus on what makes you special, let’s focus on what you are not offering or doing that will immediately separate your business from the flood…

It’s So Easy Even a Barber Can Do It

Can you think of anything more mundane than a barbershop? With all the salons taking aggressive steps to focus on men, barbershop’s faithful are far and few. Likely why most go out of business or barely make any money.

If you owned a struggling barbershop what would you do? Think about this for a minute as it is easier to think how you would treat another business than it is your own. How would you get more customers in the door?

Would you…

• Use social networking (like Twitter and Facebook)
  
• Send out direct mail
  
• Utilize television or radio
  
• Put ads in local papers and/or magazines
  

Do you know what will happen if you used all of those? Probably not much, do you know why? Because the mentality of today’s man has changed. We love to go to the salon and have our hair ’styled’ by a hot looking stylist.

We will happily shell out $40 a trip rather than hit the ‘old man’ barbershop for half the price.

Nonconformist Entreprenuers Elevate "the barbershop" Image

I am sure most of your answers in my ‘how to save the barbershop’ question was noble. You tried and likely could not see the forest through the trees. (the trees being your focus on the advertising rather than the psychology… the true enemy here.)

Would you believe a barbershop not only can get a large client base, but charge them membership dues? Some of the top end memberships costing thousands per year!

Check out what these guys have done to a stagnate and dying business type- http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com/

Do you see how you may be missing out on something in your business? Imagine what would have happened if these guys asked people within the industry what they thought about their idea in the beginning… they would have been laughed out of there.

Instead they skipped talking to the barely surviving, narrow minded people and looked at business models outside of the industry. They now have 152 locations, and growing! I wonder how many of those typical barbershops will have a chain of 150 stores and an army of clients being auto-billed monthly.

These savvy entrepreneurs also identified that men like ‘male exclusivity’. Men will pay to be involved in a private club like this, and some will pay a lot.

If you think there is nothing you can do like this in your business, that is fine… but just because you stop moving does not mean the world does too.

go get some

Paul

Four of the fastest ways to bring cash in the door

Every business needs to have an arsenal of tricks they can
use to improve their revenues.

Things happen…

…customer demand decreases due to competitive offerings
…seasonal sales impact your income consistency
…world events can pose pressure on your clients weariness
to buy
…changes in staff can cause resistance from customers

There are a million things that could happen, so you need a
backup plan.

They key is to try a number of them, then keep the results
in a binder or file you can reference later.

Here are a number of proven winners:

1) Mail to your house list more. By far, this is the biggest
opportunity you have. Most companies do nothing with their
house list, and when they do are surprised by how many
people buy and thank them for mailing.  Mail a "thank you
for being a customer" postcard or card – offer them a cash
credit on future purchases… offer them a reason to buy
more and buy more often.

2) Write 3 press releases and send them to online press
directories and offline media contacts.

3) Pick up the phone.  A simple little tool on every ones
desk.  Make some calls to your existing clients and
prospects. Ask them how they are, what they like (and
dislike) about your offerings, and what else you could do to
make their life or business better.  It is rare to hear from
suppliers these days, so be the one that does call.  Calling
10 clients a day will work wonders for your revenues!

4) Find a trade related magazine that your ideal clients are
reading, then run a WANTED advertisement.  Something like:

WANTED:
8 Individuals Who Fit The Profile Below
Reward Offered

[ profile of your perfect client]

If you fit this description, call us today and be one of the
first 8 to call. You will receive a FREE ____ and an
additional ____ as part of a limited time offer. Call now
though, there are only 8 spots available… and they will go
quickly.

Simple?

Yes! That’s the whole point. I ran this type of ad for a
client this past week and got a phenomenal response to an
event we hosted on Saturday.

Try it.

Try all of them.

Keep notes.

I will post more ideas along this line later.

Troy

Troy White is a top marketing coach, consultant & direct response copywriter based in Calgary, Canada.  He has a powerful approach to growing small businesses and entrepreneurial run ventures on a budget. His FREE Cash Flow Surges newsletter shares tons of great strategies at http://www.smallbusinesscopywriter.com

He also publishes the incredibly powerful Cash Flow Calendar system that gives you daily, weekly and monthly marketing ideas to promote your business and stand out from the crowd.  To get your free tips for growing your business, you can register at http://www.cashflowcalendars.com  

Internet marketing pro Steve Wagenheim takes control today. I hope you enjoy his gut punch style and Sage advice- enjoy!

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.

go get some

Paul