Unless you're the fry guy at McDonald's, you've probably been asked this question: What do you do, exactly? And you respond by saying... yammer stammer blah blah blah.
You just missed an opportunity. Maybe you just thoroughly confused a big-thinking friend of a friend of a big investor. And we all know the best advertising is by word of mouth. You need to back up and figure out what's called your "10-second Interview."
So, how do you nail down your 10-second Interview to become your best word of mouth advertiser? By focusing your business in a step-by-step process:
1. Describe your main product or service.
2. Identify your core target audience.
3. Determine your point of difference.
4. Put it all together to describe your business in 25 words or less.
Bam! You just won over a big investor. And remember - it's all about the spin you put on your business. If you always present in an exciting way, people will get fired up, too. If you don't, they won't.
Do you need to write your 10-second interview — identify your core target audience, point of difference, and get fired up to blast your business to the next level? Sign up for your FREE Marketing Mastery Success Kit that puts you on the Fast Track to business success at: http://www.boostyourbottomline.com.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
10 Most Important Points when Writing News Releases
Since small business owners are often on overload, we want to provide quick summaries to help jumpstart action and results. To that end, here is a quick 10-step summary to keep handy as you write your next news release. Print it and use it as your news release primer.
1. Create an angle of interest.
2. Attract your reader with your headline and first paragraph.
3. Use active verbs to pull the reader into your release.
4. Include timely information, preferably related to current events or trends.
5. Make every word count and count every word. Avoid excessive use of adjectives, adverbs and fancy language.
6. Keep the length a maximum of one page unless absolutely necessary. Deal with the facts and avoid fluff.
7. Tell about your products or services in one or two clear sentences.
8. Follow rules of grammar and style.
9. Include the following contact information: name, address, phone, fax, email, website.
10. Make sure your releases get broad coverage with local, regional and national publications as well as radio and television stations, Internet publications, and all potential clients.
Want to know how to get in the news to increase credibility and attract more customers? Discover Power PR Strategies to Create a Buzz and Get Your Name in the News. Click here now!
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
1. Create an angle of interest.
2. Attract your reader with your headline and first paragraph.
3. Use active verbs to pull the reader into your release.
4. Include timely information, preferably related to current events or trends.
5. Make every word count and count every word. Avoid excessive use of adjectives, adverbs and fancy language.
6. Keep the length a maximum of one page unless absolutely necessary. Deal with the facts and avoid fluff.
7. Tell about your products or services in one or two clear sentences.
8. Follow rules of grammar and style.
9. Include the following contact information: name, address, phone, fax, email, website.
10. Make sure your releases get broad coverage with local, regional and national publications as well as radio and television stations, Internet publications, and all potential clients.
Want to know how to get in the news to increase credibility and attract more customers? Discover Power PR Strategies to Create a Buzz and Get Your Name in the News. Click here now!
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
Monday, July 16, 2007
The Foie Gras of (insert your industry here)
An article ran across our desk recently on Wagyu beef. Normally, we would have passed on it, but it got us thinking…
Wagyu beef, as it turns out, is a highly marbled delicacy that can run as much as $20 per pound. Wagyu beef comes from Japanese cattle that are treated to regular massages and eat only grains and beer. It has a rich taste and texture much like foie gras, so a small portion will do (your budget thanks you).
What on earth does this have to do with marketing? Everything!
Wagyu is branding genius. The funny name; the story about Wagyu’s existence in Japan; the price point; the buzz this brand has created among master chefs, their eateries and clientele…
Branding is the foundation of any business. And any business that has not addressed the main components of a branding plan must rely on luck for growth. Components like history, features, benefits, and core point of difference are key to marketing success.
For example, without a core point of difference that shines through in every marketing effort, a business often is considered parity to its competition. What’s the difference among Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Target? Does one of those three have a core point of difference that pops in every marketing effort they make?
That’s for consumers to decide. And decide they will — to the tune of great loyalty and spending.
Do you have a core point of difference that stands out among your competition? Find out how to get one by signing up for your F.R.E.E “Marketing Mastery Success Kit” at www.boostyourbottomline.com.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
Wagyu beef, as it turns out, is a highly marbled delicacy that can run as much as $20 per pound. Wagyu beef comes from Japanese cattle that are treated to regular massages and eat only grains and beer. It has a rich taste and texture much like foie gras, so a small portion will do (your budget thanks you).
What on earth does this have to do with marketing? Everything!
Wagyu is branding genius. The funny name; the story about Wagyu’s existence in Japan; the price point; the buzz this brand has created among master chefs, their eateries and clientele…
Branding is the foundation of any business. And any business that has not addressed the main components of a branding plan must rely on luck for growth. Components like history, features, benefits, and core point of difference are key to marketing success.
For example, without a core point of difference that shines through in every marketing effort, a business often is considered parity to its competition. What’s the difference among Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Target? Does one of those three have a core point of difference that pops in every marketing effort they make?
That’s for consumers to decide. And decide they will — to the tune of great loyalty and spending.
Do you have a core point of difference that stands out among your competition? Find out how to get one by signing up for your F.R.E.E “Marketing Mastery Success Kit” at www.boostyourbottomline.com.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Truths About Customers
by Jay Levinson
www.onlinemarketingsuperstars.com/cmd.php?af=137142
Jay Conrad Levinson taught us a LOT about guerrilla marketing. Here are some insights to help you increase your effectiveness. Enjoy!
You may think you know why your customers buy from you, but there's a good chance they buy for reasons other than the reasons you think. Or they don't buy for reasons that may escape you.
People seek a wide array of benefits when they're in a buying mindset. If you are communicating any one of those benefits to the people who want them this very instant, you've virtually made the sale. People do not buy because marketing is clever, but because marketing strikes a responsive chord in the mind of the prospect, and its resonance makes that person want the advantages of what you are selling.
Your customers do not buy because they're being marketed to or sold to. Instead, they buy because you help them realize the merits of owning what you offer.
They often buy because you offer them instant gratification -- such as I sought when El Nino flexed his muscles and my roof began to leak. Sprinting to the yellow pages, I called the one roof repair company that offered emergency service, for there I was, smack dab in the middle of an emergency.
It was an easy decision for me. The company offered just the benefit I needed. I was in the market for a specific benefit and there it was, grinning up at me from the directory. If the company's ad heralded their new roofing materials, I would have ignored it.
Like most people, I was looking to buy a benefit, not a feature. Everybody knows that. But the truth is that people don't always buy benefits. They buy a whole lot more:
• They buy promises you make. So make them with care.
• They buy the promises they want personally fulfilled.
• They buy your credibility or don't buy if you lack it.
• They buy solutions to their problems.
• They buy you, your employees, your service department.
• They buy wealth, safety, success, security, love and acceptance.
• They buy your guarantee, reputation and good name.
• They buy other people's opinions of your business.
• They buy expectations based upon your marketing.
• They buy believable claims, not simply honest claims.
• They buy hope for their own and their company's future.
• They buy brand names over strange names.
• They buy the consistency they've seen you exhibit.
• They buy the stature of the media in which you market.
• They buy the professionalism of your marketing materials.
• They buy value, which is not the same as price.
• They buy selection and often the best of your selection.
• They buy freedom from risk, granted by your warranty.
• They buy acceptance by others of your goods or services.
• They buy certainty.
• They buy convenience in buying, paying and lots more.
• They buy respect for their own ideas and personality.
• They buy your identity as conveyed by your marketing.
• They buy style -- just the kind that fits their own style.
• They buy neatness and assume that's how you do business.
• They buy easy access to information about you, offered by your website.
• They buy honesty for one dishonest word means no sale.
• They buy comfort, offerings that fit their comfort zone.
• They buy success; your success can fit with theirs.
• They buy good taste and know it from bad taste.
• They buy instant gratification and don't love to wait.
• They buy the confidence you display in your own business.
It's also important to know what customers do not buy: fancy adjectives, exaggerated claims, clever headlines, special effects, marketing that screams, marketing that even hints at amateurishness, the lowest price anything (though 14 percent do), unproved items, or gorgeous graphics that get in the way of the message.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
www.onlinemarketingsuperstars.com/cmd.php?af=137142
Jay Conrad Levinson taught us a LOT about guerrilla marketing. Here are some insights to help you increase your effectiveness. Enjoy!
You may think you know why your customers buy from you, but there's a good chance they buy for reasons other than the reasons you think. Or they don't buy for reasons that may escape you.
People seek a wide array of benefits when they're in a buying mindset. If you are communicating any one of those benefits to the people who want them this very instant, you've virtually made the sale. People do not buy because marketing is clever, but because marketing strikes a responsive chord in the mind of the prospect, and its resonance makes that person want the advantages of what you are selling.
Your customers do not buy because they're being marketed to or sold to. Instead, they buy because you help them realize the merits of owning what you offer.
They often buy because you offer them instant gratification -- such as I sought when El Nino flexed his muscles and my roof began to leak. Sprinting to the yellow pages, I called the one roof repair company that offered emergency service, for there I was, smack dab in the middle of an emergency.
It was an easy decision for me. The company offered just the benefit I needed. I was in the market for a specific benefit and there it was, grinning up at me from the directory. If the company's ad heralded their new roofing materials, I would have ignored it.
Like most people, I was looking to buy a benefit, not a feature. Everybody knows that. But the truth is that people don't always buy benefits. They buy a whole lot more:
• They buy promises you make. So make them with care.
• They buy the promises they want personally fulfilled.
• They buy your credibility or don't buy if you lack it.
• They buy solutions to their problems.
• They buy you, your employees, your service department.
• They buy wealth, safety, success, security, love and acceptance.
• They buy your guarantee, reputation and good name.
• They buy other people's opinions of your business.
• They buy expectations based upon your marketing.
• They buy believable claims, not simply honest claims.
• They buy hope for their own and their company's future.
• They buy brand names over strange names.
• They buy the consistency they've seen you exhibit.
• They buy the stature of the media in which you market.
• They buy the professionalism of your marketing materials.
• They buy value, which is not the same as price.
• They buy selection and often the best of your selection.
• They buy freedom from risk, granted by your warranty.
• They buy acceptance by others of your goods or services.
• They buy certainty.
• They buy convenience in buying, paying and lots more.
• They buy respect for their own ideas and personality.
• They buy your identity as conveyed by your marketing.
• They buy style -- just the kind that fits their own style.
• They buy neatness and assume that's how you do business.
• They buy easy access to information about you, offered by your website.
• They buy honesty for one dishonest word means no sale.
• They buy comfort, offerings that fit their comfort zone.
• They buy success; your success can fit with theirs.
• They buy good taste and know it from bad taste.
• They buy instant gratification and don't love to wait.
• They buy the confidence you display in your own business.
It's also important to know what customers do not buy: fancy adjectives, exaggerated claims, clever headlines, special effects, marketing that screams, marketing that even hints at amateurishness, the lowest price anything (though 14 percent do), unproved items, or gorgeous graphics that get in the way of the message.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
Monday, July 02, 2007
The 11 Keys to Guerrilla Marketing Success
If you own a small business then it shouldn’t come as any surprise to you that one of the main problems facing most small businesses is marketing. How do you get your message out there? How do you make your business stand out from your competitors?
And – possibly most importantly – how do you do it at a price that you can afford?
It’s not easy – unless you toss away the blinders of traditional marketing and embrace what have come to be known as Guerrilla Marketing techniques, especially as those techniques apply to an advertising and promotional mindset first described in Jay Conrad Levinson’s now-classic 1984 book, Guerrilla Marketing.
Let’s begin your conversion to Guerrilla Marketing by asking 11 key questions about your business.
How would you describe your business? If you can’t adequately describe your business in 25 words or less then you need to begin by focusing your business and its goals.
What are the key strengths of your business? You want a straightforward and very honest assessment of your business’ strong points. If you can’t think of any strong points then that may be an area that needs attention.
What are the weaknesses or challenges of your business? Take a step back from your business and look at it as if you were an outsider being asked to invest in your business – what would be some of your concerns?
What is unique about your business? Why would customers buy from you rather than from your competitor? This is a vital question. If you can’t come up with a good, solid answer, then your customers may not be able to either.
Where would you like to see your business in the next 6 months? In other words, do you have any kind of a marketing plan and are you following it?
What obstacles could be getting in the way of achieving your 6-month goals? Don’t settle for obvious answers. Play Devil’s advocate and try to anticipate anything that could derail your efforts – and then try to find solutions.
What might be getting in the way of converting more prospects into customers? Don’t be afraid to ask for the opinions of others when trying to answer this question – and, above all, demand honesty in your own answers as well as the answers of others.
What are you most passionate about and are these passions part of your business? Does your passion come through in everything you do? If not, it will show in everything you do and eventually it will destroy your business. If you’re not passionate about this business, reflect back to why you went into business and rediscover that passion.
What marketing strategies are you using right now? List everything you can think of; once you begin actively using Guerrilla Marketing techniques your list will skyrocket.
What is the most profitable part of your business and what is the least profitable? Here’s where you need to break your business down into its basic components – something you may not have consciously done before – and then you must honestly compare the income and profitability of each component.
Do you have a strategy for following-up with prospects? Follow-up is one of the cornerstones of making almost any small business really profitable. If you don’t have a workable strategy for follow-up, then you’re potentially leaving a lot of profit lying on the table.
How did you do?
If you answered all 11 questions about your business honestly and feel good about each answer, your business is probably setting on a strong foundation. But if you have concerns about any of these 11 vital points, it’s time for to seek the help and advice of experts who can help you put your business house in order. Your business success depends on it.
Want to discover how to pull Guerrilla Marketing tactics into your promotion? Find out in the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery at www.boostyourbottomline.com and sign up for your fr*ee Marketing Mastery Success Kit that sets you on your path to more customers, bigger profits and a business you can brag about.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, WEB SITE OR BLOG? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp publish Marketing Blast, a monthly ezine filled with red hot strategies to blast your business to the next level. If you're ready to jump start your marketing, make more money, and stay on the fast track to business success, get your F.R.E.E tips and Marketing Mastery Success Kit now at www.boostyourbottomline.com
And – possibly most importantly – how do you do it at a price that you can afford?
It’s not easy – unless you toss away the blinders of traditional marketing and embrace what have come to be known as Guerrilla Marketing techniques, especially as those techniques apply to an advertising and promotional mindset first described in Jay Conrad Levinson’s now-classic 1984 book, Guerrilla Marketing.
Let’s begin your conversion to Guerrilla Marketing by asking 11 key questions about your business.
How would you describe your business? If you can’t adequately describe your business in 25 words or less then you need to begin by focusing your business and its goals.
What are the key strengths of your business? You want a straightforward and very honest assessment of your business’ strong points. If you can’t think of any strong points then that may be an area that needs attention.
What are the weaknesses or challenges of your business? Take a step back from your business and look at it as if you were an outsider being asked to invest in your business – what would be some of your concerns?
What is unique about your business? Why would customers buy from you rather than from your competitor? This is a vital question. If you can’t come up with a good, solid answer, then your customers may not be able to either.
Where would you like to see your business in the next 6 months? In other words, do you have any kind of a marketing plan and are you following it?
What obstacles could be getting in the way of achieving your 6-month goals? Don’t settle for obvious answers. Play Devil’s advocate and try to anticipate anything that could derail your efforts – and then try to find solutions.
What might be getting in the way of converting more prospects into customers? Don’t be afraid to ask for the opinions of others when trying to answer this question – and, above all, demand honesty in your own answers as well as the answers of others.
What are you most passionate about and are these passions part of your business? Does your passion come through in everything you do? If not, it will show in everything you do and eventually it will destroy your business. If you’re not passionate about this business, reflect back to why you went into business and rediscover that passion.
What marketing strategies are you using right now? List everything you can think of; once you begin actively using Guerrilla Marketing techniques your list will skyrocket.
What is the most profitable part of your business and what is the least profitable? Here’s where you need to break your business down into its basic components – something you may not have consciously done before – and then you must honestly compare the income and profitability of each component.
Do you have a strategy for following-up with prospects? Follow-up is one of the cornerstones of making almost any small business really profitable. If you don’t have a workable strategy for follow-up, then you’re potentially leaving a lot of profit lying on the table.
How did you do?
If you answered all 11 questions about your business honestly and feel good about each answer, your business is probably setting on a strong foundation. But if you have concerns about any of these 11 vital points, it’s time for to seek the help and advice of experts who can help you put your business house in order. Your business success depends on it.
Want to discover how to pull Guerrilla Marketing tactics into your promotion? Find out in the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery at www.boostyourbottomline.com and sign up for your fr*ee Marketing Mastery Success Kit that sets you on your path to more customers, bigger profits and a business you can brag about.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, WEB SITE OR BLOG? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp publish Marketing Blast, a monthly ezine filled with red hot strategies to blast your business to the next level. If you're ready to jump start your marketing, make more money, and stay on the fast track to business success, get your F.R.E.E tips and Marketing Mastery Success Kit now at www.boostyourbottomline.com
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