Posted by:
Troy White
July 15, 2010
Issue #972
In this issue:
- The easiest way to win over your prospects and convince them to buy from you for the first time …
- Small Business Mastery readers speak out …
- Templates and samples to use for creating your own sales system …
- And Much More!
Fellow Business Builder,
Thank you for your excellent response to my article "How to Write Lead Generation Display Ads." Some of your comments hit a note with me and I first wanted to address these before moving on to the actual templates for creating your display ads.
Steve had said "I never even thought of doing non-traditional small display ads. I feel like a fool."
My thoughts to you Steve are – don’t feel like a fool – feel like an awakening! Most people look at display ads in a certain way, and it can be difficult to see new ways of looking at them. Which is the problem. After seeing hundreds of display ads in a day or week, all following the same useless format, it’s no wonder we have a tough time seeing the alternatives. This approach works really well for small businesses. It is simple to implement. And it gets you solid results. Try it out and please let us know how it goes.
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Posted by:
Troy White
July 8, 2010
Issue #962
In this issue:
- The Small Business ATM Machine – or the curse of the advertising sales rep?
- Silliness 101 and why most small businesses are fed up with their marketing and Yellow Pages efforts
- The three proven rules for writing a money churning display ad for any business
- And Much More!
Fellow business builder,
Over the past five years, I have noticed a very scary thing with small business owners. They tend to believe the people who are selling them advertising space! Considering that most advertising sales reps know very little about direct response (or even how to spell it), and that they are paid on the space they sell – not the results their clients get … there couldn’t be a worse place to get advertising advice.
Yet, a decent Yellow Pages ad or small display ad can bring in a constant stream of paying clients.
Today I want to discuss how effective display ads can be used for the average house painter, massage therapist, Laundromat, restaurant, printing company, etc.
These are not the type of ads that Clayton would be writing – these are much easier for the typical small business owner to write, and run themselves.
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
December 4, 2009
Issue #547
Fire Your CEO First!
Dear Business-Builder,
When someone asks, “What do you do for a living?” there is only one correct answer.
It’s not, “I have a business.” A business is something you own; not something you do.
It’s not “I’m a doctor.” That’s just a profession – not what really pays the bills.
And it’s sure not, “I give investment advice.” Or, “I do landscaping.” Or, “I dry-clean clothes.” Or, “I write sales copy.” Those are just the products and services you sell.
The only correct answer to this most common cocktail-party question is to declare loudly and proudly …
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Posted by:
Troy White
October 29, 2009
Issue #790
Fellow Business-Builder,
I am at a client event in Tampa this week and want to share some exciting news with you. The event I am at is for a very unique niche that targets the affluent buyers that you should be targeting. Why? Because they are the fastest demographic to recover from this economic mess we are all in. The trainers at the event are consistently sharing their success stories in the affluent market, and the rapid growth in demand they are seeing right now.
According to Pam Danzinger, the leading publication for affluent marketing, “At Parisian luxury fashion brand Hermes, best-known for its leather bags that start at US$7,000, sales are up 10%, while demand for Coach’s ubiquitous US$325 handbags has slumped. High-end New York City apartments may have seen their values plunge, but at Fifteen Central Park West, billed as the ultimate Manhattan luxury building, at least eight condos are reported to have sold for nearly 40% above what their owners paid for them in 2007. Now you’ve got to spell luxury with a ‘V’ and the ‘V’ is for value, and value doesn’t mean cheap." They want an experience, and are willing to pay for it”
One of the ways you can get your more affluent clients buying again is to give them what they want … a unique experience that no one else is giving them. What follows is aproven model for getting your affluent buyers buying again.
Even if you aren’t targeting a certain part of your business offerings to the affluent (which I think you should be), this STILL applies to you!
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Posted by:
Troy White
September 17, 2009
Issue #761
In this issue:
-
The F*@!#N dinner campaign that broke all kind of sales records …
-
Getting a 50% response rate to a one time mailer …
-
How to leverage “the diaper mailer” …
-
And Much More!
Fellow Business-Builder,
A Direct Mail Information Service survey found that 78 percent actually want to get mailings from you. Combine that with your own highly targeted campaigns — ones that make full use of your customer data — and you’ve got a winning combination.
Just to add fuel to the fire:
- 70% of Generation Y have stated that they respond to print direct mail (vs. 68% Generation X and 61% Boomers) – 2007 Veritas Customer Focus.
- 90% will open their mail if it looks interesting or intriguing (vs. 84% will open it if it has their name on it) – NOTE: people are more likely to open it if it looks interesting than if it has their name on it – Consumer Attitudes Towards Direct Mail Study.
- 163% are more likely to buy from a website if they see a printed direct mail piece than if they saw digital e-mail only – 2007 Multichannel Direct Mail Study, comScore Inc.
- 73% prefer print direct mail for offers and information – only 18% said they prefer e-mail.
- Those who received a promotional product in a dimensional package responded at a rate that was 57% higher than those who received the same promotional product in an envelope - Baylor University.
- Response rates for the dimensional package recipients were 75% higher than for the group who received only a sales letter - Baylor University.
People WANT to be intrigued by your mailing piece
– Is regular print cutting it?
Take Knorr’s new launch of a frozen food line.
First, they know exactly what people typically think of frozen meals – ugh. Blah. Not very tasty. So they used that as part of their campaign.
Second, they pushed the edge a little – especially when you consider they are quite a traditional company – not exactly ones to push it that far.
They wanted to target a younger audience than they were used to (those less likely to want to spend their time in the kitchen cooking a gourmet dinner).
But they also wanted to target a 25-35 year old professional women, one who enjoys a glass of wine over dinner.
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