Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

Welcome to the 2014 Do It! Marketing Master Class Series

Here's where you'll get some of the smartest marketing advice from top marketers and entrepreneurs who share their best success secrets via in-depth interrogation-style interviews with yours truly... 

My special guest this week... 

Alyson Lex - Copywriting and Direct Marketing Expert

If you’re ready to make your marketing work for you, consistently, over and over and over again…  then Alyson is your go-to person. She's a master of developing sales funnels that work. From architecture to products to copy that converts, Alyson takes you from “I don’t know” or “This doesn’t work” or even “I’m not having any FUN with this!” to “My Marketing ROCKS!” Listen in as we talk about strategy, marketing, copywriting, and sharpening your message and your methods...

Download this Master Class (mp3) now. 

Share this with your pals, link to it from your own blog, tell 17 friends, go nuts and have fun! 

Please leave a comment below with your own experiences or questions about direct marketing, copywriting or anything else we talked about (including having a really cool name that matches your profession perfectly!!)

They are hard. 

Never mastered them. 

Probably never will. 

Wait... 

p.s. Notice how nobody's ever been called "SHORT-winded"?

What do you think? Use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on writing shorter, punchier blog posts. What's hard about it? What approaches do you use? 

One of my marketing coaching clients asked me last week, "David, are there rules for writing copy? I've written a ton of material about what we do and I never know what's going to work..."

This is like asking, "Are there rules for romance?" YES, as a matter of fact there are. Check out http://1001waystoberomantic.com/

Are there rules for writing marketing copy? Hell yes. My go-to guy on this is the incredible Bob Bly. Check out http://bly.com/

And the best book on the subject is The Copywriter's Handbook.

But I'll do you one better - you don't even need to buy a book.

Here are 17 rough and ready rules that will make you a better copywriter in 10 minutes or less.

Zero guarantee of completeness. Your mileage may vary. Proceed at your own risk...

1. Write like you speak.

2. Speak like a person, not a marketing moron or a sales robot.

3. As you write, ask yourself - if this next sentence is the last thing they read, is it worth writing or do I have something more important they need to know? (You can write a 3-page sales letter this way that will sell like crazy!!)

4. Use short paragraphs.

5. Use action words, not learning words (nobody wants to learn, find out, or get information... they want to BUILD, BOOST, CREATE, INCREASE, SLASH, REDUCE, ELIMINATE)

6. If you start to sound like a late-night infomercial, stop. Ease it back just about 10% - that's where you need to be. 70% substance with 30% sizzle. Articulate your value, your outcomes and your benefits assertively - not aggressively.

7. Take them on a journey - your copy should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

8. The four most powerful words in marketing are:
  a. YOU
  b. YOUR
  c. BECAUSE
  d. SO THAT

9. It is TOTALLY impossible to overuse testimonials and third-party social proof. Do you have 100 written testimonials? Great - find a way to use them. Do you have 50+ video testimonials? Ditto. Do you have two fistfulls of scanned in endorsement letters on letterhead? Post them. (Examples of each are here for you.)

10. Engage, engage, engage... appeal to the senses. Make the experience of working with you as 3-dimensional as you can. What does it smell like? Taste like? What's the overall experience when people walk in to your store? Hire your accounting firm? Bring you in as their architect?

11. What frustrates the hell out of your prospects and clients? Talk about that - show that you understand their heartaches, headaches, pains and frustrations at the deepest levels.

12. Your copy needs to convey TWO and only two ideas:
  a. You know what they are up against
  b. You can fix it

13. Stop selling YOUR crap and start solving THEIR problems. Yes, even before they buy.

14. Call to action is key. What's the very NEXT step you want them to take? Is there a free offer? A bonus gift to download? A free assessment? A no-strings phone consultation?

15. Make sure your call to action is a GIVE and not a GET. An example of a GET is "Click here and a member of our sales team will contact you within 24 hours." Stupidest damn thing I've ever seen. Useless.

16. Show them how to go from ZERO to HERO. Paint the picture of the current gap - the missing piece - the shortfall - the misfires - the problems - the glitches. THEN show them success stories, solutions, fixes, wins PLUS the specific ways that people who bought from you are better off, richer, smarter, happier, sexier - or all five.

17. Your copy should deliver three things at the end - the acronym is giving your prospects a big HUG:
  a. (H)ope - to improve their condition
  b. (U)rgency - to solve their problem
  c. (G)ameplan - to start exploring your solution

You can do this - it's a lot easier than you think. (H)

In fact, if writing copy is a challenge, you may want to join our next SIMPLE MARKETING SUCCESS 10-week program which starts September 26. Early bird savings are still on - but not for much longer! (U)

If a group program is not a fit for you, I totally understand. Let's start with a no-strings, no-BS  Marketing Assessment. We'll talk for 20 minutes and you'll get 2-3 ideas you can use right away to grow your business whether we decide there's a next step or not. (G)

There - you've just been hugged. See what I mean?

What do YOU think? Share YOUR advice and experiences with writing marketing copy for YOUR business in the COMMENTS area below...

Guest post by Sandy Barris, Fast Marketing Plan

Marketing Concept: Start writing like people talk or even better the way your prospects talk:

1. Use plain talk when writing your marketing, advertising or PR:
Please don’t try to be your fifth grade teacher or your college English professor.

Forget everything you ever learned in school about writing.

Fancy writing (big word writing) only draws attention to itself and not to the benefits you are using to persuade.

2. Try using short sentences and vary their length:

Don’t try to stick two thoughts into one sentence.

Use two short ones instead.

3. Use simple language:

Use the familiar word to the far-fetched.

Use the concrete word to the abstract.

Use the short word to the long word.

Examples of simple language:

Instead of this: Use this

• Encourage: Urge
  
• Continue: Keep up
  
• Supplement : add to
  
• Acquire: get or gain
  
• Along the lines of: like
  
• As to: about
  
• For the reason that : since
  
• In order to: to
  
• In the event of: if
  
• In accordance with: by, under
  
• Prior to: before
  
• With regard to: about
  
• Accordingly: so
  
• Likewise: and, also
  
• Nevertheless: but, however

You get the idea. KISS

4. Use personal references:

Examples: names, pronouns & human interest words.

The best words you can use are… "YOU" and "YOUR"

5. DON'T USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

People recognize words based on their shape, not the actual letters in the words. All caps are harder to identify immediately.

6. Use a Headline

Your Headline is your Ad for the Ad.

The headline should invoke a "reflex reaction" from the reader.

Stop them dead in their tracks.

The reader should instantly understand what you're trying to say, and have enough information to qualify or disqualify himself from reading the rest of your marketing.

But hey, if your professionaly written and perfectly edited marketing is working, making you a small fortune, ignore this and keep doing what's working.

That's your quick marketing tip for now.

Use them and profit.

About the Author: Sandy Barris is the creator of Fast Marketing Plan which provides any business owner, executive or manager a simple, fast, easy and affordable online marketing and business management tool to create unlimited and complete Marketing Plans, Marketing Calendars and Marketing Roadmaps for use by almost any type and size of business.

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, my clients often ask me to critique their Professional Bio.

Whether YOU are a professional speaker, consultant, coach, author, or professional services firm owner - your Bio is one of your most powerful marketing tools that will make or break your future clients' perception of your expertise.

Writing an effective, attractive and client-magnet bio is hard.

Here's what you must NOT do:

• Be boring
• List achievements and awards out of context
• Brag
• Come across as a corporate stuffed shirt or pompous twit
• Trot out a bunch of acronyms, jargon and consultant-speak
• Preach
• Tell us about your awesome vacations, Harley collection, adorable kids, and scuba diving prowess

Without further ado, let me present a Professional Bio I recently came across from a consultant with the Tom Peters Company in the UK that I found quite impressive and that you might consider modeling into your own. My comments are numbered and explained below:

Like you,(1) leadership expert and business author(2) Robert Thompson has seen the word leadership defined numerous ways over the years. Is it charisma and positive thinking? Pinstripes and red power ties? Decisiveness? Is it all about the situation? Is it meant only for the chosen few who rise to the top? Or, is there a different story?(3)

With over three decades of executive coaching, speaking, and most importantly, real-life, in-the-trenches business experience, his view is radically different.(4) Robert appreciates, and shares with listeners, that leadership is a moment-to-moment choice and not about title, tenure or position. Leadership is for everyone, everyday. It's how we should live our life.(5)

Robert, sometimes referred to as the “Provocateur” for his ability to stir up a group(6) or as the “People Whisperer” for his coaching skill that brings out the best in people, is known for his practical, street-savvy style; Robert's fusion of real-life stories and his conversational techniques connect with his audience at an intimate, intense and individual level.(7)

Robert has served as a senior consultant with the U.S. based Tom Peters Company for several years. He is a Certified Master Facilitator of the The Leadership Challenge Workshop™, and continues to work with the best and brightest in the leadership development field. (8)

=====

1. The most powerful word in marketing is YOU. Starting the bio with "Like you..." is flat-out brilliant.

2. Label yourself immediately. Prospects need to know your expertise upfront and you get 2 seconds to position yourself. Put "_______ expert" in the first 10 words of your bio.

3. Using engaging questions in your bio is something you've probably never considered - and it WORKS. People judge you MORE on the questions that you ask rather than the statements you make. Add questions to your bio - it's a kickass idea!

4. Buyers are lazy, busy and befuddled. One way to make yourself come across as "different" is simply to claim it! "His view is radically different" works. I also recommend the phrase "Unlike many consultants/ speakers/ fill-in-the blank..." (Ex: "Unlike many marketing coaches, David Newman shows you exactly what to say and how to say it, what to do and how to do it")

5. Philosophy sound bites that serve as a preview of your thinking. Consider these "bullets without the bullets." They share snippets of what you'll share and implement with your future client in a conversational way.

6. Always promote your benefits, not yourself. I'm not crazy about these unattributed third-party references ("known as the Provacateur") but the saving grace is that they are framed in terms of benefit to the audience/client. This could be stronger if it said "The Financial Times called him 'the CEO's secret weapon'"

7. Love the fusion concept. It says subconsciously to your buyer - "hire this guy and you'll get the best of both worlds." It's also an implied differentiator. What are you a fusion of? And the masterstroke is that the fusion is also framed as a benefit to the audience.

8. He works with the "best and brightest" so YOU, Ms. Prospect, must be pretty sharp if you hire him. This implied compliment gets buyers to WANT to qualify to work with you. Nothing like a little ego boost for your reader as they cruise through your bio. This signals - again subconsciously - "I'm making a good decision."

9. Claim authorship. Calling his talks "conversations" is also a brilliant differentiator.

10. Name names. Client names are powerful. I do NOT like "His successes include" simply because it sounds like he's taking credit for the success of giant global corporations. A better turn of phrase might have been "Companies such as X, Y, and Z have partnered with Robert when they want outcome 1, 2 and 3." This might also be a great place to put in some testimonial snippets from execs inside these specific companies. Their words carry a lot more weight than his.

11. List your accomplishments in the REAL world. Speakers and experts are not hired for what they know so much as they are hired for what they've DONE. Connect who you are to what you do and your credibility skyrockets.

12. Creme de la creme. Board service and being seen as a leader among your peers implies that you are respected within your field and thus, you must be among the best at what you do.

Use these guidelines to turbo-charge YOUR professional bio right now and you'll thank me later -- DO IT!

And then leave a comment below with your questions, thoughts, and advice on the ideas above.

Are you a DO IT freak? Welcome to the club!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!

• Leadership Skills
• Teambuilding
• Motivation
• Supervisory Skills
• Customer Service
• Meeting Facilitation
• Process Improvement

• Healthcare
• Corporate
• Financial Services
• Small Business Owners
• Entrepreneurs
• Non-Profit
• Faith-Based Organizations
• Anyone who wants to maximize potential, overcome obstacles & achieve goals

• Architectural drawings
• Building plans
• Hammering
• Screwdriving
• Framing
• Drywalling
• Plumbing/HVAC
• Roofing

• Tall people
• Short people
• Families
• People who want a new house
• People who'd like to move
• Caucasians
• African Americans
• Asian Americans
• Latinos
• Anyone who wants a house they can call a home, a roof over their heads, and to obtain housing

MARKETING TIP: Nobody CARES about YOU and what YOU do! They want to hear about the outcomes. Outcomes go way beyond features, benefits, processes, and methodologies.

Sell me on the HOUSE and what my life will be like when I've moved in, or have guests over, or have a picnic, or retire.

Talk about ME, MY life, and what MY experience of your product/service will be. That's all I really care about!

===
David Newman is a marketing speaker and marketing coach who works with professionals who want to do a better job of marketing so they get more leads, better prospects, and bigger sales.

Many people I speak to tell me they do not use e‐zines because they simply do not have the time. As a marketing speaker and marketing coach to very busy CEOs, business owners, other professional speakers, and consultants, I hear you. 

Here's the secret: It only takes me two hours or less per month. And those two hours are some of the highest ROI hours I can spend.

You're getting my simple formula for writing e‐zines that will make your ezine much easier to write - and more profitable to send.

Write five to seven short stories about a topic, one to three paragraphs each. You want the reader to be able to get through each story in under a minute. You do not have an unlimited amount of time with your reader so make sure he can read your entire e‐zine issue in about five minutes.

The next little tip might seem insignificant but I think it is vitally important. Do not put any click links to your stories; you do not want to give the readers mind a chance to wonder, because they are waiting for another page to load.

Many Websites like to give you a brief description of the article and then ask you to click on a link to read the whole article. That is just too many hoops to go through to read the story. Do not have just a story title and first paragraph with a link to the entire article.

Write short articles and include the entire article in the e‐zine itself, not a teaser part.

So here, it is in 4 Simple Steps:

1. 5 – 7 stories

2. 1 – 3 paragraphs each

3. Maximum reading time < 1 minute per story < 5 minutes per issue

4. No click links to stories—the full story is in the e‐zine.

There you have it quick, simple, and effective.

BONUS: Here are 8 more tips for writing an e‐ zine, courtesy of Dan Ranly, www.ranly.com:

1. Write for surfers and scanners

2. Provide information quickly and easily

3. Think both verbally and visually

4. Cut copy in half

5. Use lots of lists and bullets

6. Write in chunks

7. Use hyperlinks

8. Give readers a chance to talk back (feedback)

Feedback from YOU is always welcome in the comments area below...

Copy writing 101: compelling and results-producing copy requires two skills: You must learn how to break complex items into smaller (more digestible) parts and you must be able to convince your readers to take action.

Here are guidelines that have served me (and my clients) well. I hope they're equally helpful to you.

1) The first few paragraphs of any marketing document must tell your reader what's in it for him. We don't want our reader looking up after 30 seconds and wondering, "Why am I reading this?"

2) Each marketing document (sales letter, web page, brochure) should focus on a single purpose -- it should be written to stimulate a specific response. This response could be an action (take the next step in the sales process) or it could be emotional (I want them to feel worried about a particular problem).

3) Density (not length) is important. Marketing materials that stimulate interest and curiosity have lots of new and good ideas. Ideally you should introduce a new fact, figure or idea every couple of paragraphs. This stimulates interest, builds credibility and goes a long way towards ensuring that your entire piece gets read.

4) Write only about what you know.

Keep these points in mind the next time you sit down for a heavy-duty session of copy writing to grow your business.