Copywriting Archives | Jim's Marketing Blog

What keeps your marketplace awake at night?

August 15, 2018 by Jim Connolly

In this post, I gave you 4 examples of businesses that stand out from their competitors. Today, I have a strategy you can use, to help your marketing get noticed by your most motivated, prospective clients.

It starts with a question.

What keeps your prospective clients (or customers) awake at night?

There are 2 broad answers to that question.

The things they’re worried about. Their fears, apprehensions and concerns.
The things they’re excited about. Their goals, dreams and the opportunities ahead of them.

Anything that keeps them awake at night is a super-high priority to them. It’s where their urgent attention is. Make no mistake, these are red-hot, prospective clients. In order to help them and benefit from this opportunity, your task is twofold.

You need to determine exactly what they’re worried or excited about.
You need to clearly demonstrate how your product or service, will help them in one of both of those key areas.

Most marketing doesn’t do this. Instead, it focuses on how great the provider is. How happy they are to help. How their clients or customers love them.

The most effective marketing speaks directly to the need of the prospect. It addresses that thing, which is keeping the prospect awake at night. Only after that, does it position the provider as the answer. And in doing so, it captures the prospect’s attention.

Take a look at the various marketing assets you use. Do they focus primarily and directly on the needs of your prospective client or customer? If not, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.

They have to choose you

Here’s something to consider, my friend. You’re a professional. You care deeply about the absolute satisfaction of your clients or customers. The only way you can guarantee that they will be well looked-after, and get outstanding value, is if YOU look after their need. If they end up with one of your competitors, anything could happen to them. In short, if your marketing fails you, it fails them too.

5 Tips to help you build a massive, valuable newsletter list

June 29, 2018 by Jim Connolly

Here are 5 tips, to help you build a valuable newsletter readership or list. I used each of these ideas when growing my first newsletter, which had over 45,000 subscribers when I published the final edition in 2008.

Let’s go.

Newsletter Tip 1: Go easy on the pitches

Make sure it’s a newsletter and not a badly disguised advertisement. Here’s the thing: People avoid advertising. We skip the commercials on TV. We pay developers to remove the ads from the free version of their apps. We see advertisements as unwelcome interruptions.

If your newsletter reads a little too much like a sales pitch, it will be largely ignored. This leads nicely into the next point.

Newsletter Tip 2: Be useful

The more useful your newsletter is, the more your readers will value it and share it. Your ultimate goal is to build a large, targeted reader community, who become either clients, customers or advocates. None of that can be achieved with predictable, pedestrian content.

Useful content is what gives your newsletter wings. It’s what inspires people to subscribe, stay subscribed, share and make purchasing decisions. So, before you hit send on a newsletter, make sure it’s packed with valuable, useful information. Offer answers to your reader’s problems. Share useful tips. Point your readers to useful resources.

The more value you pack into each newsletter, the more your readers will value it… and the more they will value you. Think about that for a moment.

Newsletter Tip 3: Get the design right

Even if your content is wonderful, people won’t take it seriously if the design looks poor. The first bite is with the eye.

If your newsletter provides valuable information, but the design looks amateurish or outdated, it’s like serving them a delicious meal on a dirty plate.

So invest in the best design or newsletter template you can. Because whether your newsletter looks cheap or is presented professionally, it all reflects back on you.

Newsletter Tip 4: Ask readers to share

Even if readers think your newsletter is great, it may not occur to them to share it. People are busy. Really busy. By reminding them, you plant the idea of sharing the newsletter in their mind. Moreover, you do this at the exact point, where they have just read it and enjoyed it. I used to have a section at the bottom of my newsletter, which said:

“If you have found this newsletter interesting, please share it with your friends”.

When I added that short message to my newsletter, the results were immediate and measurable. It’s amazing what a simple reminder can do.

Newsletter Tip 5: Help it spread

Convert people who had your newsletter forwarded to them, into subscribers.

Imagine your friend had just forwarded a great newsletter to you. You’d want to get a regular copy, right? You don’t want to have to rely on your friend, remembering to forward each edition to you. So, I added the following sentence to the above message:

“If you have had this newsletter forwarded to you and would like a regular copy, click here.”

Never underestimate the power of a subtle, non-pushy reminder.

Make no mistake — newsletters can be an extremely powerful marketing asset. It’s why I make my blog available in newsletter format. And it’s why I ask you to take your newsletter seriously and invest in it accordingly. Give it the time and effort it needs. Because the rewards for getting it right are huge. No. Bigger than that.

Don’t miss this: How to build a subscriber list that builds your business.

1 Word that can destroy your marketing, plus 12 better alternatives

June 12, 2018 by Jim Connolly

When it comes to creating successful marketing messages, the word ‘new’ is overrated. Moreover, it can critically damage the effectiveness of your marketing — losing you new customers or clients in the process.

There are 2 main reasons for this:

A new product or service is always seen as a risky bet. At best, it’s a bigger gamble than the existing solution. At worst, the customer feels like a paying guinea pig.
A new product or service is seldom, if ever, the best. It lacks the improvements that come from years of customer feedback. It lacks the robustness that comes from being stress-tested.

Yes, when you have an announcement to make, (like moving to new premises), people expect to see ‘new’ and they understand the context.

The challenge comes, when a key part of your marketing message is that you offer a new way to do something. Even some big brands struggle to sell ‘new’ to people, despite multi-million dollar marketing campaigns.

Thankfully, you can totally avoid this challenge.

Use better alternatives

Instead of relying on ‘new’, offer your marketplace something more compelling. More secure. More attractive. More motivating.

For example, rather than offering them a ‘new’ way, look at the core benefit of your product or service. Then, market that benefit to them instead. So, instead of a ‘new’ way, you could offer them one or more of the following 12 alternatives.

A faster way.
A secure way.
An enjoyable way.
A greener way.
A stylish way.
A stress-free way.
An original way.
A premium quality way.
A proven way.
An ethical way.
A guaranteed way (this example works extremely well).
A cost effective way.

In short, if a potential customer sees your ‘new’ whatever, as a risky or unproven option, it’s very unlikely that they’ll buy from you. So use better alternatives. Alternatives that build trust and inspire them to buy from you or hire you.

The most incredible article about headlines you’ll ever read

June 3, 2018 by Jim Connolly

Here are some ideas, which you can use to dramatically improve the results of all your written marketing.

It’s all about the marketing power of headlines.

Your headline has to capture the reader’s attention

Headlines are important. Really important.

You see, it doesn’t matter how great your message is, if too few people read it. That’s where your headline (or title or subject line) comes in. The headline’s primary job is to attract attention, gain interest and then motivate the reader to carry on reading.

Think about it:

The headline is what inspires prospective clients to open your marketing email.
It’s what motivates them to read your blog post or article, when someone shares it on a social network.
It’s what compels them to listen to your podcast or watch your video.
It’s also what grabs their attention and interest when they see one of your advertisements.

Advertising legend David Ogilvy was in no doubt regarding the importance of headlines. He famously said:

“When you have written your headline, you have spent 80 cents out of your dollar.”

Treat your headlines with the importance they deserve. Give yourself plenty of time to craft the best headline possible. The following tips and examples will help you get the balance right.

Your headline should accurately reflect your content

Because headlines play such a huge role in getting your content noticed, it’s tempting to over exaggerate them. (Yes, the headline of this post is a tongue-in-cheek example of what I mean).

Sometimes called clickbait, these attention-grabbing headlines are proven to generate traffic. The reason I strongly recommend most people reading this not to adopt that headline strategy, is this:

Your headlines make a promise, which your content MUST deliver on.

Make your headlines as compelling as you can. Use words that will compel people to read what you have to say. But make darn sure that your content backs up the promise of the headline. You may be able to fool someone once or twice with clickbait. But unless your content delivers on the promise of the headline, people will quickly learn to ignore you.

Your headline needs to be written for your target market

Your marketing message is intended to connect with a very specific group of people: Your prospective clients or customers. The headlines you use should do the same. This means speaking their language and addressing their concerns and opportunities.

Here’s why this matters:

By focusing your headlines around the interests of your target market, you help your marketing message to attract the attention of the right people.
Conversely, by using headlines that attract the attention of a wider group of people, you cease to be directly relevant to your target market.

In other words, use headlines that are directly relevant to your prospective clients.

Your headlines should match your medium

If you’re writing a headline that’s intended for a print magazine, newspaper or flyer, you have certain freedoms, which you don’t have when writing for the internet.

For example, if you want your internet article’s headline to be fully displayed in search results, you need to use around 60 / 65 characters or fewer. Going beyond that will see your headline cut short.

If your headline is intended for email marketing, you need to take other things into consideration. For example, if you include exclamation marks!! in your subject line, along with a number and maybe a word that’s in ALL CAPS, it’s highly likely to end up in a lot of spam or junk filters. Email software looks for certain common factors used by spammers and if it sees them in the email headlines you use, it could wrongly treat your marketing as spam.

In short, you need to adapt depending on the medium you’re using.

The only 2 types of headline that matter

There is a lot of debate among marketing professionals, regarding the correct way to use headlines.

They take entrenched stances, each insisting that their approach is the only strategy that’s professional or effective. In almost every case I have seen, they totally miss the point!

When it comes to the headlines you use in your marketing, there are just 2 broad categories worthy of your attention.

Headlines that work for you and your business goals.
Headlines that are failing you and your business goals.

You need to find the correct balance for what you want to achieve. And it will differ depending on your brand, your industry and your business model.

For example, BuzzFeed has grown into a very successful media business, initially relying heavily on a controversial, yet powerful headline formula. Many labelled their approach as being linkbait or clickbait. And they were wrong. That’s because the quality of the BuzzFeed’s content was consistently compelling, so their readers returned. In fact, they returned and re-shared, which helped the readership grow even faster.

In summary

Experiment until you find what works best for you. Test and measure your headlines, titles and email subject lines. Just make sure that your content delivers on the promise they make.

Get this balance right and you can dramatically and measurably improve your marketing results.

Here are some people you have to avoid

June 2, 2018 by Jim Connolly

In life there are certain people who you absolutely need to avoid. The same is true in business.

Some are easy to spot

The web designer whose own website is a mess or outdated.
The marketing expert, who embarrassingly needs to attend networking groups because their own marketing doesn’t work.
The business guru who claims to be in high demand, yet offers free consultations.
The copywriter whose content is poorly-written and lacks impact.
The leadership expert who’s just like all the other leadership experts. (Think about that for a moment).

Others are harder to spot

The social media guru, who used tricks to attract half a million followers.
The accountant, who understands numbers, but can’t clearly explain what they mean to your business.
The strategist, whose own strategy is failing.
The business development coach who’s never built a successful business of their own.

Protecting your business from bad advice

The personal recommendation of a trusted friend is usually the least risky way to find an expert provider. Just make sure the friend has recent, first-hand experience of the quality of the provider’s work.

Another option is to find someone, whose work you’re already familiar with. If, for example, you subscribe to a provider’s Podcast or YouTube channel and they regularly share useful information, they’re showing you 2 things.

The fact they have turned up consistently, demonstrates a degree of reliability. This is especially if they have many years worth of material available.
You get to see, first hand, just how knowledgeable they are, from the quality of information they share.

With an attractive looking website and some testimonials, anyone can claim to be an expert in anything. And that’s why we, as business owners, need to look deeper. Because the cost of hiring a bad business provider is far, far higher than their fee.

An incredibly easy way to turn time wasters into gold dust

May 21, 2018 by Jim Connolly

How do you feel about people, who either ask you questions about your service or look around your products, then leave without buying?

Some business owners get angry. They perceive these people to be time wasters. In doing so, they miss out on a massively valuable opportunity. They leave a huge business asset on the table, untapped.

I’m referring to the feedback, which so-called time wasters can provide you with. Feedback, which can help you dramatically improve your marketing and sales results.

Allow me to explain.

You attract time wasters for a reason

If you’re attracting lots of the wrong type of enquiries, there’s a reason. It’s usually a sign that:

Your marketing message needs to be improved.
You are marketing to the wrong people.
Or both.

It’s extremely easy to learn which applies to your marketing, so long as you ask for feedback. Armed with this valuable information, you can then adapt and improve your marketing so you attract the right kind of enquiries.

Before they end the call or leave your premises, ask something like: What was it that prompted you to (visit or call) us today? This will give you some outstandingly valuable feedback to work with.

For example

If people often say they were looking for a low-priced whatever, (yet your prices are average or above average), you need to review your marketing message. Take a look and see if you are overstating how low your prices are.
If you are not overstating how low your prices are, then you could well be targeting your marketing message at people with too small a budget.

You get the idea.

The key is to get as much feedback as you can from those who fail to hire you or buy from you. It will help you improve your marketing message, improve your targeting and generate more business!

So, reframe how you think about time wasters. Speak with them. Listen. Learn from their feedback. Then, make the necessary improvements to your marketing. Don’t just assume that someone is a time waster and therefore of no value to your business. Their feedback could be commercial gold dust.

In fact, it usually is.