Copywriting Archives | Page 3 of 47

Are you selling to yourself? Take a look and find out

July 4, 2019 by Jim Connolly

Are you selling to yourself?

That may seem like an odd question, yet it’s one of the most important questions in marketing.

Why?

Because business owners almost always market their services, as if they were selling to themselves. Or selling to someone in their own industry, to be more precise.

Sounds weird, right?

Well, here are a couple of industry examples. Though it applies to literally (not figuratively) every industry.

Read the marketing of most accountants and you will find lots of statistics and graphs. This is what accountants love, but not their prospective clients. The prospective client wants to know why they should hire this accountant (and not an equally qualified competitor). They want the story behind the numbers. They want to know how the accountant will help them build a better business. And they want it explained with clarity.
Read the marketing of most web designers and it’s filled with jargon and buzzwords. They talk about things like; HTML5, CSS, standards compliance and responsive design. These are things designers know are important. However, those terms mean nothing to their prospective clients. Their prospective clients want a professional looking site. They want to know how a new website will help them make more sales and attract more enquiries. They want to know they can trust the designer to do a great job. And they want it explained with clarity.

Every business owner using that approach is leaving money on the table every day. Don’t let it happen to you.

What next?

Take a look at your marketing messages from your prospective client’s vantage point.

Make sure you’re using their language and not yours.
Lose as many industry terms and buzzwords as possible.
Focus on the results your product or service delivers.

And remember to highlight why they’d be nuts not to hire you or buy from you.

Substance over style: The big mistake that costs businesses a fortune

June 19, 2019 by Jim Connolly

The following statement will sound counter-intuitive. That’s because you’ve been lied to for years. Okay. Here goes.

In marketing, there’s a case for style over substance.

It’s a strong case, too.

Just think about this for a moment:

The top political commentators get paid a ton of money, to deliver their take on the news for major networks.
The also-ran commentators get paid peanuts, to deliver their take on the news, for small, local networks.

Here’s the thing. In both cases, the news (substance) they comment on is the same. Here’s why one of them is earning 10 times or 50 times more than the other. It’s their style. The style with which they work.

For example:

Their courage, when choosing to take (or avoid) a controversial stance.
Their vocabulary.
Their energy.
Their ability to communicate with confidence.
Their effectiveness when injecting their personality (style) into their work, so that it’s truly theirs.

Here’s my point. When it comes to business, the substance should be there by default. Every qualified consultant, coach, lawyer, whatever… knows what their service (substance) is and how it works. It’s their style that makes all the difference. It’s their style that sets them apart from the crowd.

Style over substance in marketing

The newsletters, blogs, vlogs, podcasts, Facebook groups, Medium publishers, etc., that people take notice of, all have their own style. The same is true of the most successful email marketing, advertising, marketing campaigns and copywriting.

And the ones that fail to grow, fail to get noticed, fail to make an impact… well… they don’t.

Instead, they follow the cookie-cutter approach to marketing. They bought into the lie. The lie that says, “Just do things this way and it works. Follow the steps. 1-2-3”.

That’s bullshit.

It doesn’t work. In fact, it can’t possibly work. Because your style can’t be found in a book.

You can certainly learn substance that way. However, your style, the very thing that gets you noticed, by default, can’t possibly be learned from a marketing seminar, a course, a book or any other generalized form of information.

Why?

Because your style is all about you.

Where are you right now?

Okay, I already know that you totally understand your subject. So the substance is there. It’s taken care of. That’s covered. You’re good.

But what about the style?

When it comes to your marketing, when it comes to the story behind your service, are you telling it from your perspective? Are you sharing the substance of your knowledge, using your voice, your stories and your experiences? Because it’s your style that people connect with.

It’s your style that sets you apart.
It’s your style that causes people to return for more.
It’s your style that makes you approachable.
It’s your style that gives you a voice.
It’s your style that inspires people to share your message.
It’s your style that gives value to your substance.
It’s your style that motivates people to hire you or buy from you, rather than a cheaper alternative.

And none of that can be robotized. Or automated. Because it’s you. It’s your authentic experience. It’s your greatest marketing asset. In fact, with so many competitors out there, with so many people trying to get the attention of your prospective clients, your style is the most powerful tool in your arsenal.

So, give your style the oxygen it needs.

How to make your marketing massively more effective

May 28, 2019 by Jim Connolly

Take a quick look at the following 2 statements. Which of them do you find the most appealing?

I wrote this blog post, now I want you to read it.
Business owners often struggle with this challenge, so I wrote this quick tip to help you.

Unsurprisingly, your marketplace is massively more attracted to the second statement. Despite this, the majority of small and medium sized businesses use the first approach in their marketing.

Rather than focusing on the wants and needs of their marketplace, they focus on what they themselves want. And it’s costing them a fortune in missed sales opportunities or client enquiries.

I received one such email earlier today. It started off with; “We’re delighted to announce our summer 2019 range is in stock and available to order”.

Let’s unpack that headline and see what message it sends to the reader.

The vendor is excited.
The vendor has an announcement.
The vendor has new stock.
They want me to order it.

As you can see, they’ve given me (I’m an existing customer) very little motivation to do anything. Their message is all about them and what they want. By switching the focus to their customers, they could have built a more compelling message. Instead, they’ll be wondering why that email’s response rate is so low.

The lesson here

The lesson is pretty obvious when you see an example broken down, like the one above. But sometimes in our eagerness to market our products or services, we can unintentionally make similar mistakes.

This is why I recommend you deliberately check, to ensure the focus of your future marketing is always about “them”. Also, review your existing marketing and shift the emphasis of any self-focused material, so that it’s them-focused… their wants and needs.

Show them how passionate you are about helping them. Show them you care.

And make solving their problems the cornerstone of your marketing.

Why lists dominate marketing. And why you should use them!

May 21, 2019 by Jim Connolly

Ever wondered why so many articles, blog posts, videos and newsletters are based around the idea of a list?

Yes, you’re right. It’s because they’re extremely popular. People love them. And it’s easy to see why.

Lists promise lots of ideas. And fast!

List-based content promises a number of bite-sized ideas or suggestions. And fast! So when we see “10 habits of highly successful business owners“, we’re not expecting an in-depth examination of commercial success.

No.

We’re expecting ideas. And we hope that at least one of those ideas will help us in some way. If it does, it will repay the 3 or 4 minutes we invested in reading it.

This begs the question… Does your marketing mix contain list-based content?

If not, I suggest you give it a try. Lists are perfect for sharing, which makes them ideal if you want to expand your reach on social networks. New readers who discover your work through list content, will then get the chance to see your more detailed work. Others will follow you on the networks, where they see your lists shared. Almost all of my most shared blog posts are lists.

Lists can also be very powerful, when it comes to increasing your email marketing open rates. Email marketing that has a list in the subject line, can result in massively increased open rates.

Here’s why.

Most small business owners are not expert copywriters. As such, the subject lines they use for their email marketing tend to under-perform. And poorly written subject lines result in low open rates. This means no matter how good their marketing message is, very few people will see it.

Using an average list title as the subject line of a marketing email, will always out-perform an average, regular subject line.

So, should I focus exclusively on lists, Jim?

No. No you shouldn’t. Seriously. Don’t!

Allow me to explain.

True, there are YouTubers making a fortune from creating only list-based videos. And yes, there are sites that attract millions of readers, who rely very heavily on list-based content. However, relying exclusively on lists is a bad fit for most small business owners. They should be used sparingly.

For example, I could have written this post as a list.

It would have taken me a lot less time to write.
It would have been shared a lot more on social networks.
And the email version of the post would have been opened by a lot more people.

However, I wanted to dig a little deeper into one thing… the marketing effectiveness of lists. I didn’t want to weaken that focus with “15 Reasons why lists dominate the internet”.

Here’s the thing

Sometimes, you need to offer more substance around one subject. Other times, an issue could be impacting your readers and you need to address it. And there are times when you want to share one really useful idea, which wouldn’t work if you broke it down into a list of sub-ideas.

In other words, that same surface-level approach that makes lists so popular, renders them useless for anything that requires depth.

So mix it up.

If you haven’t already used list-based blog posts, articles, videos, podcasts or newsletters, give it a go. Experiment. Test different types of list. Measure the feedback. Check things (metrics) including; sales, leads, open rates, social shares and new subscribers.

In short, if you’re not embracing list-based content, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.

Stop waiting for things to pick up

May 20, 2019 by Jim Connolly

Do you ever wonder what’s stopping you from getting enough high quality sales leads or enquiries?

This is a problem, which new clients often have when we first start working together. So today, I thought I’d share a very brief overview of how I turn things around for them.

Super-effective marketing is based on a 3 step process. It motivates people to take action, now. Let’s break that down.

Motivates people.
To take action.
Now.

Motivates people

Your prospective clients are busy. On top of this, they’re bombarded with notifications all day long, from people and apps demanding their attention. Faced with this reality, your marketing needs to rise above through all that noise. It needs to grab their attention, then generate enough desire for them to engage with your message.

None of this can be achieved, with the common marketing tactics you hear about in marketing seminars, or read about in marketing books / marketing websites. Why? Because those commonly taught tactics are already overused. People tune them out. They fail to make an impression. So they’re ignored.

To take action

To compel a prospective client to take action, your marketing needs to make a direct request. Note I used the singular ‘request’ there. Not request(s). The more options you offer, the less likely anyone is to do anything. So, make a single, focused, direct request.

Now

It’s not enough to ask the prospective client to take action. You need to ask them to do (whatever) now… while you have their attention and their motivation is high.

Why the rush?

Simple. Even if they love your message. Even if they’re genuinely interested. Their attention will soon jump onto the next thing. They’ll tell themselves “I’ll do it later”. And you’ll lose them.

If your marketing isn’t generating daily, qualified sales leads or client enquiries, it’s failing you in at least 1 of those 3 areas. There’s no need for this to happen to you. These are easy wins, if you choose to fix the problem correctly.

25 Recommendations to massively improve your business results

May 18, 2019 by Jim Connolly

Embrace brevity. Shorter messages are more powerful. Most marketing I see is 75% too long.
Stop waiting for the right opportunity to come along. Make it happen. Create it.
People buy what they want. Not what they need. It’s why people renew their phones every 12/24 months, even though their ‘old’ phone works fine. They want a new phone. They treat themselves to a new phone. But they don’t need it. Once you understand the difference, you can improve your marketing accordingly.
Keeping your promises is a proven way to build a great reputation. (Read more).
You don’t have any clients, customers or subscribers. They’re not yours. You simply borrow them. This means there’s no room for complacency. You need to earn and then re-earn their custom, attention and trust.
If you want your marketplace to talk enthusiastically about your business, do something worth talking about. If it’s remarkable enough, they’ll remark on it!
A confused mind always says no. Keep your marketing as brief and clear as possible. Fewer options. Fewer words. Less fluff.
The most successful business owners decide who their ideal clients are, then market exclusively to this super-valuable group. You should do the same. The average business owner relies on DIY marketing and takes whatever comes along.
People buy for their reasons. Not yours.
If you don’t receive regular referrals from your existing clients or customers, it’s a warning. A warning that, at best, you’re delivering what they expect. When you exceed expectations, they tell their friends. (Read More).
The word ‘Webinar’ carries a huge amount of negative baggage. Never use it. Because there’s always a better alternative. Always.
When you want to generate high quality cash flow fast, find new products for your existing customers. It’s far quicker and more profitable, than finding new customers for your existing products. I’ve helped hundreds of business owners enjoy windfall profits this way. Yes, windfall profits. It’s that easy.
Include deadlines in your marketing messages. They’re an exceptionally powerful way to motivate people to take action. (Read more).
Your brand is either working for you or against you. If you haven’t intentionally created a brand for your business, it’s working against you. It’s losing you money.
Everything your business does, is marketing. The way you answer the phone, your payment terms, the way you reply to emails, your location, the way you write, the design of your website, your prices, your social network activity… it’s all marketing. This means it needs to be intentional and consistent.
Don’t rely on Facebook, Linkedin or any third party for your communication channel. It’s like building a house on rented land. Instead, attract people via third party platforms. And then encourage them to subscribe to your email list.
Building an email list is a massively better option, than buying a list. The people on paid-for lists don’t want to hear from you. These so called opt-in lists are mainly just lists of people, who completed a form on a website once, without reading the small print.
The most successful business owners decide who their ideal clients are, then market exclusively to this super-valuable group. You should do the same. The average business owner relies on DIY marketing and takes whatever comes along.
Businesses with a fixed marketing budget never achieve much. It shows they regard marketing as a cost, rather than an investment. This is then reflected in their results.
The most powerful marketing is permission based. When people subscribe to your list, your message is treated very differently, than an unsolicited email from a needy stranger.
Learn how to make your marketplace curious. Why do prospective clients call you or email you? It’s because they need to know something and their curiosity motivates them to get in touch. So, you get a sales lead or client enquiry. And a chance to convert them into a new client or customer. As I said a few days ago, don’t explain everything in your marketing, unless you want very few enquiries. (Read more).
The more your services or products resemble what your competitors offer, the less visible your business is.
Avoid using buzzwords. Those who don’t understand them will be confused. Those who do understand them, will cringe. And buzzwords get old, really quick.
Tell the truth. It’s the easiest, least stressful way to build a great business and your marketplace will respect you.
If your business isn’t attracting regular sales leads or client enquiries, your marketing is broken. This means the very thing that feeds your business isn’t working. It’s losing you a fortune. Needlessly. Why are you allowing this to happen? Think about that for a moment.