How,Avoid,the,Marketing,Blues, marketing How to Avoid the Marketing Blues with Your Offers
Awhile ago, I got an email from one of the "gurus" I follow and it shocked me. The gist of it was this person wanted to trade services for a household item.To say it floored me would be an understatement.What was worse was a few days later t Automation technologies represent a fundamental aspect of any modern industry. The major types of industrial automation solutions, such as DCS, PLC, SCADA, and MES, are used on a large-scale in process and discrete industries.DCS technologie
"Here's a little tip I would like to relateBig fish bites if ya got good bait."To attract more prospects and clients, you need what TajMahal calls "good bait" in his song the Fishin Blues. Oneof the biggest mistakes you can make, as a small businessowner, is forgetting to use good bait in the form of youroffers. Whether you use direct mail, a web site or mediaadvertising to market your business, the success of yourmarketing depends on whether you provide prospects withcompelling offers.Your offers motivate prospects and clients to visit yourweb site, read your marketing materials, contact you andbuy your services and products. Without the right offeryou won't attract big fish or as many fish as you'd like.What bait are you using to motivate your target marketto:- Visit your web site?- Sign up for your free newsletter?- Buy your products and services?How many new prospects per week are your offersattracting?Which Offers Work Best?Your offer needs to be something that your target marketwants. You wouldn't use a worm to catch a whale or asafety pin to catch a tuna. Offer your target marketsomething they can't refuse. Everybody likes to getsomething for free, whether it's an article, guide, ebook,report, consultation, a demonstration, offer of membershipor added services. If your offer helps your target marketsolve a common problem, it will attract more prospectsand clients.Whether or not it is free your offer needs to providevalue. Prospects will judge the quality of your productsand services based on your offer. If you give away asubscription to a newsletter, follow up with usefulcontent and substantive ideas your prospects can use.Give them something that is so good they will want more.Attracting ProspectsMy target market is service professionals and business owners. I offer a 15 page free marketing guide to prompt people to give me their contact information so I can market to them in the future. My target market, want to attract more clients, want ideas to help them. A 15 page marketing guide is something that tens of thousands of people have found to be irresistible. Each week this simple offer pulls in hundreds of new prospects.You too can come up with an offer to prompt more prospects to contact you. If you're a lawyer you could offer a report on the "The 10 Biggest Legal Mistakes Homeowners Make". If you're a massage therapist you could offer a guide to "5 Ways to Avoid Damaging Back Pain." If you provide an online service, you could offer a free or almost free one-month trial.Clarify ValuePeople buy your products and services based on theirperception of value. Whether you are charging fivedollars or five thousand, your prospects need to beconvinced that the benefits you provide will outweighthe cost. Too often service professionals and business owners rush to quote a price, trying to make the sale before clarifying the value to buyers.To stimulate sales place your offer in the context ofyour target market's concerns. Once you've clarifiedhow your product or service meets their concerns thevalue of your offer will be apparent.Use Problem Solving OffersPeople don't buy your products or services because you'vebeen in the business for decades, or because your ebooksare well written or designed to please the eye. Peoplebuy your products and services because they solve aproblem.Use Additional Incentives CarefullyIn their rush to sell their products and services somesmall business owners offer huge discounts or bundle freeservices. Discounting and bundling can work but make sureyou're not undermining prospects perception of the valueof your products and services or your profits.Key Elements of Your OfferCreating a compelling offer is an art and involvesblending the following items together to create a sentenceor two which will move people to take action, whether it iscontacting you or making an immediate purchase.Include the following items to create an offer that helpssell:Name - What you are sellingBenefit - The problem it solvesCredibility - Why they should buy from youValue - How useful it will be to themGuarantee - Your promise to themMotivation to act - A reason to take advantage of youroffer today.If you want to catch big fish, you need good bait. Toincrease your catch, improve your offers and you'll bereeling in many more new prospects and clients.-2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.
How,Avoid,the,Marketing,Blues,