marketing Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Cathy Stucker

4 Ways To Dramatically Increase Your Copywriting Effectiveness

June 17, 2013 by Mike Shreeve 3 Comments

copywriting This is a guest post from author and copywriter Mike Shreeve of MikeShreeve.com.

Copywriting is fundamental to business – whether online or off.

Being able to communicate, persuade and connect with others through the written and spoken word is a skill that is worth mastering.

Here are 4 things that you can start to include right now in your own copywriting to get immediate results:

Reciprocity

In the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, author Robert Cialdini cites a series of landmark studies in which subjects were shown to respond to kindness with an almost automated response of returning the favor.

This might seem obvious, and even a little trite to be spending research funds on, but the studies proved that no act of kindness goes unseen.

To write copy without taking advantage of this rule, would be to miss out on a massive tool for increasing effectiveness of the words that you write.

But how do we simulate giving in our writing?
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Pithy Marketing and Selling Sayings

December 21, 2012 by Robert Middleton 1 Comment

Last week I found a list that I’d created on my iPad called: “10 Marketing Things You Already Know – But May Not be Acting Upon.”

These might fall into the category of “Pithy Sayings” that teach essential truths. I’m no Confucius, but I’ve been involved in marketing so long, that I can assure you, the following lessons are amongst the most important you can learn if you want to attract more of your ideal clients. [Read more…]

The Terror of Asking

November 27, 2012 by Robert Middleton Leave a Comment

This is a guest post from Robert Middleton, and it really resonated with me. I can empathize with Rose. When I started my business I had a very hard time asking. But unless you are able to ask–for the meeting, for the sale, for whatever you need–your business can not succeed. Read on to get insight into your terror of asking and start working toward your breakthrough.

Rose is a talented and determined consultant and coach who works with medical professionals to help them become more balanced in their work and their lives, overcoming stress and burnout so common to the medical profession.

She’s worked with a number of doctors who have completely transformed their practices, along with their degree of fulfillment and satisfaction as medical professionals.

When Rose came to me she had some good written marketing materials but her website needed a lot of work, and she needed to re-package her services to be more comprehensive.

I gave her directions to improve her website and packaging and before long she was presenting her business powerfully both though articles and on her website.

Rose had the kind of clients who were not easy to reach through networking or giving speaking engagements. She was getting calls from her website, but we determined that a good approach for her would be to call hospitals directly and talk to program directors, send her materials, and follow up for meetings.

With her impressive track record, Powerful message, quality materials, and numerous case studies, I felt that this would be an excellent way to connect with her prospects directly. And in the past she had been called by these same program directors who in turn referred her to their burned-out doctors.

And then she hit a wall.
[Read more…]

Customers Are Like Vampires

July 6, 2009 by Cathy Stucker Leave a Comment

vampire No, customers aren’t bloodsuckers (well, maybe a few are!) and they don’t come out only at night. According to legend, vampires don’t come in until they are invited. And that’s true of customers, too.

You may think you’ve invited your customers. After all, you put up signs identifying your store, got a web site, placed ads, sent press releases, networked, put out fliers, etc.

Those things can let your customers know you exist, but to be effective they should include invitations to customers. That doesn’t mean sending actual invitations, it means creating a reason for them to come, and communicating that reason to them. I’m talking about giving customers a call to action.

First, make sure you know what you want them to do. Do you want them to contact you for more information, pay a visit, make a first purchase, make larger or more frequent purchases? Once you know what results you want, you can tailor a call to action which inspires that reaction.

Are you trying to build traffic at your physical or online location? Your communication might focus more on reasons for people to visit, and less on buying.

Have traffic that you’re trying to convert to sales? Encourage them to make a purchase by offering a limited-time discount, or something free with a purchase. Offer a guarantee.

Want business from customers you haven’t seen in a while? Entice them. Let them know what’s new. A hair salon changed ownership, and there were problems. Most of the stylists left, service was spotty, and lots of customers quit using them, including me. I got a postcard inviting me to come back and see the changes they made. While not saying, ‘Yeah, we stunk, but now we’re better,’ they told about their new amenities and offered me a special price on my next visit. I went, and was impressed. I’ll go back. They recovered a lost customer by inviting me to come back.

Here are a few more examples of calls to action:

Hold an event, such as an open house, seminar or product demonstration, to encourage people to come at a specific time.

Send out coupons with an expiration date to create a sense of urgency.

Give something away to people who visit or contact you.

Institute a frequent buyer club. For example, after I get my dog groomed six times, the seventh groom is free. It keeps me coming back to the same place.

Encourage customers to invite their friends to do business with you. After all, an invitation from a trusted friend is great incentive. Reward both the customer and the friend–give them each a small gift, or have special ‘two-fer’ pricing giving a discount.

Don’t leave your customers wandering around aimlessly–invite them in!