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Jennifer's Small Business Marketing Blog

« August 2006 | Here you'll find archives on strategic internet marketing, branding, copywriting and other important small business marketing issues. Want the latest posts? Try the main page or contact me with your comments or questions. | June 2006 »

Why blog? Practice makes (almost) perfect

In the latest issue of Avenues to Marketing Success, I wrote about the power of blogging, and it only makes sense for me to fill you in a little more on why I personally blog.

Giving out information to readers like you is one key way that I can help you grow your business a small tidbit of marketing knowledge at a time. I hear from enough of you that this appears to be quite helpful to you, especially if you are new to your business or you're uncomfortable marketing yourself regardless of how long you've been in business.

I don't get a lot of comments here directly on the blog (though if you want to comment, you're welcome to -- click on the Comments link below), but I do get tons of e-mails asking for more information about what I've written, clarifying comments I've made and that sort of thing. I love hearing from you, and you give me priceless information about how I can better help you in the future with all your questions, so keep the questions coming! And feel free to share them here on the blog if you wish.

I also shouldn't neglect the fact that I personally love having an outlet to get out my frustration about some marketers' attempts to sway you to their services just so they can make a buck, even though there is little or no value to what they offer. I just got an e-mail this morning from the 30th Internet marketer promoting the same thing as everyone else, with the same e-mail every single time, down to the typos. I know that we're all in business and don't have time to reinvent the wheel every time we send out new offers, but honestly, make sure that if you use any sort of canned sales letter for any reason in your own business to tailor it to the way YOU write. Sorry for the mini-rant, which is somewhat beside the point.

What I should have said before I got off on that tangent was that long prior to getting today's e-mails, I also got apologies ... APOLOGIES from a number of folks who had sent the promotion out because they hadn't done their homework to see if the product in question was worthwhile. C'mon. You make thousands and thousands of dollars from each e-mailing you send out, and you can't take the time to verify if ANY of the information is useful?

I expect more. Your customers expect more. And that's where your blog can come in handy.

When you write a blog, here are some hints:

Get personal.

Dig deep.

Give it your all.

Don't try to sucker people into buying from you unless you offer a good product.

Show your value by showing yourself and your brand values to your readers.

And remember:

You don't have to be perfect in your communications, but the more you write about things in a blog that are helpful to your clients and prospects, the more feedback you get about what's helpful and what isn't. And you also become a better writer, helping you with all of your promotions in the future.

I urge you to consider starting a blog to give your prospects a better sense of who you are and what you stand for (that's a HUGE part of the branding process, after all, and I would be remiss if I didn't say so!) Blog for humanity. *laughs* Blog for your sanity. After all, if I didn't have this blog, I'd have nowhere to rant and rave! :) I don't think my cat cares what I think about marketing as long as she get her ocean fish dinner in gravy!

Think a blog doesn't work to draw in clients? Then why did you read this post?!

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Thursday, July 27, 2006 in Branding, Internet Marketing, Rants & Raves ::
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Stay in touch!

I'm writing tonight's post for 2 reasons:

1) To remind you that if you have any questions about small business marketing that you'd like me to answer, feel free to e-mail my office at contactus @ avenueeast dot com. I want to make sure that I am giving you answers to your most important marketing questions, so keep your feedback coming.

2) To remind you that if you're not doing anything to stay in touch with your clients and folks who have inquired about your services in the past, you're missing out on a lot of business. Period. Don't fool yourself into thinking that they don't want to hear from you. (They do, and they'll forget you even exist if you don't remind them from time to time.)

Both had enough to do with staying in touch, the title of this post, for me to combine them in a single message. Forgive me for killing 2 birds with 1 stone late tonight as inspiration struck. :)

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 in ::
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Reel them in with a powerful headline: copywriting basics

Knowing the copywriting basics is more important than most other aspects of running your small business. It occurred to me this morning that I haven't expounded on anything sales copy-related of late, and it's a real shame, considering that your copy on your marketing materials is one of the most important aspects that will determine how effective a mailing or other direct response tool is (like the letters, postcards, etc. that you send to prospects).

Your headline is the number one item that people read when they glance at the page, so you want to make sure it's a good one. Here are a couple hard-and-fast tips to help you:

• Always think about ways to show your prospects that you're speaking directly to them. For example, ask a question that directly relates to their situation, like "Want your editorial staff to get more projects right the first time, saving you time and money during the proofreading phase of your next project?" or "Discover how you can grow your residential real estate sales conversions (and pad your bank account) using a simple technique." Both of these examples show that you know who you're speaking to and why the person should continue reading

• Focus on benefits, not features. In other words, you need to show your prospects what's in it for them. Take, for example, what we do here at Avenue East. No one ever comes to me and says, "You know, I just love being in business for myself and want coaching just to get better for the fun of it." Instead, what they really say is, "I'm struggling to get ahead, I'm not making ends meet, I am getting easily distracted as I try to meet my goals and I know you're the right person to guide me to a better way of running my business." See how I mention that they want to be able to pay their bills, stop struggling, want to stop feeling overwhelmed and distracted? THAT'S what you want to include in your headline, not just the "Hi, I'm a coach" kind of message that so many solo pros use until they learn copywriting basics.

The more you think about your clients' needs, the better your headline will be. And if you're not sure what's best, test 2 or 3 different headlines to see which one gets better results in your next mailing. You'd be amazed how much you learn about copywriting basics just from listening to your prospects.

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Friday, July 14, 2006 in ::
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