More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert MiddletonIn This Week's Issue: How to get better response from all your marketing messages.
The Secret to Standing Out
One of the things I don't talk about enough in More Clients is how you package the actual service you are marketing and selling to your clients. You may be selling consulting, coaching, training or design services, but that's really not what you're selling.
And although I emphasize that the best way to talk about your services initially is in terms of what is missing or not working through a problem-oriented Audio Logo (companies frustrated by high turnover or individuals struggling to achieve their dreams), this is not what you're ultimately selling either.
What sells best is a concrete, specific promise of improving your prospects' current condition and a service offering that doesn't sound like everything else currently available.
Let's look at a few scenarios.
When asked what you do and you answer with a problem-oriented Audio Logo (as above), your desired response is, "How do you do that?" And your answer is the key to marketing success.
Here are some possible responses. Remember, all responses are offering the same thing. But you're going to get very different results depending on how you articulate your response.
1. We work with manufacturing companies to increase their profits by hiring and retaining the best people.2. We work with manufacturing companies to increase profits by a minimum of 24% by hiring and retaining the best people.
3. We work with manufacturing companies to increase profits by a minimum of 24% through our unique approach called Optimal Resource Utilization.
Number 1 is a very generic response. Increasing profits is too general, and hiring and retaining the best people sounds like something they know about already. Number 2 is better because you're being specific about profit improvement.
But 3 is the best because not only are you specific about increasing profits, you apply an approach unknown to your prospects that makes it sound unlike anything else out there.
And believe me, not many Independent Professionals are doing this. Their promises are generic and their approaches sound like what everyone else is doing.
Last week I promoted a program called "Work Half the Time and Make Twice the Income with Virtual Action Groups." This accomplished exactly what I'm referring to here. Who wouldn't want that result? and what the heck are Virtual Action Groups?
You've got to find out, don't you? Over 3,000 people clicked from my email message to learn more and almost 500 either attended the teleseminar or ordered the CD.
(You can still get it by the way at http://www.actionplan.com/snncd.html)
The point is simple. If you offer a service that promises a specific, desirable result and you make what you are offering intriguing and different from what everyone else is offering, you will get more attention, interest, response, and action from your prospects.
The difference can be dramatic.
First start with a promise you can legitimately make. I realize this isn't easy sometimes. But any time you can quantify actual results, your attention value goes way up.
Next, give your service an interesting, unique name. Brainstorm several and then run it by clients and associates and get their reaction. Try it in networking situations and then integrate it into your marketing materials and web site.
I promise you that this very simple strategy will start getting you better marketing results almost immediately.
On Thursday, look for an announcement for another teleseminar that will give you even more ideas on how to stand out and get noticed by many more prospects. Make space on your calendar now for Tuesday, August 10 at 10 am Pacific.
More on "The Secret to Standing Out" in Marketing Flashes below.
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InfoGuru Marketing takes the struggle out of marketing
The principle of InfoGuru Marketing is simple, but very few Independent professionals understand it, let alone implement it.
An InfoGuru is an Independent Professional who has made a stand for being an expert in his or her professional area. An InfoGuru markets primarily by giving away value, thereby increasing both visibility and credibility. If you do this already, you're an InfoGuru Marketer and you know how powerful it is.
If you don't do this, it's time to learn exactly how to do it by getting the InfoGuru Marketing Manual.
http://www.actionplan.com/infoguru.htmlWant a quick summary of what's included in the manual? These fourteen points below will give you a good snapshot:
- It was developed exclusively for Independent Professionals such as consultants, coaches, trainers and other service professionals who are great at what they do, but have a hard time consistently attracting clients to their businesses.
- The manual is based on a few powerful marketing principles that, once you understand them will transform your marketing. These essential principles are missed by almost everyone (and implemented by even fewer).
- The marketing principles contained in the manual will help you increase interest in your services, build trust and credibility with prospects, get prospects wanting to learn more about what you do, and create a steady stream of word-of-mouth business.
- It goes way beyond theory, vague generalizations or concepts, and contains hundreds of hands-on marketing strategies and action plans that are easy to implement, even if you have no marketing experience.
- It includes foundational marketing information on things like creating an attention-getting marketing message, and then goes into depth on the most recent marketing techniques of web marketing and eZines.
- You can read it like a book -- you can go through it slowly and do the exercises like a home-study course -- or you can refer to it whenever you have a question about marketing your business.
- It comes with over 11 hours of audio files with teleclasses and interviews on the finer points of marketing your services. These audio files alone are worth the price of the manual.
- I've included a boatload of extras, including 150 pages of articles, dozens of resources and, most importantly, the InfoGuru Support Forum, where you can get any question about marketing your services answered for free.
- The Support Forum can be used to answer questions, provide resources, and get "peer-review" of marketing materials, web sites, proposals and sales letters, as well as explore the more complex and confusing aspects of attracting clients to your business.
- It will help remove the mystery and struggle about marketing and selling that so many Independent Professionals experience, and will help you realize that marketing can actually be fun.
- It comes with my unconditional guarantee. Get it and try it. If you don't think it's worth much more than what you paid, tell me and I'll refund 100% of your purchase price.
- Unlike most marketing information sold on the web, the manual is available in both digital format (.pdf file) for immediate download, and for just a few dollars more, you can get a printed manual as well.
- The InfoGuru Marketing Manual was published in February of 2001, and it's just as relevant today, because I add to it regularly with updates of the manual that can be downloaded repeatedly at no additional cost.
- If you are looking for one tool that will help you attract clients with an approach and methodology that is highly effective but doesn't compromise your integrity, you've found it!
For complete details and to order online go to:
www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marketing Flashes on "The Secret to Standing Out"
* Don't be shy about making promises about results. If it's true, it's not boasting. The trick is to talk about results in a way that is low-key but impressive at the same time.
* What is everyone else promising? Don't promise that or you'll get confused with them. Your promise needs to sound not only valuable and credible but unlike anyone else's promise.
* Naming a service is a bit of an art but it often is based on something very descriptive: Client Magnet Workshop, InfoGuru Marketing Manual, Transform Your Marketing TeleClasses and Marketing Action Groups all sound valuable and unique.
* Both your promise and the name of your service need to get to "the heart of the matter" for the prospect. That is, they need to hit the right nerve and stimulate an immediate desire to know more.
* Don't go over the top with your promise or your service name. They will stimulate skepticism and mistrust. Good marketing is very attention-getting and motivating but it does not insult your intelligence.
Until next week, all the best,
Robert Middleton
ACTION PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More Clients~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
210 Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790© 2004 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:
"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses."
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