Thoughts on Marketing…

If you’re in business of any kind, your e-mail signature can be an even better “silent salesman” than your business signage, because it’s not fixed in one spot.

You might think it’s only for business correspondence. Many real estate professionals have a signature with their name, the name of the company, a phone number, and the web address. Many small business people do the same.

But is that enough? And should you limit using a signature to only your business correspondence? I don’t think so.

First, if you serve a specific geographic area, add your city to that factual information. I can’t tell you how many real estate signatures I’ve read that give me no clue where the agent is located. (Aside from the phone number, but how many people know all the area codes in the U.S.?)

Then you need a tag line. That’s something short and sweet that conveys what you do. After that, if you have a special offer going on, include it.

If you’re in real estate you might use a line about your specialty – “Serving the Highland Hills area of Mytown,” or right now… “Call on me for Short Sale Success”

If you’re an electrical contractor, you’ll want to show whether you’re in commercial or residential construction, or if you do rehab work.

If you’re a hairdresser your tag line can let people know if you’re an expert at the latest mod hairstyles or if grandma will love you because you know how to make a pin curl.

Why do you need all this information at the end of an email?

For one thing, even our friends don’t always think about what we do for a living. Especially our on-lines friends who may never have met us in real life.  Your signature on your email is a constant, yet subtle reminder of what you do.

This could be very valuable if you sell products on line, especially if you change the signature now and then to reflect a sale or a special purchase item. But it could be valuable even if you provide a service in a specific geographic location.

That’s because emails are often forwarded on to other people. You may live in Montana and write to a friend in Florida. But your email and your signature could very well end up back in a home that’s a mile from where you’re sitting.

Think about your own actions. When a friend forwards you a funny joke or useful information, don’t you notice if it has a signature at the end? And don’t you forward it on to other friends who will probably enjoy it? Most of us do.

Even better, if you kept seeing the same name attached to messages that resonated with you, wouldn’t you start to feel a little like you knew that person?  You might not consciously think it, but in the back of your mind you will probably be feeling: “This person thinks a lot like I do – I’d like to meet her/him.”  And of course, when you start thinking someone is a lot like you, you automatically think they’re pretty darn good people.

The danger here, of course, is in sending messages that would turn people away. So if you have a good friend and sometimes share jokes that are a bit on the colorful side, or share opinions that are politically charged, it might be a good idea to remove your signature.

You know some email messages do “go viral” so be careful!

In a way, your signature is a way for you to expand your sphere of influence to include people you will never meet. And as long as they have a great impression of you, that’s a good thing!

Want to do something today – right now – that will help build your business?

If you have a pen, a piece of paper, an envelope, and a stamp, you can do just that. You can write a thank you note.

In fact, you’ll do even better if you write a dozen thank you notes. And if you make it a daily habit, you might just be amazed at the results.

Even if your business is already doing well, those notes will give it a boost.

Taking the time to send a hand-written note of thanks will set you apart from your competitors, and it will lift you up in the minds of every person who receives one. That’s because hardly anyone does it, and because a hand-written, well thought-out note shows that you actually thought about the recipient – and that you do appreciate whatever they did.

Your notes don’t need to go just to people you do business with, but can be just as effective when sent to people who perform services for you.

Why? Again, because this has become an unusual practice. So unusual, in fact, that people will talk about it. The mechanic who repaired your car might be sitting at the lunch counter visiting with other patrons and start to brag about getting your note.

“Hey, I got a thank you note today – you guys ever get one of those? Mrs. Jones wrote to thank me for getting her car in and out of the shop so quickly – and for not leaving any grease on her carpets like the last guy did. You know Mrs. Jones don’t you? She runs the …. down on ….”

A thank you in person does leave a warm feeling – and you should hand one out at every opportunity. But a written thank you is something people can show their spouses and friends. It’s something that gives them bragging rights along with that good feeling.

Thanking customers and would-be customers…

Remember that there is a difference in thank you notes. A printed card that says “Thank you for your business” and bears your signature is not very special.

A blank card with “Thank You” printed on the front or a hand-written note on a blank sheet of paper is special – but only when it contains a specific thanks.  So think before you write.

What did that person do? Did they give you some of their valuable time to present your product or service? Did they follow your recommendation about something? Did they refer a friend to you? Did they alert you to a problem in your business? (Yes, that one deserves BIG thanks!)

Try it right now – and you’ll be glad you did.

Not only will you feel good right away because you know you’re making someone else feel good, you’ll be activating the powerful law of attraction. That law says that when you feel gratitude and give thanks for something, you’ll attract more of the same. So the more people you thank, the more people you’ll have to thank.

If you’ve been wanting to set up an e-mail marketing program but don’t want to lock in to a monthly fee, you’ll like this news.

Yesterday I learned about a system called Mail Chimp that you can use for free as long as your list stays under 500 people.  And since it takes a while to build a list when you’re starting out, that sounds like a good deal to me. The price fits right into any marketing budget!

Other programs give you free trials of 30-60 days, or let you use them free when you have 100 or less on your list. And really, 100 isn’t very many.

The system came highly recommended by posters on Active Rain, so I am assuming that it works well and is easy to use. If you’ve been hesitating because of the cost, go check it out!

Is your mailbox full of junk? Mine sure is, and some of it is getting really annoying.

I can’t count how many e-mail marketers have been telling me things like “Only 2 days left” – “Today’s the last day!” and similar shouting-type messages for at least the past 3 weeks.

If it’s the last day, fine. Wonderful even. But don’t tell me the same thing again tomorrow!! Let this be over!

So, this week I set out to unsubscribe from all of them. I wanted to be rid of every one of them who gave me no information – just hype.

But it isn’t working. I think of 8 or 10 I’ve unsubscribed from, only one has quit mailing to me. Some I’ve unsubscribed from now 2 or 3 times.

And one really took the cake – when I tried to escape I found out I had to enter my password! So… if I want to take the time I can send for my lost password and then get out. Maybe.

I’m pretty sure that the autoresponders I use will automatically remove anyone who doesn’t want to hear from me any more. I actually thought it was a law that they had to be set up that way, but whether it is or not, letting people leave your list is the right thing to do.

The only reason I can think of for wanting to keep people on your list who don’t want you there is to be able to say you have a huge list when you want JV partners.

Surely they don’t think they can annoy us into purchasing!

I don’t have anything against anyone who is trying to make a living. As long as they’re only annoying me and not cheating me, then fine. But these guys are getting to a point where maybe they should be reported as spammers.

What do you think? Should I report them? Should I just keep deleting? Should I go to the trouble to unsubscribe a few more times?

What are YOU doing about the flood of junk?

If so, of course you need to market well and earn good money.

But I just came across a way for you to add to their college fund without spending any money. It’s a credit card that pays rewards into an education fund.

To check it out, go to http://www.bestrateforcreditcards.com/ and look under the rewards credit card tab for the Upromise World Master Card. Then follow the link to their site to read more about it.

Depending on how much you shop at their partner stores or how much you buy of the various grocery products they list, you might save even more than 1%. That’s if you pay it off every month, of course.

I was writing a blurb about it for a client’s blog and got so interested in what they offer that I spent an hour just looking at the various partners and the various grocery products that pay a % back when you use your cards.

You know I’m a big fan of using autoresponders to stay in touch with past, present, and future customers.

But lately I’ve been seeing people doing it all wrong, and I think they’re doing themselves more harm than good.

When customers opt in to get your messages, they expect the messages to hold some interest for them. If your site is about kitchen appliances, they don’t expect to see you writing about house paint. But that’s the kind of thing some people do – especially Realtors.

Recently I tried to contact a Realtor via the contact form on his website, because I couldn’t find an email address for him on the site. (That’s a mistake for another discussion!)

So, I wrote him a note asking a question. Instead of an answer I got 10 emails all targeted to different kinds of buyers or sellers. Now I get 4 messages a day. Some are addressed to first time buyers, some to move-up buyers, some to sellers, and last night was the funniest: The subject line said “How’s Married Life?”

The message went on to say that now that I’m married I should buy a house – from him. I think he missed that opportunity by a decade or so.

But this isn’t the worst of it. He never did answer the question that started this flood of mail.

Auto responders are easy to set up and most systems make it easy to sort your lists. There’s really no reason to send every message to every person on all of your lists. All it does is make you look silly.

If you aren’t using auto responders I hope you get around to doing so before long. I really do believe they have value. But if you’re selling health supplements, please don’t send your customers messages about cleaning supplies or skydiving opportunities!

Last night I somehow ended up on a web page advertising software that would improve your SEO.

According to the ad, running your article and your headline through this software would tell you if you were using enough key phrases and apparently would insert them for you. I’m not really sure, because it wasn’t making a whole lot of sense. Maybe it was also going to tell you what keywords you should be using.

Sometimes I just have to read nonsense to see how bad it can be, because we all need a giggle now and then. So I read about half the page.

I picked out the following two paragraphs and sent them to a copywriter friend so she could have a giggle too…

“Use copywriting software is and easy way of finding the right and most effective sentences in your content.”

and…

“If you write for other people, you provide a really good copy because you will use the most effective phrases. Using copywriting software makes you gain more confidence and the more confidence you are, the more success you achieve.”

And I laughed even more this morning when I read her reaction to them:

“With their software, native English writers can now sound like English is their second language. And they’ll fit right in!”

Not to be unkind – I do have pity for people who are trying hard to learn the English language. It is sometimes hard for people who have spoken it since birth.  But I still wish they wouldn’t hold themselves out as copywriters.

Whether you’re writing a postal letter, adding copy to your web site, sending an email, or placing an ad in your local newspaper, it’s important that your customers don’t have to think when they read your message.

OK – I hear you telling me that of course they have to think. And they do. They have to decide whether or not to take action, but that’s not the thinking I’m talking about.

I’m talking about having to stop and think before they understand your message. If they have to stop in the middle of the message and think about what you’re trying to say, the flow is lost, and quite often, the customer is lost along with it.

Instead, your message should flow smoothly from the words they’re reading, through their eyes and straight to the centers in their brains that let them understand the meaning of your marketing message.

The flow is important because from understanding they can move to feeling, and from feeling they can move to action.

Sure, they might stop at that point and think about whether or not they should act. They might even back up and re-read the features and benefits you’re offering. At that point they’re trying to justify why they should buy.

If you’ve done a good job, they’ll also have to think twice before they can justify saying no, because they understand the benefits of saying yes.

But you must not make them think about the words in your message.

How can you keep from making those customers think about your words?

First, by going over and over your message to see that each idea flows smoothly into the next.

One way is to break the rules you learned in 5^th grade and use words like “and” and “but” to start a sentence. Write the way people talk. Then, after you’ve written your message and you’re happy with the flow, read it aloud and change any spots that make you stumble.

The next step is to make sure you aren’t using any words that your target audience won’t understand. If your product is technical but your customers are not, stay away from the “techie” terms.

Now proofread – or better yet, get someone else to proofread.

Good copy does break the rules of grammar and instead follows the speech we use in everyday life. But you must check for misused words, because they are just like huge stop signs in the middle of your copy.

If you write something like “The Smiths want to sell there home,” anyone who knows proper word usage will be “stuck” right there. Their brains will be trying to reconcile the word “there” with the context of the sentence and it won’t be working. The flow of your message will be lost forever. Worse, they may have a negative impression of you – based on you choosing the wrong word.

There and there are two of the most commonly misused words, but there are more. Others words are hear/here; your/you’re; of/have, and are/our.

If you’re writing a marketing message and you aren’t positive about the meaning of those words, take the time to get out your dictionary and learn them, because misuse will hurt the effectiveness of your message.

Well, it was my fault, of course, because I didn’t buy them. But I’m going to blame the owner of our local grocery store.

It’s his fault, because he not only hired the produce manager, he keeps him on year after year. And because the guy is so rude and nasty, I detour around the produce department when he’s there.

I know, that’s silly. He isn’t going to bite me. But I don’t like going near someone who gives off such negative vibrations.

For about a year I tried hard to be friendly to this person, but it didn’t work. In fact, I think my cheerful “How are you today?” did nothing but irritate him. He always snarled an answer, if he bothered to answer.

Until recently, he was the only unfriendly person in that store. The managers and the checkers and the guys in the meat department are all cheerful. They’re all fun to visit with. Everyone but this man.

But now, sad to say, there’s one more who is showing the same surly attitude. And guess who he is… the produce guy’s assistant.

He was nice when he first started, but now I see the frown and he no longer has a cheerful answer to “Good morning.”

What’s the message here?

If you hire employees, pay attention to their attitudes – and not just when you’re watching. Ask other people about the treatment they get from the people who work for you.

Second – be careful who you associate with. You just might fall victim to letting someone else’s bad attitude rub off on you.

Marketing your business in tough economic times requires more from you than marketing when business is booming.

The message you send out must be clear and compelling, and give your prospective customers a reason for buying that they can’t resist. In addition, the methods you choose to get that message out must be carefully chosen to make the most of every marketing dollar.

But there’s one more component you need.

You need the right attitude. In fact, you need to adopt the kind of positive attitude that draws customers to you and makes them glad to give you their business.

Part of this is the Law of Attraction at work. When you have an attitude of gratitude and notice all the good things you do have, more good things will be drawn to you.

But there’s a more immediate response, and that is the effect your attitude has on customers.

Stop and think about your own reactions. When you talk with a business owner whose face is turned down in a frown and who talks constantly about how tough things are, how do you feel? If you’re like most of us, you feel like you want to get away from that person. It certainly doesn’t make you feel like saying “Here, Mr. Businessman, let me spend some money with you and make it better.”

Sometimes when listening to those people I think that’s exactly what they expect us to do. They want us to feel so sorry for them that we’ll help them out by giving them our business.

Instead, their attitude drives people away and business gets worse.

On the other hand, when you meet someone who shows appreciation for the business they do have and who spends his or her time talking about the good things happening in that business, you do feel like sticking around.

The fact is, people with an attitude of gratitude are constantly noticing the good things going on around them. Their conversations are up-beat and their faces bear smiles. They make you feel like life is getting better and better every day. Of course they’re the ones you’ll choose to do business with.

I can write the right words for you, and even help you decide where to send those words to bring customers to you.

But then you have to do the most important part – hang on to those customers with your positive attitude!