jacobbear.com

Is marketing irrelevant?

I just had a bizarre experience which convinced me that if your clients feel they’re getting real value, you’ll get their business. It doesn’t matter how incompetent, rude, or irrational you are.

It started with a mysteriously threatening letter I received from the City of Los Angeles. After some entertaining verbiage about “Protecting the interests of the city” the letter informed me that I was  delinquent on a city tax.

When several phone calls failed to resolve the problem, I gathered up a sheaf of requested documents and went to City Hall to take care of the situation in person.

Protecting the Interests of the City, Part I

Once I found the right room,  The woman behind the desk told me to take a number, even though there wasn’t anyone else waiting. She took a few minutes to make a call on her cell phone, and then called out three or for numbers ahead of mine. When my number came up, I approached the desk and was informed, “I can’t serve you until you place your number in the receptacle.”

I jumped through a few more hoops and then finally got to explain my situation. The woman behind the desk  asked what kind of business I was in.

“I’m a copywriter.”

A blank, inquisitive, uncomprehending stare.

“I write marketing copy that businesses use on their websites to get more customers,” I explained, with all the confidence and enthusiasm I could muster.

“And people pay you money for that?”

“Isn’t that why I’m here?”

She scowled, sighed, rolled her eyes and  shook her head.

“Well, Mr. Bear,” she finally said, “It looks like we were unable to determine how much money you made, so the computer picked a random number and that’s the income you’re being taxed on.”

I took out my state and federal tax returns, printed records from QuickBooks, and showed her the correct figures. But when one item was still missing, she angrily shoved the folder back at me and demanded, “How could you NOT bring that?”

Don’t blame me, I’m the creative one…

Protecting the Interests of the City, Part II

In the end, I got everything sorted out. The City of Los Angeles has given me permission to continue to do business here, with the Mayor’s blessing.  But there’s a useful marketing lesson here as well, and it isn’t the obvious one about good customer service

The truth is, the city of L.A. offers tremendous value to me, so I’ll happily pay whatever I’m reasonably determined to owe them.

Maybe we need bureaucracy. Surely I do. Let me explain.

The city supports a large industry of attorneys, CPAs, IT professionals and others to help people and businesses deal with situations like mine. These organizations hire numerous bicycle messengers, whose high-energy caffeine addictions support the coffee shops where I often ply my trade on a laptop. Better still, these organizations need copywriters, so they keep me in the green and allow me to pay taxes to the city. What comes around goes around.

Not to mention the woman of my dreams works for the City of L.A., makes less than half of what she’s worth, and manages to support several of her family members and a whole menagerie of cute, furry animals.

In fact, just the Los Angeles Public Library by itself has done more for me than 4 years of college. That’s worth giving a few bucks to the city.

What I’m saying is without any advertising, horrible PR and abysmal customer service the City of LA still retains me as a loyal customer because her numerous and elusive products and services are immensely valuable. I get my money’s worth. Value trumps marketing.

So here’s the bottom line. Be good at what you do. If your clients really feel you’re delivering great value, doing far more for you than the dollars they pay you, they’ll stay with you and protect your interest. Then use your copywriters and marketers to make the outrageous, irresistible promises that you know you can deliver.

Warning: You best ideas are being stolen from you as soon as you implement them online. Anytime you come up with something new and clever, and it works, thousands of Internet-surfing competitors are going to swipe and deploy it. Online, innovation has an expiration date.

One of the best things you can do is figure out ways to market invisibly, doing things that your competitors can’t see.

That’s yet another reason to use direct mail. When you deliver your best marketing content straight to the people you’re trying to reach, none of your competitors will see it. They may notice that you’re beating them, getting more business, stealing market share, but they have no idea how or why.

If you’ve heard people say, “direct mail doesn’t work,” I’m about to prove to you that it does. Not only that, but I’m going to get you a bargain on a powerful campaign.

Here’s how it works. I’m having a contest. A group of ambitious, talented writers will take a look at your business and propose a direct mail campaign. You simply pick the best campaign and implement it. I’ll pre-screen the contestants  so you only have to deal with the best.

I only ask a few things from you. First, you should sincerely intend to use the campaign in the near future, and you should have a way to measure the response (I’ll help you with this). This way, the writer will at least have a solid sample for his/her portfolio with quantifiable results.

Second, your business should be on a growth trajectory that will create a need for future copywriting. I want you to build a relationship with your copywriter. If she makes you rich and famous, you should have the resources and the ambition to engage her again in the future. In fact, you’d be a fool and a loser if you didn’t.

This is meant to be a 3-way, win-win-win scenario.

• You get an invaluable professional service for free
• The writer gets a stronger portfolio and excellent prospects for future work
• I get to add a talented, proven writer to my stable, someone to whom I can outsource work in the future

Drop me an email or leave a comment below if you’re interested.

The rest of this is for copywriters (I know a lot of you read my blogs and newsletters).

If you’re interested in doing this, it tells me two things. First, you’re ambitious and energetic (good). Second, since you’re willing to work for free you’re probably not getting all the work you want (not necessarily bad).

Send me an email about your writing career. Maybe you just finished the AWAI course (or the pricier DMA version), you read Peter Bowerman or something happened that convinced you to take the plunge and go into business for yourself .

Anyway, send me an email about you, your writing, your life. (HINT #1: The subject line is basically a headline. Write a good one or I might delete you unread) Experience and training are important, but not critical. I assume most of the contestants are going to be relative newbies. Your email will show off your copywriting skills, and this is far more important than just sending me a digital resume.

Finally, the disclaimer. I’m doing this because I’m planning to strictly limit the amount of copywriting I take on in the future. I’d rather strategize, plan, and delegate. This means I’m very eager to build good relationships with good writers who will hopefully work for me and my clients.

But there’s no guarantee you’ll ever get any paid work out of this. I know from personal experience that writing for free is usually just that and never anything more, even when people have the very best of intentions. I wouldn’t enter this contest, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.

So what will it be? Are we on? Go for it, if you dare.

I just finished up the April Fools edition of “Bored Words.” It’s a joke (I hope people laugh at it), but if you read between the lines you might find it to be one of the most useful rants I’ve ever published.

However, it’s for subscribers only. Why not sign up for your FREE subscription to Bold Words? Just click here and you’ll be on your way.

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Always do this.

Every time you deliver content or info to a prospect, give them a specific step they can take to do business with you.

Don’t just put your phone number at the bottom of the web page. Tell them to pick up the phone and call you for an appointment, and give them several good reasons why they need to do it today.

Every piece of text should actively prompt readers to do something: Sign up for a newsletter. Download a white paper. Buy this special deal at this special low price that will only be good until Saturday.

On top of getting more sales faster, writing for specific results gives you something tangible you can measure.

When you know that 3 out of every 1000 visitors to your website call for a consultation, and you get 5 appointments for every 100 newsletters you send out, you can start to understand what works and what doesn’t.

This will let you put more time and energy into useful activity, dump the tactics that aren’t working, and increase your Return On Investment (ROI).

There are a lot of clever ways to put in your “call to action.” but all you really have to do is include a reason why they should take the desired action.

For example, “Tax time is just around the corner. I want to make sure you get a chance to review your portfolio before my I’m booked solid, so call me before the end of the week and you can take advantage of our annual IRS vaccination special.”

Be sure to repeat your call to action at the end of your piece, in the form of a p.s. Over 75% of the people who don’t read your copy word-for-word will still read the p.s.

Only businesses based on mail order, catalogs, and e-commerce seem to use this tool consistently. Do you?

The next time a marketing piece grabs your attention, ask yourself, “So what am I supposed to do now?” See if it answers that question.

Then look at your own website, sales letters, presentations, or anything else you use, and ask the same question.

You’ll learn a lot of surprising things about your business and your customers. And on top of your new wealth of knowledge, you’ll also gain a wealth of…er, wealth.

To get ahead in business, you have to stand out from the competition. You have to do something different. You have to be bold.

Subscribe to the Bold Words newsletter, and you’ll get tips and content you won’t find posted on this blog.

Click Here to subscribe to the Bold Words newsletter

You shake hands until your palm rubs off. Your eat glue for breakfast and mail postcards to qualified leads in 400 zip codes. The list of networking groups you belong to could fill the yellow pages of a small suburb.

But according to a Wharton School study, only 3% of the people you contact are going to whip out their checkbooks and credit cards and become your clients. However, a simple change in strategy can build up that 3% and increase it to 30% or more.

I’m going to tell you how to do this in the next paragraph, but don’t run off and try it out as soon as you read it. There’s a seemingly “obvious” way to make this secret work, but if you spring the trap you’ll trip over your shoelaces.

And then there’s a more effective way that you’ll miss if you don’t keep reading.

Here’s the secret: Once your prospects have gone through a getting-to-know-you phase, had their questions answered, learned more about your company, or reached the moment when they have the time/budget/immediate need, they’re ten times more likely to respond.

They somehow “raised their hand” to find out more about you. Now they’re on your list, and even though you might have to wait six months or a year, if you keep in touch with them it’s likely to pay off with either a sale or a referral.

The “obvious” way to make this happen is to keep on cranking out white papers, newsletters, direct mail, and the like to everyone who has ever expressed an interest in the products or services you offer. A lot of successful marketers recommend this, and it will bring results if you’re patient.

But here’s the twist: When you contact someone for the second, third, or ninth time, are you still treating them like it’s the first time? Or do you acknowledge the relationship you’ve started to build?

For most businesses, sending out the same generic mailing or email to everybody, month after month, isn’t going to cut it.

The way to make repeated contact is to develop a marketing pyramid. Send out different material to your prospects, depending on their level of importance.

For example, at the base of your pyramid, you’ll have your lead-generating content. This could include your elevator speech, cold-call script, and the general e-mail and tree-mail you send to cold suspects.

Your next tier would be generic “reminders.” Contact everyone who has responded to your lead-generating efforts whenever you have an announcement, such as a new product or a special offer. You want to keep in touch with this group. Treat them better than your cold leads.

This second level is where newsletters and direct mail come in handy.

Most businesses stop at the second tier. But if you want to cultivate relationships that will pay off over the long term, add a few more levels.

Your third level should be for highly-interested prospects. These are people who have approached you unsolicited. They’ve taken the initiative, so don’t let them go.

If they don’t close a deal with you right away, keep reminding them how you’re qualified to solve their problems. For example, you could break a long silence with a friendly letter and a useful article. Email them a link to a white paper the following week, and then follow up with a phone call. Keep up a steady flow of fresh information and you’ll stay on their radar.

The highest level is people who have put money in your pocket, either by doing business directly with you or sending you referrals. You want to woo them and keep them at this level.

Give them something extra that’s not available to the other levels. This is where special gifts, offers, and incentives have a role.

A decision-maker who knows your name is much more valuable to you than a stranger on a list that you compiled from a directory. And since we do business with people we know, you want to stay familiar.

These are simple concepts. Yet very few people apply them. Maybe all you need is someone to write something for you. Or a kick in the pants to actually get your content into the hands of all those prospects.

If you’re looking for ways to get more information out to more people more often, call me at 213-427-9288 and I’ll give you at least 2 ideas you can get started on immediately.

Or read the next issue, where we’ll look at 5 classic copywriting ingredients to turbo charge your company information and create high-performance marketing magnets.

To get ahead in business, you have to stand out from the competition. You have to do something different. You have to be bold.

Subscribe to the Bold Words newsletter, and you’ll get tips and content you won’t find posted on this blog.