August Look-Smart Tip

Have you ever been on a really uncomfortable first date where your date feels compelled to divulge his/her entire life story in one sitting? Just like childhood stories are best saved for much later in a relationship, the same is true for business marketing. Is your company trying to tell its entire story on the home page or in your 3-panel brochure?

To achieve a successful marketing piece (and first date) it’s best to give just enough information so the other person is intrigued to find out more. Give them just a sample of how your company can benefit them and then guide them to your website or blog or entice them enough to sign up for your e-newsletter. Marketing this way turns your prospects into seekers, and then long-term customers.

Look-Smart Tip: Take a look at your company’s website, brochure and other marketing materials. Are you giving up so much information prospects don’t need to contact you? If so, it’s time to, as my mother put it to me, “leave something to the imagination” and make your customers dig a little deeper on their own.

Get your hands on my 3-Step Guide to Benefits Messaging

When I speak with new clients about projects, one thing comes up more than anything else - messaging benefits instead of facts or features. It’s true that to create marketing materials that really work and resonate with your target audience, you have to speak to them in terms of how their life will be better because of your product or service. You certainly don’t have to be a professional copywriter to start transitioning your features copy into benefits copy, you just have to be careful that your “benefits” copy doesn’t include phrases like, “your success is our success,” or “we’re committed to serving you.” Yikes.

So that’s why I wrote this guide - to help marketing directors and business owners who understand why benefits messaging is so important, but may not know exactly how to implement it into their marketing copy.

In this guide you’ll learn:

• The best way to reach your what’s-in-it-for-me audience.
• How to conduct an internal audit to maximize your message strength.
• Why it’s important to target your message to a select audience.
• Develop a new, benefits-driven positioning statement.
• Use a campaign approach to integrate your message into your marketing materials.

Download your FREE guide: 3-Steps to Benefits Messaging - Stand out by solving real problems for real people at www.thomasonfreelance.com.

Fun With Elevator Speeches

I’m a member of my local chamber of commerce, which can be a good source of business leads if you choose to participate in activities. Every month, they host a networking breakfast where people come to meet other business people, get leads and, let’s be honest, try to sell each other their goods or services. At my first networking breakfast, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, so I sat back, ate my breakfast and listened to several pitches. When asked what I did for a living, I would answer, “I’m a freelance marketing and advertising copywriter.” After saying this out loud a few times, I wasn’t sure that people really understood what that meant. After explaining that I’m not a reporter, nor do I sell promotional trinkets or have any type of legal background whatsoever, (it’s copywriter, not copyrighter) I realized that my elevator speech needed some tweaking.

I first of all recognized that people were asking me “what I did” not “what was my title,” so answering, “freelance copywriter” didn’t answer their question. So I set out to really answer the question of “what do I do” in terms of “why should they care.”

I came up with a two-part, interactive elevator speech:

Jayme: “Hi, I’m Jayme Thomason and I help my clients get new customers, keep customers and ultimately grow their businesses.”

Prospect: “How do you do that?”

Jayme: “By creating marketing materials that are smart and creative and that inspire action.”

Prospect: “Oh, I see. What kinds of clients do you work for?”

I just went to my second networking breakfast to test out the new elevator speech. I admit, I was nervous taking off my comfortable freelance copywriter label and putting on the new, but I was surprised by how effective it was. I could see the understanding in people’s eyes when I talked about what I do and they had real questions about pieces I’d created and clients I worked for. I also felt a new sense of confidence in my business and services because at the end of my conversation, I knew I had explained my services in a way that they would be able to refer business. To me, that’s the goal of these networking events, so if people don’t understand what you will “do” for them, they won’t be able to tell others.

Got a good elevator speech? Share it here.

July Look-Smart-In-Creative-Meetings Marketing Tip

I have a tough question for you. What really distinguishes you from your competitors? Amazingly, a lot of businesses don’t have an answer beyond the generic “we-have-excellent-customer-service-and-a-superior-product” statement. This is one of the hardest things to get out of people when I talk to them about their companies, but the most important thing when it comes to writing marketing messages.

Like finding that one number in a Sudoku puzzle that blasts it wide open, finding the answer to this question will shed new light your marketing direction. Knowing the one thing that separates you from the rest will help target your message, streamline your focus and boost your credibility in the mind of your customers.

Look-smart tip: In your next marketing meeting, suggest that you get a group together and brainstorm this question. Make it a casual day, order in food and get comfortable, because you’re not done until you get down to the one thing your company does better than anyone. Then it’s easy! Get your message out and watch your business grow.

Are Social Networking Sites Good For Your Business?

I recently read an article that basically claimed the “here and now” in business marketing is social networking. I don’t completely agree with professional marketers pushing their clients into the online social networking world. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of social networks – you’ll find my page on MySpace – but just because they’re the online hot spots right now, does it mean that they’re right for marketing your business or service?

In my opinion, there are a few big problems with businesses using social networking as a part of their marketing strategy:

1) Is it where you’ll find your prospective clients, and if so, is it where they’re looking for you? If your answer to these questions is yes, then feel free to quit reading this post, but if your answer is probably not, then why would you spin your marketing wheels talking with people who will not buy from you? For the sake of argument, I understand that the more online “friends” you have, the better your chances are for referrals, and thus these relationships could lead to more business. However, I have yet to have someone recommend a client to me they met on Facebook. I believe in networking, but networking with purpose. Your prospective clients probably are online somewhere, so find out where and join that conversation.

2) What else might prospective clients find out about your business…or employees? Imagine the horror if a prospect is looking at your business on one of the more popular social networking sites and ends up finding an employee’s page. There they might see wild party photos, blogs about how working with their boss sucks and other information that you would not otherwise present in a prospective client meeting. The big caution here is that when things are posted online, everyone can see it, and that includes prospective clients. We spend so much time and money trying to control our marketing messages, so why utilize a medium where controlling the message is not in our power?

3) “Doing” social networking the right way takes valuable time away from solid, proven marketing tactics. I’m not trying to sound old school here, I just think there are more time-effective mediums to network and market business. For one thing, new social networking sites pop up all the time, so even if you were to keep up with the new ones, you could spend all your time creating profiles, making friends and working the network. And be honest, how many times have you been on a social networking site to look for one specific thing and then you see an interesting video, then a funny blog post, then an intriguing profile…and all the sudden you look up and two hours have passed? It’s way too easy to get “lost” browsing around these sites and lose track of valuable marketing time.

I do have to say if you’re just starting your business or just starting out in a specific field, social networking can give you a good leg up, but I would focus on social networking sites that are more focused on the networking part rather than the social. The two sites I’m most familiar with that are great for business networking are LinkedIn, where people probably are looking for your business and Biznik, perfect if you are a solopreneur.

Know of other sites great for business networking? Let me know!