Add This Step To Your Marketing Process and See An Immediate Increase in Results

In my last two blog posts on this topic, I talked about Marketing Features vs. Benefits for Small Business and Whether Your Marketing Should Get an F Grade.

Today I’m going to show you the exercise I use to quickly get past the features of your offer, and get right to the benefits and results.

For each product, service, or program we offer at Bourn Creative, I first make a list outlining all of the features for the item. I then give each feature a main benefit.

After I have the features and benefits written out, I add the result the client or customer will feel or experience after using the product or working with us. READ MORE

If you are marketing with features, facts, and figures, you get an “F” and your sales probably reflect that. If you are marketing with benefits, results, and stories, you get a “B” and are probably doing fairly well.

But, if you are marketing with benefits, results, and stories, and you bring your audience to that do anything, pay anything point, you get an “A+” and you’re probably nodding your head because your sales reflect that and you’re kicking butt.

Let’s talk about the marketing debate Features vs. Benefits.

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Lessons From Our Teenage House Guests

Currently, we have a good friend’s two youngest kids (ages 12 and 15) staying with us while they take their oldest on a two-week graduation trip to Paris (lucky kid right!).

We’ve been having a blast baking and eating junk food, swimming and relaxing, doing some great craft projects, and even going fishing (check out the photo!) at S and J Mandarin Grove, my in-laws’ organic mandarin orchard in Newcastle, California! My two kiddos, ages 4 and 6, have LOVED having their new “big sisters” to play with every day.

During their stay, I’ve drawn some interesting conclusions about the similarities between my young teenage house guests, marketing a business, and why you might be a lazy marketer. READ MORE

Have you ever thought: “Oops I made a marketing mistake!” I sure have, although my private Oops tends to sound a bit more colorful and shouldn’t be repeated in front of kids!

If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve probably had the same experience more than you care to admit. Sometimes $H!T HAPPENS, you make a mistake, and there is nothing you can do about it but learn from the experience and move on.

Once I read that a mistake is only a mistake if it is done twice – otherwise it’s just a lesson to be learned. I absolutely love this because everyone, even the big gurus, make mistakes with their business and their marketing. READ MORE

This is a difficult question and it is one that I tend to spend a lot of time on with my clients.

When it comes to Internet marketing implementation and choosing the tools and strategies you are going to use, the key is to do your homework. Research the different tools you are thinking about using, ask current users what they think about the tool and ask people who have switched to another tool why they did so. They key is to ask a lot of questions and think about how you want to use it in the future and if it can grow with your business as it grows.

Here are just some of the questions that you need to ask before committing to adding another Internet marketing strategy or online marketing tool to your business marketing mix:

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You started your business because you are really good at what you do. You have a unique passion, gift, and talent that no one else has. And because no one else has your exact gifts and talents and what comes easy to you doesn’t come easy to them, they need you.

• They need you to help them by sharing your expertise,
  knowledge, and skill
• They need your services and products
• They need you to market yourself and to market your business

But here’s the problem. No one can do business with you if they don’t know you exist!

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If you trim out all the fat, filler, and fluff that beef up alot of marketing websites, you’ll see very clearly that there are really only three things that you need to do to make more sales and boost your bottom line.

STEP 1: Capture My Attention
Start with a captivating, powerful, direct headline that draws me in. Don’t beat around the bush or use cute-sy catch-phrases and don’t speak in jargon I don’t understand. Keep the headlines and the sub headlines strong, clear, and helpful. The easiest way to do this is to write one short sentence that communicates the benefits the article, web page, or blog post, etc. I will get out of the content.

Another great way to grab my attention is with a great photo, graphic or image. You have only a couple seconds to entice me to stay on your web page and read your content and sometimes a killer photo can do that even faster and more effectively than a headline.

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Do you want more opportunities, more leads, more customers, more sales, and more attention in 2010? If you answered yes, then you’re in the right place.

Introducing the Ultimate
Brand Building Teleseries
January 5 – January 26, 2010

A ONE TIME ONLY Series of 7 High-Value, High-Content Calls Focused Solely on Helping You Build Your Brand and Market Your Business

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Whether you are a business owner or a service professional, I can bet that when it comes to marketing, you’re feeling more than a bit overwhelmed.

I can also bet that even though you may be an expert in your niche, keeping your marketing pipeline full of new customers isn’t your specialty.

That is why I want to share with you three things that you always need to think of when you are working on your marketing materials.

1. Think of Your Mother.
Write the content and design the piece with your mother in mind. Your mother represents a great cross-section of your audience. Would she understand the message? Would she understand the action that you are asking her to take?

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I’ve been working in the creative field since 1997, when I landed my first job as a production grunt at a small advertising agency. Since then, I have been a Graphic Designer, Senior Designer, Creative Services Director, Graphic Design Specialist, Publication Manager, Creative Director, Instructor, Lecturer, and Business Owner. I also did internships and worked at a magazine, a newspaper, an advertising agency, a public relations firm, a marketing firm, a design company, and a printer.

As you can imagine, I have seen some pretty bad graphic design mistakes and marketing mistakes over the years. The graphic design mistakes alone could take up a few blog posts, so I am going to focus on and share with you the biggest marketing mistakes I see business owners, service professionals, and entrepreneurs make.

Marketing Mistake #1
Forgetting about your current clients and customers.
While it is very important to always be marketing your business, engaging new prospects, and generating new leads, it is just as important to nurture the relationships with your existing customers and clients. They are your most valuable resource and you want them to always feel important.

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