What Most Small Businesses Are Missing
If you're running a business, or if you are in sales (and who isn't?), then you need to know about copywriting. You may not want to become a copywriter - because it's tough work to become good at it and that may not be your interest - but you need to know what good copywriting is.
If you don't, I can guarantee that you are pouring your hard earned advertising money down a rathole.
Most small business people I meet are clueless about copy. They usually confuse "pretty" with "good", and no one ever sets them straight, because most graphic designers and advertising agencies are clueless, too.
"What?", you say. "How can ad agencies be clueless about copywriting? Don't they write copy?"
Sure they do - they write artistic, descriptive and accurate copy in beautiful typefaces across elegant layouts. The problem is - it doesn't sell squat.
Here's how to tell a good ad agency from the pathetic herd. Do they create a way to measure results - in print, in mail. on the web? How many people saw it, how many people took some action, how many people bought something?
Here's another way to tell - look at their copy. If you know something about copywriting, you'll be able to tell immediately if they're going to waste your money or not.
To evaluate copywriting, you need to understand that all effective advertising has to have a purpose - some action that you want people to take. Everything in the copy, whether it's your web page, a sales letter, postcard, brochure or flyer, should be designed to compell that action. Your material should tell people what that action is - clearly! Don't make them guess, for cryin' out loud. "Click Here", "Buy Now", "Call This Number", etc.
The next thing you need to know is the difference between features and benefits. Features start with "we". We do this, we do that, we're #1. Yuck! Who cares?
Benefits start with "you". You get this, you get that, you feel this way, your problem goes away. It's all about them, your customer.
Test your current material right now - does it have benefits and a call to action? Or is it just pretty pictures and we, we, we?
There's obviously a lot more to good copy but there's plenty of information on the web from some world class copywriters. The four best that I know are (in alphabetical order) Gary Bencivenga, John Carlton, Gary Halbert and Dan Kennedy. Other excellent sources are Michel Fortin, Lorrie Morgan-Ferraro, Scott Haines, Alexandra Brown, Jim Edwards, David Garfinkle, Joe Vitale and Yanik Silver. Many of these people have free newsletters, article archives and other resources. Look them up!
So what are you waiting for? Get smart about copy and start getting orders.
The Impression of Increase
In the "Science of Getting Rich" program, we talk about a concept called "the impression of increase" and how creating that impression magnitizes us to success. What this concept means that people around us see us as succeeding and prospering, and they want to associate with people or organizations like that.
So how do we create that impression? Not by bragging, for sure. Here's a couple of examples.
Sales trainer Jeff Gitomer tells of arriving at the front desk of a hotel in Hawaii 10 years ago and being handed a hot towel to freshen up with while he checked in. A simple, cheap, expression of care that set the hotel apart as being thoughtful, and he's still talking about it 10 years later! You see, it positioned the hotel as being out in front of the others. Just think - what might you do for your clients that creates that kind of impression of increase - hand written thank you notes, a creative, thoughtful gift of some kind?
Here's another example - last Tuesday we had lunch at Christo's on 7th St in Phoenix, AZ and I got to watch a master at work. My friend, John, a local CPA, is a regular there and the owner handles this beautifully. John gets recognized, called by name, seated promptly and the owner himself come to the table and visits. This special treatment not only creates "use value" for John (appreciation), but it creates an "impression of increase" for any clients that John may be entertaining by making John look important. Do you see how that's a double whammy?
Another nice touch that I saw this time was after the owner had recited the lunch specials for us, John's wife expressed disappointment that "the wonderful sea bass" was not on the list. Without missing a beat, the owner said, "We have some set aside for the dinner menu tonight and I would be happy to prepare some for you now if you wish." Imagine that - custom prepare something off-menu, no problem! She eventually chose something else, but guess how she (and her husband) felt about that kind of service.
Now, Christo's has all the trappings of a fine restaurant - elegant atmosphere, nice table settings, exquisite Northern Italian cooking. But other restaurants have them, too. Christo's secret weapon is the personal attention of the owner, implemented in a way that makes the customer feel and look important. This whole concept of "use value" and "impression of increase" is based on giving more than people expect and creating this feeling of advancement.
One of my great entrepreneurial heros is Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computer and Pixar Studios. His career has had major ups and downs, and through it all he has held to his vision. He's a master of "the impression of increase."
Last month he gave the commencement address at Stanford University (Jobs never graduated from college) and it is very powerful. Please read it, study it, give it to your kids. What he says is so consistent with our SGR program and you can see it in his references to vision, faith and purpose.
Text of Steve Jobs speechDo you have any good examples of "increase"? Add your comments below.
Wes
A Reminder To Live For Today
I just found out late yesterday that Internet marketing pioneer Corey Rudl was killed in a racing crash in California. According to an article in the LA Times, a sports car club had rented the Fontana Speedway east of LA for a day of racing. Corey was a passenger in a Porsche Carrera GT whose driver lost control at over 100 mph, went into the infield and hit a barrier.
Corey was just 34, and recently married. My heart goes out to his wife, his staff and his many close friends who I know are deeply affected by his loss.
Just about everyone doing on line business has been influenced by Corey. He was one of the very first to make money selling information, with a car book, and he produced a wide range of products to help others become successful. The list of internet successes that he influenced would fill a book. Some of his material is on my resource shelf, too.
At a time like this we are all called to stop and ponder for a minute how well we are using our time. We become aware that although we all plan to live forever, we have only this present moment to act in. Are we putting it to good use? Are we moving toward our dream, are we making the world a better place by serving others? Are we doing it NOW?
In Science of Getting Rich, Chapter 11 is titled "Acting in the Certain Way" and in it Wattles says, "Act now! There is never any time but now, and there never will be any time but now. If you are ever to begin to make ready for the reception of what you want, you must begin now."
It's easy to forget how wise these words are, and then something like Corey's untimely death happens to remind us. This is not to get morbid or fearful - it's just to remind us that the clock is ticking and we need to use our time wisely.
Goodby, Corey, and thanks for everything.
Science and Spirituality
As many of you may know, I've got an engineering education. Even though that's not what I do for a living anymore, I'm grateful for the benefits that the engineering way of thinking has brought to my life. My wife's grateful, too, because like any engineer I believe that I can fix anything. I'm not always right about that, but it never stops me from trying.
One of the points of view that I bring to teaching the seminars that I do is a firm belief in a logical universe that works by law, and not by random chance. This point of view carries over into my spiritual practice, in that I no longer believe in an unpredictible deity that will alter the laws of the physical universe if I whine and beg long enough. I now know that the things that primitive humans attribute to miracles are simply the operation of laws of which they are unaware.
These laws are mostly the ones concerning the power of our own mind and beliefs to alter physical reality, the laws which spiritual teachers have known for centuries and which modern science is only now beginning to reluctantly consider. This is where my engineering background comes in - see, I've never believed that the universe had two sets of rules; one for matter and another set for people. True science and true spirituality always agree, because they are both descriptions of the same universe. It has to be that way, right?
Complicating the convergence of these two disciplines are people who get stuck in their beliefs and won't change. We know about the spiritual side - when spirituality becomes religion and beliefs are cemented in dogma, people are very resistent to change. Scientists love to point this out, and some of the particularly ignorant religious groups give them plenty of ammunition.
But what about scientists? Oh, they will tell you that they are committed to the open-minded search for Truth, but that's bull #$&^! They're people, too, and they can be just as obstinate as religious fanatics in holding to beliefs that they can't prove. (They call them "theories")
For confirmation, I defer to physicist Robert Laughlin, co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1998, who in a recent speech complained that physicists have problems with their belief systems just like everyone else and that, like religionists, they defend them even when presented with contradictory evidence. After discussing some of the unanswered and even ignored problems with current physics, he even referred to some existing theories as "physicist creation myths"! Ouch!
So the convergence of science and spirituality is hampered on both sides by people who are not open-minded, but determined to defend their position. Fortunately, there are also some people on both sides who are courageous enough to consider new ideas. As they do, we see exciting discoveries that will revolutionize human life on this planet (and beyond).
That's why I love to include ideas from science, psychology and neuroscience in the programs I teach. It's one thing to tell you about the power of your mind, it's another to show the experimental evidence from labs around the world. We know that a strong intention and a committed decision causes amazing "coincidences" to happen. I met Bob Proctor that way. It's fun to explain how the "many worlds" theory of quantum mechanics simply and directly explains those "coincidences".
If you want to know more about this, here's three resources: See the movie and buy the DVD for
"What The Bleep Do We Know?" Then go to your bookstore, or Amazon, and buy "The Holographic Universe" by Michael Talbot and "The Field" by Lynne McTaggart. These books review the science for non-scientists. There's lots more, of course, but this will get you started.
Does this mean that God is out of the picture? Is it all science now? Not at all, it just means that our old primitive concept of "the big guy in the sky" needs a major overhaul. Jesus said that "God is Spirit and must be worshipped in Spirit and Truth." Science is discovering that our consciousness plays a central role in the universe, and this power confirms what spiritual teachers have said for eons - we are children of God, made in His image and likeness and co-creators of physical reality. Pretty neat stuff, eh?
Got any comments? Enter them below.
