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Effective Advertising through Ezines
Everyone knows there's a world of information and services on the Internet. So what does that mean for your business? Do other businesses or consumers that are looking for a service or product that your business offers discover your service? The...
Email Courses For Success
As the eBook market has become ever so saturated with much useless material, the use of email courses is on the rise. It is fast becoming one of the most cost efficient ways to advertise. Let's take a look at what is required to be successful...
Mail Orders Success Guide
MONEY-MAKERS' GUIDE TO EASY MAIL ORDER RICHES Selling products and/or services through the mail is one of the fastest growing methods of doing business in the world today. It's estimated that sales for 2005 will top the 100 billion dollar mark! ...
Power at your Fingertips
It is just amazing. Power right at your fingertips. It feels good to have access to such a powerful thing.
In one click you can make thousands feel the power you possess in hand. What am I talking about ? You guess it. The power of Internet...
Rock & Roll In Your Email?
You groggily stumble from bed and turn on the computer as you pass by on your way to the kitchen. Returning with the morning's first cup of coffee you fire up your browser and log-on to the web as you take the first few eye-opening sips. Downloading...
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Put Your Marketing To The "So What?" Test
Want to get Better at your Marketing today?
For many service business owners, marketing can be a real mystery. We don't really know exactly how it works. We're not real sure about what works best for us. And probably because of some past frustrations, we're not even sure where to start.
Most seem to at least have a notion of what's involved in marketing...a web site, Yellow Pages advertising, brochures, direct mailings, networking, seminars, trade shows, etc.
But if that's all it took, wouldn't we all be attracting enough clients?
I'm sure you've tried one or more of these things at least to some degree. And I'm sure you've had at least some successes now and again. But are you able to make it work consistently for your business?
If not, what could be going on?
First, let's agree to a definition of marketing. Here is my favorite one for small, service-based businesses:
"Marketing is the use of strategies to generate a constant supply of high-quality leads for your service business." Simple to understand and speaks directly to the results we want.
OK, so doesn't this definition take us right back to what we said we already knew about marketing... a web site, Yellow Pages advertising, networking, etc.? Well maybe, but first it's important to understand why your current marketing activities aren't producing consistent results.
Put your message and materials to the "So What?" test.
Start with your core marketing message. Pull out your most frequently used marketing tool and read it out loud. Put it to the "So What?" test.
After you read it out loud, is it possible that your intended audience could respond with... "So What?"... "Why do I care?"... or "What's in it for me?" If your message doesn't tell your intended audience what solutions you are providing to address their issues/problems/challenges, and how it relates to the benefits they'll receive from your services, then a "So What?" response is exactly what you might expect.
Messages and materials that are all about who you are and the history of your company and what services you offer and why you're so qualified to provide these services and how you partner with your clients to acheive superior results, etc. are likely to fail the "So What?" test.
Challenge all of
your current marketing materials. Remember, it's the intended audience that counts. What's in it for them? Why should they care?
Listen, if your marketing is consistently generating all the high-quality leads you can handle, then don't change a thing. But if you haven't quite figured out how to generate a constant supply of leads for your service business, then you owe it to yourself to challenge your current marketing tools by putting them to the "So What?" test.
Try these ideas:
* Challenge all of your marketing tools that aren't contributing to consistently generate leads for your service business - even the ones that have worked in the past. Could you improve the message and get a higher return? Put it to the "So What?" test.
* Try the X's and O's test (especially with the last letter you wrote). Mark an X every time your marketing piece mentions your name, company name, or the words "I" or "me". Mark and O every time it mentions the prospects name, company name, or the word "you" or "your". If the X's out number the O's, rewrite it before using it again.
* Try gathering up a group of people you can trust to give you very honest feedback. You're not just looking for proof readers, but individuals who will give you honest feedback on whether your materials pass the "So What?" test.
* Be prepared for some negative feedback, but more importantly, be prepared to do something about it.
* Don't just accept opinions, but try to get down to realistic response. For example: "I think this part is too wordy and detailed." (opinion) versus "I got pretty lost and confused with the level of detail in this part." (response)
* Remember that it is the intended audience that counts. If it's not clear who the message is intended for when it's received, then how can it pass the "So What?" test.
(c) - Kevin Dervin, KPD Marketing
About the Author
Kevin is focused on helping businesses that are ready to grow, but struggle with how to consistently attract more clients. Visit http://www.proven-small-business-marketing-solutions.com for more information you can use to grow your business. Visit http://www.ABCDgrowth.com and subscribe to his free ezine.
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| Ezine Article Submission - Submit Your Best Articles For Massive ... |
| EzineArticles.com allows ezine or email list publishers to upload or download free expert content that can be used within email newsletters or websites. |
| ezinearticles.com |
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| The Ezine Directory |
| The Ezine Directory lists thousands of the best email newsletters available on the internet today. Search, browse, or add your ezine for free! |
| www.ezine-dir.com |
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| e-zine-list: John Labovitz's e-zine-list |
| I also wrote "Five years and counting," a longer article for Art-bin about the history of e-zines and the e-zine-list. Finally, for the real Internet ... |
| www.meer.net |
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| BME: Body Modification Ezine - The biggest and best online bod-mod ... |
| Comprehensive resource on piercing, tattoos, scarification, subincision, castration and all other forms of body modification. |
| www.bmezine.com |
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| Ezine Publishers & Email Marketers Promote Their New Email ... |
| Submit Your Ezine To New-List For Massive Free Exposure - Grow Your Ezine - Ezine Marketing Made Easy By New-List.com. |
| new-list.com |
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| Ezine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Ezines are typically tightly focused on a subject area. ... CULT OF THE DEAD COW claims to have published the first ezine, starting in 1984, with its ezine ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| News & Ezine Strategies For Email Newsletter Publishers ... |
| EmailUniverse, The E-mail List-Owner Resource Network is an excellent source for today's Email List Owners, Managers, and Editors. |
| emailuniverse.com |
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| Best Ezines - Email Newsletter Peer Reviews & Ezine Awards For ... |
| Email Newsletter Publishing Award Site: Fellow Ezine Publishers Review The Best Email Newsletters. |
| www.bestezines.com |
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| Ezine Directory |
| Home | Sign-up for your Free listing | Link to us Code | TOP 100 Ezines. CATEGORIES ... ezine directory. link exchange with us ... |
| www.ezinelisting.com |
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| Browser based email list management, ezine hosting, and campaign ... |
| Browser based email list management, ezine hosting, and campaign software. Keep in constant contact with clients and potential customers. |
| www.ezinedirector.com |
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| Splendid E-zine |
| Splendid: Daily music reviews, articles, interviews and more. |
| www.splendidezine.com |
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| OS/2 e-Zine - The Best OS/2 Reading Anywhere! |
| Monthly magazine with reviews, articles, and discussion forums. |
| www.os2ezine.com |
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| E-ZineZ - The Handbook of Ezine Publishing |
| An ezine directory, free ezine builder tool, ezine tutorials including everything you need to know to start publishing an ezine or email newsletter. |
| www.e-zinez.com |
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| EzineUniversity - Free Online Training for Ezine Publishers |
| EzineUniversity provides provides information, tools and products for ezine publishers. Featuring EzineUniversity Journal, EZU Tutor and FREE online ... |
| www.ezineuniversity.com |
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| Ezines |
| E-zines directory with categories of free ezines, newsletters, email magazines and online publications. |
| www.web-source.net |
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| My Favorite Ezines - The Family Friendly Ezine and Email ... |
| The best family friendly ezine and email newsletter directory providing education - motivation - inspiration and marketing support. |
| www.myfavoriteezines.com |
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| Tattoos.Com Ezine Front Page |
| Historical information from the tribal art of Borneo to the wood block prints of Japan. Alphabetical listing of studios around the world, events, ... |
| tattoos.com |
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| Welcome To Ezine.Com! |
| Welcome To Ezine.Com! Welcome Page For Ezine.Com ezine online magazine electronic magazine zine e-zine ezines eziner ezining. |
| www.ezine.com |
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| Ezine Information |
| What makes your ezine hot stuff? With literally thousands of ezines online ... We all have ezines that we love to read and learn from but that doesn't mean ... |
| www.dtguide.com |
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| Asian American Movement Ezine |
| Asian American Movement Ezine is a radical and progressive zine on Asian American politics, art, history and culture. |
| www.aamovement.net |
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