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Recently, I was writing an ad targeted towards health food shop owners for a wholesale health product.

And you know what was easy about writing that ad? I knew my prospect. Given that my parents used to own a health food shop in Coffs Harbour when I was growing up, all I needed to imagine was that I was selling directly to my father.

I’d say this

He’d say that

I’d say this

He’d say that

I’d say this

He’d say that

And so on.

You see, the number one secret to writing good copy is being able to picture exactly who you’re selling to… and understanding exactly who your customer is.

In fact, in my experience it’s even more important to understand your customer than it is to understand your product.

So find out exactly who you’re demographic is. What their fears are? What keeps them up at night? What gets their heart pumping? What makes them angry? What keeps them getting up every day?

And if you can crystallise that exact person in your mind and imagine you are selling to them in a one on one sales situation you’ll make your sales letter that much more authentic.

It won’t be ridiculous hype, and rah-rah-rah that doesn’t connect with your target audience. Nor will it be boring to THEM because you know exactly what their desires, fears and goals are?

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

But what if you cannot picture the exact person you want to sell to? What if you’ve never known a person like your target market? And you don’t know them from a bar of soap?

Now if you’re a business owner writing to existing and prospective clients similar to those you already have then you won’t find this difficult at all. After all, you simply need to pick one of your typical customers and write directly to them.

Even tape record one of your best salesperson’s conversations, and use that in your sales copy. Remember: Copywriting is salesmanship in print.

However you may also want to go back to your customers and ask them why they bought in the first place. Why did they choose your business? Why do they choose to come back to your restaurant, for example? Or your tyre shop? What were their concerns before purchasing?

Go back to them and ask them. And also use your intuitive knowledge from your time within your specific industry.

And what if you’ve never dealt with anybody within that particular industry before? What do you do then?

For example, what if you’ve just released a new program for arthritis sufferers? What do you do then?

My recommendation is that you start to talk with arthritis sufferers. If you’ve taken over a new business or are writing copy for an existing business, then call up the testimonials they already have in place and start talking to them individually.

And if you deal with the general consumer marketplace, here’s another tip which I used once. In coming up with a guarantee for a termite control customer I called dozens of households throughout Sydney sporadically.

That’s right. Just dialled a number out of the phone book and asked them what their biggest fears would be if they were going to engage a pest controller.

And you know what the answer was? Well, I am bound by confidentiality on that one I am afraid, but let me tell you now that it was featured quite prominently in any advertisements I wrote for that client.

The secret is to get inside their heads, and then when it’s time to begin writing copy write directly to them as an individual.

Address every one of their objections.

Hit the most important points upfront.

Make a powerful promise.

Paint a picture of what their life could be like with your product or service.

Back everything up with proof.

And prove why your product or service is their ONLY solution.

There is nothing more important in advertising than KNOWING YOUR CUSTOMER. It is the key to absolutely everything.

And the secret to your success is to write to one person at a time. Do not try to sell to a group of people, because at any one time, you will always be communicating directly with an individual - NOT a group.

Know what I mean? Because if you do, you’ll begin to write much better copy.

That’s all for now.

Scott Bywater is a professional direct response copywriter and the author of Cash-Flow Advertising. To learn how he makes it easy for you to attract new customers get your hands on his free report “7 ways to increase your turnover in 60 days” - visit http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au

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Keeping in touch can dramatically increase business, when done properly.

It’s a fact that your customers are your best leads. This means that the most likely people to purchase your products and/or services are the ones who have paid for them before. It’s also a fact that it costs far less money to keep a customer than it does to go out and get a new one. These are the two reasons that using direct mail to keep in touch with your customer database is a must. There are a few principles to follow when marketing to contacts in your company database that can maximize your bottom line.

Rule #1 - Collect all of their information. It sounds like a no-brainer but you would be surprised. The more information that you have on your customers, the more likely it is that you will be able to get in touch with them to let them know about specials or to remind them it’s time for their next service. Also, don’t neglect to ask for your customers’ email addresses, most everyone has one and most will give it up pretty easily.

Rule #2 - Don’t treat your customers like prospects. Make sure when you collect the information in your database you differentiate between people who have placed an order in the past and people who have not. Customers want to feel like you are paying attention to them and when they have placed a few orders with you and are still getting your “10% for First Time Buyers” postcards they tend to feel unappreciated. Bottom line, if they don’t qualify for an offer you are sending out, don’t send it to them.

Rule #3 - Don’t let your designs get stagnant. When you are mailing to databases of people that you have never spoken to before, it is OK to send them the same postcard multiple times. It helps to increase recognition and will eventually increase your response rate. Dealing with customers and prospects that you have already spoken to (meaning they already know most or all of the details of your business) you need to mix things up a bit. Your mailings should be attention getting and informative. If you have started offering a new service recently, a piece designed to let your database know about it would be a smart move. The main point is to keep your company in the front of their mind and to keep them reading your promotion.

Being great at what you do is not always enough to keep the customers that you have earned. With all of the competition out there today you need to be constantly reminding your customers that you are the best at what you do. Direct mail is the best way to give them that reminder.

Always remember to keep mailings that you send to your database informative, attractive and most of all current. Personalize everything that you can and make sure that what you are sending to a past client actually pertains to them or their company. Anything less and your customer may start to drift, and the only people that are going to be happy when that happens are your competitors.

Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998; her only assets a computer and a phone. In 2004 the company did close to $9 million in sales and employs over 60 persons. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. Now she’s sharing her marketing secrets to others. For more free marketing advice, visit her website at http://www.postcardmania.com

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Millions of people around the world tuned into the Games of the XXVII Olympiad for the extraordinary displays of physical strength and prowess offered by the world’s greatest athletes. They weren’t disappointed.

Neither were the savvy business entrepreneurs who watched the games from Athens for insights and ideas to advance their marketing efforts.
What do the Olympics have to do with marketing, you ask?

Plenty… if you consider that the same strategies that led to victory on the track and in the field in Athens this year can also be used to bring you world-class success in your sales efforts. Here’s how:

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A Sprinter’s Strategy - Hold Nothing Back
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For the short distances that sprinters cover, a burst of speed that never lets up is the winning strategy that leads to gold medals. From the instant they hear the starting gun, sprinters put every ounce of available energy into a full-out, full-speed, nothing-held-back run for the finish line.

The headline of your marketing message needs to be as explosive as a sprinter’s start and twice as fast.

Consumers are hit with thousands of advertising “pitches” every day. They probably ignore as many as they notice. In order for your message to hit the mark, it needs to come out of the gate strong with all the power you can muster.

Sprinters bulk up on carbs for energy to win the race. Headlines bulk up on benefits, arouse curiosity, present what’s new, and offer a quick and easy solution to win the hearts and minds of consumers.

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A Marathoner’s Strategy - Pace Yourself
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A runner who comes “off the blocks” at break-neck speed and expects to go the distance in a marathon may pass competitors early on, but he/she will likely run out of steam long before the finish line. To stay in the race for 26 long and grueling miles, you need a carefully modulated and always flexible strategy

A “Big Picture” perspective is also what’s required to keep your business in the race for years to come.

If you model your approach on the marathoner, use short-term initiatives to get you through “the first mile” (free gifts to customers) and you’ll have far-reaching plans to make sure that you’re still going strong at Mile 26(upselling, back-end sales, etc.)

Just as importantly, you’ll have a flexible approach to all your strategies. A marathoner never knows what’s around the next corner, and neither do you. (In business, only hindsight is 20/20.) So be prepared to “go with the flow,” and make changes in both your short- and long-term plans.

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The Hurdler’s Strategy - Clearing All Obstacles
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When the race starts, a hurdler needs to know in advance the obstacles that are going to come along — when, where, how big — so that he/she has the right strategy in place to leap over each and every one before making the last dash to the finish line.

A successful marketer must be able to hurdle sales resistance in every way, shape, and form.

When you craft a marketing message, you need to anticipate why a consumer might say “No” — too expensive, too risky and then help them “hurdle” that obstacle with a bonus, benefit or iron-clad guarantee.

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A Relay Racer’s Strategy - One Step at a Time
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They say there’s no “I” in team, and the relay race demonstrates the importance of a group of individuals working together like a well-oiled machine to achieve the highest level of success. In order for the team effort to work in the end, a series of carefully executed “hand-offs” are required.

Pass the baton in your sales message with a flow of benefits and resistance-killers that seamlessly move the customer from “start” to “finish” (aka a purchase)

A well-crafted sales message starts with an irresistible headline that “hands off” to a compelling opening paragraph, that in turn leads to benefit-oriented lists, testimonials, ordering, instructions, etc. The key is that as each section draws to the end of its “run,” it passes the baton to the next section in line without every losing the consumer’s interest and attention.

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The High Jumper’s Strategy - Raise the Bar
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There’s only one way to win in this event — jump the highest. If your competitor jumps 7-feet in the air, you must be prepared to go to 7′1″. You won’t be a winner if you equal your competitor’s effortsyou need to do better.

Don’t be content to be “as good as” when it comes to what you offer. Raise the bar to a new level that your competition can’t surpass.

If your competition is offering shoes at “Buy 1 pair, get a 2nd pair at 50% off,” then you should offer “Buy 1, get 1 free.” If the “other guy” is offering a mechanical product, then you can offer the same product but include “free annual service call.”

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The Long Jumper’s Strategy - Go Further
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Long jumpers seem to defy the laws of gravity — flying through space high above the ground. Like high jumpers, medal-worthy long jumpers must put in the extra effort it takes to go beyond what their competitors are able to achieve. And they don’t win by miles; they win by feet… by inches by tenths of an inch.

An extended warranty or guarantee is the best way to “out distance” your competitor regardless of how much further you ultimately go.

You don’t have to be twice as good as “Brand X,” but you must be better. If they offer a 12-month warranty, then you should offer 18 months. If their “free trial period” is 30 days, make yours 90. And don’t be worried that your “we go further” offers will bankrupt you. Studies show that expanded guarantees help convince many people to buy even though few take advantage of the guarantee.

It’s good to know that even if you’ll never be an Olympianeven if you can’t bench press 500 lbs. or run a mile in under 4 minutesyou can still “go for the gold” — by the bar by the box by the Brinks Truck full! Just translate what you’ve learned from the sports arena to the business arena!

Copyright 2004 Quick Turn Marketing International, Ltd.

Dan Lok is the World’s First Quick-Turn Marketer, with a proven track record of selling over $ 17.3 million dollars of merchandise and services. He’s the rebel copywriter who’s created hundreds of money-making ads and sales letter for over 39 different industries. And now you can get inside the head of one of the world’s top copywriters without paying a dime at http://www.QuickTurnMarketing.com

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