The More Clients Blog

Marketing Messages That Work

In my current Fast Track to More Clients Program, this week's assignment was to create an effective marketing message based on the following four steps:

1. Your target market or ideal client.
You need to identify who you work with so that your prospect will know immediately if your message is for them or not.

2. The problem this client is dealing with.
This gets the prospect's attention by hitting a nerve and letting them know you understand their situation.

3. The outcome that resolves this problem.
Declaring the kind of outcome they can expect makes them want to know more about your services.

4. Story or example that proves you can do it.
Telling a story makes your services real to the prospect. If you helped someone else, you can help them as well.

I'd like to share some of the better messages with you. Use them as a template to help you create your own messages. Stick to the four steps and you'll have a much more powerful and attention-getting message.

Example #1 - Healthcare Consultant

We work with healthcare organizations, who struggle with hiring and keeping really good people.

We help them reduce turnover by up to 70% and hire employees that are more productive.

A good example is one client that was really disappointed by the work ethic of new employees and struggled with 65% turnover. We were able to significantly raise the bar on employee work ethic and reduce turnover by 70%.

Example #2 - Financial Planner

I help people with a six figure incomes who are getting clobbered by taxes, staring at college and retirement and wondering how in the world they’re going to pay for it all.

I show them how to send their kids to private college for about the same cost as public colleges, maintain their lifestyles at the same time and fund retirement.

A typical example is a couple that came to me who have two children that will attend college. They didn’t know how much college would cost, how much they should save and how much they were going to need to retire. I showed them how to save over $18,000 in taxes oriented around college funding by finding new ways to save on income taxes. I call these savings a "Tax Scholarship." That might mean an additional $200,000 for retirement or a more expensive college for their kids.

Example #3 - Management Consultant

I work with CEOS of small to medium sized businesses who are experiencing a steady decline in productivity with their management teams and employees and are finding training programs ineffective. Lack of personal accountability and self-management skills has led to something that looks like procrastination and productivity loss.

We increase self-management and personal accountability through practical, easy-to-administer tools that develop leadership growth not only in a local setting, but with remote team members.

One of my clients was a commercial construction firm that had tried several times (and several years) to implement a strategic planning process. However, the CEO had difficulty following up with the many goals that were set and holding the executive team accountable for all the steps and due dates. We implemented an online solution that gave the CEO a bigger picture of what was happening with the strategic plan and gave him the means to follow up quickly with team players that were falling behind. I advised him to move more into a coaching role with the team through this process. It resulted in the company implementing for the first time in 10 years all the goals they had set in their strategic plan. This had a very important impact on the bottom line in a depressed commercial construction market. While their competitors were struggling, they were doing well and did not have to lay off any employees.

Example #4 - Life and Relationship Coach

I work with individuals who have been unsuccessful in finding their ideal partner and with couples who struggle to keep their marriage intact.

I help them to understand themselves more fully as individuals and I introduce them to concepts, exercises and skills that will increase their chances for a meaningful and lasting partnership.

I worked with a couple who was planning to get married but they argued incessantly. One of the partners had serious doubts about moving forward. I helped them identify the real underlying problems and taught them to see “the relationship” as a priority. They learned many things such as how to create a mutually satisfying partnership through respect, responsibility, and good communication. Their fighting stopped and they were able to resolve their stuck areas. They ended up getting married and three years later they are happy and expecting their first child.

Example #5 - Retail Consultant

I work with independent retailers who are frustrated with trying to get shoppers to buy.

I help them create the kind of shopping experience that gets people to come inside AND buy.

A used music store that I worked with that was struggling to get people to stop and come in the store instead of just walking by. I helped them transform their dark, unappealing window, into a dynamic storefront that would get their customers’ attention.

Example #6 - Management Consultant

We work with busy entrepreneurs and business owners of successful small and medium companies who are frustrated because they are leaving money on the table because they are not getting important back-burner projects completed.

We help them get a laser beam focus on what will move their business off the plateau and get those key projects completed and producing results for them, not gathering dust on the shelf.

We recently worked with a 150 year old manufacturing company. In order to bid bigger projects, they needed a higher level of certification in their industry. They had a history of knowing what they needed to do but failing to execute it because they were so busy manufacturing their product. We helped them develop an easy, step-by-step plan so they could see how it was possible. Now they are certified and able to track their inventory, bid more profitable projects and keep their customers happy. Just as important for them was the pride and accomplishment of working together as a team as achieving the goal.

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You'll note that all of these marketing messages have adhered to the four steps. It's clear who the service is for, why the service is needed in the first place, what the service actually delivers and proof that they have achieved tangible results with clients.

It doesn't get much more complicated than that. If your marketing message is not getting results for you, use this formula to increase its impact.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Your marketing message is the foundation of your business. Create a good one and reap the rewards for years to come!

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Want to share your marketing message? Feel free to post it on the Blog! Make sure you follow the four steps.

Tweaking: The Hidden Marketing Secret

Wonder why some people get better marketing results than others? It's because they tweak.

One rarely discussed marketing secret (except amongst rabid direct marketers or online marketers), is the arcane art of tweaking. Tweaking your marketing is literally the key to getting more response to any marketing activity you attempt.

Tweak means to adjust or fine-tune.

And this is exactly what people fail to do when it comes to their marketing. In fact, most do the opposite: They develop a web site and never change a pixel for years; they settle on a marketing message and never try anything new; or they give a speaking engagement and don't try various "pitches" to get cards from participants.

The Science of Tweaking

Tweaking is what scientists do. They test something using an experiment. They get a certain result. Then they change a measurable variable and see what new result they get. They keep at this until they get the desired result (or not).

Good marketers are like scientists, but they have more fun.

Instead of experimenting on rats, they experiment on prospects. They try one marketing tactic at a time and measure the result. Then they change a measurable variable and see if the prospect responds differently.

Good scientists, if they are persistent, get grants to keep experimenting. Good marketers, if they are persistent, attract more clients and often get rich.

Let's look at a few marketing experiments you can tweak.

1. Ezine signups from a web site.

Growing a big eZine list is a great way to grow your business. Let's look at the two main variables: a) home page of web site and b) eZine sign-up page of web site.

To conduct this experiment you must know: a) how many people land on your home page in any given period, b) how many people click onto the sign-up page, and c) how many people actually sign up. Using a simple web tracker that counts visitors and subscribers, you can get these statistics very easily.

So let's say in a week, 100 people go to your home page. Of those, 40% click onto your sign-up page. And then 25% of those actually sign up for the eZine. That makes a sign-up rate of 10%.

Now you start tweaking.

You work at making changes to your home page so that more visitors click through to the sign-up page. You might improve the design, the graphics, the headline, the offer for the report you get with the eZine, etc.

Several tweaks might increase the number of people who click on the sign-up page to 50%. Now your total sign-up rate is 12.5%

Next you tweak away on the sign-up page. Perhaps you change the name of the report (more results-oriented), and you change the sign-up form (by making it simpler) and the placement of this form (you put it higher on the page).

Several tweaks of this kind may increase the number of actual sign-ups to 40%. Your total sign-up rate is now 20%. You've doubled your sign-up rate. And that's how tweaking pays off!

2. Getting cards after a speaking event

What I used to say was, "I have a report that covers most of the material I discussed today. If you'd like a copy, just leave me your card and I'll send it to you by email."

That pitch got me 30-40% of cards. So I tweaked my pitch.

I now say: "Here is a report that covers most of the material I discussed today. Who would like a copy? (and I get a show of hands) Great, please give me your card with a current email address and I'll send it to you by email."

That pitch gets about 80% of people in the room giving me cards. The tweak is that I got people to raise their hands saying they wanted the report. It more than doubled the results.

2. Your Audio Logo

When I use a problem-oriented Audio Logo: "I help Independent Professionals who are struggling to attract clients," I get about five times the response than a solution-oriented Audio Logo: "I help Independent Professionals attract more clients."

Go figure.

You don't have to know all the reasons your tweaking changed the results, you just have to keep tweaking until the results improve.

What are you currently doing in your marketing that isn't working as well as it could? Time to start tweaking!

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The More Clients Bottom Line: The only way to get consistent results with your marketing is by tweaking. Develop strategies and tactics, measure the results, then tweak them, one at a time, until your results have increased. Repeat until rich.

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What's something you tweaked in your marketing that dramatically changed your results? Please share it on the Blog this week.

Avoid The Grammy Factor

I admit it. I watched the Grammy Awards last night. The whole thing. Let me give you a very quick rundown:

There were wall-to-wall musical performances. Some awards were given out. Heartfelt thank-yous were offered. Everyone looked beautiful. But the show is already fading from memory.

The Grammys, like most award shows, value style over substance. Lots of flash and glitz and "look at how passionately wonderful I am." It all gets a little overwhelming after awhile as one thinks, "But I don't even listen to this kind of music, anyway!"

However, I took away a valuable marketing lesson that I'd like to share with you: Most marketing messages are much like the Grammys: the substance is missing.

Everyone's trying to get the perfect marketing message, the perfect look, the perfect mind-blowing information that will compel prospects to respond in droves.

But it usually falls flat. Why?

Because it's often missing the most important thing of all: What the client actually gets from working with you. Don't think this is all that important?

Let me tell you a story...

One of the people in my current Marketing Action Group had been struggling with her marketing message. Nothing was really working. But finally she applied some of my ideas on creating a marketing message and told someone the story of a recent client success.

And the immediate response was: "Wow, I need your services. Will you work with me?"

And the great thing is that it wasn't a fluke. Now almost every time she uses the message, people want to work with her. Hey, her message was so great that I even decided to work with her!

Her message was so powerful, in fact, that I'm hosting a TeleClass program with her next month. I won't give away her message right now. That's not my point today. The point is that the substance of the message is the key.

How do you create a message with substance? Here's a 5-step process that will work for you.

1. Identify your ideal client Your message will not work for everyone. You need to be clear exactly who your message is for. Who can you help the most? Who do you understand the best? Where do you have the most experience? Think all of this through and develop your message specifically for this ideal client.

2. Identify a client challenge
What does your ideal client want to do but doesn't know how? What's missing for them? What are they struggling with? What is confusing or frustrating for them? Clearly articulate this: "I work with these kind of clients who have this kind of challenge."

3. Identify a service and outcome
What specific service could you offer to address the client problem and provide a desirable outcome? Keep it simple: "I offer this kind of service and when clients use this service they will get this result." A service without a promised outcome is a wast of time.

4. Prove you can deliver the outcome
If you a haven't offered this service before, then find an ideal client and perform it for them. If you need to cut your price or even offer it free to validate the outcome, so be it. But you need to be confident you can produce that outcome consistently.

5. Use your story as your message
The most powerful marketing messages are simple stories that demonstrate that you delivered a desirable outcome. "This was a client who came to me. They had this frustrating challenge. I implemented my service. These were the results."

This is the process my Marketing Action Group participant went through. She now has a reliable marketing message that's all substance, no style. She doesn't have to worry about perfect words or the "magic phrase." She just needs to tell her outcome story and get a positive response. Every time.

The actual response you get will depend on who your clients are, the depth of their challenge, their interest in getting an outcome, the actual service you develop and the kind of results you can deliver consistently.

But I promise you that if you follow these five steps to the letter, you'll emerge with a marketing message that's a quantum leap beyond what you're using now.

And that will always translate into more clients.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Avoid the "Grammy Factor" where your marketing message emphasizes style over substance. Deliver a desirable outcome for your clients and simply tell a story of the actual results you got. It really doesn't get any more powerful than that.

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Have you developed a powerful challenge/outcome based story for your marketing message? Please share it on the more Blog.

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Going Beyond Boring

Over the years I've talked about dozens of ways to get attention for your business. And my biggest focus has always been on delivering a message that speaks to your prospects' needs.

But marketing messages need to go beyond logical explanations of what you can do for your clients. Your message needs to come from a passionate place. If you're not excited about your message, why do you expect anyone else to be excited?

So, even if you have a very good message, if it's delivered in a careful, suppressed or constricted way (in order not to offend anyone) it doesn't do much more than put people to sleep.

This is a lesson I learned from an old colleague, Joe Meissner, who started an innovative outplacement company in the mid 80's. Joe was always doing things differently and made a point to be controversial. He wrote op-ed pieces for the San Francisco Chronicle that were contrarian and attention-getting.

I remember an article where he lambasted Bay Area firms for being so bad about retuning calls. He didn't cut them much slack; he regarded it as not only arrogance but bad business practice, in that their isolationism cut them off from what was really happening in the business community.

Joe got a lot of calls and letters because of that article and he turned some of those calls into new business. Joe gained a reputation as a no-nonsense person who said what he meant (He also happened to be from Texas). And that earned him respect and a degree of visibility and fame for his business.

Do you do this or do you play it safe?

I read a whole lot of marketing material every week that simply fails to make a solid stand for anything. It's boring stuff. And, as David Ogilvy once said, "You can't bore someone into doing business with you!"

Admit it. Your marketing is boooooring.

So how do you step out of the boring rut? How do you make your marketing messages, communications and overall business a little more exciting, dynamic and attention getting?

Even to supply a formula for this would be dangerous. Better people that me have tried and failed at this. But here goes anyway! (That's why I make the big bucks, right?)

1. Risk. What this means is doing something that has a chance of bombing. If you always play it safe, you are playing not to lose, not playing to win. So swing out once in awhile and put something out there that's controversial and bold and that people just may hate. Don't worry, you'll recover.

2. Be Spontaneous.
Don't plan everything for an eon. You suck the life out of it. People always ask me if I write several issues of this eZine ahed of time. Surely you jest! I write it the night before. It's what's on top-of-mind today. It's also a lot more fun.

3. Be Generous.
A big part of marketing is making offers - something people will respond to. Offers need to be compelling and immediate and relevant as well as good deals. One of my best promotions ever was a free one-day workshop. About 180 people showed up. That launched the InfoGuru Manual.

4. Be Contrarian.
Like Joe Meissner and, of course, Alan Weiss. He makes his living being contrarian. He'll take the prevailing point of view and turn it on its head. There's more than one way to view reality. Be bold enough to say "that's nonsense" and then offer your perspective. Some people will stand up and cheer.

5. Find Your Voice.
You can't be a carbon copy of everyone else and expect to get attention. Somewhere inside (sometimes very deep inside) is a voice crying to be heard. You have innovative ideas that can change the world. People actually want to hear them.

6. Don't Believe What You Think.
Thinking is very unreliable. Remember, as I said last week, it's reasonable. It keeps you safe. It follows all the rules. Trust something deeper than thinking. What you need to say comes from your heart and your gut.

Now forget all the rules and try to communicate something about your business that isn't deadly boring. Some people just might take notice. (You might also need to stay up until midnight until inspiration strikes.)

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The More Clients Bottom Line: If you want to get your marketing message across and get some real attention, you need to step outside of your usual safe, comfortable, and boring ways of communicating.

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What are you doing to combat boring marketing? Please share on the Blog this week. Just click on the Comments link below.