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Vol. III, Issue 4: 19 February 2008
Editor & Publisher: Tracey Dooley
You are
receiving this newsletter because you requested it. Please help us grow together and forward this issue to any friends, peers and associates you think would benefit. Thanks!
In this month's success-packed edition:
1. Publisher's Preamble
2. SUBSCRIBER FEEDBACK: Coffee to Go?!
3. ANNOUNCEMENT: Customer Retention in an Uncertain Market
4. FEATURE ARTICLE: Winning the Attention of the Digital Marketplace
5. About the Word Doctor
6. TIP: The Number One Secret to Effective Marketing
7. READER Q&A: How To Successfully Market Online
8. RESOURCE: Free Online File Hosting
9. Earn Passive Income
10. Business-building Marketplace
Hello again, and thank you for being a valued CfS subscriber. I truly appreciate your support.
It's hard to believe an entire month has gone by since the last issue.
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Since we last met, I’ve been busy helping businesses with:
- Website content management (various)
- Sales letter writing (photography service)
- Marketing strategy (various)
- Image sourcing (retail)
- Case studies and testimonials (IT)
- SEO editing (finance)
- Blog post ghost-writing (marketing and networking sites)
- eNewsletter proofreading
Phew! That’s one heck of a way to start the year. I need a break––Centro Equestre da Lezíria Grande or Ranch America, that’s a BIG hint to you. ;-)
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(Shameless Plug Alert: Need something similar for your business? You name it; I can help you with it on an efficient, friendly, cost-effective ‘as-needed’ basis.)
I’ve been busy with my blog, too. I'd like to highlight some items on my blog that you may perhaps have missed:
 Making Long-Distance Relations Work For Your Business
http://tinyurl.com/2te88u
More and more businesses and entrepreneurs turn to the internet to source expert help. But it’s essential that you start off on the right footing…
Correct Email Etiquette
http://tinyurl.com/3b2gvs
As the spam wars heighten, it has become more important to ensure your email won’t end up an innocent victim.
How to Get Free Publicity
http://tinyurl.com/2wc832
Tips on how to get some free media coverage as well as advertising your business without spending much cash.
Moving Beyond Blue Monday
http://tinyurl.com/2rxbkv
What to do when you can’t quite ‘ready’ yourself up for the working day ahead…
To view any or all of the items above, either click on the individual links to go straight to the item concerned, or visit my blog (short for weblog) at http://marketingmoment.wordpress.com and just scroll down the page.
Achieving Attention in a Crowded Marketplace
This month’s feature article is one that simply HAS to be read if you hope to attract business via the worldwide web. Especially as online consumers have moved beyond saturation point and simply switched off from the competing messages vying for their attention…
Well, I hope you will enjoy this month’s newsletter. Just a reminder that you can still view most past issues of CfS at www.mediaminister.co.uk/marketing_cfs_newsletters.htm.
Enjoy the rest of February (which right now looks as if it's summer, until I step outside!)
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Reader Feedback |
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Coffee to Go?! |
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Many thanks also for your generous feedback with regards to last month’s subscriber survey.
Well, despite the enormous number of messages we’re each exposed to every day (approx 3,500 according to latest research), you want to hear more from me. Oh no, what have you done?!
With that in mind, expect some of the biggest changes ever to this newsletter since it began in 2005 — starting with a streamlined ‘coffee break’ read format, and either a bi-weekly or weekly publishing calendar (more than 78% of you wanted to hear from me on a weekly basis, and I will try my very best to honour that as soon as is possible). So watch this space…
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Announcement |
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| Customer Retention in an Uncertain Market |
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Fears that the economy might slide into a property crash — and the latest from the credit-crunch camp — may well mean that marketing budgets are amongst the first casualties.
But should we slash advertising and marketing budgets? Batten down the hatches and wait until it's all over? Or should we meet the challenge head on?
The successful businesses of 2008 will be those with the courage and skill to squeeze the best results from the tightest of budgets. They’ll not only be able to retain (or gain) the competitive edge, but meet and perhaps even exceed business goals.
In an uncertain economy, customer retention and acquisition is key. So it’s important that you do these things well.
At MediaMinister there is a range products and services that can help you do just that.
Click on any of the following links to see the tools and techniques at your disposal:
www.mediaminister.co.uk/products.htm
www.mediaminister.co.uk/services.htm
www.business-marketing-advice.mediaminister.co.uk
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Business-Building Feature Article |
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| Winning the Attention of the Digital Marketplace
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In our constantly information-overloaded, plugged-in society,
attention has become an increasingly scarce
commodity. Here's how to win it back...
In the 1960s, we had mainframe computers. These were found only in larger institutions, and required hundreds of punched cards for data analysis. Today, we have high-tech personal computers, wireless technology, take-charge-of-our-lives Blackberries, multi-platform phones and other fancy gadgets that seem to have developed among us a kind of impatience, zest for more information and even a shorter attention span than ever before.
We have, it would appear, learned to put a lot of value on all those things that lend us novelty, convenience, and most importantly, speed.
It is this very change in the heartbeat of our society that is forcing copywriters and marketers to redefine their priorities when it comes to communicating their or their clients’ message.
Multiprocessing Yet Switched Firmly Off
Take the online media. There is so much vying for our attention – links, information, ads, video, music, the latest social-media craze – that we end up with little time or inclination to notice the messages that are targeted at us.
You could say that consumers have moved beyond reaching saturation point, and have simply switched off.
This is a major setback for companies who provide goods and services –especially via e-commerce. Because they are wakening up to the fact that the real commodity for any successful company isn’t consumers, per se, but rather the attention of those consumers.
Positively Influencing Reader Behaviour
The challenge, therefore, is to capture and hold the attention of those consumers they wish to attract – despite the increasing number of demands for that attention. Their message or brand has to stand out as if it were the only one wearing a high-visibility vest on a foggy internet motorway.
Which is why copywriters and marketers alike are striving to come up with ways to attract attention to their written message. Because by attracting attention, there opens the possibility to influence consumer behaviour – notably, their buying behaviour.
But with so many stimuli attempting to dazzle and reach the consumer, your own stimulus might well be ignored altogether. So how do you ensure yours isn’t intentionally – or even inadvertently – filtered out by your very prospects?
Push Pull it Real Good
Perhaps the biggest thing to note is that the traditional media with which we’re all familiar – including television and books – are one-way propositions. That is, they push their content at consumers. Whereas the web is a two-way, push-and-pull interactivity.
One solution, therefore, is to encourage consumer participation. Interactive marketing should place the user in control. What copywriters and marketers need do is promote – via a ‘soft-sell’ approach – voluntary involvement from the consumer to interact with a message. This can take on the form of blog posts, video streams, and social-media/Web 2.0 sites.
Another thing to note is that the message can no longer get away with taking on a mass-market appeal. Instead, it should zero in on a select target market.
Perhaps the biggest thing to note is that the traditional media with which we’re all familiar – including television and books – are one-way propositions. That is, they push their content at consumers. Whereas the web is a two-way, push-and-pull interactivity.
One solution, therefore, is to encourage consumer participation. Interactive marketing should place the user in control. What copywriters and marketers need to do is promote – via a ‘soft-sell’ approach – voluntary involvement from the consumer to interact with a message. This can take on the form of blog posts, video streams, and social-media/Web 2.0 sites.
Another thing to note is that the message can no longer get away with taking on a mass-market appeal. Instead, it should zero in on a select target market.
Pay Attention to Them, and They Will Pay Attention to You
By paying attention to the mindset of a particular group of individuals (or businesses, in the case of B2B communication), copywriters and marketers can fully understand and creatively bundle online content with a personalised offer of products or services. This requires work with the online medium of choice so that the user feels they are in the right place – and also in control; an important factor.
Here are some common solutions to capturing consumer attention:
• Take a leaf out of the newspaper industry
Write from the bottom up. The inverted-pyramid style has the conclusion or juicy bits first, with more detailed information being introduced as the story develops.
• Use benefit-laden summaries
Keeping with the theme of derrières, your reader should be presented with the bottom line up front. This means offering a brief ‘sell’ or introduction that lets them know what information is being presented, and why it is important to them.
• Only include links that do not waste your readers' time
Making your readers follow lots of competing links from one web page, for example, is an expensive mistake. Pages need to be structured so as to minimise the number of links that must be followed. And every link must be of interest to the reader. This is where in-depth research into a finely honed target market turns up trumps. You don’t want to include anything that your intended audience would not care for. Writing next to each link what can be expected if the reader follows that link will help her feel she is wasting their her time, and avoid frustration.
• Make liberal use of headlines, subheads, lists and bullet points
The aim here is to capture your reader’s interest and make life easier for him by presenting your content in the most effective way possible. Avoid cleverness and cuteness, and go for the jugular. That is, provide enough relevant information by way of big headlines and emboldened subheads, lists or bullet points to help your reader skim and determine when he should stop and read further or follow a link.
• Always, always answer the SW
Your audience wants information that is quick to access and that is of relevance to her needs or interests. So ensure your headlines, web pages, blog posts, banner ads, and so on, answer the following question that your reader will have in her mind: “So what?”
Getting the attention of your target audience is only the beginning, of course, but it’s more than winning half the battle…
And by folllowing these guidelines you will have a head start on your competition.
By Tracey "Word Doctor" Dooley, Creative Consultant | PR Guru
| Marketing Diva.
(C) 2008 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved
Want to use this article (or any tip in this newsletter) on your website, blog, a message board or in an ezine? Not a problem! But please give credit where it's due. You MUST include the following:
Tracey "Word Doctor" Dooley of MediaMinister (www.mediaminister.co.uk) is an experienced copywriter, editor and marketer. She has spent almost 14 years crafting compelling copy that successfully sells, informs, educates or entertains. =====>To sign up for her freebie business-building tips, marketing and publicity pointers, visit www.mediaminister.co.uk.
***Need help in pinpointing exactly what your target market is in the first instance? My mentoring programme can help you start off – and keep – on the right track.
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Tracey Dooley is a copywriter, marketing strategist, and editorial and creative consultant. She helps entrepreneurs, authors, publishers and FTSE100/250 companies boost response rates and attract new customers.
Enjoyed this issue of CfS? Well, I practically guarantee that you'll LOVE this easy-to-follow foolproof system that shows you the EXACT steps and strategies to follow to build up your own database of prospective customers and, more importantly, instill trust. Click here to read more about this powerful tool now.
The ‘Word Doc’ also offers FREE reports, coaching, insider tips, and other no-nonsense resources to help entrepreneurs and small business owners market themselves more consistently and effectively. Learn more now at www.mediaminister.co.uk.
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Business-Building Tip |
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| The Number One Secret to Effective Marketing |
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How often have you given up after spending countless hours and marketing budgets in an attempt to get it "just right"? Or found that all that effort wasn’t, well, worth it?
Want to know the secret of your success (or failure)? You need a compelling headline that reaches out to your target audience.
Here’s one way to get the perfect headline:
- Find out what your clients or customers care about most. If you don’t know what that is, ask them.
- Once you know what that is, craft your headline using this crucial component.
- Be sure you don’t rave about how great you are, or how many awards your product has won. The hard truth is, your audience couldn't care less. What they will care about, though, is what’s in it for them. So speak to that need.
- Remember, your customers are being continually bombarded with literally thousands of marketing messages every single day — via the internet, emails, radio, television, posters, newspapers, and so on. So you MUST work harder to attract their attention. And that means coming up with benefit-packed headlines — or you’ll never win their interest or their business.
Got an event, tip or resource you'd like to share? Email it to me and I'll include it in a future issue of Communiqué for Success!
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Reader Q&A |
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| How To Successfully Market Online |
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Question: "How can I achieve better online marketing?”
–– Sue Jenicek
Answer: The internet offers a relatively easy and inexpensive – often free – way to market your products and services. It also provides a perfect medium to trial or test certain marketing strategies that would otherwise cost you dearly in your ‘marketing dollar’ offline.
Here are three steps to online marketing success:
- The first is a fairly obvious one. Have a website – now, I often get asked just how important having a web presence is, especially if you happen to be a solopreneur…
I think it’s vital for ALL businesses to have a website. Okay, not quite a requisite for doing business; after all, people have been doing business for centuries without the web. But it certainly makes sense to have some kind of web presence in order to get or remain competitive in today’s fierce marketplace.
Plus, in this digital information age, more and people are doing business on the web. Marketing experts predict that the number of online consumers will grow by about 50% in the near future.
So I suppose the real question is, can you afford to be left behind (or perceived to be an dinosaur, out of touch with the times)?
Even a simple website will do. Just something that allows your potential customers, business partners, investors and employees to find out more about you quickly and easily. Of course, it helps if your 11-year-old nephew didn’t do it!
- Next, you’ll want to make sure you offer something of value at no cost on your website, in addition to it providing the who, why, what, where, etc. So, if you are an architect, you might want to provide sample house-layout plans, or you could offer a ‘how-to’ guide on designing green ‘eco’ houses. If you sell herbs, you could offer some tasty recipes using your products. That kind of thing.
The idea here is to provide information that interests your target audience – the very people you wish to attract to buy your products or services. By providing valuable free content you attract more of the right kind of people to your website, and, more importantly, you establish yourself as a credible expert in your chosen field.
- The third step is to create an ezine. You could, of course, start a blog, but that’s a whole other article.
An ezine is essentially a free online newsletter (it doesn’t have to be free, of course, but I highly recommend that you offer one that is free, however short). Ideally, you’ll be posting your ezine at least once per month, and providing more valuable free content that would appeal to your readership.
In this newsletter, Communiqué for Success, I offer a variety of information – including tidbits, how-to articles, resources, tips, and more. You can see most past issues here: http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/marketing_cfs_newsletters.htm
People sign up to my ezine mainly directly via the sign-up box that is on my website. Otherwise, people will post an issue on to friends or colleagues, who will also sign up.
The real beauty of an ezine list is here you have people who are qualified – that is, they are interested in what you do or offer – and don’t mind hearing about new products or deals, and so on. That’s part of the deal. You’re offering them free useful content in return for them occasionally getting a promo email from you, besides the tips, etc.
You know, you could send out a separate email or include an ad in your own ezine that essentially says, “Hey! I’ve just launched a new service. If you want to try it out at a specially reduced price, just click here, or email or call me…”
For more on online marketing, visit:
http://smallbizmarketing.110mb.com
Newsletters that Build Customer Relations And Fill Your Inbox with Orders, www.tinyurl.com/news
Website Copywriting Secrets that Convert Web Readers into Buyers, www.tinyurl.com/webcopy
Need More Help Being More Successful Online?
Boost Your Online Success shares the insider secrets of
getting response rates from your website visitors double or even triple, as well as THE single, most important word that can almost double your online sales, and how to avoid the big turn-offs most people make online that make potential customers to click away in an instant, and much, much more: http://tinyurl.com/online
Got a burning question you want answered? Email it to me and I'll include it in a future issue of Communiqué for Success!
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Business-Building Resource |
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| Free Online File Hosting |
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Here's yet another great resource for your business. Putfile.com is a place online where you can upload and share – for free – video, audio, flash and image files.
This is useful for communicating with the art department within your company, or with graphic designers and other techie types who are completing projects for you.
• http://www.putfile.com
Let me know if you find it useful.
Got an event, tip or resource you'd like to share? Email it to me and I'll include it in a future issue of Communiqué for Success!
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Business-Building Refer & Earn |
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| Easy Passive Income |
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Join my affiliate programme and you could earn as much as 33% just by recommending my services or products to your clients, colleagues and friends. Easy passive income!
To find out more just go to ==> www.mediaminister.co.uk/affiliate.htm
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Business-Building Marketplace |
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READING THIS AD? YOURS COULD BE HERE, TOO! To find out more and get on board to reach entrepreneurs, business owners and consultants, just email the Word Doctor using the contact information below.
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TRACEY DOOLEY’S SERVICES
Yes, in fact I DO more than write articles and publish newsletters. : )
 Ask me to write for your blog, emails, marketing communications, newsletters, or website:
http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/services.htm
Hire me as your business copywriting or marketing coach:
http://www.business-marketing-advice.mediaminister.co.uk
Ask me for a second opinion on your marketing-communications materials: http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/consult.htm
Disclaimer: Neither Tracey Dooley nor MediaMinister endorses the accuracy or reliability of any of any third-party advertisements in this e-newsletter. Rest assured, advertisers are carefully selected and sometimes personally known, which can only be a good thing for you! However, I simply can’t (and don’t) investigate the legitimacy, validity or legality of any item advertised. It therefore always makes sense to check each one out using your own diligence.
Feel free to FORWARD COMMUNIQUÉ FOR SUCCESS! in its entirety to anyone you think will find it useful. When doing do please add a note explaining why you're sending it to them, else they might think I've sent it to them without permission – thanks.
Join my email list (your privacy is totally safe)!
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