Vol. II, Issue 8– 15 May 2007
Editor & Publisher: Tracey Dooley

As always, thank you for being a CfS subscriber. (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. Announcement
3. Copyright Body Has New Name
4. How To Out-Do Your Competitors
5. About the Word Doctor
6. Client Corner
7. F*r*e*e Marketing for 2 Lucky Businesses!
8. How to Get New Clients
9. Improve Productivity While Cutting Costs
10. Join My Affiliate Programme
11. F*r*e*e Image-Editing Software
12. Business-building Marketplace

Recently, I participated in a blog meme that invited successful people to list what they do each day in order to be a success in their business http://tinyurl.com/38b29r.

As a result of my own blog post, a reader sent me this:

“Great post, Tracey! To me, being a success is about being happy.”

I find that priceless. So often, we expect a heck of a lot from ourselves, and push ourselves day in and day out so much that we end up burning out or feeling a complete failure if we don’t achieve the impossible. By simply acknowledging that you are doing your best, and are happy doing what you’re doing can be really liberating. I used to have a really hard time relaxing and switching off from work (a work-from-home burden, I believe). Then I read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, which I wholeheartedly recommend, and started to focus on what I was seeing, hearing, doing or feeling in the

present moment, rather than worrying about what I had done or should have done or need to do...

The True Secret of Success

The point is that you can make each moment a ‘success’ by appreciating the now. If that makes sense! OK, I could be sitting here on a sunny evening worried that I won’t get this newsletter out on time… Or I could be focusing my attention on the present moment, happy that I’m communicating with my readers while the sun is shining!

I know which one I would choose now. And which one would ultimately lead to getting more done. Because when you are happy or passionate about something, anything is possible. Even achieving impossible deadlines.

What do you think? What's your definition of success? Join the discussion at my blog: http://tinyurl.com/38b29r 

How Would You Like To Catapult Over Your Competition?

This month’s main feature touches on something extremely powerful that every single business should have, but most don’t even feature it in their marketing and advertising materials. What a waste! Read this article to make sure you don’t miss out on building a stronger connection with your prospects – enticing them to buy from you, instead of the competition to boot.

Love and success

Tracey

PS Are you taking advantage of your FREE CfS subscriber ad? There are only 1-2 free slots per issue. Send yours here. Please make sure you keep it to a maximum of 5 lines, 65 characters per line (including your URL or email address). Copy deadline for the next issue is 11 June.

PPS Please add the following email addy to your whitelist or address book in your email program so that you always receive your issues:

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The Patent Office changed its name to the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) on 2 April.

One of the main reasons behind the change is for the new name to more clearly reflect the wide range of services UK-IPO deals with. These include copyright issues, trade marks and designs.

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I have two mentoring slots open for June, but my diary is already filling up quickly. So if you're a past coaching student, just contact me as soon as you can to get on the calendar.

Or if you're new and want to check out my mentoring programme that will show you step by step how to get the kind of customers and success that will make your business soar, visit: http://mediaminister.co.uk/PowerfullyEffectiveMarketing.htm.

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How can you be uniquely attractive to prospects, capture their trust and ultimately gain their custom? By developing your USP, that’s how! Every single business or person in business needs to have a USP. Ignore that sentence, and you’ve just made being in business unnecessarily more difficult.

As legendary copywriter Rosser Reeves, wrote in his book Reality in Advertising: “Too many businesses flop because they fail to create a well-defined USP.” And it’s still happening today…

Also known as the ‘point of difference’, the USP (unique selling proposition) was coined by Rosser Reeves in the 1950s and made popular by marketing genius Jay Abraham. It points to what it is about what your business, product or service that makes you unique… Why customers should buy from YOU rather than your competition. It helps you promote your offering, while telling everyone what is so great about it!

Think of FedEx’s original USP: “On time, every time, or it’s free.” This offer was extremely unique at the time, standing head and shoulders above the competition, and ended up building the business almost single-handedly.

The thing is, most businesses today say the same thing. Statements such as, “We’re trustworthy,” or “Buy from us because we’re different,” or “We’ve been in business for 25 years, so you can rely on us,” or ‘We’re better,” are full of overused clichés. Where IS the difference, exactly? How can you prove that? In our increasingly competitive marketplace with increasingly savvy customers, just saying something without actually being able to back it up does little to overcome prospective customers’ scepticism.

For any USP to work, it has to jump out and grab your prospects by their shoulders! You have to give them a credible reason to buy from you. The best USPs are specific, measurable, conveys a customer benefit and offers proof. It’s been estimated that the right USP can mean the difference between selling nothing, selling 100 items or selling 10,000.

Clearly, the USP you choose to use and the way you articulate your point of difference are key to setting you and your business favourably apart from your competitors.

So how do you get yours? Here are a few ideas:

1. Research what your competitors are doing to promote themselves. What language and words do they use? How do they get across their point of difference? Make a note of the key things that stand out to you. Then see if you can go one step further. For example, let’s say you’re a manufacturer or reseller of a proven bone-supplement formula. If your most successful competitor claims their product “helps keep bones strong and healthy,” can you say that yours “helps build new, strong bones in 7 ways?

2. Write down ways in which your product or service out-achieves, out-builds, out-delivers, outdoes, out-produces, out-pulls, our-ranks, outsells or out-performs that of your competitors. There are a lot of breakfast cereals that stay crisp in milk, but there’s only one that I know of that goes “Snap, Crackle, Pop!” Be the first to offer something truly unique.

3. Combine the most attractive feature of what you’re offering with the biggest benefit of doing business with you from the customer’s perspective, not yours (I guarantee what you think of as the main benefit will be different to what your buyers felt was the biggest persuader to buying from you). Not sure what that is? Ask your clients what made them buy from you!

When you have honed your USP – ideally boiled down to one compelling sentence – be sure to use it in ALL your advertising and marketing materials, including on your website, and also when you introduce your business to people. As well as being a powerful marketing tool, your USP will help create a brand in your prospects eyes if it is used often enough.

One final thought: Offer proof that all-important proof when possible, and always deliver on any promises made with your USP.

By Tracey "Word Doctor" Dooley, Creative Consultant | PR Guru | Marketing Diva.

(C) 2007 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.

***Would you like some help in developing or polishing your USP? I would be glad to help or act as a facilitator for you and your team in this powerful process... Just let me know.

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Tracey "Word Doctor" Dooley is an experienced copywriter and PR/marketing & editorial consultant. She has spent almost 14 years crafting compelling communications copy that successfully sells, informs or entertains. She can remove the hassle of writing, editing and producing all your marketing communications – including general business writing, blog writing/producing, web content, customer retention and sales letters, postcard campaigns, direct mail packages, brochures, ads, PR materials and more. She can ghostwrite your business articles, too. Just let her know a little about yourself (include things such as who you are, which company you own/work for, the size of your company, your industry, and so on), which service you

irequire, the type of copy you’re interested in (ad copy, direct mail copy, etc.), and she’ll get right back to you.

Get in touch via the online form at www.mediaminister.co.uk/contact.htm or email her your full brief and any supporting documentation.

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“Tracey, your work was great and exactly what I needed. You not only did a great job you did it in a timely manner. I'd definitely use you again. And I will refer you to others!

Many thanks!”

– Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing, http://www.actionplan.com.

If you would like to share how MediaMinister or CfS has affected you or your business, please email it to me by filling in the short form here: www.mediaminister.co.uk/contact.htm. As a thank you, your name, business and contact information will be published, so you get f*r*e*e* publicity. ;-)

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Question:"Which is the most cost effective way of obtaining clients at the outset?"
– Roger Johansen

Answer: Blimey! What a question! It’s definitely one of those, ‘How long is a piece of string?’ questions…

Still, I’ll try to answer as best I can.

Well, before you can attract new clients, you need to spend some time brainstorming on areas such as:  who you are/what your business is, what you’re offering clients, who they are, what their problems are and exactly how you or your service/product can solve them…

So, I’d suggest you get a piece of paper or notepad and list all the things you do or your business does, and the benefits you offer your clients. Mine would look a little like this:

WHO I AM: A marketing diva, PR guru and creative consultant.

WHAT I OFFER: Writing and editing sales and marketing materials, including website content and blogs. Business writing & marketing mentoring.

SKILLS: Copywriting, journalism, editing, proofreading, marketing, PR, coaching…

BENEFITS TO CLIENTS: Create awareness, attract more business, and position them as experts in their own industry. Remove the headache of marketing, and so on.

OK, this is just a quick, short example. Obviously, you would go into more detail, especially if you are a start-up, which would require you do more preliminary research to get your ideal target client in your mindset, etc.

There are other steps I would suggest and that I get my mentoring clients to focus on, but I would need to know more about your business and goals, for a start.

The essence is to zone in on your target market. Really get to know them inside and out. And then market to them on a regular basis. I’d suggest setting aside 3-5 activities every day – such as writing to 2 prospects and making 3 phone calls to prospective clients – to move you forward with your marketing.

Don’t underestimate the power of PR, either. The idea is to get the word out about what you do, how you can help your target market and so on. By gaining media coverage, you will not only benefit with valuable, free publicity, but also position yourself as an expert, for instance.

For specific ideas on tailoring a news release to your business, and how to develop a PR campaign that can help you generate masses of free publicity, for less than the price of dinner, see:

http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/products.htm#Publicity

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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MediaMinister is offering to write AND distribute a press release (to 5-10 selected publications) for two lucky winners in this month’s competition.

For a chance to win, submit the following information, together with your company name and address, contact name, email address and phone number to:

1. The reason for your news release (eg, new company name, product launch, company promotion, business award, etc). Don’t know where to start? Hint: MediaMinister could help.  ;->)
2. Who the release is aimed at.
3. The one thing that you wish readers to understand from your release.

You may also enter by filling in the form on the MediaMinister website (www.mediaminister.co.uk).

One entry per person/business. No purchase necessary. All entries must be received by 10am (BST) on 15 June 2007. For a full list of competition rules, send an email to the email address above.

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Outsource part of your workload for which you either don’t have the time or skills. You’ll save time and unnecessary pressure. And you’ll save more on employee costs, space costs, training costs, etc, than you will spend on your outsourcing solutions.

Got a 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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Join my affiliate programme and you could earn as much as 33% per sale just by recommending them 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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Another brilliant freebie from the good folks at Google is Picasa – a photo-editing and management program. A reviewer on The Gadget Show said that he preferred it to expensive high-end offerings from the big names in photo-editing software. Another bonus is that it is a doddle to use.

Download at: www.picasa.com

Got a 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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==> http://www.mysitesales.com/app/?af=430941

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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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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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