Marketing Your Reliability
Ask a customer to list the three most important things they consider
when doing business. Almost always, trust will rank high among them.
People want to know that a business is listening to their concerns,
will make every effort to do the job right, and will be there when
they come back the next time.
Right from the start you can let customers and prospects know that
you deserve their trust. Emphasize your company's reliability.
Respond to all inquiries as quickly and completely as possible. This
can be especially effective when responding to a string of messages
from the same person. Your first quick response shows that you are
paying attention. Responding quickly to subsequent questions shows
that you are reliable.
Writing Power Classified Ads
Classified ads can be a very low-cost and effective way to reach
a targeted audience. While the daily paper goes to a broad group of
homes and businesses, other publications seek more specialized groups
of readers. Here are some ways to improve the success of your classified
ads.
Pay attention to the first few words of your ad, or the subject line
for on-line ads. These are the words that the reader scans. Your first
few words, headline, or subject line must be something that will catch
your targeted prospect's interest.
Write for just one person. Visualize a person that is typical of
your prospects and write directly to that person. Use I, you, and
we just like you would in conversation.
Make sure you explain your offer clearly. Don't make the reader guess.
Fusion Marketing
Some entrepreneurs are extremely smart about leveraging their advertising
along with the ads of others. This is called fusion marketing.
Nowhere is this more effective than on the Internet. I can write
an article on marketing for my web site, and get it placed on many
other web sites as well.
This principle works in all other areas of marketing. One car dealer
in my town lowers his advertising costs by including a 10 second ad
for the local cable TV company in his radio commercials.
Another man provides a DJ service for parties and dances. Before
each appearance, he visits small businesses in the neighborhood and
asks if they would like him to mention them on the mike several times
during the dance. He collects a small fee from each.
