When designing any marketing or sales collateral, it’s important to understand that most people make decisions based on emotion, not logic. I know that many people think that they are immune to this reality, but studies show this is true for the vast majority of people. Knowing this will help you reach your target market and generate more sales. In addition, here are my top six tips to apply when developing a flyer, brochure or any sales or marketing piece. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Free Marketing Articles’ Category
Six Ways to Create Marketing Collateral that Sizzles
Monday, September 14th, 2009Article Writing Made Simple
Friday, September 11th, 2009As a business owner, you probably know that writing articles on your topic of expertise and distributing them online is great way to publicize your business, increase your expert status and increase your newsletter/ezine list. If you like the idea of article marketing but don’t fancy yourself a writer, I have a simple technique that I use myself to create 11 articles from just one idea.
This technique is what I call a “Top Tips Article.” This technique is best explained by way of example: Let’s say you’re a personal trainer. You write an article called, “The Top 10 Questions to Ask a Personal Trainer Before Hiring Them.” If you have been in your field for any length of time, 10 questions should be super easy for you to whip up.
Once you have your top 10 questions written on paper, write a sentence or two about each one and why it is important to ask. Write a short intro paragraph that sets up your Top 10 list and a brief wrap-up paragraph stating that the answers to these questions will help set your readers up for success. At the end, add your resource box which tells readers who you are and how to find you online and voila! Your first article is done!
To create your next 10 articles, take each question from your Top 10 List and expand up on them individually. For example, let’s say that one of your suggested questions was, “What is your exercise philosophy?” Write an article about that one question. You could call it, “The Best Kept Secret in Personal Training.” In your article, tell your readers why knowing a trainer’s philosophy is the first step they can take to practically guarantee their success, what answers they should look for and what answers should make them run the other way. You can even offer a fun story that illustrates your point if you like. Work through your 10 questions by creating articles on each one and you have created your first 11 articles and it’s time to start over with another Top 10 List!
Here are some other “Top Tips Article” suggestions:
• Top 5 Reasons You Need a Financial Planner
• Top 7 Ways to Apply Feng Shui to Your Home
• Top 3 Ways to Increase Your Wealth
• Top 5 Answers to “What’s for Dinner Mom?”
• Top 8 Misconceptions about Leadership
Articles are usually between 400-1000 words, which is actually very short! You need to keep your articles on point so people will actually read the whole thing. This article, for example, is around 560 words.
Remember that you should leverage your articles by using them not only for article marketing, but also in your ezine, on your blog, submitting them to local newspapers, expanding upon them by creating a workshop or teleseminar and so forth. If you have a really nice series of articles like a “Top List Article” series, you can package them and sell them as a bundle. In fact, I work with an incredibly successful business consultant who wrote an article every week for a year in order to develop content for her first paperback book which is now successfully sold on Amazon.com! As with everything you do in your business, try to think about how you can repurpose your articles and get more bang for your buck!
Wow ‘Em With Off-The-Beaten-Path Holidays
Monday, September 7th, 2009If you are a corporate refugee like me, you are all too familiar with the standard 7 – 9 holidays that you get during the year. However, did you know that there are literally thousands of holidays during the year that people celebrate? For example, did you know that September is “People Skills,” “Healthy Aging” and “Shameless Self Promotion Month?” October is “Eat Better Eat Together Month.” One of personal favorites is “Bubble Gum Day” in February!
What does this mean for business owners? Plenty!
There is a handy reference book in almost every library across the country called Chase’s Calendar of Events. This is the official reference source for national celebrations and various observances throughout the year. You can also subscribe online if you like at www.chases.com.
I like to encourage my clients to look through this reference guide and find a holiday or two that they can use to promote their businesses. For example, December is “National Identity Theft Month.” One of my clients sells identity theft protection, so she is currently developing a promotional program such as a direct mail campaign or perhaps even a party to celebrate! She will also develop a press release to let the media know how she is celebrating and how the public can benefit.
And then there is my colleague, Communication Coach Felecia Slattery, who celebrated “National Communication Month” in June by creating an online bonus extravaganza that increased her visibility by putting her business and her strategic partners in front of over 10,000 people in their target market in just that one month!
The ideas you can come up with are unlimited. Here a just a few other ideas for you to consider after you locate a holiday that relates to your business:
- Create a month-long celebration: a sale, a percentage off, an extra bonus for the month, etc.
- Hold a one-day celebration: an open house, free balloons, bring a friend and receive a gift, etc.
- Send out a press release about what you are doing to celebrate
- Partner with another business to create a joint celebration, thereby introducing your businesses to each other’s lists
If you write articles or even just publish an ezine, you can use different holidays as topics for an article. For example, April is “Stress Awareness Month.” For a fitness or nutrition expert or a life coach, this is gold!
Pick funky holidays to celebrate during the year and create client touch-points around them. For example:
For “National Ice-Cream Day” you can send your best clients and customers a $5 gift card to your favorite ice creamery and say, “Here’s the scoop… I appreciate your businesses!” (See if you can get the local ice creamery to split the cost w/ you for the advertising opportunity!)
For “Bubble Gum Day” – Send a pack or stick of gum and say “Chew on this” and make a special offer.
How you celebrate a holiday is only limited by your imagination! Have fun deciding which holiday or holidays to celebrate and creating your unique marketing program that “wows” your client and prospects.
11 Tips for a Great Trade Show
Friday, September 4th, 2009Exhibiting at trade shows is a great way to spread the word about your business. If you have ever exhibited at one, you’ve probably learned what works and what doesn’t in order to have it be a success. Fresh off of several trade shows, I’ve compiled a checklist of things to remember when packing for the big day. Many of these things seem obvious, but trust me; they are easy to forget if you don’t use a checklist! You probably have other things to include that are specific to your business, but here is a list of items most business owners will want to remember to take. (more…)
How to Create Your Hook
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009One of the greatest things about having a “hook,” otherwise known as a free offer, is that you create it once, and it is used over and over again, day after day, year after year to attract new prospects and clients. You never have to update it, change it or modify it unless you want to. Perhaps every few years you can change it, but why fix what’s not broken? If it’s still relevant and valuable to your prospects, leave it alone and focus on other aspects of your growing business.
So what is a “hook” anyway? It can be a variety of things, including a white paper, an e-course, an audio course, a video course or free teleclass or whatever you can cook up! It’s up to you. If you don’t like to write, an audio course may be a great option for you. If you do like to write, you can write a report, a quiz, or a top-10 list. The choice is yours. (more…)
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