|
THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL MARKETING FOR PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZERS by Maria Gracia 1. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GUESS. There are no opinions in effective marketing. Just facts. If you were to show me an ad you've been running to promote your services, and then you asked me for my opinion on it, my very first question would be, WHAT ARE YOUR NUMBERS? Any other reaction would be an absolute guess or opinion. Just like you can't guess the numbers of a combination lock, you can't guess whether or not a particular marketing effort is going to produce profitable results for you. How much did you spend for the ad? How much were your other product/service expenses? How many prospects did you generate? How many of those prospects actually purchased from you? Did you make any profit? Etc. etc. etc. You MUST know your numbers. 2. TEST, BEFORE SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY. It's certainly very easy to spend money, especially when it comes to marketing your business. However, it's essential to make sure a marketing effort is going to be worthwhile, BEFORE you spend a ton of money on it. That's why it's so important to test. You don't want to mail out your post cards to 5,000 people and then find out that your offer wasn't quite right, or that you didn't mail to the right target. Between the printing and postage costs, you could go broke! However, if you instead did a test mailing of 200 postcards first, you would immediately be able to determine the number of responses, and you'd have the opportunity to improve your marketing efforts for your next mailing. 3. IF YOU'RE GOING TO MARKET, MAKE SURE YOU DO THE TWO-STEP. Most businesses do One-Step Marketing. You can spot One-Step marketing when you see a marketing piece that basically says, "I've been in business for 10 years. I offer Services A, B and C. I'm the best. I'm reliable. Buy from me." Ok, maybe it's not that blatant, but for the most part, it's very close. One-Step marketing is an ineffective form of marketing for small businesses. It doesn't ever convey any compelling reason for the reader to respond to the marketing piece. On the other hand, the Two-Step Method is perfect for small businesses,especially for Professional Organizers. It is designed to evoke an immediate response from your prospective customers. 4. SELL WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS WANT, NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO SELL. You can't make someone buy something they don't want. For example, if a travel agency wants to sell very expensive cruises to people who can't afford them, they are not going to sell any cruises. If your target market wants inexpensive organizing books and tools, but you want to sell expensive computerized software, again, you're probably not going to sell many products. If you listen closely to your prospects and customers, they will tell you what products/services they want to buy. That's ALWAYS what you should sell. (By the way, I didn't even start writing my book, Finally Organized, Finally Free until I had over 100 reserved orders for it! I then knew that I was selling what my customers wanted. I'll discuss this more in a future issue.) 5. AVOID CUTE, FLUFFY, COMPLEX OR OBSCURE MARKETING. Take a look through your local newspaper or go through your mail today, and you're bound to find examples of cute, fluffy, complex or obscure marketing. You'll find ads or flyers with graphics that have absolutely nothing to do with the product or service, such as a big piece of fruit on an ad for a bank, or a piece of pie on a post card for a real estate broker--I just saw both of these examples this past weekend. You'll also come across marketing pieces that take forever to figure out what exactly is being sold because it is disguised by a silly joke or pun. You'll probably even see ads/letters that are written in confusing industry jargon--that even a NASA engineer would have a difficult time figuring out. The very best marketing for small businesses, especially professional organizers, is marketing that is simple, clear, to the point, includes an enticing offer, and solicits an immediate response. 6. DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER. Let's say you do a free seminar to generate prospects for your business, but a month later you haven't heard from any of the attendees-- not one sale. Or perhaps you ran an ad, that produced no calls. Maybe you even sent out a direct mail letter to a few hundred people, and just can't understand why your phone isn't ringing off the hook. Never assume that the vehicle you used didn't work. Ads, flyers, seminars, radio, Web sites, direct mail letters, post cards and so on are all vehicles. These vehicles are designed to DELIVER your message to your target. I've heard it a million times, "I've tried direct mail. It doesn't work for me." That statement always misses the fact that it may not have been the VEHICLE that didn't work. It could have been any number of other important factors that didn't work, such as . . . * You targeted the wrong people. * There was little or no interest in your product/service. * Your offer was wrong. * You had no offer. * You had an ineffective call to action. * You had no call to action. * Your timing was off. * The list could go on and on. The point is, you should never immediately discount the vehicle, before asking yourself about all the other possibilities. 7. NO OFFER-NO ACTION. It is very important to always include a compelling OFFER in your marketing efforts, so that you immediately intrigue people--so much that they contact you immediately. If you don't have an offer, your prospects really have no reason to respond to your marketing. Asking people to "call for more information" is NEVER a compelling offer, and rarely generates any response. The offers that work well for generating prospects, are not the same offers that work well for generating customers, or repeat business. More about this in later issues. 8. KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRANGERS, PROSPECTS AND CUSTOMERS. In a nutshell: * A STRANGER doesn't know you, your business, or your products or services. They're exactly what the name implies--strangers. * A PROSPECT is someone who "contacted" you because they have an interest in your products or services. * A CUSTOMER is someone who actually has given you money, in exchange for your products or services. Here's an important point. Strangers will rarely buy your products and services. The bulk of your sales will come from your Prospects and Customers. Focus your marketing efforts on growing those two groups. 9. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF FREE. The word FREE is one of the most important words in marketing. It means that you are a generous and professional company who believes so deeply in what you're selling that you're willing to give away something for free--because you know it will turn into sales and profit for you later. I don't mean novelty items, like refrigerator magnets, pens, or coffee mugs with logos. I mean free articles, free tips, free seminars, free newsletters--in other words, helpful information that is related to your business, and that will help your prospective customer choose to purchase your goods or services. 10. DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE WORD STRATEGY. IT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. It's not important to have flashy, gorgeous, expensive marketing pieces. In fact, especially if you're just starting out, I would immediately discourage it. People are not buying your fancy paper. They're buying YOU, your professionalism, your helpfulness, your expertise, your attitude, your knowledge, and so on. Put your effort where it belongs--on your marketing strategy. All that means is to test, develop and practice a concrete system that will allow you to market your business, so that you know exactly what results to expect with every marketing effort you put your time and money into. Click to Return to Article Index 
Click Here for Contact InformationCopyright 1998 - 2008 Effective Business Systems Get Organized Now!™ 611 Arlington Way Watertown, WI 53094 |
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZERS NEWSLETTER We respect your privacy. Your e-mail address will never be shared with or sold to anyone.
|