Carol Bentley

Sometimes stopping a subscription is the right thing to do. If the information offered is not useful to you, or it doesn’t supply valuable insights to what you need to know then making that decision should be your choice - and your choice alone.

Which is why you have complete control over the notification emails from this blog website. In every email notice you receive there is an unsubscribe option. If you use it you get a chance to say why you are leaving the group, which is good feedback for me as the host.

One gentleman did that when he dropped out last Friday. His reason? “Too many emails”

I wasn’t sure if he meant he was generally getting too many emails or if he was specifically referring to the emails about this blog.

Either way I totally understand how he feels and I’m sure you do too! Does cancelling his subscription mean he will miss out on the future posts? Maybe, but not necessarily.

Keeping in the loop without emails

So what do you do if you want to know about the posts made so you can choose what to read, but you don’t want the daily email?

You can use the RSS feed in the bottom right panel. If you are not familiar with RSS feeds you can read about them here. It can feed each new post through to your desktop without sending emails.

Disadvantages of Subscribing

In the early days of this blog I was undecided about how frequently I should post; daily, couple of times a week, weekly or even monthly. Although my subscriber numbers at that point were quite low - were you one of them? - I asked those readers what they would like to see. The feedback I had was very positive and the content of most of the messages was similar to Gail’s comment:

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong in blogging every day as long as the content is useful and informative to the readers! With your blog, every post so far has had something worthwhile in it!”

(Gail is still a subscriber, thanks for sticking with me Gail )

So I went with the majority opinion and I’ve continued the daily blog since - of course that means you get a daily email. Actually it’s only sent out on weekdays, I take the weekend off However, I appreciate for some it may be too much with all the other emails bombarding their inbox.

Disadvantages of RSS Only

On the surface there may not seem to be any real disadvantage to using an RSS feed to get your notifications. You can still see when a new post goes up and choose whether or not to read it.

Where you do lose out with an RSS feed is accessing any private posts I make. Why? Because these are password protected. And the password is only released to the email subscribers.

“So what? Will I really miss anything by not being able to read the private posts?” you might be thinking.

Well, actually, yes!

I’ve only used the private post once so far when I shared a birthday gift. But there are more in the pipeline. They will include more valuable information, sometimes in the form of a free report or audio or video and the only way you can get it is with the password supplied in the post notification email.

What do you do?

It’s a dilemma isn’t it?

If you don’t subscribe you don’t get the extra goodies I gift from time to time.

If you do subscribe you get a daily email when a post is published.

The good news is - it’s purely your choice. And it’s instantaneous - subscribe and you are immediately ‘in the loop’. Unsubscribe and you never get another email about posts on this blog again.

I hope you choose to stay subscribed, but I fully understand and respect your decision if you decide to use the RSS feed instead.

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: copywriting blog RSS feeds

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Today’s blog is a bit shorter and sweet - bet you’re glad about that

How many times have you heard someone say ‘people who take action find the rewards’ or something along the same vein? Well, it is a truism isn’t it? And this post gives you a chance to take a quick and simple action that delivers a valuable (in my opinion) free gift.

You’ve heard me mention my good friend Ed Rivis on occasion. And you’ve seen my comments about the advantage of being a published author. Well Ed is about to join the ranks of being a published author. He has taken his popular ebook, expanded and updated the topics and is about to launch his book; The Ultimate Web Marketing Strategy into the ‘real world’.

And to celebrate he’s gifting the unabridged PDF version of the book to everyone who is subscribed to his blog page BEFORE 1st Feb. So you see, a simple quick action and you get this informative book for free. Read more about the book on his blog

Is it worth taking action for?

Well -actually - YES!

Ed is my go-to guru when I want to check anything about Internet Marketing. Whenever I get web marketing advice from someone else I go check it with Ed before taking any action.

Ed helped me get this blog set up - so you can thank (or curse) him for everything you’ve read on here because without his help it would not have been published. And his blog is full of good marketing insights - and not just to do with the web.

But you need to act quickly to be sure of getting a free copy, in fact why don’t you do it now? Pop over to www.edrivis.com and subscribe whilst you think of it.

~ Carol Bentley

P.S. Ed has agreed to be interviewed about his journey along the road of being an author - which will give interesting insights if you’re thinking of positioning yourself as an expert in this effective way.

Do you export your goods or services? Do you have to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds?

John Walmsley does and he asked:

“I have a great deal of overseas clients and worry about how I word my emails and newsletters in case I offend. Is there a rule for different Countries or should I just assume they relate to the Scottish wit.”

First I’d like to say that I think it’s great that you’ve thought about this John because many business people don’t.

You see it is very easy to think everyone we speak or write to understands what we actually mean and we understand them perfectly. But do we? And are the actions we take seen as disrespectful? There are distinct cultural differences - there are even subtle differences between regions in the same country!

You build a strong relationship by knowing and respecting those differences. By conducting your business in an acceptable manner.

But how can you be sure of what you should - or should not - be doing or saying, without asking them? You want to come over as professional, as understanding your prospect or customer. If you don’t know their traditions and follow them you could come over as inexperienced or, in a worse case scenario, crass.

Now I do not know all the international differences… but I ‘know a lady who does!‘

If you are dealing with overseas - or about to - check the free articles (over 26) on Deborah Swallow’s website and consider buying her book Communicating Across Cultures, which is on her products page.

The first article link opens a global map which you can click on to get information for different regions.

And John, two articles you might find particularly useful are:

• 10 Tips on Humour

• International Email Etiquette

Her insights help you to avoid mistakes that could kill your customer relationships.

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: international business cross cultural communication copywriting

In Friday’s post I shared my thoughts on when to go for outsourcing and some points to consider when appointing someone to do work for you. One aspect I didn’t cover is clearly described in a post I found on someone else’s blog.  And it is very relevant to a business person who is trying to develop a ‘work on not in your business’ culture.

The whole point is to make sure you don’t undertake tasks that are not worth your valuable time.  Hill Robertson gives a good example in his post ‘You Must Spend Your Money and Time Wisely’

~ Carol Bentley

Outsourcing can free up time, expand your resources and gain expertise within your business. It can also create an absolute nightmare if you choose the wrong person or company or don’t clearly state your expectations.

And John Holder’s winning question raised that subject specifically about copywriting.

This was his question:

Many small businesses are started by someone technically good at what they do, but not that hot on running a business. When are they better off writing “DIY” copy, and when should they outsource with an expert? As a rider to that, how should they (in your opinion) select a copy writer to work with?

Let me split this into 3 elements:

• Business owner; Technically Good
• Do your own copywriting or outsource?
• How to select the ideal copywriter

Technically Good

A business owner, or entrepreneur, usually starts his(or her) business because he is passionate about what he provides - whether that is a service or product. Because of that passion he has a wealth of knowledge, experience, expertise and skill in his chosen field.

Ask a question and he can tell you everything you need to know about it; what to look for; why you should avoid this or that; different approaches; different uses etc.

Consider for a moment; your business… do you regard yourself as having a wealth of expert knowledge? Could you answer almost any question put to you about it? Are you immersed, heart and soul, in your business?

It’s that in-depth understanding and vibrancy that shows through when you talk about your business - and it can shine through in your sales letters when you write about it.

Bottom line: YOU know more about your business and how it helps other people or companies than any copywriter simply because it IS your baby.

When DIY Writing is Sometimes Best..

Because you know so much more about your business ideally you should write your own sales letters and marketing material. You know every nuance, all the tips and insights that an outsider can never know. You know how to make your product or service deliver outstanding results for your customers and clients (you do, don’t you?)

But there is one trap you have to be careful to avoid and that’s becoming the ‘business bore’.

You know what I mean, I’m sure you’ve met someone like that - you ask what he does and wham! you’ve opened the floodgates to all about his business; what he does; what he wants; how his product or service works - every little detail all told from his point of view… he will blah! blah! blah!

Yes - you do need to get your message across and you need to show your enthusiasm for what you can do for people. But be subtle about it. Describe it from your customer’s point of view. Never forget the two questions your listener /reader is probably asking; “What’s in it for me?” and “So what?” Keep that in mind when you write your letters (as I describe in my book) and you’ll write compelling letters.

Having said that, for some people writing really is very difficult. They do not have a natural inclination to write - and that’s probably particularly true for someone who is very skilled manually or technically.

For example my husband is mental about his business (sorry! I should have said passionate ) but to me it seems ‘mental’ because he loves history, specifically military history and in his business he buys and sells military collectibles (www.tigercollectibles.co.uk). Personally I can’t see the attraction, but by the same token he feels the same about the fact I love to sit and write. He finds it very difficult to get his thoughts down onto paper.

Now it is a skill he could learn - as anyone can - if he felt the need or inclination. He doesn’t (you can guess why ).

But although it is a skill that can be learnt not everyone is inclined to make that effort.

If you find it painful to express yourself in writing; if it takes you hours of blood, sweat and tears to write a sales letter and then you decide (or someone tells you) it’s never going to get the results you want then perhaps you need to consider the alternative.

Because those hours you’re wasting trying to get a reasonable effort together could probably be better spent driving your business forward in other ways.

But, before you make that decision do make sure you understand the process because then you are better equipped to recognise good writing and choose the right person to work with.

How to Select the Ideal Copywriter - 9 Points to Consider

Some of the suggestions I’m going to make here apply to any service you outsource - not just copywriting.

• Decide what you want to achieve. Do you want…

• A powerful sales letter?
• A company brochure?
• Press releases?
• Feature articles?
• Reports or ‘white-papers’?
• Copy for a website?
• An email marketing campaign?
• Advertising copy?
• A staff handbook?
• A procedures manual?
• A technical guide?

Many of these writing activities need different skills and approaches. When you’ve decided what you want produced you can look for someone who has experience in that particular discipline.

• Is he/she professional? By that I mean does he take the trouble to ask questions about your business, your goals and, if you are looking for a sales letter, does he ask about your offer and what other marketing you’ve already done and the response you got. Look for a copywriter who asks you to complete a project questionnaire.

• And talking of professionalism, does he supply a contract and terms of business so you know exactly what to expect and what he is agreeing to do for you?

• Does he have a good reputation? Do you know his work? Have you heard good things about the material he has produced for other businesses? Does his style match yours?

• How does he charge? By the hour; by the page or number of words; or does he charge a retainer? Be careful. Writing is creative work. It takes time to craft the documents you want, especially if it is a sales letter or marketing piece. Charges by the hour can mount up and storm past your budget before you realise it.

And be cautious about restricting the number of pages or words you want someone to write - unless it is a requirement for the project, for example when writing an article for a publication that has to be a specific length.
Many professional copywriters quote a price for the project, which can make budgeting easier for you. Dependent upon the work you are asking for you may be able to negotiate a lower fee with a commission on results achieved. Beware - if the fees are very low, ask yourself why?

• Is he easy to work with? Some copywriters can be very autocratic. They can be opinionated and refuse to collaborate properly with clients. They regard requests for changes to what they’ve produced to be a personal insult to their talent.

You want someone you can talk to; someone who matches your enthusiasm for your product or service; someone who is genuinely interested in what you provide and what you want to achieve; someone who listens and takes on board your ideas. And you want a copywriter who is willing to explain why he has taken a particular approach and why he thinks it will work for you.

• Does he do his own research? Obviously you need to provide as much material, information, insights and supporting documentation as you can. But the mark of a true professional is the copywriter who goes that extra mile by doing his own research to enhance what you’ve supplied.

• Is he reliable? Does he meet deadlines, deliver on time? There’s no point having a good copywriter if he constantly misses deadlines. That’s particularly important when you are sending out offers with a specific offer period or geared to anniversaries or seasons.

Take your time when choosing someone to provide an outsource service; whether that service is copywriting or any other. Ask the questions and make sure you are happy with the answers before making any commitments.

~ Carol Bentley

P.S. I have a couple more questions to share with you: Death of the Long Letter (from Ian Brodie) and Cultural Communication Differences (John Walmsley). Look out for these in next week’s posts.

technorati tags: outsourcing copywriters copywriting

Useful business connections crop up in many different ways. When you’re talking to people; when you’re emailing people; when you’re visiting other websites and at carnivals. Really - you will see why in a moment.

And when I find connections I think might be interesting I like to share. Before starting this blog I only shared with friends and colleagues who I frequently emailed. But now I can share with you. . .

And this post is not only sharing the links it is also saying Thanks (again!) because all of these links go to blog carnivals who have shown their support by posting a link to entries on this blog.

What is a blog carnival?

Without getting too technical, a blog carnival is a collection of interesting blog posts on a subject or area of interest. If, for example, you have a specific interest (business or hobby) you can search for a carnival on that topic. When you visit the website hosting the carnival you find links to interesting articles and blog posts the host has gathered together for you. It saves you trawling hundreds of different websites looking for good content to read.

The person acting as host invites people to submit their blog posts for the carnival. The host checks the content of the post to see if it is relevant to the carnival subject and would give valuable insights to the carnival visitors.

It is a useful source of information, thoughts and comments that is easily accessible to anyone.

In fact by following the posts from some of these articles I have discovered useful material; some of which I have already discussed in previous posts on this site.

Finding blog carnivals

You can often find blog carnivals by following the link in a comment below a post on your favourite blog site. (There are quite a few at the bottom of my earlier posts).

You can search on Google (or the other search engines) for blog carnivals. Simply type blog carnival followed by the subject you are interested in.

You can check out the blog carnivals listed below. These are all carnivals that have selected and shown posts from here. If the topics I write about here are useful to you it may be that some of the other contributors to these carnivals also have good material you’d like to read.

Let me know if you find anything interesting to share with your fellow visitors to this blog.

Thanking the Blog Carnival Hosts

Hosting a blog carnival is time-consuming. I’d like to express my appreciation to the hosts of these carnivals for their support.

If you host a carnival that has displayed one or more of my posts and it isn’t shown here - please accept my apologies for missing you off this list but rest assured your link is showing below the post you included in your carnival.

• Carnival of Making Real Money
• More Than We Know
• JustWriteBlogCarnival
• Web Business Marketing Blog
• Business and Blogging
• Tip Diva
• Success Part 2
• 4 Entrepreneur
• E3 Success Systems
• Today is That Day
• Uncle Joe’s Leadership Blog
• Fiction Scribe
• The Writer’s Block
• Efficient VA
• Carnival of Life, Happiness and Meaning

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: blog carnival business resources copywriting

Well the result is in. Ed, who acted as my independent judge, has now chosen the question he felt was the one that best matched his judging criteria, although all the questions submitted gave us food for thought.

Was it your question? Or was it one that makes you think “That’s a good question - I’d like to know the answer to that as well!”

Ed’s judging criteria was:

• Does the question appeal to a wide business audience?
• Is it a question many people are probably asking? If not, is it something they should be asking?
• Is it a question he might have asked?

Here’s the entry that Ed chose:

Many small businesses are started by someone technically good at what they do, but not that hot on running a business. When are they better off writing “DIY” copy, and when should they outsource with an expert? As a rider to that, how should they (in your opinion) select a copy writer to work with?

This was Ed’s comment:

“Great question – and a tick in all the boxes of my judging criteria. THIS IS MY FAVOURITE because so many businesses need to know when to DIY or outsource, (How WHO and where) outsourcing, when to pay a little or a lot, split testing different copywriters’ material versus your own etc etc. GREAT question.”

It was sent in by John Holder from Ruskin Information Services. Congratulations John, here’s what you’ve won…

The unabridged audio programme of my book on 3 high-quality CDs, plus a bonus Data CD containing additional document examples, checklists, a searchable PDF version of the book and more.

You also get an A5 workbook, with the PDF on the bonus CD so you can print out another workbook to help you with each of your writing projects.

I’m sure it will prove to be a valuable tool in your business.

Your prize will soon be rushed out to you for you to enjoy.

I’ll be posting my reply to this thought-provoking question later this week. Look out for the email announcing the post titled When is DIY writing best

Thank you for sending your questions in, even if you didn’t win the prize I trust you found my advice helpful.

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: copywriters outsourcing sales letters

In a previous post ( 4 easy steps to authorship) I explained how a tips booklet can be used as a highly effective marketing tool. A comment on that post asked about PDF (e-books) and how they fared. It is a valid question, especially with so many businesses expanding their web presence.

Creating and gifting a PDF tips booklet, report, ‘how to’ manual or book containing any valuable information is a proven method of attracting subscribers and enquiries via a web site. I have done that myself with free e-business reports and e-articles in the past.

I also know, as I’m sure you do too, many people who have successfully promoted their business purely through e-books.

The only caveat to a PDF is that it is relatively easy to create and is very inexpensive to produce and put out into the market place. Nothing wrong with that… except that in some circumstances the quality of content and presentation may not be as good as in a published document.

And for some reason people’s perception of someone who has actually written and published a book - is an author - is quite different to any other sort of writer (at least that seems to be the case here in the UK).

So although the PDF allows you to get good and useful information out to your prospects, I personally don’t think it gives you quite the same kudos as being a published author.

What I do recommend is that when you print-publish a booklet or book, consider creating a PDF version too and think about how it can be used creatively to improve your market strength.

And of course, once you have got a book (or books) published you can certainly just use PDF e-books to distribute further material or new books, as Steven King has done.

Now - this is my personal view of the reasons for publishing a book. What do you think? Do you have a very different experience you would like to share?

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: copywriting business tips marketing

Within a business there are frequent occasions when a word of thanks is appropriate - and I’ll be giving you my thanks a little later in this post. But first, I want to tell you about an inspired way of saying ‘thank you’ that makes your company more memorable, whether the thanks are to customers, business colleagues or a member of staff.

Many business owners are astute enough to realise that expressing thanks for business; for referrals and recommendations; for a job well done by a supplier; for an excellent result achieved by an employee is good business practice. It is also a canny marketing activity; showing you appreciate your clients and the support they give by buying from you.

How you express your thanks gives a different perception of your company; it’s where attention to detail counts. So what are the ways you can show your appreciation - and how can you do it successfully without it becoming a burden on your budget or time?

• Send an ordinary email of thanks - this doesn’t take much time and is certainly better than not doing anything; but I don’t think it will really make you stand out

• Organise an impressive e-card (take a look at http://www.jacquielawson.com). These are beautiful animated e-cards, but if the person you are thanking has a spam filtering system in place the notification email may not reach him (or her) or he may not collect the card - it does need some effort on his part.

• Give a small gift of thanks - depending upon what you are expressing appreciation of, that may be appropriate.

• Write a personal letter of thanks. This does take more effort and for some people it can take considerable time, thinking of how to word the letter. Not everyone is comfortable about putting their thoughts into writing.

• Snail-mail a postcard. Although this is a little different, it’s not very private and may not be appropriate in certain circumstances.

• Post a ‘Thank You’ greeting card - this is the inspired method I want to tell you more about. You see, at first glance it may seem as though it takes as much effort, if not more, than some of the suggestions above. But I found a brilliant website that sends a high quality card, complete with your personal message. The cards are sent from the US but, with the current exchange rates, the postage equates to little more than it would cost to send from the UK.

There is an incredible choice of card designs and the whole process takes just a couple of minutes. Take a look at http://www.sendoutcards.com where, for those extra special occasions, they can even add a gift (but before you do that, have a look at my ‘Thank You’ message below). I tested this service myself and can definitely confirm the high quality of the card that is supplied.

Marketing Thought: if you decide to use these cards as an alternative way of delivering your marketing message then the foreign postage frank may act in your favour if you are sending to UK addresses. It may intrigue your prospect enough to open the envelope - which is the first step we are aiming to achieve. It is something that might be worth testing.

My Thanks to You

I have two Thank You’s to say:

First: I’d like to say Thank You for the questions that have been sent in. There have been some very interesting topics brought up. Some of the questions have already been posted with answers, others - that are available for ‘public view’ - will be added over the next week or so.

The questions have now been sent over to Ed for his independent selection of the best one submitted. Whoever sent in the winning question gets the prize I offered in Monday’s post.

If you sent a question in, look out for the judge’s choice in a post later this week.

Second: Even if you didn’t have a question you wanted answering, the support you show by visiting, reading and recommending my blog is really appreciated. Which is why I’m always looking out for more information or resources that will help you in your business. That’s why I suggested visiting the SendOutCards website.

And whilst looking, one of the distinct advantages of interacting on the web is you come across some very nice people. And Martin Russell is one of those (check out his Word of Mouth Magic blog, it’s listed in the blog roll).

Martin has very generously said that visitors from this blog can test out 3 cards from his SendOutCards service at his expense. This gives you the opportunity to experience the service and test the quality for yourself. Simply go to Martin’s Offer (http://www.WordofMouthMagic.com/card)

What other ways of saying ‘Thank You’ have you used or experienced? Will you use the comment (it may show as No Comments to start) link below to share ideas with other readers? Thanks.

~ Carol Bentley

On Monday I invited you to ask your most burning question and said all questions sent by today (Friday) would be considered for the accolade of being chosen as the best question asked and would receive a gift.

And so far I’ve received some very interesting ones, a few of which I’ve already answered in this week’s posts.

Now is your last chance to send your questions in. Have you sent yours yet? What is puzzling you most? It can be a question on anything to do with marketing your business; writing sales letters; advert or other material. Marketing or sales techniques or anything else you’d like to throw into the pot.

Use the comment link below or - for a more private question - you can use the question contact form (let me know if you don’t want it to be answered publicly on this blog).

I look forward to helping you.

~ Carol Bentley

It’s the online marketing dilemma. You want to encourage people to subscribe to your newsletter, blog, reports or whatever other valuable incentive you’ve created for your web visitors.

You’ve studied the best way to encourage people to sign up - as I did - and took note of the experts opinion about what works and what doesn’t.

And then, with gritted teeth, even though everyone I talk to (and that includes me… yes , I admit it I do talk to myself ) hates those annoying pop-ups I added one to my website. You may remember it.

Did you notice it wasn’t displayed this time?

No, I haven’t capitulated to the majority opinion (sorry, I do value you and hate the thought of upsetting you) but I’ve found a way to enjoy the best of both worlds. The power of the pop-up as a marketing tool and being able to stop the irritation you may have been experiencing.

Let me explain…

Once you’ve subscribed - whether it is through the pop-up or the in-line request in the right panel - you’ll never see the pop-up box again. Isn’t that great?

So how did I do it?

Well, I’m sorry to say it wasn’t me!

Oh yeah, I implemented it… but the actual method came from a brilliant techie-geek (his words ).

If you have a website using pop-ups (because you know they work) then take a look at Hill Henderson’s solution at http://hillrobertson.com

And do it NOW! Why?

Because Hill is currently offering his easy-to-follow system for an unbelievably minuscule $10 until 4:59 am (GMT) on Friday 18th Jan.

I hope you see this post in time… if you don’t he isn’t going crazy with his new price so it’s still worth popping over to look.

Is it worth the bother? Do Pop-Ups really work?

Now, if pop-ups really do annoy you, you might think it’s easier just to ignore using them altogether…

Not a savvy marketing decision. Based purely on my experience with this website here are my conversion stats, take a look and make your own decision:

Using pop-up displayed on every visit:

Inline conversion (unique visitors to subscriptions): 6.8%

Pop-up conversion 16.1%

Then I tested showing the pop up every 5th visit you made…

Inline conversion 3.7%

Pop-up conversion 6.8%

I think the figures speak for themselves.

It will be interesting to see how the new structure works…

~ Carol Bentley

The biggest challenge when sending out a message is getting your reader to respond. That applies to email messages, advertising, direct mail letters and other marketing approaches.

That is the essence of the question Martin Russell from www.wordofmouthmagic.com sent in:

Q: “You send out blog notification emails with a bit of the post in it, so is there any evidence for which is better; title only, part of post, full post?”

A: I got my training on ‘how to create a blog’ from Ed Rivis’ programme on business blogging for profit. And, initially, I followed his email notification style of sending just the title of the post.

However, I noticed that in email notices I received from Dan Kennedy for his marketing newsletters, he always included the start of his article. Sometimes this intrigued me enough to go and have a look, sometimes it didn’t.

And I wondered if giving a bit more of an idea of what a post was about would encourage more of my blog subscribers to visit. Effectively act as a teaser…

So I decided to test this and changed the notification style of my emails (if you’ve been a subscriber for some time you probably noticed the difference). It is still early days yet but the figures are showing an interesting trend. My average number of daily visitors has increased by 31.65% since sending the new style notice.

Now this is not scientific testing because the topics are different so it is not really a fair comparison. I shall check the average again after a few more weeks.

As regards sending the full post in the email, I’m not too keen on that approach. Not because I’ve tested anything - purely a personal thing because:

1. I would have to be more careful about the wording I use in the post to avoid triggering spam filter programs, which could prevent my messages getting through to you.
2. It would make some of the emails extremely long and I prefer to let you decide if you want to visit to read the full content.
3. If you got the full post in the email, you’d have no reason to visit this blog website. It would be more like an ezine newsletter. The idea of the website is to create a relationship, with the chance for you and I to interact. When you visit to read the post you can use the comment link to respond if you want to; effectively continuing the conversation I’m starting.
4. As this blog site grows, I’ll be adding links to useful products I’m developing. If you never have any reason to visit you won’t see the links and could be missing out on something that is important to you and your business.

So, on that basis, I don’t have any plans to test sending the full post message.

What are your thoughts?

Do you prefer to have an email showing just the post title? Or do you like having the introductory text that gives a hint of what the post is about?

I’d like to know your opinion - post your 2p’s worth using the comments link below.

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: marketing copywriting web marketing

Breaking into larger organisations can be extremely frustrating as the question sent in by Tony Clarke, Fuel Dynamics Ltd indicated:

“I want to do business with every Housing Association in the UK. I somehow or other have to ‘get to’ their chief purchasing officers.

My experience is that because I’m only a small business they will not work with me. They will, it appears, only deal with ‘big’ companies who they know and have a strong market presence.

Letters do not work even to the right man. Phone calls are never put through. Faxes, which I’ve found effective in some situations, don’t get a response.

Maybe you have some tips for me and some of your other readers on how to deal with these very powerful people. They rule the roost and even their MD’s give them a free hand in terms of control.

It’s an interesting dilemma for me.”

A: Changing the perception your target prospect has of you is key to getting that door open. And it takes more than letters, emails or faxes that introduce your company and the service or products you offer.

Sometimes you have to approach it from a completely different angle. So let me start by asking you some questions; see if they give you any ideas…

• Do you give the impression of being a small company? Check your image, both in terms of presentation - from your business card up - and what happens if anyone does attempt to contact you. Do you have an answer phone or are calls always answered personally?

For example; many years ago when I was the sole representative of my company I made absolutely sure that anyone contacting me got a very favourable impression. I engaged a telephone answering service that offered a good personalised service; they didn’t have a lot of other calls being answered in the background and knew that they must never, under any circumstances let on that they were a telephone answering service.

It worked, because one of my clients who I had worked with for some years, expressed surprise when he discovered that I didn’t have an army of people behind me.

Now, the important thing is I did not deceive my client; he never asked about the size of my company - he just assumed that my company was large because the phone was always answered by a variety of different people whenever he rang; there was no voice mail or answerphone. And of course, he received superb service so had no reason to doubt my company’s ability to look after him.

• Who, in the organisation, uses what you offer? Does the person (or people) who would benefit most from your product or service have any influence on the CPO? Could you recruit them as ambassadors for you and your company?

• What challenges are the CPO’s facing that your product or service could help with?

• Do you have expert knowledge that would help him in his job, without actually selling him anything? Advice freely given makes you more memorable than competitors who are only looking for the sale.

• Do you have a valuable, content-rich report, booklet (or book) you can send as a gift. It would have to deliver exceptional value; not just mundane ‘facts & figures’ he can get from anywhere.

• Have you thought about writing and publishing a book? Doing so positions you as the expert. It adds gravitas to your reputation and when you send it as a gift it raises the barrier for you; makes you stand out from the competition. And crafting a book is not as difficult as it may first seem.

• Do you have case-studies from other organisations that demonstrate innovative approaches to solving the problems the Housing Associations CPO’s face? Collate them into a report; make sure you get permission to use the stories and check exactly how much detail your customers are happy for you to reveal.

• Do any of your present or past satisfied customers know the people you are trying to reach. Would they be prepared to recommend you, or write a letter of endorsement?

• Are you well known within your industry? If your prospect recognises your name as an industry expert he is more likely to give you time to talk.  Apart from publishing a book you can achieve this by getting articles printed in the trade publications he is likely to read.  Send letters to the editor with interesting ‘industry specific’ points.  Do not make even the slightest attempt to advertise or sell your product or company.  The editor is highly unlikely to print your letter if you do, which defeats the whole purpose of writing.

Enhancing your reputation within your industry works in your favour, even if you don’t own the company you work for.

If any of the writing activities phases you then hire a ghost writer to create the material for you.

Like any large organisation, selling to a Housing Association needs a different approach. Don’t ’sell’ - offer powerful advice that the CPO appreciates and looks forward to receiving. Demonstrate your expertise; demonstrate the higher level of personal contact and customer service he (or she) gets from you compared to a larger organisation where he may not always be able to deal with the same person continuously.

But most of all, remember you are still selling to a person who has his own problems; his own challenges, his own stressful situations. Eliminate some of that stress for him, make life easier and you have a better chance of getting his attention.

I have recommended it before… and it is worth mentioning again because I think it would help you in this situation - Jill Konrath’s book Selling To Big Companies is worth getting. You can take a look at 2 chapters for free if you visit: http://www.sellingtobigcompanies.com

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: marketing business tips selling to big companies Jill Konrath

It is inevitable that sometimes you have to leave a message when you’re trying to contact someone and your call goes through to voice mail. How effective, or annoying, is the message you leave?

SpinVox revealed the top 10 most annoying voicemails through their survey. Have you experienced any of these – or perhaps you’re guilty too? Check them out on www.modernselling.com

The one that really gels with me is number 2, The Death March.

At the moment everyone in my office knows to repeat that all important information - the number to call back on - at least twice. But I think I’m going to ask them to give the number earlier in the message as well as at the end. After all, we don’t want to annoy or frustrate the people we are trying to reach, do we?

So, the message you leave - is it helpful, informative and designed to elicit the response you want? Or is it one of those most hated message types?

Constructing a well thought out message before you call - just in case the person you want to speak to isn’t available - is also a good use of your copywriting skills, don’t you think?

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: voicemail copywriting business tips

Most of the posts I’ve done so far have been on copywriting, marketing or business insights I wanted to share with you or topics that people have asked me about before.

As a regular visitor to this blog you possibly sit there thinking “I could do with knowing about this…” or “I wonder how I should do such and such?” Some of my visitors have already sent in questions, and you may be one of them. If not, now is your chance to ask your most burning question.

It can be on copywriting, marketing, business strategies or tips, the meaning of life and the universe… well maybe not the last one, I’m not a philosopher!

So ask away, using the comment link below or the blog question link in the right hand panel.

The questions and answers I believe would be the most valuable for you and my other readers will be shown in future postings.

And the best question is…

Oh - and the best question - gets a copy of the unabridged audio of my book I Want To Buy Your Product.. Have You Sent Me A Letter Yet, normal rrp £67.

In this set of 3 audio CDs you hear me sharing an abundance of copywriting and direct marketing insights.

You can listen whilst driving or at any time you want to check something. The audio tracks are split into chapters so you can easily skip to the chapter you want to listen to or continue from where you last left off.

Plus there is an A5 workbook accompanying the set to help you create your first compelling sales letter.

The valuable bonus data CD contains a printable version of the workbook, for your future projects, as well as additional material for you to study and adapt for your business. I’ve also included all my checklists and a searchable electronic version of the book.

Who chooses the best question? Not me! I might be slightly biased , so I’ve asked my good friend and internet marketing expert, Ed Rivis, to do the honours for me.

Any questions received by Friday 18th January will be considered for this prize.

Send in your question or questions now, whilst you think of it - but please keep to one question per submission. Thanks.

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: copywriting marketing Q&A