Posts Tagged ‘Kristina Mills’
7 Customer Attraction and Copywriting Secrets to Attract More Real Estate Leads Than Ever
April 1, 2009
If you could wave a magic wand, what would be the one thing that would make a massive difference to your success as a real estate agent?
The answer that most people tell me is that they’d love an easy way to write copy that generates leads.
In fact, most people I speak with in the industry tell me that the way in which they generate most of their leads is through opens and through their branding on vendor paid advertising.
Is there a better way? Here are 7 secrets for attracting more real estate leads than ever.
How To Write Sales Letters That Sell
April 1, 2009
Decades ago, one of the pioneers of the advertising industry, Claude Hopkins wrote the book “Scientific Advertising” in which he wrote of how advertising isn’t about being creative; it’s about following a precise formula to achieve a desired result. Mr. Hopkins words still ring true today.
Great copywriting is about remembering that advertising is nothing more than salesmanship in print.
Understand Your Buyer
Let’s say you consider yourself a pretty decent caliber of salesperson. You can uncover your client’s needs at the drop of a hat. You’re gifted when it comes to making them feel good about themselves and you can handle objections and gain commitment with the greatest of ease.
Selling on paper follows the same process only you need to be part psychic too.
At a client’s home you can interact with them in person. You ask them questions about what their situation is, what their needs are and then tailor your presentation depending on the outcome.
With direct mail you don’t have that luxury. Instead you need to use all your psychic powers to get inside the head of your audience, understand who they are, what they are thinking and then be able to use words that relate to their situation.
The Beginning
The opening paragraph is the most important piece of copy in your entire letter. It’s the piece of copy that will either capture your reader’s interest enough so they want to keep reading or, it will make them throw it away.
Here are some ways to capture their interest:
4 Marketing Initiatives To Make This Year Your Most Profitable Ever
February 2, 2009
1.Establish Key Performance Indicators which measure a variety of financial areas within your business eg. cost per enquiry, cost per sale, profit margins, lifetime value of a client, average transaction value and so forth. That way you have some very clear benchmarks or yardsticks to base any future profit enhancement initiatives on.
Now, against each key performance indicator, write down 4 initiatives you and/or your people can undertake to improve these figures. From there, write down action steps and delegate the tasks. Naturally, it’s important that these KPIs be monitored on a regular ongoing basis to assess
performance.
If you’d like some hands on help, our strategic team can come up with specific marketing strategies and testing programs to help you boost these figures.
The EASY Factor And How it Drives Up Your Sales
February 1, 2009
The easier you make it for the reader to respond, the more responses you will get to your ads, your sales letters and all your marketing material – it’s as simple as that.
If you make the reader jump through hoops before they even hand over their cash, chances are they’ll be thinking to themselves, ‘If it’s this hard to deal with them before I become a customer what will it be like afterwards?’
Give people a number of options and more people will respond. Why? Simply because some people don’t like replying by telephone. Others like to order by phone only and the remainder like to deal person-to-person.
The Power Of Pillar Marketing
February 1, 2009
When you undertake a campaign you’ll experience a synergistic effect by promoting it via a variety of media. So, if you’re promoting your seminar in the newspaper and you also utilise direct mail you’ll get more responses than you would by running two campaigns promoting separate services.
Why? People may glance at your ad and think, “Mmmm…nah, that’s not for me.” But then they may also receive a direct mail invitation. Because they saw the ad in the paper first, they’re more likely to read the letter and vice versa.
Also, pillar promotion is very important in maximising your reach. For instance, certain people simply won’t read local papers but instead they may listen to the radio or read direct mail.
Posted in Marketing
The Titanic Two of Profit Taking
February 1, 2009
Everyone I talk to in business has a profit generating secret for this and a profit generating secret for that. Some have 7 secrets. Others have 10 vital secrets. Others still have 20 or more.
I often get asked the question, “I don’t have time to put in place dozens of initiatives. What are the one or two things I can do to significantly increase my business profits without spending a lot?”
In all my 17 years consulting to small businesses I’ve found that there are (obviously) a number of things businesses can do to achieve profit improvements but two of them stand out as offering a massive impact for a minimal outlay.
Let’s take a look at what they are.
Posted in Customer experience
What’s Your Business Attraction Quotient?
February 1, 2009
At a seminar I ran on Customer Attraction Secrets we talked about the fact that the more attractive your business is, the more customers you’ll attract via word of mouth. We also talked about the Attraction Quotient being a key to that.
Let me explain…
Imagine owning a business that is SO attractive … that you have queues of people lining up out the front waiting to do business with you.
The Key To Awesome Advertising Results From a TRUE Legend
February 1, 2009
Claude Hopkins is clearly a legend in advertising circles. He was the author of Scientific Advertising and also the creator of the famous Schlitz Beer campaign that sent their sales through the roof and illustrated the importance of thorough research.
Here is just one of the pearls of wisdom that Hopkins shared over the years.
“Almost any question can be answered, cheaply, quickly and finally, by a test campaign. And that’s the way to answer them – not by arguments around the table.”
“Ad writers forget they are salesmen and try to be performers. Instead of sales, they seek applause.”
“Whenever possible we introduce a personality into our ads. By making a man famous we make his product famous.”
4 Urgency Drivers to Maximize Marketing Responses
February 1, 2009
It’s a fact. Adding a sense of urgency to your copy will give your marketing responses a big boost. Here are four ways to do that …
1. At the end
Obviously, it’s important that you end an ad or letter by asking the person to respond.
2. P.S.
With direct mail or online sales letters, feature a P.S. that reminds them of the urgency of the offer. Also mention again (in a different way) what their lives will be like if they don’t respond to the offer. In both our Direct Mail and our Website Copywriting Courses we talk in depth about the power of the P.S.
How Does Your Yellow Pages Ad Perform in The “Turn the Page” Test?
February 1, 2009
1. Does your business name appear in your headline?
If it does, your ad stands a good chance of not getting noticed because you’re not offering a benefit to your reader.
2. Does your photo appear in your Yellow Pages ad?
If it doesn’t your reader can’t really relate to your business
3. Does your ad tell your reader why they should ring you and not your competition?
Standing out from your competition is vital if you want your Yellow Pages ad to work and work famously.
S*ex and Charisma … How to Use it to Increase Your Sales And Advertising Responses
February 1, 2009
Picture this …
One summer Sunday afternoon, four guys in their thirties were relaxing with a few beers watching the cricket at the local pub. They were having a great time “downing scooners”, yelling out their own play-by-play commentary of the televised proceedings.
When the cricket match stopped for lunch, two beautiful, blonde, promotions girls walked into the bar. They walked up to the guys and the most scantily clad of the two leant over them and said, “Hi fellas. Having a great time?”, with a big smile and a flirtatious look. “Would any of you like to buy a can of the new X brand Bourbon?”
Posted in Writing
3 Important Marketing Lessons from Advertising Legend, Claude Hopkins
February 1, 2009
By Claude Hopkins and Kristina Mills
Claude Hopkins is widely recognised as the father of advertising. His insights are so simple yet so profound and they apply just as well today as they did decades ago when they were first used.
Here are three lessons, in Claude’s own words. Please note that due to the era that it was written in, the language may be a little dated and that he uses the word “man” instead of “people”.
1. An advertiser suffered much from substitution. He said, “Look out for substitutes,” “Be sure you get this brand,” etc. with no effect. Those were selfish appeals.
Posted in Writing
How to Add an Extra 22% To Your Revenue … Virtually Overnight
July 1, 2008
If you’re in Oz you’ll know it’s the start of a new Financial Year so it’s a time to start reflecting on how well you did or didn’t do in the last 12 months.
To celebrate the New Year here’s a small gift that could be worth a lot to your business. It’s something that many businesses have found to be massively profitable for their businesses over the years.
I hope you find it to be useful too.
Perhaps you have heard of the business growth equation (otherwise known as the 5 ways to increase the profitability of your business).
Posted in Selling
