BlackBird Copywriting

Dear Fellow Dream Builder;

In the left corner we have the heavyweight champion of the world. The 800lb gorilla called “A-D-V-E-R-T-I-S-I-N-G”. In the right corner we have lithe and nimble, 150lb soaking wet “M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G”.

And here’s where the story gets interesting. The David known as marketing is going to kick Goliath known as Advertising’s butt. I’m going to tell you why exactly that is. I see this way too often in my clients, they get bamboozled by fast talking ad execs and other advertising salespeople. How do I know? Well besides the fact that they tell me, I can see it in their marketing which really is just advertising.

Now, I don’t necessarily have anything wrong with advertising per se. But leave it to the big boys. Those who can spend millions just on some cute jingle or brand awareness campaign, and those who don’t care about testing or tracking.

But for small business owners like yourselves, confusing advertising with marketing is going to be the kiss of death to your business. Let me explain.

Advertising is money spent on putting your name out there with no consideration about your customer or what they might like. Furthermore, advertising is very often not tracked. Sure, Superbowl ads might look flashy, but are they trackable? And if they aren’t who can say whether they are effective.

Marketing on the other hand is reaching out to your customers with information they want and need. It also requires tracking and testing in order to find the best message or offer. Think about it from a personal point of view. Which of the following scenarios is likely to get your attention but further than that, get you to buy.

a) A plumbing company who leaves a door hanger on your front door, which is flashy, has lots of images and talks all about how great that plumbing company is. Or,

b) A plumbing company who leaves a door hanger with a neat picture of a smiling plumber in a clean uniform. The rest of the hanger gives you 5 tips on how to check for leaks yourself and then they mention that they were just servicing a neighbour and would love to offer you a free inspection with no strings attached if you call now.

This is based on a real example. And you likely know which plumbing company had the most success. It’s b.

All of your marketing (and I’m using that term now) is about building a deeper relationship with your customer so that will be with you longer and spend more money. You do this through conversation. You do this through thinking about what is in the best interest of your customer. You do this by seeking first to be of service. It is then that you will receive the business bounty you desire.

Seeing YOUR big picture,

Jason

Dear Fellow Dream Builder;

As 2009 comes to a close I want to offer some tips and strategies for making 2010 an EPIC year. I hope though, that 2009 was a year filled with opportunity and success. If it wasn’t, I hope that you take the time to reflect and learn from the difficulties, errors and hiccups that have no doubt made you a stronger and smarter business builder.

Because this is a blog about marketing and copywriting, I want to stay focused on goal setting in the business sense. Nevertheless, whatever types of goals you set for yourself, I hope that you will use the same strategies because they are applicable across the spectrum of goals. Setting an attaining goals that are personal, financial, spiritual or business oriented uses the same process.

The first thing to do, is not to look at these goals as New Year’s resolutions. This is a fatal mistake. That’s why I usually recommend setting goals a few weeks before New Year’s eve or a few weeks after. Too much pressure is put upon New Year’s resolutions. Don’t set yourself up for failure before you’ve even begun. Here’s why I don’t set New Year’s resolutions. Half of them are abandoned by January 2nd. Another 10% are left for dead on January 3rd and by April 1st folks realize how foolhardy they’ve been when a full 90% of resolutions litter the battlefield of good intentions like dead soldiers.

We’re not going to do that. We’re setting goals you and I, because goals are achievable and predetermined regardless of the time of year.

Now don’t inundate yourself with a bombardment of goals. Take it easy. Having a few, but of solid quality goals is not only more realistic but creates a better potential for success. I recommend usually no more than a handful of goals for each area of your life.

You also have to write them down. Write down your goals online or offline, it doesn’t matter, but you want to write them down specifically. For example if you want to increase your business revenues, then writing down the following is not a good goal. “Increase my business revenue this year.” In fact saying “Increase my business revenue by 10% this year” is still not good enough. Here is an example of a specific and actionable goal. “I will increase my sales revenue by $100k by October 31st 2010 by setting up an email marketing campaign with lead capture on my website and include a PPC campaign of $1000 per month until October 31st 2010.”

That is a much better goal. It is specific. It is actionable, you are telling yourself what you need to do to achieve it and it has a deadline. These are the key components to not only setting goals but achieving them too.

So carve out a couple of hours of quiet time over the next several weeks when things are not so hectic to plot your goals and set your course for success. You can make 2010 EPIC if you give yourself a well drawn out and actionable goal map.

To leave you with a last tip. You have to be able to review it everyday. What I do is create desktop wallpaper out of my goals, including images and the specific actionable steps. This way whenever I start up my computer in the morning I first read my goals right there on my desktop. And then last thing at night as I close my programs I am left with my goal wallpaper to review before I retire and turn off my computer. It works for me.

To YOUR EPIC success in 2010.

As always, seeing YOUR big picture,

Jason

Dear Fellow Dream Builder,

What makes one website successful, while another languishes in obscurity? While there are many factors that come into play, one of the most powerful factors is a targeted web search engine optimization plan. To be successful in business, you need to have laser-sighted focus, consistent, determined efforts and a well-thought out and detailed plan. Including web search engine optimization activities in your plan is an absolute MUST if you want your products or business to be found amongst the countless competitors in the market.

In essence what web search engine optimization will do is bring traffic to your website and paying customers to your door. You can’t make money if interested customers can’t find you and don’t know you exist. Spending a lot of time and money getting your website up and running and appealing to the customer is just the first step. Now you need to strap on its turbo-jets so your business can fly.

There are many aspects to a powerful web search engine optimization overhaul, and one of the ongoing strategies you should employ is to add fresh content that grabs attention and is keyword relevant. In setting up your website and online business plan, you should have done a thorough keyword analysis. You likely had a long list of relevant keywords you want to try and rank for, and chose the most promising ones at the start…but it doesn’t end there. You need to use the other promising, relevant keywords on that list. A great way to put them to use is by adding new content to your website on an ongoing basis. Choose a keyword, and then add an article or blog post or new webpage that relates to an aspect of your business, which is dedicated to that keyword. Include a keyword density of around six percent and you will soon see that your website will be picked up in those searches as well. The more relevant keywords you can rank for, the more your business opportunities are expanded – plain and simple. Traffic and profits are guaranteed to follow.

Web search engine optimization should no longer be thought of as something on a to-do list that would be nice to have. It truly is absolutely essential to your business success and makes the difference between doing ok and getting by and seeing huge profits rolling in. It is a way to maximize your business potential and reach the widest possible customer base. What are you waiting for? Make your dreams come true starting now…

Seeing YOUR big picture,

Jason