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;

Thank you once again for reading my scribbles. I want to offer you some value today about Calgary marketing. These Calgary marketing strategies are not just for those of you who live and work in Calgary. You’ll find that the marketing tips I’m offering will work wherever you are. Whether you’re in Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles or New York.

Heck, so long as your product or service is needed and sold to human beings you’ll make some good use of these tips. That last comment was in no way meant to be facetious. Truly, marketing is not some magic whoo-whoo that only divine soothsayers can figure out. Sure there is a science to marketing properly to folks whether you’re marketing online or marketing offline. Every business owner can build a terrific marketing campaign regardless of your marketing background. If you’ll only choose to think about these ideas that I’ve called Calgary marketing tips.

Engage your customers in a conversation. What I mean by this is that your business will prosper if you nurture your customers. You wouldn’t expect your friendships to evolve, deepen and last if you didn’t take the time to visit your friends, talk to them and ask after them. Treat your customers as you would your best friends.

Reward those who are your best customers. In line with the above Calgary marketing tip, segment your customers an create a VIP club if you can with only special rewards and offers for your best customers. Above all else though, continue to reach out and engage your customers. Send them valuable information way more often than you send them offers. The 80/20 rule works well here. Offer value 80% of the time and ask for business only 20% of the time. Send your best customers a physical birthday card on their birthday. Write something specific to them in your own hand. Watch the results increase your profits and revenues.

One last marketing idea that you can use, and this one might sound contrarian. Fire those 20% of your clients who bring you the least business and the most headaches. This can be hard, I know. But your best customers will be better off for it and your employees will respond well to it. You never know the amount of sorrow that your worst customers are creating for your business. It can be affecting employee morale which in turn affects all of your customers. Trust me, those 20% are dragging your business down like dead weight. You’ll be happier and your business stronger if you’ll just do it.

It’s hard I know. In today’s economic environment we think we need all the business we can get. But this is just not true. Fire those customers who are holding you back and your business will soar to new heights. Hope you’ve enjoyed this Calgary marketing advice. Now just implement it!

Seeing YOUR picture,

Jason

Dear Fellow Dream Builder;

Use the New Year to launch your business into the stratosphere with online tools. I’m talking about Twitter. Twitter is gaining popular fast. Has been for a couple of years now. As a business builder you can reach new heights with your business through these online Web 2.0 properties, one of which is Twitter.

There are incidences of offline businesses relying solely on Twitter to drive traffic to their offline store. An example is one business in Houston who doubled their clientelle through the use of Twitter. You can read the rest of the story here: http://blog.mrtweet.net/twitter-to-go-how-one-local-coffee-shop-used-twitter-to-double-his-clientele

This same success can be yours regardless of the type of business that you are engaged in. Twitter is a great way to start a conversation with your customer and develop trust. Trust is crucial in gaining supportive and loyal, long term customers. This is especially true of reaching an online audience. If it takes 7 contacts with your customer before they feel comfortable buying from you, then this is doubly important with your online customer where you can’t often build that face to face intimacy as you can offline.

There are a couple of important tips on etiquette when engaging your client on Twitter. It is most common to follow back those who follow you. This is common courtesy, though of course as with all rules, sometimes they need to be broken. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed a lot of spammers springing up on Twitter. These vultures are spamming with gambling and pornography. So before you follow back anyone, be sure that they are not a spammer.

Another thing to bear in mind when using Twitter is to avail yourself of common courtesies just as one would in the offline world. What I’m talking about here is being thankful. Take a moment to send a thank you tweet to your followers just after they’ve followed you.

In fact, I’d like to suggest that being thankful is the first step to success in any business. If you conduct yourself in your business with a heart of gratitude, it will never lead you astray and your customers will flock to you. They will flock to you because they will trust you. They will trust you because you will fist seek to give to them freely and from that you will receive abundantly.

Twitter is just a great and terrific tool to start that sharing. Start learning to tweet your heart out. Heartfelt tweets will always bring you loyal customers. And loyal customers will always bring you profits.

Seeing YOUR big picture,

Jason