Sales Come First

Listen, when my hair gets long it doesn’t go into that long wavy sexy look. Afraid not. It just goes messy. Ballistic would be a better word for it actually. Curly messy bits stick out everywhere and it’s just a disgrace.

So when someone suggested I try a different hairdresser I went along with it. Sure, the haircut was fine. As good as always actually. And even better it was half price!

So why was I disappointed going there? Well it’s simple. This guy had a shop that looked like he hadn’t updated it in 30 years. I’m not talking about a warm, old fashioned feel. I mean dingy and rundown. The conversation was OK but kind of what you’d expect from someone who’s had the same conversation 20 times a day for 3 decades.

I wanted to go to my other hairdresser. Sure, he cost twice as much. But it’s a really trendy, modern place. You even get offered a beer when you walk in. The staff are funny, conversation’s great. You feel good when you walk out of the place, even though your pocket’s a lot lighter.

Why Do Your Customers Buy?

Often  its for a different reason than you think. I don’t want a haircut. I want some fun and to feel good about myself. That’s probably why he’s got 3 chairs constantly full and the half price guy’s almost waiting for someone to come in.

I know an antique dealer down here in Geelong, and he sells fun. You walk in and it’s always a huge greeting from him or his staff. They’ve got humourous things and ideas all the way through. They’re selling fun and feel good too. These guys aren’t stupid.

What are you REALLY selling?

Are you selling fun, enjoyment? Feel good? What about confidence – people want confidence in this uncertain world you know. Sexiness? Respect? A better chance with the opposite sex? Safety? An experience (why do some restaurants charge 5 times as much for the same quality meal?).

This is the key to the big $$$. Find out why they’re coming to you and give them more and more of it. Develop more products and offers to give it in spades. Infuse it in every part of your business. That’s where the money comes from.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

PS I did say I’d be talking about visual elements in your advertising this week, but this was topical. And I’ve got another article all about what I’ve been up to lately and how it separates the winners from the wanna-bes.

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>

I’m going to make a big confession so I’m sucking in a deep breath before I continue…

OK. I’ve  got an MBA. Now don’t go telling too many people. I’ve got a reputation to uphold

Yeah yeah I know. Another wanker with an MBA. Anyway I did it when I was young and stupid, and before I came across direct marketing. Now I know how I could have spent 3 years of my own time productively. Still…

I did a unit of marketing and I’ve still got the text book. Comes in handy when I get a fly at home and I’ve thrown the newspaper out. In it there’s slightly less than 1 page on direct response marketing. Interesting then that David Ogilvy, who is revered as the father of advertising says that there’s only one form of advertising you should consider, and that’s direct response. And that direct response people should be at the centre of any advertising firm, with all advertising pieces vetted by them first.

Odd that a marketing text book can’t even dedicate a full page to it, out of 500 odd pages of crap.

And its a real shame that so many kids out there are doing marketing in schools and universities and NOT learning about direct response. Because direct response is the only form of advertising where you follow set rules which work. Where you know that, despite how graphically enticing an ad with nothing but a picture and a slogan might be, it’ll never get a better response than a sales copy intensive ad. Where you’ve got a list of elements to include in your ad, and you know which ones to leave aside if space is a critical issue.

Or where you can run an ad, then make a change and see what happens. Where you get direct feedback on what’s working and what’s not.

No, you won’t win any awards for your ads. Only ‘creative’ ads win awards. You know the ones – you’re amazed how great they look but you couldn’t remember the product for the life of you. Or they’re so busy being creative they forget to tell you why you should buy their product in the first place. But the rewards in this game are in your bank account. Watching more and more dollars flood in as you methodically develop and continually improve your advertising.

That’s why direct response is the only advertising to use in your business. It works, and you can prove that it works.

Next week I’m going to give you a quick lesson on how to make your sales copy more visually appealing and easier on the eye.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

PS Go check out David Ogilvy on youtube. Not a whole lot there but what’s there is pure gold.

Sometimes I get the urge to help people. (Shhhh, don’t let too many people know.)

My latest victim was Helen who runs a training company. And she was having troubles getting people to sign up for her courses.

Now this was posted on a forum which I look at from time to time and most of the responses were typically about the way her website looked. There wasn’t much feedback on what it actually said.

So I pointed out the thing that, to me, seemed obvious. Her website didn’t talk about her prospects at all. It talked about her philosophy. What she does. And a lot about her awards and achievements in 2009.

Hopefully you’re saying ’sheesh’ right now. If you’re not, stay with me…

What she failed to do was talk about her prospects. What do they want from her courses? Do they want them to be delivered quicker? Cheaper? Do they want to learn more? What do they really want out of them? Do they genuinely want to learn, or do they just need the bit of paper for their job?

You see, Helen needs to get her prospect front and centre when she writes her advertising. Unfortunately she only seemed to have a mirror and wrote what SHE wanted to hear…about herself. But your advertising isn’t about you at all. You’re not buying your product. Your prospect is. So you have to spend your time getting inside their mind first. And then talk about what’s frustrating them, and what they really want.

Many of my regular subscribers have worked with me, and have seen my copywriting questionnaire. The main goal of this document is to get me inside your prospect’s head to know what to say in the copy. This gets their emotions, thoughts and frustrations in my mind when I write the copy, and this is what gets results.

As for Helen, I don’t know if she’s read my comments yet. I certainly hope she does and takes action on them because its going to make the difference between the very poor response she’s getting right now and making serious moolah.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer