Tip for November 1, 2005

Getting a Running Start on the Day It may be a rainy, gray day; it may have been a slow commute; it may have be an unfavorable comment or evaluation. Whatever the cause, the result is the same. Your starting your day feeling down. To prevent your negativity from reducing your output throughout the day, start each day by making a list of six positive things you did the previous day. You'll find your negativity disappearing, and your enthusiasm building, as you see that--no matter how badly the previous day might have gone--you probably accomplished more than you thought you had.

Tip for November 2, 2005

Use Acrobat Distiller To Make Permanent Copies of Media Publicity Today, more and more articles and testimonials appear on the web. You may be written up in a newsletter serving your trade. In addition, local newspapers almost usually run a web version of articles that originate in their print versions. The problem is, web articles quickly disappear: they lack tangibility They're often quickly deleted from the web server. Use Adobe Acrobat Distiller's web browser feature to make permanent copies of web site articles and comments. Once captured, you have a permanent copy of the article, one that you can easily share as an e-mail attachment.

Tip for November 3, 2005

This week's winning 60-second infomercial One of the members of my B.N.I. networking group owns a company that takes aerial photographs from a 60 foot mast mounted on her truck. Her market includes developers, hotels, golf courses, and Realtors looking for a unique perspective to present homes for sale. This week, Francoise began her presentation by saying: "I sell Real Estate!" which got everyone's attention. She then described how her photographs do a better job of displaying a home than conventional ground level photographs, because they display the home in context of the home's setting and landscaping. For the first time, everyone got the message. Because, instead of emphasizing her "tool," i.e. the 60-foot tower on top of her truck, she stressed the benefit the tool offered. Is your description equally as effective?

Tip for November 4, 2005

How many words in that document? One of Microsoft Word's most often overlooked tools is its Word Count command, located in the Tools menu. There are two ways you can use the Word Count command. One way is to see how many words your document contains. Place the insertion point anywhere in the document, and select Tools>Word Count. You'll get an instant update on the number of words and paragraphs in your document. Another way is to count the number of words in a portion of your document. Simply highlight the section, or paragraphs, you're curious about, and select Tools>Word Count. Word will only count the words and paragraphs in the highlighted paragraph.

Tip for November 5, 2005

Intake Questionnaire Make Sense for Guerrillas, too As anyone who has changed doctors, or has ever been referred to a specialist, knows, intake forms are the rule of the day. The generally come attached to a clipboard, and they ask all sorts of questions that help your new health provider get an immediate understanding of your goals and background. Guerrillas should do the same thing. You instantly project a professional, results-oriented approach when you present a simple questionnaire to a prospective client. The mere fact you have a form positions you apart from your competitors and shows you value your prospect's time. I did that this morning, and the prospect said; "Wow! This is going to be a really productive meeting!" As usual, Jay's books contain numerous questions that you can use coming up with your own "intake questionnaire."

Tip for November 6, 2005

Writing to length forces better writing Want to teach yourself to write more effective marketing communications? One of the easiest and most effective techniques is to restrict your marketing communications to a limited amount of space (or number of words). You write better when space is limited. You quickly learn to spot unnecessary, often repetitious, words, or long words that you can replace with short words. By writing "close to the bone," you write better because you focus on making every word sell. Soon, your writing will develop a tight, information-filled style that helps readers save time and quickly understand your message.

Tip for November 7, 2005

$10 profit builder from Radio Shack There are several ways Guerrillas can profit from Radio Shack's Up/Down Timer (catalog number 63-878). Use it to keep track of time spent on various client projects. Keep track of telephone calls and their length, and find out how long it actually takes you to provide services that you price on a "project" basis. You may find that you are spending far more time than anticipated. You can also use it to keep track of time spent on various marketing activities. Use it as a countdown timer to keep presentations and teleconferences on schedule. Use the timer while rehearsing your presentations and call, to make sure you're not trying to include too much information for the time available. During your presentation or call, you can see how much time remains, making sure that you leave time for questions at the end.

Tip for November 8, 2005

What's the only thing that's better than an autoresponder? Autoresponders generate e-mail that's sent upon receipt of a "trigger" like an information request or notification of a sale. Autoresponders permit hands-off marketing. They instantly respond 24/7 to information requests from web site visitors while their interest is at its peak. So, what can be better? Answer: an "autoresponder series." Autoresponders can be set up to follow each other at timed intervals, such as 24 or 48 hours, 1 week, or a month after sending the first e-mail. "One-touch marketing" rarely succeeds in this busy world. Your initial response may get lost in other e-mails. A series, however, provides the repetition needed to break through your prospect's indifference and initiate a favorable response.

Tip for November 9, 2005

Rethinking proposal length Each year, Guerrillas waste tens of thousands of hours preparing proposals that fail miserably. In many cases, the prospects don't take the time to read them, or the proposals fail to win acceptance. Often, while failing to get the business, proposals inadvertently give away valuable information. The solution is to be found in Patrick G. Riley's book, "The One-Page Proposal." Riley shows how, on one side of a single sheet of paper, it is possible to sell even the most complex proposal if you a) think before writing and b) carefully choose your words on the basis of their selling power. The One-Page Proposal is yet another case of "less is more."

Tip for November 10, 2005

"A Good Referral for me Is Anyone with a Face." That's how a professional photographer used to end his B.N.I. sixty-second infomercial. Surprisingly, although most people in the room had friends and knew people with faces, he didn't get too many referrals. But, when he changed each week's pitch to a specific category of individual, his referrals went through the roof. "I'm looking for someone in HR at Acme Corporation," or "I'm looking for referrals to recently engaged couples," or "I'm looking for sons and daughters who a family portrait to give their mother on Mother's Day." Are your sixty-second informercials soliciting "faces" or specific referrals?

Tip for November 11, 2005

Create urgency One of the most seductive devices on TV is the Home Shopping Network's countdown clock which warns viewers that they only have a few moments left to buy before that bauble is gone forever. Guerrillas do all they can to create a sense of urgency.

Tip for November 12, 2005

Guerrilla Jeff Rubin gets great direct mail business with a faxback form and a free report offer. Instead of asking for business in his direct mail pitch, Jeff offers a free copy of a report, "How To Produce Newsletters That Get Results." Response is fast and painless because Jeff lets them respond with faxback form. The information on the form qualifies them and gets them a copy of the report. He gets 5-8% response on each mailing.

Tip for November 13, 2005

Need customers for your new business? Guerrilla coach Wendy McClelland suggested that her client build a bridal make up business by giving away free demos in local bridal stores every Saturday morning. Some lucky bride-to-be gets a demonstration make up session and everyone in attendance gets some ideas for their own make up. The audience for the demo also gets brochures and drawing entries for free sessions. Wendy's client got great exposure to prospects, referrals from stores, and a mailing list of future brides and their friends.

Tip for November 14, 2005

Newsletter marketing A marketing newsletter must provide important news to prospects. To make them more interesting, use truly humorous and appropriate cartoons, and true, but outrageous and appropriate tales. Market your offering with clarity, enthusiasm, and assurances of satisfaction. Think 90% data and 10% open selling.

Tip for November 15, 2005

The make-up of a sales pro. Consistency, persistence, thoroughness and doing the little things well, identifies the sales pros from the also rans. The sales pro is detail conscious. The sales pro keeps accurate sales call records. The sales pro follows-up by phone, by mail and in person. The sales pro sets aside 2-3 hours a week to telephone for appointments. The sales pro keeps his/her promises. How about you - are you a sales pro?

Tip for November 16, 2005

How Alka-Seltzer increased sales dramatically: instead of saying "pop a tablet in a glass of water" they switched to "pop two tablets in a glass of water." Bingo!

Tip for November 17, 2005

AR vs. URL: What Works Best for Selling Online? When Guerrilla Jim Daniels of Smithfield, RI created his Web site, he made some changes to his classified ads. He replaced the autoresponders--which had allowed his prospects to receive sales letters almost instantly--with his URL in his classified ads. He assumed that people would prefer to visit the site and view the color, sound, and graphics. When his response dropped, he realized that there are literally millions of people who use email but don't surf the web. So out went the URL address in favor of the autoresponders. Daniels also had an email newsletter so he decided to do a little more experimenting. There, his newsletter ads contained both the autoresponder address and the URL. Finally he had the perfect mix. His total inquiries (autoresponders plus page hits) went up by about 20% and remained there as long as his ad contained both contact methods. Along with these increased prospects came increased profits. A valuable lesson learned.

Tip for November 18, 2005

Where you can get a reasonable gross profit. Don't forget to sell the small to medium users. That's where you can get a reasonable gross profit. Cultivate a broad base of customers and don't spend an excessive amount of your time trying to sell the "biggies" at a low mark-up. Too. many salespeople put themselves in the position of concentrating on new business development primarily with big accounts. When a big account goes with a competitor it's not only discouraging, but because not enough time has been spent trying to develop the small to medium user, where price is not always paramount, there is a dip in sales. Sell to a balanced group of prospects, small, medium and large users. Your sales will be more consistent and your overall gross profit will be higher and you'll increase your personal income

Tip for November 19, 2005

Older Americans: control 77% of the nation's assets but represent only 35% of the population; are the reason for phones with bigger buttons, cards with easy-to-reach controls, appliances with large-type instructions, clothing and shoes with Velcro closures instead of teensy buttons; a reduction in child-proof packaging.

Tip for November 20, 2005

Do you recycle information? The great thing about computers is that you can write one document and then turn it into other documents by simply reformatting or rearranging the contents. A list of one-sentence tips can become a series of articles about each tip, for example. Or a one-page collection of commonly-asked questions can become an FAQ document. If you send lots of e-mail, you're writing messages every day that have the potential to be recycled into longer, stand-alone documents. A particularly good response to a customer query might be the beginning of an electronic brochure, for example. Set your e-mail program to save outgoing messages, and go through the out box periodically to look through messages that can be turned into other types of documents.

Tip for November 21, 2005

Low-cost competitors got you down? The Guerrillas at Kara's Hair Studio were facing new competition from a chain offering super cheap haircuts until they decided to fight back. Kara's launched a radio and newspaper campaign featuring victims of bad haircuts wearing bags over their heads. She also hired students to wear paper bags on their heads and walk around outside the competitor's shop with sandwich boards bearing her ad line. The message was simple, "Kara's fixes $5 haircuts."

Tip for November 22, 2005

Is technology costing you customers? Several times I've talked about an art gallery that did a lot of things right. Unfortunately, however, I just unsubscribed from their e-mail newsletter. Why? Because their "webmaster" allowed a technical problem to get in the way of our relationship. Each weekly newsletter offers an up-to-date copy of their comprehensive quarterly catalog of photo books. Unfortunately, being prepared on a Macintosh, I could never get the PDF to download. II had spoken several times about this to the webmaster, but it would never work. And they refused to send me the print copy of their newsletter, which they sell for $7.00--although I've bought several hundred dollars worth of books from them. So, technology and insensitivity--and valuing the cost of a quarterly mailing (probably about $3.00), they lost a good customer and a source of referrals. Guerrillas never let this type of thing happen. Make sure it doesn't happen in your organization!

Tip for November 23, 2005

How to find great premiums at low costs There is no often no correlation between the quality of a book and how inexpensively you might be able to purchase it. Right now, I'm providing brand new, hardbound copies of Daniel Pink's Free Agent Nation to selected prospects at our initial meeting. The book originally costs over twenty dollars, but I'm paying just $3.98 at a "overstock merchandise" outlet. Quality books often turn up at ridiculously low prices, plus there are always sources like www.half.com. Like any premium, each time the recipient sees the book, they'll remember me and my "generosity."

Tip for November 24, 2005

How NOT to compete with shopping malls, Part 1 When her wedding ring exhibited signs of wear, my wife's first inclination was to support our local downtown jewelry store, rather than the regional mall. However, when she brought the ring to the clerk's attention--who had willingly sold her jewelry in the past--the clerk made three major mistakes: 1) Insulting the customer's taste: "You obviously didn't buy this here!--it's not up to our quality." 2) Insulting the customer: "You're very rough on your jewelry!" 3) Humiliating the customer: she showed the ring to their "technician" who agreed it wasn't good quality and probably wasn't worth fixing--within hearing range of other customers. 4) Overpricing a repair: a $400.estimate. In Part 2, we'll see how my wife fared at the local mall.

Tip for November 25, 2005

How NOT to Compete with Mall Stores, Part 2 So, what happened when my wife took her damaged ring to a jewelry store in an adjacent mall? 1) The sales person remembered her from a previous purchase and greeted her by her first name. 2) The sales person asked how I--by name--was doing. 3) The sales clerk sympathized with my wife's concern about the loose diamond and complimented her on taking action before it fell out. 4) The setting was tightened up on the spot....for free. Lessons? A small town, downtown location and higher quality products, aren't enough if accompanied by a lack of empathy and tact when dealing with customers. Guerrillas must constantly examine their own behavior from the customer's point of view, not a "holier than thou" attitude based on product superiority. As Jay has often said, "Marketing is anything customers want."

Tip for November 26, 2005

Tips for More Effective Headlines and Titles, Part 1 Headlines and titles play a crucial role in everything you write. If you fail to engage in the headline or title, it's unlikely that the words that follow will be read. Following is the first of ten tips that have contributed to many a Guerrilla Marketer's success: BE SPECIFIC. Use numbers to quantify whenever possible. Examples: "10 ways to," "6 steps to "How to save 50% on..." "Enjoy 38% more..." "(Achieve goal) in 7 days" Better yet, combine timeframe and goal: "Lose 9 pounds in 7 days!"

Tip for November 27, 2005

Effective Headlines and Titles, Part 2 Here's the second of ten tips to help Guerrilla Marketers write more effective headlines and titles. Use the IMPERATIVE VOICE. Begin the sentence with a verb, like the previous sentence. The "you" is implied. This adds action to your headlines and titles. For example: "Increase your profits..." "Save on supply costs..." "Regain lost business" "Learn how to..." Remember: iuf your headlines aren't read, your body copy won't be read!

Tip for November 28, 2005

Effective Headlines and Titles, Part 3 Introducing the third of ten tips to help Guerrilla Marketers write more effective headlines and titles. TEASE readers into reading more. Make a provocative statement that piques their interest and encourages them to read on. Engage their imagination. Or, make an outlandish claim they just have to read to find out how. "Lose weight without dieting!" "What did Benjamin Franklin know about marketing?" "What does your competitor know that you don't?" "Hire yourself a boss!" If headlines aren't read, body copy won't be read!

Tip for November 29, 2005

Effective Headlines and Titles, Part 4 Introducing the fourth of ten tips to help Guerrilla Marketers write more effective headlines and titles. Identify your intended TARGET MARKET in your headline. This makes your headline irresistible to those who are members of it. "Special offer for Teachers!" "Coaches--Learn how to Double Your Fees!" "Bring Your Union Membership Card!" "Do you Hate to Exercise?" If your headlines isn't read, your body copy probably won't be!

Tip for November 30, 2005

Effective Headlines and Titles, Part 5 Stress the benefits readers will enjoy if they take the action you request them to take. " Lose Weight, Guaranteed!" " Save On Your Long Distance Charges" * Photoshop Made Easy" " Instant Newsletter Copy Headlines are the key to the success of everything you write.

Close Window