Well, everything in the sense that these words provoke strong emotions in some people.    Physically, they have nothing in common.  They are just words, but these words take people to a different place in their mind, some evoke good emotions, others bad emotions.  Such is the power of words in your advertisements and marketing.

The words you use in your advertising, like the headline and copy, can mean the difference between profit or struggling to get by.  Do not just put the name of your company at the top of your  advertisement.  Build on emotions, get people to feel the problem and how good the solution would be if they use your “XYZ” product. 

Get the customer excited to do business with you, by using powerful emotional words.

There are some words you should try to avoid in your marketing, as people may negatively associate these with your product or service.  Some of these are; Cost, Buy, Sell, Sign, Difficult, Death, Contract and Hard to name a few.

Some words that are proven to stoke the fires are; You, Your, Free, Proven, Easy, Guaranteed, How, Secrets, Special, Now, Happy, Enjoy, etc.

The shark ate the lady.  The lady ate the shark.  Words, only words, but they can mean all the difference to the lady, it is the same with your advertising and marketing.

Or if you are launching a product, but have not developed it yet.  Most people if they see the advertisement, whether on TV or in newspapers, may think, “That looks okay, I will remember that for later on.” 

Hey, I cannot remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, little known remember a new shop opening in three weeks time.  Customers are bombarded with thousands of advertisements every day, so your chance of impacting their mind is very little. 

One unwritten rule for advertising is to get the customer to want your product now and take action to get it.  A little bit hard, if you haven’t even developed it yet.  You may even be hurting yourself and only encouraging the customer to buy from another shop, as if they can’t get it from you,  and you have wetted their appetite the will go elsewhere.  

Don’t believe me, then think of a pizza ad.  A commercial comes on TV and shows luscious pipping hot pizzas, loaded full of toppings, yummy.  Then the ad states “Coming soon, XYZ pizza shop.”  Hmmm, I think I will go to a shop that is already open and get pizza for dinner tonight.   Your competitor has just made money from your teaser advertisement.

Another point for not doing teaser ads is, what happens if the product is delayed and takes another five months to develop?  Or the shop can not be opened in two weeks, but may take three months, because of red tape with the local council/shire? 

There are exceptions for doing teaser ads, like if it is not going to cost you anything.  Or if your product is unique or customers can’t buy it any where else. 

Internet marketing is a good execptionas the cost of extra website pages, social media etc, will be more of a time factor then cost.  Also a good pre launch strategy to get people exiceted.  E-mail is fantastic for alerting people of a new product coming out.  And the cost of email is minimal or free.

Another exception could be doing research to see what response you may get, and if customers are interested in your new product. 

With few exceptions though, don’t waste your money on teaser ads.  If your business has plenty of money to throw away fine, but do not listen to the advertising sales representative and do teaser ads, the only one who profit from this will be the rep.

You never know when your customers are looking at you!  While some people might have an excuse for not looking 100% spot on, professional sales people don’t.  

I have seen a photo of a local Real Estate Agent appear regularly in the newspaper.  It looks like he is in cowboy clothes ready to go to a gun battle.  If this is a standard in your area then maybe it’s ok, but when the other agents are all in their suits and ties and you look like you have just woken up and thrown some clothes on, do you think you look professional and competent?  

For travelling sales representatives it is a good idea to carry a spare clean shirt and tie in the car.  Maybe a mirror, brush, mouth spray (especially if you are a smoker) and deodorant would be good. 

Looks and hygiene go hand in hand and if you have been on a smoke break or eating loads of garlic then talk to a customer with really smelly breath, it’s very offensive.  The customer will be distracted and will not be thinking entirely about your sales pitch, they will be thinking “You have really bad morning breath.” not a good impression.

Presentation does not only apply to salesman or white collar workers only.   If you work in a Butcher Shop/Painter/Mechanic/Plumber, etc, you may think this doesn’t concern me.  However, what about when you or your staff go out to get lunch, pick up an order or get more supplies?  You or your staff are in full public view, and as we know, everything you do, or don’t do, is marketing. 

I am not talking about a little bit of paint or dirt on your overalls, obviously that goes with your trade, what I am talking about is your clothes caked full of dirt with holes in them and they haven’t been washed for six months. 

Every detail counts, every contact with customers or potential customers is a branding moment of your company.  

While it might not offend you, having blood, grease or paint all over your overalls or apron it just doesn’t look professional to the customer (or potential customers). 

The solution – when you go out throw on a clean fresh apron/top or pair of overalls.  Have them hanging by the door, when you come back in place the clean ones back on the hook, ready for next time (It saves washing all the time to).  

A good idea for trades people, is to put on cleaner overalls when they do quotes.

Sure you can be overdressed for some clients, if your clothes don’t match your profession or target market.  However, motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, has a saying, “You can’t always be the best looking, but you can always look your best.”  I think this sums it up perfectly.

Because, unless you are Sean Connery you should shave your beard!  What…….., why? 

Before you think, has Craig finally lost it, read on.

Because sales is based on trust.  Hiding half your face, hides half of your facial expressions.  Picture it this way, what if a stranger with a baseball cap on, big sunglasses and a beard asked you for money.  Is he trustworthy? 

It would be hard to tell, he would be easier to read with an open face.  Does it mean that his intentions are less or more trustworthy with a beard?  Of course not, however, the perception is there, and as we know, perception is reality.

Hey, I have nothing against beards, I like beards, in fact every weekend, I try and grow one as quickly as possible, however, back to consulting I shave everyday.

Research has shown that salesman who are clean shaven have a much higher sales compared to salesman with beards.

Obviously, there are exceptions, like cultural, religious and medical factors, where you may need or like to have a beard.  However, if you are in sales and you are not Sean Connery, shave your beard.

Sovereign Hill is a tourist park, representing the early goldfields in Ballarat, Australia. Now Ballarat sometimes is not the warmest place, especially in winter, so for a tourist park to attract visitors, you have to have good marketing.

Not only is Sovereign Hill competing against other tourist attractions, but on cold days they are competing against people staying home by the heater in the warm, watching TV.  What do you do?  Well the only thing to draw the kids and parents outside on cold dull days would be something different, something like?……..snow. However, it only snows about once a year in Ballarat, so you can not rely on that. So they decided on making their own snow! Eureka, a snow theme.

If you are going to be cold you may as well do it it the snow!  Now the children and parents don’t mind being cold, because they are having fun in the snow.

For the small price of making some snow, they have turned a slow season in to a busy “snow season.” Good marketing is good business.

Unfortunately every person has the same amount of time available.  So why can some people seem to accomplish great things daily, while others struggle.  Some super moms can get three children organised and off to school and then run several companies.  While some people can’t even get to work on time.

Here are some common time stealers.  Checking your e-mail every ten minutes and surfing the web.  Socialising or gossiping at work,  getting the extra cup of coffee, procrastinating when you know you should be tackling the big project. 

One solutions is to unsubscribe to all e-mails that aren’t really necessary,  you can always subscribe back when you have more time.  Checking your e-mails only once or twice a day is a great time saver.

Also break your time into manageable blocks.  This is helpful if you are feeling overwhelmed and have a tendency to procrastinate.  By breaking the time down, or even the steps into chunks, it is more manageable.  I have a timer on my desk that I set for one hour blocks of time, after that I have a quick walk and stretch. 

For a big project at the start of the day, I set the timer for a two hour block.  I then go to one hour blocks after that.  You might find forty five or fifty minutes works well.

Have some bottled water on your desk so you keep hydrated and are not tempted to get a cuppa all the time.

One of the biggest time wasters at home is the television.  Try turning the TV off more or just allow yourself two hours a day, or a couple of nights a week where it is switched off completely.

Exercise is a great energy booster.  While not giving you more time, it can help your energy levels so you can concentrate better and get more work done.  (Not to mention the health benefits.)   I know what you are thinking, I don’t even have enough time to eat breakfast, little known add a exercise routine to my schedule.  Hey, it doesn’t have to be three hours a day at the gym.  It could just be fifteen minutes of light activity, like walking. 

Some presidents and top C.E.O.s, set themselves time to exercise every day.  So if some of the busiest people in the world can find twenty minutes a day to exercise, then most of us have no excuses that we haven’t got time!

Time is the most important asset of all, so use it wisely.

I just spent the last couple of days looking at a fantastic internet marketing course.  Great information and  the training is free.   Thirty day challenge is the name of it and they run it once a year.  It’s hosted by Ed Dale and his team.

I can’t state enough how fantastic this free training course is for new and even for intermediate internet marketers as well.  Honestly I have spent several hundred dollars on courses similiar to it, and haven’t received as much info as this.

If you have a brick and mortor business and want to get started on the net, then it’s worth checking the “Thirty Day Challenge” out.  Likewise if you want to get started in internet marketing but feel overwhelmed by all the infromation out there, then it is defenitely worth looking at.

The trainers use video and PDF files to walk you through step by step and there is also a great forum.  And all this for free, check it out.

Perhaps, the advertising agency wanted to stand out from the crowd, because several other events are scheduled close to this one on the calendar.

Another reason could be the race is sponsored by BMW, so maybe they won’t to convey a sophisticated and conservative look.   H’mmm, maybe.  I think the answer is simple though, their ad sucks.

The majority of people who go to this race are young and want to enjoy themselves.  They want excitement, fun and entertainment.  Traditionally black and white advertising doesn’t convey fun.  While today, black and white television advertising can stand out and work, it misses the mark on this occasion. 

If the purpose of your marketing is to get a certain type of person to go this event, then match your delivery medium to your message.

If ninety percent of people in this demographic still had black and white televisions, then maybe it would not matter.  But with widescreen TV’s, home cinemas and high definition being commonplace in this target demographic, the agency has missed the mark.

The cost to do television advertising is more expensive then ever.  So if you are going to spend thousands of dollars, then get all you can out of what you have to work with!

Most business owners have a heck of a time with this one.  Most people think that if your raise your prices, everyone will go somewhere else to shop. (Even people who don’t shop based on price themselves will tell you this.)  Not true. 

If you raise your prices by 10%,  then you can afford to lose 30% of your customers and be back where you were before. (And you will NOT lose that many customers at all). But with 30% less customers, your costs will be lower, so you’re still ahead of the game.  But people who value you will stay.

The people who do flee at the hint of a price rise?  Who do they shop with?  Everybody!  Do we want them? No!  These people will argue with you over price rises, they won’t buy up sells, let Wal-Mart have them.  I mean, what good is it to your customers, if you can’t pay your bills and they if they turn up one morning to find a ‘for rent’ sign on your door.

It’s all part of the market you should be targeting, longer-term.  Don’t believe the hype the media would have you believe, what with high gas prices, recessions, blah, blah, blah.  If you looked at the paper twenty years ago it would still be the same doom and gloom.  There have never been more affluent people, and younger people with serious disposable income.

Slant all your selling upwards, if you can’t just raise your prices.  Start offering big packages, products and services bundled together, and put the really good stuff in the higher priced packages.

Do you know what the true value of any product is?   The correct answer is: however much the customer will pay for it.  Let your market decide what they’ll pay. 

That’s the point of all that testing – testing different price points, different packages.  Keep raising your prices until response starts to go down.  Then it’s up to you.  If you’re trying to be the cheapest out there, you’re working too hard and earning too little.  Can you compete with Wal-Mart?  How long could you last?  There’s always someone who will come along and provide your product or service for a lower price, and you’re finished. 

Sure there are good points for low pricing, but try high profits first.

Copyright 2008 Craig Howlett