The Marketing Mix | official blog of the Marketing Mentor community

Red Auerbach: Making it about them

On NPR's "Morning Edition" this past Sunday, they reported on the death of Boston Celtics' basketball coach, Red Auerbach. In an excerpt from an interview, Auerbach said that a great coach will tell players what to do so they will absorb it, so they will react. "It's not what you say; it's what they hear." (Link to audio here.)

It's the same for self-promotion. That's why you shouldn't get hung up on what you say. Think instead about what your prospects need to hear, what hot button issues they are trying to solve, what goals they trying to reach. Then say what you do within that context.

Here's the example Peleg used in our Pricing and Marketing workshop in NY a few weeks ago: "I help non-profits raise a lot of money." Nothing about design or the end product. The prospect's response, "Oh, how do you do that?"

Ilise's Corner: Structure doesn't have to be confining

As I've noted in our upcoming book, The Art of Self-Promotion, one of the many challenges specific to the small business person is that of creating structure.

Of course, plenty of entrepreneurs claim to have struck out on their own to escape structure, or at least, confinement. They're the ones (and maybe you're one of them) who say they thrive on chaos.

But if structure isn’t something you’ve taken the time to create, it’s a good bet your business isn’t running as smoothly as it could. Most of us wear many hats, play many roles and offer many, many constantly changing services and products; having some sort of underpinning structure gives you something to lean on and, paradoxically, can allow you more freedom than having no structure at all.

Of course, the first step towards establishing a structure that's useful to you and your business is figuring out where you most need it: project management? Time management? Or maybe just how to keep adequate supplies on hand? Everyone has particular strengths and weaknesses: you might be great at getting yourself out to networking events to meet potential clients but horrible when it comes to invoicing the ones you already have.

So, where do you need structure? And while we're at it, what systems have you found to be useful in creating structure for yourself? Let us know what brilliant ideas you've hit on...or where you could use a little help.

Even loners need tribe

I just returned from my weekly Toastmasters meeting. If you don't know me, you might not think there's anything remarkable in that, much less anything worth blogging about. But if you do, or if, like me, you're the kind of person more comfortable working alone (a common affliction of sole proprietors), then you have some idea of why I might be marveling over this.

When you work for yourself, it's easy to stay in a little bubble. What's more, with the advent of new media and technology, it's even easy to make yourself believe that you're not: if you're wired, you're connected, right?

Well, yes. And no.

Great copywriter Bob Bly on great copywriting niches

Long-time Marketing Mentor client and well known direct response copywriter, Bob Bly, shares some some great tips for copywriters (and entrepreneurs in general) in this two-hour interview: the importance of writing articles for trade publications to promote yourself, how essential it is to find a niche.

In fact, one of the highlights of the interview is about 15 minutes into the recording where he answers the question: what are the best, most lucrative niches in copywriting today? Hint: direct response itself is a biggie, because, to paraphrase Bob, the majority of people who go into advertising do it to be on Madison Avenue and write the next Super Bowl commercial, while there's a whole world of direct marketing that needs good writers.

Link to the Bob Bly interview by Michael Senoff here; lots of other great interviews on the site, as well.

Warming up cold calls

So many people don't make cold calls or follow-up calls because they don't know what to say, especially when the other person is not responding. But one of my favorite phrases to use is this:

"I'm calling again and being persistent because I/we really want to work with you and your company. We think it's a good fit and we'd love to opportunity to see how we can help you."

Then, (if it's an email message) I sign off with "Optimistically." One prospect who responded actually told me it was because of the word "optimistically."

Go figure.

Do you have any favorite phrases that get people to respond?

How to get great testimonials, simplified

Another question that's been coming up a lot lately...

Q: I want to email clients and past clients to ask for a testimonial. Should I do just ask or should I give examples of what other clients have said?

A: Getting testimonials from clients isn't a challenge because they don't want to. The challenge is in getting them to actually sit down and do it.

The key is to make it really easy for them. I suggest providing a couple models of what you're looking for. Also, offer them a few ways to provide the testimonial (e.g. write it themselves, you write it
based on what they say and they approve it, you write what you think they might say and they edit/approve it).

How to pitch politely

Here's a question I've been asked 3 times so far this week and it's only Wednesday.

Q: How do you approach a client that you think needs serious help, whether it's design, copywriting or something else, and pitch your services without offending them?

A: First, you must find out what they think. Design in particular is very subjective. They may think what they've got is good enough and not that important. Or, they may love it what they have. Or they may know it's horrible but just haven't focused their attention on it and taken the time to find someone they trust to help. That may be you. They may be looking and waiting for you to call.

So before you give your opinion, find out where they stand and then base your response on that. Consider offering a critique of their existing materials or process and you can use that as a more formal way of presenting not only your opinion but demonstrating the value of your expertise.

Marketing Mix on Designers Who Blog

Neil Tortorella, a fellow designer who wrote up a very nice blog post about the Marketing Mentor newsletter in general and Peleg's referrals story in particular (short version on our site, here), also submitted The Marketing Mix to an excellent site (aptly) titled, "Designers Who Blog."

Our presence there notwithstanding, I'd visit DWB anyway for the great job it does of aggregating and summarizing the many online designer offerings out there.

Thanks to Neil and to Catherine 'Cat' Morley, überhostess of DWB, for the shoutout. In addition to being excellent designers at their own firms, Neil and Cat are also founding members of the outstanding design site, Creative Latitude, which has tons of great profiles on designers, interesting articles, useful downloads, etc. Jeez, guys...way to make me feel like a big slacker.

A great motivational (Q)tip

One of the many reasons Peleg & I love doing our workshop is because we get so much inspiration and so many great ideas from the people who attend.

At our Pricing and Marketing Workshop for Designers and Copywriters last week in New York, Jennine Arena of Ablaze Communications told the group that she has Q-tips® all over her office (and home) to remind her to Quit Taking It Personally.

While her husband thinks it's a bit much, you might want to try it if, every time a prospect rejects your proposal or doesn't return your call, you imagine it has something to do with you.

Get over it! And move on to the next one.

How enticing is your email signature?

Via a fellow designer's newsletter, I followed a link to an interesting take on email signatures that got me thinking about how I've been using mine.

Business coach Mark Silver suggests that since people are inundated with email these days, there's an opportunity to stand out with a signature that's not just a laundry list of letters and digits, but provides both a 'breather' and more value than the home page of your website.

For example, I might write up a blog post about 10 ways to communicate with creative types, then link to it at the bottom of emails with a lead in like:

Ever have trouble getting that idea you had from your head to the page? Here's a few great ways to "speak creative" to that artist, copywriter or designer...

He also suggests providing a full URL (e.g., "http://www..., etc), since most email clients will turn something with the "http" preface into a clickable link.

Of course, you want to make sure you're providing your contact info in your emails, too. But since Peleg and Ilise have already come up with the greatest idea known to man for that (build it into your reply-to name!), you get some real estate back at the bottom.

You can read the full article from Mark Silver's newsletter here. Me? I'm going to get cracking on that must-read blog article...