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Answer Upon - Benefits: The Jedi's Secret Weapon
Whatever they are worth!As a consultant, that’s my standard answer. But I know it’s a bit more complicated than that. Hourly rates run the gamut from $50 to $500. Some are worth it and some aren’t. You could probably say the same about your attorney, accountant, and physician. Each is an expert that should be looking out for your self-interest. After all, if you’re successful, then they benefit.But advertising is a different animal. Let’s use the auto mechanic as an example. The car is running rough. You bring it in and the guy tells you it needs an engine overhaul. You trust him to do the right thing and, the next day, you pick up your vehicle. He presents you wit
What's happening today?
The dark side of the Force is dominating the war in the marketing empire. They employ mindless clones to get their messages across. Only a few thinking Jedis stand in their way.
If you want to become a Jedi marketer, you must master the Force. And resist the seductive dark side.
Resist the urge to brag about your company, your products, or your services. Show your prospect how you can solve their problem with what you offer. Paint the picture of what they'll get in your marketing promotions. Then you'll be on your way to becoming a Jedi.
Let's take a look from another angle...
Scan most pieces of mail and you'd swear Og Advertising Agency produced them. Browse most web
In the previous topic I suggested that six to eight appointments is likely enough for a week. This is true if you are meeting your clients face-to-face. Sometimes this is not possible and your meetings may be scheduled over the phone. I still like face-to-face meetings but if my client is in another city across the continent, then I am willing to work by telephone. When you schedule your meetings, you should look at only six face-to-face as the maximum and use telecommunications for the others. Phone calls definitely take a lot less time out of your day.The first time you meet with a potential customer, it should be face-to-face (if they are within a reasonable distance). This type of meeting will allow you to form
Or would they?
I wouldn't bet on it. But don't allow that to keep you from recognizing the difference between Features and Benefits. Then you'd know exactly if you were hiring a genuine marketing expert—or a hack.
Here's the difference in a nutshell...
Anytime you talk about you, your company, your products, or your services: those are features. Anytime you mention what your prospect gets from you, your company, your products, or your services: those are benefits.
The hack will recite some story they memorized from a one-day marketing workshop they attended because they get a day off from the office. You've probably seen the promotions for those. The versatile trainer speaks about Diversity on Monday, Customer Service on Tuesday, Marketing on Wednesday, Sensitivity on Thursday, and has a hard time paying bills by Friday.
The expert transforms features into benefits, deeper benefits, and even ultimate benefits. Let's take a closer look...
Say you went to Home Depot to buy a drill bit. The problem is, when you were sleeping the night before, you weren't dreaming of buying a drill bit. What you really wanted was a hole in the wall.
The hole is the benefit. The drill bit is the feature.
But the drill bit distributors will disagree. They want to educate the public on how well their drill bits are built. How unique those tungsten carbide tips are. And why the shank sizes are important.
On the other hand, the consumer wants to know if she will be able to hang her Monet, put up shelves, or secure cabinets quickly. She's not interested in how long those tips last or that stunning drill bit chart on the manufacturer's website. She wants to know how she will benefit from buying those drill bits.
How does this serve you?
Take a look at your mailers, brochures, and websites. Anytime it mentions anything about you, your prospect is not interested. Anytime it mentions what they will get, they're interested.
Believe it or not—they're not concerned about your pretty graphics, corporate letterhead, or expensive logo. If you haven't addressed their wants, needs, and desires—you've lost them. They'll dismiss you like they have so many others.
As I'm writing this, I just received a voicemail for a free analysis of my phone system. They left their company name and phone number. I'm sorry, but that's not enough to get me excited about the analysis. Not even a free one. They haven't identified one benefit. They've wasted my time as well as theirs.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. Unless you're in a government program. Even the offers for a free credit report are tied to some subscription deal.
What's happening today?
The dark side of the Force is dominating the war in the marketing empire. They employ mindless clones to get their messages across. Only a few thinking Jedis stand in their way.
If you want to become a Jedi marketer, you must master the Force. And resist the seductive dark side.
Resist the urge to brag about your company, your products, or your services. Show your prospect how you can solve their problem with what you offer. Paint the picture of what they'll get in your marketing promotions. Then you'll be on your way to becoming a Jedi.
Let's take a look from another angle...
Scan most pieces of mail and you'd swear Og Advertising Agency produced them. Browse most webs
I am always surprised that work at home websites can make good money by demanding job seekers up front money for no fee work at home job leads. We live in a free economy so, I understand why some sites do it. The fact of the matter is that a lot of effort is needed to go through thousands of job boards and web sites to find no fee work from home jobs.You probably already know this but the big job sites such as Monster.com and Careerbuilder are not specialized in no fee work from home jobs. The at home jobs listed there are usually mixed in with regular jobs and the thousands of home based business opportunities which tend to require a fee.It can take two life times to filter through all the junk to locate ju
The hack will recite some story they memorized from a one-day marketing workshop they attended because they get a day off from the office. You've probably seen the promotions for those. The versatile trainer speaks about Diversity on Monday, Customer Service on Tuesday, Marketing on Wednesday, Sensitivity on Thursday, and has a hard time paying bills by Friday.
The expert transforms features into benefits, deeper benefits, and even ultimate benefits. Let's take a closer look...
Say you went to Home Depot to buy a drill bit. The problem is, when you were sleeping the night before, you weren't dreaming of buying a drill bit. What you really wanted was a hole in the wall.
The hole is the benefit. The drill bit is the feature.
But the drill bit distributors will disagree. They want to educate the public on how well their drill bits are built. How unique those tungsten carbide tips are. And why the shank sizes are important.
On the other hand, the consumer wants to know if she will be able to hang her Monet, put up shelves, or secure cabinets quickly. She's not interested in how long those tips last or that stunning drill bit chart on the manufacturer's website. She wants to know how she will benefit from buying those drill bits.
How does this serve you?
Take a look at your mailers, brochures, and websites. Anytime it mentions anything about you, your prospect is not interested. Anytime it mentions what they will get, they're interested.
Believe it or not—they're not concerned about your pretty graphics, corporate letterhead, or expensive logo. If you haven't addressed their wants, needs, and desires—you've lost them. They'll dismiss you like they have so many others.
As I'm writing this, I just received a voicemail for a free analysis of my phone system. They left their company name and phone number. I'm sorry, but that's not enough to get me excited about the analysis. Not even a free one. They haven't identified one benefit. They've wasted my time as well as theirs.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. Unless you're in a government program. Even the offers for a free credit report are tied to some subscription deal.
What's happening today?
The dark side of the Force is dominating the war in the marketing empire. They employ mindless clones to get their messages across. Only a few thinking Jedis stand in their way.
If you want to become a Jedi marketer, you must master the Force. And resist the seductive dark side.
Resist the urge to brag about your company, your products, or your services. Show your prospect how you can solve their problem with what you offer. Paint the picture of what they'll get in your marketing promotions. Then you'll be on your way to becoming a Jedi.
Let's take a look from another angle...
Scan most pieces of mail and you'd swear Og Advertising Agency produced them. Browse most web
What are employee background check?From a simple employee background check to a full blown due diligence investigation the contents and type of check can vary widely. Most checks consist of at least the following elements:Criminal records search Employment verification Education verification Driving record Credit checkThe above elements will most likely be seen in your typical employee background check process. In a due diligence investigation many elements could be added from multi-jurisdictional civil searches to interviews with friends, family and neighbors, whereas the average consumer may just be interested in one or two of these elements. Later we will discuss certain typ
But the drill bit distributors will disagree. They want to educate the public on how well their drill bits are built. How unique those tungsten carbide tips are. And why the shank sizes are important.
On the other hand, the consumer wants to know if she will be able to hang her Monet, put up shelves, or secure cabinets quickly. She's not interested in how long those tips last or that stunning drill bit chart on the manufacturer's website. She wants to know how she will benefit from buying those drill bits.
How does this serve you?
Take a look at your mailers, brochures, and websites. Anytime it mentions anything about you, your prospect is not interested. Anytime it mentions what they will get, they're interested.
Believe it or not—they're not concerned about your pretty graphics, corporate letterhead, or expensive logo. If you haven't addressed their wants, needs, and desires—you've lost them. They'll dismiss you like they have so many others.
As I'm writing this, I just received a voicemail for a free analysis of my phone system. They left their company name and phone number. I'm sorry, but that's not enough to get me excited about the analysis. Not even a free one. They haven't identified one benefit. They've wasted my time as well as theirs.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. Unless you're in a government program. Even the offers for a free credit report are tied to some subscription deal.
What's happening today?
The dark side of the Force is dominating the war in the marketing empire. They employ mindless clones to get their messages across. Only a few thinking Jedis stand in their way.
If you want to become a Jedi marketer, you must master the Force. And resist the seductive dark side.
Resist the urge to brag about your company, your products, or your services. Show your prospect how you can solve their problem with what you offer. Paint the picture of what they'll get in your marketing promotions. Then you'll be on your way to becoming a Jedi.
Let's take a look from another angle...
Scan most pieces of mail and you'd swear Og Advertising Agency produced them. Browse most web
Conducting a successful job search means anticipating the expectations of a decision-maker.Whether you meet in a traditional interview or in the alternate “first meeting” format we recommend, you must be prepared to meet expectations.Take a look at yourself and your work history through the eyes of a prospective employer. It helps you objectify your credentials. Because, if they don’t make sense to a prospective employer, they DON’T MAKE SENSE . . . no matter how thrilling they are to you.Fortunately you have plenty of marketable assets that will attract an employer’s attention. In particular there are three categories of marketable assets that can help you make a favorable impression.1. Qu
Believe it or not—they're not concerned about your pretty graphics, corporate letterhead, or expensive logo. If you haven't addressed their wants, needs, and desires—you've lost them. They'll dismiss you like they have so many others.
As I'm writing this, I just received a voicemail for a free analysis of my phone system. They left their company name and phone number. I'm sorry, but that's not enough to get me excited about the analysis. Not even a free one. They haven't identified one benefit. They've wasted my time as well as theirs.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. Unless you're in a government program. Even the offers for a free credit report are tied to some subscription deal.
What's happening today?
The dark side of the Force is dominating the war in the marketing empire. They employ mindless clones to get their messages across. Only a few thinking Jedis stand in their way.
If you want to become a Jedi marketer, you must master the Force. And resist the seductive dark side.
Resist the urge to brag about your company, your products, or your services. Show your prospect how you can solve their problem with what you offer. Paint the picture of what they'll get in your marketing promotions. Then you'll be on your way to becoming a Jedi.
Let's take a look from another angle...
Scan most pieces of mail and you'd swear Og Advertising Agency produced them. Browse most web
How does someone with a good sound innovation for specialty environmental equipment bring their device and system to market and sell it. Well lets take a look at just such an innovation and work thru the process of developing the beginning stages of a strategic marketing plan for a carwash waste water recycle equipment to insure robust sales.This concept brought in by brilliant marketing student Paula Chavis; “My idea is to design a device to catch all of the runoff water that is used from beginning to end and recycle it through the reverse osmosis unit and reuse it over and over through out the car wash. The recycled water can then be used inside the car wash to flush toilets or as tap water in the break room and
What's happening today?
The dark side of the Force is dominating the war in the marketing empire. They employ mindless clones to get their messages across. Only a few thinking Jedis stand in their way.
If you want to become a Jedi marketer, you must master the Force. And resist the seductive dark side.
Resist the urge to brag about your company, your products, or your services. Show your prospect how you can solve their problem with what you offer. Paint the picture of what they'll get in your marketing promotions. Then you'll be on your way to becoming a Jedi.
Let's take a look from another angle...
Scan most pieces of mail and you'd swear Og Advertising Agency produced them. Browse most websites and you'd conclude Igor Web Design Firm built them. And read most company newsletters and you'd testify Schmuck Publishing wrote them.
Am I being brutal?
Yes. Brutally honest...
Because the majority of the marketing messages you read either clobber you in the head with their features (company name, product or service)—or they hide those features in-between expensive graphics. Or their messages are so bland and sterile: you're fighting to keep your head from crashing on your desk and saliva from dribbling down your chin.
Do they have it backwards?
No, not backwards. They've got it all wrong. Period.
Most marketing pieces lead with company features, support it with more features, and close with even more features.
The consumer continues to scratch his head wondering when they will talk about what concerns him, what he wants, and what he gets.
The Star Wars Solution...
Here's how to grab more business than you've ever had: Lead with consumer benefits—follow with company features.
Instead of saying, "This house has vinyl windows," ... say, "You'll save money on energy and enjoy easy maintenance with vinyl windows."
The vinyl window is a feature. What your prospect gets from the vinyl window is a benefit. Now that was easy.
In your promotions, show them how they will benefit in your headline. Continue adding more benefits throughout your body copy supported by company features. Then close with features such as your contact information.
Lead with consumer benefits, support them with company features and you'll create a stronger pulling marketing piece, get more sales, and generate more leads. You'll also answer your prospect's favorite question, "What's in it for me?"
May the Force be with you.
Tommy Yan helps business owners and entrepreneurs make more money through direct response marketing. He publishes Tommy's Tease weekly e-zine to inspire people to succeed in business and personal growth. Get your free subscription today at www.TommyYan.com.
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