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Answer Upon - Web Coach Tip: How To Tap Local Markets Using The Yellow Pages In Addition To Your Website
The easiest way to make your own website for free is to start your very own web-log, usually referred to as a blog. Blog websites typically consist of journal-style entries, thoughts, ideas, personal commentary, reviews, or any topic the author chooses to write about. Several blogging services are available to anyone who would like to begin blogging, but I suggest the one service where you can submit all of your entries, post images, and make a few bucks too. As if that’s not enough, it’s completely free: http://www.Blogger.comWhy Use Blogger.com?Blogger.com is extremely easy to use. You don’t need to kno
#11 DO NOT list your fees. Whatever you do, DO NOT list your price or fees in the ad and makes you look cheap. Why? Because it discounts the value of your service. Then you get calls from folks who don’t understand the true value of what you do asking "What do you charge?" By reading your ad value ridden ad, folks are more willing to pay what you’re worth. Not to mention folks who DON’T WANT the cheapest guy out there and are willing to pay premium prices for quality. (Quick story: I was very pregnant – in the summer- my central air conditioning went out - I called the best looking ad in the yellow pages at 7pm – the guy fixed my air within 2 hours and only charged me $67. I would have GLADLY paid $567 – I wanted quality service – RIGHT NOW – and didn’t care what it cost!)
#12 DO NOT put your name or logo
Unique selling points can be used to help understand web branding, but the essence of branding is always a much bigger picture.It’s only the best of ‘good starts’ to define your selling points, but at the end of the day you are wanting to help consumers understand who you are as much they understand what you do.Think about it this way. At the end of your life when someone stands to give your eulogy do you want them to say, “Hey, he was really good at checkers and he was especially fond of coffee”? Of course not. Those things might describe certain points about you, but they don’t describe you. At the end of the day we all
#1 DON’T follow the advice of the YP sales rep about what to put in your ad. The sales rep is NOT a sales copywriter! Their main commission-based objective is selling you the ad space, not your bottom line. In the beginning my rep said “all the other web development companies have these features listed in their ad, you should too.” I’m sure my clients in the South Pacific heard my mouth hit the floor! One of the most important aspects of YP advertising is being able to STAND OUT from your competition. So I politely thanked him for his suggestion: but I’m writing my own ad mister!
#2 Buy the LARGEST ad space you can afford. Size Matters! All of the web folks in my YP directory have purchased the 1 X 1 inch block with one color for $79 a month. BORING! I can tell immediately that these web folks have very little marketing sense. This is fine by me because my dollar-bill-sized ad is 6 times larger, and only $207 a month. Be sure to ask about ad specials; that’s what I did and got a huge ad. (mine WAS a $500 ad, but thru incentives I was able to get it down to $207) The advantage of a larger ad is placement on the page. The largest ad usually gets placed on the top outer corner of the page, not stuck near the crease or middle of the book where statistics have proven a lower response rate.
#3 The Headline. This is CRUCIAL! Your Headline must be EXTRAORDINARY. People scan the YP just like a newspaper so your headline had better be a good one. Remember folks scan ads asking themselves, “What’s in it for me?” Remember; BENEFITS not features of your services and your Unique Selling Position. 5 elements of a USP are: Price, Product, Process, Service, and Marketing. Yours has to be different, better, and more appealing than all the others.
#4 Always, Always, Always have a GUARANTEE. A general guarantee is ok, but a PERSONAL guarantee means a lot more. Ie. If your not satisfied for any reason, we’ll re-do our work and if you STILL aren’t satisfied – I’ll refund 100% of their money back.
#5 TESTIMONIALS, hello? A seriously under-used piece of marketing. Nothing sells your services better than a testimonial from a happy customer.
#6 The OFFER! Kill’em with kindness! Being kind or ‘nice’ softens the hard-sell aspect of your ad. My ad has two offers: one after my phone number that says “Free Friendly Advice”. And the other is a valuable item for my niche market… “Free download - QuickStart Web Workbook”. These two offers cover folks who don’t have internet access and those who do, so folks can reach me easily.
#7 Always have a LOCAL phone number. Studies have shown that people are more drawn to the local phone number than a toll-free listing. If you want to get high-tech you can also have a toll free number to a special recorded “information line”. This does two things. Weeds out the wrong type of customer and gives prospects you WANT to do business with more info about your services. This conveniently helps shorten your sales cycle. By listening to the recorded call, the customer is ready to hire you by the time they finally speak with you. (get really crafty in the beginning of the message and say “stay tuned for a special offer at the end of this message” this ensures they listen to the entire message and you can offer, say $20 off or whatever.)
#8 Photos and graphics. Studies show that ads with photos do better than those that don’t. Just make sure the photo you use is relevant to your service. Or, use YOUR photo next to your guarantee.
#9 CALL-TO-ACTION! Tell people exactly what to do. “Call now to schedule an appointment”, “Call now for a complimentary coaching session”, "Call today and we'll clean your carpet tomorrow"
#10. Build VALUE and CREDIBILITY. The overall message of your ad should evoke a direct response from the reader. Building value and credibility will almost always guarantee a response.
#11 DO NOT list your fees. Whatever you do, DO NOT list your price or fees in the ad and makes you look cheap. Why? Because it discounts the value of your service. Then you get calls from folks who don’t understand the true value of what you do asking "What do you charge?" By reading your ad value ridden ad, folks are more willing to pay what you’re worth. Not to mention folks who DON’T WANT the cheapest guy out there and are willing to pay premium prices for quality. (Quick story: I was very pregnant – in the summer- my central air conditioning went out - I called the best looking ad in the yellow pages at 7pm – the guy fixed my air within 2 hours and only charged me $67. I would have GLADLY paid $567 – I wanted quality service – RIGHT NOW – and didn’t care what it cost!)
#12 DO NOT put your name or logo a
Customer service is essential for the success of your business. Yet many small businesses or solo-shops crash and burn because they confuse customer service with customer tyranny. They imagine that serving customers means giving into endless demands.If you're troubled by customer service issues, try this exercise, an adaptation of Byron Katie's "Work" to business issues.Write down the statement, "I have to satisfy all my customers all the time, and that means..."EXAMPLE: "I have to satisfy all my customers, and that means that I need to accede to all of their requests. Since I can't possibly do that, I'll either go
#3 The Headline. This is CRUCIAL! Your Headline must be EXTRAORDINARY. People scan the YP just like a newspaper so your headline had better be a good one. Remember folks scan ads asking themselves, “What’s in it for me?” Remember; BENEFITS not features of your services and your Unique Selling Position. 5 elements of a USP are: Price, Product, Process, Service, and Marketing. Yours has to be different, better, and more appealing than all the others.
#4 Always, Always, Always have a GUARANTEE. A general guarantee is ok, but a PERSONAL guarantee means a lot more. Ie. If your not satisfied for any reason, we’ll re-do our work and if you STILL aren’t satisfied – I’ll refund 100% of their money back.
#5 TESTIMONIALS, hello? A seriously under-used piece of marketing. Nothing sells your services better than a testimonial from a happy customer.
#6 The OFFER! Kill’em with kindness! Being kind or ‘nice’ softens the hard-sell aspect of your ad. My ad has two offers: one after my phone number that says “Free Friendly Advice”. And the other is a valuable item for my niche market… “Free download - QuickStart Web Workbook”. These two offers cover folks who don’t have internet access and those who do, so folks can reach me easily.
#7 Always have a LOCAL phone number. Studies have shown that people are more drawn to the local phone number than a toll-free listing. If you want to get high-tech you can also have a toll free number to a special recorded “information line”. This does two things. Weeds out the wrong type of customer and gives prospects you WANT to do business with more info about your services. This conveniently helps shorten your sales cycle. By listening to the recorded call, the customer is ready to hire you by the time they finally speak with you. (get really crafty in the beginning of the message and say “stay tuned for a special offer at the end of this message” this ensures they listen to the entire message and you can offer, say $20 off or whatever.)
#8 Photos and graphics. Studies show that ads with photos do better than those that don’t. Just make sure the photo you use is relevant to your service. Or, use YOUR photo next to your guarantee.
#9 CALL-TO-ACTION! Tell people exactly what to do. “Call now to schedule an appointment”, “Call now for a complimentary coaching session”, "Call today and we'll clean your carpet tomorrow"
#10. Build VALUE and CREDIBILITY. The overall message of your ad should evoke a direct response from the reader. Building value and credibility will almost always guarantee a response.
#11 DO NOT list your fees. Whatever you do, DO NOT list your price or fees in the ad and makes you look cheap. Why? Because it discounts the value of your service. Then you get calls from folks who don’t understand the true value of what you do asking "What do you charge?" By reading your ad value ridden ad, folks are more willing to pay what you’re worth. Not to mention folks who DON’T WANT the cheapest guy out there and are willing to pay premium prices for quality. (Quick story: I was very pregnant – in the summer- my central air conditioning went out - I called the best looking ad in the yellow pages at 7pm – the guy fixed my air within 2 hours and only charged me $67. I would have GLADLY paid $567 – I wanted quality service – RIGHT NOW – and didn’t care what it cost!)
#12 DO NOT put your name or logo
When two people join forces, there's a certain synergy that takes place, that's why many ebusiness folks are seeking out joint ventures. What IS a joint venture (JV for short) you ask? Basically it's when you agree to form a partnership and jointly promote someone.== BENEFITS OF JV ==Here are some benefits you can realize from forming joint venture.1. EXPOSURE: You can instantly "double" the exposure of your products and services by tapping into each other's built-in audiences, business relationships, and mail lists.2. MENTORING: As partners, you'll form a powerful relationship and learn from one another. As
#5 TESTIMONIALS, hello? A seriously under-used piece of marketing. Nothing sells your services better than a testimonial from a happy customer.
#6 The OFFER! Kill’em with kindness! Being kind or ‘nice’ softens the hard-sell aspect of your ad. My ad has two offers: one after my phone number that says “Free Friendly Advice”. And the other is a valuable item for my niche market… “Free download - QuickStart Web Workbook”. These two offers cover folks who don’t have internet access and those who do, so folks can reach me easily.
#7 Always have a LOCAL phone number. Studies have shown that people are more drawn to the local phone number than a toll-free listing. If you want to get high-tech you can also have a toll free number to a special recorded “information line”. This does two things. Weeds out the wrong type of customer and gives prospects you WANT to do business with more info about your services. This conveniently helps shorten your sales cycle. By listening to the recorded call, the customer is ready to hire you by the time they finally speak with you. (get really crafty in the beginning of the message and say “stay tuned for a special offer at the end of this message” this ensures they listen to the entire message and you can offer, say $20 off or whatever.)
#8 Photos and graphics. Studies show that ads with photos do better than those that don’t. Just make sure the photo you use is relevant to your service. Or, use YOUR photo next to your guarantee.
#9 CALL-TO-ACTION! Tell people exactly what to do. “Call now to schedule an appointment”, “Call now for a complimentary coaching session”, "Call today and we'll clean your carpet tomorrow"
#10. Build VALUE and CREDIBILITY. The overall message of your ad should evoke a direct response from the reader. Building value and credibility will almost always guarantee a response.
#11 DO NOT list your fees. Whatever you do, DO NOT list your price or fees in the ad and makes you look cheap. Why? Because it discounts the value of your service. Then you get calls from folks who don’t understand the true value of what you do asking "What do you charge?" By reading your ad value ridden ad, folks are more willing to pay what you’re worth. Not to mention folks who DON’T WANT the cheapest guy out there and are willing to pay premium prices for quality. (Quick story: I was very pregnant – in the summer- my central air conditioning went out - I called the best looking ad in the yellow pages at 7pm – the guy fixed my air within 2 hours and only charged me $67. I would have GLADLY paid $567 – I wanted quality service – RIGHT NOW – and didn’t care what it cost!)
#12 DO NOT put your name or logo
In sales, one of the things you will be doing a lot of, is making phone calls. You can’t escape it. It just comes with the territory.Making phone calls is really not all that bad. The thought of having to do it, is actually much worse than having to physically sit down and do it, and once you get on a roll, it’s never as bad as it seemed.The part of making cold calling sales calls that you will find to be most painful are the objections you will be faced with, such as, and most annoying, is the hang up, which doesn’t happen as often as people think. In this particular case, I have no answer on how to meet this challenge
#8 Photos and graphics. Studies show that ads with photos do better than those that don’t. Just make sure the photo you use is relevant to your service. Or, use YOUR photo next to your guarantee.
#9 CALL-TO-ACTION! Tell people exactly what to do. “Call now to schedule an appointment”, “Call now for a complimentary coaching session”, "Call today and we'll clean your carpet tomorrow"
#10. Build VALUE and CREDIBILITY. The overall message of your ad should evoke a direct response from the reader. Building value and credibility will almost always guarantee a response.
#11 DO NOT list your fees. Whatever you do, DO NOT list your price or fees in the ad and makes you look cheap. Why? Because it discounts the value of your service. Then you get calls from folks who don’t understand the true value of what you do asking "What do you charge?" By reading your ad value ridden ad, folks are more willing to pay what you’re worth. Not to mention folks who DON’T WANT the cheapest guy out there and are willing to pay premium prices for quality. (Quick story: I was very pregnant – in the summer- my central air conditioning went out - I called the best looking ad in the yellow pages at 7pm – the guy fixed my air within 2 hours and only charged me $67. I would have GLADLY paid $567 – I wanted quality service – RIGHT NOW – and didn’t care what it cost!)
#12 DO NOT put your name or logo
Affiliate Marketing is a concept with it's own terms. To get started, you'll have to know what the middlemen and affiliate program pitches mean when they use them, otherwise it will strike you as a bunch of gibberish. For those of you with some experience already in this matter, these terms are for the beginners.Ad Copy: A written sales pitch, also known simply as 'copy'. Most follow the AIDA form (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) and examples can be seen on any site that's selling something.Affiliate Link: This is how the company knows who to pay. These are the hypertext links given to you by the
#11 DO NOT list your fees. Whatever you do, DO NOT list your price or fees in the ad and makes you look cheap. Why? Because it discounts the value of your service. Then you get calls from folks who don’t understand the true value of what you do asking "What do you charge?" By reading your ad value ridden ad, folks are more willing to pay what you’re worth. Not to mention folks who DON’T WANT the cheapest guy out there and are willing to pay premium prices for quality. (Quick story: I was very pregnant – in the summer- my central air conditioning went out - I called the best looking ad in the yellow pages at 7pm – the guy fixed my air within 2 hours and only charged me $67. I would have GLADLY paid $567 – I wanted quality service – RIGHT NOW – and didn’t care what it cost!)
#12 DO NOT put your name or logo at the top of your ad. Nor should they be larger in size than the headline. If your headline commands attention, the reader will grab a magnifying glass to find your business name and contact info if they have to.
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