Old (Business) School Takes on New (Business) School

You know that mailer you get? You throw it down on the counter and maybe open it when you have nothing to do. You might find one or two good coupons you want to use but the rest get thrown out. Then you see the onli

ne coupon sites where everyday there is some kind of hot deal. Now, Valpak, a company that mailed you coupons has an online site with daily deals called ValpakDeals.com Read more

Top 5 Things To Consider When Writing Copy About Your Brand

Hook them in.
The best written copy in the world is worthless without readers! Lure your potential customers with a memorable and compelling headline. Think of your headline as a shop window; a well dressed
shop window catches the eye, arouses curiosity and brings customers into the shop. Your headline should do the same. It should encapsulate what is in the copy that follows and compel your customers to want to learn more about your product and service.
Know who your target market is.

And talk to them. Exactly who are you trying to sell this to? Yes in a perfect world “everyone” might be a suitable answer, but in reality, who is most likely to spend their hard-earned on your product? Is it women? Young, middle-aged or old women? Middle-aged women with kids? Middle-aged women with small kids? Middle-aged women with small kids with health issues? You get the idea. Once you’ve figured out exactly who you’re speaking to, speak to them in their own language. For example using high-tech terminology won’t sell software to computer illiterates. And using street
slang is likely to sail straight over blue-rinsed heads. Sell the benefits rather than the features Remember who you’re writing for. The customer. Not you. At all times, point put how the features of your product or service will benefit your customers. For example, the vehicle you are writing about might feature ‘four wheel drive’. Now, point out the benefits of that feature – safer motoring on slippery surfaces or the ability to go places that other vehicles can’t. In other words, sell the sizzle, not the steak!
What is unique about what you’re selling?
If you’ve done your branding homework, you’ll already have a unique selling point, a brilliant tagline all about it and a succinct and desirable positioning statement. If you haven’t had much experience with branding, the very first step is to discover your unique selling point, also known as a point of difference. Chances are there are several products out there that are similar to yours. So why should a customer spend their money with you? Is your product bigger, smaller, better, brighter, louder, tastier, greener than the others? And if so, how so? In your website copy (or ad
copy) explain exactly what makes your product stand out from the rest and convince the customer that they need that benefit most. Ideally, you’ll then sum it all up in fewer than seven, memorable words – then you have a tagline too!
Check your spelling and grammar
This sounds basic and boring, but it’s so very important. Poor spelling and grammar is distracting at best, taking the potential customer’s focus away from what you’re selling. It also makes you, the seller, seem untrustworthy and unprofessional. Once you’ve written your copy, do a spell and grammar check. Ask a friend or colleague to read over it. Better still ask several friends or colleagues to read over it. If you’re not terribly confident of your language skills it’s worth paying a professional for their services just to leave an optimum impression on potential customers and increase your chance of a sale. Read more

Branding Strategies for Small Businesses

One of the most important portions of your business plan as a small business should be your branding strategy if you want to see an increase in sales and revenue. How are people going to recognize you and set you apart from your competitors? It all starts with branding…
1. Don’t obsess over your logo design. You would hardly choose Google over Yahoo simply based on their logo, so don’t spend too much time harping on your logo design. Yes, a professional logo is important, but it will rarely ever dramatically boost your sales. Still, this logo needs to be included on every single piece of your communication so that people can start to tie your logo with your company.

2. Create a blog. In order for customers to start to recognize you online, it is important to have a blog for updates, news, and information about your business. This is true for ANY type of business, and even better, blogs often jump to the top of the search engine results temporarily so that it makes it easier for people to find you online.

3. Make a professional website. You want to make the best first impression when customers enter your website to reflect your company’s image. Web design is a worthwhile investment, so it is important to create an attractive, compelling, and user-friendly website that people will want to come back to. Read more

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