| |
| |
|
KwikMarketing.com - Marketing Information |
|
|
|
The Power of because...
"Do it!", "Do it now!", or "Do it because..." Which of these commands is most likely to get the response you want? If you picked the third, the one that includes 'because', you'd be right. Of course, if you're a parent, aunt, or uncle you may know that already. The idea behind 'because...' is to provide an explanation or rationalization for the request you're making. In other words, the command or request is not just an arbitrary exercise of power on your part -- it's a reasoned request or command. In a broader sense, 'because' provides context, which we've often discussed in this newsletter. Context provides a framework for specific communication. For example, "Please review this contract before we mail it out, because a mistake could cost us thousands of dollars." A number of Internet entrepreneurs report they've tested the use of 'because' in their advertising copy and found it worked. I've used it myself on the home page of Abbott's Communication Letter http://www.abbottletter.com/ where visitors are invited to subscribe. I haven't tested to see whether or not it makes a difference. But I do know it helps in the copy writing process. It helps because it pushes me to make a connection between an action and a consequence of that action. For example, "Wear a helmet when you ride your bike, because it will help you avoid head injuries if you fall." In this case, wearing a helmet is the action; avoiding a head injury is the consequence. One more thought: the word 'because' does not always have to be explicit. It can be implicit or implied, as in "Wear a helmet when you ride your bike, so you won't injure your head if you fall." Let's consider a few more examples, from various functional perspectives. Suppose you're a librarian and you want to encourage patrons to expand their reading horizons. So, you post a sign in the Historical Fiction area that reads something like this: "The story here is only half the story. Visit the History shelves, too, and enrich the stories you find here." The action: look in the History section, as well as the Historical Fiction section. The consequence: you'll learn the story behind the story, enriching your reading of the fictitious stories. How about a sales example? If you send a sales letter, do you focus on product features and ignore the benefits your readers will reap (believe me, I see a lot of these letters)? If you use 'because' with each feature-- explicitly or implicitly -- you'll force yourself to list benefits as well as product features. Compare these two pitches: "Now featuring keyboard water coolers with two-gallon capacity!" and "With the two-gallon keyboard water cooler, your keyboard will never overheat, no matter how fast you type." In summary, using the word 'because' in your message will help you write more persuasive copy and help your readers understand why they should respond to you. Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Learn how you can use communication to help achieve your goals, by reading articles or subscribing to this ad-supported newsletter. An excellent resource for leaders and managers, at: http://www.communication-newsletter.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Your Company Need More Marketing? Or Just Better Marketing? Many sales problems can be solved by improved marketing. Selling harder is often not the solution. How to Earn the Right "How to Earn the Right.. What to be Successful? Marketing Makes the Difference When you hear the word "marketing" what comes to mind? More business or wasted money? If your experience with marketing or advertising has been less than positive your cynicism may be well founded. Yet, have you ever noticed a competitor with a mediocre product and a healthy business? The difference is often marketing. Gift Cards - Is It Time to Use Them for My Business? You're probably thinking, here we go again somebody is trying to sell me something that I really don't need. I'm sure it will benefit them, but will it benefit me? Firstly let me say that my company, Solutions Ink does sell gift and loyalty cards. Educating Your Customers One of the biggest marketing mistakes businesses make today is failing to educate their prospects and customers about the unique advantages that are being offered to them. The cornerstone of any marketing plan should be to educate your customers. Financial Services Marketing Insights: A Marketing Compass What we now call "marketing" began long before the name was coined. In the mid-1800s, traveling salesmen dressed "snake oil" and other tonics in fancy packaging and extolled their virtues to a gullible public. The Benefits of a Marketing Plan What is a Marketing Plan? Marketing is to do with matching the features and benefits that your products and services are able to provide with specific customers and then telling those customers why they should buy them from you. Your marketing plan details how to do this. 4 Steps to Successful Offline Drawings There are many different ways to market offline, each important to your success. One of these being drawings. Build Your Business Through Networking Here's one of the most important success principles you'll ever learn. It is this: The more people you know and who know you in a favorable way, the more successful you will be in your business or profession. Small Business Marketing; Abstract Philosophical Discussion Our bodies work like our small businesses. They work best by word of mouth, networks, referrals, etc. Baby Boomers - Marketing to the Me Generation Unless you've been in a dimly lit cavern for the past several decades, you know that "Baby Boomers" is the collective name given to the 76 million people born in the United States between the end of World War II and 1964. Often described as the largest, most knowledgeable and most fiscally influential demographic group in American history, their motto could very well be: Where does a 750-pound gorilla sit? Anywhere it wants!Getting to Know ThemDubbed the "Me Generation" for their nonstop quest for self-gratification, many "Boomers" pride themselves on their counterculture values, for having led movements for social rights and environmental awareness. What You MUST Understand About Your Web Numbers Two years ago, when I first started selling online, I focused on doing what I did best: generating useful content that people would want to pay for. But I quickly learned that selling a product online required me to have to learn about . How To Get To The Top of The Marketing Food Chain Are you tired of living off handouts from big-name marketers, earning meager affiliate commissions?If you truly want to live and breathe the rarefied air of the super-marketers, what you need is not a change in method, but a change in attitude and mindset.You need to start thinking like a top gun and create your own identity instead of feeding off the efforts of others. Let Your Survey Write Your Business Plan Most entrepreneurs first write their business plan and then develop their services or products. This causes them to generate and fulfill a marketing plan that requires them to swim upstream using the backstroke. Knowing When To Charge More and To Charge Less More And MoreIt was notable that when I started my business twenty years ago, I came up with a certain "minimum" profit I wanted to make. Within a very short time I didn't feel that profit was enough and I gingerly started to charge more. Key Marketing Strategy - You Need To Stay Visible! If you want to get consistent results from your marketing, you need to stay visible to clients and prospects. But, how do you do that?It's not going to do you a whole lot of good if you produce a bunch of great marketing stuff and nobody ever reads it. How To Perfect Your Marketing Message! When it comes to your marketing message, the little things count. Trouble is, you'll never come to respect how much, until you make a commitment to science. The Information Publishers Secret Resource Guide To Blow Customers Away! Have you ever heard the saying, "Give and you shall receive"?Well, with information publishing, this saying is one of the most important you will ever hear. Let me explain:Whether you are providing your information product in a book, an e-book, a manual, or a video, if you want your customer to buy from you again, you must provide in your product value that he or she can directly apply to his/her life. The Five Most Common Joint Venture Marketing Mistakes To Avoid Joint Venture marketing has become a highly popular way for small businesses to maximize their profits. When two or more businesses combine their resources synergistically, it creates greater marketing impact and bigger profits than either can have alone. My Product is Obviously Better - Why isn't it Selling? The movie, "Field of Dreams" opens with a farmer standing in a cornfield. He hears a disembodied voice saying, "If you build it, he will come"?by the end of the movie the mantra has changed to "If you build it, they will come".
|
| home | site map |
| © KwikMarketing.com 2007 |
