Me Too Yellow Page Advertising

Hi Friend,

Emette Massey here and I'm Guilty As CHARGED! I know that sometimes I’m guilty of ‘me too marketing” but it’s been a long, long time ago. And to be perfectly honest, I learned this valuable marketing lesson the hard way.

Fortunately many years ago, one of my favorite copywriting and marketing mentor’s, the late, great Gary Halbert, came and saved the day!  

Are you guilty of this cardinal marketing sin too?

Here’s a little test you can take to see what I’m talking about. Just go to your local yellow pages and lookup your classification heading.

Here’s what you’ll most likely find . . .

Just about every advertiser in your classification is saying the same thing. It’s typically a laundry list of services along with a line or two about your business. You’ll find the days and times your business is open and maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll actually see a weak offer of sorts.

Seems rather silly, right?

Show a little cleavage, as long-time marketing pro Drayton Bird would say. Do something to skillfully select your ideal client and gain his attention. Then make damn sure you hold his attention by being interesting. After all, you certainly can’t bore your reader or you’ve lost them forever.

If you already spend money on yellow page ads, wouldn’t you like to get the most out of this investment? Do I see a nod yes?

First of all you should realize that when someone opens the yellow pages a couple of things you can usually count on.

1.    Folks are ready to spend some money.

2.    They are not entirely sure who to do business with.

So with this in mind, here’s how to stack the odds in your favorite when that illustrious prospects heads over to the yellow page book.

Let’s start with human nature . . . aka people. People are more likely, as much as five times more likely to read editorial items (or appears to be editorial items) than stuff that is obviously advertising. Think about this for a moment.

Guess what . . . some of these people are your prospects. And if you do your job correctly these people will turn into your customers and into best customers.

Now think about this: When folks go to the yellow pages they are looking for a “solution.” These folks not only want to locate a business that is near them, they also want to deal with someone who can help solve their problem.

Ok. Let’s just say for the sake of argument you need a plumber. You get to the “plumbers” section of your yellow pages. You see all of the “look-alike” ads, but you also see an editorial message that looks something like this: 

WARNING: Don't Call

Any Plumber Until You

Read This Announcement

Or like this . . .

Leaky Pipes? 

Read This Before You

Make A Mistake You And 

Call The Wrong Plumber

                                                                                                      

Or how about this:

Drains Clogged? Is so,

Call (000) 000-0000 And Listen 

To An Amazing FREE Recorded Message

That Reveals An Amazing Way 

To Get Your Drains Cleaned

  

Keep in mind also whatever headline you use, it must deliver on the promise it makes. It should educate, inform and give a compelling reason why the reader should choose the plumber who has written this “announcement” instead all of the others. 

Also, in addition to the message being important, the look of the message can be important as well. It should look like a hot, news story just like you see in a newspaper.

Now check out the “news release” or “announcement” I made up below. First, note how it’s formatted to look like a news release. The ad gets attention and draws people to it. It also offers news, a solution, and something free. 

Keep in mind I made this up. I am not a plumber or anything that resembles a plumber. But that's not really the point. The point is you need to start thinking about what kind of a "news release" or "announcement" you can create that gives you that home-team advantage to beat the competition.

Think: Offer news; Offer a solution; and Offer something FREE if you possibility can. And most of all . . . have your "news release" typeset to look like other news articles and NOT an ad. Got it? 

Now go get 'em!

That's all for today.

Warmly,

Emette Massey

P.S. Are you experiencing an advertising or marketing problem that's slowing your success or profits to a crawl? Send me your questions at eemassey@yahoo.com . . . OR call my 24-7 advertising hotline: 828-270-9438.

 

 

 

WARNING: DON'T CALL ANY Plumber UNTIL YOU READ THIS!
Did you know not all plumbers are the same?     Yes, it's true. Some plumbers only understand the basics of drain systems and piping. While others, who are more experienced, understand not only the basics, but also, many new techniques that give a more rapid and complete way to clean your drains and keep them clean.     Got leaky pipes? Do you hear a constant drip. . . drip. . . drip. If so, you should call a plumber who use this new, improved drain cleaning system that takes half the time and a fraction of the cost other plumbers charge. Why? The answer is simple.	You see, this new technology can be used on your very first visit to remove stubborn drain clogs plus protect your plumbing systems  in just 15-minutes!     That's the good news. The bad news is that there are only three plumbers in North Carolina who use this new method of eliminating drain clogs and there is only one here in Hickory.     So, if you need fast help, you should call (000) 000-0000 and make an appointment with Bob Kratchet who is  the only plumber in the Hickory area. using this new "drain clog stop " technology.     By the way, the first visit is free.

How to Get Word of Mouth Advertising

Howdy Friend,

Getting lots of word of mouth advertising can be an excellent tool in your marketing bag ‘o tricks.

Make no bones about it . . . there is nothing better than getting a new customer as a result of a referral from one of your current customers. All businesses can greatly benefit from this type of marketing. This includes your business too!

So everybody seems to know what referrals are but tend to take them for granted. This is one area of marketing that is approached rather casually, even haphazardly. Hence the results are poor at best.

And that’s what I want to talk to you about today . . . getting more biz from word of mouth advertising.

Here’s the cool thing . . . it’s not really that difficult to do once you know the secrets I’m going to share with you.

As you know all the best things in life are free . . . our minds, the air we breathe, our family and friends and referrals.

Even though referrals cost you nothing—at least in compared to paid advertising space, you do have to earn them. By this I mean you should be doing an outstanding job of serving your customers better than anyone else. Walt Disney said, “Do what you do so well that people can’t resist telling others about you.”

This makes me think of marketing guru Dan Kennedy. He’s one top-shelf direct response marketing copywriters and consultants. He’s also an excellent teacher and mentor.

As you can see Dan wears several different business hats one of which is a well-known, highly respected speaker. The funny thing is he doesn’t promote himself as a speaker per-se. He doesn’t have to. Since 1978 he’s averaged over 70 paid speaking engagements each year with more than half coming from referrals!

How can this be? It’s simple really. He focuses on what is important to his clients and they are excited to share this excitement with their peers and customers. In other words, Dan provides exceptional service and value to each and every one of his clients, peers and colleagues. And it pays handsomely in the way of referrals.

Could you do this? Why yes you can! You may have to redirect your thinking a bit by starting with the EAR formula.

Here what it stands for:

I’m already hinted what the E stands for. It’s Earn. You’ve gotta earn referrals. Even though many good things in life are free, some you still must earn before you get.

You could also think of “E” as excellent. Your satisfied clients are going to refer you for being good. But if you “wow” them this excellence you’re going to get more than your fair share of referrals.

Here’s what I mean. Let me tell you about this children’s dentist that multiplied his practice 10 times over without spending a single dime extra on marketing or advertising.

He came up with a list of 300 things to change in his practice. A few of these ideas included:

Totally redesigning his office to become more kid friendly and provide comfort to his “short clients.” He also lowered the reception staff area so that they were eye level with his patients.

Imagine you the “kid” picking out your own dentist! New patients could pick their dentist. This is easy because the patient giant photos of each dentist. The poster-like photos also included information about their hobbies and interests.

FREE BIKES! Are you kidding me? Our dentist developed a “home care follow-through Report Card” for their parents to fill out. You make all A’s and get a free bicycle! Talk about thinking outside the box. Little Suzy cruising the neighborhood on her new bike and is asked who got you the bike and she answers, “My dentist.”

One up service provider. As you know not many dentists or any other health provider as far as that goes calls their patients after a visit or procedure. This dentist broke all the rules and calls each new patient following the treatment and checks on his patient. He also calls each parent the day after the child’s treatment. Now that’s top shelf service. Could you do something similar in your business? Put your thinking cap on and get creative and I’m sure you could come up with better ways to serve your customers better than your competitors.

Could I get your autograph? You’re a new patient and you leave the office for the first time, you get an autographed 8X10 glossy of your dentist and dental assistant! Again, raising the bar in his practice.

Are you starting to see the possibilities here? Guess who’s name comes up again and again at office lunches, family events, PTA meetings—if you guessed little Suzy’s unconventional dentist, you’d be correct.

Ask and you shall receive. It’s a natural fact . . . if you don’t ask, you will not receive. Sounds pretty basic doesn’t it? You’d be amazed at how few businesses have a weak referral expectations or do nothing to encourage their customers to bring referrals.

Here’s three ways to ask for referrals:

1.    Use a display board to showcase customers, clients or patients who have referred that month. This sets the expectations and essentially says, “Our customer refer –we expect you to do the same.” Think about how you could do this in your company. The sky’s the limit.

2.    Referral Promotions makes the day. Why not make a contest and give away prizes to the customers who generate the most referrals in a certain time period. Make it easy for your customers to bring you new customers by endorsing coupons, discounts or certificates for gifts to hand out to friends, family or colleagues. Again put on your creative thinking cap to come up cool and unique promotions.

3.    How about Referral Events. I learned about an insurance agent that throws himself and killer birthday party each. He invites all of his friends and clients and encourages them to bring all the friends they want to the bash. The event is held in a huge tent complete with live entertainment, drinks, food—the whole deal. This event generates hundreds of prospects for our birthday boy.

Give me an “R” for Reward and Recognize. These tend to go hand in hand. We all like to feel appreciated and rewarded for our efforts. This works in parenting and it works in business too.

When your clients and customers bring you referrals make a big deal out it. Why? Because it IS a big deal. Think about times when you sent business to friend or colleague and they thanked you or sent you a gift to show their appreciation. It made you feel appreciated. And I bet you wanted to refer more prospect to that business, right?

By doing an outstanding job and going on and beyond the norm, you are not only providing a great service to your customers well, but also others too.

Want to really stand out and encourage your customers to send you more business? How about sending them a reward of some kind. It’s doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate. It could be a gift card to one of the favorite shopping places or a box of steaks from say Omaha Steaks Company. If your best clients have sent you tons of referral business, whatever gift you decide to send them is peanuts compared to the value you’ve received.

Warmly,

Emette E. Massey

P.S. Want to put your business into hyper drive? Click Here to Get my FREE REPORT that show’s 9 remarkable ways to increase your sales and profits!