So, You Want To Build Your Brand

Dear Fellow Entrepreneur,

I hear you want to build your brand. You need help with headlines and body copy. And you want help . . . fast!!

Hey, that’s cool. But I got some news for ya. Most copywriters (at least direct response breeds with any chops) wouldn’t touch that with a ten foot pole.

What to know why? 

OK, I’ll tell you why.

For starters, rush jobs are doomed to fail. It takes time to research and learn about the innards of your company, your products and services. It takes more time digging for that elusive headline and hook, crafting the most appealing offer.

Heck, even if you happen to be an ‘insider’ or employee in the company it still takes time and effort to craft the right message. It’s simply not something you should just throw together and hope that your message “sticks.” 

Personally, I stay far, far away from those ugly creatures, as do many of my colleagues. 

So, if you’re still convinced you need a rush job do not expect good results.

Brand Building? Yeah, right! For starters you’re barking up the wrong tree sweating over building a “brand.” Yea, sure we all want to become a household word. THE go-to person or company everybody trusts, likes and is begging throw dollars your way.

Forget brand building—at least until you have plenty of mad money to toss at ad schemes that look pretty but haven’t a prayer of producing results. 

Here’s the thing. MOST small businesses can’t float that boat. It costs big dollars and usually a lot of time to build brand names. 

Instead learn how to sell. Learn how to reach your perfect prospect, customer or patient. Learn how to “talk” to them so they will listen and take you seriously. One of the most difficult tasks in writing advertising is knowing what to say.

Good salesmanship will carry you further and produce better results that fill up your bank account. Take the time to find out what your customers really want, need and crave. Then, make sure your company is the one that can provide it. Position your company uniquely. Come up with irresistible offers that customers will find hard to refuse. Make your biz really stand out by proving outstanding service, quality or any other tangible asset that makes you different (in a good way) from your competitors. Strive for excellence and go the extra mile for your customers. 

And guess what? The byproduct of this is . . . drumroll please . . . 

Brand Building

Cuz when you hook up high quality salesmanship with high quality copywriting the results can be truly phenomenal.  Sales kick up. Marketing campaigns catch fire. Your customer base swells like a tsunami. And your bottom line explodes into higher brackets, practically overnight.

So, if you’re set on ‘brand-building’ do it the way that makes sense- learn the direct marketing business (at least the nuts and bolts) learn how to write ads that sell. Learn what your prospects and customers really want and make efficient ways to offer it to them.

Resources. Here’s a few gems that will jumpstart your marketing education. I encourage you to include these in your business library:

1.    Successful Direct Marketing Methods by Bob Stone

2.    Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples

3.    My Life In Advertising and Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins

Ok, there you go . . . off to the races. 

Warmly,

Emette E. Massey                                                                               Copywriter/Consultant

P.S. A gift for you . . . all you got to do is ask. It’s a fresh illustrated PDF edition of Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins. Every, and I mean every business owner should have a copy of this timeless manual. It’s a short read but packed with sales and business wisdom you won’t find anywhere else. Get it now by emailing me at: eemassey@yahoo.com Put the words “Scientific Advertising” in the subject line and I’ll get it to you pronto!

The How Much Bull Can You Take?

Dear Valued Friend,

I’m just not on top of my game today. In fact, I’m struggling to put two thoughts down here. It could be the fact that I’ve have about three hours sleep over the past 24 hours. I need sleep. I want to go back to bed and forget about everything!

Bitch, bitch, bitch. Whine, whine, whine.

OMG . . . I’m starting to annoy myself!

Ok, Ok enough whining here. I’ve got an obligation to fill you up with some hi-octane biz growing advice and that’s exactly what I intend to do.

My daytime alter ego brings me in touch with some serious top players in the IT world. Quite frankly I’m proud (and lucky) to be associated with them.

Seriously, I am NOT bitching or whining! In fact I embrace the moment and find that it’s actually strengthening my concentration skills and writing ability. And sometimes you need some bullshit to jumpstart your goal setting mechanism and get things rolling.

Action is the key to success. You can talk about all the things you gonna do when/if only this was right, you had more money, connections, a bigger staff—whatever!

So instead of whining . . . here’s what I’ll do instead. Plan my next strategic marketing move. Or I’ll write a blog article like this one. I’ll make some phone calls or follow up on some leads. I’ll do anything other than join “the club.”

It’s my firm belief that we are all in sales to one degree or another—whether you actually work for another person, business or you work for yourself. You may just be “selling” your kids on cleaning their room, or your wife about a new car you want or your boss for a raise. You must still use sales skills to persuade the other person to way of thinking.

There comes a time when you have finally matured to the point where you rise above all of the typical bullshit that prevents you from achieving your goals and taking charge of your life.

As you know it’s up to you to make great things happen. No crying to momma when you wake up one day and realize you’ve pissed your life away by “joining” club. It will catch up to you. I learned this the hard way.

My mentor John Carlton suggests to get your butt kicked (virtually) early on in your career. Learn your lesson, fix what needs fixing and get back in the game.
Again, no crying or feeling sorry for yourself. Heck, anyone can do that. Pros keep on keeping on. They work at getting better. Remember, everyone starts at ground zero and builds from there.

Your job is keep working, testing and fixing all the blunders you’re going to make. The key is to learn the lesson and keep moving forward. And this my friend is the “secret” to success.

If I haven’t said it . . . lately—I welcome your comments and questions so feel free to chime in anytime now or in any other post.
Warmly,

Emette E. Massey

P.S. Want to jump start your sales efforts? Why not ask for this awesome FREE persuasion report called “The One-Sentence Persuasion Course” by Blair Warren. WARNING: DO NOT let this quick read report fool you—it packs a serious punch. You gotta read it!

Why You Always Bring You’re A Game to the Plate

Dear Savvy Biz Owner,

I’m been lucky in so many ways—especially having some of the world’s greatest direct response marketers on the planet to enlighten on the ways to kingdoms of wealth, prosperity and riches.

One marketer in particular, the late Gary Halbert shared a lesson I’ll never forget. He called the “Fighter Pilot Attitude.”

I like to call it bringing you’re A-Game to the plate each and every day. I’ve found this to be some of the best advice ever. What’s more it applies not only to your business but every area of your life.

If you want health, wealth and happiness then only there’s only two (2) things you need for success . . .

1.    And that is knowing exactly what you want 2.    Be willing to ‘pay the price’ to get there.

And that’s what we are going to talk about today . . .

How To Ramp Up You’re A-Game!

You may be thinking what does this have to do with copywriting, direct response or marketing. Well my friend it has everything to with copywriting, direct response and marketing. 

Actually it’s quite simple . . .

If you adjust your attitude then you’ll adjust your altitude and go higher and further than you ever thought possible. 

In other words . . . fail to bring your A-Game to the task I promise you’ll fail. It may not be immediately but failure will happen. Your clients, prospects, friends and family will soon get the picture that you’re just ‘half-assing’ it.

Point in case. Just recently a good friend called me up bummed about his lack of business. He runs a small car care shop and does outstanding work. Customers always leave with a smile on their face and oftentimes become repeat customers.

The problem is he refuses to run his company smartly. He thinks like a technician rather than a marketer.  He refuses to invest even the smallest amount of marketing dollars to keep the ball rolling. He stays broke because of this lack of effort getting more customers.

In other words, he’s not willing to really pay the price to get to where he wants to be. Quite frankly, I’m not sure he knows really where he wants to be and has no substantial goals in place. 

I’ve shared—literally given him thousands of dollars’ worth of sound, proven to work marketing advice but he just won’t follow through to get the job done. There’s always some sort of excuse for not doing it. I guess the old saying, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” is true after all! 

Funny thing is when he does finally exert the tiniest of effort the dollars roll in like high tide.

So my question to you is this: 

Do you know exactly what goals you want? I urge you to write them down in vivid, precise detail.

And are you willing to do whatever is necessary to get what you want?

No excuses allowed. Make a promise to do anything and everything (as long as it’s legal, ethical and moral) in your power to reach your goals. 

A couple of things you’ll start to notice if you follow this simple course of action. 

One is that the people, things, and resources you need will almost magical like begin to flow into your life.

Two. It won’t necessary be easy. It takes work to make great things happen. But if you’ve chosen goals that you are passionate about it won’t feel like hard work. You’ll be energized and ideas will flow like water running downhill.

If you are hoping that your ‘creative juices’ will magically start flowing while you’re working in that perfect, serene setting or when the mood strikes you or whatever I’ve got news for you . . .

Get Over It!

Do you know what all top direct response copywriters and marketers and A-Players are so successful? 

Their attitude is great and they expect to win . . . and win often.

They roll up their sleeves and get to work! They don’t take “no” for an answer. They do their homework. They research what the market wants. They get out and talk to their customers and prospects and find out what they want. They study the competition’s promotions and look for ways to benefit and add value to their customer’s lives.

So I challenge you to think about the two questions above . . . set new goals. Be willing to roll up your sleeves and do whatever needs to be done to make great things happen.

Here’s A Gift For You

If you’re struggling with your advertising efforts, sales and coming at a fast enough pace or maybe you’re just not sure if your ads are paying, then I have a special gift for you. It’s our special illustrated edition of Scientific Advertising in PDF format. No gimmicks, no tricks or even an opt-in required. Just email me at eemassey@yahoo.com and ask for it. Please be sure to put “Gimme SA” in the subject line.

Warmly,

Emette E. Massey

P.S. Want a FREE copy of our special illustrated edition Scientific Advertising? Ok! Just email me at eemassey@yahoo.com. Be sure to put Gimme SA in the subject line. And I’ll zip it out to you within 24 hours.