From the category archives:

Messages and Offers

Too many business owners and professionals think about email marketing as one-way communication. The problem is that when it’s one-way, you don’t know if anyone is listening or paying attention.

From my vantage point, email marketing – like all direct marketing – needs to be two-way. In other words, you need to get something back for what you’re giving away. That “something back” could be an email address, a telephone number, a request for additional information, a brief (two to three question) survey, a downloadable audio file, a link to a video, and so on.

When the recipient of one of your emails clicks through to a video, email marketing systems such as Constant Contact provide statistics that tell you that that specific recipient did, and when. With that information in hand, you can go back to that recipient with a phone call or additional email message that’s more tailored to the needs of the prospect or client. [click to continue…]

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Personalization in marketing messages assumes that you know something about the people you’re marketing to. It can be an effective way to keep clients coming back, but be careful how you use it. [click to continue…]

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Stop marketing to businesses

November 6, 2009

When you create and deploy a sales or marketing message of any kind, address it to the people who work at those companies, not to the companies themselves. Ultimately, a person makes the decision to buy; “the company” doesn’t.

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Guaranteed!

November 6, 2009

The words guarantee or guaranteed are incredibly powerful. When you offer a guarantee, you assure your prospects they can buy with confidence.

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What are you trying to say?

November 6, 2009

An experienced, successful marketing writer tells of his most humbling early lesson in learning to write concisely.

After many English and creative writing courses, he still did not “get it.” Something happened between the time he thought his thought, and when he tried to put those thoughts to paper.

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Speak to one prospect at a time

November 6, 2009

Rarely does the family — or office staff — gather around when a sales letter arrives to read it aloud together. In marketing — and direct marketing especially — you are talking to one person at a time.

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