Something unusual – read this!

I don’t make a habit of promoting products, but being, indirectly, a marketing person, I think anything that helps people to market their businesses effectively is a good thing!

Hannah McNamara, author of ‘Niche Marketing for Coaches’ is making an irresistible offer – because for this week only you can buy a copy of Niche Marketing for Coaches and receive an amazing set of bonuses worth nearly £400.

The book is a step-by-step process that will build a thriving coaching practice through the power of niche marketing.  Even if you are not a coach you’ll learn plenty about marketing that you can apply in your own business.

The bonuses?  Read on – and you’ll find that one will give you a free review for your website home page offered by us!

Bonus #1: CD worth £20 – ‘How to Find Your Niche’
Hannah McNamara, author of ‘Niche Marketing for Coaches’ is interviewed by Lola Fayemi. Listen as Lola picks Hannah’s brain to find out just how to go about selecting a coaching niche. Lola is a coach in her first year of business, so she asks all the questions that come up for both new and established coaches.

Bonus #2: Homepage review worth £125 – ‘The Goldfish Review’
Would you like a stickier website? Let readability expert Lesley Morrissey review your homepage and receive a free report suggesting changes to make your website more successful.

Bonus #3: Free directory listing worth £120 per year
A marketing space in the new and exclusive Wellbeing directory. (Launching October 1st 2008).

Bonus #4: Audio recording worth over £50 – ‘The Insider’s Guide to Online Press Releases’
Krishna De of Biz Growth News hosts this masterclass on how to attract your ideal clients and raise your media profile using no-cost online PR strategies.

Bonus #5: Free bulletin worth £29.99 – ‘How To Set Up Your First Life Coaching Website and Get Clients From It’
ICF accredited life coach, Mary McNeil offers invaluable information on how to get clients from your website.

Bonus #6: Ebook worth £20 – ‘The Beginner’s Guide to TV Interviews’
Joanne Mallon is the Media Coach, this ebook will show you how to be seen on TV as the expert in your field.

Bonus #7: Ebook worth £20 – ‘A Business To Love’
Business coach, Judith Morgan shares her A-Z of business success. Learn from the mistakes of a successful businesswoman.

Bonus #8: Free value assessment – ‘Are you selling yourself short?’
Nicole Cohen of the Marketing Gym offers a value assessment tool so you can find out what you are really worth to your clients.

Bonus #9: Discounts on books from the publisher of ‘Niche Marketing for Coaches’, Thorogood and public and distance learning courses from Falconbury

Bonus #10: Ebook worth £9.95 – ‘Getting Your Message Across’
Also known as the Book Midwife, writing and publishing expert Mindy Klein-Gibbins offers this ebook for budding authors out there.

Bonus #11: Ebook worth £15 – ‘8 Steps To A Profitable Ebook’
Sandra DeFreitas, “Tech Coach for Coaches” takes you through an 8 step plan to writing a profitable ebook.

Bonus #12: Audio recording – ‘Building Direct Response Websites’

Alun Richards of Branding You offers a downloadable mp3, and workbook on the 5 critical mistakes made by coaches with their websites.

Bonus #13: 60 days free membership of www.marketinghelpforcoaches.com

A 60 day trial of the Marketing Help for Coaches community including access to articles, downloads, interviews, forums and more….

Order ‘Niche Marketing for Coaches’ before this offer expires on 14th September 2008 – so do it NOW: http://www.marketinghelpforcoaches.com/products/item1.cfm/goldfish

Every picture tells a story

… or does it?  I keep seeing websites that feature pretty pictures right across the page, in prime real estate that really don’t help to make their point – and especially not to people who have only just ‘landed’.

Then there are those appalling stock photos of attractive people in blue suits that abound.  I haven’t been in any office where everyone looks so beautiful – or wears such naff clothes!  They look exactly what they are – posed photos and say almost nothing about the organisation they are supposedly promoting – except perhaps that they are unwilling to spend money on getting decent visuals for the website.

Then there’s the other end of the scale – the websites full of charts, diagrams and flow process visuals.  Most of these tell me very little of use or interest – I want to know what’s in it for me.  A bar chart showing how other organisations have gone from X to Y as a direct result of using the produce or service might be interesting – but not lots of confusing stuff that just blows my mind.  A before and after comparison works well, but not lots of examples of outcomes without any consistency or explanation.

Simple, clear and concise is what I want – I’ll ask if I want more.

So – before you start adding pictures to your website (or letting your designer loose in the photolibrary), make sure that every one works in helping your web visitor to understand what you can do for them.

Marketing mailouts

Just recently I’ve had a few people who asked me about marketing email campaigns – and, indeed, hard copy letters too.  I thought sharing this with blog readers might be useful as well.

Firstly, you need to establish the purpose of the mailing – which may appear to be obvious – but when thought through may not be the ‘buy our product now’ message that many people hope for.  More realistic may be ‘visit our website’ (to a special page, of course), or ‘ring/email us for more information’.  If you simply want people not to forget you, a mailout is probably not the right media, a newsletter may be a better bet.

Brainstorm the benefits of your product or service and use one of these framed as a question or in an aspirational phrase – e.g. Are you always late leaving the office? or Finish work early – every day! (time management course).

The first paragraph builds on this – either leaning on the pain or developing the aspiration.

Second paragraph picks up on other benefits (or the problems associated with the issue that they resolve).

A bullet list is a great way to present what the reader will get (if they buy your product/service) – remember not the feature or the advantage (nice to have), but the emotional triggers.

Finally, the call to action – call us for more info, see how much more you can have on our web page – or, better still, follow up with a phone call (always much more effective).

Sounds simple – it can be, but you’ll need to be clever and creative with your benefit management to really make it work well.