The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit: Ads That Attract Customers. Brochures That Create Buzz. Websites That Wow. [2 ed.] 1593374976, 9781593374976

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LOGOS

PRESSRELEASES

THE

ULTIMATE

ADVERTISING



WEBSITES

BROCHURES

BUSINESSCARDS

NEWSLETTERS

BUZZ

MARKETING TOOLKIT

Ads That Attract Customers. Brochures That Create Buzz. Web Sites That Wow.

Paula Peters

 THE

ULTIMATE

MARKETING TOOLKIT

Ads That Attract Customers. Brochures That Create Buzz. Web Sites That Wow.

Paula Peters

Adams Media Avon, Massachusetts

Copyright © 2006, Paula Peters. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. Published by Adams Media, an F+W Publications Company 57 Littleield Street Avon, MA 02322 www.adamsmedia.com ISBN 13: 978-1-59337-497-6 (paperback) ISBN 10: 1-59337-497-6 ISBN 13: 978-1-44050-089-3 (EPUB) Printed in the United States of America. J I H G F E D C B A Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peters, Paula. The ultimate marketing toolkit : ads that attract customers, brochures that create buzz, web sites that wow / Paula Peters. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 1-59337-497-6 1. Marketing—United States. 2. Sales promotion—United States. 3. Advertising—United States. I. Title. HF5415.1.P43 2006 658.8’2—dc22 2005026070

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. —From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of the trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial cap letters. This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases. For information, please call 1-800-289-0963.

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION OPEN UP YOUR TOOLKIT

V

CHAPTER 1 THE THIRTY-SECOND SOUND BITE

CHAPTER 2 THE UNIQUE LOGO

CHAPTER 3 THE TAG LINE

9

19

CHAPTER 4 THE BUSINESS CARD CHAPTER 5 THE LETTERHEAD

CHAPTER 6 THE BIO

29

39

47

CHAPTER 7 THE INTRODUCTORY LETTER

CHAPTER 8 THE POSTCARD

55

67

CHAPTER 9 THE PRESS RELEASE CHAPTER 10 THE AD

77

97

CHAPTER 11 THE BROCHURE

CHAPTER 12 THE WEB SITE

111

135

CHAPTER 13 THE NEWSLETTER

175

CHAPTER 14 WHEN TO HIRE A PROFESSIONAL SA M P L E S 195 P E R M I S S I O N S฀A N D฀C R E D I TS 209 I N D E X 210

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Through this process, I have learned that creating a good book is never the work of only one person. It is a combination of the synergies and efforts of many different people, all putting their positive energy in the right direction. I have been fortunate enough to have that right mix of people in my life as I worked on this book. I would like to give special thanks to Ryan, for his support and belief in me—as a wife, friend, entrepreneur, and writer. Moreover, I would like to give special thanks to Lisa, for her daily encouragement, weekly chats, and for being the best teammate that I can imagine! I am very grateful to all of my family for their constant questions and words of encouragement: Dick, Gerri, Joe, Karen, Jeff, Misty, Audrée, Ann, Rich, Grandma Humrichouse, Aunt Dee, Aunt Adrienne, and Uncle Wheeze. Special thanks also go to my supporters from the past few years: Dale Wheeler, Mark Havran, Michelle and Dugger, Aunie and Marty, Brenda and Scottie, Ken Godwin, David Hooper, Stacey Allmandinger, Dr. Teri, Curt Clinkinbeard, Debbie’s Book Club, and the Lawrence Girls’ Night (you know who you are!). Without the coaching and counseling of my excellent agent, Mike Snell, I would not have gotten past the first step of this process. And without the friendly chats and helpful guidance from my wonderful editor, Jill Alexander, this book would not be in your hands right now. I am also grateful to the many people who gave me permission to use their samples and ideas in this book. You have all been super to work with! To the reader: I hope that you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

INTRODUCTION



OPEN UP YOUR TOOLKIT

The biggest challenge you face every day is getting customers to buy your product or service. Whether you own a small business, help out with your church, handle marketing for a local association, or create marketing materials for an ad agency or major corporation, the challenge is the same: How will customers find you? And once they find you, how will they know that they need you? Even if you work for an established business, the pressure to find new customers is an ongoing problem. You can’t always find them when you need them. And it seems that you always need them in a steady supply! Though finding customers is a tough enough nut for anybody to crack, it is even tougher when you throw in a limited marketing budget. Marketing materials can quickly get expensive. Maybe you’ve even checked out the price tags of a few advertising agencies or public relations firms, and you found that you can’t afford them. How do you sell yourself to customers when your marketing budget is small—or nonexistent? There is a light at the end of the tunnel: you can create them yourself. Yes, I said the magic word—yourself! The process of

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The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

creating most marketing tools is not as hard as you may think. Whether you own your own business, work for another company, or just help out with a local organization, you can create all of the basic tools you need to market yourself—today. Right now. This minute. All you need is this book, some paper, and some instruction on how to produce the pieces that you need for your toolkit. In fact, many folks are surprised to learn that they really can create all of the tools in this book—all by themselves, with a minimal investment in time and technology. A computer is certainly a big plus—you will find many helpful tools readily available in your local computer store—however, it is not completely necessary.

vi

WARNING! If you are looking for academic mumbo-jumbo marketing theory, this book is not for you. The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit includes only simple, easy-to-follow instructions for creating your very own marketing toolkit.

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit is the perfect book for anyone who needs to market, sell, or brand their small- to medium-sized business or organization. Even larger companies can benefit from the easy instructions included in this book. In fact, these chapters will give you all of the information you need to start selling your products and services quickly—even on a shoestring budget. You will learn how to write, design, and execute many of the basic tools for marketing, including: •฀ Logos •฀ Business฀cards •฀ Press฀releases •฀ Web฀sites •฀ Brochures

In other words, you’ll learn everything you need to help you win customers and begin earning money—now! It’s a fast,

vii Introduction

easy way to start advertising your business, with very little cash invested up front. Each chapter of this book covers instructions for creating one piece of your marketing toolkit and is completely independent from the other chapters. You do not need to read the chapters in order. Instead, just pick out the marketing tool you need at the moment, and read through the corresponding chapter to learn how to create that tool. For example, if you need a good press release right now to win you some much-needed publicity, then skip directly to Chapter 9. If you need a business card for your next networking event, then move to Chapter 4. In certain chapters, you may be referred to other chapters that have helpful information. For example, when making your business card, you will probably want to create a logo for it, as described in Chapter 2. Each chapter comes with complete instructions for writing, designing, and printing the marketing tools you need. Feel free to pick out the tools as you need them. You will probably find that you require different marketing tools during the different phases of growth at your business or organization. And above all—remember that you are the boss. The suggestions and instructions included in this book are guidelines only, designed to walk you through the basic design of each tool. You are not obligated to use them, and you are welcome to deviate from these suggestions at any point in time to try your own ideas. If you don’t like some particular content or a design idea, scratch it, and try your own. Feel free to be creative, and to experiment as much as you dare. In my experience, some of the best marketing pieces are the ones that break all the rules. Happy marketing!

CHAPTER 1



THE THIRTY-SECOND SOUND BITE Before you ever spend a dime on your marketing, you should spend the next ten minutes developing a good, thirty-second sound bite for your business. Why? Because you will use it more than any other tool in your marketing toolkit—and it’s one tool that is absolutely, totally, 100 percent free.

WHAT IS IT? A thirty-second sound bite is nothing more than a short introduction of you and your business that can be accomplished in thirty seconds or less. It answers the question that people always ask at parties: “So . . . what do you do?” It is your chance to shine, to show them your stuff. Think of your thirty-second sound bite as a mini-TV commercial, delivered by you. Someone has asked you for more information about your business, and you want to provide it as concisely as possible. You never know—he or she could be a potential customer. In my own business, many of my best customer projects have come from my thirty-second sound bite, delivered at trade shows, networking events, and even neighborhood potluck parties.

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The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

2

This is especially important for new business owners. I have encountered many new business owners who miss out on opportunities with potential customers because they cannot quickly describe their core business concept in thirty seconds or less. Sometimes their message is so unclear that I still don’t get it, even after I ask questions! This is a particularly difficult problem for those of us with technology, computer, and manufacturing businesses. Sometimes, it is challenging to explain to the average person just what it is that we do—but that is exactly what we must do, if we want to spread the word about our business and find potential leads through our networking efforts. I once went to a chamber of commerce networking event with a friend of mine who owned a physical therapy business. After he finished talking to a nice woman who owned a sign shop, he moved on, and I introduced myself to her. After a few minutes of talking, and giving each other our thirty-second sound bites, she mentioned that she was looking for a physical therapist to help her correct a running injury. “A physical therapist?” I said. “Did you realize that the guy you were just talking to was a physical therapist?” She looked surprised for a moment, then said, “You know, we talked for five minutes about his business, and I never understood that that is what he does!” Clearly, that was a missed opportunity for my friend that could have been avoided by a well-thought-out thirty-second sound bite.

WHAT MAKES A GREAT THIRTY-SECOND SOUND BITE A great thirty-second sound bite will explain your business concept clearly and concisely in less than thirty seconds. When people hear it, they will know immediately whether they need your products or services—or not. That’s because a good thirtysecond sound bite always includes four things: •฀ The฀name฀of฀your฀business •฀ Your฀main฀product฀or฀service

•฀ The฀customer฀group฀that฀uses฀your฀product฀or฀service •฀ One฀benefit฀to฀those฀customers฀of฀using฀your฀product฀or฀service

Once you get these four things down, your new potential customers should have no trouble understanding what you do, and how you can help them. Jim Sherwin runs a business designing gardens for homeowners in a Kansas City suburb. His business is called Tulips ’N Tomatoes. (Please note that all names of businesses, locations, and business owners have been changed in this book. This protects the rather personal marketing information that I receive from my customers, colleagues, and class participants.) When I met Jim, he gave me this excellent thirty-second sound bite: “Hi, my name is Jim Sherwin, and I own Tulips ’N Tomatoes. We design flower and vegetable gardens for people who love to have fresh-cut flowers and fresh vegetables in their homes, but are too busy to care for their gardens. We design the garden, plant the seedlings, and come back once a month to make sure it’s growing properly until harvest.”

3 The Thirty-Second Sound Bite

Doesn’t that sound appealing? It sure does. And if you are a busy parent holding down a job in suburban Kansas City but still want to enjoy the fresh taste of a summer garden, then you see immediately that Tulips ’N Tomatoes is the help you need. Jim’s thirty-second sound bite gives us a great visual image of the big, ripe tomatoes just waiting to be eaten! Notice that what Jim is doing is not what would be considered a “hard sell.” He is not imposing himself on the listener, or pressuring the listener to buy anything. Don’t confuse a thirty-second sound bite with a sales pitch. They are two different things. In this case, Jim is simply sharing a story about what he does for a living. But it’s a carefully thought-out story that can actually (and very subtly) solicit new business from new customers. I like to call it a “soft sell.” You can do it, too. With some careful wording, even the most complicated business can fit into a thirty-second sound bite.

WRITE YOUR OWN Now that you’ve read an example, you are ready to write your very own thirty-second sound bite. Don’t worry—this will not be hard. Just take out a blank piece of paper and a pen or open a new word processing document, take a deep breath, and begin.

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

Describe Your Product or Service

4

To start, write a short note that describes your main product or service. That’s it. It doesn’t need to be fancy, and it doesn’t even need to be a complete sentence. Cindy Blair provides general legal mediation services to her customers. Her business is Blair Mediation Services, LLC. The description that she writes looks like this:

Legal mediation services. That’s it. As I said, nothing fancy. Now, you do the same thing.

Pick a Target Customer Next, write down a description of your target customer. Who is the main person or type of business that you sell to? If you are a new business, or just dreaming of being in business, then you will need to use your imagination here. Who do you want to sell to? The more specific you are with identifying your target customer, the better your thirty-second sound bite will be. Your customer could be thirty-five-year-old moms who also own dogs, and live in city lofts; CFOs of small manufacturing firms with $1 million in annual revenue and sixty employees; or teenage boys who attend public schools, play football, and use skateboards on the weekends. Whoever you are selling to, that is who you want to list here.

TIP! Having an accurate understanding of your target customer is one of the keys to successful marketing. The more specifically you can describe your target customer, whether it is a person or a business—including income level, location, hobbies, buying habits—the more solid your marketing toolkit will be.

Cindy Blair’s description looks like this: Married couples who are actively seeking divorce.

Remember, choose only one target customer at this point. If you have more than one, pick your most important target customer group or individual. You want this thirty-second spiel to be as focused as possible.

Choose a Customer Benefit Now, think about the benefits of your product or service for your target customer. Why does that person want to buy from you? You probably already have an idea in mind. Maybe your product saves time or money. Maybe it makes life easier. Whatever makes your business special for your target customer is what you’ll want to include as your benefit. In Cindy’s case, the customer benefit looks like this:

Now, we’re rolling. We’ve got a solid service, a target customer, and a good benefit. We are ready to put together the thirty-second sound bite.

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER To create your thirty-second sound bite, all you need to do is string your three pieces together into one or two cohesive sentences. It’s not as hard as you might think. In fact, the pieces

The Thirty-Second Sound Bite

Save money by using a mediator to process your divorce, instead of using an expensive lawyer.

5

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

are already in the right order, so you’ve already done most of the work. Take a look at your piece of paper. Do you see your sound bite forming before your very eyes? Once you put the three pieces together into a couple of neat sentences, all you need to do is add a personal introduction—of yourself and your business—to the very beginning. For example, Cindy’s completed thirty-second sound bite comes out like this:

6

“Hi, my name is Cindy Blair, and I own Blair Mediation Services, LLC. We do legal mediation services for married couples who are actively seeking divorce. Our services give our customers the chance to save money by using a mediator to process their divorce or separation, instead of using an expensive lawyer.”

Voilà! Instant thirty-second sound bite, ready to use.

The Simpler, the Better The simpler your thirty-second sound bite is, the better. That means that there should be no fifty-cent words in your thirtysecond sound bite. Nor should there be any technical words, jargon, or industry slang. Just use simple, straightforward language, short words, and short sentences. Simpler words give your listening audience a better picture of what you do.

WHAT฀IF฀YOU฀฀ ALREADY฀HAVE฀ONE? Even if you already have a thirty-second sound bite that you’ve been using for years, consider revising it to make it clearer. Time it, and test it out on a few people. Just because you have had it around for a long time does not mean that it is working for you.

One final caveat: it must truly be thirty seconds or less. There’s only one way to be sure of this—time yourself. Pull out

a watch, read your statement aloud, and check your total time. Make sure it is under thirty seconds long, and not a full minute, two minutes, or, heaven forbid, ten minutes long. Remember, this is like a mini-TV commercial for your business, and most TV commercials are thirty seconds or less. Anything longer, and most people’s eyes glaze over from boredom.

ADVERTISE YOURSELF The more you use your thirty-second sound bite, the more powerful it will become for you as a marketing tool. So study it, memorize it, and use it wherever you go. Any time you meet a new businessperson, neighbor, vendor, friend, acquaintance, church member—use it. These are some of the most common places where you can use your sound bite: •฀ Networking฀events •฀ Social฀events •฀ Trade฀shows •฀ Association฀meetings •฀ Meetings฀with฀new฀customers

Staff Should Use It, Too This brings us to an important point about your staff: Remember that they advertise the business to their friends, contacts, and families every day, too—and these groups of people can be a great source of potential leads for you and your business. So make sure that they know the sound bite, and that they are using it. Whether you have one employee or a hundred volunteers, it can make a difference in finding new customers.

7 The Thirty-Second Sound Bite

Use it everywhere that you meet new people. And don’t forget—sometimes even your extended personal network of family members, business contacts, customers, and friends can forget exactly what you do for a living, especially if you haven’t seen them in a while. Your thirty-second sound bite can remind them, as well.

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

How Will I Know That People Are Interested?

8

When you share your thirty-second sound bite with new people you meet, sometimes they will respond favorably, and sometimes not. You will know that people are interested when they begin asking detailed, pointed questions about your service. These are questions that are not just polite, such as, “Do you enjoy your work?” Interested questions run along the lines of, “Do you also repair clogged drains? How about broken toilets?” These are very specific questions that indicate a high level of personal interest—either for themselves, or for someone they know who has a clogged drain or broken toilet. However, nine out of ten times, people will smile, nod, and say, “That’s nice.” Then you’ll know that they probably don’t need your service. You can safely move on to another topic of conversation, with no harm done. But one person out of ten will be interested in your services—and trust me, you’ll know it immediately. Her eyes will light up, and she’ll say, “Oh, my gosh! My sister’s daughter just flushed her doll down the toilet, and it’s a mess. She needs your help. Can I get your business card?” Jackpot! This is exactly the type of reaction you are looking for. Using your thirty-second sound bite is just as easy and simple as that.

CHAPTER 2



THE UNIQUE LOGO

Nothing makes your business appear more professional than does a well-designed logo. It gives you credibility in the eyes of your customers, while at the same time telling them a little bit about your personal style. It can also help people decide to do business with you. In this chapter, we will discuss the basics of designing a custom business logo, using simple design software. You can also use these principles to sketch out your ideas if you decide later that you would prefer to get help from a professional graphic designer. You can use the logo on business cards, advertisements, brochures, Web sites, and even invoices—everywhere that your customers might possibly see your name. It’s the ultimate way of distinguishing you from the competition.

THE VALUE OF A LOGO Whether you know it or not, every time your name appears in front of your customers, you project an image. It may be a good image, it may be a bad image, or it may be an image you simply have not thought about before. In any case, the image is there,

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and it’s up to you to take control of it through the presentation of your business name and logo. When you give someone your business card, invoice, or marketing brochure, your business is being judged. In a matter of seconds, people make snap decisions about your product or service, based solely on the appearance of your business name. As customers, we make those same decisions every time we purchase from stores and other businesses, whether we realize it or not. Because your business is judged by its logo, it’s important to project the best image possible. It’s also important to distinguish yourself as unique and to establish your business personality. Are you fun? Serious? Accurate? Hardworking? All of these are valid business personalities. The question is, which one are you? And which one are you projecting to your customers? A logo not only communicates your business personality to the world, it also gives you a lot of professional credibility. You are no longer just Kirk Smith, selling custom-made cupboards from your garage. You are now Kirk Smith, the Professional Cupboard King, and you have a brand identity. Even if you are still selling the cupboards from your garage, you suddenly are seen as being more professional once you have a logo. A good logo can also make you appear bigger as an organization. If you are a home-based business, a sole proprietor, or a one-person shop that wants to be taken seriously by companies who will be making big purchases with you, then it’s important to appear large enough to be worthy of that business. In that case, a logo can do wonders for your credibility, especially when combined with a professional-looking business card, letterhead, and Web site. Years ago, when I first started my business of providing technical writing services, it was just me, writing help files, user guides, and operational procedures for technology companies. I mistakenly decided that I didn’t need to waste my money on a logo, and I printed up some plain-Jane business cards to bring when I attended my very first software trade show. At that first trade show, in spite of my nervousness, I met a lot of people and got a lot of great leads, mostly from smaller

software development companies who desperately needed a technical writer, but could not afford one full-time. I returned to that same trade show year after year, meeting up with a lot of the same folks each time. But the year I brought my business cards with my new logo, it raised a few eyebrows from some of my past contacts. Suddenly, I was a more “serious” business, and some of those familiar faces finally turned into great customers. The difference from previous years? People could see that I was now treating my business more seriously. Though it may cost you a little bit of effort to produce a well-designed logo, it is worth every penny to make your business appear unique, professional, and credible. If you can invest your energy in only one tool for your marketing toolkit, this should be it.

WHAT IS A LOGO?

What to Include in Your Logo From my experience, there are only two effective strategies for developing your very own logo. Neither approach necessarily works any better than the other. You can design a logo with:

11 The Unique Logo

Right now, you may be asking, “But what exactly is a logo? I’ve seen so many different things from different businesses, that I’m not quite sure.” Good question. A logo is nothing more than a fancy, graphic representation of your business name, with—or without—a picture added. It is a unique image, with unique colors, that no one else has used before. You would probably recognize the logos of major companies instantly—especially those of national fast-food chains, popular soft drinks, and cell phone companies. We see them every day on TV and in magazines. The next time you are walking through the mall or are stuck on the highway reading billboards, pay close attention to how the businesses display their names: the colors, the style of lettering, the pictures, and the graphics. Those are successful logos.

•฀ Business฀name฀only •฀ Business฀name฀+฀picture฀or฀icon

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

For my business, Peters Writing Services, Inc., I decided to use the second option: a business name and an icon combination. Because I specialize in technical and marketing writing services, I wanted my logo to include an icon that represented the theme of writing for me. So I worked with a graphic designer, and we came up with this:

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Logo for Peters Writing Services, Inc., designed by Bense Garza Courtesy฀of฀Peters฀ Writing฀Services,฀ Inc.฀and฀Garza฀Art฀ &฀Design

I was very happy with this logo. (As a bonus, the color version of it includes red, a color I love.) The color, pencil theme, and logo all reflect my personal style. Your logo can do that, too. I did not create the logo myself—I hired a professional to help me, and he did a great job—but you certainly can create your own logo yourself. Many business owners do and save themselves tons of money in the process.

GETTING฀A฀฀ PROFESSIONAL฀LOGO There is nothing wrong with deciding that you would rather hire a professional to create your logo. As a business owner, you must make the final decision about the best use of your time and money. Be sure to check out Chapter 14 for information about hiring professional help.

YOUR BUSINESS “PERSONALITY”

13 The Unique Logo

So how do you go about creating your very own logo? Before we answer that question, let’s take a moment to talk about your business personality, and how your logo should embody it. Your business has a “personality” whether you realize it or not. Maybe you are a very conservative, suit-and-tie type of businessperson. Or maybe you prefer wearing jeans and a Tshirt when you come to work. No matter what your style is, it’s important to communicate that effectively to your customers. So, before you hurry off to design your logo, think carefully about the style of your business. What personality do you want to show to the world? Maybe a casual style is not the best option if your customers are mainly corporate executives. (Or, maybe it is—if you are in a creative business). For example, a logo done in primary colors and child’s crayon lettering may be perfect for a day care but may not inspire confidence if you are founding a new credit union. While that image may convey a sense of playfulness, caring, and educational excellence for a day care, customers prefer to see reliability in their financial institutions. A more conservative logo, with muted images and colors projecting an image of strength, can help to achieve this. (Despite this fact, many financial trading institutions today are attempting to project an image of fun and excitement that appeals to customers.) It’s all up to you to decide on the image you want to project for your particular business. For my own business, I wanted a logo that would appeal to more conservative, businesslike people, because those are my customers. I typically sell to the CEOs or human resources executives of small companies, and those tend to be very serious people. I also happen to be a pretty serious and conservative person myself, and I prefer to wear suits and heels to business engagements. For me, the rounded, tidy icon and back-to-basics font in my logo matched my business personality very well. Right now, take a minute to sit down and think a little bit about the personality you are trying to convey to your customers. Jot down the five keywords that would best describe your business personality. Are you silly? Casual? Conservative? Fun? Sexy? Glamorous? Hardworking? Serious? All of these are

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

14

valid business personalities. Pick five of these keywords and jot them down, in any order—no complete sentences or punctuation necessary. This exercise will help you to focus your energy on putting your best foot forward. After you finish jotting down your personality keywords, think about the colors you like best. Are there any colors that you love? Or maybe certain colors that you hate? Either way, jot down one or two colors that are important for you to include in your logo—or to leave out of it. Finally, think about images, pictures, or concepts that you identify strongly with your line of work. Are there any symbols or objects that might be nice to include in your logo, to show your customers more clearly what you are all about? For example, for me, it was the pencil. Because we were a company of writers, it was important to capture that image—not in an overt way, using an actual picture of a pencil, but in a subtle way, where the image was suggested in the icon. If you are a construction company, it could be an image of a house, a hammer, or a square. If there are symbols or images that are important to you, jot those down, too. Again, these do not have to be complete sentences, or even complete thoughts. Just a few keywords will work fine for what you are trying to do.

DESIGNING YOUR LOGO The most important thing in designing a good, solid logo is understanding what you want. Now that you have created a good written picture of your business “personality,” including your favorite colors and key images, you are ready to begin creating your very own business logo. You know your preferences; now you just need to get started. The best thing you can do is to experiment. Pick a graphic design software, work with the ideas you jotted down on paper, and try as many different combinations of lettering style, color, and images as you can think of, incorporating your business name. Try some with the pictures. Try some without the pictures. Move the name and images around. Then try it again, only with different colors. Remember, there are no hard-and-fast rules

about logo design. Anything goes—so you can’t possibly make a mistake! Your only limit is your own imagination.

GRAPHIC฀DESIGN฀ SOFTWARE฀PACKAGES฀฀ FOR฀LOGOS The following software packages can be used to design your logo: •฀ Print฀Shop฀Pro •฀ Microsoft฀Office฀Publisher •฀ Logo฀Creator •฀ AAA฀Logo •฀ QuarkXPress •฀ CorelDRAW •฀ Adobe฀Illustrator Be aware that the last three software packages in this list are designed more for a professional graphic designer than for the average user. Take the time to study the software, determine your own skill level, and make the decision about which is best for you.

The Unique Logo

In the end, it is best to come up with four to eight different, unique logo designs, each one using different fonts, positioning, and colors. Show all of them to trusted colleagues, customers, and friends. What do they think? Which one “jumps out” at them? If there is a clear consensus that one particular logo is the best, then you might have your winner. But in the end, the final decision is yours. After all, it is your business! When you create your different logo designs, you will want to strive for a few goals. One is to make it look as unique as possible. (Be wary of copying someone else’s logo, or even general design concepts—it can mean expensive litigation down the road, especially if the other logo is copyright or trademark

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protected.) Use your own color combinations, font choices, and custom images. The next step is to make your logo as clear as possible. Are the colors difficult to read? Does the position of your image crowd out the name of your business? Is the font size too small to read? If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, then you’ll want to go back to the drawing board (literally), and experiment with a new color choice or font size. And finally, be realistic. Your logo doesn’t have to be very fancy. What best represents your business? If a small, simple image of an airplane gets the idea across that you are Jet Plane Fuel Line Repairs, LLC, then by all means, use the tiny plane with a nice font for the company name, and good positioning of both. Refer back again and again to the notes about your business personality that you scribbled down earlier to help guide you in your choices about color, style, and appeal. Your logo is 100 percent your property, so you’ll want to make it look as much like your business as possible.

WARNING! Never copy someone else’s logo or design. You could be breaking the law, or stealing the intellectual property of another person or business. It could result in serious problems for you and your business.

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR NEW LOGO Congratulations! By designing your very own logo, you have just taken the first step toward creating a unique brand identity for your business. You are showing the world that you mean business. You are here to play, and you are here to stay. So how can you get the maximum benefit from your logo? The answer is: by using it everywhere that your business name will appear. In fact, anywhere your customers will see your business name—in marketing materials, in publications, on the

Internet—that’s where you’ll want to include your logo. You can even start including it in your everyday business correspondence, such as letters, invoices, and e-mails. Here are a few great places to include your new business logo: •฀ Letterhead •฀ Business฀cards •฀ Advertisements •฀ Service฀vehicles •฀ Invoices •฀ Billboards •฀ Web฀site •฀ Phone฀book฀listing

Wherever your name appears, your logo should appear, too. Your goal is to try to create “brand recognition” for your business—which is just a fancy way of saying that your customers will recognize you wherever they see your name. And remember, be consistent—use the same logo, with the same colors, layout, and appearance, throughout all of your materials. The last thing you want to do is confuse your customers with multiple versions of your name and logo.

17 The Unique Logo

CHAPTER 3



THE TAG LINE

The tag line is small, free, and very flexible. In fact, it will quickly become one of the hardest-working tools in your toolkit. Best of all, you can use it just about everywhere as a mini-advertisement for your business. Even though a standard tag line is fewer than twelve words, it packs a punch. It works wonders to educate your customers about your products and services, with the glance of an eye. It clarifies an ambiguous business name. And it sells your business for you—morning, noon, and night. Once you have a tag line, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without one.

WHAT IS A TAG LINE? Even if you’re not sure what tag lines are, you’ve certainly heard and seen them. They are featured on TV and in radio commercials, magazine print ads, freight trucks, and billboards. In fact, you can find tag lines on anything that’s business-related, just like logos. That’s because they have become a standard part of branding a business.

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A tag line is nothing more than a short statement about your business. It can be silly, playful, educational, serious, direct, or specific. The goal is to interest a reader, a viewer, or a passenger in your business. It can usually be found directly below, next to, or above the logo or the business name. The tag line educates your potential customer market by elaborating on your product or service—all in a tiny, neatly wrapped little package of one line. What a powerful concept! Just one, itty-bitty line lets your potential customer immediately decide, “You know, I could use that product,” or, “No, that’s not for me.” It’s a handy way to generate interest with your target customer audience, while at the same time ruling out customers who will only waste your time. Even better, a good tag line allows customers to qualify themselves as leads for you, without taking up your precious time on the phone.

Help for a Difficult Business Name Using a tag line is especially important if your business name is vague, confusing, or does not quickly and easily explain to potential customers exactly what you do and how you do it. How can you tell whether your business name is clear enough to your potential customers? Ask them. The next time you attend a networking function or a small business class, poll a few people. Ask them, “What does my business name say to you? Can you guess what kind of business I am in, just by my name?” If the answer is “No,” or if you hear repeated incorrect guesses, then you’ll know that your business name is not clear enough to stand on its own. It could benefit from a tag line. Let me give you an example. A woman who recently attended one of my marketing seminars was a high-profile, highheeled realtor, buying and selling some of the ritziest estate homes in town. Her problem was that her business name did not say what she wanted it to say. We did a quick test-market with the people in the room, and almost everyone thought that “Lissom & Associates” meant “lawyers.” So we brainstormed a few tag lines as a group and came up with the following jazzy line:

Lissom & Associates—A Realtor Dealing in Dream Homes, Every Day.

It worked and gave people a much clearer image of exactly what she did for a living. It also allowed people who were not interested in paying a large amount of money for a dream home to disqualify themselves as leads. Use of a tag line is not limited to business names that are difficult or confusing. It can be a great help for any business name, whether short or small, simple or complicated, easy or hard.

WARNING! A tag line can’t fix a bad business name—it can only clarify your business concept. If you get a very negative response to your business name, consider changing it. Nothing hurts a business more than does an incomprehensible business name.

The Four Kinds of Tag Lines Tag lines generally fall into one of four categories, with each one focusing on a different aspect of your business:

Each of these tag lines (except for the last one, which we’ll discuss later) gives the potential customer different information about your business. Some of them work better than others, depending on your type of business. Let’s see what the differences are among them, and which might work best for you. The Benefit Tag Line A benefit tag line tells potential customers why they should buy from you. It explains a little more clearly how you will help to improve their lives with your products or services.

21 The Tag Line

•฀ Benefit฀tag฀line •฀ Service/product฀tag฀line •฀ Customer฀base฀tag฀line •฀ The฀“fluffy฀idea”฀tag฀line

A good example of a benefit tag line is this one, for a commercial insurance company that specializes in insuring delivery vehicles for floral shops: No more nightmares about employee accidents.

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This company successfully drills into a very realistic fear— many delivery vehicles do, in fact, get into accidents. That’s the kind of problem that keeps florists awake at night. This brand of commercial insurance will take care of the financial dilemma that this creates for those entrepreneurs. The benefit that the company is selling is its ability to put the customer’s mind at ease. The Service/Product Tag Line This kind of tag line is the simplest of the four. It is nothing more than a statement describing your key product or service. This is especially helpful if your business name is vague, general, or unclear. For example, Specialty Mechanics was a highly specialized motorcycle shop that repaired one kind of motorcycle. Unfortunately, the company received way too many questions, phone calls, and walk-in customers asking if it could repair cars, scooters, and even bicycles. To make its name clearer, the company added this service tag line to its logo:

22

Specializing in custom Ninja motorcycle repairs and accessories.

After the company included the new tag line in its signage, phone book listing, and magazine ads, the time-wasting phone calls stopped. The Specific Customer Base Tag Line If you provide a service or product that is targeted toward only one specific type of customer, you might want to consider using a tag line that describes your particular customer base. It helps eliminate time-wasting questions and orders from customers who do not need your service. When JJS Architectural Engineering opened its doors more than forty years ago, the owners never imagined that they would

eventually field calls about building houses. But that’s exactly what happened, until they changed the tag line to specify the type of customer they wanted: Designing high school football stadiums since 1962.

Helps out a lot, doesn’t it? The customer target audience is very clear: high schools and municipalities who need to build high school football stadiums. The Fluffy Idea Tag Line This is the only type of tag line that you should steer away from. The fluffy idea tag line says absolutely nothing about your business, who you work with, or how you help your customers. Zilch. Zippo. Zero. Unfortunately, this is also the most popular type of tag line used for billboards and commercials today. What does a fluffy idea tag line look like? You’ll recognize it immediately. It is a tag line that tries to tell you a little about the company’s philosophy or approach to life but ends up being a big waste of space. It does not educate you one bit about how the business operates, or exactly what it does. When space is tight—such as on a billboard, or in a print ad—you don’t have many words to make an impression, and so these tag lines are likely to be a big waste of money. While driving on the highway yesterday, I saw this business name and tag line up on a billboard (actual business name has been changed to protect the wrongdoer):

Does that tell you what the company does? No. Do you know whether you want to do business with the company? No. This tag line tells you nothing about the business. When I later looked up the company on the Internet, I learned that it does computer repair services. Hmmm. So do yourself a favor. When you’re writing a tag line, stick to the basics. Don’t try to get too fancy. A statement about your products, services, benefits, or target customers will do just fine.

The Tag Line

AZTech Fundamentals. We build relationships every day.

23

WRITE YOUR OWN TAG LINE Now, it’s time for you to write your very own tag line. Let’s start with something easy: narrowing down the possible content for your tag line.

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Brainstorm the Content

24

First, you should brainstorm a list of about five services or products that you provide. The writing does not need to be fancy, and it does not need to be in complete sentences. Just jot down the list of five services or products that you specialize in. A good list of products and services for a photocopy repair shop might include these: •฀ Delivering฀ink฀cartridges •฀ Delivering฀paper •฀ Repairing฀broken฀copy฀machines •฀ Making฀warranty฀repairs •฀ Cleaning฀copy฀machine฀rollers

Next, make a list of about five ways that your service or product benefits your customers. For each benefit that you write down, you will want to answer the question, “Why do my customers buy my products from me?” Usually, you are helping your customers to save money, save time, look sexier, solve a business problem, protect their families, and so on. Be as specific as possible—exactly how are you saving money, troubleshooting problems, or improving their lives? Jot down these benefits. For our photocopy repair shop, the list of benefits might include: •฀ Save฀time฀buying฀paper฀and฀ink฀supplies •฀ No฀more฀headaches฀with฀broken฀photocopiers •฀ We฀fix฀any฀kind฀of฀photocopier •฀ Keep฀your฀photocopy฀equipment฀up฀and฀running •฀ Extend฀the฀life฀of฀your฀photocopier

And finally, I want you to brainstorm a list of three target customer groups that you would like more business from. (Most

businesses usually do have more than one kind of customer buying products and services from them, all for different reasons, but if you only have one, that’s fine, too.) For our photocopy repair shop, the list might look like this: •฀ Small฀businesses •฀ Elementary฀schools •฀ Churches

Put Your Best Foot Forward Now that you’ve done the hard part of the exercise, it’s time to do the easy part: Make some choices about what you’d like to include in your tag line, and what you’d like to discard. You want to put your best foot forward. Scan through your lists of products/services and benefits, and pick the one you like the best, or that you think is the strongest. Then simply match it with the target customer group you think is most important to you right now. Put the two together, and voilà! Instant tag line. The photocopy repair shop chose the following combination: Main Street Copy & Repair—We make your school’s photocopy machines last longer.

The “Grandma Test” Once you’ve put together a tag line that you like, test it out on a few people—just as you did earlier, with your business name. Share it with a few colleagues, fellow business owners, family members, or friends. Ask these people what they think of it.

The Tag Line

Feel free to fiddle with your tag line a little bit. Try out different combinations, and keep it at fewer than twelve words, if possible. This should not be a very long statement. If you don’t like including the target customer, then drop it. You can get pretty creative with your choice of words, so go ahead and make it as jazzy as you’d like to. But remember—don’t get too “fluffy.”

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Remember that a good tag line should answer two questions: “What does my business do? How will it help my customers?” When I write a tag line, I like to put it to the “Grandma Test.” My own grandmother is not very up to speed about technology, newfangled businesses, and modern terminology. But she is a sharp businesswoman, and even though she is now more than ninety years old, she can understand a good business concept when she hears it. If your tag line is not clear enough for your grandma to understand your business, and what it does, then it’s not clear enough. Period. Now, I know what you are going to say: “But my grandmother doesn’t need to understand my business. She doesn’t know anything about [whatever it is that your business does]. So why should I care if she understands my tag line?” Here’s why: Anybody you meet—and anybody she meets— is a potential lead, whether it’s a neighbor, a fellow member of your parent-teacher organization, or your grandmother. Everybody knows people, and you never know who just may be friends with the decision-maker at the business where you would love to get your foot in the door, or who may even be the decision-maker herself. Not only that, but many of the purchasing agents, office managers, and executives that you will deal with in the business world will have no experience with buying your product or service (and, incidentally, many of those same folks are grandmothers!). But if they can spot a solution to a business problem in ten seconds or less, then you suddenly have an interested customer. So the moral of this story is this: Make sure Grandma—and everyone else, for that matter—understands the exact meaning of your tag line. If they don’t, change your tag line and try again. Or better yet, show them two or three options, and ask them which one they like the best. Settle on the clearest, most concise tag line that you can. You’ll be glad later on, when you are passing out business cards, buying your first small ad space, or running your listing in the phone book.

WHERE TO USE YOUR TAG LINE Now that you’ve got a great tag line for your business—and it passed the Grandma Test—you have the power to give your marketing toolkit a major boost. So where can you use your tag line? The answer is . . . just about everywhere! Anywhere your business name and logo appear, your tag line should, too. That includes (just to name a few): •฀ Business฀cards •฀ Brochures •฀ Invoices •฀ Web฀site •฀ Billboards •฀ Phone฀book฀listings •฀ Ads •฀ Letterhead •฀ Company฀vehicles

Can I Use More Than One Tag Line? Some businesses use more than one tag line if they sell very different product lines, or if they are service businesses with two or more distinctly different service lines. If you are already using two different logos, you may also want to consider using a second tag line. For example, a consulting firm that I worked with had two very different lines of business. The company audited the

27 The Tag Line

Anywhere you think potential customers might see your name, that’s where your tag line should go. It acts like a miniadvertisement for your business. It’s your one chance to shine— in twelve words or less. As you work through this book to create the different tools in your marketing toolkit, such as your brochure, your logo, and your business card, remember to add your tag line wherever your logo and business name appear. In fact, you can even incorporate it directly into your logo design, if you wish. That way, you can be sure that your tag line will appear in as many places as possible.

temperature and quality of freezer storage at food warehouses and also repaired refrigerated trucking equipment. These two lines of business were so separate that, while the company decided to keep the same business name for both ventures— Johnson Cold Storage Experts, Inc.—it chose to create two separate and unique logos, with two separate tag lines. Their new tag lines both played off the “expert” theme:

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

Tagline #1: Johnson Cold Storage Experts, Inc.— Expert audits, expert knowledge, & expert training for your cold storage warehouse

28

Tagline #2: Johnson Cold Storage Experts, Inc.— The experts in refrigerated truck maintenance

You can do the same thing. Just remember that the more logos and tag lines you add, the more complicated your business marketing becomes, and the more expensive, too. If you have two tag lines, you will also need to have two versions of your business card, your letterhead, and your envelopes. Sometimes, when you are first starting your business, it is easier to stick with just one tag line and logo, and then reconsider later whether you want to add another. Now that you have mastered tag lines, you are ready to create your very own business card—the ultimate portable marketing tool for the business owner.

CHAPTER 4



THE BUSINESS CARD

What is the easiest way to introduce yourself to a room full of new people? With a business card. A business card, like a logo, has become absolutely essential to demonstrating the credibility of a new business, and it is an important part of your toolkit. The first act of almost every new business owner today is to create a business card—and for good reason. A business card is like a minibrochure of your products and services, especially if you are using a unique logo and a self-explanatory tag line. In this chapter, we will learn how to select the best information for your business card, how to design it using common software, and finally, how to print it.

ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE . . . THE HARD-WORKING BUSINESS CARD The business card is not a complicated tool. It is simply a small card that you give to people you meet. That’s all. You’ve probably seen a million of them if you have ever attended a trade show or worked for a large corporation, where they seem to float around like leaves in autumn.

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The key thing about the business card is that it is a way for people to remember you, long after you have met them. It is (literally) your personal calling card, the thing that will leave a lasting impression on the new people you meet. Once you have introduced yourself to people and have given them your thirtysecond sound bite (see Chapter 1), then give them a copy of your business card. You get a chance to make a good impression, and they get a chance to call you later on, if they suddenly realize they need something from you. You never know. A week later, you might get a phone call from someone who says, “Hi, Sally. I just met you last week at the block party and picked up your card. My son’s car just broke down, and we desperately need a tow service. Can you help us?” Here is an example of a business card that we used for Peters Writing Services:

Paula Peters President

PETERS WRITING SERVICES Tel: 913.485.4537 Fax: 913.390.0844 email: [email protected] 12707 S. Hallet, Suite 2625 Olathe, KS 66062 www.peterswriting.com

Business card for Peters Writing Services, designed by Bense Garza Courtesy฀of฀Peters฀ Writing฀Services,฀ Inc.฀and฀Garza฀Art฀ &฀Design

Ideally, you will want your business card to be more than just a calling card for you and your business. It is also a way for people to quickly judge how professional you are. A card functions as a “credibility check.” When someone takes your business card and looks it over, they are making mental decisions—almost unconsciously—about the quality of your service. You want that potential customer to think, just from looking at your business card, “Wow, this person is someone that I would like to do business with!” Now, you do not need to get a “Wow!” reaction for your business card to work right off the bat. Many business owners start out with a plain-Jane card, like I did, then upgrade later to a

more attractive, graphics-intensive one. That is fine, too. Whether you decide to create a fancy business card or just something that gets your name out there to potential customers, you will use the same basic design principles. For starters, that means getting the right information onto your card.

CREATE YOUR BUSINESS CARD Creating your very own business card is not difficult. In fact, it is one of the easier things that you will create for your marketing toolkit. The three basic steps to creating a business card are: 1. Pick the right business information to include. 2. Design the layout of the information to fit the card space. 3. Print the business card on the paper of your choice.

We’ll start off by deciding something that’s pretty easy: which information to include on your business card.

PICK THE RIGHT INFO

•฀ Name •฀ Title •฀ Business฀name •฀ Unique฀logo •฀ Tag฀line •฀ Telephone฀number •฀ Fax฀number •฀ Mailing฀address/physical฀address •฀ E-mail฀address •฀ Web฀site฀address

31 The Business Card

A business card can’t work for you if it doesn’t perform its main job, which is to give people your contact information. So you want to be sure to include every possible means of contact that people can use to reach you—whether that’s by computer, fax, visit, letter, or phone. When you design your business card, you will want to include all of the following information (when available):

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

If you don’t have a Web site, or an e-mail address, or a fax machine, just include whatever contact information that you do have. The same goes for a tag line, or for a unique logo. You can always add them later, as your business grows. At a bare minimum, be sure to include your name, business name, phone number, and address. By incorporating all of this information, you make it easy for people to contact you. Even if your card gets passed along to someone else, you know that they’ll be able to find you if they want to.

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A Few Words About Addresses Addresses are very important to include in your business card, but many business owners are hesitant to do so, because they work from home. So let’s spend a little time thinking about your mailing address. One of your goals in creating a business card is to announce to the world that you are a legitimate business venture. Whether you realize it or not, there are a few “signals” that tell people that you are, indeed, the legitimate business venture that you claim to be. One of those signals is a legitimate, physical mailing address. There is nothing in the world that looks fishier than a business card—or a business—with no address. When I attend a networking function or a trade show and pick up a business card that is missing an address, I immediately wonder, “What’s the secret? Why aren’t they sharing their address?” Potential customers will wonder the same thing. Unfortunately, the evening news is rife with stories about scam artists, and everyone these days is a little more reserved about who they buy from. By not including your address, you raise a shadow of doubt in the mind of the buyer. And the last thing you want to do is scare people away from buying from you before they’ve even had a chance to look at your products or hear about your services. Web sites that do not reveal the main location of the business have a similar problem. It looks weird, and it raises doubt in the mind of the buyer.

The bottom line is this: even if you are a home-based business, or working out of a barn, an apartment, or a junky warehouse that you hope none of your customers will ever see, you still need to include a physical address on your business card. If you feel squeamish about printing your address on a business card, then consider trying out one of these options, all of which have become popular among entrepreneurs over the past few years: •฀ Add฀a฀suite฀number฀(such฀as฀“Suite฀201”)฀to฀your฀home฀address,฀ to฀make฀it฀look฀more฀like฀a฀business •฀ Rent฀a฀post฀office฀box฀from฀your฀local฀post฀office •฀ Lease฀a฀virtual฀address฀from฀a฀private฀service

Robert O’Sullivan sold hand-carved teakwood crosses to major Christian bookstore chains around the country. Because he dealt with some pretty high-level executives, he did not want them to know that his entire staff of six people was working out of his basement, carving, staining, and decorating the crosses. His home address originally was: 3333 Gillham Road Glenview, KS 22378

He added a suite number, along with a business name, in order to look more professional. The new address reads:

After adding the business name and suite number, it was difficult for his customers to recognize that it was a home address. It looked just as professional as an office in an industrial complex. And the post office had no problem delivering to him; they knew who it was. If you still do not want to share your address with your business audience, and adding a suite number just won’t cut it for you, then you might consider renting a post office box from the post office. For a small monthly charge, you can pick up your

33 The Business Card

The Original Teakwood Cross 3333 Gillham Road Suite #201 Glenview, KS 22378

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34

mail at the post office, and keep your business mail separate from your personal mail. And best of all, you can list the post office box as your address in all of your literature, including your business card. If you decide to go this route, keep in mind that not all shipping companies will deliver to post office boxes. And, some customers are wary of buying anything from a business using a post office box—unfortunately, in the past, certain scam artists have created a “bad reputation” for post office box businesses. If this is the case for you, then you may want to try a third option: leasing a virtual address from a national—or local—service provider. Virtual addresses are fast becoming a popular choice for service businesses that want to appear very “corporate” to their customers. A virtual address looks like any other commercial mailing address; it does not use a post office box and does not have some of the problems associated with post office boxes. These addresses also sometimes come with an option for leasing out voice mail, conference lines, meeting rooms, and even receptionist service, all while you work happily from your home. Some of these services even offer locations for international headquarters.

YOUR฀VIRTUAL฀ADDRESS A few places that offer virtual address services: •฀ www.regus.com •฀ www.hq.com •฀ www.mynycoffice.com฀(for฀New฀York฀City฀addresses฀only) •฀ Mail฀Boxes฀Etc. Pay attention to the service that you are purchasing before you buy. Many of these businesses change their offerings frequently.

DESIGN THE LAYOUT Now that you know what you want to include on your business card, it’s time to design the layout.

Your business card should include all of the information we discussed above, including your logo and tag line (if you have one), on one side of the card. It needs to fit a standard, 2" × 3" business card layout (unless you plan to create an alternative design and are willing to spend the time to print it on specialty paper). Any basic graphic design or word processing software should have a standard business card layout available as a template for you to work with. If you do not have access to a computer and are not inclined to buy one, then you may want to consider hiring a professional graphic designer to lay out your card for you (see Chapter 14, “When to Hire a Professional”). With a professional graphic designer, you can offer your ideas, and even your own personal sketches, as a starting point for the design, and they can handle the rest. They may even offer you a selection of designs to choose from, based on their past portfolio of work. Some popular software programs that enable you to design business cards: •฀ Visual฀Business฀Cards •฀ Belltech฀Business฀Cards฀Designer฀Pro •฀ Microsoft฀Office฀Publisher •฀ Microsoft฀ Word฀ (many฀ other฀ templates฀ also฀ are฀ available฀ at฀ the฀ Microsoft฀Office฀online฀Web฀site,฀http://office.microsoft.com)

1. Logo and tag line go on the left one-third of the card. 2. Your name and title go at the very top, as if at the beginning of a list. 3. The business name goes next in the list, in very large lettering. 4. Contact information comes next, in any order. Use a smaller lettering for this text.

35 The Business Card

Most business cards are single-sided, with a landscape layout—as mine was in the example on page 30. However, feel free to change the style or direction of the text, any way you see fit. A business card is a great way for you to get creative with your marketing toolkit. A good, basic formula for designing a business card is this:

After that, you can experiment with any colors, images, pictures, or background patterns that you wish. Use your imagination! There are a lot of very exciting, visually appealing business cards out there. Sometimes, it requires a little bit of fiddling around with the layout and the order to make it look harmonious and attractive to you.

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

MATCHING฀BUSINESS฀ CARDS฀TO฀LETTERHEAD

36

If you already have stationery or are planning to design stationery some time soon, you may want to consider designing your business cards to match. You give yourself an extraprofessional look and feel when you have letterhead, envelopes, and business cards that look alike, with the same fonts, colors, images, and design elements. For more information about stationery design, check out Chapter 5.

Remember, while your business card does not have to be fancy—just your name, the business name, and main contact information will do—it does need to communicate your contact information clearly to the reader. Make sure that your finished card is easy to read, and double-check that your contact information is correct. There is nothing worse than printing 500 business cards, only to find out later that the telephone number was printed incorrectly.

CHOOSE THE PAPER AND PRINT THE CARDS Once you have designed a good business card with all of the contact information that you want to include, you are ready to print it. The first choice you have to make is what paper you would like to print your cards on. Most office supply stores now carry a wide selection of good printer papers that will work well for business cards. Some even carry perforated business card paper, which makes it easy for you to tear apart the cards later (Note:

You may instead decide to have your cards professionally printed. This may work better for you, but doing it all yourself does have two big advantages: the cost will probably be lower (maybe much lower), and you’ll be able to change the information on your card or print out additional ones whenever you want to.) When you choose your paper, the first thing you’ll want to look for is a good card stock in either white or a light color. (Any card stock that will run easily through your printer will work fine—see more about that in the next paragraph). I find that white works best in most situations, but many people prefer ivory, beige, pink, or even a light green paper. If you want to get even fancier than that, you can now buy paper with any number of designer elements—including attractive, preprinted backgrounds, in everything from rainbows to gold leaf. In fact, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by all of the choices! Once you’ve chosen your paper, the next thing to verify is that it will print on your specific printer. If you have an inkjet printer, for example, be sure that you are using a paper that works well for inkjets—otherwise, your ink may flake off after it is printed. A few minutes of verification here will save you a lot of heartache later on. But there is no “right” or “wrong” business card paper. The final decision is up to you.

Setting Up Your Document to Print

37 The Business Card

To make this printing process as quick and painless as possible, you will want to actually print several to a page at one time. This may require some experimentation, and a few mistakes, until you get it just right. If you are using the perforated paper, this will be easier than cutting them yourself, but you won’t get the exact, clean lines of professional printing. Many software packages have templates that allow you to duplicate your business card design ten times per page. Play around with your software, and see what works best for you. And finally, don’t print too many cards on your first run. It’s a good idea to print out twenty-five or fifty cards, hand them out to colleagues and friends, and see what reaction you get. That way, if you make a mistake, or decide to change your design, you will not be stuck with hundreds of useless business cards.

CHAPTER 5



THE LETTERHEAD

Nothing makes your business look more professional, credible, and legitimate than does well-designed letterhead printed on good-quality paper, with matching envelopes. This tells your customers—and your leads for new customers—that you are a solid business, and that you will be here for the long haul. It differentiates you from flash-in-the-pan businesses that don’t want to spend the money on actual printed letterhead. Good letterhead communicates your business personality and style to your customer audience. Are you playful? Serious? Technical? Corporate? A good letterhead can tell us that, especially if it includes your unique logo and tag line (see chapters 2 and 3 for more information about creating those elements). And finally, when it comes time for you to create more “official” communications, your letterhead will communicate to people that you mean business. Any communication is taken more seriously when it is printed on actual letterhead and signed by you—the owner. So when should you use your letterhead? My answer is: whenever anyone at your company sends any “official” correspondence from your business. That could be a letter, a solicitation, a business transaction, or a general communication.

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It could also be an introductory letter that seeks to find new customers for you (see Chapter 7 for more information about the introductory letter). Lydia Noonan owns Sweet Home Paint & Design, Inc. She now has four employees and offers the full spectrum of interior decorating services for residential homeowners, including interior painting, furniture selection, remodeling, and decorating. Her customers also hire her as a consultant or general contractor for advice and guidance on large renovation projects. Although she has been in business for seven years, Lydia finally took the time to design her own “official” letterhead. She now uses it for all of her company communications, including:

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•฀ Customer฀invoices •฀ Bids฀on฀projects฀for฀new฀customers •฀ Sales฀letters฀to฀new฀prospects •฀ Collection฀notices฀for฀overdue฀accounts •฀ Postproject฀customer฀satisfaction฀surveys •฀ Subcontract฀agreements฀with฀vendors •฀ Work฀agreements฀with฀customers฀who฀hire฀her •฀ Offer฀letters฀to฀new฀employees

You can use your letterhead for all of these functions, too. It gives you a chance to put your best foot forward with customers, vendors, staff members, and even business partners. All you need to do is design it and print it, and you are ready to roll.

CREATE YOUR OWN LETTERHEAD There are two easy steps to creating your very own business letterhead. They are: 1. Lay out the design 2. Print it out onto paper

That’s it! It couldn’t be simpler. Read on for the details.

LAY OUT THE DESIGN There are several different ways to approach the design of your letterhead—and thousands of creative options for how it can appear on the page. I am going to give you a basic, overall design that you can start with. Then, you can feel free to experiment and change it, however you like. You can also get ideas by looking at the examples in the Samples section at the back of this book. You can design your letterhead by using a basic word processing program and inserting your designs into the margins. Or, you can purchase basic graphic design software, and use that to get a little bit of a fancier design. Most programs now have an actual letterhead template that you can use. You can simply plug in your logo and business contact information, and the computer does the rest. It will even help you set up to print.

LETTERHEAD฀SOFTWARE Some popular software programs that let you design your own business letterhead:

At a minimum, you should include all of the following information in your letterhead (when available): •฀ Business฀name •฀ Logo •฀ Tag฀line฀(if฀you฀have฀one) •฀ Mailing฀address •฀ Main฀phone฀number •฀ Main฀fax฀number฀(if฀you฀have฀one)

41 The Letterhead

•฀ Microsoft฀Office฀Publisher •฀ Microsoft฀ Office฀ (many฀ other฀ templates฀ are฀ available฀ at฀ the฀ Microsoft฀Office฀Web฀site,฀http://office.microsoft.com) •฀ Adobe฀Illustrator •฀ Adobe฀Photoshop •฀ Corel฀Photo-Paint •฀ Jasc฀Paint฀Shop฀Pro

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•฀ Web฀site฀address฀(if฀you฀have฀one) •฀ E-mail฀address฀(if฀you฀have฀one)

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A good letterhead design uses the outside 1½ inches of the page for color, images, and information. The rest of it is left blank. This big, blank center area is called “white space” (although it does not necessarily have to be white at all—in fact, it can have a light design or watermark in the background). The white space is the place where you will later be able to type your letter, lease agreement, or other communication. You will want to maximize this white space; make sure that your design does not get so fancy that there is no room to write your letter! An easy approach to start with is to put your logo, tag line, and business name at the very top 1½ inches of the page. Then, you can add your contact information—including mailing address, phone numbers, e-mail, and Web site information—in the very bottom inch of the page. That should give you plenty of white space for adding your communications later. For example, my first letterhead for Peters Writing Services turned out like this: Letterhead for Peters Writing Services, designed by Bense Garza Courtesy฀of฀Peters฀ Writing฀Services,฀ Inc.฀and฀Garza฀Art฀ &฀Design

Of course, there are a thousand variations of this format. You can use the side margins; you can move the information into different places; and you can even add new images to your design. Go ahead and play with it. Just be sure to include all of your basic contact information. One guideline in design: No matter how much you play with your design, be consistent, and stay true to your business personality. If you are using navy blue and maroon as your logo and business card colors, then stick with navy blue and maroon in your letterhead design. If you are using images of an airplane in your Web site and brochure, then do the same thing with your letterhead. Consistency projects an image of legitimacy. If you used a special font for your business cards, then use the same font on your letterhead. The more materials you develop for your marketing toolkit, the more you will want to take the time to be sure that you are consistent in color and design.

PRINT YOUR DESIGN

43 The Letterhead

When you have a letterhead design that you feel good about, you are ready to print it. Your next decision will be: which paper to print it on? There are hundreds of different paper options. You can choose from white, colored, bond, linen, flecked, recycled . . . the list goes on and on. A quick trip to the local office supply store, print shop, or online paper store should tell you all you need to know about your paper options. Despite all of the paper options for letterhead, for my own business I usually stick to nice, bright white, heavy bond paper. The crisp, neat, traditional look works best for my business style and for my corporate customers. However, don’t let my example limit you. You may decide that fluorescent orange is the best background for your construction equipment letterhead. Feel free to get as creative as you want with your paper. Once you select your paper, it’s time to fire up the computer, and print out the letterhead. If you are using standard, 8.5" × 11" paper, this should be fairly easy to do. It may take you a few tries to get it clean and even, but don’t get discouraged. Make sure

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that the print quality is good enough to present to a customer. Most word processing and graphic design programs today are set up to print letterhead at a pretty high quality. As mentioned earlier regarding business cards, it is a good idea to print out a limited number of copies—fifty, say—to see how the letterhead works for you. Then you can make any adjustments to the design that you think are necessary, without getting stuck with hundreds of copies of unusable letterhead. Or, you can simply print it out as you need it—one copy at a time.

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TIP! If you are creating a colorful letterhead, it’s also a good idea to create a black-and-white version. The images will be clearer if you plan to fax or photocopy your letterhead frequently.

CREATE MATCHING ENVELOPES If you are designing and printing professional letterhead, it is always worthwhile to spend a few minutes to create matching envelopes. Very often, the envelope is the first thing that customers, vendors, or future employees will see from your business, before they even see that beautiful letterhead. A matching envelope is nothing more than a smaller version of your letterhead design. You can match the envelope paper to the paper you chose for your letterhead if you want to, but it’s not necessary. Any basic white or neutral-colored envelope will do just fine. When you are designing and printing your envelope, use the same procedures that you used for your letterhead. Include the logo, business name, and mailing address in the upper lefthand corner of your envelope. There is no need to include phone numbers, Web site, or any other contact information. Only the basics should be on the envelope. Here is the design we used for the envelope for my company, Peters Writing Services:

PETERS WRITING SERVICES 12707 S. Hallet, Suite 2625 Olathe, KS 66062

Matching envelope for Peters Writing Services, designed by Bense Garza Courtesy฀of฀Peters฀Writing฀Services,฀Inc.฀and฀Garza฀Art฀&฀Design

You can use this design concept for any size envelope, whether it’s a standard #10 (which is actually 4.125" × 9.5" in dimension), a 9" × 12", or a 10" × 13". The information in the return address area just needs to fit snugly in the upper left-hand corner. In fact, you can design a perfect match to your letterhead for just about any size envelope you can dream up!

ELECTRONIC LETTERHEAD 45 The Letterhead

You aren’t limited to using only the printed version of your letterhead. You can also use it electronically, and get nearly the same quality. If you are using a word processing program, you simply add the text of your letter to the letterhead document that you’ve created, and then print it all at once. Or, you can e-mail the document to customers or vendors, and your letterhead will appear when they open it, along with the text of your letter. For businesses that do a lot of work over the Internet, this is a dream come true. You can even create an e-mail letterhead that appears directly in the body of your e-mail. If you use e-mail heavily, and own a very technology-savvy business, you may want to consider creating such a letterhead for your staff. Most e-mail software packages allow you to create a template that can include words, colors, and images. Typically, such software also will allow you to create an electronic

“signature.” Check with your e-mail package to see how you can do this on your own computer. Just make sure that the message is clear and readable to the receiver.

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WARNING!

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When you are creating an e-mail template, don’t forget that the receiver of your e-mail must be able to “see” any special functions for it to be effective—such as fancy font types, colors, animation, and graphic clips. Not everyone who receives your e-mail will have the right fonts—or the right software program—to view the pictures you are sending. The fancier the e-mail template, the more likely it is that some recipients will not be able to view it in their e-mail viewers. Consider using a more basic e-mail letterhead template, and test it out on a few receivers to see how it looks on their end.

CHAPTER 6



THE BIO

No matter how many people you have working in your organization—whether it’s one or one hundred—sooner or later, someone is going to ask to see your bio. Why? Because a bio tells customers that you have experience in your field, and that you are the “real deal.” But don’t panic. An executive bio—a shortened form of the word “biography”—is nothing more than a short description of your past achievements and credentials. It tells the customer why you are the expert at providing your service. In fact, a bio is not complicated at all—it can be as short as a paragraph, or as simple as a list of facts about you. A bio includes four main pieces: 1. An overview of your general experience 2. Details about your work experience and achievements 3. Details about your schooling or military service 4. Details about any recent professional achievements, memberships, or association involvements that may be applicable

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As you are creating your bio, keep in mind that you are not restricted on size. You may have enough information to fill only one paragraph, or you may have enough information to fill ten pages. But even if you have lots of information to include, I recommend that you limit your bio to one page. Most people do not have the time or energy to read more than a one-page bio.

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THE OVERVIEW

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The first part of your bio is simply an overview statement of your general experience, as it applies to your particular business. It is usually one sentence long, and it starts out citing your personal name, not your business name. Let’s write an overview for your own bio now. Take out a piece of paper and a pen, or open a new document on your computer, and give it a whirl. Here is an example. Todd Minkwicz is a real estate investor who develops new housing subdivisions in Phoenix, Arizona. Almost every time he gets involved in a new project, someone asks him for an executive bio. So, he is finally taking the time to sit down and write one. The first line of Todd’s bio reads like this: Todd B. Minkwicz is an award-winning realtor with 20+ years’ experience in the residential real estate development industry.

If you are working in a specific industry or field, now is the time to mention it. This is also a good place to list any specific titles after your name, such as Ph.D. or M.D.

WORK EXPERIENCE The next section of your bio details your work experience. You can include past projects, past customers, past jobs, and even past work achievements, as long as they are relevant to your current business. Simply list one fact per sentence. This section is usually one paragraph long, with at least two sentences, and no more than five. However, if you have

only one or two facts to include, then just add your sentences to the overview. For the moment, you can make the entire bio one paragraph, and then later, break it out into two or three paragraphs, as needed.

TIP! After you use your full name once in the first sentence of your bio, use “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” or “Ms.” along with your last name. It sounds more formal and professional, giving you added credibility with your customers.

Todd has quite a few facts to include, so he’s going to need to create a whole new paragraph. His second paragraph reads like this:

If you have experience in a wide variety of areas or industries, add those facts in a separate paragraph, grouped by topic. For example, Todd has extensive experience in marketing, where he has developed several direct-mail marketing campaigns for sports arenas. Because this represents an entirely different field, it would require a totally separate paragraph in his bio, with new facts. In the end, Todd decided against it, because the

49 The Bio

Mr. Minkwicz has acted as investor and advisory board member for a variety of real estate development ventures. As the founder and owner of Kokopelli Properties, LLC, he has bought, developed, sold, and/or leased over $1 million in properties in the past three years. Mr. Minkwicz specializes in the acquisition and disposition of singlefamily homes in the Greater Phoenix metropolitan area, with an average gross profit of 21%. As a participating equity investor with Minkwicz Investment Corporation, he has consulted on the development of more than 950 acres of land planned for 778 high-end custom homes in northeastern Scottsdale, a project presently valued at greater than $280 million.

real estate professionals he deals with seem most interested in his experience with investment and real estate development.

SCHOOLING OR MILITARY EXPERIENCE

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The next paragraph in your bio covers your schooling or military experience. Once again, you have the option of adding a single sentence, or an entire paragraph, depending on the quantity of information you want to include. Use one fact per sentence, and limit your paragraph to no more than five sentences. Todd’s next paragraph looks like this:

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Mr. Minkwicz holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Williams College, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he graduated summa cum laude with a 3.97 average. He also holds a Master’s degree in business administration from the University of Missouri. In addition, Mr. Minkwicz is a certified realtor in the states of Arizona and Missouri.

If you don’t have a lot of degrees or military experience, you may wish to emphasize any professional certifications or courses you’ve completed instead. Or, you can skip this paragraph altogether, and focus strictly on your work experience and achievements.

PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS This is the paragraph where you can highlight the details about your association memberships or other miscellaneous professional achievements that may give your bio added credibility. Think about your customer base. What would show them that you know your stuff? Again, list one fact per sentence for this paragraph, with a maximum of five sentences. Todd’s looks like this: Mr. Minkwicz has been a participating member of the Phoenix Area Investment Group (PAIG), the American Marketing

Association (AMA), the National Association of Purchasing Agents (NAPA), and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) for the past three years. He has been the recipient of several awards, including Construction Safety Products’ 2005 Rookie of the Year Award, and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year.

PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER Now, it’s time to pull all of your paragraphs together, to produce one comprehensive executive bio. You will simply string all of your completed sentences or paragraphs together, one right after another, in the same order that you wrote them. Once you have done this, read it through for flow and to make sure that it reads correctly all together. You may want to put some finishing touches on it. Todd B. Minkwicz is an award-winning realtor with 20+ years’ experience in the residential real estate development industry.

Mr. Minkwicz holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Williams College, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he graduated summa cum laude with a 3.97 average. He also holds a Master’s in business

51 The Bio

Mr. Minkwicz has acted as investor and advisory board member for a variety of real estate development ventures. As the founder and owner of Kokopelli Properties, LLC, he has bought, developed, sold, and/or leased over $1 million in properties in the past three years. Mr. Minkwicz specializes in the acquisition and disposition of singlefamily homes in the Greater Phoenix metropolitan area, with an average gross profit of 21%. As a participating equity investor with Minkwicz Investment Corporation, he has consulted on the development of more than 950 acres of land planned for 778 high-end custom homes in northeastern Scottsdale, a project presently valued at greater than $280 million.

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administration from the University of Missouri. In addition, Mr. Minkwicz is a certified realtor in the states of Arizona and Missouri.

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Mr. Minkwicz has been a participating member of the Phoenix Area Investment Group (PAIG), the American Marketing Association (AMA), the National Association of Purchasing Agents (NAPA), and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) for the past three years. He has been the recipient of several awards, including Construction Safety Products’ 2005 Rookie of the Year Award, and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year.

Once you have put the finishing touches on your bio, it’s time to celebrate! You now have a complete, official, executive bio that you can use with your customers and colleagues. To make it look more attractive, you will want to enter your bio into a professional word processing program, and print it on good-quality paper. If you don’t have access to a computer, then at a minimum, you’ll want to type it on a typewriter, and make several copies, preferably on bright white or good bond paper.

ADD A PHOTO New entrepreneurs ask me all the time: “Should I add a photo to my bio?” My answer is: it depends. Many executive bios nowadays include a photo of the subject being profiled, and you may decide to include one in yours. However, it is not always an easy—or a desirable—thing to do. It is a great idea to add a photo to your bio if the photo is high quality, well done, and improves your credibility overall as a service provider. In each of those cases, a good photo may make your bio look more impressive and professional. A good headshot should work just fine. However—and this is a big “however”—if your photo is of poor quality, grainy, too casual, or too unprofessional looking, it can actually work against you with a potential customer. That doesn’t mean that you have to wear a three-piece suit in the photo.

It means that no matter what you wear in the photo, the quality of the photo must be good. Our customers make judgments all the time about who we are, and what we do. Poor-quality photos appear unprofessional. And if we don’t appear professional, then we are hurting the credibility of our business. Remember, you project an image to your customers, whether you intend to or not. Better to project a good image than a potentially negative one. So, the bottom line is, if you have a good quality photo that at least looks professionally done, go ahead and add it to your bio. The upper left-hand corner of the page is a good place to put it, and a wallet-size photo works just fine. But if the photo is of a poor quality, or if it looks unprofessional, then skip it. The photo is truly optional. You will get more mileage out of your words than you will from your image anyway.

WHERE CAN I USE MY BIO?

53 The Bio

Now that you have completed your bio, you can use it just about anywhere in your marketing materials. It is quite a versatile little piece of marketing literature. On your Web site, your bio works perfectly on the “About Us” page. For your marketing brochure, you can shorten it, summarize it, or paraphrase it to demonstrate your experience or credentials. In a press release, you can use the Overview to tell an editor a little bit about your work experience. Of course, if you are in a service business, especially if you are a consultant, you may get a lot of questions about your background or experience—more so than if you are a retail business owner. In that case, you can also include your bio in a portfolio, with the other reading materials in the waiting room of your office, or even as part of a comprehensive sales presentation. The options are limitless. Whichever way you choose to present your bio, remember to share it with confidence and pride. This is not the time to be shy! Not only is your bio an important part of your marketing toolkit, it is also an important representation of your business and the reason why you do what you do. Displaying it proudly shows that you are a strong entrepreneur, confident in the quality of your own work.

CHAPTER 7



THE INTRODUCTORY LETTER

What better way to introduce yourself to new customers than through a simple letter? It can be distributed by mail, fax, or e-mail, and it can even be used on your Web site. A letter is an easy tool for educating customers about your products and services and can generate a lot of excitement about both. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to write a basic introductory letter that you can use to mail to current—and potential— customers who need your products and services. And the best part is that your only cost is paper, envelopes, stamps, and time. It’s one of the easiest tools in your marketing toolkit!

USING THE RIGHT LETTER FORMAT A good introductory letter is a lot like a sales letter. They both have a few key similarities in their format. And, they both show off the “best face” of your business. When writing an introductory letter to a customer, make sure to include the following basic elements: •฀ Header •฀ Description฀of฀the฀customer’s฀problem

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•฀ Description฀of฀the฀solution฀that฀you฀provide •฀ Description฀of฀the฀result฀(benefit฀statement) •฀ Your฀contact฀information •฀ Footer

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If you have business letterhead, use it. A professional introductory letter looks best on good-quality letterhead. (For instructions on how to create your own letterhead, check out Chapter 5.)

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USING฀A฀WORD฀ PROCESSING฀PROGRAM If you have access to a word processing program to write your introductory letter, by all means use it. It will make your life much easier. In that case, you can simply create the letter once, change the date, tailor the content, and mail it out. You can even make personalized alterations to your letter “on the fly.” If you don’t have a computer, check out your local public library, Small Business Development Center (SBDC), or community college. Many of these facilities now offer computers to borrow or rent for short periods of time, and they may even have a printer for you to use. If they do, bring along your letterhead!

As you write the content for your letter, you may want to begin writing your ideas on scratch paper. However, you will have to transfer your content to a word processing program—or at a minimum, you will have to type it on a typewriter. In either case, you can directly type or print onto your letterhead. When you are finished, you can sign the letter by hand, for a personal touch. The best introductory letters are generally only one page long. Most people will not read more than that. If yours turns out shorter, that’s fine—it’s better for a letter to be shorter than longer. It’s much better to mail out a one-paragraph letter that

gets read by 100 people than a three-page behemoth that only gets read by one person.

HEADER

57 The Introductory Letter

The first part of your introductory letter is also the easiest: the header. If you have ever read a professional business letter (and these days, almost everyone has, since much of the marketing mail that comes to our homes is in the form of a letter), then you know that the header is the information in the top part of the letter, before you get to the good stuff. The header for the sample letter that follows only includes a date and a salutation. It does not include a mailing address, as it might for professional business correspondence. This saves some space for the main content of the letter. So, take out a piece of paper, or open up a new document in your word processing program, and let’s begin your introductory letter. You can start by writing today’s date and a “Dear Mr.” (or Ms.) at the very top, left-hand side of the page. If you are using letterhead, and your letterhead has a design in the top margin, then you will want to place your date immediately below the letterhead design. Each of these items—the date and the salutation—should be on a separate line, should start at the left-hand side of the page, and should leave a little space in between the two. For example, Lorraine Sweet is writing an introductory letter for her new business. Lorraine worked for twenty-seven years on an asphalt-painting road crew for her state and county. Last year, she quit her job to start her own company, Asphalt Paint and Supply, Inc. Today, she provides professional quality paints to road crews and private asphalting companies across the state of Vermont, where snow, salt, and sand are quite a factor in painting stripes on highways and parking lots. For her letter, Lorraine has decided to focus on introducing herself to potential new customers, while at the same time notifying these same companies that they now have another option for purchasing their paint supplies. The first new customer she would like to target is Ron James, the operating manager of Vermont Roadwork. Her header looks like this:

April 18, 2006 Dear Mr. James:

With her header finished, she is ready to move on to the content, or “body” of the letter.

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CUSTOMER PROBLEM

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The first paragraph of your letter content should introduce a common problem that plagues your ideal customers. Think about their lifestyle, and their typical workday. What is a challenge for them? What problem does your product or service solve for these people, to make their lives better? Once you have identified a problem, you will want to write one paragraph that describes this problem. All you need to create your paragraph is two or three good, descriptive sentences, detailing the issue for the reader. In my own letters, I like to start this paragraph with a question, and you can do that, too. The biggest headache faced by potential customers like Ron was that a major paint supplier had recently gone out of business, causing a lot of delays in projects that had already been planned for the spring. Lorraine jumped at this opportunity to introduce herself, and she started off her letter with the following problem description: Do you know who to call for high-quality traffic paints and pavement markings in your area? With the recent changes in the pavement marking industry, you may not know who to call for premium paints and preformed thermoplastics.

This is a great description of the problem, without sounding too negative. But it definitely rings home with anyone who is in the middle of a highway painting project, and needs more paint!

WORD฀PROCESSING฀ PROGRAMS Most new computers are now sold with word processing software included. Check your computer first. If you don’t have a word processing program included, and you are thinking about purchasing one for your letter, consider these: •฀ Microsoft฀Word฀(for฀Mac฀or฀PC) •฀ WordPerfect Just make sure that the software has all the functionality you need, before you hand over your hard-earned money. In most cases, software is nonreturnable.

YOUR SOLUTION

We solve the problem for you. Asphalt Paint and Supply, Inc. offers quality paints, preformed thermoplastics, a complete line of painting equipment by Graco, and removable tapes and glass beads from Swarco, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We also repair equipment at any time of the day or night.

59 The Introductory Letter

Now that you’ve introduced a juicy problem for your potential customers, you’ve got their attention. The next thing you want to do is to show them that there is a convenient solution to that problem—and that you are the person who can provide it. You can accomplish this in your next paragraph by describing your solution to the problem, using one to three sentences. Give as much detail about your service as you possibly can. This will help your customers to see the value that you offer with your products or services. Lorraine’s approach was to be very straightforward. She simply states that she has a solution:

Notice how she mentions specific brands, services, and products. That’s exactly what you’ll want to do, too.

BENEFIT

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The last thing you’ll want to include in the main body content of your introductory letter is a statement about how your solution ultimately benefits your customers. Now that you’ve shown them that you can solve their problem, you’ll want to demonstrate clearly how your solution will benefit them in the long run. To do that, you will want to add a third, brief paragraph, summarizing the key benefit of purchasing your solution.

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WHAT฀IS฀A฀BENEFIT? A benefit is a simple statement about how you can help customers to improve their lives or businesses. Some of the most common benefits include helping people to: •฀ Save฀time •฀ Save฀money •฀ Look฀younger •฀ Look฀sexier •฀ Increase฀sales •฀ Decrease฀turnover •฀ Get฀healthy฀and฀fit If you have already discovered a good benefit statement that you’ve used in your brochure, Web site, ad, or postcard, feel free to use it again. It’s okay to repeat marketing messages throughout your toolkit.

What do we mean by “benefit to the customer”? Remember that as customers are reading your letter, they are constantly asking, “What’s in it for me?” It’s not enough to simply say, “You have a problem, and we have a solution.” You must connect

the dots for the customers, and show them specifically how your solution will improve the quality of their lives or businesses. Once again, you will start a new paragraph, and use one to three short sentences, this time describing the benefit to your customers. Be as specific as possible. The more details you include about how you will help your customers, the more vivid and urgent the picture will be in their minds about why they need to hire you. For example, Lorraine’s next paragraph looks like this: In fact, Asphalt Paint and Supply is a comprehensive paint and repair solution for any major painting project. No matter when you run out of paint, we’ll be there for you. We deliver 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You’ll never have to worry about missing a deadline on a paint project again.

In this case, Lorraine’s major benefit to her customers is the fact that she is available day and night, and that they can always get paint from her—whenever they need it. This is a major concern for her customers, especially when a major road project is operating around the clock.

CONTACT INFORMATION 61 The Introductory Letter

Before you finish your letter, you need to add one final piece of content: your contact information. Don’t forget this very critical detail! I can’t tell you how many introductory letters I’ve seen that missed this key bit of information. Even if you are printing your letter on your letterhead, and your contact information is included in that letterhead, you still need to make a one-line statement here giving your preferred means of contact. That way, when customers get very excited about your letter, they can call you (or someone on your staff, or your call center, or your salesperson) directly. When you list the contact information, be very specific about how you would like the customers to proceed. (This is similar to the “call-to-action section” of brochures discussed in Chapter 11.) Tell the customers exactly who you want them to contact,

and how to reach that person—whether it’s you, or someone else on your team. One sentence should work just fine. Lorraine includes this bit of information at the end of her letter:

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To find out how you can get the Asphalt Paint and Supply advantage for your business, please call me at (802) 555-6300, x21. We will issue you a quote within 4 business hours for your particular project and can deliver your paint within 24 hours to any location within New England.

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Lorraine added a little extra plug at the end about the speed of her service, and you can, too—but you don’t have to. Just your name and phone number will be fine.

FOOTER When you have finished with the body of the letter, it’s time to add a footer. The good news is that you’ve already done all of the hard work. Writing the footer will be a piece of cake. A footer includes a closing statement, your name and title, the business name, and a postscript, in that order. “Sincerely” is probably the most common closing statement, and you are welcome to use that, followed by your complete name, title, and business name. Remember to leave a little space in between “Sincerely” and your name so that you can personally sign the letter. At the very bottom of the letter, after your name, you will want to add a postscript. This is also called a “P.S.” It’s always a good idea to add a P.S. to your letters, no matter how short they are. Why? Because people like to read them. Don’t ask me why, but they just do. What do you include in the P.S.? A short statement about your product or service, reiterating one of your key points from the letter, will work just fine. It does not need to be long, earth-shattering, or fancy by any means. It is just a writing device that can sometimes get you a little extra attention. Lorraine’s footer looks like this:

Sincerely, Lorraine Sweet President Asphalt Paint and Supply, Inc. P.S. Call me today at (802) 555-6300, x21 to find out how you can get a shipment of paint delivered to your work site within 24 hours!

The final finishing touch is to insert some additional spacing between paragraphs, to make it easier to read. And, don’t forget to proofread your work, to correct any possible spelling or grammar errors. Do not rely entirely on a computer spellcheck program, which may not pick up a synonym or a word that is incorrectly pluralized, for example. You don’t want to send out a letter with a blatant spelling error! Taken all together, Lorraine’s final letter looks like this: April 18, 2006 Dear Mr. James:

63 The Introductory Letter

Do you know who to call for high-quality traffic paints and pavement markings in your area? With the recent changes in the pavement marking industry, you may not know who to call for premium paints and preformed thermoplastics. We solve the problem for you. Asphalt Paint and Supply, Inc. offers quality paints, preformed thermoplastics, a complete line of painting equipment by Graco, and removable tapes and glass beads from Swarco, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We also repair equipment at any time of the day or night. In fact, Asphalt Paint and Supply is a comprehensive paint and repair solution for any major painting project. No matter when you run out of paint, we’ll be there for you. We deliver 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You’ll

never have to worry about missing a deadline on a paint project again. To find out how you can get the Asphalt Paint and Supply advantage for your business, please call me at (802) 555-6300, x21. We will issue you a quote within 4 business hours for your particular project and can deliver your paint within 24 hours to any location within New England.

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Sincerely,

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Lorraine Sweet President Asphalt Paint and Supply, Inc. P.S. Call me today at (802) 555-6300, x21 to find out how you can get a shipment of paint delivered to your work site within 24 hours!

Congratulations! You have now created one of the most inexpensive tools in your marketing toolkit. It is ready for you to use. Just enter it into a word processing program and print it out on your letterhead, or type it directly onto your letterhead, and sign it. And get those stamps ready for mailing!

GET THE MOST MILEAGE OUT OF YOUR LETTER There are several ways you can use your introductory letter to get the most mileage out of it. When you open a new office, business, or retail location, be sure to send out a copy of the letter to the other residents or businesses in your neighborhood. It lets them know that you are available for business. Letters also work well if you are now offering a new service or product that you didn’t have before. In this case, you can send the letter to many of your past colleagues and customers. It’s a great way to remind them, “Hey, we’re still here!” while at the same time educating them about a new offering.

WHAT฀ABOUT฀“SPAM”฀ LAWS฀FOR฀E-MAIL? The world of e-mail is evolving. It is no longer acceptable to send unsolicited, mass-distribution e-mails to people you have never met. The laws are changing every day, and the rules about sending e-mails are very specific. Before you send an unsolicited e-mail to anyone, be sure to review the latest rules on sending e-mail. If you are still uncertain about whether you are breaking any rules, then consult a lawyer or marketing specialist. In this case, it’s better to spend a little time up-front to verify your rights than it is to find out later that it’s going to cost you money in fines or penalties from unhappy potential customers.

65 The Introductory Letter

Of course, you can send an introductory letter through the post office to just about anyone. You can even buy mailing lists from marketing firms for specific hobbies, interests, or zip codes (but be aware that while marketing lists can save you time, they can also cost you money). If you find out about a business or group of households that may need your products or services, drop them a copy of your letter. You never know where your business may come from! At a minimum, it only costs you the price of the paper, envelopes, and stamps. Finally, a letter can be even more powerful when combined with a postcard, brochure, and newsletter as part of a complete marketing toolkit. You can simply mail a series of marketing pieces to the same group of people over a period of several months or years, for maximum effectiveness. Realtors use a multipiece marketing toolkit all the time to educate neighborhoods about their residential sales. It’s a good way for the realtors to stay uppermost in the residents’ minds, ensuring that people will know who to call when they are ready to purchase or sell a home. Whichever way you choose to use your introductory letter, make sure that it is clean, neat, and attractively presented.

Nothing turns off a potential customer faster than a messy piece of marketing!

BUYING฀MAILING฀LISTS Many new business owners buy mailing lists to reach out into new markets, and you can, too. A mailing list typically includes the addresses of residences or businesses within a certain marketplace.

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Here are a few places to start your search for a mailing list:

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•฀ www.infousa.com •฀ www.mailing-lists-direct.com •฀ www.centurylist.com •฀ www.wholesalemailinglists.com Before you buy any list, make sure that you understand exactly what you are receiving from the service—and that it includes people who are legitimately in your target customer market. You often can’t return lists once you’ve purchased them, so you’ll want to get the most for your money the first time around. Also, check with your local library. Libraries in some cities and colleges purchase mailing lists for public use by their small business customers—at no charge.

CHAPTER 8



THE POSTCARD

Business owners often contact me when they first open their doors and ask me for advice in starting a marketing initiative. They want to know, “What can I do to attract attention for my business?” And I say, “Why not try a postcard?” A postcard is a simple, inexpensive, but powerful tool that educates people in your potential customer market quickly and easily. It takes very little time to create one. You can send two at a time, or 200. It is extremely cheap to distribute, requiring only the cost of the postcards and the postcard stamps. Overall, it makes the perfect choice for a new business to kick off a marketing campaign. A postcard can also work in conjunction with the other tools in your marketing toolkit to create a powerful response in your target audience. It makes the perfect follow-up to an introductory letter, or to a brochure. Or it can be used by itself, as a stand-alone marketing tool. The postcard is a remarkably versatile tool that can invite new customers to call you, or remind existing customers of your services. At one of my seminars recently, I met a woman who has owned a roofing company for eleven years. In that time, she has

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tried many different marketing efforts. However, in the end, she successfully narrowed down her marketing efforts to simply sending out postcards twice a year, during hail season—when roof replacement needs are at their highest. Believe it or not, this has become the foundation of her entire marketing campaign, bringing her plenty of new business and earning her plenty of return customers. I doubt that she spends more than a few hundred dollars on her entire marketing toolkit each year!

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CREATE YOUR OWN POSTCARD

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When I talk about a postcard, I mean literally that—an actual standard postcard that you can mail with a stamp through the post office. A standard postcard usually has a picture or graphic, a few lines of content, your contact information, and a special offer (if you have one available). That’s it. It couldn’t be simpler. These are the key steps to creating your very own postcard: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Write it Design it Print it Mail it

In addition, it’s good for you to know that a postcard has three main sections to work with. These are: •฀ The฀“picture”฀side,฀or฀“front”฀side฀(this฀is฀typically฀where฀you฀would฀ see฀a฀picture฀of฀a฀sunny฀beach,฀if฀you฀were฀getting฀a฀postcard฀from฀ your฀best฀friend,฀who’s฀vacationing฀at฀the฀beach) •฀ The฀ “address”฀ section,฀ or฀ the฀ right-hand฀ part฀ of฀ the฀ “back”฀ side฀ (where฀ you฀ will฀ write฀ in฀ the฀ customer’s฀ address,฀ and฀ add฀ the฀ stamp) •฀ The฀“information”฀section,฀or฀the฀left฀part฀of฀the฀back฀side฀(this฀is฀ typically฀where฀your฀best฀friend฀would฀write฀his฀handwritten฀note฀ to฀ you฀ about฀ how฀ great฀ his฀ vacation฀ has฀ been,฀ and฀ how฀ much฀ lobster฀he’s฀eaten)

Like most of the marketing tools discussed in this book, the postcard is one you can easily do yourself—and one that does not even require special software. You can write it, design it, and print it using only a word processor, if necessary. Of course, using graphic design software will allow you to add some graphics, and make it look more attractive, but it is not 100 percent necessary. A word processor will work just fine, or even a typewriter, in a pinch. So let’s get started!

WRITE YOUR POSTCARD Writing your postcard content will be easy. There are a few simple elements that a good postcard should include: •฀ One฀great฀benefit฀statement •฀ Your฀contact฀information •฀ A฀short฀list฀of฀products฀or฀services •฀ A฀good฀special฀offer฀(optional)

A Great Benefit Statement

•฀ Save฀time •฀ Save฀money •฀ Look฀more฀beautiful

69 The Postcard

We’ll start by writing one great benefit statement for your potential customers. You will put this information on the back of your postcard, on the left-hand side, in the information section. For the moment, take out a piece of paper and a pen or pencil, or open a word processing document. A quick brainstorming activity of less than five minutes should be enough to take care of your benefit statement. On your piece of paper, jot down a list of five key benefits for your customers. By “benefit,” I mean the wonderful value you add to your customers’ lives when you provide your products or services to them. Some common benefits for customers include:

•฀ Solve฀a฀problem •฀ Increase฀sales •฀ Decrease฀expenses •฀ Have฀more฀fun

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Be as specific as possible in writing your list of five benefit statements. Instead of just “have more fun,” you may want to say, “have more fun with a season’s pass to ride the rails of Canada.”

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YES,฀YOU฀CAN฀฀ RECYCLE฀BENEFITS! If you have already developed a list of benefits from working with any of the other chapters in this book, feel free to recycle that list. You are welcome to choose one of the benefits from that list, or you can write an entirely new list for your postcard. Repeating marketing messages from brochure to Web site to postcard is a good way to reinforce your communication to customers.

When you are done with your list, circle the benefit that would sound most exciting to your ideal customer. Which is the most appealing for that customer? Whether it’s an individual person or a business, everyone has needs and concerns that are important to them. Pick one, and use this benefit as the title for your information section on the back of your postcard.

The Contact Info The next thing that you need to add to the information section on the back of your postcard is your business contact information. This can include: •฀ Business฀name •฀ Logo •฀ Tag฀line •฀ Physical฀or฀mailing฀address •฀ Phone฀number

•฀ Web฀site฀address •฀ E-mail฀address •฀ Storefront฀location฀(if฀you฀are฀a฀retail฀storefront)

You do not need to add all of this information—just the parts that you feel are most applicable. At a minimum, you’ll want to list your business name, mailing address, and phone number.

Product and Service List The last piece of content to be included in the information section on the left-hand side of the back of your postcard is a short product and service list. This can either be a vertical bullet list or a horizontal list. It can even be a sentence, naming all of the services and products you provide. Whichever one you choose, be as specific as you can, without taking up too much room. If you have already created your ad or brochure, feel free to borrow from this list. For example, Ebony Gordon-Ames owns The Pumpkin Patch, a family farm operation that offers pumpkin tours and festivals in the fall. She is designing a postcard for her annual Halloween hayride. After Ebony completes her benefit statement, product and service list, and contact information, the back, lefthand side of her postcard reads like this: Enjoy a Safe and Fun Halloween for the Whole Family!

• • • • •

Pumpkin picking Ghost stories Hayrides Owl prowl Fresh apple cider

Hayrides leave three times daily. The Pumpkin Patch 15550 E. 350 Rd. Elkhart, KS 21667

71 The Postcard

Bring your whole family to The Pumpkin Patch, for an evening of old-time fun. At our family farm, you can enjoy:

The Address Section The address section is the one place on your postcard that you will not write any content for. You will leave it entirely blank. Later, you can print—or handwrite—the mailing address of your target customer in this space on the card.

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The Special Offer (Optional)

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If you have a special offer, you can include it on either the front, or “picture” side of the postcard, or on the information side of the postcard. Sometimes, a special offer is just what you need to get a potential customer excited enough to call you. You can even add a graphic to go with this. Ebony decides to add a special offer to her postcard, and she puts it directly across the front. It says: Receive one FREE pumpkin with purchase of two admissions for hayride!

If you have a special offer that you have tried using with your ad, brochure, or Web site, and you would like to repeat it, that’s fine. If you have never used a special offer before, but would like to try it, then think of a good offer that will entice new customers to try your service. You might find that it will also bring back some of your loyal customers, too. Here are a few ideas that have worked for many businesses: •฀ Money-back฀guarantee •฀ Free฀sample •฀ 15%฀off •฀ First฀time฀free •฀ Membership฀fee฀waived฀until฀Feb.฀15 •฀ Free฀analysis฀with฀purchase฀of฀service

Get the general idea? While you don’t necessarily need to use any of these specific suggestions, you may want to try a variety of offers in a few different postcards to find the right one—the one that draws customers in.

DESIGN YOUR POSTCARD Once you have the content written for your postcard, you are ready to design it. In fact, a postcard design does not need to be fancy. You don’t even need to use graphics, if you don’t want to—black-and-white text only is fine, especially if it’s done neatly with a word processor. But a few nice images always make a marketing piece more attractive, and, therefore, more likely to be picked up and looked at by a potential customer. You already know where to put the content in the three main areas of the postcard. To make it look more attractive, simply add some color, images, graphics, outlines, or photos to the front picture side, along with the special offer (if you have one). A big, eye-catching graphic is a good addition to the front. You can also choose a nice, large font to catch your customers’ attention, either in black or in an attractive color.

WARNING! When designing a postcard, simple font choices are often best. If you use anything too fancy, it may be too difficult to read.

•฀ Microsoft฀Word฀(for฀a฀very฀basic฀layout) •฀ Microsoft฀Office฀Publisher •฀ Adobe฀Illustrator •฀ Adobe฀Photoshop •฀ Corel฀Photo-Paint •฀ Jasc฀Paint฀Shop฀Pro

Experiment and play around with your postcard. Most of us know what a basic postcard looks like; look at one and see if you can incorporate the basic design principles. You may even

73 The Postcard

To design your postcard, you can use almost any graphic design or word processing program. If you use a word processing program, make sure that it is set up to print postcard-sized documents. Some popular software that will make designing your postcard easier:

want to design two or three versions, to see which one you like best. Or, you can use all three as part of a comprehensive marketing campaign.

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PRINT YOUR POSTCARD

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Printing your finished postcard is easy. You can buy blank postcards in almost any office supply store, in a variety of different colors. It is best to use a sturdy white postcard stock that works best with your printer type (some are better for inkjet printers, some are better for laser jet printers, and so on.). When you have found the paper stock that you like, adjust your printer to accommodate it, and then simply feed it through. The beauty of creating your own postcards is that you can print 10 or 10,000! It all depends on your time, energy level, and the size of your target market.

MAIL YOUR POSTCARD Once you have printed all the postcards you need, you are ready to send them through the mail. I suggest to most of my customers that they send their postcards to one of two different groups, for maximum benefit: •฀ Potential฀new฀customers฀in฀your฀target฀market •฀ Existing฀customers฀who฀haven’t฀purchased฀from฀you฀in฀a฀while

You probably already have mailing information for your existing customers. In that case, simply handwrite or print their information onto the address section of the postcard, affix your stamp, and it’s off. Ideally, you’ll be hearing from them soon!

SAVING฀YOUR฀CUSTOMERS’฀ MAILING฀INFORMATION If you haven’t been collecting your existing customers’ mailing information, now is a good time to start. That way, you will have it ready at your fingertips for future mailings. Even if you are a retail business, it’s a good idea to leave a notebook out so that your customers can sign up to receive special offers in the future. While not everyone will participate, it’s a great way to get a list of your most enthusiastic customers.

Obtaining Addresses Where can you get customer addresses? From several different sources. You may have business cards that you’ve collected from networking functions. You might use a telephone directory. You might even want to purchase a list of customer contact information from a marketing firm, or over the Internet. Many new business owners buy mailing lists to reach out into new markets, and you can, too. A mailing list typically includes the addresses of residences or businesses within a certain marketplace. Here are a few places to start your search for a mailing list:

Before you buy any list, make sure that you understand exactly what you are receiving from the service—and that it includes people who are legitimately in your target customer market. As mentioned in Chapter 7, you often can’t return lists once you’ve purchased them. Make sure that you get the most for your money the first time around. Also, keep in mind that

The Postcard

•฀ www.infousa.com •฀ www.mailing-lists-direct.com •฀ www.centurylist.com •฀ www.wholesalemailinglists.com

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libraries in some cities and colleges purchase mailing lists for public use by their small business customers—at no charge. No matter how you get the names and addresses, the process for sending the cards is the same—simply add the addresses and stamps to your postcards, and mail them off. Congratulations are in order! You have now created one of the easiest, most cost-effective tools in your marketing toolkit.

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CHAPTER 9



THE PRESS RELEASE

Have you ever noticed that some of the businesses in your town appear in the local newspaper over and over again? Do you ever wish that your business could be featured in the newspaper, too? Publicity doesn’t just happen by accident. You need to make it happen yourself. All it takes is a good press release, and a little bit of elbow grease. Even if you do not have a degree in communications or journalism, you can write an excellent press release that can put your business in the local newspaper. Getting good publicity is not complicated or expensive. While public relations firms charge dearly for this service, you can get the same results with a little effort, and some time. The best part is that it’s (almost) free.

PUBLICITY IS NO ACCIDENT Jessica Byrne has a small, home-based business selling baby gift baskets. She packs everything you can imagine into those gift baskets: rattles, toys, squishy books, diaper bags—you name it. Her customers are mainly grandmothers and middle-aged women who attend baby showers for their friends and family members.

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Jessica’s customers place their orders exclusively through her Internet site. She is one of the few truly Web-based businesses that I’ve ever worked with. The orders come in through an online service, she creates the custom gift basket and then ships the basket out the next day. Simple. During one quarter, Jessica decided that she wanted to grow her business a little more quickly. Up until then, her business had grown very slowly, using a variety of search engines to drive business to her Web site. Jessica wrote up a one-page press release about the new trend of using baby gift baskets at baby showers and sent it to several local TV stations. On a slow news night that week, two of the stations picked up her press release and ran a fifteen-second interview with Jessica, talking about how and where to buy the perfect baby gift basket for a baby shower. They also ran her Web site address. The next morning, Jessica had more than 1,000 orders sitting in her inbox, waiting to be filled. She was floored. In fact, she had so many orders, her Webmaster shut her site down. She was totally unprepared for the power of publicity! You, too, can do what Jessica did—and it’s not difficult to do. It all starts with a good press release.

WHAT IS A PRESS RELEASE? A press release is nothing more than a short, one- or two-page announcement to the media, whether that’s a newspaper, a magazine, or a TV station. Companies and civic organizations use press releases all the time to educate their community about upcoming events, economic trends, new products and services, or changes in their industry. Most people don’t realize that many of the stories they read in the newspaper actually started with a press release. These releases are submitted to the editor or manager of the media organization by a business owner, freelance writer, a PR agency, or a member of an organization. If editors see a good topic, the press release actually helps them to do their job, by providing valuable information that can educate their readers—with minimal effort on the part of the always-busy staff reporters. The

editor or reporter simply “picks up” the story, edits or expands it to fit the newspaper’s style and available space, and then sends it off to print. Voilà! Instant publicity for your business.

WARNING! Editors are not required to print your press release. To increase your chances of publishing success, you need to have a newsworthy topic, a well-written release, and a clean and professional presentation of the release.

GET IT PUBLISHED In theory, getting the press release published is very simple. It is not a complicated process. Here’s how it works: 1. You write it. 2. You send it to the editor. 3. The editor (or staff reporter) edits it. 4. The press release gets printed.

A Day in the Life of an Editor To understand how to “sell” your press release to busy editors, let’s take a moment to peek inside their daily world. It’s pretty hectic!

79 The Press Release

Simple. Right? Well, not exactly. Editors can’t print everything that comes across their desks. They receive many, many press releases each day. They are looking for something special. What about your news idea would appeal to the readers of that particular newspaper or magazine? What can you do to make that story idea more attractive to an editor? That’s the exact approach you need to take with your press release. Think of it as a product that you are trying to sell to a very picky audience—an editor.

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For example, Frances Keystone edits the business section of a daily newspaper that reaches about 500,000 readers in a metropolitan area. On any given day, she arrives at the office, grabs a cup of coffee, and then checks out her fax, mail, and e-mail. In her inbox, she has more than 150 new press releases. Every day. She checks the day’s news schedule. It’s a slow news day, and there’s not much going on in the city or across America— no big corporate mergers, airline bankruptcies, or stock market plunges. So she pulls three of the best press releases out of the pile and assigns them to a reporter to investigate, edit, and turn into a story. The rest, she throws into the trash. Why were those three press releases chosen? Because they were the most interesting stories for her readers—business owners, business staff, and business people in general. One discussed a new way for business owners to save money in meeting environmental regulations. One announced a new restaurant, specializing in business lunches, opening in the downtown area. And one described a charitable bike race, sponsored by a local small business. What do these press releases all have in common? They all appeal to the readers of the daily business section in this city. And the more the story appeals to the readers of your target media organization, the more it will appeal to the editors, too.

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Make It Interesting The moral of this story is: Make your press release as interesting as possible to the readers of your target publication. The challenge is, of course, that every magazine, newspaper, and journal in the country has a slightly different readership. Each magazine fills a different need for a reader, and each one specializes in a different style of news story. Study the magazine or newspaper before you submit your press release, and see what kinds of stories they like to print. Do they print lots of stories about new business openings? Or do they prefer “how to” articles, with advice on how to get things done? Do they seem to publish a lot of events and happenings? Some papers will actually have a special section dedicated to press releases, chock-full of short clippings about business

happenings in and around town. This is a great place to send your very first press release. So when you choose your topic, be sure to have the target newspaper, magazine, or TV outlet in mind. Think about the stories that they like to publish or broadcast.

Choosing Your Topic

Local scooter shop overcomes financial hardships to open second store in Westport district.

81 The Press Release

Any decent topic that is newsworthy, interesting to readers, and professionally presented will catch the eye of an editor. Even if an editor chooses not to print it in the end, you can at least get his or her attention. And the foundation of a good topic is a narrow focus. To get your press release going on the right foot, you must start by choosing a good topic. Be as specific as possible in choosing your topic. If it is too vague, or too general, or too all-encompassing, it will not grab the reader. Choose a more specific one instead. And be careful not to try to tell your whole life’s story with this press release topic. For example, two owners of a scooter shop asked me to write a press release. They wanted me to include every detail about how they got laid off from their last job, how their dog is named Fido, how their two children are wonderful, how they love redbud trees, and so on. It was actually quite an interesting story about how they founded their business, but unfortunately, as a press release, it just didn’t work. What we decided to do was to narrow the story down to a single focus: the opening of their second scooter shop. Then, we could bring in the details of how they had triumphed over adversity to succeed in business. Now, I had a press release with some appeal for an editor. A wonderful magazine in our city profiles small businesses that have conquered great odds. It includes the stories of a number of entrepreneurs who have overcome difficult obstacles to achieve success. By focusing their topic a little better, I increased the chances of getting this published tenfold. Here’s how the topic came out:

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This is an excellent topic that catches attention. It has a narrow focus—the store opening—but we can also bring in a little of the shop’s background in hard knocks. Plus, it works perfectly for the magazine market I had in mind. So what topic would work best for you? Start with something simple. Take out a piece of paper, or open up a fresh word processing document, and write out a topic idea now. Think about what might be of interest to your target media outlet. When you are ready, write one complete sentence that includes the basic who, what, where, when, and why of your topic. Here are some topic ideas, to get you started:

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•฀ You’ve฀just฀opened฀the฀doors฀to฀a฀new฀facility฀(or฀a฀new฀business). •฀ You’ve฀just฀won฀a฀major฀contract฀with฀another฀business. •฀ Your฀ business฀ has฀ recently฀ reached฀ an฀ important฀ goal—in฀ sales,฀ revenue,฀or฀vendor฀relationships. •฀ You฀have฀great฀advice฀to฀share฀about฀how฀to฀do฀something—wire฀ an฀outlet,฀fix฀a฀sink,฀save฀money฀on฀insurance,฀purchase฀a฀car. •฀ You฀ are฀ hosting฀ an฀ event฀ in฀ the฀ community,฀ and฀ you’d฀ like฀ the฀ public฀to฀attend.

Still don’t have an idea? Why not solicit a friend or a trusted customer for ideas? That person may see something intriguing in your business that is absolutely commonplace to you, but could be very interesting to a reader!

WRITE YOUR PRESS RELEASE Now that you’ve chosen your newsworthy topic, let’s get down to writing the content for your press release. Every press release looks a little different, but they all have the same basic pieces. And trust me, the pieces are easy to write.

The Header Every press release typically has a header, with all of the important information included about you and your business. This is not unlike the header of a letter.

At a minimum, you should include in your press release header: •฀ Your฀name,฀title,฀and฀phone฀number •฀ Your฀company฀name฀and฀address •฀ The฀date฀you฀want฀the฀press฀release฀to฀be฀released •฀ Today’s฀date •฀ The฀topic฀of฀your฀press฀release,฀used฀here฀as฀a฀title

The title and release date should be listed in all capital letters. You also should add some spacing between lines, to make it easier to read. For example, Wayne Liquors wanted to publish a press release. The topic? An award the business received recently for its wine selection. The header will look like this: For:

Wayne Liquors 1234 Jukebox Avenue, Suite 112 Leawood, CT 01157

Contact: Jeffrey Wayne, President, (321) 555-3333 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 8, 2006

This is a good, solid example of a standard press release heading. Your own header does not have to look exactly like this, but it can. You can also add your own letterhead, if you have one (see Chapter 5).

The Body Most press releases are only about three or four paragraphs long. They can even be as short as a paragraph or two. For your first release, don’t be shy about keeping it short. It is better to write a short, newsy press release that catches an editor’s attention

The Press Release

LOCAL LIQUOR STORE WINS PRESTIGIOUS HONOR AT WINETASTERS’ CONFERENCE

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than it is to overwhelm her with a long-winded history of your business.

TIP!

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If you want your press release printed immediately, write “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” in your header. If it’s for a future event, include the target date, such as “For release on June 6.”

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The First Paragraph Regardless of how long you decide to make your press release, your first paragraph must give the whole picture of your chosen topic. This will be a single sentence that includes the who, what, where, when, and why of your topic. This first sentence may be quite long, and that’s fine. If it’s too long, the editor will revise it. But at least you are giving the “whole story” in the first sentence—a key ingredient of a good press release, which includes the most important information at the very top, then works its way down to the less important details. For example, Wayne Liquors used the following opening paragraph: On September 21, Wayne Liquors received the “Sommelier of the Year” award at the annual Winetasters’ Conference in New York for its outstanding selection of Italian red wines.

Notice that you clearly see the who, what, where, when, and why of the topic, all wrapped up into one opening sentence. The Next Paragraphs After you write the all-important first paragraph, explaining the topic of your press release, you can add your details, one per sentence. On your sheet of paper, brainstorm a list of facts about your topic. What would be interesting to the reader? What else would they like to know about this topic? Try to come up with at least three good facts. They do not have to be in any specific

order. After you have jotted down your facts, turn them into complete sentences—one fact per sentence. For example, Wayne Liquors noted the following details to include in its press release: •฀ 309฀ liquor฀ stores฀ and฀ restaurants฀ participated฀ from฀ around฀ the฀ country. •฀ The฀conference฀is฀held฀each฀year฀to฀identify฀the฀important฀players฀ in฀the฀national฀wine฀industry. •฀ The฀Winetasters’฀Conference฀is฀sponsored฀by฀the฀Upper฀New฀York฀ State฀Wine฀Guild. •฀ This฀is฀the฀first฀award฀ever฀won฀by฀Wayne฀Liquors. •฀ Wayne฀Liquors฀is฀located฀in฀Leawood,฀Connecticut. •฀ Wayne฀ Liquors฀ has฀ fifteen฀ employees฀ and฀ has฀ been฀ in฀ business฀ since฀1992. •฀ Wayne฀ Liquors฀ specializes฀ in฀ selling฀ imported฀ traditional฀ French฀ and฀Italian฀wines.

The Winetasters’ Conference is sponsored by the Upper New York State Wine Guild. Three hundred nine liquor stores and restaurants from around the country participated in the conference. The conference is held each year to identify the important players in the national wine industry.

85 The Press Release

Once you have written down all the facts you want to include in your press release, string them together into paragraphs. You will want to include two to four sentences per paragraph. If you wish, you can also group these facts together by subtopics—one subtopic to one paragraph. When you are done stringing your sentences together into paragraphs, read it out loud once to hear how it sounds. You may wish to combine some sentences, revise some of your word choices, or change the grammar. This will also give you an opportunity to proofread what you have written, and to fix any spelling errors. For example, the details for Wayne Liquors fall nicely into subtopics: one about the Winetasters’ Conference, and one about the company itself. Here’s how it comes out:

This is the first award ever won by Wayne Liquors, which is located in Leawood, Connecticut. The company has fifteen employees and has been in business since 1992. Wayne Liquors specializes in selling imported traditional French and Italian wines.

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WARNING!

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Be careful of using language that is too “salesy” in your press release. Editors will not publish a free advertisement for your business. Stay away from words like “we,” “our,” “unique,” “one-ofa-kind,”“once-in-a-lifetime,” and stick to a simple, straightforward statement of the facts written in third-person format.

The Footer The last piece of your press release is the “footer.” This is simply a statement to the readers that can help them find your business if they want to. For example: For more information about Wayne Liquors, please call (321) 555-3333.

For this statement, you can supply any contact information you wish, including: •฀ Phone฀number •฀ Web฀site •฀ E-mail฀address •฀ Physical฀address฀(especially฀for฀a฀storefront)

A phone number is the most common information to include in a footer. Just remember that if someone does run your press release, you may potentially have hundreds of people trying to contact you. Be sure to use the contact information that makes the most sense. Your personal cell phone may not be the best choice, if your voice mail cannot handle very many calls!

Putting It All Together When you have finished writing all of the content for your press release, it is time to put it all together. It’s a good idea to add a little extra spacing between paragraphs, to make it more readable. To give you an example, the press release for Wayne Liquors finally looks like this: For:

Wayne Liquors 1234 Jukebox Avenue, Suite 112 Leawood, CT 01157

Contact: Jeffrey Wayne, President, (321) 555-3333 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 8, 2006 LOCAL LIQUOR STORE WINS PRESTIGIOUS HONOR AT WINETASTERS’ CONFERENCE

For more information about Wayne Liquors, please call (321) 555-3333.

87 The Press Release

On September 21, Wayne Liquors received the “Sommelier of the Year” award at the annual Winetasters’ Conference in New York for outstanding selection of Italian red wines. The Winetasters’ Conference is sponsored by the Upper New York State Wine Guild. Three hundred nine liquor stores and restaurants from around the country participated in the conference. The conference is held each year to identify the important players in the national wine industry. This is the first award ever won by Wayne Liquors, which is located in Leawood, Connecticut. The company has fifteen employees and has been in business since 1992. Wayne Liquors specializes in selling imported traditional French and Italian wines.

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FORMATTING YOUR PRESS RELEASE

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Your press release needs to look attractive if it’s going to have the best chance of getting published. So before you rush to the post office to mail out a hundred copies, put it into a nice, clean format. The best way to do that is to print out a clean copy onto plain white paper or company letterhead from a word processing software program or a typewriter. You don’t need to buy any kind of special paper; plain white copy paper will work just fine, if you don’t have letterhead. Stay away from brightly colored paper for your press release. While it might attract attention, it is more likely to annoy a busy editor. And no matter what you do, don’t handwrite your press release. It will look unprofessional, and you will have difficulty getting an editor to take it seriously.

TIP! If you don’t have a computer, schedule some time to type your press release at your local library, Small Business Development Center, or community college. Many of these places have computers with word processing programs, available for your use—either free, or for a small fee.

Lay Out the Text The text of your press release can be single- or double-spaced, but no more than one or two pages, max. Anything longer is a waste of your time. In fact, when I write press releases for my customers, I spend a lot of time editing them down to one singlespaced page, if at all possible. It’s easier to submit a one-page release, and it’s easier for an editor to read. And the easier it is for the editor to read, the more likely it is to get published. You’ll want to use a simple, 12-point font, such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Garamond. Stay away from using bold, shadow, or italicized fonts. A basic font will work just fine.

WHAT ABOUT PHOTOS? A photo is a quick and inexpensive way to make your press release more attractive to an editor. It gives a press release greater potential to be published, because it makes the editor’s job easier. If the photo is already there, all the newspaper or magazine has to do is run the story and print the picture. Instant article. Several types of photos work beautifully with a press release. The best one is a picture of people doing stuff—whether it’s decorating cakes, repairing cars, or working at their computers. Stuff is big. Stuff sells. And people doing stuff is press release magic. Other good possibilities include a high-quality picture of the business owner or partners, your building, or your product. If you have a photo, send along a 4" × 6" copy of it (either black and white or color is fine). If you don’t have one, don’t worry about it. It’s just a little extra sizzle that may help you get noticed, and pulled out of the pile. If you decide to submit a photo with your press release, but you can’t afford to send a copy of the picture with every submission, then add a line to the footer of your press release that says “PHOTO AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.” That way, if an editor or reporter is interested in picking up your story, that person can call you to get a photo.

WARNING!

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A press release photo does not have to be taken by a professional photographer. However, it does need to be high quality. By “high quality,” I mean that it needs to be a clean, clear, crisp image that has a high resolution. That means no grainy snapshots or out-of-focus digital photos.

The Press Release

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SUBMIT YOUR PRESS RELEASE

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Now that you have written and formatted your press release, submitting it is easy. Just pick your target market, check the guidelines, and send it off. There are a lot of great markets out there that could use your press release. Don’t limit yourself to the biggest newspapers and magazines in town. So many people make this mistake when they start their business. For example, Margaret Jennings recently started a home pool care business. She had been doing it part-time for three years and now had enough regular customers to quit her job and go full-time. So she worked up a wonderful press release, titled “Eight Easy Ways to Extend the Life of Your Inground Pool.” She based the tips on her experience cleaning, winterizing, and adding chemicals to her customers’ pools. She had a great press release. But unfortunately, Margaret’s aim in submitting it was probably a little too high. She submitted her release to fifteen markets, including the Wall Street Journal, CNN Headline News, and the Washington Post! Not surprisingly, no one picked up her press release. The moral of this story is: Start with the smaller media outlets. They are your key to success. The smaller the news market, the more interested it will be in what you have to say. A few of the best markets for press releases are: •฀ Trade฀magazines •฀ Association฀newsletters •฀ Local฀newspapers •฀ Monthly฀magazines •฀ Industry-specific฀news฀journals •฀ AM฀radio฀stations฀(that฀report฀local฀business฀news)

Check the Guidelines Before you submit your press release anywhere, check the submission guidelines. If you choose to send it to a local newspaper, then spend a few minutes investigating the paper’s preferred format and method of receiving press releases.

Here is an example of how the submission guidelines will look: If you have news about your company, or a story you would like to share, please contact us: • Fax us at (212) 555-1743, Attention “Editor” • Mail us at Super Widgets Magazine, 12345 N. Main Street, Anywhere, NE 01267 • E-mail us at [email protected]

Every newspaper or magazine has its own guidelines. Some editors will want to receive your press release in the mail. Some will only take an e-mail (and have a preference for whether it is sent as an attachment, or copied directly in the body of the e-mail). Some prefer fax. And a few magazines and newspapers now accept press release content directly on their Web sites. Most editors will give you a couple of different options, in case you do not have computer access. You can usually find the guidelines for submitting a press release in one of two places: •฀ Printed฀ inside฀ the฀ paper฀ itself,฀ near฀ the฀ list฀ of฀ the฀ editorial฀ staff฀ members. •฀ Detailed฀on฀the฀Web฀site,฀usually฀on฀the฀“Contact฀Us”฀page.

The Press Release

Going directly to the Contact Us page of the Web site for the submission information is usually faster and easier. It also sometimes allows you to get direct e-mail addresses for the editor. If worse comes to worse, and you can’t find the guidelines anywhere, pick up the phone and call the main number for the publication. Tell the receptionist who answers the phone, “Hi. I would like to submit a press release. Can you tell me how to do that?” The receptionist can give you the contact information you need or may even put you through to the editor of the department.

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Send It Off!

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Once you have found the submission guidelines, you are ready to send off your press release. It’s okay to send out multiple copies of your press release to several markets at the same time. In fact, when I write a press release, I may send it to anywhere from ten to fifty different markets, depending on how broad the appeal of the topic is. You can do the same thing, to save yourself time. This may require a little bit of tailoring of your topic for each audience, but it’s worth it. You’ll get the most out of your press release by submitting it this way. Just remember that each market has its own guidelines for submission.

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TIP! Submit your press release to at least five markets at a time, to get the most use out of it.

GET IT INTO PRINT Congratulations! You’ve written your press release, printed off a nice clean copy, and submitted it to your favorite industry magazine or newspaper. Now what do you do? Just twiddle your thumbs? Well, sort of. A few things can now happen: •฀ The฀press฀release฀gets฀printed,฀as฀is •฀ The฀press฀release฀does฀not฀get฀printed •฀ A฀reporter฀calls฀you฀to฀get฀more฀information฀for฀an฀article

The last option is the jackpot. It’s great to get a press release published, but it’s even better when a reporter is assigned to the story, and calls you for more information for an article (ideally with your photo included). That is great publicity for you!

How Will You Know? How will you know when your press release gets printed? You won’t. Be forewarned that if a newspaper or magazine is going

to print your press release, the editor or reporter may not call you, e-mail you, or notify you in any way. So how will you know when it is printed? You wait . . . and watch. Keep an eye on the next few issues of the publication. See if it gets printed. And listen for comments from friends. Sometimes, if you miss seeing your press release published, you may get an e-mail from a colleague, saying, “I saw you this week in the paper!” Then you can ask when and where, and go buy a few copies. Do not: •฀ Call฀the฀editors •฀ Harass฀the฀editors •฀ Pester฀the฀editors •฀ E-mail฀the฀editors

This will only sour editors on doing the exact thing that you want them to do. In fact, it’s the surest way never to get anything printed. Imagine if you were the editor, receiving fifty press releases a day . . . and every one of them called to ask you, “When will you print my press release?” You would get crotchety pretty quickly! (And it’s a well-kept industry secret that many editors do, in fact, get crotchety.)

WARNING!

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Do not pester an editor, trying to find out whether he or she will print your press release. Use that energy to submit it to several other markets instead. You’ll have a better chance of publishing it in the end, and you won’t make an enemy out of the editor.

The Press Release

So if you absolutely have to know when and where your release was published, and you don’t have time to do it yourself, hire a news clipping service or a public relations wire “watch” service. There are many of these services available through the Internet. They will watch different publications for you, and

send you the printed clipping. Be aware, though, that there will be charges involved, just as with any service.

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What If an Editor Calls Me?

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If an editor or reporter calls you about your press release, it usually means that the newspaper wants to do a full story on your topic. You’ve hit the publicity jackpot! Don’t panic. But do keep a few things in mind. The editor or reporter will have a lot of questions for you and will probably interview you by phone. The publication may even send a photographer out to visit you. Give as much information as you can, and be prompt in returning calls. Most editors or reporters will only call once. They are usually working on a tight deadline. So be sure to provide them with your most direct contact information in the press release header!

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR PUBLISHED RELEASE Once your press release is published, you can use it to your advantage in a number of ways. Not only will you get calls from new customers who want to purchase from you, but you will also get to use that publication credit when you talk to potential leads for your business, and when you create other marketing materials. You simply say the name of your business, “as featured in . . .” then cite the publication. Manuel Sepúlveda owns Medical Security Consulting, LLC, which offers facility security audits to hospitals, research facilities, and clinics. By testing the existing security procedures of those buildings, especially in high-traffic areas, the company can make recommendations for improving the safety of the staff and patients. Manuel sent out a short press release that was turned into a half-page article by a medical equipment magazine that is well-known among hospital executives in his industry. After the release was published, not only did he get calls from new facilities that wanted to use his services, but he also used it to his advantage in his marketing. He ordered 250 reprints of the article

from the magazine and sent them—along with a personal note— to his favorite customers, partners, and potential leads for new business. He also added a line to his brochure: “Medical Security Consulting, LLC—as featured in Sterile Equipment Monthly.” And he reprinted portions of the article, with permission of the magazine, in his quarterly newsletter and on his Web site.

TIP! Once your press release is published, you can refer to yourself in your other marketing materials as “XYZ Business—as featured in The ABC Magazine.” This helps your credibility with new customers.

You can do the same thing that Manuel did. Check out the other chapters in this book to find out how you might be able to incorporate your published press release into a Web site, newsletter, or brochure. But above all—don’t get discouraged! Getting your first press release published may take some time. But in the end, it’s worth it—both for the publicity for your business, and for the credibility it brings you later, when you have the opportunity to feature it in your marketing materials. It’s one of the most powerful and inexpensive tools in your marketing toolkit.

95 The Press Release

CHAPTER 10

THE AD



You’ve seen them just about everywhere: in magazines, newspapers, on Web sites, and in the phone book. They can be black-and-white, full color, or even photographic. They can be as large as a full page, or as small as a single line of text. Out of all of the tools in your marketing toolkit, the advertisement—or “ad”—is probably the one tool that is most familiar to you. And believe it or not, it is also one of the simplest to use. An ad is a speedy way to educate your potential customers about your products and services. When you combine it with the right special offer, it can also be a powerful motivator to bring new customers to your doorstep, reaching far more people than you could ever touch with sales calls alone. Although you still need to pay for the cost of placing the ad with a newspaper or magazine, making it a bit more expensive than some of the other tools included in this book, you can write and design it yourself. Many media outlets even price certain ad categories to be less expensive for small businesses, putting them within your reach financially. A good ad depends on well-written content and a solid, simple design. Because you have a limited space to work with,

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you’ll want to make your content as clear and straightforward as possible. We will spend a good part of this chapter writing the content, discussing design options, and then crafting a special offer that you can use to bring new customers to your doorstep. Above all, we will discuss the process for publishing the ad, including finding the right market for yours. To create your ad, you will need to follow these steps:

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1. Find a home for your ad 2. Get the specs for your ad 3. Write the ad content 4. Design the ad 5. Submit the ad for publication

FIND A HOME FOR YOUR AD Before you even pick up a pencil to scratch out some ideas for your ad, you should find the right “home” for it. What does that mean? It means that before you can create an ad, you must know where it is going. New business owners attend my classes all the time with ideas for gigantic, ambitious ads that they would like to create. I say, “That sounds great. Where are you going to publish it? What audience does it target?” . . . and they are utterly stumped. They had believed that if they could only dream up the perfect ad, they would get an unlimited stream of customers to their storefront, or receive a steady flow of incoming calls from motivated buyers, all day long. Unfortunately, that’s not how the marketing business works. You can have a great ad, but if it is too expensive, or languishes in the wrong publication, it is doomed from the start. No amount of well-written content or beautiful design in the world can save a poorly placed ad. And sometimes, a little bit of experimentation is required. You might have the right ad, but the wrong location—or vice-versa. The first step in creating a successful ad is to find the right home for the ad. Then, once you know where it will ultimately be printed or displayed, you can work backward from that point.

You have almost unlimited options for where you can place your ad. Consider the following: •฀ Phone฀book •฀ Newspapers •฀ Web฀sites •฀ Magazines •฀ Association฀publications •฀ Coupon฀books •฀ Movie฀theater฀previews •฀ Grocery฀store฀receipts

The main criteria for deciding where to place your ad boils down to only three things: •฀ Target฀audience •฀ Budget •฀ Budget

99 The Ad

That’s right, I listed budget twice. Why? Because so many times, new entrepreneurs overextend themselves when they are ready to publish an ad. They receive a slick sales pitch from an advertising salesman. Or maybe they have always dreamed of having a full-page ad in the Torrington Business Daily. Either way, they overspend their money and then have nothing left to develop a brochure, Web site, or even a business card. Overspending on an ad is not a wise use of your marketing dollars, no matter how great the design or the ad space is. In fact, the best marketing toolkits use a nice balance of many different pieces. An ad is only one of them. So when you are considering buying ad space, make sure that you set a realistic budget for yourself. What can you honestly afford to spend? $100? $500? $1,000? And, more important, what will be the return on the money you invest? If you are not sure of whether you can even afford to buy ad space at this point in your business, shop around. Call a few phone book listings and magazines, and ask for their advertising rates. Or poke around the Internet. Many publications now list their advertising rates directly on their Web sites, so you don’t

even have to risk the embarrassment of calling someone until you feel educated and ready to buy.

DON’T฀BE฀AFRAID฀฀ TO฀SAY฀“NO฀THANKS”

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There is no shame in skipping the ad, if you decide you don’t have the money to spend right now. You can always do it later. Remember, you have plenty of other less expensive tools in your marketing toolkit that you can start with first—such as a press release or an introductory letter.

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The other thing to consider when you are looking for a home for your ad is the target audience that reads or looks at the publication or media you are considering. You want the people reading the magazine, Internet site, directory, or newspaper to be the same people who buy your products and services. For example, if you are manufacturing a specialized ball bearing that is used by bread processing assembly lines, and you are creating an ad for this specific type of ball bearing, then you will want to make sure that you are advertising in a place where a bread processing plant manager or executive might be looking. After doing a little research, let’s say that you learn about two magazines that target bread manufacturers: Bread Manufacturing Today and The Food Industry Gazette. You have also considered placing your ad in two regional business magazines, The Idaho Business Daily and Elk River News. Which publication do you think will give you a better chance of success at reaching your potential customers with your ads? The answer, of course, is the two niche food magazines. While you may have one or two people involved in the food manufacturing industry reading The Idaho Business Daily or Elk River News, you know for certain that you will have at least several hundred food industry people reading Bread Manufacturing Today or The Food Industry Gazette. In this case, these two outlets would be a better investment of your

advertising dollars. The moral of this story is that it’s better to publish your ad in some places than in others.

THE BEAUTY OF NICHE PUBLICATIONS

GET THE SPECS Once you have found a good, affordable home for your ad, in a publication with a good readership in your target customer market, your next step is to find out what the specifications (or “specs”) are for its ads. The specs include information about the final size, acceptable color scheme, and even graphic layout of your ad. It may also include information about how to submit

101 The Ad

There are tens of thousands of magazines, newspapers, directories, and Internet sites published each year in the United States alone. A good percentage of these are called “niche” publications. Niche publications serve a very small, narrow market, such as Herbs for Health (for gardeners and healthy lifestylers), WoodenBoat (for wooden boat owners, builders, and designers), Eastern DairyBusiness (for the large-herd commercial dairy industry), or even Home Business magazine (for home business owners). These publications provide articles, information, and services to a very small portion of the business or consumer world. They are a great way to find your target customers. If you are looking for niche magazines that might make a good home for your ad, spend an hour perusing the magazine rack at your local bookstore or newsstand. Or, try doing some Internet research. Another popular resource for magazine listings is the book Writer’s Market (updated yearly), which lists national and regional magazines by topic. When you are searching for a publication that will be a good fit for your ad, be sure to get information about the readership audience that buys the publication (or visits the Web site, in the case of the Internet). Look for Web sites, yellow pages categories, magazines, and newspapers that match your target customer as closely as possible—and then get your ad in front of that audience.

the ad. A sales representative or a spec sheet (usually published on the publication’s Web site) should give you everything you need to know, once you decide to purchase the ad.

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TIP!

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Some publications include a complete writing and design service as part of the cost of running the ad. If that’s the case, use it! You will get a great ad that is professionally designed, and it will save the time of creating your own. Of course, if you buy this service, you don’t need to worry about the ad specs—the staff will take care of all of that for you.

When you are looking at the specs for your ad, learn exactly what the publication is looking for. Exactly how big can it be? Can it be in color, or does it have to be black and white? If it is color, will it be one color, or full color? And finally, where will it be placed in the publication? This can be important in deciding how jazzy you want to make it. A good publication should be able to tell you all of these things in advance—and keep its commitments to you, once it receives payment from you. Gerald and MaryLou McGonagle are the husband-and-wife team who own Advanced Life Insurance, Inc. They have been in business for almost three years now. The couple specializes in finding the right life insurance policies for their customers. They have also begun offering medical and dental insurance to their existing customers, on a limited basis. One of their best customers is a health-food restaurant franchise, and over the past year they have decided to explore this market more fully. They are creating an entire marketing toolkit that will focus exclusively on restaurant franchisees who need group life insurance policies for their staff and management. To win business in this market, the McGonagles decide to create a series of ads. They will be running the ads in a wellknown, monthly franchise management magazine called The Perfect Franchise. After speaking to the sales rep about their

four-part ad series, they receive a spec sheet for the ads they have purchased. It reads: ¼-page ad, 4x, black plus two color, guaranteed position on page three (below table of contents), due by Feb. 15th for March issue.

Your specs may not look exactly the same, but they will be similar. This list of specs tells the McGonagles the following information: •฀ the฀ad฀will฀be฀¼฀page฀in฀size •฀ the฀ad฀will฀be฀run฀four฀consecutive฀times฀(4x) •฀ the฀ad฀will฀include฀black฀ink,฀plus฀two฀other฀colors฀of฀their฀choice •฀ they฀ have฀ paid฀ extra฀ for฀ a฀ guaranteed฀ position฀ in฀ the฀ magazine,฀ which฀will฀be฀on฀the฀table฀of฀contents฀page •฀ they฀must฀submit฀their฀ad฀image฀by฀February฀15,฀to฀guarantee฀that฀ it฀is฀run฀in฀the฀March฀issue

Once you have the ad specs, you will have a good guideline from which to develop your ad.

WRITE THE AD CONTENT

•฀ One฀benefit •฀ List฀of฀products฀or฀services •฀ Special฀offer฀(optional) •฀ Contact฀information

Your Key Benefit Statement Let’s start by finding one good, solid benefit for your potential customers, as well as a short list of products or services. For the moment, take out a piece of paper and a pen or pencil, or open the word processing program or graphic design program on your

103 The Ad

The first step in creating any ad is to write the content. Now that you know how big it will be, you know just about how much content you can add. And if the ad is small, that’s not much! Most good ads include four pieces of information:

computer. We are going to do a quick brainstorming activity, and it will take less than five minutes.

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RECYCLING฀KEY฀BENEFITS

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If you have already developed a list of benefits from creating any of the other marketing tools in your toolkit, then you are ahead of the game. Feel free to borrow from the similar list of benefits that you may have created for your Web site, marketing brochure, postcard, thirty-second sound bite, or tag line. All of these benefits are interchangeable and can be recycled from piece to piece.

The first thing to do is to brainstorm a list of five key benefits for your customers. In this case, “benefit” means the wonderful value you add to their lives when you provide your products or services for them. This answers the question, “Why should I do business with you?” Some common benefits for customers include: •฀ Save฀time •฀ Save฀money •฀ Have฀more฀fun •฀ Look฀younger •฀ Solve฀a฀problem •฀ Increase฀sales •฀ Decrease฀expenses •฀ Make฀a฀good฀impression

Be as specific as possible in writing your list of five benefit statements. Instead of just “look younger,” you may want to say, “look younger with new 100% emu oil cream.” Tailor the statements to educate your customers about what they will gain from doing business with you. When you are finished creating your list, circle the benefit that sounds most exciting to your ideal customer. What are the priorities of your target market? For some customers, this is

saving money; for others, it may be looking sexier. Whatever you think it is, circle the one benefit from your list that stands out as being the most attractive to this customer group. If you are stumped, try asking a trusted customer, friend, or colleague for feedback. For Gerald and MaryLou McGonagle, saving money is the benefit that most attracts the budget-conscious restaurant owners who make up their new core customer group. Benefits are very expensive for full-time staff, and franchise managers need to save money any way they can. After a little digging, Gerald learned that the basic life insurance policy they offer has a premium that is almost 13 percent less than the industry average. So, the benefit that Gerald chooses is: Save up to 13% on life insurance for your full-time staff

This is the hardest part of creating an ad. Once you have chosen your benefit statement, writing the rest of your content will be easy.

List of Products and Services

Life insurance • medical insurance • dental insurance • for the restaurant industry.

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Once you have identified your key benefit statement, the next step is to add a short list of products and services. This can show up in your ad in the form of an actual list (either vertical or horizontal, depending on how much space you have for your layout), or it can be in the form of a sentence. First, write a list or a short sentence that highlights your products and services. Once again, feel free to borrow from the list you may have already created for your brochure or Web site. Here is an example of the McGonagles’ list, done in a simple horizontal format:

A Special Offer (Optional) A special offer is optional, but powerful. Never underestimate the pull that a good offer can have in bringing new customers to your door. Your special offer might be:

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•฀ 10%฀off •฀ A฀free฀trial •฀ Free฀one-hour฀consultation •฀ Limited-time฀special฀discount฀for฀new฀customers •฀ A฀free฀analysis •฀ Money-back฀guarantee

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Be creative. You are certainly not limited to these options. You might try a variety of different special offers in a few different ads, to see which one works the best to bring new customers to your doorstep. The McGonagles decide to add the following special offer to their ad: 20% discount on first year’s premiums when you purchase 5+ policies.

Your Contact Information Last, but not least, you will want to include your business contact information in the ad. Where do you want the customers to go, if they decide that they want to do business with you? For an ad, you may choose to use less contact information than you normally would in a brochure, press release, or Web site. This is because you are so limited with space. For that reason, it is wise to spend some time thinking about the best— and most effective—contact information that you can offer to your potential customers. At a minimum, of course, you will want to include your business name, logo, and tag line (if you have one). But the rest is up to you. For many businesses, the best information to include is the telephone number. Especially for service businesses, this is the easiest way to explore the interest level of a potential customer,

and to schedule a meeting with him or her. Retail businesses should also include a physical address, or a Web site address. You may decide to include all of your contact information, from the physical address, to the Web site, to the telephone and fax numbers. If you are working with a professional marketing firm or graphic designer, that company should be able to tell you what will work best with your particular ad. If you are unsure of which contact information to include, and how much space you will have, your best bet is to lay out the ad, and see how much room you have. Based on the space you have remaining, you can add as much contact information as you wish. The McGonagles include their basic contact information, along with a quick call-to-action statement: Call today for your free estimate Advanced Life Insurance, Inc. Toll free 1-800-555-0019 www.advancedlifeinsurance.com

DESIGN THE AD 107 The Ad

Once you have written the content for the ad, your next step is to design the ad. Luckily for you, there are no real “rules” for good ad design, except that everything in the ad must be clear and easy to read. Don’t use fonts or graphics so tiny that they are impossible to read. In general, I find that it is best to work from top to bottom when designing an ad. I include the benefit and special offer at the top; the list of services in the middle; and the contact information at the bottom. Even with minimal graphics—such as a square border around the outside—this is a good general format that you can use to design your ad. Beyond that, the options are limitless. You can add graphics, different fonts, photos, and unique geometric images to make your ad stand out more. You can include a border or make the ad borderless. Play around with your ad, and experiment to find the best fit for the space. There are an endless number of ways

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that you can put your information together, so don’t be limited by how you think your ad “should” look. Always pick up a copy of the publication in which you will be placing the ad, and see how the other ads look. Get some ideas for how you can lay out your own information. Make note of what you think works, and what doesn’t work. Then take a stab at it yourself, using your software. Show it to a few friends, colleagues, or employees. What do they like about it? What would they recommend changing? Remember, the only real goal is to make your ad readable for your target audience, in the available space that you have to work with. Don’t worry if your first ad doesn’t come out perfectly. Some of the most successful ads are often the oddestlooking ones!

AD฀DESIGN฀SOFTWARE Some of the more common software programs used for designing ads: • • • • • •

Microsoft Publisher Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign QuarkXPress Macromedia FreeHand

Be careful—some publications require that the ad be created with a certain type of software before they will accept it. Check the specs before you buy the software.

SUBMIT THE AD FOR PUBLICATION When you feel satisfied with your ad, you are ready to submit it. Be sure to submit it to your selected publication by the deadline, or you could lose any advance payment that you have made.

Your publication will tell you how it would prefer that you submit the ad. Some prefer to receive it electronically and will specify a certain file format—receiving it either by e-mail, disk, or CD. Others prefer a hard copy, either in color or black-andwhite. No matter which way you submit it, your sales rep or spec sheet should give you all the information you need. The only rule here is: Send it the way that they want it. If you disregard the specs for submission, you run the risk of losing any payment you may have made, and losing the advertising opportunity. It is important to pay attention to the details. Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment! Try out your ad on your potential customer base for a few weeks, or a few months. If you don’t get the response that you’d like, then change it, or try something new. Add a special offer, change the design, or move around the position in the magazine. Don’t give up until you find the marketing mix that’s right for you.

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CHAPTER 11



THE BROCHURE

The brochure is a highly versatile marketing tool for any new or growing business. It can be used as a mailer, an ad, a catalog, a flier, or even as part of a sales presentation. In fact, a well-done brochure can be one of the most flexible tools in your entire marketing toolkit. While it may seem like a complicated production, a brochure is nothing more than a short, folded piece of paper that talks about your business and its services or products. Although it requires a little effort on your part to produce it, a brochure can tell a customer a lot about what you do in a very small space. In this chapter, you will learn the three main steps to producing a brochure: 1. Writing the content 2. Laying out the design 3. Printing the final copies

As you work through this process, you will notice that many of the elements of a brochure are similar to the elements you may have already created for your Web site, ads, postcards, and

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press releases, depending on which chapters you have already completed in this book. Keep in mind that you are welcome to recycle any writing, colors, images, or benefit statements that you may have already completed for these marketing tools. In fact, it’s encouraged. One key to having an excellent marketing toolkit is consistency—in both the design and content of your message. So go ahead—borrow from yourself. It will make it easier for you to create your toolkit and will save you time in the long run.

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GET TO KNOW YOUR BROCHURE

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Before we get started with writing the content for your brochure, it’s a good idea to spend a few minutes learning about brochure formats. There are a few standard things that are common to most brochures that you’ll want to know before diving in. First of all, it’s important to understand that there are many, many different types of brochures out there in the market today. You’ve probably seen some of the multicolored variety of brochures at your local doctor’s office, library, or even grocery store. The options are almost limitless for your choice of size, design, text, and images. You may want to look at a few of these before you create your own brochure. This chapter provides you with the format for a basic, standard brochure, but you should not feel limited in how you design your own. Feel free to add your own “spin” to the content, design, and printing. Be as creative as you want to, and incorporate as many of your own ideas as you wish. For the purpose of simplicity, we are going to focus on creating a basic, 8.5" × 11" tri-fold marketing brochure. What does this mean? This means that the size of your brochure will be the same size as a standard piece of photocopy paper, which is also 8.5" × 11". You will fold the paper into thirds horizontally, which gives you a total of six available columns to write in. You will then create content for every single one of these six sections. By sticking to this simple design and format, you will be able to easily walk through the entire creation of your very own brochure. Using this standard paper size makes it easier to

print later, but it is certainly not required—many new business owners use a variety of sizes and styles for their first brochures. You are welcome to change any part of the format given here, or add your own creative touches, wherever you see fit. Remember, marketing is all about creativity!

The Six Basic Columns You will need to write six basic pieces of text to fill the six columns that you created when you folded the paper. The six basic columns of the brochure are: •฀ The฀title฀column •฀ The฀benefits฀column •฀ The฀product฀or฀service฀column •฀ The฀how-it-works฀column •฀ The฀customer฀success฀story฀column •฀ The฀call-to-action฀column

WRITE THE CONTENT Believe it or not, writing the content for your own marketing brochure is not difficult. With a little bit of brainstorming and a little bit of elbow grease, you should have this done in no time. In fact, the entrepreneurs who come to my seminar about creating a

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The only two columns that must be located in a specific place are the title column and the call-to-action column. The title column needs to be on the very front of the brochure; it’s the first thing that the customer reads. The call-to-action column needs to be on the very back of the brochure. When it is folded up together in the trifold format, the only things you will see are the title column and the call-to-action column. Beyond that, you are free to place the rest of the columns in any order you wish. We will begin by writing the content for each of these columns. Later, we will add graphics and create an overall layout. Last, we will talk about printing your brochure, and using it to maximum effect with your customers.

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marketing brochure write out most of the content in roughly one hour. You can do that, too. You will find it easiest to write the content of your brochure if you begin with a fresh sheet of paper, or a fresh document in a word processing program. Work through the exercises in this chapter one by one. Later, you can feel free to edit, proofread your spelling and grammar, and rewrite your words, after you’ve chewed on it for a while. For now, just get your ideas down on the page, and worry about editing later, after you have finished writing the content for the entire brochure. Let’s start at the beginning: at the very front of your brochure. This is the “title column.”

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The Title Column The title column is the very first thing that the potential customer sees in your brochure, and it is the only column of the brochure that must be in a specific position. The goal for this page is to “hook” the reader into opening up the brochure, and reading more. For that reason, there is not much content on this page. For the most part, the title column includes: •฀ A฀benefit฀title •฀ A฀“services฀provided฀by”฀line •฀ Your฀business฀name฀and฀logo

Let’s begin by writing your benefit title. On a piece of paper, write down five to ten ways that your product or service benefits your customers. A benefit is a way that you improve the life or business of your customers. You might help them to: •฀ Save฀time •฀ Save฀money •฀ Have฀fun •฀ Look฀sexier •฀ Increase฀sales •฀ Decrease฀expenses •฀ Reduce฀system฀downtime •฀ Improve฀employee฀morale

The more specific your list of benefits, the more effective they will be, so try to be as specific as possible. How exactly will you help your customers to save money, look sexier, or increase sales? For example, instead of saying “We help our customers reduce system downtime,” you might want to say, “We help our customers reduce system downtime with our 24/7 offsite backup system.” That tells your customers a lot more about how you will help to make their life easier. You are welcome to “recycle” any benefits here that you have used in other areas of your marketing toolkit, such as your ad, Web site, or postcard. Here’s an example. Iris and Elke Hüttl are two sisters who immigrated to the United States from Germany almost twenty years ago. For the past nine years, they have been running a catering business that provides German specialty foods for picnics, school outings, and weddings. The name of their business is Black Forest Catering. Their benefit list looks like this: • • • • • • •

At a minimum, you need to come up with five benefits. Ten is great, but five will do just fine. You will use every single one of them throughout the creation of your brochure, so hold on to your list; don’t discard it. When you have completed your list of benefits, circle the one that you think is most powerful to your ideal customer. This benefit will now become your title for the brochure. Go ahead and use it now as the title for your front-page title column. Elke and Iris choose the following benefit for their title: Add a Touch of Germany to Your Next Party

115 The Brochure

Enjoy your wedding day more with professional catering Add a touch of Germany to your next party Your guests will love each individual dish A simpler alternative to cooking it yourself The perfect, no-hassle food solution for any event Door-to-door catering service for every occasion More than 350 dishes to choose from—to satisfy even the pickiest eaters • Customized catering and meal plans available • Complete event planning services to save you time

CREATING฀A฀“MASTER”฀ BENEFITS฀LIST

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Now that you have created a good, solid list of benefits for your customers, you may want to hang on to it. This list of five to ten benefits will become your “master” benefits list, which you can borrow from throughout your work with the marketing toolkit. You can use these benefits again and again to create many of the other tools in this book.

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Notice that they chose to capitalize the title, with formal capitalization rules. You can do that, too, but it is also perfectly acceptable nowadays to leave a brochure title in lowercase letters. The choice is up to you. To complete the title column on your brochure, all you need to do is add a general “services provided by” line, and your business name and logo. Once the Hüttl sisters add this piece to their title, their brochure cover now looks like this: Add a Touch of Germany to Your Next Party with complete catering services provided by Black Forest Catering

Notice that there is still plenty of room left on their title column to later add some nice images. A good photo of one of their German dishes, or an image of a buffet spread or wedding reception, would make a nice centerpiece here.

The Benefits Column The next column of your marketing brochure will be the benefits column. This column can go anywhere in your brochure—except on the front or back pages, which we have reserved for the title column and the call-to-action column. Luckily, you have already done most of the work for this section, by brainstorming your master list of benefits. All we need to complete your benefits column is:

•฀ a฀title฀at฀the฀top฀of฀the฀column •฀ a฀“[Business฀name]฀helps฀you฀to฀.฀.฀.”฀statement •฀ a฀list฀of฀your฀key฀customer฀benefits

This brings us to an issue of layout that may help you later on when you are putting the pieces of this brochure together. Almost every column that you write will use the basic format of title at the top, and then a short list of bullets or text. That is exactly how you will lay out the benefits column.

WHY฀USE฀SO฀฀ MANY฀TITLES? Almost every section of content that you write for your brochure will include a title. This is because titles visually break up the content, making it easier to read overall. They also provide a “story” to sell the customer on your business. Throughout your work on the brochure, you will use your benefits to provide key titles for each column of content.

117 The Brochure

The first thing you will do is to pick a title for the benefits column. Choose a benefit from your master list that is different from the one you used for your title column. This new title will go at the very top of your column. Following the title, write a short, one-sentence statement: “[Business name] helps you to . . .” using your complete business name. This will introduce your list of bullets. Finally, add the actual bullet list of benefit statements that you brainstormed. You don’t even need complete sentences, periods at the ends of the bullets, or any other fancy elaboration. Listing only the bullet points is fine. Just write them in, as is. For example, let’s look at the benefits column that the Hüttl sisters worked up. In this case, we needed to do a little editing to get the bullets to make sense, when listed after the statement, “Black Forest Catering helps you to . . .” Of course, if you see any revisions to your own list that will make it read better, you are welcome to do that, too!

Their text reads like this: A simpler alternative to cooking it yourself.

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Black Forest Catering helps you to:

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• Enjoy your wedding day more with professional catering • Add a touch of Germany to your next party • Make your guests fall in love with each individual dish • Provide the perfect, no-hassle food solution for any event • Serve door-to-door catering for every occasion • Satisfy the pickiest eaters with more than 350 dishes to choose from • Customize your catering and meal plans • Plan your complete event to save you time

Note that it is okay to repeat the benefit you used in your title column in your benefits list. But you want to avoid using that benefit as a title again, anywhere in this brochure. Once you’ve used a benefit as a title, don’t repeat the same title elsewhere in the brochure. That finishes up your benefits column. You are now ready to move on to the product and service column of the marketing brochure.

The Product and Service Column This column of text is also fairly straightforward. It is simply a list of your products or services, plus a “We offer the following . . .” sentence, and another benefit title. In fact, if you have already worked through the exercises for writing Web content in Chapter 12 of this book, you may already have created a list of products and services. If you have, then you may reuse that list here. Once again, this column can be placed anywhere in your brochure, except for the very front and back. Go back to your piece of paper or your word processing document, and create a short list of your products or services. (If you sell both products and services, you may include both.)

Shoot for including three to five items in your list. This does not need to be fancy and does not need to use sentence structure or formal punctuation. It can be just a bullet list, like the one you created for the benefits column. Iris and Elke have a mix of products and services, but they decide to focus here on their delicious products, to tantalize their customers. Their list comes out like this: Entrées—smoked ham, veal, venison, wurst Side dishes—spätzle, sauerkraut schüssele, spargel Soups—flädelsuppe, venison stew Desserts—schwarzwälder kirschtorte, traditional pastries • Spirits—beer, chriesewässerle, gutedel, muskateller • • • •

Note that Iris and Elke added some detail to their list. You can do the same. Or, you can keep yours fairly straightforward. Here is an alternate, simpler version of their list that you can model: • • • • •

Entrées Side dishes Soups Desserts Spirits

Satisfy the pickiest eaters with more than 350 dishes to choose from. We offer the following traditional German dishes for your event:

119 The Brochure

Once you have completed your list, all you need to do is add a benefit title and a “We offer the following . . .” sentence to top it off. In this case, you’ll want to choose a new benefit title from your master list of benefits, one that you have not used as a title before. Add these two lines to the page, before your list of products or services. For the Hüttl sisters, the final product and service column now reads like this:

• • • • •

Entrées—smoked ham, veal, venison, wurst Side dishes—spätzle, sauerkraut schüssele, spargel Soups—flädelsuppe, venison stew Desserts—schwarzwälder kirschtorte, traditional pastries Spirits—beer, chriesewässerle, gutedel, muskateller

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Now you have informed customers about what you do (product and service column), and why they should buy from you (benefits column). Ideally, you have also caught their interest (title column). Now it is time to let your customers know what to do once they decide to purchase your products or services.

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The How-It-Works Column In the how-it-works column, you are going to describe to your customers exactly how you do business. Whether you sell products or services, you will want to educate customers about how to buy from you. This eliminates surprises later, during the buying process, and also tells customers what they can expect for their dollar. Once again, this column can be located anywhere except at the very front and back of the brochure. On your piece of paper or in your word processing document, list three to five steps that describe the process of buying from you. In this case, I want you to use short but complete sentences, with a period at the end. You can even list the step numbers for each sentence. Finally, put each sentence into a conversational format. Start each sentence with the word “we” or “you.” Use “we” when you are describing the actions of your business; use “you” when you are talking about the customer. In both cases, you should describe exactly what happens in the service process. For example: We deliver the tulip bulbs to your front door within 72 hours of receiving your form.

Or for the customer: You can place your flower order at our Web site at any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

WHAT฀IF฀I฀AM฀฀ A฀NEW฀BUSINESS? If you are a brand-new business, or if you have not yet started your business, you may not have a buying process yet. That’s okay. You can still educate your potential customers about how you will do business. Visualize the service you are providing to your customers. Once they decide to buy from you, what happens next? . . . and next? . . . and next? Finally, how does the customer receive the final product or service? When you have that picture in your mind, put it down on paper. Because you don’t have a service procedure that you’ve used in the past, I want you to imagine how it will work when you finally do have that special customer who wants to buy from you. Ask yourself: •฀ How฀will฀I฀help฀the฀customer? •฀ How฀will฀the฀service฀process฀start? •฀ What฀will฀I฀do฀for฀the฀customer? •฀ When฀ can฀ the฀ customer฀ expect฀ the฀ service฀ process฀ to฀ be฀ completed? •฀ How฀will฀the฀customer฀receive฀the฀products฀or฀final฀service?

Iris and Elke Hüttl want to show new customers everything that is included in their catering service. Many of the potential customers that they’ve spoken to were afraid that if they hired a caterer, they would still have to do a substantial portion of the work—such as setting the tables and cleaning up the mess afterward. So with the how-it-works section, Iris and Elke set out to describe their very comprehensive service offering.

121 The Brochure

From that picture in your mind, write out a basic, three-step service procedure. Even if it isn’t perfect, at least it will give your customer an idea of how you do business.

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Their how-it-works column now reads like this:

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Step 1. We work with you to create a custom menu for your event, within your budget. Step 2. We set up all linens, place settings, and tableware before the event. Step 3. We cook and prepare all the food fresh and hot at your event location. Step 4. You enjoy the event with your guests—without worrying about the food. Step 5. We clean up all dirty dishes, linens, napkins, and tableware, and return the event setting to its original pristine condition.

When you read through that list, you see that Iris and Elke give the reader a great visual picture of their complete, end-toend service, in only five sentences. You can do the same thing, too. Take five minutes now, and jot down your list. When you are done with your list, add a lead-in sentence before the bullets that reads, “Here’s how it works.” Then, go back to your master list of benefits, and select another benefit for your column title. Your how-it-works column for your marketing brochure is now complete. With the addition of the lead-in sentence and new benefit title, the Hüttl sisters’ column now looks like this: The perfect, no-hassle food solution for any event. Here’s how it works: Step 1. We work with you to create a custom menu for your event, within your budget. Step 2. We set up all linens, place settings, and tableware beforehand. Step 3. We cook and prepare all the food fresh and hot at your event location.

Step 4. You enjoy the event with your guests—without worrying about the food. Step 5. We clean up all dirty dishes, linens, napkins, and tableware, and return the event setting to its original pristine condition.

Commitment to Customers Section (Optional) If you have room on this same column, and you don’t need the space to add a photo or a graphic, you may want to add a short section about your commitment to customers. If you choose to do this, the section will include another benefit title, plus a short paragraph describing your commitment to your customers.

WHAT฀ABOUT฀MY฀฀ MISSION฀STATEMENT? If your business has a mission statement or vision statement, this is the place to put it. Simply substitute your mission statement for the commitment to customers, and add a benefit title.

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This paragraph will be easy to write. It will simply consist of one to three sentences that describe your commitment to your customers. What makes you passionate about doing business? What do you want to do best of all? For many businesses, the goal is to provide the highest quality products in the world. For others, it is to provide caring service. Still others wish to be the fastest service provider in their market. Whatever that is for you, write it down in a brief paragraph of one to three sentences. And be sure to mention the name of your business in the first line. Finally, choose another one of your benefits to use as a title for the section. If you have one that happens to reflect your philosophy, great. If not, that’s fine—any benefit will do. The Hüttl sisters decide to include a customer commitment in their brochure. This is what they will use:

Make your guests fall in love with each individual dish. Black Forest Catering is committed to providing the highest quality, authentic German food for any catered event. Our customers love our attention to detail and reasonable prices.

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Remember that this section is optional. If you can’t think of anything, or if you would rather use the extra space in this column to highlight a photograph, image, or other text, you are welcome to do that, too.

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The Customer Success Story Column Nothing makes a brochure sparkle more than does a great customer success story. Sharing the success of your projects makes your potential customers feel excited about your business. It also shows them that you have a track record of helping others to solve their problems. Your customer success story column will include a benefit title, plus one paragraph that describes how you solved a difficult problem for a customer. The more difficult the problem, the better! This paragraph will include three complete sentences, with as much detail as you can possibly pack in about how you solved the problem. And if you can add in the real names of people or businesses that you have served, all the better. The format for a good success story is simple. You will write three sentences, and string these together into a paragraph. Your sentences should include, in this order: 1. A description of the customer’s problem. 2. A description of the solution you provided. 3. How your solution improved the life (or the business) of your customer.

In this case, you will want to write complete sentences, each one ending with a period. They don’t have to be long sentences, but they do need to be complete. That will make it easier for you to string them together into a paragraph.

ABOUT฀USING฀REAL฀ CUSTOMER฀NAMES… Can you use real customer names in your success story? Absolutely. Adding the names of real people or real businesses that you have helped is a wonderful way to give your brochure a little extra credibility with potential customers. However, be sure to get your customers’ permission before you add their names (or their business names) to your brochure. You don’t want to accidentally discover later that they were unhappy to see their names in print. An unpleasant surprise could cost you a customer—or even a legal conflict.

After you write your paragraph, all that is left to do is to add a title to this column. Once again, you may borrow from the master list of benefits that you created at the beginning of this chapter. The Hüttl sisters decide to use a great wedding reception story for their brochure. After they finish their paragraph and add their benefit title, their success story column looks like this: Enjoy your wedding day more with professional catering.

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Only three days before their daughter’s traditional Bavarian wedding, Dieter and Ulrike Braun had a major problem on their hands: the restaurant had canceled the reservation for their wedding reception of 75 people. Black Forest Catering was able to meet with the parents, design a custom six-course menu focusing on Bavarian food themes, book a substitute location, and prepare all the food on time for the guests’ arrival—only three days before the big event. The Braun wedding was saved, and many guests declared that it was the best food they had ever tasted at a reception!

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Special Offer Section (Optional) If you are taking the time to write, design, and print a brochure for your customers, then I strongly recommend including a special offer. While it is optional, it makes sense to include a nice offer that will entice new customers to your door. Sometimes, a special offer is the key that clinches the order. A good special offer is nothing more than giving a customer a little “something extra” for doing business with you. It can be a gift, a freebie, a discount, or a cash-back offer. It can even be a free add-on service (such as free shipping, when a customer orders more than a certain dollar amount). It does not need to be large—in fact, it can be as small as a free giveaway, or $5 off. To create your own special offer, simply write one complete sentence describing the offer. Then, add a title of three to ten words that gives a summary version of the offer. If you position this at the corner of your brochure, where it can easily be cut out later, then you can even turn your offer into a clip-out coupon.

SETTING฀LIMITS฀฀ ON฀SPECIAL฀OFFERS Be sure to set limits on the time frame or inclusion of your special offer. This ensures that greedy customers don’t take advantage of you, especially if you are a retail business. You can write these limits directly into your offer. For example: • • • •

Offer good through November 30 Limit one per customer Discount good for first-time customers only Only valid with purchase of $100 or more

But, don’t add too many exclusions or limits—you might scare your potential customers away.

The Hüttl sisters are trying to win business with larger parties and bigger orders. They decide to do a limited-time special offer of a free meal on orders of twenty-five or more.

After they add a summary title, their special offer section looks like this: Free Complete Meal with Your Order For every 25 entrées you order for a single event, you will receive one FREE complete entrée. (Limit 5 free entrées. Offer good through January 15, 2007.)

The Call-to-Action Column When your brochure is folded up neatly into its trifold format, you will see two things: the title column in the front, and the call-to-action column in the back. Because of this, it is important to include a good call-to-action, with your appropriate contact information listed below it. This way, you make it very easy for a motivated contact to find you. Remember: this is one of the two columns that you must put in their proper place when you lay out the design of your brochure; you can put the rest of the columns anywhere you like.

WHAT฀ABOUT฀A฀฀ SELF-MAILER?

If you are creating a self-mailer, don’t forget to include your business name and return address in this column, in the same positions as you would for a typical #10 envelope. Place a stamp in the upper-right-hand corner, and seal the open edge shut with tape or a sticker seal. Then, the 8.5” × 11” trifold marketing brochure can go directly into the mail, without an envelope.

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If you are looking to use this brochure as a self-mailer, then you can replace your call-to-action in the back with a blank space. This will give you room to add a potential customer’s mailing address.

A call-to-action is nothing more than a sentence commanding the reader to take the next step. That’s it. It is usually a single sentence, followed by the business contact information. It begins with a command verb. Some good examples of call-to-action statements:

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• Call now to schedule your free consultation • Visit our store by June 23 to receive your free sample • Use the enclosed coupon to begin saving money NOW

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You may want to put your call-to-action in big letters, positioned toward the top of the column. (It should almost look like a title.) Below your call-to-action statement, you should list your complete contact information. This includes: •฀ Business฀name •฀ Logo •฀ Tag฀line •฀ Physical฀or฀mailing฀address •฀ Phone฀number •฀ Fax฀number •฀ Web฀site฀address •฀ E-mail฀address

If you don’t have a tag line, logo, Web site, or e-mail address yet, just be sure to include the rest of your contact information. If you are a retail business, this may also be a good place to include a map to your location, especially if you are in a spot that is difficult to find, or if you are in a city in which it may be challenging for a new customer to figure out where you are located. You may also want to include the name of a specific person to contact at your company. If you want to make the brochure appear more personal, or friendly, you may give your name and direct phone number, or the name of a salesperson or other staff member. Some businesses even list two or three contacts here. The Hüttls decide to repeat their special offer in their callto-action, and you can do that, too. Simply state the reward to the customer for taking the next action in buying your service or product:

Call today to discuss your next catering event—and learn about earning a FREE entrée. Iris & Elke Hüttl Phone (972) 555-4343 Fax (972) 555-4344

Black Forest Catering Specializing in German foods for your special event 101 Jasmine Blvd. Olathe, TX 72145 www.blackforestcatering.com [email protected]

Once you finish writing the call-to-action column and the contact information, it’s time for a round of congratulations. You have cleared a major hurdle in creating your brochure! Now all that’s left is putting your content into a design layout, and then printing it out. You are well on your way!

BROCHURE฀SOFTWARE Some popular software programs that let you design your own brochure:

Remember—buyer beware! Understand exactly what will be included in the software and what the return policy is before you pay for anything.

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• Microsoft Office Publisher • Microsoft Word (many other templates are available online at the Microsoft Office Web site, http://office .microsoft.com) • Adobe Illustrator • Adobe Photoshop • Corel Photo-Paint • Jasc Paint Shop Pro

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DESIGN THE LAYOUT

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Designing the layout for your marketing brochure is not difficult. While it may take a little bit of time to get the pieces in the right place, most people can do it using a personal computer and one of the new software packages out there in the market today. Even if you don’t have your own computer, many libraries and community colleges now have computers and design software available for public use. Your main goal in designing the layout for your brochure is to make it attractive and easy to read. Whenever possible, use full color, to make it more appealing (and professional looking) to your customers. However, some very successful brochures for new entrepreneurs have been created using one color, two colors, or just black and white. Your brochure will also benefit from the use of as many images and photographs as you can manage to fit in. Even if you are a service business, you can usually find ways to work in good background photographs of people working in your field. These images help add to the friendliness and credibility of your brochure. And, of course, you’ll want to add your logo. Your first step is to put all of the columns in the place where you want them. When the brochure is folded up neatly, the title column should be on the top, and the call-to-action and contact information column should be on the very back. Other than that, you can place any of your content columns in any order you choose. Play around a little bit here. You may want to try moving the columns around to get the order that feels best for you. Once you have positioned the content in the right place, you are ready to add the special touch of your own personal design. Choose a font that is easy to read; stay away from heavily italicized fonts, or script fonts that some people can’t read very easily. A basic Times New Roman, Arial, or Garamond font should work just fine. And be sure to make it large enough to read; 12 point for normal text and 14 point for title text should be plenty small enough to fit all of your content, and still be easy to read. Basic black is best—if you add too many colors to the text, it can be difficult to read.

FINDING฀GOOD฀IMAGES If you are looking to add some professional-quality images to your brochure, but don’t trust yourself with a camera, you may have luck finding some images on the Internet. Several Internet services now sell high-quality graphic images that you can use in your marketing materials: • • • • • •

www.comstock.com www.gettyimages.com www.inmagine.com www.images.com www.fotosearch.com http://office.microsoft.com/clipart

Before you make a purchase, understand what rights you are buying. Licensing rights differ from service to service. Make sure that yours includes the rights to unlimited reprinting.

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You are now ready to add graphics and images. Two to four good images should work well. You can use just about anything, from geometric shapes to photos to cartoon images. There is no limit to your options for graphics and images! In particular, you may want to add an image to the title column, if you can find a good one—color photographs especially “pop” here. Don’t forget to add your logo to the title column and the call-to-action column. Finally, you may wish to add a background to your brochure. A background is a color, design, or image that lies behind all of the text and pictures that you have added. Although it is not required, it gives your brochure a little bit of extra depth. I have seen everything from geometric patterns to blueprints to pictures of sunny beaches used as backgrounds on brochures, and they all were very effective. Play around. Experiment with colors. Try adding a few images. And move the content to different locations. You may even find that the brochure looks better if you cut back your

content, and add more images. There is no right or wrong answer here—you are only limited by your creativity. Remember, this is the fun part of creating a brochure! Don’t be afraid to experiment. When you are done, show your brochure to friends, associates, or teammates. Get their opinion on it, too, and find out whether they think it works.

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PRINT THE FINAL COPIES

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When you have put the finishing touches on your content and design, and your marketing brochure looks simply dazzling, you are ready to print it. All you need to print it is a good color printer (or black-and-white, if you have not designed in color), some good paper, and a little bit of elbow grease. Virtually any office supply or stationery store today carries good quality paper for printing brochures. There are many options for you to choose from, and none of them is necessarily any better than the others. The choice is yours. You can choose glossy or matte; traditional weight, medium card stock, or heavy card stock; and white, ivory, or downright bright colors. The types of paper vary considerably in price. Despite all the paper choices on the market today, I choose a good old white glossy paper 98 percent of the time when I am designing a new brochure for a customer. I like how the shine picks up the colors, and makes them “pop.” However, that doesn’t mean that you have to choose the same thing. Whichever paper you decide on, make sure it shows off your brochure’s colors and content in the very best way. (And be careful that it doesn’t break your budget! Paper can get quite expensive.) When you have found a paper that you like, make sure that it is right for your printer. Some papers work best with inkjet printers; some only with laser. If you don’t match the right paper to your printer, you may find that the ink flakes off, or looks washed out. You are now ready to print directly from your printer. Remember that this is a two-sided print job, so it may take you some time to run it through, front and back. Give each side time to dry before you run it through again. It’s a good idea to start

with five or ten copies, and see how they look. When you’ve got ten copies printed out, it’s time to fold them. Make your folds as neatly as possible. Using a clean ruler to run over the fold can give you a nice crease. There are even folding machines you can buy if you are doing mass quantities. The goal here is to make your brochure look as crisp, clean, and sharp as possible. There is nothing less professional than a messy brochure with ink smudges and diagonal creases going in every direction!

MAXIMIZE THE USE OF YOUR BROCHURE Once you finish your brochure, there are hundreds of ways you can use it. Don’t be limited by the way you’ve seen brochures used in the past, by other businesses. I have seen my students and customers use theirs in many very creative ways. You will need to experiment to find the best use for you. Good opportunities for using your marketing brochure include:

Remember, don’t be afraid to experiment, and don’t be afraid to try new things with your brochure. Sometimes you may be surprised to find which quirky things will work to bring you new business.

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•฀ Trade฀shows •฀ Sales฀meetings •฀ Press฀kits฀(along฀with฀a฀press฀release) •฀ Follow-ups฀to฀sales฀calls •฀ Networking฀events฀(can฀be฀used฀instead฀of฀a฀business฀card) •฀ Mailers฀to฀new฀customers •฀ Mailers฀to฀existing฀customers •฀ Brochure฀racks฀at฀professional฀offices฀or฀local฀businesses •฀ Retail฀purchases •฀ Packages฀shipped฀through฀the฀mail

CHAPTER 12



THE WEB SITE

A Web site has become as common as a business card for many businesses today. In fact, a good percentage of new businesses establish a Web site within the first year. It can definitely give a business an advantage over a competitor without a Web site. Certainly, many customers now use a Web site as part of their overall decision about whether to work with a business. Having a Web site is almost required in some industries. If you are operating your service business in an area or in a market in which all of your competitors have Web sites, then you are at a distinct disadvantage if you don’t have one. A good example of this is the travel industry. Many hotels and motels are using Web views of their hotel rooms to gain advantage over their competitors. I recently took a vacation in a small town in Missouri, where there were five bed-and-breakfast establishments to choose from. One of them had an easy-to-use Web site, with brilliant photographs of crisp, clean rooms and sunny windows. The others had no Web site at all. Guess where I made my weekend reservation? Of course, I made it at the one with the Web site, where I could see the rooms—even though the room cost me

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40 percent more per night than I would have spent at the other B&Bs in the area. The Web site helped me to make my final purchase decision. When I arrived, it was no surprise to find out that the B&B was full, with a waiting list.

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CHECK฀OUT฀THE฀ COMPETITION

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Before you create a single word or graphic for your Web site, check out the competition. Spend an hour or two nosing around the Internet. Take a look at the sites of your competitors, both local and national. What are they doing with their Web sites that you like? What are they doing that you hate? Are there areas you could improve on? Even if you only look at two or three Web sites, you will start to get a feeling for how yours will stack up against the competition.

Whether you are in a service or product business, consider the value that a Web site will bring to your business. Take a look at what your competition is doing. You may find that a Web site can be a very powerful addition to your overall marketing toolkit. If you have been hesitant to create a Web site up till this point because you believed it would cost too much, you may be surprised to discover that it is not as expensive as you thought. Nowadays, you can put a Web site together quickly and affordably—doing most of the work yourself. Though you may need to spend a little bit of money on the technical aspects of the service—such as hosting the Web site—you can create much of the content and the design yourself, with a few simple tools. This chapter is dedicated to helping you to write, design, and publish the basic pages of a Web site. You can borrow copy that you may have already written for your brochure, your ad, and your bio. You will even learn the basic “ins” and “outs” of Web publishing and hosting, which are just as important as the writing.

GET STARTED Creating a brand-new Web site can seem like a gargantuan task. Where on earth do you begin? If you have spent any time on the Internet, you know that Web sites can get pretty fancy. You’ve probably seen cartoon animation, virtual shopping carts, and professional graphics. All of those visual elements are exciting, but not necessary. Your site does not need to be that complicated. In fact, starting out with just a few standard pages should be enough to establish your business presence, and win you a few customers. The beauty of a Web site is that because it is electronic, you can always start out with as little as a single page, and add or delete pages to accommodate your changing business needs. The key is to target the right audience with the right message.

WARNING! While there is nothing wrong with looking at other Web sites to see how they are presenting their information, you absolutely should not plagiarize (steal) another person’s graphics, words, or ideas. In fact, you shouldn’t even “borrow”—you can get yourself into hot water if it even looks like you are plagiarizing.

Luckily, there are only a few basic steps to creating any new Web site—large or small. They are: 1. Buy your domain name. 2. Write the content. 3. Design the layout of the pages. 4. Publish the site, using a Web host.

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If you are unsure of whether you are plagiarizing or not, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Create your own material, from scratch. Period. You certainly don’t want to spend your first year in business defending a lawsuit from an unhappy corporation that has accused you of stealing its intellectual property.

There are many, many different approaches to building Web sites. In this chapter, I will give you the guidelines for creating a very basic one. You are welcome to use your own ideas for writing, designing, and publishing your site, especially if you have past experience designing and building Web sites. This is your site, and you should make it look as good as possible! If you have no experience in creating a Web site, this fourstep process should give you a good guideline for what needs to happen to get your first Web site up and running. It’s not very difficult at all.

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BUY YOUR DOMAIN NAME

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If you are even thinking about creating a Web site for your business, then you should try to purchase your domain name now. Why the urgency with purchasing the domain name? Because good domain names sell out—quickly. If you are using a fairly common business name, or if your name has popular words in it (like “best,” “service,” or “associates”), it’s best to buy your domain name as soon as possible. In the past several years, there has been a domain-name buying rush, and many of the most popular, simple, and straightforward names have been taken. Even if you don’t plan to create your actual Web site for another year or more, you’ll want to purchase your domain name now, if possible. You can always let it expire after a year or two, if you decide not to use it, and you will only lose a few dollars in the process.

WHAT฀IS฀A฀DOMAIN฀NAME? A domain name is nothing more than a Web site address. For example, for my business, Peters Writing Services, Inc., we bought the domain name www.peterswriting.com. At the same time, I also purchased the domain name www.paulapeters.com, knowing that I would need it a few years down the road for when I published this book.

Buying a domain name is actually pretty easy. All you need to do is find an Internet service that sells domain names, run a search on the name you wish to buy, and see if it is available for purchase. You may have to try a couple of different variations of the name to get one that’s available. When you find the domain name that matches your business name best, you buy it. Most Internet services charge a flat annual rate to own a domain name, and it is not very expensive. You can even buy the rights to the name for several years at a time. Normally, you buy a domain name for one to ten years, depending on the requirements of the company selling the rights.

WHERE฀CAN฀I฀BUY฀฀ A฀DOMAIN฀NAME? There are many companies that sell the rights to domain names. These are a few of the more popular sites that sell Web domain names: • www.networksolutions.com • www.register.com • www.domain.com

If the name you want is not available, you may need to get creative. When you search for the domain name you want to use, try several variations of your business name. Start with the simplest form of your business name that you can think of, and then try other variations if you can’t find what you want. There are now several extensions that you can add to the end of the domain name. Instead of the normal .com extension, you can also try looking for the same name with .biz or .org or .net at the end. However, keep in mind that some of these special extensions are

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Always make sure that the company you choose is a reputable one, and that you read the fine print in your agreement before you sign. Typically, when you buy the rights to a domain name, it means that no one else can use it.

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typically limited to specific types of organizations; for example, .org is generally used by non-profits, and .biz is generally used by for-profit businesses. Make sure that the extension you end up with sends customers the right message about your business or organization. For example, Angela Ruiz opened a small bathroom porcelain reglazing business in her hometown. She reglazed the scruffy tiles, sinks, tubs, and showers that appear in all of our homes after years of wear and tear. Her service helped to increase the value of her customers’ homes before they put them on the market for resale. Angela’s business was called Ruiz Reglazing. She wanted to use www.ruiz.com for her domain name, but a quick search on one of the domain name sale sites told her it was already taken. So she tried a few different options, including www.ruiz. biz and www.ruizreglazing.com. The first one was also taken, but the second one was available. She bought it and began using it immediately. The whole process took less than fifteen minutes.

WRITE THE CONTENT Once you buy your domain name, you are ready to begin creating your Web site content. Don’t worry—it’s not that difficult! All you need to do is get a fresh piece of paper or open a new word processing document, and begin writing. There are a few main content pages that are standard for a Web site. They are: •฀ Home฀page •฀ Product฀or฀service฀page •฀ How-it-works฀page •฀ About฀Us฀page •฀ Contact฀Us฀page

If you are creating a retail Web site for selling products, then you will want to have a Shopping Cart page. You may also want to be able to offer your customers the option of making a purchase with a credit card. There are now a number of Internet services and software packages that can handle this for you, making

it less complicated. Check out www.shoppingcartsplus.com, www.volusion.com, or www.storefront.net. If you are looking to add complicated e-commerce functionality to your site, then your best bet is to hire a professional Web designer who specializes in e-commerce. For more information on how to build an ecommerce Web site, www.verisign.com offers a detailed, free guide to building e-commerce on your site.

THE฀“BASIC฀THREE”฀฀ WEB฀SITE You don’t have to create all five of your main Web pages at once. You can start off by writing, designing, and uploading what I call the “basic three” Web pages, just to get you started. That way, if customers are looking for you, they will at least be able to see a Web site, which goes a long way toward establishing your credibility as a legitimate business. The basic three pages include: • Home page • Product or service page • Contact Us page

A few optional pages that you may want to consider adding later:

In this chapter, we will focus on creating the content for just the five main pages that you need to get started. There are, of course, plenty of other content pages that you can include in the

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•฀ Success฀stories฀page •฀ Testimonials฀page •฀ Press฀page •฀ Career฀opportunities฀page •฀ Portfolio฀or฀sample฀page •฀ Newsletter฀page •฀ Executive฀bios฀page •฀ Company฀history฀page

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development of your Web site, depending on your time, energy, budget, and desire. You can add a hundred pages of content to your site, if you want to—and if you have the time and energy to create them. It’s your business—you write the rules.

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THE HOME PAGE

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There are many different ways that you can create a home page—and none of them are wrong. I have seen home pages with very little content, and lots of pictures and graphics. I have seen home pages with lots and lots of content, and almost no pictures or graphics. But a good home page does not need to be fancy. It just needs to explain your business, and the value you bring to your customers. That can be accomplished with: •฀ Three฀catchy฀titles •฀ Three฀short฀paragraphs฀of฀up฀to฀three฀sentences฀each •฀ Basic฀page฀layout฀with฀a฀color฀border

Your first goal on the home page is to introduce yourself as a company. You also want to demonstrate your value to customers by showing how you can improve their lives or their businesses. You do this by sharing with them the benefits of working with you, through three effective, catchy titles.

Three Catchy Titles To create your three home page titles, you should begin by doing some brainstorming. Jot down a list of at least ten key benefits that you provide to your customers. Your list does not need to be in complete sentences, but the more specific it is, the better. Keep in mind that benefits are simply the ways that you improve someone else’s life or business with your products and services. Whatever it is you do, your customers appreciate you for it. You might help them to: •฀ Save฀time •฀ Save฀money •฀ Look฀younger

•฀ Lose฀weight •฀ Increase฀sales •฀ Decrease฀expenses •฀ Reduce฀their฀tax฀burden •฀ Comfort฀a฀child

For example, instead of saying “We help our customers look younger,” you might want to say, “We help our customers look younger with our all-natural anti-aging moisturizers that work 24 hours a day.” That is a great benefit—very specific, and very detailed. Betsy’s Beauty Boutique is a small, full-service salon and day spa run by Betsy Hao. The Boutique’s services include haircuts, manicures, makeup, and light massage. It’s a great place to go if you need to just get away for a while on a stressful day, and she has created a warm, welcoming atmosphere for her primarily female customers. After adding a few specific details, Betsy’s list of benefits looks something like this: • • • • •

After you write your list of at least ten benefits, circle your favorite three. Which three will appeal most to your target customers? These three will now become the catchy titles you will use on your home page. But don’t get rid of the rest of your benefits. These will now become a part of your “master benefit list,” which you will use throughout this chapter—and throughout this book—to create other titles for other pages of content.

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• • • • •

Look more beautiful with new silk wrapped nails Look younger with rejuvenating facial massage Be your best self with an attractive new haircut Relax with an afternoon in our quiet day spa Make a good impression at work with your dazzling new look Save money with our affordable full-body makeovers Get the attention you deserve with stylish new hair The perfect solution for any hair type Painless hair removal Save time with our 30-minute haircuts

For her home page, Betsy circled the following three favorites: • Be your best self with an attractive new haircut • Relax with an afternoon in our quiet day spa • Make a good impression at work with your dazzling new look

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Betsy felt that those appealed most to her target audience of young career women who balance busy schedules every day. These three benefits will now become the titles for her home page.

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Three Short Paragraphs To round out your home page, create three small paragraphs, or “chunks” of text, with one to three sentences each. These chunks will explain what you do for your customers. To get started, jot down answers to each of the following questions: 1. What is your main product or service? 2. What is the best reason for a customer to get excited about your product or service? 3. What is the one thing that’s special about your business? (Is it your super customer service, fantastic products, vast experience, or amazing delivery times?)

You should phrase your answers in complete sentences. Write one to three sentences in response to each question. If you get stumped, don’t worry. This is not a pop quiz. Get at least one answer down for each question, and add more later. Betsy came up with these answers: 1. Betsy’s Beauty Boutique provides hair, nail, and beauty care for women across the metro area. We also offer light facial and back massage. 2. Our customers love our relaxing environment, complete with scented candles and a glass of wine. It’s the perfect escape from the real world.

3. Betsy’s Beauty Boutique specializes in creating the “perfect you” with the right skin care, hairstyle, and accessories. You won’t believe the difference in how people treat you when you look your best. We can help you do that.

Betsy—and you—now have three great chunks of content to start with. These chunks will form the three basic paragraphs of content for the home page.

TIP! When you are writing Web site content, use more informal language. You can do that quickly and easily by writing your text like a conversation, using the words “we” and “you.” This creates a feeling of intimacy with the reader and builds a sense of trust.

Let’s go back to the three favorite benefits that you circled earlier. These will be your titles. Match one of your circled benefits with one chunk of text that you created as the answers to your questions. Your goal is to end up with three chunks of text, each with its own catchy title. Keep in mind that the chunks and titles don’t have to be in any specific order—feel free to choose whichever ones look the best together. In Betsy’s case, her chunks and titles will look like this:

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Be your best self with an attractive new haircut.

Relax with an afternoon in our quiet day spa. Our customers love our relaxing environment, complete with scented candles and a glass of wine. It’s the perfect escape from the real world.

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Betsy’s Beauty Boutique provides hair, nail, and beauty care for women across the metro area. We also offer light facial and back massage.

Make a good impression at work with your dazzling new look.

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Betsy’s Beauty Boutique specializes in creating the“perfect you” with the right skin care, hairstyle, and accessories. You won’t believe the difference in how people treat you when you look your best. We can help you do that.

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Voilà! Betsy now has an instant home page. Once you’ve created those three chunks of text, you will have one, too. All that’s left to do with this content is add a few visual elements, and it will be done. That was easy, wasn’t it? And the next page of your Web site is going to be even easier.

THE PRODUCT AND SERVICE PAGE After the home page, the next most important page is the product and service page. This page is simply a description of the products and services that you sell. You can make it as basic—or as fancy—as you wish. If your business sells products, here is where you get to show off your best items—with descriptions, photos, and pricing. You can also add discounts or special offers. But be wary of crowding too many products onto one page. You don’t want to overwhelm the reader with too much information.

Three Short Paragraphs When you create your product and service page, your goal will once again be to end up with three paragraphs of content. That means that you can feature and discuss three services or products—max. If you offer more than three products or services, then you will need to either select your favorite three and focus on these, or add subpages of content with additional details. Each paragraph should fully describe one service or one product. A good rule is: one paragraph = one topic. By keeping it to one topic per paragraph, you will find it easier to write the paragraphs—and your readers will find it easier to read and

find the information they are looking for. Above each paragraph, you will later add one descriptive title, taken from your master benefits list.

WHAT฀IS฀A฀SUBPAGE? A subpage is nothing more than a page of Web site content that can only be viewed when the user clicks a highlighted word or button on a Web page. Subpages are not usually visible in the menu of your Web page. Subpages are a great way to add more detail to your Web site, without overwhelming the reader. They organize the information so that it flows better when a customer is reading it.

To get started, make a list of the top three products and services that you offer to your customers. This does not have to look neat, be grammatically correct, or be “fancy” in any way. All you need for right now is a bulleted list of your services. What do you do for your customers? Elizabeth Duckwall’s business, The Big Cheese, sells highquality gourmet cooking ingredients. Her initial list of products looks like this:

It’s time to add some more detail. For each of the items on your list, brainstorm three additional details about the product or service that a customer might like to know. What is included in the service? How does it work? What varieties do you carry? For example, Elizabeth adds some details about her variety of products:

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•฀ imported฀cheeses •฀ fine฀chocolates •฀ oils฀and฀vinegars

imported cheeses • France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain • soft, semi-soft, hard, semi-hard cheeses • cow’s, sheep’s, and goat’s milks fine chocolates • Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Christmas • dark, milk, white • sugar-free

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oils and vinegars

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• imported and domestic • olive, truffle, balsamic • meet strict standards for quality and importation

Now, turn each of the items on your list into a complete sentence. Use the more casual words “we” and “our” to make the sentences seem more personal and friendly. For example, the complete sentences for Elizabeth’s chocolates selection come out like this: • We carry a complete selection of fine chocolates for every taste. • We ship beautiful, elegantly wrapped gift boxes for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Christmas. • Dark, milk, and white chocolate are available in caramel, nut, and truffle styles. • In addition, we carry a complete line of sugar-free chocolates.

When you have completed the step of turning your facts into complete sentences, you are now ready to pull them all together, into three separate paragraphs. Your goal is to create a paragraph for each of your three topics and the supporting details by stringing them together. You can put them together in exactly the same order as they appear now. Betsy’s new paragraph on chocolates now looks like this:

We carry a complete selection of fine chocolates, for every taste. We ship beautiful, elegantly wrapped gift boxes for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Christmas. Dark, milk, and white chocolate are available in caramel, nut, and truffle styles. In addition, we carry a complete line of sugar-free chocolates.

Repeat this same procedure for all three of your paragraphs. Write out complete sentences for the details, and then string them together into chunks. At this point, you may need to do a little editing of your paragraphs. Once you see all of the sentences come together, they may not flow smoothly. Feel free to add or delete words, or to make adjustments to make it read better. If you are stuck, read it out loud to yourself or to a friend, to hear how it sounds. Using this technique, you’ll be able to find problems quickly. When you are done, you should have three complete paragraphs, each featuring a different product or service. Congratulations! You are now ready to add titles to finish your product and service page.

WHAT฀ABOUT฀BULLET฀ POINTS?

Three Catchy Titles When you wrote your home page, you made a list of ten benefits of your business that would work as titles. You have already used three of these as titles for your home page. Now, you will need to choose three more from this list to use as your titles for your product and service page.

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If you don’t like writing paragraphs, try using bullet points. Many Web sites today list their products and services in the form of bullet points. They are quicker and easier to write, and sometimes easier to read.

NEED฀A฀FEW฀฀ NEW฀BENEFITS?

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If you are not satisfied with the benefit titles you have left over from the home page exercise, you can always create new ones. Remember, they are just words . . . it doesn’t cost anything to write a few more!

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When you have selected the three you like best, simply match one benefit to each of the product and service paragraphs you have created. Play around with the order. Try matching different titles to different paragraphs, to find out which ones you like best together. Once you find a pairing you like, you may be inspired to rewrite the title. If you want to do this, then by all means, do it. Changing word order, word selection, sentence structure, or descriptive images is all a part of the creative marketing process—and as a marketing writer, I do exactly that, over and over again, every day. Betsy chooses the following title to complete the paragraph about chocolates: Impress Your Friends and Family with Our Tasty Gifts We carry a complete selection of fine chocolates, for every taste. We ship beautiful, elegantly wrapped gift boxes for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Christmas. Dark, milk, and white chocolate are available in caramel, nut, and truffle styles. In addition, we carry a complete line of sugar-free chocolates.

When you are finished matching your benefits to your text, you should have a nice, neat page of three paragraphs with accompanying titles. These paragraphs will tell your reader a “story” about your services and products. That’s exactly what you need for a good product and service page!

THE HOW-IT-WORKS PAGE After reading your first two pages, your customers should get a clear picture of the benefits you bring to their lives. Your next step is to show the customer how easy it is to work with you. You do this by using a how-it-works page. The how-it-works page is a very simple concept. It shows the readers how they will work with you, if they decide to buy from you. It also helps to refute any hesitation or doubt that they may be having. After all, they could buy from just about anybody, right? You want to convince them to buy from you. You want to show them that you have the best service-delivery process out there on the market. Let’s say a customer is looking at your Web site. That person is thinking about buying from you but feels unsure. The customer may have several questions about you at this point, including: •฀ “Will฀this฀company฀be฀difficult฀to฀work฀with?” •฀ “Will฀I฀receive฀my฀order฀when฀I฀need฀it?” •฀ “Is฀their฀work฀high฀quality?” •฀ “Do฀they฀treat฀their฀customers฀well?” •฀ “Is฀this฀even฀a฀legitimate฀company?”

One Short List To create your how-it-works page, begin by writing out the steps of your service procedure for customers. You will add a benefit

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Your goal, on this page, is to answer some of those questions through your words. You have already answered quite a few questions with your excellent home page and product or service page. Now, you are going to answer a few more questions by sharing your step-by-step process for servicing customers. Your task here is very easy: You are going to describe for the customers the actual steps of your standard service. Whether you are a product business or a service business, you probably do several things to help your customers—many that you’ve probably never even thought about. Those will form the basis for the content on this page. When you are finished, all you will have is one list of steps, and one title.

title later. But don’t get fooled by the fancy terminology. Your “service procedure” is nothing more than the way you process an order (if you are a product business), or the way you serve your customers (if you are a service business). It is the set of steps that happens after your customer decides to purchase your product or service. It answers the question, “If I want to buy from this company, how do I get started?”

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WHAT฀IF฀I฀HAVEN’T฀SERVED฀ ANY฀CUSTOMERS฀YET?

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If you are a brand-new business, or if you have not yet started your business, you may not have served a customer yet . . . and so you may not know what to include in your service procedure. That’s okay. You can still use the how-it-works page to educate your potential customers. Because you don’t have a service procedure that you’ve used in the past, imagine how it will work when you finally do have those special customers who want to buy from you. Ask yourself: • What information do I need from the customers (if any) to get started? • How will they order? • How will I help them? • What will I do for them? • When can they expect it to be completed? • How will they receive their products or final service? This should get you started on visualizing how your service will work. From that picture in your mind, write out a basic, three-step service procedure. Even if it isn’t perfect, at least it will give your customers an idea of how you will eventually do business.

For this next exercise, take out a fresh piece of paper to work from, or start a new page in your word processing program. Visualize the service that you are providing to your customers.

Step 1. We test all of your hydraulic and pneumatic systems and equipment. Step 2. We provide you with an assessment checklist that describes the condition of each piece of equipment, including any possible trouble areas. Step 3. You decide which trouble areas you would like to have fixed or replaced (if any). Step 4. We perform the repairs you request. Step 5. We train your staff in maintaining and troubleshooting the replaced equipment.

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Once they decide to buy from you, what happens next? . . . and next? . . . and next? What actions do you take? And, what actions do your customers take? Finally, how do you complete the service? When you have that picture in your mind, you need to get it down on paper, in the form of a list of steps. You don’t need complete sentences at this point; your bullet points will do fine. Write down three to five steps. You can even add numbers if you like, to help guide you through the procedure: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3. For each step in your service procedure, be sure to add some specific detail, enough to make the actions clear even to a stranger. (Don’t forget, it will most likely be strangers who are reading your Web site content—that is, until they become customers!) Then, format the sentences in the casual style we learned earlier, beginning each step with either “we” or “you.” Finally, cap it all off with appropriate punctuation, including a period. Ronald Pearson and Kurt Justus have been working together as partners for more than fifteen years in their business, Pearson-Justus Mechanical Engineering. When they started their business, they used their background in fluid power engineering, manufacturing, and assembly lines to start their business. But they were uncomfortable putting together a Web site—until now. Lately, more and more of their customers have asked to see their service procedure online. It’s time to put up a Web site— and more important, it’s time to show their customers how to do business with Pearson-Justus Mechanical Engineering. For their service procedure, Kurt listed these points:

Even though I am certainly no expert in hydraulic and pneumatic systems, I think that Kurt and Ronald’s list gives me an excellent understanding of the service they provide. Any assembly line managers who read this should know immediately how PearsonJustus Mechanical Engineering can help their businesses.

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One Catchy Title

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The final touch to your how-it-works page is to add another eyecatching title that tells the reader, once again, a little bit about the benefits of your service. To do this, you can dip into the list of benefit statements that you created for the home page, which you have been using as titles for your home page and product or service page. Just pick one that you feel is appropriate, and add it as the title to your paragraph. The list of steps for Kurt and Ronald will focus on the critical benefit for their customers of preventing expensive equipment failures. After adding the benefit title, their page now looks like this: Avoid Premature Equipment Failures Step 1. We test all of your hydraulic and pneumatic systems and equipment. Step 2. We provide you with an assessment checklist that describes the condition of each piece of equipment, including any possible trouble areas. Step 3. You decide which trouble areas you would like to have fixed or replaced (if any). Step 4. We perform the repairs you request. Step 5. We train your staff in maintaining and troubleshooting the replaced equipment.

If you are not satisfied with any of your remaining titles, then your other option, of course, is to write a new one, from scratch, using one of your key benefits to customers. Feel free to get creative—you are not restricted to using the benefits from your original home page list, by any means. There is no right or wrong way to approach the content for this page. Remember, this is your Web site, and you want it to be as professional as possible.

With the addition of this title, your how-it-works page is now officially done. As always, you are welcome to add more content to this page, if you’d like. But the content that we have written for it today is designed to stand alone, as a complete message to the customer. The choice is up to you. Congratulations! You are ready to move on to creating your next Web site page, the About Us page.

TIP! A popular addition to the About Us page is the executive bio. This is usually a profile—with or without a photo—of the founding business owner or partners, or even the current CEO, President, or COO. If you would like to add an executive bio to your Web site, check out Chapter 6. That will take you step-bystep through the process of writing a bio, which you can then add to your Web site.

THE ABOUT US PAGE

One Short Paragraph To begin with, you are going to write a short paragraph about your company, with at least three sentences. You will need to include a little bit about the business and its philosophy. Then, you will add the all-important finishing touch of a benefit title.

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Just about every Web site—even the most product-oriented one—now has an About Us page. This page tells your readers a little bit about you, your style, your philosophy, and your way of doing business. It builds rapport with the reader. It also helps to establish that you are indeed a legitimate business. When you are ready to create your About Us page, you have lots of options for what information you can include. You can write about your company, your history, your mission, your founding entrepreneurs, and even your team. In this section, we are going to focus on writing a basic, one-paragraph overview of your company. Later, you are welcome to add anything else that you wish.

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Let’s start by taking out a fresh sheet of paper (or start a new page in your word processing program). On this sheet of paper, you will need to answer three questions. Answer them in complete sentences, with as much detail as you can possibly squeeze in:

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1. When was the business started? How long has it been in operation? Who founded it? 2. Why did you start the business? What problem did you want to solve for your customers? 3. What is your current philosophy of doing business? How do you like to handle your customers, products, or services? (This can be your mission statement or vision statement).

One more thing: When you write your answers, talk about yourself and your business in the more formal third person. You will use the words “he,” “she,” and “they.” This may feel a bit strange to you, because all of the other paragraphs on your Web site have been written with the more casual “we” and “you.” You should also mention the full name of your business at least once, preferably in the first sentence. (No abbreviations or shortened forms of your business name here.) Why are we using the more formal language on this page? It lends a little bit more credibility to the story about you. This style has also become something of a Web page standard. Most About Us pages are written in the third person. Once you have made that change to your sentences, feel free to make any other tweaks that you see fit to make them read well. For example, Rhadjena Al-Yousef’s business is Integrity Tax Solutions, Inc. Rhadjena designs and produces highly specialized tax software for businesses in the telecommunications industry. Her answers to the three questions produce three solid sentences: 1. Integrity Tax Solutions, Inc. was founded four years ago by Rhadjena Al-Yousef and her husband, Qais. 2. Rhadjena wanted to create an easy way for telecommunications companies to calculate the taxes on their services to eliminate costly errors at tax time.

3. Because of that mission, Integrity Tax Solutions now provides the highest-quality tax software in the market, with the least number of processing errors available.

Now that you have completed your detailed sentences, your last step is to string them all together into one paragraph. In this case, you can simply put them together in the exact order that you have written the sentences. You can also edit them to make sure that they flow together nicely, if you wish. Just make sure that your full business name is mentioned at least once, preferably in the first sentence. That is exactly what Rhadjena decides to do. Her final paragraph now looks like this: Integrity Tax Solutions, Inc. was founded four years ago by Rhadjena Al-Yousef and her husband, Qais. Rhadjena wanted to create an easy way for telecommunications companies to calculate the taxes on the sale of their buildings to eliminate costly errors at tax time. Because of that mission, Integrity Tax Solutions now provides the highest-quality tax software in the market today, with the least number of processing errors.

A Catchy Title

Integrity Tax Solutions Takes the Guesswork Out of Your Tax Calculations

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Once again, we are ready to dip into your collection of benefit titles, and add one to your paragraph. This will be the last benefit title you will need to use for the Web site. If you don’t like your remaining choices, feel free to write another one. This will complete your About Us page. Rhadjena chooses a title that focuses on her ability to make taxes easier for her customers in the construction business. She also wants to repeat the name of her business. Her About Us page now reads:

Integrity Tax Solutions, Inc. was founded four years ago by Rhadjena Al-Yousef and her husband, Qais. Rhadjena wanted to create an easy way for telecommunications companies to calculate the taxes on their services to eliminate costly errors at tax time. Because of that mission, Integrity Tax Solutions now provides the highest-quality tax software in the market today, with the least number of processing errors.

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You can do the same thing. Add a benefit title, then put it aside. You are now finished with the About Us page, and ready to move on.

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COMBINING฀THE฀ABOUT฀US฀ AND฀CONTACT฀US฀PAGES Another option that you have for simplifying your Web site into fewer pages is to combine the About Us and Contact Us pages. This gives you one less page to manage, especially if you are managing, designing, or hosting your Web site yourself. To do this, simply add all of the information from the Contact Us page to the bottom of the About Us page. Make sure to include your detailed contact information, and a good call-to-action.

THE CONTACT US PAGE The final (and probably most important) page in your Web site is always the Contact Us page. When customers read through your Web site and get excited about your products and services, this page will tell them how to contact you—to ask questions, place an order, or simply get more information. There are two goals that you want to accomplish with your Contact Us page: 1. Get the buyer to take action, using a call-to-action statement 2. Provide the right contact information to reach you

The Call-to-Action Statement

•฀ Place฀an฀order? •฀ Call฀you? •฀ E-mail฀you? •฀ Visit฀your฀retail฀storefront? •฀ Schedule฀an฀appointment?

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Our first goal is to get the buyer to take action. The way to do this is to use a call-to-action. A call-to-action is a statement or command that helps the reader to take the next step in the sale. If you have already worked through the brochure chapter, you will be familiar with this term, because you added a callto-action to the back of your marketing brochure. If you have not completed the brochure chapter, then you will recognize the call-to-action from many late-night commercials, in which the bubbly television personality says, “Call today!” A good call-to-action will create a sense of urgency in potential customers, spurring them to act now. Ideally, if you are selling products, the next action would be to place an order. If you are a service business, it would be to contact you to schedule an initial appointment, survey, review, or analysis—whatever is the next step in your sales process. Take out a fresh piece of paper, or start a new page in your word processing program. You are now ready to create your callto-action. Before you write anything, think for a moment. Imagine that you have a potential customer who happened onto your Web site by accident. Her name is Mary Goodcustomer. Mary has read through all of your other pages—your home page, product or service page, how-it-works page, and About Us page. She is excited about what you do, and she thinks that you offer just the thing that she wants. She clicks over to your Contact Us page, and says out loud, “Wow! I can’t believe I found someone who does this. Wait till I tell my best friend, Ginny Buysalot!” You now have an excited potential customer, who wants to do business with you. Mary is motivated and ready to buy. The question is, what do you want her to do next? Be as specific as possible. Do you want her to:

•฀ Receive฀a฀free฀consultation? •฀ Sign฀up฀for฀your฀newsletter?

Whatever it is that you want Mary to do, jot it down. Be as specific as possible about exactly what action you’d like for her to take. This will form the basis of your call-to-action.

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COMMON฀CALL-TO-ACTION฀ STATEMENTS

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There are several very common call-to-action statements that are recycled over and over in Web sites, advertisements, and brochures. If you are getting stuck trying to write your own, try on one of these for size: • • • • • • • •

Call today to . . . Visit our store . . . Click here to . . . Schedule your first appointment, and receive . . . Send in this coupon to get . . . Order now through . . . Receive a 15% discount today if you . . . Schedule your free consultation . . .

Feel free to tailor one of these common call-to-action statements to fit your own writing style or business needs.

When you are done writing down your call-to-action, edit it to make sure it looks like a command sentence. A call-to-action says very loudly and boldly: “Do this!” Because of that, it usually starts with a command verb. Make sure yours does, too. Rhadjena and Qais at Integrity Tax Solutions decide on the following call-to-action: Click here to order the best tax software in the telecommunications industry.

Note that she adds a nice little plug for the business in there. You may want to do that, too. The bottom line is that she wants interested buyers to go ahead and buy their software directly from the call-to-action page. If you want to, you are also welcome to add a special offer—a discount, a one-time deal, free shipping, or anything else you can dream up. You are not required to do this, but it does help in creating a sense of urgency. For example, Rhadjena would like to offer a free, threehour training session to anyone who purchases at least five licenses of her company’s software during tax season. It would help the customers who buy the software to get up and run with it faster, while reducing their numbers of calls with questions. She thinks it may also help to create some urgency in the buyer. So, Rhadjena writes up a new call-to-action that reads like this: Order five software licenses by April 1, and receive one free three-hour training session at your location. Limit one free training session per company.

The last line is simply a little extra information to limit the special offer. That eliminates the chances of a customer taking advantage of the offer.

The Contact Info

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Writing the call-to-action is only half the battle when you are creating a good, solid Contact Us page. The other half is providing the right contact information. Christopher Cavanaugh attended one of my brochure writing classes, six months after starting his business, Dakota Muffler. He waited shyly after class, then approached me as I was packing up my laptop computer. Chris told me that he wasn’t sure if his Web site was working for him. “I have coupons out there, and everything,” he said. “I’ve featured it in all of my ads, I’ve bought search engine space, the whole nine yards.” “Well, what’s not working with it?” I asked him. “I was hoping you could tell me,” he admitted.

When I got back to my office, I took a quick peek at his Web site. I was surprised that it wasn’t working for him. After all, it had great photos—possibly even professionally done; great coupons; well-written text; and a nice design. It seemed like he had done everything right.

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WHAT฀ABOUT฀A฀MAP?

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If you are a retail business, a rural business, a service business that depends heavily on customers or vendors finding you easily, or even if you are just located in a tricky spot, you may find it worthwhile to include a map with a simple bulleted list of directions to your location from major highways. You can create your own map to the location, and publish it on your Contact Us page, along with directions; or, you can set up a strategic agreement with one of the major map providers on the Internet to include on your Web site. To do this, check out: • www.mapquest.com • maps.yahoo.com • www.anywho.com

But when I went to click onto the Contact Us page, I couldn’t find it. I realized that he had no contact information on his Web site, and customers could not find him. I felt bad, thinking about all of that advertising and search engine money wasted. I called him immediately. “Well, Chris, I think I’ve found your problem,” I said. “What is it?” “You don’t have any contact information on your Web site. You need to add a Contact Us page.” It sounds silly, but I have seen it happen many times: a new entrepreneur, in a rush to get out his or her brochure/ad/ Web site/press release to the public, fails to include what really counts—the contact information.

Make sure that you don’t make the same mistake that Chris did. Add your complete contact information to your Contact Us page. This includes: •฀ Business฀name •฀ Logo •฀ Tag฀line฀(if฀you฀have฀one) •฀ Mailing฀address •฀ Main฀phone฀number •฀ Main฀fax฀number •฀ General฀e-mail฀address •฀ Salesperson฀phone฀number฀(optional) •฀ Salesperson฀e-mail฀address฀(optional) •฀ Link฀for฀ordering฀(if฀you฀are฀retailing฀online)

Believe it or not, that’s it! You have just completed the Contact Us page, which is the final main page of your Web site. Give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done! At this point, you have the option to continue on, and add some of the optional pages to your Web site . . . or just move right along to the next step in the process, which is designing the layout.

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You are not limited to using just these five main content pages for your Web site, of course. There are hundreds of optional pages— and subpages—that you could include for your site. You are welcome to add them now, later, or never. The choice is yours. Included here are short descriptions of the content of some of the most common optional Web site pages that you will run across on the Internet.

TIP!

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If you are planning to use customer quotes and success stories on your Web site, then make sure to get the customers’ permission to use their stories in advance. This will save any nasty surprises popping up later on, when an unwilling customer finds his or her words and business problems on your Web site. Most customers have no problem allowing you to share their success stories—as long as you ask for permission first, and not after the fact!

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A Success Stories Page Success stories are a good way to “sell” your business using the wisdom of other customers. It is sometimes the best method of gently encouraging your customers toward a sale. When I create a success stories page, I like to use no more than three stories on the page, but you can use as few as one, or as many as 100, if you like. A success story typically includes a short description of a tricky problem that you have solved for a customer. It can also include quotes from customers who are praising your service. All you need to create a good success story is roughly one paragraph of about three sentences. You can, of course, make it longer or shorter than that, but using three sentences is a good guideline. The sentences follow this format: 1. Describe the customer’s problem 2. Describe how you solved the problem with your product or service 3. Describe the overall positive benefit or gain for the customer, thanks to your solution

A Testimonials Page A good alternative to the success stories page is the testimonials page. Instead of writing a story about the customers’ experience, you let the customers speak for themselves. You can accomplish

this by asking the customers to provide you with short quotes, commenting on their positive experience in working with your business. A typical testimonial looks like this one, for Elizabeth Duckwall’s business, The Big Cheese: “We really enjoyed doing business with The Big Cheese. Our cheese arrived fresh and on time. You delivered everything we needed. Thank you so much!” —Jane Zimmerman, Director of Human Resources, Beta Testing Corp., Wichita, Kansas

WHAT฀ABOUT฀USING฀THE฀ CUSTOMER’S฀NAME? It is always better if you can use a specific person and company name in your success story or testimonial. I usually ask my customers for permission to include their full name, job title, company name, and even geographic location in a quote or a success story. If the customer does not feel comfortable with this, then offer to use a generalization, such as “a major car dealer in the Fairfax area.”

If you write a lot of press releases or articles for your business, then a press page may be right for you. A press page includes press releases and articles about your industry and business. Let me give you an example. A customer I have worked with in the past does a wonderful job of creating robotics coursework for high-school teachers. For the parents, teachers, and students who log on to his Web site, he offers interesting, up-to-the-minute links to articles he has written about robotics, artificial intelligence, and science. He updates it regularly with juicy tidbits for kids and teachers alike. Teachers check back often to look for new articles that they can use in class—and also

The Web Site

A Press Page

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to preview new lab materials to buy. That’s what I call bringing your customers back to your Web site, over and over again!

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A Career Opportunities Page

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For businesses who hire new staff members regularly, the career opportunities page is a good fit. It allows you to post current job openings, company benefits, skill requirements, and even salary information for prospective employees. It can even give you a direct link to receive candidates’ resumes through e-mail, or on the Web site itself. If you have a high-traffic Web site, and you think that a career opportunities page may help you find some good candidates for your business, then by all means, add one. All you need to include for each job listing is a job title, a short description, and a preferred method of contact. For example, Lurch Medical Transcription Services was constantly looking for experienced medical transcriptionists to help out on a part-time basis during crunch periods. The company posted the following listing on its Web site at least four times a year: Medical Transcriptionist. Growing team needs parttime medical transcriptionist to handle overflow work. Qualified candidate must have a minimum of two years’ experience, proficiency in MS Word software, and ability to type at least 75 wpm. Fluency in Spanish is a plus. Work from home available. Click here to submit a resume. We hope you can join us!

A Portfolio or Sample Page A portfolio or sample page is a must for your business if you do creative work—whether you are an architect, food designer, furniture maker, graphic artist, or writer. This is your chance to show off your work. I cannot tell you how many deals I closed simply because I included writing samples on my Web site during my early years in business with Peters Writing Services, Inc. It helped customers to see my work, to know that it was good, and to get excited about working with me. And, in the case of potential

customers who did not like my writing style, it eliminated a possibly disastrous relationship—before it ever got started. All you need for a good portfolio or sample page is three to five samples of your work in different areas. You can show the whole document, a picture of a project, or a piece of the work itself. A short description of the project is also nice to include. If you do work for other businesses, it is a nice touch to include links directly to the customer’s Web site as well. I have seen this work especially well for people who create Web sites, logos, computer networks, or commercial buildings. Remember that no matter what you choose to include, ask your customers’ permission before including their business names or images on your Web site. It’s an important courtesy that can go a long way toward avoiding a potentially damaging situation with an unhappy customer.

A Newsletter Page

Executive Bio Page

An executive bio page is a short collection of the professional biographies for all the key executives at the company. That may be a single bio for the sole owner of the company, or it could be several bios that include your entire leadership and management staff. I have even seen some Web sites that list short bios for the entire team—right down to customer service reps—which gives a warm and friendly feel to a business.

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Businesses who regularly mail or e-mail a newsletter to their special customers and vendors may want to consider duplicating it on the Web site—especially if the newsletter includes a lot of good articles about current events or industry happenings. The purpose of including it on your site is to demonstrate to your potential customers that you have a good grasp of your market and a wide readership of your newsletter, which always gives your business an added touch of credibility. If you are interested in including this feature on your Web site but don’t yet have a newsletter, see Chapter 13 to learn how to create your very own.

A bio is nothing more than a short paragraph (or series of paragraphs) that summarizes your professional work experience. It typically includes your work experience, business experience, association memberships, academic degrees, and any special achievements that may be important to inspire confidence in a potential customer. It may also include a photograph, although this is not required. If you would like to add an executive bio page to your Web site, but don’t know how to go about writing one, check out Chapter 6 for detailed instructions.

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A company history page is more in-depth than the simple company overview that you wrote for the About Us page. If your company has a long history, or if you have a colorful story about how your business got started, then you might benefit from writing a complete company history page. Customers love to know the “stories” behind their favorite businesses, and every now and then, a particularly interesting story might just tickle one of them enough to call you. (But you definitely don’t ever want to invent a fake story—the invention will be immediately transparent once you start talking to the customer.) A company history page usually includes a few facts about how and where the company got started, and by whom. It may also include an anecdote about why it got started, especially if there was a burning passion or whimsical beginning on the part of the founding entrepreneur. One good paragraph should be enough. You may also want to include a photograph of the founder hard at work, or perhaps of the original building. Of course, you certainly can combine your company history with the About Us page. If you have only one or two short paragraphs to add, there is no reason to create a special page just for the history. Simply tack the new paragraphs onto the end of your company overview, or create a subpage for your story.

DESIGN THE LAYOUT Now that you have written all of the content that you want for your Web site, you are ready for the next step: designing

the layout. (And even if you don’t have all of the content you want just yet, you can design your layout now, and go back later to add more pages, or to tweak the pages you have already created.) Getting the content written is the majority of the work in creating a Web site. Once that is done, designing the layout will be a piece of cake.

FINDING฀GOOD฀WEB฀ DESIGN฀SOFTWARE Some Web design software packages require more design or programming experience than others, and some have different computer system requirements . . . so be careful not to get in over your head! Take a few minutes to research the software you are considering buying, and make sure that it is right for you. Most software is nonreturnable. • • • • • • •

Web Page Designer Gold CuteSITE Builder Microsoft FrontPage Microsoft Office Publisher WINGEAR Web Designer Macromedia Studio MX SiteSpinner V2

Unless you are creating a complicated e-commerce site, or utilizing a variety of complex design schemes, all you need for the design is a basic page layout. This basic page layout will allow you to position the text on all of your pages so that it is easy to read and to navigate. In fact, your Web design software may already have a good page layout included in the basic templates that come with your package. If you are designing your first Web site yourself, your best bet is to stick with only one page layout, using it for all of the content pages you have written—home page, product or service page, About

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Us page, and so on. If you have confidence in your design skills, feel free to get creative and use as many different page layouts as you wish. However, by sticking to one basic page layout, you will decrease the overall amount of time that you need to spend in doing layout, and you will get your Web site up and running faster. A basic Web page layout includes the following elements:

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•฀ Header •฀ Footer •฀ Content฀block •฀ Navigation฀menu

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Let’s start at the beginning—with your header. The Header The header on a Web site should be the same for all pages. It is nothing more than a thin strip or block in the top one or two inches of a Web page, and it usually includes the following information: •฀ Business฀name •฀ Logo •฀ Tag฀line฀(optional)

The header serves the purpose of reminding the customers of where they are at—always. If you include your business contact information, then it serves the double purpose of allowing customers to contact you immediately, from any page on your Web site. This is especially positive if you have an excited and motivated buyer who wants to work with you now. The header should stay the same from page to page. You are welcome to experiment with different colors and graphics in your header to see what works best. You may wish to repeat color themes from other marketing materials in your toolkit. Note that in recent years, it has also become a Web page standard to include a direct link back to the home page in the header. If you would like to do this, simply add a navigation link to your logo image in the header that returns the user to the home page. When your potential customers want to go back to

the home page from any place on your Web site, all they need to do is to click the logo. The Footer The footer is the small strip of text that is found at the bottom of every Web page. Ideally, you will want to make the footer the same on every page of your Web site. The footer usually includes a copyright statement (with a date) and contact information (unless you have already included that in the header). You may want to add some color and design to it, or you may not. Many times, the footer is simply straight black text on a white background. For example: ©2006 Peters Writing Services, Inc. Call us today at (913) 485-4537.

That’s it for the footer. It’s that simple. The trick is to make sure that you leave enough space between the header and the footer to insert your content block.

WARNING! Do not make the font size too small, fancy, or difficult to read. And do not try to squeeze your information into a smaller space by using a smaller font. Stick with at least a 12-point font.

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Content Block The content block is the big square in the middle of the page that holds all of your content. This is where you will put the chunks of information that you wrote for the home page, product or service page, About Us page, how-it-works page, and Contact Us page. When you are designing your Web site, make sure that you leave enough space in the middle of the page to insert your content comfortably. It should be easy to read, not crowded into a tiny little space. And using a common, easy-to-read font helps too—such as Arial or Times New Roman 12 point.

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Once you have designed your Web page template, you can go back and add the wonderful content that you wrote for each of your pages earlier in this chapter. Before you do that, though, read on to learn about adding a navigation menu.

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Navigation Menu The last—but perhaps most important—piece to add to your Web page layout is your navigation menu. This is the strip of buttons or links that allow a user to move around the Web site with the click of a mouse. Ideally, it will look the same on every page. You have two main options for designing your navigation menu: horizontal or vertical. If you spend a few minutes cruising through the Internet, you will find that most professionally designed Web sites fall into one of these two categories. Some even use both. A horizontal navigation menu is nothing more than a single strip of links, running across the top of the content block, just below the page header. It gives you the maximum space available for your content block, because of its size and location. The vertical navigation menu has gained popularity in recent years. This is a list of links, in bullet form, that runs down a column on the left side of the page. While this gives you less space for your content block, you may prefer the visual effect. If you have written the basic five-page Web site that we discussed earlier in this chapter, your menu will include the following links: •฀ Home •฀ Products฀(or฀Services) •฀ How฀It฀Works •฀ About฀Us •฀ Contact฀Us

. . . plus the links for any of the other optional pages you have created, such as success stories, newsletter, and portfolio. I prefer to capitalize the titles of links, but you are not required to do that. The more casual, uncapitalized version of each page name will work just fine, too.

Next, you will need to set up functional links to each of these menu pages with your software. You will also need to set up links for any subpages that you have created within your text. It is a good idea to test each of these links from every page before and after you publish your site (more on publishing your site later). Better yet, ask a trusted friend or colleague to test the links for you. A fresh approach may uncover any navigation problems for you. No matter which style of navigation menu you choose, remember to make it look exactly the same on every single page that you include in your Web site. This will make it much simpler for your users to find the information they need, and for you to update your own site later.

PUBLISH YOUR SITE Congratulations! Now that you have created all of the content for your Web site, and have designed your Web template, you are ready to move to the next step: publishing your site. To do this, you need to find a Web hosting service to run your Web site for you, and then publish your site “live” to its hosting service.

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Out of all the many things that you can easily do on your own to create your marketing toolkit, hosting your own Web site is not one of them. Unless you are a highly technical, very experienced entrepreneur with an extensive background in setting up networks and hosting Web sites, you should take the much easier route of hiring a Web host service. A Web host can offer many different services for your business. The main one is hosting your Web site from its computer. This makes your Web site available for anyone to access on the World Wide Web 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Some Web hosts offer other services, including e-mail hosting, domain name registration, and, of course, Web site design. Most Web hosting services charge by a monthly fee. Some have long-term contracts. A few will include their other services in the monthly fee. Just be aware of what you are getting before you buy.

FINDING฀THE฀฀ RIGHT฀WEB฀HOST

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There are many good Web hosts and ISPs (Internet service providers) in the market today. To find a local company, check out your local phone book, or ask for a referral from colleagues who are already running their own Web sites. Some of the more popular national services include:

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• • • • • •

www.webcom.com http://geocities.yahoo.com www.easyspace.com www.ipowerweb.com www.serve.com www.hostrocket.com

Publishing Your Site Publishing your Web site is actually a lot easier than it sounds. Once you have hired a professional Web hosting firm, your virtual “space” on the Web is active and ready to accept the content and images for your Web site. All you need to do now is send it there. Most Web design software packages include a “publish” function. Yours may even have a tutorial or a wizard for doing this, which will ask you for some specific information about where your Web site is located. Either way, your specific software should easily walk you through the steps of publishing your site. Once you have published your Web site, you are finally and truly finished. Hooray! You are now the proud owner of a brand new Web site, a very important piece of your marketing toolkit.

CHAPTER 13

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THE NEWSLETTER

What better way to educate your customers about new products and services than with an easy-to-read newsletter? A newsletter is a casual, low-pressure way to remind your customers that you are in business, and that you have solutions that can help them. It is also a great way to educate them about changes in the industry that may affect their daily lives, such as new products, new prices, and new regulations. A regular newsletter may even lead to a new sale if it is a repeated and regular communication. When a customer reads the newsletter, he or she may say, “Gosh . . . I forgot all about their landscaping services. I need to hold onto this for when we replace that awful rose garden.” The key here is that it’s a regular communication. But “regular” communication does not have to mean “constant” communication. Regular can mean monthly, quarterly, or even annually. However, the frequency is not quite as important as the content. One of my favorite newsletters comes from my accountant once a year, and my husband and I look forward to reading her funny tidbits about changes to the accounting and taxation regulations. You wouldn’t think that taxes could be

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fun—but she makes them seem that way! The best newsletters are usually short, entertaining, and chock-full of short articles about the common problems in the life of the customer (especially as they relate to your product or service), good advice, and intimate details about the business. This gives customers a feeling of being a VIP. Seeing my accountant’s newsletter reminds me, “Oh yes, I need to call her.” Your newsletter can be as simple as one page in black and white, printed on white paper, or as complicated as a twelvepage, glossy, staple-bound magazine spread. It is easier (and less expensive) to start with something simple. If your newsletter works to bring you new business, you can always make it fancier later. In this chapter, we are going to create a basic one-page, single-sided newsletter that you can develop or expand in any way that you see fit. You will be amazed at how easy it is to create your very own newsletter and to mail it to all of your existing—and new—customers.

MAILING฀YOUR฀ NEWSLETTER You can mail your newsletter in an envelope, just like any other piece of mail. Or, you can fold it in thirds, seal it shut with stickers or tape, address one side of it just like a #10 envelope, add a stamp, and mail it as-is (this is called a self-mailer). However, if you plan to do mass mailings of your newsletter, take a few minutes up-front to talk with your local post office about the best way to do this. The postmaster can give you guidelines that can save you money and prevent headaches in the long run. You can also get helpful information for small business owners at www.usps.com/business.

The process for creating your newsletter is easy: 1. Write it 2. Design the layout 3. Print it

As in all of the chapters in this book, you are welcome to borrow content that you have created in other chapters. Press releases lend themselves particularly well to being recycled in a newsletter.

WRITE THE CONTENT How much content should you include in your one-page, singlesided newsletter? A good guideline is that two to four articles (depending on their length) of approximately 100 words each should work just fine. This works out to between 200 and 500 words of content. Don’t forget—you’ll also need to leave room for your header and footer on each page, plus any photos that you want to add later, when you design the layout.

Choose the Right Topic for the Article The most important thing to do in creating a newsletter that people will actually read is to set the right tone and find the right topics for your readers. There are many approaches that you can take to set the tone of your newsletter content; it can be personal, silly, business-savvy, informational, product-focused, scientific, or just downright fun. When choosing a good topic for your first article, think about your ideal customers, and what happens in their daily lives:

The better you understand the daily worries and stresses of your ideal customers, the better you can target your articles. People will pick up and read your newsletter if it applies to their lives. And to apply to their lives, it has to discuss topics that are meaningful to them. Remember, the goal here is to remind people of your services by providing them with interesting

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•฀ What฀would฀they฀like฀to฀read฀about? •฀ What฀would฀they฀like฀to฀learn฀about? •฀ What฀problems฀do฀they฀encounter฀in฀their฀daily฀lives? •฀ What฀ problems฀ do฀ you฀ solve฀ for฀ them฀ with฀ your฀ products฀ or฀ services? •฀ What฀things฀interest฀them?

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information that they will enjoy reading—not just a “hard sell” pitch for products. One of the biggest mistakes new business owners make when they create a newsletter is to make it all about their own business. They write about new staff members, new products, new projects completed, and new office facilities. But they forget to write about things that will interest the customer. When the customer picks up your newsletter, he or she only wants to know, “What’s in it for me?” While there is nothing wrong with including articles about your company and your products—after all, that is the point of creating a marketing piece like a newsletter—you want to make sure to sprinkle in enough content that addresses the needs of the customers. My accountant’s newsletter is all about me—my needs at tax time, new regulations that affect me, ways to save money for my business. That’s why it is so effective. So remember, be sure to add plenty of information that is interesting to your customer. Then, anything else that you add—about yourself, your business, or your products and services—will be gobbled right up along with it. Some good topics for newsletter articles: •฀ New฀trends฀in฀the฀industry •฀ New฀laws฀or฀regulations฀affecting฀the฀customer •฀ Ideas฀for฀saving฀money •฀ Suggestions฀for฀solving฀a฀common฀problem •฀ Ways฀to฀save฀time •฀ Weird฀or฀wacky฀news฀bits฀about฀your฀industry •฀ Personal฀information฀about฀you,฀your฀family,฀or฀your฀staff •฀ Recent฀projects฀you฀have฀completed •฀ Problems฀you฀have฀solved฀for฀other฀customers •฀ New฀products฀or฀service฀offerings฀available

You are certainly not limited to these topics. Use your imagination. Check out other newsletters, and see if they use an approach that you like. If so, borrow it—but don’t plagiarize!

For your first step, take out a clean sheet of paper, or open a new document in your word processing program. You are ready to begin writing. You should first jot down a list of a few potential topics that you could use for the first article in your newsletter. Try to come up with at least three. They do not need to be complete sentences at this point; just write down ideas. When you are done, circle the topic that would be most appealing to your target customer audience. Once you have chosen a topic, you are ready to turn that idea into your first article.

Begin with a Title

A. J. Crawford Discovers Hurston in Houston

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You will begin your article with a title, which is essentially just your topic, rewritten into a complete sentence. Your title can be as short as three words, or as long as fifteen words—but probably no more than that. So take a moment, and rewrite your topic idea into a complete sentence of up to fifteen words. Think carefully about your topic. What makes it exciting for your ideal customer? Herbert Goldstein has been the owner of Aquarius Antique Books for more than twenty years. Two part-time assistants help him to operate his small rare-book store, which specializes in first-edition books. Over the years, he has developed quite a clientele of long-distance book collectors and antiques dealers who regularly mail him requests to find “special” books. To keep in touch with them, and to keep his name in the front of their minds, he has decided to publish a quarterly newsletter. Herbert knows what his customers are passionate about— exciting new rare-book discoveries—so he has decided that in every issue of his newsletter, he will feature the story of at least one amazing book find, submitted from one of his actual customers. This will also give him a chance to build rapport with his customers by featuring their names and photos. One of Herbert’s customers, A. J. Crawford, discovered an interesting book by Zora Neale Hurston, a popular AfricanAmerican writer whose work was published in the 1940s. Based on this topic, Herbert writes his title this way:

Once you have your title, you are ready to write the content for your article.

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For this article, all you need is 50 to 200 words. It does not need to be long to be exciting. In fact, the opposite is often true: the shorter the article, the better reading it makes. And throwing in a photograph, cartoon, or picture of some kind also helps to attract attention. People love to look at pictures. At a minimum, all you need is two paragraphs to complete your article. If you have already written a press release, these paragraphs will look very similar. Your article should include: 1. Introductory paragraph—with an overview of the whole topic. 2. Detail paragraph(s)—with the juicy details on your topic.

The Introductory Paragraph Regardless of how long you decide to make your article, your first paragraph must tell the whole story about your topic. This will turn out to be one long sentence that includes the who, what, where, when, and why of your topic. So, in effect, your first paragraph will only be one sentence. Herbert decides to use the following opening sentence for his first paragraph. Notice that in his lead sentence, we learn the who, what, where, when, and why of Herbert’s topic: On June 29, while preparing his mother’s basement for an estate sale after she moved to a nursing home, retired Houston police officer A. J. Crawford discovered an old, signed copy of a Zora Neale Hurston book in the secret, inside pocket of an apron.

Although this is a long sentence, it does a great job of whetting our appetite for more information. That’s exactly what you’ll want to do with your lead paragraph.

Now, it’s your turn. Write your own introductory paragraph, with one complete sentence that explains the who, what, where, when, and why. It doesn’t have to be as long as Herbert’s, but it should clearly explain the topic. The Detail Paragraph(s) Next, you can add your details about the topic. It is a good idea to include one detail per sentence, and include two or three sentences per paragraph. You should add a minimum of one additional paragraph, but you can ultimately add as many detail paragraphs as you wish (although you probably should not use more than five or six paragraphs for a newsletter article). So, begin writing again. This time, brainstorm a list of facts about your topic that might be interesting to the reader. When you are done, turn those facts into complete sentences. Stick with the rule of using only one fact per sentence. This makes your writing much more clear and readable. When you have your sentences ready, you can pull them together into paragraphs. String two or three sentences together to make each paragraph. If you only have enough facts for one paragraph, that is fine. Your article will then be a title, your opening line, and one detail paragraph. But if you have more than one paragraph, separate them out with spaces in between. In this case, Herbert adds the following detail paragraph to his article:

Herbert has a few more details that he would like to add to his article. He wants to tell his readers about A. J. Crawford, and how the book got to his store in the first place. Crawford brought the book to Aquarius Antique Books on Tuesday, admitting that he had no idea why his mother had it, or why she had kept it for so long. “My

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The book was Dust Tracks on a Road, by Zora Neale Hurston, an almost mint-condition copy of a first edition. The cotton apron where the book had been hiding for almost 60 years had helped to preserve the book. Crawford was delighted to discover that the book was signed by the author on the title page.

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mother loved to read, but this book was clearly kept in the apron for a reason,” says Crawford. “I didn’t know that she had ever read Hurston, and all of the children want to know more about why it was hidden.” To view the first edition, signed copy of Dust Tracks on a Road, stop by Aquarius Antique Books any day Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., or visit our Web site at www .aquariusantiquebooks.com.

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Taken all together, Herbert’s article came out very well. The whole article—including title—totals approximately 200 words. When we leave some spacing between paragraphs and title, it now looks like this: A. J. Crawford Discovers Hurston in Houston On June 29, while preparing his mother’s basement for an estate sale after she moved to a nursing home, retired Houston police officer A. J. Crawford discovered an old, signed copy of a Zora Neale Hurston book in the secret, inside pocket of an apron. The book was Dust Tracks on a Road, by Zora Neale Hurston, an almost mint-condition copy of a first edition. The cotton apron where the book had been hiding for almost 60 years had helped to preserve the book. Crawford was delighted to discover that the book was signed by the author on the title page. Crawford brought the book to Aquarius Antique Books on Tuesday, admitting that he had no idea why his mother had it, or why she had kept it for so long. “My mother loved to read, but this book was clearly kept in the apron for a reason,” says Crawford. “I didn’t know that she had ever read Hurston, and all of the children want to know more about why it was hidden.” To view the first edition, signed copy of Dust Tracks on a Road, stop by Aquarius Antique Books any day Monday through

Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., or visit our Web site at www .aquariusantiquebooks.com.

Now Add Two More Articles When you have finished writing your first article, give yourself a pat on the back. You did it! And you are ready to move on to your next one. For your very first, one-page, one-sided newsletter, try writing three complete articles. Don’t worry if they are not long. Even if they only come out to be 50 or 100 words, they will all fit easily—along with a few graphics—into your very first newsletter. And that is something to be proud of! So start again by choosing two new topics. When you have chosen those, create titles and write the content for each. Try to limit yourself to 250 words per article. Remember, shorter is better, in the case of newsletters. When you are done, you are ready to begin the graphic design of your newsletter.

DESIGN THE LAYOUT

•฀ Header—with฀your฀newsletter฀title฀and฀date฀of฀the฀issue •฀ Body—with฀all฀articles,฀photos,฀and฀images •฀ Footer—with฀all฀of฀your฀business฀contact฀information

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Designing the layout for your newsletter should not be complicated. While it may take a little bit of your time to experiment with the different blocks of text, most people find that they can do it by using a personal computer and one of the new software design packages available. Some of these software packages even have templates that let you plug in your text and titles, and . . . Poof! You get an instantly designed newsletter. Even if you don’t have your own computer, many libraries and community colleges now have computers and design software available for public use. Your final newsletter should include the following design elements:

What should you use for a newsletter title? Anything that works for you, that sounds jazzy, and that reflects the personality of your business. At a minimum, you can use something as simple as the “[Business Name] News.” Herbert did just that, and wound up with “Aquarius Antique Book News.” Or, you can make it snappy. The decision is up to you. When you do finalize your title, you will want to put the letters in a very large font size, to make it stand out from the rest of the content.

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Some popular software that lets you design your own newsletters: • Microsoft Office Publisher • Microsoft Word (many other templates are available online at the Microsoft Office Web site, http://office.microsoft.com) • Adobe Illustrator • Adobe Photoshop • Corel Photo-Paint • Jasc Paint Shop Pro

You will also need to leave space at the bottom—at least one inch—for a footer. This footer will include all of your contact information, including your logo. Don’t leave this out! A newsletter is useless if it gets customers excited about your news and articles but does not include a way for them to reach you. And remember, a good newsletter may get passed around to other people. Make sure that yours includes your complete contact information, including: •฀ Business฀name •฀ Unique฀logo •฀ Tag฀line •฀ Telephone฀number •฀ Fax฀number •฀ Mailing฀address/physical฀address

•฀ E-mail฀address •฀ Web฀site฀address

PRINT THE NEWSLETTER When you finish creating the content and design of your newsletter, you are ready to print it. All you need to print it is a good black-and-white printer and some 8.5" × 11" white (or colored) paper. You can simply use standard white photocopy paper, or you can choose something fancier, if you wish. Glossy, matte, or card stock will work equally well, although these paper styles will vary considerably in price. Your office supply store

185 The Newsletter

After you complete the header and footer, your main goal is to make the rest of the content attractive and easy to read. With a newsletter, a simple black-and-white layout should work just fine. You can even use black lettering, and print it on colorful paper, for a little more visual appeal. Or you can get fancy, and use a bright four-color design, if you wish. Your newsletter will also benefit from adding photographs and images. It’s an extra bonus if you can add some pictures of your customers, completed projects, or exciting new products. Pictures give the newsletter added visual interest and draw readers into the content more fully. These can even be pictures that you take yourself, with a digital or regular camera. Or, they could be cartoons that an artistic friend draws up for you. For a one-sided, one-page brochure, try to add at least one photo but no more than two or three, max. In general, you should use three sizes of fonts for your newsletter. Your largest font will be used in the header, for the newsletter title. Your next largest font will be used for your article titles, and for your contact information in the footer. And finally, your content should be in a basic 12-point font. The rest of the design—article placement, use of columns, and spacing—is up to you. Be as creative as you want in laying out the blocks of articles (and any photos) that you have generated. Just make sure that it is easy to read!

should carry a good variety of quality paper that will work quite well for a newsletter. When you have found the right paper, you can print directly from your printer. When you are finished, simply fold into thirds, like a brochure or letter, and slip it into an envelope addressed and stamped for your customer.

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After you have published your newsletter, and mailed it out to all of your customers, get some feedback. Solicit your customers, colleagues, and friends about what they liked and didn’t like in your newsletter. Ask them: •฀ What฀did฀you฀enjoy฀reading? •฀ Did฀any฀of฀the฀articles฀get฀you฀excited฀about฀our฀products? •฀ What฀worked฀well฀in฀the฀design? •฀ What฀didn’t฀work฀so฀well?

After publishing your newsletter three or four times, you will have a good picture of what to include—and what not to include—in your next issue. You will also get a good idea of whether or not this is a marketing piece that you will continue to enjoy creating.

WHERE ELSE CAN YOU USE THIS CONTENT? Once you have written these great articles, don’t limit yourself to using them only in your newsletter. Maximize the return on your time investment by utilizing them in a variety of marketing materials within your toolkit. For example, newsletter articles sometimes make great press releases that can win you some publicity. All you need to do is “beef up” the content with some additional details about the topic, put it into the right format for submission to editors, and—voilà!—instant press release. It’s a great way to get the most bang for your buck, in terms of time spent.

Newsletter articles also work well when reprinted on a Web site. Many businesses today include whole articles from their newsletters on their Web sites. Or, they offer customers a preview of the entire newsletter on a separate page of the Web site. This serves the dual purpose of giving your business additional credibility with potential customers, while at the same time educating them about their purchasing decisions. Finally, don’t forget that you can use some of the details, titles, and ideas that you come up with from your newsletter for new postcards or brochures. Don’t be afraid to experiment with “recycling” the items you have created for your marketing toolkit!

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CHAPTER 14



WHEN TO HIRE A PROFESSIONAL

As a business owner, you know that one of your most precious resources is time. If your daily schedule is hectic, you may decide that creating your own marketing toolkit is not the best use of your time, and that you are better off spending your time selling your products or services. You also may discover that you simply don’t enjoy fiddling around with software design programs. That’s okay. In that case, your time and money might be better spent in working with a professional. When should you hire a marketing professional to help you with your toolkit? It is better to hire a professional service to create your marketing materials if you: •฀ Don’t฀have฀time฀to฀do฀it฀yourself •฀ Don’t฀ feel฀ comfortable฀ purchasing฀ or฀ working฀ with฀ computers,฀ graphic฀software,฀or฀home฀printers •฀ Don’t฀feel฀you฀have฀enough฀skill฀to฀do฀it฀well฀enough฀yourself •฀ Want฀a฀professional,฀clean,฀high-quality฀image฀the฀first฀time฀around,฀ without฀investing฀a฀lot฀of฀time฀in฀the฀process฀of฀experimentation

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If any of these is the case for you, consider hiring a professional marketing firm, writer, printer, Web designer, or graphic designer to help you assemble the tools that you need to market your business or organization. Some people prefer to hire a larger marketing firm that can perform all of these services; however, if one is not available, or if a larger marketing firm is too expensive for your budget, you may wish to hire several different services, each one to perform their own specialty— such as a printer and a graphic designer for the brochure, but a Web designer for the Web site. A professional service will cost more money up-front. However, you may find that it is more than worthwhile in terms of saving time and preventing frustration— and there is no bigger killer of creativity than frustration!

WORKING WITH A MARKETING PROFESSIONAL There are a few key marketing professionals who can help assemble your marketing toolkit: •฀ marketing฀firm •฀ ad฀agency •฀ writer •฀ printer •฀ Web฀designer •฀ graphic฀designer •฀ communications฀firm •฀ public฀relations฀firm

One very important thing to keep in mind about working with a marketing professional is that spending a lot of money does not guarantee that your marketing tools will work. Trust me, no matter what the salesperson tells you, an expensive ad or brochure does not guarantee success. I have seen many businesses invest a small fortune in high-priced advertising that did not work, because it did not convey the right message or did not target the right audience. However, a good marketing professional can save you time, effort, and heartache in the

191 When to Hire a Professional

long run by creating a high-quality marketing piece for you, and then getting it in front of the right customers. In fact, many professionals will write, design, print, and distribute your literature for you—all as part of a package deal. Expect to spend some time up-front working with marketing professionals to share your overall vision. They may ask you a number of questions, discuss pros and cons, and brainstorm ideas with you. They should also be able to show you portfolios of their past work, unless you are a company’s first customer (in which case that person or agency should explain this to you and price their marketing services accordingly). Do not be shy about asking for the price. It is okay to ask for an estimate before the work begins. Be aware that you may need to describe clearly what you are looking for before any professional can provide you with a good estimate. Professional agencies and freelancers usually charge in one of two ways: as an hourly rate, or as a flat fee. Some professionals may ask you to pay for a portion of the work up-front, which is normal. As in any situation in which you are hiring a professional service for your business, be sure to ask plenty of questions, and understand what you will be receiving, before spending any money. Many marketing professionals now work on a contractual basis. If you are asked to sign a working agreement or contract, be sure that the agreement accurately reflects the agreed-upon price. Once you have signed all the paperwork, the professionals are ready to begin work. Most likely, they will spend a few days or weeks writing, designing, and/or printing your marketing materials for you. It usually depends on their workload. When they are finished, they should submit it to you for review. At that time, you should get a chance to make any corrections to the materials before they are printed, delivered, or published. How can you find marketing professionals? Although they are plentiful, good ones are not always easy to find. I recommend looking in your local phone book, asking your Small Business Development Center (SBDC), checking with your professional association, or visiting your local chamber of commerce. Better yet, get a referral from a friend who has recently had some marketing materials created. Ask him or her about the experience: Did the

marketing professional deliver on time? Was the workmanship high quality? Look for a company or person that is professional, delivers prompt service, honors their deadlines, and spends time with customers, asking about their preferences. For example, a good professional printer will spend time talking with you about paper choices, showing you your options, and explaining what each one costs. That is the level of service that you should expect from any marketing professional.

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What About an Internet Service?

192

Believe it or not, there are also a few Internet design services that offer marketing, writing, design, and printing services. This means that they will write, design, and print your marketing materials for you, often at a discounted rate. The downside, of course, is that you may not get to meet directly with a “live” person; rather, you may work through e-mail or phone, or entirely over the Internet. Some popular Web sites that you might check out for your marketing toolkit: •฀ www.1800mylogo.com •฀ www.ez-logo.com •฀ www.logodesign.com •฀ www.execulogo.com •฀ www.logoworks.com •฀ www.logo-dog.com •฀ www.logobee.com •฀ www.thelogofactory.com •฀ www.designyourowncard.com •฀ www.professorprint.com •฀ www.business-cards.com •฀ www.latenightprinters.com •฀ www.iprint.com •฀ www.printingforless.com

Be aware that these sites are still relatively new to the industry, and are still working out how to price their products and service their customers. For example, you may find an

inexpensive letterhead design on a Web site, only to realize that you must also purchase the logo design to get the advertised deal. This is not a problem if you need both, but if you have already completed the design of your logo and business card, this option is not right for you. As with any professional, understand exactly what you will pay for and what you will receive when you buy.

The Bottom Line You don’t have to commit one way or the other to hiring a marketing professional right now. Interview one or two of them, and learn about their pricing and style of work. Visit the Internet and gather some additional information. If you haven’t done so already, read all of this book to find out what’s involved in creating your own marketing toolkit. You just may decide that you can create your toolkit yourself. Wait to make your final decision until after you know more about available services and your own skills. You can even try creating a piece, and if you are not satisfied, take it to a professional for repair. The bottom line is that the choice is yours. You are the boss . . . and it’s your toolkit!

193 When to Hire a Professional

SAMPLES

 195

The following section includes some of the many samples of excellent marketing pieces that I’ve collected from small business owners with whom I’ve worked over the years. You will see that some of them are fancy, and some of them are simple; some use the guidelines suggested in this book, and some deviate from those guidelines in very creative ways. But all of them are great examples of outstanding tools from someone else’s toolkit that you can review, think about, and use to generate ideas for yourself.

LOGOS

Logo for Credentialing Experts, Inc., designed by Karla Snider

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

Courtesy฀of฀Diane฀ Lindsay฀and฀Karla฀ Snider฀Design

196 Logo for The Massage Professionals, Inc., designed by Karla Snider Courtesy฀of฀Dale฀ Wheeler฀and฀Karla฀ Snider฀Design

Logo for W.A. Noll & Associates, Inc., designed by Karla Snider Courtesy฀of฀Andy฀ Noll฀and฀Karla฀ Snider฀Design

197

Courtesy฀of฀Keith฀ Province฀and฀Karla฀ Snider฀Design

Samples

Logo for Field Solutions Group, designed by Karla Snider

Logo for Hurley & Associates, Inc., designed by Karla Snider

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

Courtesy฀of฀Amy฀ Hurley฀and฀Karla฀ Snider฀Design

198

LETTERHEAD AND BUSINESS CARDS

Letterhead for Benefit Trust Company, designed by Michelle Stevens Courtesy฀of฀Brenda฀ Lancaster,฀Brad฀ Scafe,฀Michelle฀ Stevens,฀and฀Peters฀ Writing฀Services,฀ Inc.

Business card for The Massage Professionals, Inc., designed by Karla Snider Courtesy฀of฀Dale฀ Wheeler฀and฀Karla฀ Snider฀Design

Letterhead for The Massage Professionals, Inc., designed by Karla Snider Courtesy฀of฀Dale฀ Wheeler฀and฀Karla฀ Snider฀Design

199

Courtesy฀of฀Dale฀ Wheeler฀and฀Karla฀ Snider฀Design

Samples

Matching envelope for The Massage Professionals, Inc., designed by Karla Snider

BIOS Lisa Weeks—Technical Writer

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

Lisa Weeks is a technical writer and curriculum designer with 18 years’ experience in a variety of industries. Working with office, manufacturing, and retail clients, she translates technical material for nontechnical personnel, communicating clear and consistent specifications.

200

Ms. Weeks has created technical documentation for a wide variety of clients, including EDS, Sprint, Sabre, Paris Bros., QC Holdings, and R. R. Donnelley & Sons. As a Project Manager at Communicolor and R. R. Donnelley & Sons, she created and delivered training focusing on quality improvement processes, safety, and customer service. Her experience in a variety of industries allows her to design custom quality improvement and safety manuals for small businesses. Ms. Weeks creates such technical documentation as operational procedures, process flows, work instructions, job aids, employee handbooks, user guides, system help files, quality improvement manuals, safety manuals, and government proposals. In addition, she has delivered training to both large and small groups. She can interview a subject matter expert and organize material on paper in a very short timeframe. Ms. Weeks has developed hands-on training curriculum for a traditional classroom, resulting in reduced instruction time and budgets. As she has studied the Langevin method of curriculum design, she is able to focus on the interactive approach between teacher and student. She also performs training needs assessment and evaluation, as well as train-the-trainer training. Ms. Weeks has been a member of the Kansas City chapter of International Society for Performance Improvement since 2001, where she served as newsletter editor for 2 years. In addition, she works as a volunteer naturalist and education facilitator at TimberRidge Adventure Center and Ernie Miller Nature Park.

Bio for Lisa Weeks, written by Lisa Weeks and Paula Peters Courtesy฀of฀Lisa฀ Weeks,฀Paula฀Peters,฀ and฀Peters฀Writing฀ Services,฀Inc.

INTRODUCTORY LETTERS Contingency Now 8923 West 132nd Place Overland Park, KS 66213 www.contingencynow.com (913) 484-5317

Introductory letter for Contingency Now, written by James Myers and Paula Peters

August 23, 2005

Courtesy฀of฀James฀ Myers฀and฀Peters฀ Writing฀Services,฀Inc.

Ms. Jessica Jefferson Super Health Solutions 1157 Decatur St., Suite 2002-B Williamstown, MA 01267 Dear Ms. Jefferson, Did you know that the #1 disaster cost to business is power and technology failure? Think about your data. Lab work, patient files, clinical research, financial records—all lost, in the blink of an eye. It could be a lightning storm, a downed power line, or a technology failure. 94% of businesses who experience catastrophic data loss do not survive. HIPAA now requires all covered entities to have a business contingency plan (with Security Rule 164.308). Protect your business data and meet HIPAA regulations with a business contingency plan that you keep at your office.

Please help us to learn how local companies are preparing for HIPAA Security Rule 164.308 by sending us back the attached survey. Thank you, James M. Myers President & CEO P.S. The #1 disaster cost to businesses is power failure. What will you do?

201 Samples

Contingency Now creates custom business contingency plans that protect your data and keep your business running through fire, power outage, or technical failure.

POSTCARDS Front and back of postcard for ER Marketing, written and designed by ER Marketing

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

Courtesy฀of฀Renae฀ Gonner฀and฀Elton฀ Mayfield

202

Front and back of postcard for ER Marketing, written and designed by ER Marketing Courtesy฀of฀Renae฀ Gonner฀and฀Elton฀ Mayfield

203 Samples

PRESS RELEASES Contact: Karen Becker The Purple Gate Booth #1-8-D-33 (913) 897-0364 [email protected] Press Release

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The Purple Gate Brings the Outdoors In— with Functional Art

204

Overland Park, Kansas, January 8, 2004—The ancient art of coiling pine needle baskets has been revived and reintroduced to the United States for the first time in centuries by Kansas-based importer, The Purple Gate. The baskets are hand-crafted by families in a remote, mountaintop village in Southern Mexico. “These baskets are nothing like anything you can buy in a store today,” says Karen Becker, owner of The Purple Gate. “These are truly a one-of-a-kind item, using an ancient coiling process to weave pine needles into functional art.” To make the pine needle baskets, napkin rings, and bowls, family members from the village— including children, parents, and grandchildren— start by gathering the fallen, dry needles from the forest floor. The collected needles are then cleaned, washed, and boiled, to make them soft and pliable. Family members wrap thread around the pine needle bundles to create a coil, and wind the basket around itself, working from the center outward. Many of the baskets are trimmed in nickel, for added durability and appeal. Each family creates about two baskets per day. Children, parents, and grandparents contribute equally. “Nickel is a wonderful finisher, because it doesn’t tarnish,” says Becker. “It always looks new, and it’s easy to clean with a drop of Soft Scrub. It really adds elegance to the baskets.” Pine needle baskets, made with this coiling process, are rare in the United States. The closest “living” relative to these baskets is the “Sweetgrass basket” produced by the local artisans of Charleston, South Carolina, which typically retail for several thousand dollars.

For Release 9 a.m. CST, January 8, 2005 more

Press Release for The Purple Gate, written by Paula Peters Courtesy฀of฀Karen฀ Becker฀and฀Peters฀ Writing฀Services,฀ Inc.

############### VIEW THE COMPLETE COLLECTION AT BOOTH 1-8D-33

For Release 9 a.m. CST, January 8, 2005 End

Press Release for The Purple Gate, written by Paula Peters Courtesy฀of฀Karen฀ Becker฀and฀Peters฀ Writing฀Services,฀ Inc.

205 Samples

The Purple Gate plans to price their coiled pine needle baskets to be affordable to the average American household. For 2005, they plan to retail the complete line of baskets, napkin rings, hotplates, and caddies at prices ranging from between $32 to $125. Beginning January 1, the baskets will only be available for purchase through a limited number of specialty retail stores. Customers who have purchased the pine needle baskets find them both artistic and functional. Becker says that her buyers have used the baskets for such diverse purposes as decorating bookshelves, holding remote controls, organizing fruits and vegetables, and acting as a “catch-all” for keys, coins, and wallets in the kitchen. “These baskets are out of this world,” says Paula Peters, from Olathe, Kansas. “You can put just about anything in them. They are gorgeous, and they look beautiful. And they are so affordable, it’s amazing.” The pine needle baskets are a part of The Purple Gate’s mission to offer unique and original artwork that is affordable to the general public. Becker says that all of the pieces she sells are not only handcrafted pieces of art but are also fully functional in the home. In addition to the coiled pine needle baskets, she also sells Huichol beaded eggs, Haitian drum art, nature crayons, and real lamb’s fur heirloom animals. The Purple Gate works with a limited number of featured artists each year. “The Purple Gate is about bringing art to the everyday person,” says Becker. “It’s about surrounding yourself with unique and wonderful things that make you smile, every time you look at them.” To view the baskets, or for a complete listing of stores where they can be found, visit www.thepurplegate.com.

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

BROCHURES

206

Brochure for Home Appétit, written and designed by Scott Schwieterman Design. Courtesy฀of฀Ben฀Griswold฀and฀Scott฀Schwieterman฀Designº

WEB SITE PAGES

207 Samples

Web site pages for www.schedulebook.com designed by Tracie Jibbens. Courtesy฀of฀Kevin฀O’Leary,฀Schedulebook,฀and฀StudioImagen

ADS

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The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

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208

Ad for Operating Sooner, Inc., written by Paula Peters, designed by Karen Hartley Courtesy฀of฀Becky฀ Rawls-Riley,฀Hartley฀ Design,฀and฀Peters฀ Writing฀Services,฀ Inc.

NEWSLETTERS Newsletter for Debbie Leonard, CPA, written by Debbie Leonard, edited and designed by Cindy Carroll Courtesy฀of฀Debbie฀ Leonard฀and฀Cindy฀ Carroll



PERMISSIONS AND CREDITS

I would like to personally thank each and every person who graciously gave me permission to utilize their stories, ideas, designs, and marketing materials in my book. I greatly appreciate their contributions, which have helped to make it so successful. They were all wonderful to work with. Thank you so very much! Karen Becker, The Purple Gate Cindy Carroll, Writer Bense Garza, Garza Art & Design Renae Gonner, ER Marketing Ben Griswold, Home Appétit Karen Hartley, Hartley Design Mark Havran, Photographer Amy Hurley, Hurley & Associates, Inc. Tracie Jibbens, StudioImagen Brenda Lancaster, Benefit Trust Company Debbie Leonard, CPA Diane Lindsay, Credentialing Experts, Inc. Elton Mayfield, ER Marketing James Myers, Contingency Now

Andy Noll, W. A. Noll & Associates, Inc. Kevin O’Leary, Schedulebook Keith Province, Field Solutions Group Becky Rawls-Riley, Operating Sooner, Inc. Brad Scafe, Benefit Trust Company Scott Schwieterman, Schwieterman Design Karla Snider, Karla Snider Design Michelle Stevens, Graphic Designer Lisa Weeks, Peters Writing Services, Inc. Dale Wheeler, The Massage Professionals, Inc.

209

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INDEX

210

A

B

Address (yours). See Contact information Addresses (customer) mailing lists, 66, 74–76 on postcards, 72, 75–76 saving, 75 Ads, 97–109 benefit statement in, 103–5 benefits/functions of, 97–98 budget for, 99–100 contact information section, 106–7 designing, 107–9 example, 208 finding home for, 98–101 good, characteristics of, 97–98 niche publications for, 101 placement considerations, 98–101 product/service list, 105 software for designing, 108 special offers in, 97, 106 specifications (specs) for, 101–3 steps for creating, 98 submitting for publication, 108–9 target customers, 100 writing content, 103–7

Benefit tag line, 21–22 Benefits, customer. See Customer benefits Bios, 47–53 assembling, 51–52 benefits/functions of, 47 components of, 47–48 examples, 51–52, 200 military experience section, 50 overview statement, 48 photos in, 52–53 professional highlights section, 50–51 schooling section, 50 size of, 48 on Web sites, 155, 167–68 where to use, 53 work experience section, 48–50 Brand recognition, 17 Brochures, 111–33 call-to-action column, 127–29 commitment of customers section, 123–24 customer benefits in, 114–18 customer success story column, 124–25 designing layout, 130–32

C Call-to-action being specific in, 159–60 brochure column for, 127–29 common statements for, 160 on Web sites, 159–61 Cards. See Business cards Consistency, 43 Contact information ads, 106–7 brochures, 128–29 business cards, 32–34 introductory letters, 61–62 letterhead, 41, 42 newsletters, 184–85 postcards, 70–71 press releases, 83, 86 Web sites, 158, 161–63 Customer base tag line, 22–23 Customer benefits in ads, 103–5 in brochures, 114–18 common examples, 5, 60, 104 creating master list of, 116 defined, 60, 69–70 in introductory letter, 60–61 in postcard copy, 69–70 recycling, 70, 104 in thirty-second sound bite, 5 on Web sites, 142–44, 150 Customer names, using, 125, 165 Customer success stories, 124–25, 164

D Describing your business. See Thirty-second sound bite Direct mail. See Brochures; Introductory letters; Postcards Domain name, 138–40

211 Index

example, 206 font selection, 131 format options, 112–13 graphics/images for, 131–32 how-it-works column, 120–24 language/tone for, 121 mission statement in, 123 new-business considerations, 121 optimizing results with, 133 printing, 132–33 product/service column, 118–20 self-mailer formats, 127 six-column overview, 113 software for, 129 special offers in, 126–27 steps for creating, 111–12 title column content, 114–16 title use in, 117 using with other tools, 133 writing, 113–14 Budget, working within, v–vi, 99–100 Bullet points, 149 Business cards, 29–37 address content/formats, 32–34 benefits/functions of, 29, 30 example, 30 information to include, 31–34 layout design, 34–36 matching letterhead with, 36 paper selection, 36–37 printing, 36–37 starting simple/upgrading, 30–31 steps for creating, 31 virtual address info, 34 Business names, tag lines helping, 20–21 Business “personality,” 13–14

using with other tools, 65 word processing programs for, 59

E Electronic letterhead, 45–46 E-mail letterhead for, 45–46 spam laws, 65 Envelopes, 44–45 Explaining your business. See Thirty-second sound bite

F Fluffy idea tag line, 23

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

G

212

“Grandma Test,” 25–26 Graphic design software packages, 15 Graphic image sources, 131

I Image, of business, 13–14 Internet professional marketing assistance on, 192–93 Web site design. See Web site Introductory letters, 55–66 brainstorming for, 56 common customer problem in, 58 contact information section, 61–62 customer benefits section, 60–61 examples, 63–64, 201 footers, 62–63 formatting, 55–57 headers, 57–58 how to use, 64–66 introductions, 58 length of, 56–57 mailing lists for, 66, 75–76 optimizing, 64–66 postscripts, 62–63 presentation of, 65–66 solution section, 59–60

L Letterhead, 39–46 benefits of, 39 color of, 43, 44 consistency in, 43 designing, 41–43 electronic, 45–46 envelopes for, 44–45 examples, 42–43, 44–45, 198–99 information to include, 41–42 matching business cards with, 36 printing, 43–44 software for, 41 steps for creating, 40 when to use, 39–40 Letters. See Introductory letters Logos, 9–17 benefits of, 9–11, 16–17 brand recognition with, 17 business “personality” in, 13–14 clarity/simplicity of, 16 components of, 11–12 copying, warning, 16 defined, 11 designing, 14–16 examples, 12, 196–98 hiring professional for, 12 optimizing, 16–17 overview, 9 software packages for, 15 where to use, 16–17

M Mailers. See Brochures; Introductory letters; Postcards

Mailing lists, 66, 75–76 Maps, on Internet, 162 Marketing professionals deciding to use, 189–90, 193 Internet resources, 192–93 for logo design, 12 types of, 190 when to hire, 189–90 working with, 190–92 Mission statement, 123

N

P Permissions/credits, 209 Personality, of business, 13–14 Photos in bios, 52–53 in press releases, 89 Postcards, 67–76 address section, 72 benefit statement on, 69–70

213 Index

New businesses, 121, 152 Newsletters, 175–87 article topic selection, 177– 79, 183 benefits/functions of, 175–76 designing layout, 183–85 detail paragraph(s), 181–83 example, 208 introductory paragraphs, 180–81 length of articles, 183 number of articles, 183 printing, 185–86 software for designing, 184 soliciting feedback on, 186 steps for creating, 176–77 titling articles, 179–80 using content elsewhere, 186–87 on Web sites, 167 writing content, 177–83 Niche publications, 101

benefits/functions of, 67–68 contact information section, 70–71 designing, 73–74 examples, 71, 202–3 how to use, 67–68, 74 mailing, 74–76 mailing lists for, 66, 75–76 printing, 74 product/service list section, 71 sections of, 68 software for, 73 special offer section, 72 steps for creating, 68–69 target customers, 74 using with other tools, 65, 67 writing, 69–72 Press releases, 77–95 assembling, 87 avoiding “salesy” language, 86 benefits/functions of, 77–79, 94–95 body contents, 83–86 brainstorming for, 84–85 choosing topics for, 81–82 defined, 78–79 editors publishing, 78–80, 92–94 examples, 87, 204–5 first/subsequent paragraphs, 84–86 footers, 86 formatting, 88 getting published, 79–82, 92–94 headers, 82–83 identifying target customers, 90 knowing if published, 92–94 laying out text, 88 making interesting, 80–81 minimum information in, 83

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit

214

Press releases—continued optimizing, 94–95 photos in, 89 publicity/business from, 77–79 submission guidelines for, 90–91 submitting, 90–92 writing, 82–87 Products/services in ads, 105 in brochures, 118–20 on postcards, 71 tag lines, 22 in thirty-second sound bites, 4 on Web sites, 146–49 Professionals. See Marketing professionals Publicity free. See Press releases newsletter content for, 186–87

R Recycling benefits, 70, 104

S Self-mailers, 127 Services. See Products/services Software for ads, 108 for brochures, 129 for design work, 15, 41, 73, 108, 129, 169, 184 for introductory letters, 59 for letterhead, 41 for logo design, 15 for newsletters, 184 for postcards, 73 for Web site design, 169 for word processing, 59 Sound bite. See Thirty-second sound bite

Spam laws, 65 Special offers ads and, 97, 106 brochures and, 126–27 examples, 72, 106 postcards and, 72 time limits on, 126 Stock image sources, 131 Success stories, customer, 124–25, 164

T Tag lines, 19–28 benefit tag line, 21–22 brainstorming for, 24–25 defined, 19–20 fluffy idea tag line, 23 “Grandma Test” for, 25–26 helping business names, 20–21 multiple, 27–28 refining, 25 service/product tag line, 22 specific customer base tag line, 22–23 types of, 21–23 where to use, 27–28 writing, 24–26 Target customers for ads, 100 describing, 4–5 for postcards, 74 for press releases, 90 Testimonials, 124–25, 164–65 Thirty-second sound bite, 1–8 assembling, 5–7 benefits of, 1–2, 7–8 choosing customer benefits, 4 components of, 2–3 creating parts of, 4–5 defined, 1, 3 describing product or service, 4 examples, 3, 6

identifying target customers, 4–5 responses to, 8 sales pitch vs., 3 simplifying, 6–7 staff using, 7 using, 7–8 Toolkit using multiple elements together, 65, 67, 97, 133 using this book, vi–vii working within budget, v–vi See also specific tools

V Virtual address options, 34

W

215 Index

Web hosts, 173–74 Web site, 135–74 About Us page, 155–58 answering customer questions on, 151–55 basic page layout, 169–73 basic three pages, 141 benefits, 135–36 bullet points on, 149 call-to-action statement, 159–61 career opportunities pages, 166 catchy titles for, 142–44, 149–50, 154–55, 157–58 company history page, 168 of competition, 136 Contact Us page, 158–63 content pages, 140–42 customer benefits sections, 142–44, 150 designing layout, 168–73 domain name, 138–40 example pages, 207 executive bio page, 155, 167–68

font selection, 171 home page, 142–46 hosting services for, 173–74 how-it-works page (service procedures), 151–55 language/tone for, 145 maps/directions on, 162 navigation menu, 172–73 new-business considerations, 152 newsletter page, 167 optional pages, 141, 163–68 plagiarizing warning, 137 portfolio or sample page, 166–67 preparatory research for, 136 press pages, 165–66 product/service page, 146–49 publishing, 173–74 for retail sales, 140–41 Shopping Cart page, 140–41 software for designing, 169 steps for creating, 137–38 subpages, 147 success stories page, 164 testimonials page, 164–65 three-paragraph groupings, 144–49 writing content, 140–42 Work experience, in bio, 48–50

Paula Peters Photo฀by฀Mark฀ Havran,฀2003

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Paula Peters is an award-winning writer and entrepreneur specializing in writing technical documentation, marketing materials, and training seminars. Her firm, Peters Writing Services, Inc., has written materials for more than one hundred customers in a variety of fields, including EDS, Sabre Systems, and Applebee’s International. Paula is an accomplished speaker and trainer and delivers hands-on seminars on a variety of topics for business owners, including Write Your Own Press Release and Write an Effective Marketing Brochure. She has published several articles on business, management, and education for regional and national magazines over the years and has been the recipient of several awards for her work. In 2005, her business was selected as a Kansas Small Business Development Center (KSBDC) Existing Business of the Year. Paula is available for a limited number of speaking engagements and writing projects each year for businesses and organizations. She also performs assessments of existing written materials. To learn more, or to contact the author, visit www .peterswriting.com.

Create Marketing Materials That Get Noticed!

M

arketing can make or break your business. A wellcrafted brochure or clever tagline can make you stand out from your competitors. However, you don’t need to spend lots of money to have professional looking promotional pieces. The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit is the only resource you need to create small business marketing materials. Coverage includes: Logos that get attention Newsletters that generate business Sound bites that customers remember

BU ZZ

฀  

Filled with sample brochures, ads, and press releases, The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit shows you how to promote a new business or remarket an old one. Paula Peters is a full-time

writer and entrepreneur with almost a decade of experience writing technical and marketing pieces for a variety of Fortune 500 clients. Ms. Peters also teaches at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, as well as conducts professional-level seminars attended by hundreds of business owners and executives throughout the Midwest. She lives in Kansas City, Kansas.

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