Never make another cold call again!

By using the technique I’m going to tell you about in a second, you’ll have more qualified leads calling you than you can shake a stick at.

Now doesn’t that sound a heck of a lot easier than sitting in front of your phone, cold-calling people you don’t know to sell them products they’re probably not interested in anyway? Just so you can hear “I’m not interested”.

So you’re ready to put a new ad in the Yellow Pages, your local newspaper, or maybe a magazine that a lot of your ideal prospects read.

But you don’t quite know what the ad should say, so you look at some of your competitor’s ads and start typing away, modeling theirs.

Most ads display the company name in the biggest font size; maybe add a picture, and some bullet points that list the features and specs of the product or services offered, and the phone number.

Another words – except for the company name – all the ads look alike and they say all the same boring things.

The only problems are 1) there is no way which ad to respond to because they’re all pretty much the same, and 2) because of #1, they usually don’t work.

So what are you supposed to do to get some responses from your ads?

 

Generate highly qualified leads with direct response ads

Instead, try this simple, time-proven lead generation tactic. (and you don’t have to lift a finger to dial the phone, either)

Create a short informational report (2-4 pages) that you can give away to your prospects that contact you. This could be tips on selecting the best ‘whatever your product’ is, or mistakes to avoid when they buy a ‘whatever your product’ is.

Write your ad using a headline that asks a question or implies a big benefit to them for contacting to get your free report. If the headline is really good, it’ll make your prospects feel like they must have that report to make a good decision. (The sole purpose of the ad is to get them to contact you for the free report, not to directly sell your goods – you can do that in the report and the follow up.)

Make sure to provide all the ways to contact you including your phone number, email address, fax number, website address (preferably a special landing page for tracking response).

Send out the report to them immediately after they contact you.

Wait a few days and start a follow up campaign of phone calls, (now you can because they’re not cold calls any more – you know they are interested in your goods).

Maybe send a newsletter, then maybe a brochure or a postcard. Whatever you can “drip” to them to stay at the top of their mind.

Here’s a quick example: (just for fun – let’s use a mortgage broker named MB)

Mr. MB writes a 3 page report titled “The 7 Costliest Mistakes Most People Make When Refinancing Their Homes).

It tells what they are with a paragraph or two about each point. At the end of it, Mr. MB describes how he makes sure every one of his clients completely avoid these mistakes, keeping them out of hot water with the IRS and their accountants, and to contact him so he can help them, too.

 

His newspaper ad is this:

Free Report Shows The 7 Costliest Mistakes People Make When Refinancing Their Homes Get your report by calling 800-111-2222 right now to find out how you can avoid making these mistakes that could literally cost you thousands of dollars.

Okay – if you were refinancing your house, wouldn’t you want to find out if you were making any of these mistakes? I know I would.

 

It should get better response than this one I recently saw (for real, names changed to protect the innocent).

ACME Mortgage Company Call us at 800-800-800 Lowest rates New homes Refinances Quick turnaround Best service around

 

Now – assuming you didn’t use ad #2, you have a way better chance of having warm leads to follow up with, and now it’s up to you to sell ’em.

The really cool thing about this technique is you can also use it in any kind of ads, postcard marketing, website sales pages, email marketing and a ton of other places.

What do you think about this technique? Have you used it or another successfully?

Let me know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

Also visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter