By the end of March, I’m hoping local small business owners in New Hampshire, and everywhere else will have a valuable new online marketing resource available.

My upcoming book titled: “How Your Local Small Business Can Get More Customers On The Internet” aims to fill the void between books that provide general marketing techniques for local businesses and ones that give online marketing tips for Internet Marketers.

It will be priced at only $24.95, so any business owner or sales professional will be able to afford it, and it includes 27 chapters chock-full of practical online marketing advice that any business owner can easily take advantage of. And it’s all right here in one book.

And as a savvy business owner, you really can’t afford not to pick up a copy of this book!

Plus, you’ll even understand it because it’s written in simple-to-grasp language, not for the technical crowd.

I’m working on a website for it as we speak…and will keep you posted on the progress.

To give you an idea of what kind of marketing ideas you’ll discover in this book, here are the first 8 chapter titles –

CHAPTER 1 Does your business really need a website?

CHAPTER 2 And your website’s primary purpose is

CHAPTER 3 Knowing your ideal online prospect

CHAPTER 4 If your site quickly answers these 4 important questions… they’ll stick around

CHAPTER 5 The importance of a website’s usability, design, and layout

CHAPTER 6 Why powerful web page headlines are vital to your success

CHAPTER 7 Web copy that sells

CHAPTER 8 Why you need a great offer and a powerful call-to-action

Okay…I promise to keep you up to date as the availability gets closer…

If you’re a small business professional or owner who wants to find out how to market your local business using the power and reach of the Internet,  make sure you get your own copy from the first print run before they run out.

To guarantee your personal copy, email me today so I can add you to my pre-order list.

 

If you want help with your marketing strategy, writing effective sales copy, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140

And 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

Do you handle inquiries from prospects promptly and professionally?

If you do – give yourself a big pat on the back.

Unfortunately though, I think you’re in the minority.

For example, just this past week, I contacted 4 companies to get more information about their services. One via their “Contact Us” page on their website, one directly with email, and the other two by leaving voice mails.

After waiting 7 days, let’s just say the results of their follow up were less than impressive… Out of the 4, one of them responded to me within 1 day (perfectly acceptable), another got back to me 4 days later…and the other 2 – I never heard from them at all. Jeesh!

Prompt follow-up to business inquiries is not only common sense, it’s absolutely crucial if you want to get new clients. And if my experience was any indicator, I guess many companies don’t want any new customers.

Not to mention the money being flushed down the toilet while generating new leads, and then not even following up.

So if you want to impress the heck out of a prospect who wants more information about your products or services, make sure you return their call or their email right away.

Chances are good that you may be the only one or the first one who responds, and you may get yourself a new client because you took the time to respond in a timely manner.

Let me know your thoughts on this…

If you want help with your marketing strategy, writing effective sales copy, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140

And 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

If you’re using direct mail – letters in particular – there’s a trick you can use to increase the number of people who open the envelope.

It’s often called “lumpy’ mail. And it’s just what it says…lumpy.

I’m sure you’ve seen it before… Letters with pennies or nickels inside, or maybe free pens or envelope openers. Anything that makes it stand out from the rest of your mail.

Why does it work?

The biggest reason is because people are intrigued by mail that’s not flat, and generally can’t wait to tear it open to find out what’s inside. The curiosity factor just eats ’em up until they open it.

There’s been numerous tests with the exact mail promotion, one with and one without the “lumpy” add-on, and usually the response rates from the lumpy mail win.

For example, if you are a financial planner could attach small a golf tee to a promotional letter titled “Finally…How to Retire And Play Golf Every Day Of The Week”.

People underestimate the power of human curiosity, but it does work.

At the very least, it’s worth a test. Just make sure the “lumpy” piece is relevant to your message, and send some out.

Granted, the expense will be a bit higher, but the response you get, assuming your message and target audience is good, should more than pay for the added cost.

What do you think? Have you ever tried this?

If you want help with your marketing strategy, writing effective sales copy, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140

And 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

No matter what you do to spread your sales message to prospects and clients, they usually won’t need your product or service at that very moment.

Because of that (and other reasons), it’s important for you to maintain “top of mind” awareness of your prospects and clients.

Then…when they do need you, they’ll think of calling you first.

So what can you do to stay on their minds?

The best way is to just keep in regular contact with everyone on your mailing lists. I recommend at least one “touch” per month.

What to send…

• Relevant articles you wrote
• Newspaper articles
• Thank you notes
• Personal notes
• Newsletters
• Invite them to a seminar or special event
• Quick email about a special offer (but don’t do this one each time)

Try it – it’s easy and an affordable way to stay on your prospect’s and customer’s mind.

What do you think?

 

If you want help with your marketing strategy, writing effective sales copy, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140

And 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

Most New Hampshire small business owners and sales professional are constantly looking for low-cost and effective marketing techniques for their businesses.

Of course, there are lots of effective ways to promote yourself.

Marketing techniques such as websites, email, social media, direct mail, branding, and networking.

Some are relatively inexpensive and some…well, let’s just say they can be pretty pricey.

But there’s one technique being used that I’m recommending to certain clients that won’t drain your bank account – as a matter of fact, sometimes it won’t cost you a cent – and can work like a charm to generate new prospects that are highly qualified and interested in what you have to offer.

I’m talking about holding free seminars.

It works like this:

You rent a small conference room for 5-8 prospects and start inviting by placing small ads or by networking.

In Portsmouth, for example, I can rent a small room from IOS at Pease Tradeport for about $20/hr.

The key is to offer a topic your prospects are interested in and that will get them thinking about how you can solve their problems.

All you have to do is create an outline explaining the problem they face, then talk about it and how you can solve it for 60-90 minutes.

At the end, make an offer to the attendees they can’t refuse, such as a free consultation or more information, and use that to promote your expertise without being “salesy”.

As a matter of fact, depending on the topic, you might even charge them a small fee to attend.

The bottom line is to use these seminars to attract qualified prospects to you, and show them how you can help them solve their specific problems.

It sure beats the heck out of cold calling potential prospects, don’t you agree?

What do you think?

If you want help with your marketing strategy, writing effective sales copy, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140

And 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

I’m sure you’ve heard all the usual ways to market your business:

Space ads, postcards, sales letters, websites, and on and on.

But have you tried networking groups that give you the opportunity to give and receive qualified referrals on a more consistent basis?

There a many referral groups around, but one that’s provided me a good source of prospects is BNI.

BNI is an international organization with chapters in about every area of the country.

They have weekly meetings and are structured in a way that’s been proven to be effective at maximizing the member’s time and number of referrals given.

The investment is affordable, and you do have to make a time commitment to be at each meeting and to meet and learn about the other members.

“Givers Gain” is the motto, and the group is built on relationships, trust, and giving.

Basically – the more you give – the more you get.

So if you’re looking for a way to network that seems to be head and shoulders above any local Chamber of Commerce meetings, consider visiting a local BNI group. You can find local chapters and more about it at www.bni.com.

Let me know your comments!

If you want my help in determining what your USP is, why people should do business with you instead of someone else, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And 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

Every business should have a USP to get more clients, but unfortunately, many don’t.

Exactly what is a USP anyway?

In the marketing world, it stands for Unique Selling Proposition.

And what it means to you is this:

It’s the one memorable benefit that will compel your customers to buy from you instead of someone else.

I guess it’s kind of like a tag line – but it goes much deeper than that.

Your USP is what differentiates you from your competition. It needs to be unique, and it must be the special reason why that says to prospective clients:  “I want to do business with you.”

 A USP could be:

• A specific service you offer that your competition doesn’t
• A service you do differently and better than your competition
• A product benefit and feature that’s new and nobody else has, or
• A certain manufacturing process that no one else uses

For example…here’s Dominos Pizza’s USP

“Fresh pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less – guaranteed!”

Ironically, many companies have a USP…but they either don’t know what it is, or they can’t put it into words.

So if you don’t have one, or don’t know what it is – spend some time figuring it out. I’m not saying it will be easy, but it will certainly be time well spent.

One thing’s for sure: Having a USP and putting it to words can give you a giant leg up on your competition, because you’ll have something special to offer your clients that your competitors can’t.

All you have to do is to use it in your advertising and marketing and watch the sales roll in.

What do you think?

If you want my help in determining what your USP is, why people should do business with you instead of someone else, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And 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

Do you use the holidays to keep in touch with your best clients.

If you own a business or are a sales professional, you already know that maintaining great customer relationships is one of the secrets to keeping your hard earned customers from jumping ship to your competitors.

And there are countless tips and techniques to help you do just that.

One of the easiest and most affordable ways is to simply keep in constant touch with your clients.

Many studies show sending something at least once a quarter, but preferably once a month is a great way to keep your company at the top of their minds.

Not to sound like a mother hen here…but Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner (I sure don’t know where the summer went), and you should be using them as a reason to give your customers another “touch”.

Cards are nice, but why don’t you take full advantage and instead of just sending the card…

Insert a “special time-sensitive” offer inside. Something like a 4 day Thanksgiving sale with some great offers.

You can use ‘em to build traffic and sales. I mean – you’re already paying for the card and postage, why not enclose a special coupon, too.

Anyway – mother hen signing out.

Start sending and start selling today.

Think about this – How many Thanksgiving cards do you get? Be bold – Be different!

Your thoughts?  I’d like to 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.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter