How to Create a Powerful Personal Marketing Message

DUCT TAPE MARKETING AND, AUTHOR, JOHN JANTSCH GIVES THIS GREAT MESSAGE

Try this exercise to help you develop a personal marketing message that grabs your prospect’s attention.

Quite often small business owners will ask me to reveal the most powerful marketing strategy I have seen. I can say without hesitation that the most powerful marketing strategy has little to do with advertising, direct mail, websites, referrals or blogs.

No, before any of those things will really have an impact on your business, you’ve got to uncover and communicate how your business is different from every other business that says they do what you do. You’ve got to get out of the commodity business. You’ve got to stake your claim on a simple idea or position in the mind of your prospective clients.

You’ve got to create and bring to life a powerful personal marketing message.

The following is an exercise that I have developed that allows you to find your message by focusing on creating a marketing based answer to one very important question.

And the question is: What do you do for a living? The answer to that question is something that I call “Your Talking Logo.”

Like a traditional printed logo, a talking logo is a tool that allows your firm to communicate verbally the single greatest benefit of doing business with your firm. A talking logo is a short statement that quickly communicates your firm’s position and forces the listener to want to know more.

The talking logo is generally played in response to the comment, “So, tell me about your remodeling business or tell me what you do.” Everyone has attended a networking event where you are given a minute to describe your business…another great place to use your talking logo. When it comes to referral marketing, the talking logo is how you communicate the value of your business to referral sources.

How do you create your talking logo?

Remember, a talking logo must be a short statement that leaves the listener wanting to know more. Think about your clients or potential clients … they want to know what’s in it for them. Don’t just tell them what your firm does- tell them in a way that matters to them.

“I’m in the remodeling business.” “I’m a contractor.” “I’m a painting contractor.” “I’m a building specialist.” The only thing this type of response will get you is, “Who cares?” or worse. A talking logo grabs your prospect’s attention.

Your talking logo is created in two distinct parts. Part 1 addresses your target market, and Part 2 zeroes in on a problem, frustration or want that market has.

You know you have a great talking logo when a person hears you deliver it and immediately says, “Really, how do you do that?”

“So, if you ask Bill the architect, “what do you do for a living?” Which do you think is more powerful? “Oh, I’m a registered architect” or [Talking Logo] “I show contractors how to get paid faster.”

Now if you’re a contractor you’ve got to know more, right? In the example above Bill has focused on addressing a key frustration that he knows contractors (his target market) have.

What about this one? “I show small service professionals how to triple what they charge?”

Do you see a pattern?

Here’s the pattern: Action verb, (I show, I teach, I help) target market, (business owners, homeowners, teachers, divorced women, Fortune 500 companies) how to xxxx = solve a problem or meet a need that you know your marketing has.

Now ask yourself, “Who wouldn’t want to know more when you heard a talking logo that spoke directly to you?” Communicating a powerful message like this will get you referral appointments too.

Now, once you get their attention with your talking logo answer to what you do for a living, it’s time to deliver the goods.

So, now they utter, “Really, how do you do that?”

You must be equally prepared to answer this supplemental question. Once your prospect says, “Tell me more,” you need Part 2, and that is when you tell them how you plan to solve their problem.

The key to this tool though, is waiting until you have their full attention with your talking logo.

Part 2: Again, the architect from above – “Well, we have developed relationships with every zoning board in the metro area and can make sure that your projects don’t get hung up by red tape, ensuring that you get to that first pay request faster.”

By understanding your positioning and your target market and then communicating it through your talking logo, you will be miles ahead of most of your competition and well on your way to generating referrals and leads from anyone you meet.

Today’s marketing requires lots of content, lots of education, and lots of trust-building via expertise sharing.

The tri-fold brochure just doesn’t cut it anymore. Today’s smart marketers think in terms of information products more than marketing collateral — education over selling rules the day. When I began working with Duct Tape Marketing and coaching remodeling owners, I realized the extreme benefit that John Jantsch had developed for small businesses through years of experience working with small business owners. I credit John for the development of the Marketing Kit components and have been applying these principles with the remodeling and home improvement businesses. Here is a example of the benefits of this subject.

The best way to tap this necessary marketing shift is to think in terms of kits or suites of information. The most practical approach for the typical small business is the creation of on-demand, flexible and personal marketing kits, press kits and new customer kits.

These multiple page-documents, often housed in a pocket of a custom file folder, allow you to tell the entire story in a range of formats that take in the learning styles and personalities of a broad range of prospects.

DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE MARKETING KIT

Our Difference

Use this page to illustrate how you are different and shower the prospect with benefits of doing business with you.

Don’t say what you do, focus on how you do it.

Explain your unique approach, your processes and the little things you do.

If you have studied your competition and know what your target market craves, make a point to summarize your solution.

I like to limit this to the top three or four areas your target market values.

Ideal Client

People generally feel more comfortable working with companies that specialize in their unique industry, niche or problem…

Describe your ideal client. Describe why this client typically hires you. What makes the client reach out to you?

Describe the factors that seem to exist for your most successful engagements.

By completing this description, you will narrow your market, but also make yourself substantially more attractive to someone who fits your ideal description.

Our Story

Many companies have interesting or even gut-wrenching histories. Tell your story in an open, honest and entertaining way, and you will win prospects hearts as well as their heads.

The ability to connect by way of personal stories is one of the greatest advantages that small businesses possess over big businesses.

The marketing story is an effective tool because it allows you to do several things that traditional marketing or advertising does not:

- Stories are an effective way to simplify a complicated issue.

- Stories can create emotion. People buy on emotion and rationalize their decision with facts.

- Stories are easier to remember because people can more readily relate to a story.

Most importantly…stories build trust.

The most effective marketing stories fall into one of about six categories:

1. Who I am stories – stories that allow the potential customer to connect with who you are or who the company is
2. What I do stories – stories that communicate not only what your firm does but why
3. The vision stories – stories that paint a picture of a dynamic future
4. Values in action stories – stories that illustrate slogans like “we try harder”
5. Lessons learned stories – shared lessons that expose the human side ñ both the good and the bad
6. I know you stories – stories that let the potential customer know you have walked in their shoes

Services/Products

This page should outline the various services, products and packages you offer.

Clearly describe and detail the benefits of each.

Process/How We Work

This page should show the prospect how you do what you do. Create detailed checklists that show your prospect how you keep your promise.

In many cases, you have these anyway, but by making them part of your marketing, you can demonstrate how professional your organization is.

Documented process descriptions will help justify why you charge a premium for your services. Many people underestimate how much really goes into delivering a quality product or service, so show them.

Case Studies

Pick representative clients or industries and outline how your product or service solved someone else’s challenge.

Case studies allow readers to see themselves getting relief.

An effective case study format:

- The situation

- The problem

- Your solution

- The result

Over time, you can collect more and more of these and draw upon the ones that fit an industry or problem relevant to your prospect.

Testimonials

Third-party endorsements are another way to prove that you do indeed deliver as promised.

Collect quotes from actual clients and sprinkle them throughout your website.

Try to obtain quotes that focus on the results you have helped clients realize. These quotes can be some of the strongest selling tools you have.

New technologies make it easy to create audio and video testimonials too.

Some suggestions for acquiring powerful testimonials:

- Craft proposed testimonial copy and present it to clients for approval

- Ask a prospect to obtain a recommendation from your clients (they will copy you)

- Photograph your clients using your product or associating with your brand (be sure to obtain written permission to use in marketing materials)

Frequently Answered Questions

Some of your prospects ask you very specific questions. If you can address them in a concise manner, you may not have to do much more.

Start by reviewing the types of questions you receive from clients and sales prospects in person, over the phone and via email.

Sometimes this can be a good place to start all your marketing materials. After you answer some of the most persistent questions, go back and make sure these answers run throughout your other pages as well.

Press/Articles

Have you written (or had written about you) articles for publications, newsletters or internal distribution? Include reprints and press clippings that are relevant.

Here is a link to writing a press release. http://www.remodelbuddy.com/how-to-write-a-press-release-part-of-the-lead-generation-trio

What better way to be profitable than to have clients seek you out that are your Ideal clients, right. My question to you is, what are you doing to separate yourself from your competitors?

I have been talking with hundreds of remodelers in Dc, Maryland & Virginia that are tired of running bids, and being asked to compete on price. There isn’t anything more frustrating than running all over God’s green earth giving bids. There are numerous problems with this scenario too. If you are investing time in going from one appointment to another that never turns out  to become a client, how do you find time to handle the other parts of your business?

I have never encouraged anyone to use the word bid. I wouldn’t even bid farewell. You get my point hopefully. My first question would be, what is your process for qualifying someone? My second questions is what makes you unique, so that you can separate your company from another? If you can’t separate yourself from your competition, your customers will. Know how they will? By price. The third question is, What are you doing to educate your customers before they even contact you or before you meet them? Another thought, what is our sales process before, during and after the initial meeting and after the project too?

Duct Tape Marketing is about” getting someone who has a need, to Know you, Like you and Trust you!”- John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing.

When you can market your business effectively and properly you can  focus on your ideal client and attract your ideal client. Marketing isn’t about spending money, thats advertising. Marketing is getting people to Know, Like and Trust you.

As you can see the natural progression of the flow – know, like, trust… (flows to the right), the information to move the process forward is provided below each step. If you can identify your current process, current customers, many Remodeling and Home improvement companies will find big gaps in their processes of getting someone, who has a need, to know, like and trust you.

But, when you have an effective marketing system in place the process expands from – getting someone, who has a need, to know, like, trust you, to having someone try you, buy from you and refer you. This will benefit into a consistent and repeatable success- a System. There are many detailed steps we take in every aspect of this cycle that leads to greater success and profitability. Imagine, less time running leads that aren’t with your ideal customer and more quality time with your ideal client. When you build value from earning your ideal customers Know, Like and Trust, you will be making a more profitable return.

One purpose the cycle is to provide clarity to your customers & clients in your marketing process. This gives you the ability to walk a prospect through the process, understanding where they are at in the process. The secret to this is that you really forces you to layout your marketing process and is really the beginning of development of your marketing system that is effective in every area. It is a system that is about understanding and doing all the little things properly and better than everyone else. For more on the Process, please read this article too. It is very valuable.

I was reminded from browsing Michael Stone’s Blog and wanted to post this, with my thoughts too.

In the November issue of remodeling magazine is a great sales tool. The Cost vs. Value report for 2009-2010. If you are a remodeler or home improvement company you can subscribe to a free issue here.

A question you need to ask every potential client is “What is your budget for your job?” Using the Cost vs. Value report can help you address this topic. Many remodelers and home improvement businesses and their sales staff use this. I know I did very frequently. When I was meeting potential clients, and my sales people were instructed to &  did present this also, ….we made color copies of the page in the magazine that was needed to refer to, and kept copies with us for our presentation and even ordered extra inserts of the Cost vs. Value report. When the topic about their budget came up and at the right time, I would show them the magazine and refer to the project we were discussing.

Another great use of this magazine is to put a copy on your website. There is an widget that you can download and post to your blog, sidebar, newsletter or even have a link from your contact page when people submit appointments online. There are many uses for this and I recommend them all. Here is the link to the widget below. Just click on the image.

This was third party literature that showed the approximate budget that would be needed and it wasn’t me defining a number from my calculator. What a subtle way to show your potential customer what they can expect and if this fits in their budget and lifestyle. Very subtle and useful!

I have had this topic come up quite a bit lately and wanted to just throw it out here for conversation. Some of you may do this, have tried and had some success or not and/or thinking about it. Generating awareness is a consistent effort and when used properly, can be effective.

Radius Marketing is just one element to a “neighborhood awareness,” program. Mailing, in itself isn’t extremely effective. For mailings to work, in the projects vicinity….” frequency and call to action” are two factors that come into play. Mailing before, during and after the project-hopefully- all within 4-6 weeks. Frequency is the key.

Now, add the mailing with the Job Sign posted that has a literature box to it, so people can pull free info on your company and in the literature, be sure it is all educational and not promotional. I have ideas if you need them that have been successful.

Now add another element, your referral program. Make sure your customer( client) that you are working on their home knows about your referral program. ( hopefully this was all explained upfront before they ever decided to hire you. Part of your company presentation) Have a booklet or flyer etc, explaining how the referral program works and how to refer you.

Now, in the immediate vicinity take 3-4 hours during the early part of construction and hand out flyers, notes that are well written and hand to neighbors saying that you will be working in the neighborhood and if hey have any questions-here is how to contact us- “Pardon Our Dust” type of discussion.

Take all of these elements and your radius marketing will be more effective. We have established a 55% closing ratio with three businesses actively doing this with all elements. My own remodeling business, when I was operating it, made this a very successful venture and our sales people loved it. The presentation of our referral program upfront before our customer hired us, also built our customers trust that we were going to do great work and use that to gain more business.

We can always learn something  about ourselves and be reminded of what really matters when we keep an open mind and look for meaningful information.

I was reminded of that today In church when we sang a hymn, of which I listed part of it below. Even though the message obviously is not about business, doesn’t this embed in our minds that in order for our customers to know, like and trust us- that we need to be genuine and all about them & not us in our messages & actions. A Good reminder for all of us.

Here is the song:

The gift of love

Though I speak with bravest fire
And have the gift to all inspire
And have not love; my words are vain
As sounding brass, and hopeless gain

Though I may give all I possess
And striving so my love profess
But not be givin by love within
The profit soon turns strangely thin

Many time when I talk to construction business owners, they are struggling to think of new topic to write about in their blog. A blog, when used properly, can be a great way to interact with your potential clients, strategic partners and existing clients. What a great way to promote your business.

I thought it may be a good idea to write some ideas of ways to use your blog and promote writing.

1. Interview customers and have them do a guest blog about their project
2. Talk with your strategic partners about product trends, designs and useful ideas for homeowners
3. Testimonial and pictures before, during, and after the projects. Try to create a storyboard that details the event.
4. Talk about your companies process and how it benefits the clients. Why not help your potential client understand the unique way your experience is beneficial to them.
5. Share your employees and tradesmen’s unique skills, service and dedication to your clients by blogging about it with your community.

Having testimonials on your Blog and then writing articles/stories about each customer is useful and good reading for potential customers.

Want to upload some testimonials yourself? Here’s how.

Using  Audio Acrobat is a good site for recording audio and producing a html code for uploading it to your website. If you have an account with Audio Acrobat a testimonial line can be set up and a unique URL to your testimonial line will be established. This URL can then be used to send out in a newsletter informing your clients with instructions on how to record a testimonial for your business.

Also, SKYPE has a call record option and that too can be saved to your desktop and converted to a html code to upload using various free tools http://www.ehow.com/how_4464333_embed-audio-html.html

Would you like to ensure that when you’re blogging, you are utilizing the best practices for Search Engine Optimization?

Here is a good link for SEO tips when blogging.
http://labs.wordtracker.com/seo-blogger/

Want more hits to your website? Use your blog as educational material to attract your ideal customer and be creative. Here is a link to content optimization ideas for your website. Good reading- http://www.remodelbuddy.com/content-optimization

Also, try using testimonials for your marketing kit- have one to give to potential clients. Do you ever mail a DVD or CD with info on your business before your appt, hand it to them during or leave/send one after? Why not, it works…….I have proof:)


Here is some info on marketing kits. http://www.remodeling.hw.net/blogs/postdetails.aspx?BlogId=timnagle&PostId=90623

Do you have any ideas that you have used for your blog you would like to mention? Let us know, leave a comment.