That’s why I put together some time-tested and proven tips and strategies designed to give you a big boost in growing your business.  I think you’ll find a lot of value from the quick-read ideas presented in “Profit-Rich Marketing: Proven Strategies to Help You Grow Your Business,” which are designed for easy implementation.

The practical marketing approach and proven strategies will help you to:

• Create the Marketing Mindset
• Create Explosive Growth in Your Business
• Utilize Marketing Secrets of the Masters
• Measure Marketing Success
• Design Profit-Rich Marketing Materials
• Write Copy Like the Pros
• Build Your Online Money Machine
• Drive Targeted Traffic
• Use Blog Marketing to Build Your Business
• Monetize Your Social Media Marketing Efforts

Get more details on my “Profit-Rich Marketing: Proven Strategies to Help You Grow Your Business” and leave us a comment to let us know some of the ways you’d like to improve your business.

Remember, grammar and punctuation has the power to showcase the professionalism of your organization.  A lack of proper grammar and punctuation (yes, even in a quickly typed email or buried within copy on your website) can do the opposite—diminish the perceived professionalism of your organization.

I plan on doing a few “refreshers” with our team.  I suggest you and anyone else from your organization who writes at all (nearly everyone!) review this first installment of reminders.

Semicolons

Semicolons usually separate two main clauses that could stand on their own if you wanted them to.  The catch is that they must be closely related main clauses.

For example:

“I need the report by the end of the day.”

“I will expect it from you by 5:00.”

Becomes…

“I need the report by the end of the day; I will expect it from you by 5:00.”

So why use semicolons?  The main reason to use a semicolon is to add some variety to your sentence structure.  This is a nice option if you have a large amount of content.

Colons

Colons are used after complete sentences to signal that what comes after the colon is directly related to the previous statement.  Colons should never be used after sentence fragments.  Instead, a colon should be used to expand or clarify on the complete sentence before it.

For example:

“Our company specializes in three areas.  They are internet marketing, marketing and website design.”

Becomes…

“Our company specializes in three areas: internet marketing, marketing and website design.”

So why use colons?  The main reason to use a colon, again, is to add some variety to your sentence structure.  Additionally, it helps your reader remember the points you included.

That’s enough for today, but why don’t you make a goal of using a semicolon and a colon properly at least once this week?  It doesn’t have to be for anything fancy—these can be used quickly and easily in a memo, email, report, etc.  Then let us know what you think!  Did using a semicolon or colon add variety and sense of professionalism to your writing?  Do you think you’ll start incorporating them on a regular basis?

This blog is about both, because when you make your marketing materials more effective — you’ll increase your bottom line.

I’m a big believer in systems, formulas and concepts… anything that’s proven to produce positive results. Here is a basic formula that you probably have heard of… or at least are familiar with if you’ve ever read any good sales material.

It’s called the AIDA Formula.

AIDA is an acronym for the formula used in creating powerful and effective marketing communications, sales letters, and is widely used in advertising too.

A – Attention (Awareness): attract the attention of the customer. Stand out!

I – Interest: raise customer interest by demonstrating features, advantages, and benefits.

D – Desire: convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs.

A – Action: lead customers towards taking a specific and measurable action.

Gather up a few samples of your marketing materials or view your website and ask yourself these questions:

1. What’s the PURPOSE for the specific marketing Piece or web page? Again, the AIDA formula applies to your website, print materials and Radio or TV advertising too!
   1. Is it to provide information & support the sale? – Is it to help prospects gain knowledge? Or…
   2. Is it to get the prospect to take immediate action? – For selling & promotion?
2. Is there an attention getting headline? Sub-head?
3. Is there a clear Benefit Message?
4. Who is Your Target Audience?
5. Is it designed with Your Prospect in Mind?
6. How would you score this piece on effectiveness from 1 to 5 stars with 5 being very effective-and 1 being boring and a cure for insomnia?
7. Always ask yourself: “Does this convey the message I want my reader to get?”

Now, make a note of this Action Step: Review all of your materials and see if they follow the AIDA formula, and then identify your super stars! You might be surprised by what you find when you look at your materials through the AIDA formula. This exercise will help you identify which pieces are designed well, and which ones need to be re-designed.

Of course the best measurement for any marketing materials is the response it generates. But when you’re planning your designs you’ll have a head start when you follow the AIDA formula.

Now that you know what to look for, let’s see what you should do when planning new marketing materials? Our goal is to follow the AIDA method. Remember, regardless of your role in the process, if you’re the CEO, Marketing Director or staff member, it’s important for you to understand and use these strategies even if you’re only using desktop publishing or creating more elaborate materials.

Plan ahead by answering the 5 W’s… This is very important.

Get focused on:

Who are you designing to? Who is the target prospect?

What do you want them to know or do?

Why should they care? Why should they pay attention?

Where can they get more info?

When should they respond or take action?

It’s helpful if you actually create a Word Document or template with the 5W’s… Who, What, Why, Where, and When? This will help you and/or your designer understand the purpose of the piece.

Now that you’ve have an understanding of AIDA and the 5W’s, I’d like to explore the two main parts that make up every marketing piece or advertisement… The first part is crafting a compelling message-writing the copy (the words you’re going to use to communicate value). The second part is the layout & design.

Subscribe to this marketing blog’s RSS feed in the upper right hand corner to be notifed of future blog postings where we’ll explore more on how to design effective marketing materials. And of course, post your feedback below!

Whether you’re an actual designer, the CEO, Marketing Director, Entrepreneur or on the team, I’ve got success strategies for every stage in the development process. I am going to assume you already know who you target markets are, and have a clear understanding of your products and services… If not, that’s the first thing to put on your list of action steps.

There is only one reason to create marketing materials… to get your prospects to take action.

This blog posting and video comes with a little warning… because I’m not known for sugar coating my marketing advice. My philosophy is “add value-make a profit” and I want to give you insights that can make a positive impact in all of your marketing efforts… without worrying about your ego or office politics. So if you’re feelings are easily hurt when someone gives you constructive feedback… you may want to read a different blog posting. But if you are ready to get better results-come along as we explore how to improve your results.

I’d like you to make a list of the marketing materials and methods that you’re using now:

Here are a just a few ideas to get your list started:

• Websites
• Ezines
• Banners
• Blogs
• Auto-responders
• Thank you Pages
• Brochures
• Flyers
• Sales letters
• Direct Mail
• Postcards
• Sales letters
• Newsletters
• Catalogs
• Presentation folders
• Media kits
• Signage
• Point-of-Purchase displays
• Product Packaging
• Advertisements in different forms, like radio, tv and print, And so on.

Why do you think most marketing materials don’t get the results you expect?

Well, let’s see if this scenario sounds familiar?

It’s Tuesday morning and you’re gathered around your conference table with your marketing staff, (which might be just you) and your goal is to create a new marketing brochure for one of your new products or services. So you start by spreading out all of your competitors marketing materials to get your ideas flowing.

You read the headline on their brochure, “Full line of Services” so you jot down “Complete line of Services” on your note pad. Next you look at their stock photos and graphics and think, we’ve got something similar to that we can use and away you go! You finish with a nice looking piece… copied after your competitors, with no way of knowing if the competition’s marketing piece was actually effective.

Or maybe, you’re lucky enough to hire an ad agency to help you with the design. Wonderful, they should be experienced to help you create a masterpiece. You give them your objectives and ideas. They create the collateral materials for you. You pay them well for their services. Everyone’s happy. Or are they?

The customer might not be so happy. Why? Because the typical ad agency is in the business of creating “image” type advertising pieces that makes the company look good-often times without effective marketing messages or specific action steps. So they design your piece with a big picture of your building, your logo, or your company president/CEO. Heck, maybe all three.

The problem is that the customer doesn’t really care about your building, logo or even the CEO-they care about what’s in it for them. They want the benefits of your products and services. They want to be informed, entertained and educated. They want solutions to their specific wants and needs.

I heard it all before… “My agency has won several awards”-but awards don’t sell products-marketing messages do. And if the person in charge of the creative hasn’t spent their own money learning the hard way or isn’t experienced in marketing tactics, then you’re doomed to the crap that’s filling up most land fills.

Copycat marketing hurts you and your customer.

Lastly, you cannot measure the performance of your marketing piece or website by how much you spend on it. It’s not what it costs; it’s the response it generates and the profit that it produces that makes it worth it.

So, now that you have your list and materials… go through them through the eyes of the prospect. Ask yourself if you have a compelling headline, sub-headline, attractive offer, social proof, testimonials, and specific measurable action step? Rate them from 1 to 10 with 10 being best. Then strive to improve your results.

Do have examples of great marketing materials or sites? Post a comment below with a link and tell me why you think it worked or didn’t work?