63. More ESP - Sept 14 v14 - The Friendly Accountants · SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE No. 63 £97 EACH...

W elcome to thenew‐look,expanded and renamed‘No‐NonsenseMarketingNews‐letter’. In Julywesurveyedourthousands of worldwidemembers and ‘MORE ESP’ is aresultofwhatyouaskedfor.

An expanded version (now 16pages), more examples, morecommentandinsightsfromyourstruly and more tactics andstrategies you can implementimmediately in your business. Imustsaywe’redelightedwiththeresults,Ihopeyouaretoo.

AsIwritethis,it’searlyAugust.IntheUKallthewintersportsteamsareon‘pre‐season’or‘off‐season’.That means they’re notcompeting, they’re getting readyforthestartoftheseason.

When Iwasplayingrugby (many

moons ago now!), I had a love/haterelationshipwithpre‐season.Pre‐season in those days startedafter the cup final, which wasusually in the second week ofMay.Wewould thenget3weeks‘off’ to go on holiday andgenerally relax without anytraining.Thenwe’dbebackintheclubtostartpre‐seasontraining.

The ‘love’ I had for pre‐seasonwasthatIknew,comethestartofthe season, I would be a betterplayer than when I finished theprevious season (injury willing).The‘hate’camefromthefactthatthetraining,puttingitmildly,wasgruelling.Irememberdoingtracksessionswherewewouldhavetosprint (run as fast as we could!)200metresinsetsof8anddoit4times.That’s32x200mwitha

Continuedonpage2...

BY BY BY STEVE HACKNEYSTEVE HACKNEYSTEVE HACKNEY

P3. Direct Mail Clinic

P6. Advanced Strategy

P8. Love Thy Customer

P10. The Swipe Files

P16. The Last Word

How To Write Sales Letters That Sell—Part 2

The Power Of Personalisation & Using It To Grow Your Business

Getting Customers To Stick & Get Them Buying Again Quickly

Creating Your Own Direct Response Comic (yes a comic!)

Making Your Best Customers Even Better!

£997 ANNUAL £97 EACH ISSUE ISSUE No. 63 SEPTEMBER 2014

The World’s Leading Newsletter For Business Owners & Entrepreneurs

STEVE HACKNEY’S

An Academy For Growth Limited Publication

Using LinkedIn To Target & Acquire More Customers

Creating A Website Video To Churn Out Sales & Enquiries

P14. Online Mastery

P12. Social Media Centre

TO GROW YOUR TO GROW YOUR TO GROW YOUR BUSINESSBUSINESSBUSINESS

How You Too Can Use A How You Too Can Use A How You Too Can Use A

‘PRE‘PRE‘PRE---SEASON’ SEASON’ SEASON’

...continuedfrompage1

walk‐back recovery between each200m.Thesideofthetrackwouldtakearealpoundingasmanyofuswouldbesickatsomepointduringthatsession.

Andwe’ddorunswherewewouldrun as hard as we could for 20minutes ‘out’ and then we had toreturn back to the club’s trainingfacilityinlessthan20minutes.Formethatwastheworst.

Ihatedrunningmorethan200m!Itwasbyfarmyworstdisciplineandeventhe18‐stoneguyswouldbeatme!

Arguably,theeasiestsessionswerethegymsessions.Notbecausetheyweren’t physically draining—theywere—but because I can’t recallanyone being sick at the end ofthem!

But being a professional (oramateur) sportsman is all aboutimproving.Allabouthowgoodyoucanget.Allabouthowmuchbetterthe team can become. As DavidBrailsford (UK cycling supremo)said, ‘Marginal gains acrosshundreds of areas results inmassive improvements inperformance.’

That, in many ways, is what pre‐season is all about. IMPROVEDPERFORMANCE. But,also, ithelpstobringtheteamTOGETHER.

It’s the time of the yearwhen theconditioning coaches really earntheir crust and why clubs in alldisciplines will pay top dollar forthebestconditioningcoaches.Pre‐seasonisthetimewhenthebiggestgains can bemade. The better thepre‐season goes—the better theseasonwillbe!

And it is proven beyond doubt towork!

Youcouldn’t findonecoach inanysport in any country who wouldeversaythatpre‐seasonisawasteoftime!

And since I come from a sportingbackground, it’s always intriguedme why businesses don’t createtheir own ‘pre‐season’ when theylook to improve performanceindividuallyandacrosstheteam.

Yes, I know good businesses willalreadyhaveaprogrammeforstafftrainingandpersonaldevelopmentthat runs all year round (that’s nodifferent to any sports team,either), but that’s not what I’mtalkingabout.

Admittedly,wedon’thaveaperiodoftimewhenthingscometoanendand thenstart againa fewmonthslater,butweallhaveperiodsintheyearthatarequieter.

It’s during these quieter timeswhen you should be thinking ofcreating your own ‘pre‐seasoncampaign’.

Of course, it’snever that simple. Ifyou’refollowingouradviceinESP,then you should be busy all yearround. Nonetheless, you still haveto plan in time for your ‘pre‐season’.

Itwouldn’ttaketoomuchplanningto organise a ‘pre‐season’ toevaluatewherethebusinessis,putplans in place to take the firm tothe next level, explore areas thatneed improvement. Look atopportunities that can be takenandsetupaconcertedprogrammeof improvement that is focusedontransforming the fortunes of yourbusiness. The tools are right infrontofyou inESPand in theBGSVault.

It’s hard to do something like thisonacontinualbasisthroughouttheyear. You know I’m a huge fan ofplanning everything, but creatingyour own ‘pre‐season’ gives youthe chance to make bigimprovements over a short spaceof time. It givesyou focus. It givesyou the time to make a realdifference to the performance ofyourbusiness.

You just can’t do this at the samelevel on a month‐by‐month basis(althoughyoumuststillhaveyourongoingplan!).

So decide when you should haveyour own ‘pre‐season’ and takeyourbusinesstothenextlevel.SH

HOW YOU TOO CAN USE A PREHOW YOU TOO CAN USE A PREHOW YOU TOO CAN USE A PRE---SEASONSEASONSEASON TO GROW YOUR BUSINESSTO GROW YOUR BUSINESSTO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

2 The World’s Leading Newsletter For Business Owners & Entrepreneurs

L astmonthwe discussed the firstpart of ‘HowToWrite Sales Let‐ters That Sell’. Just to recap, here’swhatwecovered…

The Critical Preparation Elements:

The Most Important Thing In

MarketingIsThe‘TargetMarket’We’verepeatedthismany,manytimesandwe’llkeeponsaying it.Nomatterwhat media you’re using, the targetmarket is still THE most importantpartofyourmarketing. Laser‐BeamFocusHere is another elementary mistakemade by most people: attempting toachievemorethanonethingwiththeirsales letter results in confusion withno clear objective. The result is a re‐ductioninresponse!YoumustwritewiththeENDINMIND.Thatmeansbeforeyouputpentopa‐per, write down the purpose of theletter. Is it to generate enquiriesthroughafreemeeting,togetasaleorto sell something else to an existingcustomer?Whateveritisyoumustwriteitdownand make sure your letter is com‐pletelyfocusedonachievingthisgoal. LengthIsNOTAnIssueTestshaveprovedtimeandtimeagainthat, all things being equal, a longerletterwillout‐performashorterletter.

This goes against what most peoplethink. Most people think that half apage is better than a full page, onepage is better than two and so on.However the fact is that it’s theoppo‐sitethat’strue. Getting Your Letter Opened Is

FundamentalToYourSuccessYou can have the most powerful andbest‐written sales letter in the world,but if no one reads it—your responsewillbeabigfatzero.

The Sales Letter Model Template

In Part 1 we covered the followingthreekeycomponents…1. The Offer Everymediapieceyousendmusthavesome kind of offer. It’s no differentwithyoursalesletters.The offer is what the recipient of theletterwill receivewhen they respondandwhattheyhavetodotogetit.2. The Headline The headline is absolutely critical toyoursuccess.It’sthe‘adforthead’.Itspurpose is to attract attention anddrawthereaderintoyourletter.3. The First Few Words… 1.Understandthatthepurposeofyourfirst sentence is to get the reader toreadthesecondsentence,andsoon.2. Make your first sentence and first

paragraphshort.

3. Don't waffle. Get straight to thepoint.

So let’s move on to the final keycomponents that will help you getmore enquiries and sales for yourbusinessusingpowerfulsalesletters…

4. Generating Interest

We’vefoundtherearethreekeywaystogenerateinterest…

1. By expanding on the offer: Allyouroffersshouldbeirresistiblesoit goeswithout saying that expand‐ingonyourofferwillgeneratehugeinterest.

2.Byhighlighting thebiggestprob‐lem or challenge and providing thesolution: No matter what you sell,yourproductorservicewillsolveaproblemforyourcustomers.There‐fore,byexplainingandemphasisingthe problem you automaticallygenerate interest. Here’s a simpleexample…

You,thesmall‐businessowner,arealready thegovernment'sno.1 taxtarget.Everytimeyoulookatyourmail, there'sanother tax formde‐manding your attention and yourmoney. You struggle day in, dayout tomake an honest living andmakeaprofit,and thenwhenyoudo, the government takes 20% incorporation tax. And then againwhenyoupayyourself.Butwhatifyou discover a few secrets nor‐mally used only by "the big boys"tofightback?

HOW TO WRITE SALES LETTERS HOW TO WRITE SALES LETTERS HOW TO WRITE SALES LETTERS THAT SELL THAT SELL THAT SELL --- Part 2Part 2Part 2



3.Byusingcomparisons:Comparisonsareafantasticwaytogenerateinter‐est.What youwant to do is paint abadpicture(i.e. likelyproblemsthatcan occur when people buy yourtype of product or service, or prob‐lems if they don’t buy your type ofproduct or service). Then comparethebadpictureagainst thegoodre‐sultthatyourproductorservicepro‐vides.Forexample…

Last spring two neighbours re‐seeded their lawns. Now it's June.One has a beautiful, lush, thick,green lawn. As perfect as the bestgolfcourseinthecountry.Alawntobeproudof.

Hisneighbour,though,hasadiffer‐entlawn.Withlittlebrownpatches.Uneven texture. Crabgrass andweeds fighting for territory.Whatmadethedifference?

Last month we gave you the world’shighestgrossingsalesletterofalltime(WallStreetJournal letter).This letterusedthecomparisonopening…

On a beautiful spring afternoon,twenty‐five years ago, two youngmen graduated from the samecollege.Theywereverymuchalike,these two young men. Both hadbeenbetterthanaveragestudents,bothwere personable and both—as young college graduates are—werefilled withambitiousdreamsforthefuture.

Recently these men returned totheircollegefortheir25threunion.

They were still very much alike.Both were happily married. Both

had three children. And both, itturned out, had gone towork forthe sameMidwesternmanufactur‐ingcompanyaftergraduationandwerestillthere.

But therewasadifference.Oneofthemenwasmanager of a smalldepartment of that company. Theotherwasitspresident.

Whatmadethedifference?

Do you see why this is so powerful?You can use this approach with anyproductorservice.

5. Creating Desire Youthenneedtocreatedesire.Thisisdone by using benefits. Remember, afeature is a description of what theproductorservicedoes(it’sthelogicaltrigger).Thebenefitistheresultofthefeature(‘theemotionaltrigger’).

Weknowthatpeoplebuyonemotionand justifywith logic – that’swhy it’soften necessary to include features aswell.Make sure you convert all your fea‐tures into benefits and thenput theminorderofimportance.YOU ALWAYSWANTTOHIT PEOPLEWITH YOUR BIGGEST BANG FIRST,SECONDBIGGESTBANGSECONDANDSOON.Most people think they need to buildtoacrescendo—butthisisnotright!Thenlistyourbenefitsasasetofbulletpoints—thishelpsthemtostandout.6. Adding Social Proof Next, youmust add testimonials. Ide‐allyyourtestimonialsshouldbe listedusingthefollowingformat…“HeadlineOfAnImportantPartOf

Your letter must create so much desire that everything else on the agenda is put off until the reader responds or buys. Create this fever-pitch and you’ll win the hearts of your readers!



TheTestimonialInBold&CentredLikeThis”

“Testimonials go here. Make sure cus‐tomers are conveying your biggestbenefits in the testimonial. Always putspeechmarks around each testimonialanduseadifferentfont.”

‐ Full Name, Company Name (if rele‐vant), Town, & any other contact info(themorethebetter).

7. Call To Action

Finally,youmustsummarisetheoffer,tellpeoplewhattodoandthenexplainwhat will happenwhen they respondor order.We call this the ‘Call to Ac‐tion’ and it’s a vital part of your let‐ter—andoftenmissedout.

8. The PS

EVERY letter must have a PS. Testshaveproved that thePS is thesecondmost‐read part of any letter after theheadline.Therefore, it is agreatplacetoreinforce theoffer (wordedslightlydifferently), repeat deadlines, and torestate thekeybenefits.Youcanhaveupto3PSs.

9. Making Your Letter Easy To Read

Onceyou’vewrittenyour letter, therearesomeclever‘tricks’youcanusetomake it look interesting and easy toread.

Ifyourletterlooksboringorchalleng‐ing to read, then the reader will giveupevenbefore theystart.Soherearethe 7 best ways to make your letterlookinterestingandeasytoread…

UseA‘Serif’Font

You can spot a serif font from thetinylittle‘feet’onthebottomoftheletters.

These feet actually help guide youreye across the page, making pas‐sagesoftextveryeasytoread.

Fromaveryearlyage,wearecondi‐tioned to read this type of font.You’ll notice all children’s booksand the daily newspapers are setusing serif fonts. Tests have shownthat a conventional typewriter fontsuch as Courier (like this) in‐creasesresponseandsales.

Use Formatting Techniques ToBreakUpTheMonotonyOfTheAd/Letter

You should always make yourprintedmaterialoradlookinterest‐ing.Usethesesimpletechniques…

‐Differenttypesofbulletpoints

‐Numbering

‐Sub‐heads

‐Indentthestartofeachparagraph

Draw Attention To Certain WordsAndParagraphs

To emphasise words, phrases andparagraphs, use the following tech‐niques sparingly. If you use themtoofrequently,you'llendupempha‐sisingnothingandyourletteroradwon'tlookinvitingofinteresting…

‐Underlines

‐Capitalletters

‐Indentedparagraphs

‐Boldfacetype

‐Italics

‐SimulatedhandwritinginthemarginandintheP.S. VaryTheLengthOfYourSentencesAndParagraphs

Makesureyoursentencesandpara‐graphs vary in length. Your sen‐tences shouldneverbe longer thana couple of lines, and your para‐graphsshouldneverbelongerthansevenlines.

UseAConversationalApproach

Your letter should read like some‐one is talking to you. That meansyou should literally write how youtalk. This goes against everythingyou’ve probably been taught, but itmakesahugedifference!

Now Take Action...

Younowhaveallthetoolsyouneedtostart making improvements or evenwriteyourfirstsalesletter.Goodluck!

Your letter must be as easy to read as possible. The moment your reader thinks ‘it looks like hard

work’ - they’ll stop reading and your letter will be consigned to the bin!

Follow our simple guidelines above.



I f you’ve been exposed to any of ourown marketing pieces (ads, letters,etc.), you’ll havenoticed a high level of‘personalisation’inallofthem.There’sabigreasonforthis…

A d d i n g a n y k i n d o f ‘personalisation’ increases response significantly.

Why? Because the recipient of yourmarketing piece gets the impressionthat you sent it to them – personally,rather than to 5,000 other people aswell.Plus,ithelpsyourmarketingpiecestandoutfromthecrowd,automaticallygivingitmoreattention.Youonly have to look at your incomingmail each day ‐ howmany pieces jumpoutatyouandscream:THISISFORME?I’dbesurprisedifyoureceivedany!Thegoodnewsisthatyoucancreatetheimpressionofpersonalisationwithout ittakingyouhoursandhourstodo.Infact,if you followour advice, being personalwon’timpactonyourtimeatall.So let’s expand on ‘personalisation’ andgiveyoua listof things thatyoucandothat creates a sense of personalisation(realornot).Every one of these elements has beenprovedtoliftresponse‐solookcarefullyat each one ‐ they WILL make adifferencetoyouandtoyourbusiness…1. Use The Prospect’s Or Client’s Name Themostbasicformofpersonalisationistousetherecipient’sname.Weallliketo

see our name, and addressing yourmaterial to a namedpersonwill alwayslift response. Make sure you get thecorrect spelling ‐ as nothing elseinfuriates us more than someonespellingournameincorrectly.What I would suggest, however, istesting between adding the recipient’snameandjustusingtheirtitle.For example, for business‐to‐businessthe ‘ManagingDirector’maybe thebestperson to contact or ‘The Print Buyer’,etc.Withbusiness‐to‐consumer,youmaywant to address it to ‘The Lady Of TheHouse’,etc.Your test would determine if the extracostofpersonalisationgaveyouabetterreturn than the non‐personalisedapproach.By the way, when writing to clients,customersorpatients,ALWAYSusetheirnames‐there’snoexcusenotto!2. Use ‘Handwriting’ You already know that handwriting theenvelope almost certainly puts yourmailing intoPileA(stuff thatdoesn’tgoin the bin—we covered this in thepreviousissue).But therearemanyotherwaysyou canusehandwritingtogiveamorepersonallookandhelpyourmarketingpieceriseabovetheclutter… InMarginNotesYou don’t have to handwrite eachmarginnoteforeachletter.Simplywrite

itonceandscanitinjustlikewe’vedonehere...

As Your Main ‘Font’ In YourMarketingPiecesDon’tbe frightened towriteyourentiremarketing piece in your ownhandwriting.

We’veused this to great effectwithourletters, leaflets and postcards and themore immediate you make them look,thebetter.

UseHandwrittenNotes

StickingaPost‐Itnoteonthefrontofanyof your marketing communications willmakeitseemmorepersonal.

Saying something like “I saw this andthought of you. D” always works well(seeexampleonnextpage).Interestingly, we’re currently testing asmall scribble mark, half on the Post‐Itnote and half on the page, to furtherincreasethepersonallookandfeel.We’llletyouknowifitgivesanyfurtherliftinresponse!

Handwritten margin notes are very effective in grabbing attention and reinforcing an

element of ‘personalisation’.

THE POWER OF ‘PERSONALISATION’THE POWER OF ‘PERSONALISATION’THE POWER OF ‘PERSONALISATION’ AND HOW YOU CAN USE IT TO AND HOW YOU CAN USE IT TO AND HOW YOU CAN USE IT TO

GROW YOUR BUSINESSGROW YOUR BUSINESSGROW YOUR BUSINESS


3. Lift Letter A lift letter is simply another letter youinclude in your mailing pack that iswritten to ‘lift’ response. Typically, it issignedbyanotherpersonandthewords‘Only Open This If You Have DecidedNOT To Respond’ are included on thefront. Again, you can handwrite the liftlettertogiveitamorepersonalfeel.Thisis an advanced technique that fewpeople use—but it makes a bigdifferencewhendonecorrectly.4. Written Just For Me Perhaps the most important method ofpersonalisation is to write yourmarketingpiece focused entirely on thetargetmarket.Somethingthatshoutsout‘this is forme’will always get a greaterresponse and success rate. But, ofcourse, you already know that ‐ don’tyou?One copywriter I admire (John Carlton)says: “Your lettershouldbewritten likea love letter toyourpartner.”Ofcourse,

he doesn’t mean exactly like that, buthe’sreferringtothefactthat,wheneveryouwrite, you are only everwriting tooneperson(thereader);evenifyousentyourmediapieceto5,000,000people,itstill has to read like you arewriting tooneperson.

So remember ‐ it takes more time andeffort (and sometimes more cost) tocreate personalised marketing pieces(that’s why so few people do it, ofcourse!)butthisextraattentiontodetailwill increase the returns for you andyourbusiness.

Attaching a Post-It note to the front of your marketing piece will increase the

personalised look of it and lift response.

I saw this and thought of you.

D

A great example of the personalised Post-It note!

THE POWER OF ‘PERSONALISATION’THE POWER OF ‘PERSONALISATION’THE POWER OF ‘PERSONALISATION’ AND HOW YOU CAN USE IT TO AND HOW YOU CAN USE IT TO AND HOW YOU CAN USE IT TO

GROW YOUR BUSINESSGROW YOUR BUSINESSGROW YOUR BUSINESS


W hen a customer buys from you,what happens next? In otherwords, what do you do to cement thesale and encourage the customer topromptlybuyfromyouagain?

Most businesses do nothing. Some maywriteathankyouletter.Andevenfewersend what we call a ‘Buyer’s RemorseLetter’.

First, let me explain what ‘buyer’sremorse’ or ‘Post‐PurchaseReassuranceFollow‐Up’is.I’lluseasimpleexampletoexplain…

Youarelookingtobuyanewcar.Yougoto a few local garages to look at themodels you like. You then test‐drive acoupleofyourfavourites.

Afterafewdays,youdecideonthetypeof car you want. You go back to thegarage and choose from the variousoptionsavailable–colour,interiordécor,CD player and payment terms, forexample.

You finally make the decision and signonthedottedline.

At this very point, you’re delighted.You’ve taken the time and effort tochoosetheperfectcarforyou.It’sbeenatough but worthwhile process. Thesalesman tells youwhen the car can bedelivered.Youshakehandsandleavethegarage, feeling pretty pleased withyourself.

Then, a few minutes later, doubts startcomingintoyourhead.HaveIchosentherightcar?Willmyhusband/wifelikethecar? Is the interior décor going to gowith the car? And so on. These doubtsandfearsaretermed‘buyer’sremorse’.

Clearly,we’vechosenanexamplewhich

we can all relate to and I hear you say,“Well that’s understandable when youbuyacar. It’snot like thatwhenpeoplebuymyproductor service. For starters,a car can cost from £/$5,000 to £/$300,000–ormore.”

Actually,it’sexactlylikethat!

Whetheryouselldirecttotheconsumeror to a person in a business, these verysame fears and doubts occur just afterthesaleismade.

These fears and doubts are dependentonthecostoftheproductorservice(i.e.they increase, the higher the price), butthey exist for every product or serviceimaginable, irrespective of how muchthebusinesscharges!

Now, I’m not saying new customerswould decide to cancel, but it doeshappen.

Take the finance industry. Here in theUK,thereisnowatwo‐week‘cooling‐offperiod’when any type of policy is sold.This time is given in case the newcustomer wants to change their mindoncethey’vehadachancetothinkaboutit (buyer’s remorse) and, secondly, topreventheavy‐handedsalestechniques.

It doesn’t do the business any good toconvert a prospect into a customer ifthey don’t follow through with thepayment!

So your buyer’s remorse letter is thesimple process of reselling the productor service and the company to thecustomer – reassuring them they havemadeashrewddecision inchoosingtheproductorservice.

Bysendingabuyer’sremorseletter…

Youwipeoutbuyer’sremorse.

Youdramatically reduceandeveneliminate customers cancellingorders.

You make the customer morereceptivetothenextoffer.

You develop a closer relationshipwiththecustomer.

Youcansolicitreferrals.

Youcanturnthe initialsale intoarenewable annual contract byaddingmore products or servicesatadiscount.

Yougetthechancetoimmediatelyup‐selltothecustomersomemoreexpensive product or service thatthe business makes availableexclusively to them at apreferential price, or terms, etc. –if they buy it within, let’s say, 30days of the original purchase. Ifyoudoitright,about25%to50%of all customerswill respond andaddedprofitwillbeconsiderable.

You can explain the use of theproduct or service so it will beused more often and reorderedmorefrequently.

Therefore, what the buyer’s remorseletterhastodo,asanabsoluteminimum,is comfort the new customer, reassurehim or her that they’ve made a gooddecision and then tell them again whythey’vemadetherightchoice.

Bydoingthis,youcounteranyfearsanddoubtstheymaybeexperiencing.PlusitreallyisapowerfulMomentOfTruth(itmakes the customer think, ‘Wow, that’s

GET CUSTOMERS TO ‘STICK’ AND GET THEM GET CUSTOMERS TO ‘STICK’ AND GET THEM GET CUSTOMERS TO ‘STICK’ AND GET THEM BUYING AGAIN IMMEDIATELYBUYING AGAIN IMMEDIATELYBUYING AGAIN IMMEDIATELY


nice’).Very fewcompaniessenda letterlike this after the sale is made, so theinteraction with the client, customer orpatientisfurtherenhancedbecausetheyjustweren’texpectingit!

So let’s take a look at a great examplethat you can tailor for your ownbusiness…

Industry: Catering

The Results: This letter is sent tocustomers using O’Briens for the firsttime. The letter solidifies therelationshipand71%ofnewcustomersplacetheirnextorderwithin10days.

Why It Worked So Well:

1. Theheadlinesays it all!Thanking thecustomerisaforgottencourtesythesedays.

2. The first sentence just reinforces thefact that the customer has chosenO’Briens for their outside cateringneeds.

3. These next few paragraphs outlinewhy the customer has made a gooddecision and reinforces O’Briens’dedicationtoservice.

4. Endwithathankyou.

5. Although a buyer’s remorse letter isusedtoreduceanydoubtsacustomeror client may have about theirpurchase, it also gives you a greatopportunity to add another offer(which is an opportunity that shouldalwaysbetaken!).ThePSheredoesagreat job. Incidentally, getting thecustomer, client or patient to buy asecondtimeisyourgoaloncethey’veboughtfromyouthefirsttime!

A proven ‘Buyer’s Remorse Letter’, sometimes referred to as a ‘Stick Letter’ because it solidifies the relationship with the customer.

You too can use this as a guide to creating your own successful letter.

GET CUSTOMERS TO ‘STICK’ AND GET THEM GET CUSTOMERS TO ‘STICK’ AND GET THEM GET CUSTOMERS TO ‘STICK’ AND GET THEM BUYING AGAIN IMMEDIATELYBUYING AGAIN IMMEDIATELYBUYING AGAIN IMMEDIATELY


Okay, okay, I hear you. You’re aBUSINESS OWNER,—you couldn’tpossiblysendacomic!

Well, as you know, if your marketingdoesn’t standout, it doesn’t get openedorread.

The ‘Super Accountant Comic’ exampleshown here is a truly unique leadgeneration marketing piece. Surprisingly,thisapproachdatesbacktotheearly1920sand was often used by advertising great,JohnCaples.

You rarely see this ‘comic strip’ approachthesedays,sobecauseit issodifferent–itincreases readership and, ultimately,enquiries.Orsales.Icanguaranteenoneofyour competitors will be using anythinglike this to grab the attention of theirprospectsandclients.

Hopefully, as you read each issue of ESP,you’re starting to think differently. That’soneofmyaims.

Becauseifyoudowhateveryoneelsedoes,you’ll get the same mediocre results aseveryoneelse.

I’ll admit it does takeballs to sendapiecelike this, but it really does workexceptionallywell.Here’showtodoit…

You only need a 4‐page comic (front,page2,page3andback).

Decideonthetheme.

Write the script (remember theobjective is to move the prospect orcustomer to the next stage of the salescycle [whatever that is], so that shouldbethefocusofthecopy).

Makesurethebackpagehasthecalltoaction and a summary of why theyshouldrespond.

Go to somewhere like Elance

(www.elance.com)andfindacartoonistyoulike.(Youwillbesurprisedjusthowmany cartoonists there are.) We use‘Cartoon Bob’ for all our cartoons andcomicstrips([email protected]).

You could create a series of comics—say,3or6oreven12issues.

Send the comic to your targetcustomers, existing customers,

suppliers and other people whorecommendyourproductsorservices.

Once you’ve created your theme, you’llbe able to create many other types ofmarketing pieces (I’ll take you throughthe Christmas card we do in nextmonth’sissue).

I promise you’ll really enjoy the wholeexperience.Havefun!

USING A COMIC TO RISE ABOVE THE CLUTTERUSING A COMIC TO RISE ABOVE THE CLUTTERUSING A COMIC TO RISE ABOVE THE CLUTTER AND INCREASE RESPONSEAND INCREASE RESPONSEAND INCREASE RESPONSE

The front page. Make sure it looks and feels like a comic!


USING A COMIC TO RISE ABOVE THE CLUTTERUSING A COMIC TO RISE ABOVE THE CLUTTERUSING A COMIC TO RISE ABOVE THE CLUTTER AND INCREASE RESPONSEAND INCREASE RESPONSEAND INCREASE RESPONSE


W hetheryoulikeitornot,havingasocialmediapresenceisveryimportant.OneoftheBIGplayersthatwehaven’tdiscussedatlengthinthesepages is LinkedIn, and its importancefor many business owners across theglobe.Formany,LinkedInisthesocialmedia equivalent of an awkwardnetworkingevent.

At SWARM (our done‐for‐you socialmedia management service) we havemany clientswho frequently say, “I’montherebutIhavenoideawhattouseit for,” or, “I don’t see the point injoining, my colleagues know me so Idon’t need to connect with them onLinkedIn”.

Butifyoufallintothistrap,rememberthis old saying: “It’s not what youknow, it’s who you know!” Also, it’sworth pointing out that LinkedIn hasbeen one of our key media whenexpandingAFG(and,inparticular,ourAccountants Growth Programme)throughout the English‐speakingworld.OurROIissignificant.

Solet’sgothroughsomeofthereasonswhy you should bother withLinkedIn…

Why Use LinkedIn...

It has over 300million users fromover200countries.

It’s great for online visibility(Google ranks LinkedIn profilesveryhigh).

It’s a great way to showcase yourexpertise.

It has an outstanding ad

programme (more on this in laterissues).

LinkedIn is a greatway to connectwith former employees, colleaguesand, importantly to you readingthisnow,yourclients,customersorpatients The chances are they arealready there waiting for you toconnectwiththem!LinkedInoffersbothfreeandpaidaccounts.ApaidaccountallowsyoutosendInMails(e‐mail messages with LinkedIn);this is a goodway to reach peoplewhomay not currently be in yournetwork. But in order tomake themostofLinkedIn,apaidaccount isnotessential.

LinkedIn allows you to give andr e c e i v e p r o f e s s i o n a lrecommendations and you canchoose to feature these on yourprofile, which we highlyrecommend. As we mentionedpreviously, it’s a great way toshowcase your expertise andtalents.Ifyouweren’tsurealready,here is a quote that should kick‐start your LinkedIn profile:“LinkedIn is your résumé onsteroids. It has advancedapplications that allow you topromote your products, services,events and brand. It also ranksextremely high in Google’s searchengine, which gives you another

platform to promote your name. Ifyouwanttobringyourbusinesstothe next level, it’s critical to takeaction and start optimisingLinkedIn.” Lewis Howes,LinkedWorking.

Everything that you need to do to setup your LinkedIn profile is dividedinto four segments: your profile,managing contacts, LinkedIn groupsandLinkedInevents.

Your LinkedIn Profile

ThinkofthisasyourinteractiveonlineCV.Yourcolleaguesandcustomerscanall see your professional life in anutshell.HerearesometipsonhowtocreatethebestLinkedInprofile...

Useagoodheadshot–ideally,onethatshowsyousmilingand lookinghappy.It’s very interesting to learn thathavingaprofileimagemakesiteleventimesmorelikelythatyourprofilewillbe viewed (yes, eleven times morelikely).

When you receive recommendations,showcasethemonyourprofile.

The summary is key–make it pack apunch!Usekeywordsthatmakeiteasyfor other people to search for you.Includeindustryterms.

The specialities areaunderneath your

CREATING & USING YOUR LINKEDIN ACCOUNTCREATING & USING YOUR LINKEDIN ACCOUNTCREATING & USING YOUR LINKEDIN ACCOUNT TO TARGET AND ACQUIRE MORE CUSTOMERSTO TARGET AND ACQUIRE MORE CUSTOMERSTO TARGET AND ACQUIRE MORE CUSTOMERS


summary allows you to tag yourself.Thinkabouthowotherswillsearchforyou.

Makesureyourprofileissettopublic(thisallowssearchenginestofindyouaswell).

Managing Contacts

Thenextquestionthatyou’reprobablythinking of is: Who should I connectwith over LinkedIn?Well, here is thedefinitive list that will help you tomakethosechoices:

Pastandcurrentbosses.Ifyouhaveagoodrelationshipwiththem,thenthese are great people to getrecommendationsfrom.

Your clients, customersorpatients– this is fairly self‐explanatory.However,wedon’t advise that youadd prospective clients as thesewillnotknowwhoyouarejustyet.

Industry contacts. These can be allyourbusinesscontacts.

Bloggers – add people who coveryour industry. Not all of themwillbeopentoconnectingwithyoubutit’sdefinitelyworthatry.

LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn groups are a great way tofind people with similar interests toyou, just like Facebook groups. Onceyouhavejoinedagroup,itwillappearon your left‐hand side navigation bar.Here are some of the benefits tojoiningaLinkedIngroup:

They let you send InMail to

members without having toupgrade. If you try to messagesomeone who isn’t connected toyou, LinkedIn will ask you toupgrade. Join a group that thepersonisamemberofandyoucansendamessagewithoutupgrading;it’sreallyquitesimple.

The groups are a great way tocommunicate online. Look underthe discussions tab on the grouppage and start your ownonce in awhile.Postquestionsthatmightgetsomeinteraction.

If you are a member of a group,anyone searching for you can findyoumoreeasily.

Ifyoudodecidetotaketheplungeand join a LinkedIn group, here ishow you find them. Go towww.linkedin.com/groupdirectory.Therestisuptoyou!

LinkedIn Events

To gain access to the LinkedIn eventsfeature all you need to do is click the“More” tab on the home pagenavigationbar.Theeventsfeatureletsyouknowaboutupcomingeventsandindustry conferences that areespecially important to SMEs. It’s agreatwaytoseewhatisgoingonand,importantly,toconnectwithothers.

Dos & Don’ts

As always, there are a few mistakesthat you need to avoid on LinkedIn,that over the years I have made andlearnt fromveryquickly.Herearemywordsofwisdom!

DO:

Giveagreatdealofthoughttoyourpersonal profile. If your profile issparse,thechancesareyouwillnotbefoundwhenapersonistryingtofindyou.

Participate in LinkedIn answers.Thisisagreatwaytocommunicatewithyourcontacts.

Joingroups.

Treat your LinkedIn profile like awebsite. Make sure it’s clean, wellformatted and, importantly, ofinteresttoothers.

PopulateyourLinkedInprofilewithkeywords. These keywords shouldreflect your background and yourindustry.

DON’T:

Spam your contacts with e‐mailsevery week. It’s about nurturingrelationships not annoyingeveryone!

Forgetwhomight see yourprofile.Rememberyourtargetaudience.

Preach. Don’t let people thinkyou’re a know‐it‐all businessowner. Be personal with peopleand,onceagain,buildrelationshipswithyourclients.

Followpeopleyoudon’tknow.

Finally, don’t treat LinkedIn likeFacebook and Twitter. It’s acompletely different platform thatrequiressignificantattention.

CREATING & USING YOUR LINKEDIN ACCOUNTCREATING & USING YOUR LINKEDIN ACCOUNTCREATING & USING YOUR LINKEDIN ACCOUNT TO TARGET AND ACQUIRE MORE CUSTOMERSTO TARGET AND ACQUIRE MORE CUSTOMERSTO TARGET AND ACQUIRE MORE CUSTOMERS


There have been several seismicdevelopments in the short historyof the Internet (World Wide Web).Withoutdoubt, inmymind, thebiggestisVIDEO.

The onset of broadband and now fibreopticshasaccelerateddownloadspeeds,making video a superb media tocommunicate your message to yourwebsite visitors. Whilst a number ofbusinesses have embraced video, Iwould hazard a guess that it’s still lessthan 1% of all businesses across theworld.

If you’ve not got a website video oryou’ve got one but it’s not translatinginto more enquiries or sales (or both),then listen up because this is how youdoit.

We’ve been using video since 2009.Since then we’ve become very good atusing video to get results. Without adoubt, if we didn’t use video, wewouldn’thave theseven‐figurebusinesswehavenow.

So where do you start? What do youhavetodotogetresultswithvideo?

Letmetakeyouthroughthe5stepswego through when developing a newvideo. All you need to do is follow theexactsamesteps…

STEP #1: DECIDE ON THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

Before doing anything, you need towritedownwhatyourprimaryobjectiveforthevideois.Inrealitythereareonlytwoprimaryobjectivesforanywebsite:togenerateanenquiryorasale.Inmanycases, the objective will be to generatetheenquiryviathecompletionofan

enquiryformforameeting.

STEP #2: CREATE THE SCRIPT

It’s easy to plough right on in and justwanttogetthevideoproduced,butyourvideo isworthless if it doesn’t get yourmessage over. So now you knowwhatyour primary objective is, you have towrite a compelling script that ‘SELLS’theprimaryobjective.

THIS IS THEMOST IMPORTANT PARTOF CREATING YOUR VIDEO. And it’swherethebiggestmistakesaremade.

Just because you’re communicating onvideo doesn’t mean you can takeshortcuts.

Yourcopymuststillbecompellingtogetthe desired outcome. If your primaryobjective is to get the visitor to meetwith you, then you must explain WHYthey should meet with you. Why theirtime with you will be more thanworthwhile.Why they should choose to

meet you above everyone else. You canseeagoodexampleofthishere...

www.WebsiteThatSells.co.uk

Mostimportantly,attheendofthevideomake sure you tell the visitor exactlywhat youwant them to do next. This isyourCALLTOACTION.

Forexample,‘Toarrangeano‐obligationmeeting,simplycompleteyourdetailsinthe form on the right of this page.’ Youhavetobethisclear.

In terms of length, there is a lot ofmisleading information out there. All Iknow is that, fromour testing,we havevideosthatperformwellfrom4minutesupto50minutes.

As always, it depends on your objectiveandhowmany‘words’ittakestogetthejobdone.Foravideowheretheprimaryobjective is to get ameeting, 5minutesshould be ample, but it does of course

CREATING A WEBSITE VIDEO THATCREATING A WEBSITE VIDEO THATCREATING A WEBSITE VIDEO THAT CHURNS OUT ENQUIRIES AND SALES CHURNS OUT ENQUIRIES AND SALES CHURNS OUT ENQUIRIES AND SALES

The ‘Animated’ Video


depend on the product or service yousell.

STEP #3: DECIDE ON THE STYLE

For this purpose, there are three stylesyoucanuse:Animation,Authorityandacombination of both.We have had (andare getting) good results from all 3styles. This is primarily because ourscriptsarenailedon.Whenyourscriptisgood, the style in many respects is notthat important.Youcanseeexamplesofall3styleshere:

Animated:

www.WebsiteThatSells.co.uk

Authority:

www.AccountantsGrowthProgramme.com

Animated&Authority:

www.AcademyForGrowth.co.uk/pages/mcnewsletter/

You can ‘do‐it‐yourself’ or you canoutsource.We outsource all our videos.My opinion is that it’s too important todoityourselfbutifcostisanissue,thendoing it yourself is really your onlyoption. If that’s the case, use somethinglikeCamtasia.Thisisanexcellentscreenrecording piece of software that also

enablesyoutorecordaudio.Ourfirstsetof training videos was done using thissoftware and the results wereimpressive. Alternatively, search onlinefor a video production company andchoosethestyleyoupreferthemost.

STEP #4: HOST THE VIDEO

The easiest and cheapest way to hostyourvideoisviaYouTubeorVimeo,butotherthanverybasicstatsyouwon’tgetmuch information from either of theseplatforms. We use Easy Video Suitewhichdoescomewitha$394pricetag,but it gives you a great deal of value(www.EasyVideoSuite.com).

STEP #5: PUT IT IN THE RIGHT POSITION

This last step is easy.Your videoneedsto be positioned on your home page,above the fold (so it can be seenwhenyourpageloads).

Andnowyou’regoodtogo!

CREATING A WEBSITE VIDEO THATCREATING A WEBSITE VIDEO THATCREATING A WEBSITE VIDEO THAT CHURNS OUT ENQUIRIES AND SALES CHURNS OUT ENQUIRIES AND SALES CHURNS OUT ENQUIRIES AND SALES

The ‘Authority’ Video

The ‘Authority & Animation’ Video

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Icovered one of the best strategies to get newcustomers, clients or patients buying from you asecondtimeonpages8and9(StickLetter).That’satthe start of the relationship. Butwhat about furtherintotherelationship?Iwanttotouchononeelementof creating better relationships with your bestcustomers,sotheybecomeevenBETTERcustomers.I think it’s fair to say that we are all often guilty oftaking our best customers for granted. We’ve evendone it (youdoknowwe’vemadeall themistakes inthepast,probablymorethanyou,whichiswhyIalsohave the solutions!). Remember, these are thecustomers, clients or patients who you profit frommost,butwhereyouhaveasoundrelationshiptoo(I’lltake you through our brilliantmatrix nextmonth onevaluatingyourcustomers.Richarddevelopedit fromthe‘BostonMatrix’andit’swithoutquestiontheBESTway to evaluate any and every customer—you’ll loveit). It’s a win‐win relationship with your bestcustomers. You appreciate the customer and theyappreciateyou.Butbecausetheydon’tmoan...becausethey pay on time... because they treat you and yourstaffwithrespect…oftentheygetverylittleattentionfromyou.And,inreality,ifyougavethemmoreofyourself,moreofyourtime,you’dendupgettingmorebusinessfromthem.In many respects, they become more vulnerablebecause they are such good clients. Ideally,what youneed todo is, figuratively speaking, createa concretewallaroundthemsonootherbusinesscangetclosetothem.

Infairness,youdothisjustbybeingthegoodbusinessyouare,butthatconcretewalldoesn’thavearoofon.Youneedtoaddaconcreteroofotherwiseoneofyourcompetitors could get a large ladder, scale the wallsandgettothem.

Sohowdoyoudothat?Well,thisisthebestpart:onekey retention strategy is tomake sure, twice a year,you take your top customers out for lunch (80% ofyour profit will come from 20% of your customers).That’sall.

Treat them to a nice one‐ or two‐hour lunch ordinner—notasagroupofcustomers,butindividually.

Just ‘chew the fat’. You don’t have to ‘talk shop’ (theconversation will naturally lean towards their needsand your products/services anyway). Show realinterest in them, their family, their hobbies. Find outwhen their birthday is and the rest of their family.You’re looking to createaprofessionalbond that’s asstrongassuperglue.

Andthen,andonlythen,doesyourconcreteroofstartto take shape. Of course, it’s never fully built andthere’salwaysachanceacompetitorcan‘breakin’andsteal the client, but the closer you get to your bestclients—the smaller the hole in the roof and the lesschance your competitorswill have. Better still, you’llspot many more opportunities where you can helpyourclients.That’saperfectwin‐win!SH

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