An effective way to persuade others (and be persuaded ourselves) is to have them create mental pictures of the past, present and future and of places. A simple way to do this is by using a “magic” word: “Imagine!”
What does your price say about your product or service?
Your price is a statement about what you believe the value of our product or service is. It is a positioning statement.
The money is in the “back end”
You always have to be thinking about what else you can offer to your customer.
Create a better experience for customers by managing their expectations
You can take the edge off an unpleasant feature by telling your customer in advance what to expect.
Cures for “Writer’s Block”
There's no excuse for being lazy. Writing is hard work.
The ugly side of marketing
There is another side of marketing that isn't glamorous, but without which the other stuff means nothing. Measuring results.
Build your business with an Extraordinary Guarantee
One of the best ways to differentiate your business, justify premium prices and eliminate an obstacle to sales of your product or service is to provide an Extraordinary Guarantee.
Marketing IS the business
Probably the most common question people ask when they first meet someone is, “What do you do for a living?”
A business owner will commonly answer with the product or service the business does: “I’m an accountant.” “I’m a dog groomer.” “I’m a software engineer.” “I’m a chef.”
Business owners that believe it when they say this haven’t really created a business. They have created a job for themselves. (And they usually have a lousy employee and a worse boss!)
A business owner should be an entrepreneur, which means a person who creates businesses. The skills of creating a business are different from the skills of performing the service or producing the product the business delivers.
The core skill of the entrepreneur is marketing — building and nurturing a “herd” of customers who are raving fans and communicating with them to generate a steady stream of revenue.
Without customers and sales, there can be no business.
Businesses that reduce their marketing during a recession are committing suicide.
Most of the other functions of the business, even product development, can be outsourced, but marketing should always be the primary concern of the entrepreneur/business owner. The entrepreneur must be able to at least recognize good marketing when he or she sees it and implement it consistently.
“The Secret” in marketing communications
When you want to get someone's attention for a marketing communication. it's hard to beat including two magic words, "The Secret", in your headline.
You can’t bore your customer into buying
The customer wants to know how this product or service will solve the customer's problems and make his or her life better.