5 Tips to Get More Results from Your Marketing Materials

The moment I decided to specialize as a direct response copywriter (which means you get a response directly from the marketing materials, there's no middle person involved, like a sales rep) I knew there would be one thing that would determine if I would be eating steak or eating mac and cheese.

And what's the one thing? The results I got for my clients.

Therefore, improving results became a pretty big focus of mine. You might even call it a passion. (Some people who aren't nearly as nice have called it in an obsession.)

Regardless, here are 5 tips that can help you improve the conversions of your marketing materials.

1. Know who you're talking to. If I hear anyone say "women are my potential customers" or "anyone with skin is my target market" (yes, that really was a direct quote from someone who sold Mary Kay or Arbonne or something like that) I will send my border collies (all 3 of them) to your house and force you to play fetch with them until your arm falls off. Seriously, the quickest way you can end up with the most dismal results imaginable is to try and talk to everyone. Come up with a specific customer -- the more specific the better -- and make sure your marketing materials speak directly to that customer.

2. Make sure you write benefits, not features. This one is probably the hardest one to "get" but also one of the most critical. People buy benefits, not features, so if you only talk about features you're just asking for people not to buy what you're selling.

So what is the difference between features and benefits? Features are a description of a product -- for instance, if we're talking about a diet pill, a feature would that the product is a pill. A benefit would be the solution the product provides -- in this case, losing weight.

As much as you possibly can, write about why someone should buy your product. No one buys diet pills because they like taking pills, they buy them to lose weight. Think of the solution your product or service provides and write about that.

3. Work on that headline. David Ogilvy, famous ad man and author of Confessions of an Advertising Man, has said that people make the decision to read your marketing materials based your headline.

Your headline should: a. speak to your potential customers, b. contain a benefit, c. be so compelling your target market is compelled to read further. That's a lot to ask for from basically a handful of words. So don't rush the process -- take as much time as you need to create the very best headline for your particular piece.

4. Don't forget the call to action. You've got to tell people what to do next. If you don't tell them what you want them to do, chances are they won't do anything.

Don't assume your potential customers know what you want them to do. They don't. They can't read your mind. Nor do they want to. They're busy people. They don't have the time or the energy to figure things out. Tell them what to do next, or don't be surprised when they don't do anything.

5. Use P.S.'s or captions. Postscripts (P.S.) are the second most read item in a sales piece. What's the third? Captions. (The copy under photos, diagrams or other illustrations.) Now that you know that, think of the ways you can use either or both of those items in your pieces. Maybe you put a special offer in there or you highlight a particularly compelling benefit. Or you tell them again what you want their next step to be. Whatever you do, don't waste that space.

If you even do just one of these tips, you should start seeing better results. Work on all five and you might be amazed at how much your results improve.

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Be A Performer In You Job

ver the years I have been able to maintain as a performer in my jobs. I have work for more than 5 years and I had work in a few companies before. I am able to maintain between the results of above average and outstanding every time when comes to annual performance review. Below are some of the attitude and mindset that I adopted in my job:

1. Do more than expected. When you are expected to solve 1 task, don't only solve that 1 task. Solve more than 1 task. A lot of people are not willing to do more. They thought that if they do more, they will lose out. This is not a correct mindset. Only by doing more, you will learn more. By doing more, you create additional value for yourself. And a boss likes subordinate who willing to do more.

2. When you finish your task, don't just sit there and wait for your boss to assign you the second task. Go and ask for more, be proactive. Your boss will be impress.

3. Act and think that the company is own by you. If you are the owner of your company, I am sure that you will be 100% commited when you do your work. You will do your best for your own company.

4. Learn to like your job. Like what you are doing. If you really not able to like your job, then change to a job that you like.

5. Willing to share your knowledge with others. Many people are not willing to share what they know to others because they want to keep the knowledge to themselves. They don't want other people to know that so that they can become more valuable to the company. Indeed this is not true. If you continue to keep the same knowledge to yourself, then you will not be going far. One of the important criteria to be promoted to a bigger role is that you need to know how to coach your subordinate. If you don't share what you know, then you won't be given that bigger responsibility. If you are willing to share your knowledge and you are good enough, people will know and they will respect you as an expert. Read More..

Success Formula

Success makes you more self-confident. Besides success gives birth to another victory. Even the smallest piece of luck can be a step to a great one. To reach your own peak of success, you are to climb the following steps: Dare to try and dare to win. If you come across something unknown, you are sure to feel doubtful. Overcome your hesitations and be in the mood of victory. Surely you are to make concessions, you will not avoid mistakes. But it will serve you as a good practice. You'll learn from your mistakes and next time you will act differently.

Turn anxiety into self-confidence. Stop worrying what others think of you. Turn anxiety into self-confidence. Think more of other people. Each person is unique and special. Try appeal to his/her interest. If you manage to win his trust, you will be more confident and worry will disappear. Try to relax. Look for best in people. Talk about things interesting for your company. Share the attention. If you active and attract a lot of attention – share it. You should give something to the people around you, not just enjoy your own popularity. Think more of others. A self-confident person should be compassionate, show interest to other people and be able to get on with people. The most difficult is to turn satisfaction of other people's needs into the means of achieving your aim.

Believe in yourself and value yourself. Learn to listen. This is the key to developing "successful "personality in you. It will help you to set a more close connection with your partner. Overcome constraint and speak freely. Talk to the point – the thought adds lustre to the conversation. Act. You can't sit and wait till the golden rain falls on you. Don't rest on the laurels, but enjoy your position. Accept praise and kind words with pleasure. Don't criticize, praise. Someone has attained success by hard work or he was just lucky – give due to them. Do not miss an opportunity to praise someone. People like it and it fills you with confidence. If someone has managed to do it, then you are also able to cope with it. You will have optimistic and successful atmosphere around you. And this is a substantial support. Read More..