by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR
Richer. Smarter. Happier.

Giving a “signature” name to your system, product or program is a great way to distinguish your offering in the marketplace. Anyone can provide a marketing workshop, but only YOU sell the “5-Step System to Dazzle Their Socks Off” marketing workshop, for example.

Having a signature name can also help you better communicate to your ideal customers what the unique transformation is that you alone offer and the ultimate end benefit it will provide.

By the way, signature system names aren’t unique to online marketing. Start looking around and you’ll see examples of signature systems everywhere. Some popular ones are the Jiffy Lube Signature Service® Oil Change, the Jenny Craig Food, Body & Mind Program, and The Ripken Way baseball coaching method.

The magic trick to coining a unique, attention-grabbing signature title is to capture — clearly and concisely — the core essence of the transformation you help clients achieve while also making it feel concrete and achievable.

Here are seven tips to keep in mind when crafting the name of your unique signature system. Read more ...

by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR
Richer. Smarter. Happier.

When it comes to attracting more clients, one area where many small business owners and entrepreneurs get hung up is around how to have an effective “sales conversation” with a potential client.

This is especially important if you get nervous or anxious when it comes selling, or if you don’t want to come across as being too sales-y or pushy.

The best solution is to stick with a proven methodology to ensure you’re saying the right things to your customers at the right time.

One sales conversation technique that’s used by sales people at many large companies is called the SPIN approach. It was developed by Neil Rackham and has been proven around the world to drive better sales.

SPIN stands for Situation, Problem, Implication and Needs-Payoff. Read more ...

by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR
Richer. Smarter. Happier.

I once read an article from the Direct Marketing Association that said at any given time, you could expect that only about 3% of your target market is actively looking to buy the type of product or service you offer. THREE PERCENT!

So if the other 97% is not looking for you… you have to go out and look for them!

And while you’re at it, you might as well go looking for that 3%, too, so that you find them before they find your competitor.

(By the way, the idea that there’s “no competition” if you just stay true to your authentic self if ludicrous. But I’ll address that in another post.)

People can’t buy from you if they don’t know about you. It’s the first and most important tenet in the expression, “people buy from people they know, like and trust.”

When it’s spelled out this way, it all sounds pretty obvious. But I never cease to be amazed by the business owners I meet who complain that they don’t have enough clients and yet are simultaneously unwilling to take action or try something new.

I’ve literally had people say things to me such as, “I don’t like to go around saying what I do. I prefer to wait until I know if that person is a good fit for my business and then I let them know that I’m a coach/consultant/trainer/therapist/etc.” Read more ...

by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR
Richer. Smarter. Happier.

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed by a problem or challenge, but when you spoke to someone else about it, they immediately saw a straightforward and obvious solution?  

As humans, we tend to over complicate things. And that’s especially true when it comes to small business owners and their marketing message.

If you’re struggling to figure out what exactly you should SAY about what you do and the value you provide to clients, then one very good place to start is by simply ASKING (gasp!) your target market what it is that they really want.

By going straight to the source, you’ll be able to quickly zero in on not only the problem your ideal customer has, but also how they talk and think about that problem. Then you can use your marketing copy and sales conversations to explain — using their words — how your product or service is just the thing your customers’ need to make that particular problem or challenge disappear. Read more ...

by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR

Richer. Smarter. Happier.

  A lot of small business owners that I meet find themselves very confused about what it is that their target customers really want. And by that I mean: What is the transformation or figurative “after photo” your customers desperately desire that will get them to take action right now to buy your services.

Here’s another great way I’ve heard this explained: “Passengers don’t buy the plane. They buy the destination.”

Makes sense, right?

But keep this in mind, too. You may have a private jet that can fly your customers to many destinations. In other words, your product or service may be able to provide peace of mind, confidence, greater income, less stress, more freedom, lasting romantic relationships, well-behaved children, a partridge in a pear tree…

You get the idea. The KEY to powerful small business marketing however, is to find the destination that is most desirable to the majority of your target market, and then lead with that in your marketing.

**Getting this nailed down is one of the first steps in bringing clarity to your marketing.** Read more ...

by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR

Richer. Smarter. Happier.

When deciding how to price your information products or services, having lower rates doesn’t always mean you will attract more clients. And, in fact, it can mean the clients that you do attract are not necessarily the ones you want.

Aside from the obvious benefit of earning more money, higher prices bring a number of other benefits as well. Typically, the more a client pays, the less “high maintenance” they will be. Not only that, but because they are paying more, they will likely value you (and your knowledge) a lot more, too. That means they’re more prone to act on your advice and, in the process, achieve greater results — something that’s good for both your mojo and your testimonials page.

And, finally, having a few clients at a higher price means less administrative “stuff” for you to deal with. Every client requires a contract, billing, scheduling, etc. So you can either have 10 clients paying $10,000 or 100 clients paying $1,000. Guess which business model will cost you less money in overhead and be less hassle to run?

So how do you command a premium price? Here are 7 simple ways to enable you to charge a premium for your services (or information products) and have the clients you want waiting in line to pay for them. Read more ...

by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR

Richer. Smarter. Happier.

Publishing an ezine is still one of the most powerful forms of self-promotion available to small business owners today. It’s cost effective. It can be automated. It’s fast, flexible and scalable. And, if used well, it allows you to become someone your market knows, likes and trusts. But as with any marketing or relationship-building materials, for your ezine to be successful, your audience has to actually read it.

In my last blog post, I provided a list of 101 ideas for subject lines that get your marketing emails opened. Today, I’m sharing tips to help you with the next step in the process: developing great content. Follow these four rules and you’ll have your target market begging for more.

  Read more ...

by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR

Richer. Smarter. Happier.

Email marketing to your opt-in list is one of the most effective — not to mention affordable — types of marketing there is. Assuming you’ve built a solid list of people who are interested in the type of information or services you provide, the next critical ingredient is getting your audience to actually read your emails.

However, that’s getting more and more difficult to do. Statistics vary. But for sake of argument, a study by the Radicati Group from May 2009 estimated the number of emails sent in the world each day to be around 247 billion. Yes, BILLION. Which means more than 2.8 million emails are sent every second.

Of those, around 80% of these messages are considered spam. Still, that leaves most professionals in the U.S. receiving over 100 legitimate emails a day.

So with everyone’s email boxes overflowing, how do you get your email marketing promotions to garner the attention they deserve? By giving each email a subject line that makes people stop and take notice of course!

I’ve compiled a list of 101 subject line “starters” for you here. Of course, you’ll want to add your own special touches. You can also personalize the subject lines by incorporating the person’s first name. Or you can add an element of time (i.e. “this Friday” or “tonight”), which will give your emails a greater sense of urgency.

1. Have you heard about this? Read more ...

by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR

Richer. Smarter. Happier.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve hated — I mean absolutely hated — pumpkin pie. But I haven’t wanted to hate it.

I love pumpkin.
I love cinnamon.
I love the yummy, flaky crust.

And every Thanksgiving, when the rest of my family is chowing down on their delicious-looking pie with a heaping dollop of whipped cream on top, I’m envious. So much so that I inevitably end up taking a bite of someone else’s slice to see if maybe I’ve finally acquired a taste for the stuff.

Nope! Still don’t like it.

Not at least until one day back when I was working at a large defense company. It was the annual “Thanksgiving lunch” in the company cafeteria. (If this brings back childhood memories of Thanksgiving-themed school lunches, then you’re on the right track.)

Anyway, as part of the lunch, everyone got a slice of pumpkin pie. It was already included in the price, so how could I pass it up? If nothing else, I could eat the whipped cream and the crust, and still get my post-lunch sugar fix.

So there I am, sitting in my second-floor office, eating lunch while responding to emails, when I take a bite of my pumpkin pie. Whoa! This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted!!! It’s DELICIOUS!!! But how could that be???

Just to be sure, I took another bite. And another. Read more ...

by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR

Richer. Smarter. Happier.

When it comes to small business success, a name means everything. And coming up
with the right name for your business is one of the most important decisions you’ll
make.

With your future on the line, plan on putting in just as much time and effort
into creating a winning business name as you did when developing your business
plan or choosing your target market. The right name will help to pique curiosity,
attract your ideal customers and form an immediate emotional connection, while
the wrong one can leave you and your business faltering.

Unfortunately, there’s no magic recipe for picking a winning business
name. But following the six hints below will definitely point you in the right
direction.

1. Keep it short

   Although there are always exceptions, the majority of great business
   names tend to be short, to the point and catchy. Think: Nike, Apple, Coke,
   PayPal and Google, for example. Longer names are usually difficult to say
   and harder to handle in radio ads, on logos and signage.

   If you do decide to go with a longer length (like I did for Richer. Smarter.
   Happier.), make sure its shortened version, which might be required for its
   web domain, is acceptable. (In my case, I use the shorter @richerhappier.com
   for email addresses.)