Announcing Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing®

I am very happy to announce that after almost one year of hard work John Jantsch and Palo Alto Software have released Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing.

Marketing Plan Pro 11.0 is simple, practical marketing plan software that makes it easy to plan and carry out the marketing activities you need to grow your business. Not only is it the fastest, easiest way to write a marketing plan, it gives you a live roadmap to implement real programs and marketing activities that will make a measurable difference in your business.

Oh, and did I mention that Marketing Plan Pro is powered by Duct Tape Marketing. You now have everything you need to develop an action-oriented marketing plan.

I recommend starting with the simplest marketing plan outline — the 30-minute marketing plan — then circling back to add detail as you progress. Creating an actionable small business marketing plan doesn’t have to be a month-long endeavor.

Marketing Plan sections follow the Duct Tape Marketing System and include:

• Build your marketing vision
• Define your ideal customer
• Identify your remarkable difference
• Develop your message
• Build a product/service mix
• Find your future customers
• Create magnificent marketing materials
• Use the power of the Internet
• Retain loyal customers
• Build your team
• Plan and schedule marketing activities
• Forecast sales and budget expenses
• Understand your number

This latest release of Marketing Plan Pro includes everything you need to create a complete, action-ready marketing plan using the Duct Tape Marketing process.

What do you do for a living?

O.K. I have an exercise for you.

I want you to answer this question: “What do you do for a living?”The trick though is that I don’t want to hear what your title or profession is, I want to hear how what you do for a living is going help me get what I want.

Most small business is done face to face or over the phone. So, when you can come up with a statement that makes me beg to know more about what you do for a living…then you will climb out of the commodity business and into the premium business (as in, you can charge a premium for your services.)

Here’s a simple formula that will help you with your answer to the “What do you do” question.

“What Do You Do For A Living?” I (Verb) + (Target Market) + (Something that matters to the target)

I teach small business owners how to triple what they make (marketing coach), I show women owned businesses how to grab a huge share of federal grant money (consultant), I ease the fears of expecting parents (financial planner), I create financial rescue plans for the financially stranded (credit counselor), I  bring comfort to the hot and sweaty (heating and cooling company), and I show contractors how to get free from their business (attorney).

Get the idea? Making a statement like this forces you out of the commodity business and immediately begins to communicate how you are unique.

Differentiate or die

Time to face the facts. Every business is a commodity business.

Given nothing to prove them wrong, your prospects will believe that your business is just like another. Any accountant is good enough to complete my tax return, any electrician is good enough to install my ceiling fan and any restaurant is good enough to fill my stomach and stop my hunger pangs (for the moment). We have become a society where undifferentiated businesses are lumped into the category of “good enough” where products and services are differentiated solely based on price. Does this sound familiar?

Now, I didn’t say it was always true or that there wasn’t anything you could do to change your prospects’ impression of the value you offer.

If you remember one thing from this post, remember this: if you can’t find a way to differentiate your business from every other business that does what you do and if you can’t communicate that difference in a way that really matters to a narrow target market, then you’re basically in the commodity business. If I can’t tell how one business is different than another, then I will use the only thing I can measure – price. Yes, the driving force in the commodity business is always price.

In case you haven’t discovered this yet, price is not where you want to compete. I assure you that there is someone out there willing to go out of business faster than you.

Find something that separates you from your competition, become it and speak it to everyone you meet. Quality isn’t it, good service isn’t it, fair pricing – not it. Customers now insist on high quality, quick delivery, consistent service and relatively low prices. These “pleasures” are expected and are not differentiators. The competitive environment has made marketing and selling much more challenging. Customers can compare suppliers in real time and at any time, which places them firmly in the driver’s seat.

A quality point of differentiation is in the way you do business, the way you package your product, the way you sell your service, the fact that you send cookies to your clients, the fact that you show people how to transform their lives – it’s in the experience you provide.

Get it? What is it that you do that sets you apart from the good enough businesses?

So how do you get out of the commodity business? Next time I’ll have an exercise that will force you out of the commodity business and help you to immediately begin to communicate how unique you are.

Get past the social media hype

To add-on to yesterday’s post on social media, I ran across an interesting microsite by 1to1 Media called Get Past the Social Media Hype.

Social media is everywhere. But it’s not just hype. Companies of all sizes and across industries are finding ways to incorporate social media initiatives into their customer strategy to build more valuable customer relationships. So are you ready to get started?

Social media is all about collaborating with customers to build valuable relationships.

Sound familiar?

If you’re a small business owner, I recommend you check out the 1to1 Social media microsite. It has a lot of useful information to start creating your social media strategy.

Redefining traditional media

Traditional media is still a valid and needed part of the small business marketing mix but only to the extent it helps create awareness of online and social media experiences with your brand. Bold statement, I know.

Small business owners need to recognize that prospects no longer move neatly from one media touch point to the next. They move around, sampling a video on YouTube, scanning a traditional print ad, reading RSS feeds in their feed reader, checking their Facebook or LinkedIn accounts or reading new entries in their favorite blogs. Just focusing on traditional, one-way “awareness” ads will make your brand seem stiff , inwardly focused and, ultimately, will not get results.

Going forward small business owners need to think in terms of three tiers – traditional, to online, to social. How prospects engage with you and your company through digital and social media channels will ultimately define your brand. Today, it’s all about providing opportunities for prospects to build communities and reciprocal relationships.

John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing had a great post the other day about social media and hoiw if you’re not participating somehow you’re not really online.

Read John’s entire post here.

Local search to the rescue

I’m certainly not the first person to blog about the importance of local search. There’s enough information on the topic to choke a horse. But I do want to spend some time on it because I believe it to be one of the most important and practical online strategies for small businesses.

Why is local search so important? Well, for starters, local search results are displayed in a location where up to 90% of local searchers look - top left above the organic search results. Local search has certainly gained real traction as a component of a comprehensive online search engine strategy. Our  tendency as consumers to purchase 80% of what we buy within 25 miles of where we live and work has propelled local search as the fastest growing form of online activity. As new technologies like smart phones, PDAs and WiFi become even more common, the growth of local search is sure to accelerate.

I’ve found that some small business owners may have a broad understanding of local search and may have even used Search Engine Optimization techniques or pay-per-click search (i.e. AdWords), but many have yet to take advantage of their business information and content being distributed on local search engines.

Given that consumers will soon conduct two billion local searches each month, small businesses need to take action now to manage their online local listings. It’s not complicated, but can be confusing. If you’re wondering where to start, below are a few steps to get the ball rolling:

• test to make sure that if your business information is currently listed in local search that it is accurate and up-to-date. Having accurate, updated content is essential to small businesses, local search engines and in-the-market, ready-to-buy online consumers.
• make sure your listings are working for you with deep, keyword rich content consumers are using to search online.
• ensure that you’re listed with at least the top four search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask).
• integrate local search initiatives with Search Engine Optimization and pay-per-click campaigns.

80% of all advertising is wasted

No matter how striking the illustration or photo, the headline is the most important part of any ad. It is a scientifically proven fact that 5 times as many people read headlines as read the body copy of an ad. In fact, the vast majority of people use the headline to decide if they’re interested in reading the rest of your ad.

So, if headlines are so important, why is it that 80% of small business advertising is wasted due to a poorly written headline or, worse yet, no headline at all? Why risk the success of your entire advertising campaign? Below are a few simple “rules” to writing successful headlines.

Any advertisement you’re thinking of running must have a headline and your headline must grab your reader’s attention immediately. Nothing happens unless you can get the reader to stop and pay attention to what else you have to say. Of course, the rest of the ad must maintain the reader’s attention (you’ll find that the rest of the ad becomes easier to write once you’ve nailed the headline) and, when it’s all said and done, you must move the reader to take action; call, visit your website, download your white paper, attend your Webinar… whatever.

Writing powerful headlines is not easy but it can be done if you follow some simple guidelines.

1. Your headline should give the reader a reason to stop and read now instead of later – a carefully chosen word or two can create urgency

2. Your headline should communicate something the reader considers valuable – they need to be able to justify the time spent reading your ad

3. Your headline should scream how you might offer something that is unique or at least interesting

4. Your headline should point to something very specific for the reader – use facts and how to’s

Using these points as a guide to create your headlines allows you to create headlines that hook your reader quickly, offers them a benefit they want, and gives them a reason to read on.

Avoid headlines that merely provoke curiosity without substance or focus on negative aspects.

Attention Getting Power Words for Your Headlines

Look at powerful headlines and you will see that many contain one or more of the following words that sell.

Discover, Easy, Free, New, How,
Proven, Save, Results, Introducing,
Advice, Guarantee, Bargain, Easy,
Quick, Sale, Why, How To,
Because, Now, Announcing

Here are some headlines that fall in the “Headline Hall of Fame” category for their design and their effectiveness over time. Again, some may seem corny or simple, but they are considered great headlines because they have worked over and over again.

How a fool stunt made me a star salesman

What’s wrong with this picture?

How I improved my memory in one evening

Announcing a new home money-making plan

Give me 5 days and I’ll give you a magnetic personality… Let me prove it - FREE

I gambled a postage stamp and won $35,840 in 2 years

There’s no reason to be intimidated headlines. Start off by writing some that clearly communicate your promise, benefit or Unique Selling Proposition. Then look for ways to make them even more powerful by appealing to the reader’s self-interest, providing news or arousing curiosity.