Claude's Articles

It happened two days ago. Another advertising rep came through the door. He was pleasant enough. He was expanding his little (51/2 X 8) coupon book to my area. His circulation is 45,000 at a cost of $550 a page...
I've seen a few mistakes that are costing retail advertisers money. Here's a major one; Thinking the customer is an expert in the product you are selling. Many times ads can only be understood if you have "inside information".
Readership is everything when sending a newsletter. The first thing people are going to scan are your headlines. They need to be engaging, intriguing, and entertaining enough to pull the reader into the article. Questions are a good way to make a headline.
This report will explain the benefits and drawbacks of using a store newsletter to increase your business from past customers. The relationship you have with your customer is the single greatest competitive advantage you can have. It is the thing you can offer that K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and Lowe's can't offer. And it's the main reason people will come back. There are several ways to build on the relationship you have with your customers. You can do it through;
How To Create A Celebrity Public Personality... What do Donald Trump, Dave Thomas, Richard Branson, and that crazy guy on TV that sells cars have in common? They all use their image to increase the value of what they sell. They are "Business Personalities."
Most ads appeal to the person who is ready to buy now. But did you know that there are stages of buying? Yup. Roughly, they are...
One of the most important parts of marketing is deciding who you want to attract to your business. Please don't say everyone. Do you want shoplifters? People who regularly return everything they buy? The people who only buy the very cheapest thing & then complain when they break it because "We paid GOOD money for that!" Think about your most profitable customers...
OK, I admit it, that was my attempt to be cute. Do you want to create ads that really sell? The one glaring mistake that I see over and over again is that the headlines don't make the reader want to read the rest of the ad. Here is the main reason your ad fails.
I was reading the other day about the space probes sent to Mars. The article told about the distance to Mars, the timing of the launch, and how accurate the math had to be. Mars is about 35 MILLION miles from Earth at it's closest. (I'm doing this from memory. I may be off a little).
If you read marketing books; almost any marketing book, it will talk about your USP or Unique Selling Proposition. This is the one thing that the customer sees that sets you apart from your competition. Usually this is a Huge Promise of some sort.
"Try the new ___ Risk Free for 30 days! Keep the ____ even if you return the _____ for a full refund" That's the template for the ad. Fill in the blanks. How about; "Try our new 8 pound upright vacuum cleaner Risk Free for 30 days! Keep the $69 Air Purifier even if you return the vacuum cleaner for a full refund".
"My customers are different. My market is different. That won't work in my market!" Listen closely while I show why this is absolutely wrong. I have a friend who tells me constantly "That idea will work fine in your area. But my market is different. My customers won't go for that."
There was recently a survey done with retail customers. They were asked what they considered important when deciding who to purchase from. Most retailers would jump on Price as the most important. Nope. Price came in number five. There were many considerations listed after number five, but here are the top five, with number one being most important.
What group of consumers is least price resistant? What group makes their buying decisions the quickest? What group of Americans spends the most money, on the best quality (and most profitable) stuff? Who are these people? Salivating yet?
When people talk about your store, what do they say? When one person says to another "Oh, the Vac Shack? Yeah, that's the guy that..." or "They're the guys that" How are people going to finish that sentence?
Have you ever heard that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers? It's true. Here's how to use that information.
80% of your ad's effectiveness is from your choice of headline. Here are a few ideas.
If you sell anything to anybody, eventually, you'll have someone ask to "give it a free try for a few days". Now, what do you do to answer the question and use it to make the sale?
Do you have competitors? Here's how you can make them "Irrelevant", and make yourself "The Only Game In Town".
Have you ever heard a salesperson who sounded so masterful at his (or her) craft, that you you were in awe? We did. Here's what happened and what we learned from it.
Are you in sales? Do you hire salespeople? Would you rather be paid a salary or a commission? After reading this conversation I had, you may find yourself changing your mind.
Would you like to know whether this person you are interviewing will be a good employee? Here's the single most important question you can ask, and why.
Do you get people calling you and all they want is a price? If you advertise in the Yellow Pages, I'm sure you do. Would you like to know the most profitable way to answer the "Price Shopper"? Here's a story of what a customer had to go through, and how you can profit from her experience.
When someone brings in a product (like a vacuum cleaner) the next day for a refund, don't you just hate it? I sure do.
Get returns? Don't you just hate it? Here's how to handle them and save the sale.