Are You Getting What You Need?

By Stacy Karacostas

“You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find…you get what you need.” Mick Jagger

What is one of the biggest struggles most entrepreneurs face? Figuring out how to market and grow their business. And most make a lot of costly mistakes before they hire a professional or learn how to do it right.

I regularly have new clients come to me with a specific marketing project in mind. And at least half of the time, I end up discouraging them from doing it—or at least doing it the way they had planned.

I know…Sounds crazy right? As a copywriter, you’d think I would just smile, say “okey dokey”, then whip up some zippy copy, take their money, and send them on their way.

But the marketing consultant in me—the one dedicated to helping my clients become more successful—won’t let me do it. Why? Because I know from experience that their idea is not going to help them achieve their goals.

How so? Well, let’s say you want eight new clients a month. So you decide to create a new brochure to market your business.

All I have to do is ask you three simple questions, and I can tell right away whether this brochure is likely to do the trick…

1) How are you planning to use the brochure?

2) What do you want the brochure to do?

And

3) What happens after someone gets your brochure?

Most people have an answer for number one…Put ‘em in a stand in their office, or hopefully, someone else’s office. Or hand them out at networking events and trade shows.

As for number two, the answer I hear most often is a vague, “bring in new clients”.

Well this is all well and good on the surface. But is handing out a brochure at a trade show, or sticking them in a stand, really going to bring in eight new clients a month? Or even two new clients a month?

Let’s think about this for a minute…

What do you usually do when you get a brochure?

Do you read it? Maybe.

It depends on a few things:
• Whether you picked it up or it was given to you.
• How compelling the headline is.
• If you think the product or service might help you in some way.
• The number of brochures you picked up that day.
• How busy you are.

If you don’t read it right away, it probably ends up stuffed in a file cabinet or stack of papers, or tossed straight in to the circular file. In fact, it probably ends up in the trash either way. One way it just gets a bit dustier first.

Now let’s say the headline caught your eye so you do at least skim it.

Most clients want me to write a brochure filled with general information about their company, products and services. You know…the kind of brochure where every other sentence or paragraph starts with “we”. As in “We offer the finest selection…” or “We’ve been in business for a gazillion years…”.

So you skim this informational brochure, and then what happens? Nothing.

Why? Because the brochure was not designed with a specific end goal in mind. The client had no idea what they really wanted you to do, so you don’t know either.

The chances of getting a bunch of new clients from a brochure like this are slim to none.

Now I’m not saying brochures are bad. Brochures can be very effective when designed, written and used in just the right way, and as part of a larger marketing plan. But if you need new clients fast, a basic brochure alone just ain’t gonna do the trick.

Which leads us to the third question…

"What happens after someone gets your brochure?”

Do they have a compelling reason to call you right away? Do you have a plan to follow up? Do you even have a way to collect their contact information so you can follow up?

Maybe your brochure should send them to your Website to download a free report (in exchange for their contact info, of course). Then you could also follow up with a direct mail campaign or a free newsletter. Or maybe a couple of inexpensive one-sheets would be even better than a brochure.

The bottom line is that the list of options for marketing your business is only limited by your budget, abilities and imagination. But the key to making good marketing decisions is to always ask yourself these same three questions…

How am I planning to use the brochure (or ad, or Website)?

What do I want it to do?

And

What happens after someone gets/reads it?

If you do not know the answer to any one of these questions, stop now. If you can answer these questions, then carefully consider whether your idea is truly likely to help you reach your goal.

If not, don’t waste your time and money! Because there is no sense in paying for marketing that doesn’t make sense, or sales.

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