Be Not Anxious and Write!

One of my writers is a bit of a stress-case. He agonizes over his copy, second-guessing himself, cutting off his productivity because he's afraid of putting down the wrong word. Invariably, he hands me his copy with a wince, believing it to be awful. It is almost always excellent.

Self-confidence is difficult for writers to attain. Is it fear of judgment more than fear of failure? Perhaps we give the page too much reverence. Back when I first started and the page was actually made of paper, there was a certain value to that. Now the opposite is true. To revere the digital page is to waste time instead of paper. Get the words down! Lay some virtual brick and worry about rearranging later!

And now the flip side; I occasionally edit people's novels and there is much to be said about learning your craft. Sometimes I feel I'm getting paid just to stay awake. I applaud them for getting the words down, and I suppose I wouldn't receive a paycheck if they learned the basics of story structure and compelling prose, but being able to push those bricks around and tear down redundant or irrelevant walls is equally important.

The key, I guess, is to be able to recognize good work even when it's yours. My employee would certainly save a lot of stress.

Taste Tests versus Brand Strength

Burger King has stooped to the "Whoppervirgin" campaign. They hunt down individuals in backwater countries who have never tasted either Whoppers or Big Macs and then run a taste test (I don't know where they get the burgers -- are they reheated from stores in a civilized country?).

To no one's surprise, the Whopper wins, hands down (it is their commercial after all). Nevermind these folks have no idea what a hamburger is (and in some cases what a cow is) and therefore have no baseline of "good" burger and "bad" burger. The whopper may taste more like the locusts they're used to eating and therefore get the thumbs up. Who knows?

Ultimately, it doesn't matter. The Taste Test is the last resort of an inferior brand--note I'm not saying inferior product, just inferior brand. If Micky D's and the Burger Sovereign were to build stores in the third-world country, Ronald would take the cake regardless of which tastes better.

McDonalds, like Coca-Cola, crafted a bulletproof brand. The experience was what Ray Kroc sold, not hamburgers. Ronald, the Hamburgler, Grimace, the Golden Arches and primary colors have greater family appeal. Burger King perfected their charbroiled burger and gave their brand second banana. When they tried to change it and brought on the creepy king, they were stuck with a brand that doesn't resonate. McDonald's is about "us" and Burger King is about "them."

Catch the distinction.

Hey, Everybody! Let's Sink the Ship Faster!

The economy is slowing down, the housing market almost to a stand-still.

Some people blame the government, but like the selling frenzy that comes upon a falling stock market, the fault really lays with the same people who can reverse it.

Here's the way it works: Sales begin to fall and companies (especially small companies) react like a dieter on the Atkins diet: the start trimming muscle before they trim fat.

"Muscle" for a company is marketing. Imagine a healthy body from the bones out... a company begins with an idea (bone marrow) and develops a business plan/infrastructure (skeleton). They only way to put flesh on the bones is to advertise and promote the business (muscle). They run lean and mean until the customers start buying. Through poor management, this is when a company begins to lay on the fat. Procedures aren't refined and toned, people are hired who aren't up to the job, unprofitable product lines consume resources...

...and when sales drop the first thing - THE FIRST THING - cut is MARKETING. Not the fat. Efficiency should be picked up, jobs refined - and if necessary, terminated - and emphasis on high profit items should be targeted.

Certainly marketing should be looked at and like so many things, boundary may fuel innovation (I have a client who produced beautiful brochures, but sales were dropping so he switched to cheap fliers stuffed in a plastic bag with a rock to weigh it down, which he threw into people's driveway. While it annoys some people, his guerrilla campaign WORKS). Get creative, but don't stop.

Take a clue from the big boys who increase their direct mailing when sales are down. They offer incentives because a slightly less profitable sale on a high profit item is better than no sale.

Drop fat, not muscle, or you'll sink faster.

The Best Marketing is Good Service

Checking out at Staples this afternoon, I saw a woman gazing at the stand of TaxCut software. Lickety-split I hustled over to let her know that TurboTax rocks and TaxCut is the pits.

Five years ago...FIVE YEARS AGO... I got Taxcut because it was cheaper. I did my taxes and was going to get 2200 bucks back. I hit e-file and it simply refused to do it. A week later it still wouldn't work so I popped for TurboTax and it told me I'd get $3400 back. I ran it again, same thing. Ran TaxCut again and still got the $2200. I am GRATEFUL that the e-file wouldn't work and HORRIFIED that it would have cost me $1200 to use TaxCut.

From that moment on, I will tell anyone that TurboTax is the way to go. I got Taxcut for free in the mail and I threw it away. That is the power of one bad experience.

One strike and you're out.

A quick list of things that will strike out a company in my eyes.
1. A bad experience with the product or service.
2. Poor phone etiquette when I call. "Hello?" doesn't cut if for a business greeting. I need a thank you, a cheery voice, a name, and solicitation for how they can help me.
3. Putting me through transfer hell. One transfer, max.
4. Lack of eye contact when I'm there in person and I want a similar greeting that I want on the phone.

I write marketing material for companies, and while I charge a reasonable rate, if I get a poor reception on the phone or in person, I'll offer corrective advice for free. It is rarely taken. Maybe it would be taken if I charged for it...

Is Branding Optional?

Two hair cutters in town share a common theme and a common experience. Big League Haircuts and Sport Clips have a sports theme, and the "Brand" (that is, the experience of going there) is a shampoo, scalp massage and back massage in addition to a fair haircut.

The difference, Big League has one price that includes everything. It is a couple dollars more than Sport Clips "just the haircut" price. At Sport Clips, you pay $5 more to get the extras (their advertising does not say this), which makes it more expensive than Big League's flat price.

Who has the stronger brand? Big Leagues by giving a repeatable experience every time, or Sport Clips for providing the option, which means you can have a different experience each time?

My money (literally, since they've won my business) goes to Big League. By making the brand experience optional, Sport Clips has diluted the all-important experience. You see, they've mistaken Identity (the sports theme) for Brand (the experience).

Interestingly, they are both about the same age, and Sport Clips has three times as many outlets. I hear regularly about Big League on the radio and billboards and tried them when they first opened a year ago, and return regularly. Sport Clips is right around the corner and has been for three years, but I didn't know it until I received a free coupon in the mail (for a regular haircut, not the extras). I won't be going back.

Big League understands the experiential nature of the Brand and craft their Identity to it (which includes a much better floor plan than Sport Clips).

One last thing: I asked the Sport Clip stylist about Big League. She trash-talked them (inaccurately, too). She should have been coached by the owner to ask "Who do you like better? Why? How could we improve?" which would have impressed me more than the fairly good haircut she gave me. And it would have gathered information the owner needs.

Drawing the Line on Familiarity

I get a lot of good information free by signing up for other copywriter and online businessman's special reports, white papers, and, as a result, their newsletters.

There is a true science to these e-mails. You have to send them out often enough to stay in the receiver's mind, but not so often that you annoy them.

But repetition isn't the main thing. I have one fellow send me e-mails almost every other day and it doesn't bother me. I've bought his books, spoken with him on the phone, and his copy strikes just the right tone of familiarity. Sometimes he sends me solicitations I don't want and I trash them, and sometimes he sends me articles and advice, which I keep.

Another fellow sent e-mail once a week until I opted out. He was too familiar. He wrote as if he was my best friend. The free report I'd read was simple and not all that helpful, but it had a few good points. The writing style was presumptuous.

I call it the Goldilocks syndrome. If the porridge is too cold, or too familiar, I'll spit it out. If the porridge is just right in familiarity and helpfulness, I'll keep accepting the e-mails. Finding that tone is what separates a professional from an amateur.

Website Drivers and Free Information

There are several kind of drivers (items that drive people to your website). They might include discount coupons, free physical products, and - the most effective of all - information products.

People who use the web are often information junkies, so offering free information is a great lure for your website. What you call these items and what they really are might be two different things. For example, "Special Report" pulls better than "White Paper" so, even though they are two different things, you might want to call your White Paper a Special Report. Pull issues aside, though, you should know the difference between different information items and where to use them.

A Book (e-book or paper) is a long treatment of a single subject. Books draw people who don't necessarily know a lot but want to learn. As a result, the author must build plenty of bridges to explain each link in the chain of their argument's logic.

A Pamphlet is smaller than a book but serves much the same function. It still draws people of limited knowledge, but perhaps the subject isn't as big, or you're using it to lead people to buy the larger and more complete book.

A Special Report (or just "Report") is normally longer than an article, but it explores a small topic. Bridges are still built because reports are for beginners and you're introducing "new" information. Reports tend to be more broad and the information-per-word-count is fairly low.

A White Paper is not for beginners in a subject. They are for executives, professionals, or people working in the field of your topic. It gets right to the point, it is detailed, but it doesn't waste time building bridges because these people are already sold on the subject, they just want you to distill the information into quick, easily read sentences. WP's tend to be deeper with a greater focus. Info-per-word-count is high. White Papers are better for Business to Business (B2B) rather than for the general public.

Special Reports and White Papers are often sold and sometimes for a great deal of money. It's my opinion that Reports should be freebie's and White Papers sold. Hook buyers with free Reports and then when they are more knowledgeable begin selling White Papers.

Articles are short (800 to 2000 words) that support a single thesis. They can be general for a casual reader or detailed for a trade reader.

Writing style for all of these should be conversational, even in the White Paper, but while charts, graphs and tables are wonderful for White Papers, use sparingly in all else. Short paragraphs, no typos, clean formatting are the rule.

PET PEEVE: From time to time I will buy White Papers. Invariably, I feel cheated when they are mostly sales copy and little information. I've already bought the thing, so get to the point quickly and succinctly. Pack the information up front and keep it packed all the way through. I would rather pay for 20 packed pages than 100 loosy-goosy pages. (You'll see this problem with trained copywriters who begin selling information products; they know sales letters and write their WP's the same way.)

Informational products are a great way to build your audience and promote your business. If writing's not your thing (promotional piece to follow) hire someone who is.

Rob Swanson
http://www.swanwrite.com/