Here is a MASSIVE mistake that many business owners make when they are doing their copywriting (writing ads, web pages, flyers and so on.)
Stop writing in a PASSIVE voice! STOP being so bloody …. NICE.
When you’re being “nice,” to someone, you’re not being yourself, even if you think you’re a naturally nice eprson.
In your marketing being nice makes you look like a manipulative little weasel because you’re only being nice because you want something from the other person, and, you know what, those on the receiving end of your kind gestures will notice it, feel it and dread it.
What’s more, this sort of falsehood will shine through like a warning beacon in your writing too!
When you’re that “nice guy,” you will finish last because everything you write will be in a “passive voice” aka wet and drippy.
Look at these examples and guess which one is active and which one is passive.
… Paul ate all six shrimp at dinner.
or
… All the six shrimp were eaten by Paul.
Can you guess which one is passive and which one is active? The top sentence is the active and the second sentence is the passive. The first one says in big bold letters “THIS HAPPENED! HE ACTUALLY DID IT! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT … HE ATE ALL THE SHRIMP! OMG!!” The second one says Paul ate the shrimp and … errr, well, that’s it.
Here’s some more examples…
“Click on the link Right Now to get your Deep Rapid Cleansing Skin Formula and say goodbye to Acne FOREVER.” (aka DO IT NOOWWWW!!!!)
or
“If you want to buy the Deep Rapid Cleansing Skin Formula to treat your Acne then click on the link.” (aka, well, it’s up to you, I don’t want to bother you, if it’s not too much trouble, please could you …”)
Do you see the difference? Do you see how having a passive voice in your writing can make you sound like a manipulative sociopath and kill your response, content and sales letter?
So How Do I Fix My Passive Problem?
To fix this problem, firstly you need to be aware when you are writing like a wimp and recognise when you are paddling a canoe when you should be driving a speedboat.
When you become aware of your passive writing you’ll instantly know you’re doing it and change your writing to be more butch.
Second, you need to be more specific, detailed and tough when you write copy or when you write your emails. Be clear about your message and what your purpose is for writing the ad or the email in the first place.
Third, recognize the subject is the star in all your writing, in all of your sentences. Re-write the sentence and make the subject do the action of the verb.
Finally, in everything you write, always always ALWAYS keep your audience in the front of your mind when you write. Remember you are writing to attract people like them, NOT people like you.
We do cover a lot of copywriting tips and strategies in our incredible marketing course “The Magnificent Marketing Machine” which has been especially developed by carpet cleaners for carpet cleaners. Check it out and see how much incredible marketing guides, ads, tips and strategies you get with the course. This course WILL pay for itself in 3 months guaranteed!
Demonstrating yourself as an authority online will help you acquire both recognition and respect, and that recognition and respect transfers immediately to your company.
If your prospects trust you know what you’re talking about, they’ll feel great about investing in your carpet cleaning services and will be much more willing to pay more for them too because people will always pay more for an expert than they will an amateur.
Your website is the best place to begin. Construct a professional looking web site with quality and informative material and you’ll have a source of authority information to direct buyers to. You could give away downloads detailing the properties of wool and polyprop carpets, information on the correct stain removal procedure, or you could make your newsletters downloadable too.
Remember that it’s all right to give away some of your treasured knowledge free of charge.
Provide the buyer something of value up front and they’ll label you as a legitimate source to go to for their carpet cleaning needs.
Article marketing is a particularly effective marketing technique to accomplish your authority status as it gives you the power to distribute a small number of articles to a vast number of content-rich sites. The more places your name crops up, the more individuals will be exposed to your web site and services and the more it will help with your SEO.
A different way to demonstrate your expertise is through internet forums, social media and blogs. This is a bit more casual than article composition and allows you to talk candidly with interested web surfers. The conversational tone utilized in such settings will put more potential buyers at ease so not only will they view you as an authority, they’ll feel connected to you as a real human being.
In addition, such sites provide buyers the chance to ask questions and give you the opportunity to back up your services in the face of critique.
Discover the correct places to gain recognition. Put yourself out there and command respect through exposure, and spotlight your accomplishments and successes.
Many business or marketing “gurus” will tell you that marketing is just about “getting your name out there” but unless you have the deep pockets of Richard Branson or Apple you simply can’t afford to adopt this kind of garbage marketing strategy.
“Brand awareness” is the excuse used by marketers when their clients ads don’t work.
Marketers will say such nonsense like “don’t worry about the fact the ad didn’t work and you got no calls … lots of people know about you!” I don’t care who knows about me … I care about who BUYS from me and puts food on my table!
It’s no good an ad saying … “we are carpet cleaners, here’s what we do, give us a call if we do anything that interests you” because it’s dull, boring and not proactive.
“Brand Awareness” is a great way to empty the contents of your wallet into the wallets of the ad agency or graphic designer with no appreciable return for you.
That’s definitely NOT to say you shouldn’t have branding or a decent logo because these are a necessity these days, it just means that the focus of your marketing mustn’t be just to tell people you exist!
The fact is this … “Brand Awareness” strategies are a waste of money for SME business owners.
You should only engage in Direct Response Marketing which, as the name suggests, means marketing which produces a direct response from targeted buyers which results is sales and enquiries you can measure.
Every marketing campaign you put out into the world must get your target prospect to take some sort of action, be it to call you, sign up to your newsletter, Like you on Facebook, or whatever.
Having worked with thousands of business owners over the years it’s my experience that almost every SME business sells themselves and their products way too cheaply, but raising your prices and selling more expensive products and services to the higher end of the market is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to increase your profits.
The fact is this … less than 20% of the population, and this includes your carpet cleaning customers, make their buying decisions based on price alone, so to most of your customers price is not the main issue in a transaction.
More often than not a low price is will terrify people, so why offer a low price at all?
Don’t believe me when I say people are scared of low prices?
Well, would you pay £20 for laser eye surgery? Would you eat at a Chinese restaurant advertising “all you can eat” for £1? Would you buy a car for £200 and expect it to be any good?
Would you risk it?
As with most things the 80/20 rule applies. If you sell most of your goods or services for £100, then there is likely be 20% of your customers who would be willing to spend, say £400 or £500, if you gave them the option to.
What’s more, of that 20% who would happily pay more if you gave them the option, some will even be prepared to pay substantially more if you gave them the opportunity to, and believe it or not it’s much easier to sell one item at £10,000 than it is to sell a hundred items at £100 if you are targeting the right people.
The trouble is, if you don’t ask your carpet cleaning clients if they want to spend more, then the chances of them offering you this huge bounty is zero, so why not create a deluxe offering and offer it every time you do a quote? This will cost you little to offer but you can command a much higher price for it.
You never know … some people may actually go for it. Ker-ching!
Our “Pricing For Profit” course gives you all the information you need to know to develop your highly priced strategy in your carpet cleaning business, as well as our unique “Profit Booster Cash Injector” pricing spreadsheet too. Check it out and seriously raise your income!
People think that Arnold was somehow famous overnight and he just “landed on his feet” but that’s not the case at all.
Arnold moved to the US in 1968, couldn’t speak a word of English, became a world champion bodybuilder and then an iconic movie star, but what people don’t know is that when Arnold landed his first movie role he was already very successful in business.
When he was 21 Arnold started his first business in the Hollywood Hills when he noticed a demand for bricklayers around the high-end homes, and he also noticed the “keeping up with the Jones,” mentality, so he formed his own bricklaying company with his bodybuilding friends and demand for his company skyrocketed.
His business wasn’t much different from the other bricklaying companies around YET they couldn’t get the same high paying gigs that Arnold got.
Now, there was nothing special about what Arnold’s business did. They did the exact same work as many other bricklaying businesses…
BUT …
HE STILL CHARGED MORE.
AND…
… PEOPLE WERE WILLING TO PAY!
What’s the difference between a personal trainer and a celebrity personal trainer?
The answer… Positioning.
Now, more than ever as more and more businesses pop up, having a damn good position is more important than ever.
It’s no longer enough to just launch a product and hope for the best.
If you are a business owner, if you are not thinking about positioning your business then you’re just waiting for your competitors to sweep in like a thief in the night and steal away your business, so here’s a quick, easy way to establish a fast positioning statement in your market..
STAND OUT. STAND FOR SOMETHING. OR SOMEONE.
Arnold’s Bricklaying business stood out because he positioned the business as a European Bricklaying Company full of large muscle bound men laying bricks in and around a neighborhood that needed their services. That’s an image that stands out!
He also targeted those who truly believe HIGH VALUE = HIGH QUALITY and those who wanted the bragging rights associated with using such a high priced company.
Positioning is super powerful. Stand for something. Mean something to your target audience. Don’t try and appeal to everyone. Work on appealing to your target market.
One of the fastest ways to lose all your money and kill your business is to surround yourself with “Yes Men.”
You know the kind of person I mean right?
“Yes Men” are anybody who will say to you … “oh I like that idea” and “Aren’t you doing well?” when the idea sucks and you’re not doing well at all. In fact, your floundering.
When selecting who you want to go into business with, who you want to take business advice from, who you want to form a committee with, or when forming any sort of business advice group set up to help you in your business, don’t just go for your buddies who you can chat and lark around with. They are far more likely to be Yes Men than someone you have a friendship with but who you are not particularly close to.
Of course, you could always consider hiring a professional and qualified business coach (which is certainly something I would recommend as my own business coach has challenged me) but whatever else you do, be challenged. Have your thoughts and ideas challenged to see if they stand up to scrutiny.
Getting the balance right between getting people you like vs people who are going to challenge you can be difficult. But then, so is everything else in business.
You do not want to fill your business with yes men. The harder but much truer path to business success is to be challenged on your thinking, and we can help you with that if you need it.
