Small Business Marketing

Stories are compelling. Stories are how people passed along knowledge, lore and culture for thousands of years before the written word. If you have children, you know how compelling stories can be: There are some stories kids can’t hear enough. (I used to know “The Little Engine that Could” by heart, I read it so many times to my son when he was little.) Even longer books keep kids engaged: “Wolf Story” is a chapter book I read dozens of times to Evan, then later to his sister.

Or think about a dinner party: Who’s the most entertaining guest? The story teller, the one who spins the yarns while everyone listens and laughs.

Whether you're marketing your small business, freelancing as a Website copywriter or SEO copywritier, or focused on blogs as marketing tools, you should be telling stories every chance you get.

It’s part of what I call Indirect Marketing. The soft sell. The nuance. The influence. You tell a story about, say, a customer, and other potential customers will relate to that customer’s story much more than they’ll relate to you talking about you.

Here’s an example from the University of Washington Foster School of Business Web site, telling a story about how one person is involved at the corporate level to get other C-level executives interested in getting involved with the school too. The story is about Bill Ayer, CEO of Alaska Airlines, and his personal and business involvement with the school. By telling his story, we’re encouraging other execs to picture themselves there too, playing a similar role and getting a similar benefit.

Stories happen all around you all the time. You just have to get your antenna tuned to notice them. Then, guess the best place for your stories? Your Web site definitely, maybe your email newsletter if you do one, but your blog is the best place for your stories. Your stories can start there, in your blog, where it’s easy to post them. Then they can morph into Web content, printed content, an article in your email newsletter, etc. But if you’re blogging and constantly scratching your head, while at the same time using blogs as marketing tools, start telling your stories!

And you’ll be a hit at the next dinner party too.

p.s. Yes, I wrote the  Bill Ayer story after interviewing him. Delightful person and the only person I've ever met who talks faster than I do!

I would like to request a copy of your e-marketing book.  I thoroughly enjoy your Web site...such great information. Each morning I look forward to reading new posts on your Blog, and if not a new post...a previous one.  We are in the process of redesigning our Web site and the information you provide has been very helpful. Yes...you “extremely bright, talented, informed and fun” women may indeed be the best copywriting agency on the West coast J

Lynn Mitchell

Woodland Scenics

How many times has a prospect told this Seattle copywriter their site was optimized for search, and it wasn’t? Enough times that I could get rich off the “if I had a dollar every time…” way of thinking.

If you want a quick and easy way to know if your website—or your competitor's—is optimized for search, go to the website and look in the very upper left-hand corner. That white text in the blue bar along the top is the Title (created in the html using a Title tag). If it says simply Home, or About Us, or the company name, that website is not optimized for search. I don’t care how many keywords might be plugged into the body copy, that Title tag matters for SEO. (It also mattes when people are searching for you as it is THE text that shows up in the search results! But that's another copywriting topic for another day.)

I’m happy to say Old Friend Footwear finally got their long awaited site launched, and it’s a great example of SEO copywriting! Go to www.oldfriendslipper.com and check out the Title tags on that site. Plus they were willing to work with me to have lots of pages of content (oh, guess I should clarify: I was the SEO copywriter for this project! J), and more content means more opportunities for SEO.

They were also great to work with because they let me do my SEO copywriting without any “vanity” keywords, i.e. those keywords the client wants to win but has no chance at without a lot of money and effort. We have a lot of great long tail keywords, meaning keywords made up of three or more words. And we have a plan for adding content over time. The perfect Website copywriter client!

On top of all that, Old Friend Footwear believes in blogs as marketing tools. Now that the site is live, we’ll start blogging for SEO, using relevant keywords, winning searches, and driving traffic to the site. I look forward to reporting on their small business blogging success!  

Are you true to your customer? Are you true to your brand? Or are you tempted by the successes of another and want to copy them, diluting your own message and brand?

Last week at Market to the Max, this Seattle copywriter's favorite panel was the airline one: Porter Gale of Virgin America and Steve Jarvis of Alaska Airlines both presented information about the marketing strategies of their companies and the reasoning behind. To me, the most interesting part of the presentation wasn’t the actual nuts and bolts of each airline’s approach, but the fact that these airlines:

·         Know their customer

·         Know themselves

·         Stay true to both

For a copywriter who believes in telling stories to market, you might think I’d tend towards fiction and being untrue to your brand, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Every business has stories to tell that are real. The trick is to tell the stories that are true to your brand and message, to learn what your customers want and like about you, and to figure out how to consistently offer that to them.

Virgin is hip. Everything they do is hip. Their customers love hip. That’s why they have such strong brand loyalty. Alaska is not hip, Alaska is “genuine and caring.” These two airlines have remarkably similar demographics as far as age, income, education level, etc. But what appeals to the Virgin customer differs dramatically from what appeals to the Alaska customer. So Virgin adheres to what works for them and doesn’t try to copy Alaska to woo those customers away. And Alaska adheres to what works for them and doesn’t try to copy Virgin to woo those customers away. If either one did, they’d be inauthentic, customers would end up dissatisfied and feeling like they’d been tricked, and the game would soon be up. They might have short-term gains, but they’d suffer long-term consequences.

Whether you're in small busienss marketing or big, next time you’re copywriting or hiring a freelance copywriter, remember to:

·         Know thy customer

·         Know thyself

·         Stay true to both

Confused about how and why to use blogs as marketing tools? Here’s a little help…

Last week this Seattle copywriter spent a day at Market to the Max, making sure I’m up to speed on the latest and greatest in marketing techniques and trends. I looked forward to the panel on blogging in particular, for two reasons: One, I’m a firm believer in blogs as marketing tools, and two, my friend Chris Baggott was on the panel, and I’m always intrigued by what he has to say.

The panel was a borderline disappointment, however, because Chris’ view, the only one that makes sense for the majority of businesses, was the minor one. (It was also a disappointment because of the moderator’s inappropriate behavior, but that’s irrelevant to my blogging point.)

Chris’ view on blogs as marketing tools is that businesses, including small business marketing, use blogging to get found online. It’s blogging to win in the search engines. What do search engines love? Fresh, keyword-rich content. What do blogs provide? Fresh, keyword-rich content. (OK, now I’m starting to sound like Chris, better be careful!)

But two of the panelists were too focused on using blogs to establish oneself as a thought leader. That’s all well and good and legitimate, but Mychal at Kona Kai doesn’t need to be a thought leader in the coffee business to make his small business successful. He needs to get people into Kona Kai for food, drink and fun (and free WiFi). His blog needs to attract people in Kent, Washington, not New York or Boston or …

Using blogs as marketing tools in the way the other panelists presented isn’t misdirected, it just wasn’t very helpful information for a room full of people charged with marketing their organizations.

Thinking about blogging? Start with a goal. Do you want to be a noteworthy leader in your industry with thousands of people subscribing to your blog? Go that route. Or do you want to sell more products and services and make more money? Then use your blog as a marketing tool and win the search wars.

Earlier this week, this freelance copywriter spent the day on the Seattle waterfront at Market to the Max. As always happens at these marketing conferences, my brain went into overdrive with blogging topics! Here’s the first…

During a (disappointing) panel on getting results from social media, I heard one insightful statement: Large companies can use social media to have small conversations. (Social media meaning blogging, social networking like Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

And that’s one more advantage small business marketing has that too few small business owners take advantage of. If you’re small business blogging, you’re already having small conversations. And you’re uniquely positioned to do so. The CEO of a major corporation might blog (or seem to blog using a ghost blogger), but you’re not going to walk into his factory and meet him in person.

But if it’s Michael at Kona Kai or Harpreet at Punjab Sweets, guess what? You are going to meet them in person when you walk into their place of business.

Part of the appeal of spending your money with a small business is knowing the owner and/or staff. There’s a real relationship there, one that can grow and be nurtured via small business blogging.

Small business blogging also enables you to tell stories that engage, to keep people up-to-date on your business and events, to even turn customers into evangelists when they can share your content.

I’m not sold on other social media tools for small business marketing. But I’m definitely sold on small business blogging.

Another (also disappointing) panel on blogging made me aware of how much confusion there is about why to use blogs as marketing tools, especially for small business blogging. More on that in this copywriter’s next blog…

Why the *&^%$ aren’t more businesses blogging? And even more frustrating, why don’t I see more small business blogging?

I’m a firm believer in blogs as marketing tools. An advocate, even. And I’m continually amazed at how many businesses still don’t use blogs as such. Whether you’re striving for search engine optimization or thought leadership or both, you should be blogging. Period.

I’m such an advocate for blogs as marketing tools, I work as a ghost blogger for some clients. Some people have an issue with that, they think blogs should be written by the CEO or whomever. But they’re missing the point of blogs as marketing tools. That’s great if your CEO can write intelligently about topics people want to hear about, using the keywords that matter most to you in the search wars. But it ain’t gonna fly if that CEO lacks the time and/or ability. Especially if your reason for blogging is getting found online. And for most businesses, especially small businesses, that should be your number one reason for using blogs as marketing tools.

So some of my copywriting clients have me ghost write their blogs, and I work hard to make sure the content is compelling and useful, and the keywords are used the way they need to be. One client’s blog has been very successful, getting noticed and subscribed to by experts in the industry, even though our primary reason for blogging is SEO. (And we’re doing well there two. Last time I checked, we are on the first SERP in Google for our two top keywords, and on the second page for another keyword.)

If this client relied on the CEO or someone else at the company to blog, it would rarely happen, the content wouldn’t be as rich, and the SEO results wouldn’t be as good. I as the ghost blogger make sure I write three posts a week for them, so the frequency is there. I work hard to learn about the issues and provide useful content in a well-written way. And I am able to use keywords, because I’m an SEO copywriter. The result? The client scores big time with me as the ghost blogger, without ever having to worry about whether it’s getting done or not.

Small business blogging is particularly cost-effective marketing and SEO, especially as more and more people go online to find local businesses. If someone’s searching for a coffee shop with free WiFi in Kent, Washington, or a tavern in Burlington, Washington, that coffee shop owner or tavern owner will do well to blog and win those local searches. Search engines favor blogs over static Websites, meaning small business blogging can even take the place of a Website for some small businesses.

Are you small business blogging? If so, tell me about it! If not, tell me why not?

Every page of your Website is a potential “home” page. That’s because any one of your Website pages could be the one that shows up in the search engine results page (SERP) when someone is searching online.

For example, type Seattle copywriter into Google and it’s not the We Know Words home page that shows up on page one of the SERPs, it’s a page within my site.

When working with your Website copywriter (or me), remember that each page must be able to stand alone. When a visitor lands at any page on your Website, they should still get a sense for where they are, what they’ll find, and what to do next.

With or without your copywriter, review each page of your Website and make sure it stands alone, and it includes at least one call to action to do something or to click to another page on your Website.

And along those lines, regarding a call to action, make sure every page is selling. As a freelance Website copywriter, I like to figure out one key action we’d like visitors to take, and to call that out on every page. See for example www.agrmarketingsolutions.com. Our primary goal is to get people to schedule a discovery call. So every single page of the Website includes that call to action in the sidebar.

Whether you’re focused on small business marketing or a huge ecommerce production, search engine optimization or blogs as marketing tools, you can easily make sure every page is a landing page, and every page is selling.

And if you want an objective eye reviewing your Website, ping this Website copywriter at sharon@weknowwords.com. I'll do a Website assessment to determine how well each of your pages is doing its job. Because in this competitive economy, you can't afford wasted space, even in cyber space. Every Web page has to do its job. And that job is to help you sell.

This Seattle copywriter will be there to make sure I’m up to speed on all the latest and greatest marketing trends. If you’re a marketer in the Northwest, anywhere from Seattle to Portland to BC, you’d better be there too! My plan is to soak up all I can on blogs as marketing tools and email marketing and search engine optimization, so I can do a better job on email copywriting and ghost blogging and SEO copywriting. I also look forward to spending the day hanging out with a bunch of smart marketers! And the end of the day networking is always a blast as everyone winds down and relaxes with a drink.

Don't think this is just for big companies. There's lots that applies to small business marketing and small business blogging!

And don't think I'm going just because I was the copywriter for the core messaging either, although that was fun. MRM Seattle did such an awesome job on the concept! A game board, with real playing pieces! What a great agency to work with!

Speakers will be from industry leaders like Google, Microsoft, Alaska Airlines and Virgin Airlines. For a complete agenda, go to http://www.markettothemax.com/agenda.htm.

Hope to see you there!!

I post my copywriting blogs on Facebook too, and it’s funny, I tend to get more comments in that space than in my actual blog. Yesterday I was asked an interesting question via a Facebook comment, one I thought best addressed in a blog. So here goes…

Chris, a small business owner asked: “When I seek out a marketing agent/SEO agent, what do I need to be prepared with for my first meeting with you? What would you like to see from your clients? What are your ideal clients? What can we, as business owners, expect from you and how can we best utilize you and not waste both of our times?”

Even though I’m a copywriter who knows words, truly responding to these questions would take more than one blog post. J But I’ll do the best I can.

For me, as a Web site copywriter and SEO copywriter, my questions in that initial meeting are: Who goes to your Web site? Why? How do they get there, via search engine or your other marketing or word of mouth or some other way? What do they want to do when they get there? What problem are they trying to solve?

Knowing the problem they are trying to solve is critical, because that will determine what keywords they are searching with. For example, I was recently the Web site copywriter for a footwear company. You’d think your keywords would be about footwear, right? But these slippers and shoes help people with foot pain, so really the best keywords are the ones that have to do with the problem the consumer is trying to solve, not the solution (i.e. the shoes).

With SEO as with other copywriting, in my opinion at least, the customer is first. You have to be focused on the customer: what are their pain points, how do they think about the problem, are they even aware they have a problem, what words do they use, etc.

For a really easy to use keyword research tool, go to SEO Tools at http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/. There you type in the keyword you want to research, and it also gives you variations on that keyword.

To answer Chris’ questions more directly: For the first meeting, know your customer and what they are buying, not what you are selling. The more you know about your customer, the better the job your Web site copywriter will do for you. Ideal clients pay attention to the customer’s world view than their own. As copywriting clients, you can expect, from me at least, input not just on SEO and keywords and Web site copywriting, but also site navigation, types of content to include, a plan for keeping content fresh, and of course a very strong recommendation that you use blogs as marketing tools and for SEO to drive traffic to your Web site.

If your Web site copywriter only writes copy and plugs in a few keywords, but doesn’t have any input into the other aspects of your Web site, I’d be nervous.

Why are so many small businesses so slow to start blogging? Why aren’t small business marketing consultants encouraging them to do so? This morning I’m reviewing a prospect’s marketing plan in order to come up with a copywriting estimate for her. I recognize the name of the marketing consultant who created the marketing plan. And I’m disappointed to see she suggested this small business do the same old, same old kind of marketing…especially given that this small business wants to be found in search engines.

Getting found in search engines takes more than an SEO copywriter (i.e. me). It takes more than targeted keywords, keyword rich content and great title tags. I won’t go into SEO 101 here, but using blogs as marketing tools is a fantastic way to win searches and drive traffic to your Web site.

This plan also suggested the small business owner get positioned as an expert in the field, again without any mention of blogging. The plan recommends writing articles, doing an email newsletter, etc. All the usual stuff. OK, I don’t mind repeating myself, using blogs as marketing tools is a fantastic way to position yourself as an expert too!

Maybe small business marketing is slow to catch on to using blogs as marketing tools because marketing consultants are slow to recommend them. In my job as a copywriter, I consider myself not just the one who helps craft the messaging, but the one who also knows how to deliver it, from email newsletters to wikis to Web sites to blogging, etc. For years people have asked me why I don’t call myself a marketing consultant since I know so much about marketing. I say because I stick to what I know: I know copywriting. But I’m a copywriter giving my clients more value because I keep up with what’s going on in the world of marketing.

Marketing consultants must do the same thing. It’s 2009. If I were a small business owner, I’d be extremely wary of any marketing plan that left out blogging. You can’t use 2005 techniques in a 2009 world, especially with a tough economy!

Small business blogging is one of the most cost-effective ways a small business can both be found in search engines and be positioned as experts. If marketing consultants don’t know this and aren’t going to recommend it, they shouldn’t be handing out any advice.

If this small business had invested in a ghost blogger instead of a marketing consultant, they’d be way ahead of the marketing game.

In an earlier blog, I offered a bunch of small business blogging basics. See it here: http://www.weknowblogs.com/blog/sharons-marketing-missive/0/0/small-business-blogging-basics--a-guide

I’m “just” a copywriter (not!) but part of my job is keeping up with marketing trends beuacse it’s not just what you say (the words) but when and how you say them (the delivery). So I’m happy to pass along that MarketingSherpa has a goodie for you: a special report titled “Marketing Wisdom 2009.” It’s a free pdf of lessons learned, contributed by real-life marketers like me and you.

I have only just started going through it, looking for the marketing wisdom most useful for me as a copywriter, but in my opinion, any insights to be gleaned via the experiences of other marketers and copywriters are worth downloading this document.

Even if you only read the Letter from the Editor, you’ll be a step ahead of other marketers. There Managing Editor Bill Rupp outlines three key trends identified while compiling this marketing report:

One, email is not dead. Great news for someone who specializes in copywriting for email marketing! (meaning me!)

Two, build social networks. More great news, as I’m a firm believer in blogs as marketing tools and figuring out how to market via social networks…and I’m a ghost blogger too!

Three, search engine optimization (SEO). Yet even more great news, as a Web site copywriter whose sweet spot is SEO copywriting!

Hmmmm… maybe I’m enjoying this report because it’s telling me all kinds of things I as a freelance copywriter want to hear? And that’s cheering up my dreary Seattle day a little?

Still, it’s free, it’s useful and it’s written by your colleagues. Take a look: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31039.

Oh, and if you can use more free marketing advice, ask me for my ebook of 104 marketing tips geared towards small business marketing but useful for marketing any size business.

Why do so many companies shy away from being real? I honestly don’t know. Maybe it’s like my dad used to say, that people are rude drivers because it’s anonymous, they are sheltered by their cars. They’d never cut in front of you in line at the bank, but they’ll do it on the highway. Do companies want the anonymity so they don’t have to behave as well as they otherwise would?

Being real is something I as a freelance copywriter preach and preach and preach. But just the other day working as a Web site copywriter for a new client, I found myself trying to persuade them to include photos of the founders on the Web site…and they flat out refused. As a copywriter, I see the power in words that are real, whether in blogs as marketing tools, small business marketing, email copywriting, wherever. Words are powerful. But only more so when real.

People, you are missing the boat here. Customers want to do business with, well, people. Not nameless corporations. Being real means making a connection to that customer, developing a relationship with her. One that will deepen her loyalty to your customer and brand.

Think about it: Isn’t there a company you stick with mostly because you like it or them? Like the farrier I had who wasn’t very good but was a delight to visit with while he shod my horse, or the drycleaners that’s a little farther from home but you keep going back because you like the owners, or the coffee shop that charges more but you like the welcome feeling you get when you walk through the door…we all have allegiances that don’t make economic sense, but then we shop with our minds and we buy with our hearts.

So how delighted is my little copywriter heart to have two great examples of being real to share with you.

My first example comes from a company I partner with. I do copywriting for their email marketing clients. They hired a new salesperson, no biggie, but the email this guy sent out to introduce himself to clients was a gem. It wasn’t about all this professional experience; it was about him as a person, a real person, who lives in an interesting town, met his wife via online dating, and has an interesting background, born in Europe and raised on the east coast. The tone was conversational and chatty. It made him real. If I were a customer receiving that email, I’d like that guy right off. And we buy from people we like. With our hearts, remember?

My second example comes from Basecamp, aka 37 Signals, a company I love not just because I love their Web-based project management software which I use for our copywriting projects, but because they excel at being real. Yesterday when I logged onto Basecamp, at the top of my screen it announced “Basecamp's birthday! Basecamp turns five!” and then went on to explain they started on Feb. 4, 2004 with a link to their story. This is brilliant because it’s promotion but sincere. When you read the story, you are that much more attached to this company. And what does that mean? Well, I recommend Basecamp to all the freelance copywriters I know, and to clients as well.

Both of these examples gave this copywriter warm fuzzies. And note that they both achieved their goals with words, nothing fancy, just words, real words.

I’ve been thinking on my listening skills lately. Or lack thereof, due to some communications issues that have come up. I think I’m a really good listener, in my personal life, but turns out I’m not as good as I could be. I want to jump in and fix things for people sometimes. Or I get tired of hearing the same old story, so I jump in then too. Or I think my idea is so brilliant, I have trouble keeping my mouth shut. Or… you get the idea! Hey my business is We Know Words. I'm sometimes ready to overwhelm with mine!

But good listening skills are paramount in my career as a freelance copywriter. Every project with a first-time client starts with a kickoff call during which we go through a long list of questions, whether they hired me as Website copywriter or a print project. The goal is for me to learn about the copywriting client’s customers: what are their pain points, what do they want to do better, etc. And listening is primarily what I do during those calls. That’s how I’m able to help my copywriting clients talk to their customers, not at them.

But there’s another level of listening, beyond personal, beyond being a conscientious copywriter. And that’s asking customers to interact with us as businesses, whether we’re in small business marketing or big.

Customers want to have their say! That’s why we have an explosion of Web sites like Yelp and YouTube. Customers don’t want to just be fed content, no matter how great the copywriting. They want to contribute it too!

Is your business a good listener? You’d probably say yes, thinking if someone calls customer service, they get listened to. But there are multiple ways to engage your customers and solicit their input:

• Ask for feedback in your email newsletters, or use a survey tool to ask customers to vote
• Ask for comments on your blog
• When you ship an order, entice the customer to comment on your Web site, about their experience or the product
• In your email copywriting, when you send out transactional emails like order confirmations, ask for input or comments that way
• If you use blogs as marketing tools, put their comments in your blog
• Set up a wiki so customers can contribute content that way
• Have a Facebook group where customers can write on your wall

But then, as all good listeners must do, pay attention!! Don’t just solicit the input then ignore it.

Asking for and listening to customer input has multiple benefits, for small business marketing to huge corporate marketing. Today, for example, I listened in on a discovery call a copywriting client was conducting with a prospect. Why? So I could hear what the prospect had to say, not the client’s translation of it. Now when I work on their email copywriting, I’ll be able to play up the aspects the prospect loved, clarify the aspects that were confusing, and reassure about the aspects that were a little scary.

We got that info straight from the horse’s mouth, and my client listened.

Plus customers like to be listened too, so you're creating all that goodwill too!

Got a way to get input from your customers and to make sure you listen to it? Post a comment! J

As I said yesterday in my copywriting blog on the Super Bowl commercial sneak peek, I like PEMCO’s marketing for several reasons. One reason not mentioned yesterday, but a topic I bring up a lot, is the authenticity of it. PEMCO is a Northwest company, creating a bond with a Northwest audience by focusing on Northwest characters.

Now the dark side of marketing: the lying. Yes, I’ve read Seth Godin’s “All Marketers Are Liars” and it’s one of my favorite marketing books. But now I find myself actually questioning the validity of what he’s saying based on a recent experience. I’m not talking about PEMCO. They are the real deal. But not every company is…

If you read this blog, you’ve heard mention of the cowboy. Well, he’s not just a cowboy, he raises beef cattle. When I met him, I’d been a vegetarian for 24 years. But I had an immediate interest in his business for several reasons: I empathize with small business owners, I was intrigued by the small business marketing challenges of the beef industry, and I have very strong feelings about supporting local businesses and eating locally grown food. So I’ve been paying attention to things I didn’t use to notice as I learn about his world.

The other night, I had dinner at the Space Needle in Seattle to celebrate my son’s 16^th birthday. I was delighted to see the menu included Northwest grown beef from the Double R Ranch. I couldn’t wait to tell the cowboy that the Space Needle was supporting local cattle producers.

The next time I was at the grocery store, I saw meat packaged with the Double R label. I started to get a little suspicious. Something smelled fishy, pardon the pun. I mean, how could this ranch be showing up all over all of a sudden, but the cowboy hadn’t heard of it?

I went to http://www.doublerranchbeef.com/ and was disgusted. Expecting to find an actual independent cattle producer, I found a front for Agri Beef, a corporation: www.abfoodsusa.com.

They didn’t work very hard at their lie. The Double R web site only one page. It’s essentially a 1930s style poster with an email address under it and a leeeeeeettle tiny AB Foods logo in the lower corner.

OK, why does this bother me so much? It’s lying that’s hurting small business and an ailing industry. Agri Beef is pretending to be a bona fide ranch, knowing consumers will buy it thinking it comes from a bona fide ranch, regardless of the quality of the meat. They are doing an excellent job of telling a story, per Seth’s advice, but a sucky job at following through, given they have a fake Web site. And they’re hurting an industry that has shrunk by half in this state in recent years.

As a copywriter, I firmly believe in telling stories. They make great marketing. That’s why Agri Beef is hiding behind the Double R name. But they moved beyond stories to lying and trickery.

Seth didn’t actually tell us to lie, he just came up with a title that would sell more books. His book is about telling stories. I don’t believe for a second Seth would ever approve trickery and being inauthentic. Agri Beef went too far. They’re not authentic. And now poor saps are ordering $25 steak dinners at the Space Needle Restaurant and buying beef at the grocery store thinking they’re supporting small, local cattle ranchers when all they’re really supporting is just one more corporation.

Marketing can be a slippery slope. But it should never require a business to cross the line from story telling to lies and trickery. One must be authentic. Always.

Michael has been cutting my hair for over 22 years. My relationship with my hairdresser outlasted my marriage. Seriously, I met Michael when I was just newly dating my ex. My ex is, well, now my ex, but Michael is still around.

I’m not Michael’s only loyal customer. Heck, I’m not even the most loyal! When two of his clients moved to San Francisco, they flew him down to do their hair still. And I’ve had my hair affairs, trying a salon closer to home or less expensive. But I always go back to Michael for one simple reason: He’s the best. (No one else can make my gnarly hair look the one it does in this photo!)

He’s also busy. He hasn’t taken on any new clients in years because he doesn’t have time.

Now, this is a copywriter's marketing blog, you’re probably wondering what kind of kick ass marketing Michael does to guarantee he’s always busy. The answer? None. No Web site, no email marketing, no small business blogging, no nothing. He doesn’t even have a nice salon!

Michael only has to do one thing to keep his schedule full: Stay the best. Michael’s marketing is all those gorgeous heads of hair walking around downtown Seattle. His clients tell their friends how great he is, but they have proof too.

How I wish every copywriting project were like that, but sometimes my copywriting is “me too” copywriting because the clients are “me too” companies. As a Seattle copywriter, I strive to write Web copywriting, email marketing, brochures, whitepapers, etc. as different, to help these clients stand out. But in truth the differentiators between my clients and their competitors is sometimes miniscule, irrelevant or non-existent.

Why don’t we try harder to be different instead of trying harder to out market or out sell the other guy?

The clients who are really are unique? That help their customers solve real-world problems? They’re a copywriter’s dream job. Just as wonderful as one of Michael’s haircuts. And just as likely to establish a loyal customer base because they are the best at what they do.

Are you doing everything you can to be different? To truly be unique in a world full of wanna bes? Then your freelance copywriter is lucky! And you are smart! 

As a Web site copywriter, today I was working on a Web site for a new client, and was reminded once again of the power of stories. This company is an email marketing consulting firm, but with a focus on technical aspects like modeling and analytics that makes for some pretty dry Web site copywriting.

Until you turn it into a story…

When I asked the client to provide a scenario, as opposed to a bulleted list of capabilities, all of a sudden everything in the copywriting about the analysis came to life and made sense. I got it. And the potential customer will too now.

When you can show someone by example, when you paint a picture with your copywriting, you communicate your message much more clearly. And this is true whether you’re doing email copywriting, small business blogging or Web site copy.

Heck, what is blogging but a way to make a point through stories and examples?

This weekend I bought a new vacuum. My first new vacuum of my life. But this small business blog isn’t about my new vacuum, as excited as I was to splurge on it. No, this blog post is about marketing, about how marketing is like dating and you have to be true to your word.

The vacuum I’ve used for the last 15 or so years was my mother’s. A Kenmore canister vacuum, I used that very same vacuum as a kid doing chores. When my mom passed it along to be umpteen years ago, all I had to do was replace the cord and it was good as new. I’ve had it into the repair place a couple of times, but it’s only needed quick fixes and it still has plenty of suction and works like a charm! That’s following through on a marketing promise: Building a product that lasts. I don’t know what Kenmore vacuums are like these days because I got talked into a Miele, but I do know I’m impressed as hell with that Kenmore. It now lives in my garage, and will be used for the car, and whatever else it’s needed for. I know that Kenmore is going to keep right on working!

Now for a seeming tangent, but this is related: Before Christmas, the day we were getting our big storm here in Seattle, I bought a Duraheat kerosene heater at Home Depot. When I paid for it, I was asked if I wanted to spend another $15 on a warranty. My reply? “No, I just want it to work.” Seriously, if you’re going to sell me something, and I’m talking about Duraheat here, not Home Depot, YOU should believe in your product enough to guarantee it! That is just baloney to have me as the customer buy insurance against your product being faulty. You, Duraheat, should be following through, not just marketing to get me to buy your heater in the first place, but building a product that you believe in enough to guarantee it. The heater was only $126. The cost of the warranty was more than 10% of the total cost!

When I bought my Miele vacuum on Saturday, I was delighted to find out it came with a warranty. That’s how it should be. Miele markets to potential customers like me. But unlike Duraheat, Miele is building product they themselves believe in. Again, that’s keeping your word and following through on your marketing promise.

Now if Duraheat used copywriting that said their heaters are crappy, the handles don’t work, and they might go up in flames like mine did, then yes, they’d be true to their word. But something tells me that’s not their marketing message.