by Amy on October 26, 2010
LinkedIn is a great place for making business connections. It’s decidedly less social than Facebook, and for some people that makes it easier and more straightforward. Like any other social networking site – approach it like a new neighborhood you’ve just moved to. Ask some questions to find your way around and the best place to ‘do business’. In your brick and mortar neighborhood that means learning how to move around and get the products and services you need. Same applies here.
Keeping that in mind, here are some key points: [click to continue…]
by Amy on October 19, 2010
1. Don’t write long run-on sentences. Keep paragraphs short and concise. If paragraphs are longer than about 5 lines in a document that’s only a few pages long, create a new paragraphs. Look for where a new idea begins and break there.
2. Use plenty of white space. People are intimidated by dense looking copy. If they see lots of small, dense text, they might not read your piece at all.
3. Use headlines and subheads. People often read the headlines and scan the subheads. If you organize your headlines and subheads to read like a bulleted list, they’ll automatically know if your piece is of interest to them. [click to continue…]
by Amy on October 11, 2010
Social media has changed the game forever. It’s made people more accessible, writing more personal and the playing field more level.
A couple of months ago, I was showing my mom some pictures I had taken and was about to upload to my website. Most were taken outdoors around my property. She really didn’t get why I didn’t want to use the ones taken in my office. In her world business still means a suit and a tie and a more buttoned-up demeanor than I prefer to portray. [click to continue…]
by Amy on October 4, 2010
Here are a few things to keep in mind if you’re going to write your own marketing pieces. First, step back from your business or service and try and see it through the eyes of your ideal patient, customer or client. What problem do they have that you solve? Write to that.
That’s the only thing your marketing should do. Illustrate their problems and challenges and provide your solutions. Remember that we all do more to avoid pain than we do to gain pleasure and good marketing taps into that psychology.
Let’s take a quick look at an example. I wrote a website for a woman who helps people buy cars – particularly for women. When I researched the topic, I learned that women do in fact pay more than men for new cars and they do fear being ripped off and rightfully so; it happens fairly often. [click to continue…]
by Amy on September 27, 2010
I’ve talked recently about knowing the revenue per customer – let’s dig a little deeper on the profit equation. Keep in mind that anyone who buys from you once is more likely to buy from you a second time. It’s much easier to make subsequent sales than it is to make that first sale. Once they buy your product or become a client or patient, the chances of them sticking with you if you provide good value is very high and of course there are things you can do to maximize that possibility (that article comes next…)
I write a lot of marketing for dentists. Dental practices, like other professional practices, need a steady influx of new patients to keep their bottom line healthy. An average new patient is estimated to be worth $900 during their first year. A patient that stays with a dentist over their lifetime is likely to spend much more than that each year, especially if they have multiple family members seeing the same dentist, which is often the case. That patient is potentially worth thousands and more likely tens of thousands of dollars over their lifetime as a patient of that dental practice. [click to continue…]
