Wow, a hell of a long time since I’ve updated this blog.

C’est la vie, we’re all busy, and who reads this stuff anyway?

Well…you might be now, so, let’s get straight to it.

Rewind to the beginning of last week. I received this email…

“Hi Liam,

I provide XYZ services in the Crawley/Gatwick area. I’ve written lots of content for my own website, and I’m always on social media – but I’m not getting the results I want.

If you could take a look over what I’ve done and let me know your thoughts, we could perhaps then arrange a conference call to discuss it?”

It’s the same old marketing story.

People frantically tap tap tapping away, creating ‘content’ but failing to get results.

No one is responding, reading or buying.

You’d feel like chucking it all in after a while.

So, why isn’t it working?

Among a tonne of possibilities, it could be because YOU’RE NOT PREPARING.

It’s all well and good churning out content like a production line on heat…but…if you’ve not considered a couple of crucial elements, it probably won’t even be seen, let alone convert readers into leads.

So, when you’re next at the keyboard think of this writing formula.

Ed Mayer’s 40 / 40 / 20 rule for marketing success:-

40%: The quality of the list (the audience)
40%: The offer (what you’re flogging)
20%: The creative (the actual thing you’re producing, email, leaflet, direct mail)

Since most of us tend to just get on with writing (turning that 20% into 80%+) without thinking about how right the audience is or how juicy the offer is, is it any wonder some marketing pieces are destined for the bin before they’re even sent out?

The list needs to be worked on, some experts believe that provided you’ve got a hungry list, full of prospects who are DYING for your offering, it doesn’t matter what you produce, or what it even looks like – they will buy.

That’s how important the audience is.

And then, there’s the offer itself.

When there’s any doubt in your offering, if a prospect can think of a hundred and one objections – then it’s not strong enough.

Remember, “The right offer should be so attractive that only a lunatic would say ‘No’.” Claude Hopkins said that, he’s considered one of the pioneers of advertising…it’s worth a thought before you crank out that next email blast.

Happy tapping 🙂