Does your marketing challenge arise from your own outrageously good talents and skills? But when you market your new service, prospects get an image of glitz and glamour and Great White Way…and they just don’t trust you?
They think you’re just blowing smoke.
For instance, a company promises “free web hosting with no ads.” Or an organizer promises to get your whole house in just one day. Or a coach promises that a single workshop will transform your business.
Most audiences would dismiss these claims as, “too good to be true.” They’re in the same category as diet plans that promise you can eat all the chocolate and french fries you want and still lose weight.
But suppose you really can deliver something truly special, because you have access to systems or expertise that nobody else does?
(1) Be sure you really deliver what you promise.
Otherwise the consequences can be unpleasant, to say the least.
Suppose that a web hosting company doesn’t charge hosting fees or show ads on your website. But instead you have to join a club with monthly dues of $40. Or you’re forced buy their design services, whether you need them or not. Or they charge a set-up fee. In any of these cases, their offer would not be genuine.
As a marketer, your first task is to make sure customers really knew what they were buying. You’ve probably seen dozens of “free stuff” offers from big name marketers. When you say yes, you’re directed to an order form to pay shipping charges. Usually they’re modest — just a few bucks because the marketer wants to capture your name and physical address.
But every so often you’ll see a $40 shipping charge to ship a $19 product consisting of 4 videos and a notebook. Can we say “hidden charges?”
(2) Create a website that communicates rock-solid credibility.
This isn’t the time to break out the flashy designs and over-the-top graphics. Think of achieving a corporate look, very simple and straightforward.
Use conversational copy to share the company’s history and tell your audience why you’re special. Use your origin story, your concept story and your success story. If you’re not sure how to write them, check out my course: Build Your Brand One Story At A Time.
These stories help you bring your offer down to earth because you show concrete details and you present a hero the client can relate to.
For instance, suppose your audience asks, “Can you really offer high quality coaching by email?” you tell a story about a client who couldn’t meet regularly by phone, so you supplemented with emails. You found that this client actually made more progress than your more conventional coaching clients, so you created a new program.
(3) Use only testimonials with full stories, names and URLs (or cities) of satisfied customers.
These days, “Mary S from Chicago” will actually raise more eyebrows than no testimonial at all. And you need to communicate exactly what your clients achieved by using your service or program.
Helpful testimonials tell a story in just a few sentences: “Before I came to Harold, I was spending a fortune to maintain my website each month. After Harold made just a few tweaks to my website, my maintenance costs vanished! The site was more attractive and more clients signed up.”
To help, I’ve created a free infographic you can use or share with your clients. Check it out here.
(4) Explain how you can make this offer.
You may have a system, ingredient or business model that allows you to offer special value. Disclosing your business model can be risky but sometimes it’s the only way to communicate credibility. It’s also a way to emphasize your value.
Sometimes business owners are tempted to differentiate their professional services as “more affordable than most.” You’ll be more convincing when you say, “With 20 years of experience in this specialty, we have developed systems that allow us to complete the project more quickly and efficiently than the competition.”
Depending on how well your audience understands your process, you could go into more detail. For instance, you could say, “We know exactly what we need to ask in order to complete the project, so we gather all the information in just one 30-minute interview.” Or, “We’ve created proprietary software that completes the task in half the time of anything else that’s out there.”
(5) Use your blog posts to demonstrate your knowledge.
As your audience reviews your blog posts, they’ll get a sense of the depth of your knowledge. When I first started online with my career site, I didn’t know anybody and was clueless about promotion. Yet clients often found me and hired me on the spot, after briefly visiting my website and sometimes holding just one conversation.
Of course, my early copywriting was so laid back, I’d call it “timid” today. But I posted many, many articles. I was used to writing for a print audience, so I wrote in-depth articles that were original and (people told me) insightful. Inadvertently, I’d found the formula: combine novelty with an “aha” moment.
And if you’d like to develop your own credibility-boosting message, check out my new “Write Your Success Story” consultation. $100 discount for a limited time as I test the new system. Click here for details.
Does your marketing challenge arise from your outrageously great talents and skills? But when you market your new service, prospects get an image of glitz and glamour and Great White Way…and they just don’t believe you can pull it off?
Here are 3 ways to assure them you’ve got the goods.
(1) Create a website that communicates rock-solid credibility.
Use conversational copy to share the company’s history and tell your audience why you’re special. Use your origin story, your concept story and your success story. If you’re not sure how to write them, check out my course: Build Your Brand One Story At A Time.
Stories help you bring your offer down to earth because you show concrete details and you present a hero the client can relate to.
For instance, you tell a story about a client who couldn’t meet regularly by phone, so you supplemented with emails. You found that this client actually made more progress than your more conventional coaching clients, so you created a new program.
(2) Use testimonials with success stories, names and URLs of satisfied clients.
These days, “Mary S from Chicago” will actually raise more eyebrows than no testimonial at all. And you need to communicate exactly what your clients achieved by using your service or program.
Helpful testimonials tell a story in just a few sentences: “Before I came to Harold, I was spending a fortune to maintain my website each month. After Harold made just a few tweaks to my website, my maintenance costs vanished! The site was more attractive and more clients signed up.”
To help, I’ve created a free infographic you can use or share with your clients. Check it out here.
(3) Tell the story behind your offer.
You may have a system, ingredient or business model that allows you to offer special value.
Skip the promise of, “More affordable than most.” Tell a convincing story, such as, “With 20 years of experience in this specialty, we have developed systems that allow us to complete the project more quickly and efficiently than the competition.”
Depending on how well your audience understands your process, you could go into more detail:
“We know exactly what we need to ask in order to complete the project, so we gather all the information in just one 30-minute interview.”
“We’ve created proprietary software that completes the task in half the time of anything else that’s out there.”
BTW, one of the main reasons people hire copywriters is to handle difficult challenges like this one. Let’s set up a copywriting consultation to work through your Next Big Thing. We’ll talk about straightforward ways to make your promises believable and motivate your clients to buy. Click here to learn more.