Is your copy a bit lifeless? Marketing flat? Michele PW is here with tips and tricks to get your marketing and copy back on track.
11.20.08
Posted in Business, General at 3:18 pm EST by Michele PW
I grew up in the Midwest (Wisconsin) where hard work is not just valued but revered.
Taking care of yourself is not.
Of all the lessons I’ve had to learn in my business (and trust me there have been many) this is probably one of the hardest for me, and one I have to make a point of remembering.
Maybe this sounds familiar — you work and work until something happens and you stop for awhile. Maybe you get sick. Maybe you get over tired. Maybe a personal emergency happens (and be honest — it probably happened because you were neglecting your personal life to begin with) and you have to drop everything to deal with it.
Whatever it is, outside circumstances force you to take a break. You’re not taking a break for YOU.
Everyone is different, but for me I would battle feelings of guilt when I would take some time off. I should be working. There’s a to-do list sitting on my desk I should be going through. But the reality is your business is like your house. There is ALWAYS something you could be doing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should (or have to) be doing it.
If any of this is sounding familiar, read on. I’m going to share 3 reasons why you need to take regular breaks and be good to yourself.
1. There’s only one “you.” As an entrepreneur, your energy level is intimately tied to the success of your business. If you are constantly sick or have no energy, how on earth can you grow your business? And, for that matter, when you aren’t feeling well, do you really think you’re giving your clients the best service you could be? For the sake of your business and your clients, you owe it to yourself to take time off so you can be the best you can be during work times.
2. Get more done faster. Which scenario sounds better for your business — you wake at 7 am, exhausted and stressed, because you haven’t gotten enough sleep having gone to bed at midnight (and not falling asleep until 2 am) trying to finish “one last thing?” Or you wake at 7 am (or maybe 6 am) refreshed and energized for your work day, because you knocked off work at 5 pm, took some time off for yourself or your family, and was asleep by 10 pm?
I think you know the answer.
Yes, it can be very seductive to try and get “one more thing” done before you turn in for the night. But the reality is, you need your sleep. And you need time to unwind and get away from the computer before trying to fall asleep, or you aren’t going to sleep well.
Then, what ends up happening? You wake up dragging. So you’re not working as fast or as efficient as you could be. And you don’t finish everything you need to during a normal work day. So you try and catch up at night — and then you screw up your sleep for another night.
It’s a vicious cycle. But if you can flip that, start getting a good night’s sleep each night, you’ll find that you have more energy during the day, you’ll get more done, and you don’t have to stay up late to finish those last to-do items.
This one can be tough to reverse. Be good to yourself. You might have to reorganize your schedule or to-do list for a week or two, so you have less to do during the day and can actually knock off at a reasonable time each night until you get yourself on a regular schedule.
3. Projects expand to fit the amount of time allowed to them. I never took physics but if this isn’t a physics law, it should be. As a freelancer, I experienced this all the time. During my slow periods, I still found myself working nearly the same amount as during my busy periods.
If I had 1 hour of work to do, and all day to do it, somehow it would take me all day to do it. If I had 6 hours of work to do and 4 hours to do it, I might not get everything done, but I would definitely zip through most of my to-do list.
It’s like when you’re about to go on vacation. There’s always this list of stuff you want to get done. You might not get everything done, but you’re probably more efficient the week before your vacation then the month prior.
Now if you start valuing taking time off for yourself, for instance maybe one day you decide you’re knocking off at 2 to go to a movie or take a nap or go to your kid’s soccer game, you’ll probably discover you get more done that day then you do on the days where you have a huge amount of open time available and no set “end” to your day.
The end result of all of this? You’ll end up working less hours overall, but during those hours you do work, you’ll probably be more efficient, productive, and happy (and you’ll also see your business grow more effortlessly and your clients will also be more satisfied).
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11.08.08
Posted in Business, General, Online Marketing, Public Relations at 2:00 pm EST by Michele PW
I’m at the Dan Kennedy’s Info Marketing Summit, and the first presentation this morning was Dan talking about how info marketers should respond to this economy.
His view is the economy has changed…for the long haul. It’s not going back to what it used to be any time soon. We’re in a recession and it’s where we’re going to stay.
However, he also said this is the very best time to make money and find new opportunities. Because a lot of businesses are either going to give up or simply muddle along, not taking advantage of what this economy could give them. If you’re committed to being successful, this could be your time to shine.
It’s an interesting thought. A recession could be a gift. It could teach you how to be a better business person so not only you succeed during the recession but you’re then positioned for mega-success once the recession is over.
What are your thoughts? Are we really in a recession or will the economy bounce back quickly? And if we are in a recession, how do you think we should view it?
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10.30.08
Posted in Business, Copywriting, General at 6:14 pm EDT by Michele PW
One of my friends recently sent me a link to a sales page. This person (who shall remain completely nameless) was having a sale. The reason behind the sale? For the second time this year, they had experienced a natural disaster which had destroyed their living room. (Then even had photos of the destroyed room on their site.)
Now, I’m all for having a reason for a sale. I think having a reason for why you’re knocking the price down or adding an extra bonus makes it that much more compelling for people to actually buy.
But, there are good reasons and not-so-good reasons. This particular one falls under the category of not-so-good — and here’s why:
First off, people tend to shy away from people who seem to have a bad case of bad luck. Bad luck can be catching after all. Seriously, people want to hang around with winners. They want to hire or use products from people or businesses who are successful and lucky. Bad luck makes good television drama — after all, that’s why we watch the doctors on Grey’s Anatomy stumble through one unlucky situation to another, but in real life people want to hang around winners.
Telling people you were subject to not one but TWO natural disasters that basically destroyed the same room in less than a year is not smart marketing. Especially when in your sales letter you say “I did this sale last January, and made enough to pay for my new living room, but now eight months later, it’s destroyed again.” Is it even worth it to help pay for a new living room when, with this person’s luck, in another six months the whole house could be sucked up into a tornado?
Also, when you play the “woe is me” card, you run the risk of turning yourself into a charity. Bad luck happens. People will feel sorry for you. But do you really want people to give you money because they’re feeling sorry for you? Consider how that’s going to affect your brand down the line. Sure you might make a few bucks now, but what about a year from now?
So, is there a time to use the “woe is me” card? Well, there is, but not with you. I would use it to help someone else. For instance, maybe someone you know winds up with serious medical issues, and with it some serious financial issues. Perhaps you raise some money for them. Or maybe you raise money for a charity in their name. That would be acceptable.
But, I can hear you asking, what if something bad DOES happen to me, like I need that new living room?
Look, there’s nothing wrong with having a sale or a promotion to get some cash in the door, it’s just how you do it. Depending on what exactly happened to me, I may or may not use it. I might choose to have a different reason for a sale or promotion. And if I DID use it, I probably wouldn’t use another story like that for at least a good 10 years.
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10.28.08
Posted in Business, Creativity, General, Marketing, Public Relations at 11:25 am EDT by Michele PW
Just wanted to give you a quick heads up that my last preview call, 5 Secrets of a Successful Launch Campaign to Help You Sell More, is this coming Wednesday, Oct 29, at 4 pm PST/7 pm EST.
Here’s the link to reserve your seat:
www.michelepw.com/launch
This is the call where I pull it all together. I started with getting the leads, then moved to converting the leads with psychological triggers and now I’m ending with how to put it all together and successfully launch your product or service.
You’ll learn:
* What a launch campaign is and why it’s so important when you’re introducing a new product or service to the marketplace
* What all successful launches have in common (so you know what you need to do to make yours a success)
* One BIG mistake entrepreneurs do when they create a launch plan, and how you can prevent it
* One BIG step that’s overlooked by many entrepreneurs (miss this and you could end up wasting a lot of time and have nothing to show for it)
* What you need to keep in mind during your launch so you get truly FABULOUS results
Here’s that link again to sign up:
www.michelepw.com/launch
If you’ve already signed up for either of my first 2 preview calls, you’re automatically signed up for this one as well. Watch your in-box for call-in info.
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10.21.08
Posted in Business, General, Marketing at 9:49 pm EDT by Michele PW
News Flash — the economy is bad.
Oh wait. You know that already? So, I’m not sharing anything new?
My good friend Nancy Marmolejo, VivaVisibilityblog.com, asked her social networking followers if people should be using the bad economy to market their products and services. The answers that came back were for the most part against doing that.
Well, that got me thinking. Is it a good idea to talk about the economy and get into the fear and negativity, or not?
The answer isn’t quite so straightforward. (Which you probably guessed.) But to explain, let me start by giving you some quick background.
First off, fear and negativity does sell. People will move away from pain more than they’ll move towards pleasure. And that makes sense, when you think about it from our cavemen days. We would have a need, maybe it was hunger, maybe we were cold, and that was what we focused on until it was satisfied (i.e. we looked for food or built a fire). But once we had that need satisfied, we didn’t keep focusing on it. We moved to the next pressing need, which maybe was running away from a saber tooth tiger or finding a mate.
We’re wired to deal with the pain first, until it’s solved, then we can tackle the next problem. We’re NOT programmed to keep focusing on something even after the pain has gone away.
Think of yourself right now. Let’s say your leg is NOT hurting right now. And it hasn’t hurt in a really long time. Are you doing anything right now to keep it from hurting in the future? (I’m guessing probably not.) And even if you do do things to keep your leg from hurting (i.e. exercise regularly) you would quit taking care of your leg that’s not bothering you in a heartbeat if, say, your arm started hurting.
Unfortunately, the economy right now is all about pain, so as a marketer you might decide to jump right up and start hitting the pain button.
Well…That may not be such a great idea either.
You see, most people are pretty savvy themselves when it comes to marketing. So if you blatantly get into that fear and negativity, especially if you then turn around and try and sell something, it will probably be a huge turn off.
But, there’s something else going on as well. You see, there’s another copywriting rule, which is whenever possible you should join the conversation in your prospects’ heads. What I mean by this, if your prospect is thinking at this moment about what he’s going to eat for dinner, your promotional piece should start out with some mouth-watering recipes. (By the way, this is why sending out promotional pieces that tie into the holidays work so well, because so you’re entering the conversation that’s already going on in your prospects’ heads.)
Now, if there are two things that are dominating many American’s thoughts right now, it’s the coming presidential election and the economy. The presidential election is a bit harder to work into promotional copy (besides you don’t necessarily want to turn off your prospects by getting into a debate about who you think should be the next president) but the economy is perfect. It’s got the fear/pain and you can’t get away from it.
In fact, it’s SO prevalent if you don’t talk about the economy at all, that doesn’t feel right either. Like you’re completely out of touch with the problems your prospects are going through right now.
So what do you do?
First off, make sure you understand where your prospect is coming from. And what I mean by that is HOW is the economy affecting your prospect right now? For instance, are you targeting a lower income prospect who is extremely worried about money, so that’s all their thinking about, or are you targeting a more affluent prospect where the economy is something to talk about, but it’s going to have to get pretty darn bad before it even starts to affect them? Are you targeting people who don’t want to focus on the bad but are making a pact to thrive no matter what the economy is doing? Are you targeting people sick to death of hearing about the economy and may strangle the next person who brings it up to them?
Once you know how it’s affecting them and how they’re thinking about it, then you can decide if and how much to address the economy in your marketing. Or if it even has a place in your campaigns. If you own a high end spa catering to a very affluent prospect, I probably wouldn’t say much (if anything) about the economy. And I certainly wouldn’t say something like “Bad economy sale — stretch your spa dollars for a limited time.” That is NOT the conversation your prospect is having in their head right now.
If you’re going to do it, make sure you do it smart. Otherwise all you’re doing is turning your prospects off.
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10.20.08
Posted in Copywriting, General, Marketing at 7:07 am EDT by Michele PW
Hi there,
Just wanted to send you a quick reminder that my second preview call, 5 Psychological Triggers to Turn Prospects Into Clients, is Wednesday at 4 pm PST/7 pm EST.
Here’s the link to reserve your seat:
http://www.michelepw.com/triggers
If you’ve already signed up for my first preview call, 5 Secrets to Getting All The Leads You Can Handle, you’re automatically signed up for this call as well. Watch your in-box for call-in info.
On the call, 5 Psychological Triggers to Turn Prospects Into Clients, you’ll learn:
* What to do to get people to listen (and believe) what you say.
* How to harness the same power that makes word of mouth marketing so successful.
* How to seamlessly transform lookers into buyers.
* What you need to do to “seal the deal.”
Note: these are pretty powerful, so you should make sure you always use them in an honest and ethical manner.
Here’s that link again to sign up:
http://www.michelepw.com/triggers
“See” you on the call!
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10.13.08
Posted in General at 9:02 am EDT by Michele PW
How are you doing right now? Are you nervous about what’s going on? Or are you focusing on your own business and moving forward?
Let me tell you how I’m doing. I fluctuate between feeling nervous to feeling strong and confident.
Why am I nervous? Because this feeling of negativity is so pervasive. You’re bumping into it every time you turn around. To be honest, it’s an uphill battle to NOT let it affect you. The closest I’ve ever experienced anything like this in my 10 years of business ownership was after 9-11 when my business imploded for 4 months. In retrospect, that actually worked out okay for me because in December both my beloved grandma and my beloved first dog, Amber, died 2 weeks apart, and I was a mess for two months. (Because Amber died I ended up getting Nick the following February, so maybe it was all supposed to happen that way.) But I digress.
Why do I feel strong and confident? Because I know I’ll get through this just fine. I got through what happened in 2001 and I’ll get through this. Also, I continue to have a substantial number of leads trotting through the door, even right this second. I actually had 3 calls today with prospective clients.
Really, it’s been business as usual for me (which is why I’ve been focusing on keeping the news off).
But, it wasn’t always this way. In the 10 years I’ve been in business, I’ve experienced two periods where leads dried up. Those were terrifying periods (well, the second time was. The first time after 9-11 I was so deep in grief I couldn’t concern myself with what was or wasn’t happening with my business). So if you are worried or afraid of leads drying up, or maybe they already are, or maybe you want to make sure that never happens to you — I know what you’re going through because I’ve been there.
And I know how to get out of it. I’m the first to say I’ve made my share of mistakes in my business, but I’ve also learned from those mistakes. And I learned from those periods where the leads dried up — I’ve put together a plan so that would never happen to me again.
That’s what I’m going to share in my upcoming telelcass on Wed, Oct 15, at 4 pm Pacific — 5 Secrets To Getting All The Leads You Can Handle.
This is my first of 3 preview calls I’m doing this month, so keep an eye on your in-box. (Plus I’ll be sharing on the call how you can get Sales Letter Secrets for free as well, so that’s another good reason to get on the call).
Here’s the link to sign up
I’ve also set up a page to find out what your biggest question is about getting leads in your business.
Here’s the link for that
“See” you on the call!
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10.12.08
Posted in General at 8:45 am EDT by Michele PW
That’s me with Bucky Badger, the mascot for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We were getting ready to cheer the Badgers on to victory against the Fresno State Bulldogs.
That was our last win so far of the season.
It’s been a disappointing season so far for Wisconsin football, as both the Badgers and Packers are on losing streaks. Hopefully they’ll get themselves turned around this weekend.
And that leads me to a small business tip for the day – never lose hope. Things can turn around for you on a dime. You see this in sports all the time – one good play can turn around a losing game, one good game can turn around a season. But you also see it in business. So many people stop a few steps shy of actually seeing all their hard work pay off and success to start coming in. And many successful people are that way only because of years and years of perseverance (Thomas Edison had 10,000 failures trying to invent that light bulb before he got it right.)
Do you have any stories about how you almost gave up and success stepped in? I’d love to hear your stories.
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09.17.08
Posted in General at 6:43 pm EDT by Michele PW
Pretty much every business owner knows how important it is to continually get new leads into a business.
However, much of the effort spent getting those leads would be wasted without doing this very important next step.
And I would wager that most business owners who are reading this know the secret I’m going to share about making the most of those leads.
However, very few actually DO this.
Why? Because it’s not terribly exciting to do.
What am I talking about? I’m talking about follow up.
If you don’t have a system and plan in place to regularly follow up with leads, then you’re pretty much wasting your time generating leads in the first place.
Consider this — it takes most prospects 7-10 touches (or more) before they decide to do business with you. Most business owners stop following up after 3 times. So, in essence, what you’re doing is educating your prospect so when they’re ready to buy they’ll end up buying from your competition.
Following up is the absolute KEY to creating a steady stream of new clients and customers coming in the door. However, it does take Read the rest of this entry »
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08.30.08
Posted in General, Notes from PW at 7:43 am EDT by Michele PW
Is it just me or has this entire summer disappeared? Quite frankly, I haven’t a clue where it went. Now I’m gearing up for fall and I feel like summer is hiding in the corner laughing at me.
Well, I can’t complain too much. I’ve had a lot of exciting and fun things happen, and I’m gearing up for even more great things for this fall, so it’s all good. I just need to keep scheduling in that self care so I don’t get lost in the excitement. Anyone else struggle with that?
On another note, I’m happy to announce I’m done traveling for awhile (just one small trip in September) so I’ll have the time and space to really focus on myself and my business. I just got back from Miami last week, it really wiped me out, but I did get to experience Tropical Storm Faye. For this landlocked Midwestern girl who now lives in landlocked Arizona, it was pretty darn cool. The hotel
was right by the ocean so I got to watch the waves frothing and the palm trees blowing around. Definitely not why people visit Miami but it was actually more interesting than if it had just remained sunny the whole time.
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08.28.08
Posted in Business, General at 6:43 am EDT by Michele PW
One common mistake I see small business owners and entrepreneurs make time after time is this — relying on one source for leads.
In fact, I can’t tell you how many times I tell someone I’m in marketing and what they say to me is “oh, the only thing I do for marketing is word of mouth.” (I’m going to write an entire article about word of mouth marketing, maybe two, because that is hands down the most misunderstood marketing
strategy.)
Anyway, if you rely on only one marketing source, like word of mouth, I can nearly guarantee what your business looks like. Feast or famine. Either you’re buried in work, stressed to the max as you spend all of your time and energy frantically fulfilling the work pouring in, or you’re starving. Nothing is coming in and you spend your days worrying about how you’re going to pay next month’s bills.
So how do you avoid that situation? By not relying Read the rest of this entry »
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08.12.08
Posted in Business, Community Relations, General, Online Marketing, Public Relations at 8:14 am EDT by Michele PW
Great question. And it’s one that keep popping up over and over again.
The short answer is yes – it’s VERY possible to make money using social networking and Web 2.0 tactics. Both MaryPat and myself are doing it and we can show you how.
In fact, there are a number of ways you can make money from social networking and Web 2.0:
- Traffic. Most of these ways will lead to more traffic to your site one way or another. Some of that traffic is from direct links to your site, some of it is because you show up more in the search engines and some of it is because people will find you somewhere and decide they want to learn more about you and go to your site.
- Prospects or customers. Your prospects will read your articles, profile, comments, or maybe they’ll see your videos or hear your podcast, etc. and they’ll seek you out to become your customer.
- Referrals. In this case, someone find you, becomes a friend or fan, and refers other people to you.
- Joint venture or strategic partners. Many people are looking for experts to interview for their teleclasses or shows, or speakers for their events or for products to promote, etc. Again, many of these people will find you using social networking means.
- Sell products or services. You have to be careful how you do, but it’s also possible to promote yourself using social networking tactics. This truly is an art and if you don’t do it right, you can do quite a bit of damage to your reputation and your business.
That said, it is also possible to spend a lot of time and energy on this and make little to no money. The key is to know what’s the best use of your time, what can be outsourced and what you should never do.
Want to know more? Join MaryPat and I as we host a question and answer teleclass answering all your top questions on Web 2.0, social networking and traffic and then some. It’s called “Everything You Wanted To Know About Using Web 2.0 and Social Networking to Get Thousands of Warm, Hungry Visitors to Your Web Site” and here’s the link to sign up:http://www.kachingtraffic.com/teleclass
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07.28.08
Posted in General at 6:46 am EDT by Michele PW
I just got back from spending 10 days in Wisconsin. I grew up and went to school in Madison, but for this trip I didn’t actually spend any time in Madison. My parents bought a cottage in Wisconsin Dells, so we vacationed there.
Cottage is a bit of a misnomer, it’s actually a pretty big house. And it’s a good thing too, because for 10 days, it was me, hubby (for part of the time) my two sisters, my six nieces and nephews all under the age of eight, my parents and my brother-in-law. All in the same house. (Lucky there was also a big backyard.)
It’s been a few years since I’ve been back to Wisconsin, and what I basically spent the time doing is eating. Now that I live in Arizona, there are all these wonderful, fattening, Wisconsin dishes you just can’t get anywhere else and so of course I have to eat them. 
Foods like deep fried cheese curds (yes, no question they’re a heart attack waiting to happen) and turtle sundaes made with frozen custard. (Frozen custard stands never really took off outside of Wisconsin, much to the dismay of everyone who leaves the state.)
And of course there was lots of wine consumed. Lots and lots of wine. (Remember about the seven adults and six children in the same house.) However, I really didn’t gain any weight because one of my sisters brought an extra special little gift with her. The stomach flu.
It was a nasty, violent little bugger that got every single person sick. Luckily it didn’t last too long. Hubby and I were the last two to get it, and of course we got sick late Saturday night after an evening of eating and drinking. Everyone else felt sick during the day, so they stopped eating and didn’t get so violently ill. Not us. After a full day of overeating and overdrinking we spent the night in the bathroom. I can’t even remember the last time I was that sick.
So then I behaved myself for a few days after that. I guess I should be grateful, otherwise I might have eaten so much cheese and custard I would have turned into a dairy product.
But it was still fun. I enjoyed catching up with my family, playing with the nieces and nephews. A bunch of my extended family also showed up for the day, which was also nice. And as a bonus, I learned about Brett Favre’s decision to try and come back to the Packers in my home state, so got to hear what all my friends and family thought about it. (Not a pretty situation.)
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06.30.08
Posted in Community Relations, General, Marketing at 11:40 am EDT by Michele PW
Here’s me with my pink hat walking the San Diego Marathon. I’m proud to say I learned my lesson from last year, which was if I improve my attitude and smile while I’m walking, I’ll have a much better time. And I DID. I had a blast – right on up to between Mile 22 and 23. Then, I hit the wall.
And I hit it hard.
I’m not sure why I’m the only one in our little group to hit the wall but there it is. For the last 4 miles, I wanted to kill someone (or kill myself). All of a sudden the pain in my legs, which was hurting for most of the marathon but it was more of a dull ache, flared up big time. And all of a sudden, that pain became nearly unbearable. I didn’t think I could deal with it for one minute longer.
But I did deal with it. For an hour. One very long, agonizing hour.
More then that, I refused to let myself slow down. (Although I must say, that was a fairly easy decision as I knew if I slowed down I would simply be prolonging the agony.) I kept with my 15-minute mile and finished the race at 6 hours, 26 minutes — 38 minutes faster then last year.
So that was a win. Other wins to report:
• They changed the flavor of Accelerade (which is like Gatorade). Last year they served the original lemon-lime, which was disgusting. I could barely choke it down. This year they served fruit punch. Much better. (I’ve decided to attribute the change to me, as I complained last year in this very same blog about it – I have no doubt the powers-that-be at Accelerade are of course avid readers of my blog. : ) )
• The wonderful people with the oranges were still there, Read the rest of this entry »
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06.24.08
Posted in Business, Marketing at 6:14 pm EDT by Michele PW
A few years ago, I met a woman who was trying to peddle a painting created by a relatively famous Western painter.
This painter had painted it specifically for her family. It was the story about how her father acquired his favorite horse. He was hiking somewhere and came across a dead mare tangled in barb wire with the colt standing next to the body. The poor colt didn’t know what to do without his mom. So her father took the colt home and raised him.
The painter (who knew her father personally) was so moved by this story he went to his studio and painted it. He then gave the portrait to her father, who treasured it. However, the father had recently died, and the woman wanted to sell the painting.
In her mind, it was worth quite a bit. The painter was famous, many of his paintings went for quite a bit of money. And it was a one-of-a-kind. Buyers should be lined up around the block to snap it up. She thought she should be fighting them off with a riding crop.
But to her utter surprise and astonishment, no one was interested. More then that, they didn’t want to buy it for ANY price, much less the price of what she thought it was worth. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out the problem.
She actually had the painting with her when she told this story, and unwrapped it to show everyone. So I got to see this painting, which I’ve never been able to get out of mind. This picture of a dead horse, wrapped in barbwire, with the poor colt standing close by, head bowed in mourning. The landscape is beautiful but bleak and desolate around him.
Needless to say, I took one look at this painting and knew EXACTLY why she was having trouble selling it. First off, it was disturbing. The horse is clearly dead, the barbwire wrapped around her was bloody. And the colt looks so alone and helpless in the landscape. (It reminded me a bit of the scene in Dumbo where Dumbo was saying goodbye to his mother, who is wrapped in chains. Another dreadful scene.)
Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with disturbing, plenty of people buy disturbing art. But not her target market. Her target market is people who buy Western art. Western art is realistic art. While many times there is a sense of loneliness and desolation, I wouldn’t classify much of it as actually disturbing.
On top of that, many people who buy Western art love horses. People who love horses probably wouldn’t want a painting of a dead horse hanging in their living room. (Call me crazy, I know.)
So, while she probably does have something valuable on her hands (a one-of-a-kind painted by a famous artist) it’s not what the target market buys. And that, my friends, is the point I’m trying to make.
It doesn’t matter how good your product is or how much you believe your target market NEEDS what you’re selling. If it’s not a good fit, it isn’t going to matter because they won’t buy.
So the first thing you need to look at is this:
Is what you’re selling (whether it’s a product or service) something your target market WANTS to buy? Not needs to buy but wants to buy. No one buys what they need, people buy what they want. Many times they’ll justify it as “need” (i.e. I need a dress for the wedding, I need to eat organic food because it’s better for my health) but those are still wants, not needs. You WANT to show up at the wedding in a nice dress, but no one is going to shoot you if you show up in jeans. (Dirty looks maybe but no executions.) You WANT to take good care of yourself so you buy organic, but you can live a long time on cheap, non organic food. (Maybe you’ll have other health problems, but you’ll still be alive.)
If what you’re selling is not what your target market wants to buy, then you need to either find a different target market or sell something different.
And if what you’re selling IS what your target market wants to buy, but they’re not buying it, then you need to look at how you’re explaining it so people realize they do want to buy it.
Here’s another quick example of making sure what you’re selling matches up to what your target market is buying. You may have noticed Hollywood is coming out with an Incredible Hulk movie. But wait, you might be thinking, hasn’t there already been an Incredible Hulk movie? Why yes, in 2003. But the movie didn’t do very well. Why? Well, common thought is because people go see an Incredible Hulk movie because they want to see a big green guy running amok and wreaking all sorts of havoc. The one in 2003 didn’t deliver — it was a slower, angst-ridden Hulk we saw, not one gleefully stomping about ripping police cars in half.
Whether or not this Hulk movie does better in the box office is yet to be seen, and it’s really besides the point. The point is, Marvel Comics believed that the first movie did not deliver what their target market wanted, and therefore the target market did not buy. So, they decided to repackage it and re-release it (to the tune of $150 million).
If Marvel Comics is willing to redo a movie and spend $150 million on it, how much are YOU willing to spend to repackage your services and products to better match to what your target market wants to buy?
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