Winston's e-Newsletter - September 2008

How to Get Your Name in the Paper!

There's no doubt that getting your name into magazines or newspapers can bring in new business. To make this happen, you have to approach it like you do anything else in business… systematically.

First, find a publication that circulates to your target market - the people with whom you want to do business. The best bets are local newspapers for retail businesses and industry journals for business to business. You'll find that articles attuned to the readers of these publications have extraordinary pulling power.

Then you identify the various sections in the publication. Who are they aimed at? Young mums or retireds? CEO's or purchasing managers? Get a feel for who might read them. Try to walk for a while in the readers' shoes.

Then don't write an article about you or your company but rather talk about what you can do for the sort of people who read the publication. Keep in mind that the editor will look at the article with certain questions in mind: 'Is this of interest to my readers? Will it help them achieve there goals? Make them more money? Make their dreams come true or be better engineers, salespeople or accountants?' If you can show these sorts of things in your article, it's going to appeal to the editor of the publication.

Sometimes you're so close to your business you can't see the news value in what's happening in your business that will be of interest to your market. It might be a way to save time or money or a new product that has great benefits the market will understand or hints and tips that they'll find valuable. Be creative! If you can provide a photo, that's even better.

Here's a tip… don't try to write the article yourself. Phone the editor of the publication and ask if they could recommend someone to write a couple of articles for you, for payment of course. Quite often the editor will ask a few questions and then, if it piques their interest, offer to do the job themselves. In fact they'll probably like it so much they'll publish it!

 

Getting started on your goals

Many people really don't get going on their goals coz they don't know how to get started. Here's an easy 5 point plan to help you make them happen.

1. Where will you be and what will you be doing (a) 12 months (b) 5 years from now? (Paint a picture as detailed as possible… the more the mind can conceive, the easier the heart can achieve).
2. Where are you in relation to that now? (Come on be honest with yourself and really focus on what your situation is now… be brutally realistic and truthful).
3. How will you get there? (What are the most critically important steps you have to take to get to where you want to be? Remember, the smaller the steps, the easier they are to take).
4. What commitment are you going to make today, tomorrow and in the future toward achieving those steps? Be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and put a time deadline on each (SMART).
5. When you've got all your answers down, e-mail me a copy. I'll send it back in 12 months so you can see how you've done.

 

If you missed the TeleSeminar

You may know that about every two months Winston presents a 60 minute TeleSeminar chock-a-block full of his great marketing and business ideas on topics that are often demanded by our clients.

Each TeleSeminar is recorded. So, if you missed any of them you can get the CD and the comprehensive supporting notes (a gold mine of value in themselves) for them from our website. The titles available are:

• How to be BIG on Customer Service!
• How to Generate an Avalanche of Clients and Customers!
• How to Sell BIG!
• How to Write a Yellow Pages Advert That Pulls Like Crazy!
• How to be a Confident Speaker!

You’ll find all the details and you can order them here.

 

A video commercial

Here's another commercial (which I suspect was made for viral marketing) for you to watch, enjoy the quite risqué humour, reflect on and wonder whether it actually increased sales for the advertiser. I've got the feeling that often commercials that are humorous do make us laugh but don't necessarily engender product recall or make us buy. Did the sale of those mints make the cost of producing the video worthwhile?

 

Look good! Smile great!

Okay, okay! Forgive me for including a picture of me and, yes I'll agree that I've got a great face for radio! But I can't get over what a difference having my top teeth crowned (cosmetically enhanced!) has made to my smile.

I've always thought that I never looked good in photos… my smile always looked terrible. Since I've had my teeth done, without realizing it or consciously trying to smile better, my smile has improved markedly as I hope this picture shows.

Only goes to prove what we say when we're talking about personal motivation… look good and feel great!

By the way, the dentist who made the silk purse out of a sow's ear was Dr Mark Hassed at www.finedentistry.com.au

 

Business Growth Centre
ABN: 96 709 037 261
Postal: 110 Coleman Road, Boronia, Vic, 3155, Australia
Phone: +613 9887 5511   Fax: +613 9887 5581

 

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