About Jodi Kaplan

The Two Most Important Words in Online Business

Posted on September 15, 2009 by Jodi Kaplan

There are two words that are critical to success if you’re doing business online.

Why are these important? Because you’re dealing with people who can’t physically see or talk to you. So, you’ve got to build up these two words.

The First Word is Trust

If people trust you, they’re more likely to believe that you can help fix their problem, and will be more willing to pay you to do it. It’s like making deposits in a bank.

Here’s how to do it.

Listen harder

First, as Chris Brogan says, grow bigger ears. Start listening to what potential customers are saying. Subscribe to appropriate blogs and join forums in your niche.

Tools to help you listen:

Google Alert: set up alerts to monitor what people in your chosen niche are saying. They’ll be emailed to you automatically.

Google Reader: monitor blogs and read about what your potential market thinks, and the problems they have.
Twitter Search tools
Listen First, Sell Later (just a plain link). The author, Bob Poole, was a successful salesman for years. Instead of a pushy, hard sell, he chose to listen – and find out what his customers really wanted and needed. This book tells how he did it.

The Second Word is Authority

You build this by demonstrating your expertise in your chosen niche. If people believe that you are trustworthy, understand their problems, and know their business, they will be happy to pay you to help them.

Here’s how to build authority.

Answer questions on forums

Use whatever links or biographical information are allowed to send traffic to your site or blog for more information about you. Don’t forget to fill out the forum profile too.

Write guest posts

Make intelligent comments on those blogs, and get the attention of the blogger. Offer to make a guest post on a topic that is relevant and helpful to the blogger’s readers.

When you do, say something nice about the blogger and how much you enjoy his/her blog. Don’t grovel or gush, just be polite and genuine. Include a brief bio at the end of your guest post, with a link back to your own blog.

Don’t have a blog? Tomorrow’s post will have some tips to help you start one.

Photo: morguefile

Earn More Money Marketing to Fewer People

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Jodi Kaplan

Less gets me more? How can that be?

Focusing on a small group of people, instead of trying to sell to everyone, can actually get you more business. You need a niche.

But how do you find one?

Find your passion

First of all, think about what you like. Is your passion for design in a particular industry? Are you more drawn to pharmaceuticals? Or does your heart beat faster when you work on something for the music industry? If you’re passionate about something, the joy will come through in your work. You’ll be happier, and so will your customers.

Narrow it down

Next step is to narrow it down. Music is a big topic. Do you want to focus on big labels? Or up-and-coming indie country music artists? Be as specific as possible.

Check the market

Do some research. You may have a great idea, but there’s no sense going ahead with an idea without a market. So, do a little research to find out if a market exists. Here are some tools.

Market search tools

Google Blog Search. Look to see if there are blogs in your chosen market.
Magazines.com or Amazon magazine search (if there’s a magazine, there’s a market).
Check for trade associations (same principle as magazines)
Yahoo Groups
Keyword Search: Google Keyword Search, Firefox SEO plugin (see what people are looking for)

Become known as a specialist in a particular field, and you’ll be the go-to company. “Oh yeah, she’s the green exhibit designer.”

Next, you’ll need to figure out how to build trust in your chosen niche. More on that tomorrow.

Photo:poolie

Seven Easy Ways to Write Great Headlines That Convert

Link

There are times when the perfect headline jumps out of your brain and types itself out on the page.

Other times, it’s like slogging through molasses (no progress, and your brain feels like it’s bogged down in something sticky).

What do you do when inspiration fails to strike? A recent post on Copyblogger got me thinking about ways to write great headlines that convert (sometimes without even really writing at all). Wouldn’t it be great to have tips on how to write great headlines? Stuff that you could just rework a bit and still get great results?

Here are some ways to easily write great headlines, without doing a lot of work.

1) Let Google do the work for you

Try searching for your topic on Google. See what ads or sponsored links pop up. This can be a great source of ideas. Plus, they’re already search-engine friendly. Check the number of results to see how popular the topic/wording is. Or, type something into the address bar (the one on the very top, where the URL is). See what the suggestions are.

2) Swipe ideas from banner ads

Someone else has paid for those banner ads to come up on relevant sites. See what headlines they’re using, and adapt them.

3) Look at magazine covers

This works especially well with women’s magazines. They’ve been using attention-grabbing headlines for years. Copyblogger particularly recommends Cosmopolitan, and I agree. You don’t even have to leave your desk; you can check out the latest covers at magazines.com. Plus, if you’re a guy, nobody has to see you picking up Cosmo!

Don’t use the headlines directly, but modify them to fit. For instance, here’s a sample headline from a magazine: “Five Words That Get the Truth Out of Men.” That won’t work as is, but you can change it to “Five Words That Get Clients to Pay Overdue Bills.”

4) Use a formula

There are formulas for this. Direct marketers have been using them for years (because they work).

a) Set up a contradiction

“Earn Money While You Sleep”

b) Promise information
“How to Avoid the Biggest Mistake You Can Make When Buying a Camera”

c) Answer questions or objections

“10 Things You Should Know Before You Hire a Web Developer”

5) Look at newsletters you get from other people

I just got one titled: “Write a Profitable E-book in One Hour”

(This makes a promise, offers success, and sets up a seeming contradiction).

6) Keep a “swipe” file

Tear out ads from magazines, save direct marketing letters, print out ads you see online, and scribble down headlines from TV or a blog. Keep them all in a big folder (virtual or actual) and pull them out when you need inspiration. Keep a small notebook with you to jot them down.

7) Don’t try

Sometimes trying too hard or thinking too much can freeze your brain. Step away from the computer or the paper and go do something else. Send an email to a client, take a walk, get coffee. I often find I get great ideas walking down the street.

Oh, and if you think the headline in the paper is far-fetched, a few days ago I saw a cat chasing a dog the size of a Labrador. This is a tough town.

Photo:plenty of ants

How to Pull Your Marketing Out of the Mud

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Jodi Kaplan

If you’re like many creative service firms, you’re suffering from a common problem. You’re trying to get more business, but you’re having trouble making progress.

Big firms think you’re too small to be credible. They’re concerned that doing business with you is risky and that you don’t have enough staff to get their work done on time.

Small firms see the high quality of your work and are afraid you’ll cost too much.

Trying to sell to both large and small companies will get you in trouble. Pick one or the other, and narrow down your target audience.

Don’t be the designer for everyone. Be the exhibit designer for the independent film industry. Or, be the designer for the pharmaceutical industry.

Then, then create marketing materials that address the needs (and only the needs) of your niche.

The job of your marketing is to help them feel safe, secure, and confident that you can do the job. Then you’ll be able to get out of the mud.

Photo:photoram

Is Your Marketing Run by Robots?

Posted on September 4, 2009 by Jodi Kaplan

It’s election season in New York. There’s a primary in less than two weeks. I got 8 pieces of mail yesterday. Two days before it was 3. I expect to see 4 or 5 more in today’s mail.

Then there’s the phone calls at all hours of the day and evening.

Some are from live people, anxiously asking me if Candidate X can count on my vote.

The worst ones are from robots, with a recording of Congressman A telling me how vital it is that I vote for Candidate X.

I hang up on the robots and toss the fliers (oh, the poor trees that died for this). Even the live people don’t really talk to me. They just recite their scripts. They never say why I should vote for their candidate; only that I should.

They’re doing an awful lot of shouting, but not much listening.

Take the time to listen to what your customers say. Build a relationship. Send cards for no reason (Happy Daylight Savings Time!). Enclose a note with their bill, thanking them for their business. Ask them what they like (or don’t like) most about working with you. People work with people (not robots).

Photo: aussiegall