No offense, but your clients don't care about you. (In its entirety.)

I need to make a couple confessions: 

1. Most marketing pieces I receive end up in the trash.

2. I’m bored easily by most websites.

Maybe I’m a snob? It’s possible, but I don’t think so. I have a feeling that I’m not the only business person sick of reading glorified brag sheets.

Too often, in my opinion, us small business owners and solo-entrepreneurs become too self-involved. We forget that while, yes, we’re in business to make money and put food on the table, we’re ultimately providing a valuable service to our clients. 

The result? We start telling people how long we’ve been around. We boast about being the number one salesperson in the country. We name drop. Here’s the thing: potential clients are savvy consumers, and they don’t care. 

On the top of every prospect’s mind is one question: what can you do for me? 

Before they buy, customers want to know how they’re going to benefit from your product or service. They want to know what’s in it for them. If you tell them, you’ll be in business.

To cut through (the crap) and make an impression, you need to become an audience-focused marketer. Here’s how.

Take stock of your current material:

If your marketing brochure or website sounds like a resume, you’ve got a problem. When is the last time you wanted to read a resume? Umm...never. Too bad many small business owners feel like they have to prove themselves by listing their credentials, years experience, and awards. With marketing, you really only have a couple of seconds to gain your audience’s attention and make a point. Don’t use this time to bore people with factoids. Instead, share how you’re going to help them. How?

1. Focus on one person. 

Too often, we try to pack everything into a small marketing piece or on one page of our website. (We want to appeal to as many people as possible because then we’ll get more business, right?) Wrong. When you try to appeal to everyone, you really appeal to no one. When you craft your marketing pieces, try to imagine one person. This person must be your ideal client: they’ll love your product, get the most benefit from your service, and will tell all their friends about you. When you speak to one person instead of the masses, your marketing gets easier. Your approach changes automatically: instead of spewing a rehearsed pitch, trying to please everyone, the conversation becomes personal. Your marketing message becomes accurate. (It’s like playing pin the tail on the donkey without a blindfold.)

2. Tell stories and create images.

Instead of writing something dull like “We’ve been in this industry for 20 years,” use your marketing content to tell a story. Storytelling creates images in people’s minds. People relate to stories, and when you use a story to show people how you help, they’ll identify, create a mental picture, and seek out your assistance.

Stories don’t have to be super long case studies or go into great detail, they just have to get people to relate, and create an image in their mind. For instance, on my website I have a “Call me when” section on my contact page. One of my favorite call me when lines is: “Call me when your website has been under construction for longer than six months.” Is everyone going to relate to this sentence? No. However, those prospects who have not launched their website because they can’t write their content will. In their mind, a picture of their “Under Construction” page will pop up, and they’ll have the desire to take action. Those are the people I can help, and those are the people I want to call me.

Craft stories and create images for your business. When you do, you’ll have motivated customers knocking on your door. 

3. Features vs. Benefits.

Ahh yes, here we go with the features and benefits rule again. I won’t go into too much detail because I feel like I’m beating a dead horse (this topic has been discussed ad nauseam), but I’ll do a brief re-cap because I wouldn’t be considered a true professional otherwise. 

Features are about you. Benefits are about your clients. 

Example: Lawn Care Company

Feature: We’re the area’s best mowers.

Benefit: You’ll have the area’s best lawn.

To retain your prospect’s attention, you need to talk about benefits. To make a prospect a client, you need to listen and then talk about benefits they care about. If you want more on this subject, I highly recommend reading the article “Benefits Don’t Sell” by fellow Biznik member Paul Anderson. He does a brilliant job laying it out.

The lesson: stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about your customers. How does your business help them? How will they benefit? Once you know, you can craft marketing messages that won’t end up in the trash.