How will you know when you’ve learned what your market really, really wants?

You’ll know, because that’s when people buy more easily, because they just see what you offer them is a good fit.

It will be such a revelation to learn how easy selling your service or products can be when they’re what your market wants.

Once that happens, you’ll begin to hear from your clients how grateful they are for your products. Everything about how you do business will be transformed, because you’ve taken the time to learn what your market wants. You’ve made the effort to step into their shoes and understand what makes them tick. And that effort pays off in products that really meet the needs of your market.

So, if you’re still struggling to sell your products, or it feels as though you’re pushing people into buying what they don’t want, it’s time to take a time-out and really understand what it takes to attract or pull a client towards you, rather than push.

You are attracting (pulling ) clients towards you when you:
1. Understand what keeps them awake at night
2. Know what is most important to them
3. Know what end result they expect from working with you

To be clear, a push marketing strategy involves selling and promotional activity to create demand for a product, while a pull marketing strategy might involve advertising or web promotion to build demand and will typically have customers coming to you and asking all the right questions, as opposed to you creating a sales presentation opportunity where you show them what they don’t know they might need.

I come across more people today wanting to build pull marketing strategies and not getting the income they really want and a big reason why they have this problem is because they really don’t know their customers.

So if you prefer to attract customers to you, you really have to get to know who you serve.

Best Wishes
Neil

Neil Fellowes shows conscious entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants and complementary therapists how to make a difference AND a profit. Visit his website at http://www.communitysoul.co.uk

When you know who your market is, you know what they need. When you know what they need, you know how to package it in a way they want that makes it easy for your client to buy from you.

This really is the holy grail of marketing and it’s what leads to more clients… more referrals… and more hits on your web pages…

Before creating any new product or service or before ramping up your marketing, take a step back and ask yourself, “Do I REALLY know who my market is?

Next you want to be asking, “What does my market really, really want?” Being able to answer that question is the key to growing your business. By focusing on what people want, rather than on what you want to sell them, you’ll begin to see the kind of results you really want.

If you think you’re wasting time by marketing something people don’t really want, here is something to ponder:
People buy when they feel understood. They buy what they want, not what you think they need, they like to feel good about their purchase.

Let’s break that down a little more…

No matter what logical explanation you give someone for buying a product, underneath it is the want to be understood. So when someone buys from you it’s because you showed them that you knew enough about who they are to make a product that fits them.

I call this an “appreciation of a client”.  In the same vein as “What you appreciate, appreciates”, when you appreciate who a client is and what their issues are and then package something for that need, you show your understanding.

If you offer what you think a client needs rather than what a client wants and you try to shoehorn clients into buying something they don’t want it, doesn’t matter how amazing you make the benefits, they just won’t respond to your efforts, if they don’t want the product. To continue doing so is a lot like speaking a different language and shouting to be understood.

If you’ve done a good job of pinpointing a target market, you should be able to learn these things easily. Until you do, you’re marketing will only limp along because you don’t yet know what products they’ll feel good about buying.

Find that appreciation for whoever you are serving and the numbers you serve will grow.

Best Wishes
Neil

www.communitysoul.co.uk

I want to give you an example of how, when you niche, you make it easy for people to find both you and what they need.

For a lot of people resistance to niching is what stands between you achieving what you want. Let’s look at it like this: if you don’t niche, you fail to stand out from the crowd and all the other white noise out there. What happens then is you go unnoticed.

When someone wants to increase their client base the first question out of my mouth will most likely be: ‘Who is this for?’ Often the answer I hear is words to the effect of: ‘Anyone who wants to buy my service.’

The problem with this answer is that while they ‘Could be anyone’… in ‘reality’, “they” are not ‘anyone’. “They” are “someone”.

The marketing message of  ‘Anyone can be my customer’ doesn’t speak to ‘anyone’. It doesn’t touch or move anyone. It’s plain and bland and as a result hardly anyone shows an interest and becomes a customer.

This is a point I’ve debated with lots of people who were struggling to find new clients. Their worry is that if they narrowed down who the customer might be too much, there would be even less chance of someone buying. This isn’t the case. In fact the opposite is true. Let me explain…

If you want to speak to ‘anyone in London’, you might be speaking to five million faceless unknowns who are busy in the City with countless distractions like: the hum and the buzz and of the City, catching a tube home, the stress and long hours of working in the City; or it might be about “Will I make the next connection?” or “Am I going to make my appointment?”

People in the City come from lots of cultural backgrounds and many of them will have moved to the City for work and come from different parts of the world  such as Germany. They might be struggling with the culture and just wishing they could be at home, say in Germany, and speaking their own language for five minutes and have a joke about how Londoners are. And they’re sitting there on the tube rubbing their neck and shoulders and really feeling that tension and feeling a bit lost, maybe a bit frightened, maybe slightly fed up, but maybe also okay with life and slightly enjoying the adventure they’re on working in London.

So, how do you get their attention when you’re say, a masseur?

If your marketing says: ‘anyone who wants me’ it just melds into the wallpaper of the City. But what happens when you bring it to life by saying: ‘Hello I help people from Germany who are busy, stressed and missing home. Come and see me, chill out, relax and let me drizzle the most fragrant oils in town over your tight shoulders… until London fades into the distance and all you can imagine is being back at home.’

You don’t need everyone to be your clients or customers, you just need a few… “someone’s” who love you and become raving fans. 50 clients as a masseur is probably worth around £2500-£3000 a month if you see your clients monthly. If you see them fortnightly then it’s double that. And all you need to find is just 50 people, not hundreds.

All the best, Neil

http://www.communitysoul.co.uk

In writing any good marketing copy there are 7 essentials you have to take care of – without getting overly technical. I’m going to give them to you here, because I want people reading this newsletter to write copy that engages readers and finds them a stream of clients.

So, let me take you through the 7 essentials:

1. Title – this has to make a promise about what you’ll deliver and it must speak to your audience

2. Sub-title – the subtitle builds the picture up more – it expands on the title

3. Rapport/Credibility piece – Speak in the language of the people who will buy from you and let them know why they should listen to you.

4. Benefits – put these in a bullet point list… it makes it easy to read and suggests value, value, value

5. Social proof – testimonials, show other people what they got from you. Use names where you can. Use pictures if you can get them. And the more specific you can be the better.

6. A call to action – this is about telling them what to do next.

7. Contact details (either get theirs using a contact form on your website or give yours if you are using flyers or another advertising method.

For an example of a webpage using these all 7 steps visit: www.communitysoulbusiness.com

When I first wrote the copy in the link above, I had it critiqued by a group of people I mastermind with. Then I rewrote it. I invested around £3500 in hard cash in that copy and then a further £1000 in my own time writing it.

So you can see, it’s not something I just threw together in a few minutes. The title took several attempts and yet when I look at it now it looks really simple. And that’s the way you want it to read. Simple.

The copy was hacked and rewritten. But that page has resulted in around 2000 people signing up for the offer we make.

Just using the seven essentials will give you better results in from your marketing efforts, but that’s not the be-all-and-end-all in copywriting. There is a lot more for you to learn… and it never stops!

Best wishes
Neil

http://www.communitysoul.co.uk

What happens when you don’t invest in good marketing copy….

One of the reasons a lot of people struggle is because of poor marketing copy. If you look around the Internet you’ll see lots of sites that are poorly written and you can spot these very quickly.

If your website is one of those websites, then what happens to the visitors?

An uninterested website visitor clicks away if they can’t find what they want in seconds. That means that whatever your website costs you to create, host and manage costs you money.

So, how do you draw a crowd with your marketing copy?

One of the topics I covered with my Insiders Secrets group recently was what is important and why and how to write it and we went into a great deal of depth on the subject and that’s not something I can cover in an article.

What I can share here is that there is information you must get across and you have to put that in a way that is going to compel someone, who is interested in being your customer, to become your customer.

As a customer, when you or I read something, we’re subconsciously hunting for what’s in this for me? Can I get what I need? Can this person or business solve my problem?

And these days… when you have so much competition… and it’s all easily accessible… especially via the Internet… it’s the people writing the most engaging, compelling copy… that draw in the crowd.

And you’ll know how well you’re doing with compelling people to buy from you based on how many people buy from your web pages and how your bank balance looks… and I say that with lots of love, and I say that because what you put down on paper, or on a website, is probably also a fair reflection of how you verbalise the difference you make, too…

In the last 2 years we’ve run five really big events. And these are the events where we’ve really pulled out the stops on on the  marketing front. And these events have pretty much all been sell outs. In one case we had 1000 people register, in another more than 1800. On two other occasions, we couldn’t get any more people in the room.

And this was mostly due to the marketing copy we used to help people get along to these events.

Best wishes
Neil

What are the 3 MUST-KNOWS of writing Compelling Marketing Copy?

First, there’s a saying, that to become a good copywriter, you have to become a good copy reader… that means reading good marketing copy and learning.    This is one of my habits.

Because I have developed good copy habits and a process for writing, I never have to scratch my head and wonder where to start.

In fact in my newsletter to my Insiders Secrets group recently, I mentioned to them that I spent 15 minutes writing copy that sold 3 products in 90 minutes while I prepared a presentation and gave it.

The people on that call know something, though – my marketing copy is never just thrown together. I was able to create that copy so quickly because of the habits I have developed.

The second must know is: know your customer.

And I know that you know this, but I’m mentioning it here, because even though I know that you know, that you need to know your customer, so many people forget this or resist clearly defining who the customer is.

And if you never define who your customer really is how will you ever know the third must know of good copywriting…

The third must know of good copywriting is to be clear on what your customer REALLY wants – which isn’t always what you offer, or at least not the way people often offer it.

And unless you have these 3 Must-Knows clearly in your cells, you shouldn’t even start a website or a brochure, because you don’t know who you are offering to, or why or how to write the copy.

Interestingly enough, I was talking to Alan Forrest Smith a few weeks ago, and Alan is one of the world’s most sought after copywriters, charging thousands to write your marketing campaigns and the the first thing he asked me was “Who is your customer?”

Now if that’s one of the world leaders in marketing and copywriting asking that question, we all need to pay attention.

Best wishes
Neil

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Neil Fellowes shows conscious entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants and complementary therapists how to make a difference AND a profit. Visit his website and register for his free newsletter at http://www.communitysoul.co.uk

I recognise a number of people reading this article are just not getting the results that you want from your brochures, flyers and websites.

These brochures, flyers and websites are marketing that never sleeps and it’s your marketing copy that for many people determines if you have people queueing up at your door or not.

To attract business we have to represent ourselves well on page because it’s our written material that sells us. And the more you automate your marketing through websites, auto-responders and emails, the more important your copy becomes.

You may also want your marketing copy to compete with the best in the field. To do that there are some essentials, and if you include them, that can set you apart from so much of the competition and have you recognised right up there with the leaders in your field.

There are also things that set ordinary marketing copy apart from great copy which sells quickly and easily.

Creating great marketing copy is something I’ve invested in. I write much of my own copy, but I will always run it by either a mastermind group who understand marketing copywriting, or I’ll talk it through with a mentor or an expert.

Doing these things has raised the bar, with many of our pages now getting results of 38%-84%.

In the last year we’ve invested thousands into this area of development, but I have to be honest and admit I made a big mistake…

When I first looked at at how much copywriting cost, I decided it was too expensive. In making that choice I failed to look at what it would cost me if I didn’t invest.

Looking back this is something I would have invested in much sooner.

Have you invested in copywriting? Or is that another area of your business where you are saying you can’t afford to invest? What is failing to invest costing you longer term?

Best wishes
Neil

Have you ever set a goal and felt disappointed because you didn’t achieve it? Or have you set a goal and felt out of alignment with it immediately – or felt bad even if you did achieve it? Or have you ever set a goal and laughed at yourself when you set it?

I’ve done all of these at different times in my life. In fact, truth be known, I’ve done most of them more than once.

In the past goal-setting set me up for failure in one way or another, either because I didn’t achieve the goal or because I didn’t like myself while working towards the goal.

I had times when I’d begun working on my goals and felt physically sick. I’d get sweaty hands, have the shivers and go all dizzy. Funny thing was, when I backed off the goal, I suddenly felt better.

This shows the point I want to make about setting goals – and this point isn’t rocket science, but it is, unfortunately, something that can often be overlooked.

When setting a goal you must make sure that you are working towards something you really want – the desire has to be there 100%.

You have to make sure the goal excites you. I don’t mean logical, blokey, “That feels sort of right.” It can’t be “In the brain excitement.”

It has to be an in your cells, “Wow!” and the possibility of achieving the vision literally blows you away. Think back to when you fell in love for the first time and you couldn’t focus on anything else – that kind of excitement.

This kind of excitement will do a couple of things:

1. People around you will notice a transformation and will offer help, move out of your way or do something that helps you

2. You will want to start taking action sooner rather than later

When you feel excited things will begin to flow in your direction and you will start to take action that moves you towards your intention and your intention will begin to manifest in real life.

The more you practice this, the easier it gets. The less it feels like a “spiritual practice” and the more it feels like a part of the way you just do things and things you want and people you want materialise around you.

Best wishes
Neil

I know the title might sound odd – to aim beyond what you want, but I would prefer you to aim higher, rather than lower, and this article is about that.

Accepting lower than we aimed for is about an attitude of taking second best -  lowering standards, but I want to inspire you by talking about the amazing things that happen when you have a vision, take action that backs up the vision and then capitalise on the additional opportunities that come your way when you are in the dynamic flow of momentum.

Setting a vision is vital. Holding the vision is no less important. If you left the corporate world and set up on your own with just the skills, knowledge and qualifications earned, and a deep desire to do things your way and began your business with no more of a vision than that, you probably wouldn’t be the first.

I was 21 when I did that. After a faltering start – or more “stop” than “start” I did manage to get it to pay off.

The problem I had then was I had very little direction.

I like to look at direction as being intention – what we want to create. And I like to break the word in-tension down into two words and change a letter the “t” for and “s”– and create “in” and “tension”. And the kind of tension I’m talking about is the kind of tension an archer has when he’s aiming for the bullseye, rather than the kind of tension lots of people have when running a small business – which can often be caused by running around like a headless chicken because there was no real intention and therefore no idea of how to get from A to Z.

Let me start by giving you an example. Nicky Marshall, runs HolisticInsights.co.uk. Nicky had an idea of running events to help people with their well-being. Originally it was therapies and readings that might help people feel better and find some direction. That was her moon. But when she started taking action, she began to bump into opportunities that enhanced her intention and she moved beyond her original aims…

But let me give you another example. I used to be a business mentor passing on my knowledge. Then I started to dream beyond that.

I began by thinking I would pass on all my knowledge, then I thought, what’s better than that? Then I thought wouldn’t it be great to let other people hear what I’m learning about right now and what we are trying at the cutting edge of our business. Wouldn’t it also be great to be able to give people mentoring in a more cost effective way and wouldn’t it be great to create a community around it all? Here is what I created – http://www.insiderssecrets.co.uk/

So think about your business… what do you need to do to get the expertise in place that helps you aim higher? What can you offer your clients that meets their needs?

Best
Neil

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Neil Fellowes shows conscious entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants and complementary therapists how to make a difference AND a profit. Visit our website at http://www.communitysoul.co.uk

When I first became self-employed I needed new clients and repeat business. What I was offering was a service to householders.

In order to have them buy from me I had to knock at their door and ask – cold calling and door knocking… something most people might like to run away from…

And it gets worse…

Each month I was knocking on a thousand doors and what that meant is that pretty soon I ran out of doors to knock on… and you know what that means…

Yes. I had to start again and re-knock on the doors who said no to me the first time round. But there was something surprising about this…

You’d be amazed to know that the second time around I got more yeses than the first, and the third time was about as good as the second. By then I was calling on every 2nd or 3rd house in some streets and that’s when something magical started to happen.

What happened was – word began to get around, and that meant referrals began coming to me. And this is what we call client attraction.

Attraction is simply when you pull customers to you, rather than push. Advertising is a form of push marketing, recommendation and referral is a type of “pull” marketing.

Attraction happens where you’re not projecting your business out there, yet you’re drawing business to you. And there’s something else you should know…

Before I enjoyed people coming and asking if they could be my customers, I had to undergo something.

Before attraction happened, I first had to go through rejection. Had I given up after my seventh straight no, I’d have never got to number eight and had them be my first customer.

If I’d given up too soon, I’d never have built that company. I set a goal, I found a strategy that worked and I kept working it.

Sometimes I fell behind my goals. But did I give up? No. And that’s the spirit people who succeed carry – on-going… never giving up…

Something all of us Conscious entrepreneurs have to keep in mind is that our source of wealth is created where our customers needs meet our ability to serve. When we have a great service and are 100% in our conviction about that service, customers can’t wait to get that service. When we can’t wait to give and we ask for opportunities to give, customers can’t wait to receive. What goes on on the outside of your business will be a perfect reflection of what’s going on on the inside.

Best wishes

Neil

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Neil Fellowes shows conscious entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants and complementary therapists how to make a difference AND a profit. To find out more, visit his website at http://www.communitysoul.co.uk