Lead Generation is what inbound marketing is all about, but you only have two seconds toget the attention of your ideal prospect.
Time (attention)
is our #1 non-renewable resource.
But getting the attention of your ideal customers is not enough.
You must also keep their attention.
How to keep your prospect's attention
Tell a good story and do it in a way that is sequential, multi-touch, and includes multi-media.
To tell a good story you must get into the heads of your ideal clients.
Walk a mile in their shoes. Empathize*.
(*This is the "E" in my BETR™ Prospecting System, which is a bonus that is included in the Make Every Sale program.)
Wanna know where to start building empathy?
Maslow gave us insight into what our ideal clients are thinking about:
- Health and survival
- Food
- Shelter
- Sexual gratification
Other things to consider include demographics such as age, sex, education, race, and religion.
It's also good to keep in mind hobbies, politics, interests, past buying history, music, books, art/theater, etc.
To really turn your words into money, move beyond fear and greed and tap into their more complex feelings.
Address why might they be feeling...
- Anxious
- Ambitious
- Nervous
- Lonely
- Insecure
- Guilty
- Happy
Show that you understand these feelings and can help alleviate them and your bank account will be full.
If you're still scratching your head and don't really know much about what your ideal client is thinking/pondering/considering, consider changing businesses.
But if you're stubborn and committed try...
- Sending out surveys.
- Spying on your successful competitors.
- Taking your current best clients to breakfast to really get to know them.
- Researching the books and journals they read. (Look in their lobby and waiting rooms and offices for old magazines.)
With this knowledge, create your avatar or ideal client persona.
For example, when it comes to inbound marketing and CRM sales, one of my avatars is
"Bob, a 45-year old married, college-educated business owner who is over-worked, under-paid, passionate about growing his business, is not afraid of technology but he is not a 'geek' or 'nerd.'
"He has a staff of 5, is currently spending between $200 and $500 per month on various email and shopping cart and CRM systems, and is tired of juggling all of those platforms only to lose sales because he can't collect enough leads and/or follow up in a timely manner with those he does collect."
When it comes to sales training, the avatar of my ideal client is
"Carl, a 31-year old, married, college-educated sales professional making $80,000 per year but feeling frustrated and befuddled by the utter lack of true, quality, professional sales training his company provides.
"He's a self-starter. Gets up early. Stays up late. Is always reading and listening to sales and motivational and personal improvement CDs and podcasts, even if he has to pay for it out of his own pocket. He's in shape and dresses nicely but is not vain or arrogant. He's coachable and hungry to learn and has big plans to not only make more money but to be recognized as a top performer and contributor in his company and industry."
Now that you know to whom you are writing, the final step to turning words into money is to invest more time in writing your headline.
Like 80-90% of your time!
Why so much effort?
Because upwards of 73% of the buying decision is made by prospects from just reading the headline.
Great writers like Michael Masterson of the NY Times and Ted Nichols agree.
"I write 200-250 headlines whenever I set down to write an ad."
Ted Nicholas, a Copywriter, and entrepreneur that sold over $7.9 billion according to American Writer's and Artists, Inc. calls headlines
"the most important topic for any successful marketer."
Want to get over "Blinking cursor syndrome"? Check out my next post.
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