Five Ways a Simple Notebook Can Build Your Marketing Power

You’ve grabbed your dream with both fists and taken that thrilling, indescribable plunge into starting your own business. Your enthusiasm sweeps you joyously along — right up to the day when you realize you have to find some actual customers and convince them to buy.

What’s more, you’re also responsible for the ads, signs, sales pitches and presentations vital to your success.  And you can’t think of a thing to say.

Very likely you’re expert in the business you’ve started but new at selling it to other people.  You know you have stress the benefits to your customer and show them how you can solve their problems.  But where do you find the actual words to use?

1.  Notebook power!

Get a notebook, keep it with you.  Study the sales material of other businesses, from the local chimney sweep to slick magazine ads. Start a personal list of the strongest words you see, the “power words” most frequently used.  For instance, “new” and “free” are two of the most persuasive words in the English language.  That’s why you see them so often. Think of how such words can apply to your own business. (“New construction method doubles your savings.”  “Free travel mug with your first order.”)  Write them down!

Get your family and friends to listen to you talk about your business and take down all the best words and phrases spilling out of you.  Ply them with treats and get them to form a think tank, giving you their best take on what you need to say to sell.  Add all these to your notebook.

Whenever a new thought occurs to you, write it down immediately.  The most brilliant ideas can disappear in a wink if not captured right away.

2. Search for gold in your notebook.

Go through your notebook regularly, picking out the nuggets.  You can begin to sort your words, phrases and ideas into handy categories such as “humorous”, “price benefits”, “appeal to working women”, and so on.

3. Regularly consult your dictionary and thesaurus.

You’ll be amazed at how much a new word or turn of phrase will help you develop and refine the marketing material you are collecting in your notebook.  And as you get new ideas, you have new words to look up that, in turn, will give you new inspiration.

4.  Stockpile your success.

As your collection of power words, phrases, descriptions and ideas grows, you’ll have to transfer them from the notebook you carry to a more permanent place.  While it’s tempting to keep everything inside your computer, you might find it more convenient to put work into a three ring binder.  That way your treasure trove is instantly to hand without the need to power up and search for files.

You can keep adding to your binder each time you think of another brilliant selling point and you can rearrange at will. You will be steadily building a personal treasury of marketing material you can pull out and use at any time.

5. Go get ‘em.

You now have a powerful arsenal of sales material at your fingertips. Whenever you need to turn out a new flyer, update your web sit or get ready for a hot presentation, you never again have to start from scratch.   Mix and match from your binder to create dazzling custom-made promotional material in no time.  Then sit back and watch the sales steadily climb.

Copyright Gail Hamilton 2009