Man, the blog titles are getting more and more unwieldy around here, aren’t they? So, today I’m going to talk about something that has been on my mind a lot lately. Partially because I’ve been dealing with a lot of clients who have this dilemma, and partially because I’ve been planning for the teleclass and trying to figure out what the big marketing secrets are that I can tell people. Well folks, this is a huge one. And it isn’t always immediately obvious, but it also applies to absolutely everyone. What you do is not usually what you sell. This applies whether you sell products or services, believe it or not.
Hell, it even applies to me. I am a copywriter. That’s what I do. But when it comes down to it, that’s not what I sell. Truthfully, most of my clients hire me before they see any writing samples. A fair amount of my clients don’t even request any writing samples at all. So, why is this? Well, because I do writing, but I don’t really sell it. I sell understanding. Clients hire me because they know I understanding how to market in a way that makes them comfortable, and that I truly take time to understand them and their business. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m frequently re-hired on the basis of my writing, but that isn’t usually where the original interest comes from.
So, we’re going to move on to how you can figure this out, because I’m kind of loathe to talk about me and my business all day. After all, knowing how I do it doesn’t necessarily help you, right? So, how can you, dear readers, figure out what you sell? This can be especially hard if you do something really technical, like IT work. I mean, you sell IT work, right? Why do you need to think about it more than that?
Well, while this logical and understandable attitude is pretty common(I have it too some days), it’s also probably losing you money. Especially if you’re working on any kind of program, sales page, or website. The truth is, people don’t buy things because they need them, mostly. And when they do, they have tons of choices. In most fields, literally thousands of choices over the internet. And if you’re just selling what you do, well then you’re pretty much just like everyone else. So figure out what you really sell. Note, this is different from your unique selling proposition, or your niche market. Those will help, but you’re still up against everyone else out there.
So now that I’m done the big speech, what am I talking about? Emotional benefits, people. Emotional benefits sell. No one has to buy your stuff. But if you can explain what you sell emotionally, they will choose to buy your stuff over the other stuff out there. Now, sit down and think about what you do. How does your product or service help people? Does it help people destress? Solve a problem that is driving them insane? Or just take something off their plate so they have the brain space to deal with something else? All of these can be emotional benefits. Remember, I’m a copywriter, but my emotional benefit is “I get you”. People find this idea immensely comforting when hiring a writer who will be intimately involved in their business and in many ways, their success or failure monetarily. So, I do writing, but I sell comfort. Totally different marketing avenues there.
Now, this is where honesty and marketing come together. Never ever ever ever lie to your customers. Ever. I cannot say this enough. You can lie and go after people’s emotions and be sleazy and you’ll sell things, probably. At least until you get a really bad business rep all over the internet. Do not market with emotional benefits that you don’t provide. If you don’t know why people give you money, ask. Your customers can be the best source of knowledge. Don’t be scared to use them as a resource in a friendly way. They can provide you with a really useful perspective that you just can’t access yourself. You’ll also probably get a lot of compliments in the process, which is always nice.
As always, feel free to comment, email, and all that stuff. See you guys tomorrow!
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