The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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CHAPTER 6 TAKING DELIBERATE AIM This chapter is probably the most important chapter in the book. You have had the fun of finding, selecting and buying one or two different products. Now comes the task of selling them. You've reached the challenge. Surmount this obstacle and you're flying. Market Research Marketing is the single, most crucial point in your growing business. It can make you very rich and it can give you a complete sense of fulfillment. It is, however, an area where many would-be entrepreneurs fall down. By apply- ing several well tested systems and techniques, you can make your business zoom ahead at a speed that will surprise you and confound your competitors. Unless you clearly define your market, you will be groping in the dark trying to find a way to approach it. It would be like shooting at a target with a bow and arrow while wearing a blindfold. Equally, you will benefit from knowing the products and selling techniques of your competitors. If they are making a mistake and not selling as well as they should, why repeat their errors? If they are unusually successful, what is it they are doing which enables them to promote their business? Market Research is the tool which will give you a clear insight to ways in which you can strengthen your business. By approaching Market Research methodically, you can pin- point the type of people who are out there, ready to buy your product, as soon as you tell them about it. At this point, I will assume you have your product or are reaching the final decision as to what your product will be. Market Research is the method by which you determine how best to expose that product to the public and on which section of the public you should concentrate. Merely knowing the product will provide you with some indication as to who will be the most interested. If your product is a man's tie or a baseball glove, you will know that your prime targets will be men, but good Market Re- search will also tell you that at certain times of the year - Christmas and birthdays for example, women too become the target for these particular products. It will tell you too, that October and November are poor months for sales of baseball gloves. I know this example is pretty obvious and you don't have to pay a research team to discover those facts, but the product you have in mind may not be quite so clearly defined and Market Research is the way in which you begin framing your marketing. How do you research your market? As I just mentioned, knowing your product gives you an idea of which direction you should begin traveling. Now you can turn that knowledge into positive action, and once you know the secret, it's as easy as writing a few short sentences. First, take a piece of paper and write a short sentence stating precisely who will benefit from your product. Examples: "Men under 40 years of age who work 9-5 in an office." "Parents of High School children." "Blonde women under 35 years of age." "All adults, male and female." By writing it down in this way you know precisely the people you are targeting. If your merchandise consists of more than one type of product, separate them and define the target for each item. The second part of your research is just as easy and just as important. Write three very short, concise paragraphs stating exactly why your target consumer should buy your product. Why would YOU buy your product? Examples: "Anyname Vitamins contain extra iron. Iron is essen- tial to good nutrition and growth. Anyname Vitamins are FDA approved." "Anyname Sweaters give full protection against the cold and are worn by seamen all over the world, especially those sailing in arctic waters. Anyname Sweaters are made from the pure wool of Argentinean sheep. Anyname Sweaters is a name you can trust." "Anyname roofing tiles are strong, lightweight and fireproof. These roofing tiles are used on most city govern- ment buildings. Anyname roofing tiles cannot be beat for durability or price." These simple sentences are the strength of your future business. You now know your target and you know why that target exists. You know precisely why a certain segment of people should buy your product. You also know how to set about conducting your research. Your research can be conducted in several ways or combinations of ways. 1. Stand outside a busy supermarket with a clipboard listing several questions you need answered. - Have you heard of Anyname carpet cleaner? Where did you see it advertised? If you have not yet used Anyname carpet cleaner, which brand do you usually buy and why? Is there anything about the brand you usually buy that you like/do not like? When shopping for carpet cleaner, what is it concerns you most, Price? Quality? Easy availability? Effectiveness? Ease of use? Which newspapers or magazines do you regularly read? Which television programs do you watch regularly? To which radio stations do you prefer to listen? At what time of day do you listen to that station? Just by looking at the questions, you can see how important to you the answers can be. If your product lends itself to a promotional give- away, this one-on-one interview is an excellent opportunity to place your product directly into the hands of potential customers who may become word of mouth advertisers. It also provides you with an excuse to ask for a name and telephone number with which to conduct a follow-up survey. If you are not handing out samples, don't ask for a name or address. Most people become understandably nervous or apprehensive, or even downright suspicious when asked to give their name and address to a stranger. 2. Ask the same questions by telephone. Pull the names out of a telephone directory and simply say that you are conducting a national/local survey. Nine out of ten people will be pleased to assist in a consumer survey. 3. Send out a questionnaire by mail enclosing a stamped and addressed return envelope. I will be mentioning mailing lists later when we take a look at advertising. 4. Employ the services of a research company. This can be quite expensive, but when the right questions are asked, the results are sometimes totally unexpected and illuminat- ing. Research companies that specialize in asking carefully considered questions can be found in most cities. Having completed your Market Survey, you now have to start applying the knowledge gained. * Advertising If you ask anyone in business, they'll tell you that advertising is expensive. It isn't true. Poor advertising is expensive. Look at it this way. If you spend $1000 on advertising and it increases your profits by $5000, advertising is not expensive. I'll be the first to agree that $1000 is a lot of money, much more than I'll be suggesting you spend at this time, but it is worth while if it can substantially increase your profits. That is what advertising is supposed to do. There is a saying in the advertising business. When soliciting new business, there are two frequently encoun- tered responses. "Business is bad. - I can't afford to advertise". "Business is good. - I don't need to advertise." A friend of mine in the advertising business once solicited advertising from a recently constructed Mini-Mall located in a suburb of a large city. She was told by the manager of the complex, "We don't want to advertise, it attracts strangers." Duuurrrr! Accept advertising as the cost of conducting your type of business. In Mail Order, you may not have to pay rent on a shop property, you may not have to pay the wages of shop assistants, you may not have to pay the electricity bills generated by shop window lighting, - but you must advertise. I once read that the president of Wrigley's Chewing Gum was traveling across country by railway with his entourage when one of them asked, "Why do we have to spend eight million dollars a year on advertising. We are known in almost every city of the world. Everyone knows Wrigley's. Why continue to spend that kind of money on advertising?" The reply was, "We are on a train and we're doing eighty miles an hour. Why don't we dispense with the loco- motive?" There are some practical ways to approach advertising so as to get the best response from the amount invested, and it should be considered an investment. An efficient and expert advertising agency will usually work this way. First they will ascertain the advertising budget. Next they will allocate that budget on a mutually agreed program of advertising and publicity. Thirdly they will obtain their commission from the advertising placed and/or from the agency fee paid them by the client. The advertising budget. This is always a difficult hurdle the advertising agency faces when it first starts working with a new client. The client is conservative. He doesn't want to commit his company to a crippling advertis- ing budget without knowing the effectiveness of the project- ed, and as yet unspecified advertising, so he hedges. He provides a budget figure considerably below what should be spent. The advertising agency is thus compelled to work within a severely restricted budget. The results are often unsatisfactory. The client is unhappy and considers that he has been 'taken', the adver- tising agency is unhappy because it knew it could have done considerably better if the client had been more forthright. Many commercial banks advocate that a new business should spend eight to ten percent of its projected first year gross. Thereafter it should continue at about five percent. As an individual entrepreneur you have all the advan- tages. You know to a penny how much you can afford to spend on advertising and as your own advertising agency you can spend that money at its most effectiveness, no matter how small the advertising budget, - and you don't even have to pay yourself an agency fee! A whole library of books can, and have been, written on the subject of advertising. Take the time to read some of them, particularly "Advertising Procedures" by Kleppner and "The Copywriter's Handbook" by Robert W. Bly. In a nutshell, advertising is the technique of putting into print a series of words describing a product in such a way as to make the reader eager to buy that product. It's not easy, that's why there's dozens of books devoted to the subject, but it can be made a little easier by using the well tested techniques of successful advertis- ers. You know your product, you have a good idea of the market place and the customers in that market place. Now you have to place your advertising copy in front of them in a way which will demand they read it. More - not only read it, but be convinced they should buy the product described. The secret password is FASSY. All effective advertising appeals to the public by the use of certain words. One or more of these words in a head- line will almost certainly guarantee that the casual reader will pause to read some or all of the words below the head- line. Those words are: F ree A mazing S ecret S ex Y ou. People are interested in themselves. How can I benefit? What's in it for Me? Take a photograph of a group of people at a party and then at a later date show the photograph to one of the people in the group. The first thing they do is to look for themselves in the photograph. Which of the following headlines grabs your attention? "Amazing Secret. How You Can Become Irresistible To The Opposite Sex". or "Little-Known Advanced Techniques of Social Conversa- tion". There's little doubt which one you would choose, yet both headlines could apply to the same article. Power words and dull words. You are the person calling the shots, you choose the way you present your advertising. Using one or more of the FASSY words will guarantee your advertisement receiving attention. Appeal to people where they are most vulnerable - themselves. When buying a product, we are all influenced by a remarkably short list of words. The FASSY words are at the top of the list. Here are a few more. They illustrate features which most of us look for when we contemplate making a purchase. They are what we desire. If your product will provide one or more, we will definitely be interested. Money (Financial Security, Freedom From Want). Security (From Danger, From Accident, From Poverty). Social Approval (To be liked). Prestige (Pride of Ownership, Neighbor Envy). Attractiveness (Especially towards the opposite sex). Comfort (Ease of Use, Trouble Free). Happiness (Lack of pressure, Contentment). Rare (Exclusiveness, Prestige, Neighbor Envy). Health Pleasure (Relaxation, Comfort, Happiness). Think back on the last time you bought something of value. Into which one of those ten categories did it fall? You are now just two steps away from placing your first advertisement. Writing the copy and deciding where to place it. Many people are intimidated by the thought of writing an advertisement. You'll find yourself writing several before you are anywhere near satisfied, and then, even after you have placed the advertisement, you'll think you could have done it differently. Even the experts, people who spend their life writing advertising copy, sometimes have difficulty deciding which aspect of a product should be stressed. (That's why they have audience participation pre- screenings). Here's a couple of tips which will make copywriting a little easier. You know your product, you have studied the market, you know who your first customers are likely to be. Now you have to write the advertisement. Take a blank piece of paper and describe your product. Write down all the reasons anyone would want to buy it. Just write quickly and without pausing to evaluate every feature. When you are absolutely unable to find anything else to say about the product, start underlining. Draw a line under five or six words that you feel describes your product succinctly. They should be terse and to the point. Put one or two of those words into a headline and add one or more of the FASSY words. There's an uncountable number of products on the mar- ket, and more making an appearance every second, so it's impossible for me to even imagine the product you are about to introduce, but to give you an example of copywriting using the method I've just described, consider the follow- ing. I've looked around my office and noticed a flashlight standing on a nearby table. (There was an electricity failure last night). So using that as an example - 1. The Faulkner Flashlight is twelve inches long. 2. The case is made of rubber. 3. It's waterproof. 4. It holds Four D cells. 5. The case is ribbed. 6. It comes with a belt hook. 7. The reflector is large. 8. It was inexpensive. 9. I've had it nine years. 10.It's robust. 11.The batteries last a long time. I pick out numbers 1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 11. The headline could read, *** PEACE OF MIND FOR TWO CENTS A DAY *** Test yourself. What is your immediate reaction to that headline? "Peace of mind for two cents a day? I could go for that." .... "What do they mean by peace of mind for two cents a day?" Here we have the implied YOU. Your peace of mind. Safety - Comfort - Inexpensive The copy beneath the headline could read: Rugged, waterproof flashlight complete with four 'D' cell batteries provides night-time security. Heavy, ribbed rubber case provides easy handling in an emergency. Replace- ment batteries $1.50 each last up to 12 months with occa- sional use. Faulkner Flashlight $19.95 inc. P & P. You've stressed the selling points. (You could have mentioned earthquakes if the advertisement is to appear following a recent eruption). You've given the price, and the advertisement should pull quite a few orders. Just one thing is missing from the example. Your ad- dress. In just a quick glance through this Sunday's paper I saw two classified advertisements without addresses. Where should you advertise? We will deal with test-run and keyed advertising, promotion and publicity in the next chapter.