Task 1 for this coming week is to rewrite my website. Yep…my entire website.

A big task in my mind…I’ve been mulling over it for weeks.

The thought of updating who I am, what I do, how I do it, why people should use my services…and making it all unbelievably interesting has been doing my head in. I do suffer from a certain amount of creative tension, however, this was getting ridiculous.

Then came the lightning bolt. That epiphany that you hear others talk about but that you never have. A little voice gave me these two bits of advice:

1. People aren’t interested in anything but what’s in it for them.
2. People have short attention spans…long copy is dead copy.

Phew! I breathed a long sigh of relief. A huge weight had lift off my shoulders.

So, when I embark on rewriting my website starting tomorrow I am going to spend all my energies telling you in a short, sharp way how I can make your business irresistible (‘case that’s what I’m good at)…and that’s it. Benefit-driven copy that’s all about how I can help your business…and if you want to find out about me…then you can simply check me out on LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter or Skype me (TheIdeasGuy). Job done!

What do you think about this approach…too simplistic or spot on?

It often occurs to me that customers and prospects only know a little of what I offer.

Does this mean my offer is too broad? Or is it that I don’t make clear what it is I do?

I suspect it’s both…which is kind of ironic given I specialise in marketing communications of which Lesson 1, Term 1 is to be simple, clear and single-minded in all your communications! Ah well, nobody’s perfect.

But that’s OK…I’m in the process of fixing that up as I write this post. And I like to wear my heart on my sleeve!

The thing is, there’s a great opportunity awaiting all marketers and business owners to detail exactly what it is their business offers. And I don’t just mean in terms of products or services…although this is surely top of the list.

I’m talking about other things as well like:

• Payment terms
• Opening hours
• Contact details
• Payment options
• Guarantees
• Training
• Special deals

The list is endless. Why keep any powder dry when there’s a potential sale at stake?

Let your customers and prospects know all there is to know about your business…they can cherry pick the necessary information to make an informed decision…which is hopefully to buy…FROM YOU!

What do you think? Should you keep some powder dry?

Too many business owners and marketers get carried away concerning themselves with where to place their message, when they really should spend more time getting their message right in the first place.

I couldn’t count the amount of times I’ve heard over the years new Clients say to me “Tim, I’ve got to get a website…I should have a blog…I need an ad in such and such magazine…I should be on Twitter.”

“Should you?” is my usual response. “Why?” Or “Porquoi?” if I’m in a French kind of mood.

The reality is…all of the above-mentioned mediums are best viewed as simply channels…ways if you like…of getting your message to market. And some may be right for your business…others may not be. I know it’s the fun and ‘sexy’ side of marketing…getting the website or the ad…but ‘sexy’ doesn’t sell (sex does! But that’s another blog post in itself).

So…let’s play real life for a minute. A Client of mine asked me this week to set them up with a Twitter account.

“Porquoi?” I asked.

“Well, I’ve been reading about it everywhere,” came her reply.

“So?” I asked (I’m a fellow of few words).

Then there was silence…I’d got her! I’d asked the right question and she didn’t have an answer. (Not really…I’m not harsh!).

Then I chimed in and told her the facts…nothing negative…just the facts about needing to constantly update, the need to have a breif and stick to it…the need to respond in a timely manner … blah blah blah.

“Oh…That’s not my style…I need something less demanding”, she said. We then went on and identified five mediums that were much more suited to her, her business and most importantly her customers.

Now this post is not about or anti Twitter…anything but (I love Twitter as a marketing channel)…It’s a post about spending more time focusing on what to say, not where to say it. Message first. Medium second.

What do you think?

(Author’s note: If you’d like to learn about how this applies to Twitter then register for my upcoming Webinar).

There’s a key question in any good marketing communication’s brief that asks something like…”What’s the single most important thing you want to tell your prospects?”

It’s based on some consumer behavior theory that states that as humans we aren’t overly good at taking in too much information at any one time. Ironically, as Marketers we often feel the need to bombard our prospects with information overload…It comes in this many colours, it’s price is this, you can buy it here, the various models are these blah blah blah.

It takes courage to be single-minded…particularly in paid media where you want to make every second or column centimeter count. But the reality is that all great communication is single-minded…look at the ads that appeal to you and I’ll bet they’re single-minded.

So, how can you apply this to your business. Easy…figure out what you want your prospects to do and then decide what is the most important (AKA compelling) thing you could share with them in order to inspire them in to action.

What brands do this well in my book? Apple. Seth Godin. Can you add to this list?

What’s your single-minded proposition?

In my Marketing workshops for small business owners I talk a lot about how important it is to get your message right before you worry about where to put it. I call this simply – The Message VS The Medium.

In my experience working with 100s of SMEs over the years they too quickly race to deciding that they need a website, or a brochure or a telemarketing campaign or an ad…You get the idea. The problem is they don’t give the necessary thought in to deciding what to say. And I think I know why…IT’S HARD! Most of us are not born copy writers…many of us don’t think we’re creative.

So we find ourselves writing copy for our precious business’s marketing material that often misses the mark because it’s either long-winded, feature driven, poorly constructed and so on.

So, what to do? Well, whilst I’m no professional writer myself, experience has shown me a few tips and tricks that will go along way to making your marketing copy sing. In no particular order they are:

1. Write as if you were writing to an old friend, telling them about your business.
2. Employ an expert…You’ll find many willing copy writers at www.elance.com
3. Turn every point in your existing copy in to a benefit. So, if your product comes in 52 different colours then change this to there’s a colour to suit every decor.
4. Write your copy so an eight year old can understand it.
5. Write what you believe to be the ideal copy to sell your business offer and then work backwards removing every single word that is not required…Less is definitely more.
6. Write in point form…we tend to consume bulleted information better anyway. Big, chunky paragraphs can often look way too scary!
7. Inject your personality in to the copy…Avoid being formal and uptight. Have some fun with it.
8. Write with this in mind…People don’t care about my business. What I hear you say. Well, that’s the harsh reality…we’re al bombarded with advertising and marketing messages all day long. Why should people care more about mine than the next one? Write great copy and you’ll find out.

Once you’ve got compelling copy that really does sell your business then worry bout where to put it. Remember…MESSAGE comes before MEDIUM.

What do you think? What do you do to ensure your marketing copy jumps off the page?