Its a good thing your not in Ricks area. Or he would be like looking for you
1 out of 10 will make it past the first year or 2. that just the name of the game...
Santa Rosa California Home Inspection - Exterminating & Thermal Imaging
88 Marketing Tips That Will Change Your Life!TM
Elliott's Marketing PontiFactsSM (EMPF)
(Elliott’s Marketing Pontificatorial FactoidsSM)
A marketing pontificatorial factoidSM is an essential marketing principle which deserves pontificating, pulpitthumping
emphasis.
General
1. Marketing is everything!
2. Perception is everything!
3. Good marketing can overcome an inferior product or service. Excellent marketing can put a mediocre
product or service on top. No marketing can help a bad product or service, with the possible exception of a
brief, brilliant burnout.
4. Test everything!
5. Shamelessly go with whatever works. . . as long as it is moral, ethical, and legal!
6 Always take the marketing initiative where there is an opportunity--waiting is deadly. This is even more
important in the day of the Internet.
7. Never leave to chance anything over which you can exert some control.
8. In addition to a Mission Statement and a Business Plan, you must have a USP (Unique Selling
Proposition)--that element which sets you apart from your competition.
9. Learn to think like your customer. Practice thinking like your customer. Until you can learn to “get into
the head” of your customer, you are committing massive waste: time, money, and talent.
10. Use your product, service, printed material, web pages, . . . everything, . . . the way your uninformed
customer will. You'll be amazed how they can be messed up or misused unless you design them properly.
11. Your “back end” is ultimately worth far more than your “front end,” if you know how to deploy it.
12. Any marketing dollar for which you do not have a positive method of tracking results is wasted!
13. When you prepare any form of intellectual property, plan to deploy it in at least three different formats,
e.g., tape, e-book, transcript, CD, DVD, MP3, etc.
14. Anytime you put your phone number, address, or web address in your material or on your web site, call
it, write it, click on it. Mistakes in any of these can more than negate any anticipated returns and make you
appear very foolish, as well.
15. Your mailing list (or e-mail list) is everything!
16. Readability rules! Don’t get too cute, artistic, or anything else that detracts from readability.
17. Never assume you have the best design, etc., you can always improve it.
18. Let only the marketplace determine what works and how.
19. The “pull,” “draw,” or “yield” are always relative! Numbers mean nothing by themselves. A five percent
pull may be a wonderful yield for one program and an abysmal one for another; an unbelievable
moneymaker for one and a big money loser for another. Consider only the profit of each response as a part of
your program.
20. Every person prefers to purchase goods and services from someone he or she knows.
Paul Elliott, Marketing Design and Consulting, On Line and Off Line; Paul (at) FractalMarketing.net
Marketing with unbelievable guarantees!
207 N Service Rd E, #213, Ruston, LA 71270, USA
© 2002— 2009, Paul Elliott, All rights reserved worldwide Page 1 of 5
21. No matter what the goods or services you have to offer are, you are not in the business of providing
those. No matter what you prefer to believe, you are in the business of building interpersonal relationships.
The sooner you acknowledge that fact and pursue it vigorously, the sooner you will be massively successful.
22. No matter what your business, develop a newsletter--e-mail or mail or both.
23. A picture is worth much less than a thousand words: Anywhere you have a choice, use one thousand
well-chosen words rather than one picture!
24. With any mailing or e-mailing, do A/B splits whenever feasible. The split with the best pull becomes the
next A against which you position a new B, and so forth, continuing the process.
25. A very effective script writing formula is: fear, fear, solution. You pose a fear you know the customer has
or should have; then, you pose another; then, you offer the solution to those fears, which is your product or
service.
26. A good headline is worth a thousand words.
27. Never assume your customer knows anything about your business or service.
28. Educate your customer out of your marketing dilemma. Your dilemma? Not enough business. Tell your
customer all about your product or service, why it is worth what your are charging, and why he or she should
buy it.
29. Frequently ask your customers what they want. They will tell you. Follow their advice!
30. It takes five times more money, time, and effort to sell a given amount of goods or services to a new
customer than to a customer you already have. Therefore, first, upsell your existing customers.
31. Look for vendors and businesses in other fields who have the same customer base you do, with whom to
affiliate to market to one another's customers.
32. When marketing to an affiliate's customers, use the affiliate's endorsement of your product or services in
the form of a cover letter or e-mail introduction.
33. Whenever you give a speech or important presentation, record it with a small recorder in your pocket or
purse. You may have a brilliant thought, which is then retrievable. You can review the recording later to
critique your presentation. You can also use it as a audio or printed product.
Print/Web
34. Never allow a printed surface to leave your possession without your contact information on it.
35. For use in multiple ads, develop “donuts,” templates containing your basic information including your
USP needed for every application, with the “hole” being the unique information added for each application.
36. Two percent of the male population is partially red-green colorblind. To that portion of the male
population, colors with red and green in them will appear as varying shades of gray. Therefore, avoid any
colors having either of these components, especially pastels. An exception would be very saturated red and
green like those of traffic signals, or where the colors do not affect the readability.
37. Where you feel it necessary to use shades of red or green, do not use them as background colors (effect
equals black ink on gray background) or to visually set off specific items.
38. Employ white space as a relief tool increasing readability. Use it without disrupting the eye tracking.
39. Clearly understand the differences between the terms “typeface” and “font:” Never misuse them!
40. Serifed typefaces, such as Times New Roman, are more readable than san serif typefaces, such as Arial
or Verdana, except in the 12 points and smaller on the computer screen.
Paul Elliott, Marketing Design and Consulting, On Line and Off Line; Paul (at) FractalMarketing.net
Marketing with unbelievable guarantees!
207 N Service Rd E, #213, Ruston, LA 71270, USA
© 2002— 2009, Paul Elliott, All rights reserved worldwide Page 2 of 5
41. The Times Roman and Times New Roman have high pica values containing more characters per inch
than most other typefaces, yet they are very readable.
42. Test color!
43. Test typeface!
44. Test font!
Psychology
45. Each contact with a customer or potential customer is a stroke strengthening the “Affinity Bond.SM”
46. The Affinity BondSM begins as a thin, tenuous connection, like a single strand of spider web, but can be
built strand at a time with each contact until it is a hawser, which will moor the mightiest ship.
47. Anything difficult to read won’t be!
48. The number one question in every buyer’s mind from the outset is, “What’s in it for me?” The number
two question in every buyer’s mind from the outset is, “What’s it going to cost me?” The sooner and more
effectively you answer questions number one and number two, the sooner your listener will “hear” anything
else you have to say.
49. People buy benefits, not features. The marketer must translate the features of the product or service into
benefits (“What’s in it for me?”) for the customer.
50. Each of us makes purchasing decisions for emotional reasons. Then, we search for enough facts to
convince, not only ourselves at the conscious level, but any others who might question or review our
decision, e.g., friend, spouse, relative, boss, or coworker.
51. Understand eye tracking in a document. The sooner you can seize eye tracking, the sooner you can direct
it employing it to your advantage.
52. Curiosity is the most important ingredient in any writing.
53. Headlines are the most important element in any writing.
54. Self-preservation, romance, money, and recognition are the four most important and powerful persuaders
in life. These are the four most important trance-like zones.
55. There are two reasons for every action: the stated reason and the real reason.
Web
56. Few businesses should try to do without a web site.
57. A web site should be an additional profit center, if not your only profit center (as in the case of web
based businesses).
58. Web page no-no: Failure to have your contact information on every page that prints. Solution: People
will like a particular thing, which they will print out and/or photocopy for themselves or others. If your
contact information is not there, the benefit to you of your intellectual work is lost for eternity in that
exchange.
59. Web page no-no: Right hand margin too far to the right to print on the standard 8.5” X 11” sheet of
paper in portrait mode without cutting off some text. Solution: This is a page design feature which should
never be allowed to occur.
60. Web page no-no: Home Page not printable on the standard 8.5” X 11” sheet of paper in portrait mode
simply by pressing <Ctrl-P> or clicking on the print icon. Solution: If more than a single sheet of paper is
Paul Elliott, Marketing Design and Consulting, On Line and Off Line; Paul (at) FractalMarketing.net
Marketing with unbelievable guarantees!
207 N Service Rd E, #213, Ruston, LA 71270, USA
© 2002— 2009, Paul Elliott, All rights reserved worldwide Page 3 of 5
required, be sure the subsequent pages have no loss between the bottom of one to the top of the next page.
This is a page design feature which should never be allowed to occur.
61. Web page no-no: Making the final judgment of your web page by looking at it only in the HTML
development program “browser.” Solution: Load it onto your web host server, log onto the page, view it
over the Internet using all the popular web browsers, and print it out to see what your customer will be
seeing and printing.
62. Web page no-no: Failing to answer your e-mail. Solution: If you cannot do it, have someone else
do so.
63. Web page no-no: Using a non-interactive web site. Solution: The more interactive your web site is for
your customers, the more effective it is in building the affinity bond encouraging them to feel a part of your
“family.”
64. Web page no-no: Failing to offer a newsletter or special offer to site visitors. Solution: Have a sign-up
option for a newsletter or a special offer clearly available on your home page to capture the name and e-mail
addresses of visitors. Be certain you deliver on the offers.
65. Web page no-no: Going for the full or big sale from the beginning. In most cases this is a neither the
best nor the most lucrative approach. Solution: Go for the “shy yes” with the new customers allowing them a
chance to try your goods or service with the chance to make the larger sale later.
66. View every one of your web pages with all the common browsers on a PC, Mac, and Linux system
wherever possible to be sure of the effect.
67. Print every one of your web pages using each of the common browsers on a PC, Mac, and Linux system
wherever possible to be sure of the effect.
68. In the HTML code of your web page the <TITLE> should contain your site’s isnformation by which you
wish to be associated by the Internet search engines, and USP, not the information of your programmer or
the HTML translator. Put your name in the <AUTHOR> tag. Be sure to have a short, tightly worded, and
keyword rich paragraph in your <DESCRIPTION> tag.
69. Never allow a computer screen of your design “splash” without your contact information on it.
Titles
70. Understand the Power of the Something-For-Nothing Seesaw.SM (Contact me.)
71. Understand the The Psychomotor Aspects of Visual Perception. SM (Contact me.)
72. Understand the structure and function of The Onion Piece. SM (Contact me.)
73. A very useful title is The Ten Most Common Mistakes People Make When <featured activity> And How
To Avoid Them. There can be any number, the activity is whatever you provide, and you offer all the
methods of avoidance. Write approximately one 8.5” X 11” or two pamphlet pages (ease of photocopying)
on each “Mistake” and “Avoidance.”
74. A very compelling title is The Five <or any number> Dirty Little Secrets No <insert person or title>
Ever Wants You To Learn!
Words
75. Understand the age and educational level of your readers and design the copy for that combination.
Never use terminology or sentence structure and complexity that exceeds those parameters.
76. Fewer, well-chosen words are better than more.
Paul Elliott, Marketing Design and Consulting, On Line and Off Line; Paul (at) FractalMarketing.net
Marketing with unbelievable guarantees!
207 N Service Rd E, #213, Ruston, LA 71270, USA
© 2002— 2009, Paul Elliott, All rights reserved worldwide Page 4 of 5
77. Use words, punctuation, and sentence structure with punch.
78. Avoid the passive voice.
79. Always use action and command words: look, act now, click here, call now, open your browser, etc.
80. Always use personal words: you, we, I, etc.
81. Always use “picture” words: just think, imagine, what if, etc.
82. Use words to trigger the emotions of the listener/reader, e.g., you, me, I, just imagine, believe me, just
think, what if, just picture, what if you, wouldn’t it be amazing if, etc.
83. Use simple words, easily understood words, and short simple sentences. This technique makes it easier to
read.
Customers
84. The average sale is made after the fifth through the seventh contact. Eighty percent of sales people never
make the second contact.
85. Tie into your readers’ minds by telling them the “story.”
86. Lead the minds of your readers to get them to think or say “yes” with a head nod--“yes, yes.”
87. When your reader/listener has finished with your piece, he or she should have only one question,“Where
do I pay?”
88. When testing a sales piece, ask your reader for a response. If you hear, “That was a great letter!” you
have failed! If you hear, “How can I get it?” you have succeeded!
Paul Elliott
Marketing Success BlueprintSM
Marketing with Unbelievable Guarantees!SM
Marketing design, coaching, mentoring, and public speaking
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PLEASE NOTE: You are free to distribute this article as is providing it is unchanged, that no charge
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Copyright 2002--2009, Paul Elliott
010109
Paul Elliott, Marketing Design and Consulting, On Line and Off Line; Paul (at) FractalMarketing.net
Marketing with unbelievable guarantees!
207 N Service Rd E, #213, Ruston, LA 71270, USA
© 2002— 2009, Paul Elliott, All rights reserved worldwide Page 5 of 5
Santa Rosa California Home Inspection - Exterminating & Thermal Imaging
Best
Ron
Man we inspectors have it made!
