• You offer a product or service for which there is a sustainable market because you solve a problem, satisfy a desire or meet a need.
• You offer your product or service at a price that exceeds its perceived value to the customer.
• You practice exceptional customer service.

Before embarking on expensive, time-consuming campaigns, make sure your business fit this profile.

A recent study by Rasmussen Reports on behalf of credit card company Discover Financial Services turned up a shocking statistic: 46 percent of the small business owners surveyed said it’s a myth that every business needs a website.

Huh?

The report goes on to say that while the number of small businesses with a website has grown 36 percent in the past two years, only 45 percent of the owners polled currently have one. Of course, that means that 55 percent of small businesses do not have a website. The most common reason given (41 percent) for not having a website was that it is not needed. The second-most common reason (19 percent) was that is costs too much.

I understand the cost objection – it is expensive to put a quality website online. But it has should be viewed viewed as a capital investment, just like a new roof, a delivery truck or an upgraded computer system. It’s part of the cost of doing business.

But not needed? I guess there might be some small businesses out there that don’t need to attract new customers, don’t need to keep their old customers happy, has no need to even make their phone number and address available to the public.

A website, no matter how simple, should function as the hub of your inbound marketing activities. All roads lead back to your website, where you have an opportunity to take prospects into clients or customers.

Your persuasive copy must convince readers that not only is your product or service superior, it’s also a great value. Since it’s never a good idea to compete on price, how can you do this?

One way is to stress the cost of ownership rather than the cost of purchase. If you can show your product will last longer or your service will produce a greater return on investment, it’s easy to justify the higher initial price.

Take two digital printers with identical features, for example. One’s price tag is $300 more than the other. But the higher-priced machine produces copies at half the cost of the less expensive competitor. Over the two copiers’ expected life cycles, the higher priced version will save money in the long run. Your copy can and should reflect that.

Cost of ownership includes several factors: maintenance, support, and repairs are just a few that can be mentioned in your copy. The product or serve that costs the least to purchase may be the most expensive to own and operate.

Another way to build value is to stress that the price you are asking is small relative to the revenue it can produce or save. Copywriter Bob Bly uses this example:

“What would you do if the EPA assessed a $685,000 fine against your company for non-compliance with environmental regulations you weren’t even aware existed? Now get the special 50th anniversary Edition of Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook for only $4.97 (list price $129.50) with your No-Risk Trial Membership in McGraw Hill’s Chemical Engineers’ Book Club.”

Who could turn down paying $4.97 for information that might save them $685,000? They would probably gladly pay the $129.50 list price!

If you product or service will be used over a long period of time, it’s a good strategy to emphasize that cost over that extended time. It helps reduce the sticker shock. Life insurance companies are particularly adept at this. Rather than pushing annual premiums, they often break the cost down into months, week or even days. “Protect your family for 55 cents a day” sounds more affordable than “The annual premium is $200.”

(Next: Close with a Call to Action)

Here are some of their more interesting observations, based on the study:

• More than 110 million people – 60% of the online population – use social netowrking sites.
• Twitter has passed LinkedIn in overall popularity.
• MySpace draws the youngest audience (15-24); Facebook is next (18-34); Twitter is third (15-34) while LinkedIn is the most mature (18-44).
• More than half of U.S. consumers who use social networks belong to more than one.
• Social networks are not just for kids – nearly 30 percent of the 45-to-54-year-olds polled said they have a Facebook profile.
• The average social networker logs in about four times a day, five days a week, and spends about an hour online.
• Social networkers’ feelings about brands online are more fairly positive. Some 52% of social networkers had friended or become a fan of at least one brand. When asked by Anderson if they would like more communications from brands, 45% were neutral, while 20% said yes and 35% said no.
• About 32 percent of social networkers are business users; 26 percent say they are fun-seekers; 22 percent consider themselves social media mavens; and 10 percent are casual followers.

The study tracked U.S. user behavior for 11 months. Anderson conducted the study online in June with 5,000 demographically representative respondents, and then went in-depth with 1,250 users, defined as anyone who had signed in to a social network account during the previous 30 days. The company also surveyed about 250 non-users.

After crunching the data, Anderson came up with observations about the typical social network user:

Twitterers: More interested than the others in many subjects but skew particularly high in all news categories, restaurants, sports, politics, personal finance and religion. They also especially like pop culture, with music, movies, TV and reading. Buying habits mirror that. They’re more likely to buy books, movies, shoes and cosmetics online than the other groups. Twitterers are also entrepreneurial. They are more likely than others to use the service to promote their blogs or businesses. More likely to be employed part-time (16% vs. 11% average), have an average income of $58,000, and average 28 followers and 32 other Twitterers they’re following. They’re not particularly attached to the site, though — 43% said they could live without Twitter.

MySpacers: While MySpace users skew younger. They also said they’d used the site much less in the past six months. The 67 million who are still there are into having a good time. They’re more likely to have joined MySpace for fun and more likely to be interested in entertaining friends, humor and comedy, and video games. They’re less into exercise than any other social group but seek out parenting information more than any other. Their average income is the lowest, at $44,000, and they have an average of 131 connections. They’re more likely to be black (9%) or Hispanic (7%) than users of the other social sites. They are also more likely to be single (60%) and students (23%).

Facebookers: There are 77 million Facebook users. Out of 45 categories, only national news, sports, exercise, travel, and home and garden skewed even slightly higher than average, and then by only one or two percentage points. They are more likely to be married (40%), white (80%) and retired (6%) than users of the other social networks. They have the second-highest average income ($61,000) and an average of 121 connections. Facebook users skew a bit older and are more likely to be late adopters of social media. But they are also extremely loyal to the site — 75% claim Facebook is their favorite site, and another 59% say they have increased their use of the site in the past six months.

LinkIners: All about business. More males than females (57% to 43%). Highest average income ($89,000). More likely to have joined the site for business or work, citing keeping in touch with business networks, job searching, business development and recruiting as top reasons. They like news, employment information, sports and politics. More likely to be into the gym, spas, yoga, golf and tennis.
Excluding video-game systems, they own more electronic gadgets than the other social networkers, including digital cameras, high-definition TVs, DVRs and Blu-ray players.

What does all this mean if you’re contemplating using social media for marketing? As is always the case, it starts with knowing your target audience and understanding their habits. Marketing to a younger audience via Twitter might be difficult; likewise, MySpace might now be a good choice for more mature consumers. Organizations really need to take a holistic approach to social media, one that reaches all potential consumers for the brand, and does so in a compelling and consistent way that builds awareness and equity for the brand. Not doing so will result in your brand failing to connect with your customer in a meaningful and viral way.

When it comes to writing persuasive copy, set aside your ego and focus on the customer. They don’t care about your experience, your awards, your family or your plans for the future. They just want to know how you are going to meet their needs, satisfy their wants and solve their problems.

Persuasive copy gets inside the head of your specific audience and anticipates their questions, their doubts and their concerns. Persuasive copy deals with those issues by focusing on the customer.

If you were selling a health insurance plan to small business owners, which opening do you think would attract more attention: “Let me explain the Smith-Johnson Employee Health Benefits Plan” or “Are you tired of getting inferior health coverage for outrageous premiums that threaten to put you out of business?”

Obviously the second approach is far more attention grabbing. The first approach is focused on the seller; the second touches on an important issue that affects hundreds of thousands of potential customers.

A great way to ensure you are focusing on the customer and not yourself is to count the number of time you use “you” vs. “us” or “we” in the copy. Two “yous” for every “us” or “we” sounds about right.

In writing persuasive copy that focuses on the customer, it’s essential to understand their point of view. Conduct focus groups, attend trade shows and talk to your current customers to get to know the way they think, what’s important to them, and what motivates their decisions. Speak to those points in your copy and you’ll push the buttons that trigger them to do what you want.

(Next: Stress Benefits)

Imagine the power of the written word. Simply be arranging nouns and verbs, with a few adjectives and adverbs judiciously sprinkled in, you can get people you’ve never met to do things you want them to do.

Pretty awesome tool, huh?

The problem is that most people don’t – or don’t know how to — make full use of this amazing power. Their marketing communications are a mish-mash of convoluted ideas, poorly constructed sentences, vague promises, and ill-conceived offers thrown together in a sales letter, web page or email. The unfortunate result is an well-intentioned campaign that falls flat.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll examine some of the key concepts that can quickly and easily turn your boring, ineffective copy into a money-making machine.

Step 1: Gain Attention

If you can’t gain attention in your marketing communications, the battle is lost before it even starts. With so many forms of media competing for your prospects’ attention, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. If people don’t notice you, they won’t ready your copy. If they don’t ready your copy, you don’t get a chance to mold their perceptions. If you don’t get a chance to mold their perceptions, you’ll never make the sale.

Being as specific as possible is a great place to start. Copywriter extraordinare Bob Bly uses a sales pitch promoting collection services to dental practices as a example of how being specific can help:

How we collected over $20 million in unpaid bills over the past two years for thousands of dentists nationwide

Note the specific items: $20, two years, dentists. They help create a credible, memorable message.

Ypu can also gain attention by making an offer that is free, low in price or unusually attractive. I’m sure you’ve noticed how some life insurance companies frame their offer: “Now…$1 week buys Guaranteed Term Life Insurance for Pennsylvanians 50 and older.” The $1 a week offer seems reasonable and the rest of the pitch is specific (Pennsylvanians over age 50).

Asking a provocative question is another effective way of gaining attention. “Do you want to lose 20 pounds WITHOUT going on a diet?” is sure to grab someone’s attention, in part because it seems so outlandish.

Creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity works, too. Giving your offer a defined time period and limited availability can make people take notice. “This offer expires in 10 days. Act Now!” or “This offer is limited to the first 10 people who call.”

Be careful about trying to be funny or topical. People may not get the pun or the cultural reference may be quickly outdated.

Next: Make sure your copy focuses on the customer