Everything I Needed to Learn About Getting Clients, I’ve Learned From Joseph Ratliff

A bit of bragging here: I really am a great writer.

However — and here’s a confession of sorts — I’m still learning the ins and outs of growing a business.

I can write a news release with my eyes closed. I can put together a great article in a handful of hours. I can whip out a boffo search engine-friendly, keyword-rich  web content piece in less than 60 minutes. Brochures, newsletters? Easy, peasy.

But if you need advice and techniques on how to grow your business, I’m not your woman.

 But I know people. In particular I know Joseph Ratliff.

Now, before I go further, know that I’ve hired Joseph to be my “build my writing business” mentor, so I’m a tad biased.

Joseph is the author of the Profitable Business Edge and you can learn more about his consulting services at his main website: http://www.profitpartnersconsulting.com/

(In fact, if you’re writer determined to get your freelance business writing career off the ground in a hurry, you can learn more about his mentoring program at that site.)

He also has a couple of blogs: http://profitablebusinessedge.blogspot.com/ and a new one: http://josephratliff.name/

Joseph is a copywriter, yes. But he’s also a consultant for business both online and off. In fact, his business is pretty much split 50/50 between brick-and-motor companies and those who exist only online.

He’s been a godsend to me. Check him out. You’ll sing his praises, as well.

Five Tips For a Meaty Newsletter

When you create a newsletter for your business, you want to make sure your publication is full of information your customers and prospects find interesting and of value. The biggest mistake business owners make when they publish their newsletter is forgetting this: It’s not about you, it’s about them. With that in mind, here are five tips to follow when you want to publish a newsletter your customers and prospects will read:

1) Keep the president’s or owner’s picture off the front page. Ditto with the “Note from the Owner” article. Instead, have articles and blurbs on the front page that supply useful information to your readers. For example, do you own a landscaping company? Then for your summer or June issue, have your main article be about tending to summer perennials or mulch, or keeping weeds at bay. Save the head shot of the big guy (or gal) for the second page. It’s certainly fine — and even dandy – to have a note from the owner; it personalizes the newsletter. But it should not be placed on the first page.

Your Customers Want to be a Part of Your Business Family

2) Speaking of personalizing your newsletter, each issue should have a bit of background about an employee. Consumers today want to feel they belong to a community. Your business can be a part of their local network and – really – they want to feel they’re a part of your success. So have a little bio about one of your employees (preferably not one of the big shots).

3) Another way to help your readers feel they are a part of your business is to feature a customer of your business – with his or her permission, of course. Tell a bit about why he uses your product or service and how it helped him. Leave a spot in your newsletter for your customers to contact you about being featured in your publication. As your customers and even your prospects begin to feel you are a part of their day-to-day life, you’ll be pleasantly surprised how many folks want to be featured in your newsletter.

4) Don’t be shy about putting your contact info in at least two spots in your newsletter. If you have a four-page publication, stick your ‘call us’ info on each page. Place your address, phone number, website URL and e-mail address prominently in a box on your second page. If possible, put a name behind that number. For example, “Need more information on our services? Call Jane at 111-555-1212 ext. 104.”

Ask and You’ll Probably Receive

5) Finally, don’t send that newsletter to your printer without an incentive for your readers. Having a sale this month? Let your readers know it – place that information where they’ll be sure to see it. Offering a free consultation for all new clients? Don’t let your printer print without it.

If You Think There’s Nothing Newsworthy About Your Business, You’re Wrong

Let’s say you’re the owner of a landscaping business. Or you’re a florist. Or the owner of a cleaning service. And you have dozens of landscapers, florists and cleaning services competing for customers. You think there’s nothing exceptional about you. After all, all landscapers landscape. All florists sell flowers. All cleaning services clean.

There’s nothing special about me, you think, certainly nothing a reporter would find interesting.

And that’s where you’re wrong. Because all you need is to think just a bit differently than your competitors.

For example, let’s say it’s summer. That means flea and tick season. As a professional housecleaner, you know how to keep fleas at bay indoors, but do your customers?

So you could write a release that goes something like this:

Have fleas jumped from Fluffy or Fido and infested your carpet? There’s a simple way to keep them at bay, says Jane Doe, owner of Jane’s Super Clean, a Your Town housecleaning service: vacuum regularly.

“Your first line of attack is to use a flea bomb. Then you should vacuum all the rugs and carpets in your house several times a week,” Doe said.

Doe’s company has been offering cleaning services since 1999 and knows a thing or 10 about keeping homes clean and pest free during the summer.

Then add a list of 10 summer (or anytime) cleaning tips to the release. Finally, if you’re offering a special flea-ridding service (you’ll come in and vaccum a homeowner’s house or apartment three times a week at a reduce/volume rate), be sure to mention it in the release.

By writing a release that gives a helpful hint, strategy or fact that is of use to an editor’s or reporter’s readers, you’ve just made your business newsworthy.

Let Me Blog For You

If you’re the owner of a business – large, small, mid-size, online or brick-and-motor only – you need a blog.

Why? It’s simple, really:

Blogs drive traffic to your website.

More traffic to your website means more business for you.

More customers for you – whether to your website or to your downtown storefront – translates to more sales for you.

 And blogs do so very inexpensively. In fact, if you do the blogging yourself, your blog need not cost you a thing.

Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Not one penny comes out of your pocket. So if your blog brings you more income with no outgo, what are you waiting for? Start blogging!!!And if you don’t want to blog yourself, hire me to write your blog for you.So, just what is a blog? Wikipedia.com defines a blog as:

….a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics or local news, some function as more personal diaries.

But there’s more to blogging than talking about your personal life. More and more businesses are finding blogs to be a terrific tool to generate traffic. In addition, business’ customers feel they are part of the family — that they are a true part of a business. Talk about generating customer loyalty!

As you can see, I’m a huge fan of blogs. This website for my marketing communications company Harvest Sage Communications actually is a blog. It costs me nothing, since I signed up for a free blog at WordPress.com. Another great free blogging site is Blogger.com.

For more proof about how a blog can change your business for the better, check out these links:

A blog can be a great way to drive free traffic to your website.

A blog can bring a highly desirable clientele to your business.

Now, a blog can take a lot of your time. At least half an hour per post, and if you post to your blog everyday (which is highly recommended for best results because search engine “spiders” find new web pages more quickly than older pages), that can take a ton of time away from things that you, as the business owner, could be better off doing – such as making sales. So let me blog for you. Drop me a note today and let’s get blogging!

Virtual Water Cooler for Great Business Ideas

Many folks looking for good writing look for great business ideas, too. Well, perhaps they look for the good business ideas and THEN look for good writing when they’re at the point they need to promote their business.

So if you’re an entrepreneur at heart with ideas busting out all over — or if you’re still searching for that “just right” idea — to get you going, check out the Seeds of Wisdom Publishing website, particularly its forum. Many of today’s greatest entrepreneurial minds post ideas there — and give feedback and advice for other ideas.

Or, as the website’s home page itself says:

Ever hear of Gary Halbert? Harvey Brody? J.F. (Jim) Straw? Yanik Silver? Kirt Christensen? Gordon Jay Alexander? All these high-profile entrepreneurs and marketers – and more – have posted to the Seeds of Wisdom Forum at one time or another.)

Read their wisdom and ask your own questions! The first secret of profitable success is to not be afraid to ASK… Then, put their advice into action! You can also share your own advice too.

I check this site daily. They’re a great bunch, very friendly and supportive with a strict policy about nasty comments/posts.