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Imagine seeing well-texted articles about what you do
best on the Internet and in print, in newspapers, press
releases, professional magazines, quoted in reports - and
imagine your own eNewsletter going out several times
a month to thousands of people who would benefit from what
you offer.
This kind of exposure could easily double, if not triple
your turnover, did you know that? Apart from the fact
that so much publicity would really make you feel appreciated
- and finally allow you to enjoy the fruits of your hard
work.
Especially smaller companies are reluctant to promote their
business by publishing well-texted material in this way
because they either believe that it takes too much time
and effort, or they just don't know how.
But it's being done a lot by corporations and institutions
- and you can do it, too! Every year, thousands of
companies spend millions of Dollars, Euros and Yen for publicity
in print and on the Internet, on TV and radio to drive up
their sales.
If you think that only
the big boys can afford this publicity,
you are not alone. But it is not true !
They may have developed their Public Relations with a strong
financial muscle, but the world in which we do business
has changed from mass production and mass marketing
to a world of personal service, individual relationships,
customised products and one-on-one marketing.
That's my world, and if it's yours too
I'd like to help you grow your business!
My name is Berend Lange and I am a copywriter :
personal marketing involves effective communication in writing
and if you don't have the time for that, or are no good
at it, you need a copywriter.
Someone who formulates your message in
- Articles
- Webpages
- Newsletters
- Sales Letters
- Press Releases
- Fundraising Letters for Non-Profit Organisations
- Speeches
- Brochures
- White Papers
- Books and eBooks
- Special Reports
- Advertising Copy
- and any other means to address your specific market
in writing.
Gone are the days when paying customers were happy standing
in a queue to give up their hard earned cash for stuff everyone
else has. Make your clients feel special and they'll buy
from you. 'Personal' is the key word here!
There are only three reasons why somebody
will not buy from you :
- They don't know about you,
- They don't really need your product or service right
now, or
- They don't trust you enough.
If they don't know about you, that's bad - do your
marketing.
If they don't need you at this point in time, that's
fine - but one day they will. Just stay in contact consistently
with good advice so that they turn to you first when
they want to buy. Let your market know that you are ready
when they are.
But be careful : the trust issue is important !
If you're too pushy, people don't trust you to be honest
because they know you care more about the sale than the
person you are talking to. How many salespeople do you really
trust? Nobody likes to 'be sold' - we want to be
advised, given choices - not 'sold to'.
So who do you trust? Someone you know, an acknowledged
expert in his field with whom you have an established relationship.
Someone you like.
Does it take time to build
good relationships?
Yes it does - but then they last, too.
It's worth your while to build a quality brand name
for your products and services in your specific segment
of the industry, conveying the message that you are likeable
- i.e. a person of integrity, honest, flexible, innovative,
socially involved and responsible, reliable and fun to deal
with.
What are my favourite industries to write
for?
Of course there are some aspects of copywriting I love
doing more than others. In all my years in marketing, I
have developed two favourites :
Personal Growth
and the Tourism Industry.
I have been involved in both for a long time and I really
love writing about these topics. Have a look at some of
my articles that I publish in my
KOMPASS Blog.
What I know about and apply in terms of Personal
Growth not only helps me as a human being, it also
serves to establish trust with my clients. I never
intended that when I first set aside a part on this website
to write about my philosophy about life,
but my readers correctly assume that anyone propagating
the basic values of integrity and self-responsibility
in this way will not short-change them.
As far as the Tourism Industry is concerned, I love
to travel myself and got involved with hosting tourists
while I lived in Cape Town. South Africa has become
a major business-travel and tourist detination since 1994
and I have experienced first hand how much hard work and
goodwill it takes to really stand out from the crowd
and get noticed in this market.
Now I live in Austria's Carinthia - but
I work internationally.
A laptop with an Internet connection and the telephone
make that easy. Carinthia is also a really beautiful part
of the world with a massive amount of holiday visitors,
in summer and in winter. Our economy here to a large extent
depends on tourism and it makes me sad to see so
many offers in the hospitality industry that are badly
presented on the Internet.
Mostly it's not the layout, mind you - just sloppy text,
put down unlovingly and in a hurry, with typos and spelling
errors, wrong syntax, bad grammar and generally not
worded in a way to sell what may well be a great product
or service! It hurts when you see that; well, that's
me.
My specialty is writing,
improving and translating website copy -
and Article Marketing, in English and in German
Would YOU enquire, let alone book or buy, at a website
where the visitor is obviously not important enough to at
least offer him coherent and convincing text? I certainly
wouldn't ! A website is your shop window in the main
street called the Internet. A highway in fact where
everyone passes in a hurry, unless they have a good
reason to stop and look.
A study in 2005 estimated that there were 19,2 billion
documents on 48 million active websites on the Internet
that year, with 2100 more going online every day for just
over 1 billion Internet users in early 2007. Will
they stop at your site and read what you offer? Not
if you annoy them in the first paragraph!
Often I can tell that websites, eager to be read in several
languages, are just bad translations from the native language
they were originally written in. The intentions are good
- not many people speak two or more languages well,
though. That's OK, but if you want to do a professional
job, get help from someone who does!
And don't feel bad about that - writing is not only
a craft, it is also an art. I happen to have a gift
for writing, in English and in German, but I am useless
when it comes to painting - would I buy a brush and
canvas if I wanted a nice painting in my lounge? No way!
But I am a good storyteller
: I paint a picture with words -
true stories that go to the heart of the reader.
Storytelling is one of the best kept secrets in copywriting
! The most successful copywriters and marketers in
the world use storytelling to win their audience - Anthony
Robbins and Robert Kiyosaki come to mind immediately
: they built entire business empires around a simple story,
their own stories about how they became successful in life.
Why do stories create great copy? They work so well
because everybody loves to hear a great story, we
were conditioned that way from the time we were kids. Any
intriguing true story creates a personal link between the
audience and the writer; the reader can relate to the
person telling the story, the seedling for a personal
bond is planted - that's why I like article marketing
so much.
If you want to read my own story about how I got
to where I am today and why I am considered a 'native
speaker' in both German and English, please
download my
award-winning article 'BEGINNING OF A JOURNEY'.
I even dream in English these days !
OK, that was my little secret up to now, but there
you have it : I sometimes talk in my sleep and my wife tells
me that I do that in English. At the moment, I write most
of my copy in English first - but I can easily do it the
other way round.
Born and raised in Germany, I have spoken English
for most of my life and some folks call me a 'native
speaker' in both, for what it's worth. English is the most
widely spoken language in the world, even though more people
speak Chinese on this planet than English. Presenting
your business in English is absolutely essential, therefore,
if you want to reach the international market at all.
By the same token, your business - any business
- can not afford to ignore the German-speaking market
if you hope to sell anything internationally - it is big,
and the buying-power in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
is enormous. 6,1% of Internet users surf in German and they
are scattered all over the world.
At home and abroad -
Promoting your business in writing is very effective !
That's cost-effective, too. Article marketing, well-worded
websites, regular newsletters and any other means of addressing
your specific market personally in writing could easily
double, if not triple your turnover in a surprisingly
short period of time.
Please do yourself a favour and seriously consider
to get in contact with a copywriter if you would
like to make sure that the copy you use to promote your
business is the best you can have in order to achieve
your marketing targets. Deep down you know that anything
less is a waste of effort and money.
You owe it to yourself to do more than only half a job.
Your business is worth it! It really is THAT important,
and the sooner you do it, the earlier you can relax in the
knowledge that you're doing the right thing for your
marketing.
Drop
me a line from here to let me know what you want
to do, or just get the ball rolling and ask a copywriter
for advice - I'd be happy to help and give you a FREE
ASSESSMENT of your existing copy material !
Do it now! Fly with us.
If you keep doing what you always do,
you'll keep getting what you've always got.
Do something different.
Anything.
Do it now! Fly with us.
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