There is no simpler and more elegant definition of marketing than this:

Getting the right message to the right person.

I love this definition because it immediately reveals the process of marketing, and implies a 3-step action plan.

If you’re going to get the right message to the right person, what’s the first thing you need to know?

Who that person is! So…

Step #1: Identify Your Ideal Prospect

This is where most business owners make a HUGE mistake. They aren’t clear on who their Ideal Prospect is. They think they should “cast the net wide.” But when you try to appeal to everyone, your message becomes so general it appeals to no one.

I teach that marketing starts and ends with the prospect. It is NOT about what you sell. It’s about who you’re serving.

Step #2: Create Your Message

You cannot create a strong message without knowing who your Ideal Prospect is. The message must be specifically targeted toward this prospect and create deep resonance. It should promise to solve a problem, meet a need, or fulfill a desire… all while building that all-important know/like/trust bond.

Step #3: Get Your Message To Your Ideal Prospect

Many business owners make the mistake of starting here. They waste thousands of dollars on advertising, direct mail, traffic generation, etc., without first being clear on who they’re targeting and what their message is. Do Steps 1 & 2 first. Then invest your money in getting the message out there while testing and refining your message as you go along.

Yours in Spirit,

Joshua Aaron Stanley
“The Spiritual Copywriter”

P.S. Want to know the secret to creating resonance, eliciting emotion, and forging a connection while moving your prospect to action? My “Spiritual Copywriting in Practice” Training Program starts June 24…

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I’m back! And I have much to say about my absence. (More on that in the coming weeks.) But for now…

Listen in below as Ed Philipp of www.TeleseminarWebFolk.com interviews me on the foundations of copywriting and creating a persuasive “Core Marketing Message.”

Here’s what I cover:

• How to create a message that engages your ideal clients and resonates with them.
• The 3 critical ingredients for creating a powerful and strategic “Core Marketing Message”.
• How to lower price resistance while eliminating the competition.
• How to turn your website into a lead-generating machine.

Just click play… (And be ready to take lots of notes!)

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Is your sales letter performing as well as you’d like? Is it converting well enough to produce a nice stream of cash straight into your bank account?

No??

Then perhaps your sales letter is failing to do one fundamental thing that MUST happen before any kind of sale is made….

Build rapport.

Rapport is demonstrating you understand your prospect… you’re “with him”… and you have a solution to his problem.

Most sales letters I see fail miserably at building rapport. Right off the bat, the headline misses the mark. Even if the headline and lead are right, the sales letter is focused too much on “selling”… and not enough on making a genuine connection.

Real life salesmen understand that rapport comes FIRST. People prefer to buy from those they know, like, and trust… which is why building rapport in print is just as critical as it is in real life encounters.

Rapport begins with the very first word you write. That’s why researching your target prospect and understanding as much about him as possible is critical preparation work to writing a sales letter (or any marketing piece, for that matter).

Here are a few ways to “get to know” your prospect and begin to understand him on a deeper level….

• Conduct and analyze surveys with your target audience.
• Study their demographics, interests, and other profile information.
• Hang out with them, befriend them, or interview them to get a feel for who they are and how they talk.
• Walk a mile in your prospects shoes by imaging what his life is like, what problems he’s having, what he’s thinking on a daily basis, and what he’s feeling about those thoughts.

Only after you’ve invested this preparation time are you ready to begin writing…

Tomorrow, I’ll demonstrate how to write your sales letter in a way that builds rapport. Stay tuned…

-Joshua Aaron Stanley

P.S. Download “How To Generate More Leads & Make More Sales Using The Subtle Power Of Covert Written Persuasion.”

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If you’re not getting the kind of response you want from your marketing piece or sales letter, then you’ll want to pay close attention to what I have to say today…

Because… what I’m about to share with you is an absolutely critical element to creating any kind of money-making marketing piece your ideal buyers will respond to.

The sad fact is, 99% of marketers—even professional copywriters—fail to do a thorough job on this one critical preliminary step:

Preparation.

Let me explain what I mean by preparation….

1. You must have thorough knowledge of the product or service you’re selling.
2. You must be aware of how the product or service fits in with the overall marketing funnel.
3. You must know the product creator and his personal story.
4. You must understand the business as a whole and its unique selling proposition—or know the industry well enough to create one.
5. You must be aware of the major competing products/services, and what sets this one apart.
6. You must have a thorough knowledge of the true market for the product and what will most appeal to them.

There’s no way around it: it requires time. At least half of my time (often more) on a project is spent preparing to write.

Many people—some of my clients included—seem to think a great piece of sales copy can be whipped up in an afternoon. You can certainly write a first DRAFT in an afternoon… but only after investing the necessary time (yes, “investing” is the right word) on thorough preparation.

Why is this important?

Because without thorough preparation, you simply won’t have enough information to write truly fascinating copy that’s focused on your true prospects. Vague, non-specific copy full of empty promises just doesn’t sell.

If there is just one thing I can point to that separates great copywriters from mediocre ones, it’s how well they prepare before they write a single word. It’s the preparation beforehand that determines the effectiveness of the copy.

In future blog posts, I’ll share some specific tips and ideas to help you prepare thoroughly. I’ll also share some ideas and insights on how to take your first draft and polish it into what Joe Sugarman calls the “greased slide”.

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