Does this seem too obvious? Look through your yellow pages. Pick them up right now and glance through. Answer this question: Are most of the ads telling you what benefits you getting if you become a customer? Or, are the ads telling you about the vendors, where they are, how wonderful they are, what they do, how great their quality is, how great their service is, and all about them?
Ninety-five percent of the ads are likely totally focused on the business and not on what the business can do for YOU, the note seller [or the professional referral source such as the Realtor or FSBO]!
Look at the ads in the newspapers, on the TV, and listen to the radio. You‘ll find the same thing happening there, consistently, every day. This type of selfish advertising falls into the terribly wasteful category of institutional advertising.
Institutional advertising generates, at best, delayed results. But, at its worst, this kind of advertising accomplishes no profitable purpose whatsoever. Unless the business has very deep pockets and can afford to wait a long time for the payoff, institutional advertising is a wasteful, ineffective expense.
You know when it‘s institutional advertising because institutional advertising is geared toward telling you just how great a company is, or how venerable and stable they are. Perhaps businesses such as large banks can do this...but it just doesn‘t work for most small and medium sized businesses. Fancy, cutesy and non-compelling frivolity is another sin of much of today‘s advertising, and much of it can be classified as institutional.
Your selfishness is what kills most of your note marketing. From brochures to flyers, and sales letters to advertisements, your marketing message should let your prospects know that you are concerned ONLY WITH WHAT THEY WANT!
Anything about you should always come last. Your note sellers, clients, customers, patrons, patients...whatever you choose to call them, should always come first. Any marketing documents you create should start out by focusing on the prospects‘ wants. Every sentence should show that you understand the prospects‘ wants.
