How to Secure Clients Quickly & Affordably for ANY Business (Pt. 2 of 2)

Did you know that 80% of a business's profit is derived from 20% of its customers? Part 1 of this article discussed the facts and figures of a direct mail campaign.

Now that you know why you need a direct mail campaign, how pitifully few will respond, and how loyal they will be once they become paying customers, let's focus on the exact steps necessary to get them.

Implementing Your Marketing Plan

1. Define your market: Imagine your customer sitting right across the table from you. What do they look like, what are they wearing, how do they talk, where do they like to grocery shop, where do their children go to school, where do they eat out, socialize, etc.?

Why do you need to know this? So you can speak to them in their language. If you can't imagine your customer, how are you going to talk (read, sell) to them? A campaign targeting small web design firms will be very different from one targeting editors at major magazines.

That's why I like the sitting-across-the-table exercise. It forces you to actually imagine minute details about your customer. Marketing companies charge thousands of dollars to study focus groups for this kind of information. A successful campaign is in the details.

2. Set a date for completion: Set a date to by which you want your materials mailed off. If you don't, it's much easier to procrastinate. So, set a date and meet it.

3. Craft your sales pitch: With the details of your customer in mind, imagine how you would talk to them if they were sitting right in front of you.

Every effective sales pitch has a call to action. What is the purpose of the message? Do you want them to place an order, call for more information, et cetera. Get in the habit of ending all of your sales pitches with a call to action.

4. Design your sales literature: You can go the do-it-yourself route, or use a professional graphic designer and editor/writer. However, make sure that in your sales message, you've used words and phrases to which your prospects can relate. Do the same with graphics.