Question from a reader: “How do I manage to get a person’s attention in this day and age with all the marketing and advertising that is thrown at a person?”
Answer: Good but tough question. I touched on book cover “grab” here on my site and I can elaborate a little more in terms of what works for me and what doesn’t in terms of the real world and the Internet.
1. In the real world and in the Internet, people will find you or your service through word-of-mouth, known and respected friends/Internet contacts, and lastly if they trust you social interaction websites. There isn’t any secret, if you do a great job with your business or service, word of mouth will get out and you will get business. Be realistic though. If you are trying to sell something that is in a niche, you won’t get either a lot of hits on a website or telephone calls in an office but the ones you do probably will result in sales if you are priced properly and you have something somebody wants.
2. On the Internet, go with images that convey your product or image cleanly and quickly. Personally I think that web marketing has gone overboard and people are thick skinned and immune to a lot of advertising. That is why you hear people complain that their ads don’t get traffic. I wouldn’t try any sneaky or hidden things either. If people like what they see, they will either try and buy it or not.
3. In the real world, you may want to advertise in local penny savers, possibly get cable television or billboard space. You can also trick out your car and turn your car or truck into a mobile advertising site but that can get messy and local zoning laws may prohibit that.
4. Sometimes crazy works, sometimes it makes you look, well, just crazy. I thought of dressing up in a giant book, getting a permit and walk around with a sign with my url in front of a busy shopping center this holiday. While I have no doubt that I would get a lot of attention, some car honking and catcalls, I don’t think it would lead to more book sales or attention to my blog or tax preparation skills. You never know though. If I were to try the same thing with beautiful girls in bikinis with my url on their bodies, that may make more of a lasting impression. When they would click through and see that there weren’t any beautiful women other than my daughter, Ari, and my wife, Sharren, they might feel that they were bait and switched. So, the take away from this is watch what you are advertising.
These are just a few ideas to get you started (here is one more while I am at it). The bottom line to being profitable on this one is patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither were their shopping malls. Just remember too that in our current economic situation that people will still spend money on things they need and they may trim back on purchases for things that they want.
Kim Isaac Greenblatt
You are reading the profitable blog and Kim Greenblatt explains how to grab a customer’s attention.
Tags: Business, grabbing customer's attention, marketing, profitable
[...] Grabbing Your Customer’s Attention [...]