I often see vanilla attempts at copywriting and they usually have one thing in common.

The marketing, promotional or advertising piece is all about the business, product or service and the consumer is the secondary focus.

Your marketing content should be all about what your product or service will do for your consumer.

Think about your customers likes and dislikes, figure out what makes them tick and incorporate that information to move them towards the sale. Connect with your customers on their terms with language they’ll relate to.

Undoubtedly you offer a product or service to your customers or potential customers. Have you seriously taken time to consider how you or your business benefits your clients?

If you haven’t done this lately, take a moment to consider your customers. They truly are the lifeblood of your business and you should be paying close attention to their wants and needs, first.

Of course, your background and expertise is important but it’s not the most important thing to consumers. People want to know “what’s in it for me (WIIFM)”. While they may be interested in your credentials, this isn’t solely how people make decisions on who to work with.

Example: A promotional brochure for a Realtor focuses only on his experience and awards. The Realtor fails to make an emotional connection with prospects because he doesn’t include how his service will deliver what his prospects are looking for.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are looking for their first “home”. Joe Realtor is great at selling houses but doesn’t take time to truly connect with the Smith’s starting with his marketing materials. His brochure reflects his awards and sales track record. It doesn’t connect with the Smith’s because he doesn’t clearly demonstrate his ability to find them the “home” of their dreams. The Smith’s don’t really care that Joe Realtor can move property. They don’t want to buy just any house. They want a home, preferably with room to grow and raise a family. They want a Realtor who listens, will pay special attention to their needs and tells them so, upfront. Joe Realtor overlooks this vital key to connecting. It’s the reason the Smith’s don’t call Joe Realtor.

Would you rather work with someone who touts their expertise or someone who first shows you how their expertise will work for you and then has experience to back it up?

Take Action Challenge: Review one piece of your marketing or promotional materials today. Consider your business card, brochure, website, broadcast copy, billboards and even storefront signage if this applies. What message are you sending to your potential clients? Brainstorm ways you can connect to begin building relationships and move your prospects towards a sale. Now update your copy to reflect what you have to really offer your prospects (remember the WIIFM factor).

Copywriting Expert

Lisa Manyon is the President of Write On ~ Creative Writing Services, LLC. and a Professional Copywriter and Marketing Strategist specializing in POWERFULLY communicating your marketing message to increase results. She’s a published author and is a featured in the International Association of Web Entrepreneurs Official AWE Guide to Emerging Trends Every Online Entrepreneur Must Know and has written promotional, advertising and marketing copy for internet gurus and a wide variety of brick and mortar businesses. She's completed Glazer Kennedy’s Creating Copy that Sells certification and is a Copy Coach for Lorrie Morgan Ferrero’s She Factor Copywriting Bootcamp. Manyon offers a free Copywriting Action Plan with 7 Power-packed Insider Tricks of the Copywriting Trade to Dramatically Increase Sales of your Products & Services on her website

I'm a firm believer in vacations, traveling and taking time away from my business office.  Every now and then, I disappear from my business.  Now, I know, some of you may think that's scary.  It even makes me a bit uncomfortable.  Just like so many solopreneurs, I wonder what my team will do if something they've never tackled before comes up.  I worry that I forgot to give them something.  This is all par for the course before I leave, but I DO leave and I DO forget about what's going on while I'm away.  I have to trust that my team can handle whatever comes in while I'm away.  Otherwise, I'd never enjoy it!

That doesn't mean I just throw my hands up in the air and say "I'm outta here!".

Not only do I need to trust my team to take care of my current clients, but it's extremely important to make sure my marketing efforts continue while I'm away so I don't lose any trust-building ground with potential clients.  When I'm in my business, I keep a marketing schedule and am very consistent with my marketing efforts.  If my marketing falls off or goes away completely while I'm out then potential clients forget about me, or wonder where I disappeared to.  Wondering chips away a few trust points.  So, I efinitely don't want to slack off on the marketing while I'm away.

In order to ease my mind, my clients minds, and my potential clients minds as much as I can, I have a lot to do in preparation for leaving.  Last year, I was pretty much out of my office for 3 of the 4 weeks in October.  I went on vacation and then attended a conference where I extended my trip for networking and client visits.  I spent the majority of September preparing to be out of the office.  I know what it takes to get there.  I'm hoping it will help you as well.  So, I thought I'd share with you my vacation preparation strategies.

1)  Do your writing and marketing in advance - When I sat down to do Septembers marketing, I gave myself some extra time to do both months of writing.  I always tell my clients that consistency is one of the main keys to successful trust-building.  This doesn't stop because I go on vacation.  I just pre-write verything and schedule it to go out while I'm gone.  Most marketing systems have this option.  I suggest you use it…OFTEN!

If you have someone helping you with your marketing.  Make sure you give them a heads up that it's coming early and make sure you get it to them early (this builds trust with your team members too, btw).  That way they know it's supposed to wait until the time you are away and it's not in addition to your usual marketing.

2) Have a team member in place - My Project Manager, Carrie, works very closely with me on a regular basis.  She knows what needs to get done when it comes to helping my clients with their work.  My clients are already familiar with her and have had communication with her fairly regularly.  This  makes Carrie the obvious choice to take over in my absence.

If nothing else, I think it's important to have someone who can handle your administrative duties.  Someone who schedules appointments, handles follow-up with potential clients when they need more information and can handle the intake process for you once a client decides to work with you.  This team member will have already had a connection with your clients.  So when you are away, they can easily answer e-mails or phone calls as they come in for you. This keeps the trust level high with current clients who will, hopefully, rave about you and refer more clients to you.

3)  Schedule a meeting with your helper - Whoever you decide to have help you, make sure you speak to them before you leave.  Cover all the reasons someone would contact you and give them a process for responding.  Give them all the resources they would need to get someone started working with you, in case someone wants to move forward.  Give them any numbers for people that help you with your business in case they need it.  Give them permission to use their best judgment and allow them to make decisions if necessary.  This way you don't come back to a line of people waiting to hear from you.  Some of them can be taken care of and on their way.   Potential clients who are ready to speak with you can already have an appointment scheduled with you after your return (and recoup time - see number 5, below) and have had someone respond to them

quickly, so they don't wait and wonder…again, wondering takes away trust points.

4)  Technology and e-mail - This is a major headache saver for you so you are ready to rock and roll when you return.  Give your helper access to the back side of your e-mail.  Either through the cpanel or a login to webmail.  Allow your helper to delete junk mail in that back end.  Give them permission to delete newsletters, advertisements, and announcements from online communities etc….  That way it never touches your inbox.  That way you come back ONLY to e-mails that are important.  This will keep you from inbox overload. You will quickly be able to jump back in and respond to people in the first day.

5)  Plan some time to get back in the groove - When you go away, you need to give yourself some time to catch up once you return.  You need to be rested, and focused when you return to your clients and start talking to potential clients. When I went away in October, I took the week after my return to catch up.  I had no calls scheduled.  I made sure I didn't promise anyone I'd get them something that week.  I had absolutely nothing going on that week by design.  This not only allowed me to get caught up, but it also gave me time to start implementing all that I learned from the conference I attended.  So, think about what you will want and need to do once you return and schedule accordingly.  You don't have to close off your schedule for a week, but at least a couple days. Don't get back and jump right in or you'll be in overload so fast your head will spin.  This does you, your clients and your potential clients no good.

I do these 5 things every time I step away from my business.  I have saved myself a lot of headaches by doing so and I've been able to maintain trust with potential clients, clients, and my team.  When I come back, I know that I will be able to handle catching up.  While I'm away, I know my business is in good hands and that things are getting done.  This helps me get over any doubts I have about whether I can take time away from my business.  Does it help you too?

Kristen Beireis, Trust Marketing Expert

Kristen Beireis is the Trust Marketing Expert for Group Coaching Mastery. She helps coaches and other personal transformation professionals establish trust through marketing.  First, she establishes a foundation that's rooted in your authentic differentiation. Then she follows up with solutions that bring consistency to everything that has your name on it — from your newsletter to your business card to your social media pages. And while she's happy to teach you how to do all this yourself, many of her clients love the way her team reduces their workload and overwhelm.

Greater trust means a shorter sales cycle, more of the right clients, and the confidence that comes from knowing your sales and marketing are in integrity with who you are as a person.

It sounds like the simplest thing in the world, but you’d be surprised how many group coaches forget about their audience. There are too many speakers who fail to consider their audience’s interests, who do not maintain an engaging presence, or who do not even check to make sure the audience can hear them.

Group coaches need to remember to engage, reward and excite their audiences. Every time you’re in front of an audience, of any size, try to keep the following tips in mind:

• Make the room your own. Whether you’re in a small classroom or a large auditorium, you as the group coach need to convey feelings of comfort with the room you’re in – for yourself and for the audience. If a microphone doesn’t work, turn it off and speak louder. If a lectern is too far from the audience, move it. If tables are too far from the projector screen, re-arrange them. Before you even begin your presentation, go to the venue and test the sound system.  By making yourself more comfortable in the room, you will also help your audience to feel more comfortable in your presence. Making the room your own will also help boost your credibility as a group coach; when people see you take charge of the room and overcome limitations of the equipment or the space, they will feel reassured that you are a “take charge” person who is worth listening to.
• Maintain eye contact. Whether you’re speaking to 10 people or 1,000 people, every good speaker and coach needs to maintain good eye contact with the audience. Sure, if it’s a big crowd, you’re not going to be able to make one-on-one eye contact with every person in the room – but just the act of making eye contact with a few people in the crowd will have the effect of drawing and deepening the attention of the rest of the people listening.
• Focus on the audience’s needs. Before you even start planning your talk, ask yourself, “What does this audience need from me?” Focus on what the audience is most urgently interested in hearing about – not so you can “just tell them what they want to hear,” but so you can adapt your message and communication style to be most effective.
• Challenge your audience. Of course, you need to adapt your message so that your audience welcomes and accepts you, but every good group coach also needs to bring a certain energy and sense of challenge to her audiences. You need to challenge their thinking and prompt them to take action – not in an aggressive or overbearing style, but in the spirit of encouragement and engagement.
• Give them something to remember. If you’re giving a 45 minute presentation, it’s hard for most people to remember all of that material. Even if people take notes, it can be hard to retain much of what we hear on any given occasion. So every good group coach needs to find ways to deliver a few memorable takeaways from any speech or training session. Use verbal cues like: “If you only remember one thing from today’s speech, I hope it will be this…”

What are some other ways to engage audiences that have worked for you in your group coaching business? Who are some of the most memorable speakers you’ve ever seen, and what was so memorable about them?

DeLores Pressley, Professional Speaking Expert

DeLores Pressley is an international keynote speaker, author, life coach and the Founder of the Born Successful Institute and DeLores Pressley Worldwide. DeLores has spoken to more than 107,000 people in over 65 major cities and countries. She has been interviewed on America’s top rated shows including, OPRAH and Entertainment Tonight. She produces Speak for Hire, an educational program teaching entrepreneurs, speakers and coaches how to speak and grow their business. More about DeLores