Coyote Ugly

Most of you know what Coyote Ugly is, but for those who do not, it refers to a member of the male gender commenting how he would rather chew his arm off than wake last night's beautiful woman. Of course, this is equally true for the female member of the species as well.

With that being said, how many of us are figuratively chewing our arm off with ugly fliers, poor websites, boring emails and equally dull direct mail? Taste is hard to quantify, but my Dad, who was in the shoe business and a "fashonista" in his own right often muttered about, "all the people who got dressed in the morning without the benefit of a mirror." He was even more surprised when he saw a garment that was totally inappropriate (in his mind) for a particular person. His comment was, "there's no accounting for taste."

More and more I watch customers just walk past fliers in bowling centers. They should. Because the fliers they are not buying are just plain ugly, confusing and do nothing to say, "Wait!, Stop! Look at me. I have something you want!"

Guess what our customers are saying? I DON'T WANT WHAT YOU ARE OFFERING BECAUSE IT IS UGLY, TASTELESS AND UNAPPEALING...and that's before they even read it!!

Please do your fliers in 4 colors and get them produced by a professional graphic artist. You can find them in colleges, grad schools or free lancing from their underpaid newspaper or magazine job. Make a statement. Show your customers that you are proud of the product you are offering and that's why you are spending a few dollars more (because in the overall scheme of things, it is only a FEW dollars more).

If you think they are not paying attention, you are mistaken. In fact, they may have already judged you and your business "coyote ugly."

Here's how to make a better flier 101:
1. Put a benefit in the headline. Its not about your center name. Keep it out of the
headline
2. Make a clear offer
3. Give the prospect a time limit to buy
4. Create a sense of urgency by setting a time limit to buy
5. Guarantee fun or get your money back (you'll be surprised that less than 1% of the people will ever take you up on this
6. Spell out the action you want them to take
7. Put your name, address, website and phone number on the BOTTOM of the flier

And you'll never be "Coyote Ugly" again,