The Essential Elements of "Content" That Effectively Sells Your Product

1.   “Content” is King. Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and engaging information to attract, acquire and engage a clearly defined audience with the objective of driving a profitable customer transaction.”  That’s the long version.

2.   The short version is, “all of the ways we communicate online…Website, Blurbs, Email, Newsletters, and Social."

3.   60% of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading their custom content.

4.   70% of consumers prefer to know a company via their articles rather than their advertisements.

5.   Google reads your content and based on its findings ranks you higher on its search engine.

6.   Your content doesn’t have to mimic William Shakespeare; a paragraph coupled with a picture is enough to get results.

7.   You should distribute and communicate information whenever:

a.   You have a special event and after the event as well.

b.   Launch a coupon special offer (accompanies the lead information article and comes at the middle or end of the information.

c.    Volunteer or contribute something to the community.

d.   Launch a new “product.”

e.   There are many other industry specific or local content ideas that will work as well.

8.   Now that you have all that "content", what are you going to do with it?  We’re going to address only One Method in this blog. There are at least 5 other ways that we will address in future blogs.

9.   Emails. 145 billion emails are sent every day. And email is required for all online activities. Bottom line: email works.

10.  Emails let you market to existing customers which is 8X more effective than trying to acquire new ones.

11.  88% of people used an email coupon or discount in the past year.

12.  Email still rules direct marketing. When you absolutely need it to be read,(by people who have given you permission to send them information and not by someone whose email you just “happened” to get!) email is the most effective method. It blends the best of direct marketing with the speed and power of online marketing. One click and your message is sent to everyone on your list.

13.  When sending an email, the key points are:

a.  The subject line The should convince viewers to read the message.

b.   Your logo is prominently displayed so everyone who reads it knows it is from your company.

c.    A specific call to action (CTA) that asks the person to do something, even if it is to like you on Facebook or follow you on Twitter or add you to their Google+ circles or print out the coupon.

d.   Beautiful imagery placed at the top of the email. Left, right or center or taking the whole page, it doesn’t matter. Just be sure to have a “professional” image. Please no cartoons, unless you own Disneyland!

Datasource: On-Line Report, Localvox, April 2014, DMA

One mid season league tip guaranteed to get you more sign ups

We all know how difficult it is, these days, to get new people to join a league, regardless of the length of the season, although shorter is better. You know the reasons. We have spoken of this before.

However, like other decisions we make, we don't mind making a decision, we just don't want to make a bad one. 

A bad one is one that costs time, money, status or the "loss" of something that is of value.

To get more sign ups, simply promise a "guarantee." Yup, a guarantee. 

"We guarantee that you will have so much fun that, after the first week, if you're not happy we will give you your money back. Guaranteed"

if you're concerned about losing money, think about increasing your 8-week league to 9 weeks or your 12 week league to 13 weeks.

You might even pick up some additional revenue. 

After all, not everyone will stop after the first week.  In fact, experience tells us that less than 4% will ask for their money back.

In that way, you can look someone in the eye and say, "Susie, why not join the "women bowling with wine program. Try it the first week. If you're not happy, I will refund all of your bowling leagues.  What do you have to lose?"

"Nothing", says Susie. "Nothing at all."

5 Questions You Need to Ask About Your Business Today.

While most of the Northeast is being bombarded with snow, Marie and I were fortunate enough to plan a three-day sojourn to Puerto Rico about 2 months ago, never realizing that we would be missing the snow storm of the century.  With more than 25 inches of snow already having already fallen, we are hoping that our flight will be canceled.

Unfortunately, hope is not a strategy and if we wanted to stay longer we should have planned it. Alas, we did not plan for that and will be on a plane tomorrow in the late afternoon or maybe it will get delayed. I suspect the latter.

But where does that leave us.  It leaves us with asking some important questions about our business and our plan.

Here are 5 questions to find out if we are planning to do work that matters.

1. What are you doing that is difficult vs hoping someone will give you an easy solution?
2. What do people say when they talk about your center?  How much time have you spent today building your brand?  Does anyone care about your  business as much as you do?  And if not, why not
3. What are you trying to change and who are you changing it for. Often, I speak with operators who love the idea we suggested, but freely admit that it may be difficult to control.  If control is your mission and not trying to offer more valuable products to your customers and prospects, then why don't you have a job as an auditor somewhere else where you can check and control other people's work as opposed to doing the hard work necessary to be the best?
4. Can you visualize what that change would be, really see it in your mind's eye and be able to translate your vision to your staff so they can see what the goal is supposed to be?
5. If you stopped delivering your product, would anybody miss it or would they just pick up and go somewhere else?  I'm really asking: Is your product and service combination remarkable, unmistakably different and would it be missed terribly by the people who already patronize your business?

Please answer these questions, if you can, and if you cannot then it certainly is a symptom of other issues; issues that you may not recognize right now, but issues that, over time. will most likely impact your business. 

As Larry, the Cable Guy, says: "Get 'Er Done."

What You May Be Hiding.

Your prospects are hiding in plain sight from you. Even your customers are hiding from you. Know why? Maybe it is because you have not fully committed yourself to the gathering, managing, marketing, and re marketing to people who like your product.

Instead, you are sending out Facebook posts and email posts as if you expected everyone to buy your "sale" item.

Ever wonder how many people open your digital communications? Ever wonder how many people click over to your landing page (What's a landing page, you may ask?. we'll answer that in a minute)

The reality is, if I can be so bold this brisk  morning, you may be subconsciously hiding from taking responsibility for the necessary marketing changes you must make because:  you don't get it; there's nobody to do it and you need reassurance on how to do it.  All viable answers...but not rationale.

You built a business, sweated you're "you know what off" and now you could be avoiding things that you don't have to fear anymore

So don’t avoid it.

Come out of hiding to find those customers and prospects

And  look in the hiding places. There right there in plain sight.

p.s. A landing page is a page that the customer lands on after he clicks a link in your email that specifically relates to the topic you are discussing. It doesn’t just take him/her to your website; it takes them to the specific topic

Every Story Can Tell And Sell

A reader writes about mt last blog pertaining to telling a story. Here's what he had to say: 

"Wow Fred. Like you suggested, I put out a Facebook post today telling a story for the first time.  I have always done what most people have done just post basically ads of specials and deals.  With the story type, I have twice as many shares and likes as usual."

Thanks, 
Nick, Cedar Lanes, Weed, CA

It's not unusual. People respond to stories because they are hard-wired for it. Every great movie or play has three acts. In fact, the very first stories our parents told us were nursery rhymes that started with "once upon a time," which set the stage for the story, introduced the main characters and began to establish the "tensions", which was the basis for the story. 

In Act II, the tension built and one or all of the main characters was in danger or was feeling very conflicted or hatched a plot to take advantage of another character. (The twists on this basic theme are almost infinite. Just pick up any compendium of short stories and see for yourself.)

In Act III, the hero came to the rescue or a situation was created where the characters in danger were rescued.

Now, can you tell a story about bowling like that?  Simply paint a picture of your product about what they are feeling and then translate it into words.

How about this short nursery rhyme you could send your target audience; adding a lot more specifics, of course :-)

Once upon a time, there was a family named Jones.  Ms. Jones was a single Mom and her two children, Jimmy and Jenny were 8years old and 6 years old respectively.  Both went to the same elementary school, and having to drop off both children at the same school was so very convenient for her, which made MS Jones life a bit easier. After all, her position as an Advertising Executive at BIG CITY Digital Marketing Inc. was stressful enough. 

One day Jimmy and Jenny came home from school and told Ms. Jones that they were going to be off tomorrow and that school was closed for a "Teacher Review Day."  Looking at her schedule, Ms. Jones saw that she had a very light work day calendar and decided that she would take the day off and spend some time with her children; something she did way too rarely.

She began to think of her options. "We could go to the mall", she thought, "but the kids would get bored too soon".  "How about a movie?" she said out loud. "No", she said, "we wouldn't be able to talk at all and I want to spend time with them and talk, not just stare at a movie. They do too much of that already," she said to herself.

Just then Jenny came in and said, "I know Mom, let's go bowling. My friend, Sarah, and her folks are going to the bowling center in Middleville. Let's meet them there."  Ms. Jones, wide-eyed, said, "Bowling?  I haven't been bowling in years and the last time I went, well..." as her voice trailed off.

"No Mom", said Jenny, "this place is cool. Come on, let's go."

So off went the Jones' family to meet Sarah's family at Middleville Bowling Center and boy was Ms, Jones surprised when she opened the front door of the bowling center.  Bright new carpet, lighting, welcoming hosts - who even helped her figure out the automatic scorers - clean restrooms, bowling balls that fit and food that was just oh so tasty.  She didn't expect this at all!!! Even the music was crisp and clear and age appropriate.  Best of all, she watched as her kids and their friends just laughed and laughed and had a wonderful time.

The best news was that when it came time to pay, it was a whole lot less than she expected and as she walked out the door with each kid in hand, she said to herself, "now that was a great value. I am going to do that again with them.  Maybe even have Jimmy's next birthday party there."  

"Totally great time, eh kids?", she said to her two children, who just smiled, squeezed her hand in agreement and gave her big hugs.

It was a great day and, and that night as Ms. Jones lay her head on the pillow to go to sleep, she said, "Thank you Middleville Bowl.  It was a great time with my kids. I almost forgot how much fun bowling could be."

Now if you wrote a story like this, albeit in a much-shortened version, don't you think your readers would relate to it more, especially if you sent this email to all the women in your database between 25 and 44.

Give it a try and tell a story that sells - without selling - and don't forget to add a coupon at the end as well to spur their interest to take action.

The End.

Ten "Evolutions" for 2016

This is my last post for the year 2015 and my first post of 2016. As many of you know, I started this blog in 2009 and have written well over 500 blogs. Some 1200 subscribers now read it. And I am so grateful for it.

However; the past several months have found me fighting a battle with a chronic back injury which has taken my game down a notch or two and found me spending less time writing and more time "writhing."  I think I am back now. Some new treatments have been working wonders and I am getting ready to resume my running. (I have permission providing it is on dirt and I don't try to break the 4-minute mile)!  

For me, 2016 will be about blogging more on topics that I hope you will find relevant, but will also resonate with you to take action that will help your business to improve lineage, revenue and profits. I'll be blogging about marketing, management, customer service, and of course, a lot more emphasis on E-Marketing processes and tactics. So stay tuned.

Today, I want to write to you about  the New Year and the resolutions we make. Only I am calling this "Ten 2016 New Year's Evolutions" for you to consider.
In no particular order, here they are:

1. Fight mediocrity every day. Regularly refuse to compromise on your values, even when compromise might be the easier way out. Infuse this "beat mediocrity" value into every employee.
2. You don't need another big idea or magic bullet to make your business grow. You have all the big ideas you need. You just need to execute better, be more specific about your tactics, test different approaches and, of course, have patience. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day.
3. Don't take a program failure as a personal affront.  Go back and examine what you did. What did you do right? What do you think went wrong? What did you learn from it? The last point here is the most important one you can discover.
4. Don't race to the bottom with low pricing strategies. Differentiate yourself via e-marketing, using testimonials, and more importantly, invite reviews from your customers, companies, and fund-raising organizations with whom you have done business. Reviews are even more important than testimonials.
5. Remember, most people are visually attentive, more than aurally attentive. Use YouTube videos in your emails as frequently as you can.  Real people giving real world reviews are more effective than "words."
6. Don't keep using emails and Facebook posts to "sell, sell and sell."  Use social media to be social. Tell stories about funny, memorable and interesting things that happened at the center...and then offer a coupon that relates to the story
7. Stop complaining that you have "no help" or no one to do what you can do. If that is the real case, then go hire someone to be a good number two.   It will always turn out that doing a good job with good employees that share your passion is the single best way to get a chance to do an even better job with more, next time.
8. The one thing you may be afraid of probably won't happen if you always take the long view. You know as well as I do that the industry is changing. It isn't modernization you need, it's "reimagining" your center to appeal to more types of open play and entertainment type of customers. Start examining your options from boutique lanes to arcades/redemption games to laser tags to better birthday parties for under served segments like teens and adults...not just kids.
9. Get more involved in your community; more involved in fund-raising that affects the community's goals. Stay involved with the Chamber of Commerce, attend the meetings, take a leadership role and make sure that your center gets the credit it deserves. Do it because you want to, because you have a passion for the cause, not just for the money.
10. What is a brand? Its something that someone looks for because it means something. It has value and makes the purchaser feel better about buying the branded product rather than a "generic product."  Most proprietors think their center is the same as the guy's center down the street. Perhaps it is and that's why the only differentiation you have been doing is to fight the "genericazation" is with price cuts.  That's the way it has always been done and I suppose will continue.  But this year what can you think of that sets your center apart? This past year, we eliminated shoe rental at one proprietor, recreated his pricing structure, built in the price of shoe rentals into his new pricing and for the last three months, his sales have increased by double digit percentages over the past year. His position is, " Never pay for shoe rentals again." Now you may not like that idea, and that's OK, but what else can you think of? Remember, branding is the new marketing. Discover what your center stands for and communicate it.

And finally, here's wishing you and your family a most happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

You're So Good, You're Boring

Before getting started on this blog, I wanted to post a few responses from several of my readers to my “Offense vs. Defense” blog of last week.  Thought you would be interested in their comments, amongst a dozen others or so.

“Fred, I think this was one of your most educational and articulate posts yet.  However, I think you left out one management failing that is a combination of the two.  There are many managers who talk about offense and solicit new ideas but never make a decision until they have "more information". 

Or, they try a new idea but give it up after a short period of time before it has a chance to be measurable because "it didn't work".  In this way, they never have to face the changes in the industry or in the market.

One of the challenges facing the bowling industry is the lack of management training.  I would encourage additional future posts that make people think through some of their basic assumptions in their management style.  Good work.”                                                           Sincerely, Ken Paton

“Fred, OUTSTANDING BLOG!!
This one should be framed! The bowling business is a great one!  When we have some group events and corporate parties, we hear the same thing "I forgot how much fun bowling is". You are correct--we need offensive players to create and execute ideas on how to drive traffic!  As we used to say at Brunswick..." most everyone loves to bowl---our job is to keep it Top of Mind." Nice work, Fred.”
                                                                     Regards, Tom Funk

“Fred, GREAT POST AS ALWAYS!

I am so tired of the negative Nancy. While everyone has challenges complaining about them won't change things. We need to take action.

They say league bowling is dead. Our 32-week leagues are up 11% this year. They say even is the new up when it comes to open play. We are up 42% for September and October. They say the chains are killing the snack bar and restaurants inside bowling alleys. We are up 26% for September and October.

 Yes, all my employees know about it, celebrated it at our last employee meeting and take pride in it because I let them know they are the main reason for things going so well. Your best investment will always be training. Attend webinars and seminars, take BPAA on-line courses, join Focus on Results, and read blogs like this one...then pass what you learned down to them.   Only mushrooms grow in the dark. Keep your staff informed”.
                                                                        Thanks, Fred, Lew Simms

Here’s The Real Blog for Today

You’re So Good, You’re Boring

I’ve been in your center. It's sparkling clean, systemized, procedurized, customer servicized and predictable as the sun rising in the East and setting in the West.

In fact, you’re so good, so predictable that after going to your center 3 or 4 times, I think I’ll try something different. 

Want to know why?

Because your center is utterly boring. Nothing surprises me. Nothing excites me anymore.  Your people all have the same smiles, the same predictably canned answers and the oh so familiar, “Thanks for coming –hope to see you soon answers.”

When are you going to get back to being unpredictable? Because the people who set the trends, the people who care are those that live on the edges are drawn to the idiosyncratic nature of a place or product; to its unpredictability, to what can be customized or tweaked…sometimes even the things that might not even work 100%

Anybody remember why you bowled in the Petersen?