As promised, the next article in my series on business and Marketing in SL (or RL for that matter).  This is an article that I wrote a few years back, that I think many of you will find useful as you plan your marketing and advertising campaigns.

I remember reading one of those typical glossy Teen Magazines as a shy, 15 year old girl, and seeing an article about how to get a boy interested in you.  Of course, back then, finding a boyfriend and getting him to ask me to “go with” him was one of the MOST IMPORTANT things in my life.  Well, that, and finding the brightest, most blinding, neon pink, cut-off sweatshirt, clear jelly shoes, and enough Aqua Net hairspray to make my hair bigger, stiffer and higher than ever before, for our school’s monthly dance in the stinkiest gym you can imagine.  I was an 80’s chick, what can I say?  But I digress.

Anyway, the magazine gave a list of  “tips” to help a teenaged girl attract a teenaged boy and get him to ask her the all-important question, “Will you go with me?”  One of the tips that appeared on numerous lists back in the day, was for the girl to ask a lot of questions about the boy.  The girl should be interested in everything about the boy – what he liked and disliked, who his favorite sports team was, who his favorite musicians were, etc.  The article said that the girl should keep him talking about himself, because his favorite topic is himself, and she should not talk about herself at all.  If the girl really wanted the boy to be interested in her, she should appear to be very interested in everything about him – or at least feign interest in everything about him.  Hopefully the teen magazines of today aren’t instructing girls to forget about themselves and their interests just to get a boyfriend, but again I digress…

It got me thinking though, that marketing is a lot like getting that special boy to ask you to “go with” him.  It’s not all about you, it’s about him.  Your marketing message should be more about your prospects and less about you.  When your message is right and a prospect can feel you are really interested in helping their business in some way and you understand their needs, the end result will be that the prospect becomes a client – they will ask you to “go with” them.  (YES!  YES!  A thousand times YES!)  Those teen magazines sort of had it right after all, twenty years later.

Take a look at your marketing materials, your website and your classifieds.  Try to look at it from your ideal client or customer’s point of view.  Are you telling them what services you offer?  Are you telling them all about you and your business?  If you answered yes, you’ve been making a mistake that probably cost you some business.  You should be telling them how your services will benefit them and what you can do to make their business more successful and more profitable. Basically, what they will get by working with you.  Think of your ideal client or customer.  What issues are they dealing with in their business that you can make easier, better or more efficient?  What is it about what you offer that will give them an edge over their competition?  What value will they gain by choosing to work with you?  These questions should be front and center in your mind each and every time you create any type of marketing material.

I challenge you to take one of your marketing pieces (whether it’s an ad, a brochure, a flyer or a web page, it doesn’t matter) and rewrite it, keeping in mind that it’s not all about you.  Put yourself in your ideal client’s shoes and think about the things that would make you buy from your company, the things that would prompt you to take action, and incorporate them into your marketing piece.  When you are through, compare the two, and see which piece would prompt you to take action.

Just remember, to get a prospect to “go with” you, it’s not all about you!