08 Dec 09 3 Pillars of a Successful Business
Have you ever wondered what makes a business successful? You may come up with many answers to this question but when your answers are subjected to scrutiny, every answer will boil down to three things, in precisely this order.
- Investor
- Employee
- Customers
Investor
Investors are a group of people who invest their hard-earned money to get return from your business. They invest in your business because they trust you, and they see hope in your business. Till the time you are fulfilling their expectations, they will keep their money in your business. Hence, you need to keep them apprised of any development in your business. Keep on giving them good news, and your business will be in good shape.
Employee
Your employee is the second pillar of your business. It is your employees only that can make or break your business. Your business solely depends upon their performance to meet the investors’ expectations, and to deliver on the promises made to your customers. It is thus in your best interest that you keep your employee happy. A happy employee will satisfy the needs of many customers, and will present a favorable picture to investors, whereas, a disgruntled employee is a big deal breaker. They will piss everyone off, including you.
Customers
It is the customers for whom you have erected such a giant structure, raised money, and hired so many highly qualified employees. The end goal of your business is to serve this group of people, and all your energy should be channelized to do so. The moment you step away from your path, your business is doomed. Do not let your vision blurred by the shine and sparkles of advertisements and press coverage, you have not achieved anything if you have not served your customer right.
A parting thought
Which one of the three is more important? Well, this is tricky to answer as none of them is more important than rest of the two. You need to make a balance.
Form an equilateral triangle placing each one of them at each corner of the triangle, and you should sit right in the center, equidistant from each one of them.
Tags: Advertisements, Best Interest, Break, Business Serve, Business Trust, Deal Breaker, Disgruntled Employee, Equilateral Triangle, Giant Structure, Good Shape, Hard Earned Money, Invest, Investor Group, Investors Group, Path, Pillar, Pillars, Promises, Scrutiny, Successful Business
07 Nov 09 Get Maximum Value out of your Marketing Writing
The marketing writing is different from any other form of writing in the sense that the former kind of writing requires people to take some kind of action, while general writing just aim at informing and persuading people. Thus, you need to make your writing clear, concise, and emphatic. You need to entice your customers into reading your stuff to the end, and to achieve this goal, you need to follow the following guidelines.
Use emphatic headlines
The goal of a headline is not to sell the product, but to push the audience to read further by generating interest in them. When writing a marketing copy or copy for print ads then write headline in such a way that audience get curious after reading this and decide to read further.
Use descriptive sub-heading
The purpose of the subheading is to explain the promise made by the headline and push the reader to read the body copy.
Write focused body copy
This is where you need to sell your stuff. Your body copy should fulfill the promises made by the headline and the sub-heading. Use a conversational tone, do not preach your target audience. They hate it like anything. Each word of the body copy should lead you to the next word, and the next word to the next word, and so on. You can achieve this only by using measured words.
Tips for writing body copy
- Use short sentences.
- Write the body copy using active voice.
- Keep the writing jargon-free. No one likes to read technical details.
- Express the benefits not the features.
- One size doesn’t fit all, therefore, right body copy with the target audience in mind. The copy you will write for a doctor who is 26 years of age and an artist of the same age will be different. Keep this subtle difference in mind.
- Talk, do not preach.
- Tell the reader, how you can help him solve his problem.
- Use direct sentences.
Add Call to action
The marketing copy will fetch no result, if there is no call to action included at critical juncture in the marketing copy. A call to action tells the user what is expected of him. What action you want from him. This is very, very important.
Conclusion
Marketing copy writing is as much a science as it is an art. You cannot achieve anything meaningful by just making the writing flowery. Always remember, you are not writing a birthday card, its marketing stuff that you are writing.
Tags: Active Voice, Aim, Audience In Mind, Conversational Tone, Critical Juncture, Doctor Who, Headlines, Jargon, Marketing, Maximum Value, Persuading People, Print Ads, Promises, Sell Stuff, Sentences, Size Doesn, Subheading, Subtle Difference, Target Audience, Technical Details
03 Sep 09 Stand Out At A Meeting
Meetings are a fantastic opportunity to make yourself shine at your job. They serve as your chance to show your ability in front of people that might otherwise be unaware of your potential. Usually it’s only your direct boss that gets a real feel for what you can achieve. But at a meeting, most times you have a chance to make yourself known to the people higher up on the ladder. So clearly, thinking of a meeting that way, each one is a vital chance to make a name for yourself at your company. Here are a few tips to help you do just that:
1. Research, research, research. Make sure you know the in’s and out’s of every single detail of the meeting. Make yourself an expert, so that if you have visual aides during a presentation, you know all of them without having to look. Or if there are packets of statistics to be used during discussion, make sure you know the important stuff like the back of your hand. Knowledge is key to presenting yourself as a valuable, informed employee.
2. Participate in the meeting by offering useful information or helpful suggestions. Don’t try to take control of the meeting, as the idea is to get yourself noticed in a good way. Coming off as a control freak is not your aim at all. So just offer positive insight whenever the situation presents itself. But don’t try to force yourself into every open dialogue.
3. Show up a few minutes early to the meeting. This shows preparedness every time. Nothing makes you look worse to the big wigs than showing up to a meeting involving them late.
4. Follow up on anything that you promised during the meeting immediately. If you said you’d deliver a report after the meeting, make sure that it’s the first thing you do afterward. Nothing makes you look worse than when you promise something and don’t come through. Always keep your promises, especially when they were made in front of a room full of people.
Tags: Aim, Boss, Control, Control Freak, Few Minutes, Hand Knowledge, Insight, Job, Ladder, Open Dialogue, Opportunity, Preparedness, Presentation, Promises, Research Research Research, Statistics, Visual Aides, Wigs
