I had privilege of interviewing Diane Garrod of TalkCity.com. Talk about a marketing pro! Her online specialty is marketing - helping for profit and nonprofit clients to acquire, retain and upgrade customers and/or donors. Diane has worked with many high profile clients such as Mattel, Lipton, Costco, Novell, Kemper Funds, Columbia Studios, Toyota, and NBC. Read carefully as Diane takes us into a new level of marketing success!

KARON: Hi Diane. I’m really looking forward to talking with you today. I’m sure there is a ton of information locked up in your brain that Business Essentials subscribers will benefit from :)

DIANE: Oh, Karon… it’s my pleasure! Fire away.

KARON: All right. Getting right to point, everybody is talking about article promotion, ezines, email advertising, permission marketing and so on. What's next step? Where do we go from here? DIANE: Time changes things. One thing that hasn't changed is that "content" is still king. Article promotion and electronic newsletters are still great venues of publicity online, and customer retention technique and "permission marketing" will always be necessary.

KARON: So where does that leave us?

DIANE: The next steps are that search engine optimization has vastly changed, old rules of yesterday are no longer rules, and there are more advanced techniques of customer acquisition. In many ways we are back to old basics of business with a new twist. The exciting ever-changing electronic arena allows small business to compete with big businesses.

KARON: Right. So far, I’m with you. But something else has changed, Diane. What is it?

DIANE: Today market intelligence is key. For instance, knowing latest techniques, keeping up with what works and what doesn't, and testing continually just can't be ignored in today's online marketing battlefield. KARON: Can you expand a little bit for those that might not understand “marketing intelligence?”

You’ve seen them a hundred times. Those lists that copywriters use within their sales letters that tell you what product or service offers. They might say something like:

·THE most important (and most overlooked) aspect of copywriting ·The 4 personalities of your customer and how to get each to respond to your copy ·21 words that make your headline POP! ·The 7 steps for turning features into sales generating benefits ·How to add emotional triggers that increase desire to buy ·Why some testimonials can actually HURT your sales (I hope you aren't doing this!) ·The 9 secrets to turning ordinary "sales copy" into a powerful "solution" your customer has to have ·Why your USP could actually be killing your brand

But how do you create an effective list that draws customers in? What are keys to turning a list of nuts and bolts into a menu of enticing delights your customer has to have? Hold on tight, I’m about to tell you!

Take a look at list above. What do you notice? What things do listed items have in common?

1. An effective list must provide a benefit – not a feature, but a benefit. It answers question “What’s in it for me?”

2. An effective list must “tease” reader. Notice that one item above says “The 4 personalities of your customer and how to get each to respond to your copy.” That teases reader. It doesn’t tell them what 4 types are, but lets them know that product or service will tell them.