Start The New Year By Turning Holiday Contacts Into ContractsWritten by Leni Chauvin
The relatives are gone. You've eaten last of turkey. The sales are over, and you never want to see anything with sugar in it again for as long as you live! Welcome to January, a new year, a new beginning, a time to move forward. Yet it is also a time to reflect upon festivities of December and ask yourself a very important question: "How'd I do?" No, no. I'm not asking if you got last robotic dog in store or new skis you were hoping for, but how did you do with all business opportunities that were staring you in face throughout holiday season? Were you prepared for them? Did you recognize them? Will you follow up on them?"Business opportunities? What business opportunities?" you're probably thinking. "I just hung out with family and friends this year. There was no business to be had at Cousin Fred's." Wrong. The holidays are so hectic--places to go, people to see, things to do--that we sometimes overlook obvious. If you were caught up in whirlwind of December activities and failed to see potential of brief encounters you undoubtedly had, don't despair. There's still plenty of time to start turning those holiday contacts into contracts! Start moving your business forward in new year by moving your thoughts backwards. Think about every interaction you had over holidays. Then with pen and paper in hand, ask yourself these important questions and write answers down: --Who did I talk to? --Where were we? --What did we talk about? --What did I learn? --How can I help them? --Who might benefit from either an introduction to people I spoke with, or from my sharing my newfound knowledge with them? Yes, that's right. Start new year by thinking of other people, showing them that not only are you interested in them and their successes, but that you are prepared to help them create those successes. Shift your thinking from, "What's in it for me?" to, "How can I help you?" Before you know it, others will find their way into your rooting section, cheering you on, and helping you become more successful any way they can. You see, it's a simple rule of human nature: help enough other people get what they want and when you need help, it will be there for you.
| | Why Should I Buy Your Book? How to Turn 'Lookie Loos' into "Take-out-the-Credit Card-Buyers"Written by Judy Cullins
Why Should I Buy Your Book? How to Turn 'Lookie Loos' into "Take-out-the-Credit Card-Buyers" Judy Cullins © 2001You say your book has lists, how-tos, easy-to-read recipes? 124 pages? Do these features give your potential buyer enough of a reason to buy your book? Probably not, unless they are your best friends. Instead, let your reader see and hear reasons to buy by placing "selling" words (benefits) with your features. You need to answer your buyer's questions about how your book will make them richer, healthier, and make their life easier. You need to memorize these benefits and have them ready to spout when someone asks you what your book is about. Leave plot or story out. When you verbalize them, just stick to thirty second "tell and sell." Or, when you write, sprinkle those benefits around on your front and back cover, in your introduction, and in your table of contents. Potential buyers read these essential "Hot Selling Points" first, before they open book to skim chapters. Benefits are words that will bring your buyer running. Why? Because benefits are end result of satisfactory use of your product. For instance, one client's new book, Not on My Table: Protecting Your Children from Poisons in Our Food, wrote: Includes: "quick- scan shopping lists." Turning these features into reasons to buy, I suggested adding a benefit: "stop confusion with "quick-scan, time-saving shopping list." Your audience wants results--challenges and problems solved. They want to feel good inside, savvy, and that they are doing right thing by buying your book. Put a little emotion in those benefits. So, keep your features, but preface them with benefits. Your buyer must be persuaded by your words and know your book will satisfy their emotional wants and practical needs. Give your readers a reason to buy.
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