Results-oriented advertising and marketing involve a lot more than just telling prospective customers that you're open for business and that you're selling a product or service that they might want. (So does everyone else and their brother!) Only in the movies can you say, "If you build it, they will come". In developing an advertising campaign or simply writing a persuasive sales letter or brochure, you have to continually ask yourself the question, "How can I make my business stand out among the competition, gain people's confidence, raise awareness, get publicity, and project a consistent image of quality, experience, and the ability to deliver results, solve problems, and deliver exceptional customer service?" (Related marketing idea: One effective way of reinforcing brand awareness and getting your company name out there is with Logo Products.)

The next most important question to ask yourself is how can you get them to take action: call, inquire, write out a check, sign a contract, visit your Web site or place of business, and recommend you to others? Therein lies the marketing challenge! The article on this page, along with the instant sales letter templates we prominently feature, plus the other components of Marketing Survival Kit will help provide you with the vital tools you need to live up to and master that marketing challenge!

Persuasion 101

Once you know what your strong selling points are, incorporate them into a first draft of an advertisement, marketing letter, or brochure. Emphasize the benefits your prospects will receive when they take advantage of your offer. Remember that the main question on their minds will always be: "What's in it for me?" One of the secrets of effective advertising, sales, and marketing is to focus primarily on how your product or service will improve your customer's lives and provide them with benefits they can see, hear, touch, smell, taste, count, and feel, emotionally. If you can help people solve a problem, save money, feel more secure, or get ahead in life, then you're in a strong position to convert them into loyal customers.

The Psychology of
Sales, Marketing, and Advertising

Never lose sight of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of compelling human needs. Apply these principles to your advertisements, sales letters, and marketing literature, and you'll immediately boost your powers of persuasion and your potential response rate. The five strongest motivators, according to the noted psychologist, are the need for:

• Survival
• Security
• A sense of belonging
• Prestige
• Self-fulfillment

The primary attention-grabbing words that can help get your marketing message across effectively and inspire action include (but are not limited to): new, improved, love, money, discover, results, you, free, and guaranteed. The following table contains a list of other marketing words that have been proven to generate inquiries, appointments, sales, and other types of advertising responses. It's by no means exhaustive, but if you are looking for a more comprehensive list of power selling words, then click here!

Other marketing tools and resources: Check out these easy-to-use, cost-effective, professional-looking real estate flyers