The first step in getting sales is getting in front of your ideal customers. There are two ways to do this: attract them to you or approach them directly. I covered this in my article, How to Get Noticed by Your Ideal Clients.

But once you have their attention, how do you keep it? And how do you get them interested in what you offer?

Sometimes your ideal client will already know they need what you offer. Other times you’ll need to show them they have a need.

Take cat food versus cat toys as an example.

People know they have to feed a cat – it’s a given. So if you sell cat food, you don’t have to convince your prospects they need cat food because they already know.

What you’ll need to do instead is convince them they need your cat food. What makes it better than your competitor’s food? Is it cheaper, higher quality, or more nutritious?

In comparison, cat toys are not essential, so you have to create the need. You have to show people they have a problem or a potential problem you can solve. You need to generate interest in the product itself, not just your version of it.

Show the benefits of the cat toys. Do they help cat owners bond with their pet? Will they stop the cat from scratching at furniture? Will they stimulate the cat and improve reflexes?

TLDR: If the need is clear, common or obvious, focus on the benefits of getting the product or service from you. If the need isn’t clear, common, or obvious, focus on the benefits of the product or service.

Too many people rush into a sales pitch before establishing the need. But if your ideal clients aren’t aware they have a problem, why would they be interested in the solution?

So don’t assume people know they have a problem or know what is causing the problem.

For example, compare these two pieces of copy:

Example one: My book will help you improve your marketing messages and understand how to appeal to your ideal clients.

Example two: Are you attracting undesirable clients? Clients who expect you to drop everything when they need your attention. Clients who always haggle you down on price. Clients who never pay on time. Clients who make you miserable. It doesn’t have to be that way…

In the first example, I’m expecting readers to know that they need to improve their marketing messages. But this might not be obvious to them. They might not realise they aren’t attracting the best clients they could be. Sometimes we are too close to a problem to see it as a problem.

And if they don’t know they have a problem, they won’t know they need to fix it, so my message won’t have any impact on them.

I need to show them they have a problem before I offer the solution, as I do in the second example, which focuses on specific challenges my ideal clients might be facing. And if they are experiencing those problems – if they can relate to those situations - they will be more interested in what I have to say next.

TLDR: Don’t rush into a sales pitch. Show your reader you understand their problem or need. Give them scenarios they can relate to.

Addressing a problem is a good way of generating interest, but you can also flip it around and talk about the “afters” of working with you. How will their life or business be better after they’ve invested in your product or service? What outcome could your ideal clients expect? What would be the benefit of removing a specific barrier or overcoming a specific challenge?

“It is possible to earn good money doing what you love for great clients”

“Attract and convert more of the clients you want and build a business that makes you happy”

“Imagine if you had an easy-to-follow marketing strategy that played to your strengths, got results, and didn’t feel like a chore.”

TLDR: Show readers how their life or business would be improved by investing in your product or service.

Are you familiar with the phrase ‘features tell, benefits sell’?

It centres on the idea that you should focus on talking about the benefits of what you offer, not just the features.

So, for example, if you wanted to sell a mattress, you wouldn’t focus on how many pocket springs it has. You would talk about how buyers would get a more comfortable and restful night’s sleep.

Adding the phrase "which means that" can help you differentiate between features and benefits: "Our chairs have extra padding (feature), which means that they provide extra comfort and reduce backache (benefit)"

You can then make the copy stronger by focusing on the benefit rather than the feature: "Work for longer without compromising on comfort or risking back pain"

TLDR: Think about how something will benefit your customers and how you can position it in a way that's going to appeal to them.

If you want people to be interested in what you have to say, don’t open your copy by talking about yourself. This is a mistake so many people make, especially in cold outreach.

Have you ever received an email or direct message along the lines of:

“Hello. My name is Lisa, and my company specialises in X. We have years of experience and have won many awards in our industry. I’d love to show you how we can help you do Y with Z.”

Boring isn’t it?

Instead of introducing yourself and talking about what you do, make it about the reader. Show them you understand them, have done your research, and give them a reason to keep reading.

Be interested to be interesting.

TLDR: Make your messages about your reader, not yourself.

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If you’re a small business owner, you do your own marketing, and you don’t have an email list, this book is for you.

It’s a short, concise guide that will show you why having an email list is so valuable, how you can build one without huge investments of time or money, and how to turn subscribers into paying clients.

Think you don’t have enough time to write regular emails?

Worried you’ll run out of ideas?

Not convinced people will be interested in what you have to say?

This book will give you practical and realistic advice to help you get started and maintain momentum.