5 Ways to Promote your Professional Service Business


by Cathy Goodwin - Date: 2006-12-25 - Word Count: 470 Share This!

Monica, a very competent businesswoman, was describing her new website. "The headline will be my slogan," she said confidently. "You know: the part that goes, 'More impact when you speak, every time.'"

But a slogan and a headline fill different purposes.

Naturally I've disguised the details but Monica's not unusual. You've got at least 5 ways to brag - all different.

(1) Slogan or Tag Line.

Your slogan usually appears near your logo on your website, on your business card and (often) in your elevator speech.

Your slogan should reflect the benefits you offer your clients, not your own uniqueness. I once saw a slogan on a truck, "We know everything about lumber." My response: "So…why should I care?"

Better: "We use wood to make your home look beautiful."

I've used "Promotion with professionalism" and, "If your website isn't making money while you sleep, we need to talk." My current career slogan: "From career breakdown to career breakthrough."

(2) Resource box statement.

When you send out articles to promote your business, you need a short signature block - 5 to 7 lines - to conclude your article. You'll need a brief sentence summarizing your uniqueness, such as: "Mary Jones helps high-earning professionals lose their credit card debt and gain financial security in six months or less."

Some professionals opt for a simpler version: "Bob Smith helped over 200 authors publicize their books to increase sales" or even, "Jane Doe has been helping corporate executives manage their careers since 1992."

I recommend a sentence rather than a phrase because resource boxes get chopped when your article gets published.

(3) Irresistible freebie.

To motivate website visitors to sign up for your ezine, ecourse or podcast, you need a gift they can't wait to download. Go for broke with this one: if it feels over the top to you, it's probably just right for your readers.

Typical titles refer to a number of critical or essential tips. "Secrets" sounds corny but it still works. I've had considerable success with "7 best-kept secrets of client attracting copy." Others might be "How to avoid the 5 deadly mistakes made by career changers."

Tip: I encourage my copy clients to begin a website copywriting project with the freebie. It's a good way to get in touch with your clients' pain.

(4) Headline.

Your home page needs a killer headline that motivates readers to keep reading. We could spend a whole article on this topic - in fact, whole books have been written about headlines.

(5) Elevator speech.

Designing an elevator speech resembles creating copy for your website: you focus on the target and demonstrate your benefits.

I don't recommend trying to economize on promotion by using the same concept for all 5 bragging opportunities, although you'll find this formula applied successfully to packaged goods marketing. For professional services, each bragging opportunity calls for a new piece of copy, targeted to opportunity.


Related Tags: internet marketing, website, strategy, entrepreneurship, copy, solutions, client attraction

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., helps service professionals who want to sell themselves without sounding sales-y. See http://www.makewritingpay.com Download the 7 best-kept secrets of client-attracting copy when you subscribe to the weekly Copy-Cat Ezine: http://www.makewritingpay.com/subscribe.html

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