It was a book written by a web 2.0 search engine fan and he was saying there was going to be a death of advertising and everything would be done via search engines, social media, etc. going forward.

Now that’s partly true.

Things have shifted.

Twenty years ago the media was dominated by television and newspapers.

And that was the only way to get your name out there on a mass level.

And that’s certainly all changed.

But I was thinking the other day about some of my larger clients.

There’s an 80 / 20 rule in business that… 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients.

Now I haven’t crunched my numbers enough to know if this is absolutely true in my case, but here’s what I’ve noticed about four of my top clients which generate a large percentage of my business.

One was generated by a referral.

And three were generated by picking up the phone or sending these guys letters / emails directly to get them on board.

And NOT because they suddenly fell across me online via search engines, blogs, social media, etc.

The message: Don’t fall for all the hype.

If you know who your target market is then go after them.

Don’t just rely on search.

Because with search you cannot control who you attract.

Sure, you can control via keyword.

But you cannot say I want a business who is turning over a minimum of a million dollars a year in the manufacturing industry for instance.

You can with direct mail.

Of course, you need to use the strategies you’ll find in www.copywritingthatsells.com.au/cashflow to make sure you do it right and hit the nail on the head.

But once again, as with my last email you need to zig when they zag and not just follow along blindly according to what everyone else is saying and doing.

Also published here.

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Scott Bywater is an advertising copywriting expert and the author of Cash-Flow Advertising. To gain access to all of his copywriting tips on how to get more customers via his eye opening “Copywriting Selling Secrets” newsletter, simply head on over to his web site at www.copywritingthatsells.com.au/

Read more articles written by Scott Bywater

Don’t send a letter, pop it on an email.

Don’t mail the customer anything, pop it in an email.

In fact, let’s forget about letters altogether and do everything electronically.

I’m as guilty of this as the next person.

But recently I received a thank you card and it made me think a little differently.

You see, I receive (and appreciate) a bundle of emails every week thanking me for the emails I send out.

And nothing makes me feel better than knowing that as I write these emails from my lonely office, someone is reading them and hopefully applying them.

However a couple of weeks ago I received something in the mail which really stood out.

It was a thank you card from a guy called Greg Kumanovski from Global Pictures. All it said was…

“Thank you for your regular emails with all the helpful ideas. Have a great day”

But I’ve had that card sitting on my filing cabinet ever since he sent it to me.

And I think there’s a lesson here for all of us.

Whether it’s thank you cards or anything else, consider sending the hard copy version over the soft copy version.

In other words: when everyone else is zigging, why not zag and stand out from the crowd.

After all, mail order should be far more effective these days because nobody else is doing it.

For instance, yesterday I was chatting with a guy who sent out his proposals via email.

He was getting a lot of proposals requests coming in every week and would pretty much churn back a standard response with a quotation.

I suggested he set up a system where he could send them out via mail instead.

We worked out that all he would need to pay for the cost of the mail is a 1% increase in response.

My bet is that he would get it.

Especially when all of his competitors are probably doing everything via email as well.

So take a moment now to think of how you can do things differently… and use alternative strategies to stand out from your competition.

Editor’s Note: Article published here.

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Scott Bywater is a direct response copywriter with extensive experience in B2B and B2C writing. Mr Bywater is the author of Cash-Flow Advertising and More Customers Made Easy. You can gain access to his copywriting and marketing tips via his entertaining and eye opening “Copywriting Selling Secrets” newsletter available at www.copywritingthatsells.com.au/

Read more articles written by Scott Bywater