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The Third Best Marketing Tool
an article By John Martin
© Copyright 2002 by John Martin
What one thing can you do that will cost you just pennies and
will have prospective customers calling and asking you to talk to them?
It's an idea used by so many businesses in so many different and creative ways that most of the time prospects don't realize they're being brought into the first steps of the sales process.
It's the third best marketing tool for most businesses. It's really simple. It's very low cost. And it's extremely powerful.
It's the special report --- a sheet of paper, a booklet or little book, or any other written document that delivers useful information to your prospective customers with "absolutely no obligation," "no strings attached" and for a very low cost. Here are just a few examples of special reports that people just like you can use to promote their businesses:
- A travel agent offers a little book called "Ten Tips from the Experts about Traveling in Europe."
- A certified public accountant offers a paperback book called "How the Changes in the Income Tax Law Affect Business Owners."
- An Internet service provider offers a four-color wall poster called "The Young Person's Guide to the Internet."
- A business development consultant offers a web page called "Special Report: The Third Best Marketing Tool."
You get the idea.
Free!! Free!! Free!!
The word "free" is widely recognized as the most powerful word in marketing and the free special report is one of the easiest and quickest ways to attract an audience and promote your business at the same time.
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We all have the same overpowering compulsion --- We like free stuff!
People are always grateful for free information, so when they request a copy of your special report, it's a real "win-win" proposition. Prospects call for the information and you send it as a means of promoting your business. If they're not ready to buy, they'll say "thanks but no thanks" and you'll both move on. But when they are ready to buy, then you're right there ready to sell.
What's So Special?
Special reports can used by almost every business, but what makes a special report so special? What should be in a special report?
For maximum impact, every special report should contain these five "I" elements:
| "I" |
Your special report has to be packed with information. If you're giving away information your target market really wants, people will bend over backwards to find you so they can hear what you have to say.
Everyone wants to be completely informed before they buy, so you're fulfilling a basic need.
My years of experience tell me that if you satisfy your prospect's need for information about something you do or something you sell, they'll usually buy what you're selling.
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Use your report to show your own informed insights on your industry or marketplace. I really believe that and --- since you're reading my report right now --- you know I do!
Giving away free information is what special reports are all about, so give enough information to pique your reader's interest. (But not too much information, so your readers will call you and become your customers.)
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| "I" |
Your report should be irresistible. The easiest way to make your report irresistible is hype --- not falsehood or fakery, just good old, traditional marketing hype.
Punch up the title of your report to make it sound as impressive as it is. I recommend titles like "What Attorneys Don't Want You To Know" not "Why You Should Buy My Living Trust Plan." Or "Ten Ways To Beat the IRS" not "I Prepare Tax Returns. Please Call Me."
Your report should inspire people to get it and read it. Just mentioning the title of your report should intrigue everyone to find out more.
Having attracted the attention you wanted, follow through with a report filled with impact and intense passion. My years of experience have shown me that when you convince readers that you know everything about the subject --- and that you infinitely and immeasurably believe in what you say --- you're incredibly far along the way to a successful sale.
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| "I" |
Your report must be invaluable. It must supply information about your industry or marketplace so specific that -- even when it's free for the asking -- it will be seen to be truly a valuable thing.
Unlike sales letters or corporate brochures, your special report is likely to be saved in a bookcase or file cabinet and read again and again. Better yet, your special report will be passed around from one person to another or copies made and routed around the office. It's unlikely any other marketing tool you use will receive the same treatment.
The more invaluable your report is, the more impact it will have.
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| "I" |
Your report should demand immediate attention and immediate action. I've told you to use an irresistible title, but that's only part of demanding immediate attention. Your special report has to be about something of immediate importance to your prospects. Something that, when people hear you've written a report about it, they will immediately call and ask you for a copy.
Use a call to action like
"Call us today and we'll improve your efficiency within a few hours."
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If your company sells to busy executives, then a report explaining how your services will let them "Get Ten Hours of Work Done In Only Two Hours" will grab their immediate attention. Next, in the text of the report, you must also ask for immediate action.
Your request for immediate action motivates the prospect to respond and creates an opportunity for you to make a sale. The special report, like a good sales letter, shows your product or service as the best solution to the prospect's needs, and then asks only that you be allowed to help.
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| "I" |
The last "I" is "I". (The pronoun "I" like "you" and "I".) Your report must talk about you and your business. (If not "I", then at least "We".) The part about you should come across loud and clear -- You are the one with the information. You are the expert. You are the one who is telling your story from your point of view.
When the pronoun "I" is sprinkled through the text, the reader identifies the information being presented with the individual behind the message. And that's exactly what you want your special reports to do.
Follow my example: I've written this special report with references to my experiences, my clients and my company -- you should too.
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Why Be Special?
Special reports are great tools for finding new business because they may be used in so many different ways. When you write a sales letter, all you can do is mail it and wait for results. When you create a corporate brochure, you still have to find prospects to give it to. When you run an advertisement in a newspaper, it just sits there until your prospects find it. But write a special report and you've started a whole marketing program!!
Here are "8 reasons" to create and use a special report:
| "8" |
8 cents or less.
An "upgraded version" of your special report, written and designed by specialists, is also cost-effective when compared to expensive corporate brochures or media advertising. Plus, by spending a little more on the production of your report, you'll have a high-quality piece that you're proud of and that you'll be excited to use.
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A special report can cost you almost nothing to prepare and reproduce. If you have a word processor and a laser printer, you have everything you need. You can write the report, print it on a standard sheet of paper and send it to your prospects and clients. Kinko's and most copy shops around town will make two-sided copies for 8 cents or less.
Maybe you can't write and maybe you can't run a word processor and maybe 8 cents doesn't include the price of the stamp or envelope, but you get the point: for 8 cents or 8 dollars, special reports are good performers at affordable prices.
You can tell I'm a great believer in special reports -- I wrote a special report about it!
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| "R" |
A special report motivates your prospects to respond. Print this on the back of your business card:
"I have a special report about the new changes in the income tax. Call me and I'll send you a copy."
Then sit back and watch the results. Or run an ad in your local business journal saying the same thing.
Either way, people will call you for the report and give you an opportunity to make a sale. That's a lot better than cold calling or advertising without a way to measure response.
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| "E" |
Your special report makes you an expert. Clients and prospects know you're knowledgeable about the subject because you've written about it. You must be an expert because you know something that's important enough to write about.
"I've written this report about the new automobile emissions testing program in Houston. I've written down everything local car owners really need to know."
People read your report and come to you because you've researched the subject and proven yourself an expert.
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| "A" |
Running ads without a way to measure response is often disappointing. A free offer is one of the strongest "calls to action" you can place in an ad, so you'll be able to see and measure the results of your ad right away.
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You can advertise your special report. Since the report describes an important part of your own business, advertising the report can be more effective than directly advertising your business.
People see your ad about "15 Ways to Avoid Getting Ripped-Off When You Buy A New Roof" and they call or clip a coupon to find out more. Since they've responded to your offer, you know they're interested in a new roof and you're ready to make the sale.
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| "S" |
You can sell it.
"Send us three dollars and we'll tell about the twenty different software packages that can protect you and your children from pornography on the Internet."
Sending the special report at a small cost makes the information seem even more valuable to your prospective customer.
The small fee helps pay for some of your marketing expense, plus it helps to limit response to truly qualified prospects. If someone is willing to spend three dollars to find out about the products and services you offer, they're already half-sold. Of course, you can refund the fee as a credit toward the purchase of your product. That way the fee not only saves you money and pre-qualifies the account, but it also becomes an incentive for your prospect to buy from you.
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| "O" |
A few years back, I wrote a special report called "How To Press Release" that was mentioned in Joe Vitale's Marketing Matters column in the now-defunct DBA Houston magazine. I got so many calls I had to reprint the report. Twice!
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Your special report will open media doors for you. When you offer a special report as a public service, you can usually get the news media to help you publicize it. If you write news releases and send them to newspapers and TV stations, your report may be used in a news story.
"Property values are up, or so says a report by Houston-based Watkins Real Estate Systems. Call 713-555-1212 and ask a free copy."
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| "N" |
You can use your special report when you network. When you're at the local Chamber of Commerce meeting with dozens of potential clients, leave copies of your special report on the tables and hand one to everyone you can. The special report has your name and address just as your business card does, plus a whole lot more. But your special report delivers more of your story with much more impact.
"Here's a copy of a report I wrote on using newsletters to promote your business. Call me if I can help."
Plus, people throw away business cards almost as fast as they get them -- but not so with special reports. They'll hold on to your report and even show it to their friends and associates.
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And here's the last of my 8 R. E. A. S. O. N. S.
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| "S" |
I give a speech almost every week.
I find that the special reports I write make absolutely great presentations. And when I have to give a speech about something for which I haven't written a report, I write a new speech and then turn it into a special report.
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You can give a speech about it. Networking groups, business associations and other professional groups are always looking for speakers. The information in your special report can be easily presented as a speech or seminar to groups of prospective clients.
When someone asks you to say a few words about your business, you can use one quick idea from the report and finish up by saying:
"Anyone who wants to know more about how a living trust can save you thousands of dollars, see me for a copy of my special report 'What Attorneys Don't Want You to Know.'"
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I write, design, print and promote special reports.
I can help you get your point across clearly and effectively. I can add a professional look to your finished piece. I work with several printing plants that can produce your special report at a competitive price. Plus, I can help your report get the media attention it deserves.
Looking for a special way to promote your business?
Call me today at 281-558-9900 or send me email at andmore@alief.com and I'll create a special report just for you!
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