what the ads should look like, so I kept getting those calls for the biggest part of a year, but I kept them focused on the fact that they were now getting over 50 new clients a day and "professionalism" is determined by who is buying, not the one or two that had no clue about what works in marketing that were pressuring for a change.

In January I got a call. "We've hired a major New York marketing firm to redo our marketing. I've sent you a copy for your approval." Of course, when I read it, it looked like we had returned to ground zero. I mean that literally, ZERO. Of course they weren't listening to the fact that they were returning to a concept that had gotten them zero before.

By the end of January I got a call, "How could you have let this happen...you are supposed to

Your Marketing Doesn't Look Very Professional - In the Eye of the Beholder

Do you frequently have someone tell you, "Your marketing doesn't look very professional," or "You ought to change ........ in your marketing" Or another one I hear very frequently is "I'd be embarrassed to say that." Or "I might have deliver if I say that."

Trying to Satisfy All Results in Satisfying Almost No One

Does it seem that, as you are trying to satisfy everyone that you can't arrive at something that works? You get pulled in too many directions.

How many people do you listen to before deciding on what works and what doesn't?

Focus More on THE BUYERS Than Those NOT BUYING

First, the most important thing in your marketing is what works, not what some one or two random people say.

Let's look at it this way, marketing that works might have 5-10%, or even more, people responding to it. That also means that 90-95% of the people that read it either just didn't respond for whatever reason including it just wasn't the right time, or out and out didn't like it.

At 5% response that marketing was working, yet 95% of the people that saw it might tell you to change this or change that if you asked them. In fact they did tell you something, they didn't respond.

Marketing That Works vs Marketing That Doesn't Work

Let's redefine what doesn't work and what does--marketing that doesn't work is getting no one, or very few people responding to it. So, when you get 5% responding, you should be jumping with glee, and then looking to see what IS working, and how you can move that up to 6%, to 7%, to 8%, to reach more people. To do that listen to those that ARE buying, not to the ones that AREN'T buying. Find out what is compelling those to buy that are buying and turn that up a bit. If you see an increase of even a few tenths of a percent aren't you going in the right direction?

Whose Opinion Counts Anyway?

A good example of what not to do is a customer that called me about two years ago. They are a pretty large company and asked me if I could help them get one, JUST one, new major account a month. The first month was mostly an argument. No matter what I suggested, they wanted their ads to look like what they had already been doing, and that hadn't been getting results. They were stuck on "this is the way to do it" even when it was delivering nothing.

So, once they allowed the ad campaign to move forward, about 30 days later they were getting not the one new major account they had asked for, but 15 a week. By 90 days they were getting about 50 new clients a day. That is so far above the one a month they had asked for!

However, soon thereafter, I started getting calls saying "We've been getting comments that our ads don't look professional." Then they would make a suggestion to change to something that looked exactly like the ads they had before that was delivering near zero results. Someone on their board of directors had a picture in his head of what the ads should look like, so I kept getting those calls for the biggest part of a year, but I kept them focused on the fact that they were now getting over 50 new clients a day and "professionalism" is determined by who is buying, not the one or two that had no clue about what works in marketing that were pressuring for a change.

In January I got a call. "We've hired a major New York marketing firm to redo our marketing. I've sent you a copy for your approval." Of course, when I read it, it looked like we had returned to ground zero. I mean that literally, ZERO. Of course they weren't listening to the fact that they were returning to a concept that had gotten them zero before.

By the end of January I got a call, "How could you have let this happen...you are supposed to b

t thing in your marketing is what works, not what some one or two random people say.

Let's look at it this way, marketing that works might have 5-10%, or even more, people responding to it. That also means that 90-95% of the people that read it either just didn't respond for whatever reason including it just wasn't the right time, or out and out didn't like it.

At 5% response that marketing was working, yet 95% of the people that saw it might tell you to change this or change that if you asked them. In fact they did tell you something, they didn't respond.

Marketing That Works vs Marketing That Doesn't Work

Let's redefine what doesn't work and what does--marketing that doesn't work is getting no one, or very few people responding to it. So, when you get 5% responding, you should be jumping with glee, and then looking to see what IS working, and how you can move that up to 6%, to 7%, to 8%, to reach more people. To do that listen to those that ARE buying, not to the ones that AREN'T buying. Find out what is compelling those to buy that are buying and turn that up a bit. If you see an increase of even a few tenths of a percent aren't you going in the right direction?

Whose Opinion Counts Anyway?

A good example of what not to do is a customer that called me about two years ago. They are a pretty large company and asked me if I could help them get one, JUST one, new major account a month. The first month was mostly an argument. No matter what I suggested, they wanted their ads to look like what they had already been doing, and that hadn't been getting results. They were stuck on "this is the way to do it" even when it was delivering nothing.

So, once they allowed the ad campaign to move forward, about 30 days later they were getting not the one new major account they had asked for, but 15 a week. By 90 days they were getting about 50 new clients a day. That is so far above the one a month they had asked for!

However, soon thereafter, I started getting calls saying "We've been getting comments that our ads don't look professional." Then they would make a suggestion to change to something that looked exactly like the ads they had before that was delivering near zero results. Someone on their board of directors had a picture in his head of what the ads should look like, so I kept getting those calls for the biggest part of a year, but I kept them focused on the fact that they were now getting over 50 new clients a day and "professionalism" is determined by who is buying, not the one or two that had no clue about what works in marketing that were pressuring for a change.

In January I got a call. "We've hired a major New York marketing firm to redo our marketing. I've sent you a copy for your approval." Of course, when I read it, it looked like we had returned to ground zero. I mean that literally, ZERO. Of course they weren't listening to the fact that they were returning to a concept that had gotten them zero before.

By the end of January I got a call, "How could you have let this happen...you are supposed to

g to it. So, when you get 5% responding, you should be jumping with glee, and then looking to see what IS working, and how you can move that up to 6%, to 7%, to 8%, to reach more people. To do that listen to those that ARE buying, not to the ones that AREN'T buying. Find out what is compelling those to buy that are buying and turn that up a bit. If you see an increase of even a few tenths of a percent aren't you going in the right direction?

Whose Opinion Counts Anyway?

A good example of what not to do is a customer that called me about two years ago. They are a pretty large company and asked me if I could help them get one, JUST one, new major account a month. The first month was mostly an argument. No matter what I suggested, they wanted their ads to look like what they had already been doing, and that hadn't been getting results. They were stuck on "this is the way to do it" even when it was delivering nothing.

So, once they allowed the ad campaign to move forward, about 30 days later they were getting not the one new major account they had asked for, but 15 a week. By 90 days they were getting about 50 new clients a day. That is so far above the one a month they had asked for!

However, soon thereafter, I started getting calls saying "We've been getting comments that our ads don't look professional." Then they would make a suggestion to change to something that looked exactly like the ads they had before that was delivering near zero results. Someone on their board of directors had a picture in his head of what the ads should look like, so I kept getting those calls for the biggest part of a year, but I kept them focused on the fact that they were now getting over 50 new clients a day and "professionalism" is determined by who is buying, not the one or two that had no clue about what works in marketing that were pressuring for a change.

In January I got a call. "We've hired a major New York marketing firm to redo our marketing. I've sent you a copy for your approval." Of course, when I read it, it looked like we had returned to ground zero. I mean that literally, ZERO. Of course they weren't listening to the fact that they were returning to a concept that had gotten them zero before.

By the end of January I got a call, "How could you have let this happen...you are supposed to

their ads to look like what they had already been doing, and that hadn't been getting results. They were stuck on "this is the way to do it" even when it was delivering nothing.

So, once they allowed the ad campaign to move forward, about 30 days later they were getting not the one new major account they had asked for, but 15 a week. By 90 days they were getting about 50 new clients a day. That is so far above the one a month they had asked for!

However, soon thereafter, I started getting calls saying "We've been getting comments that our ads don't look professional." Then they would make a suggestion to change to something that looked exactly like the ads they had before that was delivering near zero results. Someone on their board of directors had a picture in his head of what the ads should look like, so I kept getting those calls for the biggest part of a year, but I kept them focused on the fact that they were now getting over 50 new clients a day and "professionalism" is determined by who is buying, not the one or two that had no clue about what works in marketing that were pressuring for a change.

In January I got a call. "We've hired a major New York marketing firm to redo our marketing. I've sent you a copy for your approval." Of course, when I read it, it looked like we had returned to ground zero. I mean that literally, ZERO. Of course they weren't listening to the fact that they were returning to a concept that had gotten them zero before.

By the end of January I got a call, "How could you have let this happen...you are supposed to

what the ads should look like, so I kept getting those calls for the biggest part of a year, but I kept them focused on the fact that they were now getting over 50 new clients a day and "professionalism" is determined by who is buying, not the one or two that had no clue about what works in marketing that were pressuring for a change.

In January I got a call. "We've hired a major New York marketing firm to redo our marketing. I've sent you a copy for your approval." Of course, when I read it, it looked like we had returned to ground zero. I mean that literally, ZERO. Of course they weren't listening to the fact that they were returning to a concept that had gotten them zero before.

By the end of January I got a call, "How could you have let this happen...you are supposed to be the expert...our calls this month dropped to only 5 for the whole month." They had already changed the ad and the results had crashed. This is one of the times I have fired a client.

Don't Let Your Ego or Perceptions Get in the Way

Don't let your ego, or the picture in your mind of what you or anyone else think an ad SHOULD look like effect your judgment. The only thing that counts is the actual measurable result from those that are buying. There will always be a few that don't like your ad and may even vehemently dislike it. So whose opinion about "professionalism" or "what works" is important here?

In most cases, if we allowedonly one or two within that 95% that arenot buying to determine our actions we'd be back to zero results.