Packaging is King
To quote Sean De'Souza, the
marketing InfoGuru from New Zealand, "If
content is king, then packaging is emperor."
In marketing these days, we've heard a lot about
content being king. Content for an Independent
Professional is the sum total of information that
you possess that you can leverage to both attract
clients and to offer for sale.
This includes content on your web site, case
studies of successful projects, background information
on you and your business, articles and white papers
both published and unpublished, principles, techniques,
and strategies, and even the content of workshops,
seminars and teleclasses.
If
you have an ever-increasing body of relevant content,
you have the building blocks for marketing and
selling your services. And building blocks is
a good metaphor because, if that content is just
sitting there in a big pile, it isn't worth very
much.
It's when you start effectively organizing, packaging
and presenting your content that you can take
your marketing and business to whole new levels,
dramatically increasing both your attention value
and your net income.
At the simplest level this may be starting with
the raw material of information that goes on your
web site. Unformatted, it's just a mass of black
text on a computer screen. It's hard to read and
will actually push people away.
If you repackage that text and use an attractive,
readable font, make smaller paragraphs with spaces
between them, highlight important concepts in
bold text, include subheads for different sections,
add some color here and there, and include graphics
or illustrations, you pull the reader in.
Attention, interest, involvement and response
all go up when you start paying serious attention
to packaging.
Since design and the overall look and feel of
your marketing materials is perceived and processed
in the prospect's mind before the content is read,
packaging truly becomes emperor.
If you only focus on this one aspect of packaging,
you will dramatically increase the impact of your
marketing. But you can take packaging to levels
that can transform your entire business.
It's a matter of realizing that those building
blocks of content can be built into a one-story
ranch home or a sprawling three story mansion
worth a fortune.It's all in how you package it.
Let me give you one example.
You have the information and the expertise to
help companies improve their leadership ability.
Your main service is to provide consulting services
to help your clients learn and implement these
ideas. Your content, your knowledge is certainly
important, but the way it is packaged may be very
limited.
When you think of packaging as emperor, you may
start to explore the many other ways you could
package that same content.
- Create an article or white paper on "Leadership
Practices of Great Companies" as a giveaway
to potential clients. Great introduction for
new prospects.
- Develop a talk or keynote presentation on
the "Eight Deadly Mistakes of Leadership"
for business groups. Builds visibility and credibility.
- Put together an in-depth workshop on "Leadership
Practices for High Achievers" to offer
in conjunction with your consulting. Increases
the size of every project.
- Assemble a one-year program on "Leadership
and Profitability" exclusively for CEOs
from different companies. Then sell the program
to the executive teams of each of those companies.
- Write a virtual program on "Leadership
in Troubled Times" that is delivered via
web and online audio for companies going through
transition. Creates passive income which can
be offered to an unlimited number of participants.
OK, that took me about five minutes. What could
you do if you took an hour or two to explore and
brainstorm packaging opportunities for the content
you already have?
I discovered a long time ago that clients were
only going to buy the packages that I took the
time and effort to put together. They weren't
going to make them up for me.
And incidentally, creating, marketing and selling
these packages brought me income far surpassing
any standard consulting I offered, while freeing
up my time to come up with even more valuable
packages. And in many cases they were actually
a lot easier to market and sell than consulting!
It's time to give the power to the Emperor of
Packaging and see where it takes your business.
Marketing Flashes on "Packaging Is Emperor"
Packaging tips that increase business.
- Always offer more than one
option and price for each package. As Alan Weiss
says, instead of giving a choice between yes
and no, give a choice between yes and yes.
- Give a name or title to each
of your packages as I've done in the the article
above. This branding creates an impression of
more value and substance. It also makes them
more memorable.
- Don't underestimate the power
of selling small, inexpensive packages. A teleseminar
that sells for $25 will sell a whole lot more
units than a workshop that sells for $500 (with
a whole lot less effort).
- Conversely, don't assume
your prospects won't buy expensive, more in-depth
programs. A complete solution that is high priced
can be perceived as more affordable than a partial
solution at a lower price.
- Packages can evolve into
the next package and the next. An article turns
into a presentation which becomes a paid teleclass
which morphs into a workshop. This continuity
builds momentum.
All the best,
Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More
Clients
By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing.
Please visit Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com
for additional marketing articles and resources
on marketing for professional service businesses.
