Have You Got Enough Clients For Your Meeting And Event Planning Business?

Do you know what business youre REALLY in?

When I ask business owners just like you what business they’re in, they invariably give me the wrong answer.

They’re almost right… but not quite.

You might think you’re in the meeting and event planning business – in fact, I’d wager you’d fight your corner on this one – but you’re mistaken. You might be bristling right now; that’s fair enough. Stick with me for a moment and you’ll see what I mean.

You’re actually in the marketing business.

Specifically, you’re in the marketing of meeting and event planning business.

Because if you can’t market your business, you can’t do it.

That goes for every business owner in every industry, by the way. I’m a copywriter and marketing consultant. But I’m in the marketing of copywriting and marketing business.

The bottomline is, you have to bring in new clients in order to plan meetings and events for them, am I right?

In this blog post, I’m going to give you a simple four-step formula to make that marketing job much easier for you.

It’s not a magic bullet, of course; but it will help you write marketing materials that get potential clients interested in you and your work.

Let me introduce you to AIDA.

AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action – and it’s been around for at least 150 years. The world’s top copywriters and advertising experts use it every time they write new ads, articles, webpages, speeches, and brochures.

Why?

Because it works.

Attention

The most important part of this formula is A for Attention.

If you don’t get your prospective client’s attention, everything else you do is pointless. Of course, the best way to get someone’s attention is shout their name – and you can do this if you’re sending direct mail or doing some email marketing.

But what about if you’re writing an advert? Or a webpage? Or an article? Or even a speech?

Then, it’s all down to your headline or opening statement.

The key to getting someone’s attention is finding out what their problem – their pain – is. Show them in your headline that you understand their pain – and that you have a solution.

Your headline (or first words) has one job and one job only: to make people want to read the next line.

Interest

And your next lines have one job, too: to get people to read on. To keep their interest, in other words.

The best way to do that is make sure your first paragraph follows on directly from the headline. If you’ve promised your reader a benefit – deliver that benefit. The biggest benefit you can give them. Don’t save it for later, make it clear that your reader is in the right place, and you’re the one who can solve their problem.

Link your prospect’s problem to your business.

Then start telling stories.

Desire

Use other clients’ stories to show your prospects why you’re not just their best option – you’re their only realistic option.

Start building desire for your services. Show your prospect what his life will be like with you and your business – and contrast that to his life without your business. His life with the pain and the problem you identified earlier.

Use this desire to drive your prospect to take action.

This is where most business owners fall down…

Action

Many people find it awkward to ask for the sale. To ask for action. But it’s absolutely vital to be strong here, because a wishy-washy call to action is a waste of time.

So, whatever you do, don’t finish with something like, “I look forward to hearing from you” or “If you’d like to know more, give me a call”.

It’s a wee bit pathetic, and it won’t get the job done. And if you’ve put together a great sales piece, it undermines all your hard work.

Ask for action in no uncertain terms.

Tell your prospect exactly what to do, how to do it, when, what will happen next, and what will happen if they dont take action (continued pain and problems).

Be firm. Be clear. Never assume your reader will know what to do next. People want to be told what to do, they want a clear and simple solution – so give it to them. As the person best-placed to help them, you’d be doing your prospect a disservice if you didnt ask for action strongly.

 

Vicky Fraser, Copywriter

Vicky Fraser is a copywriter and marketing consultant who helps business owners reach the right prospects, and get the results they need to grow their businesses. Her series of 49 Ideas to Grow Your Business has helped hundreds of business owners to increase their profits, giving them the freedom to live the life they want.

Click here to sign up for free – and get 49 simple, practical ideas you can put to use in your business straight away.