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How to write a marketing plan with five questions

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:57 +0000

How to write a marketing plan with five questions

Ask 20 marketers how to write a marketing plan, and you’ll get 20 different answers. Some have more strategy than tactics, some get tactical immediately without a strategic foundation.

But the biggest problem most marketing plans have is that they’re cleint-centric. They’re written from your point of view, based on what you want from the market, and they fail to reflect or take into account your customer’s perspective.

The same is true for the sales process most companies use today. It’s easy to define the process you want your sales team to go through in working leads into opportunities and, eventually, closed business. A more valuable exercise may be to map the buying process. How do your customers buy, what stages do they go through, what triggers or accelerators drive them closer to making a decision?

So for your marketing plan, take that same customer-centric approach and apply it to five questions.

What/who are your targets?
What do they care about? What outcome are they seeking?
Where do you find them?
What or who influences them?
How do they want to engage and (eventually) buy?

These five questions are the foundation of your plan. The answers should give you a blueprint for what to do, where to do it, what to say, and how to match your marketing and messaging to the way your customer already thinks and operates.

200 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:57 +0000

This is a list of the 200 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons written by my friend Jay Conrad Lewinson. Use these guerrilla marketing weapons for marketing your product, service, practice or idea both online and offline.

Notice how more than half of them are free.R32;

As you know, your marketing arsenal can be much more potent than it is right now, and it won’t even require much of an investment.

Ask the average business owner what marketing is and you’ll be told that it’s advertising.

Guerrillas know that this is nonsense.

Advertising is only one weapon of marketing.

How many weapons are most business owners aware of? Maybe five or ten. How many do they use? Possibly three.

But guerrilla marketers are aware of a full 200 guerrilla marketing weapons and make use of about 40 of them. More than half of the weapons are free! Here, because this course wants you to be as lethal as possible, are ALL 200 weapons.

These guerrilla marketing tactics are presented in no particular rank or order because there’s a 200-way tie for first place. Still, you will come across a few marketing ideas that deserve red neon asterisks inside your head.

Your job now as a business owner is to do what you can to use as many weapons as possible. Okay?

MINI- MEDIA

1. Marketing Plan

2. Marketing Calendar

3. Identity

4. Business Cards

5. Stationary

6. Personal Letters

7. Telephone Marketing

8. Toll- Free Number

9. Vanity Phone Number

10. Yellow Pages

11. Postcards

12. Post Card Deck

13. Classified Ads

14. Per Order/ Inquiry Advertising

15. Free Ads in Shoppers

16. Circulars

17. Community Bulletin Boards

18. Movie Ads

19. Outside Signs

20. Street Banners

21. Window Display

22. Inside Signs

23. Posters

24. Canvassing

25. Door Hangers

26. Elevator Pitch

27. Value Story

28. Backends

29. Letters of Recommendation

30. Attendance at Trade Shows

MAXI- MEDIA

31. Advertising

32. Direct Mail

33. Newspaper Ads

34. Radio Spots

35. Magazine Ads

36. Billboards

37. Television Commercials

E- MEDIA

38. Computer

39. Printer/ Fax Machine

40. Chat Rooms

41. Forums Boards

42. Internet Bulletin Boards

43. List-building

44. Personalized Email

45. Email Signature Mktg.

46. Canned Email

47. Bulk Email

48. Audio/Video postcards

49. Domain Name

50. Website

51. Landing Page

52. Merchant Account

53. Shopping cart

54. Auto-Responders

55. Search Engine Ranking (Alexa)

56. Electronic Brochures

57. RSS Feeds

58. Blogs

59. Podcasting

60. Publish own E-zine

61. Ads in other E-zines

62. Write Ebooks

63. Provide Content- Other Sites

64. Produce Webinars

65. Joint ventures

66. Word-of-mouse

67. Viral Marketing

68. E-Bay / Auction Sites

69. Click Analyzers

70. Pay Per Click Ads

71. Search Engine Keywords

72. Google Adwords

73. Sponsored Links

74. Reciprocal Link Exchange

75. Banner Exchanges

76. Web Conversion Rate

INFO- MEDIA

77. Knowledge of your Market

78. Research Studies

79. Specific Customer Data

80. Case Studies

81. Sharing

82. Brochures

83. Catalog

84. Business Directory

85. Public Service Announcements

86. Newsletter

87. A Speech

88. Free Consultations

89. Free Demonstrations

90. Free Seminars

91. Publish Article

92. Publish Column

93. Author a Book

94. Publishing-on-Demand

95. Speaker at Clubs

96. Teleseminars

97. Infomercials

98. Constant Learning

HUMAN- MEDIA

99. Marketing Insight

100. Yourself

101. Your Employees and Reps

102. Designated Guerrilla

103. Employee Attire

104. Social Demeanor

105. Target Audiences

106. Your Own Circle of Influence

107. Contact Time with Customers

108. How you say Hello and Goodbye

109. Teaching Ability

110. Stories

111. Sales Training

112. Use of Downtime

113. Networking

114. Professional Title

115. Affiliate Marketing

116. Media Contacts

117. eMail List Customers

118. Core Story- Solution to Problem

119. Create a Sense of Urgency

120. Offer Limited Items/ Time

121. Call to Action

122. Satisfied Customers

NON- MEDIA

123. Benefits List

124. Competitive Advantages

125. Gifts

126. Service

127. Public Relations

128. Fusion Marketing

129. Barter

130. Word-of-Mouth

131. Buzz

132. Community Involvement

133. Club and Assn Memberships

134. Free Directory Listings

135. Trade Show Booth

136. Special Events

137. Name Tags at Events

138. Luxury Box at Events

139. Gift Certificates

140. Audio-Visual Aids

141. Flipcharts

142. Reprints and Blowups

143. Coupons

144. Free Trial Offer

145. Guarantee

146. Contests and Sweepstakes

147. Baking/ Craft Ability

148. Lead Buying

149. Follow-Up

150. Tracking Plan

151. Marketing-on-Hold

152. Branded Entertainment

153. Product Placement

154. Radio Talk Show Guest

155. TV Talk Show Guest

156. Subliminal Marketing

COMPANY ATTRIBUTES

157. Proper View of Marketing

158. Brand Name Awareness

159. Positioning

160. Name

161. Meme

162. Theme Line

163. Writing Ability

164. Copywriting Ability

165. Headline Copy

166. Location

167. Hours of Operation

168. Days of Operation

169. Credit Cards Accepted

170. Financing Available

171. Credibility

172. Reputation

173. Efficiency

174. Quality

175. Service

176. Selection

177. Price

178. Opportunities to Upgrade

179. Referral Program

180. Spying

181. Testimonials

182. Extra Value

183. Adopt Noble Cause

COMPANY ATTITUDES

184. Easy To Do Business With

185. Honest Interest in People

186. Telephone Demeanor

187. Passion & Enthusiasm

188. Sensitivity

189. Patience

190. Flexibility

191. Generosity

192. Self Confidence

193. Neatness

194. Aggressiveness

195. Competitiveness

196. High Energy

197. Speed

198. Maintains Focus

199. Attention to Details

200. Takes Action

Thanks Jay for this amazing list.

Use it and change your life.

Why Market At All?

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:56 +0000

Why should you market?

Maybe you shouldn’t…

When talking about marketing, it is essential to understand the term Marketing. There is no denying the fact that marketing is without a doubt the most pivotal element for the success of any business. According to Jay Conrad Levinson, author of Guerrilla Marketing, Marketing is everything you do to promote your business from the first point of conception to the point at which customers patronize your business on a regular term.”

As is evident with the above argument, marketing encompasses so much of your business success, that its pivotal that you must have a marketing mindset then only your small business is going to succeed.

The question now arises: How to develop this mindset To develop this mindset you need to have a very open mind that looks far beyond the initial transaction to see all the dormant possibilities of re-working, cross-selling, and follow-up. In addition, you must be willing to experiment and look at your business related activities in unorthodox ways.

If experts are to be believed, you can never decide in advance what the marketplace wants. It is worth pointing that clients will always tell you what products and services they will buy and at what price.

If you are interested in knowing whether or not your idea has work or how much profit a concept might add or subtract, you must quickly, efficiently, and conservatively, and inexpensively test that concept in your marketplace.

Once you come up with a profitable, working process, don’t stop there. As a matter of fact, always improve on what is working for you.

According to experts, innovation is the name of the game especially in small business marketing. But that does not mean you abandon what is working so good for you and jump to a new concept. Rather than abandoning concept, which is reaping you profits, it is advisable that you add some more features on it so that it does not become old.

Taste of the consumer is very important in this regard. On the other hand, no matter how exciting or appealing the new concept feels to you, it is of no use until you’ve tested and come to a conclusion that it contributes added benefit and profits.

When you test a new advertisement, sales pitch, or an up-selling concept it gives you an option to develop a new concept on the market and gives you a much-needed cushion to see things in different light from your competitor’s point of view. In addition, it will also offer you an eagerness to learn by observing others.

An important part of developing a marketing mindset is to always look out for new concepts, look out for new applications, and most importantly it is very essential which approaches and techniques you use in your own business. It is worth mentioning in this regard that a well-laid plan can be a disaster if not implemented through a proper technique.

Business owners who have a marketing mindset clearly come to a conclusion that it’s a waste of time and energy to re-invent the wheel in order to market their product or service. Theoretically speaking, there are number of ways to borrow ideas from other successful businesses and use them in your own.

Below are five steps that will help you develop your marketing mindset:

1. Read every advertisement you can get your hands on, with an eye not for the visual, but for the concepts in the advertisement.

2. It is advisable to read all the “junk mail” you usually delete.

3. It is necessary to spend time every day looking at different web sites for concepts you might be overlooking.

4. Most importantly, register to all the trade publications in your field.

5. Last but not the least read at least one sales, marketing, or advertising book every week. As a matter of fact, you should read one business publication or magazine every day. Publications like the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Entrepreneur. Most importantly read the articles pertaining to your field.

According to experts, visiting businesses in your area each week, especially retail stores will go a long way in opening up your mind to new and different marketing ideas. As a matter of fact, when you go into a store let them try to sell you something and pay close attention to their sales concepts, guarantees, follow-up efforts, and most importantly cross-selling attempts and then try to adapt some of their process to your business.

Moreover, when you’re visiting other places of business keep note of the things that they don’t do, things they neglect causing you not to buy.

It is very pivotal that you pay close attention to how they make you feel and the things that they don’t offer you. In theory, filling these gaps in your own business could go a long way in giving you much needed mileage over your competitor.

Another way to really get some innovative and brilliant ideas and develop your marketing mindset is to call the CXO or owner of a successful business in the same or related field. It is important that you identify your self and tell the owner that you admire his or her success and would like to learn a trade from him or her.

You’ll be surprised at so many CXO’s will be more than happy to spend some time with you talking about their business and their successes. According to experts, every time you take are able to set up a meeting with a successful business owner you are bound to gain a wealth of information to help your business.

In theory, developing a marketing mindset means having the humility to learn from the successes and failures of others. It is worth pointing in this regard that when you start a new venture, you are launching the profit adventure of a lifetime!

From this moment onward, its your responsibility to develop a marketing mindset, which means testing, and applying as many different backend, cross-selling, reselling, joint-venture approaches, and sales packages as you think can be beneficial for your business.

YOUR MARKETING GLOSSARY

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:56 +0000

Complete Marketing Glossary and Marketing Definitions

Account Manager

Vendor representative in charge of specific customers or partners.

Affiliate

A website that will drive traffic to another site for a percentage of sales.

Affinity Marketing

Marketing targeted at individuals sharing common interests related to a product. Also, a campaign jointly sponsored different organisations.

Attribute

Characteristic, peculiarity, or distinctive feature of a product.

Banner

An ad on a Web page that is usually linked to the advertiser’s site.

B2B

B2B is an acronym for “business-to-business” referring to commerce between businesses. Most commonly used in connection with e-commerce and advertising, when you are targeting businesses as opposed to consumers.

Brand

A name, term, sign or symbol used for identification and recognition purposes of products or services. Both a physical and emotional trigger to create a relationship between consumers and the product or service.

Brand Attributes

Functional or emotional associations that are assigned to a brand by its customers and prospects. Brand attributes can be either negative or positive and can have varying degrees of relevance and importance to different customer segments.

Brand Equity

The value – both tangible and intangible that a brand adds to a product/service.

Brand Extension

Using an existing brand for new products or services.

Brand Loyalty

The strength of preference for a brand compared to other similar available options. Often measured in terms of purchase behavior or price sensitivity.

Brand Management

The process of managing an organisationA533;s brands in order to increase long-term brand equity.

Brand Positioning

The space a brand is perceived to occupy; the part of the brand identity that is to be actively communicated in a way that meaningfully sets it apart from the competition.

Brand Repositioning

Effort to change common perception of a brand.

Broadcasting

Delivering content through radio or television to a “broad” audience” over the airwaves. See “Narrowcasting”.

Business to Business (B2B)

Sales focused on business customers, either for internal use or resale.

Business to Consumer (B2C)

Sales focused on consumers, typically for personal consumption.

Buzz

“Word-of-mouth” marketing, where product information is communicated by consumers.

Call Center

The word for an inbound telephone division in a company. The operators are called Agents. The call center uses an ACD (automatic call distributor) to manage the calls efficiently.

Call to Action

Whatever you want your customer to do through a given marketing effort. Some examples would include purchasing a product, signing up for your service, filling out a form, etc.

Churning

The practice of customers switching to another supplier based on special discount offers.

Click-through

The percentage of ad views on a Web page that resulted in an ad click.

Competitive Advantage

The product, proposition or benefit that puts a company ahead of its competitors.

Cost Per Thousand (CPM)

Standard measurement for determining the cost effectiveness for advertising, by comparing the cost to impressions for a target audience.

CRM

Acronym for Customer Relationship Management, which is also applied to Customer Relationship Management software. CRM entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customer, whether it be sales or service related.

Cross-Sell

Encouraging customers to buy products from other departments or categories.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Profitability of a customer during the lifetime of the relationship, as opposed to profitability of one transaction.

Customer Service

Process designed for assuring customers a positive buying experience. When executed correctly, it can improve customer loyalty, increase cross-selling, and promote positive word-of-mouth.

Data-mining

Using technology to break down information, often used to aid forecasting and prediction of marketing data.

Decision Makers

In business-to-business, executives who have the authority to make or influence a purchase. Also known as Business Decision Maker (BDM).

Demographics

Statisitcs that describe characteristics of a population (e.g., sex, race, age, geographic location)

Differentiation

Identification, definition, and communication of a product’s uniqure selling proposition or USP. See “Uniqure Selling Proposition”.

Direct Marketing

All activities which make it possible to offer goods or services or to transmit other messages to a segment of the population by post, telephone, e-mail or other direct means.

E-Commerce/E-Marketing

Sales or marketing conducted through the Internet.

Frequency

Amount of exposure your target market has to your marketing message, or how many times someone buys a product.

Focus Group

Study of a cross section of people used to predict response to a product or service. Often conducted with group of customers who are assembled together in a conference room to discuss a particular product.

Four M’s

Money, Material, Machine and Manpower. Business resources referenced in a marketing plan.

Four P’s

Product, Price, Placement and Promotion. The basic foundational elements of traditional marketing.

Impressions

Every exposure to an advertising message is an “impression.”

Influentials

People who can influence buying habits of others.

Integrated Marketing Communications

This is a concept of marketing communications that recognizes the added value of assuring that all communication vehicles (including sales force, customer services, and any other employees who have customer contact) portray a clear and consistent message about the company, business, or product that follows and illustrates the company’s vision and mission.

Lead

A prospect who has responded is called a Lead.

Mailing list

A list of customers or prospects used to mail catalogs or sale announcements. It is not a marketing database because it does not provide for a two-way communication with customers.

Marketing Communications

All methods used by a firm to communicate with its customers and prospective customers.

Marketing Metrics

Measurements that help with the quantification of marketing performance, such as market share, advertising spend, and response rates elicited by advertising and direct marketing.

Marketing Mix

Variety of the elements in marketing efforts. Can iclude details such as pricing, product features, packaging, advertising, merchandising, distribution, and budget.

Market Penetration

The percentage of actual customers as compared with the total number selected as the market.

Market position

The perception of a product or an organisation from the view of the consumer.

Mass Marketing

Selling to everyone through mass media such as radio, TV, or a newspaper, as opposed to database marketing which is aimed at a small selected audience.

Narrowcasting

Delivering targeted content over a broadcasting system, but directed to audiences with special or “narrow” interests. See “Broadcasting”.

Newsgroup

Internet discussion group devoted to talking about a specific topic.

Niche Marketing

The process of concentrating your resources and efforts on one particular segment.

Opt-in

Opt-in email lists are lists where Internet users have voluntarily signed up to receive commercial e-mail about topics of interest.

Page Views

Number of times a user requests a Web page. Indicative of the number of times an ad was potentially seen, or “gross impressions.” May overstate ad impressions if users choose to turn off graphics.

Packaging

Material used to protect goods, and used as an opportunity to present the brand and logo.

Peer to Peer (P2P) Marketing

Technique of encouraging customers to promote a product person-to-person (peer-to-peer) on the Internet. See also “Word of Mouth”.

Personalization

The process of including personal references in marketing efforts, such as a Web site or a letter.

POS

Point of Sale. A cash register.

Positioning

Marketing efforts aimed at defining a product or company in the consumer’s mind.

Product Life Cycle

The five stages of a product’s life include:
1. Introduction, during which costs typically exceed revenue.
2. Growth, during which sales rapidly increase.
3. Maturity, during which there is more competition, pricing tends to decline, and product loyalty is emphasized in advertising.
4. Saturation, during which sales slow and advertising strategy shifts to reinforcement.
5. Decline, at which point the market has shrunk and advertising and distribution costs are cut drastically to reduce losses

Product Placement

Use of a product or service within a television show or film.

Promotional Mix

Components of a promotional campaign, including advertising, public relations, direct marketing, packaging, and sales promotion.

Prospect

A potential customer who you have targeted.

Pull Promotion

Promotion that addresses the customer directly, intended to get them to demand the product, and “pull” through the distribution chain.

Push Promotion

Promotion relies on the next link in the channel – e.g. a wholesaler or retailer – to “push” products to the customer.

Reach

Total number of individual prospects exposed to your message.

Relationship Marketing

Strategy of establishing a relationship with a customer that lasts beyond the initial purchase.

Response Rate

The percentage of people who responded to your offer. A typical direct mail response rate to prospects is 2%.

Retention

The tendency to keep customers buying. Success is measured by retention of customers.

Rich Media

Rich media is a term for advanced technology used in Internet ads, such as streaming video, applets that allow user interaction, and special effects.

SMB

Acronym for Small to Medium Business. Also known as SME, for Small to Medium Enterprise.

Segmentation

The process of dividing a market into groups that display similar behaviour and characteristics.

Spin

The attempt to manipulate the depiction of news or events in the media through artful public relations – often used with derogatory connotations.

Splash Page

Also known as a “jump page,” a Web page set up for visitors who clicked on a link in an advertisement. Can be used to promote special offers or to measure the response to an advertisement.

SWOT Analysis

Analysis method which examines Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Often used as part of a marketing plan.

Targeting

Selection of specific market segments for a campaign.

Telemarketing

Talking on the telephone to prospects or customers. Inbound telemarketing is usually customers or prospects calling your toll free number. Outbound telemarketing is when you place the call to a prospect or customer. Telemarketing can be done by your in-house staff or by an external telemarketing company.

Unique Selling Propostion (USP)

Product features or benefits that cannot be claimed by the competition.

Up-Sell

Prompting customers to buy upgraded products when they had intended to buy something of lower value.

Value Proposition

The functional, emotional, and self-expressive benefits delivered by product, service, or brand, that provide value to the customer, and the rationale for making one brand choice over another.

Word of Mouth

Spread of information through human interaction alone.

Marketing Ideas for Sales Pros

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:56 +0000

Here are a few ideas for Sales Professionals and Newbies to help close more deals

Start every day with two cold calls.
Read newspapers, business journals and trade publications for new business openings and for personnel appointment and promotion announcements made by companies. Send your business literature to appropriate individuals and firms.
Give your sales literature to your lawyer, accountant, printer, banker, temp agency, office supply salesperson, and advertising agency.
Put your fax number on order forms for easy submission.
Set up a fax-on-demand or email system to easily distribute responses to company or product inquiries.
Follow up on your direct mailings, email messages and broadcast faxes with a friendly telephone call.
Try using the broadcast fax or email delivery methods instead of direct mail. Broadcast fax and email allows you to send the same message to many locations at once. Make certain that these messages are sent to potential or actual clients and that they provide an option to opt out from future messages. Otherwise, they may be considered spam, which is a negative message about your business.
Using broadcast fax or email messages to notify your customers of product service updates.
Extend your hours of operation.
Reduce response/turnaround time. Make reordering easy with reminders. Provide pre-addressed envelopes.
Display product and service samples at your office.
Let clients know about products and services you provide that they aren’t currently buying.
Call and/or send mail to former clients to try to reactivate them.
Take sales orders over the Internet.

Try one per week, see what works best for you and keep doing what’s working. Always testing to constant improvement.

How Many Books, Articles, Reports, And Emails Are Waiting To Be Read?

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:53 +0000

How Many Books, Articles, Reports, And Emails Do You Have Waiting For You To Find Time To Read Them?

I don’t know about you, but I have a big problem with this.

There is just too much to read these days.

Even worse, there isn’t enough time to read it all.

Even so, I still try to read everything that I can get my hands on—old and new marketing books, newspapers and magazines, e-mails, reports, and articles.

I even read books on how to read faster!

Here are three secret techniques to help you to read more quickly.

If I can learn them, anyone can!

(It helps to turn off the TV and radio when I read, because I can concentrate better. It may help you, too. Try it.)

The first two techniques will help you to fly through any reading that you have to do. You only will comprehend half of the material, but you will read it in just one-tenth of the time.

The first technique is used when what you are reading is long and complicated. Start by reading the first two paragraphs completely. Then, read only the first sentence of the following paragraphs. Finally, read the last two paragraphs completely. You will miss some details, but you will get a good overall feel for the material.

The second technique, “skimming,” is used when you are reading short articles. Sweep your eyes across every line of type. Even if you pick up only a few key words in every line, you still will get the general idea of what the article is about. “Skimming” is a great way to cut your reading time in half.

The third technique, “cluster reading,” will help you to read faster and comprehend more, but still not all of what you read. Instead of reading every word, like most people do, try reading in groups of three to four words. Train your eyes to see words in clusters. Concentrate on seeing three or four words at once. It may help to use your fingers to lead your eyes and help to keep you from going backwards (which will slow you down).

These techniques take practice, so don’t give up.

It’s worth the effort to learn how to read faster. With enough practice, you will be able to get caught up on your reading and it will take you less time to do it.

A great book that helped me a lot in this area is by Stanley D. Franks and is called Remember Everything You Read:The Evelyn Wood 7-Day Reading and Learning Program (Westminister, 1990).

What are you speed-reading today?

Fast Marketing Plan & Marketing Calendar

admin — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 21:58:40 +0000

Fast Marketing Plan provides business owners, executives and managers a fast, easy and affordable online marketing tool to create unlimited and complete Marketing Plans and Marketing Calendars for use by almost any type and size of business. The BEST part, includes Monday Morning Reminder e-mail of all upcoming marketing tactics t scheduled for the week.

Discover thousands of marketing, advertising and business ideas and strategies, plus a budgeting tool to assemble the perfect marketing plan and calendar custom tailored for your specific goals and objectives.

Your plans are always accessible from your laptop, desktop or smart phone; making it easy to access and to work with at any time.

http://www.FastMarketingPlan.com

Higher Proof Will Help You Sell More Products, Services and Ideas

admin — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 00:00:44 +0000

Proof Will Help You Sell More Products, Services and Ideas:

Go ahead, take a few minutes today and look at every marketing message you are putting out…

Ask yourself:
Am I providing my reader, viewer and listener the proof and credibility that what I’m saying is indeed true?

How many times have you seen an ad on TV and said to yourself “Yea. Right. Sure it is?”

Let’s face it… we are all slammed with so many marketing messages a day, that we stop believing most of them.

So how do make your marketing messages more believable?

Start by take a closer look at the benefits of what you are selling.

Think about all the ways you can prove your benefits actually exist.
Ask yourself:
•    What are the strongest “Reasons Why” anyone should believe they’ll get what I promise?
•    How much more specific can I be?
•    What solid proof have I offered showing what I claim it true?
•    Have I begun to think about how I can strengthen my guarantees?
•    Is there a way to demonstrate your product/service in action?
•    Can you get a celebrity endorsement?

Answer these questions and apply these ideas to what you are selling and you are well on your way to providing the proof people need to believe your benefits will deliver.

“No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof.”
-Henry David Thoreau