by Stacy Zemon
For mobile entertainment business owners, the goal in advertising is to: 1) Get Attention; 2) Inspire an Inquiry; 3) Set and Have a Meeting; 4) Obtain a Booking; 5) Provide Quality Service; 6) Maintain an Ongoing Relationship with the Client.
This article focuses on #1 – Getting attention. Naturally we DJs want prospects to read our online and print ads as well as our marketing materials, right? To make sure they do, think “Less is more.”
Clear and concise messages stand a better chance of being read or heard in their entirety versus long-winded messages weighed down with filler words and extraneous information potential customers don’t care about.
Fortunately, there is a tool you can use to make sure your marketing copy is succinct, and that people actually receive your most important messages – the messages that will lead them to action. I call it the “Red Pen Rule.”
The Red Pen Rule
Once you have written final copy that you feel is tight and compelling for your ad, brochure or website, take out a red pen and delete at least 30 percent of it. Your copy will be better off without those extra words.
Once you apply the red pen rule to your copy, your most important messages will jump off the page. Potential clients will be more intrigued, and more of them will actually make it through your marketing piece and reach your call to action.
That 30 percent you deleted would have slowed your audience down. Consumers are used to immediate gratification, and they’re not willing to wait an extra second to process information that isn’t instantly useful or interesting to them.
Keep in mind, the Red Pen Rule is not an edict. 30 percent is more of a suggested guideline than a rule. The key is to delete more than a couple of words here and there, and do some serious crossing out.
The Bottom Line: You don’t ever want prospects to read or listen to your ad or marketing piece and think, “Hurry up and get to the point.” Instead, keep your messages short, sweet and succinct, and your results will prove that the red pen rule works.
Stacy Zemon - Publisher & Chief Scribe
To her credit, Stacy Zemon has spawned more professional Mobile DJ business owners than anyone in the industry — anywhere! She is widely considered a leading authority and has become a distinguished leader during the course of her extensive career as a DJ Entertainer. Stacy is author of the world’s best-selling DJ books: The Mobile DJ Handbook, The DJ Sales & Marketing Handbook and The Mobile DJ MBA, and is a longtime writer for DJ Times magazine. Her mission is to provide educational resources for DJs that support their professional growth and financial prosperity. Write to her c/o [email protected].
