This weekend Motrin became the #1 topic on Twitter. More specifically their web-ad about Babywearing (you know, slings, front carriers etc.) made them the #1 trending topic on Twitter…and not in a good way. In fact, they they managed to offend both people who wear their babies in slings and people who don’t.

By 3pm on Sunday there were:

• More than ninety pages of tweets,
• A Flickr photo group dedicated to pictures of moms wearing their babies,
• A YouTube video replaying ten minutes’ worth of angry tweets,
• Protest t-shirts at CafePress,
• A Facebook group of 181 member,

Every few minutes there were 60 more tweets on the topic.

But there was no response from anyone at Johnson & Johnson or McNeil Health Care Group.

I’m guessing this is going to all over the business news, if not the mainstream news by Monday morning.

—

Are people Twittering about your business? What are they saying? Do you even know how to find out?

Hint: go here and enter your company’s name.

Everyone they interviewed was really positive. No-one wasted time complaining about the inequities of the past or present, but instead talked about creating opportunities and role models.

Even more tellingly, one of the organizers sidestepped the moral issues altogether and pressed on to economics, saying,

You just cannot leave 30% of your society sitting on a side line and think you’re going to drive an economy in this country.
see original article

See? That’s a message people can rally around, because it promises something for everyone. He’s saying, “no matter what your position on race or equality or affirmative action, or politics or economic theory, you will be richer if you espouse my cause.”

If you want to persuade people to agree with you, buy your product, espouse your ideas, let them see what’s in it for them.

It’s true in physics, and OK it’s slightly less true in business but bear with me.

In every downturn there are opportunities for those who are willing to look for them.

Today I noticed a local furniture store that was going out of business after 81 years. It’s sad and awful for the people involved, and you and I could spend a lot of time wallowing in an analysis of the terrible direction the economy is taking.

Or we could think: who can benefit from this?

It seem to me that even in the death of a furniture store there is opportunity.

Opportunity for:

• The owners of a furniture removal company, who can get a couple of trucks down to the store on Saturday morning and offer good deals to people who are scooping up floor samples and trying to balance couches on the back of their pick-up trucks in the rain.
• The owners of a van rental company, who can make quick, short-term rentals from the parking lot.
• A local interior designer who can offer a tip-sheet on how to make the new furniture work, or who can sell a booklet about design matters, or who can hand out coupons for discounts on her services.

What is going on around you and are you flexible enough to make it work for you?

In trying to figure out how Barak Obama won the election, the pundits agree that his organization was great a using new media to keep in touch with and build their base.

So how exactly did they get people to sign up?

One brilliant example came before Obama announced his pick for his running mate. The campaign gave people the chance to be the first to know who he had picked by signing up for text messages or an email — no more waiting around for traditional news outlets to tell them the news. All you had to do was give the campaign a way to contact you and you could get a jump on even the media in-crowd. Who wouldn’t love that?

Of course, this meant you were added to their database, but people didn’t seem to care because, pay attention now, they were getting something they valued in return.

Is there something you can offer your potential clients in exchange for their contact info?

Can you offer them a “buy one, get one 50% off” deal on their first purchase? Can you give them a free, exclusive, special report (or ‘white paper’) when they sign up for your newsletter? Can you give them something that will provide real value for them in exchange for their permission to keep in touch?

Create value, create releationships, create business.

This might be good news for some businesses, if they can think and market themselves creatively.

Heavy machinery compacts the earth, so manufacturers who make huge, wide tires for the machines should see their products rise in demand.
Farmers use GPS technology to pinpoint where they should drive, to minimize damage to soil. Savvy GPS equipment and software firms, who pay attention to their customer’s needs, will be doing well, even if the overall economy is down.

Dirt as a growth industry? Did you see that coming? In every downturn there are segments of the economy that are still growing.

Has the changing economy created new customers for you? Probably.

How will you tell those potential customers that they need you? In a trade magazine article? In press releases? By running a special promotion or contest to raise your visibility? By direct mail?

You could find yourself gaining business in these tough times if you position yourself as the best, mopping up all the customers your competitors are currently under-serving.

But only if you talk about how you can help.

Southwest Airlines hit the front page of my city newspaper’s business section today simply by saying they weren’t going to charge extra fees like all their competitors are doing (at least, not yet).

It’s not exactly news, it’s not even particularly good news, but by speaking out at a time when people are looking for ways to save money, Chief Executive Gary C. Kelly just made his company look like every traveller’s best friend.

(And, in a phrase that made me laugh out loud, he reinforced the company’s ‘maverick’ status by adding that they might consider becoming, “more like other carriers if, after thorough market research, customers told the company they did not mind paying the fees.” Yeah. That, and when hell freezes over and pigs become Southwest’s competition!)

Can you differentiate yourself from your competitors? Can you use it to get some non-news coverage, like Southwestern, or put out a special announcement to your client base? Is it time to add some content to your website or corporate blog? Maybe a direct mail piece or tip-sheet?

Keep talking up your business. Your customers are thirsting for good news.

Now is the time to reach out to your customers.

With uncertainties in the economy do you know where your customers are?

Are they sitting on buying decision? Are they waiting for someone, something to give them confidence?

That someone should be you, and it should be now.

Yes the stock market is down but your customers (most of them) are still doing business and still trying to figure out how to make money. You believe you can help them (or you should), so you need to reach out now, before someone else does.

Show them that:

• Doing business with you can move their business forward even (especially!) in tough times,
• Your product or service is amazing value for money,
• There’s an incentive to buy now (Can you add on a service? Offer a limited-time bulk discount?)

Don’t waste time worrying. Think of a way you can reach out to your jittery customers today, craft a message and send it out.

—

You can reach your customer by phone, by email, by blog, Twitter or direct mail, but you’d better know what you’re going to say when you do. When you have decided what you business’s offer will be, contact JDWrite, to have a professional writer spend time crafting your message while you get back to business.

1. Answer the phone, if at all possible, with real people - even ten years ago, my customers were astonished when a real person answered the phone by the third ring. It delighted them and started every conversation off well. These days, if you can have the phone answered by someone from the same country as your customers, you will exceed their expectations.
2. Answer their question - not the question you think they’re asking, not the question on your script. Their question.
3. Don’t waste their time - if it’s clear that you can’t help them, find someone who can. Even if you have to offer to refer them to another company. You’ll have earned their trust and they’ll remember that when they’re next in the neighborhood, or when someone asks for a referral.
4. Be honest - customers are suspicious. They know about advertising tricks and they are worried about losing money and losing face. If you know there is something that other customers have had problem with or frequently misunderstand, highlight it, upfront.  Explain how it can be avoided or turned to the customer’s advantage. Earn their trust.
5. Don’t make excuses - if the customer is unhappy, the most powerful thing you can do is simply say “I’m sorry. What can I do to make this better?”. This is powerful voodoo. This is Kryptonite. This, assuming you’re sincere and give your reps the power to act on their promises, will defuse 99% of escalated cases.

Fight hard to empower your customer service reps, to allow them to do these things. Sure, there are some customers who will try to take advantage of you. Following these rules, however, lets you reward the vast majority of everyday people who just want to do business with you, and not get a migraine headache from the experience.

One Letter One Subject

Each letter or email should address one issue only. You can always send another email to talk about a second subject. Keeping to one topic helps the reader absorb your point, and act.

Openers and Enders

Direct Marketing studies show that the most-read sentences in any letter are the first and last sentences (especially if that last sentence is a ‘P.S.’).

Make your purpose clear in the first sentence: “I am writing to share details about the Jones project”.

After that you can introduce background information, but do not start there. People are busy. Tell them what they are going to read about, in the first sentence.

Recap your purpose at the end of the letter, and use the last sentence to ask for an action: “Please let me know by Friday…”.

Bullet Points

Use bullet points to catch the reader’s eye as she is skimming down the page (between the first and last sentences).

• Bullet points catch the eye
• They summarize the details
• Use sentence fragments to keep them brief
• Use only 3-5 bullet points

Be Informal

Unless you are writing for a scientific journal or your industry has a very formal style (i.e. law), keep your style informal. Use ‘you’ and ‘I’ instead of writing in the passive voice. For example, say “We decided at last week’s meeting to push forward with…” instead of “A meeting was held and it was decided that…”. Conversational language keeps a document livelier-and readers awake.

Keep It Brief

Try to keep documents to one page (or one screen, if email). People will read a short document immediately but put a long one in a ‘to read’ pile. Short communications also force you to keep to the point.

Edit out unnecessary words and repetition.

Don’t repeat yourself (like I just did).

Edit

Always leave time for editing. Re-read every piece of writing before you send it out, even quick emails. Edit out half your words if possible. Seriously.

Don’t rely on your spell-checker. I almost proposed giving a talk on “Sex Tips For Better Business Writing” to my local Chamber of Commerce. Luckily that is one of those errors that leaps off the page, but the spell checker didn’t catch it!

Find someone else to proofread your work or use these copyeditor’s tips: slowly read your work aloud once to make sure there are no missing or incorrect words. Then read the work backwards to look for spelling errors. Reading backwards helps you see typos.

Always carefully check these typo hot-spots check:

• telephone numbers
• zip codes
• names

Also check for ‘smart quotes’ that are turned around the wrong way, and missing punctuation.

—

Use these six tips to develop a clear, concise and correct business writing style. You will endear yourself to busy colleagues, and start to see improved response rates to your communications.

P.S. Contact me if you need a copy editor. (See what I mean about the P.S.?)

Kenney Shoe Stores: We only sell the right shoe.

Law firm ad: If you have experienced accident, injury or even death, call us…

Sexual harassment seminar ad: Experts will define issues, clarify laws, and conduct hands-on training.

We’ve upped our standards. Up Yours.

Sale: All furniture slashed!

Use [our medicine], and you can kiss your hemorrhoids goodbye!

________

Proof that it’s never a bad idea to hire a professional writer to help you say what you REALLY mean.