When Is a Sale Not a Sale?

by Elle Ray | Jul 12, 2015 | Small Business Advice

Instilling a Sense of Urgency Makes Better Copy

“Biggest blow-out of the year!”

“Don’t wait, buy today while prices are at their lowest ever!”

“We’ll never slash prices like this ever again!”

“Hurry! Sale ends Monday at 5:00 PM!”

It's a huge sale... or is it?

You don’t believe these ads. Or do you? You are bombarded with these “sales” messages every day — on TV, on the radio and on most Internet ads. The sense of urgency produced probably tends to get tiresome. You stop hearing the repetitious phrases and block out the so-called call to action they imply. Or do you?

Buy Now! It Works

A sense of urgency in your marketing copy can help to double, triple or even quadruple your conversion rates. Why? Because it works.

Groupon has made excellent use of the urgent call to action by limiting not only time that its deals are available, but also the number of people who can claim them. The Asheville, NC-based Rug & Home advertises on television with an obnoxious young blond who tells viewers that the big sales always end on “Monday” or after a big holiday sale when, in fact, the sales never end. Prices rarely change.

create a sense of urgency in your ads But buyers keep coming in. And the company thrives. The sales manager at the North Carolina rug outlet once said that the commercials work because: “The ads shake the trees, and then we rake up the leaves.”

Psyched Up

While it may seem unproductive and illogical, the fear of missing out drives many buying decisions. John B. Watson, the founder of behaviorism in America, worked for one of the biggest ad agencies in New York City. He believed that consumers make buying decision based on one or more basic human emotions — fear, love or rage.

A sense of urgency in your marketing copy appeals to the innate fears most people possess — the fear of missing out. And the ubiquitous nature of social media only confirms this idea. People fear missing out on something more than they fear anything else.

Consider the enormous risks people take texting while driving just to ensure they don’t miss a thing. Mediums like Facebook allow users to get notified about every move made by anyone who means anything, whether or not it is important.

Just in Case

So you may not actually believe the advertised sale is for a limited time. You may know instinctively that if you don’t act within the next 24 hours, you will lose your sole chance to buy that cool thing. Nevertheless, if you’re like most people, you think, “Maybe it’s true this time.” It’s kind of like the agnostic who won’t go all the way to embrace atheism “just in case.”

So build a sense of urgency into your copy. Make your sales last for just the weekend. Set time limits on your special offers. Tell consumers that if they don’t want to miss the biggest deal in town, they should act today. Because otherwise your message will get lost in the fog of all the other “sales” messages.

Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.

The Art and Science of Business Blog Writing

by Mark Bloom | Jun 28, 2015 | Blog Writing

Everything You Should Know About Keywords

Ray Access writes business blogs from a desktop like this

Writing business blogs, one of the core services Ray Access provides, is not like writing for a newspaper. It’s not writing a scholarly essay. And it’s certainly not like writing a short story. There’s an art and a science to it that few have mastered.

When done correctly, blog content attracts people looking for similar topics. It draws traffic to your website. A business blog can be a marketing tool, promoting your business and extending your reach, but only if your business blog posts are written properly. You don’t necessarily need Ray Access for this process, but we can do it quickly and inexpensively, freeing you up to run your business.

What Are Keywords?

A keyword is actually a string of words that together compose a phrase that someone may type into a search engine entry field. In other words, it’s a phrase that people are searching for. The more people that are searching for that phrase, the more valuable that keyword phrase becomes. Broad keywords (such as “writing”) have lots of competition, while more refined keyword phrases (such as “business blog writing”) may be easier to rank for.

Choosing the right keywords is an important part of gaining online visibility for your website. For example, if you own a massage business, your location should be in the keyword, as well as a descriptive word. So “Asheville therapeutic massage” is a better keyword phrase than “table massage.”

The Science of Business Blog Writing

Using keywords appropriately is the science of blog writing for your business. Keywords make it easier for people looking for your business to find you. Keywords tie your business blogs into the way search engines work.

But that’s not the only thing you need to know about the science of business blogging. You also need to post blogs regularly and consistently. You do not need to post a new blog every day, although that wouldn’t hurt. Once a week is sufficient. Your business still gets benefits from a bi-weekly or even monthly blog post; it just takes a little longer to work.

The Art of Blogging for Business

When you write a business blog post, write for your human visitors, not for the search engines. Only by providing useful content will you gain online traction. While the goal of maintaining a blog is to market your business, the way to do it is to appeal to actual people.

Answer common (and uncommon) questions about your business, industry or location. Share tips about your product or service. Provide content that is “share-worthy.” Going viral is hitting a home run in the blogging community, but don’t expect it to happen often. Target your customers and write to help them in some way. That’s the way to build your business.

Writing Tips

Develop a title that will grab attention. “Tips” is a good word to use in the title. So is “How to.” Include subheadings within the content. That helps visitors scan the article to find information. Subheads also break up the text so you don’t have imposing paragraphs that chase visitors away.

Use language that your customers can understand. When you write, speak to your audience, not at them. Write in approachable terms. You are building a relationship with your customers, so just as you might in real life, face-to-face situations, be polite, clear and friendly. Remember, that people do business with people and companies they like. Be likeable, even in print. It’s a science and an art that the experts at Ray Access can help you master.

Just Like the Cobbler’s Kids

by Elle Ray | May 15, 2015 | Content Provider

We Have Good News and More Good News…

just like the cobbler's kids

We haven’t been slacking, and we’re not on vacation. The truth is that Ray Access has been busier than ever as April 2015 marked new highs in almost every category of our business. That’s the good news. Linda and Mark love staying busy and love writing, so for us, it’s a winning situation.

Unfortunately, that means our blog has suffered. It’s like the cobbler’s kids going without shoes because the cobbler is too busy mending other people’s shoes. Like us, this particular cobbler is likely the best in town, so new customers keep coming to him and old customers keep coming back. Meanwhile, his own kids go without.

It Will Get Better

So we apologize for not blogging for ourselves over the past month. That’s bad form, and it’s exactly what we advise our clients not to do. Now we’re back for a bit of air and rededicating ourselves to keeping our site active and updated.

We’re also making other changes. You can see our new logo, which we developed with a professional designer. In the very near future, you’ll get to see a new website design as well. It’s “in the works.” We appreciate your patience as we transform our web presence into the successful company we’ve become behind the scenes.

Expanding Our Reach

One of our other initiatives has been to expand our reach beyond Asheville, North Carolina. While most of our clients come from Western North Carolina, we’ve been able to attract some great clients from as far away as:

New Jersey
Manhattan
Charleston, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina

In addition, we network monthly in Greenville, SC, gaining some visibility in the Upstate region. As we grow, our network of referrals grows as well. Why? Because we do excellent work for our clients, and the results show. Our clients are not just getting more visitors to their websites, but they are also converting more visitors into customers. Content marketing, one name for what we do, works over time to gain visibility and market share for your company.

The Internet Advantage

Remember the movie tagline: “In space, no one can hear you scream?” Well, online, no one can tell at a glance whether your company has 2 or 200 employees. In this way, the Internet has become the Great Equalizer for small businesses around the country. To take advantage of this, however, your website has to be top-notch and professional.

By “professional,” we don’t mean “cold and impersonal.” But your website has to look like the company behind it is huge and successful. Design plays an important role. So do photography and iconography. But maybe more important than any of that is the content of your site. It must answer questions. It must invite visitors to stay. It must gain trust and create community. That’s a lot to ask, but it is possible.

So when you want to compete with anyone in your industry, contact Ray Access. We know how to give you the Internet advantage so your business doesn’t end up like the cobbler’s kids.

5 Blogging Tips for Non-Writers

by Elle Ray | Apr 8, 2015 | Blog Writing

Ray Access Makes Blogging a Bit Easier for You

writing: it looks so easy

A blog is an ideal vehicle for sharing information with your business customers, for attracting new customers to your website and for communicating with people within your industry. The problem, of course, is that you may not feel like you can write a blog post. When you don’t know what to say or how to say it, you end up saying nothing at all.

But blogging delivers real results. A regular business blog can help you establish yourself as an expert in your field. So, to create engaging copy and entertaining blog posts, follow these five tips from the experts at Ray Access:

Keep Your Promises
Visitors to your site will resent it if they follow a link full of promise, but get nothing of value. Deliver what your title says you’ll deliver and give readers information they can use. Only then have you earned enough trust to ask for their business. You can’t lure them in for a sale without keeping your promises. If visitors don’t trust you for the simple things, they certainly won’t trust you with their hard-earned money.
Say Something Worthwhile
Respect is a two-way street, so if you want customers to respect you — and your products or services — enough to make a purchase, respect their time. Don’t waste your opportunity to connect with visitors with blog posts about what you did during your recent retreat, how your golf game reflects your excellence or what your latest sale brought in. Provide valuable, useful information, even if it’s not about your company. If you can enlighten your readers or improve their lives, you can bet they’ll take the time to read your post.
Include Graphics
Not everyone reads an entire blog, but if you can condense the information in a graphic, then do it. Give everyone that option. Graphs and charts often tell a story or impart key information much better than a block of text can. Plus, graphics break up the text and help readers get the information quicker. Artistic graphics draw the readers’ eyes to where you want them to look.
Try a Video
More and more people are getting used to the idea of website videos. Many younger Internet users prefer to sit back and watch rather than read. But to appeal to older visitors, include the script — or at least the highlights of the video — below it. Avid readers can scan through the text in seconds, and you keep them on your page long enough to get to your call for action.
Don’t Forget a Call to Action
“Hire us to write your blogs if you don’t have time.” That’s a call to action, and you need to include one somewhere in your text, preferably after you’ve already earned your readers’ trust and given them educated food for thought. A blog is not the place to put your latest big sale. Save that for your homepage or even better — a sale or specials page. That way, folks who are looking for deals can find them. But you want every reader to do something after reading your blog. Don’t leave it up to them to figure it out.

We hope these blogging tips will make your blog useful, powerful and effective. Good luck!

Gobble Gobble!

by Elle Ray | Nov 26, 2014 | Blog Writing

Is That the Turkey or Your Mother-in-Law?

That’s the question we’ve always wanted to ask. That sound — gobble, gobble — could be what turkeys mutter as they voice their displeasure. Or it could be what people (not just your mother-in-law) sound like at the Thanksgiving Day table. Or it could be both. Both, we could argue, represent this holiday.

happy Thanksgiving from Ray Access

Perhaps the bigger question is how that ties into the business of business blogging, since that is one of the things we do at Ray Access. It’s not such a stretch when you take the time to consider it. We cover a wide range of topics on this blog, from writing tips to ergonomic office furniture to small business tips to fashion advice (of all things). We can write about Thanksgiving if we want to.

Tying Your Blogs into Current Events

The point is that it sometimes the subject of your blog post doesn’t matter. You want to be able to reach out on your blog to attract a wide variety of readers. Readers who come to your blog are visitors to your website. If your blog is working properly, you are attracting the right audience. For Ray Access, our audience is anyone with a business or a message. So we cast a wide net.

You can do the same. Write about current events, holidays, or popular subjects. Use keywords that people are currently searching for. You may attract new readers and new visitors to your website. Once they arrive, they may decide to take a look around your website, especially if they fit your target demographic.

How to Write Current Event Blog Posts

what does Thanksgiving corn have to do with writing? The trick to tying your blog posts to current events is to find the angle that connects your business to the event or holiday. It’s not that difficult to do. For example, in this blog post, we’re discussing writing techniques for blog posts, but tying it to the Thanksgiving holiday. Reread that last sentence. Taken out of context, it seems like a stretch, and yet this post hits the mark.

Anyone looking for Thanksgiving tips, the sound a turkey makes or complaints about mothers-in-law may find our little blog post and gain some insight about writing. If they are also a business owner and find themselves in need of writing help, they’ll likely remember us.

At least, that’s our evil plan.

You Can Do It Too

All you need is to set aside some time — an hour, several minutes, whatever you can squeeze into your schedule — and brainstorm a few ideas about how to connect your business to current events. It can be a direct tie, as when we wrote a blog post for a gastroenterologist client about the illnesses on cruise ships in the news. Or it could be more abstract, like tying a business-writing business to the Thanksgiving holiday.

If you get stuck, call in the pros at Ray Access. We do this for a living. We can help you attract a wider audience while gradually raising your page rank. Content marketing works, but only if you keep at it. Don’t let complacency drop your page rank; let us help.