A Little Marketing Mistake That Cost Me $750

I had a minibike when I was younger. 

This thing was awesome, it was like a motorcycle but on a smaller scale. 

My whip ;)

This was before I had my drivers license (I was 14) so I really felt like i was the man cruising up and down my neighborhood with this thing. 

But enough about my childhood memories... 

I am hear today to tell you how a little mistake cost me $750.  

This minibike was the first product that I ever tried to sell on my own, with my own marketing material. 

Needless to say like most things...our first time is far from smooth sailing.

Yesterday I spoke about the most important part of any marketing piece, and today I will tell you the second most important part. 

Tell your reader exactly what you want them to do. 

Sounds simple doesn't it?

In Direct Response Marketing this is known as the "Call to Action." 

If you want them to call a specific number your call to action will tell them that. 

If you want them to sign up for a free report your call to action will tell them...you get the point. 

But the funny thing is, a lot of us leave this bit of information out of our marketing. We have our website and logos thinking that our readers will just know to go onto our site and find us. We think our readers will just know what to do after they read our ads. 

But unfortunately they don't. We need to spell out exactly what we want them to do. 

I have fallen victim to leaving out a strong call to action more than once but learned my lesson. 

Sometimes we are so interconnected with what we are selling/offering that we forget our readers probably do not have that same amount of familiarity as we do. 

We think that our ads or DR mail pieces are so understandable it would be crazy if someone didn't know what to do.....well you are loosing money and opportunities with this mindset. 

You have to spell out exactly what you want your reader to do after reading your piece. I mean take them by the hand and walk them through step by step on what they should do.

If you want them to call you...spell it out.  

Tell your reader the exact number to call, the time frame you will be answering these call, who will be answering the phone and of course again what's in it for them. 

I lost $750 because I did not spell out word for word what I wanted my readers to do when I was selling my minibike. I figured they will know to send me an email or call me if they are interested....as I sat for days wondering why I was getting no response from my ad. 

So don't make the same mistake I did. Have a clear call to action so there is 0 doubt on what your reader should do next. 

Just remember we can have the perfect headline that grabs attention, copy that persuades and inspires but if our readers don't have a clear call to action we have lost them forever. 

Until tomorrow! 

Over and Out, 

Paul "Still Cruizen" Lawrin