The Emotional Appeal of Your Business

When we try to change the behavior of other people, the authors of Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard point out that our first instinct is to teach them something—give them lots of facts and figures. But the most effective change comes when we appeal to other’s emotions rather than their intellect.

Take for example Silpada Jewelry’s recent magazine advertisement, appealing to women who want to start a business and depicting that woman with her family. Large photos and the following text:

“I never run out of vacation days.” When you control your time, there is no need to ration vacation days. “I spend more time with my family, earn a great income, and grow in ways I never thought possible. I truly love my life.”

Those are powerful words that appeal to our emotions. Who doesn’t want to spend more time with their family? Who doesn’t want to control their own time?  Who doesn’t want to earn a great income? Who doesn’t want to love their life?

In Boom Start: Super Laws of Successful Entrepreneurs, they state that a product (or service) is made up of three components: core, tangible, and augmented. The core of your product is its emotional essence. For example, the core of McDonalds’s restaurants is Family, Fun, and Friends. Sure they are selling great hamburgers, fries, and a drink—the tangible product—but more importantly they are appealing to us at an emotional level. And then just in case we become bored with the “same old,” they augment with upbeat advertising, Ronald McDonald and his friends, and the world famous Golden Arches.

As you think about your business, first focus on the heart of your business, the core that stirs emotions. Start there as you prepare marketing material for your business. In order to convince people to buy your product and/or service, pay more attention to the emotional appeal and less to filling the space with facts and information.

Bev McCrostie, M.Ed.
YOUR UNLIMITED POTENTIAL
Coaching Small Business Startups

Business Startup Tips: 2 More Lists

In a previous post, I provided two alternatives to the To-Do List in building your buisness: the Stop Doing List and a Loose List. Since then in my daily travels, I have come across two more lists.

The Courtyard Marriott in San Jose, CA, had an Accomplished List, which they indicate is “Much more gratifying than a to-do list, don’t you think?” They are so correct – a list of what I’ve accomplished gives me a greater feeling of achievement than a list of all the things I have yet to do.

But at some point I must have written down my plans to achieve otherwise I would never have got beyond the “thinking about it” point. Perhaps I told a friend my new idea – speaking out loud often solidifies ideas for me, especially when my friends don’t then declare that I’m crazy!

An Accomplished List did get me thinking though. When was the last time that I had created a list of things I have accomplished in the past day, week, or years? I do have a list, of sorts, in a collection of photos and a portfolio. Each item documents my successes in both my personal and my professional lives. I have tangible evidence that I am growing and making a difference in my life and the lives of others.

Are you taking the time to focus on and document your journey to becoming a successful business owner?

The other list was an ordinary Shopping List. What made it unique was that Bryan Johnson used it as a marketing opportunity. The Shopping List pad was sitting at the checkout at our local Maceys grocery store.  At the bottom of the list, he included his picture and contact information. Even if potential clients do not end up using it as their shopping list, they may keep it for later use as a quick notes sheet.

Can you think of a marketing tool you could create that would be unique and helpful to your target market?

Bev McCrostie, M.Ed.
Virtual Assistant Certificate
Red Deer College
Bev.mccrostie@rdc.ab.ca
www.virtualassist.ca