Bragging Rights Received a compliment, praise or award lately? Play it up in your ads.

What kind of person would call me at seven in the morning, bendmy ear nonstop for nearly an hour about his passion for hisprofession, and then sell me on helping him become even moresuccessful at it . . . all before I had taken even one swig oforange juice or bite of toast?

His name is Ramon Williamson, of McLean, Virginia, and it wasnot surprising to learn he is a professional sales trainer andcoach, one of those caffeinated supermotivators hired to give peptalks to company salespeople to get them to move more merchandise.And I have to say, this guy delivers the goods . . . at least ingetting me pumped up to work on an ad makeover for him.

Williamson sent his small-space ad for review, and my reactionwas that it had a decent hook--affordability, for a typicallypricey service--but still needed more to separate him from othertrainers. Also, the prospect might wonder whether, behind all thepulpit-pounding, fist-pumping, rah-rah enthusiasm andself-promotion, this guy is as good as he claims to be.

Williamson probably knows that one of the best corroborators ofcapability is a third-party endorsement, meaning recognition forcompetence or excellence by some objective authority, apart fromyou or your clients. When you get an award, it's a form ofthird-party endorsement. A review of your product is also a type ofthird-party endorsement. And magazines often act in that role bybestowing annual "Best Of . . . " awards in variouscategories of interest to their readership; the honorees can thenuse that plaudit to promote their businesses.

Williamson got such a "best" designation from aperiodical called Selling Power, which named him one of thebest sales trainers. I don't know what the criteria were or howthe judging was conducted, but he got a blue ribbon slapped on hislapel for it--and I recommend he leverage that recognition in hisad.

Getting Recognition

Before I get down to recommending how Williamson can use thisrecognition for his ad, let's talk about how you can garnersome of that same third-party praise for your business, kudos todrop into your ads, paste in your storefront window or even imprinton your letterhead. Obviously, if your firm has already beensingled out for recognition, don't wait a second longer to getthat distinction into your advertising. And the more impressive thehonor, the more play you'll want to give it. But even if youhaven't been given recognition, here's another possibility:You may be using a part, process or ingredient from one of yoursuppliers that has received such praise. Well, you deserve creditfor it, too, because you thought highly enough of your customers orclients to provide it to them.

For example, if you manufacture a home product made with asubstance that's been given a high rating of some sort, youmight want to trumpet that fact, saying something like "madewith the flame retardant rated #1 by the American Fire SafetyCouncil." Or let's say you're a financial advisor andyou consult a highly rated stock picking service. That fact shouldget a mention in your promotional material. If you subscribe to awell-known industry newsletter that recommends a certain productyou use, why not say "We use the gear goop that received topmarks from Auto Mechanics Monthly," or words to thateffect?

Operating a restaurant? Harvard Medical School researchersrecently released results of a long study in which they found thateating regular helpings of tomato sauce may dramatically reducecancer risk (it has to do with a chemical in tomatoes that's apotent antioxidant). If I ran a pizza parlor or Italian eatery, Imight enlarge the article that announced the study's conclusionand paste it in my front window, complete with yellow highlightingof the key points. No, it's not a "best" endorsement,but by implication, it says that you, the restaurateur, serve foodthat may help save lives.

But what if, no matter how hard you think, you can't come upwith such a connection for your product or service? In that case,don't forget the weight that the Better Business Bureau plaquecarries with new customers when they see it on the office wall oron your letterhead. That's an implied endorsement.

As far as Williamson's ad is concerned, I am recommending heuse the following headline: "Named one of the Best in SalesTraining." And as you can see, I've sized the type so thewords "Named" and "Best" leap out to arrest thepassing reader. Then the ad goes on to explain the source of therecognition. Since the periodical Selling Power may not bewell-known, I refer to it as a "national sales and marketingmagazine." The rest of the ad touts Williamson's work withsome high-profile corporations, which helps cement the image ofcredibility. And I've also developed the fact that he's aseminar trainer as well as a private coach--a distinction, he says,that gives him an edge.

Williamson can get some extra mileage out of this ad byreprinting it in a larger size and mailing it with a sales letterto his hotBODY prospects. The letter would refer to some of the keyselling points in the ad, and the ad would work as a low-cost buteffective substitute for a brochure.

Adventures in E-Mail

Last month I told you I was going to report back on myexperiment with the use of bulk e-mail advertising to promote amanual I wrote. Bulk e-mail is the method of electronically sendingout hundreds or thousands of marketing letters each day to onlineprospects via your computer (or through a bulk e-mail service),eliminating the need for buying envelopes, postage and mailinglists.

I also mentioned that this technique is controversial--evenreviled--because many people on the receiving end of this kind ofunsolicited marketing do not take kindly to it. And they can bevery verbal about it, sending back what is called "flame"mail, angry e-mail telling you what they think of theblankety-blank letter they got from you. Still, e-mail is apowerful direct-marketing medium.

My own solicitation was only moderately successful and mighthave done better if the mailing had been more highly targeted,meaning if it had gone out specifically to a list of people with aneed or affinity for my product. Instead, it went out to a large,more random list of people, which accounts for the relatively lownumber of responses--as well as the flame mail--I got.

This type of response is very much in keeping with the resultsof postal direct mail. If it's targeted to the recipient'sinterest, they'll likely pay close attention to it. If it'sabout a product or service they care little about, it'll becrumpled and trashed. So if you decide to give bulk e-mail a tryand you have a product or service that has a specific audience,insist on mailing to a more targeted list. Even though the size ofthe mailing is much smaller and costs more than a random mail drop,you'll have better results--and get torched less by the flamemailers.

Contact Sources

Ramon Williamson, c/o Williamson Sales & Leadership,2010 Corporate Ridge, #700, McLean, VA 22102, (703) 749-1400.

Jerry Fisher is a freelance advertising copywriter. Ifyou'd like him to consider your materials for a makeover, sendthem to the address below. For information on his new manual,Creating Successful Small Business Advertising, send aself-addressed, stamped envelope to "AdvertisingWorkshop," Entrepreneur, 2392 Morse Ave., Irvine, CA 92614, orcontact Jerry via America Online at Jerry228@aol.com.