I hear it all the time. And it is flat-out wrong. It comes out in coaching calls here. I see it posted on FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and nearly every Contractor Discussion board.
Contractors, understandably wringing their hands, want to know something like, "Hey, do postcards work?" Or, "Is your website getting you leads?" Or, "Anyone tried radio?"
They focus on the thing that "costs", that is, the media. They've been brainwashed by the media salespeople who all claim "theirs" is best, cheapest, fastest, blah blah. It's all a crock of crack.
What "sells" is the message. Always has been, always will be. A rotten message in any media you choose is still a rotten message. According to Clayton Makepeace, America's highest paid copywriter and marketing strategist:
"The media doesn't make the sale. The message does. Therefore,
the way you persuade people to buy never changes."
You can drive thousands to your website using sophisticated SEO strategies, or rise to the top through Google paid listings. Yet if your message is poor, the traffic comes and is gone, leaving you with one very expensive revolving door on your website. Same with 10,000 letters, a dozen billboards, and the glitziest TV ad ever shot.
It's not the media, it's the message.
Get that right and the market will respond. The media is merely the delivery vehicle. So, what makes a good message? In the last 11 years of focusing on contractor sales messages and selling a few billion dollars of equipment, this is the gold list. Click for the Top 5 Messages that nearly force prospects to respond.
