Some time ago I wrote a Direct Mail Package and full page magazine ads for an International Database Developer Software company.
What’s that? Well I didn’t know either.
It is so technical that it took me a week to translate their existing sales literature from ‘Techie-Speek’ into English. Their literature was written and aimed at very technically minded people. Computer Programmers in particular.
However, I wrote the new sales messages in ‘layman’s language’. Why? Because even technical people don’t always understand everything technical.
And tomorrow’s ‘Techie’ is today’s ‘Newbie’. And TODAY’S customer.
Sales increased by 400%.
I’ll repeat that – 400%. Does that tell you anything besides the fact that I like to show off?
Maybe it tells us that ‘Techies’ also understand ‘Newbie-Speek’ but not the other way round.
Here’s an ezine Ad I came across from a ‘Techie’ who has never heard the word ‘Newbie’………
#### MusicMatch Jukebox is integrated digital music- management software for the home. It combines a CD ripper, MP3 encoder, playlist maker, ID3 tag editor, and media player in one package. CD audio is digitally extracted and encoded directly to MP3 format with no intermediary WAV file, using Xing MPEG encoding technology.####
Hmmm, I wonder if it would play music CD’s on my computer…
The point I’m making is that this piece of software may make a great deal of difference to my life-style. If I knew what it was I may well be tempted to buy it!
I am reminded of an experience some years ago when I ventured out to buy a new Hi-Fi system. You’ve been there.
I visited FOUR stores and was blinded with science by 17 year old ‘sales executives’ with fluff on their chins, whose sole purpose in life was to exhibit their superior knowledge about electronics. Sub Woofer? I want music not an aquatic Rottweiller!
I finally came across a PROFESSIONAL salesman who asked me what I WANTED from a Hi-Fi, and demonstrated a system that SUITED MY NEEDS. More about Translation Agencies UK
He made a $1500 sale in 10 minutes.
The fact that when I got it home I couldn’t understand the Manual wasn’t his fault! It was written in ‘Techie-Speek’.
Just Give Me What I Want”
Please excuse the formal greeting but I couldn’t find your name on your Website.
I buy quite regularly on the Internet, and I was drawn to your site by one of your ezine ads. Your book ‘How To Build The Perfect Website’ seemed just the thing I was looking for.
Boy did you make it difficult for me!
I may not know much about site building, but I do know one thing. If its my money you’re after, you’re in danger of starving to death!
When I visit your site, please identify its purpose. I find a headline on each page is a great help but you obviously disagree. The fact is there were so many things on offer, I wasn’t sure whether you specialized in anything in particular.
And why didn’t you tell me who you are? I didn’t expect a full biography but a contact name and email would have been more reassuring than webmaster@. It’s so impersonal and adds to the distrust many of us have about Internet marketers.
And why you, and so many others, seem terrified to list a phone number mystifies me. I can only assume you’re afraid of being swamped with complaints about poor service and sub standard goods. I may be wrong of course, but I know many others feel the same way. It re-assures us you see.
It was only because I was distracted by a spilled cup of coffee in my lap, that I waited around for your page to load. Even a ‘no brainier’ like me knows that graphics should be optimized for fast loading.
In fact I would advise kicking them off your site altogether. They certainly did nothing to add to my experience. And those animated banners gave me a migraine!
I’m known as a very persistent person, and it’s just as well I am. It took me ages to find the page I wanted. It was the navigation.
The buttons were in different places on each page. And they weren’t identified very well. I clicked on ‘Products’ 3 times before I found the specific book I needed
A site map would have helped, but you didn’t seem to have one. Unless it was the navigation problem again. I get impatient and easily confused you see. And so does my computer.
Its system isn’t exactly bang up to date, but I’ve never been able to justify the cost of upgrading it. Even though it’s only 3 years old it couldn’t quite handle some of the 3rd millennium technology you employ. Of course you may not mind losing the ‘old fashioned’ visitors, but there are lots of us around.
Another thing that confused me was that my printer couldn’t print out your information. It was your tutorial on ‘Professional Site Design’ that I found particularly interesting. The page looked really attractive with its white text against a blue background.
Because I found it impossible to read on screen I decided to print it out. I don’t print the background colors, so when I came to read it later the white text didn’t show up on the paper. Why is that?
Anyway, I thought I would write to you and offer a piece of advice that all successful on-line and off-line marketers have apparently known for many years.
