I couldn’t help but think of the effort companies put into creating their own style guides.
In many cases, the end results seem redundant to the guidelines set forth by AP, long considered the journalist’s and PR person’s standard for grammar, punctuation and, well, style.

Got me thinking: Why reinvent the wheel when you can re-use?
On AP’s website, I found a resource I didn’t know existed before. I think it’s worth sharing. AP offers companies site licenses that enable them to create fully searchable and interactive online stylebooks based on the AP Stylebook.

Companies can create a corporate version of the AP Stylebook by adding their own entries or adding notes to existing entries where their corporate style differs from AP Style. The end result is a custom corporate stylebook that is fully searchable online.

You may want to check out how it works and what it costs.

You can also follow APStylebook on Twitter: @APStylebook

Want to know why Apple is so successful? Or why you’ve never heard of Samuel Pierpoint Langley?

“People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.”
That’s the crux of Simon Sinek’s secret of the golden circle, as he explains it during this brilliant TED presentation.

The goal, says Simon Sinek, is not to sell people what you have. Instead, sell them what you believe.

Want the secret to inspiring your customers and employees?
Watch the video. You won’t be disappointed.

Thanks to @guykawasaki (who thanked @joemoreno) for posting this to HolyKaw.

Guest blogger: The following was written by a brilliant guy, Sean D’Souza. Sean runs Psychotactics.com. If you’re a marketer or small business owner who wants to understand how buyers think, check it out.

Is Your Marketing Solution Your Biggest Problem?

Have you had current or potential customers die on you while you’re speaking to them? You’re giving them this outstanding description of your process and capability and it’s going bing, bong, kazoom over their heads. Want to know why this happens? Read on because you’ll find the whole problem is actually your SOLUTION.

Doesn’t Make Sense?

Don’t worry. Within the course of this marketing article, you will find out just what it is that gets your clients attention and how to keep that attention, by shifting your marketing strategy from solutions to problems.

The Problem With Solutions

When you ask someone what they do, they usually spit out their process that they see as being a solution to your problems. So a person who cuts trees and mows lawns would say, ” I cut trees and mow lawns.”

I have a lawn mower, so that eliminates him completely, doesn’t it?

Bringing the problem to the fore, triggers a totally different response altogether. If the same person said, “Do you have a less than immaculate garden?” My response to the query would be, “Yes, maybe I do”.

Having established the problem, he now is in a position to know that I have a need for his service. Even better, he has brought to my notice, a problem I didn’t realise I had.

Always Work With A Problem

If you notice people around you, all of them are beset with problems. If you were to stand up and say, “Who has a cold that they just can’t fix?”, you will get about 6-7 hands going up instantly.

This happens because you’re attacking a problem. Obviously, they assume you have the solution, but by bringing their attention to the problem, you are targeting their specific needs. Once you’ve got their attention, it’s now time to make your pitch and give the specific target audience the solution.

The Beauty Of Problems

Solutions fall far short of the mark. Problems however go the full distance and more. If you noticed, in the previous example, I had two target audiences. One was the immediate target-the ones with the cold. The other- was the ones who were going to get the cold (no doubt from their illustrious colleagues). The secondary audience has no need for my product because it doesn’t have the problem. But in a week or so, as the germs move homes, the second audience too will be potential customers.

A solution on the other hand does less than a quarter of the job, if at all. It has been proven time and time again, that you cannot sell to anyone who doesn’t want to buy. The only reason someone would want to buy a product or service from you is because, it is solving some problem that is not being tackled currently.

Your First Task Is To Qualify The Problem

Find out what is your current client’s problem and then call their attention by reconstructing your statement in a problem-solution-target audience sequence.

Problems tend to perk up the ears of your target audience. Once you’ve achieved that, you then give them the solution (sometimes one crafted specially to their needs) and they understand the concept and respond to it.

Be Aware Of Your Specific Target Audience

Ask anyone who their customers are, and they usually say everyone. Then take a look at the newspaper classifieds. Businesses are always looking for specific positions to hire, people are always specifying exactly the kind of person they would like to meet in the personals.

Yet, you look at major advertising and the target is everyone…So which advertising actually works better? I don’t think I’d be too off the mark to state that dollar for dollar, the classifieds (thanks to their positioning) achieve far, far more than huge multinationals.

An Example That You Can Learn From…

One of the recent advertising campaigns that has done well to learn the concept of sacrifice is Jeans West. They have sacrificed colour, style and any other tags that competitors are running. They focus totally on their positioning which is Fits Best. The ads go on to demonstrate the price of time. One woman says, “These jeans cost me 2 hours.” Another says, “These jeans cost me 45 minutes.”

Can you see the target audience here? It’s specifically people who have a problem getting the right fit. Simple, isn’t it.

Most people would look at that and say, “Isn’t that too small a niche?” You think so? Think again. By getting their tiny little niche, they have stamped themselves very clearly in the minds of customers.

It’s quite clear how Jeans West, and their really smart ad agency have done their homework and created a targetted marketing strategy.

Problem: Wasting time finding the right fit
Solution: Finding the right fit in no time at all
Target Audience: Jean lovers that need the right fit

Empower Me, Don’t Tell Me!

I get e-mail from a travel agent every now and then. In the e-mail he gives me information that I could get just about any where. It has prices of airfares, new destinations and other such things that I could find with a little help from the newspapers or the Internet. Notice there’s no problem there. It’s all about solution, solution, solution.

I don’t have any need to travel right now and so I delete the email because it provides me with no tangible solution. When I decide to travel, the situation will have changed and none of their wonderful solutions will apply to me.

On the other hand, do you have trouble getting 10kg past the check-in counter? Or would you want to know of a foolproof way to beat jet lag? Or wouldn’t you like to know the tricks to get upgraded on your flight?

Most of us would answer yes to almost all these questions because they present problems that need to be solved. The travel agent has spent years in the business and knows stuff that you and I haven’t got a clue about. Important tips that we could carry around in our heads for years to come and use them as and when the problem presents itself.

How People Respond

Every problem is a trigger and when people run into that situation, they respond to your solution. Be sure, however, that the solution is not a passing fad, here today and gone tomorrow.

Also remember, when you empower people it adds to their knowledge. If you’re selling an expensive computer to a company, it’s not worth it telling the purchaser about the technical specifications and how it runs.

Figure out the problem and tell him how the technology will solve that problem. Remember he has to report to his boss and the boss has to report to the shareholders.

When you empower them with the problem and the solution, they can relay that on further, thus giving the whole process a sense of legitimacy.

It doesn’t matter however, whether you sell computers, air tickets or wine. The same principles apply and you will find that not only your sales, but your thought process and alertness increases in leaps and bounds simultaneously.

Your Strategic Action Plan

1) Find the unique solution you provide.
2) Differentiate it from all your obvious competition.
3) Find out the problem it throws up.
4) Target your audience very carefully.
5) To stay top of mind, give out information that throws up problems for which you provide solutions.
Hungry? Try the 85c McDonald’s Burger!

See the problem? See the solution. Great communication in advertising comes from great marketing. And great problems!

Go out there and find yours!

Want credibility? Just write a whitepaper.
Whoa, not so fast.

Many companies have valuable info and advice to offer, but fail to deliver it in a way that’s easy for readers to digest.

Which makes me ask, “Why waste time and money writing papers that go unread or, worse, undermine your business?”

So, I’ve created a list of 5 things you can do to write whitepapers that win over readers and build your expert status.

1. Write for a single audience.
When you try write a whitepaper for more than one audience, you dilute your message and risk losing your readers.

If people don’t feel you are speaking to them or that you understand their needs, they won’t bother to listen. If you want to grab your audience’s attention, target the content and tone precisely to them.

Even a recent report from MarketingSherpa showed 82% of those surveyed rated industry-specific content, and 67% rated job-specific content, as more valuable than non-specific content.

2. Use shorter words and sentences.
Long sentences and paragraphs can bore (even annoy) people—especially busy professionals.

Use smaller words and keep sentences and paragraphs short. Readers will get your message faster—and with less effort.

3. Avoid jargon or tech-speak.
Your audience shouldn’t have to decode your writing.

For example, too many whitepapers read like this:
XYZ Company is a customer-focused industry leader that can add value by streamlining your back office business processes and optimizing your front end with best-of-breed, enterprise-wide solutions that have been validated via a rigorous testing methodology.

When they should read like this:
Do you want to cut operations costs, close sales faster and boost top line revenue? Our software can help you improve performance across your entire organization. For more than a decade, XYZ Company has been helping clients in the aerospace industry do just that.

That said, there are times when technical terms are okay. For example, if you’re writing for an audience of aerodynamicists, talking about span and hypersonic flow is just fine.

4. Focus on benefits—not features.
It’s good to love your product. But don’t be blinded by its ‘cool factor’ and lose sight of customer needs.

A prospect reading your whitepaper wants to know one thing: “What’s in it for me?”

Instead of focusing on product features or technical skill, write about how they can meet goals or solve problems faster using your product. The features should be secondary.

Or, offer practical and product-agnostic advice on issues common to your reader’s job role or industry. In this way, you establish expert status and build trust with prospects.

5. Use active voice—not passive.
Why? Let’s rewrite the sentence above:
It is best when active voice, not passive, is used.

Active voice is more direct and concise. In most cases, it’s also more persuasive.

People favor the passive voice when they want to deflect responsibility for a comment or soften it because they think it may be too harsh.

But you have to ask yourself, if you’re not comfortable making an active statement, should you be making it at all? If yes, try rewriting it using the active voice and then softening the tone.

Go ahead, write that whitepaper.
I’m the last person to deter you from writing a whitepaper. I think they can be great prospecting tools at the early stages of the sales cycle, especially in leaner times.

Just be sure to write with clarity, honesty and purpose–and readers will respond.

Have any tips you’d like to add? Reply below.

The H1N1 vaccine shortage is a big ole sales SNAFU.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), an agency of the U.S. government, just sold us a product it can’t deliver. The vaccine shortage has left thousands anxious, confused, or just plain annoyed.

It’s also left a lasting impression of failure. Good thing the CDC is not subject to the whims of shareholders or market competition.

I wish I could say business has never made the same mistake.
But I’d be lying. Look no further than the recent Popeyes and Kentucky Fried Chicken debacles for proof.

Imagine. You spend loads of money, time and effort convincing customers your product is a MUST-HAVE. Convinced your product is something she can’t live without, your customer reaches into her pocket for the money to buy it.

Then, disaster strikes. You don’t have the product in-stock!
Worse, you don’t know when your next shipment will be in. You can’t deliver what you just spent time and money selling.

Now, how do you think your customer feels?
Duped, anxious, irritated and angry.

Soon, you may be feeling the pain too.
Not only did you waste marketing dollars and lose the sale, you lost a customer. You lost future business. You lost an advocate for your brand, one who might have told others why they should buy your product. You lost credibility.

And, the crisis management consultants you’ll need when your customer blogs and tweets about her experience to her 45,000 followers is going to cost you too.

But isn’t it common sense to sell only what you can deliver?
Yes. And no.

Yes, it’s common sense for a business to forecast intelligently and manage product inventory. But, when it comes to delivering services, it’s not uncommon for companies to underestimate their ‘inventory’ needs.

Chalk it up to a pervasive bias from which we all suffer: the tendency toward overconfidence and optimism.

How can you turn danger into opportunity?
Being aware of our biases is a first step.

Being conscious of the dangers of overpromising and underdelivering can help you more honestly assess capabilities, and then sell results you know you can deliver every single time.

After all, reliability breeds repeat customers. And repeat customers spend more. And more money…well, you see where this is going.

Admittedly, what I’m proposing here isn’t brain surgery. But, these days, being able to deliver what you sell seems to be as difficult as finding a needle in a…errr…doctor’s office?

PowerPoint Tip #1: It’s a big MISTAK not to spelcheek your work.
This is one of the funniest presentations I’ve ever seen on how NOT to use PowerPoint.

What’s the best thing about watching Don McMillan explain how “speling erors make you look stupider”? You’ll laugh and learn.

Some insist PowerPoint (or Apple Keynote) is passé. And, heck yeah, we’ve all sat through presentations that were dull or confusing or as long as the Verazzano bridge.

But let’s get real: It’s not the software that makes a presentation stink.
It’s how you use it. And, using it well can mean the difference between making the sale and making people fall asleep.

Get more tips on how to pack a punch with your presentations.
Here are some other resources I’ve found to be helpful myself:

1. World’s Best Presentation Contest 2009 Winners
The 2009 winners are great examples of persuasive, moving, entertaining and provocative presentations.

2. Really Bad Powerpoint
This is a Seth Godin article from 2007 but still relevant. And, if you haven’t already subscribed to Seth’s blog…well, what are you waiting for?

3. Presentation Tips from GarrReynolds.com
You’ll find preparation, design and delivery tips here. You may know Garr from his blog, Presentation Zen (also a great site that goes into more depth on presentation design principles).

What’s the best presentation tip or advice you’ve ever gotten?
Add your reply below.

Did you know there are roughly 228,000 words in the English language?
Yet, we use the same ones over and over again in our marketing content.
I’m no saint. I, too, have been guilty of using jargon in the past.

But marketing jargon is like a mirage in the desert.
You think it will quench your customers’ thirst for impressive-sounding products and services, when really it leaves them desperate for something real.

Out of respect for our customers, let’s pledge never again to use these words in our marketing content:

1. Synergy
A throwback to the management consulting heydays of the early ’90s, ‘synergy’ became a fancier way of saying, “We play well with others.”

Today, it sounds pretentious and even evasive. It could cause customers to wonder if there is any ‘there’ there.

People appreciate transparency. They want straight talk. If you’re talking about a partnership with a customer or business partner, call it what it is:

• partnership
• collaboration
• teamwork
• a joint effort
• working together

You get the idea.

2. Leverage (used as a verb)
Unless you’re talking about investing, don’t use leverage. Find a simpler word to convey your meaning.

For example, please don’t write:
Leverage our best-in-class solution to optimize your supply chain.

Instead, write:
Use our procurement software to source the high quality materials at the lowest prices.

I think people are fond of ‘leverage’ because it sounds more sophisticated than the word ‘use’. But it’s almost always better to err on the side of simplicity in business writing.

The next time you’re tempted to suggest customers ‘leverage’ your product or service, consider these alternatives instead: use, utilize, take advantage of, make the best of, employ, etc.

3. Best-of-breed or Best-in-class
If your products or services really are the best, tell customers why. What awards or accolades have you won? Everyone says their products and services are ‘best-in-class’, but few have legitimate claim to the title.

Dig deeper. Explain precisely what makes your products and services better than the competition’s. Give prospects and customers a more tangible reason to engage.

4. Impactful
Yikes. Powerpoint presenters…please stop! Impactful is not a word. (And impact, when used as a verb, is questionable.)

Your products or services are not impactful. They may be effective, useful, helpful, beneficial, valuable, powerful, and even transformative; but they are not impactful.

Make friends with your thesaurus
Next time you’re tempted to use impactful jargon to explain how customers can leverage your best-of-breed solutions, try creating synergy with a thesaurus.

A thesaurus is a marketing writer’s best friend. I never write without one. It can help you find smarter, shorter substitutes for marketing jargon.

Banning ‘consultant-speak’ or ‘marketing fluff’ from your website, brochures and sales letters won’t diminish your value to customers. It will increase it.

Suddenly, customers will be able to absorb your meaning more readily. They’ll have more reason to trust you, when they don’t have to read between the lines of your marketing content just to figure out what you really bring to the table.

So, there you have my top four marketing misfits. What are yours? Let me know by replying below.

Gawande set out to discover why such a large discrepancy in medical costs existed between two US communities with similar demographics.

What did he find out that got President Obama’s attention?
1. Doctors in higher-cost areas are motivated by the wrong thing: money.
2. Higher costs don’t result in better care (and could lead to worse).

Profit growth had become an acceptable (even laudable) goal in some medical communities. The more acceptable, the more likely heathcare costs were to be higher and the quality of care, lower.

How did this happen?
When money became the bottom line, quality declined. In the words of one cardiac surgeon, doctors started behaving like business people.

So, what’s the fix? Doctors need to go back to being doctors.

What does this have to do with marketing your business?
You might benefit from acting like a doctor too.

Take a lesson from the Mayo Clinic. Mayo nurtured a culture where the focus was on improving care, not the bottom line. By eliminating seductive financial incentives and focusing first on patient needs, it actually decreased costs and improved quality of care.

Mayo proved better quality care can cost less when patients are put first.

How can you make your business healthier and your clients happier?
Which do you trust more: the company whose focus is on the almighty dollar or the one whose priority is making you happy?

Just like you want to feel you matter more than money, so do your customers. So why not act like a doctor and treat your customers like patients? Care for their needs ahead of your bottom line, and you’ll win their trust. Trust engenders loyalty. The money should flow from there.

Make your business the Mayo Clinic of your industry. Here are a three simple guidelines.

1. Put customer needs first.
Understand your customers. Only recommend products or services relevant to their needs. If you oversell, you might boost short-term profits but you’ll break trust in the long run. After all, most people are savvy enough to realize they were duped into buying something they didn’t really need.

2. Reward employees for sustaining the lifetime “health” of customers.
Create incentives that reward your employees for customer satisfaction and repeat business.

Short-term revenue goals produce short-term successes. Don’t waste time and money chasing after product development trends that don’t have legs or churning through customers. After all, it costs a lot more to get new customers than to keep existing ones.

3. Make every cup of coffee a $31,000 experience.
Respect the lifetime value of your customers.

Do you like coffee? A small cup of coffee at Starbucks costs about $2.00. If you’re like me, you might also throw in a muffin or scone. So now you’re spending $4.00, three or four times a week and occasionally on weekends.

As a customer, are you worth $4.00? Not even close. You’re worth at least $31,000!*

But Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts can’t win your lifelong loyalty if the coffee tastes like brown water, the cashier ignores you or the barista takes 30 minutes to make your latte when you’re already late for work.

The customer experience has to be priority number one.
Make every customer who walks through your door, visits your site, or attends one of your events feel like they just got a $31,000 cup of coffee. Make every customer understand that you care about their well-being and success at least as much as you do your margins, and preferably more.

*over a period of 30 years, assuming a spend of $20/week

When it comes to Twitter, Hubspot is definitely doing something right.

A B2B company that offers inbound marketing software to smaller businesses, Hubspot has been hugely successful using Twitter to generate new leads.

And, would you believe they’re willing to share their secrets with you?
Check out its How to Use Twitter for Business: A Beginner’s Guide.

And then create your own Twitter success story.

Do you Twitter?

My B2B clients are asking: “How should I use Twitter?” It frustrates me that I don’t have a definitive answer.

Twitter is a no-brainer for B2C brands like Comcast, Starbucks or iPhone. Consumers are hungry for help setting up their cable modems, for the next killer iPhone app or for the next free latte promotion.

But what if your products are services and your customers, businesses?
How should B2B companies use social media to get leads, build brand loyalty and engage customers.

I’ll be looking for and sharing B2B social media successes and snafus in the coming months.

If you’re new to Twitter, take a look at the Social Media Brand Index, which lists companies that tweet already. Get a feel for how your competitors are using Twitter and other social media tools.

And I’ll be Tweeting myself. You can follow me @wordwealthy. I promise to follow you back.