Find the Value of What You're Selling

Recently, I was lucky enough to take a profitable freelance writing course from a former WOW! student, Arfa Saira Iqbal, who has been supporting herself and her two children with a copywriting business for the last seven years. She needed reviews, and so I was able to take the class for free! I feel so lucky to have been given this opportunity; but what I really loved about the class was how I could apply the lessons to my businesses and improve them. Those businesses would be Editor 911 and the children's books that I am once again marketing (after a sabbatical during a divorce). Arfa had amazing tips and how-tos, but the one message that really came out in almost every single webinar and module was...

What value are you offering your clients/readers?

What was it that Oprah used to call the moments when everything became clear, and we started ourselves on a new path? Aha moments! During Arfa's class, I had a few aha moments, and I thought to myself: this is the key to marketing--whatever it is you are marketing, the key is for your customers to understand what value they will be getting from your product.

Think about any purchases you may have made on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday. Did you buy anything that doesn't have value to you? I purchased a Blu-Ray player for my daughter and me (an extremely unbelievable deal from Target) because that has value to me--currently, we watch Redbox movies on my laptop because we have no working DVD/Blu-Ray player. This product was a well-known brand, and it came with a 2-year extra warranty for only $6.50. That is value for me. But someone else, with three of these players, would not think this deal had value. I really am going somewhere with this...stay tuned!

What I think we do as authors and writing service professionals (editing, graphic design, proofreaders, copywriters)  is TRY to make our books and products valuable to everyone. But they just aren't. It's impossible. Hopefully, what you're selling does have value to a large audience, but you have to take time to figure out who that audience is and what value your books/products provide for them.

If you write romance, for example, your audience is generally female, usually married, and often a parent, too. The value your books are providing is escape from the monotony of life, enjoyment during "free time", and a healthy way to stimulate the mind. Now, I'm not suggesting this is the slogan or tagline on your books or website, but your underlying message needs to show people the value of your books. "Spend $5 with me, and you will take a trip to Elizabethan England for a love story greater than Romeo and Juliet."

If you are an editor, how are you helping your clients? Are you helping them prepare a manuscript for publishing when they can't do it themselves? Are you proofreading for self-publishing so the author doesn't get bad reviews on Amazon?

Arfa says to let your website visitors and people you meet know your value. Don't brag! But let them know how you can help them. In order to do this, you have to sit down on a quiet winter night and answer these questions:

1. Who is my audience/client?
2. What value does my product or service bring to these people?
3. Now...where do I find them?

Margo L. Dill is a writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher, living in St. Louis, MO. You can find out more about her and her books on her website here. If you want to make your own Individualized Marketing Plan this winter (everyone needs one!), then you can sign up for her class ,which is currently on special for only $99!