First: Work on your grammer and sentence structure i.e. - "We know the importance of a resume, and that’s why when you come to us we assign a writer to you who will guide you step by step in creating a resume according to your specific needs, educational qualifications and experience." Second: Too much copy about who you are. No more than a line or two is needed for establishing expert appeal. Nobody cares that you were founded in 2004. They care what you can do for them. Third: No guarantee. Make it easy for me to make a decision, especially since I don't know you from Adam. Fourth: Call to action is weak. "What are you waiting for...?" Harp on the benefits... then tell me what I need to do. The special discount for acting now is a step in the right direction. Fifth: When you want a review, throw it online so folks like me don't have to download it. Get a blog... it's free. If it weren't for Sneakyheathen, I would have no idea what you wrote. That's a start... Good luck.
Well, I think it does help if I tell people when the firm was established. It tells them how long we've been in business and the wealth of experience we have. Many companies do it. I am sure you must have heard of taglines such as 'since 1995' or 'estd. 1987'. People love figures and statistics. Even McDonalds advertises how many burgers have been sold till date.
Agreed... many companies DO do it. Many companies also spend millions on branding in the hope tha when I go to buy a bar of soap their name will pop into my lead. Even more companies use arbitrary tag lines like "the best in the business"... with the assumption that this will sway my buying decision in some way. Just because a lot of people do it, doesn't mean its the right way to do it. On that train of thought, don't take my word for it. Answer a question for yourself... when was the last time you bought something just because they were established in 1747? Maybe you bought because of additional benefits... but not just becuase of the founding date. If that was the case netscape would still be a search leader and Chrysler wouldn't need bail out money. The real GOAL of stating a founding date is to establish your standing as an expert. There are faster and more powerful ways of doing it than using something that means nothing to me (the prospect). Also, using stats in your sales copy is a FANTASTIC idea... again, I agree with you. You're right about people loving specific details. However, you may be missing the reason why. It's not the bragging that gets people to buy (I've been in business since the ice age!!) The reason stats are deadly powerful is because they establish proof. That's for another conversation, but remember that your founding date doesn't really prove anything.
"It's not the bragging that gets people to buy (I've been in business since the ice age!!) " If you say people don't care how long you have been in business why are you telling me that you've been in the business since ice age? are you not trying to leverage your experience trying to emphasize your point? People are more ready to listen to you when you tell them how long you've been in the business. You said spending millions trying to build a brand is a waste of money. well, I dont agree with you. Branding a business is essential if you want to be a long term player. If you can afford to spend millions, do it by all means. If you can't, there are other ways to build a brand. When you are a freelancer, you are the brand. just tell me something..why do you spend 10$ on a domain name when you can host your blog for free on wordpress? Are you not trying to build a brand? However DON'T get me wrong! I am not saying that you should forget the needs of your customers and your product. Ultimately, no product can survive unless it satisfies the consumers. However once you have created an excellent product, do not stop there. Go on to create a brand, a name which people know and can identify with. A good product, if not branded, is just a commodity. You wont be able to get a good price for it. PS: telling how long you've been in the business matters, especially if you are offering a highly technical product/service. It may even become a deciding factor if the product is highly expensive one. People want to go with the firm which has huge experience in that field. However, I am again repeating myself, Its your product and what it does to satisfy consumer needs, comes first.
Sarcasm. I suppose it makes sense for us to agree to disagree. I feel that branding (the right way) comes as a byproduct of your offering, which should be a fantastic product. I don't think it's something you should consciously pursue with your marketing dollars, as you suggest. Much more of a direct response guy, where I can track my results... but to each his own. The arguement for both methods has existed before the days of Hopkins, and I'm sure it will continue far into the future. Thank you... your P.S. actually brought us back to the topic of discussion. That fact is that I could be WRONG. I'm just going by what's boosted response on copy I've personally written. The inclusion or exclusion of a founding date, even when incredibly impressive in my eyes, has never gotten me an extra client. The inclusion of additional benefits, or the specifics of why my founding date MATTERS to the prospect has. If your founding date means your techie product has less bugs than the comp, include that. Or whatever. But, if you go back and read the copy in question, you'll notice that the founding date is connected to NO benefit. It does not matter to me (the prospect). But like I said, it's possible that I am wrong. I'm just going by my in house stats and personal experience. By all means, I encourage you to split test just a founding date versus no founding date to see which is more effective for you personally. Oh.... by the way.... if we're advertising just to build a brand and "name recognition" then my entire argument gets thrown out the window. Good luck!