One of the reasons I love helping my clients with their online strategy is that I believe there is no more effective and powerful way to provide value to our clients and prospects. As service professionals, demonstrating our value is essential to building relationships and establishing credibility.

But who defines value? Do you really know the challenges your clients want help with? How much are you presuming about your prospects needs and wants?

In this article, Im going to discuss some great ways to get into the mind of your prospect. The internet is the fastest place to try out new ideas, and the best way to know what the market needs is to ask them directly.

GOOGLE ADWORDS

What makes the Google search engine different is that it was developed with very strict requirements regarding relevant content. Prior to Google, a website could place popular keywords all over its home page (keyword-loading) and get traffic. Google set a new standard.

Googles pay per click system, or AdWords, maintained that standard for relevancy. The popularity of your ad is based on how many people click on it. Very simple. Google provides great statistics to help you determine whats working in your ad, and what turned out to be a dismal failure.

But unlike any other advertising system, Google can immediately provide these results to you, so in a matter of hours, you can determine if a given ad is working. Pay per click gives you immediate access to targeted customers.

So how can you use Google to find out what your prospects want?

A typical Google ad is four lines longits very short. The first line is your headline and the last line is usually your link or URL. Below is a successful model that can be used for a service or a product youre selling.

Use your headline to present a challenge you believe your typical prospect faces.

Use the second line to list a clear benefit.

Use the third line to describe the features, or the specifics of what they get.

As an example:

Does your puppy still bark too much?
Stop annoying the neighbors!
Free 3-step report emailed to you.
www.BarkNoMore.com

Because youll see results quickly, you can determine which ads resonate with your audience. For example, if youre thinking about offering an ebook on puppy training, you can use AdWords to assess if theres a market for such an ebook. Offer a free report, and note the response rate. The more people sign up for your free report, the more likely your ebook will be popular. Using the same giveaway, experiment with different ads. Change the wording of headlines, benefits, and features, until youve written an ad that works. Ads that work speak to their audience.

As another example, lets say youre considering offering a coaching program on interior design for small spaces. You could design one ad that offered a complimentary teleclass, and another ad, similarly worded, that offered a free report. Figure out if there is a significant difference in response rates. Who is more likely to eventually sign up for coaching?

Google AdWords allows for endless experimentation. By setting realistic daily budgets, you can minimize losses while getting a solid handle on effective short ad copy. Also, youll be able to learn what your audience wants without spending thousands of dollars on market research.

NEXT STEP

Set up a Google campaign. Buy 2-3 keywords, and set a reasonable daily budget. Write two 4-line ads for each keyword. Why two ads? So you can split-test them against each other, and see what works and what doesnt. Your ads will start being shown within a few hours, so monitor your results throughout the next two days.

Im suggesting you write up to six ads here. It may seem like a lot, but using a formula makes it fairly easy to generate ideas. Google doesnt charge for the number of ads you write for a campaign, which makes AdWords a perfect vehicle for testing ads and keywords against each other.