Opportunity Knocks

By Steve Krupnik | January, 28, 2010

Knock knock. Who's there? Opportunity. Opportunity who? Opportunity you should be taking advantage of - that's who. I loved knock knock jokes when I was a kid and as you can see I still like them today. Albeit I'm not very good at making them up.

So what opportunity is knocking? Easy - Gold. It hit another all-time high today. Or - depending on your perspective - the almighty US buck may have hit another new low. Whichever the case is, you can hardly tune into any kind of news without hearing about it. This means that the yellow metal is currently on the minds of your prospective customers.

This also means you have the ability to take full advantage of this fact.

I guarantee you that others in your marketplace will be doing so. There are many ways you can be taking advantage of this opportunity, but let me mention a couple of the ones you can implement the most quickly. Of course, there is the obvious. How often do you adjust your pawn and purchase pricing on precious metals?

If you do this on a regular basis - congratulations - you're one of the few who get it. After all, the pawnbroking industry will benefit from this elevated commodity market, and so should your customers. Allow them to reap the rewards. But in order to do so you should want to have a plan on how to get your message out there. Letting them know how they will benefit.

If your marketing budget is expended or nonexistent there are still ways you can accomplish this. One of the easiest is a press release, but the press release is not about you. What? This is true. A press release that does nothing more than pitch your business is the first thing to also get pitched in the trash. The press release needs to be about the story you're proposing.

And the most important part of a press release is the headline. Let me give you an example.

"XYZ pawnshop increases buying and borrowing on gold."
"Price of gold soars and so do loans and purchases."
"Area residents benefiting big from record high precious metal prices."

Okay, which one catches your eye? Probably the first - it includes the name of your pawn shop. Sorry, the first one is a very poor excuse for a headline on a press release. It announces a story that's about you and your pawn shop. It will get wadded up and thrown away or deleted immediately.

How about the second headline? Well, it's a little better but still not very good. When referring to loans and purchases you are also referring to your business. The third in this example is by far the best possible choice of those offered. This one might actually get your press release read. This is because it's not about you - it's about consumers in your marketplace benefiting.

When done properly, press releases can give you a huge amount of exposure at minimal cost. Even if you're too shy or too busy to do them yourself - they are so effective you can actually outsource them to a professional. And if you get accustomed to doing them regularly, other buyers and pawners in your marketplace will scratch their heads wondering why you are always getting the coverage. Don't worry - I won't tell them.

This opportunity is so important to take advantage of that I put everything you will ever need to know all about press releases in the Pawn Shop Advisor(tm) coaching program http://www.pawnshopadvisor.com/main.cfm in the "Marketing Systems" section. This is only one tasty tidbit from that section. But if you try this one out - I can pretty much guarantee the results will leave you hungry for more. Opportunity knocks. Will you answer?

Keep your eye on the target and your mind on the goal,
Stephen Krupnik

P.S. The Pawn Shop Advisor(tm) coaching program http://www.pawnshopadvisor.com/main.cfm has only been available for two months, yet I'm already receiving some amazing success stories. Shouldn't you be one of them?

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