There is a core principle in all marketing for attracting more customers that works everywhere. This will work on your website, sales letters, brochures, emails, and in actual conversations with potential customers. The AIDA principle is the formula a customer goes through in their head that leads to them buying. The more you can direct that process to occur, the more money you'll make because the more sales you'll get.

AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. If I arrive at your web page, there'd better be a compelling headline that grabs my attention and keeps me reading. You need to keep my interest, or I'm gone. Interest isn't enough though. It's not enough for me to read and be interested in your newspaper or magazine ad. You need to turn the interest into a desire. Get people wanting something. You are 80 per cent there once you have the desire, but that's still not enough. There are a lot of things people want, but do they actually take action and get them? You now need to turn all that desire into action.

If you start talking to your customers about taking action and buying something from you but you don't have their interest or desire, you've missed an important step.

If you're on the phone to a customer, or if they're physically with you and you feel that you're losing them a bit, ask yourself where you are in the AIDA process. Maybe go back to the interest point. Use this principle in all of your marketing.