Forget Those Who Say That You Can't
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Tuesday, 08 September 09 - 01:05 PM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Writing |
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Forget Those Who Say That You Can't
Tell me who your best friends are and I'll tell you who you are. The people you associate with most – whether professionally or socially – can have a motivating or de-motivating effect on you. Especially when you're trying to make a comeback from a setback.
Some folks have a perpetually positive attitude and are natural motivators. Others are so negative they brighten a room just by leaving it.
The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you associate most closely – for good or bad. Sometimes it's better to be alone than in the wrong company.
A quick story …
It was great to be home! I'd been living and working in Europe for two years and this was my first vacation.
We were sitting around the dinner table talking and laughing – having a great time really. Right up until I dropped the bomb.
"I'm going to take up skydiving."
It was like somebody had hit the "Pause" button. Everybody froze.
My mother, my brother and my twenty or thirty assorted aunts, uncles and cousins all asked – almost as one – "Are you out of your mind?"
They then proceeded to tell me every single "Crash and Burn, Death by Falling" story the world has ever known. The funny thing is none of them were skydivers.
Today I have 135 or so parachute jumps under my belt. That's not a lot by some standards, but it's okay for me.
I've jumped out of helicopters, hot air balloons, jets and prop jobs … I've jumped from as low as 1,500 feet and from as high as 21,000 feet … I've jumped static-line and free-fall … and I've often thought back to that night around the dinner table. How much I would have missed, had I let my family steal my dream!
The Only Expert About You is You!
I have discovered that an important characteristic of successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people.
Anytime you try to pull ahead of the pack and accomplish something great, there will undoubtedly be people who don't think you can do it. Such naysayers are all too common.
Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don't help you to climb will make you crawl, if you let them. Your friends will either stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you.
So never receive counsel from unproductive people – they are not qualified to comment.
On The Road to Success, Be Careful Who You Ask for Directions
If your doctor told you that you needed an operation, you'd probably want to get a second opinion before undergoing surgery. Who would you ask? Your auto mechanic? Your brother, the fireman? Maybe Aunt Gladys? Of course not! You'd ask another doctor – somebody who knows something about medicine.
Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeeded themselves are always the first to tell you how. Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You'll always get the worst of the bargain if you exchange ideas with the wrong person.
When I was thinking about quitting my job as a business consultant and going full time as a copywriter, my family told me they thought I was crazy – again.
I love them, but I don't give a hoot what they think. I care what Michael Masterson, Don Mahoney, and Paul Hollingshead think. I want to know what Dan Kennedy, Herschell Gordon Lewis and Bob Bly think. I want to know what Joshua Boswell thinks. Why? Because they have done what I want to do.
Billionaire J. Paul Getty said it best, "The easiest way to get rich is to find somebody who is rich and do what they did."
Don't follow anyone who isn't going places. With some people you merely spend an evening – with others you invest it.
If You're at a Crossroads, You're in Good Company
It's not what the naysayers say that is important, it's what you believe that really counts. So let me ask you, what do you believe?
Maybe you're at a crossroads and not sure if you can do it or not. That's okay. Look at some folks who got off to a slow start, had more than their share of detractors, and still did okay:
- Albert Einstein didn't speak until he was nearly 5 years old and was considered "mentally slow."
- The inventor of the steam engine, James Watt, was declared "dull and inept."
- Cartoonist Walt Disney was fired from his first job because he "had no imagination."
- Inventor Thomas Edison was kicked out of school at age 9 because he was at the bottom of his class.
- Basketball legend Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.
Sometimes the experts – and other well-meaning people – are misguided in their efforts or just plain wrong in their thinking. And then there are some people who are just stuck on stupid.
You can measure IQ, but not "want to." It's not the size of the dog in the fight that's important, it's the size of the fight in the dog. They can measure the size your head but not size of the dream in your heart.
So follow your heart as you use your head to develop skills and talents. There is nothing that an inspired you cannot accomplish.
One Last Question …
Are you on course toward your goals, or is the "FUD Factor' (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) casting a shadow on your direction?
In 1492, despite repeated setbacks, and in the face of conventional wisdom, Christopher Columbus set his course in the direction that his own inspiration and intelligence led him to believe was the right one.
During his quest across the dangerous and uncharted North Atlantic, he wrote these words in his private log, "This day, we sailed on."
He knew that a ship in port is usually safe … but that's not what ships are built for. What are you built for? What great accomplishments are yours to fulfill?
Invest the time NOW to renew your commitment to overcoming past failures, including the fears, uncertainty and doubt placed there by the conventional wisdom of unqualified, negative people.
Go ahead and give yourself a chance to succeed by taking another shot – or two, or three. It's not over 'til you win. Chart a bold course for yourself and sail on! Who knows? One more effort might be all it takes to get you back on course to your own New World.
And One Final Thought …
People are like rubber bands. A rubber band, lying around on a desk somewhere doesn't do anything. But once picked up and stretched, it becomes useful. Once stretched and let go, it gains the potential to fly over much greater distances than before.
It is only when you stretch yourself that you begin to discover your ability to fly much farther than you might have imagined.
Are you stretching yourself? You have an unparalleled opportunity to surround yourself with people who can help your writing career take a quantum leap forward … people you can dream aloud in front of … people who can bring out the best in you.
I'm talking about AWAI's 2009 FastTrack to Copywriting Success Bootcamp and Job Fair – where a single conversation with the right person can be more valuable to you than many years of study.
Self-made billionaire J. Paul Getty once observed that your income will be the average of income of the five people with whom you associate most closely. Maybe it's time for you to stretch yourself and get some new friends. Sign up for Bootcamp while there are still slots available. I'm going to be there. Don't delay – sign up now!
Special Offer: To hear Tom's business-building insights and advice every Tuesday, sign up a free subscription to Spare-Time Biz Success.
This article appears courtesy of American Writers & Artists Inc.’s (AWAI) The Golden Thread, a free newsletter that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on the best wealth careers, lifestyle careers and work-at-home careers available. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/signup/.
The Beginning of Wisdom
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Tuesday, 01 September 09 - 12:23 PM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Writing |
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"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."
-- Mark Twain
The Beginning of Wisdom
By Alex Green
I watched in horror as my 11-year-old daughter Hannah plunged 150 feet down Cheakamus Canyon toward the river raging below.
My wife Karen and I had both tried to talk her out of it. But she wouldn't be dissuaded.
She wanted to jump.
Of course, she was attached to a bungee cord, one that "exceeded Australian specifications" (whatever that means). And Whistler Bungee -- an hour north of Vancouver and just below Whistler's 2010 Olympic Village -- has been in business for seven years with a perfect safety record.
Still ... I got the willies just looking down through the 300-foot span as we crossed it. This was a murderous height. It would have taken at least three burly men to get me out on that platform.
"You don't have any problem with this?" I asked a member of Canada's Olympic ski team who was suiting up for a jump as we arrived.
"Not at all," she laughed. "What could go wrong?"
"That's the difference between you and me," I said. "I have more imagination than that."
Of course, I knew my fear was emotional not rational, otherwise I would never have let my daughter jump.
That she wanted to jump still astonishes me. After all, this is the same girl who insists on cracking her bedroom door at night so she can see the light in the hallway.
We hate to admit it but most of our fears are irrational. Everyday life just isn't that dangerous anymore. Technology, engineering, and modern medicine have eliminated most of the sharp edges.
Yet we can't escape our past. Our fears evolved as a basic survival mechanism. They arise in response to perceived threats, triggering a "fight or flight" response.
For most of us, it's flight (or avoidance). And studies show our fears are fairly universal: spiders, snakes, heights (... yo!), public speaking, and death.
As Jerry Seinfeld once said, "According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Does that sound right? This means at a funeral most people would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy."
Our greatest inhibitor, of course, is fear of failure.
Consciously or not, it can paralyze us, keeping us from applying for the promotion, taking the risk, meeting the girl, asking for the order, experiencing the unknown.
It's always easier to stick with the safe, the comfortable, the familiar.
Yet every time we choose safety we reinforce fear. We nurture it. Only when we overcome this debilitating emotion do we really begin to live.
"He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life," said Ralph Waldo Emerson.
How is fear conquered? By doing what we think we can't do, again and again.
When I was young, for example, public speaking made me nervous. Today, I relish the opportunity.
After a particularly turbulent flight 30 years ago, I was a white-knuckle flier. Now, I can't keep track of all my frequent flier miles.
Fear is the great barrier to success. It gives small things big shadows. It is the inverse of faith, trapping us between regret for the past and anxiety about the future.
Yet few things warrant the fear we grant them. We run not from genuine threats but imaginary bogeymen.
Perhaps that's why philosopher Bertrand Russell said, "To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom."
And the rewards are many. Waiting for you on the other side of fear is freedom. Freedom from anxiety. Freedom from regret. Freedom from a life unlived.
Fortune, it turns out, really does favor the brave.
As Marianne Williamson wrote, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? ... We are all meant to shine, as children do. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Does this mean -- like Hannah -- that I'm willing to embrace "Whistler's Ultimate Adrenaline Rush" and plummet toward the Cheakamus River?
That depends. How many burly guys have you got?
[Ed. Note: Alex Green, author of The Secret of Shelter Island: Money and What Matters, is the editor of "Spiritual Wealth," a free e-letter about the pursuit of the good life.]
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Connecting With Your Prospects' Dominant Emotions
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Friday, 28 August 09 - 10:44 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Writing |
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Connecting With Your Prospects' Dominant Emotions
By Clayton Makepeace
When you set out to create a sales message that connects with your prospects' dominant emotions, you have no choice. You have to begin with the prospect.
You begin by considering his most intense feelings about ...
- Himself relative to the subject at hand ...
- The benefits your product and premiums promise ...
- The medium through which your message is being delivered ...
- The offer -- the price, payment terms, guarantee, and order process ...
... And then, you devise ways to deal with each of these emotions in ways that get them working FOR you.
When you get it right, the attention-getting power of and response to your promotions skyrockets. Read on...
***
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Learn How To “How To”
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Tuesday, 18 August 09 - 11:29 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Writing |
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Learn How To “How To”
By David CrossOne of the most daunting things about starting your own Internet business is the idea of creating regular, unique content for your website. You can raise your eyebrows and sigh. It’s okay. But you are going to need this fresh content if you want to get anywhere with search engines. Plus, your site visitors will expect you to continue to provide them with relevant and useful information … if you expect them to keep coming back.
Call it writer’s block or just plain old brain freeze, but finding topics to write about isn’t always easy. There is one type of article, though, that can pull you out of this creative quagmire. It will keep your readers happy and help boost your search engine traffic at the same time.
I’m talking about the “how to” article.
“How do I figure out what to tell them how to do?” you may ask.
Your customers can be your best guide on this. They are probably already asking you questions like “How do I use this TIG welder?” “How can I bake a vegan birthday cake?” Or “How can I cook ribs on my new BBQ?”
Simply listen to their questions and address them in your “how to” articles.
Here’s what you do:
Step 1. Choose your subject. Perhaps “How to plant potatoes.”
Step 2. Explain how to plant potatoes, giving examples and clear instructions.
“(1) Determine the recommended planting time for your climate, normally two weeks before your last frost. (2) If planting in the early season, about a week before your planting-out date, place the seed on a bright, warm windowsill for a few days. This will bring the potatoes out of their dormancy and help them germinate in the still-chilly spring ground. (3) A raised garden bed will warm quicker than the surrounding ground. This will help your potatoes germinate quickly. You can create a raised bed by cordoning off a 3-foot or 4-foot wide area. (Make it as long as you wish.)”
Step 3. Point out some of the potential problems, concerns, or setbacks your reader could face.
“Buy good quality, preferably organic, seed potatoes from a reliable supplier. Potatoes in supermarkets are treated to prevent them from sprouting and do not produce good crops.”
Step 4. Include professional tips, “gotchas,” and time-saving techniques.
“Once the potatoes sprout and are 3-4 inches above the ground, cover them completely with soil or straw. Repeat this about three weeks later. That way, you can trick the potato into a bigger harvest. The tuber will put down more shoots and you can quadruple the yield.”
Step 5. Include photographs of your potatoes. And, if you wish, insert customer testimonials on how YOUR seed potatoes or gardening supplies and/or customer service are the best.
You may also want to include a link to a free report on a related “how to” subject. This is a great way to provide further information in exchange for a site visitor’s e-mail address. You can then send them relevant, interesting, useful, and timely information on the topic of interest … or your newsletter on gardening techniques … or whatever else it is that you do or offer.
You may already have the basis for this free report. Perhaps it is something you give out as an information sheet. Maybe it’s a photocopied document your customer service reps refer to. This type of material can make great “how to” articles too.
Imagine Having Your Own Invisible Non-Stop Cash Register…
Overdrawn checking accounts… bloated credit card bills… overdue bills… NO MORE.
You can say “GOODBYE!” to feeling strapped for cash.
That’s because “Millionaire Miser” Matthew Adams has decided to unlock the door to his stockpile of “subversive” secret money-making techniques. And he wants to send them to you.
With Matt’s stashes of “found money” at your fingertips, it’s almost like having your own invisible non-stop cash register, pulling in dollar bills
Matt dashed off a free report, in which he reveals just a small sample of the incredible offers, deals, bargains, and freebies he has planned for you, at no charge.
Many online businesses use “how to” articles to get good search engine referral traffic. For example, my friend Nathan sells aromatherapy oils. He found that most people like the fragrance of these natural oils, but have no idea what to actually do with them. So he wrote an article on “How To Use Essential Oils.” The article explains how to use them in the bath and in massage. It even mentions which ones cannot be used with children or pregnant women. And there are links to his products throughout. So when, for instance, you’re reading that essential oils can be used for a chest rub to ease congestion, there are links to eucalyptus, rosemary, and fir essential oils.
Nathan’s article is about 1,700 words — four pages if printed out. That may sound like a lot. But if you asked any aromatherapist “How do I use essential oils?” you’d receive an equally enthusiastic and comprehensive response.
“How To Use Essential Oils” shows Nathan’s site visitors that his company knows its stuff when it comes to essential oils. And that they can teach you how to benefit from their products in a friendly, “non-pushy,” helpful way. This single “how to” article accounts for about 7 percent of Nathan’s overall website traffic. And it has generated tens of thousands of dollars in sales.
You probably get many questions from your customers and prospects about your products, services, and more. Your answers to them in the form of “how to” articles — interspersed with product and service links, suggestions and recommendations — make great content for your website and e-mail newsletter.
Just follow my five-step plan for developing your “how to” articles and you will have loads of ready-made content that will bring in prospects, turn them into customers, and keep them coming back.
P.S. “How to” articles are just one way to boost your business and create content for your website or e-mail newsletter quickly and easily. Members of my Internet Rant service have received hundreds of other strategies and techniques for e-mail marketing, search engine optimization, and more. To find out more about me and the Internet Rant, go here.
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
How Business Owners and Marketing Execs Can Make Good Sales Copy Great …
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Thursday, 13 August 09 - 10:27 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Writing |
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How Business Owners and Marketing Execs Can Make Good Sales Copy Great …
… And How "B" Copywriters Can Become "A" Writers In Four Easy Lessons
Just before I turned in for the evening, I got an email from Adam, asking "What can a 'B' writer do to become an 'A' writer?"
Immediately, my brain went into overdrive. I tossed, turned, counted sheep, tried to clear my mind — but the question kept pestering me. Finally, I surrendered, uttered an expletive, climbed out of bed, and trudged down to my office.
The answer, of course, is obvious: Produce bigger winners, more often.
But how, precisely, do you do that?
Specifically, what do "A" writers do that those "B" writers don't?
And if you're a business owner or marketing exec, how can you know great copy when you see it? How can you get "B" writers to give you "A" copy?
My answer to Adam — and to you: Just make sure each project accomplishes four crucial things.
Connect with the Reader's Dominant Resident Emotion Regarding the Subject at Hand
Think about it for a moment, and I'm sure you'll agree: The vast majority of the money that flows through consumers' hands each year is spent to meet their emotional needs — NOT merely to satisfy their intellectually-justifiable needs for physical survival.
We can physically survive if we have air, water, a few calories of very basic raw food, and just enough shelter to keep us from freezing to death in winter. Air and water can be had for free. The food and shelter sufficient for survival can be had for pennies a day.
Pretty much every other dollar, pound, or euro that flows through our hands is spent to address emotional needs in our lives: The craving for comfort and security … personal status and ego gratification … love and sex … recreation and adventure … and much more. The sales of products and services that address these cravings are what really drive our national economies.
So if 99% of our purchase decisions are REALLY made to address an emotional need — and not intellectually justifiable as essential for survival — doesn't it make sense to appeal directly to those emotions when attempting to sell a product?
"B" writers tend to focus on selling benefits and on logical, "reason-why" copy only. By doing so, they're attempting to justify the purchase and price of the product solely by appealing to the intellect. That's like coming to the gunfight but leaving 99% of your bullets in the glove compartment!
Instead of simply reciting benefits and reasons why the prospect should buy, "A" writers recognize, validate, and directly address powerful emotions the prospect already has about those benefits (or the lack of them).
This "dominant emotion" approach works especially well in mature or skeptical markets — when the writer recognizes and validates negative feelings the prospect has about a particular type of product — and then demonstrates why this product is different, and therefore better.
The prospect's dominant emotions should be addressed throughout the copy at every level — from selection of the overriding theme and the crafting of the headline to the selection of sidebar themes, subheads, and every word selection you make.
Don't Sell; SEDUCE!
Two guys walk into a bar. The first is a bookish, meticulous, accountant type who just read a book on "How to Pick Up Women." Spying a winsome lass, he approaches her and states his Unique Selling Proposition: "I'm going to rock your world like nobody else ever has."
That done, he begins ticking off all the benefits she'll derive from having sex with him: She will be thrilled and satisfied. He shows her testimonials from 23 other women he's been intimate with, each one saying they were satisfied. And he tells the young lady that if she'll go back to his apartment right away, he'll do the same for her.
The second guy, spotting another lady, takes a radically different approach. He captures her attention with a friendly, admiring glance. He offers her a drink. He validates her with a compliment. He puts her at ease with an amusing, intriguing, or self-effacing remark.
He gets her nodding her head, speaking to her of things she is passionate about and that he suspects she'll agree with. He asks her to dance. He takes his time … and when the time is right, he drops a flirtatious comment or two.
Finally, he invites her to his apartment to see his art collection — or on some other pretense.
Which of our two heroes do YOU think has the best chance of closing the sale?
If you said, "The guy who had a USP and benefit-oriented sales copy," you, my friend, have read too many books about copywriting.
Like Michael Masterson explains in Architecture of Persuasion, top-notch writers understand that salesmanship is the art of seduction — and that five careful steps must be taken before the affair with the prospect is consummated and marketing bliss is achieved:
- You must convince your prospects to give you their attention – with a headline that speaks to their prospects' desires, frustrations, or fears.
- You must convince them to read your message – by offering to bring value to their lives if they'll just lend you an ear for a few minutes.
- You must convince them your product or service will meet their needs, and therefore, fulfill their desires or assuage their frustrations or fears.
- You must convince your prospects your price is fair (or better yet, a bargain) – by making a comparison that demonstrates the value you're offering in a compelling way.
- You must convince your prospects to take action now to purchase the product – by showing them how easy it is to order.
Do these five things consistently — and compellingly — in each sales promotion and your response will soar.
Add Credibility
Today and every day, each prospect you're writing to will be bombarded with some 650 advertising messages. That's nearly 240,000 per year, every year of his or her life — and the volume is growing by the day.
Those messages have made your prospect a seasoned consumer who has bought thousands of products and services over a lifetime — many of which lived up to their advertising, and many of which did not.
As a result, your prospect is a skeptic. The quick way to lose him is to promise something you both know you can't deliver. The slow way to lose him is to fail to document that your product really does deliver.
"B" writers assume that prospects will believe everything they read.
"A" writers infuse their copy with credibility devices like these:
- The ersatz author's qualifications as an expert on the subject at hand, including his education, books he's authored, major media outlets that have featured him, his career experience, etc.
- Details, facts, figures that prove every point in the copy beyond the shadow of a doubt.
- Customer testimonials that prove your product has delivered for others.
- Expert and/or celebrity testimonials that validate you, your product, or your process.
- Mentions incredible media that validate you, your product, or your process.
- A guarantee written in a way that demonstrates your absolute confidence that your product or service will deliver the specific benefits you've promised.
Sharpen Your Clarity of Vision
This is a big one for me. Too often, "B" writers fall in love with their subjects. Instead of staying focused — establishing a powerful overriding theme and then bringing each piece of copy back to it — they get sidetracked and wind up going off in all directions at once.
The result is a long-winded jumble of copy that feels diffused and only confuses the reader.
Last week, a major publisher asked me to critique one of these hodgepodges for him.
My crit:
"The main theme is strong and should resonate well with your prospects. The prose itself is well-written. The writer does an excellent job of demonstrating the benefits the product will bring to the reader's life. And he connects well with actionable emotions the prospect has about the subject at hand.
"But the writer has fallen in love with his subject — and the sound of his own voice. So, all the good stuff in here is hidden away under reams of extraneous, unnecessary material.
"Instead of bringing all the copy back to his major theme, the writer allowed himself to be drawn off into scores of unrelated things. As a result, you got 28 friggin' tabloid-sized pages of — what is that — 11 point type?! I started reading this without my spectacles and got a headache for my trouble.
"In a word, this piece is overwritten. This is Michelangelo's David traveling incognito — disguised as a block of granite. There's a masterpiece in here somewhere, but it's buried under tons of rubble.
"I'd cut six to eight pages of extraneous text that fails to connect with the main theme … bump the size of the running text up to 12 or 13 point Times Roman … and bring it in at 20 to 24 pages — MAX."
Hope this information helps you … as well as Adam. There's more you can do to become an "A" copywriter, and AWAI's FastTrack to Copywriting Success Bootcamp and Job Fair is an excellent place to start.
I'll be there this year … teaching you how to become your client's biggest asset, as well as create offers that close the sale. If you haven't reserved your spot yet, do it now.
[Ed Note: Martin Weiss, founder of one of the country's leading financial newsletters, calls Clayton "more than just a great copywriter. He is a world-class marketing consultant … a gifted business advisor … and one of the best strategic thinkers I have ever known."
Join us this year at the 2009 FastTrack to Copywriting Success Bootcamp and Job Fair and learn from Clayton firsthand, along with the incredible line-up of some of the world's best copywriters and marketers, all under one roof. It's the only copywriting event of its kind! Reserve your spot now.]
This article appears courtesy of American Writers & Artists Inc.’s (AWAI) The Golden Thread, a free newsletter that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on the best wealth careers, lifestyle careers and work-at-home careers available. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/signup/.
Solving the Marketing Model Mystery
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Thursday, 13 August 09 - 09:52 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Writing |
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Solving the Marketing Model Mystery
By Clayton MakepeaceIt’s your lucky day: You’ve found a great product to promote.
Maybe it’s a client’s product. Maybe it’s your own.
And because your discovery possesses the six qualities direct-response homeruns share, you suspect you just might be looking at a grand slam:
- This product delivers benefits your prospects already want.
- It conveys these rational and emotional benefits in superior ways.
- You’ve got proof elements out the wazzoo.
- It’s a screamin’ deal.
- The offer makes buying this product, from you, today a no-brainer.
- Downstream sales are a slam-dunk.
In fact, this product is so good, you’d feel guilty if you failed to nag your sweet, sainted old grammy until she bought it. Better yet, you’d joyfully buy it and give it to her yourself.
Congratulations, my friend. You’ve got a product that can make your reputation, your career, and your fortune.
… So where do you start?
Well, you’d sit right down and write the ultimate promotion for your ultimate product, right?
Well, not exactly. In fact, not by a long shot.
Instead of ETR’s “Ready, Fire, Aim” approach, that would be “Fire! Ready? Aim.”
First, you need to find a marketing model that’s the best fit for your product.
“So what the heck is a marketing model?” you ask.
Simple. Your marketing model describes the strategy – the step-by-step process – you’re going to use to:
1. Find your best prospects …
2. Turn those prospects into customers in the most cost-effective way…
3. And, ultimately, cause your customers to:
- Buy from you more often …
- Spend more with you on each purchase, and …
- Keep buying from you longer. Hopefully, forever.
Get that right and you’re on your way. But if you screw it up, the best product ever invented and the most brilliant sales copy ever written won’t save your sorry butt.
I can’t be there with you the whole way. But I will give you a great starting point for getting a great marketing model …
Steal it.
Find a company that’s marketing a product similar to yours … that sells at a price point similar to yours … to prospects like yours … and shamelessly duplicate THEIR marketing model.
I mean, why re-invent the wheel? There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of successful companies in every niche market you can name. The most successful ones have spent years and millions of dollars in slow, painful trial-and-error testing to find their optimal prospect/media/messaging/offer mix.
The conclusions they’ve drawn from all that priceless marketing data are easy to see. You just have to watch what they’re doing.
When I begin working with a new client in a new niche, the first thing I want to know is, “What are the names of the five most successful companies in this niche?”
Once I have those names, the questions come fast and furious: “What kinds of prospects are they targeting? What media are they using? What kinds of offers are they making? What price points am I seeing most often? What kinds of sales copy and formats are they using to attract new customers?”
I grab the appropriate SRDS publication (usually the latest Direct Marketing List Source) and look up my target companies. I search for clues on how fast they’re growing (by studying the number of hotline names they have available) … how they generate their customers … and what their price points are.
I check Target Marketing’s Who’s Mailing What to see if they have any samples of my targets’ promotions on file.
I buy something from the companies I’m studying, suspecting that they’ll be sending their new customer acquisition promos to their customer file. And I buy something from their main competitors, hoping my target companies will rent those lists and I’ll be able to see the promotions they use to attract new customers.
I visit the popular websites in my client’s market niche to see if my target companies are placing banner ads on those sites or sponsoring those e-zines. I click every link that I suspect may lead me to their squeeze pages, landing pages, or websites. If they have an e-zine, I subscribe. If their website invites me to register, I register.
How Would an Extra $3,000 a Month Change YOUR Life?
Picture this…
While you slept last night, your bank account was pumped with cash. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing, you just help yourself to the money from any ATM, anytime of day. All because of a conversation you had over a coffee, let’s say.
Then, think how you’ll spend it. If nothing else, it’s a very nice safety net isn’t it?
And what if it didn’t cost you anything to make this?
In short, I do everything I can to make sure my target companies have my phone number … my street address … and my e-mail address so I can see as much of what they’re doing as possible.
Then, once I have a clear picture of how my target companies attract new customers, I simply “borrow” (okay, “steal”) a marketing model from the one that seems to be the most successful.
At this stage, I don’t want to innovate. I just want to help my client do things as well as the largest, most successful company in his niche. Once we’re doing that, it’s time to test new stuff. But initially, being as good as the best is good enough.
“Borrowing” marketing models from competitors is just one of the strategies I’ll be talking about at Early to Rise’s upcoming Info-Marketing Bootcamp this November. Also on the stage will be a dozen of the top Internet marketers working today. They’re not just respected in their fields – social media, search engine optimization, e-mail marketing, and more – they’re making millions for themselves and their clients each month.
You can find out all about who’ll be joining me at Bootcamp here.
P.S. Master copywriter Clayton Makepeace publishes the highly acclaimed e-zine The Total Package to help business owners and copywriters accelerate their sales and profits. Claim your 4 free moneymaking e-books – bursting with tips, tricks, and tactics that’ll skyrocket your response – at MakepeaceTotalPackage.com.
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Do You Expect Me To Believe That?
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Wednesday, 29 July 09 - 11:02 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Writing |
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Do You Expect Me To Believe That?
One of the biggest problems with new copy I see – even with my own copy sometimes – is "the unsubstantiated claim."
It's an affliction that might not stick out like a sore thumb like, say, a weak promise or copy that's not centered around a strong enough big idea.
But nothing robs a promotion of credibility or "beefiness" more than one loaded with idle claims or statements that the reader is expected to simply accept.
What's an unsubstantiated claim?
It's when you make an assertion without backing it up with any fact, whether real or anecdotal.
For instance, if I were to tell you:
XYZ Stock Picking Service is the most successful investment newsletter in the country. That's why you should pay particular attention to its latest recommendation – a little company that could triple your money over the next 8 months …
… you may or may not give a lot of weight to what's coming.
But if I were to say:
XYZ Stock Picking Service is the most successful investment newsletter in the country today.
Over the past nine months, 15 of its 16 recommendations have produced gains of 110% or more.
Hulbert Digest, the industry's leading stock newsletter rater, has ranked XYZ #1 or #2 for each of the last 11 years – and it was #1 for the last four years running.
Of the 30,000 who subscribe to XYZ, 10,000 are professional traders. Says pro trader Bill Smith: "This is one publication I can't afford to be without. They have insights on companies and opportunities no single investor could ever hope to have."
But its biggest fans are regular investors like you and me. Says subscriber John Burke: "I've taken a lot of investment newsletters over the years, but XYZ is always the first one I read because it's the only one that consistently makes me money, year after year."
XYZ's specialty is companies on the brink of big things: medical discoveries, technical innovations. In fact, four of its last five triple-digit winners were companies that brought groundbreaking new products to market, including one that developed a cure for lupus (+348%) and a technology firm that revolutionized the way computer touch screens work (+445%).
That's why when XYZ makes a recommendation, people listen. And it's latest – a little company that's about to radically change the way cancer is treated – could triple your money before the year is out.
Do you see how much more believable that initial statement – "XYZ Stock Picking Service is the most successful investment newsletter in the country" – is when it's followed by actual facts that suggest, yes, it very well could be the most successful investment letter in the world?
And do you see how much more credibility the recommendation that's about to be revealed has when the reader already has "a taste of proof" when it comes to the publication's success?
Yet so many copywriters, veterans like me included, don't always go the extra mile to substantiate our claims.
Michael Masterson calls this "lazy writing."
I call it "writing off the top of your head" – writing the first thing that comes to mind and then being too lazy to make the effort to back up what you've just claimed to be true.
When you take the time to substantiate your claims, you'll do more than make those claims more believable. For instance …
- Your letter will have infinitely more credibility, depth, and "meatiness."
- You (or whoever's name is on the letter) will be seen as a much more credible expert – someone your reader is much more willing to listen to and believe.
Plus, when you take the time to back up your claims, your sales letters (or any writing you do, for that matter) come across as less "hypey" and self-serving … which makes them more persuasive and useful to the reader.
What's more, it shows you care about your reader – by respecting him enough not to "say anything and everything" and expect him to believe it.
And isn't that what we've long been telling you a great sales letter is all about? Caring about your prospect enough to offer him a solution to a problem he might have … or sharing something that might have long-term benefits for his wealth, health, or happiness.
Of course, there's an art to substantiating claims effectively – and the most advanced methods are covered at length in AWAI's Master's Program.
But the other day I was reading through some marketing briefs one of the companies I work with sends around from time to time. And I came across one from Michael Masterson that addresses this issue of "substantiating claims" very well.
With his permission, I'm happy to share it with you today. It talks about "The Power of Three" – a little rule you should follow whenever you're tempted to state something as fact without backing it up or taking the time to prove it.
I've used this technique at least a thousand times in all sorts of sales presentations, and have always found it to be effective. Try it next time you write a sale letter.
Here it is …
The Power of Three
Here's a little copywriting trick I learned long ago. It will help you prove any point you want to make.
After you've made a claim – such as "Skippy is the best peanut butter in the world" – support it with three consecutive paragraphs of proof.
In this case, the proof might look something like this:
In a test conducted by Buyer Trends last year, Skippy was rated as the top-scoring peanut butter in every single category: aroma, appearance, texture, and taste. When compared to other popular brands, such as Jif and Peter Pan, it rated between two and five points higher in each of these categories. Jeff Goodman, reporting for Buyer Trends, said, "When it comes to the pleasure of eating, Skippy rules."
A scientific analysis conducted by WebNutrition.com found that Skippy had the highest ratio of protein to fat of all the major brands. Patrick Dunney, president of the National Health Institute, said that Skippy was "far and away" the best product from a health point of view.
I used to be a Jif fan myself. But last Thursday, for the first time, I tried Skippy on a slice of whole wheat toast – and I was blown away by how good it is!
Put your strongest proof at the top, and devote the most ink to it. The next paragraph should be about half the length of the first. And the third should be half the length of the second.
You should vary, if you can, the type of proof you provide. In the example above, the first paragraph presents a taste test by an established and trusted consumer service. The second paragraph presents proof that the product is nutritionally superior. And the third paragraph is a personal testimonial.
By using this structure, you get the strongest effect. The first paragraph – your best proof – makes the reader sit back and take the claim seriously. The second paragraph adds something to the equation. It makes the reader feel that the claim is not thin – that it has deep and substantial evidence to support it. The third paragraph doesn't have to be very long at all, because by that time the reader is nearly sold. If you did spend a lot of time on it, you would bore him and risk losing his interest.
How would you like to have a conversation about proving claims with Paul and Michael in person … maybe over a friendly cocktail or when you find yourself standing next to them in the buffet line? Being able to ask them about the 6 types of leads … finding the Big Idea … or anything else that's on you mind …
And not just Paul and Michael … but Don Mahoney, Mike Palmer, John Forde, Jen Stevens, Lori Haller, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Joshua Boswell, Tom Kavala … plus marketers, AWAI staff members, and more
It can happen this November at Bootcamp. Reserve your spot today. You don't want to miss out on any of it!
This article appears courtesy of American Writers & Artists Inc.’s (AWAI) The Golden Thread, a free newsletter that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on the best wealth careers, lifestyle careers and work-at-home careers available. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/signup
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