Mike Filsaime and Ray Edwards

One of my private clients (Mike Filsaime) is perhaps single-handedly responsible for the proliferation of “Death of…” reports that have appeared in recent years (The Death of Google, The Death of Adsense, The Death of Salesletters, etc.).

Not that he produced them all, but I think more than anyone he popularized the concept (still a good one, by the way) and was copied by a lot of others.

So I’ll lay the credit on Magic Mike. He even released a report called, of all things, The Death of Internet Marketing, Now don’t get all lathered up.

Mike doesn’t think Internet Marketing is really dead. He was just pointing out in his report that the “old way” of doing things wasn’t going to cut it any more.

Of course, it seems an eon ago when he released that report.. But even now, a mere few years later, others are saying that “Internet Marketing” was a fad, it’s dead, the FTC has killed it, etc. Pick your “Chicken Little” poison.

Yet once again, the reverse is true. The opportunities abound. It’s just that the “tricks” that worked last year don’t work any more.

We all have to step up our game and play at a new level. Even as I write this, Mike is raising the bar for himself and others – for instance, with his Automated Webinar software which allows you to hold webinars every day, all day, on auto-pilot. I’m using it myself – here’s a link to my webinar on how to make customers come to you.

The people who are “sweating bullets” right now are those who refuse to adapt, improvise and overcome.

If you’re willing (and since you’re a Friend of Ray, you’re probably not only willing but probably downright eager) to seize new opportunities and step out boldly, you’re going to prosper.

That’s what I love about you. Thanks for being who you are.

Who is really your friend?

Your dog.

Let’s start with your best friend.

Dogs are not fickle, they don’t lie, and they stick by you.

Mark Twain said, “If heaven went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would get in.”

Lest you take me as a hopeless misanthrope, know that it ain’t so. I love people.

And yet I find dogs often more reliable (you can see  my “Pugs of Persuasion”, Rollo Tamasi and Parker, in the photo above).

A good friend of mine and longtime private client – whose name you would recognize but I shall withhold (for reasons soon obvious), phoned me recently. He wanted some help with headlines to test on a new promotion.

We talked about a campaign that went sour on him a couple years ago.

At that time a number of “friends”, who had supported said campaign, attacked him in a public forum. Mostly, it seemed, as a way to make themselves look better.

“I sure learned who my real friends were,” he told me. “And I won’t forget it.”

My hope for you is it won’t take a “problem” like this for you to figure out this vital information.

Find out now who you friends are. Or they may turn on you in a crucial moment someday… hoping to throw you on the altar in order to save their own skins or to feather their own nest.

Worth knowing: who is who.

Flagstaff, Arizona.

I’m pumping 100 gallons of gasoline into my motorhome. Some guy with the name “STEVE” on his shirt walked con?dently around the front of my motorhome, an aerosol spray can in his hand.

Steve launches into a very vigorous sales pitch for his “car-wash-in-a- can” product.

Having been in sales most of my life, there’s no way I was going to shut Steve down. He was selling with con?dence & personality. He demonstrated the product for me.

I ended up buying four cans of the stuff from Steve.

He had a little table set up in front of the gas station, and was working with a guy named Larry. They tried to upsell me. Twice.

I asked Steve a lot of questions about his business. Was it tough making a living this way?

“Not really,” Steve said. “I like talking to people, and business has been good.”

As we talked, it was obvious that these guys enjoyed what they did, and were very good at it.

Steve handed me a business card. “If you send me business, I’ll send you checks,” Steve said. Bingo! The gas station salesman has an af?liate program.

What does this have to do with Internet business?

Everything. Here we are, in a time when a lot of people are being washed out of all kinds of businesses, online and of?ine.

The excuse given is usually: “the economy”.

I’ve addressed the use of those two words as excuse elsewhere.

You see, the very qualities exempli?ed by Steve and Larry are the same qualities that could save a lot of businesses from going under.

Usually, when I’m talking with an Internet marketer or even a brick- and-mortar business owner, and they start telling me how bad business is, there are certain questions I ask.

“What kind of referral system do you have? Have you called up past customers to try and get more business? Are you doing any kind of direct mail?” etc.

I usually only get about one question deep before they realize their usual “BS” is not going to work on me.

Look, if two guys can carve out a living selling “car-wash-in-a-can” at a gas station, does that leave any excuse for the rest of us?

And does it leave any room at all for excuses from those of us who make our living sitting on our behinds in front of a computer screen?

Answer: no.

Product Launch Application

It’s fair to ask what this has to do with product launches.

Plenty, as it turns out.

My opinion: the #1 cause of product launch failure is: laziness.

Most “product launchers” don’t want to invest money and effort in things like outbound telemarketing, direct mail promotion, telephone sales rooms, and all the things that go into making a product launch really work. So this is my message, observed while embedded in the trenches (just like you): what works right now is… work.

As Warren Buffett said, “When the tide goes out it’s easy to see who’s been skinny dipping”.

Certainly that’s true in the Internet marketing world.

We’re not experiencing a “bad economy”. For the ?rst time in perhaps ?ve years, we’re experiencing an “accurate economy”. Treasure it. Value it. Learn from it.

And get out there and sell something, willya?

Today’s post is a guest post by my trusted colleague Heather Seitz, of Email Delivered.
-Ray Edwards

More often than not, we assume that the main reason people aren’t buying our products and services is related to price.

The truth? It’s not price at all. It all comes down to value!

If the value is not there, then people are not going to spend the money on whatever it is you are selling. It doesn’t matter if it’s a $17 eBook or a $17,000 coaching program, or something in the middle, if the value isn’t there, you’re not going to spend your money.

And let’s face it… in the current economy, just about everyone is a bit more discerning about where they spend their dollars.

So how do you determine “value”?

That’s the million-dollar question… Let me illustrate with an example of something that happened recently where I really “got” the concept of value and how it relates not only to the decision of whether or not to buy, but also to the overall perception of your customers – and, as a result, the long term impact on your bottom line.

(As you read this case study, think about how this applies to your business and how your prospects react to your “offers”)

We were getting ready to do a complete system redesign (from the ground up) of one of our web applications.

We met with the developer and spent a good bit of time sketching out screens, processes, and flow of the design. We detailed all of the system requirements and went through a number of user interfaces, highlighting what we liked and didn’t like.

The meeting went well and we were ready to get started.

He’d estimated about 80-100 hours to complete everything. We were happy with this and excited to move forward.

Two days later, an email arrived with the mockups (based on our discussion). There were 5 attachments in total (4 mockups and proposal).

I started with the mockups first.

First impression: “not bad”. I wasn’t WOWED or blown away, but they were “okay”. It looked like he got about 80% of the concept we were going for, but missed about 20%.

It’s as if they tried to model existing interfaces, but “missed”. There was just something off – that wasn’t quite right. He certainly hadn’t nailed it! I wasn’t “excited”. (Check out the book “Blink”. It talks about this concept and the fact that we all make snap judgments based on first impressions. And even if we can’t articulate what’s wrong, we know when something’s not quite right!)

This isn’t the major problem, however! I realize I demand a lot out of design and was fully prepared to participate in this portion of the project, even editing Photoshop files for the UI designer if need be.

The BIG problem came when I opened the last, and final, document: the actual proposal.

What was supposed to be 80-100 hours came in at 200 hours! Yep, more than double the higher range of his verbal estimate.

What’s more is that it was basically little more than a new user interface. We had spent HOURS going over the fact that we wanted to build EVERYTHING brand new and on an entirely different infrastructure. That wasn’t included… and would cost another $5,000 – $7,000! So what started off as a $8000 – $10,000 project was going to cost us closer to $25,000.

Talk about sticker shock!

We were mad… frustrated… felt deceived… etc.

What happened next was where the big lesson became clear!

My partner asked me this question: “If we were starting this application from scratch, and it was everything we wanted, would we be willing to pay that?”

The answer was, “Sure… no problem!”

That’s when it became crystal clear!

What we had wasn’t a “price” problem. It was a value/trust problem…

It wasn’t the money we were asked to pay, but what we felt we were getting in return for that money.

I took a step back to really think about the experience and what I took from it was a huge lesson in value and customer perception. Here are some lessons we can all use in our business:

1. Initial Impact. Does your “look and feel” match your message? Appearance matters. And the “good enough” bar has shifted. People place value on how something looks and what that first impression is. And remember that “Blink” concept I mentioned before. If it doesn’t FEEL right, then you’re already at a disadvantage before they get to the actual message (and offer). This can impact whether or not the initial sale is ever made.
2. Value. Are you demonstrating value in such a way that your customers are HAPPY about the exchange? (Their money for your product or service). Your customers should feel that they got an incredible deal. This is the key to repeat business. If your customer decides to evaluate the competition before making a decision, you’ve failed – or at least stumbled a bit.
   
3. Trust. This is a little harder to quantify or define. And it didn’t actually hit me right away in the story above. It took a few minutes on this one! Considering we were expecting an estimate to come in around $8000 – $10,000 including some wiggle room, when we got the “proposal” with a estimates for each segment which were admittedly “padded”, we felt that we were going to get ripped off… that we’d get a little ways into it and that the scope of each section would multiply just as the initial estimate did.

The problem with “trust” is that one it’s gone… it’s gone! And it’s very difficult to gain it back.

You can always change the image of your website or add more “value” to your product or service (or simply change your message to convey the value that’s there). But you can’t simply wave a wand and regain trust.

So the question is… do your customers trust you? If not, what can you do to establish that trust and CONTINUE TO EARN IT?

I just stumbled upon these numbers at the Desiring God website.

“The population of the world just crossed the seven-billion mark. There are currently an estimated 2.26 billion Internet users worldwide — one billion of which are from Asia, and only 273 million of which are from North America.

Here’s the current breakdown for Internet use globally:

Asia: 1 billion Web users (26% penetration)
Europe: 500 million Web users (61.3% penetration)
North America: 273 million Web users (78.6% penetration)
Latin America: 235 million Web users (39.5% penetration)
Africa: 139 million Web users (13.5% penetration)
Middle East: 77 million Web users (35% penetration)
Australia: 23 million Web users (67% penetration)

Sources: Nielsen Online, UN International Telecommunications Union, GfK, local Regulators and other reliable sources.”

I’m willing to bet most American websites are oblivious to the other (majority) “World Wide Web”.

What does this tell us?

When you are being compared to your competition, do your customers see any compelling difference? In today’s environment, they must! If they don’t, your business is already in trouble.

Here are three simple but compelling qualities that will make your business stand out from the competition:

1. A great first impression. It’s true, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Too many people (and businesses) miss this opportunity, or worse, they botch it. Pay attention to details, especially on your website. Prospective customers will examine it closely for inconsistencies, errors, misspellings, outdated information, and false claims. Take great pains to make a good first impression.

2. Quick response. As simple as it may sound, answering the phone after no more than three rings… returning phone calls the same day… following up with e-mail correspondence quickly… all these “little things” can build trust in a remarkably short period of time. The reason: people are so accustomed to being disappointed in this area, that even if you simply meet your obligations, you will impress them. Exceed your agreements, and they will be astounded.

3. Go the extra mile. Perform unexpected service for your clients-such as early delivery, coming in under budget, delivering more than was promised, even losing money to make a complaint right. These kinds of “extra mile” gestures can win you a customer for life-certainly worth sacrificing short-term profits for the long-term gain.

It’s not always easy to stand out – but it is usually simple.

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I am a strong advocate for creating good boundaries in your business, and it holds especially true for freelance copywriters..

Training your customers on how to do business with you, so that you can maximize your productivity and profits, is vital.

But I don’t like to be the guy who always says “no”.

I like to find ways to say yes.

Example…

I don’t haggle over my rates as a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant.

Does that mean that when I am in conversation with a new client, I’m quick to quote an astronomical rate, and turn them away if they suggest a lower payment? Not at all.

I simply look for ways to change the nature of the offer, so that I’m able to accommodate their rate request.

It’s as simple as asking a few targeted questions:

1. “If we were able to lower the price to what you ask, would you be ready to do business today?” If the answer to this question is no, the discussion is really over isn’t it?
2. “What part of the project seems most important to you, if we were able to deliver it for the price you suggest?” This helps identify pieces of the project you may be able to eliminate, thus also eliminating the expense created by that particular activity, giving you more flexibility in your rate.
3. “What makes you think our service is only worth the amount you mentioned?” You have to be careful of your tone of voice when asking this question; you don’t want to sound confrontational. But the issue may simply be one of the perception of value. If the client doesn’t feel that having me consult on a product launch is worth $50,000 upfront, no amount of sales technique will get them to write me that check. I need to determine where they feel the value is.

While these suggestions may not turn every price negotiation into a business deal, they will help you find ways to say yes to proposals you might’ve said no to in the past.

And that can dramatically increase your bottom line.

If you’d like more tips on how to market your copywriting services, you’ll want to get on the notification list for my upcoming newsletter. It’s called “Marketing Your Copywriting Services” and it’s just for copywriters. Copywriters who want more clients… juicier assignments… and bigger fees… fast.

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You might think I’m late with these predictions.

After all, most everyone who had any interest in making such prognostications has already posted theirs.

But I’m not late.

To paraphrase Gandalf, the wise wizard from the Lord of the Rings stories, “A prophet is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.”

Here are 7 predictions for 2012 from your ol’ Uncle Ray.

1. Faith will play a more pronounced role in the Presidential election. Sure, it’s always an issue. But in the past it has, more or less, been tangential. This time, with the mix including President Obama, Ron Paul, and Mitt Romney, I see this becoming a forefront discussion. Is America ready for a Mormon president? And if you think a President’s faith doesn’t inform his politics, you’re a wee bit daft.




2. The economy will not collapse nor resurrect – it will change, though. Chicken Little, settle down. Pollyanna, you might be disappointed. It is a new world order, just not the one many were expecting. It’s a new game, with new rules, and some new players at the international table (hint: can you speak Chinese?)




3. More people will see their answer to money woes lies in starting a business. We need entrepreneurs – not merely technicians with independent shops. Technicians merely siphon off pre-existant streams of wealth. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, actually create wealth. Many of these entrepreneurs will come from the ranks of the church – as more believers realize it is time for the church to stop simply having a message, and to start being a message. Spirit-filled entrepreneurs will demonstrate what it looks like to have God’s favor on our lives — including our businesses.




4. The Google game will be harder to play on all fronts. I wrote this before Google changed their search fundamentally with the “Your World” update. Would that I had published it a day or two earlier!




5. China. See prediction #2.




6. Being debt-free will become the new American status symbol. Turns out the Book of Proverbs is right: the borrower is the slave of the lender.




7. “Internet Marketing” (ie, marketers who sell marketing advice to marketers who sell marketing advice) will be harder… but “information marketing” (selling your knowledge and expertise) will still be insanely profitable.

So – what to do with these predictions? They are of little value if not joined with action. Within each is a kernel of encouragement. A seed of hope, possibility, and potential opportunity.

The diligent will find and seize upon these possibilities – and the many others not mentioned here.

I do acknowledge reality, by the way.

Is it tough these days? Yes, in some ways.

Is fear running rampant on the Earth? Yep.

Many wish these times had not come upon us. Perhaps you, too, wish our present times were different.

To quote Gandalf …

“So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world… besides the will of evil. And that is an encouraging thought.”

Indeed.