This is Rollo Tamasi – my Pug.

Movie fans will recognize the name; if you’re curious, just Google it.

That’s not the point of this piece, though.

You may not know (or even care) that since May 18, my family and I have been traveling the USA in our motorhome. Our family includes me, She Who Must Be Adored (my wife), our son… and two dogs.

Rollo discovered early on in this long journey (over 5,000 miles so far) that his preferred riding spot is in my wife’s lap. It’s pretty cute, if not always comfortable for my wife.

Because having a 25 pound dog on your lap for hours on end is not comfortable, my wife frequently banishes Rollo to the rear sofa. He usually obediently lumbers back to the sofa, waits a few minutes… and the next thing you know, there he is. At my wife’s feet. Looking up with those big brown eyes, silently asking, “Can I please get back on your lap now?”

Once she has noticed him, my wife will say “No, Rollo – go back to the couch.”

And he slowly shuffles off to the sofa, head hung down as if he’d been scolded for some really, really Bad Thing. Sits on the sofa for a few minutes. And then… you guessed it: he’s back at her feet.

I’ve seen him perform this little dance as many as half a dozen times in a row, in the course of 30 minutes.

No whining.

No barking.

No bad behavior, really.

Oh, occasionally my wife gets a little irritated and maybe firms up her tone of voice – but in the end, she always sighs, smiles, and says, “Oh, okay. Come on up.”

And Rollo happily hops into her lap and soon is serenading us with the rip-roaring snores only an overweight Pug can manage.

I think there’s a very simple lesson here for sales people. And we’re all sales people, in one way or another.

Do you “get” the lesson? Post your insights here on the blog. I’ll pick one commenter to receive an advance, signed copy of my forthcoming book on copywriting and online persuasion, Writing Riches.

We buy because of emotion, and we justify the decision using logic.

Good sales people identify the emotion driving their prospect, and then line up the “reasons why” the purchase is a good idea. They use logic to close the sale, but logic is not making the sale.

“Reason why” selling even worked with Captain Kirk on Star Trek.

Kirk was a hot-head, you will remember. He wanted to spring into action. Spock, the non-emotional, scientific Vulcan, deftly supplied his Captain the logic needed to justify the decision.

Get this: Spock was the consummate sales person. A pro. Kirk was not.

Most sales people who turn us off are selling from the Captain Kirk school of sales – all emotion, passion and pushiness.

The sales people we love, the ones we happily buy from, are from the Mr. Spock school of sales; they simply supply us with the logical reasons that support what we wanted to do already.

Be like Spock; supply the reasons why. It’s the logical thing to do.

What’s the number one way to make more sales?

For better than 80% of companies (or freelancers, or salespeople, etc.) the answers is simple.

So simple you’re embarrassed to admit it.

Here is the “secret” to getting more sales:

Ask.

For another 10-15% “bump” in sales: when the prospect says “no”, ask them “why not?” Then answer their objection. And then ask for the sale again.

I know many will think this is oversimplified.

Before you make that assumption, honestly ask yourself if you ask for the sale as often as you should.

I rest my case.

Most copywriters and marketers would agree  that if you could read your prospect’s mind, you could be a lot more successful writing copy for – and selling stuff to – those prospects.

Because you’d know their world.

You’d understand their pain.

You’d know their deepest fears, and you’d understand their highest aspirations.

So how do you do that? Here are 7 practical tips. They sound simple, but when you actually use them their impact can be profound.

1. Learn everything you can about your prospect. If you’re in direct marketing, it’s easy: just look at their data cards. When you have demographics, you can infer a lot about the “average” person who represents the group. If you don’t have that kind of data… guess. It’s a lot more accurate  than what most marketers do (which is: they don’t bother with any of this stuff).
2. Imagine yourself living your prospect’s typical day. Go through it step by step – from rising out of bed in the morning to getting back into the sack at night. Use all five of your senses: what do you see, hear, feel, taste, touch and smell? Make notes.
3. Think about their biggest fear – the one that wakes them up at 3 in the morning in a cold sweat.
4. Think about  their highest aspiration – what do they dream of? Not the little dreams (the ones we all tell our buddies), but the big dream in their “secret heart” (the dream that they don’t dare tell anyone).
5. Go where they live. Find a neighborhood that is like your prospect’s and walk through it (driving doesn’t work – looking at it through a window is just more TV… nice to look at but not REAL). Talk to people.
6. Read what they read. Read their magazines, newspapers, blogs and Twitter.
7. Watch what they watch. Watch the TV shows your prospects watch. Especially the ones  that don’t interest you.

If you do this, you’ll develop the apparent ability to read your prospect’s mind.

And you’ll sell more.

But something funny about this is: you’ll also most likely care more. And that’s far more important than any selling technique.

The world’s a funny place, ain’t it?

Many people want to know the “magic formula” is for writing web site and ad copy that sells.

If you’re one of those folks who would like to know that formula, I have some disappointing news: there isn’t one.

“But Ray,” I hear you say, “Haven’t you yourself  taught several different copywriting ‘formulas’?”

Yes.

But.

They are not “magic” and they don’t work universally.

What a formula can do is give you a basic structure on which to hang your “argument” (your logic for why someone should buy your stuff); what the formula cannot do is somehow magically compel people to buy something they don’t really want or need.

What a formula can’t do is teach you the fears and aspirations of your readers, so that your persuasion power comes from the point of intersection between your audience’s needs/desires and your product’s features/benefits.

Only you, as an empathetic writer, can do that.

Just when I thought I’d seen it all…

I came across a website today for something called “Laughter Yoga”.

My first question was, “What the heck is ‘laughter yoga’?”

Turns out it’s exactly what it sounds like.

People get together in a Yoga-class type setting, and they LAUGH.

There’s even a “Laughter Yoga Home Study” set, which is a bunch of DVDs that will set you back $195.

I kid you not.

Now after a little Google research I found out that doctors and patients say that this weird kind of yoga relieves stress and anxiety and could even strengthen the immune system.

It seems kinda like a stretch to me, but a lot of people swear by it and are willing to pay their hard-earned money for it.

Just Google “laughter yoga” and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

So what can we learn from this?

It’s just this: making money is simple if you remember that all people really want is to FEEL BETTER.

I mean, c’mon.

If people will pay $195 to earn how to do “laughter yoga”, doesn’t that say a lot about what people really want?

How about diet books?

We all know (don’t we?) that most people who buy diet books (or “get out of debt” books, or “get a better relationship” books, etc.) don’t every really lose weight (or get out of debt, or get a better relationship, etc.).

So why do they buy those books?

TO FEEL BETTER.

The book makes them feel better about themselves. It makes them feel like they COULD go on the diet, or the budget, or whatever.

Now, I think your product or service should provide real value. So that if your customer actually USED the product they would get the result.

But you should also think about making certain that your product itself provides a way to feel better.

And for darn sure, you’re marketing and sales material should absolutely make the prospects feel more positive, more focused and more hopeful.

While I don’t think any of us should be selling “false hope”, I definitely feel we should be selling “hope”.

Because hope makes people feel better, and that is ultimately what most human beings want.

Just to feel better.

That’s what I think – but what do you think? Is is good to sell “hope” to prospects… to make  them feel better? Post your comments below…

(NOTE: This is an update of a previous post… enhanced with video. Please be sure and let me know what you think of this “multi-media” approach, okay? It’s quite a bit of work, and I’m happy to do it if you think it’s worthwhile.)

[flashvideo file=http://rayedwards.s3.amazonaws.com/x11Video1.flv image=http://rayedwards.com/images/forge.png /]

Every piece of your website is a link in the sales chain.

Each link leads to the next, and at the end of the chain is the sale – and profits for you and your business.

Of course, as we all know, any chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

One way to get quick sales boost is: find the weak or broken links in your sales process and strengthen or repair them. And almost every website has at least a few week or broken links. I’m not just talking about hyperlinks, here… I’m talking about any crucial part of the sales process.

No website is perfect – no website is ever optimized fully. There’s always room for improvement. In most websites I look at for clients, there are some basic fixes that can pay off in a big way.

Here are three examples of things you might want to do on your own website:

• Fix Broken Links. The most obvious example is actual broken links. These are frustrating at best for your visitors, and for many it will kill the sale instantly (“if they can’t get their links fixed, what must their product be like?”).
• Remove Inconsistencies. In the world of direct mail, there’s a proven response boost when the message on the outside of the envelope matches the message on the headline of the letter inside; the reason this is so is, we are wired to respond positively to consistency. We like getting what we expect. Even seemingly small inconsistencies send a subconscious signal to your prospects that all is not right. Some specifics to look for: different typefaces or look & feel on your pages; lack of consistent layout from one section of your site to the next; jarring differences between your major sales pages (opt-in page, salesletter page, order page, thank you page). Get fanatical about consistency.
• Remove “Mind Stoppers”. Some things just cause us to “stop our mind” when reading a website. For example, strange or unnatural wording can cause us to stop in the flow of reading and ask “What? Huh?” Even though these “Mind Stoppers” may only cause a pause of 1 or 2 seconds, they interrupt the flow of your sales message. Avoid “Mind Stoppers” at all costs. The best way to find them: read your copy aloud, to another human being, in a natural tone and at an easy pace. Then have them read it aloud back to you. In each case, mark any section that causes you to pause or stumble. Re-write those sections and remove the “Mind Stoppers”.

When you forge stronger links in your “Sales Chain”, you’ll increase your sales results. And that means more profits for you and your small business.

Funny story.

Back in my radio days, one of the shows I was in charge of was a morning radio team.

And this particular morning team had a regular feature where a couple of psychotherapists woud come on each week.

When I say a “couple”, I mean it. They were actually a COUPLE, and they were both actually THERAPISTS (can you imagine the dinner table conversations?).

Anyhow, I knew this couple only as characters on this particular morning show. “Judith and Jim” was how I knew them. And I knew only their voices.

Fast forward a few years later.

I had left the radio business, and was at an Internet Marketing seminar.

During one of the presentations, I noticed this couple sitting near the front, and I noticed  they were asking lots of questions. And their voices sounded familiar. And their names were… Judith and Jim.

We connected for the first time in person, and we’ve been friends ever since. (Okay, so it was “funny” as in “coincidence” and not funny as in “LOL”).

To continue my story…

I discovered that Jim and Judith ventured into online marketing just four years ago. Along the way, they had to overcome their technical deficiencies and learn to make friends with their computer. Even more so, they had to, in their own words, “open our minds to an entirely new way of being in the world, a whole new and very different mindset-a marketing/business mindset”.

But there was a problem. As they attended lots of marketing conferences, they felt something was wrong.

According to Judith and Jim, “We always felt a sense of displacement, a feeling of not belonging, of somehow being outsiders.”

As they connected with people at those same  conferences they learned that others had the same complaint. And they noticed a pattern: All those who voiced this kind of discomfort were service providers, care-givers, change agents of some kind, men and women who had dedicated their lives to helping others-heart-to-heart.

“It became clear that there was a segment of the Internet marketplace that was not being served,” says Judith.

Jim chimes in, “That segment is peopled by soft sell marketers-all of us who are care-givers and life-change artists as distinct from accumulation artists whose focus is money first and foremost.”

And now these two friends of mine have written a book on the subject of soft sell marketing for service providers… and for people who don’t like hard-sell approaches. I recommend you get a copy of The Heart of Marketing.

It astounds me.

At every seminar I attend, someone asks me this question: “Does anybody really make a living selling information online?”

I also hear this one: “You can’t make any money as a copywriter or marketer now that the economy has gone down the toilet.”

What a load of garbage! Aaarrrgh!

Here’s why…

It’s easier than ever to make money online.

Especially if you’re a copywriter.

Why would I say that? Simple.

If you know how to write great copy, you have three ways to make money online:

1. You can get paid to write copy for others.

2. You can make money writing copy for your own products that you sell online (that may have nothing to do with copywriting or marketing).

3. You can make money as an affiliate for other people’s products (because you have copy skills, your promos will be far more effective than those of mere mortal marketers).

Not one way to make income, but three ways.

You might think I’m exaggerating. Heck, you might even think I’m lying.

Doesn’t matter.

Because I’m proving every day that what I’m saying is true.

And I look around me and I see lots of evidence that the “economy” has not “stopped” the wheels of commerce.

For instance, I’m traveling the country in my new motor home. Over the last 2 months I have visited both Disney parks in the USA (Disney World in Florida, and Disney Land in California)…

…plus I’ve been to Las Vegas, Phoenix, and a few other sunny places.

And looking out my window right now, I see lots of motor homes (which cost anywhere from $80,000 – $700,000 or more).

Nobody told all these people the economy was “in trouble”.

And…

While I was in Vegas, I visited the Coach store, the Apple Store, and many others. Crammed with people spending money.

Now, some people are spending money, right?

OBVIOUSLY.

And just as in the retail business, and in the RV business, and in the exotic car business… in the marketing business, people are still buying.

(Look, I’m not minimizing anyone’s pain here; I understand that there are many people experiencing real problems. Far from criticizing them or minimizing the seriousness of their situation, I’m simply pointing to one possible way out of those problems.)

And the good news, if you’re a copywriter, is that you have three ways to make money.

Trust me, other marketers will pay you LOADS to write killer copy for them. Because they  hate writing their own, in most cases.

And… it gets even better.

Because when you can write your own copy, you can roll out as many of your own products as you like.

One little online money machine after another. See how that works? And because you write YOUR OWN COPY, you bypass the single biggest expense in marketing. Copy.

So my message in today’s post is really quite simple: whatever you have to do…

GET GOOD AT WRITING COPY.

It’s the one skill that pays you back for the rest of your life. I know it has for me.

So do what it takes. Get good at copy.

If you need fast cash, you can write for other people.

Then, if you want to build long-term income, write copy for your own products. And/or promote affiliate products.

It’s the winning skill in today’s “economy”.

(If you’re curious about how you could start a career as a copywriter, or learn the skill for your own business, you might want to take a look at this resource.)

In the Internet Marketing world, a 10% conversion rate is often considered outstanding.

But is it?

Not really.

Online retailers do much better.

Check out Futurenow’s posting on “the top 10 converting websites for December 2008“.

Here are the top five:

1. ProFlowers 31.1%
2. LL Bean 25.7%
3. Amazon 23.7%
4. VitaCost 23.0%
5. Coldwater Creek 22.4%

Hmmm.

What do they know that you don’t? Something to think about.

If you’re not already getting at least 10% conversions, I suggest reading this site.