While this may sound crazy, especially if you are revenue-starved, give it a bit more thought and you’ll see that I’m right.

Some customers are simply not worth the revenue they produce; because some customers are complainers, whiners, high maintenance, and end up costing you more in time, energy, and employee morale than they ever produce in revenue.

The truth is, most of us can identify these “problem children” customers a mile away. There’s just something about them that sets off the red flags early in the relationship, usually before any purchases have been made.

Learn to watch for these signals. Identify the kinds of questions, comments, and attitudes that you know are warning you that the person you’re talking to is a “problem child” customer.

Have a predetermined, polite, but firm routine in place for turning such customers away. You want to do it gracefully, because you don’t want to insult anyone or imply that they’re simply a “troublemaker” before you’ve even had a chance to get to know them.

But you and I both know that your biggest problem customers did not come as a surprise to you. Chances are, you knew in the first conversation you had with them, this person was going to be trouble.

Promise yourself that from now on you’re going to listen to your intuition, or your subconscious insight, or whatever you choose to call it… and you’re going to refuse to let those “problem children” inside your business.

You’ll be much better off without them messing up your employee morale, lowering your ROI, and costing you time and energy.

Spend the time you save on something much better – such as identifying, pursuing, and wooing your “perfect customers” instead.

The ones who are easy to work with, a joy to be around, most helped by your products and services, and produce the most profit for you in your business.

You’ll never be sorry you avoided a problem customer.

And every problem customer avoided makes room for a customer who is a delight.

Worth note: some of my best customers are members of the Writing Riches community. Just sayin’.

I’d like to propose that the answer is pretty simple: to make money in tough times… solve tough problems.

If you can solve tough problems for people, they’ll be willing to pay you for it. Especially in tough times.

Hey, I said the answer was simple-I didn’t say it was easy.

You’ve heard the saying that “little hinges swing the doors”. Perhaps you’ve heard it so often that the profundity of that saying has been lost on you. The fact is, small actions can lead to big results-and consciously chosen small actions can lead to enormous results.

Here are three little “marketing moves” that can enrich your profits almost immediately, when performed correctly. Please do not dismiss them based on their simplicity; their power springs from their simplicity.

1. Call your customers on the phone. It’s great if you have a script developed for this, but even if you don’t… call them anyway. Simply calling a large number of your customers and asking, “How are things going? Is there anything we can do to help?” Will often lead to new business and sales-even though that wasn’t the overt intention of your call. If you don’t get results with this technique… you haven’t called enough people.

2. Send your customers mail. Some people don’t answer the phone, or don’t respond well to phone calls. No problem. Send a piece of mail to your customers. It doesn’t even have to be a piece of mail with an offer (although that’s probably the best piece of mail to send). The problem with sending mail that makes an offer is most people will do it wrong. Most people will make it look so much like an ad, that it will end up in the trash can. So here’s an alternative: send a one-page letter, hand-addressed and hand-signed, that says something like, “How are things going? Is there anything we can do to help? Here’s our phone number-please call…”. Don’t laugh. Some people will call. And the ones who do are your best prospects.

3. Ask for referrals. Call up your current customers, and ask them if they feel you’re doing a good job for them. Most of them, presumably, will say yes. If that’s the case, ask them, “Who else can you think of who might benefit from our help?” Maybe even give them suggestions to help jog their memory. If done correctly, simply asking for referrals will get you new business; the fact is, almost nobody does this. Prove it to yourself: when was the last time you asked for a referral?

There you go. Three little marketing moves that can put money in your bank account-almost immediately.

When I was about 14 years old I wanted a job at a radio station. The problem is, the radio station wasn’t hiring. I hit upon the strategy of showing up with annoying regularity day after day, asking for some kind of job. Apparently the annoying part of my strategy worked: the manager of the radio station finally stopped in the lobby where I was waiting when they, looked at me and said, “if I give you a job, would you stop bugging me?”

I got what I wanted; he got what he wanted. Just not for the same reasons.

In the end, did the reasons matter? My point (and, with apology to Ellen Degeneres, I do have one) is that we should never confuse our own motivation for the other person’s motivation. Thinking about what motivates the other person in any negotiation is almost always a more effective basis for that negotiation.

Even though we may feel our reasons to be superior to those of the other party, our reasons are not the same as theirs.

The Holy Grail of online marketing is getting the prospect’s email address (so you can start building a permission-based marketing relationship with them).

In the not-too-distant past, you could generate leads online simply by offering a free newsletter or special report. This doesn’t work so well anymore. Why?

The reason is simple: there’s too much ‘junk’ being offered, and prospects are wise to this. People just won’t give up their email address for a junky ‘special report’ like they used to.

So what’s a marketer to do? Here are three ways to break through skepticism and get your prospects to give you their email address:

1. Offer Superior Premiums

Offering a superior premium will help you “cut through the clutter”, but to be effective your premium must be clearly superior.

Commonplace and boring: “Special Reports” and “Free Tele-Seminars”.

Better: software that performs a specific task, a free telephone consultation (make it clear this is not a sales pitch), or a free membership website.

2. Use Video Testimonials

There’s a reason infomercial producers make their 30-minute ads over 70% testimonials: testimonials overcome skepticism.

These days, it’s cheap and easy to make video testimonials for your website. Get your best customers singing your praises on video, and put these snippets on your website. Lots of them.

3. Use The “Reciprocity Sequence Method”

You’ve no doubt heard of the ‘Reciprocity’ principal: If I give you a gift, you feel compelled to reciprocate.

The trouble is, your prospects often have heard of it too, rendering it somewhat less effective.

I use a technique I call the “Reciprocity Sequence Method”… which is simply giving your prospects a series of gifts so that the “Reciprocity Impulse” becomes almost overwhelming.

It sounds elementary, but few people do it. And it’s very powerful.

Think about how you can ‘stack’ a sequence of 3-5 gifts in a short period of time, and THEN make an offer to your prospect.

Key points to remember: keep the sequence confined to a short time period, make the gifts relevant to (and an enhancement of) your core offer, and make the offer immediately after giving the final gift.

While it’s true that skepticism is at a higher level than ever, it’s also true that breaking through is easy when you know how.

What do you think? Have you run into increased skepticism in your marketing – and if so, how have you successfully over come it? Post your comments below!

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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…

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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.

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.

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.)

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.

Where is this money – and how do you get it?

Most businesses have many hidden opportunities for discovering “windfall profits” – but I want to focus on just one of those opportunities in this article.

That “opportunity pocket” is: marketing and advertising.

In my experience, almost every business – whether it be retail, service, professional practice, or “business to business” in its nature – is unconsciously letting profits slip away.

Your biggest opportunity most likely lies hidden inside your underperforming sales copy (copy that isn’t selling as many units/contracts/ memberships as it potentially could be).

If you want to make more sales without spending a single dime in additional ad costs, this article might be the most important document you read this year…

Make Piles of Money With “Upside Leverage”

“Upside Leverage” is a concept I learned from marketing genius Jay Abraham.

We all know what leverage is: using other people’s money to build your business, or other people’s efforts (through delegation, for instance) to increase your own productivity.

“Leverage” involves using one asset (the lever) to increase the value or power of another. The only problem with using “leverage” is the potential downside: if you use financial leverage to borrow money for a business project, the project could possibly fail, and you would be forced to pay back the money. If you use the leverage of delegation in order to make yourself more productive, there’s a chance the person you’re relying on might let you down.

“Upside” leverage is leverage that involves little or no potential downside.

It’s my belief that underperforming sales copy is the most potentially profitable of all forms of “upside leverage”.

Please read that sentence again, because it’s too easy to let the profound meaning it contains slip past you:

Underperforming sales copy is the most potentially profitable of all forms of “upside leverage”.

Think of it this way: any ad or promotion costs the same whether it performs well or not, right? If you spend $100 on an ad, and you get $500 in business as a result, you made a 5-1 return on your investment. That’s a good return. You did what you set out to do, you made a profit.

But… what if you could take that same ad, and change it in some way that made it 10 times more effective?

What if now it returned $5,000?

You spent the same $100 for the ad… but you got back $5,000.

Instead of a 5-1 return, now you’re getting 50-1! That, my marketing friend, is “upside leverage”!

Change Your Copy, Change Your Income

There is so much bad copy on the web, it’s almost laughably easy to be better than most of your competitors.

Why is that?

I believe there are a number of reasons, but here are a few of the common ones:

1. Some people just don’t realize their copy is bad. They wrote it themselves, or their brother or their niece wrote it. They think it’s wonderful – but in reality it stinks like a dead skunk.

2. Others don’t realize how important their sales copy is. This is a naive belief, and it astounds me that so many people hold it – but they do. Some people seem to think that as long at the copy has “just the facts”, that’ll be good enough. It never is.

3. Some people are just cheap. They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to start a business, buy furniture, hire staff, provide benefits, etc., but when it comes to the one piece of communication that might actually cause someone to buy from them – they don’t want to pay for it. They “delegate” this crucial task. Big mistake.

Are you making any of these mistakes? If you are, this is your wake-up call.

Take advantage of the potential “upside leverage” that exists in every ad or promotion. Make sure you ads are performing – that they are making you sales every day. And that they are making you more sales this week than they did last week, etc.

You do this through constant improvement and testing/tracking.

You also do it by either hiring a copywriter, or investing in educational materials that will teach you how to write your own copy. Either one can work – it’s up to you. If you love to write, and you think you have a knack for it, then by all means get a good home-study course on copywriting and do it yourself.

Don’t put it off – do it right now. Otherwise, you’re throwing money away that rightfully belongs to you.

I’ve had it with all the loser talk about the economy.

I know it’s bad.

I know people are losing money.

I have lost money, too – my retirement account is worth about two thirds what it was worth six months ago.

So I get it.

But it’s time for all of us to stop talking about it, and instead start doing something about it.

First Of All, I’m Not Suze Orman

I’m not going to pretend to advise you on what to do with your investments, or that kind of thing. There are plenty of experts who can help you with that. In fact, I recommend you listen to these audios by Tony Robbins for some guidance on your finances – and your attitude.

What I have to offer is of a different nature. Here’s my contribution…

I’m writing a series of blog posts (starting with this one) that are focused on one thing, and one thing only: helping small business owners thrive-not just survive, but thrive-in today’s economic environment.

I believe that is realistic and attainable for almost all small businesses – if they’re willing to do what it takes.

Are you?

We’ll see.

The World Series Of Small Business Profit Tactics

This will be a month-long series (give or take). Each day my goal is to post one actionable step you can take that will either get you more sales, increase the amount of profit you make on each sale, or multiply the number of sales you get from each customer… and ideally, it will do all three at the same time.

Tactic #1: Discover Your Own Acres of Diamonds

You have probably heard the classic motivational tale called Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell.

It’s the story of a poor farmer who sold his land in order to go off in search of treasure. He never found that treasure… but the new owner of the property discovered a rich diamond mine lay just beneath it. The poor farmer gave up all he had… including his “acres of diamonds”.

Dig In Your Own Back Yard

This is a perfect illustration of how most business owners run their small businesses (whether online or off-line).

The are constantly in search of some new idea, technology, or innovation… and they fail to harvest the fortune already at their feet.

If you have any kind of business at all – if you’ve been selling anything for any length of time -  you already own acres of diamonds.

Your diamonds are your past customers.

They spent money with you before. The hardest sale to make (and the most expensive sale to make) is the first one. And yet… many business owners never try to work for the second sale at all.

They seem to operate under a motto that reads: “Find ‘em, fool ‘em, and forget ‘em.”

What about you?

Have you given your past customers opportunity to do business with you again? Have you asked them for more business? Have you done it recently… persuasively… persistently?

If you’re like most business owners, the answer is “no”.

How to Harvest Your Diamonds

So how do you harvest your acres of diamonds? How do you go about reactivating old customers-in real, practical terms?

The simplest way is: contact them.

Do you have their phone number? Then call them.

Calling them is the best way-it’s the most personal (barring showing up at the front door, which might not be such a bad idea, depending on what business you’re in).

I can already hear someone saying, “But Ray, people will be offended if I show up out of nowhere… or call them on the phone… or e-mail them… and ask them to buy something.”

Well of course they will.

Especially if they haven’t heard from you for a long time. But what if you took a different approach?

What if you called (or sent a letter, or an e-mail) and said something like this: “Hi this is Bob the Remodeling Guy…  and I was just checking in to see how that new bathroom is working for you? I know it’s been a year since we installed your new fixtures, and we always like to follow up and make sure our work is living up to your expectations.”

Will you get some complaints? Probably.

You’ll find a few people who’ve been meaning to complain about that leaky faucet but never thought you’d even return a phone call. They’ll be glad to finally have your ear. But if you handle even these situations right, it will almost always result in new business.

Why is that? Because nobody calls to follow up these days. Nobody.

And you might be surprised to discover that most of your calls will not result in new complaints. Most of them will result in people being surprised that you called the begin with.
Most calls will be a pleasant shock for the customer and result in some kind of conversation about what other work, products, or services they might need.

If you can’t call your customers, send them an e-mail; if you don’t have your e-mail address, send them a postcard.

Get this: the technology you use to reopen the dialogue doesn’t matter. What matters is that you start the conversation.

And don’t start it by asking for more money; start by finding out how they felt about dealing with you in the past, how well you helped them solve their previous problem, and — if they have any thing less than a stellar report for you — how you can make things right.

If you do these things, you will get new business as a natural course of events. And you won’t have to bring it up–they will.

“But What If They Don’t?”

What if you have a pleasant conversation with your past customer, all is well, and they don’t mention buying something new? No problem. It doesn’t mean you can’t sell them something. Just be nice about it, for cryin’ out loud. Don’t be rude. Make sure they have been heard before you try to make them hear you.

And once you know they have been heard, and feel great about you because you contacted them, and because you (gasp!) listened to what they had to say… make them aware of whatever your current promotion happens to be. Just do it  without being pushy.

It can be as simple as saying, “By the way, we have a special discount available for previous customers who…”.

If they’re interested in your new offer, they’ll let you know.

If they’re not, they’ll let you know that too.

Either way, the worst thing that can happen is you will have built more goodwill for your company, its products, and services. And if you contact enough of your previous customers, taking the right approach, you will generate new business.

This tactic works because hardly anybody does it.

In fact, I predict hardly anybody reading it on this blog will do it. But don’t let that discourage you-in fact, it should excite you.

It should be exciting to know that so few of your competitors will take this simple step to increase their sales and profits.

That just leaves more for you. Now go do it!

Tomorrow’s tactic: Thanksgiving Equals Thanks-getting.

This myth has always struck me as false — or at least only partially true.

I believe that when it comes right down to it, you must have some writing talent. If you don’t, your copy will not be brilliant. It may not even be good. In most cases, it will just be bad.

I see plenty of evidence that the last is the most common result.

There is another myth that if one studies enough of the right manuals, or attends enough of the right seminars, one can learn to write well. Frankly, if you don’t have some native talent — a “knack”, if you will — I don’t think all the classes, courses, or seminars in the world can help you much.

Stephen King would agree with me, I suspect. In a recent article he penned for the Washington Post, King wrote: “The only things that can teach writing are reading, writing and the semi-domestication of one’s muse.”

So there it is, then.

My opinion is that not everyone can learn to be a great (or even good) writer. Everyone is born with a certain aptitude (or lack of it), and they’re pretty much stuck with that aptitude. They can take classes or be taught to make the most of it, but they are always limited to a certain range in the development of their craft.
What do you think?

It means that as a salesperson, if you don’t take time to relate to your potential customer, to get to know them and their needs…

If you just jump right in and hit them with your cheesy, canned sales presentation right off the bat…

…it’s like saying “hi” by throwing up on their shoes.

Gross analogy, I know. But apt, yes?

Jeff Sexton wrote a great little piece on how to avoid this phenomena at GrokDotCom (and that site should definitely go into your RSS reader).

Check out their post on web copy that makes you sick.

One of your first tasks as a copywriter is to break down the skepticism that your prospects (readers, site visitors, subscribers) are feeling, and get them to believe you – even just a little bit.

The Point: How do you break through that skepticism? Testimonials and proof elements.

The Resource: Any late-night infomercial

3 Ways To Use Testimonials or Proof:

1. Add more testimonials.
2. Show photographs (before and after).
3. Show evidence (pictures or screen grabs).

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Story: It’s one of the most common mistakes in all forms of selling – not asking for the sale.

Hard to believe? Maybe. But it’s true anyway; people just don’t want to ask for the order.

The Point: There comes a point where you’ve presented all the benefits of your offer; you’ve demonstrated its value; you’ve supplied lots of credible testimonials; you’ve shown your iron-clad guarantee… and you just need to ask for the sale.

On the Internet, this can be as easy as putting in a link that says “Order Now”.

The Resource: Gitomer

3 Ways To Un-Wimpify Your Copy:

1. Ask for the order plainly.
2. Ask for the order early.
3. Ask for the order more often.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: The reason the old formulae are less effective is: it’s harder to get people’s attention these days. Time to step up your game.

The Resource: Attention Age Doctrine

3 Keys To Grabbing Their Attention:

1. Change Their State.
2. Stop Their Inner Chatter.
3. Appeal To Their Greed, Lust, Or Moving-Away Values.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Story: Follow Ernest Hemingway’s Four Simple Rules to improve your copywriting (or any writing, for that matter).

The Point: The more effusive and melodious your prose, the greater the certitude you will obfuscate the concept you are laboriously attempting to elucidate; eschew obfuscation.

The Resource: The Elements of Style

Hemingway’s Rules:

1. Use short sentences.
2. Use short first paragraphs.
3. Use vigorous language.
4. Be positive, not negative.

Note: I have written about Papa’s rules in the past. This time I decided to do a little research before doing the podcast, and found different versions. So who is right? I don’t know. My favorite version, though is at Brian Clark’s Copyblogger site.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: Sometimes it’s more important to emulate what people do than to listen to what they say. Study what Tony does to drive the revenue stream at his company.

The Resource: Tony Robbins

3 Simple Selling Tips From Tony Robbins:

1. Sell people what they want; give them what they need.
2. Create a subculture with its own language.
3. Engage the power of commitment and consistency.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: Carefully consider the message you’re sending when you employ scarcity in your marketing message.

The Resource: Influence, by Dr. Robert Cialdini

3 Mistakes To Avoid When Using The Scarcity Tactic:

1. Telling lies.
2. Not demonstrating the reason why there is scarcity.
3. Allowing readers to form negative conclusions about the scarcity.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

How did they do that?

The Point: We already know how to do what Apple did. We just don’t like to do it.

It takes imagination.

It takes guts.

It takes money.

The Resource: Apple

3 Ways To Use iPhone-style Marketing In Your Business:

1. Do what others do… in a way that is infinitely more cool.
2. Marry good function with oustanding form (packaging).
3. Fill the experience of doing business with you with pleasant little surprises.
Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

Stories are attention magnets.

The Point: Too many online marketers adhere to the “just the facts” approach — or worse, they engage in “hype”.

This costs these unfortunate marketers sales and profits.

Integrate a powerful story into your copy and test the results.

The Resource: All Marketers Are Liars, by Seth Godin

3 Ways To Use Stories In Your Marketing:

1. Attention grabbers that draw people into the copy.
2. Rapport builders that mirror your reader’s dominant emotion.
3. Proof elements that create mental images of your product working for the reader.
Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: To break through the clutter of online marketing, use a technology everyone is familiar with – the phone. It’s easier and more effective than you think!

The Resource: VoiceShot

3 Ways To Use the Phone to Grow Online Business:

1. Call potential Joint Venture Partners or Affiliates.
2. Call your previous customers to follow up.
3. Use voice broadcasting for mass communication.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: Writing copy that sells without using hype is easy to do.

The Resource: The Copy Doctor

3 Ways To Eliminate Hype In Your Copy:

1. Talk about the reader’s pain.
2. Tell relevant stories.
3. Use detail, not description.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: There are at least 2 good ways anyone can take payments (via credit cards) without having a Merchant Account… and one way that makes getting a Merchant Account easy for 99% of people.

The Resource: The best Merchant Account for online Marketers.

3 Solutions To Your Payment Problem:

1. Clickbank.
2. Paypal.
3. PowerPay.
Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: Spend an hour adding audio to key parts of your website and watch conversions soar.

The Resource: AudioGenerator

3 Places to Use Audio For Better Conversions:

1. Squeeze Page
2. Sales Page (in the Guarantee!).
3. Order Page.
Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: There are specific reasons why long copy works, has always worked, and will always work… when used correctly

The Resource: www.WebCopyWritingExplained.com

Here are three reasons long copy works:

1. We love to read about what we love.
2. Online is not like selling face to face; you need to answer all possible objections.
3. Long copy allows you to tell a story.

Here’s the Four-Part Sales Letter Formula (credit to John Carlton):

1. Here’s what I have to offer.
2. Here’s why it’s right for you.
3. Here are some questions you may have.
4. Here’s what to do now.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Story: If you sell to narrowly focused niches, you’ll make more money.

The Point: A lot of people say “niche marketing” is dead; nothing could be further from the truth.

The Resource: “5k In 30 Days”

5 steps to your niche market empire fast and easy:

1. Locate a product.
2. Set up your sales page and testing software.
3. Link payment pages to Clickbank or Paypal.
4. Use Adwords to drive traffic.
5. Repeat.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: There are proven methods for increasing your opt-in conversions; all it takes is a small amount of work.

The Resource: www.WebCopyWritingExplained.com <– Copywriting Videos

Here are three tactics you can use to get more opt-ins:

1. Make a stronger offer.
2. Use a bigger, “responsive” HTML button
3. Keep all distractions off your opt-in page.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

So how do we put Seth’s ideas to work in our own businesses?

Why are some businesses remarkable and others are not?

A story about my friend Felix will help you understand how to make your business or service stand out — even in a field where there are many choices all offering much the same service.

Felix is a cab driver.

When I travel to the many Internet Marketing Seminars I attend each year, I often have Felix pick me up from my front doorstep and deliver me to the airport.

That’s because I’m forced to take early flights (from Spokane, you must connect to a major airport to get anywhere), and my wife is usually not thrilled about taking me to the airport at 4:00 in the morning.

Felix owns and operates a single taxi cab in Spokane, and he does it with spectacular success.

What makes him different from all of the other taxi cab operators? I like to think it’s three factors which I denote by the initials PSA.

P is for Personality. Felix’s service is personality-driven by his irascible, talkative, and friendly style.

S is for Service. Felix is service-oriented. He never says no, his cab is immaculately clean and in top physical condition, and there are always candies in the dish on the dashboard.

A is for adaptable. Felix is always adaptable, even if he cannot supply my ride to the airport, he’s the first one to suggest another cab driver who will be able to get me to my destination on time. Integrating these parts of the Felix Factor into your own marketing for your company can make a world of difference.

So What Do You Do With This Information?

Ask yourself how you can you make your product or service more personal, more service-focused, and more adaptable to the needs of your customer, and you just might find you’ve learned some valuable lessons from a small-town taxi driver named Felix.

A list of prospects and buyers that you can use as a foundation for your online business. 

It’s harder than ever to build e-mail lists online, as customers are more reluctant to opt in for free e-zines (or other mailing lists) than ever before. 

What’s the best way to build an e-mail list?  Rest assured, e-mail marketing is just as important now as it ever has been, and perhaps even moreso.  So what do you do?  My advice is to use offline marketing to build your online e-mail list.  This is a tactic that is seldom employed by online marketers, and yet it is the most powerful way to build an e-mail list I know of.  Why is this?  Because people who move from an offline promotion to an online mailing list make up the most responsive e-mail list you will ever have.

Here are three ways you can use offline media to build your online mailing list.:

Radio

Radio is an overlooked but inexpensive and effective medium for building an online e-mail list.  If you’re going to use radio, make sure your radio ad is a direct response style. The key to this kind of ad is that it simply directs people to a landing page (or squeeze page) that offers them something for free in return for their name and e-mail address.  Even though the squeeze page technique is harder to implement in today’s online marketing world, with the people who move offline to online response rates are stellar.  

Direct Mail

Using postcards, you can build an e-mail list very quickly using inexpensive direct mail promotions.  Make sure that you buy quality, targeted lists to mail to. Also make sure that the copy you used in your direct mail is targeted, effective, and powerful.  

Outdoor Advertising

If you can squeeze your opt in message into seven words or less, including the domain name, consider using outdoor advertising.  Billboard companies frequently make killer, bargain-basement deals to fill up unused billboard space each month.  Negotiate your deal toward the end of the month, and let them know that they are competing with other media for your business, and you should be able to get the best available rate.

Use these offline methods to build your online list and watch response rates rise.

It’s about how to leave your 9-5 grind (whether that means you have a job working for someone else… or a "job" working for yourself!).

And Ferriss claims he works just 4 hours per week.

Did I mention he makes over $80,000 per month?

Of course, that was before his book was published. If he hits the best-seller lists, which seems inevitable, I’m sure that number will go up. Way up.

I would think that whole business about "$80,000 per month" was just a load of bull if I didn’t know a handful of people who work 10-15 hours per week and make over $100,00 per month.

 So I know it’s possible… And it blows my mind.

As a result of all this, I’ve set some new goals for my own work life. I’d suggest you get the book and do the same. No affiliate links or anything like that – just a recommendation you go get the book.

I will have more to say about this very soon. And I have a couple of new projects lined up that will help you along your way to that "4-Hour Workweek".

More about those in the next couple of days.

For now… off to the bookstore with you! Grab a copy of "4-Hour Workweek".

You’ll thank me.

Last night I conducted a coaching call for my private coaching students group, and I was nervous about doing it.

  The reason: up until now, I had only done practical, "how to" information on our group coaching sessions.

This one was different.

It was about something more "touchy feely" and I wasn’t sure how it would be received.

Last night’s call was on "The 21 Fundamentals of Online Success". It was a 70-minute call, and I jammed as much value into that session as I possibly could.

As a copywriter, I’ve had the privilege of working with some very successful clients (including Alex Mandossian, Mark Victor Hansen, Ed Dale, Brad Callen, Frank Kern, Jack Canfield, Joel Comm, Willie Crawford, and many others).

I’ve seen what makes them tick.

I’ve studied their businesses, and observed the common success factors that they all share. I have also combined that knowledge with my long-standing study of greats like Napoleon Hill (hence, Napoleon Hill’s Internet Marketing secrets…), Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins, and others.

That combined information — which is available nowhere else at any price — formed the basis of what I taught on last night’s call.

Still, I worried that my students might not find it "practical".

I should not have worried; I’ve already gotten more rave reviews for last nights call than any other single session I’ve conducted.

One example: "Really enjoyed tonight’s call (module 9). In retrospect I think it was worth the cost of the entire course, just by itself. I’m not exaggerating."

I’ve already converted that call into a standalone audio product. It’s a physical audio CD, which will be shipped automatically to my customers without me lifting a finger.

I did it in less than 24 hours from creation to completion.

Within the next week or two, I’ll teach a few students how to do exactly what I did to get their first product out the door and making sales.

In the meantime, you can get a copy of the product for only $27.

I will keep raising it until it reaches $97.

Note from Ray: Response has been great! Thanks to everyone who purchased a copy. As of Sunday 5/6/2007 (and as promised), the price has been raised to $47. The next increase will come later this week, and will go to $67… so if you want a copy, you should buy it now.

So my advice is, if you want to know the specific, concrete, 21 Fundamentals of Online Success, grab a copy for yourself while it’s still only $27 $47.

Claim your copy here.

Bullets break up your copy into short, readable bursts.

People tend to scan copy before they read it. Breaking your benefits into bullets increases the chances your copy will "catch the eye" and thus get read.

To recap the benefits – bullets do the following:

• Break up copy (just like this) into short pieces.
• Make the copy easier to scan.
• Make it easier to pick out key words and phrases.
• Get prospects to read more of your copy.
• Help you make more sales.
• The more bullets the better (usually).

I offer regular teleconferences where you can get some questions answered in a live call.

1. I’ll always email you ahead of time about the call details, so you don’t have to worry about that.

2. To make sure you get your questions answered, just input them at: http://www.AskRayEdwards.com .

We also do some Q&A on the calls, but it’s best if you can get your questions in early at the above address.

Hard to believe? Maybe. But it’s true anyway; people just don’t want to ask for the order.

There comes a point where you’ve presented all the benefits of your offer; you’ve demonstrated its value; you’ve supplied lots of credible testimonials; you’ve shown your iron-clad guarantee… and you just need to ask for the sale.

On the Internet, this can be as easy as putting in a link that says "Order Now".

Online software mogul and marketing expert Armand Morin usually has anywhere from 5-14(!) order links on each of his sales pages; he says that the more "order links" he adds, the more sales he makes.

And by the way…all of these tips, techniques, and tactics are incorporated into copy I write for my clients. Does it make a difference for them? Just ask Aden Rusfeldt – the copy I wrote for him created a 197% increase in sales.

That’s what my good friend Michel Fortin (a great copywriter) says, and he’s paraphrasing the great sales trainer Zig Ziglar (the original quote was "Wimpy salespeople have skinny kids.").

Here’s why this is important to your sales copy:

In the beginning, you only have one chance to grab the reader’s attention. That chance is the HEADLINE.

Make sure your headline is strong, aggressive (without being pushy), and compelling.

Think of your headline as the sales pitch to get the prospect to read the whole ad, letter, or web page.

You get one shot. You can’t afford to blow it.

A poor headline for an automotive shop:

"Our Experienced Staff Can Tend to Your Every Automotive Need, And Are ASE Certified with the Guaranteed Lowest Prices."

A much better headline for the same client:

"Hidden Mechanical Problems With Your Car Are Threatening The Health And Safety Of Your Family!  Our 9-Point Safety Inspection Could Save Their Lives – And Give You Peace of Mind…"

Try it! It will make a difference.

Now, you may know that I worked in radio for over 25 years, and was very successful in that industry. I think I know my stuff when it comes to radio. But even I was blown away by some of the ideas Dave and I ended up discussing on this call.

There’s nothing for sale on the call; it’s pure ideas, tools, and tactics.

Listen to it online by clicking below.

Click to listen.

Enjoy.

There are only a few simple things you need to get started making money with your own internet-based business.

It’s not complicated, really.

Let me break it down for you. I’ll tell you the basic items you need, and Google can tell you the rest (just search for information on the areas where your knowledge is weak or incomplete). Here’s what you need:

1. A Product. Obviously, you need something to sell. This could be software, or items you sell on eBay, or a service, or an information product. People get hung up on how to come up with a product — and the truth is that products are the easiest thing in the world to get. It’s taking action that’s tough.

2. A Domain Name. This seems obvious, but you need a name for your business. You can get one at http://NewHostingPlan.com.

3. A Web Page. I say “page” instead of “site” because a “site” seems complicated. A “page” seems easy, doesn’t it? You can get one through http://NewHostingPlan.com.

4. Web Page Software. You need to build a page with content on it. You can do it yourself with free software from http://nvu.com, or you can use a paid product like Dreamweaver (which is available at http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/). If you don’t want to do it you can get a designer at http://sitepoint.com.

5. Graphics. You need a logo and a “look and feel” for your products or services. Again, you can use free software (like that at http://www.gimp.org) or you can buy something like Photoshop (at http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/compare/). Or you can get someone to do it for you at http://sitepoint.com.

6. Autoresponder Account. This is an account that allows you to build a mailing list so that you can mail to your customers or prospects. It can also do this for you on an automated sequential basis, so once someone signs up they get an email from you on a regular basis (automatically). The service I use and recommend is http://RaysAutoResponder.com.

7. Shopping Cart Software. You need to be able to take payments somehow, right? My advice is to get a nice, proven, all-in-one solution. I use http://newmarketingautomation.com.

Now, each of these are somewhat complex discussions that we could probably spend a one-hour teleseminar talking about each of them. Do a quick search on Google – there are plenty of online resources that will teach you more about each of these subjects.

You now know the basic building blocks needed to build your online business.

Can you spend years learning to master it all? Yes. But is it simple enough to get the basics in just a few minutes (as you just did)? Yes.

Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Just remember these basics, figure out which pieces you already have… and figure out what the next logical step might be. Then just do it!

Spam and the spam filters it has given rise to make it harder than ever to get your email delivered.

It’s even hard to receive email we want. How many times have you been frustrated because a friend, co-worker, or relative was supposed to send you an email that never arrived… only to discover that email in your “junk mail” or “spam” folder?

Here’s the good news: the death of email marketing has been greatly exaggerated.

Even though deliverability rates are lower than ever, email marketing still works, and is still responsible for many millions of dollars worth of sales. It can work for you as well.

3 Keys to Successful Email Marketing

First of all, keep a clean double opt-in email list. What this means: if someone signs up to receive email from you, you need to get them to confirm that they actually want to receive the email.  Most email marketing providers, (like aweber and 1ShoppingCart) automatically require people to double opt-in to any email list. In some cases the “double opt-in” feature is optional… but I think it’s the best way to manage your email list. Single opt-in (no confirmation required) may yield bigger subscriber numbers (it does), but that list will be less responsive to your offers.

Secondly, educate your customers on how to white-list or authorize your emails to get through to their inbox.  Usually this is just a case of having them put your email address into their address book; if they use a service like Spam Arrest they’ll have to go to the actual website and authorize your email address. Teach them how to do that, either using text and illustrations or with screen capture video.

The third key to successful email marketing is about boosting response rates to your messages. How do you do this? Make sure you send relevant and expected content to your list.  Emailing your list frequently will get your emails through more readily and get you a lot fewer spam complaints. Why?  Because if you send frequently people are going to do one of two things: they’re either going to read your email or unsubscribe. If you email them less frequently, you run the risk that they will forget who you are or even forget that they subscribed to your list… and that will generate spam complaints.

Use these keys to successful email marketing and watch your list numbers and response rates grow. Long live email marketing!

Bob Bly’s ‘Copywriter’s Handbook’. This really is the gold standard that gives the best overall explanation of what copywriting is all about. It covers not only direct response copywriting which, is primarily what this blog is devoted to, but all sorts of copywriting. Whether it’s for radio, brochures, or even business cards I think you’ll really get a lot of value out of Bob’s book.

Dan Kennedy’s ‘The Ultimate Sales Letter’. He’s one of the deans of copywriting… and this book is pure gold. Dan lays out a good basic system for writing copy in this brief and highly-readable book.

Claude Hopkins, ‘Scientific Advertising’. This is one of the classics of direct marketing advertising, especially for copywriters. It’s a little bit tougher read just because it was written not long after the turn of the previous century, so the language seems a bit archaic and a bit more formal than what we’re accustomed to, but the principles stand clear and true as ever.

Eugene Schwartz’s Breakthrough Advertising. Not the kind of “light and easy” read you find in the business and marketing books of today, this volume will yield wealth to those who study it. Gene managed to squeeze the most “content per paragraph” into his work I think I have ever seen. Read it and see if you don’t agree. Yes, some of the examples and copy seem dated, but like Hopkins work the principles remain true.

That ought to keep you busy for a few days!

Don’t you already know the answer? Templates are not a substitute for good copywriting. However…

They are a great tool, if you keep three key points in mind.

Three Keys to Making Effective Use of Copywriting Templates

1. Recognize the templates for what they are. Templates are not a “fill in the blanks” substitute for writing copy. The most obvious reason is the likelihood that others are using the exact same templates. Do you want your salesletter to read word-for-word like your competitors? Of course not!

Here’s what templates are: a proven example of copy that works. When you are using a proven template (like Dr. Kilstein’s Steal This Book! or David Gafinkel’s Copywriting Templates (perhaps not available anymore – sorry if the link is dead), you have winning copy to model. So there are definitely things to be learned from them. Study and mimic the rhythm, cadence, style and structure of a template and use that as a guide when you’re writing your copy. It’s much easier than staring down a blank page, but not the same as “fill in the blanks”.

2. Don’t use the template as a crutch. I think everybody who has used copywriting teimplates has fallen into this trap – at least I know I did in the early days of my copywriting career. Now don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying you should reinvent the wheel every time we write. We should study and learn from successful campaigns of the past. That does not mean we should take a template, do a “search & replace” to put our product name in the letter and call that good. I know of at least one fairly well-known copywriter who does just that (no, I won’t say who it is. You can figure it out if you try hard enough.)

There is another danger in copying too much from a template; our prospects, the people we are writing our copy to, are getting bored with our copy. They see the same headlines, the same deck copy and the same approach over and over and over. Often what’s really needed is a fresh approach.

I’m not saying reinvent the wheel.

I’m not saying don’t study the great masters of copywriting.

What I am saying is don’t let your templates become a crutch.

3. Study what’s already being done in your field. No, you’re no looking for more templates! I’m recommending you study what’s being done by other marketers in your niche so that you know (a) what’s working and (b) how to avoid looking like a copycat! I alluded to this earlier: what if your direct competitor is using the exact same template as you? Then you’re going to look like an unethical copycat. Or even worse, you’re going to look like a thief.

If you keep these points in mind, copywriting templates can be an incredible resource that accelerates your pathway to profits.

That’s my opinion – what’s yours? Please share your thoughts by adding a comment below!

I agree with most of what Michel has to say in that report.

Want to see some very short sales copy for a $1,250 seminar that is converting like crazy? Then take a look at this. It breaks all the so-called rules. But don’t try this on your own, kids. There are some very important reasons why this is working, and they are not all obvious.

That being said…them that hath an eye, let them see.

Let’s start with the first situation. You’re already selling something — a product or service –online. If you want to re-energize your business you simple find a new product line or service to offer your existing customers. Survey those existing customers and ask them what their needs are. You can use a service like the Ask Database to take this survey. Ask Database is a very simple way to survey your customers and it also offers some sophisticated data analysis tools. Another option is SurveyMonkey, which is not as sophisticated but is easier for beginners to use.

So when you’re surveying your present customers, what exactly do you ask them? You might want to start with something simple. First determine what your category is. If you have an existing business that sells dog training materials for instance you might do a simple survey where you ask your customers, what’s your biggest problem when it comes to dog training? I didn’t invent this method — I have to give credit to Alex Mandossian, who teaches this in his Teleseminar Secrets course.

Now… what if you’re not already selling something online and you’re trying to determine what your product or service is going to be? The answer is remarkably similar. In this case you also want to do a survey, but this time you’re going to survey yourself, your colleagues, friends and associates.

What are you looking for? You’re looking for things that you’re both good at and passionate about. If you can find that combination, you’ll have a much clearer idea of what you should be marketing. Here’s the exercise…

Sit down with two clean sheets of paper and ask yourself this question.: “What am I good at?”

Make a list. Your list might include things like

• Teaching
• Writing
• Graphic design
• Ideas
• Connecting with people
• Etc.

Don’t make any judgments about which of these things might be marketable. That will come later. For now, just write down a long list of things you’re good at – even the little things, like organizing your daily tasks, keeping your home or office in order, or even playing video game!

On the second sheet of paper, answer this question: “What am I passionate about?”

This list may surprise you. You may have written down that you’re good at keeping your checkbook up to date – but now you may write down that you hate accounting! Don’t worry about it. Just keep writing.

Make this second list as long as you can… then compare the two and see if there are any items that show up on both lists. You want to pay attention because these may be potential areas where you want to focus your efforts.

Now I want you to ask your colleagues, friends and associates a similar question. Ask them to tell you what you’re good at. Don’t prejudice their answers; just get their initial first impressions of what they think you’re good at. Then compile those answers and again go back to your other lists. The things that show up on all the lists will give you some big clues of what you want to focus on and what you want to sell online as a product or service.

I believe that focusing on an area that you’re both good at and passionate about is the best answer. There are those who recommend focusing on where there’s a market need. Those who hold this opinion would say that your personal preference doesn’t matter.

While it’s true that you must be careful not to make the entire decision based only on your feelings, I don’t think it’s wise to disregard them either. Do you want to be stuck with a successful business that you hate?

My opinion is that if you want to stick with your business, to remain excited about it, and if you want the joy as well as the money — focus on something you’re good at and that you’re passionate about.

What do you think? I invite your comments below…

This myth has always struck me as false — or at least only partially true.

I believe that when it comes right down to it, you must have some writing talent. If you don’t, your copy will not be brilliant. It may not even be good. In most cases, it will just be bad.

I see plenty of evidence that the last is the most common result.

There is another myth that if one studies enough of the right manuals, or attends enough of the right seminars, one can learn to write well. Frankly, if you don’t have some native talent — a “knack”, if you will — I don’t think all the classes, courses, or seminars in the world can help you much.

Stephen King would agree with me, I suspect. In a recent article he penned for the Washington Post, King wrote: “The only things that can teach writing are reading, writing and the semi-domestication of one’s muse.”

So there it is, then.
My opinion is that not everyone can learn to be a great (or even good) writer. Everyone is born with a certain aptitude (or lack of it), and they’re pretty much stuck with that aptitude. They can take classes or be taught to make the most of it, but they are always limited to a certain range in the development of their craft.
What do you think?

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=87122591528

Take 2 minutes, fill out the survey, and I’ll give you exclusive access to a live “Q&A” telephone call with me…

There’s no obligation, and nothing for sale…

1. Focusing On You, Not Your Customer. In the context of an ad, your prospects don’t care about you. They care about themselves, and whether your product can help solve their problem(s). Look for and eliminate phrases like: ‘our friendly staff’, ’20 years in business’, ‘for all your [INSERT PRODUCT HERE] needs’. Those are about you. Use phrases that speak to the solution to your prospect’s most pressing problems.

2. Using Cliche Language. Cliches are like wallpaper, nobody notices them unless they’re so bad they can’t be ignored. Some cliches to look for: ‘giant blow out’, ‘explode your sales’, ‘save like never before’, ‘savings throughout the store’… There are too many advertising cliches to list here. You probably recognize them when you hear them. Get them out of your copy.

3. Speaking Inappropriately. No, this doesn’t mean correcting your grammar – unless your intended audience is English Teachers. Speaking inappropriately means using language patterns that cause your audience to disagree with you on some minor subject. Once that happens, it will be much more difficult to get their agreement on a more important topic (such as buying your product). For example, if you are selling to English Teachers and you use poor grammar in your copy, it will be much harder to make the sale (even if the sale has nothing to do with grammar). Why? Because you have lost credibility with your audience – you are not ‘speaking their language’.

Dictionary.com defines “hype” as: “an ingenious or questionable claim, method, etc., used in advertising, promotion, or publicity to intensify the effect.”

One of the additional definitions is: “a swindle, deception, or trick”.

I rather think the second one is what we have in mind when we say a copy is full of hype.

There is a place for the kind of hype that is “an ingenious…claim, method, etc., used in advertising, promotion, or publicity to intensify the effect”.

There is not a place in a respectable copywriter’s toolbox for the kind of hype that is “questionable” or that uses “deception or tricks”.

The most reliable test for whether your copy is filled with the “bad” kind of hype is simple: is the claim being made in the copy true? If so, and if you can prove that it’s true, then it’s not the “bad” kind of hype.

What’s more, if your copy is presented to the true prospects for your product or service, it won’t be perceived as hype.

Here are three ways to grow your list:

1. Pay per click advertising: Take out a Google Adwords ad that leads subscribers to a landing page. On that landing page, offer visitors something of value in exchange for their name and email address. The trick is, this is harder to do that it once was, for a variety of reasons. The biggest key: make the “something of value” a TRUE value. Just putting up a page that says “sign up for my newsletter” will not produce many subscribers.
2. E-zine ads. Buy ads in e-zines that are mailed to people who are likely to be interested in your offer. Test the results carefully; while this method can bring you subscribers, it can also be a quick way to lose money.
3. Do “swaps” with other e-zine owners. You run their ad in your ezine, and vice versa. Often you can do this at no cost, and gain subscribers in the bargain.

I am doing a teleseminar next Tuesday night with the person who may be the very best list-builder in the “Internet Marketing World”…if you want to join us for the call, register at:

http://whatrayuses.com/myfirstlist

I’ve found that I get much better results if I use some “jump starters”–they keep me focused, and get me started on the right track with a copy project.

Here are 3 “tricks” I use–maybe they’ll work for you, too:

1. Write the benefit bullets. Don’t worry about writing body copy just yet. Just start banging out all the benefits of owning the product. This will be more extensive list than the one in the order box (which is our next “jump-starter”).
2. Write the order box copy. This is the part of the copy where you clearly spell out the price of your offer, and the bullet points of all the main benefits of owning the product. Select the MAIN benefits (the one with the most “persuasion power” for the order box.
3. Write 10 possible headlines for your copy. Don’t worry if they’re not “good enough”. You can even use some of the bullets you’ve written as starting points. Use a headline “swipe file” to spark ideas. Just get 10 headlines written.

Once you’ve finished the 3 “jump-starters” above, you will have written quite a bit of copy. It will be focused on the benefits of owning the product. You’ll be off to a good start on your copy project.

How can you write effective headlines if you’re not a professional copywriter? Simple – use “template” headlines as starting point.

I’ve provided 3 template headlines below. Fill in the blanks as appropriate for your product offer. You may need to do some re-wording to make the headline work for your product–but you’ll be off to a good start.

TEMPLATE HEADLINE:
Give Me (amount of time) And I’ll Give You (benefit of product)

EXAMPLE:
Give Me 3 Minutes, And I’ll Show You How to Write 3 Killer Headlines

EXAMPLE:
If You Can Send And Receive Email, Then You Can Make Money With My Email Marketing Course

EXAMPLE:
Who Else Wants To Double Your Sales — And Triple Your Time Off?

I am frequently asked, “Ray, how do I get started with testing?” Here are 3 simple ways you can start testing today – without complex math, expensive software, or arcane technology.

1. Test your current headline against a new one. Don’t worry about getting software or other tools just yet. Simply run one headline for a while — then run the other headline for an equal amount of time. If you can run equal amounts of traffic past both headlines, you will have at least a general idea which one works best.
2. Test your current price against a higher one. That’s right — I said higher. If the higher price loses the test, THEN test a lower price. It may surprise you that higher prices often bring more orders! So, this week track your numbers at your current price — and next week test a higher one.
3. If you use graphics on your page, test the page without a header graphic. Often, the page without the header will produce more results. The theory is that the graphic distracts from the copy, possibly causing your prospect to bypass reading the headline. But don’ t accept the theory – test it yourself. It is true that to do mathematically reliable tests, you will need some kind of software to track the results.

If you’re not doing any testing at all, start with these 3 simple tests. You may end up increasing your profits!

Dear Hilton Hotels,

I realize that a human will probably not read this.

And I also realize that if a human does read this, I’ll likely get a “canned” response.

But…I hold out hope that a real person will actually read and respond.

I travel quite a bit.

I’m a Hilton Honors member, but I don’t stay at Hiltons very often…and here’s an example of why:

This weekend I’m staying at the Hilton Long Island/Huntington, 598 Broad Hollow Road, Melville, NY 117475002.

First of all, I object to having to pay $10 per day for internet access. I only pay $50 per month for an 8-megabit connection at my home (much faster than the mediocre connection at your hotel).

That’s $1.66 per day, if you’re paying attention.

Secondly, if you’re going to extort $10 per day out of me then don’t require me to ALSO obtain a PIN number each day.

Come on, people!

I have to go to the front desk, and get a PIN code…for the “privilege” of being ripped off for $10 per day?!

Talk about adding insult to injury!

And the icing on the cake: when I asked the young lady at the front desk, and asked her if I still had to pay the internet access fee as a Hilton Honors guest, I was told, “It doesn’t matter that you’re a Hilton Honors member.”

That’s a quote.

Verbatim.

So, far from feeling “honored”, I feel ripped off.

And Hilton’s response?

“It doesn’t matter that you’re a Hilton Honors member.”

Read all about it on my blog…

http://rayedwards.com

-Ray

PS – Warm my heart. I don’t want my money back…I want you to change your policy. Be enlightened. Really “honor” your guests. Will you?

If I get a response from Hilton, I’ll let you know. Fair is fair. Maybe they’ll do the right thing.

I welcome your comments below.

Right. Me too.

Well, let me save you some money and time. Forget the gurus for a moment.

Here is the real, true, ‘Master Secret of Success’:

Just get started!

Don’t laugh.

The problem most business people, entrepreneurs, and companies have is that they spend far too much time coming up with new buzzwords and management systems — and almost zero time just getting down to the work that needs to be done.

For the individual or entrepreneur, I offer this tactic that will help you ‘get started’ on something that will generate new revenue…

Think carefully about your answer to this question: If you could only do one thing to generate revenue immediately, what would that one thing be?

I really want you to think about this.

If it was a “must” – for instance, if it meant being able to pay the mortgage on your house this month – what one thing
would you do right now? Some possible examples:

• Write a letter and mail it.
• Make a phone call.
• Send an email.
• Drive to see a prospect in person.
• Complete and deliver a proposal.

Okay, do you have your “one thing”? Great. Write it down. Then…

JUST GET STARTED!

When it’s done, do the whole exercise over again.

I know that right about now you’re thinking, ‘Ray, this is the most elementary, simple, stupid thing I’ve heard all week.’

That’s okay. Try it anyway – and after you have tried it, I’d love to hear from you with your success story.

And remember, you heard the Master Key To Success right here. In case you forgot already, it’s this:

Just get started!

The Holy Grail of online marketing is getting the prospect’s email address (so you can start building a permission-based marketing relationship with them).

In the not-too-distant past, you could generate leads online simply by offering a free newsletter or special report. This doesn’t work so well anymore. Why?

The reason is simple: there’s too much ‘junk’ being offered, and prospects are wise to this. People just won’t give up their email address for a junky ‘special report’ like they used to.

So what’s a marketer to do? Here are three ways to break through skepticism and get your prospects to give you their email address:

1. Offer Superior Premiums

Offering a superior premium will help you “cut through the clutter”, but to be effective your premium must be clearly superior.

Commonplace and boring: “Special Reports” and “Free Tele-Seminars”.

Better: software that performs a specific task, a free telephone consultation (make it clear this is not a sales pitch), or a free membership website.

2. Use Video Testimonials

There’s a reason infommercial producers make their 30-minute ads over 70% testimonials: testimonials overcome skepticism.

These days, it’s cheap and easy to make video testimonials for your website. Get your best customers singing your praises on video, and put these snippets on your website. Lots of them.

3. Use The “Reciprocity Sequence Method”

You’ve no doubt heard of the ‘Reciprocity’ principal:
If I give you a gift, you feel compelled to reciprocate.

The trouble is, your prospects often have heard of it too, rendering it somehwat less effective.

I use a technique I call the “Reciprocity Sequence Method”… which is simply giving your prospects a series of gifts so that the “Reciprocity Impulse” becomes almost overwhelming.

It sounds elementary, but few people do it. And it’s very powerful.

Think about how you can ‘stack’ a sequence of 3-5 gifts in a short period of time, and THEN make an offer to your prospect.

Key points to remember: keep the sequence confined to a short time period, make the gifts relevant to (and an enhancement of) your core offer, and make the offer immediately after giving the final gift.

While it’s true that skepticism is at a higher level than ever, it’s also true that breaking through is easy when you know how.

What do you think? Have you run into increased skepticism in your marketing – and if so, how have you successfully over come it? Post your comments below!

It’s a full seminar put on by Inc. Magazine and the link above will take you to a place (once you register) where you can watch the whole thing for free.

One of the presentations I especially like was Bernie Marcus (Co-founder of Home Depot). His story of how and why he started Home Depot was inspiring but what was more intriguing was the advice he gave for entrepreneurs in today’s marketplace.

You’ll also be able to watch a presentation delivered by President Bill Clinton.

To get the video, just click here.

It’s not your fault.

Most business people are not trained as copywriters. But once you’ve read this article, you’ll know exactly what to do to correct the problems that are killing your sales and lead generation efforts.

This is “Part 2” of a 2-Part series; while this post stands on its own, I urge you to read my previous post, and also learn about the first “5 Deadly Mistakes”.

And now, “5 Additional Deadly Copywriting Mistakes You’re Probably Making…”

Deadly Mistake #6: Sentences and Paragraphs That Are Too Long

Keep your sentences and your paragraphs short.

A paragraph in a sales letter should be no more than 3-4 sentences long – and they should be short sentences.

People will read more of your copy if the sentences are and paragraphs are short. This is especially important on the first page (or the first screen, if it’s online) of your sales letter, when you are trying to draw them into your story.

Don’t scare people off with big blocks of text.

Deadly Mistake #7: Not Enough Testimonials

One of your first tasks as a copywriter is to break down that skepticism, and get them to believe you – even just a little bit.

Once that initial barrier of skepticism comes down, you have a chance of making a sale. How do you break through that skepticism?

Testimonials.

You need lots of testimonials in your copy. How many? As many as you can get.

Here’s a good rule of thumb: however many you have now, get 25% more.

Deadly Mistake #8: Offers That Stink

If your offer stinks, the best copy in the world won’t help you.

By your offer, I mean the bundle, widget, or information as presented for sale. This includes your price, and how you demonstrate the value of your offer versus what you’re charging for it.

It’s best if you’re in the position of “selling dollars for dimes”. Then it’s easy to show the value of your offer.

For instance, if you sell a device that causes a 20% increase in a car’s fuel efficiency, you might frame the offer like this: “The FuelSaver is $99 – but you’ll save ten times that amount per year in fuel costs. So you get back more than TEN TIMES YOUR INVESTMENT in just one year!”

Is your offer good? If not, figure out how to make it good!

Deadly Mistake #9: Forgetting To Ask For the Sale

It’s one of the most common mistakes in all forms of selling – not asking for the sale. Hard to believe? Maybe. But it’s true anyway; people just don’t want to ask for the order.

There comes a point where you’ve presented all the benefits of your offer; you’ve demonstrated its value; you’ve supplied lots of credible testimonials; you’ve shown your iron-clad guarantee… and you just need to ask for the sale.

On the Internet, this can be as easy as putting in a link that says “Order Now”.

Online Marketer Armand Morin often has 5-7 order links on each of his sales pages; he says that the more “order links” he adds, the more sales he makes.

Deadly Mistake #10: Pricing Before Benefits and Offer

Sometimes business owners want to use price point as a selling feature, and so you see lots of web pages that right near the top will say something like “Now Only $24.95!”.

That’s a deadly mistake.

First, you are signaling readers that this page is an ad, not a page of information. That will cause you to lose readers before you’ve had a chance to tell them your story.

Second, you haven’t had a chance to elaborate on the benefits of your product or service, or to show the value of your offer.

Long before the price ever shows up on your page, you need to make the prospect feel that they must have the benefits that your product offers. They must desire those benefits in a strong and intense way.

Don’t reveal your price before you spell out the benefits of your product, and the value of you your offer. If you do this well, and you do it in the correct order, price will never be an objection; your offer will always seem like a bargain.

What to Do Now

Here’s your “takeaway” from this blog post: it’s the same advice I gave in Part 1 of this series.

Grab your own sales copy, this list of copy mistakes, your favorite beverage, and go through your copy line-by-line. Ferret out these mistakes and eliminate these mistakes.

Do it now.

Don’t put it off.

You’ll be glad you did.

And if writing is “not your thing” – hire a professional. Having great copy is the single most important tool you have at your disposal to sell your products or services.

Let me make you a bold promise: examine your own sales copy and eliminate these copywriting mistakes, and you will see an instant improvement in your sales.

Let’s get started…

Deadly Mistake #1: Being Focused On You, Instead Of On Your Market

This is the easiest mistake to make, and the most common. Most ad copy is focused on the advertiser, not on the consumer. Big mistake.

When you read copy that says things like, “We’re the best in the industry… we’ve been in business since 1979… we have the most well-trained associates… our facility has won many industry awards…” what is your reaction?

Most likely, your reaction is, “So what? What does that mean to me and my life?”

If you’re using copy that says “we”, “us”, and “our” a lot – find a way to change that copy so that it says “you”, and “yours”. Speak about the things that matter to your customer.

Here’s a hint: those things are probably not what you think they are. Why not ask your customers? They know the answer, and they’ll be glad to share it with you if you’re wise enough to listen.

Deadly Mistake #2: Using a Weak, Wimpy, or Just Plain Bad Headline

In the beginning, you only have one chance to grab the reader’s attention. That chance is the headline. Make sure your headline is strong, aggressive (without being pushy), and compelling.

Think of your headline as the sales pitch to get the prospect to read the whole ad. It has to be compelling enough that the reader thinks, “Hey, if this is true, I need to know about it…”

You get one shot. You can’t afford to blow it.

A poor headline for an automotive shop: “Our Experienced Staff Can Tend to Your Every Automotive Need, And Are ASE Certified with the Guaranteed Lowest Prices.”

A much better headline for the same client: “Are Hidden Mechanical Problems With Your Car Threatening The Health And Safety Of Your Family? Our 9-Point Safety Inspection Could Save Their Lives – And Give You Peace of Mind…”

Deadly Mistake #3: Not Using Enough Bullets

Bullets break up your copy into short, readable bursts. Especially on the web, people tend to scan copy before they read it; breaking your benefits into bullets increases the chances your copy will “catch the eye” and thus get read.

To recap the benefits of bullets:

• They break up copy (just like this) into short pieces.
• They make the copy easier to scan.
• They make it easier to pick out key words and phrases.
• They get more of your copy read.
• They make you more sales.
• The more bullets the better (usually).

Deadly Mistake #4: Using big words and jargon.

Copy should read like conversation; it should flow naturally and be easy to process.

Using big words and jargon might sound impressive, but it won’t get you sales. Which would you prefer?

Use strong, punchy words. Write simply and clearly.

Read Strunk & White’s Elements of Style – and follow its advice.

Avoid jargon.

Deadly Mistake #5: Using Weak, Wimpy, or Just Plain Bad Sub-Heads

You should use subheads every 3-4 paragraphs in your copy.

Make subheads strong and compelling; think of them as headlines for each section of your copy.

If read in sequence, your subheads should sound like an abbreviated version of your sales pitch (which is what they are). Sub-heads done correctly are a way to “stop the eye”, catch the reader’s interest, and get him to slow down enough to read that section.

What to Do Now

Here’s your “takeaway” from this article: Grab your own current sales copy, this list of copy mistakes, your favorite beverage, and go through your copy line-by-line.

Ferret out these mistakes and eliminate them from your copy.

Do it now, and don’t put it off.

You’ll be glad you did.

And if writing is “not your thing” – hire a professional. Having great copy is the single most important tool you have at your disposal to sell your products or services.