Imagine My Suprise
I was totally surprised today when a routine scan of Google found an Adwords Ad that spoke about me directly. Weird. That’s the ad I saw (to the left of this paragraph).
Naturally, I clicked on the ad. I quickly realized it was placed by one of my students, Darrel Hawes. I had no idea he was going to do this.
I was even more surprised to see that Darrel has written a report about… me. I certainly had no idea he was going to do that.
Now, I’m a little weirded out by this.
Of course, it feels good to have someone say nice things about me. And I would not deign to argue with Darrel about any of the nice things he said in the report.
But that’s not the reason I’m pointing it out here. The reason is: I admire it when people take positive, proactive action. And I think such things deserve to be recognized.
So: good on you, Darrel! I admire what you’ve done here. Not necessarily that it’s about me — but rather that you did something clever, and a bit daring, to make your goals into reality.
And if I can be forgiven for promoting something that speaks so highly of me… the report is darned good.
I’m not sure if I deserve all the praise Darrel heaps on me. But I am sure that his report contains good advice. So check out Darrel’s report.
Ray Edwards is a direct response copywriter, marketing strategist, author, and speaker. He has written million-dollar sales copy for top marketers including Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jeff Walker, Alex Mandossian, Matt Bacak and many others. Get more free copywriting information from Ray at RayEdwardsCopy.com.Q&A With Ray… Ask Me Your Questions
This begins a series where you ask your top questions about copywriting and online marketing… and I answer via audio podcasts.
Don’t worry about the podcast thing. If you don’t have an iPod, it still works with any MP3 player. And if you just don’t understand what “podcasting” is all about, simply download the audios from right here on the website.
First Question: “What are the basics of getting started online?”
This is a great question because there are plenty of people willing to sell you stuff in order to get your online business up and running.
First you need a domain name. You need to register a domain name. A place where your website “lives”. This is your address — which might be something like YourName.com.
For instance, RayEdwards.com is a domain that I own.
The second thing you need is a hosting account. This is an account that allows you to put your website up on the Internet for other people to see.
You can get a good hosting account at HostorixOnline.com.
The third thing you need is either web-design software or a web designer / webmaster… because somebody is going to need to be able to put together the web page that you put onto your hosting account. If you want to do it yourself you’ll need some basic software to get the job done. If you’re going to have someone else do it, that means you’ll need a designer and/or webmaster to put that all together for you.
The fourth thing you’ll need is a graphic artist or some graphics to put on your website. Now, for a lot of reasons we won’t go into on today’s training I recommend not using a lot of graphics. But you do need a professional look and feel for your website so you may need some graphic elements — and you’re either going to have to create them yourself, buy the right to use certain graphic elements, or have a graphic artist to put that all together for you.
The next thing I would recommend you get is an autoresponder account, which 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 for instance they get an email from you once a week for the next seven weeks or something of that nature. I use aWeber.com for my autoresponder and email management.
Then finally you’re going to need shopping cart software or an account with a shopping cart company and that’s what allows you to take payments online when people buy your product or service. The company I use is NewMarketingAutomation.com.
Now each of these are somewhat complex discussions that we could probably spend a one-hour teleseminar talking about each of them. We may do that later on in the series — or I may create some videos that allow you to watch over my shoulder as I go through the process of each of these steps.
Let me know your preferred deliver method for this kind of material — do you prefer audio, text, video, or static screen shots?
I’d love to hear from you. Just leave your comments below.
Click for the Podcast Audio:
Ray Edwards is a direct response copywriter, marketing strategist, author, and speaker. He has written million-dollar sales copy for top marketers including Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jeff Walker, Alex Mandossian, Matt Bacak and many others. Get more free copywriting information from Ray at RayEdwardsCopy.com.Get A $5,500 Seminar For $1
There’s an offer available right now that’s so good, I wanted to share it with you here.
I should also tell you…
There has also been some controversy about the offer, because it includes a free one-month trial to a newsletter.
If you don’t cancel before the free trial ends, the newsletter is $29 bucks a month. It’s easy to cancel, so I don’t see it as a big deal (and the newsletter is good. I’m a paid subscriber).
But some people have complained about it, so I thought I would mention it in advance.
Of course, as my Dad points out, “some people would complain about a free breakfast”.
One other note: I wrote the copy for this promotion. Now, all that out of the way…
Check out why Matt Bacak is “retiring”.
Ray Edwards is a direct response copywriter, marketing strategist, author, and speaker. He has written million-dollar sales copy for top marketers including Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jeff Walker, Alex Mandossian, Matt Bacak and many others. Get more free copywriting information from Ray at RayEdwardsCopy.com.4 Hour Workweek Experiment Video
Okay, we’re not living the “4 Hour Workweek” yet.
But… we are taking Tim Ferris’s recommended “mini retirement” (taking your retirement now… while you’re still healthy enough to enjoy it).
We’re just into the third day here in Sedona, Arizona.
So far, the schedule seems to be: I work for about 5 hours in the morning, and then we go do cool stuff the rest of the day. Today we went for a hike and went to a cool Chapel up on a mountain. Not a bad lifestyle. Here’s the video:
Click Here To Watch The Video.
Ray Edwards is a direct response copywriter, marketing strategist, author, and speaker. He has written million-dollar sales copy for top marketers including Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jeff Walker, Alex Mandossian, Matt Bacak and many others. Get more free copywriting information from Ray at RayEdwardsCopy.com.Internet Lifestyle Video: Can You Work From Anywhere?
My wife Lynn and I are conducting a live “field experiment”.
Can you really run an Internet Business from anywhere, as long as you have an Internet connection?
In theory it sounds good… but does it hold up under actual practice?
Only one way to find out… so we loaded up the Element and we’re off on a month-long trip to Arizona. During this trip I’ll continue to run my business, and I thought it might be interesting to document our findings here.
We begin with a little videolog of our first two days on the road. We drove because we’re bringing our faithful Pug companions with us… and a bunch of our stuff (already it seems like too much stuff, so that may be Lesson #1).
Here’s the unedited video (and I mean COMPLETELY unedited…sorry, but the truth is I’m tired and just want to hit the sack!).
I do welcome your comments below.
PS: Today’s the last day to get Web Copywriting Explained at the old price. Tonight when I get to our hotel, I’m taking down the order page and the only way to get it is to pay the new price (probably $1,997 — four times today’s price of just $497!).
Ray Edwards is a direct response copywriter, marketing strategist, author, and speaker. He has written million-dollar sales copy for top marketers including Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jeff Walker, Alex Mandossian, Matt Bacak and many others. Get more free copywriting information from Ray at RayEdwardsCopy.com.Deciding What To Sell Online (Podcast)
The Story: One of the first steps in creating online businesses is deciding what to sell.
How do you do that?
The Point: There is a “magic trick” that will allow you to always know what to sell from your website.
The Resource: AskDatabase
3 Ways To Decide What To Sell Online
1. Ask your customers what they want to buy.
2. Look for things you’re passionate about and springboard from there.
3. What are you good at — what’s easy for you but difficult for others?
Click for the Podcast Audio:
Ray Edwards is a direct response copywriter, marketing strategist, author, and speaker. He has written million-dollar sales copy for top marketers including Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jeff Walker, Alex Mandossian, Matt Bacak and many others. Get more free copywriting information from Ray at RayEdwardsCopy.com.Can You Over-Automate Your Business?
There is so much talk in the “Internet Marketing” world about automating your business, setting up processes, and creating “passive income” that the Nirvana would seem to be a business that is 100% hands-free. Of course, that is not possible — not entirely.
And there is also a very big downside in taking the “maintenance free” approach to building a business online. The downside is: it’s possible to set up a website that is hands-free… and that makes very little money. Hmmm…
The meaning in this seems to be: the income you derive from a website is in direct proportion to the value you put into it.
Said more plainly: if you build crappy websites, expect crappy results.
There’s a great post about how zero maintenance can mean zero money over at Self Made Minds. Worth reading.
Ray Edwards is a direct response copywriter, marketing strategist, author, and speaker. He has written million-dollar sales copy for top marketers including Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jeff Walker, Alex Mandossian, Matt Bacak and many others. Get more free copywriting information from Ray at RayEdwardsCopy.com.Test Your Sales Copy: Quick, Easy and Free
I get a lot of questions from clients and students and people who read my blog asking, “How do I get started testing and tracking? I know I should be split-testing and tracking my sales copy, but I don’t know how!”
“And how about Taguchi testing - do I have to use that, too? What about multivariate testing?” The questions go on and on in this often-confusing subject!
Now for the good news: split-testing is easy! By using simple, yet sophisticated, split-testing techniques, you can increase your conversions and gain more business.
Today’s resource is for you if you want an easy way to test your copy. By using Website Optimizer, you can easily test your writing. No, I’m not making bunches of money by recommending it - you can’t buy this software, so there’s no affiliate link here. But you can have it free, and it’s all courtesy of Uncle Google.
This is truly wonderful software. While it is very sophisticated, it is also easy to use. With all these features, you would expect to pay hundreds, even thousands of dollars. Not only can you use it to perform split-testing, it even does simple multivariate testing too.
While doing a traditional “split-test” means you test one element at a time, with multivariate testing you can do so much more. Test everything all at once, from your headlines and sub-heads to your background and graphic elements! The statistically-reliable testing offered by this program can help you sell more of whatever you sell by increasing your conversions.
Google has great tutorials right on their website to teach you how to use it, so I won’t spend a lot of time explaining that. Just read and watch the tutorials.
Here’s the easiest way I know of to start testing, and it will take you one hour or less to get started:
- Get a Google account. Use this link to set it up.
- Set up your first test. Follow the step-by-step instructions in Website Optimizer.
- Start your test. Just click and let Google do all the work. The software can test all your copy, headlines, and so on, advising you which version will convert the most sales for your business.
It couldn’t be easier, and you sure can’t beat the price!
Check out Website Optimizer today. It’s the best way I know to get started split-testing.
Ray Edwards is a direct response copywriter, marketing strategist, author, and speaker. He has written million-dollar sales copy for top marketers including Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jeff Walker, Alex Mandossian, Matt Bacak and many others. Get more free copywriting information from Ray at RayEdwardsCopy.com.Does Your Copy “Show Up and Throw Up”?
There’s a phrased in the sales world: “show up and throw up”.
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.
Ray Edwards is a direct response copywriter, marketing strategist, author, and speaker. He has written million-dollar sales copy for top marketers including Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jeff Walker, Alex Mandossian, Matt Bacak and many others. Get more free copywriting information from Ray at RayEdwardsCopy.com.3 Simple Tactics Increase Opt-In Conversions
Lately, Internet marketers have been telling me, “Ray, people don’t opt-in to squeeze pages nowadays. They just don’t opt-in like they used to”. Do remarks like this have you nodding in agreement?
Fear and paranoia, with a healthy dose of spam, has made it harder to get people to opt-in. At one time, it was so easy. All you had to do was add a form that said, “Sign up here to get e-mails”, and the world would flock to your site.
People would opt-in like crazy! E-mails, e-newsletters — everything was so new and exciting. My, how things have changed. Today, we are deluged with e-mails. People are constantly changing e-mail addresses. People have multiple e-mail addresses - heck, some people even have a fake e-mail address that they never check, just to deal with all the spam.
Cutting through the clutter is a challenge. How can you make sure you are getting real opt-ins from people who will actually read the e-mails you send out?
Well, yes. There are ways to increase your opt-in conversions. These simple tactics don’t take a lot of work, but they are very effective.
Try these three tactics to boost your opt-ins:
Make a stronger offer. We all know you have to give an ethical bribe to get people to opt-in - a special report, an audio, a video, a piece of software. If you just say, “Sign up to get my newsletter”, to the average reader that means, “Sign up so I can spam you.” You need to be more creative. Work harder to create a better premium to offer your subscribers. If you’re offering a special report, it better be a killer special report, and not the same old crap that everybody else is offering. You need to come up with a unique angle, it needs to be well-written. Same is true of audio, video or software - it needs to be well-done, it needs to be unique - something obtainable only through you, and it needs to address a need that is in line with the desires of your readers.
Use a bigger, “responsive” HTML button. Go to my website: www.RayEdwardsCopy.com and look at the button on the subscription form on my squeeze page. Notice that it’s larger than most buttons you see on subscription forms. Notice also, that when you hover your cursor over the button, the background changes color from red to green. That is a subtle, psychological hint that takes people from “Stop” to “Go!” Yeah, that’s a little sillybut, in my experience, it increases conversions. I can verify this through some colleagues of mine: Michel Fortin, Eric Graham - The Conversion Doctor and Armand Morin, as well. My recommendation is that you try this kind of button, too.
Keep distractions off your opt-in pages. Take another look at my opt-in page. Do you see how clean it looks? There are no distractions to take attention away from the opt-in option. Of course, there are legal disclaimers at the bottom (right where I need them), but they are very subtle. And when you click on them, those legal notices open in small pop-up windows - after all, I want them on this page, not heading off in another direction.
While these suggestions seem very simplistic, they really work. Try them for yourself, and watch your opt-in rates soar!
Ray Edwards is a direct response copywriter, marketing strategist, author, and speaker. He has written million-dollar sales copy for top marketers including Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jeff Walker, Alex Mandossian, Matt Bacak and many others. Get more free copywriting information from Ray at RayEdwardsCopy.com.
