Thursday, 6 December 2012
Monday, 17 October 2011
Locked Up For 7 Years Without Trial
Babar Ahmad has been imprisoned without trial for over 7 years.
Thousands of emails have gone around about him, asking people to sign a petition, just so his plight can be raised for discussion in Parliament.
Sadly with only one month to go, there have only been 20,000 signatures.
80,000 more are needed.
Or he will be extradited to the USA for them to do as they please.
And we all know what that means, don’t we?
What faces Babar Ahmad should he be extradited to the US?
- He will face the rest of his natural life in a Supermax Prison
- He will be in solitary confinement for 22-23 hours per day
- Regular body searches
- Regular ‘extractions’ where fully kitted officers in riot gear ‘remove’ the prisoner by surprise and do a cell search which often results in serious physical damage to the prisoner
- One call per month to a family or friend
As one senior Supermax officer put it,
“Do we have an obligation to take care of them? Yes. But do I have an obligation to provide him touching, feeling contact with another human being? I would say no. He has earned his way to [supermax] and he’s earned just the opposite. He’s earned the need for me to keep him apart from other people.”
Babar Ahmad has not done anything to deserve being sent to such a place and you can be a part of the campaign to have him tried here in the United Kingdom.
So, what can we do?
- Sign the petition and don’t forget to activate the link that is sent to your email address.
- Get every member in your household and extended family to sign it.
- If everyone could try to get at least 10 others to sign than we could actually reach the target of 100,000 signatures by 10th NOVEMBER 2011.
- Spread the word, tell others about this post.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/885
We all have excuses, but what excuse will you give for not taking 2 minutes out of your time to simply sign a government e-petition?
Try to imagine how Babar must be feeling right now, only one month left and only 20,000 signatures of support.
I would have lost much hope but this is what he said to one of his sisters recently:
‘Whatever you do, never give up, because the only thing worse than failure is the failure to try’ -
Babar Ahmad, October 2011
The question is not whether you should sign the petition.
The question is what is stopping you from doing it and from getting others to do it?
ACT NOW.
Here’s how you can help before other matters make you forget.
- SIGN THE PETITION
- SPREAD THE WORD
- GET THOSE ADDITIONAL 10 PEOPLE TO SIGN TOO
You never know what something like this could do for an individual’s life and future.
Just a few things to clarify in case you’re thinking:
1. I am worried about giving my name and address to this
Addresses and email addresses are not published or accessible by any member of the public, 20,000 people have already signed this petition. Why would the Government spend time and resources chasing up on each of those 20,000 people in the middle of a recession when they have so many bigger issues to worry about-just because they signed a recognised and legitimate Government petition, acting within the law?
2) What difference would it make anyway? What’s the point?
It took one woman to cause a revolution in Egypt, billions of tiny drops of water come together to form the ocean.
3) I want to sign it but I have had so much on, I have been too busy to get to it.
This petition expires on 10th November 2011-then that opportunity to sign will be over.Imagine the feeling of sadness and regret if we miss out our target of 100,000 by just a small handful of signatures-that could have been if people didn’t procrastinate. Or worse still, seeing the news that Babar Ahmad has been put on a plane to the US.
Babar Ahmad is Innocent.
Remember: Everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
They have never charged Babar Ahmad with any crime.
Best,
Rezbi
If you liked that post, then try these...
You - An Expert? by Rezbi on April 16th, 2011
Repurposing Existing Information by Rezbi on April 17th, 2011
How To Create Your Own Product Using Content Created By Others by Rezbi on April 13th, 2011
Friday, 14 October 2011
Web Bums, Beggars and Deadbeats
A rant.
OK, so I lied.
I promised we’d dive into the process of turning a prospect or a client into a partner today. But something’s gotten under my skin and frankly, until I get this off my chest, I’m not going to be any good to you or anybody else.
The good news is this new format lets me publish any doggone time I want to. So this week, you get two doses of Makepeace: This one, plus a post on Thursday in which – my hand to God – I’ll walk you through the process of your first meeting with a prospective partner.
We cool? Cool.
So here’s the deal …
Last week, my 14-year-old genius daughter was invited to spend part of her summer across the pond in an extended studies program at Oxford University. So I figured The Redhead and I would just ship our Harleys to London, fly over with her, then spend a few weeks tooling around Jolly Old England and Europe.
Heck – I could even pay for the whole adventure while I was there. Maybe drop in on Drayton Bird in London and talk him into doing a two-day event with me for our limey friends.
Or swing by my pal Norman Rentrop’s HQ in Bonn and give that workshop his people have been trying to get me to do for ages.
Better yet, I could make a beeline to Stuttgart and pick up that new Porsche GT2 I’ve been Jonesing for. There are only 165 allotments in the US and all of them are long gone. But not only could I buy my next supercar in Germany; taking delivery there would save me tens of thousands AND I could crank up a little Wagner while putting my new baby through her paces out on the Autobahn and the Nuerburgring.
“No way,” says The Redhead. “Remember you have BIG PLANS (which I’ll tell you about in a few weeks) for our subscribers this summer. There’s no way we can get away.”
I hate it when she’s right. And I hate it even more when that means a huge opportunity to make major memories will be missed. Needless to say, I was NOT a happy biker.
Then, later in the week, another great money-making opportunity presented itself. A huge company asked permission to give me ten percent of sales if I’d partner with them. In our first year, my agency ResponseInk would bank ten million or more.
“No way,” says The Redhead. “Our staff (now 19 employees and still growing) is stretched too thin. If we take on another client now, there’s no way we’ll be able to do everything we have planned for The Total Package.”
Curses. Foiled again! No terrorizing the gentry in England and Europe on our Harleys. No screaming down the Autobahn in a new GT2. No new multi-million-dollar payday.
All because we’ve made the commitment to help our readers explode their businesses and careers in The Total Package.
Oh well … at least we can console ourselves with the knowledge that we’re helping good people – people who appreciate our commitment to their success.
At least I can take some satisfaction in that … right?
Fast forward to this morning:
Googling myself … finding 199,999 positive listings
about The Total Package – and one crappy one …
So this morning, I Googled myself to see what kind of scuttlebutt we’re getting on the web these days. That always cheers me up.
Now don’t get me wrong – the vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of websites that mention us say only good things.
But in one of them – just one – I found a site owner who’s bitching about the fact that we offer products
Now, this person said nothing about the more than 400 articles that we offer in our archives – thousands upon thousands of pages packed with business-building, career-building, response-building insights and advice – all for free.
… Or that we bring you the best response-boosting and money-making ideas, advice and insights from legendary pros like Drayton Bird, Gary Bencivenga, Bob Bly, Yanik Silver, Michael Masterson and many others – all for free.
… Or that we bring you tons of extra ways to intensify and broaden your understanding of direct marketing with fantastic articles about what’s working now by working pros like Daniel Levis, Troy White, Julie McManus, Tony Flores, MaryEllen Tribby, Carline Anglade-Cole, Wendy Montes de Oca, Pat Coffey and others – all for free.
… Or that we’ve also gone to the trouble to create a comprehensive direct response glossary and other online tools you can use anytime – all for free.
… Or that we spend a not-so-small fortune to pay the wonderful employees – administrators, web designers and subscriber services people to bring all of this to you – all for free.
… Or that our readers have sent us nearly 2,000 unsolicited letters thanking us for all of this and saying how much money we’ve added to their income – all for free.
… Or that neither Wendy nor I or anyone else in my family has ever taken a single solitary penny in return for all this – or that every dime earned through the sale of our products is re-invested to help more marketers grow their businesses – all for free.
No, this bitter, angry old gasbag has her panties in a knot because we also offer a handful of products for sale.
Now I’m not sure; but I can only assume that this holier-than-thou blogger gives away her work product for free – and then panhandles on street corners for change needed to stuff Big Macs into her gaping pie hole.
Otherwise, she is worse than just a harmless idiot. She’s also a brazen hypocrite.
But such is the Web. A place where millions of deadbeats have come to believe that they are entitled to benefit from the fruit of others’ labors for free. And most amusing, a place where charlatans posing as marketers can deride good people who overdeliver and undercharge for great products online.
Now, I’d like to be able say this is the very first time
anyone has said anything this stupid to us or about us.
Unfortunately, it is not.
The fact that we spend a bunch of time, skull sweat and money to create in-depth educational products for our readers – and then have the effrontery to ask a fair price for them – has offended other readers over the years.
Heck: I even included a passage for these folks in our “Welcome Aboard” letter – and I quote:
“… Every once-in-a-while, some yahoo is insulted that we have the unmitigated gall to ask for money in return for a service rendered or a product delivered.
“They’re shocked – SHOCKED, I tell you – that we would dare to advertise and market a product in an e-letter on advertising and marketing(!).
“My advice to these guys? “If you think it’s wrong to ask for money in return for bringing tremendous value to people … if you think advertising is evil … there is a very good chance that you could be … IN THE WRONG BUSINESS!
“’Nevertheless,’” I continue, ‘you can still enjoy The Total Package™ without getting your panties in a knot: Just resolve not to think of our ads as ads!
“’Pretend they’re like a swipe file: Real-world samples of some pretty darned effective sales copy by a top writer that you get for FREE – in addition to your free subscription!’”
“There.” I said, having written the passage above, “That should allow any spoiled-rotten, world-owes-me-a-living bum, mooch or deadbeat … any schizophrenic, conflicted, muddle-minded airhead who holds himself out as a marketer but who inwardly despises marketing … any commie bastard who believes it’s our duty to sweat, strain and spend our money to help them.
“Now even those morons can enjoy The Total Package – just by pretending our promos are just free additions to their swipe files.”
Evidently, it hasn’t worked as well as I’d hoped.
So is there a point in all this? A lesson to be learned?
Sure. Three, in fact.
First, if you’re going to do anything with your life, you need to know right up front that you will have critics.
Scratch that. First, you’ll have doubters. Friends, family, even spouses who can’t dream as big as you can. Hopefully, they’ll love you enough to support you anyway.
But then, as you actually begin to succeed, a jealous and insecure few will attempt to reduce you through criticism. Because the bigger you get, the smaller they feel. And of course, the more successful you are, the more critics you’re likely to get.
A few weeks back, a presidential candidate was heard to say, “You know you’re over the target when you begin taking flak.” When losers criticize you, consider it a badge of honor.
Second, examine your core beliefs. You’d be surprised at how many people who inwardly hate marketing have chosen to become marketers simply because they believe it’s a good way to make money.
The best marketers are those who rejoice every time a well-done promotion hits their mailbox or inbox … who study it carefully for the thoughts behind the thoughts and for the nuances that make the difference between merely great copy and truly excellent copy.
As the great Bob King is famous for saying, marketing should be the art and science of bringing value to consumers’ lives at a price that is insignificant relative to that value.
If the products you promote do that, you are doing mankind a favor. Any core belief that prevents you from feeling good about improving your prospects’ lot in life should be unceremoniously discarded.
Of course, if you don’t honestly believe the products you’re promoting provide tremendous value, you’ll be a much happier and much more fulfilled person if you’ll find another product that does.
And if you’re promoting great products and still despise what you do, please – for Buddha’s sake – find another career! No amount of money in the world is worth loathing yourself for earning it.
Third, everything in life – including a free subscription to The Total Package – is a transaction. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Or as Robert Heinlein was wont to say, “TANSTAAFL.” Or, as the Apostle Paul famously wrote, “”You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
Never, never, NEVER hesitate to require compensation that’s commensurate with the value you’re bringing to your clients.
Now, I’m thinking a few e-mails now and then that offer a high-value product at a reasonable price is a small price to pay for the value we provide every day in The Total Package.
What say you?
Yours for Bigger Winners, More Often,
Clayton Makepeace
Publisher & Editor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
Join the Discussion!
Let us know what you think. Or offer your own sage advice.
The only rule: RESPECT THIS HOUSE! Postings that contain abusive language and/or personal attacks will be cheerfully VAPORIZED. One cross word and – POOF! – your well-thought-out post will be gone in a puff of smoke.
If you liked that post, then try these...
Promote Your Site With This Complete Ping List by Rezbi on July 3rd, 2011
Do you have a blog? If so, you'll want to send a ping each time you post an article to it.
How To Plan Your House To Suit Yourself by Rezbi on August 12th, 2009
Did you see that? You didn't? What, you missed that? Okay, okay, I'll tell ya.
How To Blog by Rezbi on June 30th, 2011
I'm evaluating a .
How To Use Facebook To Promote Your Blog by Rezbi on August 15th, 2010
I've been using Facebook for a while, but I was never sure how to use it to promote my blog.
A List Of WordPress Plugins You Might Find Useful by Rezbi on July 7th, 2011
These are the plugins I have active on this site.
Filed under Clayton Makepeace, Copywriting, Direct Marketing by on Oct 14th, 2011. Comment. 
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Something to Think About …
Dear Business Builder,
Short one today … but well worth thinking about.
Over the past few weeks, things have been changing around here. Seems our readers are really getting into the whole “blog” thing at the end of each issue. And to tell you the truth, we’re delivering more valuable info in the days following my normal Monday issues than in the issues themselves!
Cool – right?
So this week – instead of writing a long issue on Monday and then going about my binness, I’m going to have a major post in the comments section on the blog at the end of this issue every day.
So be sure to bookmark this page and check in tomorrow and every day this week for more on how to use my partnership model to rake in big bucks in 2008.
In the meantime, though, I want you to think about something.
Hard.
Because in the last few weeks, I’ve received two e-mails that have made me think. Hard.
I can’t tell you who they’re from. And that’s OK, because you wouldn’t recognize their names anyway. I also can’t tell you where they live. Suffice it to say, they live in two of the 64 countries this e-letter goes to every day. Two countries afflicted with two of the most repressive governments on Earth.
But both of them had a similar message:
“Thank you for The Total Package. You have opened my eyes to what is possible when you dare to dream.
“Please don’t tell anyone I wrote this to you. Because trying to improve one’s lot in life is illegal in my country. If my government knew I was reading your issues, I would be arrested and shot.”
That’s right: They both said, “SHOT.”
And they weren’t kidding. I checked their URLs – and they both live in countries that kill people for dreaming.
What we do here – helping people achieve their dreams is punishable by death where they live.
Worse: Wanting something better for yourself and your family is a capital crime.
Nevertheless, these two subscribers – and unless I miss my guess, dozens more – lay their lives on the line every day just for the guilty pleasure of living vicariously through you.
Now, imagine going through your e-mail after finding those two messages. And then, finding another from a copywriter who’s complaining about how hard it is to find good clients. Or from a business owner who’s upset because he can’t find a copywriter/marketing partner capable of growing his business.
Kind of puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?
These two readers aren’t like most of us. They don’t live where we do. They don’t worship like most of us do. They probably don’t look like most of us. And when they awoke this morning, their world looked very, very different from the world most of us experienced on our drive to work.
But these two readers are our brothers. And they deserve our thoughts and our prayers.
So – what’s standing between you and the success you crave?
What are you afraid of?
What’s keeping you from sending your writing samples to a client who could make your career and then calling him or her to close the deal?
What’s keeping you from partnering with a copywriter/marketer who could take your company to the moon?
The best definition of the word “courage” I’ve ever heard is … “Being afraid and doing the right thing anyway.”
So here’s your assignment for today: Identify the one thing that stands between you and the success you dream about – the one thing that terrifies you the most.
And then – unless someone’s likely to shoot you for doing it …
DO IT.
And then, come back here … tell us what you did … and how it turned out for you.
Yours for Bigger Winners, More Often,
Clayton Makepeace
Publisher & Editor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
Join the Discussion!
Let us know what you think. Or offer your own sage advice.
The only rule: RESPECT THIS HOUSE! Postings that contain abusive language and/or personal attacks will be cheerfully VAPORIZED. One cross word and – POOF! – your well-thought-out post will be gone in a puff of smoke.
If you liked that post, then try these...
How To Plan Your House To Suit Yourself by Rezbi on August 12th, 2009
Did you see that? You didn't? What, you missed that? Okay, okay, I'll tell ya.
A List Of WordPress Plugins You Might Find Useful by Rezbi on July 7th, 2011
These are the plugins I have active on this site.
Additional Resources by Rezbi on August 26th, 2009
Please note: I get paid by a third party from most of the links on this site.
How To Blog by Rezbi on June 30th, 2011
I'm evaluating a .
Promote Your Site With This Complete Ping List by Rezbi on July 3rd, 2011
Do you have a blog? If so, you'll want to send a ping each time you post an article to it.
Filed under Clayton Makepeace, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Success by on Sep 5th, 2011.
Saturday, 3 September 2011
BUSTED!
I’ve been away.
D’ya miss me?
One of the upsides of being self-employed is being able to do things like that.
Anyway, here’s the latest Clayton Makepeace article.
There’ll be another on Monday.
Noted business coach declares:
“MAKEPEACE IS TOTALLY WRONG!”
In this issue:
Why my partnership model
will NOT work for you
Why you should lower your fees
and never, EVER ask for a royalty
Why you should resign yourself
to having your copy treated
like any other common commodity
(And why you should emphatically
reject this advice)
PLUS …
- Why smart business owners desperately want to pay copywriters ten times more – and why penny-wise pound-foolish business owners inevitably wind up with substandard profit growth
- Eight qualities that tell you a business will be an ideal partner – and three red flags that tell you which businesses you shouldn’t touch with an eleven-foot pole (you know; the pole you use to touch things you wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole)
- Four easy ways to instantly intensify and deepen your relationship with any client – and how to compel your freelance clients to insist on a longer, more mutually profitable partnership with you
- How to do “the impossible” – Secrets for structuring more profitable partnerships when creating lead-producing campaigns and website copy
- When to tell a prospective client to stick an assignment “where the sun don’t shine” – when your dignity and self respect are more valuable than money
- And much more!
Dear Business Builder,
Things are getting pretty exciting around here: Business owners and copywriters all over the world are abuzz over the partnership model I’ve been describing over the last three weeks.
We’ve had nearly 200 blog postings so far and my feedback box is packed to the rafters with still more thank-yous, questions, and suggestions for future articles.
So far, not even one reader has said a single negative thing – either in an e-mail to our feedback box or on the blog at the end of each issue.
But there IS one, little dark cloud on the horizon …
Last week, Michel Fortin – who weighed in on the blog after my second issue in this series with, “Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! That’s all I have to say. 
CLAYTON MAKEPEACE IS TOTALLY WRONG!
My first reaction to the headline was a big smile. “Finally – a dissenting voice! A little controversy! This is going to be fun!”
But as I began reading the reasons why – according to the editor – my contention that the freelancing model limits your income and that my partnership model is far superior, I started giggling … then chuckling … then laughing so loud, The Redhead rushed into my office thinking Martha had sent me another Hillary Clinton joke.
Now, before we take a look at the reasons why the editor says I’m “TOTALLY WRONG!” there are three things you should know:
First, I’m not going to give you the editor’s name because telling you who it is might cause some newer writers to seek out the editor’s e-zine and accept what I believe is very, very bad advice … and because my momma taught me that it’s not polite to publicly embarrass anyone except for politicians and lawyers.
Second, the editor purports that the e-zine’s purpose is to help copywriters find “great clients.” (Keep this in mind as you read on …)
And third, as you read these objections, you’ll probably begin to wonder if I made them up – that I’m just creating a “straw man” who’ll throw easily refuted softball objections at me so I can knock them out of the park.
Let me assure you: Each of these objections actually appeared in the e-zine in question and is accurate both in its wording and context.
OK – so why is Makepeace “TOTALLY WRONG”? Why does the editor – hereinafter referred to as “The Critic” – say freelancing does not limit your income? Why isn’t my partnership model a far better way for copywriters and clients to work together?
Let’s count the ways:
“The Critic” says …
“Not every client will partner with you.
“Can you imagine Microsoft changing their
entire business and marketing model
just to work with me the way I want them to?”
I say: If your definition of a “Great Client” is Microsoft, Intel or Wal-Mart – massive, multi-billion-dollar global conglomerates that produce 99.99999% of their profits through NON-direct-marketing channels …
To whom the work you do has little or no real value because it has no noticeable impact on their bottom lines …
Who therefore believe sales copy is a cost (not an opportunity) – a common commodity that should be purchased from the lowest bidder …
You are definitely barking up the wrong tree!
These are not “great” clients. In fact, these are precisely THE WORST kinds of clients any copywriter could ever work for!
A “great client” is one:
A. Who relies on direct response marketing for all or nearly all of his income …
B. To whom incremental increases in response and average sale mean big leaps in growth, in bottom-line profits and in personal income …
C. Who understands that the effectiveness of his sales copy is the single most critical variable for producing those increases, and …
D. Who treats the source of that more effective sales copy (YOU) with appropriate respect – both personally and financially.
Oh – and by the way – let’s think about what it means to do what “The Critic” seems to be espousing here: To structure your fees and business model so as to appeal to “every client.”
To do that, wouldn’t you have to make yourself attractive to the lowest common denominator in your prospect group – the cheapest, most venal client companies in your industry?
Wouldn’t that mean settling for a fraction of what better clients would be perfectly happy to pay you?
And wouldn’t that mean living with less than optimal working relationships with companies that are more likely to use you, abuse you, and then throw you away the minute they can find another writer who charges less?
“The Critic” says …
“If I did insist on a partnership arrangement,
what would keep her (my client)
from going to a competitor
who’s happy with a flat fee?”
I say: Why wait to get fired? If your client thinks this little of you, why not just call her now and tell her to stick her next assignment “where the sun don’t shine?”
If the only reason your client doesn’t replace you is that you charge less than “the other guy” … if she views your copy as little more than a common commodity that should be purchased from the lowest bidder – like staples, paperclips, pens and yellow pads … every dollar she pays you is probably COSTING you $10 or even more you could be earning from a client who values what you do.
If the business owner or marketing exec fires you for suggesting that you take a larger role in her business and that she give you a fair share of the increased profits you produce, only one of four things can be true:
A) You’re not writing direct response copy: You’re writing editorial or advertising copy that does not produce a measurable response and therefore has limited value to your client.
SOLUTION: Get a better client.
B) Direct response projects have little impact on the client’s bottom line: You’re writing direct response copy, but sales derived from direct response promotions in general (or the projects you’re working on in particular) comprise such a tiny part of the client’s business that any increase in profitability you produce is meaningless to the company’s bottom line.
SOLUTION: Get a better client.
C) Your client is an idiot: If your copy does make the client more money but she doesn’t want to expand your involvement in her business – maybe even convince you to work exclusively with her – and compensate you accordingly …
If she’d rather fire you and move on to a cheaper writer who’s an unknown quantity – or worse, who can’t produce the results you do – she’s a drooling moron.
SOLUTION: Get a better client.
D) Your copy sucks: It’s no more effective than what the client can get from any other schmuck who darkens her door – in which case you should thank your lucky stars that anybody would hire you, regardless of how insulting or limiting the relationship is.
SOLUTION: Pucker up, baby! Kiss whatever bodily parts you have to in order to keep whatever writing job you’re lucky enough to get.
Then, spend every spare moment refining your skills. And when you’ve developed the chops to actually increase your client’s response, average sale and ROI …
Get a better client!
And then there’s this: I’ve never suggested that copywriters should insist on partnering relationships right from the get-go.
What I am suggesting is that you find ways to intensify and deepen your relationship with clients with every contact – and to let it happen naturally.
If you’re writing front-end promotions, ask to see the psychographic profile of the prospects your client is targeting – and suggest other prospect groups the owner should be testing.
Buy the client’s product anonymously, then send him an e-mail suggesting ways the ordering process can be improved.
Examine the thank-you and receipt letters the company sends after a sale and the stuffers it inserts in the package that delivers the product – give him creative ways to improve this process and copy.
File a complaint – then send a report with ideas his customer service people could use to do a better job of retaining customers.
In short, demonstrate your knowledge, creativity and commitment to the business owner’s success at every opportunity.
I’ll bet you big money that if you do all this and do it well, THE CLIENT will insist on a deeper, longer, more intense and more mutually profitable relationship with you!
“The Critic” says …
“And one more thing: maybe the client is happy
with their level of profitability!”
I say: THIS is this your idea of a “Great Client?” A company that doesn’t want to grow? A business owner who doesn’t want greater profits?
When I meet a business owner who says something that stupid, I start my phone recorder and make say it again. Then, I call everyone into my office, play the recording and we all laugh at him.
And if it’s a publicly traded company, I speed-dial my broker and short the heck out of the stock.
Looo – hooo – hooo – SER!
“The Critic” says …
“What if my client wants me to write website copy?
“How do we partner on that?
How do you measure ROI?”
I say: You’ve got me there! If the client invests nothing in his marketing media (e.g. companies that market exclusively on the Web), there can be no return on investment – no ROI.
So, if you’re taking a percentage of ROI, you get a percentage of zero.
How brain-dead dumb would you have to be to write that into a contract?
Thing is, I NEVER SUGGESTED that you take a percentage of ROI. Just that as a partner, you ask for a percentage of the increase in profits you produce: Your copy brings the client an extra $1 mill, you get $100,000. Dollars to dollars. Now that kind of check is easy to write.
I’ve even seen clients giggle when they sign them!
“The Critic” says …
“How do you take a percentage
when you’re doing lead-producing campaigns?
“How much fun do you think it would be
to follow a lead for months and even years,
calculate the costs over time,
and finally one day get a check for the first order?
I say: Uh-oh. Insurmountable problem here: How do you take a percentage of profits (or increased profits) on promotions that aren’t supposed to create a profit?
Wait – maybe there is a way – if you actually think about it for more than a nanosecond … and if, instead of freezing at the first sign of a challenge, you focus on finding the opportunity hiding behind the challenge.
For one, you could simply work for a royalty on the number of pieces mailed.
Example: The client is now paying fifty cents to mail a lead-producing letter to each prospective client (list rental, printing, postage and processing).
So he’s spending $500 per thousand to mail, say, 200,000 of these letters each month. That’s $100,000 per month.
The letter he’s mailing now generates a 10% response (fairly common response rate when the prospect isn’t being asked to spend money; just to send for more info).
That means for every 1,000 letters he mails, he gets 100 leads: His 200,000-piece monthly mailings are bringing him 20,000 leads per month, which his marketing department then turns into sales.
But you think his lead-producing copy sucks. You know you can beat it. You think you can get him 30% more leads for every dollar he spends to mail his lead-producing letter. And you tell him so.
You say you want to write the copy for him for free if he’ll agree to two conditions:
- He’ll test 20,000 of your letters against his control in his next mailing, and …
- If he likes the results your copy produces, he’ll pay you a royalty of $50 per thousand pieces mailed after that first mailing, as long as he uses your copy.
| Without You |
|
| Mail Cost: | $500 |
| Response Rate: | 10.0% |
| Leads Per Thousand Mailed: | 100 |
| Client’s Cost Per Lead | $5.00 |
|
|
|
| With Your Copy & Royalty |
|
| Mail Cost: | $550 |
| Response Rate: | 11.5% |
| Leads Per Thousand Mailed: | 115 |
| Client’s Cost Per Lead | $4.78 |
Here’s how it works: When the client mails your letter (after that first, royalty-free test mailing), it’s going to cost him $550 per thousand pieces he mails – a 10% increase.
Instead of paying $100,000 to mail those 200,000 lead-producing letters, your royalty bumps his mailing cost up to $110,000 per month.
Now, let’s assume you’re WRONG …
Let’s say your lead-producing letter increases his response only by HALF as much as you thought it would: A meager, perfectly doable 15%.
Instead of getting 100 leads per thousand pieces mailed, he’s now getting 115.
That means, even after paying your $50/M royalty, the client’s cost to produce each lead has just fallen from $5.00 to $4.78.
RESULT: Client gets 15% more sales leads and lowers his lead cost by twenty-two cents apiece.
He dumps his old lead-producing letter and mails 200,000 copies of yours every month – and pays you royalties of $10,000 per month; $120,000 a year.
Oh – and once you do that, don’t you think a sane business owner would want you to do even more for him? Maybe create his lead-conversion promotions for him and pay you another percentage of the increase in sales you produce?
See? Win, WIN!
IMPORTANT: The client is not in business to generate leads. He’s in business to generate profits. So if your copy generates less-qualified leads – leads that become customers at a lower rate or at a lower average purchase than his old letter – he probably won’t mail your letter for very long. Just until he figures that his closing rate has plunged.
So as you can see, there’s both an art and a science to creating lead-producing campaigns that produce optimal bottom-line results – ‘way too much to teach in an e-letter like this one.
My point is simply this: If you’re only looking for reasons why partnering won’t work, pretty much any cockamamie excuse will do. But if instead, you look for ways to MAKE it work, a lead-producing company can be a FANTASTIC client to partner with.
“The Critic” says …
“You must realize that Clayton is targeting
those of us who are attracted to copywriting
for the money above all else.
If it’s not your goal to make multiple millions,
then his message is not for you.”
I say: Baloney. My mission is simply to help you work smart – by earning maximum dollars for every hour you work.
That doesn’t mean you have to want to make millions … or work longer hours … or give up your dreams of working where you want … or sacrifice your freedom in any way.
To the contrary: Once you learn how to earn more in a month than other writers earn all year, you could even choose to forego the extra income and take 11 months off each year (I have)!
On the other hand, once you master my approach – acquire the knowledge, skills and tools required to make more money for every hour at your desk – you can also choose to go for the big bucks.
Your call!
“The Critic” says …
“Clayton may have “stumbled”
upon partnering (his word),
but it’s not at all a new model for copywriters.
“I’ve done it and my coaching students have done it.
“It frequently fails.”
SURE DOES!
Unless you’re MUCH luckier than I’ve been, you’re definitely going to kiss a few frogs before you find the company with which you create a long-term partnership. I’ve had partners flake out on me plenty of times. And I’ve fired more clients than I care to remember.
In some cases, the chemistry wasn’t right; one or both of us found we just couldn’t stand working together.
Or maybe the client’s corporate structure was such a jumble and employees were so incompetent, they were incapable of implementing the strategies and tactics I gave them – let alone field the promotions I gave them.
Heck. On at least two occasions, a client’s legal beagles had him so frozen by fear, he let them gut my copy and I had to walk away in self-defense.
But my partnership model also frequently works.
And when it does, your client sticks with you for years and there are millions to be made – for both of you.
And let me let you in on another dirty little secret:
Freelancing also “frequently fails.”
You may not get the control. You may get the control, but a new writer can beat it before you earn royalty dollar #1.
And either way, you’ll find yourself spending hours, days, weeks, even months each year doing things that don’t make you money. You get paid to write. You do NOT get paid to line up new clients or to research each new company, product and prospect universe you work with.
And of course, even if you decide to work for crappy freelance clients and accept peanuts in the form of puny flat fees – you can still get fired if another writer offers to work for less.
“The Critic” says …
“Clayton can partner with businesses
because he knows much more than copywriting…
he knows marketing.
“He knows about list acquisition
… he knows what offers work
… he knows his target markets inside-out.”
So I guess that means, once you gain this knowledge, you can do it too – right?
Bingo.
“The Critic” says …
“Sooooo…What did Clayton get right?
“For his particular niche
(largely comprised of publishers),
he’s leading the way,
offering insights into what’s possible
if you put your ‘I can do anything’ hat on.”
Right: Partnering only works with publishers.
Oh – and rare coin retailers like SRC and Blanchard & Company.
And nutritional supplement companies like Health Resources.
And fund-raisers like the charity for handicapped children I worked with in the ‘80s … and the national political party I’m working with now.
And that engineer in California who invented a new kind of water heater but didn’t have a marketing bone in his body whose business I exploded.
And that Beverly Hills chef who needed help selling his pastries through the mail.
No other company owner or marketer would ever dream of paying you for performance and then deepening that relationship into a long-term partnership.
… Except that one real estate guy who offered me 10% of his $200 million business last August.
… And the conference organizer who gave me a 50/50 partnership a few years ago.
… And the guy who’s after me right now to help him sell a car that gets you from coast to coast on $4-worth of fuel … goes zero to 60 in six seconds … and costs less than $20,000.
Of the 25 million small businesses in America, these are the ONLY ones who would ever accept a marketing partner … a business growth strategist … a rainmaker.
Right.
Then, after all these objections, “The Critic” ended with this …
“Partnering is very smart business
if you have master-level skills and knowledge.
“Let’s hope Clayton has figured out a way
to teach copywriters how to do this safely
for their clients, as well as themselves.”
Yeah, I think I can – and judging from the enthusiastic e-mails and blog postings this series is generating so far, lots of other copywriters and business owners do, too.
Yep, I said “business owners” are posting and e-mailing us rave reviews about this model, too.
I know – surprising; right?
You’d expect copywriters to be jazzed about multiplying their income ten-fold with my partnership model – especially considering the alternative.
But business owners? Just how excited could they possibly be about paying a copywriter/business-building partner ten times more?
Pretty darned excited, as it turns out!
Because this isn’t just about how copywriters can make millions.
It’s about how a marketing mastermind – a rainmaker – with tools that extend beyond writing to marketing strategy and tactics and even management can make millions BY MAKING HIS OR HER CLIENT TENS, EVEN HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS!
When you think about it from a business owner’s perspective, great sales copy – although indispensable to accelerated business growth – is really only one part of the success equation.
The best sales copy ever written won’t do much good if the positioning of the company, spokesperson or product is off-target.
Or if the marketing strategy is a mess.
Or if the people who see the sales copy aren’t well qualified.
Or if the pricing or payment method is wrong for the audience.
Or if, because of internal SNAFUs, too few qualified prospects see your sales promotions each year.
And if my career proves anything, it’s that identifying and eliminating these key choke points inside my clients’ companies …
- Multiplies the number of qualified prospects who see my new customer promotions; thereby multiplying the number of new customers created each month (and of course, multiplying my front-end royalties), and …
- Multiplies the response, average sale and return on investment generated by promotions to existing customers; thereby multiplying the company’s sales revenues (and of course my royalties on those sales).
When you do that, you automatically multiply the company’s profits AND the copywriter’s share of those profits, making both of you much, much richer.
And the really cool thing is that once you go to work, this quantum increase in income can happen almost instantly!
In my blog at the end of last Monday’s issue, (you ARE checking in daily, aren’t you??), I told the true story of a friend of mine who stepped into a small company, identified a huge opportunity on the company’s customer file, wrote a simple eight-page sales letter, had it mailed to customers and generated nearly $10 million in sales.
The entire process – selling the client on the idea … writing, printing and mailing the letter … and collecting the money … took less than 30 days!
Copywriters – rainmakers – who take just 10% of the revenues on a deal like that can make $1 million in a month and still leave their client $9 million richer.
Again: Win, WIN!
For future Rainmakers only:
Eight easy ways to spot your ideal partner
The way I figure it, only two kinds of copywriters read The Total Package:
- New copywriters who have yet to bag their first real client and …
- Copywriters who do have clients and are looking to increase their income.
Whichever group you fall into at the moment – and whether you’re working as a freelancer, flitting from client to client or partnering with a client or two – one thing is true:
Deciding what kinds of clients you’ll work with has a greater impact on your financial success than any other consideration.
I don’t care how smart you are or how compelling your copy is; if your client’s mindset, commitment, products, employees and processes are sub-par, you’re fighting a hurricane-strength headwind that will almost surely diminish your response and income.
Conversely, a great client – an owner whose company is primed for growth at every level – can multiply your earnings potential.
So how can a copywriter/marketing mastermind/rainmaker know which kinds of companies are most likely to make you rich?
Well, guess what? “The Critic” has already told us: Precisely the opposite of the types of clients described in the objections to my partnership model above:
- A client who relies on direct response marketing for all or nearly all of his income …
- To whom incremental increases in response and average sale you’ll produce mean big leaps in growth, in their bottom-line profits and in their personal income …
- Who understands that the effectiveness of his sales copy is the single most critical variable for producing those increases …
- Who treats the source of that more effective sales copy (YOU) with appropriate respect – both personally and financially …
- Who is passionate about growing his customer base and profitability …
- With whom you enjoy working and who likes working with you …
- Whose corporate structure and employees facilitate the implementation of the marketing strategies and tactics you’ll give them and field your promotions quickly and efficiently, and …
- Whose legal and compliance procedures allow you to work with his attorneys to develop promotions capable of producing maximum response within established legal guidelines.
And guess what? I’ve identified seven more characteristics to look for in the companies you partner with.
But this issue must now come to an end – it’s 5:02 AM; time to go work out – so the rest of my thoughts on this will have to wait until tomorrow.
So be sure to bookmark this page and check in for more tomorrow morning.
In the meantime, here’s a challenge for you:
Why don’t YOU TELL ME what characteristics you think are most crucial in clients you’re looking to partner with?
And why don’t you tell all of us what additional knowledge and skills copywriters will need to attract better partners and become rainmakers for them?
Can’t wait to see what you have to say!
Yours for Bigger Winners, More Often,
Clayton Makepeace
Publisher & Editor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
Join the Discussion!
Let us know what you think. Or offer your own sage advice.
The only rule: RESPECT THIS HOUSE! Postings that contain abusive language and/or personal attacks will be cheerfully VAPORIZED. One cross word and – POOF! – your well-thought-out post will be gone in a puff of smoke.
If you liked that post, then try these...
Promote Your Site With This Complete Ping List by Rezbi on July 3rd, 2011
Do you have a blog? If so, you'll want to send a ping each time you post an article to it.
A List Of WordPress Plugins You Might Find Useful by Rezbi on July 7th, 2011
These are the plugins I have active on this site.
How To Use Facebook To Promote Your Blog by Rezbi on August 15th, 2010
I've been using Facebook for a while, but I was never sure how to use it to promote my blog.
How To Plan Your House To Suit Yourself by Rezbi on August 12th, 2009
Did you see that? You didn't? What, you missed that? Okay, okay, I'll tell ya.
How To Blog by Rezbi on June 30th, 2011
I'm evaluating a .
Filed under Clayton Makepeace, Copywriting by on Sep 3rd, 2011.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Playing Pavlov: How To Play With People’s Minds To Get Them To Do Things Against Their Will (Okay … Not Really)
“Now begins a torrent of words and a trickling of sense.” – Theocritus of Chios
I’m about to show you some alarmingly powerful psychological techniques.
Techniques that can actually persuade people to do things without realizing what’s happening. But before you get the wrong idea, let me give you the background.
First of all, I didn’t discover these techniques on my own.
I first found them detailed, all in one place, in a resource by a guy you should know about. That is, if you haven’t heard of him already. His name is Dr. Robert Cialdini.
Cialdini is neither copywriter nor marketer. He’s a psychologist. He has a graduate degree from Columbia. He’s also the author of the relatively recent marketing classic, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Cialdini didn’t write this book to help you sell better.
Quite the opposite.
He wrote it because he couldn’t figure out why, over and over again, he was being sold. “I can admit it freely now,” says Cialdini in the book’s forward, “All my life I’ve been a patsy.” He wanted to figure out how it had happened.
Accidental or intentional, marketers became Cialdini’s most receptive audience. Now he tours the speaker circuit as a kind of marketing guru. Go figure.
Of course, we’re with Cialdini on this one key point. Marketing by manipulation really IS the wrong path. It’s a misunderstanding of the tool. Rather, true marketing and honest advertising does what it does for one reason only: to connect customers with the product that can give them what they’ve been looking for.
That said, if advertising is about building these kinds of genuine product-prospect relationships, what’s wrong with speeding that relationship along once in awhile. And that’s what studying the findings in Cialdini’s book is all about.
Here’s my own spin on some of what I found inside.
1. USE THE POWER OF ‘BECAUSE’
In one of the experiments in Cialdini’s book, a Harvard psychologist gives a subject a stack of papers and tells him or her to approach a line cued up at a photocopy machine.
The subject is supposed to say, “Excuse me, I’ve got five pages. May I jump in and use the machine?”
In 60% of the attempts, the line let the subject jump in and make copies.
But when the second line was changed to, “May I jump in and use the machine, because I’m in a rush,” an astounding 94% gave the go ahead!
Why? Because reasons persuade reasonable people. Or so you would assume. But in the experiment, even when the words after “because” were changed, the request still succeeded. Even when the ‘reason’ was no good reason at all!, ” because I need to make some copies.”)
This simply suggests what we’ve said here before. People search for reasons to justify their actions. Even if what you’re providing SOUNDS like a reason but isn’t, it can almost be good enough.
I find myself using ‘because’ in copy a lot more these days, after reading the above. Of course, I try to follow it with true justification, too.
2. CRAFT A MORE CREDIBLE IMAGE
If you’ve seen “Catch Me If You Can,” the movie about the 1950s conman who built a career on projecting the IMAGE of authority (fake uniforms, fake logos, carefully placed lingo) – you know this one already.
In medical circles, they call it the “white coat” or “stethoscope” effect. Cialdini gives more than one example where patients in hospitals ignore doctors who are out of uniform, but listen like school children to lab techs in scrubs or lab coats.
Nobody likes to admit it, but we’re inclined toward ’shortcut’ thinking. Stereotypes. And assumptions.
Hence the power of the uniform.
Even holding a clipboard, in Cialdini’s research, can do the trick.
If someone has the look of authority, it’s often assumed that they ARE an authority. A lot of bamboozling in the history of commerce owes its success to this insight. You are not, of course, out to bamboozle.
But you need to take this into account nonetheless – especially when you compile the credibility of whatever worthy service or product you’re trying to sell. Make sure it looks the part. Or lose the sale.
3. AIM FOR A PUBLIC COMMITMENT
A student comes to your door and asks you to sign a petition – a soap company invites customers to write a “Why I Love Sudsy Soap” essays – your local supermarket gives you an “I Shop At UberMart” bumper sticker, free of charge.
Who would have thought they learned their techniques from the interrogators working for the Communist Chinese? It’s true. Sort of.
During World War II, the Japanese tried to torture confessions out of Allied prisoners. For the most part, it didn’t work.
The Chinese, however, held essay contests.
First, they asked American prisoners to admit to small things, e.g. “The American system isn’t ‘perfect’ is it? Nothing, after all, is perfect.”
Yes, that’s true, the prisoner would have to concede. Then the captors would invite the prisoner to list some of the ways America might not be perfect. Long lists were rewarded with small prizes (rice, cigarettes, etc.)
The captors would invite the prisoner to read the list in a discussion group. And then hold essay contests among the group – again in exchange for small rewards – to see who could make the best essay from the list.
Small concessions. Kid stuff. But not quite.
The concessions seemed painless compared to the torture the prisoners expected. But by the time the hook was in, the captors had the prisoners reading the statements on public radio – standing in defense of the quality of their essays against all other efforts by fellow prisoners. And after the war, back home in the U.S., telling others that maybe communism was a good idea for Asia after all.
How could they, the prisoners, go back on what they’d defended so carefully – and publicly – after all?
The human mind isn’t built for that. And here’s where this bizarre little insight actually applies to LEGITIMATE marketing…
If you’ve got a good product and a happy customer, give them a chance to boast about it:
Gift offers for family and friends. Membership cards. Invitations to send in testimonials. And more. Same principle, but a more noble application.
4. MAKE ROOM FOR A BUYER’S ‘INNER CHOICE’
You don’t have to take my word on all this. Read the research for yourself and you decide. I’m sure you’re going to agree.
Why am I so sure? Well, for one thing, because I’m giving you the opportunity to do so. Almost all of us like to make choices for ourselves rather than have others make our choices for us.
Likewise, if we’re backed into a corner by a choice, even if we accept that decision – we’re less likely to feel good about it or loyal to it later.
Cialdini gives an example of kids in a playroom.
Outright threats not to touch a certain toy (”Don’t play with the robot or you won’t get cookies”) stopped working when the observer stepped out of the room. Because it wasn’t a choice.
It was just a rule and a possible outcome, imposed without reason. Short term, it can get a result. But long term – or when it counts – those results don’t always reproduce.
However, when the reason was given and the responsibility for making the right choice was assigned to the kid (”Playing with the robot is wrong. If you play with the robot, I’ll be very disappointed in you”), a shocking number of children wouldn’t touch the thing.
Even when left alone. What’s more, they would take it on themselves to encourage new kids to make the same decision.
Now, I don’t have kids yet.
So you really SHOULDN’T rely on my prodding. Take a look at the research for yourself and make up your own mind. But once you have, I think you’ll agree that it’s pretty convincing.
That is, for better sales results, craft your offer so it’s the customer who has to make the choice. Rather than you, the seller, trying to ram it down his throat.
5. PINPOINT THE PURPOSE
In the 1960s, dozens of New Yorkers heard a woman’s screams. They leaned out their windows. They listened. They did nothing.
Catherine Genovese was stabbed to death that night. And for years, the story was used as proof that people – especially people in cities – were getting more and more cold-hearted.
New research suggests the problem wasn’t a cold heart, but a confused one.
38 people were interviewed afterward.
They were terrified by the event, during the event, and just after the event. But none of them knew what to do. They felt ‘helpless’ as they tried to figure out what was happening.
But, says Cialdini, in cases where the cry for help is specific and clear, people – even New Yorkers – actually spring to help. He even recommends, if you’re in trouble, to immediately try to lock eyes with someone nearby and target them: “You in the blue suit, I need help!”
In four staged experiments in Florida, a ‘fallen worker’ near power lines was able to coax emergency aid 90% of the time from passers by. Where, if he said nothing, most gawked and looked panicked then hurried past.
It’s not just in requesting help where this applies.
It’s just as true when pitching something positive, like an offer. It’s surprising how often a pitch seems clear, but leaves the prospect not knowing what was offered.
Be clear. Write the offer first. Write to one prospect only and know what you’re selling, as well as what it will do, precisely, for the prospect – even before you begin writing your first word of copy. Just doing that can make a huge difference in your results.
As I said, all the above is my spin on Cialdini’s research.
If you really want to read something fascinating, I suggest you pick up the original book. Of course, don’t let me twist your arm. It’s really up to you. No really.
John Forde
Guest Contributor
———————
Over the last 19 years, John Forde’s direct-response
copy helped generate hundreds of millions of dollars
and has won him several awards, including AWAI’s
“Copywriter of the Year.” John has also mentored dozens
of successful writers and regularly helps lead copy
training programs in Europe and the U.S. You can get
more of his insights on copywriting free from his
website: www.copywritersroundtable.com
A Revived article from THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
If you liked that post, then try these...
Last Chance For Best Resale Rights Package of 2010 by Rezbi on February 20th, 2010
Mike Filsaime sent me an email a few minutes ago saying he'll be pulling his "first time ever" Resale Rights offer down within the next couple of days.
What Medium is The Most Fun? by Rezbi on March 2nd, 2009
.
Find Your Voice by Ted Nicholas on March 6th, 2010
I read a lot.
How to Ensure Your Sales Message Gets Read by Rezbi on November 1st, 2009
No one reads your advert just for the sake of reading it.
The Secret Of Getting The Sale by Rezbi on March 11th, 2010
In May 1998 I went for a job interview with a small computer-engineering firm.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Free 13-Point Copy Inspection Makes Your Website Sell Like Crazy …
“Success is neither magical or mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.” – Jim Rohn
Dear Web Business Builder,
A veteran pilot would never dream of taking off without going over his or her pre-flight check list. And neither should you before driving traffic to your sales page.
So in today’s issue of Web Marketing Advisor it’s back to basics, and a handy little checklist of copywriting essentials.
I invite you to print this page … grab a cup of what pleases ya … and work your way through the money pages on your most important campaigns …
1 – Is Your Headline Supported On These Four Pillars?
Does it arouse relevant curiosity? Does it make a simple, easily understood, ultra compelling promise? Does it trigger the dominant motivating emotion you’ve identified in your research? Does it imply proof of promise?
Big secret: Your headline is the ad for your web page, NOT necessarily the ad for your product. Give people a reason to read other than to find out whether they may want to buy your product. Promise them great things if they’ll just STOP and consume your web page.
With this in mind, I normally write 25 headlines before I begin the body of the page. Then I’ll pick half a dozen or so that I think will work and test them. The best of the rest, I use as subheads sprinkled throughout the page to propel readership, and draw skimmers and skippers back into the copy as they move down the page.
2 – Does Your Headline Have The Look?
I most often find that headlines work best when they are centered on the page presenting a balanced appearance in terms of the shape they create. Sometimes encasing them in quotation marks can also serve to grab more attention.
Brevity is desirable. If there are words you can remove from your headline without weakening it, remove them. Where you break lines is also important …
You want maximum impact and momentum when your prospect collides with your headline. Anything that can enhance immediate comprehension will help your conversion.
Each line of your main headline should contain a kernel of thought.
Right way:
Grow Up To 1436% Richer
In A World Gone Mad!
Wrong way:
Grow Up To 1436% Richer In
A World Gone Mad!
3 – Is Your Opening Provocative?
Does it trip the reader, interrupting the internal turbulence of the day? Does it cut through the noise and enter the conversation your prospect has been having with himself about the area of concern you want to help him with?
Each line of your work must serve to ’sell’ the reader on continued reading, especially at the beginning. Again curiosity, emotion, and relevant promise rule the day. If you can just get him to read those first couple of hundred words you’re on your way …
4 – Are You FAB Balanced?
Does your web page paint a picture of your prospect’s future life as a result of his purchase … and the emotional pay off it represents? Does it pledge the realization of positive feelings, and/or the relief of negative ones? Those are the true benefits of your product.
But it’s equally important to show how those outcomes are achieved with concise descriptions of the features and advantages that will deliver them.
If you want more sales, strike a balance between benefits (what your product does for your prospect, both physically and emotionally), advantages (how it’s better than other alternatives), and features (what it is).
5 – Are You Triggering The Buying Emotion?
Are you demonstrating your personal belief in what you are selling? Will your message quicken the reader’s pulse?
While you may want to put your reader in pain momentarily, the bulk of your page should be upbeat, positive, and full of inspired energy. Is there a sense of WOW to it?
Human beings are hardwired for empathy. They will bond with you if you display empathy for them. And they with naturally empathize with you as well, vibrating sympathetically with the emotions you display.
Confident excitement is the buying emotion. And it’s triggered by YOUR enthusiasm.
6 – Is Your Body Copy Highly Readable?
Remember simple is best. Keep sentences short. Use a plain 10-point to 12-point font. Paragraphs no more than a few lines. Words that are comfortable, familiar, and specific to the audience you are targeting. Inject subheads to break up text.
Highlight important points.
Avoid presenting naked facts and arguments wherever possible. Weave them into the context of a story. Explain what they mean to your reader.
7 – Do You Have High YOU density?
Remember to use the words YOU, YOUR, and extensions thereof to the hilt. Your reader is auto translating to ME and MINE.
But don’t take this wisdom too literally …
It’s perfectly fine to tell stories in the first or third person. Naturally there will be a preponderance of the words “I” or “he” or” she” in such stories. That’s OK, as long as your reader can relate strongly to the story’s hero, projecting him or herself into that person’s shoes. In many situations, this is, in fact, the best way to tell your sales story.
“We” is also not always a dirty word in sales copy …
It is dirty when the copy is all about the seller, as in, “We believe the only thing that never goes out of style is service. We’ve been providing great service in the Gotham City area for over 50 years.”
That’s a bad use of “we”. But when you use this word to symbolize a group that unites the buyer and the seller in a common cause, opinion, or belief, as in, “We investors are fed up!” it’s one of the most powerful pronouns you can use.
The key is to keep the reader squarely in the action at all times.
8 – Are you speaking intimately?
Can you get a strong sense of personality when you review your web page after being away from it for a while? Visualize yourself writing a personal letter to a friend, someone you care about deeply.
Never write to a crowd. Build relationships one at a time.
9 – Are you inspiring the reader’s imagination?
The sub-conscious mind has difficulty distinguishing between vividly painted word pictures and reality. Daydreams enchant. And emotions flow in their wake.
When you have emotion, you have desire. When you have desire, you have suggestibility. When you have suggestibility, you can direct action.
Spark your reader’s creative imagination by associating the promise of what you’re selling to things he’s already familiar with.
10 – Do you offer proof?
Specific testimonials, success stories, case studies and other examples of social proof are essential.
Describing the mechanism that makes your product work — proof of process — is equally important.
An outrageous, ballsy guarantee is another form of proof. It proves your product does what you say it does. How else could you offer such a guarantee and stay in business? A really good one creates the perception that risk is not just removed. It’s actually reversed!
Use visual proofs wherever possible. Show physical products in action. Show before and after pictures for intangibles. Seeing is believing.
11 – Is your offer irresistible?
People are greedy. And they like to procrastinate. Are you piling on reasons to act now — additional bonuses, discounts, etc. — that may not be available if your prospects return to your web page at a later date?
Are you using the power of comparison — showing how your product delivers the same results as alternatives costing much more … while comparing its price to trivial items?
12 – Do you close like this?
Don’t pussyfoot around when it comes time to ask for the sale. If you believe in your product, and you stand behind it (as evidenced by your brass balls guarantee), then for heaven’s sake don’t be shy about telling people how to get it.
Tell your prospects explicitly what to do, and they’ll do it. Big tip: When you close, use future tense language that assumes the sale. For example: “When your electric nose hair trimmer arrives, here’s all you do …”
And don’t forget that some people will be ready to buy sooner, some later. So ask for the order multiple times. As soon as the basic story is out (usually about half way down the page) I start asking for the order, again and again and again.
13 – And finally, do you use this P.S. trick?
For some reason, the P.S. at the bottom of the page gets read a lot. Make it stop your reader in his tracks, like a deer in the headlights!
Associate positive outcomes with taking the desired action, and negative ones with delay or inaction. (You may even want to plant a bomb for the sneaky Petes who scroll down to the P.S. without reading your web page. Simply insert a curiosity-inducing sentence such as: “The horrible things I told you about in this letter could easily happen to you.”)
Finally, restate your guarantee and ask for the sale one last time.
So there you have it, my baker’s dozen. Use ‘em with finesse on all of your sales pages, and watch your business grow!
Until next time, Good Selling!
Daniel Levis
Guest Contributor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant and direct response copywriter based in Toronto, Canada and publisher of the world famous copywriting anthology, Masters of Copywriting, featuring the selling wisdom of 44 of the “Top Money” marketing minds of all time, including Clayton Makepeace, Dan Kennedy, Joe Sugarman, John Carlton, Joe Vitale, Michel Fortin, Richard Armstrong and dozens more! For a FREE excerpt visit http://www.SellingtoHumanNature.com
If you liked that post, then try these...
A Tiny Change Can Triple Response by Ted Nicholas on April 18th, 2010
To my mind, one of the most interesting aspects of any form of direct marketing is this: How small changes can make such a huge difference in response.
Man In A Skirt Talks About Life Changing Moments by Rezbi on January 15th, 2010
Video 1 .
How to Ensure Your Sales Message Gets Read by Rezbi on November 1st, 2009
No one reads your advert just for the sake of reading it.
The Reason For Advertising by Rezbi on October 7th, 2009
There is only one reason for advertising a product or service -- to make sales.
The Secret Of Getting The Sale by Rezbi on March 11th, 2010
In May 1998 I went for a job interview with a small computer-engineering firm.