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July 09, 2005

"Title: Top Ten Reasons to Write Articles to Publicize your Business - Part 1" by Judy Collins

Description: If you have spent time and money down the drain waiting for "word of mouth" to kick in, or multiple hours on networking meetings, you may want to investigate this number one way to publicize your service. Beginners welcome. And, once you learn the skills, you can delegate it all to your office assistant. Here's the Top Ten Reasons.

If you have spent time and money down the drain waiting for "word of mouth" to kick in, or multiple hours on networking meetings, or high-cost direct mail campaigns, you may want to investigate this number one way to publicize your service.

Beginners welcome. And, once you learn the skills, you can delegate it all to your office assistant.

Here's the Top Ten Reasons to Write Articles to Publicize your Business:

1. It's totally free.

Once you subscribe to 5-10 opt-in ezines such as
aabusiness-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, aainet-subscribe@egroups.com, or free-content-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, you can start submitting your professionally edited articles that relate to your service or products. For a list of many more ePublishers in all categories, check out the "How to Market your Business Online" eBook.

You will get many emails from other authors too, so make your articles' email a separate one from your business account. This number one free publicity will bring many targeted visitors to your site where you present a link to information about your coaching or other services.

2. You can reach from 10,000 to 500,000 of your targeted audience each day that you submit an article.

These people subscribe to the opt-in ezines and surf the top sites in their fields to get free information. When your articles get published, you will be at the top of well-known online small business people who provide a great service.

Remember Bill Gates prediction: After 2000, you either take your business Online, or you won't have one.

3. You will spend far less time promoting Online than more traditional ways.

When you spend your time each week writing a short article from 300-800 words (about an hour for each), you can then delegate the submissions to your low-cost office computer assistant. Total time promoting? Less than six hours a week.

This is the best money I spend because after the initial submissions, my assistant's time to submit to ezines is less than 10 minutes per time. And that's to 60 plus opt-in ezines. Submitting to Web sites takes more time, maybe 10-15 minutes for each site. We started submitting to 10 Web sites. Four years later we submit to fifty-seven plus. To save time, we submit two articles at once. Many sites carry over 100 of my articles. The more, the merrier, because
these not only put you in the top ten sites through the search engines, but bring you many new potential clients.

4. Submitting articles is 7 times as effective as any other promotion because when you submit many articles, you become known as an expert.

You may start with just two or three, but each week after creating a new one with a different angle or audience, this outstanding viral marketing technique will bring many new opportunities because many of the people who read them will contact you to publish on their site. See how the good word spreads?

Submitting articles is part of the "Big Three Marketing Machine." A special report that illustrates how you can succeed far more than you dreamed of by coordinating your sales-driven Web site, your articles, and your service and products.

5. You can raise your own ezine subscribers from 10-25 every time you submit an article to multiple opt-in ezines.

If you submit four or five articles a month to 15 ezines, each with about 1000 subscribers, you will reach 60,000 readers.

The beauty of this benefit is that your ezine and articles work as a team, both catapulting your eventual sales successes. When you put your free offer for your ezine in your signature file that accompanies each article you send out, online lookers become online buyers eventually.

After reading six or seven of your ezines, your targeted audience who came to you through these articles, trusts you more, believes in you, and finally becomes a client or customer.

Part two of this article is available at www.bookcoaching.com/freearticles/article-120.shtml.

This list could go on, because as one person sees your articles, they make offers you can't refuse. You will get published in other author's books such as in the shameless promoter, Debbie Allen's new Online Promotion book, you'll get offers for email and radio interviews, offers from print magazines, get new teleclass guest appearances, and even get asked to contribute a column on
related sites.

Writing and submitting articles is the friendliest way I know of promoting Online. When you are ready, give it a chance.

Top Ten Reasons to Write Articles to Publicize your Business - Part 1
Judy Cullins © 2004 All Rights Reserved.

Judy Cullins: 20-year author, speaker, book coach
Helps entrepreneurs manifest their book and web dreams

eBk: "How to Market your Business on the Internet"
Special: "Internet Business Marketing Marathon" - Teleclass
$15 - Sept 30, 5pm PT / 8pm ET

www.bookcoaching.com/teleclasses.shtml
FRE.E "The Book Coach Says..." or Business Tip of the Month
www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml --
mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com
Orders: 866/200-9743 -- Ph: 619/466-0622

P.S. To receive a complete list of over 140 free articles with autoresponder
addresses go to www.bookcoaching.com/freearticles.shtml.

Posted by isoh at 01:02 AM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2005

"How to Use "Upwords" to Increase Response" by Michel Fortin

I once took a media communications course in which I discovered an interesting example of the way the mind works. As part of a given lesson, a videotape was shown of a televised newscast during which a journalist was about to give a live report on a forest fire that was devastating the mid-west. The news anchor in the television newsroom said: "We now take you to Sally Smith -- she's in the station's helicopter flying above the scene of the fire."

He then turned around to face the background screen, which gave a live bird's-eye view of the raging fire, and asked: "Sally, tell us, how big is the fire?" In a voice partially drowned by the whizzing sound of helicopter blades, Sally reports: "John, it's so big, it's covering well over 140 acres of land -- that's about 200 football fields back-to-back for you and me."

You Ought to Be in Pictures
As you can sense from the above example, people don't think in numbers -- they think in pictures. The mind does not think in words either -- unless it is told to do exactly that. The mind is a simple organ and it hates confusion. It will naturally translate words or phrases into their visual equivalent. For instance, if I told you to think of a garbage can, you're not going to think of the word "G-A-R-B-A-G-E." Your mind will automatically visualize a garbage can.

Why do you think Windows and MacIntosh dominate in operating systems? It is because, rather than having to type an elaborate command for your computer to execute, you can simply use your mouse, point to an icon, and click. These icons basically represent programs. They contain a string of numerous commands that are in fact translated into a language the computer understands. Our mind works in almost the same way. It instantly translates what it's being told into something it can easily understand.

What I call UPWORDS are effective in any conversation, sales call, or written message in that they simply help the message to be better understood and appreciated. Mark Twain once said that "numbers don't stick in the mind, pictures do." In fact, the word "upwords" is an acronym that stands for universal picture words or relatively descriptive sentences. Upwords are examples, analogies, metaphors, symbols, picture words, colloquialisms, etc.

Use "Upwords" to Move Upwards
For example, a challenge among cosmetic surgeons is the fact that people will call for a quote over the phone when obviously the doctor needs to see the patient beforehand. Since cosmetic surgery is an uncommon process, doctors will often use the more common dental work as an analogy -- unlike surgery, most people have had their teeth done at some point in their lives. So, they'll say: "Like a dentist, I can not give an estimate over the phone without any x-rays of your teeth or the knowledge of how many cavities you actually have."

Beauticians usually face the same problem. Since many customers tend to shop around for these types of services, and since beauty is a subjective thing, then making a decision based on price alone can be detrimental to both the consumer and the business. So, using art as an analogy, beauticians will say: "A makeover is a makeover just like a painting is a painting, but there's quite a difference between a Rembrandt and a preschooler's fingerpainting."

If you're a computer programmer trying to sell your services to the plant manager of a farm equipment manufacturer, and in your presentation you provide complex technical data in abstract computer technolese, you will obviously do very poorly. You must therefore mold your message in a way that it can be easily understood by farmers or plant workers.

We all come from different backgrounds. Our education, experiences, and environment help to condition our thinking. Therefore, use analogies, metaphors, and picture words in your presentation that will make your message easier to understand by the other's personal set of circumstances. As Jack Trout once said, "A word is worth a thousand pictures."

Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.

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July 06, 2005

"How to Make Your Phone Number Memorable" by Michel Fortin

When people decide to buy from you or to at least inquire further, your contact information may not be in front of them at that specific point in time. Therefore, they'll probably want to avoid the hassle of having to look you up. They will try to skip the inconvenience of searching for your contact information by, among other things, asking others if they happen to know.

The telephone is the most commonly used form of communication. Since we think in pictures, phone numbers are far from being memorable for most people. Mark Twain once said: "Numbers do not stick in the mind, pictures do." Many prospects who may have only seen your number once or twice will most likely be too busy to look it up in the phone book. If they don't know your number by heart, they won't call. Many lost sales happen for that reason.

Hooked On Mnemonics
Fortunately, letters of the alphabet that appear on the phone's keypad can help turn a plain, easy-to-forget number into a hard-to-forget word. Such words (or devices) are also called "mnemonics." A phone number can be transformed into a word (or a set of words) that the mind can recall far more easily and efficiently. And since 1-800 numbers are universally recognized at toll free, mnemonics make a phone call to your business that more enticing.

Most companies use a toll free 1-800 number for their sales or customer service departments. Needless to say, if the number spells the company name, its nature, or better yet its greatest benefit, then the sales potential will increase as a result. Your contact information may no longer be needed if you have a single 1-800 number that's easy to remember. And people who wish to buy from you or call for more information can practically do so in an instant.

Examples are 1-800-FREE-TRY, 1-800-CAT-N-DOG, 1-800-MARKETS, 1-800-NEWS-R-US, or 1-800-2-SLEEPY. With a choice of up to seven digits, businesses have some flexibility when selecting their own mnemonic. But in some cases, the availability of numbers could be very limiting. Since phone companies were running out of 1-800 numbers, the recent introduction of 1-888 and 1-877 lines now offer a certain degree of opportunity to businesses who wish to harness the power of mnemonics with their toll free line.

An added advantage that comes with these new toll free numbers is the fact that they somewhat extend the choice of letters to ten -- when combining some of the first three digits in 888 or 877, since the 00 in 800 does not have any corresponding letters. An example would be phone numbers such as 1-8-TUNE-ME-UPS, 1-87-PRACTICE, 1-TUTOR-FOR-ME.

Tips And Tricks
If you are looking at mnemonics for your own phone number, your choice does not have to include the entire 7 or 9 digits. Numbers can be used at the beginning, at the end or within the mnemonic, such as 1-800-9-FOODS-9 or 1-800-ALL-4-FUN. Try, if at all possible however, the use the same number. Mnemonics rely strongly on repetition. Thus, use repetitious numbers or those that rhyme with the word used -- such as 1-800-1-MORE-4-U.

Also, you can extend the number by one digit and thus add an extra letter to your mnemonic. If you were to dial the extra digit at the end you would still be connected to the right number. And some phone numbers have very few mnemonic possibilities. Therefore, allowing a random final digit can open up a lot more options. An example is 1-800-FIRST-TRY.

If you don't wish to change your current phone number or if you have not much choice, you could still try to spell something with your current line. Two great websites that can help you are PhoneSpell.org as well as phoNETic.com. After you've entered your number, it will give you a list of possibilities, including those with the additional digit at the end. This is a useful tool, especially if you wish to convert a local number into a mnemonic.

You can enter a six to ten digit phone number and they'll show you all the possible words and phrases your phone number spells -- including the extra digit. And for added convenience, it can do the reverse by showing you the corresponding phone number to a word you enter.

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July 05, 2005

"The Importance Of "The Ad For The Ad"" by Michel Fortin

"Top-of-mind awareness" is not exclusive to marketing in general. It also applies to an advertisement's headline. Many people use boring or unappealing headlines for their ads, and it surprises me when I see many ads with headlines that do not communicate a precise, immediate, and direct benefit. While such ads do not generate the response nor the business for which they were intended, the headline and not the ad may be to blame.

A headline is not meant to advertise the business, product, service, website, sale or event. It's not a summary of the ad either. It's meant to advertise the advertisement, the ad for the ad. A résumé, for instance, is not meant to land a "job" but to land an "interview." A headline is, in the very same way, meant to land the reader's attention and not their interest. In essence, the true role of a headline is to grab the reader's attention in order to keep them reading. Once they read the ad, then -- and only then -- interest should be developed.

You may have heard of the AIDA formula, which stands for: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. The first part of this simple formula refers to the headline and it is where most ads usually fail. If the headline doesn't command enough attention, then the rest of the formula -- even if the ad is effective -- fails.

So how can a headline grab a reader's attention? Your headline must be packed with benefits. Not only that, it must communicate direct, specific and immediate benefits (i.e., the benefits of reading the ad in the first place). Here are two tips on how to increase the attention-factor in your headlines:

The Gapper
Usually, there is a gap between the prospect's problem and its solution. Many prospects do not know that there is in fact a problem. A headline that communicates the presence of such a gap or widens it will most likely appeal to those who can immediately relate to it. In other words, those who are attracted by the headline always had the "gap" in the back of their minds, but the headline merely brings it back to the top and causes them to read further. Hence, they want to know, by reading your ad, how they can close that gap.

To use a headline that conveys a problem is to make the reader aware that there is one (or at least reinforce it), and then to demonstrate that the solution exists further in the ad. For instance, if you advertise a way to make money your headline must subconsciously tell the reader: "Got money problems? Then read my ad and I'll show you how to get rid of them."

Those who appreciate the message the headline communicates will be much more tempted to read further. For example, the pain-pleasure principle states that we have a tendency to avoid pain or to strive towards pleasure. But when given the choice between the two, avoidance of pain is a far superior motive. Therefore, a headline that communicates a negative situation, a problem or a painful situation (or potentially painful situation without the benefits of the product) will automatically be understood by those who associate to its message. Such readers will then feel compelled to read the ad.

For example, when I work with plastic surgeons, I often tell them to place as a headline for their ads, "Are you suffering from wrinkles?" Immediately, some patients will instantly relate to the ad. They do so for two reasons:

They have wrinkles (they fit the surgeon's demographics), and;
They suffer from wrinkles (they fit the surgeon's psychographics, i.e., they also want to do something about it).
This technique is applicable in almost all cases. Think of a negative situation that is now present, or one that will occur without the benefits of your product or service. If you're selling insurance for example, the "gapper" could be: "Due to insufficient insurance coverage, millions of dollars are lost every 8 minutes," or "Trying to save $300, I lost over $300,000! A true story," or "Don't let a $50,000 dollar bill compound your grief... Yes! It can happen to you."

In the marketing consulting business (my own industry), "gappers" could include: "Don't let another million-dollar prospect slip through the cracks," or "Stop wasting your marketing money on ineffective advertising and triple your hit-ratio with more compelling ads." In the end, the idea here is to emphasize benefits. A headline must make your prospect understand in an instant the pain of not enjoying the benefits of your offer, as a gapper implies benefits. And by reading further, they are somewhat seeking the solution.

The Freebie
Many studies have shown that the greatest technique in advertising that can double -- and sometimes even triple -- the readership of an ad is the use of a simple, single, four-letter word: "FREE." People are astonishingly attracted to freebies. Freebies, in an ad, can create a lot of response, but in a headline a freebie can multiply the response rate exponentially.

Offer a free sample, a free product, or a free service of some kind. However, being in the information age, the "free report" is my favorite. People love to soak up new information since "learned" experience is more cost-effective and less time-consuming than that which has been learned from experience. Using the pain-pleasure principle, people love free reports because they want to avoid making mistakes -- or learn how to avoid them.

So, if this appeals to you, then write on! Create a free report. The perceived value in the free information is oftentimes underrated. People who request your free report are qualifying themselves beforehand and become far more superior leads. Consequently, when it comes to the headline, the free report in particular can easily grab the attention of readers because it contains not one but two immediate benefits: Information that is both useful and free.

If you're a computer consultant to large offices, your headline can state, "Free report! The 10 biggest computer mistakes businesses make," or, "8 surefire strategies on how to improve paperflow efficiency by 67% -- Free report," or, "Are your computers bug-proof? Get my free report on ways to find out if the recent surge in computer viruses can cost you thousands in lost revenue -- and how to avoid them!" (The last example contained both the "gapper" and the "freebie." Obviously, this headline would therefore be more effective.)

The Final Word
Remember this simple axiom: The headline is the ad for the ad. It is not meant to summarize the ad or to sell the reader. It is simply an attention grabber. Once you've developed attention, you can then create interest and then increase desire... But that's a whole new article.

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July 04, 2005

"It Sure Beats Sucking Wind!" By Craig Garber

Sometimes all you need is a simple "shift" in your thinking
and that missing "link" you've been needing, all of a
sudden appears, clear as day.

Here's what I mean: A common problem I see with clients of
mine, especially my consulting clients -
www.KingOfCopy.com/consulting - is that they've got a
"decent" product... "decent" marketing... but their target
audience is slightly "off" a bit.

And the thing is, even if you've got an AWESOME product...
and AWESOME marketing... if your target marketplace isn't
spot on...

You're Always Going To Be Sucking Wind And Struggling!

So here's a brief example of what I mean: Let's say you're
selling some kind of accessory that truly improves the
quality of a children's outdoor sporting activity, giving
them a better experience.

At $19.95, you're selling enough so you're not "losing"
anything, but when it comes down to it, you've got little to
nothing left over for yourself.

Now what if you make some minor adjustments to your
thing-a-ma-jig... and you changed your marketing... and instead
of selling this to 8 to 14 year-old boys...

You start selling this "new" product to adult
men who play softball, at a very feasible $79.95!

Seems like a better idea, right?

So take a look at what you're actually selling.

Can you kick your marketplace up a notch without too much
effort?

If you think about it, I bet you can.

And if you haven 't already done so, go ahead and click here right now to sign up for my FREE Tip Of The Week -- it's the Number One Direct-Response Marketing And Copywriting Newsletter for independent business-owners.

“Craig Garber is America's Top Direct-Response Copywriter. You'll find hundreds of marketing tips to increase your sales, and his insanely popular FREE Direct-Response Marketing Tip Of The Week, on his website, www.KingOfCopy.com. Copyright © Craig Garber. All rights reserved

Posted by isoh at 07:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"Compel Customers to Propel Sales" by Michel Fortin

Surfers are shopping online more and more and the greatest determinant in what will help them increase their willingness to buy is the ease, confidence, and speed with which they'll be able to shop. Therefore, merely "being" online is no longer adequate -- a business must also sell to, transact with, and deliver its product to its customers persuasively and promptly.

The Internet is buzzing with impulsive shoppers. To paraphrase Robert Ringer, author of "Million Dollar Habits," people today have the "Three Gets Syndrome." When they shop, they want to "Get in, get it, and get out!" That importunity is certainly evident on the web.

Web copywriter Nick Usborne understands this concept well. "Customer experience compression" is a term he originally coined when describing the fact that, online, the buying process has considerably shortened -- and that web marketers must take into account far more than the usual offline selling experience.

For example, Nick explains that, when you receive a piece of offline direct mail in your mailbox, there's an incredible amount of work for you to do. You open the envelope, read the offer, and decide you want to buy the featured product. Next, you have to find a pen, complete the coupon or form, stuff it in an envelope, address it, lick it, close it, buy a stamp, lick that as well, pull on your coat, get in the car (or walk), and find the nearest mailbox.

Online, however, you simply click "Buy Now" and that's it. According to Nick, the issue is fairly simple to recognize. When you're doing business at the speed of electricity, you compress the entire customer experience. And anything that expands it, impedes it, or slows it down not only loses sales but also defeats the purpose of being online in the first place.

Examples are poor targeting, slow loading time, the lack of ordering information, anemic sales copy, and a long or complicated ordering process. The latter in particular is especially important. Customers may well come to your site because they are looking for a convenient and speedy purchase. Usborne points out that they want to buy quickly without having to pick up the phone, or get in the car and drive to the mall. Simply, they want convenience.

According to Joe Gregory of leanmarketing.co.uk, 97.7% of all websites that his company evaluated are not being marketed correctly. In fact, the most common error they have found is related directly to the marketing aspects of a website. From poorly targeted content to sites unable to finish the sale, "If any one marketing element is wrong your website will fail," explains Gregory. In other words, not only should you sell the sizzle and not the steak, online you must also provide the menu, the waiter and the silverware.

(Don't forget the ambiance!)

But the most revealing statistic is the fact that 94.1% of all websites Joe evaluated suffered from poor content. Most of these sites he says, which were aimed at creating more business or selling a product, provided content that was far from being good marketing copy. In short, they were not compelling enough and simply did not persuade people to buy.

Arguably, copywriting is a skill that develops with time and experience. And most people erroneously assume that the Net is a medium -- it's not. It's a process. And as far as ecommerce goes, the Internet is also a direct response/sales process that can and should lead visitors to specific outcomes. But all too often, this simple process is simple to ignore.

Moreover, if a site isn't targeting potential customers, surfers will not only fail to read it but also fail to buy. According to Gregory, advertising copy in particular is governed by a few rules, such as selling the benefits and not the features. And 72.6% of sites he evaluated failed to mention at the very least the benefits of their product or service to the customer.

But his survey goes further in showing that a whopping 82.2% lacked a clear objective. For example, sites that encouraged people to call made it hard to find the telephone number, and companies that wanted to sell a product had no online ordering capabilities (some even failed to mention the price). More interestingly, he also found that 46.6% of these failing sites were aimed at a general audience or used jargon that only experts would understand.

Poor targeting, in other words, is the third most common mistake web marketers make. The lack of visitor interaction was in fact a major stumbling block in most of the cases Gregory encountered -- people visiting these sites had no way of interacting with the companies or people behind them. As Joe bluntly explains, "If a shop is closed, you'll go somewhere else."

Finally, speed is an important issue. While they are well on their way, the computer as well as the Internet are still in their infancy. Earlier CPUs, less capable web browsers, and slower modems are still the norm. Therefore, if a site includes Javascript, frames, plug-ins, and dazzling memory-intensive graphics in an effort to impress, it will work against you.

Many potential sales are lost due to a slow-loading, unbrowsable website. A site should not only download fast but also process orders expeditiously. Research by an on-hold phone message marketing company found that people start hanging up when put on hold for more than 30 seconds -- the Internet is no different. If they have to wait for more than 30 seconds for your page to load, visitors will leave. In short, if they have to wait, they won't.

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July 03, 2005

"Like 'Putty' in Your Hands" by Craig Garber

Listen to this.

"John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman, a resident
of Hawaii. Chapman purchased the gun he used to kill
Lennon on Young Street in Honolulu, exactly six weeks before
he shot Lennon in cold blood, right in front of Lennon's
apartment building, The Dakota, on New York City's Central
Park West."

"Americans have been shattering sports records because
athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, and in much better
physical condition than ever before."

"Did you know that chocolate contains phenyl-ethyl-amine
(PEA), a natural substance that stimulates the same
physiological reactions in the body that falling in love
does?"

Interesting, no?

Sometimes, the best way to open up your sales letter is with
a curiosity-provoking eye-opening statement or fact that's
going to intrigue and engage your prospects.

Then, you continue taking them down that greased slide with
more compelling facts until they're so engaged with what
you're saying... that by the time they've finished reading,
they're like putty in your hands, and...

The sale is yours!

Posted by isoh at 07:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"How to Present Products Persuasively" by Michel Fortin

When you meet people for the first time and introduce yourself, what do you usually say? If you're like most people, you might say: "Hi, my name is Michel Fortin and I'm a marketing consultant" or "my name is John Doe, I sell vitamins on the Internet" (or whatever it is you do). These are called elevator speeches. But if we examine these typical elevator speeches a little closer, you can see how such introductions will be easily forgotten if not ignored.

Think about it. How often do you easily forget the name of someone who has introduced herself to you? Therefore, if you are introducing yourself in that way, your statement will be easily forgotten because it will not create lasting top-of-mind awareness and, more important, interest in you or your business. As my mother used to say, such introductions will only go "in one ear and out the other." They don't stick. They don't say much. They don't offer compelling enough reasons -- specific pieces of information -- that generate desire.

Why is that? In memory management, they say that you should use mental association in order to memorize names. More important, they say that you should attach emotion to your associations, for emotions help to hook words into the mind. Psychologists often say that emotional events are the ones lodged most deeply in a person's consciousness. For example, if I asked you to tell me about your childhood you will most likely talk about the times when you felt happy, sad, or mad. These events are solidly etched in your mind.

Normally, a person's name and work are often not associated with emotions. On the other hand, those that are presented in such a way that emotions are tied to them will have made an impact and are easily remembered, even years later. They are laced with meaning. They mean something at a deeper level. There is some sort of personal significance behind them. As such, using emotion in your introduction or product presentation is the key.

Stick Like a Stain
In order to help you, ask yourself some key questions, like: "Why should people buy from me?" "Why should they even listen to what I have to say?" And better still, "Why should they even remember me at all?" Above all, the key question is: "What emotions does my business or product invoke in the minds of my site's visitors?" The answer to all of these is benefits.

On the Internet, benefits are vital, for the Internet lacks humaness let alone emotion. If I asked you to name the last ten web sites you visited, your mind will probably go blank -- unless those sites have communicated benefits that were important to you specifically in some way. Additionally, how many times have you stumbled onto a website that was confusing, boring, inappropriate to your search or lacking compelling reasons for you to stay? You probably clicked out of these sites faster than you can say the word "click."

Of course, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression!" Good introductions are not only meant to get acquainted but also to persuade let alone to have the people you've just met easily remember you, especially in a positive way. And this goes for the people who visited your web site for the first time. A web site that introduces your product or business in a way that communicates clear, specific and cogent benefits will stick in visitors' minds. Not only will your site be more successful but also will be visited more often.

Web sites that are remembered are usually the ones that made an impact, be it good or bad. In one of my previous articles, you learned that people will remember the stain on your shirt more than your name, business, product, or presentation. People hate making bad decisions, so they are constantly on the lookout for key points that can help justify their rationale -- it's just human nature. On the other hand, however, you can use this to your advantage by stressing key benefits right from the start.

Humdrum to Humdinger
Don't just give a plain name and title introduction. Use your company name, tagline and a short description of what your site is all about. More important, this description should include the benefits you provide and not just the activities you perform, the products you sell or the services you offer. Get rid of that "welcome to" or "this site is dedicated to (product name)." Give benefits right away, even in the title or headline. Not only will such an introduction arouse interest but it will also make your web site stick in the mind.

Visitors will stay on your site longer, respond to your offer more favorably, remember you when the need occurs, refer you to others when the opportunity presents itself, or talk about you openly especially when a related subject is discussed. Here are some examples. Instead of "My name is Dr. John Doe and I'm a certified plastic surgeon," say "Dr. John Doe, Lifestyle Enhancement Specialist, helps to profoundly impact the quality of people's lives through positive and lasting changes in their appearance." The difference is obvious.

Here are some more. If you're a computer consultant specializing in network solutions, don't say: "My name is Elaine Wilson. This site is dedicated to computer network services." Instead, say: "Network Magic! This site is dedicated to helping corporations relieve their computer network headaches." Don't say: "Jack Vidoli, management consultant specializing in accounting." Rather, say: "Knack with Knumbers! Jack Vidoli specializes in helping firms save time and money by drastically simplifying their accounting systems."

Go Benefits or Go Bust
Having a superior company or a better product will not work for you in the long run. Benefits will. People perceive a company as superior, not by its better qualities but by its benefits -- the specific benefits it brings to any one person. People are astonishingly attracted to benefits, consciously or unconsciously. Therefore, your most marketable competitive edge should be your main, core benefit. As Theodore Levitt said, "What people are buying are not quarter-inch drills but quarter-inch holes." Your site must immediately communicate the end-result -- the main benefit that you offer your visitors.

What the product brings to the customer specifically is more important than what it has or does, or even how it is better than the others. To help you differentiate between features, advantages and benefits, do the following: Take a series index cards and write down a feature of your site or product on each one (i.e., what it has). Below it, write down the feature's relative advantage (i.e., what it does). On the back of the card, write down the benefit (i.e., what it brings). When you describe your product online, refer to your cards. Remember that each and every feature you describe should be immediately followed by its equivalent benefit.

Here's an example. A site sells web hosting services. A feature is the fact that it uses multiple servers. A relative advantage would be that a customer's site will be up 99% of the time. The benefits would be added convenience, less time and hassle, more flexibility, increased peace of mind, greater control, etc. In short, benefits are emotions associated with the feature -- emotions that help to anchor the feature more profoundly in the mind.

Nevertheless, you can tell people what you do. But don't tell them how you do it -- at least, not right away. Tell them why you do it and what that means to them specifically, at an intimate level. Remember, people don't buy products.

They buy what products do for them. They buy results.

Posted by isoh at 05:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 02, 2005

"Gattin Busy Down In Knoxville" by Craig Garber

And now for today's tip: Down in Knoxville, Tennessee,
(home of the newest Food City Superstore) there's a very
nice lady named Tammy Burkhart.

Tammy also happens to be a subscriber of mine, and she
recently sent me in this nice note:

"I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love the
way you end your emails with, "now go sell something"! It
always gives me a chuckle, makes me feel like getting busy,
and also makes me feel like you are talking directly to
me!

How do you come up with endings to emails, or what qualities
can we instill in our minds to make our ezines more
personal?? I have such a hard time with this. I thought
maybe you could touch on this for us?

Thank you, I always look forward to your email..."

Thanks Tammy. I think your question is a good one and it's
probably something that loads of other people wonder about
from time-to-time.

The truth is, the number one mindset you need to have
whenever you're writing something to a "list" or to a group
of "subscribers", is that the person reading your message,
doesn't care about the rest of your list, and for the most
part, at that exact moment when they're reading or
experiencing whatever it is you have to say... they aren't
even "aware" that your correspondence is even part of any
kind of "broadcast," or what-have-you.

See, all your reader is aware of, is your message... and
themself. And that's why sales copy is so effective -- it's
one of the most intimate forms of communication you'll ever
have with your prospects and customers.

After all, how else could you ever communicate with your
reader, one-on-one like this?

So the mindset you need to have, isn't that you're writing
to your "list", it's that you're writing to each one of your
list members, individually.

Make sense?

I was on a consulting call yesterday, as a matter-of-fact,
and a client was asking me about this exact same issue.

One thing I suggested is that he have a picture of his prospect
sitting right there in front of him to make his mindset and
his writing just a little more "intimate".

Hope this helps you out, and thanks again for your question.

Posted by isoh at 07:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"How to Create Powerful Strategic Alliances" by Michel Fortin

I truly hate networking. Really, I do! I hate it because, in my experience, it hasn't brought me anything substantial in return. But wait a minute, hear me out. Networking isn't a bad concept; far from it. With today's highly competitive environment, networking can be a fantastic marketing tool. Referral-sources can become potentially effective in bringing you business.

However, here's the problem. Having a network and having a networking system are two entirely separate things. When you're only networking, more often than not people will want something in return. They will stop sending you leads if you don't take the time to recognize their efforts (and, if you're like me, that's if you have any time left at all). So, how can you reward your network? How can you do so on a consistent basis? And even better yet, how can you turn your network into a networking system? The answer is by developing and establishing a network of strategic marketing alliances.

I'm sure you have heard of many ways to set up strategic alliances in some form or another. Essentially, there are as many different forms of systematized networking opportunities out there as there are businesses, and I strongly encourage you to vigorously seek them out. But in my experience, I have found that they mainly fall into three major categories, namely the info-network, the auto-network, and the intra-network. Let's take a look at each of these and how you can apply them to your situation or business.

Info-Networking
The information network is one in which a strategic alliance is created where information is exchanged in some form or another between parties. Basically, that information includes qualified leads that both you and your alliance share, or information about each other that is promoted to each other's market. As long as your alliance logically shares a same target market without directly competing with you, there is an immense potential for you to consider.

For instance, free reports and especially newsletters are great marketing tools. Advertising space within them can be sold at a nominal cost in order to pay for their distribution, or it can be offered to alliances that might be happily interested in being directly promoted to your market. In turn, you should seek out ad space in publications of mutually beneficial alliances. But if you publish your own newsletter, the obvious advantage is that it can save you money by "swapping" ads with another newsletter also catering to your target market.

This also refers to mailing lists where you and your alliance can exchange each other's prospect or client lists. Mailing lists seem to have increased in popularity these days and, if used properly, they can produce pretty good results. For example, mailing list brokers sell or lease mailing lists that they've compiled and with which you can use to conduct direct mail and telemarketing campaigns -- lists of people that fit into your specific demographics.

A more effective approach is to use, rent, buy, or exchange a strategic alliance's list of prospects and clients. Most of them will approve especially when you trade your lists with them. But if you have to rent or buy their list, the cost will definitely be far less than that of one coming from a broker -- they're not cheap! And most strategic alliances are not accustomed to the idea of sharing their lists and will therefore be happy with just a few bucks. (Realize that this segment refers specifically to offline mailing lists, not email.)

Auto-Networking
Auto-networking is the process of creating referral-sources that automatically supply you with quality leads without having to lift a finger. Brochures, posters, flyers, coupons, and business cards can be set up at the offices of potential referral-sources. However, auto-networking doesn't mean to simply give out cards or literature and then hoping it will produce something in return. It means setting up a system between both of you where, since you are catering to a same market, you have made an arrangement to constantly and systematically supply each other with materials and information.

A drycleaner who discovered that the largest clientele of a busy restaurant near its location was mostly made up of executives having "power lunches." The drycleaner, knowing that her greatest clientele was made up of executives who bring their shirts or dresses to have drycleaned saw it as an opportunity. Together they formed a strategic marketing alliance.

Coupons were handed out by the restaurant's waiters and waitresses along with their clients' food tabs offering a 5% percent discount on dry-cleaning services. The coupons could be accumulated up to a maximum of 25% -- of course, they were valid for a limited time only. In return, the dry-cleaner handed out coupons (clipped to the garment bags of their clients' dry-cleaning) offering a free appetizer or dessert at that particular restaurant -- good for one per person per lunch -- with every load of $30 worth of dry-cleaning.

Another form of auto-networking is, as the saying goes, "You can't teach an old dog a new trick but you can surely teach a new dog to cook you breakfast!" Trying to create networking systems with referral-sources who either have been approached by competitors or are implicated in other commitments may be a difficult task. So what can you do? You get them while they're starting out. Since, in this highly competitive age, many potential referral-sources may have already been the target of a competitor,. the key, therefore, is to approach them before they do become potential targets.

Here's an example. I teach hair transplant doctors to become known among the hairdressing community and possibly set up strategic alliances with them by, among other things, setting up brochure stands in their salons. Many of these hairstylists may have already been approached by other doctors or have a fixed idea in their minds of a doctor to whom they would refer their clients for cosmetic surgery. Consequently, I help doctors to set up presentations or to become guest lecturers at local hairstyling and beauty schools.

Schools love it since it's part of their curriculum to teach future hairstylists the mechanics of hair and hair replacement. Some provinces or states also make it an essential part of their licensing requirements. However, the effectiveness is this approach is the fact that, by giving a lecture or presentation, the doctor not only gets his name inculcated into the minds of these future hairstylists but also created an almost impenetrable barrier against competitors. By being part of their schooling, doctors naturally became a part of their minds!

This technique can be applied in almost every industry, with trade schools, business schools, community colleges, government services, unemployment insurance subsidized courses, and so on. A government software programmer can give a small computer presentation during courses that the government provides to recently-hired purchasing agents. A wedding planning consultant can give small courses to church groups offering prenuptial courses (often referred to as "marriage preparation courses") for engaged couples in their parish or community. An accountant specializing in corporate taxation can give small seminars to young entrepreneur workshops (most chambers of commerce offer this type of service). And the list goes on.

Intra-Networking
An intra-networking system simply means two or more parts of a whole that are independent but at the same time interdependent. This is the old bartering system that goes back since the beginning of time. But in the context of intra-networking though, it is not a direct exchange of service for service or product for product (or even product for service), but an exchange of a service or product for information, clients, referrals, or promotions.

For instance, a restaurant owner makes an arrangement with a local gas station to offer coupons to each client that comes to pump gas. They were given the permission to hang posters in the station, leave menus at the counter and place fridge magnets on the pumps. For every ten coupons the restaurant received, the employees at the station were given a free meal. A freelance writer edits trade association newsletters that target her market as well (corporations). In exchange for her editing services she will have her articles and ads published for free in the newsletter.

What kind of product do you offer from which a potential referral-source may benefit? Think of ways of being able to offer your services for free in exchange for free promotion, pre-qualified leads, or, as mentioned in info-networking, promotional efforts. Intra-networking can also become powerfully effective if you were lucky enough to stumble onto another company that offers products or services that complement your products or services well, while at the same time sharing costs, leads, and clients as well as referral-sources.

Altogether, info-networking, auto-networking, and intra-networking are powerful tools to help make you create good referral-sources that work and never stop working. The idea is nonetheless to network but to do so wisely as to be able to create as many leads and clients as possible with the least amount of effort. Don't network. Make your net work for you!

Posted by isoh at 05:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 01, 2005

"Why Even the Potty's Screwed Up!" by Craig Garber

Are you giving your prospects crystal clear directions about
what you want them to do, all the time?

Is there any way, what you're saying can possibly be taken
out of context, and you wind up losing a sale as a result?

I'd double check if I were you, because here's a real-life
example about how NOT to communicate.

On our way back from New York City a few weeks ago, I
noticed this sign while I was taking my daughter to the
bathroom, on the inside of the door, and I did a
double-take.

The sign said:

'Close Door Immediately When Not In Use'

Now, do you have any idea what in the hell this means?

When is a bathroom door NOT in use?

When it's opened and swinging madly to and fro?

Or maybe when it's closed and your inside taking a stinker?

You tell me.

Sounds simple right, but most marketing is littered with
confusing directions and midleading statements throughout.

Remember, you can never ever go wrong by communicating too
clearly.

And if you have some connection to Jet Blue Airlines (a
great airline to fly, by the way), tell them to change those
signs to read,

'Keep Door Closed At ALL Times'

Because this... would make... much... more... sense!

Posted by isoh at 07:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"How to Generate Better Leads" by Michel Fortin

A big mistake businesses often make when they market themselves is the fact that many try to sell directly in every communication they produce. And, as a result, they generate huge amounts of "prospects" that lead to little or no business (or what I call "expects"). They think that by selling themselves right in the ad they will get not only an immediate response but also immediate business. This oftentimes backfires and can even take away customers.

Many clients I've dealt with usually get as a result of this type of approach a lot of calls but no clients -- or at least no long term clients. They end up dealing with a lot of people who are merely curious but never serious. Because of hypercompetition and the fact that we are constantly bombarded with information, trying to find qualified prospects and get them to buy can sometimes be worse than a needle in the haystack.

It's frustrating and often self-effacing.

Needs Versus Wants
A concept that's been around for years but has recently become very popular is multi-step marketing. It's a process in which businesses seek an immediate response from their marketing efforts by offering a free report, item, sample or service. Little do people know that the immediate response strategy is usually not the true goal of the advertiser. People who come forward are not unqualified prospects. They are indirectly being screened since, once they "show up," they are pre-qualified. And after they've been enticed with free information, products, or services, they are pre-sold and ready to do business.

As a consultant to many cosmetic surgeons in my practice, I've realized that this process is obviously essential if not vital. For instance, no one can call a person on the phone and outright ask if that person wants more hair -- especially without knowing if that person is bald in the first place! However, doctors will first advertise a free information kit offer, explaining the procedure and the potential results, whereby people who respond will naturally fit into that specific demographic. The important thing here is that, not only are they losing hair, they also *want* to do something about their hair loss.

The doctor then sends a brochure describing the surgery, the possible risks, and the potential results, but without any pricing -- it is impossible to determine the cost until the doctor personally sees the patient beforehand in order to measure the degree of hair loss. However, the information package along with its lack of pricing causes patients to come forward once more to arrange for a personal consultation with the doctor. Consequently, those who show up are, by and large, practically ready to have surgery -- they fit the surgeon's psychographics (as well as demographics).

You see, people who need your products or services may fit your demographics. But people who want what you offer fit your psychographics. As in the previous example, a hair transplant surgeon's demographics encompass those who have hair loss. But psychographics, though, are comprised of people who have hair loss and want to do something about it (since not all of them do, which is a question of priorities). In short, they are not only experiencing hair loss but also suffering from it. This is the awesome power of "funneling" fuel into your marketing and prospecting machine.

Lead Generation
In your case, if you offer a specific product that caters to a target market, find ways to make your market come forward with minimal effort on your part. The best way to do this is to offer a freebie. It's a "try-before-you-buy" approach. Being in the age of information, I prefer giving away "free reports." Your free report doesn't have to be product-specific, industry-specific, or benefit-specific. As long as it targets an audience that fits within your demographics (and eventually your psychographics), you're ahead of the game.

Let's say you're in financial planning. Your product involves investments, mutual funds, stocks, savings plans and mortgages. Rather than place an ad that directly markets these services, you could advertise a small classified ad promoting a free course, seminar or report helping people save money. Let's say you're a beautician. You could offer a free kit that may include a free makeover, a sample makeup kit, a gift certificate, a free initial consultation or a free report on makeup styles that will match one's unique complexion.

Nevertheless, the idea is to have people come to you rather than you to them, and the incentive you offer doesn't have to relate directly to what you do or sell. In general, the portion of the general public that fits into your product's demographics consists merely of suspects (you suspect that they might need what you have to offer). When a portion of them comes forward to get your freebie, you've isolated the prospects from your suspects. Then, if they want more, they're now expects (people expecting to do business with you).

The Free Report
I used to work as a salesperson for a music store specializing in pianos. Older pianos usually require considerable repair since the wood inside holding the strings with which the piano creates its sound may be too old and broken beyond repair. Many unscrupulous salespeople will "dope" pianos (such as spraying water on the internal boards so that they expand temporarily, gripping the tuning pegs more firmly and thus staying in tune just long enough for the instrument to be sold). As the water eventually evaporates, the piano returns to its original state -- and the problem is discovered only when it's too late.

A salesperson at the store had a small classified ad. It said:

"Beware parents in the market for a piano!" (That was the headline.) "Many parents usually buy used pianos for their kids because they don't know if they'll love music and want to minimize the risk of losing their investment. However, to the unsuspecting buyer many used pianos are internally broken beyond repair and 'doped' in order to be sold quickly, only to become broken again when it's too late. Before you buy any piano at any price, call for our free report, 'Don't Let Piano Problems Put Your Bank Account Out of Tune: 6 Ways to Find Commonly Hidden Problems with Used Pianos'."

His report not only explained the hidden faults commonly found in older pianos. But since he was catering to a target market (i.e., parents), his report went on to explain how used pianos fall out of tune quickly causing the child to learn the piano the wrong way and eventually to lose interest -- let alone the parents' money! Of course, what the salesperson really wanted was to get these parents to buy new or professionally refurbished pianos from him. The resulting effect, though, was that the report not only brought prospects to his door but also instilled in them a greater confidence in the salesperson in addition to the reasons for buying a certified piano rather than a used one.

He made a fortune using this technique!

In essence, look at your free report as a résumé. People often send bulky résumés to potential employers in an attempt to sell themselves as much as possible, when very often their attempts get filed away -- the "round" file, that is! Successful career consultants stress the importance of summarizing a résumé as much as possible, include one's achievements and results (not one's previous duties and responsibilities), and putting it all on one single page. Simply put, the résumé is not meant to land a "job" but to land an "interview."

Lead generation should be regarded in the same way. Your free offer must be small, contain a concise message, stress an immediate benefit, and cause the prospect to come forward. What can you offer your prospects to arouse their curiosity and interest? What can you give away for free so to entice them to get more? If you're giving something away, you'll realize that what you're really doing is generating better leads. Nevertheless, realize that the cost of offering freebies is far less than the cost of mass marketing!

Specialized Advertising
Now that we've talked about lead generation advertising, the trick to having as many qualified prospects come forward is to have your ad read by such a specific group of people as much, as often and as effectively as possible. General publications won't do that and they certainly cost a lot of money. Many people have their tiny ads published in an ocean of ads found in large, high-circulation, general newspapers or magazines. In the end and for many reasons, the cost-per-lead can add up significantly.

On the other hand, specialized publications have the distinction of appealing to specific, targeted audiences, which increases the chances of your ad being read by higher quality leads. For example, if one publication has a readership of 100,000 but only 25,000 fit into your demographics, where another has only 40,000 but all of which fit into your demographics, which one do you think will give you the greatest response? In other words, rather than fishing for minnows in the middle of the ocean, you'll be catching whales in a small pond.

Think of the specialized publication as a sonar that will help you to find the kind of fish you really want. This is due to the fact that not only will the readership match your demographics but also people who buy specialized publications have a tendency to read them from cover to cover -- because only parts of a general publication will appeal to any one reader as opposed to a specialized publication, which will appeal to a specific readership in its entirety. Stated differently, unlike a mass-published newspaper that will be skimmed (i.e., it is bought by many but read in its entirety by few), a specialized publication will be read more intensely and thoroughly (i.e., it is bought by few but read in its entirety by many).

Target Your Market
If you advertise a free offer to a specific target market, your per capita hit-ratio will dramatically increase than if you would have advertised your product or service directly in a major publication that's too general or too vague. Your little ad can easily get lost in a sea of ads. These days, however, specialized publications exist by the truckloads! Occupation-specific, topic-specific, special interest or industry-specific publications can include, among others, journals, newsletters, magazines, ezines, websites, trade publications, newsgroups, special reports, corporate email, directories, specialty newspapers, catalogues and communiqués from specific organizations.

Publications for uncommon or highly specialized topics are out there in some form or another. If you go to a library you will find newsletters for specific home-based businesses, journals written exclusively for corporate executives, ezines purely about cigars, newspapers strictly published for police officers, and even magazines geared for gerbil breeders. As long as the readership logically fits into your target market and, if possible, into your psychographic criteria, this is where you will get the greatest bang for your marketing buck.

For example, an advertising agent specializing in computer-based firms can advertise an offer for a free report in computer magazines or, better yet, in ezines that cater to a same target market. A medical consultant should advertise a free consultation in medical journals, medical association newsletters and medical equipment manufacturer catalogues.

The Newsletter
By the way, having your own newsletter is also a powerful way to attract prospects. Your newsletter may be offered for free or at a nominal cost to cover its printing and distribution costs, but the idea is to have the people who read it want more and come forward to get it. As well, you can sell advertising space in your newsletter to firms also catering to your unique clientele. But the obvious advantage is the fact that you can "swap" ads in newsletters written by other firms that cater to your target market.

Your newsletter can be strictly information-oriented and your ads can advertise your newsletter offer. However, don't make your free report or newsletter readily available. If you choose to use the multi-step marketing process I described earlier, you want the names and addresses of those coming forward. In this case, have a special application process and a contact management program to mass mail their information to eager subscribers.

Remember, you're not trying to advertise with the hope of stumbling onto a trickle of suspects. You want an endless stream of pre-qualified, pre-screened, and pre-sold expects. Those who request your free report or subscribe to your newsletter will hopefully want more. But even when only a small portion do, you know that they are much more qualified, which saves you a lot of time and effort than trying to fish in a dried up desert of possible suspects.

Posted by isoh at 05:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 30, 2005

"How to Target Your Most Profitable Market" by Michel Fortin

If you already solve a specific problem, then targeting your market as much as possible should be the obvious next step. However, this is where many marketers fail, for they are trying to be "all things to all people" and attempt to market their product to everyone. Instead, try to discover the demographics and psychographics of your niche -- your specific (or greatest) market. Then market to that audience more than any other and as often as possible.

Demographics are the basic qualities and characteristics of your market. They include age, gender, culture, employment, industry, income level, marital status, location, and so on. Does your product cater uniquely to women? Is it more appealing to a specific industry? Does your product complement another type of product? Is your market mostly made up of French Canadians?

In other words, who buys from you specifically? If you were to say “everyone,” then you are falling in the trap mentioned earlier. Avoid it as much as you can. Try to be as specific as possible. But if you do cater to a diverse market, find out who buys from you the most or the most often.

On the other hand, psychographics are made up of the emotional and behavioral qualities of your market. They include the emotions, reasoning, history, psychology, and thought processes behind people's decision to buy your product. For example, they include interests, hobbies, associations to which they belong, previous purchases, other related products your market has consumed, and length of time they remained with a particular company.

Intelligence Gathering
In other words, demographics include the segment of the population that needs your product, while psychographics are those within your demographics that want your product. If you don’t know this, you can easily conduct a survey as part of a marketing research campaign among your current clients, potential clients and clients of other similar products or companies. Don’t underestimate your greatest source for marketing research -- clients!

For example, here’s a list of questions you should ask them:

Why did your clients buy your product? If not, why not?
Why did they buy from you or your competitor specifically?
Why did they not buy from you or the competition?
Why did they buy from you at that specific point in time?
Why did they buy right away (on impulse) or took their time?
If they shopped around, why did they? Where did they go?
What do they like the most and the least about the product?
Would they refer you to others? Why? If not, why not?
What specific benefits do they see in your product?
What specific benefits do they see in your competitor’s product?
And so on.
These are immensely important questions that can help you, guide you, or even cause you to change your approach altogether. Don’t discount the power of doing marketing research, especially within your own backyard. You want to know not only who buys from you but, more important, why they do. In other words, think psychographics and not just demographics.

Target Your Market
To illustrate the difference between demographics and psychographics, hair transplant doctors cater mainly to men who have experienced hair loss and are able to afford such an operation — i.e., men and bald men specifically are potential patients because they may need of more hair. Psychographics, on the other hand, go a little further. In this example, they are comprised of men who not only need but also want more hair -- since not all of them do. (It’s a matter of priorities, just as the type of clothing one chooses to wear).

Therefore, in order to target this market as precisely as possible and thus generate better leads, doctors must take the psychographic element into account, such as their patients’ lifestyle, their interests, the type of industry in which they work (since certain industries are image-related), as well as their previous buying habits (such as men who have already invested in other forms of hair replacement solutions) -- the more information the better.

Nevertheless, arm yourself with as much of this type of information beforehand and your chances of achieving greater success with your product will be virtually guaranteed. While you can’t be everything to everyone, you shouldn’t be targeting everyone for everything.

Posted by isoh at 05:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 29, 2005

"The Right Way...The Wrong Way...To Use Direct-Response For Your Next Romantic 'Hook-up'!" by Craig Garber

Want to know how to use direct-response in your personal
life, for your next romantic "Hook-Up"?

I saw this posted somewhere on a marketing board a long time
ago and I thought it'd give you a good laugh going into
your weekend.

You see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and
say, "I'm fantastic in bed."

That's Direct Marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome
guy. One of your friends goes up to him and, pointing at
you, says, "She's fantastic in bed."

That's Advertising.

You see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and get
his telephone number. The next day you call and say, "Hi,
I'm fantastic in bed."

That's Telemarketing.

You're at a party and see a handsome guy. You get up and
straighten your dress. You walk up to him and pour him a
drink. You say "May I?" and reach up to straighten his tie,
brushing your breast lightly against his arm, and then
say, "By the way, I'm fantastic in bed."

That's Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a handsome guy. He walks up to
you and says, "I hear you're fantastic in bed."

That's Brand Name Recognition.

You're at a party and see a handsome guy. You talk him into
going home with your friend.

That's a Sales Rep.

Your friend can't satisfy him so he calls you.

That's Tech Support.

You're on your way to a party when you realize that there
could be handsome men in all these houses you're passing.
So you climb onto the roof of one situated toward the
center and shout out at the top of your lungs, "I'm
fantastic in bed!"

That's SPAM!

Have a great weekend.

Posted by isoh at 07:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"How To Close Sales Using Meta-Channels" by Michel Fortin

Are you a salesperson? Do you "close" sales? Are you often playing psychological tug-of-war with your clients? Most of us do. I did that for the greater part of my sales career. From the "assumptive close," the "trial close," right down to the famous "Benjamin Franklin close," I've used quite a few of them if not all of the tricks in the book. However, things have changed.

Today, the marketplace is just as educated and sophisticated as some of the most cunning sales champions. People hate to be marketed let alone sold, especially based on "needs." And when shrewd salespeople attempt a plethora of sales tactics on their clients, prospects not only see them coming but they also consider such techniques to be insulting.

I've been to all the seminars, heard all the tapes, seen all the videos, and read all the books on selling, negotiating, sales psychology, and sales techniques. And it wouldn't be fair for me to say that this education did not help my career in the last 16 years -- it certainly has. But in the 2,000's and beyond, the days of using 1,001 closing techniques are definitely over.

From Prospecting to Positioning
If you are specialized and focused on a very narrow niche, and have attracted prospects that not only need but also want that which your offer (in other words, they are pre-qualified using techniques such as those described in my book "The 10 Commandments of Power Positioning"), then there is really no longer a need to close. All you need to do is to ask for the order. In fact, all you really need is just one simple yet powerful closing question. What's the question? Before I show it to you, you need to first understand how it works.

We all communicate through different channels, whether verbal or written. But there is also a metachannel (one beyond the channel of communication) that predominates. It is one through which people communicate with and understand others. If you want to appreciate metachannels, close your eyes for a moment and think back to when you were a child.

Either one of three things will happen. For instance, 1) you will remember how your favorite toy used to look like or recognize some familiar faces. 2) You will hear a song on the radio that was popular at the time or remember the voices of some of your childhood friends. Or 3) you will remember a certain pleasant event such as your 8th birthday party, or feel the warm touch of your mother's hand as she walked you to school one cold morning.

Do You See What I Mean?
As you can easily conclude, the three metachannels are:

Visual,
Aural (often mistakenly called "auditory")
And kinesthetic.
People will generally communicate through one predominant metachannel. While they do not use a single channel exclusively, more than any other a person will use a preferred metachannel to sensorially transmit and process information, thought, or feeling so that it is satisfactorily received or understood.

For example, if I called you on the phone and asked you "how's the weather," you will answer in one of three ways. If you're a visual person, you will probably say "looks like it's going to rain." If you're an aural person, you might say "I heard that's it going to be a scorcher." But if you're a kinesthetic person, then "it feels pretty cold" will probably be your answer.

Why are metachannels important in sales? You may have had the experience of once going through a sales presentation that seemed almost perfect. Your client not only needed but also wanted your product or service. A great conversation ensued with all the right questions asked and answered. In your mind, the sale was "in the bag." It was a done deal. However, when came the time to ask for the order, your prospect said "I want to think it over."

The problem may very well be due to poor sales skills or other circumstances. But oftentimes it is also because you were not understood by the prospect. Chances are that, if the presentation went well but did not end positively, your metachannel was not in sync with that of your prospect's. In plain English, you were not communicating on the same wavelength.

Channel Surfing
Metachannels are not limited to oral presentations but also include written ones. The words you use on paper are just as important as the ones you use in person. In either case, when you discover your prospect's metachannel you should choose words -- especially action words, verbs, expressions, and phrases -- that reflect their preferred metachannel.

For example, use words such as "I see," "get the picture," "show me," "focus on," "seeing is believing," "beautiful," "brilliant," or "keep your eyes peeled" with a visual prospect. With aurals, use "I hear you," "fine tune," "sounds good," "tell me," "listen," "hear me out," or "keep your ears open." With kinesthetic individuals, say "I feel," "I sense that," "my point is," "grasp," "sharp," "vibrant," "makes sense," "out of touch," "hold on," or "get a handle."

Nevertheless, one simple closing question is all you really need. In fact, I learned about this technique from Stephan Schiffman, whom I believe to be one of the most up-to-date sales trainers today. Although I adapted his technique to fit the prospect's preferred metachannel, the closing question contains approximately ten words. No more, no less. For visuals, the close is: "Mr. Prospect, it looks good to me; what do you think?" For aurals, it's: "It sounds good to me; what do you think?" For kinesthetics, the close is: "It makes sense to me; what do you think?" That's it.

One Question is All You Really Need
Obviously, one of two things will happen. The prospect will either answer with "yes, it looks good to me" or "no, it doesn't." With such a simple question, you can never go wrong. If the offer does appeal to the prospect, you can then complete the transaction. But if the offer failed to do so, you can then ask why and get as a result something concrete with which to work.

Having a great many closing techniques under your sleeve is still important. In fact, I'm still a firm believer in closing skills -- I've used quite a few in my time and still do in some cases. You should still use some of them as a backup. But by first using one universal closing question makes the sales process easier and less insulting to an informed client. There is indeed a great power in simplicity -- and that will be more evident in the days to come.

As a sales veteran, you might not agree with me on this one. That's fine, as long as you understand that it would be foolish to think that the marketplace will always be behind the times. Nevertheless, if you become a powerful magnet and attract pre-sold prospects, you will soon discover that the need to close will eventually disappear altogether.

Posted by isoh at 05:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 28, 2005

"3 Ways to Avoid Using the Wrong Bait" by Craig Garber

Yesterday I promised I'd tell you 3 things you must avoid
doing, if you want your prospects to 'bite' on the bait
you're feeding them, and since I'm a lot of things, but a
liar isn't one of them, here they are:

These are a few of the situations I see most often when
I'm consulting clients - www.KingOfCopy.com/consulting

1. Avoid talking about yourself. Bluntly, your prospects
could care less.

Sure you need to credentialize yourself, but they really
don't need to know about the weird relationship you
had with your mother... your first bi-curious experience...
or that time you got drunk and 'accidentally' spent
the night up in the hills with that 'friendly' little
goat.

Just stick to the what's relevant.

O.K.?

2. Don't focus on what your product or service 'is' --
instead, focus on what it 'does'.

In other words, sell the solution, not the ingredients.

Selling a teeth-whitening system?

Dwell on all the embarrasment your system is going to
allieviate, not all the crap you're going to have to put on
your teeth every night before you go to bed.

3. And lastly, don't hide your flaws -- because we've all
got 'em. Instead, if there's a weakness in your product,
expose it, and justify it.

Your prospects will trust you more for doing so, and that's
nine-tenths of the battle anyway.

Posted by isoh at 07:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"Why Word-of-Mouth Works Wonders" by Michel Fortin

Viral marketing is the process of implementing means through which the knowledge of your existence self-propagates. Like a virus, your visibility spreads throughout a network of people who refer you to each other. Unlike unsolicited advertisements or "spam," which usually stops once it reaches its destination (and the reason spammers must keep spamming in order to remain successful), viral marketing continues to spread almost effortlessly since the people who refer you to others know each other. Also, those who get to know you (or to know about you) through third party referrals grant you a higher level of confidence, credibility and loyalty.

Word-of-mouth advertising is crucial in the offline world. Online, referral or network marketing (as they are commonly known) is vital. Why? The key to marketing success in the offline world is "location, location, location." The Internet is no different. In other words, your marketing success depends highly on the number of locations you appear -- places on which your site, link, company or product name exist. In essence, it is to be in as many places as possible, talked about by as many people as possible and seen by as many eyeballs as possible. Success online is all about "location" too!

Remember a dictum a mentor of mine once told me, which is: "Implication is far more powerful than specification." In other words, if you tell people you're the best, that you're the leader in your field, or that your product is the best solution to their needs, your self-serving promotional bias makes it all suspect. Your statement is rarely believable at face value. And if you do make such claims, you will have your work cut out for you in order to prove them.

However, if someone other than you says to another that you are indeed the best or that you do have the best solution to their problems, how much more believable will that person's statement be? How much more credible? The answer is "definitely more." Accordingly, referrals and networking systems are not only important because they create an awareness of your business (or because they create traffic in the online world), but also they are important to the degree to which third party marketing indirectly communicates greater credibility, superiority and value of the products or services you offer.

In his new book (which I highly recommend) "The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding," Al Ries stresses the importance of leadership and how that leadership is communicated. According to Ries, people never buy the best -- they only think they do. They usually buy the leader (or what they perceive as being the best). And that perception is often molded by what they are told and by what others do, not by what is fact or by what is being advertised.

Coke, for example, outsells Pepsi. But according to Ries, taste tests reveal that Pepsi is the better tasting brand. So, why does Coke still beat Pepsi in sales? It is not because it is the leader in the marketplace or promoted itself as such but because it is known as the leader.

Coke was the first cola "in the mind" of the marketplace and thus the one most talked about, even to this day. When a person is introduced to cola for the first time, he or she is often told to try Coke. People in restaurants still refer to the word "coke" as the generic name for colas, even when only Pepsi is served. Why is that? While other colas are bombarding them with marketing messages, people have heard of Coke first and most likely from other people.

Consequently, if your business or website is unique, focuses on a niche or is the first in some category, the knowledge of your existence will spread quite naturally, almost like wildfire. But creating systems and using specific tools that will leverage the spreading of that message helps to multiply your marketing punch exponentially. Such tools stimulate word-of-mouth advertising, which is more effective than general advertising. For along with communicating your existence to the world, word-of-mouth advertising helps to cast that aura of leadership and superiority.

Networking systems, for example, include strategic marketing alliances, joint ventures, and affiliate programs. Online, they are often called referral traffic generators. And unlike the more traditional traffic generators such as banners and search engines, these specific tools are much more effective since they are used by third parties and not by the original advertiser.

Nevertheless, if you received a call, letter or email from someone you know (and especially trust) referring you to a particular company, how much more credible will that referral be when compared to a blatant advertisement coming from the company itself? You got it… More. Much more.

Posted by isoh at 05:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 27, 2005

"Hook 'Em Dano" by Craig Garber

Remember that old TV show, Hawaii Five-O?

I used to love it.

My favorite part was when they'd catch the criminals, and
Jack Lord would say 'Book 'em Dano.'

One reason I still have such fond memories of that show is
because Anne and I were actually married in Hawaii, on the
island of Maui.

And unless there's some major upheaval in my life, we're
going to be living there, at least part-time, some time in
the future.

Anyway, yesterday my little girl caught her first 'big'
fish.

How'd she catch it?

Simple: She 'hooked' it by using the right bait.

The thing is, NOT using the right bait, is probably the most
common problem I see when I'm consulting clients -
www.KingOfCopy.com/consulting.htm .

And in fact, that's why your existing prospects aren't
biting as much as you'd like, and that's why you're not
getting as many NEW prospects to bite as you'd like.

You've simply got the wrong bait on your hook.

Tomorrow I'm going to tell you the 3 things you must avoid
doing, if you do in fact, want your prospects to bite a
lot more, and... a lot more often.

Posted by isoh at 07:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"How to Increases Sales With Follow-Ups" by Michel Fortin

Have you ever been lucky enough to receive those nice letters from collection agencies? In addition to being persistent on the phone, collection agents are known to be terribly effective when their efforts are combined with a series of letters that seem to be as equally relentless.

First, you get a letter with the typical request to "govern yourself accordingly." If you don't respond, a second letter appearing in the form of a "reminder" is sent to you a few weeks later. And, if you happen to be as persistent as the agency, you would then get a third letter with that big, red (and somewhat intimidating) "Final Notice!" stamped in the upper right-hand corner.

Sequential direct mail has been as profitable an endeavor for entrepreneurs as it has been for collection agencies. And the reason is that a sequence of letters, particularly at least three of them delivered to a same recipient, not only increases the response rate but also multiplies it exponentially. Aside from increased sales, the per capita cost savings is also considerable.

Let's Do The Three-Step
Even though I've first heard of this technique from marketing guru Dan Kennedy at a Toronto convention in 1996 ("Success '96"), I still didn't believe in its effectiveness until I actually used it in my own practice. Tested in one of my client's businesses, our first mailing conducted to approximately 7,000 recipients generated a response rate that was about 1%. It's not much but typical for most one-time direct mail campaigns -- no big "hurrah" there.

However, the surprise came when the rate shot up to about 7% following the second mailing and over 3% after the third, which were targeted to the exact same market. With all three mailings totaling 11%, the overall response was a tenfold improvement over what could have been a single mailing (with only a threefold increase in direct expenses).

The first letter had a special time-sensitive offer and an invitation to enter a draw. The second letter, which was mailed out 15 days after the first one, had a "sorry we missed you" and "we're concerned" flavor to it. It went on to offer several additional incentives in order to help nudge unresponsive recipients into action (a backend product worth only a few dollars).

Thirty days after the initial mailing, the third letter boldly stated "this is your last chance" and "deadline around the corner" right at the top -- similar to the collection agent's "final warning" stamp. The content of the letter reinforced the urgency and, along with an extra incentive, emphasized the negative outcome that would result if the recipient chose to remain idle.

Increased Perceived Value
In essence, I have found and personally experienced that three if not more mailings to a same target market is often more profitable than a single one. If you want to take a look at the numbers, you will see that, while you may have doubled or tripled your direct mail marketing expenditures, you will likely triple the results of all three separate mailings… Combined!

By the way, the prize drawn in the previous campaign was for one of the services offered by my client -- priced at about $1,500. Shortly after the draw, we decided on a fourth mailing to all those who did not respond and offered a discount on the very same service. It said "Congratulations! You've won the second prize -- a $250 rebate on [service]." As a result, the response rate had finally risen to a total of 16% (and sales still kept trickling in way after).

The mailing was indeed a success. But the power of such a process lies in the fact that people who receive a second and third mailing tend to conclude that the offer is more valuable. If you can, transform your next direct mail marketing campaign into a sequence of offers to a same market and you will see a substantial improvement over one-time mailings.

Follow-Up Letters
When an estimate, a special offer or a sales information package has been issued, the process that normally follows is probably more important than the deadline and the reinforcements combined. It's the follow-up.

However, follow-ups are not limited to a single letter. As you may likely know, statistics prove that most sales occur in the follow-up process. In fact, following up is also an art. You need to do so in a timely, consistent, and compelling manner. For example, if you received an inquiry, conducted a sales presentation, gave a product demonstration, or provided an estimate for a service you offer, like a blacksmith you need to "hit the iron while it's hot."

The 10-10-10 Technique
It is a fact that consistent follow-up gets results. And if done at preset times, follow-ups will dramatically increase your sales since some people need to see your offer more than once. Utilizing the combined power of the "thank you" letter and the three-step direct mail sequence described earlier, you can conduct what I call the "10-10-10" technique (although it can be 15, 20, or 30, all depending on your industry or the type of product you sell).

For starters, you'll need to develop your follow-up messages. Your first follow-up letter, within the first 10 days following the initial presentation or meeting, may say something to the effect of "Thank you [for the time we spent together or for your interest in ABC Corporation]." Realize that gratitude goes a long way. And while it may simply be an act of appreciation on your part, it helps to keep your company or product fresh in the prospect's mind.

Your next follow-up message, sent within 10 days after the first letter (or in other words within 20 days after the initial contact) should restate the benefits of your offer as well as stress its deadline. It could list the potential uses for your product or service, and include several additional testimonials from other clients. More important, your letter should give your prospect the ability to focus on the important points, such as with the use of bullets, keywords and action words, quotes and reviews, and benefit-rich paragraph headers.

For your last follow-up message, sent within the final block of 10 days (in between 20-30 days following the initial presentation), you should create a sense of urgency in your prospect's mind. Remember the collection agent's final notice? In this case, remind them that their estimate (or your special, time-limited offer) is about to expire. Make them an even more special offer in order to give them an additional reason to order and to order now.

A Little Nudge is All it Takes
Creating a sense of urgency can be done in many ways. For example, by adding an additional time-sensitive bonus to your offer (one that will now expire quickly since the deadline is even closer), you will give your message weight and nudge unresponsive prospects into action.

This incentive could be many things, such as free delivery, a complementary service, an additional item, a coupon for another product, or an extended guarantee. It could even be a more affordable alternative to the initial offer. But you'll need to look at your product or service and see how you can make your offer more palatable and thus stimulate response.

Finally, if after all three letters your prospect has not responded, you could still send a fourth, fifth, and final letter in order to obtain some useful information. Within 10 days after the offer's expiration, your additional follow-up letter could simply ask why they haven't ordered. Try to get them to respond -- turn the back of the follow-up letter into a survey they can fill out, or include a small notice telling them that you will call in order to gather their feedback.

It's unlikely that people will order from you after all three letters (depending on your product or industry) since 90% of buying decisions, in my experience, are made within those first 30 days. But feedback is precious. It could help you to modify and refine your follow-up letters, your offer, as well as your product or service so that future prospects will indeed order from you. Incomplete sales are wonderful opportunities to gather important marketing intelligence.

Nevertheless, both timing and timeliness are vital. You want your prospects to have more information quickly since they are probably shopping around -- again, "while the iron is hot" in other words. In each of your follow-up letters, tell them why they need to take action soon. Don't just remind them of the deadline. Give them a sincere, logical, and justifiable explanation. As Jim Rohn once said, "Without a sense of urgency desire loses its value."

Whether it's fluctuating prices, a pilot promotion, a quantity-bound offer, or whatever, make sure your explanation is logical and makes sense, and is not a mere cannned attempt at only-trying-to-make-a-quick-sale kind of response. Nevertheless, don't annoy your prospect with too much at once -- make sure your letters are spaced at least 5-10 days apart.

The moral? Be relentless like a collection agency. Send at least three letters instead of one in order to get more mileage out of your campaign. Use the 10-10-10 technique after you've provided an estimate -- or even after someone has requested information about your offer. Remember that the bulk of most sales are usually made in the follow-up phase.

Posted by isoh at 05:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 26, 2005

"How To Get to Carnegie Hall and Why You Should Care" by Craig Garber

There's an old joke that goes something like this:

A man is walking down 7th Avenue in Manhattan and he asks a
stranger 'How do you get to Carnegie Hall?'

The stranger tips his hat and politely says, 'Practice...
Practice... Practice.'

Now there are a couple of things I know about:

First of all, I do, in fact, know exactly what it takes to
get to Carnegie Hall, because I played there in 1976, at
the tender age of 13.

Back then I played lead tenor saxophone in the Bronx
Borough-Wide Band, and believe you me, we practiced our
butts off!

The cool thing about Carnegie Hall, is that everything you've
ever heard about the acoustics there, is 100% true.

For instance, a bunch of us kids stood on the stage, speaking
to some other kids who were standing W-A-A-Y back up in the last
row of the highest balcony, and in a voice just slightly louder than
your normal speaking voice, we were able to hear one
another just fine.

It was almost unbelievable!

The other cool thing was, you got to sign your name into a
'history book' when you played there.

I guess they keep records of every performer who entertains
on their stage, and that made you feel pretty special --
especially when you're 13 years old.

Anyway, the other thing I know about, is how to write
winning sales copy.

And what you need to know, is that writing winning sales
copy is a learnable skill you get better at, by
repetition.

The simple truth is, the same way you become a better foul
shooter in basketball, and the same way you become a better
musician, is the exact same way you become a better
marketer, and... a better copywriter.

Practice... practice... practice.

Posted by isoh at 07:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"How to Energize Your Marketing With Colors" by Michel Fortin

I was once asked this question: "In relation to colors on a web site, have you done any research or found any material on what colors are more pleasing to the site visitor, or even what colors tend to produce more sales?" I believe this could be an important area that many of us overlook. Here's my answer.

First, all colors stem from two basic colors, namely red and blue. (Actually, there are three, i.e., red green and blue, as in "RGB." But blue and red are at the ends of the spectrum while green is in the middle.) Blue tones are purple, green, violet, indigo and of course blue. On the other hand, red tones are pink, orange, yellow, fuschia, burgundy and so on. Essentially, red and blue are at opposite ends of the gamma spectrum (e.g., ultraviolet and infrared).

Now, the eye focuses on blue tones in front of the retina. As a result, blue tones move away from the eye or sight. Therefore, they are non-threatening and tend to make you feel drowsy. Blue is a very good color if you wish to communicate professionalism, stability, relaxation, logic, etc. But red tones are focused behind the retina. By moving toward the eye, they communicate aggressiveness, excitement, energy and emotion. Hence the expressions "I've got the blues" and "seeing the world through rose-colored glasses."

In the 70's, a program called "The Body Human" struck me in this regard. On one particular show, scientists conducted tests regarding the psychological impact of colors. The first involved a weightlifter who was given a set of barbells -- if memory serves me correctly, they were about 200-250 pounds. While the exercise was surely not an easy one, the athlete seemed to have no problems in pumping the weights, even raising the weights over his head.

Then, a large red-colored card was placed in front of his face, covering his entire field of vision. But this time, however, he began to pump the weights as if they were feathers -- without any visible signs of physical strain. Things changed dramatically, however, when the red-colored card was replaced by a blue-colored one. Not only was the athlete no longer able to lift the barbells passed his torso, but you can also tell that the level of physical exertion had increased quite a bit by merely looking at his face, arms, and legs.

Moments later, researchers switched back to the red-colored card. And incredibly, things apparently went back to normal. The lifter began to pump the weights with ease as if nothing happened -- let alone the fact that the change seemed also instantaneous. (While other colors were used in the test, the red and blue cards seemed to have made the greatest impact.)

On the same program, a red-lit hospital room was filled with cribs and colicky babies were placed in each one. While newborns naturally cry and particularly colicky ones, the red light seemed to have intensified their incessant weeping. Then, researchers turned the lights to a blue color. Amazingly and in almost an instant, the room went eerily quiet. And similar to the weightlifter test, when the lights went back to red they all started crying again -- as if on cue.

With all this said, the answer to your question is: It all depends on what you're selling, on what you wish to communicate to your visitors, and in what tone or frame-of-mind in which you wish to place them. It has nothing to do with manipulation or some sort of subliminal imagery. Your colors are part of your message. And depending on which message you wish to convey, the colors you choose can either support, emphasize, or contradict your message.

I work mostly with professionals (e.g., doctors, dentists, lawyers and the like). Blue tones are their dominant colors. In the case of surgeons and dentists for example, pain makes people nervous and blue therefore helps to calm them down. (By the way, this is the reason why most medical garment colors, beyond the traditional white, are light blue, dark blue, light green, violet, purple and so on.) If you are trying to get people excited and communicate an emotional message (for example, if you sell items related to sports, cars, games, money, weight-loss, motivation, etc), then reds are a good choice.

In short, remember that blues tend to signify logic while reds equal emotion. However, keep in mind that you can use both colors, depending on your goals or theme. An example is the way villains and heroes are often portrayed in movies (not always but often). Villains appear in dark reddish colors while heroes are in lighter bluish tones. Take the example of the latest Star Wars movie. The antagonist, "Darth Maul," is a devilish-looking character with red and black makeup while his nemesis, "Yoda," is the greenish "Jedi Master."

For example, my site is dominantly blue. But a cosmetic surgeon's site I've recently designed is purple and pink. While pink is a reddish tone, it was used in this case to excite people about the potential changes in one's appearance. Self-esteem and beauty are emotions. And cosmetic surgery is more often than not an emotional choice.

Nevertheless, again it all depends on what you are trying to communicate. Colors (and their variants) each have their respective positive properties. It all boils down to the message and its intended response.

Posted by isoh at 05:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 25, 2005

"Acient Chinese Secrets" by Craig Garber

You know, some jobs just stink, and no matter how hard you
try, there's just very little to no redeeming value in them.

For example -- the guy who splits the peas that go into
split-pea soup.

That can't be too much fun, now can it?

Or how about the guy who collects the tolls on the highways,
bridges and tunnels.

That job sucks!

I know -- I used to do that while I was going to college.

And you know what's different between the first car you give
45 cents change to, at 11 pm... and the last car you give 45
cents change to, the following morning at 7 am?

Absolutely... NOTHING!

Anyway, there's a man named Donald Lau, who's vice-president
of Wonton Food, Inc., in Long Island City, New York.
(that's just outisde of Manhattan)

Donald is the guy who's responsible for writing up all the
fortunes that get wrapped up inside the fortune cookies at
your local Chinese restaurant.

In fact, Donald's company cranks out 4 million fortune
cookies a DAY, so Donald just might be the most prolific
writer in history.

Whatever.

Donald never expected to be a fortune-cookie writer, of
course, things just happened that way, as they sort of
do for most people.

Needless to say, now-and-again, Donald suffers from 'writers
block' (No doubt, the thrill is probably 100% gone for
Donald.), and so he's constantly looking around his
environment to pick up little gems he can put on the
fortunes that go inside the cookies his company
manufactures.

Like when he rides the subway to work, for example: 'Beware
of odors coming from strange places.'

My favorite fortune-cookie fortune of all time, is... 'He
who eats jellybeans, farts in technicolor.'

I wonder if Donald wrote that one -- maybe you've cracked
open a fortune-cookie or two and found that one as well?

Donald recently came up with 2 gems I wanted to pass on to
you, about writing, because they are very very relevant to
writing your sales copy.

And here they are:

One, 'Don't have too complicated a mind.'

The simple truth is, the easier you can say it, the easier
your prospect can understand it.

And two, 'Think in ten word sentences.'

You should never go on and on in your writing, just like you
should never go on and on when you're talking to someone.

Ancient Chinese wisdom from Donald, sure makes good sense to
me, no?

Posted by isoh at 07:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"How to Write a Persuasive News Release" by Michel Fortin

The most profitable and often overlooked free publicity generator is the news release. News releases are not only great marketing tools but also far more credible and believable than advertising since they appear to come from an objective third party. All too often, however, business owners view news releases as a form of advertising. If you're guilty of this, the media will most likely tell you that you should have called the advertising department instead.

The media are constantly on the lookout for good stories that are of interest to their audience. Reporters, writers, and particularly editors also have a particular interest in reporting on stories that help to enhance sponsorship interest in the medium that they represent. So, what makes a good story? While the answer to such a subjective question can be difficult, here are a few pointers in order to guide you in writing and targeting your news releases.

Be Newsworthy

More often than not, reporters like stories that are related to a current event or issue, or those that have emotional appeal. They also like stories that appeal to a wide audience, which is particularly true for the larger media. Targeted or specialized media, on the other hand, love to report on stories that appeal to their specific market and in turn help to capture more of it.

A news release should "tickle" reporters. In other words, it should provide enough information to generate interest but just enough to incite them to want to know more. In doing so, it is only logical that it must provide good contact information if they wish to follow-up. (You would be amazed to know how many news releases fail to mention even the simplest of things, like a phone number or a contact name.) It must give all of the relevant data (i.e., phone numbers, email and postal addresses, contact name, dates, references, etc).

More important, your news release must be devoid of any conspicuous fluff. Remember that a reporter is not just a middleperson whose job is to report your story for you. Keep in mind that your release must sell the reporter on your story as well. Therefore, write it to read like a story. Look at it from the reporter's perspective. In other words, write the story for them.

News releases are often used as excellent business tools. They can announce important company changes, new recruits or appointments within the organization, recently or soon-to-be launched products or services, and so on. There are many more ways that new releases may be used, including identity branding or pre-empting negative publicity. In short, it could be anything new -- hence, the preference of the word "news release" over "press release."

Be First

Being the first in some way is an effective tool that can also help spark more interest in your news release. If you can support the fact that your firm is the first to provide a certain product or service, that your product or service is the first in its category, that you're the first to provide an ordinary product or service in a unique way, or that your event is the first or the largest in its category, you can and should use that information in your news release.

A company claiming to be the best is certainly not a news item. But a company claiming to be the first in some way is. Capitalize on that leadership when approaching the media. Try to sell your story in a different way, possibly with a new angle or twist. Adding your unique experience, even blending your story with a current news item or issue, will up your chances.

For example, someone sends out a news release in which he announces the opening of his new company. Sounds like a trivial story? It's not if that person suffers from a disability. In other words, bring your unique angle into your news release. Give it a human feel. The key is to capture the reporter's interest. It must appeal to him or her and not just the marketplace.

Be Unique

For a great example of an effective news release, see one by Leslie Spencer. She sells memberships in her company called "Home-Based Working Moms," which offers information and resources for home-based businesses run specifically by mothers. Her goal was to get exposure to, and to increase memberships of, a specific target market. (By catering to a specific niche, Leslie also follows the first rule.)

She wrote an excellent release that successfully blended the benefits of her business with a current and important social issue: The challenges faced by work-at-home mothers. Her news release, entitled "The New Entrepreneur: Shorts, Shirt and... a Stroller? Moms Find Ways to Combine Career with Children," provides the media with a great story to tell.

Remember that the media get thousands of releases each day. So being unique or having a unique story to tell is what can often captivate attention. For example, if your release is about an event, then how different, unique, or special is your event when compared to any other? Think of it this way: If you were a reporter and had your release in your hands while at the same time there is another interesting story on which you could report, what would cause you to choose your story above the other? The answer is by being different.

Be Focused

Finally, targeting the media is just as important as targeting your market. Special features writers, columnists, radio show hosts, special interest publications, and specific programs are particularly beneficial for two reasons. First, targeting your release to specific reporters, news anchors, or programs (instead of the newsroom or media entity) increases your chances. While it may require a little investigating, remember that the media are made up of people. They like the personalized approach just as much as your clients do.

Second, targeting your news release is more effective for the purposes of marketing since it will be reported in a medium that caters to your specific target market. Ask: "Where does my niche or target market hang out? What publications do they read? What shows do they watch? What radio programs do they prefer?" Your hit ratio will thus increase proportionately.

Targeting your press release is just as important as targeting your market. The media love to report on stories that inform or affect their specific audience. And if that audience matches your own, you'll know that your story will be noticed by people that are in a more qualified position to buy from you. The more focused you are the greater the outcome you will achieve.

Posted by isoh at 05:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 24, 2005

"How to Use Guarantees to Increase Sales" by Michel Fortin

While the greater portion of my career has been in business development consulting and speaking, I have spent many years in direct marketing and several years on the Web.

My favorite "guru" is Dan Kennedy, dubbed "The Millionaire Maker." And if there is one lesson that he teaches from which I derive the most profitable results in my direct marketing efforts, one of many from a system he calls "Magnetic Marketing," is the awesome power behind the use of guarantees.

If you offer a product or service without a guarantee, you're losing a great percentage of potential sales. Obviously, the Internet has opened many doors, including those to many unscrupulous entrepreneurs. Scams and snake oils are rampant. Since there is no official police or watchdog on the Internet, such scams are probably even greater as a result. I would even venture as to say that millions of dollars are lost to these scamsters each month.

Guarantees Increase Sales
While there are many regionally accredited entities and watchgroups, it doesn't stop many a crafty entrepreneur to bypass the systems to sell their wares. CBC Radio International news recently reported a scheme in which a weight-loss drug not yet approved in Canada is being sold by a Canadian entrepreneur on the 'Net. The matter is currently under investigation by the pharmaceutical manufacturer and Canadian health officials.

Nevertheless, because of these tricksters and the multitude of challenges presented on the Web, people are leery and will increasingly seek out more secure means to benefit from offers. Guarantees are therefore powerful tools for the prosperity-seeking marketer and can do two very important things that will help grow one's profits: Increase sales and reduce returns.

When you offer a guarantee, you reduce the skepticism around the purchase of your product or service. Consumers are understandably cautious and more so when making purchases via the web. And guarantees give you an almost instant credibility with potential customers. For example, if you have a professionally-looking Web site, an ethical sales approach, and even a proven product or service, the lack of a guarantee will still, particularly on the Internet, cause most prospects to perceive your offer as questionable in the very least.

Guarantees Increase Perceived Value
Chris Ayers, publisher of Unlimited Traffic!, gives an astonishing real-life example. Writes Ayers, "One of my first direct mail products years ago was a self-study program. When I first offered the program in a magazine, my sales weren't even enough to cover the cost of the ad. I changed my ad and sales letter to include a guarantee. The number of responses to the same ad increased by a factor of 20 and my conversion rate from my sales letter rose from 10% to almost 40%."

Take for instance the story of the Monaghan brothers. The two ran a small business in order to pay their way through college. While one worked the day shift in order to attend school at night, the other did the converse. After about a year in the money-losing venture, one of the brothers sold his share of the business for a beat-up old car. The other, however, with a good dose of stick-to-it-iveness, decided to make something of his fledgling pizzeria.

According to some interviews he recently gave, Tom Monaghan said that, at the time, he wasn't quite sure that his decision to put a guarantee on his pizza delivery would change much. But obviously, history tells us that his decision was the greatest one he ever made. By simply marketing the strength of a guarantee, i.e., "Pizza delivered fresh in 30 minutes or it's free," Domino's Pizza became the multimillion dollar franchise operation we know today.

Guarantees Reduce Returns
Guarantees will increase sales. And the stronger the guarantee, the larger the increase. But unbeknownst to many marketers, one of the most important benefits of using a guarantee is the fact that it can actually reduce returns. According to certain successful marketers such as Ayers, a strong guarantee results in fewer returns. For instance, Ayers got fewer returns with a 90 day guarantee than he did with a 30 day guarantee. Others got fewer returns when they offered to let clients keep some bonus items if the product was returned.

The parallel obviously dictates. While people order, especially from the Web because of the convenience it offers, an offer that provides a no-hassle return policy (or risk-free promise) adds to the convenience factor and instills a greater confidence in the buyer's psyche. If you offer a product or service, find ways to offer a guarantee along with it. Rather than taking a risk by removing it from your potential clients' decisions, you will likely be decreasing it.

In other words, use guarantees to guarantee your success.

Posted by isoh at 05:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 23, 2005

"How would you feel if you got your ass kicked by a frog?" by Craig Garber

Because that's what happened to the new Coldplay CD that
just came out over in the UK this week -- it was
immediately handed its first setback -- by a frog.

Seems that neither 2 years of pent-up demand from fans nor
several million dollars worth of promotion by Parlophone
records (in the UK) or Capitol EMI (here in the U.S.) could
save X & Y (the new Coldplay CD) from being knocked off
the top of the charts... by a mobile phone ringtone.

According to mobiletracker.net, 'A ringtone made its way to
the top of the British singles chart this Sunday, topping
Brit-rock group Coldplay. Ringtone Crazy Frog Axel F
outsold Coldplay's Speed of Sound 4-1, making for a
disapointing opening weekend for the popular band.

Crazy Frog Axel F is based off the revving sound of a
Swedish mo-ped. It marks the first time a ringtone made it
to the singles chart for conventional music sales.
Interestingly enough, most of the ringtone's sales have
come from a CD, not from digital download.'

'This song is incredibly irritating and puerile and we're
still trying to understand why people like it,' said
Gennaro Castaldo, a spokesman for (British retailer) HMV.

This just goes to show you, you must sell to 'wants' and
not to 'expected wants' or 'needs' if you want to come out
ahead.

And remember this: You can't 'create' demand. It's already
out there, all around you -- and believe me, there's
plenty of it.

All you can do is tap into it, and then use your sales copy
to 'build' this already existing demand, into a hot sweaty
frenzy.

So hop to it.

That'll wrap it up for the weekend, so have a good one.

Posted by isoh at 07:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"Blend Bullets and Benefits to Boost Buyers" by Michel Fortin

One of the greatest tools used by top copywriters is a little known secret that can multiply your response ratio. It's the use of bullets within your marketing copy. Bullets are captivating, short and sweet, intriguing, and pleasing to the eye. But most important, they reinforce the offer, deliver straight-to-the-point benefits, and are clustered for greater impact.

An effective way to use bullets within the heart of your sales copy is when bullets follow the words "you get" or "reasons why." Since people are always looking for what's in it for them, this grants the reader the ability to know exactly what they are getting out of responding to your offer.

Also, keep in mind the copywriter's greatest secret: Long copy always outsells short copy -- this has been proven in my own efforts as well as those of other copywriters. However, bullets, especially in long copy ads, help to give the read a visual break along with strengthening the offer.

Features Versus Benefits
Here's an example. Let's say you sell an exercise machine called the "Abdominoflex." You can say: "With your special Abdominoflex Toning Machine, here's what you get," followed by a set of bullets that list the various benefits one would receive with your machine. If you list the features, always follow each one with its equivalent benefit. Take the following example:

"With your special Abdominoflex Toning Machine, you get:

A toning system that provides an easier yet intense workout that will burn off unwanted calories more rapidly and enjoyably;

A scientifically designed exercise machine that laser-targets specific areas of the body for a faster, firmer, and more shapely figure;

A compact, lightweight, easy-to-assemble, space-saving tool that can literally be stored under your bed and pulled out only when needed;

A free special bonus videotape (valued at $19.95) offering unique workout tips as well as ways to make the best use of your machine…"
A feature from the previous example would be the fact that the machine is lightweight and compact. The equivalent benefit would be the fact that it's easy to use. In other words, you can store it under your bed, pull it out when needed, and use it almost in an instant, without the hassle or inconvenience often associated with larger toning machines.

Ease-of-use is a feature. The feelings that will stem out of the machine's ease-of-use are the benefits. This is why bullets based on "reasons why" is so important. In essence, you are telling your reader the reasons why he or she should take advantage of your offer (and do so now). For example: "Here are the reasons why you should buy your Abdominoflex today."

Magic Words Versus Tragic Words
When describing the benefits of your product or service, try to be as simple and as specific as possible. Even with the headline, the copy, and the offer, use specific descriptions or words. Give detailed benefits and tell the reader what you want him or her to do specifically. For example, use odd, non-rounded numbers instead of generalizations. Odd, non-rounded numbers are more credible and have pulled more than even or rounded numbers.

For example, "Amazing new system helped me earn $3,956.75 in 29 days!" is much more credible than simply "$4,000 in 1 month!" That's why, for example, Ivory is 99 and 44/100% pure. If Ivory said 100%, it wouldn't have been as believable. If one of your benefits states that your offer helped to improve the results of over 1,000 people, use 1,163 people instead.

With your bulleted benefits, use "you," "your," and "yours" rather than "I," "us," "our," or "we." Implicate the reader and infer that he or she has already responded to your offer. Present your benefits as though your prospects are already enjoying them, in other words.

Here are some words you should use or emphasize when describing benefits. They are called magic words, such as: Free, new, you, discover, save, sales, guaranteed, introducing, money, results, benefits, easy, proven, love, alternative, now, win, gain, happy, trustworthy, beautiful, comfortable, proud, healthy, safe, right, security, winnings, fun, value, advice, wanted, announcing, people, and why. Use picture words as well so that people can easily visualize and understand the benefits of your offer.

(See my article on the use of picture words.)

On the other hand, tragic words are: Buy, purchase, obligation, failure, bad, sell, loss, liability, difficult, wrong, decision, deal, hard, death, order, fail, cost, worry, and contract. Essentially, avoid negative words or words that could potentially negate the positive effect (and the effectiveness) of your benefits.

In conclusion, by clustering and focusing on specific benefits through the use of bullets, and by using magic words that positively impact the reader, your chances of a greater response to your offer will multiply exponentially.

Posted by isoh at 05:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 22, 2005

"How to Maximize Your Visibility" by Michel Fortin

For a business to survive and thrive in this hypercompetitive world, there are some tools that are considered absolutely essential. These tools, which I call support systems, include search engines, directories, and particularly the yellow pages. However, they are often misused because most businesses misinterpret them as advertising mediums. They are not.

For example, your yellow pages ad, although an essential part of your entire marketing machine, doesn't have to be of a large size, in color, prominently displayed or coupled with other gimmicks that the yellow pages have to offer.

All you really need is to be in there.

When people have seen your ad, heard about you, or have a need for your services at any given time, your contact information may not be available to them at that particular moment. Therefore, you want the yellow pages to be a support system, not a full-blown marketing medium. Their salespeople more than likely don't have to sell you on the need to be in their directory. But where they make their commissions is by making your transaction as hefty as possible by selling you on size, color, and other gimmicks.

Your presence is all that matters.

This goes for online directories as well, including search engines and indices. Many people will not agree with me, but your link doesn't need to be at the very top of a search engine's results, especially based on a vague or obscure word, name, or expression. Instead, you need to be in as many search engine results and in as many Web directories as possible.

Spread it! We're Conducting a Search…
First of all, I'm a fervent believer in support systems since, when positioning your business, you are creating top-of-mind awareness and a special interest among a specific target market. (Market targeting has been thoroughly discussed in my article How to Carve Your Niche in The Marketplace.

However, potential clients may not necessarily need you and respond to you at that moment. They may do so later when your contact information may not be available to them. Therefore, you want to increase your chances of being in front of their eyeballs when that happens. Whether you're listed in local, specialty, association, occupation-specific, or industry-specific directories, the trick is to spread out not only among them but also within them.

Don't be prominent in size or display. Don't even strive to be the biggest or the first one to appear. For print ads such as those in the yellow pages, you can have a small telephone ad, in black and white, carrying the name of your company, your tagline, your specialization, your product or service, and, most important, a special offer for, say, a free report.

However, spreading out especially within a particular directory increases your visibility, which will thus increase your hit-ratio. For example, if you're a hairstylist specializing in onsite services, the yellow pages people might tell you to be in only one particular location of their directory. Don't. Try to be in as many locations that logically relate to your firm or your service. Your ad can be small but it should appear in as many sections of the directory as possible. Beyond the obvious "Hair" section, it can also appear in "Weddings," "Event Planning," "Image Consultants," "Modeling Agencies," "Conference Rooms," "Color Consultants," "Beauty Supplies," "TV Production," "Personal Development," and even "Senior Citizen Services."

Simple Search Savvy
This also applies to the Internet and search engines. You should not only try to be on as many search engines as possible but try to spread out as much as you can among them as well. You might register your Web site according to a specific set of keywords. But if you register your site under numerous keywords, your hit-ratio will increase dramatically.

This is not limited to words that directly relate to your page or its content (let alone your firm as well as the products or services you provide), but should also comprise any word that may indirectly be tied to them somehow. While keyword "spamming" (also called "spamdexing") is discouraged by engine administrators (such as hiding repeated keywords or words hidden in the background), there are many other, more appropriate ways to include them.

For instance, most engines will index your site according to its "META" tags. But many others will also index your site according to your page title, your "ALT" tags (the texts that appear on your screen when a mouse hovers over the graphics images), your source code's comment tags, and the first words of every paragraph if not the entire content itself. In fact, because of the latter, a text-intensive, keyword-rich web page will therefore maximize your results.

In addition, include expressions, both singular and plural versions, different spellings (such as the British and American English versions, like "color" and "colour"), misspellings if they're common and variations of your keywords.

A baker specializes in cookies. She not only bakes different kinds of cookies but also creates different shapes, sizes, designs and arrangements with them. One of her many creations are little cookie baskets with bows and lettering for, among other things, bridal and baby showers. So what does she do? She registered under the keywords: "Cookies," "weddings," "wedings," "wedding bells," "nuptials," "bridal," "mariages," "marriages," "showers," "baby," "babies," "brides," "grooms," "party," "parties," "church," "churches," "gifts," "presents," "family," "families," "famillies," and so on.

Your Sleeping Salesperson
Another support system that is often ignored is the answering machine. Your answering machine should not be regarded as a means of taking your calls and messages. Turn it into a support system as well. In fact, turn it into a salesperson working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It must somehow invite callers to do something. Does your message ask people to leave a message or does it invite them to place an order for your free report?

Phone companies usually offer multiple voice mailboxes. This is when a caller has the choice to either leave a general message or press a number to leave a message for a another recipient's in the system. But mailboxes don't need to be associated with an actual person. Here's a sample message: "Hi! You've reached Craig Jones of Investment Mastery, Inc. To leave a message for Craig, press 1 now. To order my free report, 'Money-Making Magic: 8 Sure-Fire Strategies for Making Money in Stocks,' press 2," etc.

Ultimately, the object is to seek out support systems and to spread out as much as possible among them. Once you've created top-of-mind awareness, your contact information may not be available to your prospects at the time they've come to buy your products, use your services, or visit your site. Therefore, you want to be as accessible as possible.

In other words, spread yourself thin.

Posted by isoh at 05:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 21, 2005

"If It Felt Good the First Time" by Craig Garber

The worst should be behind us -- thanks for being patient.

David Dutton, a subscriber of mine from Nashville,
Tennessee, wrote in and asked me to 'touch on prospecting
with direct mail'.

As you probably know, I love direct mail for loads of
reasons, but mostly I love it because you can use it to say
anything you want or tell any kind of story you want.

There's no limit to the number of pages or words you have to
use, and frankly, it's also a very intimate form of
communicating with your prospects and clients.

After all, when your prospect is reading your message, it's
just you and them, one-on-one.

How cool is that!

Anyway, here's a little story about my younger son Casey.
Pay close attention to it, and see if you can guess the
'moral' of the story here.

When Casey was younger, I always used to say, he'd be
'the perfect salesman'.

Whenever he asked for something, if the answer was 'No',
he'd ask you the exact same question in a different way.

He'd figure out some way to come at you from behind... or
around the sides... or down from up above.

To put this in 'selling' perspective, when Casey asked for
the order, in his mind, 'No' didn't mean he couldn't get it,
it just meant he had to ask for it again... a little
differently.

And see, one of the most critical mistakes people make,
is... they don't ask for the order again, using second and
third (or more) mailings.

You should keep mailing offers, until your mailings aren't
profitable.

For the most part, from a numbers standpoint, you'll get
whatever response you got on your first mailing, on your
second and third mailings combined.

So if you're selling a high-ticket item, or if the lifetime
value of your client is high, you can see how, in some
cases, you can certainly afford to do a dozen or more
mailings, right?

Thanks for your question David.

Posted by isoh at 07:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 20, 2005

"Enough Already" by Craig Garber

Last week I met up with an old friend of mine at one of the
local cigar retailers.

The store was having a little get together for their
customers, which basically means they had one of the
manufacturers reps there, and they featured a discount on
that brand of cigars, for anyone making a purchase that
particular evening.

I hadn't seen this guy in a long time -- we used to do a lot
of business together years ago -- and even though he's a
lawyer, it was still nice to get together with him again.

Anyway, when I walked into the store, I was immediately
given a ticket for the evening's drawing, and then straight
away into the sales pitch.

It went something like this:

'If you buy La Gloria Cubana cigars, you get one fre.e, and
then you'll get another ticket for the drawing... But if
you buy a box, you get 10% off, and then you'll also get a
discount on your next purchase, plus you'll get 8 or 9
coupons extra, depending on what box you buy... The fre.e
cigar isn't available here, you get it from the girl behind
the counter over there when you pay... now if you buy one
of these 3 boxes over here, you get 9 coupons and a...'

Ay..yai..yai!

At this point, I told the guy he needed to make things
simpler for me, that he was giving me information overload.

I felt like a country boy who had just been dropped off in the
middle of times square!

And see, sometimes, that's exactly what happens when you
give your prospects too many choices to choose from, instead
of, for example, offering them 'This' or 'That'.

Period.

Because when your prospects become overloaded with more
information than they need, you know what happens?

Exactly -- they get put off and then wind up doing nothing.

So whenever your closing, remember to make it short...

And sweet.

Posted by isoh at 07:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"How to Make Your Name Stick" by Michel Fortin

In our overcommunicated society, we are constantly bombarded with messages that seem to be just one big blur of sameness. Limited by society's very short attention span, your marketing message has to be effective to the degree that it must communicate its essence and create top-of-mind awareness within an extremely short amount of time. Names are often the best tools -- and sometimes the only ones -- for accomplishing this efficiently.

When positioning your company or product, your name has to stick firmly in the mind of the marketplace and must do so instantly. While uniqueness is an important factor, there are many other elements that can help the anchoring process -- elements that help a name memorable as well as chosen when a customer experiences a specific need or desire. So, here are some simple rules to follow when choosing a name for your company or product.

What Does it Do?
To make a company or product name truly memorable, it should convey its main feature or benefit. If I give you the word "Die Hard" for instance, you will think of a battery that dies hard. If I tell you "Jiffy Lube," you will naturally assume that it's a garage offering oil changes in a jiffy. If I tell you "Band-Aid," you will picture an adhesive bandage that comes to your aid.

Names that do not convey at least the basic nature of a company will be easily forgotten. This includes hard-to-pronounce words, abbreviations, and acronyms such as "MGF Holdings Limited." It also includes self-titled companies such as "Michel Fortin International" (which was, believe it or not, the name of my original company -- one that nonetheless failed).

Benefits are particularly effective because such a name would make a company or product appear as if it had some added value. When placed alongside a competitor offering an identical product, a benefit-based name positions itself above the competition in the mind. As a result, the name will thus be quickly remembered when people make their decision to buy.

Rhymes Move Minds
Since the invention of the printing press, the written word has made it easy for us to forget names. Consequently, the process of rhyming has in the same way gradually fallen out of favor. But strangely, what we remember the most are, for example, the nursery rhymes that we were told as children. In today's memory management courses, people are told to use rhymes and word association in order to improve their memory. Rhyming is therefore effective because it is pleasing to the ear and helps to hook words easily in the mind.

Beyond ease-of-recall, rhyming also tends to add credibility. Psychology professor Dr. Matthew McGlone has found that rhymes not only make a phrase more memorable, they also make it more believable.

According to his research, people preferred "woes unite foes" over "misfortune unite foes" or "woes unite enemies." As he points out, "People often attribute the aesthetic quality of a rhyme to the statement's validity, which suggests that people may unknowingly equate beauty (a rhyme's singsong quality) with truth." In other words, rhymes confer a greater sense of credibility.

While some names can easily rhyme since they use multiple words (e.g., "Blinds of All Kinds" or "Ronald McDonald"), most names are made up of only one word. If they can not rhyme at least within themselves (e.g., "Rodeo" or "Coca-Cola"), then the job would be conferred unto their taglines -- those small sentences that follow and complement names.

For example, if I said "It takes a licking but keeps on ticking," you will probably remember this phrase if not instantly recognize the product with which this tagline is associated. And if the tagline rhymes with the name (such as "Uh, Oh! Better get Maaco!" or "When you need an edge, use Pledge"), the name will stick even more effectively as a result.

Repetition Resonates
What do "Saran-Wrap," "Coca-Cola," "Willy Wonka," "GI Joe," "Barbie," "Hamburger Helper," "Crispy Crunch," and "Blockbuster" all have in common? Similar to rhymes, the repetition of consonants give a name that pleasant and obviously effective singsong quality. Repetition makes a name memorable by making the pronunciation more simple. In other words, it is definitely easier to remember a string of similar sounds than it is to remember a combination of totally different sounding words. Did you "see the softer side of Sear's" lately?

Rhymes and repetitious consonants used in order to make a name more memorable are called mnemonics. Mnemonics are not only useful but also effective, particularly in the branding process. From the simplest product to the most abstract or complex technical service, a memorable name helps to make the company or product memorable as well.

Posted by isoh at 05:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"Helpful Hints for Writing Articles" by Michel Fortin

An interesting question was recently asked of me in a discussion forum by Yasser Masood. He asked, "I agree with the idea of submitting articles [in order to get] a lot of targeted visitors to a site, however, I was wondering, 'What keeps Michel Fortin writing?' I mean, Michel, what is your 3, 5 or 7 point formula to get an article on paper? What are [some of the specific] steps you follow?"

Here's my answer. I'm subscribed to a ton of ezines.

As an "expert" (if I dare call myself that) in my field, I must keep abreast of my industry -- so should you. But the wonderful byproduct is that something I've read will stir a few ideas in my mind about something worth writing.

The gazillion of ezines to which I'm subscribed are filtered in my email reader into folders for later reading. What I do, however, is filter such articles for keywords that I decide, in advance, about which I feel there's a need to write.

Also, copies of all the issues I receive are filtered into a master folder (i.e., the filtered email is moved into its appropriate folder for later reading and a copy is also placed into this master folder, both simultaneously -- most email filters or rules do this ). In my master folder, I do a text-based search for certain keywords (e.g., topics, ideas, events, etc) about which I can write.

Then, I create an outline -- a skeleton article, if you will. To do this, I write down keywords or keyphrases, in point form, representing future paragraphs and the subjects I'd like to cover in those paragraphs. Then, I just write.

I temporarily put my "critical editor" hat aside and I just keep writing, non-stop. I don't even stop to read what I've written. I just write! Once done, I stop, read again and edit for style and grammar -- of course, with the kind help of my word processor's spellchecker. Sometimes I'll take whole sentences out and add new ones in. I'll rewrite passages I feel aren't clear. I'll cut and paste some paragraphs where I feel they belong best. And then bingo: The final product.

As for the frequency, I write all the time. What I often do is prepare skeleton articles in advance and save them for future use. (The neat thing is that I can create new "temporary" filters. Ezines are filtered into temporary folders in order to research more information on the topics I'd like to cover).

I use Microsoft's Outlook 2000 for my email. One of its neat features is that It has an internal notepad function with which I can jot down URLs and specific data pertaining to articles. If you don't use Outlook for your email, there are several freeware desktop note-making applications on the web, such as notes software from 3M, the makers of Post-It Notes.

I also have with me, most of the time, a small tape recorder or notepad (a cellular phone and Palm Pilot are also good for taking notes). I record some thoughts that pop into my head from time to time. I'll give you an example: I'm driving to a client. While in my car, I listen to the news. Then all of sudden, bang! An idea hits me. I'll record it immediately and use that as a basis for an article -- or for that week's Chronicles' editorial, for example.

In terms of proofreading, what I do, when I have a chance, is have my articles read by friends or associates. But the best method, I've found, is to read the article slowly, to myself, out loud ... Really! If I notice that my speech slurred or fumbled at some point in the article, or that a passage just didn't sound right, then I know that something was poorly written and I'll rewrite it for clarity.

I've used dictation software before but I don't use it normally. I'd like to do so, however. As a professional speaker, I talk a lot . And this would be perfect since I record much of my thoughts on my mini-tape recorder anyway.

But again, my commonest method is the use of skeleton articles -- in other words, writing keywords in point form and then expanding those keywords into full paragraphs. Since the keywords or keyphrases are based on specific topics, the flow seems natural and there is cohesiveness within the article.

What I do is follow the three major steps:

Introduction
Body (Content)
Conclusion
Introduction: I'll start with something that announces the topic, prepares the reader and gently takes them into the body of the article -- something that "tickles" them in order to pull them into the article. (Creating headlines is last.)

Body (Content): Then I prepare the core components of the article (usually, it will be three main points, expanded -- I often use headings for these three core components). Often, I resort to the use of adverbs as bases for expanding on the topics -- my "five honest serving men," as Brian Tracy once said, "which are who, what, why, where and when."

Conclusion: It's a recap or summary of the article, with a final word -- like the "moral of a story" or a "bottom-line," offering an actionable step, a question upon which to ponder or a cliffhanger (maybe leading to another article).

In terms of software, I use a great yet plain text editor TextPad. It's like Notepad but on steroids. It has a spellchecking feature with a lot of macros, file managing functions, integrated character maps, etc. It also has a hard-break feature so that I can split-wrap my articles at 65 characters -- which is the norm.

Finally, I regularly spend 18 to 20 hours a day on my computer and on the web ... Like I said, I write a lot. But I also read a lot -- I'm a virtual sponge. You know, some people call me "expert" or "guru." In reality, I feel that I'm only knowledgeable about my field. I read intensely and I scan a lot too. I usually receive about 2000 emails a day (I'm not kidding) -- and two-thirds of which are ezines in the area of sales, marketing, Internet marketing and ecommerce.

Also, creativity is known to be one of my biggest talents -- as a marketing consultant and being in the advertising industry, creativity is a must. But in terms of writing articles, it's as necessary as oxygen. I always like to write about either what hasn't been written or something that's been scarcely written. (You know as I do that the web is filled of recycled, rehashed content.)

Posted by isoh at 04:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 19, 2005

"Now Go Sell Something" by Craig Garber

Ever hear about someone eating something spicy, and once
they get the spices down, it makes them start sweating?

Well, the other day I was eating lunch with a friend of mine
-- Mexican food -- and immediately after gobbling down some
hot salsa, sweat starts pouring down my buddy's face, like
he was a fat man in a sauna.

The truth is, sometimes in anticipation of you crossing the
finish line on a project you're working on, your mind
becomes filled with anxiety and fears -- and suddenly YOU
start sweating.

Some of your fears will be real ('What if your project
fails?')... and... some of them will simply be perceived
('What will my significant other think of me?' and...
ironically, 'What if your project fails?').

Steven Pressfield, in his book, The War Of Art, calls these
fears, thoughts and worries, 'Resistance'.

And 'sensing' Resistance, is actually a good thing.

See, when you feel resistance slowly creeping its way into
the back of your mind, it usually means you're about to do
something with explosive potential -- maybe something that
will even change your life forever.

Hockey great Wayne Gretsky once said, 'You miss 100% of the
shots you never take.'

So start shooting, and don't be afraid.

My mentor once told me, most of the fears that spend their
time preoccupying your thoughts (and wasting your time),
have all been created, from the ground up, by you -- all
inside the walls of your own mind.

And if you think about it -- it's true. After all, what IS
fear?

It's not something you can touch... and it's certainly NOT
something you can predict with great certainty.

It's simply 'resistance' let loose up inside your head.

So don't let all these silly notions... all that other
negative B.S... and of course, 'resistance', hold you back
from anything.

I know, just as well as you do, the tough thing is, these
'energy-sucking' thoughts usually start playing themselves
over-and-over again in the back of your mind, like some kind
of vicious broken tape recorder... usually, at the times
you can LEAST afford to hear them.

But like I tell my kids, 'Whoever said life was easy? If it
was, everyone would win.'

Don't worry though.

When Resistance beckons, that's your cue, that you're
getting a little out of your comfort zone, and that you're
on the right track.

So dive in and don't be so afraid -- even if you are
sweating like the fat guy over in the corner of your sauna.

Now go sell something.

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"Don't be the Best… Be the First!" by Michel Fortin

An Article Inspired By The "Law Of Leadership" From My Two Favorite Marketing Mentors, Jack Trout and Al Ries.
Often, many businesses build their entire marketing strategy around a particular brand and its "better" qualities. Claiming superiority smacks of being untrue and is often a very risky endeavor. In other words, if you claim that you're the best, your statement will be suspect.

Years ago, a mentor once said to me that "Implication is more powerful than specification." It is much more effective to imply superiority -- to be perceived as being a superior company or one with a superior product -- than to simply being (or outright stating that one is) superior. But how do you get others to perceive that you're the best? How does one imply superiority without stating it outright? The following are a few pointers to guide you in that direction.

The First Always Lead
If you're the first in some category, you are also considered as the best. People have the natural tendency to attribute superiority to a product that's first in its category. But if you're not the first, you can usually invent your own position. If there's no category in which you can be first, then create one. By being the first in your very own unique category makes it tremendously difficult for competitors to copy you. But even when your competitors do copy you, their marketing efforts will only help to remind people of you.

Being the first in the marketplace is not as important as being the first in the mind of the marketplace. Working with cosmetic surgeons, I've personally experienced this undeniable truth. A particular hair transplant doctor is one of the first surgeons of this type. While superiority in this field is a matter of artistic ability and not seniority, he is still widely recognized as the best surgeon there is -- even if he still uses outdated techniques.

Jack Trout and Al Ries, the fathers of positioning, developed the category concept into a science. The first law in their book "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing," which is the law of leadership, is based entirely on the concept of being the first. In essence, the law states that no two bodies can occupy the same space. If you get to a position first, nobody else can ever take your place. Hence, being the first virtually guarantees your position.

You don't have to be the first with a product or service. You only have to be the first in the consumer's mind. By owning the leading position in the mind people will automatically assume that you're the best. Why? It's because uniqueness separates you from the rest rather than compares you to them. It's immensely more effective than actually being the best.

Create Your Own Category
For instance, Ries and Trout prove this point with a very simple question. They ask: "Who was the third person to fly over the Atlantic in a solo flight?" Now, if you're not a history buff like me, you will more than likely be stumped. Almost everyone remembers that Lindbergh was the first because, being the first, he comes to mind immediately. But if you were asked the same question but rephrased in a different way (e.g., "Who was the first 'woman' to fly over the Atlantic in a solo flight?"), your answer will likely be "Amelia Earhart."

Look at your own life. What are the things you remember the most? More than likely, you will remember your first kiss, your first dance, your first love, your first car, your first day of school, your first job, and your first heartbreak. Can you remember your second kiss let alone your fifth one? In all likelihood, you don't. When it comes to marketing the same holds true.

Many people try to compete by comparison and may even generate some recognition as a result of their efforts. But where they often fail is in creating lasting top-of-mind awareness by drowning their image in a currently known category -- or ladder, if you will. Everybody knows who is the first in some category or another, but rarely do people remember who's second let alone third. If you market your company as a better firm with a better product or service at a better price, all you are really doing is reminding others of that which you are better than, which is your competition.

Again, if there's no category in which you can be the first, create one. Having your very own category is powerful because it is impossible for competitors to beat you. Being the first, your place is therefore guaranteed and you will thus be perceived as the best by default -- there's no competition!

Go the Other Way
Coke, which was touted as being "The Real Thing," is an old company with a hundred-year old recipe locked in some secret safe. So, Pepsi decided to go the other way and proclaimed that it was for the "New Generation." On the other hand, 7UP floundered until it became the "Uncola." As a result, the more Coke and Pepsi advertised, the more it helped 7UP.

For a long time, Avis was an unknown car rental agency. One day, it finally conceded that it was number two -- second only after Hertz. Their "we try harder" campaign, which focused on their underdog position, turned the size of their bigger competitor into a negative. Domino's Pizza was surely not the first pizzeria. But by being the first to deliver its pizza "in 30 minutes or it's free," it went from a small restaurant to a multimillion dollar franchise operation. And there are countless other examples.

You can be the first to cater to a specific market, the first to offer an alternative to an existing product or service, or the first to cater to a market in a unique way -- such as by offering an ordinary product or service but with a unique twist. You can also customize a general product or service for a specific market. For example, you might be a travel agency. You could decide on being the first to sell business trips catering exclusively to financial institutions.

However, if you're not the first you might then market yourself as "the first to serve the financially inclined," "the leader in business trips for bankers" or "the first travel agent for the smart financier." In other words, don't be the best in some existing category. Be the first in one -- one you create.

Posted by isoh at 05:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 17, 2005

"To Brand or Not to Brand?" by Michel Fortin

The shift that marketers are making from institutional marketing to what I call "directional" marketing is a rather interesting one. While the most notable reason is the fact that the Internet expands one's target market and increases the sales potential, more often than not it is also the fact that it is arguably more cost-efficient than any other medium.

The web is an extraordinary tool that can help most ebusinesses to accomplish various things. One in particular is the reduction of costs that one would have normally incurred when doing business offline. In other words, what better way would there be to advertise, sell and serve the customer as efficiently, errorlessly, timely and economically than through the web?

People assuming that Internet marketers are not making money online (at least not yet, anyway) should think again. Profits are being realized right now in explosive amounts and in multiple ways, and online companies are laughing all the way to the bank as a result. For example, analysts are purporting that the upcoming holiday season will potentially become one of the busiest, most lucrative times in the history of the worldwide network.

But more important, the savings resulting from more efficient marketing intelligence gathering, quicker product roll-outs, expanded market reach, more expedient order fulfillment and greater public relations potential have made ecommerce the most profitable business activity ever. Due to the fact that the Internet is completely user-driven, direct marketing has become not just a tool for brand-builders but also a necessity to their online survival.

A recent article in CyberAtlas, entitled "Internet Advertising Focused on E-Commerce, Not Brands," revealed online advertising statistics amassed through a Strategis Group study. Surprisingly, the study claims that the top 50, most visited web sites on the 'Net as a result of online advertising is not the larger, more branding-oriented companies but the direct marketers -- such as Amazon.com and eToy.com, as opposed to, for example, Procter and Gamble, Ford Motor Company and Coca-Cola.

However, while some of the larger companies are spending huge amounts of advertising dollars to brand their online presence (with institutional marketing), which will devour a significant portion of their profit margins, the cost-savings factor of the web balances it all out in the end -- thus making ecommerce exceptionally attractive, particularly to direct marketers.

Institutional marketing is not a bad concept -- building one's unique identity if crucial. But alone it's very risky and requires a large investment of capital -- something most small to medium-sized businesses can not afford. Therefore, should branding be left out completely of one's marketing strategy? Not really. In fact, it can (and should) become a natural byproduct.

Brand loyalty can come as a result of implementing directional marketing, which is not only a more cost-effective approach but also a natural extension of the web due to its more intimate environment. Click-happy netizens have very short attention spans. Therefore, direct marketing is necessary to take users by the hand and lead them to favorable outcomes.

But the proper use of various elements of online marketing, such as a more professional looking site, benefit-based product and domain names, positive client testimonials and strong guarantees can help to leverage a direct marketer's efforts while creating strong brand preference. For instance, how many sites have lost customers -- sites with great sales copy, reputable products and outstanding offers -- due to sloppy looking design?

Such elements may seem a part of the branding process but in fact they also support the direct marketing process. Take Hotmail for instance, which is now a well-recognized brand on the Internet. Did it arrive at its position through pure branding efforts? Not at all. Through viral marketing, they managed to plaster their brand name at the end of each email they helped to deliver -- which are now numbering in the millions daily -- while gently directing users to their web site and getting them to take action by signing up for their free service.

Nevertheless, cost-efficiency is certainly an important aspect of online marketing, and the goal here is not to negate branding entirely. However, directional marketing can include an array of practices, from response-oriented promotional activities to upselling offers -- all at the same time building brand equity.

Branding should be a byproduct, not a goal in itself.
Take Yahoo!, for instance. In the beginning, this little, unknown Internet directory was not a strong brand but had the capability of attracting hoards of netizens to its site. Today, Yahoo! is almost synonymous with the web. It maintains the recognition as being the leading search engine on the web -- even though it is not an engine at all, which underscores the whole point.

Beyond creating recognition and loyalty, branding also communicates a certain degree of credibility. Often, direct marketers are placed in the same category as sleazy, pushy snake oil peddlers. A century ago, peddlers would travel from town to town selling their wares with the sole goal of selling as much and as fast as possible in order to leave town quickly, thus avoiding the inevitable wrath of their dissatisfied customers. That stigma still exists today.

However, that fear is easily justified. There is no doubt that scamsters exist online. Markets are more accessible, which makes easy prey easier to find. People are still leery of buying on the Internet to a certain degree (and rightfully so) as a result. But a good dose of credibility-building can make a direct marketer shine. This is where branding comes in.

Directional marketing should include various branding elements that are often used in the offline world. (Conversely, institutional marketers are also slowly recognizing the need to implement directional marketing online.) Direct marketers with poorly designed, inconsistent looking sites will have a tough time in building repeat and referral sales. Thus, they may need to spend more dollars and energy upfront on creating new customer relationships.

When visiting Hotmail's website, one can instantly recognize their unique brand: Their logo, their corporate colors and their professional appearance. But at the same time, one is offered a variety of options and links: From reading Hotmail's privacy policy, reasons for signing up, frequently asked questions, to new product offers.

In fact, the latter includes their MSN instant messaging tool, to compete with the Internet's current leader: ICQ owned by AOL. Users are gently directed to sign up for this additional free service. Of course, all of which are aimed at building MSN's (and Microsoft's) brand. But it's direct marketing nonetheless.

In the end, while direct marketing has a firm place on the worldwide web, it does not replace the branding process completely. In fact, strong brands communicate greater perceived value, can defend their offers against price competition, make the direct marketer's job much easier (with repeat and referral sales) and help to curb costs overall. But branding should be an extension of direct marketing -- a byproduct.

Therefore, a direct marketer must be aware of branding, such as a consistent, professionally designed site (i.e., graphics, message, color scheme, etc) as well as benefit-based product and domain names. These are just a few of the elements that, while building strong online brands, can surely help to increase sales -- and save a lot of money down the road.

Posted by isoh at 05:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 16, 2005

"How to Name a Product, Service or Company" by Michel Fortin

Today, it is an understatement to say that we are constantly bombarded with information of nuclear proportions. The roles of both the consumer and the entrepreneur have become so immensely challenging that choosing a business from which to buy -- let alone being and remaining in business -- has become a dizzying process. Therefore, how does one survive let alone thrive in today's explosive hypercompetitive, overcommunicated marketplace?

Unfortunately, many businesses still market themselves with institutional approaches (the kind that only says "I'm open for business"). These methods no longer work -- at least not as effectively as before. For instance, while some companies successfully generate a good response from their marketing efforts, it is one from which little or no business is produced.

The key, nowadays, is not to advertise that one is "in" business but that one is "the" business of choice. Where people used to ask "why should I buy this product?" today, that question has changed to "why should I buy this product FROM YOU?" Simply put, today's consumer will choose one company over another because the perceived value in their choice is greater.

The world is so full of raw, unstructured data that people no longer have the time to sift through all the information that is thrown at them let alone to make sense of it all. They no longer have the time or energy to shop around for the best product from the best company at the best price. They usually make a buying decision based on the kind of information that instantly communicates a specific benefit -- one in which there is an implicit added value.

Generating interest from one's marketing is one thing, but getting respondents to actually buy is another. So, how can a company communicate that it is the business of choice? What kind of information will get people to buy what it has to offer and do so instantly, especially in a hypercompetitive, highly marketed world? The answer is through positioning.

Top-of-Mind Awareness
In today's world, top-of-mind awareness is the most effectively provocative form of marketing available. The idea is to create, within the subconscious minds of prospects, a psychological anchor that causes people to choose when a need presents itself a company over another instantaneously.

In reality, the goal is to market one's business in specific ways so that the name, product or service stays at the top of their minds at all times. In other words, since people no longer have the time to shop around, when they do have a certain need they will go to or look for the one company (or product) that happens to be at the top of their minds at that very moment.

Ries and Trout, the fathers of the positioning concept and authors of the bestsellers "Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind" and "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing," state what I believe to be the most powerful notion in business, in that marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products. In fact, marketing is all about perception. You don't need to be the best company offering the best product at the best price in order to be known as the best. As long as people perceive you're the best there is, you have the upper hand.

However, there is a caveat: People want the best and that has never changed. But if you outright state that you are you then place yourself in a very fragile position, for people will think that you're either exaggerating at best. As an old mentor of mine once said, "Implication is more powerful than specification." If your marketing implies that you are the best without utterly claiming it, people will then perceive that you're the best and you will thus gain a winning edge over your competition. Top-of-mind awareness marketing is to be the best in the consumer's mind -- to win the battle for your clients' thoughts, not dollars.

Now, there are many steps that one can follow in order to effectively achieve top-of-mind awareness, but this deserves a book entirely on its own. So, let me share one of them with you, which is the first and most important step in top-of-mind awareness marketing: Names.

Names
Does the name of your business, product or service intrinsically reflect the nature or benefit of that which you provide? Is it suggestive? I am astounded to see many businesses today that are still called by ordinary or blatantly unappealing names, or names that mean absolutely nothing, such as with acronyms like "MGF Technologies, Inc." I agree that some businesses may have notable or even catchy names. But if they don't create top-of-mind awareness they won't create more business.

Consider this example. Which investment company would come immediately to mind if you were in the market for one: "John Smith Investments" or "Wealth Wise, Inc."? What about "John Smith, Accountant" or "A Knack with Knumbers"? Would you choose "JSI Brokers, Ltd." or "Money Mastery"? You see, your name is extremely important in order to anchor your firm and position it above the competition in the minds of your prospects.

If your name does not tell people who you are and what advantage people have in choosing you (i.e., the added value you bring to the table), consider changing your name, especially to a brand name that reflects the benefits of choosing your firm. Choose a name that communicates your unique competitive edge and does so clearly, effectively, and efficiently.

Today, with their very limited time people would love to skip the inconvenience of searching for that one company that offers exactly what they want. If they've heard of your business and want to know more, however, many will attempt a to go directly to you even before thinking about searching for the appropriate solution. But if they did not hear of you, their search will be vastly more simplified if your name conveys a specific, unique, and direct benefit.

Taglines
Another tip is to add taglines to your business, product, and service names. A tagline is a small sentence, preferably five words or less, that says all that you are in one single swoop. I'm sure you've heard of "The Midas Touch," "Kills Bugs Dead", "Just Do It," or "You deserve a break today." More than likely you know from which company these taglines derive.

Taglines are extremely effective, particularly in casting an aura of superiority or exclusivity without stating it outright. They usually complement business or product names and help to anchor them in the mind more effectively. Taglines are particularly beneficial when one is self-employed, running a home-based business, or limited in making claims due to the type of industry in which one operates. Through a tagline, one can create the perception of superiority and anchor one's firm or product effectively in the minds of prospective clients.

Here are some examples. Rather than saying "John Smith, Business Etiquette Consultant," say "John Smith, Where Protocol Meets Profits." Instead of saying "Jane Smith, Graphic Designer," say "Jane Smith, Great Graphics Guaranteed." Other than saying "John Doe, Fashion Consultant," say "John Doe, Flat-Out Fabulous Fashions." Remember that the more top-of-mind awareness it creates, the simpler the search for your business becomes.

For instance, if you were to put two products from two separate companies side by side, two products that are of the same kind, quality, and price, which one would you buy? Naturally, you would have a tendency to gravitate towards the one whose package is such that it makes the product appear as if there is more value added to its purchase.

This added value may be in the form of guarantees, lower prices, better quality, additional features, faster results, etc. Essentially, put a special name and possibly a tagline on your product or service that communicates this added value. If your product seems ordinary or is similar to that of your competitor's, make it appear extraordinary through its name.

A typical or even nameless product or service may be easier to sell when face-to-face with a consumer. But in the impersonal world of highly competitive marketing, however, the lack of human interaction takes away the emotional element as well as the ability to persuade or overcome objections. Therefore, a name must communicate that emotion. By doing so, it positions the product or service in the prospect's mind and empowers them to buy.

The object of names and taglines is not to claim superiority or to make one "look good." It is simply to turn the assumed into the assured in the minds of people (i.e., to make their choice a simpler and more confident one). If they don't have to assume that your firm or product offers a specific process, result, or benefit, they will likely choose you first.

For instance, most mechanics and garages offer free estimates these days. Not only do people assume that most of them do, they also expect it. This once extraordinary service has now become but a cliché. However, let's say you've heard of a garage offering "Free Fee Finders" or "No Guesstimate Estimates," or one whose tagline says "Where Estimates and Smiles are Free." And let's say you had to choose a mechanic and you specifically wanted one that offers free estimates. Let me ask you: Would you go to one you think that offers them or to the one you know that does?

Everybody Can Do It!
This process is amazingly simple yet so remarkably effective. If people don't have to assume that your company, product, or service offers a certain benefit, or in other words if you take the guess work out your prospects' mind, you instantly place it head above your competition. You might think this process is a little silly or even meaningless, but people have made fortunes by simply packaging ordinary companies or products -- even those that are identical to that of their competition -- a little differently. Remember the "pet rock"?

In the beginning, my consulting practice was dedicated to doctors. And during my work I often heard this silliness objection time and time again. But I still say that the above techniques can be applied even in these situations. For example, a dentist offers traditional general anesthesia and nitrous oxide sedation in order to make the process of dental work a pleasant and more comfortable experience. Many if not all dentists in his area offer the very same thing. However, he markets it with two simple words: "Dream Dentistry."

In essence, in today's hypercompetitive, overcommunicated world, top-of-mind-awareness is probably the best marketing tool now available. Through packaging, an ordinary company, product, or service can become irresistibly compelling. This is what I call "Glue for the Mind." So, make the ordinary extraordinary. Make yourself outstanding by making yourself stand out!

Posted by isoh at 05:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 13, 2005

"The Greatest Marketing Secret of All Time" by Michel Fortin

If there is something about which I am pretty adamant, it's the concept of attracting clients that are pre-qualified and willing to do business. And this involves many different things, but most of it comes down to three core practices: 1) Focus, 2) targeting, and 3) multiplication (such as focusing on a niche, market targeting, and multiplying one's marketing efforts).

However, this fundamental magnetism is not only based on pure marketing practices or strategies. It also involves something at a much deeper level that is far more effective than any other marketing tool or process. This "thing" to which I am referring is, I believe, the most important marketing secret that I can ever teach you -- and it's far from being a secret at all.

It is considered as one to a certain degree simply because it is often neglected or ignored by many businesspeople. What is this secret that's so elusive? Before I divulge it to you, I must first admit that it upsets me terribly to see when people tend to scoff their most valuable marketing assets. No, I'm not referring to salespeople or promotional activities. I'm not referring to prospects or clients either. I'm referring to dreams and passions.

"Marketing is not a battle of products, but of perceptions," marketing expert Jack Trout once wrote. If people perceive that doing business with you has an implicit added value, especially when compared to your competitors that are fiercely fighting for your market's attention, you will often end up with their confidence (and their repeat and referral business) as a result.

Of course, there are numerous ways that value can be added to your business -- e.g. by specializing, by branding your products and services, by presenting benefits rather than features, by delivering personalized services, by presenting a professional image, by offering something for free and so on. But the most effective way to communicate this added value is through the genuine, sincere, and passionate zest you have for what you do.

People have a tendency to gravitate toward other people who love what they do -- their enthusiasm, charisma, and authentic desire to serve others are instantly communicated through their actions and particularly their marketing efforts. Sadly, however, the marketplace is filled with so many people who jump into business for one sole purpose: Money.

They work for a pension instead of a passion. They are so profit-minded that they fail to enjoy the process. The great anthropologist, Joseph Campbell, said it best when he said that old cliché: "Follow your bliss" a few decades ago. Actually, that saying is older than you think. Chinese sage Confucius, in 500 B.C., said: "Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life." Author Marsha Sinetar wrote a book, entitled: "Do what you love and the money will follow." Peter McWilliams, author of "Life 101," claimed: "Do what you love and the necessary resources will follow."

Now, it's my turn. I say...

"Do what you love and the business will follow."
Well folks, there you have it. That's the greatest marketing secret of all time. It's to do what you love or to love what you do. And if you don't love what you do, then find it. Make *that* your bliss. As Jim Rohn once said, "If you don't like where you are, then change it! You're not a tree."

Doing what one loves is a fundamental marketing process. For example, when you deal with two people competing for your business, and if one of them has the "fire burning in their belly" (a genuine passion for what that person does), then how much more willing will you be to do business with that person than the other? How much more believable and credible will that person be compared to the other? And most important, how much more value will that person bring to the table than the other? The answer is pretty obvious.

Enough said.

People who love what they do generate far more word-of-mouth advertising. In subtle ways, they communicate that they are experts, that they are interested more in your needs than your money, and that they will go out of their way to please you. And they certainly develop far more enriching and superior customer relationships -- let alone referral-sources.

Entrepreneurialism has increased in fervor these days, and that's good. But as a result, the hypercompetitive nature of the marketplace will in turn increase the demand for more uniqueness, more competitive value, and greater customer service. However, if you love what you do, your passion will intrinsically communicate all of those things combined.

Just as people choose to work in jobs they hate, many will choose a business or an endeavor that gives them absolutely no sense of purpose. They attempt to earn a living and do so with retirement in mind (or the thought of financial independence), anxiously awaiting those golden years when they will finally start to enjoy their lives. (The funny part is that the future is guaranteed to no one. So, the key is to enjoy it now -- later may never come.)

Needless to say, if you do what you love (or focus on a business you enjoy instead of the money you want to earn from it), you will not only make money as a natural byproduct but also enjoy much happiness, satisfaction, joy, inner peace, and of all things, security.

How many millionaires out there have reached phenomenal levels of success but failed in other areas? According to Bob Proctor in his book "Born to be Rich," the list is endless. To make it short, he mentions numerous wealthy and famous Wall Street magnates in the past century alone that have ended up going insane, getting divorced (multiple times), going broke, suffering from heart attacks, committing murder, or even killing themselves.

Ultimately, if you do what you love or love what you do, you will naturally attract more business by the sheer fact that your passion is also communicating to others that you are offering the best solution to their problems. Why? You are offering them the best... YOU.

Posted by isoh at 05:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 12, 2005

"How to Work Smarter, Not Harder" by Michel Fortin

Online, I believe business success is certainly easier to achieve than its brick-and-mortar version. It's not a free ride and it definitely requires some time let alone work. But on the web, I also believe that one can easily -- as that famous cliché goes -- work smarter instead of harder.

Yet the challenge that most Internet marketers encounter is the fact that they feel their success is not coming as fast as it should. As Wayne Dyer once said, "They keep striving but never seem to be arriving." Most people jump into business with the hope (and often the erroneous or naive assumption) that their marketing efforts will lead to virtually instant results.

I can certainly appreciate how entrepreneurs, business owners and Internet marketers feel since, in my life, it took me years (and many of them) to finally learn the so-called "secrets" -- and enjoy the fruits -- of success. With two bankruptcies under my belt and numerous sleepless nights, it certainly was not an instantaneous, overnight process.

In fact, I was once interviewed and asked: "Mike, you seem to be an overnight success; how did you do it?" My wife loves that question. With a huge grin on her face, she answers my critics with a simple comment:

"Indeed, it took him many 'overnights' alright."

Experience as Priceless Education
I've lost everything a few different times in my life. I've had my cars repossessed and lost two of my homes. I was once forced to seek shelter at a local YMCA. I was reviled by my peers and persecuted by my own family. I was even forced to -- yes, believe it or not -- find a job. I even once had to work in three of them simultaneously in order to make ends meet.

But I learned from my mistakes. After falling flat on my face, I quickly picked myself back up, dusted myself off, rolled up my sleeves, shifted gears and kept on keeping on. In short, I didn't look at it as failing, but as educating myself and gathering priceless feedback along the way.

The truth of it all is this: Failure is feedback. And failure is probably the most common denominator among the successful. One of my favorite marketing gurus is without a doubt Dan Kennedy. In one of his books, "No B.S. Business Success," Dan explains: "Failure is part of the daily entrepreneurial experience." Therefore, failure is to be expected.

All this is to say that, while success is indeed possible, it is not an instant result like that of winning the lottery. And I'm not saying that you have to fail a lot in order to succeed. Moreover, I certainly am not trying to inculcate some positive, rose-colored glass, pollyannish kind of thinking in you. But as Jim Rohn once wrote: "If the man is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed him up -- what he needs is education to turn him around."

You Need Tools in Order to Build
In other words, there is no such thing as "get rich quick." But with the right tools, the right education and the right attitude, one can definitely get rich quicker. There are many resources and websites that can certainly help. I encourage you to investigate them.

As Bill Gates once said, the Internet will definitely create more millionaires than any other medium in history. Since the Internet is founded on both information and speed, the web's plethora of information and tools grant the entrepreneur the ability to achieve success faster than ever.

It took me years to achieve success in the offline world but only a small fraction of that time to achieve it online. And I believe that it's because, with the Internet, one has the ability to (quickly and efficiently) access knowledge, ideas and resources that were once unavailable to brick-and-mortar business owners. It's all available at the simple click of a mouse.

In essence, and I've said this many times: Learned experience is far better than learning from experience. And you have the ability to learn from other people's failures, setbacks, bouncebacks and successes -- these are, in my opinion, the most powerful weapons you can ever include in your arsenal.

Be a Sponge
The moral of it all? Learn. Keep learning. Use the Internet to learn as much as you can. If you can join the many resources available on the web (especially if they're guaranteed, like my own private website), do so. Attend seminars. Take courses. Listen to audio cassettes while you're surfing the web. Turn your car into a university on wheels by listening to tapes as you drive.

Remember that you can chalk it up to research and education for tax purposes. Personally, I have a library literally filled with thousands of books, videotapes and audiocassette programs, from the motivational to Internet marketing. The most popular ones (ones I often shop myself) are located at:

http://www.audible.com/,
http://www.amazon.com/,
http://www.success.com/ and
http://www.peoplesuccess.com/.
And more important, don't expect an instantly gratifying, panacean solution. It's takes work. Hard work. Like building a house, your Internet success still needs to be built somehow -- it can't be built by itself. But it doesn't always have to be hard work. You can certainly work smarter: With the right tools, your "house" can be built much faster, stronger and straighter.

Don't kid yourself. There is no magic wand out there that will do it for you. And trust me, there are a lot of "smoke and mirrors" out there (get rich quick schemes), especially on the web -- I've been a victim too many times. But also, don't despair after the first setback. Turn your setback into feedback and you will simply add more tools to your toolbox.

Above All, Learn From People
In my life, I was lucky to have several mentors assist me in my beginnings. One in particular will remain in my heart for a long time -- a man, Pierre A., who literally built a multinational empire out of a small, basement apartment business. Online, potential mentors (let alone partners, associates, colleagues, strategic alliances and friends) exist by the thousands.

In my free book, The 10 Commandments of Power Positioning, one should vigorously seek out alliances -- there are as many different forms of strategic alliances out there as there are online businesses. I also firmly believe that the web is an incredibly fertile ground for such arrangements.

Why? It's because the only thing that separates us all are computer screens. Cyberspace is indeed a cold world. And not only customers but also business owners are constantly looking for ways of humanizing their online activities. It makes perfect sense to finally add a voice if not a face to those plain text messages we receive in our email inboxes on a daily basis.

Second, if the online world doesn't know you exist, you don't. Period. But through such alliances you have the ability to leverage your visibility, your sales and eventually your success -- and quite effectively too, I might add. I guess you can say that it all boils down to the famous "Mastermind Group Principle" originally taught by Napoleon Hill. Let me explain.

The Driving Force Behind the Web
Mr. Hill, the grandfather of success principles, wrote in his book "Think and Grow Rich" that successful people are those who develop relationships with like-minded people. While the book was written almost a century ago (long before the Internet or computer), those principles still ring true today.

Strategic alliances thrive on the web. I believe it's part of John Nesbitt's prediction that we're moving towards the high-tech/high-touch, made in his book "Megatrends." Even psychologist Wayne Dyer once said, "We are human BEINGS, not human DOINGS." To paraphrase, we are real people and not just a bunch of commands, scripts and email links.

Lester B. Thurow, in his great book "Building Wealth," mentioned that most of today's billionaires -- including Bill Gates, now the richest man in the world -- do not really own anything. Unlike the rich people of yesteryear, these billionaires do not own oil refineries, gold, manufacturing plants or real estate. They own soft goods: Information. Not only that, what they only exists with the help of some unseen force (i.e., electricity). In short, they own nothing.

With today's knowledge-based economy, more people will become rich than ever before. Whether your business sells a tangible or an intangible product, selling on the web is still a process that's really based on nothing. So the key is to create alliances with the entities behind those nothings: Real people, because they can help turn those nothings into somethings.

It's a Small World After All
This certainly applies to customers and customer service. But it also includes developing solid relationships with other webmasters, Internet marketers and business owners to help build one's business. Of course, email is free for most and therefore an economical means of communication. But surprisingly, online discussions or chats, phone calls and even face-to-face meetings with some of the people behind those electronic veils we call web sites -- key people from whom you can learn -- can become quite positive and richly rewarding.

Being alone in a world of nothingness is indeed a cold prospect. You don't have to be. In fact, if you take a look at the most successful Internet marketers out there you will always find that there are some kind of partnerships, alliances or joint ventures somewhere in the mix. For instance, take the biggest launch in the history of the Internet, John Reese's Traffic Secrets, pulling in over a million dollars in one day... All because of the power of creating alliances.

Another example, my copywriters discussion board is maintained not by one but by a panel of Internet marketers who share their wisdom, successes and mistakes -- people with whom members can easily develop a certain kinship and receive priceless advice. More important, such forums can often become the springboards for many successful and enduring online partnerships -- they have been for me.

In essence, look at ways of building relationships online not only with your customers but also with others who can help you. Networking is not a concept strictly limited to multi-level marketing, affiliate programs and resellers. They also include suppliers, associates, webmasters, non-competing business owners, brick-and-mortar businesses, publication editors and so on.

In the end, realize that success is not an instant process. Most important, it doesn't have to be a lonely one. The most powerful tool that you can ever use to build your "house" is OPE (which stands for two things, namely "Other People's Experiences" and "Other People's Efforts"). But keep in mind that today, OPE also stands for "Online, People Exist."

In closing, here's my favorite quote of all time. It's from Jim Rohn and it's been hanging on my wall, in front of me, for over seven years. It goes something like this: "There are some things in life that you don't have to know how it works. The main thing is that it works. While some are studying the roots, others are picking the fruits. Success just depends on which end you want to be."

Posted by isoh at 05:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 11, 2005

"Advertising is a Numbers Game" by Michel Fortin

Ted Turner once said, "Early to bed and early to rise, work like hell and advertise." While the first part of that equation is probably the one I follow the least (sleepless nights working the web are just too many to count), there is an immense truth behind it all. To survive and thrive in today's hypercompetitive online world, one has to both work hard and advertise -- which are in my estimation two key ingredients of continued online business success.

Obviously, in order to put your site on the cybermap you need to promote it. But advertising alone can be a risky endeavor if you lack specific information. You need to know not only if your marketing efforts are working but also how they are working. As the cliché goes, "It is better to work smart and not hard." Well, working smart is where the "how" comes into play.

Most people wrongfully tend to make assumptions by looking strictly at the end results (in other words, sales). They fail to also look at the pipeline results. Pipeline results go beyond tracking the obvious. You need to know the number of leads a specific ad or marketing effort produces, the conversion ratio of those leads into customers, the costs-per-lead, and the value of each and every visitor to your site -- and that, whether they've bought or not.

Armed with this information, you will obtain at least three specific insights into the results of your marketing endeavors. First, you will know if your ad copy is pulling the numbers you anticipated. Second, you will know if your web site copy is successfully converting curious browsers into serious buyers. And third and most important, you will know where your ads are pulling the most leads (i.e., where you're getting the biggest bang for your advertising buck).

According to a study by Cognitiative, Inc.,* consumers felt empowered by vendors that they trusted and with whom they had built up an online relationship. Of course, any relationship based marketing approach (which should be included in one's marketing portfolio) requires repetition, credibility, and time. But relationships, however, must start from somewhere. And the initial steps one must take in order to generate in the very least the knowledge of one's existence are what need to be tracked. Here's what the study found:

- Consumers discover/find new web sites via:

Word-of-mouth (100%),
links (83%),
advertising (67%),
magazine articles (61%),
newspaper articles (50%)
and conferences (17%);
- And business users discover/find new web sites via:

Magazine articles (94%),
links (88%),
advertising (76%),
word-of-mouth (71%),
newspaper articles (53%)
and conferences (47%).
[*Source: Cognitiative.com -- Press release, April 1999]

Consequently, if you're going to advertise, particularly if you're going to invest in paid advertising and take advantage of that potential traffic mentioned above, you will need to know from where your traffic originates. Tracking is imperative to your online business' health.

However, there are a few basics that need to be considered beforehand. First, the problem in many cases is that most advertisers use institutional advertising to promote their site. They also have the tendency to place their dollars on what looks good or what makes them look good, and not on what offers the best potential results. Marketing that simply says "I'm open for business" but does not invite people to do something is impossible to track.

Direct response marketing is the kind that invites people, directly in the ad, to do something. Whether it's to click on a banner, buy a product, subscribe to a list, call for more information, or view a web page, the ad should lead to a clear and specific outcome. Thus, your advertising must contain a command, such as "click here," "buy now," "act today," "subscribe me," or "call for more info" This way, your efforts become quantifiable and measurable.

Next, you should set goals on what amounts of traffic you wish to achieve out of a specific ad or marketing effort. While you should be conservative, your goals must still be good enough so that you have a pretty good benchmark against which to compare your results. That way, if your ad is not producing the quantity of traffic you originally projected you will be able to take corrective action along the way rather than knowing about it when it's too late.

For example, according to the latest data from NetRatings, the average click rate of online ads is about 0.85%. If the traffic of the site on which you wish to advertise is, say, 1,000 visitors a day, that should equal to approximately 8.5 leads per day -- of course, with all things being equal and depending on the quality of your ad.

If you track your visitors and if your ad is not pulling at least 8 visitors a day from the site mentioned above, then you know that something's wrong with either the quality of their visitors (target marketing) or the copy of your ad (copywriting). Eventually, the more information you gather, the better equipped you will be to make more profitable marketing decisions.

For instance, if your ad has produced the expected traffic on one site but the same ad has done poorly on another, then you know that the problem has to do with the site on which your ad appears. But if your ad is not pulling at all, then you know that it may have something to do with the quality of your ad. Either way, it all starts with tracking and compiling the results.

It all boils down to this: Like it or not, advertising of any kind is a risk. But tracking your results and then working around them is to take calculated risks.

Posted by isoh at 05:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 10, 2005

"Common Sense Consensual Marketing" by Michel Fortin

One of the things most if not all Internet marketers come across at least once in their lives is "spam." Whether they've used it, contemplated it, rallied against it, or received it, the deceptively appealing nature of unsolicited commercial email as well as the gut-wrenching, mind-numbing, nerve-racking person-hours it takes to manage spam makes it the most detested form of online marketing. But the question remains: Why is it still being used?

It's Like a Drug
Today, while driving to a client in my consulting practice, I listened to the audio version of one of my favorite books, "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" by Al Ries and Jack Trout -- the fathers of positioning. One of their laws struck me in a way it has never struck me before, for I realized, now that I am online, how much these laws apply to Internet marketing as well. It also struck me because the book was written in a time when email was relatively unknown and "WWW" was thought of as an acronym for some new sports organization.

Law number 11, the law of perspective, states: In marketing, "The long-term effects are usually the exact opposite of the short-term effects." Al Ries illustrates this law with sales promotions and the way they work -- and work against you. While sales do help to increase business in the short-term, in the long-term the effect wears off and, like a drug, one has to inject more price based incentives to keep the volume at a certain level. Ultimately, a discount driven company will see its business inevitably decrease. As Ries points out, "Sales tend to educate consumers over time never to buy at regular prices."

Sex, drugs, money, and crime are all typical examples in which short-term gains can lead to long-term losses. But these hedonistic-like marketing approaches are not limited to sales promotions. With the Internet comes along another -- this seemingly unstoppable barrage of unwanted commercial email called "spam." Obviously, spam is effective and very profitable since, if it wasn't, it would have stopped haunting our inboxes long ago. However, in addition to the potential infringement of new business-related laws, the negative consequences of spam with regards to long-term profitability far outweigh the short-term advantages.

Credibility is Crucial
A business' most important asset is its credibility -- and more so online, for the Internet lacks the human element. (By the way, it is this very lack that often makes spam so attractive if not addictive, as some people tend to forget that people receive the mail, not computers.) Nevertheless, credibility in the faceless world wide web is like oxygen in its offline version: It's critically important and inescapably essential. Therefore, a more profitable, long-term solution is the creation of one's own opt-in mailing lists or the use of others that are opt-in, responsible, and targeted.

Consequently, ezines are growing with astonishing fervor. Beyond the fact that they help build trust and credibility, ezines help you to stay in constant touch with your prospects. People want to get to know you. And the level of value they attribute to their purchase from you is -- as unrelated as it may seem -- inextricably tied to the level of trust they place in you.

Sure, short-term band-aid solutions can produce good results. Sales and profits can be made with spam (or without the need for prospects to know you, for that matter). But like drugs, these solutions are only short-lived, which is why they must be continuously repeated in order to remain viable let alone profitable -- hence, the reason why spammers keep spamming.

Knowing you is the basis of any long-term business success. If you're in it for the long haul and if you want to remain profitable for a long period of time, then consider the converse -- short-term losses versus long-term gains. In other words, don't spam. Find ways to stay in contact with eager, interested, and consensual prospects. Publish your own ezine. Buy or rent targeted opt-in lists from reputable mailing list brokers. Get linked on as many other sites as possible. Most important, advertise in ezines... It's your surest and safest bet.

Needless to say, it is commonsensical that, if you sell a product online that helps to make life easier for your prospects, don't market your product in a way that negates or contradicts that very point. Use responsible email marketing strategies. The pitfalls of spam marketing will, in the end, cost you much more than some of its more respectable alternatives.

Posted by isoh at 05:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 09, 2005

"How to Multiply Your Marketing Like a Virus" by Michel Fortin

The big talk on the Internet these days is about "Melissa" and its copycat versions, such as "I Love You." No, it's not an adult oriented website or some new software game but a virus. And the devious (or perhaps even brilliant) way it works is that, after opening the email attachment, it sends more virus-infected emails to the first fifty people in your address book without your knowledge.

While we are bombarded with anti-virus warnings telling us to never open an attachment from an unknown person, how can we resist doing so when the email apparently comes from someone we actually do know (since the virus uses personal address books to multiply itself)?

In fact, Melissa uses Microsoft Outlook's mail merge command to actually incorporate the recipient's name within the body of the message, making the seemingly personalized -- and unsuspectingly harmful -- email to be instantly trusted. Because of that vulnerability, Melissa has been purported to be the fastest-spreading virus to ever appear on the cyberscene.

Nevertheless, we can certainly learn the way viruses work -- and, in the same way, apply that process to online marketing. Called "viral marketing," the concept is generally to proliferate the knowledge of your existence on the web through other people's efforts. Be it word-of-eye advertising, referrals, affiliate programs, joint ventures and so on, it all comes down to that fundamental business process called "networking." And according to Jill Griffin's wonderful book "Customer Loyalty: How to Earn it, How to Keep it," we are more open, trusting and loyal when doing business with or being marketed by people we know -- and we certainly refer them to others more often as well.

Make Your Net Work
Online, networking is probably more important if not essential since the web is dimensionless and expansive. It grants you the ability to reach corners untapped -- areas that would have been unreachable otherwise. However, there's a lot of hype lately about the benefits of networking, but I personally don't advocate traditional networking (the "I'm open for business" kind) because, in my experience, it hasn't brought me anything substantial in return.

While it can be a fantastic marketing tool, the way in which networking is conducted is often the reason why it does not produce any favorable results. When you're only networking, more often than not people will want something in return -- otherwise, they will lose interest or stop sending referrals if you don't take the time to recognize their efforts. And if you don't, you will paradoxically need to network even more, which defeats the purpose.

As discussed in one of my articles, a way to consistently reward others is to turn your networking efforts into systems -- in other words, to develop strategic marketing alliances. If you and your alliance share a same target market, you can effectively cross-promote or share markets with each other.

While there are as many different forms of systematized networking systems out there as there are businesses, one of them that has been quite effective for me is what I call "info-networking."

An info-network is one in which information is exchanged in some form or another between parties. It includes qualified leads that you can both share, or information about each other that is promoted to each other's market, clientele or subscribers. As long as your alliance logically shares a same target market but without directly competing with you, it could be potentially rewarding. For example, this includes swapping ad space in ezines, posting reciprocal links, exchanging banners, co-advertising, promoting exclusive offers, submitting articles for publication, participating in discussion lists, and so on.

But info-networking goes further. It also refers to mailing lists where you can swap each other's prospect or client lists. While privacy online is becoming an increasingly important issue, it doesn't mean that there has to be an actual sharing of such lists. For example, website owners and ezine publishers have opt-in lists that range from 100 to 100,000 people. Many cross-market their lists, such as offering single mailing "solo ads" (of course, at a cost). But if you maintain your own ezine or opt-in list, the advantage is that you can swap ads, "solo" mailings or listowner-endorsed exclusive offers with each other.

Joint Ventures, Affiliate Programs, and Exclusive Offers
However, there's another form of networking that may be more effective, particularly for those who do not share or cross-market their lists. I call it "auto-networking," which goes beyond simply submitting your site to search engines, other websites or "free-for-all" links pages -- all with the hope that they will produce something in return. It's a process through which you are constantly and systematically exchanging leads with your alliance. On the Internet, this technique is one in which a systematized method of cross-promotion between you and your alliance through a unique, joint marketing effort is created. It is also often referred to as a "joint venture."

For example, this includes the coupling of complementary coupons or special offers that are exclusively marketed to each other's market. While different, these offers are combined and marketed under the banner of a single promotion. Another is the process of amalgamating products, services or offers that complement each other's portfolio. If your alliance sells a product, they can add to their offer additional bonuses (products or services) from you, which may include an exclusive special offer for one of your products.

You can even create an entirely distinct product, service or information package from both companies and sold simultaneously from both sites. For example, you sell cookware online. You can easily team up with a publisher specializing in cookbooks and throw a book in the mix. While you raise the price and split the profits with the publisher, you instantly raise the perceived value of the cookware through a co-branded approach or a combined package of non-competing products or services. Best of all, you each market the "new" product separately while sharing in each other's traffic, market, lead-base and referral-sources (i.e., network) -- thus doubling the marketing effort.

Here's another: If you're a software programmer and you have created a program that, say, targets businesspeople, don't just give it away. Offer it to other sites that target businesspeople and let them offer it. While your program may not relate to your alliance's product, they both appeal to a same market and together make the offer more irresistible. In addition to the fact that your program makes your alliance's offer more palatable, if your shareware is copyright-free you get your software to multiply itself rapidly -- especially within a higher quality market by virtue of the nature of your alliance's business.

Ultimately, you can create affiliations, alliances, referral-sources, and centers-of-influence that can help propagate the knowledge of your existence on the web and, like a virus, multiply your online marketing punch. Focus on building a successful business using some of these effective strategies and the knowledge of your existence will spread like wildfire.

Posted by isoh at 05:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 08, 2005

"Hits, Clickthroughs or Unique Visitors?" by Michel Fortin

There are a lot of misconceptions regarding website traffic. Tracking visitors is often done with many different yardsticks, which vary tremendously from person to person and site to site, not to mention from marketing effort to marketing effort. However, these differences can often be quite misleading, especially for the would-be advertiser and aspiring Internet marketer. And today there is far more involved in the process than that to which most would tend to give credence. So how does one make sense of it all?

The web is evolving at breakneck speeds along with the way we measure it. First, it is not enough to know how many hits, clickthroughs, or unique visitors a site receives. For instance, banner ads that draw a lot of clicks are no longer considered important -- at least not as important as those from which these clicks are translatable into sales. What's important is the quality of those clicks -- or the number of qualified "interactive visitors" a site receives.

A case in point is an interesting article published in a recent issue of Business 2.0. Titled "Web Metrics," Steven Vonder Haar provides some fascinating insights into the erroneous perceptions of Internet traffic. He points out that the most common one is the fact that hits were and still are considered as the measurement of choice. However, with the Internet population exploding along with the dramatic increase of online business competition, added to the fact that netizens are now drowning in an impetuous sea of promotional messages, traffic measurement has significantly evolved.

According to Vonder Haar, "Some banners that draw downright horrible click numbers can actually wind up with more sales than vague online ad messages that get users to click but not buy." Rosa Aguilar, a news anchor at C|Net Radio, concurs. As she explained in a recent piece on "Banner Blindness," "While statistics have shown that click-rates overall are decreasing, clickthroughs are however becoming higher in quality."

In essence, visitors are no longer measured by quantity but by their quality. Although traffic has been long touted to be the key to Internet marketing success, today that's no longer true. What's more important is the conversion rate. In other words, today's Internet marketer must focus more on the percentage of curious browsers that turn into serious, long-term buyers.

Consequently, basing one's website traffic upon mere hits is really a "hit and miss" approach -- and definitely no longer enough. According to Vonder Haar, "Once users click, you want to know where they go." And that's what needs to be measured. Less than five years ago for instance, hits, pageviews, and clickthroughs were the popular measure of website activity. But today the tracking process has shifted to include audience activity and behavior.

In other words, webmasters are slowly realizing the importance of isolating the more important interested prospect who is looking at developing a relationship from the typical surfer. And subsequently, they are realizing the necessity in tracking their visitors' level of interest, loyalty, and activity. Simply put, all pageviews and clickthroughs are not created equal.

For example, if one website is geared toward financial investments and has 1,000 visitors, that number can be made up of teenagers looking for the latest gimmick versus prospective investors requesting stock quotes for a $10,000 trade. Thus, the goal is not to simply advertise but "to reach those would-be investors," illustrates Vonder Haar in his eye-opening article.

It is no longer important to advertise anywhere and everywhere but to advertise in specific places where targeted, prospective, long-term customers are -- that's the key. The successful Internet marketer's bottom-line is to get the biggest bang for every marketing dollar -- let alone every effort -- invested. If you're only counting the number of hits your site receives as well as the number of eyeballs in front of which your site or ad appears, and not the quality of the people behind them, you're wasting both money and energy.

Niche marketing is the latest buzzword -- and with reason. People are now drowning in information. And their resources, including this rare commodity called "time," have been cut extremely short. Therefore, finding a site that caters to specific needs or to a specific group is vastly more efficient than having to search the entire Internet. And consequently, focusing, targeting, qualifying, converting website visitors into customers and developing relationships are now essential to the traffic measurement process.

Here's a mini-lexicon of website traffic terms, including a quick look at the evolution and new methods of website metrics:

1) Hits
Hits are pieces of data (or files) requested from a web host's server. However, this primitive measurement includes not only the web page but also every other file that makes it possible (such as graphics, plug-ins, scripts, text files, style sheets, and so on). In other words, a single web page can easily translate into multiple hits. When one says that one has received over 1,000 hits, that could very well mean that the site received only 100 actual visitors.

2) Pageviews
Similar to hits, pageviews are files requested from the server but are limited to the web pages themselves (i.e., HTM or HTML files, or Hyper Text Markup Language files). While a little more concrete than hits, pageviews do not give specific information about surfers or their behavior -- as, for example, the length of time that they remained on a specific page.

3) Clickthroughs
Clickthroughs are the number of clicks (or responses) to an online advertisement -- often the measurement of choice for online advertisers. Again, while it's definitely a better measurement than the previous two, clicks do not provide in and of themselves enough information regarding the quality, the subsequent activity, as well as the level of interest of the people responding.

4) Unique Visitors
Unique visitors are tracked not according to the files they have requested but by their unique IP (or "Internet Protocol") addresses, which are much like online fingerprints (e.g., 24.112.98.21). However, not only does this process fail to include specific data about the visitors but it can also be very misleading. For example, many Internet service providers use DHCP (or "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol") -- like AOL, WebTV, and cable modem providers. DHCP uses a different IP address for every file requested, thus making one visitor look like many. In other words, a single IP address may not necessarily reflect a single and truly "unique" visitor.

5) Reach
A site is said to have a certain reach, which is the percentage of visitors randomly surveyed that have visited a specific page in a given month. Similar to the TV's Neilsen ratings, this measurement is very broad and nonspecific. It is purely a estimate and not a measurement. If 50% of randomly sampled netizens have visited a specific page for example, the site is then said to have a 50% reach. It is much like a poll where the numbers are extrapolated and speculative. This vague measurement, however, is often used as a tool for selling advertising space, particularly with the larger portal sites.

6) Interactive Visitors -- The New Breed
This is the type of website traffic in which surfers are measured multifariously to determine their quality and not just their quantity, which at the same time helps to measure the quality of one's marketing efforts. Elements such as length of stay, conversation rates, registrations, subscribers, repeat visits, referrals made, and so on are now part of the tracking process.

Interactive visitors give better clues to their demographic data as well as a site's return on investment. Items tracked include visitor loyalty, site behavior, and online registrations (such as with ezines and contests). While defining specific tactics on how to increase the number of interactive site visitors is far too complex, there are however two important key areas.

First, niche marketing is definitely at the top rung. As Ludwig Van Der Rohe once said, "Less is more." The more competitive the Internet becomes, the narrower your focus should be. And the more specialized your online business becomes, the more visitors let alone the more pre-qualified, loyal, long-term prospective customers your site will receive.

Second, you must enter into a relationship with your visitors. If you plan to increase your sales, you must provide your visitors a way to subscribe themselves to your mailing list -- be it an online community, an announcement list, a discussion board, a contest, or the commonest method, an ezine (newsletter). In essence, you have to start thinking in terms of being interactive with your visitors instead of merely being a silent billboard in cyberspace.

Posted by isoh at 05:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 06, 2005

"How to Increase Hits With Traffic Generators" by Michel Fortin

If you don't maintain a key presence online, whether your business is online or offline, your competition will devour you. Because the marketplace has become hypercompetitive and supersophisticated, access to information as vast and as fast as the worldwide web is all the more reason to market your company in cyberspace let alone to put your company in it.

Unlike phone numbers (or directories that list them in alphabetical order), web site URLs are found mainly through keywords (search engines), links, offline marketing, and referrals. In other words, they are found through third parties. Searching for your site will therefore be much more efficient if your company or product is positioned well -- in the mind.

Since the Internet is exploding in population and fast becoming a medium of equal stature to the TV and radio, a company not present on the web can no longer be considered as just plain old-fashioned. It will become easy prey to its competition and, more significant, to the negative perception of the marketplace that the product or service is also not up to par.

It's Not the Size That Counts
One of the biggest advantages of the web is the fact that the small company can look as good and be as effective as the larger ones. Current trends indicate that the demand for personalized services will continue to grow. Web businesses are not only more versatile but can also personalize their offers. Since a small business has the ability to closely tailor its products to specific needs, it is safe to conclude that the future of the web lies in personalized services supplied by small companies and individuals.

However, while they lack advertising budgets similar to those from the big guns, smaller-sized entrepreneurs can still obtain huge amounts of traffic through more economical means of promotion. These are not restricted to banners and search engines either. They comprise of many processes that should be included in one's portfolio of online marketing efforts.

There are emails, signature files, specialized directories, topic-specific indices, Intranets, strategic marketing alliances, links on non-competing web sites, buttons, discussion groups, classified ad sites (both free and paid), "opt-in" mailing lists, reciprocal links, newsgroups, web conferences, Internet chats, community-based sites, and specialized online discussion forums -- all of which can help market a company effectively online.

Think Link
Look at it this way: The greatest rule in marketing often taught in the academic world is "location, location, location." Online, that rule applies even more. In other words, your site must be located in as many places as possible, in front of as many eyeballs as possible and be as easily accessible as possible. Thus, the goal is to get others to link to you. How do you do that? To cover techniques within the scope of this article would be impossible. But let me share one of them with you that has been tremendously successful for me.

A great technique for generating traffic is to offer freebies. If your site offers free information, such as articles, reports, ezines, books, software, and so on, or a special incentive of some kind on a product or service you sell, use the "tradeoff" technique and ask for a link to your site in return. If you offer something of value, not only will people feel the need to reciprocate but also merely asking helps to elevate that value in the mind of the prospect.

In addition to freebies and special offers, you can also provide tools as a great way to get linkedCalled "interactive" traffic generators, some examples of tools include games, quizzes, surveys, polls, form mailers, referral functions, videos, search functions, directories, contests, article archives, and greeting cards. There are also reminder services, message boards and chat rooms.

Other interactive traffic generators help visitors to experience your site rather than just view it. But server-side plug-ins in particular are better since there is no need for a program to enable that experience. In other words, these plug-ins actually work on the site itself and not on the visitor's computer that may not have the needed software in the first place -- which is why I have a penchant for CGI or ASP instead of Java.

If you want to add more interactivity to your site, there are many scripts available that you can use -- and many of them are free. Some include:

http://www.scriptsearch.com,
http://cgi-resources.com,
http://www.sitepoint.com,
http://newmillennium.net,
http://www.codebrain.com/,
http://solutionscripts.com,
http://www.freecode.com,
http://www.freewareweb.com,
http://www.webaddesign.com/scripts/,
http://www.lakeweb.com/scripts/begin.html,
http://www.utoronto.ca/webdocs/CGI/cgi1.html,
http://www.webthing.com/tutorials/cgifaq.html,
http://www.boutell.com/faq/cgiprob.htm,
http://www.extropia.com,
http://www.speakeasy.org/~cgires/cgi-tips.html,
http://worldwidemart.com/scripts/faq
http://www.free-cgi.com/freecgi/
And http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts.
For JavaScript lovers, there are also:

http://javascript.internet.com,
http://www.javaboutique.com,
And http://www.javascript.com.
Overlooked Traffic Generation Tools
But one of the simplest interactive traffic generators that is often overlooked is the process of delivering pages of consistently updated information -- in short, fresh content. It can be as simple as changing the content of your site to reflect current events and issues, continually adding new articles and special reports, or posting past newsletter issues in a special archive.

The element of scarcity is also a great way to generate an abundance of visitors, such as by offering time-sensitive or password-protected information. With the latter, people who wish to view "secret" information will have to apply for it. For example, if you offer a free report of some kind, don't make it accessible directly to visitors. Have a form on your site that visitors need to fill out in order to gain access or use an auto-responder to deliver it.

Beyond content, offline traffic generation is just as important. And the first rule in doing so effectively is to specialize. The most common mistake newcomers to business make is to think that by expanding their portfolio they will secure more business, and nothing can be further from the truth. Specializing and narrowing one's focus will paradoxically broaden the likelihood of your site getting more hits let alone business.

Specialization is in itself a fundamental marketing process. It's amazingly effective in creating top-of-mind awareness among a very specific target market. For instance, an accountant specializing in car dealerships will get more traffic than a general accountant will. An online clothing store specializing in babies and mothers-to-be will get more business than a typical clothing store will. A photographer specializing in weddings will get more hits than a regular photographer will.

And the list goes on and on.

Specialization is often referred as niche marketing. As more and more businesses populate cyberspace, the less time, energy, and money people will have to spend in making choices for those with whom they will choose to do business. Therefore, have your website focused on a niche, a specific theme, or a particular concept. Think of a laser, which is basically a beam of highly concentrated light. You want to focus like a laser on a specific niche and in so doing burn your site into your visitors' minds.

Nevertheless, the bottom-line is that, while you can and should use them, never rely on search engines and banners alone for generating traffic. If you do, your competition will always be a step ahead of you. Be different, not only in what you offer but in how you generate traffic.

Posted by isoh at 05:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 05, 2005

"Design Your Online Success" by Michel Fortin

Website design has always been a fascinating area for me -- not entirely in the realm of graphics but also of flow, navigation, appearance, and content. I love to surf the web almost exclusively to learn about different feels and flavors. In the process of doing so, it amazes me to see how some sites appear smooth, professional, and refined, while others smack of being put together horrendously quick -- even when the company is reputably of high quality.

But website design is, in itself, a powerful marketing process. Many tend to forget that people make UPAs (unconscious paralleled assumptions) -- in general and especially in business. In other words, when they visit a website they will unconsciously assume that a parallel exists between the website's design and the business behind it -- not to mention the products or services it promotes. So, if the design is poor, unprofessional, or unclear, people will unconsciously assume that the product or company is just the same.

Regard for the human inclination to "judge books by their covers" is of utmost importance on the web, for the appearance of your site (that thing that appears on a person's computer monitor) is the only thing that separates you from your customer and thus is representative of the whole. Therefore, your site can either emphasize, support, or contradict your marketing message -- and do so almost effortlessly, even inconspicuously, and sometimes dramatically.

A large airline company recently conducted a survey among its passengers in order to perform some marketing research. The following question was asked: "If your food trays were dirty, would you assume that the airline also does poor maintenance on its engines?" And the answer was, as illogical as it sounds, "yes" for an overwhelming majority of participants.

In the "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing," marketing gurus Al Ries and Jack Trout made what I believe to be the most powerful notion ever conceived in the world of business, in that marketing is not a battle of products but a battle of perceptions. My mentor used to say that "perceived truth is more powerful than truth itself." Marketing is all about perception.

A website design can often project greater perceived value. If you place your website side-by-side with a competitor, and both of you offer the same product in the same way at the same price, the company that will win the customer over will be the one that, through its design, communicates to the customer that there is an implied added value in their choice.

In my seminars, I talk about the ketchup principle. Let's say you've just met a salesperson. He is dressed absolutely impeccably, gave a compelling spiel, is knowledgeable about his product, was thoroughly interested in your needs and conducted a perfect meeting with you. But throughout the encounter, you couldn't help but notice that he had a little ketchup stain on his tie. Now, if I were to ask you two weeks later what you remember the most about your meeting, the first thing that would pop into mind will likely be…

The ketchup stain!

As the old saying goes, "You never get a second chance to make a good first impression!" This applies even to the simplest of things. On the Internet, it includes your site's design and the image it projects. Therefore, pay close attention to your website's overall appearance, its appeal, its colors, its layout, its ease-of-navigation, and most important its content.

Posted by isoh at 05:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 04, 2005

"The Top Seven Mistakes Websites Make" by Michel Fortin

Throughout my research, I'm always surprised when I stumble onto websites that seem to offer great products and services but lack or fail in certain important elements -- elements that, with just a few short changes, can help multiply the results almost instantaneously. Generally, I have found that there are seven common mistakes that these sites make.

1) They Target the Wrong Audience
Often, this is the number one cause of online business failure. Traffic has been long touted to be the key to online success, but that's not true. If your site is not pulling sales, inquiries, or results, then why would it need more traffic? The key is to turn curious browsers into serious buyers. Target your market by centering on a major theme, benefit, or outcome so that, when you generate pre-qualified traffic, your hit ratio (not your hits) will increase dramatically.

2) They Take a Long Time to Load
Unlike the TV or radio, computers as well as the Internet are still in their infancy. Earlier, less capable browsers and slower modems are still the norm. If your site includes Javascript, frames, plug-ins, and dazzling memory-intensive graphics in an effort to impress, it will work against you. Many potential sales are lost due to a slow-loading, unbrowsable web site.

According to an article published in "Home Business Magazine," research by an on-hold phone message marketing company found that people start hanging up when put on hold for more than 30 seconds. The Internet is no different. If they have to wait for more than 30 seconds for your page to load, visitors will leave. In short, if they have to wait, they won't.

3) They do Not compel Others to Act
While some sites are well-designed and provide great content, their offer may be stale. They do not offer compelling enough reasons for people to buy or at least come forward. Visitors are often left clueless when looking for the answer to that burning question: "Why?"

In other words, why should they buy? Why should they buy that particular product? Why should they buy that product from that particular site? And more important, why should they buy now? Not answering that simple question "why" will deter clients and impede sales. What makes your product so unique, so different, and so special? What's your competitive edge? What's in it for your customers (what are the benefits) that they can't get anywhere else?

4) They Lack Scarcity
Jim Rohn once said that, "Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value." People fear making bad decisions. And with scams and snake oils being more rampant on the Internet, they do so even more when shopping online. Consequently, they tend to procrastinate and do so even when they're interested. While some sites offer great products and services, they do not effectively communicate a sense of urgency that compels visitors to act.

Use takeaway selling in order to stop people from procrastinating and get them to take action now. In other words, shape your offer -- and not just your product or service -- so that it is time-sensitive or quantity-bound. More important, give a reasonably logical explanation to justify your time-sensitivity or else your sales tactic will be instantly discredited.

5) They Lack Guarantees and Testimonials
Speaking of the fear of making bad decisions, today's consumers are increasingly leery when contemplating offers on the Internet. While many professionally-looking web sites may have an ethical sales approach and offer proven products or services, the lack of a guarantee will still, particularly on the Internet, cause most visitors in the very least to question your offer.

Guarantees and testimonials help to reduce the skepticism around the purchase of your product or service and give almost instant credibility. So, help remove the risk from the buyer's mind and you will thus increase sales -- and, paradoxically, reduce returns as well.

6) They Provide Poor Copy
In cold cyberspace, the lack of human interaction takes away the emotional element in the selling process. A site must communicate that emotion that so empowers people to buy. However, many sites fail to answer a person's most important question: "What's in it for me?" It should cause a person to think: "Wow! This is something I can't pass up! Where do I sign up?" A site's sales copy must be effective enough to make its offer irresistibly compelling.

Some sites get so engrossed in describing companies, products, features, or advantages over competitors that they fail to appeal to the visitor specifically. On the other hand, bullets are captivating, pleasing to the eye, clustered for greater impact, and deliver important benefits. They usually follow the words "you get" or "reasons why," such as "With this product, you get." Therefore, tell the visitor what they are getting out of responding to your offer.

7) Finally, They Lack a Clear Call to Action
Answer this million-dollar, skill-testing question: "What exactly do you want your visitors to do?" Simple, isn't it? But it doesn't seem that way with the many sites I've visited. The KISS principle (keep it simple and straightforward) is immensely important on the 'Net. An effective web site starts with a clear objective that will lead to a specific action or outcome.

If your site is not meant to, say, sell a product, gain a customer, or obtain an inquiry for more information, then what exactly must it do? Work around the answer as specifically as possible. The mind hates confusion. If you try to get your visitors to do too many things, they will do nothing. Keep your message focused or you will overwhelm the reader. Use one major theme. And most important, provide clear instructions on where and how to order.

Posted by isoh at 05:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 03, 2005

"How to Drive Traffic With Domain Names" by Michel Fortin

In my consulting practice, I teach my clients about the tremendous importance of communicating credibility. In an overcommunicated, overmarketed society, credibility has become increasingly vital. To a prospect that is receiving your marketing materials for the first time, your company may have little or no believability because you may well be totally unknown to your prospect. Along with the growth of online scams, the hypercompetitive nature of the Internet will make credibility an even more important issue.

One of John Naisbitt's "Megatrends" in his book of the same name is the fact that our society is edging towards what he calls the "high-tech/high-touch." In other words, the fact that we are advancing technologically and the business process is fast becoming almost entirely automated will parallel the need for a more human approach in the business process.

Today, we see that need being filled more and more through niche marketing, personalized services, customer relationship management (or "CRM") and specialization. And due to the lack of human interaction on the Internet, building relationships with your prospects will, as time goes on, become an element of greater importance in the success of any online business.

Brand Your Domain
There are numerous ways to build credibility, namely through the use of testimonials, guarantees and other techniques. These may be the final steps in convincing your prospects that you are credible. But the very first step is sometimes the most obvious -- and that's the image you project, for it is the first thing that is perceived by your prospects and the first step in building relationships with them. Although your goal may be to automate your business, you must remember that you are dealing with real people. There are many fly-by-night businesses and get-rich-quick schemes on the Internet, so anything new will likely be questionable in the very least.

Therefore, your marketing strategy must also include branding your website, which is just as important as branding your company or product. When I started online three years ago, I began with a free host and email account. I didn't see the need to invest in my own domain, having an already profitable offline business at the time. But little did I know however that the lack of credibility they projected was to a great extent the reason for many lost sales.

The reason for this is manifold. In today's world, we are constantly inundated with marketing messages. In his new book "The New Positioning," Jack Trout states that a child in the UK will have seen over 140,000 television commercials by the time he or she reaches 18 years of age -- and according to Trout, the US is "just warming up." The Internet is surely no different. It's literally filled with sites that range from sheer ads to others that are sponsored by them (leading to a phenomena called "Banner Blindness"). Everywhere we turn it seems we are faced with some form of online promotional propaganda.

Our job as consumers has therefore become so immensely challenging that choosing a business from which to buy has become a dizzying process. For a web business to survive and thrive in today's hypercompetitive marketplace, it takes more than mere advertising (the kind that says "I'm open for business") to make a web site successful. As marketing guru Dan Kennedy once said, "Institutional marketing is high-risk marketing," for the message needs to be continuously repeatedly advertised in order to work -- if it ever does.

Become a Traffic Magnet
Although advertising is the lifeblood of any business, today's message must therefore stand out among the commercial quagmire. And it must also do so in such a way that it creates not only traffic but also a need for what it offers. In other words, a company's advertising message must go from being "in" business to being "the" business of choice. Where people used to ask "why should I buy" or "why should I buy this product or service," today that question has changed to "why should I buy this product or service from your site?"

Simply put, today's consumer will choose one company over another because the perceived value in their choice is greater. People are given an increasing multitude of choices on the Internet. Moreover, they no longer have the time to sift through all that is thrown at them -- let alone the time to shop around for the best product from the best company at the best price. So how can a site communicate that its site is "the" site of choice? How can it heighten the perceived value in what they have to offer and stand above the competition?

Ellis Verdi, the once president of the National Retail Advertisers Council, coined the term "top of mind awareness" as the most effectively provocative form of marketing available. The idea is to create, within the subconscious mind, a psychological anchor that causes people to choose when a need presents itself a company over another instantaneously. The goal is to market one's site in specific ways so that it stays active in the minds of visitors.

In other words, since people no longer have the time or energy to shop around, when they do have a certain need they will go to or search for the site that happens to be at the top of their minds at that very moment. They will inevitably choose the site that sticks out the most, especially from all the marketing messages that are so desperately fighting for their attention.

Consequently, effectively creating top-of-mind awareness on the web begins with branding the most important element of a website: The domain name.

Elements of a Good Domain Name
First, top-level domain names have the ability to stick in the mind more effectively. The mind hates confusion. Simplicity is of colossal importance since long or obscure URLs can be easily forgotten. Rather than a name such as http://www.domain.com/subdomain/yourname/~subfolder or http://www.just-too-many-hyphens.com, you should get a simple yourname.com. In fact, more and more companies are dropping the "www."

In essence, the simpler it is the better.

The importance of having your own domain name goes without explanation -- it is the same as branding your business or product. But also realize that a good domain name that effectively sticks in the mind requires more than simply using a fictitious vanity name. There are three key elements that go into an good domain name: Mnemonics, credibility, and positioning.

Instead of going through the inconvenience of numerous search engine results, most people will attempt to skip the process and go to your site directly. They usually do so by guessing your domain name and typing a plausible URL in their browsers. How many times have you done that? Mnemonics are words (or a combination of words) that are easy to remember. A repeatedly visited web site is one whose URL, for example, sticks in the mind. Even if the URL is bookmarked, the site can be easily retrieved and will be visited often. "Yahoo!" (yahoo.com), "HotBot" (hotbot.com) and "Time Magazine" (time.com) are perfect examples of mnemonics.

People often associate long URLs with free sites or those of lesser quality. People have a natural tendency to make what I call UPAs (unconscious paralleled assumptions) where, if people notice that your site is hosted by a free or cheap provider, they will unconsciously assume that a parallel exists (i.e., that your product or service is just as cheap). Your domain name is like the cover of a book and people will likely judge your book by its cover.

Always remember that perceived truth is more powerful than truth itself. A top-level vanity name, especially if it's short and simple, will heighten the perception of the web site's value. As such, the UPA visitors will often make with a short domain name will often be one in which they conclude that the quality of the web site will be as good as the name implies.

Finally, the third element is the actual positioning process. If your domain name reflects your site's nature, result, or core benefit, and if it instantly communicates how different you are from others, your URL will be positioned above the competition in the minds of your market. Since this element is the most important of the three, let's deal with it a little further.

Benefit-Based Domain Names
People usually make a buying decision based on the kind of information that instantly communicates a specific benefit -- one in which there is an implicit added value in making the purchase. So does your domain name intrinsically reflect the benefit or at least the nature of that which you provide and does so in an instant? It should. I am astounded to see many domain names that are still called by ordinary or blatantly unappealing names, such as with hard-to-spell words, numbers, abbreviations or acronyms like "mgf.com."

Let's take the example of two different web sites that promote similar products: Investments. One's address is "wealthwise.com" while the other is "smith-brokerage.com." Now, with all things being equal and when placed side-by-side, which site will be the one more likely to be chosen first? Your domain name must be able to drive traffic to your site on its very own. It must communicate how different and unique your site is, even before it is visited.

Nevertheless, if people do have to resort to an engine, their search will be greatly simplified and vastly more efficient if your domain name intrinsically reflects the core benefit if not the nature of your site. Remember that most searches are conducted by topics or themes and not by names. Therefore, if your site's most popular keyword or benefit is within the domain name itself, that URL has greater chances of being in the top search engine results.

Play a word association game with your web site. Look for the word or group of words that would instantly pop up in the minds of people when a need presents itself, a need that your site likely fills. For example, stock-tips.com, art.com, free-stuff.com, allergy-relief.com, morebusiness.com and fastcar.com are great benefit-based domain names that effectively create more top-of-mind awareness (and consequently more traffic).

Domain Names That Drive Traffic
If the name you want is taken, then you can use the name of your product or service, or your company or product's tagline (or part of it) as a domain name. A tagline is that small sentence that follows your business name, such as "You deserve a break today," "Roaches check in but they don't check out," and "It takes a licking but keeps on ticking." Great examples include:

alwayscoke.com (Coca-Cola),
cavities.com (Crest toothpaste)
And, of course, start.com (Microsoft).
Ultimately, choose a name that people can remember quickly and effectively so that, when you advertise among a thousand of your competitors, your URL stands out and sticks in the mind. It is also good practice to register variations of your name, including different spellings. One of the reasons is to ensure that these unused domain names don't end up falling in the hands of your competitors. But more important, when people enter a variation of your domain name, they will still end up with your site as a result.

It all boils down to the fact that your domain name is a fundamental marketing system in itself. Be short, simple and memorable, and you'll see traffic soar.

Posted by isoh at 05:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 02, 2005

"How to Get People Into Your Site and Respond" by Michel Fortin

Like a newspaper as well as any direct response marketing process, a web site's front page must captivate its audience and cause them to read further. It must first grab a reader's attention and then lead them to a specific outcome. However, when the mechanics of that very first page are ignored, it causes visitors to click out of a site from the moment they arrive.

Although some websites get a large number of hits, many never seem to produce the anticipated level of response. This article does not focus on traffic generation or the programming elements, but on its content, copy, looks and consistency that will effectively captivate that traffic's attention. In other words, it is to compel today's leery and undiscerning audience to surf deeper into your site and to ultimately lead them to buy from you.

Every single day, your customers are bombarded with a continuous flow of information and marketing messages, and that the competition for their attention is exceedingly fierce. Therefore, if your site is but a silent billboard in cyberspace, it won't do you much good. You have to capture their attention so that not only you have them visit deeper into your site and generate sales but also have them visit your site again and again as well as refer your site to others. Here are some basic rules to follow when designing a front page:

Be Focused
Target your market! As the adage goes: "You can not be all things to all people." It's a paradox but you will indeed get more with less. This means focusing on a specific group of visitors. Cater to their unique needs or center your site on a strong, single theme. In other words, focus like a laser on your niche and, consequently, your site will burn into their minds.

J. Nicholas Schmidt is the master when it comes to the "theme store" concept. According to Schmidt, websites centered on a very narrow theme will create visitors of greater interest, and especially will generate leads that are much more pre-qualified and apt to buy. Look at it this way: When you narrow down your message and focus on a niche, visitors will be 50% sold the minute they hit your first page. Naturally, it will then be up to your content (i.e., your copy, offer and call-to-action) to take them through the remaining 50%.

Niche marketing on the web is particularly important since people do not have the time to sift through an entire site -- let alone a search engine or even the Internet for that matter -- to find exactly that for which they are looking. If your site is unique, highly specialized and focused, people will be inclined to surf deeper into your site once they hit the first page. Not only will the content be far more credible but it will also be easier to lead visitors to a successful outcome since visitors are in fact pre-qualified once they hit your site.

Be Specific
What exactly do you want your visitors to do? Simple question, isn't it? But it doesn't seem that way with the many sites I've visited. The KISS principle (keep it simple, straightforward) is immensely important on the 'Net. An effective web site must have a specific goal. It should have a clear objective that will lead to a specific action or outcome. If your site is not meant to, say, sell a product, gain a customer, or obtain an inquiry for more information, then what exactly must it do? Work around the answer as specifically as possible.

Don't be vague. For instance, is your site meant to be like a résumé or billboard that only advertises the fact that you are open for business? It shouldn't, unless you are intimately involved with that specific medium (i.e., you are a web designer or, in other words, your site is the product in itself). If not, is it to generate qualified leads? Is it to sell a particular product? Is it to solicit inquiries? Is it to increase memberships? You get the picture.

The mind hates confusion. Visitors can only do one thing at a time. If they have to do too many things on the front page, they will do nothing. If you want to offer a variety of different options, then try to focus on one alone and create other pages that are each respective to a particular action, and then link them together at the appropriate locations for flow. In essence, keep your message focused. Use one major theme and revolve your message around it.

Be Clear
When you are in the process of buying a book for instance, the one thing that has attracted you is the cover (if you're not aware of the author beforehand, and even then the cover plays a key role). If the proverb "Don't judge books by their covers" exists, it's because we as humans have the natural inclination to do so. Newspapers capitalize on that intrinsic human behavior, which is why front-page headlines, pictures, and news articles are always carefully selected.

In fact, the most read part of a newspaper is not only the front page but also the top section (or "above the fold"). Websites are no different. The front page of your site should be treated like the front page of a newspaper. Like the cover of a book, it should entice readers to surf further into the site and not lead them to take action right then and there -- unless your site is a single page. Focus on your site's major benefit "above the fold" and keep your copy to the point. Use bold, attention-grabbing headlines and subheadlines (even surheadlines) to emphasize a major theme and the benefit your site offers.

Why should a visitor surf your site? What's in it for her? Communicate to the visitor the reasons why they should browse further. A great technique for doing so is to use a bulleted list of benefits (such as when it follows the words "with this site, you get," "in this site, you will find," "by visiting this site, you will learn" or "here are the reasons why you should browse this site").

In one of my articles, I described the fact that bulleted benefit lists not only give a visual break but are also effective since they are short, to-the-point, and clustered for greater impact.

Present a problem and emphasize it. Focus on an existing gap -- the gap between a problem that the visitor is currently experiencing (or one that the visitor may experience without the benefits of your offer) and its solution. And then show what your site brings to the table by telling your visitors how, by surfing deeper, they will be able to fill that gap. The first page must confirm that there is a problem and show how you can solve it by surfing deeper.

Be Simple
Unlike the TV or radio, computers are still not considered as household items. While they are well on their way, the computer as well as the Internet are still in their infancy. Earlier computers, less capable browsers, and slower modems are still the norm. As a result, too much background, Javascript, frames, plug-ins, and memory-intensive graphics may work against you. Many potential sales are lost due to a slow-loading, unbrowsable web site.

Your site should download fast. According to an article published in Home Business Magazine, research by an on-hold phone message marketing company found that people start hanging up when put on hold for more than 30 seconds. The Internet is certainly no different. If they have to wait for more than 30 seconds for your page to load, visitors will leave. In short, if they have to wait, they won't.

Often, people say that our society has entered the "information revolution." Not so. It's the "access to information" revolution. The ability to retrieve information in nanosecond speed is the underlying drive behind the Internet. Therefore, anything that slows that ability down (such as by having a memory-intense front page), especially when compared to quicker loading competitor sites, will cost you in lost sales. Nevertheless, always keep in mind that you are allowed but a brief moment to capture your visitors' attention before they leave.

Be Professional
They say that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Good impressions are therefore important to the degree that visitors are positively impacted by the first page. It is where the selling process actually begins. It surprises me when I stumble onto some sites that smack of being put together horrendously quick -- even when the company is reputable.

Presenting a professional image on the Internet is crucial since the computer screen is really the only thing that separates you from the visitor. Consistency, color and content (i.e., the three "Cs") are probably the three most important elements of a repeatedly revisited and often referred web site. The front page must therefore be clean, concise, and clear. It must appeal to your audience by using a language that they can easily understand. Visitors often react with hostility to a site whose message confuses them.

As Og Madino once said, "It's the little things that count."

A final caveat, though. The first page should not be the only one that follows the above rules. Applying most of these pointers to an entire site should be carefully considered. Needless to say, however, that if you are able to make visitors pass through that all-important first page hurdle, then persuading them to take action later on should be a cinch.

Posted by isoh at 10:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 01, 2005

"How to Increase Sales With Payment Options" by Michel Fortin

In today's fast-paced world, ecommerce is growing at an explosive rate and most ebusinesses know that offering visitors the ability to buy online is becoming essential. The Internet is a direct marketer's paradise -- no, make that an impulsive shopper's paradise. And when customers can buy on impulse and do so in the privacy and convenience of their own homes or offices, the likelihood that more sales will be generated will definitely be higher.

Since most impulse orders are processed by credit cards, then having a merchant account is one of the key ingredients to a thriving online business if not an necessity. But if your site is e-commerce-enabled and you do accept credit card orders, your marketing communications should therefore include that availability, especially if you accept most major brands.

There are many reasons for this. Aside from informing clients that they are able to conveniently shop from your web site and process their orders expeditiously, the perception of added value will also increase. Your company and products gain instant credibility by merely "piggy-backing" on brand name credit cards -- even though the two are completely unrelated.

Give Your Customers Credit
When people are offered the benefit of both convenience and immediacy, the quality of your service will perceptually increase. Research has shown that options and value were the top two key factors in the decision to buy from one company over another -- price and quality were at the bottom of the list. (Price is never an issue -- it's the value behind the price that is.) If you offer the same product that a competitor does for instance, but only you provide different payment options, you will undoubtedly be in a much stronger position.

However, obtaining a merchant account and administering an ecommerce-enabled web site require a great investment of both time and money. Many businesses would love to skip the hassle and expense of offering online credit card payments, and others do so for those very reasons -- even when they are fully capable of accepting credit cards.

Moreover, many banks turn down online merchant applications since the Internet is regarded as an increased risk (i.e., the lack of signatures heightens the risk of chargebacks and fraud). In addition, the greatest portion of online commerce is made up of small businesses -- many of which are incapable of obtaining merchant accounts. Fortunately, there are solutions.

You Can Leave Home Without 'Em
Some companies now offer alternate ecommerce solutions where even the single-person business can profit from the web. They act as resellers or third party billing companies that, for an additional fee, will process orders for non-merchant client businesses. Some of these companies also offer a variety of online tools, such as administrative functions, shopping carts, scheduled payouts, and seamless, secure transactions -- often at no extra cost.

Their transaction fees may be substantially higher than those of standard merchant accounts (anywhere between 8 and 15%), but keep in mind that most of them do not require any setup fees, expensive software, equipment leasing, or security deposit. Such companies include:

http://www.ibill.com,
http://www.internetsecure.com,
http://www.ccnow.com,
http://www.2checkout.com,
http://www.stormpay.com,
http://www.payaah.com,
http://www.verza.com,
http://www.clickbank.com,
And http://www.paypal.com.
However, while many people own credit cards there are many others that do not (for one reason or another) or others that will simply refuse to buy online because of security concerns. These potential customers, while a minority, are often ignored as a result. It therefore makes perfect sense to offer clients several payment options -- the more the better.

For instance, some companies offer the ability to accept online checks (or what banks call "demand drafts"). Similar to credit card orders, online checking allows visitors to supply their checking information online (or even by fax or email). Once entered into a specific program, checks are then printed out and then deposited like standard ones. They include:

http://www.paybycheck.com,
http://www.icheck.com,
http://www.validcheck.com,
http://www.ibill.com.
And http://www.checker.net.
Did You Make Your 1-900-PAYMENT?
In addition, some companies grant businesses the ability to process payments by phone where charges for products or services are applied to a client's phone bill, such as with those infamous 1-900 pay-per-call lines (like Verotel.com and eCharge.com). Customers simply dial a specific number assigned to a specific product and the amount of the purchase is charged by their telephone company, which is then responsible for collecting the money.

While these alternate payment processing services may seem particularly appealing to those having problems obtaining or setting up merchant accounts, they shouldn't be discounted by those already accepting credit cards online. With the skepticism around online security, offering more payment options will likely increase potential sales let alone credibility.

Nevertheless, the underlying benefit of the Internet is the speed at which people can obtain information let alone products or services. Therefore, don't let the lack of it hinder your sales. The way to profit more quickly from the Internet is to be able to process orders more quickly.

Posted by isoh at 05:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 31, 2005

"How to Build Your Business With Discussions" by Michel Fortin

Bulletin boards, message boards, and discussion groups are excellent and often overlooked marketing tools. They can be quite effective because they help develop relationships with prospects and customers. From building customer loyalty to providing customer assistance, participating in group discussions or even moderating your own can help you build an excellent reputation with, and significant business from, discussion group members.

Similar to ezines, discussion lists are done through email. But the difference, however, is that subscribers may participate in the discussions as each person's emailed contribution is mailed to every other subscriber. On the other hand, discussion board messages are posted on a web page -- the top of the page being the most recent post. And the advantage of discussions boards over discussion lists is the fact that posts can be viewed by anyone.

Participating in these types of public forums is an effective and cost-effective way to build traffic. Not only are you capable of adding a signature file at the end of each one of your posts (the length of which depends on the group's guidelines), but you also have the ability to refer to key pages on your site -- as long as they are relevant to the topic(s) discussed.

For example, I maintain an article archive. During my discussions I often post links that lead to some of my articles as a way to back up some of my arguments or to offer further information. Not only does this help to keep my posts short and to-the-point, but it also gets people to visit my site if they wish to obtain more information on the subject matter or if they are at all interested in the topic being discussed.

Nevertheless, there are many topic-specific groups available on the Internet, ranging from interests to industries. And contributing ideas and articles are great ways to promote your expertise. For example, each time you participate in an online discussion you gain visibility and credibility for the few days that your message remains posted. But the key is to participate in discussions in which your target market is likely to congregate. In short, hang out where your potential customers do and your posts will be far more effective.

Moderately Speaking
While participating in group discussions is an effective marketing strategy, moderating your own group can help you gather a lot of useful information, such as marketing research and customer feedback. For instance, surveys and polls can be easily conducted in your group, and clients can be invited to provide suggestions on how to improve your product or service.

Additionally, by holding a live, topic-related online conference (also known as "chats" or "chat rooms"), you can demonstrate your knowledge and establish credibility with an audience that has chosen to listen to you. Some even allow you to record a transcript that can be published and promoted. So first, you must find a forum or board where your target market is likely to congregate. There are quite a few online conferences and forums on the Internet. Here's a partial list of some forum providers with which you can start working:

Delphi Forums -- http://www.delphi.com,
Reference.com -- http://www.reference.com,
MindSpring -- http://www.pipeline.net,
America Online -- http://www.aol.com,
Yahoo! Chat -- http://chat.yahoo.com,
NeoSoft -- http://www.NeoSoft.com,
The Globe -- http://www.theglobe.com,
Forum One -- http://www.forumone.com,
Dejanews -- http://www.dejanews.com,
Pathfinder -- http://www.pathfinder.com,
Portal Cube -- http://www.portalcube.com,
Suite 101 Discussions -- http://www.suite101.com,
Community Chat -- http://communitychat.com,
iVillage -- http://www.ivillage.com,
ThirdAge -- http://www.thirdage.com,
ZDNet Forums -- http://www.zdnet.com/community,
RemarQ -- http://www.remarq.com,
And CyberTown -- http://www.cybertown.com/clubs/forum.html.
Be my Guest
If you have found a forum in which you wish to initiate your own discussion or live conference chat, or one in which you wish to become the featured guest, first monitor the forum to get a flavor of what is being discussed. Verify previous topics so that you can choose one that's original and compelling to the forum members. Then start putting some ideas down.

Generally, forum administrators or discussion moderators will ask you to prepare a proposal for your own conference, or to email them a topic that you wish to cover. If so, express your qualifications on the subject matter. Include a recent article you've written that's somehow related to your proposed topic or expertise. Give a short profile with a list of credentials. Look at your proposal from their perspective. When you're pitching your idea, let them know that you're interested in doing a great conference that will, among others, help increase traffic. In other words, think of their motives as well.

If accepted, then prepare a short introduction as well as a list of suggested questions that the administrator can ask of you while active in the forum -- it makes it easier for them, and they'll appreciate that. After the event, get a copy of the transcript for your own use, edit it for style and professional appeal, and publish it in your various marketing efforts.

However, be careful. While the conference does handle itself quite like a verbal discussion, since it is written in an printed medium there are copyright and privacy issues that you must not ignore. When people type a question or a message, even if it's in a plain conversation, they're still the legal copyright holders of their messages. While you could simply omit their names, get their permission anyway -- similar to testimonials, names add credibility.

Ultimately, use discussion lists, message boards, online chats and Internet forums to help build your traffic as well as your credibility. And the beauty of it all is the fact that you can do it right from your own home or business…

No traveling is required :)

Posted by isoh at 08:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 30, 2005

"Privacy Policies Promote Purchases" by Michel Fortin

Today, one of the most important aspects of doing business online is the ability to build a certain trust among the people with whom you do business. What I call the infamous "3 S's" (i.e., scams, snake oils and get-rich-quick schemes) have somewhat found a niche on the web, and people are understandably cautious and leery of making a purchase online.

A recent article revealed that 64% of online orders are abandoned at some point before being processed. In other words, people will visit a site, decide that they want what it offers, proceed to the ordering page, and provide all the relevant details. But over half will abruptly end their purchase the moment they are confronted with the dreaded "submit" button.

Concerns about security and privacy are definitely at the root, for people fear that their information will be shared or misused. It is therefore exceedingly vital for an online business to not only communicate a certain level of credibility but also a certain assurance that potential clients are not abused in any way. In fact, some recent statistics prove this undeniable truth.

According to a recent survey conducted by the folks at AT&T Laboratories, research suggests that "a combination of privacy policies and seals of approval significantly raise people's confidence."

It also found that people are willing to provide simple information such as their names and even their email addresses to a certain extent. But when it comes to unique identifying information such as their age, phone numbers, postal addresses, credit card numbers, and social security numbers (or social insurance numbers for us Canadians), they run away.

AT&T's Lorrie Faith Cranor, the author of the above study, mentioned that people are willing to give information -- although with a certain degree of trepidation. But what mostly concerns them the most is the sharing of that information. To be more precise, knowing what a site will do with one's information is at the heart of the issue. Says Cranor: "Information to be shared with other companies or organizations is more sensitive. While respondents were concerned about the kind of information they provided to a web site, how it would be used, and whether it would identify them, the most important factor was whether it would be shared with others."

The crux of the survey is the fact that people felt most pessimistic about a site's use of "cookies," which are pieces of data that a web site uses to "brand" a user's computer in order to identify them throughout the site let alone other sites on the Internet. "52% said they were concerned about cookies," Cranor points out. "And most people said they had changed their browser settings to something other than accepting all cookies without warning."

In comparison to an earlier study conducted in 1998, the numbers have increased significantly. While the percentage of consumers online have tripled in less than a year, concerns about threats to their personal online privacy rose to an astonishing 87%. In a comparable Georgia Tech study, the "Graphics, Visualization, and Usability" study (or GVU), researchers found that 62% of respondents valued privacy over convenience when in comes to buying online.

In other words, privacy is a key determinant in the number of online purchases.

According to the TRUSTe organization, the Internet privacy gurus, consumers' fears about privacy impede online sales and therefore limit ecommerce growth. In fact, they mention a recent BCG Consumer survey, which found that 70% of respondents worry about making purchases online and that, if their privacy concerns are successfully addressed, the likelihood that they will buy will multiply immensely.

Consequently, having a clear, straightforward privacy statement on one's web site is undoubtedly becoming an essential component of continued online commerce success. A user's proclivity to buy online increases dramatically when a site describes what information is being collected, how it is collected, and how that information is being used.

Here are a few guidelines to follow when developing your privacy policy. By simply looking at the "what," "why," "who," "where," "when," and "how," you can start defining the necessary elements of an effective privacy pledge. For instance, here are some the questions that your privacy statement should answer (keep in mind that this is an example and not 'the' example):

1) WHAT information is being collected
Do you gather IP addresses, browser tags, and user origins?
Do you collect demographic data (e.g., age, income level, etc)?
And do you retrieve contact information (such as addresses)?
If so, what is being collected without the user's consent?
2) WHY the information is being collected
Do you need the data to administer your site?
Do you use it to customize the user's experience?
And do you keep it in order to communicate with the user?
If so, how exactly is it being, and will it be, used?
3) WHEN that information is being collected
Do you collect the information through online forms?
Do you use cookies or any other persistent identifiers?
And do you gather the data in specific locations?
If so, where specifically is the data retrieved?
4) WHO will be using that information
Will you sell, lease, or share the information gathered?
Will partners, affiliates, or suppliers have access to it?
And do you supplement it with data from third parties?
If so, who precisely is sharing or will share the information?
5) WHERE the information is actually stored
Is the information kept onsite or on any other server?
Is it sent by email or maintained on a certain database?
And are there any security measures in place to protect it?
If so, for how long is the information kept?
6) HOW to remove or modify that information
Can a one manage, modify, or update one's information?
Can one opt-out of any future communications or services?
And does one have a say in how that information is used?
If so, what options does one have in doing so?
For added convenience, you can have it done for you with a neat wizard supplied by P3P. And if you would like to use specific tools to enhance your site's privacy practices, The Privacy Page offers many online tools, such as web, email, telnet, and data encryption resources. And there are many others, such as the Online Privacy Alliance.

Ultimately, your goal as an Internet marketer is to increase your online sales. And the most effective way to do so is to ease your prospect's buying experience. On top of that, by catering to their privacy needs you will likely increase not only your sales but your repeat and referral sales as well.

In short, make a privacy pledge and they will take the purchasing plunge.

Posted by isoh at 05:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 29, 2005

"Mailing List Management Mechanics" by Michel Fortin

Obviously, having an Internet presence is important for doing business online. But it doesn't mean simply being a mere silent billboard in cyberspace. In addition to online (and offline) promotional activities, one has to maintain a consistent contact with web site visitors who, in most part, are potential customers. And one must interact with them as well.

Simply put, it is more important that your Internet presence "communicates" with your visitors where you build a long term relationship with them. With scams rampant online, people are understandably cautious. Thus, maintaining an "opt-in" mailing list not only helps to build trust but at the same time persuades those who need to see your message more than once.

Once you've set up a web site, optimized it, and submitted it to search engines, one of the next steps is to start building your own in-house mailing list. You should invariably offer visitors the ability to subscribe themselves to it and they must be able to do so at least on the front page of your site. More important, they should be made aware of your mailing list if not have the ability to subscribe to it on the front page's top section or "above the fold."

"Above the fold" is the top portion of your front page that people see in their browsers when they first hit your site, without any scrolling. It's really the most important part of your site. Like a newspaper for instance, the most read part is not only the front page but also the headlines and stories that appear above the newspaper's front page fold. Your mailing list should therefore be mentioned if not made available to potential subscribers at the very top.

Mailing List Management
Next, in order to properly maintain your list you will need a system that will help you compile and properly manage subscriptions. If you're using a simple email program or address book, they can become bulky and cumbersome after a certain period of time. Of course, there are also Perl (or CGI) and Microsoft NT (or ASP) mailing list management scripts available for the more technically inclined. These scripts offer webmasters the ability to maintain their own mailing lists directly onsite. For example, some can be found at:

http://www.cgi-resources.com/
http://sitepoint.com/
http://worldwidemart.com/scripts/
http://www.codebrain.com/
http://www.hostedscripts.com/
http://www.free-scripts.net/
http://www.free-scripts.net/
http://cgi.resourceindex.com/
http://www.scriptsearch.com/
http://www.thescripts.com/
http://www.siteinteractive.com/
http://www.cgiforme.com/
http://freescripts.com/
http://www.aspin.com/
And http://www.aspemail.com/
However, most Internet marketers are business owners and, if they're anything like me, they more than likely do not have the time to implement and manage their lists themselves. If this applies to you, a tool you will therefore need is what is called a mailing list server.

There are many server-based or web-based list servers (also known as email list managers) available on the Internet. With these programs, you can simply mail your message once and it will be distributed to an entire list (even a segment of your list in some cases) in just one easy step. List servers are useful for discussions and particularly ezines.

Newsletter Management
If you publish an ezine on a regular basis or plan to make announcements about updates to your website (you definitely should maintain a certain contact with visitors), a list server will definitely become handy if not necessary. Some web hosts offer list servers as part of their hosting packages while other sites provide the necessary scripts to configure your own list server.

For starters, there are several elements that you must take into account when asking for your visitor's email address, especially on your site. They include:

A privacy policy on the website or in the very least a mention (such as a notice) that the subscriber's personal information will remain private and confidential (this will start the process of building trust with them);

A form where visitors can enter their email address instead of a mere link, unless the link leads to another page with a form (forms have higher response rates over "mailto:" links for a variety of reasons);

An action word or phrase, especially on or near the submit button, such as "subscribe," "enter," "join," "enroll" and so on (in other words, tell the visitor exactly what to do, i.e., take them "by the hand");

And simple, clear removal instructions (on the website, on the privacy policy, in your welcome message and in every communication you make) so recipients can easily unsubscribe from your list at any time.

Mailing lists are not limited to email addresses that you've personally captured. They can certainly be leased or bought from a reputable, responsible, and ethical list broker. Keep in mind that bulk email (or "spam") is not the same thing as bulk (or "junk") mail. Unsolicited email uses a lot more resources and can be construed as an invasion of one's privacy.
Furthermore, the cost of spam is ultimately conferred onto the recipient (be it directly or indirectly, such as higher ISP costs), which in essence may cause more damage to the business in the end and especially to the trust-building process. While unsolicited bulk emailing may produce good results, they will be short-lived and cause more harm than good. But on the other hand, if the broker offers mailing lists to which people have voluntarily subscribed (and especially if they are targeted), you can achieve far better results.

However, there is no better way to bulk email safely and ethically than to do so to your own list of subscribers who have joined your list of their own volition. So start building one now if you haven't already. Even if your list is simply used to make special announcements or to inform your visitors of site updates, having an Internet presence is not as important as maintaining one in front of your prospects and prospect referral-sources.

List Management Programs
While you should start building your own list with the use of the following list management sites, many of them also list other mailing lists to which you can subscribe and submit your ads or articles, depending on their guidelines. When doing so, you should somehow invite people to subscribe to your list as well, such as with your email signature or article byline.

These sites include, among others:

eGroups: http://www.egroups.com
ListBot: http://www.Listbot.com
OneList: http://www.onelist.com/
Topica: http://www.topica.com
Greenspun: http://www.greenspun.com/spam
MakeList: http://www.makelist.com
SparkList: http://www.sparklist.com
Mailing List Manager: http://www.interlyn.com/mlm
ListTool: http://www.listtool.com
Lyris: http://lists.lyris.net
Liszt: http://www.liszt.com
Listerv: http://www.listserv.net
Majordomo: http://www.greatcircle.com/majordomo
CoolList: http://www.coollist.com
Online Magazine: http://www.online-magazine.com/listsvr.htm
Mail-List: http://www.mail-list.com
List-Universe.com: http://www.list-universe.com
World Merge: http://www.coloradosoft.com/worldmrg
Esosoft: http://www.iList.net
WebValence: http://www.webvalence.com
List Host: http://listhost.net
List Resources: http://list-resources.com
ICQ: http://www.icq.com/icqlist
Mojo: http://mojo.skazat.com
And Bravenet: http://www.bravenet.com
Nevertheless, one of the most powerful marketing tools for online businesses (and even offline ones) are "opt-in" mailing lists. Use a list server or list management program to start publishing a newsletter, to interact with your subscribers through a discussion list, or at least to announce important updates in order to keep in touch with your prospects.

Posted by isoh at 05:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 28, 2005

"How to Harness the Power of Electronic Books" by Michel Fortin

The underlying drive behind the Internet is the speed at which information can be retrieved -- especially at little or no cost. People can literally find out pretty much anything about anything at the simple click of a mouse. They are more informed, more educated and certainly more sophisticated than ever before.

Time, however, is becoming a scarcer commodity. People don't have the time to search the Internet in order to find the kinds of information that they really want, let alone the time to read it once they have found that for which they are looking. In short, time is money. And this is especially true for those who pay for their Internet connection by the minute or hour.

And in their attempts to retrieve that information, most people will have to swim through an ocean of commercial messages that are now drowning the web. As a result, finding useful, relevant information -- that is not overtly promotional or misleading -- has become a challenging process.

A mentor once told me, "Implication is more powerful than specification." It is more effective to imply one's superiority than it is to outright state it, in other words. Thus, self-serving information often found in fancy brochures, glitzy websites, blaring banners, and blatantly promotional email messages certainly counter that notion let alone turn people off.

However, there is a solution. A recent trend that is masterfully amalgamating all of the above important points -- i.e., speed, economy, and implication -- is in electronic self-publishing. Why are electronic books (or "ebooks," as they are often called) taking the Internet by storm? And why are they also becoming an essential marketing ingredient?

The Benefits of Publishing Your Own Ebook
The cost of publishing and delivering an ebook is assumed by no one -- neither the publisher nor the reader. There's no postage, no waiting, no handling, no printing, and no hassles involved. Best of all, people can download it almost instantly, or ask for it through an autoresponder and receive it within a matter of seconds. In short, the delivery is instantaneous.

While producing one may incur some costs (such as the cost of a software program that compiles your ebook), it is very little compared to its physical version. You only need one copy. There's no need to mass-produce your book and pay for the printing and distribution, let alone the physical storage space it requires -- you may have to pay once but only once.

Self-publishing is on the rise. And since the web is a major player in today's "information revolution," ebooks play active roles in helping self-publishers to profit from it -- also known as "infoproducts." Even non-publishers jump on the bandwagon and create their own ebooks in order to use them as promotional tools, traffic generators, lead generators or back-end products.

If you want an ebook, there's no need to visit a bookstore or to wait for it to arrive in the mail. Access is quick -- almost instantaneous in most cases. And there's no need to read it online or bookmark the site on which it appears, with the possibility that it will be forgotten somehow. It remains on the recipient's computer and can be read at his or her own pace.

Self-publishing also helps would-be writers and information marketers to avoid many of the inconvenient hoops through which one must go in order to get published in the real world. There's no need to send a manuscript to some publishing house in the hope that it will at least be considered, or to have a literary agent promote your book idea for a commission.

Ebooks Are Powerful Promotional Tools
It is also safe to say that people will need to visit your website in order to retrieve the free, valuable information that you offer. And by the same token they are given the opportunity to surf your site -- especially since they can read your book at a later time. In that case, give a URL that they must visit in order to download the book instead of the book by itself.

If you have a brochure or media kit, it can also be converted into an ebook and thus carry more weight. Since "implication is more powerful than specification," ebooks that act as brochures or catalogues will be read more like educational tools instead of self-serving, promotional ads. And consequently, they will communicate your expertise more effectively.

If you use a multi-step marketing process (see my own ebook, "The 10 Commandments of Power Positioning," which is free, ebooks can also become powerful lead generators. People who ask for your book are in fact qualifying themselves beforehand. They are leads of higher quality, as they are far more interested than those who you would have otherwise only assumed that are.

If you do use your ebook as a lead generator, don't offer it directly to your visitors. Capture their information beforehand. Use a form on your site in order for these leads to identify themselves to you. Simultaneously, you can ask them if they wish to be added to your mailing list (such as your ezine) or do so in the subsequent "thank you" page.

More important, an ebook is an effective viral marketing tool, either by itself or in concert with others. By giving away the book for free you can also give the recipients the permission to distribute your book freely among their own subscribers, visitors, affiliates, and clients.

Another example is the fact that ebooks also make great gifts. If you use referral systems, your book could be used as an added incentive for others to use these referral processes on your site. Also, ebooks can be used with contests, surveys, subscriptions, special offers, giveaways and bonuses.

You can easily conduct a survey with your website visitors or ezine subscribers -- especially for marketing research -- and offer the book as a gift for their participation. In fact, it could become a bonus item in order to entice visitors to subscribe to your ezine or affiliate program.

Ebooks as a Source of Income
If you plan on selling your ebook, delivery can be automated and even sales can be put on auto-pilot. Once your customers buy for example, they can be redirected to a special URL where they can download your book, transferred to a password-protected web page that contains your book or receive the ebook in an autoresponder email message (even as an attachment).

For an idea of how you can accomplish this, think of the times that you have come across certain online businesses selling ebooks as part of their portfolio. You may have even stumbled onto some websites that are exclusively dedicated to the sale of self-published materials -- including ebook affiliate programs. A great example is my friend Jim Daniels' own ebook.

As a lead generator, selling ebooks can become an even greater qualifier. If a person is willing to pay for the lead generator, chances are higher that he or she will pay for subsequent products or services. Furthermore, ebooks don't have to be sold directly. You can also sell them at wholesale -- in other words you sell licenses, not books (i.e., reprint rights).

You can generate revenue by selling advertising space in your ebook or even use that space for cross-promotional purposes. You can also generate additional revenues through joint ventures by combining your book with the products or services of strategic alliances.

But more important, you can develop your own affiliate program in order to multiply your book sales. Your affiliates are, like sales representatives, helping you to distribute your materials almost effortlessly -- especially since the commission structure can be higher than the norm due to the low (or no) cost of producing your book. You can use tracking programs such as:

http://affiliatetracking.com,
http://www.affiliatezone.com,
http://www.commission-junction.com.
Information Sources for Ebooks
Ebook compiling software is one with which you are able to transform your documents (created with either a word processor or HTML editor) into a single, self-executable file. People can simply click on the one file to read your ebook. Sites that offer such compiling programs (at varying prices) include:

InfoCourier -- http://www.smartcode.com/
WebCompiler -- http://www.webcompiler.com/
Hyper Maker HTML -- http://www.bersoft.com/
Acrobat -- http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/main.html
E-Ditorial -- http://www.e-ditorial.com/
Web-Source -- http://www.web-source.net/
BookLocker -- http://www.booklocker.com/
Publicity guru Phil Wiley offers a great synopsis and a review of these various programs on his website. But if you want to produce your own ebook at no cost at all, you have two options:

Create your ebook in HTML (as you would an ordinary website) and place all the files in one downloadable zipped (e.g., ebook.zip) file;

Use the free KeeBoo (they offer a user-friendly HTML compiler with a nice drag-and- drop feature, an integrated library and URL tracker, a highlighter and a notepad);

Or use the free PDF converter HTMLDOC (a free PDF file compiler, Adobe's file format, that makes your ebook viewable in browsers on both PC and Macintosh platforms), which can be downloaded at their site.
Once your ebook is ready for distribution or if you plan to conduct a contest where your book is the prize, you can write a news release that announces either your new book or your contest. Then submit your news release to the media, ezine publishers, book reviewers, list moderators and webmasters.

Moreover, you should submit your ebook (or news release announcing your ebook) to the following websites -- sites that exist for the express purpose of offering free stuff or making free contest announcements:

http://www.download.com
http://www.thefreesite.com
http://www.free-stuff.com
http://www.free2try.com
http://www.freehound.com
http://www.free-sweepstakes.com
And http://www.freecontests.com
You can also take one or two of your ebook's chapters and use them as teasers, or even convert parts of your book into separate, distinct articles that you can submit to other ezines read by your target market. Conversely, you can take a bunch of your articles and compile them (or articles of others, with the permission of their authors) to compile your ebook.

As for writing a book from scratch, don't rack your brains over it. Just write. Let it flow. Do some research and gather useful information that you can use or on which you can write -- but don't ignore copyright issues, though. Reference your material. Use footnotes, or add a bibliography or a links page at the end. Start with an outline if you think it's necessary.

Once done, you can then edit your book. However, if you still don't feel comfortable with your command of the written word, you can simply find an editor who would be willing to edit your book in exchange for some free exposure (such as with an acknowledgment and link in the ebook). If the editor understands viral marketing, he or she probably won't mind =)

Posted by isoh at 05:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 27, 2005

"Don't Leave Them Standing in Their Tracks" by Michel Fortin

While it is immensely important to create an abundance of website traffic, tracking and analyzing your website circulation is of equal importance. All astute marketers understand this concept and love tracking to a fault.

This goes beyond simply knowing how many hits or sales your site generates. If you want to be successful -- continuously -- you need to know how well your site is doing. This is not some marketing secret.

It's simply commonsensical.

More and more people are surfing the web, not in search of a product or information but in search of an experience. They seek a holistic approach from the sites they hit -- in other words, they seek sites that inform them, communicate with them, serve them and interact with them.

Therefore, tracking helps the webmaster and aspiring Internet marketer to customize, personalize as well as energize their visitor's online experience. Imported statistical data, such as user preferences, popular pages, time spent, online activities, historical information, entry and exit pages and so on, all provide a wealth of good information from which to work.

Today, I finished reading a great book by Bruce Judson -- a prolific writer whose articles have appeared in respected publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. In "Hyper Wars," Judson gave examples of how tracking traffic behavior is important in a hypercompetitive online world.

Bruce explains that, with Amazon.com, people are given a selection of titles based on a specific search conducted by a visitor. The selection is not at all some wish list put together by the folks at Amazon but an actual list of titles that others, who have sought the same title, have bought along with the book in question -- a totally user-driven approach.

While Amazon may have jumped on the cross selling opportunity bandwagon, this process can be certainly adapted to primary sales as well. Judson explains that eToys personalizes the consumer's search by offering a list of suggested toys according to children ages -- a list based on a compiled history of popular toys (i.e., pages) divided into categories.

Obviously, you may not have the intention nor the means of creating such an experience. You will certainly need connectivity with your transactions database in order to provide a similar process (and most of the software that helps you to do this is quite pricey, ranging from $300 to $15,000). But tracking at least some of the basics are crucial before you decide to venture in this area -- the rest depends on a little ingenuity and testing.

For starters, you should track at least search engine hits to your site. Some tracking software also provide the keywords under which your site was found.

For example, I've discovered that most of my traffic comes from only three major engines -- Yahoo, AltaVista and Google. Since my website is content-rich (with over 200 pages, it is therefore indexed according to many keywords), some of the most popular words found were surprising.

You can also track the performance of different affiliates and sites with which you've reciprocated links. More important, you can test certain words in, and different positions of, links on your site. For instance, let's say your site's index page in a given week received 10,000 pageviews. Out of that number, 10% clicked a specific link. By changing certain words, your statistics can reveal if that percentage has changed in the following week.

If your host supports Perl, use a free CGI script such as Web Logs to track your entire site. In fact, some servers already have tracking systems installed as part of their hosting packages.

Other software programs include:

Counted! -- http://www.counted.com/
Extreme Tracking -- http://extreme-dm.com/
Web-Stat -- http://www.web-stat.com/
SuperStats -- http://www.superstats.com/
Hitometer -- http://hitometer.netscape.com/
WebPosition Gold -- http://www.webposition.com/
WebTrendsLive -- http://www.webtrendslive.com/
Read a comparative analysis of various tracking software.

Beyond website statistics, there are also other tracking devices that can help you track email, activities, behaviors and even interests (in order to customize the user's experience). Here's a short list of some such devices:

GuestTrack.com

Since you are a busy marketer, you could hire someone to analyze your site traffic and/or use software to help you in the personalization process. GuestTrack offers content management and personalization web development products that can update your website visitor's profile when they view certain pages. Both pages and content are molded to fit the user.

CertifiedMail.com

Similar to Radical Mail (although not as sophisticated), Certified Mail does what its name implies: It certifies your email in pretty much the same way one would certify postal mail. They track your message and notify you of the date and time that it was opened. You can include attachments as well, including important legal documents, receipts, contracts and so on.

Nevertheless, visitor interactivity is certainly becoming an important aspect of online success. While it doesn't have to be as sophisticated as some of the examples above, keep in mind that your website should never be a mere silent billboard in cyberspace. Consequently, tracking your traffic can provide you with information that can be more useful than you think.

Posted by isoh at 06:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 26, 2005

"Can You Give Me Directions, Please?" by Michel Fortin

A recent eMarkter.com article revealed that online orders will grow from 12% of all transactions in 1998 to 30%, among direct marketers. The study, commissioned by both ActivMedia and the Direct Marketing Association, assessed how well direct marketers are doing online. (And by the way, they're doing rather well, thank you).

The study concluded that, because of the Internet, traditional direct marketers (i.e., the kinds that send you their coupons, offers or catalogs in the mail) are expected to see a whopping 150% growth in their overall businesses by 2000.

In an unrelated article, Red Herring -- a leading IT industry maqazine -- says that while direct marketing may not be among the most glamorous marketing techniques used online, it is nonetheless quietly becoming "one of the leading tricks of the trade." At a recent worldwide online advertising conference, Herring reports that both marketing and advertising professionals admitted the fact that online marketing is slowly shifting from branding to direct response.

Even more surprising -- or not so surprising, depending on which end you happen to be -- department store giant Nordstrom recently formed an online direct marketing subsidiary for their catalog sales. Explained in a recent issue of the Target Marketing Tipline ezine, Nordstrom Inc. announced that it will establish etailer Nordstrom.com (amalgamating both its current Internet and catalog efforts into one).

In the final analysis, institutional marketing -- the kind that only says "I'm open for business" -- may very well have its place offline. Undeniably, it may also work online for some. But aside from the considerable advertising dollars it requires and the fact that it is totally immersed in a never-ending ocean of information, "warm, fuzzy feeling" kinds of marketing online is very risky -- especially for small business owners who tend to want to imitate the big guns.

With the Internet comes the ability to gain the attention, consent and response of a click-happy audience -- at least in some way. (Whether or not one succeeds is a whole different issue.) But nevertheless, netizens are more intimately involved with the product or company they encounter on the web, which is why direct marketing online makes all the more sense.

In the Internet Business Informer ezine, a great article stated that the principles of direct marketing apply more so online. "While there is debate on whether the web is all about direct marketing or branding," claims its editor Rick Olson, "the fact is that you probably want to elicit some kind of response from your visitor." I couldn't agree more.

The bottom-line is that the Internet marketer, web designer or ebusiness owner must understand how to make effective sales presentations aimed at getting the surfer to take some kind of immediate action -- be it to buy into an offer, order a free report, subscribe to an ezine, refer a friend or click to another page. Beyond the obvious need for good marketing copy, there are many other aspects that a web marketer must take into consideration.

For instance, ease of navigation, proper linking, accessible forms, sales infrastructure, ecommerce capability and so on are just a few of the many preeminent components of a successful online business. In the end, they all help to lead visitors to specific outcomes and, concurrently, provide them with the necessary support in such outcomes.

As Donny Askin, founder of CommercialWare, said in a recent issue of Tipline, "E-commerce is a classic direct marketing transaction, and the awareness of this is growing" (rapidly, I might add). Therefore, ebusiness owners have a lot to learn (and gain) from direct marketers. Their visitors should -- no, make that must -- do something. And all too often however, this is what most sites unfortunately lack: A very specific, clearly defined objective.

"What exactly do you want your visitors to do?" is the ultimate question to ask. Not only must webmasters work around the answer as specifically as possible, but in order to take full advantage of the potential presented by the web they must also THINK like direct marketers. Without a response-oriented, user-driven objective, web sites will often leave their visitors clueless.

And strangely enough, the Internet marketer's worst enemy is not his or her competition but in fact the visitor that cries out: "What do I do next?"

Ultimately, it is safe to conclude that an ecommerce-enabled website is more than a mere digital brochure with sales capability. It's an intimate medium. It's a relationship vehicle. And more important, it's a direct response process. Even if the site's primary goal is to expand a certain brand or to merely inform its market, it should still somehow take the visitor by the hand and gently direct them to specific, favorable outcomes -- be it as simple as subscribing.

Enter "directional" marketing.

On a lighter note, some newsletters and websites have articles that look at the differences between direct marketing and branding, and some appear to favor branding, let me ask you this:

Did they get you to subscribe while you were there?

Posted by isoh at 05:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 25, 2005

"Publish Now or Perish Later" by Michel Fortin

Strangely, after it has proven itself to be a leading marketing tool, ezine publishing is still one of the most underutilized online business building methods. Beyond the fact that it is efficient and cost-effective, the intimacy of email provides ecommerce merchants with an extraordinary advantage over offline, more traditional forms of marketing communications.

Agreeably, email is still in its infancy and there's still a lot of ground to cover. First, email will become more effective as time goes on, especially once "spam" becomes a nonissue -- not because it is unethical, tasteless, unprofessional, illegal (for some) and all the other negative adjectives associated with spam, but because it is simply not profitable in the long term.

But second, new and interactive technologies are now being developed that will make ezine publishing an even more effective marketing tool in the coming years if not months. We have barely scratched the surface in terms of harnessing the power of email let alone the web, and the need to start using this yet greatly untapped resource is overwhelming.

Where the marketer's axiom used to be "publish or perish," the advent of the Internet has changed it to "publish now or perish later." In fact, the Internet used to be a place that embraced (and even fostered) change. But soon it will become a crucible consisting of only those who create it, therefore leaving the slow starters behind… Way behind. The web is all about change.

Nevertheless, having one's own newsletter (or at the very least a regularly published mailing to an opt-in subscriber-base) is a powerful way to attract not only prospects but also referral sources, affiliates and centers-of-influence. It is powerful in that a newsletter doesn't outright promote one's company or product, but one's expertise and value in the marketplace.

A newsletter is often more effective than an advertisement or brochure because the publisher is demonstrating its expertise in its particular field rather than stating it outright. Similar to public relations for example, ezine publishing is sometimes more effective because it comes from an apparently objective third party -- in other words, like a newspaper reporter's article a newsletter reads more like an educational tool rather than some self-serving commercial.

And therein lies the key: People are constantly bombarded with commercial messages everywhere they go -- especially online. But a constant supply of solid information that attempts to educate readers rather than promote something to them will place a higher degree of credibility in the prospect's mind on the company from which the information originates.

As my mentor in the professional speaking business once told me, "Don't be a speaker, be an expert who speaks. Don't be a consultant, be an expert who consults. Don't be a writer, be an expert who writes." I would add: "Don't be a online merchant, be an expert in the field (or on the product) one merchandises." Essentially, be an expert or a consultant, not a retailer.

That mentor also told me, "Implication is more powerful than specification." Again, one should aim at being perceived as (and not specifying that one is) an expert in a specific niche or industry. The newsletter therefore, especially if it's free, can inform prospective clients of what a company is all about before people actually make the buying decision. That "buying decision" may very well be as simple as referring another client -- and repeat and referral sales are indeed where the bulk of most companies' profits are often realized.

But the idea in delivering information through an ezine is nonetheless to target a specific audience, and to have the people who read the ezine want more and come forward to get it. With information being one the major shifts the business world has experienced, the ezine can also help make a company's presence known in a quicker and more inexpensive way.

In other words, the newsletter not only uses the more economical email system but it also delivers that information to eager subscribers in a matter of seconds. More important, it builds relationships and, in this day and age where consumers are more leery than ever, by offering a personalized approach it will position a company as one with a stronger customer focus.

Relationship marketing enables marketers to be in front of their prospects more and more often. If subscribers happen to need a marketer's products or services at any given time, or if they come to know anyone who does, the marketer is there, in front of them, when their time is right. Like a lightning bolt, the thought of a specific company (one that maintains a relationship with the subscriber) will come immediately to mind when the need presents itself.

"Out of sight is out of mind," as they say.

Finally, publishing a newsletter helps to position a company very effectively in the mind. Whether the subscriber will or not buy right now from the marketer, maintaining a constant contact also creates top-of-mind awareness. The continuous flow of information between publisher and potential client (or referrer of clients) can help to reinforce the unique, competitive advantage a company has over others within the same category.

Publishing an electronic newsletter should never be considered as a business expense. In a hypercompetitive marketplace that changes at the speed of electricity, one satiated with cautious, more educated and sophisticated click-happy consumers, it is an investment.

In reality, *not* publishing one is the true expense.

Posted by isoh at 09:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 24, 2005

"How to Make the Intangible Tangible" by Michel Fortin

Surveys show that the one great challenge people have found -- as both online marketers and consumers -- is the lack of tangibility in transacting over the web. In other words, how does one sell let alone buy something that one can not touch, feel, taste, hear or smell (or even see in person)? When one comes to think about it, it's a great challenge indeed.

The benefit of buying from a retail store and in person is surely the ability to inspect products, let alone the ability to meet the people with whom one is doing business. Rapport can be easily developed when meeting clients face-to-face, and products can also undergo their close scrutiny. But on the web, ecommerce changes all that. Those abilities have disappeared.

So one of the Internet marketer's greatest tasks is to market a product online in such a way that people can simply and easily buy it with the mere information they receive -- which in many cases is not a whole lot. More important, that task is multiplied since a marketer must also develop a certain level of trust with their customers. Merchant fraud, from spams to scams, is just as common as consumer fraud. Building trust online is critical.

In face-to-face encounters, one has the ability to provide answers to client questions, give product demonstrations, offer references at the snap of a finger and handle objections. Online, those opportunities are often nonexistent. So how does one sell in this virtual world without the benefits provided by personal contact? And more important, how does one build a certain level of trust that only face-to-face encounters can create?

Beyond the common methods of reducing skepticism around the purchase of a product or service (such as with the help of testimonials, guarantees and good sales copy), there are other elements that can help to add dimension to an often dimensionless online offering. They are pictures, samples and answers to frequently asked questions. Let's a closer look at each one.

Pictures
Whether it's books, cookware, vitamins, jewelry or even software, pictures talk. As the old saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." So turn your website into a three-dimensional catalogue. Add a scan of your book's cover (like Amazon.com does), thumbnail pictures of your necklace line, a shot of your software package like DynamiteCovers.com does, even if it's downloadable) or a graphic image of your vitamin bottles.

In short, give something people can visually appreciate.

In "Personal Selling" by Marks and Clymer (a college textbook), the authors state that computer-generated sales presentations -- with a mix of text, graphics, photos, animation and sound -- capture attention and arouse interest more effectively since they appeal to all the senses. In fact, the authors also claim that, with multimedia presentations, prospects are 43% more likely to be persuaded, will pay 26% more attention, learn 200% faster and retain knowledge 38% better. Learning time is also reduced 25-40%.

Look at it this way: Texts tell but pictures sell. However, don't load your site with graphics -- there must be a balanced mix of text and pictures. Use thumbnails (smaller-sized pictures that can be enlarged when clicked). Your graphics should be small and compressed (using a software or web-based services like GifCruncher.com or JpegCruncher.com) for quicker downloads. A page should be no more than 30-40 kilobytes in size.

But what if you sell a service? Graphics can also help. Adding a logo that represents your intangible product and especially its main benefit gives it an element of tangibility. In addition to logos, graphs and charts also help to make the service more appealing because they can help to emphasize the benefits that your service offers. Take for instance the raging bull logo and the graphs that appear on Merrill Lynch's site.

Samples
Can your product or service be sampled somehow? Free trials help consumers to get a taste of what is being sold before they make their decisions to actually buy. Samples sell too, not only because they're free but also because they help to reassure the client about the value of what is being considered. Virtually all products and services can, in some way, be sampled. Because of their nature, web sites offer a plethora of possibilities.

For example, a software program can be turned into a time-limited shareware download. A free online media kit can be presented to a potential advertiser. A free online consultation can show potential clients the value of a consultant's expertise. A publisher can offer a few free chapters (or even a simple copy of the table of contents) from the book(s) they are selling. A real estate agent can offer free online property assessments. A site selling exercise equipment can offer a free ebook on how to exercise more effectively. Ad nauseum.

But what if you really have nothing to offer for free? If so, offer an economical alternative. In reality, they are paid samples of the more expensive one (often called "lead generators"). They help to entice customers, with a cheaper version of what is being offered, into buying the central product or service. Sampling aside, these lead generators also help to isolate the true prospects from the suspects. In fact, it is more effective to market subsequent (and larger) offers to an audience that has identified itself as being more qualified.

FAQs
A page offering stock answers to common questions, or in other words a "Frequently Asked Questions" page, is a great sales tool as well. Ask yourself, "What are the most common questions asked about my product, service, company or web site?" "What are the most common misconceptions about my product or service?" and "What kinds of objections would I get (and how would I answer them) if I sold my product or service in the offline world?"

Offering an FAQ offers three important benefits. 1) It helps to allay any concerns the customer may have about your product. 2) It may answer questions that a customer may not have at that time, which helps to strengthen the sale and reduce post-purchase remorse (what psychologists call "cognitive dissonance"). And 3) it reduces the greatest killer of sales…

Procrastination.

FAQ pages are also great places to preemptively handle potential objections a customer may have about your offer, especially those regarding usability, warranty, guarantee, customer service, privacy and security issues (privacy and security policies should have their own, respective pages). Such answers should also address the 5 W's and 2 H's ("who," "what," "when," "where," "why," "how" and "how much") that were not answered anywhere else on the site. They can link to pages in which further details are provided.

Finally...
Of course, it goes without saying that an ecommerce-enabled web site should definitely offer those common (and truly effective) sales tools mentioned earlier: Testimonials with full names and not just initials; strong, hassle-free guarantees with effective follow-up product support; good, benefit-laced marketing copy; easy-to-find contact information in order to reach the people behind the site; and clear, straightforward privacy and security policies.

But pictures, samples and FAQs are also quite effective in giving form to this formless shopping medium. People hate parting with their hard-earned money. And the buying process in this invisible world can be a hurdle for most customers. But by giving something customers can appreciate, the hurdle can be removed or, in the very least, lowered to some extent.

Posted by isoh at 05:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 23, 2005

"Website Planning Can be a Sticky Situation" by Michel Fortin

"Failure to plan means planning to fail." -- Brian Tracy

There is no question that ecommerce is growing rapidly. From totally web-based to "clicks-and-mortar" companies (i.e., offline businesses with an online presence), everybody seems to be jumping onto the Internet bandwagon. The upcoming holiday season is purported if not feared to be one of the most busiest of all time. Online sales are exploding.

The reason for this incredible slope upwards is the fact that more and more people are going online. It was only recently that the number of online users was believed to grow to over 250 million by the year 2005. But according to recent NUA Surveys, the Internet demographic people, the latest numbers published in September of 1999 indicate that we're not too far off the mark already -- incredibly, with an 'net population now toppling the 200 million mark.

But are we ready? Maybe. But one thing is for sure -- many sites are definitely not prepared. Browsing the web one can easily notice that numerous sites have failed to follow some of the most basic principles of website design. Such storefronts may have great content, professional looks and good entertainment value. But if they are not making any sales...

Sergio Zyman, the former Marketing VP of Coca-Cola and author of the recent bestseller, "The End Of Marketing As We Know It," states that marketing's goal is simple -- so simple in fact that it is so easily ignored. Online, we see that problem all too often. As Zyman points out, the goal in marketing "is to sell more stuff to more people more often for more money."

Web marketing is not any different. The goal is also to get more people to visit a website (and to visit more often) and to get them to buy (and to buy more often). Undoubtedly, that is the number one key to success online. Agreeably, it is not as easy as some think -- and the Internet as well as my private site are testaments to that fact since they are replete with struggling marketers trying to get their wares off their virtual shelves.

So how does one get more visitors to buy more stuff more often?

Marketing is not just built on advertising and sales. Like Zyman points out, it's a symphony of carefully planned and implemented disciplines, strategies and tactics. While planning one's online marketing activities is a different and often more complex issue, simple website strategic planning is probably the most neglected of all web marketing strategies -- not too many webmasters consider website strategic planning as a marketing process in itself.

Strategically planning a website is not a simple issue either. To write about it within the confines of an article is virtually impossible. But to get you started, here are a some tips to guide you in creating an objective-centered website.

Web Storyboarding
Storyboarding is a planning technique used by many filmmakers. The object is to divide the movie into chunks. Producers place multiple sketched sheets on a large wall or corkboard. And each sheet depicts a specific scene in the movie -- including the characters that appear at that point in the film, what they do and say, and that particular scene's visuals and sounds. By looking at the entire storyboard, they can easily decide what exactly a user (or viewer, in this case) should see, know and feel with each scene.

In web storyboarding, designers can create a site chart (often called a "site map"), where each sheet represents a specific web page. But instead of using sheets, they design small boxes, which can be accomplished with most word processing or graphic design programs. Each box describes a specific web page and contains a summary of its content, layout, graphics and objectives -- thus giving each page a specific function within the whole site. Then arrows are drawn between boxes in order to trace specific user trajectories.

The end result looks similar to a flow chart where each box flows into another (or into many others). And arrows are in fact links between pages -- some arrows can be filled, dotted or dashed (the choice of which can represent different outcomes, such as primary trajectories, secondary ones, etc). One can strategically plan, with each box in the chart, what the user is supposed to see, understand and do, as well as where he or she should go next.

But some people prefer the larger, more visual approach used by cartoonists with their corkboards. Therefore, they take a series of "post-it" notes (those small, yellow pieces of sticky notes), write a brief summary of the page's content and purpose on each one, and place them on a wall. Once notes are created for every web page, the webmaster can then rearrange them, change them around, add some more and remove unneeded ones altogether.

Sticky notes can also be used to determine trajectories and user functions (by drawing arrows on additional notes that are placed between consecutive "web pages"). Alternatively, some like to stick their notes on a large bristol or dry erase board and, with a nonpermanent marker, draw the arrows between each note. The possibilities here are numerous and the technique can be adapted to fit one's style. In fact, let's look at some examples.

Going Up Or Down?
Generally, there are two ways to accomplish storyboarding -- and the choice relies solely upon a person's individual preference. One is called the "top-down" approach. A box or note is placed at the very top -- usually representing the index, splash or home page -- and others are subsequently placed below it for the rest of the site. In the end, the storyboard looks something like a pyramid; the deeper a user goes into a site the more content and choices one will be given (within the larger bottom layers of the pyramid, in other words).

The second technique is called the "build-up" approach -- the reverse of the top-down one. If the web designer already has several ideas for content and user outcomes, then he can start with the bottom. Multiple boxes are placed on the storyboard -- each one defining a specific idea or purpose (e.g., an order page, its subsequent confirmation page, an "about us" page, an ezine description page, a product showcase page, a special promotions page, a security and privacy policy page, an order form, and so on).

Boxes are then placed above them and act as pages from which some of the others stem -- some can also be placed below them to which others lead. Consequently, other layers in the storyboard either precede or support specific choices users make. Of course, some parts, layers or "legs" of the storyboard can end up being longer than others, such as those areas that lead to even deeper pages within the site offering more content or choices. But in the end, they all lead to the final page, which in reality is the first or entry page.

But site maps, arrows and user trajectories aside, the one thing to keep in mind in the whole process is the larger objective around which the entire site must focus. Before commencing any site, the designer must clearly determine the core objective of the site itself -- having it clearly defined from the beginning is vital. Afterwards, the key questions one should ask (and ask often), with each and every box (or sticky note) in the storyboard, are:

"What do I want my visitors to know here?"
"What do I want my visitors to do at this point?"
"What do I want my visitors to feel right now?"
And, "Where do I want my visitors to go next?"
Also, one should look at it from an all possible angles and perspectives. If a visitor ever landed on any given page within the site, will that person know where she is? Will that person know (and can easily choose) what she is supposed to do? And more importantly, will that person know where to go from there? Answers to all of the above will help not only in planning but also in developing content, writing web copy and improving site navigability.

Aside from having an objective in mind and working around it as specifically as possible, designers should also plan for contingencies. That is, they must look at all the possible trajectories and outcomes within the site. If a visitor decides to click into a different part of the site, it must be clear as to what they are supposed to learn and do, and where to go next.

Ultimately, webmasters should plan, plan, plan -- because, as it is often stated, a web business' greatest and most feared competitor is not another online company trying to wrestle for the lion's share of the market, but the potential yet confused shopper who cries out:

… "What am I supposed to do?"

Posted by isoh at 05:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 22, 2005

"To Up Sales, Up Words" by Michel Fortin

The challenge for many webmasters and Internet marketers is certainly that of ensuring a site communicates effectively to its audience -- especially when communication is at the heart of making profitable online sales. Of course, less than a decade ago the need to communicate in a language that the vast majority of people can understand was not an important element -- technolese was commonplace since the web was mostly used by programmers.

Today, however, things have changed. The population that surf the Internet and shop online is growing by leaps and bounds. And a good portion of newbies are, to some extent, computer-illiterate as well. In other words, the web catered mostly to innovators and early adopters during its introductory stage. But now its growing population consists of segments of the marketplace that would, for one and in large part, have never used computers otherwise.

You Ought To Be in Pictures
I once took a media communications course in which I discovered an interesting example of the way the mind works. As part of a given lesson, a videotape was shown of a televised newscast during which a journalist was about to give a live report on a forest fire that was devastating the midwest. The news anchor in the television newsroom said: "We now take you to Sally -- she's in the station's helicopter flying above the scene of the fire."

He then turned around to face the background screen, which gave a live bird's-eye view of the raging fire, and asked: "Sally, how big is the fire?" In a voice partially drowned by the whizzing sound of helicopter blades, Sally reports: "John, it's so big it's covering well over 140 acres of land -- if I'm not mistaken, for you and me that's about 200 football fields back-to-back."

As you can sense from the above example, people think in pictures -- not in words and certainly not in numbers (unless it is told to do exactly that). The mind is a simple organ and it hates confusion. It will naturally translate words or phrases into their visual equivalent. For instance, if I told you to think of a garbage can, you're not going to think "G," "A," "R," "B," etc. Your mind will automatically visualize some sort of garbage can.

Why do you think Microsoft Windows and the MacIntosh computer dominate the marketplace in operating systems? It is because, rather than having to type an elaborate command for your computer to execute, you can simply use your mouse, point to an icon, and click. Icons basically represent programs or a string of numerous commands, which are in fact translated into a language (or code) that the computer can understand once they are clicked.

The mind works in almost the same way a computer does. Like a microprocessor, the brain instantly translates what it is being told to do into something it can easily understand and execute. Some people who know little about computers may have a hard time understanding the various written commands, scripts and codes that the computer needs to process. But on the other hand most people can easily identify the icons that symbolizes them.

Use "Upwords" To Move Upwards
Therefore, because of the growing online population (which consists more and more of people that are new to the web, let alone to computers or technology in general) it is important to communicate using as simple a language as possible -- one that most people can easily understand. It is Mark Twain who once said, "Numbers don't stick in the mind; pictures do."

Consequently, use upwords in your web copy. "Upwords" is an acronym that stands for "Universal Picture Words Or Relatable, Descriptive Sentences." Stated differently, upwords are words and phrases that help messages to be easily interpreted by the majority of people to whom the message is targeted, such as with the use of examples, analogies, metaphors, picture words, etc.

For example, a challenge among cosmetic surgeons is the fact that people will call for a quote over the phone when obviously the doctor needs to see the patient beforehand (an initial assessment is always required, even by law). Obviously, cosmetic surgery is an uncommon process. Doctors will therefore use a more common approach, such as cosmetic dentistry, as an analogy.

Unlike surgery, most people have had their teeth done at some point in their lives. So doctors will say: "Like a dentist, I can not give an estimate over the phone without any x-rays of your teeth let alone the knowledge of how many cavities you actually have." People who call a cosmetic surgeon for a quote now understand not only the reason but also the importance of seeing the doctor, in person, in order to obtain an accurate estimate.

Web marketers are certainly in a similar position. Many tend to communicate in a language that only a mere few will fully understand. For example, if you're a computer programmer trying to sell your services to clients who have recently connected to the web, and your copy is laced with complex technical jargon that only veteran surfers could understand, you will obviously do very poorly. You must therefore mold your message in a way that it can be easily understood by your target market. Speak their language, in other words.

If your market consists of artists, use art examples. If your market consists of managers, use business analogies. If your market consists of florists, use metaphors that florists can understand -- such as "email messages from your clients are like fresh-cut roses; they need to be handled efficiently and, if handled improperly, can prick you and hurt your business."

Of course, there are many more ways of applying upwords to your sales or website copy. Here are some brief examples of how to mold your online message in order to communicate more effectively to your market.

1) Repetitious Words
As the adage goes, "Repetition is the parent of learning." Repetition aids comprehension especially of complex, critical or important ideas. However, the key here is not to repeat the same words over and over but to use different examples to illustrate your point. To that end, substitute certain words with synonyms and add new pieces of information each time the idea is repeated. For instance, in order to drive the message "privacy policies promote purchases" home, it can be repeated with the following:

"Privacy statements increase sales,"
"Confidentiality is a key to online success,"
And "respecting visitors' privacy is profitable"
2) Emotional Words
Again, words are not messages in themselves -- they are merely symbols. As such, they have different meanings to each of us and therefore can be interpreted differently. While many words can be used to communicate a single message, your choice of words can actually alter the emotional impact of your message. For example:

Instead of saying "cost," say "investment,"
Instead of saying beautiful "teeth," say beautiful "smiles,"
Instead of saying "skinny," say "slim" or "slender,"
Instead of saying "products" or "services," say "solutions,"
Instead of saying "cost-effective," say "return on investment,"
And instead of saying "house," say "home."
3) Positive Words
As copywriter, Rachel McAlpine, often says, "Avoid using negative words -- say what it is, not what it isn't." Cosmetic surgeon Maxwell Maltz, who wrote the bestselling book "Psycho-Cybernetics," states that the brain is a goal-seeking organ -- it needs a goal in order to function. For example, if I told you *not* to think of a white carnation you will have hard time since your brain needs a goal -- it will naturally picture what it is supposed to avoid because the mind can not function when blank.

On the other hand, if I told you to think of a pink carnation, you will naturally think of a pink carnation -- I gave your mind a goal. As a result, by stating what something isn't can actually be counterproductive since it is still directing the mind, albeit in the opposite way. If I told you that dental work is painless for instance, your mind will still focus on the word "pain" in "pain-less." Here are some examples of using positive words:

Instead of saying "inexpensive," say "economical,"
Instead of saying "this procedure is painless," say "there's
little discomfort" or "this procedure is quite comfortable,"
And instead of saying "this software is error-free" or
"foolproof," say "this software is consistent" or "stable."
Nevertheless, one of the most negative words we often use in the English language is surely the word "but." "Buts" can turn any message, which in essence may be positive, into a negative. In addition, a statement followed by the word "but" often subtly communicates to others that what was said up to that point was really a lie and what follows is the truth. Do you remember when a former girlfriend or boyfriend dumped you? They probably said: "You're a really nice guy and I like going out with you, but..." (You know the rest.)

Consequently, leave the "but" out -- instead, use "and" and focus on the positive. If you're a website designer for example, then instead of saying "it's a great website BUT very expensive," say "it's an excellent website AND worth every cent." Instead of saying "it's a versatile website BUT it's going to take at least a month to put it together," say "it's a versatile website AND it will only take thirty days to get it up and running." Can you see the difference?

Keep in mind that the online population is diverse. We all come from different backgrounds -- our education, experiences and environment help to condition our thinking over time. Therefore, in order to be understood by your target market, use analogies, metaphors and picture words that will make your message easier to understand by their personal set of circumstances -- because, as Jack Trout once said, "A word is worth a thousand pictures."

Posted by isoh at 05:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 21, 2005

"7 Direct Mail Secrets Guaranteed To Create A Stampede Of New Business" By Yanik Silver

Even in this digital age of email and the Internet everyone still has a real mailbox. According to "Direct Marketing" magazine, over $36 billion was spent last year on direct mail, eclipsing both print and broadcast.

However, the majority of small businesses still do not use direct mail as effectively as their larger counterparts.

You see, dollar-for-dollar, nothing provides a better return on investment than direct mail and it doesn't matter what product or service you sell.

Think about it. A sales letter is the most powerful employee you could ever hire. For about the price of a cup of coffee - it will relentlessly go out and deliver your message perfectly, every time. It will never call in sick. It will never complain. And it will never quit on you. Simply put, a powerful sales letter is like having a little automatic, money-making robot working for you, tirelessly...day and night.

And inside this report you'll discover the secrets to creating that winning sales letter. So let's get started...

If you think "junk-mail" doesn't work...you're absolutely right! However using highly targeted direct mail will almost always work. Maybe you've heard that 1% or 2% is the industry standard - well I'll show you how you can multiply that figure many times over.

A common story I hear from my clients is how they mail out thousands of glossy, beautiful brochures with pretty pictures, flowery text and everything looking absolutely gorgeous, but they get ZERO response. So they mistakenly believe direct mail does not work.

What could be the problem?

You see direct mail when done wrong is almost always a huge waste of money. But when it's done right you can expect tremendous results and profits. That's why doing right only means only one thing in my book - getting RESULTS!

Direct mail can become the most predictable and consistent way to generate more customers, yet most businesses are guilty of doing it wrong simply because they've never been taught these jealously-guarded secrets.

With these 7 secrets your next mailing campaign will be a massive success.

=====================================================

Secret #1:
Your List Is The First And Foremost

=====================================================

Your mailing list is essential to your success. Let's say you were selling snow tires - you wouldn't want to send out your offer to people in Phoenix, right?

Well as silly as this sounds, many people will make this same mistake. You cannot just pick a random resident list of nearby Zip codes to your office. What you need to do is consider who your ideal customer would be and then find a way to target your message directly to them.

With direct mail, you're given the opportunity to use laser-beam, pinpoint accuracy to specifically target your message. And thanks o the growing direct marketing industry, privacy is dead in America.

So if you told me your ideal customer is a man age 45-55, who drives a Chevy Chevette, who lives with his parents, who watches Pro Wrestling, and who goes bowling once a week - I can get you that list. It might not be that big of a list, but it is available.

Now you probably don't need to be as specific as this but you can.

**There are two major types of lists available.**

1. The first kind of list is simply compiled information, taken from directories, phone books, motor vehicle records, etc.

Probably the most common way of using a compiled list is to buy a geographic list, like all the residents around a 5 mile radius of your office. Usually this will not yield the greatest results.

Another way is to segment a compiled list is by demographics (that's the fancy term for age, sex, income, whatever). This is a little better way to target. For example you could specify you only want females, age 50-65, who earn $75k and above.

But there is an even better way is to combine them using "Geo/Demo" characteristics.

You can pick certain geographic areas and certain demographic characteristics that you desire. Think of your ideal prospect, the more you know about them the better targeted lists you can purchase.

For most people a good starting point is to comb through your customer records to find common characteristics, like region, age, etc. Or if you sell business to business then you should try to look for common industries or SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes that a majority of your business comes from. Your goal is try to *clone* your best customers!

2. The second type (and much more valuable) is called a direct response list. These are lists of people who have bought or responded to direct marketing.

In some cases it will make more sense for you to buy a mail order list. The people on this list have bought something from direct response methods (mail, print ads, infomercials, etc.).

This kind of list is the most specific you can get. To get an idea of what I'm talking about go down to your local Library and ask the librarian for the SRDS (The Standard Rate and Data Services) Direct Mail List Source Directory, usually in the reference section. Or you can get more information on http://www.srds.com.

The SRDS is a huge, 4" thick reference book with nearly every public list available for rental -- it's the bible for direct mailers.

Just glancing through this book you can find lists of buyers of almost anything that has some affinity to what you're selling. The best part about these lists is that you know these people have a high interest in whatever they bought. So if you're an Accountant, you could rent a list of people who bought tax planning information by mail.

Or maybe you're a dentist, what better list could you find for a teeth whitening offer than someone who just bought a tooth whitening product from an infomercial?

What you want is a "starving crowd," somebody who has expressed an interest in looking better. Somebody who has paid money. And that's exactly who you can find using direct response lists.

But there's one more list that almost everyone forgets. It's literally a gold-mine lying at your feet. And that's your *own* list!

If you have not put all your customer's names and addresses into a database you're overlooking an incredible source of added business. This list will be the most powerful list and responsive list you can use for any offers because these people already trust you and like doing business with you.

This is critically important. Especially if you're in a business that typically doesn't keep their customer names and addresses because you're missing an incredible amount of money. Maybe you're a retailer or a restaurant owner -- make it a habit for your staff to collect customer names! It is absolutely critical! I cannot stress this enough.

=====================================================

Secret #2: How To Get Your Letter Opened and Most Importantly, Read

=====================================================

The first thing you need to do is to get your letter delivered. I know this sounds silly, but it's more difficult than you think. Many consultants will tell you to save money by using 'bulk-mail' postage or as its now called 'standard rate'. Bulk rate is the dumpster rate. After taking the proper steps to get the best list, don't blow it by being cheap on the postage.

In fact, the Post Office freely admits that 20%-30% of all bulk mail gets thrown out for various reasons. The reason is simple; when your mailman's sack gets heavy, which letters do you think he would dare not deliver? That's right - bulk mail. So if something looks like it's junk mail it is more likely to get tossed.

So in order to get your mailings respected (by the post office and your recipient) all your mailings should go out first class and use a real "live" stamp. That also means don't use mailing labels or even worse than that, is a "postage indicia".

All these smack of "junk mail". The closer you can make your envelope look like personal correspondence the better since people sort their mail over the trash can. That means you only have only a split-second for them to decide if they'll open your letter or not.

===============================================

Secret # 3: A Letter Means Action

===============================================

Brochures and self-mailers do not work. What do you do when you get a brochure in the mail? Most people will either toss it out or file it away.

Hardly anyone gives it more than just a casual glance on the way to the circular file.

What you need is an action device, and that's what a letter will give you. You need to take advantage of the greatest benefit direct mail has for you - personalized, intimate conversations. A letter allows you to "talk" one-on-one to your prospect. That means you should use "I" and "me" and "you" freely in your letter.

Don't use the corporate sounding "we".

Remember just one person is reading your letter at once. So don't write in the plural, even if your mailing is going out to thousands and thousands of people. Just sit down and write the same way you'd talk to a friend over dinner explaining the advantages and benefits of the product or service you're offering.

Start your letter with a compelling, benefit-driven headline.

Prospects will decide to continue reading by the headline. If your headline fails to capture their attention and keep them engaged, your letter will quickly end up in the trash.

The most common mistake you can make is to put your company name, big and bold on top of the letter. This is the worst thing you can possibly do. You see, every person is concerned with one thing:

*What's in it for me?*

Your company name does not show what, if any, benefits, the prospect will get from your letter. So put your company name at the bottom of the page where it belongs.

===============================================

Secret #4: No offer = No Response

===============================================

Without an offer, your letter is doomed. It is not enough just to send out a mailing hoping people will call if they're interested. You've got to tell people exactly what next step they should take, and if you don't, your mailing has failed.

The best type of offer is something that is non-threatening and completely irresistible. If you can offer anything for free this works best. Such as a free educational report, tape, seminar, consultation, service, etc. Try to come up with such an irresistible offer that anyone would be foolish not to take advantage of it.

Plus by making a compelling offer you can then keep track of how many people responded to your mailing.

===============================================

Secret #5: Continuous Mailings

===============================================

Why do people believe they can send out one mailing, one time, and all of a sudden become bombarded with new customers?

It's ridiculous to believe any one shot mailing is going to uncover *everybody* interested in your service or product.

Think about your own life. You've probably received some offers that you were interested in but you never acted on. Perhaps you put it aside for a phone call or maybe one of your kids came running in and distracted you, or any number of other reasons. Your prospects are the same way.

To overcome this, you've got to create a plan for multiple contacts. Also, this way you can take advantage of the "moving parade of life". You are not selling to a standing army, but rather a moving parade of prospects. People will move in and out of different needs and wants as they go through changes in their life.

Here's an example: Let's say you're an owner of a furniture store and you sent me an offer for deeply discounted furniture. Well, you probably wouldn't have much luck because my house is full of furniture. But what if when your second (or third or fourth) offer came, my fiancée had left me and taken with her all our furniture.

Now, all of a sudden, I'm a *very* eager customer.

That's why using multiple mailings often leads to double-digit returns.

===============================================

Secret #6: Testing

===============================================

With direct mail you have the precision to test any offer on a small group before mailing on a massive scale. Even if you think you have the greatest idea in the world for a letter, you can still test it to a few names, instead of mailing to 50,000 people.

Then if you get a good response you can move on to mail a higher number of pieces because with a high probability you know it will work again.

A reasonable test is about 2,000 to 3,000 names, depending on how many names you have on your list. You can even test with as little as a few hundred -- but you won't get a statistically valid response. However, you will get an indication of the letter's success.

But don't make the crippling mistake of mailing out tens of thousands of pieces unless you can afford to lose everything.

Once you've created a letter that works well this is called your "control" and now you can use testing to see if you can do better.

Here's how:
On your next mailing you change only one element like the headline, offer, pricing, etc. and then you split your list in half. One half gets letter#1 (your control) and the other half gets letter#2 (the test) then see which one does better.

And I guarantee you will see changes in results once you start testing.

However, in order to accurately measure your test you've got to follow secret#7...

===============================================

Secret #7:
Tracking

===============================================

John Wannamaker (and then later P.T. Barnum and William Wrigley), said that 50% of their advertising was being wasted -- but they didn't know which 50%.

But now each letter campaign you send out gives you the ability to precisely track what your return on investment is. This way you know to the penny if your marketing is working or not.

Unlike many other forms of advertising you do to just get your "name out", direct mail gives you an easy way to track your returns.

Subtracting your expenses (cost of postage, printing, and list rental) from how much business your direct mail campaign brought you gives you your profits.

You must keep track of each and every prospect calling from your letter and responding to your specific offer (secret # 4).

That's why you'll want to assign unique priority codes, extension numbers or fake employee names for each promotion. Each letter you send should have a unique code. Then you will be able to credit that letter with the inquiry or sale. So you know what works and what does not.

Many times I'll use a priority code at the top of the letter. When prospects call in your staff should be trained to ask for the priority code. Or you can use extension numbers like this:

Call 301-555-1234 xF00. This way you know this code (the extension #) stands for an offer you made F (February) 00 (2000).

Or if you do face-to-face business, an easy way is require people to bring the letter with them/or present it to your staff in order to get the special offer.

Tracking is critical or else you'll still be flying blind.
Now you can track your revenues and results from each mailing. Plus, you get a clear handle on where your business is coming from and which promotions are working.

Adding direct mail to your marketing is a surefire way to produce immediate results for your business. And by applying these seven little-known secrets, your next mailing can't help but be more profitable and successful.

==========================================================
Just 31-years old, Yanik Silver is recognized as the
leading expert on creating automatic, moneymaking web
sites...and he's only been online full time since February
2000!

He is the author, co-author or publisher of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, which can be
found at www.SurefireMarketing.com

Yanik's Awesome Products

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Posted by isoh at 11:53 PM | TrackBack

"Ready… Aim… Did I Say "Aim"?" by Michel Fortin

If your web-based business solves a specific problem, then your chances of online success are good -- this is not a facetious statement because you'd be surprised to know how many businesses go online with no clear objective whatsoever. But in order to increase those chances, an immensely important step in marketing effectively online is required -- targeting.

This is where many marketers fail, for they are trying to be "all things to all people." Their web site may offer a product that solves a specific problem. And unquestionably, the marketplace -- and the potential -- on the Internet is huge. But it is also for this very reason that general offers either get easily drowned in this boundless electronic ocean or fail to capture the netizen's attention due to the vagueness of the offering's nature.

Since the marketplace is so vast, attention span so short and competition so enormous, there is no better place for market targeting than on the Internet. Today's rapidly changing, technology-driven marketplace mandates a sharper marketing aim. If your business doesn't have one, you're going to either have a really tough time or require a huge marketing budget.

Therefore, try to discover the demographics as well as the psychographics of your niche -- your niche being your core, largest or most profitable market. If you don't have a narrowly defined market, then identify it or isolate one. And once you've defined it, it will then be easier for you to market your offer in front of an audience that will most likely be genuinely interested in it. Otherwise, without one you'll be merely shooting blanks.

Demographics are the basic qualities and characteristics of your market. They include age, gender, culture, employment, industry, income level, marital status, location and so on. For example, does your product cater uniquely to women? Is it more appealing to a specific industry? Does your product complement another type of product? Is your market mostly made up of French Canadians? In other words, who buys from you specifically?

If you were to answer that last question with "everyone," then you are falling in the "all things to all people" trap mentioned earlier. Avoid it as much as you can. But if you do cater to a diverse market, then the trick is to find out who buys from you the most or the most often. Above all, ask yourself this all-important question: Who is my perfect customer?

On the other hand, psychographics consist of the emotional and behavioral qualities of your target market. They include emotions, rationales, buying histories, psychology and thought processes behind the decision to buy your product. For example, they include your customers' interests, associations to which they belong, previous purchases they've made, other similar or related products they've consumed, activities in which they're engaged, the length of time they remained with a particular company in the past, and so on.

Stated differently, demographics define the qualities of those people who may *need* your product, while psychographics are the qualities of those who may not only need but also *want* your product. Before you target your market, profile your customer -- your perfect customer. You can start by conducting some marketing research among your current client base, potential clients and clients of other similar products or companies. But never underestimate the gold mine that can be found in your own backyard -- your clients.

In order to illustrate the difference between demographics and psychographics, let's look at cosmetic surgeons and particularly hair transplant doctors. Hair restoration caters typically to men who have experienced hair loss and are able to afford such an operation. In other words, men and bald men specifically are potential patients because they may need more hair.

But psychographics on the other hand go a little further. In this example, they are comprised of men who not only need more hair but also want more hair. This is important since not all of them do -- it's a matter of personal priorities, just as the type of clothing one chooses to wear. If you think about it, would you consider all bald men as potential clients? Hopefully not.

Therefore, in order to target this specific market as precisely as possible and thus generate higher quality leads, doctors must take their patients' psychographic profile into account. Elements include their lifestyle, their interests, the type of industry in which they work (since certain industries are more image-related) as well as their previous buying habits (such as men who have already invested in other forms of hair replacement solutions).

Once done, they can easily find places on the web where this perfect customer hangs out. They fish where the fish swim. For example, there are web sites and even "vortals," which are niche-based portals, catering to bald men seeking a hair loss solution. There are even discussion lists and ezines whose subscribers consist of people suffering from thinning hair. And of course, the list goes on.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that less is more. Narrow your focus to a specific niche and, paradoxically, you will broaden your sales. Arm yourself with as much information as possible about your perfect customer, and then target *that* customer more than any other. While you can't be everything to everyone, you shouldn't be targeting everyone for everything.

Posted by isoh at 05:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 20, 2005

"An Analysis of A Winning Sales Letter" By Yanik Silver

Many people say they can spot a good letter when they see it, but the problem is when it comes down to writing one, they simply freeze up. That's why I want to take you behind the scenes of a successful sales letter I wrote and illustrate the thinking that goes into writing a killer letter that generated a healthy 3810% ROI. This letter sold all of the clients overstock merchandise and they even created a waiting list.

You'll find my comments in the side notes below so let's get started...

****

Can You Get A New $8,000 Power Table For $417?

------Side Note Comments------
First off, the headline is a grabber and makes people want to read more. Anyone interested in your product at a bargain price would certainly continue reading.
------End Comments------

Read The Amazing Facts To Find Out How...

------Side Note Comments------
Next, the subhead tells prospects that the answer is right inside this letter if they keep reading.
------End Comments------

Dear Friend,

Yes, it's absolutely true. You can really replace your old, worn-out exam table and only pay $417 out of your pocket (But only if you are one of the first 2 people to respond to this letter.)

Let me explain.

------Side Note Comments------
Your first sentence is absolutely critical to your letter. If your first sentence doesn't make people want to keep reading, you can expect your letter to end up in the circular file. So make sure it keeps their interest piqued and follow up on the headline promise in the first sentence.

In the first sentence I reiterate the fact that yes they really can get a brand new power table for such a low price. The second sentence I throw in a little scarcity right at the beginning of the letter so they won't just toss this letter aside for further reading.
------End Comments------

Last April, our little company took a big gamble and signed up for a power table promotion. In order to get on the promotion we had to agree to take 3 power tables - nearly $15,000. (And for a small company like us, that's a lot of money to be tied up in inventory).

Only one of those 3 tables were sold - so there are still 2 left.

------Side Note Comments------
The next paragraph I begin to explain the story of why we're selling this product at such a bargain price. I've discovered that telling people the truth and giving a reason why is actually one of the most powerful psychological motivators to action.
------End Comments------

And My Problem Is Your Opportunity

------Side Note Comments------
This subhead turns the letter back around to what's in it for the reader. Everyone is always silently asking themselves "So what?" and "Who cares?". You've got to keep the focus on what the reader will gain from the letter.
------End Comments------

In order to move these last 2 tables I've decided to do something somewhat bold and a little daring.

First, you should know that the manufacturer's promotion of these power tables ends June 30th. And any unsold inventory I have could be sold to another dealer at wholesale.

But instead of doing that, I would rather sell you the table at a wholesale price and gain your goodwill.

------Side Note Comments------
Here I explain how and why I'm willing to make a sensational deal.
------End Comments------

The regular price for a XXX power table is $8,000 but during this promotion they were on sale for $5,375 (which is a pretty good deal anyway).

But until July 15th (I've extended the offer 2 weeks), you can buy one of our last 2 tables for just $4,897. That's a savings of over $3,100.00

------Side Note Comments------
I introduce the special offer and the reason why we're selling the product at such a discount. That's a key point, because unless you give people a believable reason for the reduced price they won't believe you. Nobody thinks you're lowering the price because you're "such a nice guy" so let them in on the reason behind your offer.
------End Comments------

What? I promised you could get a power table for only $417 and here's how...

------Side Note Comments------
I answer an anticipated objection here since I promised they could get the table for only $417.
------End Comments------

Here's How To Get That New Power Table For Almost "Zip" By buying a power table, you can qualify for a 50% tax credit under section 44 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. That's right Fifty Percent! All because a power table will glide up and down to accommodate disabled and handicapped patients.

And here's what else. You can also take the amount of the power table and deduct it off your taxes using Section 179. (That is if you haven't spent over $18,000 on capital equipment this year.)

That's not all, here are a few more incentives for you: We will give you a $150 trade-in for your old table (or you can donate it to charity for another tax break). And add an extra 2-year warranty ($1,000 value), plus, we'll pick-up your old table and deliver the new one all for free!

Pretty good, right? Wait, I have even better news for you...

------Side Note Comments------
Here I've explained each of the incentives and how they can really get the table for such a low cost. Plus added in a few extra bonuses and now I'll another bonus to really increase their desire.
------End Comments------

You Can Pay In 3 Easy Installments With Zero Interest We'll break up your payments into 3 easy installments, spread thirty days apart.

Why You Must Act Before July 15th First, I doubt if these tables will still be around until July 15th because the first 2 doctors that put their deposits down will take them. And when they're gone this offer expires.

But even if they are still here (highly unlikely at this bargain price) this offer has to expire anyway because we will be shipping out these tables to other dealers in the area.

------Side Note Comments------
I bring back the deadline here and scarcity again. So not only do they have a limit on the number of units available, but there is also a time deadline. This is a double whammy to get people to take action immediately.
------End Comments------

Here's What You Should Do Now

Pick up your phone and dial xxx-xxxx and reserve one of these last 2 tables with your credit card. Or in case, you're still undecided call us and ask for some more information to be faxed to you.

Otherwise, you'll be giving up the ease and convenience of having a power table at this bargain price. I really hope you're one of the 2 lucky doctors who decide to take advantage of this golden opportunity.

------Side Note Comments------
In this closing paragraph I give readers a little pain by mentioning what they'll be missing if they don't act on this offer.
------End Comments------

Sincerely,
XXXX

P.S. Hurry! This letter is being sent to 1,283 local doctors and this offer is strictly limited to the first 2 people who respond.

------Side Note Comments------
The P.S. is your last place to help prospects make a buying decision. People go from the headline in a letter to the signature to the P.S., so your P.S. should be powerful.

Here I introduce even more scarcity. I let them know exactly how many people (specifics sell) are receiving this letter and it makes the limited quantity seem even more limited since so many other people are getting this same announcement.
------End Comments------

****

I guarantee by using the same elements, I just illustrated, you'll see your next sales letter produce incredible results.

He is the author, co-author or publisher of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, which can be
found at www.SurefireMarketing.com

Yanik's Awesome Products

Posted by isoh at 11:46 PM | TrackBack

"How to be Sequentially Superior" by Michel Fortin

Email is certainly an important aspect of marketing on the web. But a single email is never enough -- and in fact can be more costly down the road. Like all marketing messages, it takes repetition in order to get people to first absorb the message, understand it and then take action. Naturally, some people will immediately respond while others need to see the message more than once before they even think about responding to the offer.

The reason for this is that each person, with each marketing message and for each different type of product, has a specific responsive behavior. Virtually all markets can be divided into several, graduated segments based on such behaviors. They generally consist of five, which are: 1) Innovators, 2) early adopters, 3) early majority, 4) late majority and 5) laggards.

Innovators are risk-takers and venturesome, and consist of about 2.5% of the whole market. They usually respond to new offers almost immediately and without giving them much thought. On the other hand, early adopters respond to new ideas early -- taking action soon after the innovators do, albeit carefully. They represent 13.5% of the market. While the third and fourth groups (i.e., the middle majority) constitute the largest segment, the early majority specifically typically respond to new ideas before the average person does.

The early majority represent 34% of any given market. The late majority, which consist of another 34%, are skeptical, careful and slow. They take their time, usually shop around and need to see offers more than a few times before giving them any consideration. The final segment (or the laggards) take action only after some time has elapsed -- usually after everyone else has done so. They consist of the remaining 16% of the entire pie.

Ultimately, the important thing to note here is that the middle majority altogether consist of a whopping 68%. A marketer's goal is therefore to effectively reach, persuade and incite this larger segment, which is often difficult to do with a single mailing. Repeating your marketing message -- and sometimes doing so more than once -- is essential with this group. In the end, you will not only increase the response but also multiply it.

One ... Two ... Three Steps, You're In!
As you likely know, statistics prove that the bulk of most sales occur in the follow-up process. However, following up with your prospects is more than just a process -- it's an art. You need to do so in a timely, consistent and compelling manner. As Jim Rohn once said, "Without a sense of urgency desire loses its value." Like a blacksmith you must hit the iron while it's hot.

For example, if you were ever late in paying your debts you may have received at some point those nice reminders collection agencies love to send. First, you get a letter with the typical request to pay your debt and to "govern yourself accordingly." If you don't respond soon after, a second letter appearing in the form of a reminder is mailed to you a few weeks later. And, if you happen to be as persistent as the agency, you then get a third letter with that big, red "Final Notice!" stamped in the upper right-hand corner.

Sequential direct mail has been just as profitable an endeavor for entrepreneurs as it has been for collection agencies. Even though I've first heard of this technique from marketing guru Dan Kennedy, I still didn't believe in its effectiveness until I actually used it in my own practice. Tested in one of my client's businesses, our first mailing conducted to approximately 7,000 recipients generated a response rate that was less than 1%.

It's not much but typical for most one-time direct mail campaigns. However, the surprise came when the rate climbed to about 7% following the second mailing and over 3% after the third, which were targeted to the same group of people. With all three mailings totaling 11%, the overall response was a tenfold improvement over what could have been a single mailing.

The first letter had a special time-sensitive offer and an invitation to enter a draw. The second letter, which was mailed out 15 days after the first one, had a "sorry we missed you" and "we're concerned" flavor to it. It offered additional incentives in order to help nudge unresponsive recipients into action -- such as a free, bonus product worth only a few dollars.

Thirty days after the initial mailing, the third letter boldly stated the words "this is your last chance" and "deadline around the corner" right at the top -- similar to the collection agent's final warning stamp. The content of the letter reinforced the urgency of the offer and, along with an extra incentive that was not offered in the previous two mailings, emphasized the negative outcome that would result if the recipient chose to remain idle.

It's Worth Repeating
Incidentally, the prize drawn in the previous campaign was for one of my client's products -- priced at about $1,500. Shortly after the draw however, we decided on a fourth mailing to all those who did not respond and offered a discount on the very same product. It said: "Congratulations! You've won the second prize -- a $250 rebate on [the product drawn]." As a result, the response rate had finally risen to a total of 16% -- and even more, since sales continued to trickle for months after the campaign was over.

The mailing was indeed a success because a 16% response rate is a far cry from the 1% that we would have normally achieved with a mere mailing. But the power of such a process lies in the fact that subsequent mailings tend to make the offer more valuable. When an offer is repeated, people have the natural tendency to assume that the offer is important and not a fly-by-night spiel. In fact, repetition not only helps to emphasize the importance of an offer but also aids comprehension and reinforces its urgency.

If you can, transform your next direct email marketing campaign into a sequence of messages and you will likely see a substantial improvement over single mailings. However, keep in mind that such campaigns refer strictly to those made to opt-in subscribers. Just as sequential direct email helps to multiply the potential response, sequential unsolicited email -- or "spam," which in itself is very risky -- multiplies the risk and its consequences.

With the help of the Internet, campaigns can also be entirely automated with what are often called "follow-up" or "intelligent" autoresponders (or "autobots"). After someone has responded to your offer or asked for more information from your company, autobots can automatically deliver your series of pre-written follow-up email messages in preset intervals. This strategy can become quite effective, provided that users are properly notified -- they are subscribing in other words -- and given the ability to stop the flow at any time.

Another great strategy is to use smart autoresponders for delivering a series of informative articles over a period of time, which can be offered freely or even marketed as entirely separate, stand-alone products -- such as a course or a reminder service. Nevertheless, there are many providers of these types of automated, sequential email systems. Some include:

http://www.aweber.com/,
http://www.getresponse.com/,
http://www.autoresponders.com/
http://www.mailtrail.com/
http://www.automailer.com/
http://www.fastfacts.net/
http://www.databack.com/
http://www.silverquick.net/
http://www.sendfree.com/
http://www.ultimateresponse.com/
http://www.ipsarion.com/
http://www.mailboost.com/
http://www.responders.com/
http://www.myautobot.com/
A Little Nudge Can Budge
Tom Kulzer of smart autoresponder provider AWeber Systems once wrote: "Consistent follow-up gets results." In fact, by creating a sense of urgency with your email marketing campaign (such as by making your offer time-sensitive) and reinforcing that urgency in subsequent mailings, you add weight to your message and nudge unresponsive prospects into action.

More important, by adding an extra incentive with each mailing your offer becomes more valuable and more difficult to ignore. And since information is the currency of the Internet, these additional bonuses could simply be comprised of special reports, articles, ebooks, freeware, reviews or even courses delivered incrementally via smart autoresponders. (However, don't forget to remove recipients from the system once they become clients.)

Remember that, if some prospects have not yet responded by the end of your campaign, you could still send an additional email message in order to gather some useful information. For example, your final follow-up message could simply ask why your prospects did not order from you. You could turn your final message into a survey to which people can respond and offer one of your free bonuses as a way to thank them for their valuable time.

As an aspiring marketeer, you know that feedback in your online business is precious. It could help you to modify your offer or refine your follow-up messages so that prospects will indeed order from you next time. Incomplete sales and poor results should never be regarded as failures but as wonderful opportunities to gather important marketing intelligence.

Ultimately, be relentless like a collection agency. The largest part of your market need to see your offer more than once. Send at least three messages instead of one so to get more mileage out of your email marketing campaign.

Posted by isoh at 05:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 19, 2005

"Does Your Site Extend its Welcome?" by Michel Fortin

On the web, targeted traffic is essential to an online business' survival. Al Ries, in his book "Focus: The Future of your Company Depends on it," wrote that our rapidly changing, technology-driven marketplace will mandate a sharper marketing aim -- particularly in the new millennium as increased competition will give more choice to the electronic consumer.

Niche marketing is indeed the wave of the future. In a society saturated with sameness and overcrowded with choice, the necessity of narrowing one's focus and differentiating one's business have become more evident. As the Internet grows, so too will the number of online businesses. Targeting and catering to a higher quality traffic is increasingly important.

It makes no sense to market to an audience that is uninterested in -- or unqualified to buy -- a site's offering (such as a web site catering mainly to corporate executives when its traffic consists of hobby farmers). It also makes no sense to spend more resources on generating new sales when repeat sales may be more cost-efficient, which in fact are often ignored.

As the business adage goes, it costs ten times more to generate a new customer than it is to keep one. Online, that adage rings even more since the Internet is littered with potential shoppers that are becoming harder and harder to reach. That said, it is also true that the web does make it difficult for a business to keep customers too, since an underlying benefit of the Internet is the ability that clients have to shop around at the single click of a mouse.

Therefore, since online it is harder to both find and satisfy higher quality clients, the question remains: How does one milk this sleeping cash cow? In other words, how does one build repeat traffic and especially repeat sales?

While answers to those questions can be quite diverse, one solution is to incorporate the extended benefit. It's an area that can become profitable for many online firms. In reality, extended benefits are sales promotion tools to help, among others, increase short-term sales, build client relationships, reward loyal clients, stimulate product trials or convert competitors' clients. Here are some examples of extended benefits that businesses use:

Samples, Tools and Coupons
Samples are product or service trials. In terms of hard goods, and while web sites can offer actual samples of their products (mostly by mail), samples can also include other things -- such as soft goods that aim at informing the prospect, entertaining the visitor or rewarding the client. They include ezines, ebooks, freeware, contests, quizzes, polls, online greeting cards, forums, screen savers, web-based email accounts and so on.

For example, a site selling large exercise equipment, which is difficult to sample, can offer free, downloadable diet recipe ebooks that complement the exercise machine. Incidentally, these types of samples can become effective viral marketing tools since they are spread freely around the web. And the greatest benefit of all is that, once recipients hit the site, they are far more qualified and apt to buy than most casual, curiosity-seekers.

Sites offering other types of traffic generation tools include, among others:

http://bravenet.com
http://www.mycomputer.com/
http://sitepoint.com/
http://www.webmastersdirectory.com/
http://www.jimworld.com/
http://www.123webmaster.com/
Coupons are certificates that give buyers certain savings on their purchases. But coupons do not have to be physical in nature let alone limited to one's site for distribution. There are numerous web-based coupon sites and email coupon services that can be used -- such as:

http://www.valuepass.com/
http://www.coupons.com/
http://coupons.net/
http://valpak.com/
http://www.hotcoupons.com/
http://coupons.yahoo.com/
Extended Warranties
Extended warranties are like insurance policies that in some way guarantee the continued performance of a product, especially after an initial period of time. While guarantees in essence promise specific benefits, warranties promise that the enjoyment of those benefits will continue. An extended warranty is like a guarantee's guarantee. And they too can take different shapes and forms, and become potentially effective profit centers.

The warranty promises that a product will perform the way it is supposed to do so for a specific period of time. In addition to guarantees, businesses should also consider selling extended warranties with their products. But if the product is guaranteed indefinitely or can not be guaranteed for whatever reason, then the warranty may take the form of future upgrades, additional benefits, patronage rewards, membership programs or support services.

For example, if an online business sells new and used computers it can also offer a buy-back plan. In exchange for an additional fee, customers receive a certificate giving them the ability to trade their newly purchased systems for better models within a year following the purchase. The plan promises them a complete refund that's applied towards their upgrade. And if they do choose to exercise their option, clients only pay the difference between the two systems.

Bundled Services
With services, the extended warranty is a little different since services are not tangible, need no repair or do not depreciate in value. Therefore, the warranty can take the shape of memberships, preferred customer programs, prepaid retainers, premium services, customer service packages, options and so on. Such warranties are in fact service agreements.

For example, a consultant can offer prepaid retainer packages or special web-only packaged programs that may include several hours of email consulting at a discounted rate. If the marketer offers repetitive services like a hairstylist or a chiropractor (such as a business offering repetitive web-based services), a number of prepaid visits can be offered at a discount. They can also extend their line in order to cater to varying segments of their market.

The latter comprises of offering alternatives -- several variations of one's service -- in order to cater to those that are quality-sensitive as well as those that are price-sensitive. An example is to bundle services together or to apply the "Olympic" approach to one's portfolio, which for example could include a gold program, a silver program and a bronze program -- each of which varying in terms of price, services (or number of services) and so on.

In addition, these programs are often more advantageous to the client above the obvious price incentive, since the value of a particular variation -- by catering to a specific segment and its unique needs, goals and budget -- is regarded as being of higher quality. This is why "preferred client clubs" are so popular. Clubs have a mystique about them. The perception is such that members feel part of an elite group to which higher priority or greater attention is given. Clubs also cater to our human need for belonging.

Preferred Client Clubs
Highly consumable products generally translate into repeat sales. Therefore, an extended benefit in this case would be a loyal customer program. This could involve a flat discount rate on all purchases made at a particular web site during a specified period of time. And what this program also does is to preemptively reduce the possible loss of a client to a competitor.

Bookstores sell avid reader membership programs that offer a fixed discount rate on all subsequent books purchased during the time that the program is in force. These programs can range from one month to a full year. Such programs can certainly be applied to the Internet, where a customer pays a membership fee and is given a username and password. In turn, that person is given access to better rates, specific products or member specials.

Again, on the Internet it is easy to shop around and to lose customers at the click of mouse. But with a discount club or loyal customer program, clients are in some way guaranteed to return to the original web site for their subsequent purchases, which removes the possibility of having them shop around when those opportune times appear. Keep in mind that these type of extended benefits can be adapted to many different situations and in different ways.

Nevertheless, one of the biggest disadvantages of the web is the fact that people are given too many choices -- too many in fact that they tend to do nothing or easily jump from one site to another. Extended benefits in this case encourage targeted and repeat customers to remain loyal, and also to spread the word around -- especially among other, qualified prospects.

Posted by isoh at 05:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 18, 2005

"Narrow Your Focus to Broaden Your Sales" by Michel Fortin

An important aspect of marketing online is the fact that people have the opportunity to effectively achieve targeted, measurable results. Too often however, marketers are told again and again by the Internet establishment that traffic is the solution to online success.

Based on the law of averages, that premise is not too far off the mark; the more people hit your site (or see your offer), the more responses you will naturally receive. Quantity is therefore an important aspect of surviving online. And to accomplish such, people will sprinkle the likes of banners, posts, links, ads, and search engine submissions all over the Internet.

It is absolutely true that, if you want a lot of hits, you want your site (or access to it) to be in front of as many eyeballs as possible. But what about quality? Would it matter if your site generates an incredible quantity of uninterested visitors that will simply never buy from you?

For those who wish to find more effective and cost-efficient ways of selling online, then attracting a higher quality stream of website visitors -- that is, attracting interested, pre-qualified visitors that are genuinely interested in the website's offer and ready to buy -- is definitely a better alternative.

For example, shots in the dark must be repeated multiple times in order to finally hit if ever one's target (or audience, in this case). But when that target is in plain view, one's chances is obviously greater. More important, if at the same time the weapon one chooses to hit that target is a little more sophisticated and precise, those chances are even better.

However, the challenge facing most people is the idea that they feel they must contend with a choice: Quantity versus quality. But it should not be a choice -- the ability to achieve both is possible. It is to simultaneously have a better target and use a better weapon.

It's called "focused marketing." Focused marketing is to consistently combine both niche and target marketing. Applying either one can multiply your results. But by applying these two simple approaches together, your results can multiply exponentially and also quickly.

Niche Marketing
If your online business or website targets everyone, then your marketing message must be therefore painted with broad brushstrokes in order to appeal to everyone. And the challenge with such an approach is the fact that you will lose a greater percentage of visitors.

While they may fall into your target market, visitors that leave are those who likely feel left out or become uninterested fast. And there are others who will simply choose a competitor that might provide them with greater perceived value since it caters to them specifically.

In the competitive marketplace of the new millennium, the demand for specialized products or services will increase. If your site sells everything but the kitchen sink, chances are that your audience will not perceive a value in shopping from you any greater than from anyone else.

Remember that price is never an issue -- it's the value behind the price that is (price is arbitrary). If your value is perceived as equal to that of others, then naturally the cheapest alternative will win. Why pay more for the same thing?

Moreover, many business owners tend to fall into the "all things to all people" trap. And being all things to all people is not a bad concept -- of course you will likely stumble onto people who will take a risk and respond to your offer with such an approach. But what's bad is the fact you must generate a fairly large quantity of hits to produce a satisfactory result.

The number of sales you can generate will increase dramatically if your site is narrowly centered on a specific theme, idea, or outcome. Conversely, the need to produce a sufficient quantity of website visitors to produce similar results will lessen considerably.

To illustrate, let's say that your best client is the corporate executive earning $50,000 or more and that your site receives 200,000 hits per month. If your site's message aims for the public at large, there will only be a small percentage of that ideal market that will hit your site.

For the sake of example, let's say that the percentage is 0.1%. That means that, out of 200,000 visitors, only 200 will be executives. And since your site is too general or too vague, an even smaller percentage of those 200 executives -- say, 0.5% -- will be interested in your offer and eventually buy. In this case, 0.5% would equal to a mere client for an entire month.

Looking at it in reverse, it means that, if you want to achieve at least 1 sale a day from this ideal market, your site will thus require 6 million hits per month. Stated differently, it means that you will have to laboriously (and expensively) multiply your promotional efforts.

Now take the example of another website dedicated exclusively to corporate executives earning over $50,000. This site however receives only 5,000 hits per month -- agreeably, it's not a whole lot, especially when compared to the other. But the percentage of those visitors falling into one's target market will be 100% in this case -- that's a 10,000% improvement.

Furthermore, the percentage of interested leads that are in a much better position to buy will be far higher by virtue of the fact that the site caters to their specific needs, goals, and concerns. To be conservative, let's say that this percentage is only 5%. It means that, out of 5,000 hits per month, one can achieve 250 sales -- that's 8 times more than the other.

The beauty of it all is the fact that it took an equal if not lesser investment of time, effort, and money to achieve 8 sales per day than it did to achieve a single one. Therefore, there is much truth to the statement that you will definitely get more with less. By narrowing your market or focus, you are thus broadening your chances of online success.

People often tend to shy away from narrowing their focus, for they feel that, by doing so, they will also narrow their chances of making sales. In the 50's and even in the 80's where competition was considerably less, this fear was indeed justifiable. But in today's overcommunicated, highly competitive marketplace, nothing can be further from the truth.

The more specialized your online business becomes, the more qualified leads you will attract -- and consequently the more sales you will likely generate.

Target Marketing
If you say that your ideal client is a technical programmer, between the ages of 25 and 35, and earning over $25,000 per year, then your chances of reaching such an audience by plastering your link all over the Internet will be fairly miniscule. And even if your message does happen to appear in front of your specific market, chances are that it will go unnoticed due to the general nature of the location in which your message appears. This is not good.

Although most business owners are aware of clear, target marketing strategies to achieve results that could be far more effective and cost-efficient, the ideology remains: To be successful one must be everywhere. That statement may be true to some degree and should not be discounted.

… But it is far better to be everywhere that matters.

In other words, your message should appear in front of those people who will likely read your ad and take action. If you promote your online business in places in which your target market is likely to congregate, it is fair to admit that your immediate costs will likely be higher.

Targeted marketing is not cheap. However, the bottom-line is the fact that your cost-per-visitor (or cost-per-lead) and even cost-per-sale will have decreased substantially as a result. That's more important. In essence, it will certainly be cheaper for you to spend the money in these targeted areas than it would be in trying to find those ideal clients any other way.

Remember that your goal should be to attract people to your site who have a genuine interest in what you have to offer. Targeting as many people as possible particularly with a message that appeals to only a portion of them may produce a fair amount of hits. But it will mostly consist of people who will never be your clients anyway -- the curious and not the serious.

For example, banners are reported by certain research firms as losing their effectiveness. On the other hand, targeted banners have conversely increased. Moreover, if your banner not only appears in front of targeted audiences but also appeals to them specifically, it is likely that the number of clickthroughs consisting of potential, qualified clients will be much higher.

With all things being equivalent, if your ad appears on a site that caters to your ideal market (versus a more general site like Yahoo!, for example), you may get less hits but you will certainly get more sales. (However, it is worth mentioning at this point that Yahoo! also offers targeted banner impressions on search result pages based on specific keywords.)

Nevertheless, combining targeted and niche-based marketing strategies can make substantial improvements over general, non-focused marketing. By lessening your market as well as the market to which you advertise, you will proportionately increase your sales.

Posted by isoh at 05:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"Pinpoint: How To Exactly Present Your Business To Your Market? Here's a Surprising Source of Information for You!" by David Garfinkel

"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter -- it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."
- Mark Twain, in a letter to author George Bainton

Sooner or later, you have to set yourself apart.

This is true whether you are you, yourself, and thou; you are a business; or you are method-acting as the client or business you are writing copy for.

The tightrope you walk is just about the biggest upside/downside risk that exists:

● Get your unique identity in the marketplace right (stay on the tightrope all the way to the other side), and huge rewards are yours;

● Miss it by a hair (fall off the tightrope) and you're condemned to mediocrity in the marketplace -- at best -- or miserable failure at worst.

So how do you get your pinpoint identity identified and stay on that elusive tightrope?

There are many ways, but the easiest and most reliable is paying attention to the questions, comments, kudos and complaints of your customers.

This might sound like a big "duh" to you -- and it would be, except for the fact that almost nobody does it.

Here are some examples of those who have:

● My friend, mentor and collaborator Jay Conrad Levinson wrote the world's best-selling series of books in his field, Guerrilla Marketing. Jay spent a dozen years teaching an extension course at the University of California on this very subject before he wrote the first book. Do students who need to apply what you teach in the real world -- in their businesses, where the difference between success and failure ripples through many aspects of their lives -- do these students provide feedback to help you pinpoint your marketing identity?

Hello???

● My San Francisco Bay Area neighbor John Gray, who also created an empire with Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, based his initial book on years of couples counseling and seminars. I bet he heard plenty of questions, comments, kudos and complaints. To his credit, he listened and acted on them.

● Another nearby phenomenon, Richard Bolles, originally started the job-seeking bestseller What Color Is Your Parachute? as a church course. If things worked, he heard about them. If they didn't, I'll just bet people weren't too shy pointing that out. Now look at him.

I can almost hear what you're saying.

"Great. Best-selling authors. But how about a real person like me?"

OK. First, these are all real people who took an idea, put it out there, got feedback, and ran with it.

Check out businesses that have nothing to do with book publishing and you'll find there is a pattern. Fred Smith and FedEx. Barry Gordy and Motown. H & R Block and taxes. Ray Kroc and Mickey-D's.

Second, if your customers don't know, who does? Think about it. The fastest way a client can get a forlorn sigh out of me is to say, "I just know that people need this. I can't understand why nobody's buying it."

Of course, there is a way to find out why: Ask them.

Postioning, branding, developing your Unique Selling Proposition, crafting your marketing identity -- whatever you want to call it -- is not an instant process. Nor is it a pure science.

But there are some reliable steps you can take to narrow the choices and all but insure that sooner or later, you'll make your way across that tightrope. Maybe not the first time.

When you do, though, your day in the sun has just begun.

David Garfinkel is one of the best copywriters on the internet and was a speaker at Armand Morin's Big Seminar Series and Carl Galletti's Internet Marketing Super Conference. You can learn more about his books and training courses by clicking the links below.

David Garfinkel is founder of the World Copywriting institute and is considered by many people to be the best teacher of copywriting in the world. The stated mission of the World Copywriting Institute is to “eradicate copywriting illiteracy in the world.” Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the world’s best selling series of marketing books, Guerrilla Marketing, says, “David Garfinkel is the best copywriter I know.” Sign up for David’s free World Copywriting Newsletter. and you get a free one-hour downloadable teleseminar on copywriting. Also visit David’s World Copywriting Blog:

E-book Secrets Exposed
By David Garfinkel
This incredible ebook explains things nobody else has ever published before! This ebook explains the real way to make real money online with ebooks... Finally! Somebody gives people the truth about what it takes to make massive amounts of money with your own ebook... whether you wrote it or not!

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A fully interactive multimedia course by David Garfinkel, the man many call "The World's Greatest Copywriting Coach." David will show you "how to turn words into cash" in this groundbreaking tour-de-force. This course sets the bar for what Internet based learning should be.

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This ebook makes it unnecessary to write another headline ever again. David Garfinkel has been described as, "the world's greatest copywriting coach." He's a successful results oriented copywriter and his new ebook shows you exactly how to adapt proven money-making headlines to your business.

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May 17, 2005

"Marketing With a Lead Generation Sonar" by Michel Fortin

A common mistake online businesses make is when they attempt to market their company, web site or product through institutional marketing methods. Institutional or conventional marketing is the kind that simply says "I'm open for business." It really doesn't do much. In essence, it simply advertises the mere existence of a business or web site -- it does not direct its audience in a clear, specific and succinct way to take some kind of action.

Using these types of approaches marketers fail to produce the results that they seek and then usually wonder why. Institutional marketing is what marketer Dan Kennedy calls "Good Year Blimp" marketing -- like the Good Year blimp, which hovers over a football stadium filled with cheering fans, the aim is to instill warm, fuzzy feelings about Good Year into the mind.

Obviously, the marketing executives at Good Year are certainly not thinking that people will leave the stands at half-time and rush out to buy their tires. But, like Dan explains, their strategy is to have people associate -- likely at a subconscious level -- warm, fuzzy feelings with Good Year by flying the blimp during an emotional event. And the next time they are in need of, say, winter tires, Good Year is hopefully the instinctive choice.

When Internet marketers apply institutional marketing however, the problem that they often encounter is the fact that this type of approach tends to generate little or no business because of the "click-happy," direct response nature of the web. Agreeably, it may produce some results over time. But more often than not, the response produced is generally one comprised of curious or unqualified prospects -- or "suspects," in other words.

Because of the hypercompetitive nature of the Internet and the fact that it is constantly bombarding us with information, trying to catch decent fish (i.e., good, qualified prospects) in an ocean filled with millions of minnows can sometimes be worse than trying to find a needle in the haystack. In the end, it can become frustrating and often self-effacing.

Take It Step By Step
However, what I call directional marketing is an approach in which people are asked to do something -- anything, be it to click on a link, subscribe to an ezine or buy a product. However, this goes beyond simply getting prospects to recognize that the business exists on the web or even leading them to a favorable outcome. It also includes the process of finding good quality visitors that isolate themselves from the curiosity-seekers.

The goal here is to generate what I call "expects" (i.e., prospects that are qualified, interested and ready to buy, or in other words prospects that are expecting to do business). But often, marketers think that by selling themselves right in their advertisements they will get not only an immediate response but also immediate business. On the web, this oftentimes backfires and can even take away customers, which is counterproductive.

A concept that's been around for years but has recently become very popular is multi-step marketing. It's a process in which businesses use direct marketing in order to obtain an immediate response from their efforts. However, they use this technique to isolate their expects from their suspects -- and not necessarily to sell their products directly.

They do so by offering a free (or a low cost) report, software, ebook, sample, article or service. However, little do people know that the free product is part of a gradual qualification process. For example, advertisers will offer a freebie that somehow targets their perfect customer. In other words, those who respond are likely to fall within the advertiser's target market, thereby isolating themselves from the rest of the fish in the ocean.

Often called "lead generation marketing," this process helps marketers to define, identify and qualify their market more clearly. In the end, it is easier and more cost-effective to promote regular, larger or more pricey offers to an audience that has somehow identified itself beforehand as being apt to buy. Moreover, the process alone can help stimulate more profitable sales by increasing a prospect's level of interest along the way.

Having consulted many cosmetic surgeons, I've realized that this process is obviously essential if not vital. For instance, no one can call a person on the phone and outright ask if that person is bald and wants more hair, especially without knowing if that person is bald in the first place. However, doctors will first advertise a free information kit offer, which explains the procedure and the potential results of hair transplantation.

Naturally, people who respond will fit into that specific demographic. More importantly, these prospects are not only demonstrating the fact that they are suffering from hair loss but also identifying themselves as being in the market for some kind of solution to their "problem." Doctors are therefore isolating their patients from the crowd -- people who not only need more hair but also want more hair (since not all of them do).

Tune In With Your Leads
If you offer a specific product online that caters to a certain target market, get your market to come forward before you attempt to sell your product to them. Again, with information being in high demand, products such as ebooks, articles and free reports are quite effective in this regard. They don't have to be product-specific or industry-specific. As long as they target an audience that fits within your target market, you're OK.

An example I often give of directional marketing is the piano business. Pianos consist of a row of metal strings similar to a guitar. When a key is pressed, a piece of felted wood (called fulcrum) hits a string, which in turn produces a specific note. These strings are held both in place and in tune by a series of tuning pegs screwed into a wooden plank. Essentially, the tension applied to a string is what controls a note's specific pitch.

Like the guitar, in order to tune a particular note the peg is screwed a little tighter into the wood until the string itself becomes tighter and creates the desired pitch. Over time however, pegs eventually strip the wood and older pianos tend to fall out of tune considerably. Pegs are then replaced with larger ones until, one day, the piano is too old and broken beyond repair.

Many unscrupulous salespeople will "dope" pianos so that they remain temporarily in tune until these instruments are sold to unsuspecting buyers. They do this by spraying water onto the wooden planks inside, which causes the wood to expand and thus grip the tuning pegs more firmly. But eventually, the water evaporates as pianos return to their original state. And once buyers become aware of the problem, it's already too late.

A piano salesperson ran a small classified ad. It said:

"Beware parents in the market for a piano!" (That was the headline.) "Many parents buy used pianos for their kids because they don't know if they'll love music and want to minimize the risk of losing their investment. However, many used pianos are internally broken and temporarily 'doped' in order to be sold quickly -- only to become broken again when it's too late. Before you buy any piano at any price, new or used, call for our free, special report, 'Don't Let Piano Problems Put Your Bank Account Out Of Tune: Six Ways To Find Commonly Hidden Problems With Used Pian