Online Market Testing That Can Save You Time and Money
Issue #2049
- WEALTHY: Cost-effective market testing (Wendy Montes de Oca)
- HEALTHY: A fruit that could land you in the emergency room (Jason Holland)
- WISE: Jay Conrad Levinson on the marketing process
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- 5 ways to make your vacations guilt-free (Michael Masterson)
- An easy way to come across as friendly (Monica Day)
- It’s Good to Know… about Ford Motor’s success in Russia
- Add "panjandrum" to your vocabulary
Imagine Knowing of a Casino Where the Dealer Tipped His Hand Before You Made Your Move and Didn’t Care How Many Times You Beat Him.
When Would You Stop Going There?
This is nothing to do with games of chance, but I hope your answer to that question would be a resounding, “NEVER”!! Assuming you’re sane that is… Well, that is a virtually PERFECT analogy of the power of the insider signal!
It’s often said, “The Stock Market is just a big casino”. And it’s true. But the important omission in that statement (to keep the masses out!) is the dealer in this casino tips his hand to the select few… the insiders.
Such powerful knowledge could make YOU very rich indeed… Click here to learn more…
- Patrick Coffey
"Marketing is not an event, but a process. … It has a beginning, a middle, but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause it. But you never stop it completely."
Jay Conrad Levinson
Online Market Testing That Can Save You Time and Money
Here’s a way to test your new product, concept, or headline by putting your marketing toe in the water before jumping in: Use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads on search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, or other networks such as Kanoodle, Quigo, or Miva.
PPC ads - keyword-oriented ads that charge the advertiser a small fee each time a visitor clicks on them - give you a great way to gauge general consumer sentiment. It is fast, easy to track, and cost effective. Success can be measured by the number of clicks and conversions generated.
Simply stated, a "click" is when a consumer responds to your ad by clicking on it to get more information. The ad typically redirects the user to a "landing page" for a promo, special offer, or order form. A "conversion" is when that same user takes the next step and follows through by taking the action you want them to take. It could be purchasing your product, requesting more information, or signing up for a free report.
To run a PPC test, create several PPC ads for your product and make sure they all run during the same time period. Each ad should take a different approach. For example, one could tie into something that’s in the news, and focus on facts and the features of your product. Another one could be more obviously promotional, and tap into your prospect’s emotions and need for a solution to a problem.
After two to three weeks, see which ad generated the most clicks and conversions. That’s the ad you will base your marketing campaign on.
If your click rate is high but your conversion rate is low, most likely your PPC ad is appealing enough to get users to click for more information - but your landing page copy is not attractive enough to move them to make a purchase. If that’s the case, you should test your price point, guarantee, offer, and other elements of the copy on your landing page that may be keeping users from taking that next step.
If your click rate is low, either your PPC ad is ineffective or your product itself is of little interest to the general public. Retest both of these elements by refining and clarifying your ad headline and copy to go after the exact audience you’re targeting. For example, if you’re going after widget buyers, have widgets in your headline and subhead, along with a benefit: "Free insider report on Widgets. Learn the best and worst Widgets of 2007. Download now!"
If your click rate and conversion rate are both high, that tells you that you may have a winning product on your hands. At this point, you should continue testing by expanding on your best-performing ad with a mini-rollout. For example, if you had tested your ad on just one PPC channel, such as Google, you would "roll it out" to other PPC channels, such as Yahoo, AOL, or MSN.
Testing on Google or another PPC platform allows you to gauge general market interest in any given topic or product. PPC ads run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and appear all over the country. You can’t get a more objective, diverse audience than that.
Keep in mind that if you are testing a new concept only on your internal list of customer names, the results may be skewed. That’s because your audience has already bought into your philosophy. Loyal customers will likely purchase anything you have to sell. But if you plan on reaching external lists to gain market share, testing on a broad platform like Google allows for greater insight and more impartial results. This eliminates bias and gives you a good idea of how widespread interest in your product really is.
In addition, PPC testing is a bargain. Depending on the keywords you choose, each click will cost you an average of 10 cents to $1 (though popular keywords could go for as much as $50 per click).
So before you spend a lot of time and money (on printing, production, and list rental costs) to put a promotion in the mail, test your concept online with PPC ads first.
[Ed. Note: Wendy Montes de Oca, ETR’s new VP of Marketing and Business Development, has over 15 years of experience in law, financial services, and marketing.
Enjoy the success you’ve always wanted with ETR’s Direct Marketing Quick-Start Kit. This 4-CD program is the most effective, quickest, and least expensive way to move you toward financial independence.]
The Secret to Making a Vacation Work
For at least 20 years running, I hardly took time off at all. And when I did, I spent at least half the day working. In retrospect, I see the error in my ways. By indulging the notion that my business couldn’t get along without me, I penalized myself, my family, and my business too.
You don’t have to be European to appreciate the benefits of protracted time away from work. Even if you are surrounded by workaholics, don’t give in to the guilt trip.
If you have trouble taking vacations, do what I’ve done:
- Plan ahead.
If possible, vacate when the workload is moderate.
- Get help.
Solicit colleagues and employees to take over work you can’t get to. Give them plenty of room to make mistakes.
- Communicate your absence.
E-mail has made vacations much more manageable. By leaving automatic messages asking people not to contact you during your time off and directing them to someone else who can help them, you will considerably diminish the backed up e-mail that will collect in your inbox each day.
- Limit e-mail severely.
Basically, you should do no routine correspondence. Handle only the emergencies.
- Bring some work with you.
Take important but not overly taxing work with you, but plan to do no more than about two hours of it every day. There will be days when you’ll have to spend more time, but if you aim for two hours you’ll feel comfortable.
Professional goof-offs don’t deserve a vacation, but you do. So take your two or three or four weeks off and enjoy them.
[Ed. Note: Schedule a working vacation in Denver that will make a huge difference in your life. Learn how to build your own Internet business at ETR’s upcoming 5 Days in July Internet Conference. You’ll walk in with nothing - no product, no marketing skills, no technical know-how - and you’ll walk out with your own online business. Sign up here:]
Why Are Most Real Estate ‘Investors’ Still Going to Work Every Morning?
If you want to collect an automatic monthly income of $10,000 or more - without having to get up every morning and "go to work" - most real estate experts are giving you the wrong advice.
They rave about buying and selling single family homes. But… they don’t admit that single family homes are poor investments for passive income… for attaining real financial freedom by not having to get up and go to work every morning.
I make $27,000+ in passive income month after month… and can easily show you how to reap huge positive cash flows from real estate - with less risk and less money down than single family homes. Click here for details.
The Juicy Golden Globe of Poison
Could you be allergic to something you eat regularly? I just spent several hours in the emergency room after three days of escalating symptoms. It started with a small rash on my face and ended when I woke up with my eyes swollen shut and my entire face inflamed. The unexpected cause of this severe allergic reaction? My former favorite fruit: mangoes.
Juicy, sweet, delicious mangoes are actually related to poison sumac, poison ivy, and poison oak. These plants all have an oily resin called urushiol. And people who have a sensitivity to one member of this family are primed for adverse reactions from others in the group.
I found this out the hard way. Fortunately, a shot of steroids, a megadose of Benadryl through an IV, and a couple of prescriptions put me on the road to recovery. Luckily, I wasn’t allergic enough to experience anaphylactic shock.
I have enjoyed mangoes many times without ill effect, and I couldn’t figure out what had been different this time. Then my wife reminded me of the sap running onto my hands as I picked mangoes from a tree in my neighborhood. A quick Internet search yielded dozens of similar stories, as well as studies in medical journals that described similar results.
Turns out the greatest concentration of urushiol is found in the mango tree’s sap and leaves and in the skin of the fruit. So if you have had a slight reaction to mangoes in the past - or if you are very sensitive to poison ivy, oak, or sumac - be particularly careful when handling and peeling fresh mangoes.
Reactions from exposure to urushiol range from mild to severe, depending on the individual. The most common is contact dermatitis - redness, itching, blisters, and hives.
Symptoms appear 12 to 24 hours after initial exposure. Sometimes it’s nothing more than itchy lips - but if you have trouble breathing or your throat swells closed, you must seek immediate medical attention.
Experts recommend over-the-counter cortisone cream for mild cases. Other treatments include steroid injections or creams, antihistamines, and cortisone pills.
Quick Networking Tip: Killer Handshakes
By Monica Day
One of the main skills to perfect in your networking arsenal is the ability to deliver a firm handshake. Not a white-knuckled death grip. Just a reasonable squeeze - and maybe even a pump or two. And if you don’t believe me - and thousands of other articles on the subject - the University of Alabama actually gathered scientific evidence to back up this advice.
According to their 2004 study, people with limp handshakes are perceived as timid, passive, and lacking in self-confidence. Worse, you can project a sense of distance and a "don’t touch me" attitude that is in direct conflict with your goal when you meet someone new.
But a firm handshake conveys a friendly, welcome attitude and tells the other person that you are confident, interested in meeting them, and open to forming the new relationship. And, yes, this advice to applies to women as well as men. Perhaps even more so, since women have been stereotyped as being the weaker sex in business matters. A firm handshake from a woman can go a long way toward dissolving that perception and establishing equal footing immediately.
One last note, applicable to both genders. The University researchers found that the person who extends their hand first has the "power." Good to know before you meet someone new. If you’re looking to them for a job or to be your mentor, let them extend their hand first. If you want the upper hand in the meeting, get your paw out there. And don’t forget - there is no such thing as a simple handshake.
[Ed. Note: Monica Day is co-editor of The Copy Protege, a free bi-weekly e-letter that helps people become professional freelance copywriters.]
It’s Good to Know: Ford Motor’s Success in Russia
New York Motors, the world’s most successful Ford dealership, is not in New York or even the United States but in Moscow. Last year, the company sold 115,985 vehicles in Russia through a network of 150 dealers.
Why is New York Motors so successful? For one thing, Russia’s healthy economy has stimulated demand for foreign cars. For another, Ford produces cars locally, keeping prices low compared to other imports.
(Source: Business Week)
Your Personal Invitation to Join a Small Cadre Of “Freedom Fighters”In Our Nation’s Heartland This July!
Dear ETR Reader,
Coming this summer, Early to Rise presents a five day challenge for you, should you decide to accept it…
The stakes? Reclaiming your personal liberty… declaring your self-reliance… and seizing financial independence forever.
This July 10th to 14th, we’re going to take a small group of ETR readers and work alongside them to build your own Internet business - the whole shebang, from soup to nuts - in an intensive, 5-day, business-building program better than anything we’ve done before.
You’re going to walk in with nothing - no product, no marketing skills, no technical know-how - and you’ll walk out with your own online business.
What you will learn flat-out works. You will build a professional, popular, and profitable Internet business. When you walk out the door, you’ll be super-prepared for success in a way that very few entrepreneurs ever are, online or off.
ETR’s “Five Days in July” Internet Business-Building Workshop is going to deliver success. Actually, it will OVER deliver. And your success, of course, is the bottom line. Sound good?
Okay, then let’s get going… let’s build something that WORKS… your own, REAL Internet business.
It only takes a few minutes to take that first key step. Find out how easy it is to join us and get all the details here.
Looking forward to seeing you there,
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Panjandrum
A "panjandrum" (pan-JAN-drum) is a self-important official.
According to Dictionary.com, the word was coined by Samuel Foote, an 18th century English dramatist, in a piece of nonsense writing composed to challenge actor Charles Macklin’s claim that he could memorize anything. Macklin is said to have refused to repeat a word of it. Here’s what Foote wrote:
"So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage-leaf to make an apple-pie; and at the same time a great she-bear, coming up the street, pops its head into the shop. ‘What! No soap?’ So he died, and she very imprudently married the barber: and there were present the Picninnies, and the Joblillies, and the Garyulies, and the grand Panjandrum himself, with the little round button at top, and they all fell to playing the game of catch-as-catch-can till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker … build your self-confidence and intellect … increase your attractiveness to others … just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR’s new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007