Issue #2346

• WEALTHY: Another reason information publishing is such a fantastic business opportunity (Michael Masterson)
• HEALTHY: The hidden danger lurking in your make-up bag (James LaValle)
• WISE: Eric Alterman on attention span

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• One big secret of writing winning sales copy for the Web (Nick Usborne)
• If you misunderstand this word, you could unintentionally insult someone (Don Hauptman)
• It’s Fun to Know… about Shanghai ’s mega-metro system
• Add "cum" to your vocabulary

== Highly Recommended ==

He’d Have Called Them Crazy – Or Worse!

With the Internet, it’s now possible to spend no more than a few dollars, write a couple of very basic ads, and have instant access to millions of potential customers all in a matter of minutes.

If anyone had told Jim Sheridan he could bank thousands in just 24 hours… without any product of his own… without spending a penny on getting it or promoting it, he’d have justifiably said they were nuts.

But Jim made a decision that he would overcome his skeptical nature and give it a go. Boy, is he glad he did! That one deal alone banked him $187,296 in one day.

Take a look at how Jim brought in over $187,000 in a single day!

- Charlie Byrne

Are There Only 2 Ways to Be Successful in Business?

By Michael Masterson

I was browsing through the Robb Report recently while in a cigar shop in Denver. One article caught my eye. It was a profile of a man who developed a line of five-star Asian resorts. In talking about his business, he said something like, "There are two ways to be successful in business. You can produce a very inexpensive product and sell it to a great many people. Or you can produce a very expensive product and sell it to a very limited number of people. I chose to do the latter."

I thought that was pretty good. And fledgling entrepreneurs should spend some time thinking about it before they decide what kind of business they want to get into.

Unless, that is, they want to be information publishers. Selling information gives you the opportunity to do both.

Here is how it works.

You create an information product that is, in some way, unique. You offer it for free by way of a website, blog, or e-letter. You build a list of qualified prospects that way. Then you introduce low-priced products to them, products that somehow provide them with benefits they can’t get from your free service.

The buyers of these inexpensive information products become your "house" or "core" file of customers. You treat them like gold by offering them other free benefits and plenty of opportunities to buy more inexpensive products.

When your house file is sufficiently large (say, 10,000), you develop an expensive product. You sell that product to your house file and achieve a response rate you couldn’t possibly get by going to outside files. If that goes well, you develop and sell a second and even a third expensive product. The buyers of these expensive products become your VIP file. During boom times, you can develop third-level, super-expensive products to sell to your VIPs. These people will obviously be a very elite group, the kind of people who would vacation at the luxury Asian resorts developed by that fellow profiled in the Robb Report.

What I’ve just described is the business model that is available to Internet information publishers today. It’s no wonder why so many ETR readers want to be involved in this growing field.

[Ed. Note: Don't be intimidated by the prospect of starting your own Internet business. It's easier than you think. If you want directions for getting your own online business off the ground, you might be interested in ETR's Magic Button program. Get the details here.]

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"Americans continue to suffer from a notoriously short attention span."

Eric Alterman 

Use the "Left-Side" Rule to Make Your Web Copy Easy to Scan

By Nick Usborne

One of the biggest challenges for an Internet marketer is to create a page of copy that can be scanned easily.

More specifically, you need to create Web pages that enable people to find the information they want – and the information you want them to find – with a quick glance.

What’s the big deal?

The big deal is that people don’t view and read Web pages the same way as they scan printed materials.

First of all, their attitude is different. Web users are goal-oriented. They know what they are looking for. They know what they want. And it’s your job to let people know that they came to the right place.

Also, Web readers are a lot more impatient than print readers. They are in a hurry. They are unforgiving.

Visualize yourself as a typical website visitor – someone interested in, say, kayaking.

Picture yourself picking up a kayaking magazine. You kick back and start flipping through the pages. You are relaxed. You take your time. Some articles will really interest you. Others won’t. That’s okay. The magazine has your complete attention. There’s no urgency. If you put the magazine down while you answer the door or walk the dog, it will be there waiting for you when you get back.

Now, let’s say you read an article about some cool kayak storage racks. Your kayak is taking up way too much room on the floor of the garage, so you want to hang it on the wall.

Suddenly, you have a very specific interest. You want to find out where you can buy a "kayak storage rack." You also want to check out the different racks available and their prices.

So you head over to your computer and open Google or some other search engine.

You type in the phrase "kayak storage racks."

Let’s stop for a moment. You may wonder whether I’m painting an accurate picture here. The short answer is yes. While people don’t always look for stuff online after reading a magazine, they very frequently use the major search engines to find and research things they are interested in buying.

The fact that people use search engines changes everything. Because to use a search engine, you have to enter a search phrase. You have to think about what you are looking for and think of a phrase that will (you hope) take you to a relevant page on a website.

As soon as you type in the phrase "kayak storage racks," you have framed the boundaries of your interest and attention. And you have become tightly focused on the way you scan the search results and then scan the pages on the sites you arrive at.

It is essential that you understand this.

Remember when you were picking up that magazine about kayaks? Your mind was open. You were a passive recipient of information about kayaking. You were in the hands of the magazine’s editors. As a passive observer, you opened the magazine to find out what was inside.

When you go to the Web, the experience is utterly different. As a site visitor, you are not passive, you are active. You are in control. You are the boss. You know exactly what you are looking for. You are task-oriented.

And in this case, your self-assigned task is to find some kayak storage racks.

You read through the titles to the listings on the Google search results page and click on a link that looks promising. In this case, that link will probably include the phrase "kayak storage racks."

You then arrive at a page within a website. Probably not the home page. Probably some internal page.

And your brain is now programmed for one task only – to find kayak storage racks.

You scan the page for text and images that will confirm you are in the right place. This will take about two seconds. If you don’t see an immediate match for "kayak storage racks," you will hit the back button.

This may sound brutal. But it is what happens.

Now that you understand this, let’s say you’ve been hired to write copy for a page about kayak storage racks. If you have no experience writing for the Web, you might write your headline something like:

"Free up your floor space by hanging your kayak from the walls or ceiling."

You’re stating the benefit of your client’s racks right at the beginning – which is what you should do when you’re writing copy for a sales letter that’s going to be mailed or an ad that’s going to appear in a newspaper or magazine. But that isn’t how I would write the headline for the Web.

I’d write it more like this:

"Kayak Storage Racks – for wall or ceiling. Save 22% + free shipping."

Why? Because I know my reader’s brain is tightly focused on a very specific task and phrase. In fact, I would probably write several different headlines about storage racks, each of them optimized for a particular search term.

And I would put that term at the beginning of the headline. Because the first three or four words of your headline will get a lot more attention than the last three.

Don’t believe me? Well, thousands of heat-map studies, which track a Web user’s eye movements, have confirmed this time and time again.

In fact, whatever your key message is, make sure you place the words and phrases you use to describe it as close to the left margin of the main column as possible.

When people scan a Web page, their eye movement, and the vast majority of their attention, is very tightly tied to that left side. And the further people look down the page, the less they will look at anything that is not close to the left side.

What does this mean? It means that my key phrases and benefits will be written at the beginning of every heading, subhead, and link.

Don’t assume people will read your whole subhead. They will probably just scan the first three or four words.

And don’t waste space with generic terms. That is to say, if you want to highlight your free shipping offer, don’t write a subhead like this:

"Order your space-saving kayak rack today and get free shipping."

Write it more like this:

"Free shipping with your kayak rack if you order today."

Everything that matters should come at the beginning of all your scannable text: your headline, subheads, links, and captions.

(BTW – why did I add the discount and free shipping offer to my headline? Because online shoppers are comparison shoppers. They’ll find what they want on your site, and then see if they can find the same thing cheaper elsewhere. So you want to do all you can to keep them on your page… and get them to buy from your page.)

There is a lot more to say about creating scannable Web copy, but the "left-side" rule will get you started.

[Ed. Note: Nick Usborne - who's worked with such high-profile companies as Yahoo, MSN, and AOL - began copywriting exclusively for the Web in 1998. He is the author of AWAI's newest program, Nick Usborne's Million Dollar Secrets for Online Copywriting. Learn more about writing sales copy for the Web here.]

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== Highly Recommended ==

The Billionaire Way

I just wanted to say thank you for putting The Billionaire Way together for others to learn from as well as myself. I have made it a mission in my life to learn from the greatest minds in history and business.

I came from a humble beginning… searching. I found what I needed to know in The Billionaire Way. My most important lesson was they are all human just like you and me. They had special skills which anyone can develop to attract that bit of luck we all need in life… that extra edge.

These lessons can be learned in The Billionaire Way and you don’t have to spend your whole life as a mission, as I have, to find what I found here in The Billionaire Way.

I enjoyed our call. It put the final touches together that I have needed. If I do happen to get stuck on something thanks for saying I can contact you again. People look to me for advice. It is reassuring to ask and receive advice and have an enriching conversation… I find it is rare.

Thank you

- Aaron Kaggie

President. of Kaggie Holdings, Inc.

Kearns, Utah

Please click here for all the details on this unique program.

Toxic Cosmetics!

By James B. LaValle, RPh, MS, ND, CCN

Would you knowingly go out and buy mercury or lead and put it on your skin? No. You are certainly smarter than that. But the important word here is " knowingly" – because, believe it or not, there are still cosmetics and skin care products out there in the marketplace that are made with toxic ingredients. Fortunately, one website is pointing out the offenders so you can keep yourself safe.

A recent report published by the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit research organization in Washington, DC, identifies these products on their sister website, SafeCosmetics.org. (Who knew that some companies put mercury in their mascara?) 

We tend to forget that the skin is the largest organ of the body. Your skin literally drinks in what you put on it. So before you buy any cosmetics or skin care products, check the SafeCosmetics website.

[Ed. Note: James B. LaValle, RPh, N.D, C.C.N., is founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute, a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies, and the author of 13 books on healthy lifestyles and integrative care, including Cracking the Metabolic Code.

By modifying your diet, medications, lifestyle, and exercise habits, and with nutritional supplementation, your health is largely within your control. Dr. LaValle's approach to health has worked for thousands of patients, and it can help you, too. Learn the details here.]

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The Language Perfectionist: Less Full Than Some

By Don Hauptman

Consider these two examples, selected from thousands that an Internet search turned up:

• "Although he received fulsome praise from his later colleagues and former students for leading an excellent clinical service…"
• "You will find within these pages a sharing of views, ideas, perceptions, and experiences, which deserve fulsome praise for the quality of the contributions."

Because fulsome sounds like "full," it’s commonly used in the sense of abundant, copious, generous, lavish. The word is so often paired with praise that people repeat the expression "fulsome praise" without understanding what it means.

In reality, fulsome has negative meanings: gross, loathsome, odious, offensive, repulsive. The expression "fulsome praise" means praise that is cloying, excessive, fawning, insincere.

Of course, situations do exist where praise deserves this modifier. But that’s not what most writers and speakers who use it intend. Ironically, what they believe to be a compliment is really an insult.

As in so many cases, some dictionaries and other language authorities defend the positive meaning of fulsome. Originally, the word did mean full or abundant. But times, and the word’s meaning, have changed. In any case, writers should always strive to achieve clarity, avoid ambiguity, and preclude the possibility that a reader will misunderstand.

Finally, here’s another reason to steer clear of the expression "fulsome praise": It’s overused and cliched. Whether you wish to convey a positive or a negative evaluation of praise – or of anything else – you can choose from a variety of other words, such as those listed above.

[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was a direct-response copywriter. He is author of the wordplay books Cruel and Unusual Puns and Acronymania, and is now writing a new book that also blends language and humor.]

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It’s Fun to Know: Shanghai ’s Mega-Metro System

With a population of 20 million, Shanghai is one of the largest cities in the world. In an effort keep pace with the needs of a growing number of commuters, the city’s metro rail system is expanding. Plans call for 316 miles of rail to be in place by 2012. That’s enough to connect Philadelphia to Boston, and three times the length of Chicago ’s "L." The estimated total cost is $11.7 billion.

(Source: Wired and Shanghai Daily)

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== Highly Recommended ==

Take Charge of Your Future

You don’t have much spare time… you’re not exactly rolling in the bucks… and you’re no Bill Gates when it comes to technology.

We’ve heard you… and that’s why we asked Marc Charles to be our “advance scout” for profit opportunities that you can run from a kitchen table, your desktop, or out on the road.

They’ve got to be inexpensive and easy to start, without a lot of red tape or technical know-how, and still have great income potential.

There’s a reason they call this guy “The King of Business Opportunities”…why not take a look at what he’s got for you?

- Charlie Byrne

Word to the Wise: Cum

"Cum" (KUM) is Latin for "with." It is often used to mean "combined with."

Example (as used by Bob Granleese in The Guardian): "Pretty soon, we’re digging up the lunch, washing it off at a stand pipe, and heading for the shed-cum-kitchen, where the two burners are quickly pressed into working overtime."

[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.]

Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 5:10 am and is filed under Daily Issues .