How to Make Sales Without Even Trying

by Early To Rise (07/4/2008)

Issue #2399

  • WEALTHY: 4 investing whoppers you don’t want to fall for (Andrew Gordon)
  • HEALTHY: 17 forms of sunblock you can eat (Shane Ellison)
  • WISE: David Ogilvy on form vs. content

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

  • Copy that "works" so you don’t have to (John Forde)
  • Harvard law student who can’t get up early asks me what’s up with that (Michael Masterson)
  • It’s Good to Know… about your morning whiff of joe
  • Add "dolorous" to your vocabulary

== Highly Recommended ==

New Money-Making Breakthrough Helps Little Guy Build Serious Wealth This Year

Whether you’re an average Joe or a major player on Wall Street, there is one proven way to jumpstart your cash flow and pull in some big bucks.

This “back door” to wealth-building is, for some, a close-to-perfect formula for consistently making money… regardless of what shape the economy is in. 

Best part: It is easy to follow this method and it flat out WORKS fast. To get the full scoop and all the exciting details, click here…

Wall Street’s Most Lethal Fallacies

By Andrew M. Gordon

Wall Street has its own less helpful spin on "live and learn." It’s "read and retch." So much of what we hear and read from so-called experts is simply garbage. Worst of all, it can lead to bad investment decisions.

So be careful out there. Question everything. And come to your own conclusions in your own time. We’ve been asked to swallow some whoppers. Do these sound familiar?

1. Home prices never fall. After we saw the real estate market crash in Japan in the late 1980s, how could we fall for this one? But fall we did.

2. The housing and credit crisis is over. Not true a year ago, six months ago, or now. It will continue to plague the economy for the rest of the year… at least.

3. Stock markets go up in the long run. This is true if the long run means 15 years or more. But markets can remain flat or down for over a decade at a time. That’s no blip in my book.
 
4. Bank stocks will be supported by their dividends. Was this wishful thinking or just plain naivete? Citibank, Washington Mutual, KeyCorp, and others have cut dividends. Many more banks will follow.
 
It’s not easy to figure out what’s true and what isn’t. Keep reading and listening. But most important, stick to what you know as much as you can. It may be boring… but it’s also much safer.

[Ed. Note: Andrew Gordon, ETR's Investment Director, recommends that you stick to what you know. If you know that you can still make money - even in this sagging economy - you're on the right track. Learn how you can get your portion of a $300 billion cash pile looking for a home.]

Click to comment on this article.

"What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form."

David Ogilvy

How to Makes Sales Without Even Trying

By John Forde

A great piece of sales copy can show up where you’d least expect it. With an impact you might not expect either. At levels you never imagined. Take this letter, below, sent to a friend from a company called "Dove Construction." This appeared in Penny Thomas’s mailbox, on the company’s official stationery…

—
Ms Penelope Thomas
[address deleted]

Dear Penelope:

As you may be aware, DOVE CONSTRUCTION has started work at your neighbor’s home located at [address deleted].

We at DOVE CONSTRUCTION want you to know that there may be some early morning noise and some dirt tracked into the street during rear addition construction. At times, due to circumstances beyond our control, such as sleet and rain, it is very difficult to contain the resulting mud.

Be aware that it is only for a short time during the construction process. We assure you that we will always do our best to maintain a clean and quiet job site for our customer and you, their neighbor.

Thank you for your understanding and patience. Should you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us at the number listed above.

Sincerely,
Tom Cerami, President
DOVE CONSTRUCTION, LLC
—

Did the construction company have to send out this letter? No. In fact, as Penny told me, plenty of construction companies have come through the same area, happy to crank up their jackhammers… without the slightest nod to the neighbors.

Yet, here’s a company that took what would otherwise be a net negative - all the noise and attention they were about to draw - and turned it around. With a simple letter.

Penny was so impressed, she wrote a letter right back. And sent it directly to the company’s president…

—
Mr. Tom Cerami
President
Dove Construction, LLC
[address deleted]

Dear Mr. Cerami,

I greatly appreciated your notice that you were starting work at [address deleted]. Homeowners really like to know what is happening in their neighborhood. I also want to congratulate you on a good piece of marketing.

Your letter accomplished a number of things:

  • I found out my neighbors were getting an addition.
  • It made me curious - I’m now watching construction.
  • It might have satisfied local building regulations.

But most important:

  • It told me you are a responsible contractor.
  • And, if I want a contractor, I have your information at hand.

Your letter was the first I have ever seen from a contractor subtly and elegantly advertising his business - and there have been many contractors working in the neighborhood over the years. Great job. More effective, I am sure, than just a sign on the site.

I am a freelance copywriter, specializing in marketing - so I appreciated your letter. My website pennythomas.com has some writing samples and information about me.

Take a moment to look at it and see if I can be of service to you. If you need, or know someone who needs, a copywriter to put together marketing material - brochures, lead-generating letters, business letters, space ads, website copy, or such - please think of me.

Sincerely,
Penny Thomas
Copywriter
—-

Hey… whoa… wait a minute. Did you see what just happened there?

Go read it again.

In their short letter, the construction company has, indeed, done plenty - the goodwill generated, the promises made, the contact information for questions, and more. Penny is right to be impressed.

But then comes an even smarter move on Penny’s part.

She’s genuinely impressed enough to write back and praise the construction company. But Penny, quick on her feet, hasn’t forgotten that construction businesses need marketing copy… and that Penny just happens to be a trained copywriter. A point she mentions with equal subtlety in her letter.

Great idea! And this, of course, is the way it’s supposed to work. Should Penny get a copywriting gig with this local construction firm, it should be a breeze… because it’s a company she’s actually happy to sell.

What does this mean for the rest of us? Simple.

If you run a business, consider how many opportunities you have to interact with customers, or even prospective customers, where a little extra copy effort might "up" the value of the contact. Thank you notes for e-mail signups or orders… renewal notices… post-sale follow-up messages… customer service surveys or technical support. The list could go on.

Every one of those opportunities can do a lot more than just communicate functional data. They could sell your new customers… and re-sell your existing ones. Subtly. Aggressively. Whatever’s right for the moment. Yet, so many marketers miss that opportunity.

Likewise, if you write copy… how many chances to sell your talents to the businesses you know and trust have you overlooked? Company websites… local sales brochures… online ads and sales letters… print ads in local papers… even P.R. pieces or e-zine editorial.

It might be the small gigs that get you started. It might be the big opportunities that let you smack the cover off the ball with your first at bat. Either way, I’ve met plenty of people who had no grasp of the role copywriters play in business. But when I point out just how much of the written marketing word they see in a day, their eyes start to open. It’s everywhere.

When you realize that, it can be like flicking on a light switch. Tough to find clients? Not at all. Try looking closer to home - or at least closer to your own interests - and you might surprise yourself.

[Ed. Note: Knowing how to sell - and doing it whenever and wherever you can - can take you and your business to new levels of profitability. Top copywriter John Forde can show you just how powerful copywriting is. Learn how to get access to the very same copywriting secrets responsible for selling millions of dollars' worth of products and services on the Internet right here.

And for more money-making sales and marketing techniques, make sure to sign up for John's free e-zine, Copywriter's Roundtable.]

Click to comment on this article.

== Highly Recommended ==

Is Today the Financial Turning Point in Your Life?

Right now - this very minute - an incredible, ultra-lucrative opportunity lies in wait for YOU, and I’d like to show you how to seize it.

Can you afford to risk this opportunity passing you by?  I guarantee this is unlike anything you’ve EVER seen.  

Check out everything for yourself by reading on right now.

Dear ETR: "I just can’t seem to make rising early happen."

"Michael, the advice you give in ETR is always exceptional, and I’m proud to say that I’ve applied your goal-setting strategies with great success. In fact, I was recently accepted to Harvard Law School. I am currently studying for the GMAT and hope to be accepted to the JD/MBA joint program at Harvard. Thanks for the guidance.

"There is one sticky point, however. I continue to struggle with waking up early.  I recognize that this is a big part of your philosophy. It’s even central to the title of the e-zine. But I just can’t seem to make it happen.

"My work doesn’t require me to be in the office at any specific time, and it’s not unusual for my co-workers to come in to work after 10:00. When that alarm goes off at 6:30 a.m., the knowledge that I can easily roll over and sleep for another couple of hours always wins out over my desire to get up and achieve.

"I’ve done my best to follow your advice about setting a regular time to get to bed and a regular time to wake up. I’ve tried to cut out energy-draining foods from my diet. I’ve made substantial changes in both of these areas, but have not achieved total success.

"Help."

Michael W.
Mountainside, NJ

 

Dear Michael,

Congratulations on your acceptance to Harvard. If you are tired in the morning now, just wait till you start law school!

Look, it’s tough to get up early when you are young. Studies show that young people need more sleep than we older folks. Plus, your sleep cycle may actually be different. I was told about a new study which found that younger people are somehow biologically programmed to sleep later. (As Dr. Greg Murray of Swinburne University of Technology told the Telegraph, "a biological marker of the end of adolescence is a shifting earlier of the phase of the body clock back to a more adult orientation.")

Don’t feel too bad about your struggle. My three boys haven’t seen the sun rise in 20 years - except when they were going to bed.

You have a different schedule now than you will when you are involved in your career. You can adjust your classes - and, apparently, your work - to start later. The important thing is to give yourself an hour every morning to do something that will really advance your most important goals. Not just studying for a class but becoming the person you one day want to be.

Figure out what that is and start developing extra skills, contacts, knowledge, etc. to become that person. Reserve the first hour of your working day for that. If everybody else is rolling in at 10:00, get in at 9:00.

I changed my sleep cycle by gradual degrees. I’d get up three minutes earlier every week. Can you do that? Of course you can! And guess what? In just under a year’s time (and that year will go by very quickly), you’ll be getting up two and a half hours earlier!

Keep us posted from Harvard. Let us know if any of those law professors know something we don’t.

- Michael Masterson

[Ed. Note: Send your questions to AskETR@ETRFeedback.com. Include your full name, your hometown and state, and the ETR team may answer you in an upcoming issue.]

Click to comment on this article.

Chemist Forces Children to Eat Sunscreen

By Shane "The People’s Chemist" Ellison

My wife and I are unconventional parents. We didn’t vaccinate our children. They don’t go to public school. We don’t let them drink their weight in soda. And we make them eat their sunscreen. Before you report me to Child Protective Services, let me assure you that I’m not talking about the conventional, synthetic sunblock that is loaded with poisons. I’m talking about edible sunblock in the form of carotenoids.

Carotenoids are members of a family of nutrients that protect plants and animals from excess sunshine. Just like melanin, they are colorful molecules that reflect UV rays. About 700 different types of carotenoids have been identified. Each of the pigments functions as Mother Nature’s sunblock. When humans ingest carotenoids, they are deposited into the skin to prevent sunburn and (ultimately) oxidative stress, which can lead to cancer.

Leading sources of carotenoids are eggs, spirulina, chlorella, dark-green leafy vegetables (kale, collards, and spinach), and yellow-orange fruits and vegetables (apricots, cantaloupe, carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, and squash). The recommended daily intake of carotenoids is 100 to 200 grams per day of these foods.

The most potent carotenoid is a red pigment found in algae, salmon, trout, shrimp, and lobsters. It is known as astaxanthin. The algae are normally green. But when subjected to sunshine, they produce the red pigment naturally. Once ingested, astaxanthin is 1,000 times more effective at protecting skin from UV damage than other carotenoids.

Edible sunblock is your first line of defense against sunburn, cancer, and prematurely aging skin. So make sure you pack plenty of carotenoids in your kids’ lunchboxes this summer.

[Ed. Note: Getting more sunshine is just one way you can improve your health. With advice from best-selling author and organic chemist Shane Ellison, you can prevent or reverse health disasters like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. To learn how to feel better and live healthier, click here.

And get expert advice on how to get in shape, lose weight, and improve your overall health with ETR's free health e-letter. Sign up here.]

Click to comment on this article.

It’s Good to Know: Your Morning Whiff of Joe

Coffee is part of the morning wake-up ritual for millions of people worldwide. But recent research by South Korean scientists indicates that you might not have to drink it to get that "pick-me-up" effect. When the researchers exposed sleep-deprived rats to coffee aromas, they found that the activity of some genes in their brains changed, reducing the effects of sleeplessness.

No human trials are planned. But next time you’re at Starbucks, why not skip the latte and simply inhale deeply near the counter? (Report back if you notice any energizing effects.)

 (Source: Live Science)

Click to comment on this article.

== Highly Recommended ==

“Wickedly Lucrative” Ways to Grow Your Business This Year

I’m prepared to hand you 38 bigger, better, and more profitable ways to grow bottom-line profits, especially for smaller or medium-sized businesses or start-ups, where capital may be limited or tight.

Who couldn’t use 14 killer ways to get clients and customers to buy larger units of purchase, pay more for each one, and buy them more frequently… or 93 different ways to get more referrals than your business can probably handle?

I want to show you these and many more profitable ideas, techniques, and strategies for quickly growing your bottom line. To see all the breakthrough profit-makers that are lined up for you, just follow this link right now.

Word to the Wise: Dolorous

"Dolorous" (DOH-luh-rus) - from the Latin for "to grieve" - is another way of saying "sorrowful."

Example (as used by Mary Varnham in The Evening Post [New Zealand]): "Climbing out on to a narrow ledge, we waved cheerily at the people passing by on the street below, until my mother was informed of our misdemeanour - by a waitress wickedly known to great-aunt Mary, behind her table napkin, as Sourpuss for her perpetually dolorous expression - and we were lured back inside."

[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

Similar Articles:


Posted to Daily Issues

Did you especially enjoy this issue of ETR? Why not share it with the world?
with a friend…

Return to the newsletter directory

Comments

  1. Cathy K
    July 6th, 2008| 2:14 pm

    I was tickled to read about the “sunblock” foods. I never about that attribute of my favorite summer foods. Now I know why I craved them. Before I started eating really healthy foods, I burned quickly. I didn’t burn as much after I changed my diet. That is something I can do easily to help my health and my fair skin.

    Thanks for the info.

Leave a reply: