Increase Your Sales by 300% with 5 Old-Fashioned Secrets

Issue #2418

• WEALTHY: How to find out if you’re living over your head (John L. Herman Jr.)
• HEALTHY: Should you steer clear of fruit? (Craig Ballantyne)
• WISE: Charles Revson on selling cosmetics

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• What a "Wheelerpoint" is - and how it can make you money (John Wood)
• Another word to avoid in your writing (Don Hauptman)
• It’s Fun to Know… about the world’s most disappointing tourist attraction
• Add "prelapsarian" to your vocabulary

== Highly Recommended ==

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Do You Have a Problem?

By John L. Herman Jr.

Some business owners are like ostriches. They bury their heads in the sand. I have talked with owners who owed millions in debt, were 120 days late on their accounts payable, and couldn’t price and order correctly - and they still looked at me like I was crazy when I said they should sell and get out.

What was I talking about? They had no problem. Hell, the company had lived on this precarious edge for years. This time was no different from any of the other bad spells. It would all be over soon. After all, they had always recovered before.

If you own a business, ask yourself these questions:

• Do I have enough money in the bank to pay one month’s worth of bills?
• Are my sales going up or down?
• How are my margins?
• Is my bank considering pulling my line of credit?

If you don’t own a business - and we all do, really, because we are all a "business" of a sort - then check your bank balance against your credit card debt. Are you living over your head?

The most successful businesses recognize when they have a problem and do something about it, quickly. Whether it’s to a new strategy or to a completely new venture, they move on.

[Ed. Note: The best way to keep your head above water? Start your new business on the side, while keeping your day job. Begin your own business for under $100 right here.

Author and businessman John L. Herman Jr. ("Herman"), who has owned more than 20 companies, has become an expert on why businesses fail. The above article was excerpted with permission from Hermanisms: Axioms for Business and Life. For more information about Herman and his business writing, please visit Hermanisms.com.]

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"In the factory we make cosmetics; in the drugstore we sell hope."

Charles Revson

How Elmer Wheeler Can Help You Make Sales

By John Wood, AWAI Staff Copywriter

"Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle."

That just might be the most famous piece of sales advice ever. And, as a marketer, knowing the real meaning behind those words can transform your company’s sales copy - and your bottom line.

I often wondered who came up with such a great line. Until about a week ago, I still didn’t know…

I was reading Joe Vitale’s latest book, Buying Trances. In it, he mentions Elmer Wheeler as the originator of the idea.

Who’s Elmer Wheeler? Born in 1904, Mr. Wheeler was well known as one of the pioneers of persuasion.

In Buying Trances, Joe tells the story of how Texaco was looking to sell more oil to their customers. Too many people, without giving it a second thought, said "no" when a service station attendant asked "Check your oil today?" Wheeler suggested replacing the question with "Is your oil at the proper level today, sir?"

Now asking something like "Is your oil at the proper level today, sir?" would seem to be just common sense. A line so simple you’d think most gas station owners would naturally come up with it - but few did.

Which is why Texaco paid Wheeler $5,000 for those nine words… a small fortune in the depression-riddled 1930s.

They got their money’s worth and more. In one week, Texaco attendants got under 250,000 more hoods.

Another Wheeler sales triumph came when he was asked by the president of Barbasol to help them sell more shaving cream.

The first slogan they tried was "How would you like to save six minutes shaving?" Wheeler instructed their salespeople to then say "Use Barbasol. Just spread it on. Shave it off. Nothing else required!"

When they tested it, they found it increased sales by 102 percent.

A light bulb went off in Wheeler’s head, and he changed the slogan to "How would you like to slash your shaving time in half?"

That adjustment increased sales by another 300 percent.

Over the years, Wheeler tested 105,000 selling statements for 5,000 products. He eliminated 100,000 of them.

He summed up the philosophy behind what he called "Tested Selling" by saying…

"Don’t think so much about what you want to say as about what the prospect wants to hear - then the response you will get will more often be the one you are aiming for."

Great advice.

In his book Testing Sentences That Sell, Wheeler laid out his five "Wheelerpoints":

Wheelerpoint #1. "Don’t sell the steak - sell the sizzle." It’s one of the first things a new marketer or copywriter learns. Sell benefits and deeper benefits. Your prospect could care less about the product.

Wheelerpoint #2. "Don’t write - telegraph!" Back in Wheeler’s day, telegraphs were a popular way for people to send messages. But you were charged by the word. So, to keep the price down, you had to choose your words wisely. By saying "Don’t write - telegraph," Wheeler meant "Make every word count." He often said "Your first 10 words are more important than the next 10,000"… and "You have only 10 short seconds to catch your prospect’s attention."

Wheelerpoint #3. "Say it with flowers." This simply means that it’s not enough to make a statement to your prospect. You have to prove it. In other words, say "I love you," and then prove it by sending flowers. (Of course, you have to be sincere and do it convincingly.)

Wheelerpoint #4. "Don’t ask if - ask which." Meaning, always give your prospect a choice between something and something… never between something and nothing. For Abraham and Straus, Wheeler worked out a way for their soda fountains to sell more eggs. Instead of asking "Would you like an egg with that?" the clerk would ask "One egg or two eggs?" while holding an egg in each hand. The result? Seven out of 10 customers added at least one egg to their order.

I’d like to add my two cents to this one…

I’m continually surprised by how many waiters and waitresses don’t use this gentle sales technique. Most ask if you’ll be having wine with dinner. Few say "Will you be having white wine or red wine with dinner tonight?"

And one more example from Wheeler for this point:

He noticed that when a customer at the soda fountain requested a cola and was asked whether they wanted "small" or "large," most chose "small." He wondered what would happen if the clerk, instead, just said "Large one?" When they put it to the test, they found that seven out of 10 people said "Yes." This simple idea could have a dramatic impact on a fast-food restaurant’s bottom line. If they sell 500 drinks a day and the difference between a small and a large is 50 cents, converting 70 percent of their drink orders to large translates into an additional $175 per day. Over a year, that’s an increase of $63,875!

Wheelerpoint #5. "Watch your bark!" This one came out of Wheeler’s love of dogs - and how much you can tell about how a dog feels by the way they wag their tails and the sound of their barks. So by saying "Watch your bark!" Wheeler’s reminding us that it’s not just what you say, but how you say it. For copywriters, that means keeping the tone of your copy conversational and engaging.

I’ve printed out these five Wheelerpoints and taped them up next to my computer. They’re as meaningful for all of us in the "persuasion business" today as they were when Elmer came up with them 60+ years ago.

Wheeler wrote many books during his life. They are hard to find, however you can access his Testing Sentences That Sell, free of charge, online at stoneruniversity.com/TestedSentences/index.html.

[Ed. Note: Classic sales and marketing techniques are classic for a reason - they work! Quickly master the secrets of one advertising legend and command top-dollar from companies eager to beat a path to your door. Learn more here.

And for hundreds of copywriting techniques and a step-by-step guide to become a master copywriter in your own right, check out AWAI's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting. Learn how to make $100,000 a year (or more!) right here.]

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== Highly Recommended ==

About Ready to Give Up on EVER Getting Ahead?

I don’t blame YOU. More likely to blame are the METHODS you’ve been using.

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That’s a bold promise, and I’m very serious… because this is a VERY serious proposition from a VERY serious entrepreneur direct to you.

At this moment, YOU have a one-time window of opportunity like none other…

To take advantage of this opportunity, please read on.

Who Says Fruit Makes You Fat?

By Craig Ballantyne

Here’s one thing you’ll never see reported in ETR: "Eating Apples Makes You Fat." Yet, one of the most popular search terms for people ending up on my fitness blog is "Does fruit make you fat?"

For some reason, folks have been brainwashed by misinformation in muscle magazines that tell us fruit makes us fat. This is ridiculous. But despite what common sense tells us, I’m still one of the few fitness experts who believe that you can eat as much fruit as you want without getting fat. Practically every other trainer out there believes you need to limit your fruit intake when trying to lose weight.

I’ve worked with thousands of people, and not one has ever had a fat problem because of the fruit they ate.

If you are an average person who needs to lose fat, you can eat all the fruit you can handle - 10 servings a day, if you like. But here’s where you have to be careful. You must avoid fruit drinks and juices. They are often high in sugar, and might not even contain any real fruit!

A fruit drink will have about 100 calories per cup. That’s the same number of calories in a very large apple or banana. But it’s obvious which choice is going to fill you up for a longer period of time.

So go ahead and have that apple or banana, those berries or pineapple… because fruit does not make you fat.

[Ed. Note: It's true. Some of the most commonly voiced "facts" about health are complete fiction. Fitness expert Craig Ballantyne debunks some of the biggest health myths for you, in clear and simple terms, right here.

For health advice from a wide range of natural health experts, sign up for ETR's health e-letter. It's absolutely free, and the nutrition and fitness recommendations you get could help improve your life for the long term. Sign up now.]

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The Language Perfectionist: Will You Be Very Pleased to Learn This?

By Don Hauptman

It’s an old rule, but one that’s still commonly violated: Minimize, or avoid entirely, the use of very. The word is usually a sign of lazy, careless writing.

Here are some examples, pulled from an Internet search:

• "A very nasty period is soon to be upon us - be prepared."
• "Things go along very smoothly, the house keeps on running."
• "[The new Blackberry model is] small, light, but still with a very usable keyboard."

In all these cases, the word very could be expunged with no loss.

Theodore M. Bernstein, one of my favorite usage gurus, advised: "Inexperienced writers tend to use the word too much. Often its use is self-defeating; the writer intends to intensify what he is saying, but instead weakens it."

Yet even Bernstein conceded that the word has its legitimate uses, especially in idiomatic speech: "Yes, Mr. Johnson is very much alive." "Will dinner be served at eight o’clock? Very likely."

When you review and revise your writing, very should be on your list of words to look for and ruthlessly edit out - unless you can justify including it.

[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book forthcoming from AWAI, that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into critiquing, consulting, training, and speaking.]

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It’s Fun to Know: The World’s Most Disappointing Tourist Attraction

Crystal Falls, MI is home to what may be the world’s largest and oldest living organism. It’s a fungus that lies beneath 38 acres of forest floor near the Wisconsin border. Scientists discovered the "humongous fungus" by accident in 1988. Experts believe it weighs around 100 tons and is between 1,500 and 10,000 years old.

But according to the Crystal Falls website, tourists who wish to see the giant fungus will probably be disappointed. It lives almost entirely underground, only sprouting a few edible mushrooms in the fall.

== Highly Recommended ==

Do You Have What It Takes - and I Mean Really Have What It Takes - to Make It? In the Next 30 Days You Could Be Telling Your Boss to Take a Long Walk Off a Short Pier!

The leeches won’t stop till you drop.

Look, I’m sure you’ve felt it before… no matter how much you make it seems someone always has their hand in your pocket.

Your boss, the IRS, even your credit card companies, they’re all taking turns at your wallet.

If you’ve finally reached your boiling point and would love to stop these leeches from sucking you dry then you owe it to yourself to read on… But only if you’re serious about getting out of the daily grind. This isn’t for the faint of heart.

Click here to read on.

- Charlie Byrne

Word to the Wise: Prelapsarian

"Prelapsarian" (pree-lap-SARE-ee-un) - from the Latin for "before" + "fall" - refers to the time or state before the fall of Adam and Eve.

Example (as used by Mark Lawson in The Guardian): "The mid-twenties were, in general, a prelapsarian period, before the stock market crash of 1929 and the depression of the 1930s."

[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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