Issue #2474
- WEALTHY: Why you should call your credit card company today (Christian Hill)
- HEALTHY: You’re never too old to improve your health (James B. LaValle)
- WISE: J.P. Morgan on the reason people do anything
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- A psychological “trigger” that can massively increase your marketing success (Yanik Silver)
- Is Miss Zimmer rolling over in her grave? (Judith Strauss)
- It’s Good to Know… about a different kind of dictionary
- Add “scion” to your vocabulary
== Highly Recommended ==
MaryEllen Tribby Rescinds Invitation to Top Internet Marketing Experts
Each year, ETR scours the earth for the best and brightest Internet marketers to speak at their annual Information Marketing Bootcamp…
Each year, ETR comes up with a dozen or so experts whose own success is mind boggling…
Each year, ETR packs the conference rooms at the Delray Beach Marriott with hundreds of business-builders eager to see these marketing big shots up close and personal…
But this year, ETR’s CEO and Publisher, MaryEllen Tribby, “uninvited” some of the smartest marketers in the industry.
Why would she do such a thing?
Because they didn’t step up.
They got defensive… or squeamish… or downright hysterical…
As soon as MaryEllen told them what they’d have to deliver at Bootcamp this year.
She calls it the Internet Ultimatum.
Learn why so many marketing masters got uncomfortable at the idea…
Discover the select few who are up to the challenge…
And find out how this unprecedented meeting of the minds can help YOU make millions in 2009.
A Phone Call That You Need to Make
The average American has at least one credit card and carries a balance of more than $1,700. Faced with mounting minimum payments on their cards and shrinking monthly budgets, what is a consumer to do? Answer: Call your credit card company and negotiate a lower interest rate.
Credit card delinquencies are mounting with the downturn in the economy. (Interestingly, the two states with the highest foreclosure rates, Nevada and Florida, also lead the nation in credit card delinquencies.) Through July, the annualized rate of credit card charge-offs rose 33 percent compared to last year, according to Moody’s Investor Services. At the same time, the Payment Rate Index, which reflects borrowers’ ability and willingness to repay credit card debt, dropped.
Faced with increasing delinquencies, credit card companies are more willing than ever to lower your interest rate to make sure you’ll be able to keep current. The last thing they want is for you to fall behind on your payments and have another past-due account on their books.
[Ed. Note: Protecting your wealth is about more than investing. It means keeping your debt under control, too.
Have a sticky financial question? Want to know what's behind an investing term you keep hearing? Send your questions to AskETR@ETRfeedback.com and one of our financial experts may answer you in Early to Rise.]
“A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason.”
J.P. Morgan
Using “Reason Why” to Persuade, Influence, and Maximize Sales
By Yanik Silver
The subject of persuasion is endlessly fascinating. It never ceases to amaze me that I can write words on paper (or the computer) and convince people to send me money.
Today,I’m going to introduce you to one of the most effective psychological hot buttons – one that you can profit from immediately. I’m talking about giving people a “reason why.”
If I could use just one copy approach in my marketing, that would probably be it. Telling people the reason why you are doing something – or want them to do something – is one of the most powerful influencers of human behavior.
In his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini describes an experiment conducted by Harvard social psychologist Ellen Langer. Langer had a researcher approach people waiting in line to use a library copy machine and asked if he could cut in.
The first time he tried this, he said, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?” This request was granted 60 percent of the time. But the second time he tried it (with different people waiting in line), he said, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?” - and this request was granted 94 percent of the time.
Why? Because he gave the people a reason why he wanted to cut in line. That’s what triggered the magic “yes” response. And using this psychological “trigger” in your marketing can massively increase your success.
Some years ago, Maxwell Sackheim, famous for writing the long-running ad “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?” and originator of the book-of-the-month concept, said: “Whenever you make a claim or special offer in your advertising, come up with an honest reason why, and then state it sincerely. You’ll sell many more products this way.”
In one “reason-why” ad that I wrote for my dad’s medical equipment company, I helped him produce a massive 1,073 percent return on investment. (This was a huge breakthrough in those days, because the sale of medical equipment to doctors was typically done one-on-one.)
The ad asked: “How can we sell this product for the incredibly low price of only $447?” (It regularly sold for about $695 – $895.) Then it went on to explain that the reason why the price was so low was because the manufacturer wanted to gain market share and get nurses and doctors accustomed to using the product.
It was a huge winner and a big moneymaker.
In another ad, I employed the “reason-why” concept in the headline: “5 Reasons Why More Patients Choose Dr. Bui for Cosmetic Surgery.”
Simply mentioning “X” number of reasons why a customer should purchase from you is usually more than what most of your competitors do. It provides the customer with a logical reason to back up an emotional buying decision.
Start With the Reason Why – and Build a Promotion Around It
You can come up with just about any excuse for a promotion. Look at your calendar. If retailers and car dealers can use “made-up” holidays like Columbus Day to have a sale, you can do even better. Just keep brainstorming for a reason why you are selling whatever you’re selling.
One type of reason-why promotion lets people in “behind the scenes” at your company. For example, one I used a few years back was the “Save Yanik’s Marriage Sale.” The premise was that Missy, my wife, was really annoyed at me because the basement was so overloaded with boxes. Truthfully, she WAS really mad, and made a big stink about it – but I embellished the story a little bit. As a result of that promotion, we totally cleared out our entire inventory and made a tidy profit.
Another type of reason-why promotion I’ve had a lot of success with is the “milestone” sale. When our first child, Zak, was born, for example, I built a promotion around the event. That promotion nearly tripled my expectations. (It made $4.60+ for every visitor who came to my website.) Just as important, it helped the customers/prospects I sent it to connect with me as a real person. (You should have seen the dozens and dozens of congratulatory notes.)
Now in this case, I took a “multi-media” approach. I mailed (instead of e-mailed) a “birth announcement” that referred people to the website. Here’s what it looked like:
When Zoe was born a few years later, I did the same thing. (It worked even better, so now she’ll have bragging rights on Zak forever.)
When you advertise a sale or a special deal, your customers know you’re not doing it just because you’re “a nice guy (or gal).” So give them a believable reason. And then – like the researcher in Ellen Langer’s study – you’re very likely to trigger a “yes” response.
[Ed. Note: As master Internet marketer Yanik Silver (www.internetlifestyle.com) says, simply giving your customers a reason can convince them to make a purchase.
Come to ETR's 2008 Information Marketing Bootcamp this November... because we'll be revealing 12 ways to make between $1 million and $100 million with your own Internet business. Yanik will be one of our all-star speakers - and he'll be sharing some of his biggest secrets to making money online. Get all the details here.]
You Could Be Just Hours Away From Instant Internet Income
All you have to do is watch a simple video, and I’ll show you one of the most startling ways I’ve ever seen to make money in the shortest amount of time… within a few short hours of watching the presentation.
You will learn the exact plan that banked $187,296 in 24 hours for one man. And you can copy it step for step. And the best part is, once you put in just a few hours, you need not do any additional work. You could very quickly have an “automatic” monthly income stream flowing into your bank account.
This new program is appropriately called Instant Internet Income and I guarantee it does exactly what I promise. Take a look and discover how Jim Sheridan made this money so quickly.
Dress for Success?
My eighth-grade teacher was a tyrant. Seventh-graders shook in their proverbial boots knowing that they were about to face MISS ZIMMER.
Her main job was to drill basic grammar into us.
“A noun is the name of a person, place, or thing,” we repeated… over and over again.
“A verb is an action word,” we repeated… over and over again.
To burn prepositions into our brains, she had us memorize something that started like this:
With, on, for, after, at, by, in,
Against, instead of, near, between.
Through, out, from, under, down below,
To, over, up, according to.
(Does anyone out there remember the rest of this?)
But Miss Zimmer had taken on a second mission. “No blue jeans in my class,” she commanded.
Huh?
“If you come to class dressed for play, you will play,” she insisted. “If you come to class dressed for work, you will work.”
I can’t imagine a teacher making such a dictum in this day and age. But back then, we (and our parents) bowed down.
Was she was right?
Many business-success experts would agree with her. They would tell you that even when you’re working at your kitchen table, you should forget the sweats and baggy jeans.
But, hey! One of the benefits of working at home – one that we often mention when encouraging you to start your own Internet business – is that you don’t have to “dress up.”
Yes, you always want to look professional when networking or meeting with a client or potential partner. But when it’s just you and your computer, who cares? (And think of all the money you’ll be saving on suits and ties or dresses and heels.)
Sorry, Miss Zimmer.
[Ed. Note: The prospect of working in your jammies from your back bedroom may sound like a pipe dream... but it's easier to achieve than you think. Join us in Florida this November when a dozen of the best Internet marketers in the world will be revealing exactly how you can start and grow your own home-based Internet business. You'll be working in your sweatpants in no time...]
Good Health Habits Pay Off – Even If You Start Late
Even if you don’t adopt good health habits until well into middle age, a new study shows that it’s still worth your while to do so.
The study, published in the American Journal of Medicine, tracked nearly 16,000 adults aged 45 to 64 for six years. The participants who practiced healthy lifestyle habits reduced their risk of heart disease and premature death (from all causes) during that time. Those habits included eating more than five servings of vegetables and fruits daily, exercising for at least 2-1/2 hours a week, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight.
It’s interesting to note that only about 1,300 participants had been practicing the four healthy lifestyle habits before entering the study. And only about 1,000 adopted them during the course of the study (though all participants were given the opportunity to do so). But within four years, the “late-starters” had caught up to the people who had been practicing those behaviors all along.
Though the majority of the study participants didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to change their habits, you can be different. Do it gradually and it will be painless. Maybe add an extra serving of vegetables to your menu this week and another serving next week. Then add a 15-minute walk each day the week after that.
Whatever you do, don’t think “It’s too late for me now.” This study shows it’s never too late to benefit from making healthy lifestyle changes.
[Ed. Note: It truly is possible to improve your health just by making a few simple changes to your diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn how to feel better and live longer right here.]
It’s Good to Know: A Different Kind of Dictionary
What does it means to be janky? What’s politiclone… desk rage… frack… elecoustic… gaybie? You can learn the definitions of these – and more than 3 million other modern slang terms – at UrbanDictionary.com.
== Highly Recommended ==
Just Check the Profitable New Business You Want
How easy would it be for you to succeed if someone did all the “heavy lifting” for you… researched the most profitable businesses… discovered the opportunities that are easy as pie to operate… uncovered the ventures that take very little time…
If any of this sounds good, then you can have your own highly profitable business this year. You can find one that fits you like a glove, has few start up costs, and gives you personal and financial freedom from this day on…
See exactly what I mean by clicking here.
Word to the Wise: Scion
Botanically speaking, a “scion” (SY-un) – from the French – is a shoot or twig used for grafting. Hence, a descendant or heir.
Example (as used by Ellis Amburn in Subterranean Kerouac): “Convinced he was the scion of Louis Alexandre Lebris de Kerouac, a noble Breton, [Jack Kerouac] was off to do genealogical research in the Paris libraries and then to locate his ancestor’s hometown in Brittany.”
[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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So how do you explain that incredibly ugly vehicle they call “Scion?” Those big square things look like they should have “USSR” stamped across the sides. YUCK.
Depends on your biz and your area of the country. Even when we’re working with clients in our photography studio we dress in jeans. Montana is a very low-key state and if we met clients at the door in a suit we would appear high-handed. Around here very few types of businesses require dress codes.