Issue #2516
- WEALTHY: What to think of the sinking auto industry (Christian Hill)
- HEALTHY: High-octane heart disease (Kelley Herring)
- WISE: Jack Canfield on achieving your sales goals
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- One of the most common problems for beginning Internet businesses (Derek Gehl)
- 3 easy ways to get your customer to trust you (Kate Benson)
- It’s Good to Know… about the size of your Thanksgiving bird
- Add “expropriate” to your vocabulary
== Highly Recommended==
Why Get Your Hands Dirty When You Don’t Have to?
Where there’s a stampede, there’s an opportunity…
Thousands of wannabe entrepreneurs have jumped on a bandwagon to find, fix-up and flip foreclosures.
They thought they were being smart. They thought they were doing the opposite to the crowd and had the license to print money.
Little do they know… they ARE the crowd!
Now, please don’t misunderstand me. It’s a fact that many properties (sadly) are becoming available at rock bottom prices due to foreclosure. It’s also a fact that a few people are making money by flipping foreclosures…
And they’re earning every penny (when it all works out)!
Flipping foreclosures may sound great in principle, but stop and think about what you have to go through to achieve that…
Not my idea of easy money.
Sticking With It
A few months ago, I wrote that, despite all the doom and gloom, I thought the domestic automakers would survive. Unfortunately, things have gotten even worse. Just recently, a Deutsche Bank AG analyst said that GM shares will likely be worthless in a year.
Even so, I’m sticking with what I originally said. I still think the government will step in and provide the automakers with the loans they need to survive. As a GM spokesperson has said, bankruptcy “creates more problems than it solves.”
GM is doing all it can to cut costs. It is laying off workers and closing plants. It is scrapping plans for some vehicles. It is going as lean as it can in the face of the worst auto market in 17 years. The company is not just sitting around, waiting for divine intervention.
How’s this for a reason for the government to step in: This year, the economy has shed approximately 1.2 million jobs. Should GM go under, it will cost 2.5 million jobs in the first year alone. I can’t help but think the government will do everything it can to avoid that disaster.
If things unfold as I expect and GM gets the loan it needs – and if you are the adventurous type – a LEAP option for the January 2010 calls could be a very lucrative play.
[Ed. Note: You may be surprised to hear it, but there are plenty of ways to make money in a down economy. You just need to be poised to take action as soon as the opportunities arise. Discover the simple steps you need to take to make money in any market condition right here.]
”If you are not moving closer to what you want in sales (or in life), you probably aren’t doing enough asking.”
Jack Canfield
10 Questions You NEED to Ask If Your Site Isn’t Making Any Sales
By Derek Gehl
Imagine: After months of hard work, your website is finally live. You’ve officially been open for business an entire week. And yet you haven’t made any sales.
Not. One. Single. Sale.
Argh!
Don’t despair. We’ve all been there. In fact, this is one of the most common problems new Internet entrepreneurs ask me to solve for them.
Here’s something that’ll help ease the pain of turning a “dud” site into one that rakes in the profits: Derek Gehl’s surefire “My Website Ain’t Making Money!” troubleshooting checklist.
If you recently launched a website and aren’t getting the results you expected, you need to ask yourself every single question on the list below, starting with number one. Once you can answer “yes” to all 10 questions, I guarantee the sales will come rolling in.
1. Is there actually a market for your product?
By that I mean, are you POSITIVE you’re selling a product or solution people are actively looking for online – and not finding? That’s the formula for a successful Internet business. And that’s the first question you should answer… even before you set up a website.
The best way to do that is with keyword research. (Our favorite keyword research tools are Keyword Discovery (keyworddiscovery.com) and BeBiz (bebiz.com).)
2. Are you getting enough traffic?
If you’ve had only 100 visitors and haven’t made a sale, be patient. Before you can begin to assess your website’s effectiveness, you need to have had at least 1,000 unique visitors (not page views).
3. Are you getting targeted traffic?
If you’ve had 1,000+ visitors to your website and you still haven’t made a sale, find out where your visitor traffic is coming from.
The best way to get top-quality traffic to your site is by bidding on extremely targeted keywords for your pay-per-click (PPC) ads. (By “targeted,” I mean keywords that speak directly to the people who are most likely to buy your product.)
If you drive 1,000 visitors to your site – using targeted keywords in your PPC ads – and you still don’t make a sale, then you know the problem isn’t the quality of the traffic you’re getting.
It’s your website.
So let’s take a look at that next…
4. Is your headline effective?
If the page you’re driving traffic to with your PPC ad doesn’t have a compelling headline that clearly communicates a powerful benefit, your potential customers aren’t going to stick around for your offer.
Writing a better headline is typically the easiest way to fix a floundering website. If you get more people to stay on your site and read your offer, more people will buy your product.
5. Are you distracting your visitors from your main sales message?
You need to get rid of everything that doesn’t keep your visitors focused on your main offer. This includes links to other websites, Google AdSense ads, banner ads for other products, free articles that don’t support the sale… the list goes on.
6. Are you using testimonials effectively?
Testimonials are one of your most powerful selling tools. Nothing says “Buy it now!” like an unbiased third-party recommendation.
If you don’t yet have any testimonials, give your product to a few friends and ask them to provide you with testimonials on how well it worked for them.
7. Does your guarantee take away the risk of buying?
A good guarantee is essential – especially when you’re selling on the Internet.
Unless you’re a major brand that your customers already trust (like Sony, Wal-Mart, Pepsi), you need to let them know you’ll stand behind your product. So reassure them that if they’re not 100 percent satisfied, they can send it right back for a full refund. And remember, a longer guarantee usually results in more sales – and fewer refunds.
8. Is your price too high? Or too low?
Most people know that if you price your product too high, you’ll hurt your sales. But this can also be true if your price is too low.
People get suspicious when the price is far below what they were expecting. They think it’s probably “too good to be true” – and, as a result, they don’t feel confident making a purchase.
9. Is your ordering system easy to use?
Just because you can figure out how to navigate through your ordering process, that doesn’t mean your average customer can.
To make sure your ordering system is “user-friendly,” find a few friends who aren’t very Internet savvy and get them to order your product. Watch over their shoulders and take notes. Where did they get stuck?
Fix whatever problems they encountered – immediately – because your potential customers are encountering them too.
10. Do you have good sales copy?
If you aren’t using well-written sales copy to sell your product, you’ll never achieve online success. It’s that simple. Your product isn’t going to sell itself! You need to have the right words to do the job.
So there they are… the 10 questions I ask whenever I look at a website that’s not turning visitors into sales. Once I’m able to answer “yes” to all 10 questions, I always see a substantial improvement in the site’s conversion rate.
[Ed. Note: Follow Internet marketing expert Derek Gehl's suggestions, and you could see a major boost in your online sales. Derek has helped thousands of people grow online businesses that generate $100,000 a year - and often much more! Find out if you have the personality to create extraordinary wealth online for free right here.
And for targeted advice from world-class Internet marketing masters, pick up ETR's 2008 Information Marketing Bootcamp "Home Edition" DVD Library. You'll discover a rock-solid blueprint for earning an extra $100,000 to $1 million (or more!) over the next 12 months. Learn more here.]
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ETR Insider Report: My Unexpected Bootcamp “Takeaway”
By Kate Benson
When you’re marketing your products and services, it’s critical to establish trust with your prospective customer. That was one of my biggest “takeaways” from ETR’s Info Marketing Bootcamp this year.
Michael Masterson spoke at length about how to develop trust with your marketing messages. Here are three of the suggestions he offered that I’ll be sure to work into my own efforts for Total Health Breakthroughs (ETR’s natural health newsletter).
- Keep the sales copy long.
Don’t think you have to keep your copy short to hold your reader’s attention. Sales copy should be as long as it needs to be to build trust.
Michael pointed out that, all other elements being equal, long copy usually out-pulls short copy. It may sound counterintuitive, but people tend to respond better and buy more when they are presented with a longer sales letter. Long copy has been tested against short copy thousands of times. And long copy almost always wins.
- Appeal to your prospect’s emotions as well as his logic.
When people read longer copy, Michael explained, it has a positive effect on the part of the brain that handles fundamental emotions: the “limbic system.” Now he didn’t go into why it has that effect, but perhaps it triggers a subconscious justification for buying the product. Of course, any good copywriter knows to include hard, quantifiable things in every sales letter to help the reader logically justify making the purchase – things like proof that the product works… testimonials from satisfied customers… a reasonable price … the credibility of the writer… But the longer the copy is, the easier it is to satisfy the reader on an emotional level.
- The lead is a major factor.
Michael defined the lead (the first part of the sales letter) in a way I’d never heard before. He said it is the amount of time your reader gives you before making the decision to continue to read. And he said that even though it typically takes up only 10 or 20 percent of the letter, it has the greatest impact on the eventual sale.
[Ed. Note: Establishing trust may be critical - but it's only one of the powerful methods you can use to build a relationship with your prospective customer and persuade her to buy. Discover dozens more techniques for winning over your customers - and making tons of sales - with ETR's 2008 Info Marketing Bootcamp "Take Home Edition" DVD Library.]
Love Energy Drinks? You May Have a Change of Heart
Do you reach for a Red Bull for an afternoon pick-me-up? After reading this (or drinking that), you may have a change of heart.
A recent study conducted at Adelaide University found that people who regularly drank sugar-free Red Bull had a cardiovascular profile similar to that of people with heart disease. In fact, they found that drinking just one sugar-free Red Bull increased the “stickiness” of the blood and raised the risk of blood clots.
So what causes this? The main ingredients in Red Bull are taurine (an amino acid), glucuronolactone (a normal human metabolite), caffeine, and B vitamins. And the diet version – the one used in this study – is sweetened with sucralose and aspartame.
To beat mid-day fatigue, make sure you stay properly hydrated throughout the day. And enjoy organic green or white tea, lightly sweetened with all-natural stevia. It’s calorie-free too, packed with antioxidants and actually good for your heart.
[Ed. Note: As nutrition expert Kelley Herring points out, you can find plenty of all-natural methods for staying healthy. Now, you can access the latest breakthroughs in weight-loss programs... healthful recipes... and other ideas for achieving optimal health - all from one of the largest integrative-medicine practices in the country. Learn more here.
Survive the holidays with Kelley's brand-new recipe e-books, Guilt-Free Desserts and Healthy Holiday Hors d'Oeuvres. You'll find 60+ healthy recipes you can easily make at home.]
It’s Fun to Know: Is Your Thanksgiving Bird Big Enough?
If you think you’re going to impress the family with that puny 25-pounder you’re planning to serve for Thanksgiving, think again. The world record for the heaviest turkey is 86 pounds. The turkey, named Tyson, was raised in England and auctioned off for charity in 1989 for nearly $7,000.
(Source: Guinness Book of World Records)
== Highly Recommended ==
What Do Top Athletes, Best-Selling Authors, and the World’s Richest Share?
If you look around, you’ll see that almost everyone who’s achieved fame, wealth, or success has gotten there with the help of one thing…
“It” helped author Jonathan Safran Foer land landed a $500,000 deal for his first novel, Everything Is Illuminated.
“It” helped billionaire business magnate Richard Branson get Virgin Atlantic Airways off the ground and turn it into a success.
“It” helped real estate guru Dave Lindahl acquire 11 apartment buildings within 12 months… and create nearly $10,000 a month in positive cash flow!
This powerful success-accelerator is available to you, too…
What can “it” help YOU accomplish?
Word to the Wise: Expropriate
To “expropriate” (ek-SPROH-pree-ate) – from the Latin for “to deprive of property” – is to transfer someone else’s property to yourself.
Example (as used by Fintan O’Toole in the Irish Times): “Very few voters, after all, really believe Europe’s new generation of social democratic leaders are wild Bolsheviks plotting to expropriate their Toyotas.”
[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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On GM. Will the government bail me out if I can’t pay my bills? Where will it end? Who pays to rescue bad companies? Good ones!
I was dismayed to see taurine and B6 listed as if they are part of the problem.
Our main societal problem is sweeteners. The average person takes in tons of sugars and chemicals that your body just was not meant to process. then we wonder why everyone is fat and sick.
Red Bull, and Monster, and drinks like that have not only caffeine, but excessive amounts. Stick to coffee!
Almost all of your health and weight problems would disappear if you just stick to real food. Ditch the artificial franken foods!
How can you say that GM is doing everything it can to cut costs when its executives fly to Washington in a private jet? How about riding in coach? And what kind of other ridiculous perks are they getting?
Let them fail. Other auto makers are doing well; GM is a poorly run business that deserves to fail. Propping up badly run companies will only perpetuate the problems.