A “swipe” file is a collection of promotions — mailed by successful marketers — that you have saved.
“A good swipe file is better than a college education,” says my old direct-marketing “professor,” master copywriter Milt Pierce.
A “swipe” file is a collection of promotions — mailed by successful marketers — that you have saved.
“A good swipe file is better than a college education,” says my old direct-marketing “professor,” master copywriter Milt Pierce.
KJ, like many of my subscribers these days, wants to get into Internet marketing. But she feels frustrated and unable to move forward.
“Where should I begin?” KJ asked in her e-mail. “What was your tipping point to online success?”
My answer: “The tipping point in Internet marketing success is to stop reading about it and stop talking about it and actually start DOING it.” (more…)
Before you optimize your website or buy pay-per-click (PPC) traffic, you should perform “keyword due diligence.”
That means you must check to see that Internet users are actually searching for information on your product by using the same keywords you assumed they would use.
When I tell this to people, they often pooh-pooh it. “It’s not necessary for us to do keyword research,” they tell me. “We know our industry. We know our products. And we know what words our customers would search on.” (more…)
There is an important Web metric that you should be tracking in your Internet marketing business — but probably aren’t.
It is the “evaporation rate.”
The evaporation rate measures how many names you lose from your subscriber list — by the week, month, or year.
How do names evaporate from your list?
It’s simple. (more…)
To promote herself and her business, JL wants to write a book.
But she isn’t quite sure how to get her book into print.
“It feels like getting a book published is challenging,” she writes. “Would it not be easier to self-publish?”
Others have asked me the same question over the years. “What’s better?” an interviewer asked me just the other day. “Self-publishing or traditional publishing?”
It’s the wrong question. (more…)
When you’re building an Internet business, it’s useful to step back and evaluate your progress every now and then.
You will be at one of the following levels …
Level One: The “getting ready to start” phase.
You are spending a lot of time and money buying and studying Internet marketing courses. But you aren’t selling anything yet.
Level Two: You dip your toe in the water.
You take some actions that let you generate a few sales online. The volume of these sales is small. It puts just a few extra dollars in your pocket each week.
Level Three: You start making a modest number of sales on a regular basis. Your online revenues are about $1,000 a month.
Does the idea of selling information products on the Internet appeal to you?
It does to GL, one of my subscribers. But she is hesitating about whether to even start.
GL is worried that there are already more than enough people hawking e-books, DVDs, and courses on the Internet.
“Isn’t the Internet already overcrowded with a million info marketers selling look-alike products on everything from dating to real estate?” GL asked me the other week. “Aren’t I getting into the game too late to carve out a piece of the Internet profit pie for myself?”
Fair questions.
Yes, you are getting into the game a little later than some of your peers.
But so what?
The old saying — better late than never — is true.
And, in fact, there is still a huge opportunity to make your fortune online.
In this article, I’m going to give you a definitive, to-the-penny answer to that question. Something I don’t think you’ve gotten elsewhere.
I find the rule for start-up money to be the same for an Internet business as it is for many home-based businesses. It’s a “time or money” equation. (Michael Masterson has written about it many times.)
The “time or money” rule dictates that you need either time or money to succeed.
If you have little money, you must put a lot of your time into the start-up. That’s what’s known as “sweat equity.”
If you have little time but plenty of cash, you can pay others to do a lot of the work.
Time or money. Either one will do.
It is extremely difficult to start a home business if you have no money and no spare time.
However, with an Internet business, we have a big advantage.
“Nate,” a freelancer I hired to write an e-book for me, e-mailed the first draft of the manuscript today as an attached Word file. Also attached: his invoice.
Why did you do that, Nate?
I just got your FIRST draft. I haven’t even opened the file, much less reviewed it. And I certainly haven’t given you my comments so you can make the necessary revisions.
Sending an invoice along with the work you did is bad form. It leaves a bad taste in the client’s mouth. He feels the only thing you care about is getting paid, not whether the work is good. But sending an invoice with a first draft – when the project is not yet completed – can really piss off the client, as it did me in this case.
By the way, my agreement with Nate calls for payment upon completion. To me, completion means an acceptable final product. Most publishers and business clients feel that way.
If the term “completion” is too vague for you, apply this rule of thumb: Any ambiguity in the agreement is the fault of the vendor, not the customer.
If Nate expected a check upon submission of a first draft, he should have specified that in writing and had me sign it.
He did not.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter and the author of more than 70 books. To subscribe to his free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116, click here now.
Bob recently revealed the secrets that could jumpstart your online business, including how to deal with freelancers, in ETR's Internet Cash Generator program. Find out more about it here.]
Internet buyers LOVE discounts, yet most info marketers don’t use them nearly enough.
A case in point: On 4/9/09, we sent an e-mail to my list offering one of my e-books at the cover price of $79.
It generated 32 orders and $2,528 in revenues. Not great, not bad.
Last Thursday, we sent the identical e-mail to the same list. But we added a P.S. offering the book at $49 (a $30 savings) if they ordered by midnight Sunday. So far, we have sold 155 copies at $49 each, generating $7,625 in revenues, and orders are still coming in.
Does it bother me to let people have a $79 product for only $49? Of course not. What’s important is not profit per sale but profit per e-mail blast… which the discounting tactic will more than triple.
This works with products that have a large enough profit margin – and in the case of e-books, the margin is close to 100 percent.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter and the author of more than 70 books. To subscribe to his free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116, click here now.
When and how to discount is just one of the secrets Bob reveals in ETR's Internet Cash Generator program, the complete guide to jumpstarting your online business. Find out more about it here.]
One of my readers, DH, writes:
“When selling information products on the Internet, what are the pros and cons of having a home website with more than one product and having micro-sites only for the more expensive and lengthy products vs. having a micro-site for every product?”
I told DH that he would need a separate micro-site for every product.
A micro-site, also known as a landing page, is a long-copy sales letter posted on the Web. The copy on your landing page describes the product and its benefits, and links to a form where visitors can order it online.
The reason information marketers should have a separate micro-site for every product is that each one of those products is unique. The reader hasn’t heard of it before, so he has to be sold on buying it. To make that sale, you need a long-copy sales letter.
By comparison, if an Internet user goes to Amazon.com to order the new Harry Potter book, she already knows what she’s buying. That’s why Amazon.com sales pages for books are relatively brief vs. the long copy we use on our landing pages to sell information products.
Each of your product landing pages should have its own unique domain name rather than be an individual page on a central website. And you should choose domain names that are easy to remember. For instance, the landing page for my e-book on how to write and sell your first e-book is at myveryfirstebook.com.
The only thing the visitor should see on the landing page is the sales letter copy selling the product. Don’t add a menu bar with a lot of options. And there should be no navigation. The visitor can either order the product or leave the site. There should be no free content for him to read or download. You want him to focus on one thing only: the reasons he needs to buy that product right then and there.
However, as effective as single-product landing pages are for selling information online, there’s one thing they don’t do very well: They do not attract a lot of organic search traffic. The reason is that Google recognizes them as sales letters – and Google doesn’t rate sites with sales copy very high.
The solution? Create a “portal” site for your Internet information publishing business.
Have links to all your individual product landing pages on this portal site. And in several places on the site, encourage visitors to opt into your e-list by subscribing to your online newsletter or downloading a free report.
Then, add one or more sections to the portal site where visitors can find and download free content – articles… press releases… special reports… videos… audios… content-rich Web pages.
Why are you adding all this free content to your portal site? Because Google loves content, and will, therefore, rank the portal site much higher than it will rank your product landing pages. That way, you’ll benefit from organic search traffic and get lots of visitors.
A percentage of those visitors will click onto one of your landing pages and buy a product. Or they will click on a box or banner that lets them opt into your e-list. Result: You sell more products and build your list organically instead of having to buy traffic.
Another reason I like having a portal site is because when people ask me what products I sell, I can’t remember them all. But I can remember the URL for my portal site. I tell them that they can find every product I sell at ctcpublishing.net.
The portal site serves one additional function for the information marketer: It further solidifies your credentials as an expert in your niche.
There are lots of Internet marketers selling info products on every conceivable topic. The ones that sell info products on the same topics you write about are your competitors.
Often, the reader perceives little difference between all the available info products on a given topic. What helps differentiate them… and close the sale… is the reputation of the author/publisher as a guru in the field. Your content-rich portal site gives you an instant online presence that sets you apart – and gives readers enough trust in you to buy your products.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter and the author of more than 70 books. To subscribe to his free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116, click here now.
Ready to get started with your Internet business, but don't know how? Find out how simple it can be right here.]
Recently, I casually mentioned in my e-newsletter that I was taking a writing course. One of my readers, JN, was absolutely shocked.
“YOU are taking a WRITING course?” she asked incredulously.
Her implication was that, for me – given that I have been a writer for three decades – taking a writing course is either frivolous or silly… a waste of time and money.
JN could not be more wrong. “School is never out for the professional,” I answered.
It’s my observation that folks who are really at the top of their field are constantly reading, studying, learning, and attending lectures in their specialty. Why? To raise their mastery and skill to an even higher level.
On the other hand, those who are at the bottom seem to feel they have learned everything they need to know at college, trade school, or on the job. And they exhibit little or no desire to spend more time learning any of it better.
This attitude seems lazy and counter-productive at best – and dangerous at worst.
Can you imagine going to a doctor who didn’t keep up with the latest medical research? Of course not. So why is the idea of a writer taking a writing class so surprising?
JN’s reaction reminds me of an American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) weekend writing conference I attended many years ago. The person sitting next to me and I were both studying the curriculum in our conference brochures.
“This looks good,” I said, pointing to “A session on how to write book proposals.”
She sniffed haughtily. “I don’t need to go to THAT. I am ALREADY an author… and I have written a published book.”
At the time, I had written 30 published books. But I didn’t tell her that. I went to the session, and I learned a lot – enough to publish 45 more books (and counting).
Maybe JN thought that, seeing as I presumably know how to write, I would be better off taking a course in flower arranging or bookkeeping or PowerPoint. But, as busy adults, you and I have extremely limited time. We can take only so many courses. And you will get a far better return on your investment in education by taking courses in things you are already good at – your strengths – rather than areas where you are weak.
Why?
Your strengths are what make you successful. The other stuff doesn’t much matter.
In his book Strength Finders, Tom Rath writes: “People have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies.” Yet, notes Rath, 77 percent of parents think that a student’s worst subjects, those they get the lowest grades in, deserve more time and attention than the subjects they are best at.
Think about it this way…
In a horse race, the winning horse can earn tens of thousands of dollars more than the horse that “places” (comes in second) or “shows” (comes in third). Yet often, especially in major races, the first-place horse beats the second-place horse by only a fraction of a second. Therefore, if the horse and jockey make a massive effort to improve in speed and beat their previous time by only a second or two, they can win instead of place or show – and make the owner and the jockey a lot richer.
On the other hand, a racehorse is a lot less powerful than a Clydesdale (those humongous horses that pull the Budweiser beer wagon in TV ads). If you strength-trained the racehorse for years, it could probably get stronger. But it would never get even close to the Clydesdale in strength… and it wouldn’t earn a dime more on the track.
Many things about success are counterintuitive, and the notion of training is one of the most counterintuitive of all.
Most people, when they see classes being offered, gravitate toward those on subjects they are weak in… hoping to improve their skill level from minimal to acceptable or to learn something new. For instance, I am not an expert in search engine marketing, which is a hot topic in my industry. So, to correct the defect, I signed up for the Direct Marketing Association’s Certificate Program in Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
I am taking the class now – and, yes, I am learning a lot about search engine marketing. But I have also learned something else. Namely, that no matter how much I study search engine marketing, I will never know more than a small fraction of what the top gurus – like the ones who wrote the DMA program – know about it.
So does that mean I quit the program, give up learning SEM… and never optimize my website? No. I am still learning SEM. And my website will be optimized. But not by me. I did something a lot smarter than trying to learn how to do it myself. I went out and found a top SEO consultant, who (with my assistant’s help) is optimizing the site for me.
As you can tell, I am a big believer in being a specialist and hiring specialists.
I have found that, with rare exception, most people are only really good at one thing. In particular, I am wary of freelancers with hyphenated expertise (e.g., “writer-designer,” “illustrator-photographer”). I find that these folks are usually good at only one of their two skills and mediocre at the other.
There is so much to know, no one can know it all. And trying to do so is futile. As Thomas Edison once said, we don’t know one-millionth of one percent about anything. Given the overwhelming amount of information in the world today, and our increasingly limited time to master it, I am convinced that we get the best ROI on learning and training by focusing on our strengths – and learning to do what we do well even better.
I agree with the late direct-mail consultant Dick Benson, who said: “Do what you do best in-house; buy everything else outside.”
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter and the author of more than 70 books. To subscribe to his free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116, click here now.
You may already know a lot about making money on the Internet. But no matter how much knowledge you have, you can always learn more. Get Bob's expert guidance in how to make money online right here. And hurry - the price goes up $100 at 5:00 p.m. today.]
What products and services sell best in a recession?
Hint: This is not a trick question. The answer is the one that immediately popped into your head when I asked it.
Before you started over-analyzing this…
The products and services that sell best in a recession are the cheaper ones. That’s right – the ones that cost less.
I recently read in a biography of Milton Hershey that he believed his business was recession-proof and depression-proof because he sold an affordable product. He reasoned that, even if a person couldn’t afford new shoes or a new car or a vacation, they could always afford a nickel for a Hershey’s chocolate bar. (That was the price in those days.)
Milton Hershey was right.
According to an article in Ad News, as the economy continued to tank in the fourth quarter of 2008, the Hershey company increased its advertising budget by 23 percent. And as consumers switched from expensive premium chocolates they no longer felt they could afford to Hershey’s, the company’s net income for the fourth quarter of 2008 rose 51 percent to $82 million.
Similarly, with the restaurant business in its worst slump since 1991, McDonald’s worldwide sales rose 7.1 percent in January 2009. Diners may not be able to afford steak anymore, but they can still afford a Big Mac.
I have found the same thing – consumer preference for lower-priced goods and services during an economic downturn – to hold true for the two little businesses I run: information marketing and freelance copywriting.
In my online publishing business, my low-priced products are e-books selling in the $19 to $79 range. My mid-range products are DVD and audio CD albums selling in the $100 to $150 range. And my high-end products are multimedia programs selling in the $300 to $1,000 range.
In recent months, my customers have clearly been telling me that (a) they are worried about money, (b) they really appreciate my reasonable prices, and (c) for now, they prefer offers for low-priced products.
They are not asking for special discounts or “recession sales.” They just want me to focus on offering products that sell for under $100, which seems to be the magic recession-proof price point for my market.
Whenever I advertise mid-range or high-priced products to my customer list, I always get at least one e-mail from a reader telling me she wants to buy the product… but can’t because she has lost her job!
If you are an information marketer, I suggest that, rather than fighting this trend, you accommodate your customers by:
• Expanding your product line, especially with the lower-priced products (like e-books).
• Offering your readers more free content (such as special reports and teleseminars).
• Bundling products into packages that enable customers to get related materials at handsome discounts (e.g., buy two e-books, get the third one free).
I am also finding that offering low-priced service options works for my freelance copywriting business.
To make $10,000 as a freelancer, you can either do one $10,000 project or five $2,000 projects. These days, I am doing a lot more $2,000 projects for clients who want to continue their marketing but are focused on controlling costs.
For instance, I am saving my clients money by helping them do more marketing online and a bit less offline. We are also using marketing methods that can be tested at minimal cost before rolling out the campaigns (e.g., small test mailings of 1,000 instead of 10,000).
One thing that has worked especially well is a new service bundle I call the “Starter Package.”
Normally, I charge $500 an hour for consulting. With a 10-hour minimum, payable in full in advance, that works out to $5,000 – affordable in normal times, not so affordable during an economic crisis. With the Starter Package, I offer new clients 90 minutes of my time for a flat fee of $750.
There’s no reduction in my hourly rate. I merely allow people to start working with me for a lower initial commitment.
I picked 90 minutes deliberately. Not only is it enough time to give prospects a taste of how my advice and copy can benefit them, but it comes in at a price point under $1,000. And that is within the comfort zone of a new client who doesn’t know me all that well.
More important, the Starter Package shows prospects that I empathize with their desire to cut back on spending and have designed a service to accommodate their smaller budgets.
Interestingly, what usually happens is that, after reviewing the Starter Package offer, prospects call me to get a quote for the full service they really want. And more often than not, that’s what they choose to go with.
So while I don’t actually do a lot of copywriting and consulting under the Starter Package arrangement, it makes prospects more comfortable with me as a vendor who respects their budget concerns and limitations. And that’s been keeping my freelance business active and profitable.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter and the author of more than 70 books. To subscribe to his free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116, click here now.
It IS possible to make sales during a recession. As Bob Bly explained, you need to know what to sell... but you also need to know HOW to sell. Tomorrow morning, we're unveiling a brand-new power-packed program that will give you everything you need to become a master of ultra-profitable sales. Keep an eye on your inbox for this limited-time opportunity.]
Most of us think that bad things can never happen… or that they only happen to “the other guy.” But what happens when you become “the other guy”?
You – and I – need a “back-up plan.”
This could be:
1. Investing prudently and building your net worth to the point where you can live off your investments.
2. Learning a second skill or profession.
3. Creating and selling a line of products – anything from candles and perfume to exercise videos and how-to books.
4. Collecting a sizeable inheritance that will enable you to live the life of a gentleman or lady of leisure.
5. Marrying someone with a good income who will support you in the style to which you would like to become accustomed.
Of these options, my own back-up plan is #3 (mainly because #4 and #5 didn’t pan out).
A few years ago, I began to think, “What if something happens that makes me unable to continue making a living as a freelance writer?” So I started my own Internet marketing business, creating and selling information products – e-books, audio programs, and videos – online.
Today, my little Internet marketing business generates a six-figure income for me… yet I spend only an hour or two a day on it!
Do you have a back-up plan? If not, do you intend to put one into place soon?
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is the author of more than 70 books and is an undisputed master of the art of selling. Subscribe to Bob's free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116.
If you don't have a back-up plan, here's an idea: Do what Bob did and set up your own Internet business selling information products. ETR can help you get started. Learn the details here.]
My readers often complain to me that the gurus they follow are aloof and inaccessible. You can’t reach them by phone… and either you get no reply to your e-mail or you get a reply from an auto-responder.
They feel that this is rude – and it makes them angry. After all, they bought the guru’s book or program… or might someday soon. Doesn’t that entitle them to some personal time and customized advice from the guru himself?
Well – yes and no.
I answer my own phone… and reply to my own e-mail messages. But I don’t think other authors and info marketers are obligated to do so (though I think they should).
When you buy a Stephen King novel, you understand that he does not have to discuss the plot with you – and most likely will not. In the same way, when you buy a business book for $20, you are purchasing the contents – and nothing beyond that. The author may also consult and speak, but he charges thousands of dollars for those services… and buying his book doesn’t entitle you to them.
One famous consultant complained to me that some of the subscribers to his free e-zine have the gall to call him up, ask for free advice, and then grumble when they don’t get it.
“Do they not realize that my paying clients get first dibs on my time?” he asked me.
I do. It makes sense to me. And I hope to you too. Still, I want to help my readers as much as I can.
So how do I respond to queries and complaints, both phone and e-mail, without becoming overwhelmed – and unable to get my work done?
For e-mail queries and complaints, about 90 percent are routine (e.g., did not receive a product they ordered on my website, can’t open the PDF of an e-book, etc.). These I pass on to my assistant, because she can handle them better than I can.
About 10 percent require a more thoughtful answer. These I answer myself – via e-mail or sometimes a brief phone call.
Tip: When a customer registers a problem or complaint via e-mail, calling them on the phone and helping them one-on-one converts them from a complainer into a rabid fan. They are shocked that you actually took the time to call – and care enough to resolve their problem personally.
Of course, I can’t talk to everyone all the time. So I use caller ID to screen my inbound phone calls.
After the call, I listen to the voice mail. If it’s routine, I pass the request or complaint on to my assistant. If it’s a situation where my personal attention would add value or create more satisfaction, I return the call myself.
If you’re an information marketer, you’ll find that people you don’t know are going to try to pump you endlessly for free consulting over the phone – and you want to avoid falling into that trap. Public speaking expert Patricia Fripp has a great technique that I learned from her and use with good results for handling these brain-pickers. When someone who is not a client wants to ask me questions, I say: “My time normally sells for $500 an hour. I will give you five minutes – starting now.”
This makes the caller understand that your time is limited… and that by talking with them without charge, you are doing them a favor and giving them something of value.
Five minutes may not seem like much – but at $500 an hour, five minutes of my time is worth almost $42. That’s a generous gift to give a total stranger. The time limit also forces callers to get to the point, not waste my time with long explanations, and listen to what I tell them without debate or argument.
Here’s another way to save time on answering questions from readers:
Produce content – an FAQ page on your website, a blog, a newsletter, a special report, an information product – on the topics you are asked about most often. Then, when people ask you for advice on Topic X, give them the URL of the website where they can either read your content for free… or purchase your information product on Topic X.
Have I been clear on how to handle inquiries from clients, customers, prospects, readers, and fans? If not, I expect you’ll call or e-mail me for clarification – and I welcome hearing from you.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is the author of more than 70 books and an undisputed master of the art of selling. Subscribe to his free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116.
Have a question for one of ETR's experts? E-mail us at AskETR@ETRFeedback.com.]
There’s a lot of money being made in marketing information products online today. But there’s also a lot of competition – as I’m sure you’ve noticed.
You can’t just sit there and pray that your customers never find out about your competitors. Thanks to Google, they can find their offers in seconds. Your best strategy is to identify who and what you’re competing against – and fill a gap in the market that they’re missing.
Here are the four types of competitors you face as an info marketer… and one good strategy for combating each:
Competitor Category #1: Companies that give away information on your topic absolutely free
There are countless companies out there giving away free information on their sites.
These folks are not in the business of selling information products. They typically sell a physical product or a service… and give away free content to build their e-list.
It can be challenging to compete in a niche where a lot of good free content is published by companies that treat it as a marketing strategy. After all, why should your customers pay you for your content when they can get it – or something close to it – for free elsewhere?
One strategy to use against this type of competition is to establish yourself as a guru in your niche.
Consumers want authoritative information from experts, and are willing to pay a premium to get it. For instance, anyone can compile information on conservative issues and politics. But only Rush Limbaugh can publish and sell The Limbaugh Letter.
Competitor Category #2: Bookstores
I’ve lost track of the number of times I have reviewed some publisher’s expensive information product, only to find that it contains less information than a 250-page paperback I can buy at Barnes & Noble for 15 bucks.
One competitive strategy to use against bookstores is micro-niching – publishing in a highly specialized niche that trade-book publishers won’t touch.
Example: I can go to Barnes & Noble today and find several highly useful – and quite inexpensive – books on social networking. But if I publish a title like “Building Your Dental Practice With Social Networks,” that is too narrow a niche for bookstore sales.
Competitor Category #3: People who sell low-priced info products on your topic
During the 1990s recession, a major newspaper ran an article about two entrepreneurs selling reports on marketing in a recession. One was me, and the other one was a famous marketer.
The paper told readers how to buy my report but not the famous marketer’s. Reason: Mine cost $7, and his cost $1,000.
From one press release, I sold over 3,000 of those booklets.
How could that marketer have hoped to compete with my bargain rate? One way would have been to offer more in-depth content.
In information products, there is a content hierarchy – from weakest to strongest – that goes like this:
Level A. Telling readers what to do (e.g., in a booklet on making money as a landlord, informing the reader that they must make every tenant sign a written lease)
Level B. Telling readers how to do it (e.g., providing a checklist of the nine points every lease should cover)
Level C. Doing it for them (e.g., actually including sample leases)
Low-priced info products mostly cover Level A and, to a lesser degree, Level B. The more your high-priced info products give the readers of Level B and Level C, the greater the price you can command.
Competitor Category #4: People who charge as much as – or more than – you for seemingly equivalent info products
If your pricing is similar to that of your competitors, two of the strategies I mentioned above – establishing yourself as an industry guru and micro-niching – can differentiate you from the crowd. If your price is lower than most of your competitors, play the price card.
In your marketing copy, talk about how the other guys charge an outrageous fortune for big, elaborate packages that the buyer won’t have time to absorb and probably will never even look at. Then show how your product saves time because it is tightly written (no fluff) as well as inexpensive.
One other idea for handling competition: Befriend them instead of going to war with them. This strategy is called “coopetition.” It recognizes that two businesses can be competitors and joint venture partners simultaneously.
Reach out to your competitors via phone or e-mail. Offer to do joint venture deals and affiliate promotions with them.
Maybe they have a high-priced product that is the perfect back-end to one of your front-end products. Instead of spending a lot of time and money to duplicate what they have done, sell their product to your customers on the back end for a nice affiliate commission on every sale you make.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter and the author of more than 70 books. To subscribe to his free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116, click here now
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Your business – whether you are an information marketer, retailer, catalog merchant, manufacturer, service provider, freelancer, or consultant – has not one but two unique selling propositions (USPs): the tangible and the intangible.
The tangible USP is the visible, quantifiable (or at least describable) differentiator between you and your competitors. Because it can be seen, felt, described, and grasped, the tangible USP is the one you feature in your marketing copy.
Example: Years ago, before digital cameras were invented, Polaroid’s USP was that its cameras produced instant pictures. With all other cameras, you had to take the film someplace to get it developed. But with Polaroid, the picture would develop when exposed to air in about a minute.
The intangible USP, for most entrepreneurs as well as many larger companies, is your personality and reputation. In the corporate marketing world, it might be called your “image.”
The intangible benefit can be just as important in closing sales and attracting repeat business as the tangible benefit. Yet it takes a secondary place in marketing copy, if it is there at all. The reason is that an intangible USP is difficult to describe in a way that is clear and compelling – even though it may be enormously valuable.
For instance, TP owns a camera store near my office that sells the same cameras as just about every other camera store. Many of the big chains sell those cameras at lower prices and carry a wider selection. That gives them a tangible advantage over TP.
But TP has several advantages over them – which translates into several intangible benefits for his customers.
TP is a successful semi-professional photographer whose work has been widely published. (He specializes in photographing fires and firefighters.) The most obvious benefit to the customer is his superior advice and guidance on camera selection and usage. But there’s another, even less tangible, benefit: When you go to TP’s store, you can talk photography with him, and his enthusiasm is contagious.
Being around TP, a professional who takes pride in his work – both as a photographer and a store owner – gives you a sense of camaraderie with a fellow shutterbug. It makes you eager to improve as an amateur photographer and eventually master the craft. These are goals that TP can help you achieve, both with the products he sells and the advice he dispenses for free.
I see a parallel between TP’s photo shop and the business of marketing information products, an area of interest to many ETR readers.
The tangible USP of an information product is usually inherent in either the content of the product itself or the credentials of the product’s author. You can also build a tangible USP into the offer.
For example, Prentice Hall was selling a book on how to create a marketing plan. The offer included a 30-day free trial of the book: If you did not like the book, you returned it within 30 days for a refund.
The copywriter who wrote the direct-mail package to sell the book realized that a customer could get the book, follow the instructions, and then return the book within 30 days for refund – in essence, getting a free marketing plan. So he used this as the USP in the headline of his sales letter: “Create a Breakthrough Marketing Plan in 30 Days – Guaranteed or Your Money Back.”
But when you are an information marketer, especially on the Internet, you also have an intangible USP that becomes important to your customers. That USP is who you are – your personality. Some marketing experts call it your “personal brand.”
It is an old axiom in selling that customers prefer to do business with people they know and like. So the more you come across as someone your customers respect and trust, the more they will seek your advice – and, in turn, the more products they will buy from you.
Unlike consumer brands (e.g., Pillsbury and their Doughboy), successful personal brands are not manufactured by advertising agencies. They are natural reflections of the marketer – his personality, experiences, beliefs, strengths, prejudices, opinions, and attitudes.
To use your personal brand to your advantage, it is best to be true to yourself – to be the person you really are, rather than to fabricate some artificial persona you think more people will like and buy from.
In matters of personal branding, heed motivational speaker Rob Gilbert’s formula: SWL + SWL = SW. This stands for: “Some will like you and your products. Some won’t like you and your products. So what?”
Be yourself. It’s the only personal brand you can pull off with credibility. If you try to be someone you’re not, your customers will sense it in everything you write or say and distance themselves from you.
Yes, your persona will attract some customers and repulse others. But SWL + SWL = SW.
The number of loyal readers and fans you attract by being yourself will be more than sufficient to earn a handsome living by selling information products to your core mailing list.
One more thing: Your persona or personal brand is established primarily in your communications with your prospects and customers. On the Internet, these communications include your e-newsletter… e-mail marketing messages… transactional e-mails… website… landing pages… blog… teleseminars… customer service e-mails and phone calls… FaceBook account… YouTube videos… and, of course, your information products.
So while it makes sense to develop your own style in written and spoken communications, you should always present your best, most positive, self – the “you” that is most helpful, friendly, and caring about your readers’ success.
That’s something your customers will like. A lot.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is the author of more than 70 books and an undisputed master of the art of selling.
This March, Bob will reveal his top secrets - to a select few - on how to effectively apply powerful persuasion techniques in all of your marketing efforts... making your customers want to pull out their wallets every time you communicate with them. Will you be one of the elite who get access to this special event? Find out here...
And don't forget to subscribe to Bob's free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116.]
American Writers and Artists Inc. (AWAI) co-founder Don Mahoney recently e-mailed me an article about the National Enquirer. In that article, Editor-in-Chief David Perel revealed the secret of the tabloid’s outrageous success:
“The big news organizations tell people what they think they should be interested in, whereas we try to give them stories that they are interested in.”
I think Perel has hit upon a key principle that applies to all writing, not just newspaper publishing. And it is especially relevant to information marketing. Namely, that your sales will be many times greater when you offer your customers information they want to read and learn… instead of information you think they should have.
The late Gary Halbert went even further, advising marketers to sell exclusively to what he called a “starving crowd.”
A starving crowd not only wants what you are selling – it has an insatiable appetite for it. Therefore, even if there are a lot of players in that market, they can all do well, because the market’s demand is a bottomless pit.
In particular, there are three “starving crowd” markets that have an especially consistent and unending demand for information.
Starving Crowd Market #1: Hobbyists
Hobbyists read about antique collecting or quilting not because they have to, but because they want to.
Those who are heavily “into” their hobby, whether that hobby is calligraphy or macrame, can’t get enough of it. In these niches, a lot of competition is a good sign, not a negative sign… for two reasons.
First, it proves the niche is viable. If others are making money by selling information to this market, you can too.
Second, you can make joint venture deals with those other marketers to sell your products to their lists, and vice versa.
Starving Crowd Market #2: Business Opportunity Seekers
There is an insatiable appetite for information on how to make money in your spare time, start a home-based business, change careers, or earn a living without a job.
I believe business opportunity seekers can be divided into two groups.
The first group is doers. Doers are serious about changing their lives, and they actually pursue the course of action you recommend.
The second group is dreamers. Dreamers enjoy learning about small business, yet take no action beyond buying and reading how-to information products.
You can’t usually distinguish between these segments of your market, but you really don’t have to – because both consume an unending stream of info products.
Starving Crowd Market #3: Moneymaking and Investing
People have a nearly universal desire to make more money and increase their wealth. If you sell information that helps people get greater returns from their investments with less risk… or accumulate a seven-figure net worth… or become financially independent… you will never run out of eager buyers.
Of course, there are other starving-crowd niches for information marketers, including: self-help… relationships… sex… health… beauty… fashion… fitness… and weight loss. But the three above – hobbies, business opportunities, and moneymaking – are by far the largest and most active.
One of the biggest mistakes beginning information marketers make is choosing, as their primary niche, a market that is not a starving crowd.
Reason: Without a starving crowd of buyers, you will always be fighting an uphill battle to peddle your info products. And you will be forever frustrated that your prospects aren’t buying your valuable information when you know it’s stuff they absolutely should have.
But people don’t readily do what they should do – or what you think is good for them. They are much more easily convinced to buy what they already want… rather than what you think they need.
And when you select as your primary niche in information marketing a starving crowd… like hobbyists, business opportunity seekers, or wealth seekers… you can sell your prospects the stuff they want – over and over again.
[Ed. Note: The first step to starting a moneymaking information-publishing business is to find a hungry market. What's the next step? Find out as a member of ETR's Internet Money Club. Our experts will give you a step-by-step guide to setting up your own info-publishing business - including finding a market, starting an e-newsletter, creating a website, and writing copy to drive traffic to it. See if there are any spots left for the "Class" of 2009 right here.
To learn more marketing secrets from freelance copywriter and marketing expert Bob Bly, sign up for his free e-zine, the Direct Response Letter. Do so today and get $116 in FREE bonuses.]
I always feel awkward when I have a bad meal in a restaurant and the server asks, “How’s everything?” I get the feeling that the question is no more sincere than the telemarketer who asks “How are you today?” It’s just polite talk. They don’t really want or care about the answer.
I never complain, but on a couple of occasions, we were out to dinner with other couples who did complain.
The first time, when the restaurant manager asked our friend SH “How’s your steak?” and SH said it wasn’t good, the manager argued: “Our steaks are great. How dare you insult my food!”
Another time, when the maitre d’ asked my friend DY if everything was okay, DY replied, “The food was good, but the service was glacial (meaning slow).” Instead of apologizing, the maitre d’ angrily said to all of us, “Please don’t come back here again!”
In both cases, I wondered, “If he didn’t want to hear the real answer, why did he ask in the first place?”
Do YOU regularly ask your customers or clients whether they are satisfied with your products and services? If you do, and they complain, do you really listen? Do you respond politely and helpfully and offer to make things right? Or, like the maitre d’ who told us never to come back, do you become angry and resentful? And is your anger obvious to your customers?
A few suggestions for handling dissatisfied customers:
• Give them a refund – even if they didn’t ask for it, even if the guarantee has expired.
• Apologize. Express regret that their experience wasn’t excellent.
• Ask them what they didn’t like.
• Give them a small free gift as compensation.
[Ed. Note: Tell us how YOU handle customer complaints right here.
To learn more marketing secrets from freelance copywriter and marketing expert Bob Bly, sign up for his free e-zine, the Direct Response Letter. Do so today and get $116 in FREE bonuses.]
There are a number of business models for making money on the Internet. Of these, my favorite – and the one I recommend to those who want to sell information products, dietary supplements, or just about any other product online today – is the “Agora Model.”
In a nutshell, the Agora Model says you should offer a free e-newsletter in order to build up a large subscriber base. Then, you make money by e-mailing promotions to your online subscriber list.
Companies are making hundreds of millions of dollars in sales online with the Agora Model. Yet when I recommend it to marketers – both experienced and novice alike – they are immediately and strongly resistant to the idea.
Why?
One reason for their reluctance is that they have read articles by so-called Internet marketing gurus telling them that e-mail marketing is dead, passe, old hat. And that they should be focusing instead on blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, online video, mobile marketing, or whatever the fad flavor of the month is.
Another reason is a fear – reasonable, but not true – that the e-zine “space” is overcrowded.
“There are so many e-zines out there, and everyone I know says they already get too many,” an attendee at ETR’s 2008 Information Marketing Bootcamp told me. “It seems impossible that I could be successful by publishing yet another one.”
If you believe this, slap yourself – and listen to me as I tell you what really works in Internet marketing today…
The Agora Model really works. I use it myself to earn a mid-six-figure income online – “working” on my Internet business only a couple of hours a day.
All the components of the Agora Model – e-newsletters, e-mail marketing, online ads – also still work. Like gangbusters. As an article in a recent issue of DM News reported: “While social media and mobile marketing continue to be hot topics, marketers are still finding e-mail newsletters relevant.”
One of the neatest things about the Agora Model is that e-newsletter subscribers tend to be loyal readers – because they have chosen to opt in to your e-list. And despite the glut of e-mail in your prospects’ inboxes, sending an e-mail is still an effective way to gain their attention:
Yet another reason why marketers hesitate to launch an e-newsletter is that they have the mistaken belief that it is time- and labor-intensive to produce.
That’s not true either.
In fact, your e-newsletter doesn’t have to be elaborate, lengthy, complex, or fancy. But it does have to deliver useful content to your subscribers – and do so on a consistent basis.
Publishing your own e-newsletter gives you three essential advantages when it comes to making money online…
1. The best way to get people to opt in to your e-list is by offering them free content. When you publish an e-newsletter, you always have new free content (your e-newsletter) to offer.
2. A monthly e-newsletter ensures that your prospects hear from you – on a regular basis – at least 12 times a year. Assuming they find your content valuable, this consistent communication helps build relationships with your online readers.
3. When people subscribe to an online newsletter, they give you permission to e-mail to them. That means you can send them e-mail marketing messages – with product offers – whenever you wish, at minimal cost.
Repeated exposure to your e-newsletter and solo e-mail promotions gets subscribers to trust you enough to start buying the products you sell or recommend. And before you know it, you’re making money selling information and/or merchandise on the Internet!
[Ed. Note: Personal, frequent contact with your customers and prospects is one of the best ways to build solid relationships with them. Starting an e-mail newsletter - filled with relevant, useful advice - is a perfect way to do it. For a step-by-step guide to setting up your own info-publishing business - including starting an e-newsletter, creating a website, and writing copy to drive traffic to it - sign up for ETR's Internet Money Club. See if there are any spots left for the "Class" of 2009 right here.
To learn more marketing secrets from freelance copywriter and marketing expert Bob Bly, sign up for his free e-zine, the Direct Response Letter. Do so today and get $116 in bonuses.]
I have a single sign posted in my office, taped to the wall next to my desk. On it are only two words: CUSTOMER CONTACT.
It is there to remind me – even to force me – to do more of the task I am always tempted to let slide: talking more frequently to my clients and customers.
Let’s face it. In today’s Internet world, it’s easy to stay in your hidey hole, avoid people, and just sit at your PC reading, writing, and thinking… which is what I’ve essentially designed my businesses to allow me to do! But the problem is that you become too isolated from the very people you are in business to serve.
E-mail has turned into a shield that allows people to avoid the stress of telephone calls and face-to-face meetings. Yes, working remotely by e-mail is extremely efficient. But it has the unfortunate effect of insulating you from the true emotions, fears, concerns, and desires of your market.
So here’s the New Year’s Resolution I recommend for you.
Type in the words CUSTOMER CONTACT in all caps, boldface, and at least 72-point type. Print it out, and tape it to your PC or the wall above your monitor.
Then look at that piece of paper several times a day, read it, and do what it’s reminding you to do: have more contact with your customers.
“But Bob,” you may be thinking, “I’m already too busy. If I spend the day talking to our customers, I won’t have any time to get my work done.”
Here’s what I do in my Internet information marketing business. It may work for you, too…
Like most Internet marketers, we get a lot of communication from customers – both through e-mail and phone calls. It is a combination of compliments, complaints, problems, and questions. The questions range from the mundane (”Your shopping cart declined my credit card”) to the thoughtful (queries about advice or instruction given in our e-books or audio courses).
I have hired an Internet Marketing Administrator, Jodi, whose job it is to take care of all these queries – because I simply don’t have time. So I instantly pass on to her every customer service request or communication (our “white mail”) the minute I receive it.
But I do something to add a personal touch… and increase my own level of customer contact. I advise you to do the same.
Pass most of your white mail on to an assistant to ensure prompt, efficient handling of timely requests and complaints. But read it all first. You will find that you can respond appropriately to some with a single sentence or even a few words (e.g., “Thanks” or “Glad to hear you liked my book”).
Your customers – especially the ones who are your fans – will be thrilled to hear from you personally. Maybe you can handle 10 percent of your white mail this way.
A smaller percentage will ask you questions that require a more thoughtful answer. Each week, spend a half-hour typing out and sending customized e-mail answers to them. Do not charge for this advice. Your customers will reward you with incredible loyalty, referrals, and additional purchases.
Save all the questions and the answers. You may be able to turn them into another information product you can sell – e.g., “101 Questions about X and One Good Answer to Each.” (If you do that, do not use the names of the people who asked the questions.)
And what about complaints?
Answer the most thoughtful of the legitimate ones – those from obviously intelligent and decent folks – with a personal e-mail. Then add this P.S.: “I’ve attached a small free gift to compensate you for your problem.” And attach to your e-mail reply a PDF of one of your bonus reports or e-books.
By the way, I got this idea from Steve Leveen, founder of Levenger. In a talk he gave at one of the American Writers and Artists Inc. (AWAI) copywriting bootcamps, Steve mentioned that he answered many customer complaints with a personal letter… actually written by him… and often sent the dissatisfied customer a free gift.
It worked for Steve, it works for me, and it can work for you.
And what about the insulting, rude, or nasty white mail?
Do not respond, tempted as you may be. Pass all of it on to your assistant with instructions to answer as politely, completely, and helpfully as possible. (You are emotionally invested in your business, so jerks may make you see red. It’s better to let someone who is more neutral handle those negative or difficult people.)
That’s it. That’s my suggestion for your New Year’s Resolution: Get closer to your customers by communicating with them more often and more personally.
[Ed. Note: Personal, frequent contact with your customers and prospects is one of the best ways to build solid relationships with them. Starting an e-mail newsletter - filled with relevant, useful advice - is a perfect way to do it. For a step-by-step guide to setting up your own info-publishing business - including starting an e-newsletter, creating a website, and writing copy to drive traffic to it - sign up for ETR's Internet Money Club. See if there are any spots left for the "Class" of 2009 right here.
To learn more marketing secrets from freelance copywriter and marketing expert Bob Bly, sign up for his free e-zine, the Direct Response Letter. Do so today and get $116 in bonuses.]
Bob Bly (www.Bly.com) suggests you remember these three guidelines for the next time someone asks, “What do you do?”
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How do you ensure that the information products you sell online give fair value to your customers? One way is to follow Internet marketing guru Fred Gleeck’s “10 times” rule. Fred says that the information products you sell should be worth at least 10 times the price you charge for them.
Alex Mandossian and I were discussing this in a recent ETR teleseminar – and looking for a way to determine whether a particular product and price point meet Gleeck’s criterion. The solution we came up with is something I call the “loose-leaf test.”
Here’s how it works…
Traditional nonfiction paperback books (around 200 pages long) typically sell for $10 to $20.
To determine whether your e-book is worth 10 times that amount – Gleeck’s “10 times” rule – print out the book manuscript on 8.5 by 11-inch sheets of paper. Now, three-hole-punch those pages… put them in a three-ring binder… and maybe even add tabbed dividers to separate the sections or chapters.
Information products in three-ring binders are typically dense in content… and consequently command much higher prices than bookstore books. It’s not unusual for these “loose-leaf services” to cost $100 to $200 or more per copy. (One loose-leaf service for executives on how to write and give speeches, American Speaker, sold for $297.)
Does your $20 e-book contain enough valuable, in-depth content that you could reprint the thing in a three-ring binder and sell it for $200 to customers who would feel they got fair value for their investment… and not ask for a refund?
If it does, you can rest assured that the content you deliver in your book is indeed worth at least 10 times more than the $20 you intend to charge for it.
However, if you think customers who would pay $200 for a loose-leaf version of your book (remember: same content, just different packaging) would feel gypped and ask for their money back, then your book doesn’t follow Gleeck’s “10 times” rule.
I increasingly see nonfiction business books that are thin and light. They present just one or two new ideas, often in a book of 150 pages or less.
If people buy such a book in a bookstore, they probably won’t complain. Expectations for trade books are modest. If it’s a good read, they’ll be satisfied enough.
But your customers perceive that information products published and sold online contain more specific and highly specialized content than “bookstore books.” So if you are an Internet information marketer, you have to deliver far more value to your customers for their money.
Gleeck’s “10 times” rule – and the Bly/Mandossian “loose leaf test” – help you ensure that you’ll do just that.
I have discovered that if the customer thinks an information product is worth the $20 he paid but no more than that, he still may be dissatisfied and want a refund.
One customer, JB, recently asked for a refund on one of my e-books. He wrote: “Your e-book was certainly worth the $19 you charged me, but no more than that. So please send my money back.”
At first, I thought, “How odd!” JB said the product was worth what he paid for it. So his desire for a refund made no sense to me.
But in Internet information marketing, we make big promises in our copy to grab the reader’s attention and make a sale. (In a bookstore, by comparison, the only “selling” is usually done by the book and its cover.) JB apparently felt that the book did not live up to the copy on my landing page, and was disappointed on that basis.
The solution, of course, is to charge less (not very desirable), write weak copy (also not a good idea), or, preferably, make the product stronger. Add content until the product meets the Gleeck/Bly/Mandossian test – and delivers content not just worth what you charged for it, but worth 10 TIMES what you charged for it.
When you sell an item worth $200 for $20, customer satisfaction will soar and refunds will be minimal to nonexistent.
As a famous marketer once stated: “It is our goal not to give the customer her money’s worth, but to give her MORE than her money’s worth!”
Or, more specifically, at least 10 times her money’s worth.
[Ed. Note: Info-publishing is one of the easiest and most potentially lucrative businesses you can go into. But if you don't know where to start when it comes to creating your own info-publishing business, don't worry. ETR is here to help. As a member of our elite Internet Money Club, our team of experts will walk you, step by step, through everything from setting up a website to creating your products to writing sales copy, and much more. Get the details here.
To learn more marketing secrets from freelance copywriter and marketing expert Bob Bly, sign up for his free e-zine, the Direct Response Letter. Do so today and get $116 in bonuses.]
“Use a strong guarantee” is standard advice in direct marketing. Without a strong guarantee, your sales will slow to a trickle. Buyers are loathe to buy products sight unseen – over the Internet, by phone, or by mail.
But what, exactly, makes for a “strong” guarantee?
A strong guarantee has five defining characteristics.
1. It is good for a long period of time.
As a rule of thumb, the longer the guarantee period, the better.
Typical guarantee periods are 10, 14, 30, 60, 90, 180, and 365 days. Of these, 10 days is the weakest, because it requires the prospect to act too quickly for comfort. He is afraid that, if he puts the product aside, the guarantee coverage will expire and he’ll be stuck with something he can’t return. And so he doesn’t order in the first place.
Thirty days is a standard guarantee period, and certainly adequate. Sixty and 90 days are better. All the information products I publish and sell online are guaranteed for 90 days.
I don’t like lifetime guarantees, because they create a financial liability on the books that may be problematic when it’s time to sell the business. Six- and 12-month guarantees may be worth testing, but won’t work for some products. For instance, a one-year guarantee doesn’t make sense for an annual directory.
2. There are no strings attached.
A conditional guarantee might say: “Return the product in saleable condition for your money back.” A guarantee like this will make the prospect worry that you will quibble with him over “saleable condition.” That you may, for example, refuse to issue a refund for a book he returned because, say, the dust jacket has a smudge on it.
Another conditional guarantee that stops prospects from buying is the one used by many sellers of home-study programs. They say: “If you are not satisfied, send back the course for a refund. Just prove to us that you made some effort to follow our system.” Then, when you ask for a refund, they ask for more and more proof. And no matter how much proof you send, the seller counters with “You didn’t do what we said” (or enough of it) – and denies your refund on that basis.
Much better is to offer an unconditional guarantee. Tell the customer all he has to do is return the product for a full refund – no ifs, ands, or buts – without question or quibble.
3. Everything is clearly stated and spelled out.
Don’t use any wording that the consumer can misinterpret. For instance, a performance-based guarantee – “If you do not earn extra money trading options with our program, return it for a refund” – sounds good but raises a potential concern. Does it mean that if you DO make some extra money with the product, you can’t return it? Even if you only made 10 bucks?
Rewrite the guarantee so no condition or ambiguity is stated or implied: “If you do not make extra money trading options with our program, or you are not 100% satisfied for any other reason – or for no reason – just return the program within 90 days for a full refund.”
4. It is graphically emphasized within the promotion.
Don’t bury the guarantee in body copy or put it in an asterisked footnote in 8-point type. Print the guarantee in 12-point copy with a large, bold headline. Put a box or even a certificate-style border around it to make it stand out.
5. It is generous.
The best guarantees are unfair – but unfair in favor of the buyer, not the seller. That means if the customer takes advantage of the guarantee, the seller is, in a sense, getting ripped off.
Example. For regular books sold via mail-order, the guarantee is simple: “Return the book and we will send you your money back.”
But think about that same guarantee for e-books… Can customers really return the e-book? Do you expect them to send back the copy they printed out… or sign an affidavit that they erased the e-book from their hard drive… or shredded the printout? (Some online marketers have done just that!)
Most information marketers skirt the issue of returning e-books in their guarantees. They say: “If you are not 100% satisfied, let us know within 90 days for a full refund.” No discussion about returning or erasing or not using it.
In the landing pages I write to sell the e-books I publish (see, for example, myveryfirstebook.com), I go a step further. I turn the fact that the customer does not have to return the e-book into a benefit. I say: “If you are not 100% satisfied, let us know within 90 days for a full refund. And keep the e-book free, with my compliments. That way, you risk nothing.”
I’ve always suspected that this overly generous offer has boosted my sales, but never split-tested it. However, at a recent Internet marketing seminar, DP, who heard me make this point in my presentation, said that he too tells his customers to keep the e-book even if they ask for a refund. But DP has split-tested it. And he swears that “Keep the e-book free” increased his conversion rates on average by 21 percent.
The bottom line: Make sure your guarantee is…
The overriding principle of a strong guarantee is to take all the risk off the buyer’s shoulders and place it on the seller’s shoulders – where it should be.
[Ed. Note: Knowing how to put together an irresistible offer is one of the best ways to make money online - for your employer, a client, or even your own business. For more marketing tactics from freelance copywriter and marketing expert Bob Bly - and from nearly a dozen other world-class Internet marketers - pick up a copy of ETR's 2008 Information Marketing Bootcamp DVD Library. With their advice, you could learn how to make $1 million or more with your own Internet business in 2009. Get all the details here.
To learn more marketing secrets from freelance copywriter and marketing expert Bob Bly, sign up for his free e-zine, the Direct Response Letter. Do so today and get $116 in bonuses.]
The most common mistake you’re likely to make when trying to create your own information product is not having a good understanding of the subject you are writing about. You might have strong writing skills. But if you lack mastery of your topic, your writing will be vague, unfocused, and have little value, credibility, or authority. To prevent this error, use the following four-step formula:
1. Accumulate knowledge.
Before you can write, you need to have something to write about. This means acquiring in-depth knowledge – through a combination of research and experience – of a subject people will pay to learn.
2. Organize your content.
What’s the best way to present your subject? Is it a process with definite sequential steps that must be performed in a specific order? Find a logical organizational scheme that fits the subject matter. For example, an e-book on vitamins and minerals could present each one in alphabetical order, starting with vitamin A and ending with zinc.
3. Teach your subject.
Use illustrations, stories, examples, case studies, photos, diagrams, tables, analogies, metaphors, comparisons – whatever it takes to make your subject clear to the reader. Provide plenty of worksheets, resources, and model documents that the reader can copy so he does not have to reinvent the wheel.
4. Polish your prose.
Here’s where your writing skills come into play. Write in a natural, conversational style – like one friend talking to another or a patient teacher looking over the reader’s shoulder. Use small words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. Avoid jargon. Write in plain simple English.
[Ed. Note: Becoming a powerful writer is your ticket to creating marketable info products, as well as sales copy that sells. For expert insights into the world of direct marketing, be sure to sign up for Bob's free monthly newsletter, Direct Response Letter. Do so today and get over $100 in free bonuses.
For more multimillion-dollar advice about how to be a top-notch marketer, pick up a copy of Breakthrough Advertising.]
Recently “Betty,” one of my readers, sent me an e-mail very similar in sentiment to dozens of other e-mails I have received over the years.
“Why do marketers like ETR and AWAI send me 16-page direct-mail sales letters when the copywriter could have said the same thing in 1 to 2 pages?” Betty writes. “The prospect might even buy out of gratitude for not having to wade through those 16 pages, and breathe a sigh of relief instead of snarl a nasty expletive.”
But Betty is not through lambasting long-copy direct marketing. Her e-mail continues:
“My brother-in-law makes a hobby of going through those 16-page letters just for fun, red-penciling errors before he tosses them. He would never, under pain of death, buy from a direct-marketing sales letter.”
And it’s not just Betty’s brother-in-law who thinks direct marketers are fools.
“My sister just drops those 16-page mailings into recycling without even bothering to open them,” she reports. “Many of the people I know feel the same way. So why do copywriters persist in creating these massive multi-page mailings? Is it because they are paid by the page? Or because the client wants his pound of flesh from his writers?”
Finally, Betty turns to the Internet as the harbinger of doom for long copy, asking, “Isn’t the Internet killing off traditional direct-response copy?”
The answer to Betty’s question is fairly simple…
The marketers she complains about use long copy not because they love to pay their copywriters a fortune to write it for them… or because they enjoy spending more money on printing and postage.
They use long copy for only one reason: It works.
Does long copy always out-pull short copy?
Of course not.
But long copy often out-pulls short copy when:
You are marketing information products (or other products) that are sold by telling stories or conveying ideas.
As for Betty’s theory that the Internet is making traditional long-copy direct marketing obsolete, it’s quite the opposite: A product that requires long copy to sell it offline usually requires long copy to sell it online as well.
For instance, take a look at my website myveryfirstebook.com.
So… what does this long copy vs. short copy debate have to do with “the worst way to make marketing decisions”? Simply because it illustrates that the worst way to make marketing decisions – which is what Betty and her family are doing – is through subjective judgment.
Copywriter Peter Beutel advises marketers: “Don’t let personal preferences get in the way.” In other words, what’s important is not what you think, like, believe, or prefer… it’s what your prospects think, like, believe, and prefer.
One of the best things about being a direct marketer is that, unlike general advertisers, we don’t have to rely solely on subjective judgment. We don’t have to let our personal likes and dislikes cloud our judgment (like Betty’s brother-in-law is doing). We can put almost any proposition – e.g., headline “A” vs. headline “B” or long copy vs. short copy – to a direct test. And we can precisely measure the ROMD (return on marketing dollars) for our ads and commercials.
So, Betty, it doesn’t matter what your sister or brother-in-law do… or that they don’t like long copy. What matters is that, in a statistically valid split test, the long copy generated more orders than the short copy – and that’s why those long letters are in the mail.
I close with this quote from advertising legend Claude Hopkins: “Advertising arguments should only be settled by testing, not arguments around a conference table.”
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Most ETR readers know that a successful copywriting technique is to use lots of “bullets” in marketing copy – short sales points presented in bulleted lists.
But did you ever sit down to work on copy, only to find it difficult to pull out of the product the salient sales points needed to create strong bullets?
If you’re a marketer, there’s an easy way to avoid this problem… and come up with kick-butt bullets that generate more orders and sales from every promotion you mail or e-mail. And it starts way before a single word of copy is written. In fact, for maximum results, this should be done during the creation of the actual product itself.
I’m talking about building bullets into your product. By that, I mean coming up with a list of features that you think would really convince your prospects to buy the product. Or writing a list of bullets you’d love to be able to use in your marketing copy. And then, as you’re developing that list of features or bullets, you design them into the product.
Let’s say you hire a writer to create a how-to e-book on growing a backyard vegetable garden.
One of the things you think your prospective customers will be interested in is a section on growing bigger tomatoes. So you make a list of specific steps that can be taken to make tomatoes grow big and juicy.
Let’s say the list has five steps on it. You give the list to your writer so he can put a few paragraphs on each one in the e-book.
Now, when you (or a copywriter you hire) write the sales copy for the e-book, you know it can include a bullet that says “5 ways to grow tomatoes so big, you can make a dinner out of them.”
I had a client, an industrial manufacturer, that used this technique with great success.
The company manufactured spectrophotometers, instruments used to measure color. Their competitors had come out with a new generation of spectrophotometers, and my client was late to the game. But they used this to their advantage.
They carefully studied the other brands, made a list of their flaws, and designed their new spectrophotometer to provide superior performance in every area where their competitors were weak.
In their product launch, they showed a picture of their new instrument. Call-outs highlighted every feature that made the device superior to what their competitors were selling.
The launch was their most successful ever, because the bullets for their sales copy had been carefully built into the product – and clearly distinguished that product as superior in many ways to all others in the field.
Freelance copywriters rarely have any control over the product that’s being sold, but marketers often do. If you are an information marketer, in particular, it’s easy to design products with great sales bullets built in.
Just write a list of irresistible bullets, make that your table of contents, and then create an info product that covers those points.
And make sure all of those points really are covered. Info product buyers often compare the product to the promotion. If they can’t find content reflecting the bullets that persuaded them to buy, they will complain or ask for a refund.
My mentor, the great copywriter Milt Pierce, tells the story of when he was hired to write a direct-mail package on a book about decorating by a famous author in that field.
He brought in his marketing copy. The publisher and author read it. When they were finished, the publisher said to Milt, “This is incredibly strong promotional copy. The only problem is… that’s not what’s in the book.”
Milt replied: “It should be.” And, according to him, the author and publisher agreed to rewrite the book so it accurately reflected the sales copy he’d written.
When the promotion mailed, it worked like gangbusters… and the book sold like hotcakes.
The old-time mail-order guru Melvin Powers did it a better way: When he wanted to publish a new book, he would write and run the ad first.
Of course, he wrote the strongest ad possible.
If the ad got a strong response, he then quickly wrote and printed a book that delivered all the content promised. If the ad bombed, he never wrote the book and just refunded the money to those few people who had ordered.
[Ed. Note: Now's your chance to pick the brain of copywriting master and experienced info-marketer Bob Bly in person. Bob is coming out of his self-imposed speaking retirement to present at ETR's 2008 Info-Marketing Bootcamp. He - along with 11 other business-building and marketing experts - will reveal a proven technique that can help you make at least $100,000 in 2009. Bootcamp begins this coming Sunday, so time is running out to sign up. Do it today.
For expert insights into the world of direct marketing, be sure to sign up for Bob's free monthly newsletter, The Direct Response Letter. Do it today and get $116 in free bonuses.]
On more than one occasion, one of my readers has suggested to me that I publish two versions of my e-newsletter. The first would be the regular edition I offer now – a monthly online newsletter with pure content, supplemented by twice-weekly e-mails mixing content and product offers. The second would be an “advertising-free” edition. You’d get the monthly content e-newsletter, but none of the e-mail marketing messages between monthly issues.
Well, I’m never going to offer an option to get the e-zine only – advertising-free and without the supplemental e-mail marketing messages. And if you’re an Internet marketer, neither should you.
Why not?
Think of it this way …
As an online information marketer – a “micro publisher” – you spend time and energy creating your content. Your time, ideas, and information are valuable to others. Or at least they should be. If your content isn’t valuable, why would you bother creating it … and why would your subscribers read it?
As with everyone else who works for a living, you – a content creator – need to earn money by charging for what you produce. Electricians get paid to splice wires together. Plumbers bill you for fixing leaky pipes. Why does the world seem to think content creators and owners of intellectual property should give away their creations for free?
As for me, I charge for my e-zine. Not money, mind you. But I do charge a fee. And the “fee” I charge is that the subscribers agree to receive my e-mails. All my e-mails.
Usually, there are two e-mails a week – one sales message and one content message. But even the sales messages offer ideas, solutions, and resources that I believe my readers will benefit from.
No one is forced to buy the information products I am recommending. You can go years without spending a dime with me, and still get my e-zine at no cost.
No one is forced to open or read my e-mails. If you are a subscriber to my e-zine, you can simply delete any or all of them.
No one is forced to receive my e-mails. I am not abusing anyone by sending them against their will.
The right to send my subscribers e-mail marketing messages is simply the price I charge for my publication.
If you wish to stop paying that subscription fee, you can unsubscribe with a single mouse click in about three seconds. No need to make a phone call or waste a stamp on a letter.
When you unsubscribe, you will no longer receive my e-mails. But you won’t get my free e-zine, either. You take all or none. That’s the deal. Non-negotiable.
I recently signed up for the e-list of an entertainer I like. After I got three e-mails the first day, I decided his arrangement was not for me, and I opted out with a single click. But I did not send him an e-mail with obscenities in it. I did not petition him to put me on a special e-list … or change his publishing model. I simply unsubscribed.
Amazingly, online subscribers argue with us Internet marketers about this issue from time to time – something they rarely do with traditional publishers. After all, if you called Newsweek and told them, “Send me the magazine, but take out the ads first,” what do you think they would do?
Yes, I could offer an “advertising-free” edition of my e-newsletter, but what would be the point? Or, as we copywriters say, “What’s in it for me?”
It’s true that, as an Internet marketer, you can send too many e-mails … or have a disproportionately high ratio of sales to content. But your subscribers will tell you what they consider to be too much or just right.
How do you know when you are sending too many e-mail marketing messages to your e-list? Just pay attention to the opt-out rate – the percentage of subscribers who opt out after you distribute an e-mail message to them.
Each time you distribute your e-newsletter or an e-mail message to your subscriber list, a few will opt out. That’s okay. But if too many are unsubscribing per e-mail – say, more than two out of every 1,000 subscribers on the list – you may be selling to your list too much, too hard, and too often.
Solution: Cut back on frequency … make the content more educational, less hard-sell … add more content and do less selling … until the opt-out rate drops to about 0.2 percent or less.
[Ed. Note: Now's your chance to pick the brain of copywriting master and experienced info-marketer Bob Bly in person. Bob is coming out of his self-imposed speaking retirement to present at ETR's 2008 Info-Marketing Bootcamp. He - along with 11 other business-building and marketing experts - will reveal a proven technique that can help you make at least $100,000 in 2009. Learn the details here.
For expert insights into the world of direct marketing, be sure to sign up for Bob's free monthly newsletter, The Direct Response Letter. Do so today and get over $100 in free bonuses.]
Comment on this article
A sin to be avoided in sales copy is using words that remind the prospect you are, in actuality, selling a product, not just educating or helping him out of the kindness of your heart. One of the words on my forbidden list is “product.” Today, I heard a radio spot for JointFlex, an arthritis supplement, that repeats the word many times.
The announcer says: “Doctors love the product, patients love the product, you will love the product.”
Why call it “the product”? Why not be more specific and use the name?
My rewrite: “Doctors love JointFlex, patients love JointFlex, you will love JointFlex.”
A yacht salesman refers to his top-of-the-line model as a “yacht” or “she.” A car salesman refers to a sports car as a sports car, automobile, or “a beauty.” You never hear a good salesperson say “our product” or “my product.” Neither should a good copywriter.
“Product” instantly breaks the spell of enticing copy and says to the prospect, “Don’t forget, we want your money.”
[Ed. Note: Even so-called "experts" in advertising forget the rules. But you can get a refresher course from three master copywriters at ETR's 2008 Information Marketing Bootcamp. Bob Bly, John Forde, and Charlie Byrne will be revealing some of their juiciest secrets to writing money-making sales letters. Reserve your spot - and learn how you can make between $100,000 and $1.2 million from our panel of expert speakers - right here.
For expert insights into the world of direct marketing, be sure to sign up for Bob's free monthly newsletter, Direct Response Letter. Do so today and get over $100 in free bonuses.]
At what age are you too old to start a new career or business?
I have thought at various times in my life (I am now 51) that the cut-off age was 50… 60… or even 70.
There were two reasons I believed you’d reach a point where starting over just wasn’t practical anymore.
The first, and lesser, was sheer age and lifespan: the idea that when there are many more years behind you than ahead of you, your time to enjoy the fruits of whatever labors you pursue is too limited.
The second reason I believed there was a cut-off date for starting a new career, learning a new trade, or launching a new small business was lack of experience.
For instance, one of the many careers I considered in my youth was the law. But I decided pursuing that in my later years was impractical.
Reason: Say, hypothetically, you were to graduate law school at age 45. You compete against two groups.
The first group is other 45-year-old lawyers who are the same age as you – but have 20 years of law experience vs. your zero years.
The other group you compete against is your classmates. Like you, they are new to the law. But being in their 20s and single, instead of 45 and having a mortgage and three kids in college, they can afford to work for starting salaries too small to meet your needs.
However, actor Abe Vigoda has changed my mind about all this. And my opinion today is that it is NEVER too late to learn new things, start a new business, switch careers, or go into a different industry. (Abe Vigoda, if the name does not ring a bell, is the dour-faced actor famous for playing the character Fish on the TV sitcom “Barney Miller.”)
On the Internet recently, I read a short interview with Vigoda, who is still a working actor at age 87. It reminded me that his big break was his first movie, “The Godfather,” in which he played Sal Tessio.
Well, “The Godfather” was released in 1972. So if you do the math, Vigoda didn’t begin his movie career until he was over 50. More impressive is that, at age 87, Vigoda – who, pardon me, has a slightly cadaverous appearance that makes him look ready for the Old Folks Home – is still a competitive handball player.
If Abe Vigoda could get his first movie role at over 50 – beating out actors his age who had decades more credentials and experience – then I am convinced that you and I can start a new career or business at any age.
As an older entrepreneur or career changer, you will likely have some advantages over your younger colleagues, peers, and competitors – such as greater life experience and wisdom to draw upon when making decisions.
You may have some disadvantages, too – including (possibly) less energy, less flexibility, and less adaptability to new technologies and methods. Then again, maybe not. It depends on your personality – and your circumstances. If you are a retired empty-nester, you may actually have more time, freedom, and flexibility, not less.
If you are still working for a paycheck because you have to and not because you want to, it may take a greater degree of courage and fortitude to make any major business, career, or life change. But I know from firsthand experience that 50 is not too old to make a major change. And from that, I am guessing that your age won’t stop you, either.
I started a small online information marketing business as I was closing in on my fiftieth birthday. I kept my day job as a freelance copywriter, while putting in long hours to get the new business started. But today, I earn a six-figure passive income from that business, selling information products on the Internet and “working” only an hour or two a day. Meanwhile, entering a new field has energized and renewed me in a way I never thought possible.
If your gut tells you that you are ready for a change, you probably are.
I close with this piece of wisdom from Milton Hershey, founder of Hershey Chocolate:
“I have often been asked – What is the best age for producing? I know only one answer, the age you are now.”
[Ed. Note: As copywriting master and experienced info-marketer Bob Bly said, it's NEVER too late to start your own business. Now's the perfect opportunity to get your online business up and running. Bob will be speaking at ETR's 2008 Info-Marketing Bootcamp. He - along with 11 other business-building and marketing experts - will reveal a proven technique that can help you make at least $100,000 in 2009. Learn the details here.
For expert insights into the world of direct marketing, be sure to sign up for Bob's free monthly newsletter, The Direct Response Letter. Do so today and get over $100 in free bonuses.]