How Knowing What NOT to Say Boosts Results
Issue #2145
- WEALTHY: The "blinders and Clydesdales" principle of writing for your website (John Forde)
- HEALTHY: Why you should increase your intake of the awesome foursome (Shane Ellison)
- WISE: Euripides on "indirection"
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- How to always make the best deals (Michael Masterson)
- A simple way for retailers to satisfy their shoppers (Bob Bly)
- It’s Good to Know… about telescopic eye implants
- Add "jeremiad" to your vocabulary
An Exciting Opportunity To Take Advantage Of A Trillion-Dollar Industry
Of the many paths to wealth, there is only one that Michael Masterson most consistently recommends to his closest friends and relatives.
It has all the advantages you want if you’re starting from scratch: simplicity, an extremely low entry cost and a huge and growing potential for wealth-building.
Here’s what I am talking about…
- Patrick Coffey
"Too much zeal offends, where indirection works."
Euripides
How Knowing What NOT to Say Boosts Results
By John Forde
Copywriters spend a lot of time staring at the blinking cursor… wondering what to say.
This is especially true when they’re writing sales copy for the Internet. After all, the Internet is a fairly new advertising medium. So don’t Internet marketers have to find whole new things to say to reach this new market?
Here’s the surprise…
Just as it’s true in print direct marketing and poetry, economy of words can be your greatest ally.
That is, sometimes knowing what NOT to say – and show – in your sales copy for the Web, whether you write it yourself or hire someone else to do it, is actually the greater way to get results.
Let me share a couple of ideas that illustrate what I mean…
When Saying and Showing Less Is More
The "blinders and Clydesdales" principle:
Why is it so important to leave other people’s links off of your home page? Think of the Clydesdale. You know Clydesdales. They’re those massive horses that pull everything from old-time fire engines to Budweiser beer carts.
They’re powerful and large. They’ve got a big mop of hair hanging over each hoof. And almost always, you see them wearing blinders.
Blinders are black flaps that cover part of the horse’s eyes while he pulls whatever it is that he’s pulling. They keep the horse focused on the road ahead. Without them, where does a distracted Clydesdale go? Your guess is as good as mine. But I’m thinking… anywhere he wants.
And it’s the same with your average Web surfer. They, too, have the power to stay or go, move forward or away. What you, as an Internet marketer, are hoping is that they’ll apply all that power to plowing forward through your carefully crafted sales copy.
What you desperately want, in effect, is for them to keep their eyes focused tightly on the road ahead… following it straight to the button that says "click here to order."
Here’s the thing…
Too many Internet advertisers try to create the ultimate "surfing" experience with their copy. But what you want is copy that creates the "anti-surfing" experience. As your potential customers move through your e-mails… your home page… and your online sales letters… you want their undivided attention.
And that’s where the blinder analogy comes in. Links that takes your prospect elsewhere are distractions. Remove the links, and you’re that much more likely to keep his eyes staring straight ahead. Hopefully, to your order page.
The Disappearing Website
One of the great misconceptions about getting a business onto the Internet is the idea that your website becomes your calling card… or that it has to impress so much that your customers will talk about the website even when they’re not logged on.
This leaves Web owners so pre-occupied with the look and feel of their sites that they miss the true lesson. Which is that the best websites don’t call attention to themselves. Instead, they call attention to the sales message they’re meant to convey.
To paraphrase a David Ogilvy example, if your customers look at your home page and say, "Wow, what a website!"… you’re doing something wrong. But if they look and say, "Wow, what a product!"… you’re on the right track.
Blocking Pigeonholes
Picture yourself landing on a webpage or getting an unexpected e-mail in your inbox. How long does it take for you to decide to read on?
Typically, no more than a split-second. This is because the human brain is designed to categorize quickly, based on initial – if partial – information. Just a little evidence is enough for your prospect to make a decision. And then, into the pigeonhole it goes.
This one’s spam… that one is news to read later… this website has no substance… this other one pulls me in… and so on. It only takes a glance. Unless, that is, you’re careful about closing off those pigeonholes very early in the game.
One of the ways to do this is with a technique called "indirection."
"Indirection" is to approach your reader in ways that surprise him. To approach him in a way he doesn’t expect. Websites and e-zines, for instance, are natural places to try out indirection techniques. Because you’re often writing about the same themes over and over. And before long, it’s handy to have many different inroads to the same idea.
The Golden Password Principle
In hotspots like Manhattan and Miami, nightclub owners figured out that the harder it was for people to get in, the more desirable the club. So they started draping their doors with a velvet cord. Patrons line up. The club bouncer looks them over. If they pass inspection, the cord is lifted and the patron goes inside.
In print direct-response marketing, you get the same effect by selling "membership" in private clubs of your own. The more exclusive the feel of your offer is, the more alluring it is. Research shows that the fear of missing out and the desire to be included are strong motivators when it comes to buying behavior.
It’s no different with online marketing. Private access has a powerful allure. And the technological perks of the Web give you, the online marketer, a few brilliant ways to duplicate the "club membership" model.
Try inviting your prospects to join a club that offers private e-mail alerts… special-interest discussion boards and article archives… subscription-based membership in a private website where only members can log in to pick up special reports, software downloads, new graphics, and more.
Give club membership the feel of prestige. Make it official with certification, a password, and the whole enchilada. It’s easy for your average online surfer to quit a newsletter or a discussion group. But it’s harder for him to quit a full-fledged "club."
See what I mean? I’m sure you do.
[Ed Note: John Forde, a published writer and a direct-mail copywriter since 1992, is the editor of the free weekly e-zine, The Copywriter's Roundtable.
Be sure to sign up for ETR's Info Marketing Bootcamp - Making a Fast Fortune on the "Other Side" of the Internet - where John Forde and dozens of the nation's leading business-building experts will advise you on every step you need to take to start your own successful information publishing business. Sign up today.]
Self-Growth for Busy People…
I’ve come across an incredible set of CDs that can help you achieve your goals faster than you’ve ever thought possible. Just put on one of the laser-focused “Paraliminal” CDs such as Peak Performance, Talking to Win, or Memory Supercharger, then kick back, listen, and enjoy the results. There’s nothing to study. Nothing to memorize. No homework. No exercises. It’s why they’re called “Self-Growth for Busy People.”
You can download an informative booklet today that tells you how this extraordinary process works and why it should work for you. You’ll get a special code so you get a discount when you invest in a set of Paraliminals for yourself. With it, you’ll receive a 30-day money-back guarantee as well as lifetime Success Coaching to make sure you get a high-value return on your investment.
I enjoy the Paraliminal CDs by Paul Scheele and my friends at Learning Strategies Corporation, and I think you will, too.
Seeing the Big Opportunity
Whenever I am offered a deal, I do two things.
First, I assess the deal as presented by the person pitching it. What is the ratio of the investment to the potential return? And what about the ratio of the risk to the potential return?
Then I ignore the proposition and ask: "Is there a better deal possible? One that might be better for us both?"
My childhood friend AS sent me this memorable illustration:
When Dan found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a woman to enjoy it with. So he went to a singles bar, where he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her natural beauty took his breath away.
"I may look like just an ordinary man," he said as he walked up to her, "but in just a week or two, my father will die and I’ll inherit $20 million."
Impressed, the woman went home with him that evening – but she was a lot smarter than Dan. Three days later, she became his stepmother.
[Ed. Note: Get Michael Masterson's insights into becoming successful in your business and personal life, achieving financial independence, and accomplishing all your goals on his brand-new website. You'll find updates on all of Michael's books, news on upcoming ETR events, Michael's blog, and room to send in your comments and questions. Check it out today.]
Improving Customer Service at the Cashier Line
By Bob Bly
If you run a retail business, teach your cashiers NOT to give change the way most cashiers do – handing them the receipt, coins, and bills all at once.
Reason: The customer already has one hand occupied holding the item purchased, making it awkward and difficult to separate these three items.
A better practice for your cashiers:
- First, put the receipt in the bag for the customer instead of handing it to him.
- Next, give him the coins, and wait until he puts them in his pocket.
- Then, hand him the bills, which he will put in his wallet.
[Ed. Note: Master copywriter and best-selling author Bob Bly is the editor of ETR's ETR's Direct Marketing Masters Edition. a program to help you start your own successful direct-mail business. Sign up for Bob's free monthly e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and get more than $100 in free bonuses.]
4 Nutrients for the Heart
By Shane "The People’s Chemist" Ellison
One simple molecule can help your heart beat more forcefully, keep you from feeling fatigued, and can even increase your lifespan. This energizing molecule is known as ATP. Your heart needs vast amounts of energy to function properly… and it’s easy to get your body to produce more ATP.
ATP is to your body what gasoline is to a Cessna plane. To repeatedly distribute oxygen and nutrients throughout your 100,000 miles of arteries, veins, and capillaries, your heart needs to pump a whopping 74 gallons of blood each hour. To compare, a small Cessna plane burns a mere 10 gallons of gasoline per hour. Without ATP, your heart doesn’t have the energy required to maintain proper blood flow. And if energy demand exceeds supply, heart failure occurs.
Premature deaths from heart failure have been rising since 1980 – probably due to a lack of the nutrients in our diet required for the production of ATP. Drugs like Coreg are often used to curb the trend, but not a single one increases ATP production or increases lifespan. Instead, users are put at great risk for adverse drug reactions like obesity and Type II diabetes.
Fortunately, Mother Nature provides an awesome foursome of ATP-boosting nutrients: ribose, magnesium aspartate, creatine monohydrate, and acetyl-L-carnitine (not L-carnitine). By ensuring that your heart has ample amounts of these nutrients, you can live free from the worry of premature heart failure. And aside from working in unison to boost ATP, the awesome foursome increase mental focus and muscle growth, and slow aging.
All of these nutrients are sold as supplements. You can also get magnesium aspartate and acetyl-L-carnitine by fortifying your diet with grass-fed beef, avocados, seeds, nuts, and spinach.
[Ed. Note: Shane Ellison is an internationally recognized authority on therapeutic nutrition. Get his "Foundational Health Education" program to beat obesity, heart disease, and even Type II diabetes by clicking here. You can also read Shane's insights into what you can do to lead a healthier life by signing up for ETR's FREE natural health e-letter here.]
It’s Good to Know: Telescopic Eye Implants
Macular degeneration is an eye disease that leads to severe vision loss and eventual blindness for some. But the nearly 2 million Americans suffering from macular degeneration may have cause for hope. Scientists with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary have developed mini-telescope-like implants that can dramatically improve their vision.
Clinical trials have shown positive results, and doctors are eager to try the experimental treatment (which requires specialized surgical techniques) as soon as they get an okay from the FDA.
(Source: Scientific American)
Do You Need To Start Out Small?
If you don’t have an Internet business yet, or if your company is smaller than $1 million then you need something different… something that lets you start off small.
One man I know turned $10 into over $500,000. How’s that for starting small!
Let me show you how to get a similar Internet income stream running for almost nothing.
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Jeremiad
A "jeremiad" (jare-uh-MY-ud) – from Jeremiah, the prophet – is a prolonged lamentation or sorrowful complaint.
Example (as used by Roy Porter in English Society in the Eighteenth Century): "This age in which leisure and letters were gilded with commerce did not see the decline and fall of art, despite the jeremiads of such artists as William Blake. (‘Where any view of money exists,’ he prophesied, ‘art cannot be carried on’)"
[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.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007
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