Developing the “Expert’s Edge”
It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling by direct mail, the Internet, or face-to-face, your prospects (prospective customers) will fall into one of four groups. 1. First are prospects who know a lot about your product’s niche (like alternative health or consumer electronics). They fancy themselves to be experts. Using alternative…
How to Write Great Headlines
When it comes to headlines, brevity is the soul of success. Not all great headlines are brief. But most are. The sure sign of the flummoxed copywriter is the six-tier, 40-word head that says just about everything that comes to mind. When a copywriter hands me a sales letter with…
The Secret of Making Proposals
I submitted my first life-changing proposal to my middle-school principal. In fact, I’m dedicating this article to him – the late Dr. William C. Cooksey. And when you hear my story, you’ll understand why. Dr. Cooksey had expelled me for smoking cigarettes on school property. This wasn’t my first run-in…
Doing Business Overseas: The Basics
About 25 years ago, I wrote a book for a major publisher on doing business in China. It won a good deal of praise in the business press, which surprised me … because I didn’t really know much about the subject. My experience of China had consisted of one trip…
How to Profit Through Referrals
A client of mine makes exclusive, expensive golf clubs – clubs that are tailor-made for his customers. His clients fit a certain profile. They are affluent, avid golfers who want to improve their golf game … and his clubs seem to help them do that. My client reasoned that his…
How Great Incomes Are Made With Specialty-Interest Newsletters
In Message #1630, I started this series of articles for Early to Rise about the information marketing and publishing business. Today, I’m going to address a question that I’m often asked: “If I kept all my knowledge but had to start over with little or no resources, how would I…
Working With Your Spouse
There was a good piece in The Wall Street Journal recently about the “risky business” of working with your mate. It begins with the story of a man who was forced to fire his wife at home, during dinner. Part of the problem, the article said, “was that the wife…
Give Your Customer One More Reason to Buy
Has this ever happened when you were thinking about making a purchase through direct mail? You’re on the verge of buying, but you aren’t quite convinced. You need something to give you that final push to spend your money. What’s holding you back? Maybe you’re concerned that the product isn’t…
Inside the Information Marketing Business, Part 1:
There have never been greater opportunities in the field of Information Marketing – for everyone from very experienced, successful entrepreneurs to rank beginners. As something of a “father” of the industry, I’ve been invited to contribute a series of articles about these opportunities to Early to Rise. And I thought…
Get MORE Than Your Money’s Worth From Your Copywriter
Although I’m generally known as a copywriter, I recently put every aspect of a new client’s company under the microscope for him. My client’s business was growing nicely, but not anywhere near as quickly as it should have been. Response to his new customer promotions was lackluster … he had…
Unexpected Resolution for 2006
Needless to say, my gym was packed on New Year’s Day. Hmmm. I wonder how busy it will be in February? How many people who make resolutions on January 1 actually pull them off? Not many. Why is that?? We’ve all been there. That feeling of a fresh start seems…
Make Your Resolution a Reality
Blanca was facing a scary proposition as the New Year rolled in. She was an immigrant from Peru and hardly spoke English. Yet, she was here in America … and needed to earn more money. That was four years ago. A lot has changed for Blanca since then. Now, after…