Constant change
David Carradine. Ed McMahon. Farrah Fawcett. Michael Jackson. Billy Mays. Karl Malden. Steve McNair. The Grim Reaper is on a roll. What might the deaths of these high-profile people have in common with the likes of Gary Hart, Gary Condit, Jim McGreevey, Mark Sanford, and John Edwards, among others? Or…
READ MORELearn direct marketing now or perish
The other day I saw an ad one of my clients had posted on the Internet. The copy was weak. It lacked an “Aha!” idea. It was balanced on two rather than four legs. Its lead was wrongheaded, it had insufficient substantiation, and no social proof. I mentioned this to…
READ MOREWhy testimonials work so well
What do you do if your prospect knows nothing about you, as is often the case? How can you sway or “nudge” their thinking about your business, products, or services? You do it by including plenty of testimonials in your marketing materials. Testimonials overcome a prospect’s skepticism (“Who the heck…
READ MOREWords About Words
In this column, I routinely use words that describe aspects of language. But these terms are often misunderstood and confused. Here’s a brief guide, followed by a few tips to improve your writing.
READ MOREThe literature of truth
According to Dr. Jon D. Miller, Director of the Center for Biomedical Communications, the number of scientifically literate adults in the U.S. has doubled over the past 20 years. The bad news? That only gets us up to 20 percent. Only 48 percent of Americans know that humans didn’t live…
READ MOREA Gaggle of Gaffes
Mistakes can be a good thing. They teach us what to avoid. The trick, though, is to learn by observing others make them. With that goal in mind, here’s another roundup of misspellings, misunderstandings, and other misuses — all found via Internet search, but equally frequent in print: “I just…
READ MOREPut your profits on autopilot
If you’re an Internet marketer and you’re not taking advantage of autoresponders to accelerate your profits, listen up. (And if you are, listen up anyway. Because I have a few tricks up my sleeve for you.)
Fact is, a well-written follow-up e-mail series delivered to your prospects via autoresponder can make a huge difference …
It can bring boatloads of potential buyers back to your sales pages faster and easier than just about anything else.
I’ve seen conversion rates double … triple …
READ MOREI reject your reality and choose to substitute my own
I was down at our new “getaway” digs over Labor Day. It’s a great place. Just outside of Atlanta and two hours from our North Carolina home. We bought it a few months ago so we could spend more time with my two older kids and three grandkids. They live…
READ MOREHeisting hall of fame headlines
Old-time copywriters like yours truly enjoy a walk down Memory Lane now and then. We do it for fun, but it can be profitable too. I’m talking about rereading the best-known direct-marketing ads of the past. Copy written by such luminaries as Gene Schwartz, Claude Hopkins, and John E. Kennedy.…
READ MORETrying to Drive With Square Wheels
“So far, my website is pretty much identical to the Early to Rise site,” PG told me. PG is one of my coaching students. I had just asked him to tell me about the progress he was making. He had a sign-up box on the top right-hand corner of every…
READ MORESearch Engine Optimization Is Easy
About a year and a half ago, a family friend started a business selling women’s active wear. She had no website — and no plans to create one. She sold her goods by driving door to door, visiting every gym she could find. She was doing okay. But the time…
READ MOREThe Power of Passion
Question: Are you passionate about what you do? Or just passionate about the money you make? I’m going to let you in on a little secret: It’s a lot easier to make money when you’re passionate about what you’re doing. How many people are locked into a job they can’t…
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