The Simplicity Imperative
Much of what you read in ETR is directed at helping you earn more money and achieve financial independence. But what many people mistake for wealth is pure junk: the oversized plasma TV, the 2010 Ferrari, the custom-built estate home.
READ MOREWonder Cure or Marketing Noose?
It’s finally here – the wonder cure that Americans have been waiting for. It’s called acai. Whether you are a member of The Fat Cow Hall of Fame, being ravaged by high blood sugar, or being overcome with cancer, you’re being told that acai is your key to optimal health and longevity. If you believe this, the Oprah and Dr. Oz marketing noose is already around your neck.
READ MOREIs Your Copy a Welcome Interruption?
When we marketers and copywriters approach a prospect with a direct-mail piece, an e-mail blast, a print ad – or any other kind of sales promotion, for that matter – we are interrupting his life. The simple act of putting sales copy before a prospect brings him to a fork in his road – forcing him to make a decision to either (1) read or (2) not read our message. And every time his eye moves from one sentence to the next… from one paragraph to the next… or from one page to the next… he reaches yet another fork in the road – and gets to decide whether he’s going to keep reading our message or abandon it.
READ MOREThe Power of Negative Visualization
When Norman Vincent Peale wrote The Power of Positive Thinking 60 years ago, he received a stack of rejection slips from publishers. Dejected, he threw the manuscript into the trash, forbidding his wife to remove it. She didn’t. The next day, however, she took the manuscript, still inside the wastebasket, to a publisher who accepted it. The book became a foundation of the human potential movement, selling more than 20 million copies in 47 languages.
READ MOREWhy China Can’t Save Us
De-coupling lives again, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it. Remember when it made the rounds over a year ago? The idea was that even if the U.S. economy caught pneumonia, the rest of the world would at worst get a bad cough. It was argued that Europe and China were much less reliant on the U.S. economy than ever before. And China, with its massive import needs, would also keep economies from Brazil to Australia humming.
READ MOREMSG and Weight Gain
Many people avoid monosodium glutamate (MSG) – the so-called “safe” flavor enhancer – because they get a headache or upset stomach after eating it. But here’s another reason to avoid MSG: It might be causing you to gain weight. MSG has been used for some time to “fatten up” lab…
READ MOREAn Advanced Internet Marketing Tactic
Your website visitors will convert – to buyers or subscribers – when they’re ready, willing, and able. And the usability testing and feedback gathering you do should give you an idea of which of those three factors will make the biggest difference. Ready: Are your visitors ready to take the action…
READ MOREThe Impossible Dream
A reader recently sent me an e-mail in which he griped about his “impossible situation.” I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder, because to me it appeared that his was an impossible situation with a lot of possibilities. So what, exactly, is an “impossible situation”? More specifically,…
READ MOREBurn Carbs Not Fat!
What’s the best way to get rid of ugly belly fat? If you say “Long, slow cardio to burn as much fat as you can during your workout,” you’ve got it wrong. I’ve written before in ETR about the futility of cardio. But there’s another argument to consider. It’s well…
READ MOREKnow What You’re Doing
When “Winston” asked me to help him promote one of his products, I agreed to mention it in my e-mail newsletter. I told him that all he needed to do was give me a coded link for his landing page. If you’re at all involved in marketing on the Internet,…
READ MOREWhy You Must Master Direct Marketing for Real Estate Investing Success
When you think about real estate investing, my guess is that you don’t immediately think “direct marketing” as well. But direct-marketing skills are essential to almost every aspect of real estate investing… from finding motivated sellers… to buying a property… to finding your ideal buyer… and more. In fact, mastering…
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