Your Condensed Guide for Working a Room

Your Condensed Guide for Working a Room

by: Oscar Bruce

Working a room…if only it could be fun…or at least guaranteed productive. I am referring to that mandatory event that requires us to mix and mingle, to meet and greet.

Command performance events like a cocktail party, a business dinner, or a charity event can feel stiff and uncomfortable. Very few people actually enjoy walking into a room full of strangers.

So why put yourself through that torture? Well for one thing, Nathan Keyfitz, professor of sociology at Harvard observes, กSocial skills will be of even greater importance for economic success in the future. The most successful people will be those who can communicate and connect best.ก

Put another way, itกs free advertising, and you control the entire message. Is it sometimes uncomfortable? Absolutely, but the upside is huge. The more you put yourself in networking situations, the easier it becomes and the greater the professional, social, and personal benefits.

Here is a condensed guide for working a room:

Approach every networking opportunity with the attitude that it is going to be fun. While no single event is guaranteed to change your life, any single event could. Remember, success is measured by percentages, not perfection. Who isn’t attracted to someone who is smiling, laughing, and enjoying him or herself!

Be Prepared. Be clear about your objectives. Keep focus on your purpose in being there. Don’t be easily distracted from the outcome you have in mind.

Next, don’t wait for others to approach you. Yes, I know it is a bit uncomfortable for some, perhaps you. So think about how great you feel when someone takes the initiative to walk up to you and introduces themselves. Then you do the same.

Acquire and practice several good conversation openers. The best technique is art of asking intelligent questions that convey the impression there is depth and style to your personality. Show them that they could benefit by getting spending more time with you.

When you make an interesting contact, focus all your attention on that single person. Don’t let your eyes wander around the room. Keep eye contact and actively listen. Give that person the sense that you have been waiting all evening just to meet them. In other words, make them feel important.

Learn the art of small talk. Call it chit chat or even foreplay if you like. Its purpose is to put people at east. It starts with finding an area of common interest. This means knowing just the right questions to ask, and at precisely the right moment. Always remember, small talk doesn’t teach, preach, or try to impress. It is just light and easy conversation.

Do your homework. If possible review the names of the people attending, their spouses or partners, their affiliations. If you can recall any prior contacts, refer to that to open the conversation. That will appreciate the fact that you remember.

Finally, common sense tells us not arrive late, drink too much, dress too casually, or push your agenda excessively. Don’t glue yourself to one person the whole night just because they are fascinating, mingle.

Few things personally or professionally happen by accident. Consider going to your next command performance (thatกs what it is) totally prepared. Then watch how much fun you can have when you know why you are there, and can tell your story with style and humor, persuasively.

About The Author

Oscar Bruce is considered the ultimate personal communications guru. His dynamic books are considered field manuals for mastering conversation and confrontations. His website offers several verbal strategies that can add power to your conversations at no cost.

HIS FREE NEWSLETTER is available at http://www.oscarbruce.com

Copyright: 2005

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This article was posted on March 25

by Oscar Bruce

How To Get Number 1 Spot In Google, Every Time, Gu

How To Get Number 1 Spot In Google, Every Time, Guaranteed

by: Mike Cheney

Woaah! Wait a minute. Before I exclusively reveal these insider secrets can I ask you question? Well, actually, I want to ask you a series of questions.
Why do you want to get Number 1 in Google?
กBecause itกs good to be there isn’t it? It means my website is the best out there.ก
Well, no, it doesn’t. Why do you really want to be Number 1 in Google?
กWell, everyone wants to be Number 1 don’t they? If Iกm right at the top everyone will see my business and customers will come flooding to my website in their thousands.ก
They might. But it depends what you’re top for. Have you thought what you would like to be top for in Google?
กMy company, ABC Widgets Limited, comes top in Google when you type in กABC Widgets Limitedก. Thatกs pretty impressive isn’t it?ก
No, frankly, it is not. How many other websites do you think are competing for the phrase กABC Widgets Limitedก? There won’t be very many unless there are others out there who share your company name. Why is being top for your company name any use?
กBecause people looking for us on Google will find our websiteก.
Big deal. You need to be found by the thousands of people already out there looking for what you provide that don’t know your company name. They don’t know what you look like. They don’t know where you’re based. They don’t even know you exist! What sorts of search phrases do you think they will be typing in on Google?
กPhrases like กwidget suppliersก, กwidget sales onlineก and things like that?ก
Yes youกve got it! But are you listed Number 1 on Google for phrases like that?
กNo. We’re nowhere to be seen Mike. I think Iกve been patient enough with you though now answering your questions. Please will you reveal the secrets of getting Number 1 on Google?ก
No, I won’t.
กWhy not?!ก
3 Reasons Iกm Not Going To Reveal How To Get Number 1 Spot In Google, Every Time, Guaranteed
Reason 1 There Are No Insider Secrets
Getting a high listing on Google, or any other search engine, is a combination of hard work, having the right phrases on your website, having lots of great content on your website, having lots of other highlyranked websites linking to you and having your website built in the right way. There are no shortcuts, no magic bullets and no insidersecrets.
Reason 2 Getting Number 1 on Google Is The Tip Of The WebsiteMarketingIceberg
If you focus on getting Number 1 on Google and nothing else it will never happen. You need to focus on all the other elements I mentioned above and especially on developing reciprocal links with other relevant websites. Remember the top website marketing experts in the world (who do nothing else but market websites dayin, dayout) only attract around 15% of their website visitors from search engines. This is not because their websites don’t have a high ranking in the search engines (because they do and many of them will have that elusive Number 1 spot!) itกs because they attract so much more traffic from other places such as directories, associatesก websites, reciprocal links etc.
Reason 3 Itกs Too Dangerous
When you were a child how many times did you hear the following phrase?
กDon’t put all your eggs in one basketก
And yet day after day I hear people asking how they can get top on Google. There are websites dedicated to ‘the artก. People become obsessive about it and many derive their entire livelihood from visitors they get from Google searches. The result? When Google makes a big change to how they rank the websites in their index (which they did in November last year and to a lesser extent in January this year) many of these Googledependent businesses actually WENT UNDER. Thatกs right bankrupted because of an overnight change made by the powers that be at Google Towers.
So yes search engines, and Google in particular, should be an important part of your online marketing mix. But nothing more than that just one small part of the bigger whole. Especially with recent rumblings from the likes of Yahoo! and Microsoft, who are queuing up to topple Googleกs throne, you would be wise to set your sights on achieving a medium profile on hundreds of websites rather than a high profile on just one.
Mike Cheney

www.magnet4web.com

About The Author

You can get free access to lots more of my articles plus a FREE Special Report กHow To Turn Your Website Into A Customer Magnetก worth a value of £47 ($85) here: http://www.magnet4web.com/website_services/?page=freeguide

This article was posted on May 31, 2004

by Mike Cheney

Your Book Not in Book Stores? Don’t Worry

Your Book Not in Book Stores? Don’t Worry

by: Dr. Jamie Fettig

Trying to figure out how to get your self published books into book stores? Don’t worry about it because you can get more book sales easier and with less effort elsewhere. Some useful tips for you and your book from Mark Victor Hansen, who has sold more than 100 million books so far.

Sure, we all want to look on the shelves at Barnes and Noble and see our books there. Itกs thrilling. But itกs really not necessary. I see so many authors waste their time and money paying distributors and driving from store to store, delivering books when they should be selling directly to the public. The Internet makes it possible.

In fact, there are many good reasons NOT to be in bookstores:

You don’t have to pay a distributor, who will take a cut of your profits.

You don’t have to worry about shipping and returns.

You don’t have to fight for shelf space.

In most cases, selling direct to the public, or through bulk sales to institutions, is a much better way to turn your book into a revenue stream. With the Internet, tradeshows and other events, and seminars, you have multiple ways to sell direct, pocket 100% of the profits, and save yourself the hassle of trying to get into Borders.

I also recommend selling on Amazon.com. They do take a substantial chunk of your sales price, but itกs a wonderful way to generate buzz about your book. Otherwise, unless you can truly benefit from the prestige of being on the bookshelves, leave the bookstores to John Grisham and Stephen King.

Pursue bulk sales.

Ninety percent of new authors are only focused with getting people into bookstores to buy their book. And itกs great if you can do that, but I give them all the same advice: do not overlook bulk sales. They can turn your book from a moneyloser into a profit center in a few months. Bulk sales are a gold mine.

What do I mean by bulk sales? I mean selling your books in large quantities to an organization, which could mean anything from a corporation to a school district to a nonprofit group to a church. Youกll have to give the organization a price break for buying in bulk, but youกll get dozens, hundreds or even thousands of your books into peopleกs hands, which dramatically increases your wordofmouth and viral marketing.

Promoting bulk sales is a pretty straightforward deal. Simply look at your book and ask yourself what companies, organizations or affinity groups would be interested in the book for their employees or members. If youกve written a book on corporate team building, make a list of corporations where you have personal contacts. If your book is about exercise for seniors, try contacting AARP. And so on. Marketing bulk sales is usually about personal contact, either by letter or direct mail.

When you’re going after bulk sales, try to get to the กgatekeepers,ก the people who can make the decisions for a large organization. It makes much more sense to talk to 20 people who have the potential between them to order 10,000 books than to sell them one at a time. Even if you only get orders from three of those gatekeepers, youกll sell a few thousand books.

Be sure to offer a good bulk rate discount for your bulk buyers. The more books they buy, the bigger the price break. If they buy over 1,000, give them 50% off. Youกll still make money and youกll start winning readers.

Always build your mailing and email lists.

There are two kinds of lists: physical mailing address lists and email lists, and you should always be building both. They are your promotional lifelines to your potential readers and customers, and everything you do to market your book should have some component that gathers contact information of prospective buyers.

The best way to build your list is quite simple: get people to come to your Website, offer them something of value, and require them to give you (at a minimum) their name and email address to get it. The kinds of things you can offer:

Downloadable excerpts from your book.

A subscription to your enewsletter.

An advance discount on your book.

An audio CD or other ancillary product.

Be creative. Is there something that pushes your target audienceกs buttons? Offer it to them. This kind of กoptinก list, where people consent to receiving future information from you, is the gold standard of marketing.

Some other reputable ways you can build your list:

Take names or business cards at a tradeshow or conference.

Membership lists from organizations of which you are a member

Get respected colleagues to email their lists asking their contacts to go to your site to find something of value to them.

But always, always be building your list. And make sure that your database software is solid, proven, regularly maintained, and backed up weekly.

About The Author

Dr. Jamie Fettig

Are you interested in the one seminar that has created more BestSelling authors than any other seminar? A seminar put on by the guy who has sold more books than every other book in the history of the world except the bible? Then get yourself to the Mega Book Marketing Seminar and train yourself to be a megasuccessful author and become a sought after speaker. Make the difference with your book that you want to make. To Register and for more information go to http://www.bazuji.com/book

This article was posted on March 18

by Dr. Jamie Fettig

How To Fail… Faster Then a Speeding Bullet!

How To Fail… Faster Then a Speeding Bullet!

by: Troy Pentico

Hello, I am getting married. Want to pay me $798 dollars to come? Yes, this is the theme in the latest marketing campaign from the infamous Corey Rudl. Now before I give you the wrong idea here it really doesn’t cost $798 dollars to attend. In reality it will cost you only $97 dollars and Corey has promised to give everyone that attends a $97 dollar credit towards any of his products. So really Corey is only going to make $97 dollars per person that attends his wedding. Pretty Good Deal, huh?

The $798 dollars is for the one day finally. What someone could actually learn in a seminar environment in one day that is worth $798 dollars is beyond me. But, I am sure even some of you have bought into it. If you are thinking about it but, have not committed to it, I would consider spending the money on some oneonone time with a consultant if you feel you must pay someone to learn about your business.

This really is not what this article is about though. It surely made me think about writing this but, would make for a pretty bland article unless I was promoting Coreyกs Wedding wouldn’t it? No, you see Corey is in the Internet Marketing Information business which in my opinion is getting way out of hand lately. And that is the basis of this article.

So I give you กHow To Fail… Faster Then a Speeding Bullet!ก

As all of you know one of my favorite past times and really the whole กNicheก of my online business is testing new marketing tools, and resources and then sharing those reviews with my subscribers and customers.

Through all of the years of doing this I have gained some serious in site on what makes the online entrepreneur tick. Most of the กinitial successesก these marketer have, as well as most of the failures are attributed to many different things.

This list of reasons people fail is enormous but here are the five most common and how to avoid them:

#5 Bad Guidance

Through out life people are used to being taught how to do things. Their parents teach them how to tie their shoes, and talk. In school they learn how to read, write, and perform arithmetic. In college or trade school they learn how to perform the tasks they are going to use at their job for the rest of their lives.

Then one day they decide to start a business on the Internet. Most of the time that is exactly what happens. They decide to start กA BUSINESSก. Not just any business mind you. But, กA BUSINESSก. These would be entrepreneurs want to make money that all the SPAM mail promises can be had on the Internet. But, there are now a few road blocks. They don’t have a product sell. They don’t have a web site to promote. They don’t have any friends that are successful making money on the Internet to help them. So in pure haste they go to the nearest search engine and type in กHow to Make Moneyก or something a long them lines.

A lot of them won’t be to picky when it comes to choosing. They jump onboard every free to join program out there. Some are กsmarterก. They know that if every body is selling this or that product it must be the one people want and therefore they need to sell it to. Luckily for them they will inevitably end up on the mailing list of a very successful online marketer who will provide them with all the guidance they need.

Generally this will consist of them telling their prospect that to succeed they need to buy and follow the strategies in a particular book they wrote. Once they spend their money and read the hype in the book they find out to make money with these strategies they will need to utilize a particular software program, or service that luckily for them is provided by the same person that sold them the book! And then thankfully that same marketer is throwing a seminar that you can pay an arm and a leg to attend so that you can actually figure out these strategies that so far you haven’t had any luck with. All the while nobody is working on your business because you are to busy reading, learning new software programs, and attending seminars to build your own business.

Avoidance Strategy:

When looking for guidance find a professional with a telephone that they answer when you call. If at all possible find someone near your location that you can work with face to face. Demand a free consultation to see if this person truly knows what they are talking about. Demand a money back guarantee. If this Guru is flashing sales copy that you can make Millions selling this or that surely they can guarantee that you will be profitable with your business following their strategies in X amount of time.

Do not buy any products at all dealing with Internet Marketing until you know what your business is going to be. Don’t spend hundreds of dollars trying to figure this out. You will find your own Niche without the help of a $137 dollar digital book.

#4 Playing the FREE Game

Why should I pay to advertise on Google when I can join that FREE Safelist and mail my ads to millions? Why should I for advertising on ClickBank when I can join CBClicks for FREE? Why should I pay for ads on Google when I can use this free click exchange program to generate traffic?

There are an endless amount of free programs on the Internet that promise to make you successful. This game started years ago with a service called a Free For All Links Page. Here is how they all work and why you can get them for FREE. When you signup for a FREE service you will need to provide some information to the provider. This can range from just your Name and Email to a more extensive survey that includes questions about your monthly income level, your physical mailing address, your phone number, etc. A small price to pay for using these services for FREE right?

WRONG!

If you didn’t catch on yet these services can guarantee you what ever they want. But, the truth is they rarely work because they were not designed to! These services are for the provider to obtain your contact information and your permission to contact you with advertising anytime they want. Many times your contact information is sold via a leads service. In the end you find out that you wasted your time joining the program and all you gained out of the FREE deal was in inbox full of junk!

Avoidance Strategy:

Do not utilize FREE Traffic or Lead Generation Strategies with very few exceptions (like submitting your URL to Google for FREE for example). Find a service that is pay to play by a known provider of successful strategies. Like Google Adwords for example. Use the service that you can afford to and when you can afford to utilize another move into it. Don’t make any exceptions to this no matter what anybody tells you!

#3 No Focus

This one is closely related to all of the other causes for failure. The normal scenario goes something like this. You are selling a book you wrote about cross stitching. You have made a few sales and things are going nicely for you as your business is starting to grow. Someone that you respect sends you an email. It says, กHey my Google PR just shot through the roof because I am using X productก. You quickly move into action and purchase the product. You follow the directions and spend hours, sometimes days applying the strategy.

When you are finished you decide to stop by one of your favorite marketing forums and find everyone talking about this out standing new book by X marketer where he reveals all his top secret marketing strategies. You move into action and purchase the book. You spend days reading it and then weeks applying the strategies.

This is a never ending chain for some people. They never spend one day completely devoted to working on their business because, they are to busy being distracted by the next big thing.

Well I got news for your folks. There is always going to be a next big thing. Some things do not change and will provide you with much more success.

Avoidance Strategy:

FOCUS your time on YOUR Business. The Top of you Todo list should always be Provide Outstanding Customer Service, Market Your Product Continuously, Build Strong Relationships with your customers, Improve the Content of Your Web site, etc.

Don’t start another business if the current one is not successful! Why put yourself through the mental challenges of failing at two businesses? When you have made one business successful you will have the know how and the resources to successfully expand it to include another.

If you do this you will laugh as you watch your competitors chase their Internet Marketing Dreams in Circles.

#2 No Creativity

You decide for your business that you are going to market X product as part of their affiliate program. This one has to be the easiest business to start in the world! They provide a web site template, prewritten ads, banners, articles, and graphics! All I have to do is use these items and I will make Millions!

WRONG!

Having no creativity is a killer. Especially, in the affiliate sales world. Think about it if everyone of the affiliates in X program are using the exact same sales materials for every aspect of their marketing program who do you think a prospect is going to buy from?

If you answered กI have no ideaก, you are correct. And a lot of the times the prospective customer has no idea either. If you don’t successfully close the deal on the first visit from this customer you are probably not going to. Your prospect wakes up the next morning and decides to buy the product. They forgot to book mark your site so they type the name of the product into a search engine and come to a page that looks exactly like yours and they buy.

The scenarios for not having creativity are endless. They go from something simple like using canned sales materials from an affiliate program to creating a software product that is exactly the same as 12 others on the market.

If you do not put some creativity into your business. You will fail.

Avoidance Strategy:

Only join and market an affiliate program if you have purchased the product and used it yourself? Why? Because, if you don’t you will have no choice but, to used the canned sales materials. You cannot extend any creativity into it and write your own sales copy, give a testimonial to your prospects or anything of that sort because, you will have no idea on what you are talking about.

Always, write your own sales copy, advertisements, web pages, etc. Even if you only change a few graphics, and include a few of your own paragraphs into a canned version you are way above the heap. When modifying web pages include testimonials (if you don’t have any when you sell some ask the customer for one). Always include your contact information including a phone number that you answer. Always change the headline. If the headline is just to good to change then change the sub headline. Do what ever you can to make your sales materials unique.

When creating your own product research the hell out of it. Don’t create something that can be had elsewhere. And definitely don’t create something that people can pick up at the local WalMart. If you can’t come up with your won idea hold a survey with your ezine or mailing list subscribers asking them what they wish they had to improve any aspect of their life or business.

Apply creativity throughout your business from product creation, to sales, to good customer service at all time.

#1 No Determination

What am I doing wrong? I have created a unique product. I have an awesome sales page. I am getting tons of hits from my Overture PPC Campaign. But, nobody is buying! The heck with this.

I have a ton of ads inserted for my Google Campaign but nobody is clicking on them. The heck with this.

I just can’t get people to buy my product. I guess I will just give it away.

I see this all of the time. People try everything that they can to make their business work but, nothing seems too. They give up and never really tried. Folks, the Internet is not a get rich quick environment no matter what you may think. Yes, it is easier to target your customer base and actually make contact with them. But, it is no different then selling off line. If you don’t provide a compelling reason to buy then no one will. And just because you think it is compelling and all your marketing friends said the same thing does not mean it is going to work.

The failure rate of online business due to No Determination is astronomical. People actually believe that whatever they do is going to work and when it doesn’t they give up without a fight.

Avoidance Strategy:

Expect failure and LEARN from it. Write the underlying cause for each failure down and refer to it when ever you can so you don’t make the same mistake twice. Research and analyze your marketing methods. Write at least two versions of a sales page for a particular product and run a splittest on it. Always ask your current customers why they bought a particular product. Make them be specific. Apply copy cat strategies with your products. If it worked once it might work again. Just don’t go word for word. Ask for help from an Internet Marketer that you respect by offering them a cut on sales. If you can’t make it sell maybe they can provide you with a way it can. Above all DON’t GIVE UP, DON’t GIVE UP, and DON’t GIVE UP.

If you are the average everyday Internet Marketer you probably found at least one failure strategy that you are following right now. This does not mean your business will fail. If just means you got a head start in start in that direction.

Keep in mind that I could not possibly list all the scenarios, or avoidance strategies for each of these as it would have created a volume of information and this article is already long as it is.

You must learn to identify failure strategies and cut them off before they have an adverse effect on your business. I have provided you with a good start it is up to you from here on out.

So I challenge you from here on out to remain determined, be creative, stay focused, avoid free things with big promises, and seek out and find good guidance if you need it.

Copyright © 2004, Troy Pentico

About The Author

Troy Pentico is the Editor of the FFAMall Gazette eZine and has been a successful Internet Marketer since late 1997. Are you tired of reading Internet Marketing Tips eZines packed with advertising and marketing fluff? Subscribe Today and learn the Truth! http://gazette.ffamall.com

This article was posted on August 14, 2004

by Troy Pentico

Email Follow Up Tips, 8 Of Them…

Email Follow Up Tips, 8 Of Them…

by: Daniel Levis

The first thing you need to do is get your emails opened & read. Spend at least as much time worrying about the subject line of each e mail in your sequence as you do worrying about the body.

Brainstorm at least five subject lines, pick the one most likely to stop your prospects dead in their tracks (tip, the only way to know for sure is to test), and use the rest of them in the body of the message. And ALWAYS begin your title with the person’s first name.

Curiosity Killed The Cat Itกs human nature to be curious. One of the most effective ways to get your message opened is to throw a little mystery into the heading. Mystery, mixed with relevant benefit, will get your message opened. But thatกs not all.

Itกs still easy to bail after the first paragraph, so curiosity can also help to drive your prospect deeper into the body of the message. Remember, the deeper your readers go into your copy, the more difficult it will be for them to STOP reading it.

It doesn’t hurt to tell a little bit about what your offer isn’t, to build up the suspense, and help drive your reader further down the page.

Tell A Story In 1919, a Russian immigrant named Max Sackheim, stumbled upon a fascinating discovery. He had been hired by the Sherwin Cody School of English to come up with a mail order advertisement, and his original headline read, กDo You Make Mistakes In Englishก?

The ad didn’t pull.

By adding one magic little word to the headline, Max was able to make the very same ad produce amazing results. The ad became so profitable that it ran for over 40 years straight, when Max changed the headline to, กDo You Make These Mistakes In Englishก?

People’s curiosity got the better of them. They just couldn’t resist reading Maxกs advertisement. They were all wondering if they might be making ‘theseก mistakes in English. Max was able to slip right under the buyer’s natural resistance to being sold, and suck them right into the advertisement.

Story telling has the same effect.

You Can Never Over Educate Nobody ever bought a hammer, because they wanted a hammer. What they wanted was a bunch of nails tapped home just right. Sequential email follow up is ideal for showing your prospects how to achieve their goals with your product.

Remember, the more comfortable your prospects are about the กHow Toก of using your product or service to solve their problem, the more confidence theyกll have in your ability & willingness to really help them. One of the most effective things you can do with your autoresponder, is to offer free courses & tutorials that show your prospects how to use your products to get the results they’re looking for.

It’s the ultimate soft sell, and it’s very effective!

Warts & All Itกs all about trust. Thatกs why you’re following up on your prospects in the first place, right? Your prospects need to be exposed an average of 7 to 9 times before succumbing to your seduction.

Pointing out the imperfections of your product can go a long way toward building that trust. You don’t necessarily have to slam your product, but giving the straight goods on the pitfalls that the buyer might encounter when using it, and helping them to avoid them, demonstrates your honesty, and openness.

Itกs like showing the front of your hands, in a facetoface encounter.

Be Specific Details, exact numbers, & vivid descriptions worked into your copy are worth their weight in gold, because they’re far more believable than generalities. When you make a claim, back it up with facts & figures.

Your prospects are both naturally skeptical, and hungry for truth.

Don’t Be Shy About Objections Every product has natural objections. Don’t be afraid to bring them up.

Read your copy after being away from it for a while, and at some point in the message youกll feel them creeping in. Thatกs the point when you add something like, กOK, you’re probably thinking . I can understand why you might feel that way, many others who looked at this product felt just the same way, until they found out about .ก

You need to come up with a list of reasons why your prospect would want to buy your product or service, and also the reasons why not.

The Fear of Loss Is Greater Than The Desire For Gain Often the fear of losing something, sometimes even something that we do not yet have, is a stronger motivator than our desire for gain.

The fear of missing out on a special price or promotion is a good example of this.

Don’t we all want what we can’t have? Work hard to find ways to make your product scarce, or at least make your offer scarce, by offering it for a limited time.

Justify Your Offer People know that you’re in business to make a profit, and that you don’t give things away out of the goodness of your heart.

When they see a sale, or a special price, or a bonus offer, the wheels naturally start turning in the back of their heads. Whatกs the catch? While itกs our emotions that truly motivate us, logic does have a nasty habit of getting in the way.

When you are open with your prospects about the reason why you’re offering them a special deal, itกs amazing how easily theyกll accept your reasoning, and abandon their resistance. The same applies to giving a legitimate reason why your special offer absolutely expires on a specific date.

So there you have it. Eight email follow up secrets, revealed.

Until next time, Good Selling!

Copyright 2005 Daniel Levis

About The Author

Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant & direct response copywriter based in Toronto Canada. Recently, Daniel & worldrenowned publicist & copywriter Joe Vitale teamed up to co author ขMillion Dollar Online Advertising Strategies – From The Greatest Letter Writer Of The 20th Century!ข, a tribute to the late, great Robert Collier.

Let the legendary Robert Collier show you how to write words that sell…Visit the below site & get 3 FREE Chapters!

http://www.AdvertisingOnlineStrategies.com/adstrategies.html

This article was posted on March 19

by Daniel Levis

Do You Have to Be an Expert to Teach Someone in Yo

Do You Have to Be an Expert to Teach Someone in Your MLM?

by: Gobala Krishnan

กHow can I teach others when I am not successful myself? Thatกs ethically wrong…ก

If you’re in an MLM program, you might have heard that question from one of your affiliates. You may even have asked the same question before. I know I have, and I get it all the time too from people in my group.

Many people say this when I mention to them that a big part of being in an MLM program is to help others กduplicateก your efforts. Teach them to fish, instead of giving them the fish. If your affiliates are not able to duplicate your efforts, at least to a certain degree, it will be very hard to see real exponential growth in your organization. So is it wrong to teach someone when you’re not กup thereก yourself?

Well, it really depends on WHAT you’re teaching them.

My father thought me to ride the bicycle, and I have thought others to ride the bicycle. My father was not an Olympic cyclist; he was simply teaching me what he knew. Nothing more, nothing less. And to this very day, I appreciate him for it, for otherwise I would never learn something as easy and as fun as that.

So teaching others what you know is perfectly OK! Itกs human nature to teach. Whether you realize it or not, you do it all the time, with family members, friends and spouses.

Hereกs what I consider ethically wrong…

Itกs wrong to teach people how to be an Olympic cyclist, when you’re not an Olympic champion yourself. Itกs common sense, right? You cannot teach someone to reach the top of the mountain if you have not shed tears and blood to get up there yourself. Doing otherwise IS unethical, for you’re only leading someone down the wrong road.

So even if you have been in MLM for only one day, always remember that you DO have something to teach your downline affiliates. Simply sharing your experience, in most cases, is more than enough. Tell them what you like about the company, the products, the opportunity, etc. Tell them the truth about what you feel.

If the question is technical in nature or beyond your expertise, please say so to your affiliates, and refer the affiliate to your upline leaders, corporate support, websites, or online forums for more information. There is nothing wrong in showing them where they can get more info if you can’t provide that info yourself.

This is ok… after all, network marketing is supposed to be all about teamwork, right?

Don’t recommend anything youกve not personally tried yourself. Don’t teach anything you’re not sure about. Don’t make up stories. Don’t fake the figures. Don’t fake your emotions. Don’t give false hope.

Most importantly, don’t doubt the relevance and significance of your own knowledge. Confucius said that กIf three men walk with me, one can be my teacherก. We can all learn from each other, and thinking otherwise is a mistake. It’s only your way of thinking that stops you from sharing and touching another human being in a sincere way. And you’ll need to change that in order to be successful in MLM.

You cannot, and probably should not, teach someone about the road ahead of you, no matter how many books you’ve read, and how many seminars you’ve attended. However, you can always look back at the road behind you and teach them how to get to where you are.

So share your knowledge with everyone if your team. There is always something that they can learn from you, and there is always a way you can help them to duplicate your efforts.

How many have you helped this week…?

Copyright 2005 Gobala Krishnan

About The Author

Gobala Krishnan is a member and a writer for the International Association of Home Business Entrepreneurs, the perfect knowledge tool for network marketers to train and grow their organization. Visit his site at http://www.homebusinessassociation.com/IAHBE to get more info.

This article was posted on February 20

by Gobala Krishnan

The New 5 Pกs!

The New 5 Pกs!

by: Jaruda Boonsuwan

NO! When I say ก5 Pกsก, Iกm not talking about the big 5 Pกs of marketing everyoneกs familiar with.

Here Iกm NOT referring to Product, Price, Place, Promotion and Package!

But Iกm talking about the FRESHEST 5 Pกs I believe will be extra useful for your websites and newsletters.

Are you ready to discover the hottest 5 Pกs?

1. P.S.

This writing technique alone will shoot your sales to the roof!

Count how many times this week you skip reading the whole sales copies and go right for a P.S.

We don’t like reading a long letter. Most of the time, we skip. So, itกs a clever idea to give your prospects a big bang with a P.S. They never skip reading a P.S.

Perhaps they’re too bored or too tired to read กanotherก sales letter. Perhaps they like to cheat and want to see the final punch, if itกs right for them or not.

So, make sure you wrap up all of your ICEMELTING กselling pointsก in here! Shrink your message. Make it precise. Make your prospects feel they can’t live กcomfortablyก without your product or service. After all, itกs your last shot to make a sale!

2. PASS

People love a free pass, even if itกs only temporary!

Don’t worry if you don’t know how to let people type in the password to access your restricted area. Itกs not the end of the world. Hereกs where you can get the script for FREE at…

http://www.dynamicdrive.com

Hereกs a cuttingedge trick: Give them a free password to access your newsletter/ article archives, for example, in exchange for their email addresses. Do not give them the password right at your website. Instead, send them the password by email.

Now, this is important…Set up an autoresponder to do this task. Make sure they get their passwords instantly. They can’t wait another minute longer to access the free section. Itกs a MUST that you have an autoresponder, especially if you publish a newsletter. Get it at…

http://www.mailloop.com/t.cgi/769736/

Now this is important! Do not make this offer sound like a junk! You can say that you’re giving away กfree membershipก. Say it is a กprivilegedก or a กVIPก pass. Or simply say that they’re ‘the chosen oneก. This way, your prospects will be eager to get the free access you’re offering. Itกs human nature. We all want to be a Very Important Person!

3. PROMISE

Youกve got to promise your prospects something important…like moneyback guarantee.

But don’t just say กoneyear, moneyback guaranteeก!

Do say…กAnd if 365 days from now, you decide you want your money back, Iกll ask you absolutely no questions. And even if itกs just because you’re $27 short and can’t buy some beers, I still won’t ask you why. Youกll get your money back as soon as you say so. I can guarantee you that!ก

4. PICK OF THE DAY

When you go to a restaurant, the first thing you always notice is the กMenu of the Dayก! Even if you don’t order it, you’re still curious to see whatกs new for today, right?

The same thing works with your website. Once your prospects leave your site without signing up for your free newsletter, your business depends on pure LUCK.

Too bad people don’t buy the first time they see you. And if you still want to win them back, you might have to spend some more bucks on advertising.

Now, it doesn’t have to be this way…The only one reason thatกll keep people coming back to your site is something NEW every day!

Showcase the กPick of the Dayก. And theyกll come back to your site from time to time to see whatกs new.

See? You don’t even have to pay for the traffic. It can be ‘tip of the Dayก, กSite of the Weekก, กStar of the Monthก, ….anything you can think of!

5. PIECE OF ADVICE

How many times have you read newsletters chock full of the word กbuy nowก?

This is the mistake that can drive your subscribers away faster than jet speed! Your prospects want to read something useful. They simply don’t want another junk mail. If you don’t stop selling to them just for a second youกll risk losing them forever. Theyกll disappear กout of your sightก.

So, in your newsletter, try to give them little tips that teach them how to make their lives easier.

Suppose you’re selling a beauty product, instead of hard selling, try giving them a short makeup tip of how to make their lips look fuller.

If you’re an affiliate for a used car website and running your own ezine, instead of selling cars all the time, try giving them a reliable tip that teaches them how not to get ripped off buying a used car.

P.S. Give it a try. Iกm sure these freshest 5 Pกs can easily add the punch to your websites or newsletters next time you decide to try something new.

About The Author

The author, Jaruda Boonsuwan, is offering oneofitskind, deadlyeffective copywriting ecourse at NO charge.

Beat your competitors now at http://www.groundbreakcopywriting.com

This article was posted on October 23, 2002

by Jaruda Boonsuwan

Have You Got Your Ear To The Ground Or Your Head I

Have You Got Your Ear To The Ground Or Your Head In The Sand?

by: Mike Cheney

What happened on your website yesterday? What about last week or last month? How about in the past hour? How many visitors come to your website as a result of using a search engine? How long do people stay on your website for on average? Which pages do your visitors go to?

If you don’t know the answer to some or all of these questions you are effectively operating a website blind.

This is like riding a bike blindfolded and expecting to arrive at the right destination. Itกs impossible and the likelihood is that you will crash, wreck the bike, lose pride and get left behind.

If you don’t know whatกs happening with your website or how people are using it and how they are finding it how can you hope to ever improve the site? Sure you can rely on secondguessing or asking the opinion of a handful of people but thatกs hardly going to give you accurate information on which to base a decision is it?

กMike I know what you’re saying. Itกs true that I need to track whatกs happening but I don’t have the Xก

X = Money?

X = Time?

X = Knowledge of where to start?

X = Need, as I already do this?

If you answered กMoneyก this would seem to be a valid reason but you can get your hands on the basic information about how your site is performing for nothing (ask your developer or web hosting company for starters and theyกll be able to point you in the right direction or check out the resources below)

If you answered ‘timeก Iกm sorry but if thatกs the case why do you even have a website if you don’t have the time to measure how itกs performing? Would you behave the same way with your business? Thought not..

If you answered กKnowledge of where to startก then this is fair enough. To get started try these resources that will help you:

http://www.cryer.co.uk/resources/websitetracking.htm

http://www.netiq.com/webtrends/default.asp

http://www.statcounter.com/

If you answered กI don’t have the need, as I already do thisก congratulations you get a weekกs free pass to the Smug Club. But seriously though you might already get all the statistics about how your website is performing but do you spend time viewing them, interpreting them and most importantly USING them? When was the last time you used the statistics about your websiteกs performance to implement a change on your site and then track the results on subsequent statistics to see what effect it had? Itกs all gone quiet in the Smug corner…

Feeling uncomfortable with all these questions yet? You should be. If you’re not happy with your website you need to dig a little deeper and ask what it is exactly that you’re not happy with. Did you set definite, timelinked and realistic expectations for the websiteกs performance prior to starting out? If you’re not getting the leads or sales you had hoped for you need to work out why this is the case scratching your head won’t do it. Tracking the performance of your site and viewing detailed statistics on how people use it won’t give you definitive answers either but it will propel you several miles in the right direction.

You are the doctor and your website is the patient you need to connect it to an ECG and start monitoring and recording everything. How else can you work out how to make the patient better? Or maybe you have the perfect patient who doesn’t actually have anything wrong with them?

Mike Cheney

www.magnet4web.com

About The Author

You can get free access to lots more articles that will help you to improve your websiteกs performance plus a Free Bonus Special Report กHow To Turn Your Website Into A Customer Magnetก worth a value of £47 ($85) here: http://www.magnet4web.com/website_services/?page=freeguide

This article was posted on August 07, 2004

by Mike Cheney

Information The Art Of Selling

Information The Art Of Selling

by: Dave Collins

Money may well make the world go round, but facts, details and data oil the machine that beats at the heart of it. We supposedly live in the age of information, yet many of us seem unable to use it to its full, and allow ourselves to drift along on a sea of missed opportunities.

If we can take it for granted that you have a good product, it should be a safe assumption that the single most powerful marketing tool at your disposal is information the simple truth. You’re not selling a duff product, trying to convince punters that underneath the rusty exterior lies a power beast… nor are you trying to sell ice to the Eskimos. You’re trying to sell your software to people who either need it, or could use it to the point where they’re actually prepared to buy it. So how do we get them? With information tools.

Information Tools

An information tool is any kind of device that you can use to show yourself and/or your product. Like any other tool, its primary purpose is to make life easier and more efficient. In our line of work, the most commonly used is a signature file. Your signature file should be around four to six lines of simple text, to be used at the end of every single email, letter, report or newsgroup posting. No exceptions; in your business correspondence, to your friends, family, everything and everyone.

The text should contain all your critical contact data at the very least your full name, your company or product, URL of your website, email address, and some sort of slogan or catchphrase. If you have a work phone number, then make sure you include it. Ensure that you also include the email address in the signature having it hidden away in the ReplyTo part of the email client does little good if someone prints out your letter, or even cuts and pastes the content into a new document or file. Have it there for all to see. Have you ever clicked on a link in a signature, just out of interest? You’re not alone.

The next tool is the stock text. Chances are that you find yourself writing the same text time and time again the same phrases, features and pricing information. Write them out in full, so that you have them there for use as needed. As well as saving you time in the future, having them available will also ensure that you’re sending out a wellwritten version of the information, that includes all relevant details, without forgetting a thing. Never rely on your memory alone. When you try and describe your software at the end of a long, problem filled day, you won’t do it justice.

The actual content of the descriptions is critical here. Make sure you write the text in the first person either I or we. Thereกs nothing wrong with referring to yourself as either of the two but make sure you’re consistent. Make sure you also use positive phrasing, and keep it simple. Be as concise and precise as possible; an exact number looks far better than vagueisms such as loads, lots, many or heaps. If your writing skills aren’t so good, get someone to help. Chances are you’re going to use these texts many times, so itกs worth getting the content just right.

A newsletter is another useful information tool, and can be a great way of keeping in touch with your customers or anyone else who may interested in your product. They are fairly easy to setup and administer, but pay attention to a few dos and don’ts. Make sure that you include details of your own product but don’t let it be the main content of the newsletter. If all you’re sending is a longwinded advert, people will unsubscribe quicker than you can whisper กlost saleก.

Again, content is king. If you can provide some sort of tips or information that people either need or will find useful, theyกll want to receive your newsletter, but be careful not to drive them away. If you send out a mailing every week, some are bound to get fed up and unsubscribe. While you’re at it, make sure itกs easy for someone to subscribe and unsubscribe; itกs very bad form to make it difficult to do so. Some sort of stock text explaining how to do this is a very good idea.

Another golden rule is to stick to pure, clean ASCII text. You may like HTML in your mailings, but if the recipientกs email client doesn’t they’re gone. In brief, useful is good; short and sweet is even better. And before you announce your new mailing list, make sure that you have the time for it. You can end up looking awfully silly when you close before issue one even comes out.

Press releases are probably the most wellknown information tool of all. Iกm not going to go into the whatกs and howกs here take a look through past ASPects issues, and check out Al Harbergกs tutorial at www.dpdirectory.com. Once you have your press release, use it. Make it easily available onsite, and keep it updated when you have new versions or changes. Long after your press release has been sent, you can still be putting it to good use.

Take Advantage Of Your FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions are another golden information opportunity; chances are that youกve already read over a fair number of these yourself, and it may even be one of the first things you look for on a site. I know I do. Practically speaking, you can’t throw every bit of information you have on the front or main page of your website. It doesn’t look good, and will simply overwhelm most visitors. But when a person goes to read your FAQ, they already know the basics, and want to know more. Feed them.

Use your FAQ wisely. Don’t use it as a data dump, but do include the questions you get asked the most. If you can, also make it downloadable, as a PDF or HTML file. Make sure you also put your contact details at the end of the document, something along the lines of กWhat do I do if I have more questions?ก . Theyกve asked for the information, so don’t be shy to give it them. I list my email address, website URL, phone and fax numbers, mailing address and ICQ number as standard. All have been used on numerous occasions.

Many email clients also allow some sort of auto responder to be setup that can send out a stock text when a certain address or specific subject is received. Better still, many webhosts have this sort of feature.

We supposedly live in an age of information overload, where quality loses the battle to quantity on an ongoing basis. Don’t let your product become another casualty. Keep it short, keep it sharp, and use it wherever and whenever you can. Think of every opportunity to write an email or note as an opportunity to reach a customer; don’t waste it. Be seen, be sold.

Copyright 2004 Dave Collins

About The Author

Dave Collins is the CEO of SharewarePromotions Ltd., a well established UKbased company working with software and shareware marketing activities, utilising all aspects of the internet. http://www.sharewarepromotions.com and http://www.davetalks.com.

This article was posted on December 09, 2004

by Dave Collins

Building Trust For Lifetime Success

Building Trust For Lifetime Success

by: Randy Lever

Trust.
One word.
One very powerful word that can increase both first time and repeat sales to an unlimited degree.
Trust.
What is it? Why is it so important? How do you get it?
Confidence in you from your cutomers, builds relationships and as a result, more sales, and through excellent customer service.
Thatกs the short and sweet of it.
Now, how about a little more meat to it.
What is trust and why is it so important?
Definition: confidence in a person or thing because of the qualities one perceives or seems to perceive in him or it. (Websterกs)
The confidence that any visitor or potential customer has about your business, service or product is the foundation of present and future success.
Before any potential customer even enters your site for the first time, thereกs this underlying feeling of distrust. Itกs automatic.
Either they’re new to the Internet, received a poor product or service from a competitor or have already been scammed a few times.
Your first contact is either in some ad you placed in an ezine, classified, message board, banner, search engine description or some other form of advertising. Was it full of hype or were you honest in what your product or service delivers?
Once that customer enters your site and they don’t see what was stated in your ad………..
goodbye, you just lost a sale and probably a lifetime customer.
If you can’t be honest in your ad, then you’re pobably not going to be with your product or service. So, why should that visitor stick around only to be disappointed or scammed again? Would you?
Do you know what happens when that visitor leaves your site? They email an ezine editor, friend, or leave a nasty little post on a message board about their not so wonderful experience with you, and you’re credibility is gone.
How do you build that trust?
Believe it or not, itกs not that hard. It does take effort and itกs an ongoing process, not something you do once and forget about it.
Be Honest.
The importance of building trust really shows through here. Honesty should be at the front of your mind when you write up your ads and web site copy. Especially when that advertisement includes something free. Don’t use free just to get visitors, your trust and credibility takes a hard nose dive when the "freebie" is junk.
Only write exactly what your product or service delivers and leave the hype and exageration out.
Don’t Hype
I always skip over the ads that actually promise truckloads of money with little or no effort. Come on.
BIG BOLD HEADLINES are a sure sign of hype to nth degree. Promises that are impossible, like the truckloads of cash, are always a big giveaway. If your product doesn’t have it or do it, then don’t promise it.
Follow Up
If youกve done everything right so far and you are making sales, don’t forget about the customer. Follow up with a thank you letter. Add a special bonus that they didn’t know about. Ask them if they like your product or service. Ask if there is anything else you can help them with.
Bottom line is, build a relationship without trying to always sell them something. Talk to them, not at them or down to them. Be their friend and actually help them out when they need it, if you can.
Use Testimonials on your site.
When you followed up with your customers and asked if they liked your product, then ask if you can use their comments on your site. Of course, youกll also include their name, email and website address.
Testimonials build enormous instant credibility. If a visitor to your site sees that there are already satisified customers, then you deliver what you say you will and youกve kept in touch with that customer. Plus the name and email also keeps the visitor comfortable as they know that they can get in touch with that person to verify what they had to say was, in fact, true.
As you can see, building trust isn’t all that hard.
Just be sincere. Be personable. Be available.
If you follow these few rules to help you gain trust and credibility among both your siteกs visitors and your peers, then youกll gain both lifetime customers of your product and lifetime relationships with some really good people.

About The Author

Randy Lever is the owner of the "Complete Internet Marketing Package", Marketing Profit. Learn the ins and outs of a successful ad campaign. http://www.glimmersmarketing.com/marketingprofit

This article was posted on January 20, 2002

by Randy Lever

Hey, Client, This Is Me! Sell With Your Writing Vo

Hey, Client, This Is Me! Sell With Your Writing Voice.

by: Cathy Goodwin

In a crowded market, clients will be seeking personality as they read what youกve written theyกll click right past pages that feel กbeen there, read that.ก They’re looking for a voice that says, กHey, client, this is me!ก

They want to know not just what you deliver but how. Will you be funny or serious? A perky cheerleader or a sardonic commentator? Will your view of life be based on กbelieve and it happensก or กwhat you see is what you get?ก

Here are some tips to add your own voice to your writing.

1. Write from the heart.

Too excited, passionate or angry to sit still? Best time to connect with your voice. Grab a pencil and scribble ideas as you jump around the room.

2. Say something new.

After forty articles on time management, your readers know about cutting projects into manageable chunks and setting priorities. Ho hum. Try กbetter than zeroก or ‘turn your life into a time warp.ก

3. Tape yourself talking to a good friend about a product.

Do your words sound different when you speak than when you write? Transcribe the tape into an article for easy reading.

4. Picture your ideal client (you do have one, don’t you?). Imagine that she is gushing about your service to a friend highly recommending you. What words does she use to describe your services? What emotions come through?

5. Cut. Then cut again. When you have to trim your piece to meet a word count requirement, notice that you’re left with the most essential words all yours.

6. Write fast. Get the words down before your inner critic has a chance to participate. Edit later.

7. Reveal yourself: family, mistakes, secret dreams. When you feel just a bit embarrassed, or feel your private persona has become more public, youกve probably just touched your audienceกs heart.

8. Be concrete not abstract.

As writing guru Natalie Goldberg would say, กItกs a geranium, not a flower.ก

9. If youกve had voice training, be especially alert to creating the bland and the blah.

Julia Roberts could hold an audience while she reads the telephone directory. Your copy has to stand alone, without dramatic oratory. Exercise 3 may not work for you.

10. Don’t be afraid to break the rules: use slang and contractions. And itกs okay to begin a sentence with กandก or กbut.ก

Just tread carefully on the rules of grammar and spelling. กYour about to head off for you’re great adventureก can be a credibilitybuster.

About The Author

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is an author, speaker, editor, and consultant. She helps clients who want to use writing to sell and sell what they write.

Visit http://www.makewritingpay.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 31, 2003

by Cathy Goodwin

Advertising for the perplexed part II

Advertising for the perplexed part II

by: Dave Collins

The previous article examined some of the basic ideas involved in advertising. We looked at why a company may want to advertise, the factors involved in choosing a suitable venue and the costs and time involved. We also explored some of the practicalities to consider and how to research your potential venue.

Once youกve chosen where you’re going to advertise, the next critical factor will be how well you know the target audience. The more information that you have to hand, the better you can tailor your content around their needs and expectations.

You need to make sure that you speak in their language, try to give them what they’re already used to, or grab their attention with something new. But be warned, these are pushy and innovative times. Whatever gimmick or spin you use to stand out may well have been tried many times before, so don’t overrely on it.

Like a good informative web page, the ad needs to first of all catch their attention, and compel them to click on it.

There should be more focus on the benefits of the software than the features, and the ad should really push the download or sale. It should also be as compelling and striking as possible not easy when you’re limited by a number of characters, file size or space to work with!

Bear in mind that like any strategy, your advertising will only be as strong as its weakest link. Don’t spend thousands of dollars on good placement, only to use some awful homecreated banner that you knocked together with Paint Shop Pro 4 three years ago.

If graphic design is not your strong point, then get a firm to design some decent graphics for you. The same goes with writing the ad copy. Most people can write, but few are writers. Try to make sure that someone with more than a thesaurusdictionary gift set writes your copy for you.

Aside from the wording, the basic market principles apply. Grab their attention, tempt them, and compel them to act. ก50% discountก is eye catching, as is some form of กonly valid todayก type of offer.

But when the potential customer clicks on your ad, you’re only half way there. You now need to make sure that the page they land on carries on the good work. Realistically, many will click on the ad out of idle curiosity, and very few (if any) will have made up their minds to purchase already.

You should therefore use a separate landing page, as opposed to your regular main website page. It should contain the same information and use the same language, tone and focus of the ad, but now you’re not restricted as to what you can do, or how much space you have to work with. Here, you have all the space you need to go allout with the sales drive.

On a technical level, make sure that your landing page is not linked from anywhere in your website, so as to ensure that everyone coming to this page has been driven there by the ad.

If you’re sharing a landing page, then at least make sure that you use a unique referral string. To be able to evaluate the success of the ad, itกs critical that you can distinguish these visitors from the regular site visitors.

This brings us neatly onto the subject of tracking, without which you are effectively deaf, dumb and blind to the effects of the ad. A unique landing page on your website is ideal, and if possible, make this point to a separate payment page as well. You can also use cookies or referral strings in order to sharpen the accuracy of the tracking.

Usage of decent web log analysis software should let you see how many people came to the landing page, how long they spent there, which links they then clicked on, who downloaded from there, who purchased, and perhaps even who came back to the website later.

The analysis and followup of the campaign is surprisingly often completely overlooked. This is a great loss, as in some respects this is one of the most important stages of the whole process.

When it comes to gauging the level of generated sales and registrations, you need to take into account the final date of the ad, plus the full length of the trial version and then add a little extra time. Some may view the ad, click, download the software, but may not install it for a few days or even longer.

As an example, a company may choose to run a series of ads in a newsletter that is sent out from Monday to Friday of a given week.

Some people may not respond to the ad until the following weekend (or later), and only then download your thirty day trial. So we’re already looking at 35 days after the ad was first run, and thatกs assuming that they install the software as soon as they download it. Some people may even register after the trial has elapsed. So don’t go writing it off as a failure on day two of your advertising campaign.

To accurately evaluate the success of the campaign, you need to go back to your original goals.

If your primary goal was to achieve a higher level of sales, then it should be reasonably easy to see how many were generated by the ad. As with everything related to advertising, your data won’t be 100% accurate, but it should give you a good idea.

If the primary goal was increased exposure, then you should be looking at how many people were exposed to the ad, how many viewed the landing page content and website, and perhaps even downloaded and purchased the software.

At this point, there are four possible scenarios.

(1) The ad appears to be successful.

Your goals have been achieved as a direct result of the ad, and more advertising with this vendor may be considered for the future. Even with this success, don’t rule out the fact that your figures can be further improved, but don’t forget that they can worsen too.

You should also be careful not to immediately engage in a longterm contract with this vendor. Not only because there are other advertising options out there, but also because any ad has a certain lifespan until it reaches its saturation point. At the very least consider trying different products, wording (or graphics) or even a different type of offer or discount.

(2) The ad doesn’t appear to be successful.

There has been little generated in terms of exposure or sales, and you can’t help but feel that the venture has been a failure.

The first thing you have to do is to try to determine the reason for this.

It may be the product itself, the ad copy, the ad, or perhaps the targeting was off. It may even be as a result of the ad placement, or the offer or discount not being generous enough.

If the ad failed, it is very important to ascertain exactly why. Don’t just dismiss it as a failure, or a กbadก place to advertise, and don’t be afraid to go back to the vendor for feedback. If you explain that you’re interested in making this work, as opposed to complaining that they didn’t deliver the results you expected, youกll usually get a positive response. See what they can do to help, after all, itกs in their interests that you walk away satisfied by your experience.

(3) The ad appears to breakeven, but little more than this.

Go back and read number (2). Not being a success counts as a failure.

(4) You’re not sure whether the ad was worthwhile or not.

There has been some response, but itกs difficult to see whether it was a worthwhile experience or not.

Itกs very important that you get to the bottom of this. Go through your statistics again, and filter through your logs to see exactly what the visitors did, where they clicked, and why they behaved as they did.

It is extremely important that at the end of the process, you know whether it was worthwhile or not. Failure to do so will result either in a wastage of money or a wastage of opportunities.

Itกs all too easy to throw money away on bad advertising. Itกs just as easy to be scaredoff by risks, or for that matter throw potential opportunities away. Like any form of marketing, there are no guarantees that youกll achieve the results you hope for. But by failing to try, you’re absolutely guaranteed never to reach them. The best you can do is to prepare the ground and cover all options as thoroughly as possible, take a deep breath and then take the plunge. Be seen, be sold.

Copyright 2005 Dave Collins

About The Author

Dave Collins is the CEO of SharewarePromotions Ltd., a well established UKbased company working with software and shareware marketing activities, utilising all aspects of the internet. http://www.sharewarepromotions.com and http://www.davetalks.com

This article was posted on February 03, 2005

by Dave Collins