12Copywriting Tips to Make Your Advertising More

12Copywriting Tips to Make Your Advertising More Profitable

by: Thom Reece

Year after year people make the same mistakes in directresponse copy and advertising. You can avoid the most common and costly blunders by following the following proven tips…

1. WRITE IN DIRECT RESPONSE LANGUAGE:

Use short paragraphs and short words. This article has 68% short wordsfive letters or less. Strive for at least 65%75%. Never go under 50% unless you are writing to Ph.Dกs.

Make your sentences and paragraphs flow like a breeze.

Ignore good grammar when you have a good reason.

Keep the bucket brigade going: Start paragraphs with And, But, So you see, However…

Use the freshest concepts and the most colorful language you can without disturbing the flow.

Use hot words: free, profit, new, now, secret, easy, save, guarantee, today… and the hottest word of all: YOU!

Use bullets… lots of them.

2. WRITE LOTS OF HEADLINES.

Always think up dozens of alternative headlines. Put your strongest benefits in them and test your best alternatives. When writing headlines for web sites make sure they include key search words and phrases along with the benefits.

3. DROP THE WARMUPS…

Youกll destroy your entire letter/ad by starting off, กAs a homeowner, you know how maintenace costs are climbing every day…ก. Take your first draft and try cutting out the first two to three paragraphs… youกll usually find the real กmeatก starts to appear in your copy after you have started to กwarmupก to the writing.

4. STAND OUT.

Separate yourself from the competition as clearly as you can. Discover, isolate, and dramatize all the reasons for doing business with you…today…, instead of your competitor. Build your entire package or ad around these reasons (benefits).

5. SELL BENEFITS, NOT FEATURES.

Readers don’t buy products or features of products. They buy the benefitsofuse of the product or features. Be humble enough to realize that a buyer will not give you one red cent for any product or feature until you convert the features into benefitsofuse.

6. LEARN TO GIVE.

Most advertisers and charities think of direct response strictly as a device to กgetก. Unfortunately, most readers also want to get. So, to succeed, you must adopt a กgiveก attitude… beyond what you offer in the product or service. Give them something immediately in your ad, your letter, your web page. Give them news, business tips, interesting stories, resources, freebies, special deals.

7. USE TESTIMONIALS.

They’re proof that you’re as good as you say you are, and that youกll do what you say will do. Like…

กI increased profits by $100,000 last year using your services…ก Joe Smith, President, Smith Corporation

The more specific the testimonial the more power it has. Give full attributions whenever possible. Testimonials give you believability and credibility. You can’t do successful directresponse without these two essential factors.

8. OFFER A MONEYBACK GUARANTEE.

Whatever you are selling, make sure you offer a moneyback guarantee. Itกs a critical factor in getting someone to send in their monty to someone they don’t know or maybe never heard of.

9. CREDIT CARDS, TOLL FREE NUMBERS.

Credit card purchases and tollfree ก800ก numbers can increase your response by as much as 50%. If you’re on the web make sure you opt for secure online transmission (SSL) of credit card orders… or allow other means for your customer to provide their credit information to you.

10. ASK FOR ACTION.

Itกs amazing how often otherwise good copy never gets around to asking for the order. If you don’t ask for action… you won’t get any.

11. BUDGET YOUR TIME.

Devote about one third of your writing time to the lead elements, headline, subheads, teasers, opening paragraphs.

12. KEEP CURRENT.

Directresponse is more scientific than other types of advertising. Like any fastmoving science, it has itกs discoveries daily. This is especially true of writing for the Internet/World Wide Web. Subscribe to industry trade journals such as Target Marketing, DM News, Direct, and other relevant publications.

(C) Copyright 2004 Thom Reece All Rights Reserved

About The Author

Thom Reece is the CEO of OnLine Marketing Group, a direct response marketing agency with headquarters in Hawaii. He is the creator of the Online Marketing Resource Center [ http://www.ecomprofits.com ] & the major portal for the network marketing industry MaxxMLM.com [http://www.MaxxMLM.com]. Thom can be reached by email at: [email protected].

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 04

by Thom Reece

How To Fail Online, or Alternatively, What To Avoi

How To Fail Online, or Alternatively, What To Avoid In Order To Succeeed

by: Dr. David Lowenstein

“One click and you message gets to 100/200/xxx million websites a day” “Make $1,000/5,000/xxxxx straight to your paypal/stormpay or mailbox just by emailing this or mailing that to X of your friends” “Here is how you get 20 million subscribers/affiliates…”

Sounds familiar? Haven’t we all (yes, me too..) thought “Hay, this is Exactly what I need/want!” and, signed for free or, God forbid, paid Money and…a few days later…

I do hope that you are reading this article a minute before you intended To join such a “blabla” offer. It will save you some hard earned dollars.

Question – Who’s to blame? Should we all blame the one offering us These programs? I am certain that your immediate response is “Yes!” Well, you’re wrong! We are the ones to be blamed! We so much want To believe this “magic crap” that we act as their best salesperson.. Who doesn’t want overnight success? I’ll be more blunt – who doesn’t Want an immediate success without putting any work? (lotto…?)

My friend, IT DOES NOT AND NEVER WILL WORK, PERIOD.

To be totally honest and straightforward, these offers should also mention

That: “sign with us and..

work hard for 23 years

invest a lot of time in building trust relations with people “The Best Vitamin For Making Friends Is B1”

you’re about to have rough times during which you’ll be certain that nothing works for you (“everyone seems to have something to offer/sell. How can I get through and succeed selling my product/program??!!”)

IMPORTANT, Never Ever Give Up!

Would they be online if they wrote it (The Simple Truth!)? Of course NOT!

They are simply after your money and that is all there is to it.

But there’s hope. The hope lies in your common sense and determination –

NEVER GIVE UP! Tell yourself:

1. The Opportunities are there. I can make it online.

2. I know I’ll have rough times.

3. I’ll NEVER go for what appears to be “magic” because if it doesn’t

Work (and it NEVER does) I’ll get frustrated and give up. Remember –

It’s The START that STOPS most people!

4. Prior to every purchase I’ll make, whether an ebook, a service or a

Program, I’ll positively answer the following:

4.a. Will this purchase really move my knowledge/business onwards?

4.b. Will it result in more potentially successful contacts/leads?

4.c. Will I be able to use it, within a reasonable period of time, to Increase my profits?

4.d. Am I willing to invest work in it and give it a fair chance?

4.e. If someone else offered it to me, would I go for it? (This is critical because the answer will indicate whether you’ll be able to offer it to others).

Sorry it sounds like a nightmare, it is NOT. It Is Reality. The route to success Resides in yourself – BE DTERMINED, DON’T GET DISTRACTED, Keep Looking straight ahead to your final goal AND YOU’LL GET THERE.

You can achieve a level of success online which will significantly increase Your income. Opportunities and customers are there (and growing every day By outstanding numbers). Let time and work determine what is going to be Your money making opportunity. Just Avoid “Magic Crap”!

And one last advice – No One Can Help Everybody, but Everybody Can Help Somebody. Use this advice to build trust.

Wishing You A Pleasant Journey,

Dr. David Lowenstein

http://www.ezwebinfo.com

http://www.quickinfo247.com/8014454/SIM

About The Author

Dr. David Lowenstein is an Internet Business Development Consultant, Author and Speaker. David publishes a unique, advertismentfree, newsletter titled กHBIPTก Home Business Instant Profit Tips & Tricks. If you’re looking for the BEST RATED home business ideas, tips, กHow Toก exact steps and tricks along with opportunities and helpul support from an honest friend in the business, go to Davidกs web site and grab your FREE subscription TODAY http://www.ezwebinfo.com or email your request and you name to mailto:[email protected]

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in Print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A Courtesy copy of your publication including the article would Be appreciated.

This article was posted on July 18, 2003

by Dr. David Lowenstein

Do You Have a Wealthy Attitude?

Do You Have a Wealthy Attitude?

by: Rosalind Gardner

Wealthy people are conniving, selfish, lazy monsters who will steal your last penny if you let them, or so thatกs what I was raised to believe.

Fortunately, through my work and various associations, Iกve spent time with many of these กmonstersก, and discovered that nothing could be farther from the truth.

In fact, over the years Iกve learned that wealthy people are the hardest working, most generous people one could ever meet.

Obviously, the fearbased attitudes about money that were instilled during my childhood were not only incorrect, they didn’t produce more for me than a steady job.

And no job, no paycheck. No matter how wellpaid you are, thatกs not wealth, thatกs a dangerous rut.

To me, wealth means income that is generated on a continuous and ongoing basis, whether or not Iกm working specifically on that project or investment at any given time.

I knew that if I wanted to live a richer, fuller life, Iกd have to let go of my old beliefs and adopt healthier, more productive attitudes to acquiring wealth.

So I set out to learn about the commonly held beliefs and values shared by wealthy people.

The first commonality was obvious. Wealthy people all value their time too highly to exchange it for a paycheck, and therefore they work for themselves. The exception to this is made when theyกll work for a company in their chosen industry to gain experience or be mentored.

Truly wealthy folks know that there is no such thing as กget r*ch quickก and understand that businesses are built, and wealth is acquired, through being of service to others. They find a need and fill it with excellent products and highly quality customer service. Having their customersก trust and support, their businesses stand the test of time.

All, without fail, regularly give a portion of their time and money to help those less fortunate.

The wealthy also place great emphasis on healthy nutrition and regular exercise. After their work day is over, rather than flop on the couch to watch a rerun of กFriendsก (and West Wing, and Coronation Street, and Frasier…) theyกll opt for a run or a friendly game of squash. They understand that exercise is an activity that creates energy, whereas succumbing to the temptation to กflakeoutก leaves you feeling even more exhausted.

While out on that run, they put the increased oxygen flow to good use by thinking, thinking and thinking some more. They forumulate business plans and strategies for the short, medium and longterm. They know that their vision for a happy, solid future for themselves and their familes is built on goals and the specific plans to achieve them.

Family is their top priority. Everything they do is for the purpose of helping to improve the lives of their family members.

Above all, they approach life with gratitude. They know in their hearts that there is more than enough wealth on the planet for everyone to share. They know that whatever effort they make, whatever they choose to give, will be returned to them many times over.

>From that perspective, they have no fear, and itกs fear, not money, that is the root of all evil. Fear causes people to hold on tight and act in greedy, selfish ways. Give to receive.. itกs really that simple.

The กgood lifeก may seem like a lot of hard work, and it is! But if you truly want to enjoy the good life, then do the กworkก of setting goals, staying healthy, and being of service to others with joy and an open heart. Youกll be delighted by the rewards work can bring when you approach life with a wealthy attitude.

About The Author

Article by Rosalind Gardner, author of the bestselling กSuper Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in One Year Selling Other Peopleกs Stuff Onlineก. To learn how you too can suceed in Internet and affiliate marketing, go to: http://NetProfitsToday.com.

This article was posted on March 30

by Rosalind Gardner

Hard Work!

Hard Work!

by: Robert J Farey

MAKE A MILLION $ PER MONTH.

No work involved.

Do it whilst sitting on the beach at Maliboo.

This may sound a bit extreme but how many adverts have you seen that are similar to it?

The trouble is that so many newcomers to the internet get taken in by this sort of hype. No wonder that so many get disillusioned and wrap up and go away never to return.

It is a real pity that this sort of thing is allowd to happen. If only people would tell the truth they would get a far better response to their adverts.

Tell it as it is.

With the right information and a little incentive it is possible to start a business working from home, using nothing more than a desktop computer and something to sell.

Starting a business is easy. Earning money from it is a different thing. It takes a lot of dedication and hard work.

Just a minute!

What do we mean by กhard workก?

Sitting at a keyboard for a couple of hours a day does not sound like hard work to those who are used to physical effort.

Nevertheless, If the typing was all that was required it would be a doddle.

There is more to it than that.

For instance:

Devising an advertising strategy takes a certain amount of expertise. That is something that the average Jack or Jill needs to learn, either the hard way from expreience, or the much easier way by asking the right questions from the right people.

What a lot of newcomers do not understand is that whatever they need to know, there is someone out there who is willing to give them the answers.

Willing to take them by the hand and guide them on the path to success.

That is something that you don’t get in normal business circles.

There are thousands of websites out there offering genuine help to those who need it. A lot of them have an ulterior motive, they have something to sell but that does not mean that the advice that they give is not useful. Would you buy from someone who gave you poor advice?

If they give advice that you can trust, perhaps you will trust them enough to purchase something from them at a later date. That is quite ethical.

Always remember: If something seems too good to be true, you can bet your boots that it is.

Most of the con artists are pretty obvious, but make sure that you keep your ears and eyes open at all times.

Enjoy your work and make a lot of money. You can do it if you try.

All the best in your endevours.

Bob.

About The Author

Robert earns his crust by targeting the thousands of newcomers to internet trading. He aims to cut their learning curve to enable them to start earning money from the word go.

He learned the hard way. You can learn the easy way.

Checkout his website. Itกs not posh. Itกs not perfect, but it is effective. http://www.learnandearnnow.co.uk/

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 21, 2004

by Robert J Farey

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

Time Your News Release For Maximum Publicity

Time Your News Release For Maximum Publicity

by: David Leonhardt

กCindy, whereกs that story? I need it yesterday!ก

กComing right up, boss. Iกll have it to you soon,ก Cindy shouted back.

กYesterday isn’t soon enough!ก

Cindy clicked on her screen. กYou have mail.ก She looked at the messages. ‘three news releases,ก she murmured. กI don’t have time for this now.ก [delete] [delete] [delete]

Stop! Was that your news release Cindy just deleted? Too bad you sent it to her at the wrong time. You may have heard that ‘timing is everythingก and that is even more true in a newsroom. But how do you know when is the best time to send a news release?

Media relations is an art more than a science, so there is no single rule. If there was, everyone would be a media star. Here are a few guidelines to help you zoom ahead of your competition for the mediaกs attention:

Each type of media and each type of journalist is different. Here are just a few of the variables:

National or local media

TV, newspaper, radio or magazine

News reporter, features reporter or columnist

Consumer magazine or trade journal

Daily, weekly or monthly publication

Print or electronic

Each company or organization is different, as is its news. Here are just a few of the variables:

Local, national or international operations

Prescheduled news release, or lastminute reaction to todayกs news.

Product announcement, policy announcement, financial announcement

Bearing in mind the wide range of news you might announce and the wide range of media targets, 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. tends to be the best time of day to release news. You want to give the assignment editor time to send them out to cover your news. If you hope to get into the noon news, you don’t want to go too late, because you run into TV deadlines. Early afternoon is a secondbest time, but if you get much past 2:30, you will catch Cindyกs [delete] button at most daily newspapers and television stations.

I have been asked about the best day of the week to send out a news release. There isn’t one. I have seen plenty of debates on this. From personal experience, the only difference I ever noticed is when I could pick a slow news day. For instance, if in your city the daily newspaper can be reached on Sunday and not too much tends to happen that day in your subject area, you may find it easier to get into Mondayกs newspaper than if you try later in the week. But on average, there is not much difference.

Best time of month, year, etc? Again, there is no single best time. There is one golden rule. Do not send out a release when the world is wrapped up in some allconsuming event like the death of Princess Diana or the attack on the World Trade Center. Remember how much TV airtime and newspaper print space were devoted to those events? The media and its audiences had other things on their minds than your news. You can’t control events, but you can control the timing of your release (most of the time).

How far in advance should you send out your release? Some book reviewers usually need several months. Others don’t want to see your release until the book is on the store shelves. Many consumer magazines have a sixmonth editorial preview. Features editors often run several weeks ahead of time, but sometimes squeeze things in on short notice. News departments want only breaking news. Yesterdayกs news is … well, yesterdayกs news. Your release is already forgotten.

Does all this sound confusing. It is. The bottom line in any marketing is to know your target market and give it what it wants. Same with the media. The guidelines above give a very abbreviated list of what you need to consider. If you are still unsure, a media coach might be a good investment. But be forewarned – find someone with enough experience and success to coach you in the right direction.

About The Author

After a decade and a half as one of Canadaกs top consumer advocates, often conducting over 600 media interviews each year, David Leonhardt is sharing his knowledge with others. Pick up a copy of his special report กGet In The News!ก at http://www.TheHappyGuy.com/PR.html. Home page is http://www.TheHappyGuy.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 05, 2002

by David Leonhardt

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

Become An Affiliate Champion: 10 Tips

Become An Affiliate Champion: 10 Tips

by: Henry Ochoa

Affiliates programs are one of the easiest ways to make money in the internet. Small fortunes have been made for smart people who have taken advantage of this powerful marketing technique.

This tips intend to help you on your way to become a highearning affiliate champion, use it as a guideline to your success. Feel free to contact me if you need further information.

First thing first: Target your market. If you try to sell everything to everyone, you will sell nothing.

Choose the right program. Everyday you would find hundreds of new กgetrichquickก programs on the net. Avoid them! Before joining any program, do some research. Trust only programs that have been consistently paying their affiliates

Join one program at a time, stick to it. Avoid distractions joining several programs at the same time. Stay focused on the best program chosen.

Promote, promote, promote!. I cant empathize enough. Promotion is the lifeblood of your programกs success. Focus on marketing and nothing else. One easy way to promote is by joining a traffic exchange program, like traffic swarm.

Write your own classifieds ads, headlines, text links. BE CREATIVE. How many times have you seen the same old add given for an affiliate program! Stay away from the crowd.

Create a content website with a review of your affiliate program. Don’t try to sell the program, instead, give your visitors the best review you can write of the program. Make a bulleted list of benefits YOU have found on that program.

Refer to your programกs web site with a TEXT LINK. Avoid using banners. People tend to look banners as a sales pitch and doesn’t like it. People in your site are looking for information, not to buy. So give them some information. Make them want more information, then give them your text link.

Compile your own mailing list. Offer your visitor a freebie, a newsletter, a free ebook, a report… In exchange, ask for their contact info. The key here is to get their address.

Follow up with this list. Contact them at least once a week. Build trust. Make them know you and trust you.

Track your advertising results and make corrections as necessary. If the program is good, you can profit from it. Do whatever it needs to be done to achieve you goals.

About The Author

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Henry Ochoa is the owner of Super Affiliate Master Pages. The website devoted to give you Free ebooks, articles and expert advice to make YOU profit from your online business. Click here to gain advantage now http://www.freewebs.com/1dream

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This article was posted on July 08, 2003

by Henry Ochoa

11 Awesome Ways To Explode Your Affiliate Commissi

11 Awesome Ways To Explode Your Affiliate Commission

by: Kusuma Widjaja

1. Start your own affiliate program directory. Join a large number of affiliate programs that go with the theme of your web site and list them all in a directory format on your web site. Then just advertise your free affiliate program directory. You will earn commissions and gain subaffiliates. Plus you could start an affiliaterelated ezine too.

2. Do not drive all your visitors directly to affiliate website, instead send your visitors to your optin page mechanism first before going to your main affiliate website. That way, you can make followup later on and build your own lists so that you can offer another related products or services another day. You can build a massive list in minimum time at http://www.whycity.net/coregistrationservices.html

3. Sell to the people who join your affiliate program. They are more likely to buy your products because they are interested in selling them for the commission. Itกs important to train and support your affiliates so they will know you will be there to help them. Tell them itกs good to write ads about their personal experiences with your product so that it will persuade customers to buy.

4. Participate on web discussion boards. Post your comments, answer other peopleกs questions, and ask your own questions. Include your affiliate text link under each message you post. If they read your message and like it, they may click to see what else you have to offer them.

5. Recruit lots of subaffiliates and make it easy for your them to make sales. Give them proven ads to use, make it easy for prospects to order, provide helpful affiliate statistics, notification of sales, lifetime income, residual income, add their commission by giving part of your commission to them, provide a good tracking system and professional training just like at http://www.whycity.net/nitroknowledge.html, http://www.whycity.net/myaffiliatecenter.html and http://www.whycity.net/nitrowebcasts.html

6. Persuade ezine publishers or webmasters to run your ad for free. Just allow them to join your affiliate program and earn commission on the sales. You could also offer them a freebie, such as the product you’re selling for free, an advertisement in your ezine in return, etc. It also helps to compliment the publishers as well as praising their ezines.

7. Use Online Referral Strategies at http://www.whycity.net/instantreferralsystems.html to get lots of order yourself or subaffiliates order. Referral system can also be a good way to increase your affiliate commissions if you can give incentives to motivate people to refer and tap deep into peopleกs network of friends, family, and associates. They don’t just stop at the occasional, oneoff referral.

8. Write your own affiliate program ads. If all the other affiliates use the same ads you do, that does not give you an edge over your competition. Use a different ad to give yourself an advantage over all the other affiliates. Learn how you can Create Powerful Offers so irresistible for prospects until they buy from you at http://www.whycity.net/powerfuloffers.html

9. Give free email consultations or services to your customers who buy or will buy the product or services through your affiliate link. When you email them back your advice include a small ad or distribute branded affiliates viral marketing tools to use like ebooks or articles for the affiliate products your are selling. Just include your ad somewhere inside them.

10. Email targeted ezines and ask them to do a joint venture with you. Ask them to run your ad and in exchange they would get a percentage of the profits. You would just have to get them to join your affiliate program to be your subaffiliates. To give them better incentive, you could offer them a higher commission than the rest of your normal affiliates by giving part of your affiliate commissions for 2 years.

11. Tell your customers if they refer four customers to your affiliate web site, they will receive a full rebate of their purchase price, cut from your own commission. This will turn one sale into three sales. You could also offer them other things in return for referrals like free ebooks, free software, coupons, discounts, etc.

Finally! Everything you need to make a whole lot more than $100,000 a year with affiliate programs.

http://www.whycity.net/affiliatebootcamp.html

About The Author

Kusuma Widjaja is President of Yahoo Cyber Technology, CV., based in Surabaya. He has over 2 years experience in Internet Marketing Arena, Custom Web Site Design and Graphic Design Services. For more information go to http://www.whycity.net or you can reach us at +628315838474.

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 20

by Kusuma Widjaja

How to Build Your Ezine List

How to Build Your Ezine List

by: Stacey Morris

How to Increase Your Ezine Subscriber List

Opt In

Out of respect to your mailing list, and the CANSPAM laws, only mail your ezine to those who have requested it, or optedin. Even if you have compiled a list of contacts, prospects, and clients that is 2000 strong, you can’t just start entering them on your list.

So how do you access your current list of ezine addresses?

Start With Your Friends

I’m using ขfriendsข liberally here, to mean all contacts with whom you’re on a first name basis, and who recognize you apart from your business card.

1.Send out an email announcing the launch of your ezine.

Make it simple, 2 paragraphs.

Make it lowhype. These are your friends—they don’t need a sales pitch, but they do need to know why they should join. So…

Make it benefitoriented. What’s in it for your reader? Does the ezine address specific problems of a target market? If it’s a general ขgood lifeข ezine, how is it unique? What makes it different from the thousands of other ezines like it?

Include a sample issue, or your launch issue.

Give crystalclear directions on how to sign up for future copies, and make it clear that your reader will be missing out on this great information if they don’t go to the site and sign up.

2. Develop a free report to give to all new subscribers.

The report could be a document, a short lesson series, an audio of a class or seminar you’ve given, a workbook of some kind, a top ten tips sheet, or a checklist related to your market.

Emphasize the report—not the ezine.

This report should be perceived as valuable enough to subscribe.

Make it less than ten pages. Don’t spend more than a few hours on this.

Develop a short salescopy of 23 paragraphs outlining why this report is so valuable.

3. Make it easy to sign up.

Your business card should have the address of the webpage with the ezine information.

Every page of your website should have an ezine signup box.

Develop a website page or even a website devoted just to your ezine.

Mention your ezine at every networking event you attend.

Every time you give a talk, have a signup sheet available for anyone who wants to sign up.

Use your emailSIG file to advertise your ezine, and place a link to the signup box.

4. Get your articles out there.

At the end of each article, put a blurb at the bottom giving permission to anyone to use the article, as long as they give you attribution.

Subscribe to a article distribution service that will send out your articles automatically to dozens of article databases.

Offer to exchange articles with a colleague who also has a ezine. Guest articles can be very effective.

If you belong to any discussion lists, let other forum members know that your site is a valuable resource.

Offer a free subscription to members of organizations related to your industry. The newsletter editor can place a notice of your site and ezine.

This article is not intended to address the technical issues involved in setting up an ezine. If this is a new area for you, you’re welcome to contact me for more information on resources and nextsteps. If you are able to update your own website, you may just want to sign up for a basic email distribution program (listserve) once you have over 50 subscribers. Until then, Microsoft Outlook or another email manager is the easiest way to start.

Copyright 2005 Stacey Morris

About The Author

Stacey Morris, Focus Coach

Download ก12 Steps to a Profitable Websiteก at http://www.ServiceBusinessCoaching.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 08

by Stacey Morris

Building an Email Marketing List

Building an Email Marketing List

by: Megan Corwin

Thereกs a marketing estimate that it takes something like seven contacts with a potential client before they purchase. Email is a wonderful way to handle these contacts for a variety of reasons:

you can send one message to a large number of people

compared to traditional hard copy marketing it can be a lot less expensive

if you use a list management system you can get instant results like how many people opened the email and how many กclick throughsก there were to the links in the email

The most important part of an email campaign is having a list of qualified email addresses to send your marketing piece.

So just how are you supposed to get those email addresses? The best method is to have a sign up form on your website to capture the visitorกs information. Here are some DOs and DON’ts for creating a list for your online business.

DO:

Offer an incentive for them to give their email address. People usually won’t give away their personal information unless they get something in return. Ideas for incentives include: a free report or guide, entry into a contest, product demo or samples, a complimentary consultation, etc.

Provide valuable content in your communications. Offer tips and advice for the customer along side your marketing message to keep it from being too กsalesy.ก

Ask for valuable marketing data on the signup form. Pick only one or two things to keep the registration process short and easy. What data could really help you with your marketing? Knowing their gender, age, location, interests?

DON’t:

Sell or give away your list.

Fill up their inbox with messages. Keep to a monthly or weekly schedule at most.

Bog your message down with lots of advertising. It will quickly be deleted.

It can take time and effort to build your internet marketing list, but the results will be well worth it.

About The Author

Megan Corwin is an internet marketing coach who helps work at home professionals grow their businesses. For more articles and advice about online marketing strategy and solutions, become a member of Megan’s online community for work at home women: http://www.wahwoman.com/membership.html

This article was posted on February 25, 2004

by Megan Corwin

A Revolutionary กNEWก Dimension in Sales

A Revolutionary กNEWก Dimension in Sales

by: Linda Blew Carlson

A Revolutionary กNEWก Dimension In Sales: Make many more closings in the same amount of time!

By Art Nelson and Linda Carlson

Phase I

Phase I: Learning the Product is the first thing Paul does as he begins his career in sales. This กnewbieก envisions three major factors that will determine his success or failure in sales. They are:

Knowledge of his product.

Knowledge of the benefits that it offers to his prospects.

How well he communicates that knowledge and benefits to his prospects.

Most salespeople don’t have a problem with product knowledge. The company usually spends plenty of time and money to assure the competence level of its sales force. So, Paul is fine at 1, 2, and since his mother said, กYou can sell an icebox to an Eskimo,ก he figures he will do well at 3.

The problem shows up when Paul (now on his own) tries to share this knowledge with his prospects. He finds that some prospects get really ‘turned onก by the product and its benefits; but there are other prospects that never seem to get interested or กunderstand.ก Talking to them is like ‘talking to brick walls.ก

He doesn’t understand why every prospect doesn’t insist on purchasing. He is warm and charming every time! It must be the way he closes. There has to be a secret he needs to discover.

Phase II

Upon realizing this, Paul enters Phase II of his career: The Search For Enlightenment. The great question of a salesmanกs life haunts him on his prospecting calls. In the face of obvious need, why doesn’t my prospect buy?

กHe needs this product. I qualified him carefully. Why can’t I close him?ก

So, Paul begins reading, listening to tapes, attending seminars, etc. for every gimmick that comes along promising the กSecret of Closing.ก

Phase III

After a season of this, he enters Phase III of his career: The Stasis Of Superstition.

Paul (like most sales people) is making 2 or 3 sales for ten presentations. But since he really doesn’t understand why he sells sometimes and sometimes doesn’t, he กfreezesก or กcansก his presentation. He is afraid to change it because he might mess up his success so, he plays the กnumbers game.ก

Paul falls into a pattern of expecting to close กjust so manyก sales. No amount of reading, listening to tapes, or taking sales seminars changes his pattern for long. He is hoping to keep enough prospects on the line that the ones he doesn’t sell won’t really matter. Heกll still be a กsuccessfulก salesman.

Phase IV

Before ICTech® (Individualized Communication Technology) most of us (salespeople) ended our career growth in Phase III. Now with the Natural Styles strategy used in ICTech® we can move into Phase IV: Natural Persuasion.

Knowing how the 5 styles are born to process information, allows the salesperson to tailor his presentation for the format most easily understood and agreed upon by the prospect.

It doesn’t matter how well you know your product or how smooth your presentation is. Until your prospect UNDERSTANDS your product and its applications for him you won’t close a sale.

Understanding the strategy lets you dispense with gimmicks and integrate all of your sales knowledge into a cohesive whole that you will automatically adjust in each new situation. This means more sales! And more satisfied customers!

How ICTech® works:

You’re a salesperson whose Natural Style is กSingle.ก What do you do with a กMultipleก style prospect?

Don’t bore her with too many details; give her the overview of the product and its effects on her. Be sure to ask her what this product could do for her or in some way let her think this whole thing is her idea.

The fastest way to lose this prospect is oversell too many details. You are ‘tellingก not กselling.ก

Now reverse the example. You’re a กMultipleก salesperson and your prospect is a กSingle.ก What do you do?

Don’t overpower him with too many examples or applications of the product. Let them apply to him. Again, กsellก don’t ‘tell.ก Concentrate on the strongest feature of your product and give as many details as possible.

Give him plenty of time to think; don’t rush him. The fastest way to lose this prospect is to appear too vague because you’re trying to give him an overview and he wants an explicit example.

Just a couple of simple examples, but Paul practices the simple strategies of ICTech® and it has made him one of his industryกs กhottestก sales people.

Many sales people who use ICTech® close 5 to 7 of ten presentations. What would happen for any salesperson who could cut through the mental baggage of a prospect and give a presentation with a 50% to 70% chance of closing?

Simple. Revolutionary!

Art Nelson is an entrepreneur and consultant in various areas of media organization. He found ICTech in a public workshop, and since has been learning more about it and applying it in his businesses Linda Blew Carlson, is President of FOCUS I, Inc. a company dedicated to supporting American businesses by helping them find innovative ways to individualize their service. Reach her at http://www.styleworks4u.com/pages/homepage.html or [email protected]

About The Author

Linda Blew Carlson, is GM of FOCUS II, LLC, a company dedicated to supporting businesses, families, and individuals by helping them find innovative ways to individualize their communications and strengthen each other. To become a part of this effort go to http://www.styleworks4u.com.

This article was posted on June 19, 2003

by Linda Blew Carlson