Archive for the ‘direct response advertising’ Category

Are You Treating This Important Sales Tool As Trivial?

By: Dan Kennedy on: June 16th, 2013 1 Comment

The other day I read someone’s definition of a “post scriptum” commonly referred to as a “P.S.”  The author, trying to educate others, described the P.S. as “generally containing information which is trivial.”

To be frank, I found his explanation rather trivial…

Because the P.S. is anything but trivial and should be awarded much greater attention than most give it.

You see writing copy is a very small part of developing copy that sells. Not only must thought and research be put into who you are writing to and what their objections might be, but careful thought must be put into each element of your copy and their function.

Often I see people shoot out of the gate with a strong headline and by the end of their message; they get a bit lazy, throwing on a P.S. almost as an afterthought.

But the truth is the P.S. is one of the most important parts of your copy—and you’ll find that most copywriters agree – you should never end a sales letter without one.

Why?

1)      Because some people jump to the end of your letter or message after reading your headline and before reading your letter, so your PS serves to further their interest in reading everything.

2)      The P.S. can summarize your offer, for the impatient “page jumper.”

3)      The P.S. can emphasize the most important benefit (which means, of course, you must first identify what that is.)

In letters, I’ve found that multiple P.S.’s almost always outperform a single P.S., and find that most pro copywriters also utilize this technique.

If you are looking for some ways to make your PS’s stand out, here are some tricks you might try:

  • Vary the typestyle
  • Vary the point size
  • Use all caps (only if the P.S. is very brief)
  • Put it in color
  • Put it in handwriting
  • Put it in a box with a screened color behind it
  • In handwriting, run up the side of the letter as if you ran out of space at the bottom of the page

Sometimes you may choose to use the P.S. to somehow “up the ante” beyond everything offered and described in the main letter, such as introducing (yet) another bonus or strengthening the guarantee.

You might also add testimonials in P.S.’s to reinforce your message, add credibility and serve as a tipping point for the reader who is on the fence.

How long should a P.S. be? The longest PS that I’ve ever used in a successful sales letter was 2 ½ pages long. The shortest: two sentences.

One of the ways people recall information is “first and last.” That means that they tend to remember what you say at the beginning and what you say at the end, forgetting what is said in the middle.  So whatever you put in your P.S. must not only be powerful and persuasive but must, in effect, condense summarize and deliver your entire pitch, which is anything but trivial.

NOTE:  The truth is EVERY element in your copy should be given thought to—what its function is, just as much as the P.S. Because the job of your copy is to sell. And in order to do that, you must know and understand the “must have” elements of super powerful copy. In fact, this is so important that I recommend you have a checklist, template or method of ensuring all elements are included—every time.

Which is why, NOW through Midnight on June 17, 2013 GKIC is giving you the perfect template for this…a template that can explode your advertising and marketing results: Cash Copy Clinic with a GIGANTIC BONUS!!!

Not only does Cash Copy Clinic identify  these “must have” elements, but lays out a simple, easy-to-repeat eight-step sequence for creating copy that sells.

Get Cash Copy Clinic Now With the Gigantic Bonus!

When you order by midnight on June 17, 2013, you’ll not only get this for just $297 but you’ll also receive a very special bonus gift.

Gigantic Bonus Gift: Sales Letter Template (Worth Thousands !?!) — The #1 reason businesses fail is because their marketing message is too confusing or they hit on the wrong points or it’s all about them.  Well right now, when you get Cash Copy Clinic, I’ll include a true sales letter template.  Not simply an example, or swipe file piece, but an actual fill in the blank template.  Imagine having to spend less than an hour creating a totally customized sales letter using a template that has worked hundreds (and maybe thousands) of times to earn 5-6 figures of income in a single weekend.  Well you don’t have to imagine it anymore, you simply have to get Cash Copy Clinic now and I’ve included this one-time bonus for you for to put your success on overdrive!

To Get the FREE Gift and Cash Copy Clinic NOW click here!

Six Strategies To Stop Online Visitors From Abandoning Your Website?

By: Dave Dee on: June 11th, 2013 2 Comments

The other day I overheard a story all too familiar…

A businessman was complaining that he’d spent thousands of dollars on his website, yet only 1% to 2% of prospects were actually responding.

Understandably the man wanted to know how to reach the other 98%.

It’s a pretty common problem…

Yet many business owners don’t even know they are “losing” 98% of the visitors to their site.

But here’s the thing. It doesn’t have to be that way.

And, as a small business, if you set up your website right, you actually can do something that in the past was impossible to do:

You can compete against big business.

Because on the web you have the same amount of real estate space as the “big boys.” Think about it…your web page is the same size as the next guy’s, no matter how big a company they are.

In fact, when you apply the secrets we share with you here at GKIC, you may even have an advantage over larger companies.

Today I’ll give you six tips for making your website reach more than the all-too-typical 1 to 2%:

Six easy tips to help your website convert better:

1)      Make it clear what you want people to do.  On every page you should make it clear what you want people to do. Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter? Get more information about your product? Contact you? Buy your product? Tell them exactly what you want them to do and you’ll improve your odds of them doing it.

2)      Use the same language on your navigation buttons as you do in your copy. For example, if you use “white paper” in your copy don’t use the word “report” on your navigation button.  This is confusing to readers and makes them think they are in the wrong place.

3)      Use links in your copy to help people move to the next page. When you reference a product, service, event, article, etc. found on your own website, be sure to link to it. This way you make it easy for your potential consumer to find what they are looking for without having to scroll or waste time searching for something.

4)      Carefully choose what you actively promote on your home page.  When offering multiple products or services, don’t try to give equal space on your home page to everything you offer.  This is confusing and overwhelming.  Plus, by giving readers only a few choices, you are clear on what you want your customer to do.

For example, an appliance repair company might service a variety of types of appliances and brands of appliances. Rather than trying to list every single type of appliance from a washing machine to a dryer to a stove to a refrigerator to a dishwasher, etc. you might want to focus on the appliance most frequently repaired. Let’s say 65% of your repairs are to refrigerators and brings in the bulk of your income. By devoting more of your home page space on refrigerator repairs, it’s easier to instantly see you provide that service, raising your relevancy to that 65% who visits your website.

5)      Use direct response copy. Your website should have all the elements of good direct response copy. Don’t forget to use headlines, sub-heads, offers, proof, guarantees, etc. to sell your products and services.  Not sure what is meant by “direct response?”  Then you need to check out Magnetic Marketing (test it here for 30 Days for just $1)

6)      Make your copy front and center. Don’t let graphics and design push your professionally crafted selling copy to the side. The most successful websites rake in sales by making sure their copy is front and center.

Make these simple changes and instead of 98% of your prospects abandoning your website with little to no chance of returning, you’ll get them to take some action, putting you one step closer to converting them to a paying customer.

NOTE: You’re invited to a very unique and unusual online event with Dan Kennedy. (Even better it’s FREE) This is a rare opportunity because the information Dan will share, up until now, has only been shared with a few of his premium clients. Come behind closed doors as Dan holds a LIVE training in front of a studio audience where he’ll reveal his secret online strategies. No that wasn’t a typo—I said his online strategies – the secret ones!.

You see, although Dan mostly “pleads the fifth” when it comes to the internet, he devises strategies and crafts entire websites for clients. In fact, the “Who’s Who” of Internet marketing such as Yanik Silver, Frank Kern, and Rich Schefren credit Dan for the major influence on their methods and success.

There is very limited space. So if you want to find out the same big money-making secrets Dan gives his premium clients including the top Internet Gurus, and want your website to convert better and to experience your own online success, be sure to sign up and be in attendance.

Click here to sign up now or go to www.dankennedy.com/internetsecrets

There is no charge for this and you can watch conveniently from your home.

3 Internet Marketing Truths You Should Know To Make Money Online

By: Dan Kennedy on: June 7th, 2013 2 Comments

When it comes to the internet, I mostly “plead the Fifth”, but I work with it as marketing media just about every day. Not directly: it is absolutely true that I am not connected to it, never use it personally, never go look, meander or play.

The way I order a book from Amazon is by scribbling the title on a scrap of paper for Vicky. But I write tons of copy for it, devise integrated offline-online strategies, craft entire web sites, develop online video, and work with clients large and small who make millions of dollars with MY online strategies and suggestions. The “Who’s Who” of internet marketing gurus and experts all credit me for major influence on their methods and success, from Yanik Silver to Frank Kern and Rich Schefren and, well, you name somebody.

But much more importantly, I guide clients and GKI members in diverse businesses, in REAL businesses to treasure on the internet. I’m not selling “get rich on the internet”, but I certainly help a lot of people in doing exactly that.

In the past 12 months alone, I have BUILT successful marketing involving online media for a high-end financial advisor targeting 55 to 70 year old clientele, a group of health care practices, a non-profit, and, of course, a number of info-marketers.

There are also a number of enduring, on-going online selling sites I’ve created or consulted with clients on – one, notably, has been producing no less than $50,000.00 a month for almost 4 years. Truth is, I’m probably responsible for more money being made online (selling things other than: how to make money online) than most if not all of the names you associate with the internet.

The legitimate leaders of the field hold me in high regard. I have a note from Yanik Silver that includes “thank you for being one of the three people I credit with my achieving financial independence.”

Tim Ferris, best known for his mega-bestseller “The 4-Hour Workweek,” says he found one of my books when he was in high school(!) and has read it 5 times since – he called it “steroids for your entrepreneurial cortex.” He also credits me as one of the two authors who “completely changed the way I think about work and enabled me to create a life of adventure and meaning.” I understand that he very recently wrote about me in one of his blog posts.

I know such quotes reference big, broad things, not the micro-mechanics, try to use and do everything that can be used and done, and lose sight of WHY you are doing them and what the stardards for choosing an measuring results should be. You can fall down a rabbit-hole into a wonderland of media and tools and activities – and be trapped there.

There are Three Internet Marketing Truths You Should Know To Make Money Online:

  • First, there are marketing and selling principles valid with every media including all online media.
  • Two, there is an ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF B.S. about online floated about and popularized by people who do not understand the essential principles and IDEAS they speak of as if facts – these “online is unique,” new metrics, online only folks are just the same as the Amish, except they have iPads instead of horses and buggies; they live in their own little world.
  • Three, there is a constructive, productive way to think about the internet and online media. It is not a new god to be worshiped. It’s not a wizardly magic wand. But it does provide a portfolio of legitimate opportunities.

These are the three things I’ll be talking about during my LIVE internet video session being broadcast on Monday, July 1st from 11AM to 3PM ET

Click HERE to Sign Up Now…or got to www.dankennedy.com/internetsecrets

This is stuff I’ve previously ONLY shared with a rare few of my premium Private Clients…who invested serious change to let me bend their
ears with this information.

It’s definitely NOT in my comfort zone to share these insights on the cheap… let alone for FREE like this webinar will be… but I’m setting better judgment aside as I’ve been told by my compadres at GKIC that this info is crucially required by their members at this point in time.

They want to make this our gift to you.

So be it. I suggest you take full advantage by registering now.

Click HERE to Sign Up Now

 

4 Steps To Profitably Marketing & Branding Yourself, Your Product & Your Company

By: Dave Dee on: May 20th, 2013 3 Comments

Remember the film, “Jurassic Park”… where massive monsters from the past roamed free to devour any and all who made the mistake of getting too close?

Great fun. If you were on the “dining”  side of the equation.  But that’s how it goes in the jungle… and often enough, in business as well.

Which brings up a question… ask yourself this:  “Am I a big-dumb-but-happy Dinosaur company?”

If the answer is YES…………………THEN you don’t need to read any further. What you’ll learn here won’t matter a hill of beans…. you’re already too far up the food chain for what I’m going to discuss.

Eat hearty my friends.

On the other hand….

If the answer is NO…………………THEN there’s still hope to avoid some serious mistakes you could be making in regards to the way you look at BRANDING (and marketing) your products and services.

The 4 Steps To Profitably Marketing & Branding Yourself, Your Product and Your Company from my friend and business leader Eben Pagan reveals many strategies and pitfalls at length.

Big-Dumb-Happy Dinosaurs can afford to burn cash willy-nilly…at least for a while, nothing lasts forever. Their reasoning when it comes to branding is purely DEFENSIVE – they’re king of the forest and therefore feel the need to roar as loud as possible to scare away competitors large and small.

That’s NOT the right approach for the nimble, up-and-coming entrepreneur… instead, you want to apply the principles of “Direct Branding” to make your business resonate on a deep, emotional, even primordial level with your prospects.

You see… way back in prehistoric times, today’s lumbering corporate thunder lizards were mere slithering shadows of their current selves… but they grew to gargantuan status through the use of these very same “direct branding” principles.

And the good news for you is that YOU can leverage “direct branding” in YOUR business. It’s all spelled out in the brand new report from my friend Eben Pagan, entitled:

“The Profitable Marketing & Branding Manifesto – How To Market & Brand Yourself, Your Product & Your Business”

Inside, you’ll discover:

>> Why most companies use the WRONG approach to branding when they spend money to market themselves… which does nothing to expand market share and instead could well lead them down the path of extinction!

>> What branding actually is, and how the key ways it works to trigger powerful responses on a deep psychological and emotional level

>> How to combine your direct marketing and branding together… creating a POWERFUL synergy that established an instant and irresistable connection with your prospects… you’ll be able to communicate your messages in a way that’s infinitely more powerful than you ever imagined possible.

>> The secret to leveraging these strategies to acquire MANY more customers, expand your business, and also grow your profits and income!

The report works in tandem with a step-by-step video from Eben where he takes you by the hand through the process of identifying your own brand “hot buttons” and then using the strategies to build your brand and massively increase your sales.

It’s all here, all FREE, and you can get it NOW by clicking here!

Grab it now and discover how you can turn your current business into a awe-inspiring marketing monster!

NOTE: This report and FREE video training will be taken down soon, so click now before you lose your chance to get this information.

Hunt “Whales” And Get Rich…

By: Dan Kennedy on: December 26th, 2012 10 Comments

January marks my 40th year in this business.

I have sold myself as a consultant, a copywriter, a speaker. I’ve sold products through info-marketing.  You can see a pretty complete list by clicking here…and even find a number of my info-marketing products at 25% through the end of the year.

I’ve sold my services and products in wildly prosperous times when customers were practically falling over themselves buying. And I’ve sold my services and products during dark times, with a shrinking economy, and seemingly nowhere in sight.

At the recent GKIC Info-Summit, legendary copywriter John Carlton joined me, and we presented three sessions on copywriting. John isn’t actively seeking new clients nor am I, but we both know there are “whales” in that pond and by sheer force of habit, we want to be seen by them, showing off.  (In the casino industry, a “whale” is a high-roller; a rich, repeat customer. I use the term to mean a desirable, valuable client.)

In this instance, John picked up a nice chunk of change from purchases of his copywriting course in “back of the room sales.” I was compensated too, by my relationship with GKIC.

Speaking on Peter Lowe’s Success tour, I built my herd (and my income) by sending letters to everyone in attendance, whether they stayed to see me or not.

I did not always get to show off in such nice places or in front of such qualified prospects. However even in the most unlikely places, I’ve found speaking a great way to grow my business.

I recall a bad speaking gig  in the 90’s, done as a favor, with a room of utterly unqualified prospects—but for one guy, who had just sold his company for $50 million.  He wanted to be a famous author and speaker, and paid me six figures to be his ghost writer and copywriter. This sort of thing is whale-hunting in the desert. There’s no good reason to expect any to be there, but then again you never know.  So you always show off what you know.

There were times I was on panels, with others better known than I, but a chance to show off, which I took, and used more smartly than the others, showing off broader knowledge. And I snagged a whales.

You may be about to tell me that showing off isn’t natural for you. That the very idea of speaking to a group terrifies you.  That you are shy.  Or that you find all this unseemly.  Or worst, that you resent it, and feel entitled to get work as whatever your profession is because you are skilled or talented at “whatever your profession” is.

Sorry, you’re not entitled to anything by skill or talent.

Even the U.S. Constitution was wisely written to guarantee only the right of pursuit of.  Nothing more. They said: go get it if you can.  And none of it has to come naturally or easily to you.  That, fortunately, is not a prerequisite for success. I stuttered uncontrollably in childhood and never totally erased it. I’m an anti-social, reclusive, bookworm by nature, not a born performer. I learned to show-off. So you can decide whether you want to stay glued to whatever your reasons are that you “can’t” or “shouldn’t have to” do these things, or you can be rich.

In speaking at GKIC Info-Summit, John and I know for certain there are whales. Whether you are in a room that is certain to have whales, or not, it is better to be showing off somewhere than nowhere.  And these days with the Internet, you can conduct webinars and promote them broadly and cheaply and hunt for whales at home. There is someplace available to you today and every day; to show off what you know.

NOTE:  As I mentioned, I’ve been in this business 40 years. I am in the trenches and intimately involved with clients’ and my own info-marketing on a day to day basis, adjusting to (and coping with!) changes, creating new blueprints as needed, creating new opportunities, making millions of dollars materialize from the thin air if ideas and initiative. I also have the richest background from long tenure and broad diversity in the field, dating back a full 40 YEARS (!) from 2013.

I’m currently preparing, re-assembling, re-organizing, up-dating, fully detailing everything I’ve learned in those 40 years, and presenting it at The A-Z Info-Biz Blueprints Re-Boot. This will be the most complete and detailed and valuable multi-day training on this business that has ever been built. So if you’re serious about adding substantial income to your bottom line, then this is the place to learn how to do that. To Learn More About This Event Click Here

 

Young Entrepreneurs…How To Lay The Foundation Today For Your Children’s Business Success Tomorrow…

By: Darcy Juarez on: December 18th, 2012 2 Comments

One of my goals for 2013 is to see more people learn what direct response marketing is and how to get results with it.

And while there are a whole lot of people that don’t know about it yet, one change I’d love to see is in teaching people about it at a younger age.

This year, “Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day” program will be celebrated Thursday, April 25, 2013.

The day was originally started as the “Take Our Daughters to Work” program in 1993, but was extended to include boys in 2003.

The idea is to give children an opportunity to explore careers at an early age.

More intriguing to me is the idea of teaching young people what they aren’t learning in school about running a successful business.

At GKIC, VP of Business Development, Aaron Halderman, has four daughters. He is teaching his four daughters about how to run a successful business and even helping them to start their own business.

Last year at SuperConference (he’s also scheduled for 2013) you heard from former CEO of Guerilla Marketing and Founder of Icon Builder David Fagan, on how he helped his daughter, Jordan start a business www.cashclubkids.com when she was 12 years old.  She has also co-authored a book, “How to Make it Big by 17.”

Recently I heard from another GKIC member who said her 16 and 20-year-old nieces, after she told them about Dan Kennedy and what he does, have asked for some of his books  for Christmas. The 20 year old, despite being a graphic arts major and learning marketing at a prestigious college had never heard of direct response marketing.

A couple of weeks ago, Forbes Magazine ran an article on the CEO of Ann Taylor and founder of billion dollar women’s clothing retailer LOFT, Kay Krill.

One of the things Krill discussed was an initiative Ann Taylor is doing called ANNpower Vital Voices Initiative which gives grants and mentoring to high-school girls. The company is investing $1.3 million in the program to develop young women.

Krill said the initiative honors 50 girls each year who help their community be better. They also provide leadership training, grants and mentoring to high school girls. As one of the few women to achieve high level leadership status (less than 4% of CEO’s are women and only 15% are board members,) Krill said she doesn’t believe girls get enough leadership training.

She also believes that women have a hard time figuring out how to have a family and a career at the same time. Krill said she was mentored by Shelly Lazarus, former CEO of Ogilvy & Mather and currently serving as chairman emeritus, who is a mother of four children. She said Lazarus helped her figure out how to juggle both family and career.

Krill’s secret to doing both?

She said Lazarus told her you have to “jettison the people and things out of your life that don’t matter, and focus on what’s meaningful to you.”  Krill says that “Nobody can have it all! Men or women. But you can have what you want if you focus on it and figure it out.”

I want to say that while I’m talking about women here, this applies to men too. Men also have to balance family and careers. Boys also have to learn about direct response marketing and how to run a successful business. Just like women, when you focus on your development and ambition and look to mentors  who have reached the success you desire, you can figure it out and accomplish whatever you want too.

The other thing I want to mention to the men is that the women in your life need your support —whether it’s your wife or your daughter—or whether you are a peer or mentor to women. You play a significant role in their development (and vice-versa, of course.)

I’d like to hear from our GKIC members—what are you doing to mentor your sons, daughters and young people on running a successful business? What do you think young people need to learn more of in order to rise to the top down the road in their careers and businesses? Post your comments in the comment section below.

NOTE: David Ogilvy said, “If you always hire people who are smaller than you are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. If, on the other hand, you always hire people who are bigger than you are, we shall become a company of giants.”

In 2013, why not help a young person become a giant. We are holding the  2nd Annual Next Level Summit for  Women Entrepreneurs   February 8-10 (with a special appearance by Dan Kennedy) lead by successful women who have risen to the top in their field.

You’ll have access to the most powerful direct response strategies available today with the focus on bringing forward successful women role models that you may have not had the chance to see at other GKIC events. Instead of bringing your daughter to work, why not bring your daughter(s) to this event?

It will give you an opportunity to expose them to mentors and role models that can inspire them in new ways. Because as a parent you know that despite you being a successful business owner yourself, sometimes other role models can inspire in ways you can’t.

Until 12/31/12 you can attend this $997 event for FREE (just a small deposit to hold your seat)… see all the details at www.gkicwomen.com

How To Sell Better, Even If You Aren’t A Skilled Copywriter

By: Dan Kennedy on: December 11th, 2012

A recent encounter at Info-Summit reminded me of a powerful technique you can use to multiply your income…

You can use this whether you are experienced or not, have skill or not, or know very little or a lot about your industry. In fact, even if you consider yourself an amateur copywriter, you can use this to out-perform an experienced pro.

It’s a rare secret advantage far too few businesses use. It’s revealed in a story about a young baseball player…

The year was 1907.

Frank Bettger was fired from Johnstown Pennsylvania, Triple State baseball team.

Shocked, he went to his manager and asked him

Frank Bettger was fired from Johnstown Pennsylvania, Triple State baseball team.

Shocked, he went to his manager and asked him why.

His manager told him that he was lazy and told him he dragged himself around the field. Believing himself ambitious and wanting to get to the top, that was the last thing Bettger expected to hear.

His manager’s parting words, “Wake yourself up, and put some life and enthusiasm into your work!”

Bettger reported to his new team in Chester, Pennsylvania where he took a pay cut from $175 per month to just $25 a month.

Bettger says, “Well, I couldn’t feel very enthusiastic on that kind of money, but I began to act enthusiastic.”

His new enthusiasm gained him a trial at a team in New Haven, Connecticut. Inspired, he made up his mind to establish himself as “the most enthusiastic ball player they’d ever seen.”

It paid off. In just ten days he raised his salary 700%, from $25 per month to $185 per month..

Within two years he was playing third base for the St. Louis Cardinals, multiplying his income thirty times.  Bettger says, “I got this stupendous increase in salary not because I couldn’t throw a ball better—or catch or hit better, not because I had any more ability as a ball player…Enthusiasm alone did it.”

Later, after a bad accident forced Bettger to give up baseball entirely, he returned home and began selling insurance.

After ten months of miserably failing as an insurance salesman, Bettger believed he was no good at selling and would never succeed.

Remember the lesson he’d learned from his manager in baseball, Bettger decided he would put enthusiasm into selling insurance. He soon discovered that he could make up for a lack of experience, a lack of skill, and a lack of know-how in selling with sufficient enthusiasm—but that no amount of skill and know-how can make up for the absence of enthusiasm. Using enthusiasm he turned his life and income around, becoming one of the highest paid salesmen in America.  Frank Bettger reveals that “enthusiasm makes a difference” in his book,  How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success in Selling and observes:

“Enthusiasm is by far the highest paid quality on earth, probably because it is one of the rarest; yet it is one of the most contagious.”

Enthusiasm is just as important in print as in face to face selling.  Infusing your sales letter or advertisement with sincere yet intense enthusiasm is one of the ways an “amateur” copywriter can beat the efforts of an experienced pro.

This is why you can’t just sit down and write your ads, sales letters, and brochures “on command” like you can sit down and do bookkeeping. You have to work up some enthusiasm for the task as well as for the proposition you’ll be putting across.

Imagine your own reaction when you are in a store with someone obviously eager to help you, who looks you in the eye and shows genuine excitement that you are there. Versus someone who acts like you’re interrupting what they are doing or as if they don’t care whether you buy something or not. Written copy can have the same effect.

If I’m going to write first thing in the morning, as I often do, I try to set my subconscious mind working on that particular project while I sleep. Sometimes I wake up with the “big idea” I need. Other times, I wake up with ideas and a readiness to write.

I don’t think you should force yourself to “grind out” direct-response copy when you don’t really feel like it; the result will be flat and mechanically assembled; it may be technically correct in that it has a headline, subheads, bullet points, an offer, a P.S., etc., but it will lack spirit.

However, forcing yourself to be enthusiastic works. Bettger said that when he forced himself to act enthusiastic, he soon found himself enthusiastic.

The person who is genuinely enthusiastic about what he is selling definitely has an advantage. If you feel you could use a boost in enthusiasm, try recording the sales pitch from your most enthusiastic salesperson, and transfer it to paper.

Never underestimate the power of enthusiasm and the advantage it can give you. Over the years, the clients I’ve done the best work for and have been the most successful with have been passionate and enthusiastic about what they sell.

NOTE: If you plan to hire a copywriter to give you an advantage, be sure to read GKIC’s free report, “The 7 Key Questions Every Copywriter You Hire MUST Be Able to Answer To Write Killer Direct Response Copy and Create Marketing Campaigns That Will Outsell The Pants Off Your Competition!” Get your FREE copy here

Fill This Gaping Hole In Your Persuasion Strategy Immediately…

By: Dan Kennedy on: November 20th, 2012 2 Comments

The beginning of this month during GKIC’s INFO-Summit, I had the opportunity to present insights on copywriting alongside ‘master of dark arts copywriting extraordinaire’ and fellow grizzled veteran of many wars, John Carlton.

John worked with Sir Gary Halbert, Prince of Print, intimately, for many years, thus earning a Purple Heart and a grand collection of stories; most not suitable for public telling.

Carlton is a renaissance man, rich with life experience and right up at the very top of the list of Living Greats.

We both have our Halbert connections and remember our times with Gary fondly (even the ones that scared us) and value our lessons learned from Gary highly. We are both troubled by the lack of depth of knowledge we observe in many newcomers to direct marketing and copywriting.

Anyway, Carlton and I go way back to when mastery mattered, and people like he and I aspired to it, worked at it, fought for it, paid hefty dues for it.

It’s something as a marketer you should be thinking about too.

As I mentioned in this month’s No B.S. Marketing Letter (if you aren’t currently receiving the No B.S. Marketing Letter, you can get two free months of it here), ‘just because you think you can’t doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.’

Many people think they can’t write or think they write well enough. These trains of thought mean in their minds they think they need not make an effort to learn more or aspire to know more.

On the flip side, entrepreneurs who are the ones that tend to hang out at the top of the money pyramid and are on the most successful, most enviable businesses list, pay top dollar to acquire the best copywriters they can afford, and study what works and what doesn’t.

Whether you think you can write and do, think you can and don’t, or think you can’t and don’t, working to understand copy techniques that drive response is a path worth pursuing.

When you do, you can look to boost your response and achieve exceptional return on investment.

When you don’t, a belief that direct-response copy doesn’t work, an argument that long copy fails, and ‘your business is somehow different’ will most likely be your party line.  You’ll also be hanging at the bottom of the money pyramid, with your main marketing strategy being to discount your products and services.

If you think you can write, but have never studied from copywriting masters and don’t continue your pursuit of good copy, danger lurks. Swiping bad copy because your competitor or a big brand name is using it. Presenting a perhaps, well-written message that doesn’t appeal what-so-ever to your target audience.

Believing you can write and choosing to hire a copywriter can have similar consequences. There are many copywriters out there. A few exceptional. Some pretty good. Many mediocre to not so good to awful.  The fact that so many businesses don’t pay attention to their copywriting puts you at a huge advantage when you take the time to educate yourself on the science of good copy.

Note I say science, not art, as USA Today would have you believe per their “Win $1 million in free ad space” contest. Copy is a science. There are precise reasons for doing one thing over another. Using certain words, techniques or strategies in one situation and choosing to not use them in other circumstances.

So when you hire someone to write your copy, it is critical, to have an idea that what you are being handed is reliably good.

Yes, not every piece of copy is going to work as well as you’d like or expect—but this is not the way to decide if you should hire a copywriter or not.

Knowing that you are looking at reasonably good copy and understanding why it’s good will help you make better decisions, hire better copywriters and get better results. (Inside “The 7 Key Questions Every Copywriter You Hire MUST Be Able to Answer To Write Killer Direct Response Copy and Create Marketing Campaigns That Will Outsell The Pants Off Your Competition!” is what every business owner should ask before hiring a copywriter.)

Another reason to pay close attention to your copy has to do with being able to attract customers and clients for whom price is not a determining factor in their purchasing. When I wrote No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent in 2008, I made much of the concentration of both wealth and discretionary spending power in the hands of leading edge boomers and seniors. Now in 2012, this is proving true.

Control of money by leading edge boomers and seniors is in the 50% neighborhood. As I show in chapter 12 of my new book, No B.S. Marketing to Leading-Edge Boomers & Seniors, print media and direct mail is vitally important in effectively and successfully marketing to boomers and seniors. This is the media they value, they trust, they pay the most attention to and that they have the most respect for. It requires knowing how to write. Ignore this and you risk half of the population’s money—half of the population that is at the top of the spending pyramid.

Michael Wolff wrote in USA today that “Johnny who can’t write has gone into advertising.” In his article he suggested that all you need to do to get people to pay attention “save Facebook”, “make digital media a decent business” and “move more merchandise” is to bring back the copywriter.

I concur. If you want to stand out among the crowd and rise to the top of the money pyramid—seek out, aspire to and fight for better copy in your ads.  Delay equals lost revenue.  The time is now to fill this gaping hole in your persuasion strategy.

NOTE: Another one of the “living greats” is Mark Ford (aka Michael Masterson). The chief strategist behind taking AGORA Publishing, the largest internet-based publishing company in the world, from $8 million to $380 Million Mark is notoriously known for taking one business from $180,000 to $135 Million in 11 years.

He too found it disturbing that there was a lack of depth and knowledge in copy-writing—so he co-founded AWAI specifically for the purpose of teaching people how to understand and execute the science of copy-writing.

He spoke a couple of years ago at SuperConference. His wisdom in regards to business and intimate knowledge of copy-writing are worth paying attention to. Here’s a free essay by Mark written for GKIC readers: [link to pdf by Mark Ford]

The One Simple Difference Between Top Income Earners And Everyone Else…

By: Dan Kennedy on: October 23rd, 2012 3 Comments

Recently, having trekked to four cities in four days on my book promotion tour for my new book No B.S. Guide to Trust-Based Marketing, I received a question.

I was traveling with the sponsor team on a Lear jet, moving at the end of each day’s event to the next city.

Everybody on the team knows I write books, newsletters, and other products as well as advertising copy for clients.

So one asked what I liked writing best.

I said: BIG numbers on bank deposit slips.

One of the things that will help you to write big numbers on your bank slips is having a system in place continually that brings you in new clients…the right ones in abundance of what you need.

If you do not have a system operating well and you have bills to pay, you end up living a big chunk of your business life “on the edge.”  Meaning if a customer decides not to give you their business it becomes a HUGE deal.  When so much is riding on so few decisions, you essentially hand over control of your business to your prospects and clients.

Which often results in you pricing your products and services too low.  Plus you act like you’re a little too desperate for their business which is a bright red flag to even the most eager-to-buy prospects.

Freedom in business means not putting yourself in a position where you have to worry if a particular prospect says “yes” or “no” to you.

Your goal is to be in the position where you have the option of saying “Next” to a prospect that doesn’t see the value in what you’re offering.  That’s where you want to be.

Having a client-getting, money-making, choice-giving, machine tirelessly working for you day and night is great for your peace of mind.

Waking up each morning and having emails in your in-box from customers, clients or patients that want to give you money is a very nice way to start the day.

So how do you make it happen?

You should strive for a fusion of advertising, marketing and selling, rather than a separation of these as isolated component parts.

And  strive for the zero-resistance, automatic, natural close.

This means that what occurs before the actual selling begins is just as important (if not more) than the actual close.  (I talk about this at length in the Five Sales Breakthroughs in Sales & Persuasion Strategies)

When prospects are properly selected, properly attracted, properly prepared and conditioned, and isolated in a no-competition zone, selling takes care of itself, closing is automatic.

This leads to the customers, clients or patients waiting for you each day when you wake up.

This leads to your choice of who you work with and what your time is worth.

And it leads to the freedom you desire.  In other words, you no longer feel like you’re captive to an individual prospect for the survival of your business.

There is one simple difference between top income earners in your business who enjoy more clients, customers or patients outside their door than they let in and all the wannabees…

…having a proven reliable feeder system.

Developing information products as part of this feeder system is one of the best ways I know to do this.

My four-city tour in four-days was grueling and unpleasant, hot, stuffy, cramped, back achey… exhausting.  Yet I was promoting my latest information product—my newest marketing book (No B.S. Guide to Trust-Based Marketing) from which, my feeder system will be kept alive and well and functioning. It will keep me visible, and present another set of ideas to my audience out of which my next new client will rise and a past, inactive client who may be raised up once again.

This is the power of information-marketing: it helps you to properly select, attract, prepare and condition clients, customers and patients –condition them so they decide to choose your product or choose your service over your competitors without question.  In other words, they are pre-determined to buy from you.

Being able to earn your desired living, and operate FREE OF FEAR, able to turn away a past client you’ve outgrown or a new client who’s a poor fit without an ounce of worry over doing so, this IS a wonderful thing. And you can create that reality for yourself simply by developing information products as part of your feeder system.

NOTE:  For more information on this subject, join us for the LIVE Video training that GKIC Chief Marketing Officer Dave Dee will deliver at 8PM ET tonight entitled:  “The Soup To Nuts Info-Marketing Blueprint: How to Expand Your Influence (& Your Bank Account) in Just 90 Days or Less!”

Dave’s going to give you a REAL cook’s tour of the information marketing business to reveal its secret recipes to creating more security, more streams of income, and more free time…

… and best of all do it in just 90 days or LESS! You will discover:

* A Brain-Dead-S-I-M-P-L-E way to create KILLER info products for pennies on the dollar and faster than a jackrabbit on roller skates!

* The #1 thing your prospects are looking for and exactly the way you need to describe it to draw them irresistibly to you like a moth to a flame!

* In a nutshell – a SIMPLE three-step formula for having a real deal information products business that takes all the head-scratching out of what most Gurus tell you is an extremely complex process… and makes it easy.

* How to turn a single inexpensive product into high priced back-end program worth many thousands of dollars… AND that you can even put on autopilot to generate money for your business over and again like clockwork!

* And a lot more besides!

It’s tonight at 8PM ET sharp. Grab your front row seat here:  Click Here To Sign Up Now!

Send Emails, Cash Checks

By: Darcy Juarez on: October 18th, 2012 4 Comments

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about building a lead generation machine. A key marketing ingredient if you want to stop worrying about where your next customer will come from…

But here’s the thing…

Once you have those leads, they will expect you to sell them something.

There are different vehicles you can use, such as direct mail, email, on the phone or in person, to sell your products and services to these newly acquired leads. I hope that you are using them all.

However, today I want to talk about one specifically…

Selling through email.

Because if you aren’t using it—or if you aren’t making money from your emails, then you are leaving boatloads of money on the table.

Case in point, members of our Expert Advisory Board. The emails they’ve sent have generated millions and millions and millions in sales.

Email marketing can have a huge impact on your business. In fact, Ogilvy Inc. reports that people who subscribe to your email lists and receive email-marketing messages from your company will purchase 167 percent more than people in your marketing database who are not receiving your emails.

Here are three ways you can use email to increase your revenue:

1)     Set up trigger campaigns to improve response.

On top of being cost-effective, email can help you reduce costs in other areas such as lost customer revenue. Set up a trigger campaign that automatically sends emails to welcome new subscribers, follow up on important dates, events, or campaigns or when a customer responds in a certain way or takes a certain action in your campaign.

For example, let’s say you send a postcard to your customers driving them to a landing page advertising an upcoming event. A portion of your customers won’t sign up on that first visit to your landing page. That means you need a way to drive them back to your page or you’ve short-changed your effort. (Especially since 80% of sales are made on or after the 5th contact.)

Setting up a trigger email campaign that has a sequence of messages that address different objections your prospect might have and then driving them back to your event landing page in the right frame of mind can significantly increase your response to that event. In fact, using this type of follow-up email sequence has been shown to double, triple and even quadruple your initial response.

2)     Use email to get valuable information.

These days everybody is crunching numbers to ensure they are being extremely effective and efficient with their marketing dollars.  And understandably so.

Some of the most valuable statistics are the response numbers that roll in after an email campaign is sent out.

Reviewing your numbers will help you spot effective offers, stand out content or subscribers who’d likely respond well to follow up.

Use this information to see what messages are working and incorporate them into your other marketing.

3)     Use email to build brand loyalty.

In today’s down economy, it’s more important than ever to keep your customers happy and engaged.  Consistent emails with interesting and relevant content give you an easy, friendly way to remind your subscribers why they love you.

Plus you can use your email to highlight your company’s best qualities, reward your most loyal customers, convert leads into customers and turn your one-time buyers into repeat customers.

Now that you know some ways you can use email to increase your profits, let me tell you how you can actually end up decreasing your profits with email.

To enjoy the same success as our Expert Advisory Board members, when you want to sell something to your email subscribers, you want to create emails that don’t diminish your reputation…

Because your subscribers are the people who volunteered their email address virtually saying…”Yes, I want to know more about your products and services.”

In other words, they are your best and most valuable prospects.

Unfortunately, many sales emails are so poorly written that they can actually make it more difficult to sell.

You see, marketers tend to view their subscriber list as “property” instead of the valuable asset it is. So they blast their list with emails not thinking about the massive competition for their customer’s attention.

Like you, they’ve signed up for all different kinds of e-newsletters. They may not be completely loyal or only slightly interested in what you offer. So if you aren’t taking care to write your sales emails in the right way, you can end up disappointing them and losing them forever.

A great example of this is from a friend of mine who told me she stopped shopping at one of her favorite clothing stores, Coldwater Creek.

When asked why she stopped shopping there, she told me it was because of the emails she received from them. Pressed further, she said that while she expected to receive emails selling her stuff, she didn’t expect that every email she received from them would be a discount sales flyer.

She told me she had always thought of them as more upscale than that and the emails changed her perception of them.

There are some important points you can take from this, the first of which is that she expected them to sell to her through email and the second is that the way they did it damaged their reputation.

So while a good marketing plan will continue to use a variety of marketing channels, using email is a cost-effective way to leverage your subscriber behavior and use the data to target consumers making your mailings more effective and, most importantly, more profitable.

Plus, it can be used as an influencer to drive more sales while reducing your operating costs.

But remember, the content has to be killer or you can damage your reputation and lose your customers, even loyal ones, forever.

NOTE: If you would like to know how to send e-mails to your list that generate sales instead of damaging your reputation, tune in tonight, October 18, 2012 at 8:00 PM ET to hear Dave Dee reveal “How to Write Subliminally Persuasive Emails that Generate Sales Like Magic in 9 Minutes or Less!” Sign up here.