Posted by:
John Newtson
September 29, 2007
Issue #243
- How over-hyped sales copy built a $5 million business in 2 years, and killed it in five …
- Why the promotion you THINK is your biggest winner could be the cause of your falling profits …
- This famous marketer’s simple strategy is the key to building long-term, profitable customer relationships …
- And much, much more!
Dear Business Builder,
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
And in direct marketing, your numbers are your eyes.
Without understanding them you could be blind to the fact that the biggest winner you’ve ever had is actually killing your business.
And after months or years of throwing good money after bad you’ll be forced to close up shop, scratching your head and wondering what the heck happened.
Don’t assume you’re immune – it even happens to sophisticated marketers.
Direct mail guru Denny Hatch once revealed how a postcard “control” for a magazine subscription was really a loser from the perspective of a year down the road.
How? Because customers who signed up using the “FREE subscription” post card offer didn’t renew their subscriptions. And what’s the “second-sale” in the subscription business? Right, the renewal.
So getting the first subscription isn’t the money-maker – getting the renewal is. Turns out, postcard subscribers who just had to drop a pre-printed card into the mail weren’t committed readers like the folks who came in through a sales letter.
But marketers, blind to the long-term behavior of the customer, thought that because the post card mailing produced a higher response, it must be better than the sales letter.
Who knows how much money they poured down the drain to get those useless subscribers? And who knows how long they would have kept throwing good money after bad chasing bad customers while ignoring good customers if no one had bothered to check their long term behavior?
Tracking customers can be a huge task. For starters, though, check out David Dittman’s article on How to track an ad campaign.
How over-hyped sales copy can kill your business
Michael Masterson of Early To Rise once wrote about how over-the-top, unrestrained sales copy built a $5 million business in two years, and killed it in five.
Why? Because it wasn’t bringing in quality buyers (they were spending about one-fifth of what they should have been). In this case, Michael explained the problem:
“The reason is simple. Your customers may initially be responsive to bells and whistles, but in the long run what they want from you is honesty, sincerity, integrity, and value.
“Yes, you can make quick bucks in the direct-marketing business by bowling your customers over with inflated claims and exaggerated promises and hyperbolic language – but those bucks won’t keep coming once they figure out who you really are and what you’re really up to.”
Your sales copy, every last bit of it from your customer acquisition to your house file promotions, contributes to the experience your customer has with you and your business.
Direct marketing as a sales channel is a relationship business. You make your money on the second, third and fourth sales. That means the longer customers stay with you, the more profitable your business is.
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Posted by:
Carline Anglade-Cole
September 27, 2007
Issue #241
Man, I just got a SCREAMIN’ bargain!
My oldest daughter is getting married and I needed to find a dress for the wedding. One thing I knew for certain: I’m not wearing a traditional mother-of-the bride sequined jacket/gown combo!
It’s scary enough that my daughter is turning me into a mother-in-law. I’m definitely not going to LOOK like one! In other words, I needed a dress that says …
KABOOM!
And my cousin Sandy found it for me online!
It was at Nordstrom’s and the gown cost $508!
Yikes! I wanted KABOOM not Ka-ching!
But I went to the mall to try on the dress anyway. Well, they didn’t have it at my local Nordstrom’s – but I did find an identical dress at Macy’s – and it cost $200! Now, we’re getting closer to my comfort price zone. But wait …
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Posted by:
Daniel Levis
September 26, 2007
Issue #240
In this issue:
- The seed that sprouts the sale …
- Five steps to obliterating the price objection …
- When hard becomes easy …
- I bet you didn’t know this about book titles …
- And more!
Dear Web Business Builder,
If you’re just joining us, this week I’m debriefing last week’s discussion of Milton Erickson’s teaching tales. Thanks to everyone who posted a comment and shared their insights.
From the responses, I can see that many of you are already familiar with Erickson, probably through the work of John Grinder and Richard Bandler who codified Erickson’s (and other noted therapists) techniques into a process known as NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).
Still more of you are probably familiar with Anthony Robbins, who with the help of Guthey Renker commercialized NLP for mucho moolah via late night infomercials. So it’s not surprising that some of you describe Erickson’s techniques in NLP terms …
Bob Clarke writes:
“Dr. Erickson always "joined" his clients in their model of the world. Entered the conversation they were having in their head.”
There is a difference between the world and our perception of it. Human beings do not operate in the world directly. Each of us creates a representation of our world – a map or model through which we interact with reality. And this map determines to a large degree what our experience of the world will be … what choices we will be able to see and make as we live our lives … and the behaviors we will adopt.
Regardless of what it is you’re selling, your prospects are thinking certain things about the problems they are trying to solve, and the opportunities they hope to exploit. And that means they also have feelings about those things. Taken together, these thoughts and feelings comprise their model of the world as it relates to your product or service. If your headline and opening copy fail to instantly harmonize with that model, your copy will fall on deaf ears.
To try and impose your own model of the world on another in an attempt to influence them doesn’t work. As Bob puts it, you must enter the conversation that’s taking place inside their heads, or they simply won’t hear a word you say. You might as well be speaking another language. As a copywriter, if you can join your prospects in their model of the world, and then gradually extend and mold that model to where you need it to be, you can make more sales.
But there’s more to the story.
The seed that sprouts the sale …
When you join your prospects in their model of the world, you are validating their value as human beings. You are telling them they are right, and that what they are thinking and feeling is important. You are displaying your empathy and building up their self-image. The same occurs when you allow your prospects to take ownership of the conclusions you make through the artful use of questions, as Erickson did in the teaching tales. Why is this so important?
The self-image is the key to selling. People buy things because they see those things helping them to enhance their self-image, although few will admit it, and even fewer realize it. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll see this is true. Think about the last house or car or piece of clothing you bought, and try to remember the thoughts and feelings you experienced at the point of purchase.
If you’re human, you imagined what people would be thinking about YOU as they watched you pull up in that new car …about how impressed – even jealous – your friends and family would be when they came to visit YOU in your new home for the first time … and how strangers would respect YOU when they saw the distinctive style of the clothes you were wearing.
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Posted by:
Troy White
September 25, 2007
Issue #239
In this issue:
-
2 sample letters you can modify and send out right away for generating quick cash flow …
-
Leveraging unusual, silly, even downright ridiculous dates from history for your next blockbuster promotion …
-
FORGET Christmas! Here is what you really should be doing at this time of year for your clients …
- 12 exact dates from the past that may help you make this holiday season your best ever …
- And much more!
Fellow business builder,
We are headed into the busiest season of the year for many businesses. The question is … are you ready for it? What are you doing to plan your promotions and make sure you make the most out of it all?
It’s now time to start planning and preparing for your October and November promotions.
Look at the time it will take to write your promo, organize printing and envelope stuffing, mailing etc. three weeks can fly by in no time.
I am about to hand you some templates
that may work for your business.
You will have to modify them to suit your business and offerings, but these may help you think a little differently about how you can promote yourself, using highly unusual occasions and events from history.
Here are a few upcoming events (with grabber ideas to be attached to top of the letter – see www.orientaltrading.com for a ton of grabber ideas) that tie in nicely to your promotions:
>>>> UPCOMING OCTOBER EVENTS <<<<
DON’T MISS: Canadian Thanksgiving!
No matter where you live or work, you may have Canadian clients on your list… and their Thanksgiving is October 8th (the US Thanksgiving is November 22). Instead of a Christmas card (which is done by EVERYONE), why not send a Thank you card for Thanksgiving?
SAMPLE THANKSGIVING GREETING CARD …
Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!
During this time, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you as a valued client and friend.
So, I have prepared an extra little Thanksgiving surprise for you.
[offer]
You may claim your Thanksgiving present anytime before ________. I do hope you enjoy it.
While it’s on your mind… go to www.yourthanksgivingdaylink.com – to collect your holiday bonanza!
To a great year.
Troy White
>>>>> other side of card <<<<<<
In this season of gratitude,
I give special thanks for your
friendship and support.
Best wishes for a joyous
Thanksgiving holiday!
I hope you have had a fabulous year so far… and that it
only gets better heading into the last of it.
P.S. Remember to claim your thanksgiving present at www.yourthanksgivingdaylink.com
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
September 24, 2007
Issue #238
- The six qualities all great products share …
- How flawed marketing models kill great products and render brilliant sales copy worse than worthless …
- The quickest, easiest way to find the best marketing model for your product …
- And much, MUCH MORE!
Dear Business Builder,
It’s your lucky day: You’ve found a great product to promote.
Maybe it’s a client’s product; maybe it’s your own.
It could be an information product – a book or e-book, newsletter or website membership, an audio or video, a live teleseminar or webinar, a course, conference or a live coaching service – that really does help folks get richer, healthier, thinner, sexier or just plain happier.
Or, maybe it’s a widget – a gadget that slices and dices … or fricassees your chicken in record time … or effortlessly cleans your carpet or de-wrinkles your clothes … or magically transforms a drooping derriere into buns of steel or turns a beer-keg belly into a rock-hard six-pack.
It could even be a service of some kind – something that does things for customers that they can’t do or would rather not do for themselves.
And because your discovery possesses the six qualities grand-slam homerun products share, you suspect you just might have just found the ultimate direct response product:
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