Posted by:
Daniel Levis
December 3, 2008
Issue #559
“If you can channel the tremendous force of belief behind only one claim, no matter how small, then that one fully-believed claim will sell more goods than all the half-questioned promises your competitors can write for the rest of their days.” – Gene Schwartz
Dear Web Business-Builder,
When planning a promotion, there are always things you need your prospects to believe before they will buy.
The idea that not buying your product or service right now would be the epitome of dumbness is just one of them.
On the way to that end goal, there are always supporting conclusions that must be hurdled …
- You may need to convince your prospect that a certain process or method is superior to all others when it comes to solving his particular problem.
- You may need to prove to him that even though your company is small, you can meet his needs.
- You may need to lead him to the conclusion that despite what he perceives as his own limitations, he can succeed with your help … and so on.
Every selling situation has its own unique supporting conclusions.
I think we’re all familiar with the idea of substantiating claims with proof, in the form of testimonials, customer success stories, expert endorsements, the credentials of the seller, and so forth … but these are just a few of the factors that impact belief.
Indeed as I sat down to write this article I counted 20 different mechanisms for getting your prospects to believe what you need them to believe … on the road to buying your product.
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Posted by:
Derek Gehl
December 2, 2008
Issue #558
"If you are not moving closer to what you want in sales (or in life), you probably aren’t doing enough asking."
- Jack Canfield
Dear Business-Builder,
Imagine: After months of hard work, your website is finally live. You’ve officially been open for business an entire week. And yet you haven’t made any sales.
Not. One. Single. Sale.
Argh!
Don’t despair. We’ve all been there. In fact, this is one of the most common problems new Internet entrepreneurs ask me to solve for them.
Here’s something that’ll help ease the pain of turning a "dud" site into one that rakes in the profits: Derek Gehl’s surefire "My Website Ain’t Making Money!" troubleshooting checklist.
If you recently launched a website and aren’t getting the results you expected, you need to ask yourself every single question on the list below, starting with number one. Once you can answer "yes" to all 10 questions, I guarantee the sales will come rolling in.
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
December 1, 2008
Issue #557
Dear Business-Builder,
My dad was old-school all the way. As a male chauvinist of epic proportions, he firmly believed that men were created to give orders and that women and children were created to take them.
And because Mom was an old-fashioned gal, she was pretty much OK with that.
And by “pretty much,” I really mean, “NOT AT ALL.”
Sure — she’d follow Dad’s lead so long as she agreed with him. When she didn’t agree, Mom used what she called “psychology” on him, exercising copious amounts of persuasion and a fair share of stealth tactics to get her way.
And every once-in-a-while, when all else failed, she’d get “that look” in her eye. There would be a certain inflection in her voice and a set to her jaw that made it clear to everyone — Dad included — who was really in charge. (What can I say? She was a redhead!)
I called that look “The Eye of The Tiger” — and whenever I saw it, I knew I was just one false move away from seeing a mild-mannered, middle-aged minister’s wife go ninja on my ass.
And I will be forever grateful that I inherited that look — or at least the attitude that goes along with it — from dear old Mom.
Because that mind-set has made me a ton of money over the years — especially after I’ve been punked in a heads-up test against another writer.
While others may sulk or question their talent after being told their sales copy has been beaten, I just get that set to my jaw, that tone in my voice and that look in my eye that says, “No way am I going to let this stand!”
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
November 27, 2008
Issue #23
Dear Business-Builder,
Happy Thanksgiving!
Today, I want to answer the question I get asked most often about dominant emotion copywriting …
“How do you KNOW what your prospects are feeling?”
Here are several techniques I use …
1. Walk a mile in your prospects’ shoes
If you have a vivid imagination, you’ll be surprised at how many of your prospects’ resident emotions you can identify simply by thinking.
Close your eyes and put yourself into the prospects’ shoes. Let the people you’re about to speak to speak to you first.
As I sat down to begin writing my first Health & Healing promotion, I did exactly that. I leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes and mentally inserted myself into the shoes of a 50 to 70-year-old man (our target demographic) whose life was plagued by chronic health problems … endless doctor visits … taking fistfuls of costly prescription drugs every day … suffering horrific side-effects from those drugs … and never really getting any better.
I saw myself showing up at the doctor’s office on time, cooling my heels in the waiting room reading dull magazines for an hour, waiting for my name to be called.
I vicariously experienced being ushered into the exam room - and then, made to wait even longer.
Finally, I saw the doctor hurriedly burst through the door, ask me a cursory question or two, scribble a few chicken scratches on a prescription pad and vanish as quickly as he had come.
As I saw myself experiencing what my prospects experience every day, I started feeling the emotions they were feeling: Frustration with health problems that their doctors couldn’t seem to cure … afraid of the consequences of failing health … exhausted by doctor visits that interrupted their lives … worried about the cost and side-effects of conventional medicine … embarrassed by the intrusive poking and prodding … and disgusted with doctors who never seemed to take a personal interest in them.
Wow. Did that exercise ever bring my copy to life!
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Posted by:
Daniel Levis
November 26, 2008
Issue #287
Dear Web Business Builder,
Imagine if every day was Thanksgiving, and gratitude was your permanent state of mind.
What would it mean?
I submit it would mean greater levels of wealth, health, and happiness all around.
Here’s why …
To be thankful for something means by definition we appreciate its value. We see the good in that thing. Conversely to be discontented with something means we see the bad and the useless in that thing, and discount its value.
But as the Bard of Avon wrote, "Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so." These 10 little words are much more than a clever little bit of iambic pentameter. They hold the keys to the kingdom, because the mind attracts that which it thinks about most.
Thoughts are things. An idea held in the mind consistently can’t help but manifest itself in the life of the thinker.
Is this the result of some kind of metaphysical magic? I prefer to think of it in more mundane terms …
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