Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
June 30, 2008
Issue #448
My Secret Weapon:
The “unfair advantage” that has helped me
beat the competition into submission since 1995:
How you can have it, too …
Dear Business-Builder,
They say the ultimate in “chutzpah” is killing your parents, then asking the judge for mercy because you’re an orphan.
I know — gross. But you gotta admire people who know what they want and who’ll go to just about any lengths to get it.
Like the guy I knew who landed an airplane, unannounced at a KGB listening post at the Arctic Circle and bribed a Soviet Colonel to lend him a helicopter — just so his son could make it into The Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest person ever to visit the North Pole.
Or the infamous mercenary and publisher of Soldier of Fortune magazine I spent a day and a raucous evening with in 1980 who got himself invited to tag along on the Bay of Pigs Invasion just for grins.
Or the guy I met just last week, who sold Castro a boatload of coffee for $1.8 million — cash in advance — then told the Cuban authorities his boat had sunk on its way to Havana.
I don’t care who you are; this stuff is priceless.
One of the most lovable scoundrels I’ve ever met
is a guy named Larry Owen …
I met Larry at Will’s Honky Tonk — “A sunny spot for shady people” — one of the raunchiest biker bars in Florida back in 1995. I was just walking away from the bar with an iced-down brewski when I overhead someone mention that he owned an advertising agency.
I spun on my heel and introduced myself. “My name’s Clayton; I’m in advertising too — I’m a copywriter.” Larry gave me a dismissive glance; “I’m Larry Owen,” he said in the most disinterested tone of voice imaginable. “Give me your card — maybe I can give you some work, someday.”
Don’t know if it was what he said or how he said it, but something about his reply really torqued me off. “I’m booked for five years in advance,” I said. Here’s my card … maybe I can give YOU some work.”
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Posted by:
Julie McManus
May 16, 2008
Issue #419
Dear Business Builder,
TGIF my friends and welcome back to In the ‘Net Trenches! Another week bites the dust. I hope you’re headed into a weekend full of fun and relaxation.
In last week’s issue, we talked about my five-step process for researching web sites that …
- Attract your best customer demographic …
- Speak to your prospects’ psychographic interests …
- Command a large volume of traffic …
- Attract direct response buyers …
- Are committed to your success!
This week, we’re going to take a closer look at banner ad sizing and take the mystery out of what you see on web media rate cards.
As I mentioned in previous issues, banner ads can be challenging to make work. But, in my opinion, they are worth the effort to try simply because the traffic potential is huge. If you can make banner ads work for your offers, you’ll quickly be in the money!
So, let’s get to it!
Making the switch from inches to pixels …
In your research of web media, you’ll find that websites offer many different ad sizes … all in pixels. Pixels can be confusing at first, especially if you’re making the switch from buying print media.
But after reading today’s issue, you’ll have a handy dandy little cheat sheet to take along when you start your ad negotiations!
Because today, we’ll take a look at the five most common ad sizes you’ll see on almost every rate card. And, I’ll give you the lowdown on each.
Let’s just start right at the top of the page …
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
December 10, 2007
Issue #303
- Two ugly little secrets online businesses won’t tell
- The three reasons why most online advertising fails
- Why all of this is the best news for savvy entrepreneurs and copywriters ever
- And more
Dear Business Builder,
But before we crack out our tarot cards and take a peek into the future of web marketing, let’s take a moment to see where this online thing has been so far …
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Posted by:
Daniel Levis
November 14, 2007
Issue #281
In this issue:
- Why despite declining response rates, e-mail is still the killer online app …
- 7 ways to breathe new life into your e-mail marketing …
- How not to use curiosity to motivate your prospects to click on your links …
- How information marketing’s red-headed stepchild can be one of the most powerful ways to sell your products far and wide …
- Plus more!
Dear Web Business Builder,
Listen to some people, and you’d think e-mail marketing was dead – what with spam blockers zapping your e-mails, and a plethora of marketers stuffing your customer and prospect in-boxes with more pitches than you can shake a stick at. “Long live blogs and direct mail”, they say. “E-mail rest in peace.”
Huh! Let these whiners go running home to Mommy – and dig in for the long haul, because e-mail is here to stay. It’s still the killer online marketing app, IF, you know how to use it …
True, click through rates aren’t what they used to be. And acquiring fresh new names for your opt-in lists is more difficult, time consuming and expensive than ever. But come on guys, did you really think it was going to be like shooting fish in a barrel forever?
Despite all of its challenges, e-mail still offers incredible utility and cost effectiveness.
It’s still just too easy to funnel leads into a series of autoresponder messages that can continually work those leads for months on complete autopilot. And there’s nothing quite as satisfying as being able to broadcast additional promotions to that list at the click of a mouse, and turn on a flood of sales at a moment’s notice.
So in this issue of Web Marketing Advisor, I’m going to tackle some of the most commonly asked questions I hear about using e-mail more productively.
Should I use HTML or plain text?
My experience with HTML is that it does pull relatively better than plain text, probably because you can format copy and use images as attention-getters and therefore drive readership more effectively. But for many of your prospects, it won’t display properly. This, and the fact that it takes additional time to prepare e-mails in HTML, makes plain text my personal preference.
How often should I e-mail my list?
Some marketers I talk to are worried about over-mailing. Others are just lazy and are hoping they can send a monthly newsletter and think they’re actually doing something productive.
If your goal is to use e-mail as a revenue generator – and you should – the answer is to mail your list as often as you possibly can, with the following proviso.
Strike a balance between useful content and straight sales copy in the body of your e-mails. Too much valuable content and you’re sacrificing traffic that could be diverted to other mediums that close sales. Too little valuable content, and your prospects will begin ignoring your e-mails, and unsubscribing in large numbers.
Some of the marketers who habituate my in-box are entirely predictable. I know they’re going to pitch me every single time. And I tend to ignore them. Others I’m not so sure what to expect, and I’ll open their e-mails just to see what they have to say. Sometimes it’s a pitch, sometimes there’s practical information right in the e-mail.
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Posted by:
David Dittman
September 22, 2007
Issue #237
Issue #237
Hello all and welcome back to another issue of Working IT Out! Today’s issue is great! Greg Marsden from Smart Marketing has allowed me to pick his brain about PPC and the secrets to the success he has been having.
Now, you may not have heard of Greg or Smart Marketing yet. They are the unsung heroes behind countless successful PPC Campaigns. They’re out there getting it done.
Greg and his crew have had numerous success stories in direct marketing. They have experience managing campaigns that have generated well over 7.5 billion ad impressions and 23 million clicks to date (in some of the most competitive markets online).
They have the confidence and experience to develop wildly successful, self-capitalizing lead generation models for several different companies.
Now enough of my jibba, jabba – on with the show …
David: Greg, we’ve been working with your company for about four weeks now, and we’re impressed. Could you explain a little bit about yourselves and what unique skills you guys bring to the table?
Greg Mardsen: Well, I’ve been creating and managing paid search campaigns for about five years now and have been doing Internet marketing since 1997, so experience is a big part of our success. Most recently, I’ve focused on mastering Google AdWords marketing, and in the last two years alone I’ve generated and managed over 25 million Google AdWords leads for my clients. In that time, I’ve also had the freedom to experiment a lot and really boil down things to a system that works. And when you’re spending in the 25-30k a day range, you’d better know what you’re doing or you’ll go broke in a hurry.
I’ve also spent a lot of time studying direct response marketing and have recently teamed up with a professional copywriter since getting a click from an ad is only the first part of a successful campaign. Success or failure is always dependent on converting that click into something worth more than you paid for it on average, so we also look at the bigger picture when working with clients and advise them as to what can be done on their end to make the entire effort as successful as possible as well.
David: So if I’m new to the PPC game, what are some general principles I need to take into account?
Greg: First, don’t be fooled by how simple Google or the other search engines make it seem to get up and running. It’s true that anyone with a credit card and the ability to use a mouse can create a campaign and have traffic going to their site in minutes, but unless you invest some significant time learning what to do, you’re just going to pour money down the drain. People don’t just buy in at a poker game without learning the basics, but every day eager advertisers jump right in thinking they’ll make quick and easy money simply with more traffic to their site. It’s more competitive now than ever these days, so take the time to learn the game well before you get in, or it’ll hurt.
If you have done some homework and are ready to give it a shot, I’d stress that one of the biggest keys to success is being able to clearly distinguish what’s working and probably will work from what isn’t and not likely to. To do this, you need to break campaigns up into distinct units so you can adjust your strategy quickly based on how these units perform. Using smaller groups of closely related keywords, separating true search traffic from “content” traffic as well as separating broad vs. exact keyword match types are all ways you can group these units to see how they perform in comparison. If you can’t see a difference in performance you can’t adjust for it, so being able to see that clearly is critical. If everything you’re bidding on is all jumbled together, you’ll have a real hard time trying to get more of what’s working and getting rid of what’s not.
David: So let’s talk nuts and bolts … Can you give me a generic layout for a starting point of successful acquisition campaigns? For example, Google Ad -> Squeeze Page -> Sales Page …
Greg: That’s the basic formula, though often it works better to soften up your leads first with some free information via e-mail before you hit them up with a sales offer. One important thing to keep in mind is that the Google ad is the starting point and really the first line of your sales pitch, so it needs to be consistent with the copy of the squeeze page and sales page. It should hopefully set up people to be receptive to your headline. If the message of your ad conflicts with your headline on your landing page, your conversion rate will suffer, so keep that in mind when writing your Google ads. Try to keep the full conversion path in mind – ad to landing page to sales offer – so that each part of it fits well together.
David: What are some of the biggest mistakes people are making during acquisition campaigns?
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