by Robert W. Bly 31 Cheyenne Drive. Montville, NJ 07045 (973) 263-0562, Fax (973) 263-0613 e-mail: [email protected], web: www.bly.com
by Robert W. Bly
31 Cheyenne Drive. Montville, NJ 07045
(973) 263-0562, Fax (973) 263-0613
e-mail: [email protected], web: www.bly.com
Table of Contents
Section 1 The Most Common Online Marketing Mistake—and One Easy
Way to Fix It..............................................................................................3
Section 2 Marketing with a Personal Touch..........................................................6
Section 3 The World’s Worst Pricing Strategy for Service Firms .....................10
Section 4 5 Ways to Command Premium Prices for Your Products or
Services ....................................................................................................13
Section 5 What David Oreck Can Teach Mickey D’s About Selling More
Hamburgers ............................................................................................16
Section 6 What Words Sell Best? ...........................................................................19
Section 7 How to Create a More Moving Experience for Your Customers
in Your Marketing..................................................................................22
Section 8 Want to Succeed in Business? Think Small! .......................................25
Section 9 The Most Important New Year’s Resolution You Will
Ever Make ...............................................................................................29
Section 10 Which of Your Customers are in a Hurry? All of Them!................32
Section 11 Speak and Get Sales Leads..................................................................35
Section 12 The Worst Internet Marketing Mistake I Ever Made—and
How to Avoid It ...................................................................................39
Section 13 Don’t Rush Your Bill ............................................................................42
Section 14 3 Easy Ways to Write Money‐Making E‐mail
Marketing Messages ............................................................................45
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Section 15 Marketing With the “Next in Line” Principle ..................................48
Section 16 The Most Important Piece of Equipment Any Marketer
Can Own................................................................................................51
About the Author ......................................................................................................54
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Section 1
The Most Common Online Marketing Mistake—and One Easy Way to Fix It
Did you ever go on a Website or landing page to learn more about a
product you were interested in…and then end up deciding, for whatever reason,
against buying it?
I’m sure you do this all the time. I know I do.
Next time you do it, watch what happens when you click away from the
site without having made a purchase.
If you are allowed to leave without further interaction, then you have just
witnessed the most common online marketing mistake…
Namely, the Website failed to capture your e‐mail address.
Why bother to capture the e‐mail addresses of visitors to your landing
pages and other Websites?
There are two primary benefits…
First, you can send these visitors an online conversion series—a sequence of
follow‐up e‐mails delivered by auto‐responder.
The conversion series gives you additional opportunities to convince these
prospects to buy—and can significantly increase your overall conversion rate.
A landing page may have only a 1% to 5% conversion rate.
But add an online conversion series of e‐mails, and conversion rates can
increase to 10% to 20% or more.
Second, the best names for your e‐mail marketing efforts…far better than
rented opt‐in lists…are in your house e‐list.
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So the faster you can build a large e‐list, the more profitable your Internet
marketing ventures will become.
How much more profitable?
Internet marketing expert Fred Gleeck estimates online revenues of 10 cents
to $1 or more per name per month.
Therefore, a 50,000‐name e‐list could generate annual online revenues of
$600,000 a year or higher.
Many businesses do significantly better…
Agora Publishing has, as near as I can figure, online sales of more than $100
million a year from about half a million names—a hefty $16.70 per name per
month.
Hewlett‐Packard has 4.5 million e‐zine subscribers, from whom they
generate $60 million in monthly sales.
OK. So how do you maximize capture of e‐mail addresses from site visitors?
Well, for those who buy something, you require them to give you their e‐
mail address on the transaction page to complete their order.
But what about those who visit but do not buy?
Use a “pop under” window.
Here’s how it works…
When you attempt to click away from the landing page without making a
purchase, a window appears.
The copy in this window says something like, “Wait! Don’t leave yet!”—
and makes a free offer.
Typically, this offer is some sort of free content—such as a downloadable
PDF report, e‐course delivered via auto‐responder, or e‐zine subscription—given
in exchange for the visitor’s e‐mail address.
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To see how this works, go to one of my sites,
www.becomeaninstantguru.com…and leave without buying.
You will get a 50‐page special report that normally sells for $29 for free. In
exchange, all I require is your e‐mail address.
Some marketers ask for the e‐mail address…and offer the free
content…within the actual landing page itself—often in a boxed sidebar.
The problem with such an approach is that it gives the prospect a choice
between a free option and a paid option for two content offers on the same topic.
And given that choice, you risk having people take the free offer and
bypass the paid offer.
The big advantage of the pop‐under is that the visitor sees it only AFTER he
has read to the point where he is leaving without ordering.
Therefore, the free content offer doesn’t compete with or distract visitors
from the paid product offer.
Any time you create a landing page or Website selling a product without a
pop‐under or other mechanism for capturing e‐mail addresses, you are leaving
money on the table.
As Fred Gleeck says, “The two goals of your site are to generate orders and
capture e‐mail addresses.”
He notes that they are about equal in importance…and possibly, capturing
the e‐mail addresses is even more important.
After all, if you are serious about making money with Internet marketing,
there is no asset more valuable to your online business than a large, qualified e‐list
of prospects and buyers.
Your future profits are directly linked to how quickly you can build this list.
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One other point: a pop‐under window is a standard Web tool. You don’t
need to buy special software to create one. Any Web designer can do one for you
for a nominal fee.
Section 2
Marketing with a Personal Touch
Last week I went to my local drug store to pick up a prescription—and they
made an extremely common customer service mistake I’ve experienced many
times.
The drug store shall go unnamed (but their initials are “CVS”).
I was second in line at checkout, and there was only one cashier.
The woman in front of me was taking an inordinate amount of time with
her purchase, because she thought she was being wrongly charged for her photos.
(There was a special photo package advertised in a CVS sales flier…but when the
clerk rung up the item on the register, a different price came up than the one
advertised in the flier.)
Like most ETR readers, I am busy, and I value my time.
So perhaps I am less tolerant than the average Joe when a store customer
argues because she isn’t getting a dollar discount on her photos…or the store
won’t honor a coupon for ten cents off a box of crackers.
In fact, when exasperated by similar situations at the supermarket, I have,
at times, told the customer in front of me: “Just go ahead and buy the thing
without the discount, and I will pay you the difference”…and I take out my wallet
to show that I mean it.
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This is never appreciated, by the way.
So I politely told the cashier: “While this nice woman is deciding on
whether she wants her photos or not, could you ring me up in the meantime?”
“I already started to ring her up and can’t clear the register,” the cashier
replied.
“Why not open the register next to you and ring me up there?”
“I can only work one register at a time: store policy.” (Apparently, CVS has
never heard of multi‐tasking.)
The woman was still hemming and hawing and fuming about not getting
the right price on her photo package.
“Well, why not get someone else to work that register so we”—by this time,
there were four people in line behind me, almost as annoyed as I was—“can make
our purchases and go?” I asked the cashier politely.
At this point, the manager came to the front of the store and attempted to
help the cashier clear the register—unsuccessfully, I might add, so we were all still
trapped in line.
I repeated my suggestion, this time to the manager, that they open the
second register and put someone on it to clear up the growing line.
“I have no one else in the store to put there,” he replied.
And I thought: Why don’t YOU do it?
Apparently, the thought never occurred to him. After several more minutes,
the problem was resolved, and we got out of there.
So what’s the point of this long story?
The manager was obviously impressed with himself that he had risen to a
management position.
Of course, I am sure he thought, “I’m a big‐shot manager. Managers don’t
make change—they manage cashiers who make change.”
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Here is where he…and so many others who are owners or
managers…misunderstand their position.
They think they are the boss of the business—and therefore somehow
exempt from mundane labor.
But you are NOT the boss of your business…even if you own it.
Your CUSTOMERS are the boss.
Your business exists to please and serve them.
Whenever you fail to make serving your customers your #1 priority…and
you place something else above that (like your dignity or self‐importance)…you
are telling them, “I don’t value you, and I don’t want your business.”
Hey, even if you are the store owner, when you see the sidewalk is littered
with trash, and your stock clerk hasn’t come in yet, pick up a broom and sweep it
yourself.
You are not so important that you are somehow above the need to
continually provide exceptional customer service—whether that means a clean
sidewalk or prompt check‐out at the register.
The only really important person, at least as far as the customer is
concerned—is the customer.
One other story…
SR, a friend of mine, was one of the top freelance copywriters in direct
marketing before he retired—a brilliant writer of conversational style sales letters.
He was so successful that he had a full‐time secretary to handle his grunt
work—like making photocopies and going to the post office.
All SR wanted to do was the high‐level work: thinking, researching, and
writing for his clients.
One Thursday afternoon, the marketing manager of a great potential
client—a major company with tons of work and money—called him.
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They were eager to establish a working relationship with SR…and to send
big, fat checks his way.
But, the marketing manager asked, could SR overnight a package with
some samples of his copy first?
The marketing manager just had to convince a few senior executives to sign
off on the purchase order…and one of them wanted to see SR’s work before doing
so.
They were in a hurry to get started, so the marketing manager would
present SR’s samples to his senior executive at a meeting the next day.
(This was pre‐Internet, so SR did not have samples posted on a Website.)
Feeling full of himself (as SR related to me), he said: “Well…my secretary
puts packages together…and she is out today and Friday. I can have her send
them on Monday.”
There was dead silence. Then the marketing manager, much less friendly,
came back on the line and said, “Hey, this is a major new campaign…I tell you
what…maybe, if it isn’t too much trouble, YOU could put those samples in an
envelope and overnight them to me yourself?”
“Of course, I was too arrogant, and wrong,” says SR. “Customers want
what they want when they want it. To not give it to them is to risk losing their
business.”
Customers want what they want when they want it. To not give it to them
is to risk losing their business.
Sage advice from one of the copywriting greats!
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Section 3
The World’s Worst Pricing Strategy for Service Firms
A common strategy for small businesses is to undercut the competition by
charging lower prices.
For instance, if every other graphic designer you know charges $100 an
hour, you figure you’ll steal business away from them by charging only $50 an
hour.
Charging low prices…or “low‐balling,” as it is commonly known…is a
terrible pricing strategy for service businesses—for several reasons.
First, your perception that a lower price makes you more attractive to
clients is not universally true.
Yes, some clients are price buyers…and your low price will draw them in
like moths attracted to a flame.
But there are many other clients who do not buy based on price.
These clients value other attributes—such as quality, reliability, speed,
customer service, expertise, track record, and reputation—and are willing to pay a
premium price to get them.
In fact, your low price signals to many of these buyers that you do NOT
deliver those desirable attributes…and that you and your services are inferior.
The low price actually turns these prospects off!
This is not theory, by the way…
Direct marketers know that, in split tests of price, the low price for a
product or service often loses and is less profitable than higher prices, which
generate more orders and sales.
Low prices create a perception in the client’s mind of low value.
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As John Ruskin, the 19th century English critic, pointed out:
“There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little
worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that
person’s lawful prey.”
Second, your low price attracts a less desirable clientele—price buyers—
than a premium price, which attracts clients who value good work and don’t mind
paying for it.
Price‐buyers, while the least profitable clients to work for, are ironically
often the most demanding and difficult to please.
Third, in a service business, time is money.
The less you charge, the less money you make—and the less profitable your
business.
Given the choice, wouldn’t you rather work for $100 an hour instead of $50
an hour…or earn $200,000 a year instead of $50,000 a year?
So, if low‐balling is a bad pricing strategy, where should your pricing fall in
relation to your competition?
Years ago, GD, a pricing expert, gave me the following rule of thumb for
setting service fees: your price should fall in the middle of the top third.
So if the lower third of service firms in your trade charge $50 to $100 an
hour…the middle range charges $100 to $150…and the highest‐paid charge $150
to $200…GD thinks you should aim for $175 an hour.
Why?
Well, those in the lowest third are the low‐ballers. They figure they’ll get
customers by offering “the lowest prices in town.”
As we’ve seen, that’s not a good pricing strategy for service providers.
The middle range isn’t quite as bad. It can make you a decent living—and
win you some good clients.
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But if a low price creates a perception of low quality, a middle price can
create a perception of mediocrity.
Is that how you want to be seen in your marketplace?
So given that, you should charge somewhere in the top third.
In the example given above, GD would say to charge $175 per hour.
I’m a little more flexible—and recommend between $150 and $175 per hour.
Why not go all the way and charge the highest price—$200 an hour?
Because at that price level, your fee becomes a huge concern to your clients.
It stretches their finances to the limit, and they begin to feel like you’re
trying to take them for every penny.
By backing off the top of the price range a little, you can still command a
premium price…but remove price as the foremost concern in the client’s mind.
OK. So your price should be somewhere around the middle of the top third
in your market.
But how do you justify that price…especially when competitors are more
experienced and (perish the thought) perhaps even more skilled than you at their
trade?
We’ll discuss how you can command that premium pricing, no matter who
you are, in our next article.
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Section 4
5 Ways to Command Premium Prices for Your Products or Services
In my last ETR article, I shared with you my observation that a common
strategy for small businesses is to undercut the competition by charging lower
prices.
And I explained in detail why that’s a terrible strategy…
In a nutshell, you work your rear end off for very little pay. You never get
ahead financially. Your customers think you are worth as little as you charge them.
I suggested that your pricing should be high…and fall in the middle of the
top third.
Which means that if the lower third of service firms in your trade charge
$50 to $100 an hour…the middle range charges $100 to $150…and the highest‐paid
charge $150 to $200…you should aim for $175 an hour.
“But how can I command such a premium fee?” you ask. “Why should
clients pay me up to three times or more the fees my competitors charge?”
Good question. And here’s the answer…
Specifically, there are at least 5 strategies I can think of that can enable you
to get the premium pricing you want to command.
1. SELL A DOLLAR FOR A QUARTER.
Superstar marketing consultant JA likes to ask prospects: “If I give you a
dollar, will you give me a quarter?”
In other words, prospects have no problem paying the price you ask…as
long as your product or service saves or makes them money many times in excess
of your fee.
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Therefore, if you can demonstrate a huge return on investment (ROI) from
your service, you can command a huge price.
2. WORK AN UNDER‐SERVED MARKET NICHE.
There are some markets everyone selling your product or service is going
after.
Consequently, these prospects can pick and choose which vendors they
work with…and to a large extent, the price they agree to pay.
My friend DW is a copywriter.
But unlike most of the copywriters you hear about in ETR, who work for
the big direct marketers—newsletter publishers, nutritional supplement makers—
DW works a niche where there is virtually no competition: construction
companies in New England.
Despite an oversupply of copywriters in other markets, DW’s prospects are
thrilled when they discover a copywriter specializing in their trade…and gladly
pay hefty fees to DW for his marketing assistance.
3. BECOME A RECOGNIZED GURU IN YOUR FIELD.
Most management speakers get around $3,000—and often less—for a one‐
hour speech.
Tom Peters gets something like $30,000 or more.
Does he get paid 10 times more than other management speakers because
he knows 10 times more about managing a company…or because his advice
makes his clients 10 times more money?
I doubt it.
His fee is 10 times higher because he is a recognized guru in
management…largely because of “In Search of Excellence” and his other best‐
selling books.
Want to get paid top dollar?
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Become a recognized guru in your field.
Three ways to get started: start writing your book…write a magazine or
newspaper column…publish a content‐rich Website.
I have an audio program that can show you many other ways to quickly
establish yourself as a guru in your field. For details, click below now:
http://www.becomeaninstantguru.com/
4. ADD VALUE
My friend DH is a top copywriter selling information products.
He gets huge fees to write direct mail packages.
But after DH writes your DM package, you get something else most other
copywriters don’t give you—an extensive memo outlining other marketing
strategies you can use to sell even more of your product.
If you were to pay DH separately for this consulting advice, it would cost
thousands of dollars.
But he gives it to you free when you hire him to write for you.
People don’t mind paying more—as long as they get more.
DH gives them more.
5. SHIFT SUPPLY AND DEMAND IN YOUR FAVOR
The #1 reason why businesspeople charge too little is that they need the
business.
The secret to overcoming this?
Keep your pipeline of leads full—at all times.
Generate twice as many leads as you think you need…and you’ll always
have more work than you could ever hope to handle.
There are many ways to generate leads: classified ads…small display
ads…Yellow Pages…cold calls…direct mail…pay‐per‐click advertising.
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To discover more ways you can produce a flood of sales leads all year long,
click here now:
http://www.theleadmachineonline.com/
Section 5
What David Oreck Can Teach Mickey D’s About Selling More Hamburgers
The other day I heard a new radio commercial for McDonald’s.
I’m not a big fan of general advertising, but I thought this commercial was
moderately clever and effective.
In the commercial, a guy walks into work late carrying a cup of McDonald’s
coffee.
The irate boss (or was it a colleague?) berates him: “You’re late because you
stopped and bought a cup of McDonald’s coffee?”
“Nope,” the worker replies.
“What do you mean, nope?” the boss/colleague says, irritated. “It’s right in
your hand.”
“But I didn’t BUY this cup of McDonald’s coffee,” our hero corrects him. “I
got it FREE when I went to McDonald’s and bought a delicious breakfast meal.”
What they are selling, of course, is not the brand or the food.
They are selling the offer: buy a breakfast and get the coffee free.
As all direct marketers know, offers are essential for generating advertising
response…and free offers are usually the most attractive.
Take Oreck vacuum cleaners, for instance.
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In their mailings, the offer is a risk‐free home trial of their 8‐pound vacuum
cleaner.
The incentive to respond is a gift—specifically, a free “dust buster” type of
handheld mini‐vacuum.
But now, you see more and more general advertisers taking a cue from
direct marketing—and creating and promoting strong offers designed to get the
cash register to ring.
For example, my local dry cleaner recently made this special offer: bring in
any two garments to dry clean, and we will launder your shirts for just $1 each.
A local Italian restaurant puts out free bread (a common practice in
restaurants), but accompanies it with a plate of fine aged parmesan.
One of the best offers out there, in my opinion, is the free coffee maker from
Gevalia Coffee.
The deal is this: get one monthly shipment of coffee at a discount price, and
they will send you a free coffee maker.
It’s a handsome machine, and it makes great coffee. (I should know; we
have one in our kitchen.)
What kind of offer can you make your prospects that could attract more
business and sales?
Here’s a quick checklist to get you started:
* Stress your guarantee (“satisfaction guaranteed or your money back”).
* Let your prospects use the product for a month without risk—meaning if
they don’t like it, they can return the merchandise for a full refund (“send for your
FREE 30‐day home trial”).
* Give them a discount…with a reason for the discount, if possible (“save
40% during our 25th anniversary sale”).
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* Be like Oreck and Gevalia: give them a free bonus gift with their order
(“reply now and get this valuable FREE bonus gift”).
* Or, have a two for one sale (“buy one, get one free”). This works well for
products the prospect wants more than one of, such as cleaning fluids or plastic
storage containers for the kitchen.
* Offer to pay return shipping charges via UPS if your customers decide to
return the product for a refund (“if you’re not 100% satisfied, we’ll come to your
door, pick it up, and take it away—entirely at our expense”).
* Make a logical connection between the product and the offer—e.g., the
Sovereign Society, a financial newsletter on offshore investing, offered a free Swiss
bank account to new subscribers.
One more tip: if you can’t think of a reason to justify why you are making a
special offer, get creative.
A record store, for example, could have a half‐price sale—one day only—on
Elvis’s birthday.
No logical tie‐in for your product? Create your own. If you run a
photography studio, declare this month “National Family Togetherness
Month”…and send out a press release to the media suggesting a family portrait to
celebrate.
A good source of ideas is Chase’s Calendar of Events, which gives you all
the special events and celebrations for every month, week, and day of the year that
there is one.
By the way, although I have spent the last 25 years in direct marketing, the
first few years were spent working in general marketing (for a couple of large
corporations selling big‐ticket products to business and government buyers).
Our ads (this was way before the World Wide Web) always told the
prospect about the product and its many benefits.
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But there was never an offer. We almost never told the prospect, “Respond
to this ad today, and you will get these specific materials, services, and benefits.”
Then in one ad, we offered a “free engineering design guide”—and
response rates soared.
The conclusion: offers are vital to generating a healthy response to your
marketing. And they work in both consumer and business marketing.
For instance, a local janitorial service was willing to clean a plant or factory
at no cost to demonstrate the quality of its services and hook new accounts who
would hire them as their regular janitorial service.
Now, I said a minute ago that free offers are best. But there is a known
direct marketing principle, called “the magic of a dollar,” that says offering
something for a penny or a dollar can be as effective—or sometimes even more so,
since it is less common.
In this case, the janitorial service sent a letter with a penny glued to the
upper right corner of page one.
The copy said, “We will clean your entire plant or office for a penny…and
I’ve even enclosed the penny, so it really costs you nothing!”
Mailing stamps or money with your direct mail letter is an old trick…and
yes, it worked like gangbusters.
Section 6
What Words Sell Best?
For several years, car manufacturers have been proactively marketing sales
of used vehicles with ads touting “certified pre‐owned vehicles.”
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These are used cars that have been thoroughly inspected and come with a
warranty equivalent (or close to it) to that of a new car.
A few weeks ago, I heard a radio commercial for Toyota, who has jumped
into this market.
But instead of calling their used car a “pre‐owned vehicle”…they call it a
“used car”!
Now I admire plain‐speaking people and honest, forthright language…and
“used car” fits that bill better than “pre‐owned vehicle.”
On the other hand, there’s a reason Mont Blanc sells “writing
instruments”—and the reason is, no one wants to pay $100 for a “pen.”
So what do you think?
Will Toyota’s honesty be rewarded by consumers with more sales?
Or are they shooting themselves in the foot by not advertising “pre‐owned
vehicles”?
I don’t know the answer…no one knows the answer to any marketing
question until they test it…but there’s one thing I do know…
The words you choose for your copy can make a big difference in how well
it performs.
Or to put it another way: semantics sell.
Here’s a great example…
A number of years ago, when Clinton was still in office, I was driving in the
DC area, where I almost always get lost.
As I desperately tried to find K Street, I heard a radio commercial for
American Spectator, the conservative magazine.
The commercial said that if you called a toll‐free number to subscribe, you
would get a free premium—a “Special Report” titled “Inside the Clinton White
House.”
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I didn’t call, but I am pretty sure that American Spectator, as is typical of
magazines, put together this special report by assembling reprints of a few articles
they’d done on Clinton during the year into a booklet.
Listen to the words, “Special Report.” Sounds important and
exclusive…like something you’d want to have. And the title—“Inside the Clinton
White House”—sounds juicy.
On the other hand, what if the radio commercial had closed with, “So call
toll‐free today to subscribe…and we’ll give you a bunch of past articles ripped out
of old issues of the magazine and stapled together.”
I can’t imagine the phone ringing off the hook for that one.
Another example of the power of words in marketing is the old comic book
ad with the headline, “Enter the wonderful world of amazing live sea
monkeys…open a bowl full of happiness—instant pets!”
The ad pictured a happy underwater family of cute, friendly creatures—a
mom, dad, and kids—living outside the family castle…presumably in a fish
bowl…as the human youngster and his human parents who purchased the sea
monkeys look down in delight.
Well, if you ever took the bait and mailed the coupon with your money,
what you got was a plastic vial full of dried brine shrimp eggs…with instructions
to hatch them in warm, salty water.
When mine hatched, they look nothing like the handsome Sea Monkey
family in the ad…they were basically little dots moving around in a bowl of water.
Yes, words have power, and the words you choose decide a lot about what
people think of you, your company, your product, and your offer…especially
whether they want to buy or try it.
No one wants brine shrimp eggs. But “instant pets” and “amazing live sea
monkeys”? I’m in!
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One last example…
My colleague Gary Hennerberg was called on by a company in Texas that
sold mail order fruitcakes.
Fruitcakes weren’t selling like hot cakes (big surprise)…and they needed to
boost orders.
Gary asked the bakery what ingredients were used, and to his surprise, he
found that these fruitcakes contained pecans.
Not only that, but they were grown locally in Texas, on the banks of a river,
where the moisture made them particularly flavorful.
Gary told the company to test a mailing calling the product “native Texas
pecan cakes” instead of “fruitcakes.”
They followed his advice…and fruitcake sales soared by 60%.
Semantics, I guess. Go figure.
Section 7
How to Create a More Moving Experience for Your Customers in Your Marketing
By “moving,” I don’t mean an emotional experience…though obviously,
tapping into the buyer’s emotions is a powerful selling method.
I mean—literally—creating something that moves.
As a die‐hard copywriter and word fanatic, I’d like to believe that we can
always sell the prospect—just with copy alone.
But the fact is, you can often engage your prospects more fully by creating
something that physically moves.
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For example, when I was at Westinghouse, we were developing a new
firing system for U.S. Army tanks.
Our competitors were doing the same, and of course, only one defense
contractor would win the contract.
In those days, defense projects had both an official name (the official name
for the tank firing control system was DIVAD, but it was almost 30 years ago, and
I can’t remember what it stands for)…
As well as a catchy nickname which, in the case of our system, was “the
Gunfighter.”
The Gunfighter was to be the featured product as an upcoming defense
trade show, and my boss was looking for a way to call attention to it…and draw
prospects to our booth.
His solution: find and hire a quick‐draw gunslinger to put on a shooting
exhibition in our booth.
Again, my fading memory can’t recollect how we pulled off having a
shooting exhibition at a crowded trade show held indoors.
Perhaps he shot blanks…or some kind of plastic pellet.
Anyway, the quick‐draw gunslinger was a huge hit.
You could come to our booth just to watch him put on a show…or you
could draw against him and see how fast you were (nobody beat him or even
came close, of course).
You don’t have to shell out big bucks for a huge exhibit (we needed a big
display area to accommodate our makeshift shooting range) or expensive
gimmicks (the gunslinger for hire didn’t work for peanuts).
Virtually any physical motion…even motion on a TV or computer
screen…will draw a crowd like moths to an open flame.
If you don’t believe me, here’s a cheap idea you can try.
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Unless you are a big corporation, I assume your marketing budget is
limited—and that if you exhibit at trade shows, you take only a 10‐foot or 20‐foot
booth.
At your next show, on the table in the front of the booth, on which you
keep product samples and sales brochures, place a large goldfish bowl.
Fill it with water and put in a big goldfish or two. Add a small pump with
an aerator to create some noise and bubbles.
I guarantee you will notice people slowing down and stopping in front of
your booth—much more so than normal.
If you can, tie it in with your product (e.g., a company selling window
treatments could say, “Stop feeling like you’re living in a goldfish bowl when
neighbors look through your windows”). But it isn’t necessary.
Even if it’s unrelated to your offer, motion, interactivity, and animation can
get people to wake up and take notice.
Next time you are in a mall or on a busy street in the business district, look
for a TV or electronics store.
If there is a TV in the window and it’s on, people will stop to watch it in
fascination—as if they’d never seen one before.
Next, look for a pet store on the same street or in the same mall—one that
sells dogs.
Spend some time browsing around until a family comes in with kids who
are desperately trying to convince mom and dad to buy them a pet pooch.
Mom and dad will be resistant, even stoic at first…trying to maintain an icy
resolve to discourage the purchase.
But the clerk is smart.
He’ll offer to bring one of the pups out (the one the kids are melting over)
for them to play with.
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Within minutes, every member of the family will be petting and talking to
the puppy in soothing tones…and the clerk will be smiling, knowing that he’s
closed another sale.
The dog is ultimately sold not because of the breed…or the dog’s
papers…or the price…or the guarantee…or the reputation of the breeder.
It’s feeling the puppy’s warm, soft fur…and watching him bounce around
playfully, so happy to be getting attention from you…that gets the register to ring.
No matter what product or service you are selling, you can probably find
an opportunity to work movement or interaction into your sales presentation.
For instance, I got an e‐mail from a publisher promoting a newsletter on oil
and natural gas.
How do you use motion to sell a newsletter?
The e‐mail was animated with the simple image of an oil well pump
moving up and down.
I don’t know how successful the campaign was…but I can tell you that it
got my attention.
So if you want your next marketing message to be more compelling, get
moving—and start interacting with your customer!
Section 8
Want to Succeed in Business? Think Small!
Over the years, I’ve met dozens of people who want to become speakers,
consultants, coaches, TV show hosts, or best‐selling book authors.
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Nine out of ten have told me the area in which they want to speak, write, or
coach people is “leadership”…“success”…“motivation”…or some similarly broad
topic.
These people are thinking big—pursuing broad areas where millions of
potential readers, clients, and customers are seeking advice.
And I can virtually guarantee you that most of these wanna‐be speakers,
coaches, and gurus are going to fail miserably.
The problem is that they are thinking big—when they should be “thinking
small.”
What do I mean by “thinking small”?
“Micro‐niching.”
My friend, speaker Wally Bock, defines a micro‐niche as “the intersection of
a skill or discipline with an industry.”
So “customer service” is not a niche.
“Banking” is not a niche.
But “customer service skills for bank tellers” IS a micro‐niche.
Why should you narrow the focus of your business—and target a small
micro‐niche—rather than offer a big idea, service, or product that everyone wants?
There are two reasons why micro‐niching is a smart business strategy.
The first is competition.
If you want to position yourself as a “customer service guru,” there’s a lot
of competition.
Everybody and his brother are trying to cash in on the need for customer
service training.
And the barriers to entry are low.
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On the other hand, if you want to become known as the “customer service
guru” in the banking industry, there’s a lot less competition—because it’s a
narrow niche.
The second reason why micro‐niching is a good strategy is credibility.
If you proclaim yourself to be an expert in customer service, I’m going to be
skeptical.
And more than likely, you’ll have a difficult time proving your claim to me,
your skeptical prospect.
Example: say you have worked as a bank teller for the last 11 years.
If you proclaim yourself to be an expert in customer service for the banking
industry…and tell me that you have over a decade of experience in retail
banking…well, you’re instantly credible and believable.
Generalists are going the way of the dodo and the dinosaur. Customers
want to deal with vendors who are perceived as experts in their field.
A few years ago, I opened the newspaper and saw that, in the Dear Abby
column, a reader had written to express his disapproval of the way Abby had
answered a particular question.
His letter began with the most wonderfully sarcastic line: “Dear Abby: How
nice it must be to know everything about everything!”
Your customers are smart. They realize that no one can possibly know
everything about everything, or even about most things.
The broader the areas of expertise you claim for yourself, the less believable
you are.
By micro‐niching, you become the “credible expert.”
People believe you more readily…and want to do business with you
because you’re a specialist in exactly the service they need.
It’s a win‐win situation.
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They get more accurate advice, better service, and confidence in you, their
expert advisor.
You get more business, at higher fees, with clients who respect you and
listen to what you tell them.
By the way, the narrower and more specialized your micro‐niche, the
higher the fees you will command—and the easier it will be to get leads and close
sales.
For instance, offering your services as a “marketing consultant” is a tough
field to break into, because so many people peddle marketing advice.
Positioning yourself as a “software marketing consultant” is a great micro‐
niche, except more and more people are doing it, and the field is getting crowded.
My friend Fred Gleeck positions himself as a marketing consultant for the
self‐storage industry.
There is little or no competition—and Fred owns most of that market.
After all, how many marketing advisors are interested in self‐storage, or
even know anything about marketing self‐storage services?
Precious few, of course.
So the demand for self‐storage marketing advice greatly outweighs the
supply—and Fred can pretty much name his own price.
Now, maybe micro‐niching won’t bring you the fame of a Dr. Phil or a Dr.
Ruth.
But other than that, what’s not to like?
So take my advice—and find yourself a micro‐niche today.
It will do your business good.
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Section 9
The Most Important New Year’s Resolution You Will Ever Make
I’ve known Joe Vitale, the rich and famous Internet marketing guru, for
decades.
During that time, we’ve talked a lot…and he’s given me lots of great advice
and guidance.
But something he said a few months ago at the American Writers and
Artists, Inc. 2006 Bootcamp radically changed my life and financial situation for
the better—and can do the same for you, too.
Like many of the things Joe says about business and marketing, it is
deceptively simple—yet powerfully profound.
During a terrific talk at the Bootcamp, Joe talked about the importance of
taking swift action when you have a good marketing or business idea.
“Money loves speed,” said Joe, repeating it several times.
This thought resonated strongly with me, because if I think about the
mistake I’ve made that cost me the most money in my life, it’s clearly failure to
take swift action.
Like many people, I have a lot of ideas. We all do.
An idea has no value by itself, though.
It only gains value when you put it into action.
And too many of us, me included, are better at thinking about doing things
that can make us money…than we are at actually doing them.
We get excited about the ideas, while in reality, it’s the actions that make
the true difference in our lives.
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It reminds me of what the late science fiction and science writer Isaac
Asimov said.
Asimov was one of the world’s most prolific writers.
He wrote and published more than 475 books during his lifetime—even
more amazing when you consider that he didn’t publish his first book until age 30,
and passed away at age 72.
Asimov said he often received letters from people saying they had a great
idea for a science fiction story.
They suggested to Asimov that if he would write a story based on the idea,
they could split the money 50/50.
“I have a better idea,” Asimov always replied. “I’ll give you the idea, you
write it, and we’ll split it 50/50.”
The point, of course, is that having the ideas is relatively easy—and, by
itself, doesn’t generate a dime of profit.
The hard work—and real pay‐off—is in writing and selling the story…or
creating and marketing the product…or investing in the property or fund…or
launching the business venture.
My colleague, best‐selling self‐help author Robert Ringer, thinks action is so
important, he wrote an entire book recently, titled Action, to communicate this
essential idea to readers.
And it’s not just action, but fast action, that can really make you rich and
famous.
Not only does fast action help you launch your product or marketing
campaign before your competitors do.
But it also ensures that things actually get done and out the door—rather
than sit around on the backburner, withering away from age and inattention.
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All really successful people act upon the belief that money loves speed—
and in return, it has made them rich.
Michael Masterson says it another way: “Ready, fire, aim!”
As Michael explains it, the ordinary corporate employee is oriented toward
planning rather than action.
His approach is “ready, aim, fire”…spending so much time planning,
researching, taking surveys, doing market studies, and having meetings that the
idea never gets off the ground.
Or by the time it’s ready to launch, it has already been done by someone
else…or the opportunity to profit from the idea has passed.
Michael Masterson’s approach is “ready, fire, aim.”
The most important step in success is simply to do something.
In business, that “something” is to actually create a product—and run a test
marketing campaign—to prove that the market wants what you are selling and is
willing to pay for it.
“Until you’ve done that, you don’t have a business,” says Michael.
So this year, your New Year’s resolution should be to live by Joe Vitale’s
credo, “Money loves speed.”
When you have an idea for a product, service, business, or promotion, don’t
just talk about it or think about it or write a business plan.
Go out and write it, create it, produce it, and test market it.
Put it out there and find out whether people want what you are selling—at
the price you want to charge them.
Ready, fire, aim. Money loves speed. Take action.
Make it your New Year’s resolution to move forward with one of your
business or marketing ideas, and test market it during 1Q 2007.
No procrastination. No talk. No planning it to death. No excuses.
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As Nike says, “Just do it!”
One other thing: this column isn’t a “pep talk” based on what I “think”
sounds like a good idea.
Since putting Joe Vitale’s “money loves speed” idea into practical action, I
have increased my personal income by $4,000 a week…by starting a small Internet
marketing business.
This works out to an extra $200,000 a year added to my bank account.
That may be “chump change” to rich guys like Michael, Robert, and Joe—
and who knows, maybe to you, too.
But it’s not to me.
In fact, I’m using it this month to buy my “dream house”—a 4‐bedroom
weekend home on a beautiful, pristine lake in western NJ.
I had meant to create and sell information products on the Internet for years.
But for one reason or another, I had never gotten around to it…until now.
So I thank Joe Vitale from the bottom of my heart.
Now, I promise that you too will thank Joe Vitale for teaching you his
“money loves speed” philosophy.
And I guarantee it will be the most important—and profitable—New Year’s
resolution you’ve ever made.
Section 10
Which of Your Customers are in a Hurry? All of Them!
One of the facts of life for a freelance copywriter like me—any writer, in
fact—is deadlines.
We live with them. They’re always looming. And they never go away.
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Ask anyone you know who’s ever worked as a reporter or editor for a daily
newspaper.
“I feel sorry for you,” MB, a contractor who specializes in kitchens and
bathrooms, told me the other day when he saw the pile of work on my desk.
“Why?” I asked as I happily clicked away at my PC.
“You have all those deadlines,” he answered.
I stopped typing. “Don’t you?” I replied.
“No,” said MB. “We just take on a lot of remodeling jobs, and we get to
them when we get to them.”
“Don’t you have schedules in your contracts?” I asked.
“Some yes, some no, but either way, no one expects us to stick to them,”
MB told me. “After all, we’re contractors.”
MB is dead wrong thinking he doesn’t have deadlines…or that his
customers are willing to overlook his slow turnaround.
I know, because I am one of his customers—he is remodeling our master
bathroom right now.
He told us it would be done in June.
It is now December, and the job is still not finished.
Is my wife steamed?
Don’t even ask.
And frankly…now I am, too.
The point?
Every service business…every business in fact…is deadline driven.
If you don’t think yours is, you just don’t realize it yet.
The instant you promise to do something for a customer, they are waiting
for it to be done or delivered.
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Even if there is no contractual deadline or agreed‐upon delivery date, your
customers want what they have ordered—the sooner, the better.
The longer you take to deliver it, the more impatient and irritated they
become.
Dissatisfaction increases as delay lengthens.
The reason?
People want what they buy.
And they want it by a specific date and time.
If there’s no deadline in your contract…or oral promise to deliver by
X…that doesn’t mean your customer has no deadline.
It just means your customer hasn’t told you about it.
Not asking about timeframe—and agreeing upon it—is negligence on your
part…and an invitation to disaster.
Now, your customer may not herself know what her deadline date is.
But there will come a time, when…if you haven’t delivered yet…she will
suddenly wake up, angry that you are taking so long.
She’ll become annoyed…and feel ignored…and call you every other day
until the job is done—or the merchandise is delivered.
And even then, she’ll complain to her colleagues and friends about your
company—“Their quality is OK, but their turnaround slow, and customer service
terrible.”
So my advice is simple…
First, if there is no set deadline—either contractual or verbal—volunteer to
make one.
The deadline should be not only a date, but a specific time of day, e.g., “X
will be delivered on or before January 15, 2007 no later than 3pm EST.”
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If you do not specify a time, you will get a call first thing in the morning on
the 15th from an annoyed customer asking, “Where the $@#$@ is my stuff!”
Second, don’t miss deadlines.
If difficulties arise that will cause you to miss deadlines, let the customer
know as early as possible about the problem—and ask for an extension.
Do this the instant you have an inkling that a delay may occur.
Don’t call the customer the day before the deadline and tell him you won’t
make the deadline.
Third, set generous deadlines up front.
If the customer wants it in 2 weeks, ask for 4 weeks…and then negotiate a
3‐week turnaround.
Then, make every effort to deliver earlier.
If the customer expects it in 14 days, and you deliver in 15 days, you are
late—and he will be irritated.
But if the customer wanted it in 14 days, then agreed to a 21‐day
turnaround, and you deliver it in 15 days, you are 6 days early—and the customer
will be delighted.
Make this your motto in business, and all will be well: “Under‐promise and
over‐deliver.”
This goes for service, quality, price…and deadline.
Section 11
Speak and Get Sales Leads
Lots of people reluctantly agree to give talks to promote their business, in
the belief that doing so helps build their “image.”
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But imagine giving a talk to a crowded room of potential customers…and
then having 90 percent of them ask for an estimate or quote!
Even better, right?
Yet most marketers don’t know how to “work” a speaking opportunity
properly to maximize the number of leads and sales generated from their
presentation.
Typically, when you give a speech in a room of 50 to 100 people, how many
approach you when you’re done and give you their business card?
Only a handful, right?
But with the “green sheet” method, you can increase the “capture” rate of
attendee names and addresses in the room from just a few percent to 80 percent or
higher.
Here’s how it works…
Before your talk, create a one‐page document with some tips, resources, or other
valuable content.
Print one copy on your laser printer on green offset stock. Bring this one
copy only—and, this is important, not multiple copies—with you to the meeting.
Around the middle of your talk, after making an important point, say something
like: “If you’d like more information on this, I have a free tip sheet/resource
guide.”
Hold up the green sheet and continue: “If you want a free copy, just write
‘GS’ for ‘green sheet’ on your business card, and hand it to me after the
presentation.”
When you do this, the audience will swarm the podium after you finish
speaking, eagerly shoving their business cards at you to get the free green sheet—
and in return, you will capture their names and addresses.
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If your talk is accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation, you can use a
variation of the green sheet method.
Tell attendees that they can get a free copy of your PowerPoint e‐mailed to
them.
All they have to do is write “PP” for PowerPoint on their business card and
hand it to you.
At some events, the conference sponsor gives attendees a big binder with
copies of the PowerPoint presentations already in it.
But the reproductions usually have multiple copies per page, to save paper,
and those smaller slides are difficult to read.
You can then tell attendees, “My PowerPoint is in your conference book,
but some of the slides may be hard to read. If you want me to e‐mail an electronic
copy of the PowerPoint to you, just give me your business card.”
My colleague, Internet marketing expert Fred Gleeck, likes to automate the
process.
Instead of collecting business cards and sending out follow‐up material, he
tells attendees to go to a Web page where they can download the free material.
To download the freebie, the visitor has to give you his name and e‐mail
address, which you capture and add to your e‐list.
Of the above variations, my favorite method of capturing leads from
speaking engagements remains the “green sheet” method—for a few reasons.
First, it’s proactive. You promise to do the work of sending them the freebie
they requested. You don’t sit around and hope they call you or visit your Website
later to get it.
Second, it has the highest capture rate. You get 80 percent or more of the
audience giving you their contact information vs. only 20 percent or less of the
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audience who go to your Website after the conference to request your free
information.
Third, you get all their contact information—including e‐mail and snail
mail addresses—because you are getting their business card.
Fourth, as audience members hand their business cards to you, a
percentage will express interest in not just getting the green sheet, but in exploring
the possibility of hiring you.
Jot a brief note about their needs and requests on the back of the business
card they hand you, and follow up the next day when you get back to the office.
When you put these name‐capture techniques into practice, you will not only
double or triple your seminar leads.
You’ll also get more high quality leads from your workshop marketing.
As Fred Gleeck points out, the quality of a sales lead is proportional to the
proximity of the prospect.
When you get click on your site from an Internet user in Hong Kong, the
likelihood of doing business with him is slim.
If you get a phone call from a postcard mailing you did to prospects in your
town, the lead quality—and likelihood of closing a sale—go up, because the
prospect is much closer to you.
At a seminar or speech, the prospect is as close to you as he can get—
literally in the same room with you.
And so lead quality…and the chances of a sale…are at their highest.
But to close seminar leads, you have to first get those leads.
You do this by asking for them proactively—using the “green sheet”
method or the other seminar prospecting techniques described here.
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Section 12
The Worst Internet Marketing Mistake I Ever Made—and How to Avoid It
To say it wasn’t a great way to start the New Year for my Internet
marketing business would be putting it mildly.
I came into the office on January 2 at 7am EST, my usual time.
A few hours later, I clicked onto one of the two dozen or so product‐specific
micro‐sites for my online business…only to find it gone.
I quickly clicked on my other micro‐sites on the Products page of
www.bly.com. All gone.
Next, a panicked call to my Web hosting service—with even worse results:
a recorded message telling me the number was not in service and had been
disconnected.
Holy cow!
In essence, my entire Internet marketing business…a $200,000 a year
passive income stream…had been shut down, in a single morning, without
warning.
And I had no idea of how to fix it—or whether it could be fixed.
I dashed off an e‐mail to my Website designer telling him what had
happened…
And that I might need to have him reload back‐up copies of the HTML
code for all my micro‐sites into the domain names.
“What back‐up copies?” he e‐mailed back a few minutes later. “We don’t
keep back‐up copies.”
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“But you can transfer the HTML code from the actual live site to a new
server,” he continued, “as long as you have the access codes to each site.”
Access codes? What the heck was that?
Of course, I had never heard of this before. And the only one with those
access codes was my Web hosting guy…who had mysteriously vanished from the
face of the Earth.
Through sheer luck, everything worked out—and within 48 hours, my
small Internet marketing business was back online…
The sites came back up. I found a new hosting service, and moved all of my
sites to their server.
So how can you prevent a similar Internet disaster in your online
business…and what steps must you take to protect your site operations?
Heed my advice…
First, only deal with a Web hosting service where you can reach a real, live
person during business hours.
In fact, the same advice goes for any service that’s “mission‐critical” to your
business: if a real person at the company won’t talk to you, don’t use them.
Second, insist that your Website designer archive back‐up copies for every
Website or page he creates for you.
Third, have the Web designer give you a copy of the HTML code for all of
your sites and pages…and keep duplicate copies on your own PC.
Fourth, make sure you—or someone in your office—keeps a record of all
user names, codes, and passwords needed to get into your existing Websites.
Don’t just say, “My Web master has them” or “I can just call the Web
hosting company.”
That won’t do any good if you can’t reach them.
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Fifth, identify back‐up vendors for all mission‐critical services you use in
your Internet marketing business.
For me, these include Web hosting…Website design…maintenance of my e‐
list…e‐zine distribution…credit card processing…metrics tracking and
measurement…shopping cart…autoresponder.
Reason: you don’t want to be at the mercy of a single supplier…no matter
how much you like them.
You can find vendors who are both reliable and affordable here:
http://www.cheapmarketingresources.com/
Why are reliability and cost both so critical for the small Internet marketing
entrepreneur?
Reliability is key because a failure in a critical service like hosting or your
shopping cart effectively shuts down your entire operation.
If your online sales are $7,000 a week, every day your sites are down costs
you $1,000 in sales you can never get back.
Cost is important because of a principle taught by Internet marketing guru
Fred Gleeck, Return on Marketing Dollars (ROMD): the ratio of sales and profits to
marketing costs.
To maximize ROMD, it’s not enough just to generate a high volume of
sales—you have to do it at a reasonable cost.
The lower your expenditures, the greater your ROMD for a given volume
of sales.
Take Web hosting.
There are plenty of large, reliable Web hosting services who can host your
site for fees ranging from $19 to $49 a month.
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While that’s fine for the typical SOHO (small office/home office) with just
one Website, it won’t work for Internet marketers with product‐specific micro‐
sites.
Some Internet marketers with multiple products have as many as 100
different Websites, one for each product.
If you paid $49 per site for hosting, your annual hosting bill would be
nearly sixty grand a year…eating up a huge share of your profits.
I now host my sites with a service that charges me $49 per month total—
whether you have one site or over a hundred.
For a hundred sites, that works out to less than 50 cents to host each site per
month…and annual hosting expenses of under $600.
For affordable Website hosting for your Internet marketing business, go to:
www.filipinoWebmasters.com.
Section 13
Don’t Rush Your Bill
My single piece of advice for ETR readers today?
Don’t rush your invoice to your client.
Your accountant and bookkeeper, of course, disagree with me.
“Get the bill out fast!” they urge you. “You’ll get paid faster, and your cash
flow will improve.”
MB, the contractor who’s been remodeling our bathrooms and kitchens for
the past 6 months, certainly agrees with them.
Every time I turn around, he’s there with his hand out.
Typically, I get a call at the office during the middle of a busy day.
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“I need the next payment,” says MB, “can you have a check ready in 20
minutes when I stop by?”
Sure, I think to myself. I’ll just stop writing, forget my own pressing
deadlines, write out a check this instant, and sit here until MB gets here.
Sure, MB is entitled to get paid on time.
But on and off, I’ve been using him going on more than 20 years.
Certainly, I’m “good for it.”
JL, who is MB’s favorite electrician, also wants his money in a hurry, even if
it’s a small $100 repair job.
“I need this money today to pay my bills,” JL will tell my wife—who of
course immediately gives him the cash in her wallet.
The problem with being in a hurry to rush the next invoice—and get your
money right away—is that it sends a message to your customer.
The message is: “I care more about getting paid than I do about your
satisfaction or convenience.”
I mean, come on: why can’t MB send me a bill in the mail like everyone else,
so I can forward it to my bookkeeper and let her pay it?
Recently, I hired a freelance writer to write an e‐book for my small
publishing company, CTC Publishing.
Today I got an e‐mail with his first draft of the e‐book attached.
Also attached to that same e‐mail: his bill.
“Hey,” I told him nicely. “I haven’t even read your first draft yet. Why am I
getting a bill?”
He should bill me only after he knows I am happy with his work…and not
before.
Don’t give your client the feeling that you’re in a rush to send out an
invoice and move on to the next job—even if you are.
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The product or service your client ordered is what they want—and getting
it makes them happy.
The bill is what they don’t want…a negative to most people.
Therefore, so as not to destroy the feelings of happiness the buyer
experiences when she takes delivery of the product she ordered, do *not* enclose
the invoice when you deliver the product.
For instance, a consultant should e‐mail his report as an attached file…wait
a few days for the client to absorb it…and only then should he send the invoice.
Also, the client is in a rush to get your widget or report—but not necessarily
to pay for it.
Therefore, it’s desirable to send products and services ordered by rapid
delivery methods—priority mail, FedEx, e‐mail.
But the client is in no hurry to get your bill.
So don’t e‐mail it.
Dropping it into ordinary first‐class mail is just fine for them—and for you.
Also, while it pays to be vigilant about accounts receivables, being overly so
can tick off customers and rapidly destroy goodwill.
I pay my vendor invoices net 30 days unless I’ve agreed otherwise.
Yet I can’t tell you how many times I have received a frantic call or e‐mail
from a proofreader, editor, writer, or Web designer demanding payment—for an
invoice they sent me just a few days ago.
Not only is it annoying, but it again shows me their main concern in life is
their pocketbook, not my satisfaction with what I bought from them.
“Don’t rush a bill” is really just a specific application of a general, almost
universal, business principle.
And that universal law of good business is simply: put the customer first.
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Section 14
3 Easy Ways to Write Money‐Making E‐mail Marketing Messages
In a recent Dilbert cartoon, the pointy‐haired boss chastised Dilbert for
forgetting to tell him about an important meeting.
When Dilbert replied that he HAD notified him by e‐mail, the boss replied:
“Well, obviously you chose an uninteresting subject line; otherwise I would have
opened it.”
He concluded by telling Dilbert, “You’re a bad e‐mail sender.”
What about you?
Are you a good e‐mail sender or a bad e‐mail sender?
Do people on your opt‐in e‐list actually look forward to getting your e‐
mails…and order the products you recommend in them?
Or do they view you as a spammer—and unsubscribe in droves every time
you broadcast to the list?
In my own start‐up Internet marketing business, CTC Publishing, I’ve
found three copywriting tactics that work particularly well in e‐mail sent to our
subscriber list.
These are: stories, content, and teaser.
A “story” e‐mail is just that: an e‐mail that tells an amusing story or
anecdote.
For instance, to promote our PR course to my subscribers, I sent out an e‐
mail that told a humorous—and true—story.
It was about what happened when my then‐7‐year‐old son dropped his
new gigapet—the latest electronic fad at the time—in the toilet.
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The copy read:
“Alex took the gigapet with him to the bathroom…and promptly dropped
it in the toilet.
“I quickly fished it out. But the water damaged the electronics, and the
device was ruined.
“Upon seeing his digital pet was dead, Alex burst into tears.
“’C‐c‐can we b‐b‐bury this one?’ he asked me tearfully.
“Being a soft‐hearted dad, I immediately took him to the back yard—and
with a shovel, we buried his dead electronic pet, using a brick for a headstone.”
I went on to reveal how I had gotten on the front page of the leisure section of a
major NJ daily newspaper by sending out a press release on “Microchip
Gardens”—the world’s first gigapet cemetery.
The e‐mail was very profitable—and I learned that my list likes stories.
Second, content.
An e‐mail marketing message that actually presents an idea, tip, advice, or
other content can often work better than one that is merely a sales pitch for a
product.
In an e‐mail promoting a program I sell on how to write a nonfiction book
and get it published, I revealed a secret that many aspiring authors do not know:
“Do you want to write a nonfiction book and get it published?
“Then don’t write the book—at least not yet.
“Publishers don’t want to read an unsolicited book manuscript from an
unknown author.
“If you send it, they’ll either mail it back unread…or toss your book in the
trash.
“What you need to do is write a book proposal.”
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If the reader learns something useful just from reading the e‐mail, he
appreciates the value you are giving him…and clicks on the link to your site to
learn more.
The third type of e‐mail we’ve found to be extremely effective is the ultra‐
short teaser e‐mail.
The lead talks about a benefit, a solution to a problem, or something else
highly desired by the reader.
And the next paragraph promises to deliver this benefit or solution when
the reader clicks on the hyperlink to the landing page:
“A recent survey revealed that writers who earn more than $60,000 a year
consistently do 22 things that writers who earn less money don’t.
“To get your hands on this list of 22 habits of highly profitable writers…and
master dozens of additional strategies for earning six figures as a freelance
writer…click below now…”
This teaser e‐mail generated a 2.5% click‐through rate with a 10%
conversion to orders for a $29 e‐book.
Tell a story…give valuable free content…use a teaser.
These three approaches to e‐mail copywriting have worked for me.
Do you have other e‐mail copywriting methods that are successful for you?
Why not send them to me so I can share them with your fellow ETR
subscribers?
You will receive full credit, of course.
Just e‐mail me at: [email protected]
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Section 15
Marketing With the “Next in Line” Principle
A reporter once asked legendary pool player Minnesota Fats what made
the difference between a great pool player—which Fats was—and one who was
merely good.
“The good pool player makes the shot,” said Fats. “The great pool player
not only makes the shot, but does so in such a way that the balls are lined up for
the next shot.”
I think the same applies to marketers.
Are you a good marketer…or a great marketer?
A good marketer creates a product, runs a promotion for it, gets a healthy
response rate, and makes a nice profit.
A great market does all that too…but he also designs the product,
promotion, or both so that the next sale is ready to be made.
Example: a good Internet marketer I know created a new e‐book, which he
priced at $39 a copy.
He paid a freelance writer a flat fee of $700 to write the 40‐page e‐book.
The first time he sent an e‐mail about the new e‐book to his list, he sold 154 copies,
making a quick $6,006.
But he made that six grand in orders within three days of sending his e‐
mail blast. After that, the orders—and cash flow—from that promotion dried up.
On the other hand, a great Internet marketer I know created a new e‐book.
Instead of paying a writer to create the e‐book, he e‐mailed a few dozen experts he
knew on the topic—and asked them for a contribution.
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About 30 experts responded. The marketer simply cut and pasted their
replies into a Word document to create the e‐book.
But, more importantly, each of those experts markets high‐priced
information products that would be of interest to the marketer’s list.
The marketer included the contributor’s bio at the end of each chapter of
the e‐book, including a description of one of their products related to the
discussion in the chapter, along with a link to the landing page where the product
can be ordered online.
However, the marketer signed up as an affiliate for all of the authors
featured in his e‐book. The live hyperlinks in his e‐book were his affiliate links.
That means whenever a buyer of the e‐book clicked on one of the links,
read the landing page, and ordered the contributor’s product, the marketer got a
cut.
He too sold thousands of dollars worth of his e‐book within a few days of
notifying his list about it via e‐mail.
But unlike the good marketer, the great marketer continued to get orders
from the affiliate product links built into his e‐book.
Result: the great marketer’s campaign made many times more revenue than
the good marketer’s campaign for a similar product.
Why?
The good marketer was only trying to make the shot—creating a product
and selling it to his list.
He made nice money. And he was content.
The great marketer put more thought into the project, and did a little more
work up front.
He too made the shot and sold his product to his list.
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But by building a “back end” directly into the product he distributed, he
also lined up his customers to make the next sale.
Friendly’s restaurant, regardless of what you think of their food, is often a
great marketer.
Yes, when you walk in, there are always specials, enticing you to buy more
during your visit.
These specials often include an ice cream dessert, which many customers,
after the big meal, are too full to eat.
Instead of letting the customer walk out without getting their dessert—
which would slightly increase the restaurant’s margin on the meal—my local
Friendly’s gives away a certificate entitling you to a free ice cream on your next
visit.
Are they being generous?
Yes. But they are also being smart.
Because when you return to claim your free ice cream, you will most likely
buy ice cream for the people with you…or pick up a quart to take home…or stop
and have lunch.
Friendly’s is a great marketer, because they are thinking ahead to the next
sale—not just focusing on today’s transaction.
How about you?
Are you a good marketer…or a great marketer?
Good marketers focus on the front end—the immediate sale.
Great marketers strategize ways to maximize revenues from every product,
promotion, and customer.
Good marketers make a good living.
Great marketers make a great living—and become rich beyond the dreams
of avarice.
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Section 16
The Most Important Piece of Equipment Any Marketer Can Own
What’s the most important piece of office equipment any marketer can own?
It’s not a color printer…or even a PC.
It’s a pocket calculator.
Costs only a few bucks to buy one, yet many marketers I speak to seem
either not to own one…or if they own one, they don’t use it.
Here’s what leads me to this conclusion…
At least once a week, I get a call or e‐mail that goes something like this:
“Bob, my name is John Q. Public. I’ve self‐published a terrific book, and I
want you to write a direct mail package to help me sell it. What do you charge?”
After I ask a few questions, I find out what I need to know…
The book has a cover price of $15…John printed 3,000 copies at a short‐run
book printer for $3 a copy…and therefore his net per copy is $12 each.
I tell John to forget it—he’ll never make money selling his book with a
direct mail campaign.
John is shocked. He spent 9 grand of his kid’s college fund printing those
3,000 books. They are cluttering his spare bedroom. His wife wants them out of
the house.
Bookstores have no interest in carrying John’s self‐published book.
Newspapers aren’t reviewing it.
He was counting on direct mail to make him rich and famous. And here I
am, crushing his hopes and dreams.
Why can’t I write a direct mail package to sell his book, John wants to know.
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“Do the math,” I urge John.
I get out a calculator and do it for him.
And here’s what we find…
His net revenue is just $12 per book.
To do a small test of a traditional direct mail package—outer envelope,
sales letter, flier, order form, reply envelope—could cost him $600 per thousand or
more.
Let’s say he tests a thousand pieces. At a cost of $600, he needs to sell 50
books just to break even.
That’s a response rate of 5%—very difficult to achieve with a rented
mailing list.
To double his money on the mailing, and make a profit of $600 on every
thousand pieces mailed, he’d have to sell 100 books.
That’d mean a 10% response to his mailer—almost impossible.
I explain all this to John. He becomes more depressed with every word. I’m
not telling him what he wanted to hear.
Don’t worry, I tell John.
There are dozens of marketing consultants and copywriters out there who
will tell you it can work—and will be happy to take your money and write a
promotion for you.
But that doesn’t matter.
Because the numbers say that, no matter how great the direct mail copy, the
promotion won’t make money.
John didn’t need me to tell him this.
He could have determined it for himself by using the most powerful tool a
marketer can own: a pocket calculator.
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The problem with many marketers—especially entrepreneurs—is that they
are “idea people”—dreamers who think big.
Unfortunately, the idea of marketing is not just to innovate…or be
creative…or have great ideas…or create really nifty products and services.
It’s to sell your products and services—at a profit.
And to be an effective marketer, you have to know a few factors like
product pricing…cost of goods…profit margins…typical response rates…cost per
thousand.
You then get out your calculator.
And based on those factors, you can quickly determine whether your idea
can fly—or is doomed to lose money.
In John’s case, even if his book sold for $40, I still would have discouraged
him.
That’s because, in direct marketing, the profits are mostly in the “back
end”—repeat sales to customers who buy a product from you.
But as a self‐publisher who has only one product—his single self‐published
book—John has no back end.
And therefore…no viable business.
By the way, while it’s not difficult to calculate the response rate needed to
break even on your direct mail campaign, I don’t have space to show you the
simple formulas here.
So I’ve created a free online calculator you can use. Just click here to get
started:
http://www.dmresponsecalculator.com/
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About the Author
BOB BLY is an independent copywriter and consultant with more than 20
years of experience in business‐to‐business, high tech, industrial, and direct
marketing.
Bob has written copy for over 100 clients including Network Solutions, ITT
Fluid Technology, Medical Economics, Intuit, Business & Legal Reports, and
Brooklyn Union Gas. Awards include a Gold Echo from the Direct Marketing
Association, an IMMY from the Information Industry Association, two Southstar
Awards, an American Corporate Identity Award of Excellence, and the Standard
of Excellence award from the Web Marketing Association.
He is the author of more than 50 books including The Complete Idiotʹs
Guide To Direct Marketing (Alpha Books) and The Copywriterʹs Handbook
(Henry Holt & Co.). His articles have appeared in numerous publications such as
DM News, Writerʹs Digest, Amtrak Express, Cosmopolitan, Inside Direct Mail,
and Bits & Pieces for Salespeople.
Bob has presented marketing, sales, and writing seminars for such groups
as the U.S. Army, Independent Laboratory Distributors Association, American
Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the American Marketing Association. He
also taught business‐to‐business copywriting and technical writing at New
York University.
Bob writes sales letters, direct mail packages, ads, e‐mail marketing
campaigns, brochures, articles, press releases, white papers, Websites,
newsletters, scripts, and other marketing materials clients need to sell their
products and services to businesses. He also consults with clients on marketing
strategy, mail order selling, and lead generation programs.
Prior to becoming an independent copywriter and consultant, Bob was
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advertising manager for Koch Engineering, a manufacturer of process equipment.
He has also worked as a marketing communications writer for Westinghouse
Defense. Bob Bly holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of
Rochester and has been trained as a Certified Novell Administrator (CNA). He is a
member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Business
Marketing Association.
Bob has appeared as a guest on dozens of TV and radio shows including
MoneyTalk 1350, The Advertising Show, Bernard Meltzer, Bill Bresnan, CNBC,
Winning in Business, The Small Business Advocate and CBS Hard Copy. He has
been featured in major media ranging from the LA Times and Nation’s Business to
the New York Post and the National Enquirer.
For a FREE Copywriting Information Kit, or a free, no‐obligation cost
estimate on copywriting for your next project, contact:
Bob Bly, Copywriter
31 Cheyenne Drive, Montville, NJ 07045
Phone (973) 263-0562, Fax ( 973) 263-0613
e‐mail: [email protected]
Web: www.bly.com