When Long Form Sales-Copy Doesn't Outpull Short Copy!

Today I'm going to reveal an eye-opening secret, about the ONLY time shorter sales copy will produce better results than long-form sales copy.

If you know anything about direct-response marketing, you're already "convinced", either through testing on your own projects... or hearing from others who've tested it, how long-form sales copy always outpulls shorter copy.

The quick, "cliff notes" reason why this is so, is... if someone wants to buy something from you, they want to know as much as possible about it, before buying.

Assuming of course...

You're Saying Something Worth-While In The First Place!

If you're not, that's another problem altogether, and... it's one a simple little conversation between the two of us right now, certainly won't solve.

Anyway, there is one time, when testing has shown using less copy is actually more effective. And that time is, when you're setting up what's called a "name-squeeze", or "fly-catcher" web page, as the "entrance," or portal, to get into your web site.

Here's the deal:

If you go to my "main" page, www.KingOfCopy.com, you'll see it's a "name-squeeze" or "fly-catcher" page. Meaning, it's designed to capture the name and address of people who are interested in getting to your content "inside" your web site.

I tested using long-form sales copy on my namesqueeze page. Over the period I tested this long-form sales copy, I got a 29.45% "conversion" rate. Meaning, 29.45% of the people who saw this page, opted to sign in, entering their information and becoming a subscriber of mine.

While I was running this long-form sales copy, I was also testing a shorter version. This shorter-form sales copy, had a response rate of exactly 1% higher, converting visitors to subscribers at a 30.45% rate!

And a 1% boost in your conversion rate, every single day... 365 days a year... for the rest of your life....

Will Make You A King’s Ransom!

And the good thing is, both of these tests were ran over a large enough population, to make their results valid. (As an aside, depending on how people find out about me, nowadays my usual "conversion rate" varies widely, from 30% to 50%.)

At first, I found these results very surprising, but since that time, I've spoken to other people who've tested the exact same thing, with the same exact results:

Unlike sales copy that is selling something, where (good) long-form sales copy always outpulls shorter copy, when you're using a namesqueeze page...

Shorter Copy Is The Way To Go!

I can't say for sure exactly why this is so, but I do have a theory:

If someone lands on your page, at a minimum, they at least want to get more "information" on what you're offering, and they want it as soon as possible -- longer sales copy delays their access to your information -- and... as you know...

Delay Is The Death Of A Sale!

And that's why the shorter copy works -- it gives you faster access. The bottom line on all of this, and I hope you're taking this message away from me today, even more than the actual results of my testing, is...

The Most Effective Advertising Is Always Measurable!

Otherwise, how in the hell are you supposed to know what you're doing... why you're doing it... and whether or not you should do it again... change it... or stop it altogether?

Make sense?

P.S. If you've tested long-form versus shorter copy, in your namesqueeze page, and found that your long-form copy actually outpulled your shorter copy, let me know -- I'd love to tell the rest of my subscribers.

Craig Garber is America's Top Direct-Response Copywriter. You'll find hundreds of marketing tips to increase your sales, and his insanely popular FREE Direct-Response Marketing Tip Of The Week, on his website, www.KingOfCopy.com.

Earning Extra Income With Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the single fastest growth industry on the Internet. Yet many people go into it without a solid recipe for success. Indeed, many look to earn extra income with affiliate marketing with no real plan, and that can severely hamper their efforts at becoming successful at it.

Make no mistake, although affiliate marketing can be an easy and fun way to earn additional income, it is work, and just like any other job, requires effort, perseverance, and above all, a clear line of sight from start to finish line.

Things like setting up your home office properly, getting some know-how, setting realistic goals, making connections, and investing in your business will not only ensure that you have a leg-up on your competition, but it will also ensure you are firmly standing head and shoulders above them.

Setting Up Your Home Base

Perhaps the most important first step you can take to becoming a professional affiliate marketer is to set up your home base – that little home office you’ve always dreamed about!

There are many good articles on the internet about ergonomic design, and with good reason. Anyone who is going to be spending a large amount of time on their computers needs a space that promotes good posture, positive environments, and takes care of safety issues revolving around the office workspace.

The best place to start might be to head down to your local Home Depot and touch base with a professional sales representative. They are trained to show you how to set up a first-rate ergonomic office while saving you some serious cash.

Ergonomics is the science behind preventing office workplace injuries, and office designers now make tables, chairs, and desktop accessories that reduce stress on your back, limbs, wrists, and tendons, and reduce stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome which can occur from long hours of doing small repetitive tasks.

You’ll want to start with an ergonomically designed desk that puts everything within easy reach, a good computer with a screen that won’t hurt your eyes, non-glaring lamps placed far enough away that your eyes won’t be soaking in light while you are trying to work on the computer screen, and a chair that is comfortable and promotes circulation to your legs and rest of your body.

Of course, having the greatest home office in the world won’t matter if you don’t take the next step to becoming a successful affiliate marketer: getting some good, professional training.

Learning the Trade

Nobody goes onto a worksite cold. You can’t walk into a restaurant and expect to become the head chef just because you dressed like one that morning. And no construction company in the world is going to put you in charge just because you want the extra money but lack any real training.

The trick, then, is getting some professional training and learning how to become a professional affiliate marketer.

The first step in this road to success is to find a professional affiliate marketer and see what they can do to help you get on your feet and get moving. Thankfully, there are a few affiliate marketing pros out there who supplement their income by fulfilling another dream for many of them: being able to teach their trade to other enthusiastic marketers and passing their collective knowledge on to others.

In fact, simply typing “Affiliate Marketing Training” into http://www.yahoo.com/ or some other search engine will find dozens and dozens of sites promoting quality affiliate marketing conferences that you can attend.

One of affiliate marketing’s brightest stars and biggest success stories is James Martell, and chances are pretty good that if you’ve looked into affiliate marketing at all you’ve seen his name pop up more than once. His downloadable home-study course and twice monthly audio newsletter for students of his program make him the good place to start looking for a great course and learning the inner workings of affiliate marketing.

Become a student of the business. Start by setting some realistic income goals and working to achieve them.

Setting Reachable Goals

One problem with some affiliate marketers is that many tend to overshoot both their skills and their plans by setting unrealistic income goals and becoming disenchanted when they are unable to attain them.

Certainly a goal of $5,000 a month is attainable, but the first time affiliate marketer is most likely not going to make that kind of money when they step into the ring for the first time.

Make no mistake; $5,000 dollars a month is a goal that can be achieved through affiliate marketing, but beginners should look for something more modest. Start small. Start with, “I’m going to earn an extra $50-$100 a day, by learning how to create my own great looking websites, that get free traffic from the search engines, by taking the time to learn how to do it, from someone who already does the same thing.”

As an income goal, it’s certainly achievable, and you would be doing yourself a favour by setting aside the extra time you will need to learn how to do things right, the first time. Like any skill, it takes time and experience before you really get good at what you are doing.

Set goals and get used to setting them often. Set up daily goals for little things. Set up weekly and monthly goals to work toward even larger goals. Get used to writing your wants and needs on paper, and then actively working toward those goals. You’ll be glad you did, and you’ll be amazed at how much something as simple as a “to do” list can help you focus your energy and become better at your craft.

There’s a great book out about goal setting called “Goals: Setting and Achieving Them on Schedule” by Zig Ziglar. Take a look at it if you feel you could use some extra help in this department. In fact, set a goal to purchase the book and read it if you have to!

Another important goal for you to set: if you are really looking to augment your earnings with affiliate programs, or plan on becoming a full-time marketer, you have to get out there and make connections.

Making Connections to Your Future

By all accounts, the professional affiliate marketing community is a tight-knit group of people who are constantly in contact with one another.

There is a large amount of information sharing, helping one another as a support group, and a general belief that by pitching in and helping out everyone can be successful in their new role as an affiliate marketer and learn from each others mistakes.

It would be extremely shallow to suggest getting out there and making friends simply to help your business along, and people tend to not look kindly upon those who do (and we all know someone like that, don’t we?). Instead, get out there and introduce yourself. Start by seeing where you can help others with their business, and in return people will be more inclined to help you when you need it.

Get out there and enjoy yourself, and get to know these people personally. You won’t only be better off from a business standpoint, but your life will be far richer for making good friends who can relate to the trials and tribulations of your business woes and successes.

Just being able to relate to like-minded people will relieve tons of work stress. You will always be able to discuss your new career and problems you are facing with people who understand what you’re talking bout and don’t simply see your job as “foolin’ around on the ‘puter”.

Of course, they’ll have no choice but to take you a little more seriously when you invest a little money and a lot of effort in your own affiliate marketing business and really make your image shine.

Investing in Your Business is Believing in Yourself!

It’s a well known truism that states, “It takes money to make money.” These words couldn’t be truer in the world of affiliate marketing.

Although affiliate marketing is relatively cheap to set up as a home business, there are still some costs involved in getting up and running smoothly. Things like home office accessories (remember that trip to Home Depot?) Can set you back large sums of money depending on how far you are willing to go at once.

There are also costs involved within the industry itself. For example, finding affordable web space ($8-$15 per month) and registering your own domain names ($10-15 per year) does add up.

You will also need to look at web site template options if you hope to save time by having your websites “pre-planned”. Low-cost templates, such as those found at http://www.affiliate-marketing-templates.com/ can greatly affect the way others view your site. Is it professional? Is it clean? A good web development company selling low cost affiliate website templates will be able to accomplish all of this and more.

You are also going to want to invest both time and effort into setting yourself up with quality content. Writing for the web is a skill that takes practice and patience, like any other, and must be clean and easy to read while still fulfilling the needs of your affiliate site.

You can always go out and find professional writers to do this for you, but remember that they can be costly and deserve to be well-paid for their services. After all, they are going to make or break your web site!

Investing in your affiliate marketing business is more than just covering costs, though. It is really about you stepping up to the plate and making a commitment to become a success. It is an investment in your own success, as well as an investment in your future.

Hopefully, this article has given you some ideas about the direction you need to take in order to earn extra income as a successful affiliate marketer. Remember that it takes time to become succeed at anything. Rome wasn’t built in a day. You’re affiliate marketing business isn’t going to be built in a day either.

Just keep at it, and before long you’ll have people coming to you for advice on how to get started.

For more information, see James Martell's Affiliate Marketers Handbook - 2005

Bill Schnarr is a single parent and freelance writer who works from his home in Calgary, Alberta. As well as having dozens of online and print publishing credits, you can also look for him in the upcoming "Chicken Soup for the Single Parents Soul" due out in February 2005.

New Algorithm Measures Require New Means For Optimization

A lot has been happening over at Google lately. Last month we saw a substantial algorithm change, probably the biggest one since the "florida" update of 2003.

And again this week we are seeing even more shifts. Fortunately, Pole Position Web has been ahead of curve on the algorithm changes. Several months ago all of our clients sites underwent a substantial optimization review based on the changes we, and a few others in the industry, had suspected were coming.

This first change earlier this year was primarily about the on-page content. Search engine technology is getting smarter and they are learning to detect pages that are being "optimized" for keywords.

Essentially, the search algorithms are looking at natural language text and usage of additional related words that should accompany the targeted keywords. Optimization is no longer about keyword density or the number of times your keyword falls on the page.

Its about building and organizing page content to be utilized in proper context with the targeted keyword phrases. That's important so I'll repeat it: Optimization is about building and organizing page content to be utilized in proper context with the targeted keyword phrases.

Got that? Good.

Many SEOs are still looking at keyword density as the primary on-page optimization factor. That is so 2004!

Does this mean that you just need to hire a good writer--no more need for an SEO? By no means. In fact, the content is so important that you need both a writer and an SEO working together.

The best SEOs will have a professional writer on the payroll, and I certainly would not consider hiring an SEO that doesn't. But the actual writing is only half the battle. SEOs (should) have intimate knowledge of the search engines and how the algorithms function. Writers generally have to be guided by the SEO to ensure the page is properly optimized for top rankings for the targeted phrases.

Notice here I say writers should be 'guided', not 'directed' by the SEO. When in conflict on word usage, natural language trumps. But the SEO should know that already.

The second and most recent change is still subject to speculation (as are all algorithm changes, sometimes for months or years after the fact) and seems to be about the linking methods employed.

Linking, the primary off-the-page factor in optimization has been subject to a considerable amount of spam.

Before Google, spam consisted mostly of keyword stuffing and doorway pages. Today's spam is link spamming. Google seems to have tightened the reins on what they consider a true and valid link.

Deciphering this can be quite difficult. What is a good link? What is a bad link? As link spamming became more and more common, Google and other engines looked for better ways to value a link.

It used to be that any link was a good link, didn't matter the source. Then it evolved into seeking out high PR links (links from high PageRank sites and pages). A good link today is a link from a site that is considered relevant to you.

Linking sites that are not related by industry or common value to the user may still work, but the time on that is running short.

Based on our recent experience working with new sites, I think link aging is now a factor in the Google algorithm. By looking at how long a link has been in place a search engine can assign weight and relevance based on time.

A new link has little or no value. A link that has been in place for several months has more value, and a link that has been in place for a year may have the most value (or no value, depending on when the page the link is on was last updated!)

How link aging is actually playing out (if it is at all) is and will continue to be something of a mystery. Its one of those factors that is extremely difficult to assess its true nature.

What does link aging accomplish? It fights link spam. Many link spammers try to achieve top rankings for their sites by getting hundreds, if not thousands, of links for a site virtually overnight, or by purchasing "ads" on high PR sites for the purpose of getting the link value, where the ad itself is of little or no consideration.

These are methods used simply to make a site be considered "important" in the eyes of the search engine. Link aging essentially makes these linking methods less valuable and less cost effective. Mass link purchasing is less attractive if the link must stay in place for months before any value can be attributed. That can cost a pretty penny!

All in all, this equals a pretty sizeable shakeup in the search industry. Many "expert" SEOs are finding that they don't have the knowledge or experience to keep up with the new changes or find ways to make their client's sites rank well.

Even more experienced SEOs are finding that many sites can take six months or more just to see any kind of ranking improvement.

This will make it even more difficult to differentiate from those who can improve your rankings and those only say they can. My recommendation: get a list of references from the SEO and check their results. If they can't demonstrate enough current top rankings for fairly competitive keywords, you might want to keep looking.

Stoney deGeyter is founder and president of Pole Position Web, an internet marketing and SEO firm in Reno, Nevada. Established in 1998 Pole Position web has been a leader in proving optimization and marketing services that substantially improve their client's return on investment. Stoney also publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, The Pole Position News, and posts frequently in his company's blog.

Podcasting: Internet Radio On Demand... and MORE!

If you haven't heard the term "podcast" yet, you will.

It's about to blow the world of online audio through the roof as every Tom, Dick and Shirley can now operate a high powered Internet Radio station providing on-demand audio (and shortly, video) with nothing more than a microphone, simple software, and a little imagination.

Just like cable TV in the 1980's gave smaller networks and individuals a voice on television, podcasting gives individuals a voice (literally) through online audio.

Podcasting is actually the audio form of "blogging," where individuals share their thoughts in writing over time on a dynamic webpage known as a "blog."

With blogging, subscribers and other blog publishers subscribe to and cross promote each other's content by linking to and writing about each other.

With podcasting, the author shares his or her thoughts in audio form (MP3) and subscribers download and listen to the audio either on their computers, burn the files to CD, or transfer the files to one of the increasingly popular portable MP3 players.

In fact, the term "podcasting" draws its name from the iPod, created by Apple Computers.

Initially you might think the only people podcasting are geeks and computer nerds, but that's not the case.

If you imagine "talk radio" meets "free cable access" then you have and idea of what pocasting is now and how it could evolve in the future.

Right now, any idiot (like me) with a microphone and something to say can create an online radio show.

This type of access to media that reaches a world-wide market enables smaller, niche publishers to develop a world-wide following that just isn't monetarily feasible in traditional mass-media.

That means talk shows like "Chihuahua Breeding" or "Motorcycle Fashion Weekly" that could never hope to afford air time in a local market, can now develop an audience on the Internet.

Log on to PodCastAlley.com to peruse a wide range of available shows on everything from dog training to wine selection and tasting tips (one of the most popular).

Despite all this potential power, podcasting remains in an infancy stage right now.

But, the Internet has always proven in the past that a powerful but simple technology will always find a way to make itself felt quickly.

All it needs to explode is a few people to lead the way and show exactly how to use the technology to entertain and educate subscribers.

I also think two worlds will evolve for podcasting program publishers, just like cable vs. network television.

Some content will remain free (network TV), while some subscribers will gladly pay for more specific "niche" or pay-per-view content (cable TV).

As the quality of the programming increases along with more widespread acceptance of the tools necessary to consume the content (MP3 players and portable video players), podcasting will grow to stand beside other mainstream media.

It won't happen overnight, and it won't penetrate every market, but as members of the "global village" seek to find and feel a connection with like-minded individuals, regardless of their physical location, podcasting provides a cheap, powerful, and innovative solution for that basic human need.

Article by Jim Edwards, a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website, affiliate links, or blogs... Read on => http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com

14 Link Exchange Strategies To Boots Your Internet Profits (P2)

I have to admit, I've been a little bit lousy with my latest newsletter issue. There were too many things on the same time. Pretty bad things as a matter of fact. But live goes on. Issue 52 is available now online.

The first article is a continues of "14 Link Exchange Strategies To Boots Your Internet Profits" posted on my Internet Marketing Profits Newsletter, issue 51. Inside of Part 2, you will discover new link exchange strategies and more about:

- Link Renting From On-Topic Web Sites

- 'Fraud Exchange' Tricks

- Maintain Consistency In the Format of Your URL

- Watch Your Back To Whom Link Back And How Much They Will Stay

- What Do You Need To Avoid When Swapping Links

- Do You Really Need Pay-Per-Click Search Engines?

- The Right Way To Do A Link Exchange

- How To Improve Your Internet Profits with Link Exchange Strategies

If you think these information are useful for your Internet business, read the full article at Internet Marketing Profits Newsletter, issue 52.

The second article is called "Major Index Update for Google, Some Relief for Sandboxed Sites". Google was on a tear this month, undergoing a significant rewrite of its search engine listings in what may have been the longest rolling update we've seen ever! One particularly interesting development relates to the so-called Google Sandbox effect.

A new issue arise in which Google seems to be dropping some sites that have not been updated or acquired any new inbound links for a year or more. Could this be a new strategy by Google to reduce the number of stale sites in their index?

And Google continues their anti-link-spamming crusade with a major new algorithm update. Google is clearly cracking down on link-spamming in a big way. Hot on the heels of January's introduction of the nofollow tag (designed to thwart link-spamming within blog comments), it looks like Google has now adjusted their algorithm to better detect and neutralize several of the tell-tale strategies of traditional link-spamming.

Everything is available into my Internet Marketing Profits Newsletter, issue 52. Enjoy reading!

PS: if you like what you read, don't forget to check my other articles available on my Internet Marketing Profits Newsletter archive -- strike for more tips on how to skyrocket your internet marketing profits.

7 Best Cartoons on Email Marketing

Here are seven fun cartoons just for email marketers. You'll love them. (Yes, it's ok to share this hotlink with colleagues and in your blog. Why not spread the April Fools' joy?)

Last week, MarketingSherpa's contributing editor Mark Brownlow hesitantly admitted he'd been hiding something important from us. The strain of five years of reporting on email marketing had made him crack.

He was moonlighting as a cartoonist. Not just any cartoons -- cartoons about email marketing.

Oooh goody we said. Let's publish them for April Fools' Day. And so, here you have our seven favorites.

Note: Yes you may freely distribute the link to this page, however please do *not* break copyright law by copying or reproducing the cartoon art itself. Thanks!

#1. When email marketers get desperate

#2. How to solve email deliverability issues

#3. How email authentication really works

#4. If email messages could talk

#5. An email marketer's nightmare

#6. The trouble with metrics reports

#7. When spammers were young

Article from MarketingSherpa

A Foolproof Way To Maximize Your Future Product's Sales

Before we get started: I received an email from a subscriber last week that made my day. He'd emailed about a year ago, describing himself as "severely disabled" and unemployed. Based on how he described his skills and past work experience, I gave him some very general suggestions, a little encouragement, and wished him well.

Fast-Forward to last week, when I received the following email:

"I am not sure you will remember me... Things have changed dramatically since then, realizing that the market was pretty dead (where he lived), I went with the money, and was successful in the first three days of (job) interviews. I now have a new computer, a new Mercedes and some money in the bank. I want to thank you again very much for your encouragement."

Wow! Fantastic. ;-) But listen, I didn't come up with some "genius plan" to help this gentleman, I just offered a little encouragement and practical advice. I never would have imagined he would take the time to email me a "thank you" after he'd turned his life around, and frankly, there's not much to thank me for.

- But it really hit home with me the power that *each one of us has* in our daily communications and interactions with one another. A kind word, a friendly smile (even a goofy computer one ;-) ...Can have an impact on others that we'll usually never know, and with the increased tension most people are feeling these days due to current events and increased insecurities, keep this in mind:

We don't always have to go the extra "mile" to make the world a better place; If we all just go an extra INCH, it could help more than you'd ever imagine. (friendly smile)

OKAY, LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

I received ANOTHER email last week from a subscriber that made me nervous. The initial email to me basically said:

"I'm about to print up thousands of copies of my new book on (subject), and plan to sell it online. The simple fact is that (subject) people generally buy anything about (subject) that is halfway decent, and there are millions of potential buyers."

My initial thought: Uh-oh, this person may be in trouble. He's already committing to printing thousands of books, and my suggestions and questions may be too late...

These are my questions when I'm discussing someone's plans for a new product that will be costly, both in time and money. Did they:

1) Check to make sure there was a hungry market for the new product?

2) Check competitors' products, offers, price points, method of sale, and successfulness?

3) Test at least 5 - 7 different titles/headlines for the book?

4) Develop a winning sales letter/process IN ADVANCE of the printing/development?

Since I knew this person was moments away from sending his new book to be printed, I cut to the chase, and asked him about one thing he might still have an option to change, which is crucial: "What is the name of the book?"

(More on the importance of the title in a minute.)

Now, I'm not going to tell you the subject matter of the book I'm talking about, and it really doesn't matter. For hypothetical examples, let's say the book is on dieting and losing weight.

Book On Dieting - An Automatic Best-Seller?

It's true that the diet industry is enormous, however it's also true that there is fantastic competition for "diet dollars". To think that you can write a "not bad" book on dieting and make a fortune with a "not bad" ad for it is simply incorrect. How would we put this diet example through the checklist I made earlier?

Step 1: Make Sure There's A Hungry Market

- Yes, there IS a "hungry" market for diet books (no pun intended). So it's a question of how to tap into that preexisting market.

Step 2: Check competitors' product offers, price points, method of sale, successfulness

- You're up against Richard Simmons, Jenny Craig, the "Zone Diet", and a wide variety of other top-dog competitors. You're also up against other direct competitors on the internet. Research the websites. Work at understanding the sales process they're using. What can YOU offer to differentiate yourself from the rest to maximize sales of your soon to be released product?

Step 3: Test at least 5 - 7 different titles/headlines to your book (or whatever product you may be developing)

- The title of your book can make or break its sales! If it's on a shelf in a bookstore, the title on the spine is its sole "classified ad" to get someone to pull it off the shelf. I'm sure you've heard that the headline is the most crucial part of an advertisement... Well a book's title is the headline for the book. Its importance CANNOT be underestimated.

Let's say we test the following titles for this hypothetical weight-loss example:

"The Couch Potato's 'Lose Weight While You Watch T.V.' Guaranteed System"

"Weight-Loss Drill Sergeant In A Box" - Turn Your Life Around In 45 Days Starting Tomorrow With Your In-Home Diet Bootcamp. Take The Challenge!"

"The Busy Mom's Sure-Fire Gain Energy & Lose Weight Rocket-boost Program"

"How I BECAME The Other Woman - My Friends And I Used To Be Jealous Of All Those Slim Sally's That Turned Our Husband's Eyes... Now My Friends Are Jealous Of ME!"

"I Finally Lost Weight After 19 Failed Diets - And You Can Too With This No-Fail System!"

"Supermodels Make Me Puke... But Unlike Them, I Don't Want To! The Get-Fit-For-Life 57 Day Action Guide To REAL Results For REAL People!"

Now: Can you GUARANTEE me which of those headlines will out-pull the others? You can take a guess, but you'll never know without testing it on YOUR potential customers.

Are your potential customers ex-marines? Then the drill sergeant ad might be best. Are your potential customers mostly overworked, frustrated moms who don't have as much time to spend looking their best as they'd like? Do they watch a lot of TV? Do they want to make their friends jealous?

You'll never know - Unless you test.

The Difference Between "Selling On The Internet" And "Internet Marketing"

That's where the term "marketing" comes in. If you're "selling" on the internet, you're just "trying to get a bunch of people to buy your stuff". If you're an "internet marketer", you're in one of two groups:

a) You already have a group of subscribers and potential customers who you're in contact with.

b) You're just starting out and have no pre-defined target audience.

How To Find Out What Your Customers Want From You

If you already have a large group of subscribers who are interested in health/fitness/weight loss, ASK THEM what they want from you.

Email your subscribers, and direct them to your website, where the five headlines you've created are active links. Tell them that you're giving them the first chapter or two of your new book free as a "thank you" for being subscribers, and give them an option to click on any of those five links to read the report.

Once they've clicked on one, on the next page ask them not to click on any of the other links, and explain that each link went to the same information, you were just testing which headline appealed to them the most to find out what appealed to them the most, then give them the information you promised.

ALTERNATIVE TEST

An alternative to that is to have an "exit pop-up" page that offers a free first chapter incentive with the same five links. I've also used this test with excellent results. When a visitor leaves your website, have a popup box come up that says:

"Special Gift For Visiting Our Website
A Shocking Weight-Loss Report On The Subject Of Your Choice
Please Choose Your Free Report From The List Below"

Whichever way you choose to test, you of course need to put a counter on each linked page, to gauge the difference in clickthroughs. The results you get should dictate the title of your book! (Or name of your product)

If You're Just Starting Out And Have No Target Audience

If you don't already have a customer or subscriber base to "tap into" when creating new products, you have more freedom. The question becomes not "What do my customers and subscribers want", but "Where can I find the best-defined, quantifiable amount of qualified prospects for my potential product?"

It's not enough that your potential prospects are "out there", you have to be able to get the attention of qualified prospects at an affordable price. In other words, it's time for more research.

NOTE: How to do complete market research on the Internet is beyond the scope of this article. Part of what you need to determine is where your potential customers "hang out" online, and the viability of being able to reach them with your sales message at an affordable cost, whether it's through paid advertising on specific targeted websites, joint ventures/co-ops with other business owners who may be willing to endorse your product for a percentage of the profits, effective search engine listings, etc.

Hot Tip On "Niche Marketing" Possibilities

Here's A Hot Tip: By trying to be "everything to everybody", you often don't get anyone's attention. In other words, the headline, "How ANYONE Can Lose Weight GUARANTEED" doesn't really make people think, "Who, me?" (More likely than not, it elicits the response, "Yeah, right.)

But by focusing on "niche markets" within a specific industry, while you're on one hand limiting the number of potential buyers, you're at the same time increasing the interest of buyers within that group. And the "hot tip" is that you can target several niches simultaneously.

In other words, say you have a weight-loss book that's written to help "everyone" lose weight. Instead of trying to sell that one book to everyone, with a little modification you could create different versions:

The New Mother's Guide To Dropping Those Pregnancy Pounds In 6 Weeks Or Less

The Over-Fifty Metabolism Program To Burn Away Unwanted Pounds And Feel Thirty Again

The Teenager's Guide To Popularity Through Better Self-Image Through Dieting

Each one of those titles speaks more directly to a specifically targeted reader.

Step 5: Develop a winning sales letter/process IN ADVANCE of the printing

Marketers don't try to figure out how to sell something to their audience, they figure out what their target markets want to buy. I would never print up thousands of books before I'd already written, tested, and proven the winning ad with which I would sell them!

How do you test a product you haven't even finished yet?

Option a) Sell a "prototype" or rough draft of your product at first. (If it's an informational product, have it printed at Kinko's, burn it onto a CD-Rom, or make it a downloadable product.)

Option b) Create and put out your sales letter first before you've even created your product, and fulfill on the orders you receive with one of your competitor's products during your initial test. That's right - Buy a comparable competing product to the one you plan on creating, and sell IT instead of your future product to whoever purchases from your test ad. If there's no single book/product similar to yours to meet the promises of your sales letter, then you may have to buy two or more books/products to fulfill on each order received.

You shouldn't worry about the cost of fulfilling orders on these initial test sales, even if you're losing money. I once did a test for a sales letter I'd written for a product I hadn't spent one minute starting to develop, and I ran an ad with a selling price of $25 that I had to spend $45 to buy a competitor's product to fulfill on every $25 I received during the test.

It was a small price to pay... I learned priceless information about response to my sales letter, response to the classified ads I posted, and the viability of the product overall - Before I'd spent even one minute actually creating the product.

I could go on and on about the subject of product development; It involves some of the most crucial decisions a business makes, but it's too-often made on a whim or an assumption that may not even be correct. With the scientific testing tools and methods at our disposal on the internet as astute marketers, that's just crazy.

In conclusion, I wish the person who sparked this article in the first place the best of luck with their new product... I wrote this to try and help you take the luck OUT of your product development.

We all have a lot to feel lucky about, but lets not make our BUSINESS depend on luck (smile). How depressing to test titles of your book AFTER you've printed thousands of copies and find out that an alternative one out-pulled yours by 400%. "Marketing" can be as easy or as hard as you make it.

Article by Timothy A. Gross, President - Internet Profit Systems

Email Deliverability Tips

Ensuring requested opt-in email is delivered to subscriber inboxes is an increasingly difficult battle in the age of spam filtering. Open and click thru response rates can be dramatically affected by as much as 20-30% due to incorrect spam filter classification.

Permission

Confirming that the people who ask for your information have actually requested to be on your list is the number one step in the battle for deliverability. You should be using a process called confirmed opt-in or verified opt-in to send a unique link to the attempted subscriber when they request information. Before adding the person to your list they must click that unique link verifying that they are indeed the same person that owns the email address and requested to subscribe.

Subscriber Addresses

When requesting website visitors to opt-in ask for their "real" or "primary" email address instead of a free email address like Yahoo or Hotmail. Free emails tend to be throw away accounts and typically have a shorter lifetime than a primary ISP address.

List Maintenance

Always promptly remove undeliverable addresses that bounce when sending email to them. An address that bounces with a permanent error 2-3 times in a 30 day period should be removed from the list. ISP's track what percentage of your newsletters bounce and will block them if you attempt to continually deliver messages to closed subscriber mailboxes.

Message Format

Usage of HTML messages to allow for text formatting, multiple columns, images, and brand recognition is growing in popularity and is widely supported by most email client software. Most spam is also HTML formatted and thus differentiating between requested email and spam HTML messages can be difficult. A 2004 study by AWeber.com shows that plain text messages are undeliverable 1.15% of the time and HTML only messages were undeliverable 2.3%. If sending HTML it is important to always send a plain text alternative message, also called text/HTML multi-part mime format.

Content

Many ISP's filter based on the content that appears within the message text.

Website URL: Research potential newsletter advertisers before allowing them to place ads in your newsletter issues. If they have used their website URL to send spam, just having their URL appear in your newsletter could cause the entire message to be filtered.

Words/phrases: Choose your language carefully when crafting messages. Avoid hot button topics often found in spam such as medication, mortgages, making money, and pornography. If you do need to use words that might be filtered, don't attempt to obfuscate words with extra characters or odd spelling, you'll just make your messages appear more spam like.

Images: Avoid creating messages that are entirely images. Use images sparingly, if at all. Commonly used open rate tracking technology uses images to calculate opens. You may choose to disable open rate tracking to avoid being filtered based on image content.

Attachments: With viruses running rampant and spreading thru the usage of malicious email attachments many users are wary of attached documents. It's often better to link to files via a website URL to reduce recipient fear of attachments and reduce the overall message size.

CAN-SPAM Compliance

The January 2004 Federal CAN-SPAM law introduced a number of rules regarding the delivery of email. It's important you have your legal counsel review your practices and ensure you are in compliance. The two most important rules include having a valid postal mail address listed in all commercial messages and a working unsubscribe link that is promptly honored to remove the subscriber from future messages.

Reputation

Reputation services are often used by large ISP's as a way to vet email senders regarding their email practices and policies. Businesses listed with these services are then given less stringent filtering or no filtering at all. Several reputation services are:

http://www.isipp.com/iadb.php
http://www.bondedsender.com
http://www.habeas.com

Relationships & Whitelisting

Contact with major ISP's and email providers is essential in letting them know about your requested subscriber email. Many large providers such as AOL and Yahoo have specific whitelisting programs and postmaster website areas to ensure your email is delivered as long as you meet their policies and procedures in handling your opt-in list.

Email deliverability is about ensuring requested opt-in email is delivered to the intended recipient. While no single tip will enable you to get 100% of your email delivered each one utilized as a group can go a long way to reaching that goal.

Article by Tom Kulzer, CEO and Founder of Newtown, PA based AWeber Communications, Inc. an opt-in email service provider. With 7 years managing opt-in follow up and newsletters for small businesses, email deliverability is an integral part of day to day operations.

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20 Ways To Grow Your Subscriber List

1. Give subscribe instructions in your resource box (used to end articles). Give a brief 1 or 2 line description of the benefits of subscribing to your ezine. Give specific subscribe url or email addresses. Give both options if available.

2. Give subscribe instructions in your signature file. Have several well tested signature files handy. When you see a name that you don't recognize or don't think is a subscriber, use this signature file.

3. Ask others to recommend your publication on their "thank you" page. This is most often done on an exchange basis. That is, you recommend good ezines and they reciprocate on their site. This works great because someone who has just signed up for one is ezine is very inclined to subscribe to other similar ezines.

4. Ask subscribers to pass on copies of your ezine to friends and associates. If it contains lots of useful information then they will. People like to pass on useful tips to friends.

5. Always include your subscribe instructions in every issue. This allows current subscribers to easily change the email they subscribed under. It also allows former subscribers to resubscribe when they come across an old issue. Finally, it allows those reading pass along copies to easily subscribe.

6. Exchange ads with other ezine publishers. Make these ads your well tested ads seeking new subscribers. Remember the ad must tell the potential subscriber "what's in it for me." If you offer more than one way to subscribe give them all. Some people perfer using email to subscribe, others prefer using an online form. Make it easy for the potential subscriber to use his preference.

7. Purchase ezine ads in carefully chosen publications. Again, make these your well tested ads seeking new subscribers. Code (key) the ad so that you can track results. Keep using the ads that work and stop using those that don't.

8. Swap editorial recommendations with other well written ezines. Personal recommendations get much better results than just plain ads. Since you are capitalizing on your readers familiarity and trust in you, don't recommend ezines that offer little real value.

9. Put a subscribe form on EVERY page of your website, if appropriate. The more chances a site visitor has to subscribe the more likely he is to subscribe. Ask them to subscribe in the page copy too! If one of the primary purposes of your website is to get new list members, place your subscription opportunity very prominently on your homepage.

10. Use a popup subscribe form to suggest to exiting site traffic that they subscribe. Use caution though, making sure that it does not annoy your visitors. Maybe use cookies so that repeat visitors don't keep getting the same popup. Also, note if the popup increases the number of subscribers. Note whether the popups decrease the number of site visitors you get. Use this to decide whether popups is right for your site visitors.

11. Send a short note to those requesting autoresponder reports, etc., suggesting they subscribe. Point out that they get valuable information (such as in the report) in every issue of your newsletter. Give them a REASON to subscribe. Maybe offer them a free ebook or bonus for subscribing.

12. Put a short blurb across the top or bottom of some of your autoresponder messages asking for subscribers. This works great if the report requested from the autoresponder was originally published as an ezine article. You can simply say that "to get similar valuable tips and information regularly, be sure to subscribe to our ezine."

13. List your ezine in every ezine directory that you can find - where it is appropriate. Take the time to come up with a good, benefits rich description of your ezine. Give specific subscription instructions. Since many ezine directories list ezines in alphabetical order, if you are just planning your ezine, choose a name that starts with letters near the beginning of the alphabet. Many people scan only the listings at the beginning of the directories. This will give you a marginal edge.

14. Turn articles and individual issues of your ezine into webpages. Add metatags, and submit these to the search engines. Be careful not to oversubmit though. You want to avoid spam penalties. However, ezine articles make excellent, content rich webpages.

15. Post copies of your ezine with useful articles on discussion boards. If you are going to post the entire issue, you should get approval from the board's owner first. You can also just post a note with a link to the entire issue posted on your site. Observe good discussion board netiquette. Often you will have written an article that very clearly answers a question. This is the perfect opportunity to post the article, or a link to the article.

16. Email authors of popular books on your area of expertise. Suggest they list your ezine in the resources section of the next revision of their book. Offer to send a sample copy so that they can see the quality of your ezine.

17. Always ask new contacts to subscribe. When someone emails you offering joint ventures, article submissions, or asking for more information, don't miss this opportunity. The most subtle way to do this is with a good signature block. However, when responding to their email, you should ask them to join your list.

18. Send electronic greeting cards which include an invitation to subscribe. This should not be the main part of the card though or you could be accused of spamming. However, when sending special occassion cards, etc, this is the perfect opportunity to let potential subscribers know that you offer a list that meets their needs.

19. Post ads in "discussion lists" specifically set up for this purpose. There are many lists at egroups/onelist that were set up specifically to allow subscribers to post ads. Advertise your ezine here. If the ads are written well enough you will get subscribers. Be prepared for a lot of email from posting to these groups. Note when the top posting to the email list was posted and submit your posting closes to this time to give your posting the best chance of being near the top. Most people who post to these list undoubtedly don't read most issues. However, you will get some subscribers using this method.

20. Seek subscribers offline. Enclose a business card advertising your ezine in letters to businesses, friends, etc. There are many different avenues here such as: - Have a printed blurb advertising your ezine on your stationery. - Advertise in inexpensive mailorder type newsletters. - Have advertising specialty items such as pens, calculators, keychain printed up. Give these out to appropriate parties in meetings, on airplanes, at parties, etc. Use discretion but don't miss golden opportunities to grow your list.

Bonus Tip:

21. Never subscribe someone who did not explicitly request they be added to your list. It does little good to have a huge list and then have your business terminated because of spamming. This will only damage your reputation and certainly not gain you many loyal long-time readers.

Willie Crawford is a marketing consultant, promotion specialist and popular writer. His website contains over 160 articles on internet marketing as well as a very active discussion forum. Visit today and begin learning what really DOES work in building your business http://www.williecrawford.com

Magazines Online: They're Finally Getting It

Looking back it’s amazing to recall that magazines were once considered the best-positioned companies to succeed online. In the ancient days of the early 90s, magazines seemed to have it all: a brand name, years of archived editorial content, a deep list of advertisers who could be lured to the exciting new world of banner ads. Banner ads would produce the revenue to make it all profitable. Banner ads.

It looked like an easy transition, but magazines experienced an instant red-ink wrenching. It was so bad that breaking even was bragging rights. Meanwhile, to make magazines feel even worse, sites like CDnow (big bucks in mom and dad’s basement) made cyber profits look easy.

Poor magazines. They universally made the same mistake. I made it myself in the mid 90s when I owned a small niche magazine, Chile Pepper. You present content online and update it with news and articles at specific intervals. You draw your readers in to create immediate traffic. You drive it with advertising that hangs above the articles. You use your editorial staff to produce content and your sales crew to sell banner ads. Sounds great, but it’s a print model that doesn’t translate online.

When it became clear the model wasn’t working, magazines took the natural course: they put more money into it. More of the same amplified the losing results. Magazine conferences presented talks entitled: “Will Websites Ever Produce Profits?” Then recently, a few magazines started changing their web strategies.

E-commerce doesn’t live by advertising. It lives by selling products and services. It attracts customers because it’s efficient and cheap. The Internet works for books, CDs, airline tickets, e-trades, collectible beanie babies. Retailing goes against the grain of magazine thinking. When you’re a magazine, you sell advertising, not products.

But recently, a few magazines started making deals with retailers to give their customers what they really want. Folio reports that The Hearst Corp. has signed a deal with Whirlpool to create brandwise.com, a comparative shopping site. Reader’s Digest has partnered with a WebMD to sell Net-based services to physicians. This fall, Conde Nast’s Epicurious site will begin selling Williams-Sonoma products. All this activity is the sound of the magazine industry getting it.

Epicurious attracts 2 millions unique visitors each month, making it the gorilla (dominant leader) food site. It offers 10,000 recipes, wine news, a chat room, a chef and restaurant search function, all with the company’s expected high quality. Ad sales are respectable -- the site’s breaking even. This fall, the Williams-Sonoma connection should push Epicurious into the black.

“Williams-Sonoma will make the site even more full-service,” said marketing director Hilary Peck. “It’s a revenue driver. We expect to become profitable with the integration of Williams-Sonoma.” There you have it.

Epicurious shows some other signs of Internet savvy. The brand is separate from the Conde Nast magazines, Bon Appetit and Gourmet. They’re both great brands, but they’re not online brands. Epicurious would languish if it were simply an add-on to an offline brand. The site is so strong with its audience, that it has launched its own offline extension, a weekly television show.

Conde Nast truly understands the Internet economy. The company runs its websites under CondeNet, a separate company with its own management team and editorial groups. “Eighty five to 90% of our editorial is original,” said Peck. This a rule magazines suffer to learn. You can’t paste magazine pages on a website and expect visitors to stick around. And you can’t enter the Internet territory and survive while dragging along remnants of a former economy. One of the codes of the brave new world is that you go in naked.

Robert Spiegel, the Shoestring Entrepreneur, is the author of The Complete Guide to Home Business (AMACOM) and The Shoestring Entrepreneur's Guide to the Best Home-Based Businesses (St. Martin's Press). For questions or comments, email Robert, at spiegelrob@aol.com

The Three Rules to Keeping Your Internet Business Alive

If you're starting, or have just started, an Internet business then you're probably full of hope and confident that it'll succeed. After all you have a solid business plan, right?

But so did other companies who've recently taken a turn for the worse. I'm not trying to scare you, but I want to highlight the history behind some of the failures and, more importantly, give you a few key tips in running your own Internet business.

But first, the history...

A crumbling empire

It's been a whole six years since the first serious Internet businesses started to take shape. Back then it was a major risk starting up an Internet-only company since the 'success' of the Internet wasn't as obvious and ensured as it is today.

Nearly everyone knows that the first successful online businesses were porn sites. The online adult industry is still bringing in big bucks (a Web industry whose companies boast actual profits!?) but other industries have blossomed online too. However, over the past year we've seen the IPO stars of 98 and 99 start to flicker and dim a little. Confidence has been sagging and things are beginning to look grim. Why?

The demise of Internet business?

The simplest answer to this is we don't know. Or, at least, we can't come up with a single reason. It seems to be a mixture of reasons in each company's case. Remember, however, that each major IPO had a distinct and promising business strategy and plan. If they didn't, they wouldn't have received their initial investments. After all, investors don't willingly invest in companies which are doomed to fail, do they?

I believe the reasons for the recent stream of company shutdowns came after the business plan stage and are to do with decisions made while running the company. It's all very well drawing out a wonderful plan and sticking to it, but only the true masters quickly redefine and remodel their business plans as market situations dictate. Other companies have failed because they've just made incredibly bad decisions at times of crisis.

It's far easier to explain these scenarios by using a realistic industry case study. The world of portals and search engines is a particularly fickle one, so perhaps they could prove to be the best indicators for the state of Internet business?

Portals: The Best Indicators?

The most visited Web sites are the 'portals' such as Yahoo, MSN and AOL.com. This has been true since 1994 when Yahoo was one of the few available services and Google wasn't even conceived. These businesses have based themselves upon a single solid fact. People will always need a way to search the Web.

In the early days, most 'portals' were really just search engines or indexes such as Yahoo, Webcrawler, and Infoseek. Over time, of course, they started to add features such as news, weather and offered 'personalized' pages to their users. This was the dawn of the true era of the 'portal'.

Towards the end of 1999 the word 'portal' was starting to become overused and people's enthusiasm for them began to wane. They all offered the same thing, and bad decisions were being made in several areas. Suddenly things started to change.

Move up to late 2000, however, and all has not been very well in the portal industry. In September, AltaVista announced that it was laying off a large portion of its staff and reverting to being 'solely a search engine provider'. It blamed the decision on the difficulty of establishing a major portal in a market dominated by Yahoo, MSN and AOL. AltaVista was throwing a lot of money at a problem without actually adding anything radically new to catch attention.

The first rule of good Internet business

Within that explanation is our first major rule of running a successful Internet business! Throwing money at a problem on the Internet seems to work poorly. If your service is exactly the same as the others the only thing money can do is market your service further. Unless you're going to use the money to construct radically new services and tools, why bother? Spending money to keep up with the competition is a bad idea on the Internet. Do not do it.

The second rule of good Internet business

Another company, which hasn't seen a real improvement in its market standing, has been Excite. A large number of services have actually been added to the portal, but Excite has failed to market and develop them fully. An ex-Excite executive actually told me that the root problem at Excite was that they didn't enter and expand into the portal market rapidly enough. They were slow and didn't adapt to market conditions quickly.

Therein is our second rule! You cannot stick to your initial business plan and expect it to work for ever. You must change.

This is actually a business policy preached by Bill Gates. He says that the new way in which computers can facilitate business has enabled Microsoft to radically change and redefine the way it works. It's this digital culture that enabled Microsoft to quickly enter the Internet industry and produce the popular Internet Explorer Web browser.

So, to recap, you must adapt, but without throwing piles of unneeded money at the problem as in our first rule. That's because adaptation isn't a problem, it's a natural part of doing business on the Web.

The third rule of good Internet business

Yahoo has consistently been the best portal around since it started life on the Web. It's also one of the most unbiased portals in existence, since AOL.com and MSN.com rely on the large user-base of their products and services to ensure their popularity. Yahoo truly are a paragon of Internet business. Why?

Yahoo holds our third rule of good Internet business. It has always stuck to its core services, and whenever it has wanted to expand quickly into other areas it has usually formed a partnership with an existing company. It has not squandered millions in a 'quick fix' solution, but has invested in a partnership that has pre-existing clients. Wonderful!

So, our third rule is to develop profitable partnerships. Partnerships are not a sign of a weak or unskilled company, but of a company that recognizes its limitations and is focusing its core resources in the areas it knows best. Companies that stretch themselves too far (as Amazon is starting to do) are taking a big risk. On one hand, they might boom and become a market leader. On the other, they could have thrown their business away into an abyss. Sadly, the latter seems to most popular, don't let it be you!

Conclusion

In 2003, this article might be redundant but for now it's not. These are lessons learned the hard way by the large number of businesses that have had to shut down in the year 2000. They're lessons that haven't necessarily applied to off-line businesses before but they're ones that apply now.

If you're running an Internet business and you have aspirations of making it to the top, use previous Internet failures to help you determine the best way to the top, if you find the key reasons for business failure, then you can also find the main routes to success.

I wish you the best of luck, and if you end up avoiding disaster by reading this article, please remember who helped you out!

Peter Cooper is a freelance journalist, and is also an eBoz! Associate Editor. He's actually a friendly journalist who loves talking to people. If you think your company or service might prove interesting to him, please e-mail him direct.

Give Away Gross for Increased Profits

Suppose you produce a super widget that sells for $50.00. If Charlie comes along and says, "Hey, I can sell the heck out of these. How's $20 bucks a sale sound? Wanna deal?"

If you have a successful business, chances are you will say, "Sure thing." Smaller businesses or those lacking marketing experience may answer with, "Why should I give away 40%?"

Such people will run from this offer. But it is an awesome mistake. For readers who have not thought about this approach, here's why you should say yes.

Consider a computer program or an information product, something which once produced, costs virtually nothing to reproduce. (The same idea holds for manufactured products, but greater production costs need to be factored in.)

If you sell 100 copies a month at $50 each, you have a gross of $5000. Your net is close to this, for you have minimal fullfillment costs. Suppose costs are $5/copy. Then your net is $4500.

If Charlie hits the bricks and sells another 100 copies, you pay him $20 per copy or $2000. So your gross is down to $3000 and your net is down to $2500. You have indeed "given away" 40% of gross.

The key is not in what you gave away, but in your increased net. You are $2500 ahead and it cost you nothing to generate. In fact you made more than Charlie did without lifting a finger. So why do some people say no to such an offer?

A common reason stems from believing they could have made the additional 100 sales themselves, at least over time. In the brick-and-mortar world in which territories are assigned to sales representatives, there may be merit in this belief. But the Web is a whole different kind of place. Assumptions such as this are incorrect. There is simply no way a small business can even hope to make their product available to all the people who would like to buy it at the time they decide to buy.

Regardless of the position of your product in a given market, a person seaching for it may find a competing product first. If so, your product may not even be presented for consideration. In which case, your competition gets the sale. Extending the presence of your product on the Web increases the chance of it being found.

Charlie can help in this by adding your product to his website and product list. His marketing efforts bring visitors who are added to the set of those aware of your product. If he sells 100 copies through his site, it is quite possible that every sale is one the producer would not have made. While one might expect some overlap with brand name products from large firms, it just does not apply to lesser known products produced by small businesses.

The Web is so vast that no one person sees a significant part of it. Thus most netizens will never even encounter your product unless you can get it out and about the Web. You can profit greatly by "giving" gross to Charlie. And for even greater profits, show Joe, Bill, and Pete how to do what Charlie did.

I market a computer program at $39. I will pay you 50% for each copy you sell. I'm ahead by $19.50 and it takes only a minute to send the purchaser a licence code. Any takers? I will be delighted to work all day long for $19.50 per minute.

Article by Bob McElwain, Web marketing and consulting since 1993. For Newbie-Friendly Site Stuff, subscribe to "STAT News." Send an email to join-statATlists.dundee.net Learn HTML in 3.5 hours! FREE! Download your Kit now: www.sitetipsandtricks.com/sitekit.html

Use Scarcity To Sell, Not Scare

Takeaway selling, for the uninitiated, is a way to limit the supply of a product or service in some way to increase scarcity of an offer. Because it's a proven fact that scarcity sells. It's the age ol' law of supply and demand. The less the supply, the greater the demand, as people don't know how much they want something until it's about to be taken away from them.

As Jim Rohn once said, "Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value." Why? Because procrastination is the biggest killer of sales -- particularly online where the chances of a prospect staying on or returning to a website (in order to think about buying), in today's click-happy world, are scarce.

It's like the time you walk into a department store and check out a new shirt you're interested in. Since there's none in your size, you ask the sales representative if one is available. The clerk goes into the backroom, and emerges a few moments later, saying, "I found one in your size, but it's the only one we have left in stock."

Now, how much more desirous are you in that shirt?

I'm a firm believer, and I've grown even more convinced over time, that great copy is not meant to induce action, especially online -- it's really meant to prevent procrastination. Why? Because copy should not sell people and pressure them per se. It should help them buy what you sell and prevent them from making a wrong decision.

And procrastination is a decision in itself -- a bad decision at that.

Online, people find your site through research, searching for specific information. Or they were propelled to visit your site through some affiliate promotion, ad or offer made elsewhere. So to a large degree, and unlike the offline world, they're pre-qualified. They're interested. They're in the market. (Granted, not all the time. But again, they are to a great degree -- at least to a greater degree than a bunch of people on a direct mail list you have no knowledge of, other than some basic demographic data.)

Nevertheless, as the saying goes, "People don't like to be sold. But people love to buy." So scarcity, used properly, helps them buy -- and not pressure them to act. Look at it this way: if you give a chance for your prospects to procrastinate, they will. Guaranteed.

So use takeaway selling in order to stop people from procrastinating rather than getting them to take action now. In other words, shape your offer -- and not just your product or service -- so that it is time-sensitive or quantity-bound. More important, give a reasonably logical explanation to justify your time-sensitivity or else your sales tactic will be instantly discredited as it appears disingenuous.

How do you do that?

I've always used one of three ways...

In my experience, there 3 types of takeaways you can use:

1) Limiting the time
2) Limiting the quantity
3) Limiting the offer

The first is done by adding a deadline on the offer. A realistic deadline, and not some script that changes everyday. For instance, how many times have you come across a salesletter where the offer had a deadline, which seemed to "magically" bump ahead each time you visited the website? That's what I mean. (People are not stupid!)

This is done very well when the product or the price is changing after the deadline, or simply no longer available or temporarily inaccessible. Take Thomas Pierce's BlogMasterSecrets.com, for example, which is no longer for sale. Well, for now at least.

(By the way, Thomas reported on an interesting take on the use of takeaway selling. There's a site that's holding a rabbit hostage, on its way to a slaughterhouse by a certain date -- unless you donate money or buy merchandise, the rabbit will die. Personally, I'm not too keen on the approach. It's crude. But creatively, and as an example of takeaway selling, it's brilliant. See Thomas' blog post here.)

The second is limiting the number of units (stock) or openings (clients) available. Again, back it up with a realistic reason. Something logical. Something justifiable and real. Perhaps it's "fire sale" (products discounted because of minimal cosmetic damage, for example), or perhaps it's a way to deplete old stock and to make way for the new.

Whatever the reason, as long as it's credible and logical, scarcity can become a powerful too. Remember, people buy on emotion first and then justify their decisions with logic. In fact, if you give them logical explanations in your copy further down, many will actually use your suggestions -- whether consciously or unconsciously -- as a way to back up their purchasing decisions.

You make the excuses for them. You make them feel as if they "own" your reasons for buying now, in other words.

In terms of services, this is done by limiting the number of people for a number of reasons -- such as a service provider who can only take on a certain number of clients because there are so many hours in the day, or because it would dilute the value of the service. Etc, etc, etc.

Also, even making the offer something that's secretive, exclusive or otherwise unavailable to the general public, can arouse stronger motives in the psyche of your readers. People are intrinsically curious. And people always love to get some kind of "insider's edge" over the rest of the world.

Take my friend Ryan Deiss' Nicheology.com private site, for example. They currently have an extensive waiting list and only open their "doors" every so often for a very specific number of new members. Once they've reached that number, the offer is "closed."

The third is the offer. And this is done through limiting other elements that are part of the offer, such as the guarantee, the bonuses/premiums, the price (not a discount, but perhaps an imminent increase in price, perhaps to cover the extra costs in dealing with more customers), the packaging (perhaps since the product is bundled with other products or components that won't be available after "X" amount sold), the extras (perhaps as in free support, free installation or free shipping, etc), and so on.

I like them all, especially when the product is truly limited, such as Frank Kern and Ed Dale's recent Underachiever Mastery course I wrote the copy for, which was strictly limited to 700 packages, and the site was taken down once they've reached the limit.

(The reason? The course helps people make money with tiny, ultra-targeted niches, where very little competition if any exists. But if too many people bought the course, then chances are that the competition in any given niche will grow and thus lessen the potential profitability of people buying and applying the techniques in the course.)

But for convenience and flexibility, I prefer the "fire sale" as well as the third (which is limiting the offer, especially with bonuses and extras). Because often, bonuses can be limited and changed, without limiting the sales of the core product or service.

This not only creates more believability (because it reduces the perception of the owner's "control" over the limitation, which may appear as self-serving or manipulative), but also reduces skepticism as the bonus may actually have been sold elsewhere or is currently being sold elsewhere, and therefore the 3rd party may put a limit on the quantity to distribute.

For example, I did this with Stephen Pierce's copy I wrote, where Stephen was giving away a software program that complemented his infoproduct he was selling -- one that was truly being sold by someone else on another website at a real price. Stephen managed to secure permission to distribute only a certain number of copies from the 3rd party as a free bonus to his infoproduct, making the offer truly scarce and valuable.

In negotiation skills training, they call this approach the "higher authority" or "third party" gambit, where the limitation is outside of the owner's control -- making the takeaway truly a takeaway, and not some manipulative ploy.

This is crucial, because too many people use takeaway these days as a tactic, not as a reason.

So add a deadline to your offer, limit the number of products you sell (or the number of new members you allow to join), or shape your entire offer so that one of more elements are limited.

Again, there is a caveat: to make sure that people believe your need to limit the offer, give a reasonable and logical explanation to justify your time-sensitivity, or else your tactic will be instantly discredited.

Here are some examples.

If you add a deadline or limit the number of members you accept, you must explain why you're doing so. But you can also be vague, too. (Although a real, tangible deadline is best.) Here's an example of what I put on some sales letters I've written -- they sell memberships to private sites and offer personal consulting to their members:

Example #1:

"To be candid with you, I don't know how long I'm going to keep the doors open to new members since this information is extremely sensitive and limited. I don't want to dilute the value of this information for my paid members. If you were a member, wouldn't you want the same, too? So, I must restrict the number of users for quality control purposes."

(In the above case, it is very true. The author sells access to a limited number of "hot" real estate opportunities that he finds through his unique system, which he also teaches his members. If too many people join and get their hands on the opportunities or the system, it will surely lower the value of the information to the member-base, and contradict the whole purpose of the site, which is to gain access to hot, insider's information. Otherwise, why would one join?)

Example #2:

"We're only human, and there are only so many hours in a day and so many people we can physically attend to! So, in order to limit the number of hours of coaching we do provide, we must put a cap on the number of new members for obvious reasons. We can only guarantee that people who sign up through [date] will qualify for membership, completely custom-tailored support and this incredible set of free bonuses worth over $[amount]! 'You snooze, you lose'. So, join today. I'd hate to put you on a milelong waiting list!"

(This example demonstrates the importance of the support they offer private members and, at the same time, drives home the idea that such a service is limited. I'm sure the owners can hire part-time help, if the need ever arose. But nothing can replace expertise that comes from straight the experts -- the more people join, the more individualized coaching they must provide, and the less time they have.)

Example #3:

"If you act by midnight, Friday on [date], you will get the 3 bonuses included with your special offer. But keep in mind, however, that these bonuses come from various third parties, including [3rd party name], over which we have no control, and can be removed at any time without notice. I've only secured permission to give away [amount] copies of this bonus bundle. So the time to act is now!"

(The above is an example of the 3rd approach, where the offer is limited through a bonus. You can also accomplish this by tailoring your offer, or even making a special backend or alternative offer to an accumulated list of non-buyers, after they've seen the original offer.)

So, add some kind of constraint, such as a time-limited or quantity-bound offer. Such limitations implore at some unconscious level, "You better read this and take action now!" But above all, always make sure to back up your limitation with a logical, genuine and easily justifiable reason in order not to appear misleading or disingenuous.

For the more you make them feel that procrastination is a bad decision, the more people will feel compelled to buy of their volition -- and not pressured into buying.

About the Author: Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com today.