Entries Tagged 'Tactical Copywriting' ↓

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Hi,

Just finished answering a question about lead generation. My answer got me to thinkin’ - I know dangerous - always dangerous.

The question was how to develop sales leads. Innocent enough. As usual, I came up with a unique perspective -

start at the point of sale and work backwards!

Why do it this way? Well lets take a look at a sale and find out.

First let us assume a reasonably complicated sale - one that ends up with a signed agreement. This kind of sale often takes more than one meeting. For our purposes lets suppose the agreement is a relatively simple one - a standard one - that does not require extended negotiations. Even so, many agreements are signed in person, and therefore we can assume a face to face meeting. How did this happen?

It was likely set up by a phone call. Just one? For simplicity’s sake, let’s assume so.

How did you get the clients number? Ah, now here’s the rub. Even if you are an avid cold caller (for example: ringing up anyone remotely qualified for your product/service and pitching them), chances are you solidified your position with some sort of communication between the call and the appointment.

Maybe you sent a brochure. Maybe you sent and information packet of some sort. Or some articles published by you, or an extensive quote. One way or another the prospect agreed to accept more information by you and thus gave you that foothold of an email address, physical address and/or phone number.

No matter how this works in your business, I’m betting you now see the sales process I’m describing much clearer than you may otherwise.

From all the potential people who might be interested in your product or service, you entice a few to ask for more information in exchange for their contact details. Then you contact them. Eventually, you both decide your prospect can benefit from what you have to offer at a price agreeable to you. You both then come to an understanding and sign on the dotted line.

The crux to all of this is

You’ve Got to Get Folks to Raise Their Hand!

In most situations there is no way around this. How do you do this? Offer something that solves a problem. Sure there are other ways but this one is the most direct and sure-fire.

For my own copywriting/consulting business, I have adapted this generalized process to suit the needs of my clientele and my own. I rarely meet anyone in person as it simply is not necessary nor convenient. Heck, I’ve worked with clients from Europe to Australia and while I’d love to jaunt Down Under or fly to London, it is neither practical nor profitable. So most of my business is done over the phone and the Internet.

Likewise, I use any number of methods to find those raised hands. I publish articles and reports. The articles  draw people to pages where I offer a related report. I post to this blog and other places on the Internet. I am active in various forums.  In short I try to make my own contact information available in enough circles so potential clients can contact me either directly or indirectly.

What about you? Certainly I’m not suggesting you call folks up or send out agreements ready for a signature. On the other hand you may get a better idea of how to get that agreement in front of a willing person if you take a good look at the process with hindsight. This quick and easy technique may show you a glitch you may otherwise miss.

Meanwhile, if you decide you’d like some help or guidance, why not give me a call? Mention this post and our initial consultation will be free of charge. Of course if you have a project already in mind or on deck, I’d be more than happy to discuss submitting a no-obligation quote.

It’s easy to raise your hand, just call 443-254-3703 or submit a comment to this blog with your contact info. (Don’t worry, all comments need approval before they are published so I’ll just read it without making it public.)

Finally, for your convenience, I’ve added a contact form to the sidebar at the right. If you leave your phone number, I’ll call, otherwise I’ll email you.  While this is set up via my autoresponder account, you are NOT subscribing to anything and I am NOT going to bombard you with “gotta haves”.  Just make sure you are filling out the form with the phone number otherwise you’ll get my blog alerts

God bless,

Andy

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Over the years I’ve known quite a few auto mechanics. A few I’ve considered good friends.  Through the years I worked on a good number of my own cars - enough to know I hate it. And that is the first thing auto mechanics taught me about copywriting. Auto Mechanics? Copywriting?

Well, yes. You could even broaden those principles into life lessons.

The first lesson comes from a mechanic who was the father of a friend of mine. He was considered the best auto mechanic in town. After he “retired”, so many loyal customers drove or limped their vehicles to his driveway, he finally opened for business in his home garage. So what did I learn from him?

Besides the fact that if you know your stuff and can offer what other people can’t, there will always be a demand for your services - Mr. Bergerson had a particular pricing policy.

He always charged double his rate for the first hour. His reasoning? Most problems brought to him could be solved in an hour or less, thus his first hour was the most valuable. Whether you agree with this or not, his customers - myself included - gladly paid it. Why?

Because he was worth every penny. He did the job right the first time and, yes, it usually did take an hour or less.  And that revelation led me to a second insight I learned from another mechanic.

After a few years, Mr Bergeson passed away - no doubt with a wrench in his hand. I was forced to find a new mechanic. I settled for the most expensive mechanic in town. Why?

Because in the long run, he was cheaper than all the rest.

A lot of auto mechanics is trial and error. The really good ones can find the problem with less trial and error. The best rarely missed. Paul was the best. Not only that but when I would take my car in for even an oil change, he would present a list of what the car needed - broken down into what needed immediate attention - what could wait and how long it would likely last and what could be fixed but didn’t effect the performance or safety of the car. Paul was adamant on safety. If something was unsafe it did not leave his shop. He would go toe to toe with you on that one.

Paul’s lesson is obvious to me: buy the best you can afford. It will save you money in the long run. As I said, while these principles certainly apply to copywriting, they also work in so many areas of life.

So how can I apply Mr. Bergeson’s  lesson to copywriting?

For one: don’t be afraid to charge what you’re worth. Actually, Paul also taught me that but he also taught me a couple of other things. More on that in a moment.

Mr. Bergeson felt he was worth a fair but decent rate - and twice that for the first hour… and he got it. Not only that but he was always busy. And without advertising (ouch). So charge what you are worth. What else did Paul teach me?

Be worth what you charge. Paul always went over every car that entered his shop with a fine tooth comb. I’ve had mechanics who found “other problems”, but none ever instilled the confidence Paul did. He was one of the most honest men I ever encountered.

And as  you may know, I decided to seek out some copywriting projects in the next few months and that is what turned my thoughts to fees.

Ironically, if you follow my advice,  you may never hire me. I do not claim to be the best copywriter in the world, nor am I the most expensive… not even close. As a matter of fact, if I do my job well enough, I may never be able to charge what I’m truly worth… why?

Let’s say I quote a project for you. For the sake of argument,  let’s say I charge what some “A list” copywriters charge - $15,000 + a 5% royalty. (Shocked? Some charge more than that and have a waiting list!)

To make the math easy let’s assume you have a product you sell for $100 and make a 50% profit. You get 500 visitors a day to your site and it converts at 1%.

So you sell 1 in 100 visitors or 5 units  per day with a gross profit of $250 per day.

My new sales page doubles your conversion rate bringing in another $250 per day gross profit. At that rate it would only take 60 days to pay for my services. in 120 days you’ve doubled your investment and the profits keep rolling in. Here’s the kicker…

According to Google - a 2% conversion rate is about average for US websites.

Oh yes, that 5% (usually of gross sales) would cost you another $25 per day or $750 per month for as long as you use my copy. Would it be worth $25 to bring in another $225 in profits every day?

Even with this exercise I still  have a hard time charging anywhere near that kind of fee.  Maybe I’ll get over it at some point, but for now rest assured, I am much more affordable.

If you would like a quote for your project email to admin at this web address with the subject line “Quote Requested” or call me at 443.254.3703. For a limited time - because my own time is limited - if you ask, I’ll perform my own version of Paul’s car inspection for your business and present you with a “punch list” of what you need to fine tune your profits.

God bless,

Andy

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Out with the old - in with the new… right? Well here it is:

The old: I’m taking a hiatus from marketing my own products online. Sure you can still buy my Hot Buttons and Paperless Copy products, but I’m taking a break from marketing my other sites, products, and so forth. So what am I going to do?

I’m going to write copy! Gasp!

Yep, I’m going to actively pursue clients and write copy for cold hard cash. I’ll also continue consulting with my current and future clients. What does this mean to you?

Maybe nothing. If you need some copy written - anything from AdWords ads to sales letters to special reports and/or white papers - feel free to ask for a quote. You can email to admin at this web address or call me at 443.254.3703. Ditto for readers who need an objective perspective on their business. I’m known for finding previously overlooked but lucrative profit centers along with coming up with ideas that bring in substantial dollars.

In short, my services pay for themselves in more sales and profits.

And if none of that interests you, I’m sure to chronicle my adventures in marketing as I learn new tricks and new ways to apply old ones.

Either way - stay tuned and stop on back. It should be an interesting year.

God bless,

Andy

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Gee, almost sounds like those WWF Raw commercials except instead of a fight you can expect profits! What AM I talking about?

CPA or Cost Per Action Marketing  is one of the hottest things on the Internet these days. Why? Because CPA ads pay quite well and generally convert well too. Add that to the fact that smart marketers are dedicating whole pages to getting that action and you’ve got some huge profit potential.

One article I read recently stated some marketers are pulling down - get this - revenues  of $10 - 20 MILLION per MONTH! Who wouldn’t want a piece of that pie? The best part is there are no products to develop, you don’t need to build a list, and so on. By the way, just because you don’t have to build a list, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t - it depends on the market. Okay let’s get down to brass tacks…

First I know for a fact this is the real deal. How? An acquaintance of mine told me over two years ago he was dumping AdSense in favor of CPA. HE was generating over $10K per month in revenues - and that was verified.

Like a dope I got distracted and never really got into CPA. I played around a bit but that’s all. Well a couple of days ago something changed all that. What was it?

I ran across a fellow who let me take a sneak peak into his soon-to-be opened member site (re-opened actually - he technically opened it to a few beta testers.) In any case,  I like his site a lot.

He shows you real campaigns making real money and also shows you how to copy him exactly… even down to to giving you templates to download. And yet his methods are simple and easy to do. Now I’m chomping at the bit to do some real CPA Marketing myself. What’s stopping me?

Well, I’ve got some other projects to tidy up first. And I promised I’d review this site. Anyway, I was impressed enough to not only publish my review but I decided to offer a bonus package to anyone joining via my link. You can find details about that here Loot4LeadsReviewed.com If you decide to join sure to clear you cookies first.

God Bless,

Andy

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Do vicious tactics work? You tell me. Are you still reading?

“Go For the Throat Sales Tactics”  emits a more vivid scene than “effective copy techniques” don’t you think?  And that’s what it’s all about.

I’ve been browsing Jakob Nielsen’s  Alertbox - it’s hands down the best stuff out there on how to get and keep your reader’s attention. Jakob is a researcher not a copywriter, not another internet marketer, not a sales guy at all. He focuses on observing how people act and modifying web pages to accommodate.

So what can you learn from him?

People only read 18% of what you write on average.

Text ads far outsell banner ads - they actively seek out text ads

Active text blows away passive text

And so much more. He’s been doing this for over 10 years and  I have yet to get a “sales email” from him. Does he ever sell stuff? Oh yeah. Jakob has some books you can buy and he also holds conferences all over the world. I haven’t checked but I bet attending one would set you back  a bundle.

The bottom line you should pay attention to guys like him. He’ll put more money in your pocket than a circus full of “gurus”.

By the way - most everything Nielsen reveals applies to copywriting as well as it does to content marketing as it does to web design.

You can find a list of his articles here.  Sign up for his newsletter too. Just like my blog  alerts - you won’t get a bunch of hyped up ads from him. Actually, your more likely to get a “salesy email” from me than from Nielsen - and I don’t do that very often at all… as most of  you know.

God bless,

Andy

P.S. Notice how his site isn’t what you might call “pretty”?

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In a perfect world - one could look at a sales page - find the glaring error - fix it and wallah! Done. In the world we all live in it’s not that easy.

Some mistakes are hard to find. Worse what works in one market may not work in yours. People change. Circumstances change. The long and the short of any sales question is… there are no pat answers.  But what if the problem has little if anything to do with the sales copy itself?

Sometimes It’s the Process

What!? What the heck is THAT supposed to mean?

Look. Let’s say your on a trip and your gas gauge dips below your comfort level. What do you do? Duh. You find a gas station and fill it up… right?  Well then, that’s what everyone “I” know would do!

Well that’s a sales process. You need gas. You pull up to the gas station. Maybe you pay at the pump like so many of us do. Maybe you pay it all in cash. Whatever you do you don’t usually think about it.

You Just Do It.

Now let’s say your spouse gets a hankerin’ for a new living room suite. Whatever you are likely to do - that is your personal “sales process”. For most of us it means we end up in some furniture store someplace to close the deal.

Again, you work through a process of some sort - first whatever process you and your spouse go through to decide on what to buy and then you work through process to complete the sale. For most it should be at least a two-step process. So what am I getting at?

All Sales Require Some Sort of Process

And each process differs between products AND buyers. Think about this for a moment.

Consider my “Hot Buttons” product. From my standpoint all  you have to do is click on the order button and the rest is automatic. Maybe you want to pay via a direct debit or use your credit card - either one involves a slightly different process but neither variation matters one bit to me. Maybe you want to send me cash. No problem

But to get someone to the point of “click here to order” there can be many, many processes or ways to get someone to this point. And that’s where the fun begins.

• You could just be poking around, find the link and decide this product is just what you need. (Hey! No argument from me)
• Or maybe I decide to promote it and send off a series of emails demonstrating how you can benefit from this ebook.
• Then again, I could write a special report, post a classified ad, or blog about it right here.

Each way starts a process that may or may not entice you to invest in this resource.

No matter what, chances are someone will realize the value in having these “Hot Buttons” at their fingertips and go for it.

Whether you buy or not you go through a process where you evaluate what I’m offering against what you need and decide one way or the other.

Back to my original point - if your product or service is not selling then the process (or processes) you offer prospective customers fails at one or more points.

• It’s not your headline
• Your bullet points are just fine
• The offer is excellent
• Your guarantee is perfect

But, like a bad comedian, your timing is off.

Take another look at that living room suite. Who drives down the road, decides they need a new sofa and stops at the nearest furniture store to buy the first one they like? Well that’s how you buy gas - more or less.

The processes are different. They have to be because each solves a totally different problem.

If someone tried to sell  you furniture by trotting out in the parking lot and posting the price on a big sign you could see from 1/4 mile a way - you’d just stop and buy it right? Of course not.

So I’m suggesting that you take a good look at what your prospective customers expect - the general processes they use to come to a decision - and start from there. Maybe add a method or two. Like right now, I’m wondering why I’m not posting ads to free ad sites… who knows?

Reconsider who your potential buyers are and why they are coming to your place of business now. Maybe they are expecting something totally different. Or maybe they don’t realize you’ve got exactly what they are looking for! It happens.

By they way - last time I offered a special report “Why Johnny Can’t Sell” by Paul Myers. I’d still like you to have a complimentary copy. Don’t let the price fool you - there’s a gold mine of information in this report.

God bless,

Andy

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Hi,

For those of you who saw the video embedded in my last post - maybe you caught this. Maybe not.

One of Google’s top analytics experts states the average conversion rate for US web pages is 1-2%. Yeah. So what? Big deal. Well, actually it IS a big deal.

One of the questions I see most often is “What’s a good conversion rate?”. What these business folks are really asking is “Am I selling as much as I should be?” Are you? Consider this…

Paul Hancox in his book The Secrets of a Ten Percent Conversion Rate, says direct salespeople often achieve conversion rates of 20-40%. Do you think those salespeople are satisfied? Even those who consistently converted 40%? So why should you be satisfied with 2% or even 5%? You shouldn’t - pure and simple. So how do you improve upon your now totally unacceptable sales performance? Before I answer that I have a confession to make.

I’ve been an Idiot.

Yes, that IS with a capitol “I”. Though much of this not new to me - as a matter of fact I’m a “natural anti-salesman” - I, too, got tangled up in the “hard sales copy craze”. I bought and read 10% Conversion over a year ago. I bought and read Paul Hancox’s previous book “Small Changes, Big Profits” a couple of years before that. On top of all that, I’ve long billed myself as more of a marketer than a salesperson. What’s the difference?

As I usually say, a salesperson pitches until they make a sale or get thrown out. A marketer finds a need and fills it.

While this is simplified, you get the idea. So whats my point?

Recently I read a report that brought all this together and finally woke me up to the truth about sales and selling. I’ve been having a miserable run at copywriting lately only to find out what should have been so obvious…

Copywriting doesn’t “work” anymore!

Or rather, it’s getting harder and harder to make a living if you model yourself after the “carnival hawker”. It’s time for a better approach. It’s time for

Process Selling

What is process selling? Simply put it’s recognizing sales is a process and changing your approach to your prospects accordingly. I’ll delve into this more and more in the coming months… and then some.

Meanwhile, I’ve got a report I’d like to give you that explains all this very well. It’s called “Why Johnny Can’t Sell” by Paul Myers. Don’t let the fact that it doesn’t cost you a cent fool you - it’s one of the best reports you’ll ever read.

I’m not even collecting email addresses to give you this. My subscribers may cry foul because I usually reserve the best stuff for them alone. But this is too important to mess around. If you sell anything, you need this.

Right now the credibility for marketers - especially online marketers - is at an all time low. The sooner business moves way from “hypesterizing” and towards a more customer-focused, problem-solving win-win style of true marketing, the better things will get for all of us.

‘Nough said - get your copy of “Why Johnny Can’t Sell” here.

There is just one thing I’d like in return, if you would - please come back and let me know by adding a comment to this post.

God bless,

Andy

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Yes I am back after an extended hiatus. Let’s not mess around. Let’s talk about your bounce rate. What the heck is that?

A new client asked me that yesterday. (Yes, I am also taking on a few new clients - contact me if you are interested. and I thought it would make a good topic for this blog.

Short and sweet the bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who run screaming from your site moments after arrival. If you sign up for my blog alerts I’ll send you a report on how to avoid this. And, no, it is NOT some excuse to add your name to a list so I can cram your inbox full of spam. On the contrary, my worry is I don’t contact my subscribers enough so they don’t open my emails at all.

Now you know what the bounce rate means… so what? Google’s Avinash Kaushik spends an enlightening and entertaining 5 minutes on the topic below, but my version is thus:

Your bounce rate can tell you - at a glance - whether your web page is meeting the needs of your visitors. And this can mean two things…

1) Your traffic is garbage. Sorry, but sometimes the truth hurts. What this means is the folks coming to your site aren’t interested in what you’re offering.

2) Your traffic is good but you’re web page isn’t pushing the right buttons.

Let’s take this site for example:

Let’s say my bounce rate was 70% Yuck! What’s the problem?

Well suppose most of my traffic came from “CopyMachineWorld.com”. My suspicion would be those visitors were expected tips on using copy machines or something. Garbage traffic for me.

But what if I was using Google Adwords to drive targeted traffic to this page? OUCH! I’m paying for traffic and they can’t wait to leave! So I need to figure out if I’m buying the wrong traffic or simply not giving them what they want or need i.e. sending them the wrong message.

Bounce rate can be a very powerful metric so pay attention and then start asking questions.

So here’s Avinash Kaushik

If you need help improving your bounce rate, why not drop me a line?

God bless,

Andy

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All right maybe your sales letter converts at a whopping 10%. It still stinks. Why?

Because even a mouth-watering 10% conversion means 9 out of 10 people are walking away from your site. Based on that I think it’s safe to say nearly all sales letters stink - even the ones I write. (Ouch!) Why is that?

Maybe it’s not your sales letter. Maybe it’s your sales process.

Think about this:

Someone searches for “peach jam” on the Internet. You make and sell peach jam. Your page comes up on the first page of a major search engine. Congratulations.

When they come to your site, visitors are slammed with your sales page offering them a special deal on your premium jam. Most take a look at your offer and leave. What’s going on?

First of all, it’s likely most folks landing on your page weren’t ready to buy peach jam right then. Maybe they were looking for a free Georgia rock concert. Maybe they wanted recipies. Maybe they sought an old girl friend from high school. Okay, so I’m stretching here.

In any case, it’s likely they never heard of you or your jam before landing on your site. Do your really expect most folks to buy right off the bat? Silly you.

What if, instead of a web site, you had a jam stand by the side of the road. Now if you’ve got a good sign out front, you may get some walk-in traffic. Once folks know about you, they’ll come to your stand when they hanker for your jam. If you put up some billboards with some toast dripping with tasty jam, you might get even more traffic.

The thing is you are now attracting people expecting to buy jam.

The second reason folks come to your site and don’t buy is…

They don’t trust you.

If someone shows up to your stand, they can see how good it looks. They can ask questions. They can see your business license. They can talk to other customers. You might even offer them a sample. None of this (or very little) happens on the Internet. You have to build trust.

Yet another reason is they’re not convinced your solution is the answer they want. While most folks can decide on a $3.00 jar of jam, if you’re asking them to spend $50 on your ebook, they might want to look around a bit.

Finally, your visitors don’t have a reason to act NOW. If they’re at the stand, they’ll have to come back if they want jam. Often that’s plenty enough to prod action. But on the Internet, what’s the hurry? If you don’t offer some incentive - a REAL incentive, not some lame buy by 12:00 midnight or the price goes up!

Offer something real and obviously limited. One of my all-time favorites was from Fly Fisherman. They offered a free fishing creel with a new subscription. But, they added, you’d better hurry because we may not be able to get any more. That bonus tied in beautifully to the magazine because it:

directly related to the audience

created real urgency

They never said how many creels they had. Or maybe they did in some letters and enjoyed a better response when no number was specified. One thing is almost certain - they tested their advertising.

So what do you do if your sales letter stinks worse than most?

You can live with it, try to improve it via testing or try an entirely new approach. If you’re getting any response at all, I’d lean towards testing first. However there are too many variables to say for sure. Every situation presents unique options. One thing for sure though - if you do have a sales letter that’s converting, no matter how pitiful the sales are, better to test it than simply replace it. Otherwise you may find your new “baby” is worse that the old.

God bless,

Andy

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