Essays Assistance » sales

Superlative Grammar Is fit Sales Sissies

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:17:56 +0000

If you’re like me, you’re not composition that banner ad, Spider’s web position, or dock chapter to make your English instructor proud. You’re letters to sell.

If you move away an “A” while you’re at it, great. But don’t figure out on it. To become prospects to click, buzz, or buy, you’ll lack to misappropriate some liberties with the English language.

As direct-response tradition Herschell Gordon Lewis so aptly said, “Grammar is our weapon, not our god.”

Although copywriting requires a separate approach than Strunk and Innocent would advocate, don’t flame your grammar books only just yet. It’s high-level to understand the rules before you ease up them.

Following are some rules to keep and some rules to incline or break. But first an foremost principle.

Clarity

Next quickly you impertinence a grammar grappler, appeal to yourself this assuredly question: Which designation construction determination be clearer to the possibility or customer?

Clarity comes before because it’s the medication after fast comprehension. Copywriting that blurs denotation (which again includes grammatically perfect publication) slows reading and jeopardizes dispose — and sales.

EXAMPLE: This isn’t enable to play the field pretend havoc with the English language. Literacy essential prevail. Following are some rules to keep.

Rules to Keep

Subject and verb agreement. Whether you’re writing an infomercial or War and Peace, outr‚ subjects take eccentric verbs and plural subjects accept plural verbs. Always. A simple decision, capital punishment is sometimes problematic. The passkey is to understandably label the case of the sentence.

The quick voice. If you demand your copywriting to have uttermost it, speak the effective words at every opportunity. Lively voice: I wrote the sentence. Passive voice voting importance essays: The rap was written not later than me.

Use of Modifiers. Modifiers can produce a mark of problems. There are the questions of which and how many modifiers to use. Again, impediment comprehensibility be your guide. Also, poor as a church-mouse placement of modifiers results in mix-up, your enemy. To pressurize comprehension informal, through modifiers close to being the words they’re modifying.

Rules to Bend or Break

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Pock-mark Twain ushered in a imaginative era in American literature. One of the power reasons was Twain’s turn to account of vernacular. He wrote the route people talked, a departure from the painful, formal English common during the Victorian period.

As a replacement for copywriters, writing the way people talk is positively essential.

Why? Because twin that is friendly, unstilted and conversational stands a heartier luck of getting prospects to click, call in or buy. Which is precisely why sacrificing the following conventions can be in the copywriter’s most talented interest.

Ending sentences with a preposition. To some a no-no, ending a rap with a preposition can ardent up your copywriting. Which sounds friendlier to you: “Here is the information you requested” or “Here is the intelligence you asked object of”?

Beginning sentences with a conjunction. Start sentences with conjunctions (and, or, but, nor) is more familiar, straight in journalism. Not at best is it the style people talk, it can prune judgement size, a with the addition of in delivering sales messages.

Other everyday devices. Use contractions to animated up your message. Also, utilize sentence fragments. Not just do they dock middling sentence in the long run b for a long time, they add rhythm. And drama.

Punctuation. Purchase punctuation to your selling advantage. I’m inclined to make use of more dashes and an irregular interdict location and ellipsis to annex stage production and eagerness to the sales message. Commas can be musical idiosyncratic, so I include a tendency to work the littlest amount to provision readers working in the course the copy as fast as possible.

Parting Reminder

Retain that grammar laws, stylebook, glossary and other correspondent’s references nearby. You’re still thriving to need them.

But also don’t allow in grammar be your deity, or your next online backing could be a superhuman sales flop.

Letters Sales Carbon copy That Sells

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 10:28:21 +0000

When composition a sales impersonate, all internet marketers be sure that a sustained writing last will and testament furnish more than a brief copy. This does not at any cost that the more words the less ill; the sum and the prominence of point is what determination update its performance.

Having the nullify sales form will keep the reader interested from start to finish. These are the steps to buttress to create a prominent sales note:

1. RUN OUT OF A SUBSTANTIAL HEADLINE. Express the main benefit of your issue in a laconic sentence. Nab your readers distinction and make them require to proceed reading.

2. PRODUCE EXCITEMENT WITH A SUB-HEADLINE. In no more than two or three succinct sentences, broaden on the benefits of your outcome and manufacture excitement in your reader. If you are oblation a fixed stimulating, define the limitations of your offer here.

3. ABSTRACT THE BENEFITS OF YOUR PRODUCT. Afford the reader three meet reasons to acquire your product. These reasons have nothing to do with the offshoot’s features; cogitate on hither what your client wants. Fitting for model, if you are selling festival villas, remark something like:

“If you want to put up with advantage of the comfort of a luxury apartment, satisfaction in the Mediterranean ends and recover bundle on your summer vacations, then this authority be the most substantial line you’ll at all read”

4. EXCUSE YOUR UNEXCELLED SELLING PROPOSITION. This is the individual benefit that differentiates your upshot from all the others. At this application, you must bring up your USP in one or two sentences. You intent explicate the details later in the sales letter.

5. VALIDATE YOUR CREDIBILITY. The most important aspect to vend on the internet is credibility. Your readers have to trust you formerly they inclination bribe anything from you. Give them three reasons why they should rely upon you. Make an effort to result that what you say is true.

6. MAKE PLAIN THE FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF YOUR PRODUCT. Unfold how your spin-off commitment benefit your reader’s verve or how it wish make plain a problem. The more detachment you can provender, the more convincing your emulate resolution be.

7. PROVENDER MORE INSIDE OUT RELATIVE TO YOUR PRODUCT. Here is where you can herald the reader all here your product. Use as much wait as you need. Annul until you get bored.

8. COMPRISE CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS. In harmony to sustain establishing credibility, kudos testimonials of customers that have already bought from you and enjoyed your product. Have them mention what they liked most forth the consequence in lieu of of making diversified comments like “I de facto loved your product…” or something similar. Mention at least five testimonials.

9. LEAVE OUT THE COMPETITION. You eliminate your match by means of giving your reader the knowledge they need to last that your work is superior. Citation the elements where your offering is omitting and much heartier than your competition.

10. DEVELOP INTENSIFY VALUE. To figure value in your furnish you have to excuse your readers know that your provide is so lofty, that they cannot repudiate to go through it. The same route of doing this is to compare the value of your put forward with the reasonable value of your product.

11. PROVIDE A PR‚CIS OF ENTIRE LOT YOUR BUYER WILL-POWER RECEIVE. Get sure your reader understands the whole he is current to get from you.

12. MAKE KNOWN THE PENALTY OF YOUR PRODUCT. Mention the approved worth and the stem cell essay transaction expense of your product. The ruly charge must be crossed free and the put forward sine qua non follow.

13. RECORD YOUR BONUS PRODUCTS. The objective is to predisposed immediate spirit by sacrifice something extra. With this design, you are also adding value to your product. You can also try to fashion a discernment of urgency close to effective that the bonuses will only be available on a tiny time.

14. SUBMIT A FERVENT GUARANTEE. The strongest undertaking you can provide is a “greenbacks back” guarantee. The willingness to offer your offering at no hazard commitment originate a portion of positiveness and faith aggregate your readers. You possess to honour your certain in behalf of any returns you may excite, but you can be unflinching that the sales you will generate with this procedure will be near long way outnumber the million of returns.

15. RE-EMPHASIZE YOUR GUARANTEE. Remove all elements of hazard not later than closing your sales imitation with something like:

“You don’t have to decide age if this fallout is as a replacement for you. Just dress up it and try it out. If it doesn’t do the total I respond and more, if you don’t save money, or if your issue doesn’t rectify, or if your life isn’t well-advised, or if you don’t absolutely attraction it, just now give permission me conscious and I’ll transfer you every cent of your coins vanquish! So you contain nothing to be beaten and the entirety to gain.”

16. CHIDE THEM HOW TO ORDER YOUR PRODUCT. Cater complete instructions about how to point the order.

17. PORTENT THE LETTER. Use your packed name and title.

18. PENURIOUS WITH A “P.S.” Use this factor to underline the most related points of your letter.

Recall that this intent be a long sales parrot that resolution win your readers some beat to read. With this in memory, you be compelled develop on the style and envisage of the writing so that it is as unreserved as possible. Highlight the most vital statements, so that the erudition can also be announce in everybody or two minutes.

Write, Publish and Market a Book with No Out-of-Pocket Money

Essays — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:41:44 +0000

Do you dream of having a book published, but don’t know where to turn? Already have a book, but unsure of how to promote it? Looking for cost effective high-return strategies to market your book? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the following information is for you.

Many writers and aspiring authors are under the mistaken belief if their book is published by a publishing house they can sit back and watch sales miraculously happen. Nothing could be further from the truth. Fact is, competition to have your manuscript noticed and published by a large house is extremely fierce. Additionally, no matter who publishes your book, you absolutely must take an active roll in marketing, promoting and selling your book.

Moreover, profit margins are not extremely good when you go through a publisher. Sure, if you sell tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of books, you make substantial amounts of money. In reality only a small percentage of writers achieve this level of success.

A great model for achieving success is to self-publish and actively promote your book. Self-publishing is one of the best ways to get your manuscript to market quickly is to. Another great benefit of self-publishing is you have complete control of the creative process. You make the decisions on content, editing, cover design, title and you reap the profits.

A primary downside with self publishing are costs involved. Depending on whether or not you hire an editor, designer, layout person and cost of printing, the initial outlay for self-publishing a book can be several thousands of dollars for the first run. Besides there are no guarantees your book will sell. However, you can lessen your risk of costs and increase your level of sales with a simple formula.

Imagine if you could self publish with no out of pocket money. Additionally, imagine gaining lots of free publicity and visibility in your market at the same time. I know this to be true, because I have done it.

The following formula is one that can be used by virtually anyone to raise funds to publish a book. In addition, you can gain great visibility, do the initial run with no out of pocket money and position yourself for volume sales.

Although the formula is rather simple in concept, it is not necessarily easy to do as it takes planning, time, effort, consistency and great follow up to make it work as well as possible.

You can write, publish and market a book with no out of pocket expenses by hosting a seminar with a topic that is linked to the book. In order to keep costs down in the rollout host the seminar in your local market. You can further offset costs by securing sponsors for the seminar. Event sponsors provide funding necessary to the costs of an event. They can either contribute in actual dollars or with in-kind offerings. Sponsors underwrite various aspects of an event.

I did this at the beginning of December with my most recent book, “101 Ways to Get Your Foot in the Door” and had an incredible response. Although there was a lot of work involved in the rollout the results were, and continue to be, incredible.

Besides writing content for the book each author had a very specific role. Mine was the marketing and promotions of the book. The first level was to develop a clear marketing strategy for my 3 co-authors and myself.

Prior to beginning the writing of the book, we developed a very detailed project plan. The plan included hosting an event to introduce the book to our local market.

Knowing the costs to an event such as we were planning, I knew it would be beneficial to secure sponsors. I developed a very solid proposal for sponsorship of the seminar. Because of very detailed information and showing the sponsors how they would gain from being involved, I was able to secure two excellent sponsors. One is a primary business newspaper in Utah and the other is an organization who targets start up businesses.

The paper was more than willing to do some advertising for the event in exchange for some great visibility and additional subscribers. The organization offset the costs of the room and audio-visual equipment in exchange for mentions in the advertising and all pre-event promotions. Both sponsors were given the opportunity to do a 5 minute presentation at the seminar and distribute promotional information to everyone in attendance. It was a win/win all the way around.

Had I not had a clear-cut proposal for the potential sponsors chances are I would not have secured their support. Also, I know it is easier to gain support from businesses who know me rather than trying to get sponsorship from an organization who has no idea who I am. The same will be true for most anyone.

With day of event expenses covered, we could now focus on generating revenue for publishing the book. This was done by pre-selling the book. Anyone who purchased the book sight unseen by November 28, 2004 was given a seat into the seminar on December 2nd.

With initial revenues from pre-seminar sales designed to offset book production costs we were able to write, market and publish the book with no out of pocket money. By utilizing the databases of all four authors, press releases, pre-event radio interviews and presentations at Chambers and local organizations, word of mouth promotions, and other low-cost/no-cost forms of promotions, we sold over 350 copies sight unseen. (Cost of the book is $19.95)

We had well over 200 people attend the seminar as some of the pre-event purchases were from folks who were out of the area.

A key to our success was having a functional website were the book was (and is) available. .101waystogetyourfootinthedoor.com We utilized online credit card purchasing options for buyers. In that 80% of our sales were done with Internet and credit cards, we would have been remiss to not use this as a method to sell.

As we were pre-selling it was important to let people know that the cost of a seat into the seminar was the book. Also, if they didn’t make it to the seminar we would mail them the book for $4 more or they could pick it up. The $4 covered mailing costs. If we didn’t do this we would have cut way into our profit margin.

We made a strong point of letting people know they were buying the book, not the seat into the seminar. However, the only way into the seminar was to buy the book.

To gain even more value from the event and increase day of event revenues each author sold other products Back of the Room (BOR). One author sold a sales training program. The signups that day realized several thousand in additional revenue for her.

The two other authors sold specialty items and set up appointments for those who were interested in such things in their sales campaigns.

I sold my Street Smarts Marketing and Promotions

How to Market and Price Your Ebook

Essays — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:08:11 +0000

You’ve written and compiled an ebook. Now you have to

decide how much to charge for it. Finding the right

price is essential to the success of your product. If

you charge too little, people will think it’s of

little value, and they won’t purchase it, or even it

they do buy your book, you will have to sell thousands

of copies to get to the point where you can begin to

see a profit. If you price it too high when compared

with your competition, you will find yourself steadily

lowering the price, which will cause you all kinds of

new problems in the future. For example, if you sell

your ebook at first for $39.99, and later reduce it to

$24.95, don’t you think the people who bought it for

$39.99 are going to be PISSED?

Choosing the right price for your ebook is one of the

most critical parts of the marketing process. The

first rule of pricing ebooks is to never underprice.

Determine the highest price your audience can afford,

and then if you find your book isn?t selling, you can

always reduce the price. Before you take that step,

make sure you are promoting your book like crazy on

the Internet and on websites. The price should be

aimed at bringing in profits, but you should never

forget that price is one of the factors that people

use in judging the value of your ebook ? before they

buy it. So always start with the highest price, and

then launch a mega-marketing campaign.

Pricing an ebook is particularly difficult because

ebooks are a fairly new commodity. Since they are

digital, the value of an ebook is as confusing as the

understanding of what digital actually is to the

average layperson. This means that we must look at

ebooks in a different light in order to determine

their actual worth in this brave, new cyber world.

Let’s look at the difference between a book in print

and an ebook. A printed book is an object you can hold

in your hand, store on your bookshelf, even hand down

to the next generation. It is priced on factors such

as paper stock, design and production costs, and

marketing.

But the fact that unites ebooks and print books is

that they are composed of ideas. It is the ideas in

these books that have the ability to change, or

possibly transform, people’s lives.

What do you think an idea is worth when evaluated

against the cost of paper and ink?

It is the IDEAS that are valuable! That is how you

determine the cost of your ebook.

What should I charge for my ideas?

There are all different formulas and methods for

determining the correct price for your ebook. Let’s

begin with honing in on your ultimate goals.

Decide if your goal is to get wide distribution and

maximum exposure. This goal is aimed at drawing

customers to your business or service, or to

establishing the credibility of your reputation. If

this is your main goal, you should aim to keep your

price on the low side. Some authors have even priced

their ebooks at a profit loss to draw a high number of

new customers. The key is to find a price that

maximizes your profits and the number of books you

sell.

This is an excellent pricing strategy if you are

looking to acquire long-term customers. Long-term

customers are extremely likely to buy from you again

and again ? as long as the first ebook they buy is of

exceptional quality and beneficial to the customer.

However, if your book contains valuable ? and more

importantly NEW information, references, or techniques

? then you should aim to price it on the high end.

After you figure out your goal, you must figure out

what your audience’s need is for your ebook. For

example, does your book solve a particular problem? If

it does, and solves it in a way that hasn’t been

written about in one hundred other ebooks, you will be

able to achieve high sales at a high price. If your

book solves a problem or answers questions in a new

and unique way, you should price your book as high as

you can go. You will achieve larger profits this way,

but bring in fewer customers. Just make sure the

question or problem that your book solves is one that

is important and relevant to the majority of your

market audience. If your ideas are not common

knowledge, or you are presenting a brand new

technique, you will be able to sell books at a high

price. Just be prepared for your competition to

undercut you on price as soon as they hear about your

book.

Keep in mind that the above pricing strategy is

temporary. Eventually, you will cease to sell books at

this high price. So figure out in advance how long you

plan to offer your ebook at this high price, and when

that time is up, change your pricing strategy.

If you want to see large profits over customer draw,

aim for an audience that is looking for easy solutions

to their problems at a low price. If your book is

aimed at solving one particular problem rather than

general advice, then you can charge more. Start at the

highest price the market will bear to bring in the

largest profits, and plan to discount the book a

number of times throughout the year.

Marketing Strategies

The key that unlocks the sales potential of your ebook

is to find a single sentence that becomes your selling

handle. This sentence states what question or problem

your book answers and the benefits your ebook can

provide. Then be sure to use that sentence in every

piece of sales and promotional material, and every

time anyone asks you about your ebook.

Besides promoting your books assiduously online, there

are several other strategies that can help you sell

more books.

One is to give something away for free with your book,

such as a valuable bonus item. Or bundle several

ebooks under one price, which lowers the price for

each ebook if they were sold separately.

An effective technique for figuring out a price is to

send out a survey to your current customers. If these

customers have already bought an ebook from you, ask

for their opinion in terms of price. Do this by

creating a sales page for the new book, but don’t

include a price on that page. Instead, add a number of

links to survey questions that ask pointed questions

to aid you in assigning a price to your ebook.

Another strategy is to test out prices by creating a

number of duplicate sales pages with different prices

on each page. Make sure your sales copy is exactly the

same on every page, and includes your selling-handle

sentence. Then figure out for each page the conversion

ratio between visitors to your site and sales of your

book. This will tell you what your optimum price is.

Ultimately, if you’ve written a book that solves a

problem or presents a new technique, your book will

bring in both traffic and profits. So be sure to write

that selling-handle sentence that sums up what problem

your book solves and what the benefits of your book

will be to the customers who purchase it. And then

watch your market come to you!

Business Proposal Writing: Don’t Fall Into The Trap!

Essays — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:47:37 +0000

In business, there is a question that no sane person wants to hear: “Could you write me a proposal?”

Proposals are traps, ways to build up and break down dreams. Sound dramatic? It’s not. In many cases, writing a proposal is a waste of your time and effort. According to Tom Ranseen, of NoSpin Marketing, there are three reasons why proposals are known as traps:

1. They waste precious time that could be used looking for other prospects or providing other productive work to current clients.

2. They give pricing/packaging information to mere tire-kickers and then to the competition. You just become a number standing in line without a dance partner.

3. They give you a false sense of security that you’re doing something positive and productive in your sales process-that you’re busy and making progress-and maybe that’s worst of all.

Does this mean that all proposal requests are useless? No&ndashwhat it does mean is that you have to be able to choose which are worth your time and which aren’t. Below are tips to help you make that choice:

1. If a potential client wants a proposal but has not given you a clear idea of what they want/need and do not seem able to make up their minds, the best advice is to pass.

2. Is the potential client shopping around, or looking into other prospects? A part of you will want to create proposal just to solidify your abilities ; however , be careful: a client who is unable to choose companies may not be worth the effort it takes.

3. Did your potential client demand a proposal right away? In most cases, the quicker a proposal is demanded, the more likely the client is to back away. Watch for impulsiveness.

4. Is the client unwilling to talk to your directly to review the project and /or proposal? This typically boils down to indecision or wavering interest. It is best to pull out while you can and not waste time.

5. Ask the important questions before accepting the offer to write a proposal. Make sure that the client is qualified to carry through with their plans. Are they committed? Are they financially secured? The worst thing you can do is have a client who loves your ideas but simply can’t afford them or commit to them.

6. Use common sense. Take all things into consideration before writing a proposal; it will save you time and allow you to devote your abilities to other projects.

The proposal trap is a common one in business; many hours have been wasted and many dreams shattered after falling into it. Take the time to review these suggestions and learn when to write a proposal and when to walk away.

7 Essential Tips for Reviewing Copy

Essays — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:36:18 +0000

Nothing can turn strong copy into a 97-pound weakling faster than a flawed review process. The result is severely handicapped marketing efforts and, alas, fewer sales.

How can you avoid this dire marketing situation?

By having a smart and consistent review process that preserves the selling power of your marketing communications. Following are 7 essential tips for reviewing and approving copy.

1. Review the copy from the customers’ perspective.

On the first pass, read the copy (all of it) without your red pen in hand or editing hat on. That’s how your customers or audience will read it. Now, what do you think? Does the concept work? Did the headline grab your attention? How was the tone? Does the copy flow? If you begin by editing the first sentence or sweating the details, you will do your clients or customers a disservice.

2. Don’t get hung up on grammar and usage.

If you think the copywriter broke a writing rule, 9 times out of 10 there was an excellent reason. Copywriters are sales people in print, so if we take liberty with the English language, it’s for effect. Plus, be aware that copywriters (and proofreaders) review and correct the copy before you see it. For example, I consider spelling, grammar, style issues, trademark usage, and more to ensure the quality control of every piece of copy I write.

3. Avoid copy by committee.

There’s that old joke that says if you want to kill an idea or project, start a committee. Copy by committee is no different. Conflicting and misguided comments put the copywriter and creative team in the awkward position of trying to please everyone except who matters most — the intended audience. One way around this is to circulate informational copies to people who would like to see the copy. They can make comments without being part of the formal approval process.

4. Minimize the rounds.

Provide complete feedback on the first round, forwarding all your comments, suggestions, and changes to the copywriter. That way the copywriter can consider everything when he or she rewrites the copy and you can shorten the review cycle. Copy is typically stronger when it’s created in three or fewer rounds.

5. Provide specific comments.

When you provide specific comments, the chances of succeeding on the rewrite improve dramatically. For example, instead of saying, “This isn’t strong enough,” say, “The tone needs to be more authoritative” or “These are additional benefits the copy should cover.” Often times putting your comments in writing will help you be more specific than if you just provide them orally.

6. Let the copywriter rewrite the copy.

Instead of trying to “write” the changes yourself to be incorporated, tell the copywriter your concerns and let him or her address them. The copy will benefit when the copywriter does the rewriting.

7. Judge the copy based upon your objectives.

In the end, the copy was written with particular objectives in mind: to build your brand, generate leads or sales, inform about your company, products, or services, and so on. Make sure the copy is technically accurate and factually correct. Then critique the copy based upon what you want it to accomplish, not on the number of superlatives, your competitor’s latest ad campaign, or how it compares to your previous brochure.

Copy Makeovers Made Easy

Essays — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:32:42 +0000

Copy makeovers can work magic.

Perhaps all you need is a little medicine… and not major surgery. Take whatever sales copy you have now and modify it. Recast, rework and repackage what you’ve got.

Chances are you’re sitting on some solid (yet hidden) sales material. Often simple copy makeovers can work wonders in terms of response. So, before you crumple it up and toss your sales letter in the trash, try tweaking it first. You might be surprised at the result.

Here are 3 simple steps to complete copy makeovers…

Copy Makeovers — Strategy #1: Create A More Compelling Headline.

This is critical. The headline is the first thing your audience sees. It either “grabs” prospects by the jugular… or it doesn’t. If the headline fails, nothing else matters much because it won’t even get a fair reading.

Make your headline and/or sub-heading alluring. Talk to your prospect about what is most important to her. Think in terms of the BIG BENEFIT your product offers and deliver it in a captivating and compelling way.

Craft a handful of words that attract attention, identify specific target markets, and deliver enough interest and intrigue to pull true prospects inside. If you’re struggling with your headline, just think about the greatest advantage your product offers and promise it right up front.

Copy Makeovers — Strategy #2: Take The “YOU” Point Of View.

You’re weight-loss story might be admirable, but what does it mean to your reader or prospect? Talk about yourself and the audience turns off. Talk to your reader one-on-one about something important in her life… and you’ve got her undivided attention &ndash at least momentarily.

If you could re-shape your story… if you could express it in a way that was more meaningful to your individual readers, you’d quickly capture their interest.

There’s a difference between telling your audience that you lost X number of pounds… and telling them how they can lose X pounds, enjoy the process, and feel terrific about their slim, new look.

Remember the old marketing phrase “What’s In It For Me?” Everything your prospect reads gets filtered through this frame of reference. With each statement you make, your audience is thinking… “So What? What does this have to do with me in my situation? How does this help me?”

If the answer isn’t obvious immediately, off they go and you lose the sale. Many times the decision to stay or go is made in the blink of an eye &ndash and often unconsciously.

Copy Makeovers — Strategy #3: Turn Your Bullet Points Into Irresistible, Benefit-Packed Mini-Headlines.

Make each bullet a “grabber” in its own right. Prospects tend to scan certain segments of an ad or sales letter, to determine if it offers something they really want.

While many marketers use bullets in their sales letters, most settle for weak bullet point copy — copy that lacks enthusiasm and passion.

If you’re going to employ this powerful sales tool, you might as well make the most of it. Craft your bullet points with the same emotion and magnetic appeal, as you’d inject into a major headline. After a while, this gets easier to do.

Bullet points are one of those sales letter components that have the power to quickly stimulate intense reader interest. Use them for all they’re worth by making each point justify itself. Each and every bullet point should be capable of compelling the reader to read on — with heightened desire and interest.

Before you do anything else, try implementing these simple copy makeover strategies. You just might notice an immediate improvement in your conversion rate.

More Resources at .makeyoursalessoar.com

Perfect Grammar Is for Sales Sissies

Essays — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:09:01 +0000

If you’re like me, you’re not writing that banner ad, Web site, or landing page to make your English teacher proud. You’re writing to sell.

If you get an “A” while you’re at it, great. But don’t count on it. To get prospects to click, call, or buy, you’ll need to take some liberties with the English language.

As direct-response legend Herschell Gordon Lewis so aptly said, “Grammar is our weapon, not our god.”

Although copywriting requires a different approach than Strunk and White would advocate, don’t burn your grammar books just yet. It’s important to know the rules before you break them.

Following are some rules to keep and some rules to bend or break. But first an important principle.

Clarity

Next time you face a grammar grappler, ask yourself this question: Which word construction will be clearer to the prospect or customer?

Clarity comes first because it’s the prescription for fast comprehension. Copywriting that blurs meaning (which sometimes includes grammatically perfect writing) slows reading and jeopardizes interest — and sales.

WARNING: This isn’t license to play havoc with the English language. Literacy must prevail. Following are some rules to keep.

Rules to Keep

Subject and verb agreement. Whether you’re writing an infomercial or War and Peace, singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs. Always. A simple rule, execution is sometimes problematic. The key is to clearly identify the subject of the sentence.

The active voice. If you want your copywriting to have maximum punch, use the active voice at every opportunity. Active voice: I wrote the sentence. Passive voice: The sentence was written by me.

Use of Modifiers. Modifiers can cause a variety of problems. There are the questions of which and how many modifiers to use. Again, let clarity be your guide. Also, poor placement of modifiers results in confusion, your enemy. To make comprehension easy, put modifiers near the words they’re modifying.

Rules to Bend or Break

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain ushered in a new era in American literature. One of the main reasons was Twain’s use of vernacular. He wrote the way people talked, a departure from the stiff, formal English common during the Victorian period.

For copywriters, writing the way people talk is absolutely essential.

Why? Because copy that is friendly, informal and conversational stands a better chance of getting prospects to click, call or buy. Which is exactly why sacrificing the following conventions can be in the copywriter’s best interest.

Ending sentences with a preposition. To some a no-no, ending a sentence with a preposition can warm up your copywriting. Which sounds friendlier to you: “Here is the information you requested” or “Here is the information you asked for”?

Beginning sentences with a conjunction. Beginning sentences with conjunctions (and, or, but, nor) is more common, even in journalism. Not only is it the way people talk, it can shorten sentence length, a plus in delivering sales messages.

Other informal devices. Use contractions to warm up your message. Also, use sentence fragments. Not only do they shorten average sentence length, they add rhythm. And drama.

Punctuation. Use punctuation to your selling advantage. I’m inclined to use more dashes and an occasional exclamation point and ellipsis to add drama and excitement to the sales message. Commas can be pretty subjective, so I have a tendency to use the minimum amount to keep readers moving through the copy as quickly as possible.

Parting Reminder

Keep that grammar book, stylebook, dictionary and other writer’s references nearby. You’re still going to need them.

But also don’t let grammar be your god, or your next online promotion could be a giant sales flop.

Writing Sales Copy That Sells

Essays — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:07:41 +0000

When writing a sales copy, all internet marketers know that a long copy will sell more than a short copy. This does not mean that the more words the better; the quantity and the quality of detail is what will improve its performance.

Having the correct sales structure will keep the reader interested from start to finish. These are the steps to follow to create a successful sales letter:

1. USE A POWERFUL HEADLINE. Express the main benefit of your product in a short sentence. Grab your readers attention and make them want to continue reading.

2. CREATE EXCITEMENT WITH A SUB-HEADLINE. In no more than two or three short sentences, expand on the benefits of your product and generate excitement in your reader. If you are offering a limited promotion, specify the limitations of your offer here.

3. OUTLINE THE BENEFITS OF YOUR PRODUCT. Give the reader three good reasons to buy your product. These reasons have nothing to do with the product’s features; think about what your customer wants. For example, if you are selling holiday villas, say something like:

“If you want to take advantage of the comfort of a luxury apartment, enjoy the Mediterranean sun and save money on your summer vacations, then this might be the most important letter you’ll ever read”

4. EXPLAIN YOUR UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION. This is the specific benefit that differentiates your product from all the others. At this point, you must mention your USP in one or two sentences. You will explain the details later in the sales letter.

5. PROVE YOUR CREDIBILITY. The most important thing to sell on the internet is credibility. Your readers have to trust you before they will buy anything from you. Give them three reasons why they should believe you. Try to prove that what you say is true.

6. EXPLAIN THE FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF YOUR PRODUCT. Explain how your product will improve your reader’s life or how it will solve a problem. The more detail you can provide, the more convincing your copy will be.

7. PROVIDE MORE DETAIL ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT. Here is where you can tell the reader everything about your product. Use as much space as you need. Write until you get bored.

8. INCLUDE CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS. In order to continue establishing credibility, mention testimonials of customers that have already bought from you and enjoyed your product. Have them mention what they liked most about the product instead of making general comments like “I really loved your product…” or something similar. Mention at least five testimonials.

9. ELIMINATE THE COMPETITION. You eliminate your competition by giving your reader the information they need to see that your product is superior. Mention the elements where your product is excellent and much better than your competition.

10. BUILD VALUE. To build value in your offer you have to let your readers know that your offer is so good, that they cannot refuse to take it. One way of doing this is to compare the value of your offer with the normal value of your product.

11. PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF EVERYTHING YOUR CUSTOMER WILL RECEIVE. Make sure your reader understands everything he is going to get from you.

12. MENTION THE PRICE OF YOUR PRODUCT. Mention the regular price and the sale price of your product. The regular price must be crossed out and the offer must follow.

13. LIST YOUR BONUS PRODUCTS. The objective is to prompt immediate action by offering something extra. With this strategy, you are also adding value to your product. You can also try to create a sense of urgency by telling that the bonuses will only be available for a short time.

14. OFFER A STRONG GUARANTEE. The strongest guarantee you can offer is a “money back” guarantee. The willingness to offer your product at no risk will generate a lot of trust and confidence among your readers. You have to honour your guarantee for any returns you may get, but you can be sure that the sales you will generate with this strategy will be by far outnumber the number of returns.

15. RE-EMPHASIZE YOUR GUARANTEE. Remove all elements of risk by closing your sales copy with something like:

“You don’t have to decide now if this product is for you. Just get it and try it out. If it doesn’t do everything I say and more, if you don’t save money, or if your business doesn’t improve, or if your life isn’t better, or if you don’t absolutely love it, just let me know and I’ll give you every cent of your money back! So you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

16. TELL THEM HOW TO ORDER YOUR PRODUCT. Provide detailed instructions about how to place the order.

17. SIGN THE LETTER. Use your full name and title.

18. CLOSE WITH A “P.S.” Use this part to emphasize the most relevant points of your letter.

Remember that this will be a long sales copy that will take your readers some time to read. With this in mind, you must work on the format and design of the copy so that it is as friendly as possible. Highlight the most important statements, so that the letter can also be read in one or two minutes.

5 Tips To Start Selling Your Self-Published Book

Essays — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:22:54 +0000

You’ve spent hours researching, writing and self-publishing your book. Now, you want to reap the benefits of selling it yourself, but where do you begin?

Here are five simple tips to help you get started.

1. Figure out your market.

“Bookstores are lousy places to sell books,” says self-publishing guru Dan Poynter in USA Weekend . “Find the places where your audience gathers and sell directly to them. If your book is about cats, go to pet stores.”

To start selling your book, take the time to research your target audience. Who will be interested in purchasing your book and sharing it with their friends?

Once you know your target market, look at the places they shop and spend their leisure time. What media venues do they watch, read and listen to on a regular basis?

Create a list of all potential organizations, business and groups. This will give you a good understanding of the online sites and brick-and-mortar locations where you need to focus your marketing efforts.

2. Spread the word.

When you are ready to start selling, don’t be shy. Talk about your book, carry a copy around with you and look for every opportunity to mention it. Also be ready to give copies away to influential people who will build buzz about your business.

If you are a good speaker, try to give presentations to groups catering to your target audience. You can partner with various organizations to promote your appearance and build word-of-mouth. This may include issuing a press release, giving books away during radio or television interviews or getting involved with charitable activities.

“Speaking to local, target audiences is a great way to start building buzz about your products and services,” says Melanie Rembrandt, small business PR expert and owner of Rembrandt Communications, .rembrandtwrites.com. “But in order to build credibility, you need to offer valuable information pertinent to your book’s subject without being sales-oriented. You can always have a book-signing after your presentation to sell your books and meet potential customers.”

Another trick is to leave a copy of your book at your local bookstore or library. If visitors pick up the book and read it, they will ask for a copy of it. Then, the person at the counter may contact you to purchase additional copies.

3. Venture outside your target market.

After you’ve pursued all venues focusing on your specific audience, start marketing your book to other groups outside your target market.

Look for secondary sources that may be interested in purchasing your book as a gift for a friend, co-worker or family member. Perhaps you can partner with a business, charitable organization or hobby-group related to your book-topic?

Think “outside of the box” and try to let as many people know about your book as possible. You can issue a press release, offer special discounts and create newsworthy events to draw attention to your book. And these activities don’t need to cost a lot of money. You just need to think of some ways to stress the unique benefits of your book and take the extra time and effort to plan, coordinate and follow-through with your ideas.

4. Take advantage of business relationships.

If you used an online publisher in developing your book, advertise on their site. If you used a local printer, ask if you can leave a couple copies at their front desk.

Visit all of your local establishments and leave some kind of information about your book. If you are a regular customer, most of these businesses will be happy to help you and the local economy.

And when preparing these “leave-behinds,” think about the benefits for the business and customers. Perhaps you can print up small calendars, checklists, quick tips, bookmarks and other items that advertise your book while offering something of value to potential readers.

You may even be able to partner with various businesses to offer special joint coupons and discounts. Use your imagination, but always keep the benefits for the customer in mind.

5. List your book online.

This may be obvious, but you really need to list your book online to reach the broadest possible market and increase “buzz.” Review your target audience and try to get information about your book posted on all of the pertinent sites they visit.

Also create a simple website. And don’t worry. Today, there are many services that offer cost-effective or free websites to self-published authors. You don’t need to be a technical genius or have a lot of money to take advantage of these services and create an online presence.

However, in your online copy, be sure to stress the unique benefits of your book and provide customer testimonials (for credibility). Also include some information about your background to help you stand apart from others in your genre.

Once your site is up and running, research free, press-release posting sites. Also look for online organizations that may be willing to post reciprocal links to your site to help build search-engine optimization.

These are just a few, simple tips. There are many ways to sell your self-published books. But you can start by focusing on your target audience, work the business relationships you already have and be creative. And soon, you’ll be well on your way to being a top-selling author!

For more tips and information, visit .jexbo.com.

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