How To Treat Guest Posters aka Get More By Giving a Little

Category General | 6 comments »

Time and again, I run into blogs who are interested in having guest posters, but they can’t seem to attract them. Or, they’re afraid to have other people posting on their blog and I don’t blame them. When you create a blog, particularly on a business website, you’ve worked hard to create a unique voice. One that can be trusted. However, that doesn’t mean everyone should lose out on the benefits of guest blogging.

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There’s Benefits To Hosting Guest Bloggers?

And yes, there are benefits for the guest poster (Ann Smarty, the Queen of Guest Posting has numerous posts on the subject), but there are tons of benefits for the blog’s owner as well:

• The guest blogger brings a fresh audience with him. This expands your reach and highlights your site for a new group or readers.
• More RSS subscribers, newsletter sign ups, affiliate sales, etc.
• You can host experts from within your niche and from complementary fields.
• Your site benefits from the content and the knowledge.
• The new perspective is refreshing and keeps things on your site sparking.
• You may learn things too!
• Improves your reputation because you’ve had Mr. X showcase a post on your site.
• Become a hub for industry information
• Your readers get access to a wider array of topics and information making you worth more to them.
• If someone gets controversial, you get the traffic and discussion without having the responsibility fall directly on your shoulders.
• You don’t have to write the content!

Don’ts When Publishing A Guest Post

I’ve had the pleasure to guest post in a number of industries around the web in addition to being a contributing author for some of these sites, and while I’ve enjoyed them all very much, I’ve discovered not everyone does things the same way. So, to ensure everyone gains the most from guest posts, here are a few recommended ‘don’ts’:

• Don’t edit or cut a post without saying something. It sounds silly, but sometimes certain sections are important for a particular reason.
• Don’t let the guest poster get away with murder. You can refuse the post if you don’t feel it matches your site, but be careful. Just because you don’t agree doesn’t make it a bad post! The discussion is excellent.
• Don’t request a post within 24 hours. It sounds silly, but I’d rather have a writer produce a post in their time rather than in mine because it turns out far better.
• Don’t neglect to introduce the post (preferably in a different font, italics, or even a different color) and give the author a clear byline. This eliminates any confusion as to who wrote it.
• Don’t be afraid to discuss a topic and the types of posts that work well on your site. After all, no one knows your readers like you do!
• Don’t remove the author’s name, link, or other information from the post after its ‘debut’.
• Don’t be afraid to link back to the post or add links to the body later on as you get more related posts.

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Please Do When Hosting a Guest Blogger

• Do give the writer a short author’s bio with a link or two. They’ve gone to all the work of creating a great post, so give them a little back. It won’t kill you.
• Do let the writer know when the post is up so he can share it on various social networks.
• Do put the post in draft early and supply the writer with the URL so he can create a complimentary post on his own site and link to it if he so wishes.
• Do go over the do’s/don’ts and pet peeves for your site with the writer. For example, I don’t mind linking to competitors and do so all the time, but if you don’t like it, that’s your choice. (I figure my clients choose me for me…if another writer would work better for them, so be it. There’s tons of work to go around.)
• Give your opinions and thoughts in the comment section even if you don’t agree with the writer, just be respectful.
• Do trade posts with other website owners. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, and this way everyone gets to benefit from guest posting.

I’m not saying that guest posters need to be catered to, but I really think it’s important to work together. Besides, if you don’t treat your guest bloggers fairly, you’ll have to catch them unsuspecting or you won’t get anyone to guest post at all.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Paying For Online Content — How To Bring Producers & Users Together

Category Marketing concepts | 1 comment »

The dilemma of getting people to pay for online content is a big one. Let’s face it, why would you pay for content when you can get it free elsewhere? Newspapers are struggling with this one, but they aren’t the only ones. Websites that stream TV programs, movies, provide access to games, music, and even regular business owners are running into this same problem. This thought is changing, according a recent Nielsen survey, but we’re still not too open to the idea.

A Misplaced Sense Of Value

At the root of the problem is our collective sense of priority. We’ll easily shell out $200 on a weekend at that bar, $50+ on a new game, and even spend thousands of dollars on fancy company stationery, but when it comes to content, we complain if we spend $20 a month. I’m included in this group as well. Heck, I recently complained about paying $3/month for online music!

I’m not saying that entertainment has no value. In fact, quite the opposite. I think we generally underestimate the value of the content we’re getting for free as well as the content we refuse to pay for. I touched on this a little bit in the post ‘Are Big Bloggers Taking Dirty Money?‘, but I think the topic deserves a bit more attention. I’d also like to bring up a couple of possible solutions.

If you were a guitar player, what would you be willing to pay for a lesson from Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, or Slash? If you love racing cars, what would you pay to spend the day with Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, or Jeff Gordon?

So, why do we feel learning from some of the best in our respective industries should come free? Because we’ve become accustomed to getting it for free, but not without some downsides.

The Problem With the Current Content System

It’s no secret that free content has some serious issues. Spam is just the beginning. We often end up having to wade through a pile of junk to find the good content, and then there’s multiple postings to contend with. In fact, I know I spend more time digging through the garbage than I do reading anything of value.

Even paid content today has its downfalls.

If I wanted to subscribe to the Chicago Tribute, it will cost me $10/month. Pretty cheap right? We still complain about it, but let’s continue. I also like reading the New York Times, which costs me another $10/month, and the Toronto Sun, for another $5/month. Then, to get the local news, I can buy the Medicine Hat News for another $12.59/month. This means a month’s worth of information will cost me $37.59, which translates into $451.08.

This doesn’t sound bad at all until you start adding in the content from some of the big advertising and business sites around the web. I could easily be spending thousands of dollars a month, particularly if I had to pay to read my favorite bloggers.

(One last little problem, whether you visit the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Toronto Sun, or the local paper, it’s difficult to find the link to subscribe and even more difficult to find the price! You’d think this would be more important. I’m sure it pops up when you click on content behind the pay wall, but still!)

Some would argue ‘why pay what you can get for free?‘ In this instance, I think quality is the biggest difference, and if I don’t have to search through a bunch of junk to find it, I’m a happy camper! Plus, if they were to adopt my solution, newspapers, magazines, and even video bloggers could expand their content to include more topics and subjects.

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Possible Solutions For Paid Content

I would love to see online content providers get together and offer things through aggregation. Let’s say that 200 of the world’s biggest newspapers and magazines get together and offer their content up as part of a package.

How about choosing what I pay for by subject? After all, I could care less about the sports sections and the classifieds. I want to read the latest headlines, business topics, and lifestyle pieces. Let me choose a certain number of subjects for $X a month, or even X of content providers for $X a week.

Maybe I could customize the topics I read about each day. This aggregated reader for paid content would let me select say 4 subjects that I usually read about. I can click to read these four topics, or I can choose a unique set of four subjects for the day because maybe there’s an amazing sporting event I want to read about today instead.

This would help these publications get in front of the eyes of new readers and expand their reach. For example, let’s say you like business topics. Because this new system lets you read the latest business headlines, my local newspaper suddenly appears in your reader. You would have never had the opportunity to read this great content because you would have never known about the local paper.

If the entire system was contained in a reader of some sort, there are additional opportunities for advertising, affiliate sales, and even marketing opportunities for the content providers themselves. And, because readers are already interested in the specific topics, companies would have access to a targeted audience. Everyone would be able to benefit from this, including the reader who wouldn’t have to ignore weight loss articles while reading the food section. (People reading low fat recipes maybe, but I’m thinking fitness sections would be a better fit. With this system, you’d have that option.)

I think a system like this would encourage more people to join and discourage a lot of them from distributing their content free because of the perks. After all, if I knew I could publish my content to this type of system, the added exposure, the temptation of some cash, and the chance to be seen at the same time as the New York Times would be awesome!

I could filter the results like my gmail account and completely customize my content experience. This means, if I’m sick of hearing about the Olympics, for example, I could eliminate all of the content about it with a quick click. If I only wanted to read content from around the province, I could do this too.

Readers wouldn’t have to sift through useless content, and for me, the time and sanity I save would be well worth it. You know the content is decent and you’ll find something of value. Having paid for access to the content, archives would be a must. Let me access the archives free, or let me search my four main topics free and pay a daily rate for the rest.

The other option, while similar to this one is to create an aggregated library. I pay, say $30 a month, and get access to a selected list of providers…maybe as many as 100. These could be selected by me the reader, or I could choose packages of providers depending on what I’m interested in. So, for example, I’m a Canadian who enjoys business and politics, so the Globe and Mail would be one of the big providers in my ‘package’. Those interested in lifestyle and beauty, however, might get Cosmopolitan as one of the big providers in their package.

What Readers Want and Providers Should…Well…Provide!

While what I’m offering here may not be the ideal solution, I think it covers exactly what online content providers will have to offer if they ever hope to make their sites work. In short, people today want:

Customization — They want to be able to find what they want on demand without having to waste a bunch of time digging through crap!

Efficiency — Being in an online format, readers want something that works with them instead of against them. They don’t want to have to dig around through your website to find things that interest them.

Convenience — Because the world is so connected, it seems to have gotten a whole lot busier. Let people call up and read content on their own terms, using the methods that work for them. Let’s face it, I can read a blog on virtually anything that can access the Internet, so of course I’m going to read them while I’m waiting in the doctor’s office!

Quality – People worry that when they pay for something, they’re going to be disappointed. If they know they’re getting content from top providers, this worry just isn’t there, but it also means there’s more pressure on newspapers and other providers to focus on what they’re providing instead of how much!

Considering the popularity of eReaders, smart phones, and laptops, I think paid content has a place online. It’s simply a matter of figuring out what works. Besides, electronic editions cost a fraction of the price, and because there would be no transportation or printing involved, they could focus more on providing good content!

What are your thoughts?

Popularity: 1% [?]

10 Words, 5 Graphic Elements & 1 Huge Tip For Boosting Sales Page Conversion

Category Copywriting | no comments »

Sales pages are one of the most finicky, most difficult, and most important pages you’ll ever create, and getting it right is absolutely crucial. Otherwise, you can send obscene amounts of traffic to the page and funnel them perfectly from various sources, but you’ll never make any more because you can’t convert them. Thankfully, I’ve come up with a list of words, graphics, and tips that will not only make landing page creation easier, but far more profitable!

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10 Words That Inspire Trust and Compel Visitors To Follow Your Call to Action

Sales copy has a number of different jobs to do. It needs to:

• Inform
• Inspire trust
• Push and pull the reader’s emotions
• Answer questions
• Show benefits
• Indentify with the target audience
• Convince them to spend money

That’s a lot to accomplish with mere words! In fact, I liken sales copy to painting a masterpiece; while it’s the entire picture that matters in the end, it’s the individual colors and elements that make all the difference between a Picasso and a playschool chocolate pudding doodle. When it boils right down to it, the exact words you choose to use will ultimately determine the power of the copy.

Here are ten magic words that can significantly boost profits for almost anything:

1. Free — Who doesn’t like free?

2. Guarantee(d) — No risk, which means ‘nothing to lose, everything to gain’, at least if you do it right!

3. Results — This is the whole point of buying from you or signing up, isn’t it?

4. Fast — Customers want a solution, but they don’t want to wait and who can blame them?

5. Easy — Buyers don’t want to work hard. They want you to do this part for them. Makes sense.

6. Save — Even the world’s millionaires want to save money/hassle/etc.

7. Money (specific amounts are even better…Numbers. They’re helpful too!) — We all love money!

8. Now — Like ‘fast’, no one wants to wait, but this works for you too by convincing them not to wait.

9. You — It is all about the reader after all!

10. Discover — This word plays on a reader’s instinct. Customers want to know, they HAVE to know. Now.

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5 Must Have Graphic Elements For Landing Pages

If a site is going to appear trustworthy and make money, it absolutely has to look the part. And just like copy, it’s the basic elements that often make the most difference. So, here are 5 elements you want to make sure your sales pages have:

1. Action Button — Whether it’s a ‘buy now’ button, a send button on a contact form, or a button that takes the visitor to a destination page, your sales page has to have some sort of an action button. But, this can’t just be any old button. It has to be instantly identifiable as the page’s destination, people have to know what will happen when they click it, and while this might sound stupid, it has to actually work! (You’d be amazed if I told you how many times someone sends me a link to a sales page with a buy button that takes me back to the home page! Just. Don’t. Do. It.)

2. Seals — I don’t mean the ones who balance beach balls on their noses and slap flippers. I mean graphic seals. Verisign by Visa, certification (from real companies/organizations!), awards (again…real ones only people), Better Business Bureau, and other reputable seals put the customer at ease. In short, they make you look trustworthy and show the customer you know what you’re talking about.

3. Picture of the Product (Hero Shot) — Comparing sales pages with and without a picture of the product is a lot like comparing a 1-900 number to a webcam dating site. Sure, she might sound pretty, but are you really getting what you pay for? Customers want to see exactly what it is they’re paying for.

Hold on, you say, what about services? Well, you might not be able to take a picture of the service, but you should be able to include an image of the results. If you clean cars for a living, for instance, a picture of a sparkly, fancy vehicle is just the thing. If you’re a lawyer, show pictures of you in court, happy clients, and even money (you handing it to someone, not taking it. Just thought I’d clarify that).

4. Font and Formatting is Everything — The font needs to be easy to read, but you also need to cater to visitors who skim pages rather than reading them. This requires a careful use of bold/italics/underline, bulleted lists, color, and even font size. When you’re done, the visitor should be able to get an understanding of your product or service just by reading these stylized portions of the text.

5. Space — Just because the space is available doesn’t mean you need to use it. Include only the elements you see as necessary on the page and forget the rest. It also helps if you make the most important graphic the most prominent on the page.

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Drum Roll… One Big Tip for Landing Pages

Take the time to test everything and analyze the results.

But, don’t just go all gung-ho on the thing. Test as many things you would like, but only test a couple of elements at a time. Otherwise, you’ll notice improvements or failures, but have no idea exactly what caused it.

And most importantly, write down and keep track of exactly what you tested, when, and what the outcome is. If you track things properly, you’ll be able to tell exactly what effects the tests have on the sales funnels as well. Lastly, don’t underestimate the small things. Even something as simple as changing the color of the text by a few shades can have a huge effect.

Popularity: 1% [?]

How To Improve Trust and Credibility With Copy

Category Copywriting | 2 comments »

No matter how good your copy and site design is, no two visitors will ever think the same thing or have the same experience. Every element, color, and letter will prompt different ideas, thoughts, and actions. ‘Well, how the hell do you maximize your conversions then?’ you’re likely wondering. Simple, my friends, simple.

By communicating and identifying with visitors in some way, they’ll naturally want to follow your call to action. You need to talk to each visitor just as you would a dear friend who’s going through a crisis; by listening, validating, and understanding them on a level that others normally don’t. Then, you want to guide them and help make the connection between you and their desires and needs.

In fact, beer and fast food commercials use this technique all the time. Here’s a good example:

Aside from the fact it’s absolutely hilarious, you’ll notice the beer at the end of the commercial is described as ‘fresh’, ’smooth’, and ‘real’. Also, when they show the beer, it looks as if it has just come out of the cooler because it has water and little ice crystals sliding down the side of the bottle. It LOOKS delicious, refreshing, and makes you want a beer, even if it is 7am!

This is the power of suggestion at work my friends! Commercials that feature a gorgeous broad making ga-ga eyes at a beer guzzling guy use the same type of technique. Same with makeup commercials that consist of a beautiful woman surrounded by muscle-bound hunks. If you buy their product, you’ll look sexy get what you want, and everything will end perfectly.

Using Suggestion In Your Copy and Site Design

The first thing you need to do is get inside your visitor’s head. What is the main thing they looking for? Peace? Relief? Satisfaction? Everyone might have a different concept of what exactly that is, but it should still fulfill most of your visitors in a specific way.

If you have a site that sells chocolate, the last thing you want to do is remind visitors about their diet, sugar levels, or costs/bills. You want to create a site that reminds them of the smooth, silky, and sinfully sweet heaven they’ll be taken to the instant the chocolate touches their taste buds. Why? Because when they search for ‘chocolate’ and land on your site, that’s exactly what they’re looking for.

But how do you know what your target audience is looking for? Simply ask ‘is what?’ after each main thought until you find the ultimate answer. So, for example:

Chocolate…is what? Junk food>> Savory Treat>> Delicacy/Luxury>> Indulgence>> Satisfaction/Captivation/Bliss

(If I were selling tulips, it’d look something like: Tulips>> Sign of Spring>> Flower>> Plant>> Fresh>> Pretty>> Natural Beauty >> Simplicity)

If you’re aiming at middle aged moms, paint a picture of a woman who has worked hard all week. She cuddles in on the couch with a good book and a deliciously expensive glass of red wine. There’s soft music in the background, candles glowing, no kids interrupting, and nothing to worry about.

But, if you’re marketing a chocolate bar that’s going to fill a hungry stomach until mealtime, use a mom in the middle of household chaos. She takes a quick coffee break, bites into the chocolate bar, and the noise disappears, instantly transporting her somewhere else.

This trick works for taglines, headlines, the main concept for the site, and other short quips that are often really difficult to determine. In the case of the Tulips, I’d be looking to do something with simple, natural beauty.

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Identifying With Visitors Builds Trust

If you think back to the exact time an acquaintance became a friend, when did it happen? I’d be willing to bet that a majority of the time it happened when you realized that other person really understood you and could honestly relate to your situation. When you get right down to it, you’ll discover that all the people you trust the most ‘get you’ in one way or another. So, if you want to inspire trust on your website, showing site visitors that you ‘get’ them is one of the most important steps you can make.

Want to know a few other ways your copy can enhance your site’s credibility?

• While you may choose to customize each conversion path for a specific visitor, be careful not to contradict yourself. Each ’story’ should complement the rest of the site’s content!
• Negative things such as acknowledging one of the company’s shortcomings isn’t as horrible as it seems. Not only does it make you sound human, but admitting to mistakes helps you become more trustworthy because you didn’t try to bury it in a closet somewhere.
• On the same note, connecting directly with customers is a fantastic idea. However, be aware that eventually you’re either going to get negative feedback (see the previous bullet point) or you’re going to get a question you can’t answer. Don’t try to hide it. Instead, admit you don’t know the answer and offer to find out.

How does your website help build trust and credibility?

Popularity: 1% [?]

5 Writing Tools No Internet Marketer Should Be Without

Category Tools and Resources | 9 comments »

Writing compelling content is difficult at the best of times. You have to use a target audience’s hot buttons, emotions, and deepest needs to convince them to buy. But, unless you’ve got a real knack for this type of thing, it just isn’t as easy as it sounds. Thankfully, there’s a few tools that can make it a whole lot easier.

Fair Warning: ‘easier’ does NOT mean these tools create ‘foolproof’ copy! (A hammer only works when you miss your finger!)

Linked In, Facebook &/or Social Search

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Once you’ve identified the target audience, you need to learn from them, and who better to learn from than one of them? These Social Networks and searches make it easy to find someone in the perfect target market, learn a bit more about them, gather ideas, and see what the product or service’s competition is up to. You’ll even find it easier to write or sell because you can pretend you’re selling to one of them.

Evernote

One of the best ways to learn how to write better copy is to practice writing and reading someone else’s sales copy. So, when I find a good piece of copy, I clip it and put it into Evernote. Then, I can write them out and get to learn how to improve the results of my copy. These bits can also act as a guide while providing you with ideas for handling certain situations. Lastly, it’s also a good place to keep information about the various products, services, and their competitors as well as examples of good titles and ideas.

ReadPlease

Finding mistakes is tough enough, but things such as awkwardly worded phrases can be almost impossible to find unless someone else reads the copy to you. That’s exactly what ReadPlease does. It’s robotic sounding, but you’d be amazed at how many mistakes you can catch with it.

Whiteboard

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Whether you choose an online whiteboard, or the more freeing real-life version, writers need a spot to track site structure, concepts, facts, and develop ideas. And with the freedom of a whiteboard, there are no limitations. Trust me, after using one to structure a piece of copy, you’ll wonder how you ever wrote something without it. (It’s also good for jotting down quick notes, but so is Sticky Notes, if you’re interested.)

WYSIWYG, Keyword Analyzer & Email

Off all the tools listed here, I rely on these three the most. The online WYSIWYG makes it pretty easy to code up your text and leaves it nice and clean. The keyword analysis tool is one of the select few online you can use to calculate keyword density simply by copy and pasting.

Your email program can also be extremely helpful. Now, I know you’re going ‘duh’, but it’s actually a great code cleaner. You see, MS Office has a habit of loading text full of useless code that seems almost impossible to get rid of. To fix this problem, email the file to yourself. Then, preview the file in the email program, select the text, copy, and paste it wherever you need it. You’ll find it keeps the HTML without all the junk. (This tip came from someone several months ago, but I can’t remember who. If that’s you, I’d love to link to the post!)

Oh! One last thing! I’m testing out a Firefox addon called ‘After the Deadline’, which is a spelling, grammar, and style checker. You might like it!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Is Your Social Media Strategy Like Your Favorite Jeans?

Category Marketing concepts | 7 comments »

A favorite pair of jeans is easy to identify. It’s the pair we frantically dig for Saturday morning and we’ll wear them all weekend, even if they get a ketchup or coffee stain. They’re a must have when we want to relax and watch movies…well, we might also hunt down a bag of Cheetos…oh and possibly a tub of mint chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream…

Where was I? Oh yeah, we love our favorite jeans, but they’ve got holes in them and they don’t exactly show off our best features, if you know what I mean. Interestingly, I’ve found a lot of businesses do the same thing with their Social Media strategy, and this isn’t always a good thing.

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Getting Comfortable

When you start using Social Media for your business (PDF), it’s uncomfortable. Things don’t always go where they’re supposed to and the entire thing feels strange. But, after you’ve used it for awhile, you start to get comfortable and things just seem to work. It feels natural.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with this (that awkward tweeting, blog commenting, and updating can’t exactly give your business a professional mage), but don’t get stuck in the rut either. I’m a firm believer in the concept that if you’re bored with it, your client base likely is too. Don’t be afraid to do things a little differently and let loose once in awhile (within reason, of course!).

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Not Testing and Tracking Different Options

Chances are, you and your best friend aren’t going to like the same jeans, so don’t be afraid to try a few different pairs, colors, or styles. The same can be said for Social Media concepts. Here’s what I mean:

It’s not hard to throw some buttons on a blog or website to your social profiles, but there’s a lot more to using Social Media than that. First, the public can be very fickle.

Imagine you have two sites in the same industry, selling the same things, and using similar templates and content. You’ll likely find the two audiences behave in very different ways and have different needs. It could be the feel of the site, how it was shared, who links to it, and an unlimited number of other factors.

The important thing is to take the time to test things thoroughly instead of relying on ‘well, so-and-so said it worked on his site’. Also, don’t change lots of things at once. Change one or two things and let it go for a good length of time, otherwise you’ll notice an improvement or loss and not know what caused it! Lastly, without a basic understanding of testing, you’ll find yourself unable to truly benefit from the information you’ve collected.

Oh… please, please, please, for the love of the Internet gods, PLEASE:

• use a decent analytics program
  
• keep track of what you’ve tested, when, and the results of each. When something goes wrong, you’ll figure out why.
  

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Focusing On One For Far Too Long

Most people figure out how to add social features to their website or send out links to whatever it is they’re selling. They’ll even build up a pretty good following on Facebook, StumbleUpon, Delicious, and other sites.

And just like their wardrobe, most businesses find themselves favoring one site or format over another. As a result, they end up missing out on other valuable opportunities.

A good number of businesses completely forget to complete the connection. In other words, they never think to move people from one Social Network to another or from their Social Networks to their main site. (Most users don’t just voluntarily seek you out on other sites unless you’ve made a solid personal connection with them.) And let’s face it, this is how you’re going to get the biggest bang for your buck!

Twitter works well for this. When you tweet a link to your latest blog post, for example, people who follow you will move from Twitter to your website because they have something to gain. It’s the promise of something that lures them from one place to the other. So, knowing that, why in the heck do you not do the same elsewhere and for other networks?

Use contests, games, content, and other strategy components to get people to engage and connect with you as much as you can. In most instances, it’s simply a matter of showing the value of connecting with you elsewhere (Mentioning a collection of additional tips and how tos on YouTube to blog subscribers, for example). Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean make things difficult for them! You should incorporate links, buttons, and whatever else works to make the jump from one site to another as easy as possible.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject, don’t always request things from the same network of people. Eventually, they’re going to get tired of doing this, buying that before this sale runs out, or jumping into the next exciting contest. Mix things up and try to find a good balance between the needs of your business and your followers.

Is your Social Media strategy like your favorite pair of jeans? Are you happy with the direction it’s going? Or have you gotten too comfortable with it in its current state?

Popularity: 1% [?]

Promotional Content and Modern Marketing

Category Marketing concepts | Comments Off

Traditional marketing techniques are all about the push and the hard sell. And to be completely honest, these tactics are ‘traditional’ because they worked and worked well, but they don’t necessarily work well now. This doesn’t mean you can’t sell directly to a certain demographic. It simply means people no longer want, nor will they tolerate having products and services shoved down their throat. There are several reasons for this, but the main one is a change in consumer thinking and spending habits.

Consumers have almost gone backward in time with their spending. They no longer just want to buy a product. For them, it’s almost like buying into a company. They want to buy from a company they can trust and rely on to be there, and I’m afraid using the same tactics as your local used car salesman doesn’t conjure up images of trust or reliability.

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Advertising Isn’t About You, It’s About Them

I figured if anything could be considered the ‘best advertising;, it should be Super Bowl ads. With a single 30 second ad expected to cost more than $2.5 million this year, they would have to know what they’re doing, right?

That’s when I came across a recent study by Dr. Rama Yelkur and Dr Chuck Tomkovick of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (Report Available By Request).

After studying 462 Super Bowl ads from as early as 2000, the professors found the amount of focus on the products during an advertisement could actually harm the success of the ad. According to their study, the best ads were full of creativity and held some entertainment value with a minimal amount of information about the product. Interesting thought, don’t you think?

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Marketing in the Social Sphere

Social Media Marketing is all about engagement, blah, blah, blah. Let’s face it, Pepsi dropped its Super Bowl Ads and moved to the social sphere because it figured out the connection it makes with its ideal customer is better on the various Social Networks than on television during the Super Bowl. And when you consider Social Media Sites are experiencing continual growth while users are increasing the amount of time they spend there, this makes sense. But it isn’t just about where you are these days; it’s how you present yourself that’s making the difference.

(Before we go any further, I’d like to say that I’m a firm believer in the idea that SM is NOT for everyone. A recent study by Cone Research revealed that an estimated 41% of Americans don’t use websites, blogs, social networks, and other New Media. An additional 8% only use New Media once a year! So, if your ideal clients are in this 49%, chances are your money would best be spent elsewhere, but that’s another post.)

What Pepsi has done is take its brand out of the untouchable, ‘I’m a massive company you can’t touch’ shell and injected itself into the homes of millions while opening the door to becoming a part of every community in America. What they did is take $20 million of their ad budget, started a website, and asked people to go there to suggest community projects it should invest in. Smart. Freaking brilliant, if you ask me.

Now, they will have numerous non-profits and community organizations singing their praises in addition to the connections they’re making on the various Social Networks. Granted, their brand is plastered absolutely everywhere, but it still takes a back seat to their customers. I think we could all learn from that.

(Credit)

Engagement and Non-Profits

Cone Research found that cause marketing had a profound effect on the results of a company’s marketing campaigns. They learned consumers who supported various cause marketing campaigns were also more likely to interact with brands through various electronic mediums. And while 28% of marketers think green marketing is more effective, only 22% of consumers have supported environmental causes. Hmmmm.

Bottom line, companies need to show they’re interested in more than just making money and selling products, even if they are! Marketing with mutual benefits has much more effect on consumers, and why wouldn’t it? After all, they’re no different than marketers. They only want to do things that have a direct benefit for them, even if it’s the warm-n-fuzzy feelings of giving to someone who needs it more than they do. They want to be entertained and informed.

So, whether you’re writing a guest post to promote a new product or starting an entire new marketing campaign, forget the cheesy selling and put some thought into it. The creativity definitely pays off.

Popularity: 1% [?]

How To Fight Personalization — Is It Possible?

Category General | 6 comments »

Google has made no secret of its excitement over personalized search results. This only makes sense. After all, the goal is for them to achieve unspammable results (Ha!). Unfortunately, this has left some webmasters and Internet marketers unsure of where they stand and what to do next. So, my question is what are you doing to offset its effects, if anything? (Keep in mind that it’s certainly nothing to worry about, but it should definitely be in the back of your mind when making changes to your website, marketing, and business plans.)

I’ve had a few thoughts…

Social Media Marketing

One option webmasters have available to them is the incorporation of social media and social marketing strategies. This gives visitors and users the chance to ‘personalize’ the site a little themselves. There’s more interaction and it gives customers a feeling of being comfortable.

Now, there are strong arguments for and against SMM. Heck, I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not for all businesses, but the big question is: Can it help counteract the effects of personalization? If you are able to make a connection with that customer, it’s possible to some degree.

(Matt Hamm)

Conversion Optimization

By analyzing your website, its visitors, and how users interact with it, it’s possible to customize a number of different paths in order to improve the user’s experience and boost conversion. This could include adding, removing, or tweaking graphics. It could be testing headlines, improving or changing copy, or altering keywords and navigation to make a site visitor realize that this is the site they’ve been looking for since the creation of the Internet.

Will this help sites compete with the constant inclusion of personalization? Maybe. To some degree anyway. If nothing else, it will help site owners make the most from each person who visits their site.

Untouchable Personalization Factors?

The methods included above can help to influence the possible behavioral factors included in personalization, but unfortunately, they do nothing for the geographic, technical, historical, or chronological factors (or others I may not have thought about).

I personally feel the best way to handle these types of factors is to simply ensure your site is as user friendly as possible.

To help combat technical factors, make sure your site works. For example, if your site doesn’t work with IE6, you might not do well in the search results for that browser’s users.

Geography might be kind of permanent, but this isn’t totally out of touch for webmasters. At least, it’s nothing some local SEO couldn’t help with. Of course, if you live in Las Vegas and want to show up in New York results, you’ll have to do a bit of work. It’s just not possible to show up in everyone’s local results, particularly not with geo-tagging becoming more prominent.

(Slightlynorth)

Other than that, webmasters need to give their sites a little TLC. Keeping a constant supply of new, quality content will help battle chronological factors and keep people coming back while helping to target a specific user.

So, my question is: What are you doing to combat personalization and improve conversion? Do you agree with my suggestions here?

Popularity: 3% [?]

GUARANTEES that knock customers off the fence

Category Advertising, Copywriting, Email Marketing | 2 comments »

Put yourself in your client’s shoes. No, strike that.

Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes (a prospect being someone you’ve never marketed, sold to or married before).

She doesn’t know you; she doesn’t trust you, and she couldn’t care less if you drop dead tomorrow.

But, through deft marketing-you’ve captured her attention! Her eyeballs are yours!

And she believes, as she scans your sales copy, that you just might be selling something she wants. No, strike that.

She immediately realizes (via a great headline and lead) that you’re selling exactly what she wants-or something she thinks she wants (same difference).

Let’s say, it’s a book, a cream, a doctor, or a pill that’ll help her lose weight.

Now if you’ve ever tried to sell weight loss products you know how sisyphusian a task that can be. Weight loss products are a wasteland of failed talismans, potions and quackery (despite “A”-quality copy, offers and celebrity endorsements).

Why? Because…

There’s only one way to really lose weight-and keep it off

And if you think it’s through exercise or diet, or both-you’re half right.

The only way to lose the blubber is through the 3-D’s, otherwise known as determination, dedication and downright doggedness-anything else is just low-fat salad dressing.

But, I digress.

So your prospect, let’s call her Julie is hesitant to order your product because… well, there could be lots of reasons. For example:

• You didn’t provide compelling proof or credibility to back up your claims
• Your sales copy loses steam in the middle and runs off on different tangents
• You didn’t mine and exhaust the list of deep-down benefits your product provides, or you didn’t fully dimensionalize them
• Your sales copy, from beginning to end, doesn’t lead Julie inescapably to the “Order Now” button
• Your website/brochure/sales letter looks like it was created by a designer who wants to be and artist and win awards-not make sales
• You have no testimonials or endorsements
• You don’t clearly and unequivocally ask for the order, nor do you mention the terrible consequences of not ordering
• There’s not enough personalization and “you speak” in your copy (when Julie reads your ad/sales letter she has to feel as if you’re talking to her, not a faceless, festering blob of cellulite)

There’s more of course; the list goes on and on….

But let’s say you’ve provided all of the above, and more. Yet, Julie still won’t show you the money-even though you’ve absolutely persuaded her that your blubber pulverizer works.

Why might she still be hesitant?

Well, she’s fallen for other blubber blasters before, too many in fact-and still can’t zip up her pants.

And in these scary economic times-she can’t risk of losing more money on more blubbery promises-regardless of how much her hips, thighs and seat swell.

Allay her fears-remove all the risk

Offer Julie, what I call, a “gifted guarantee”.

I know, very few of us value or trust guarantees anymore-they’ve lost their marketing effectiveness (due primarily to thoughtless copy-cat construction).

Like so many newspaper ads, they’re a blur of meaningless, unconvincing verbiage.

Others are way over the top…

“Lose 50 pounds in one week! Erase all stretch marks in 3 days! And have the movie studios calling you by tomorrow night-or your money back!”

Such a guarantee is patently stupid-and would convince only the equally stupid.

And yet, even though Julie doesn’t believe or trust your guarantees-she still wants you to offer her one.

A guarantee is like a presidential election promise. Everyone wants to hear and applaud how Obama and McCain are going to lower taxes, grow the economy and keep America strong domestically and globally.

Yet, everyone knows, whoever becomes our next president, it’ll be business as usual on Pennsylvania Avenue come January-and nothing will change.

So, even though Julie is distrustful, cynical and maybe even scared-she still wants to believe you can help her.

She wants you to tell her everything will be all right and she won’t be taken to the cleaners, again (and have the waist on her skirts and pants taken out).

So how do you craft a guarantee that combines the eloquence and hope of Obama with the honest and straight-shooting no-nonsense approach of McCain?

How indeed do you overcome that last hurdle between you and Julie’s money?

Crafting an unusually effective and convincing guarantee

The fist thing you want to avoid is to make your guarantee read like everybody else’s.

If your guarantee sounds obligatory, perfunctory and commonplace, e.g. “Your money back if not 100% satisfied”, not only will Julie’s jaded eyes ignore or miss it-she’ll completely discount it. That is to say, she’ll not be in the least bit persuaded by it.

So rather than write a guarantee that reads like a limp handshake-power it up. Explain it, and sell it!

Explain why you’re offering it, why it’s worth more than the paper it’s written on-and why there’s no reason to doubt it.

Your guarantee is part of your offer-make it attractive and absolutely believable. Make it part of the running text and a few paragraphs long.

But remember, if it sounds too good to be true-you’ll lose the sale.

And by all means–be imaginative. If your guarantee is distinctive enough-it might even become your USP (unique selling proposition).

Domino’s Pizza…

…Built an empire base on their guarantee: Delivered in 30 minutes or it’s free.

Do the same thing with your guarantee! Think outside the pizza box. But never make a promise you can’t keep.

Instead of offering a typical and boring 30-day guarantee-make it a 6-month or 1-year guarantee.

Tests actually prove the longer the guarantee the less the returns.

Why? Because when Julie realizes she’s got only 30-days to ask for her money back-she’ll remember that, you can bet on it.

But, tell her she’s got a year-she’ll fuhgedaboutit!

And while you’re at it, if you’ve got a truly killer cannot-fail product-why not offer a double-your-money back guarantee!

Sure, you’ll attract a number of low-life’s trying to score some “free usage”-but they’ll be nothing compared to the increased traffic and orders you’ll receive when your offer/guarantee goes viral.

And whatever you do, at the very least-make your guarantee bigger, better and bolder than your competition’s…

And then… lo and behold… guaranteed success!

–Barry

Popularity: 60% [?]

Turn Your Traffic Into Buyers For A Lifetime! Part II

Category General | 2 comments »

Customers for life means “cash for life.”

Last post (Part I) we visited the Strategy of Consumption. I want to correct myself however. I presented Consumption as mathematically ‘adding’ it, but upon further thinking, I strongly believe that it’s really a multiplication factor! Now, let’s go with:

(Traffic + Conversion) x CONSUMPTION = Customers for Life

Regardless of the math, the goal is to sell more, more frequently to your customer base, and make MORE profit.

Great. How do you do it?

Let’s create your own personal Consumption Strategy, right now.

How to Turn Your Customers Into Consumers For Life 1) Motivate ‘Em – People are excited when they think about everything they intend to do or gain from their latest purchase – from you! It’s a priority to keep this excitement going to:

a) Use your customer’s own reasons as energy to initiate immediate consumption. Their is NO value or R.O.I. unless they until they ‘consume’ your service.

b) Prevent buyer’s remorse – when your customers changes their mind about their investment. Yuck!

c) Reduce return rates just because they don’t bother to even ‘open the box’. Basically, you must overcome any inertia or fear of using your product.

2) Train ‘Em - Just like you educated them as prospects about the benefits of buying your product, you now have to reinforce the advantages with specific directions.

a) Educate your customers on how to quickly and easily get started.

b) Present simple diagrams, as much as possible.

c) Use short, punchy directions.

d) Point out page numbers in your Users Manual to prevent the most common issues or problems. Where’s the Power Button?

Think about the last time you bought a computer or other tech device. You got a ‘FastStart’ card with the most basic directions you needed to use it RIGHT AWAY, usually in about 3 to 7 steps with diagrams. (As a man, I confess to never touching a manual but I do take a peek at that FastStart “cheat sheet”)

3) Hold ‘Em – (I wanted to say “Love ‘Em” but you sensitive macho types might not pay as much attention.) You don’t have to hug them but you do have to keep them close and stay in touch. You should reaffirm and replenish their trust in you with a continuous, non-stop communications program using frequency of contact.

4) Moment ‘Em - (Ok, ok weak punn) But you do have to ‘keep it going.’ It’s easier to keep customers’ love and enthusiasm rolling then the much, much harder route of having to recapture that first love feelign. You’re lucky to start it up again later, if never.

5) Protect Them -  When you have a formalized, Consumption Strategy, it helps reduce attrition, either through your own lack of follow up OR your competition’s procative marketing to your customer base.

When you take the first, smallest step toward Consumption , your customers thank you and your next sale starts almost immediately.  Think of turning your “Customer Base” into your “CONSUMER Base” today!
 

Popularity: 59% [?]