It’s none of the above.

Advertising is salesmanship multiplied.

Nothing more.

And advertising copy, or copywriting, is salesmanship in print.

The purpose of a copywriter’s job is to sell. Period.

The selling is accomplished by persuasion with the written word, much like a television commercial sells (if done properly) by persuading with visuals and audio.

As Claude Hopkins wrote in his timeless classic, Scientific Advertising:

“To properly understand advertising or to learn even its rudiments one must start with the right conception. Advertising is salesmanship. Its principles are the principles of salesmanship. Successes and failures in both lines are due to like causes. Thus every advertising question should be answered by the salesman’s standards.

“Let us emphasize that point. The only purpose of advertising is to make sales. It is profitable or unprofitable according to its actual sales.

“It is not for general effect. It is not to keep your name before the people. It is not primarily to aid your other salesmen. Treat it as a salesman. Force it to justify itself. Compare it with other salesmen. Figure its cost and result. Accept no excuses which good salesmen do not make. Then you will not go far wrong.

“The difference is only in degree. Advertising is multiplied salesmanship. It may appeal to thousands while the salesman talks to one. It involves a corresponding cost. Some people spend $10 per word on an average advertisement. Therefore every ad should be a super-salesman.

“A salesman’s mistake may cost little. An advertiser’s mistake may cost a thousand times that much. Be more cautious, more exacting, therefore. A mediocre salesman may affect a small part of your trade. Mediocre advertising affects all of your trade.”

These points are as true today as they were when they were written nearly one hundred years ago!

So the goal then becomes: how can we make our advertising as effective as possible.

The answer is to test. Test again. And then test some more.

If ad “A” receives a two percent response rate, and ad “B” receives three percent, then we can deduce that ad “B” will continue to outperform ad “A” on a larger scale.

Testing takes time, however, and can be expensive if not kept in check. Therefore, it’s ideal to start with some proven tested known ideas and work from there.

For example, if testing has shown for decades or more that targeted advertising significantly outperforms untargeted advertising (and it does), then we can start with that assumption and go from there.

If we know based on test results that crafting an ad that speaks directly to an individual performs better than addressing the masses (again, it does), then it makes little sense to start testing with the assumption that it does not. This is common sense.

So it stands to reason that knowing some basic rules or techniques about writing effective copy is in order. Test results will always trump everything, but it’s better to have a starting point before you test.

So this starting point, the essence of articles to come.

The following ten tips expressed here have been generally time-tested and known to be effective.

But I can’t emphasize enough that when using these techniques, you should always test them before rolling out a large (and expensive) campaign.

Sometimes a little tweak here or there is all that is needed to increase response rates dramatically.

And with that, let’s move onward…

To be continued…

A “Small Business Lone Ranger” is a business owner who does all the work themselves.

No matter how big or small the project, the Lone Ranger handles 100% of it. Either because they’re afraid to let go of control or because they feel they can’t afford to hire help. Can you relate? I know I can!

So what’s wrong with doing everything yourself? Well it’s tough to grow your business if you’re busy managing every single detail. I know it’s a bit scary to let go of control or to consider actually hiring help, but I also know it’s necessary if you want to grow your business to its fullest potential.

Take my 10-question quiz to determine if YOU are a Lone Ranger. And don’t worry if you are, I’ve got some suggestions to help you rid yourself of this business-stifling affliction!

1. Do you work alone?

2. Do you feel no one can do your work quite as well as you?

3. Do you often feel there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done?

4. Do you maintain your own website?

5. Do you do your own accounting and billing?

6. Do you write your own sales and marketing copy?

7. Do you get your own mail?

8. Do you buy your own office supplies?

9. Do you create or deliver all your products and services by yourself?

10. Do you fulfill and ship all your sales yourself?

I think you can see this list could go on and on and on, but you get the idea. So if you answered “Yes” to most or all of these questions, guess what, YOU ARE A LONE RANGER! That’s okay, I’ve been one, too.

When your business is small you have to wear many hats because you can’t afford to hire help. But at what point do you make a decision to start delegating tasks to someone else? ANSWER: When the time you’re spending on administrative tasks involved in keeping your business running prevents you from spending time growing your business.

As a business owner, you should aim to spend at least 60% of your time marketing. You are the BEST person to market your product or service. And marketing is the only way your business will grow and flourish. So if you’re too busy paying bills, getting the mail, responding to email and running out to pick up office supplies, then guess what? You don’t have time to market. And your business cannot grow.

So what’s a Small Business Lone Ranger to do?

Come back to www.GSSAM.com tomorrow to find out.

Now go sell something,
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I am installing new counter tops in my kitchen. This means new faucet, the sinks will hook up a little different, re-hook up the dishwasher, and I am putting in a RO system.

Bottom line I need a plumber.

My wife gave me a door hanger she had been saving for just such an occasion.

The door hanger was from a plumbing company that offered $25.00 off for new customers.

So I called the number on the door hanger. It turned out to be an answering service.

So I explained what I needed and asked if someone could call and give me a ballpark estimate.

I was told that they had to schedule an appointment for the estimate and there would be a charge of $29.95. So I asked again if someone could just call?

The answer was no.

My first question is why go to all of the expense of door hangers if you are not user friendly.

Make it as easy as possible to do business with you.

Next you need to know your competition. I called another plumber that my wife also had a coupon for and they are coming out to give us a free estimate.

The first plumber did do some things right, first of all they took action and put out door hangers.

They included a $25 coupon that did not expire. Think about this, as a plumber you are providing a service that is only need occasionally, why would
you have a coupon that expires? I have seen lots of businesses make this mistake.

If you are providing some thing that is used all of the time an expiration date works because it cause people to take action right away.

Now go sell something,
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Four Types of Traffic to Your Business

1. People that found you by mistake, just looking around, no desire.
2. People that sort of know what they want, but aren’t quit sure.
3. People that know what they need or want, and are looking for a solution.
4. People that are ready to buy.

It’s up to you to figure out where they are in the buying process.
If you do it right you can increase your sales.

Now go sell something,
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Unless you are living in a cave you have to have heard or seen the wedding video of the wedding party dancing down the isle as they came into the church.

If you haven’t seen it here is the you tube link, but read this first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

This thing went nuts online and offline.

It’s been in newspapers and on major and minor news shows across the country.

It’s huge!

Why?

IT’S DIFFERENT!

What can you learn from this as a business owner?

Now go sell something,

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You want your prospects and customers to come back.  If they didn’t make a purchase you want them to when the time is right.  If they did, you might have something else to offer them.  In both cases you need to keep your business fresh in their minds so they will return.

Mailing Lists

One of the primary ways to keep visitors coming back is through a mailing list.  A mailing list may take several different forms such as the following:

* Site updates – If you have a website that is relevant to the product or service you are selling you could encourage prospective customers to sign up for site updates.  This does, however, limit your contact with them to the occasions when you update your site.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t include information about products and encouragements to purchase them though.

* Newsletters – Newsletters allow you to touch base with your readers on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis.  They allow you to share valuable information with them and gaining trust along the way.  You can also use them to promote special offers or upgrades.

* E-courses – An E-course is a set of informational mailings sent out at regular intervals.  Ideally it should be closely related to the product you are promoting, but should not give everything away if that product is also informational.  An E -course can help establish you as an expert in your field and leave your visitors hungry for more.  Those two things can lead to more sales.

Loyalty Programs

Customer loyalty programs are often offered offline but there is no reason that you can’t offer them online as well.  You could offer gift certificates or a percent off of the customer’s next purchase after a purchase of a certain amount.  If you are selling tangible products, free shipping can be offered to reward repeat purchases.

Before you institute a loyalty program it is important to weigh its costs against its benefits.  You are, after all, in business to make a profit.  Discounts or freebies should be significant enough to please customers but small enough to maintain profitability.

An Informative Website

Setting up an informational website or blog with regularly updated content is an effective and inexpensive way to keep your customers coming back.  Providing fresh articles and news for your visitors will breed confidence in your expertise and give you the opportunity to promote your products or services extensively.

If you are blogging setting up an RSS feed allows your visitors to have the latest from your blog delivered to their desktop, feed reader or other applications.  This will keep you and your offerings fresh in their minds.

Some people take longer to make a purchasing decision than others but if you let them forget about you it could result in a lost sale.  That’s why keeping customers and potential customers coming back is a key concern in online marketing.  Offering free information or incentives will give them a reason to remember you and leave a good impression that will stay with them until they are ready to buy.
Here is more copy writing information.

Now go sell something.

Take care,

Blase

It’s a reprint of an article I wrote over a year
ago, but it just seemed to fit into this conversation
about copy writing so here it is…

I just had the most ridiculous marketing experience.

I am a subscriber to a magazine called “Target Marketing” it’s what you would call a trade magazine. There are articles about doing mailings and response rates and so on.

Today I got an email from “Target Marketing” asking me if I would take a small survey. Being the curious person that I am and always wanting to know the who, what, why, how, and when I decided to take it.

The survey showed you an ad then asked you different question about the ad, like was it easy to read? Did you like the look of the ad and so on.

Here is what I think is so ridiculous. I can’t say that I know what that data is going to be used for. What I can tell you is that for the most part the people that read “Target” are in the industry.

They are the people that make those ads, or work for the companies that run those ads.

So what in the world do the responses to this survey have to do with anything? Of course there are a few people like me that subscribe, but I doubt they care about what I say because I have an old school idea about advertising. I actually believe that the best survey to take regarding your
advertising is to let the prospect vote with their money!

Now there is an idea, if the ad sells and you made more than you spent you are off to a good start. Now take that ad and call it your control piece. Take the same ad and make one change to it, may I suggest a small change in the offer first, and run it again and see if your response goes up or down. Keep repeating the process until you think it’s perfect and keep running it until you start to lose money.

I know it sounds simply, the plan is, but getting a great ad is not as easy. The first trick is to find a copywriter that knows something about sales. I am amazed at the advertising people that I met that know absolutely nothing about sales!

How do you write and ad to sell something, which is harder than selling face to face and not know anything about sales? Of course if you have a huge ad budget it’s not about sales it’s about branding, but that’s for another article.

Do a friend a favor, if you found this helpful, please tell a friend to go to www.gssam.com.

By the way if you want to read more about small business copywriting, click here.

Now go sell something,

Take care
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The primary reason for a prospect to respond to a sales letter is the product itself.  If the product will solve the customer’s problem then its benefits are clear. If it is proven to be a great value then the product could stand alone as a reason for a response.  There is much more you can do to trigger the response you want from your readers.

Bonuses

Everyone loves getting something for free.  Adding a bonus or package of bonuses to your product will encourage readers to respond favorably to your offer.  There are numerous things you can offer as bonus some of which do not cost you a dime.  Here are some ideas:

* Special reports and short Ebooks make great bonuses.  You could write these on your own and your only investment would be your time.  You could solicit permission from a fellow marketer to use a special report he or she wrote as a bonus.  This gives him or her added exposure while providing you with a valuable bonus for your customers.

Another option would be to pay someone else to write a special report for your use.  A ghostwriter will write a report for you and allow you to put your name on it.  Prices vary, but the cost should be easily recoverable with a few sales.

* Free trials are valuable bonuses.  They allow customers to try out subscriptions or memberships without paying.  Again, the program or publication could be your own or someone else’s.

* Checklists and other supplementary tools complement your product and add value.  These work especially well with information products but you can find something to go with just about anything.

Discounts

A limited-time discount gives your readers a reason to respond and a reason to do so quickly.  Deadlines are the key here because an immediate response is what you are looking for.  Sticking with the deadline is an absolute must if you want to keep the trust of your customer.

A package discount could encourage customers to purchase multiple items if you have them to offer.  If selling tangibles, you might offer a discount if buying two or more.  This increases your sales and gives customers a bargain.

Free E-Courses

A free E-course is a great way to get the reader to join your mailing list.  This could be offered on its own without a purchase to encourage the reader to return and purchase at a later date.  It could be offered as a bonus to keep other offerings in your reader’s inbox.

In order to get a response, you need to give readers a reason to respond.  Laying out your product’s benefits clearly might be enough.  Adding something extra will make your offer even more palatable.

To continue your copy writing eduction go here… Killer Sales Letters

Now go sell something.

Take care,
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In order to excite your audience you must first determine who your audience is.  Is it business professionals, housewives or football enthusiasts?  Different things are exciting to different people.  Knowing your audience and their interests will help you figure out how to best get them excited about your offerings.

The colors you use on your sales page are an important part of getting your audience’s attention and getting them excited.  Tranquil, peaceful colors are great for a spa because they are soothing.  They are not good for a sales page because of the exact same reason.  Using high contrast, complimentary colors will put your audience in the right mood to read your message and act on it.

Action Words

Using action words in your copy is an important part of advertising.  Writing in a passive voice slows down the pace of your writing and does little to entice your readers to act now.  The various forms of the verb “to be” should be avoided as much as possible.  In some cases you will have to use them but if you can find another way to state the same thing in a more active way it will be to your advantage.

For example, take this sentence  “Jane Doe is the best wedding planner in America.”  It lacks punch and action.  Try this instead  “Jane Doe will organize every aspect of your wedding to produce the ceremony of your dreams.”  This replaces the inactive “is” with two action words and adds greater detail.

Build Value

One of the primary concerns of consumers is value.  Is the product they are considering buying a good buy for the money?  Are there other products available that will provide more bang for their buck?

This provides you with another opportunity to get readers of your sales copy excited.  Telling them all of the problems that your product will solve will show them how great your product is.  Comparing it with other products on the market and giving evidence of how much better your product is will have them clamoring for it.

Charts are great ways to compare products.  Your product’s benefits can make up most of the comparison items.  Prices should be listed at the beginning or end.

Deadlines create added value as well as a sense of urgency.  You could make your product available for a limited time only especially if it is an intensely hands-on service.  You might choose to offer a discount for a short time.  Whatever you decide to put a deadline on, stick to it.  Not doing so will cause you to lose trust and losing trust means losing future sales.

Getting readers excited is a step in copywriting that should not be overlooked.  The ambivalent are not likely to buy your product right away and with the Internet’s notoriously short attention span they will usually not return.  Excited readers will be enticed to purchase right away, or at least sign up for your mailing list.  So if you don’t get the sale right away, you can keep yourself fresh in their minds until you do.

To get a great start on your copywriting you need to check this out… Killer Sales Letters

Now go sell something.

Take care,
Blase

The most obvious way to do this is through the use of a headline.  It is (or should be) the first thing on the page and the first thing a visitor will see.  Obviously you need to make it large enough and bright enough to attract attention.  But what you write there should also get attention and make the reader want to read more.

The Headline

With all of the information available these days, users are accustomed to finding what they need quickly.  Studies show that you only have about 4 seconds to get a reader’s attention.  With that in mind your headline better be nothing less than stellar.  Here are some ideas for an attention-grabbing headline.

* Solve a problem for the reader.  You will definitely need to do this within your copy but using this technique in your headline can work as well.  Just be careful not to give too much away.  The idea is to make the reader want to continue reading.

* Ask a question.  The answer should be your product or service or something that it does.

* Make people mad.  Not at you but at a situation that your product or service can solve.  If you sell a product that helps people start a home business, for example, use a headline that discusses the negative aspects of working a regular job.

* Use exciting words.  Adjectives such as “astonishing,” “fascinating,” “exclusive,” and “phenomenal” get the reader fired up about your product or service.

Other Opportunities to Grab Their Attention

While the headline is vitally important, it is not the only place you can get attention.  Interested readers will often skim over your page or ad instead of reading it word for word.  That means that you can also use subheads and bulleted lists to get attention.

Subheadings break up the text and divide it into convenient sections making it easier to read.  They do not have to be as short as the main headline but should be to the point.  You can also use sub-subheadings but be sure to make each level of heading progressively smaller font to avoid confusion.

Bulleted lists present information in an easy to read format.  They are ideal for lists of product benefits or problems that your product can solve.  Lists should not run together however.  Each one needs to be clearly identified.

Bold, highlighted and italic text and CAPITALIZATION can provide variety and call attention to important words or points.  But they should be used sparingly especially in the case of capitalization.  All caps are considered yelling so it’s best to capitalize only one word every so often.

Underlining should be reserved for linking text in online sales letters.  When people see something underlined on a web page they expect it to be a link.  Underlining words other than links or failing to underline those that are links can be confusing and frustrating.

Getting the attention of your reader is essential to the success .  Using powerful headlines and calling attention to major points within the copy can draw your reader in and make him want to learn more.  That is an essential first step to getting an order.

Come back often to learn more about copywriting.

No go sell something.

Take care,
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