So you slaved over your latest blogpost – and nobody tweeted it or shared it on Facebook? Or perhaps you wrote a dozen new articles – and all you hear are the sounds of tumbleweeds drifting across your screen?
It’s harder and harder these days to capture attention – namely because attention spans are getting shorter as people are deluged with more and more things to watch/read/do.
Here are some fast tips to make your writing – shall we say – more readable.
Forget your honors English class and write like people speak. Not sure if you are? Try reading your writing out loud. If it’s awkward or stilted, work on it.
Break it up. Seriously. Ever get an email that’s a one page paragraph? Could you read it? DID you read it?
Hit the enter key like this.
Often.
Use subheads. People like to scan what they’re reading, and if something captures their attention they dig deeper. That’s why you want to add subheads to your blog posts and articles.
Not Sure What A Subhead Is?
It’s like a mini headline inside your article or blog post. See the line above.
Bold your important points. If you make your key concepts bold, the scanning eye will see them and often stop to read the complete sentence.
Use photos. Photos catch the eye like nothing else. Better yet, use photos that have at least one face in them. Studies show the eyes will linger longer on a photo of a face.
Caption your photos. The second most read copy on a page is the photo caption, so make it count. Don’t just write one or two words – think of it as a headline to generate interest. If you need two or three lines, go for it.
Use bullets and numbered lists. What’s typically the third most read part of a sales letter? The bullets. (No surprise – headline and photo captions are the first 2.)
Use links. Link to relevant info on your own website and to your research on external websites. Internal links keep your readers on your website longer, while external links show that you’ve done your research and know what you’re talking about.
Implement these simple tips and you’ll get more people paying attention to your content. With a little bit of practice, you might even give late night television a run for their money.
To make your email stand out and get it opened, make it clear that your email is useful to the reader, that it’s specific to what they want or need to know, and that it is also unique.
Here are a few additional tips to help ensure you get the most bang for your email buck…
Identify yourself. Don’t send an email from a generic name in the hope of confusing them into opening it – they’ll just resent you for it. Use your own personal name.
Always send your emails from the SAME name. You’re building brand loyalty, even when that brand is you. So if you keep changing your “from” line, even if it changes from “Bob Smith” to “Robert Smith” to “Bob,” you’re confusing your recipients.
Don’t pretend your email is what it’s not. More and more we see emails that say, “Your order is complete” or “Here is your download link” something similar, when it’s got nothing to do with anything the receiver ordered. This is spammy at best and downright deceptive at worst.
Create urgency SOMETIMES. Urgency works best in moderation. If every email you send screams, “Time is running out!” “The price is going up!” “There are only 3 copies left!” Then you’re going to become like the boy who cried wolf, and you know what happened to him – he cried wolf so many times that when a real wolf actually showed up, nobody came to his rescue because nobody believed him. So the wolf ate him up.
Be brief. Yes, there are times when you have to send a longer email, but also send short ones. Remember, more and more of your subscribers are reading your emails on mobile devices, and in a distracted state. Keep your email messages succinct and to the point.
Email marketing remains one of the greatest forms of direct response marketing in history, and you can significantly improve your results if you keep these simple tips in mind when you prepare to send out your next email broadcast to your subscribers.
Has anyone ever told you to set goals? I know, silly question. People are always telling you to set goals because goal setting can and does work. But has anyone told you there is a right way and a wrong way to choose those goals?
For example, you want to earn $10,000 a month so you set a goal to reach that $10,000 mark. So far so good, right? Actually, no, because this is what’s known as a “static” goal rather than an action goal. Static goals sap your motivation because they’re focused on outcomes that are, for the most part, outside of your control.
Bottom line – they seldom work.
Imagine you’re in your living room and the house is a mess. You set a goal to have a clean, straightened, neat house in the next 2 hours. You visualize your house being clean, you look at pictures of your house taken when it was clean, you write down your goal, and 2 hours later? Your house looks exactly the same.
Why?
Because you didn’t DO anything. You took no action because it was a static goal, not an action goal. “Have a clean house” has no action tied to it.
But what if you reword that goal to the following:
“Straighten, vacuum and clean the living room, kitchen and dining room.”
Do you see how you are firmly in control of whether or not this goal is achieved? And now you’ve got a goal with ACTION in it. You could even break this goal down into several smaller, action oriented goals to make it even easier to achieve.
So let’s look at how action goals can help you in your business:
Instead of setting that, “I earn $10,000 a month” goal, how about…
Week 1: I create my first product on ____ (subject) Week 2: I set up the website, sales letter and emails to promote this product. Week 3: I contact my list to offer them my new product, I write 3 guest blog posts on this topic to promote my product, and I contact 25 potential affiliates and joint venture partners and ask them to promote my product. Week 4: I create my second product.
If you’re using static goals you’re going to get frustrated. Still using the $10,000 a month goal as an example, it’s going to take you an investment of time and effort to reach that goal. In fact it could take months to get there, and if you’re not seeing results in the meantime, you’re likely to get frustrated and quit. Not to mention the fact that the goal has no action tied to it, and so you’re likely to “wait” for it to happen – which it never will if you’re not taking the right actions to achieve it.
By setting action goals that take you to where you want to go, you are always achieving, you’re always making progress, and you’re constantly being revitalized by the achievement of each action goal.
You might want to set some action goals right now, before you forget. I think you’ll find it becomes an addictive habit that pays off often and exponentially.
You already have a sign-up form on your website – but are you doing everything possible to get as many subscribers as possible? Here are 7 tactics for growing your list faster with simple things that only take a few minutes…
Place your sign-up in as many places as possible – preferably on every page. You might also place it in the header or footer as well.
Get in their face. Your opt-in form should be prominent, in bold colors, with background color, maybe animation, etc. Make the sign-up totally visible and eye-catching.
Use pop-ups. Love ’em? Hate ’em? Either way, pop-ups just plain work. Test to see if it’s best to use a pop-up that appears after a few moments, or when the visitor is leaving the page. Do not have the pop-up appear immediately when they get to your page – you’ll just irritate your visitors and encourage them to click away. People need time to see if they like your website and if they want to subscribe.
Sell it, baby! Don’t just ask them to subscribe, BRIBE them to subscribe. Give them something they would otherwise be willing to PAY for and you’ll have a sure winner.
Get their friends, too. Run offers that encourage your visitors to forward your stuff to their friends or colleagues, and always include an easy way for them to sign-up.
Use social media. Perhaps this should have been #1 since social media can build a list faster than almost any other method. Place a sign up form on your Facebook page, run contests, offer bribes and do whatever is necessary to capture the positive attention of your prospects and get them to join your list.
Cross promote. Whether you’re cross promoting between your own product lines, or with another marketer, send emails to each list you can access offering people a great incentive for joining the other list.
Put a few of these tips into action and celebrate the growth of your email subscriber list!
I don’t need to tell you how important the conversion rate on your squeeze page is. The better it converts, the more prospects you get. The more prospects you get, the more sales you can eventually make. So how do you get your squeeze pages converting like gangbusters? Here are 13 things you should be doing on every landing page you create to ensure you’re capturing every prospect possible:
Know who you’re talking to. On your squeeze page you are speaking directly to your prospective customer. So who are they and what do they want? You’ve got to know your customer and use the words and images that will appeal directly to them.
Keep it simple. Really. I’ve seen squeeze pages that are cluttered with so much stuff you don’t know what to look at first. So what happens? Rather than try to sort it all out, many people will simply close it. Remember, you’ve got about 3 seconds to capture attention and hold it. Keep the clutter out and only share enough to get them to take action right now. Any more than that and you’re confusing them – and losing sign-ups.
Split-test. Everything. Repeatedly. Use a good split test program to test your headlines, your colors, your fonts, graphics, form, opt-in button, EVERYTHING.
Use one strong focal point only. You can and should use different font colors and sizes, but you only want one focal point to draw the eye in and capture attention, and that should be your headline. Everything else should flow from the headline.
Your entire message should be consistent. In other words, don’t use a headline extolling the benefits of weight loss and then use bullet points about the benefits of exercise unless it’s in direct relation to weight loss. Keep it consistent or you’ll confuse and lose your prospects.
Match your landing page to your sales page. If your sales page is for a product that teaches traffic generation strategies, then your squeeze page should refer to traffic generation strategies, not Internet Marketing in general. This might sound basic, but it’s surprising how many times I’ve gone from a squeeze page on one topic to a sales page on something different.
Sell the benefits. Remember, you’re not selling a drill, you’re selling holes. You’re not selling steak, you’re selling the aroma, the taste and the satisfaction.
Forget what you think. So you think you’ve found the perfect headline? The magic bullets? Just the right color scheme? It doesn’t matter what you think – it matters what converts the best. See #3.
Think “above the fold.” Yes, your squeeze page might extend beyond the fold – that is, below the area that shows in the computer screen without scrolling. But the area above the fold should stand on its own. It should show the headline, the bullets and the opt-in form. The below-the-fold-area is for those prospects who haven’t quite decided to opt in yet and want more info.
Tell them what to do. Your visitors landed on your squeeze page because they’re looking for something. Don’t be coy or clever – make it clear what they will get and what they need to do to get it.
Color matters. Use opposing colors on the color wheel to create contrast, and then test, test, test. Yes, some colors really will convert better than others but it depends on your offer and your audience, so you’ve got to test it for yourself.
Be trustworthy. Use short, 1 sentence testimonials that rock. Display your logo, certification, etc. Place your contact info at the bottom of the page. If you’ve been in business for years, state how many. If you’ve won awards, place those on there as well. Don’t clutter your page with this info, but do make it available.
Ask. Perhaps the best squeeze page trick, outside of testing, is to ASK them a question that they must answer with a YES! “Do You Want to Look 10 years Younger?” “Are You Ready to Build Your List 10 Times Faster?” “Do You Want To Be Irresistible to Women?” Strategically placing these on your website puts them in a “YES!” frame of mind, making them more likely to opt into your list.
Implement these conversion hacks to increase your opt-in rates and grow your sales!
There’s always a lot of talk on how to recruit affiliates to promote your products, right? But what if instead of recruiting affiliates, you TRAIN affiliates?
That is, announce you’re offering affiliate training once or twice a month, live on a webinar. The training is free, come one and come all. You put out the call, and then using your own products as examples, you train them in how to make money by promoting affiliate products, especially yours.
This reminds your list month after month that they can make money promoting your stuff. It also builds loyalty, since you’re giving free training on how to make money doing this. And it forges partnerships between you and your affiliates. When they can speak to you on the webinar, or at least ask their questions and hear your voice, you’re building rapport. At the very least you will most certainly sell more products to those who attend your trainings because they now know, like and trust you.
And in addition you will begin building your own army of affiliates to promote for you all over the web and reach people you could never reach on your own. It’s a win-win all the way around, and it will only take you a couple of hours a month to do this.
There’s more to making money from your list than simply getting people ON your list. In fact, it’s once they’re on your list that the real work begins because you not only don’t want them to unsubscribe – you want them to actively look forward to hearing from you, to open and read your emails, and to act on your suggestions.
Your subscribers will stay on your list if you are giving them value in the ways that they need. Tricky, huh? Because how do you know what it is that they need?
The answer is to create a feedback loop so they can tell what they want to learn and what they want to buy from you. This way you can design your products and services in a way that is exactly what your readers want.
You can get this information by using a survey to ask them for their number 1 questions on the niches or topics your list covers. SurveyMonkey.com can do this for you free.
Or you can write a blog post that asks readers to give you information on what they currently need. Be sure to specifically ask them to comment, and reply back to their comments. Commenting back encourages even more readers to comment, because they realize you are really paying attention to what they say.
A third option is to ask them a question in an email. It might be after your main email message, or the entire email might be you asking them to answer your question. Ask them to “hit reply right now” to send you their answer.
Once you know what their biggest questions are, you can write content or offer products that provide them with exactly what they need.
You want to condition your list to work with you, to give you the information you need so that you can help them. Think of it as a team effort – you’re asking what they need, they’re telling you, you’re creating it, they’re giving you feedback, etc.
It’s not about selling and more selling. It’s about offering your subscribers what they need, whether it’s in the form of free or paid content. And as long as you’re doing that, they will not only remain on your list – they’ll also become fans who enjoy reading your emails and buying your products.
Bloggers, email marketers, copywriters and writers of all genres, how do you keep your readers coming back for more? By utilizing that literary gem, the cliffhanger. I’ll show you how to use cliffhangers and teasers to increase your sales, but first a little background…
We’ve all been caught up in a story only to realize it was continued in the next chapter, installment, episode or issue. And wouldn’t you know it, they ended the present installment right when something HUGE was about to happen! Coincidence? Not at all.
When Dallas ended their season with “Who shot JR?” it was all people talked about for the entire summer. Heck, that was over 3 decades ago, and people still refer to it today. But what if they had shown you who shot JR before they ended the season? It’s likely no one would even remember that JR got shot at all.
Just this morning I was reading a work of fiction in which one of the main characters realized he was about to be ambushed when POOF! It was the end of the chapter. And wouldn’t you know it – the next chapter addressed an entirely different plot line of the story, thus leaving me in suspense until I can return to my reading.
It is the suspense that keeps us watching the movie or tuning in each week to the television show or watching the News at 11 because of that teaser they threw at us earlier in the evening that said, “Is your holiday turkey safe to eat? Find out at 6:00,” or “Is the water you’re drinking causing you cancer? Find out tonight at 11:00.”
You can use this technique in your own marketing, as well. For example, when writing a series of emails, end each one with a major benefit of what they’ll discover in the next email. When writing a sales letter, promise to teach them something they really want to know, but first delve more deeply into why they need your product. And when writing blog posts, either throw out a teaser at the end that sends them to another blog post or sales letter, or use the JR method and leave them hanging until your next post.
Cliffhangers and teasers can be your best friend when it comes to getting your emails opened, your sales letter read and people hanging on your every word. And if you look closely, you’ll notice I even deployed this technique in the first paragraph of this article. It got you to keep reading, now didn’t it? 😉
You don’t need a humongous budget when you begin outsourcing, but what you do need is the knowledge of HOW to get the best online workers possible. After all, no matter how much work you outsource, it’s still your business and your reputation on the line. Not to mention the fact that better work equates to better profits, both short and long term. Doesn’t it just make sense to find the very best people possible to work in your business?
Whether you are a seasoned pro at outsourcing or you’ve never hired anyone to do anything before, here are some proven tips to get you moving with the least amount of hassle and the highest return for your money.
1. Be absolutely clear on what you want done. Whether you are posting a job or giving instructions to someone you’ve already hired, tell them step by step exactly what you want them to do. This will save you time, aggravation, and usually get the job done faster. Plus the bids you receive will tend to be lower, since the people doing the bidding can easily envision exactly what they’re doing and how long it will take. Lastly, if you are paying by the hour then this will save you money, as your worker doesn’t need to take the time to figure out how to accomplish what you want done.
2. In being clear, consider either writing out what needs to be done in a step by step fashion, or make a video showing them exactly what to do. This way you are not only showing your present worker what to do, you’re also creating a blueprint for future workers to follow. In addition, if there is a hole in your plan it will become quite clear when you’re going through the steps necessary to achieve your goal.
3. Have an agreement or contract between you and the worker. Things you might include are:
– Work to be done (Detailed description of what is expected) – Deadline for the work to be done – Payment arrangement (Amount to be paid, terms, method of payment, etc.) – Copyright (You’ll want it to be crystal clear that you own all copyrights) – Non-disclosure (Your worker is not to reveal anything that goes on inside your business, etc.)
4. Check out your worker prior to hiring them. Check their portfolio, references, feedback, etc. You might also Google them. Try to get an idea of the kind of work this person does and whether or not they meet deadlines. Also important: How well they communicate with you.
5. Start with something small and work up from there. If you’ve never hired someone before, choose a small job first. It makes it easier for you to get your feet wet, minimizes your risk, and allows you to experience how wonderful it is to have someone else handling that small chore that you don’t enjoy doing anyway.
6. Find the workers who do well with the small jobs and then give them bigger tasks to do. Rather than hiring someone for a large project, let them show you what they can do with a small one first. They’re testing the waters with you, finding that you do indeed pay on time and you’re someone they can work with. And you’re finding out what kind of work they do, if they meet deadlines and if their style meshes with yours. If it’s a good fit, offer them more work and bigger jobs. If not, move on.
7. For any big job, don’t pay all at once. For example, rather than paying all up front or all when the job is done, you might pay 25% up front, 25% when the job is half done, and 50% when the job is finished. This provides them with plenty of incentive to keep working, since they know you pay and there is more money to come. Plus, if the work isn’t to your satisfaction, you can stop the work before you’ve shelled out too much money.
8. Let them know to contact you if they have questions they can’t find the answer to. It’s important that they and your project not get stalled simply because they’re missing a key piece of information.
9. Have them keep in touch daily. You might ask them to send you a report at the end of the day detailing what they accomplished on the project, any challenges they’re facing and of course any questions they might have.
10. Keep your relationships professional. That is, don’t hire your best buddy because he needs the work – you’ll only end up with problems. Also, if someone you hire is really nice but not performing, you’ve got to set aside your feelings and deal with the situation from a business standpoint. This is, after all, your livelihood.
11. Let your workers know exactly what you expect and give lots of feedback. Don’t make them wonder if they’re doing a good job, tell them. Don’t just pick out the one mistake they made in the 100 articles they wrote for you, also tell them what they did right and let them know you appreciate their work. The more positive feedback you can give, the harder they will work for you, and the easier it will be for them to take constructive criticism as well.
12. If you think you might change your mind, let them know ahead of time. For example, you decide to take a project in a certain direction, all the while wondering if you shouldn’t be doing it differently. Let them know you might be changing things halfway through, and if it comes to pass they’ll be ready for it.
13. Always treat your workers with the utmost respect. It goes without saying, but I will anyway: Just because they’re working for you doesn’t mean they are less than you. Being respectful of your workers will yield you 10–fold in goodwill and hard work. Think back to when you had a boss – who did you go the extra mile for? The boss who yelled and screamed and put you down? Or the boss who was positive, treated you with respect and brought out the best in you? Be the good boss and you will have workers who are loyal and ready to set aside their other work to get yours done faster and better.
Apply some of these hard-earned tips working in the trenches of outsourcing and you’ll save yourself lots of frustration and find faster success getting others to help you grow your business online.
No doubt you’ve been told to avoid using “hype” in your copywriting and sales messages, right? And I’ll bet there have been times when you’ve closed a sales letter page because the hype was too ridiculous for words. But when it comes to defining hype and especially to determining how much is just right, the water gets murky and no two marketers can give you the same answer.
That’s because “hype” is subjective. One prospect’s perception of hype is another prospect’s perception of just the right sales message to get them to buy. In addition, you need some hype to sell. No hype = no excitement, which means no sale. Here’s what I mean:
Sales message example #1: “This system is for sale for $33.33, here’s the order button.”
Now you’ve got to admit, that’s hype free. It’s also benefit free, boring and will capture the interest of just about nobody. Of course, if the system is already well-known and you’re discounting it to 5 bucks, you’ve made a sale. But if you’re selling a good product at a reasonable price, you’re going to have to turn on the hype. Here goes:
Sales message example #2: “This Revolutionary New System Cuts Your Work in Half While Tripling Your Productivity.”
Not bad, and certainly worthy of further investigation if you’re interested in getting more work done in less time. And yes, there is hype for sure, especially in the words “revolutionary” and “new” – just not so much that it raises red flags and causes your prospect to tune out.
Sales message example #3: “The Easy System that Earns You a Thousand Dollars a Second with NO Work.”
Looking at the words themselves, there isn’t much in the way of hype. We didn’t say it’s the greatest system in the world, or that everyone loves it, or that there’s never been anything like it since the beginning of time. However, is it believable? No. And therefore, the promise is just so much hype in the ears of the prospect and doesn’t offer enough substance.
Sales Message Example #4: “Give Me 5 Hours and I’ll Show You How to Earn $1,439 Per Month on Autopilot.”
Hyped? I don’t think so. This message offers a specific benefit in exchange for a specified amount of work – 5 hours. The amount doesn’t sound unreasonable because we’ve all seen examples of a few hours of work resulting in a monthly income of several hundred or even a couple of thousand dollars per month. Most importantly, the reader isn’t being promised something for nothing, which will ALWAYS instill doubt in a prospect. It sounds honest, it doesn’t sound hyped, and it’s completely plausible.
What have we learned from these examples? Plenty. First, if you don’t use some hype you’re never going to sell much of anything. People need to get excited before they’ll whip out their wallets and they need to see a clear benefit to making the purchase. They WANT to be fired up, they want to feel their heart race a bit and experience that adrenaline rush of getting a great deal. The better you can extrapolate how the features of your product will benefit the consumer and improve their life, the more likely they are to click the order button.
Second, be believable. Making wild claims is the ultimate in hype – and if you can’t back those claims with rock solid absolute undeniable proof, you’re better off not making those claims at all.
Third, be specific. “Make $2,000 a month!” sounds much more like hype than “Earn $2,078.55 a month.” Why? Because the specific number is more credible, as though it’s already been done. “Type Faster” doesn’t mean much, but “Type 15 Words Per Minute Faster after Just 4 Lessons” tells the prospect exactly what to expect. Non-specific claims and rounded numbers just naturally sound like hype, regardless of whether or not they’re factual.
Fourth, tell them what the catch is. This goes right back to being believable, because if you tell someone they can get a great benefit, they immediately want to know what the catch is. Often this equates to price, but if you can show a different catch, such as “5 hours,” then you take their mind off of price and onto the question of, “What do I need to do for 5 hours to make that $1,439 a month?”
And by the way – normally an article like this would start out with the definition of hype, but I wanted to save this gem for the end. Here’s what hype really means:
Hype: Verb meaning to stimulate or excite Hype: Noun meaning extravagant or exaggerated claims
As you can see, hype is good so long as we strive to stimulate and excite, rather than exaggerate or stretch the truth.
