Copy Writing Hints

Let me tell you about an email I received the other day from one extremely skeptical customer.

Recently, I sent out a post about how to generate multiple streams of customers. The logic being  if one marketing strategy falls over you have other ways to generate new business.

But the reply I got back was anything but convinced, with one guy wondering what planet I was from. And questioning my perspective of reality.

His belief was that my strategies cost heaps of money and don’t tap into your total market. And then he said there wasn’t a form of media which reached 20% of his population. And suggested I must be a lunatic to suggest you use them all.

Fair enough - everyone is entitled to their opinion. And I figured there might be one or two other people out there who felt the same, (hey, even my wife questions my
sanity!) so thought I’d take a moment to answer these questions in detail.

1. They cost a lot of money: No, they don’t. I can test most strategies quite cheaply.

Cost to send 1,000 faxes: less than $200 Cost to distribute 1,000 flyers: less than $200 Cost to test google adwords: less than $100 Cost to test an email joint venture: $0 Cost to test a referral program: less than $1 per existing customer Cost to test a newspaper ad: a few hundred dollars.

The bottom line is this stuff doesn’t cost a lot to test. The trick is to try it out once… see if it works… and then dump it if it doesn’t, or keep doing it over and over again if it does.

The risk/return ratio is huge. If you find something which works, you can use it over and over and over again and earn tens… even hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result. If it doesn’t work, you blow a few hundred dollars. Even if you strike out 9 out of 10 times, you are still on a winner if you follow this system.

2. They won’t even reach 20% of my population

Who cares? It doesn’t matter what percentage of your population they reach. All that matters is your return on investment. If you’re a hairdresser who lived in a town with 100,000 people in it, I think you’d be very happy to get even 1% of your population. % of population means nothing - return on investment means everything.

3. Small businesses have the problem of limited financial resources, limited human resources and deal with media who don’t care what results they get

So if you have any other questions or concerns, please send them through as I’d be more than happy to provide further clarification where needed.

I’ve been meaning to get a post out about how to thrive and protect yourself in today’s uncertain economy by generating multiple streams of advertising and promotions to get new customers.

I think this is really critical to your business, especially when you consider the tough economic climate we’re facing at the moment - and no doubt over the next 12 months.

One of the biggest problems I see with businesses in today’s tough economy is having too few methods of generating new customers. For instance, some businesses rely on a phone directory, some rely on google adwords, some on telemarketing and others on press advertising.

But relying on just one or two methods of generating new customers is flawed because it is not solid. You are putting all of your money into one model, kind of like putting all your money into one company on the stock market. That company goes belly up and you’re looking at the very same future for yourself.

The bottom line is it’s much better to diversify.

For instance, what happens if you generate 90% of your business through an ad you run in the local radio station and that station goes out of business or changes ownership meaning you can no longer affordably advertise in there any longer?

What happens to your flow of phone calls from new customers?

It’s the same if you get everything from fax streaming and the laws change (as they did in the United States) or your google adwords get more competitive and the cost per click skyrockets.

Truth is, every business should be looking at getting multiple channels of marketing working for them - some of which may include:

Newspaper Advertising

Pay Per Click Advertising

Fax Broadcasting

Flyers

Sales Letters to their target market

Industry Trade Magazines

Joint Ventures

Telephone Directory Advertising

Shop a Docket

Newsletters

School Newsletters

Sidewalk handbills

Postcard mailings

Internet Advertising

Seminars

Referral programs

Every new marketing approach should be tested to see exactly how well it works and either kept or discarded depending on whether it makes you money or not.

Let’s look at a few examples of which strategies to test for specific businesses:

Carpet cleaner

a) Place an advertisement in a phone directory

b) Do joint ventures with a local pest control
company

d) Advertise in google adwords (location
specific if possible)

e) Send sales letters to larger companies in
your area (to get larger contracts)

f) Send out flyers to your local area

g) Set up a referral program to get your existing
customers to recommend you to their friends
and family

Retail shop selling jewelery

a) Advertise in the search engines

b) Do a joint venture with the local “high end”
clothing stores offering your customers a gift voucher

c) Advertise in the newspaper before Valentines Day

d) Advertise in the newspaper before Mothers Day

e) Create a free report about how to choose the best diamond ring for your future bride and advertising it in the newspapers and online

f) Create a newsletter to send out to your existing customers

Accountant

a) Send out a sales letter to local businesses offering them a free report or free consultation in relation to your services

b) Hold a seminar about how to manage your business more effectively / legally save tax / protect your assets, etc.

c) Do a joint ventures with other businesses who have B2B (business to business) lists such as solicitors, consultants, etc. offering a free report or complimentary consultation.

d) Distribute a regular newsletter to your target market.

e) Create a list of “Top 100″ clients and keeping in touch with them on a monthly basis with various tips, ideas, suggestions, etc.

Internet business selling information products

a) Advertise with banner ads

b) Advertise through pay per click search engines

c) Get high up on the rankings for non-paid searches

d) Use small offline ads to direct people to your web site and track the results

e) Send out postcards directing people to your web site

f) Create articles and distributing all over the place online to direct traffic to your web site

g) Send people to your web site through videos on youtube, etc.

h) Do joint ventures with other people in your target market.

Problem is, most business owners don’t have enough time to get through the day, let alone work out how to create all these new strategies. And that’s why I created More Customers Made Easy - where you get most of the work done for you with samples and sometimes fill-in-the-blank templates allowing you to do it all without paying a marketing professional thousands of dollars and without spending months trying to educate yourself on how it all works.

Not last weekend, but the weekend before I popped into the local supermarket after taking my baby boy for a swim and saw a sign which read…

If You Can Vacuum, You Can Rug Doctor

And I couldn’t help but think what a clever phrase that was. You see, after grabbing their brochure to check out their marketing I realized that The Rug Doctor positions themselves as a cheaper alternative to using a carpet cleaner while still achieving professional quality results.

Obviously, a lot of people would think they can’t possibly clean their carpets like an expert and that’s why this phrase works so well.

Let’s look at a few other businesses who could apply this sort of phrase to their marketing…

- If you were selling a teleseminar series,  you could say…

If you can pick up the telephone, you can (whatever the benefits you are selling)

- If you were selling a ‘how to’ handyman course,  you could say…

If you can use a hammer, you can…

- If you were selling a gourmet cooking course, you  could say…

If you can make baked beans on toast, you can…

Are you starting to get the picture? Good. Basically, this phrase can be used whenever your prospect is
thinking: ‘that’s too hard for me. I’ll never be able to achieve that.’

Here’s another twist of the same concept for a resume writing course by the American Writers and Artists
Institute:

Imagine… making $30,000… $50,000… $70,000… even $150,000 per year or more — in just a few hours per week — with a system that’s as simple as turning on your computer…

To finish off with, I’ll give you two other strategies which take this objection out of the customers mind…

1. Without

Who Else Wants To At Least Double Their Income Without Working Longer Hours, Without Spending Thousands Of Dollars, Without A Higher Education

Or…

Give Me Just A Few Minutes A Day, And I’ll Show You How To Quickly And Easily Play The Guitar… Without Complicated Theory.

In fact, it’s so easy a child could do it.

2. Even If…

How to make a fortune on the internet… even if you’re a computer dunce like I am.

So there you have it. Three strategies for taking away the ‘it’s too hard objection’…

1.    If you can ___________, you can_________
2.    Without
3.    Even if

I hope you can apply these tips to your business and if you are already implementing these revolutionary advertising strategies, I’m sure your bank account is already enjoying the experience.

One of the best ways to cover off objections and peak the curiosity of your prospect is to tell them what something is not.

For instance, if I was promoting a business opportunity, I might excite the prospect about the potential of the product, and then tell them it’s…

NOT labour intensive (as little as a few hours a week) NOT network marketing NOT real estate or stock market oriented NOT a hard business to learn

Let’s look at what this strategy achieves…

1. Curiosity: Once somebody knows what the opportunity is, they might pre-judge it, and say ‘Oh no, I’ve heard about that. That’s not for me’ without having the necessary knowledge to truly make that assumption. This allows you to keep them interested long enough to convince them of what you have to offer. Or alternatively, to send away for a free report / CD or whatever whereby they give you their details and you get an opportunity to provide them with a full sales presentation.
2. Covers Objections: Think about it. If people have a predisposed bias against network marketing or real estate or stock market oriented businesses, then they are not going to respond to your advertising if you feature this in the ad. But when you tick off all the objections they may have (network marketing, labour intensive, real estate / stock market oriented, hard business) then you knock over those objections without giving anything away.

Makes sense?

But this isn’t just for the business opportunity market. For instance, if you were a gym selling a fitness program, you could say you can lose weight…

Without hunger
Without pills
Without low energy
Without giving up tasty food

Notice I used the term ‘without’ in this case instead of ‘not.’ That’s an alternative way of doing it.

Let’s look at another business. Imagine you’re looking to hire a plumber and you’re flicking through the yellow pages. How would you respond to someone who told you they could fix your pipes…

- Without waiting around for a plumber who shows up hours late
- Without getting your house messy (because we’ll take off our shoes before we come in
- Without paying through the roof for call out charges

Bang. He’s just knocked all your objections off their stand and differentiated his business with three quick sentences.

How can you apply this strategy to your business?

How do you deal with competition within your ads and sales letters?

Should you avoid the issue? Or should you address it head on?

Well, firstly you should know that whatever you are selling within your copy is only one option, a choice; he has other alternatives.

Sure, your prospect may not know of them. But as a result of your copy, you could motivate him to seek other alternatives.

And that’s why you should seek to methodically invalidate every other option other than your own that he may consider.

But how do you do it without advertising them at the same time? After all, if you give attention to them, you’re essentially offering advertising his business for free.

As you can see, this is quite a touchy subject. Here is one approach you could use for a real estate agent:

Seven “Deadly” Mistakes People Make When Choosing A Real Estate Agent

Mistake # 1: Choosing a real estate agent without enough experience

Mistake # 2: Trusting the agent to give you an accurate appraisal

Mistake # 3: Underestimating the lust of the agent to sell your property for whatever he can get

Mistake # 4: Wasting your hard earned money paying more commission than you legally must

Mistake # 5: Giving in to confusion. Spending thousands on advertising without really identifying which strategy will work for you best

Yada. Yada. Yada.

You get the picture, right?

The whole aim is to put question marks in the mind of your customer about your competition. And highlight your strengths - and their weaknesses.

Here’s a sub-headline you could use for copy about financial services:

A Critically Important Warning About “Financial Planners” To Avoid. Why Most Financial Planners Don’t Have Your Best Interest At Heart

(Insert your industry for financial planners. And use this for yourself)

Or what about this line if you’re using a self development program:

Frankly, there are a ton of lousy self development seminars out there. Get-rich quick events held by people who are almost dead broke. Events by hyped up gurus who leave you punching the air, only to come down like a ton of bricks a few days later once they have your money.

Nothing like that here at (your company)

Are you getting the picture?

You don’t need to name your competition personally. You simply need to place doubts in your prospects mind about the alternatives.

Use these templates in your business. And gain a definite edge over your competition.

Several years ago, just after I met my wife, she invited me to her boss’s holiday home in Kangaroo Valley. Kangaroo Valley, for those of you who haven’t heard of it, is a beautiful little town about 2 hours from Sydney.

And it gets a little cool around there. So we had the fire going all weekend.

And as I sat looking at the fire I got inspired by the lessons nature had to teach me that weekend.

You see, I was broke at the time. Every week was a struggle just to get by. Always worrying where the next sale was going to come from. How to pay the rent. Those are days I was happy to leave behind.

But I noticed a few things about the fire…

1. It starts very slowly. And it takes effort to get started. You have to chop the wood into little pieces… lay the paper down… and gently position everything so it will catch alight. And then, you have to blow on it again and again to get it fired up.

Even then, unless you are an accomplished master… you can get it wrong. And then end up having to start all over again.

2. But once it gets started, something quite amazing happens - It’s impossible to stop. In fact, as we see from the many bushfires in Australia every year, it can take over the whole countryside if left unchecked. And it takes absolutely no effort to keep going. In fact, it can take many hundreds of men to stop.

So what’s all this got to do with advertising, marketing and running a business?

Everything!

Think about it. When you first place an ad, you have no idea whether it’s going to work or not. You may, in fact, lose money, and decide to give up after your first effort. Or you may have to try 3… 6… even a dozen times in order to hit a winner.

And your returns are slow. Perhaps you’re starting and nobody has heard of you.

But once you get a successful ad or sales letter… one that makes you money every single time you run it… what effort is required then? Other than using this ad or sales letter (or google adwords campaign, or flyer, etc) over and over and over again.

Everything goes on autopilot, doesn’t it?

And you can keep reinvesting your profits over and over again.

That’s how to turn a small business into a big business… the safe way.

Yet, most people don’t even get the fire started. They give up before it starts burning - their first ad or two doesn’t work, and they throw in the towel saying ‘advertising doesn’t work’.

Or they don’t know what’s working… and then pull ads which are making them a fortune. Or find a winner… and then don’t continue to reinvest in that campaign.

Crazy, isn’t it? Just like with starting a fire, if you persist… it becomes so much easier… almost automatic… and requires much less effort to maintain.

I remember reading a quote from Anthony Robbins about 10 years ago, which has stayed with me. He said something like “When you begin a business, you need to put 10 ounces of effort in to get one ounce of profit back. But once the business is rolling, the tables turn and you only require one ounce of effort in order to get 10 ounces of effort back.

Food for thought, isn’t it?

Gary Halbert, one of the copywriting greats… was famous for saying…

I cannot think of a single problem a good sales letter cannot overcome

And I’m telling you that you are only one ad, sales letter or promotion away from starting your fire… and changing the way your business operates forever.

But how many people will persist to get their business fire burning? How many people will then reinvest by adding additional wood to their fire so it keeps burning and automatically grows bigger?

In my experience, most give up early. So the secret to successfully marketing your business… above any idea, tip or strategy is best summed up by Winston Churchill…

Never Give Up…
Never Give Up…
Never Give Up…

I laugh when I hear people complain about how much they spend on advertising. Why? Because there are only 3 possible scenarios when you advertise:

1. The advertising bombs and you lose money
2. You don’t measure the results of your advertising, so you don’t have any idea what on earth is happening
3. The advertising works and you make money

And there are 3 simple solutions to each of these problems:

1. If the advertising bombs and you are consistently losing money – STOP doing it and try something else
2. If you don’t measure your advertising – you’re being stupid.  After all, would you employ a salesperson and not measure his results?
3. If the advertising works and you make money…

Plough Bucketloads Of Cash Into It Because It’s A Money Making Machine

Why? Because it’s sort of like putting your money into a poker machine where you always walk out as a winner. Where every time you put a dollar in it spits out $2, $10 or $14 into your hungry little hands.

And yet what do most business owners do? They say something like:

Our advertising budget for this year is $5,000. Or $10,000. Or $50,000. Or whatever.

That’s crazy.

Think about it: If I walked up to you and said “for every $100 you give me, I’ll give you $300 back. How
much would you pay me?” Would you say: ‘I’ll only pay you $20,000 this year because that’s my budget’.

Or would you say, if you keep giving me back more than I pay, I’ll keep giving you as much money as possible?

You’d be crazy not to, right?

And it’s the same with your advertising.

So what’s the formula for setting an advertising budget?

1. Start small. Test a small direct mail campaign to 500 or 1000 potential prospects. Or an advertisement in a cost effective publication.
2. One of two things will happen:

• It will work… or
• It will fail.

If it fails… try something else.

If it works… keep doing it. As much as you possibly can – until it stops working.

And then try something else and do the same. For instance you might start out with ads in your local paper. And then venture off to magazines, direct mail, classified ads, internet, fax streaming and letterbox drops.

Are you getting the picture here?

And your turnover is like a snowball gliding down a hill growing second by second, minute by minute.

You can start with an advertising budget of as little as $20 a week on a classified ad (like I did when I started my business) and end up increasing your budget to thousands of dollars every week.

And because you’ve developed a predictable system, every time you spend money you’ll be earning more back in return.

The bottom line is: Having an advertising budget for a small or medium sized business is stupid.

The second bottom line is: You don’t need a lot of money to get started. Start with a small budget and let it gain momentum with every step you take.

I’ve talked about the art of ‘whistle blowing’ previously. And it’s something you should consider doing if your product or service suits this approach.

Anyway, one of my recent clients called me with a desire to generate more clients for his print brokering business.

And after some brainstorming, we came-up with the name ‘Printing Secrets’. That he could teach the average business owner the insider tips in the industry.

So when I put my thinking cap on I decided that taking the approach of the ‘Whistle Blower’ was the most effective approach for his service.

Basically, the whistleblower stands up for the average person. And points out how he’s being ripped off or taken advantage of by others.

Why did I choose this angle?

Well, a print broker could be compared to a mortgage broker for the banking industry. He’s unbiased, so he’s obviously going to give you the best possible deal in the market.

I’ve used the whistle blower angle for other businesses too…

- For an air-conditioner mechanic who referred to all the untrained mechanics in the marketplace who don’t really care about solving their problems. (and the ‘fat cat’ companies they work for)

- For beauty creams who have been scammed by all of the false claims made by other companies which simply don’t work

- And in my own business, referring to all the publications who tell you to advertise over and over and over again without testing… because it’s profitable for them… but not necessarily for you

Anyway, I hope you’re getting the picture.

My wife’s going to be knocking on my door in a second to give my baby boy a bath. So that’s all I’ve got to say at the moment… but in the meantime, you should start thinking of ways you might be able to apply this technique to YOUR business.

The word ‘kaizen’ is a Japanese word which has been Americanised to mean “continuous improvement.” However a closer definition would show up as “to take apart and put together in a better way.”

I first heard about it over a decade ago watching Anthony Robbins beating his chest on stage and talking about constant and never ending improvement.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I want to challenge you to go on a Kaizen Blitz. According to Webster – blitz is an abbreviation of blitzkrieg and blitzkrieg means “Any sudden overpowering attack.”

So what then is a Kaizen Blitz?

Well, I would define it in terms of copywriting as ‘suddenly attacking your ads and sales letters… ripping them apart in order to put them back together again in a better way.’

And you, my friend, should be doing this over and over again in your advertising.

Let me explain. Recently I did just this to one of my other web sites. I tested these 2 different headlines against each other:

1. “Who Else Wants To Discover The Direct Response And Direct Mail Copywriting Secrets That Can Instantly Attract A Flood Of Eager New Customers To Your Business Without A Million Dollar Marketing Budget?”

And…

2. “Revealed: Why Most Ads, Sales Letters And Web Sites Don’t Turn A Profit - The Unvarnished Truth From Australia’s Leading Copywriting Expert”

Which do you think pulled a better response? Take a moment and have a guess.

Have you done it? Have you given it your best shot?

Well, the answer is number 2. It actually pulled in a 34% better response. What does that mean? It means big bottom line profits for me – without spending any additional money.

It means I can get the same response from an advertising campaign costing $1000 as I would from one costing $1340. It means I can instantly lift my profits from that campaign by 34% instantly (without spending an extra cent).

And you know what?

I bet you I could lift it again. I could test the headline. I could test the opening paragraph. I could test the close. I could test my photo on my web site.

I can continue to test (and I will) all the different elements which go into an advertisement.

Is that the cheapest way to lift your bottom line? Or what?

Simply change your headline, or any other element of your advertising promotion. It’s quick. It’s easy. And you get rewarded immediately.

So get to work. Tear apart your advertising copy. Apply Kaizen.

And enjoy the rewards for yourself 

You know how they say that it’s insane to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. Well, that’s true.

But let me tell you a story which illustrates an entirely different example of insanity.

I was speaking with a printing company the other day who showed me a 3-step sales letter set of flyers they sent out (3 flyers over a period of 20 days) to clients a few years ago.

I asked him “What response did you get from the flyers?” His reply was that he probably generated a $70,000 or $80,000 return on the mailings.

Cost = $3000 (or thereabouts)
Return = $80,000

And here’s what’s absolutely insane:

He’s never used that sales letter again.

Is that crazy or what? I mean, if every time you gave me $10, I gave you $30 in return… how long would you keep giving me $10 for?

For as long as I kept giving you more back than you were giving me, right?

And yet so many businesspeople will pull a campaign long before it’s stopped being profitable. There are a few reasons for this:

1. They don’t measure it, so they don’t know if it’s profitable or not.

2. They get bored with their existing system and want to do something new (hey, bore me all you like… just keep putting money into my coffers)

Pretty crazy, isn’t it. I mean, here’s a formula for advertising success.

Write half a dozen lead generation ads or sales letters.

Test and measure each one.

Once you find the most profitable one, this is called (in direct marketing lingo) the control. Continue to run it over and over and over again. (some ads have appeared for decades in exactly the same format, word for word).

Continue measuring it. (and if it keeps making money, don’t stop doing it - no matter how bored you get)

Test against it in small quantities.

If you beat the control with your new test, then your new test becomes the control.

Keep running the ad or sales letter.

Bottom line is… if 5 of your first 6 ads or sales letters fail… and you only have one winner, it doesn’t matter does it?

Why? Because the ad or sales letter that’s profitable can be replicated over and over and over again. You are only ever one ad or sales letter away from a massive jump in the profitability of your business.

I’ll leave you with that thought to ponder on