| |
Home
Page
|
|
------- MENU
1. Just Thinking
2. Article ... "I'm Sick, Sick, Sick, Of Being Pitched To!"
By Joe Robson
3. Article ... "Ad Copy...You Forgot Step One!"
By Terry Dean
4. Article ... "How Fido Deals With Obnoxious Emails"
By Joe Robson
5. The Last Word
6. Your Subscription Details
Articles can be reprinted in their entirety, providing the
author's resource details are kept intact.
_________________________
1. Just Thinking.
Hey, great to chat with you again:-)
My first article in this edition seems a bit negative. I just sat down and started writing, and I suppose it reflects my mood at
the time. So I've written my second article in an attempt to lighten up a little, and hopefully bring a smile to your lips.
The article by Terry Dean highlights a vital factor in all successful Copywriting - Research.
Some people are surprised when I quote a price for what they think is a straight forward piece of Sales Copy or Ad. But to do
it properly means researching the product, the competition, the industry, the
target market, and many other factors. That's where the
time - and expense - comes in.
After the research is completed, the actual Copywriting is almost a mechanical process for a professional Copywriter.
If you want to read some very insightful stuff about readers Web
reading habits, and an excellent set of articles about writing for the Web, I recommend you read Jakob Nielsen's articles at
http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
I've been reading his highly respected research for a long time now, and learned some very useful stuff. I don't agree with
everything he says, but I've applied some of his conclusions to my online writing efforts. Be prepared to spend quite some time
there! (Later eh?)
And for a monthly dose of real life humor you may like the 'Sales
Horror Stories' newsletter from http://www.salesautopsy.com/
I've been in selling for many years, and I often find myself reading it and thinking "There but for the Grace of God ..."
Enough already ....
Keep smilin'.
PS. If you have a particular area of Copywriting that really bugs you, drop me a line and I'll try to cover it next time. No
requests for Site appraisals please - unless you hire me:-)
--------------------------------
2. Article ... "I'm Sick, Sick, Sick, Of Being Pitched To!"
By Joe Robson http://adcopywriting.com
--------------------------------
At first I became bored with it.
Then annoyed.
Eventually I became sick of it.
But now I'm beginning to get really p***ed.
I'm talking about the deluge of 'Must-See' Special Offers from so
many prominent Internet Marketers. Marketers who have me in their
database because I signed up for their Newsletters. And marketers
who have me firmly targeted because I bought something from them.
I'm talking about marketers who's sole marketing strategy seems to be to repeatedly beat me over the head until I spend MORE
money with them IMMEDIATELY - or lose me altogether. Marketers who don't seem to be interested in building a long term
relationship that's a win-win for both of us.
And short sighted wannabes who go for the quick buck, then spend
an inordinate amount of time replacing their 'unsubscribes' with fresh blood - instead of cultivating
those they already
have by building a long term relationship built on trust.
------- "Once Upon a Time"
What happened to the great newsletter content we used to get in
the 'old days'? - I mean about 2 to 3 years ago.
What happened to the 'Gentle Art of Persuasion' used by the
successful Direct marketers of yesteryear?
What happened to the proven Sales Copy techniques used over and
over again for decades by 'traditional' yet highly successful Direct Marketing experts - REAL experts? ...
-------- "Nothing Happened To It"
It's all still very much alive and thriving - thankfully!
But the problem is that there are now so many up and coming Guru-
Wannabes on the Net, that the really good stuff is being diluted with a zillion Sales Pitches a day from them. And it all seems to
land in MY email box.
I'm not saying that I shouldn't be pitched to because I'm an opt in subscriber to someone's list. I do it. All marketers do it.
Otherwise what's the point in running a business if you don't try to sell your wares?
But on top of the weekly newsletters I subscribed to, I'm now
getting so many additional 'special mailings' to buy this, sign up for our super-guru teleseminar, look at what my great Buddy -
Guru has come up with, and other cloned crap, that I'm on overload.
--------- "So How Is It That ..."
.... a guy like Jim Daniels, with a list of over 150,000, manages to make an excellent living without having to pitch his
subscribers every few days with a 'Must Have' offer?
Perhaps it's because he's built that list over a number of years by giving valuable information - and treating his subscribers
with respect. That respect earns their trust - and they believe him when he occasionally recommends something he feels is
valuable to them.
Or is he just too lazy to send out dozens of Special Offers?
I think NOT!
--------- "Yet Another 'Get-On-It-Kwik' Fad"
The latest 'new idea' to sweep the Net is a wave of books and
seminars on the power of Joint Venturing. Just get a Super Guru with a large list to promote your stuff, and you'll earn a
fortune. Yeah right. It's been happening for years - but quietly, profitably, and professionally!
The result is that now I get so many offers to JV with strangers, I can hardly find the enthusiasm to check it out thoroughly.
That's because so much of it is crap, or I don't have the right target market even if it's a great offer.
One guy offered me 70% commission to promote his grossly overpriced ebook, and went on and on telling how much money I
would make. He never once told me how my customers would benefit!
Now that every wannabe has the 'secret' to finding out the amount
of traffic I get to my sites , those same people are mesmerized by the $$$ signs flashing before their eyes, and blast out a JV
offer to me that is totally unsuitable for my lists.
And what makes it even worse - in fact a cardinal sin - is that some of them are using the same 'Sure-Fire' email templates that
the JV ebooks contain. Templates that are supposed to have so- called Super Affiliates absolutely BEGGING to JV with them.
Yeah right!
-------- "This Is What I Have To Say To Them" ...
Look, just because I have some large lists does NOT mean I will email them with an offer which I personally don't believe in. My
subscribers joined my lists because they wanted quality information from me. But NOT about Cookery, or Financial
Planning, or Fuel Savers!
So I treat them with respect, and I'm NOT interested in making a few quick bucks by insulting their intelligence - and destroying
my own credibility.
If I have something that I truly believe my subscribers can use to their advantage and BENEFIT from, I have no qualms at all
about promoting it and earning from it. The problem is that there is so much that they CAN benefit from.
But I don't send them a 'Special Mailing' every few days about my
latest and greatest discovery. However wonderful I think it may be.
The fact is that some very good marketers who I used to subscribe to, have gone over the top with their promotions. And when their
actual real Newsletters arrive, I now no longer read them because
I'm ... well I'm ... Ok I'm really p***ed!
So I've unsubscribed. And in some cases, I've lost any respect I once had for them. But despite the overkill ...
---------- "Traditional Copywriting Methods Still Work"
* The great Internet Marketers are still flourishing.
* Proven marketing techniques can still produce great results.
* Persuasive Copy still sells.
* Repeat mailings and follow ups are still essential.
But forced feeding quickly kills the Golden Goose.
So perhaps we'll soon see a new ebook called ...
"How To Make A Fortune Providing Life Support For Internet Geese"
By Guru Drake.
Quickly followed by a seminar by Wanna B. A. Gander!
Hmmmm, pass the duck soup please:-)
---------------------
Article by Joe Robson. He Writes Sales Copy That SELLS - Period!
http://adcopywriting.com
http://newbieclub.com
http://headlinewriter.com
http://guruspeak.com
http://words.sitesell.com/myws/
(Co-author)
--------------------
================================
------- "Do YOU Know The Answer?"
My site at http://headlinewriter.com
is consistently enjoying a
Visitor/Sales conversion ratio of 6.4% - and very low refund requests. That's Six point Four - not point six-four:-)
Is that because the Sales Copy is mesmerizing? Hardly.
Is it because I use loooong Sales Copy? Long Sales Copy doesn't work - say some.
Is it because I've put my Copywriter's reputation at stake by
promoting Copywriting software? At least that helps to build trust.
Or is it because the product does everything I say it will?
Judge for yourself at http://headlinewriter.com
================================
--------------------------------
3 . Article ... "Ad Copy...You Forgot Step One!"
By Terry Dean
--------------------------------
Writing winning sales letters for the web really isn't as hard as it is made out to be. The reason most people have so much trouble
writing web pages which sell to their customers is they have forgotten rule number one of copywriting...
------- Research is at least 75% of the process.
Most of the rules you have been taught about copywriting apply to
the refinement of it or the "finishing" of it.
Yes, you must show the benefits the customers receive, not just the features of the product.
Yes, you need to read winning headlines from the past and model them for your projects.
Yes, you should always offer a risk free guarantee to your customers.
BUT...step one is to research your product, your competitors, and
your customers. Then, you can apply all of the winning copywriting formulas for best results.
Good copywriters (on the web or off it) are not usually the most
imaginative people you can find. They don't just instantly dream up winning headlines out of thin air.
They research their product, market, and competition until the majority of what needs to be written becomes obvious!
Most of the things we come to think of as great inspired talents or skills are really the result of hard work.
Thomas Edison said, "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety- nine percent perspiration."
Good copywriting is no exception.
Research is the key to copywriting success...and the success of your web site.
What are you going to be researching?
-------- Research Your Customers
What do they want out of life? What are their hot buttons? What
motivates them to buy?
Here are three ways to research your future customers:
1. ---- Ask For Feedback
Visit discussion groups. Watch the posts taking place and study them. What kinds of concerns keep coming up about products? Ask
them what needs or wants they would have in the perfect product. Use http://www.forumone.com to find discussions in your market.
2. ---- Take a Survey
If you already have a web site, then take a survey of your visitors about their needs and wants. Zoomerang allows you to do
it for free: http://zoomerang.com/
3. ---- Contact Customers
If you already sell products to the same group of customers, then
simply ask your current customers. Email them or give them a call.
Ask them why they bought from you in the first place and how you
could offer even more value to their purchase.
----------- "Research Your Product"
Some of the best copywriters are the owners of their own businesses. They know their product like the back of their hand.
When hiring a good outside copywriter, they will need to know everything there is to know about your product or service to
write effective copy.
In other words, you need to be an expert on the subject to write really effective copy about it.
Read about the product. Study it. Take notes on it.
When writing ads for a book, for example, you will often write a full bulleted list of benefits readers will get out of the book
straight from the book pages themselves.
You will often say, "Learn how to lower your golf score by 10 strokes through five easy steps...page 27" Then, on and on with
other benefits taken right of the pages of the book.
No matter what you are selling, you will build the list of benefits for the product out of the features already in the
product.
---------- "Research Your Competitors"
The Internet is the most competitive marketplace ever. Not only can you sell to a world marketplace, but you also have a world of
competitors competing with you.
You have to study your competitors and see where their strong and
weak points are. What is unique about your product from all of your competitors?
You will especially need to do this if you have large well funded
competitors. Find out which areas of the market they may be ignoring or desires they're not fulfilling.
As a small business, you may find the best way to present your product will be to tighten your customer focus to a smaller
niche. You don't need a million customers to earn a profit. You may only need a thousand. How can you best fulfill the needs of
those thousand people?
----------- "Take A Break"
Doing the research was a lot of hard work.
The next step is almost as important. Take a break. That's right. Put down your laptop. Go for a walk. See a movie. Work on your
hobby.
Your mind needs a break and it needs to "think" about the project in the background. You will be surprised at just how intelligent
you appear to be when you fill your head with all of the research...and then forgot about it for awhile.
Inspiration just seems to come to you...
--------------------------------
Article by Terry Dean, who Wants to Take You By The Hand and Show You The Exact Results of All the Internet Marketing Techniques He
Tests and Uses Every Single Month. http://tncinfo.com/netbreakthroughs.htm
--------------------------------
Listen Up ...
I learned more about Internet Marketing - real in the trenches profitable and useable stuff - from this incredible book, than I have from
any other book I own. Amazing! http://tncinfo.com/truth/htm
Close your mind to the
hypey copy - Get it!
--------------------------------
4. Article ... "How Fido Replies To Obnoxious Emails"
By Joe Robson http://adcopywriting.com
--------------------------------
Some people can be so rude and downright offensive when hiding
behind the anonymity of email. And no matter how hard I try,
eventually someone gets to me. Fortunately these are very rare,
but sometimes I find it difficult not to respond accordingly.
That's both unprofessional, and bad business practice. But it
also proves I'm human!
So I devised a standard templated reply to the really bad ones,
and suddenly it's no longer a problem for me. It's tongue in
cheek, 'gets back' at the sender, and allows me to get on with my
life. It also does my dented ego a power of good.
Strangely enough, I've never had a single reply to it:-)
Here it is ...
--------
Hi,
This is Fido and I'm the company's pet dog.
The company's support team passed your email on to me for action.
Because of the obnoxious and offensive tone of your email, they
assumed that you must have been writing to a dog and not a fellow
human being. If you are not a human being then that would explain
the aggressive tone of your message, so please accept my
apologies.
However, even canine animals like me find it difficult not to
stoop down to your level, and reply to you in an equally
ignorant, obnoxious, and offensive manner.
So I have passed your message on to Otto - our office robot.
You see, Otto has no feelings at all, is totally ignorant, and
- just like you - also talks to humans as if they were dogs. Are
you a robot? If you are then, again, please accept my apologies.
Anyway, Otto will probably just delete your email, He'll enjoy
that, because that seems to be his only human trait.
That's the trouble with Otto - he just can't be bothered to reply
to emails which do not deserve the time it takes to respond.
That's why we pay him peanuts - and you know what they say about
that.
Best wishes, and thank you ever so much for writing.
Fido.
Support Team.
--------------------------------
Joe Robson writes Sales Copy That SELLS - Period!
http://adcopywriting.com
http://newbieclub.com
http://headlinewriter.com
http://guruspeak.com
http://words.sitesell.com/myws/
(Co-author)
--------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--------- "Top Quality Freebies"
"Can You Really Make a Living on the Net?" YES, YES, YES. And you can find out how right here with
Jim Daniels' free 5 page guide ... http://tncinfo.com/malo.htm
Very, very, highly recommended.
--------
Netwriting Masters Course
Want to sell more? Write better? mailto:wordstwms@sitesell.net
--------
"How Do Super Affiliates Do It?" They use every traffic generating tactic they can to create sales. And this Viral
Affiliate Directory has been working wonders for me for several months. Get one yourself for free at http://newbieclub.com/tncdir
--------------------------------
5. "The Last Word"
--------------------------------
"There isn't anything that isn't made easier through constant familiarity and training. Through training
we can change; we can transform ourselves."
------------ Dalai Lama
---------------------------------
Read the previous Digest here ...
http://adcopywriting.com/digest/105.htm
---------------------------------
6. "Your Subscription Details"
---------------------------------
You can delete your subscription here ...
http://www.adcopywriting.com/unsubscribe/
If this was forwarded by a friend, you can subscribe here
http://www.adcopywriting.com/Newsletter_Subsc.htm
I'd welcome your feed back on the content of this newsletter. Write to me at jr@adcopywriting.com
and ...
PLEASE forward this newsletter to friend. Thank You:-)
........© 2003 Joe Robson. All rights reserved
---------------------------------
Home
Page
© 2003 Joe Robson. All rights reserved
|
