Do you know what I find hard, writing my own advertising. I don’t have the same mental constipation with my client’s ads.

I am going to let you in on a little secret… a lot of us copywriters and marketing pros have a hard time with our own business’s marketing. With all the training we have we still have a civil war going on within our heads.

The trouble with all business owners is…  that we see our advertising as something other than what is supposed to be, to help people. How many times when you are placing ads are you thinking about what affect on your life the ad has if it succeeds or fails?

You immediately start thinking about bills that need to be payed, equipment you need to buy, employees dependent on you or a high priced hooker you have scheduled for every Thursday… it all impedes how you see your advertising.

Your ads will reflect your situation unless you are extremely disciplined. I can always tell a desperate business by their advertising, can’t you?

Most times we are not thinking about the right results. We focus on money, but the person reading your ad is focused on their problems. You have a business that specializes in eliminating a problem (or problems) for people.

Whether you are a window cleaner, financial adviser or a used car salesman, you’re in the business of solving problems.

This is why it is so much easier for me to write advertisements for other businesses. I can see the business’s solution to the clients problem and write it to their target market in an appealing way.

Here is a simple approach to writing your own ads- Tell them how you can help them. It is vital you forget about your side of things.

You must be sincere in your effort to help others. I have seen advertisements written by small business owners, with little marketing skill win big with a simple, direct and sincere ad.

Don’t be funny, fancy or egocentric. You likely have not got the sincerity part down yet so adding humor or visual enhancements become a mask. This is a VERY hard way to create an effective advertisement.

Humor is based on what YOU think is funny. Design is based on what YOU think looks appealing. If the words are generic your results will be weakened.

I know this is beaten to death but you need to write from the customers point of view. I always try to ask ‘why?’ when I write a sentence, offer, add graphics…. Why should they keep reading. Why do these graphics help in making sales. Why should they be compelled to contact me now.

Be sincere and always keep asking yourself why and you will see huge leaps in sales.

Paul

Blog tools

For those of you who don’t know, I have worked with a lot of local businesses. I also used to own a localized service business. One common problem I had and all others have is trying to tell people how much better our service/product is better than the others.

I have yet to talk to a business owner who does not think badly about their competition. Usually it’s more of…  a "it’s not as good", "they are not insured", "they hire illegal immigrants"…. or whatever else they think should matter to people.

The problem is that if we start off our conversation with people warning them that everyone else sucks we create a non-conducive buying environment.

We turn them off, even if it is true. I have just witnessed a GREAT commercial showing you how to give a competitor a stick in the ribs… without looking bad in the process. Take this idea and see if you can do something like it in your ads.

Go get some

Paul

When I am writing someones sales page I need to research their product or service.

A lot of the time I see a lot of value in what they offer, yet they charge almost nothing…. and then lump on a bunch of bonuses or freebies.

I had a client with a business selling plans for building a contraption for car enthusiasts. I took one look at his price and… 

raised it without even seeing anything.

Actually, I almost doubled the price. I knew he was positioning his products as "poor mans plans" and I don’t see a profitable outcome there.

He about crapped his overhauls but he raised the price and sales INCREASED.

Obviously writing him a new sales page helped, but we were not hitting a new target market. These were the "tightwads" he believed would not pay more.

If you’re going to sell a product or service think about the price. Experiment with a higher price point first. Let the market tell you what sounds good.

For those of you writing your own ads, really look at the value of what you are offering. Convey the value with a justifiable price and sales will increase.

I am not saying raising prices is the answer to more sales, but most focus on how cheap it is. They focus on cheap and so does the customer.

I see WAY too many under-priced offers out there. It cost no more to sell something for $57 than it does $17.

Don’t jump over the dollars to get to the dimes.

go get some

Paul

Please feel free to leave your thoughts on this. I would love to hear what you think.

 Being that I write ads and sales pages I always find myself
in a situation where I need to qualify my client’s position.

This happens a lot in the ‘relationship’ niche.

It can be very hard to position somebody as someone with
the answers when they don’t have a body of work or
proof (like degrees, awards, expert testimonials, etc)

You likely have had to (or will be) trying to convince people
to buy your thingy or service based upon your know-how.

A lot of niches can do this with screen shots and testimonials,
but a lot of others do not have these tools.

My favorite example of someone completely forcing his will
upon people to believe him is…  Tony Robbins.

Here we have this troubled man with no degree in anything
talking about changing peoples lives in 15 minutes.

How did he do this? Back in the mid 80′s when he started out he grasped
onto NLP. He studied this little known method to great detail and
wrote a book.

He took what he knew and simply challenged psychiatrists that he
could ‘cure’ their patients in front of a live audience. He convinced a
woman deathly afraid of snakes not to be in 15 minutes!

Here is a guy who was absolutely nobody. Took on a niche where
you HAD to have a formal education and became one of the most
famous self help people to ever walk the earth.

He started having private sessions with people for $500 an hour
and ‘cured" them in one session! He quickly charged $5000 a session.

He VERY quickly proved to the world (despite being criticized
by every expert as a charlatan) that he was indeed someone who
can teach you to help yourself.

Dr Phil did much the same thing.

If you are a part of what you are selling, you need to give the reader
something other than "I’m the expert". Reveal stuff in your ads, give
out some ‘secrets’.

I promise you if you divulge some awesome free advice/tricks/
strategies you can get around fighting to get them to believe you
are the expert.

Find a way to show them you are the expert that can help them

go get some

Paul

The Great Marketing Separator — Nonconformity

Today I am going to focus on those of you who have small businesses. When I was running my local service business I was afflicted with the disease of sameness…

I never focused on what made my company different, but yet I would always say ‘no other company is like mine’. The problem is we think one way and the marketplace thinks another.

This post is not about getting your message out there, this is about the truckloads of cash you may be screwing yourself out of…. because  you are a true conformist.

Rather than focus on what makes you special, let’s focus on what you are not offering or doing that will immediately separate your business from the flood…

It’s So Easy Even a Barber Can Do It

Can you think of anything more mundane than a barbershop? With all the salons taking aggressive steps to focus on men, barbershop’s faithful are far and few. Likely why most go out of business or barely make any money.

If you owned a struggling barbershop what would you do? Think about this for a minute as it is easier to think how you would treat another business than it is your own. How would you get more customers in the door?

Would you…

• Use social networking (like Twitter and Facebook)
  
• Send out direct mail
  
• Utilize television or radio
  
• Put ads in local papers and/or magazines
  

Do you know what will happen if you used all of those? Probably not much, do you know why? Because the mentality of today’s man has changed. We love to go to the salon and have our hair ‘styled’ by a hot looking stylist.

We will happily shell out $40 a trip rather than hit the ‘old man’ barbershop for half the price.

Nonconformist Entreprenuers Elevate "the barbershop" Image

I am sure most of your answers in my ‘how to save the barbershop’ question was noble. You tried and likely could not see the forest through the trees. (the trees being your focus on the advertising rather than the psychology… the true enemy here.)

Would you believe a barbershop not only can get a large client base, but charge them membership dues? Some of the top end memberships costing thousands per year!

Check out what these guys have done to a stagnate and dying business type- http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com/

Do you see how you may be missing out on something in your business? Imagine what would have happened if these guys asked people within the industry what they thought about their idea in the beginning… they would have been laughed out of there.

Instead they skipped talking to the barely surviving, narrow minded people and looked at business models outside of the industry. They now have 152 locations, and growing! I wonder how many of those typical barbershops will have a chain of 150 stores and an army of clients being auto-billed monthly.

These savvy entrepreneurs also identified that men like ‘male exclusivity’. Men will pay to be involved in a private club like this, and some will pay a lot.

If you think there is nothing you can do like this in your business, that is fine… but just because you stop moving does not mean the world does too.

go get some

Paul

If you own a small business, this is for you

For those of you who don’t know, I write ads. Both online and off. Small business owners can be very difficult to work with, do you know why? Most are megalomaniacs (power drunk)

Almost every offline small business I work with is focused on their image. Almost all online businesses are focused on sales. It is an interesting dichotomy.

I started with a offline local business and I can’t tell you how blind I was. Let’s face it, most small business owners can’t sell toilet paper to a family with food poisoning…

I asked one business owner I was writing for to describe what separates him  from his competition. He told me he cares more. How in the hell do you sell caring?

Hire Me Today to Build an Addition on to Your Home, because I care

Do you ever see the ads or websites where a company goes on and on about customer service? I promise you that has ZERO effect on getting sales. In fact it may be losing sales. People don’t care for one, but they also don’t believe them. Have you ever bought anything because you thought they cared more. Be honest

Does Wal-Mart care more than Target? Does Ford care more than Toyota? Does Dominoes care more than Papa John’s? Have you ever thought about who cares more?

Most times I get a coupon when I am hungry and order a pizza. If the pizza guy wants to mow my lawn, that’s cool. But I called because I am hungry and they had a quick fix. I don’t even like these pizzas!

What people are buying is the end result. Not a smile, not a thank you card. First they need to want what is being pushed on them. Customer service is not worth anything to anyone but the business.

It comes after the sale.

Branding is another area I butt heads on a lot. 99.9% of businesses look at McDonalds and Coke and say "I wanna be that in my local area. When they think of _____ they think of us". Well, that is silly and near impossible. Seeing your signs, trucks, logos or whatever does nothing because there is no meaning.

If people are getting hit with 3000 ads per day, it is impossible for you to position yourself without stopping them dead in their tracks. They need to ignore the other 2999 ads, their kids, the late credit card payment, the ringing phone and Oprah.

The best way to do that is to hook them and sell them right then. Don’t give them time to think about it or forget. This is where online businesses beat the crap out of offline. They know that person may never come back.

Don’t worry about image, ego or branding. If you get them as a customer then you can show them how much you care. Then your brand means something to them.

go get some

Paul

Will Your Ad Break This Man From His Trance? I’ll Show You How…

Without fail, most businesses who advertise screw up their message. Have you noticed that most advertising speaks at you? It is said that in an average day some of us are exposed to 3000+ advertisements.

You would think our heads would explode from all those pesky ads popping up all around us, all day.

How do you manage to stay sane? You ignore them. You have developed blinders that do not allow your mind to be distracted from meaningless messages.

In an effort to show you a perfect example, I’ll use your wife/girlfriend. Let’s say you are watching your favorite sporting event. Your team is behind and making a comeback. Suddenly your lover appears behind you telling you about something that happened at work.

Most men nod and say ‘really, wow’, ‘okay’, ‘sure’, ‘maybe later’… or nothing at all. Let’s say the same woman walks in behind her man and says ‘I slept with Ron at work and I am so sorry’.

What happens now, do you keep watching your team drive down the field? Hell no, that game is nothing now. Your full attention has been redirected in an instant.

Most advertisements speak at people that are transfixed on something else or many things. When you speak at them they will not listen. You are no different than the 3000+ messages they are getting hammered by. (that are also ignored)

We are all wrapped up in our little worlds. We have a sick kid, bill problems, dog is crapping on the floor, work, relationship problems, the car has a weird noise, something good is on tv…. all of these more important than your offer.

Until you prove otherwise.

Knowing your ideal prospects well can help you craft what I like to call ‘meaningful relevance‘. If you know who you are after very well it is much easier to grab their attention.

Don’t dream up shit you think should be meaningful, base your actions on an educated analysis, not what you think should be meaningful.

Instead of trying to force them to listen, go with the grain of their everyday life. Relate to them and they will at least take notice for a second. It’s up to you to keep their attention from there.

Please feel free to leave comments instead of emailing them to me. Share your opinion with everyone.

go get some

Paul

Napoleon Hill….. Loser?

It never ceases to amaze me how pathetic we are. Have you ever noticed what sells magazines and news in general- Negative human behavior. We all love to watch celebrities and the wealthy fall on their face.

Why do we find such joy in it? Because we see ourselves as failures. We have actually grown accustomed to feeling that way. We have nothing to live up to so it’s a lot harder to dissapoint.

When we see others elevate above our comfort zone, we resent them. Little by little we start to despise them. They are exposing us by doing things we do not do. They pushed a little harder and found fortune. (this does not make them great people, but it does make them successful at something)

Recently I was on a forum and there was a discussion about Napoleon Hill (author of Think and Grow Rich). The topic was that he died broke. The topic is interesting because rumors have spread that he did indeed die poor. (which he did not)

Think and Grow Rich was not a story about Napoleon Hill as he was far from wealthy when he was hired. He was sent on a mission and connected to the wealthiest people on earth to write the book.

What I found interesting is that some people found joy he may have been a failure. The funny thing is that a lot of very wealthy people attribute their fortune to the concepts of that book. Who gives a shit who lost what. How many of us ever amass anything but debt?

Most of you will never have that day in the sun in your lifetime (me included), but we can if we burn the bridges behind us. Sometimes you need to give yourself no other way but straight at your dream.

I owned a window cleaning business that I started to hate. I fell in love with direct marketing and then copywriting and one day dumped the window cleaning business. I don’t mean I sold it or made a transition. I stopped all income from it.

I knew I had a knack for writing sales copy and my dream is to make a good living doing this. What did I do? … burned the bridges.

Everyone who is successful stopped looking back. Everyday I am closer and closer to my dream. For 7 years I was in a come and now I feel alive. I am not successful in a money sense yet, but I am on my way and I am finally happy. (whatever that is)

I leave you with this excerpt from Think and Grow Rich:

“A long while ago, a great warrior faced a situation which made it necessary for him to make a decision which insured his success on the battlefield. He was about to send his armies against a powerful foe, whose men outnumbered his own.

He loaded his soldiers into boats, sailed to the enemy’s country, unloaded soldiers and equipment, then gave the order to burn the ships that had carried them. Addressing the men before the first battle, he said, “You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores unless we win! We now have no choice—we win—or we perish!”

They won.

go get some

Paul

Are Your Ads Broken Too?

Internet marketing can be a glorious business, can’t it? I realize
most are in the "start-up" phase and I also know how head
spinning that can be.

Whether you are a new or well on your way, I see a sticking point
with most…. writing the copy, headlines and offer.

Being how I hang in the underbelly of Warrior (the copywriting forum)
I see many, MANY questions about headlines and such from people
not real interested in learning copywriting.

For those of you unable or unwilling to hire an experienced copywriter,
here is something that may help-

The Mall Walk

The ‘mall walk’ for me is trying to see your product/offer as most will
see it. When you are creating your product page and squeeze pages
what do you see? Just your product, right?

You are oblivious to the fact that your offer is in a sea of millions of
offers. Because you only see what is on your screen you are thinking
that’s what everyone sees…. most see "what the hell is this?"

Not the easiest position to sell from

When you are in a shopping mall you will notice heavy competition
between the stores. They know you have only so much money to
shop with and they want it.

What gets you interested in going into the store normally?

A. Display sign with a sale or other announcement
B. A store that has stuff you know you like

Both are VITAL to get the people that will spend some dough. You
don’t care about those who just walk through. (like getting 10,000
visitors to your page and making two sales) You want the ones
most likely to buy.

If I saw a sign on a store that said 75% off and it was on fishing gear,
I would not notice or care. If I seen a sign at The Guitar Center that
said "New Gibson Les Paul – No Payments for One Year"

I AM SCREAMING IN THERE!!!!

Notice how I did not need a ‘cheap price’ to be totally captivated by
the message. I would walk past the store normally even though I
love playing guitar. I have a guitar, but not a Les Paul.

They not only got me to come in, they have just sold me a Les Paul
for retail. I can’t pass it up as now I already envisioned having
one. They dug into my skull to find a burning desire I was not thinking
about at all. I was not getting ready to buy a Les Paul, not even close.

Your ebook, software, membership site, affiliate up-sells or whatever
needs to find the right people THEN say the right thing.

Most think copywriting is a mystical art…. think of it more as a metal
detector. If you look for coins in the desert, not so good. If you go
to a busy beach…

Find out who benefits most from your offer. If you know who they
are and what arouses them, you’re almost there. You don’t even
need a long sales letter if you have the audience, attention grabber
and offer screwed down tight.

When writing your headline don’t try to be generic or hyped. Just tell
them about their "Les Paul" and then give them no way to refuse.

The Guitar Center may not sell 500 $3000 guitars that day, but they
will have sold many they never would have otherwise.

Anyway, I hope that helps you see what you’re selling a little more
clearly.

go get some

Paul

Your Ad With a Bad Headline Will Destroy Response

You have heard it time and time again, haven’t you? You always hear how important the headline is to your ad. Guess what, IT IS!

I am amazed by how many people who send me their ads (who are aware of how important the headline is) have horrible headlines.

My view of how headlines should be done has been changing recently. As I first started copywriting I clung onto attention grabbers (as that is easy). I read that headlines only need to attract the attention of the reader. I thought "easy enough"….

"Wife Beats Husband to Death With Cat"

Then I would talk about how this new Twitter software would save their lives.

There is no doubt that headline would get read by 99% of anyone who sees it.. Who could resist? Since I captivated everyone’s attention it is only natural they would buy the Twitter software….

You say you don’t think it would get people to buy the software? If you saw that headline and then read the first sentence "Find out how to get 5000 Twitter followers begging for your tweets in 7 days", you think you would stop reading?

You bet your ass you would, so would everyone else

I have begun to despise statement headlines- "23 Year Old College Flunky Makes $100.000 in 3 Weeks"… that is the status quo these days. There are a bazillion of those types of interest headlines out there right now.

I feel that the next generation (web 2.0) of users will ignore these headlines. (I also believe that long online sales copy is on it’s way out the door, but that’s for another day

With online copy, people are coerced into reading your ad. They clicked on something that caught their eye.

When people are dragged onto your sales page kicking and screaming, you don’t have but a couple seconds. Your headline and sub-heads need to be powerful, most importantly meaningful.

Let’s use the Twitter product as that is seemingly a boring product-

Do You Worry About Having a Good Christmas This Year?–Find Out How You Can Have $2000 in Time Using a Free Tool

Writing good headlines or body copy is about isolating your target market. In a down economy with many people stuggling, these people will read a little further.

As I mentioned in my last post- people do not dream about cars, piles of money or mansions… their dreams are usually negative. Most are worried about something. You need to isolate that demographic and punch them in their metaphorical nuts.

Remember, what you are selling is not for everyone, but everyone has worries (even the wealthy). Most people are in survivor mode and think backwards. They don’t care about preventing Cancer until Cancer touches their lives… NOW THEY CARE!

Hit people with question headlines that hit an emotional hot button. It could be money, health, self image, their child’s future, anything that digs into those sleepless moments.

Do not think you can reprogram the human race with your positive drival? Nobody has done it and you wont either.

Hit them where it hurts and promise them a way out of it

go get some

Paul