Sales Come First

Hi there

This week its time to look at part 2 of Getting Your Mail Opened.

You’ll remember last week I emphasised the importance of making people WANT to open your envelope.
And in order to do this you’ve got to make people curious about what’s inside. You see, the important thing to remember here is that people DONT want to be advertised to. Its funny, because we like to buy lots of things, but none of us want to be advertised to.

So avoid letting on that you’re advertising to them.

Now, there are two exceptions to this.

One is if somebody is expecting something. So for example if you’re sending a free report, then it will actually help to put something on the outside of your envelope, such as ‘Your Free Report From XYZ Enclosed”. If people are expecting it and want it, it will help wet their appetite.

Second, you can use teaser copy on the outside of your envelope. This would be an envelope covered in testimonials, benefit statements and so on. Of course, it’ll instantly be seen as an ad, but might still get attention. I saw one recently where the entire envelope was covered in doodles, to make it look like sender had just been scribbling on it. It certainly got attention.

The other thing to note about teaser copy is that if you decide to put something that will identify you on the envelope, dont go halfway. Go ALL the way. Cover that sucker with testimonials, benefit statements, even pictures. Don’t hold back because once your prospect realises its an ad, you’ve got to give it 100% to get them to open it.
Another example that’s been used successfully in the past is a coffee stain on the envelope. The sender had dipped the bottom of the cup in a bit of coffee and pressed it onto the envelope. It made it look very personal, as if it was the only envelope the sender had sent.

However, I personally prefer a plain envelope over teaser copy because, if its done properly will leave the person guessing. Which means it goes STRAIGHT to the top of the pile!

Now, I want to talk about lumpy mail. If you really want to get people busting to open your envelope, then put something solid in it. It could be anything and should be tied to the theme of your promotion.

For example you could put in some dice, and have a theme of ‘Dont take chances with your mortgage’ (Mortgage Broker) or ‘Dont take chances with your injury’ (Chiropractor, physio or masseur).

What about a small egg timer, with a theme of ‘Dont delay’ or ‘Time is running out’.

When people get these in the mail they’re extra curious about whats inside, so they open them with a heightened state of awareness, which is another way of saying they’re mad keen to know whats inside!

Here’s another idea. Put in a picture of something, just printed on normal paper but cut down to a photo size is OK. Then on the outside of the envelope write (in big writing) ‘Do Not Bend – Picture Enclosed’. The picture could be of you, your product or proof of your success.

Now, in a lot of ways this topic is more important than writing headlines, because if nobody opens the envelope, it doesnt matter how good your headline is! And if the purpose of the headline is to make your prospect read the first line, then the purpose of the envelope is to get them to read your headline.

So here’s a quick summary of getting your envelope opened by your prospect FIRST.
1. Plain white envelope
2. Normal stamp, on a bit crooked
3. Handwritten address – doesnt need to be neat either, and mistakes make it look less professional and get your prospect even MORE interested!
4. No return address, or just an address without an idenfitying company
5. Stick something ‘lumpy’ in it that can be felt from the outside

Well, that wraps it up for 2008. I’m not going to be posting next week. Yes, even copywriters get a break from our cold damp dungeon from time to time.

Its been an exciting year, with lots of goals hit and a few ones missed. But soon its time for everyone to set their goals for 2009.
Note, I didnt say New Years Resolutions. I think they’re just crazy. If you want to do something good, why wait until the 1st of January??? If you really wanted to do something, you’d start it NOW! OK, they keep the weight loss centres and personal trainers busy for a few weeks, but thats about it.

No, instead I’ll be setting measurable goals that I can track and follow throughout the year. And I strongly suggest you do the same.
So until 2009, please let me thank you all for reading these posts and thank you for all the positive feedback I’ve received since I started.

Next time I’ll answer the question about how to motivate your prospects. Its a fascinating topic, and one with a huge twist!
One last thing, I said I’d keep you up to date with events that I hear about that might be of interest to you.

One of my readers let me know about this one and if its of interest to you, please email me from my website and I’ll put you in touch with her so you can find out more. I can’t comment any further either way, except to say that I know the person who recommended the seminar well, and based on that alone its worth checking out. Its in Sydney at the end of Feb, start of March.

http://www.global1training.com/cmwfeb09delegates

All the best for Christmas and the New Year.

Hugh Thyer

http://www.salescomefirst.com

Hi there

I hope you got something out of last week’s entry from Jim Straw.

I personally think that Jim’s Direct Mail course is one of the best you can get. Actually, now I think about it I think it IS the best.
You can use google so if you want to learn how he did it, I really urge you to do it. No affiliate program here folks, just straight advice. (I think its about fifty bucks).

I’ve been going nuts over the last few weeks writing emails for a big affilate program campaign. 65 in total, but (thankfully) not all at once.

I might write an article here in the next few weeks and let you all know the process I went through to write these.
But not now, because tonight is one for the OFFLINE marketers. Hey, you internet people should listen up anyway, because its chocked full of money making ideas that will help you anyway.

Actually, this subject is so long I’m going to have to spread it out over two weeks. So here’s Part 1 of HOW TO GET YOUR MAIL OPENED.

You see, when guys like Gary Halbert and Dan Kennedy used to talk about direct mail, they’d often get up and talk for an hour on THE ENVELOPE.

That’s right. Not headlines, not ‘the hook’ or the offer. The stupid envelope.

But they’re on the ball you see. If your envelope isnt opened, then nobody’s going to read your letter.

Any many a good headline, hook or offer have ended up in the bin. Look at it this way, if you convert 50% from a letter, but 80 out of 100 throw it in the bin before they read it, you’ll make 10 sales.
But if your letter’s only half as good, but 80% of the people open it, you’ll make 20 sales.
So, you gotta get it opened. And the trick is to get past the gatekeeper.

Often you’re the gatekeeper, so lets start with a bit of psychology. Just for a moment ask yourself what letters you open FIRST when you get your mail.

Well, for most people its not the bills, you know, the ones with the Origin Energy logo (or whatever energy company you use in your part of the world). And its not the ones which have the address on the back, and you can clearly see its some company trying to sell you something. And it sure as hell isnt something from ‘Civic Compliance’ in my home state of Victoria (they’re speeding fines!)
And nobody wants to be advertised to either.

So, to get it past the gatekeeper, you can’t make it look like ANY of these things.
You’ve got to make your reader curious. Wondering who sent you this letter, and why.
In short, your letter has to stand out like a lighthouse in a heavy fog.

So, printed names are out.

So are letters with a pre-paid franked stamp (like a Postage Paid sticker).
And even your return address, if it shows your reader that you’re writing from a business. This is because it puts their ‘advertising’ antenna up and put them into a ‘resistance’ mode.

Here are the things you have to do in order to get your letter opened.
• Handwritten address
Sloppy handwriting
Stamp stuck on on an angle
No return address, or just your name and street address
Large envelope (not always necessary though, but do increase curiosity)
Its got to look like a letter from somebody’s grandmother. Your prospect’s gotta get that letter and think “Who the heck sent me this letter?” These are the letters that will get opened. Nobody can resist that curiosity.
And if you’re writing to a corporate leader, then you’ve usually got a secretary/assistant to get past. This is always hard, since they often open the mail first.

A couple of good stories of things that have worked in the past include putting a $100 note into the letter, because nobody would be stupid enough to steal it. And another one in a pink envelope sprayed with perfume (nobody wants to know what that one’s all about).

Now, here’s a BIG tip:
When most people open their mail they open it from the back of the envelope. So when they open it, the first thing you want them to see when they start pulling your letter out is your HEADLINE. Hey, they’re going to know its an ad pretty fast, so you’re relying on your headline to get them in at this point. So the way you fold and pack your envelopes is critical.
So take a look next time you get a big pile of mail. Which letter do you open first? If there’s one type of letter that always gets opened FIRST, then this is how you should be addressing your mail. And I bet if you got a hand addressed envelope that looks like it was written by a 4 year old, with the stamp stuck on upside down that’s got no return address on it, THAT’S the letter you’re opening firs.t

OK, next week I’m going to give you more on this topic. Like I say, the big tip here applies to both online and offline marketers.
And that tip is that you’ve got to use every trick in the book to get your message read!

Talk to you then!

Hi there

Last week I promised something different.

What I’m going to do is tell you why I really work hard on my copywriting.

You see, I COULD be selling my own products online. I could be part of affiliate programs.

There are even ‘physical’ businesses I could be running.

Maybe you’ve heard of Jim Straw. He’s a legend in the world of direct mail. He should be. He’s been doing it for a long time.

Well, Jim wrote up a story of something that happened to him in his life when he was a young man. And it made a big impact on me. In fact, it quite literally changed the way I approach my business. You see, it taught me one thing that is so fundamentally true, that I truly believe that those who understand it are highly likely to succeed, and those who ignore it, will almost never make it .

I’ve reproduced it below. Now, its fairly long, so maybe you should grab a cuppa first. Personally, I think its such an absorbing read that I could read it upside down in a pool of piranhas and still not lose concentration.

Have you ever wondered …
“What is the major difference between people making an extra $1,000 per month and those who are making the really big money?” The answer is simple. — Well, maybe not so simple – but – over the years, I have observed that one of the greatest differences between those who achieve mediocre results … or no results … and those who start a small business and build an empire is that they have developed a …Tunnel Vision Approach! Although “tunnel vision” … represented by a closed-in and very narrow view of the objectives of the company; like looking through a tunnel …i s one of the curses of big, bureaucratic businesses, it is an absolute necessity for the beginning entrepreneur.

Too many people who want to become rich and successful never reach their goals simply because they do not develop a tunnel vision approach to their goal. Instead, they are constantly searching for that one perfect business; that one BIG deal, that will put them on Easy Street … overnight … for the rest of their life.

One week they are trying to get into the export business. The week after they want to own a franchise, or buy an apartment building, or start a mailorder business. Each new book they read creates a greener pasture for them to explore. They don’t miss out on trying any, and every, new opportunity. They manage to eke out an existence, or even achieve a modicum of success – but – they never make any real money.

Most of them keep their “day-job” while they explore opportunity after opportunity…never making a true commitment to any business…just dabbling in the business world; looking for that one big deal to give them “overnight success.” — If it wasn’t for their “day-job,” they…and their family…would starve to death.

The beginning entrepreneur who, on the other hand, develops a tunnel vision approach to making money usually makes it.
As an illustration, let me tell you a true story about my first successful full-time business…the business upon which I began building my empire.

Since the age of nine, I have been an avid reader of “how to make money” books. — Each time I read a new book, I discovered a new opportunity and chased around trying for a time to make my fortune in that field. The grass was always greener in this new pasture. After all, I had been trying my current business for a couple months and hadn’t yet made my fortune.
Back in the mid-1960s, as a result of some of my reading, and with my wife’s urging, I had opened a small retail Women’s Wig Shop. — There was supposed to be a real fortune to be made in that field.

In a few months, I had read another book and was ready to get started on yet another quick fortune. After all, I had opened the Wig Shop, like the “book writer” told me, and the world had not beaten a path to my door.

While I was explaining my proposed plans to my wife, she nearly floored me when she said, “Why don’t you just give up and let’s try to at least make a living from this Wig Shop.” (By the way, nobody ever becomes rich and successful until they “give up” and quit chasing non-existent rainbows.)

Her comment cut deep into my male ego. It intimated that I was less than a good provider and hadn’t really earned a living for us. It made me mad … mad enough that I told her, “All right, if that’s what you want, I’ll do nothing but run the Wig Shop. If it fails, we can starve together.”

In other words, I was going to show her that we couldn’t make it in the wig business. I would be right, and she would have to agree that we should have gone ahead with my latest plans.

Since I was no longer spending my time developing or investigating new plans, I had plenty of time to get involved directly in the sale of wigs in the shop.

In no time at all, I learned that I couldn’t answer the questions the customer were asking about the wigs. This led me to start reading everything I could about wigs. How they were made. Where they came from. The differences in construction. The tests of quality…what made one wig worth more than another. — All so I could answer the customers’ questions.

While I was learning these things, I also discovered that I was buying from third and fourth party dealers, and was paying entirely too much for my inventory…only allowing me a gross profit of from 25% to 40%. I found purchasing directly from the importers and manufacturers reduced my costs, and increased my profits.

Every time I got side-tracked and started working on a “new” project (outside the wig business), my wife would put it down by saying, “Look, we’re making money in the wig business. Let’s stay with it.” — Slowly but surely, with my wife’s urging, I developed that all-important tunnel vision.

To make a long story short, in less than three years I was one of the largest wig dealers in the southeastern U.S. My fortune was made. — I had bought a new Cadillac, a 14-room mansion with five bathrooms and a 20′x60′ swimming pool.
If you are now, like I was then, I can just about hear the comments running through your mind. — Hey, I’ve been there. I know what I was thinking at the time. — If your reasoning follows what mine was back then, your thoughts are probably something like this…
“If I put all my eggs in one basket, I could lose everything.”
Or…
“What if I get so involved in only one business that I miss that really big, one-time break that might come along?”
Or…
“What if the business only pays me a living wage? I’ll be trapped. I want to make a fortune, not just a living.”

Set your fears aside. If you develop and use a tunnel vision approach in any business, you will eventually make your fortune through a logical progression of accumulation, leverage and natural diversification.
I didn’t make my first fortune by only operating one wig shop. In less than six months, after I started really concentrating on, and dedicating my time to, the wig business, I had two shops, then three, then four. Each one producing more revenue, income and profit.

Then I discovered that I could buy-out whole wig shops that had bankrupted for pennies on the dollar and resell the inventory through my wig shops…at full retail prices. — I even exported some of the wigs…made in the orient…to wig dealers in other countries (at prices lower than what they would have paid if they had bought the wigs directly from the manufacturer).
Later, I began selling the bankrupted inventories to other wig dealers before I ever owned then. I didn’t even have the wigs shipped to me. I bought them on the West Coast, sold them on the East Coast, had them shipped direct, and pocketed the difference in prices. — In some cases, I just introduced the buyer to the seller and pocketed a fat finder’s fee…without ever buying or selling anything.

What I did was to take the techniques and ideas I had learned about in other businesses in which I had been involved and applied them, while staying within the scope of my tunnel vision…the wig business.

If you’ve been reading “how to make money” materials for any time at all…whether you realize it or not…you have soaked-up literally hundreds, upon hundreds, of business ideas, techniques and applications you can use in your business (no matter what that business may be).

As an example: At one time, I had thought about getting started in a “Party Plan” business. It didn’t pan out, but I applied the party plan idea to the wig business by going back to the party plan book and adjusting everything to fit my wig business.
It wasn’t unusual for one of my “wig parties” to produce from $300 to $500 in one evening. — More that a month’s salary back then.

Another book I had read told how a restaurant had increased its business by painting its building bright colors, adding banners and hand-painted signs.

So, I had the outside of one of my wig shops painted yellow, orange and red…using “day-glo” paint. The windows were painted red, green, blue and yellow in a carousel pattern. Hand-painted, brightly colored signs were everywhere…inside and out. — The business doubled overnight.

Reading about a novelty shop franchise, I had learned that they used a “loss leader”…an item they offered at cost; or less…to bring customers into the store.

Beauty salons in our area, at that time, were charging from $7.50 to $15 to style women’s wigs. So, wig styling became my “loss leader.” We did wig styling for $2…if the woman bought at least one wig from our shop.

When a woman left a wig for styling, or picked one up, we could show them new styles. They just kept buying. One lady bought over 50 wigs from us in less than 2 years. — We did all of her wig styling at $2 each…saving her a fortune in stying charges alone – plus – she was a walking advertisement for our wig shop and referred countless new customers to us.

Once I learned, developed and used a tunnel vision approach in my wig business, I made my fortune through a logical progression of accumulation, leverage and natural diversification.

“Natural diversification” catapulted me from a successful business as a wig merchant to world-renown as a writer, publisher, mailorder marketer, when I began writing articles about making money in a Wig Shop…for publication in trade magazines…then, getting paid to write similar articles for other wig merchants to help them market their wigs.

Throughout the years, I have observed that all successful business people have developed that all-important tunnel vision approach in their businesses.

So, the major difference between people making an extra $1,000 per month and the ones that make big money … the difference between beginning entrepreneurs who just eke out a living in business and those who build empires …i s that, those who succeed are those who develop and use a tunnel vision approach. The others keep thinking there has to be something else … better, more profitable … that they could be doing, so they keep looking-for it, instead of using what they have to achieve the success they want.

Give up on finding a better, more profitable opportunity. Apply yourself to the opportunity at hand…whatever it may be (selling my products, or somebody else’s). — Give-up spending your time developing or investigating new plans. — Make what you have work for you. Accumulate, leverage and diversify logically. — You won’t succeed in anything until you develop and use a tunnel vision approach in your business endeavors…as all successful business people have.
Copyright – J.F. (Jim) Straw. All rights reserved
J.F. (Jim) Straw made over One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) in less than 60 days … over $50,000 in 15 minutes … on one single deal. When he told a friend what he had done, his friend made $20,000 in 3 weeks … without any money … doing the same thing. — Find out how they did it. Visit: http://marketingyell.com/JimStraw

I hope you’ve got an insight into why I concentrate 100% on writing sales copy.

Once I read this article a couple of years ago I got ruthless with my time and projects. I canned all the little things I was working on, and just kept one, maybe two things going.

Who knows. Maybe when I’ve got more time, I’ll start another project. But for now my goal is to be as good as I can be as a copywriter, and do the very finest work I can produce for my clients.

How about you? How many projects and ideas are you working on at the moment?

Perhaps you should just focus on one of them, and let the others go. Spend your time on that one project or idea. Plan it out. Map out how its going to work.

And then during the day, or if you work, then during the evening put all the parts into manageable tasks and hit them, get them done one by one.

Because at the end of all this, you’ll have a really successful project that’s making you a lot more money than you probably thought it would. And I’ll bet it took a lot less time than you thought.

I know this is a long post, but its one hell of a lesson.

I’d love to know what you think.

Feel free to add your comments below or email me via my website.

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com
PS Next week, I’ll be telling you how to get your mail opened.

This week I want to talk to you about the difference between features and benefits, and how to write about benefits in your sales material.

Essentially, features describe the attributes of your product or service. For a product, they might be the size, colour, power, functions and so on.

For a service, it might be people’s wait time, your experience, your techniques and so on.

But a benefit actually describes what the feature will actually do for your prospect.

Let me give you a few examples.

Say you’re selling a lawnmower. Well a feature might be an adjustable handle. But that on its own doesnt actually do anything for anybody. The big benefit here is that the adjustable handle means anybody of any height can use it.

What about if you’re a medical professional. One feature of your service might be that you’ll be seen within 5 minutes of your appointment time. The benefit here is that you wont have to wait around in a waiting room for ages.

How about if you sell information products on making money online. A feature of your product might be how to write more effective emails. But the benefit here is that you will be able to get more people to read your emails, and therefore sell more products and make more money.

And how about a laptop with a brighter screen? Well, the benefit is not the brighter screen. That’s a feature. The benefit is that you’ll still be able to see it when its dark, AND you wont be affected by sun glare.

What about a car that beeps when you go over the speed limit? Again, that’s just a feature. The benefit is that you wont get any costly speeding fines.

Anyway, I could go on and on with examples, but the easiest way to remember is that features describe characteristics, and benefits describe what the characteristics will actually DO for the prospect.

So, let’s move on to how to write really strong benefits.

The easiest way to write bullets is the “SO WHAT” method.

That means, you take a feature, and you say “so what”. This forces you to think about why this feature actually means something to your prospect. Keep doing it over and over again until you can’t come up with any new answers.

Here’s EXAMPLE #1

Actually, I’m having a cup of tea at the moment, so that’ll do. Now lets say that this tea had 33% more caffeine in it. (It doesnt, but lets pretend). Now, that’s a feature, not a benefit.

So I say “So What”. And the answer is that you can stay awake longer.

OK, so I can stay awake longer, but “So What”? Well, this means I can get more work done and be more productive.

And so again I say “So What”. Well, I’ll make more money if I can do that.

And yet again, I say “So What”. But this time when I say “So What” I really can’t think about anything else.

So this tea has 33% more caffeine, which means I’ll make more money because I’ll be able to stay awake and work longer. 

Here’s EXAMPLE #2

Remember the adjustable lawnmower handle? Well, I have to ask myself “So What”.

Well if the handle adjusts, then anyone can use it, regardless of their height.

But “So What?”

Well it means that anyone can mow the lawns, so you wont always be stuck doing it.

So the benefit of the adjustable handle is that anyone can mow the lawns, so you wont always be stuck doing it.

Sounds like a good enough reason to me!

If you want to get a bit more advanced, then try describing the feelings associated with the benefit. Remember, people buy on emotions. For a refresher, go check out my earlier posts.

So for the example of the caffeine in my cup of tea, we can remind the prospect of how they’d FEEL about earning more money. So, a new benefit statement could be:
“This tea has 33% more caffeine, which means you’ll make more money because you’ll stay awake longer and be more productive. Imagine how you’d feel if you could tell your family they were going overseas on holiday this year with all the extra money you earned doing that extra work”

And for the lawnmower example, you could even try adding in some word pictures like:
“The handle adjusts for people of any height. Imagine how good you’d feel lying down on your couch watching TV on Saturday afternoon while someone else slaves away mowing the lawn for a change”

So keep a really close look at any advertising you’re writing and make sure you’re talking about benefits, not features. After all, its what your product or service can do for your prospect that will make them want to buy.

Next week I’m going to do something a little different. I’m going to reproduce a story written by a direct mail legend about focus. Its a story that has stuck with me since I first read it a few years ago, and the lesson it teaches is critical. It explains exactly why I take the approach I take to my copywriting business.

Until then, take care

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com