Sales Come First

Hi folks

You know, there’s so much you can learn about making money for your business using direct response marketing.

Just look at these articles. I was checking my old posts the other day and since I started 9 months ago I’ve written so many articles full of advice on making money that even I’m astounded.

But you know what? It all boils down to 3 things. And ONLY three things.

I remember going back a few years now I went to my first meeting with my mentor. As it happened, this guy wasnt teaching anything about marketing but was a property, offshore investment, tax and asset protection specialist. His name was Ed Burton. And I started off at his seminar and moved onto his mentoring group. Actually, its funny because the letter that GOT me to his seminar in the first place was written by Brett McFall, who later trained ME to become a copywriter.

Anyway, despite the entire alphabet after his name, and having built up (and sold) two tax businesses worth 7 figures, it turns out that Ed’s REAL specialty was direct marketing. So much so in fact that he was routinely spending tens of thousands of dollars a year on mentoring. Now if you’ve heard of Dan Kennedy you’d know that he has an insider circle so hard to get into that you’re up for probably $20,000-$30,000 a year, maybe more…and he was in that group. And he’d spend 24 hours on a plane, spend one day with Dan and fly home the next day. And it was worth every cent!

So when Ed Burton talked about marketing…I listened. And to this day I can still remember things he handed out or tips he gave, even though I can hardly remember where I put my keys!

So what I’m about to tell you about these 3 things is VERY important, because if you work on these 3 things in your business, success is virtually guaranteed. And so they form a template for how you go about building your business. And it doesn’t matter a damn whether online or a conventional business.

The first thing is the LIST.

If you want to make money you need to be selling to qualified prospects. People who have the problem your product or service solves, who are desperate to get it solved and who have the money to pay for that solution. That’s why segmented lists from list brokers are critical, or the media you select to run your ads. Or the way you promote your products online to build up a database of interested prospects, because there’s no value in a huge list of people who don’t give a damn about your product. Do you have a referral system in place to get access to MORE people who want what you’re selling? And even more importantly, do you have a strategy for contacting your list and keeping them keen, or are you letting all your high quality prospects run away to your competitors?

The second thing is the MESSAGE.

This is my job. And its about how you communicate what you’ve got to your prospects. Have you grabbed them by the eyeballs? Built rapport with them? Are you talking to them in a conversational tone? This is where you build on the pain they’re feeling about their problem and (ta-da!) come in as the white knight to the rescue. I could go on and on (and on) about writing copy, but I dont think my fingers would last and besides, there’s 9 months worth of posts everything to do with copywriting like testimonials and other proof, guarantees, formatting and even obscure gems on the double readership path and PSs. So make sure you study up, and if you’ve got any questions, feel free to ask me.

But you gotta get that message right, because sales copy that sings will instantly connect with your prospect, and have them whipping out their credit card or jumping on the phone to do business with you.

The third thing is the OFFER.

I love the expression about being able to sell ice to the eskimos. Because its such B.S. Nobody, and I dont care who they are, NOBODY can sell ice to the eskimos. Why? Because they’re surrounded by the stuff. They’ve got as much of it as they want…for FREE.

So if you’re selling wrinkle cream to teenagers, weight loss to skinny people or financial advice to people with no job or assets then you’re wasting your time. You’ve got to have something people desperately want. Something that solves a problem and does it at a price they can’t refuse. What else can you offer? How about a free consultation or yearly audit of their situation. How about a regular newsletter? If you’re online what about bonus items or even personal access to YOU! And don’t forget a powerful, irresistable guarantee. You’ve got to make what you’re offering so damn good that they’d be a fair dinkum certified IDIOT if they DIDN’T take you up on it.

So there you have it. List. Message. Offer. It was drummed into me by one of the best in the business and if you live and breathe LIST, MESSAGE, OFFER in your business you can’t go wrong.

Next week I’m going to reveal what a decades old beer ad can teach you about crushing your opposition like a helpless aluminium meeting ‘Mr Sledgehammer’. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that an Australian brewery has copied this ad for their TV campaign, and how they’ve got it embarrassingly, laughably WRONG!

All the best,

Hugh

PS I don’t know how much it costs to get into Dan Kennedy’s inner most circle nowadays, but Alan Forrest Smith has a similar group that costs $100,000 a year to get into. So when you go to bed tonight, just think about how much money there is out there for the person at the top of their profession. And given that 95% of businesses DON’T have a clue about this kind of stuff, imagine the possibilities if you just applied some of the basics, build your business up, appointed yourself the #1 person in your field and started teaching other people what you did! And since most coaching programs I see sit around $300 a month, it doesnt take too many people to make SERIOUS money for surprisingly little ongoing effort!

I’m a member of several groups and I see inside of a whole lot more so if you’re interested in me giving you the inside scoop on how coaching programs are structured, shoot me an email at hugh@salescomefirst.com or leave a comment and I’ll give you the inside running in a couple of weeks time.

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>

Back to it folks. And when I say ‘it’ I mean a bit of good old fashioned marketing.

But before I get into it I want to tell you about a conversation I had with a subscriber last week.

But before I tell you I want to make it clear that this is for your information only. I dont get anything out of it. But it was way too cool NOT to share with you.

Basically the business this guy is involved with is sending cards to people over the internet. Hang on, I bet you’re thinking e-Cards, arent you. Well I don’t mean e-Cards. I mean PHYSICAL cardboard ones. You can select the card from thousands of designs and write whatever you want in it. You can put in pictures and even upload your own fonts of your handwriting so you can do cards that appear handwritten. I can’t remember exactly what it costs but from memory it was well under $2 per card (for a card you’d spend at least $5 on from the newsagents) and that is for the card, in an envelope (all addressed with your return address on it too) and a LIVE stamp all posted.

Also, you can upload a list of names and addresses to it and it will send out a customised card to everyone on your list. Brilliant for Christmas cards to your clients and for regular promotions you run. Even better, you can do basic sequencing so you can get it to send out cards on a pre-defined schedule. For example a mortgage broker can send a card to a client 12 months after they got their loan offering to do a free review of their situation. Or a dentist can send out a card as a reminder that their next appointment is due. You see, you need a retention strategy in your business, and this one is fully automated. Imagine how your customers and clients will feel when they receive a regular card in the mail from you which contains a powerful offer.

Anyway, I think its awesome and something you should definitely check out if you’re in a conventional business. If you’re interested, shoot me an email and I’ll put you in touch with Martin.

OK. Now, onto the topic at hand which is LUMPY MAIL. Lumpy mail is mail which contains something that people can feel through the envelope. If you want to boost opening rates then your #1 weapon is curiosity. Get your prospect opening their letterbox busting to open your letter. First of all, you should be applying the techniques I taught you here:

http://salescomefirst.com/getting-your-mail-opened/

and here:
http://salescomefirst.com/how-to-get-your-mail-opened-part-ii/

Just remember, if there’s one thing more important than your headline, its how you address and pack your mail. After all, if you want people to read your letter, they’ve got to open the damned envelope first, right?

And if you make them curious about what’s in your mail then its an even better chance they’ll open it. And that’s why its even better if you use something that people can feel through the envelope. Something that makes your envelope stand out from the pile of flat mail they’ve grabbed from their letterbox.

That’ll have ‘em ripping it open!

Here’s a few examples. A key attached to a mortgage broker’s letter. Or a coin to remind people about wealth. How about a little egg timer if you’re reminding them about a time limited offer.

What about a tea bag, and then ask them to take the phone off the hook, sit down with a cup of tea and read your entire letter because ‘really is that important’.

How about a bag of sand or dirt if you’re talking about real estate, or the beach lifestyle your business can offer.

What’s important here is that it can be felt through the envelope so people are hanging to know what’s in there.

Here’s another tip…

Be careful that what you send doesnt get broken. So nothing fragile, and nothing that can split open in transit. I’ve heard of an envelope full of hundreds and thousands, or a crushed asprin tablet.

OK, I admit. Its a little bit more work. But hey, you’re in business here folks and if you can get more people to read your letter then it’ll end up meaning more money in your pocket.

Bottom line is this. We all get a heap of mail each day. And most of it get sorted above the rubbish bin. At home I dont even bring any mail I dont want inside the house. Heaps of it goes unopened. So if you want to get your mail opened then you’ve got to take those extra steps to get people tearing your envelopes open!

Next week I’m going to get even more back to basics. You see, when you pull it all apart your promotion depends on 3 (and only 3) things. I’ll let you know what those three things are, because if you focus on each of them you’ll put more money in your bank account than you ever dreamt of.

Until then, all the best

Hugh Thyer
www.salescomefirst.com

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>

Hi folks

Last week I told you the first big mistake I see people make when they start reselling somebody else’s products.

If you missed it you can get it here:
http://salescomefirst.com/what-to-watch-out-for-if-you-have-rights-to-sell-somebody-elses-product/

OK, this week I’m going to tell you the second big mistake I see people make. Actually this one’s not JUST limited to people reselling products. In fact I see it with all sorts of products.

And that’s a lack of a solid marketing plan.

People come to you with a product they want to sell and you write the sales letter. But sometimes its pretty obvious that they haven’t figured out where all the leads are going to come from. Often they’re just running a lead gen ad in a local paper, or relying on SEO to do it. But the truth is that a marketing plan is often missing in these businesses whereas it should be there from THE BEGINNING!

About a month ago I wrote about this about marketing systems:
http://salescomefirst.com/systems/

What it shows is that you need a really solid way of-
a) attracting people to your site with an irresistable offer (there’s heaps of ways to do this)
b) getting them to register their interest (it could be a free report, 5 day mini-course or something else entirely)
c) selling to them
d) trying a few more times to get them to buy
e) sell them something else if they’re not interested, and
f) if the buy, then they join a whole new sequence for upsells to other offerings

In fact, I could easily write more steps here including joint ventures, getting referrals and so on.

And while I’m getting into it, there are heaps of ways to attract people in step (a) as well. You’ve got SEO, joint ventures, pay-per-click campaigns, newspaper and magazine ads, publishing articles, sharing them around, answering questions on sites like Yahoo Answers, blogging, uploading videos to YouTube. There’s heaps of ways to get traffic.

But I can sometimes tell that people who I write for lack a plan for getting traffic and turning it into $$$.

So my advice is this. BEFORE you decide to resell other people’s products, make sure you’ve got a plan in place for doing this. Remember, internet marketing isn’t always easy. It can take a lot of work to get up and running. And if you’re not prepared to sit down and work it all out first then you’re probably destined to waste a lot of money…and worst still…you’ll waste a lot of TIME!

The good news is if you’re worked it all out and you’ve got time aside in your schedule to put your plan into action then odds are you’ll be well ahead of 90% of the people you’re competing against.

Next week I’m going to jump off the internet entirely and go back to good old fashioned paper and ink.

It’s time to talk lumpy mail, and how to get more people to rip your mail open, busting to see what’s inside the envelope.

I’ll talk to you all next week.

As always, your feedback and comments are always greatly appreciated.

Hugh

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>

Hi there, and a big welcome to all of Jim Straw’s subscribers who may be reading these posts for the first time.

Actually, I’m such a big fan of Jim’s I reproduced one of his stories here:

http://salescomefirst.com/this-is-the-1-lesson-i-ever-learnt-about-business/

If you haven’t read it, then do it. You’ll have a sparkling new clarity about the direction you’re going in business.

Also, I’ve got Jim’s mail order course. If you want to make it in mail order then get this manual. Its about $50. AND its just as applicable to online and offline businesses. Real fundamentals here folks.

OK, on to what I mentioned last week, and I guess it comes from some frustration I’m having right now writing for a client. Actually the client’s great, but the dilemna is a doozy. (I’ll tell you what I’ve done to get around it too at the end).

The client’s got the resell rights to a set of DVDs on how to make money on the internet, but I wont mention the niche. Anyway, as you probably know, one of the big challenges when you’re writing copy is PROVING the claims you make. If you can’t do it, then you’re kinda stuffed. Problem is, he doesnt really have any proof.

Now, before I go on, there are plenty of types of proof you can use. There’s written testimonials, audio testimonials, video testimonials, screen captures of bank balances, pictures of people enjoying the success they’ve had, quotes from reports and so on. But the problem is that this guy got the product, but DIDN’T get any proof from the seller.

Uh-oh, big problem here for the copywriter, because while I can make claims about what the product’s going to do for the purchaser, but I can’t really PROVE any of them.

So, that’s the first big lesson I want you to learn about buying resell rights. Make sure you’ve got all the ammo you need to sell it. And if you don’t have proof that the product works then you’re fighting with one hand tied behind your back. So if the product you’re looking at doesn’t have all the sales copy written for you, OR it doesn’t have a sales package containing evidence you can use then its best to look for a better opportunity. Of course, sometimes the seller may provide these things if you ask them, but do this BEFORE you buy.

Just be careful about using testimonials from their website. This could land you in hot water because the vendor has permission from the person who gave the testimonial to use it. YOU DON’T. So dont go and grab them.

I’ve got the rights to sell Brett McFall’s Ad Camp DVD. Now this one WORKS beautifully, because not only did it come with a sales letter all written out, but I can use the testimonials, screen shots etc from it for my own lead generation ads or sales letters to sell it. It also comes with a page of information on what I can and can’t say about Brett McFall. So in this case, I’ve got all the firepower I need to get out there and sell it. (If you want more info on this, let me know).

But this poor guy hasn’t got much, so its taken some creative thinking to get around the problem. And what I’ve done is far from perfect, but its all I can do under the circumstances.

1. I’ve got all sorts of information about the size of this market. How much money is being spent in it, how many people are involved in it etc.

2. I’ve looked through youtube and found other people telling their success stories. I’ve been able to paraphrase these, because the stories are in the public domain. I haven’t identified the people apart from their first names and have simply retold their stories. I haven’t linked to the videos.

3. There are a couple of stories that the presenter tells in the DVD, so I can retell these too. Remember, its only an outline I’m telling (for example, “The mother of 3 that Mr X taught that now turns over $25,000 a month online. Now she and her husband are living their dream of raising their children instead of leaving them in dreaded Childcare”

4. Provide proof about the market. I can prove how big the market is, how many people are making money in it and how many people are spending money in it.

OK, now I told you there was a second part to this story. That part is coming up next week but it tells you what you need to think about BEFORE committing any time or money to a business selling information related products.

Until then, all the best,

Hugh Thyer

PS If YOU’VE got any more ideas about how to provide proof of your claims without any testimonials, please let a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>

Hi there

You know what? I’m annoyed at something. Something to do with the resell rights people often purchase (or end up with) for various products.

And I’ve really got to get it off my chest. BUT as a man of my word I’m going to stick with what I promised last week and store it all up for next week (and the week after actually). But let me say this. If you’ve ever considered buying the resell rights to a product OR you own the rights and want to have a crack at selling it, then watch out for what I have to tell you…because I’m going to save you a LOT of time and frustration.

OK, now to the business at hand. The humble Post Script.

Actually, the PS isn’t that humble at all. It sits there at the bottom of your sales letter like an anchor, and its extremely important because surprisingly its one of the most often read things in a sales letter. I must confess I don’t know why this is. Perhaps its because people like to flip to the last page to look at the price or offer and it just stands out. Perhaps ‘PS’ suggests it will revealing something new and important. Anyway, the reason why isn’t important right now.

What’s important is that the use of a PS has been tested and proven to be extremely important.

Now, your PSs should include the most important things in your sales copy. So they should emphasise key elements of your message. For example your guarantee, offer or scarcity (why your offer is limited).

Also, you should have an odd number of PSs. So use 1 or 3, but never 2 or 4.

Now, here are the 5 most powerful PSs you can use.

1. Build urgency – get them to understand they must order/book straight away
2. Throw in a surprise benefit – If you’re in a service industry, remind them of another benefit of using you and how you’ll deliver. If its a product then you could tell them about the unexpected benefit an other purchaser discovered
3. Throw in another bonus – If its a seminar it could be another speaker or session. If its a product then it could be another bonus item
4. Summarise your offer – remind them of what they’re getting, what its worth and then…remind them how much they’re going pay
5. Restate the guarantee – a strong guarantee is a big selling point, so make sure you reassure your prospects that they’re protected if their purchase doesnt live up to their expectations

Anyway, its only a short one this week, but its an important one.

But don’t think for one moment that your business or product is different, and this stuff wont work for you. It will. Just learn the lessons from here and implement them. You’ll be very grateful that you did.

OK. Now keep your eyes on your inbox next week for the first part of my two part piece on what to watch out for when reselling products.

All the best,

Hugh

PS Don’t forget that the biggest thing you can get out of these entries is TAKING ACTION. Go on, if you’ve got a current sales letter or web page out now, open it straight away and put in a PS or 3. Then its done. Taking action is as simple as that…not making excuses about why you should do it later instead of now.

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>