Sales Come First

Some people should know better.

Last week I got a call from a well know property investing group out of Melbourne, only a jump away from where I live.

I won’t name them but their directory knows a thing or two about direct response. A few years ago when I first came across them they’d paid one of Australia’s highest paid copywriters to produce some space ads and a free report for them. They had a well established process for getting leads and converting them.

Anyway they called me and told me they were having their final evening seminar in Melbourne for a while. Things were going well so their director was taking it around the country. And did I want to go?

Well actually I didn’t want to go. Nothing personal. Just didn’t want to go. So they tried to encourage me to go. No problem there.

And then they gave up.

Have you spotted the lost opportunity yet?

OK. Well the thing they neglected to remember is that the value of their business is in their list, or rather the relationship they have with their list. So if I didn’t want to go to the seminar, why didn’t they offer me something else to at least keep the relationship strong? Sure, I might not have wanted to go because I don’t like them. But I also might not have gone because I had something else on, my car was not on the road or it was simply too far away.

And it’s important to keep the relationship strong, because you never know when a non-buyer will become a buyer.

What would you have done?

Here’s what I would have done if I were doing the calling.

“Since you can’t be at the seminar, <director>’s summarised the strategies in a free report (or CD or DVD). I know not everyone can come but he’d really like to let as many people know about where the property market’s heading in the next 2 years, and what you can do to capitalise. Would you like me to send you a copy?”

That way they get their information into my hot little hands, and if I like what I see I might still use their services.

Plus they’ve given me something of value, so I’d be more likely to use them in the future.

But most of all, they’ve strengthened our relationship and turned the fact that I wasn’t attending into a positive.

What do you have in place as a backup option? Do you have a free report, or something else of value for people who have told you they’re interested, but may not be ready to purchase yet? Do you have lots of quality information going out to them?

Having a backup option for situations like this can strengthen the relationship with your list enormously. This would have put the ‘maybe’ people a lot closer to becoming ‘Yes’ people. And a stronger list means a stronger business.

Next week I’m going to talk about your initial offer to prospects. Kind of relevant after this, don’t you think?

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>

This is a widely distributed and followed formula for writing sales copy. It’s basic and easy to follow. I wanted to reproduce it here because if you want to write your own sales copy then you’ll get a pretty good result just by following it step by step.

So print it out and keep it handy. It will serve you well and it just might save you some copywriting fees along the way!

Let me know your thoughts on it.

David Frey’s 12 Step Foolproof Sales Letter Template

Well here it is, 2011 and given it’s time for New Years Resolutions, I’m going to make sure you get more regular ideas and tips from me.

So to begin with, I wanted to give you my personal thoughts on the things that will make a BIG difference to you in 2011.

I study what works very closely and this is where I’m going in 2011. I’m also going to be directing my clients down these paths too.

One thing about me is I’m not what you’d call an early adopter. I need to see something in place and working before I do it. I let others do the testing because it saves me time, slashes the risk involved for me and lets other smart people work out how to make it work first.

Facebook is a great example. I’ve only been there for a few months, and I’ve used that time stalking the big guys and girls. Watching what they’re doing and seeing what works. And even talking to them about what they’ve done. So now I’m there my learning curve has been cut dramatically.

So here are the things that will be big for me, my clients and for you in 2011.

1. Video is growing more and more popular and getting great results. But don’t think that because it’s not written down you don’t need to use a copywriter, or study copywriting to do it well. However it’s easier for non-copywriters to produce copy that sells, especially if you’ve got the systems I have.

2. Personal branding, as opposed to image based brand awareness is still an easy way to dominate your market. It’s not easy to do but once you identify who your clients are you can position yourself as the expert for that niche.

3. Customer re-activation is the fastest and easiest way to get money coming in the door…without exception. Don’t waste your time or money looking for new clients until you’ve exhausted your current list. It’s as simple as writing a letter to people you haven’t heard from in a while and making them an exceptional offer to start using you again.

4. Building a list of products, even if you sell services. I’m going to add some products to my list, including another level of consultancy which may come with a product. It’s important to let people try you out first, so these products let people work with me a little bit before committing further. Products also mean making money without trading hours for it.

5. Facebook. Right now I’m setting up a fan page and will be talking more and more with my friends on facebook. You can friend me too. Just look up Hugh Thyer. I’d love to hear from you. I know a lot of people who are making a lot of great business contacts through Facebook, and it’s proven to be a terrific media to keep connected.

I’d love to hear what your top priorities for 2011 are. As always, all feedback is appreciated. Even if you don’t agree with what I say.

Next week I’m going to share a 12 step sales letter writing system. It’s not mine, but I’ll give it to you and give you a couple of pointers too. If you’re planning to write your own sales copy, this template is a must have, so be on the lookout for it. And, just to see how many people are reading to the bottom, if you send me an email (hugh@salescomefirst.com) I’ll send you the link in advance.

All the best,

Hugh

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

Can you learn a lesson from a children’s entertainment group?

What if that group were one of the highest earning groups in the country, earning around $45m last year. Not bad for a bunch of guys in coloured skivvies.

But while you might think The Wiggles are paid for jumping around and singing songs for little kids (mine are crazy about them) take a second to peel back the layers and work out why they’re so good at it.

Looking at a model starting with a free offering and working up to a high end offering it goes:

Free to air TV shows. And while most would want top $ for being on TV, but I’m sure they’d do it for free because of what comes next…

- DVDs, books and CDs

- Live shows

- Merchandise in shops and from shows

- Wiggles World fun parks

So the kids see them on TV, buy the DVDs, books and CDs…then they buy all the Wiggles clothes and other merchandise…then go to the shows (where they also buy more merchandise).

And it gets even better because they’ve got spin offs from the other characters like the Dorothy the Dinosaur live show featuring the other characters, but not the actual Wiggles themselves. And what they do on TV goes back into the DVDs.

But here’s what gets me excited…

They’ve developed a system for doing this in different countries too, so now their success can go global with Wiggles franchises in different countries, cultures and languages.

Impressed? I sure am.

So what can you learn from this?

First, just about anything can be productised. Most children’s entertainment groups make a living when they get on TV. But the Wiggles have turned his model on it’s head. That’s the ‘freebie’ to get people involved.

And second, the system and model is critical. A bit of imaginative thinking can let any business grow exponentially just by thinking about how they can package themselves into a sellable form. Something that can be replicated, so you you don’t trade hours for $. And this means things like coaching and so on shouldn’t be out of the question.

I really like The Wiggles. They bring a sense of quite to our house. But I admire them more for how they make $45 million a year, even if they want to take a month off to sit on a beach.

All the best,

Hugh

If I was a plumber my house would be flooded. There’d be leaky pipes everywhere. Good thing that I’m not!

But then again as a copywriter I’ve been as guilty as the next person of neglecting my own business. And while I help my clients grow their businesses by targeting the right prospects and getting the message to market match spot on, I’ve been ignoring my own business.

But over the last couple of weeks I’ve had reason to take some time thinking about my own business and it seemed the ideal time to tell you what I’m doing and why.

Right now I’m generally targeting anyone and anybody. And this really isn’t the best strategy. So what I did was take some time out and realise that my ideal client is:

a) in business

b) wants to grow their business quickly, and

c) doesn’t want to fight with their competition. They want to leap frog straight to the top.

So if I go after these people I’m going to end up with clients who appreciate what I do, want to build whole systems (which means I develop a long term relationship), are as enthusiastic as me (or even more) and trust me to do ‘my thing’.

They get someone who’s going to help them get to where they want to go.

And I get people who are keen, appreciative and want long term relationships.

So, everyone wins, right?

OK. Cool so far.

But here’s the bit where it gets scary, but you have to do it…

…because if you don’t, the REAL money will keep eluding you.

You have to be prepared to let go of a lot of your clients and your prospects. Because if they don’t fit the mould of your ideal prospect then they won’t make you any money. Worst of all, they’re going to actually COST you money. Time and money talking to them. Time and money dealing with them. And yes it gets worse. Because you’ll have to adapt your product or offering to please everyone. And this means you don’t give the best value to people who ARE you ideal client.

Here’s an example. Say you have a product on time management. I’d say you could sell it for $17.

But what if it was Time Management for Managers? Probably get $37 for it.

And Time Management for Senior Managers Who Spend Most Of Their Time Travelling? Now we’ve got something worth $67.

Sure, you won’t sell it to the people who used to buy it, but you’re now selling it for more. And you’ve got a more tightly defined niche which makes it easier to find buyers. And of course since you’ve niched it down you can find out what your new market really wants and give it to them more easily. Plus you can target your language more specifically to them so you get an even better response.

Win-win, yes?

Better still, you won’t just be earning more money, but you’ll be happier working with the people you want to work with!

Over the next few weeks you’re going to see a few changes. My website’s being updated and my message will be far more targeted. So will my free offerings (although I’ll keep these articles going because I love helping people out with them). But I’ll be adding another free offering, and making more use of an offering I’ve currently got, but making it more a part of my overall system. And I’ll be writing more articles on it as I go. Don’t worry, I’ll explain what I’ve done when it all goes live because there’s lessons to be learnt from it.

All the best,

Hugh

 Hi folks

I’ve been writing these articles for a while now and I was looking back at them the other day and I realised how much information there is in there.

So I thought “What the hell. Why not make it a bit easier for you all”.

Now, I have to warn you, there is a LOT more to writing copy than this. I could list all sorts of things, like different ‘copy clicks’ you can use to build up your letter, future pacing, even the formatting of subheadings. In fact, I could go on and on about all sorts of tiny details. In my world, the use of one word over another becomes critical, almost an obsession. In fact I’ve got word documents full of expressions for different markets and 3 books full of words and phrases that are used for selling.

But even in the archives of this blog you’ll find heaps of hints, tips and ideas you can use to make your sales copy pack a bigger punch than Mike Tyson.

But for now, these are the most important things you need to get right. They’re the main things you should have in your letter.

These are the 9 most important articles I’ve written to date on the specifics of writing copy, so enjoy…

Now, lets not forget that your sales page is part of a bigger picture, so keep it in the front of your mind.

http://salescomefirst.com/systems/

Now, lets get your damned envelope open. Probably not as relevant in the internet market but important none the less…

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

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

OK, lets grab ‘em by the eyeballs and force them to read!

http://salescomefirst.com/how-to-get-your-ads-and-sales-letters-read/

Make sure you write in a way that’s going to make people want to read…

http://salescomefirst.com/a-simpler-and-more-effective-way-to-write-your-advertisment/

Don’t forget to PROVE your point

http://salescomefirst.com/why-testimonials-mean-lots-of-customers-for-your-business/

And make an absolutely irresistable offer

http://salescomefirst.com/how-to-create-an-irresistable-offer/

Want to convince people? You’ll never do it if you’re not prepared to put your money where your mouth is with an exciting, compelling guarantee

http://salescomefirst.com/how-to-use-guarantees-to-increase-your-sales/

And finally, ASK FOR THE MONEY!

http://salescomefirst.com/writing-order-forms/

As you can see, there’s so much information for you to go on there that you’ll be able to write solid sales copy IF you follow it.

Of course, there are heaps of different articles in my blog that cover so many topics on writing copy and marketing so jump in and check them out too!

Now, the articles I’ve linked to here are good information. But they’re the tip of the iceberg as far as sales copy is concerned. They’re just the start of your journey.

To give you an idea what’s involved in making the step to writing top quality copy next week I’m going to let you in on how much study and education I do in a typical week.

You’d be surprised how much you need to do. And what’s more, even the world’s top copywriters do as much or even MORE than me!

Keep an eye out for it.

All the best, 

Hugh

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

Hi folks,

When I was young(er) I rowed. And the thing with rowing was how easy it looked from outside the boat. You watched the senior crews training and it all looked so effortless. Just put the oar in the water, pull back and do it again. In fact I wondered why the top crews even needed to train so much. They knew what they were doing.

And so when I first jumped into a boat to give it a go, I thought I’d pick it up easily. Let me tell you we had a boat full of kids doing all sorts of different things. Nobody was co-ordinated or in time, and the boat barely went straight. In fact, it barely went at all! Oars and arms and legs were all over the place.

You see, often things done really well look really easy. Actually, I’m convinced that the easier something looks the harder it is and the more work somebody had to put in. Like watching cricket or football, soccer or tennis. Those pros make it looks really easy. But how many hours do you think they spent in the cricket nets, or taking shots on goal or belting a tennis ball to different parts of a court. The better they are, the more time they spent and the easier they make it look.

And so I wanted to share with you how much work it takes to be a good copywriter. The best copywriters in the world produce sales copy that feels like they just dictated a conversation. All so eay. Anyone can do that! I remember the first time I tried to write sales copy. Man what an embarrassment. I sat down ready to write like Gary Halbert and nothing came out. I didnt know where to start. I wrote a sentence then deleted it. Another sentence then deleted it again. Couldn’t believe how hard it was.

So it was back to study for me. In my time I’ve read countless books, manuals, attended seminars, been part of coaching groups, downloaded audio and listened to them in the car, watched seminars on DVD – pen and paper in hand, read transcripts of coaching sessions, been coached. You name it, I’ve done it.

I spend easily $10,000 – $15,000 a year educating myself. Several mornings a week are put aside without exception to study my art. I watch seminars on DVD or read books or copy out sales letters by hand. And the benefits have been dramatic. You see, the reality is that every word or sentence written is carefully considered. Nothing happens by accident. And all that has to be learnt by hard work and study. As I study I implement the ideas and concepts.

The reason is simple, and let me jump back to sport for a second again. I am a runner, and I watch a lot of marathon runners training (too far for me personally!) The ones that fascinate me are the ones who run at the same pace day after day without ever changing it. What do you think happens? They run the same time for their marathon every time they go out there. They’re stuck at the one pace. The only way they can improve is to push their limits and boundaries. Run faster sometimes, or run further. Go over some hills. If they just push themselves beyond their one pace then new personal bests are just around the corner.

Its the same for people in business too. If I never learnt new things or tried new ideas I would have stayed at the same level. Even now I learn every day. Its the same for you too. You should become a student of direct response marketing in your own business. Learn what works and how the best in the business do it. Pay to sit at the foot of the master and be taught. Because everyone who has done this diligently has become successful. And the more money they spent on a quality education the more money came their way.

So take my advise and put time aside each week to learn this stuff. Buy some manuals and courses. Get a mentor. Experiment. Read, watch DVDs, listen to the experts.

One of my mentors is one of Australia’s top copywriters, and do you think he’s learnt everything he can? No way. He STILL reads for hours a week, attends seminars and has mentors of his own. Nobody should ever think they know enough to stop learning. Once you do that, you’re finished.  

Just be careful of two things.

1. The people you take advice from. For example, taking advise on internet forums is dangerous because you dont know who’s giving it, and

2. Borrowing training materials, getting a copy of materials others have paid for or getting your hands on material for nothing that you know you should have paid for. Maybe you understand why I say this. If you dont, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll explain it further…

Next week I’m going to introduce you to a couple more ‘copy clicks’. This is where I open up the copywriters toolbox and show you the tools we use to create winning promotions.

All the best,

Hugh

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

…I’d be run out of town.

That’s because a good magician NEVER reveals their tricks. Well I’m opening up my bag of tricks here and I’ve found a couple of great tricks that you’ll just love.

Why? Because they’re easy to understand and even easier to implement. Plus they’re critical if you want to break down your prospect’s defences so they’ll let you in.

***BUT I HAVE TO WARN YOU FIRST***

Some people WILL be offended by this post. If you’ve got sensitive skin, you better stop reading now because I don’t want to wake up tomorrow to an inbox full of unsubscribers.

OK, since you’re still reading let’s begin. It’s called “Its Not Your Fault”. You see, as business owners, marketers, entrepreneurs we all take responsibility for our actions. We know our success AND failures are a direct result of our actions. In short, if we fail…it’s generally OUR fault! But you can’t tell your prospect that, can you.

Imagine how your diet prospect will feel when you tell them its THEIR fault they’re overweight, or never succeeded at a diet. May as well kiss that sale goodbye. You have to tell them its not their fault. That the diet industry is out to get them. That they want you to fail. Rightly or wrongly this is what they want to hear, and if you tell them this they’ll listen to you.

If you’re in the financial industry you have to tell them it’s not THEIR fault they’re poor. Its those barstads at the bank, or the people behind the stock market who stole all their money, or their financial planner who gave them bad advice. Tell them this and they’ll be looking at you for salvation.

So make sure you take the blame away from them. Even if it IS their fault, make sure you tell them its not. If you blame them for their problem then you’ve got no hope of bonding with them, and making the sale.

Second, the power of Frequently Asked Questions. The FAQ in your marketing is often a critical factor. Especially in a hard mailing. Its because people have objections to the sale, and the FAQ is where they can go to have those objections overcome. Its a popular piece of any mailing, so make sure you use it.

Remember, your FAQ is to solve objections. If your prospects ask the same questions over and over, they’re telling you why you haven’t got their money. So make sure you include a FAQ sheet in any offline promotion. And even if you don’t have the questions, just make the questions up based on what YOU think the biggest objections are.

For online promotions you can still have a FAQ section in your sales page. Only difference is its in your main page.

Here’s a couple of notes for FAQ pages.

1. List the questions you answer at the top. It makes it much easier for your prospect to find the question they’re after.

2. Put a call to action on each page. Whether you remind them on the footer of have it as some of the questions doesn’t matter. What matters is you remember that the FAQs are part of your sales process, so make sure they’re doing the job for you.

OK, its time to close up the trick bag again, and next week I’m going to show you two really great ways to open your sales letters.

All the best,

Hugh

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

First of all a bit of a warning.

Not long ago I wrote about the importance of educating yourself. And I mentioned books, CDs, DVDs as places you could learn about copywriting and marketing.

But one place I didn’t mention was online forums. And there’s a very good reason for it too.

You see, you never know WHO is giving the advice on these forums. OK, if you’re there long enough you get to know the people who know what they’re talking about and those who don’t. But for most people its difficult to know who the experts are.

Look. I’ve seen enough advice on these forums to be positively dangerous. I remember one thread where people were complimenting someone on their sales copy until someone (who actually knew what they were talking about) stepped in and set them all straight.

So unless you know who is giving you advice, its best ignored.

Now, this week I want to go through something that I’ve written about several times before. Its the opening of your sales letter or page.
That’s because the opening part of your sales copy is so damned important it cannot be left to chance. When I write, I probably spend about 50% of my time on the first page, or for online copy the first screen.

If you don’t grab their attention and get their interest straight away then its game over. The prospect’s gone and they ain’t coming back. All you’re left with is the sound of their money flying away into the distance.

Now, I’ve written about the importance of your headline recently so I wont cover that again. But what I want to cover is what happens straight after that.

As you know, your headline’s job is to get people to read the first line. And the job of the first line is to get them to read the first paragraph. And of course, the job of the first paragraph is to get them to read the rest.

So instead of giving you loads of theory on how to write openings, why dont I just give you some easy to copy openings you can use right away. After all, copywriting’s all about using proven principles and formulas and here’s a few you can use straight out of the box.

1. Use a grabber. I wont go into the grabbers themselves, because I wrote about it here:

http://salescomefirst.com/lumpy-mail/

But the way you open with a grabber is (using a poker chip as an example):

“As you can see I have attached a poker chip to the top of this letter.

Why have I done this?

Well, for two reasons actually. The first is to get your attention, and I think I’ve done that.

The second is because most people are taking a far bigger gamble on their health than they realise, so I wanted you to think about whether YOU’RE taking a big risk with yours.”

Another proven opening is the if…then opening. Here’s an example

“If you’re worried that your superannuation fund may not be enough for retirement then this may be the most important letter you’ll ever read. Here’s why…”

The third one I’m going to give you is the Wall Street Journal opening. I won’t reproduce it all here but the opening itself is:

“On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better than average students, both were personable and both–as young graduates are–were filled with ambitious dreams for the future.”

And it goes on from there by describing how one person is very successful and the other is not. The difference, of course, is that one used your product and the other didnt.

Now these three openings are as old as the hills, but guess what. They still work! I use these very regularly myself and I’m not the only one.

One of my aims of these posts is to teach you what works and what doesn’t so you dont have to waste time trying and falling over on your own. So this one is another gold nugget that should get you writing good copy heaps faster.

Next week I’m going to talk about the role of the internet in your business. Is it your business, and if its not, what IS your business?

All the best,

Hugh

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

I’m writing this in the middle of the week, not when I usually write my articles.

And the reason for this is because I’m pissed off. I’m really irritated at the blinkered mentality of so many people who are getting into business and just DON’T understand what business they’re in!

Now I’m confident that YOU, my reader understands this, but sad to say that 90% of businesses out there DON’T understand this.

It doesnt matter whether you sell cars, service photocopiers, plan weddings, sell eBooks or sell real estate. You are NOT in those businesses.

You are in the RELATIONSHIP business. Developing and fostering long term relationships and trus with your clients. Getting them to see the value in what you have to offer. Getting them to trust you and believe in you. They are your flock. YOUR clients.

And the real kicker has been over the topic of emails lately. I keep coming up against a wall of objection whenever I dare mention sending anything via *gasp* the post! I hope you haven’t just falled off your chair at the mere mention of old fashioned paper. Yes. That’s right…PAPER and INK.

People keep telling me that emails are better. You can track email responses, people prefer to read emails, and they’re more cost effective.

And you know what? They’re right! But let me also say this. Even though they’re right, they are dangerous to your business.

1. You can track email responses. OK. So what. People are more likely to delete your emails than read them. What’s the use of a bunch of statistics showing me that people are opening them? What help is it if I know bugger all people are opening my emails. I want READERSHIP not statistics. I’d rather not have the hard numbers, than have raw numbers showing me I’m doing the wrong thing. Physical mail works, the best marketers in the world have PROVEN time and time again. People like Dan Kennedy and Pete Godfrey. And they know a little more on the topic than some guy who’s just opened his first business let me tell you.

2. People prefer to read emails. Yep, because they’re quick and easy to discard. Open it, scan it and discard it. Listen, I get a couple of monthly newsletters and when they hit my mailbox I rip them open and devour them there and then. Its because they’re full of great content and done correctly. And nothing helps foster a relationship than something in your hand. If its physical it has more value. After all, do you want a card from your mother for Christmas, or an email? Which is more personal? Which fosters the RELATIONSHIP more?

3. Emails are more cost effective. According to what criteria? Yes, you can email 200 people for, well, nothing. But would you rather send 200 emails for $0 which might bring in $100 to your business or spend $200 sending newsletters which bring in $1500 to your business? Sorry folks, response rates mean NOTHING. What counts is money. If you make more money doing somethng then that’s the strategy you use. You can take your response rates and I’ll take the money.

Bottom line is this. It costs more money to get new clients than to retain old ones. So you have to be prepared to spend a little money to keep your existing clients clinging to you.

Physical mail, whether its a newsletter or just a sales letter/promotion have a much higher perceived value. I know someone who built a million dollar accounting practice in 2 years, and his number ONE marketing strategy was the humble old monthly newsletter. And after he retired for a few years he did it all over again. His strategy? Yep, monthly newsletters.

His clients valued them and the information in them. They knew he knew his stuff, and saw him as the EXPERT. They enjoyed the personal touch. And he kept his retention rate at nearly 100% DESPITE continuing to double his prices.

So when you think about emailing people or sending them mail, if you’re a physical business working with REAL prospects in your country then do not make the mistake of going the cheap and nasty option and sending a (deletable) email. Send them something real instead. They’ll appreciate it, and will stay your client for life. Remember, you’re in the RELATIONSHIP business.

Now, just a couple of things…

One. I am not saying to ONLY send physical things to people. A combination of different marketing media including email, website, letters, newsletters, faxes, phone calls should be used to get your messages across. Emails have their place in business. Only that place isn’t for lead generation or regular newsletters.

Two. When I say lead generation as well, I mean making initial contact with prospects. If you are targeting people you can reach via the post then do it this way. Treated right, a client has a high lifetime value, so don’t be scared of spending some money. It will be repaid many times over.

Three. Technology isn’t everything. Don’t be sucked into thinking the world only responds to email. They don’t. And dont be sucked in to thinking that if you’re a technology company you’ll look stupid if you send something in the mail. You’re thinking about yourself if you do this, not your prospect.

OK. Next week we’ll be getting back on track again. Its a similar topic to this anyway, looking at online marketing and what business you’re really in.

I’ll go calm down now, and if you have any comments please post them. I’ve got my flame-proof suit on today so even if you agree or disagree I don’t mind.

And next week I’m going to show you how to wriggle your way inside the mind of your prospect. You can’t sell to ‘em if you don’t understand them so this will be a goodie!

All the best,

Hugh

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This article contains TWO very important statements. And if you get these two points then you’re in a great position to go and make some BIG money.

But if you ignore them then you’re doomed to be like every other business. The businesses that truly ‘get’ the power of what I’m saying here will live and breathe it, and implement it in every part of their business. It becomes the CORE of their business.

Now, they say that the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. If that’s true then surely the quickest way to a person’s wallet is through their hearts.

And that’s because people buy on emotion and justify it with logic.

OK, its worth repeating that because it is at the core of direct response marketing.

People buy on EMOTION, and justify their decision with LOGIC.

After all, why do people buy big houses when they can live in any old house?

Or buy a BMW when any old car will get them around.

And why do people use the same tradespeople time and time again (even when they cost more) when chances are, anyone will do the same job?

You see, to sell something to somebody you have to get inside their minds and their hearts. What annoys them? What are they afraid of? What do they secretly desire?

What is the conversation that’s constantly going through their head?

What keeps them lying awake at night?

What’s the problem they have that they want to be solved and, more importantly how will they FEEL when that problem has been solved?

Understanding your prospect is critical if you want to sell to them. In fact, that leads me to the second critical thing you NEED to remember.

You are not selling a product or service. You are selling the feelings associated with what your product or service will do for them.

Women don’t like being seen as a nobody. But your handbag will make them look important. How will they feel when they’ve got it? How do they feel now they don’t have it.

People want to be in safe hands when they build a house, or go to a medical specialist of any kind. How will they feel when they’ve got the right person? How do they feel now they dont have then?

Job seekers want an unfair edge over other candidates. How will they feel when they’ve got it? How do they feel now they dont have it?

What are the feelings your prospect really wants out of your product or service?

Spend time working this out. Ask them. Observe them. Hang around internet forums and read their magazines. Go where they go and eavesdrop on their conversations.

Get inside their heads and you’ll have heaps of content for your advertising.

Next week I want to tell you something you should be incorporating into your sales copy if you want people to stay glued to it.

Until then, all the best

Hugh Thyer

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

Thanks to Dean for his feedback last week on email marketing versus paper and ink.

I hope you go back and read his comments, he makes some good points.

I actually believe email has a place in your marketing systems. A major place in fact. Lets face it, if your business is entirely online you’ll probably never send out a letter in the mail. Its great for reminding people of offers, getting information to them quickly and even sending people your latest blogs and articles. Hey, this article goes out to my subscriber base via email.

I’m concerned that people are losing that personal touch in favour of saving a few bucks and sending out their newsletters and offers via email. When you’ve got a customer base you can easily get to via snail mail then you shouldn’t think twice. I used to get an industry magazine in the mail, and a couple of years ago it changed to an email newsletter. When it came in the mail I used to grab a cuppa and spend the time reading it. But when it became an email newsletter I rarely even looked at it. And if I did it would be brief. Now, that company lost the opportunity to get in front of me for 15 minutes. Totally dedicated to them. I gave them my time…I was a FAN! They’ve lost that now.

Anyway, my point is to use the BEST medium every time you communicate with your clients and prospects. Not the cheapest but the one which develops the best relationship and the most profit!

OK, now onto this week’s article. And its something you should incorporate into your sales copy whenever you can.

Its a story!

OK, I know what you’re probably thinking…why would I want to tell a story???

Actually we’ve been conditioned to love stories from our infancy. We were read and told stories by our parents and our teachers. Movies and TV shows tell stories. We’re curious and we satisfy our curiosity with stories people tell us.

So when people tell a story…we listen! Its in our instincts.

Stories also help us tell our prospects about our product or service. We can tell them about the success a client had. We can tell them about how easy they found it and what happened along the way. In a lot of ways, stories are a bit like testimonials in that they tell a real life situation in which your product or service helped achieve an outcome.

But here’s another thing you can do with stories. You don’t just talk about the success your client had. You ALSO tell them the before story. What problems did they have? How did these problems make them feel? If your prospect is in the same boat then that’s a hell of a way to bond with them.

The most powerful word combination is “Let me tell you a story”.

Next week I want to tell you why you need to research your market. Yes it sounds like a boring task, but as a copywriter its often really exciting because this is where the BIG breakthroughs occur that’ll pile cash into your pocket.

But don’t worry, I’ll let you know some sneaky ways to get inside the head of your prospect really easily.

Until then, take care.

Hugh

PS I used to think the word “You” was the most powerful selling word. Now I’ve got kids (and just been to 2 kindergarten sessions in about 5 days for Father’s Day) I can tell you the most powerful word is “Daddy”.

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Its time to get down to where the real money is. And that’s inside the hearts and minds of your prospects.

So it makes sense to get inside their hearts and minds and find out what’s going on.

Because unless you really understand what’s going on there then you’re headed for a trainwreck.

I mean its all well and good for you to think you know what’s going on inside their minds but unless you can genuinely tap into their raw emotions and hit them right between the eyes with your promotion then you’ll be leaving most of the money on the table.

So let me ask you…How much research have you done? Can you honestly answer questions like these?

What’s really going on in their life?

What are their fears, worries, hopes and dreams?

What problems are they facing in every day life?

What frustrations do they face?

What’s their dream? How will they feel when they get it?

When I write sales copy the questionnaire I send out pushes this point heavily. And you need this info for two very important reasons.

First, you need to develop a relationship with your prospect, otherwise they wont trust you enough to buy, and

Second you need to target your sales copy on the problems, hopes, dreams, frustrations they’re actually having. As opposed to, of course, the ones you might think theyr’e having.

So where is all this information? Well, here are the 3 best ways to get it (plus I’ll give you a fourth way that’s a bit unconventional).

1. Talk to them. When they’re on the phone just get them talking and listen to what they have to say. Ask them leading question and then ’shut up!’ Let them do the talking. Trust me, they’ll keep talking as long as you say NOTHING.

2. Go to the newsagent and look for magazines in their niche. If its a broad cross section of people (like people with bad backs) then you wont find anything but often there are magazines on specific topics. Even grab magazines on your market if you’re a mortgage broker or financial adviser because they may have survey results, or trends that specialists have noticed coming through.

3. The good old internet. The best place to start is with forums (just stick the word ‘forum’ in your search term’) and WHAMMO! Instant market research from REAL prospects who are posting on the things that are important to them! Seriously forums are PURE GOLD! You can even register and ask a few leading questions to see what response you get. Just be careful because if people think you’re not a genuine poster your post might get deleted. Then there’s just general sites on your market, plus check out any sites that look like they’re selling stuff to your market because there’s a good chance they’ve done a whole lot of research already. But of course don’t place all your faith in the research of other people but its always a good resource to check out.

And now for the extra source of info. Its a funny one but boy it works like crazy.

Its infomercials! Here in Australia we get heaps of them after midnight but in other countries they’re on 24/7. Just remember to look for the ones selling the feelings your prospects are after, even if its not the same product. For example I watched one on a ‘dance your way to fitness’ product when I was writing an anti-ageing promotion recently. After all, the target market is very similar. So are the outcomes prospects are seeking. You’ve got to keep in mind that the best infomercials have been researched and developed by THE smartest marketers going around. They’ve gone to incredible lengths to get these just right and they way they tap into their target markets is incredible. So watch them and watch for the emotion-grabbing words they use, the feelings and outcomes of the people giving testimonials and the benefits the presenters keep referring to. The market research they’ve done is incredible and you should be tapping into it.

Now once you’ve done all this research your promotions should virtually write themselves! After all, now you know what’s going on inside your prospects’ heads you can tap into it to develop your relationship with them and show how your product helps them with what’s important to THEM!

Next week I’m going to give you some great ways to charge a HEAP more money just by altering your position in the market. Look out for it.

All the best

Hugh

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

Today I found out that my plans to build our new house have been rejected.

Funny how two pensioner couples can stop you doing something like building a house.

Especially when you consider I’m paying for their pensions which they use to stop me, and I’m paying a public servant to help them.

I’m the poor mug in the middle who’s paying his hard earned money to other people so they can screw you over. But hey, welcome to Australia. I guess its the same everywhere.

Thing is its made me really angry. I mean angrier than I’ve felt for years, possibly even ever. I wont go into details of why the decision sucks so badly, because you’d be reading 3 pages before I get to the point of this article.

And that point is that now I’m angry, I’ve been spurred into action like never before. And so I got to thinking that when people are angry they’ll also take ACTION.

I was reading a post online about fear this morning in fact. And what you usually find is that fear is not enough to spur someone to action. You’ve gotta get them scared, cowering in their little corner first. But as the bully keeps coming after them, they’ll just keep cowering, trying to avoid the blows.

No. If you want that person to fight back you have to make them angry.

If you get them worried about their health, then get them angry at the doctors and the system that’s let them down.

If you get them worried about their finances then get them angry at the banks, stockmarket, financial advisers etc who got them there in the first place.

You have to motivate people to act.

So the question I’m putting to you here is “Is there anything your prospects are angry at, or should be angry at?” If there are then use it in your marketing efforts. Push it in your emails and newsletters. Use it in your sales letters.

Get them angry and then tell them that you’re going to help them get the results that have been held back from them.

Now, there are plenty of other emotional triggers, and over the coming weeks I’m going to go through them and give more specific examples on how you can work them into your marketing. Not each trigger is needed in each market, but where they can be used they should be. So I think the next few weeks will be a real eye opener on how a copywriter goes about their business. And you’ll discover a whole heap of ways you can create far stronger bonds with your prospects AND encourage them far more easily to do business with you.

All the best,

Hugh

P.S. If you’d like me to include some specific examples over the next few weeks for your market, please contact me via the website below, or add in some comments and I’ll be more than happy to do it.

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Hi there,

I know we’ve been talking about different emotions, but I just got off the phone from someone who was after some help and it actually inspired me to write this instead.

Its all about how to get started.

You see the most common problem people have in making money online, or in their own business is actually getting started. I guess its called ‘paralysis by analysis’ and it means people think there’s so much to learn they never know where to start…and they don’t!

Instead 6 months passes and they’ve spent so long trying to work out all the technical bits that they’ve forgotten what they learnt about making money and, quite often thanks to negative pressure from family members and friends are starting to give up.

Look, this guy was new to computers and needed help getting a website set up. And the best advice I could give him was…

…pay someone ELSE to do it for him.

Yep. I did NOT tell him to go on a course, do a whole lot of research or anything like that.

That stuff takes time and quite frankly, if the technology side of things isnt for you then leave it well alone. What’s important is that they get something up and running, and then it will develop a life of its own. But you have to get it going first, and FAST. Fortunately its not hard to do.

Actually, whenever I hang out at internet marketing events the #1 thing I hear is that people understand what the experts are saying, but they don’t know how to get started. They dont know how to get a domain name, get it hosted, build a website, accept money, deliver products. But here’s the really cool thing. You don’t actually need to know.

And that’s because the best business men and women dont know either. The real skill of being in business is controlling other people doing the work. So, to take an extreme example, to make money online you have to come up with a market that’s hot.

Once you’ve got your market you hire someone to write your product, or do interviews with.

Then you hire a copywriter to write you the sales copy to sell it. Maybe even come up with the marketing strategy to maximise your income as well.

Then you hire  a web person to register a domain name, put the sales copy up and organise your merchant facilities.

Now, how much work have you done here? Not a hell of a lot actually. And at the end of it you’ve got a working business. All you’ve got to do is come up with the actual business, and you probably have to get involved with the merchant facilities, and you get someone to help you with this. And that’s just make sure you keep your confidential details private.

OK, I know what you’re thinking. “That’s going to cost me MONEY!”.

Yep. Sure is. But not a huge amount though when you think about how much you could make in return. And besides, how much will the 6 months you spend doing it yourself cost you in lost income.

There are people out there who launch new products almost every month. You think they do it all themselves? No way. They’d go insane. They get other people to do as much as they can.

REMEMBER – making money online is not a hobby. Its a BUSINESS. So treat it like one.

Hey, you think I manage my own website? Nope. And I have an IT background!!!

I just email my web developer, she makes the changes and sends me an invoice. But you should have seen my first website. It was quite frankly terrible. But I got onto www.bigpixie.com and threw it together because I needed it for a promotional opportunity I’d been offered. And just having something done meant it grew a life of its own.

Now I KNOW for a fact that a lot of you reading this are in this exact position. You want to get going but just don’t know where to begin.

So my advice for you is this.

- If you want, use a tool like www.bigpixie.com to put a website up, do the e-commerce side of things etc. And if you find its not flexible enough long term then change it later. This is how my website started. It was using BigPixie and was very basic (crude). I’ve moved it and overhauled it since then but at least I got going.

- If you aren’t confident, find somebody to do it for you. I can even recommend people if you contact me

- But above all, get it going. Because once you’ve started it will become so much easier. And in 6 months time you’ll be working on new traffic generation methods, different products and new offerings. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck trying to just get it all started still. As Dan Kennedy says “Movement beats meditation”.

And that’s going to cost you big time.

Next week we’re back to looking at different emotional hotspots and how you can tap into them to get your prospects to take action.

All the best,

Hugh

NOTE # If you want to take action right here and now, then here’s an offer for all my subscribers and readers. It’s a one on one Profit Explosion session. You and me for 20 minutes going through your current sales copy or discussing your business so we can put together a plan for getting a whole load of new leads into your business or website. Go check it out here: http://salescomefirst.com/free-critique-request/ (just select ‘Other’ for how you heard about the offer).

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Are you greedy? Come on, seriously are you?

Deep down wouldnt you like to eat in the best restaurants whenever you go out, and not have to worry about being able to afford it. Or have a house with a massive $100k theatre room, or to drive around a racing track in a sports car like Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear. Better clothes, more exotic holiday destinations, luxurious hotels. Wouldnt it be cool to pull up in front of your friends in a Porsche 911. Or hang around with the best and most successful in your industry.

Well if you’re reading this then there’s a good chance you’re in business. And if you’re in business you need to be greedy to survive. Because if you’re not you’ll get swallowed up in a second.

Its human nature, and since I’m going to be talking about emotional triggers over the next few articles I figured greed is a good place to start.

And greed is one you should exploit when you’re writing any advertising.

And hey, usually its money, although it doesn’t have to be. It can be greed for food, attention, credibility, whatever. Its anything that people want more and more of.

So if you’ve got anything to do with business opportunities (such as making money online) you’ve got to appeal to their greed glands. More money for less work. Or if you’re selling financial products, accounting, mortgage brokering you’ve got to sell people on more than just the money. You have to write to them about the lifestyle it’ll give them. The new found respect from others. All the elements that people get GREEDY about.

Look, why not go and look at any great sales letters on investing and you’ll find that there’s much more time spent selling people on the idea of being rich than there is on the actual product. That’s no mistake. You long time subscribers might remember me saying that people make their buying decisions on emotion and then justify them with logic.

It’s worth refreshing your memories here http://salescomefirst.com/unlock-their-feelings-and-unlock-their-wallets/

So just remember that greed is a critical emotion that you’d best not ignore. Use it to get your prospect savitating at the money that’s waiting for them. And one word of caution…make sure you’re believable. Nobody’s going to buy your products or use your services just because you tell them they’ll make a million dollars. They have to be convinced of that fact too.

So next time you write an advertisement work out what your prospects are greedy for and get to work showing them:

a) what their life will be like when they get it,

b) how your product delivers that lifestyle and

c) that you and your claims are credible

Next week its quite the opposite. Its something that complements greed nicely though.

I look forward to talking to you then.

All the best,

Hugh

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In the last article we looked at the emotion of GREED.
Now lets flip it around and look at fear instead.

The fear of loss is greater than the hope for gain. Let me explain what I mean by that by giving you an example you may be able to relate to.

Lets say you make a bet with a friend. Perhaps $20 over a game of football. If you win, the $20 will be a nice little bonus. But if you lose, losing that $20 will cause you some serious heartache.

The point here is that you feel the loss far more than the gain.

So if you want to use fear in your promotions, how about using a sense of urgency?

Tell them that your appointments are limited, or you’re only taking on 5 new clients this month.

Tell them that you only have 25 items remaining.

Tell them your stock has been water damaged so its only half price, but you only have 12 left.

People HATE being the one to miss out and will do anything to make sure they don’t.

It is a form of take-away selling. Tell them they might not get something and they want it even more.

Because we’ve ALL missed out on a bargain, and we ALL really hated it. And that’s why fear of loss is very powerful to use in your sales copy or ads.

OK. This was only a short article this week, but the lesson is very powerful.  I hope you get to use it in your sales copy, or even when you talk to new clients and customers.

Next week I’m going to stay with fear (so check your inbox carefully!) because I want to give you the do’s and don’ts of scaring people in your sales copy. Its an important article if you want some advanced copywriting techniques because if you get it right it’s great. But if you get it wrong it can land you on your backside quick smart.

I look forward to speaking with you then,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

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All the time I come across sales letters which try to use FEAR ineffectively.

Its a common misconception that you need to scare the willies out of someone, and then when they’re scared stupid they’ll do ANYTHING so they dont have to be scared.

But remember the old saying “You Must Enter The Conversation That’s ALREADY Going On In Your Prospect’s Head”.

So if you push it too far then they’ll just tune out. What you say must be in tune with what they’re already thinking.

Here, let me give you an example. I’m currently writing a letter for a client who has a course on getting better rentals returns from investment properties.

So I COULD have written about how falling rents or high rentals could end up costing them their investment property PLUS their own home. And how they could be forced into cheap rental accomodation, their entire family into a 1 bedroom unit living off canned food.

But that wouldn’t be realistic, would it. Most people will never come close to this, and what could have been a believable story would have been nonsense.

But what my research revealed is that people are worried about losing face. Having to sell their investment, or cash flow becoming very tight and their children missing out on their activities (I led with this one!). What will their friends and families think?

These are realistic fears, and they’re already playing on my prospect’s mind so they create a believable story.

You see, you’re not there to put new fears into your prospect’s heads. When you write your own advertising your job is to play on the fears that are already there. Put them into words and stories. And now we’ve painted real fears, we can go about showing them how we eliminate them with our product or service.

Next week I’m talking about PRIDE. A very strong emotion you can use to great effect in your advertising.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

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Remember one of the Golden Rules of getting the sale.

“People Buy On Emotion And Then Justify Their Decision With Logic”.

There are plenty of ways to get people to quickly emotionally connect with you. We’ve covered greed and fear so far, and the third one is Pride.

You see, people just LOVE to feel good about themselves. What about a nice smile from a member of the opposite sex. What about some unsolicited feedback out of the blue. It puts people in a great mood. And if you want someone to take action with you, it’s great if your prospects feel that way. (Actually, next week I’m going to tell you what one seminar company does when they get their attendees in a great mood. Its incredible!)

You see, most of us go through life unrecognised. Working hard, working smart, doing all the right things day after day. So when someone notices it’s a great feeling.

Look. If you can appeal to their pride, tell them how admirable what they do is, how hard it must be, the responsibility they hold etc etc then you’ll bond with them and set them up in a buying mood!

So for a medical sports specialist you could tell them…

“You’re no ordinary runner. You’re always keeping up to date on the latest training and ideas, and always make intelligent decisions. You work hard looking after yourself and your body, and quite frankly you’re above 99% of the other runners out there because of it”.

For a financial specialist, just change it around a bit and tell them…

“You deserve to be congratulated. You’ve always worked hard at educating yourself and you’ve had the guts to get out there and make some serious money. Very few people actually do that. Most of the population just sit and complain that their boss doesnt pay them enough, or the pension is too small. But you’re not like them. You’re one of a rare group of people who have gone to great lengths to separate yourself from them, and you deserve every ounce of your success”.

OK, those examples were really quick and unpolished, but if you got one of them, surely you’d feel good about yourself. And that’s a quick way to establish great rapport with your prospect or client. As they say, a little flattery goes a long way.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

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I know, I know. Here we go again with another one of my posts that I just HAD to write straight away.

But I’ve got to tell you 2 things that are absolute GOLD if you want to make money. So listen up and take careful note of what I’m about to tell you.

Actually goes back to a mate of mine who just signed up for a $7,000 ’self awareness/life improvement’ course on the weekend.

His ex-girlfriend went to a free 2.5 day course a few weeks ago and signed up for the full $7k seminar, so this week it was HIS turn. Now, I offered to be his ‘credit card buddy’. That’s where you leave your credit card with a friend so you don’t end up doing something stupid like signing up for some course you may later regret. Having said that, he doesn’t regret signing up but there are some ‘free seminars’ you should NOT take your credit cards to. I still think this is one of them.

So why am I telling you this? The most important thing you can do at a seminar like this is to study the pitch. And since they had about 50% of the crowd sign up, and about 80 people there, they did over half a million bucks! 

So here’s the two things that were the most important.

1. The time they deliver the pitch is when people are on an emotional high. They do some session on what’s wrong with you, what you’ve been supressing etc and then help resolve them. Then you feel fantastic, and if you want to feel even better then sign up for the extended program! I’ve long since talked about people making buying decisions on emotion. And direct response marketing is ALL about emotion. If you can get people into the right frame of mind where they want to take action then they will.

The BIG Question for your advertising is…”When you ask for the money, have you done enough to justify that request?

In your own advertising you’ve gotta give people hope. Describe the problems they’re having and then solve them. Make then FEEL great about your solution. Walk them through how their life will change once they take your solution on. You’ve got to build them up and build them up. Whip them into an emotional frenzy until saying ‘YES’ is the only alternative for them. (This does not mean lots of hype with no substance. This is how amateurs do it).

2. I wrote about this some time ago. Its about motivating your prospects…and why you can’t do it.

http://salescomefirst.com/this-lesson-on-motivation-will-put-more-cash-in-your-pocket/

The thing to remember is that in a room like that, everyone is already motivated. They want to know what it’s all about. They know the next seminar is $7 grand.

You see, this mate of mine claims he was completely sceptical. But as I reminded him…”you STILL went”. Yep, despite him claiming to be completely sceptical, thinking its a load of BS and one long sales pitch he STILL took 2 days away from his life to spend there. Now, I don’t know about you but if I was sceptical, I wouldnt have gone. Would have spent the weekend relaxing, doing something else. Yet this guy who is a keen musician with a young daughter left both those things behind to spend at this seminar.

Kinda funny for someone so sceptical, don’t you think? So the big lesson is, despite his denials he WAS motivated. He wanted to be there…despite his denials. He sacrificed a lot of time to do it. People who read your advertising/sales letters are also motivated. They share the problem you’re helping them solve. They are already interested in it. Often they’re sitting there, cash in hand waiting for someone to give it to them.

Funny thing is, I explained to him that people don’t go to a BMW dealership because they hear one of the cars is a nice colour. They ONLY go if they deep down want a BMW. So despite giving all these other reasons for attending on the weekend, deep down he wanted to be there and wanted to be pitched on the expensive course. Otherwise he wouldn’t have gone.

So remember this…your job is not to motivate your prospects. If they’re reading your ad, they’re already motivated. So just get on and tell them why your product is the one they should choose.

If this seminar was delivered to a group of random people from the street, their sign up rate would be next to zero. But it wasnt. It was delivered to people who had (most likely) been referred to them, were prepared to give up 2.5 days of their time and already knew they would have to spend $7,000 to get into the proper course. These people were seriously qualified prospects. (Imagine if it was only a 2 hour intro seminar not a 2.5 day one. Less committed prospects so smaller response).

So lesson #2 is to remember to focus only on prospects who are already motivated and focus your sales message around them. Unmotivated people won’t buy so don’t dilute your message to get them. This seminar is proof that despite people’s denials they are already interested in you, so use it to your advantage. And that’s part of the brilliance of this seminar. They started with extremely motivated prospects (despite a few of their denials) and had a very high end product for them.

I bet you can use both these lessons to make serious money.

Next week I’m going to talk about another human emotion – the feeling of being loved, wanted and to belong. It’s a very basic emotion that you can use in your advertising to bond with your prospects.

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>

Do you remember that kid at school that never got picked for a sport? Or during recess would always go past the other kids playing a game, but was never asked?

It was terrible for them. To feel unwanted and unloved.

But sometimes, somebody would call out for them and yell “Come on, join in!” And they were the happiest kid out there.

Look, adults are no different. We all want to feel as though we’re loved and wanted.

This weekend I was at Pete Godfrey’s Inner Sanctum conference. And everyone in the room BELONGED. We’re all like minded individuals, focussed on our success in business. And you want to know what? Most of us go through every day surrounded by people who DON’T share our vision, our goals and our dreams. They could be our employees, colleagues, people you do sports or some other activity with. Even our families. But in that room we all belonged, and we FELT it.

Belonging is a huge emotion. People want to feel as though they belong to something special, to people who want us there. Its a great feeling, and can be used to great effect in your advertising. Do you tell people that they’ll be like minded people with your product or service? Do you have recognisable people in your testimonials? Do you make people feel welcome and special in your business?

This is a great emotion to tap into when you write your advertising. So make sure you tap into it.

Next week we’re going to talk about one final emotion. It’s a brilliant one to really get people’s emotions running hot. Can’t wait to give it to you.

All the best

Hugh

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

People carry guilt around like a bag of bricks on their backs.

“Am I spending enough time with my kids”

“I was out and didnt spend ANY time helping my wife last weekend”

“My child seems to be slipping behind at school. Am I spending enough time helping them with their homework”

“I’m not earning enough to make life easier, or to take my family on holidays this year”

I wrote for a product showing people how to get higher rents from their investment property and said:

“Some investors have even cut back on their children’s activities just to make ends meet.“

If you were feeling guilty about just cutting back on swimming or dancing lessons for your kids, would this hit you right between the eyes?

So have a look at your customers, and see what guilt they carry with them. Then describe it in your sales copy…and then solve it. And if their last emotion they feel before they finally drift off to sleep at night is guilt, then THIS emotion is incredibly powerful.

Anyway, this is the last of the 5 core emotional triggers. To summarise them, they are:

• Greed
• Fear (Fear, and fear of loss)
  
• Pride
• Love
• Guilt.

Next week I’m going to launch into a brand new series.

Its based on the idea that any business can double its profits in 6 months or less. And even though it sounds like a wild claim, its true…if you follow some simple strategies. Most business owners have been taught that you should aim for 10% growth a year and they’ve become conditioned to it.

What happened was I saw a presentation a couple of weeks ago at Pete Godfrey’s Members Conference by a guy who has a business selling reconditoned engine cylinder heads. Now, you’d THINK this was going to be boring. But it wasnt. In fact, it was one of the best things I’ve ever heard. You see, this guy had gone from a tiny business to a multi-million dollar operation. And he did it by applying direct response marketing techniques in every single corner of his business.

So good in fact that he won Dan Kennedy’s Marketer Of The Year award, which is kinda like the Oscars for Direct Response marketers.

He didn’t just double his business. He doubled it…

…again, and

…again…and

…again! He just keeps doing it, over and over and over again.

So…how would you like me to show you how its done?

Well, starting next week I’m going to give you 2 tactics each week that’ll do exactly this. In fact, just using a few of these tactics will see you double your profits. Imagine what happens if you use them all.

I can’t wait to get started!

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

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

Boy I’ve been looking forward to this for Weeks! Ever since I decided to reveal these 10 strategies I’ve been busting to get into it.

Look, even 3 or 4 of these strategies will double your business, so imagine how much you’ll make when you implement all ten! But I’m not going to give you them all at once. This way you can implement them over the coming weeks instead of getting so many at once you dont know where to start.

So here are the first two strategies to double your business.

Strategy 1: Re-activate old customers. This is a simple one, and you can do it right away. The easiest people to get into your business are the ones that have been there but are no longer active. So go through your customer database or records, find their details and send them an offer they’d be crazy to refuse.

You see some of them may be using a competitor’s services or products but might be less than satisfied. Others might have just stopped using your category. For example, if you’re a gym then people might simply have stopped exercising, and a letter explaining the benefits of exercise, the benefits of doing it at YOUR gym and then an incredible free offer is bound to get a good number back in. And your offer is going to cost you less than the normal cost of acquiring a brand new customer. These people know you and your product so as long as you haven’t burnt them then you’ll get a flock of customers easily…and fast.

For this I recommend either a 3 step sales letter sequence (main letter, then 2 follow up letters which include the main letter). And if you’ve got their phone number, even better. Call them after the letters to see if you can squeeze any more out of them.

Strategy 2: Make more offers – and more often. Keep making offers to your list. Over and over again. It could be your standard service with extra bonuses items, or a better deal on a consultation (even free it you sell follow on services). You can even tie your offers in to special occasions such as Christmas, a major sporting event like a Grand Final, Superbowl, FA Cup or whatever events are popular in your neck of the woods. Even better, give them an extra special offer for their birthday.

This gets people into your business more often, acts as a great way to get people taking action with you and builds stronger relationships with them. After all, we’re in the relationship #1, aren’t we.

Next week I’m going to show you how to sell more, at higher prices just by making people feel special, and how to get the right offer in front of the right people.

And if you’d like to talk to me about how to best implement these strategies in your business, please drop me a line. Even though I’m busy I’m happy to put some time aside to talk to you.

Until then, all the best,

Hugh

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

These two strategies are related, and VERY powerful. This is how you keep yourself in the minds of your customers constantly.

Strategy 3: Monthly printed newsletters. This is best where your customers are easily accessable. If you’ve got 10,000 interested people in a $17 eBook, this probably isnt going to be cost effective. But if you’ve got a professional service, like a finance professional, mortgage broker, physiotherapist, lawn mower etc etc etc then this strategy is HUGE! You become the trusted advisor, and objections to price literally melt away. While your competitors are quickly forgotten, you’re the one people think about when they need your services…OR when they’re asked if they can recommend someone.

And ‘yes’. I said ‘printed’. A printed newsletter sent in the good old mail has far more value than an email, which can get deleted in a key stroke. Done right, your monthly newsletter will get ripped open and read over a cuppa. Imagine that! Your customers spending 10 minutes a month letting YOU promote yourself to them. All for about $1 which is all it’ll cost you.

I wrote a whole article about newsletters which you can review here.

Oh, and I should mention, it CAN take a bit of time doing a newsletter. Maybe a couple of hours a month. So if you’re scared of doing some work to be successful then give up now. For the amount of time it takes to produce a monthly newsletter, you wont get a better bang for your buck.

By the way, I have a newsletter sample service which I’ve developed. The deal is quite simple. For $500AUD I will write up a sample newsletter for you, so you see how it fits together. I also write some sample articles and a sample editorial to give you the style of writing to use. Plus I tell you everything you should put in your newsletter on a regular basis, so you understand why I’ve done it the way I have. If you want to implement a newsletter in your business (and you should) drop me an email at hugh@salescomefirst.com.

Strategy 4: Weekly email newsletter. Send out a 1 pager each week. But here’s a big tip. Don’t just send an email. Write up a professionally presented document and save it as a PDF. This adds a level of professionalism, because it has your letterhead, logo etc on it. And of course a strong compelling headline.It doesn’t have to be long. Just send information on what’s happening in your industry and how it will affect your clients. Or send them some ideas. Even some home-spun philosophies.

Just don’t foret the golden rule – “Always be selling”.

In combination with a monthly printed newsletter you get yourself in front of your customers 5 times a month using 2 different media. And since it costs an estimated 8 times as much to get a new customer as it does to keep an old one, doing something simple like this means you’ll be spending your time working out new ways to increase your earnings from each customer instead of running around trying to get a new customer into your business. Slash the number who leave your business and spend your time making money from your herd, instead of replacing them.

*** Remember – We’re ALL in the Relationship Business ***

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

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

I hope you’ve got to work implementing the first 4 strategies.

Here they are again, just to refresh your memories.

1. Re-activate lost customers – easy, because you’re just digging around your customer database and you’ll be amazed what happens

2. Make more offers more often – the simplest way to build up a loyal tribe of devoted followers who will love giving you their money

3& 4. Monthly printed and weekly electronic newsletters – if there was ever a powerful combination this is it! Just write the articles, the offers and outsource the rest. You’ll lock your customers in for life, promote even more offers and even build up a heap of referrals, simply because you keep your business smack bang in front of your customers constantly.

OK, now on to strategies 5 & 6.

Strategy 5. Reward your frequent buyers and make them feel like VIPs. I bet if you worked it out that your business follows the 80/20 rule. In this case, 80% of your money probably comes from about 20% of your total customer list. So it makes sense to reward those 20% and make them feel extra special, right? Why not create a special club for them, then give them better offers, priority access to you and even more information more often. You can even share their successes with other top clients, to create a feeling of belonging. (HINT: The need to belong is one of the big emotional drivers). What else can you do for this group? Why not a free audit of their current situation. I bet you can do this in just about any business. How about a coffee mug or something similar at Christmas, or even better, on their birthday.

After all, this is the group that spends the most money with you, so make sure you treat them the best.

Strategy 6. Slice up your list and send them customised offers. This one is a great one too because you’ve probably got most of the information in your customer database or at least in your head. If you’re an advisor, send all the business clients a specific offer just for them. Or if you’re a bike shop for example, send different offers to customers who are road cyclists, mountain bikers, recreational cyclists and so on. If you have a number of customers who spend money on a certain brand of shoe, or who spend a lot on shoes in particular, just send them a special offer. Don’t clutter your customer’s mail boxes with offers that are irrelevant to them or they’ll quickly ignore you. Far better to contact them more targeted.

Incidentally, once you know more about your customers you should write to them differently, according to who they are. For example, writing to the affluent is very different to the budget conscious. A generic letter to both types of customers will not work anywhere as well. You’ll probably mix it up so much you’ll get a far lower response than you should.

Oh, that reminds me. Have you got a customer database? If not, you’ll need to do this. Its easy enough to start one in a spreadsheet, but to get a little more advanced you’ll be better off with a Microsoft Access one. There are plenty of people around who can put it together for you if you just tell them what you want.

Next week I’m going to give you strategies 7 & 8. Another two strategies that will put even more money in your pocket. They’re easy, and they’re powerful. Is there anything else you could want!

I look forward to sending you this article next week.

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>

Here is the second last in this series of 10 ways to double your business.

People pay big money to business advisors for the exact same information I’m giving you…for FREE!

Actually most business advisors don’t know most of these ideas. They just waffle on about branding and that kind of thing instead of strategies that WORK. Gotta be a reason most businesses go broke within 3 years, even though there’s so many so called ‘business coaches’ out there.

Anyway, yes. All this advice is here, and it costs you NOTHING. So the question is…why am I giving it away for ‘nutting”? First of all, sadly enough I should be charging. Funny thing is most people value things higher if it costs them more. I’m guilty of it too. Hey, I’m the guy that had some great sales copy examples given to me free, ignored them and then 12 months later, paid $150 to buy them!

But I give this information away because I figure if just a few of you actually take action  on them you’re going to get big very Very VERY quickly. And then you’ll need some professional consultation and copy written. And that’s where I figure you’ll send me an email and say “Hugh, I want to take this baby all the way”. Anyway, onwards and upwards!

Strategy 7. Add membership. Yes, lots of internet businesses are being complemented with membership programs. Its a great idea. But bricks and mortar businesses can do it too. What about membership which gives members cheaper rates, priority access to you, something free every 2 months. You can even do tele-seminars, newsletters (remember them?). There’s lots of things you can bundle in.

And it’s money you bank at the START of every month, before you even lift a finger! Its a great idea for service businesses like health professionals (chiroporactors, physios, masseurs etc), hair dressers and other beauty services too. But it can be done in just about any business.

Here’s a great example. If you’re a hairdresser you can bundle up a haircut ($50), some shampoo and conditioner ($40), some other product ($30) and a newsletter on hair and beauty tips ($25). That’s $145 worth of value. And you offer it for only $87 a month. But the haircut only costs you $20, the products all up cost you $20 and the newsletter is produced for no more than $5. So it costs you $45, you make nearly double that and the money hits your bank account before you lift a finger. Get 50 people into this, and you make $2,100 straight away. Pure profit! Plus you get customers for life, great referrers (imagine reducing their monthly fee by 50% if they refer someone that month). Oh man, my greed glands are sweating and I’ve gotta stop. But anyway, you can literally build a business around a membership program like this.

Strategy 8. Surveys – Want to know how to make more money from your customers? Simple. Ask them. Look, you can just outright ask them when the contact you “What else could I offer you that you’d be interested in”. Or better yet, put together a survey form and offer an incentive like a reduced rate or a competition for everyone who replies. You can even set one up online at www.surveymonkey.com or a similar site. You’d be surprised what you get back. Your customers literally tell you how to sell to them better! Make no assumptions. That golden idea might be right under you nose and you miss it simply because you dont ask.

My next post is going to give you the final two. I really hope you’re putting all this into action and getting big results. Why not leave a comment and let me know how you’re going with it.

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>

I hope you’ve been busy working on these 5 lessons. I know so many hugely successful business owners who put just a few of these ideas into practice and churn out the money.

And so here are the 9th and 10th business growth strategies.

Strategy 9: Offer more products and services. Are you selling information online? Simple. Work out what other problems your target market has and write a product to solve them. Or purchase resell rights to one that already exists, or JV with somebody who has that product already. Simple stuff.

And if you’ve got a bricks and mortar business, simply add to the products you have. If you sell flowers, come up with new offerings at a higher price. If you’re an accountant or financial planner, put a package together where you review your clients’ position at a quiet time of year. What about a medical specialist (masseurs, physios, chiropractors etc)? Do what my masseur does and sell products as well, like compression tights, ice packs, health supplements and so on. There are so many things you can do. Its easy money because you’ve already got an established customer list, and you might even be surprised by what new products are popular. It might even open up new business opportunities that take over as your biggest earner.

Strategy 10. Put in a slack adjuster. This is not for everyone but if you’ve got a number of related products and offerings, put them all together into a BIG package. Maybe the masseur could offer a big package for clients of personal trainers like 2 massages a month, diet supplements, phone support for injuries, plus the ability to get bookings after hours for a high price. If you only sell one or two a month it’ll still be extremely profitable for you.

And if you’ve got a stable of information products on the internet, or as a mail order product, simply offer ALL of them for a high price. Throw in some consulting, email access and you’ve got a high priced product that will make you really good money every time you sell one. Not many will buy, but on the occasion that they do it’ll put some serious dollars in your pocket. And you’d be surprised how many fans you have who are just waiting to give you money if you give them something of value.

If you’re a subscriber of mine, feel free to contact me about one or more of these strategies and I’ll give you some ideas on how you can easily implement them in your business.

Next week I’m going to show you a BIG mistake that I see people making in their business. And the week after I’ve got another one too. Its based on my in the trenches experience from reviewing people’s marketing plans, and there’s a BIG chance you’re making at least one of these profit killing mistakes.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

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

I see a lot of sales letters that people have written. And I mean a LOT! Hey, if you want to see that number then jump onto some copywriting forums and check out the number of people looking for critiques. And not only that I get a heap across my desk every week to look at for people too.

And do you know what the biggest mistake I see is? Its the hook, or should I say the LACK of a hook. So what is a hook? Well, you might know it as the big idea or the ‘angle’. And its hard to put into words, but like love, you can’t describe it but you sure know it when you see it!

But the best way to describe it is that reason that’s going to get your prospect to whip out their credit card and give you their details. It could be a guarantee that nobody else offers. Perhaps your product or service helps your prospect in a way that no other product does. Maybe you run through your product in person, or your offer includes something that none of your competitors include.

Here are some famous hooks, and some ideas you can use:

- The secret of the one armed golfer

- The medical expert who blows the whistle on their industry

- The special ingredient in your product that has a story behind it

- An amazing secret revealed

- A mystery expert in your field who has revealed something never revealed before

- A rags to riches story.

I was talking to somebody today who’s sales letter was missing a hook. And so there was nothing to grab attention and make her product a ‘must have’. She had run an online survey to find out more about her prospects, but didn’t leave it up there long enough. If she runs her survey again I’m sure she’ll be able to get inside the mind of her prospects and pull out a really good hook that’ll get people buying.

So go back and think about your prospects again. Look at your product. What is unique about it? How will it help get exceptional results? What is that factor that makes it such a great product? Work hard on it. It’ll be worth it.

Next week I’ll tell you another common mistake I see, and how you can avoid this one too.

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>

I’ve been busy looking at heaps of promotions people have been writing and asking me to look at.

Last week I talked about one of the big mistakes I see. That’s not identifying the hook properly.

Here’s another one and I see it all the time.

Let me give you an example. I was chatting to somebody before Christmas and he had a product to do with the building industry. It was a hell of a product too. But here’s the thing. Because he’s working with an internet expert who’s coaching him what do you think he wanted to do with this product? Yep. Put it online.

OK OK I know. The internet is the way to go. Free traffic, zero cost delivery, all that jazz. But I reckon I can top that.

Here’s what I told him to do…

Grab a list of builders and architects from a list broker. Then write a letter to them offering the product and put it in the mail. Attach a grabber to it to get attention. Then send a couple more follow ups and even a phone call. Its a high dollar product so its worth it.

You see, its so hard to get his buyers to notice him online. And if his product converts well he can get to ALL of them really quickly. But online he can get a stronger message out there. Its far easier to ignore an email than a personally addressed envelope with something inside it.

Look. If you can get their address then take your campaign OFFLINE. You’ll get a much higher response and make heaps more money. And if your market isn’t huge then do everything you can to get to them.

But most of all, don’t obsess with doing everything online. There’s heaps more money to make with an offline campaign. Real letters, real books, real CDs and DVDs are seen as much more valuable, so you wont just get a higher response, you’ll get a higher price too.

To get more advanced, if you’ve got an online campaign then ask for their address. At least come up with some reason for getting their address if they’re buyers by sending them a bonus report or a CD/DVD or something like this. Then once you’ve got their address you can send them other promotions that’ll get mega-response.

So whenever you can, take your campaign offline. That’s where the REAL money is.

Next week I’m going to give you some advanced tips on testimonials. Sure you can whack them all in a box in your sales letter, but I’m going to show you where to use them correctly to get as much out of them as you can.

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>

Listen up folks, I’ve got something to tell you that really puts me (yes ME) at the bottom of the scrapheap. You see, I’m really not that important at all. That’s because the job of a copywriter is NOT to do all the work selling, it’s…

…putting all the pieces together!

That’s it. We can’t do much if we don’t have much, so if you want excellent results from a copywriter then don’t just give them a topic and ask for a sales package. It ain’t that simple.

We need information, lots and lots of information. And the most important of these is PROOF. In particular TESTIMONIALS. They can be written, audio or video. Because I can go on and on about how good a product is but you still wont buy. But if a friend of yours happens to mention to you that they used the product and found it great then hey presto…you’re buying it!

So yes, testimonials are critical in any sales package. So here are some hints…

1. Generally the more the merrier, but don’t go nuts. You need enough to prove your point but not so many that there are pages and pages of them.

2. If you don’t have a huge number then use them strategically. Well duh, how often do people go out to be UN-strategic. But seriously, use them so you get the best out of them. I just did a large package and only had 4 testimonials to work with. But with a bit of planning I pushed them a fair way. Like the last dregs of Vegemite in a jar, it’s amazing how far you can spread them around. Work out the points you’re trying to prove then use the testimonial that makes that case in that spot.

3. The real power of a testimonial is to prove a claim. So your sales letter should be ‘claim’ followed by ‘proof’. So try to get testimonials that tackle the claims you’re making and the objections people have.

4. Video testimonials are killing it at the moment. Even a landing page which is a headline, video and a few lines. Personally I don’t spend much time watching promotional videos online but I do know they’re hugely effective.

So keep in mind…people are far more likely to believe someone else than you. Get sources of proof from everywhere so you’ve got enough proof to make your sale.

Next week I’m going to reveal the most important thing to keep in mind when writing an advertisement. If you do your chances of success are massively increased. But if you don’t then you’re leaving a fortune on the table.

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>

Sometimes I get the urge to help people. (Shhhh, don’t let too many people know.)

My latest victim was Helen who runs a training company. And she was having troubles getting people to sign up for her courses.

Now this was posted on a forum which I look at from time to time and most of the responses were typically about the way her website looked. There wasn’t much feedback on what it actually said.

So I pointed out the thing that, to me, seemed obvious. Her website didn’t talk about her prospects at all. It talked about her philosophy. What she does. And a lot about her awards and achievements in 2009.

Hopefully you’re saying ’sheesh’ right now. If you’re not, stay with me…

What she failed to do was talk about her prospects. What do they want from her courses? Do they want them to be delivered quicker? Cheaper? Do they want to learn more? What do they really want out of them? Do they genuinely want to learn, or do they just need the bit of paper for their job?

You see, Helen needs to get her prospect front and centre when she writes her advertising. Unfortunately she only seemed to have a mirror and wrote what SHE wanted to hear…about herself. But your advertising isn’t about you at all. You’re not buying your product. Your prospect is. So you have to spend your time getting inside their mind first. And then talk about what’s frustrating them, and what they really want.

Many of my regular subscribers have worked with me, and have seen my copywriting questionnaire. The main goal of this document is to get me inside your prospect’s head to know what to say in the copy. This gets their emotions, thoughts and frustrations in my mind when I write the copy, and this is what gets results.

As for Helen, I don’t know if she’s read my comments yet. I certainly hope she does and takes action on them because its going to make the difference between the very poor response she’s getting right now and making serious moolah.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

I’m going to make a big confession so I’m sucking in a deep breath before I continue…

OK. I’ve  got an MBA. Now don’t go telling too many people. I’ve got a reputation to uphold

Yeah yeah I know. Another wanker with an MBA. Anyway I did it when I was young and stupid, and before I came across direct marketing. Now I know how I could have spent 3 years of my own time productively. Still…

I did a unit of marketing and I’ve still got the text book. Comes in handy when I get a fly at home and I’ve thrown the newspaper out. In it there’s slightly less than 1 page on direct response marketing. Interesting then that David Ogilvy, who is revered as the father of advertising says that there’s only one form of advertising you should consider, and that’s direct response. And that direct response people should be at the centre of any advertising firm, with all advertising pieces vetted by them first.

Odd that a marketing text book can’t even dedicate a full page to it, out of 500 odd pages of crap.

And its a real shame that so many kids out there are doing marketing in schools and universities and NOT learning about direct response. Because direct response is the only form of advertising where you follow set rules which work. Where you know that, despite how graphically enticing an ad with nothing but a picture and a slogan might be, it’ll never get a better response than a sales copy intensive ad. Where you’ve got a list of elements to include in your ad, and you know which ones to leave aside if space is a critical issue.

Or where you can run an ad, then make a change and see what happens. Where you get direct feedback on what’s working and what’s not.

No, you won’t win any awards for your ads. Only ‘creative’ ads win awards. You know the ones – you’re amazed how great they look but you couldn’t remember the product for the life of you. Or they’re so busy being creative they forget to tell you why you should buy their product in the first place. But the rewards in this game are in your bank account. Watching more and more dollars flood in as you methodically develop and continually improve your advertising.

That’s why direct response is the only advertising to use in your business. It works, and you can prove that it works.

Next week I’m going to give you a quick lesson on how to make your sales copy more visually appealing and easier on the eye.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

PS Go check out David Ogilvy on youtube. Not a whole lot there but what’s there is pure gold.