Sales Come First

I’d like to know. Was I too harsh?

A couple of weeks ago I was on a popular business forum and conversation moved to my favourite chestnut, newsletters.

OK, just to be clear on this topic, if you’ve got a business where you have repeat customers, or want repeat customers and you’ve got the ability to get people’s addresses, then a monthly newsletter is an absolute MUST. And not emailed either. It has to be real, on paper and delivered straight to their letterbox.

There are plenty of reasons for this, and I won’t go into detail because I did that here: “http://salescomefirst.com/all-about-newsletters/”

But let’s just mention continual customer contact, the value of repeat business, the extra perceived value of something in the mail that’s far away from a ‘DEL’key. And also consider the people who also advise newsletters like Dan Kennedy, my personal mentor Ed Burton, Pete Godfrey, Leela Cosgrove. The list of millionaires keeps going.

Anyway, some moron came up with the comment that you have to consider that people will end up throwing it out because after a few publications they’ve read it all before. And you have to weigh up how else you could spend your valuable time on other marketing activities.

So I instantly replied with the question (which remains unanswered): What better ways are there to spend your time than developing a relationship with your customers?

But his post went on to say that he read somewhere that you only need to contact your customers every 90 days for them to remember you.

So my response to this was: “I read rubbish all the time. I hope you ignored it. “

But what really got up my nose is that this guy is a business coach! Yep, the kind of guy you’re meant to go to and pay for advice! You’ve got to be kidding me! I mean, I give away good advice all the time with these articles, and for nothing. I really feel sorry for anyone who’s gone to this guy for ‘advice’ and now their customer list is decaying month after month because they only hi to their customers on the change of the seasons.

So I wanted to write this as a warning to you to study direct response marketing. Look at the resources I sent you last time here: http://salescomefirst.com/great-resources/ and make sure that anyone who gives you advice actually makes sense. Don’t take advice on face value. Study it, and ask if it really makes sense. And if you want, send me a note and ask me and I’ll more than happily give you my take on it.

And I’d love to know, what do you think? Do you think what I said was harsh? Was I right? Is my advice right, or am I wrong? I’m not above scrutiny, nor should I be. Question everything people tell you and make up your own mind. Even what I say.

Warm Regards,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

PS If you want a newsletter designed I do have a pretty cheap offering to get you started. Plus I’ve got people who can help you get it out every month without you needing to spend time in front of a computer or sticking on stamps etc.

Every time I buy a course one of the things I really want is the swipe file. I’ve got one of my favourite swipe files permanently on my desk, covered in scribble from my kids.

So why do copywriters treasure their swipe files so much? It’s simple. And I’ll let you in on a little secret.

Copywriters aren’t creative. Some people think of copywriters as a creative bunch. Sitting all together in an executive meeting room with views over the city, drinking champagne as we develop marvelous new campaigns on a whiteboard, slapping ourselves on the back for our creativity.

OK, that actually sounds like fun but sadly it’s not the truth. You’re more likely to find us locked away in our studies with our heads buried in our swipe files, creating YOUR next campaign.

I mean, why create something from scratch, when other people have done it successfully in the past? It just doesn’t make sense. So we copy what’s been done in the past and modify it to the campaigns we’re working on.

This is a lesson, NOT a confession!

Swiping is not as easy as you think. It takes practice and you need to know what you’re doing. For example, if you just take a successful sales letter and just change the words to your product, odds are you’re not going to do that well, even if you used a letter that made a million bucks. That’s because you’re doing it wrong!

So, how DO you swipe? Well, here’s what you’re doing when you do it.

- Look at the structure of the letter. What’s in it? Where is the guarantee, the offer, the bonuses? Work out the flow and see if it makes sense.

- If the letter is in the same market you’re writing for, look at how it creates a bond with it’s reader. What are the pain points it’s targeting? What dream is it selling? What are the central ideas?

- What’s the headline, and the opening? How have they attracted attention? Do the open with a story? Do you have a story that might fit this structure?

- What are the power words they use? The emotional words that create a connection?

- Do they build pain, then hit with a solution? Or do they get the reader excited, then build credibility? What do they do?

Swiping itself doesn’t work. You’re looking for a whole lot of things when you do it, and copying another letter word for word isn’t just silly. And it isn’t just a lazy way to write sales copy. It’s immoral, and worst of all it’s bordering on illegal.

I look at headlines I can modify. And I just love using bullet points that have been successful in the past.

And honestly, I’ve got a pretty big swipe file, but I usually go back to a handful of ads and sales letters for inspiration. Some of the best are Gary Halbert’s, Brett McFall’s and Pete Godfrey’s.

So whatever you do, don’t reinvent the wheel. You don’t have time, and you can’t afford to pay the price while you learn everything from scratch. Build your own swipe file of ads you know have been successful, particularly in your field and re-use what you can.

Next week I’m going to tell you why I cracked the proverbial in a forum recently. Bad advice costs people money, and this was BAD advice. Tell you the story, next week, and there’s a great bit of advice in it for you too.

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 article because I thought it was about time to share some of the great resources I use all the time.

And I’ve got cheap (ie Free) stuff, and I’ve got stuff that costs several thousand dollars. And all of it’s great value if you get it. The problem is that to do marketing and copywriting right, you have to always be updating your knowledge. Putting more tools in your case, as it were.

So I’m going to give you a lot of free, or at least inexpensive things to grab:

First, the websites. These are cool because they’re free and I check many of them daily.

www.thegaryhalbertletter.com -The ultimate free resource in my opinion. Gary used to spill his wisdom on this site regularly and it’s widely considered to have the best collection of information anywhere. Plus its a great read. Gary had an incredible life and knows how to tell a yarn. Put an hour aside and check it out.

www.makepeacetotalpackage.com – Clayton Makepeace is one of the world’s top paid copywriters and his (and his contributors) blogs are superb.

And of course http://www.marketingbullets.com/index.htm by Gary Bencivenga. Gary’s one of the top copywriters in the world so subscribe for his rare (but incredibly insightful) articles.

www.hardtofindads.com and www.hardtofindseminars.com are sources of great ads written by the masters, and downloadable interviews.

And here are some inexpensive books. Well, how about I give you the authors…

Dan Kennedy – Dan is the master at business building, so grab anything he’s written. His Ultimate Sales Letter is the ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ of the marketing world. And his No BS series are eye opening.

Maxwell Maltz wrote Psycho-Cybernetics. The easiest way to explain it is the instruction manual for your brain. Should be read several times (at least).

Anything by Claude Hopkins and David Ogilvy. Some of these can be found free, especially Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins. I recently bought My Life In Advertising and Scientific Advertising in one book for about 20 bucks.

Think And Grow Rich is a freebie but a classic, as is Acres Of Diamonds. Actually, Acres of Diamonds is one that really influenced me and if you want to make more money, then reading this will turn a lightbulb on for you. Seriously.

And this one is essential reading: http://www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com/ Many people haven’t heard of Drayton Bird. He’s a direct response genius.

As far as courses go, you can buy courses at all sorts of prices.

Here are a couple, but you’ll have to jump on Google and do a bit of research for yourself.

Alexi Neocleous – Advertising Secrets. It’s a manual, and I think it’s about $300. It was one of the first formal things I read on copywriting and I read it twice in 4 days. I don’t know who sells it, and I’m not promoting it for anyone so just Google it and you’ll find it. Pure gold.

Brett McFall’s Ad Camp. This is one I can help you with. 2 days with Brett McFall, and it’s a well structured course and goes through every component of writing sales copy. Costs $997 and get in touch with me if you want more info.

Robert Boduch has a whole package of stuff, including really simple books on writing all sorts of advertising. Dirt cheap, way too cheap in fact. So go find him and just get it. Don’t even think twice.

If you’re in mailorder get Jim Straw’s book on mailorder. It’s straight from the 80’s, possibly even the 70’s but the advice is better than anything else I’ve read since on mailorder. Even if you’re online this book should be a classic. It’s about $50 . He’s got all sorts of goodies so check them out here: http://www.businesslyceum.com/ And he’s a really lovely guy too.

One last person to mention is Pete Godfrey. Pete’s a mentor of mine, and a fantastic copywriter and marketer. Go to www.petegodfrey.com and see what he has on offer. And as way of testimony, I not only have most of his courses, but I’ve actually got 3 of his courses in front of me on my desk right now, and they get used all the time. He’s got a great deal on his Sales Letter Workshop at the moment. It’s worth getting for the swipe file alone.

OK, over to you. What do YOU recommend? I’d love you to share because you’ll help everyone out, and promote that person too.

Next week I’m going to tell you how to swipe (that means ‘ethically steal’) sales copy. Done right it’s a great shortcut…but I said ‘done right’. I’ll tell you how to do it properly.

All the best,

Hugh

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

It’s not often I use the term ‘knucklehead’ but I’m rolling it out for a very special reason.

Sure, I’ve had it DIRECTED at me more times that I can count but today I had to get out the little hammer, break the glass on the case and use it.

It’s because the businesses in my home town have broken me down and FORCED me to do it.

You see, later this year the cycling world championships are going to be held in Geelong. That is…WORLD championships. Not just part of a world championship series, or the world cup. No. The winner will go back to their home country and be lauded as the very best on Earth. No kidding, the actual world championships. The EYES of the world will be on them.

And for the local shops on the actual course the eyes of the world will be on them. Tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of people will be lining the streets for days on end watching the cyclists in action. Walking straight past their shops waiting for something to do until the bikes go wizzing past again.

And all these knuckleheads wanna do is COMPLAIN.

It’s hard to get deliveries. The roads are closed. Where are my customers going to park? Sook, winge and whine. Man it’s gotta be hard to be a business with all those brand new potential customers walking past, wallets in hand looking to spend some money. Why not hold…wait for it…

…a cycling themed promotion of some sort? Why not hold a competition and give away some prize to anyone who comes in and shows an interest in their products?

Or even better, a promotion built around the theme of how hard it’s going to be when the cycling’s on, so I’m holding a big sale now.

An electrical retailer could sell portable radios to visitors so they’d have something to listen to while they watch.

Cafe’s should be jam packed.

There should be a barbeque on every corner! With someone collecting contact details of people so they can sell them their special offers.

You know, there’ll be some kid selling food or badges who will one day write about all the money he made when the greatest show on earth came to his hometown in a booked called ‘The Story Of A Millionaire’. And all the while walking past shops full of business brokers who spent the week moaning about how bad life is.

Actually, just remembered a book you should go find. It’s called Acres Of Diamonds. I read it once and made a few thousand dollars just by applying what I learnt. Google it, it’s free. Perhaps the local council should print out copies and leave it with every business owner…

The point is, there are opportunities everywhere, and we just have to open our eyes and go looking for them.

Next week I’m going to give you a whole bunch of resources. Books to read, courses to get and people to subscribe to. I just gave you one of them (Acres Of Diamonds) and it was free.

All the best,

Hugh

I wanted to talk about an advanced copywriting strategy in this article because it’s something that either gets missed or done incorrectly.

It’s called a repelling strategy. We know you’ve got to attract the right people to you but you also have to repel the wrong ones too. For example, if you run a landscaping business and you only want to do landscaping with native plants and trees only then there are two things we want to do.

First, we want to attract people who want native gardens, and second we want to repel people who want other types of gardens.

You see by repelling people who want non-native gardens you send the message out to them that you don’t want them to call. You don’t talk about their type of garden and you make it clear that you are not the business for them. Not only do you stop them calling, wasting your time but you create an even bigger bond with the people who do have native gardens.

Here’s a simple strategy I saw recently. It was an ad for a builder who referred to themselves as the ‘Steep Block Specialists’. Now, if I had a steep block I’d call these guys for sure.

But if I had a flat block I wouldn’t even bother. And so they don’t get hassled by me, because they aren’t interested in my flat block. So they’re both attracting their ideal client, and repelling the ones they don’t want. They’re not so stupid as to simply hang out a ‘Builder’ sign, and then telling people what they do once they come in. They clearly don’t want to waste time doing this, and want to get their target clients from the start.

The language you use is important too. For example if you want to target people with money you use words like ‘exclusive’ and ‘deserve’ and ‘reassuringly expensive’. People without money will shy away from these words. They prefer words like ‘cheap’ and ‘cut price’ and ‘bargain’. I don’t mean to sound snobby or insensitive here. In fact, I write sales copy using both types of words for different audiences. But these word choices not only bond you with your ideal client, they repel the clients who aren’t your target market too.

To put this into action, write down a list of things you know about your ideal prospect. What motivates them? What are their fears and their dreams? What words and language do they use?

Then write down all the qualities you DON’T want in your prospects. What’s their mentality? Budget? What do they want out of your type of product or service?

Then grab a copy of your marketing materials and see if you’re targeting your ideal prospects while repelling the rest. Make it clear who you want, and who you don’t want.

Another example might be the accountant who specialises in property investors. They could say “We only deal with property investors. Sure, if you haven’t got any investment properties we could still help you, but honestly you’re better off with someone else.”

Next week I’m going to tell you about the World Cycling Championships in my home city, and why a whole lot of businesses who should be seeing dollar signs can’t get over their old, outdated ideas. They’ll lose a lot of money and it’ll be their own fault. It’s a real lesson in good old fashioned marketing.

All the best,

Hugh

www.salescomefirst.com

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

Plain and simple, You’re Reading It!

That’s right. The articles I publish on my blog are in fact the most important weapon I have in my arsenal.

And it doesn’t matter what business you’re in, I bet you can publish your own articles and get tons of new business, and KEEP your current clients for longer.

Here are the best reasons I have for writing articles.

#1. Its free. OK, sure. I just mentioned this. But seriously, when you consider how much it costs in time and money to do your other marketing, this one makes perfect sense. Anything you can do to improve your business which costs nothing, and takes you very little time has got to be a good thing. Just go to www.wordpress.com or www.blogger.com and get started.

#2. Google loves you! Google just loves fresh content, so by frequently publishing articles on a blog you can keep climbing up and up the page rankings in Google so you get noticed.

#3. Demonstrate your knowledge. I’ve talked about credibility in the past, and what better way is there to PROVE that you know what you’re doing than by publishing articles about your business. An accountant could publish tax tips, a mortgage broker could publish tips about the property and loans market, tradies can publish articles about caring for your home and so on.

Here’s something I do often. I refer new prospects to my blog so they can check out my knowledge and skills. Just having a whole lot of published articles that people can look at does wonders to your credibility.

#4. I love this one the most! You can save time by sending people links to your articles when you’re communicating with them. For example, if I’m writing a proposal on direct mail for someone, I can send them a link to my articles on getting your mail opened or getting great testimonials.

This saves me so much time, and I can give them top quality information without having to rewrite one word of it. It also helps prove my credibility because they can look at the other articles I wrote too.

#5. Reuse your articles in different places. I’m about to start publishing my articles on a few different sites, and they’re a great way of generating traffic. In fact, if you can find someone willing to publish your articles, then you can get access to so many more people than before. You can even use your articles in offline publications too, and I use this strategy from time to time.

#6. The best way to learn is to teach someone else. So one of the side benefits of writing articles is that it re-enforces what you already know.

OK, as always I want to leave you with something you can use. So here are a few rules I follow with my articles.

First of all your articles should be full of killer content. I see so many people write articles that are just mindless waffle. Its almost as if they don’t want to give away any good content in a free forum. Well, that’s a huge mistake. If you want people to follow your articles and use your services, you NEED great content in your articles. Otherwise nobody’s going to read them, and you’re just wasting your time.

Second, if you’re want a mailing list that outside people can subscribe to, you’ll need a way of managing it. I use www.worldinternetoffice.com

But if you’re just going to publish without notifying antone, or want to send out articles to your established contacts then you should be fine without this. That’s how I started out after all.

Second, keep it conversational. Your articles aren’t going to be published in a scientific journal, so keep it in a conversational tone. You can find out exactly how to do this here – http://salescomefirst.com/a-simpler-and-more-effective-way-to-write-your-advertisment/

Did you see point #4 from above in action there? Pretty neat isn’t it!

So in the coming week have a think about how you can benefit from a blog. Then, without delay go to one of the websites I listed above, start up a blog and publish something. The first one’s always the hardest, and once you’ve got it going, it should be easy and fun.

If you want to talk about anything from this article, feel free to email me at hugh@salescomefirst.com.

Next week, I’m going to discuss how original you should be in your advertising. This is a real eye-opener, so dont miss it.

So you’re writing an ad or a sales letter. You want it to be something original, something creative. Right?

BUZZZZ. WRONG Answer!

Rosser Reeves, brother in law of legendary ad-man David Ogilvy often said “Originality is the most dangerous word in the advertiser’s lexicon”.

And he was right.

But why is this?

I think its because a lot of people think it takes something different and daring to get people’s attention. And on the surface that seems reasonable.

But let me put it another way.

There are advertisements and sales letters out there that have literally made millions of dollars. These are proven controls which other people have tried to beat…and failed. They’re some of the best advertisements you’ll ever see. And in a lot of cases, these sales pieces have been modelled and changed to create OTHER advertisements which have, in turn, gone on to make millions more.

In fact, many top copywriters will tell you they haven’t had an original idea in years, and they’re simply not interested in coming up with one.

And why would they. They’ve got an arsenal of winning ideas and hooks that have worked spectacularly for decades in all sorts of different markets. They know what works, how to structure it, what’s going to get inside their reader’s minds and get them to buy. What’s more important is to take WINNING ideas  and put them together to create an ad with a far higher probability of success.

It would take you years and years of learning and practice to be able to develop something completely different that got you spectacular results. Odds are you’d keep coming up with something similar to the great ads that are already there.

Unfortunately those who want to be different will most likely fail. They do so at the expense of proven, sound and profitable ideas.

Lets take the Wall Street Journal ad written by Martin Conroy. It’s sold over a BILLION dollars of Wall Street Journal subscriptions over 28 years. And smart marketers have recycled the key themes from it for years. They’re using something they know works already, so are miles ahead of a sitting there with a blank piece of paper determined to be different.

So if you want to be original, well, good luck to you.

But if you want to make money then listen up. Here’s what you’ve got to do.

Go and find the top people in your industry and go and grab their ads. Then, when you write your own ads, use these ads as templates. Copy the emotional hooks. Modify their headlines. Create your own closing statements the same way they did.

Or, if you want a BIG shortcut, go and buy some swipe files from some of the masters. I know Pete Godfrey has great swipes in his copywriting manual. Alan Forrest Smith has a whole heap in his too. Dan Kennedy has some products with a collection of hugely successful ads as well. Go and grab them.

Other names to check out too include Gary Bencivenga, John Carlton and Michael Fortin.

And if you want a great FREE source… go to http://www.hardtofindads.com

And here’s the best source of all for writing ads…http://thegaryhalbertletter.com

Next week I’m going to move away from specific copywriting information and tackle a marketing issue…free information, such as free reports, audio CDS etc. If you want to get new clients, this is a MUST read article.

All the best,

PS If you’re in a very specific industry and you’d like to know where to find successful ads you can use as models, shoot me an email at hugh@salescomefirst.com and I’ll point you in the right direction.

If you want to put more money in your pocket this year, DESPITE the recession then there’s all sorts of ways you can do it easily. Today I reveal another way you can laugh at the recession and grow your business while all your competitors are panicking (the worst thing to do).

This strategy is quite simple. And its incredibuly powerful too, because you’ve got an opportunity to do something that a) WORKS like crazy and b) your competitors (for whatever reason) DONT want to do.

Not only that, but with so many of your competitors going bust at the moment, there are probably MORE potential clients coming flooding into your marketplace right now just looking for someone to work with.

I’m talking about giving away information FOR FREE!

I bet you’ve seen ads and websites where someone offers you a Free Report or Audio CD. That’s exactly what I’m telling you to do. Here are the main reasons it works so well.

1. You get to showcase your knowledge. Just because you’ve got a mountain of knowledge in your industry, doesnt mean your customers know this. But putting some of this knowledge down on paper shows people that you ‘know your stuff’, and they’ll be far more confident in you. After all, who’s going to get the new client? Someone who puts down 50 words in a yellow pages ad, or someone who write pages and pages of thorough, usable information in a report.

2. The law of reciprocity. If you havent heard of this, it basically says that if you do something for someone they’re far more likely to do something for you. So if you give them free advice, they’re more likely  to give you their business, or at least an opportunity to try for it.

3. People LOVE anything for free. In fact, one of the most powerful advertising words is simply ‘FREE’. So simply putting this word prominently in your advertising will get people to respond to your ad straight away.

4. You get people’s contact details which give you a database of people who are interested. And this is great because you dont just have a list of people who are ready for you now, you also get the details of people who are thinking about you, but are not ready to make a decision. And if you keep in contact with people, you’re in the #1 spot when they ARE ready to make a decision.

In fact, more than anything, a free report is actually a sales letter. Its job is to sell, so it should be written with all the basics of a sales letter in there. In fact, you’re telling people the most important things that they need, and (funnily enough) you can do all of them.

OK. Here are some practical pointers for you to put this into action.

First, you can have either a Free Report or a Free Audio CD. I wont go into the audio CD right here, but its another alternative. (If you want to know more, let me know and I’ll let you know more about it.)

• You must give your free report a title. Think of it as a headline, which it is. Have a look for my other posts on headlines, and follow the rules  in there.

• Keep it lively and conversational. If its hard to read, people just wont bother. But dont waffle on. Keep it to the point, and dont get bogged down in details. The details are for the PAYING customers.

• The best format is the “7 Secrets” format. It might be the “7 Secrets to taking years off your appearance” or “7 ways to rip the tax office off legally”. What about the “7 things to watch out for when choosing a financial planner”.

• Dont forget the next step. What do you want people to do once they’ve read your report? At the end of your report you need (in a very big font) some sort of offer. It could be a free audit of their needs, or a reduced price service or something along these lines. I’m writing a free report right for a prominent financial planner which offers a free 1 hour consultation. Others have included free consultations, audits and bonuses.

• Push your report hard. Make it a prominent part of your ads, whether its a newspaper ad, yellow pages ad or an online PPC campaign. Put it on your business card and your website. When people talk to you, tell them to go to your website and get a copy.

• And my last and most important point here is to TAKE ACTION! If you’re comfortable writing your own sales letters, then set aside an hour a day until its done. If not, get someone to do it for you. But don’t put it in the two hard basket or this powerful opportunity to get new clients will pass you by, straight into the hands of your competitors. Especially right now when your competitors are closing their doors and their old customers and clients are looking for someone else to do business with. Seriously, I can’t stress this enough.
  

Next month I’m going to talk about something I mentioned way back in October last year, and that is newsletters. Unlike free reports which are there to get NEW customers, newsletters help you retain your clients and charge higher prices. In fact, since its way more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one, you should be doing everything in your power to keep the ones you’ve got. This in depth article on newsletters will be a real eye opener.

There you go! Two weeks, two articles and two great ways to get an unfair advantage over your competition!

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

Wow folks,

I’ve been writing these articles now since the end of September in 2008. I remember that date because I was at Alan Forrest Smith’s MasterClass that weekend, and it was the weekend Hawthorn beat Geelong in the AFL Grand Final. And I didnt really care, because I don’t even barrack for Geelong (even though I live there!)

But I think in that time I’ve delivered some pretty hard hitting topics and unlike MOST blogs and articles on the internet, I’ve filled these ones up with useable content and solid examples YOU can use in your business.

Anyway, I get emails from time to time but hey, I’d love to hear from my readers more often. If you want to agree with me…let me know! And if you want to argue then let me know that too. In fact, if you’ve got more questions about an article, let me know your question. In fact, if you’ve got any burning questions, or you’d just like to know more about something you’re trying to do in your business then get in touch with me.

Just shoot me an email at hugh@salescomefirst.com.

OK, now onto the REAL topic for today.

And that is how newsletters can play an important role in your business.

OK. Now, lets get one thing straight. A lot of people think marketing is all about getting new customers. But that thinking is a bit wide of the mark. The most important thing in your marketing system is customer retention. That’s because its much easier to retain customers and clients than to get new ones.

Any business gets some level of churn, ie customers leaving and customers coming. But because its so much easier to retain customers, you’re far better off concentrating on keeping your existing customer base rather than having them leave while you pursue NEW customers. Imagine if you could get your churn rate down so low that the only people leaving you were the ones that died, retired or closed down.

And then imagine if you could charge them much more.

You’d hardly need any new customers at all. In fact, if you do everything right you can easily grow your business just by retaining your customer base and having a good referral system in place.

And that’s where newsletters come in. If you’re in the service business, such as a mortgage broker, financial planner, gardener etc then newsletters have a really important place in your marketing. You see, newsletters let you keep in touch with your client, so they’re an essential part of your customer retention strategy.

One of the most basic human needs is the need to belong. So newsletters keep people feeling as though they’re important to you. Not only that, but you get to showcase your knowledge and results over and over again. And this re-enforces what your business is all about to your customers.

If you’re in a business where you regularly work for your client, then your newsletter will stop them considering another provider. If you’re giving them what they want each month then the wont want to give this up.

But even if you’re in a business where you work for them infrequently, newsletters are still critical. And that’s because when they want your services again, your business will be their #1 choice.
Accountants, mortgage brokers and financial planners are great examples of this.

Just think, you can print a newsletter and post it for as little as $1. So for $12 a year you can be your client’s #1 choice every single time. And for every client you retain by doing this, you save a lot of time and money NOT having to acquire a replacement.

The most important thing to remember about writing a newsletter is to get MAXIMUM readership. So make sure you keep it light and conversational in tone, and make sure people want to read it.

With that in mind let me give you the most important components of ANY newsletter.

- From the editor – your thoughts and opinions. Keep it personal and conversational, not formal.
- Some articles – keep them short and easy to understand, and make sure you convey benefits for your reader.
- Tips – People love these!
- Joke Corner – Again, remember its all about keeping readership
- Inspirational quotes – same as with jokes, its all about giving people something they’ll appreciate.
- Success stories – basically testimonials, but you can use them as little articles
- Q&A – let people ask you questions. People just love reading the answers.
- Special offers – these can be in the form of a competition as well.

And dont forget to remind them about your referral system. If you dont have one…GET ONE!

I recently did a sample newsletter for a large financial planning firm. They already had a newsletter but quite frankly it was very dry and I imagine it would have been a tough read. So make sure you keep it simple and enjoyable for people. After all, what use is it if people dont want to read it?

Next week I want to go through something that people dont often write about. But I think its very important to understand in a formal sense. So next week I’ll be looking at marketing funnels.

If you’ve got any questions about newsletters, or any feedback feel free to add a comment or email me.

All the best

Hugh Thyer

PS I recently did a sample  newsletter for a client and that client will be incorporating a lot of my suggestions to make their newsletter really work for them! If you’d like a makeover done on your newsletter, or a sample drawn up from scratch, please contact me at hugh@salescomefirst.com to discuss it.

Are you REALLY getting the response you deserve?

I’m sure you’d appreciate it if I’m blunt. You see, I bet you’re NOT getting anywhere near the response from your advertising that you SHOULD be.

OK, I’m sure people DO respond to your ads, but whenever you place an ad somewhere, I reckon its probably seen by thousands of people. And yet if you’re lucky, only 1 or 2 will actually respond.

Do you have a yellow pages ad? It’s a good example. Every time somebody goes to the section where your ad is, your ad is right there in front of them. But of the thousands that see it, how many call?

I bet you only get a few calls out of the many thousands that see your ad. Yes, I’ll concede that you DO get calls. But only because of the shotgun approach, where if enough people see your ad, someone’s BOUND to call at some time. Problem is, what happened to all the other people who saw your ad and decided NOT to call?

You see, to get your phone ringing red-hot, you need a full system for getting your prospect from looking for someone to do business with, to getting them as a full customer.

OK, now most people run yellow pages ads with their business name, logo and contact details. But what that ad is asking is that people make the decision there and then that your business is the one they want to do business with (or at least on a shortlist).

That’s a big ask. So, here’s a different alternative.

Why not just offer them something for free. No obligation, nothing. Just something for free. A good example for an accountant might be a free report on the “7 Ways To Rip Off The Tax Department…Legally”. So, while you’re not asking your prospect to become a client, you’ve offered them good free information….
…and so they take up the offer. The nice thing here is they’ve got something of value, and you’ve done it in a way that wont make them feel threatened.

In the report (or should I say content-rich sales letter) you offer them an audit of their last year’s tax return absolutely free. And they can take your results and get the tax department to give you even more back. So, there’s some incentive there!

Once you’ve done the audit, your audit contains another offer, this time to get the prospect to commit to using your services. It might be a free consultation, or a percentage off their next tax return. And because you’ve proven your ability with the audit, they’d be mad NOT to take your offer up and become a client.

Sounding better so far?

Well, we can bolt on a few more things here, because we can pick up clients through newspaper ads, or your website.

And then, we should be sending out follow up letters as well.

So now we’ve got a simple yet effective marketing funnel.

Here it is, drawn out.

Of course it gets bigger than this. You could have lots more steps in it to include referrals, pay-per-click campaigns, up-sells into different services and so on. I’ve seen marketing plans with over 30 different steps including phone calls and faxes, and especially emails, depending on where people come in to your business. I put together a basic one the other week which could grow to include upsells to different products, boxes of products, affiliate programs and so on.

Hang on, did I say ‘affiliate program’? Sure did. This applies to the online world as well. In fact, you can use any number of tools to automate this whole thing for an online business, so depending on where your prospect first comes in contact with your business, you can roll out an entire marketing funnel to them over weeks, without lifting a finger.

Look, even as a tradesperson you can use a marketing funnel to do the exact same thing. It might start with leads coming from various sources such as the yellow pages, local newspapers, the internet, direct mail, referrals and so on. Then leads to free information, or a free audit of their needs, to writing up a proposal (giving you the chance to sell other services) and once you’re done, you can offer cleaning products or matching decor, depending on what business you’re in. And dont forget to promote your referral service, and give your customer an incentive to refer other people on.

Give it a go with your own business. Grab a whiteboard and go nuts. You’ll be amazed at how many ideas you can come up with to get heaps of new customers, and how to lead them through the process to becoming a buyer.

One last though here…the value of a business is in its systems. A business with a solid, PROVEN method for getting customers and getting more out of your relationship with them is worth MUCH more than the business without any of this.

OK, next week its we’re going to fast forward to the very end of any piece of marketing…the Order Form. If you think they’re just a few boxes to fill in to get payment details then think again. They’re a real artform in themselves.

All the best,

Hugh
www.salescomefirst.com

Hi there

Last week I spoke at length about marketing funnels. This week I want to just straight back into the nuts and bolts of writing sales copy.

You see, getting your prospect at the beginning is only part of the battle. There are heaps of places you can lose them along the way.

For example, they might not like your offer. They might not be convinced you’re the ‘real deal’. Perhaps you haven’t done enough to justify your price or your close just fails to move them from a ‘Maybe’ to a ‘Yes’.

But even if they get to the very end and make their decision to order, you can still lose them at the final hurdle…the order form.

OK, look. An order form isnt just a place to put a place for payment details. Its actually a mini-sales letter in its own right. And while this is more important to offline marketers its still very relevant to those of you online. Actually, people often read the order form first, before they read your letter so its critical to tell your story on your order form. This way they’ll be encouraged to go back and read your letter.

So, an order form should contain a number of key elements:
1. A summary of the benefit your prospect will get from your product
2. A reminder of the guarantee
3. A reminder of everything in the offer WITH what each item is valued at, all listed out.
4. A figure of the total value at the bottom.
5. A couple of testimonials
6. The price should be clearly stated, and compared to the total value. For example “That’s $1497 worth of value for only $197″
7. Urgency. Remind them why they should order NOW. For example, a time limited offer or limited stock.

For example, the first paragraph could be something like this…
‘YES! I want to learn how to dress like a movie star! Please rush me xyz for the discounted price of $x. I understand I’ll receive (xyz) and if I’m not absolutely thrilled I can get a full, no questions asked refund straight away’

Next, make sure it stands out. The best colour for an order form is bright yellow.

And the biggest tip I can give you here is to make it simple. I’m not kidding here. You’ve got to tell your prospect EXACTLY what to do, right down to where to fill in their payment details, who to send a cheque to, where to fax it, or to press the ‘Complete Order’ button. There must be NO confusion here, or you will lose orders. In fact, this is a good point to remind you about keeping your offers simple to understand too, and if you’ve got one offering, limit it to two (three at the most) different options.

The funny thing is, writing this post has reminded me I need to talk about the Double Readership Path in long sales letters. Its one of those concepts that can make a big difference to your response rates. Unfortunately a lot of people writing copy are either too lazy to do it, or just dont understand it, but its easy to do and if it helps you get more sales then its really money for nothing. My favourite kind!

All the best,

Hugh Thyer
www.salescomefirst.com

Lets jump straight into this week’s topic. Its a more advanced strategy for writing sales copy but its easy to do and can have a big impact on your sales.

Its called the ‘double readership path’ and it takes advantage of the way people generally read a sales letter.

You see, some people will read a sales letter from top to bottom, but not everyone. A lot of people will scan your letter, whether its online or on paper. They might flip forward a few pages, or glance over the main page. And that’s where you’ve got to sell to them. RIght there, when they’re scanning.

They’ve got to get enough of a reason to read your whole letter from what they pick up on that initial scan. And to do this you exploit the double readership path, which means your reader can pick up your basic sales message just by scanning your sales letter.

Make sure your subheadings and highlights tell your story. They shouldnt just be relevant to the sales copy around them. Your subheadings should make sense to a reader on their own. And if you read nothing but the subheadings then your basic story should be clear.

For example, lets say you’re writing about a stove/cooktop you’re selling. Your subheadings and highlights alone could read something like this:
…………………………….
“Revolutionary new stove concept helps you”
“Cook like a professional”
“Your friends will accuse you of buying in bakery cooked cakes” (and)
“Your family will love you”
“Not only that, but you’ll pay less than a normal, run of the mill stove”
“and its fully guaranteed for 10 years”
“If it breaks, someone will come to your house and fix it straight away”
…………………………….

What about a product to help people make money online?
…………………………….
“Could easily be described as the biggest recession buster of all time”
“Can make you thousands a week”
“Its so simple to do”
“Can you follow straight forward instructions? If you can, you can make easy money from home”
“An 80 year old grandmother made $15,225 in a single month alone”
“You barely need to lift a finger”
“Make money while you’re on holiday”
“I personally guarantee if you dont make 10 times your investment back in one month I’ll refund your every cent”
“$2,498 of value for only $67″
…………………………….

See how simple it is? Someone just reading the subheadings alone can pick up your basic story, and if just one of them hits a nerve, then your reader will read that section, and if they’re interested they’ll go back and read the whole lot.

Of course, to make it even MORE effective, use relevant pictures and graphics, like pictures of cash where you talk about money, a grandmother where you talk about the 80 year old grandmother and a warm sunny beach where you talk about making money on holidays.

Here are a few more tips:

TIP #1:
The other thing people will do when they read your letter is look at your order form first, so it also needs to tell your story. Especially if they’re looking for the price first. For new subscribers and non-subscribers, I wrote about that here: http://salescomefirst.com/writing-order-forms/

TIP #2:
As I just mentioned, some people go straight to the end to see the price, so don’t put it there. Hide it a bit higher up and make your prospect read parts of your letter to find it.

TIP #3:
People will read your PSs first, so you should put some effort into them. But that’s a story for another week. In fact, that’s a story for 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>

Hi there

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All the best,

Hugh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until then, all the best,

Hugh Thyer

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

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

Hi folks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’ll talk to you all next week.

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

Hugh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’ll have ‘em ripping it open!

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

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

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

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

Here’s another tip…

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

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

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

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

Until then, all the best

Hugh Thyer
www.salescomefirst.com

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

Hi folks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The first thing is the LIST.

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

The second thing is the MESSAGE.

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

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

The third thing is the OFFER.

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

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

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

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

All the best,

Hugh

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

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

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

Hi there

First, a big hello to all my new subscribers, especially Brett McFall’s
‘Warpies’. Welcome aboard and I hope you all enjoy the ride!

What I’m talking about today is something that will work gangbusters for
your business. In fact, I urge you to study this ad here because it
contains the keys to a fortune for your business.

I’ll tell you the story behind it in a second.

This ad was written by marketing legend Claude Hopkins in the early 1920s.
He wrote it for Schlitz beer who were 5th in the market at the time. You
see, at the time everyone was screaming ‘PURE’ about their beers, so much
so that the word had pretty much lost all meaning. In Australia there’s a
new ad going around for a ‘Pure’ beer which has a whole lot of people in a
‘pure and pristine’ world disturbed when a massive truck pulls up with a
delivery of this pure beer to them. If they were trying to capitalise on
the success of this ad, then they’ve missed the point entirely.

To write the ad, Hopkins went to the brewery and saw beer dripping over
glass plated pipes filled with filtered air, so the beer could be cooled in
purity. He was great filters filled with white-wood pulp also for filtering
the beer. They showed him how each pump was cleaned twice ever day to avoid
contaminations. And how each bottle was cleaned 4 times. He saw the 4,000
foot wells they used for their pure water, and the vats where they aged the
beer for 6 months. He even saw the mother yeast cell, the result of 1200
experiments to perfect it.

So he asked them why they didnt tell everyone about it. “Why” they said,
“The processes we use are just the same as the others use. No one can make
good beer without them.”

“But” he replied “others have never told this story. It amazes everyone who
goes through your brewery.”

And so Hopkins set about writing the ad you see above. And this result
was…

…Schlitz Beer went from 5th place to 1st place in a matter of months!

So what’s the lesson here?

Well, there are many things to be learnt from this, but the main lesson is
to tell your story. Just because your competitors do the same thing that
you do, how many of your customers actually know this. Just because its
‘old hat’ to you, doesnt mean it wont amaze your customers!

Here’s a simple template to writing a better ad for your business.

“7 Reasons Why You Should Call [Your Business Name] First”
Then, list the things you do (even if your competitors do them too) that
give your business the results it gets.

Here’s some things you can think about to come up with the ‘details’ you
SHOULD be telling your prospects. Again, this is as relevant in the online
world as the offline world…

- What training have you done?
- Do you do work for any well known people?
- How do you get information from people on their first visit? Do you have
a checklist? What information do you gather?
- What process do you follow to come up with a recommendation?
- What ongoing training, study or education do you do?
- What equipment do you use? And I mean even the basic things like massage
oil, analysis software, hairdressing scissors etc. Tell people the story
behind them – why you use them, how you found them etc.
- How do you record results and information on people’s visits? Do you have
any special routine for reviewing them on a regular basis?

I bet there are heaps of things you can tell people about YOUR business.
After all, Schlitz went from #5 to #1 in their industry JUST for telling
people about the things they did even though they were the same things
their competitors did!

THIS APPLIES TO INFORMATION PRODUCTS TOO!

This isnt just something for people with ‘traditional’ businesses. You need
to tell people the details behind your information product too if you want
it to sell.

Here’s another example.

Dan Kennedy (another marketing legend) is a member of the National Speakers
Association in the US. And every year he writes to all the members with a
product he has for sale on speaking. Everyone knows who he is in the
industry, so one year he got lazy and omitted the information about himself
from his sales package. And what happened? His sales tanked. Absolutely
fell through the floor! The next year he put it all back in and his sales
went straight back to where they were.

The lesson? Don’t assume people know about what happens in your business.
What’s common knowledge to the people in your industry is absolutely
fascinating to people outside it. That is…your prospects!

Next week its back to basics. I’m going to talk about a few fundamental concepts about developing your business and writing your advertising. Should be a ripper!

All the best,

Hugh

PS I can hear the screams now. “But my business is different”. Listen, if
you think this doesn’t apply in your business then think again. I bet you
can’t show me a business where this lesson doesnt apply. If you want to
challenge me, email me or comment below and I’ll show you exactly how this
can be applied to your business.

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

Its time to get ‘Back To Basics’ folks!

I want to show you the very first thing you’ve GOT to do before you write any advertisements or sales letters.

Its this…

You’ve got to put yourself in your prospect’s shoes.

You see, whether you like it or not there’s one thing that’s MORE important than your product or service. And that’s YOUR PROSPECT!

That’s why you’ve got to get inside their mind. Get inside their heart and soul. Take a walk in their shoes and feel their pain, their desires, their fears. See their enemies through their own eyes.  Speak to their friends and colleagues in the language that they, and only they use.

Because once you understand these things you’ll be ready to write to them.

I remember a story I once heard. A junior copywriter was asked by his boss to write part of a promotion about a natural health supplement. And the main competitor was a dangerous drug, the name of which I can’t remember. And so the copywriter wrote about this competitor’s product. How bad it was for you, the health problems it caused, the number of fatalities it had been responsible for, etc etc.

Well, his boss didn’t think his copy really sang. Sure, it had all the right bits in the right places but it was lacking that real empathy with its prospect. This is what the younc copywriter was told:

“Imagine you’ve just come back from burying your mother today. She died because she was taking that drug, and you had to watch her die an agonising death. You’re writing a letter to somebody who’s thinking about taking that drug.”

And the new sales copy absolutely blew him away.

See why its important to walk a mile in your prospect’s shoes? See how much of a connection you can make with them?

Here are the things you’ve got to know…

What’s their day like?
What are their problems?
What 3 things would they like to change?
What are they afraid of?
What are they angry about?
Do they have any hidden desires?
What about common enemies?
Do they talk in a specific way or do they have any special expressions, lingo or terminology?

Then put yourself in their place, and start writing from the point of view of your prospect. 

Not from your product.

I wrote a sales letter for a charity a couple of days ago. It was looking for sponsors to a family involvement day to get the local community involved with children with special needs.

The big problem with their original letter was that they talked a lot about their organisation, and asked for money.

And so what I did was present it as a way for local businesses to get their name and advertising in front of locals. And many of the people at this event are new to the community too.

And I said that they’d get a great feeling about helping the local community too, which was a really useful side benefit.

The point is that I rewrote it based on the prospect wanting there to be something in it for them. And in this case was inexpensive advertising. I wrote from the prospect’s point of view, and NOT from the point of view of the event.

OK. Here’s a quick and easy way to start the ball rolling.

What are the most common things that piss your prospect off about the industry or niche you’re selling to?

Write them all down.

OK. your advertisement becomes “7 Reasons To Call Thyer’s Plumbing Before Anyone Else”.

Then, just list why your prospect wont have those problems with you.

For example…
- If we’re more than 15 minutes late then the job’s free. That’s right, no charge.
- We clean up where we’ve been working and you wont see a spot of grease or grime after we’ve gone.
- We don’t walk dirty shoes into your house. We use shoe protectors to keep your floors from getting dirty.

Kinda easy, right? And BTW 7 is a good number, but if you can’t think of 7, or you think of more then just list as many as you can.

I want to do something a bit different in a couple of weeks time, and that’s put together a collection of posts and talk about their relevance in ANY advertising material. I want to go through everything you need in your sales letters and ads.

But when I looked the other day I found one thing missing. It’s the most important topic too! HEADLINES. So next week, I’ll give you some practical advice on how to write killer headlines. And then I’m going to put it all together for you with a step by step guide to writing winning advertisements and 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>

Have you been enjoying the Tour de France? I have, in fact I can’t get enough of it.

Actually, it’s an important lesson about long sales copy. You see, I’m interested in the cycling. If I can I’ll watch it for 3-4 hours a night! Sure, sometimes its on in the background but its there. But if you tell someone who isn’t into it, the reaction you’ll get is “I can’t watch it for more than 5 minutes!” OK, but if you’re a fan you’ll watch it. You’re glued to it.

A lot of people see sales letters that might go for 15-20 pages and think that nobody’s EVER going to read it. Too long, they tell you. But here’s the thing. These people are NOT your market. So who cares what they think.

What’s important is that there are people out there that WILL read it. And the more devoted the audience, the more they’ll read. After all, the people who think your sales letter is too long were never going to buy anyway, so don’t worry about them.

That’s like watching the cycling. If you’re ‘in’ to it then you just can’t get enough.

Incidentally, the longest sales letter I’ve ever come across so far is Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Just NOTE: I’m not saying to make your sales letters long. They should be concise and get to the point without wasting time. But sometimes this can take pages, especially if you’re tuned into your market and you’ve got a great offer. So longs is OK, but don’t make it unnecessarily long.

Anyway, I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid! How could I be writing about marketing and not have a single post on headlines! I didnt even realise it until I put together a set of posts on writing a sales letter for someone last week, and I couldnt find anything on the most important topic of all! Anyway, lets fix that up right now.

Headlines are the most important part of your sales letter. This is because you need to grab people’s attention RIGHT AWAY. If you don’t hook them into reading in the first few seconds then they’re gone forever. So a headline is quite simply the ad for your ad. It calls out to the person you’re trying to attract, grabs their attention and forces them to read. You want it to SHRIEK out and say “over here, over here. Read Me, Read Me!”

In fact, you want to know the #1 job of your headline? Its simple. Its job is to get people to read the first line. But if you get 5 times as many people reading your letter once you put a strong attention grabbing headline on it they you’ll get 5 times the sales (or opt-ins or what ever you’re after).

When I write a sales letter I spend most of my time on my headline. In fact, over 50% of my time is dedicated entirely to the opening page or screen. And most of that is spent on the headline itself, or the pre-head. I write out several pages of headlines, then go through a painstaking process of eliminating them until I have a few left over, and then I agonise over it more. And when my sales package is complete I’ll end up changing it again! Usually I send a couple off to clients with their sales packages for them to try different ones.

Now if you’re writing your own sales copy, go and check out other successful headlines and model them. Often a headline for a financial planner can be used by a mechanic. Here’s a good resource for ideas:
http://www.abraham.com/articles/100_Greatest_Headlines_Ever_Written.html

Here are a few common models you can use.

“How To Quickly And Easily <BLANK>”
“For example, How To Quickly And Easily Give Up Smoking”
  or
“How to Quickly and Easily Make Money on The Internet”

“X Reasons To <BLANK>”
For example, “7 Reasons To Call Bayside Plumbing Before Anyone Else.”

“Warning. Do Not <blank> Until You <blank>”
For example, “Warning. Do Not Call Another Mortgage Broker Until You Download My FREE Report On XYZ”

“Who Else Wants <blank>”
For exmaple, “Who Else Wants A Quick And Easy Way To Make An Income On The Internet”
  or “Who Else Wants To Run A Sub-3 Hour Marathon”

Now, here are a few very specific tips…

1. Don’t make your headline too long. I see more and more headlines these days where it looks like the writer simply wants to win a long headline competition. Problem is, by the time you get to the end of the headline you’ve forgotten how it started! Get to the point!

2. Dont try to be clever if you’re not experienced. Model what works! There are plenty of winning headlines out there so don’t try and re-invent the wheel. Far better to model a headline that has been proven to make millions, rather than try to come up with something completely new yourself.

3. Your headline should not be cute or funny. If you have to tell someone to read the letter in order to understand the headline then get rid of your headline and start again. It should be able to stand on its own, because when someone sees your ad or letter, if that headline confuses them then they simply wont read.

Anyway, headlines are a VERY involved subject, but these basics are a great start for you. I’ll probably return to headlines with some more advanced tactics in a few weeks.

Next week I’m going to pull it all together. Its going to be a collection of articles from the very beginning of this blog that you should review if you’re about to start writing a sales letter.

It’ll be all there folks. From headlines to testimonials. From guarantees to writing styles.

Talk to you all 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>

 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

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

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”.

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

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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