What’s going on — been doing a bit of work with AWAI recently. Here’s a couple articles I’ve written for them that you may find interesting:

How to “Steal” Videos and Quickly Add Content to Your Money-Making Website

Unlock The Twitter Traffic Tempest – 5 Traffic-Getting Tactics For Your Money-Making Website

Not only should you read those articles for the content (which people are already raving about) but you should also read them for the format. What do I mean?

Well, those articles are both great examples of advertorial selling online.

I don’t know how much I’ve talked about this here, but I have a rule for selling online. 90% high-value content. 10% pitch. And it works like gangbusters.

Why does this work so well?

Because of two reasons.

#1 — Build credibility.

It’s easy for any hack to put up a web page. And it’s easy for any hack to talk about and try to pitch you on — well — any topic online. But if you want to be perceived as an expert, you have to prove it.

And one major way to prove it is by demonstrating your expertise with high-value, actionable content your reader can apply immediately. Then they can try it for themselves and understand whether you’re just some hack, or if you’re The Real McCoy. So providing high-value content is credibility builder like none other.

#2 — Get attention.

Do I have to quote yet another statistic about how many advertisements assault our senses in a day? It’s well into 4 figures, and it may be approaching 5 figures. And it used to work to just be louder to stand out. But even louder gets ignored today.

However what still doesn’t get ignored is the meat. People still turn on the boob tube to watch that show they want to watch… Still open the newspaper or magazine to read the article they’re interested in… Still browse the web for something informative or funny or that solves a problem in their life…

And if your advertising and promotional materials are actually meaty — meaning they solve a problem or deliver content that’s of high perceived value to the reader — then they’ll stand out and get attention far more than any yelling or screaming or bold red headlines ever can.

Now there is one place you might violate the 90/10 rule.

If you have a long-term relationship with a prospect, and have already delivered them content followed by content followed by content, you may have an opportunity to break this rule.

Once you’ve established a strong relationship with a prospect, you are then able to present them with a strong sales message online and still maintain their attention and your credibility all the way through. Because you’ve got the credibility — you’ve built it with them through time. And because your sales message is targeted to someone with whom you already hold favor — the reader — and it speaks directly to their needs in the context of the content you’ve already delivered.

Only in a situation like this should you break the rule.

Does AWAI like how those articles/advertorials have been performing? Well, they’ve asked me to present on the topic of money-making websites at their annual Bootcamp in Delray Beach, FL in November. Will I see you there?

Sure, Joe Karbo made a mint off his book sold through direct response, “The Lazy Man’s Way To Riches.”

Of course, he was selling a dream. Not reality.

When you look at reality, overnight successes come after years of nose-to-the-grindstone work. Lazy people just sit on the couch every night and about all they do is throw their own pity-party, wondering why they’re not getting ahead.

And even if you’re chasing the latest opportunity… You’re still lazy. That’s still lazy behavior. You’re wanting someone else to do the work for you.

To truly get ahead you have to blaze your own trail. You don’t play the game, you create it. And you make it happen — no matter how much sweat and pain and tears and joy and happiness and passion and drive and determination it takes.

There’s no resting on your laurels until you have them my friend. And even then, that’s a good way to lose them.

Do you want to get ahead?

Try this on for size (courtesy of the late, great Gary Halbert):

The best way to get started is to get started.

Movement always produces more results than meditation.

Attack life. Wait for nothing.

He has half the deed done who has made a beginning.

The future starts today (right now)… not tomorrow.

There’s no choice if you’re serious about success. You have to hustle. You have to move. You have to make things happen.

And then, it’s funny how the results often begin to add up to be more than the sum of your effort.

Today I have a guest post for you from AWeber CEO Tom Kulzer. It’s about a marketing method I endorse highly — consistent “drip” follow up. Tom’s insight into this comes from helping thousands of online marketers make a bundle more sales by putting in place systems that automatically and consistently follow up with prospects through email. (It’s been one of my secrets to success online, both on my own projects and with clients!) And the system he describes below is a simple and proven system for making more sales, using consistent “drip” email follow up.

I use AWeber for email list management, email newsletters, and for sequential autoresponders (this is the tool that lets you do what Tom describes below). I highly endorse the service for having such a great feature set at a competitive price point. If you’d like to learn more about their service and take it for a free “test drive” check out the AWeber website.

Enjoy!

Roy

Do Your Potential Customers Forget About You?
by Tom Kulzer (AWeber CEO)

Your web business probably gets product inquiries from potential customers around the globe. Inquiries come via e-mail and your web site, and you try to send information to each hot prospect as quickly as you can. You know that you can drastically increase the likelihood of making a sale by satisfying each person’s need for information quickly!

But, after you’ve delivered that first bit of information to your prospect, do you send him any further information?

If you are like most Internet marketers, you don’t.

When you don’t follow that initial message with additional information later on, you let a valuable prospect slip from your grasp! This is a potential customer who may have been very interested in your products, but who lost your contact information, or was too busy to make a purchase when your first message reached him.

Often, a prospect will purposely put off making a purchase, to see if you find him important enough to follow up with later. When he doesn’t receive a follow up message from you, he will take his business elsewhere.
Are you losing profits due to inconsistent and ineffective follow up?

Following up with leads is more than just a process – it’s an art. In order to be effective, you need to design a follow up system, and stick to it, EVERY DAY! If you don’t follow up with your prospects consistently, INDIVIDUALLY, and in a timely fashion, then you might as well forget the whole follow up process.
Consistent follow up gets results!

When I first started marketing and following up with prospects, I used a follow up method that I now call the “List Technique.” I had a large database containing the names and e-mail addresses of people who had specifically requested information about my products and services. These prospects had already received my first letter by the time they requested more information, so I used the company’s latest news as a follow up piece.

I would write follow up newsletters every now and then, and send them, in one mass mailing, to everyone who had previously requested information from me. While this probably did help me win a few additional orders, it wasn’t a very good follow up method. Why isn’t the “List Technique” very effective?

• The List Technique isn’t consistent. Proponents of the List Technique tend to only send out follow up messages when their companies have “big news”.
• List Technique messages don’t give the potential customer any additional information about the product or service in question. He can’t make a more informed buying decision after receiving a newsletter! If someone is wondering whether your company sells the best knick-knacks, what does he care that you’ve just moved your headquarters?
• List Technique messages convey a “big list” mentality to your potential customers. When I used to write follow up messages using the List Technique, I was writing news bulletins to everyone I knew! I should have been sending a personal message to each individual who wanted to know more about my products.

What follow up method really works?

Following up with each lead individually, multiple times, but at set intervals, and with pre-written messages, will dramatically increase sales! Others who use this same technique confirm that they have all at least doubled the sales of various products! In order to set this system up, though, you need to do some planning.

First, you’ll need to develop your follow up messages. If you’ve been marketing on the Internet for any length of time, then you should already have a first informative letter. Your second letter marks the beginning of the follow up process, and should go into more detail than the first letter. Fill this letter with details that you didn’t have the space to add to the first letter. Stress the BENEFITS of your products or services!

Your next 2-3 follow up messages should be rather short. Include lists of the benefits and potential uses of your products and services. Write each letter so that your prospects can skim the contents, and still see the full force of your message.

The next couple of follow up messages should create a sense of urgency in your prospect’s mind. Make a special offer, giving him a reason to order NOW instead of waiting any longer. After reading these follow up messages, your prospect should want to order immediately!

Phrase each of your final 1 or 2 follow up messages in the form of a question. Ask your prospect why he hasn’t yet placed an order? Try to get him to actually respond. Ask if the price is to high, the product isn’t the right color or doesn’t have the right features, or if he is looking for something else entirely. (By this time, it’s unlikely that this person will order from you. However, his feedback can help you modify your follow up letters or products, so that other prospects will order from you.)

The timing of your follow up letters is just as important as their content. You don’t want one prospect to receive a follow up the day after he gets your initial informative letter, while another prospect waits weeks for a follow up!

Always send an initial, informative letter as soon as it is requested, and send the first follow up 24 hours afterwards. You want your hot prospects to have information quickly, so that they can make informed buying decisions!

Send the next 2-3 follow up messages between 1 and 3 days apart. Your prospect is still hot, and is probably still shopping around! Tell him about the benefits of your products and services, as opposed to your competitors’. You will make the sale!

Send the final follow up messages later on. You certainly don’t want to annoy your prospect! Make sure that these last letters are at least 4 days apart.

Following up effectively seems complicated, but it doesn’t have to be! So many potential customers are lost because of poor follow up – don’t you want to be one of the few to get it right?

If you’d like to set up a system like Tom describes in this article, AWeber will let you do it easy, affordably, and pretty dang quick. Try a test-drive at the Aweber website.

It’s a good article, and it’s always nice to be quoted as an expert source.

Here’s a link to the article in PDF form:

How to Make Sure Your SEO Client Realizes You’re Doing a Great Job

I’ll also copy in the article here:

This article is provided by Fresh Look, Inc. marketing consulting, http://www.FreshLookInc.com. Fresh Look, Inc. President Roy Furr is referenced in this article under “Track Your Visits by Keyword” on page 2.

How to Make Sure Your SEO Client
Realizes You’re Doing a Great Job

By Rebecca Matter, AWAI

Originally published online at: http://www.awaionline.com/2009/04/make-sure-your-seo-client-realizes-your-value/

One of the most important things you can do for yourself as an SEO copywriter is track the effectiveness of the work you do for your clients.

Why would you leave it up to guesswork?

Your income depends on it!

With concrete proof, your client will clearly understand the value you bring to his business.

Which, of course, will result in more work and more money for you.

Earlier this year, I sent out a note on measuring the effectiveness of your SEO work. (http://www.awaionline.com/2009/02/measuring-seo-copywriting-results/) Afterwards I received some additional techniques used by SEO copywriters to measure their results.

So to make sure you have all the tools you need, here are four more SEO tracking tips on ways you can prove to your client your SEO work accomplished its goal.

Have Your Client Add You to Their Google Analytics Account

Web writer Melissa Arnold uses a feature in Google Analytics that allows your customer to go in and set you up as a “view reports only” user. (In the “User Manager” section, they simply click on “Add User.”) This allows you to log in and view their web statistic reports. You can download any report you’d like to your computer (in either PDF or XML file format). Do this before you start your work and then after – and compare the results.

Use the Free Tool From HubSpot.com

This free report gives you all kinds of great information about your client’s website, such as metadata, heading and image summaries, readability level of the site, the number of pages indexed by Google, the current traffic rank of the site (according to Alexa.com), the number of inbound links to it, and so on.

It’s not as detailed as the information you’d get from Google Analytics (or other analytics software), but it’s not a bad snapshot of your client’s website.

Once again, you’ll want to do this before and after. So, after you do your SEO work, simply go to the site and run the report again.

Track Your Visits by Keyword

Copywriter Roy Furr uses the “track by keywords” statistic, which is available in most analytics packages. This shows you how many times a visitor arrives on site by typing specific keywords or keyphrases into a search engine. In Google Analytics you can even break it down on a page-by-page basis.

Before you do your work, make sure you take a snapshot of this statistic in the analytics program your client is using. After you optimize a page, track this statistic and show your customer the increased traffic that’s occurring as a result of your work. Roy cautions that you shouldn’t use the measurement alone, but it’s certainly one of the leading indicators.

Use the Free Tool at SEMRush.com

Input your client’s website into the search field at the top of the SEMRush.com website, and in seconds you’ll have the top 10 keywords and where specific pages rank with Google. If you need more than the top 10, you’ll have to upgrade to the paid version (which starts at $19.95 per month). With one click of the mouse, you can export this information in Excel or CSV format. As with the other methods, make sure you take “before and after” snapshots.

Tracking your results takes relatively little time when you consider the pay off.

And to make sure you’re being consistent, I recommend you keep a detailed “before and after” journal of results for each client. Every time you make a significant change to your client’s website, print out a report (at regular intervals) and record it in your journal. Then input the data into a spreadsheet, and use that information to put together an SEO results report for your client.

A results report is a great way to prove to your client that they made a good decision to hire you. Plus, the same reports can be used to sell the value of what you do to potential clients.

If there is one area of web writing everyone should learn, it’s SEO copywriting. And Heather Lloyd-Martin, the pioneer of SEO copywriting, has made it very easy for you to learn. With her 6-hour, inhome training DVDs, you will have the skills needed to start getting clients on Monday. Learn more about the program here. http://www.awaionline.com/seo-copywriting/learn/

And if you’re already working with clients, but haven’t been tracking your results, go ahead and start taking the snapshots of their websites today, so you’ll have a benchmark to compare to in the near future.

This article appears courtesy of The Golden Thread, an e-letter from AWAI that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on how to build your freelance copywriting business. For a free subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/thegoldenthread

”If you have some respect for people as they are, you can be more effective in helping them to become better than they are.” –John W. Gardner

Quick post today talking about respect and persuasion. If you’re interested in moving someone to take a certain action that’s in your best interest (like… buying your product), it helps immensely to start with complete respect for them.

Respect for where they’re at in life. For their accomplishments that have gotten them this far. Respect for the importance they see themselves as having. Respect for the difficulties that have prevented them from being even closer to their dreams, desires, and destiny.

This is not a show, either.

Your respect must be real.

Starting from this fundamental position of respect, it’s easy to get what you want.

Of course, when you respect someone you have no choice but to sell them a product or service that is in their best interest to purchase. When you respect them, you must believe that what you’re giving to them is of equivalent value to them as what you’re asking for in return.

With respect and something valuable to bring to the table, the sky is the limit.

Here’s a quick 6 minute audio where I explain what they are… and how you can improve them for more conversions and more profits from your website.

(download)

Let me know what you think!

Receive a free white paper if you act by March 31st!

DELETE!

Failure. Failure to connect. Failure to inform. Failure to sell. Wasted investment of time and energy and probably money.

And another marketer left scratching their heads saying…

“I used the word free, how come it didn’t work?”

As my reader, I’m sure you’re smart enough to spot the error in that subject line, and certainly would do better yourself. But just in case you haven’t had your morning cup of coffee, I’ll take a moment to explain… and then tell you how I’d do it differently.

Wait…

So as I’m writing this I go back to my trash basket to pull out the offending email.

And…

It turns out it’s not trying to get me to download a white paper at all. Bigger fail! It’s for a service provider who among other services will write white papers for me.

Here’s why this is a great big failure. I thought — from the moment I read the subject line — that this was an email trying to get me to download and read a white paper.

My original complaint was…

… that I had no clue what the white paper was about…

… had no clue how reading this white paper would benefit me…

… and no clue why the heck I should waste my time even opening the email to find out what they had for me if they wouldn’t tell me up front!

Still all completely relevant feedback… if the email is selling a white paper download. However, now that I know the email is selling something different…

Back to the actual content of their email…

Here’s the real offer (rephrased to protect the still-guilty — I’ll explain in a minute):

We’re a great company with a new lead nurturing program. Give us a lot of money and we’ll put all this together for you:

• eBook on a topic you choose
• Syndication and promotion of eBook and weekly leads report
• 3 custom white papers to compliment eBook and sell product
• Minimum lead guarantee

… And if you act now, receive a fourth white paper at no charge (which they waited until the end of the email to explain). Call me for more information at…

As an aside — a couple of my colleagues and I joke around hard… I mean wit-and-sarcasm-that-hurts-more-than-a-gut-shot hard… and because of some of the blows I’ve been able to land they joke that I should own the website IBelittleYou.com. If I did this post would be on there. But truly, I break this email down in order to teach, not to insult. I’m sure the person who wrote the email is an incredibly intelligent person who regularly gets results from their marketing — I’m just trying to provide insight into how I would get more and bigger results using the same offer. I mean this analysis in the most productive, least destructive way and hope it is taken as such.

Back to the assault…

So I have three major complaints with this email — and can offer three major revisions that I believe would drastically improve results.

My complaints:

1. The subject line is not clear enough. I assumed they wanted me to act now to download a white paper, instead of having them write for me. That’s the writer’s fault, not mine.
2. The subject line is not paid off until the end of the email. As soon as I open an email I should be reassured that what was promised in the subject line is covered right away, or at least will be if I read the entire email.
3. They’re not drinking their own Kool-Aid. There’s no reason to respond now unless I want to move forward with what I perceive to be a rather expensive service. What about offering a white paper?

My revisions explained:

1. Make it clear in the subject line that “We want to write a white paper for you.”
2. Pay off the subject line up front, stack the benefits, and lead into the description of the offer.
3. Offer a free white paper to interested parties. Why not offer a white paper on white paper best practices (so existential!) to anyone who responds for more information about the offer.

With those recommendations, do you want to give it a try and see how your email comes out?

I have, and here’s my email (admittedly my first-draft):

(Before we get started I’ll point out — I wrote 2 headlines for split testing purposes. Test one to 200, test another to 200, and if there’s a clear winner roll that one out. If there’s no clear winner I’d either test again to an additional 200 each or go with the safe, offer-related, non-”creative” headline.)

SUBJECT: Would you let my experts write a Free White Paper for you?
SUBJECT: How Lack-Of-Information-Itis is killing your sales

BODY:

Dear Roy,

I’d like to have one of my IT experts write a free white paper for you. But first, I have to let you in on a disturbing trend.

Let me explain. There’s a real problem sweeping through the IT industry. I call it “Lack-Of-Information-Itis.” It’s a condition that happens when a buyer thinks they want your solution… but doesn’t have quite enough information to make the purchase.

The tragedy is how quickly this disease is killing sales — even though it’s completely preventable.

Luckily, there’s a simple cure and it will take you almost no effort to implement. In fact, our new Lead Nurturing Program annihilates Lack-Of-Information-Itis at the source. It presents customers that are ready to buy to your sales team on a silver platter. And it saves them days of time and effort because the buyers we bring you are already fully educated as to how your specific solution will benefit them.

This leads to more sales, and also happier customers who are easier to support because they understand what they’re buying before they get it.

Here’s what we do for you:

• Our team of experts will write an eBook on a relevant topic to your customer base, to attract interest of qualified prospects.
• We’ll manage the syndication and promotion of your eBook across our network of sites to actually do the work of bringing qualified prospects into the fold. When prospects download the eBook we’ll collect their information and send it to you while they’re still hot.
• Normally my experts also write 3 custom White Papers to supplement the eBook and teach the prospect exactly what your product can do for them. These lead your prospects down the garden path directly into your sales cycle, fully informed and free of Lack-Of-Information-Itis. Respond before March 31st and I’ll have my experts write 4 White Papers for you — the 4th one is on my dime!
• We shoulder the risk. We have guaranteed lead minimums determined before we start, and if we can’t live up to our promise of a predetermined number of qualified leads that makes sense for your business, we’ll refund your entire project fee. It literally is ZERO risk to get started.

This integrated treatment for Lack-Of-Information-Itis has proven itself over and over again — including for other tech companies like Joe-Blow Technotronics and MegaBucks Techno Corp., as you can read about on our website at www.example.com/case-studies/. (Of course, we could show you success stories all day but the most important thing is to prove it for yourself by giving it a try in your business.)

What to do next:

I want you to get a hold of me. I want to show you how this whole program works — and most importantly how this whole program will work for you.

If you’ll call or email me to start the conversation, I’ll give you a free white paper I’ve put together called “How to Use Lead Nurturing and White Papers to Make Selling Easy and Fun (And Make A Lot More Sales While You’re At It).” There’s no obligation with this white paper — it’s designed to inform whether you bring in my team now or later. (And if you really wanted, this white paper gives you enough information to put together a program like this on your own and start making more sales immediately.)

Here’s my email … example@example.com … and here’s my phone number … 123-456-7890 … I want you to get a hold of me now, so I can send you the free white paper and start our conversation.

I expect to fill up quick.

There’s only so much time in the day, and although our tech experts verge on genius, they haven’t figure out how to stretch time yet. So we can only take a limited number of businesses right now to put together a lead nurturing program for you. Call now because I’d hate for you to be the one I have to say “no” to.

Bill Smith,
XYZ Publishers

What do you think?

Almost everyone who tries to teach you the sales process will make it too complex.

The reality is… Sales is simple.

And once you understand the basics you become a sales superman (or superwoman) who can sell anything worth buying.

Here’s the secret…

It’s all about finding out whether you have a good prospect. And once you have a good prospect whether they’re going to buy from you.

So how do you do that?

Here are the three questions that will take you from the initial conversation… to having a qualified prospect you know will buy from you as long as you make purchasing easy:

1. What are you looking for in … ?
2. How will you know when you have that?
3. If I could show you how to get that, could we move forward and get you the solution you’re looking for?

From here you walk them through how your solution gives them exactly what they’re asking for (and admit while minimizing where your solution doesn’t meet their needs). Then simply ask them for the order.

Presto, you’re super! (Now get off your duff and use these questions to make more sales!)

Y’know… Those books in the annals of advertising that most rookies won’t touch with a ten foot pole because they suspect dusty knowledge…

Well, truth is not much has changed in advertising in even the last 100 years. Sure, Claude Hopkins, Vic Schwab, and Robert Collier would need some getting up to speed on what Pay Per Click, Landing Pages, Infomercials, and YouTube are…

But the fundamentals haven’t changed.

Any of these old ad geniuses could still pick up a pen today and put together an ad for any medium to make prospects get off their duff and place an order… In yesterday’s mediums, in today’s… And even in tomorrow’s.

Because good advertising is couched so deep in unchanging human psychology — our fears and our dreams, our drives and our motivations — that if you learn what good advertising was 75 years ago you’ll have a pretty good shot at what good advertising will be today.

If you’re looking at a way to get up to speed quick on what works in advertising, here’s a recommendation for you.

Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples.

Simple, straightforward, to the point. It tells you how to write effective advertising based on years and years of research. Hundreds — even thousands — of split run tests were performed to come to the conclusions found in that book.

And for a mere pittance you can have access to that incredible store of information.

It’s the fundamentals, Jack.

It’s what you gotta know to write effective headlines, body copy, and calls to action. It gives you building blocks you can use to construct an appeal that will have your reader leaping for their wallet to send you money.

You’re plain toast if you come onto the playing field not knowing this information — and if you drink it up, assimilating it so deep you forget where the wisdom came from…

You can build such an incredible advantage your competitors may think you’re doing something illegal.

Whether you’re advertising your own products, or writing advertising for others…

Get this book!

In a moment I’m going to take a list from page 73 of his book — his effective appeals on which to base your advertising — and lay it out for you here.

But before I do that I thought it’d be nice to show you that I’m no isolated fool — that others have gotten as much from this book as I have. (And maybe give you a little extra motivation to pick up a copy for yourself.)

So, selected from the Amazon.com reviews:

“The book is very informative and also very interesting because Caples will show you two examples of ads he ran as a split-run and says “one sold three times more than the other; can you guess which one?” Then he’ll tell you, and tell you WHY.” – from ‘A Customer’

“There’s a reason why David Ogilvy calls this the most useful advertising book he’s ever read! I hold a Ph.D in Sales/Marketing and they simply DO NOT teach this money producing stuff enough at our colleges and universities! Instead, most of them opt for creative mush that’s clever and makes for good awards and 5 minute speeches….but doesn’t sell anything! If you want simple, brass tacks, powerful advertising advice, this book will be the most dilapidated marketing resource in your library!” – from Dr. Michael Temple

“I have 47 books, at least as many audiobooks, and I read 23 newsletters and 12 bogs to learn about sales, marketing, and copywriting. After my computer, this book is the most useful tool I own.” – from Jacob Bear

That’s just a start. Everyone from Gary Halbert to John Carlton to Dan Kennedy to Jay Abraham… and all the way down the list of today’s marketing gurus… has devoured Caples. This book is still on their bookshelf, guaranteed.

So how about I share a little wisdom from this book, until you pick it up right now or order it from Amazon.com?

When you’re writing your advertising, it should be based on one core appeal — the fundamental benefit your prospect will experience from doing business with you. Based on Caples extensive research across nearly every type of consumer, here are the 18 effective appeals on which to base your advertising (in no particular order):

• Make more money
• Save money
• Retirement security
• Better health now
• Health care security
• Security in old age
• Advance in profession or trade
• Prestige
• Enjoyment
• Easier chores
• Gain more leisure
• Comfort
• Reduce fat
• Freedom from worry
• Be in the “in” group
• Desire for bargain
• Popularity/attention
• Beat the Joneses

Now that you have the list… If you’d really like to make it pay, try this.

When you’re working on your advertisement, take this list and brainstorm which appeals fit your product. Check them off on the list.

This is your short list.

Next take your short list and cut it in half — compare which appeals fit your product better than the others, and circle those.

This is your very short list.

Now from your very short list select the appeal that has the best link to your product… What fits best? Where will your customer benefit most (or where will they perceive to benefit most)?

This is your core appeal.

Finally come up with a story for your advertisement based on the top appeal you’ve selected. As you write your advertisement be sure to focus on that one core appeal above all others.

And if your appeal is “security in old age” don’t just say “You’ll feel security in old age.”

Instead, say…

“Imagine a retirement without thinking twice about whether bills can be paid. No relying on government checks. Your home is in order. Plenty in the bank to live nicely. Plus you can treat your self more than once in a while, without guilt. You can even set aside a little extra for your children (plus the church or whatever good cause you’d like to assist with a generous donation). We already have thousands of people living this kind of stress free, financially secure retirement — why not you?”

And finally — sure, you can bring in additional appeals from your very short list later on in your advertisement. They may be what pushes fence-sitters over the top.

But be careful not to dilute the core message of your advertisement.

One big idea — one core appeal — will typically be the strongest motivator for customers. And you wouldn’t want to get in the way of that!

Here’s to higher response…

Why we got a bad grade in school. Why someone else got picked over us for the team. Why we haven’t gotten a promotion yet. Why we’re getting fired (or shouldn’t be). Why January’s not even over and we’ve already botched our New Year’s Resolution.

And…

Why I have to say “no” to the salesperson (who’s really pretty nice)… Or ignore the ad (which is really pretty compelling).

In fact, we have a whole arsenal of excuses at our disposal for every little situation in life.

We know just what to say to justify poor performance. We know what to tell others (and ourselves) to skirt our indiscretions.

We’re like Houdini with our ability to get out of taking responsibility for things in our life.

And one of the things we’re particularly good at is getting rid of a sales person or sales message (of course if we weren’t good at saying “no” we’d be dead broke and have warehouses full of junk we’ll never use).

The list of excuses given to a salesperson is endless. However, there are six common objections that come back over and over again — that must be addressed for any sale to take place:

• Not enough time. I don’t have enough time to deal with this right now. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to even think about making a buying decision. Even if I had your product I wouldn’t have the time to use it.
• Not interested. Well, I really don’t see how this is for me. I mean, it’s not really what I was looking for. I don’t think it’ll meet my needs.
• Not a unique solution. Oh, this is just like what Fred’s selling down the street. I know I can get this somewhere else, so I don’t need to buy right now.
• Don’t believe you. Those are some pretty big claims you’re making and I just don’t see how they could be true. Sure, you can promise the moon, but I need evidence… I need proof you’re going to be able to give me what you say.
• Not enough money. Oh, I can’t afford to put money towards this right now. That’s too expensive (for the benefits I expect to get from it). Is this really going to be worth it? How am I going to justify spending this money to (spouse, friend, relative, etc.)?
• Don’t need to decide today. I don’t have to decide today. I can always buy that later. If I don’t buy today it’s not a big deal, I can always get it later.

Sit down with your product, your advertisement, your sales script and seriously think about how to answer each of these objections.

Build the answers into your sales message. So even as the objection comes to your prospect’s mind it’s already been answered.

This greases the skids to the sale and will turn many wavering prospects into happy customers.