INTERNET MARKETING NEWS 
April 5, 2004

 


Volume 2, Number 5,  Issue  #004504, April 5,  2004  

---- IN  THIS  ISSUE----
Smile For The day
The Great Wizard Of Oz

Article I 
"Copy Fixes--8 Quick Changes that Improve the Way Your Web 
Copy Sells”
by Kevin Nunley 

Article II
“Sure Signs To Quickly Recognize A Scam
by Victoria Ring”"

Article III
”24/7 Promotion With Voice Mail”
by Chris Bradford
 

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The Great Wizard of Oz

The last four ex-U.S. Presidents are caught in a tornado, and off they whirled to OZ. They finally make it to the Emerald City and came before the Great Wizard.

"WHAT BRINGS YOU BEFORE THE GREAT WIZARD OF OZ?"

Jimmy Carter stepped forward timidly:" I've come for some courage."

"NO PROBLEM!" says the Wizard. "WHO IS NEXT?"

Ronald Reagan steps forward, "Well.. I.......I think I need a brain."

"DONE" says the Wizard.  "WHO COMES NEXT BEFORE THE GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ?"

Up stepped George Bush sadly, "I'm told by the American people that I need a heart."

"I'VE HEARD IT'S TRUE!" says the Wizard. "CONSIDER IT DONE."

There is a great silence in the hall. Bill Clinton is just standing there, looking around, but doesn't say a word. Irritated, the Wizard finally asks,  "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"Is Dorothy here?"

**** Article I****

Copy Fixes--8 Quick Changes that Improve the Way Your Web Copy Sells  by Kevin Nunley

When something isn't selling online, people automatically start assuming things like, ěInternet businesses never make any money,” or, ěMy product/service just isn't in-demand.” What I tell people when they come to me with these statements is that there are numerous reasons why their product/service might not be selling, and that they should explore other options. For instance, have they taken a good look at their web copy lately?

Most of the time, the people I talk to about their web businesses are selling a good product or service that people would want to buy. However, what stands in their way is often their web copy, or lack thereof.

I often hear people say, “nobody reads on the Internet, so my copy just isn't that important.” I want to amend that claim to this: Many people don't read on the Internet, but those who are looking to purchase a product or service always do.

In today's rocky economy, people aren't willing to throw money at a product/service they know nothing about. Many online shoppers spend hours looking for the item that is exactly what they want. Your product/service could be exactly what they're looking for, but with scant, uninformative copy, how are they going to know?

So it's time to make a few changes, nothing too painful. You don't have to throw out your old copy and start from scratch. With some minor alterations, your copy can inform, motivate and charge prospects to take action and buy.

Here are a few changes you can make to change the way your copy sells:

Give the Most Important Info First -- Don't force people to wade through two pages of copy before they can discover what you're all about. Get to the point right up front, in the headline, subheading, and first few paragraphs. If you have too much filler copy in the beginning and don't start getting to the point until later, all that copy your visitors read will be lost on them. It will have been out of context because you didn't provide them with a context.

First Things First -- Ever head of "Inverted Pyramid Style" writing? It means starting with the most important sentence and following with lesser sentences. But not too many. Keep your paragraphs short so they don't overwhelm the reader.

Cut Words -- Web copy should use about half the word count or less than conventional writing, so keep it short and too the point. This isn't the great American novel. Your goal is to make sure your audience can understand every word you say while reading quickly. If they have to stop to get a dictionary because you used too many cryptic words or jargon, you'll lose their interest.

No Sub Par Subheadings -- Use only meaningful subheadings. Your subheadings should serve as an outline for your copy, making it easier for the reader to remember important points and gain and accurate overview of the products or services. If your subheadings are well placed and meaningful, no one should have to read your copy twice.

One Idea Per Paragraph -- Don't load your paragraphs with ideas. Avoid confusing the reader by separating each idea into its own paragraph. This will also help you keep paragraphs shorter. Limiting paragraphs to one idea helps readers digest information a little at a time, promoting comprehension and recall.

Use Bullets -- When presenting information, it is helpful to separate the text with bullet points. Bulleted lists are easier to read than entire paragraphs, and the differentiation shows readers that they should pay special attention to bulleted points. In fact, readers are known for skipping over paragraphs and going straight for the bulleted text, so make whatever information is in bullets essential to motivating the sale.

Highlight Keywords -- You're going to get a lot of scanners” visiting your site. These are people who don't read word for word, but glance over text looking or important information. Highlight keywords so they will know where to find this information.

Use Hype Where Hype is Needed -- Hype is like opera. People either love it or loathe it. So be careful where you use it. With certain products, hype has been known to reduce credibility, but with others, it increases excitement and motivates purchases. But if you want to add that punch here and there in your copy, use hype like paprika; just a pinch to tweak the flavor. An exclamation point here, a phrase in caps there, and you've got just enough to satisfy any palate.

Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice and copywriting. See his 10,000 marketing ideas and popular promotion packages at http://DrNunley.com Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com or 603-249-9519.

 

**** Article II***

“Sure signs to quickly recognize a scam” by Victoria Ring

A product no one really needs, wants or asked for, sold at an outrageous price, which is pure profit.

MLM pyramid scheme designers are clever enough to use a phony product sold at a high price which pays large "commissions" to new recruits. In fact what is happening is that people are making money by simply recruiting new people and being paid from their investment in the new "business opportunity" and nothing else.

Their only income is from an ever-expanding network of new people being brought into this shell game, until the largest leg and the lowest level of the MLM pyramid collapses and the whole game ends.

The people at the top get rich, the folks in the upper levels do well, but the majority of the people get burned.

Once the MLM expands as far as it can and the money stops flowing, the owners will vanish to an island in the Caribbean, the ISP will turn off the servers, and the entire community will vanish in an instant. No refunds, no commissions.

Every bad MLM opportunity makes money for the people who start it. And where does that money come from? From the thousands of people who do not research these companies and their products before investing their hard-earned money into them.

Now here's a good article I found on how to recognize a scam.

YouOnLine.Net Report 016
How To Immediately Recognize a Business Opportunity Rip-Off

I don't know why nobody talks about the most obvious way to recognize something that is a rip-off. Instead people only complain and tell others about what happened to them when they were ripped off. But did you know that over 95% of the people who are ripped-off by these "hair-brained" business opportunity scams are at FAULT. That's right! 95% of the people complaining about being ripped-off did it to themselves!

So what is the sure-fire method of recognizing a business opportunity rip-off? It's as plain as the nose on your face! It's when an ad starts out reading:

No work. No meetings. No stocking inventory. Never leave your apartment. Never speak to anybody. Walk around the house half-dressed. Go the bed and get up when you want. Never lift a finger. All you do is deposit money in your bank account . . . and on and on and on.

Now tell me -- who in the world would want someone like this working for them? Would you actually hire an employee that was lazy and never wanted to work? Of course not. Now get out your local newspaper and look in the Help Wanted section. I challenge you to find me one legitimate ad requesting a need for an employee who is lazy, never shows up to work on time, goes around half-dressed and never comes into contact with people. NONE EXIST!! (Except, of course, in the business opportunity section.)

Instead, you will find ads where employers are looking for people who are hard working, enthusiastic, responsible, experienced, good track record, excellent references, and so forth. Do you see my point?

And please don't fall for the ones that promise you freedom from work except depositing checks. If you do -- it's your fault and you fall in the 95% of the population that continuously feeds these fraudulent business opportunities.

It really irritates me that people let rip-offs go on so long. Take that stupid Edward Green pyramid scheme. That thing has been going around since the 1920's. In fact, I saw it on the internet a few weeks ago! Amazing!! Why do rip-off schemes go on like this forever? Are there great marketing geniuses behind them? No! The rip-off scheme will ALWAYS appeal to the "greed" inside every human being. And until you conquer that emotion and not allow it to run your life -- you will continually be feeding the fraudulent business opportunity market and you will have no reason to complain when you fall prey to it

Victoria Ring, WebPrint Publishing, PO Box 09654, Columbus OH 43209-0654 is a writer and publisher. She is available for authoring, editing, and publishing services and can be contacted at victoriaring@usa.net.

****ARTICLE III****

24/7 PROMOTION WITH VOICE MAIL  by Chris Bradford

Have you ever thought of something and felt like a fool for not having thought of it earlier? If so, then you know what I felt like one day not so far in the past.

Brande and I decided to try some local promoting. So, we made up some telephone pole signs, yard signs, drop cards, etc. with a catchy message and our telephone number.

We went all about town handing this stuff out, sticking up signs, and putting things on windshields. We even discovered one competing network marketing company's Atlanta convention and put windshield circulars on all the cars on the parking lot.

We spent about two weeks doing this. Everywhere we went we would leave drop cards and circulars. Brande would hop out of the truck, dash across several lanes of traffic dodging horn blowing automobiles, hold a sign up against a telephone pole.. whack it with a hammer tacker (a staple gun that works like a hammer).. and dodge back through the traffic and jump into the truck hollering "GO! GO!" (Kids, don't try that at home.) (Parents, get your kids to do this for you. They are quicker and smaller targets.)

What was the result of our hard effort and life-threatening antics? A handful of phone calls.. not counting the three calls from local police departments politely urging us, under threat of prosecution and imprisonment, not to hang signs on telephone poles in their jurisdictions again. We were very disappointed.

A few days later I was driving down the road with my mind deep in thought trying to figure out two important issues. First, did I want Wendy's or Burger King for lunch? Secondly, why did our local prospecting campaign flop?

I knew the problem wasn't the message on the signs and hand-outs. I composed the messages myself. Ya'll know what great composition skills I have. (ugh!)

I also knew it wasn't our voice-mail message. Very few ever heard it because no-one was bothering to dial the number. So what could it possibly be?

Then, as I was driving past a new car lot and thinking of stopping in to look at the latest ‘pickemup trucks’, but thinking better of it because I did not want to be eaten by the sharks (salespersons) in the parking lot, a spark ignited in my head. The problem with our local prospecting campaign was simply the lack of two words in my otherwise perfectly and elegantly composed message: "pre-recorded message."

People want information. They do not want to be bothered with someone giving them a hard sell when they are just looking. Ask any furniture salesperson. Nine out of ten times when they ask someone who is lying on the couch in the showroom with their hand down their britches "May I help you?", the answer is "Naw, I am just looking."

People want to "just look", and they will ask for help when they want it! So, I added the words "pre-recorded message" to the message on our materials, and Brande and I went to work again.

This time the response was overwhelming! We were getting 10 to 20 calls each day, and a number of them were leaving us messages to call them back! We hit the gold mine!

Today, we contract with a local answering service to handle our calls. Callers are played a sales-pitch that lasts a little more than 5 minutes. At the end of the message they are given the option to 1) hang up now, 2) press zero for a live operator (who asks them some pre-qualifying questions and forwards them to Brande's cell phone if she is available), and 3) to leave their name and phone number and Brande will call them back. If you wish hear our message, call 1-800-887-2093 toll free.

By using the answering service, we are able to post ads anywhere and everywhere we want, and home business opportunity seekers are able to call the number 24 hours a day - seven days a week, and hear what the opportunity is about. Lately we have even been posting ads on internet sites with the toll-free number, leaving off our URL and e-mail address. The response we get is surprising.

The pre-recorded message also serves as a pre-qualifier. In our message we tell them that an investment is required, that they must have a checking account or charge card, and they will need to work hard at least 5 to 10 hours a week. If they leave their name and number then they are dead serious about earning an income from home. Thus, we do not waste our time trying to weed out the suspects from the prospects. Our pre-recorded message does it for us. All we have to do is feed callers into it.

If you want a great prospecting tool that works 24 hours a day - seven days a week, give voice mail a try. You will be glad you did.

Chris and Brande Bradford are entrepreneurs involved with marketing, consulting, and both electronic and print publishing. For more information about Chris and Brande, visit their web site at www.HomeGrownMarketing.com

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