Saturday, May 08, 2004
Afraid of Strong Copy?
This happens to me more with service professionals than any other group. I'll write strong targeted copy to one person and they insist on watering it down to be less than stellar. Their reasoning? Sounds too "salesy." Excuse me? Copy is salesmanship in print. Its purpose is to sell - not like a used car salesman, but there are proven methods of selling that continue to work...and that's why we still use them. Also, no one is going to read BORING copy. So get out of your own way and trust someone who knows what she's doing. :-) Seriously, studies show over and over that while people may not feel they want to be "sold," if blah language is used, it doesn't even get read.
Another reason - they don't want to alienate any potential clients. Trust me, the exact opposite happens. First of all, there are millions of potential clients. You don't need ALL of them. There are plenty to go around. If I were to shout your name out in a crowded airport, chances are you'd turn around. It's the same with copy. If copy resonates strongly with the reader, he or she will pay attention. For example, Volvo targets to one person - a 35 year old mother of two. Does that mean single women don't buy Volvos? That fathers don't buy Volvos? Of course not! But when you use the spray and pray shotgun approach, you DON'T have targeted copy. And trust me, that's when you're NOT going to get the sale. So don't complain if you change the copy to be something weaker and then don't sell as much as you'd hoped.
Please forgive my ranting. I'm done now. :-)
Another reason - they don't want to alienate any potential clients. Trust me, the exact opposite happens. First of all, there are millions of potential clients. You don't need ALL of them. There are plenty to go around. If I were to shout your name out in a crowded airport, chances are you'd turn around. It's the same with copy. If copy resonates strongly with the reader, he or she will pay attention. For example, Volvo targets to one person - a 35 year old mother of two. Does that mean single women don't buy Volvos? That fathers don't buy Volvos? Of course not! But when you use the spray and pray shotgun approach, you DON'T have targeted copy. And trust me, that's when you're NOT going to get the sale. So don't complain if you change the copy to be something weaker and then don't sell as much as you'd hoped.
Please forgive my ranting. I'm done now. :-)
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Google AdWords
Having set up a failed campaign in Google AdWords about a month ago, I got busy with other areas of my business. Google bumped me because I sent the clicks to a different website than the one on my ad. See, I was trying to do an ASK campaign and build my subscriber list simultaneously. (I even had a good bribe - a free report with content). Anyway, Google didn't like it and shut me down. Well, last night I decided to take a few minutes to revive it. This morning I had gotten a few impressions. It felt like Christmas! You can tell this is still new to me. I didn't even make a sale, but I was ecstatic people had actually read my ad! I'm sure the newness will wear off quickly as I pay for clicks and don't get sales. In fact, I can feel I'm over it already.
Ever heard of kaizen? It's a Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement no matter how small. The secret is to be consistent. I like it. It really applies to entrepreneurs and infopreneurs, doesn't it? It seems like we're never done with all the tasks of running a business. So this Google AdWords experience, no matter how small is my personal way of kaizen in business. We need kaizen in regular life too. In fact, I'm off to Tae Bo right now. Exercise is one of the easiest things to ignore, but it's really critical for your emotional and physical well-being. Gotta jet!
Ever heard of kaizen? It's a Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement no matter how small. The secret is to be consistent. I like it. It really applies to entrepreneurs and infopreneurs, doesn't it? It seems like we're never done with all the tasks of running a business. So this Google AdWords experience, no matter how small is my personal way of kaizen in business. We need kaizen in regular life too. In fact, I'm off to Tae Bo right now. Exercise is one of the easiest things to ignore, but it's really critical for your emotional and physical well-being. Gotta jet!
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Accidental Marketing Genius
Check out this hysterical guy on ebay trying to unload his ex-wife's used wedding dress. He didn't have a model, so he modeled it himself! Funny stuff, but it's getting TONS of hits. This is a case of viral marketing! Click here to check it out.
Need a PR boost for free?
Let me recommend GuerrillaPR Insights . A short, weekly ezine that does 2 things: First, readers get weekly, actionable insights on how to work with the media. Secondly, it provides NAPES: Names, Addresses, and Phone numbers of key media producers and editors. For example, in a recent issue, they let loose specific contact information for the producers of the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Subscribe here:
http://www.guerrillapr.net/newsletter.html
Wanna see the archives first? Check out:
http://www.guerrillapr.net/Guerrilla_PR_Insights-backissues.html
Subscribe here:
http://www.guerrillapr.net/newsletter.html
Wanna see the archives first? Check out:
http://www.guerrillapr.net/Guerrilla_PR_Insights-backissues.html
Saturday, March 27, 2004
I'm finally getting settled in with a plan of action for marketing my 10 month copywriting series, http://www.red-hot-copy.com/teleclasses.htm. Here's the system.
Step One:Drive traffic using Google AdWords to my ASK landing page (sub-site of red hot copy). Then I can spread the word to find future customers interested in increasing sales.
Step Two:The ASK campaign will ask “what’s your biggest problem with copywriting” or "persuasive writing" or "increasing sales" or whatever. Haven't decided yet. Then those answers are stored at my account at http://www.askdatabase.net. I can sort through the keywords used so I can find out what my target market REALLY wants.
Step Three:Set up a bridge line reserving the time for my future teleseminar.
Step Four:The respondents will get a free report or ethical bribe for participating in the ASK campaign. Something really valuable. I have tons of cool products to share. Just have to decide which one.
Step Five:They will get an autoresponder (that I still have to write) thanking them for their interest and inviting them to the free teleseminar. They are now in my funnel.
Step Six:I’ll take the answers from the ASK campaign to develop a free teleseminar for April 2, the Friday before the 10 month series. See, the 10 month copywriting series is also on Fridays. So if they can make it at that time slot for the free one, they can probably make it once a month to the intensive class.
Step Seven:And if they can't make it, I'll be having each class recorded and give them notes. I'm planning on turning this entire event into product so I've hired a consultant to do professional recordings.
There you have it. A basic anatomy of an online marketing campaign.
See ya!
Lo
Step One:Drive traffic using Google AdWords to my ASK landing page (sub-site of red hot copy). Then I can spread the word to find future customers interested in increasing sales.
Step Two:The ASK campaign will ask “what’s your biggest problem with copywriting” or "persuasive writing" or "increasing sales" or whatever. Haven't decided yet. Then those answers are stored at my account at http://www.askdatabase.net. I can sort through the keywords used so I can find out what my target market REALLY wants.
Step Three:Set up a bridge line reserving the time for my future teleseminar.
Step Four:The respondents will get a free report or ethical bribe for participating in the ASK campaign. Something really valuable. I have tons of cool products to share. Just have to decide which one.
Step Five:They will get an autoresponder (that I still have to write) thanking them for their interest and inviting them to the free teleseminar. They are now in my funnel.
Step Six:I’ll take the answers from the ASK campaign to develop a free teleseminar for April 2, the Friday before the 10 month series. See, the 10 month copywriting series is also on Fridays. So if they can make it at that time slot for the free one, they can probably make it once a month to the intensive class.
Step Seven:And if they can't make it, I'll be having each class recorded and give them notes. I'm planning on turning this entire event into product so I've hired a consultant to do professional recordings.
There you have it. A basic anatomy of an online marketing campaign.
See ya!
Lo
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Oh yeah. Forgot to tell you about my super cool copywriting series that's coming up April 9th. It's a complete copywriting brain dump. No matter where you're at in the process, you'll learn new stuff or I won't take your money. There's more info here,
http://www.red-hot-copy.com/teleclasses.htm
See ya,
Lo
http://www.red-hot-copy.com/teleclasses.htm
See ya,
Lo
Greetings! Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero here. I've been meaning to start a blog but I've just been too dern busy. Google made it easy for me so let's go.
I just got back from a whirlwind seminar tour in Florida. Three seminars in 10 days. I spoke at one on copywriting (Les Brown's) and absorbed what I could at the other two - John Reese's and Armand Morin's. I will be busy, busy, busy putting this info into action. But I'd like to blog along as I go. Never been consistent at keeping journals but I've been pretty good about publishing my ezine bimonthly for a year so I'm ready to stretch. Love to hear from you and what you'd like to talk about regarding bleeding edge Internet marketing.
Best,
Lorrie
http://www.red-hot-copy.com
I just got back from a whirlwind seminar tour in Florida. Three seminars in 10 days. I spoke at one on copywriting (Les Brown's) and absorbed what I could at the other two - John Reese's and Armand Morin's. I will be busy, busy, busy putting this info into action. But I'd like to blog along as I go. Never been consistent at keeping journals but I've been pretty good about publishing my ezine bimonthly for a year so I'm ready to stretch. Love to hear from you and what you'd like to talk about regarding bleeding edge Internet marketing.
Best,
Lorrie
http://www.red-hot-copy.com
