Internet Marketing and Advertising

Don’t use vague generalities in your headlines. Be as specific as possible. For example, you may want to put a date into your headline, or a profit increase of some specific percentage, etc. When you use something specific, like a date, an exact dollar amount, or an exact quantity in a headline, it suddenly becomes more believable.

Using specific numbers makes the reader believe that you really know what you are talking about, you have researched the information, and that you can document what you are saying. Hopefully, that is all true. You never want to lie, it will ruin your credibility and eventually destroy your business.

But, having said the above, you may sometimes want to understate your claim. The truth may seem like hype, so you may want to tone it down.

Which headline is more believable?

“Using This Long Lost Secret, Our Business Grew By Leaps and Bounds!”

“Using This Long Lost Secret, Our Business Really Sky-Rocketed!”

“Using This Long Lost Secret, Our Business Grew by 973% in 65 days!”

The last one is the most believable, isn’t it? Why? Because it appears to have been measured and it is very specific. An exact percentage in a very specific number of days.

“Using This Long Lost Secret, Our Business Grew over 900% in a little over two months!” while better than the first two, still is not as believable as the one that is more precise.

Or how about these sub headlines…

Special Price to End Soon, Buy Now!

Special Price Ends at Midnight, 1 April, Get Your Copy Now While It Is On Your Mind!

Only 37 Copies Left, At This Rate We Expect To Be Sold Out In 43 Hours, Get Your Copy Now! Don’t Lose Out, When They Are Gone, They Are Gone.

Aren’t the last two more believable that the first?

Here is what Brian Keith Voiles, a master copywriter, has to say about being specific in your headlines:

“Using specifics in a headline make it almost irresistible to your prospect to not continue reading. You need to use exact numbers: hours, minutes, # of days, evenings, dollars, ways, types of something.

Specifics always out-pull generalities. They mean more to our prospect, and they create intrigue about what you’re going to tell them in your ad or letter. They draw the reader in.”

Let’s take a look at a couple more comparison examples. The first example is targeted toward marketers who want to grow their mailing list.

“Over 30 Quick and Easy Ways You Can Grow Your List In One Month or Less… Guaranteed!”

“33 Quick and Easy Ways You Can Double Your List In 30 Days, Guaranteed!”

Which one attracts you more? The second one I’ll bet.

Now let’s look at a comparison that focuses on people who want to lose weight.

“Over 20 Quick and Easy Ways To Lose Weight In Less Than A Month…Guaranteed!”

“21 Quick and Easy Ways To Lose 10 Pounds In 25 Days… Guaranteed!”

Do you see the difference? Specifics create believability.

So, be as specific as possible in your headlines to increase your believability from the very start of your sales letter or ad and draw your readers further into your sales copy.

George Dodge is owner of the http://www.Headline-Creator-Pro.com website where you can download software to save you time and effort required to quickly create powerful headlines with push button ease.

Tags: headlines, powerful headlines, writing headlines

If you don`t know it yet, you will probably learn over time, that email marketing is probably THE most effective way of marketing online. That is, IF you do it the right way.

Here`s a couple of hints and tips that have worked for me:

I have a habit of signing up for safelists that offer free pro memberships to the first so-so many members. I find that smaller safelists are most responsive. Once they reach around 1000 members or so, the actual opening and reading of mails seems to die off.

Think about what would make YOU open an email. What would grab YOUR attention? Try to make the subject both interesting and captivating, with just a touch of urgency.

Make sure your subject line isn`t misleading. That`s such a huge turn-off to most marketers. They open a mail with a great subject line, and find that it bears absolutely NO relevance to the mail itself. Not only will they most likely delete the mail right away, but they`ll probably remember who sent it, and never open mails from that person again.

Remember, if you`re going to use safelists for your email marketing, get a seperate email address for all the mail you`ll get from other members.

I probably have about 10 so-called “junkmail” accounts, where I get all my safelist mails. I go through my mails every day, and yes, I do delete a lot of them right away.

Sometimes though, something catches my eye, and I take a closer look. If the subject line`s are interesting, I open them ALL. I find it`s a GREAT way of keeping on top of what`s happening in the world of internet marketing.

Now, if safelists are just NOT your cup of tea, you need to work out how to create a warm market, for your own personal use.

The best way of doing this, is by building your very own contact list. Whether you want to publish an ezine, or just create a mailing list is up to you, but make sure you do it properly. I personally find my contacts through chat. I go to as many chatrooms as I can find, and make sure my profile is up-to-date and lets people know that I`m an online marketer.

That way, if people are interested in learning more about me, they`ve at least got a starting point, and from there, it`s pretty easy to get them to allow you to add them to your mailing list.

Don`t harvest email addresses, it`ll only end up in tears. Don`t buy mailing lists, no matter how cheap you can get them. Most of the lists that are for sale are made up of harvested email addresses. Harvested emails are by no means “opt-in” and you can be pretty sure you`ll end up getting a spam complaint. It`s a surefire way of losing your isp, webhost or even both. Pure SPAM is the biggest no-no out there.

No matter which way you decide to go, it`s going to be hard, mostly because of all the spam filters that are now in place. ISP`s are really cracking down on spammers. So much so, that even legitimate emails are getting filtered out.

I`ve gathered together a few sites that I find very helpful when I`m writing my ezine, and sending mails to safelists etc. It`s quite amazing to see what actually sets spam filters off. Take some time to go through it all. Bookmark the sites. If you`ve ever wondered if your mail is getting through, you can easily check, just by looking for the trigger words.

Here are a few sites/articles that show you some of the words that are considered to be spam triggers:
www.iprofitsystems.com
www.wilsonweb.com
www.internetbasedmoms.com
office.microsoft.com/Assistance/9798/newfilters.aspx

This one I absolutely love. It`s real fast, gives you a quick review of your mail onsite, and sends you an email with more information. I use it every time I send out a “marketing” email of any kind.It`s most definitely one of the best “spam” checkers I`ve found.
www.lyris.com/contentchecker/

Email marketing can be a lot of hard work, especially as, according to the averages, people need to see your offer AT LEAST 7 times before they “bite”. Be consistent, get your mails out there, but also be responsible. The last thing on earth anybody wants, is to be accused of spam. Spam accusations can hurt both you AND the website/product/program you`re promoting.

Don`t be afraid to add a little “personal” touch to your emails, just don`t go totally overboard by telling people the ins and outs of your life…hehehe

Above all, enjoy what you do.

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Tags: article submission, articles, email, Email Marketing, email newsletter, ezine, publishing, writers, writing

New advertising ideas and techniques most always get the
quick attention of the optimistic small business owner.

The first time you hear about something new to use or
adapt, your mind races to fast forward, especially if the
testimonials are realistic and seem to relate to what you are
doing.

To illustrate, picture that ad salesperson standing right
there in your business. Temptation is staring you in the face.
“It’s a great deal,” they tell you.
Do you go for it or not?

Here are three sets of realistic questions to ask yourself as
you evaluate the proposal:

****************************************

1. Take a step to the side and consider this. Is your
current advertising already covering the basics? Is this new
temptation part of your basic advertising plan or does it fall
in the “next level” category? Remember that you’ve got to do
the basics first, just as you have to open a showroom before
you can decorate it. So make sure you are doing the basics
well before you move to the next level.

****************************************

2. Will the new idea or technique stand on its own
as a profit generator? Can the new idea or technique be
integrated into your basic advertising thrust so it can
compliment what you are already doing? Will it contribute to
building a cumulative advertising effect?

****************************************

3. Can you afford it? Is your advertising budget
already strained? Will this advertising method pay for itself?
Or will it break the bank?

****************************************

Background: The informed small business owner keeps
good records of all promotions and advertising. You want to
develop enough information to figure out what works and
what doesn’t. It’s called learning from your experiences of
being in the trenches.

Temptation stares you in the face at the least expected
times.

Temptation can come from hearing or reading about
super results others have gotten with their advertising.

Often it appears when a salesperson tells you about the
“great deal” they are offering.

Temptation can come from looking forward to how
great it would be if you could get similar results. It always
sounds so easy.

Is temptation worth listening to? By giving yourself honest
answers to the three questions above, you’ll know if it’s time
to move ahead to the next level and succumb to your latest
advertising temptations.

© 2006 Jon Sinish

This article may be reprinted and redistributed as long as
the resource box remains intact.

Jon Sinish is a 30-year champion of advertising for small
businesses, whose clients range from international
corporations to private professional practices.

Now, at his web site, you can discover more exciting articles
that reveal practical tips, tactics and strategies to
help the small businessperson manage and improve
their advertising and marketing programs. Please visit
http://www.advertising-for-small-businesses.com

Tags: article submission, articles, email, Email Marketing, email newsletter, ezine, publishing, writers, writing