The Secret Behind Million Dollar Ads
Want a little secret to turn your advertising into an irresistible magnet for customers?
Dale Carnegie knew the secret, and that's one reason his book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" has sold more than 15 million copies. In fact, British Airways recently named it, "The Business Book of the 20th Century."
It's a great book. But if Dale had titled it "How to Remember People's Names and Curb Your Incessant Urge to Argue," do you think it would have sold as well? Probably not. There's great power in good titles.
What you may not realize is the words "How to Win Friends and Influence People" are not only the title of the book. Those words were also the headline of a mail-order ad, which sold the book. The ad ran successfully for many years and sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
So what does this have to do with turning your advertising into an irresistible customer magnet?
Here's what. Behind the title and headline is a "secret code" that makes it powerful. Dale knew it. Great advertising copywriters know it. And now, you're going to know it, too.
The "secret code" is actually a generic formula that gets attention and creates desire in your prospect's mind. Every winning headline has a unique generic formula hidden inside. Here's the formula in Dale Carnegie's book title and headline:
How to _____ and _____.
Let's see the formula at work. Say you are an executive Recruiter, and you help companies find new executives. In reality, your biggest problem is finding the executive candidates in the first place. So, to increase your group of candidates, you decide to run an ad in your local business journal. Here's how you could use this formula to write a headline for your ad:
How to Get a Better Job and Make More Money
and right away anyone who's even a little interested would read your ad. Then, if your copy (text) is even halfway decent, you'd get plenty of calls.
Or, let's say you run a martial arts school. Here's how you could apply the formula in an advertising headline to get you new students:
How to Stay Fit and Protect Yourself
Do you see how powerful that is? You've just zeroed-in on people who are likely to be interested in learning martial arts.
The brutal reality of advertising: An ad with a good headline, and even mediocre copy, will get you a response and generate sales. But with a poor headline, even the most brilliant copy will get you little or no response. Why? Because without a good headline to get their attention, most people won't read any further.
The good news is, once you have identified a good headline that works in one industry or market, you can adapt it (like we did with the Dale Carnegie headline, above) for your own business. Great headlines work as subject lines in emails, titles on Web pages, and of course as headlines in print ads and sales letters. Great headlines will literally transform your sales.
How does this work in today's economy?
Recently a client asked me to help him introduce a new service to Internet Service Providers. (Note: To understand what you are about to read, you should know that ISPs call their suppliers "backbone providers.") I wrote a direct mail letter and my client sent it out to ISPs. Because my client was revealing new information his prospects hadn't heard before, we used the following "teaser headline" on the front of the envelope:
What Your Backbone Provider Isn't Telling You
Was this an entirely original headline? No. I had seen a similar "teaser headline" on a successful mailing to promote an investment newsletter:
What Your Broker Isn't Telling You About High-Tech Stocks
So I merely identified the "secret code" in the original winning headline, and applied it to my client's market, ISPs.
The response to the mailing was overwhelming! Nearly 10% of the entire ISP industry responded to our letter -- and my client has added eight figures of new annual revenues as a result of the business that developed.
I'm telling you this not to brag, but to point out the awesome power of good headlines. While many people spend hours and hours trying to come up with "the perfect headline" for their ads, there is an easier way. Find proven headlines that already work for another business in another industry, and adapt them to your business.
Then prepare for a flood of new customers!
What do People Want Online? It's not what you think it is.
What people want online is a question guerrillas ask themselves a lot. Whether it's for fun or work or something else, understanding a consumer's motives once he or she logs on is a necessity. But the experts don't seem to agree on what people want.
Some folks see the web as a vast, new field for advertising messages, assuming that while people may want to do something else, if we can entice them with flash, we can sort of trick them into paying attention to our products and services.
Guess what. That's not gonna happen.
Other folks seem to subscribe to the notion that people online are looking for entertainment on the Internet, and therefore they construct messages aimed at persuading while playing. And, in other cases, the time-honored direct-response model wins out: Grab people when you can, get 'em to take an action, and then market, market, market. The answer may be that the consumer has and wants a lot more control than we give him/her credit for.
Today, webmeisters are in control. Sort of. In a perfect cyberworld, people will be in control. Sort of.
Two recent studies shed light upon this dilemma. One was conducted by Zatso. The other was conducted by the Pew Research Center. Zatso and Pew. (Those guys didn't spend much time reading "how-to-name-your-company" books, I guess.) Still, both of their studies illuminated the answer as to what people want to do online.
The answer, as most answers, is very utilitarian: People want to accomplish something online. They're not aimless surfers hoping to discover a cybertreasure. Instead, the average Net user turns out to be a goal-oriented person interested in finding information and communicating with others -- in doing something he or she set out to do.
Look at the Zatso study. "A View of the 21st Century News Consumer" looked at people's news reading habits on the web. It revealed that reading and getting news was the most popular online activity after email. The guerrilla thinks, "That means email is number one. How might I capitalize on that?"
One out of three respondents reported that they read news online every day, with their interests expanding geographically -- local news was of the most interest, U.S. news the least.
Personalization was seen as a benefit, too. Seventy-five percent of respondents said that they wanted news on demand and nearly two out of three wanted personalized news. The subjects surveyed liked the idea that they, not some media outlet, controlled the news they saw. They feel they're better equipped to select what they want to see than a professional editor. Again, control seems to be the issue. Again, guerrillas think of ways to market by putting the prospect in control.
The Pew Research Center study revealed that regular net users were more connected with their friends and family than those who didn't use the Internet on a regular basis.
Almost two-thirds of the 3,500 respondents said they felt that email brought them closer to family and friends -- significant when combined with the fact that 91% of them used email on a regular basis. That's 91%. It took VCRs 25 years to achieve such market penetration.
What did people in this study seem to be doing online when they weren't doing email? Half were going online regularly to purchase products and services, and nearly 75 percent were going online to search for information about their hobbies or purchases they were planning to make. Sixty-four percent of respondents visited travel sites, and 62 percent visited weather-related sites. Over half did educational research, and 54 percent were hunting for data about health and medicine.
A surprising 47 percent regularly visited government web sites, and 38 percent researched job opportunities. Instant messaging was used by 45 percent of these users, and a third of them played games online. Even with all the hype in the media, only 12 percent said they traded stocks online.
What does this mean to e-marketers? It means that if you're constructing a site for goal-oriented consumers, you'd better make sure you can help facilitate their seeking. Rather than focus on entertainment, flash, and useless splash screens, the most effective sites are those that help people get the information they want when they need it. Straightforward data, information that invites comparison, and straight talk are going to win the day.
A client buddy of mine showed me his website which heralds his retail location and attempts to sell nothing online. He said it has been the biggest moneymaker in the history of his 35-year-old company. Then he apologized for its lack of glitter and special effects. He asked how his site could be so successful even though it lacked anything to add razzmatazz and dipsydazzle.
Now, you know the answer.
Why Some Ads Fail Miserably While Others Succeed Wonderfully
The voice on the other end of the phone was tense and impatient. It was a prospective client calling. After we introduced ourselves, he got right to the point: "Our advertising isn't working and we need some help."
Who I was talking to doesn't matter very much, because it could have been almost any of my prospects before they start working with me. That's because, statistically, most advertising doesn't work -- if by "work" you mean, bring in new business. Think about your own ads. Even if they already generate leads or create sales for you, don't you have the sneakin' suspicion they could be working a lot better?
Here are two reasons why most ads don't work at all -- or if they work, why they deliver far less business than they could:
1. Most ads don't get the attention of your prospects. This is pretty basic. It is physically impossible for prospects to contact you unless they know about you, and if you're counting on them to find out about you from your advertising, then step one is for your ad to get your prospects' attention. Unfortunately, some ads actually do get attention, but
2. These ads get the attention of your prospect in the wrong way. For an ad to generate a qualified lead or create an immediate sale, it must start off on the right foot. That "right foot" sets the right tone and invites a qualified prospect to call you. I just saw an ad in Newsweek that still has me wondering what it's about and why someone spent tens of thousands of dollars on it. (Bet it wasn't their own money.)
The ad shows a boy on a bicycle flying through the air, out in the wilderness. The headline, in a semicircle, says, "They will always fall before they fly." Since I'm not a kid and I'm not a parent, it doesn't do much for me.
But wait -- even if I were a parent or a kid, I still don't think this ad is going to sell me on anything that would make the advertiser any money. If I were a kid, the only thing this ad could sell me on is taking these kind of risks to annoy my parents. And if I were a parent, the only thing I can imagine this ad would sell me on is making sure my kid never rides his mountain bike in hilly terrain -- since, obviously, the kid in the picture is on a collision course with certain death.
I've got to hand it to this ad in one department -- it's interesting. It got my attention. But that's as far as it got.
The Headline's the Thing
Let's get off this negative track and look at some ads that I am certain are making money. These are not from a glossy national magazine, but small ads from today's local newspaper. (By the way, small ads that run in the newspaper are usually paid for by the person who wrote them. And these ads get to the point and are likely to be profitable. Hmmm...I wonder if I'm noticing a trend here...)
All I'm going to show you are the headlines of these ads. But I promise you, the headlines are all you need to see. Tell me if you can guess what each ad is about, and who its target market is:
1. "Lose 3-5 Pounds Per Week With the System Proven by Over 90,000 Successful Patients"
2. "Up to 40% Savings on Heating and Cooling Costs With a (Brand Name) Foam Roof"
3. "Men and Women -- Remove Unwanted Hair Today!"
Now, I know what you're thinking. Not very clever. Not very hip. In fact, those headlines are downright boring!
Hmmm. I have two things to say about that. First, if you have tried everything under the sun to lose 40 pounds and you are frustrated to the point of tears, then headline number 1 isn't that boring to you. (And I would say the same regarding people in the target market for headlines 2 and 3.)
The second thing I want to say is, yes, and it's also pretty boring to stand in line at the bank waiting to make a large deposit into your business checking account. But you know what? Once you've gotten past that boredom barrier, it's actually sort of nice. You know?
And here's some interesting news: A good headline on your ad will get you 90% of the way from the agony of defeat to the ecstasy of advertising success -- so you can deal with weighty issues like the boredom barrier and what to do with all that money.
Killer Copy: Words That Are Like Magnets to Money
I'll never forget what my accountant said five years ago when he saw the ad I wrote for my services: "How many scotches did you drink before you wrote this?"
He was kidding about the scotch. But he just couldn't believe anyone in their right mind would write such a bold and outrageous ad for their own writing, consulting and speaking services, as I had.
Well, I spent $300 on that ad -- $200 to run it in a local trade association directory, and $100 to have it reprinted as a flyer.
The following year, that $300 ad turned into $12,341 in new business for me. And $12,341 was just a tiny fraction of my total business that year.
Why did I make so much money myself while there were so many thousands of "starving writers" in the world? The answer may surprise you. You see, it's not because I'm a better writer. It's not my schooling. Not my resume. Not any talent I was born with.
It's all because I learned how to write "killer copy."
How do you write killer copy?
You start your killer copy with an emotion-packed opening statement that will get the attention of your reader. This opening statement may be:
* a headline
* an opening sentence
* a subject line on an email
* the header on a Web page
... or for that matter, the opening words in a telemarketing script, radio commercial, or TV spot. What's important is that you understand - your first words count for everything - because you must captivate peoples' imagination with those words in order to keep their attention.
Here are examples of opening statements from actual successful marketing pieces:
a) "Take the luxury vacation of your dreams at a reduced cost because of this special offer" (from a travel agency's letter to business owners.)
b) "How to stop overwhelm before it stops you" (from a personal coach's ad aimed at stressed-out overachievers)
c) "Why almost every financial statement in family court may not disclose the full net worth of the opposing spouse" (from an investigator's sales letter to divorce lawyers.)
Then, after your emotion-packed opening statement, you just
a) Make a promise
b) Back it up with convincing proof and
c) Ask for action
Let's look at how you do each of those three techniques.
1. Make a promise. The letter about luxury vacations starts with these words:
"Imagine taking your winter vacation knowing you aren't spending a penny more than you have to - secure that you have a team of travel experts making sure every little detail of your vacation goes smoothly. "Here's how you can have that vacation right now: Take advantage of an unusual promotion our company is doing. Let me explain."
Pretty exciting, right? Even if you don't think so, the people who got the letter did - because the letter produced an amazing $5 million in sales for the travel agency.
2. Back it up with convincing proof. The personal coach's ad for stressed-out overachievers, the one that begins "How to stop overwhelm before it stops you," contains this proof:
* 3 case studies,
* 3 testimonials,
* detailed credentials of the coach
* and a money-back guarantee.
Despite its stunningly bold claims, the ad comes across as very believable and has generated a record-breaking parade of new clients.
3. Ask for action. The investigator's sales letter to divorce lawyers, beginning "Why almost every financial statement in family court may not disclose the full net worth of the opposing spouse," ends this way:
"I would like to meet with you at no charge to show you how I can be of service to you and your clients in future family law cases.
"Please call me at your convenience so we can set up a meeting to discuss further how I can assist your clients recover their fair share of assets. Call me directly at xxx - xxx-xxxx."
Killer copy always asks for action in the most powerful way possible. Notice how the above words spell out exactly what to do, and even make a big promise - that the lawyer reading the letter will recover more money in court for their clients (and, therefore, get more money themselves).
As you can see, a few words of killer copy can lead to massive amounts of money. In fact, many people say writing killer copy is the single most valuable money-making skill in the world.
And recently, writing copy was named as one of the top 10 emerging professions for the new century.
It doesn't surprise me. In the age of the Internet, the old style of advertising copy -- saying something clever, and hoping people remember - just doesn't cut it anymore.
Besides, these days, with business-to-business advertising growing so fast, the traditional advertising industry is feeling a lot of pressure for ads that really produce results. Why? Because, old-style advertising that entertains, but does not sell, is not cost-effective enough for many companies in today's hyper-competitive market.
Recently I heard from my former accountant. (A few years ago, he left accounting to start a new business.)
He asked me if I wouldn't mind sharing some ideas on how he could write killer copy for his own business.
I said sure. And now he's on his way to doing the same thing that I do, for himself.
Funny thing about the conversation we had the other day. Unlike the conversation we had back in 1995, he didn't kid me about drinking scotch, or anything else. Maybe he finally realized that when it comes to increasing your income, killer copy is serious business.
How to Close More Online Sales Through the Magic of Questions
No one can deny that sales closing techniques are absolutely vital in face-to-face selling. But often, people ask me if they can apply my powerful closing techniques to online marketing. My answer is an unequivocal, "Yes!"
Of course, there are some closing techniques that are more applicable to the Web than others -- but I'll show you magical closing secrets that can dramatically increase your web sales, and rapidly increase your online income. This works best on direct response websites - i.e., those that focus on getting an immediate response in the form of an order or lead.
Before we get started, I must emphasize that much of the sale is made in the presentation. The close is largely determined by how well you've presented the product to the prospect. Your objective, then, is to take the prospect smoothly past the point of closing, making it easy for him or her to come to a buying decision. You can accomplish this with the strategic use of questions.
The All-Important Opening Question
When you're selling online, you don't have the benefit of interacting with your prospect the way you would in face-to-face selling. Therefore, the first thing you say in your web copy has to be something that breaks preoccupation, grabs attention, and points to the result or benefit of the your product.
At any given moment, your prospect's mind is preoccupied with dozens of things. Therefore, a well-crafted question will cause the prospect's thinking to be directed to what you have to say.
Your opening question must be aimed at something that is relevant and important, and at something that your prospect needs or wants. What do sales managers, for instance, sit around and think about all day long? Increasing sales! Therefore, if your target market consists of sales managers, here's an example of a question you can use as a headline or as the first part of your copy: "How would you like to see a method that would enable you to increase your sales by 20% to 30% over the next 12 months?"
When you ask such a question, the first thing that pops into the mind of the prospect should be, "What is it?" - whereupon you've captured his or her attention, and you can then begin to articulate how your product or service can solve the need posed by the question.
Plan your opening question carefully. If your opening question fails to break your prospect's preoccupation and grab his attention, he will click away before giving you the opportunity to present your product or service.
Questions That Keep Them Involved
Questions are equally vital during the presentation, i.e., in the body of your web copy, for clearly explaining how your product or service solves your prospect's problem in an easy, fast, or cost-effective way. Therefore, install questions within your sales copy that capture attention. Keep your prospect involved, and keep his mind from wandering off in a different direction by using intriguing questions that grab his lapels and jerk him toward you. For the length of time that it takes a prospect to answer a question in his mind, you have his total attention. The prospect is drawn more and more into the sales process as your questioning proceeds. If your questions are logical, orderly and sequential, you can lead the prospect forward toward the inevitable conclusion to purchase your product or service.
Tip: Never say something if you can ask it instead! Think of how you can phrase your key selling points as questions. The person who asks questions has control!
Closing Questions that Presume the Sale
Just as questions are important at the beginning and the body of your web copy, they are even more vital at the end in gaining a commitment to action.
The key to asking a closing question is confident expectation. You must skillfully craft your question to convey that you confidently expect the prospect to say, "Yes" or to agree to the sale.
For example, you can pose the following question in your web copy: "When would you like to start using <NAME OF YOUR PRODUCT HERE> to multiply your profits?" In other words, you don't ask if they want to buy your product, but when. This way, you're asking for the sale expectantly, and the more confidently you expect to sell, the more likely it is that you will sell.
Tip: In crafting your closing question, include the benefit that your prospect will get from your product.
When you ask a compelling closing question, you diffuse the tension that normally creeps up on your prospect at the "moment of truth." A prospect's tension leads to the hesitance that kills so many sales - both online and offline.
To be truly persuasive in the selling process, learn to use questions judiciously throughout your web copy. Instead of trying to overwhelm your prospects with reasons and rationales for doing what you want them to do, ask strategic questions instead. When you take the time to plan the wording of your questions, your prospect will become more interested in your product -- and consequently, you will make more sales.
Discover a Master Wordsmith's Secret for Turning Everything You Say into Wealth, Well-Being and Personal Success You might think this strange, but every day, before I start work, I stand up, look to the sky, throw my hands in the air, and shout out loud: "I feel terrific!"
This is what I call an 'affirmation' -- positive self-talk to charge up my emotions and help me produce my very best work. An affirmation can be as simply as "YES!"...as uplifting as "I'm very happy at this moment!"...or as determined as "I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to succeed!"
Try it for yourself right now. Choose a positive message you want to tell yourself. Then stand up, put your head back, throw your arms up, and shout it out loud. Makes you feel uncomfortable? Good! You've just discovered how powerful words can be.
Unlimited Success & Wealth are All In the Words You Use
What's the single most important asset you and your business possess? Forget money and numbers. The true currency of business is WORDS. Communicating your ideas, your offer, the benefits of your product -- using words to achieve your aims is the single most important activity any business ever performs.
Unlimited success and wealth are as simple as using the right words. You can get everything you've ever wanted in life, simply by saying the right words -- because the words which you communicate determine the quality of your life.
This is true whether communicating with others or with yourself. Especially with yourself.
Words have the power to induce someone to laugh, to cry, to be kind, to be loving, to be cooperative, or to buy. Or be unkind, angry, irrational.
Whether words are written or spoken, they have enormous power. Of course, when words are spoken, the added factors of voice timbre, emphasis, emotion...all have the potential to cause even more impact.
Use Words to Achieve a Win -Win Situation
Here is what few businesspeople seem to realize: People all over the world really want to help and accommodate their fellow humans. But they must be approached properly. The magic words I'll reveal to you in a moment can manipulate a situation to bring you what you want -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Magic Words Can Bring You Riches
The same words, strategies and techniques that I've used to get the best results from everyday situation -- like hiring a Mercedes for the price of a Ford, slashing the cost of a first class hotel room, and buying valuable antiques at huge discounts -- can work magic for your business, too. Here are 3 of the phrases, which have helped me build a career marketing over $500,000,000 of both my own and my client's products and services.
Magic Phrase #1 -- Attract All the Money You Need for any business venture you'd like to start. The magic words here are "sophisticated investor." Every successful professional - such as a doctor or lawyer -- likes to think of himself or herself as sophisticated. And you can often attract these people to invest in your business.
Run an ad in your local paper, high-lighting those two key words. Other magic phrases to include are "Local business person with excellent track record and reputable history"; start-up business opportunity, limited investment, high potential return"; and "references available."
Magic Phrase #2 -- Receive Free Expert Help for your business. Simply announce "I have a business problem and need expert assistance," either to a local business group (such as the Chamber of Commerce, which you have in practically every town) or putting an advertisement in the business section of your local newspaper. And I've been absolutely delighted with the quality of assistance provided to me on several occasions by retired executives. Seek them out in your local area, and you could benefit from this great source of experienced know-how, too.
Magic Phrase #3 -- Get Capable People to Work for Free. Your magic words here are "piece of the action." Instead of paying a fixed salary, run ads offering people one of these options:
* Hourly rate for services rendered
* Percentage of sales
* Percentage of profits
* Royalty on sales
* Percentage of savings
* Fixed payment for each unit produce
Anyone with a strong entrepreneurial instinct will be attracted by such an approach. It means there will be no limit on their income, they will be more independent, they can set their own hours -- and the harder they work, the more they earn. This is just the type of person you should employ.
Assume The Other Person Has Already Said "Yes"
Ask questions which assume the end result you seek. For example, speaking with your bank manager about setting up a merchant account, you might ask these questions:
1. "How long does it normally take for a credit card charge to be credited to my account?"
2. "What discount or percentage of credit card sales will the bank charge us for your service?"
3. "How long would it take to get the service in place?"
4. "What equipment do we need to buy to make it easier for your bank to process our orders?"
Can you see how the end result -- having a merchant account so you can process the credit card orders - is assumed by the very words used in each question?
Magic Words Deliver Power
And this is especially true when you're speaking to yourself. As I said at the beginning of this letter, I use affirmations every day -- standing up, looking to the sky, throwing my hands in the air, and shouting out a positive message I need to tell myself.
Yes, I feel ridiculous when I do this too. But that discomfort is just the push I need to change my emotional state. The magic words in my affirmations give me the energy and determination I need to produce my very best work. And I truly believe they'll help you achieve your goals too.
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