Here are some quick guidelines for choosing good copy:

1)It must be presenting benefits, not product, services, or the person.

2)It should identify the target audience. (This should be the first thing you see)

3)It should have a measurable “grabber” line, bold, highlighted if not at the top, very near the top. (This should be the 2nd thing you see).

4)It should identify the key objections their audience has and deal with them.

5)It should have some testimonials. The testimonials should

a) backup the measurable benefit in the grabber line b)overcome the objections

6)It should downplay or not use graphics. Graphics should only
How to Succeed With Any Affiliate Program
In the early days before the internet was born, starting a business was like taking a giant leap into the unknown. Aside from the involved time and money, it also causes lots of worry. However, if you are fortunate enough, for sure your business was a success, but then there are many who were doomed to failure. Thanks to the internet because it has evolved and those who failed might have the chance to make it.Once someone starts his search on the internet for a business on which he would make money, the most probable thing that catches his attention is an affiliate program. Perhaps, it is for the reason that affiliate programs
Can you learn to paint like Rembrandt without experiencing how Rembrandt did it? The same goes for learning marketing and sales techniques that work.

I’m always amazed by the responses I get from many of my business coaching clients, and sales and marketing clients when I ask them to keep copies of the best and the worst ads and websites they’ve seen. I don’t think I’ve ever found a client that had been doing it before. And when asked them to start keeping copies and learn from what they see they are afraid of “copying.”

Let me take you back to my childhood. I can remember setting through art class year after year, and never getting any better. I never felt I had learned anything.

For the most part, I tried to learn from scratch, to do everything uniquely. That is what the art teacher kept telling me. However, one day I was watching TV and saw a program that was teaching how to copy some really good prints. They taught how to duplicate the strokes exactly as was on the print. We learned how to do a tree, a house, the grass, mountains, in “that style.” The next week we started with another print and another style.

Before that I was taught to never copy. I had a total fear of having anyone think I might be doing something like someone else. Once I broke through that fear, I started using a light table, tracing over the original prints. Suddenly I was able to understand what kinds of strokes and colors worked. Only then was I able draw and paint, and not too bad at that. This progress happened in a matter of weeks. It had taken me years to get to this point, but weeks once I caught on.

The best way to learn to paint, or to write good ads and marketing material is to study the masters. And the best way to do that is to learn to copy them first. Once you understand what it takes to make something look somewhat similar to their style, and understand why they have done it that way, only then can you start to develop your own unique style.

Even the best marketing experts and copywriters keep a SWIPE file. They save copies of the best and the worst examples, sometimes with notes on them helping them understand why they filed it. Some are filed by the marketing style, some by an industry. When they get ready to write their own marketing copy they go back to the files to remind themselves what the best of the best looked like, and what they should avoid among the worst.

As you build your own SWIPE file you will discover that you will be finding better and better copy, and probably will start to throw poor copy out and keep only the best. That’s how you’ll learn to get better. As you get better and start learning the intricacies of what makes good copy you’ll see that some of the copy you saved wasn’t really that good, but now you’ll be looking for copy that meets that new standard to replace the existing stuff.

Here are some quick guidelines for choosing good copy:

1)It must be presenting benefits, not product, services, or the person.

2)It should identify the target audience. (This should be the first thing you see)

3)It should have a measurable “grabber” line, bold, highlighted if not at the top, very near the top. (This should be the 2nd thing you see).

4)It should identify the key objections their audience has and deal with them.

5)It should have some testimonials. The testimonials should

a) backup the measurable benefit in the grabber line b)overcome the objections

6)It should downplay or not use graphics. Graphics should only
Will Your E-mail Get Opened? Subject: Fields Matter!
In todays environment we all get too many e-mails that we prefer to not receive. Many are spam, some are even from people who have found us that we prefer to not communicate with. One thing is clear though, when sending e-mail you hope that your e-mail does not fall into either of those categories causing your e-mail to possibly not get opened.All too often onliners misuse the Subject: field thereby hindering the potential of their e-mail being opened resulting in their messages being deleted or sent to trash. A recent study reflects that 41.1% of recipients determine whether they open an e-mail by virtue of the Subject: f
most part, I tried to learn from scratch, to do everything uniquely. That is what the art teacher kept telling me. However, one day I was watching TV and saw a program that was teaching how to copy some really good prints. They taught how to duplicate the strokes exactly as was on the print. We learned how to do a tree, a house, the grass, mountains, in “that style.” The next week we started with another print and another style.

Before that I was taught to never copy. I had a total fear of having anyone think I might be doing something like someone else. Once I broke through that fear, I started using a light table, tracing over the original prints. Suddenly I was able to understand what kinds of strokes and colors worked. Only then was I able draw and paint, and not too bad at that. This progress happened in a matter of weeks. It had taken me years to get to this point, but weeks once I caught on.

The best way to learn to paint, or to write good ads and marketing material is to study the masters. And the best way to do that is to learn to copy them first. Once you understand what it takes to make something look somewhat similar to their style, and understand why they have done it that way, only then can you start to develop your own unique style.

Even the best marketing experts and copywriters keep a SWIPE file. They save copies of the best and the worst examples, sometimes with notes on them helping them understand why they filed it. Some are filed by the marketing style, some by an industry. When they get ready to write their own marketing copy they go back to the files to remind themselves what the best of the best looked like, and what they should avoid among the worst.

As you build your own SWIPE file you will discover that you will be finding better and better copy, and probably will start to throw poor copy out and keep only the best. That’s how you’ll learn to get better. As you get better and start learning the intricacies of what makes good copy you’ll see that some of the copy you saved wasn’t really that good, but now you’ll be looking for copy that meets that new standard to replace the existing stuff.

Here are some quick guidelines for choosing good copy:

1)It must be presenting benefits, not product, services, or the person.

2)It should identify the target audience. (This should be the first thing you see)

3)It should have a measurable “grabber” line, bold, highlighted if not at the top, very near the top. (This should be the 2nd thing you see).

4)It should identify the key objections their audience has and deal with them.

5)It should have some testimonials. The testimonials should

a) backup the measurable benefit in the grabber line b)overcome the objections

6)It should downplay or not use graphics. Graphics should only
Don't Let Your Salespeople Lose The Human Touch
Technology is a wonderful thing as long as it is used as a sales tool and not a crutch. Let me give you a recent example where I didn’t practice what I preach and it came back to haunt me.A client e-mailed me and asked me about doing a program for their management team. I emailed her back and she emailed me back – yada yada yada. The final email (the fourth exchange) she decided that she didn’t have enough left in her training budget to hire me.My point. The email exchange took place over a period of five days and the outcome was not exactly what I would have liked. In hindsight I asked myself, “Why didn’t I just
es and colors worked. Only then was I able draw and paint, and not too bad at that. This progress happened in a matter of weeks. It had taken me years to get to this point, but weeks once I caught on.

The best way to learn to paint, or to write good ads and marketing material is to study the masters. And the best way to do that is to learn to copy them first. Once you understand what it takes to make something look somewhat similar to their style, and understand why they have done it that way, only then can you start to develop your own unique style.

Even the best marketing experts and copywriters keep a SWIPE file. They save copies of the best and the worst examples, sometimes with notes on them helping them understand why they filed it. Some are filed by the marketing style, some by an industry. When they get ready to write their own marketing copy they go back to the files to remind themselves what the best of the best looked like, and what they should avoid among the worst.

As you build your own SWIPE file you will discover that you will be finding better and better copy, and probably will start to throw poor copy out and keep only the best. That’s how you’ll learn to get better. As you get better and start learning the intricacies of what makes good copy you’ll see that some of the copy you saved wasn’t really that good, but now you’ll be looking for copy that meets that new standard to replace the existing stuff.

Here are some quick guidelines for choosing good copy:

1)It must be presenting benefits, not product, services, or the person.

2)It should identify the target audience. (This should be the first thing you see)

3)It should have a measurable “grabber” line, bold, highlighted if not at the top, very near the top. (This should be the 2nd thing you see).

4)It should identify the key objections their audience has and deal with them.

5)It should have some testimonials. The testimonials should

a) backup the measurable benefit in the grabber line b)overcome the objections

6)It should downplay or not use graphics. Graphics should only
A Closer Look at Cyber Crooks
I work from my home, the most peaceful workplace I can think of so far. As a Homemaker and part time Freelance Writer, I submit articles and subscribe to various respectable writing newsletters and do endless research online. But before signing up, I read privacy policies, some brief while others boringly lengthy.I am just one among millions of unknown but honest Internet users. Why, to my mind, would I worry so much about anyone in the Internet community making me a target for nasty tricks or harassments?Nonetheless, I feel safe just knowing that the websites that interest me run a committed sense of policy on securi
helping them understand why they filed it. Some are filed by the marketing style, some by an industry. When they get ready to write their own marketing copy they go back to the files to remind themselves what the best of the best looked like, and what they should avoid among the worst.

As you build your own SWIPE file you will discover that you will be finding better and better copy, and probably will start to throw poor copy out and keep only the best. That’s how you’ll learn to get better. As you get better and start learning the intricacies of what makes good copy you’ll see that some of the copy you saved wasn’t really that good, but now you’ll be looking for copy that meets that new standard to replace the existing stuff.

Here are some quick guidelines for choosing good copy:

1)It must be presenting benefits, not product, services, or the person.

2)It should identify the target audience. (This should be the first thing you see)

3)It should have a measurable “grabber” line, bold, highlighted if not at the top, very near the top. (This should be the 2nd thing you see).

4)It should identify the key objections their audience has and deal with them.

5)It should have some testimonials. The testimonials should

a) backup the measurable benefit in the grabber line b)overcome the objections

6)It should downplay or not use graphics. Graphics should only
My Competitor Has a Better Product
The topic of this issue's article is a response to a question submitted by one of my newsletter readers. QUESTION - "At the moment, my competitor's have a far better product/deal, due to circumstances out of my control. However, customers go to the competitor and then come to me to compare. How do I go about convincing the customer that our service/product is better even though on paper it isn't???" ANSWER - Thanks for the question. I'm going to answer this to the extent that I can without knowing what it is that you or your competitor sell. I believe that this is a common experience for many of us in sales. C
eplace the existing stuff.

Here are some quick guidelines for choosing good copy:

1)It must be presenting benefits, not product, services, or the person.

2)It should identify the target audience. (This should be the first thing you see)

3)It should have a measurable “grabber” line, bold, highlighted if not at the top, very near the top. (This should be the 2nd thing you see).

4)It should identify the key objections their audience has and deal with them.

5)It should have some testimonials. The testimonials should

a) backup the measurable benefit in the grabber line b)overcome the objections

6)It should downplay or not use graphics. Graphics should only be used to support the grabber line. Far too often, the graphic becomes the center of attention instead of the grabber line. Graphics doesn’t sell, words do.

7)Make a very clear offer, and ASK for an action, don’t assume an action.

8)Have ONLY one clear action to be taken, not multiple. The more choices your reader has the less likely he will choose any one of them. You’ll actually lower your response rate.

9)Develop a sense or urgency around your offer. People are procrastinators. Give them a chance to say “Yes, I need to respond to this, but I’ll put it on my desk and answer it tomorrow,” and it will get lost in the pile and never answered.

Give them an offer they can’t refuse and tell them it is good for only ... days, or for the first 10, etc. I hear the rumbling from the peanut gallery whenever I say that. Everyone fears that they are reducing their responses by not letting everyone have time. Let me say it again, “People are procrastinators.” They will put it down to do it tomorrow and never do it. Your response will be low to nil.

Use “Call me TODAY I will only take X number. Last month we filled in 3-4 days. SO CALL NOW!” and that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It will be gone in 3-4 days. Just make sure to live up to your limit or people won’t believe you next time.

Use these guidelines to review the ads and websites for your SWIPE file. Start keeping the best and the worst. Then use the ideas it generates to write your own ads and your own website the next time.