Marketing Experts Exposed

Sunday, 8:06pm
Reno, NV

Howdy…

Let’s talk about boozing it up, shall we?

I mean, tomorrow is Amateur Drunk Night, after all. The streets will be an obstacle course of big damn SUVs and expensive sedans driven by people who have just discovered — just tonight, at the big New Year’s Eve party — that they love Irish whiskey or Mai Tais or Mad Dog 20-20 or whatever… and look! it doesn’t affect their ability to drive even one li’l teensy li’l tiny bit, buddy, and whadya gon’ do ‘bou it, huh, mishter? Shime da bescht der-river inna worl! Hey! Where’d da tree come fum, huh? He he he he…

Don’t do it, man.

Don’t drink and drive. And don’t even drink a lot, if you’re not used to it.

Especially if you’re around friends or co-workers.

Bad, nasty, evil mis-adventures will befall you, and haunt you for decades.

I know.

I’ve been there.

And no, I’m not gonna share any details… cuz the Statute of Limitations hasn’t applied yet in some instances.

Plus, I still need plausible deniability on a few other, more recent things.

Still… big surprise… I am NOT gonna get down on anyone for tippling a few too many once in a while.

I just want to wave a caution flag a little bit. Maybe provide some Sage Advice here for the tippling novices.

Because writers — more than any other profession — seem to gravitate to the bottle. For some, it never becomes a problem. For many of the best — Hemingway, Thompson, Capote, Bukowski — it takes over their life and destroys first their talent, and then their very existence.

And that sucks.

But it’s not the whole story. I’ve been thinking about booze and writing for decades now, and I think I can offer some sober (so to speak) insight.

Here’s my story (and I’m sticking to it): I’ve tried just about every possible position in the “booze intake game” during my many trots around the block.

I learned to drink with guys are now either dead from too much good-time fun, or in AA and dry as tumbleweeds. I was just a teenager, looking for clues on how to be cool, and booze was a fast, easy route to the center of the action. I’m just lucky my tolerance has natural limits — while the hard-core drinkers binged into the night (and into the next day), I had to beg off and go sleep it off somewhere safe.

Oh, the hangovers I’ve suffered.

Earned ‘em, too.

I’ve also been sober as a monk, pointedly ignoring even modest forays into Partyland for long, dusty, dry periods… without complaint. Halbert was dry when I met him, and I vowed not to drink while around him as part of my “business before pleasure” vow while I was deep into mentoring. I became the permanent designated-driver for my other friends.

I was in training, in a way. I was studying hard, writing constantly… and despite the prevalence of drunkeness among famous writers, I knew that — for me — booze was a no-no when I sat down to craft copy.

I need to be me when I write… and even a single beer can wobble me off my Zen balance. I learned this the hard way, and I’m glad I learned it early. Writing takes (and deserves) serious concentration and focus, and nowadays I even watch my caffeine intake and the temperature in my office when I sit down to work my magic.

It all matters. To find your “edge”, you must pay attention to details.

Ah, but the reality of a totally sober and hard-working life can be more than a little depressing. Early on in my career, I developed the idea of “Miller Time” — the ritual period of reward after another day of dedication, focus and production. It didn’t have to be booze. Back when I smoked (yuck — 10 years of pack-a-day wheezing), it was pure pleasure to sit back, lit up a Player and read what I’d slaved over.

Add a frosty beer, and you couldn’t have impressed me more with the promise of my own harem and kingdom — I had the perfect buzz right there. Shove your veils and crowns.

However, that “perfect” buzz can blindside you.

My good buddy Garf — also a writer — just quit smoking, and I can relate to the sudden emptiness of his smoke-free Miller Time at the end of his day. I tossed my last cig away over twenty years ago, but still have cravings. Nicotine is a nasty little bastard, with a wicked jones. Joe Camel didn’t appreciate being unceremoniously ushered out of my life, and would welcome me back with open, smoky arm anytime I wanted to give in.

Get straight on the difference between habits and rituals. (Garf’s hanging in there, and I’d bet on him staying away from the cigs… but he’s gotta fight the cravings, every day. Tobacco’s like an evil succubus demon, always crawling around in the shadows, waiting for an opening.)

I also have, as I said, several other writer pals who have been forced to give up booze in all forms… and I can relate to that, too.

But Miller Time doesn’t actually require a vice. It’s just some kind of reward… something you enjoy, but won’t indulge in until you’ve been a good boy or girl and completed another productive day. You don’t get it unless you’ve been good.

Your reward could be sex. Or a movie on HBO. Or a long steaming bath with Mr. Ducky.

It’s the ritual that matters, not the actual identity of the reward.

One of the hardest things for writers to do is get into the habit of grinding out the prose. Even the best slag off, and you can easily get into a bad habit of procrastination and avoidance. (I don’t believe in “writer’s block” — if you have something to say, you have something to write. All top professional writers get over any romantic notion of waiting for “inspiration” to begin writing, because they’re under deadline. They still sometimes miss deadlines, and still stare at a blank page for weeks at a time… but they’re choosing to avoid writing, not suffering from any mysterious metaphysical blockage. Don’t fall victim to this rookie bullshit.)

For me, Miller Time has consisted of such varied pleasures as a cig and a beer… just a beer… a shot of whiskey and an hour of listening to my favorite music… sex… late night movies… a quick pop into the local pub to argue politics with the know-it-alls… playing guitar… and a few other things not involving alcohol in any way.

All have worked, once they became a ritual. You may miss the nicotine buzz, but it’s bad for you, dude. Get over it, and find something else.

Yes, even if that something else isn’t anywhere near as satisfying as the old cancer stick used to be. There are lots of other pleasures out there.

Same with booze. Same with sex. Same with everything else.

People get hung up about rituals and habits, and it’s unnecessary. Every part of our “advanced” culture carries some addiciton risk. People get hooked on ice cream, then become diabetic and think their life is over. Runners will limp to the corner and attempt to log ten or twelve miles to get that “runner’s high” again even after shattering both ankles. Adrenaline junkies will have a near-death experience jumping out of an airplane, and force themselves to do it again… because they lack the imagination to find another source of excitement.

Plus, of course, there are the really vicious habits… including booze, drugs and gambling. Oh, and sex, if you believe the day-time talk shows. And shopping. And…

Just get over your bad self. If you can’t, you need help, and it’s out there. I’m a big fan of the 12-step programs, cuz they’ve saved many of my friends. And I love talk therapy, cuz it’s helped me over and over again.

But, the big realization for most people (and especially for most writers) is that life and habit and ritual isn’t a black-and-white, either/or decision. There’s lots and lots of gray area to be explored.

I’ve hung out in bad, dark, filthy bars as a patron… and loved it. And I’ve played music in those same joints, dry as a churchmouse (cuz booze will screw up my ability to play, so I don’t usually drink when I’m on stage)… and loved it.

You really can adjust to what the situation calls for. I know it’s not popular to believe this, but it’s true.

Nowadays, my Miller Time involves an ice cold, frothy beer from west coast small breweries. None of that national swill for me, no sir. I’d rather drink tea than suffer through a Bud. In fact, I consider it a crime to waste your time with anything less than the super-excellent small breweries that have sprung up in the past few years.

We’re in a Golden Age of beer, dude. A Lagunitas pale ale, or an Acme IPA, or even a Stone “Arrogant Bastard Ale” (from, respectively, Petaluma, Fort Bragg, and San Diego) rivals — in flavor, nuance and pure undiluted pleasure — any of the best French or California vino you can serve up.

And yeah, I’ll fight you if you don’t agree. Dude.

Okay, it’s not worth fighting over… but the thing is, we really do live in a wonderful time for choosing variations on your own private Miller Time.

Find your groove. Your own, personal, super-satisfying groove… and then get into it.

And stick with it.

And if getting wild with the gin-and-tonics isn’t your regular groove, then don’t top off your tank this New Year’s Eve just because every other dunderhead in the room is.

There is some existential value in getting snoggered, once in a while. You get to try out a different personality for a few hours, you experience the sudden relaxation of all that tense uptightness you’ve been holding onto, and sometimes it’s just nice to have all those new best friends to chat with. (Witness the bar at the next marketing seminar you attend, if you want to see this in action.)

But don’t do it if you’re new to the territory. Really. It’s one thing for a college kid to douse his system with rocket fuel and go steal a rival school’s mascot. Or, okay, and make out with that hottie who sits behind you in English Lit (whose name you forget).

But it’s another thing for a grown adult to pound Cosmopolitans, with car keys in your pocket, without knowing where that train is gonna let you off in a few hours.

Somewhere between the vim of pure sobriety and the vigor of blowing a 2.8 on a breathalyzer lies your groove.

You’re an adult. You’re also an entrepreneur, small biz owner or copywriter, if you’re reading this blog regularly. Or you hope to be, soon.

Make your peace with the temptations of modern life. You can indulge, but you’re still responsible for all consequences.

So be careful if you’re going out NYE. Please.

Remember: As a writer, it’s much more fun to lag behind the drunks and observe… so you have stories to write about later.

Think about that.

See you next year.

Stay frosty…

John Carlton
www.carltoncoaching.com

P.S. By all means, please post your own embarrassing or enlightening stories about over-indulging during New Year’s Eve in the comments section here.

Stories of debauchery and Bacchanalian humiliation are always the best.

And someday, remind me to tell about spending NYE in Ensanada, deep in Mexico, in the early 80s. Three of us, one step ahead of the federales, ducking down alleys and taunting death all night long.

Man, that was fun. Stayed out of the hoosegow, and lived to tell the tale.

What’s your story?

Carlton, copywriting, entrepreneur, freelance copywriters, life lessons, living life well, marketing, salesmanship

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Sunday, 8:06pm
Reno, NV

Howdy…

Let’s talk about boozing it up, shall we?

I mean, tomorrow is Amateur Drunk Night, after all. The streets will be an obstacle course of big damn SUVs and expensive sedans driven by people who have just discovered — just tonight, at the big New Year’s Eve party — that they love Irish whiskey or Mai Tais or Mad Dog 20-20 or whatever… and look! it doesn’t affect their ability to drive even one li’l teensy li’l tiny bit, buddy, and whadya gon’ do ‘bou it, huh, mishter? Shime da bescht der-river inna worl! Hey! Where’d da tree come fum, huh? He he he he…

Don’t do it, man.

Don’t drink and drive. And don’t even drink a lot, if you’re not used to it.

Especially if you’re around friends or co-workers.

Bad, nasty, evil mis-adventures will befall you, and haunt you for decades.

I know.

I’ve been there.

And no, I’m not gonna (more…)

Carlton, copywriting, entrepreneur, freelance copywriters, life lessons, living life well, marketing, salesmanship

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Since the new year is right around the corner, bloggers and marketers alike are posting their predictions as if a psychics convention has come to town.

So in keeping with that tradition, I’d like to post a few of my own. But unlike those who post their predictions in point form, I won’t make a specific list but rather share with you some of my thoughts.

(Near the end, however, this post will culminate in what I believe will be three major trends to watch out for and dive into, if you want to make some serious money in 2008 and beyond.)

First off, let me state that you may or may not agree with me on these. But something is definitely going on right now that points to these three trends. All the clues are pretty evident, and you’ve probably seen some of these yourself.

What I’m talking about is…

… Internet marketing is correcting itself.

When the stock market tumbles, short of a full-on crash, they call it a “correction.” Sometimes it happens precipitously. Other times, it takes place over a period of time.

Likewise, I believe that Internet marketing, right now, is going through a similar correction. It may not be as precipitous as the stock market, but it’s indeed quite significant.

To explain what I mean, let me back up a bit.

If you’ve read Geoffrey Moore’s “Crossing The Chasm,” then you understand the product adoption curve. (In marketing and academic circles, they call it the “Diffusion Process.”)

In plain English, it means that new markets go through a certain adoption process that looks very much like a bell curve.

At first, new products are consumed by the innovators and early adopters (i.e., niche and early markets). They’re the type of people who buy new things the moment they come out.

Then, they are consumed by the majority (i.e., mainstream markets, at the top of the bell curve, where products get widely adopted by the majority of people).

Finally, the laggards make up the late markets. They usually wait until everyone else has tried the products, which are no longer new.

According to Moore, between the niches and the mainstream, there’s a gap. A chasm, as he calls it, especially with technology. It’s where things seem to slow down once a product has saturated the early markets.

But then, after a while, something happens.

The product, if and when it crosses the chasm, enters the mainstream (often called the “middle” or just the “majority”), and becomes widespread.

This is where the bulk of the market lies (about 68% of the market pie, according to studies). And often, it happens fast. Very fast. (For example, Moore’s follow-up book, “Inside the Tornado,” explains this in detail.)

What does this mean in terms of Internet marketing?

It means that the geeks (e.g., the risk-takers, innovators, Internet enthusiasts, and the like) are the first ones to penetrate the Internet market. They set many precedents that shape the way we do business online, whether it’s through a new method, software, business model, or teaching.

(That’s why we often call them “gurus.”)

We’ve seen this happen. Top marketers have entered the market, sold many a product, and made massive amounts of money. But now, things are starting to change. We’re hitting — if not crossing — the chasm.

One obvious piece of evidence is the recent flurry of “death of” reports. Whether they’re meant to promote something or not is a moot point.

Clayton Makepeace listed his own predictions recently, and I not only agree with them wholeheartedly but also view them as part of this crossing of the chasm. To me, the most salient point is that only 18% of the world’s population is online — but it’s growing at a rapid rate, particularly in Asia.

If you don’t believe me (or even Clayton), watch this amazing video.

It’s a presentation by a statistical researcher about income distribution around the world, and how quickly some countries are growing in terms of wealth and gross national product, once the Internet enters them.

In short, the video shows that the Internet, while still in its infancy, is growing at a rapid rate, and that there is hyper-growth occurring right now in Asian and middle-Pacific countries, such as Singapore, India, and of course, China.

Let me put that aside for just a moment, and share with you a few observations. (I will tie all of this together very shortly, I promise.)

Here’s a question:

Haven’t you noticed lately how Internet marketing seminars are changing?

I mean, for many years seminars were not only filled to the rim but also filled with the usual suspects who seem to congregate there all the time.

I remember going to seminar after seminar, and seeing the same faces over and over again. The same million-dollar marketers. The same “big names.” The same expert speakers. And very few newbies or unknowns.

But in 2007, a shift started to happen. Some of those faces are not showing up at seminars anymore. The number of old-timers seems to be shrinking, while new faces are making their appearances for the first time.

With each passing seminar, it seems, the audience is slowly being replaced with new marketers and total newbies — people who are completely new to Internet marketing and even to the Internet in general.

More and more veteran marketers are retiring. Some are leaving the Internet marketing field altogether. Many are no longer attending seminars, speaking at them, or teaching Internet marketing at all.

Is it because the Internet marketing industry is dying or jumping the shark?

Not at all. Quite the contrary, in fact. While some Internet marketers have moved on, many of them have simply refocused their businesses on those three major markets I was referring to earlier.

To give you a hint, let me tell you a true story…

At the last seminar my wife and I attended, I was surprised to see that the vast majority of attendees was completely new. The event was still packed to the rim (and even bigger than before). But many of them admitted to us that this was the first seminar they’ve ever attended.

In fact, they were so new that, at a previous seminar where my wife and I spoke, we were both surprised by the kinds of questions they asked us.

After speaking on stage and walking towards the back of the room, Sylvie and I were asked questions like, “What is an autoresponder?” Or, “How do you create a text file?” (No joke!)

And it didn’t just happen once or twice. It happened many, many times. And it happened at almost every single seminar we’ve attended or spoke at in 2007.

Now, what does all this mean?

It means several things: Internet marketing is shifting. We are seeing more and more people entering it for the first time. We are seeing less of the successful, seasoned marketers who have made their wealth and moved on.

In other words, what we’re seeing is a shift to people who are completely green, entering the world of Internet marketing, and launching a business online for the very first time — with very limited knowledge about it to boot.

And many of the existing, top marketers we have learned from in the last few years have either retired or decided to go after… well… the “majority!” That is, they are going offline.

Yes, offline.

And that, my friends, is the golden key.

More importantly, we’re seeing — and we’ll see more of — the Asian market, too, entering the Internet marketing sphere.

The more Asian citizens gain access to the web, the more Internet marketing will change, too, to reflect this shift. China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and others are definitely going to be forces to be reckoned with.

We’re seeing this already.

(Sylvie and I are speaking in Singapore next spring, by the way. Some of these events pack as many as 3,000 people.)

Bottom line, these shifts represent not only a major correction affecting the world of Internet marketing, but also show the three major markets to watch out for in the coming year:

1. The newbie market;
2. The offline market;
3. The Asian market.

And that’s my prediction for the new year and beyond. Watch out for these markets. Enter them. Serve them. Or get out of the way.

That said, I do have a few technology-related predictions. (A blog post on new year’s predictions wouldn’t be complete without them, eh?)

Some of the ones I made last year did come true — and we’ll see more and more of them in 2008 as well.

For example, online video will become ubiquitous. The web will become increasingly “widgetized.” People will demand for more samplification. And interactivity will become vastly more popular and sophisticated.

But what about some of the major technology companies?

Well, I hate to make those kinds of predictions because Internet marketing is as volatile as the stock market. But I agree that some major acquisitions are in store for the coming year. My guess? Any one of the following…

• AOL by Yahoo!;
• Yahoo! by Microsoft;
• Technorati or SixApart (makers of MovableType and TypePad) by Microsoft or Yahoo! (likely to compete in the blogging space against none other than giants WordPress and Google’s Blogger);
• Or Facebook — maybe by Microsoft, Yahoo!, or someone else.

Speaking of Facebook, whether or not it does get acquired, it’s going to see the same kind of decline in popularity in 2008 that MySpace saw in 2007.

In fact, when my kids got me onto Facebook earlier this year, and I refused at first because I told them I already had a MySpace account, in a pretentious tone they replied, “But Dad, MySpace is soooo last year!”

I think Facebook will face the same fate, I fear.

Anyway, there you have it.

Until next time, thank you for your support this year. I appreciate you and wish you a peaceful, healthy, profitable, happy, and prosperous new year!

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With spam incessantly inundating our inboxes and people’s attention spans constantly shrinking, some have claimed that email marketing is on the way out.

I say “nonsense.”

In fact, it’s because of those very reasons that email marketing is now stronger than ever before. I personally know of some marketers who have made literally millions of dollars with email marketing alone in recent weeks.

I’m talking about legitimate, law-compliant, optin email.

Remember, the most common use of the Internet is still email — not instant messenging, social networking, or browsing websites. It’s often the very first thing people do when they log onto the web.

Granted, the biggest stumbling block is to increase your “open rate” (i.e., the percentage of people who actually open your emails). And to do so you first need to get your emails delivered and overcome overzealous spam filters.

But once they do reach your readers’ inboxes, the most important step in getting your messages through to your audience is with good copy. And like a good headline in sales copy, it all starts with the subject line.

One thing you may have noticed, particularly of late, are clever headlines spammers use.

Spam subject lines are often a lazy tactic to improve open rates. How many times have you seen a headline in your inbox, only to realize that the email is trying to sell you some sleazy, snake-oil aphrodisiac?

In other words, you get emails with headlines that may seem legitimate, but the moment you open them your “Delete” button gets the brunt of your index finger.

Sure, curiosity may get you to open the email. But they usually end up in the trash if they’re not in your spam folder already.

That said, however, spammy headlines do have something to teach us.

You can improve your open rates using some of the same tactics spammers use, but in legitimate, confidence-inspiring ways that will increase readership and, of course, response.

Here are three of my favorite and easiest tactics I use to increase my open rates.

1. Urgency

Urgency says it all. It’s when your subject line communicates something time-sensitive or quantity-bound, which simply can’t be ignored.

Some of the most profitable email campaigns have subject lines that have some element of scarcity. You see this with subject lines like, “It ends tonight at midnight!”, “There are only 4 left”, “One spot just opened up”, etc.

While the above are examples of direct scarcity (i.e., the limit is directly stated in the subject line), indirect scarcity works well, too — such as an upcoming event, holiday, sale, launch, contest, season, news item, etc.

But don’t just limit yourself to an event. You can also use situations to communicate fear of loss, which inherently creates tension. For example:

• “When she learned my secrets…”
• “Unless you do this, you are lost!”
• “The sneaky mind trick they use on you”
• “You are losing money right now!”
• “Are you aware of these 5 danger signs?”
• “Avoid these 7 mistakes at all costs!”

Fear of loss is one of our biggest motivators as human beings. While the urgency may be indirectly stated, it’s compounded: there’s urgency in the topic itself, as well as urgency in missing out or failing to at least know about it.

Speaking of “need to know,” this leads me to my second point…

2. Curiosity

Curiosity pulls them in. And the easiest way — it’s not the best way but it’s effective nonetheless — to use this winning tactic is to start a sentence, add an ellipse, and continue the rest of the sentence in your email.

These teasers can often drive response rates through the roof. Based on the Zeirgarnik effect, people are intrinsically curious, and an unfinished idea will create a certain tension that will force readers to seek closure.

For example, the subject line starts with “It all started when…” and in the body of the email, it goes on with “… She told me about this website!” The subject says “I’ve never had a chance to…” followed in the email by “… tell you about this amazing secret!” Or the subject says “Don’t leave me…” continued with “… hanging by not responding to this offer.” You get the picture.

However, an important caveat.

Subject-line teasers need to be handled very carefully. It’s easy to lose credibility. They can come off too spammy and, if your email doesn’t follow through on the subject line, then you’ve lost credibility.

That’s why the best curiosity subject lines are those that really tease not by omission but by implication. In fact, one curiosity-building tactic that works quite well is to tempt an open by implying that the answer to a question is within your email.

To help you, take a look at the headlines on the covers of tabloids and grocery-rack magazines, such as Vanity Fair, Cosmo, National Enquirer, etc. Here’s one from Women’s World magazine, sitting right now on my wife’s desk: “I lost 19 pounds eating chocolate!” Other examples include:

• “The real reason people gain weight”
• “No joke! Shocking study proves laughter is dangerous”
• “Is he cheating? Find out with these 6 tell-tale tips”
• “7 medical myths even doctors believe“

That last example uses the third common tactic…

3. Controversy

Controversy is another powerful tactic. The word “controversial,” by definition, means “of a diverging viewpoint,” “opinionated,” “disputed,” “arguable,” “contentious,” etc. Being controversial simply means to be different.

While your subject line may raise eyebrows and convey surprise, dismay, even anger, it doesn’t need to, and probably shouldn’t offend. Instead, tie your subject line to a current event, news item, or hot topic.

You don’t have to limit yourself to your industry. You can use controversial topics outside of it, as long as you link them to something relevant to your readers and provide compelling reasons why in your email to justify its use.

One of my email coaching students, John Ritskowitz, in an email about the power of headlines, used “Dead Man Wakes Up Under Autopsy Knife.”

This was pulled from an actual, recent news story. And John used that headline to show the power of headlines in a small video tutorial for a new copywriting tool he was promoting.

(If you want to know more about it, check out John’s product, “The Copywriters Toolkit.” I highly recommend it. You’ll have access to the above tool as well as many others.)

Take a look at some of the headlines I’ve used over the years on this very blog…

• The Death of The Salesletter
• Ordering Offline Boosts Online Sales?
• Forget Benefits And You Will Sell More
• Stop Setting Goals to Achieve Success
• Marketer Exposes Herself For Charity
• Want a Sticky Site? Forget Content!

Speaking of being controversial, another successful tactic I’ve seen — and contrary to common knowledge — is to NOT include the email recipient’s name in the subject line.

There are many benefits to personalizing emails, and I still recommend it with email body copy — or any copy, for that matter.

But like with any marketing tactic, once a winning strategy is overused we tend to become desensitized to it.

I suspect that the recipient’s name in the subject line is often an indication that it is a sales message, and the email will likely hit the trash can faster than you can say “spam!”

By the way, Larry Chase’s “Web Digest For Marketers,” an ezine I’ve been subscribed to for many years, has an interesting article on 13 tips for crafting subject lines.

Bottom line, observe what spammers are doing, and apply some of the same tactics to your email marketing efforts. But don’t be clever or misleading.

In the long run, you’re better off to spend a little time using what we can learn from spam and creating a subject line that will really work. The key is to be relevant — to your email message, and more importantly, to your readers.

—
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• Questions And Answers
• RSS Feed And MyBlogLog Community
• Create Optimized Blog FAQs On The Fly
• Copywriting Productivity Tools
• Stop Setting Goals! (Free Book)
• PowerWords Generator Is Now ScribeJuice!
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With spam incessantly inundating our inboxes and people’s attention spans constantly shrinking, some have claimed that email marketing is on the way out.

I say “nonsense.”

In fact, it’s because of those very reasons that email marketing is now stronger than ever before. I personally know of some marketers who have made literally millions of dollars with email marketing alone in recent weeks.

I’m talking about legitimate, law-compliant, optin email.

Remember, the most common use of the Internet is still email — not instant messenging, social networking, or browsing websites. It’s often the very first thing people do when they log onto the web.

Granted, the biggest stumbling block is to increase your “open rate” (i.e., the percentage of people who actually open your emails). And to do so you first need to get your emails delivered and overcome overzealous spam filters.

But once they do reach your readers’ inboxes, the most important step in getting your messages through to your audience is with good copy. And like a good headline in sales copy, it all starts with the subject line.

One thing you may have noticed, particularly of late, are clever headlines spammers use.

Spam subject lines are often a lazy tactic to improve open rates. How many times have you seen a headline in your inbox, only to realize that the email is trying to sell you some sleazy, snake-oil aphrodisiac?

In other words, you get emails with headlines that may seem legitimate, but the moment you open them your “Delete” button gets the brunt of your index finger.

Sure, curiosity may get you to open the email. But they usually end up in the trash if they’re not in your spam folder already.

That said, however, spammy headlines do have something to teach us.

You can improve your open rates using some of the same tactics spammers use, but in legitimate, confidence-inspiring ways that will increase readership and, of course, response.

Here are three of my favorite and easiest tactics I use to increase my open rates.

1. Urgency

Urgency says it all. It’s when your subject line communicates something time-sensitive or quantity-bound, which simply can’t be ignored.

Some of the most profitable email campaigns have subject lines that have some element of scarcity. You see this with subject lines like, “It ends tonight at midnight!”, “There are only 4 left”, “One spot just opened up”, etc.

While the above are examples of direct scarcity (i.e., the limit is directly stated in the subject line), indirect scarcity works well, too — such as an upcoming event, holiday, sale, launch, contest, season, news item, etc.

But don’t just limit yourself to an event. You can also use situations to communicate fear of loss, which inherently creates tension. For example:

• “When she learned my secrets…”
• “Unless you do this, you are lost!”
• “The sneaky mind trick they use on you”
• “You are losing money right now!”
• “Are you aware of these 5 danger signs?”
• “Avoid these 7 mistakes at all costs!”

Fear of loss is one of our biggest motivators as human beings. While the urgency may be indirectly stated, it’s compounded: there’s urgency in the topic itself, as well as urgency in missing out or failing to at least know about it.

Speaking of “need to know,” this leads me to my second point…

2. Curiosity

Curiosity pulls them in. And the easiest way — it’s not the best way but it’s effective nonetheless — to use this winning tactic is to start a sentence, add an ellipse, and continue the rest of the sentence in your email.

These teasers can often drive response rates through the roof. Based on the Zeirgarnik effect, people are intrinsically curious, and an unfinished idea will create a certain tension that will force readers to seek closure.

For example, the subject line starts with “It all started when…” and in the body of the email, it goes on with “… She told me about this website!” The subject says “I’ve never had a chance to…” followed in the email by “… tell you about this amazing secret!” Or the subject says “Don’t leave me…” continued with “… hanging by not responding to this offer.” You get the picture.

However, an important caveat.

Subject-line teasers need to be handled very carefully. It’s easy to lose credibility. They can come off too spammy and, if your email doesn’t follow through on the subject line, then you’ve lost credibility.

That’s why the best curiosity subject lines are those that really tease not by omission but by implication. In fact, one curiosity-building tactic that works quite well is to tempt an open by implying that the answer to a question is within your email.

To help you, take a look at the headlines on the covers of tabloids and grocery-rack magazines, such as Vanity Fair, Cosmo, National Enquirer, etc. Here’s one from Women’s World magazine, sitting right now on my wife’s desk: “I lost 19 pounds eating chocolate!” Other examples include:

• “The real reason people gain weight”
• “No joke! Shocking study proves laughter is dangerous”
• “Is he cheating? Find out with these 6 tell-tale tips”
• “7 medical myths even doctors believe“

That last example uses the third common tactic…

3. Controversy

Controversy is another powerful tactic. The word “controversial,” by definition, means “of a diverging viewpoint,” “opinionated,” “disputed,” “arguable,” “contentious,” etc. Being controversial simply means to be different.

While your subject line may raise eyebrows and convey surprise, dismay, even anger, it doesn’t need to, and probably shouldn’t offend. Instead, tie your subject line to a current event, news item, or hot topic.

You don’t have to limit yourself to your industry. You can use controversial topics outside of it, as long as you link them to something relevant to your readers and provide compelling reasons why in your email to justify its use.

One of my email coaching students, John Ritskowitz, in an email about the power of headlines, used “Dead Man Wakes Up Under Autopsy Knife.”

This was pulled from an actual, recent news story. And John used that headline to show the power of headlines in a small video tutorial for a new copywriting tool he was promoting.

(If you want to know more about it, check out John’s product, “The Copywriters Toolkit.” I highly recommend it. You’ll have access to the above tool as well as many others.)

Take a look at some of the headlines I’ve used over the years on this very blog…

• The Death of The Salesletter
• Ordering Offline Boosts Online Sales?
• Forget Benefits And You Will Sell More
• Stop Setting Goals to Achieve Success
• Marketer Exposes Herself For Charity
• Want a Sticky Site? Forget Content!

Speaking of being controversial, another successful tactic I’ve seen — and contrary to common knowledge — is to NOT include the email recipient’s name in the subject line.

There are many benefits to personalizing emails, and I still recommend it with email body copy — or any copy, for that matter.

But like with any marketing tactic, once a winning strategy is overused we tend to become desensitized to it.

I suspect that the recipient’s name in the subject line is often an indication that it is a sales message, and the email will likely hit the trash can faster than you can say “spam!”

By the way, Larry Chase’s “Web Digest For Marketers,” an ezine I’ve been subscribed to for many years, has an interesting article on 13 tips for crafting subject lines.

Bottom line, observe what spammers are doing, and apply some of the same tactics to your email marketing efforts. But don’t be clever or misleading.

In the long run, you’re better off to spend a little time using what we can learn from spam and creating a subject line that will really work. The key is to be relevant — to your email message, and more importantly, to your readers.

Related posts

• Digital Scarcity: Does It Still Convert? (29)
• All Your Base Are Belong To Us! (6)
• Why Freelance Copywriters Go Hungry (23)
• Use Scarcity To Sell, Not Scare (18)
• Use Pressure To Prevent Procrastination (15)

Thursday, 10:15am
Reno, NV

Howdy…

Sometimes marketers like to pretend they exist outside the “real” world of politics, war and social upheaval.

This attitude is especially evident in certain commercials and ad-heavy publications that reveal a thick-headed cluelessness about life outside the box of privilege. In the past months, I’ve seen TV ads mimicking revolution in the street for a frivolous product… and read articles on celebrities that used references to famine and actual murder cases, trying to be ironic and hip.

These efforts are clunky and embarrassing. Yet, they never abate. (Mind you, I adore irreverent humor and M*A*S*H-style commentary… but you can’t accomplish this kind of wit from the sidelines. Cluelessness makes knowledgeable people cringe.)

I first noticed this disconnect between pain and fun as a teenager waiting for my draft notice during the Vietnam war. The evening news was dominated by combat zone film bringing the war right into America’s homes (something The Man has since realized should never happen again, if he wants to continue blowing people up for vague and unsupportable campaigns)… so for half an hour between typical fluff like “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Gilligan’s Island”, we were treated to glimpses of Hell, half a world away. Guys just a few months older than me crouched behind shattered walls, bullets zinging into the stucco while swaying palm trees burned under distant napalm assaults. And the wounded were evacuated, swathed in bloody bandages, the stretcher-bearers ducking and weaving.

And then, during the break, here comes this bright and cheerful commercial for laundry soap… with a pretty housewife flying a WWI-era bi-plane, dropping tablets like bombs from the sky. The slogan — and all TV ads back then were centered on slogans — was some bullshit reference to “blowing up” germs in your dirty clothes with this new, improved way of keeping your family clean.

Seconds away from the grime and gore of a real battlefield, here’s Proctor and Gamble laughing through a pun about bombing soiled tee shirts.

Even back then, I was shocked by the tin ear of the marketers.

There were many other ads revealing an almost total disconnect between reality and selling stuff back then… including Pepsi’s attempts to co-opt the anti-war “peace and love” movement, and mainstream Hollywood’s endless (and utterly clueless) desire to both be super-hip (never happened) and entertaining without offending anyone.

The entire culture seemed to be like the Emperor wearing no clothes, and everyone refused to open their eyes.

Say what you will about my generation (and the mainstream media is very smug about pretending to understand what happened back then) (they didn’t then, and still don’t). We at least had the awareness to be shocked and disgusted by the sad state of the world.

And some of us decided to drop out. We flailed at the fortress of civilization, trying to change things… and were immediately beaten back and put on the defensive. The anti-war marches and anti-consumerism of the “counter culture” didn’t stop the war, and it didn’t turn the U.S. into a socialist state.

Still, trying to push that kind of passion back into the bottle was even more futile.

However, the reality of those years is very different than the modern myths told about them.

If you allow the media to define that era for you, you might believe that most of the Boomers were hippies and activists and lived in communes. In truth, only about one in ten tried to drop out or change society. We were NOT a monolithic generation of the same mind.

If you came out of that period, you are likely dazed by the way history is being twisted into tidy, coherent narratives by the likes of Tom Brokaw.

Things were very much NOT coherent or tidy back then. It was friggin’ chaos.

Okay, I’m boring you, aren’t I.

Another Boomer ranting about himself and the times he lived in.

I’ll stop.

But I wanted to make a point, and I believe it’s an important one.

It’s this: Things haven’t changed much since those bad-old-days of upheaval and tidal social wreckage.

We’re just more numb about it.

And, if you want to be a real writer, you need to endure a long, forced reality check.

Someone once said that the goal of civilization is to remove the privileged class as far as possible from things that disgust them. Meat arrives in the supermarket with no trace of blood or violence. Sewage runs underground, flushed out of the house as efficiently as possible. Germs and dandruff and zits are dealt with quickly and harshly.

We walk around pretending to be Barbie and Ken dolls, unconcerned with icky odors and death.

And we have, at best, a hazy notion that, somewhere else, people are butchering each other and starving and drowning under tsunamis.

Oh, and glaciers melt and entire species disappear, while fresh water increasingly becomes a luxury.

Today, the news is even more full of rage and despair, horror and danger, than usual. It’s a very bad day for the world… and yet I am scheduled to post another blog on marketing and making money.

Will I have to stretch, or hide from reality to make a point? Naw.

For me, the sting of experiencing that disconnect between commercials and the news has never left. Even as I went deeper and deeper into advertising and marketing, I refused to get sucked into the notion that America is somehow encased in protective glass, and I refused to believe it’s okay or desireable to be oblivious of the rest of the world.

I have, however, made that long painful trek from the edges of the counter-culture (back when I dropped out), all the way back to the realization that capitialism really is a great way to fuel a culture. It’s not perfect… but the tools exist to carve out your own personal area of freedom, and also to focus enormous resources on the problems of the world.

No other economic system comes close.

You can set an example, by tending your own garden and living life as well as you can. (And I’ve always believed that is part of the job of the entrepreneur… to engage life with gusto, for the sake of every feudal slave in history and every oppressed schlub today who has dreamed of the freedom to think, act and love without censorship and an authoritarian boot on his neck. You OWE it to him to make the best of your good fortune.)

And when you finally realize you have more dough than you need, you can start spreading the wealth. Donate, get involved… or, like Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines, roll up your sleeves and actively change things for the better. (You’ll have to ignore a thousand choruses predicting your demise and glorifying in your blunders and set-backs. Small price to pay, though, if you want to make a difference.)

Most entrepreneurs dream of making enough money to indulge in pleasures and bad behavior without consequence. The jerks succeed. Yet, an astonishing number of newly-rich business owners become neo-Renaissance forces for good.

It’s almost enough to restore your faith in humanity.

In fact, increasingly, entrepreneurs are the front line of humanity, as corporations become anonymous headless beasts that ravish the world regardless of which human happens to sit in the CEO chair. We do have dragons, and the modern world has more in common with Tolkien’s bracing fantasies than most folks can fathom.

So, yeah, let’s talk about marketing.

People ask me how I’m able to write such gritty, fascinating copy. For products and ventures that seem, to the uninitiated eye, so far removed from anything gritty or fascinating.

And the answer, as you by now must suspect, comes from life itself.

For your entire existence, advertisers have sought to “get” to you by being meek and inoffensive and unreal.

So, you’re excused if you think your own copy should be flimsy and weak.

At least, you’re excused until you’ve been exposed to my stuff.

After that, you can’t hide any more.

In my world, advertising and marketing is inter-woven with the fabric of life. I’m simply not cynical about it. (”Cynical” is the new buzzword on Madison Avenue, by the way — it’s replaced “ironic”, and that’s why you’re seeing so many TV spots with absurb comedy and only reluctant glimpses of product. There is zero evidence that hard-core, big-city comedy sells stuff, but most TV ad creators live in big cities and write copy meant to help them save face among their peers… and to them, it’s just uncouth to stoop to actual salesmanship.)

I learned long ago that the key to sales is passion.

But I also learned that there are two sides to passion — the good side we all love, centered on indulging in pleasure and meeting goals and moving ahead… and the bad side, which is evident in today’s sorry news cycle.

Do you understand the kind of passionate rage required to assasinate someone? Can you get your mind around the kind of drooling greed required to starve whole populations so you can build another palace? Can you comprehend the lust of people who abuse power and privilege?

Most of us cannot.

Yet, rage and greed and lust are very common human reactions. The world roils in a tense dance with anarchy and anihilation, struggling every damned day with all its might.

I’ve known many copywriters who give up in despair. How the hell can you care about selling crap while fools in authority wreck everything?

I know well the urge to drop out. Every generation faces the same dilemna upon becoming aware — they realize the world sucks, and seconds later realize they can do almost nothing to change that fact.

This leads to the kind of rage required to kill and tear fragile things apart.

There are, and always will be, issues greater than your humble goals of bettering yourself or accumulating wealth.

If you want to become a great copywriter, you must learn to face reality. All of it. And be okay with what you see.

Most people stumble through life in a haze, half-asleep and yearning to be led like sheep.

The power of being able to write — the power of the pen — is a force that can change history… or change a single person’s life, in a simple yet positive way.

It’s easy to mock advertising. Because most advertising sucks, and is irrelevant.

Yet, people need things. And they need bargains, and inside info, and the resources of thinking, involved insiders who care enough to push for positive change. Customer by customer.

It may seem silly to care about soap today. But bad hygiene continues to be a major killer in the world. There are places where a bar of Ivory could save lives.

And there are places where simple tips on dealing with the disgusting details of life near the edge can bring entire generations several steps up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

We just forget these facts. We live inside a box of privilege, spared the gritty details of staying alive in a hostile environment.

You don’t need to get on a soapbox. In fact, it would kill sales if your copy swerved off into tangents about the state of the world in irrelevant ways.

Yet, the job of the top copywriter involves being engaged with the reality of the world in a much deeper way than the average prospect.

The more you understand the way things really are — outside of ideology and wishful thinking — the more you become a truly powerful communicator.

It’s almost like being in a priesthood, of sorts. Early scribes, in Egypt, were treated and lived as a special privileged class… and formed guilds where the secrets of communicating through the written word were passed on to apprentices sworn to treat their power with respect. If you’ve ever hung out with copywriters in the bar after a seminar, you know how esoteric and passionate we can get over what most people consider a very simple craft of putting words on paper.

Your job, as a creator of ads, is to bring with you a nuanced and loving knowledge of life that is beyond the experience of your reader.

It’s a big damn responsibility. You must learn to face truths that are, at times, extremely unpleasant. And you gotta read the news.

But your job is precisely where the necessities of life intersect with the powerful passions of being human.

Let others mock and pretend to be too hip to care or go deep.

Writers — and especially writers who understand the psychology of classic salesmanship — live better lives. The rest of the population will refuse to feel things too passionately, because it scares them. They like being numb.

As a writer, you voluntarily give up your ability to remain numb and dreamy about reality. You engage, and pay attention to your emotions, your passions, and your fears.

You’ve got a special job. And civilization is relying on you to do it, no matter what.

Today is a sad day for the world. Death and chaos abound.

It remains your duty, however, to engage with that sad world. And to allow your writing to help others engage. Yes, even on a simple level like advertising a new product.

Civilization may or may not continue on this planet. Unless you’re a mover-and-shaker with a finger on a button of mass destruction, it’s doubtful you can do much on your own to dramatically change things.

Still, each person must confront both reality and the inner turmoil of existence… and if you choose to be a writer, you cannot back away from what you discover.

It’s a complex universe out there.

Sometimes, just doing your job is enough.

Stay frosty,

John Carlton
www.carltoncoaching.com

advertising agencies, apprentice, Carlton, copywriting, entrepreneur, freelance copywriters, Internet, life lessons, living life well, Madison Avenue, marketing, Richard Branson, salesmanship, small business marketing

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KaChing Tank is kicking off in just a few days and these guys are in for some crazy times.

(So are you, dear reader. Stay tuned …)

If you create Killer Marketing Tools (software, etc.), we want it.

Here’s the deal: you provide the tool and the Tankers will kick it around.  If it works well, they’ll give you a ton of free publicity.  If it doesn’t, we’ll just keep our mouths shut (so no risk to you).

The “how” of the free publicity will be apparent quite quickly once the Tank launches.

If it becomes something the Tankers use on a regular basis, you just have to promise to provide a copy for each of the new tankers that come in.  A small price to pay for a mountain of free publicity.

So, post your shameless self-promotion in the comments section below, Mr. Wizard.

And if you’re not Mr. Wizard, but know him, feel free to make a recommendation for him in the comments as well and pass this post on to him.

In the wake of rumored proposals to regulate the web during its early days, Canada’s telecommunications watchdog, the CRTC — comparable to America’s FCC — officially declared in 1999 that the Internet is not a broadcasting medium.

Technically, the Internet is indeed a medium.

But the government based its decision on the fact that the web is interactive with its audience — unlike other one-way media such as the TV or radio. As a result, regulators concluded the Internet could therefore police itself.

(The “Net Neutrality” debate of late is a perfect example that it is different.)

Nevertheless, my point here is not a political one but a marketing-related one.

Unlike traditional broadcast media, the Internet is both user-driven and transactional. Active and interactive. Dynamic and conversational. Particularly in this age of Web 2.0.

I guess you can say that, in many ways, it is more of a process than it is a medium. And that this is reflected not only in its benefits but also its unique challenges.

For one, its biggest limitation is the lack of tangibility. People cannot physically inspect the products they are buying like they can in a retail environment, for example.

Sure, you can easily develop rapport when meeting clients face-to-face, answer their questions on the spot, and allow your products to undergo their close scrutiny.

But on the web, those abilities are nonexistent.

That’s why copy has a greater job online than offline. (Much greater than most people think.)

Other than communicating the emotions that empower people to buy and direct them to take some kind of action, your copy must also develop a level of trust with your customers.

That’s a lot tougher in an intangible world!

But should the responsibility rest solely on the shoulders of the words you choose?

Not necessarily.

Granted, with the growing popularity of video and technologies that allow more interactivity and personalization with sales copy, the Internet is becoming far more effective.

I already talked about these new technologies in depth in my white paper, “The Death of The Salesletter.” Plus, some of them require quite a bit of technical savvy. So I won’t go over these here.

For now, let’s take a look at some of the most efficient ways to tangibilize and dimensionalize your sales copy using some very simple elements.

First off, we are predominantly visual.

Our brains are wired in such a way that they translate what they’re being told into their visual equivalent. And they do so unconsciously.

Whether it’s books, cookware, vitamins, jewelry or even software, let pictures do some of the selling for you. As the old saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Stated differently, texts tell but pictures sell.

For example, add a scan of your book’s cover (like Amazon.com does), thumbnail pictures of your necklace line, a photograph of your vitamin bottles, or a graphic box shot of your software package (even if it’s downloadable).

In short, give something people can visually appreciate.

Sure, videos would be the most effective way to accomplish this. And I’ll be covering this in greater depth at my upcoming Web 2.0 Copywriting Secrets seminar to be held in Los Angeles this November with Dan O’Day.

But don’t forget low-tech ways to boost response. You can simply take your product out, put it on a table (preferably with a white tablecloth or background) and take a snap with your digital camera.

Do just like you would do if you were to sell your product on eBay or any other auction site, for example. (Listings with pictures are proven to get more bids.)

However, a caveat: don’t overdo it!

Don’t go loading your site with graphics.

Remember, copy is more important. There must be a balanced mix of text and pictures. Pictures should provide “eye gravity” and draw the eyes into the copy to get people to start reading it in the first place! So use graphics judiciously.

Use thumbnails (smaller-sized pictures that can be enlarged when clicked). Your graphics should be small and compressed for quicker downloads.

Plus, whether it’s physical or digital, have your packaging and covers professionally designed. The design is just as crucial in the trust-building process, because like it or not, people do judge books by their covers.

If your cover art doesn’t communicate professionalism, value, credibility and trust, it will be counterproductive and work against you.

In fact, some people frown on the use of ecover art, especially with digital downloads. But tests show that they do improve response.

My take is that people say this because most covers are poorly designed, and often accompanied by really poor copy. (Here’s a great parody of most online salesletters these days that proves my point.)

But what if you sell a service? Graphics can also help.

Take a picture of you in action delivering the service in question, possibly with a client. Or take one that represents the benefits or the results of your service, such as before-and-after shots. Or include photos of happy clients.

But whether you sell a product or a service, logos are just as powerful.

Adding a logo that represents your product or service and especially its main benefit not only gives it an element of tangibility, but also communicates credibility, professionalism, trustworthiness and higher perceived value.

The lack of a logo on the other hand, or even worse the presence of a poorly designed one, makes you look “cartoonish,” as my friend Armand Morin would often say. They would cause people not to take you seriously.

Here’s a tip: I often use Design Outpost for my ecovers, website designs, graphics and logos. You post your requirements, and designers will create mockups in an effort to bid for your business. You only pay for the work you select.

Also, graphs and charts also help to make the service more appealing because they can help to emphasize the benefits that your service offers.

In other words, add a graphic that communicates something important that’s relevant to your market and to the sale.

(Just look at some of the comparison charts and competitive analyses software developers use in their copy, often in tabular format, where you can see the superior features and benefits of the software, at a glance.)

Also, try to “samplify” your offer or your copy.

If your product or service can be sampled in some way, then great. But if they cannot be sampled somehow or if you prefer to avoid samples, then provide an illustration or a visual representation that people can sink their teeth into.

Speaking of samples, screenshots are just as effective.

Screenshots can also be used in tours, demos, and above all, case studies and testimonials. In addition to adding proof elements, they also can be used to provide examples, descriptions and illustrations to a point you’re making.

(I use SnagIt almost religiously and wherever I can in my copy.)

However, if your product can indeed be sampled somehow, choose the live version instead. Samples, free trials and live demos help consumers to get a taste of what you’re selling before they make their decisions to actually buy.

Samples sell, not only because they’re free but also because they help to reassure the client and communicate the value of what is being considered.

Virtually all products and services can, in some way, be sampled. Because of their nature, websites offer a plethora of possibilities. For instance:

• A software can be turned into a time-limited shareware download.
• A free online media kit can be presented to a potential advertiser.
• A free online consultation or initial assessment can show potential clients the value of a consultant’s expertise.
• A publisher can offer a few free chapters (or even a simple copy of the table of contents) from the book(s) they are selling.
• A real estate agent can offer free online property assessments.
• A seller of exercise equipment can offer a free ebook on how to exercise more effectively, particularly with the equipment itself.
• Ad nauseum.

But what if you really have nothing to offer for free? If so, offer a more economical alternative.

A cheaper, scaled down version of what you offer is like a paid sample or a loss leader.

Sure, it’s a downsell. But offering a cheaper alternative can entice customers, whether immediately or over time, into buying the central or more expensive product or service.

But these “paid samples” do a lot more than that. They also help penetrate new markets, pre-qualify customers and build on your customers’ lifetime value.

But let’s say you can’t add pictures, offer samples or sell cheaper alternatives.

What else can you do?

Another element you can use (one you should use in any event) is an “FAQ” (i.e., a frequently asked questions section).

A section offering stock answers to common questions tangibilizes the user’s experience, handles potential objections, and alleviates doubt about the product or service.

(Just like a live sales representative would.)

Sure, you could answer questions strategically in your copy, and should do so throughout — particularly in sections where specific objections are bound to crop up.

But by adding this extra section and lumping answers together, they are not only easier to spot but also clustered for greater impact.

Plus, an FAQ offers another benefit many don’t realize. It may answer questions customers can have later on, after the sale and not necessarily at the time of purchase.

In other words, your answers can reduce post-purchase remorse (or “cognitive dissonance”), which often leads to complaints, returns and refunds.

You can certainly link to a separate FAQ page for offering further details. But I like to keep my clients riveted to the sales copy. That’s why I usually embed the FAQ section within the copy, or put them at the end of the page.

(It’s also important to note that, other than the sales copy, if you have an optin page and lead generation process, having an FAQ within your follow-up autoresponder sequence is also a great sales strategy.)

If you don’t have a list of common questions already, ask yourself:

• “What are the most common questions people have about me, my product, my service, my business, my company or my website?”
• “What are the most common misconceptions about them?”
• “What are they mostly confused about and have some difficulty understanding, even though I address them in your copy?”
• “What are some of the most common objections people have or may potentially have about my product or service?”
• And “What kinds of objections would I get (and how would I answer them) if I sold my product or service in the offline world?”

Of course, it goes without saying that your copy should offer the usual suspects: testimonials with full names; strong guarantees; good copy; easy-to-find contact information; and clear, straightforward instructions.

But the more tangible the buying experience is, the more people will buy. Anything you can do to make the sales experience more comfortable, easy and secure will definitely impact your response rate in positive ways.

In the final analysis, people hate parting with their hard-earned money. And the buying process in this digital world can be a hurdle for most customers.

But by giving something customers can see, appreciate and “chew on,” you can lower that hurdle considerably.

—
Related Articles at The Michel Fortin Blog:

• One Tiny Change Boosted Sales By 44%
• “Video Killed The Audio Star…”
• How Long Should Headlines Be?
• Can Copy And Content Commingle?
• PowerWords Generator Is Now ScribeJuice!
• A Low-Tech Way To Boost Response
• Want A Sticky Site? Forget Content!
• Profit From Radio Advertising With These 7 Keys
• Paint Your Copy With Pictures
• The Truth About Mega-Headlines

The other day, one of my coaching students emailed me about his dilemma — something that’s all too common in our business.

“Too many times,” he said, “I’ve known what I needed to do, and I always end up waiting weeks on end to do it.” He asked, “How do you cope with procrastination?”

Procrastination is indubitably the copywriter’s most stifling problem. Since our job is fraught with deadlines, procrastination can be one of the costliest problems in the copywriting business. It can murder your reputation…

… And your career!

So, how do you cope with procrastination? Even better, how do you overcome it? Here are six tips I use, which helps me to get more done faster.

1. Take Responsibility

Procrastination plagues even the best of us. We all do it from time to time. We wait, make excuses, get distracted.

Some people blame it on ADD. Others blame it on the freedom of being a self-employed freelance copywriter without any of the usual work rules we see in a corporate job.

But whatever the reason may be, they are no different than the excuses we use to keep putting off until tomorrow what can — and needs to — be done today. 

As Dr. Robert Anthony said: “Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait. The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count.”

Admittedly, there are some deep-seated, psychological factors behind procrastination — such as low self-esteem, anxiety, fear, addiction, even depression.

But these often refer to chronic procrastination, which is a whole other ball of wax and beyond the scope of this article.

Some people will blame it on being a perfectionist. While perfectionism is a challenge in itself, it’s often just another excuse to procrastinate.

The more we focus on trying to perfect whatever task is at hand, the less we need to concentrate on getting it done on time.

(I submit that writer’s block falls in the same category, and probably does so more times than we care to admit.)

Nevertheless, I’m a copywriter for the better part of two decades, not a psychologist. So my advice here is limited to the more practical workarounds to defeat the most common form of procrastination in our business.

And that’s laziness.

Admittedly, we are lazy for different reasons, too. Perhaps we hate the project or the client we’re working with. Perhaps we fail to plan and prioritize properly. But again, these are reasons, not results.

Once you stop making excuses and start taking action, even if they’re little steps, you will be a step closer to your goal. And taking little steps is a lot better than taking no steps at all. Which leads me to my next point…

2. Understand The Law of Contraction

C. Northcote Parkinson once said, “Work either expands or contracts in order to fill the time available.” This is often referred to as “Parkinson’s Law.”

Also known as the Law of Contraction (or the Law of Forced Efficiency), it means that activity will expand or contract to meet its imposed deadline.

In other words, you will either take your time or hurry up depending on the deadline you have and the time you have at your disposal. (Take students who cram just before exam time, for example.)

If you have seven weeks to write a salesletter, chances are you will take all seven weeks. You will take your time because there’s plenty of it.

But if you have only four days, you will do what you can to get it done within those four days. You will cut out irrelevant tasks, outsource the rest, focus strictly on that letter, work double time, even pull allnighters if you have to.

Bottom line, you will do whatever it takes.

In fact, I noticed that my best sales letters (the ones that produced the best results) were those done working under very tight deadlines.

Why? Because a rapidly advancing deadline not only kicks me into gear, but also forces me to tune out distractions… clear my environment… organize other work around it… ignore the phone and e-mail… avoid interruptions… prioritize my tasks… and truly concentrate on the work at hand. 

With this heightened sense of awareness and focus, I’m “in the zone” and kick my creativity up a few notches. Like a sponge that’s squeezed under pressure, a looming deadline squeezes out my best ideas, writing and strategies. 

Now, I don’t recommend to purposefully wait until the last minute. (Admittedly, I do that sometimes.) But you can still benefit from this extra boost in creativity and efficiency. Here’s how…

3. Break It Down

The idea is to turn a potential nightmare — a deadline — into your best friend.

The way to do that is to break down a major deadline into smaller deadlines (or “mini-deadlines”). In other words, the goal is to break down larger projects into smaller, easier-to-digest, bite-sized chunks.

Basically, you cut up the project into smaller pieces and add deadlines to each piece. This way, it makes each piece more urgent and real.

These mini-deadlines also act like milestones throughout the course of the project, enabling you to see, at a glance, where you’re supposed to be, what you’ve done so far, and what needs to be done at any given time. 

As the Confucian saying goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” But in this case, the journey is not a thousand miles but smaller, one-mile journeys of a thousand steps each, so to speak.

Each small deadline reached is just one step closer to the ultimate deadline. And each step becomes much less intimidating, too.

But the best part is, by placing shorter deadlines on smaller, bite-sized steps, you allow Parkinson’s Law to kick in. The deadlines become closer and more urgent. And work, therefore, contracts to meet them. 

(And it happens almost unconsciously, too.) 

Plus, each mini-deadline is a constant reminder that, if you don’t meet the smaller deadline, you’ll have two or more to contend with if you keep waiting.

I personally dread this “piling on” effect, so doing it this way helps me to kick myself into gear. If I’m late and miss one mini-deadline, I force myself to complete it so I can start — even hurry up to finish — the next one in line.

However, there’s an important, more positive reason in doing it this way, too.

After accomplishing each step, it makes you feel good about yourself knowing that things are indeed getting done and the project is advancing. Which brings me to my next point…

4. Document The Process 

Write it down. Don’t just think it up. Make sure it’s printed somewhere.

The reason is, creating a visual interface allows you to see, at a glance, where you are and what you need to do, at any given time — rather than dealing with a single, intimidating deadline that’s constantly menacing you. 

Whether it’s on paper, in your agenda, on a calendar, or on your computer with the help of software, your mini-deadlines visually prod you along the way. 

(Personally, I use BaseCamp as my project management software.) 

Each milestone is like a small reward in itself. Knowing where you are, how far you’ve gone and what you’ve accomplished along the way gives you both momentum and motivation to keep going. 

Plus, it’s a easier to deal with the small rewards from reaching milestones than it is with the threat of a larger punishment from not reaching a deadline.

When you begin, chunk your project into as many small pieces as you wish.

For now, let’s call them “phases” rather than “steps.” Why? Because at first these steps will appear specific to you when in fact they can be broken down even more. Which brings me to the next tip…

5. Be As Specific As Possible 

Once you’ve broken your project down (i.e., by separating your project into phases), go back and try to break it down some more, and denominate all the steps required for each phase.

Give each step a mini-deadline — a specific day on which the task will be carried out (rather than a specific time by which it needs to be accomplished).

That way, you instantly know what tasks need to get started on a specific day rather than by when they need to be done. (That’s why I prefer to call them “milestones.” It’s easier to reach a milestone than it is to meet a deadline.) 

Remember the previous tip: document it!

It doesn’t matter what you use, whether it’s software or plain-old pen and paper. Just remember that you need to be specific. 

A task like “write letter” is not enough. Even “writing initial draft.” These are phases, not steps. Each step must be as clear and as specific as possible.

Let me give you an example: 

Major project: Write sales letter for client. 

Major phases: Research, create rough draft, finalize initial draft, revisions per client, and final draft and delivery.

For this example, a final deadline may be, say, one month. The next step is to add a deadline for each major phase of the project. Using the same example above: 

• Week #1: Research
• Week #2: Create rough draft
• Week #3: Finalize initial draft
• Week #4: Revisions per client
• End of Week #4: Final draft and delivery

Put differently, you’re breaking the larger deadline down into smaller, mini-deadlines. (Or as I mentioned earlier, “milestones.”)

Now, break down each phase into smaller, bite-sized chunks. For example, let’s take “research” to be done during the first week, and break it down some more: 

• Day #1: Compile client questionnaire
• Day #2: Review and clarify answers
• Day #3: Initial product run-through
• Day #4: Interview client or principals
• Day #5: Perform competitive analyses
• Day #6: Brainstorming session

… And so on.

Then you repeat the process for each phase of the project. Above all…

6. Take It One Step At a Time

The above is just one example and not the example.

Keep in mind that many steps can be accomplished in the same day, while others can take several days. So don’t pigeonhole yourself. Be flexible, and be prepared to make course corrections along the way.

For example, let’s say you need several days to come up with a good headline. If so, then break that down to, say, writing 10-20 headlines a day, or take an extra day for doing additional research and brainstorming new ones. 

Do what you feel comfortable with. Don’t overwhelm yourself to the point that following this process becomes a nightmare in itself. It’s only a tool to help you get more done faster. It should never be a bottleneck.

The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter how you tackle a project. What matters is that you apply the Law of Contraction, and break down your project into smaller, easier-to-digest, bite-sized chunks.

That way, you have closer deadlines to work with, with more manageable tasks at hand. You will be focusing on putting smaller things into action, one step at a time, rather than on getting everything done by a specific deadline. 

This may take a while the first time, I admit. But do this again and again, even for smaller projects, and you’ll soon get the hang of it.

As Jim Rohn once said, “Life asks us to make measurable progress in reasonable time. That’s why they make those fourth grade chairs so small.”

—
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• My Name is Michael, I Got a Nickel…

Many copywriters often talk about targeting a niche… getting to know them so you talk their language and describe your solution for them as though you were one of them.

I’d like to take a contrarian view.

I think it’s silly to worry about targeting a “niche.”

I propose that all people are the same at their core and if you are actually working a true market… targeting is as silly as pretending that some people don’t eat or sleep or have sex or breathe.

I’m writing this from Costa Rica where my family and I are spending a couple of months. Some would say that Costa Rica and Costa Ricans are about as different as you can get from America and Americans.

Are they?

Certainly it is difficult to imagine being able to sell them something without speaking Spanish. Certainly it would be difficult to get them to purchase drought insurance (it rains daily this time of year).

But, as I was eating dinner tonight deep within a Tico (i.e., a Costa Rican) neighborhood at a soda (small restaurant) that had no other foreigners in attendance other than my family, I watched my two year old playing with the other children.

He had no idea that they didn’t speak English. They had no idea that he didn’t speak Spanish. They communicated just fine… mostly with screams and giggles and smiles… with the occasional shove and pointing.

Us parents also communicated just fine with smiles and talking to our own children when they got a little too aggressive. All of us were having a great time.

Everyone in the restaurant was enjoying the food… some the beer… most the socialization… most the music.

Was there any difference between this scene and similar scenes across Europe, Asia, Africa or science stations near the south pole? Of course there were, but the root drivers of human activity are all the same.

I’ve long been a hater of the word “niche” and how many in the industry teach folks to try out tiny little niche markets.

I think that’s hogwash.

First of all, those teachers are hypocrites. Are they working a tiny little “niche” or are they working the huge “make more money” market?

Secondly, anyone can take a look at the 10 richest people in the world and see that they worked in huge markets that apply to nearly every human on earth… not tiny little niches.

Bill Gates works the software market… the more generic and widely applicable, the better. His most profitable products are Windows and Microsoft Office which apply to a vast number of potential customers around earth.

Warren Buffet works the huge “investment” or “make money with money” market. Who doesn’t want to make more money? It’s hardly a niche.

The Walton family (i.e., Walmart) works in the “everything” market and promises lower prices. Who doesn’t want lower prices?

The list goes on. Niches are for those who want to replace a job with their own business that becomes a job. The rich and the free work in huge markets.

Huge markets need very little or no targeting. They apply to everyone or at least a large percentage of the population.

Almost everyone wants to live longer. Almost everyone wants to make more money, be more beautiful, have a closer relationship with their spouse, have loving, wonderful children, be stronger, more attractive, etc.

On the Internet, the world is your play place.

You can choose to follow the liars and hypocrites and try to make the four people who are into zebra hockey in New Orleans on Tuesday nights happy… or you can try to make the billions of earth inhabitants who want to live longer happy.

Have you ever tried to play darts?

If your target is that tiny little dot in the center, then you will only hit it sometimes. But if all four walls, the ceiling and the floor are all your target, then you actually have a fairly tough time not hitting your target.

Douglas Adams once wrote that it’s easy to fly. Just jump off anything and miss the ground. That’s why niches suck… and I’m a confirmed heretic.

—
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• Use Scarcity To Sell, Not Scare
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