Dynamic Duo Copywriting

The Robot That Fulfills DVDs & CDs on Demand $1.75 - No Minimum

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:56:04 +0000

Last night I went into Tampa to attend an Internet Mastermind Meeting. Whenever I go to these meetings, I always try to walk away with at least one profitable marketing tip, strategy or technique.

(BTW…I found this group on www.Meetup.com . If you haven’t used Meetup, you’re missing out. Read more about how to use Meetup and Twitter together here.)

Thanks to fellow HerdHuddle Member Chris Blackerby, I definitely walked away with a hot tip last night, and wanted to share it with you.

It’s a publishing on demand “robot” called Kunaki.

For $1.75 each, created on-demand, you get:
Full color CD or DVD with jewel case
Manufacturing / assembly
Full color CD or DVD printing
Full color 2-panel insert
Full color tray card
Cellophane wrapping
UPC bar code
24-Hour rush manufacturing
No minimums, contracts, setup fees, or hidden fees.

Plus, you can integrate their manufacturing and fulfillment service directly into your own application using their XML service API.

I lost sleep thinking about the immediate applications for direct response marketers. Here’s just a few:

- Self-Liquidating Lead Generation: offer a free DVD and/or CD on your website, charge $6.95 for shipping and handling.

- Easily add a DVD and/or CD to your marketing sequence: using Infusion or OfficeAutoPilot’s fulfillment feature, mail out a CD as step 3…DVD as step 7, for example.

- Sell Outright: create a DVD and/or CD info product and sell for $37…$67…$197…whatever

…Or you could fulfill your rock star dreams by creating your own CDs to sell through CDBaby.com (not recommended - been there, done that

Why All You Need to Know About Life You Can Learn from Adam Sandler???

admin — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:05:16 +0000

The other day a friend of mine told me I just HAD to watch the movie “Click” starring Adam Sandler. Seeing that I was, as he put it, “into all that personal development stuff” he said he thought I would like it. Well, since Adam Sandler has never struck me as a “personal development guru”, this was enough to intrigue me enough to watch the movie.

The show is actually quite good, and has a great moral to it (although let me be quick to point out that it’s delivered with plenty of Sandler’s usual vulgar bathroom humor…so don’t say I didn’t warn you). Long story short - it’s a modern-day “It’s a Wonderful Life” where the main character realizes that his career is not worth the price of his family…good feel-good kind of stuff.

However, this was not the part of the movie that stuck most in my mind.

It was actually just one little line in the script that came and went so fast that it wouldn’t register with most people. But it was profound…

It goes like this…

Sandler’s character, Michael, it seems, has a penchant for Twinkies and other junk food. His strange new friend named “Morty” (Christopher Walken - the one who gives him the magic remote control that can “fast forward” to the future), makes a simple, yet powerful observation about his eating habits…

He says, “Michael, THAT FOOD (speaking of the junk food) is contributing to your DEATH, not your LIFE”.

What’s especially poignant about this statement is that later in the movie, it’s revealed that Michael’s new friend “Morty” is a really an Angel…

…He’s the Angel of DEATH.

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

NOT A LECTURE ON JUNK FOOD

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

Now don’t get me wrong. This isn’t the beginning of a lecture about the dangers of eating junk food. It goes deeper than that, I hope. The reason that this statement from Morty, the Angel of Death, hit me (other than the fact that I was eating popcorn and drinking a soda when I heard it) was that earlier that day I had just started listening to an incredibly profound, and slightly disturbing book called, “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson.

You see, Olson points out in this book that there is a “Slight Edge” to EVERYTHING in life – that can either work for you or against you. There is NO neutral middle ground or “coasting”. Every small thing that we do either takes us closer to the life that we really want – or closer to destruction.

The fact is - all food that you take into your mouth has either a positive effect or a damaging effect. Fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods help the body, while junk food destroys it – slowly.

However, the reason so many people fall victim to “the Slight Edge” is that it takes so long to notice, that most of us think that nothing bad is happening. Since we can’t see the plaque lining up in our arteries, or since we don’t feel bad, we figure we’ve got “good genes” (or some other lie that we tell ourselves) and we’re somehow going to cheat the truth. But that’s not how it works. By the time we realize what we’ve done, it’s often too late. We can end up 50 lbs overweight with a heart condition, cancer, diabetes, etc.

The same “Slight Edge” can work against us in ALL other key parts of our lives, if we let it happen:

Like when we hang around “toxic” negative people. Little by little, we take on their attitudes and before we know it – we’re one of them.
When we yell our kids for the 10,000^th time, and withhold our praise for the good things they do. Slowly but surely, the “Slight Edge” turns them into the “nightmare” teenagers that we feared…yet created.
When we simply TALK about achieving higher financial success, but never get around to DOING anything about it. We spend our lives working to make someone else’s dreams happen, only to end up bitter and resentful and on a fixed retirement income.

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

IT’S EASY TO BE SUCCESSFUL – BUT IT’S ALSO EASY NOT TO

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

The GOOD NEWS is that “the Slight Edge” can be harnessed to work as the undeniably greatest force that will lead to inevitable success.

How? By consciously making the small, seemingly insignificant right decisions day-in-and-day-out. This is what the successful minority DO and unsuccessful majority WON’T DO.

The truth is, there is enough “how-to” information in the world RIGHT NOW for anyone to be wildly successful in every part of life. People don’t need more “How-To”. They need more “DO”. Unfortunately, the reason that only 5% of people actually get this is that not only is it EASY to do the things day in-day out that it takes be successful – it’s also EASY not to do them.

You CAN make the changes necessary to turn “the Slight Edge” in your favor:

· By choosing to hang around positive, successful people who will “rub off on you” in a good way

· By ACTING on the decision to stop dreaming, and start doing when it comes to improving your work life and taking control of your finances

· By investing small amounts of quality time and positive energy into your relationships with your children, your spouse and your friends

· By “just doing it” when it comes to exercise and eating right – daily.

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

Read This Book NOW to Get “the Slight Edge” Working in Your Favor – Instead of Against You

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

If you’re like a lot of people (including me), you’ve probably listened to a ton of great personal development books, financial books on CD, etc., only to walk away and not apply a SINGLE thing that I’ve heard to your actual life or business. Don’t let that happen to you again.

I sincerely believe that this is THE book that should be read before reading to ANY book on personal development, dieting/health, financial success, child rearing – you name it. It will empower you to apply the “little things” that you learn from any book and help you to remember that this is what it takes to put “the Slight Edge” in your favor.

A GIANT Trend in Information Marketing

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:53:47 +0000

As you may or may not know, Darlene and I Write boatloads of copy for bigtime info-marketers. There’s something rumblin’ in the Info-Marketing world every serious marketer should know about…

* The MASSIVE shift towards Done-For-Them systems *

I’ll never forget my very first Dan Kennedy conference about five years ago. The first words out of his mouth were something like “folks, we’re seeing a massive shift away from people buying the big information kits, to buying done-for-them services.” How prophetic.

Why is this such a big trend? Because most people don’t want to learn how to market their business. They just want what great marketing brings them - wealth and time freedom.

The best business-to-business “gurus” realize this, and MANY are launching full-blown done-for-them marketing products/services. Besides, why get paid ONCE for a big “info-kit”, when you can get paid monthly to “lease” the use of your pre-done marketing pieces? Make sense? You betcha. So now your next question should be…

HOW are they doing it?

By plugging pre-written marketing sequences (emails, postcards and landing pages) into a new software called www.Send-Pepper.com , and selling it to their “herds” as a monthly subscription.

I can’t tell you WHO is co-branding Send-Pepper for confidentiality reasons. But there are definitely Platinum and former Platinum GKIC members doing so.

(…seeing that Platinum members are THE most successful info-marketers on the planet, if you’re serious about info-marketing, you should follow in their footsteps).

If you’re reading this and you believe YOUR herd would like to have their marketing done FOR them - we should talk. Darlene and I could have the copy for your done-for-them system done faster than you thought possible, and possibly for a discounted rate (details when we talk one-on-one)…

If you’re interested, contact us here.

Why Personalized URL’s (PURLs) Are So HOT – HOT – HOT!!

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:57:35 +0000

Let’s say your name is Betty Jones and you own a Pet Store called Pet Paradise in Henderson, Nevada. You receive a postcard in the mail from one of your vendors about a new inventory control software program called “Pet Store Magic 2.0” they claim will cut your costs by 30%, saving you thousands of dollars a year.

Ask yourself - which message would likely make you visit the product website?:
1) A headline that reads “How To Save 30% On Your Pet Store Operating Costs Guaranteed” and the call-to-action is for her to go to a website called
CutPetStoreCosts.com

-or-

2) A headline that reads “How Betty Jones Can Save 30% On Pet Paradise’s Operating Costs Guaranteed” and the call-to-action says “Betty, let us show you specifically how we can cut the costs of Pet Paradise at a special website we made just for you at: Betty.CutPetStoreCosts.com

I think you’ll agree that #2 is much more compelling. Why? Because it drives curiosity. Betty thinks that you created a website just for her and her business.

So What Is a Personalized URL (PURL)?

Personalized URL’s are a way to personalize web pages to specific customers and prospects based on data from your database. The name of the customer is inserted into the front of the URL. When the person enters their personalized URL into their web browser, the page they see is customized to them, based on information from your database.
PURLs have the unique ability to take an inexpensive direct mail media like postcards (where the space is limited) and DRIVE your customers to the web, where the space is unlimited and virtually free.

Now let’s think about the POWER of this for a moment…

In the example, we inserted “Betty Jones” and “Pet Paradise” into the headline to customize it. That’s only the beginning…

Say our database contained this data about Betty:
- Betty’s year-to-date purchases are $23,491

Here’s how we might use this data to our advantage:

When Betty goes to view her own personal URL, she sees the sales letter about the Pet Store Magic 2.0 software. At the end, there’s a special offer that says:

“Betty, so far this year you’ve purchased $23,491 worth of products from us. It’s clear that you’re a loyal customer, and we want to show you how much we appreciate your business. So, when you purchase Pet Store Magic 2.0 today, your YTD purchases will exceed $25,000, automatically enrolling you into our “Diamond Discount Club!” As a Diamond Discount Member, you will receive….etc, etc.”

Ok, let’s say we also know this about Betty:

Betty has purchased hamster cages, but she’s never purchased anything from our line of custom line of “Snootie Pooches” dog jackets. Here’s how we could incorporate this data into our web page: “Betty, as an added bonus, when you purchase the Pet Store Magic 2.0 today, we’ll send you a complete ‘Snootie Pooches’ point-of-purchase display filled with over $500 in retail merchandise FREE! This is one of our best-selling lines, and we’re sure that your clients at Pet Paradise will go BONKERS over them…putting $500 of cool cash in your pocket…”

FINALLY a Better Way to Split-Test and Track Direct Mail

In the past, direct mail has been a little clunky to split-test and track response. With PURLs, it’s easy. Shortly after mailing, it’s easy to look at the PURL software “dashboard” and see how many of your recipients have entered their personalized URL into their browser in response to your mailing. Setting up a simple A/B split test with postcard designs is a breeze.

For instance, you would set it up so 1000 prospects receive postcard design A, and 1000 get design B. If you discover design A is the winner, you can then create a new design “C” to see if you beat “A”, and so on.

Not Just For Postcards

PURLs can be used in email, too. If you’ve ever used an autoresponder program like Aweber or Constant Contact for email, you’ve probably merged the person’s first name into the salutation, i.e. “Dear Betty”. PURLs take this to a whole new level.

Whatever data you have in your database can be merged into your email. For instance, say you kept track of Betty’s son’s name Zach and his birthday, and you knew he was going to be 11 years old. You could send an email that said something to like “Betty. I see it’s Zach’s birthday coming up on May 19th. Wow … 11 years old. These kids grow like weeds, huh? We’ve made a special video for Zach at Zach.YourGrowingTooFast.com”

You see? Any business could use this strategy. And even if you don’t have tons of data on your clients, you can still create an effective PURL campaign that gets response and makes sales. Have fun with it!

Click here for a limited time special offer to send 20 PURL postcards for FREE with www.Send-Pepper.com

How to Survive and Prosper in Today’s Economy

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:16:32 +0000

by Ted Nicholas

I’ve received enormous feedback about a recent

article I wrote. Place? My exclusive mentoring
program newsletter called The Contrarian
Entrepreneur Insider.

I thought, dear reader, I’d make an exception and
show you the type of mentoring stuff members
eagerly await each month.

Here it is.

Now, more than ever before, it’s important to view
the “news” with extreme skepticism.

Why?

It’s easier than ever to be pessimistic today.

This is not healthy for the entrepreneur.

If we listen to the “noise” in the mass media,
newspapers, TV, magazines, etc, we quickly
conclude the economic system is about to crash.
And the world will soon end.

Of course, the reality of which we must be aware is
this. Newspapers are trying to build their circulation
by basically scaring the bejesus out of their readers.

Whether the reporters really believe what they write
is another question. But their editors are ordering
them to promulgate fear.

But fear is dangerous. It’s contagious. And when
you become scared and frozen with fear it certainly
does not help you or the situation in any way.

The brightest part of the present story is rarely
covered by the media.

Terrific record-breaking sales are happening right
now on the web.

Internet sales in the U.S. during Thanksgiving,
including Black Friday, were 846 million dollars!
This was a 15% increase over last year and set a
new record. This should gladden the heart of
everyone, including internet marketers!

Am I saying everything is rosy? Of course not. And
I feel very badly about those millions of individuals
who have or will lose their jobs. Their income will
be lowered and eventually stop. Their houses in
many cases will be foreclosed. Reality can be harsh
on those poor souls. Especially anyone without a
viable Plan B.

I feel a special concern for those who have made a
huge but common error. Namely, they put all their
trust in some corporation that is now going out of
business.

Many homeowners bought a house they clearly
could not afford even while employed.

Home buyers allowed their desire for a large house
overcome their common sense.

They knew in their heart there was no way to keep
up the payments, especially at the slightest increase
in interest rates.

Clearly, you - I - everyone becomes what we think
about all day long. Long before the reality happens
due to our thinking, we manifest in our life every
material thing. This includes our level of wealth and
business successes.

Indeed, your present level of wealth today reflects
exactly what you’ve thought about throughout your
life.

No more. No less.

Let’s look at the current reality as it applies to you
the entrepreneur.

In every recession it’s unavoidable that some will
falter.

But there is always that small percentage, at least
3%, who survive and prosper as never before.

Plus, there are numerous businesses that will be
more successful as a result of the recession.

I call this unique type of person who defies the odds
and succeeds under all economic conditions the
CONTRARIAN ENTREPRENEUR. Hence the
name of my publication.

The Contrarian Entrepreneur thinks differently.
He/she tends to do the unexpected. And often the
exact opposite of what “conventional” business
people do.

I’ve succeeded in my own life due primarily to my
contrarian approach.

My goal is to help you think and solve problems in
unique ways.

I’ll work to help you find special contrarian
opportunities even when others only see despair and
hopelessness.

I believe the biggest future successes in business
will be achieved by the Contrarian.

Let’s not forget this. Every recession in U.S. history
to date is a temporary condition. And cyclical.

This recession will definitely not last forever. There
are bright lights at the end of the tunnel.

I’ve noticed during my lifetime a recession occurs
about once every 20 years.

Interestingly, I as well as my clients have always
done far better during recessions than in “normal”
times.

A few immediate tips:

(1) Don’t stop marketing, whatever you do.

Many businesses cut back on their marketing
activities during a recession. This is a huge mistake.
Marketing is an investment. Not an expense. You
must maintain a continual flow of new customers
with effective marketing or your business is
doomed.

(2) With more aggressive marketing you’ll
increase your market share.

Be aware that it’s easier for your marketing and
advertising to stand out more during a recessionary
environment wherein many people cut back.

(3) Redesign your product.

You can usually build in special features and
benefits that in some way helps your customer
better cope with the economic environment.

Remember this. Thrift is the new normal.

Consumers are looking for new ways to cope with
present economic conditions. Consumers are
craving value.

A simple example of businesses that are booming
today are secondhand stores.

As people, including the affluent, are looking for
way to cut costs they are scooping up bargain
clothes, toys and furniture once owned by someone
else.

Great new descriptions for pre-owned products are
being used like “Gently Used,” “Previously
Owned,” “Pre-Owned,” “Like New”.

Of course, today’s most ideal business is
Information Publishing.

Why?

You can tailor make your information!

You can always create new products that
specifically help your customers better cope with
tough times.

(4) Bring in or create new products. Again,
help your customers cope with today’s tough times.

For example, my companies, Nicholas Direct Inc.,
and Media Consulting, are now providing amazing
licensing opportunities. These include reprint rights
(non-exclusive) for two new books.

Both new products provide what every business
desperately needs today. More customers! The titles
are WINNING UNLIMITED NEW CUSTOMERS
and HOW TO TRIPLE SALES TO EXISTING
CUSTOMERS.

(5) Internationalize your marketing.

Market more aggressively to other countries.

Numerous places in the world have not been
affected by tough times.

For example, we are finding that the current rate of
response to our offers in English speaking countries
including the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Hong
Kong and Singapore is spectacular.

(6) Carefully acknowledge (with sensitivity) the
recession in your copy.

But don’t exaggerate the doom and gloom which
only can make it worse.

Remember, it doesn’t help anyone to keep repeating
the bad news. Indeed, everyone needs to hear the
positive side as well.

(7) Work on better developing the all-important
“voice” you use in your copy.

Let out the real you!

Your copy must be much more individualized;
warmer, friendlier, more caring, more emotional
(for exactly how to accomplish this, see my recent
Success Margin article.)

(8) Review and change your operating policies
as follows:

* Outsource more tasks.

Put more responsibility on independent contractors
who are working on a percentage of sales or profit

* Offer more bargain prices for your product

* Consider extended payment terms

* Strengthen guarantees

(9) Possibly shut down you business completely
and do something else.

If your business is not profitable and you are
convinced you’ve tried everything reasonable to
make it successful, one good option can be to close
it down.

Staying with a dying business beyond a certain
point is not a virtue. It can be foolhardy. You are
really not helping anyone.

You can then free up your talents to be used in
something more suitable for yourself.

(10) Reorganize.

If your business is deep in debt and hindered with
financial obligations, you have a unique opportunity
to restructure.

While people are fearful of the ‘B’ word, a Chapter
11 bankruptcy filing in the U.S. is often the best
way to handle it (there are similar systems in nearly
every country).

If the fundamental business is viable and should be
continued you can arrange a settlement with your
creditors. This enables you to get rid of leases and
other obligations that are hurting you.

If the business is not really viable it may be best for
everyone to liquidate.

Even top wealthy businesspeople such as Donald
Trump are using the Chapter 11 reorganization
strategy right now. Not individually but in their
corporations.

Remember, your employees, suppliers and creditors
are better off continuing to work with your
trimmed-down organization than seeing you go
completely out of business.

(11) Put the Law of Reciprocity to work for you.
How? One way is simply this. Share your best
recession coping strategies right here in these pages.
I’ll then share the best of them with our private
members. You’ll feel better. Everybody wins.

(12) Put your finances in order. Be responsible.
Be more frugal. Build your skills.

(13) Reconsider starting a part-time business of
your own. Right now could be the best time ever to
start that business you perhaps have been putting
off.

One advantage by starting now is this. You
certainly will be able to stand out more easily and
get attention and publicity for your business as
others cut back.

Don’t forget the positives you gain from times like
these. What is tough in life challenges us! And
makes us stronger. Plus, it builds character.

If you happen to live in a first-world country, what
an incredible blessing this accident of birth is for
you - all of us who are so lucky.

Don’t ever forget the real truth of life.

Every day is a gift.

Tomorrow is not promised to any of us.

We’ll survive these times. The human race will
survive. And so will you and I.

A reader commented recently “You can’t be
positive 100% of the time. What do you do Ted
when you get down?”

Here is my answer:

“When I feel even slightly blue I find something for
which to be grateful. I have so much to draw from.
Aspects of my health, loved ones, friends, career,
fantastic clients.

I find it’s almost impossible to feel down when
feeling gratitude.

It’s especially important to count your blessings in
the morning. It sets the emotional tone for the entire
day.”

Another great morale booster is to do something for
someone else. No matter how bad things may be for
you, there is always someone worse off than you.
Again, the Law of Reciprocity is one of the world’s
most powerful forces. Learn to put it on your side.

Persist. Never give up. Keep on keeping on.

** Want to be the envy of your friends
and family? **

The best way I know is to become one of this year’s
millionaire entrepreneurs.

The experts agree. In today’s tough times there will
still be more new millionaires in 2009 than in any
year in history.

I’ll show you how to start from scratch and succeed in
my special course.

The best home-study course in the world that communicates
the underlying principles of success and failure is mine.

It’s called:

THE MILLIONAIRE ENTREPRENEUR

Presented in a live seminar over 3 jam-packed days,
it’S full of valuable information you can
immediately put to use.

You’ll discover how to start a business of your
dreams with little or no money.

You’ll learn which form of business to choose and
why. A corporation? A limited liability company?
A partnership? A proprietorship?

You’ll also learn valuable secrets about marketing
cost effectively on the internet and offline as well.

The Millionaire Entrepreneur Home-Study course
will also help you overcome the two fears blocking
so many entrepreneurs’ success path. Fear of
success. And fear of failure.

Attendees at the live seminar where it was recorded
paid $7,500 plus travel expenses.

Normally $777 when offered on our website. You
may have it for the next 24 hours, until midnight,
April 17th, at the amazingly low price of just $297
(Plus S & H.)

The program is complete and leaves nothing out. It
includes CDs, a full written transcript of every
single word that was presented, including question
and answer sessions. It also includes the valuable
seminar workbook.

We have just 97 copies in inventory. Once they are
gone that’s it. This offer ends.

Plus, we’ll include a free bonus copy of my best
seller, The Golden Mailbox, valued at $39.97!
Discover the real secrets of getting rich in your own
direct marketing business.

With the free bonus book and home-study course
you’ll discover how to get rich step-by-step in your
own direct marketing business.

Click here for details.

http://www.tednicholas.com/products/mdespecial.html

Your correspondent,

Ted Nicholas

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This article appears courtesy of THE SUCCESS
MARGIN, the Internet’s most valuable success and
marketing e-zine. For a complimentary
subscription, visit http://www.tednicholas.com/

How To Spice Up Boring Direct Mail Sales Letters

admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:00:12 +0000

There just isn’t any excuse for boring copy. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen brilliant marketers start off strong with their copy in order to get the member or client, but then go into “autopilot-BORING mode” with their weekly or monthly mailings., emails, etc.

HUH? It makes me crazy! You need to be constantly working on new and fresh ways to grab your leads AND your current customer’s attention. Send out the same-looking stuff and you become predictable, guaranteeing they will get bored and file you in ol’ circular file (aka. the trash).

There really is no excuse for sending out boring pieces because there are literally an endless flow of ideas you just have to look around you for inspiration and clever mailing ideas that will make YOU stand out from all the other guys hitting up your prospects or clients. Check these out…

The “While You Were Out” Postcard.

It’s made to look like their assistant took a message from you reminding them that X deal ends on X date…or whatever the urgency is. I can honestly say this was a pain to design but it really did look like that pink While You Were Out Note…it would certainly get your attention from all the other boring mail!

Use attention getting, funny or striking pictures.

I’m telling you animals and these “fish-eye” lens photos are winners. I have used them in many campaigns for myself and my clients and they really stand out and demand response. Humor and cute stuff stands out!

Doodle it up!

Copydoodles or handwritten notes on the piece always draws the eye, but also try handwritten kid notes in crayon or put your sales letter on the back of a drawing by one of your children or grandchildren. This is classic Glazer-Kennedy. People won’t know quite what to think but I guarantee they’ll read your letter!

Check out these two videos for more creative and NON-BORING copy ideas:

Best FREE Software On the Web for Marketers

admin — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:56:43 +0000

Who Doesn’t Like FREE Stuff? This month, I’m going to rattle off some COOL FREE Software that ANY marketer can put to great use:

Camstudio: the free alternative to Camtasia. Record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create video tutorials, video-based information products you can sell, a set of videos answering your most frequently asked questions— and more!

Audacity: edit your audio files (.wav & .mp3’s). One of my favorite uses of this program is splitting .mp3’s into multiple tracks, so your CD’s aren’t one LONG recording

GIMP: the free alternative to Adobe Photoshop.

Kompozer: extremely easy for non-technical computer users to create an attractive, professional-looking web sites without needing to know HTML or web coding

Manycam: It’s kinda silly, but this program allows you to add cool graphics and spice up your webcam videos.

Paint.NET: free image and photo editing software for Windows. Features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and more.

The Ultimate “Butts in Seats” 70-Day Pre and Post Event Marketing Sequence

admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:43:13 +0000

Let’s face it. Putting on live events is a pain in the butt! However, if marketed well and your room is filled from stage to door, it’s well worth the effort. I have had the pleasure of putting together online and offline marketing campaigns for many events, big and small and I have to tell ya…you can easily blow it by “chincing out” or not digging in and marketing it via all available media sources: snail mail, web, email, fax, social media, to name a few.

To give you an idea of a killer event campaign I thought I would show you a 70 day sequence I recently put together for a client.

Day 1- booklet letter, order form, envelope, 2 buckslip inserts, “If you thinking about Not attending” insert letter PLUS “it’s coming” email and fax
Day 3- email 1- registration “Now open”
Day 6- email
Day 7 - Mail letter #2- paper bag envelope, letter, order form, certificate to be brought to the event for special luncheon and big giveaway.
Day 9- email
Day 15- email-fax “You’re Invited” -invite to telewebinar
Day 16- email “Tomorrow I Reveal”
Day 17- email /Fax “Starts Today at ____” (TELEWEBINAR)
Day 18- email “You Missed it BUT” (link to call-for those who didn’t sign up)
Day 18- email “Here’s The Link I mentioned…” (for those on the call or registered)
Day 20- Jumbo Postcard
Day 24- email/fax
Day 27- email
Day 33 email “48 left on (event) Early Bird”
Day 34- email/fax “Name, 18 hours!”
Day 35 -email “today…this is it”
Day 40- Magazine Mailer, clear envelope, order form
Day 41- email re: scholarship (using social media site like Twitter to build buzz)
Day 45- email/fax with new deadline push
Day 49 email
Day 50 Postcard- urgency with deadline
Day 57- email “Name, 4 days left”
Day 59- email/fax “24 hours left”
Day 60- final discount deadline email
Day 64- Sold Out email
Day 65- (at the event) “Wish you were here”
Day 66- email (more reporting about event)
Day 67- email (video sample of event)
Day 69- email “Did you Miss the (event)” reserve CD’s offer
Day 70- email - about what was missed and offering to reserve Cd’s of event

This campaign also had a significant “stick” sequence with mailings and emails also.

Why No Serious Direct Marketer Can Afford to Ignore Twitter

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:32:01 +0000

Twitter is DUMB … at least that’s what I hear from most when they are first introduced to the “mass confusion” known as Twitter.

At first, most just don’t get it. “I don’t have any followers”… “I don’t know what to say”… “How can you carry on a conversation 140 characters at a time?” I felt the same way when I started. But here’s the thing…

If Facebook is Growing At the Speed of Sound … Twitter is Growing at the Speed of LIGHT

According to a new survey from Nielsen, from February 2008 to February 2009, Twitter grew a whopping 1,382%. Facebook grew by 228% percent in the same time period.

Also interesting to note:

Twitter counts the 35-to-49 age demographic as its biggest
In January 2009, 735,000 unique visitors accessed the Twitter Web site through their mobile phones.

There’s no debate that Twitter is a bona-fide online phenomenon. But the funny thing is that not even the creators of Twitter how figured out how to monetize it (they’re still running on VC money). But that doesn’t mean YOU can’t money from Twitter…

The KEY Difference Between Facebook & Twitter That Makes Twitter IDEAL for Marketers

I’m not sure when I stumbled on this little factoid, but it’s made ALL the difference in the world at how I view Twitter:

On Twitter, you can eavesdrop on other people’s conversations.

Think about that from a marketing perspective – say you are a real estate agent in Sarasota, Florida. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know when someone types into Twitter the phrases “sold my house in Sarasota”, “find a house to buy in Sarasota” or “looking for a condo in Sarasota”?

You betcha.

As opposed to Facebook, where you have to be “friends” with someone to get in on the conversation, Twitter allows you to “follow” as many as 2000 people and gain ongoing access to what they’re saying. So, in our real estate example, once you found these folks who are obviously in your target market, you would simply start following them.

But that’s only half the battle. You have to get them to follow YOU since they won’t see anything you say unless they’re following you. The good news is, it’s considered “courtesy” on Twitter when someone follows YOU to follow them BACK. In fact, there are many on Twitter who have it setup to where they “auto-follow” anyone who follows them.

So, back to our real estate example, chances are good that if you start following these folks, they’ll start following you back. That way, they can view your “tweets” (the 140-character phrases you enter into the ‘What are you doing’ area of Twitter Ok, now that you have targeted followers who are following you, what do you say?

A Scientifically Proven Formula For Making Your Tweets Go “Viral”

One of the most powerful aspects of social media is the ability for messages to spread FAST, regardless of who the originator of the message is. Twitter has a built-in function to make this happen, called “retweeting”. In other words, if someone likes what you have to say, with a single click, they can retweet your message to their entire list of followers. And chances are good that your message will be retweeted by their followers, and so on.

So how do you write a 140 character message that has the potential of going viral? Thanks to “Social & Viral Marketing Scientist”, Dan Zarrella (DanZarrella.com), there’s no guesswork to making your tweets go viral. In his great blog post entitled “5 Steps to Going Viral on Twitter, by using historical data, Zarrella proves these 5 points:

Say Please: “Please ReTweet”, “Please RT”, or “Plz RT” are commonly used in highly retweeted tweets.
Watch Your Timing: Mon-Wed, around 2pm sees the most retweets
Include a Link: over 70% of retweets contain a link
Buddy up to Big Twitterers: if a Twitter user with 1000’s of followers retweets you, their followers are likely to follow suit
Tweet Something Worthwhile: not surprisingly, the most retweeted tweets are How To’s, Instructional Content, breaking news, Warnings (scams,viruses), Freebies and Contests

If you’re not on Twitter, get started today. Just upload a decent photo of your face (preferably smiling). Go to http://search.twitter.com, look up a few of your key words, start following people, and some will follow you back. Then — just say something!

3 Crucial Mistakes to Avoid When Launching Your Product

admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:05:07 +0000

Unless you’re not on any Internet Marketing guru’s email list, it’s hard to imagine that you haven’t bore witness to at least a few big product launches in the last few years online. One of the first was John Reese’s “Traffic Secrets” launch, the first product launch to break a million in the first 24 hours. Bill Glazer, Frank Kern, Rich Schefren, and many other well-known “gurus” have followed suit.

The genius behind this product launch phenomenon is Jeff Walker. If you have a list, and you’re in the planning stages of a new info product and/or coaching program, I would highly recommend investing in Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula (www.ProductLaunchFormula.com)

As copywriters, we often get asked to plan sequences & write copy for product launches. However, what we’ve often found is that even experienced marketers don’t seem to really have a clear understanding of how a launch is really supposed to work. Here’s some of common mistakes we see:

1. Deciding To “Launch” Late in the Process:

Often by the time clients call us, they want to start selling the product “next week”. It’s as if launching the product was an afterthought. The key with any launch is to provide tons of great FREE content to get people into the “priority notification list” of your launch (of course, they don’t know that’s what they’re doing at the time. They just think they’re opting in to get great free content).
For instance, before Rich Schefren started his coaching program, he released his “Internet Business Manifesto” ebook & video. Tons of marketers downloaded & watched because it had great content, designed to build Rich up as an expert.

2. Giving Away “Free” Content That’s a Thinly-Veiled Sales Pitch

We worked on a launch recently where the only free content given to the list was an “interview”, that was really just a glorified testimonial. The result? Poor sales. For a launch to be successful, you MUST build yourself up as an expert in people’s minds. The best way to do this is by giving away a LOT of free USEFUL content.

3. Not Giving JV Partners Enough Opportunity to “Cookie” Their Lists

Launches can be hugely successful if you have JV partners who will mail to their lists in exchange for generous commissions. Prior to the launch, every time you make a new free video, ebook, audio, etc. it gives your JV partners another opportunity for the people on their list to get “cookied”, so they eventually get credit for the sale when the product is launched.