KickAss Copywriter

In Clayton Makepeace’s blog today, he expertly points to how Washington politicians pretty much write their scripts, as they go along.

Never mind whether it’s legitimate or has any real bearing on the facts, mind you … oh no, it’s not about that at all.

As a very accomplished copywriter, Clayton used Washington’s political mess as a good example of what NOT to do in marketing.

He says …
 “If any of us did the things Washington does, we’d be promptly picked up and packed off to prison. Justifiably so!”

 He goes on to say, “When Barrack, Hillary or John lie their pattooties off to sell the public on voting for them, it’s called ‘campaigning.’”

“If you so much as accidentally and unintentionally “mislead” prospects with your sales copy, the Federal Trade Commission will make sure you spend the next ten to twenty cozying up to Bubba in a six-by-nine prison cell.”

Again, do NOT think like Washington, with your marketing!

As a copywriter and marketing professional, I must be an advocate for my clients’ prospects and customers.

It’s really the only way to be a good copywriter.  I must find the value in any product or service I’m writing about and respect the intelligence of the readers I’m writing to.

If, indeed, there is something inherent in my client’s product that will most certainly save their prospects or customers time, money or make their lives better in some way … I’m doing a great service, by telling them about it and providing all the facts and an easy way to buy it.

The politicians don’t care a whit about what is really going to help American citizens.  All they care about is getting elected, so they can continue the same ole business as usual for the power elite.

And finally, as a copywriter, I strive to tell the truth.  And Washington? What a joke!

So, as we all get to see the politicians ‘making it up as they go along,’ just to get elected … let’s all commit to never, ever be like Washington, with our marketing!

Instead, let’s be real. 

Let’s genuinely connect with people, like people, and talk to them in a genuine heart-to-heart way.  Some will buy and some won’t.  And that’s the way it would be anyway.

Committed to genuine marketing,

Carolyn
The KickAss Copywriter
http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

Are you still doing any kind of marketing that can’t be measured? 

If you are, I’d like to encourage you to stop it right now.

As the widely-acclaimed Dan Kennedy says, you should ask this question of your agency or marketing guru, “How will we know how many dollars were derived from this media or method?  If there is no good answer there’s only one good decision.”

If you’re still pumping money into branding ads or anything else that does not allow you to MEASURE results, you have no idea whether there even is an ROI or not, do you?

I’m a strong advocate of Internet marketing, such as email marketing, autoresponders, SEO and PPC.  Affiliate marketing, of course, allows the same kind of measurement.

And, if you don’t have a good in-house list of folks who have opted-in to receive interesting, relevant information, you may want to check out Tellman Knudson’s List Building Club.

When you’re at a place where you need specific, measurable marketing pieces, by all means hire a competent copywriter.  Whether you need B2B copy or B2C … find a good one and keep them!   

A real professional copywriter will get to know you and your audience very well.  She/he will learn all they can about your competition, too, in order to differentiate why/how you’re better.

She’ll craft your message to your specific audience, based on understanding the real reasons they want your product/service, and then she’ll compel them to take your desired action.

So if you have a web presence and sell products or services, you need an email campaign to drive traffic to a landing page that converts.  It’s as simple as that.    

Your email campaign, btw, can be just text or simple html.  Both can be successful.  It’s the sales message and the irresistible offer that matter most.

If you don’t have a viable autoresponder series in place, that automatically sends out a series of emails to new people on your list, as they come on board, you’re losing out on a BIG, measurable marketing opportunity.

And what about upsells?  Once you drive traffic to your landing page, via email, SEO or PPC and you get their ‘opt-in’ email address, in return for a valuable complimentary gift and …

are you also offering them some kind of compelling ‘upsell’ that makes sense to them?

If you’re not taking advantage of up-selling opportunities, you’re also leaving money on the table.

And, you must make sure that when you send out an html email promo, that the landing page they arrive at will have the very same graphics as the email.  (Congruence)

Studies show that the abandon rates are greater, when the landing page is not exactly like the email they just saw a second earlier. 

Yep, they say the responses are better, if there are some of the design elements repeated … just much better, when they’re exactly the same as they saw in the email promotion.

Why?  Readers will not even take .5 seconds to guess whether they’re in the right place.  If it isn’t immediately clear as glass, they’ll leave.

9 Steps to Ensure a High ROI on Measurable Marketing …

1. Know your audience.
2. Speak directly to their deepest, emotional triggers.
3. Make your message crystal clear & convincing.
4. Instill trust, credibility and believability in the copy.
5. Make your offer something they can’t live without.
6. Make your price very fair and believable.
7. Make the process/path they follow to buy very clear and easy.
8. Maintain the same graphic treatment everywhere.
9. Provide an excellent guarantee/return policy that makes sense.
10. Offer one or more up-sell items, when appropriate, and with good taste.

So, if you’re a business owner, CEO or in charge of marketing for a big corporation, I hope you’re using some of the highly measurable direct marketing avenues. 

I didn’t touch on direct response, using snail mail, which still does very well, of course.  (Just ask Dan Kennedy.)  You just have to wait a while to measure results, whereas with the Internet marketing methods, it’s much faster.

We’ve become so spoiled to the ability to test, evaluate and test some more online that some of us just can’t wait for the mail anymore.    
Here’s wishing you the BIGGEST, measurable marketing successes in 2008 and beyond.

Carolyn
The KickAss Copywriter
http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

What’s your idea of success?

There are many ways to look at success, from physical, emotional
or spiritual health perspectives — to a financial health POV.

I’m one of those people for whom my physical, emotional and spiritual conditions are SO important that I’ve had to actually earn the importance of having a robust financially healthy life.

Then I finally realized that creating financial success is not the antithesis of ‘being spiritual’ at all!  But it took me a long time to get here.   

Growing up in a small town in Texas, in a strict fundamentalist religion, I was taught “… it is more difficult for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Now keep in mind, this notion was held true, right along with segregation and that “if God wanted us to be together, He’d made us all the same color.”  (Actual quote from my Dad that I heard from childhood through teenage.)

Oh my, the amazing lies and bigotry we have to overcome in this world to come out a whole, loving, tolerant person who embraces everyone as ONE!

So, it doesn’t take a genius to understand how the idea of being successful in the area of money, (root of all evil) was extremely difficult for someone like me to get my head around.

I also know this has been true for countless others, who’ve had the unfortunate experience to be taught such nonsense.

What Do I Think Now?

I think, feel and know that we ALL deserve ALL the good in life, including having money.

While all the money in the world can’t replace the other areas of success, it can sure augment it, don’t you think?

Success in Business …

So, I’d like to use the rest of this post to talk about business success.  Do you ever find yourself holding back, believing somehow you don’t deserve to have monetary success in your business?

Do you, like me, have to constantly battle the ancient negative voices inside your head, echoing some long-lost ideology forced on you, when you were an impressionable child?

Well, just in case you do, this post is for you, while also being for me. 

My answer?  Just DO it!

Be with the unworthy and undeserving thoughts … and just DO it anyway.  I suggest you don’t focus any energy on these two handmaidens of doubt. 

Meaning, just let them sit there, but don’t focus on them, by trying to force them away … that just feeds them and gives them power.
 
5 Ways to Transcend Unworthy or Undeserving Thoughts:
1. Notice they’re there.
2. Don’t give them any power, by focusing on them.
3. Don’t try to make them go away, either.
4. Reprogram deserving thoughts all the time.
5. Just DO what you know to do to achieve monetary success.

Do the Right Thing …

Armed with the knowing that we deserve all the good, including money, then make sure we do the right thing with it.

In our personal and business endeavors, let’s always, always be a good steward with our money.  Never, ever use it to hurt another.  Be true to our word and deliver on our promises.

And, may I suggest if you should need help with marketing strategy and copywriting services that will assure your prospects and customers feel you are genuine and trustworthy, choose a copywriter who also operates on these higher principles.

Your customers will respond favorably to the genuine energy they feel from you, I promise.

Yours in business success!

Carolyn
The Kick Ass Copywriter
http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

If you’re a business owner, I’m sure this will come as no surprise
to you.  That is … after you hear it.

Sounds like a very simple question.  How do you grown your business?

One may say, “Well, I make sure my accountant finds as many tax
write-offs as possible for me to take advantage of.”  Or, “I make sure that my products are constructed of the most sturdy materials available, so I dramatically reduce the number of returns/refunds.”

We could go on and on …

But, according to business-building legend, Jay Abraham, here are
the …

3 simple ways to grow a business:

1. Increase the number of customers.
2. Increase the average transaction value.
3. Increase the frequency of repurchase.

Jay says that if you maximize each one, your business will grow
at an astonishing rate.

So, what are you doing to increase the number of customers?

What are you doing to increase your average transaction value?

Are you communicating with your existing customers, so they’ll
buy from you again and again?

THREE Ways to Grow a Business …

In each of these 3 ways to grow a business, you must communicate with your potential and existing customers, wouldn’t you agree?

If I may humbly suggest, if you aren’t employing the services
of a crackerjack copywriter to fashion your sales messages, based
on knowing your market, your offer, your credibility, proof and
connecting with folks on a deeper, emotional level …

I guarantee you’re leaving money on the table.

Be sure your marketing messages reflect who you really are and
offer plenty of reason for them to trust you. 

Talk about your real past successes and say a bit about why that
is true.

Take the time to fully explain your product and demonstrate how
it will sincerely make the reader’s life easier, happier or more
financially-rewarding.

There are a lot of BAD marketing messages out there. 

Just make sure yours is not one of them. 

Those in the know, hire a Pro! 

Whether you choose me or one of the other fine copywriters out
there … get it done professionally.

There’s an old advertising adage that says, “You have to be the
first out or the best dressed.”

So, if you’re not the very first person to offer what you do,
make or sell … make sure it looks, acts and performs better than
any of your competitors – and you WILL get your share of the business pie.

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

Here’s another motivational message from the Daily Guru, which
I think is applicable to our business, as well as personal lives …

LEADERSHIP IS ACTION NOT POSITION
 
All successful people became successful because they gave
some talent or ability in the service of others.

You can contribute in some way to others, no matter how small
your talent.

You too, can become successful.

No one achieves success, without being of service.

Successful people don’t use others.  Other people use the
uccessful — for above all, success is of service.

Everyone has to be someone to someone to be anyone.

Service is the essence of success.

END

In my own life, I can honestly say that I’m happiest when I’m
giving to others in some way.

Living a life of service is a mindset I feel. I don’t think I
have to constantly give all my money away to the poor, in order
to be of service …

But I do have to come from a place of giving, instead of taking –
in order to fully grok the spirit of service.

If I come from a place of fullness or abundance, then I have much
to give.  It’s giving out of an overflow. 

Conversely, if I come from a place of scarcity, then I create lack
and, therefore, have nothing to give or share.

Service in Business …
According to the quote above, “… no one achieves success, without being of service” …

I’m sure we could all point to people we’ve known, who seem to enjoy tremendous success, without giving back.

Maybe they’re actually selfish and hoarding?  But, for now, I’d like to focus on the brand of success I think the quote for today refers to.

We’re all consumers, and we all sell something to consumers, if we’re in business, right?

I think it’s pretty easy to figure out how we like to be treated, when we are buying something, don’t you? 

So, let’s just treat our customers the way we would like to be treated.  Simple, yes?  (The Golden Rule, actually.)

I Will Treat My Customers The Way I Want to be Treated:
1. Tell the truth
2. Speak kindly
3. Provide a genuinely good product or service
4. Offer a guarantee or refund policy
5. Always take care of their questions/problems
6. Rewards/special offers for repeat business

In all our marketing, whether email campaigns, SEO web copy, sales letters, landing pages, direct response snail mail, articles or press releases …

Let’s all commit to great service!

I think it’s rewarding, both financially and emotionally.

Be sure to choose a talented copywriter to effectively communicate to your valued customers and prospects.

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

In my Daily Guru messages, here’s the one for today:

EVERY FAILURE IS A STEP CLOSER TO SUCCESS
 
People who try to do something and fail are infinitely
better than those who try to do nothing and succeed.

Experiencing failure is inevitable on your journey to
be successful.

Every defeat is merely an installment to victory.

You’ll find that the number of times you succeed is
in direct proportion to the number of times you fail
and keep trying.

You won’t be judged by the number of times you fail,
but by the number of times you succeed.

Failure is nothing but education, nothing but the first
step to something better.

You can’t be a winner and be afraid to lose.

END

I was struck by how ‘right on’ this feels to me.  Both
in my personal and business life … how can I learn, except
by doing?

I think it’s true to say that I can’t be a winner and be
afraid to lose.  Trial and error is the best teacher.

I always think of Thomas Edison and how many times he failed,
before he finally invented the light bulb. Yet, no one remembers
him for the failures, but just his great accomplishment.

Imagine what might have happened, if he had given up?

And then, there’s Thomas Jefferson:  “Never give in, never give
in, never give in.”

In your marketing, are you afraid of failure?  Or do you try one
thing after another, until you find something that really works?

The market is fickle at best.  The economy is in the pits and the
political machine is all clogged up, with lies & deceit. 

So, what are you doing to make sure your message is believable?

Now, more than ever, marketing has to make sense.  Whether your
market is B2B or B2C, your message had better be in-synch with
your market’s real needs.  (And rank low on the B.S. meter.)

From your web site copy to your email campaigns to your articles
and press releases … you must consider your readers’ state of mind, if you want to have a chance at reaching them.

And be real!

Tight money, shaky economy = tight, honest message and sensible
offer.

Choose a copywriter, who understands your audience’s wants, needs and state of mind.  And knows how to connect with them on a deeper, emotional level … and will pass the B.S. test.

When anyone feels heard and understood, they’re more likely to listen to what you have to offer.  Assuming it’s legit.

Go ahead, try it.  Be different.  Be willing to test.  Be real.

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

Does anyone actually feel sorry for ole Eliot?  I sure
don’t.  I never liked him from the very first time I saw
him — for what it’s worth.   
Unless I’m missing something, he hasn’t really apologized
for what he did. 

He’s just done a soft-shoe shuffle around his dalliances
with women of ill-repute, after prosecuting “escort services”
in New York … and closing them down.

Reeks of hypocrisy to me!

And have you heard the latest?  The girl, with whom he was ’seeing,’ had worked with the New York group that he shut down?  Curious irony, eh?

And his poor, ignored wife, standing by his stoic, puffed-up
side, while he pontificates in a manner that has nuttin to do
with nuttin.  Posturing, no doubt.

I guess the bigger deal, for him anyway, will be to hope and
pray that the money he used to pay for his little flings was
NOT public money.

Or, if it was, he’ll work real hard to keep that out of the
news, don’t you imagine?

Even before his debacle over issuing drivers licenses to illegal
aliens, he gave me the creeps.  (Keep in mind, as soon as I saw
the first plane crash into the WTC, I knew it was no accident.)

Devoid of emotion, he was and is as cold as an igloo in Iceland. 

So, I’d like to make two observations about all this:

1. My radar for distinguishing genuine from fake.
2. What we all can learn from this very unlikable fella.

To the first point … I just want to share how much my radar,
my BS meter, woman’s intuition or my sensitive Cancer sign allows
me to read people and situations SO quickly and accurately.

In my personal life and in my work as a copywriter and marketing strategist, this is a most valuable tool. 

I intuitively know what the ‘real deal’ is and am able
to zero-in on what really matters to the audiences my copywriting is written for.

To the second point … I think we all can see from a business
POV, being an unlikable person is the kiss of death. 

Who wants to do business with someone so abrasive and next to
impossible to deal with?  I sure don’t.

And then there’s the little annoyance called honesty.  Don’t
you think that everyone (esp Americans) is quick to forgive
someone, who admits he/she has done wrong?

Lessons to take away from the Eliot Spitzer fiasco …
1. Be a genuinely nice person
2. Care about others
3. Be warm, considerate
4. Don’t be hypocritical
5. Be honest and admit your mistakes
6. Take responsibility for your actions

What do you think we can learn from this BIG news story?

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

Questions:
Are you a business, with a web site?

Do you sell a product or service on your web site?

Do you have a mailing list that you’ve collected, from site visitors, who have opted-in to receive information from you from time to time?

If you don’t have your own in-house list, have you rented an email list from a reputable 3rd party provider … and emailed to them?

Do you test your responses to various campaigns that you run to see which ones convert better?

Assessment:
If you are in business, with a web site.  And if you do have a product or service to sell …

then you should absolutely take advantage of the amazing results you can garner, with email marketing, if you aren’t doing so already.

You will need a good email service provider (ESP).  I use aweber, but there are many others out there, like Constant Contact, getresponse, Campaigner, etc.

It’s vital for you to use one of these services because they are SPAM compliant.  And the last thing you want is a spam complaint.

You can format the emails properly, so they look very professional and they use an unsubscribe link.

You can also put the entire campaign into one of these systems and set the dates for the sequence. 

If you have 5 emails in one campaign, you can set the first one to go out on day one, the second one to go out 2 days after that one, etc.

Research tells us the days to avoid are Thursday and Friday.  Best days are Sun, Mon, Tues.

Subject Lines:
The most important part of your campaign is the subject line.

If your emails don’t get opened, they won’t get read.  And your links won’t get clicked on.  Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Never, ever use the word, “FREE” in your subject lines.  The spam filters hate that word, as do most recipients.  It screams of spam, even if it’s from a legitimate company.

Don’t make huge, bold promises that sound too good to be true.  Again, spam filters hate this … and they’re real smart nowadays.

The Body:
You can use plain text or html, with good success.  Studies show that simple html emails have a bit better open rates.

One thing to remember is to use a gripping headline right at the top of your emails, before the salutation.

The reason for this is that so many people access their emails from mobile devices and some email clients have preview panes these daze. 

So, with a compelling headline, it’ll show up and they’ll be more apt to open it.  (A little known tip.)

Make every word count and don’t allow any typos.  Period.

Be very conscious and respectful of their time.  So, please don’t try to sell shoes to a list of people interested in dog clothing.  You’ll get spammed.

Always remember that whatever you’re selling, the reader only cares about one thing:  WIIFM.  (What’s in it for me.)

They aren’t that concerned that your running shoes are made for 100% pure silk innersole … unless you tell them that they’ll feel like they’re running on air. 

They’ll be able to run in these shoes twice as long, without any discomfort at all.

The way you connect with the reader is most important.  They must feel that you feel them.  They’ll need to know that you know what they need and you care about them.

Find an expert email marketing copywriter for this job.  It’s deceptively easy.  But it takes a master to do it right and to persuade them to buy.

The Offer/Close:
Give them an offer they can’t refuse … and they can’t find anywhere else.  Always offer a no-brainer guarantee as well.

Build in scarcity, by giving a time limit on your offer.  Like:  This special offer is only for the first 2,000 orders, so hurry!

Give them links to your site, where they can buy these fabulous shoes.  And make sure your order form maximizes conversions.

Finally … remember, it’s the number of conversions that matter and not the number of visitors to your order page.

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

If you’re looking to build traffic, in order to increase
conversions — will social media traffic really do that?

I recently read an interesting article, by ETR’s Patrick
Coffey, concluding that getting exposure on social media
sites like, Digg, Stumbleupon, Reddit, Del.ico.us, Myspace
and Facebook …

Does NOT convert to paying customers.

You may get lots of hits, but limited conversions.

His definition of HITS:  How Idiots Track Success.   
It’s simple really.  Do you care how many people visit
your site or how many buy from your site?

He says that one of their natural health e-letter sites
got a ‘boatload’ of traffic from Stumbleupon.

But, of the 28,000 social media visitors to their site,
only 80 bought their newsletter … 

That’s a whopping 0.2% conversion rate.

They are used to conversion rates of up to 50%, by using
email marketing, PPC, website ads, SEO and even direct mail.

So, in conclusion, these types of visitors are resistant
to advertising and tend to zip in and out quickly. 
They don’t buy.

Maybe CPM Advertising Model Would Work?

If you had advertisers on your site, paying a CPM, then
driving this kind of otherwise useless traffic (eyeballs) to your
site may make some sense.

To me, I think the best way to think about social media
is for back links (one-way links). 

To the extent your blog or article is tossed around on
other sites, you’ll get more links to your site and,
therefore, it’ll help with your SEO.

So, if Google finds you ‘relevant’ enough, with all the
links to your site, you’ll come up better in the SERPS …
which will, in turn, lead to more buyers or subscribers.

Once again, you get what you pay for, yes? 

If you want targeted visitors … the kind of folks who
have an interest in what you offer … pay for effective
email campaigns, text link or solo ads and/or PPC advertising.

If you don’t have your own email list, you can rent lists.

If you need a copywriter to write your ads, articles or email
campaigns … I may know of someone to recommend.

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

Lots of folks have caught on to the notion of syndicating articles,
in order to get one-way links to their web sites.

And, also, to be seen as an expert in their respective field is
another very valid reason to go to all the trouble of writing
articles.

I’d like to offer a few tips on writing articles for syndication
for the purposes we just mentioned … to get one-way links to our
site and to be seen as an authority in a particular field.

14 TIPS to Effective Article Syndication …

1. Always post your article on your site first. (Under your
 articles section or on your blog).
2. Then, wait a week AFTER you’ve posted it on your site,
 before syndicating it to other sites.
3. The reason for #2 is that you want the search engine
 spiders to index your site and give YOU credit for the
 original content.
4. When you syndicate (put articles out there for others to
 use), there are a staggering number of places to do this. 
 Choose wisely.
5. Submityourarticle.com is one place I’ve found, where you
 can write up several versions of your article, so it isn’t
 considered duplicate content.
6. In your article on your site (or blog), use links to
 different pages on your site.  Do the same thing in the
 articles you release for syndication.
7. Use anchor text for the links, going to different pages
 on your site.
8. Also, use a keyword or keyword phrase as the anchor text
 for the links, going to different pages on your site.
9. Never, never ONLY use links to your homepage.  The search
 engines don’t like that.
10. Relevance:  Google only respects relevant content.  So,  make sure the links take the reader to ‘relevant content.’  In other words, if your subject is about dog breeds, make  sure your links go to a page on your site that talks about  dog breeds.
11. Do NOT post the same article on your site and on your blog also. 
 Not good.
12. Keyword weight – Only use 1 or 2 keywords per article. 
 (3 – 4% keyword density)
13. Some article submission places may not allow you to use
 links to your site in the body of your article.  In this case, you’ll
 be relegated to use your URL in the resource box at the bottom.
14. Never syndicate (give your content away), unless you at
 least get a resource box at the bottom, with your bio and link to your URL.

That’s enuf for now.   So, may I wish you happy writing! 

And, if you don’t know how to write or don’t have time … just hire a kickass copywriter to write articles for you.

You’ll be glad you took the time to get it done right!

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com