am I losing the plot…

OK – I admit it! I give in and confess that I must be losing the plot because I’m guilty of not taking serious note of one of the most powerful marketing trends to hit the business world.

What am I talking about? Video Marketing, that’s what.

Now, before you ‘switch-off’ saying: “too expensive!”; “too difficult!”; “don’t want to be in a video” or all the other excuses I’ve been spouting to myself, take a look at these videos showing you how easy it is… probably using tools you’ve already got on your computer.

Video Sells

The videos are by a guy called Andy Jenkins who, I must say, has proved he knows a thing or two about using this media to sell… especially as he JUST used video to generate over $5M in sales of different products.

Plus, the first video shows you how amateur videos (with pretty much ZERO search engine optimising work) are ranking on the first page of Google - right along with ‘The Learning Channel’ - and they’re getting over 104,567 views!

If nothing else, watching these videos are a lesson in themselves and there’s a high risk they could act as a catalyst for some exciting ideas on how to use it to promote your business. They certainly gave me some food for thought. Check them out at Video Sells

So – does recommending using video-marketing wipe out the need for my services as a copywriter? Not really ’cause some of those marketing videos will still need a script!

Take a look and tell me what you think.

(BTW – it doesn’t cost a single penny to take a look).

~ Carol Bentley

P.S. This video is PURE content - no pitch or anything like that. See for yourself… Video Sells

P.P.S Yep, this is an affiliate link - but you get good content for zero cash .

protecting your documents

I was reading one of Michel Fortin’s blog posts when he gave me a sudden shock. He explained how vulnerable the folders where we store our PDF downloads are on our servers. A simple solution can reduce the risk.

The post (you can read it at Mileage Emails) is interesting because it explores the challenges of getting emails delivered and opened.

But then he goes on to the subject of intellectual theft and copyright protection. His advice is crucial if you supply any information products that are delivered from your server. Whether that’s freebie PDFs (well, they not really free because the ‘payment’ you’re asking for is permission to keep in touch with your visitor, isn’t it?) or purchased e-products, you could be risking someone finding your server folder and just helping themselves.

I tested what Michel was saying and realised just how vulnerable my sites were.

Now I’m quite tech-savvy, but I wasn’t aware of this problem and - although it has nothing to do with copywriting (other than protecting the copyright of your material) - I decided to share this information because I thought there was a good chance others may not be aware of it.

I’ve taken at least one of Michel’s suggestions and adapted it to create a personalised index.htm file for my delivery folders (see an example).

A Gift For You

If this is something you were not aware of you’ll probably find this gift useful.

I’ve taken out my links and references to create a generic index.htm that you can adopt, if you wish, for your products folder. Simply add your email, website and business details and then upload it and the associated files to your server. If you are not familiar with html code pass it over to your webmaster and get them to do it for you.

This zip file is supplied ‘as-is’ - that means I am not including advice on how to change / upload the file to your server, but I hope it helps anyway.

Here it is:

Click to download the zip file and save it to your computer.

And Now… let me wish you

~ Carol Bentley

Reasons why

Give your prospects the reasons behind the deal you are making and you improve the chances of it being accepted; it’s a technique often suggested by savvy marketing experts. I’d like to share another aspect of ‘reasons why’ explanations that can also be very persuasive.

It’s connected to the ‘objections’ - or ‘reasons why’ your prospect may not buy. Answering the concerns your prospect has; reassuring them that purchasing from you is a wise decision is crucial to your sales letter campaign’s success.

Now, if you met your prospect face-to-face you could answer any and all the questions they might ask. But when you are writing your sales message you have to try to answer those potential ’stop-them-buying’ questions in your description of the benefits and features of what you are offering.

Give Reasons Why They Won’t Buy…

There is another, more direct approach that may work for you - especially if you are giving a seemingly outrageous deal that is likely to make someone think “What’s the catch?”

You start by telling your reader that your marketing experts do not expect a high take up of your offer - citing perhaps only a 10% or 12% response. And you then say that although that is OK from a business point of view, it worries you that someone may miss out because you haven’t explained the deal properly.

So you tell how you brainstormed with your people to think of reasons why someone may refuse the offer. And then tell them what you came up with and - of course - answer those objections.

Including supporting testimonials as you answer each objection makes it even more powerful and persuasive.

It’s a technique I discovered many years ago and have used in different letters.

Practical Example

In the example I’m giving you here I wrote the letter for an office equipment company who specialised in supplying equipment to estate agents. It was an ideal fit because the offer this company was making (a free colour, laser printer) was absolutely unbelievable, although a perfectly viable business proposition for them as well as a fantastic deal for their clients.

Download the ‘Reasons Why’ PDF example here (right click to download, left click to open in a new browser window).

I’ve extracted just the pages detailing the ‘reasons why’ and, for confidentiality, my client’s company name and their clients’ names have been removed. (These pages demonstrate the real, powerful reason for collecting good testimonials too… see The Heart of The Matter for more on testimonials).

So, next time you decide to make an incredible offer to your prospects or customers consider if this technique might work for you.

And if you use it, do let me know how you get on.

~ Carol Bentley

Testing subheads…

Did you have a good summer break? I thought I’d have some quiet time to work on my new project - but I was inundated with work. That’s why the blog has been absent for a while too!

During my absence Jules Brown, who is a fund-raising copywriter, [...] Continue Reading…

A gravatar picture paints…

If you’re trying to create a brand for yourself on the internet then this tip could be extremely useful for you.

Chris Knight of Ezine Articles gave the hint and - at the same time - cleared up a bit of a mystery for me.

Have you ever noticed on blogs [...] Continue Reading…

Wow factor lessons from a marketing giant

When I got an email from Rich Schefren about the passing of a well-known figure that had inspired and taught him so many marketing gems, I didn’t know who he was talking about (the guy is not well known outside the US).
In his farewell post (a 27-page insightful sharing) [...] Continue Reading…

closed for maintenance. . .

A little while ago I mentioned I was getting my blog theme updated. Well it’s finally ready to go live. The new layout will be uploaded on Sunday so we will be ‘closed for maintenance’.

Please avoid visiting between 11a.m. and 3p.m. UK time on Sunday 5th July. Thanks.

~ Carol [...] Continue Reading…