Perry Marshall had that experience and he nearly fell for it - he described it as The Cleverest Email Scam.

You can see what he’s talking about at Perry nearly fell for this

We all know about other email scams from ‘messages from your online bank’ to the ‘Nigerian Minister’ to your ‘unexpected inheritance’, but this one really does sneak up on you, so please be vigilant.

~ Carol Bentley

I’ve always urged clients to collect as many testimonials as they can and in Rebecca’s post she describes some great up-date ways of finding those accolades.

Pop over to How To Collect Testimonials for some nifty ideas (opens in a new browser window), but before you do…

Collect a Gift…

download this PDF containing an article I wrote that describes how to get a truly effective testimonial and how to use it to dramatically boost the impact of your sales message:

How To Acquire & Use Powerful Testimonials

And, after you’ve read and used those insights, pop back and let me know what you think and how successful using testimonials has been for you… you never know you might get an email from me asking for permission to use your comments!

~ Carol Bentley

In the 21st century the delivery mechanism for your marketing and sales message has expanded and - as a result - the ability to reach more people in your target audience has increased exponentially.

One of the most exciting media for delivering your marketing message is video. And the explosion of video on the Internet, through websites like YouTube, has seen a proliferation of customer-attracting messages as well as the more amateurish, social video clips. The true power of these videos is the potential for your message to go viral.

So how can you use this interesting, viral type marketing as part of your business strategy?

I’ve just listened to an audio in which an Online Marketing expert reveals why video is a crucial part of modern marketing and he shares some mind-blowing YouTube stats… stats that are crucial to anyone who is in business today. Did you know, for example, that the average age of YouTube viewers is higher than you might think?

He also reveals 3 quick and easy ways to make your video clips look professional - even if you’re using a hand-held video camera.

It’s worth listening to… Branding Through Video

[Incidentally, this interview is a pre-amble to the launch of The Super Business Conference 2010. I am one of the speakers at this event (explaining how to write stunning sales letters) so if you decide to take part you will make a point of saying "hello", won't you?]

~ Carol Bentley

P.S. If you pop over to The Super Business Conference 2010 you can get a free download of Claude Hopkin’s Scientific Advertising… arguably one of the most valuable books on direct response marketing.

Well letters can have charisma too. Especially if they use the charismatic presenter’s secret.

The Charismatic Presenter’s Secret

What is that secret?

It is simply connecting with your audience - for a letter that’s your readers - using language that creates rapport, but it is important to do it in a specific order.

A presenter uses words that connect first with kinaesthetic people. S/he speaks quietly and gently at a fairly slow pace. Then they speed up a bit using auditory language, then they connect with the visual people in their audience by making a slightly quicker delivery. They use language that paints a picture and then they return to auditory based words.

What they have done is create rapport with people who have different base languages and used the right words to drawn them all in.

They started by connecting with people who are kinaesthetic; those who use feeling type words. And then, having gained that connection the presenter keeps them on board as s/he connects with auditory people and then embraces visual people.

Of course a presenter has the advantage of using talking speed and tonality when delivering their words.

Yet, if you check the words used in a letter that seems to connect with everyone who reads it, don’t be surprised to find the words follow the same formula and sequence that a charismatic presenter uses.

So - really, how important is the language you use with your readers?

Important enough for me to include a section entitled: Use The Right Language To Cut Through Communication Barriers’ in my first book; ‘I Want To Buy Your Product… Have You Sent Me A Letter Yet’.

If you’ve got the book check out chapter 4; if you haven’t got a copy I’ve extracted that chapter for you as a gift… you can see it immediately by clicking the link below…

Writing Sales Letters… Chapter 4 (The PDF file is just over 1 Mbyte and will open in a new browser window).

Enjoy the chapter and let me know how successful your charismatic letters are.

~ Carol Bentley

One of these gifts is entitled How to Banish, Forever, The Hair-Tearing Frustrations of Microsoft Word When Writing Your Sales Letters!

That guide was for Word versions 2002 and 2003.

In their 2007 release of Word, Microsoft made drastic changes to the structure of the application. And I thought it was about time I released an updated version of my tips guide (most of the advice applied but in some cases the menu locations had changed).

Anyone who subscribes from now on has the choice to download the version they need (or both if they want to).

If you are already a subscriber you will receive an email with a direct download link to the new version.

If, for any reason, that email does not reach you and you want the tips for Word 2007 and later please pop a message to me using my ‘ask a question’ form and I will resend the download link to you.

~ Carol Bentley

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 .

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

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

During my absence Jules Brown, who is a fund-raising copywriter, popped a comment on one of my earlier posts (Your copywriting subheads - powerhouses or weak as water. . . asking just how successful subheads are. Here’s Jules’ question…

Hi Carol,

“I’m a direct response fundraising copywriter and a big believer in the power of subheads. But here’s the thing. I’ve just come across a very successful creative director who won’t use subheads at all.

‘A letter should look like a letter’ He says. But prove me wrong. And that’s just it. I can’t find any split test results of a letter with subheads vs one without.

So that leaves those of us who don’t like them, and those of us who do, with just our gut feeling to go on. Any chance you’ve got some test results up your sleeve to confirm the efficacy of subheads?”

Jules

It’s not something I’ve tested. I’ve always, like Jules, gone with my professional gut-feeling that subheads break up a formidable-looking long letter and act as a magnet to skimmers.

But it is an interesting question, so I emailed some of my copywriting colleagues to find out if anyone had ever tested a letter without - versus a letter with - subheads.

And I got a reply from Steve King a long-time, direct response copywriter who lives in Devon.

Steve told me he had undertaken such a test, although it wasn’t a direct A/B split test.

His client, like Jules’ creative director, did not want subheads in his B2C sales letter. So the first letter was sent without subheads.

Steve then persuaded his client to test the same letter, with powerful subheads added, to the same database.

Steve revealed the second letter ‘bumped up response by 36%‘ So validating his advice to his client.

The only times I would not use subheads are:

1) In a lift letter that is recommending/endorsing the offer in the main letter (a lift letter is a shorter letter accompanying the main sales letter. It is usually from someone, either a satisfied customer or a professional within the industry, recommending the business making the offer. It is called a ‘lift letter’ because its purpose is to lift response to the main letter).

2) A one-page, quick letter to an existing, active customer base.

As I’ve said before, in copywriting, testing is a good philosophy to follow. I’m regret having to say I’ve never tested the subhead element of a letter - but feel rather relieved that a colleague’s test results has confirmed my instinct.

~ Carol Bentley

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 or social network websites that some comments have a small picture against them and others haven’t?

I was curious as to how these pictures appeared, Chris answered that question… these people have a gravatar!

Gravatar!

What the heck is that?

Well, an avatar is a small pictorial image, whether that’s your picture or a graphical logo designed to represent your business, that you can use on the web.

A gravatar is a globally recognised avatar.

It is intended to save you time by having just one single graphical image (the avatar), associated with your email address. It means you don’t have to upload your graphical image to, what can seem like a hundred and one, different websites!

You can set up a free account at gravatar.com and upload your image. It is extremely easy to do and the point I really liked is you don’t have to worry about the picture content; for example it could be a group picture you want to use because it has a particularly good image of you. You simply upload the whole photo image and then trim the photo to the area you want to have displayed.

Whenever you add a comment that includes an avatar in the design (most WordPress blog designs do) your picture automatically appears.

Chris suggested trying it out - and I did.

Why not have a go - pop over to www.gravatar.com (if you use this link it opens up in a new browser window), set up your account and pop back to add a comment here. It will be nice to put ‘faces to names’ and to get to know you better.

Have fun.

~ Carol Bentley