A little later I have a free offer for you, but first …
Years ago I used to talk about what I call the “Nod Factor”, which is essential in your messages.
I came up with this because most selling messages get one of three reactions.
- The first (and most common) is total indifference, because the message is irrelevant, stupid or meaningless, such as “T-mobile – stick together”. This gets at best a puzzled “Uh?”
- The second, almost as common, occurs when the message is boastful drivel – like “The future is bright. The future is orange” – and almost all car advertising. This gets an irritated “Oh, come on.”
- The third is what you should aim for. In it you say something the reader simply cannot disagree with. This gets the nod. And it is the beginning of successful persuasion.
Once you’ve got someone to agree to one thing you can then say something else hard to disagree with – and so on until you ask for a reply.
Having agreed to everything else, why should they say “no”?
The late Peter Drucker said many years ago:
“The perfect advertisement is one of which the reader can say, ‘This is for me, and me alone’.”
That means it gets the nod. And mass advertising simply cannot be that personal and relevant, which helps explain why direct marketing – online or off – has overtaken it.
More particularly, it helps explain why the database is so important.
I always refer to the magic crossroads, which for me is that point where what you want to say meets what you know about your prospect or customer. But first, here’s some terror for you.
Harvey McKay said in his book Swim with the sharks without being eaten alive: “Something you know about your customer may be more important than anything you know about your product”.
So even if you say something dull and unimaginative like “As an accountant” when writing to accountants you will get them reading.
As a matter of fact I have seen exactly those words increase response by 200% in a mailing to sell business loans.
Well that seems very simple doesn’t it? Just use database knowledge intelligently.
But I noticed long ago that the chief objective of any organisation with more than one department is to make it hard to do anything intelligent.
In marketing one way this is done is by making sure the people who create the messages talk as little as possible to the people who manage the database.
So today’s helpful idea is – make sure that before anything is created, database people talk to creative people.
I mentioned a little freebie at the start. It’s a list of 11 database desiderata put together by the person I consider the best practical database expert in this country.
He’s worked with everyone from American Express to Coca Cola – and I’ve collaborated with him many times over the years.
What I like about him is that he focuses quite simply on one thing: how to turn your data into money.
Just right click here to download it.
Unlike most stuff about databases which is pretentious and needlessly obscure, it’s easy to understand.
Best,
Drayton
P.S. This is number 4 of Drayton Bird’s 101 free helpful marketing ideas. You can sign up on the link below for the rest.
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Website: www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com / www.eadim.com
Click here to get 101 free helpful marketing ideas. Marketers from all over the world think they’re a pot of gold.
Filed under Drayton Bird, marketing by on Apr 24th, 2010. Comment. 
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Featured Article
How to Make a Fortune Promoting Other People’s Products
By Jimmy D. Brown of “Affiliatenaire”
There must be a reason why some affiliates succeed and some
fail, a reason why some affiliates profit moderately and some
affiliates profit substantially.
There must be a reason.
There is.
And that reason is this: “super” affiliates start, sustain and
strengthen relationships with subscribers.
It begins and ends with a list. Even a small one can be a
powerful, profitable mechanism if you follow these 7
guidelines…
1. CAPTURE THE OPTIN FIRST.
Instead of sending traffic directly to your affiliate link,
send them to YOUR site where you offer some kind of list for
them to join. (Hint: Mini-course works best) Once you have
them on a list, they become an asset. If you send them directly
to an affiliate page and they don’t buy, they’re gone forever.
On your list, you can follow-up with them
indefinitely.
Note: You can even redirect them to your affiliate link AFTER
they join your list, effectively getting them where you wanted
them to go in the first place.
2. DIFFERENTIATE THE OFFER.
Instead of sending out the same, tired, lame advertisement that
every other affiliate in the world sends out, write your own.
Trust me when I say that many people find it OFFENSIVE when
they receive two dozens duplicate emails from two dozen list
owners all promoting the exact same thing in the exact same way.
And even if they don’t find it offensive, it’s not as effective
if you simply rinse and repeat what everyone else is doing.
Hint: Here’s how you differentiate…
3. SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE.
Nothing – nothing – nothing speaks louder than RESULTS. If you
want to lose a few pounds, who do you turn to? Someone who is
still struggling with their own weight or someone you’ve seen
drop 35 pounds? Exactly.
The way you make your mailings / ads different is you speak
from your own personal experience. This product or service that
you are promoting as an affiliate, how has it been useful to you
personally? What results have you personally achieved? When you
used it, what happened?
Note: If you haven’t personally used the product, then shame
on you for trying to make a quick buck from it hocking it to
others!
4. OFFER A COMPELLING INCENTIVE.
Another way to be different – and to dramatically increase your
chances of getting a sale as an affiliate – is to offer some
kind of compelling incentive if someone buys the offer through
YOUR referral link. Whether it’s a special report or access to
an audio recording, personalized consultation or advertising, a
private training call or existing products and services, this
can be a highly effective method of converting fence-setters
into paying customers.
In order for it to work well, it must be UNIQUE (I.E. You’re
the only one making the offer) and USEFUL (I.E. Something of
great perceived value to the reader).
Note: Don’t have anything to offer? Don’t worry! There are
many ways to easily obtain extra incentives: conduct an
interview, hire a ghostwriter to create articles / reports for
you, buy reprint rights to other products, assemble a bunch of
free articles and other resources into a private access site,
etc.
5. LOOK FOR RESIDUAL OPPORTUNITIES.
Rather than exhaust your efforts on purchases that give you a
one-time commission, why not make the most of your marketing by
looking firstly for offers that pay out ONGOING monthly
commissions for your referred sales?
There are many different residual income generating services
such as membership sites (ranging from PT Cruisers to weight
loss), stock photos and clipart, hosting, autoresponders,
databases (from hiking trails to sermon outlines) online
magazines and a variety of other subscription based
opportunities that reward you with monthly recurring commissions.
While you definitely want a mix of types of affiliate programs
to promote, your priority should be in identifying and promoting
those services and programs that will pay you month after month,
instead of only one time.
6. BUILD A SALES ARMY.
One of the biggest untapped sources of income in any list is
that of “turning subscribers into partners”. In other words,
find those on your list who are interested in making money and
provide them with training and materials to promote affiliate
programs as well.
This has a two-fold advantage for YOU:
* First, if you find 2-tier affiliate programs, you can get
your subscribers to join the program through your referral.
Anytime they get a sale, you’ll earn a commission as well. You
effectively get free commissions from their effort.
* Secondly, you can use their efforts to build your own assets.
For example: If you provide them with a 10-page report to give
away to promote their affiliate link, you can include a page in
the report promoting YOUR list! You effectively get free
subscribers from their effort.
7. MONETIZE FOR MULTIPLE STREAMS.
As your own list continues to grow, you certainly want to
diversify in your offerings. (Not to the point of bombarding
your list with offers every day of course!)
* Promote other affiliate programs.
* Create your own products.
(Even short $10 reports will earn profit!)
* Establish joint ventures.
* Co-author products.
* Cross promote.
* Conduct surveys.
There are MANY ways to make money from you list and keep your
list growing, growing, growing!
Remember, it all comes down to: starting, sustaining and
strengthening relationships with subscribers.
And that’s how you make a fortune as an affiliate promoting
other people’s products.
Jimmy D. Brown is the author of “Affiliatenaire”, teaching
you how to create big-time affiliate commission checks in
only 1-3 hours each week. Discover how you can get cash in
the bank without a website, experience or even an idea!
Visit http://directanddigitalmarketing.com/affiliatenaire/
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Filed under Affiliate marketing by on Mar 8th, 2010. Comment.
