04.21.09
Posted in Business, Copywriting, General, Online Marketing, PodCast at 10:41 pm EDT by Michele PW
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Want to know the secret for creating promotional materials that make sales?
It starts with the headline.
You see, people are busy. They’re only going to take a few seconds to determine if they want to spend any time with your promotional materials or not (whether that’s an email, a web site, a sales letter or something else).
How will they make that decision? A big part of it will come from reading your headline. So if your headline doesn’t pull its own weight, your prospects will most likely simply move on.
So how can you craft a headline that persuades your prospects to keep reading? Here are 3 tips to get you started:
1. Put yourself in the mind of your prospect. Chances are, your prospect landed on your site because they have a problem. And they’re looking for a solution to that problem. And they’re impatient because they’re squeezing in searching for this solution in between taking the kids to dance class, sending a few last emails and figuring out what to throw together for dinner. (Okay, that was a very female-biased day, but men are equally as stretched.) So if they’re not feeling confident they’re going to find a solution, they WILL move on. And fast.
But, if you create a headline that embodies the solution, then they’ll probably stick around and keep reading. For instance, a headline like this:
Give me 3 days and I’ll show you how to make more money while working far less
If you’re considering writing a headline like this, then your prospects are probably completely overwhelmed, exhausted, struggling to get everything done and not making much money. See how the headline entices them to read on because it promises a solution?
Here’s another one:
Give me 3 days and I’ll show you how to lose weight without crazy fad diets, pills, hours of sweaty exhausting exercise or feeling hungry.
(Ah, don’t we all wish?)
Okay, so your prospect wants to lose weight and has tried a lot of things without success.
See how this works?
2. Give them a time limit. If you were wondering in the above examples why I had a time limit in there, it’s because that resonates with people. Again, people are impatient. They don’t want to wait years or decades for the solution to take effect (even if that’s what it takes). They want to know the solution is within reach and it’s a manageable time frame. So if you can frame your solution around something that sounds doable (a couple of weeks, days or minutes are best yet if you can distill it that far).
3. Use language your prospects will relate to. Whether it’s language that resonates with your prospects (hours of sweaty exhausting exercise would probably resonate with prospects who don’t like to exercise whereas it wouldn’t with people whose hobby was running marathons) or using words like “Free” or “Guaranteed,” making sure you pick the right words can mean the difference from a kick-butt sales piece to a so-so one.
And don’t be afraid to simply tweak a couple of words. Sometimes that’s all it takes to tweak a word or 2 to transform a blah headline into a sexy, profit-pulling one.
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11.08.08
Posted in Business, General, Online Marketing, Public Relations at 2:00 pm EST by Michele PW
I’m at the Dan Kennedy’s Info Marketing Summit, and the first presentation this morning was Dan talking about how info marketers should respond to this economy.
His view is the economy has changed…for the long haul. It’s not going back to what it used to be any time soon. We’re in a recession and it’s where we’re going to stay.
However, he also said this is the very best time to make money and find new opportunities. Because a lot of businesses are either going to give up or simply muddle along, not taking advantage of what this economy could give them. If you’re committed to being successful, this could be your time to shine.
It’s an interesting thought. A recession could be a gift. It could teach you how to be a better business person so not only you succeed during the recession but you’re then positioned for mega-success once the recession is over.
What are your thoughts? Are we really in a recession or will the economy bounce back quickly? And if we are in a recession, how do you think we should view it?
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08.12.08
Posted in Business, Community Relations, General, Online Marketing, Public Relations at 8:14 am EDT by Michele PW
Great question. And it’s one that keep popping up over and over again.
The short answer is yes – it’s VERY possible to make money using social networking and Web 2.0 tactics. Both MaryPat and myself are doing it and we can show you how.
In fact, there are a number of ways you can make money from social networking and Web 2.0:
- Traffic. Most of these ways will lead to more traffic to your site one way or another. Some of that traffic is from direct links to your site, some of it is because you show up more in the search engines and some of it is because people will find you somewhere and decide they want to learn more about you and go to your site.
- Prospects or customers. Your prospects will read your articles, profile, comments, or maybe they’ll see your videos or hear your podcast, etc. and they’ll seek you out to become your customer.
- Referrals. In this case, someone find you, becomes a friend or fan, and refers other people to you.
- Joint venture or strategic partners. Many people are looking for experts to interview for their teleclasses or shows, or speakers for their events or for products to promote, etc. Again, many of these people will find you using social networking means.
- Sell products or services. You have to be careful how you do, but it’s also possible to promote yourself using social networking tactics. This truly is an art and if you don’t do it right, you can do quite a bit of damage to your reputation and your business.
That said, it is also possible to spend a lot of time and energy on this and make little to no money. The key is to know what’s the best use of your time, what can be outsourced and what you should never do.
Want to know more? Join MaryPat and I as we host a question and answer teleclass answering all your top questions on Web 2.0, social networking and traffic and then some. It’s called “Everything You Wanted To Know About Using Web 2.0 and Social Networking to Get Thousands of Warm, Hungry Visitors to Your Web Site” and here’s the link to sign up:http://www.kachingtraffic.com/teleclass
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03.10.08
Posted in General, Marketing, Online Marketing at 1:05 pm EDT by Michele PW
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard something about the whole social networking craze. Myspace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Digg and so on.
And as a busy entrepreneur, you’ve probably been wringing your hands trying to figure out how to work social networking tasks onto your already overcrowded to-do list.
Well, you’re in luck. Here are 5 strategies to successfully add social networking into your day and start reaping the benefits.
1. Make social networking a priority. Social networking CAN make a difference in your business. It can help you develop leads, turn prospects into paying customers, increase your sales and grow your business.
BUT, you got to work it if you want to see the results.
Rather than looking at social networking as a burden or a “should” in your life, look at it as an opportunity. This is an opportunity to build relationships and make a difference in people’s lives. If you look at it that way, it might make it easier to spend the few hours a week growing your social networking network.
2. Block out time each week. I know, I know. Read the rest of this entry »
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10.03.07
Posted in Business, General, Marketing, Online Marketing at 12:55 pm EDT by Michele PW
Getting Traffic To Your Site — How Do You Determine What’s the Right Strategy For You
(Want to listen to this week’s article? Go here: My PodCast)
So you’re looking for more traffic or visitors to your site. How do you determine the right strategy for you?
Below are some questions to ask yourself so you can put together what’s right for your specific business.
1. Do you need traffic now (or sooner yet, like yesterday)? If you need immediate traffic then the choice is easy. Go to Google and open up an AdWords account and start running pay-per-click ads. That’s the fastest way to get traffic to your site. (Those are the ads that show up on the right-hand side when you do searches in Google.)
If, however, you can wait for traffic, then you might want to consider doing some warm traffic strategies, such as Read the rest of this entry »
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07.27.07
Posted in Business, General, Marketing, Online Marketing at 1:05 pm EDT by Michele PW
Social networking. Social marketing. Web 2.0.
You may have heard these terms bandied about and wondered what exactly they are and (more importantly) what they mean for your business.
So let’s dig right in and get some answers. First, some definitions.
Social networking is actually a pretty broad term. It basically means any time of relationship-building amongst a group of people with a common interest (business or personal). However, that term has taken on a whole new dimension online, where social networking sites (MySpace, Linked In, Facebook) are popping up faster then you can say “Will you be my friend?”
These Web sites are designed around helping people network and build relationships via online, instead of the more traditional face-to-face networking meetings.
Which leads us to Web 2.0. Read the rest of this entry »
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06.23.07
Posted in General, Notes from PW, Online Marketing at 8:45 pm EDT by Michele PW
Well, I’m jumping on the bandwagon. I’m up on MySpace!
Actually, it’s not complete (so don’t go look at my profile quite yet!) When I was in Utah speaking last week, the 16-year-old daughter of my good friend Mary Pat Kavanagh (the director of Utah’s Shared Vision Network) helped me set up my account, add some graphics and get some music on there (the important things you know). If you can possibly find a teenager to help you, believe me it makes a HUGE difference.
My good friend Nancy Marmolejo, the Visibility Coach, has a great book on how business owners and entrepreneurs can use My Space to get leads, clients and cash! It’s a fast, easy read and I highly recommend it:
MichelePW.com/myspace
I’ll let you know when I get my MySpace ready for friends!
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01.02.06
Posted in Advertising, Online Marketing at 4:11 pm EST by Michele PW
It used to be if you were a small business, you were at a distinct disadvantage with your marketing compared to the bigger companies.
No more. Small business owners will actually have an edge over bigger companies thanks to the emerging marketing model.
Yes, you heard right. Emerging marketing model. The old ways of marketing are dying. And a new regime is coming of age.
Read the rest of this entry »
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