Steve Guttridge: aka Stay At Home Bum Marketer

by Dave Navarro

Whether you’re trying to get on the front page of Digg or just angling for a sale, writing magnetic headlines that grab your readers’ attention is everything.

But once you have their attention, you need them to read every word that you write.

You need to craft an opening made up of an enticing string of sentences that whet your readers’ appetites, set up a need, and prime them for action.

Easier said than done, right?

Well here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to do it:

Establish rapport with an “agreeable” opening

People naturally lend their attention (and loyalty) towards those with similar tastes, whether it’s a matter of liking the same sports team, driving the same model of car, or sharing a political or ideological stance. If you can communicate an insight that your reader can agree with, you’ve elevated your chances of capturing their ongoing attention.

You’ll see many writers use this approach with opening paragraphs like:

• “I’m sure we all can agree that eating well is critical to good health . . .”
• “As bloggers, we know how important a reliable, affordable web host is . . .”
• “All savvy car buyers know that paying sticker price is for suckers . . .”

Agreement-based openings can make readers feel smarter when they see that their own opinions are being positioned as widely accepted fact (which will make them more likely to want to continue reading).

If you lead in with an “agreeable” statement that sets up your content, you’re starting out strong.

Set up a need with your next sentence

Once you’ve coaxed a bit of a agreement from your reader, you can trigger a sense of need that compels them to keep reading.

The simplest way to do that is with a statement that establishes that what they just agreed on isn’t enough, or isn’t the final answer . . . and that they’re going to miss out if they don’t keep reading.

This isn’t hard to do and you’ve no doubt seen it before:

• “But a healthy diet alone isn’t enough to prevent heart disease . . .”
• “Choosing the right web host is only the first step to building your blog . . .”
• “Even if you know the MSRP of that new car, you’re only halfway ready to negotiate . . .”

Set up the need, and you can be sure that people will continue to read, if only to see if they already know what you’re about to reveal.

Prime them for action with a promise

Your winning headline should have set up a promise of valuable information. This is your opportunity to reinforce the benefit they’ll receive when they read every word that you’ve written.

A good closing sentence for your first paragraph puts them into “forward-looking” mode, where they can envision themselves using the information to gain some immediate benefit (the more immediate, the better).

Once you’re aware of how copywriters use this pattern, you’ll notice it everywhere:

• “. . . you’ll have 3 ways to reduce your risk of heart disease that you can use right now.”
• “. . . you’ll be ready to build a blog that’s popular and profitable from day one.”
• “. . . you’ll know exactly how to get the lowest price on your next new car — today.”

Once you’ve established a connection with them, convinced them of their need and given them assurance of an immediate take-away, the stage is set for them to read down to the very last word.

Now it’s your turn: How do you start off with a bang?

These three steps are a sure-fire way to keep people reading what you write — but they’re not the final word on the subject.

Got a favorite “pull-them-in” opening strategy? Let us know in the comments below.

About the Author: Dave Navarro is the product launch coach of choice for online marketers and has a special message for Copyblogger readers.

No Comments »

By David Bocock

No Comments »

by: Ivan Levison

If you’re using e-mail to generate leads or make sales, you’re probably spending a lot of time honing your message and making sure that it’s persuasive. But do you give equal time, thought, and attention to the short “SUBJECT” line that introduces your main message?

If you don’t, then be afraid. Very afraid. You see, it doesn’t matter how compelling your e-mail offer is, or how brilliantly your message is written. If your subject line isn’t working right, your e-mail will never get opened and your campaign will be a failure.

That’s right. The humble little subject line that announces your e-mail to the world has an enormous influence on campaign results and can make or break you.

Want to handle subject lines the right way? Here are some thoughts that might prove extremely useful . . .

1. Think of the subject line as if it were an envelope.

When you’re creating a paper direct mail package, you know you have to come up with a killer envelope. If the envelope doesn’t get opened, the letter doesn’t get read and you don’t make the sale. Same thing with the subject line. It determines whether the prospect will read your message or trash it.

Of course, getting someone to open a paper envelope is a heck of a lot easier than getting past the subject line. Why? Because with a paper envelope you have plenty of space to write teaser copy and add photography or illustration if it’s appropriate. You can create something unique that stands out from all the other mail in the pile and screams out benefits that will get the prospect to read the letter within.

Subject lines all look the same and have to be kept short. (Never exceed forty characters including spaces.) This means that every subject line must communicate extremely quickly. We’ll take a look at how to do that in a minute, but for now, start thinking of the subject line as one of the keys to e-mail marketing success – not an afterthought!

2. Subject lines are well worth testing.

Robert Mendez (www.nethawk.net) is an e-mail list broker/manager who handles countless e-mailings and is a great source of information. I asked him about his take on subject lines. Here’s what he said, “You should always test subject lines if you have enough names. Five thousand names is the minimum you need for an e-mail test cell. It’s worth doing some testing because a strong subject line can double the response.”

Let’s look at that again on instant replay! “A strong subject line can double the response” – increase it by 100%. In other words, a 4% response rate can turn into an 8% response rate just by using the right subject line!

3. Some thoughts about saying “FREE” in the subject line.

Some people hesitate to use the word “free” in the subject line because they’re afraid they will turn people off. For example, in an issue of Softletter, Michael D’Arrigo, Direct Marketing Manager at ScanSoft, is quoted as saying,”For us, we’ve found that a subject line with ‘free’ is the kiss of death. It will be viewed as spam and won’t be opened.”

Email marketers also have the related concern that if they use the word “free” in the subject line, a filter will kick out their message and it will never get read. I personally believe that this is just another suburban legend and that you really don’t have to sweat it. True. There is some filtering, based on IP numbers, that takes place at the ISP level. And some corporations do some filtering. And, yes, some packaged applications let consumers use filtering. BUT this is only a big problem if you’re selling business-to-consumer junk!

I believe that if you use “free” in the subject line, in well-targeted B2B e-mails that offer the prospect something of value, your message will sail right through unfiltered. Let me add that I know as a personal FACT that one of high-tech’s most aggressive e-mailers uses the word “free” in the subject line and that this line is the consistent winner against other subject lines in rigorous head-to-head tests.

The bottom line? I would not give up on one of the most motivating words in our language because of spam or filter fears. You should definitely do some testing!

4. The right way to write subject lines.

Here’s a mini case study that shows you how to think about putting a subject line together. Here’s the subject line from an e-mail sent by a major marketer that targets small and growing businesses.

SUBJECT: Who’s minding the store?

If you click through to find out more, you get to the message: “Small businesses are more vulnerable to crime than is generally realized, yet the risks to them are not publicized and too few take steps to protect themselves, says a new study. Don’t wait until you are a victim of a crime – take steps now to thwart the bad guys. Here are a few tips” . . . etc.

So what’s going on here? Well, the message itself certainly goes on to provide valuable information that small business managers should know. But instead of saying so directly in the subject line, the writer went for a “teaser” approach: “Who’s minding the store?” This teaser subject line might be O.K. in an ad or flyer but is, I would argue, a big loser as a subject line. Why? Because no benefit is mentioned.

Let’s rewrite the subject line and see if we can do a better job of motivating the reader. We could slice it and dice it a bunch of ways:

SUBJECT: Five ways to prevent store theft
SUBJECT: How to improve store security
SUBJECT: Stop store thieves in their tracks
SUBJECT: Don’t let thieves steal you blind
SUBJECT: Crime prevention basics
SUBJECT: How to prevent store theft

You get the idea. The take-away message? The subject line is a vitally important part of e-mail campaign success and should be the subject of your close attention!

About The Author

Ivan Levison is an award-winning, direct response freelance copywriter. Download a free copy of his new report, “101 Ways To Double Your Response Rates!” at http://www.levison.com/subscribe. Contact Ivan any time at ivan@levison.com

No Comments »

by: David Bocock

The Internet is comprised of a lot of different things but the most important is content… good, informative quality content. It’s what drives the search engines and if you want to increase traffic to your website to make money, article marketing can really help you achieve that goal.

The one thing you need to remember when writing articles is that you want to provide quality content. The search engines may find and list a garbage article but what good does that do you if no one finishes reading the article or clicks through to your website?

If you are not a natural writer, the best thing you can do is try to write in a conversational tone. Just write like you talk and make sure you use spell check or have someone else read your article out loud and see if it flows and is easy to read.

You also need to give the reader something of value. If your title claims you will be telling someone how to do something, you need to make sure you actually provide usable content.

Don’t worry so much about frequency of keywords and all that mess. Just write your article in an informative well thought out way and the search engines will find it. The search engines are getting better and better at finding content a searcher wants and if you focus on providing the best content possible, you will actually have better results than just trying to set up the article around keywords and the frequency in which you use them.

When it comes to writing articles and making money with them, you need to provide content that wets the reader’s appetite while giving him something he can use. Establish yourself as an expert and let the reader know there is a lot more to the story which they can of course find at your website.

The more you write and monitor your results, the easier it will be to write articles that get found by the search engines and read by searchers craving answers to all kinds of different problems.

It is your job to connect with the reader and give him value for the time he or she has spent reading your article. Don’t give away everything of course, but give enough and leave the reader wanting more.

I know how you might be feeling right now… no one goes online looking for ways to make money if they already have enough. I was exactly where you are right now, not so long ago. I know how confusing and frustrating finding someone you can trust to teach you how to make money online I’m that guy though, and it won’t cost you a penny to check out my site… although it may likely be the most important thing you do all day. Please visit with me at http://www.4d-mmb.com to see what everyone is talking about!

About The Author:

There are 15 hours worth of video covering every detail of Article Marketing and making money online at my website. I’d love it if you could click on over and check it out for a couple of minutes.. i’ve got a free 30 minute video for you if you do on how to find a profitable market to sell to. http://www.4-daymoneymakingblueprint.com

Article Source: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_4685.shtml

No Comments »