Can you learn to paint like Rembrandt without experiencing how Rembrandt did it The same goes for learning marketing and sales techniques that work.
Im always amazed by the responses I get from many of my business coaching clients, and sales and marketing clients when I ask them to keep copies of the best and the worst ads and websites theyve seen. I dont think Ive ever found a client that had been doing it before. And when asked them to start keeping copies and learn from what they see they are afraid of copying.
Let me take you back to my childhood. I can remember setting through art class year after year, and never getting any better. I never felt I had learned anything.
For the most part, I tried to learn from scratch, to do everything uniquely. That is what the art teacher kept telling me. However, one day I was watching TV and saw a program that was teaching how to copy some really good prints. They taught how to duplicate the strokes exactly as was on the print. We learned how to do a tree, a house, the grass, mountains, in that style. The next week we started with another print and another style.
Before that I was taught to never copy. I had a total fear of having anyone think I might be doing something like someone else. Once I broke through that fear, I started using a light table, tracing over the original prints. Suddenly I was able to understand what kinds of strokes and colors worked. Only then was I able draw and paint, and not too bad at that. This progress happened in a matter of weeks. It had taken me years to get to this point, but weeks once I caught on.
The best way to learn to paint, or to write good ads and marketing material is to study the masters. And the best way to do that is to learn to copy them first. Once you understand what it takes to make something look somewhat similar to their style, and understand why they have done it that way, only then can you start to develop your own unique style.
Even the best marketing experts and copywriters keep a SWIPE file. They save copies of the best and the worst examples, sometimes with notes on them helping them understand why they filed it. Some are filed by the marketing style, some by an industry. When they get ready to write their own marketing copy they go back to the files to remind themselves what the best of the best looked like, and what they should avoid among the worst.
As you build your own SWIPE file you will discover that you will be finding better and better copy, and probably will start to throw poor copy out and keep only the best. Thats how youll learn to get better. As you get better and start learning the intricacies of what makes good copy youll see that some of the copy you saved wasnt really that good, but now youll be looking for copy that meets that new standard to replace the existing stuff.
Here are some quick guidelines for choosing good copy:
2)It should identify the target audience. (This should be the first thing you see)
3)It should have a measurable grabber line, bold, highlighted if not at the top, very near the top. (This should be the 2nd thing you see).
4)It should identify the key objections their audience has and deal with them.
5)It should have some testimonials. The testimonials should
7)Make a very clear offer, and ASK for an action, dont assume an action.
8)Have ONLY one clear action to be taken, not multiple. The more choices your reader has the less likely he will choose any one of them. Youll actually lower your response rate.
9)Develop a sense or urgency around your offer. People are procrastinators. Give them a chance to say Yes, I need to respond to this, but Ill put it on my desk and answer it tomorrow, and it will get lost in the pile and never answered.
Give them an offer they cant refuse and tell them it is good for only ... days, or for the first 10, etc. I hear the rumbling from the peanut gallery whenever I say that. Everyone fears that they are reducing their responses by not letting everyone have time. Let me say it again, People are procrastinators. They will put it down to do it tomorrow and never do it. Your response will be low to nil.
Use Call me TODAY I will only take X number. Last month we filled in 3-4 days. SO CALL NOW! and that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It will be gone in 3-4 days. Just make sure to live up to your limit or people wont believe you next time.
Use these guidelines to review the ads and websites for your SWIPE file. Start keeping the best and the worst. Then use the ideas it generates to write your own ads and your own website the next time.
Alan Boyer, President/CEO of The Leaders Perspective, LLC is considered one of the worlds leading breakthrough specialists. He has worked with some of the worlds largest companies, on projects in the multi-billion dollar area, and with single proprietor companies. He has worked on many hundreds of projects with companies that have resulted in multi-$100 million savings or gains.
With over 35 years of business, quality, and process experience, he has catapulted businesses lightyears ahead in weeks. Some have doubled and some have jumped 10 times. He claims the key to that is:
He helps companies worldwide reach further than they EVER thought possibl... FASTER
Email: AlanBoyer@leaders-perspective.com
Introduction
Online product launches have lots of moving parts. Many different departments have a hand in getting to the finish line with a winning product. If you are managing this type of launch, there are a variety of ways to plan strategy and set goals. One way is to target your four main audience types. Using this method, you wont risk missing the big targetmaking it easy for your customers to buy your products.
Making your plan customer-centric allows you to focus on what matters and makes it easier to revise as you progress. You can determine which groups need more attention and which groups are performing well.
Audience Type One Self-directed
This is the easiest type to satisfy. This person is an early adopter or someone with a defined need. For example, they have determined they need a defragmentation software utility. They have read some online articles, made a decision and want to go directly to the website to buy. To satisfy this types needs you must have a clearly defined buying process with quick check out.
Areas to target:
Online StoreMake sure you have a clear, well-run shopping cart in place. Make it easy for him to buy his product and leave satisfied. Customer ServiceHave an e-mail confirmation process in place that makes it clear that a product was purchased and a credit card (or other mechanism) was charged.
Offer testingBegin with a special offer that can be tracked online. Make sure to tweak it during the launch period as you see results come in.
Audience Type Two Tester
Satisfying this type is very straightforward. This is a person who wants to get his hands on the trial version for a test drive. If you are a software vendor this is easy. If you are a consumer electronics vendor or sell a service, you must determine a way to give your tester a chance to try it.
With services you can offer a free one-time offer. As an electronics vendor you must be more careful. You might have a tester masquerading as a buyer who will quickly buy the product to test it and just as quickly return it. Be fair with your return policies, but be clear that a sub-set of this group is going to return products no matter what you do.
Areas to target:
Downloadable software this area needs to be operable from the day of product launch. I have seen companies postpone providing a trial until other areas are in place. You miss a big opportunity if you allow that. Some testers will show up on day one never to return.Free limited offerif you are a service provider, have this in place and expect people to try it. If you need to assign resources to it, do so. Nothing is worse than having an online message say check back with us later They wont.
Audience Type Three Fact-Checker
You may notice we are moving to the harder audience types. You knew they were coming. The fact checker is a cautious person who weighs information very carefully and doesnt buy until every question is answered. This is the person that websites were made for. If you provide a variety of different information formats, e.g. audio, video, PDFs, etc. it makes it more likely that this type will find what hes looking for and make a purchase.
Areas to target:
Multimedia Product MoviesI call these Digimovies (sm).They are generally done in Flash, are no more that three minutes in length and they provide the most bang for your buck. Feature these prominently as little infomercials wherever you want to alert your audience to top features and benefits of the product.
Written Informationthese are the most common type of information available on new products. Provide free articles, links to online reviews, White papers, online brochures, anything the fact-checker can study at his leisure.
Webinars and Tele-seminarsthese are relatively new formats, ideal for the fact checker. A Webinars allows you to invite website visitors to an online presentation about your new product. She can view your presentation and ask questions via a messaging facility. If you cant afford a Webinars, consider a tele-seminar that allows your audience to join a phone-conference setup to discuss the merits of your product.
Audience Type FourMr./Ms. Remorseful
We all know and dread this audience type. This is the person who buys on impulse, repents at leisure and obsesses about returning the product as soon as he gets it. Obviously, the goal here is to overcome his feeling of being duped and make him feel that buying the product or service was a good idea after all. Believe it or not, you have more control over this than you realize. You need to quickly contact him and reinforce his reasons for buying.
Areas to Target:
Monthly newsletteryou should have a product newsletter (that is track able) ready as an auto-responder after product purchase and/or registration. In this newsletter you should have links to:
1. Step by step tutorials that are easy to follow and get her started using the product. Dont count on her finding the area herself; shes too busy regretting her purchase.
2. CommunityProvide an area that brings users together to discuss the product and share information. This idea is as old as the Internet and is often overlooked.
3. Online helpmake it clear that help exists and can be found online. This can be in the form of FAQs, a knowledge database and links to other helpful resources.
Copyright 2005 Digital Media Works, Inc.
A seasoned 25+ year management/marketing professional, founder Stephanie Diamond is experienced in building profits in a broad range of product and services businesses. She created a highly successful line of multimedia software products that sold millions of copies for America Online, and has developed unique business strategies and products for a variety of companies, including AOL Time Warner, Redgate New Media and Newsweek, Inc.Visit her website at