Dear Direct Response Reader; Bob Bly here for Hal Hoadley.
Think you’re too old to start a business? read on…

At what age are you too old to start an Internet marketing
business – or other new career or business?

I have thought at various times in my life (I am now 54) that
the cut-off age was 50 … 60 … or even 70.

There were two reasons I believed you’d reach a point where
starting over just wasn’t practical anymore.

The first, and lesser, was sheer age and lifespan: the idea that
when there are many more years behind you than ahead of you,
your time to enjoy the fruits of whatever labors you pursue is
too limited.

The second reason I believed there was a cut-off date for
starting a new career, learning a new trade, or launching a new
small business was lack of experience.

For instance, one of the many careers I considered in my youth
was the law. But years ago, I decided pursuing that was
impractical (not that I was really interested anyway; it was
more of a theoretical consideration).

Reason: say hypothetically you were to graduate law school at
age 45.

You compete against two groups.

The first is other 45-year-old lawyers who are the same age as
you – but have 20 years of law experience vs. your zero years.

The other group you compete against is your classmates. Like
you, they are new to the law.

But being in their 20s and single, instead of 45 and having a
mortgage and 3 kids in college, they can afford to work for
starting salaries too small to meet your needs.

However, actor Abe Vigoda has changed my mind about all this …
and my opinion today is that it is never too late to learn new
things, start a new business, switch careers, or go into a
different industry.

Abe Vigoda, if the name does not ring a bell, is the dour-faced
actor famous for playing the character Fish on the TV show
“Barney Miller.”

A few years ago, I read a short interview with Vigoda, who was,
at the time, still a working actor at age 87.

In it, I was reminded that Abe Vigoda’s big break was his first
movie, “The Godfather,” in which he played Sal Tessio.

Well, “The Godfather” was released in 1972. So if you do the
math, Abe Vigoda didn’t begin his movie acting career until he
was over 50.

More impressive is that, at age 87, Abe Vigoda – who, pardon me,
has a slightly cadaverous appearance that makes him look ready
for the Old Folks Home – was still a competitive handball player.

If Abe Vigoda can get his first movie role at over 50 – beating
out actors his age who had decades more credentials and
experience – then I am convinced that you and I can start a new
career or business at any age.

Yes, you may have some disadvantages over your younger
colleagues, peers, and competitors – including (possibly) less
energy, less flexibility, and less adaptability to new
technologies and methods.

Then again, maybe not. It depends on your personality – and your
circumstances. If you are a retired empty-nester, you may
actually have more time, freedom, and flexibility, not less.

On the other hand, if you are still working for a paycheck
because you have to and not because you want to, it may take a
greater degree of courage and fortitude to make any major
business, career, or life change.

As an older entrepreneur or career changer, you will likely have
some advantages over your competitors – such as greater life
experience and wisdom to draw upon when making decisions.

But I know from first-hand experience that 50 is not too old to
make a major change, and from that, I am guessing that your age
won’t stop you, either.

For example, I started a small online information marketing
business as I was closing in on my 50th birthday.

Today I earn a six-figure passive income selling information
products on the Internet, “working” less than an hour a day.

In my case, I kept my day job as a freelance copywriter and
still put in long hours on that.

But entering a new field – Internet marketing – has energized
and renewed me in a way I never thought possible.

If your gut tells you that you are ready for a change, you
probably are.

I close with this piece of wisdom from Milton Hershey, founder
of Hershey Chocolate:

“I have often been asked – What is the best age for producing? I
know only one answer, the age you are now.”

Sincerely,

Bob Bly
Copywriter / Consultant
590 Delcina Drive
River Vale, NJ 07675
Phone 201-505-9451
Fax 201-573-4094
www.bly.com

One of the easiest – and most effective – ways to generate more
leads and orders from your marketing is to offer, as a bonus, a
free special report.

But be careful of this hidden danger: your prospects already
have too much to read and don’t really want a “report” per se.

What they seek is valuable content that can help them solve a
problem, do their job better, or make more money.

If they think your free report can deliver some of that, they’ll
respond to your e-mail or sales letter just to get their hands
on it.

So how can you transform a ho-hum offer of yet another “free
report” into a compelling free content offer that sends your
response rates soaring?

The most important factor determining the desirability of your
free special report is the topic: does it cover something your
prospects need or want to know?

Great topics for free special reports include tips, predictions,
news, interpretation, analysis, case studies, and discussion of
a controversial issue.

Example: a newsletter publisher found that its most popular
feature was the monthly “You Be the Judge” column summarizing a
court case and challenging the reader to guess the outcome.

Subscription rates skyrocketed when the publisher began offering
a “Best of ‘You Be the Judge’” compilation as a bonus to new
subscribers.

I’ve found that anything having to do with making money works
well as a free information bonus.

For instance, a newsletter published, as part of its subscription,
an annual salary survey of the industry it covered.

When we offered reprints of last year’s salary survey to new
subscribers, orders for new subscriptions increased 25%.

Giving your free report an attractive or compelling title also
helps boost response rates when offering it as a premium.

During the Clinton years, the American Spectator offered a
special report “Inside the Clinton White House” (that may not be
the exact title; it was years ago and memory fades) free to new
subscribers.

Since so many marketers offer free reports, you may stand out by
offering free content in other media; e.g., audio CDs, videos,
software, online tools.

Here’s a way to quickly and easily create an effective
information premium: promote a paid teleconference to your list
and record it.

Then duplicate it on audio CD and offer that as a bonus. If you
charged $79 for the teleconference, you can legitimately say the
CD has a value of $79.

That’s important, because the higher the perceived value of the
free bonus, the greater the demand.

If you use free special reports as information premiums, put a
price in the upper right corner of the front cover of each
report.

Set up a reports library on your website where visitors can
purchase the reports for that price.

That way, when you give them away as free bonuses and specify
the value, you can legitimately say: “This report sells for $29
on our website, but reply today and it’s yours free.”

Here’s a gimmick that works well: instead of using an 8½ by
11-inch page size, make your report digest size (5½ by 8½-inch
page size).

Let’s say the report is tips about leadership. Print the title
on the front cover in large reverse type – white letters on a
black background – and call it “The Little Black Book of
Leadership Secrets.”

Both “secrets” and “little black book” create an aura of
importance and exclusivity that makes people want the booklet.

If you want the free booklet to build your image as a thought
leader in your industry, consider publishing it as a small
paperback book.

Then, when you offer it free in your marketing, you can position
your company as “The Folks Who ‘Wrote the Book’” on Topic X.

If you sell to the federal market, government employees are not
allowed to accept free gifts worth more than $25, so the price
on your free book or report should be $24.97.

Sincerely,

Bob Bly

P.S. For step-by-step instructions on marketing with free
content offers, see my book “How to Create Irresistible Offers”
(AWAI). For more information or to order, click below now:

www.bly.com/IrresistibleOffers

Bob Bly
Copywriter / Consultant
590 Delcina Drive
River Vale, NJ 07675
Phone 201-505-9451
Fax 201-573-4094
www.bly.com ]]> http://www.fixingmyfollowup.com/hidden-danger-in-marketing-with-content//feed 0 http://www.fixingmyfollowup.com/subject-line-for-follow-up-email/ http://www.fixingmyfollowup.com/subject-line-for-follow-up-email/#comments Sat, 13 Aug 2011 02:32:42 +0000 editor http://www.fixingmyfollowup.com/?p=124 Email is back!

Despite repeated proclamations of its extinction, rumors of the death of email marketing have been greatly exaggerated — especially since email and social media are a powerful combination. You might not reach the average college freshman, but for slightly older types (you know, the ones with the money), email is still the way to go in many lucrative mainstream niches.
You must first, of course, get your emails read. And it all starts with the subject line.
Email subject lines are a form of headline. They perform the same function as a headline by attracting attention and getting your email content a chance to be read.
So, headline fundamentals still apply. But the context is different, with the email space having its own funky little quirks that need to be accounted for.
Here’s the good news — email also implies a special relationship with the reader; a relationship that will get more of your messages read, even with subject lines that wouldn’t work in other headline contexts. So, in the next few days, we’ll take a look back at headline fundamentals, the specifics that apply to subject lines, and the “secret sauce” that makes email your top conversion channel.

1. The Fundamentals: Using a checklist

2. The Specifics: Beyond headline fundamentals

3. The Secret Sauce: Getting someone to trust you with their email address is not easy

http://www.copyblogger.com/email-subject-lines/

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder and CEO of Copyblogger

In Tough Economic Times: Market Smarter, Not Harder

By MaryEllen Tribby

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going” is a motto your more resilient and clever CEO’s and marketing professionals
adopt while their meek counter parts tend to bury their heads in the sand during these tough economic times.

Yes, times are still tough, and people are still scared regardless of their current income level.

And rightly so, many people who are in decision-making jobs feel a sense of responsibility to their employers, their
colleagues and their staff. Very often these folks have a knee-jerk reaction and cut marketing dollars before weighing the
consequences.

In reality, cutting your marketing budget in a bad economy is the last thing you should do. This is not the time to focus
less on marketing … rather the opposite. The beauty of marketing in the 21st century is that many of the marketing channels
available to you are cheap, easy and fast to execute.

The cost of entry has never been lower (and I am not just talking email marketing), there has never been more niche markets
available and it has never been easier with today’s technology to accurately measure the impact of your marketing efforts and
make educated decisions about going forward to plan cohesive multi-channeled marketing campaigns.

Smart companies that continue to grow and prosper during hard economic times understand the value of multi-channel
marketing:

* Create strong customer relationships.
Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of multi-channel marketing is that it provides great customer relationship-building
opportunities. Direct mail and email allow you to stay in front of your customers while letting the customer learn about your
product on their own schedule. Telemarketing allows you to provide additional information and answer questions
your customers may have.

Regardless of which channels you use you should never promise anything that you aren’t going to be able to deliver. In
fact, you should always be over delivering on the promises you make in your marketing
copy. Remember that integrity is the key.

* Choose efforts that help you pick the low hanging fruit.

Never forget to market most often and most strongly to those loyal customers who buy from you. Direct email
marketing, well written and based on a compelling offer, is critical. It is easy to implement and extremely cost effective -
allowing you to communicate with your customers as much as you (and they) want. It also gives you the ability to test, see
what’s working, and quickly react to generate more sales. It allows you to make your message as timely and relevant as
possible.

For the most part, direct e-marketing is a two-step process. The first process is to develop a list of people who will accept
your promotional messages. This list is built through the use of banner ads, insert ads and asking for your customers’ email
addresses. The second step is to send them your direct response promotions. These are usually longer sales letters, much like
direct mail.

* Some forms of marketing don’t cost you a dime.

You can create online buzz about your product through social media. This can take on many forms: online forums, message
boards, blogs, video blogs, and social networks (such as LinkedIn, FaceBook, etc.). Use social media methods to
stimulate conversation about you, your business, and your products.  The key is to be genuine. To ensure the buzz is positive,
you have to promote yourself gradually and organically by developing real relationships with your desired audience on
targeted social media sites.

It is also imperative that you are involved in the conversation on your own site. To ignore your own customers (on your website
or others) is an unforgivable mistake in today’s interconnected world. You must always be answering their questions,
responding to their complaints, exploring opportunities, announcing new products, listing upcoming events, and reminding them
of deadlines. The list is endless.

* Want to drum up great PR? Get to know the media.

Of the many channels of marketing, public relations is one that every business should embrace. That’s because it is nearly
free. If you have a good writer on staff, your only cost will be the event you are publicizing and the small amount it takes
to mail or email out your own press release.  When it works, it really works, going from regional to national to
international faster than it takes to write up a conventional advertising campaign. The trick is creating successful, newsworthy
stories.

It’s very important to target your press releases to specific publications and media outlets whose customers you want to reach.
Rather than sending out 1,000 general press releases about a story that has general appeal, it’s much more effective to send
out a dozen or so targeted press releases containing stories that are exactly right for the intended audiences. It’s simply
quality vs. quantity.

* Don’t go it alone.

Many small businesses balk at the idea of joint ventures. They don’t like the idea of splitting revenues. They like selling their own products
because they keep 100% of the revenues. This is the kind of thinking that destroys a business. When a joint venture is executed properly,
it doesn’t subtract from the business it adds to the business. There are many ways to do joint ventures and the best ones are those that pair
up businesses with asymmetrical resources and skills.

To find your joint venture “soul mate” think about the major players in your marketplace. Consider the strengths and
weaknesses of each.  Ask yourself how you might benefit from working with them. Make a list of potential partners and develop a
strategy to approach them and show them how they could benefit from doing business with you. The idea is to develop joint venture
relationships that are easy to maintain, financially profitable, intellectually rewarding, and long lasting.

Regardless of how many channels you use and which ones they are, smart companies understand ROI (return on investment).

If you see a company, perhaps one of your competitors advertising often and in multiple channels — chances are it is a
healthy company. Study that company, is there something they are doing that you can implement.

If you are interested in expanding your company’s reach, try incorporating multi- channel marketing campaigns into your
business model. But to make sure you spend the appropriate amount of time on each channel (for the revenue generated) check
out my #1 Amazon.com best-seller, Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business

Everybody in life encounters the emotion of fear. Fear is not a bad thing. It exists for our protection as an early warning signal. But what you need to understand is that there is a very big difference between the healthy fear that tells people to avoid a negative situation, as compared to the fear that causes constraint, anxiety, and ultimately keeps us from living our daily lives.

Brian Evans is a best selling author, real estate investment expert, mentor, speaker and information marketer. His flagship book, “How To Make Money In Your Local Real Estate Market,” & best selling book “The New Masters of Real Estate” were both released in 2010. Brian is also the founder of a national real estate investing group called, Ultimate Real Estate Investors, who’s motto is: Make Money, Live Wealthy, No Excuses. This is the place where leading investors from all over the country come together to achieve goals, develop lasting relationships, make real money, create multiple streams of income and wealth, master the business of real estate investing once and for all, and turn dreams into reality! Ultimate Real Estate Investors

Decades ago, my mentor, Milt Pierce, wrote what became a
long-running control mailing for Good Housekeeping.

The envelope teaser: “144 Ways Good Housekeeping Can Save You
Time and Money.”

Why did this direct mail package remain unbeaten in the mail for
over a quarter of a century?

Back then, saving time and money were two big appeals. And they
remain so today.

In fact, in the 21st century, saving your customer time is more
important than ever.

Why? Because your customers, like the Egyptian mummies, are
“pressed for time.”

We all have too much to do … and not enough time to do it.

One reason people are so busy is more working women: when both
spouses work, there’s no one at home to take care of all the
household business … and so a working person has to do it.

What does this mean for you as a marketer?

Simply this….

In your sales and marketing efforts, if you can show the customer
how you can save him time or serve him faster, your sales will
skyrocket.

Conversely, wasting the customer’s time is one of the surest ways
to turn prospects off.

For example: in my little copywriting business I have a “virtual
office” — my assistants work in their own homes many miles away
from my office in River Vale, NJ.

Because of this, I work in complete isolation. So, some days, I
break up the isolation by going out for a quick lunch to a local
coffee shop.

While I was eating lunch a few weeks ago, at the busiest peak of
the lunch hour, two young women walked in.

I immediately identified them as salespeople by the way they
carried themselves, their manner, and their corporate attire.

Sure enough, instead of asking for a menu, they asked Peg, the
waitress, if they could speak with the owner – who also happens
to be the short-order cook.

Peg walked over to the grill and relayed the message to him. His
irritation was immediate, visible, and audible.

In other words, he was pissed.

Peg came back and told the women, “I’m sorry, but it is the
middle of lunch hour, and he is busy with orders.”

Crestfallen, the two salespeople thanked Peg and left. Peg then
turned to me, and said, “How stupid can they be – to call on a
restaurant owner during lunch hour?”

Of course, she is right: by making a sales call during the height
of lunch hour, these sales amateurs showed an utter disregard for
the prospect’s time.

He returned the favor by refusing to see them or buy what they
were selling.

In contrast, here’s an example of a company that won a big sale
by making an extra effort to respect the customer’s busy schedule
and save him time.

Years ago, I did some work for a company – let’s call them ABC
Software — that was a software distributor to the corporate
market.

A salesperson for ABC told me the following story….

He was trying to get a big corporate account – let’s call them
XYZ Corporation — to buy their software from ABC.

One of the advantages ABC offered was that they did not require a
separate purchase order (PO) for each purchase.

The customer only had to issue a blanket PO one time to ABC to
cover all purchases.

This saved purchasing departments a lot of time.

But even though ABC did not require a separate PO for each
software package purchased, XYZ’s accounting department did.

“My hands are tied,” said XYZ’s purchasing manager to ABC’s
salesman. “I’d like to use you, but I just don’t have time to
fill out all those POs.”

“Not a problem,” replied ABC Software’s persistent salesman.
“Just give me a stack of blank POs. Whenever you want to buy a
software package, just let me know. I will fill out the PO for
you, and then fax it to you for your signature.”

By offering to lift the paperwork burden from the customer onto
his shoulders, the salesman saved that customer a lot of time …
and as a result, won a major national account.

Sincerely,

Bob Bly

Bob Bly
Copywriter / Consultant
590 Delcina Drive
River Vale, NJ 07675
Phone 201-505-9451
Fax 201-573-4094
www.bly.com

Dear Direct Response Letter Subscriber:
To determine how much they can afford to spend to get a new
customer, many marketers base that figure on the average size of
the first order.

Therefore, if the front-end product or service is $500, they
won’t spend anywhere near that to acquire the customer, for fear
of operating at break-even or even a loss. If they want to double
their money on the promotion, the most they’ll spend to make the
sale is $250.

But savvy marketers know that the amount of money you can spend
to acquire a new customer should be based on the customer’s
lifetime value, not just the revenue from the first order.

Lifetime value refers to how much money your customer is likely
to spend with you during the period he remains a customer of your
business.

For instance, if the average unit of sale is $500, the average
number of purchases per year is two, and the average customer
remains a customer for 5 years, the lifetime customer value is
$500 X 2 X 5 = $5,000.

Based on the average lifetime value, you can see where it would
in fact be well worth spending $500 to acquire a new customer.

The business owner who understands lifetime customer value as it
relates to customer acquisition has a tremendous advantage: He is
willing to spend more to acquire new business, because he knows
its true value.

Example: A company selling books to corporate librarians planned
a marketing campaign to get new corporate accounts to start
ordering books from them.

I asked the owner what he would be willing to spend to get a new
account. He said about $300.

Forget advertising, I advised. Just open up an account for every
company you want as a customer – and put $300 in it!

Send each prospect a personal letter telling them they already
have an account with you — and that it contains $300 they can
use at any time this year.

Instead of a sales or marketing campaign, my client gave the
money he would have spent to generate leads and makes sales calls
directly to his key prospects, so they could try the service at
no cost. It worked like a charm!

Today online trading services use the same tactic. They send you
a letter telling you they have opened an account for you with $75
or so in it. You get the money when you do your first trade.

Need to stimulate business? Calculate lifetime customer value,
decide what percentage of that amount you want to spend on
acquiring new customers (10% is a common figure), and invest that
amount of money to acquire new customers.

It will likely be more than your competitors think they can
spend, giving you a huge edge in winning new business.

Sincerely,
Bob Bly
Copywriter / Consultant
590 Delcina Drive
River Vale, NJ 07675
Phone 201-505-9451
Fax 201-573-4094
www.bly.com