I’m an outstanding copywriter and I’ve pulled down big numbers and great results from this skill. But let me tell you a little secret about writing copy. It is very easy to get caught up in this copywriting trap, and in fact, the truth is, you don’t need to write nearly as well as I do, to create a functionally sound and consistently profitable business.

And here’s why: See, most people will work on their copy for hours. They’re endlessly tweaking headlines and bouncing offers off of one person and another. That’s because copy is a defined medium with rules and parameters.

Meaning, you have specific things you can adjust. A headline can be changed… guarantees can be tinkered with… order forms can be re-arranged, and so on.

But for most people, they’re spending time on the wrong items. The thing is, good copy is only effective when your marketing strategy is fundamentally sound. Otherwise it’s like taking high quality paint and putting on top of rotting wood. No matter what you do in this situation, the house ain’t gonna look pretty.

So here are a few things you should be spending time on that are far more productive than tweaking your headline, or figuring out if you should use courier font over verdana:

1. Define your most likely buyers. Trying to appeal to “everyone” is like a single guy trying to appeal to every woman out there. No matter how much of a stud you are, they’re all NOT going to like you.

Defining your most likely buyers and creating messages that appeal to THEM, is a far better use of your time than trying to “sell to everyone.”

2. Learn to spot trends. This is how you make the big money, by jumping on what’s hot today and figuring out how to tie your business into it.

That doesn’t mean what you’re doing ordinarily isn’t worth while, but trends are fleeting and those who ride the tide with them, usually prosper in BIG ways.

3. And lastly, if what you’re doing isn’t working… man up… and shelve it.

The lion’s share of new ideas you have won’t be home runs. I don’t care what anyone tells you or claims. That’s just reality.

The good news is, all you need is one or two out of every ten, to be a double or a triple, and you get to laugh all the way to the bank.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.: WOW! If you thought these strategies made sense, then make SURE you check out this month’s Seductive Selling Newsletter, with TEN live marketing examples and literally DOZENS of strategies like this. And, now you can test-drive it, FREE and get a TON of bonus gifts (watch the video) at: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

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Last week we talked about “entertaining” your list and I explained how most people try and entertain their prospects in their sales letters is totally wrong. Here’s what I said…

You don’t entertain them by being funny. And there are two reasons for this:

One, what you think is funny may be irrelevant or even in bad taste to your prospect. And two, when it comes to money, people are dead serious about opening up their wallets.

You want to be taken seriously and meaningfully. You want to have value. People aren’t usually cracking up over jokes when they’re making buying decisions, now are they?

Most of the time I see people trying to use humor and it’s all wrong. They’re cracking jokes, not creating a relationship.

Save your jokes for your friends, but be dead serious with your prospects.

Like I said, next time we’ll cover how to entertain…

So today I want to tell you how to use humor.

First off, appreciate that half (or more) of humor is in the delivery. HOW someone says something often makes it just as funny as what they say, right?

So the first thing to remember is you need to be aware of how you’re speaking.

And the “tone of your voice” is one of the biggest drivers of this. For instance, are you speaking LOUD AND DOGMATIC?

Or are you talking to someone like an old friend, or like a neighbor who’s just trying to help.

Are you being a bully and reminding them how little they know or how little they have?

Or are you being encouraging and positive and enthusiastic.

Are you talking to them in a positive, optimistic and conversational tone?

Or are you speaking like a human resources executive who just wrote a corporate memo that starts off with “Pursuant to our rule book dated 11th of January, 2006…”

So the first thing you want to keep in mind is your tone. Make it folksy and make yourself appear approachable using some of the techniques I just mentioned, and you’re well on your way to entertaining your prospect.

Next time we’ll cover some more ways of using humor and entertaining.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.: Why some real estate investors NEVER make the kind of money, never close the deals they deserve: http://www.kingofcopy.com/abcre

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Yesterday we talked about the first step in the 3-step formula to constructing your sales conversation with your prospect. That step was to “educate,” and today we’re going to talk about the second step, which is to “inform.”

Remember, putting your pitch together using each of these steps leads you to a sale — in print or using any other media or way of communicating.

Most people think “informing” your prospect is the same thing as educating them, but it’s not.

Informing prospects, in this case, refers to giving them interesting facts about your product or service, which they probably aren’t aware of. What you’re trying to do here is create curiosity in your prospect’s mind.

When your prospects are curious about you, they take a vested interest in you and you’ve successfully “implanted” yourself into their minds. And once your prospect sees you or your goods and services as a part of their life, you’re much closer to making a sale.

Here are a couple of examples of how to inform people.

Let’s say you’re selling a vacation destination or a piece of property, even. One of the things you can talk about are the local customs and rituals that people really enjoy.

For instance… “Did you know, the land that The Palace was originally built on, was actually ancient holy worshipping grounds the natives held sacred? And if you look out back, just behind the Pineapple Bar, overlooking the ocean… you’ll see 12 acres of sacred land that’s been preserved for over 1,650 years, in it’s original state.

When you visit this sacred forest, near dusk, you’ll often see loads of Hawthorne rabbits and Gully foxes, roaming across the grounds as they’ve done for centuries. Adults and children are often treated to the sounds of hoot owls, as well as their majestic flight as they come swooping down, hunting for grubworms…”

Now you may or may not like that particular description, but you’d have a hard time ignoring it, and ignoring the pictures it conjures up in your mind.

The bottom line is, informing your prospect by creating curiosity is one of the most important things you can do to get them vested in what you’re selling.

Make sure you don’t forget that.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.: Your free trial of the Seductive Selling Newsletter is waiting for you at http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl – grab it NOW! This month: literally THE most effective use of scarcity and setting deadlines, I’ve ever seen!

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I get several ad critiques sent in to the office here, each week. Many are good, but most need lots of help (which is why they were sent in here, by the way). Often times, the seller simply doesn’t know or understand what his buyer wants.

What your buyer wants is far more important than what you think they want or what you perceive they want.

So for example, if you’re selling landscaping services, especially in affluent areas, you may think your buyer wants a good-looking lawn. But… equally, or even more important, is the time they save by not having to do it themselves.

They want to know you’re reliable and that after you’re gone, there’s not going to be anything left around the house they’re going to have to take care of, themselves.

More often than not, simply thinking about “what’s most important to your buyer” is the missing link your ad needs.

Here are 11 different things you can focus in on, that are VERY common needs.

1. Making more mo.ney – need I say any more?

2. Saving mo.ney – you want to be careful here. These customers aren’t the most loyal ones to have. As soon as someone else is 8 cents cheaper… they’re gone.

3. Improving your health – this one’s as old as the hills.

4. Having more leisure time – quality of life issues are very important and often go hand in hand with the first three items

5. Losing blubber – I can’t say the “w” word, because that will trigger almost every spam filter in America. But rest assured, this appeal will never die.

6. Getting more customers – different to number one. Oddly enough, number one appeals (ironically) most to the folks who won’t ever actually do it. This one appeals the the folks who are already running a business or selling successfully.

7. Saving time – Yes! In today’s day and age, absolutely NO ONE has enough time.

8. Looking younger – Can you say “cosmetic surgery?” Entire industries and sub-industries have been built up around this appeal.

9. Feeling younger and living longer – The newest (and in my opinion) the industry with some of the most growth-potential moving forward, is anti-aging. It’s also got a primarily affluent customer base and ongoing continuity-based services you can provide.

10. Desire to have more friends, be more popular, advance in some “group” or social strata – Dale Carnegie built an empire through this in “How To Win Friends And Influence People,” and Lord knows this appeal is still very strong.

11. Vanity – The desire to look good and look better than your peers is as old as the hills. Can you use it in your marketing?

There are loads of basic appeals. The point is, if you’re not aware of what your buyers basic wants are… then you’re wasting your time…

And ultimately… theirs… as well.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Once you know their appeals, here’s how to push your prospects emotional buy-buttons: http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive

Comments? Leave them here on my blog — let me know what you’re thinking:

Let’s face it, selling is difficult. But selling in print is incredibly difficult, since you’re stripped of all your non-verbal communication. Your prospect’s ability to get a “gut feel” about whether or not they should trust and believe you… isn’t as available as you’d like.

However, there are certain triggers or appeals you want to have, any time you’re communicating anything to your prospects.

Without these critical appeals, you don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell, of selling anything to anyone. Here they are:

1. Self-interest. Your prospect must be thinking to themselves, “I can use something like this…. I can seriously benefit from this product.”

If they’re thinking anything other than that, then see you later. This is why you must understand the difference between features and benefits. Getting bogged down with features may make you feel good — it may make you think like you’re the cat’s meow what with all them bells and whistles… but your prospect could care less.

2. Make things simple.

If your prospect has to work to understand what you’re offering them, then you’re toast. Unless you’re selling water in the desert, no one’s going to work that hard.

Appreciate that this is different from making people qualify, but that’s another topic for another day.

3. Be believable.

Give your prospects reasons why they should believe you. Are their testimonials? Are your claims outlandish or are they within the norm? Are there specific reasons why your prospects should trust you – if so, let ‘em know!

4. Arouse curiosity!

Some people are about as interesting as a small soap dish — don’t be this way! Be compelling, be enthusiastic, be provocative!

Leave one strap hanging off your shoulder and arouse curiosity about what it looks like once the remaining strap comes down.

Don’t sell an orange, sell the loveliest ripe fruit you’ve ever seen… whose dimpled skin covers fleshy pulp filled with the sweetest juice God ever created.

Be exciting and arouse curiosity!

5. Lastly, make an offer that’s worthwhile.

Do you like to get good value?

Of course you do, right?

And yet… “Screw the customer” seems to be the mantra of the day!

Let me tell you something, what’s good for the goose, IS good for the gander, so when it comes time to making your offer, make sure you do unto others and all that good stuff, O.K.?

Listen, without these appeals, you’re depending on luck to sell, so take these things very seriously.

Because “luck”… is not… a good business strategy.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. 19-year direct-response marketing veteran spills the beans on this month’s Audio Success CD! Get it, along with 18 free bonus gifts — yes EIGHTEEN — when you test-drive Seductive Selling, at http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

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No one wants to do business with some nameless, faceless corporation.

Everyone wants to feel “some” kind of a connection to whoever they’re working with, even if it’s a perceived connection and not a real one.

Right?

Bottom line is people want to do business with real people.

But almost as important, did you know that making whatever you’re selling real, has a similar impact?

It’s true. If you can somehow draw people into your message by having them visualize themselves using your product, you’re well on your way to making a sale.

Joe Sugarman used to do things like this when he sold electronic products.

He might say something like, “Pick up this new phone. Feel how snug and secure it sits right in the palm of your hand. Run your fingers over all the buttons on the phone and feel how easy it is to dial all the numbers you want, quickly and easily. No more rotary dialing that takes forever, or wrist cramps that linger for hours on end, after your call.”

And you can do this for anything. Let’s take something totally mundane, for instance, like commercial property insurance. How do you draw people into this, for goodness sakes?

The answer is simple, check this out: “Last week, George Icell’s life was destroyed. You see, George owned Icell’s Warehousing for the last 35 years. Every weekday George came into the office at 5am, and left at 6pm, like clockwork, never missing even one day of work during that time, except for the two weeks he took off for his Honeymoon back in 1974.

Sadly though, last week Geroge’s building was burned to a crisp. And because he hadn’t updated his insurance coverage in ages… after 35 years of business, Icell’s Warehousing will not be reopening.

George’s life will never be the same.”

See, there are loads of ways to get your customers and clients involved in what you’re selling. The key is to stimulate as many senses as you possibly can — sight, touch, feeling, smell — whatever makes sense.

And if you can kick in an emotional component on top of this (in this case, sadness and regret over the loss), then you’ve got it made.

Don’t forget this. It’s not talked about very often, but Lord knows it sure should be.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. One of my members actually sent in a video about their experience with my Seductive Selling Newsletter. You’ll even see how he highlighted all the important points in this particular issue! And now at last, you can test-drive it, for free. Just scroll down about two pages and listen to what Brian Edmondson has to say on his video at : http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

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Just got this note in from Ashley Bartsch, a very sharp residential loan officer from Cumming, Georgia. (I kid you not, that’s the name of the town.):

“Mailed 2000 pieces last Wed. and I have over 50 responses already! This stuff really works.”

Ashley is, no doubt, in a highly competitive marketplace. And yet, mailing out a piece I wrote for him (as part of the loturnaround.com group), smack dab in the middle of the “deepest recession America’s seen” he’s pulled a 2.5% response rate, and the pieces just hit the mailboxes.

Most loan officers would be thrilled with one response to a mailing like this. Two or three responses would make them feel like the King of the hill. Five responses and they’ve died and gone to heaven.

But 50?

This is one step shy of a miracle for most of these guys.

But it’s business as usual for letters and marketing pieces I’ve worked on. And today is the last day you’re going to get a chance to have me work on a sales letter for you, as the registration for my Ad Writing Workshop is closing tonight.

There are many reasons why you should be at this event (where NO ONE will be selling you anything at all), and I’ve listed them all at:

http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting and at…

http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting/webinar

But the biggest reason why you should be there is because you’ll be walking away with the most valuable skill anyone can ever have – the ability to turn words into money. And you’ll also have a step-by-step plan that tells you exactly how to do this, so that come Monday morning, you’re not just sitting around with a few boxes of material, wondering where to start.

This is laid out for you literally, step-by-step.

If you can do this effectively, it’s safe to say you will NEVER be at a loss for money.

And if you can’t do this effectively. Well… then you’ll always only be as good as your last sales letter.

And how’d that work out for you?

See you in sunny Tampa, Craig Garber

P.S. My GUARANTEES for this event are simple: You have my personal promise, if you are unhappy with the content of the seminar, or with your experience, and if this isn’t one of the most content-rich and meaningful workshops you’ve ever attended, I will reimburse your registration fee.

Register here at http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting

And for more information about the event, check out the webinar I had on it at http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting/webinar

Here’s a taste.

Strategy # 18: A simple copywriting secret that literally no one uses, which makes your goods and services, effortless. Hey, in today’s day and age, no one wants to work, so if you’re not using this, you’re clogging your sales funnel instead of whooshing people through it.

Strategy # 30: This often overlooked component of your intuition will either save you small fortune, or allow you to be used and abused by everyone. Better turn yours on, so it’s the former and not the latter.

Strategy # 136: In this recession survival strategy #3, you’ll uncover the right way… and the wrong way to be aggressive in this recession. The right way allows you to have prospects beat a path to your door, and the wrong way… well, the wrong way is what everyone else is experiencing.

And in Strategy #129, you’ll experience the fallacy of branding, and the REAL way to measure not only your success, but your positioning in your industry. (And how to capture any positioning you want, using a simple, but incredibly profound formula.)

You will get all these strategies free, as a bonus, when you attend my Emotional Copywriting & Ad Writing Workshop, next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, here in Tampa, Florida.

You will also get 15 different formulas you can use, as opening lines of any sales letter or display ad you’ll ever write, along with 67 different examples of these templates in action.

Not to mention, everyone who attends this workshop, will walk away with a draft of a sales letter or display ad, and I will not only help you with your strategy for this project, but you’ll also get to have a follow-up conversation with me, so I can review your final ad copy before you send it out.

The bottom line is, you will walk away from this workshop with literally hundreds, if not thousands of new ideas and ways of growing your business and making money you wouldn’t otherwise have any other way of doing.

I will also be available in the evenings to discuss your business with you, and to help you with your marketing in general.

And rest assured, the opportunity to work alongside me this closely, is NOT going to happen any time soon, if ever again.

Here’s the information about the workshop, including a live “teaser” webinar: http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting/webinar/

And to just sign up directly: http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting/registration.html

Look, this workshop takes place in 6 days. That means in 6 days, you’ll experience the single most powerful opportunity to grow your business, you’ll ever have.

Frankly, most people are terrified of something like this. It is much easier to carry on, hammering away at the big rock that is your business, to eek out the modest gains you’ve come to accept as your destiny.

Few people are willing to instead explode that big boulder, and then walk through the place where it used to be, into a bright new future.

Which one are you?

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. See you in Tampa:

Webinar and detailed benefit listing: http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting/webinar/

Info: http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting

Registration short-cut: http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting/registration.html

Which one of these 559 money-making copywriting and direct-marketing strategies… 528 pages of eye-opening proven secrets… 5 DVD’s filled with sales copy critiques… and 5 Audio CD’s filled with profit-producing easy to use cash-producing tips… listed in these 43 items below… can YOU afford to miss?

Check it out at http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting/webinar

There are more benefits here than in any other program I’ve ever seen.

Now go sell something , Craig Garber

P.S. Only 9 days left to my Emotional Copywriting Seminar & Ad Writing Workshop. This event is NOT going to be repeated. Register NOW at

http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting/webinar/

I finally finished putting all the content together for my Sales Letter & Ad Writing Workshop. You can check it out here on this page, right underneath the video.

http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting/webinar

Attending this workshop is literally the most important thing you will do for yourself, not just in 2009, but in your entire business lifetime. That’s not a flippant or hype-filled statement either.

After all, how many money-making techniques do you learn, that will never go out of style… never be subject to technological impediments… and never fail to work, regardless of who you’re selling to or where your marketplace is.

Human nature hasn’t changed much since the dawning of time and I don’t think it’s going to change any time soon. And that’s what this workshop is really all about. Here is that link, again:

http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting/webinar

Now go sell something , Craig Garber

P.S. Like I said, there are few things in life you will do, that will actually put money in your pockets forever. Hope you realize this is one of them. But there again, “hope” really isn’t a good business strategy, now is it?

http://www.kingofcopy.com/adwriting/webinar

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