Wednesday October 10th, 2007: Issue #848
Everyone in my house has a bad cold. The kids are snuffling and Delia is croaking, but I’d thought I’d avoided it - I’m not particularly prone to colds. This morning though, my chest is tight and my throat is a bit sore, so I guess I’m in the process of succumbing.
In a way it is a good thing - in two weeks I’m flying off to America for business meetings so getting a cold over with now is much better than feeling horrible on a thirteen-hour flight.
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Here in the UK the postal workers are on strike. I heard on the news this morning that although they are going back to work tomorrow, the backlog of undelivered mail could take a month to clear. And to make that even worse, they are planning another strike starting Monday.
I’m expecting a couple of checks from ClickBank and Google - nothing that I can’t wait for or am desperate for, but many businesses and families work on a much tighter cashflow than I do. For many people, having their expected income held up indefinitely could be very serious indeed.
I really don’t know what the postal workers grievance is, but I bet that any support they might have had from the public will dissipate very quickly when bank accounts start to empty and mouths need to be fed.
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I came across a new piece of software this morning that works.
That sounds like a strange thing to say, but in Internet marketing you often have to take things on trust until you can test them out for yourself. This time though, I am already convinced 100%.
The software is called ‘Buy Now Wizard’ and its purpose is to massively increase the sales you make.
Did I mention that it works?
Buy Now Wizard is a derivation of the program I mentioned a few months ago that displays a popup when your site’s visitor moves their mouse towards the close page or back buttons.
That program works pretty well and has increased my newsletter signup page’s conversions by over 33%.
But Buy Now Wizard goes several steps further to make your offer absolutely compelling for your site’s visitor.
When you land on a page that has this activated you WILL want to buy now.
I know, because I did. I was only checking out the page out of interest, but I was compelled to buy. Sure, the sales copy is very good and the offer is excellent, but it was the effect of the script on that page that made me gladly hand over my money.
I won’t spoil the surprise and tell you what the trick it uses are. Are you feeling brave? If so, head on over to http://www.urlnex.us/buynowwizard/ to see if you can resist any more than I could.
This is clever stuff and my task for today is to put the script on all of my sales pages. I just know in my waters that this is going to work gangbusters because if it works for a cynical, jaded old devil like me, it will work for anyone!
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I phoned my insurance company today and got straight through to a real live person.
I was so surprised that when she answered I just waited, expecting the recorded message to give me a list of options. It was only when, after a pause, she said ‘Hello…?’ that I realized she was actually talking to me!
I can imagine in a few years time, if we are blessed with grandchildren, that one of them will sit on my knee and say “Grandpa, grandpa, tell me again about how you could talk to real people on the phone in the old days.”
Or maybe Zurich Assurance are going to start a new trend.
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On the weather report last night they said that Central London suffered torrential rain.
I was in Central London all day yesterday and saw a bit of drizzle, but nothing to write home about. I wonder where the 17mm are supposed to have fallen?
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An Inspirational Thought
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One of Kickstart’s newest subscribers made a post on a forum this morning that made reference to a poem I’d never heard before. So I Googled it and found just one page (built way back in 1997!) with the full text. It lists the poem as anonymous, so I can’t give credit.
But I can credit Janet for unknowingly sparing off my search - thanks!
Good Enough.
My friend, be aware of “good enough.”
It isn’t made of sterling stuff.
It’s something any man can do;
It marks the many from the few.
It has no merit to the eye;
It’s something any one can buy.
Its name is but a sham and bluff,
For it is never “good enough.”
With “good enough” the shirkers stop
In every factory and shop.
With “good enough” the failures rest
And lose to those who give their best.
With “good enough” the plane breaks down
And we fall short of high renown.
My friend, remember, and be wise,
In “good enough” disaster lies.
With “good enough” have ships been wrecked.
The forward march of armies checked.
Great buildings burned and fortunes lost.
How can the world compute the cost?
In life and money it has paid
Because at “good enough” we stayed.
Who stops at “good enough” shall find
Success has left them far behind.
There is no “good enough” that’s short
Of what you can do and you ought.
The flaw which may escape the eye
And temporarily get by
Shall weaken underneath the strain
And wreck the ship or car or plane.
For this is true; you should not bluff…
Only the best is “good enough.”
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Who do you know who would love Kickstart Today?
Don’t keep it to yourself - send them to
http://www.kickstartdaily.com today!
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The Quote of the Day
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Sheila Graham said,
“You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough. You must want it with an inner exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world.”
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Today’s Power Thought
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As promised, today sees the next in my mini series of articles about different aspects of writing and profiting from your own newsletter or ezine.
Why You Can Go Broke by Selling and How to Avoid the Trap
In my last article I explained my thinking that an ezine writer should become his or her readers’ trusted friend. Someone who gives useful information in a chatty and entertaining way.
That’s all well and good, but except for a small handful of hobbyists, people take the time and effort to write their newsletters or ezines in order to make an income. It is quite a significant time commitment to write an ezine like Kickstart - 2-3 hours, three times a week - and I’ve been doing it for so long that I’m probably faster at it than most!
No, commercial realities have to be observed and 99.9% of readers understand that perfectly well. They may not have any interest in buying anything that is mentioned, but they understand and approve of why those mentions have to be there.
The alternatives are stark: either the ezine would not be produced, or the publisher would have to make a charge for it.
But there is a line. And that line goes back to my point about how the writer needs to become the reader’s trusted friend.
We all hear about new products and services from our real life offline friends. Word of mouth happens all the time. Someone tells you about a book they’ve read or a new washing powder they’ve tried, or a TV program they like and you accept their recommendation and try those things out for yourself.
Your friend isn’t selling to you. He or she is recommending to you.
Friends don’t sell to each other - unless of course they are network marketers.
When an ezine writer accepts the trusted friend position it becomes vital that any idea of ’selling’ in an overt sense, is put way back in their mind. The job is to be an honest recommender. A suggester of things to check out. A spreader of the news.
In my PROSE article I said that the most important thing for an ezine writer is ethics. The whole process of selling versus recommending hinges on ethics. How can I, as your trusted friend, recommend a product if I haven’t seen its benefits for myself (unless I clearly state that fact)? The moment I pretend to know about a product just to get you to part with your money is the moment I lose credibility. And my trusted friend status with it.
And if you find out, you would quite rightly feel as aggrieved as if your brother had told you about a great new book, only to find later that he’d never read it and the only reason he told you about it was because the bookstore had promised him a cut if you bought it.
Selling is the job of the sales letter. it is not the job of the person who suggests you go read that sales letter.
I see the ezine writer’s part of the process as being to stimulate your interest by providing the social proof (honest personal experiences and opinions) about something. It is entirely possible that you may buy the product and feel completely different about it - even ask for a refund - but you should always be able to see that the suggestion to learn more about the product was genuinely made.
Ethics aside (as if they can ever be set aside!), there are more prosaic and practical reasons to ’suggest not sell’. In my experience you make more money! When I tell Kickstart readers about new products, those product vendors often comment to me that the conversion rate between Kickstart readers who visit the sales page and who end up buying the product is among the highest they’ve ever experienced.
I don’t think that is a coincidence. Do you?
So in summary, to increase your income as an ezine writer and publisher, learn the lesson that overt selling can hurt your pocket and reputation, whereas suggesting and recommending - often known in marketing circles as ‘pre-selling’ can only do you good in the long term.
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Fascinating Facts
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Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass was, in real life, a professor of Mathematics at Oxford University. His real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.