How to Use Powerful Psychological Triggers in Your Sales Letter

Words have a significant influence on how we react to things. Let’s drill down a little deeper and look at some powerful psychological triggers or “hot buttons” that you can use to persuade your visitors to take action.

These techniques are known as psychological triggers because they trigger certain actions or thoughts in us subconsciously. These could be words, images or sounds. People use them all the time – not just in sales letters, but also in everyday life.

1. Power of association:
Association is a trigger where the person using it wants his/her audience to associate a certain emotion or  thought when using their product.

For example, a print ad or a TV commercial that shows a good-looking woman or a successful man driving a luxury car. Automatically you associate beauty and success with that image. It triggers a desire in you to want to own that same car for you to look as good or be as successful as the model. [Read more]

Mr. & Mrs. Internet Marking, Meet Web Copywriting

If you are just starting out in Internet marketing or are struggling to promote your online business, it may time for you get familiar with web copywriting. Writing for an online audience is different from general copywriting or copy for the print media.

A picture may be worth a thousand words but it is the power of your words that will persuade your online audience to take action. The primary goal of web copywriting then is to promote your business or your expertise if you are a coach or a consultant.

Sure, you can outsource copywriting or buy Private Label Rights (PLR) articles for online content. However, you must understand the true cost of those options. Do you really want to risk the reputation and credibility of your business by depending completely on others? Their primary motivation is to sell your their services or PLR products and not grow your business.

Now that you understand why web copywriting is so important to marketing your online business, let’s get very familiar with it. [Read more]

Changes at Article Directories will Have a Major Impact on Article Marketing

Article directories and article marketing have been staples of Internet marketing for a long time. Changes made at any article directory tend to have a ripple effect throughout the industry.

Ezine Articles (EZA, www.ezinearticles.com) is perhaps the “Google” of article marketing and most widely used by Internet Marketers. Once upon a time, they would accept articles on any topic but those days are gone.

EZA has been evolving over the years and has made some significant changes in the recent past that will affect how you use article marketing. Some of these changes may seem like an inconvenience but in the end, all online marketers will stand to benefit in my opinion.

For example, they stopped accepting articles on the topic of PLR (See PLR = Article Vomit). Obviously, this had a big impact on PLR authors and those who submit PLR articles without changing anything before submitting to article directories. However, from the readers’ point of view it is a good change because it will cut down on reading the regurgitated content from an article directory. [Read more]

7 Ways for Making Your Business Blog Be All It Can Be

Remember the U.S. army’s “Be All You Can Be” campaign? It was an incredibly popular recruiting slogan that was used for over 20 years until it was retired in 2006. How about your business blog, is it all it can be for your online venture?

I’m assuming you want your business blog to be more than just a personal journal. One way or another, you want to make money with your business blog. Be it directly with AdSense ads, affiliate ads or promoting your own information products. You want your blog to become the hub that attracts traffic, establishes your credibility and ultimately, converts into more sales.

How do you turn your business blog into a powerful sales tool? I’ve listed 7 business blogging tips here just to get you started. [Read more]

How to Sell eBooks and Build Your Online Empire

If everybody and his brother is selling eBooks online, is it possible to still make money?

The answer is “YES.” However, there’s a “BUT” and it is – only if you learn to do it right from the get go. Otherwise you may be wasting a lot of time and money trying to figure out what eBooks to create and sell to earn a living.

Why should you build your own eBook empire?

Let’s first look at some of the advantages of setting up your online shop selling eBooks. [Read more]

Turning Your Content Caterpillars Into Sales Butterflies

Content is King – you’ve read and heard that many times before but what does it really mean for your online sales? You may have been disappointed by poor results despite following the recommended practice of posting fresh content on your blog and submitting to article directories.

Fresh and relevant content will drive traffic is an undisputed fact. In order to convert that traffic into paying customers, your content caterpillar must now turn into a beautiful sales butterfly.

What am I talking about? Leveraging your content.

Content doesn’t mean lifeless words that exist only on your blog or in an article. It should inform, entertain, connect and persuade visitors to delve deeper into your copy and take a desired action (sign up, click or buy).

Let’s look at this process of transforming your content. Assuming, you have some knowledge (or a lot) and are passionate about the topic of your content, why limit your knowledge to just one article? Leverage that content into several different information products.
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Create Optimized (SEO) Content for Readers and Spiders

Search engine optimization (SEO) begins with the text or content on your website. However, many webmasters and site owners forget or ignore a key issue in this mad dash to attain top rankings in search engines (read Google).

Search engines do not buy products or subscribe to your newsletters. It is human readers that you want to attract and convert.

Yes, SEO performs the important task of putting your site in front of people who are looking for information that you are selling. However, after you’ve attracted the traffic, your content must now sound natural and appealing to human readers.

Think of a playground seesaw from your childhood. In other words, writing optimized content is a delicate balance between satisfying the secret algorithms of search engine spiders and convincing your readers to take a desired action.
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Not All Blog Posts Are Created Equal

Did you know there are five or more different kinds of blog posts that you can write? And they come in different formats and lengths.

Using different formats for posts keeps your blog fresh and interesting. Of course, the number one rule is to post regularly and often. I recommend at least 2 to 3 times a week initially and after you’ve built up some traffic, ask your readers for their preferred frequency.

Varying the post format also prevents you from getting bored from doing the same thing repeatedly.

Here are five kinds of blog posts:

1. The LIST Blog Post

Blog readers love lists! Most popular blogs use index or list posts often. It is not too difficult to come up with lists for any niche under the sun. The reason list posts are so popular is because they lend themselves very well to quick scanning. Many blog readers like to skim over information. You can create resource lists that will help your readers find information quickly on your niche. You can also create lists of different ways to accomplish an objective, for example, “7 Free Methods for Attracting Traffic to Your Mini Site.” The possibilities are endless.
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Is Ghostwriting Only For Halloween?

Don’t be silly! Sorry, I couldn’t resist the obvious play with ghostwriting and Halloween.

As a solopreneur, you are mostly a force of one. Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get it all done. That is why having a ghostwriter on your team can make a big difference in your productivity and business growth.

What is a ghostwriter?

A ghostwriter is a professional freelance copywriter. S/he writes on various topics and some specialize in a particular niche. For you the business owner, the biggest benefit is that when you hire a ghostwriter, s/he writes for you but you take ownership and the credit for their work.

Good ghostwriters bring a lot to the table. They come from different backgrounds and with a variety of work experiences, which can range from the corporate world, journalism, teaching, medicine, information technology, fitness and a host of other disciplines before beginning their freelance writing career. The wealth of knowledge they possess because of their experiences is why they can be so invaluable to you.
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Are Your Written Words Producing the Results You Want?

When was the last time you really looked at your writing? I mean REALLY looked at it from your readers’ perspective? Are you happy with the results that you are getting from sales letters, blog posts and/or email campaigns? If you’re not then the quickest way to change that is to learn to write using powerful words that will lift your conversion rates. Some refer to it as “hypnotic writing.” Others call it “words that sell.”

Unlike a brick-and-mortar business where you have the benefit of visual clues like people’s body language, their facial expressions etc., online your words have a huge impact on everything you do and the results you can expect.

Your words must paint a vivid picture about what you are trying to tell your readers and make a powerful emotional connection with them. Only then will you have the ultimate power to influence and persuade your readers to take the desired action.

Go back to an article, a blog post, or an email that you wrote today. Read it from your visitor’s perspective. Does it speak to you one-on-one or is it too generic? Do the words address your main concerns/problems? Does the copy paint a complete picture of what you can expect to achieve if you bought the product or service? Are you convinced you’ve found the right person or business to solve your problems?
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How To Write Headlines That Attract Interested Readers

Read my headline again; note how I didn’t say “how to write headlines that sell.” I am trying to make a point here.

IMO, job #1 for your headline is to attract readership, grab their attention and persuade them to read further. In other words, headlines should act as “stop signs” and not necessarily, as “buy signs.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not denying that headlines do play a key role in the selling process but don’t confuse a good headline with a call to action. Tabloids like The National Enquirer, The Globe etc. do use outrageous and shocking headlines to seduce you into buying their publications.

I’ll post another article later about the different points of view among professional copywriters about the real role of headlines.

Here, I want to concentrate on crafting headlines that attract serious viewers and readers to your website and/or sales page.
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