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Results! Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) Publisher <newsletters@michelepw.com> http://www.michelepw.com April 2, 2008; Vol. 3, Issue 3 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> THIS ISSUE: Copywriting 101: How to Get Your Customers to Take Action <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> You've received this e-newsletter because you've SUBSCRIBED to it. To be removed from my list, please see the END of this e-mail. Please pass on this issue to friends and associates -- just keep the entire message intact. Need an article for your Web site or e-newsletter? Why not use one of mine? Just keep the copyright/author information intact. You can find articles at http://www.michelepw.com/articles.html. I post new articles each month so keep coming back. AOL Users: Please add me to your address book so you'll continue receiving future issues. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> CONTENTS: 1) Note from PW 2) Barks from Nick 3) Main Article -- Copywriting 101: How to Get Your Customers to Take Action 4) Recommended Resource -- Last chance for Brand Authenticity (maybe ever!) 5) About Michele PW <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 1) NOTE FROM PW --------------------------------------------------------- Dear Readers, As I type this, I'm sitting on a plane headed to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend Dan Kennedy's Marketing Summit. It's my last big event for several months, and even though I love this event, a part of me is still relieved. Although I love traveling and going to events, it takes a lot out of me and I'll be very happy to be at home and not going anywhere for awhile. Besides just allowing me to get centered and focused, I need the time because I'm planning on launching several big things over the next couple of months. Stay tuned for more details. (I am VERY excited about it.) And who do I owe the ideas to these launches too? Why Kendall SummerHawk that's who! I had a private day coaching with her and it was amazing -- we took apart my business and found some opportunities I was missing. (Yes, even marketing consultants need help with their business too! I believe very strongly in getting outside consultants and coaches to look at my business because I'm just too close to it to be objective.) If you'd like the opportunity to coach with her, definitely take a look at my Recommended Resources and last chance to get into her Brand Authenticity program. (I've talked to her and she says she's about 90 percent sure she isn't offering this program like this ever again.) To Your Success, Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) Your $Ka-Ching!$ Marketing Strategist newsletters@michelepw.com www.MichelePW.com 877-754-3384 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Got a Web site and no sales? In 30 minutes or less you can quickly and easily pinpoint EXACTLY what's wrong with your site and what you need to do to transform it into a money-making machine! http://www.michelepw.com/10easysteps.html <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 2) BARKS FROM NICK Musings about business, marketing, copywriting and life from a border collie's perspective. (Nick is helping me out by writing a column each issue for my newsletter.) Check out Nick's blog at http://www.michelepw.com/nblog for past entries and other fun stuff. I'm taking a break from my normal column this time. I broke not one but TWO teeth. I don??™t know how I did it either. One day I noticed my jaw was hurting and I was bleeding on my toys. So I had to go to the vet (yuck) and get both teeth pulled. It really hurt so I'm not doing much except laying around. I can't even chew my bone properly. I'll be back writing as soon as my mouth heals. Michele needs me back helping her so I know I can't take too much time off! Wuff, Nick, the border collie <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 3) **MAIN ARTICLE** --------------------------------------------------------- Copywriting 101: How to Get Your Customers to Take Action If you want people to buy, you gotta ask for the sale. Truly, it is that simple. Yet I can't tell you how many ads, Web sites, brochures, sales letters, etc. are floating around out there that aren't asking. So, what is a call to action? It's telling people what action you want them to take. Typical calls to action include: Hurry in today. Buy now. Call now. Visit now. Click here now. Nothing terribly sexy, I agree. However, if you want to see an increase in your customers, leads, income, etc., this is an essential component. But, you might be thinking, isn't it obvious? Why else would you be running an ad if you didn't want people to buy what you're selling? Good question. And it's true, people do know (if they stop to think about it) that you would probably like them to buy from you. However, the unfortunate truth is your potential customers aren't going to spend that much time thinking about it. People have too much going on in their lives to spend very much time and energy on your business. If they do read your ad or promotional material and it doesn't contain a call to action, they'll likely say, "Oh, that's nice" and go on to the next thing. And even if they were interested in purchasing your offerings, they may not know what their next step should be. Do they pick up the phone? Go to a specific Web page? Visit a store? And if they don't know what they should be doing, chances are they won't do anything at all. So you need to tell your potential customers what you want them to do. (Remember, people are busy, and if you don't make doing business with you easy, they probably won't do business with you at all.) So, back to the above call to actions. Did you notice they all had something in common? The word "now" (or, in the case of the first one, "today"). If people think they can buy from you anytime, they'll say "oh, I can do this later." And later rarely comes. You need to give them a reason to buy from you right now, while they're interested. Adding the "now" or some other urgency or scarcity technique (maybe a limited time offer or few copies left statement) is a great way to push people into doing what you want them to do right now and not later. While we're on the topic of calls to action, I want to talk about one other type of advertising campaign where you rarely see calls to action. These are called branding campaigns. Typically they're shown on national television by big corporations (MacDonald's, Nike, Starbucks, Target). In those instances, the businesses are building a brand that will cause you think of that business first when you're interested in purchasing their products. For instance, when you're hungry, you think MacDonald's. You need new athletic shoes, you think Nike. You're dying for that cup of joe, so you think Starbucks, etc. While there's nothing wrong with branding campaigns, they are tougher to track than campaigns with a specific call to action (Sale ends Saturday, call before Friday to receive your free gift, etc.) Those campaigns are also called direct response because you're asking the customer to respond directly. Direct response campaigns can be tested, so you have a good idea what's working and what's not (and can tweak the campaign accordingly). And, if the campaign doesn't require getting a salesperson involved (i.e. if the call to action is for the customer to whip out his wallet right there) the campaign will just run itself (and make money all by itself). (One note: You do need to do more than add a call to action to have a strong direct response campaign, but that doesn't negate the power a call to action can bring to your campaigns.) Branding campaigns are nearly impossible to test, track and tweak. They either appear to work or don't appear to work. And if they don't appear to work, it's very difficult to start tweaking to improve the response rate. However, branding is still very, very important. As a business owner, you need a good brand and you need to communicate that brand effectively. And sometimes it makes sense to run a branding campaign. However, my advice for most situations is to combine branding and direct response. Your brand is clearly communicated in your ads and promotional materials, but you also take advantage of some direct response techniques at the same time. If nothing else, make sure you don't forget the call to action. Creativity Resources -- Write Your Call to Action Want to include a call to action in your promotional materials but don't know where to start? Here's an easy step-by-step formula: 1. Figure out your purpose for the ad or promotional material. Why are you running this ad, creating this Web site, printing this brochure? (And no, an acceptable answer is NOT because everyone else has one.) Is it to generate leads? Get your name out there? Get people to buy? Or what? 2. Now write it down. 3. That's it. That's your call to action. Whatever the end result you want for the campaign is what you should be asking people to do. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 4) RECOMMENDED RESOURCE -- Last chance for Brand Authenticity (maybe ever!) --------------------------------------------------------- If you're like most business owners I run into, one of your biggest challenges is first getting the right information, then putting that right information together into a simple easy-to-follow PLAN that you'll find so easy to implement your business takes off, making you (and your bank account) a whole lot happier. That's why Kendall SummerHawk, aka, the "Horse Whisperer" for business created Brand Authenticity Marketing, Money and Soul. Her system works brilliantly for any service business (I know because I've seen it work for mine and she has dozens and dozens of testimonials to prove it!). Plus she walks her talk, and has created a high 6-figure business (she brought in *OVER $564,145.23* last year alone!) doing what she loves. But, more likely then not, this is going to be the last time she offers Brand Authenticity like this, so if you want to put this amazing system to work for your business, make sure you reserve your seat now: http://www.michelepw.com/bamm <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 5) ABOUT MICHELE PW ---------------------------------------------------------- Imagine: Your potential customers transforming into actual customers??¦all without you lifting a finger. Sound too good to be true? It??™s not...when you hire Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) Your $Ka-Ching!$ Marketing Strategist. What Michele specializes in is writing copy and creating marketing campaigns that gets people to TAKE ACTION, whatever that action may be (signing up for your newsletter, buying a product, hiring you etc.). In fact, Michele has mastered psychological and hypnotic techniques designed to persuade your target market to become your customers. She also specializes in warm Web 2.0 traffic strategies that will bring a flood of hungry visitors to your Web site who want to buy exactly what you sell! Whether it??™s online or offline you need, Michele PW knows how to Rev Up Your Results! <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated! Write me at <newsletters@michelepw.com. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> PLEASE FORWARD THIS PUBLICATION to your friends and colleagues. And invite them to subscribe as well: http://www.michelepw.com/newsletter.html <><><><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Michele PW respects your privacy and DOES NOT give out or sell subscribers' names and/or e-mail addresses. (c) 2008 Michele Pariza Wacek, Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC PO Box 10430 Prescott, AZ 86304 877-754-3384 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> To SUBSCRIBE, visit: http://www.michelepw.com/newsletter.html or you can send an e-mail to <newsletters@michelepw.com> This email has been sent to you because you've signed up.If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here: http://www.michelepw.com/cgi/nsunsignup.php?email=55251@zinester.com&tag=1207321126 |
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April11, 2008 - What I learned from Gene Simmons >> |
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