America’s No.1 sales authority Jeffrey Gitomer recently received an email from me. He says the email gave him no choice but to read on. His interest had to do with the subject line, the headline, the design of the content, and the copy. He liked the email so much that he wrote a widely syndicated article spelling out the 11 factors that compelled him to respond. He kindly allowed me to reproduce the article here, and he makes some great points as he analyses what made the email work […]
How to write emails that give you no choice but to read on
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Do not use Twitter for business
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Internet psychologist Graham Jones recently sent out a simple “tweet” saying he was off to give a presentation that would warn people not to use Twitter for business. Within moments the broadcaster and communications consultant James Lush had replied saying he’d be fascinated to know why on earth Graham would say such a thing. Later that day Graham rose to his feet and suggested the un-suggestible. People in the audience were perplexed because plenty of companies make money using Twitter. But therein lies the twist in this tale […]
Million dollar copywriting tips
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In my seminars and workshops I’ve referred for years to a couple of “million dollar” copywriting tips which, at a stroke, can dramatically transform the effectiveness of everything you write. Both tips are incredibly simple and easy to apply, but less than one in a hundred written pieces even begins to get them right. My first tip is to write as you speak. Be you. Use everyday language. Give your writing a human voice … and let your passion shine through. My second copywriting tip—a golden rule for effective direct response copywriting—is such a simple concept, yet it will have a profound impact on how your written communications are received […]
The forgotten cost of discounting
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Discounting can kill your business. Few business leaders or entrepreneurs realise that the biggest cost in their business can be something that doesn’t even show up in their accounts. When you’re doing a lot less business than you should be doing, it’s all too easy to push the panic button and offer discounts just to get more people through the door. In most cases these discounts make no difference to the number of people who come through the door. But even if they do, these, or any other form of discounting, can turn into a serious and very expensive mistake […]
Why it pays to move upmarket
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Move upmarket if you want to become more successful. Not so long ago Tesco was regarded as a downmarket “Pile ’em high, sell ’em cheap?” outfit, writes Robert Clay of Marketing Wizdom. I know people who wouldn’t have been seen dead going into a Tesco supermarket. If they HAD to go into one they’d park
Why 8% of sales people get 80% of the sales
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Isn’t it amazing how often you express interest in a product or service, but never hear from the person or company again? It happens all the time. Research shows, amazingly, that only 20% of sales leads are ever followed up … in other words 80% of potential opportunities are lost without trace simply due to lack of follow-up. Interestingly, only 2% of sales occur when two parties meet for the first time. And 80% of sales occur only after at least five continuous follow-ups. You therefore must follow-up at least five times.
How I created 3 great websites in 2 days
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We put out the following message on Twitter one afternoon: “Have created 3 stunning websites in 2 days. Used to use vastly expensive web design co who took 6 months to achieve fraction of the same result.” That immediately excited massive interest. People clamoured to know how we did it. A professional web designer responded “Impossible … send URL’s please,” so we did. This popular post explains how it came about, what we did, and how you could do something similar yourself […]
What’s your definition of marketing?
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What’s your definition of marketing? To a lot of people marketing is marketing is about running an ad tomorrow so you can have sales the next day. If only it were that simple! On one level effective marketing is about seeing everything from your customers’ perspective. On a deeper level it impacts every area of your business from identifying and attracting customers to getting and keeping customers, the only sustaining force in any business. In fact every single role in your business falls within the deeper marketing definition. Marketing should therefore be at the epicentre of your business.
Marketing your business in our age of mass empowerment
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in Featured Articles, Lead Generation, Marketing Foundations, Mobile marketing, Online marketing, Social Media, Technology
This is a large post, but also an important one if you haven’t fully embraced or adapted your marketing approach to today’s vastly changed business landscape. For 150 years mass marketing was about the ONLY economical way to get your message out there. But today we’re living in a new age of mass empowerment fuelled by commercial clutter, the rise of internet, sophisticated online search, social media, broadband, wi-fi and smartphones. It spells the end of mass marketing as we’ve known it for most businesses […]
Why bookstores have coffee shops and what that means for your website
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Can you imagine trying to persuade Lady Gaga of anything? She is, after all, a clearly determined and opinionated individual. You would be facing up to a fairly formidable personality – you don’t get to be an international superstar by being quiet and open to persuasion. Maybe the reason that Lady Gaga is successful is she prefers tea to coffee. Lady Gaga is one of several […]
The Power of Persuasion
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The ability to influence and persuade others is a critical skill if you’re in business. Some people seem to have an inborn ability to influence others. Those lucky few, who appear able to very skilfully and elegantly engage others are often unable to explain how they have come to possess such an important and essential business skill. But if we consider influence as a science, something else happens: something much more empowering and efficient.
Create an avalanche of qualified leads
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Identifying prime prospects for your product, service or expertise can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. But that’s an easy challenge to overcome when you employ “Packaged information offers” in an effective manner, writes Robert Clay of Marketing Wizdom. Packaged information offers are one of my all-time favourite low-risk/high-return strategies for generating
7 steps to a killer social media plan
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I believe that any business with a decent product or service can build a global social media presence, and monetize it, writes Robert Clay of Marketing Wizdom. But you need to know what to do and how to do it. And most people in business really only have the vaguest notion of what is involved.
How to be credible when you connect on LinkedIn
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Do you automatically accept every connection request you receive on LinkedIn? I hope not because the value of LinkedIn comes from the quality of the connections you establish, NOT from accepting every connection request that comes your way. In a world full of potential spammers, there are several things you should look for whenever someone tries to connect with you. It should start with a personalised connection request that gives a good reason for connecting […]
Why start-up culture matters
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Much of the job growth in today’s economy is spurred by start-ups. Entrepreneurial ventures often have the energy, talent, and passion necessary to run with creative new ventures. While a good idea and a dedicated CEO are essential to start-up success, corporate culture—the tone and atmosphere of the overall organisation and the relationship between its employees—is also essential. Many fresh-faced entrepreneurs overlook corporate culture, figuring it will work itself out once things get up and running. But experts agree that being intentional about culture is one of the best ways to ensure success.
5 Hidden Habits of ineffective people
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in Productivity
Do you ever allow yourself to get distracted? Do you ever allow others to set your agenda for the day? Do you ever find your day being consumed by tasks that take you no closer to your end goal or objective? Do you know which tasks are important for reaching your goal? For that matter, can you even state your goal? I ask because I read a superb post today on Quora by Chris Wake the founder of Spotwag a new startup in the San Francisco Bay Area. His piece is titled “Hidden Habits of ineffective people” and I couldn’t resist sharing it with you […]
How I use Twitter
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After many requests I’ve finally written this article on how I use Twitter. It covers such things using Twitter to add to my knowledge and learn from people; the tools I use constantly; the topics I tweet about; how I plan my content sharing; who I follow and why; how I follow; and how I deal with spammers. So here goes … I use Twitter as a news source, to add to my knowledge, to maintain cutting edge awareness in my areas of expertise and to discover, learn from and engage with people globally who share similar interests. I also use Twitter as a publishing tool to share knowledge and information I come across which I believe will be useful to any aspiring market leader, entrepreneur, or anyone involved in […]
5 Ways to Get Results on LinkedIn
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This is the third in a series of well received posts on how to grow your business using LinkedIn. It focuses on: setting up your personal profile; connecting with people you know; giving and getting recommendations; setting up your LikedIn company page; and joining selected LinkedIn groups. LinkedIn, just in case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years, is now by far the world’s largest professional network. It has rightly been said that if you’re in business and not on LinkedIn you may as well not exist. The fact that 499 of the Fortune 500 companies are represented by director-level employees and above just reinforces that point.
Is your brain damaging your business?
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Why do so many senior people struggle to delegate key tasks even when they know they are limiting growth by being the bottleneck in their business? The latest scientific evidence shows that it’s not only down to skill; it’s their brain getting in the way. There is always a lot more to be done in a day than you can achieve by yourself, and the key to success is knowing what to let go of. But letting go creates uncertainty, and your brain hates uncertainty almost more than anything else.
11 easy steps to a best-selling podcast on iTunes
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Every day, your customers, prospects, and employees are inundated with information from e-mail, voicemails, spam and memos. So how do you get your important messages across to them in a way that doesn’t get lost in all of that noise? The answer is podcasts. Podcasts are the new way of distributing audio content. They are audio or video recordings that your prospects and customers can subscribe to, receive, download, listen to, or watch using a computer, iPod, M3 player, iPhone, iPad or smartphone […]
