Entries from February 2008 ↓

I had planned a different post for today, but as I read the book of John this morning, God directed me to write something different. Which probably means one or more of my readers needs to hear this.

So let me ask you a question: What’s worth more than $970.50 an ounce?

If you follow the financial markets, you probably already know I’m making a comparison to gold. As of this morning, $970.50 is the price of gold per ounce in U.S. dollars. With the exception of perhaps a near-perfect diamond, I can’t think of anything that would rival the price of gold, ounce for ounce.

Well, I can think of one thing that not only rivals the price of gold, but exceeds it by far. I’ll get to that in a minute.

But first, let me make an observation. Whether you are employed in a job or self-employed, I’m willing to bet that you’re literally slaving away to achieve greater success, maximize your earning power, and (ultimately) become wealthy and well-known (a.k.a. “rich and famous”).

I hate to burst your bubble, but…

You’re seeking the wrong thing.

Success, wealth, and fame come and go. They are transient. Here today, gone tomorrow.

In a sense, we are all a bit like Sysiphus. We toil and strain to push an enormous rock up a long incline. When we are close to the top, we are ready to rejoice… only to witness the rock slip and roll down to the bottom of the hill.

Then we start all over again.

So the question arises: What should we be seeking?

The things of this world serve a purpose. But they don’t deserve our passionate pursuit. All the gold in the world can’t buy love, happiness… or immortality.

Rather than gold, seek wisdom.

I offer this advice because of this…

How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her.

Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast. (Proverbs 3:13-18)

This is such a beautiful picture. In the pursuit of wisdom we also find riches, honor, peace, long life, and happiness.

Do you remember when you were a kid? Remember the game we used to play where we imagined holding a magic lamp that contained a genie? We used to say:

“If you had three wishes, and you could wish for anything in the world, and the genie had to give you whatever you wished… what would you wish for?”

This was always a fun mental exercise.

I remember as a young boy trying to “game the system.” I’d usually use my first wish to wish for unlimited wishes.

The reason I bring this up is because this really happened to a man. Except instead of three wishes, he got only one. Here is the story…

In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.”

Solomon said to God, “You have dealt with my father David with great lovingkindness, and have made me king in his place. Now, O Lord God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

“Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?”

God said to Solomon, “Because you had this in mind, and did not ask for riches, wealth, or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may rule My people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed nor those who will come after you.” (2 Chronicles 1:7-12)

This is what I felt I needed to write to you this morning:

Wisdom trumps wealth.

Therefore, seek wisdom.

Oh, and one last thing: All wisdom comes from God. If you desire wisdom (as you should), you’ll have to make friends with your Maker.

Have a great weekend.

-Ryan M. Healy

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A surprising number of business owners view copy as a cure-all. They believe sales copy can fix whatever problems they may have in their business.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but copy is not a cure-all. It will not make up for a bad product, a bad offer, or a bad list.

Let’s look at a real-life example.

A client came to me with a problem: her site wasn’t converting as well as she wanted. I could see a few big problems right away, and told her so.

She decided to hire me to rewrite the copy on her primary landing page. So I did. The copy went live, and I thought it was a significant improvement over the old version.

A couple weeks after the new copy had been put up, my client and I exchanged a few emails (edited for clarity).

<–Start Conversation –>

CLIENT:

We put up the copy you gave me and everything went lower than it was… so we added photos and still nothing… I liked what you wrote, but I am sad that nothing has gone forward… will it take a month or so?

RYAN:

What was your conversion rate before? What is it currently?

I can help, but need to know some numbers.

Has traffic tapered off or has it been steady?

CLIENT:

We have had only 112 visits and 2 orders from the time the new info went up. Before that I had at least 5 orders in 2 weeks… I thought that was very bad, that’s why I called you.

My web guy said it was because I lowered my daily money to AdWords. I was at $30.00 a day and I lowered it to $10.00 a day. I just couldn’t afford the monthly bill.

This is all so beyond me… and I thought I would be rich and famous long before this!

RYAN:

Hmmm… it’s hard to compare results. For instance, 5 orders out of how many visitors?

It may be that the new page is converting better. Two orders out of 112 visits is 1.79% conversion rate. Not great, but certainly not bad.

If we don’t know how many visitors it took to get five sales, then we don’t really have any basis for comparison.

It sounds like at the moment you have more of a traffic problem than a conversion problem. Although with a split-test, we may be able to improve the conversion rate a bit.

Ultimately, it’s not about how many sales you get… it’s about how many sales you can get at a profit.

It does you no good to get five sales worth $100 if it costs you $300 in advertising.

But if you can get two sales worth $30, and only spend $5 in advertising, that’s much better.

<–End Conversation –>

As you can see from our email exchange, my client slashed her daily AdWords budget from $30 to $10, which probably reduced her traffic by at least 66%. Assuming no change in conversion rate, this would automatically reduce the number of sales by 66% as well.

But with no “before” numbers available, it’s hard to say if there was an improvement or not. Based on the information she provided, the numbers seem to indicate the conversion rate actually went up.

The bottom line is this: my client expected a miracle. She got good copy instead.

Copy is a multiplier.

It is important to be realistic about what sales copy can and can’t do.

If you have a good source of quality traffic, a solid product, and a reasonable offer, then good sales copy can multiply the sales you get. Depending on your volume, an extra half point tacked onto your conversion rate could mean thousands of extra dollars a month.

But let’s look at the flip side. If you have only an okay source of mediocre traffic, an average product, and a weak offer, then good sales copy will not rescue the project. The copy might get you a few extra sales, but you won’t experience the breakthrough results you’re looking for.

There are too many other variables negatively affecting the project–variables that are, for the most part, completely outside the expertise of your average copywriter.

What is copy worth?

It all depends on where your business is. Copy isn’t worth much to a person who has no plan, no product, no marketing savvy. But copy that converts is worth a fortune to a business owner who has the other critical pieces in place: traffic, product, offer.

(Here I’m speaking of what the copy can actually do in terms of real results. It is entirely possible for a person without any business sense to overvalue copy. And it is possible for a person with a well-run business to undervalue copy as well.)

All is to say, copy is worth the most when all the variables are working together in harmony. Copy is worth less when those same variables are missing or out of synch with each other. Which, really, is just another way of reiterating my main point: copy is not a cure-all.

-Ryan M. Healy

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According to an experiment published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, just one act of self-control depletes your ability to have self-control in another unrelated area.

For example, when subjects were told not to eat chocolates sitting right in front of them, their persistence in puzzle-solving deteriorated. When they were told to suppress an emotional reaction to a movie, they had problems solving a solvable anagram [source 1, below].

This is the overwhelming reason why will power only works in the short-term. You only have the conscious resources to exhibit will power on one or two fronts at the same time.

This is also why it is so difficult to stay disciplined with eating right, exercising, goal-setting, and similar “uncomfortable” activities.

Any conscious self-regulatory strategy has unavoidable costs that deplete a person’s general resources for self-regulation [source 2, below].

Here’s good news…

While your conscious mind is only able to process approximately 50 bits of information a second, your unconscious mind processes approximately 11 million bits per second [source 3, below].

This means your unconscious mind processes information about 220 THOUSAND TIMES FASTER than your conscious mind.

Much of the time, your conscious mind is actually the bottleneck that stands between you and true change. This is because its main role is getting you through the day in the here and now AND setting long-term goals. (Researchers call this ”Executive Control.”)

So what’s the solution?

The trick is to have the triggers for your desired behaviors deeply embedded within…

Your unconscious mind.

For example, if your goal is weight control, you would naturally want your unconscious mind to automatically desire healthy green foods, water, smaller portions, exercise, etc… without having to think about it consciously.

If, on the other hand, your goal is to be more productive, you would want the habits of goal-setting, taking immediate action, and laser-like focus to be automatic.

If you have to consciously think about these actions all the time, you will exhaust your resources.

These are just two examples, but I think you get the picture.

This is one of the reasons why tools that help you develop unconscious (and positive) behavioral patterns…

Are so powerful.

The only method for making changes that bypass the conscious mind that is approved and validated by mainstream scientific organizations like the American Medical Association and the British Medical Association is hypnosis–and only when performed by a licensed health care provider (like a medical doctor or psychologist).

Get this… at the University of Iowa they are doing MRI studies where you actually see the brain following instructions under hypnosis.

People are actually shutting off the feelings of pain, and you can see the pain gateways in the brain being blocked…

All under hypnosis.

If you can control pain under hypnosis, you can certainly control the way you think about food, stress, and your personal productivity.

Hypnosis can stop stress-induced eating, pain, procrastination and more–but make sure you get the real thing.

Did you know that 99% of “Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists” do not even have a psychology degree or a license to practice mental health? Pretty scary.

More disturbing is that most hypnosis training requires only 150 hours to get a certificate.

To put this into perspective, most professional barbers have to take more than 1,000 hours of training. (150 hours is less than 4 full-time work weeks.)

You wouldn’t go to a mechanic with 150 hours of training, or even 500 hours of training… that would be crazy.

For hypnosis to work, you want the therapist to have an advanced degree in psychology (for a doctorate it is typically 4-7 years post undergraduate).

So, ultimately, you are looking at eight-thousand hours of training! Not to mention, at least one year of supervision afterward.

And that is before the hypnosis training!

Here’s the story.

A couple years ago, I was hired by a company whose whole philosophy is to bring you the real thing. They choose the best therapist for every issue for which they publish audio hypnosis programs. They more than meet the criteria above.

What’s more, they actually record their sessions so that people can listen to them at home. Many people find these to be very effective and affordable (including me).

I especially like and recommend their audio program that helps you to be consistently productive and master the art of…

Getting things done.

Anyway, I asked the publisher (The Hypnosis Network) if they would give my readers some type of discount on the programs and they came through.

So if you would like to accelerate your productivity without having to read another “how to” book, then I strongly recommend you get their program created by Dr. Neil Fiore:

==> http://www.DrNeilFiore.com (affiliate link)

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. By the way, I wrote the sales letter that promotes this audio program. I wrote it two years ago… and it’s still being used today. I have personally listened to the entire Productivity Engineering audio program and believe it’s a worthwhile investment for anybody who wants to program their subconscious mind to be productive.

P.P.S. Sources cited in the this article:

Source 1: RE Baumeister, E Bratslavsky, M Muraven, and DM Tice. “Ego Depletion: Is the Active Self a Limited Resource?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 74, 1998.

Source 2: Moraven, M., Tice, D. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998). “Self-control as a limited resource: Regulatory depletion pattern.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74. 774-789.

Source 3: Zimmerman, M. (1989). “The nervous system in the context of information theory.” In R. F. Schmidt & G. Thews (eds.), Human Physiology, pp. 166-173. Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag.

Here is the link again:

==> http://www.DrNeilFiore.com (affiliate link)

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Ben Settle left a tongue-in-cheek comment on my blog yesterday. He writes:

All I know is I’m getting a little impatient waiting for your “five on Friday” post. I’ve actually started looking forward to it and need my weekly “fix.”

So get your lazy butt off the couch Ryan, and gimme my five, baby!

Of course, I busted out laughing when I read this. Ben has a way with words, doesn’t he?

I told Ben that I would’ve posted a new issue of Five on Friday last week, but I simply hadn’t gathered enough posts to share with you. Not only have I been swamped with projects (which has cut into my leisure-reading time), but I just haven’t read much that has struck a chord with me.

The whole point of this feature is to share with you only the BEST stuff I read. I also try to find sources you might not encounter during your regular blog reading. That means I sometimes link to sites and posts outside the “good ol’ boys club” (if you get my drift).

So, without further ado, here are my five picks this week.

Tools, Time, & Attention - by Chris Crompton

This post is deceptively simple. But Chris makes an excellent observation: tools don’t automatically improve productivity. Why? Because you must first dedicate time to learning how to use that tool. Then you actually have to set aside time to use the tool.

This is a reason I hate any tool that comes with a lengthy instruction manual. If I can’t intuitively figure out how to use the tool in a few minutes, then it probably isn’t worth my time.

I believe the iPod has been successful largely because of its intuitive design. You spend very little time learning how to use it. If it were complicated, it wouldn’t have been nearly as successful.

Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Doing Poorly! - by Daniel Levis

I stumbled on this article doing research for a separate blog post. The article is so good, I simply had to share it with you. Daniel uses some great stories to illustrate his primary point, which is simply this: Don’t be a perfectionist, just take action.

My favorite part of the article is toward the end. Daniel writes:

The secret to success is to swing for the fences, and take multiple concurrent actions. Round up a big bunch of worthwhile projects, roll them up the highest hill you can find, push them over the crest, and run like hell to catch them on the other side.

I love this mental picture!

The Most Popular Layouts of the Top 20 Technorati Blogs - by Natalie

Wondering which blog layout you should go with? What color scheme to use? This post is very helpful. Pie charts and everything. A quick, easy, and worthwhile read.

The One Word That Helped My Blog Grow To 800+ Subscribers in 17 Weeks - by Christine O’Kelly

If there was one word that could multiply your active blog readers exponentially, would you want to know what that word is?

If you’re like me, the answer is “yes.”

If you blog, then you will want to read this post. It’s fairly long, but provides some in-depth material to digest. You might want to drop in on Christine’s blog once a week because that’s how often she posts. And her posts are quite good.

The Unsinkable Andi Emerson - by Ray Schultz

Ever heard of John Caples? Ever heard of the John Caples Awards? Andi Emerson started the Awards in 1978.

This article is a tribute to Andi; she died on Valentine’s Day. I had never heard of her before, but I enjoyed the stories about her life in the ad biz. Apparently, she used to edit Eugene Schwartz’s ad copy, and was friends with both John Caples and David Ogilvy.

While you won’t find practical advice in this article, it will probably give you some valuable things to think about.

Well, that about does it for this issue. Have a great weekend. I’ll “see” you next week.

-Ryan M. Healy

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One of the biggest benefits of being a copywriter is I get to learn while I earn. I learn something new from every single client I work with. This was especially true when I recently wrote a sales letter for Ed Oakley.

Ed is the co-author of two books: Enlightened Leadership and Leadership Made Simple. As part of my research, I began reading the latter of the two. Then, on page 27, I came across a “gold nugget” of insight.

Nothing redirects people’s thinking better than a well-phrased question.

This really struck a chord with me because of a few “coincidences” that all happened around the same time.

For one, I started using questions as post titles on my blog. Based on Alex King’s Popularity Contest plug-in, I’m able to see which posts are most popular. Currently, on this blog, my post titled “Eight Months to Write a Letter?” has been the most popular.

On another blog, the most popular post was a blog carnival I hosted (the people who participated in the carnival linked back to the post, which produced a lot of out-of-the-ordinary traffic).

But the second and third most popular posts both use questions as post titles. The second most popular post is “Are Cars Worth It?” and the third most popular post is “Should You Tithe When You’re Broke?”

And yet it seems using questions as blog post titles isn’t the only place they’ve been proven effective. They’ve also worked extremely well in direct response sales letters.

Examples from sales letters.

• One of the greatest copywriters of all time, Bill Jayme, is most famous for this headline that was used to promote Psychology Today magazine: “Do You Close the Bathroom Door Even When You’re the Only One Home?”

• And Gary Bencivenga got good mileage out of this famous headline phrased as a question: “Has This Man Really Discovered the Secret of Inevitable Wealth?” (Kudos to Ben Settle for digging this one up.)

• One of Maxwell Sackheim’s most famous headlines was for a space ad that advertised the Sherwin Cody School of English. The headline said: “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?” (Note: If you have the AWAI Hall of Fame book, you can read the entire ad on page 257.)

• Eugene Schwartz made his mark selling a unique type of rose plant that produced incredibly large quantities of blooms throughout the entire growing season. To sell this plant, he asked a poignant question: “Who Ever Heard of 17,000 Blooms from a Single Plant?”

• And perhaps the most imitated headline on the entire Internet was a question written by John Caples. It was originally to sell a laundry detergent: “Who Else Wants a Whiter Wash–with No Hard Work?”

The bottom line: questions
definitely work as headlines.

So, in light of all this proof, does it make sense to always phrase headlines as questions?

The answer, clearly, is no. I believe questions as headlines are some of the riskiest types of headlines you can write. Many times the question simply won’t be compelling enough to capture your readers’ interest. In most cases, you will be better off with a statement or promise of some kind.

But I also believe the right question used as a headline can have the biggest payoff. My recent experience has proved this to be true.

Recently, I conducted a headline split-test for an upcoming real estate conference. The headline that won by a long shot was a question: “Would You Like 2008 to Be the Year in Which You Build the Foundations for Long-Term Real Estate Wealth?”

(I actually thought this headline variation would lose the split-test. But the actual results proved otherwise.)

Anyway, the whole point of this article is this: Whenever you are brainstorming headlines for blog posts, sales letters, articles, etc., always consider headlines that are phrased as questions.

You may ultimately decide to go with a statement or promise, but occasionally you will happen upon a well-phrased question that outperforms all the other “normal” headlines you can possibly think of.

-Ryan M. Healy

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I’ve been blogging on at least a weekly basis since 2004. During that time, I’ve written hundreds of blog posts… and I’ve read even more.

One thing I’ve noticed is that most bloggers pay little attention to the quality of their writing. To simply publish another blog post is good enough.

It seems to me, in the “daily grind” of blogging, there is more emphasis placed on the quantity and frequency of posting than the quality of the posts themselves. Now, every time somebody has a “brain fart,” it seems they must share it with the world.

Two schools of thought

I’ve observed two different schools of thought when it comes to blogging.

One says to post no less than once per day, and sometimes more often than that. Following this model, you might need to crank out 8-12 blog posts per week.

Certainly, it is possible to blog this often, especially if you derive your entire income from blogging. But I’ve noticed that the quality of posts suffer from such frequent posting. I usually lose interest or pay less attention to blogs like this.

The second school of thought says to post only when you have something of value to say. This means you might post only once or twice or three times per week, but certainly not every single day.

This is much more achievable. Rather than write about every fleeting thought that crosses your mind, you must go deep with the best thoughts, ideas, and personal experiences you wish to share. As a result, you will post quality articles on a less frequent basis.

Are you delivering value
or demanding attention?

The person who posts once or more per day, seven days a week, demands an unreasonable amount of attention from his readers. It is like a person yelling into cyberspace: “See, I have lots of things to say! Look at how important I am!”

The person who posts on a less frequent basis (say 1-4 times per week) is talking in a normal voice. He commands attention based on the quality of his posts and the value of his content.

He does not need to “yell” to keep the attention of his audience. Rather, he attracts readers because he is focused on delivering value instead of demanding attention.

Which model is best?

Personally, I’ve tried both. And I like the second model better. I’m learning that I prefer to write a few quality posts every week rather than a pile of mediocre posts. In my opinion, less is more.

From observing other well-known bloggers, it seems the second model is also what is most effective over the long-term. I can think of a few examples right off the top of my head: Michel Fortin, Christine O’Kelly, Terry Dean, etc.

I personally believe that posting in-depth articles less frequently is better not only for me, but for my readers as well.

Why?

Because interruptions hurt productivity. The more I interrupt you from doing what is required for you to succeed, the less you get done.

Furthermore, too much information
can become counterproductive.

Can you really absorb and apply even 10 blog posts a week? Probably not. If my gut is correct, you’d be doing well to absorb and apply even one blog post a week.

In fact, I believe too-frequent blog posting can transform an ordinary blog reader into a human version of Pavlov’s dog.

Every time he gets a new blog post notification, he starts salivating because that’s what the blog author has trained his reader to do. And so the reader begins to redefine success by how many blog posts he reads instead of taking action to achieve his goals.

Does this mean the “more is better” model of blogging doesn’t work? No. For some bloggers it works just fine. I just personally find it’s not a good fit for me. Which, by the way, is one reason why I haven’t been posting as often lately.

So which blogging model do you prefer? What advantages and disadvantages have you personally observed?

-Ryan M. Healy

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Yesterday, I got a call from Lila Rajiva, the co-author (with Bill Bonner) of Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets. Apparently, one of the guys who’d commented on one of my previous posts had said some inaccurate things–so I happily agreed to remove his comment.

Maybe I’m just a book junkie, but I really enjoy getting to meet the authors of my favorite books. When you speak with an author, it adds a new dimension to the book.

I remember emailing Richard Koch after reading his 80/20 books. I told him how much I appreciated his work… and he replied! I love it when that happens.

Coincidentally, Amazon sent me a sale notice today saying that Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets is only $7.37 right now. That’s insanely cheap for a 432-page hard cover book. So I thought I’d mention it to you in case you’re interested in getting a copy.

For the record, I really enjoyed Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets. If you have any interest in finance, politics, or psychology, you’ll probably enjoy it just as much as I did.

Here’s the link to Amazon (not an affiliate link):

==> Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets by William Bonner & Lila Rajiva

-Ryan M. Healy

Popularity: 46% [?]

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Today I’d like to relate a real story from this past summer. It involves a client and three copywriters. And it goes something like this.

In July, I was contacted by a potential client who was planning to run a space ad in USA Today, a nationally distributed newspaper. The product being advertised had done well because of press coverage, and only a couple space ads had been run without tracking results.

In other words, there wasn’t a lot of historical information to go on. The ad would have to be cut from whole cloth.

Creating a space ad for USA Today
was new territory.

To get started, I reviewed the company’s previous ads, but nothing impressed me. The ads were dominated by a photo, and the headlines were weak. I felt the ad needed a complete overhaul.

With that in mind, I got to work. I felt fairly confident in my direction, especially since I had told the client during our phone conversation that I was a direct response copywriter, and that I specialized in writing ads that generate immediate response.

My first version was 841 words. Turns out, it was too much copy based on the size of the ad. The client hadn’t clearly communicated how much space they were buying, and I hadn’t clarified. So I had to cut the word count down.

This wasn’t a problem. Cutting copy is always easier (and faster) than adding copy. It only took me an hour or so.

The second version was much smaller. It had a word count of 521. So I submitted the revised ad for consideration.

I received a response from my primary contact based on the owner’s response: “He did not like the copy. He felt it was way too much information and wanted to change a few things.”

Of course, I was initially discouraged, but called to discuss what changes the client wanted. I never got very far.

That’s because client had actually hired three copywriters. All of us were writing (or designing) ads at the same time.

The client then simply chose
the one he liked best.

At that point I realized getting my ad published was basically a lost cause. It became clear to me the client was more interested in image-based advertising and visual appeal than conveying a strong sales message.

But then I also began thinking that my client’s method was a curious way to go about selecting an ad.

Normally, if a client hires two or three copywriters to write ads, the client will then pit the two “best” ads against each other to see which one wins. He will create a tracking mechanism to see which ad produces the strongest sales results.

Ultimately, this makes sense. After all, not one of us knows enough people in any given market to average up their desires. We really don’t know what appeal will bring the most returns. That is the purpose of testing in the first place.

But instead of testing, this particular client just picked the ad he personally liked the best. My ad lacked the branding and visual appeal my client wanted, so it quickly got the ax. Such is the life of a copywriter.

So what’s the lesson?

It is simply this: When selecting between two or more ads or sales messages, don’t select one based on your personal opinion, likes and dislikes. Rather, test at least two of them to see which one the market likes best.

Nothing proves the value of an ad more than real sales, made to real people, who’ve given you real money for what you’re selling.

-Ryan M. Healy

Popularity: 61% [?]

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Since I’ve begun this feature on my blog, it’s forced me to cover more ground in the blogosphere. I think this is a good thing. I read blogs throughout the week on a limited basis. Any posts that I particularly enjoy are saved in a text file for later. But when Friday rolls around, I end up “checking in” at my favorite blogs, especially if I haven’t had time during the week to visit.

And Friday is the day I have to make the decision: Which posts will be included? Which will be omitted? Which will be passed on for consideration in the following week?

You see, I made the decision to limit each issue to featuring five posts only because more than that would be overwhelming. And more than that would diminish the value of my recommendations. What good is a so-called recommendation if there are so many posts you couldn’t possibly read them all?

With that in mind, here are my five favorite posts based on my reading this week.

Read Books - by James Brausch

I appreciated this post because I have a deep love for books. I read about 30-40 books a year. My reading is all over the map. Where some people get locked into one particular genre (like Fantasy or Romance or War History), I like to dip into all kinds of genres. Anything contrarian especially appeals to me. I believe books can give you a deeper understanding of people and the world around you than bite-sized media that tend to oversimplify and generalize. Take James’s advice: read books. (I’ll have more to say about this in a future post.)

Write Press Releases that Sizzle - by Ed Rivis

I’ve written a handful of press releases for both me and my clients. I’ve seen some spectacular results, and some wide variances between press releases. In this post, Ed sums up an experiment and shares the results of that experiment. He then directs you to a series of posts Terry Dean published this week about how to create winning press releases. My advice on this topic based on my experience: focus your energy on creating a great hook, and make keyword optimization secondary to your hook.

There IS a Word for Your Idea - by Barbara Ann Kipfer

In this post, Barbara makes an announcement. Dictionary.com now offers a new feature it’s calling the “reverse dictionary.” Have you ever had an idea, but couldn’t think of the exact word that described that idea? Well, now you can use the reverse dictionary to find that elusive word. If you write anything at all (blog posts, sales copy, etc.), then I suspect you’ll really appreciate this new resource.

Get More Links with This Often Overlooked Page - by Fred Black

The strategy Fred shares in this post is simple. You may even think it is too simple. But I think it is quite valid, and is probably as overlooked as he says it is. I’ve recently been thinking about this very topic, and had planned to write a blog post about it. Then I saw Fred’s post, so I decided to share it with you. I plan to create this “overlooked page” in the near future.

How a Pretty Face Can Push Visitors Away - by Bryan Eisenberg

How do pictures of faces affect conversions? In this post (from October 2007), Bryan examines the results of a few studies involving pictures of pretty faces. I thought this was particularly fascinating because it shows how something as simple as a picture can improve or suppress your response rates. Definitely worth reading if you have an online business or you write sales copy for yourself or clients. (Kudos to Brian Terry for bringing this article to my attention.)

That’s it for this week. I hope you enjoy the articles I’ve featured. If you have feedback or suggestions, please leave a comment below.

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More choice is better… right?

Wrong.

That’s the conclusion of Barry Schwartz in The Paradox of Choice.

Common sense says increased variety and more freedom of choice will make people happier. But studies show it does the exact opposite. It actually makes them unhappy.

Why is this?

It’s because if they make a decision, they will continually contemplate all the other choices they “sacrificed.” They will wonder if they would have been happier had they made a different decision.

This paradox of choice not only affects happiness; it affects the bottom line as well.

The rule is simple. The more choices you give a buyer, the less likely it will be that he will actually make a decision to buy.

Choices overwhelm people. Too many choices offered at once produce inaction.

In other words, if you give a person too many ways to say yes, you will make it easier for the person to say no. Making a decision is hard work. It’s emotionally taxing. The more choices and variables involved, the harder it becomes to decide.

Make choosing easy!

Instead of offering a bunch of choices, offer one choice only. The choice is to either buy or not buy. The prospect must then decide yes or no. That’s it!

In almost every case, you want to make the decision to purchase as easy and simple as possible.

Buy or not buy; call or not call; request more information or don’t.

Here’s a real-world example…

On Tuesday, a client sent me an email asking me to review a rough-draft postcard. She wanted to know my thoughts, specifically about a free bonus gift offer.

The card encouraged people to register for their choice of 10% off or a free report worth a similar amount. Here is how I responded:

Offering two options is complicated, both from a decision standpoint (”Which one do I want?”) and a fulfillment standpoint.

I’d suggest going with one or the other.

If you offer the report, put a value on it.

FREE Report
(a $49 value!)

The discount might stir up some complaints by people who register after the Early Bird deadline, but before receiving this discount. If they are on your list, they will want the discount too.

On the other hand, you can send the report to everybody who’s registered as an “unannounced bonus gift.” This will reduce refund requests and put the law of reciprocity in your favor.

Ultimately, I encouraged my client to offer both the 10% discount AND the free report. I also told her to use a deadline to get people to take immediate action.

What my client had originally suggested would have created an unnecessary choice for the buyer. It might have depressed the response rate or even caused customer service issues. Can you imagine, “I got the free report, but I didn’t like it. I would have preferred the 10% discount. Can you refund me the 10% instead?”

But by combining the bonus gifts, we simplify the buyer’s choice.

It’s either yes or no.

Furthermore, it’s either yes or no by a specific deadline. This is the kind of simplicity you want in all your advertisements and sales messages.

Does this mean you always give a person just one option? No, not necessarily.

As Michel Fortin has pointed out, you can get the fees you deserve by offering what he calls “Olympic Factor Pricing.” In other words, provide three different levels of service to accommodate people with varying budgets and needs.

This is critical when you are selling high ticket items, but less critical (I feel) when you’re selling products or services less than $100. If the price is low, offering multiple options only complicates a decision that doesn’t benefit from complication.

What Joe Sugarman says…

One time Joe Sugarman wrote a newspaper ad selling a watch. His client wanted to sell three styles in three different colors for a total of nine different watches. Joe wanted to only sell one watch: the men’s watch in black.

Joe and his client agreed to an A/B split-test. The results were surprising…

When both versions ran, the ad that featured only one men’s watch out-pulled the other version that featured nine models by a surprising 3 to 1 ratio. In short, for every watch we sold from the ad that featured the nine styles, we sold three in the other ad that showed just the one black watch. (Advertising Secrets of the Written Word, p. 162)

Even prior to this split-test, Joe had told his client, “…offering a customer too many choices [is] a dangerous thing to do.” (p. 161)

This only serves to illustrate the point I’m making. If you want to improve your sales, take away your buyer’s freedom by giving him fewer choices. Not only will he be happier, you’ll make more sales, more money, and more profit.

-Ryan M. Healy

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