Entries Tagged 'Business' ↓

John “Angel” Anghelache and I wanted to offer you yet another strategy for generating leads for your copywriting business (or any business for that matter).

Why?

Because after releasing Video #3 and #4, we had some objections. Stuff like, “Well, of course that strategy works for you, but it would never work for me!”

So John whipped up this report in response to those objections. He titled it, “How to Flood Your Business With Even More Copywriting Prospects.”

Now, before you write this headline off as “hype,” I encourage you to read the report. (At 4 pages, it’s a quick read.)

I’m confident that anybody who applies this strategy in the right newspaper or magazine WILL be flooded with prospects.

So… apply this strategy at your own risk, okay?

Here’s the link to grab the report:

==> http://www.copywritingcode.com/lessons/flood.pdf

My Best,

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. If you think of someone who could benefit from this lead generation strategy, please forward the PDF to him or her. Thanks!

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In late May, I went on a three-day cycling trip in southern Colorado. I got to see some amazing places, including Pagosa Springs, Wolf Creek Pass, La Veta, Cuchara, and even Chama, New Mexico.

As I was grinding my way up steep mountain passes, I had a lot of time to think. And I began comparing marketing to bicycling. Here are some of the lessons I learned.

Hitting the Road: Kevin, Rick, Bruce & I get ready
to drive to southern Colorado.

Lesson #1: Consistency Is Key

Question: How do you climb more than 14,000 vertical feet in 3 days on a bicycle?

Answer: One pedal rotation at a time.

It really is that simple. You just grind it out. Set your sights on an object you can see in the distance and commit to pedaling until you get there.

After you’ve achieved that mini-goal, pick another object you can see. Keep pedaling until you get there. Next thing you know, you’ve eaten up miles of road almost without realizing it.

It’s the same way with marketing.

Marketing is not an event. It is a process. And so the spoils of marketing go to those with endurance. You have to consistently take action over time to see results.

The Pay-Off: Kevin & me at the top of Cuchara Pass.

Lesson #2: You’ve Got to Work Hard for the Pay-Off

When you’re climbing up a mountain pass, it’s hard work. Sometimes you might be going uphill for 1-2 hours straight without a single downhill section.

But when you get the top, what an awesome feeling that is!

I remember back in 2001 when I did The Triple Bypass. After climbing Squaw Pass, Loveland Pass, and Vail Pass, I got to enjoy more than 20 miles of downhill into the small town of Avon.

But I had to go 100 miles before I reached the “pay off.”

It’s the same in marketing. You’ve got to work at it. You’ll have moments when you’re coasting and moments when you’ve got to put your nose to the grindstone. But if you stick with it and focus on doing what works, you’ll eventually experience that “pay off” moment.

Cottage in the Trees: Ahh, peace and quiet.

Lesson #3: Take Time to Rest

Day 1: 46 miles

Day 2: 63 miles

Day 3: 37 miles

The only way you can have the strength to keep going when you’re logging miles like this is to make sure your body has sufficient rest.

After each day of riding (especially Day 2), I was exhausted. All I wanted was to sit and eat. So that’s what I did. Lots of sitting and lots of eating. And, of course, some good conversation to pass the time.

Each night my body began to shut down about 9 p.m. I got to bed early and allowed my body to recover before the next day of riding.

Marketers need “down time” too. You can’t stay plugged in 24/7. It kills your creativity, your passion, and your drive to get things done.

Just like your body, your brain needs rest. It needs time to digest information and clear out the tangle of information strung up in your gray matter.

Unfortunately, with Twitter and iPhones and WiFi, it’s hard to get away.

But you’ve got to get away.

So be deliberate about unplugging from the grid. Give yourself structured down time… and watch your creativity, focus, and productivity soar.

-Ryan M. Healy

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During my career as a freelance copywriter, I’ve encountered a few exceptional negotiators and a handful of con men.

How do you spot a con man? First, it helps to know the definition.

According to Princeton’s WordNet, con man is short for “Confidence Man: a swindler who exploits the confidence of his victim.”

With that in mind, here are three traits to watch out for.

Flattery

This is the first and foremost thing to look out for. A compliment is normal. Flattery is not.

Whenever somebody flatters me, I watch my wallet. Flattery is normally a prelude to an unusual or out-of-the-ordinary request.

The psychology works like this:

Flattery makes you feel all puffed up and great about yourself. But this is a set up so you’ll agree more easily to whatever request comes next.

You are more likely to make a bad decision when you are feeling overconfident. Flattery is an easy way to build your confidence.

“…a flattering mouth works ruin.” Proverbs 26:28

Bragging

A person who brags is not necessarily a con man; he could just be insecure.

It’s the type of bragging that matters.

Some people brag about how good they are at a specific skill. This is your garden variety braggart, relatively harmless.

Others brag about their good character or how much money they give to their church, poor people, etc. This is your con man variety of braggart.

It is designed to get you to lower your guard… to get you thinking about what a good person it is you’re dealing with. Next thing you know, the con-man lowers the boom.

Watch out for people who brag about their good character.

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.” Matthew 6:3,4

Unrealistic Promises

A common negotiating tactic is to build neediness in the other party.

For instance, a potential client might tell you that there’s “huge” potential, and that you could make “tens of thousands of dollars.”

He’s building your confidence to the point where you believe this future pay-off will really happen.

The next thing he’ll do is ask you to work for free for an indeterminate amount of time. If you believe the vision he’s painted, you might agree to unreasonable terms, work hard for months… then never see a single cent.

“Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give.” Proverbs 25:14

Safeguard Yourself

A con man uses all kinds of techniques to build your confidence in yourself and in him. Once your confidence is high enough, you’re in a vulnerable position. That’s how you get conned.

Ask yourself: “Am I feeling overly confident? Why?”

Ask yourself: “Why is this person flattering me? Why is he telling me all about his good deeds? Why is he promising me a huge pay-off somewhere down the road?”

Answer these questions. Be honest with yourself. Don’t be taken in.

-Ryan M. Healy

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Regular reader Carolyn Permentier writes:

Have you heard/read any studies/thoughts on pricing?

I mean, I know $97 is better, as is $67, apparently, so do we know that ending with the number 7 works better?

When we get up in the 200 thru 900… any rule there?

Thanks for your input!

Here’s my response:

There are all kinds of opinions.

I’m not big on ending in the number 7.

Just test it and see what works best.

Major psychological price thresholds are (generally speaking) $50, $100, $500, and $1,000.

So $49, $99, $499, and $999 are good starting price points.

Whether you end the price in a 5, 7, or 9 is mostly irrelevant, although worth testing.

Also worth noting: Price plays a huge role in conversion. Some say it is the most overlooked opportunity to boost conversion rates. It also happens to be one of the harder elements of a letter to test.

(I have not yet gotten to the level of price testing, although I’ve read quite a bit on the subject.)

If you have an opinion or test result you’d like to share, please chime in by leaving a comment. Thanks!

-Ryan M. Healy

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Back in September, I wrote about Lifelock and how their advertising is brilliant.

But ever since then, I’ve had my doubts about the company. And my research (which has taken quite some time) has turned up some interesting details.

Let me back up for a second. The whole reason I started doubting the company’s business practices in the first place was because of some comments left on my old copywriting blog.

A commenter dubbed ID Thief wrote, “Oh, and that SS number is not really issued to a Todd Davis. Its a phony number set up with the DOJ to try to catch stupid people. Five minutes online could have told you that.”

Then an anonymous commenter wrote: “Hello, my name is Butthead and my social security number is [457-55-5462]. Looks real enough? Any real businessman knows to NEVER use your own product… and that a lie works as easy as the truth.”

These comments alone caused me some concern over Lifelock’s advertising, but then the Long Island Sleuth showed up and wrote this:

Powerful ad, yes. Truthful, very doubtful.

For fifteen years I was a criminal investigator for NY State and we were trained in spotting phony Social Security numbers as the majority of our fraud investigations were in Unemployment Insurance.

Now, unless the Social Security people have changed the rules since I was employed in the field, this SS # does not exist in their system. Their rules are that you cannot have an odd number in the middle two numbers unless the first digit is zero, ergo, having the middle numbers of his SS # as 55 is impossible.

If that is still true, then the FTC ought to go after this guy for false advertising. Besides, I don’t care how secure his system is, no one in his right mind would broadcast his real SS# to the world.

So I couldn’t help myself. I had to discover whether Todd Davis’s SSN (as advertised) was real or not.

Now, I did find a few sources confirming that the two middle digits of a SSN must be even numbers, but my SSN uses one even and one odd number (and the first of the two numbers isn’t zero). So this rule may have been true in the past, but doesn’t seem to be true today.

Nevertheless, Joe R. claims the Todd Davis SSN is fake. He writes on Yahoo Answers:

I work for a company and can run a “social search,” and that social belongs to several different people, not one of them Todd Davis. In essence, the social is fake and several people have been reported using it. It makes me question LifeLock as a company.

Again, I wouldn’t bank on this source 100%, but it certainly makes me wonder.

But it gets worse. Because earlier this year, Experian filed a lawsuit against LifeLock. The Union (a Nevada news source) writes:

Lifelock has at least one major detractor. Credit reporting agency Experian has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, accusing Lifelock of fraud, unfair business practices and violations of federal law.

Furthermore, Robert Maynard, Jr., one of Lifelock’s founding partners, has filed bankruptcy multiple times, committed identity theft against his own father, and been caught in lies about his past. You can verify these claims in this excellent article by Phoenix New Times reporter Ray Stern:

==> What Happened in Vegas: An In-Depth Look at Robert Maynard, Jr. and Lifelock

Although Maynard, Jr., supposedly resigned from Lifelock a year ago amidst this controversy, he is still a part-owner in the company and still handles the marketing. Wired Magazine reports:

[Todd] Davis acknowledged that Maynard, Jr., still owns 10 percent equity in LifeLock and that he is launching a marketing company. When asked if Maynard will work as a contractor for LifeLock doing the same marketing work he was until now doing as a staff member, Davis said yes.

Hmmm… So is Lifelock advertising a fake SSN or not? Better yet, should the company be trusted?

After doing a lot of digging, I’d say Lifelock’s business practices are, at best, suspect. Possibly even outright deceptive.

What’s your opinion? If you have any more evidence, would you mind leaving a comment below? Thanks.

-Ryan M. Healy

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I mailed all the books today.

Here are some numbers I thought you might find interesting.

Total sales: 85 (34 within the U.S. and 51 international)

Total cost of postage: $583.60

Total conversion rate: 22%

That number comes from this calculation: 85 sales / 385 unique visitors to my blog during the promotion = 22% conversion rate.

The conversion rate may actually have been better than reported since not all unique visitors would have seen the promotion.

Note to customers: If for some strange reason you don’t receive your book within the next 10-14 days, please email me. My email address is underneath my photo on the right side of this page. Thanks.

-Ryan M. Healy

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This morning I woke up to a nice surprise.

Ed Rivis shared my book promotion with his blog readers while I was sleeping… and entrepreneurs from across the pond turned out in spades!

Turns out, Ed once slipped a couple discs in his back, so he felt obliged to support my “Save a Back” campaign.

If you don’t know who Ed is, you ought to spend some time reading his blog. Here’s a link:

==> Web Marketing Strategy for Small Business Success

In the mean time, I’d like to give you…

Another FREE Gift

A few weeks ago, Ben Settle interviewed me about how to fill seminars. Or “put butts in seats,” as it’s commonly said. He recently posted the interview on his web site.

The interview is only 25:16, but packed with tips you can use immediately to get more seminar attendees. You don’t even have to opt-in to get it. Just click the link below…

==> How to Fill Seminars: Free Audio Download

-Ryan M. Healy

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Well, today is my birthday. And as you might already know, today is also the last chance you have to get a copy of Million Dollar Marketing Secrets for $7.

This is a real book. It is printed on real paper. And it’s even sent using real postal mail.

Today’s message might persuade you to buy a book or it might just make you laugh. If either scenario happens, I have succeeded.

You see, as I mentioned in the first post announcing this “giveaway,” I have 14 boxes of books. Each box contains 32 books and weighs 24 pounds. Two boxes stacked on top of each other is 48 pounds.

At the end of September, I’ll be moving again. And I’d really prefer to move as few of these boxes of books as possible. As you can see from the picture my wife took this morning, lifting boxes of books can be really hard on your back. (Yes, those are my pajamas.)

So here’s my totally selfish appeal today. Save a back: buy a book. It’s kinda catchy, isn’t it?

Anyway, if you’re interested, you’ve got about 24 hours left. You can read all the details of this offer in my original post.

==> My Birthday Is This Week — Here’s a Gift for You

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. If you’ve already taken advantage of this offer, thank you! I will be mailing your book on Monday.

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[Note: This Offer Is Now Closed. Thanks!]

So my birthday is this Thursday, May 8. I’m a bit secretive about my age, although I haven’t gone out of my way to hide it. (Some folks know how old I am, but they almost never guess right the first time.)

Ever since about age 16, birthdays haven’t really been a big deal to me. When my wife asks me what I want, I have a really hard time coming up with anything.

I’m the kind of guy who depends on his wife to tell him when he should stop wearing something… because it’s out of fashion or falling apart. I also rely on her to force me to go clothes-shopping, which is one of my least favorite activities I could possibly imagine.

Anyway, I have more fun copywriting and serving people than I do receiving gifts. Which is why I want to give you a gift this week.

My Birthday Gift to You

Here’s the situation. I partnered up with JP Maroney a couple years ago on a book project. I was one of 22 different authors. We each submitted a chapter to the book.

The title of the book is Million Dollar Marketing Secrets. Some of the authors include Clayton Makepeace (he wrote an excellent chapter), Tom Antion, Michel Fortin, Ray Edwards, Alan Forrest Smith, and (of course) yours truly.

The book is packed with dozens of marketing tips and strategies. Here’s a sample of what’s included in the book:

• How to Harness the Power of Testimonials to Increase Sales.

• 7 Keys to Making a Fortune Using Radio Advertising.

• How to Get Prospects to Close Themselves.

• 5 Steps to Connect Product Benefits with Prospects’ Most Powerful Response-Boosting Emotions.

• How to Create Windfall Business Profits with the Power of Leverage.

• How One Transaction Can Make You Independently Wealthy for Life.

• Plus 16 more chapters I haven’t yet mentioned!

And because it’s my birthday this week, I’d like to give you a copy of this book for only $7.

Why So Little? And Why Now?

Since this was a group self-publishing effort, most of the co-authors paid money to create the book. I bought 500 copies at $3 each. Do the math. That’s $1,500 for 500 books.

Plus, I paid around $250 in shipping to have the books delivered to my house.

So far, I’ve used the books primarily as incentives. For instance, last summer, I gave away a free copy to the first few buyers of my report on how to get copywriting clients. And I’ve given copies to close friends and family members.

But I still have a LOT of these books left.

And I’ll be moving again at the end of September. So I really would prefer not to move these books again.

That’s why, in celebration of my birthday, I will give you a copy of my book for only $7. That includes shipping.

Considering that I’ve already spent $3 for each book, that’s a pretty good deal.

The only catch is that this offer will end first thing Friday morning (5/9/08) when I wake up. (My birthday is on Thursday, May 8.) So that means you have between now and early Friday morning to order.

I Have at Least 448 Copies Left!

As you can see in the picture, I’ve got 14 unopened boxes of books. Each carton contains 32 books. So I have a minimum of 448 copies left.

I doubt I’ll sell that many, but now you can see why I’d rather “give” them away now than haul them to a new house later this year.

Plus, it’s a nice perk for you. If you’re like me, you love books. And anytime I can get a quality marketing book for less than ten bucks, I’m all over it.

Heck, the chapter Clayton Makepeace wrote is worth $7 all by itself!

So Here’s How to Order

Just click the handy-dandy PayPal button below to pay $7 for the book. And MAKE SURE your address is correct. Because that is the address I will mail your book to.

International Customers: If you live in Canada or anywhere in the U.K., you can take advantage of this offer, too. No extra charge. (If you do not live in the U.S., Canada, or the U.K. and would like to order, please leave a comment below and I’ll get in touch with you privately.)

Canadian Customers: If you are a Canadian customer, I will mark your package as a “gift” so you don’t have to pay GST. (After all, this is a gift from me to you. I’m only asking you to chip in to help cover my “hard costs.”)

Alright, enough of my yammering. Here’s the PayPal Order Button.

[This Offer Is Now Closed. Thanks.]

My Best,

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Remember, the deadline for this offer is Friday morning, May 9, 2008. I will be packing all book orders this weekend and mailing them out on Monday morning (5/12).

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Today, the VeriChip Corporation launches their first direct-to-consumer marketing campaign for human-implantable passive RFID chips.

The identification system has been dubbed “Health Link” because its purpose is to store patients’ health and medical information and provide an “information bridge” between patients and hospitals.

When a patient becomes unconscious or is unable to communicate, emergency room doctors and nurses can instantly access private health data by scanning the Health Link RFID chip implanted in your arm.

Although the cost of Health Link is not mentioned in this press release, the use of the word “subscribers” indicates the business model will operate on some kind of subscription basis.

Questions:

1. Would you personally promote or market this product to the public?

2. Would you subscribe to this service as a consumer?

3. Why or why not?

Please leave a comment below. Thanks!

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Interesting that the VeriChip is headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida… the same place where AWAI is based.

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