If you’ve ever doubted the power of “secrets” in selling, then you absolutely MUST watch these 25-year-old TV commercials.

TV Commercial #1: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

“Secret Powers Were Revealed to Me!” – “Only Three Others Share This Secret…”

TV Commercial #2: She-Ra, Princess of Power

“Fabulous Secrets Were Revealed to Me!” – “Only a Few Others Share This Secret…”

TV Commercial #3: Sweet Secrets

“How Come You Look So Good?” – “It’s My Sweet Secret!”

Everybody wants to have secrets, know secrets, and discover secrets.

Even kids.

Even 25 years ago.

What secrets do you know that you can use to better market your product or service?

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Note, too, how the creators of He-Man swiped their own commercial to market She-Ra to the young girls’ market. It’s virtually the same copy and format with a few minor differences in word choice.

As a list owner, I feel a certain responsibility to you, my dear reader. Therefore, it’s my goal to provide you with rich content mixed with occasional offers for products and services that may benefit you.

Obviously, if I endorse somebody else’s product or service as an affiliate, then that means I’ve either purchased the product myself (or at least gotten a review copy) and found it exceptional enough to endorse.

And, in fact, many of the products I endorse on my blog and via email are products I’ve purchased and continue to use to this day.

Now, what if I formed a mastermind group with my competitors and we all got together and decided that we would promote each other’s products every time, without fail, no matter what?

Don’t you think that would diminish the value of the endorsement?

Of course it would.

Why Endorsements Work

A genuine endorsement is the use of your reputation to build trust for a product, service, or person who might not have been trusted as quickly otherwise.

For instance, you don’t know Adam. But you’ve known Brian for many years and you’d trust him with your life. Brian says, “You’ve got to listen to Adam. He’s brilliant.”

Now Adam has risen in stature and importance because of Brian’s endorsement.

But if you discovered Adam was paying Brian for the endorsement, it wouldn’t mean as much. And if Brian had agreed to endorse Adam no matter what — even if he began doing unethical or illegal things — then that would REALLY be suspect.

Now let’s look at a real-world example…

Exposing the Syndicate

Let’s say twelve Internet marketing guys get together. They all agree to promote each other’s products no matter what.

Furthermore, they all agree to promote just one guy’s product each month during the next 12 months. They all promote Product #1 in Month #1, Product #2 in Month #2, and so forth. This way each guy has the full endorsement of the rest of the group during his particular promotion.

If I was a part of this group, that would mean I’d have to promote 11 products as an affiliate, one product per month, based on a predetermined schedule. In exchange, the other 11 guys would then promote MY product during one of the 12 months when it was my turn to be promoted.

The catch? I absolutely MUST promote all 11 products… without regard for the quality of the products or the integrity of the creators of those products. In other words, my endorsement is guaranteed and cannot be negotiated or revoked.

Sound a bit fishy?

That’s because it is.

Here’s the pattern that emerges as illustrated by Alexa traffic rankings (hat tip to Salty Droid for coming up with this idea)…

The Proper Role of a Teacher, Blogger, or Publisher

Part of the role of a teacher, blogger, or publisher is to provide information that helps your readers reach their goals while filtering out irrelevant offers and reducing the signal-to-noise ratio.

Obviously, if a teacher has agreed in advance to wholesale endorse and promote products that don’t even exist yet, then you can be sure he’s not doing a good job of fulfilling his role.

The truth is, there are many reasons to NOT promote another person’s product or service.

• Product/service not up to your standards.
• Product has not been created yet and cannot be evaluated.
• Reputation of product creator is questionable and/or dubious.
• And the biggest reason of all…
  The product/service is not a good fit for your list!

Remember: If you publish information or are responsible for providing guidance to a list of subscribers, then you need to always have their best interests in mind. You need to be thinking about how to best help them… and protect them.

But if you are part of an organized group of competitors who’ve pledged to promote each other, you simply can’t do what’s best for your readers.

What happens if I (as a member of the group) don’t feel like one of the products is worth promoting? Or what if one of the members of the group gets involved in some shady business dealings? What then?

The answer is… I can’t really do anything unless I want to risk losing my position in the group — and missing out on the windfall I’d receive from the promotion and endorsement of the group.

The Syndicate Is Real

It probably comes as no surprise to you that within the Internet marketing community, such a group exists. They call themselves “The Syndicate.” And industry insider Ray Edwards says they actively plot and scheme how to take your money.

There is a very real conspiracy to extract as much money from you as possible.

Right now, as I write this, there is a group of “gurus” sitting in a circle in some hotel suite.

Each one of them is talking about their own version of Method X, and how he plans to sell it to the masses.

And they are all agreeing to promote one another’s Method X….

…and that’s why you keep getting email after email from the same group of people promoting one another.

Kinda creepy, isn’t it?

But this is what happens behind closed doors.

Backlash from the Product Launch Machine

If you’ve been trying to make money on the Internet for any length of time, you’ve probably gotten sucked into the orchestrated promotional efforts of the product launch machine.

At first, it feels exciting to be a part of these virtual events. But it doesn’t take long for the launch buzz to begin to feel like a drain on your attention, your focus, and your wallet.

In some cases, this feeling leads to public outcry. For instance, after the StomperNet launch, Rick Butts advised his list to unsubscribe from anybody who promoted StomperNet.

And when Michel Fortin announced that he was unsubscribing from lists by the hundreds and purging his way to email freedom, there was a chorus of support and agreement.

Let me be clear: I’m not against selling, advertising, affiliate marketing, or even product launches. I think they are legitimate ways to sell under the right circumstances.

But I am against phony endorsements, disingenuous recommendations to buy, and syndicates designed to defraud.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. What’s your take on all this? Leave a comment and let me know.

Cash flow problems are bad enough in a good economy. But they can be the kiss of death in a bad economy.

So if the recession has you scrambling to come up with money to pay your bills on time, then these four ways to cure cash flow problems quickly should come in handy.

1. Eliminate Unnecessary Business Expenses

Pull out your bank statements. Pull out your credit card statements. What expenses do you notice?

For the biggest return on investment, look for recurring monthly expenses you can cut.

There are often multiple business tool subscriptions, newsletter subscriptions, and software subscriptions in every business.

And probably 5% to 15% of these are no longer being used or serving their original purpose. Identify those and cancel them immediately.

This little exercise alone can increase your cash flow and save you a few thousand dollars a year.

Another easy way to cut costs is to replace expensive services with cheaper services. For instance, replace your land line phone with a paid Skype account. Or find a free open source solution to replace a paid solution.

Once you start researching, you’ll be amazed by how many good, affordable services are available to you. (Just ask your social network if you need help getting started.)

2. Invoice Faster, Pay Bills Slower

When cash is flowing out faster than it’s coming in, you have to do whatever you can to reverse the trend. Because ultimately you want the cash flowing out slower than it’s coming in.

One easy way to do this is to collect on invoices faster, then “float” your money.

So, for instance:

If you normally invoice on Net 30 terms, see if you can get your clients to pay sooner. Give them a small discount for paying the full amount up front or within a shorter time frame, say 14 days.

The faster you get paid, the better your cash flow will be.

The second step of the process is to keep your money as long as possible. So that means you will want to try to delay paying your vendors.

You can ask for terms or ask for an extension on a specific invoice. Or if you’d rather not negotiate with vendors, you might try paying with a credit card.

By paying with a credit card, you will automatically have an extra 25-30 days to pay. (Just make sure you have enough cash to pay off the balance at the end of the billing cycle.)

3. Outsource Tasks that Are Not the Highest and Best Use of Your Time

If you’re doing data entry when you could be doing work valued at $1,000 an hour, then that’s contributing to your cash flow problems.

You will never have time to work on your business if you’re always stuck doing menial work in your business.

You need to focus all of your time on doing things that maximize the monetary value of your skills. Any task that falls outside of your highest-value skill set should be outsourced to a reliable freelance worker.

For instance, if you’re a solo entrepreneur, you might hire a Virtual Assistant (VA) to take care of some of the mundane and tedious tasks you have to do on a regular basis.

Or you might contract with a company to screen phone calls, take messages, and book appointments. This alone could conservatively save a couple hours a week — freeing you up to do the things that generate more revenue and more profit.

4. Don’t Let a Good Month Ruin Your Cash Flow

If you’ve ever had a really good month in business, then you know how exhilarating it can be. You know how tempting it can be to go out and buy that expensive thing you’ve been lusting for.

Here’s a piece of advice: Don’t buy that thing.

Keep your emotions in check.

Set aside some cash when times are good so you can easily weather the bad months that may (or may not) happen in the future.

Unfortunately, this advice is not usually followed. Just look at the guys running big product launches. The influx of money causes them to do stupid things… like buy six-figure luxury sports cars and 10,000 square foot bachelor pads.

This is a huge mistake.

Because one good month does not a good year make. Past performance is no guarantee of future earnings. The economic conditions of today are not the economic conditions of tomorrow. Etc, etc, etc.

If you become financially over-committed in your personal life, it can very quickly bring down your business.

The most successful business men (and women) I’ve met are those who are willing to forgo a lavish lifestyle so they can make wise investments and keep their businesses running smoothly.

Some of the most wealthy are also the most frugal.

It’s the entrepreneurs who run lean operations — even when the cash flow is good — that survive tough times and achieve longevity in their respective markets.

Follow these four business optimization strategies… be intentional about implementing them in your business… and you’ll cure your cash flow problems quickly.

-Ryan M. Healy

Listen to This Blog Post:

On page 110 of How to Make Your Advertising Make Money, John Caples writes:

Techniques change, but basic sales appeals go on forever. Therefore, when you are searching for an idea to sell your product or service, don’t forget to review the ideas that have been successful in the past.

I’ve gotten some great ideas from reading proven ads and sales letters. Sometimes it’s just a small copy idea. Other times it’s a headline or subhead. Still others, a sidebar or scarcity play.

Just remember: It does you very little good to review (and recycle) the same three or four or five ads over and over again. You need to be continually inspired by fresh material.

Click here to learn more about Swipe Files.

-Ryan M. Healy

After a few Belgian beers at The Cheeky Monk, my friend Chad and I began to talk about economics.

As we discussed the source and nature of money, we began to zero in on the idea of value. What is value? How is it created? Where does it come from?

Initially, I argued that value is created by humans: a combination of physical labor and intellectual capital. But it turns out, my definition was incomplete.

And, as Chad and I argued our individual points of view, I quickly discovered that defining value is actually a bit harder than I initially expected.

How True Value Is Created

Raw materials — like wood, metal, and even human labor — are created by God. God has given us time, natural resources, bodies, and brains, which we can then translate into all sorts of services and products.

As Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth.”

But does the act of creating something automatically create value? Not necessarily.

If I create a product that nobody wants and is never used, I have not created true value, rather only latent value. And if that latent value is never realized, then my investment of time and effort has been a waste.

For true value to be created, there has to be demand on the other side of the equation. At the moment when latent value meets demand, true value is created.

Of course, there is an additional ingredient in this equation. Because how else can latent value and demand connect except through advertising?

Anybody can create true value by:

1. Identifying demand.
2. Using their God-given abilities to meet the demand with a product or service.
3. Advertising the product or service they’ve created.

What Appears as Value Is Not Always True Value

Any discussion of value wouldn’t be complete without at least touching on the broader societal implications.

For instance, a man may demand a gun to murder somebody with, and another man may manufacture that gun. When the exchange is made, value has only been created on a purely economic level.

The use of the gun to murder does not create value at all, and in fact harms society as whole.

Ultimately, true value can only be realized when the products and services being exchanged are moral in nature and are used in compliance with the law. Otherwise, there is only an illusion of value.

These are my thoughts on the nature and creation of value. If you have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment below.

-Ryan M. Healy

Last week I received an email from a concerned blog reader. He writes:

Hey Ryan,

How do you reconcile Ryan Healy’s core value of honest copy with the _________ persona? Don’t get me wrong, I understand the concept of pen and stage names, but am not aware of a marketing equivalent.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

P.W.

So, are pen names ethical? And can they be used in a marketing context?

I think so.

In fact, every freelance copywriter is a ghost writer. The sales letters I write for clients are never published under my name. They are always published under the client’s name or a persona that the client has created.

So, in a sense, every successful freelance copywriter already has dozens of pen names.

But what if you want to start a new business and use a pen name? I think this is fine, too. There is no overt deception going on. The name you use doesn’t change the content or truthfulness of your copy.

Personally, I’ve chosen to use a nom de plume for a new info-publishing business. The pen name will help avoid confusion with my primary business: copywriting.

But while I’m using a different name, I’m not going to great lengths to hide my identity either. I registered the domain in my own name. I’ve even got pictures of me on the site.

The only difference is the focus of the business and the name I’ve chosen to use.

Of course, there are dozens of examples of pen names in the literary world. The average person doesn’t know that Mark Twain was a pseudonym used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Even well-educated people don’t know that George Orwell was a pseudonym used by Eric Blair.

But is there any kind of precedent in the marketing world today? Absolutely!

Take for instance David DeAngelo, the persona created by Eben Pagan to market his Double Your Dating products.

And then there’s James Chartrand of the popular blog Men with Pens. James recently revealed that he is not a man. He is a woman.

Just as Mary Ann Evans published her writing as George Eliot to overcome the bias against women, so James Chartrand is the pseudonym that an unnamed woman uses in the copywriting world. (When James revealed the truth on Copyblogger, it set off a firestorm of discussion: 531 comments, 2396 tweets, and 1689 Facebook “likes.”)

As James reveals in her story, she chose a male pen name as an experiment and found that she suddenly began to collect better fees. The rest, as they say, is history.

Personally, I decided to use a pen name to avoid confusion between my different web sites and businesses. And to create a brand that could be sold later if the opportunity ever came up. (It’s hard to sell a business that bears your own name.)

Anyway, I realize that the subject of pen names in business can sometimes be controversial and not everybody will agree as to how, when, and why they should be used. What do you think?

-Ryan M. Healy

When it comes to business, size matters.

If you’re a small business — or solopreneur — you have a distinct disadvantage over big corporations.

There are the obvious disparities. Corporations have deeper pockets, bigger ad budgets, greater economies of scale.

But the biggest advantage of all is the political leverage big corporations have that small businesses don’t.

This political leverage can be used to crush competitors. All it takes is the flick of the pen by a Congressman who’s caved into lobbyist pressure.

Here’s how one author puts it in his article No Jobs:

You see, the truth is that over the past several decades the game has become dramatically stacked in favor of large businesses. Big corporations have the money to lobby Congress and other governmental institutions, they get almost all the tax breaks and they are the only ones who get bailouts. They even “help” write legislation on the federal level.

Many times large corporations will even lobby for more regulations for their own industry because they know that they can handle all of the rules and paperwork far easier than their smaller competitors can. After all, a large corporation with an accounting department can easily handle filling out a few thousand more forms, but for a small business with only a handful of employees that kind of paperwork is a major logistical nightmare.

For proof, look no further than the proposed tax increases that would target individual service providers — but not corporations with more than three shareholders!

Although I haven’t researched it, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the new law had been encouraged in part by corporations trying to “stick it” to their more nimble competitors.

But big corporations don’t always go after small business. Believe it or not, UPS is currently trying to get a law passed designed to hurt their biggest competitor — FedEx. Check out this quick video…

The bottom line is this:

No business should be able to use the long arm of the federal government to club their competitors. It should be illegal for any business to get special advantages from the government.

Giving businesses the ability to lobby the federal government encourages bureaucracy, bribery, and all kinds of high-level shenanigans — none of which actually improves the business itself or makes it more competitive.

If big businesses focused on continuous improvement rather than gaining unfair legal advantages, we’d ALL be better off, consumers and small business owners alike.

What do you think?

-Ryan M. Healy

Unlike my copywriting colleague, Ben Settle, I actually did respond to a Netflix ad.

That was a few years ago now.

At the time, they were doing a bunch of print advertising. Mostly blow-ins included with the grocery store flyers delivered by mail once a week.

Those little ads were brilliant. They demonstrated — in print form — how easy it was to use Netflix. Three steps: Sign up, add movies to your queue, get movies in the mail!

Seemed like a brilliant idea to me, so I signed up.

But Ben now reports that Netflix is running some pretty lame radio ads. I haven’t heard ‘em, but I believe it.

If I know anything about advertising, I bet the marketing execs just got bored of their own ads and decided they “just had to mix it up.” I can imagine the following exchange:

Ted: “You know, Bob, I think those 3-step ads have run their course.”

Bob: “Why?”

Ted: “I don’t know, I’m just so bored of them. Why don’t we do something cool… like a mock game show commercial? Now that’d be cool.”

This happens a lot. The advertising that built the company gets scrapped in favor of something “cool.”

Now, to their credit, Netflix is still running hardcore direct response banner ads on the Internet. The latest one I’ve seen uses the following headline:

    Movies delivered 2 ways for only $8.99 a month.

I think that’s a pretty solid headline. And I bet it’s getting results (banner advertising is easily tracked).

Anyhow, the lesson here is simply this:

1. Always test your advertising.

2. Don’t attempt something “cool” or “clever” just because you get bored of your own ads.

3. And don’t resort to branding on radio commercials just because it’s a different medium. (Direct response ads work on radio, too.)

-Ryan M. Healy

Is the Internet making us stupid?

This is the question Michael Brown asks in his recent article about Nicholas Carr’s new book, The Shallows.

My take:

The Internet (and the portability of technology in general) is making us more distracted than ever. When it’s harder to focus, your ability to maintain a single line of thought is extremely inhibited, if not impossible.

One distraction leads to another. Interruptions pile on. Next thing you know, you can’t remember what you set out to accomplish in the first place.

So is the Internet to blame? Yes and no.

The Internet itself isn’t necessarily the problem — it’s the lack of boundaries. Without boundaries, there’s very little to control our behavior.

Therefore, I would argue that the heavy, undisciplined use of the Internet (and cell phones, iPads, etc.) is indeed making us stupid.

Want to kick your IQ up a few points? It’s simple, really.

Just turn off all your electronic devices that could distract you and focus on a single task for an hour or two straight. I dare you.

-Ryan M. Healy

A well-organized swipe file is as good as gold in the hands of a skilled copywriter.

But while many copywriters and entrepreneurs know how to spot winning ads, very few know how to go about building, organizing, and using a swipe file to write stronger copy faster.

This is the subject of a recent interview I did with Lawrence Bernstein. When you listen to this 53-minute interview, you’ll discover:

• Right ways and wrong ways to use a swipe file. (Plus, why Lawrence calls one famous copywriter “Flawed Hopkins.”)

• An evergreen subject line that works like crazy in the financial market — plus the psychology behind why it pulls so well.

• Famous ads that were swiped — why they worked when other swipes fail.

• What David Ogilvy said would NOT work in the 1960s, but actually works very well today.

• How a pay-per-email model could actually be a good thing for savvy online marketers.

• Why 2002 is a lot like 2010 — plus an insider tip on how to use this insight to instantly strengthen your ads.

Here’s the MP3. You can listen to it by pushing the play button, or download it to your MP3 player.

Why Am I Giving This Interview Away?

Quite simply, I’d like to encourage you to join The Ultimate Online Swipe File, Lawrence Bernstein’s flagship membership site for serious direct marketers.

I’m a member.

And if you look at the testimonials page, you’ll see other heavy hitters who’ve joined the site as well.

In Steven Pressfield’s book, The War of Art, he writes: “It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.”

In other words, it’s the getting started that’s so difficult as a writer. But here’s what’s so wonderful about The Ultimate Online Swipe File: It makes getting started easy.

By the time you read an ad or two or three, you’ll be building so much momentum that it will actually be hard not to write. Even better, when you start writing, your ad will practically write itself!

Two Free (Out-of-the-Ordinary) Gifts When You Sign Up

The Ultimate Online Swipe File is an extremely valuable resource. In fact, copywriter Gary Bencivenga says it’s “the best source I have ever found” for “an almost limitless supply of great ads.”

Naturally, I want you to sign up for The Ultimate Online Swipe File. So to make it easier for you to say yes, I’ve got two free out-of-the-ordinary bonus gifts for you.

First, I’ll give you free membership in my Copywriting Code site. You’ll get free access for as long as you maintain your Ultimate Online Swipe File membership. This is an extra $19.95 value every single month.

What’s more, Lawrence has also agreed to give you a free copy of his subject line swipe file called “Made You Look: 527 Email Subject Lines That Dare You to Look Away.” This product sells right now for $97 — but it’s yours free with this offer.

All together, this is an extra $117.95 in value you get your very first month of membership. And the email subject line swipe file is yours to keep no matter what.

Go ahead and sign up today:

Click here to sign up for The Ultimate Online Swipe File

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Forward me your receipt after you sign up and I’ll issue your free Copywriting Code membership immediately. Thanks!