I started my first business blog on Typepad.

I called it “On Copywriting.” It was about copywriting, advertising, and marketing.

But because I’m a freelance copywriter, I attracted mostly other freelance copywriters as readers.

In January 2008, I started my new blog here at RyanHealy.com. I decided to reposition my blog to focus on business growth, with copywriting and advertising as sub-topics.

I did this because I wanted potential clients to read my blog. People who want to grow their business may be more inclined to hire a direct response copywriter. That was my thinking.

I’m now strongly considering a redesign of this blog (this will be redesign #4). As part of that makeover, I’m also strongly considering changing the focus of what I write about.

With that in mind, I’d like to ask for your input. I’ve already got three overarching ideas I think would be good for me to focus on — mostly because I have experience in these areas and they are topics of interest that I would enjoy writing about.

But just because I think the ideas are worth pursuing as the topics for this blog doesn’t mean they’re the ones I should pursue.

So… of the topics I’ve listed below, which ones should I be focusing on? You can select 5 different options in the poll below. You can also see the results if you are interested.

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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Last week, I watched the season premiere of The Middle, a sitcom about a middle-class American family living in middle America.

In the first episode of the second season, Frankie, played by Patricia Heaton, gets on a kick to be more punctual and proactive with her family.

Of course, based on her poor track record, her kids doubt she’ll be able to keep up her new “super mom” regimen. So in a last-ditch attempt to get her kids to believer her, she exclaims, “This isn’t like the juicer! We’re following through!”

As you may know, I’ve written about juicers before. I bought one for my wife last Christmas. Turns out, she hasn’t used it as much as she intended to — which is why I laughed when I heard Frankie’s defense.

I bet there are thousands of people across the country who have lightly-used juicers sitting in their kitchen cabinets. In hindsight, many of those people probably regret spending the money. They might even feel like it was a total waste.

But Should We Blame the Marketers for Selling Us Juicers?

It might sound like a silly question, but I think it’s one that needs to be asked… and answered. After all, the marketers sold us juicers that we’re not using. Isn’t it their fault for getting us excited about buying something that is now not being used? Shouldn’t I be able to claim that the marketers defrauded me?

I don’t think so, not on that basis alone. A customer’s lack of use doesn’t constitute fraud. So long as the juicer will create juice whenever I put fruit in it, then there hasn’t been any deception; I haven’t been defrauded.

So, without any other information, we certainly can’t blame anybody but ourselves. Buying a product that doesn’t get used is not the marketers’ fault. It’s their job to position their product in an appealing way. It’s our job to discern whether or not the product is a good fit for us.

If we fail to do our job as the consumer — to carefully consider each purchase we make — then we’re simply being negligent in our responsibilities.

The same thing applies not just to juicers, but to all products — including information products. If I buy an information product and fail to use it, that alone does not constitute fraud. The real question is, Does the product deliver on its promises?

There Are Two Sides to Every Sale

Naturally, the customer and the seller make up two sides to every sale, but in this case I’m referring to the advertising (A) and the product (P).

If you want to have an average (but successful) business, the equation you want is A=P. When A=P, you have a satisfied customer because you are meeting expectations.

On the other hand, if you want a wildly successful business… one that is far above average… then the equation you’re shooting for is this: A<P. Really, this is just another way of saying “underpromise, overdeliver.” When you deliver an A<P experience, you have a thrilled customer; one who, in time, may go on to become an evangelist.

But what happens if your marketing equation is A>P. This leads to unsatisfied customers. What’s more, if the disparity between your advertising and product is too great (big A, little p), then that’s when fraud is being committed. You are intentionally misleading customers through your advertising — also known as “bearing false witness.”

When A=P, Fraud Can’t Happen

I submit that fraud can’t happen when A=P. And it can’t happen when A<P either. That’s because to defraud is to deprive of by deceit. If there is no deception, there is no fraud.

Unfortunately, it seems many people within the Internet marketing community are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Their logic goes something like this:

• Some marketers of high-priced products have committed fraud, therefore all high-priced products are fraudulent.

• Some Internet marketers have committed fraud, therefore all Internet marketers are frauds.

• And so forth.

I’m sure you can see the fallacy in the statements above. And yet, for some strange reason, the fallacy persists.

Now, lest you think I’m defending Internet marketers who use deception to make sales, I present…

The Laziness Alibi

In recent years, it’s become popular for marketers to accuse their own customers of laziness. If the customer complains that the product didn’t work, the marketer’s defense may sound something like, “Well, you didn’t take enough action. Or you didn’t follow the process correctly.”

This may or may not be true. But if fraud has occurred, then it is irrelevant whether the customer has taken action or not. If the marketer lied to sell the product, then the marketer is liable for committing fraud — even if the customer never opens the product!

To illustrate this point, imagine if a tire store sold some tires to a customer, and the customer took them home to install them himself. When the customer gets home and tries to mount the tires, he suddenly realizes that each of the tires has a slit in the sidewall; he can’t even air them up!

So he calls the tire store to explain the situation and the manager of the store says, “Have you actually used the tires yet?” The man replies, “Of course not! How can I drive on tires that won’t hold any air?”

You see the problem.

And a marketer who accuses you of not taking action — when the product you were sold doesn’t even work — is just as ridiculous as the imaginary scenario above.

In far too many cases, “The Laziness Alibi” just doesn’t hold up, especially in the upside-down world of Internet marketing.

Consumer Laziness Encourages Fraud

Here’s the bottom line:

Sometimes the problem is with the customers. Just because they haven’t used a perfectly good juicer doesn’t mean they’ve been defrauded.

Sometimes the problem is with the marketer. If he’s intentionally deceived a customer, fraud has been committed, regardless of whether or not the customer ever uses the product.

And, unfortunately, laziness on the part of consumers makes it all too easy for marketers to commit and perpetuate fraud. After all, if you never use a product you buy, you’ll never know you’ve been defrauded.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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While I was in Chicago for Ken McCarthy’s System Seminar, I had the opportunity to meet Drayton Bird.

He’s incredibly bright. And he’s got a wicked sense of humor.

Anyway, he says the best TV ad ever is this one advertising the Volkswagen Beetle. It’s from 1964.

A few things stand out to me:

1. The commercial immediately activates your imagination.

2. It asks a question that a lot of people have probably wondered about. If you’ve ever asked yourself this question, you’ll watch the entire commercial to discover the answer.

3. It demonstrates the product without being a blatant product demonstration.

4. It indirectly reveals multiple product benefits: reliable, starts in cold weather, handles well in the snow, etc.

What do you notice?

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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Direct mail advertising is very different than online advertising.

With direct mail, you have to find or compile a list of people who will be a good fit for your offer. The people you mail may or may not be interested in your product or service. They’ve never asked for you to contact them.

Plus, to complicate matters, the cost of printing and postage can be significant, especially if you’re mailing a large list.

Online, you get a few clear advantages. You either market to people who’ve already given you permission to be marketed to; or you market to people who are searching for exactly what you have to offer.

And, as an added benefit, the cost to advertise online is usually lower than advertising with direct mail.

Before I ever start writing a word of sales copy, I want to know how the message I’m writing is going to be distributed.

Is it going to be sent via direct mail? Is it going to be published in a magazine or newspaper? Is it going to be posted on the Internet and advertised via Adwords? Is it going to be advertised via banner ads on targeted web sites? Etc.

The answers to these questions have a HUGE effect on how you should write your copy and how you should design your conversion process.

Fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to help with both online and off-line direct mail advertising campaigns. Every experience teaches me something new: sometimes the lesson is obvious, other times it’s subtle.

There is one thing that all forms of advertising have in common. That is you must make sure that you are going after a market that 1) can be reached affordably and 2) has money to spend on your product or service.

If either of these two pieces is missing, you’re headed for swift and possibly devastating failure. (It always depends on how much money you’re spending up front, before you have any results.)

It seems this year I will be doing more work in the direct mail advertising field. I’m really looking forward to it because it seems that there’s something more “real” and gratifying about physical forms of advertising.

Certainly, every piece of mail a client pays to send is that much more accountable to results — a true test of skill and dedication.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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Back in the summer of 2005, I found myself between a rock and a hard place.

On April 19, 2005, exactly one month after my second child was born, I quit my job to pursue a new career as a financial planner. I was able to do this because I had received a bonus and, at the time, it was enough to pay my bills for about 2 or 3 months.

Now, I did have a plan. I had partnered with a successful financial planner. He was going to pay me a commission for calling his leads and getting them to attend free dinners. He would then give them a presentation to encourage them to invest with him.

Everything looked like it was going to work out perfectly.

Except one little thing happened that I did not expect.

The local paper in which my “partner” was advertising went belly up the same week I quit my job. And just like that,

All the Leads Dried Up!

Well, I didn’t let that discourage me. I began calling all the old leads in the database… and actually succeeded in filling a couple dinners.

This was no easy task. I was calling leads up to 12 months old — and they didn’t remember anything about the postcard they filled out a year ago.

I might as well have been cold-calling.

Two months later, I had made a couple hundred bucks and was going nowhere fast. Not to mention, my bonus money was nearly gone. I estimated I had about two weeks of money left before I would be unable to pay my bills.

Now, I could have gone back to my previous employer and begged for my old job back… or I could have tried to find a new job… but deep down I didn’t really want another job.

I wanted to be self-employed!

So I did what any slightly crazy entrepreneur would do: I started my freelance copywriting business.

And here I am four years later, still enjoying the freelancer’s life.

Why did I succeed where so many others fail? There are probably many reasons, but the biggest reason of all is

I Had No Choice!

I literally had to make it work… or face losing my house, my cars, and everything else. I had no “plan B.”

In fact, “plan A” was “plan B!”

It seems that among successful entrepreneurs, many of them have experienced a similar “moment of truth” — a moment when they had no choice but to succeed.

As Ken McCarthy points out in his System Secrets book, “Having been in desperate straits more than once in my life, I know there is nothing like ‘do or die’ to focus the mind.” (p. 146)

This is a big reason I think having a “plan B” is overrated. In fact, if you’ve got all kinds of contingencies and backup plans in place, they may even be keeping you from succeeding!

That’s because anytime there’s a safety net, we’re likely to use it. It’s just human nature. We’ll set out to try something new, give it less than our best effort, then fall back into the relative comfort of our “safety net hammock.”

Why?

Because the Safety Net Is There.

Whenever you have a “plan B” or backup plan or safety net, it’s probably blocking you from the success you seek.

You don’t hear many success stories from 30-year-old guys living in their parents’ basements. Now you  know why.

You know who else has a great “moment of truth” story?

Copywriter and “kitchen table entrepreneur” Doberman Dan.

He tells of a time when he turned his back on a job (in spite of having almost nothing to his name) — and then digging down deep to pull out a five-figure income in a matter of months.

It’s a great story filled with lessons for the observant marketer. I highly recommend you take a moment to read it here:

From Kitchen Table Business to Million-Dollar Buyout

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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There is a huge dichotomy in advertising.

• On the one hand you’ve got the pressure to perform: to make your advertising as profitable as you possibly can.

• On the other hand you’ve got the pressure to be ethical: to be as honest as possible in your advertising.

Last week I raised the issue of using fake scarcity to drive more sales. Many people said they disagreed with such a deceptive tactic and would fire any client who did such a thing.

Not to muddy the waters too much here, but the issue of honesty in advertising is very complex. In fact, it seems dishonesty in advertising is accepted as a matter of course!

So, since I already brought up the issue of fake scarcity, let’s turn the lens of scrutiny toward…

Fake Stories

When I asked my mastermind group how they would handle dishonest clients, the responses were very interesting. Not one of them was the same. And yet each person seemed passionate about his position.

Daniel Levis mentioned how John Caples’ most famous ad was an imaginary story. You know, the ad that begins, They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano But When I Started to Play!~

The story in this ad is completely fictitious. Some may say it is dishonest. Is this okay? And how is it any different than the fake weight loss stories and fake body building stories published on “flogs” these days?

Maybe the difference is in class, style, and sophistication. If you tell an imaginary story framed as a real story… and you tell it believably enough… does that make it okay?

Fake Endorsements

Or how about TV commercials with paid actors and actresses giving fake endorsements of products? This is extremely common.

The “perfect” house wife comes on screen, kids in the background: “Ever since I started using Product X, cleaning up even the messiest spills has been a breeze. After all, I need all the help I can get!”

Everybody knows these “TV testimonials” are fake, the stories completely made up, the “families” patched together from the most attractive people on the set. It’s quite possible the actors and actresses in these commercials have never even used the products they’re promoting!

And yet I don’t see anybody complaining about this particular genre of dishonest advertising.

Real Ad, Fake Story

Here’s another example. I’m a subscriber of World Net Daily’s Whistleblower magazine. On the back cover of the November 2009 issue there is a full-page ad put out by Swiss America to advertise gold.

The headline reads: “Our retirement account has tripled in the last 5 years…”

Underneath the headline there is a picture of a happy couple in their 50s. It is obviously a stock photograph to support the headline.

Now, the headline is dishonest on two levels. By saying “Our retirement account has tripled,” they’re implying that this really happened to a certain couple. I’m fairly confident that this is not the case.

What’s more, the price of gold has tripled from 2004 to 2009. Which means that for the headline to be true, this couple would have had to have had 100% of their retirement account invested in gold. Again, not likely.

But I don’t look at the ad and get angry. I actually get kind of interested. Hey! Maybe I should be investing in gold! I start to think. On that level, the ad works.

But How Far Is Too Far?

My point is this: We see LOTS of dishonest advertising every day. But we don’t think of it as being dishonest. We accept it. We may even approve of it.

So what then makes one dishonest ad okay but another one not okay? Are we going to label John Caples a liar for telling a story that wasn’t true, but could have been? Where do we draw the line?

In other words, just how far is too far in advertising? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

-Ryan M. Healy

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Getting booked solid with clients is actually not that hard. All it takes is a simple, proven process.

The problem is, the simple stuff don’t get no respect.

Furthermore, most business folks get distracted. They forget the fundamentals, choosing instead to chase fancy techniques that burn out after a few months.

Heck, I’ve done this myself. The fundamentals ain’t sexy, and all the fancy new techniques are quick to catch my eye. But I’ve found that over time the fundamentals are what’s consistently profitable.

With that in mind, let me share with you a simple 2-step process for filling your calendar with clients. Here it is:

AdWords + Referrals = More Clients than You Can Handle

I’ve been advertising on AdWords for more than 7 years now, first for a homeschooling company, then for my own copywriting business.

AdWords consistently produces new subscribers, customers, and clients at a profit.

Here is the process for getting new clients from Adwords:

1. Set up an AdWords campaign.
2. Send people who click your ad to your lead capture page.
3. Convert clickers into leads by directing them to complete a form for a free consultation.
4. Convert leads into clients on the phone during the free consultation.

That’s really all there is to it.

The second step is to generate referrals from your newfound clients.

How do you do this? Under-promise, over-deliver, “wow” your clients, and then (and only then) ask for referrals.

Again, a very simple process, yet one that most people either forget or ignore. How hard is it to ask a happy client, “Do you know of anybody else who might benefit from the kind of services I provide?”

Anybody can do this.

Of course, if you are just starting out, all your clients will come from advertising or marketing yourself in some way.

That’s how it was for me. In the beginning, every client I worked with had never heard of me before. I was an unknown variable.

But that’s no longer true. Now, the single greatest source of new clients I have is through referrals. In fact, at different times I’ve paused my AdWords campaigns because I had no time to follow-up with new leads.

And that’s the beauty of referrals. It’s a form of leverage that multiplies the effect of advertising on Adwords. Even if you only broke even on new clients from AdWords, you’d be awash in profits from referrals from those same people.

Is this 2-step process simple? Yes. Powerful? Yes. Profitable? Absolutely.

Now, if you’ve never advertised on AdWords before, then I highly recommend you get “edumucated” before you risk your hard-earned dollars in the Google machine. Everybody knows of somebody who lost thousands overnight because he or she didn’t know how to properly set up a campaign.

That’s why I strongly recommend Perry Marshall’s newly updated for 2011 Definitive Guide to AdWords.

I first learned AdWords from Perry at a System Seminar in San Francisco. Later on, I bought the Definitive Guide to AdWords, printed it, and read through the entire thing, taking notes along the way.

There really is no better, faster, or more affordable way to learn AdWords than to get your hands on Perry’s Guide. The basic version is only $49, which is a steal.

The new 2011 Edition has:

• Over a dozen brand new chapters covering things like the Content Network, Analytics, Quality Score, and the new interface.

• Over 43 totally new screen shots.

• Over 15 hours of brand new audio files (supplementary content included with purchase).

• Video presentations on targeted AdWords sections (supplementary content included with purchase).

• PDF documents and reports never released to the general public before — in other words, stuff from Perry’s private AdWords Vault.

• Niche-specific modules that elaborate on how you can use AdWords to profit in your industry.

• A brand-new “Beginner’s Guide to eCommerce” that takes Definitive Guide owners from zero to picking a niche, building a web site, and launching an AdWords campaign profitably.

Plus, there are 6 NEW bonus modules:

• “Affiliate Marketing” module with Amit Mehta
• “Content Network” module with Shelley Ellis
• “Just Getting Started Online” module with Kevin Thompson
• “Information Marketing” module with Ken McCarthy
• “Marketing in the U.K.” module with Chris Cardell
• “Copywriting” module with Michel Fortin

If you’d like to pack your schedule with paying clients, then mastering AdWords is the #1 fundamental strategy you need to focus on — no matter if you’re just starting out or perfecting the process you already have in place.

And if you purchase through my affiliate link below and forward me your email receipt, I’ll send you a free copy of my 9-page report on “How to Write Google Ads that Get Clicked.” This is an additional $20 value, yours free when you order through my affiliate link below.

Click here to get your copy of the 2011 Edition of The Definitive Guide to AdWords

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Depending on your personality, you may find AdWords somewhat addictive. It becomes a game of “beat the control.” And since clicks happen so fast on AdWords, you can often see which ads are pulling best in days instead of weeks.

One of the things I love about The Definitive Guide to AdWords is that it includes a ton of winning ads that help you understand what gets clicked… and what doesn’t. You can then model these ads for your own campaigns.

Get your copy here.Similar Posts:

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You might wonder why I asked you to tell me your favorite brands a couple weeks ago. The reason I did this was to prove a point: brands are powerful.

In a world of information overload, brands are even more important. They give us a decision shortcut — a way to side-step all the choices we’re faced with every day.

We don’t evaluate dozens of different brands every time we go to buy a certain type of product. We do our evaluation once, maybe twice, then we default to our “brand of choice” for months, years, and possibly decades.

This is the power of a brand.

In a way, we are brainwashed… or brandwashed… to make certain buying decisions.

Does this mean that brand-name “image” advertising is good advertising? No. In fact, most image advertising is terrible. Yet brands thrive in spite of their advertising. The question is Why?

If you look at all the brands people listed as brands they love, you’ll find that most of them deliver more than just a product or service; they deliver a positive memorable experience.

For instance, Apple, Amazon, and Starbucks were all listed more than once. And all of them deliver an experience.

• Apple offers a fun, low-stress environment where you can demo all their computers and ask as many questions as you want before you buy. (Of course, they have an amazing product, which doesn’t hurt either.)

• Amazon offers a fast, convenient buying experience that is customized to you and your buying habits. Ordering is easy, prices are hard to beat, and Amazon’s personalized recommendations often lead you to new musicians and authors you would have otherwise never discovered.

• Starbucks offers more than just coffee — they offer a pleasant environment where you can relax, read, study, visit with friends, or check your email. When you buy a cup of Starbucks coffee, you’re also buying ambiance.

Starbucks also showed up on my list. That’s because my wife and I used to go on dates at Starbucks. It was our favorite hang-out both before and after we got married. We’ve been going to the same Starbucks/Barnes & Noble combo for more than a decade now. That’s a lot of talks and a lot of memories.

So each time I support Starbucks, I’m buying not just the coffee (which I happen to like), I’m also buying my memories and all those good feelings I’ve associated with Starbucks.

In my view, people love brands that:

• Create a (positive) memorable experience.
• Stand for a certain value system or world view.

I believe a “memorable experience” is created primarily through one of two ways.

First, there is the experience that is designed to be extraordinary from the get-go. Take Disney, for instance. There’s nothing like it. And you’ll always remember the time you spend there because of that.

Second, there is the unexpected experience, usually in the form of outstanding customer service. This is why USAA showed up on my list. They’ve repeatedly given me excellent customer service. I haven’t experienced that anywhere else. So USAA stands out big time.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting because people hate brands for the same reasons they love them. We hate brands that…

• Create a (negative) memorable experience.
• Stand for a certain value system or world view.

Two examples…

Example #1: I hate Borders because I’ve repeatedly had bad experiences at their stores. And not just at one location — multiple locations. I was so upset by how I was treated at these stores that I literally “black-listed” them for years and refused to even step foot in one. Even today, years later, I will go out of my way to support their competitors.

Example #2: I strongly dislike Wal-Mart because of the values that run the company. Their approach to business is to save money at any cost — costs to the environment, costs to third-world countries, even costs to taxpayers. This is not what I believe in, so I intentionally avoid shopping at Wal-Mart.

So you see, we love and hate brands for essentially the same reasons. Interesting, eh?

Glenn Livingston dropped by and left an insightful comment. I’ve reproduced some of it here:

When I was a Fortune 500 consultant, we were involved with an advertising agency which wanted to promote the belief that people could define themselves by the three brands they absolutely couldn’t live without. They’d ask people what a typical day would be without those three brands. [...] Is your brand one of the 3 your customers couldn’t live without?

What a powerful question that is!

This is not to say we can all create “indespinsable brands” — but it’s certainly something worth striving for.

Remember: The more choices there are, the more important your brand is. Because a brand is how we shortcut the decision-making process. So, believe it or not, having a strong brand is important even for information marketers.

Case in point: How many blogs do you read on a daily/weekly/monthly basis?

I bet your daily blog list is short indeed. Maybe 3-7 blogs, max.

Taking a cue from Glenn, a good question to ask if you’re an information marketer might be, “Do I write one of the three blogs my customers couldn’t live without?”

Keep this in mind whenever you write blog posts… create information products… or do anything that defines (or refines) your brand.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. If you participated in my brand question from the previous post, thank you. It made this “thought experiment” much more interesting.
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