Example Writing of Sales Materials

Bruce Barton was a celebrity in the 1920s. He was a
bestselling author, confidant to presidents, master
copywriter, philanthropist, congressman, and co-founder
of the largest advertising agency in the world, BBDO.

He helped five men become US Presidents. He wrote a
fund raising letter that got a 100% response. The only
book ever written on Barton and his ideas is The Seven
Lost Secrets of Success. I recently discovered Barton's
six points for writing ads, which he probably delivered
in a speech in the early 1930s. Here they are, as Bruce
Barton himself delivered them:

1. The theme. "A lot of time and money is wasted by
our failure to think through and get a theme before we
start. The theme ought to be based on two
principles---first, that a man is interested in
himself; second, that he is interested in other people.

Our formula for Every Week (magazine) was Youth, Love,
Success, Money, and Health---all things in which people
are vitally interested."

2. Interesting headlines. "I think any public notice I
may have had has come from titles. Nobody was more
surprised than I when The Man Nobody Knows became a
best seller. The title is what sold the book."

Barton also mentioned that when he edited magazines, he
often used provocative titles to stir up controversy
and interest. Examples included, "Why I never hire any
woman under 30," "How my wife has hindered me in
business," and the other side of the question, "How my
wife has helped me in business." These interesting
headlines guaranteed readership.

3. The visualization. Barton didn't elaborate on this.

But I'm sure he was referring to the layout of any
sales piece. He once said, "A picture is worth two
pages of type, and a headline is worth almost all the
rest of the ad put together." For Barton, the
illustration, headline, and body copy made up the
layout, or visualization, of any sales piece.

4. The copy. "The introduction can be eliminated
almost always. The mind starts cold when you begin to
write, and you don't get into high until the second or
third paragraph. Cut out the introduction, and then you
have a good hot start.

"Another elementary fundamental of advertising is to
make the copy fit the space. To this day, I never write
a piece of copy without counting the words. The
picture, the headline, and the layout should be set
before you begin the copy. To me, writing the copy
before you have visualized the layout is backwards."

5. Adjectives. "After you finish a piece of copy, go
back and cut out all the adjectives. Henry Ward
Beecher's father was once chairman of a committee to
draw up resolutions on slavery. One sentence in his
resolution read: 'It is an outrage.' Some one suggested
that it should read: 'It is a terrible outrage.'

Beecher said that was the way he had it in his first
draft, but he had cut out the word 'terrible' for the
sake of emphasis.

"Adjectives are like the leaves on a switch. They make
the switch look pretty, but if you want to hit a blow
that will cut, you take off the leaves. Literature that
cuts has very few adjectives. The greatest things in
life are expressed in one-syllable words---love, hate,
fear, home, wife, child."

6. A purpose. "We should never write an ad without the
idea that something is going to happen. What do we want
the reader to do? Write with the conviction that he is
going to do something when he gets through reading---go
to the store and buy; clip the coupon and mail it. And
remember the power of the direct command. Don't say,
'If you would like this beautiful booklet, we will be
glad to send it.' Say, 'Sit down right now and fill in
this coupon.' People want things made easy; they want
you to make up their minds for them."

Have you ever wondered what the difference is
between a successful Internet Marketer and a
struggeling Internet Marketer?

I know I have wondered that time and time again.
After all, I used to be a struggeling Internet
Marketer, then something changed.

At first I couldn't quite put my finger on it,
then over time I realized the little shift that
happened in my thinking that transformed me
from someone who couldn't even pay their bills
to someone who could take charge of my life
and create the success I deserved.

It wasn't as simple as reading an ebook that gave
me that "one technique for getting traffic or
building a list".

It wasn't about copywriting.

It wasn't about my newsletter.

It wasn't about search engines.

It wasn't about web pages.

It wasn't about forms, or autoresponders, or email.

It was about my thinking.

I figured out how to change my thinking in order
to achieve the level of success I enjoy today.

What if you could learn to think just like Kevin
Wilke and Matt Gill of Nitro Marketing?

Would you be better at your online business if
you developed your mind to excel in:

1. Getting Started
2. Focus
3. Follow Through

What If I told you that I have arranged a special
audio preview of their new Mega-Audio Series
The Nitro Marketing Mindset

Check it out to learn what you
can do to change the way you think - click here

I've got a little secret that can give you instant credibility online, plus more response, more leads and more money in your pocket.

This secret can make you look like a million dollars, and it costs only $39/year.

I have a friend, a real 'Internet Marketing Guru', who doesn't want me to tell you, or anyone, about this little trick. He thinks that if the average person knows about this it will be harder for the experienced Internet marketer to distinguish himself/herself from everyone else.

I agree with him -- it WILL change the playing field. But I also believe you deserve to know about it.

So I'm going to let the cat our of the bag...

HOW TO LOOK LIKE YOU RUN AND OWN A MILLION DOLLAR WEBSITE (OR 5-10)!

I'll be straight forward.

I'm just like you. I work real hard. I want to give back to my family and the community. I want to do more.

I do real well financially, now. But there was a time when I was selling my furniture to pay for rent. It was a time I'd like to forget. I was totally BROKE.

During those 'dark days' I was told a very powerful and important lesson:

No matter how little you have, NEVER LOOK BROKE!

There is nothing 'wrong' with being broke. It doesn't mean anything about YOU. Just your situation.

I know that. You know that. But the people you want to do business with... THEY may not know that.

You Must Look Successful if You Want to Attract Success!

Looking successful (and acting that way) was a very important part of my success. Eventually, I became how I saw myself and how I presented myself to others.

Very rich.

I'm going to show you how to do this, too.

HOW DO YOU LOOK ON THE INTERNET?

On the Internet, most people have these rinky-dink websites that look like they were put together by a 12-year old. THEY LOOK BROKE!

OR they have LOOOONG URL EXTENTIONS like:

www.bigcompanyname.com/cgi-bin/littleguy/smalltime.html

which may look a little more professional, but... THEY STILL LOOK LIKE A LITTLE GUY!

Besides, not even their own mother can remember their complicated website address!

I'm going to show you how to look like you OWN the website -- like the smart guy who runs the show. LIKE THE BIG GUY.

I'm going to show you how you can look like

-- You OWN your network marketing company
-- You OWN NameStick
-- You OWN YouCanAutomate
-- You OWN all the companies you have affiliate links with...

Are you ready?

Here's the secret...

It's called:

NAME STICK (the technical term is URL Frame Forwarding)

And until recently, this wasn't affordable or even comprehensible for the little guy.

Here's how it works:

1. You get a catchy URL
2. You forward the URL to your link
3. You forward it in a frame so your URL stays in the browser

(What's a URL? It's a website address. i.e. www.NameStick.com is a URL. Got it? Good.)

HERE'S THE SECOND PART OF THE SECRET

This used to require hundreds of dollars and a Phd in Computer Science to make happen.

But now you can now do all this with:

-- Zero programming experience, and
-- $39/year

This is AMAZING!

With virtually no effort I have a SLEW of websites that look like I'm the OWNER of the sites:

www.BigMoneyNow.com
www.MLMadvisor.com
www.NameYourBiz.com
www.ProspectPro.com
www.AutomateFollowup.com
www.YourNameDomainName.com

... and many more

Now I tell people, 'check out my site at www.BigMoneyNow.com' and they remember it!

I look like a million dollars because it's someone else's million dollar website, but it's my URL in their lucrative affiliate program!

Can you see how this would work for you?

You can use this to:

-- Recruit up! People who want to see YOUR COMPANY'S website -- Big dogs want to deal with big dogs.

-- Expand your audience - different URL's attract people with different needs (I forward several to the same site - more on this below)

-- Impress your family members who said you would never amount to anything... grrr!

-- Have something SIMPLE to put on your business cards

-- When someone at a party asks you what you do you can say, 'I own a number of online properties... you may have heard of www.YourNameDomainName.com?'

It's important to chose the name of your URL wisely because

on the Internet...

People don't get to remember your face. They don't get to remember your voice. They don't get to remember your charm.

The only thing they get to remember is your website name!

So.... Make it readable. Make it easy to say on the phone! Make it easy to remember. Make it as short as possible.

HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

Let me show you step-by-step how easy this is to do. You can only get all the affiliate advantages and a super-low price at this website

1. Go to this website

2. Search for a Catchy and Professional URL for your business (and EACH Affiliate program you are promoting)

3. Register the domains ($39/1 year or only $64/2 years!)

4. Login to your account https://www.namestick.com/cgi-bin/2.41/manage.cgi

5. Click on Website Forwarding and enter the link of your affiliate program (i.e. http://www.saveyourname.com/g.o/yourname )

6. Click on 'Cloaking'

7. Wait 72 hours...

That's IT!

Can you believe how easy that is! Now you or ANYONE can have A LIST OF SITES that are easy-to- remember and make you look like a million dollars.

Go make your mother-in-law eat her words! :-) Brag to your corporate peers that you own the hottest Home Business website on the Internet.

When they ask, did you develop that? Just say, 'No way, are you kidding? I had other people develop that for me.' :-)

This is YOUR Internet. It's time to look like you really own it. It's time to play with the big dogs.

Check it out now!

One last secret tip.

Don't limit your sales/visitors/sign-ups by the ONE GREAT URL you are using for ANY SITE, whether it is forwarded or actually hosting content.

Use 2 or 3 (or 10) GREAT domains for increased results!

Expand your audience!

Different URL's attract people with different needs - different *hot buttons*

Last month someone on my e-mail list wrote me a long e-mail
calling me an "Internet whore." He went on to say he was
un-subscribing from my newsletter. He added that I was
"slocking ***** and that I had "lost my ethics."

I thought about the anonymous writer and reflected on what he
said. It made me wonder how often any of us doing business
online should send out our email. Weekly? Monthly? Hourly?

Are there any rules at all?

Let's explore this together ...

Personally, I only endorse products I use and believe in.
Because of my perceived status in the world these days as a
best-selling author and marketing guru, I'm contacted by dozens
of people *per day*, all asking me to sell their latest
what-have-you. I do not endorse or sell 99% of them. That saves
me from mailing my list too often.

Usually, as in the case of helping Kevin Hogan's book hit #2 at
Amazon and Peggy McColl sell $30,000 worth of books in one day
using the strategy I taught her, I don't make a dime for my
efforts. I'm not complaining, either. I wanted to help them,
and did. But I did not profit in any way. I felt telling my
list about their offers was a gift to my list. So I mailed
them.

Often I will discover something that sets my soul aflame.
That's what happened when I discovered "The Millionaire's
Mindset" book from Slovenia. I felt it was a great gift to the
world and am honored to share it with people. I'm profiting from
that, and gladly so. It's an astonishing book. I didn't mind
sending out three e-mails about it to my list. My list didn't
seem to mind, either, as hundreds of them ordered almost
instantly. My friend, Rok, over in Slovenia said --

"Your list actually outperforms lists that are up to 8 times
bigger ... and it outperforms them by about 85%. Your last
mailing (which was the third mailing you did for the same book)
generated 85% more responses than any other affiliate mailing in
the pack."

I continue to create new products, too. Obviously, I want the
people on my list to know about these. And just as obviously, I
believe these products will help them -- or I would not be
offering them. They are not ***** or in any way fluff. They
are all useful and inspiring. Even when I release three e-books
in one week, I think my list should be the first to know about
them.

So back to the question we are wrestling with:

When is it too much? When are you e-mailing your list too
often?

Now what I'm about to tell you may shock you. But it's the key
point of this article.

I think if you have something of importance for your list, you
should tell them as fast as possible. If that means you mail
twice in one day -- again, assuming you just got news your list
would want to hear -- then you mail them twice in one day.

I did that once. I sent an e-mail to my list in the morning. A
few hours later I received an e-mail with such thrilling news in
it that I couldn't resist sending out a follow-up email. I did.
I knew I might be flamed, but felt it was worth the risk. As a
result, 12 people thanked me. No one un-subscribed.

Look, if you are doing business online and have news of value to
your followers, why *aren't* you telling them?

I think the only reason you wouldn't tell them is -- fear of
being flamed, which means fear of receiving hate e-mail.

If you are afraid of being flamed, then you probably know you
don't have anything of value for your list.

Think about it.

I'll repeat my statement: If you are afraid of being flamed,
then you probably know you don't have anything of value for your
list.

Let me explain:

If I'm on your list because I want to hear of your new products
or services, and you have a new product or service and don't
tell me, I have every right to be upset. I should have been
given first shot at the offer.

For example, I'm a member of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd fan club.
He's a hard rocking blues guitarist in the tradition of Stevie
Ray Vaughan. Well, I signed up for Kenny's email list to be
notified of his new releases and concert appearances. You might
imagine my surprise -- and disappointment -- one day when I saw
a new CD by him in a music store, one I never heard about by any
e-mail from him. While I was glad to discover the new music, I
was upset that no one notified me. After all, that's why I
signed on to get his e-mails in the first place. I
un-subscribed.

Here's another example:

Another friend of mine is a professional entertainer. I sat in
the audience at one of his shows and heard him tell people, "If
you sign on to my email list, I'll send you occasional updates
about my appearances." He added, "I won't abuse your e-mail and
send you too much e-mail."

Well, he blew it. Anyone who signs up for his e-mail *wants* to
hear from him, not just whenever he has an appearance, but
whenever he has news of interest to them. In my opinion, the
entertainer was thinking of himself, not his audience. He was
coming from pure fear.

I also know an executive coach who mails his list once a quarter
or so. I keep wondering, "Doesn't he have a life? Doesn't he
have any news? Doesn't he ever come across anything he's
excited about and can't wait to tell his list?" Apparently
not. To me, he looks lazy, inept, or just plain scared. I
would never hire him as a coach.

According to Newsweek magazine, 90% of all spam is sent from a
group of under 150 people. You're probably not one of them.
Neither am I. But if you were considering doing bulk emails to
strangers (known as spamming), you should also know that one
spammer admitted she got only 25 responses -- after sending out
1,000,000 e-mails. And naturally, even the 25 responses
weren't what she was looking for. Never, ever, spam -- ever.
It doesn't work.

BUT if you have a list of people who have *asked* to receive
relevant information and offers from you, then not sending them
e-mail when you have news for them is a big mistake.

Are you with me here?

I'm *not* advocating e-mailing your list mindlessly, just
because *you* think you have something to say.

I *am* advocating e-mailing your list whenever you have news
*they* will deem important. If that means every day for a week,
then so be it.

Finally, what about the person who wrote me the flaming e-mail
and called me an Internet Whore?

I have no idea who he is. He may not know who he is, either. I
showed the e-mail to a peer and he said, "That guy needs a
therapist." I don't know if he does or not, but the great gift
in his e-mail is that he prompted me to again think about how
often we E-mail Marketers should e-mail, and it resulted in this
article.

I hope it has been thought provoking.

Now, I have another important mailing to get out to my list ...

======================
Joe Vitale is world's first Hypnotic Writer. To learn how you
can hypnotize people into buying your products and services,
check out "How to Write Hypnotic Articles."

Click here for immediate access!

Allow me to introduce you to the mysterious "E-Factor." It's
mysterious because it has two meanings.



Both meanings will help you get more business from any promotion you do.
So without further ado, here's how you can use the "E-Factor"
to make more money:



- Put "E-Factor" in your testimonials and copy



Did you realize the very best source of new business is almost always a
prospect who has been referred to you by a friend or trusted business
advisor? It is. Think about this in your own life. When you need an
accountant, or an attorney, or a doctor, or for that matter a hardware
store in a new town, you'll probably turn to someone you know, whose
judgment you trust, to refer you to the service or product provider
you're looking for.



OK. But what does that have to do with direct mail and Web promotions?



A lot. People are always on the lookout for sources of advice they can
trust. However, since you can't always rely on giving every prospect for
your business personal recommendations from the prospect's friends,
neighbors and advisors they actually know and trust, you do the next
best thing: You give them copy with recommendations from people who seem
like the people they know and trust.



How? By putting testimonials and case studies in your copy involving
people who will fill the role of trusted friends and advisors.



Many marketers do this but they don't get the desired effect. Why?
Because they haven't put enough productive effort into the research that
pays off. This is in-person research - especially one-on-one
"casual" research, as opposed to formal focus-group research -
with their actual customers, and people who are a lot like their
customers.



This high-payoff research gives you in-depth working understanding of
how your prospects think and act in the world - and how they look at
things and make decisions. When you have this understanding and you
weave it into the language of your descriptive copy and your testimonial
quotes, it's called "empathy."



"Empathy" - that's the first meaning of "The
E-Factor." Increase empathy in your copy and you'll increase
sales.



- Profit from the second meaning of the "E-Factor" as well



There's another, equally important meaning. Before I tell you what it
is, let me give you a big, fat hint. In his book The Entertainment
Economy: How Mega-Media Forces Are Transforming Our Lives, author
Michael J. Wolfe points out that American consumers put 8.4% - about one
dollar out of every 12 - into some form of entertainment. Currently,
that adds up to $480 billion a year.



As a side note, Hollywood productions - films and TV shows - bring in
the second largest amount of money from overseas back into the U.S.
economy, after aircraft sales.



Yes, the other meaning of the "E-Factor" is entertainment.
It's huge. And it applies to marketing and selling. As the late (and
great) David Ogilvy reminded us, "People will not be bored into
buying."



But beware. Many a copywriter less talented and, more importantly, less
thoughtful than Mr. Ogilvy has made the fatal error including humor,
fantasy, drama or thrills in a promotion in such a way as to not
specifically move the sales process forward.



And that's dangerous. Even deadly, sometimes. Here's why: When you
include entertainment, people's attention will invariably be drawn to it
over anything else. And when entertainment does not directly support
moving the sale forward, then it automatically detracts from the sale.



There are dozens of examples. The lying Isuzu salesman. Sales went down.
"Plop-plop, Fizz-fizz." Sales went down. I'm sure you have
your favorites of entertaining ad campaigns that bombed. Now you know
why.



Entertainment isn't bad. But not painstakingly linking the entertainment
to the forward motion of the sale is bad. Very bad.



So, how do you add entertainment value in such a way as to increase the
sales effectiveness of your promotion? Several ways:



- Tell a dramatic story where your product is the hero and saves the day
for the human involved. My favorite example of this is the newspaper ad
for Joe Karbo's legendary book "The Lazy Man's Way to Riches."



In the ad, Mr. Karbo talks about his "Lazy Man's Way" which he
promises to reveal in the book he's selling. He tells how, before he
knew the "Lazy Man's Way," he used to work 18-hour days, 7-day
weeks and was still perpetually in debt. But after he learned the
"Lazy Man's Way," he became financially independent by working
less and in fact became very wealthy.



This incredible ad combines drama with sales power in an unbeatable way.
And it worked! The ad sold 3 million books by mail order!



- Use humor that adds emphasis to the value of your product or service.
When you get past the laughter, most humor in ads just shows off the
cleverness of the creative team who created the ad. (You might say it
also shows off their lack of concern for creating sales.) A positive
example, where the humor shows how the product is so worthwhile, is the
old (and very successful) series of Seinfeld commercials for the
American Express Card.



- Use exciting, colorful language in testimonials when customers are
talking about the virtues of your product. But make sure it's
believable. And don't make fun of the fact that you're selling
something, any more than you would go to target practice and fire the
first shot into your own foot. At all times, keep your eye on the target
- increased sales!



So let's review. How can you use this information to make more sales in
every promotion? Take stock of its Empathy and Entertainment Value. Be
single-minded. Take out everything that takes away from the sale, and
keep in - or boost and strengthen - everything that furthers the sale.
Build the strongest possible promotion at every point along the way -
and watch your response rate soar!



© 2000 David Garfinkel. All rights reserved. David Garfinkel is widely
recognized by many "marketing gurus" as their secret weapon.
That is, he is known as "The World's Greatest Copywriting
Coach"; because, he can, like no other, teach you how to turn words
into cash. David is also the author and narrator of Killer
Copy Tactics, the Web's first and only totally interactive
audio/visual learning system for writing killer sales copy.