Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Good Sales Copy - 7 Important Elements of a Good Sales Copy


Being able to write a winning sales copy is crucial to the success of your online business. Sales copy should be given a lot of thought and should be written with care. Up to this day there are still many questions surrounding what makes a good sales copy? I am pretty sure that there are still a lot of people out there wondering how to come up with a good sales copy.

If your website gets constant flow of traffic however you are not making sales at all, then the first thing that you need to look at and review would be your sales copy. Most probably the sales copy you have put up is not convincing enough or it is just not a good sales copy all together.

The goal of all internet marketers is to make money, and the main tool used in this industry is the sales copy however if that sales copy is not performing that well then we might be forced to close shop soon.

If you want to come up with a good sales copy then you should know that there are important elements that you have to include in your sales copy. If any of those are missing then you might have an incomplete sales page which will lead to low or no sales at all.

So, here are the important elements that should be included if you want to come up with a good sales copy.

Good Sales Copy Element #1: The headline

The headline can be considered as the most important part of your sales copy since that is what captures your visitors’ attention. Once you have captured their attention with your sales copy headline then you should be able to encourage them to read on the body of the sales copy.

You have approximately a couple of seconds to capture the attention of your prospects before they leave your page never to return. Now with a good sales copy headline which should include the greatest benefit of your product or service, capturing your prospect’s attention will be easy.

In short the headline should be benefit driven, attention grabbing and made to persuade the reader of your sales copy to keep reading.

Good Sales Copy Element #2: Present a solid guarantee

Trust is important in every aspect of life more so if you are doing business. Trust is significant in the buying process and customers are getting more cautious of the advertising that they see with how tight the money is these day this is not surprising anymore. And if you are able to offer a 100%, no questions asked, money back guarantee then you would be able to increase their buying confidence at the same time give them assurance that you are legitimate and might encourage them to make a purchase.

Good Sales Copy Element #3: Provide bonuses for added value

Even though your product may already well go over the selling price that you are asking, providing an additional package that will enhance your customer’s previous purchases will add more value to the product hence it will your sales quite a bit. Just keep in mind that it should be highly relevant to the original item.

Good Sales Copy Element #4: Create a sense of urgency

Say for example your prospect has gone through your sales page and all that and they are now pretty much interested in what you are offering you will now have to give them good reason to buy. You can achieve this by limiting the quantity of the products or services you are offering for example, "This product is only available for the first 100 customers. In creating a sense of urgency you should be able to increase your conversion.

Good Sales Copy Element #5: Be sure that you place a strong call to action

If you are new in the marketing business you might feel a bit shy about asking your customers for their orders. You might feel like you are pressuring them into buying. However, have you ever thought that your customers might not buy unless you ask for it?

It would be to your advantage to provide multiple opportunities in your sales copy for them to buy with statements like, "Click Here Now to Take Advantage of This Limited Time Offer!" This technique has been proven effective to increase online sales. It is imperative that you have a very strong call to action all throughout your sales copy.

Good Sales Copy Element #6: Include your contact information

Leaving your contact information is something that you need to do; you need to show this on your main page. It would be helpful if you provide your name, email address and phone number so that if they need to get in touch with you they can. This might seem like somewhat unimportant to some people however you would be surprised to see how many people overlook this step and end up paying for it dearly.

Good Sales Copy Element #7: Mention the benefits opposed features

On your sales copy, make sure to mention the benefits of using your product as opposed to the features of your product. For example, the phrase “comfy mattress” describes a feature but “Wake up relaxed and rested” goes further to show the benefits of the stated feature.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Audio Products -- 3 Tips To Produce Good Audio Products


What kind of things do your customers find interesting? This is one question that you should know if you are making information products. One of the easiest information products to make is audio products.

To be able to come up with an audio product that will sell you need to know what your prospects are looking for. Knowing the subject that your prospects find interesting will help you come up with audio products that will really sell.

If your prospects see that you offer the information or content that they seek, you greatly improve the odds of sales being made. You can do keyword research before you go and create your audio products. It is important that you know exactly the subjects of interest to your prospective readers.

Here are some things that you should know to make saleable audio products.

1. Invest time. Take time to create your audio products. In making your audio products you need to get your thoughts together and organized into a cohesive master plan for your audios. Be sure that you cover all the major topics you plan to discuss along with the subtopics that support them.

2. Quality. Like with any other products being sold out there quality is of great importance and something that should not be overlooked. For information products it is no different, value and quality are always important.

It is important that extensive research is done to come up with good quality audio products. Research should be done in various ways you can do an online search on the topic you wish to discuss, form a partnership for this project with other experts, or by reading books and papers.

Keep in mind that you have to use resources that are valid and those that can be trusted to be precise.

3. Marketing. Once you have finished producing your quality audio products, then it is time to start marketing it. Increase sales of your audio products by using some tried and tested online advertising programs.

Try using pay-per-click which is a well known strategy used in marketing, you can also try banner advertising, search engine marketing, article marketing, paid listing, search engine optimization and link building campaigns to mention a few. The methods I have mentioned will cost a little money, but the impact that a well run advertising campaign can have on final sales makes it well worth considering.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Landing Page Advantage - 7 Advantages of a Good Landing Page


If you are thinking of starting your own online business then you must have heard the term “landing pages” being used a lot. So, you might be asking what exactly are landing pages. The simplest definition I can think for landing pages is that it is a page where visitors land up after clicking on online ads or links present in emails and search engine result pages.

After we cleared out the definition of landing pages, let us now move on to its importance. Why exactly should online entrepreneurs pay attention to their landing pages? For one, landing pages play a very important role in SEO campaigns because it is the one that directs traffic towards your website.

Whenever people want to know something they go to their computer and then they input the keyword into search engines and expect to be directed towards its landing page. SEO campaigns leave a trail of landing pages which in turn provide an advantage to websites because prospects get to visit these pages directly without the interference of a third party. These pages take users straight to the page which has details about the keywords prospects typed in.

Conversion rates go up when the visitor clicking on the link makes a purchase. The visitor needs to be further convinced to inform allies and acquaintances and tell them about these services.

The more planned and well develop your landing pages are the better. Good landing pages means higher chances of success. Landing pages have the power to make or break your business. If by any chance the conversion rate remains lower than what you were expecting it only goes to show that the landing pages have failed miserably.

Here are the other advantages of a well planned landing page:

Landing Page Advantage #1: Boost online business conversion

Based on a research done by Omniture (largest technology company focused on CMOs and Online Marketers) did a study about landing pages. According to the study they made the usage of landing pages to target your campaign traffic resulted to an average increase of 25 per cent in terms of conversion rate.

With that fact to go with you should be thinking of using landing pages to direct your traffic too, I mean it is practical after all. If you look at many paid search campaigns send visitors to either the homepage or a registration form, which more often than not confuses visitors. A focused and targeted message will automatically yield better results.

Landing Page Advantage #2: It is more focused

When it comes to landing pages you only have to think about a single message that you want customers to know, hence the focus is stronger.

Before we go on any further, I want you to take a look at your homepage. Your homepage contains multiple messages as well as product pictures right? If you are a prospect there are times you would feel confused and disoriented with all of those things you see. However, with a landing page, there is only one headline, one unique selling proposition, one call to action and a single product photo. A landing page can remove a lot of the user confusion that produces poor conversion.

Landing Page Advantage #3: Uses simple measurement

As I have mentioned above a landing page contains only one call to action statement which in turn makes analytics easier. It is either, your customer takes the action you want or they do not, and it is as easy as that. If they do not, you can massage the page until they do.

A homepage contains over a dozen of links so whenever someone clicks on a link you lose the ability to measure the reasons for conversion success. You also run the risk of having your conversions affected by changes you might not be aware of.

Landing Page Advantage #4: Affiliate opportunities

Message match and trust can be improved for affiliate traffic by using co-branding. Co-branding is when marketers use logos from both parties on a destination page. Co-branding makes your customers feel secure that the offer given to them will be recognized and honored on the target website.

If you are going to depend on your page alone, this would be pretty difficult to come by. This specific step requires you to incorporate a code to differentiate the source, and modify the design so that it will show the logo of your affiliate.

Landing Page Advantage #5: No more design restrictions

Promoting a stand-alone landing page gives you a higher degree of freedom. With a landing page there is no need for you to obey the rules as imposed by your website design. Also, with a landing page there is more visual freedom to experiment.

Landing Page Advantage #6: Test and edit with hassle

Most websites have multiple owners and before a tiny detail is changed on that website permission from all the owners is required. So, by operating a stand-alone landing page you are basically separating yourself from the rest of the website and hence your landing page enjoys more freedom. If ever you need to test something then edit it after-wards, it should not be an issue or a hassle for you.

As soon as you have established your landing page’s base conversion rate, you can go ahead and proceed with testing. Subjecting your landing page through a series of tests will help you learn what your customers respond to.

Landing Page Advantage #7: Campaign liability

Assigning responsibilities is much easier if you separate different campaigns from the main website. If you have different people working to send traffic to your homepage you will never be able to accommodate the needs of each individual when it comes to changes for testing. However, with a stand-alone landing page, you can set up a culture of liability where individuals can be in possession of a campaign.




Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Blog Marketing - 7 Reasons Why Blog Marketing Is Good


Blog marketing is commonly described by people as internet marketing via web blogs. There are various blogs in circulation nowadays there are blogs for corporations there are blogs for products, and of course there are personal blogs. Typically, corporations or businesses use blogs so they can start a conversation with their customers as well as prospects about the features of their products or services.

Blog marketing is not just used to start a conversation between the business entity and its customers it can also be used to share and preview product features, functions, and benefits before the products are released. By using blog marketing you are able to gather feedback and to make sure products meet the needs of your customers or prospects.

Some entrepreneurs overlook the power of blogs however what they do not realize is that blogs are one of the easiest and cheapest way to market. Blogs are not just personal diaries of people nowadays but it has a very huge marketing potential.

Blog marketing is the best way to create awareness about your business. Like what I have said earlier this is very easy to do and the best thing about it that it is cheap (it is free in some cases). With blog marketing you can easily get response from your target market. Also, blog marketing is a big help if you want to create a buzz, analyze your niche market and you can also gather various customer opinions on a new promotion.

On the internet, the blog marketing is seen as the least expensive way to market your products, services and of course your ideas. By utilizing the blogs to promote the product is an unusual but a lot of marketers have proven that blog marketing is very effective and efficient. Through creating consciousness about your product, you can boost the traffic at your blog.

If you are thinking of getting started on blog marketing then these things might convince you to do it.

1. Blog marketing is an effective way to boost traffic to your website.
If you have managed to insert a link in your blog, then you can create possible sales or lead for your product. You can insert the links within your blog or in some cases they insert it at the end of the blog. In doing so you are able to create traffic to your website and this traffic will certainly increase your sales. By increasing the traffic to your site it is also very likely that you create leads that will be proven as something valuable in the future.

2. Blog marketing creates brand awareness.

By engaging on blog marketing you can create awareness about your product or service and if the people know about your product. If your product or service is constantly in their minds then the next time they go shopping rest assured they will be looking for you. So, by creating awareness, you can increase your sales.

3. Blog marketing represents a low cost marketing channel that every marketer can use. As I have said in the previous paragraphs blogs are cheap and sometimes it is even for free. Blogs can be easily established into an existing website. It is advisable however that an online business come up with their own blog domain for brand awareness purposes. Not only does it creates brand awareness it also sounds more businesslike.

4. Blog marketing helps you build your network. Every business needs a network; I am talking about external network with other companies or customers. But we all know that maintaining or keeping in contact with so many people can get tedious in the long run. But through blog marketing you can reach your targeted readers at any time in any place and I have to say that it is not that tedious at all.

5. Blog marketing enhances company visibility. Closely related to networking, Blog marketing benefits an online business by keeping it visible. The next time a customer or collaborating company is in need of your product or services, your business will be the first thing on their minds.

6. Blog marketing starts word-of-mouth.
If you impress your audience with how you have described your product then chances are they will recommend you to their families and friends this is what we call viral effect. If you share personal experiences with the readers, you can create affinity between your readers and you, and this affinity will help you to increase the sales of your product.

7. Blog marketing paves the way for back links.

With the clever use of keywords and anchor text, blog marketing can also benefit from search engine optimization. Through additional listings in search and back links, you can boost the traffic at your blog, and by boosting traffic you also increase the likelihood of a sale.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Product Review Page - 7 Key Elements that You Should Know


Product reviews are written to provide customers the information that they need. This is basically exercised to help users make more informed purchasing decisions and improve your customer’s shopping experience. And we all know how much customer’s value shopping experience right?

The structure of a product review is really simple and anyone can write one. A product review is consisted of an introduction, an overview, and a summary.

Your product review page’s introduction consists of a few sentences outlining the problem and introduces a possible solution for your prospect, in this part you need not go into detail yet. The overview portion provides the consumers of the product's capability, an explanation of how the product is used. The last part which is the summary is almost a repeat of the introduction, and contains a strong recommendation for purchase based on your conclusions.

In writing your product review page, the following key elements must be present:

1. A product review page should include images or videos. It will be a big help to your consumers of you take the time to include an image or video of the product or service that you are reviewing. This will assist your customer to visually connect your review with the product or need that they are researching.

Including a photo or video is so easy to do. You can take a photo of the product yourself; you can also try using an image from the merchant’s website, take a screenshot of the website, or use a picture of you using the product. For some products, it is applicable for you to present a before and after picture.

If you are planning on including a video, then your video can feature things like: ordering/using/results, taking physical products out of the box, or an explanation of the product and its features.

2. A good product review page also includes the product description. In your product description you can mention things like size, number of pages, features, ordering process, delivery/package details, benefits, expected results, your specific results.

Customers nowadays are more meticulous when shopping online. They are more careful because there are a lot of scams going on. People would like to know what exactly they are going to get if they order this product today.

If you were able to try the product yourself then include your personal thoughts and personal experience about the product or what made you decide to purchase this product. This helps your customers relate to how you felt when you were purchasing or deciding whether to purchase the product yourself.

3. Your product review page should also include your buyer’s description. Who is this product for? This product is not suitable for whom? No product, like nothing has been made that suits everyone. Be sure to describe the perfect buyer in a manner wherein your reader can easily decide if this is the right product for them or not.
The main reason why you write a product review page is made is to make sure the right people buy the right product.

4. Include proofs on your product review page. You can include two types of proofs on your product page. There are two types of proof to include in your product review, you need to prove that you have tried the product and prove to customers that the product really works.

Not everyone believes in product reviews; they feel that these reviews are biased. People are skeptical of product reviews and believe that reviews are based on payment or compensation. Your job is to prove that you have the product yourself, and you are providing your customer with unbiased review.

Proof can be achieved by using photos or video, by describing the product in more detail than can be found on the merchant’s website, mentioning unadvertised bonuses, and by addressing the negatives.

5. Your product review page can also include “negative comments.” If the product has any negative comments it is also advisable that you include those, it may be a negative comment about the product itself, or with the ordering process, etc. Adding negative comments will make your product review page objective and will dramatically increase the ‘believability’ of your product review. If you just mention the good stuff on your review page then chances are your customers would be skeptical.

Do not be frightened of informing people of the product’s negative side. They are probably already thinking it, so this is your opportunity to address those thoughts and help them make an informed decision about making the purchase.

The important thing is that when you present something negative in your product review page you immediately follow it up with the resolution.

6. A product review page must also include a call-to-action. This is one crucial part that should not be forgotten. Your call-to-action tells your reader exactly what they should do next, and it needs to include very specific directions with a smooth transition.

Take a look at the landing page where you will be sending your visitors to from your product review page, and frame your call-to-action in a manner which encourages them to click through and lets them know exactly what to expect when they do click on the button.

7. As always your product review page must contain keyword phrase. Every piece of content that you create on the internet should be optimized for a specific keyword phrase and your product review page is no different from this. You may be optimizing your review for the actual product, or you may formulate your review around a specific problem or need. Choose your keyword phrase so that you attract the ideal prospects.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Convince People to Buy - 7 Tips to Get People Buying


Persuasion this is an art wherein you get people to do what you want them to do. "It's how you tap into people's dreams and link your products or services or causes to the realization of their dreams – it's how you make them see it, hear it, and want it." The success of your online business is composed of the results of your ability to convince others to purchase from you and not your competitors.

Why should a prospect purchase from you and not some other website who offer the same product? What makes your business so special it would inspire a customer to choose your services over your competitor’s? What will it take to convince people to buy from you? You see this happening plenty of times wherein a prospect is so interested in your product however you still need to convince people to buy before they can make a decision. By observing them keenly and understanding what is going on with them, you can determine what it will take to convince people to buy.

If you find it difficult to convince people to buy, one problem might be that they do not believe what you are telling them. Would you buy from someone you did not believe? Probably not. So it is clear that your own credibility is critical to a successful sale. It does not take a genius to convince people to buy, all it takes is to understand the aspects of human nature that are often automatic and work at a subconscious level.

Here are some tips to convince people to buy:

1. Convince people to buy by coming up with your own customer and client list. This list you have made is a perfect way to show to your prospects how long you have been running your business and how many customers you have satisfied. Proving to potential customers that you have served a lot f people already is an effective way to convince people to buy. If others were happy with the results there is no reason why they should not try it out themselves right?

2. Convince people to buy by showing you have been in business for quite some time now. Show prospects that your business is “real” and you are going to disappear into thin air. It is obvious that the longer you have been in business, the better.
You usually some store signs stating their year of establishment, you see something like, "Established 1867" or some equivalent. Would you feel more comfortable buying from a well-established business? Probably. They are trying to show you their longstanding business solidity. So, in your goal to convince people to buy you have got to show to them that your business is here to stay.

3. Convince people to buy, show them what others are doing. More often than not people look to others and will often do what they are doing. Your prospects tend to look into others first when they feel uncertain. This psychological phenomenon is called “social proof.”

Customers feel more reassured or they feel like what they are doing is right if they base their decisions to what others are doing. So, show your prospects what others are doing now and convince them to buy from your online store.

4. Convince people to buy from your online store by showing user-generated reviews. User-generated reviews can have a massive influence on peoples' buying decisions. Program your website wherein customers or site users can write and leave reviews and express overall ratings for products and services on your site.
It is common knowledge that web users are more inclined to trust what people like themselves say, compared to marketers. Do not be scared of bad reviews (be prepared for that since that is part of business) people can smell sites that have been 'edited' a mile away, forcing them to simply not trust anything you say. Instead, be prepared to act quickly on your customers' feedback. Allow prospects to leave their views on your products or service, and in doing so, you would be able to convince people to buy from your online store.

5. Convince people to buy by showing the scarcity of products. Scarcity generates demand and encourages people to buy sooner. People want what they think they cannot have and social psychology would indicate that loss is a more powerful emotion than gain. That is why you often hear advertisers say, “Get it while supplies last.” This is a powerful statement used to convince people to buy immediately.

6. Convince people to buy by showing pictures and if possible, you can show videos. Imagery is a very powerful when you want to convince people to buy, hence increasing product sales especially for high value and luxury goods, so be sure to provide good quality images of products. These images will go a long way to reassure people about what they will be getting.

7. Convince people to buy by showing authority. The principle of authority states that those with authority more easily convince us. Websites showing authority and expertise are trusted more.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Obtain Customers Online


If you are running an online business, you already know by now that it involves a lot of understanding. As an entrepreneur, how well do you understand your market? As of now you feel that you are offering the best product or service in the online market, but is this what you target market needs? If you truly want to obtain customers online then you have to come up with a game plan, which will demonstrate how well you understand your market.

In an entrepreneur’s quest to obtain customers online they need to understand that, it is crucial to come up with the right strategies and determine the best goals and objectives. It is important that you obtain customers online because not only will these people help your business to profit they can also tell you as to when you should start looking to change direction.

Here are some tips how you can obtain customers online:

1. To obtain customers online you need to understand what the internet can do for your business. The internet has a huge influence on many people and to obtain customers online you need to know what to do with it. Since we all have different objectives in mind as an entrepreneur we need to understand what the web can do for our online business.

A lot of successful entrepreneurs that we see today chose to start an online business because starting a traditional business is admittedly costly. Nevertheless, the advantage of the internet is that you can obtain online customers from your computer and of course, it is not as costly. With an online store you are also able to market your business to the global community, for a little cost or at more often than not none at all.

2. To obtain customers online you need to provide customers with significant and important information. Many people use the internet to look for some information they need. If you are looking to obtain customers online then you have to be the one to supply them with the best information possible. If you are distributing an e-newsletter about online marketing, be sure it is the finest resource the customer will ever read.

3. Obtain customers online by harnessing the familiar. It is normal that people will fear something that is unfamiliar. Admittedly, shopping online is way different from actual shopping (traditional); there are various ways wherein you can make the experience less scary for your prospects. You are on your way to your goal to obtain customers online once you have eliminated this apprehension.