Posts Tagged ‘reader’
Does It Really Take Money To Make Money (Online or Offline)? A Reality-Check of 2 Case Studies
The short and simple answer to this question is NO!
Now, before you start screaming that I am crazy, out of my mind, have lost my marbles and all the other things that generally get tossed around when someone has the nerve to state something like that, let me clear a few things up.
It does not take a monetary investment to get your business off the ground (aside from the everyday items you already have around your house).
It does take time, effort, drive and determination on your part to do it though, a good dose of imagination, sprinkle in some luck for good measure and most importantly, it takes a dream. Now I am not going to go into any of the usual dream-building, nor will I tell you exactly what to do, or how hard you have to work to do it. You already know the answers to these things.
NOW, to make it big (and trust me, what you consider to be ‘big’ may differ greatly from every other reader of this article) it will at some point take monetary investments. There, I said it. At some point, if you really want to break out and make some serious money, you will have to invest some money in your business.
But that does not mean you can’t get started for free, work hard, and see your cashflow begin to roll in. At that point, reward yourself, you’ve earned it, maybe take your loved one out for a dinner, because he/she probably had to put up with quite a bit already.
Being an entrepreneur is not hard, but the dedication it demands can be hard on any relationship, so take a night off.
Ok, now we’re back, had a great and wonderful evening, time to get back to work. The next step is to take some of the money you are making and if at all possible, invest it all in growing your business (after all, you probably still have a job that pays your bills at this point).
If you reinvest at least a healthy part of what you earn from your new venture, you can achieve the success you dreamed of, but beware, it can be an pretty strong temptation to start tossing your money out the window, but I know you are strong enough, deep inside (go ahead, grab yourself by the collar and shake a little) to overcome it.
Let me give you two examples from my own experience that I hope will inspire you to take your dream, embrace it and get you rolling with your own vision.
Case Scenario 1: Offline Food Delivery Service
While still living in San Antonio, I was working part time at a Pizza joint delivering pizzas a few nights a week. I had a full time job as a dispatcher, but with a wife (now ex-wife), two kids, a dog and a cat, and all the bills that come with a family, things can get tight. The team that managed this little franchise was doing a pretty poor job at marketing, and an even worse job at managing. Well, enough of the ugly picture, it just gets worse. Time to talk shop…
I wanted to do something a little different, help my colleagues (who were just as fed up as I was), so I happened to notice that most of the deliveries (and probably the only thing really keeping that pizza shop going) was the local Air Force training facility.
So I sat down one weekend, with my ex-wife and laid out the plan (You have to have a plan. Let it start as a vision and a dream, but make sure you write it out step by step).
The plan was simple, take orders from the Airmen, pick up food, take the food to them, and get paid. Easy, huh?
Ok, here’s what I did, I made some flyers on my beat up old computer, used a freeware contact management software to keep track of customers and an old tin lockbox I had in the garage for a change drawer. Bingo, N.E. Deliveries was born.
We would take calls from the local servicemen and my ex-wife would jot down their order. She then paged me, since I normally hung out (if I wasn’t on a run) near Fast Food Central (a little corner where a bunch of the main chains all had a shop). I called her back from the payphone (I didn’t have a cell phone at the time), took the order, grabbed it from the store and took it to the Airbase. Cost to the Airmen? Price of the food, plus a $5 delivery charge and whatever they wanted to tip me. Understand the scenario please, these men and women, come out of basic training and haven’t even seen a Big Mac in ages. Now they are at a technical school, which still doesn’t give them the freedom to run down the street and grab a taco.
It only took one weekend and I had made more money with this venture than I had during the whole week of delivering pizzas every night.
But here’s the kicker. Word spread real fast, I got too busy and I was even getting orders to go pick up pizzas at my old shop (they couldn’t deliver fast enough and people were willing to pay the delivery charge for good and fast service). We even started getting calls from the local neighborhoods, were our fliers had spread to, or other personnel, who were not in training at the airbase, lived.
Uhoh, we ran into a big problem, too much business. (What a wonderful problem to have). It happened that I kept running into some of my former colleagues, and boy I tell you, the first few times they saw me show up at their shop to grab a pizza and then a little while later some others saw me deliver their pizza to the airbase, wow, what a rush that was and it was the turning point for my company. 4 of the drivers that I was pretty close to and that I had great respect for came on board with me instead.
The end scenario was that we delivered a lot of food to hungry people and made everyone happy in the process. And the drivers were able to make more money as well.
Scenario 2: Online and offline Telecommunications Brokerage
Unfortunately, N.E. Deliveries had to stop when we were transferred to Japan (thinking back, I know I could have sold the concept and kept it going, but I was still new to business thinking).
So, here we were, overseas in a new country, not a lot of jobs to even start with, what to do.
I happened to notice that a lot of the phone services for calls back to the States were very expensive and even more so in my case, since most of my family lives in Germany.
I also happened to have noticed this online company, which was giving away free dealerships for long distance calls, callback programs and a few other telecommunications services. And who doesn’t like free? Not only that, but their rates were pretty good, they offered not just one service from one company, but a lot of them together. So I sat down at that old beat up computer again, cleared out all the contacts from N.E. Deliveries out of the same old freeware contact manager, and created some new flyers. I was able to hang them up in a lot of areas at no charge and started to get some calls in. Now, part of my online business meant, I could literally just send them to a website, let them pick the service they wanted and just wait for my check. The problem I saw though was that a lot of military people overseas at the time were not familiar with what a callback service is, so I decided to help. I put my phone number on the flier, and when someone called, I explained to them briefly the cost, how it works and what makes it better for them than using, say a calling card. I would even go visit them to show them how and even set up an account I used for myself as a demo account and would allow them to call home to the United States for 5 minutes for free, just so they could say hi to someone special in their life.
Just doing something simple like that (and it really didn’t cost me much on my phone bill) generated a lot of extra sign ups, since I went out of my way to give them more information than any of the other companies that were trying to push their services.
Ultimately, this lead to a steady, monthly stream of income and several other opportunities to work with other companies as a telecommunications consultant. The best part? I learned everything I needed to know from the online company I signed on with, I still learn a lot even now. I am still receiving paychecks from clients that signed up with me all those years ago, who now have services through me in either the United States or in some of the other countries they are now stationed in. And once I took some of that income and placed a small display ad in the local military paper, wow, things really started to take off.
The overall thing I want you to leave with after taking the time to read all of this is plain and simple: YOU CAN MAKE MONEY OFF-LINE AND/OR ON-LINE, without investing any additional money (I only gave you two examples, but your imagination will guide you well, as long as you think outside of the box). And you can grow your business even more by reinvesting some of your earnings (if not all) into your new venture.
I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before, but I have to say it anyway. If I can do it, so can you. I have no special education (aside from the school of hard knocks), no degree, none of those things. I am just an average guy, with a computer, an internet connection, a printer and most importantly the dream, desire, vision and determination to succeed.
Here’s to your success,
Xavier Nelson is the publisher of eBusinessCornerNews, your source for reviews, articles, free resources and more. Get your free subscription at http://blog.makemoneymarketingonline.com right now.
Don’t forget to grab your free copy of the new, rebrandable ebook “Time to laugh” at http://freestuffbazaar.com/timetolaugh and promote your website and grow your list further. My gift to you.
7 Sure-Fire Ways to Build Large Affiliate Checks
Everyone wants a huge affiliate check. All the advertisements promise them, but if you just buy into the affiliate program and expect large affiliate checks to come, you will be sorely disappointed. Even if you have built downline in your affiliate program, your checks will not often be very large. The goal, after all, is to make money – and lots of it!
Try these 7 sure-fire ways to build those large affiliate checks that you have only dreamed of in the past.
* Optimizing Your Website For The Search Engines
If you want people to locate your website, it had better come up on the first page of results from the major search engines. People rarely move on to the second or subsequent pages of the search engine results. Search engine optimization is an art, and the rules used by the search engines change over time.
If you want to research how to optimize your website for the search engines, you can do some online research and learn the process. Or you can save tons of time and hire someone who is skilled at the art already. Remember; if people can’t locate you, they can’t buy from you.
* Product Review Pages
Your website should contain reviews of the product you are selling. People need to know why they should buy this specific product. They need to be compelled to want to own it. They need to be assured that they simply can’t live a happy life without your product. Make every webpage compelling and a call to action to buy, buy, buy – but do it subtly. Don’t just tell the reader to buy. Make them want to buy by giving them reasons they have to have this product today.
* Make Statistics Your Friend
On average, 1% of the people who visit an affiliate marketing websites will buy immediately. The other 99% will move along and never return. To make this statistic your friend, you have to obtain targeted hits to your website. Once way to do this is to get the visitor’s name and email addresses before they leave by placing an offer for something free on your webpage. Then follow up. Often, by the seventh time you contact that prospect, they will decide to buy.
* Learn From The Pros
There are thousands of wonderful articles on the Internet explaining affiliate marketing tips and tricks. There are hundreds of books in libraries on the same subject. Don’t stop at this report; learn every thing that you can that has worked for someone in the past. Then take every one of the points that apply to you and implement them. The more tactics you implement, the more traffic you will obtain and the more sales you will close.
* Continual Updates
Update your web pages often. If a prospect has visited your page a month ago, they will move away if they see exactly the same thing on your web page this month. Make the appearance and content fresh and new. While you continue your follow up with prospects, the ones who do go make a re-visit to your site may see just the thing that attracts them this time.
Web pages are simple to create and the little time required to ensure freshness is minimal. Information on learning to create effective web pages is all over the Internet; take the time to learn. If you use any time sensitive data on your web pages, but certain that the updates occur as frequently as necessary.
* Sweeten The Deal
There is not a person on earth that doesn’t want something for free. You do, I do, and everyone we know does, too. Offer the prospect visiting your web pages something for free. It can be an ebook you wrote yourself or purchased for redistribution, a report, a bundled product. Whatever it is, sweeten the deal to get the sale.
If the prospect has gotten far enough to learn the price of your product, then make sure they also see right then that something else is added to the package. The more you sweeten the deal, the better. Give them reports, ebooks, tutorials, anything that will go well with your product and make the buyer feel they are getting a lot of value for their money.
* Don’t Over or Under Price Yourself
If your product is one that you have price control over, then remember, it is far, far better to get more sales than fewer. So don’t price your products so high that most people will pass. However, the mentality of the buyer is that if it is too inexpensive to be real, then it must not be any good.
A mid-range price for a product will outsell either higher priced items or lower priced ones. This may not be true in face-to-face sales, but it certainly is proven in Internet sales.
This article was authored by Jason Gazaway. This 22 year old, ‘regular’ college kid was able to quit his 7-4 “job” because of his affiliate marketing business. He now wants to help others and show you how he did it!
For more FREE information, please go to: Affiliate Students
Writing Online In Two Syllables or Less
About once a month I fly off somewhere to give a one-day workshop on writing for the web.
For part of the day, I invite the group to take part in a series of short tasks. In one of these I ask people to write or rewrite a web page headline, using words of two syllables or less.
What’s the point? Well, the idea is to make people think. It’s often tempting to write with long, complex words. Perhaps it has to do with how we were taught at school. And sometimes we use long words simply to sound clever.
Before you know it, you end up with something like this, which I found on a CRM site:
“Our Internet support infrastructure automatically collects information from the user’s system, facilitates effective communication between support personnel and users, and enables self-healing and automated problem resolution.”
Do you know what they are trying to say? I don’t.
Two things happen here. First, the use of long words makes it harder for the reader to process the meaning of what you are saying. This is an issue with all writing, but even more so online, because we have to read on a screen.
Beyond that, I think the use of long words is a symptom. It’s a symptom of a writer being lazy. It’s a symptom of someone in a rush, someone who won’t take the time to sit back and think through what it is they are really trying to say.
Once you are clear in your own mind, and really know what you want to say, it becomes a great deal simpler to express yourself in short, simple words. And when you do that, you’ll write in a way that people can grasp very quickly.
Should you always write with short words? Of course not. But try it from time to time. Above all, try it when you find yourself writing in a way that goes on and one, with one long word tripping over the next.
And yes, in case you haven’t noticed, except for the word ’syllables’, I wrote this entire piece in words of two syllables or less.
(The purpose was not show that it’s a simple thing to do, or that I’m so very clever. The idea is to show how easy it is to read a block of text when the words are short and simple.)
Nick Usborne is a copywriter, author, speaker and advocat of good writing. You can access all his archived newsletter articles on copywriting and writing for the web at his Excess Voice site. You’ll find more articles and resources on how to make money as a freelance writer at his Freelance Writing Success site.
Marketing Messages with Add Zest & Appeal
Boring is one thing you can’t afford to be when it comes to marketing your business. With more than 3000+ marketing messages pummeling consumers on a daily basis, you need to be more, and do more, if you want to be heard above the racket.
Your marketing message is how you communicate with the public; it needs to be appealing and memorable. In order to do that, consider the concept of the meme. A meme is a thought, idea or belief that replicates over time. What that means in terms of your marketing is creating a marketing message that is strong, bold, and exciting so that it stays with the customer and becomes a part of their thinking.
A good example of this is Nike’s “Just Do It”. This phrase is used in a lot of different contexts outside of talking about Nike’s products. People get what it means because it has permeated our culture. Below are some ways that you can avoid being boring by adding extra marketing appeal to your message.
1. Add visuals. There are so many ways to bring attention to your marketing message. One of the best ways is to add something visual. As a picture speaks a thousand words, so too can it communicate all sorts of things about you and your business. What types of pictures or graphics would you use to convey who you are? Adding a picture of yourself on your website or in other marketing materials will help form a stronger connection between you and potential clients.
2. The meaning of colors. Colors hold great meaning when it comes to your marketing message. Yellow elicits high levels of attention. Orange and red indicate quickness. The concepts of money, health, and nurturing are symbolized by green. Black can mean power and strength, but it can also indicate hiding or blending into the background. Purple is the color of royalty and wealth. What types of colors are you drawn to? What meaning do you want to convey to people by the colors you use on your business cards, brochures and even on your website. Too many colors are distracting and look chaotic. Certain colors on colored backgrounds can cause the same reaction. Make sure to work with a professional when selecting colors so you can communicate your business in the best light.
3. Try technology. Adding audio or video to your web site is a great way to allow someone to get to know you better. Adding real audio recordings of your classes, an interview, or even a welcome message gives someone an opportunity to hear your voice. Because technology is so low priced and easy to use nowadays, you might even consider adding a short video as well. Again, it will help to develop a rapport with your audience. One thing to keep in mind is that while technology is great and exciting and can do wonderful things for us, not everyone has the bandwidth to enjoy it fully. Over 50% of consumers are still using dial-up computer access which limits their ability to enjoy both real audio and video to its fullest.
4. Creative business cards. One great way to stand out from the crowd is to develop a creative business card. Add your picture to it or a professionally designed graphic. Use a brochure type card, which allows you 4 different surfaces to print contact information as well as information about what you do. You can include quotations, a mini-brochure about your company, or even some helpful tips or a short quiz. Think about the use of colors and type of fonts, which also can add excitement and pizzazz.
5. Action. When people see or read about action, they often feel empowered to take action themselves. Employing motion on your website is another way to add appeal to your marketing message. You can have text that changes colors on its own, or graphics that move. You might even have a marquee. One thing to keep in mind is that motion can also quickly drive people away from your site as it can be considered obnoxious and childish. Talk to a web professional before using these techniques. You can also imply action by the types of words you use in your web copy.
6. Target your audience. A quality-marketing message speaks directly to its target audience. Who is your target audience? Is it moms, singles, seniors, solo-professionals? The words you use to communicate with a mom are quite different from the words you would use to communicate to a corporate human resources manager or to a medical doctor. The words you use must fit your audience. If they don’t, you’ll have an immediate disconnect with people who read your message.
7. What’s in it for me? Fundamental to all marketing messages must be the mantra?”What’s in it for me”? The only reason anyone is even looking at your brochure, viewing your website or reading your business card is to see what they can possibly gain for themselves. People are busy and are inundated with thousands of marketing messages each day. The only ones they will pay attention to are the ones that really speak to their needs. They have problems or issues they want solved and they are looking for solutions. An appealing marketing message is one that speaks to the typical problems faced by your target audience. Communicating how you can solve those problems quickly and cost effectively is critical to attracting new clients.
8. Ask “yes” questions. If you want to capture someone’s attention, ask them questions that they can answer “yes” to. Whether you are asking questions on a website, in a brochure, or during a sales presentation, make sure they are worded in such a way that the respondent will answer “yes” consistently. The word “yes” opens people up to accept more feedback, whereas the word “no” will quickly close them down. Also, create questions that can help the reader or viewer identify with what you’re saying, giving them the sense that you truly do understand their problems or issues.
9. Features and benefits. Don’t just tell people what you do. Instead, relate the features and benefits of what they can experience as a result of doing business with you. A feature is some aspect of the product whereas a benefit is the feeling or result that someone will experience as a result of that feature. For example, a hospital unit might feature some of the latest innovations in new baby care and services. The benefit to the new mother will be the confidence, security, and peace of mind that she and her baby will be cared for in the best ways possible.
10. Be unique. Show how you, your product, or services are unique. Not only will that help people to remember you, it will make you remarkable. The sense of being remarkable is that people will comment about you to others. Word of mouth advertising is some of the best advertising because it costs you nothing and it comes with a testimonial from the person who is telling others about you. Can you relate what you do to someone in history? Or are you the first at doing something or introducing something? Do you use unique ingredients in your products or employ specialized knowledge in the work you do? This type of information will make your marketing message not only interesting and memorable, but remarkable.
© Copyright 2004 by Alicia Smith
Alicia Smith is a Coach and Trainer whose specialty is helping coaches to Make Money Now. This article is derived from just one of the 90 lessons contained in her e-course, 90-Day Marketing Marathon. To learn more about that course and her other products and services, please visit the following sites. (You also can email her at alicia@aliciasmith.com.) http://www.90DayMarketingMarathon.com http://www.discninja.com http://www.InternetAssessments.com
Your Newsletters Are Pretty Lame If You Are Doing These 7 Things
I remember the good old days of the internet when it was a real treat to subscribe to someone’s newsletter and receive all their wonderful information through the convenience of your email.
It’s still like this today – for the publishers that are getting it right. I believe newsletter publishers somewhere along the way forget WHY readers subscribe. On their websites we are promised all this wonderful information and instead we receive a sales pitch, email after email.
Bad newsletters far out number the effective ones. Here is a list of mistakes I find newsletter publisher religiously make?
1. Sell right off the auto responder
When I subscribe to a newsletter and get the sales pitch right off the auto responder, I know my subscription to this newsletter won’t last long.
The autoresponder is the ideal place to get your subscriber familiar with yourself and your business. It’s a great first step in building that relationship with your reader. Get them enthusiastic about receiving your newsletter. Tell them the wonderful things they will come to expect.
Welcome them and just leave it at that.
Something to take with you: “Don’t put the cart before the horse”
2. Talk about how much money you are making ? all the time
Hyping is old news. Are you still doing it?
The newbie internet marketers love to tell you how much they are supposedly making. They love referring to this time and time again in their newsletters. They haven’t yet realized that hype doesn’t sell. Information does.
If you are making all this money, then help someone who isn’t. Give them some intelligent information. Help them make an informed decision about buying your product.
Something to take with you: “Uh? Don’t hype?”
3. Instead of 80% content and 20% selling you are doing it the other way around
Your subscriber didn’t give you permission to sell to them. They gave you permission to give them more information. That’s what you promised when they signed up. Are you honoring that promise?
Subscribers know that you will be doing some selling in your newsletters. They are not stupid. So weave the selling process in with your great information. That way it won’t stick out like a sore thumb and your readers won’t feel pitched.
Something to take with you: “Always give before you ask to take. It rarely works the other way around”
4. Copy and paste an article in your newsletter and hey presto! You have a newsletter? Not
There is no double about it. Articles are very effective ? the ones that are well worded and give the reader insider information about a specific topic.
One publisher I subscribe to uses the power of articles very well. He is an affiliate and in his newsletter he publishers different people’s articles.
This is his technique:
- His newsletters begin by telling readers a little about his day.
- Then he introduces the article author, giving readers about a paragraph of information about him/her
- Next we read the article
- Then he gives us his thoughts/tips/stories/comments.
- Then he finishes by referring to the author and the information in the article.
I’ve bought from this affiliate time and time again. Know why? Because his technique works.
He puts effort into his newsletters. Readers see that. Through them, I’ve come to know him, trust him, like him. Not only does he provide me with good articles, he is also knowledgeable in the subject he’s involved him and his contributions really help reinforce the information of the article.
Unfortunately, most newsletter publishers don’t use the power of articles. You see, when you don’t put effort into it, I know you went to an article directory, selected an article, joined it’s affiliate program and just stuck it in your ‘newsletter’ with nothing else but your name and contact details.
Not good.
Something to take with you: “Go the extra mile. It’s not crowded.”
5. Not telling people abit about yourself
Give readers a sense of you. We are curious creatures and want to know abit about people we associate with. You do want to bond with your readers, don’t you? Then your name and website address at the bottom of your email won’t accomplish much.
The best newsletters I subscribe to, without fail, always include a small paragraph in the beginning about themselves.
Tell readers something and keep it short and sweet. Don’t go to the other extreme and devote your newsletters to talk about yourself. Boring.
Something to take with you: “Balance is what we are looking for here.”
6. Giving subscribers info that is so basic, they can tell you are new to this
Your defense may be that you are catering to newbie internet marketers so your information has to be basic. Okay, let’s put it another way. Last time I checked there were 55,000 people looking for internet marketing. Do you believe all those are new to this?
There are many types of products to do with internet marketing like ebooks, newsletters, autoresponders etc. An internet marketer needs a variety of products to build and run their business.
Consider something else. Who else buys your products? Answer: Affiliates. So at most times you are dealing with people with a higher level of experience.
Let me give you an example of what I consider basic information. If you write an article telling me why I need an email service then this won’t make an impression on me. I already know this. And if I was a newbie, I would know this too because I would’ve come across it hundreds of times before from other people who rehash the same information.
On the other hand, I may not know what the best email services are and why. So tell me.
Something to take with you: “Do some research. It always pays off.”
7. The biggest booboo of them all
I was stunned. Are people this dumb?
About a month ago, I subscribed to a bunch of internet marketing newsletters. I don’t remember now from where. Pity.
Well, I received the autoresponders, as all newsletters begin. All the same. I received the first newsletters, second newsletters, third newsletters. (then I unsubscribed from them all). All the same.
Word for word they were all the same. The only thing that changed was the contact details of these people.
I found out later that you can pay for a service and they will write your newsletters and send them off for you, with your name and contract details of course. You join their affiliate program and you make your money that way. Well, that’s the theory anyway.
Doesn’t work. Write your own newsletters.
Something to take with you: “Email is a powerful medium. Are you using or abusing its power?”
About The Author
Copyright © Gina Stathopoulos & Nick Vernon
Looking for a gift? Let Gina and Nick show you what we buy for friends/family and each other. At our site you will find popular gifts, gift information and stories from our readers. Come have a look http://www.we-recommend.com
Three Steps To Pump Up The Drama In Your Copy
All the world’s a story. Video games have storylines; newspapers report stories; country music lyrics tell a sad tale.
At a quick glance it would appear that fiction writing and copywriting are two mutually exclusive disciplines. But it just isn’t so.
Fiction and copywriting share the same heart: emotion.
What’s the goal for a fiction writer? I mean a slam-bang Harry Potter series type fiction writer? To write best-selling novels.
And what’s the target for a copywriter? To write best-selling controls, of course.
There are three fiction techniques that can pump up the drama in your copy:
- Imagery
- Tension
- Release
Let’s look at them one at a time.
IMAGERY
Imagery is defined as ‘mental images’ or ‘figurative language’. What it does is create pictures in a reader’s head through words.
The best way to get an image across is to find some common ground with the reader. That’s where similes and metaphors help. While some might think that this kind of writing has no business being in direct-mail copy, I’m here to disprove that.
Here’s an example for organic tranquilizer we’ll call Calm-All:
Take Becky: When she learned that Robin had won the award she rightfully deserved, she lost it. Came unglued. Threw Robin’s staplers and boxes of paper clips.
We’ve all, at one time in our lives, probably felt like Becky. And that paragraph gives us a visual image of how she’s feeling. But what about Robin? How about this:
Take Becky: When she learned that Robin had won the award she rightfully deserved, she lost it. Came unglued. Threw Robin’s staplers and boxes of paper clips — the ones that were all lined up — just so — like soldiers on a battlefield.
The addition of 14 words, ‘the ones that were all lined up — just so — like soldiers on a battlefield’, added depth to the scene and gave us a mental picture of Robin without fully describing her. The soldiers on the battlefield simile sets up the tension.
TENSION
Tension can manifest itself in lots of forms. There are tension headaches, tension rods, and tension in fabric. One of the best tools a writer can have is the ability to create tension in a storyline.
Now, this does not have to be the cliffhanger from Dallas — it can and should be more subtle than that.
It could be just a line.
That’s it, right there. The line right above where you are now — a one sentence paragraph — creates tension all by itself simply by disrupting flow. That’s where you want something memorable, disturbing, thoughtful.
How about Becky and Robin? What was the simile about the boxes of paper clips? That they were all lined up — just so — like soldiers on a battlefield.
The tension started in two places in that phrase: ‘just so’ and ’soldiers on a battlefield’.
- ‘Just so’ — Sure, I could’ve made it longer, explained about distance between the boxes or described how each box end matched the next one perfectly. But that would’ve been too long. “Just so” describes Robin’s anal compulsiveness without being wordy.
- ‘Soldiers on the battlefield’ — Not only does this visual give you an idea of the kind of precision Robin demands, but the “battlefield” states in one word the atmosphere in that room.
The icing on the tension cake is a line you haven’t seen yet:
Take Becky: When she learned that Robin had won the award she rightfully deserved, she lost it. Came unglued. Threw Robin’s staplers and boxes of paper clips — the ones that were all lined up — just so — like soldiers on a battlefield.
She even wrote on the walls.
Now, by itself, wall writing isn’t that big a deal. After all, you probably did it when you were a kid or during that stint as a graffiti artist in San Francisco.
So what makes it more? The fact that it follows the paragraph where Becky lost it, had a meltdown, when postal. And it makes you wonder just what she wrote. It creates tension because its behavior you don’t expect from a rational adult.
Why?
Because society tells us that when an adult is angry and hurt writing on walls isn’t acceptable. It’s something a child would do and we can’t be seen as having so little control.
Okay, now Becky’s a psychopath because she wrote on some walls. The reader will hold her breath on several levels with different emotions:
- Whoa! What a psycho = shock
- Whew! I’d never be like that = relief
- Wow! Wish I could unleash it all like she did = desire and envy
With 21 words, your direct-mail copy for Calm-All caused your reader want to order to make sure she never reacts like Becky did.
And when she’s held her breath long enough, you let her go.
RELEASE
This is the point in a work of fiction where the writer lets go of the reader’s throat and lets her come up for air. And it’s the thing that keeps readers turning pages whether they are bound in a book or enclosed in an envelope.
Here’s Calm-All’s release:
Take Becky: When she learned that Robin had won the award she rightfully deserved, she lost it. Came unglued. Threw Robin’s staplers and boxes of paper clips — the ones that were all lined up — just so — like soldiers on a battlefield.
She even wrote on the walls.
Hey, it’s okay to make a scene sometimes. It’s all right to get rid of pent-up frustration.
It’s just not your fault.
The last two paragraphs following the tumult of Becky and Robin make the push for Calm-All a slam dunk:
When you’re on your very last nerve, reach for Calm-All.
Just for fun, here’s Becky and Robin as a scene from a novel:
Becky lost it. Did exactly what her parents had warned her never to do:
DO. NOT. MAKE. A. SCENE.
Wisps of dirty blond hair stuck to the sweat on her face. Fury pounded her into the production room, all sense of business decorum lost.
Finding Robin’s things, her tools, Becky decided to destroy them as Robin had destroyed her. First was a wide tipped Magic Marker and next the graffiti on and over Robin’s desk. Robin’s boxes of paper clips ? all lined up just so like soldiers on a battle field — were cast all over the floor. And the stapler, pitched at just the right angle, shattered the glass on the frame of Robin’s Ad Age Award.
The award that was rightfully Becky’s.
The imagery is found in the third paragraph where we can actually see what Becky looks like at the point of explosion. The tension comes in the paragraph after that and the release is the last sentence.
CONCLUSION
Direct-mail copy’s story is told through the needs and desires of a reader for an offered product or service. Elements of fiction — imagery, tension, release — can enhance direct-mail copy and make the sale.
Remember:
Fiction does something To the reader
Copy does something For the reader
About The Author
Victoria B. Rosendahl
Copywriter
P.O. Box 280
Urbanna, VA 23175
804-758-3013–voice
804-758-3107–fax
mailto:rosendahlwrites@yahoo.com
Overnight delivery address: 118 Mill Pond Road, Warner, VA 23175
Achieve Your Goals: Embodying Your Intentions to Inspire Manifestation
Bringing life to your ideas is what helps them to manifest in the material world. Embodying your intentions, feeling it all the way through your physical body, creates an affirmation of that intention. It tells the Universe that you are determined and fully involved in your idea.
What is an intention?
An intention is the goal that you wish to achieve. It’s what you have made your mind up about and have your heart set on. An intention is like an affirmation that you make about what you would like to accomplish in your future.
Putting your intention out to the Universe, then sitting back and waiting for it to happen without any action on your part is like a person who goes for a psychic reading and wants to know their future. They sit back in the belief that it’s all set in stone and ready for them, then return angry to the reader saying it never happened, only to admit they never performed any actions to put the energy into motion. It’s the same with expecting doctor recommendations to work if you never take the medication.
Without participation and action, the future you wish for isn’t going to just land in your lap. You need to back up your ideas with forward motion, courage and action. Ideas can remain in your mind forever, but without the action of bringing them down into the physical world, there is no manifestation of the idea- therefore, no results.
Start bringing them into the physical world by actually writing them down. Many times I hear clients say, “Oh, I have a long list in my head. I know what I want.” The problem is it’s all in their head. They have never written it down on anything material and stated, ” This is what I choose to manifest.” Once it is written, put the writing in a special place, read it once a day.
In order to turn your ideas into a reality, you need to empower them everyday. Take an action each day to manifest your vision. Write your affirmation, do the research, do one action each day to bring your idea into a reality. You will see results!
© 2005 Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster is an Intuitive Counselor who assists clients to create extraordinary transformations in their daily lives. Her work is uplifting, empowering and success-oriented. You can visit Jodie’s website at http://www.illuminationsnetwork.com for further information and to schedule a private intuitive session. You can also look for weekly updates to her blog at: ttp://intuitiveinnovations.blogspot.com.
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