The Domino Theory... by Phil Basten

The Domino Theory... by Phil Basten

JV Alert

The Domino Theory...
By Phil Basten and Jane Mark (JPE Advertising)

Most of us know what dominos are and many of us
have seen those amazing demonstrations when a
massive number of dominos are set in a somewhat
magical array and the creator pushes one domino
over and they all fall down in harmony one after
the other.

It's called the domino theory and if you do it just
right it works and looks spectacular.

Wouldn't it be great if online businesses worked this
way?

It would be terrific if you could set up all your
business dominos (strategies) and have them fall
in just the right direction, wouldn't it?

Guess what?

You can, and it's easier than you think.

Ken McArthur and Sid Hale, two seasoned marketers,
have put together a brilliant program that allows you
to do this easily and quickly.

The program's called JV Alert.
http://www.jvalert.com/invite.aspx?id=69

It allows veteran and inexperienced marketers alike
to get together with other marketers and do the
kind of Joint Venture deals we all dream about.

When this site first opened over a year ago, My
partner Jane and I jumped at the chance to be
involved. It was a decision that has proved fruitful
many times over.

We had one goal in mind at that time and that was
to connect with someone who could help us sell an
ebook we had written called 'Joe? Yes, Mable?
Are We Rich Yet?'

Because of JV alert's unique service and reach,
we were able to put out a call for a joint venture
partner instantly.

In walked a joint venture partner who help us
get the now well-known Joe and Mable show off
the ground.

In its first major Joint Venture, our company, JPE
Advertising was able to meet other influential
marketers such as Joe Vitale, Shawn Casey,
Mike Glaspie, Mark Joyner, Ken McArthur, Jim
Daniels and then continue to do exclusive deals
one after the other.

It only takes one successful joint venture to open
the doors to many others.

If you have a great idea and some talent, it's not
that hard to get yourself firmly entrenched into
the exciting world of Joint Ventures and the dominos
will soon begin to fall your way.

Where do you start.
AT JV alert.
http://www.jvalert.com/invite.aspx?id=69

----------------------------------------------------------
Jane Mark and Phil Basten run a successful ad agency
online and have been helping internet marketers
succeed for 8 years. http://jpeadvertising.com

You can talk to them in person about JV alert and
their experiences in their online office at:
http://webcast.worldprofit.com/live/jpeadvertising/
----------------------------------------------------------


About the Author
Phil Basten is President of JPE Advertising.
This well known Online Ad Agency has been
operating online since 1997.

Mr Basten has 37 years of advertising experience
working for some of the world's most prestigious
ad agencies, Ogilvy and Mather, Fortune Advertising
and Leo Burnett.

Make Your Sales Copy Believable by Linda Offenheiser

Make Your Sales Copy Believable by Linda Offenheiser

You read all kinds of articles telling you which power words and
"triggers" to use in your sales copy. These words are assumed
to be "magic bullets" that will immediately put your prospects in
the mood to buy whatever you're selling.

How could anyone fail to purchase your "amazing" product that's
"proven" to "explode" their sales, especially when they can try it
"free"?

Do they work? Yes and no. We all know there are certain words
and phrases that will get our attention and this, of course, is what
we want to do with our ads. Before we can hope to sell anything
to anyone we have to get our market to read what we have to
say. These "magic bullets" do this.

But there's one ingredient sales copy must have if it's to be
successful ~ it must be believable. You can fill your copy with all
the "triggers" you want but if it doesn't ring true it will fail.

Hype won't cut it . . .

The climate on the Internet is one of skepticism. Why wouldn't it
be? We all get bombarded with hundreds of ads every day. Each
one claims to provide the best, "can't live without" product,
program or service ever known to mankind. Each of them promises
to solve our problems; make us wealthier, healthier, happier or
wiser.

Now let's get real here! Think about how you react to these
messages. Most of the time you're thinking, "yeah, right", aren't
you? Why would your prospects be any different?

How about a little honesty?

Our mothers always told us, "Honesty is the best policy". Nowhere
is that truer than in copywriting. It isn't enough to claim that your
product is the best thing since sliced bread, you have to show
proof that it is.

And what's more, you have to include that proof right up front.
Don't hide it way down in the body of your sales copy somewhere.
Always fire your biggest guns first. If you write a headline that
not only makes a claim but also provides proof of that claim,
you've got a winning combination.

Let me give you an example. Which of these headlines would you
be more likely to respond to?

"Sore Muscles Slowing You Down?"

or

"What Do Olympic Athletes Use for Sore Muscles?"

In the second example, you've built immediate credibility for your
product. If it's used by people whose careers depend on them
being in top form, wouldn't it solve your problem?

Give them something they can believe . . .

Everyone is searching for something or someone they can believe
in. If your competition is trying to dazzle the market with hype and
you offer a believable alternative that strikes a chord with your
prospects, who will end up the winner?

The next time you sit down to write sales copy, give it the litmus
test . . . is your claim something you would believe or is it just
another example of overblown hype? Provide your prospective
customers with a solution they find believable and your sales will
"explode" with "amazing results."


About the Author
Linda Offenheiser is the owner of Stress-Free Copy, a
copywriting and editing service designed for small home
businesses. You'll find the write words at the right prices.
She also publishes a weekly free ezine, All the Write Stuff!,
that's informative, friendly and fun! You can visit her at
http://www.stress-freecopy.com or subscribe at
http://www.stress-freecopy.com/subscribe.htm

Internet marketing and keyword search - why branding should make a difference but isn't by Angelique van Engelen

Internet marketing and keyword search - why branding should make a difference but isn't by Angelique van Engelen

Online marketers are busy mapping that magical space where the overlap between real life and the internet is at its most poignant. Where else would they be looking than where real people are actually s p e l l i n g out what they are planning to buy - searches on the web?

Every online marketer does it. Buying keywords like crazy. But that is just about how much you hear when you try to focus on this area of internet marketing. It's a wild goose chase and it's unlikely a method will materialize in any recognizable form until the dust has settled. If it ever will.

The keyword business is about the most competitive business transacted over the web, so -as with most of the information on web related business- it's unlikely you will come across any lengthy piece with a comprehensive overview of what's going on where.

It's somewhat ironic that it's live and learn because in theory, the marketing community should be in its walhalla with the arrival of the internet. Hasn't it been the marketing dream for centuries to get to the stage where a potential customer takes an action? At the end of a marketing ploy, in offline terms it's called the hit, the transaction, the sale, closing the deal.

The specifics of keyword buying may be intransparent, but slowly more information is being gathered about the process of online buying. It is striking that this is not exactly a reversal, from the offline process, but slightly. From the beginning onward, the marketer can count on a lot more commitment from his potential customer simply because targeting is so much more specific if the process kicks off with the customer's action.

Keyword marketing is much more powerful compared to the offline marketing techniques, simply because it is the customer's actions that set off the spiral.

To forego the keyword search as a marketer means you miss out one vital element in the communication cycle your client goes through before purchasing a product. Inefficient marketing was mainly the issue leading to the demise of the dotcom sector earlier on and, having learnt their lesson the hard way, marketers are now finding out more about what customers really want before launching campaigns. From the customer's own words. Sounds great in theory. In practice, the landscape is bewildering to say the least.

Having the rights to certain keywords means you are dominating the results that search engines will present to people who type in those words. What is so great about this is that unlike in the real world, online marketers have way more insight into what makes people buy. Because they have access to what actions customers take even before they would be onto them had they been in the offline world.

Mountains of gold on the horizon. But the sector is still showing a lot of vulnerability and online marketing is in dire need of improvement simply because the phenomenon is so new. The big advantage to customers is that people can find what they are looking for faster and more efficiently than on any other medium. But still the gap between what customers are specifically looking on the web for and what they are offered is considerable.

Customers are too often puzzled, searching a product on the web and finding lists of items with brands totally alien to them. If an online campaign is not backed by offline action, its chance of survival will drop dramatically. Many product campaigns are faltering because adverts are simply being thrown in a surfer's face in irrelevant contexts, they are annoying or ill timed.

ONE big area where online marketers are not taking enough heed of the expertise of their offline peers and where they might lose the battle, is branding. Too much direct mail-type marketing means that credible, trustworthy branding is unlikely to occur. Type in a generic search term for a product and find yourself amazed at the outcome. Reading the results, you'd think you'd landed on Mars.

Branding the old fashioned way is a lot more time consuming than any internet marketer will naturally be inclined to think. Branding is an exercise of timing, planning, researching and optimised launches. It takes time before people are used to new products. Psychological studies confirm time and again that we buy what we think is safe, comfy, familiar, nice, soft, handy, easy, whatever the word to indicate a certain comfort zone that creates an entry for marketers. It's a known fact that you first need to see a product about umpteen times before it has become a part of your reference frame. If you don't believe this, move to a foreign country, visit a supermarket and try not to feel totally lost. It's impossible.

Only if we are familiar with a product brand, we think that purchasing it will better us. If we don't have at least a vague positive idea when we purchase a product, no brand building has been done or not enough or it has not connected with us.

Although branding of products offered online is something quite new, it is quite amazing that outright stupid mistakes are made here. Where online marketers are often wrong is where they are measuring search engine advertising the way they would direct marketing. True, much of search engine advertising resembles direct marketing, but realistic measurement of people's attitude towards the products advertised, should include more than only whether or not they buy it. Brand measurement takes place when all the responses are analysed, even why a product is not purchased or not immediately or not at a specific platform.

In forgetting to measure any customer behavior outside the conversion rate, they completely forego the power of branding. They don't realize how much greater click through and conversion rates would be if their brands were recognized and trusted by that same audience.

Here is an example of just how effective a campaign can be when branding's taken seriously. The marketers have got it so right, that their campaigns themselves have become an overnight brand known for controversy. Called Gatoring, after the company that made the software enabling it, this advertising has come under scrutiny of the courts. What people are upset with is that popup ads are thrown on competitors' sites. If are looking for a particular brand of car for instance, a popup of a competing brand would pop up. Despite its dubiousness, gatoring shows just how effective online marketing can be - when marketers do their homework.


About the Author
Angelique van Engelen is a writer at www.contentclix.com, a Netherlands based content writing agency. Email her at AngeliquevanEngelen@contentclix.com