Does it all matter? Absolutely.

What makes one style of copy more favorable than another? Why does one person buy from one type of copy and not from another? It really comes down to the buying behavior of your market. And in fact, there are four major personality types.

Before I tell you what they are, remember that the style you choose will not appeal to everyone. It never will. Roy Williams, author of The Wizard of Ads, once noted, “Even some of the best ads miss the mark with at least half of their target audience.”

You may have heard me say this before, but it’s important. Don’t be all things to all people. If you do, you have no choice but to paint your copy with broad brushstrokes in order to appeal to everyone. Instead, give your copy personality. Even if it offends some.

Otherwise, ads crafted so as not to offend anyone will be counterproductive. They may even backfire. And more importantly, they might be more offensive than you think.

When your target market reads your bland, vanilla copy, it will often shrug it off because they feel you are not catering to them specifically — even if what you’re selling does.

Therefore, the more you try not to offend anyone, the more generic you become with your copy. And the more generic you are, the more your copy will be disconnected from your audience. In short, appeal to everyone and you will appeal to no one.

In other words, to your prospect, you appear as if you don’t understand them, because your copy doesn’t cater to their specific, individual needs, goals, concerns, budget, and unique set of circumstances. Even if the product is perfect for them.

As a result, you alienate most of your market that way.

Sure, your sales copy may avoid offending a minority. But in turn, by genericizing it you inadvertently offend the majority — perhaps in a subtle, indirect, or unconscious way — because you appear as if you simply don’t care.

You see, ads are distinctive. They’re alive. They’re like pieces of art. Each one has a certain personality. And no matter what you do, like it or not that personality may attract some people and repulse others at the same time.

Your goal, therefore, is to directly and distinctly appeal to the majority, in spite of the minority. Otherwise, try to be too general (or better said, “too generic”) with your copy, and the result will be copy that’s bland, anemic, and unproductive.

Your copy offers more than just information. It also presents that information in a way that the majority of your target audience better appreciates, absorbs, and acts upon it.

Catering to the majority won’t just be conducive to the greatest results but also begins the all-important process of building a relationship with your market.

A lot of marketers think that targeting your market means you must put your ad in front of qualified buyers. But it means more than that. It also means to write and mold the copy in a way that the message targets them, too. That is, it targets their personality.

Therefore, it’s not only best to target one market at a time but also to target one predominant buyer personality at a time, too. That way, your information is presented in a way that your market feels the copy is centered on them. And them alone.

So how do you do target your market’s personality?

Over the years, psychologists and behavioral scientists have categorized personality styles. They may have labeled them differently, but they are generally the same. They all come down to essentially four different personality styles.

Is this some new science? No. Around 400 B.C.E., Hippocrates, in “Air, Water And Places,” dubbed these four types as Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Choleric, and Melancholic.

In recent times, Roy Williams, in one of his articles, calls them Spontaneous, Humanistic, Competitive, and Methodical. Behavioral scientist and motivational speaker, Dr. Tony Alessandra, labels them as Directors, Socializers, Relaters, and Thinkers.

They are essentially all the same.

(For more, visit Dr. Alessandra’s “The Platinum Rule.” The Golden Rule states that you should do unto others as you would want to have done unto you. But Tony defines The Platinum Rule as: “Do unto others as they would want to have done unto them.”)

However, the most common labels given to them — the ones most marketing textbooks use, including the same textbooks from which I used to teach marketing management in college — are: Driver, Expressive, Analytical, and Amiable.

Those are the labels I prefer and will be using for the remainder of this article.

Where do these labels come from and what do they mean?

Essentially, personality styles are defined by two key behavioral characteristics, which are assertiveness and responsiveness. The category — or label, if you will — is based on one of four combinations of how assertive and responsive they are.

For example, a person can be:

1. High assertive and low responsive, or a driver.
2. High assertive and high responsive, or an expressive.
3. Low assertive and low responsive, or an analytical.
4. Low assertive and high responsive, or an amiable.

Responsiveness, which is expressed outwardly, is how well a person responds to others. Assertiveness is expressed inwardly, and it’s how well they assert themselves.

For example, some people are task-driven while others are results-driven. Some people are more emotional than factual, and others vice versa. Some are ego-driven and self-absorbed, others are people-pleasers and focused on those around them.

But to explain it visually, and one of the more popular models (and the best one for copywriting purposes), is by looking at these styles in the form of a quadrant. The key is to determine where one’s level of responsiveness and assertiveness intersect.

Here’s a screenshot of the personality quadrant from my video training series, currently available online.

With all things being equal, your target audience will predominantly fall into one of these styles. Granted, it may not precisely fit into a single, neat category, and your entire market may not fit one specific style.

But keep in mind, the keyword here is “predominant.”

(If they do fall into multiple categories, you might want to create different products, offers, and sales copy for each one. The more congruent your message is with your market, the more sales you will make. I’ll come back to this later as it is important.)

Nevertheless, depending on your product, your industry, and both the demographics and psychographics of your target audience, it is safe to say that the majority of them will likely demonstrate one particular style more than any other.

To give you an idea, here’s a brief look at them:

Drivers are concerned with RESULTS.

They are practical, impatient, and time-sensitive. A Driver is a person who usually is more concerned with the bottom-line. They want to know how long does it take to get your product, what kind of results they can expect, and how much does it cost.

Bankers, sales managers, purchasing agents, businesspeople, corporate executives, and so on are typically Drivers. They don’t care how to get from point “A” to point “B.” They just want to know if and when you can get them to point “B.”

Analyticals are preoccupied with DETAILS.

They don’t care much about results. They’re driven by facts and far more interested in the inner workings of your product. They might want to know what is its exact size, where and of what is it made, what are the ingredients, what features does it possess, what kind of guarantees do you offer with it, and what, precisely, makes it work.

Scientists, developers, mathematicians, engineers, computer programmers, doctors, and so on are mainly Analyticals. They want facts and just the facts. So give them statistics, data, specifications, ingredients, measurements, etc. The more, the merrier.

Expressives care most about FEELINGS.

Status and recognition are important to Expressives. How they perceive things and how other people perceive them take precedence. They are mostly impulsive, colorful, ego-centric, undisciplined, and spontaneous. They prefer to talk than to listen.

Actors, teachers, musicians, artists, graphic designers, movie directors, comedians, etc fall in the Expressive category. They buy mostly for the sake of prestige of ownership, or to boost their standing in their communities, organizations, or peer groups.

(For instance, Expressives are the types of people who intentionally park their brand new luxury car on the street so that the neighbors can see them.)

Amiables are interested in RELATIONSHIPS.

They are emotional, caring, and humanistic. They’re social-minded and care deeply about the relationships they hold. How your product will help others and strengthen the relationships they maintain with them will be of utmost importance to Amiables.

It’s not uncommon for Amiables to hold careers as salespeople, social workers, human resource personnel, consultants, and so on. If your product solves a problem, that’s good. But if it allows your prospect to solve other people’s problems, that’s even better.

So how do you appeal to your buyer’s personality?

At this point, you should have an idea of how to cater to buyer personality styles.

With Drivers, be pithy and give them the bottom line. With Analyticals, offer cold, hard information rather than hype and stories. With Expressives, tell them how you will make them look good. And with Amiables, use testimonials, stories, and anecdotes.

For instance, avoid lacing your copy with feelings and emotions when your audience is comprised of Analyticals. Be specific, objective, and factual, and refrain from hyperbole or drama. Analyticals are also highly skeptical, so offer as much proof as you can.

Sure, you can — and must — be emotional. All humans are. Even analyticals make purchasing decisions based on emotion first. But don’t do so at the expense of facts. Back it up with logic and lots of it with which they can justify their decisions.

While an Analytical will never have enough information, don’t drown your visitors with needless details when they consist of Drivers. Be quick, pithy, and straight to the point. If you use long copy, make sure it makes a point and sticks to the point. Consistently.

However, be sensitive and friendly when pitching to Amiables. Use stories, case studies, and testimonials. Take your time with them. Be warm and interactive. In fact, your relationship with them is just as important as the benefits of your product.

For Expressives, talk about how the product will make them feel, boost their status, and get others to notice and compliment them. Or how the product will make others around them cringe in horror, turn green with envy, or even be humiliated.

Here’s a real-life scenario. A patient visits a dentist for an initial consultation.

The Analytical will be preoccupied mostly with the details of dental work. Knowing precisely how much freezing will be applied, which specific teeth (and parts thereof) will be repaired, and what kind of filling will be used are of enormous interest to him.

On the other hand, a Driver will want to know how long will the procedure take, how fast can he return to work after the procedure is done, and, of course, how much will it cost. Everything else is unimportant and irrelevant.

But for the Amiable, they are mostly concerned with their ability to please their spouse, friends, or boss with their improved appearance. They want to know if going ahead will improve their relationships and make others happy, as well as secure others’ approval.

The Expressive, however, will be interested with how good will their new teeth look, how much pain such a procedure might incur, how their teeth will change their appearance, and how attractive the procedure is going to make them.

Again, your market will likely fall into one predominant category. In other words, the majority of your market will fit into one category more than any other.

Depending on your type of industry and the kind of product you’re selling, the style of your message should chiefly appeal to that one specific personality style.

For example, if your product caters to expectant mothers, you will definitely speak to them differently than if you were to cater to entrepreneurs or sports fanatics.

But what if your market consists of more than one?

What if your market consists of strong, identifiably different groups? In other words, what if you have more than one predominant personality type in your target audience? If so, I submit that you can have a different ad or salesletter directed at each different market.

It’s market segmentation, pure and simple.

You split your market into groups, and cater to each one separately and individually. Large corporations and retailers have been doing this for years. Take Coke versus Diet Coke, or Levis’ Red Tabs sold in high-end stores, versus Wal-Mart’s Orange Tab Levis.

Even if it’s the same product and they happen to fall into more than one category in high enough numbers, then you might want to cluster your market into groups, and create a new offer and sales copy that target each distinct segment.

For example, a clever entrepreneur can take a product and package it, price it, and sell it to two different audiences on two different websites — and thus maximize sales from all potential market segments. Even creating her own competition, in some cases.

(Take, for instance, AudioGenerator.com versus InstantAudio.com. The former is geared for the small businessperson, while the latter is more for corporate audiences.)

The bottom line is, give your copy personality, and your response will shoot through the roof. Sure, you might alienate a few. But what would you rather have: generic copy that pleases more but sells less? Or targeted copy that offends few but sells more?

As the late, great copywriter, Gary Halbert, used to say in response to his detractors regarding his pointed, discriminate personals ad: “Don’t be so preoccupied with upsetting the dogs when you’re trying to sell the foxes. Concentrate on the foxes.”

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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People keep asking me, “Do they really work?” You bet!

The tip jar is really a “buy me a beer or coffee” PayPal donation link automatically inserted with the help of this excellent plugin. And since installing it about three years ago, I’ve been getting on average 4-5 tips a month.

Some were meant to thank me for specific posts, particularly my most popular articles. However, I must add that the passionate rants seem to get the biggest tips.

Nevertheless, I never publicly acknowledged these people individually, and I didn’t really want to in case some of them would prefer to remain confidential. But I wanted to take a moment to say a big “thank you” to all of you who have sent a tip my way.

You guys are awesome! I appreciate you.

Your continued support and loyalty means the world to me.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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But I think we need to be careful.

This age of openness can become dangerous on many levels. Some dangers are obvious, like being robbed after publicizing you were out of the house. Others, not as much, like being reprimanded for saying something you shouldn’t have said. Even being fired for insulting your customers.

My contention is, too much transparency can hurt you in many ways.

I agree that social media is great for developing and nurturing relationships. That’s what the word “social” in social media means. Or what it should mean, anyway.

But as with all relationships, even when continuous, open communication is an important component, there should be a little mystique to keep the flame alive. A little room to allow for exploration and discovery over a period of time instead of all at once.

In today’s open, Web 2.0 world, privacy is more crucial than ever before. Why? Because transparent or not, everything you say online is permanent, can be found, and can be easily misinterpreted. Especially when taken out of context.

For example, I love Twitter’s 140-character limitations.

But when a tweet is published as part of a succession of related tweets, or when posted as a response to another or as part of an ongoing conversation, a general search will turn up an incomplete message that may be misleading and counterproductive.

The key is to know what to keep private and what to reveal. And whatever you do reveal, to think strategically so that what you say is properly said. In short, it’s knowing what to say and how to say it. To reveal the right things, in the right way.

(Sounds a lot like copywriting, doesn’t it?)

Do you need to tweet or blog about your failures? Sometimes. But not all of them, and not all the time, either. Same thing with your successes. You don’t want to give away the store — much less give away any ammunition that can be used against you.

Saying more than what you need to say makes you both vulnerable and open to criticism, and may also communicate the wrong message to your audience.

Remember, there’s a difference between authenticity and transparency. Being too transparent is not a good thing. Sure, go ahead and project trustworthiness, authority, and a willingness to share. Be candid and forthright. Be genuine and direct.

But remember, scammers and competitors are watching you, too.

Moreover, don’t forget your clients, prospects, partners, and affiliates. If you’re too open, you may be communicating you won’t value their privacy, you can’t keep secrets, and you’re opening yourself up to abuse — I call this an unconscious paralleled assumption.

Aaron Wall said it best: “Appearing transparent is profitable, being transparent is not.”

In other words, there’s a difference between being perceived as open and being open. Between communicating a sense of transparency and actually being transparent. Between being authentic and authoritative, and being defensive and self-absorbed.

Authenticity is saying things right. Authority is saying the right things. But transparency is saying everything. And it’s wrong. You don’t need to say everything to be transparent, and you don’t need to be transparent to be authentic and authoritative.

Just say what you mean and mean what you say.

But don’t say everything or else what you say will mean nothing.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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But there is a limit. And I think we need to be careful. Because social media is like a drug. It can become dangerously addictive. It can even kill your business.

Social media seems to be the current fad. Everybody’s in on it like it’s one big cocktail party you just don’t want to leave.

But the way social media is currently being touted, hyped up, and used (or should I say, abused), is reminiscent of something that happened way back in the 90s.

(I’ll come back to this in a moment.)

Yesterday, I watched a brilliant video by Loren Feldman. Feldman has a tell-it-like-it-is style. While he may be blunt and use strong language to voice his opinion, he is never afraid to voice it. Regardless of what I think of his style, his video resonated with me.

In it, he drove home an important point. I believe what he talked about is not only right, but also something we need to realize and become wise about before we needlessly kill our businesses. And that’s ignoring the most important place on the web…

… Our own websites.

The premise is simple: social media may be cool and fun, and it may even be productive for some people. But don’t forget to take care of the one place — the only place — that really matters. And that’s your own website. Your blog. Your domain.

Lately, I’ve seen a lot of bloggers talk about the “death of blogging.”

Recently, A-list blogger Steve Rubel has moved away from blogging and converted his blog into a “lifestream” using social media platform Posterous. Some have indicated this is a sign that blogging is on its way out, while others like Brian Clark opposed the notion.

This isn’t anything new. When Twitter first began, Robert Scoble wrote a piece on the “Twitter threat” a few years back, as did Mashable and a slew of others.

First of all, blogging is certainly not dead. Or dying.

Remember that blogging is no different than a typical website. It’s simply a content management system (CMS). It’s just another content delivery platform.

Saying that blogging is dying is like saying that websites are dying. And since websites are an intrinsic part of the web, it’s like saying that the web itself is dying, which we all know that’s far from being the case. Evolving? Sure. But not dying.

My thoughts are, social media is attracting casual bloggers and, by the same token, making the blogosphere leaner and meaner. In my estimation, the quality of blogging has substantially increased since the introduction of micro-blogging platforms.

I submit that it’s because Twitter has forced hobby-bloggers and dabblers to migrate to Twitter. (Ditto with Facebook “walls,” FriendFeed, Posterous, and the like.)

Casual bloggers much prefer micro-blogging platforms because it’s less work. It’s an outlet for posting their meandering thoughts and senseless streams of consciousness, which is what they used to use their blogs for in the first place.

Those who have converted from blogging to micro-blogging are less inclined to blog regularly, with a purpose in mind, or for business. Social media is what it is: social. It’s a place to socialize, not one in which to do business — at least, not directly.

And it shouldn’t be.

I also submit that, if they wasted time blogging, micro-blogging will be no different and probably even more distracting, anyway. Which is probably what they really want.

So it will certainly attract those who blogged casually, for no other purpose than to waste time, make friends, or post gossip. It may have attracted those who used blogging simply as a means of publicizing their blather or being more visible.

(Feldman, in his video mentioned earlier, made a great point when he said social media thrive on people’s fears. The fear of being alone and not being heard. But I digress.)

Invariably, this exodus has opened up the floor to better bloggers and better blogs.

Aside from the fact that Twitter may have extracted casual, dabbling bloggers from the mainstream, there are other, possibly more important and practical reasons for this.

Maybe it’s because bloggers test more on Twitter before they put their content to a blog. Maybe they get real-time feedback on the quality of their content before they publish it. Or maybe Twitter has given bloggers the opportunity to post their less important stuff there, leaving their blogs for better, more purposeful communications.

Who knows?

But what I do know is that I’ve seen a jump in the quality of blogs and blog content in recent times. Whatever is left seems to have become stronger, tighter, better written, more compelling, and certainly more interesting than before. In my estimation, anyway.

However, as the Rudyard Kipling saying goes, “Never the twain shall meet.” By that I mean, blogging is definitely a part of the social media space. But I don’t think social media should be a part of — let alone replace — blogging.

I agree that social media is fragmenting. We saw this with the explosion in TV channels. But it’s becoming way too fragmented, especially in an age of convergence.

Fragmentation is normal. But just because media is becoming more fragmented doesn’t mean we need to fragment our marketing efforts — much less our content, too.

And to those who think they need to be on every social media “channel” in an effort to be in front of as many eyeballs as possible, think again.

For example, do you sell golf balls? Common wisdom dictates that you should advertise on the Golfing Channel. But just because TV is fragmented with over 500+ channels on every topic imaginable, it doesn’t mean you need to be on all of them.

Ditto with social media.

If you distribute your content, you still own your content. If it’s syndicated, it still comes from your own domain or blog. Or at least you should have control over it. And the reason is, you should have a way to own and/or control your traffic, as well.

But fragmentation doesn’t mean syndication.

It seems like the social space is becoming just one big mesh of various time-wasting social hangouts. Too many, in fact. Some do provide value. But I think we’re going to start seeing some of these fall by the wayside and weed themselves out.

And when they do, what will happen to your content, let alone the people who were (for the lack of a better word) “trained” to expect and consume your content on these sites?

The one I fear will suffer such a predicament is Twitter.

Sure, Twitter is extremely popular right now. But if Twitter doesn’t monetize itself soon, we will see it die, replaced, or overrun by another, newer social medium that has found a way to monetize itself. And believe me, it will happen if they don’t do something about it.

I’m not the only one who thinks that way. Here’s an interesting take on the topic by my friend and top Internet marketer Armand Morin. The issue, according to him, is that Twitter is not a destination. It’s a conduit — one that others can easily bypass.

In other words, you can use Twitter without using Twitter.com (I use TweetDeck, for instance). The problem, therefore, is that Twitter doesn’t own or control its traffic. The one asset they do have and may possibly monetize is the content they host.

Yes, that’s your content!

Similarly, with television commercials, you don’t run your business on TV. You reach people through TV. In the same way, you may run an online business but you still own your business — including your content, your traffic, and particularly, your brand.

If you advertise on TV, the TV station doesn’t own your products. If you buy some airtime to broadcast your show, they certainly can’t take it and do what they want with it. But social media websites have that capacity to some degree.

Don’t think I’m exaggerating. Remember the recent Facebook fine-print fiasco?

So in reality, social media is not really media like TV, radio, or even the Internet. They are more like channels on them. Even then, these stations don’t own your content, much less dictate how you distribute your content — and how others should consume it.

But social media can. And some do.

Admittedly, I like posting small bits of content on Twitter and Facebook. It’s no different than going to a social function. And I’ve tried FriendFeed, Ping.fm, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Posterous. (And many others, too.) But it all scares me somewhat.

Sure, posting a tidbit in one place and having it posted to multiple places at the same time is a great to spread your social authority, your brand, and your visibility. But at the same time, it has the power to dilute, diminish, and devalue them, too.

Admittedly, I’m guilty of this. I’m starting to see social creep in my own communications, which is why I need to stop, cut the excess fat, streamline my content, and focus.

I hate having too many places to post. I hate having “too many hands” on my content.

The problem with doing it this way is, it’s risky. If they ever die or get acquired, you’re screwed. Plus, it not only dilutes your value and your content, but also, to borrow an analogy, you run the risk of “catching something” along the way.

What I mean is, some of these sites may have terms that can potentially threaten the ownership, control, and integrity of your material. By using them you inadvertently may have given them the right to use, distribute, and modify your content as they see fit.

More importantly, it is a disservice to your audience.

Why? Because, for one, by trying to be on too many social websites, you are educating your market to consume your content in only these locations, particularly among all the white noise and clutter. Thus, you risk them missing out on your valuable content.

Second, you’re spreading yourself thin. If any of these websites die, change, move, or raise the barrier of entry along the way (such as by charging users a fee or inundating them with ads), who do you think they are going to be frustrated with?

These social sites? Try again.

So the key is focus, focus, focus.

Focus on your brand. Your content. Your traffic. Your audience.

Now, I admit Facebook is cool because I use it to connect with family and real friends (i.e., high school friends, long-distance cousins, old workplace colleagues, etc). And Twitter is fun. I love posting interesting links, websites I’ve seen, tips I encounter, etc.

But if content is king, then my blog is the castle!

Be the master of your own domain (yes, pun intended). For if you offer truly valuable content, people will find you. And the people who do find you are the people who count.

Now, earlier I said I’m starting to see something reminiscent of the 90s.

Here’s what I meant…

Social junkies are no different than affiliate junkies. You know what I’m talking about, right? Those garish-looking websites plastered with blinking affiliate banner ads in the hope that someone will click on them, buy, and make them money.

They are junkies in the truest sense of the word. Like an unquenchable drug addiction, they keep plastering junk ads on their websites in an effort to maximize clicks and sales. But how is that any different than free-for-all linkfarms? I’ve said this before…

Give people too many choices and they won’t make one.

In Internet marketing, they say it’s better to create, own, or sell your own products. You get higher profit margins, you have greater control over your marketing funnel, and you own your lists for optimal backend marketing. It’s the same with social media.

I’m not saying that affiliate marketing is wrong. Au contraire. There’s lots of money to be made in affiliate marketing, and I recommend it myself, particularly if you’re just starting out. Same thing with social media, too. I don’t think it’s wrong.

But being an affiliate junkie is highly ineffective. And so is being a social media junkie.

Instead, focus on your own domain or blog. If you must, stick with one or two social sites. But be the master of your own domain, your niche, your content, and your audience.

And don’t become a social jack-of-all-trades.

Don’t join every single social networking site out there, posting on as many of them as you can, and plastering your blog with badges and banners and widgets and gadgets.

Speaking of which, have you not noticed how some blogs are becoming more and more mind-numbingly cramped and cluttered these days? Like Facebook badge this, Google connect that, MyBlogLog community this, follow-me-on-Twitter that. Oh, my!

Too much is too much. It just makes these overzealous websites look like one big blur of white noise all competing for your attention (and getting none of it), which is no different than those blinking, dizzying, seizure-inducing affiliate junkie sites.

Bottom line, take control of your content.

By fragmenting yourself instead of focusing on your own blog, you run the risk of losing control over your content, your traffic, and above all, your audience.

Think of it as the difference between renting and owning. Going to parties rather than hosting one of your own. Extracting quantity versus attracting quality.

Finally, let me end this by going back to the cocktail party analogy for a moment.

Social media is like a plethora of cocktail parties. It’s OK to go to some of them and hang out. But you can’t be at all of them at the same time, let alone stand out at each one.

Say you’re looking to find real friends and make real connections. If so, bar hopping won’t get you any friends. Or lucky, if that’s your wish. No, it will only get you drunk.

Look at it this way. Cocktail parties are great for networking, gossiping, and socializing. But nothing beats a party I host in my own house. And that’s my blog.

Be a host of the party instead of some faceless partygoer who’s voice is drowning among the white noise that people won’t ever notice much less remember.

Let others syndicate your content for you, link back to you, talk about you on social sites, recommend you, and drive traffic to you. Let others do the talking, in other words. Provide quality content and value, and serve others well. And others will talk about you.

In short, don’t be the life of the party. Be the talk of the party.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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What am I talking about?

No, it’s not the headline. It’s not being emotional. It’s not benefits. And it’s not split-testing, either. In fact, my opening paragraph gave you a clue.

Sure, the headline, the benefits, and all those things are important. Very important. But the one element I’m referring to, the one element that can transform flimsy, “yeah-right” copy into a sales-inducing powerhouse, is…

… Proof.

Other than poor targeting and shoddy copy, the lack of proof in your copy is what probably (and most likely) causes it to fail. But when I talk about “proof,” I’m not just talking about one or two types, but seven. Yes, seven different types of proof!

Not only are people more educated, they’re also more cynical and skeptical than ever.

They never believe anything — at least, not at first. Today, I believe persuasion has much less to do with selling than it has to do with building believability and trust.

Blame it on the proliferation of scams and snake oils. Or blame it on the profusion of aggressive, hype-filled, carnival-barking salesletters.

But the reality is, everything readers see is suspect right from the get-go. It gives new meaning to the word “conversion.” People never believe anything the moment they read your copy, so you need to “convert” them not into buyers but into believers.

You need to prove your case — and not just tell it or, worse yet, sell it. You need to provide proof. As much proof as you can muster. Any kind. Every kind.

For instance, criminal cases win in court because of a preponderance of proof, and not just a little. Conversely, they also lose if there’s reasonable doubt. That’s all that’s needed, and often it’s not that much — O.J. Simpson’s case being a perfect example.

Well, it’s the same with sales copy.

If there’s reasonable doubt, you’re going to lose the sale. Even if it’s just a little. Or at best, you will only get a tiny fraction of what’s possible in terms of sales, if any.

Here’s what happened in my life recently that proves this point.

My wife is a breast cancer survivor. A while back, she started a personal blog at BreastCancerVictory.com that journals her courageous journey into healing.

She started this blog for personal reasons. It’s part therapy, part education.

(Awareness and prevention are incredibly important to her. She wanted to clear up a lot of the misconceptions out there — a common one being that breast cancer only affects older women. Sylvie was only 36 years old when she was diagnosed.)

Nevertheless, here’s what happened.

Sylvie started posting openly about her cancer and discussed the many visits, tests, and scans she had to undergo, from mammograms and ultrasounds, to MRIs and biopsies.

She even talked about her pain, grief, and bouts of sadness that naturally followed the surgical removal of her entire left breast, also known as a “mastectomy.”

So to show my support, I emailed my lists to notify them of her new blog. I did it several times to maximize exposure. And the resulting outpouring of affection, compassion, and support as people commented on her blog was simply amazing.

Some posts received as many as 10-20 comments. Some received as many as 50. Others got nothing at all. But keep in mind, this was a brand-new blog, with no search engine exposure, no traffic, no advertising of any kind.

Then, something completely unexpected happened.

It blew me — and Sylvie — away!

Soon after she started her blog, my wife visited her surgeon who, after sending the excised breast tissue to the pathology lab for a complete analysis, needed to discuss the report’s findings with her — as well as the necessary treatments.

“You have breast cancer,” the doctor said. We all knew that.

She also underwent six months of chemotherapy and three months of radiation therapy to prevent the cancer from spreading. Again, we all expected that, too.

But here’s what happened and what we didn’t expect.

Sylvie posted the results of the complete diagnosis to her blog. With a copy of the report in hand, she posted some of the medical terms discussed in the report, and what they meant — what they meant in general, as well as to her, personally.

She included medical terms like “Intraductal Carcinoma in Situ,” “Multicentric Central Carcinoma,” “Lymphatic/Vascular Invasion,” “Invasive Tumor Necrosis,” “Modified Scarff Bloom Richardson Grade,” and more. She explained what each of them meant.

But to show how big this cancerous lump had grown, rather than writing the dimensions she created an actual-sized graphic replica, based on the dimensions described in the report, visually demonstrating how big the tumor was.

Now, let me backtrack a little.

In that post, she provided not one but three types of proof.

First, she provided factual proof. That is, she included actual medical terms, data, and numbers taken straight out of the pathology report.

Then, she provided evidential proof. That is, she included laboratory test results proving not only that she did have cancer, but also how big and advanced it was, and the fact that it has metastasized to her lymphnodes.

Finally, she provided perceptual proof. You see, facts and data are powerful proof elements. But with every one, she translated what those terms meant. For example, creating a graphic that demonstrated the actual size of the tumor was a part of it.

And more importantly, she related what these figures and terms meant to her — how she perceived and felt about them, even at the moment they were being disclosed.

Because of the fact that these findings used technical jargon, they are easily left to interpretation. Plus, they can make the person feel distant and removed from them.

But by making them more real and personal, Sylvie translated what these terms meant to her. This, in turn, provided proof and increased the perceived quality of that proof.

This proof made it more, for a lack of a better word, credible. It made the terminology easier to understand and internalize. And it made her story more concrete and real.

OK, back to my point.

After she posted this one post, I emailed my list one more time. Same thing as before: the same lists with the exact same number of people emailed on the previous occasions. But what happened next was absolutely incredible…

… That one post alone received over 150 comments in 48 hours!

Even now, two years later after that fateful day, comments are still pouring in every week — close to 200 at the time of this writing. See the blog post for yourself.

The bottom line is, once my wife provided proof the response rate shot up dramatically. It compelled people to respond. This doesn’t mean they didn’t believe her in her previous posts. But it did reduce if not eradicate any reasonable doubt.

And for those who already believed her, it made them believe more.

This entire event gave me an idea. I thought about all the elements of proof that can add more credibility and believability to your copy. So I came up with a formula.

With a little help from Sylvie, I came up with the term “FORCEPS.”

Think of a pair of forceps, which is commonly used by surgeons for extracting. In this case, think of it as a way to “surgically extract” as much doubt as possible from your copy! FORCEPS is an acronym that stands for:

• factual
• optical
• reversal
• credential
• evidential
• perceptual
• And social

Let’s take a look at what each one means.

1. Factual Proof

In my wife’s example above, you were just given some examples of factual proof, such as medical terms culled from the pathology report. Statistics, data, factoids, numbers, test results, dimensions, and so on all fall in the factual proof category.

Facts of any kind about either the problem (i.e., anything that makes the problem more real and urgent in the mind of the reader) or the solution are powerful proof elements.

2. Optical Proof

In a court case, lawyers will argue that the best and strongest evidence is an eyewitness account. Similarly, optical proof (or visual proof) is one of the most powerful.

As the adage goes, “Seeing is believing.” Anything that can visually represent the product, the business, the person, the quality, the claims, or more importantly, the benefits of the product or service, gives your copy a strong advantage.

For example, if you sell a moneymaking infoproduct, these proof elements include scans of checks and bank deposits, screenshots of website traffic logs, pictures of the author leaning against his brand-new 2007 Mercedes-Benz S-Class S550, etc.

You get the picture. Literally.

eBay reported that auctions with pictures have 400% more bids than ones without pictures. That’s why adding a picture of your product in your copy works so well. Including a graphic cover of your digital product, even if it’s not in physical form.

If you sell a physical product, take a picture of it. Better yet, show it in action. (That’s why videos are better.) Or take a picture of the product as you would, for example, with an online auction. Use different angles and lights, even with its original wrapping.

But nothing beats before-and-after pictures. Even video, if possible. For the more vivid the proof is and the more senses they engage, the more believable the proof will be.

When I was writing copy for cosmetic surgeons in my early career, the most effective form of proof was showing before-and-after pictures of patients. You also see this in weightloss programs, bodybuilding equipment, diet programs, etc.

That’s why adding before-and-after pictures show not only the results but also the extent and measurability of those results through the element of contrast.

However, before-and-after pictures are not restricted to the cosmetic industry.

One of my former clients sells special lighting fixtures. These lights were not your usual lightbulbs. They were using a special type of halogen that was twice as intense as a normal, high-wattage incandescent lightbulb, but with only a third of the power.

What did he do? He took a picture of a someone’s living room with normal lighting in it, and then took a picture of the room with his special lights. Both unretouched pictures were placed, side by side, on his sales copy.

The contrast was obvious. The proof, astounding. The sales, significant.

3. Reverse Proof

Speaking of comparisons, comparisons with other types of products or services is another powerful proof element. You often see this in competitive analyses, when your product is compared to other products in its class or category.

(You’ve probably seen this with lists of features and benefits of various products, often in a tabular format, with checkmarks, where you can instantly see that the product in question had more features and benefits than its competitors.)

But don’t limit yourself to direct competitors. This can apply to indirect competitors, too. For example, an airline’s direct competitor is another airline. But an indirect competitor can be the train, automobile rental, bus, ship, etc.

But I prefer to call it “reverse proof” because the comparison doesn’t have to from product to product. It can also be from purchase to non-purchase. Anything that shows what can happen if they don’t buy the product is reverse proof.

In other words, if you can provide proof of any potential downside if the prospect buys a competitor’s product or, more importantly, fails to buy at all, is just as powerful. Because in reality, their non-purchase is an indirect competitor as well.

Some people call this comparing apples to oranges.

You compare the price of your offer, not against the price of a competitor’s product (i.e., apples to apples), but against the ultimate cost of not buying yours.

For example, let’s say you know someone who spent over $20,000 advertising a poorly written ad that had little to no response. If you sell a copywriting course for, say, $1,000, then you compare the price of your course to the cost of not knowing how to write copy.

In this case, you compare a small $1,000 investment to a potential $20,000 mistake.

4. Credentializing Proof

Credentializing proof is anything that helps to credentialize — i.e., demonstrate, highlight, or bring attention to the credentials of — the product, business, or person behind it.

What kind of education or expertise does the author have? How many years has the business been around for? How many clients did they serve? What kind of degrees, accreditation, certifications, or awards have they won?

If the product or author in question has appeared in the media, don’t be shy in adding these in your copy, including: newspaper and magazine articles, media reports on the product or business, appearance in trade journals, writeups in consumer reports, etc.

If you can namedrop someone who’s a recognized authority in their field or even a celebrity, and do it in an ethical and logical way, do so. Or let them do the talking for you.

In court cases, one of the most commonly subpoenaed witnesses are “expert witnesses.” Similarly, reviews from industry authorities, even endorsements from celebrities, though biased, also give your copy perceived objectivity.

If you were talked about on TV or radio shows, or in publications, drop those names, too. Some copywriters even add graphics or logos of those media in which they appeared.

For example, some of my clients have added scanned magazine covers to their copy — magazines in which articles by or about them appeared. Some even add the words “As Seen In…” This provides both credentializing and optical proof.

But nothing beats authoritative endorsements, both direct and even indirect ones.

Ostensibly, a direct one is one in which an authority directly endorses the product. But an indirect one is one in which there is perceived authority, or that the authority is implied, such as “9 out of 10 dentists agree.”

Another example of an indirect authoritative endorsement was once used by master copywriter Gary Bencivenga, who discussed a headline that said, “When doctors have a headache, here’s what they do.” You can read that article here.

5. Evidential Proof

Evidential proof is evidence or an argument that compels the mind to accept an assertion as true. In fact, in the dictionary one of the many definitions of “proof” states:

“1. The validation of a proposition by application of induction or deduction to derived conclusions; a statement or argument used in such a validation. 2. Convincing or persuasive demonstration; determination of the quality of something by testing or trial.”

Therefore, anything that can prove the validity of a claim, result, or promise, and anything that can justify, backup, or support a claim, in any way, is evidential proof.

For example, some of them include product demonstrations, samples, independent studies, clinical trials, controlled tests, etc. Even events and challenges work well, which is a blend of credentializing proof and evidential proof.

As the author of “Nothing Down,” a book on how to buy property with no upfront money or collateral, Robert Allen was challenged by the media to prove his claim.

The challenge was to drop him in the middle of nowhere with only $100 for food and water, and within 24 hours he had to buy a property with nothing down.

Not only did he buy one but also ended up buying several.

He took the challenge to put his claims to the test and won. But more importantly, he got the media involved, which provided a lot of publicity. Those are the kinds of results you certainly want to discuss if not showcase in your sale copy.

This is similar to “controlled tests.” I’m not talking about the marketing kind. I mean tests that actually validate the process, the product, the results, the claims, etc.

You can do hard tests or soft tests.

Hard tests are where you actually put your product to the test to measure its quality or validate its claims. Soft tests are tests that do not directly validate the product, but used to drive home a certain point or prove an important benefit.

In the infomercial for a synthetic car oil called “DuraLube,” they had cars put up on cinder blocks, drained them completely of oil, and had the motor run until it seized. To fix the engine, one would have to invest in costly mechanical work.

Then they added one small bottle of DuraLube, drained it once more, and started the car, which was running on DuraLube’s residue only. Not only did the car start without any problems, but an elapsed timer showed the motor ran for hours without fail.

While DuraLube is an example of a hard test, a soft one is like the commercial for Oreck vacuum cleaners. The goal was to prove that their vacuum, which was incredibly lightweight, could have unbelievable “hurricane force” suction for such a light machine.

So they had the vacuum literally suck up a bowling ball. That’s somewhat of a hard test.

The soft test was when they showed how the vacuum, placed on one end of a large scale against the same bowling ball on the other, weighed less the ball itself. You saw the bowling ball plummet while the vacuum raised up in the air like a feather.

6. Perceptual Proof

Also called “persuasive proof,” perceptual proof helps to increase the perceived quality of the evidence, and strengthens how someone appreciates that evidence.

We all know that facts and figures can mean different things. But how did one arrive at these conclusions? Against what can they be measured to understand their importance? And what do they mean at an intimate level, particularly to the reader?

That’s where stories, analogies, anecdotes, examples, metaphors, and real-life accounts help to not only expand on and solidify the proof given, but also relate them to the reader and increase their level of appreciation.

Just like my wife who, in her blog post, related what those medical terms meant to her.

She didn’t just list all the medical details and what they meant. She also told them in the form of a story, and included a few metaphors to help us understand and appreciate what was happening to her. It made the proof more real and concrete.

7. Social Proof

Lastly but not the least, social proof is proof by modeling. In other words, we tend to give more credence to an idea or behavior when we see the masses approving or doing it.

Also known as “informational social influence,” social proof occurs in social situations when people make the assumption that others, especially by their numbers, possess more knowledge and therefore deem their behavior as appropriate.

They tend to assume an idea is valid not by its objective evidence but by its popularity, following, or acceptance by others. The more people talk about it, endorse it, or buy it, the assumption is the more valid and relevant it must be.

For example, forms of social proof include testimonials, case studies, sales numbers, clientele size, number of endorsements, fan base size, and so forth.

The more real you make them, the more believable they are (such as testimonials with audio, video, pictures, signatures, screenshots, graphs, etc). Even blogs, forums, and social media are widely recognized and used as effective forms of social proof.

So, there you have it.

These are just some ideas. The bottom line is, the more proof you provide, and the more you backup your claims with proof of any kind, whether they are hard or soft, or objective or subjective, the more believable — and profitable — your copy will be.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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However, from most of the comments I’ve read, including some of the positive ones, it seems a lot of people missed the point I was trying to convey. They thought it was about Facebook usernames and therefore no big deal.

Well, it wasn’t about Facebook specifically. It was about having integrity and respect, and doing what’s right.

They missed it, and that was probably my fault. My passion for the topic and opposition to the concept of “friendly extortion,” which I blogged about in the past, caused me to write more forcefully than the norm, and I was less than clear than I should have been.

Facebook wasn’t the problem. It just so happened to be the tool used in this case. It was more about the scarcity mindset and the sense of entitlement people have in thinking this was acceptable behavior and that we should tolerate it.

So I wanted to clear the air. I recorded this quick little video after I woke up this morning — oh, and please ignore the fashionable bed-head hairdo.

Please let me know what you think…

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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No, I’m not talking about the contested elections in Iran.

I’m talking about the recent Facebook username frenzy, when Facebook allowed its users to register usernames, making profile addresses shorter and more memorable.

Leading up to it, they used a countdown timer. Brilliant.

Last week, I was watching a movie with my wife Sylvie Fortin. At 12:01 AM, I decided to log onto Facebook using my iPhone, just to see. And wouldn’t you know it? I managed to secure Facebook.com/michelfortin for me, and Facebook.com/licorice for our fan page.

(Sylvie also captured “sylviefortin” for herself.)

The Licorice Group, LLC is the name of our publishing company, located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Obviously, “michelandsylviefortin” was way too long and would defeat the purpose of getting a shorter mnemonic. So I decided on “licorice.”

Anyway, you might be wondering why I said this was a kerfuffle. Well, hold on tight, because this one is a doozie (and there’s a marketing lesson in here, too)…

I couldn’t believe it when I saw some marketers who failed to get their very own names because of a few dumbass nitwits, with completely different names, decided it would be cool to register someone else’s well-known brand name.

Yes, as marketing experts, our names are brands.

It happened to my friends Ed Dale, John Reese, Darren Rowse, and a slew of others.

Some people call this cybersquatting, which we see often in the domain name space. One jokingly said, “cybersquatting on Facebook is facesquatting!” But I digress…

Needless to say, this irks me. I think it’s not only unscrupulous, mean, and dumb, but also I believe that people who do this kind of thing are downright scum.

Some marketers have cried foul. They said, “It’s trademark and copyright infringement.” Well, I don’t think it’s a copyright infringement. It might be a trademark one, although this is somewhat debatable since most names are not registered trademarks.

But registered or not, they are trademarks nonetheless.

Whether or not taking a well-known brand name infringes on another’s intellectual property, it can potentially lessen their commercial value, cause irreparable damage, and above all, create confusion in the marketplace…

… The very thing trademarks are meant to avoid in the first place.

Plus, it’s wrong. Very wrong.

But the issue I’m mostly upset about is something else — something that actually happened to one of my mentors and favorite experts, Larry Winget.

Larry Winget is a well-known brand. He’s an internationally renowned and sought-after speaker and consultant, and the author of many books, CDs, and DVDs, of which I own pretty much everything. Yes, I’m a huge fan.

But Larry encountered a problem that went way beyond simple “facesquatting,” and he blogged about his incredible displeasure and rightful outrage at such a tactic.

However, this seems to have rubbed quite a few people the wrong way. Tons of people commented on his blog. They were either for or against Larry’s attempt to publicly denounce this act. And some of the naysayers were very upset with Larry.

I respect other people’s opinions. I always love hearing how others see things differently. But on this blog post, some who opposed Larry’s “overreaction” went just as overboard.

Some stated that the issue was a small one, and that the person who infringed on Larry’s rights meant no harm. It was a small mistake in judgment, albeit a dumb one, but forgivable. And Larry should have been more tolerant.

Say what? Let’s take a closer look.

Someone took “larrywinget” as a username on Facebook. I believe — and I’m sure Larry feels the same way, too — that, if the person who took it was indeed called “Larry Winget,” it would have meant nothing to him. But it goes a lot deeper than that.

First of all, his name surely wasn’t Larry Winget.

But this is not where the story ends. This person registered Larry’s name — get this! — in an attempt to gain Larry’s attention, and perhaps affection for being so bold and creative, that he would be allowed to have an audience with Larry.

When I first read that, my head did a double-take. He went on to say that he would be prepared to give Larry back his name, “no questions asked,” and would understand if Larry refused to give him some of his time. (Double-take? Make that a triple.)

There are so many problems with this.

First off, Facebook was very clear that names cannot be transferred. What this person did was absolutely wrong because it pretty much forced Larry into a corner.

But it goes even further than that.

Short of not doing this at all, he should have changed his username, contacted Larry, apologized, and told Larry that, now that the name is available (by his changing it, that is), Larry should be able to change his username and re-capture “larrywinget.”

But he didn’t do that. Instead, he closed his account and fled, “like a coward,” says Winget, making any attempt to re-capture this newly released name futile.

So Larry was rightfully offended. On many levels. It’s not just about identity theft, which is wrong. It’s not just about trying to usurp free consulting, which is even worse.

It’s about the tremendous lack of integrity, courtesy, decency, and above all, respect. It’s about this person’s belief — and the belief of those who commented in support of him — that this is normal, totally acceptable, and completely forgivable.

After all, no malice was intended. Right?

Wrong. It’s not only sad, it’s downright insulting.

I think it’s a sad world when people’s sense of entitlement allows them to think they deserve it, they can get away with this stuff, their unethical if not illegal actions are excusable and justified, and these experts are “rich enough” to absorb it.

It’s an even sadder world when, while one feels they have the right to do this stuff, the other does not have the right to defend their name and reputation, or feel angry and offended simply because, as some people said, “it’s part of doing business.”

You’re kidding me, right?

If you think I’m arrogant, think again. I would applaud anyone trying creative ways to get my attention. After all, I’m in marketing and I love learning new ways to gain attention. And believe me, in my 20+ years as a consultant and copywriter, I’ve seen quite a few.

But at my expense? No way.

So Larry had every right to react the way he did.

The thief, and all of Larry’s detractors and the thief’s supporters who overreacted just as much, tend to forget the fact that Larry has to spend time to deal with this situation.

He has to take time out of his busy schedule, perhaps time away from working with his paying clients, to fix things and do some damage control. His blog post was part of it.

He had to, in part, to alert his readers, prospects, and followers why they can’t find him on Facebook, and why they might see someone else there instead.

Not only that, but Larry also has to absorb pecuniary losses caused by the confusion this has caused, such as the loss of sales and relationships created by the highjacking, as well as the damage to Larry’s name, reputation, and commercial value.

So he was justified in publicly voicing his concerns.

Now, to those who feel this was mere petty theft, I have a couple of issues to bring up.

First off, what this person did was more than just petty theft.

He stole Larry’s name, and then tried to steal his money by trying to coerce him for some free consulting. Plus, he even lied in his message and, finally, he left and deleted his account, forcing Larry to plead with Facebook and jump through needless hoops.

The first part may seem obvious, but you’re probably wondering why I said “he lied.”

You see, this person’s reply to Larry, which only occurred after Larry got in contact with him to find out what had happened — makes you wonder if he was going to contact Larry at all in the first place — included this interesting tidbit, edited for brevity:

“If not, I didn’t take your name on facebook to try and extort money from you or get anything else, so I am more than happy to turn the name over to you no questions asked.”

Read that again because it’s important.

Some people, quoting this passage, have commented this was evidence that he wasn’t trying to steal, squat, or do something malicious. That he had no ill-intent.

Oh, really? Those commentators failed to look at the rest of what he said, if you were to understand his true intent. Because in the previous paragraph, he said…

“I would love the opportunity to meet with you face to face (…) to bounce some ideas and questions off of you.”

I don’t know about you, but to me that’s a clear and conspicuous attempt at stealing Larry’s name in an effort to coerce free consulting from him. Sorry, but that’s extortion and it’s still wrong, no matter how petty or well-intended it might seem.

So this person not only stole Larry’s name, but also attempted to extort from him and lied about it, too. To me, that’s a three-striker right there, as in “three strikes and you’re out.” Even if each one seemed petty or insignificant, as a whole or individually.

If you, too, think this was merely petty, and that Larry overreacted, then something has certainly gone awry if people think nothing should have been done about it.

For example, just because I wanted to meet with my bank manager when I robbed the bank, even if I had every intention of returning the money, “no questions asked,” it doesn’t make it right. Or excusable. Or wrong for wanting to protect one’s assets.

In fact, the thief ended his message with:

“If it wasn’t me, it likely would have been someone else.”

It still doesn’t make it right!

What gives you the right to rob a bank? And to say, “Better me than someone else?”

I do equate this to stealing from a bank because, to me, it’s no different. Sure, there was no violence. Sure, there were no threats. And sure, there was no actual money stolen. But he did try to usurp Larry’s name, time, and expertise, let alone his reputation.

I recommended this brilliant video before on the whole idea of “free lunches.” It’s from one of my favorite consultants, Perry Marshall, entitled “Those who bite the hand that feeds them, lick the boot that kicks them.” I urge you to go and watch it.

Bottom line, respect goes both ways.

I can’t speak for Larry, but something tells me that, if this guy’s name was truly Larry Winget, Larry wouldn’t care much. I know there are other, well-known people named “Michel Fortin” out there. It wouldn’t have bothered me if they captured my name first.

Well, it would, but not that much. After all, it’s their name, too.

The problem is, this has nothing to do with taking a username. It’s about integrity. It’s about doing what is right. It’s about respecting Larry, his time, and his name.

If you think Larry went overboard for such a petty thing, I have two things to say:

1. When is doing something wrong no longer considered “petty”? Where do you draw the line? It might seem petty, and petty theft may indeed be petty. But it’s still theft.
2. It’s a slippery slope. And if you consider this insignificant, that tells me a lot about how much you value your own name, your time, and yes, your relationships.

Think about that last one.

Anyway, way to go, Larry.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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• The Gold is In The Picks And Shovels (14)

This is one of the most quoted passages in marketing in trying to explain the difference between features and benefits. However, the quote is incomplete and leaving out something that, to me, is far more important.

And that is, what’s the purpose of this quarter-inch hole? What does the reader plan on doing with it? Even better, what’s the end-result the reader wants to achieve with it?

The answer to that question is, in my estimation, the real benefit. The ultimate benefit.

Not the hole. And certainly not the drill that created it.

Sure, it is a benefit to some degree. But “benefit,” defined in the dictionary, is “something that improves, enhances, or promotes well-being.” So let me ask you, how is one or one’s well-being enhanced by a quarter-inch hole?

To make offers truly irresistible, words should appeal to specific buyer motives. Common copywriting wisdom dictates that the first rule in doing so is to stress benefits over features. Think benefits, benefits, benefits. Sounds simple, right?

Not really. For if it were, a website would be successful simply if it listed a product’s features and its subsequent benefits. And we all know that is not true. Many benefit-laden copy have failed. So you need more than that.

In an attempt to provide you with some guidance on how to dig deeper to find better, more compelling benefits, here’s a tool I’ve used to help you.

The Product Analysis Worksheet

One of the classes I used to to teach in college was Professional Selling. In it, the curriculum’s textbook was “Personal Selling: An Interactive Approach,” by Ronald Marks, Ph.D., a professor of marketing at the University of Missouri.

In this book, Dr. Marks discusses the ability to convey benefits over features using a tool he calls Product Analysis Worksheet. The way it works is quite simple.

Product benefits usually consist of four principal levels. They are features, advantages, motives, and benefits. Each layer has its own set of attributes and characteristics, which varies depending on the product type and the market to which the product caters.

To illustrate, here’s a description of each layer:

1. Features — what products have. For example, say you sell an accounting software. You can say, “This accounting software has a reporting feature.”
2. Advantages — what features do. To continue our example, “Reporting provides real-time, on-demand, updated mission-critical information to key personnel.”
3. Motives — what motives do features satisfy. For example, “Cost-savings, greater control, increased production, better decisions, etc.”
4. Benefits — what those features mean. This is where you attach the advantages you outlined to specific motives those features satisfy. To continue our example…

   “With this powerful reporting feature, managers are able to keep their finger on your company’s financial pulse at all times, thereby reducing costs by as much as 50%, maintaining greater control over expenditures, increasing their output by 10-20 times at any given time, and avoiding making decisions that could cost them thousands if not millions of dollars — all in just a few clicks.”

What does this do? By digging deeper and communicating what benefits really mean to your audience, it adds weight, purpose, meaning, relevancy, and power behind the benefits you initially come up with. It gives your benefits legs.

Obviously, coming up with a list of benefits may be easy if you know your product well enough. But describing them in a way that’s appropriate for, and directly related and targeted to, specific audiences is not an easy process.

Market research helps to solve that challenge. In fact, researching your market before you put pen to paper or electron to screen is the most important component of good copywriting. Not the headline, not the offer, and not the price.

The market.

The market is the single most important component of your sales copy. The more you learn about your market, the better and more effective your copy will be.

For example, a common problem among marketers is to develop content using a language their readers will understand. Sure, readers may understand what’s being said to some degree. But comprehension of a message doesn’t mean they will relate to it.

The problem is, marketers often use words that only they can relate to.

This is quite normal as we write in the way we think or talk.

However, the goal in writing good, compelling copy is to think like our readers, talk like our readers, and connect with our readers. This is where much of the copy I see fails.

Even yours truly is guilty of this from time to time. We’re too married to our product, or we’re too disconnected from how and what our readers think, feel, and communicate. This is where the “product analysis worksheet” can become very helpful.

Here’s how it works…

First, list all of the features of your product or service, including standard, technical, supportive, even abstract features. Then, with each feature, develop a subsequent list of relative advantages. Write down what each feature listed does.

Some people think that what a feature does is the benefit. But this is where most business owners and copywriters fail to relate those benefits to their readers.

They assume an advantage is a benefit and stop there, when those benefits are too broad or one-sided. Instead, the feature’s function or purpose, not how it actually serves, relates to, and benefits the reader, is merely an advantage.

While a feature is what a product has and an advantage is what that feature does…

… A Benefit is What That Feature Means.

A benefit is what a person intimately gains from a specific feature. It’s the ultimate end-result. When you describe a feature, say this: “What this means to you, Mr. Prospect, is this…” Followed by a more personal gain your reader gets from the feature.

Turn it around. don’t focus on a certain feature’s benefit. Rather, focus on how those features specifically benefit the individual and what those benefits truly mean.

Here’s an example using my private membership website, where members get access to videos of me tearing sales copy apart, and revealing copywriting tips, tricks, and actual, tested conversion strategies in the process.

• Feature: Watch a top copywriter in action as he writes killer copy, all recorded on video, using real salesletters and real websites from real clients.
• Advantage: You get to learn how to write copy faster by understanding the logic behind successful copy (not just how to write it), and also learn copywriting tips, mistakes, shortcuts, and proven split-test results in the process.
• Motive: What you want is to reduce the learning curve, risks, effort, and costs involved in trying to do it all yourself. Therefore, what this feature means is this…
  • Benefit #1: This means you get real-world examples from real case studies and actually see the process done before you, instead of plain textbook theory or mere swipe files that leave you scratching your head.
  • Benefit #2: Using real-world examples means you can understand what goes into world-class copy and appreciate how they’re being used, so you can easily repeat the process on your own, in the future.
  • Benefit #3: Repeating the process on your own means you don’t have to pay an expensive copywriter to write it for you or fix it if it’s not performing well.
  • Benefit #4: Not having to pay for a copywriter means you save money and get it done faster by learning proven strategies you can apply immediately, without waiting for someone to do it for you or explain it to you in some “how-to” course.
  • Benefit #5: And learning proven, tested strategies means you eliminate the need to search for, find, test, and learn everything yourself, and avoid making costly mistakes by having to figure out what works and what doesn’t on your own.

… And on and on.

Can You See The Difference?

Now, once achieved, look at your worksheet.

Did you cover all the benefits that a specific feature has? Did you go deep and specific enough? Don’t just resort to apparent or obvious benefits. Dig deeper. Think of the end-results your readers get from enjoying your product or service.

Coming up with the first batch will be easy because they will be at the top of your mind. But forcing yourself to dig deeper and come up with stronger, more intimate benefits, although it will be more challenging, will provide you with some of the best ones.

To help you, here’s a simple exercise.

Once you’ve listed one benefit tied to a specific feature, just keep asking, “What this means to you is this…” And work it until you run out of reasons.

Or use what copywriter Peter Stone calls the “so that” technique. Same idea, but add the words “so that” at the end, like, “With this feature, you get [benefit], so that [deeper benefit], so that [even deeper benefit],” and so on until you can’t go any further.

Once you’re done, you then move onto the next feature.

Remember that features tell but benefits sell.

Above all, make sure you communicate those benefits in a way that truly reflects and caters to the situations, problems, needs, and desires of your target market. Express benefits in terms that relate directly to each individual in that market.

Some people shy away from describing benefits because they assume they generate hype or puffery. Not so. As illustrated above, they are effective tools to get your readers to fully understand and appreciate your product’s true purpose, meaning, and relevancy.

After all, different words mean different things to different people.

In other words, forget features and what they do, which is what most people think are benefits. Think of what a feature means to the customer and the words that communicate this meaning at an individual, intimate, and emotional level.

Because the more intimate your benefits are, the more real, vivid, significant, and meaningful they will be. And subsequently, the more sales you will generate, too.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

Other Related Posts

• The Seven Deadly Sins of Website Copy (30)
• How I Broke Into Copywriting (12)
• Forget Benefits, And You Will Sell More (16)
• Write Magnetic Headlines With These 7 Tips (26)
• The Real Sinister Side of Forced Continuity (75)

It takes a while for the system to import all the comments from WordPress — it’s about 70% done, now — and it should be all back to normal soon. Fingers crossed.

Why am I doing this?

I’ve been investigating several commenting systems, including WordPress’ own, Intense Debate. And Disqus appears to be the winner in many of the reviews I’ve read. I’ve tested it on some of my non-public blogs and it works quite well.

This system allows you to track comments, converse using threaded replies, rate comments, add links to commentator profiles, and comment by logging into Twitter, Facebook, or Disqus Connect, or simply as a guest.

Comments are still moderated as before, so your comment won’t show up automatically. If you notice anything “wiggy,” please comment here. The complete transition, Disqus advises me, should be completed by day’s end. Thanks for bearing with me.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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If you don’t know Dean Jackson, he is a Torontonian, a real estate mogul, an information marketing millionaire (author of many programs, including the highly successful “Stop Your Divorce!”), and a darn-fine copywriter.

This post was extremely popular for a number of reasons.

In it, Dean shared his quick-and-dirty formula for writing salesletters really fast. Of course, I’m a big fan of Robert Plank’s Speed Copy Secrets. But this formula is a great shortcut if you want to write a barebones salesletter in less than an hour.

Above all, the idea behind this formula is to get you to start writing. Too many marketers and copywriters get stuck at the beginning, such as at the headline, and they fail to get any traction. They often blame it on “writer’s block.”

According to Dean, this formula has helped him write several million-dollar salesletters for himself and others. With his gracious permission, I’m reprinting it here, along with some of my own editorial comments and tips…

Please note, this is not going to result in an extensive or exhaustive salesletter. But it will provide you with a skeletal outline you can either use as is, or easily expand from.

The reason this formula is powerful is that most people find the hardest thing to do is to get started writing.

It’s easy to get caught up in trying to figure out the best hook or headline. But this formula is an easy, kick-into-gear way to get a really quick headstart on a letter.

As Dean noted, “I’d rather be golfing than sweating out a sales letter, so I’m very interested in achieving quick results.”

It all starts with deciding exactly what you want someone to do. And then sitting down for 60 minutes or so to write an unedited, rough-draft, handwritten letter baring the “naked truth” of what you really want.

Dean suggests that you sit down with a pen and a legal pad, and start writing a stream of consciousness letter, by hand, to one individual person you imagine as your ideal prospect.

I personally don’t mind using my computer, but I believe Dean suggests doing it by hand because it’s harder to edit yourself when doing so. Editing as you write is one of the biggest crutches for copywriters that impedes their writing.

Also, getting to know your perfect prospect is crucial.

In our course, Marketing ESP, we share with you the exact process we go through to find markets and create “buyer personas” using spying techniques, sideways strategies, and unique and unconventional keyword research methods.

In it, we show you how to create a perfect prospect profile, also known as a “buyer persona.” It’s a perfect complement to Dean’s technique as it will allow you to develop a clear understanding of who your prospect is, what do they want, and how do they want it.

Knowing this beforehand will allow you to sit down and write a salesletter faster than you’ve ever dreamed possible. The reason is, the information you uncover during that research will provide you with a ton of information you can use in your writing.

Nevertheless, the key is to write the letter as if they are the only person who is going to receive the letter. You write to that person and that person only. Personally, one on one.

At this point, you shouldn’t concern yourself about the grammar, the look, or the techniques of copywriting. As copywriter Peter Stone says, “Write first, edit later.”

No one is actually going to see the letter at this point, anyway. You can edit it yourself afterward, or have someone else or hire someone else to edit it for you.

The key is to do it and do it as quickly as possible. Get yourself a timer, if you can. Limit yourself to 60 minutes. That way, you won’t be tempted to stop along the way to edit yourself. Don’t do it. Keep writing, and write like there’s no tomorrow.

You must get yourself to sit down with the thought of having to get it all done in less than one hour. Write down just the essentials at this point. Keep it simple, keep your perfect customer in mind at all times, and keep it flowing.

Now, here’s the 10-part letter formula.

Start with “Dear Dean,” which can be the name you give your perfect prospect. Remember, you can change it later. Don’t worry about the headline at this point. Next…

1. Start with the purpose of your letter.

“I’m writing to you because I want you to…” Insert your naked-truth reason you’re writing, as if you were making your request known to a lamp Genie who could grant your wish, like, “Take out your credit card and pay me $39 for my new book called…”

2. Reasons you are writing to this specific person.

“The reason I’m writing to you specifically is because I think you want…” And then list the reasons in bullet form, such as reason #1, reason #2, reason #3, and so on.

3. List the features and benefits of your product or offer.

“Here is a list of what you get when you [buy my book]…” Again, use bullets. First list the feature followed by the benefit after “which means,” such as “You get [feature], which means [benefit].” Write as many as you can drum up at this point.

4. Top 10 questions and/or objections.

You can say, “If I were to guess the top 10 questions or objections you will have about buying my product today, they would be these…” You then follow that by another bulleted list of the top 10 most asked questions or most pressing concerns.

5. Answers to those questions or objections.

“So here’s how I would clear those up for you…” Same idea as point #4. List, in bullet form, the answers to each and every question or concern you’ve uncovered.

6. Explain the guarantee or how you are removing the risks.

“I want you to be completely without risk, so here’s my guarantee…” Then explain how your guarantee works, how it reduces or removes the risk from the purchase in their minds, and how to take advantage of it if they need to.

7. The most important part: the call to action.

“It’s really easy to get started. You just…” (“Click this button,” “fill in this form,” “call this phone number,” “return this coupon,” etc.) Provide the exact, step-by-step instructions on how they can take action.

8. The result of their taking action.

“Once you decide to get started here’s what’s going to happen…” You describe as simply as possible what’s going to happen once they do go ahead. Educate them on how they will get, use, and consume the product. Tell them how to make the best use of their new purchase.

9. Add an element of scarcity or a sense of urgency.

“You need to do this right now because…” Tell them why they need to take action today. Is there a limit or a deadine? What will be the consequences if they don’t? What are the ultimate costs of not going ahead today?

10. Finally, testimonials from satisfied customers.

“Here’s a list of people who have already [done this] and exactly what happened for them…” Add testimonials or case studies from other customers. Of course, I don’t need to remind you that they must be real and genuine.

There you have it.

When you’re done with this exercise in hopefully one hour or less, it’s easy to start taking the barebone copy elements from it and dressing them up to take out in public.

You can add more, rearrange the elements, expand points, add proper transitions between each section, make it flow neatly, tighten it all up, and so on.

Once you’ve done this naked-truth, skeletal salesletter, headline ideas will naturally jump out at you. You will have some groundwork from which to come up with several headlines and possible hooks that will appeal to your perfect customer.

Remember, the headline’s job is only one thing: to get your prospect to read your letter. Once you’ve accomplished that, the rest should be smooth sailing.

Tell me (or Dean Jackson) what you think! We would love to get your feedback.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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• P.S.: Don’t Forget to Include This in Your Copy (27)
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However, one area most people tend to overlook is the ability to increase their current sales by upselling their customers the moment they checkout.

But I’m not referring to one-time offers or additional products offered in the same sales funnel. I’m talking about offering customers the ability to upgrade their purchases.

I prefer “upgrade” rather than “upsell” because the latter has received a bad rap of late due to a few overzealous or unscrupulous marketers.

Selling “upgrades” is an area that can become profitable for many businesses in increasing their existing sales. It’s by selling extended services or benefits packages before or at the time of checkout, also known as the “extended warranty.”

There are numerous ways to sell extended warranties (or what I prefer to call “extended benefits”). These silent profit centers exist in almost any business, which can increase the size of a customer’s purchase by 50%, 100%, even 200% or more.

Very often, the sale of these extended benefits have higher profit margins, too.

You may have seen extended warranties for cars. For a fee or a recurring subscription, you get additional coverage for your car in case it breaks down, needs repairs, or requires new parts — beyond its current warranty, if any.

The warranty covers your bill or part of it when such incidents occur. Some will add extras, such as roadside assistance, operator-assisted directions, and more.

Extended warranties are subtle forms of insurance policies that guarantee a product or service’s performance, especially after an initial period of time.

While guarantees promise benefits, warranties promise the enjoyment of those benefits. The extended warranty thus promises that the enjoyment will continue or is optimized.

In other words, a warranty is like a “guarantee’s guarantee.”

A warranty promises that a product will perform the way it is supposed to for a very specific period of time. If your product comes with a guarantee, then consider selling an extended warranty that ensures its continuation.

Particularly if your product’s benefits are limited, deprecating, consumable, or cannot be guaranteed for whatever reason, consider selling an extended warranty.

In the case of physical goods, it may take the form of future upgrades, additional benefits, membership programs, points clubs, repeat purchase incentives, or service packages.

For digital products, an extended warranty can take the form of specialized, personalized technical support, time-limited licenses, installation help, access to a private customers’ site, multimedia to teach you how to make the most of your digital product, additional education or tips on how to maximize the enjoyment of your purchase, and so on.

As for services, the extended warranty is a little different since services are intangible, do not break down, need repair, or depreciate in value. But they are just as profitable.

Service warranties can take the shape of memberships, points clubs, preferred customer programs, priority service packages, extended service packages, prepayment plans, premium services, future discounts, upgrade plans, etc.

For example, if you’re a consultant you can offer prepaid retainer packages that include several hours of follow-up consulting after the initial service is delivered, or on-call priority privileges, all at a discounted rate.

The most popular form is to upgrade a package to a larger one at a bulk rate.

For instance, say you’re a writer and sell a package that might include writing a number of articles for a certain amount. You can offer existing customers a larger number of articles at a discounted rate as they checkout.

But don’t give them the choice of adding an additional, discounted product, which is a traditional upsell. You want to offer the ability to upgrade their current order size for just an extra fee. Perhaps even opt for a larger, different package instead.

For example, you might want to name your packages in a certain way that stratifies each package on a quality or size scale — such as a “bronze,” “silver,” or “gold” package.

People who decide to buy the silver package are then offered, as they checkout, the choice to upgrade their order to the gold one for the difference in fees, for a lesser fee, or with an additional incentive, such as a bonus or add-on.

However, you don’t need to limit yourself by selling them the same service.

You can upgrade to one that includes additional services, such as in addition to writing a number of articles you include writing an autoresponder sequence, submitting their articles to editors and publishers, optimizing the articles for the search engines, etc.

Or, you can sell them a discount — yes, a discount! — or additional incentives, preferably in the form of a certificate, applicable towards future purchases.

Selling them a discount on, or additional incentives delivered with, future purchases “locks in” your customer and prevents them from going to the competition. That way, they are certain to come back to you for their future needs.

Naturally, you want to tangibilize your upgrade in the form of a printable certificate, coupon, letter, or email. Above all, you want to limit the timeframe in which they may exercise their option, in order to induce a sense of urgency and prevent them from cashing in beyond a longer, unfavorable amount of time.

Nevertheless, this is just one, simple example of many possibilities!

On the other hand, if you offer repetitive services such as a hairstylist, you can offer a number of prepaid visits at a discount. If cashflow is particularly low during a specific month or season, arrange your packages so that they renew at that point in time.

If your business is typically and predictably slow, say, in the next three months or so, them sell three-month service packages. When renewal time comes, you give your business an influx of cash during such slow times.

Another example: the summer is a slow time for snowplowing services. (Remember, I live in Canada!) But with prepaid packages, which are sold in the summer and renewing in the summer, it creates an income stream when things slow down.

In short, extended warranties are much like selling service agreements.

Many marketers and businesses shy away from them, but they fail to see it from their client’s perspective. These programs are advantageous to the client for a variety of reasons, beyond the obvious price incentive.

For instance, the many benefits of offering extended warranties include less billing, more convenience, preferred service, faster delivery, extra privileges, and many others.

Another is the feeling of “belonging” to a special, elite group of people to which higher attention or priority is given. They feel as if they’re joining a club. And in reality, they are.

That’s why premium programs, or “preferred client clubs,” are very popular. They have a mystique and a sense of extra value about them, which is being part of that elite group. As Amex’ slogan often says, “membership has its privileges.”

For example, club members might enjoy a members-only 1-800 service number, extra premiums, discounts on joint-ventured partners, express checkout services, priority customer support services, special members-only contests, and so on.

Online, clients can become members of a private website, access premiums, receive additional web-based services — such as reminder services, automated shipping, real-time support, even special software (like eBay’s Toolbar), etc.

One digital vendor I know includes one year of support with all his products. It’s a standard part of his sales. But at the time of checkout, he offers a special “upgrade” for an additional year — a package that’s priced at about 10% of the product’s price.

Over 81% of customers choose the additional warranty!

Now, some people will tell you to include subscriptions or continuity models as their upgrade offers. And continuity seems to be all the buzz right now. A lot of people feel they need to offer some sort of continuity program.

Granted, these can be great source of revenue. But don’t limit yourself to recurring programs. Don’t ignore single, extended service packages and simple upgrades, too.

Keep in mind that the savings factor, whether present or in the future, is often the greatest motivator.

Consumable products and repetitive services translate into repeat sales. So an extended warranty would be a repeat customer program — also called “rewards programs.”

This could involve a flat discount rate on all purchases made at a particular store during a certain timeframe. What this program also does is to preemptively reduce the possible loss of a client to a future competitor.

These programs can range from one month to a full year.

As an example, bookstores sell avid reader membership programs. For an annual fee, they offer members a fixed discount rate on all subsequent books purchased during the time that the program is in force.

Here are a few other examples of extended benefits…

You sell computers. You may also offer a buy-back plan. For an additional fee, customers “buy” the privilege and ability to choose to trade in their systems for a better model within a year following their purchase.

The plan, which appears in the form of an official certificate, coupon, or letter delivered at the time of purchase, promises them a complete or partial refund of the purchase price that’s applied as a discount towards a future, more expensive upgrade.

If they choose to exercise their option, they only pay the difference when they upgrade to a later model. Naturally, when time comes for a new computer, they come back to you.

You sell an ebook that’s time-context sensitive — such as one based on current events or tied to an existing situation. As an upgrade, you can sell future updates to the book.

While you may include one full year of free updates, you might want to also sell an extra year for an additional sum at the time of checkout. Or, for a small, extra fee, you can ship them a physical version of the book or a CD backup.

You sell website-based software. You sell it at a fairly decent price already, because it’s sold as a do-it-yourself script. But as an upgrade, you might want to offer installation for a fixed price, additional support, or a license for a predetermined amount of time.

As a chiropractor, you sell packages of a certain number of visits for a certain price. You may therefore offer larger packages at a discount, or include a rewards program that entitles them to a number of free sessions if they buy the larger packages.

Nevertheless, while extended benefits are in and of themselves profit centers, they’re also powerful positioning tools since they help to increase your core business, your brand reputation, and the quality of your customer service, at the same time.

People love options and the feeling that they are being taken care of. They also want to reduce the element of risk in the buying process. People want to avoid pain, and that includes the pain that comes with the potential or future loss of a benefit.

So, help them feel more secure with the knowledge that they will continue to enjoy your product or service. Sell them extended benefits!

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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“How far would you travel to meet a potential client, if they had the deposit ready for your services? My girlfriend thinks the customer is pulling the strings if they don’t at least meet me halfway. Before, I’ve always traveled as far as it takes, even if it meant driving all the way to the customer, but is that setting a weak precedent?”

Good question, but it’s the wrong one.

“How far would you travel” is irrelevant. A better question is, do they value your time? Do they respect it enough that they are willing to pay for it? In other words, are they willing to cover your travel expenses and pay for you to go out of your way for them?

If so, then I’d be willing to travel anywhere.

I would always consider travelling to meet a prospect if the project was large enough, and provided they paid for what is commonly referred to in this industry as “TMI” (i.e., travel, meals, and incidentals). And in some cases, for my time, too.

(By the way, travel includes lodging, and incidentals include photocopying, long-distance calls, Internet connection in the hotel room, car rental, etc.)

Plus, I would ask them for an advance so I can take care of my own expenses. I would avoid getting them to handle my trip on their end. I would want to have full control over the choice of airline, hotel, restaurants, etc.

If you were driving to meet them, then the client — or, in this case, the prospect — should pay for your gas, normal wear-and-tear on your car (such as $[X] per mile), your meals, and any incidentals. And lodging too, if you were staying overnight.

There’s a very good reason for this.

My clients are responsible for any direct, out-of-pocket expenses — whether they’ve hired me yet or not. It’s included in all my agreements and my quoting policy.

In my career, I’ve had many clients fly me to meet with them before they’ve hired me, for example.

Whether you’re a copywriter, a web designer, or a graphic artist, you’re still a freelancer. You are not only a marketer selling your services but also the provider of those services.

You’re not a salesperson working on commission where your only job is to close deals — and therefore, you don’t have the luxury of expense accounts or the ability to write the trip off as a business expense against sales commissions.

As a freelancer, your time is immensely valuable.

As the person providing the service they are buying, by making yourself available to them also forces you to be unavailable to work with other clients, let alone to market yourself to find other clients.

So the cost is a lot greater than just the trip itself.

That’s why, if the trip would be a considerable distance away or if it were to take longer than a one day, I would even want my prospect to pay for my time. And that would be $3,000 a day. Minimum. For several reasons.

For one, they are paying me to consult them. Even if it’s an attempt to hire me. Call it an “assessment” or a “needs analysis,” if you will. It’s still a consultation.

Believe me, a lot of clients try to get you to consult them for free, disguised as a “trial” or in an effort to see what you can do for them first. To me, it’s a dangling, elusive carrot. Too often, these pre-sale consultations are easily abused.

A consultation is a consultation. Period.

I even go as far as to add a dollar value to my “free quotes.” Why? Because it not only adds value to my estimate and therefore my time, but also prequalifies them to a degree.

If you offer a “free estimate” and leave it at that, you are also communicating that the estimate is nothing to you. Therefore, they’re left wondering what else can you do for free. After all, “it was nothing,” is it not?

Don’t devalue yourself or the item you’re giving away for free.

Something that’s free is not really “free” if it’s not worth something or otherwise sold. It just is. But an estimate is not just free. It’s a gift, a concession, an expense on your part. Rather than a free estimate, it’s a $[X] estimate you’re giving them for free.

Big difference.

The language might seem a bit of a play on semantics, but it’s critically important. In fact, if your customer is looking for a “great deal,” make sure they know it really is.

If you give something away for free that’s always free and expected, then it’s worthless. But if you give something valuable away for free, then it’s indeed a great deal.

Ultimately, I would never, ever, meet with a client until and unless they pay for my expenses. After all, if they’re not willing to at least pay for my expenses, then…

• They are unqualified;
• They are going to haggle;
• They will nitpick my work;
• They will demand more, likely for free;
• And they’ll avoid paying for regular, project expenses, too.

Even if they don’t seem like they will be a hassle at first, you want to stand firm. First impressions can often be deceiving. Keep in mind, just as you’re trying to get them to hire you, the prospect is trying to sell you on them, too.

Many of my students have told me: “But my prospect seems genuine! They are willing to pay handsomely if I go ahead! They appear really interested!” Remember, if you give in now, chances are you will be giving in (or expected to give in) later on.

Remember, the member who asked me the question at the top of this post added this revealing tibit: “They (have) the deposit ready for your services.”

That’s the problem. They are dangling this carrot in front of you, expecting you to follow. Sure, they probably do have a deposit ready. But they’re going to expect you to work for it. For free, no doubt. And oftentimes, in little, insignificant, and subtle ways.

Asking them to pay for your expenses also helps to stop the grinding away process.

Otherwise, if you’re willing to bend over backwards in trying to land the account, you’re educating them you are also willing to do so after you get hired — often, to your detriment. They will grind away at you. Because they expect it.

A prospect refusing to pay for your trip always sends up a big red flag.

In my experience, a client who is not willing to compensate for my travel is a client who may not be hiring me based on my expertise, experience, or marketing — in which I’ve already invested a lot of time and money to get the client in the first place…

… But hiring me based on how amenable, cheap, and willing to be manipulated I am.

Some people say that showing you are willing to do anything to get the project means you also are willing to do anything for your client — and therefore, it’s a positive thing.

Wrong. Because human nature invariably dictates.

It sends the wrong message that could, and often does, work against you. In fact, while it may or may not communicate that you’re a hard worker willing to do anything for your client, it also communicates five other distinct yet negative messages:

1. Your time is not valuable. If they can’t respect your time now, they certainly won’t respect your time after they’ve become clients. Guaranteed.
2. You look desperate. Therefore, you’re not in demand. Maybe it’s because you’re not good enough. Maybe it’s because you’re having trouble getting work. True or not, you’re going to have to work twice as hard to convince them otherwise.
3. You appear deceitful. In other words, you are subtly communicating that you’re willing to do or say anything to get the job. Like it or not, that doubt will linger in the back of their minds over the course of your relationship with them, which may hurt you in other areas.
4. You’re too pliable. You show that you can be easily manipulated, which opens yourself up for abuse. (I know this all too intimately!) Plus, they often do this as a “test” to see how subservient you are.
5. You lack confidence. It communicates that you’re weak and uncertain, and that you question your own skills, which can backfire. If you’re willing to question your own abilities, chances are, they will too.

So yes, it does set a weak precedent.

Above all, they will wonder what else you’re willing to do for free and, exactly as you wondered yourself, how far you’re willing to go. Not only are you allowing them to haggle, hassle, and quibble, but also you are inviting it.

If, lucky for you, they do end up hiring you, chances are they will nitpick your work, wrangle over your invoices, question what you deliver, sabotage your deliverables, barrage you with incessant demands, and become high maintenance.

I know what you’re going to say: “But Michel, isn’t that marketing? Isn’t that showing how much of a hard worker you are? Surely, not all prospects are like that?”

True on all three counts.

But you can communicate the same in more effective ways.

If you get them to understand how valuable your time is, how confident you are in your work, and how much your work is worth, then you are communicating — although, to everyone’s benefit — that you are a hard worker willing to do what it takes.

A good, qualified prospect will see this. Even expect it.

Those who refuse to accept your position only means one of two things: they are fishing for a “great deal” (e.g., a naive, cheap, unquestioning, slavish freelancer), or they are just looking for someone who can complete tasks rather than help them achieve results.

Re-read that last paragraph. It’s crazy important.

Check out Paddi Lund’s website. It’s all about positioning. The less available you are and the more hoops clients have to jump through to hire you, the more it communicates you are valuable, your time is valuable, and your work is valuable.

Because, and keep this in mind, if they have a chance to get a great deal (and some, at your expense let alone your sanity), they will. Left to their own devices, they will take advantage of you. Don’t take it personally, because it’s not you they are abusing. It’s your services. Your time. And your willingness to do what it takes.

Call it greed. Call it a sign of the current, sluggish economy. Call it what you will.

I prefer to call it human nature.

If you think I’m the only one, here’s a funny, albeit realistic, video on how clients tend to view vendors, brought to me courtesy of “Copywriting Maven” Roberta Rosenberg…

So, there you have it! I hope this post was helpful to you.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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(If you’ve been living under a rock in the past year, a “tweet” is a brief, text message on micro-blogging platform Twitter.)

I call it a “tweet burp” because it’s something like a brain fart. But I prefer “brain burp.” Reason is, unlike a brain fart where one forgets something basic or says something meaningless, what I thought, and subsequently tweeted about, was surprisingly meaningful.

And for some, even profound.

They are tips on how to Twitter better. (Try to say that 10 times in a row really fast!) Let me share it with you by posting some of the highlights here.

Some of these tips are not extraordinary, of course. Most of them are common sense. But they are things I do in my own social media involvement that has proven to work well for me. I recommend you do the same…

It all started when Amrit Hallan asked the following question on Twitter: “Wondering what keywords should a content writer or online copywriter must target. Any ideas?”

I began tweeting back-and-forth with him, in an effort to help him about his keyword selection for his niche.

He told me that his keywords are pulling in very little traffic. A conversation and a series of tips ensued, where, in short, I told him to target better keywords — because the ones he chose may not be on his target market’s radar.

The problem, I gathered, is that he was betting on words revolving around his services.

My thinking is, people don’t look for solutions by typing them into search engines. They are likely looking for solutions by typing in the problem, or symptom, instead.

To prove my theory in Amrit’s case, I used a couple of keyword tools. And sure enough, search volume for terms related to the problem people experienced was much larger than those with keywords that included the solution.

True, traffic levels may still not be extravagant. But the chances are high they will bring in more traffic because seekers will have an affinity with the more targeted search results, as well as bring in more targeted traffic to boot.

This reminded me of something brilliant my friend and top copywriter David Garfinkel once said. He said to write copy (or in this case, to write keyword-rich content), you need to know three critical things:

1. Who is my client,
2. What is their problem, and
3. How are they talking about it?

Knowing the first one is crucial. A lot of people do market research only to gauge demand, without ever knowing who their client really is, much less how they perceive, talk about, and seek out solutions for, their problem.

The third question in particular is the kicker!

People looking for your services may be typing something completely different in the search engines, and if you ignore this you’re going to miss out on a ton of traffic.

Back to my point.

The keen thing about this interaction was, a couple of other people got involved in the conversation. It was awesome. It also gave me a chance to help others who were on the sidelines, lurking and learning what was being said.

I know, because a lot of people either replied or direct-messaged me to thank me. Plus, at the end it gave me an opportunity to talk about our own keyword research course, which resulted in a few sales let alone a few extra followers.

And that was when I had a brain burp.

What happened was a powerful example of how to effectively market on Twitter, even without marketing directly on it at all. Plus, the conversation indirectly lead to a few epiphanies. So I decided to tweet some tips in light of what had just occurred.

However, before I tell them to you, let me share something else that happened. Something, well, not as positive. (There is a method to my madness, so bear with me.)

During the conversation, someone replied to me, complaining that I was “clogging up their tweetsream” and told me, in essence, to shut up.

I found that disturbing and fascinating at the same time.

The reason is, if a person feels I’m clogging up their tweet stream, then why are they following me? Whatever his purpose in following me was, it certainly wasn’t because he found what I tweeted was of any value. In other words, he wasn’t “qualified.”

So I decided to block him.

And blocking is such an unused feature on Twitter, but it’s one I highly recommend. It’s really easy. Go to a person’s profile, and on the right there’s a link that says “block” underneath their bio. By blocking someone, they can’t follow you or see your tweets.

Blocking is not just for whiners and stalkers, either. Use it to block spammers, spambots, and people who use scripts — scripts are not real people but software that seek out followers for the purpose of building their own list.

(Alice Seba wrote an interesting article on the subject, by the way, in which she compared “followbots” to those infamous spammers’ safelists. And I agree.)

Now, don’t worry. I don’t block autofollowers outright — people who automatically follow those who follow them. But I do try to block those that autofollow then auto-unfollow when the script realizes you don’t follow back. These are mostly spambots, not real people.

Nevertheless, here’s the series of tips I gleaned from these exchanges.

Want to spread your social authority?

Search Twitter for questions people in your niche are asking, and respond using a reply. Even try to engage them in a conversation. You don’t need to follow them. Just be helpful. Use the “@reply” to introduce yourself and answer their question.

Be careful, however. I don’t mean to say you should do this as a way to get clients or sales, much less followers. Your goal is not to seek out people you can easily spam to.

It’s about increasing your visibility about you and your expertise, which will inevitably increase your Twitter followers. Genuine followers. Real people with real problems or concerns, who listen and care, and value what you say.

This will subsequently increase your leads and your sales, too.

That’s what being social is all about. But being social doesn’t mean just being among others, it also means doing among others. That is, engage, converse, interact. Answer questions, offer advice, tweet brief tips, etc.

It’s amazing how many people ask questions on Twitter.

Do a Twitter search for the kinds of questions people ask, or using keywords in your niche people typically use when they have a need or a problem, and you’ll be amazed by the results. Twitter is filled with potential prospects. People you can serve, not sell to.

Also, don’t forget people use Twitter search, too. If they have a question, a challenge, or an idea, they sometimes search for answers on Twitter as well. Not just the search engines. So you want to be in front of them, too.

In fact, people are constantly looking for worthy people to follow. One great way is to look at people you are following, and see who they are following. It’s a great start. Check out their profiles. Check out their tweetstreams.

And many of them are also looking for worthy people to follow by conducting searches on Twitter. They tend to search for keywords in their niche. (For example, I often conduct searches using the terms “copywriting,” “marketing,” and “blogging.”)

So ensure to include those keywords in your tweets.

In fact, here’s a great tip:

Just like the easiest SEO strategy is to publish a lot of fresh content, because by doing so you naturally increase the number of indexed pages on the search engines as well as the number of keywords and keyword combinations, the easiest “TEO” (or “Twitter Engine Optimization”) is tweeting a lot of keyword-rich tweets.

However, in your TEO efforts, don’t forget spambots, scripts, and spammers. There are as many scripts conducting searches as there are people. Often, for nefarious reasons. So don’t be afraid to block, block, block!

Nevertheless, everything you tweet is both permanent and searchable. So by posting a lot of keyword-rich tweets will cause your messages, and your name, to come up a lot in the Twitter search engine results.

But again, be helpful. Not spammy. Above all, be nice. Remember, and it’s worth repeating: everything you tweet is both permanent and searchable. Everything.

If you want to be a bit more strategic about it, look for people with large, authentic followings in your niche, people whose opinions their followers value. And try to interact with them.

They will converse with you. Their people will follow you not because your name is mentioned on the conversations, but because your opinions matter to them, too.

After all, you are like them.

And people like people who are like them.

It’s all about affinity.

If there’s a genuine relationship developed as a result, believe me, they will talk about you. They will mention you as a person worthy of being followed on those famous “follow friday” tweets. They will link to your blog. They will retweet your valuable tweets. They will endorse you.

So be sincere. Be helpful. And be generous.

Don’t just look for people with large followings, either. Interacting with people with a large number of followers only because they are popular, with the hope you will access their “list,” won’t score you any brownie points.

Look for people with whom you have an affinity and whose opinions their followers value.

Often known as “thought leaders,” they have large followings for a reason. Unless they’re a celebrity with a huge fanbase, these thought leaders often tend to tweet valuable information, helpful advice, and interesting tweets. So why not do the same?

So don’t just follow others. Be a leader and build your own following.

Educate. Encourage. Engage.

Your authenticity will shine through. Equally, any insincerity will shine through just as well. The worst thing that can happen is, if you’re only looking for followers, they will see through it and speak out against you — or simply ignore you altogether.

My point is, don’t go trawling for followers.

Look for people you can serve.

Look at it this way: in marketing, they say you want to be in front of qualified eyeballs. But just trying to be in front of qualified people doesn’t mean you deserve their attention and respect, much less their follow. Quality is something you attract, not extract.

So post quality tweets, especially keyword-rich tweets — i.e., be helpful, genuine, and real. And you will attract quality followers, almost as a natural byproduct.

And don’t be afraid to praise people on Twitter. Genuinely and generously. People want to know you care. And people want to know what and who you care about, too.

They say “praise publicly, but criticize privately.” Right? Similarly, praise others on Twitter. Praise often. But if you have a beef with someone, don’t do what the complainer did earlier, when he told me to shut up. Send them a direct message instead.

Above all, don’t be afraid to…

… Tweet fearlessly and block ruthlessly.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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I’ve done something I should have done a long time ago.

And I feel liberated.

I recommend you do the same. And that is, I unsubscribed from 90% of the newsletters I was receiving. I purged ruthlessly, without blinking or looking back.

If you think it’s not a lot, let me give you a backstory. When I was the editor of The Internet Marketing Chronicles newsletter over a decade ago (which has since been acquired by the late Corey Rudl), I subscribed to a lot of email newsletters.

Yes, lots. Like over-a-thousand lots.

I’m a speed-reader, so getting that many emails was never a big challenge. And before you conclude I was an email junkie, let me give you a few reasons in my defense.

For one, I wanted to be up on things. I wanted to stay abreast of new changes, new marketing strategies, new software tools, and so on. (I still do.)

Second, it gave me a lot of fodder while writing editorials for the then popular newsletter. I’m proud to have been instrumental in helping them grow their list from 45,000 to 160,000 subscribers, and remember that 160,000 back in ‘98 was quite a feat!

And third, these emails served me well as they were also used for research purposes. As an up-and-coming copywriter writing a lot for the Internet marketing crowd at the time, I wanted to see what others were saying, promoting, doing, emailing, and writing.

But this weekend, after last week’s ubiquitous mega-launch promotional emails started cluttering up my inbox, it became the proverbial straw that broke this camel’s back.

This past weekend, I did some spring cleaning around the house. I cleaned out the garage, went through my closet, and dumped a lot of things I no longer wear, need, or use.

But being in the purging mood, I also decided to do the same with my email, let alone my business and my mind.

I’ve purged my inbox and unsubscribed from hundreds of email lists. Not 10 or 20, but hundreds!

Some had single lists. But others had quite a bit more. Most marketers have on average three or more autoresponders — especially if I was listed as an affiliate. In fact, with one marketer I was subscribed to 22 lists!

I had to check, check, check… scroll down and click “unsubscribe.” Then I’d rinse and repeat. Over and over again. For close to three hours.

Feeling liberated is an understatement.

Normally, I get about 1,000 emails a day (i.e., personal emails or newsletters, as we do have staff and multiple helpdesks to handle all of our business and support emails).

This morning, I woke up to nine. Yup, just nine emails.

Granted, it’s a holiday weekend, so I might see 15-25 tomorrow. Perhaps a bit more. But it’s a far cry from the traditional 200-500 I get first thing in the morning.

(Now, I’m anxious to see who really removed me, and if I was successful. It’s going to be interesting to see who keeps emailing me or who has ignored my unsubscribe request.)

By the way, I did this using my mobile phone, since my wife and I pledged to stay away from our computers during weekends. We both take weekends off, and our productivity has increased tenfold, if not more, because of it.

I highly recommend you do the same. Taking weekends off, or at least one day, will be one of the best productivity boosters you will give yourself and your business.

Nevertheless, a major reason for the purge was the continuously decreasing quality in information, and the disproportionate increase in promotional or cloned messages.

When I first subscribed to many of these email lists, a good bunch of them were original, inspiring, newsworthy, and offered some great advice. And yes, many of them promoted — and some were for really cool products, which I no doubt bought.

(And boy, did I buy quite a bunch of them, too!)

Lately, however, too many emails contain the same, regurgitated platitudes.

Most emails are pushing the same mega-launch, or some less-than-original product that’s been recycled over 20 times, without being adequately compensated with emails containing information, education, or unique content.

Even if it’s just news or commentary!

Now, you might say it’s because of blogging. But keep in mind that many email lists, which used to be consistently content-rich, have switched gears over time to become more blatantly promotional — particularly with the latest, flavor-of-the-week mega-launch.

The scales have tipped quite dramatically in the last decade.

I’m a diehard capitalist, and I do believe in promoting to your lists. I always look out for some great offers I might be interested in. But I do so, provided there’s a good mix of content and promotions to balance things out.

Balance overall, not just per individual marketer.

I don’t mind if it’s 50-50. Even 60-40 or 70-30. If my inbox was filled with more promotions than content, that’s fine. The problem is, it’s now 95% promotions and 5% content.

It’s a barrage of pitch-pushing, me-too madness gone awry. Everybody seems to promote the latest and greatest tactic or system-gaming course…

… Like “How to Gain 26,754 Twitter Followers in Just 72 hours!” or, “How This Backdoor Google Strategy Cranked Up My Rankings Overnight And Pounded a Gazillion Dollars Into My Bank Account… Without Lifting a Finger!”

Ugh.

What ever happened to solid, fresh, helpful information?

Before you go thinking I’m only trying to get information for free, no, I’m not trying to get information for free. My wife and I have a quarter-of-a-million dollar budget each year, to update our knowledge, skills, and tools, from which we spend without batting an eye.

But I remember the days when an email newsletter was exactly that: a NEWSletter. Content-rich, perhaps with classified ads inside, or with the occasional “solo email” thrown in from time to time. (Oh, those were the good ol’ days.)

Instead, the Internet has become awash in useless, platitude-filled, pitch-infested, repetitive messages that never teach anything, let alone say anything new.

(If I get another “bad news” email, I’m going to vomit.)

The sad part is, there are quite a few marketers out there for whom I have a great deal of respect, and whom I’ve been following for a very long time. They’re the last people I’d expect to turn to such tactics.

But alas, I’m astounded when out of the blue I get the same, tired, rehashed copy or product pitch from them. It not only irritates me, it also deeply disappoints me. I often say to myself, “Oh no, [guru’s name], how could you?”

When I say there’s a gross lack of unique content online these days, I don’t mean to imply that information should always be brand-spanking new and totally original.

We always need basics. Fundamentals. Principles.

And we do need to revisit them from time to time.

(Right now, I think that need is more prevalent than ever.)

We need them for two reasons: one, many newbies are entering the Internet marketing space each and every day; and two, we need to stop working on just making money and start focusing on building businesses instead.

Tactics make money, but strategies build businesses. Money-making businesses. Businesses that create income and not just short-term cash infusions.

And all businesses will always rely on strong fundamentals and core marketing principles, even when you’ve convinced yourself that you don’t need them.

In fact, even though I think I’ve seen them all, I still love going back to the fundamentals and reading about marketing basics. Why? Because, while I’ve heard them before, they are taught differently, by a different person, with their own unique twist.

And I love learning how different people look at the same things I do.

Anyhow, I’ve decided to cut out the excess clutter. Just like some people are packrats and keep everything for fear of throwing something that they may one day need, nature abhors a vacuum, even when it comes to email.

You can’t have more good stuff come into your life when you’re filled to the rim with the not-so-good. Sure, I might miss out on something worthwhile by removing myself from so many lists. But I value my freedom, and my sanity, more.

I know that liberating and reclaiming my inbox will eventually open it up to more productive, fresh, helpful, positive, and dare I say it, original information.

Mind you, it’s not a complete purge. There are still a few I will stay subscribed to. I doubt they will ever lower their standards — although I’ve been surprised in the past. But based on prior experience, I think they’re pretty safe.

One of them is certainly Paul Myers’ TalkBiz News. I’ve been subscribed to Paul’s email newsletter for over a decade now, and it still delivers highly useful content, with the occasional incisive commentary and kick in the pants.

(You couldn’t pry me away with a 10-foot crowbar from Paul’s newsletter. It’s that good.)

Bottom line, it’s all about freedom. Isn’t it?

Freedom from clutter. Freedom from bull. Freedom from — to borrow a title from a famous science-fiction movie — the attack of the clones.

I’d like to finish with a quote I found on Twitter. It’s by Egbert Sukop, author of “How to Better Hate Your Job.” It goes like this…

“The dividing line between rich and poor: for the ‘poor,’ freedom depends on money. For the ‘rich,’ money depends on freedom.”

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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Can you believe it?

Over seven months have passed and this one client is asking for his money back. His excuse? “I need the money.” Of course, I refused. But he sounded desperate, so I presume he won’t be happy with my decision.

Likely, he will pull tooth and nail to make his case, likely by highlighting all the negatives, warts, and things he doesn’t like as to justify his case.

The thing is, while the client did not hide the fact that he’s strapped for cash, we had an agreement. I can sympathize, but why should that be my responsibility?

As Larry Winget often says, “A deal is a deal.”

I ask for 100% of the fee upfront. No exceptions. I work hard enough as it is to market my services, find clients, and then write copy for my clients. Why would I want to work twice or three times as much just to get and/or keep my money?

Even though there’s an agreement in place, which states that I give no refunds but do offer a 30-day revision period for rewrites, it still irks me on a number of levels.

For one, I know the economy is tough, so people are trying to extract money in any way they can — even illegally, it seems. Why? Because it’s easy. And they’re lazy.

Why someone would try to suck money from someone who earned it legitimately is beyond me.

Unscrupulous marketers don’t hold an exclusivity on this tactic, I can assure you. There are just as many scammers who buy as there are those who sell.

But the second reason is, some clients pay by credit card. And that opens up many risks and cans-o’-worms, such as the potential for unfounded chargebacks.

(I wholeheartedly agree with copywriter Susanna Hutcheson, who told me that people who illegitimately file chargebacks should also be charged with a criminal offense.)

Sure, I’d win if a chargeback were to ever happen. I have an agreement in place, and I kept up my end of the bargain.

But it still pushes me to work harder in order to fight the case, makes me go through all the unnecessary hassles, and it leaves a negative mark on my merchant account.

In fact, I heard some who had the gumption to say, “It’s simply easier to initiate a chargeback, because I don’t want to go through the hassle of asking for a refund.”

Huh? Come again?

Chargebacks are not “easy buttons” for getting refunds, let alone for getting money that’s legally no longer yours.

Shame on you if you filed a chargeback because you failed to do your due diligence, are too lazy to ask for a refund (if you really do deserve one), or are too stupid to approach the merchant first (you never know, they might be willing to do more for you).

And double-shame on you if you initiated a chargeback just because you needed the money. That’s blatant extortion, pure and simple.

Don’t you know that asking for a chargeback, when you don’t deserve one, will cause you more work? But hey, it doesn’t matter, right? The client is always right, right? It’s not your hassle, and it should be the merchant’s, right? No.

It does matter.

The client is not always right.

And it’s not up to the merchant, either.

Sadly, it pains me to see how easy it is for people use such blatantly fraudulent, albeit legally possible, tactics to get money. What pains me even more are those who think, “But he’s rich, he makes a lot of money, surely he doesn’t care.”

Believe me, we do care.

It’s called having integrity. Honor. Respect. Decency.

Above all, we care because we need to protect more than just our reputations.

Chargebacks, particularly illegitimate ones, are not little, casual, innocent business practices with insignificant expense that do no harm and can simply be written off. They’re neither part of doing business nor part of the cost of doing business.

They can hurt you in more ways than you think.

So all venting aside, what should I do? Well, I’m coming to some conclusions. They may not be the best ones, and they are not yet written in stone. But they are no doubt becoming increasingly appealing to me. Here are a few of them…

For one, as Paul Hancox once noted on Twitter, “If companies can do credit checks on us, shouldn’t we be able to do credit checks on potential customers?”

I think that’s a splendid idea.

But even better, and like Susanna proposed, I think I’m going to stop accepting credit cards for services we sell — whether it’s copywriting, consulting, or coaching.

Just checks, cash (i.e., wire transfers), or money orders.

Will I lose some business because of this? Absolutely. But at least I know the business I do get is paid for, and I don’t have to fight any unwarranted chargebacks for services rendered as promised, potentially damaging my credit score.

After all, if you bought cable TV but failed to turn on your TV for whatever reason, would you be entitled to a refund from the cable company? No.

Similarly, if an attorney loses your case in court, are you entitled to a refund for his legal services? If you had surgery but it wasn’t a success, will the doctor no longer be entitled to payments for services performed? Of course, not. A deal is a deal.

Sure, when people purchase the services of a copywriter, they are buying results — or the hope thereof. But that’s no different than a lawyer or a doctor. Just because we’re freelancers or service providers, does it mean we deserve it any less?

Believe me, I do understand that some marketers profess you’ll achieve success and get-rich-quick results that never materialize because their teachings are worthless, and their exaggerated claims and promises, empty.

But how often is that the case, based on actually doing the work? Not often.

More often than not, I submit that it’s based on poor execution — or most likely, non-execution — of what they were taught, given, or sold.

(In copywriting, I see this with refund-seekers who never used the copy I wrote for them, dumped it after getting just a little bit of traffic, used it but in the wrong way, changed it themselves, or worse yet, used the copy, got great results, but lied about them.)

Sure, some marketers are misleading and wrongfully promise the stars. (Read this awesome article by Sean D’Souza on the role of get-rich-quick merchants.)

As you know, I spoke out against such practices many times on this blog.

So they are certainly not excused.

But lazy people will always expect effortless riches. Because no matter what promises you were told, no matter how big your dreams, no matter how quick you can get rich with any program, the shocking truth is that they all require that dreaded, four-letter word:

WORK. Yes, work.

As in, roll-up-your-sleeves, nose-to-the-grindstone stuff.

Speaking of which, I also loved this recent article by one of my favorite personal development coaches, Larry Winget. I’m a believer in the law of attraction, but I also believe that you attract success not just by your thinking but also by your doing.

On another yet related note, there’s also the issue of clients who not only lack integrity but also commit what I believe are downright criminal acts.

Fraudsters. Serial refunders. Thieves. Buy-and-refund seekers. Chargeback addicts.

Well, a couple of years ago, some of my Internet marketing friends and I were having a very spirited debate outside the seminar room at an Internet marketing event. It was probably one of the best discussions I’ve had with my colleagues on the subject.

It all started when someone proposed creating, and possibly selling, a “refund report” of sorts — a compiled list among marketers of known serial refunders and fraudsters.

Seemed like a good idea, but the contention was that it could be illegal to some degree (we also had an Internet marketing lawyer among us, too), given the private and sensitive nature of the information being disseminated.

Both sides had equally important points.

While some proposed that it could be sold, others said that it could only be passed around privately among merchants. And a few were totally against the idea altogether.

What do you think?

Do you think such a “refund report” would be useful to you? If it were to be sold, would you buy it? Or at the very least, would you consider getting a copy privately?

I personally wouldn’t sell it. But I would certainly love to get my hands on a copy if such a report were to be made available. After all, we have a growing list of our own of people we refuse to do business with.

As Susanna Hutcheson pointed out when I mentioned this on Twitter, “I see no way anyone can keep us from privately sharing information. That would hurt the bad clients as much as the public.” And I agree with her.

By the way, you might be wondering how this would work.

The process one might use is to have a script made up that would block orders from known serial refunders and thieves as they checkout. For example, our system currently bans IPs, emails, and specific mailing addresses.

And by “thieves,” I also include people who have a history (i.e., they’ve done it at least three times) of buying a digital product, and then requesting a refund moments later.

Give me your thoughts. I’d love to hear them.

On a final note, Susanna also brilliantly pointed out that Amazon Payments won’t accept serial refunders’ requests for chargebacks. I think that’s a fantastic idea.

She said, “I love the way you can get your money in about 24 hours, too. I’ve used them for a while and like them so far. No (need for) paypal at all.”

It’s also the reason why Ken Calhoun and I use Amazon’s on-demand CreateSpace service to produce, sell, and fulfill orders of our Copywriting Success System 8-DVD series.

No inventory. No merchant accounts. No shipping on our end.

So far, I love them. CreateSpace is fast, merchant-friendly, and easy to use. If you want to produce and sell CDs, DVDs, books, even audios and videos on demand, you might want to consider using them. As for Amazon Payments itself, I think I’m going to try them.

Ultimately, I think we need to be careful, especially in a tough economy. Scams are not exclusive to businesses. There are just as many scamming buyers as there are sellers.

Definitely have a contractual agreement upfront. Definitely try to get 100% upfront, too. Otherwise, if you feel you must, get 50% as a deposit and invoice the remainder once the project is complete — although, I’d do it the moment I deliver the first draft.

And avoid credit cards for high-ticket services. Look into Amazon Payments. If you take checks or money orders, wait until they clear your bank before you begin.

Plus, if you smell a red flag, contemplate doing credit checks on your clients, especially for large purchases — such as services of $1,000 or more. Even if they pay 100% upfront. Or at the very least, check references.

Yes, check references.

Finally, if you have a list of known scammers and serial refunders, whether you compiled one yourself or, if it’s legal to do so (please check with your attorney as this is not legal advice), learned about it from someone else, don’t be afraid to use it.

In other words, don’t be afraid to say “no.”

Sure, it might seem like you’re turning down work. However, by being selective, you will not only increase your business dramatically and open up your schedule for better clients, but it might also save you a ton of undue hassles, heartaches, and hardships.

Let me finish by asking you…

What do you do to avoid scamming clients? Especially in a tough economy?

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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I won’t repeat it here, except for the fact that, while branding may not be a priority for you, choosing a name for your business or product (even your domain name) is often the single, most important business decision you will ever make.

In this blog post I submit five characteristics of great brand names, which I call the five “S’s.” They are characteristics I encourage you to follow when coming up with a solid, long-lasting, and highly profitable name.

For starters, let me point out that the best names are names that are short, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember. They have considerable mnemonic value, which often translates into financial value.

A mnemonic is a device — such as a word, symbol, or sound — intended to assist in recall. If a name carries some mnemonic value, it will increase traffic, sales, and value to your business on its own. The more mnemonic a name is, the more valuable it is.

There are various reasons for this.

First, due to the growing overload of information on the web, people no longer have the time to search the Internet let alone pages upon pages of search engine results in order to find exactly what they want.

Sure, search engines will always have a place.

But more and more people would love to skip irrelevant search engine results. Many will in fact attempt to reach websites directly by guessing and typing plausible domains into their browsers.

(How often have you done this? I do all the time.)

Either that or, when do they use the search engines, they will search for specific names, especially those they remember or deduce, first — and do so before they try to search for something too generic or general, which might force them to wade through pages of search engine results to no avail.

Think about it. How easier would it be if they knew of a name beforehand and typed it into a search engine? How much more relevant would search engine results be?

You guessed it, a lot more.

Take, for instance, search engine trends, even trends that appear on the front page of social networking sites.

When a current news item, hot topic, major event, or popular controversy crops up, the Internet becomes inundated with people looking those terms up.

Search trends often include brand names, too.

Your objective, therefore, is to choose not only a good brand name but also one that burns itself into the mind of the marketplace. The brains of the people in your market. That’s the power of being “hooked on mnemonics.”

Nevertheless, while the availability of good brand names is shrinking, here are five basic guidelines to follow. Try to follow these as much as you can. I call them the “5 S’s of Naming” (and yes, using the letter “S” is a mnemonic), which are:

1. Suggestiveness
2. Spelling
3. Size
4. Singsong
5. Scalability

1. Suggestiveness

First, choose a suggestive name, one that communicates the main benefit if not at least the nature of the product, business, or website. Benefit-based names have a multitude of advantages beyond ease-of-recall, including credibility.

Studies show suggestive names that instantly communicate what the product or business is all about, what’s their purpose or benefit, in one fell swoop, can rapidly increase desirability, believability, sales, and of course, brand equity.

Look at some of the strongest brand names out there. You will notice that most of them tend to have a name in which the main purpose or benefit is suggested.

For example, “Jiffy Lube” means a fast oil change. “Band-Aid” means a bandage that comes to your aid. “Duracell” means a battery cell that’s durable and longlasting.

Benefit-based suggestiveness applies particularly well to domain names. Why? Because if a brand name is already taken, you can resort to its core benefit or purpose instead.

For example, if you sought a financial planner and were given a bunch of URLs, would you choose nafep.com (which is an actual name, by the way)? Or InvestRight.com?

2. Spelling

Second, make it easy to pronounce and hard to misspell. If you must spell it, then scrap it. The moment you’re forced to spell your business, product, or domain name when asking people to look you up, you’ve lost them already.

Think of the people trying to find your business, your product, or your website — whether they use a search engine or not. Make it easy for them to do so and avoid anything that impedes the proper spelling of the brand name.

For instance, avoid numbers, hard-to-pronounce words, or acronyms. Unless you are IBM, AOL, CNN, BMW, or some other, already well-known brand, avoid acronyms or initials at all costs — they are probably the worst of the bunch.

In short, make the name intuitive. I’m not just talking about unique names, either. Avoid generic words that are easily or commonly misspelled, which may impede traffic.

For example, if you have a wedding planner site, would you call your business “Marriages Made Easy”? Or “Weddings Well Done”? The two are good, but “marriage” can often be misspelled with one “R” instead of two.

(If you already have one and it’s too late, hopefully it’s not too late to register the misspelled domain to capture additional traffic — lest they go to a competitor, much less a site that might be less favorable, like some adult site.)

On the other hand, if an acronym makes a name easy to pronounce, easy to remember, and shorter, then go for it. In fact, this is the third guideline.

3. Size

The shorter it is, the better it will be. For example, which one would you remember the most and have the least amount of trouble (or potential for error) in typing into your browser: YetAnotherHierarchicallyOrganizedOracle.com? Or Yahoo.com?

Long names can be counterproductive as it diminishes its mnemonic value. “Federal Express” is now FedEx. “FedEx” means a courier that express-ships your packages, federally. But since they now ship around the world, FedEx makes better sense.

Or take a look at “Kentucky Fried Chicken,” which is now KFC. I don’t know why exactly they changed the name, but I surmise that it’s because of the word “fried,” which tends to communicate unhealthiness in a now health-conscious society.

But be careful, if you’re brand-new and decide to use an acronym, make sure to avoid confusion. It’s best to choose an acronym that’s memorable or easily pronounceable.

Take the aforementioned Yahoo!, for instance. Or SHIELD, which means “Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.”

(Sorry. Couldn’t resist. My love for comic-book heroes slipped through.)

Or better yet, start with a regular name first, build your brand, and then shorten it, if appropriate — although that may be an expensive proposition. Remember, IBM wasn’t always IBM, but “International Business Machines.” AOL, America Online. Etc.

4. Singsong

The fourth guideline is to use repetition. Repetitious sounds are pleasing to the ear and add a singsong quality. As the adage goes, “Repetition is the parent of learning.”

By making the pronunciation simpler, repetition, such as with rhymes and alliteration, helps to turn names into mental “hooks.” And by making the name esthetically pleasing, studies show you also increase credibility, too.

If you can make your name rhyme, you’re going to create a name that will almost instantly create an indelible mark on people’s minds. When the need for your solution arises, people will naturally think of your name first.

Which is the whole point of a good, memorable brand name.

Don’t forget alliteration, also known as “head rhymes,” too. It’s all about repetition. For example, NoBrainerBlinds.com, Coca-Cola, SiteSell.com, Krispy Kreme, Google, and so on have that pleasing, singsong quality.

Also, strong-sounding or “choppy” consonants (like the sound of “P,” “D,” “T,” and “K”), used particularly at the beginning, help recall by adding emphasis.

They are called plosives. And according to naming expert Steve Rivkin, “It makes linguistic sense to start a brand name with a strong-sounding consonant or a plosive.”

5. Scalability

One thing to be careful of is to choose a name that’s not too specific, limited, or constrained. Otherwise, it can literally paint your product or business into a corner.

Remember the names I mentioned earlier that were later changed to their abbreviated versions in order to shorten them? Rebranding is often a very costly exercise, and you want to avoid that as much as possible.

But this also applies to names that, while they may be relevant today, could become irrelevant, incompatible, or impractical in the future.

In other words, don’t choose a name that’s time-sensitive, situational, inflexible, or linked to something else — such as a current event, another brand, or some fad or trend.

If things change (and they will), will the name still apply? Will it still be relevant? Can it lose its commercial value? Will you be forced to change if you decided to expand?

A scalable name is a name that’s evergreen, extensible, easily modifiable (without any costly overhaul to the brand or depreciation in brand equity), and compatible with future changes, additions, partners, or markets.

That’s why it’s important that, while the name may be suggestive, don’t make it too generic. Some unique names may not be as suggestive, but they can certainly become some of the most memorable — and profitable — brands.

A few good online examples are Google, Twitter, Hulu, etc.

Or in some cases, and for the lack of a better word, some names can be “uniquified,” either by:

• A combination of suggestive words, such as WordPress, FaceBook, ClickBank, PhotoShop, MicroSoft, etc;

• A generic, suggestive name made unique, like Kleenex (cleanliness), Windex (washes windows), Sensodyne (toothpaste for sensitive teeth), Natrel (naturally filtered milk), iPhone (self-explanatory), etc;
• Or a completely different name that may not be related but is indirectly associated with its core benefit, idea, or purpose, such as Ivory (white soap that’s luxurious), Godiva (specialty chocolates that’s “sinful” to eat), Raid (insecticide that’s as efficient as a military raid), etc.

Bottom line, make sure you stay away from names that are unattractive, confusing, easy to misspell, obscure, too long, inflexible, and can be easily forgotten or ignored.

Bad names not only can impede your business’ growth, but it can also kill your credibility, cost you in lost sales, and become counterproductive.

In essence, make it easy for people to find you and do business with you.

Like a brand that burns an owner’s indicia on its livestock, choose an easily recognizable brand that burns itself into the brains of your market. For the more you do, and the more memorable you are, then the more profitable you will become.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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As a drummer for 30 years (I started when I was 11-12), I followed in the footsteps of two of my uncles who were drummers. I played in high-school and garage bands.

But at the time, I didn’t own a drumset and played mostly on other people’s drumkits. (I bought my first real kit in my mid-20s.) So I learned very s-l-o-o-o-w-w-w-l-l-l-y-y-y.

Last Christmas and on a whim, I bought my son an electronic drumset. I thought he might like it, but didn’t expect much. Plus, with an electronic kit he can play on them with headphones so as to not disturb the rest of the household.

Tyler wants to be like his dad. How that makes me feel is indescribable.

I play in a rock band. Granted, my son’s style of music is a lot heavier than mine. But the other day, I let him play on my kit and he took advantage of it to record this video (this is only after a few months learning the drums, all on his own, which blew me away!)…

When it comes to double-bass — playing with both feet — he’s definitely kicking my butt. Tyler’s pretty good at producing videos, too! He even uses different camera angles. Watch the whole thing to see what I mean. It’s only about three minutes.

(Tyler, I love you so much, Son. You make your Dad so proud of you.)

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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I’m getting fed up.

It seems to me that product launches of late have less to do with substance and strategy, and more to do with tricks and tactics. Blame it on the economy. But I think we need to blame it on something else. Something more sinister.

In fact, have you not noticed that a growing number of marketers are urging you to join their “club,” as if it’s some secret, back-of-the-room, clandestine poker game?

Admittedly, gambling can be profitable. Very profitable. After all, the more you gamble, the greater you win, right? But do we really need to gamble?

What about the long-term? What about building businesses rather than just making money? What about investing instead? What about investing in your customers that can pay sometimes 10 to 100 times more over the long run?

For example, someone mentioned a new pay-per-follower program on Twitter. (Ugh. How is that any different than from spammers buying bulk email lists?) I responded, and this pretty much sums up my philosophy — it should be yours, too — with:

“I’d hate to treat my customers like prisoners or prostitutes.”

Worse yet, I’d hate to see them lose. Because when you gamble, there’s always a winner and a loser. And if you’re the one who wins, then… Well, do the math.

But what irks me even more — and I started a firestorm of debate on Twitter because of my rant — is that everyone is promoting the same product launch, often using the same gawdawful email copy, and often trying to outcompete each other with myriad bonuses.

(Let’s call it a “mega-launch.”)

My contention is that so many people are promoting the same thing, it’s getting sickening — let alone the fact that this only dilutes their value. Less signal, more noise. Whatever happened to being unique, serving your customers, and offering quality information?

Why am I saying all this?

This week my inbox got flooded with the same product launch emails. Bleeech!

I’ve said this before, but my good friend Paul Myers said it best when he said: “Internet marketers are a bunch of incestuous cannibals.” How true that has become.

Some marketers have even slipped in the “club” word in their promotional messages of late, as if it’s some inside joke that only its members would get.

Really? Wow. Are we that naive?

Don’t join the club. Don’t drink the kool-aid. Don’t be sheeple. And if you don’t know what “sheeple” means, take a look at this definition. The passage I like and want to note is this one:

“Sheeple: persons who voluntarily acquiesce to a perceived authority, or suggestion without sufficient research to fully understand the scope of the ramifications involved in that decision, and thus undermine their own human individuality.”

If you want another example, read the chapter, titled “Cult Leaders,” in my wife Sylvie Fortin’s InternetMarketingSins.com free downloadable ebook.

Be a contrarian. Be unique. Be above it.

Simply, as Earl Nightingale once said, “Don’t copy. Create!”

Or as I often say, “Don’t duplicate. Differentiate.”

Instead of promoting the same product mega-launch everyone and their pet rock is promoting, or worse yet piling on bonuses — bonuses you used to sell and that people have paid full price for, no doubt — trying to outdo competing affiliates, why don’t you offer something new? Something different? Something better?

(And believe me, after seeing the quality of some of the information out there these days, there’s definitely plenty of opportunities for something better.)

Seth Godin taught us about the power of the “Purple Cow.” That is, the idea that you need to be creative enough to come up with a unique product, service, or offering to set yourself apart from the crowd… one that can sell itself based on its own merits.

But some people on Twitter have remarked that it’s hard work. I agree it’s work. But you don’t have to have a “purple cow.” Maybe just paint your barn doors purple.

It’s a great start.

And by gosh, why don’t you at least zoom in on your core competency, focus on your niche, and cultivate or communicate what makes you unique? I mean, there’s always something unique about you. For starters, there’s only one “you!”

Or, what twist can you give yourself, your product, or your offer to make you appear unique? Even better, how can you serve your market in a unique way?

Be bold. Be different. Bedazzle.

There are many examples. For one, take a look at copywriter Randy Gage’s article or visit dentist Paddi Lund’s website. They dared to be different!

Stop doing what everyone else is doing. And please, stop trying to be all things to all people. I know it’s not easy, and it doesn’t have to be some ultra-targeted micro-niche, either. You can go after a mass market, as long as you do, or offer, something different.

Unfortunately, I know people are hurting right now, and some marketers know this all too well — never mind the FUD (i.e., “fear, uncertainty, and doubt”) they create in order to exploit it. People are scared of “different,” but many gurus instill this mindset, too.

They compound it by saying the usual buzzwords or phrases people want to hear, like, “Do what is proven,” “you don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” “I made it easy for you,” “it’s a turnkey business,” “just duplicate my successful model,” etc.

However, you definitely can be a little different. Brian Tracy once said many have made millions by just being 10% different. Yes, just a tiny bit different.

A great example? Wendy’s® makes burgers, just like every other fast-food burger joint. But their patties have corners. They are square, not round.

Get the picture?

I understand being different is a risk. Promoting the same things as everyone else has little risk, especially if it’s proven to sell. But gains are commensurate with risks. The bigger the risk, the larger the profit windfall.

Sure, you can lose big, too. But you can also take calculated risks and reduce your potential downside. Such as by taking…

… Baby steps.

In fact, particularly because everyone is promoting the same thing, right now is a perfect opportunity to be different and go against the grain. Think about it. If everyone does the same thing, how much more eye-gravity, curiosity, and interest can you almost instantly create by being different?

Needless to say, a lot of people will rebut with, “But isn’t promoting something my audience will love or benefit from a service to them, and not a disservice?”

The question you should ask is, are you really serving your customers by forcing them to do what everyone else is doing?

If everyone implements the newfangled cookie-cutter strategy being taught in mega-launches, it will result in its dilution, more footprints, greater penalization risk (remember the infamous “Google Slap”?), less interest, more competition, etc.

Some have said, “But Michel, most people who buy this stuff will never take action, which makes the strategies potentially beneficial for those who implement them.”

True. But are we talking strategies, here? Or tactics? Are we talking principles? Or drive-by marketing ploys that exploit weaknesses rather than serve customers?

Plus, don’t be so naive to think that marketers expect everyone to implement what they teach. In fact, they not only expect that only a few will, they also rely on it.

They also rely on the fact that many will implement what they teach, and implement it badly. So badly, in fact, that these marketers are killing their own competition.

They’re doing it subtly. Inconspicuously. Unsuspectingly.

So when everyone is doing what, er, everyone is doing, it can and does result in expensive, longlasting ramifications.

If you’re tempted to join the “club,” try to game a system, or want to gamble with your customers, remember the old adage, “the house always wins.”

Here’s one final issue.

Many people don’t dare to be different, not because it’s risky or scary, but because it takes work. And, because they’re expecting those they emulate or promote for will reciprocate.

Just like the whole autofollow fiasco on Twitter, where people follow others with the sole expectation of a follow-back (and this is just as disingenuous as autofollow), people promote for others expecting others to promote for them in return.

In some cases, that won’t ever happen. After all, a lot of marketers are doing it only for themselves — and they justify it with, “Hey, isn’t that why I pay affiliate commissions for?”

But in other cases, it will happen, thus perpetuating the whole cyclical, incestuous, let’s-all-promote-each-other, mega-launch madness that needlessly clogs our inboxes.

(A term of a sexual nature comes to mind that would befit as an analogy, but I’ll refrain. I’d like to keep my blog somewhat PG-rated. Let’s just say, it’s made up of two words that sound like a geometric shape and a Steve Martin movie.)

In short, don’t sell products, serve people.

Don’t follow everyone else, start your own following.

If you want some ideas on how you can be different, read one of my earlier blog posts on how to be the first, not the best. Being different nowadays can be as simple as not doing what everyone else is doing. You don’t need a complete overhaul, either.

You just need to, at the very least…

… Think differently.

OK, my rant’s over. So let me close by asking you, what makes you different or unique? Or what can you make unique? And how do you communicate it? I’m listening…

UPDATE #1: Some people have commented that I’m against product launches. Not at all. Product launches are incredibly profitable, for good reason. Problem is, when everyone is in on a product launch, the signal-to-noise ratio diminishes. All I’m saying is that I’m miffed that there’s not enough uniqueness or alternatives to compensate.

Also, some people (many, actually) have wondered why I don’t name names. Some have said they want me to, to confirm, for them, who I’m speaking out against. Well, I don’t want to name names for three reasons…

1. I want to refrain from fingerpointing anyone. I want to focus on bad behaviors and practices, not people. Besides, my rants won’t change these folks. They’re meant to make readers who are contemplating these tactics to think before they jump off the proverbial cliff.
2. When naming names, it reduces my rant to a petulant whine or complaint, with no basis or merit. I’d rather rant about what irks me, and by the same token offer an alternate solution to counter it — just like my wife did in her Internet Marketing Sins report.
3. Finally, and probably more importantly, by naming names I’m pigeonholing specific marketers (when many of them are not alone). It could be misleading. The problem with this is, readers will think, “He talked about guru [X], but my guru is [Y], so I guess what guru [Y] says or does is acceptable,” when it’s not.

Makes sense?

UPDATE #2: Just got this interesting video by Bryan Bliss. He makes some excellent points, especially comparing product launches to politics. Makes perfect sense. Take a look…

By the way, Bryan, you did pronounce my name right.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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Visitors and sales.

In fact, I’ve been to two-day Internet marketing seminars and workshops, where the first day focused on generating traffic and the second on building sales.

That’s all well and good. However, I believe there’s one more key component. It’s one that’s growing not only in popularity, but also in need and importance. It’s the one factor on which the other two hinge. And it’s one that seems to be the least talked about.

Incorporate this third element in your business model and chances are significant you’re going to see substantial, continuous growth in your business — and with a lot less effort than you’ve originally thought possible.

What is it? What is this third, missing element?

First, let’s talk about traffic for a moment.

One of the most common sources of traffic is, without question, the search engines. It’s the largest source of traffic online for almost every website.

But when I hear marketers talk about search engine strategies, optimization techniques, submission software, etc, it befuddles me to see there are still some marketers out there who rely heavily and strictly on them.

Don’t get me wrong. Search engines are important and they are an essential part of a marketer’s strategy. Learning and applying SEO are undoubtedly crucial and necessary.

But search engines (or any other traffic-generation strategy) are not, and should never be, your sole source of traffic.

While marketers must never discount the search engines, a savvy marketer’s portfolio must go beyond them.

Since marketing requires an investment of time, money, and energy, and like all other investments, you should look at managing your marketing just as you would manage your investments in the financial arena.

A well-balanced marketing portfolio consists of a combination of diversified strategies that are executed synchronously, diligently, and intelligently.

Look at it this way: many reputable entrepreneurs state that the surest way to achieve wealth is through multiple streams of income. Online, the surest way to achieve success is through multiple streams of both visitors and sales.

Your traffic must originate from different sources. The adage “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” applies just as much with your traffic as it does with your income.

Whether you write articles, buy classified ads, advertise with banners, bid on keywords, publish fresh content, interact in social media, or submit to the search engines, your marketing efforts must never rely on a single source.

An individual traffic source may generate just a small stream of visitors. But when you invest in multiple traffic sources and add them together, the total equals a high and consistent stream of visitors.

Of course, a single source may be more rewarding and effective than others. But like prudent financial investing, the key is to diversify by investing your marketing efforts into multiple sources in order to reduce your risks.

Sales are no different. If your business consists of only one website, or if it sells only one product, diversify your sales and develop additional streams of income.

In addition to looking at multiple ways to increase individual streams of income (e.g., through split-testing, list-building, adding upsells, etc), you should also look at building various streams of income, too.

For example, join third-party affiliate programs to sell related, non-competing products. Sell back-end products to your current clients. Monetize your opt-in subscriber list with special offers. Sell ad space on your blogs. Develop joint-venture alliances to bundle products or traffic sources together. Create continuity programs and membership sites.

The list goes on.

In short, develop additional streams of income and traffic, as well as different streams of traffic for each stream of income, too. Just be careful not to overextend your core funnel, dilute your brand, or lose sight of your target niche.

In other words, don’t be a jack of all trades and a master of none.

Diversify, but stay focused.

Nevertheless, if you only have one stream of income and it slows down to a crawl, for whatever reason (e.g., the economy, the industry, the competition, etc), you’re dead. Similarly, if one source of traffic slows down, dries up, or depletes entirely, the loss is minimal when compared to the whole picture.

However, earlier I said there’s a third element that has become an essential process to building a successful online business. Why? Because visitors and sales are not enough.

While everyone on the Internet extols the virtues of driving traffic and increasing conversions, this one element seems to have slipped off of many people’s radars. It’s the one element that probably deserves more attention than the other two.

And that’s credibility.

With its vastness and lack of one-on-one, face-to-face interaction, the Internet adds this third dimension to the mix that’s often not as apparent. It’s the need to develop credibility, as well as to look at multiple ways to communicate it and boost it.

Don’t just be credible. Look for ways to increase credibility and maintain it, too. There are a great variety of ways for doing this, from adding seals of approval to your website and adding elements of proof to your sales copy, to interacting in social media.

However, one of the easiest ways to improve your credibility…

… Is to develop and nurture relationships.

You may have some traffic and it might bring in some sales. But if you don’t have credibility, you have nothing. Nothing will grow your traffic and your sales, let alone your business, more than the relationships you create and keep.

And relationships are built on trust.

So to that end, look at every relationship that’s tied to your business as a partnership — whether it’s with your subscribers, your referrals, your affiliates, your joint-venture partners, your suppliers, your service providers, and of course, your clients.

Every person connected with your business, regardless of how they are connected to it, is, and should be considered as, a partner in your business. And every relationship deserves the attention, care, and concern that a partnership typically requires.

When compared to traditional offline businesses, online people are more important than ever before. Why? Because the Internet is cold and impersonal, and takes away the human element from the sales process. So people are easier to forget online.

Too many marketers nowadays look at their clients not as partners or even as people, but as hits, clickthroughs, and conversion rates — or, as my wife Sylvie Fortin would say, as “nameless, faceless wallets.”

Therefore, it goes to reason that we can use the Internet to supplant what is often easier to do offline, such as meeting people and interacting with them.

It’s one of if not the key reason behind the rise of social media.

(It’s also the reason why I spend some time on social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, or any other social website. I don’t use social media marketing as a way to drum up traffic or sales, but to create trust and build relationships.)

Trust is also the area on which the other two highly depend. Why? Because it is never enough to simply attract visitors. And it is never enough to simply sell visitors, either — as strange as that may seem. If you don’t believe me, ask the following:

Are your visitors highly qualified or simply curious? Are they impulsive and trusting, or leery and skeptical? Are they only buying once, or buying again and again? Are they silent, or telling the world about you, good or bad?

All three (i.e., visitors, relationships, and sales) are essential in the development of a successful online business.

So regardless of the marketing tactic, a successful marketing portfolio consists of numerous strategies focused on three core elements, and on developing them equally:

1. Building Traffic
2. Building Trust
3. Building Sales

Solid, long-term, sustainable-growth businesses rely on those three key factors. It is no longer enough to simply build traffic and converting that traffic. Today, it is just as important to build and maintain credibility.

Therefore, keep in mind that every single marketing activity you perform, from search engines to social media, must revert to, result in, or improve upon all those three.

Look at the successful marketers out there. Many will tell you their success is not based on a single source but on many. They are focused on all of the above three areas in some way, shape, or form. You should do the same.

Unfortunately, the web is also replete with marketers who rely on one area alone, or on a mere handful of tactics that amount to meager results. If they do produce results of any significance, they’re short-lived at best.

In other words, if you work with only one traffic-building source, one income-building source, and one credibility-building source, your business will do poorly — or it will be built on a shaky foundation that could crumble at any time.

So, think like a savvy investor.

Expand, balance, and diversify your online marketing portfolio. Focus on multiple ways to build traffic, trust, and sales. If you do, you will multiply your chances of online success.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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The short answer, of course, is to keep offering great content. Content you find valuable. Content you believe may be of interest or value to your readers.

Plus, I don’t use my blog as a business model like some A-list bloggers out there. Making money is purely a byproduct. I do have ads on it, interspersed throughout, linking either to my products or to products I’m an affiliate of. But they are not focal points.

Granted, those ads do help to pay the bills, keep my blog alive, and incentivize me to continue posting what I hope is valuable content for my readers.

But some people wonder how I drive traffic to this blog and build my list of subscribers. After all, I don’t advertise it at all with any paid advertising — other than in my signature file on some forum posts, or on my social network profiles like Twitter and Facebook.

I’ve revealed part of my strategy in some courses, such as Success Chef University, currently being offered for less than $97 a month. I’ve also revealed it in a few interviews I gave here and there. I’ve also revealed a handful of them on this blog in the past.

However, it is a good question.

There are five major components to my process. It’s nothing extraordinary, and it’s certainly not exhaustive. I do carry out a few extra things on occasion, and I also love to test new processes and plugins I come across.

However, in here I’m going to list five strategies I use regularly, which I have found to be the most effective. Anyone can implement these five tips quickly and easily.

1. Post Once a Week

On average, I post one article or blog entry a week. I often post articles based on current trends, or something I’ve read about or written somewhere on the Internet.

Whether it’s a forum post or reply, a blog comment I made, an answer to a coaching student’s question, some topic I feel strongly about, or a series of tips people ask me about (this very blog post is an example), I pull one of them, and convert it into a blog post or write one based on it.

I know some people — especially top bloggers — will say that’s not enough, and that one should post more frequently. But I’m too busy, and this works for me.

Consistency, I believe, is more important that frequency.

Since some articles are pulled from posts or comments I’ve made on other blogs, on forums, or via email to my coaching students, they may be incomplete or hard to understand when there’s not enough context.

Sometimes, they are good-to-go as is. But other times, I have a freelance writer who monitors my posts, and slightly rewrites them to make them blog- or article-ready.

She fine-tunes my articles by adding historical information, context, and/or universality. The company I use and recommend is Annette Elton’s AllCustomContent.com.

2. Hire a Publicist

I have a freelance publicist who monitors my blog. When I post entries tagged within the “articles” category, she submits them to thousands of editors, directories, ezine publishers, other blogs looking for content, and even offline magazines.

Offering the ability to freely reprint, syndicate, or distribute your content is quite effective. Some can be reprinted or submitted as is, while others need to be slightly modified as to make them unique or relevant to the target publication’s readership.

(That’s where my freelancer writer comes in handy, too.)

In fact, I’m still amazed by how often I see my articles reprinted in some offline magazines or popular email newsletters — articles I’ve written over a decade ago.

That’s why, at the end of each of my blog posts, I have an “about the author” byline, along with a note that lets others reprint my articles — as long as I’m credited with the authorship, and the content and links are left intact.

Nevertheless, you should definitely submit your articles for reprint. You can certainly do this yourself, but hiring a publicist to do this for you can save you a lot of time. Plus, many publicists will have industry contacts you may not know or have otherwise.

My publicist, who has worked with me for close to a decade now, is Anne-Marie Baugh of Write-Promotion.com. Note, however, that she may or may not be available.

3. Maximize Your “Real Estate”

Every piece of real estate on your blog should be optimized for building your list.

Sure, you can have an optin form at the top, on your sidebar, and at the bottom. But don’t forget your 404 page, your landing pages (like your “about me” page, “contact us” page, your “FAQ” page if any, etc), and other non-blog sections.

Make sure you also add one at the end of your individual blog posts. What I do is use Robert Plank’s Action Popup and Action Comments scripts. The former creates a lightbox-like popup when visitors hit your blog, and the latter adds an extra checkbox near your comment form asking people to join your list as they comment.

Also, don’t be shy to highlight somewhere on your blog how many people have joined your list or subscribed to your RSS feed. Similarly, another thing that’s important is to highlight the number of comments your blog post gets.

You’ve probably seen this. I do this on the front page of this blog with the big, yellow “[number] comments” box. The reason is, it provides social proof. When a post gets a lot of comments, it tends to arouse curiosity and engender more comments.

It’s a snowball effect, really. The more people are on my list, the more want to join. And the moment a blog post hits 10 comments, it often explodes in interest from that point on.

4. Prepopulate Your Autoresponder

This is my best tip. Take note because it’s the one I’m most often asked about.

Ostensibly, I manage my optin lists with an autoresponder. This allows me to both broadcoast one-off emails to my list, as well as populate them with messages delivered over time.

I have a spreadsheet of all my blog posts. I pull out the staple posts (i.e., posts that are evergreen, or posts that may not be evergreen but can be updated to become so).

Each week, I visit one, update it (whether it’s to fix a broken link, add a new, key piece of information, or rewrite to reflect current issues or trends), do an email broadcast about the update, and add it to my autoresponder cycle for this blog.

My autoresponder has several months worth of these “blog updates,” which keeps driving traffic back to my blog without lifting a finger. As well, interspersed throughout are messages pointing to resources of which I’m an affiliate.

I tend to alternate them equally, or hinge slightly more in favor of messages with or linking to content. Because I try to avoid sending just pitch after pitch to my list, I prefer to send them a higher ratio of content over promotions.

(However, many of my resources are not blatant promotions. They are often relevant and tied to a blog post, or one mentioned in a previous post I made.)

Ultimately, when I post a new article to my blog, I add it to my spreadsheet. I do a broadcast to notify my readers that a new post was made, and, if appropriate, I tag it as an evergreen article. I then add it to my autoresponder cycle.

This way, people who are currently on my list will see the new blog post or article the moment I post it, but future subscribers will eventually get to the same article as well.

This is a great way to recycle the content on your blog without any extra effort. Look at your blog right now: does it have any evergreen articles you can easily add to your blog’s autoresponder? How about posts you can slightly modify to make them current?

If so, you’re sitting on a goldmine.

5. Don’t Date Your Posts

In conjunction with the above tip, another important point is to not have dates on your posts. I know some bloggers won’t agree with me, because they say that dates help inform readers how fresh and timely a certain post is.

Plus, some people have told me that dating posts also provide some search-engine optimization, although I’ve tested this personally and don’t see much of a difference.

Nevertheless, always make your post’s URL be your domain and the post’s title only. Called “pretty permanlinks” or “vanity links,” refrain from having your blog post’s URL show any dates. Just leave them as “domain.com/this-is-a-post/.”

Plus, don’t add the post’s date near the headline or the beginning.

Sure, you can have them listed chronologically in the archives, but with evergreen or staple posts, dates are unimportant and can even make them look less relevant and deter readers, even though they are still relevant.

When someone sees an older post, which may still be 100% relevant and timely, they may believe it’s outdated and be tempted to ignore it.

While it might be true that people prefer fresh, current information in the context of people bookmarking or visiting your blog for the first time, for your autoresponder cycle, which brings subscribers back to those evergreen blog posts, dates are irrelevant.

Nevertheless, I hope these five tips are helpful to you, and please let me know of any you use that you find to be useful in your blog. I’d love to hear them.

The Michel Fortin Blog.

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