That is, taking more of a risk from the sale than the purchaser of your product.

Risk reversal is a powerful method to increase sales by easing the buying decision and allaying fears consumers might have.

When people are considering an offer, and if the offer is “too good to be true,” they will invariably seek out more secure means to benefit from it. Otherwise, they will have a tendency to think, “What’s the catch?”

The greater the guarantee, the greater the sales. This has been consistent in almost every industry in which I’ve worked, and with every split-test I’ve conducted.

For example, a 30-day guarantee will outsell no guarantee. A 90-day guarantee will outsell a 30-day one. And so on and so forth.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule.

Sometimes, shorter or more creative guarantees can outperform longer ones.

Why? Perhaps this is because, in a promise-filled industry oversaturated with, and burned by, over-the-top hype, long, unrealistic guarantees make the offer suspect.

People might be left scratching their heads wondering if the guarantee is an attempt to pull the wool over their eyes.

Guarantees that are too strong (like one or even multiple years, lifetime, etc) can unconsciously convey that the product is so poor that either the purchaser will forget about the promise during the guarantee’s extended lifespan, or the seller is trying to build perceived value in areas other than the product itself to make up for the lack.

But length doesn’t always mean strength.

In other words, the strength of a guarantee is not limited to its timeframe.

Creative guarantees work extremely well, especially in an industry where people encounter typical money-back guarantees. These include guarantees that don’t necessarily have anything to do with refunds or money. By being different, a unique guarantee can provide a powerful twist to an offer.

Notwithstanding the legal requirements to offer a money-back guarantee, think of guarantees that include gifts, discounts, credits, vouchers, etc.

For example, just recently a friend of mine launched an intensive and pricey classroom-style training program, but with a very interesting angle. Whether you succeed or not, or whether you like the program or not, you get your money back.

It sold out in just a few hours.

Ultimately, guarantees exist because we fear making bad decisions.

And a purchase is a buying decision.

But remember that a guarantee’s job is not to remove fear. Not in a direct sense. It’s to increase the customer’s confidence that the product will do as promised.

In fact, in an article titled “The Great Customer Service Hoax,” the author, Belinda (who is also a copywriter), said it perfectly. “The simple truth about customer satisfaction,” the author writes, is this:

You might think that to maintain awesome levels of customer satisfaction you need to have outstanding products and services, diligent processes and reports and excellently trained staff who know when to make a decision that’s right for the customers. Well, you do need those things but the truth about consistently good customer satisfaction is much simpler.

Customers are satisfied when you met their expectations.

Guarantees help to communicate this important promise. A guarantee communicates not only that the product has value (e.g., “it’s so good, I guarantee it!”), but also that the product will meet their expectations.

A guarantee encourages sales and profits. (Sales is self-explanatory. But profits? Yes! Guarantees can also decrease refunds. I’ll come back to this in a moment.)

So objectively, add a guarantee that’s easy, strong, and reasonable (that is, it’s not far-fetched). If it has the appearance of being too long or unbelievable, either reduce it or add copy to justify your attempt.

Just like the power of “reasons-why” advertising, don’t forget to back it up. Provide a logical, commonsensical explanation behind your guarantee to justify why it’s so strong. The more you do, the more believable your guarantee will be. Otherwise, an overzealous guarantee will make it questionable.

(For example, with a “lifetime guarantee,” people will often ask, “Whose lifetime?”)

But in the majority of cases, if you failt to offer a guarantee let alone a strong one, you’re losing a great percentage of potential sales.

In addition to communicating value of and confidence in a product, a guarantee can also become a powerful positioning tool.

Take for instance the story of the Monaghan brothers. The two ran a small business in order to pay their way through college. While one worked the day shift in order to attend school at night, the other did the converse.

After about a year in the money-losing venture, one of the brothers sold his share of the business for a beat-up old car. The other, however, with a good dose of stick-to-it-iveness, decided to make something of his fledgling pizzeria.

According to some interviews he recently gave, Tom Monaghan said that, at the time, he wasn’t quite sure that his decision to put a guarantee on his pizza delivery would change much. But obviously, history tells us that his decision was a good one.

By simply marketing the strength of a guarantee (i.e., “Pizza delivered fresh in 30 minutes or it’s free”), Domino’s Pizza became the multimillion-dollar franchise operation we know today.

Online, strong guarantees are more than just sales tools.

The Internet has opened many doors, including those to many unscrupulous entrepreneurs. Scams and snake oils are rampant online. Millions (if not billions) of dollars are lost to these scamsters each month.

The Internet is rife with fraudulent offers, phishing attempts, and shoddy products. Even laws and anti-scam tools won’t stop crafty entrepreneurs who are determined to bypass the systems to scam the unsuspecting.

So people are understandably leery, skeptical, distrusting, and cautious.

Obviously, the use of testimonials, demos and tours, statistics, laboratory tests, clinical trials, case studies, free trials and samples, real pictures of the product in question, and so on are all incredibly important.

But in addition to these methods and elements of proof you can and should add to your copy, strong and creative guarantees are equally powerful proof elements and probably some of the most underutilized.

Why? Mostly because business owners are leery themselves of adding, extending, or creating guarantees because they fear the onslaught of losses from returns.

If the product is mediocre, then this fear is sadly justified. But most products are good. (Granted, there are just as many fraudulent consumers out there as there are scams. Businesses fear them equally as consumers fear buying from fraudsters.)

But generally, guarantees will increase sales.

Chris Ayers, former publisher of Unlimited Traffic!, gives an astonishing real-life example. Writes Ayers:

“One of my first direct mail products years ago was a self-study program. When I first offered the program in a magazine, my sales weren’t even enough to cover the cost of the ad. I changed my ad and sales letter to include a guarantee. The number of responses to the same ad increased by a factor of 20 and my conversion rate from my sales letter rose from 10% to almost 40%.”

Remember that adding a guarantee might increase returns and refunds. But try it and do the math. In some cases, a small increase in refunds might be greatly overshadowed by a disproportionately larger increase in sales.

For example, in one test I’ve conducted with a consulting client, we raised the guarantee from a 30-day guarantee to a 6-month, double guarantee.

(The “double” included a 100%-money-back guarantee within six months, and a double-your-money-back within the first 30 days.)

The result? During the test, there were no refunds within the initial 30 days. But refunds within the first six months increased from about 4% to 6.5%.

Of course, that’s significant.

But look at the increase in sales…

Sales conversion went from a little less than 3% to 7%. Mathematically, it means refunds increased by 62.5%, while sales increased by over 133% (i.e., twice as many more sales as the increase in refunds).

The lesson is this: while a guarantee might increase refunds, the increase will be negligible when contrasted by the more significant increase in sales.

This is true in the majority of cases. But in other cases, net profits can increase quite substantially. Even more than the norm.

Why? Because, unbeknownst to many marketers, one of the most important benefits of using a guarantee is the fact that it can actually reduce returns.

If you have a professionally-looking website, an ethical sales approach, and a proven product or service, the lack of a strong guarantee will still, particularly on the Internet, cause most prospects to perceive your offer as questionable in the very least.

But adding a guarantee — particularly a strong one — not only increases sales because it removes the risk from the buyer’s mind, but it also increases perceived value and therefore overall confidence in the product and the seller as well.

Guarantees also grant you an almost instant credibility with potential customers.

And finally, strong guarantees also help to raise tolerance levels.

Customers are more apt to ignore or even accept a few flaws, thereby reducing the need to return the product at the slightest imperfection.

This is because they feel they are in good hands, whether they know this experientially or not. The confidence level that the guarantee created acts as some sort of psychic security net.

In other words, a guarantee not only reduces the skepticism around a purchase, but also contributes to what psychologists refer to as “The Halo Effect.”

Ultimately, add a strong guarantee to your offer. But don’t stop with just at increasing its timeframe. Be creative with your guarantee.

Think about multiple-money-back guarantees, add-on guarantees, gift certificates, credit or discount vouchers, the ability to keep bonuses if they return the main product, keeping the product even if they ask for their money back, etc.

Bottom line, guarantees will increase sales. The stronger the guarantee is, the larger the increase will be.

Risk-Reversal’s Role Reversal originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

“Too many times,” he said, “I’ve known what I needed to do, and I always end up waiting weeks on end to do it.” He asked, “How do you cope with procrastination?”

Procrastination is indubitably the copywriter’s most stifling problem. Since our job is fraught with deadlines, procrastination can be one of the costliest problems in the copywriting business. It can murder your reputation…

… And your career!

So, how do you cope with procrastination? Even better, how do you overcome it? Here are six tips I use, which helps me to get more done faster.

1. Take Responsibility

Procrastination plagues even the best of us. We all do it from time to time. We wait, make excuses, get distracted.

Some people blame it on ADD. Others blame it on the freedom of being a self-employed freelance copywriter without any of the usual work rules we see in a corporate job.

But whatever the reason may be, they are no different than the excuses we use to keep putting off until tomorrow what can — and needs to — be done today.

As Dr. Robert Anthony said: “Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait. The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count.”

Admittedly, there are some deep-seated, psychological factors behind procrastination — such as low self-esteem, anxiety, fear, addiction, even depression.

But these often refer to chronic procrastination, which is a whole other ball of wax and beyond the scope of this article.

Some people will blame it on being a perfectionist. While perfectionism is a challenge in itself, it’s often just another excuse to procrastinate.

The more we focus on trying to perfect whatever task is at hand, the less we need to concentrate on getting it done on time.

(I submit that writer’s block falls in the same category, and probably does so more times than we care to admit.)

Nevertheless, I’m a copywriter for the better part of two decades, not a psychologist. So my advice here is limited to the more practical workarounds to defeat the most common form of procrastination in our business.

And that’s laziness.

Admittedly, we are lazy for different reasons, too. Perhaps we hate the project or the client we’re working with. Perhaps we fail to plan and prioritize properly. But again, these are reasons, not results.

Once you stop making excuses and start taking action, even if they’re little steps, you will be a step closer to your goal. And taking little steps is a lot better than taking no steps at all. Which leads me to my next point…

2. Understand The Law of Contraction

C. Northcote Parkinson once said, “Work either expands or contracts in order to fill the time available.” This is often referred to as “Parkinson’s Law.”

Also known as the Law of Contraction (or the Law of Forced Efficiency), it means that activity will expand or contract to meet its imposed deadline.

In other words, you will either take your time or hurry up depending on the deadline you have and the time you have at your disposal. (Take students who cram just before exam time, for example.)

If you have seven weeks to write a salesletter, chances are you will take all seven weeks. You will take your time because there’s plenty of it.

But if you have only four days, you will do what you can to get it done within those four days. You will cut out irrelevant tasks, outsource the rest, focus strictly on that letter, work double time, even pull allnighters if you have to.

In short, you will do whatever it takes.

In fact, I noticed that my best sales letters (the ones that produced the best results) were those done working under very tight deadlines.

Why? Because a rapidly advancing deadline not only kicks me into gear, but also forces me to tune out distractions… clear my environment… organize other work around it… ignore the phone and e-mail… avoid interruptions… prioritize my tasks… and truly concentrate on the work at hand.

With this heightened sense of awareness and focus, I’m “in the zone” and kick my creativity up a few notches. Like a sponge that’s squeezed under pressure, a looming deadline squeezes out my best ideas, writing, and strategies.

Now, I don’t recommend to purposefully wait until the last minute. (Admittedly, I do that sometimes.) But you can still benefit from this extra boost in creativity and efficiency. Here’s how…

3. Break It Down

The idea is to turn a potential nightmare — a deadline — into your best friend.

The way to do that is to break down a major deadline into smaller deadlines (or “mini-deadlines”). In other words, the goal is to break down larger projects into smaller, easier-to-digest, bite-sized chunks.

Basically, you cut up the project into smaller pieces and add deadlines to each piece. This way, it makes each piece more urgent and real.

These mini-deadlines also act like milestones throughout the course of the project, enabling you to see, at a glance, where you’re supposed to be, what you’ve done so far, and what needs to be done at any given time.

As the Confucian saying goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” But in this case, the journey is not a thousand miles but smaller, one-mile journeys of a thousand steps each, so to speak.

Each small deadline reached is just one step closer to the ultimate deadline. And each step becomes much less intimidating, too.

But the best part is, by placing shorter deadlines on smaller, bite-sized steps, you allow Parkinson’s Law to kick in. The deadlines become closer and more urgent. And work, therefore, contracts to meet them.

(And it happens almost unconsciously, too.)

Plus, each mini-deadline is a constant reminder that, if you don’t meet the smaller deadline, you’ll have two or more to contend with if you keep waiting.

I personally dread this “piling on” effect, so doing it this way helps me to kick myself into gear. If I’m late and miss one mini-deadline, I force myself to complete it so I can start — even hurry up to finish — the next one in line.

However, there’s an important, more positive reason in doing it this way, too.

After accomplishing each step, it makes you feel good about yourself knowing that things are indeed getting done and the project is advancing. Which brings me to my next point…

4. Document The Process

Write it down. Don’t just think it up. Make sure it’s printed somewhere.

The reason is, creating a visual interface allows you to see, at a glance, where you are and what you need to do, at any given time — rather than dealing with a single, intimidating deadline that’s constantly menacing you.

Whether it’s on paper, in your agenda, on a calendar, or on your computer with the help of software, your mini-deadlines visually prod you along the way.

(Personally, I use BaseCamp as my project management software.)

Each milestone is like a small reward in itself. Knowing where you are, how far you’ve gone and what you’ve accomplished along the way gives you both momentum and motivation to keep going.

Plus, it’s a easier to deal with the small rewards from reaching milestones than it is with the threat of a larger punishment from not reaching a deadline.

When you begin, chunk your project into as many small pieces as you wish.

For now, let’s call them “phases” rather than “steps.” Why? Because at first these steps will appear specific to you when in fact they can be broken down even more. Which brings me to the next tip…

5. Be As Specific As Possible

Once you’ve broken your project down (i.e., by separating your project into phases), go back and try to break it down some more, and denominate all the steps required for each phase.

Give each step a mini-deadline — a specific day on which the task will be carried out (rather than a specific time by which it needs to be accomplished).

That way, you instantly know what tasks need to get started on a specific day rather than by when they need to be done. (That’s why I prefer to call them “milestones.” It’s easier to reach a milestone than it is to meet a deadline.)

Remember the previous tip: document it!

It doesn’t matter what you use, whether it’s software or plain-old pen and paper. Just remember that you need to be specific.

A task like “write letter” is not enough. Even “writing initial draft.” These are phases, not steps. Each step must be as clear and as specific as possible.

Let me give you an example:

Major project: Write sales letter for client.

Major phases: Research, create rough draft, finalize initial draft, revisions per client, and final draft and delivery.

For this example, a final deadline may be, say, one month. The next step is to add a deadline for each major phase of the project. Using the same example above:

• Week #1: Research
• Week #2: Create rough draft
• Week #3: Finalize initial draft
• Week #4: Revisions per client
• End of Week #4: Final draft and delivery

Put differently, you’re breaking the larger deadline down into smaller, mini-deadlines. (Or as I mentioned earlier, “milestones.”)

Now, break down each phase into smaller, bite-sized chunks. For example, let’s take “research” to be done during the first week, and break it down some more:

• Day #1: Compile client questionnaire
• Day #2: Review and clarify answers
• Day #3: Initial product run-through
• Day #4: Interview client or principals
• Day #5: Perform competitive analyses
• Day #6: Brainstorming session

… And so on.

Then you repeat the process for each phase of the project. Above all…

6. Take It One Step At a Time

The above is just one example and not the example.

Keep in mind that many steps can be accomplished in the same day, while others can take several days. So don’t pigeonhole yourself. Be flexible, and be prepared to make course corrections along the way.

For example, let’s say you need several days to come up with a good headline. If so, then break that down to, say, writing 10-20 headlines a day, or take an extra day for doing additional research and brainstorming new ones.

Do what you feel comfortable with. Don’t overwhelm yourself to the point that following this process becomes a nightmare in itself. It’s only a tool to help you get more done faster. It should never be a bottleneck.

The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter how you tackle a project. What matters is that you apply the Law of Contraction, and break down your project into smaller, easier-to-digest, bite-sized chunks.

That way, you have closer deadlines to work with, with more manageable tasks at hand. You will be focusing on putting smaller things into action, one step at a time, rather than on getting everything done by a specific deadline.

This may take a while the first time, I admit. But do this again and again, even for smaller projects, and you’ll soon get the hang of it.

As Jim Rohn once said, “Life asks us to make measurable progress in reasonable time. That’s why they make those fourth grade chairs so small.”

Get More Done Faster With These 6 Tips originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

So in keeping with that famed tradition on MichelFortin.com since I wrote The Death of The Salesletter, here are some of my predictions based on simple observations.

1. Mobile Commerce is Going to Explode

Yeah, sure. You’ve heard it before. “Mobile is going to be big.” That’s old news. It’s already massive. But that’s not what I’m talking about.

It’s the business of mobile.

That is, building businesses for, marketing on, and conducting commerce through mobile markets will explode. I believe mobile marketing will become a greater industry for small to medium-sized businesses. Even taking over Internet marketing.

In other words, mobile marketing for many businesses will take center stage, even at the expense of their web presence or online marketing efforts.

More and more businesses are leaving traditional Internet marketing to go into mobile marketing. That’s why I believe, in 2012, we’re going to see more Internet marketers creating programs, training, and software for mobile markets.

We’ve only seen the snowflake on the tip of the iceberg when it comes to mobile commerce, which is already a reported billion-dollar industry.

Watch for this trend in 2012. Pushed by last year’s recession in large part, it’s going to be as big as the dotcom boom of ’99. Mark my word.

Speaking of “Marks,” I’m not the only one making this prediction, obviously. Netscape creator Marc Andreesen made this prediction as well.

2. Bye-Bye Desktops and Laptops

I don’t think they’re going to leave anytime soon.

But this trend is not about a technology becoming useless but about it becoming smaller, more efficient, and more powerful. Above all, more convenient.

And convenience is at the heart of this trend.

When I look at my old, clunky Commodore whose 64KB of space was quite revolutionary back in its day, and compare it to today’s ability to store close to a hundred gigabytes into a tiny smartphone, it’s only commonsensical that large, cumbersome, clunky computers are going the way of the dinosaur.

Along with the growth in smartphones and mobile marketing, I do sincerely believe that tablets are going to take over in the computer world.

It will be far easier to connect a keyboard and LCD monitor to a hyper-powerful tablet PC or iPad while at home, and at anytime just unplug it and take it with you to work on your business while sipping a Grande latte at Starbucks.

Now, from an Internet business and marketing perspective, this means to focus on software, and software as a service (SaaS), that help businesses run either through, or transact over, tablets (or do so more efficiently).

Think apps, cloud services, tablet-driven web design, and the like.

Again, I don’t think tablets will replace traditional computers anytime soon. But hybrid setups and gradual integration will take place.

We need to take notice. In earlier years, I predicted that cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS) would explode. Well, tablet-based computing is a perfect market. Capitalizing on this will become a huge opportunity in 2012.

3. Convergence Finally Starts Taking Shape

Convergence is where more and more communication channels merge.

This “megatrend” was predicted many years ago. In fact, it went as far back as the late 70s by smarter folks than me. Since then, many electronics companies who tried to jump on the bandwagon failed. (Or failed to get any traction.)

But now, with the power of cloud computing and mobile markets, it’s an open door that will swing wide open for channels to converge.

Convergence is not the merging of different channels as originally predicted but the gradual integration of their use. For example, think of listening to the radio or watching TV on your computer. In fact, one of the biggest convergences happening right now is the ability to watch TV on tablets and even smartphones.

Google TV, Apple TV, TV-on-Demand, cable or satellite TV companies turning into ISPs, etc. These are all glaring signs of things to come.

But TV is not the only one…

• If you have smartphone or tablet, you can listen to any radio station in the world.
• You can watch your favorite TV shows, even on an wifi-connected airplane.
• You can buy and download music from your favorite artists. Anytime, anywhere.
• You can transmit your downloaded music, TV shows, even movie rentals from your phone to play on your home entertainment system.
• You can phone anywhere in the world for pennies through VoIP tools.
• Heck, now you even can have your ISP monitor your home security.

And it goes on and on.

Granted, many of these things are happening right now. But from a business and marketing perspective, one area that will explode next year is the creation, selling, and delivery of services and software that cater to these emerging marketplaces.

Here’s My Point…

Think about creating businesses or products, or more importantly creating software as a service, that cater to the mobile and converging markets. In fact, one area that specifically is still largely untapped is local businesses.

(That’s also why you will see more and more local marketing and mobile services popping up. Just recently, my friend Armand Morin has re-released a training product called enLocal Network for this very reason.)

Think about how to mobilize your business, website, products, or services.

Think about how well your design, copy, user experience, and sales process cater to these markets — and look at bottlenecks and snags that can impede sales.

And think about how your products or services can connect on, be used through, be optimized with, or be modified (as new products) for converged channels.

If you sell, say, a weightloss system, how will people consume the product on their mobile phones? How about an app-based service that allows them to access, store, and update their results on their iPads? What about using it on a Wii or Xbox Kinect?

The possibilities are endless.

And that is my wish to you for the New Year.

In 2012, I wish you endless possibilities. But more than that, I wish you have the smarts you need to turn endless possibilities into opportunities, as well as the skills you need to turn opportunities into profits.

Be good. Be well. And be loved.

My 2012 Predictions Are In… originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

In other words, a pen name.

That is, is it legal to write the copy in the voice of a fictitious character, or telling the story of a fictitious character enjoying the benefits of your offer?

Using an alias in business is a common practice. However, if you’re considering using an alias or already are using an alias, there are a few things to know to keep your head above water with the law.

I’m not a lawyer so this is not legal advice. But with my years of research and experience in writing copy, I know enough to say this…

Using an alias or pseudonym is generally fine, as long as within the intrinsic nature of the alias there’s no false or misleading information, mentioned or implied, meant to induce the consumer to buy based on that information.

If the alias is used to misrepresent the facts, or indirectly does so by its mere existence, you’re breaking the law.

It’s like the difference between making a promise versus making a claim.

If your story implies what your clients will get, then you’re making a promise. And a promise made by a fictitious character is fine since the character represents the business making it. As long as you deliver on your promises.

(And keeping promises is a different legal ball of wax.)

But if it states what your past clients have done (results they have achieved by using your product or service), then it’s a claim. Because the fictitious character represents an implied testimonial, or presents information as fact. Therein lies the difference.

So ask yourself, does your alias make a promise? Or a claim?

If the latter, is the alias a part of that claim? In other words, is the claim fake, too?

Here are two examples to clarify.

1. Alias as Narrator

Your marketing material tells a fictitious or dramatized story of a person who benefits from your product or service.

The story shows your prospects what they should do, and what kind of results they should expect, by watching the story play out. The teller of the story, or the person in the story, is completely fictitious.

This is fine as long as what is promised is true, and you deliver on your promises.

For example, remember this commercial? John Doe gets into a car accident. He picks up the phone and says, “Uh oh, better get Maaco!”

And then the screen fades to a scene with John, with his now repaired car in the background, shaking hands with a Maaco mechanic and a huge smile across his face.

How many times have you seen commercials like that?

Now, here’s the exception…

The fine line is when the story doesn’t imply what one should do to benefit from your product or service, but what one has actually achieved, which represents or implies what the person will get based on what was represented as fact.

In other words, it’s no longer a promise.

It’s a claim.

Stated differently, when the advertisement states or even just implies that John is an actual client, a real person who got that exact service, in that exact way, with those exact results, you are misleading the public.

The story implies people will get the same. Specifically, it is no longer a story but a testimonial. And testimonials, by law, must be true.

The subsequent sale, should any occur, is therefore acquired fraudulently, because people believe that John is a true client and offering a real testimonial for Maaco. The story is presented as fact when it is not true.

And that’s illegal.

Remember the story of the Wal-Mart couple who drove their trailer across the United-States, going from Wal-Mart to Wal-Mart, camping out in Wal-Mart parking lots, and blogging about their (seemingly only) positive experiences?

The backlash was massive. And merciless.

Legality aside, it became a PR nightmare. Some argue that the stunt would have been safe — and even that’s arguable, too — if the blog had a proper disclosure informing readers that the characters were fake.

(In fact, the massive backlash inspired the popularity of the terms “flog” and “flogging,” which means “fake blogging.”)

2. Alias as Provider

If you call yourself a pen name to tell or narrate the story in your copy, and this pen name doesn’t mislead, you’re OK — as long as it is clear that people are not buying from your fictitious character but from the business it represents.

They are buying from a real business with a real business name. For example, you don’t buy burgers from Ronald McDonald himself, right? You buy it from McDonald’s restaurants, the business Ronald represents.

Here’s a scenario.

When a sales letter is signed by “Mr. X,” if Mr. X is telling the story and plays the role of a narrator (not a business entity), then you’re fine.

Mr. X (or any other alias) is telling the story, or even making the promise, on behalf of the commercial entity you’re doing business with.

The fine line, in this case, is when you state that Mr. X is a real person, and that person makes claims or presents information as fact on behalf of the commercial entity, such as past experiences, clients, or results.

Generally, this is OK too, as long as the facts are true, and the alias is not the provider with whom you’re doing business.

But if you do this, you not only need to include real facts in your story (as always), but also be fully prepared to prove them when asked by either the public or government.

If the FTC ever comes knocking at your door, you better have proper documentation and real proof to back up your claims and save your anatomy!

What about a business name?

Having a business with a fictitious name is definitely legal, provided that you have filed the proper documentation (such as registering your business, incorporating, or filing a “doing business as” statement), and carried out the proper trademark searches.

This is a normal part of doing business, even vital for branding purposes.

The issue is not with the name but when the existence of the business, its actual clients, or any results achieved are works of fiction.

Ultimately, the question to ask is, does it tell a story to make a point? Or does it mislead and deceive to make a sale? Whether intentionally or not, the latter is fraud.

Ultimately, using an alias is fine as long as you are not making claims as that alias.

You, using your real name (or your real business name), can make claims until the sun goes down. You own them and people know who to turn to if the claims are false.

And if you use an alias to tell a story, whether dramatized or written in a sales letter, you’re generally safe. However, if you make claims under an assumed name, then it is illegal when the assumed name is presented as fact.

Of course, before you ultimately decide to use an alias, particularly if you’re concerned about whether or not you’re crossing a line, consult with an attorney.

I’m not a lawyer and the above should not be construed as legal advice. Plus, this article should be viewed only as a partial or general opinion and commentary, as every individual case is unique.

It is based on my years of experience, especially working with doctors and lawyers in my early career when I first established my company, The Success Doctor, Inc., which used to focus strictly on doctors and service professionals.

(Hence, the name “The Success Doctor.”)

Finally, props go out to my friend Mike Young, Esquire, an Internet marketing lawyer who reviewed my response. (Thanks, Mike!)

When And How To Use An Alias In Business originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

I wanted one that describes my mother, and what she did for us. And I found this one below, which says it all…

A Mother’s Love

A Mother’s love is something that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain.
It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it or take that love away.

It is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters even though the heart is breaking.
It believes beyond believing when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty of the rarest, brightest gems.

It is far beyond defining, it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret like the mysteries of creation.
A many splendoured miracle man cannot understand,
And another wondrous evidence of God’s tender guiding hand.

Helen Steiner Rice

(I miss you, mom. Your son, Michel.)

A Mother’s Love originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

It was truly an honor to be there for her.

She allowed me to give back to a person who gave so much of herself, and to discover a part of her I never knew.

She was selfless until the very end. Even when in constant pain, as she struggled to swallow and drifted in and out of consciousness, she was still thinking of others.

She was always making sure she paid for any of her expenses, always asking about others, always stopping short of asking for help for fear she would be an imposition.

A huge thanks to Sylvie Fortin. My rock. My family’s rock. And my mom’s rock. Most of all, thank you mom for this gift. I love you. Always.

Lonely rivers flow, to the sea, to the sea. To the open arms of the sea. Lonely rivers sigh, “Wait for me, wait for me.” I’ll be coming home, wait for me!

R.I.P. Louise Olivia Quesnel Fortin 1944-2011 originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

It started when my mother decided to take some time off.

She’s 67 and retired now, but she still works for the school board as a secretary. Sometimes, she takes on part-time jobs and side projects during the evenings and weekends. And this, while helping my diabetic sister and raising two grandchildren.

Since my wife Sylvie owns Workaholics4Hire, some say I married my mother.

My mother is a fiercely loyal woman. Stubborn, strong, and selfless.

If any organization would ask her for help, she’d accept the job at the drop of a hat. My mother is one of the most caring and compassionate people I have ever met. Even to her own detriment, as you will soon learn why.

Nevertheless, my mother planned on staying with us for a week during her time off.

Back in 2008 when she went through breast cancer, she stayed with us while Sylvie, having gone through breast cancer herself, provided a powerful support mechanism. Plus, we spoiled her back then, so it’s no wonder our place was her idea of a vacation.

When I went to pick her up back in early July, I noticed how gaunt she looked. She confided in me that she hasn’t been feeling well lately. But she decided to chalk it up to exhaustion and stress.

I was worried. But I know my mom. And I know that making a fuss may prove to be counterproductive. She’s obstinate and proud. So fighting with her would only cause her to stop complaining for fear she would upset or bother those around her.

(This couldn’t be more evident than when she later confessed she had tolerated these pains and bouts of exhaustion since February!)

The next day or so, she was sleeping a lot. I know my mom, and I know she never sleeps that much. When my daughter Megan came to our office to tell us that “Nanny Louise” was vomitting several times in the bathroom, alarm bells went off.

We tried desperately to convince her to let us take her to a hospital. But all my mom wanted was to go back to sleep. That’s when Sylvie contacted a public service called Telehealth Ontario, which offers an on-call registered nurse.

The nurse told us we needed to get her to the hospital. It was serious. Dehydration, particularly during a major heatwave, is not something one takes lightly. But my mom stubbornly refused, pleading to simply let her go back to sleep.

That’s when Sylvie had the brilliant idea to hand her the phone to speak with the nurse, who tried to convince her to desperately seek medical attention.

Eventually, Sylvie’s constant prodding got her to reluctantly agree.

So we drove to the nearest hospital and, once they saw her, even though the waiting room was full, they took her in immediately to rehydrate her intravenously. It was that serious. We almost lost her then.

Little did we know that’s when a roller-coaster ride was about to begin.

After three days in the emergency ward, a series of scans and tests showed a growth in her gallbladder. “Gall stones,” she lamented, which she said she had before. Surgically removing the gallbladder was the only solution at this point.

So they moved her to a room in the surgical wing. We were told surgery would be in another week or so. So we visited mom every day to keep her company.

But something wasn’t right.

Mom has good days and bad days. But lately, they were more bad than good. Her deteriorating health worried the doctors as it indicated something else was going on.

More tests revealed she also had a ruptured instestine caused by the gallbladder being so inflamed. Thus, surgery would also require fixing or bypassing the ruptured intestine so she can eat and digest food again.

That’s when the doctor informed us she needed a hepatobiliary specialist (i.e., a gallbladder and liver surgeon), and they needed to transfer her to a different hospital to see him. Otherwise, the waiting time would have been several months.

(The administrative nightmare by being from another province — my mother is from Quebec and we’re in Ontario — is a whole other ball of wax from which I will spare you the sordid, brain-numbing details.)

Surgery kept getting delayed to allow for more tests. From ultrasounds to x-rays, CT-scans to MRIs, an endoscopic biopsy to a surgically invasive one.

Obviously, seeing my mom deteriorate in front of our eyes (she lost 30 pounds while being hospitalized), with no progress in sight, we were getting a little frustrated by how much time it was taking for surgery to happen.

But looking back, I now realize why.

After this battery of tests, our worst fear became reality.

My mother has advanced gallbladder cancer.

Not only that, they predict she only has a few years left.

I was in shock. I still am. Let me tell you, when the news came it felt like a truck hit me. We had just returned from the hospital when the doctor called us. I decided to rush back because I knew my mom wouldn’t want to be alone.

In fact, that night will be one night I will remember for the rest of my life. When we returned to the hospital, I saw my mother, sitting on a chair in the corner of the hospital room looking out the window, weeping.

This person who was the symbol of strength, staunchness, and humility, and who often kept her emotions to herself for fear of upsetting others, was crying. I will never forget that moment for as long as I shall live.

It hurts me just typing this.

Emotions aside, we still had this “surgery” we were anticipating for over a month, now. Finally, that day came. They told us to get ready, as she would be whisked into surgery within 24 hours. It was the longest 24 hours we’d ever had to endure.

The surgeon told us he would try to remove the tumor, but the main goal was to bypass the ruptured intestine blocked by the tumor, which would allow mom to eat again and regain some strength.

After the surgery, bad news turned to worse.

It looks like the cancer is more advanced than originally thought, and it seems to have metastasized to her liver and invaded other major organs. It was inoperable.

That’s when the doctor told us that she has months, not years.

We are still going to meet with an oncologist who will be the one giving us all the options. For example, chemotherapy, while seemingly redundant at this point as a curative measure, may be administered for palliative reasons to help reduce the pain.

There’s still hope. In fact, the doctor himself admitted she may have more time, since cancer is not his area of expertise. Only the oncologist will know.

So for the next few months, we will be taking care of mom.

She will be staying with us for the remainder of her life, and we have setup a special room for her so that she can be as comfortable as possible. Palliative care nurses will be visiting regularly to make sure she’s comfortable, too.

Trying to bring levity to such a sullen situation, Sylvie told mom who originally came to our house for a vacation: “Boy, do we sure know how to show you a good time, eh?”

Mom always laughs at that one. Which is actually Sylvie’s goal from this point on: “I plan to make her laugh every single day for the rest of her life.”

This reminds me of a speech by Jimmy Valvano, given just weeks before he passed away from cancer. The part I’m specifically referring to is at the 1:40 mark, where he says we should always strive to do three things each day: laugh, think, and cry.

And I can attest that, since mid-July, that has certainly been the case with our family.

I’ll keep you posted. As Sylvie always says, “there’s no expiry date stamped on your foot.” So we plan on living every single day as if it were her last. We all should. More importantly, it’s truly an honor to be there for her during this time.

Until you hear back from me, and before you start telling me all about your cures, recommendations, and alternatives to chemo and surgery, which I do appreciate, please keep this post from Sylvie in mind.

Make sure to hug your family and your friends. Tell them you love them. Because you never know, every chance you get might just be your last.

I love you, Sylvie.

And I love you, mom.

Live Every Day As if It Were Your Last originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

No, not a basics course and not something too advanced. And not any old training course teaching stuff you would expect to find for free online.

But a “Fortinized” WordPress training. A “how-did-he-do-that” course that shows you how, exactly, I tweak, optimize, modify, and monetize my WordPress websites.

Let’s just call it FortinPress.com for now.

It’s been on my mind for the last two years now. I was supposed to put one together with another marketer, but it never materialize for a number of reasons — being extremely busy being one of them.

I want to gauge your level of interest on this. I want to see if you would be interested. So here’s what I envision, what will be included, and the price point…

The course itself will be delivered over 4-5 weeks through a series of webinars.

I prefer live webinars because you get to see me do it, in front of you, live. I share my desktop with you, and you get to see what I do, how I do it, as I do it. You also get to see the innerworkings of my websites, warts and all, and any snags that appear, which is a perfect learning environment.

Here’s the tentative course synopsis:

1. Introduction and Examples

In this session, I will go over WordPress, how I specifically use it, how I turn it into a content management system (CMS), how I use it on my clients’ sites, and more. I will also give you a sneak peek at the admin areas and the tools I use.

2. Themes and Styles

I will go over theme tweaking, styles, and graphics — from making basic layout changes to more advanced modifications. When people ask, “Michel, how did you do this or that on this theme?” This session will answer that question.

3. Plugins and Functions

This session will focus on plugins — the plugins I use or recommend, and how to set them up. Not all plugins are usable out of the box. Some need tweaking. I will show how I set them up and offer a downloadable Excel spreadsheet of all my plugins and where to get them.

4. Tools and Shortcuts

In this session, I will go through some of my tricks and external (non-WP) tools I use to speed it all up. I will show you how I use Firebug, SEO tools, page speed tools, cheatsheets, social media integration, cross-browser tweaking, etc.

5. Money and Traffic

I’m thinking this may be something a lot people will love to know, and that’s how I monetize, market, and drive targeted traffic to my WordPress website. Without PPC or advertising. I will talk about list-building, content strategy, and social media integration.

6. Open Q&A Session

The final session will be an open question-and-answer session. This is where I will answer any and all of your questions related to the course content. If it takes an hour, I’ll take an hour. If it takes three, three it is. I want to take all the time needed to answer all your questions.

Bonuses

Not sure about this one, but I think a free trial to a one-month Success Chef University might be a good bonus. This is not going to be some forced continuity thing. If you like the free trial, you will need to re-subscribe to keep it going. Just sayin’.

Success Chef also includes the weekly Wednesday night classes and the derivative products, like List Whisperer, Marketing ESP, the Copy Doctor, etc.

Upsell

I do plan on offering an upsell. The reason I’m doing it is not entirely because I want to maximize sales, although that is obviously one of the reasons. But more important, I feel like this is one upsell people will actually ask for and buy.

What is it? It’s a private, one-on-one session with me.

This is an opportunity where the student can book a time with me, and I go through their website, theme, and plugins, and perhaps even web copy and strategy.

In it, I will review their setup, answer individual questions, and provide actionable recommendations. Perhaps even fix a thing or two while on the call, and implement a few tweaks right on the spot (within reason, of course).

Again, this is a tentative list. It might change, especially based on your feedback. All these sessions will be recorded and available online in a password-protected area.

The price point will increase once the sessions have been delivered and uploaded. I want to offer a lower price point before and while I deliver the course as a special introductory price.

My thinking is $297 is more than a fair price. I looked at other courses of this type, and $297 is actually on par or less than most.

The upsell will be $997 (total) for both the course and the full, one-on-one session. Considering that I charge $1,000 for critique consulting, and a minimum of $3,000 for any copy project, I think this price point is more than fair.

Now, you don’t have to choose the upsell.

You can buy just the main course for $297.

I only want to make the one-on-one session available to those who need more hand-holding and individualized attention.

But if you have a website right now, and you’re wondering how to tweak it but don’t know how, and if you prefer to save the hassle and expense — Mike Sigers said he was charged $2,500 to modify just one page! — this will certainly be a bargain.

So let me know your thoughts.

To answer a few of your questions in advance, let’s say I’m looking at next week as the launch, and the course will be delivered throughout July. Probably in the afternoons.

(However, if you choose the upsell, the one-on-one session can be booked at any time based on any openings on my schedule.)

All the sessions will be recorded and you will have access to the recordings. You can share your private session (if you choose the upsell) with a freelancer, partner, staff member, or designer, if you wish them to implement some of the things I recommend.

(Keep in mind, I will do a few tweaks for you, and do it live. This is only if the changes you need fall beyond the scope of our time together.)

Standing by and listening…

Want to Maximize Your WordPress Website Fortin-Style? originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

I wanted to simplify.

I wanted to get rid of the clutter and look crisper, cleaner, and more focused. The previous one had too many ads, messages, social icons, etc.

I loved the overall design and some of the main design elements from Chris Brogan, Brian Clark, and Darren Rowse. So I decided to emulate them.

I realized that they use Genesis as their framework, but I’m in love with WooThemes. In fact, I wanted a WooTheme theme because all my other blogs have WooThemes, and I love their framework, their sidebar manager, their built-in shortcodes, etc.

I wanted those features on my own blog!

Lastly, I wanted to re-introduce commenting, but with a twist. I once used Disqus, which I liked a lot. But I wanted more social media integration. Recently, LiveFyre came along with full social networking integration and some good reviews.

So this is it! But I need your feedback on a couple of things…

What do you think? I’m still tweaking it, and I not 100% sure I want to keep it like this, including the comments. Let me know in the comments.

What else do you think I should add or remove? If you look at the bottom footer section, there’s nothing (compared to last time where I had the most popular posts, etc).

Brian Clark and Chris Brogran have nothing, too. But Darren’s blog has a neat footer section. Ideas? Suggestions? Let me know in comments below.

New Blog Design Now With Comments originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

Satyagraha was popularized by Mohandas Ghandi in his fight for Indian independence and became synonymous with the use of civil disobedience as a political tool.

Ghandi believed that truth had great moral power to galvanize resolve against an oppressor, while also garnering support from the rest of the world. And history proved him right.

A young black minister in America studied Ghandi’s struggle and ideas and was profoundly influenced by them. He used Ghandi’s Satyagraha precepts to achieve a similar human rights triumph here in the West. His name was Martin Luther King Jr.

In both cases, people from around the world with no direct interest in the conflict sided with the freedom fighters. Unyielding non-violent revolt in the face of violent counter-reaction was shocking. It seized global attention and sympathy.

Eventually, these outsiders — bound to the protestors by nothing more than their humanity – put unbearable pressure on those they perceived to be outside of the realm of truth. And justice was served.

These watershed moments in history prove that human nature has a built-in recognition and appreciation for what’s right and just and true.

Ever since the motorcycle accident I’ve found my brain has a weird way of associating things. As such, it seems to me this core kernel of Satyagraha has broad application to sales and marketing as well.

In times of over-communication and intense battle for consumer mindshare…

… Brutal, uncompromising truth has enormous attention-getting power.

One of the father’s of direct response advertising built his entire career on this fact.

His name was John E. Powers, arguably history’s first hired gun copywriter. In 1880 Powers was earning $100 a day as a freelance copywriter, an enormous sum at the time. And his ads often worked like gangbusters. Why?

This was the first golden age of advertising. The industrial revolution was sweeping the developed world. All manner of time and labor saving conveniences were making their debut. And John Wannamaker had just invented the department store.

By the late 1800s, newspapers and magazines had become so stuffed with advertising that an arms race took hold with each advertiser trying to out-gun, out-claim, and out-hype the next.

Power’s approach was so novel and rare it was shocking — Tell the Truth.

One of his headlines read: “We have a lot of rotten gossamers we want to get rid of…” Another famous Power’s ad announced, “We are bankrupt. We owe $125,000 more than we can pay, and this announcement will bring our creditors down on our necks. But if you come and buy tomorrow, we shall have the money to meet them. If not, we shall go to the wall.”

The sad truth is that most marketers lie through their teeth. Somehow, this has become accepted, part of the game. It’s just what marketers do.

Clever flim-flam artists know what their customers want to believe, and they twist the truth into a mangled wreck to give it to them. The even sadder truth is that in many cases this actually works, at least in the short term. And the saddest truth of all is the toll this approach takes on the trust of the consumer. The honest eventually get tarred with the same brush as the abusers. And everyone loses.

The answer is of course: Tell the Truth. The truth the flim-flam artists are so cleverly hiding. The truth that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt you’re here to create real value for people and win/win relationships capable of withstanding the test of time.

Let there be an arms race of truth.

Here are a few practical ideas for cutting through the clutter, gaining attention, and inspiring trust in today’s cynical, over-communicated world:

Amp up the Transparency — Show your customers the inner workings of your business, the good, the bad and the ugly. If the truth is untellable, fix it. Rectify what’s wrong with your business. Trust is such a rare commodity these days. Start looking at it as a competitive weapon.

Reveal Your True Motivations — Tell people the real reasons you created this product… why you priced it the way you have… why you need them to order right now… and so on. Don’t be afraid to reveal what’s in it for you as well as what’s in it for them. A sale is a transaction where both parties should win.

Avoid Unsubstantiated Hype and Exaggeration — There is a difference between delivering honest, heart-felt enthusiasm and spouting baseless, over-the-top claims. The former, when backed up with sound reasoning, leads to conviction. The later demands even more lies and obfuscation to maintain.

And as we all know, sooner or later, a business built on lies falls down like a house of cards. If your product or service doesn’t make your heart race with breathless excitement about what it can actually do for your customers, work on it until it does.

Commerce is a relationship. When you harness Satyagraha — openly revealing your vulnerabilities, imperfections, and limitations as a seller in an interesting and dramatic way – you quickly build a bond of trust, even affection with your market.

Can you think of a better way of sweeping aside the number one obstacle to acquiring a new customer?

Until next time, Good Selling!

Photo: Wikipedia

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to creating wealth and success through inspiration and practical, proven advice. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Satyagraha, Your Secret Marketing Weapon originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

This webinar was a fireside chat, so to speak, where we touched base for the first time since hosting the now famous Copywriting Success System seminar in 2007 and since released on an eight (8) full-length DVD set.

As I promised, the webinar has been encoded and replay is available right now. I apologize for the tardiness as a client’s looming deadline demanded my full attention.

In fact, because I’m so late in bringing this to you, I’ll extend the offer made we made at the end of the webinar until May 31st, 2011.

Click here to watch this video (new window).

Check out the Copywriting Success System.

How to Sell in Tough Times Webinar Replay originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

Resources are finite. There is only so much time, money, and energy to invest.

One of the keys to increased conversion, customer value, and retention — and the increased profits they bring you — is the strategic application of your resources.

If you can deploy them with surgical precision… obtaining the highest possible return on resources invested… while avoiding their squander in places where they have negligible or negative contribution to your bottom line, you have a decided competitive advantage.

So why do so many online marketers pursue the quick fix, churn and burn school of marketing that treats all customers alike? Chalk it up to ignorance… temporarily too easy pickings… shoddy products that are anathema to repeat business… laziness… stupidity… pick your poison…

Despite the obvious logic and benefit of the surgical, systematic strike, few entrepreneurs have even considered it… still fewer pursue it. And as a result, billions of dollars are left on the table. Worse, businesses that flourished in cushier times are now floundering on the rocks of extinction.

The first step to avoiding this fate is to start tracking the behavior of your customers… and using that intelligence to take specific actions that encourage continued and increased spending…

Doesn’t it make sense to spend more money marketing to people with a proven propensity to buy from you?

What do you think might happen on your next product launch or promotion if you were to separate your best buyers from the great unwashed? What if instead of just sending them a series of emails you send these VIPs a series of print pieces as well?

What do you think might happen if you were to send your very best buyers a surprise gift in the mail once a year? Or your bread and butter buyers a free printed catalog once a quarter?

Do you think that might increase sales far and above your mailing costs?

Do you think it might also make these customers more responsive to your regular email promotions?

Does the Pope wear a beanie?

But here’s the real million-dollar question:

How do you know which customers are likely to respond enthusiastically to this special attention?

Here’s what I told one of my brightest coaching students who asked this question just the other day…

Your first step is to create an RFM value for each record in your customer file.

R stands for RECENCY (customer purchased within the last x days). F stands for FREQUENCY (customer purchases on average every x days). M stands for MONETARY VALUE (customer’s total purchase volume).

So let’s say Jill Customer made her first purchase a year ago. Her most recent purchase occurred 7 months ago. In between she made 2 additional purchases. And her total spend with your company is $2,780.

How do you compute Jill’s value in order to make a resource-leveraged decision about how much you should be willing to spend to convert her into a customer for your latest offering?

First, you need to create a few simple rules that make sense for your particular business. DISCLAIMER: Every business operates around different purchasing patterns and customer lifecycles so this is a purely an illustrative example…

Recency Rules:

• Customers who last purchased within the last 30 days get an R value of 5.
• Customers who last purchased within the last 30 to 60 days get an R value of 3.
• Customers who last purchased within the last 60 to180 days get an R value of 1.
• Customers who have not purchased within the last 180 days get an R value of 0.

Frequency Rules:

• Customers who purchase every 60 days or less on average get an F value of 5.
• Customers who purchase every 60 to 180 days on average get an F value of 3.
• Customers who purchase every 180 to 360 days on average get an F value of 1.
• Customers yet to make their second purchase get an F value of 0.

Monetary Value Rules:

• Customers who have spent $2,500 or more with your get an M value of 5.
• Customers who have spent between $1,500 and $2,500 get an M value of 3.
• Customers who have spent between $500 and $1,500 get an M value of 1.
• Customers who have spent less than $500 with you get an M value of 0.

You now have a system for ranking the relative value of your customers on a scale of 0 to 15. So what kind of customer is Jill?

Well she hasn’t purchased for 7 months. That pegs her R value at 0.

During her 1-year history as a customer she made 4 purchases. That gives her an F value of 3.

And her total spend with your company is $2,780. That gives Jill an M value of 5.

You now add these figures together to determine Jill’s RFM value — 8. This is Jill’s relative value as a customer.

Your next step is to decide what action you will take in order to maximize that value. Maybe you sub-divide your buyer’s list into three groups — 0-5, 5-10, 10-15. And on your next product launch you send all three groups a couple of postcards inviting them to consume your pre-launch content online.

The 5-10 and the 10-15 group have proven by their past buying behavior that they are quite responsive to your offers. So in addition to the postcards, you send them a sales letter and a couple of follow up reminders by mail counting down to the deadline.

And the 10-15 group — your most responsive and therefore highest value customers — also receives an amazing shock and awe package that includes all of the launch content on DVD, an audio CD they can listen to in their car, and beautifully printed transcripts.

Result: More sales, more profits, more loyalty and retention!

Parting comment. This is not rocket science to pull off. You don’t need high priced consultants or fancy pants CRM software to do this.

Anybody with elementary school math can download a .csv file from their shopping cart and perform the above calculations in a simple spreadsheet.

Will you give it a try?

Until next time, Good Selling!

Customer Relationship Management for IM Dummies originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

(It’s the way my wife’s company works. It allows us to work interchangeably, such as replacing each other on vacations or providing collaborative input, without any interruptions.)

However, when I do, something interesting happens.

Some clients treat me like crap. They patronize me and show contempt towards me. They are terrible to deal with, not because of their request but because of their attitude.

They range from the miserable, “the-world-owes-me,” insatiable ingrate who sends tickets in rapidfire succession for every little itch they need to scratch, to the uppity, snarky snob who expects others to bow in the mere presence of their support ticket.

Now, don’t get me wrong.

I’m not talking about someone who’s genuinely pissed off because of some frustrating problem they need help on, but later becomes appreciative when their problem is solved. (I do sympathize with them when stuff like this happens. I’ve been there!)

No, I’m talking about people who lambaste subordinates just because… they can.

It is utterly amazing to me to see how clients treat me when they don’t know it’s me — the same person they revere, are friends with, and pay $500-$1,000 an hour for consulting.

Worse still, it’s terrible to see how people are downright condescending toward others in seemingly menial positions. It’s also surprising because I would have never expected it from some of them. They’re the kindest people I’ve met.

To quote Lynette Chandler who shared a similar story with me on Facebook:

“I was floored… I’ll never view her the same way again.”

Indeed.

The sad part is, many of these clients were people I’ve met at seminars, were friends of mine, and were supposedly some of my biggest fans. Needless to say, it also made me realize what my wife and her staff had to put up with for 15 years.

(Hats off to you, and you know who you are! )

Here’s the interesting thing about this.

How many do you think are like that?

10% (i.e., 90% are good and 10% are bad)?

20% (or 20-80)?

How about 30-70?

Nope. This happens in about 50% of cases. Yes, 50%! Close to half of all tickets come from clients who treat me horribly and browbeat me just because of the position I’m in.

Maybe it’s because they think I’m a woman? Or an Indian? Or a teenager? Or someone who just started in an entry-level position? In all of these cases, it doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter! And it would be downright insulting if any of these were true.

(I’m confident I’d embarrass the daylights out of them if they ever found out it was me!)

In addition to the show Undercover Boss, this also reminds me of an article I read once about a CEO who typically conducts job interviews at restaurants, just to see how the job candidate treats the wait staff — which greatly influences their decision to hire them.

It’s a great social experiment, that’s for sure. It’s also going to make me think twice when I’m the customer, on the other side, dealing with a cashier, nurse, order taker, wait person, counterperson, clerk, or whomever is serving me at that time.

Sure, I still expect them to do their jobs. After all, I’m the customer and I’m paying for it.

But they deserve to be treated the same way I expect to be treated…

… With respect.

Going Undercover is Quite Revealing originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

Safe, secure, benefits — the whole bit.

How things change. Today, manufacturing in the developed world is dead, toast, gone.

And so called "knowledge work" is now carried on by independent consultants, freelancers, and other entrepreneurs who come together virtually from the four corners of the earth. It’s cheaper, more efficient, and involves far less risk than the traditional everything-under-one-roof business model.

In this brave new world, only idiots still believe employment equals security. The average tenure in a J.O.B. is now, what… eighteen minutes?

The big, lumbering, vertically-integrated companies are failing like the dinosaurs they are, spitting out long-suffering employees like so much mulch. Since the vast majority of these employees were educated for a business world that no longer exists, they are now left twisting in the wind, clutching at straws.

And sooner or later — with the help of web wolves in sheep’s clothing — it dawns on these poor souls: Make Money on the Internet. It’s a fabulous idea. You absolutely can make money on the Internet, though most people who try don’t make a red cent.

Why?

It all boils down to a mindset that buys into these three big myths…

Myth #1:

Push Button, Make Money

From what I can tell, most newbies approach online business with the exact same mindset they bring to their jobs. They give no thought to the purposes of their labor, save a paycheck at the end of the week.

And this flawed thinking makes them prime suckers for every add-nothing-of-value-get-rich-quick scam that comes down the pike.

Multi-level schemes… auto-blogging… PPC arbitrage… software that automates some almost-useless function to such a degree that it squirts a little money… the exploitation of temporary loopholes that allow you to inject yourself into somebody else’s value chain, but without bringing anything useful to the equation.

These are the kinds of things that attract the employee mindset. Just give me some mindless activity — I don’t want to know the motivations or interests of anybody else — the less thinking I have to put into this the better.

The flimflam artists who dream up these schemes know that the less they explain about what it is they are actually selling, the more suckers they’ll enlist. No thinking person would buy from their sales copy because it fails to answer the fundamental business question: What value does this bring to anybody but me?

Contrary to popular opinion, the purpose of business is NOT to make money. The purpose of business is to fulfill unmet needs and desires — to add value to other people’s lives in some way. Making money is a byproduct of that process.

Myth #2

You Need a System, Blueprint, Roadmap, Formula, Method to "Duplicate"

Now don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with modeling. The problem is mindless modeling. The kind of modeling where Joe Newbie takes said model and applies it out of context and without adaptation.

In today’s world, there is no such thing as context. Things change much too quickly to expect that by the time a particular system, blueprint, or roadmap comes to market it’s still entirely optimal — even to the exact same situation it was originally developed for.

Let alone the inevitable differences of situation that exist between where it was developed and where it will be applied.

Yet this is exactly the expectation. The average employee expects his or her employer to show them step-by-step how the job is to be done. If the output is less than ideal, it’s the employer’s fault. And this idea gets carried over into the entrepreneurial world. If it doesn’t work, it’s the guru’s fault.

And so yet another disillusioned newbie begins wandering aimlessly through the Internet marketing streets like a hapless vagabond in search of something that actually works. There is no such thing as a plug and play business. Doesn’t exist, never will.

It’s up to YOU come up with your own system, blueprint, or roadmap that solves the specific problem that defines your business.

Myth #3

You Don’t Have to Sell, Just Make "Friends", "Followers", and "Connections"

The promise of social media marketing is this: Make fans, they’ll do your selling for you.

It’s all about authenticity and connection and interacting with your public on the same stage, where everybody gets an equal voice. While it’s certainly true that liking is important to persuasion, it’s just part of the equation.

The social media marketing game is at best foreplay that can never succeed without getting down the "ugliness" of direct marketing and actually asking people to buy stuff. It is this fear of selling that causes newbies to flock to social media marketing in the first place.

At its worst, social media marketing is prostitution. What was supposed to be a pristine oasis of authenticity and a sanctuary from blatant commercialism is turning into a cesspool of disingenuous opinion and endorsement — a media that is inherently unreliable, and therefore destined to devolve in value.

Case in point: Twitter now offers a revolutionary new suite of pay per click advertising services. With Promoted Tweets you can now buy celebrity endorsements at the push of a button.

The service is only available to large advertisers at present, but pretty soon the little people should be able to log on and use their plastic money to get plastic people to tweet about them.

It’s incredibly genuine. They’re keepin’ it real.

Or how about Promoted Trends? Yes, you can actually buy your own trend. Who’d have thunk it?

Or the ultimate in pimposity, Promoted Accounts. This is where Twitter will help you turn a quick trick by soliciting followers on your behalf.

The wonders money can buy. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned, honest direct marketing?

Until next time, Good Selling!

Web Wolves, Whores, Vagabonds, and Fools originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

Given a choice between 100 visits driven by social media and 10 from email marketing I’ll take the 10 any day of the week.

My professional opinion is that traffic is only as valuable as the conversion (leads and sales) it brings you. “Buzz” should never be a primary aim, rather a by-product of generating leads and making sales. And in most markets, email driven traffic is 15 to 20 times more likely to convert than social media traffic.

So why are so many marketers struggling these days to make email marketing work?

One reason is because they’re wasting too much of their time with social media.

Here’s the pop theory…

Social networks are like backyard barbecues. You head on over and sit around the barby sippin’ a few proverbial wobbly pops, chatting up the locals, making friends, talking about the weather and the game and other idle gossip. And sooner or later somebody is sure to ask: So what do you do?

And that’s your chance to invite ‘em over to your place — your blog, I mean. And on your blog you’ve got plenty of hearty hospitality that proves you’re a swell guy or gal definitely worth knowing the next time your new-found friends ever need what you’re selling.

Now, even a hair-on-fire social media fanatic will tell you your next step in the long and winding road to revenue is to try and get these visitors to sign up to your email list. So you’ve got an email sign up box on your blog with a delicious free gift your new friends can take home with them. That way you can market to them on demand — well into the future.

Just one problem with all this awesomeness: Way too much work for too little return. You have to sift through far too many of these social media butterflies to find a serious prospect. I mean, why do people go on social media sites? To socialize! That’s why they’re called “Social” networks.

Why not start with quality traffic in the first place…

… People who are actively searching desperately for an answer to the problem you solve. Duh!

Beware the social media cool aid that says you can get all of the traffic you could ever want for free. Nothing’s free. You got into business to leverage yourself, not to become a $2 an hour social media slave.

Go out and buy yourself some decent traffic, or do some good old-fashioned joint ventures, or publicity. And build you list on a solid foundation.

Another reason marketers struggle with email these days — even those who understand that you need quality traffic to begin with — is what I call the curse of voluntary anonymity.

I see this all the time and it breaks my heart.

What am I talking about?

Simply this: Business owners hiding behind their “brand”… or their “product” instead of interacting personally with people.

There is an epidemic of distrust on the Internet…

Unless you’re a known brand like Apple or Amazon, the first thing a new prospect does when they come to your website or blog is try to figure out who the heck you are.

Before they engage with your promise and sign up to your email list, they want to know if you seem honest, competent, and sympathetic. And if they do decide to connect with you via email they want to be subtly reminded of these qualities each time you drop in to say “Hi”…

Yet you’ve seen it a thousand times before… flashy html emails from [insert catchy company or publication name here] waxing poetic about [insert product name or topic here] — the whole piece written in disembodied voice.

This kind of an approach might work fine in the offline world, but it’s just not how email works. Think about it: email is the most personal marketing medium on the planet. You trade emails with your friends and family. And you do it in plain text. You read those emails. You trust those emails.

If you send flashy looking html masterpieces, instantly you go in the spam folder of your prospect’s brain. Your email looks and feels like an intrusion.

Even if someone does open your email, they’re ten times more likely to trash it. You failed to make a human connection. Email is a one-to-one medium. Get personal, or go home.

One more reason email doesn’t work (the last one I’ve got time for today)…

It’s when marketers become extremists. Instead of walking the middle road between providing valuable information and asking for a purchase, they’re either all content or all pitch.

You need both. If you run your list like a soup kitchen you’re just training people not to buy from you. On the other hand, if you’re emails are just pitch, pitch, pitch — nobody’s going to open them.

Mix it up for heaven’s sake.

Email may not be the idiot proof marketing money machine it once was, but make no mistake, it’s still the cornerstone of Internet marketing.

With a little ingenuity, it’ll work for you just fine.

Until next time, Good Selling!

Why Email Marketing Doesn’t Work… originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

The man’s chops are clearly massive, yet oh how he plays… with such exquisite humility. Not the slightest need to show off… preferring to surrender himself totally to the music… allowing his audience to shower him with never before revealed inspiration.

74-year old Guy has been noodling around the same three-chord blues progressions for almost 60 years. Imagine how terribly easy it would be to fall into a million ruts over them kind of eons.

Yet with each new album this guitar legend seems to find an ever-widening expanse of fresh, new and exciting truths to explore.

I think the same can be said for the honest practitioner of sales and marketing. The more experienced we become, the more we should realize we don’t know, and the more there is to discover…

To the genuinely inquisitive, the mysteries of the universe expand in direct proportion to our efforts to unravel them.

Like Buddy Guy, we should be continually murdering the predictable, finding ways to combine things that don’t seem to go together, and discovering the new and exciting hiding within the familiar.

Useful as they may be, the rules of thumb and best practices we live by as marketers should never become lodged in our minds to such a degree they crowd out critical evaluation, simply because they satisfy a desire for certainty.

The list of marketing truism is long and comforting. But the truth is: Long copy doesn’t ALWAYS out pull short copy. Video sales letters don’t ALWAYS out pull text. And the fear of loss does not ALWAYS trump the desire for gain. Insert your favorite doctrine here.

Such dogma – even when arrived at through valid testing and experience in our own private marketing sandboxes – should always be questioned within the context of the situations we find ourselves in. Shop worn theories should be tested against other less accepted ideas. Indeed, we should demand that they prove their validity every time out.

The curse that kills higher response is marketing-on-auto-pilot …

If a given strategy works in one place, there is no guarantee it will work in another. Even within the same context, there is no guarantee that if something has worked in the past that it will work the same way now. The very fact that something works well means it will be overused in the marketplace. Eventually people become resistant. And response drops like a stone.

I say none of this to discourage you or to dissuade you from adopting those things that work in one contest and applying them in another. Just keep an open mind. Accept little as gospel. Experiment tirelessly. And let YOUR market be your guide.

Of course, it is difficult to see things from different perspectives, isn’t it? Bringing new concepts and ideas into your marketing is difficult.

Think back to the process of creating your last campaign. You began with a reasonably blank slate. Your mind was open, actively inviting new ideas. But sooner or later you had to commit to developing one of them. And pretty soon, the forest began obscuring the trees. And you lost your objectivity.

How do you get it back?

The ultimate creative exercise …

Give this a try. Before you finalize your next piece of sales copy, put it in front of somebody whom you know is a good prospect for whatever it is you’re selling. And ask them to read the copy out loud. Don’t email them the link. Go to their house or office and give them the link to type into their computer while you’re sitting there with them. Pay them to do this if you have to.

Now, as they’re reading your copy out loud, sit quietly with a print-out of the page they’re reading. Watch and listen as they read while you make notes on the print-out.

Do they smile here? Sound confused there? Do they add extraneous comments under their breath in different places as they read? Do they ask you questions when they come to a certain point? If so, engage them in dialog about their questions, concerns, and skepticisms? And mark up your printed copy with notes.

Find several more qualified prospects and repeat this process to see if there are common reactions that need to be addressed… that fly in the face of accepted sales and marketing dogma… and that lead you to some new angle or approach.

I promise you this simple little exercise will open your eyes to things you can’t possibly see on your own, either because you’re too close to your own business, or because you’re not part of the target market. In either case, you’re likely to find some popular marketing truisms shattered.

Try it on for size with your next important project. Feed off your audience like the father of screamin’ guitar blues.

Until next time, Good Selling!

Marketing Lessons From a 74-Year Old Blues Legend originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

Plus, that nasty little virus made its rounds with the entire family. I can’t remember who got it first, but it eventually affected my wife, who, as it turned out, had an entire evening planned for my birthday last week.

Sadly, we had to cancel.

But I feel a lot better now, and I had a wonderful birthday nonetheless. In fact, the cancellation was a blessing in disguise as it gave us an excuse to have an extra “date night.” Incidentally, of the many gifts I’ve received, this one was my favorite…

I love my kids.

P.S.: Remember, my wife and I will be speaking at BigSeminar 14, the big finale, in two weeks in Las Vegas. This is the last BigSeminar, so we hope to see you there.

Sick and Tired. Literally. originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

Let me say it another way.

You’ve done your research. You found a starving market. Your product fills a need. And your sales copy shines with benefits. If everything is so perfect, then why is your product still not selling? Is it the price? The offer? The competition?

Maybe. But not necessarily.

The fact is, these things are not always to blame for being unable to sell an in-demand product, even with great copy. Too often, it has more to do with one thing:

Focus. (Or should I say, the lack thereof.)

In fact, the greatest word in copywriting is not “free.” It’s “focus.” And what you focus on in your copy is often the single, greatest determinant of your copy’s success.

In my experience, copy that brings me the greatest response is copy that focuses on:

1. One messsage
2. One market
3. One outcome

Here’s what I mean…

1. One Message

The copy doesn’t tell multiple, irrelevant stories. It doesn’t make multiple offers. It doesn’t go on tangential topics or provide extra information that doesn’t advance the sale.

Copy should make one offer and one offer only.

Too many messages confuse the reader. And as copywriter Randy Gage once noted, “The confused mind never buys.” It confuses them because they don’t know which offer provides them with the best value for the amount of money they are ready to spend.

Prospects want to spend their money wisely. Lose focus, and it is harder to think clearheadedly as to make a wise decision in the first place. Remember this axiom:

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

You don’t want to do what my teenage daughter does to me. When we go shopping for a dress, after hours of flipping through hangers and racks, she finally pinpoints one she likes, goes to the changing room to try it on, looks at me and asks, “How’s this one?”

“Perfect!” I say. “You sure, dad?” She asks. “Yes,” I add. “I’m positive.” So we head to the cash register when, suddenly, she stops along the way, picks up another dress off the rack, and says, “How about this one? Or maybe this one? Oooh, look at this other one!”

We came really close to walking out of that store without buying any of the dresses.

2. One Market

I don’t want to spend the little space I have for this article to extoll the virtues of niche marketing. But when it comes to writing high-converting sales messages, it goes without saying: trying to be all things to all people is next to impossible.

When it is possible, then your sales message must be generic enough to appeal to everyone, causing the majority in your market to feel you’re not focused on them.

(There’s that word “focus,” again!)

In order to appeal to everyone, your sales message will be heavily diluted. It will lose clarity. People will feel left out because you’re too vague. You will appear indifferent to their situation, and to their specific needs and goals, too.

If you cater to a large, diversified market, I highly encourage that you segment your market and target each segment separately, and write copy that caters to each one.

That is, write copy for each individual and targeted group of people within your market. If your market is made up of two or three (or more) identifiable market groups, write copy for each one — even if the product is the same for everyone.

3. One Outcome

“Click here,” “read my about page,” “here’s a link to some testimonials,” “call this number,” “fill out this form,” “don’t buy know, just think about it,” “here are my other websites,” “here are 41 other products to choose from,” and on and on… Ack!

When people read your sales copy, and if your copy is meant to induce sales, then you want one thing and one thing only: get the sale! In other words, there’s only one thing your readers should do, and that’s buy. Or at least your copy should lead them to buy.

In other words, the ultimate outcome should be to buy — every call to action, every piece of copy, every page, every graphic should revolve around this one outcome.

Remember K.I.S.S. (i.e., “keep it straightforwardly simple”).

You would be surprised at how many salesletters I critique where the author asks the reader to do too many things, to choose from too many things, or to jump through so many hoops to get the very thing they want in the first place.

Your copy should focus on one call to action only, or one ultimate outcome. Forget links to other websites or pages that are irrelevant to the sale. Forget irrelevant forms and distractions. Why invite procrastination with too many calls-to-action?

In fact, I believe that the goal is not to elicit action but to prevent procrastination.

Because when people hit your website, whether they found you on a search engine after searching for information, were referred to you by someone else, or read about you somewhere online, then they are, in large part, interested from the get-go.

So your job is not to get them to buy, really. They’re already interested. They’re ready to buy. Your job (i.e., your copy’s job), therefore, is to get them not to go away.

Ultimately, focus on the reader. One, single reader.

This is probably the thing you need to focus on the most. The most common blunders I see being committed in copy is the lack of focus in a sales message, particularly on the individual reading the copy and the value you specifically bring to them.

In my experience as a copywriter, I find that some people put too much emphasis on the product, the provider, and even the market (as a whole), and not enough on the most important element in a sales situation: the customer.

That is, the individual reading the copy at that very moment.

Don’t focus your copy on your product and the features of your product — and on how good, superior, or innovative they are. And don’t even focus on the benefits.

Instead, focus on increasing perceived value with them. Why? Because perception is personal. It’s intimate. It’s ego-centric. Let me explain.

When you talk about your product, you’re making a broad claim. Everyone makes claims, especially online. “We’re number one,” “we offer the highest quality,” “it’s our best version yet,” etc. (Often, my reaction is, “So what?”)

And describing benefits is just as bad.

Benefits are too broad, in my opinion. You were probably taught that a feature is what a product has and a benefit is what that feature does. Right? But even describing benefits is, in my estimation, making a broad claim, too.

The adage goes, “Don’t sell quarter-inch drills, sell quarter-inch holes.”

But holes alone don’t mean a thing to someone who might have different uses, reasons or needs for that hole. So you need to translate benefits into more meaningful benefits.

You see, a claim always looks self-serving. It also puts you in a precarious position, as it lessens your perceived value and makes your offer suspect — the opposite of what you’re trying to accomplish by making claims in the first place.

Therefore, don’t focus on the benefits of a certain feature. Rather, focus on how those features specifically benefit the individual. Directly. Personally. Intimately.

There is a difference. A big difference.

The more you explain what those claims specifically mean to the prospect, the more you will sell. It’s not the features that counts and it’s not even benefits. It’s the perceived value. So how do you build perceived value?

The most common problem I see when people attempt to describe benefits is when what they are really describing are advantages — or glorified features, so to speak. Real benefits are far more personal and intimate.

That’s why I prefer to use this continuum:

Features ► Advantages ► Benefits

Of course, a feature is what a product has. And an advantage (or what most people think is a benefit) is what that feature does. But…

… A benefit is what that feature means.

A benefit is what a person intimately gains from a specific feature. 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 using the feature.

Let me give you a real-word example.

A client once came to me for a critique of her copy. She sold an anti-wrinkle facial cream. It’s often referred to as “microdermabrasion.” Her copy had features and some advantages, but no benefits. In fact, here’s what she had:

Features:

1. It reduces wrinkles.
2. It comes in a do-it-yourself kit.
3. And it’s pH balanced.

Advantages:

1. It reduces wrinkles, so it makes you look younger.
2. It comes in a kit, so it’s easy to use at home.
3. And it’s pH balanced, so it’s gentle on your skin.

This is what people will think a benefit is, such as “younger,” “easy to use” and “gentle.” But they are general. Vague. They’re not specific and intimate enough. So I told her to add these benefits to her copy…

Benefits:

1. It makes you look younger, which means you will be more attractive, you will get that promotion or recognition you always wanted, you will make them fall in love with you all over again, they will never guess your age, etc.
2. It’s easy to use at home, which means you don’t have to be embarrassed — or waste time and money — with repeated visits to the doctor’s office… It’s like a facelift in a jar done in the privacy of your own home!
3. It’s gentle on your skin, which means there are no risks, pain or long healing periods often associated with harsh chemical peels, surgeries and injections.

Now, those are benefits!

Remember, copywriting is “salesmanship in print.” You have the ability to put into words what you normally say in a person-to-person situation. If you were to explain what a feature means during an encounter, why not do so in copy?

The more benefit-driven you are, the more you will sell. In other words, the greater the perceived value you present, the greater the desire for your product will be. And if they really want your product, you’ll make a lot of money.

It’s that simple.

In fact, like a face-to-face, one-on-one sales situation (or as we say in sales training, being “belly to belly” with your prospect), you need to denominate as specifically as possible the value your offer brings to your readers.

In other words, express the benefits of your offer in terms that relate directly not only to your market, but also and more importantly:

1. To each individual in that market
2. And to each individual’s situation.

Don’t focus on your product. Focus on your readers. Better yet, focus on how the benefits of your offer appeal to the person that’s reading them. And express how your offer benefits your prospect in terms they can intimately relate to, too.

Look at it this way:

• Use terms the prospect is used to, appreciates and fully understands. (The mind thinks in relative terms. That’s why the use of analogies, stories, examples, metaphors, and testimonials is so important! Like “facelift in a jar,” for example.)
• Address your reader directly and forget third-person language. Don’t be afraid to use “you,” “your,” and “yours,” as well as “I,” “me,” “my,” and “mine.” Speak to your reader as if in a personal conversation with her.
• Use terms that trigger their hormones, stroke their egos, tug their heartstrings, and press their hot buttons. You don’t need to use puffery with superlative-laden copy. Just speak to your reader at an intimate level. An emotional level.

Because the worst thing you can do, second to making broad claims, is to express those claims broadly. Instead, appeal to their ego. Why? Because…

… We are all human beings.

Eugene Schwartz, author of Breakthrough Advertising (one of the best books on copywriting), once noted we are not far evolved from chimpanzees. “Just far enough to be dangerous to ourselves,” copywriter Peter Stone once noted.

He’s not alone. My friend and copywriter Paul Myers was once asked during an interview, “Why do people buy from long, hypey copy?” His short answer was, “Human beings are only two feet away from the cave.”

(Speaking of Eugene Schwartz, listen to his speech. It’s the best keynote speech on copywriting. Ever. Click hear to listen to it. You can also get a copy of his book, too, called “Breakthrough Advertising.” I read mine several times already.)

People buy for personal wants and desires, and for selfish reasons above all. Whether you sell to consumers or businesses, people are people are people. It’s been that way for millions of years.

And nothing’s changed.

Your message is just a bunch of words. But words are symbols. Different words mean different things to different people. Look at this way: while a picture is worth a thousand words, a word is worth a thousand pictures.

And the words you choose can also be worth a thousand sales.

Forget Benefits, And You Will Sell More originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

Some call it unethical. Others call it smart business. And a few go as far as calling it an illegal cartel that should be charged with breaking racketeering and anti-trust laws.

I don’t know if it’s true or not, so I won’t comment on it directly. And I’m not a lawyer by any stretch.

But I can comment on what we observe. And we can certainly observe a few things that are rather obvious. For example, if you’re subscribed to several of these marketers’ lists, even if only a handful, then I’m confident you’ve noticed some recurring trends.

(Let’s call them “musical-chair product launches.” Oh, and let’s not forget the once pricey product you paid a marketer just a few weeks ago now being given away for free as a bonus to buying from their affiliate link during someone else’s product launch.)

Personally, I don’t think it’s wrong for competitors to partner up as to time their product releases separately. (I’ll come back to the term “competition” later, as it is important.) To a certain degree, this is definitely smart business.

The question is, at which point can this specific situation be deemed illegal or not? The answer is arguable — and by arguable, I mean in a court of law. But blogger Antone Roundy said it best, when he shared the following insight, which I agree with…

“But if they’re promoting each other regardless of product quality or value for the price, that’s unethical at best. And if they’re agreeing to a pricing scheme or taking products off the market during other peoples’ launch periods to reduce competition, I’d expect the FTC to be breathing down their necks really soon.”

This is what seems to be happening here. We can debate the legality of it. But illegal or not, it’s definitely unethical. Even if it is legal, the appearance of impropriety alone is enough to leave a bad taste in people’s mouths. It certainly does in mine.

After my wife’s controversial report, Internet Marketing Sins, which she released over two years ago, you can say that a line in the sand has been drawn. Since then, a number of marketers have expressed on which side of that they now stand.

To name a few — I’m linking to their specific posts wherever possible — there are people like Joel Comm, Ryan Healy, Ray Edwards, Dan Gallapoo, and many more. (Funny how many of them are copywriters, eh?) The numbers seem to be steadily growing, too.

(If you have 45 minutes, listen to this podcast by Randy Cantrell.)

We’ve also seen the emergence of a growing number of consumer advocacy and personal opinion blogs that are entirely dedicated to being critical of unethical marketing practices, and exposing deceptive and dishonest business activities.

Aside from The Salty Droid mentioned at the beginning, others include Patrick Pretty, Lost Ball In High Weeds, Dont Step In The Poop, and many, many others.

Do I like them? To be candid, some blogs — and especially some of the commentators on these blogs — are caustic, jarring, and vile. Some are a bit too toxic for my taste.

But while I may not like them, I don’t necessarily blame them. After all, they didn’t just appear out of nowhere with the sole intent to make marketers’ lives miserable. Many of these types of anti-scam blogs were created as a result of a personal, bad experience.

Plus, they can easily polarize people.

Many disgruntled consumers who are attracted to these blogs have grown highly cynical, suspicious, and resentful. So it’s only natural they voice their grievances on them.

But what frightens me is that the voice of genuine scam victims are muffled by a small yet vocal minority of anti-marketing extremists who spew their venom senselessly.

These pitchfork-wielding protesters seem hellbent on destroying any levelheaded discussion. They flame anyone who voices any opposing views, and rabidly pounce on anyone who might want to take a stab at having an intelligent, sensible argument.

I’ve seen some bigoted commentators bash others in an attempt to manipulate, irritate, and denigrate. This is childish behavior, and it defeats the purpose. They should focus on the issues, and not on whether someone is overweight, effeminate, or disabled.

Focus on what they do, not who they are.

Nevertheless, I often want to join in on the conversation myself, but I stop short of doing so because I fear what I say will fall on deaf ears — if not get drowned by a handful of witch-hunting McCarthyists who trawl around for any faint smell of blood.

Now, this doesn’t mean the other side is innocent, either.

Namecalling and ad hominem attacks occur on both sides.

I’ve seen a lot of venom spewed from proponents of these marketers. Genuine scam victims continue to be victimized through what appears to be concerted efforts of another vocal minority who feel that some of the marketers singled out are beyond reproach.

Some have gone to the extent of saying that scam victims are really the ones to blame. They say things like “caveat emptor (buyer beware),” “they’re jealous or envious of those who make money,” “they need to take responsibility for their actions,” etc.

Sure. Just like women wearing provocative clothing are looking to get raped, right? Ugh.

Granted, the market should bear some of the responsibility. Plus, I definitely agree there are trolls out there who just want someone to blame for their failures and inadequacies.

But caveat emptor is a weak argument when it seems to be used as a means to exclude the responsibility of others. Counter-blaming your customers should never nullify your actions when you blatantly prey on the market’s relentless dream for the magic pill.

Caveat emptor is not some loophole to take advantage of the vulnerable.

Just because you robbed a bank that had no alarm system doesn’t mean the bank is in the wrong because they lacked security. A robbery is still a robbery.

And it’s still wrong.

The question is, where does the vicious circle stop?

If the blame should be split 50/50, then so should the solution be split 50/50, too. Marketers should stop selling magic-pill solutions to a market who’s desperate for help. And the market should stop chasing the dream by buying into magic-pill solutions.

As we know, there is no such thing as a magic pill. If they keep chasing it, they will murder any chances of achieving true success. And sometimes, that can be quite literal.

As long as there will be a market for magic-pill solutions, there will always be marketers willing to provide it to them. So aside from more laws and regulations, which I’m not a fan of, achieving a compromise is a challenge, particularly when both sides are greedy.

So another and perhaps more effective solution is: education.

Educate the market on what to look out for and avoid, as well as educate those who are learning how to market and may think of modeling such unethical practices.

In my estimation, too many marketing products out there are just snake oil. Period.

I understand and appreciate that buyers should beware, that they should do their due diligence, that they should take their time and investigate before jumping in. Agreed.

But fake scarcity ploys during high-pressure product launches remove any chance for the market to appreciate what exactly is being sold. It reduces their ability to think critically, investigate the offer adequately, and make an intelligent buying decision.

So education is powerful. And these blogs, while harsh in some cases, are vital.

Let me end with this. Antone Roundy’s comment about gathering with other marketers to time product releases being a smart business practice is right. After all, that’s why many associations exist. But I agree this works only up to a point.

I’m far from being a lawyer, but if it is unacceptable when products are taken off the market, as Antone said, then that’s exactly what seems to be happening here. In fact, these are not “product releases.” They are not even product launches, for that matter.

They are simply close-ended sales events.

But let’s take a closer look at what constitutes “competition,” and how it applies, here. Defined, competition is: “the effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by offering the most favorable terms.”

Whether the people in this group of marketers are acting independently is debatable. The question is, are they truly competing against one and other? In other words, are these guys truly competitors? This is something I think any court will need to define.

But here’s my take. They sell information, true. And it can be argued that information is not really competitive. For example, just because I bought a Stephen King novel doesn’t preclude me from buying an Anne Rice novel at the same time.

One can sell information on, say, affiliate marketing while the other on, say, traffic generation. So they are not quite “competitors.” But herein lies the problem…

Marketers are not authors selling their information. They are more like publishing houses selling information products. Yes, products. And as publishing houses — and again, I’m no lawyer — they seem to be colluding to some degree.

Even the term “information products” is debatable, too. Because the “products” most gurus sell today aren’t really information. In actuality, what they’re selling are business opportunities packaged as information and sold under the guise of training systems.

Again, this is just my opinion. I always want to look at both sides of an issue before I form an opinion. And in this case, after everything I’ve seen, all I can say is that the whole musical-chair product launch game just doesn’t smell right to me.

A Disturbing Trend in Internet Marketing originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.

It’s one too easily spoken, as any parent of a small four-year-old will tell you. It’s also detrimental to effective copywriting and sales, because it’s an absolute brick wall of resistance.

The minute a potential customer says no, you’ve either lost the sale, or you have to pull out some pretty convincing arguments to sway them back to a yes. Chances are you’re not going to make it.

It’s much harder to change a person’s mind when it’s already made up.

Here are practical tips on how to turn a potential customer’s no into yes, where you’ll learn specific resistance you’ll face and how to magically turn it into sales.

First, Address the Doubts

To believe that people are going to land on your page and immediately say, “This is exactly what I need,” is a belief best left to amateurs. (Of which you are not one, because only smart people read this blog.)

Everyone has doubts. You have them, I have them, your potential customer has them.

Now, no one enjoys having doubts, because they make us feel worried and uncertain and unsure. That’s not a good place to be, and instinctively, we know it. So we seek reassurance that erases our doubts and takes them away.

We look to be confident. When we feel confident, we feel able to make good decisions that are right for — which include, of course, saying, “Yes, this is exactly what I need.”

So address those doubts in your copywriting. Put them on the table right from the start. Show people that you know their concerns and worries, and give them the appropriate answer that provides reassurance.

This doesn’t mean raising questions that weren’t there to begin with. What it means is acknowledging potential questions and concerns and responding to them appropriately before the potential customer picks his own response.

The Best Example: Your Local Garage

Here’s an example of how you can address a potential customer’s doubts:

Let’s say your garage mechanic tells you that repairing your car will cost you $800. You can bet that you’ll have buyer resistance, and it’s highly unlikely that you’ll say, “This is exactly what I need!”

It’s far more likely you’re already trying to figure out how to get out of paying that amount.

Then your mechanic says, “I’m sure you’re wondering how necessary it is to repair these parts.” And he proceeds to tell you exactly how unsafe your car becomes if you don’t have them repaired — and if you have kids, he points out, their safety means everything.

Then your mechanic says, “Now I know you’re probably wondering whether you can wait a while. But let me explain why that’s a bad idea.” He goes on to show how much more costly repairs will be if you don’t get this fixed soon.

By now, you’re not thinking about how to get out of the repairs. You’re into thinking about where you’ll get the money to pay for it all. You’ve already started moving from no to yes.

The mechanic doesn’t really know what’s going through your mind, but what he’s doing is covering his bases. He’s presuming you might have doubts, he’s assuming which doubts you might have, and he’s addressing them before you even voice them aloud.

If he guesses wrong? No problem — call it extra bonus arguments. You know, just in case. And if he guesses right? Then you haven’t had to say a word, and you have all the answers you need.

Be that proactive in your copywriting. Assume the arguments, address them with confidence, reassure your potential customer and you’ll be turning no into yes before you know it.

How do you feel about addressing doubts in copywriting? Are you great at dismantling arguments? Do you hate forking money over to garages? And how reassured do you feel when your doubts are addressed?

The Copywriter’s World is One Filled With Battle

It’s your copy against the consumer, and his defensive shields are strong — so very strong. Each time you valiantly knock down an argument he’s presented, another flies up, as if the consumer creates them right out of thin air.

Dean Rieck once wrote, “Selling is simply offering the right product to the right people at the right time in the right way. You aren’t forcing your customer to say yes; you’re taking away his reasons to say no.”

The consumer holds all the power, the final decision, the last word. But if you’ve done your job copywriting job well and taken away all his reasons to say no, the only word he’ll have left to say is, “Yes.”

How do you take away his reasons to say no? Here are five ways to do just that:

“I Don’t Need This.”

When people tell you they don’t need something, what they’re really saying is that they don’t want something. There’s a huge difference between need and want.

Take the lowly car, for example. We don’t need more than a basic box with wheels that gets us from A to B, but we consistently buy vehicles that offer far more luxury, bells and whistles — and we pay dearly for them too.

Turn needs into wants. Tell people why they want this. Get down and dirty in desire, play up how much their life will change for the better and let them visualize how fantastic their future will be. You’ll be changing “I don’t need this” into “I want it so bad I can taste it” in no time.

“I Can’t Afford This.”

Let’s face it. When people want something — really, really want something — they find a way to make it happen. They stretch their budgets or go without for a few weeks or tighten the bootstraps until they’re straining. They’ll even go into debt, all just to get what they want.

But you need to make sure they want it, and then you need to make this purchase a priority above other wants they have. Show them the benefits of buying, and convey that the value of what you’re selling is worth the price.

Make the offer too good to pass up. Make it unmistakably clear that turning away now means losing out in the long run. And make it a priority — they can’t afford not to buy.

“Mmm… Maybe Tomorrow.”

If someone’s not feeling the need to check out your offer today, there’s been a misfire on the urgency front. You can guarantee they won’t be back, because out of sight is out of mind. Or, maybe they actually want to think over their decision to be sure it’s the right one for them (which is fine), but leave them thinking too long without following up, and the result is that they just plain forget.

Or something more important comes up. And there’s no money left for you.

Convey the need to consider the offer today. Set a deadline or create scarcity with limited offers. Give rewards for fast action with a special price or an extra-value bonus. And if you can’t do that, drive home what happens to people if they wait — prolonged pain, extended misery and longer unhappiness. Who wants that?!

“I Don’t Really Know Who You Are.”

This really means, “Why should I buy… from YOU?” And this baby is a big one these days, with all sorts of unknown people cropping up as overnight experts without the backup to prove their cocky claims. No one wants to risk wasting money on something that’s not very good or useful.

Show people you’re trustworthy by showing them the credentials, skills, background, history and testimonials they need to believe you know what you’re doing. Downplay the wing and a prayer that got you where you are today, talk up what qualifies you, even if it’s your first sale, and hush up with the expert claims.

Experts don’t need to tell people they’re experts; it shows.

The Value of No

If you don’t get the sales you hoped for and your copy converts horribly, don’t despair. There’s a positive in every negative, which means there’s a yes in every no.

There’s a learning experience in why your potential customer didn’t buy, and you can take the opportunity to climb into your prospect’s head and find out what went wrong. That lets you improve your copywriting, your offer, your business and your sales.

Which means less people say no next time.

So go ahead and find out why people didn’t buy. Send out a survey or even personal emails that say you’d like help so you can improve and offer better products or services. Their feedback is valuable to you, so ask for it. Open your mind to what people tell you, and receive the feedback with a willingness to learn from it.

Be objective, and be respectful of the person’s decision not to buy. You’re not going to change their mind; they’ve said no already, and this isn’t about pushing a sale. It’s simply about learning what didn’t work, and how to make it work better the next time.

Ask people what might have swayed their vote, too. By knowing what might have tipped the scales of sale in your favor, you’ll have a good idea of what to add to your next piece of copy — and you’ll just get better and better.

Five Ways to Turn No into Yes originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.