Archive | February, 2021

Many people think that they need to have all the answers to be successful in any capacity; business wise or in life. While we all require some knowledge, there are some people in the world that have made it without.

That is, without qualifications, studying, school or even full expert knowledge of the field they want to be in. In fact, the majority of the world’s richest people know that they don’t need to have all the answers in order to gain success, and what’s more, they use that to their advantage.

They may have a certain specialism in their field, but using Henry Ford as an example, having a solid team of people who fill out your knowledge gaps is far more important than having all the answers for yourself. Henry Ford was the founder of Ford Motor Cars and was a very wealthy man in his time.

A Chicago paper published some articles after the First World War, claiming that Henry Ford was an “ignorant pacifist”. Mr. Ford rejected the idea that he was ignorant and retaliated by bringing a libel suit against the paper, even taking the not-so-common approach of putting himself on the witness stand to prove that he was in fact, a very clever man with nothing to hide.

The court lawyers asked Mr. Ford a series of pointless general knowledge questions and accused him of being a man who runs a car company with no real knowledge or experience with cars, the industry, academics or mechanics. The answer he gave silenced the court and became a very famous statement…

“If I should really WANT to answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the other questions you have been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my aid men who can answer ANY question I desire to ask concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts. Now, will you kindly tell me, WHY I should clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I require?”

This retort was genius. The fact was – Ford didn’t have all the answers and that was OK. He had instead kept his mind free from clutter and employed experts in their fields to answer his questions while he focused on keeping his company running smoothly. If he needed to know about brakes, he would push the button for that expert, if he needed someone to explain engines to him, he had another. He used the specialized knowledge of others as an external brain to store extra information in and it made him the success he was.

You Too Can Be Like Henry Ford

We now live in the greatest information age of our time. You can Google any question you may have, so without qualifications – we are becoming experts just by searching.

The point is this – do not avoid a certain field or reject a job opportunity or investment because you feel you are not up to scratch, use other experts and research to find out as much as you can about your industry. Knowledge is power. If you think you don’t have it and that’s stopping you from moving forward, find someone who does and get up to speed.

Getting traffic to your squeeze page, website and sales pages is terrific. But if that traffic doesn’t convert, what good is it doing you? Here are 22 proven strategies to get your visitors to do what you want – whether that’s giving you their email address, sharing your content on social media or buying your products.

Before you read the following, allow me to offer 3 words of caution: Empty your cup. Just as a full tea cup can hold no more, a closed mind can’t increase conversions.

Imagine 3 people read this article. The first person says, “I’ve heard some of these before,” and dismisses the entire list. But is he doing these things? No. Are his conversions increasing? No. The second person reads this list and says, “These won’t work.” Again, her cup is full and her conversions never improve. The third person? Is you. You read through these and say, “That’s a good idea, yeah, I’ve been meaning to do that. I’m glad for the reminder.”

And then you get busy. Think your conversions will improve? Absolutely.

Let’s get started…

→ Use testimonials and case studies. A lot. Don’t just have a section for testimonials – work them into your copy, into your videos, everywhere.

→ If you don’t have testimonials and case studies, get some. Even if it means giving your product or service away or at a steep discount.

→ Use a guarantee. Or two. Or three. What sounds better, “If you’re not happy, you get your money back” or “You are 100% covered by our TRIPLE guarantee.”

→ Don’t make your guarantee contingent on anything but their satisfaction. Don’t say, “When you do every step in the program exactly as outlined, we guarantee you will get x results.” Instead, tell them if they so much as don’t like the font, they are fully covered. This takes all the fear away. Yes, refunds may increase slightly. But sales will increase even more.

→ Give them an ongoing bonus. Refunds do affect your true conversion rate, so reduce refunds by offering a terrific bonus that they get only if they don’t refund. For example, a valuable year-long membership can work well.

→ Use action verbs. Instead of, “Get yours today,” say, “Grab yours” “Reserve yours” or “Claim yours today.”

→ Reaffirm the sale repeatedly. Write an autoresponder sequence that kicks in after the sale. Each email should reaffirm how smart they were to buy the product, provide testimonials and show them something about the product they may have missed. “Did you see the trick in video 4 on how to get your mother-in-law to stop harping on you? Sally Smith used this exact technique and here’s what happened…”

→ On opt-in forms, use as few fields as possible. If you can just ask for their email address and first name, do it. If you need more info, consider asking for it later.

→ Use a two part opt-in. The first page announces the bonus and has a button to grab their copy. They click the button and it takes them to the second page where they put in their email address. These almost always out-perform one page opt-ins.

→ Pay a graphic designer to create a professional looking cover. Whether you’re giving away a book or selling a course, your cover should look as good as a New York Times Best Seller. If it does, your conversions will increase – sometimes dramatically.

→ Test and retest possible headlines. Sure, you’ve heard it before. But how many headlines have you tested on your squeeze page? Your sales page? It’s possible there is a headline that will literally double or even triple your conversions – you just need to find it.

→ Use video. On landing pages and sales pages, have a short, simple video showing that there is indeed a real live person behind the brand.

→ Create dedicated landing page for… everything. You’re doing a guest blog post? Create a page that says, “Welcome readers of ABC blog.” You’re running a PPC ad? Create a dedicated page that perfectly matches what the ad said.

→ Include subscriber or social media follower counts. Anytime you can provide positive social proof, you’ll increase conversions. That said, if you have 5 followers or 10 subscribers, wait until your numbers are more impressive to share them with the world.

→ Use strong, clear calls to action. Never assume they’ll fill out the form if you don’t tell them to.

→ Lose the hype and “get real.” Customers can spot hype a mile away. So instead of “BUY THIS NOW,” try, “If you want (benefit) then I’ve found ABC product works well.” Then tell them why it’s not for everyone.

→ Prevent them from comparison shopping. Let them know that your product has no competition because you do things or offer things no one else does. (Do this only if it’s true. If it’s not true, make it true.)

→ Get visitors excited. Use emotionally charged language, tell stories and create desire. Get visitors eager to have your product or service.

→ Don’t use boring generic images. You know the ones – a stick figure at a computer, 4 people in suits sitting around a table, a lightbulb, etc. Use interesting images that capture attention and make the visitor look twice.

→ Test a single column layout. MECLabs tested having a sidebar versus not having a sidebar. The version with only one column won – and generated an astonishing 681% increase in conversions. But further tests showed this is not always the case – thus the need for testing it on your own pages.

→ Include headshots on your webpages. Again you want to show there is a real person behind the brand.

→ Spend serious time crafting your “about me” page. Include your bio, come across as a real person, include plenty of contact info, and talk about what you want to help the reader accomplish. Done right, your “about me” page can be your greatest selling tool.

Pick out exactly 3 and write them down. Do one of them today, one tomorrow and the third on the following day.

Then pat yourself on the back, because you’ve just done more to increase your conversions than 95% of marketers out there.

Sometimes the shortest path to your next great internet marketing idea can be found in the annals of public relations history. I’ve sorted through 100 different PR stunts to bring you the most inspiring and entertaining exploits to stimulate your thinking and give you that one great idea you’re searching for.

1929 – Torch of Freedom anyone?

There was a time when it was not socially acceptable for women to smoke cigarettes in public, because it wasn’t considered ‘lady-like.’

So in 1929 Edward Bernay, one of the fathers of PR, got good looking women to light up cigarettes in New York’s Easter Parade, and he hired photographers to send the photos to news outlets around the world. He also renamed cigarettes “Torches of Freedom” for the women’s liberation movement. Sales of cigarettes to women skyrocketed.

How can we use this? First, if it appears that your product is being used by others, then prospects are more likely to buy it. It’s social proof, and it can be highly effective. Second, take great care when naming your product. Would you smoke a cancer stick, coffin nail or lung buster? Of course not. But if you were a woman in 1929, or even 1990 when they revived the ‘torches of freedom’ name, you might very well smoke it.

1986 – Human chain for charity

More than 7 million people across 16 states made a human chain to raise money for the hungry and homeless. Even President Reagan joined in, with everyone paying $10 for their spot in the chain. (Do the math!)

How can we use this? With social media, it would be easier than ever to organize something like this to raise money. Your website would of course be the sponsor. Imagine the free publicity! Tie it to a current event, such as relief for a natural disaster.

1996 – Taco Bell buys Liberty Bell

Taco Bell took out a New York Times ad that stated, “Taco Bell Buys the Liberty Bell.” The ad explained that they were renaming the historic landmark the, “Taco Liberty Bell.” The publicity was enormous as people rushed to complain. By noon Taco Bell admitted it was an April Fool’s joke. Over a thousand media outlets covered the story, and millions of dollars in additional sales were generated over the next two days.

How can we use this? The possibilities are endless. You can spread your ‘news’ on the internet or actually take out an ad like Taco Bell did, or both. You might announce that your website has just purchased a historic landmark, or is going to do something at a landmark (leap the Grand Canyon on your brand of vacuums?) or declare national naked day or whatever your imagination inspires you do to. The trick is to tie it to your brand like Taco Bell did.

1998 – Burger King announces left handed Sandwich

How people fell for this one I don’t know. Burger King announced they’d redesigned the Whopper to make a version better suited to the needs of left handed people. It was of course an April Fool’s joke, but that didn’t stop 32 million Americans from going to Burger King that day.

How we can use this – a website for left handed people? Tall people? Red-headed people? How about your products – maybe you can modify them to suit a special group of people. For example (and I’m being serious for a moment) you could take your marketing course and tailor it just to chiropractors, just to dentists, just to plumbers, etc.

And in a humorous April 1st mode of thinking, you might claim to alter your books for dyslexics, swapping the words around so when they’re read by dyslexics they come out right. Make sure you’re on the correct side of political correctness if you try something like this.

1999 – Half.com buys town for $100,000, sells company for $300 million

Half.com paid a small town in Oregon, called Halfway, to change its name to Half for one year. They gave the town of Half $100,000 and a package of other financial subsidiaries. The publicity on this exploded, and shortly thereafter Ebay bought the company for $300 million.

How we can use this – obviously most of us can’t afford $100,000 to buy a town for a year, although if we could, the return on investment could be mind boggling if Half.com’s experience is any indication.

You might pick out a very, very small town – Ideally one that isn’t even incorporated – and offer some kind of package (perhaps a marketing package to tourists?) If they will change their name to your website url. The key here is of course the free publicity, not only for your site but also for the town itself. And you can always offer a piece of the pie to the town should you sell your site for big bucks due to the free coverage you receive.

2000 – BA Can’t Get It Up

British Airways sponsored the London Eye (the ferris wheel) but they had an issue getting the wheel up. After several attempts while the press was watching, BA had a plane fly over with a banner that read, “BA can’t get it up,” turning a PR nightmare into a good laugh.

How we can use this – when everything is going wrong, find a way to laugh at yourself and others won’t mind. And more specifically, next time your site is down, go ahead and email your list and tell them you can’t get it up. They’ll enjoy a good laugh and they won’t soon forget you or your site.

2008 – Shreddies Goes from Squares to Diamonds

Shreddies – a 70 year old breakfast cereal – got people talking about their product again when they turned their square cereal 45 degrees. This was the “new and improved Shreddies,” and tons of positive feedback poured in. Customers even reported the diamonds tasted better than the squares.

How we can use this – rename your products, rename features on your products, put a new spin on something old… seriously this one should set your brain on fire with possibilities.

If tongue-in-cheek claiming that a cereal has changed shape by rotating it 45 degrees can create an influx of free PR and boost sales, imagine what you can do.

2012 – Pretending to Get Publicity

Ryan Holiday tried to get free press simply as a joke. He used Help a Reporter Out to find reporters needing experts for their stories. Then he made up whatever the reporters wanted to know, resulting in his being featured in numerous articles and news stories. His goal? Simply to get his name out there.

How we can use this – if Holiday could get publicity for fake purposes, imagine what you can do with your legitimate expertise. Get registered on HARO and then look for reporters who need exactly the kind of information you can supply them with. And if you can add in a little humor into your interviews, all the better.

There you have it – 8 crazy PR stunts that worked like a charm. Start small, think out of the box, and don’t be afraid to try something new, silly or charming. The worst that could happen is nobody notices. But you might just get free publicity for your business, an influx of new subscribers and customers and a day in the spotlight.