Archive | January, 2022

At this point I’ve mentioned over and over that you should be building a list with just about every action you take in your business. But, why is it so important?

There are several reasons — some include:

• Frequent, easy contact with list members
• Relationship building
• Future-proofing
• Scalability
• Passive income
• Multiple points of income

Let’s go over each of these points in turn.

Frequent, Easy Contact with List Members

It’s really exciting when someone reads your content, comments on your blog, sees your sales page, checks you out on social media, or buys a product of yours.

It’s great… but what if they forget about you and never take another action again?

What if they only ever buy that ONE product from you because you fall off their radar?

What if they love your blog post but forget about you because they have a million other great blog posts they love?

What if Facebook changes their algorithm so that person who “liked” your page never sees another one of your posts again?

Then, it’s not quite so rosy. It’s as if your readers and customers are slipping through your fingers. You need a way to connect with them and keep up with them. You need a way to stay at the top of their mind.

Getting them on an email list is the best way to do that. Get that Facebook liker on your email list and who cares if Facebook changes their algorithms? Get that blog reader on your email list and let them know when you have new posts… and new promotions. Get that customer on your list and gain a customer for life.

People are more likely to buy from those they know, like, and trust. People are more likely to buy when they’ve been reminded to do so more than once.

Relationship Building

If someone trusts you and already likes what you have to say, they’ll be a lot more likely to buy from you. That sort of thing happens over time… once you have a relationship.

How do you get that relationship? It’s hard to build it if you only every have fleeting contact with a reader or customer.

Get them on your list and it’s a whole new ballgame. When you have someone on your email list, you can send them helpful information. You can answer their questions one on one. You can share things that are going on in your life.

Email is simply more intimate and primed for relationship building. You have to use your list in the right way to make this happen, of course, but it can pay off big time when you do.

Future Proofing

None of us know if Facebook will always be the powerhouse it is today. The same goes for other social media sites. None of us know if Google will rank our sites and blogs well tomorrow or if they’ll fall away to oblivion.

How do you future-proof your business? That’s easy… you build an email list.

Your list is yours. As long as you comply with email marketing rules, you’re free to do what you want with your list. You can email them when you want, port your list to a new autoresponder company, promote what you want, when you want, and so on.

Put your business in your own hands by building an email list and making that a main focus, if not the main focus, of your business.

Scalability

It’s important to have an email list if you want to scale your business up. You’re so busy that it’s more essential than ever before to automate where you can (in the form of a list building funnel and autoresponders, in this case) and pay attention to what really works in your business.

Build a targeted email list of thousands of those desperate for answers and willing to spend money in your niche and I can all but guarantee your success. Having an email list allows you to scale up because you can focus on what’s important and always get your offers and promotions in front of extremely targeted eyeballs.

Passive Income

Having an email list can also help you achieve the dream of passive income. You can set up a squeeze page and make use of traffic methods that will work for you day and night. You can pay for this traffic, write articles, create videos, or whatever works for you.

You can then create a freebie offer that you give away on your squeeze page. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 am, people will get that freebie automatically if they sign up for your list.

You can write a series of autoresponder emails that inform and delight your audience. You can write emails that promote products of yours and products you’re promoting as an affiliate.

Sure, you’ll have to check in and maintain your list, but much of your list building and income generation can happen on autopilot if you set yourself up the right way. This is great for product creators, affiliates, etc.

Multiple Streams of Income

Having an email list helps you develop multiple streams of income. You can earn as an affiliate or product creator. You can strike up great Joint venture deals… people are a lot more likely to work with you if you have a responsive email list.

It doesn’t matter what your main form of income is right now, having a list gives you options. And in a business where things are constantly changing and you have to keep up, adapt, and make sure your eggs aren’t all in one basket, email marketing is key.

Build Your List!

Build your list and you’ll build your freedom. And I mean that sincerely. Make list building a main focus of your business and you’ll be building an asset that allows you to steadily grow your influence, and ability to increase your business income and profits on demand.

I talk regularly about skills that are really important to learn if you want to succeed in internet marketing. But there’s one skill that really stands above the rest – copywriting.

Copywriting is the language of sales. It’s when you use the power of your product combined with an understanding of your market and psychology to make more sales.

Learning to write copy is one of those things that seem to really scare people. They feel like it’s a skill that takes years to learn, or expensive courses, or a certain type of person who was born with the skill. That’s not true at all.

You can learn to write copy.

This is something you should really dedicate yourself to. Ideally, you should be able to write your own sales pages, email copy, squeeze pages, and more. Even if you decide you’d rather hire a copywriter in the end, you should have the ability to write copy, make tweaks to existing copy, and know that the copy you’re using is good.

Why is this so important? Why can’t you just write some words on a page and call it good? After all, your product is good… won’t people see that?

In some cases, yes. If you have a really stellar reputation with your audience then you could possibly make great sales even if you have poor sales copy. But, how will you attract a new audience? How will you make sales from those who aren’t familiar with you? How will you know if a little tweak here or a little tweak there could double or triple your sales?

Being good at writing copy is important. Yes, there are other things (like the relationship you have with your audience) that are very important as well. But, this isn’t something you should resist.

Learning to write copy can even be fun. There’s something really cool about the fact that you have the power to persuade with your words. Write your sales page “this way” and you might convert at 1%. Write your sales page “that way” and you might convert at 5% or even much more.

I think it’s very exciting that you can potentially make little tweaks to words on a page and earn a lot more money from the product you’re promoting.

Now, let’s talk about the fact that so many people are intimidated by this process or think they don’t have what it takes. I think the belief that writing copy is hard comes from the fear of something new. You’ve learned to write articles and reports and this is a different type of writing. It makes sense that you’d be a little intimidated by it.

Another part of the fear might come from the fact that it can cost many thousands of dollars to hire experienced copywriters. If it costs that much to hire a copywriter, what business do you have even attempting to learn how to write copy? There’s clearly a lot to it, right? You think it must be very complicated… (it’s not).

I think it helps to think of copywriting skills as being on a spectrum. At one end you have those who are totally new to this and don’t know how to write copy at all, and may not care to know how to write copy at all.

At the other end you have those who have been writing copy for many years. They’ve taken courses, read books, studied under master copywriters, and have written hundreds or thousands of pieces of copy.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other, though—this is a spectrum. It’s not all or nothing. No, you won’t be a master copywriter after one day’s worth of effort. But you can learn how to craft copy that’s good enough to sell. You won’t be a master copywriter after a few months, but you can craft incredible copy that converts like crazy.

It’s well worth it to learn how to write copy ‘good enough.’ It can help you earn a lot more money in your business. In fact, you might find that you very quickly learn enough to write copy that converts even better than the copy you’ve been paying copywriters for.

After all, you know your product better than the copywriter, and you have more passion for your niche and for your product than the person who’s just doing it for the money.

If nothing else, it’s worth it to learn copy because you’ll earn more money. That’s part of the goal of being in business, right? You want to grow your business.

Good copy persuades people to buy. Good copy does something else that not many people think about—it helps you build connections and relationships with your audience.

You might never meet most of the people who see your copy and buy your product. But, your words will help them feel an instant connection. They’ll instantly feel like you understand them and know exactly what they want and need.

Words are very powerful—especially when you learn how to use them persuasively to make sales. You’ll stand out in your niche because your words have that magic to them that keeps people coming back for more.

If you don’t learn to write copy, you’ll never know what your potential for making sales and connecting with your audience is. You’ll never know how far you can take your business.

If you do learn to write copy, you’ll know how to connect with and persuade your audience. You’ll make more sales and keep people coming back for more.

You’ll be able to more fully understand your audience, which will help you make better decisions for your business overall.

Writing copy doesn’t have to be hard or scary. I hope you’re feeling pretty excited about this journey right now. In other segments, I’ve given you ideas, tips, and strategies for easily writing great copy that converts. It’s up to you to get started and use them. Study great copy in your niche, practice, create swipe files you can refer to when you’re writing.

Get good at writing copy and your audience will be in the palm of your hand. You’ll have a skill not many people are willing to learn. Not many people even understand how important this is to learn. You’re at a huge advantage now, so run with it.

Writing a sales letter can be one of the most intimidating things when it comes to your marketing. It’s enough to make you run for the hills… or pray desperately for the budget needed to hire a good copywriter.

I’m a fan of finding the “easy button” for everything I do. If I ever find something to be challenging, I look for ways to simplify it without losing its impact or magic. It’s the same when it comes to writing sales copy.

Writing sales copy becomes easy once you’ve practiced enough. But I’m also of the mindset that it can be easy for you no matter what stage of the game you’re in. Whether you’re new or just looking for a way to more easily write sales copy, I believe that knowing the components of a sales letter can really help you.

When you break it down, it’s so much less intimidating. You can focus on it bit-by-bit, piece-by-piece. Don’t think of it as writing a big, bad, long, sales letter. Think of it as writing the headline, then writing the intro, then writing some catchy bullet points.

I’m going to break it down for you here. Take these pieces or chunks of a sales letter and start writing. First, draw out what the main benefits of your product are. Really get to know the product inside out. Get to know the audience inside out—what are their most important emotions and desires related to the product? If you know those things, you’ll have a running start when it comes time to fill in the blanks of the sales letter.

The Headline

The headline goes at the start of the sales letter. It’s generally written in larger font in a different color than the rest of the sales letter. Consider that you really only have a few seconds to capture people’s attention before they either stick with you and read the rest of your sales letter or not.

At this point, you should have decided what the main benefit of the product is. Generally, you’ll include the main benefit in your headline. There should be a hook there that will take people through the rest of the sales letter. What’s going to stand out and capture people’s attention? Remember that people are really busy, so it should be something that really stands out and it should be something that really means something to people. Most importantly, it will make people want to keep reading because they’re curious.

The headline might be preceded by a prehead and followed by a post head. These will be in smaller font and complement the header.

There are so many different headline styles that you really have to figure out what works for your niche. Take a look at sales letters you’ve bought from yourself. Take a look at other sales letters in your niche.

The Introduction

Remember that this is a true letter to the people of your audience. So, start your letter the way you would start any letter.

“Dear Friend,”

That works well.

There are many ways to follow that, but you’ll do well to start stirring emotions and connecting with the person. Imagine a typical person in your audience and write directly to them.

Let them know that you know exactly what they’re going through.

The Emotions

Remember to stir those emotions. What’s their biggest need and want? What’s their biggest problem?

It’s important to be personal and follow through with the hook you started in the headline.

The Story

The letter is all about them… but part of the way you can connect with the reader is by sharing your own story. People want to feel like you understand them and have been through something similar.

If you can’t share a story of your own, connect in another way. Talk about the people you’ve talked to or worked with.

People love to read stories they can relate to. Stories are a huge part of the way people connect and understand.

The Hint of a Solution

As you weave your story, talk about the ups and the downs. Start to hint at a solution as part of the journey.

The Solution

Outright say that you have found a solution that has helped you (or the focal point of your story). Make it clear that the reader can absolutely have the same solution you’ve found… and in a better, easier, faster way.

The Product

The product is the solution. Now’s the time to introduce it as such. People who’ve read through your sales letter this far are ready for the solution—present it in a way that will make them salivate.

The Benefits

Hopefully, you’ve pulled out all of the main, important benefits of your product. You’ve highlighted the main, most important benefit in the headline as well as throughout the sales letter.

The Bullet Points

Now, it’s time to point out the other benefits of the product in the form of bullet points. These bullet points will stand out in the sales letter and really get people to take notice.

The Proof

People love proof. You can include proof in the form of testimonials, screenshots, data, and more. Overcome people’s objections with proof.

The Offer

The offer really seals the deal. It should be an offer they can’t refuse. Your offer includes what’s included in the product, bonuses, etc. It might include scarcity and limited time offers. Make the offer so good that they can’t pass it up. It should far surpass the expectations they had while reading through the sales letter.

You can also use this section to make comparisons. What would this be worth if it were being sold by someone else?

The Restatement of the Main Benefit

Re-state the main benefit. Copywriters often restate the headline in a different way. Remind people of why they really shouldn’t pass this offer up.

The Guarantee

If you have a guarantee, and I think you should, make sure to include it. People will often be swayed to purchase if there’s a money back guarantee available.

The Sign Off

Give a personal sign off. Remind people that you really care about their results. You might include a P.S. section. Restate the special offer and the guarantee. Make people feel really secure about what they’re buying.

Remember that people often scroll straight down to the bottom of a sales page so you want to have something really convincing here.

There You Have It!

There you have it! If you analyze popular, high-performing sales letters, then you’ll most likely see that these elements are there. Create an outline for yourself using these elements and then fill in the blanks. You’ll find that it’s easier than ever to write a great, high-converting sales letter even if you’ve struggled with it before.