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Okay, now I’m going to tell you something about hooks that you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere else.

The “hook” or the “Big Idea” is one of the ways we get people to read our ads.

To keep my prospect reading, I use lots of “micro-hooks” to keep them engaged with my salesletter.

People are by and large curious. And I like to use that fact to my advantage when writing salescopy.

In fact, when things are left incomplete, people feel downright uncomfortable at least until the loop is completed and closure is brought about.

This is basic human psychology and in marketing, you use this psychology to your advantage.

My pal Mark Joyner is a master of this. He calls it the Zeigarnik Effect.

When I wrote his copy for the 7 Day Business Turnaround… I used this technique a lot.

Wany an example?

I was explaining the exact 4 steps involved in a business turnaround.

then…

“That’s it. Pretty simple… at least on the outside. With that strategy alone, you could engineer a turnaround. If you know the tactics to accomplish each step, my work is done here. Go forth and execute. If you don’t… keep reading to uncover your answer. Okay, seems pretty simple doesn’t it?”

But the beauty of that micro-hook was the fact people didn’t know the details to execute the strategy.

So I told them to continue reading the letter if they wanted more info.

Do you think that got a few people curious?

You bet it did, because if they were in need of a business turnaround, they HAD TO KNOW THE ANSWER.

How about another sample…

A little ways further down in the salescopy, I explained how turnarounds worked.

Then I wrote:

“That’s the process for your 7 Day Turnaround. It’s the same thing a Fortune 500 would do, just made so bloody simple a 2nd grade teacher could do it (more about that in a minute)”

Whoa nelly!

How in the world could anyone resist something that simple?

And the words “more on that in a minute” literally hooked them into reading until they found out!

I suggest you all go get that letter and read it through and look for all of the tiny little “micro hooks.”

It’s a fantastic lesson on keeping people engaged in your advertising.

One more thing….

Make sure you close the loop on the “micro-hook”.

If you don’t give them what you said you would… they won’t trust you. And that kills your sales.

If you don’t, they’ll still be mentally processing the open loop, and that kind of mind isn’t ready to buy, because those little things will drive them crazy.

But of course, you do want them to feel like the whole answer cannot be fulfilled until they buy your product

Most Internet marketers do not realize the importance of building a huge opt-in mailing list. They figure it is good enough to be making affiliate sales from their website. If you fail to build an opt-in mailing list, you will lose a large percentage of potential customers.

The purpose of building a list of your website visitors is to help you maintain contact with them and develop a relationship with them. Your mission in doing this is to turn as many as you possibly can into your customers. It has been said, and rightly so, that your list is the most valuable asset in your online business. With your list being that important, here are some tips that will make building a quality list possible.

* Offer an incentive, when possible, for people to leave their email address. This is one of the best ways to get people to sign into your list. I like to offer a special report or free Internet marketing training. For optimum results, it is essential to give them something for signing into your list. This tip alone can easily double the number of sign-ups you have.

I see so many people trying to build list with no offering of any kind for opting in. This is a big mistake. Incentives are to easy to create. It just doesn’t make sense not to offer one. Anything with a high perceived value that you offer free will help boost opt-ins by 100% or more. I’ve tried many ways of list building and I can assure you that offering incentives will give you a far superior result.

* Include a clearly written privacy policy. In all likely-hood, the main reason people refuse to leave their contact information is because they are afraid of being spammed. This has been a huge problem on the Internet for years. No one likes spam. If people have any reason to suspect that you will share their email address with others they will usually not let you have it. Give them a rock solid guarantee that you will not share their email address with anyone. This will put to rest the worries of people wanting to avoid spam. At one point I did not have a clearly defined privacy policy, however, after I added one I saw a 61% increase in the number of opt-ins I was receiving. Simple things like this can make a huge difference.

* Create multiple, tightly targeted lists. Very few comprehend the power of this tactic. By offering multiple lists on one site you drastically increase the chances of people finding something that interests them enough to sign up for. One of the lists could be for general updates, another could include tips your market would find useful, while another could be a monthly newsletter. No matter which option they choose you get their email address.

Think about what lists your market might be interested in, then offer those options on your site. A website visitor may have no interest in your generic mailing list but have a much greater interest in your newsletter. If you had not provided multiple options that person would have signed up for nothing. Usually three options are enough. If your visitors have not found something that interests them after three choices they are generally not worth going after.

* Make all your lists double opt-in. Providing for a double opt-in requires that people first sign up on your site, and then activate their subscription via a confirmation email. Doing this will take away any chance of being labeled a spammer and you will be able to show proof that people actually did requested your emailed information.

Additionally, double opt-in will give your a significantly higher quality list of readers, as opposed to those from the singe opt-in method. The reason is because since these people are interested in your offer enough to verify with the confirmation email, they tend to be much more serious about what you offer. If that is the case, they will be much more responsive to your offers compared to those who sign up for your list on a whim. A high quality list is critical to making sales.

By putting the tips mentioned here into use you would be able to build a large, high quality list in a short amount of time. I have used all of these methods and they work very well. I am confident that they will work for you as well.

One of the biggest mistakes made by business people is operating with prejudice based on ignorance. In the crucial areas of sales and marketing, this mistake is made most often by neglecting the absolute most effective vehicle for obtaining new customers and reigniting the interest of existing ones. An important mentor of mine, Dan Kennedy calls it “writing your own check”. This vehicle is known commonly as a sales letter.

By definition a sales letter is something in print that is meant to influence someone to buy your product. Without getting caught up in formality, a sales letter just has to work to earn the title of good sales letter. Most businesses never get around to even writing a bad one.

Fail to use the awesome power of well done advertising copy at your own risk. Don’t be concerned about formality or following the herd of how it “should” be done. Just adopt the mindset that even bad copy is ok because it can be made great, often with minor changes.

To get started: Go to the nearest library and pick up a pile of magazines from the popular genres. The areas you are most interested in are sports, fitness, health, fashion, and entertainment. Pick a specific category within the genre and then a more general one. In the area of health and fitness, pick up Men’s Health and then more specifically one dealing only with getting bulky through weightlifting. Read through them and focus on the ads.

The sales letters are often full or half page. They sometimes can be half page. Many times they offer a free written or audio material when you get in touch with them. You’ll notice that the sales letter focuses heavily on the service or product offered and not at all on the company name. It is an unfortunate false perception that the big corporations are masters of advertising. In reality, most have not clue about how to draft or use a good sales letter.

When you find really good sales copy you’ll know it. You’ll know it because it is interesting in that it makes you interested in the thing they are selling. Mark it with page tag and go get two or three of the previous issues of that magazine. If the ad is in there again, it is safe to say that it likely has been a success.

The strategy of the big boys who throw their money around on the expensive ads is mass marketing to a mass market based on branding using singing polar bears and football playing frogs or whatever. It is highly likely that they have no idea of the ultimate effect of the millions spent. That’s fine, they have that luxury in many cases. For the purposes of bringing your product or service to everyday people with choices, you need to bring them benefit and make it real clear up front what that benefit is.

Strategy #2 is to provide your unique benefit to your customer. You want to answer the question: “Why should I be doing business with you and not others offering the same product or service. What is it can you do for them? Always keep that question in mind in creating winning advertising copy.

It is likely that you have heard about the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and the power of a good one. Billionaire philanthropist Tom Monaghan turned Domino’s Pizza into the goliath we see today with this USP: “Fresh Hot Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or Less, Guaranteed.”

A billion dollar empire ensued. With that USP, and the guts to try to back it up on a mass scale, Domino’s eventually had the big boys racing to catch up.

Strategy #1 was skipped intentionally? So what is it?

Well, the order is backwards in the article because rule #1 is to have a good headline. But learning how to do a sales letter means understanding what one is and that means a commitment to learn. Headlines are a topic for a future article.

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches in a homey, diner-like atmosphere here in Coeur d’ Alene Idaho can only be found at Franklin’s Hoagies. The food is always hot but the conversation is smokin’ hot!

It’s always a fun and satifying lunch. And the star of the show is the proprietor, Larry.

Larry has a personality the size of Texas. And funny enough, you love him… or hate him. There’s not much in between. (Although MOST of the folks there love him.) But the guy can polarize the room pretty quick.

He always has an opinion, even if you don’t care about it - or agree with it. And if you disagree, even better. Need to know why the cost of gas is so high? Ask Larry. Who to vote for? Larry will tell you. He’ll hop up on his soapbox and give you a pitch on any subject.

And the best part is… even if you don’t agree, he doesn’t get too in your face. In fact, he’s still your pal.

Just about every day… his place is packed to the gills. And they come there for Larry as much as the food! Just take a peek at his sign in the window (it reveals a lot about Larry.) It says

“Come on in and eat something before we both starve!”

Now there’s a lesson all you copywriters and online marketers can learn from Larry. He’s been in business almost 1/3 of a century… so it’s a good lesson.

Ready?

How many advertisements have you seen today? 100? 200? More? Do you see much personality in them?

Almost none, right?

But I’m sure the ads with the most are easily remembered than some corporate schtick. If you want to make your advertising more memorable, inject a little personality. Don’t be afraid to polarize your audience. In fact, I’d prefer to cull the herd early on and make a stronger statement from the get-go because the readers who remain will be more receptive to my message.

I have an old saying

“If you try to be everything to everybody, you’ll end up being nothing to nobody!”

Ummm… ok. Maybe that wat what my grandpa used to say… But the point is inject personality into your email marketing, website copy, even opt-in pages. Once you do, you’ll build more loyalty, sales and word of mouth than you ever dreamed. That’s a fact jack.

When you develop a percieved relationship, you may be shocked because

People love to buy from friends.

Most people live quiet, dull lives. You advertising can bring them some excitement! A relationship will be built. And when it is, you’ve built a fanatical customer base.

Just try it and see. I’m not making this up… look around at some of the personalities online. Guy’s like Matt Furey clean up with this technique. Now you can too.

The number one thing most Internet marketers need is traffic. Without traffic how would you make any sales? It doesn’t matter how great your website is. You could have the best headline and ad copy in the world, but without a sufficient amount of traffic you will not do very well. This article is going to reveal simple strategies that can be put into effect immediately. These are proven methods for getting targeted traffic flowing to your site.

Write articles. This is an often underutilized method of traffic generation, especially by internet marketing beginners, that does more than just bring traffic to your website. It positions you as an expert and builds trust in your prospects’ minds. The value of this is often underestimated. People have to trust you or value your opinion if they are going to order from you or join your “team.” People will pass you by if they don’t first feel comfortable with you and respect your opinions. Submitting articles is a great way to “break the ice”.

Here is what to do. Write a series of articles relating to your particular market. Submit two articles per week to major article sites such as ezinearticles.com or goarticles.com. At the bottom of the article is an area that is referred to as the “resource” area. You can have a signature (or bio) in that area. You can include information about your website and include a link to your webpage. If people value the information you offer, they will click the link and be taken to your website. This is why it is extremely important to provide useful, high quality information. People will only want to visit your website if you give them something of value first.

Exchange links with popular sites. This method is effective in several ways. First, you will get traffic and increase search engine ranking through the links that are posted on other sites. Also, as additional websites link to your site, your search engine rankings begin to rise. This can be a significant source of traffic. Showing up on the first few page in major search engines for your keywords can bring you hundreds or thousands of visitors per month.

Here is how to get links to your site. Find sites that are similar in theme to your website. Inquire about the possibility of doing a link exchange with you. In your communications with them, paste a link to their page that you are displaying on your website. Now the ball is in their court. They will do one of two things, either accept your offer or not. If they refuse to do an exchange with you remove their link from your site.

Use Pay Per Click advertising. Pay Per Click costs money but it can be a dynamic way to coral highly targeted traffic to your site. If you are careful to choose the right keywords and make intelligent bidding choices it can prove to be a very cost effective and useful tool. Google Adwords and Overture are the two most popular Pay Per Click companies. However, Yahoo and MSN offer pay per click advertising as well, and often for less cost per click. To get the most out of Pay Per Click you need to be armed with at least a fundamental amount of knowledge. I suggest buying a book or ebook on the subject before starting a campaign.

Submit videos to video sites. Making and posting Videos to Youtube of the best ways to get yourself “found” on the internet. Good quality videos can also be made with the most basic equipment. For instance, you can use a small digital camera that has a movie mode or an inexpensive webcam. You can also make videos from still pictures. So you actually can do videos without a movie camera at all! Processing your movie can be done using a free video editing program that is part of your Windows operating system.

Here is what to do. Make a video about your product or opportunity. Upload your video to Youtube and give it a catchy title and description based on it’s content. There are some things you can do with the title and description to make sure that it is seen by as many people as possible. For instance, make sure to do some keyword research and use those keywords or “tags” that laser target the audience that you want to reach. I could go on about that but that is a subject for another article. For now, learn from others that are already on Youtube. Take a look at the descriptions and tags on highly viewed videos and “learn” from them!

While any one of the traffic generating strategies mentioned above can make a difference in your marketing efforts, I suggest using all of them. Doing this will give you more traffic in the shortest timeframe. The more you put into the methods discussed in this article the better they will work.

What’s the real reason that people buy your product or service? Because they recognize that your product or service is going to help them. It’s going to make their life easier, or will save them money, or let them rest a little easier in some way. And while your fancy website looks great, and is probably appreciated, the bottom line is that it’s not going to solve their issue.

One really good way to discover all of the benefits that your product or service has to offer is to write down

“Someone would want to buy my product or service because…”

now, just start to list the benefits. Like this.

“They can drop some weight”

“They can get healthier”

“They can look better in their clothes”

Finished? Ok, now take each of those benefits and DIG out THEIR benefits. Like this

“People buy my product so that they can lose weight”

“So they can look better”

“So they will be in better physical shape”

“So they can get more dates”.

Repeat the process again and again. Keep digging.

This is a great way to make sure you’ve uncovered as many benefits as possible that your target market is interested in. Don’t leave any out. You never know what a particular person is looking for.

In order for your ad or copy to be effective, you need to get into the head of your client or prospect. You need to enter the conversation that they’re already having in their mind. They need to know that finally, you’re offering them a solution!

Copywriting is writing for business, and it’s a very well paid form of writing. Can you write copy?

If you can write an email message that makes sense, and which gets the results you want, you can write excellent copy with a little practice. Your skill with grow with time.

But what do copywriters write? Here are five forms to get you started.

1. Write brochures - great income for 200 words

Brochures are short. Some brochures contain just a tagline, a short description, and information on how to respond. Some businesses produce brochures for hundreds of products - think of realtors, and manufacturers.

2. Overviews or white papers are fundamental in business to business

In some of the business to business markets, especially for high-priced items, executive overviews or white papers are primary sales tools. These are information-packed documents, and copywriters write them.

White papers vary in length, from five to many pages, depending on the information they provide; they’re a subtle form of selling.

3. Businesses need press releases to get free publicity

Businesses small and large hire copywriters to write press releases, with the hope of getting coverage in major newspapers and magazines, and even on television. So if you get some practice writing press releases, you can become a PR copywriter.

There’s a strict format for a press release; you can find this format in a book on PR at your library, as well as online.

4. Performance copywriting - write radio spots

Many copywriters write for the audio visual media: radio and TV. It’s easy to break in to radio advertising, especially in smaller cities.

When you’re writing for listeners, you must remember that people can’t go back and reread something they missed. If they don’t get the point of a radio spot, the energy and money which went into producing it are gone forever.

Tape as much radio advertising as you can, and then practice. Writing radio spots is easy once you get the hang of it.

5. Write taglines - short slogans

Most taglines or slogans are short: five to ten words long, and often a tagline will come to you as an inspiration.

I know one new copywriter who launched a whole career when he wrote a tagline for a store. The store owner loved the tagline so much he introduced the copywriter to the head of an advertising agency.

Copywriters are in huge demand. As a freelance copywriter, you’ll need to decide what kind of copywriting services you can offer your clients.

The services you can offer include writing many different forms of copy, depending on your clients’ needs. Because your copy will directly impact your clients’ cash flow, you can charge highly for your services.

Here are several kinds of copywriting services you could offer your clients:

1. Marketing and advertising copy

Marketing copywriting involves writing many different kinds of advertising and other promotional materials for companies.

The types of marketing services you could offer include Web sites and brochures, as well as radio and television advertising - writing scripts.

2. Direct marketing copy - lucrative, and specialized

Direct marketing copywriting involves writing sales copy: it’s salesmanship via the written word. Many copywriters specialize in writing direct marketing copy.

A direct marketing sales package will include the sales letter, as well as other copy for the mailers, and often follow up letters too. Many copywriters, when creating direct sales packages, prefer to accept a royalty on the total sales made by the package.

3. Writing copy for the Web world - endless opportunities

Web copywriting involves many different forms of copywriting, from simple text ads, to entire Web sites. As a Web copywriter, you’ll be tasked with writing material like blogs and ezines, and well as all forms of product advertising.

4. Public Relations copywriting: you’re a spin doctor

Public relations copywriters write material like company backgrounders, bios of company principals, and of course press campaigns. A public relations campaign for a company’s new offering can take months, so many PR copywriters are on retainer.

As more companies appreciate the benefits of online Public Relations, the frequency with which they release press releases has been stepped up. Press releases offer a way to attract new clients, as well as keep current clients informed.

In these four areas, we’ve only just scratched the surface of the many different kinds of copywriting services you can offer you clients. As you can see, copywriting is never boring.

Hiring a freelance copywriter can be one of the most profitable investments you can make for your business. That’s provided you know how to find the right one for your needs. Here are four things to make sure you look for.

Let’s jump in right away…

1. Communication - Working with a freelance copywriter who is able to communicate well is one of the most important traits you should look for. Without clear communication skills, your entire promotion could be doomed.

Can your copywriter communicate with you? Can they communicate with your employees? Can they communicate well when things go right and when things go wrong?

Of all of the hiccups I’ve had with clients in my own copywriting business, the vast majority of them have been a symptom of poor communication.

2. Accountability - If your promotion should fail, will your copywriter accept responsibility for his fair share of the result? Or will his first response be to point the finger at you, your product, your market or your business?

When you are interviewing potential freelance copywriters, always make sure you ask them to tell you about previous successes as well as previous failures. How they talk about the failures will tell you a lot.

3. Marketing Mindset and the Ability to SELL - The bottom line is, any freelance copywriter who is successful knows how to sell. What you’re looking for is a freelance copywriter who is able to take a product and position it in the best possible light for your prospects. After all, that’s really what this is about. Selling your stuff.

One of the best ways to get an idea about how well your copywriter is able to sell is to pay close attention to how they sell YOU when they’re trying to win your business.

4. Writing Skills - Of course your freelance copywriter should be good with words. But it’s not the most important thing to look for when you’re out searching for someone to hire.

Who wants to work with a writer who is a jerk, who can’t accept responsibility, who can’t sell, who can’t even communicate? That’s not a recipe for a profitable relationship.

Hiring a freelance copywriter can be one of the best investments you make in your business. Just get the information you need to make the best decision for your business and your needs.

Starting an online business can be tough. One major obstacle for business owners is the issue of payment. Some businesses open a merchant account to handle payments. But what can you do if you can’t get, or can’t afford, a merchant account?

Good news! There are ways of accepting credit card payments without having a merchant account. I’ll share two of those methods with you.

I’ve added a third solution to this list. This is for those who really want to establish a merchant account, but may have problems because of a spotty credit history (or other reasons). This solution can help for almost everyone starting out in business.

These three solutions can help solve your payment problems:

Clickbank. For a small sign-up fee (about $50, I think), you can accept payments for your digitally-delivered products using any major credit cards, or even e-checks. You don’t handle the transaction, or even the payment. Clickbank does it all, takes a percentage and just sends you a check. How’s that for convenient? Some people think that Clickbank’s fees are a little high, but if you consider all the services they provide: taking the payment, handling refunds, handling your affiliate program, sending you checks, sending your affiliate’s checks, doing all the bookkeepingI think it’s a fair trade.

PayPal. It has been proven that having PayPal on your sales page boosts conversions. If you offer PayPal as a payment option, you will make more sales. Also, just like Clickbank, they handle the whole payment transaction for you. People can pay with any major credit card through PayPal. They don’t even need to have a PayPal account! Many people don’t realize that, but it’s true!

PowerPay. So you still want a real merchant account, not a work-around like Clickbank or PayPal? You may still qualify for a merchant account, even if your credit is spotty or you have been turned down before. Visit this site: PowerPay at http://ipowerpay.com - The best Merchant Account for online Marketers. Judd Smith and his people at PowerPay have experience with online marketers. Contact them to discuss your merchant account today.

With all these options, you don’t have to be scared to set up your merchant account. These simple solutions can get you ready to collect payments online, quickly and easily!