The Info Examiner

What’s the most important part of your web site?

Successful online entrepreneurs work on their headlines all the time — they’re short, they don’t take a lot of time, and nothing improves your sales faster than a better headline. In fact, in one of our own tests, we found that rewriting our headline increased sales overnight by 714%!

Your headline is literally the “do or die” part of your site — a good headline can turn thousands of visitors into customers and a bad one can drive them away in a matter of seconds.

After all, your headline is the first thing people see when they come to your site, and more people will read it than any other part of your sales letter.

So how can you create a headline that will grab each visitor’s attention in just seconds… and convince them to keep reading? You need a headline that works, and works fast.

Six Secret Formulas You Can Use to Create High-Voltage Headlines
Effective headlines follow simple, proven formulas. They work, and more importantly, it’s easy to make them work for you. Think of these formulas as “fill in the blanks” tools — just plug in the benefits your own product or service provides, tweak the copy to suit your site, and you’ll have a personalized, effective headline.

How-to Statements: “How to TRIPLE Your Income in Three Simple Steps!”

How-to headlines work because the Internet is all about people looking for information. Headlines that start with “How to…” are made for people who want to learn. They get your customers’ attention and compel them to read on to find the information you’ve promised.

Commands: “Submit Your Web Site to the Top 200 “Big Player” Search Engines — Automatically!”

A command headline focuses on the most important benefit your product or service has to offer. It instantly demands your potential customers’ attention and tells them what they will find if they keep reading.

News: “Incredible New Pill Burns Off Body Fat While You Sleep!”

News headlines build excitement around new products or services and show your readers how they can benefit from them.

Questions: “Are You Sick of Being Ripped Off by Sleazy Car Salesmen?”

Question headlines are very effective because they appeal to our emotions. When people read a headline written as a question, they answer the question in their mind. If the question identifies a specific problem that your target audience is actively seeking answers for, they’ll be sure to read on.

Testimonials: “Emily S. Needed Her Kids to Turn On Her Computer — Now Her Web Site Makes $7,000 Every Month!”

A testimonial can establish credibility by showing how people just like your customers benefited from your product and are happy with the results… and how they can benefit too!

Personal Success Stories: “Learn EXACTLY How I Made $16,000 Overnight With This One Simple Strategy!”

A personal story is proof that your product or system works, and that you have the expertise to show others how to get the same results.
Three Common Mistakes That Can Sabotage Your Headline!
Many people have trouble with headlines. If you have put time and effort into creating a headline that sells but you’re still not satisfied with the results, then chances are, you are making at least one of these three common mistakes that ruin the effectiveness of headlines all across the Internet!

Mistake Number One: It doesn’t explain what’s in it for them.

Your headline needs to instantly communicate the biggest benefit of your product that attracts the most attention of your visitors — you need to let them know as soon as you can what’s in it for them. That’s the only way to get them to read your carefully constructed sales copy!

It is crucial that you understand the difference between a benefit and a feature. A feature is something that your product does. For example, Mailloop e-mail management software can automate your customer service, send personal e-mails thanking customers for their orders, schedule follow-up e-mails automatically, and manage all your e-mail lists and newsletter subscribers. These are just a few of its basic features, or what the product is designed to do.

The benefits are the potential rewards a person would receive from using those features. Some of the benefits of Mailloop include: increased profits from repeat customers, more word-of-mouth referrals due to professional and personal communications, hundreds of hours no longer wasted replying to individual e-mails, and many others…

Mistake Number Two: There’s no incentive to read more.

The number-one most popular reason people go online (after checking e-mail) is to find information. Your target audience has a particular problem, so you need to offer them a solution to that problem. Promise them the answers they’re looking for — right in your headline!

Make sure your headline offers a compelling reason to find out more. Studies show that if people don’t find something that interests them in the first ten seconds or less on your site, they WILL leave — so grab their attention in those first few seconds with a powerful headline!

Mistake Number Three: It’s too hard to read.

Remember that “10 Second Rule?” Readers need to be able to absorb your headline as quickly as possible. For this, readability is crucial.

First of all, everyone needs to be able to see your headline instantly. It has to be big enough for your visitors to see, but small enough to read.

Black text on a white background has been proven time and time again to work best. Don’t let your visitors be annoyed by too many fonts, images, and colors.

That said, the main words you want to emphasize can be highlighted with bold, italics, or color — just keep it limited to one extra color.

Also try to create a good balance on your page. Too much white space will look empty, but too much text will look crowded. As long as it’s easy to read, people will read it!

Headline Clinic: How to Rewrite Your Headline for MAXIMUM Results!
Ineffective headlines are everywhere and they’re driving away customers every day. Let’s look at one and rewrite it using our powerful new headline writing secrets.

Men’s Barbering Services performed by Philadelphia’s #1 Image Consultant and Grooming Expert! Unique, personalized, and by-appointment only. My GUARANTEE to you is that you will NEVER wait for service! You’ll leave here, looking and feeling great!

There are several problems with this headline. In fact, it’s making all three of the most common mistakes.

First of all, there’s also no clear benefit to the customer, other than not having to wait, and that’s not exactly thrilling stuff. Since the writer is an image consultant, he needs to provide a benefit associated with improving your image.

Mistake number two is that there’s no reason or incentive to read more.

And third, the blocky text and dark background make it unattractive and difficult to read.

We wanted to make the headline easier to read and show concrete benefits for the customer. Here’s what the improved version looks like:

“How to create a professional, confident, sexy image that commands respect and attention - and draws women, money, and success to you like flies to honey!”

The improved version has a key benefit — women, money, and success — highlighted in yellow. It’s written in a “How to” statement that excites curiosity and lists several desirable results (respect and attention from looking so professional, confident, and sexy) emphasized with an underline, red text, and italics. This headline really pops now!

Final Thoughts

If your headline is not working, then it just doesn’t matter how good the rest of your web site is. You may have the best sales copy in the world but if people don’t get drawn in by your headline, they won’t read it! Your headline is your first — and best — chance to “hook” people into your sales process. It needs to motivate visitors to read your sales copy, so you need to make sure it’s exciting.

Don’t be afraid to do a little online legwork. Surf the web and try to find as many headlines as you can and see how they measure up to these key points.

If you find yourself halfway through reading someone else’s sales copy when you were just looking for good headlines, go back and look closely at the headline. The headline worked on you and got you to read more, so try to analyze why. Keep testing and learning and soon enough, “You Too Can Increase Your Sales By 714% In 24 Hours Or Less — Guaranteed!”

If you want to skip the failing actions and get a
personal tour of REAL PEOPLE making
REAL PROFITS on the Internet, then go to…

http://advancedinternetwealth.50webs.com/index.html6.htm

… and take advantage of the invaluable tips and tricks
that these Internet successes reveal so that you can start
applying them to your business today.

Which of the following provides greater value:

1. 4 hours of unproductive work

2. 3.5 hours of productive work

If you are like most people you would choose the second option, 3.5 hours of productive work.

To be productive you need to get enough sleep. But how do you sleep if you’re at work? Most work places do not provide the facilities to take a nap. After lunch naps have been stigmatized as a sign of laziness in a business world where laziness is a sign of weakness and energy is a sign of strength. Catching an employee sleeping is normally a cause for immediate dismissal.

But, recent scientific studies have shown that we tend to feel sleepy between the hours of 2 pm and 4 pm and that a 15 to 30 minute “power nap” can increase our energy, alertness, and productivity. So instead of having a cup of coffee when you feel fatigued after lunch, a short nap instead would do wonders.

For employers, providing facilities for afternoon naps or “mini siestas” will increase your employees’ productivity, make them healthier, more alert, and happier. It is a win-win situation for all parties involved.

Lack of sleep is a major problem in today’s society. The health risks are extensive. Among other things, lack of sleep increases stress; stress can increase blood pressure, heart disease, migraines, eczema, psoriasis, and can cause sexual problems. An unhealthy employee is a bad employee.

So, if you are a manager or business leader what do you do? Provide napping facilities for your employees and watch your company’s productivity soar. Forget about the coffee machines; provide a few beds. Don’t be afraid of change. Do what’s right. You might lose 20 minutes of actual work time but the after nap time will be so much more productive that you won’t even notice.

4 hours of work time left after lunch. Take a 15 to 30 minute nap and the remaining 3.5 hours will be more productive.

Almost everyone in their life has had a dream of working from home, being your own boss, not having to work for someone else.

Don’t miss the opportunity that will lead to your dream of working at home. No one likes to think that they have wasted their chance, or missed their opportunity. But that’s exactly what happens to many people.

I remember what it was like when I was still working away from home. I remember all too clearly how much I wanted to quit my job and be at home. It was my mission in life. So….there were a lot of discussions to make. And there were a lot of questions that I had to ask myself; could I afford to do this? What could I do that would afford me the freedom that I wanted?

So, I decided that I wanted to find a job that I could do from home. I’d have the best of both worlds. I knew that I had valuable skills and experience. It never occurred to me to start my own business- I’d never owned a business before so it never crossed my mind. I just wanted to work from home.

With my own home based business, I would be my own boss. I would be able to set the goals and the pace and it would be up to no one but me how and when I meet them. I would get to follow my passion and do something that I truly enjoy. I think that if we all couldn’t wait to get up in the morning because we loved what we did, the world would be a much happier place for everyone. A home based business can offer endless possibilities in an area that interests me.

And if you’re planning to start a home based business then do your homework, find something that you feel passionate about, plan your business, but don’t let fear keep you from achieving your goals. Remember that we all have marketable skills. The internet is a wonder place with endless resources. Use your skills to start a business that will earn you the money you deserve. Learn a new skill or hone the skills you currently have using your computer to find training is very simple.

So, a home based business career can offer endless possibilities in an area that interests you. A home-based business is an excellent way to gain independence and financial freedom. So, live the life that you deserve and starts making your dreams come true.

Todd Rauch,
President- Chancellor Business Training, LLC
Chancellor Business Training

God did not create us and then leave us to ourselves. He is very much interested in what happens to his children, the Abrahamic Seed Group.

His interest in us caused Him to promise us healing, prosperity, family well being and salvation in the covenant He made with Abraham. (Gentile Christians are grafted into these Abrahamic blessing promises right along with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Israel.)

Powerful Scriptures below demonstrate His interest in our prosperity.

First, God teaches us, the individual members of The Abrahamic Seed Group, to profit. We do not have to learn this by ourselves. God teaches us to profit in accordance with his promise to Abraham to prosper the Seed Group.

Isa 48:17
Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. (KJV)

Second, God actually has pleasure in the prosperity of his servants. I used to think that prosperity was wrong. If it is wrong, why does God have pleasure when I am prosperous and why does he actually teach us how to develop wealth.

Ps 35:27
27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. (KJV)

Third, God does not reject the prayers of the destitute and poor. No refusal to answer their prayer causes their lack of prosperity.

Ps 102:17
He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. (KJV)

In the above scripture, the word, despise means to reject. In other words, God will not reject the prayers of the destitute. In addition, He will absolutely regard them! Think of it! God hears the prayers of the destitute and needy.

Even Job saw these things. He saw that God will not turn his back on the needy. He will not cast them aside. He will hear their prayer and do something about their problems. In the face of great adversity, Job saw these things.

Job 36:15
15 He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and openeth their ears in oppression. (KJV)

Job 36:11
11 If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. (KJV)

Even Job saw that they shall be delivered. He saw that if they also obey Him, they shall have much prosperity and pleasure. God’s will is to prosper you. Even Job knew this!

Then what is our Prosperity Trigger? What is our Prosperity Activator?

Sowing and reaping is our Trigger-Activator for personal prosperity. This is the only way God has ordained for us to become wealthy. We must learn and obey the Bible principle of giving.

Giving, according to the Bible, is the equivalent of a farmer sowing various seeds. What you plant is what comes up in your harvest. Farmers plant corn, cotton and tomato seeds. These same individual things, corn, cotton and tomatoes, come up for them in the time of their harvest.

Prov 11:24-26
24 There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
26 He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. (KJV)

To secure a financial harvest, Abraham planted financial wealth. He planted it by tithing. He planted it by making various offerings. The point is this; Abraham planted or sowed seed from which he needed to glean a harvest of the same kind. He planted corn or financial seed. He reaped a harvest of corn or financial prosperity.

Do what Abraham did, dear Christian, and you will amass Abrahamic wealth just like Abraham. Plant financial seeds daily so your harvest will have no off days. Plant your seed.

God has pleasure when Christians proper.

Dr. Jay Snell: Author of books concerning the healing, prosperity, family well being and salvation contained in the Abrahamic covenant for Christians. Books presented many times on TBN. www.jaysnell.org

Most small businesses will not even try to advertise on television. It’s too expensive and the audience is too broad. The ads on television are not targeted enough. Think back to the last time your entire family was gathered around a television set. It was fun family time, but think of how different each member of your family is. The children at different ages want different things.

The parents depending on their age and occupations could be concerned with wildly differing issues. Was there a grandparent or aunt or uncle there too? Each person has entirely different attitude and interests, yet the commercial was tailored for only one person out of that group. The message is wasted on the rest of the family who don’t care about the product or the problem it solves.

There are ways that a small business and even a home based business can get on television and get their message to the market they are after. First of all, know your client. Know everything you can about who you are selling to.

If you think your product is for everyone, this article will not help you. If you know everything about your target market, you will know where to find them. Where they hang out, what they read, eat, wear and watch. Who influences them, who angers then, who inspires them, who informs them. That where you want to be also. On television, check out the shows and cable channels that speak to your audience. For my show, The Wright Place TV Show, Lifetime, O network and WE channel are where a lot of my viewers will also be.

Copyright 2005

Dr. Wright is a Stevie Award Finalist for 2004 and the host of The Wright Place TV Show seen in 5 million homes in Southern California and on the internet at http://www.wrightplacetv.com. Get Your Free Special Report: 19 Secrets To Effective Television Advertising That Cable Companies Don’t Want You To Know by emailing info1080-91878@autocontactor.com

Marketing gurus travel all over…Malaysia, London, San Francisco ..so make plans to go along on your jet in ‘06.

Here’s how to market/create a large downpayment…in the next several months…eight/nine months to go———

1. Affiliate with the top marketers. Study their products and i*n*h*a*l*e their sense of what works. Study their affiliate programs….and give their ideas your unique twist.

2. Create and publish informative articles in groups of three or four. Use your four line resource box at the end with all the smarts you have: comments about your e-zine subscription, your website URL, a freebie.

If you do not have your own articles, find free content which allows you to add some business building information.

3. Become masterful at making back end offers. Intersperse back end offers with ‘how are you doing and how can I help?’ e-mails to your purchasers.

By the way, here is what is happening with me…. because I am working daily on my e-articles and TIPS series, AND helping my downline, my upline at SFI is AWARDING me a pocket full of leads.

4. Encourage your list/clients/downline to forward your articles and e-mail messages to friends and associates.

5. Create a webpage. There, ask people what THEY need to know to be successful on the ‘Net. Respond quickly.

6. For six months, implement at least one or two of the tips in
this article and my first article several days a week. The next six months, repeat the cycle with one or two different strategies. Repeat the cycle the next six months. Get a marketing rhythm going week after week. If my schedule does not work for you, create your own schedule.

7. Seek top affiliates. Work with them closely. Make suggestions….and learn from them.

8. Acquire op-tiners by offering articles, writing and offering e-books and e-courses, and creating white papers — success stories about your top affiliates.

9. Reward your top affiliates….a cruise, video programs that you purchase, an online convention of master marketers. Use affiliate success stories on your webpage/site/e-mailings. Create an e-book of three/four success stories. Pass it on with YOUR resource notes.

10. Since you know your business, create a five to ten steps DO THIS to help your affiliates start smart. This should be your maxim: when I succeed, you succeed. When you succeed, I succeed.

11. Make notes whenever you get an idea about a new product. Learn how to create your own products. Then, create products.

Gladys Margaret Williams works with SFIMG, a self contained internet marketing company offering products, marketing services, training — and more.
fasterlane@GetResponse.com

If you’re a retailer and the only kind of advertising you do is built around sales events, you don’t need much in the way of advice. All your advertising needs to do is spell out as clearly as possible what’s on sale, the amount to be saved and your store’s name, address and phone number. You should also include your web address as most of today’s consumers expect you to have one.

But what if you’re not a retailer or you don’t have a sale to advertise?

Here are my seven tips for kicking up the power of your print advertising

Know thy customer. Close your eyes and try to visualize a typical customer. What’s important to him? What problem(s) is she trying to solve? How old is he? Does she have children? How much do you suppose she earns a month? What would make him want to do business with you? What does he want from your product or service? The better you understand your customer the stronger a sales message you can create.

Your headline must capture your propects’ interest. Your reader’s eye will be drawn to your ad by its main graphic, be it a picture or illustration. The second thing he/she will see is your headline. It must serve as a bridge between the graphic and your ad’s copy, and then capture your readers’ attention or you will lose them and will have wasted your money. The best way to do this is to build your headline around a strong benefit statement. Again, keep in mind your prospect’s needs and interests or the problem they are looking to solve. For example, a strong benefit statement would be”How to retire at age 55 without sacrificing a penny of income.” I also like headlines (see the title of this article) with numbers, i.e., “Eight ways to look younger in minutes,” “Five mistakes to not make when buying fine furniture.”

Everybody wants to talk about their children and not yours. Of course, I don’t mean this literally. What I mean is that people don’t care about you and your business. They care about themselves and what you can do for them. I know this is going to depress you, but customers don’t care how long you’ve been in business, how big your business has become, how beautiful your new store is, etc. They only want to know what you have to offer that can make their lives better, save them money or help them solve an important problem.

People love stories. I’ll bet that when you were a kid, one of your favorite things was story time. As human beings, we just seem to be hard-wired to love stories. If you business lends itself to this idea, try starting you ad with a simple story. For example, if you were selling financial advice, you might start out with: “I have two old friends. Let’s call them Scott and Janet. They both loved gardening and their lifelong ambition was to retire early and start a garden shop. Unfortunately, they suffered some financial setbacks and found themselves at age 55, with enough money to retire but not enough to start that dream business. When Scott and Janet came to me ….etc.”

Start paragraphs with connecting words to keep your readers reading. Once you’ve pulled your readers into your ad, the challenge is to keep them reading to the end. The way you do this is by using connecting words at the beginning of paragraphs. Some good connecting words are “also,” “in other words,” “so,” “but,” “and,” in short,” “for another thing,” and “plus.

Give your readers a reason to do something. You must end every ad with a call to action (see #7 below). But don’t forget that you have to give your reader a reason to take that action. This could be the offer of something free such as a booklet or brochure, a free demonstration, a free sample, etc.

Always end with a call to action. Never, and I mean never, end an ad without asking your reader to do something. The something could be to call you (with a prominent phone number), stop by your store, cut out and mail a coupon, or visit your web site. This is not only critical to “closing the sale,” but also can help you track the effectiveness of your advertising. If your call to action is for the prospect to phone you, it’s always good to add something like “call us at 303-555-1234 and ask for, say, Bart.” That way, whenever a person calls and asks for Bart, you will know your ad generated that response. The next time you run the ad, you could tell your prospect to call and ask for Chuck, etc. If your advertising includes a coupon, be sure to code it so you will know which ad generated the response.

Have you heard about HD radio technology? It makes AM sound as good as FM and FM sound almost like you were listening to a CD … and its free! To learn more about this amazing new technology, just go my Web site, http://www.hd-radio-home.com, to get all the buzz. Douglas Hanna is a retired marketing executive and the author of numerous articles on HD radio and family finances.

I have a confession to make. I am addicted to those quirky “As Seen on TV” advertisements. I’m sure you’ve seen them - they’re the ads for products that you can’t find in stores, the ones that say, “Call in the next ten minutes and receive two for the price of one!” Although there are certainly some questionable products advertised, there are also some real winners that are bargain priced at tremendous discounts.

I’ve bought hundreds of “As Seen on TV” products over the years, and have only been disappointed a handful of times. Sometimes I do call the toll-free number, but in the last few years, I’ve begun to buy these items at great discounts through online malls. I’ve bought very cool art supplies for my son, gardening tools, household cleaners, DVDs, and even electronics.

I know that many of my friends dismiss these “As Seen on TV” products as being of inferior quality or as scams, but I beg to differ. My philosophy is that there are tens of thousands of people out there who have great ideas and great products, but they haven’t been able to gain traction with big manufacturers and distributors. Selling directly to the public doesn’t mean that the product is inferior; it just means that they haven’t found larger distribution channels.

Truly, I’ve found that some of these products are pure genius. I recently bought a baking set that fulfills its “As Seen on TV” promise: the four pans really do enable you to make dome-shaped cakes with scrumptious fillings. And that bacon contraption really does let me make crisp bacon in the microwave with very little mess. About a year ago, I bought a tool to clean out my rain gutters, and it worked wonders. The twenty dollars I spent on that tool saved me the hundred dollars I usually spend when I call the gutter cleaning service.

Even my son has become enamored with “As Seen on TV” commercials. He saves his allowance so that, when he sees something he loves - like special art pens or a digital drawing system - we can go to our favorite online mall and order it.

Needless to say, I don’t buy every product I see advertised on television, and in addition to shopping at online malls I also shop at brick and mortar stores. But I continue to believe in those clever products I see on TV, and will keep buying at discounts that would make my friends jealous.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.
Learn more about Innovative Products at Tremendous D or Majon’s Shopping - General directory.