In Praise of Robber Barons Dear ETR Reader -- If you have never been to The Cloisters in Manhattan, you should see it next time you are there. It is an impressive building -- a medieval castle overlooking the Hudson River. It was founded by John D. Rockefeller. Why Rockefeller decided on a museum of medieval art, I don't know. I do know that he bought the land and had the building assembled from abandoned cloisters in Europe. Rockefeller and his fellow industrialists were demonized by the press for being ruthless and greedy and evil. Yet it was these men who gave us the world's great public museums and libraries. Had these rich guys not built them, they wouldn't exist. "But," you say, "governments build museums and libraries." Sure they do. But not like this. They can't. They don't have the money. Before he could build the cloisters, Rockefeller first had to have millions of dollars socked away. (Billions today.) Governments can't do that. They can raise money by taxing us. But they can't save it. Entrepreneurs create wealth by saving money earned through commercial enterprise. Governments dissipate wealth by spending money as fast as they get it. Sometimes, they spend it wisely on programs that have lasting value. More often, they waste it on war and politically popular causes that have no economic value at all. Most of the people enjoying The Cloisters assume that it -- and the other public buildings they enjoy -- are "gifts" from government. Nothing could be further from the truth. In today's issue: - Wealthy: How to Make Your Product "Perfect"
- Healthy: Shhh ... the FDA Doesn't Even Know About This Nutrient
- Wise: Clayton Makepeace Gets Touchy Feely
Before we get to your wealth, health, and happiness, a word about our new format: As you have no doubt noticed, we are changing things up a bit. And some of you like the changes and some of you don't. We continue to read every note you send us and make adjustments as we go. We are also doing split tests to determine whether certain changes result in greater or less reader response. Our goal is a newsletter format that is easy to read and yet delivers a higher level of quality advice. This process will take another week or so to complete, but you can expect to be 100 percent satisfied when we are finished. This we promise you. ---------------------------------------------- Highly Recommended ---------------------------------------------------- The Simple Six-Figure Marketing Strategy
Paul Lawrence spent less than $100 to start his first small business. He used just one marketing strategy to go after prospects. Soon he had so many customers – he could hire an employee to do the actual work while he focused on getting new accounts. He used his marketing strategy again... and almost instantly he was grossing $4,000 a month. The people he sold the business to (so he could finish college), used the same marketing strategy and are making $100,000 a year. Read more... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connecting With Your Prospects' Dominant Emotions
By Clayton Makepeace
When you set out to create a sales message that connects with your prospects' dominant emotions, you have no choice. You have to begin with the prospect. You begin by considering his most intense feelings about ... - Himself relative to the subject at hand ...
- The benefits your product and premiums promise ...
- The medium through which your message is being delivered ...
- The offer -- the price, payment terms, guarantee, and order process ...
... And then, you devise ways to deal with each of these emotions in ways that get them working FOR you. When you get it right, the attention-getting power of and response to your promotions skyrockets. Read on… Check out this promotion. It's a magalog titled "Retirement Wealth Builder" for Phillips Publishing's Retirement Letter. Retirement Letter was one of Phillips's flagship publications in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was edited at the time by my old friend Pete Dickinson. Pete's photo appears on the cover of the magalog, with a caption reading "No more Mr. Nice Guy" Pete Dickinson: The Nation's #1 Retirement Authority Hits Back. Here's the headline: "Not With My Life You Don't" "Here's how to strike back at greedy congressmen, bungling bureaucrats and unethical brokers ... "... and win a richer lifestyle in retirement than you have now!" PLUS -- SWEET REVENGE What you need to know to set things right. 197,000 successful Americans over 40 have done it! CENTER PULL-OUT SECTION: Retirement Lies That Could Cost You Everything You Ever Worked For." Here's what it looks like in full color. This promo could have simply led with a headline that said "Retire RICH!" That's a big benefit, to be sure. But that kind of headline can lack credibility. Worse, it misses the opportunity to fully activate the prospect's emotions about retirement. Instead, this lead connects with prospects at a deeper level. And it accomplishes six major objectives ... 1. It transforms passive emotions (guilt and frustration) into active ones (anger and the thirst for revenge). Most people begin planning for retirement too late in life. And whenever the subject is raised, the first feelings they have are (a) fear and (b) guilt. By putting the blame on others (politicians, bureaucrats, and brokers), this lead instantly assuages the prospect's guilt. It says "It's not your fault!" Plus, by making others responsible for the prospect's predicament, this lead transforms his fear into anger -- a far more actionable emotion. And it offers him a way to act on it. Then it validates the prospect's righteous indignation by having Pete express it in a personal "declaration of war." That instantly makes Pete the unchallenged leader in this fight. 2. It eliminates the "salesman/prospect" dynamic. Recognizing how we all feel when confronted by a salesperson -- uncomfortable, skeptical, guarded -- is a powerful "dominant emotion" technique. In this lead, Pete is not presented as someone who wants to sell the reader anything. He's in the same boat as the prospect. He's fighting for his own retirement. And he's prepared to lead the prospect into a comfortable, financially secure future. Pete is positioned as a powerful ally and champion. He is unapologetically on the prospect's side. That's the first step in making Pete and the prospect fast friends. ---------------------------------------------- Highly Recommended --------------------------------------------------- The Anti-"Fix and Flip" Foreclosure Profits System Thousands of entrepreneurs are buying and trying to "flip" foreclosures these days. But one man has made $3.2 million in foreclosures by refusing to jump on the "fix and flip" bandwagon. He has learned to approach the market in a whole new way. Go against the "crowd" with him, and learn how you could make thousands a week on "autopilot" with virtually zero risk… a few hundred in start up capital… all while working from home for just an hour day on your home computer. You can get started today. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. It offers the prospect an instantaneous emotional bribe for reading further. After activating the prospect's feelings about the enemies of his retirement, he is offered the satisfaction of "striking back" and getting "sweet revenge." Again, a great dominant emotion technique. You deliver an emotional reward -- completely free of charge. The prospect doesn't have to buy a thing. Gratification is instantaneous. 4. It delivers Pete's "Big Promise" as a USP (unique selling proposition). Pete's vision for the reader is bigger and better than the prospect's own vision -- "a richer lifestyle in retirement than you have now!" This promise works on two levels ... FIRST, it raises a fascinating possibility. Most of us assume that we'll have to make compromises when we begin living on a fixed income. Pete says, "THAT'S WRONG: You can actually live better in retirement than you are now." Who in their right mind wouldn't be eager to hear more? SECOND, it speaks to the two major types of prospects for the Retirement Letter: (a) folks who are speeding toward retirement, and (b) those who are already retired. No matter which category you fall into, this message is for YOU. 5. It includes a powerful credibility element. Dominant emotion selling considers all the emotions the prospect is feeling. And in today's overly advertised-to prospects, that includes skepticism. Especially after the presentation of a "big benefit" USP. This magalog cover addresses prospects' skepticism head-on: "197,000 successful Americans over 40 have already done it!" Not only does this suspend the reader's disbelief, it suggests that an elite group of people are living the life he only dreams about ... and that this is his invitation to join them. 6. It includes a second bribe just for opening the package. Earlier, the prospect was told that Pete would deliver a powerful and instantaneous emotional benefit if he would just keep reading. Pete would help him get "sweet revenge" and "set things right." Now, Pete is also promising to deliver a tangible benefit right in the magalog -- a "CENTER PULL-OUT SECTION: Retirement Lies That Could Cost You Everything You Ever Worked For." This banner at the bottom of the magalog cover does double duty by presenting the "horrifying alternative" -- the consequences of failing to listen to what Pete has to say. I count just 65 words of headline copy on this cover. And they cover the prospect's most dominant emotions at every level ... - His feelings of guilt regarding his own failure to provide for a more comfortable retirement ...
- His fear of poverty and dependence ...
- His disdain for politicians and bureaucrats who constantly seemed to be taking something away from him -- never giving anything back. And for brokers who promise the moon but fail to make him rich enough to retire comfortably ...
- His yearning for justice to be done, and even ...
- His skepticism about claims made in direct-mail promotions and the pitchmen who make them.
Now, you gotta ask yourself: How could employing these principles ramp up the attention-getting power of and response to the ads you're working on now? P.S. Connecting with prospects on a deep, emotional level is just one way to boost your advertising copy -- online or offline, in sales letters or ads. I'll be revealing dozens of other copywriting "secrets," techniques, tricks, tactics, and more at Early to Rise's Info-Marketing Bootcamp this November. [Ed. Note: Master copywriter Clayton Makepeace publishes the highly acclaimed e-zine The Total Package to help business owners and copywriters accelerate their sales and profits. Claim your 4 free moneymaking e-books -- bursting with tips, tricks, and tactics that'll skyrocket your response -- at MakepeaceTotalPackage.com.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More from Masterson… What a Product Should Do: Revive the Love "What is the perfect investment newsletter?" "What do you mean?" I wanted to know. "From a subscriber's point of view. What kind of content should the perfect investment newsletter have?" This was a smart guy. He wasn't looking for obvious answers. He didn't want to hear about cutting-edge ideas, emotional relevance, or actionable advice. He was looking for something more fundamental. I thought about it. "The ideal newsletter," I said, "makes the subscriber feel excited and informed -- the way he felt when he read the promotion." Now it was his turn to ask what I meant. "It's like the perfect spouse," I said. "Someone who loves you always the way she did when she first fell in love with you." "Yeah, right," he said. But that's what I meant. Every business should attempt to have every one of its product meet this level of perfection. ---------------------------------------------- Highly Recommended --------------------------------------------------- "But I'm not a writer"
As an Internet entrepreneur you have to learn to recognize effective sales copy – if not write it yourself. Whether it's e-mail subject lines, sales letters, insert ads, pay-per-click ads... bad copy is just too dangerous to your business. But even if you're not a "writer" you can learn to apply the secrets of profit-producing copy from master copywriters John Forde and ETR's own Charlie Byrne as part of the Internet Money Club program. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cancer Cure in a Pill? There is one supplement that Dr. Sears takes every day without fail. CoQ10 is its name. And multiple studies show that it is a powerful cancer fighter. It helps prevent cancer and cure you if you get it. In one Danish study, breast cancer patients who received large doses of CoQ10, along with other antioxidants and essential fatty acids, went into remission. CoQ10 works by blocking free radical damage to your cells. And it boosts your immune system. Dr. Sears says you are probably low in this vital nutrient. Most of his new patients are. You can eat red meat to boost your level. It's the only natural source. But it doesn't give you enough. That's why Dr. Sears recommends supplementing with 50 mg of ubiquinol CoQ10 daily. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Absolutely Brilliant and Spot On." "Just had to say that Rich Schefren has really hit the nail on the head about the media and so called 'journalism' in his article 'How to Make More Money During a Recession.' "Absolutely brilliant and spot on. They have to fill so many newspaper/magazine pages and so much TV airtime that any 'news' item is completely overexposed and hyped up. (Swine flu is a good example.) It also seems that many journalists really don't know much about the subjects they are writing about. Fortunately, the same cannot be said about Early to Rise.
"Keep up the good work."
Karen Letherby
Cheltenham, UK --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Words That Work: Magalog The magalog (MAG-uh-log) -- a combination of "magazine" and "catalog" -- is one of many direct-mail formats used by marketers. It looks like a magazine, complete with cover, and may have anywhere from 12 to more than 100 pages. It includes a combination of editorial content and promotional copy ... all of it designed to get the prospect's attention and persuade him to buy the product or products being sold. Example (as used by Clayton Makepeace today): "Check out this promotion. It's a magalog titled 'Retirement Wealth Builder' for Phillips Publishing's Retirement Letter." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We want your feedback! Let us know your thoughts on today's issue. Email us at: AskETR@ETRFeedback.com | 
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