ETR: Double-Barreled Business

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September 7, 2009 - Issue #2762

A Reader Request I Just Can't Accept We got lots of positive response to my article on information overload. But one ETR reader, Gordon, says he's worried about "advertising overload." "You and your cohorts in the e-mail merchandising field could reduce your overload by condensing much of what you write in your sales letters. Do you really need to list 20 examples of winners? Three to five should suffice. Then get to the meat of what you want to induce us to buy." He requests that we limit our sales letters to two or three pages plus an order page. I half agree with Gordon. He's right about the examples. You don't need 20 examples to prove a point. In most cases, three will do. Coincidentally, I wrote about this on June 22 in an essay about "The Power of Three." If you have more than three examples and you want to use them in your sales letter, put them in boxes on the side or on a separate page. That way, the reader can read them if he wants to, but without interrupting the flow of the copy. I said Gordon was half right. That means he is half wrong too. He's wrong about limiting the length of sales letters. Keeping sales letters short is a "common sense" idea that's been bandied about for at least 30 years. But thousands of tests have proven it wrong. Actually, the optimal length for a sales letter depends on a number of factors: The kind of product you are selling When it comes to information products that sell for $50 or more, in nine cases out of 10, long copy -- even on the Internet -- does better than short copy. How expensive it is Generally speaking, expensive products require longer copy. How well your target audience knows you This is a secret discovered by the legendary copywriter Gene Schwartz: The less the prospect knows about you and your product, the longer the copy must be. John Forde and I are writing a book about copywriting right now that addresses this important subject. In today's issue: Wealthy: Uncle Sam Owes Me Money Healthy: Attack of the Killer Japanese Vine Wise: The Only Two Ways to Move Your Business Forward ---------------------------------------------- Highly Recommended ---------------------------------------------------- Online Spending GREW Last Year, in the Midst of the Meltdown Brick-and-mortar retailers drop like flies. But Internet businesses thrive! Overall, online spending grew to $130.1 billion in 2008. That's a 6 percent increase. And there is plenty of room for you. In fact, this is the perfect time to start your own "recession-immune" business. You could make an extra $1,000, $5,000, or $10,000 per month. And that's just for starters. Read more ... Learn how you can get your piece of the online marketplace today. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." -- Mark Twain Make Your Business Success Eternal With Double-Barreled Innovation By Michael Masterson I just got back from a meeting my largest client held for its top brass. Although my role is to provide ideas, I take as many notes as the next guy. One good idea from anyone can mean millions in profits. I'll be sharing some great business-building ideas with you in the coming weeks. Today, I want to begin with the one on top of my list: the importance of innovating. As I pointed out in Ready, Fire, Aim, no matter what size your business is, there are only two ways to keep it growing. (1) Increase revenues with sustaining innovations -- by continually improving the products you are currently producing. (2) Use disruptive innovations to create a new market, expand an existing one, or move into a different price category. Sustaining innovations are perhaps the easiest to produce, because their need is apparent. (A microprocessor that enables computers to operate faster, for example, or a laptop battery that lasts longer.) Plus, the technology comes from existing research. Apple does a fine job of sustaining innovations. That is one reason its customers are so cult-like in their loyalty. But Apple made its greatest recent stride with the iPhone -- a disruptive innovation. Disruptive in that it provides much more than cellphone users have been used to at a comparatively miniscule price. It is already eating up huge bites of the market. And when Apple's contract with AT&T expires next year, sales will soar. Improving your products incrementally will keep them fresh in the minds of your customers. That will mean continued renewals and back-end sales. But if you can introduce new products to the market -- then you have the opportunity to double or triple your revenues in a matter of months. Initially, disruptive innovations perform poorly compared with established products. But because they are often cheaper, simpler, and more convenient, they can create new markets. When the transistor radio came out in the 1950s, it had very poor fidelity. It couldn't, therefore, compete with the market for stereo systems: adults. But its portability and low price made it enormously popular with teenagers. You want sustaining innovation so you can hold on to your existing customers. And you want disruptive innovation so you can expand and eventually dominate your market. Every smart businessperson wants both. At ETR, we are constantly looking for ways to make our newsletters and information products more useful. We want our customers to get used to things getting better. We hope this will separate us from the competition. And, of course, we hope we'll be rewarded for our efforts with more customer spending. We also understand the importance of developing new products. In fact, we are committed to creating at least one brand-new product every three months. For your business to succeed, you need two parallel processes: one that allows for sustained improvements, and another that gets you into different markets. Both processes start in your head. For one thing, you must recognize that coming up with incremental improvements is entirely different from creating something radically new. You may need two sets of people and procedures to do both well. If you run a new product idea through the regular channels, it will no longer be innovative by the time everyone has finished "polishing" it. It will be just another modification of what you are already doing. Most senior executives I know claim they care about product improvement, but don't walk their talk. When improvements are suggested, their first response is to worry about the costs -- in terms of money, manpower, and time. To create incremental improvement, you have to believe that it will pay off. Eventually. That's a head thing. And to create an environment where disruptive innovation flourishes, you must recognize that any sizable growth will come from ideas that are far afield. This, too, is difficult for most entrepreneurs. And with good reason. Their success is based on what has worked for them in the past. Not on moving into the unknown. So your first step is an internal one: Make a commitment to innovation, both sustained and disruptive. Your next step is a matter of communication. You must persuade your key people to believe in both types of innovation. You must give them a vision and inspire them to achieve it. Your third step is one of implementation. You need two separate systems. Incremental improvements can be done with your core team. But the radical ideas -- those will probably have to be developed on the side. (I like to bring in copywriters and marketers from other industries to brainstorm disruptive innovations.) Ultimately, whether or not you keep the two processes separate doesn't matter. What matters is that you become a business of "making things new," as Ezra Pound once said. Your customers -- like all customers -- are always on the lookout for new and better. If you don't provide it for them, your competitors will. P.S. If you are free this November, I'd like to invite you to ETR's Info-Marketing Bootcamp at the beautiful Marriott hotel in my hometown, Delray Beach. You will get dozens of proven business-building strategies and sales-boosting techniques from a group of the world's leading Internet marketing and business-building experts, including me. ---------------------------------------------- Highly Recommended --------------------------------------------------- "This year I claimed $134,408 on my income tax return -- all from copywriting!" - What do a retired engineer, a ballroom dance instructor, and a grocery store clerk have in common? They made more money than they ever had before within months of finding out they could write sales letters. And they did it while working less than they ever had before. Hear their amazing stories here ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More from Masterson... The Government Guide to Screwing American Industry The mainstream media is toeing the government line. "Cash for Clunkers a Huge Success" boast headlines. But Investor's Daily Edge value investing expert Andrew Gordon disagrees. Based on his own research, Andy says the U.S. auto industry didn't get an ounce of benefit from the program. American automakers usually account for 63 percent of car sales. During the program, that dropped to 52 percent. Sure, more than half a million cars were sold. But, Andy notes, that just means car sales will be much lower next quarter. And the kind of cars that were sold are far less profitable than trucks and SUVs. He adds that U.S. consumers searching for a reliable old car are now left with fewer options. All the perfectly good "clunkers" were thrown out. That's on top of the higher taxes they'll get to pay to cover the program's cost. I join Andy in saying, "Uncle Sam, you owe me."   The Pest that Could Save Your Life Kudzu is a Japanese vine that was planted in this country a century ago to prevent soil erosion. It's done that ... and much more. It now covers 10 million acres in the South. And it's killing off native plants. That's your history lesson for the day. I'm interested in kudzu as a natural health supplement because it can lower cholesterol by 50 percent. That's better than most statin drugs, says Total Health Breakthroughs Editor Melanie Segala. Studies show kudzu also may improve heart health and prevent diabetes. Check out your local health food store for kudzu supplements, says Melanie. And stock up. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You widen my horizon." "Michael knows how to tell it like it is in his newsletter and in his books. I have read all of them. "Keep up the good work, especially regarding the sorry role government is trying to play in our lives right now and failing miserably. "The ostriches and the Mr. Magoos of the world will continue to deny the reality of our present situation in this country until it's too late to do anything constructive about it." C.L. Fort Worth, TX ---------------------------------------------- Highly Recommended --------------------------------------------------- Tire Kickers Welcome MaryEllen Tribby wants you to "kick the tires" before you register for ETR's 2009 Bootcamp. We've promised: Exactly how to make at least $10,000 by May 10, 2010 - guaranteed… Access to 12 top marketers (and exactly how they plan to make money in the coming months and years)… $394,510,000 in powerful, proven secrets for building and growing your Internet business… * And much more. But we want you to be 100% sure that Bootcamp will be valuable for YOU. So we're giving you a sneak peek at what we have planned. During special "Hot Seat" Sessions, we'll "lay bare" the wealth-building secrets of three of our featured speakers… All working marketers who practice what they preach and have made millions doing so. Get FREE admission to these "Hot Seat" Sessions right here. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Words That Work: Bandy About To bandy (BAN-dee) -- from the name of a form of ice hockey -- is to hit or toss a ball back and forth. We use the expression bandy about when referring to an exchange of words; a casual discussion. Example (as used by Michael Masterson today): "Keeping sales letters short is a 'common sense' idea that's been bandied about for at least 30 years. But thousands of tests have proven it wrong." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We want your feedback! Let us know your thoughts on today's issue. Email us at: AskETR@ETRFeedback.com

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