In our last copywriting lesson, we capture the essence of the importance of leveraging on empathy.

You need to make your readers feel that they are not at fault for not getting it right in the problem that they are facing.

Once they feel that you care, they will most likely to read on.

However, empathy is not sympathy.  The last they need is for you to sympathize them.   Thyey don’t need sympathy but just your understanding.

In this series of copywriting lesson, i have this to say of you.

You.. A Liar!

Hold it….

Do not throw a stone at me, not until you read on….

Remember the last Hardcore copywriting lesson?

We talk about using emotional word to influence your prospect’s subconscious mind.

And i share with you two example.

example 1:  “You are wrong”

example 2:  “You are a Liar!”

Example 2 have a stronger emotion impact as compare to example 1.

Still want to throw the stone at me?

I hope not.

Well, here is Hardcore Copywriting #4

Hardcore Copywriting #4
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American greatest showman and marketer, P.T. Barnum delivered his 21 secret principles to his business success in his article “The Art Of Money Getting”

Though P.T. Barnum has passed away for more than a century, but his principles are still applicable, if not more applicable to date.

Interestingly, one of his 21 principles is simply “READ THE NEWSPAPERS”

What have reading the newspaper have to do with copywriting?

Well, let me tell you, EVERYTHING!

Write your salescopy based on the current Fads.

This will definately command the attention of your prospect.

During the 9-11 terrorists attack on the Twin Tower in the United States, the media and newspapers are flooded with news on the aftermath of the event.

At the time, if you compose a headline that goes like this:
“My Friend Jump From The Twin Tower B When The Smoke Is Choking Him To Death, But He Survived…..”

Will this headline not catch your attention a few weeks after the attack?

What if you read this headline now? 

You see, in using Fads in your salescopy to capture your prospect attention, timing is important.

In fact, timing is everything.

Hope you enjoy this one.

Till then, see ya.

Stop…

Don’t go away.

Continue to watch this space for Hardcore Copywriting #5…

If you want to get notify of my lastest copywriting product, you can go to http://www.masterwordsmithsecret.com to register for FREE.

I have done a survey with my list and many have problems with ebook creation.  They find it hard to create an ebook to sell online. 

Well… it is not that difficult as you may think.  If you would like to find out how you can easily create a ebook from scratch, i would suggest that you check out Internet marketing guru Ewen Chia’ Ebook Money Machine at http://www.ewenchia-ebookmoneymachine.com. 

 Before you create any ebook, you need to select a great and profitable topic to write on.

Don’t not be alarm if you think that you need to write it all yourself.  In the next posting, i will share with you how to hire a good writer to write it for you.

In the meantime, let dig in to find out how we can find a great topic to your ebook.

It couldn’t be easier to select a topic for an ebook.  People are hungry for information, and people are looking to the Internet to feed their hunger.

After you’ve read this post, you will feel confident enough to choose your own topic, or you can literally pull your ebook topic directly from this posting and use it!   How’s that for a deal? Observe what’s going on around you If you’re smart enough to read this post, you’re smart enough to look around you and determine what interests you and those around you.

Think of what problems you’ve recently solved, and what kinds of problems others have had and solved. Any problem that has been solved in your world could easily be the subject of your next book.   People love to read how other have solved a problem that they currently have.

So, brainstorm a list of problems in your life and in the lives of those around you.  Your friend Bob lost his job? Your sister’s child had chicken pox?    How did they cope or find solutions? While you’re at it, start another list of unsolved problems evident in your corner of the world. Write down problems you wish you had solved.

Aha! These are subjects that people will really be interested in! How to lose the last ten pounds. The truth about UFOs. The straightest path to becoming a millionaire.  From your personal corner, your step-granddaughter is pregnant at age 14?   Your grocery bill is double what it used to be?   Your roof leaks?

These are problems waiting for ebook solutions! These unsolved problems would also be great ebook topics. Remember, you don’t have to know the solution, just the topic.  

You’re going to get someone else to do the research and write the book for you.

You will not actually be writing one word. Spend a few minutes Googling The Internet is a great way to find out what people are looking for at any given moment.   You can search for almost anything.    Google™ is a popular search engine you can use, or you can try any of the others like Yahoo!® or Mamma.com.

Type in phrases like “top concerns of Americans,” “best-selling nonfiction topics,” or “popular how-to manuals.” Common worries of 2005.    And while you’re on the Internet… Find out the most popular nonfiction books from the New York Times bestseller list, Amazon, and a Google search for ebooks.

Your findings will tell you exactly what book subjects people are buying right now.   Try this.   Go to www.amazon.com. From the tabbed menu running along the top of the Amazon home page, click “Top Sellers.”

I did this one day in September 2009 and found a Harry Potter book, several other fiction books, and titles such as Natural cures “they” won’t tell you about, How what you wear can change your life, How to profit from the demise of the dollar, and The official SAT study guide.

I’ve paraphrased to some degree, but you get the idea.   Here’s what I learned just from spending a few minutes on Amazon that day.    People are reading good fiction from already-best selling authors (Da Vinci Code, the Harry Potter series, and others).

Secondly, Amazon buyers, buying over the Internet, are interested in nonfiction topics such as improving their lives and making more money.    For these books, just about any author will do, even virtual unknowns or people who went to prison for lying to the American public.

And that quick visit only confirmed that the straightest route to ebook profits is in the nonfiction ebook market.  This is for a number of reasons. 

Fiction readers tend to like to curl up in a chair with an actual book.  Some of them attend book clubs where the physical books are brought around someone’s kitchen table with wine and cheese.  Fiction readers tend to purchase from authors they’re already familiar with. Fiction can be more difficult to write and deliver well.

Also, many of the classics in fiction are available as free ebooks. A reader interested in fiction could just download those. So stick with nonfiction unless you’re feeling particularly bold and experimental.

Here is some more good news Read more »

Recession is here to stay… for at least another one or two years at least.

It is not going to be a ‘V’ shape recession but a ‘L’ shape one.  

Huh? Why am i so pessimistic?  No i am not.

If given a choice, i would love to be optimistic about it.  However, the way the US solve their problem is simply printing more money from selling treasury bills to bailout bad companies that should have file chapter 11.

In so doing, the whole US economy is inflated at a phenomenal rate and yet still in bad shape.  This is what we call Stagflation.  Soon, another dollar crisis is in the pipeline and things are not looking too good.

One this happen, the Stock and property market will tank in the US.  The rest of the world will suffer with it as US is the main trading partner for them.

When will the second wave of crisis come?  Nothing know.  Only God know and he ain’t telling you and me.

In time like this, we can only do our utmost to protect and groom our business for the next wave.

Here are some  thing we can do now.

1)  Reduce operational expense.  We can do so by negotiating cheaper insurance, mortgage payment.  If need to, we can close down operating branches that do not generate good profit for our business.   If the financial pinch is too huge, we should even retrench unproductive staffs.

2)  Flush out our inventories quickly by reducing the cost or through smart marketing.  The more cash we are holding, the better we are in a time like this.

3)  Extend your credit limit from the banks to your business as far as you can.  In time like this, you need more bank credit to do more with less.

4)  Change your marketing plan to adapt to the recession so that you can squeeze in more profit to your business with less advertising dollar.  As an example, you can use this opportunity to get rid of 80% of your bad customers and focus on your 20% of your best customers.  By freeing your business resources the burden on attending to the 80% of your bad customers which contribute to only 20% of your overall business profit, you can then focus on growing your 20% of your good customers base which give your business the 80% of the profit.

5)  Reduce the period of credit extension to your customers.  You can do so by giving your best customers a 5% discount on your inventories and services so as to motivate them to pay earlier.  The earlier you collect cash in your cash register, the better you can use it to grow your business in other area like advertising and buying property and tools at a discount.

6)  Maximize your advertising cost by utilizing the internet for cheap and effective marketing.  In a recession, many of your clients will be buying stuffs from the web as it is cheaper that way.   Flow with what your customers and prospects are moving and you can’t be wrong.

7) This is also a good time to expand your market share by increasing your advertising dollar from the saving and cash that you receive from point 1 to 6.  In a recessionary time, where advertising cost goes down, it is your best opportunity to really squeeze that advertising dollars to expand your business and take away the cakes from your competitors.

As mentioned in point 7, it is not all gloom and doom for your business in a recession.  Do the right thing right and your business will not only survive the recession but emerge from it stronger and more profitable than ever before.