Money Ideas

These are the secret words that will increase your sales conversion overnight. No matter what you sell... These 7 words really work!

(1) Make use of the word "Fast" or "Quick" in your ad.

We all want quick results, fast delivery, quick customer services, fast shipping, etc. Why is that? The reason is simple -- "Time Is Money!"

The faster your service or result in using your product is, the more satisfied will be your customers.

For example: "Our Product Delivers Quick Results!" or "Fast Delivery For All Customers."

(2) Make use of the word "Guarantee" in your ad.

This is a proven word that every marketer should use. It is THAT important for this reason -- "Assurance"!

You must assure your potential customers that they are not risking anything in buying your product. This gives you more credibility and you'll experience a boost in sales conversion.

The classic examples are: "Here Is My Iron-Clad 90 Day Money Back Guarantee!" or "My 365-Day 100% Risk-Free Money Back Guarantee!"

(3) Make use of the word "Limited" in your ad.

The word "Limited" provoke a sense of uniqueness, rarity and also a sense of urgency in your potential customer's mind.

One thing you should always remember: "The SCARECER is your product, the MORE valuable will it be in the eyes of your potential customers."

Examples are: "For A Limited Time Only, You'll Receive..." or "This Offer Is Limited To The Next 19 Orders Only!"

(4) Make use of the word "Easy" or "Simple" in your ad.

I'm a lazy person, aren't you? :o) I like it when it gets easy. It's human nature. So, take advantage of this weakness!

Use phrases like: "This Is The Easiest Way To Lose 15 Pounds In 3 Days!" or "How A Simple Exercise Improve My Memory In One Day!"

(5) Make use of the word "Testimonial" in your ad.

Why should I believe you? Does your product really work? I want proof... believable proof... specific proof from happy customers!!!!

Here are simple examples of how to include this word in your ad: "Skeptical? Check Out The Hundreds Of Testimonials Of Happy Customers We Received To Date!" or "Here Are Unsolicited Testimonials Of People Who Have Been Using Our Products..."

(6) Make use of the word "Free" in your ad.

This is, without doubt, the most popular word in marketing. But, over the time, it has lost some of its appeal because many marketers have been misusing it SO frequently.

But the good news is that the word "Free" still works if you know how to use it!

Examples are: "Get A FREE 5 Day Mini-Course On How To Save YOUR Marriage Today!" or "Order Today And Receive 5 Super Exclusive Bonuses Worth A $97 Value FREE!"

(7) Make use of the word "Secret" in your ad.

Yes! You read it right. The word "secret" can dramatically boost the response of your ad. This is an amazing word. It provokes a powerful sense of curiosity in the reader's mind.

Common examples are: "Discover The Jealousy Guarded Secrets Of..." or "Here Are The Secrets To..."

Before I pen off this article, I would like you to always remember one thing when writing an ad copy...

-- People buy with their emotions NOT with their mind.

Make sure that you include some emotional words in your advertisement. Use words like: love, security, freedom, fun, satisfaction, etc., and also use words that provoke fear like: scams, mistakes, dangerous, etc.

Headlines are the most important part of a print ad.

In fact, David Ogilvy, famous ad man and author of Confessions of an Advertising Man, has said that four out of five people only read headlines. Nothing more.

And if people DO choose to read the rest of the ad, they make that decision based on the headline.

That's a big job to put on the shoulders for what amounts to a few words.

But before you start despairing over your headline-writing skills, take heart. There are several "headline types" that have proven to sell products and services over and over again. Below are four of the most powerful and the easiest to implement.

1. How to. Everyone loves a how to headline. How To Quit Smoking in 30 Days Or Your Money Back. How to Write a Novel in 30 Days. How to Lose Weight Fast.

Why do these headlines work so well? Because they promise a solution to your customers' problems. Why else do so many nonfiction books have how to in the title? If the how to is addressing a need, you feel almost compelled to pick the book up and look at it. Or, in the case of marketing materials or articles, this same natural curiosity can entice you to keep reading to discover the answer.

Keep in mind the better the benefit, the more likely you'll catch your customers' attention. (The benefits in the above headlines are quitting smoking, writing a novel in a month and losing weight. All of these can be powerful benefits.)

2. Question. These headlines ask a question (obviously). If you want this headline type to work, it better ask a question that your customers want an answer to. Are you spending too much on your car insurance? Will your marriage fail? Will you know what to do if you're in an accident?

Whatever you do, don't ask a question that only your business cares about. Something like: Do you know what our company has been up to lately? Again, focus on the benefit for the customer.

3. Top ten reasons. Okay, it doesn't have to be ten reasons or even the top reasons. But just as everyone loves how to headlines, they also love top ten reasons.

Four headlines that work. Five ways to fix a broken toilet. Seven warning signs that your house may be making you sick.

Again, the customers see the benefits immediately. Plus, they know exactly what they're getting -- so many reasons for something.

4. Testimonial. This headline uses your customers' words to sell your products or services. This works because people see proof up front that your product or service does what it's supposed to do. If used correctly (meaning people believe it really is a testimonial from a real customer and not something fabricated) then this can be a very effective strategy.

If you choose this headline, put it in quotes so it's obvious it's a testimonial. And use the customers' words as much as you can to make it sound authentic. Whenever possible, get permission from your customer to use his/her name. You may even want to consider adding a photo as well.

(For more headline and copywriting tips, see Robert Bly's book The Copywriter's Handbook.)

Creativity Exercises -- Write those headlines

Get a stack of paper, find a couple of pens (I'm partial to gel colored pens) and let's start brainstorming.

Start by making a list of all the benefits of your product, service or business. (Benefits, not features. Benefits are what your customers will get out of your product.)

Put that sheet of paper aside. Now pick a headline type and write it on top of the paper. For instance, Question headlines. Underneath start writing as many different types of question headlines you can think of. They don't have to be pretty, they just have to be a question.

Come up with at least 50 of them. Don't let your brain or pen stop until you do. No matter how painful. If you get stuck, go back and look at your benefits list and pick a different benefit.

I practically guarantee by the time you reach headline number 50, you'll have written at the very least one pretty darn good headline. You might have even uncovered a brilliant one.

Try this same exercise with all the headline types and see what new ad concepts you uncover.

Considerable effort is required to get customers for your products. You design killer web pages, work hard for high search engine rankings (or pay for them), submit classified ads, etc. but still do not manage to sell enough. This is where the concept of back-end sales is useful.

Most marketers are successful because they apply back-end selling into their marketing efforts. Back-end selling is when you sell other products or services to your existing customers after they have purchased an initial product.

It is always easier to sell products or services to your existing customers because you have developed a relationship with them when you sold your first product or service to them. You will find it less expensive to sell to old customers as compared to selling to new customers.

Your conversion ratio will be dramatically higher with existing customers. Every time you continue selling back-end products or services to existing customers, you will be building a life-long relationship. You should continually bring out new back-end products or services to sell to existing customers.

Many businesses sell their front-end products (initial products) at almost zero profit in order to generate back-end profits. These businesses do not care even if they lose money on the front-end products or services; they want the back-end profits.

How do you make backend sales? There are several ways. When you order a product from a mail-order company, they'll send you a catalog along with your order, or put you on a mailing list and send you new catalogs from time to time. They might also send you a sales letter for another product. This may be related to the first product in some way. Many companies implement such a strategy.

To implement this technique on the web, you can put the sales pitch for your backend item in the email to the customer to confirm their order. If you have an online catalog, you could include a link to it, or even include a coupon or special offer "for all valued customers".

For a faster response, you should put the backend offer on the "Thank You" page that is generated by a credit-card sale. The customer just bought something from you and has a credit card in his or her hot little hand! Why not ask for another purchase while they are in the mood to buy. In case you do not sell more than one product or service, affiliate programs might come in handy. This way you can back sell products promoted by your affiliate programs as well.

Back-end selling can also be integrated with "Up-Selling" wherein you introduce more expensive products or services to your existing customers in similar ways as those mentioned above. This will almost instantly raise your sales and profits.