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Introduction to Landing Pages

Before you begin the attempt to build a successful list or create a powerful sales page, you will want to start with a rigorous introduction to landing pages. In stark contrast to undifferentiated, unfocused home pages, landing pages focus specifically on capturing leads for a newsletter or making sales for a specific product – and make no attempt to give visitors a different option.

Another common word that is often used to describe landing page, is “squeeze page” (or “lead capture page” in some circles). A squeeze page is a page designed to get names and email addresses. Usually, however, a squeeze page is usually a smaller type of landing page, which usually has an opt-in form in sight when the page loads.

So what is important to learn in an introduction to landing pages? First, it is important to recognize that all successful marketers use these. If you plan to sell a product over the Internet, you will want to use one, too, rather than relying on sidebar opt-in forms and unfocused pages that do not convey a single point and a single call to action.

Another important thing you will want to take away from this introduction to landing pages is that every landing page contains the same parts and is focused on a SINGLE goal – getting the visitor to become a subscriber or buyer.

These parts are as follows: an opt-in form (or sales prompt), a brief or lengthy introduction, a picture of the list/product owner, the signature of the list owner, and a call to action (or multiple calls to action).

Determining which model will work best for you can simply only be done through testing. While many boast a conversion and attribute it to the shortness of their introduction (many will be one short paragraph), otherwise will boast a high conversion rate because they use lengthy, thorough, and compelling copy.

If there is anything you absolutely must take away from an introduction to landing pages, it is that you cannot create a landing page or squeeze page that isn't focused.

The Landing Page System

The landing page system provides a uniquely powerful system through which you can derive profit from multiple streams. This article will briefly discusses some of those different streams – and how you can manipulate them.

Let's start with the landing page itself: all traffic is sent to the landing page. From there, it will have a number of options, depending on what you have given them. Many marketers suggest that your landing page should always be an opt-in form. Others will suggest that it should simply be a sales page.

Whether it's a free newsletter or a product for sale, the landing page system you create should include a “one time offer,” which will compel them to take action – subscribe, buy, etc.

Once they subscribe or buy, the landing page system you create should then re-route them to a thank you page, which opens up more means through which you can up-sell. One quick way to up-sell is to simply include advertisements on your thank you page for related affiliate products or for your own products. Here, again, you will want to give them a one-time offer.

Also, if you haven't yet asked them to join your mailing list, this is where you should do it – on your thank you page. Once they opt-in to your list, you now have a whole new option you can use in conjunction with the landing page system to generate revenue.

One such option is selling ad space in your newsletter or e-zine. The more people you have reading your newsletter, the more you can generally charge for ad space; however, you will want to avoid overselling to your list to ensure your advertisers actually make money.

Your next option is to endorse a product as an affiliate. You can tell your subscribers how someone has just created a brilliant product – and you can offer it to your subscribers through an affiliate link. You may even want to use other products you have has bonuses to give them something extra.

The last and most profitable way in which you can generate revenue through your newsletter is by creating and selling your own products to them.

It is important to note that you don't have to use all of these means to generate revenue; however, the more you use, the more you earn in general.

Your Landing Page

Your One Time Offer (OTO)

Subscription to your Mailing List Sell Ad Space in Your eZine Endorse as an Affiliate

Thank You Page

Back-end Ads & Selling

Sell your own product

What You Need Before Getting Started

Before you get started building your landing page, you will need a number of things to a) make your offer actually have a point; and b) facilitate the creation of your landing page.

One thing you absolutely must have before you get started is an auto responder. Without any auto responder, you are tossing potential bags of money in the garbage. Rather than creating a relationship with customers and potential customers – and giving yourself the opportunity to attempt future up-sales -- you're allowing them to leave and never return.

In addition to an auto responder, you will need to have an actual offer that people want to buy. You may want to develop a product, such as an E-Book or a piece of software.

If you don't have the skills to do either, you can always hire a professional to do it for you through Elance.com or Guru.com. You will then either want to sell this product and attempt to get subscribers from your thank you page – or you will want to get subscribers by offering the product for free (which is what many Internet marketers now do).

Another thing you absolutely must have before you get started is a check out service. You may want to consider Paypal, Click Bank, or 2 Check Out. All of these services will allow you to make transactions quickly.

Another thing you must have before you get started is a set of graphics, which usually includes a graphic header, a check out button, background wallpaper, and a half-decent picture of yourself. You can probably provide the picture of yourself, but you might want to hire a professional to do the rest.

Another thing you will need before you can get started on your landing page is some way in which to create a realistic signature. https://www.vletter.com is probably your best bet; but, if you're on a budget, you may want to opt for simply using a word processing program.

Planning Your Landing Page Theme

Perhaps the most important part of creating a landing page is planning your landing page theme. How you select your theme, of course, will all depend on how you plan to generate traffic.

If you decide to generate traffic through search engine optimization, planning your landing page theme will entail finding phrases within your niche which have a high demand (aggregate search value) and a low supply (small amount of competing sites) and then creating multiple landing pages, each which is optimized around a different phrase.

If, on the other hand, you decide to generate traffic through pay per click (PPC) programs, such as Adwords, planning your landing page theme will again entail tuning a number of different pages to fit the keywords you are purchasing.

This is actually where most people fail when they create a landing page: they don't tune it to fit a specific audience. For instance, in the case of a squeeze page for a newsletter, they might start a newsletter about toys, but they only create one landing page and send all traffic to it. This is a big mistake.

Chances are, if you create a quality product or newsletter, it can benefit a number of people. So why not communicate the exact benefits they will derive from subscribing or buying?

If, for instance, you have a newsletter about Legos and toy blocks, so you group it under the loose heading of “toys,” a visitor who is looking specifically for information about either Legos or toy blocks will click off your page if they don't see the direct connection to the exact topic for which they were searching.

Instead, you will want to setup a page centered around Legos and a page centered around toy blocks. On each page, you will want to communicate the specific benefits to joining the list for each of those groups of visitors.

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True economy is misapprehended, and people go through life without properly comprehending what that principle is. One says, “I have an income of so much, and here is my neighbor who has the same; yet every year he gets something ahead and I fall short; why is it? I know all about economy.” He thinks he does, but he does not. There are men who think that economy consists in saving cheese-parings and candle-ends, in cutting off two pence from the laundress’ bill and doing all sorts of little, mean, dirty things. Economy is not meanness. The misfortune is, also, that this class of persons let their economy apply in only one direction. They fancy they are so wonderfully economical in saving a half-penny where they ought to spend two pence, that they think they can afford to squander in other directions.

Before kerosene oil was discovered or thought of, one might stop overnight at almost any farmer’s house in the agricultural districts and get a very good supper, but after supper he might attempt to read in the sitting-room, and would find it impossible with the inefficient light of one candle. The hostess, seeing his dilemma, would say: “It is rather difficult to read here evenings; the proverb says ‘you must have a ship at sea in order to be able to burn two candles at once; we never have an extra candle except on extra occasions.” These extra occasions occur, perhaps, twice a year. In this way the good woman saves five, six, or ten dollars in that time: but the information which might be derived from having the extra light would, of course, far outweigh a ton of candles.

But the trouble does not end here. Feeling that she is so economical in tallow candies, she thinks she can afford to go frequently to the village and spend twenty or thirty dollars for ribbons and furbelows, many of which are not necessary. This false connote might frequently be seen in men of business, and in those instances it often runs to writing paper. You find good businessmen who save all the old envelopes and scraps, and would not tear a new sheet of paper, if they could avoid it, for the world. This is all very well; they may in this way save five or ten dollars a year, but being so economical (only in note paper), they think they can afford to waste time; to have expensive parties, and to drive their carriages. This is an illustration of’ Dr. Franklin’s “saving at the spigot and wasting at the bung-hole;” “penny wise and pound foolish.” Punch in speaking of this “one idea” class of people says “they are like the man who bought a penny herring for his family’s dinner and then hired a coach and four to take it home.” I never knew a man to succeed by practicing this kind of economy.

True economy consists in always making the income exceed the out-go. Wear the old clothes a little longer if necessary; dispense with the new pair of gloves; mend the old dress: live on plainer food if need be; so that, under all circumstances, unless some unforeseen accident occurs, there will be a margin in favor of the income. A penny here, and a dollar there, placed at interest, goes on accumulating, and in this way the desired result is attained. It requires some training, perhaps, to accomplish this economy, but when once used to it, you will find there is more satisfaction in rational saving than in irrational spending.

Here is a recipe which I recommend: I have found it to work an excellent cure for extravagance, and especially for mistaken economy. When you find that you have no surplus at the end of the year, and yet have a good income, I advise you to take a few sheets of paper and form them into a book and mark down every item of expenditure. Post it every day or week in two columns, one headed “necessaries” or even “comforts”, and the other headed “luxuries,” and you will find that the latter column will be double, treble, and frequently ten times greater than the former. The real comforts of life cost but a small portion of what most of us can earn. It is the eyes of others and not our own eyes which ruin us. If all the world were blind except myself l should not care for fine clothes or furniture.” In America many persons like to repeat “we are all free and equal,” but it is a great mistake in more senses than one.

That we are born “free and equal” is a glorious truth in one sense, yet we are not all born equally rich, and we never shall be.

One may say; “there is a man who has an income of fifty thousand dollars per annum, while I have but one thousand dollars; I knew that fellow when he was poor like myself; now he is rich and thinks he is better than I am; I will show him that I am as good as he is; I will go and buy a horse and buggy; no, I cannot do that, but I will go and hire one and ride this afternoon on the same road that he does, and thus prove to him that I am as good as he is.”

My friend, you need not take that trouble; you can easily prove that you are “as good as he is;” you have only to behave as well as he does; but you cannot make anybody believe that you are rich as he is. Besides, if you put on these “airs,” add waste your time and spend your money, your poor wife will be obliged to scrub her fingers off at home, and buy her tea two ounces at a time, and everything else in proportion, in order that you may keep up “appearances,” and, after all, deceive nobody. On the other hand, Mrs. Smith may say that her next-door neighbor married Johnson for his money, and “everybody says so.” She has a nice one-thousand dollar camel’s hair shawl, and she will make Smith get her an imitation one, and she will sit in a pew right next to her neighbor in church, in order to prove that she is her equal.

My good woman, you will not get ahead in the world, if your vanity and envy thus take the lead. In this country, where we believe the majority ought to rule, we ignore that principle in regard to fashion, and let a handful of people, calling themselves the aristocracy, run up a false standard of perfection, and in endeavoring to rise to that standard, we constantly keep ourselves poor; all the time digging away for the sake of outside appearances. How much wiser to be a “law unto ourselves” and say, “we will regulate our out-go by our income, and lay up something for a rainy day.” People ought to be as sensible on the subject of money-getting as on any other subject. Like causes produces like effects. You cannot accumulate a fortune by taking the road that leads to poverty. It needs no prophet to tell us that those who live fully up to their means, without any thought of a reverse in this life, can never attain a pecuniary independence.

Men and women accustomed to gratify every whim and caprice, will find it hard, at first, to cut down their various unnecessary expenses, and will feel it a great self-denial to live in a smaller house than they have been accustomed to, with less expensive furniture, less company, less costly clothing, fewer servants, a less number of balls, parties, theater-goings, carriage-ridings, pleasure excursions, cigar-smokings, liquor-drinkings, and other extravagances; but, after all, if they will try the plan of laying by a “nest-egg,” or, in other words, a small sum of money, at interest or judiciously invested in land, they will be surprised at the pleasure to be derived from constantly adding to their little “pile,” as well as from all the economical habits which are engendered by this course.

The old suit of clothes, and the old bonnet and dress, will answer for another season; the Croton or spring water taste better than champagne; a cold bath and a brisk walk will prove more exhilarating than a ride in the finest coach; a social chat, an evening’s reading in the family circle, or an hour’s play of “hunt the slipper” and “blind man’s buff” will be far more pleasant than a fifty or five hundred dollar party, when the reflection on the difference in cost is indulged in by those who begin to know the pleasures of saving. Thousands of men are kept poor, and tens of thousands are made so after they have acquired quite sufficient to support them well through life, in consequence of laying their plans of living on too broad a platform. Some families expend as much as twenty thousand dollars per annum, and some much more, and would scarcely know how to live on less, while others secure more solid enjoyment frequently on a twentieth part of that amount. Prosperity is a more severe ordeal than adversity, especially sudden prosperity. “Easy come, easy go,” is an old and true proverb. A spirit of pride and vanity, when permitted to have full sway, is the undying canker-worm which gnaws the very vitals of a man’s worldly possessions, let them be small or great, hundreds, or millions. Many persons, as they begin to prosper, immediately expand their ideas and commence expending for luxuries, until in a short time their expenses swallow up their income, and they become ruined in their ridiculous attempts to keep up appearances, and make a “sensation.”

A gentleman of fortune who says, that when he first began to prosper, his wife would have a new and elegant sofa. “That sofa,” he says, “cost me thirty thousand dollars!” When the sofa reached the house, it was found necessary to get chairs to match; then side-boards, carpets and tables “to correspond” with them, and so on through the entire stock of furniture; when at last it was found that the house itself was quite too small and old-fashioned for the furniture, and a new one was built to correspond with the new purchases; “thus,” added my friend, “summing up an outlay of thirty thousand dollars, caused by that single sofa, and saddling on me, in the shape of servants, equipage, and the necessary expenses attendant upon keeping up a fine ‘establishment,’ a yearly outlay of eleven thousand dollars, and a tight pinch at that: whereas, ten years ago, we lived with much more real comfort, because with much less care, on as many hundreds. The truth is,” he continued, “that sofa would have brought me to inevitable bankruptcy, had not a most unexampled title to prosperity kept me above it, and had I not checked the natural desire to ‘cut a dash’.”

The foundation of success in life is good health: that is the substratum fortune; it is also the basis of happiness. A person cannot accumulate a fortune very well when he is sick. He has no ambition; no incentive; no force. Of course, there are those who have bad health and cannot help it: you cannot expect that such persons can accumulate wealth, but there are a great many in poor health who need not be so.

If, then, sound health is the foundation of success and happiness in life, how important it is that we should study the laws of health, which is but another expression for the laws of nature! The nearer we keep to the laws of nature, the nearer we are to good health, and yet how many persons there are who pay no attention to natural laws, but absolutely transgress them, even against their own natural inclination. We ought to know that the “sin of ignorance” is never winked at in regard to the violation of nature’s laws; their infraction always brings the penalty. A child may thrust its finger into the flames without knowing it will burn, and so suffers, repentance, even, will not stop the smart. Many of our ancestors knew very little about the principle of ventilation. They did not know much about oxygen, whatever other “gin” they might have been acquainted with; and consequently they built their houses with little seven-by-nine feet bedrooms, and these good old pious Puritans would lock themselves up in one of these cells, say their prayers and go to bed. In the morning they would devoutly return thanks for the “preservation of their lives,” during the night, and nobody had better reason to be thankful. Probably some big crack in the window, or in the door, let in a little fresh air, and thus saved them.

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7 Infamous Resell Rights Questions Answered

Your Question Answered on Resell Rights

Dear Aspiring Reseller,

Resell Rights can sound all “alien” to you especially if you are new to the marketing scene or simply stepped in fresh from the world of doing business conventionally.
Perhaps you are more familiar with the term “retail” and “wholesale” in the offline world of doing business but some things can change slightly in the world of E-Commerce though many have dubbed Internet Marketing as a way of selling through the Internet as a medium with many of the conventional and time-tested principles intact.

So by now that you’ve heard about Resell Rights, you’re probably wondering what this new opportunity is all about and how you get your own piece of the pie from it. I was when I first discovered the might of Resell Rights.

In a nutshell, most top marketers today boost their income and add spikes to their traffic and edges to building their mailing lists through creative use and leverage on Resell Rights. And it can very well be your leverage to your next breakthrough in Internet Marketing, too, but only if you understand it first!

That’s right. So if you have questions like below, teeming and pounding hard in your head right, this book is for you.

- What is Resell Rights?
- Why are there a variety of terms in Resell Rights and what are the differences?
- How do I tap into this lucrative opportunity in the E-Commerce scene and tie together with my next Information product?
- And any other questions that most beginning marketers and newcomers have on the special subject of Resell Rights riches!

Having resold several products throughout my Internet Marketing career, I have been often asked questions, some of them included in the above mention, on
this unique field. So profitable and yet chances are that you don’t talk about this with your neighbor-next-door unless he or she is an Internet Marketer.

Having said that, if you want to know how to make money from Resell Rights products you need to understand it first, correct? And in order to understand a subject you don’t know at all, you’ve got to ask an expert on the subject, correct?

Well, here it is – the scoop from the Master Reseller for all aspiring resellers: the 7 infamous Resell Rights questions answered.

In this book, I’ve compiled seven of the most popular questions asked on profiting from Resell Rights, especially since I noticed they tend to be recurring questions. And it is very likely you have some or all of these questions in your mind waiting to be answered to satisfy your curious mind. ?
So turn the page and don’t forget to send me a thank you note when you make your first buck in the Resell Rights arena. You know the address!

Infamous Question #1:

Are all Resell Rights products the same in terms and conditions?

Answer:

All Resell Rights are not created equally. Resell Rights vary from one product to the next, with different rights, terms, and conditions. In fact, some products that are contained in a Resell Rights package are not for resell at all, but are instead for personal use only.

If you purchase a resell rights package, which contains more than one product, the package will typically contain a resell license agreement for each product. Do not assume anything! Read every word of the resell license before you resell the product, and keep that license in a safe place for future reference.

For some products, you may be allowed to resell the product for any price, or even give it away for free. Others may have a set price, meaning that you cannot sell the product for less than that price or give it away for free. In the case of physical products, such as CD’s or DVD’s, you may or may not be allowed to duplicate the product when you sell it. Some companies may require you to purchase the product directly from them for resell – for each sale.

There are usually other terms and conditions for reselling a product as well, other than the price at which you may resell it. For instance, most product authors will have strict anti-spam policies, meaning that the product cannot be advertised by any method that may be in violation of federal spam laws.

If you are ever unsure about your resell rights, contact the author of the product before doing anything else. You do not want to violate any terms or conditions, as it can and will be considered a violation of copyright laws, which is a federal offense. Make sure that you aren’t just asking another reseller – contact the author of the product directly.

Make sure that you don’t misplace your licenses. Print them out and keep them on a file. You should also back up electronic copies on a disk. Include any email exchanges with the product author as well in your backup files, including the emails that you send.

Infamous Question #2:

What is the difference between Resell Rights & PLR (Private Label Rights)?

Answer:

Many people are confused about the difference between resell rights and private label rights. Several mistakenly think that they are the same thing, and this is not so. It is easy, however, to understand how the two terms can be confusing.

If you have resell rights, you have the right to resell the product, in conjunction with the terms and conditions set forth in your license, as is. This means that you cannot alter or edit the product in any way, and you cannot put your name on it as the author.

If you have private label rights, however, you can edit and alter the product as you see fit, and you can even put your own name, or your company’s name, on the product as the author. You can change words, chapters, graphics, add to the product, break the product down into several different products – whatever you choose to do.

Because you have more freedom with private label rights, these types of products generally cost more to purchase the rights for. Some products even have two options when you purchase them: resell rights or private label rights. In fact, you can use your private label rights products and sell the resell rights to others, after you have changed the product and put your name on it.

There is also a difference between resell rights and master resell rights. Resell rights simply give you the right to resell the product, while master resell rights allow you to resell the product and the resell rights!

Again, it is easy to see how one could be confused with these various terms. However, if given the choice, always go for the private label rights. This will allow you to have a product of your very own, without actually having to create one yourself. Most private label rights licenses give you much more leniency.

Infamous Question #3:

How do I compete with other Resellers who own the same product?

Answer:

Many people avoid resell rights products simply because they believe that they cannot compete with other resellers who are selling the same product, or they feel the market for that product may be flooded due to the fact that there are a great number of other resellers.

However, if you really think about it, most people purchase resell rights, and have no intention of reselling the product – they simply wanted the product. Others purchase resell rights to sell the product, but honestly don’t know how, or don’t use very effective marketing techniques. In fact, 90% of the people who hold the same resell rights that you hold are doing it wrong.

You must also consider the market. While it is harder to sell Internet Marketing related products, selling non-Internet Marketing products is easier than you think. The reason it is harder to sell Internet Marketing products is because most of the other resellers will in fact be Internet Marketers who do know what they are doing.
First, you must increase your marketing efforts. By doing more, you will put yourself well ahead of the 10% that are actually marketing the product correctly. Find new markets for the product and new ways to reach them. Consider holding teleseminars or joint venturing with other marketers who have large subscriber lists.

Next, make your package more attractive than other people’s. You typically will not have the right to change the product, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change the offer. Use other products as bonuses, as long as you have the right to give those products away. Beef up your package, and you will pull ahead of the competition quickly. Also, change your sales letter. Don’t use the same sales letter that other resellers are using. Make yours unique.

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Introduction

Sell your book the easy way --- sell a proposal

You can get paid to write a book. It's easily possible to make a fast $10,000, or even a six figure amount. You could even make seven figures --- over a million dollars for twenty pages of text. It sounds incredible, but a fast seven figures is certainly possible if you have a HOT, hot idea or have had an experience that hundreds of thousands of people want to read about. In his evergreen book about writing non-fiction, Damn! Why Didn't I Write That?, author Marc McCutcheon says that it's not hard to make a good income: "you can learn the trade and begin making a respectable income much faster than most people think possible".

The good part is that you don't need to write your book before you get some money. You write a proposal, and a publisher will give you an advance, which you can live on while you write the book.

Writing a proposal is the smart way to write a book. It's the way professional writers sell non-fiction. Selling a book on a proposal is much easier than selling a book that you've already written. A book proposal is a complete description of your book. It contains the title, an explanation of what the book's about, an outline of chapters, a market and competition survey, and a sample chapter.

A book proposal functions in the same way as any business proposal does: you're making an offer to someone you hope to do business with. It will be treated by publishers in the same way that any business treats a proposal. A publisher will read your proposal, assess its feasibility, cost it, and if it looks as if the publisher will make money, the publisher will pay you to write the book. When you've sold your proposed book to a publisher, your role doesn’t end with writing your book. You’re in partnership with your publisher to ensure the book's success. If you do your part, both you and your publisher will make money.

You and your publisher: a partnership

The publisher's business is selling books. The company acquires books which it hopes will sell, and sell well. Your publisher is putting up the money to publish your book, so you need to approach the project from his point of view as well as your own.

We haven’t got the space to go into great detail about the publishing business here, but you need to know about "returns", because the challenge of returns makes publishing different from other businesses. Publishers sell books on consignment. Publishers ship books to bookshops, and if a book isn’t sold within a certain time period, it's destroyed. The bookseller strips the cover from the book and sends the cover to the publisher for a full credit. This is the "return". If a title doesn’t sell, the publisher takes a beating. As you can imagine, publishers are no more keen to lose money than you or I.

What does this mean to you as you write your book proposal? It means that your proposal needs to emphasize the ways in which you, as the writer, will take responsibility for the book's success.

You will try to ensure the success of your book by gauging the marketplace. You will work out who the likely buyers of your book might be, and the reasons they will have for paying good money for your book. You'll assess the competition for your book. You'll work out ways in which you can promote your book, so that people hear about it. You're in partnership with your publisher, and if you're prepared to take responsibility for that role, the publisher will be much more likely to buy your proposal.

Why write a proposal first?

All non-fiction books are sold on proposal. A book proposal is much easier to sell than a complete book.

Here are some of the reasons:

- It's easier to read a 20 or 30 page proposal than a 400 page book;
- It's easier to make changes in the book's concept at the proposal stage;
- With a proposal, the publisher, in the person of your editor, can take ownership of the book. It's like bespoke tailoring: the editor feels that the book has been specifically written for the publishing house.

Even if you decide to write your book first, you'll need to create a proposal once you've written it. No agent or publisher is interested in reading an entire book to assess its viability. That's the proposal's job: to ensure that your book has a niche in the marketplace. As you do your research for the proposal, you'll work out whether or not your book is likely to sell. You can shape the book at the proposal stage, much more easily than you can when it’s a huge stack of print or a giant computer file.

Sometimes you may get an idea for a book, but the idea is amorphous, it doesn’t have a real shape. You may want to write several thousand words to see whether the book becomes clearer in your mind. But write the proposal before you write more than ten thousand words, because your book must target a specific group of buyers.
How do you write a book proposal?

You write a proposal step by step. In this ebook, we'll work on your book proposal together. Each chapter has tasks for you to complete. Once you've completed all the tasks, you'll have a book proposal which has an excellent chance of selling.

Here's what we'll cover:

- (Day One) Getting an idea for your book.
- (Day Two) Developing the idea and expanding on it. Assessing the market. Who needs this book? What's the competition for the book?
- (Day Three) Writing the blurb. Outlining your book.
- (Day Four) Researching your book proposal, and fleshing out your outline.
- (Day Five) Writing a proposal query letter. Sending your query letters to agents and publishers. (You send the queries while you're working on the proposal. This helps you to gauge reaction to your work.)
- (Day Six) Writing the proposal.
- (Day Seven) Writing the sample chapter. Revising your proposal.

I'll be including a sample of a book proposal for you to look at, so you can see what material the proposal contains. This proposal garnered an agent contract the first time I sent it out. I'll also include other samples, so that you have plenty of templates from which to construct your own proposal.

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What is advertising?

Is it something to be regarded as a work of beauty or art? Is it clever slogans or amusing prose? Is it workmanship to be judged for an award or recognition?
It’s none of the above.

Advertising is salesmanship multiplied.

Nothing more.

And advertising copy, or copywriting, is salesmanship in print.

The purpose of a copywriter’s job is to sell. Period.

The selling is accomplished by persuasion with the written word, much like a television commercial sells (if done properly) by persuading with visuals and audio.
As Claude Hopkins wrote in his timeless classic, Scientific Advertising:

“To properly understand advertising or to learn even its rudiments one must start with the right conception. Advertising is salesmanship. Its principles are the principles of salesmanship. Successes and failures in both lines are due to like causes. Thus every advertising question should be answered by the salesman's standards.

“Let us emphasize that point. The only purpose of advertising is to make sales. It is profitable or unprofitable according to its actual sales.

“It is not for general effect. It is not to keep your name before the people. It is not primarily to aid your other salesmen. Treat it as a salesman. Force it to justify itself. Compare it with other salesmen. Figure its cost and result. Accept no excuses which good salesmen do not make. Then you will not go far wrong.

“The difference is only in degree. Advertising is multiplied salesmanship. It may appeal to thousands while the salesman talks to one. It involves a corresponding cost. Some people spend $10 per word on an average advertisement. Therefore every ad should be a super-salesman.

“A salesman's mistake may cost little. An advertiser’s mistake may cost a thousand times that much. Be more cautious, more exacting, therefore. A mediocre salesman may affect a small part of your trade. Mediocre advertising affects all of your trade.”

These points are as true today as they were when they were written nearly one hundred years ago!

So the goal then becomes: how can we make our advertising as effective as possible.

The answer is to test. Test again. And then test some more.

If ad “A” receives a two percent response rate, and ad “B” receives three percent, then we can deduce that ad “B” will continue to outperform ad “A” on a larger scale.
Testing takes time, however, and can be expensive if not kept in check. Therefore, it’s ideal to start with some proven tested known ideas and work from there.

For example, if testing has shown for decades or more that targeted advertising significantly outperforms untargeted advertising (and it does), then we can start with that assumption and go from there.

If we know based on test results that crafting an ad that speaks directly to an individual performs better than addressing the masses (again, it does), then it makes little sense to start testing with the assumption that it does not. This is common sense.

So it stands to reason that knowing some basic rules or techniques about writing effective copy is in order. Test results will always trump everything, but it’s better to have a starting point before you test.

So this starting point is the essence of this book.

The ten tips expressed here have been generally time-tested and known to be effective.

But I can’t emphasize enough that when using these techniques, you should always test them before rolling out a large (and expensive) campaign.

Sometimes a little tweak here or there is all that is needed to increase response rates dramatically.

And with that, let’s move onward…

Focus on Them, Not You

When a prospect reads your ad, letter, brochure, etc., the one thing he will be wondering from the start is: “what’s in it for me?”

And if your copy doesn’t tell him, it’ll land in the trash faster than he can read the headline or lead.

A lot of advertisers make this mistake. They focus on them as a company. How long they’ve been in business, who their biggest customers are, how they’ve spent ten years of research and millions of dollars on developing this product, blah, blah.

Actually, those points are important. But they should be expressed in a way that matters to your potential customer. Remember, once he’s thrown it in the garbage, the sale is lost!

When writing your copy, it helps to think of it as writing a letter to an old friend. In fact, I often picture a friend of mine who most closely fits my prospect’s profile. What would I say to convince this friend to try my product? How would I target my friend’s objections and beliefs to help my cause?

When you’re writing to a friend, you’ll use the pronouns “I” and “you.” When trying to convince your friend, you might say: “Look, I know you think you’ve tried every widget out there. But you should know that…”

And it goes beyond just writing in the second person. That is, addressing your prospect as “you” within the copy. The fact of the matter is there are many successful ads that weren’t written in the second person. Some are written in the first person perspective, where the writer uses “I.” Other times the third person is used, with “she,” “he,” and “them.”

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Selling Homes in the World of Real Estate: Introduction

In order to revive the nearly unprofitable real estate market it is important that more and more homes are staged. This is a simple concept that ensures that a particular house that is for sales find appeal with more and more buyers.

Apart from getting a large number of buyers so that the seller can strike a good bargain, it is also equally important for the seller that his house gets sold of quickly. It is important to increase the demand so that the market can get more lucrative.

This is the primary reason why real estate agents are fast hiring, or themselves turning into ‘staging professionals’. These professionals help in building homes that find maximum appeal to the seller in terms of their tastes and preferences.

And it is a fact that stages homes bring as much as 15 percent more revenue that those that are not. People are constantly looking for a house with more space. Many look at it as an investment that how much they will gain when they in turn sell it. Keeping all this in mind a professional stages houses.

Therefore, those people who want to sell their houses enlist the services of such staging professionals who, on being hired, help the owners to prepare their houses for sale.

They are specialized to so such a job. And indeed, the sellers see the difference in the demand for their property and the price that is coming in, before and after the staging professional has done his job.

Sellers generally use services of the agents who report to the seller that their house is not getting a good offer. They cannot, however, pinpoint the problem. They cannot understand the nature of renovation the house needs. Staging professionals, being specialized at these things, have a good idea of what the buyers are looking for and are effectively able to help the seller.

It is true that different buyers have different tastes, but with some things one can never go wrong. And this is precisely the principle that staging professionals follow. Staging of a house is done on the fundamental belief that a well staged house will cost money. The seller will have to pay for the renovation and the professionals fees.

It will still be more profitable than reducing the selling price of your house. According to a survey, 50 percent of the sellers are willing to spend about $2000 on staging, while 50 percent of them are willing to go up to $5000.

Staging professionals have a clear idea about the kind of colors that sell, the kind of furnishing in the house that makes it more appealing to those who come to have a look at it. They also have a clear idea of how the space inside the house must be used for optimum utility, which seems to be a major concern for all buyers.

It is a fact that well showcased houses sell 84 percent faster than those that are not. Staging professionals are not into house building or house designing. They merely advise the agents or the sellers themselves on the strategy to use while re doing their house.

Here are a few standard tools they use:

• Color: A tried and tested palette that professionals use can never go wrong. Though trends keep changing but there are some basic colors that never go out of vogue. Professionals generally work with neutral colors that have a wide appeal.

• Furniture: Professionals have just the precise idea of how to furnish and accessorize the house.

• Space: Optimization of space must be done well and professionals can tell you how.

• Budget: They also work with economical budgets. And indeed that is what the seller wants to maximize his profit from selling his house.

There are several seminars arranged from time to time from which professionals can take valuable advice. Trends keep changing from time to time and a good professional must necessarily keep himself updated about those recent developments.

On the basis of such knowledge he can suggest to sellers or their agents what to do with their house while selling.

The professional keeping himself abreast of the latest developments even increases the sellers faith in him and is a sure shot tool of success for the professional. After all, nothing is more valuable than the professional being able to get the house sold faster for a good price.

What Keep Homes From Being Sold?

Selling houses needs the agent and sellers to have a certain kind of experience. It is a fact that houses cannot always be sold on the spur of the moment. It needs proper planning and there is always a cohesive way to go about it. one of the other hassles that those who need to sell their house need to go through are the legal and technical formalities that form such an important part of the whole process.

The legal paperwork that selling a house involves is far greater that you can imagine. It needs proper professional aid. If you are capable of doing it yourself, then it is an additional advantage, but you must be very careful. Any small error in any detail that you may have provided can cost you a lot of money.

The following is a basic checklist you must always refer to when you try and show your house to prospective buyers. You need to take care of these things so that you do not put them off, thwarting your chances of actually striking a good bargain:

• De-clutter: Any home with a lot of clutter, that is to say, a house that has not used up its space in a proper manner stands very less chances of getting sold faster for a good price. More and more people these days are looking at optimizing the space within the house. Because of increasing population, the living area for most people is decreasing. So within whatever space they have, they would like to have it done well.

• Make Beds: In case you are in a habit of leaving home each morning for work without having made your beds, you are in trouble. Your agent may bring prospective buyers to your house and they may find beds not made. This is nothing major but it just gives a very negative impression. If you cannot make your beds in the morning, you can talk with your agent and ask him to avoid bringing in people before a particular time, or bring them only during weekends, the only time you make your bed!

• Clean Closets: Make sure your closets and drawers are neatly arranged. It just gives an impression of order within the household. Cluttered closets symbolize chaos and give a wrong impression of your house to buyers.

• Light: Make sure that you have your curtains drawn to let in enough natural light. Use natural light as far as possible. Artificial lighting can be used to enhance the interiors of your house, but just relying on artificial lighting gives a gloomy impression.

• Leave your house: Let the agents do the showing around. If someone has come to view your house that they might buy for a huge sum of money, they want to have a look at it well. In the presence of its current residents, viewers cannot frankly view the house well. They cannot open and inspect each cabinet.

• Clean yard: Make sure your yard is clean and tidy as well. As with beds and closets, this too plays a major role in forming a good impression.

• Be Accessible: You may have a very erratic schedule, but you must make sure that you are available for prospective buyers whenever they have to make a phone call to you to ask you things about your house. This is one way in which you can ensure your house gets sold quickly. Untraceable owners lose many a prospect just be being inaccessible. Keep your agent or realtor abreast of the kind of schedule you follow.

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First Things First

I'm going to keep this report as no-fluff as possible. Not going to waste your time with "my story" or anything else like that. Let's get right to it

Simply put, there is no easier way to get into offline marketing than what I'm about to teach you. Honestly, it's pretty ridiculous. You don't have to make anything, you need ZERO technical skills, and don't NEED to call people or talk at all.

"If this is so easy, won't it become saturated?"

As soon as the world runs out of business owners, this method will become saturated (in other words, never).

To keep it simple, if you can answer an email, you can make money with this method. For those of you who have bought multiple products from me, you know that I only release actionable material that provides results when put into action. I've done it, my clients do it, it works. Period.

So, what are you going to need to make this work? I will recommend that you have a Facebook account and landing page (optional but recommended).

Facebook and a landing page IS optional IF you feel comfortable calling around to local businesses or mass emailing. You will be using this Facebook ads+ landing page combo to filter leads (business owners who are interested in your service).

You do not need to have a budget to make this work at all (as you can call around or email businesses in your area for free), but I recommend that you spend about $20 to get up and running. Any small $5-50 budget will drastically speed the process.

What are we going to be doing? We are going to be providing a VERY easy and simple, yet powerful Facebook ads service to small business owners. If the business has a customer list that collects cell phone numbers or email addresses, you can sell this service to them.

This is one of the most powerful functions of Facebook advertising and works in any offline business niche that has a sales department.

However, for easy sales, I will recommend a few specific businesses that you will want to target.

The first thing you are going to want do after setting up a Facebook account and landing page (if you don't have them) is become familiar with Facebook Custom Audiences.

What does Custom Audiences allow you to do??

It allows you to hyper-target your Facebook ads strictly to certain cell phone numbers or email addresses. This is arguably the most powerful, targeted, and affordable way of getting more sales to business owners.

Facebook will scan its database to see if any of the email addresses or cell phone numbers in your customer list match with Facebook accounts. If so, it displays your ads DIRECTLY to those individuals via their Facebook Timeline. Many businesses will not have customers' email addresses, but WILL have cell phone numbers.

**PROTIP: You can even use this with an internet marketing email list to sell more stuff to your subscribers (affiliate offers, your own products, etc.). Make sure that you include your name in the title so that you continue to build your brand.

Cool story, right?

"But Phil, I don't have any phone numbers or email addresses to market to"

Right. We aren't using yours. That's the service we are providing to small businesses. We will be DRASTICALLY boosting their business by using THEIR customer list with Facebook Custom Audiences.

**NOTE: Custom Audiences requires you to use a list of at least 100 people in order to start a campaign.

We will be guiding this Custom Audience traffic to the Facebook Ads "Claim Offer" feature, which will drive a massive amount of sales to these business owners. The "Claim Offer" function allows Facebook users to claim a specific and exclusive discount. This works because it drives their previous customers and buyers straight to their NEW offers.