|
Recently, I joined up with
InfoGoRound - THE source of high-quality content that you can use
without attribution for your e-books, e-zines, web sites and
reports.
What a great idea! I was stoked. A constantly-growing
source of information on a huge range of topics - free to use without
having to use someone else's resource box. Wow.
Even better, if you contribute just one article a month
(of only 400 words as the lower limit) you get your monthly membership
free.
Enthused, I sat down to fire off my first article. I had
a topic in mind immediately: my experiences with various internet
marketers and their products. I really, really wanted to be able to
share with these guys what it is that people really want - and what
turns them off.
I wrote the article in no time at all. Then I checked
the spelling (fine) and eagerly clicked "PUBLISH". Done!
While I was at the site, I decided to print out the
terms of service on the site, and the advice about writing articles. I
even read it as it came out of the printer.
OOPS.
Was my face red. There it was, in black and white -
"Please do not write your articles in the first person."
Uh oh. (When in doubt, read the instructions.)
Oh well... I could, I decided, quickly change it to the
third person. But while I was at it... why not use this as an example
for others on how you can adapt an article to the third person?
I bet a lot of you have your own websites and e-zines
already - and like me, you're used to writing a message to your readers
in the first person. You probably write a lot of articles in the first
person, too. You feel comfortable doing that. You're not so sure about
changing everything to the third person.
It might help you to see how I went about changing a
first-person account of a personal experience into a third-person
article that is just the kind that InfoGoRround want. I'm showing both
articles below so you can see how it has changed. The message is the
same. The information is the same. I've just changed it to a more
'neutral' third person version. This is exactly what InfoGoRound need
for their article bank.
If you feel you write a much better article in the first
person when talking about your personal experience, go ahead and write
it that way. It will probably flow a lot more easily for you. THEN go
back and change all the "me"s and "I"s into "People" or "Customers" and
"they". Hey presto! Your article is ready.
THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE -
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, 1ST Person
Right now, it's 7.29 on Friday evening. I'm sitting
here at the computer, doing some final tweaks to an e-course
I'm running on Monday. Today I've spent approximately an
hour on email, four hours on my e-course, and half an hour
checking out various offers. That's in addition to doing
other non-Internet-related bread and butter work.
In the past week, I've bought 2 new software products at a total cost of
$197 USD and signed up to one new membership site. I've
joined six or seven new affiliate programs. In the past few
months, I've spent maybe another $500 on products. In the
past year, I've spent thousands.
Why am I telling you this, O gurus (and aspiring gurus)?
Well, heck, I thought you'd like to know what makes me want to buy, and what
makes me want to unsubscribe from your email list. And what
makes me (a rare event for me) want to ask for a refund.
What Makes Me Want to Buy?
- I buy if I can see that a product will give me new knowledge and
understanding.
- I buy if the purchase will move the business forward.
- I buy if a product will automate a task that eats into my time. I've
learned to spend my time on marketing and product creation, not repetitive
tasks.
By now, I've also learned to look beyond the sales hype. I look carefully at
the sales letter and work out what the product will
really offer me. (Do I need this? Or will it duplicate
something else I own?)
I also look for value for money. Some higher-priced products are worth every
cent. Some cheaper products add very little to what I
already know.
(Note: The two products that I bought this week, I purchased after
downloading an mp3 of an interview on search engine
optimization and traffic. During that interview I learnt
some valuable information I'd not heard anywhere else. I
decided that this guy knew what he was talking about, and
shelled out a couple of hundred for his products.)
What Makes Me Want to Unsubscribe from Your List?
- Getting four identical emails trying to sell me the same product, because
you haven't figured out how to move me from one list to another after I buy.
- Getting a 'canned' email sounding full of excitement about a new product
or service - which turns out to be a duplicate of the email I get from six other
marketers who are affiliates for the same product.
- Getting email from you about anything under the sun "because you bought
XXX product from us". If I sign up for a newsletter, I expect mailings. If I buy
a product as a one-off purchase, I don't - unless the mailing is about an
upgrade or an add-on.
What Makes Me Want to Ask for a Refund?
Most of the time, I shrug and write off a bad purchase. In the past four
years, I've asked for a refund only twice.
So what makes me take that step? About a month ago, it was because the
(low-priced) e-book was so full of affiliate links and
upsells that it was more like a marketing campaign than an
e-book. The author gave out a little information -
but the stuff I really wanted to know was not in the book.
Instead, several times, I arrived at a sentence that said
something like "If you want to know more about this topic,
click here" - and the 'click' took me through to a sales
page for a much higher-priced product.
Annoyed, I requested a refund and told the author that in my opinion the
e-book (inexpensive as it was) was really more like a the
kind of viral e-books that are distributed free, because of
all the links and the lack of true information. In fact,
just a week before I had downloaded a free e-book that
offered a lot more useful information on the same subject.
While I'm on a roll, let me tell you a few other things that bite into my
valuable time.
- mp3s that are streamed from a website rather than being downloadable.
- e-books that are in .exe format only, so I can't print them out in one
'hit'.
Give me anything that I can listen to or read away from the computer. I
spend enough hours a day on it already. I'd rather load an
audio interview into my mp3 player and listen while I go for
a walk or relax in the sun. I'd rather print out an e-book
and read it / mark it up while sitting in an easy chair.
Please, please don't tether me to the computer!
And finally - name squeeze pages. I'm tired of having to give my name just
to get to a sales page. Do you want me to buy or not? These
days, unless there's a huge buzz around the Net and I want
to see what it's all about, I just click the 'back' button
on my browser - or close the window - and leave.
After all, there's always another internet marketer waiting to sell me a
product. Probably one very similar to yours. The ones who
respect my time and intelligence are the ones who'll get my
loyalty - and my cash.
Will that be you? |
| |
THE REVISED ARTICLE -
3RD PERSON, READY FOR InfoGoRound to use
More and more people are realizing that the Internet offers great potential to
set up a healthy business for pennies in the dollar. This is good news for
internet marketers - but it also means that they need to lift their game.
Why? Because the would-be "netpreneur" has access to way more
training than ever before. It's possible to get up to speed very quickly on what
is needed to get started online. This, in turn, means that people quickly
recognize what offers true value and what does not. They see so many sales
letters that they become, to a certain degree, immune to the typical hype.
They're willing to spend - but they want value for money. They want to be
treated like intelligent and discerning adults.
So here's a message to all 'gurus' (and aspiring gurus) who are keen to get
their share of the training dollars waiting to be sent flying their way via
cyberspace.
What does it take to make people want to buy from you rather than
some other internet marketer?
What might make people want to unsubscribe from your list?
And what pushes them into asking for a refund?
What Makes People Want to Buy?
- They buy if they can see that a product will give them new knowledge and
understanding.
- They buy if the purchase will speed up business growth.
- They buy if a product will automate a task that eats into their time.
(People quickly learn to spend their time on marketing and product creation,
rather than repetitive tasks.)
Tip: Once "newbies" have been exposed to a few sales pages, it's not long before
they learn to look beyond the sales hype. They study a sales letter carefully to
work out what the product will really offer them. (Do they need this? Or
will it duplicate something else they own?)
They also learn to look for value for money. Some higher-priced products are
worth every cent. Some cheaper products add very little to what they already
know.
(Note: Savvy internet marketers already realize that if they put together
online interviews offering truly valuable information, they are far more likely
to attract and keep new customers. A quick example: Jane Smith listens to a
one-hour audio interview on search engine optimization and traffic. She finds
out some really useful information she has not so far heard anywhere else. She
decides that this guy knows what he's talking about and shells out a couple of
hundred dollars for his products.)
What Makes People Want to Unsubscribe from A List?
- Getting four identical emails trying to sell them the same product, because
the sender hasn't figured out how to move them from one list to another after
they buy.
- Getting a 'canned' email sounding full of excitement about a new product
or service - which turns out to be a duplicate of the email they get from six
other marketers who are affiliates for the same product.
- Getting email from a product creator about anything under the sun
"because you bought XXX product from us". If your customers sign up for a
newsletter, they expect mailings. If they buy a product as a one-off purchase,
they don't - unless the mailing is about an upgrade or an add-on. Annoy people
and you risk losing them forever.
What Makes People Want to Ask for a Refund?
In the past, buyers tended to shrug and write off a bad purchase. But
increasingly, people are prepared to stand up for their rights. If they feel
they have not received value for money, they will ask for a refund.
So what makes them decide to ask for their money back?
- Software that doesn't work as it is supposed to
- Physical products (CDs, DVDs) that don't work on their systems
- An e-book that is full of content easily found in an hour's net-surfing.
- An e-book that has skimped on content or that has been poorly written
- An e-book that not only skimps on content but is full of links to up-sells
to get the 'really valuable' information, or is full of
affiliate links.
That last case - an e-book full of affiliate links or links to an up-sell -
is something you should be giving away free as part of your viral marketing
campaign. Charge for it and you risk your reputation for being a source
of quality information.
Other things that bite into your customer's valuable time.
- mp3s that are streamed from a website rather than being downloadable.
- e-books that are in .exe format only, so the customer can't print them
out in one 'hit' (and can't access them on a Mac computer).
Give your clients anything that they can listen to or read away
from the computer. Most of them spend enough hours a day at
the keyboard already. They'd rather load an audio interview
into their mp3 players and listen while they go for a walk
or relax in the sun. They'd prefer to print out an e-book
and read it / mark it up while sitting in an easy chair.
Please, please don't tether them to the computer!
And finally - name squeeze pages. People are very quickly getting
tired of having to give up their email addresses just to get
to a sales page. Do you want them to buy or not? These days,
unless there's a huge buzz around the Net and they want to
see what it's all about, prospective customers are just as
likely to click the 'back' button on their browser, or close
the window and leave.
After all, there's always another internet marketer waiting to sell them a
product. Probably one very similar to yours. Marketers who
respect their client's time and intelligence are the ones
who will get their loyalty - and their cash.
|
As you can see, the changes have been minimal - and
this is now a much more useable article for anyone to use for their web
sites, e-zines or products.
Click the button below to find out how you can
access hundreds of articles
that you can adapt for your web sites, products, and newsletters
WITHOUT having to credit the
author
|
