You may have heard recently that the founder of Wired magazine has started a sweet new venture — manufacturing chocolate.

The new company, named TCHO is taking a different approach than most well-known chocolate producers.

From a marketing standpoint this is exciting. Many of the principles these guys are putting into play are classic and sound in their approach.

First, Louis Rossetto, the CEO of TCHO isn’t scared to tell the world what is different about his new company — that TCHO will actually manufacture chocolate and not just re-melt or rebrand someone else’s mixture.

This claim would get attention by itself, however, it is further reinforced by TCHO’s story of how they work directly with farmers, produce chocolate through their own factory, and so on.

They are also making this personal…by telling everyone they can that they are not funded by some money-hungry venture capital firm, but rather by their friends and family.

I should note, that VCs can be great. But this approach helps to create more of a bond with the company…an underdog you want to support.

Next, the company is actively requesting feedback. Right away this tells chocolate enthusiasts they care about quality and making this the best chocolate around.

Another strategy they are using is scarcity. TCHO is building desire for their product by only offering sale of their ‘beta’ phase chocolate to those that register on their website (www.tcho.com) and who live in the Bay area that can pick up the chocolate from their factory.

You know the ‘I really want what I can’t have syndrome’ — it’s in work here.

It’s yet to be seen how sweet this chocolate venture will be. But what is clear, is that the company has leveraged its past assets to garner strong media attention…and has been doing a good job of communicating what makes it different, and why, if you’re anyone that likes chocolate, should consider getting a hold of a TCHO bar.

Until next time.

To your success,
Michael

This week I’m writing to you from Mexico.

I’ve been working on a book for the last several months that looks at the connection between relationships, customer service and marketing. I’ve tried to spend a couple of hours a week on this…but my client load has really taken off and as a result I haven’t given enough time to finishing up my book.

So here I am in Mexico, where I plan to put the finishing touches on the book, unwind, refocus, and of course, soak up some sun.

I’ll have more information on my book soon. But I’ll leave you with a great video from one of the most successful marketers to touch this earth….

Click to watch video

The Financial Post newspaper ran an interesting article on the morning of November 23rd titled, “More art than science.”

The article discusses the need for more companies to measure their marketing and look at their ROI. Wow, that’s a new idea!

I’m joking. In case you’re new to this blog, a quick review of past articles and you’ll know that the idea of marketing ROI as a must, isn’t new at all.

You can give the concept any name you like, direct marketing, direct-response, measurable, accountable, scientific advertising — call it whatever you like, but it’s been around for hundreds of years — and it’s what consistently builds the most efficient of successful businesses.

The article does provide an interesting statistic though…”almost half of the chief marketing officers surveyed felt accurate ROI data is hard to obtain.” Bullocks!

It’s only hard to obtain when you’re looking for it in the wrong places. Every year, testing, tracking and measuring marketing and advertising investments has become easier. For one, there are more tools available to automate this process. And two, with the rise of the internet (rise, is an understatement), the idea of ROI has become common sense — yet far too few practice it.

The article seems to be confusing two points. It makes measuring ROI seem like a one-time evaluation. That if a marketing campaign fails its first time off the block, it’s done – a failure.

And, when that same campaign pays off a year later, its success, the article concludes, comes from the campaigns creativity — and that clearly there is no value in measuring its ROI.

That’s all wrong. Marketers test. When they deliver a campaign, they are testing and measuring several aspects of it. When something works, they do more of it. When something doesn’t, they don’t give up; they test a change and keep making adjustments until the cash register starts singing.

There is one more problem with this article. A distinction that must be made…

…this article was not written with the small business in mind. Its examples, like most you find in the media, relate to corporations that have millions of dollars, and often much more, to spend on marketing and advertising each year. They can sustain years of ineffective marketing with brand awareness and brand building programs…paid for in part by shareholders money.

Small businesses don’t have that luxury. They must make every marketing investment count. They must know what is working, what isn’t, and why? Then go right to the heart of the problem and fix it.

And that’s why direct-response measurable marketing and advertising is so effective…and why serious business owners will take nothing, and have nothing less.

To your success,

Michael Zipursky
 

All around us, in almost every neighborhood throughout the world, millions of dollars sit, collecting nothing more than dust.

What could I be referring to?

Don’t be too surprised….

…Bee Oh Oh Kay Esu…BOOKS.

As a young kid I used to loathe books. In school, when we were assigned to read a book and write one of those dreaded ‘book reports”, I’d be the first to dash off to the library and find a Coles Notes, that summarized the book for me…so I didn’t have to read it.

I think the first book I ever read; from cover-to-cover at least, was The Godfather. That opened my eyes to the power of writing…since then I’ve read over a hundred books.
And while I love fiction books. I don’t make time to read them regularly. However, when I go on holiday, that’s my weapon of choice. There’s nothing like a Robert Ludlum plot to take the mind off, well, pretty much anything else.

Darn it, it’s been a long while since I’ve made the time for those cherished hours of exploring the galaxy of fiction. Why?  Because I’m constantly, actually, almost every day reading non-fiction books, reports, manuals, and other pages related to my business.

When I’m working on a client project there is always research to be done, facts to uncover, numbers to find. And the same goes for my own product and business development.

I Got Hit One Day

Years ago I was punched in the face by the realization that books are worth their weight in gold. Seriously, in that moment of realization I almost lost my breathe. Really, where else can you pay $10-$20, spend a day or week, and have soaked up what someone else has spent a year or two writing, and often a decade or more learning? Where else can you get fresh ideas, techniques, and lessons from the frontlines with detailed insider insights, for such a small price in both time and money?

That Is Beautiful

On my website I state that I’ve studied over 60 books related to my business. But a friend told me that’s not impressive. “Just sixty books, are you kidding? I’ve read hundreds of books.” So I asked him, “Do you take notes when you read each book? Do you make an effort to apply at least one idea from that book directly to your business or life right away? Can you summarize the main lesson and idea from each book?” He was left speechless. And then we both laughed. And then he said, “I’ve read them, but they just sit on my bookshelf.”

That’s common. We read books, feel like we’ve gained so much knowledge, and then put them on our bookshelves.

How many books have you read twice?

When I say I’ve studied over 60 books on marketing, advertising, business strategy, and copywriting…I mean I’ve read each of those books more than once. I keep them handy and open them up on a regular basis. I refer to them. I’ve made notes from them. I’ve used their ideas to bring new profits to my clients’ and my business.

And I guess, that’s what I’m trying to say….books are immensely valuable.

But don’t be satisfied that you’ve read a book and that now you can add it to your library — mission accomplished? I think not.

Hey if it’s your hobby…power to you.

But, if you really want to blow past your competition, not step, but leap to new levels of success, then I implore you to study books, not just read them.

Treat them as gold and you will get gold in return. They always have been, and always will be, one of the best investments you can make.

Think about it…$20 to learn what it took someone a lifetime to master.

To your success,
Michael

As an advocate of direct-response money making advertising, my bones shudder when what I’m being sold really isn’t what the ad or salesperson makes it out to be.

A RECENT EXAMPLE
Two months back I decided to become more active in managing my financial investments.

I’ve had investments for years, but for the most part I ’sat on my hands’ and let them do their thing.

But one morning I woke up and decided I’d shave a small corner from my holdings to ‘dabble’ with on my own.

I found a trading service that I could ‘trust’ and dropped in a small chunk of change.

What got me to put my money with them? A friend has been using them to manage his money and I’ve seen them around for a while.

NOW HERE WE GO

They also advertised trades at $9.95 and if you sign up now you get 100 free trades for free. Yeah! I like that. That’ll be more than a year of trades, for free,” I thought.

A day later I sent in my application and a few days after that got an email to start trading.

Excited I logged into my account only to find out that unless I put in $50,000 I can say goodbye to the $9.95 trades – they are now $19.95 each.

No matter, I have those 100 free trades to get me started, right? WRONG.

I’m told I’d have to drop in $30,000 minimum to qualify for that.

Naturally I’m disappointed. What they ’sold me on was a fake.

That’s not 100% true. They did list all this information on their site. I just didn’t squint hard enough and for long enough to read it all…woof.

If you’ve ever made a claim to bring new customers in or ‘make the sale’ by ‘hiding’ certain aspects of your offer, be prepared. This kind of advertising and marketing always comes back to bite you on the butt.

Most buyers despise being ‘tricked’ into the sale. Yes, maybe you made the sale and reaped a profit, but you won’t ever again, not from them.

Remember, you’re not in the business game; you’re in the relationship building game. If you can’t build strong relationships with your customers…you’re gone-baby-gone.

Plus, you can expect that those customers that feel cheated won’t keep quite. They’ll tell their friends and people they meet how they feel about you at every chance they get.

That’s why so many companies make big profits for a short time and then disappear and become statistics.

So I warn you, when you make claims, follow through with them. Or make it perfectly clear for your customer so they know what to expect.

And what about my investment money? While I first planned to put in a small amount and follow it up with larger chunks, I’m now holding back. I’ve paused to see what else there is out there. And this company has potentially lost what could have become a long-term loyal patron. What a shame.

To your success,

Michael Zipursky

Today I have a real treat for you. A video from a true advertising legend. But before we go there…let’s cover some background information…

The term “Direct-Response Marketing” or “Direct Marketing” may only be 46 or so years old (when Lester Wunderman gave it birth) but the actual application of Direct-Response methods have been in practice for hundreds of years.

In fact, according to Direct Marketing professionals Denny Hatch and Don Jackson, direct marketing dates back to 1600 when garden catalogs were sold direct to the consumer.

During my years of consulting on marketing and advertising projects and writing copy for companies around the world I’ve had the direct-response vs. general marketing/advertising debate countless times.

What’s the debate all about? Well, in summary it goes like this…

General advertising is what you see most of the time on the TV, in newspapers and magazines. They consist of amazingly creative advertisements that people often feel are “cool.” They get your attention and are widely accepted as being what advertising is all about. I should also mention that most awards are for these kind of ads. The goal here it seems is to do something different and be more creative. Unfortunately, with general advertising you often have no idea how effective each ad or promotion is. You may know that a campaign helped to increase sales, but potential success will never reach a maximum because strict tracking and testing lacks.

On the other side of the coin is Direct-Response. This approach is to communicate directly with your prospect and get them to take action…whether that means having them read a report, contacting you for more information, coming to a seminar or buying your product. Direct-Response is measured to the penny. Variations of headlines, images, offers, guarantees and more are tested…calculating results is common practice and allows you to know which ad or promotion directly benefits your bottom line.

Many in general advertising stay away from direct-response. They know very little about it and don’t want to. It’s not creative enough or seems to ‘foreign’.

It really is a whole other world.

You see with direct-response success isn’t a matter of creativity, or design appeal or even how well you write and your grammar for that matter. Direct-Response success is measured in sales and profit. And your ad or promotions are tested and tracked…leading to the ad with the highest ROI becoming your control which you test other ads against.

This ensures you have the most profitable ad running…and reduces the amount of money you spend on advertising that may or may not be working at its best.

If you know anything about me, you’ll know I’m a huge advocate of Direct-Response marketing. I love that fact that you can scientifically test and know what is working and what isn’t.

Many companies have good intentions…but it’s too bad so many still spend their hard earned cash on a guessing game…hoping their ads will pay off.

I don’t know about you, but I prefer knowing what will work and then making adjustments to ensure it does.

Here’s another reason I love direct-response. Because for a few hundred dollars you can know whether or not a product or service will work. You don’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars just to find out.

That’s smart investing don’t you think?

What I’m writing here definitely isn’t new. Click the link below and watch what David Ogilvy, one of the fathers of Advertising, has to say about this debate.

David Ogilvy Video

To your success,

 Michael

Anyone who has ever run a business knows how easy it is to lose sight of what first got you involved in that venture.

What motivations, inspirations and passions moved you to take your first steps on that often windy road of building a business.

In the haze of becoming profitable, competing with competitors, changing market environments…and let’s not forget getting your ass-kicked to the curb at least once or twice…

…all entrepreneurs fall down at one point.

What seperates the real success stories from all the other statistics are the people who keep getting back up.

But I digress. While the topic of will-power and commitment may be more important than any other in business success – it isn’t the topic I will cover today. Maybe next time.

Last week I read an article by Al Ries, one of this century’s marketing and branding greats.

What I’ve always loved about Al is his no BS approach. His work, and that of Jack Trout, guided me in my early years.

It played a huge role in opening my eyes to how much junk there is out there…and how much money is wasted by companies each year on useless, and worse-yet, hopeless marketing attempts.

In Al’s article he wrote that too many companies focus on their brands…and don’t focus enough on being a ‘leader’ in their category.

Companies get so worked up trying to better themselves that they forget to look around them and see how the market is changing.

The result is that you may end up with a great product…but the market has moved on and doesn’t want what you have to offer any more. Many times because some other product is now more relevant in meeting their needs.

The danger that Ries points out is that too often companies will succeed in one category and think that they can automatically transfer that success to another one. That they’re name/brand alone will guarantee them another gold medal.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Just because starbucks has won in coffee doesn’t mean they’ll win in coffee-flavored chocalates. For Kodak, just because they were so successful in film photography doesn’t mean they’ll succeed in digital.

The lesson here is to always know what is happening in the market around you. Never assume that your success in one area guarantees your success in another.

So what should you do?

Join your strengths with what the market wants, fullfill their needs and desires…solve their problems and you’ll be well on your way to success.

As always to your success,

Michael

PS. To read Al’s full article click here.

You’ve likely considered at one point or another where to put your money and get the highest possible return.

A few of the more common options include real estate, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and GICs. Each will give you a different level of return on your investment and each with a varying degree of risk.

If you’re a business owner there is another option. A way to invest that can often give you returns of 20%, 50%, 100% and more.

Plus the risk level is low. Mind you, you do need to spend a bit more time on this investment than the other more traditional methods…but you’ll be handsomely rewarded.

Okay already, what is this amazing investment, you ask?

It’s marketing.

You’re thinking that’s not an investment…that’s an expense I have of running my business.

Well, if that’s how you’ve been thinking about marketing you aren’t alone.

I’ve worked with many companies across several industries in more than 6 countries around the world and it’s a phenomenon that crosses all borders.

When a company tells me their marketing consists of some brochures written and designed by a graphic designer, a fancy flash website, a general advertisement in a paper twice a year and attending a trade show here and there…I understand why they view marketing as an expense.

They have no strategy and a bucket full of inconsistency — that isn’t marketing…it’s a half-ass attempt at showing off your brand — and it likely won’t do anything for you except cost you money.

But a well planned strategy with razor sharp copy integrated into all marketing materials and executed properly will bring you back $2, $4, $10 and more for every dollar you put in.

You do the math…that’s not an expense…that’s an investment.

Think about it. $5000 on your marketing brings you back $50,000.

Global corporations aside, look at any business owner that is making pools full of cash year after year – they get this concept.

Not all business owners are comfortable putting out money. They’ll say their waiting until they get more money to spend more on marketing…but they keep saying this year after year.

And it’s too bad. It’s a mindset.

 As soon as they get out of it and open up to the idea that marketing is they key component in their business to make them wealthy beyond their dreams…they don’t hesitate anymore.

Now here’s the key point. Not all marketing is alike. As I mentioned above…some marketing is plain Jane ‘communicate the brand’ and ‘explain who we are and why we are great’ – that’s rubbish.

The marketing I’m talking about uses time-tested proven methods to get:

• higher response rates from every marketing piece you use
• more customers walking through your front door
• customers perceiving you as the industry leader they trust
• increased sales, profits, and customer loyalty
• and more…

Great marketing isn’t about short-term tactics for the sake of seeing a jump in your sales chart. Great marketing puts you on a long-term path that will reliably increase your wealth and grow your business.

If you’re on the business side you owe it to yourself to start seeing marketing as an investment that will build your wealth for the long-term.

If you’re in marketing or copywriting or are a consultant it’s your job to educate your clients and show them how investing in marketing will give them the results they’re looking to achieve faster than any other method.

The result? When done properly…the best investment you can make.

To your success,

Michael
 

Today I thought you’d be interested to hear about: The One Word That Makes Or Breaks Any Business.

When I was thinking about what to name my latest company I went through a long process. In fact, I’ve worked on naming projects for large global corporations in the past.

I went through the motions and considered all key areas like functional names, invented names and experiential names. Each has its benefits and depending on the company’s business strategy you could make a case for each.

It’s not all fluff…there are some general rules you can follow. Like, if you’re a professional and want to have the focus on you, one person, then using your name as the company name makes sense.

If the focus doesn’t need to be specifically on you, and you’re interested in building a company brand, then a name that doesn’t rely on one person makes more sense.

So back to the naming challenge. When the dust finally settled I had registered Relagy Marketing.

Michael, what is that all about, you ask?

Relagy stands for Relationship Strategy.

My years in the business world and even before I entered it, told me that without a strong relationship nothing sticks.

You can’t have friends or spouses without having a relationship with them. Your relationship can have ups and downs…but if you don’t have a relationship with that person…you really don’t have anything with them at all.

The other day, when I told my uncle, who is a well-known international movie producer, that I was writing a book about customer service, marketing and relationships, he said “…you know Michael, it’s true. Even if you have a signed contract…it really doesn’t mean anything. It’s the relationship that counts.”

And you know what? You can’t have a long-term profitable business without having strong relationships with your customers.

It just doesn’t happen. Companies that focus on short term profits and are obsessed with ‘making the sale’ don’t last. Nope, they tend to go out of business in a matter of years.

Real relationships are what make you rich.

Try it and you’ll see. Be warm and welcoming to your customers, build a relationship with them and they’ll reward you with loyalty and boat loads of money.

Back to Relagy and what the Strategy part is about. Successful companies must have a strategy in place. They can’t run around with short-term tactics…and inconsistency.

A well crafted strategy has each action building on the previous one…everyone and everything working together to achieve the same goal.

While some people see the name “Relagy” for the first time pronounce it with a hard ‘g’ sound (the ‘gy’ is soft like the end of Strategy), I’ve had several compliments from business people once I’ve explained the name and meaning to them.

Okay. So now you know the background of the Relagy name and what it means to me. You can read more about this on our website at www.relagy.com/about

What I’d like you to take away from this though, is the importance of relationships. Treasure them. Whether personal or business – the more you put into them, the more they’ll give back to you.

They really are the most important part of any business.

Until next time.

To your success,

Michael
Relagy Marketing

The Financial Post had an interesting article recently that talked about the ‘brand image’ of countries.

Canada ranked 3rd. The UK 1st, Germany 2nd and Iran last.

I’m not going to go in to the details of the article (if you’re interested you can find it in the Saturday Sept. 22, 2007 issue)…what I do want to do is explore the underlying problem with ‘Brand Canada’.

That is…the majority of Canadian marketing stinks.

Before you fire me off an email and declare me a traitor…let me explain why this is the case.

In short…we’re too nice. Is that possible, you ask? Is there such a thing as being too nice?

When it comes to marketing, you bet. Author Andrea Mandel-Campbell hits the mark when writing “Canadians are not aggressive enough.”

Somewhere along the way…Canadians were taught that being aggressive is plain rude and wrong. Well, in some situations it definitely is…and I’m not recommending you walk around making demands right, left and center until you get what you want…even if you don’t deserve it.

While I agree with Mandel-Campbell’s notion of Canadians being ‘too nice’ in business I think the choice of vocabulary is off.

What most Canadian marketing lacks isn’t aggression…it’s persistence.

When it comes to getting your customers attention and having them take action…persistence is the key that unlocks all doors.

The article goes on to give a great example: Most Canadian marketers will call on their prospect once or twice (and if they are told No will give up), American marketers will call again and again until they get what they want.

And it’s not just with calls…but with direct mail, advertisements and other marketing communications.

Does the American approach seem too aggressive? Some will surely say, YES.

But in business if the wrong approach works…it becomes the right approach — the money-making and profitable approach. Hey, as long as it is ethical who can argue with that.

So what should Canadians do to achieve the same results…to stay competitive yet feel comfortable being persistent? The answer is value.

If what you have to offer provides value to your prospect or customer…if they would benefit from what you have to offer…then it is your right, no, your duty, to make sure your prospect fully understands what you are offering them and why they should care.

Each and everyone of your marketing messages needs to communicate what makes your product unique and how your prospect will value from it.

If your case is strong and you’re confident that your product is packed with value…then don’t give up after one or two communications. It can take up to 7 or 8 communications before you turn a prospect into a customer.

It’s sad to see Canadian marketers giving up, packing it in, and proclaiming failure after only a couple of tries.

Your marketing doesn’t need to be a hyped up pitch — and it really shouldn’t be. No one wants to read that, right?

Use your marketing to educate and provide value…and your prospects and customers won’t find it offensive and aggressive..they will invite it and come to trust it.

So while they may not by from you right away…they will see you as an authority (through your constant communication) and when they become ready to buy…you’ll be at the top of their list.

Regardless of what you are doing…and regardless of your industry…don’t give up. Be persistent, educate and provide value.

It not only is the right approach – it works!

To your success,

Michael

Tracking and Testing. They are different…but it amazes me how many people don’t know.

I’m not talking about the average person walking down the street…but men and women working in marketing and advertising.

Here’s what’s going on: Since I’ve come back to Vancouver I’ve been meeting with several business owners and a handful of the top advertising agencies in the city.

It’s a habit to take each conversation into talking about their business development and sales efforts and what their doing with

In part I’m happy. Why? Because many companies and agencies are tracking their results.

The internet has made finding out how many people come to your website, where they come from and how long they stayed on your website a breeze.

That’s good news.

It’s great to hear that agencies are having to become more accountable and that companies are interested to know ‘how well’ a campaign did.

Statistics like these are extremely valuable. Not looking at them would be a tragedy, an injustice to your marketing.

But folks, tracking statistics is just the start.

Tracking the results of a single ad or website page is great…but without testing…oy vey, you’re missing what it’s all about.

You see, having all that valuable data is fine but it doesn’t mean much if you don’t have anything to compare it to…to know its potential.

This isn’t information I’ve just invented.

$100 million plus financial service and publishing companies that really understand marketing will never send out just one sales letter or ad. They will, without a doubt test sending out two variations or more of a sales letter.

Or send out a new letter to compete with an old letter.

Often times two ads with the exact same body copy, the exact same offer, but with a different headline…can increase your response by 50%, 100% or more.

Putting together a mailing or ad campaign with no variations is such a waste. You roll it out…tally up the results and then what…it was poor, so so, great.

You can’t really know how well it did or more importantly could have done if you didn’t test it.

Tracking is a given. But if you’re not testing your marketing…you have no idea how well you could do…you might be sitting on a potential gold mine.

So how do you test your marketing?

• You can try different headlines on ads.
• You can split-test web pages that your customers first see.
• You can try different images, layouts, offers and much more.

Here’s An Example
Let’s say you sending out a sales letter. You send out 3 sales letters. 500 of the Version A. 500 of Version B with a different headline. And 500 of Version C with a new offer.

You track the results as they come in. Guess what? You find out that Version B’s headline got 15% more responses than Version A’s. Even more important you find that Version C’s new offer pulled 50% more orders than the offer in Version A and B.

So what do you do now? You merge the offer from Version C with the headline from Version B….send out the letter to the remaining customers on your list.

You’ll be getting a higher response rate and many times the sales.

Knowing this you’d be silly to send out the Version A letter only and track its results.

Do yourself a favor. Don’t just track. Track and test.

You’ll thank me for it and so will your bank.

To your success,

Michael

I got a short one for you today but it’s… 

An Amazingly Persuasive Speech

Mr. Rogers Persuades The US Senate To Give $20 Million In Funding to CPB in 1969!

I received this from Perry Marshall’s newsletter and thought you definitely would want to see this.

Nixon wants to cut funding for the broadcaster because of war costs.

Watch this video and see…

…How Mr. Rogers crafts his words and uses language full of imagery and emotion to sell his argument.

It works. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a41lJIhW7fA

 To your success,

Michael
Relagy Marketing

It’s been a crazy morning and I’ve just had a chance to sit down. But I wanted to make sure you got today’s post…

There’s a lot of talk recently about Personal URLs. I’m glad people are talking about it…but personalizing marketing and advertising communications is nothing new.

Actually for those of us who have been using direct marketing and direct mail it’s a given – common sense that is.

Why would you want to personalize your marketing messages and what’s all this talk about PURLs (Personal URLs that is)?

First off, imagine a letter arriving in your mailbox. It doesn’t have your name on it…you might just throw it in the garbage right? But let’s say you proceed to open that letter. You unfold the letter and see that it starts with “Dear Friend” or “Dear Car Owner”…if they don’t have a headline or graphic that grabs your eyeballs right away…good chance that paper is going to the trash (though I hope you’d recycle it).

Now, taking a step back. If that envelope had your name on it…close to 95% of people would open it. When the letter has your name on it…you almost feel compelled to read it don’t you?

That’s why hundreds of marketing tests have shown that the more you personalize your communications (just like the more you segment and target your market) the higher response you’ll get.

Let’s take a U-turn now and cover the second point. Personalized URLs.

I’ll break it down and tell you in basic English how this works…

Let’s say your a wine distributor and sell expensive and rare bottles and you want to get some new customers. You buy a targeted list of people likely to buy $150-$500 bottles of wine (in a future article we’ll talk about lists) and put together a postcard.

Here’s where the personalization starts.

The postcard has each prospects name on it (so it feels personal). The postcard copy talks about the history of these wines, how rare they are, what a great investment they can be, and how special you’ll feel having some of these in your collection.

That’s where the personalization often stopped.

 But the next step is where the prospect is told to access a special link just for them that will give them more details about the wines and how they can get a free gift. The URL might look something like this www.henderson.raregrapes.com

Now Mr. Henderson is feeling excited about their name being in a URL. What is it he wonders? Is it a special website just for them?

Yes and no.

What will happen is that they’ll access a website that is automatically generated. Software for Personalized URLs allows website owners to use a prospect or customer database…the software picks up the information you want to be inserted into the webpage like First Name or Location, etc and automatically puts it into the personalized web page.

The template of each page is pretty much the same. However, on top of automatically inserting new text in key areas of your message you can also set it to show different pictures for different people…so you could personalize it by showing pictures of people the same age as the prospect or same background, etc…there is much room for personalization.

If you were targeting 10,000 prospects it would take you months to set up 10,000 pages. But with this technology you can just set the level of personalization and what you want to change and then select your database.

Once prospects come to your website you can capture more of their information, send them personalized emails and other communications.

Of course the best software allows you to fully track every aspect of the campaign so you can adjust it along the way and improve each step as you role out more mailings.

You’d probably also be interested to know that personalization is already being used in automatic telephone marketing systems and SMS messages.

I haven’t yet seen it in video…but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was out there.

Just remember. The fundamentals of marketing or advertising haven’t changed here. It’s just a new way to deliver and enhance your marketing and advertising messages.

Next week’s topic is going to blow you away…you’ve probably thought about it before…but we’ll set the record straight.

To your success,

Michael
Relagy Marketing

Bam!!!! We’re back. Picking up on where we left off las time….Here we go.

The missing ingredient and key to the success of any of your marketing and advertising whether print or online is testing.

I remember a few years back while working with a large Japanese ad agency…I was talking with one of their senior account executives about the need to test every ad we put out.

The exec told me “you can’t test advertising…there are too many factors.”

This guy was a veteran of the industry. Surely he was joking…pulling my chain. But he wasn’t.

He honestly thought that you can’t effectively measure the effectiveness of advertising.

Since that time I’ve met many business owners and executives that firmly believed (or just didn’t know) you can test your advertising to find out exactly what is working and what isn’t.

Online advertising has changed all this. More companies and agencies have started to put their advertising and marketing dollars into online media…where they’ve been taught to look at the number of clicks, leads, aquisitions, etc.

Now that’s great. Finally agencies are having to become more accountable. Their campaigns must get results or else they face losing their accounts.

Thanks to online media the industry is changing.

But what about TV and print? Why do we still see commercials of people acting like cats and men dressed like giant bees…ads that are considered ‘interesting’ or ‘creative’ by some…but surely do little to boost sales or build ‘the right’ brand image.

If these companies started testing their ads they’d quickly see something they wouldn’t be happy about…their work stinks.

Actually, if they are trying to win creative awards…they’re probably doing a great job. But as a business owner or company exec…I’d be gritting my teeth in anger knowing that my company’s marketing dollars are going down the drain because my agency wants to be creative.

Okay I get the picture, you say. So I’ll end my rant there.

What you need to know is this. Every piece of your marketing can be tested. Here’s how:

A print ad can have a specific call in number. When someone calls that number you can track the number of leads or aquisitions you make.

It’s the same with TV ads…you can use a URL that you’ve created special for that ad.

Companies that give their standard corporate URL in their ads are wasting a great opportunity. By providing a different URL they could track many more details and collect valuable data.

You can also split test 2 different ads to compare the effectiveness of different headlines and offers.

The result – you’ll know what works and what doesn’t. You’ll get a much better ROI…and you’ll make a lot more money.

Next week we’ll look at how personalizing your marketing can take your profits through the roof.

To your success,

Michael
Relagy Marketing

10 points you must review before you submit your ad

Today I’m going to show you the basics of writing a successful advertisement.

And while I can’t guarantee that just by following these points you’ll have a winner – without knowing your product or service, market, etc – these concepts are the base for ads that get results time and again.

• Write the ad from a person to a person; don’t write the ad like it is coming from many people at a company. Your writing should be directed to your reader, this includes being personal; don’t use “we” use “I”.
• Relate to your reader; find ideas or ways of thought that many of your readers have and connect to them on that level.
• Be specific; use data and testimonials as proof to back up your claims of how good your product or service is.
• Write like you talk; forget fancy language and sentences that rhyme. Your readers are more comfortable reading the way they talk — it becomes like a conversation.
• Be concise; use short words instead of long ones when you can. But, if a long word makes your point better – use a long one. Keep your paragraphs short and don’t be afraid to use short sentences – they open up the page for the reader and can provide impact.

Okay, that’s it for today…we’ll cover the next 5 points in a few days.

See you back soon.

To your success,

Michael Zipursky
Relagy Marketing

If you are focusing the majority of your marketing budget on emails and e-newsletters – your business may be leaving a big stack of bills on the table.

Here’s why: It’s easy to get swept up in the ‘E-everything’ era. The latest this, the fastest that. But the principles of what marketing was built on have not changed.

Smart marketers know you need to use a variety of tactics to get big results and huge profits.

If you’re only sending out an e-newsletter now, try sending out a print version as well.

Emails are usually most effective with your most loyal customers, but the majority of your customers won’t feel comfortable enough to buy from only an email.

So here’s what you do…

• Start off with an email.
• Follow that up with an email to a website that has a longer sales letter and a special report.
• Include the special report in your print newsletter.
• Send out the report and letter through direct mail.

These are the basics. You can use many other methods too.

It comes down to the law of multiplying. You may have got 100 sales from the first email, but by the time you follow through and send out the other materials you’ve made 1,000.

 If the product you are selling goes for $100, that’s a difference of $90,000. Of course you’ll have more expenses to produce and mail those other materials. But profit will still be much higher most of the time.

The key is to test each part of your campaign. As long as you are getting a return on your investment, from the back-end sales (or front-end, even better), you can keep sending your offer to customers and prospects.

You can do this, because you know the more you send out, the more you’re going to make.

Of course, if one media isn’t working, you either have to make changes to it or drop it.

But when something works, keep using it until it stops working.

To your success,

Michael
Relagy Marketing
www.relagy.com
 

Dear Friend,

Today I gave birth again. No, not to a child, but to a new business.

Over the last 6 years I worked with my business partner at the time Sam, to grow our company, kankei culture.

What a ride we had.

Through our business I worked with companies in Canada, the US, the Netherlands, Japan, China, and others.

I lived a great life and had the honor to see the inner workings of many companies from small restaurants to large global corporations with thousands of staff.

So if things were so great, why the new company, you ask?

First, I realized I love growing businesses. I learnt so much building my last company…how to attract clients, set up offices in other countries, handle business culture abroad, deal with stress and make good money…and so much more.

It was time to do it all over again.

But that wasn’t the main reason.

Second, I was losing interest in what our previous business was doing.

We specialized in international branding. A lot of our work was visual, websites, brochures, ads, etc.

My expertise though, has always been and grown more over the years in the strategy of marketing, advertising and sales.

What become clear to me was that I didn’t want to spend my time working on visual concepts that people often find very subjective…

… I wanted to continue working with business and company executives to help them make their marketing and advertising more effective, more accountable and more focused on direct results. Really, to help make more money for them and their companies.

That’s what I have been doing more and more of over the last two years…so it was time to take things to the next level.

Things progressed naturally.

Third, my business partner and I had over time naturally drifted into different areas of focus. And, as a result chosen different routes to get to different goals.

While we will still collaborate on projects together when possible. We made the choice to officially take different paths…and we are happy about this…

…looking forward to what is coming down the road.

Why am I sharing this with you? Because it has very important lessons you may want to apply to your life and career.

The take away is this: Focus on what makes you happy. Don’t spend your time doing something you aren’t enjoying. When you focus on your goals and persist to get them no matter what, you will. It’s funny how that works…but I’ve experienced that many times in my life.

So if you’re in a situation you want to improve. Take a minute now to write down what steps you could take to get you there. Then decide to do it, buckle down for the ups and downs…but with determination you will get there. No matter what people tell you…you will.

To your success,

Michael Zipursky
Relagy Marketing
www.relagy.com