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Unfortunately, the DNC legislation has many small businesses that use telemarketers a bit concerned about their choice of direct sales tactic. However, there are still many ways to have your message get into the right people’s hands without annoying them. And the fact of the matter is, telemarketing, as a direct sales tactic, works. Here are some tips and ideas to get your sales flowing and customers thrilled that you called them:

Find New Target Markets -

Have you talked with your current customer base lately to find out what their demographic standing is, on a whole? Most small businesses only do this once every couple of years, instead of once every couple of months. Find out who is using your products or services, and who they are: age, sex, race, income bracket, family unit, rent or own, etc. You may find that you haven’t been targeting some crucial groups that use your business effectively. Then all you have to do is purchase a targeted telemarketing list, and you’re well on your way to garnering more customers.

Consider Outsourcing -

There are a great number of telemarketing agencies currently that would be pleased to contact demographically appropriate customers on your businesses behalf. Why not save yourself the time and hassle of doing it all yourself, and look into one of these companies. They may just save you more time and money than you originally thought. Plus, if they specialize in products or services that your company offers, the response rates may be more than a bit surprising.

Test, Test, Test -

Before you start calling a large number of potential customers, test your telemarketers, the scripts and the telemarketing lists you are using, first. Listen to your staff; they’ll tell you pretty quickly if something isn’t quite right. Then, tweak whatever needs it, and try again. Not until you are getting an appropriate response rate should you settle into a larger scale operation – and don’t forget to test again if your response rates dip.

Buy Quality -

If you want excellent results, you need to pay for them. Make sure you’ve purchased a telemarketing list from a reputable source that offers highly targeted customer lists only. Freebie lists, or ones that you borrowed from a ‘similar’ company just won’t work here. Without a great list that exemplifies similar characteristics of your current customers, your telemarketing staff will be frustrated in no time with their low response rates.

Chris Burns - American Profiles Mailing & Telemarketing List company. Providing telemarketing lists to the direct marketing industry since 1996.

A full service mailing & telemarketing list company with over 40,000 lists available. http://www.americanprofiles.net

Online counts and orders 24/7 http://www.mailinglistsusa.com

Over the last 50 years I must have seen thousands of ads, mostly 2 line classified ads in opportunity magazines, trying to sell the latest in a long line of “How to Make a Fortune in Mail Order” books or systems. Most have these have been the same ol’, same ol’, regurgitated 4 page claptrap priced from $5 to $20. Occasionally there has been a full blown course or manual for $97 to $197. Since the advent of the internet, these kind of publications have been transitioned to “How to Make a Fortune on the Internet”, but still the same ol’ regurgitated claptrap.

Are any worth buying? Perhaps a few, but the $19.95 type will only make money for the shysters selling them, not the suckers buying. There are one or two about that do teach the science (or art) of Direct Mail and perhaps one or two more that effectively teach how to make money on the Internet. But these systems are usually priced well above $100.00.

Some contain a few nuggets of gold, others, the more expensive ones, teach the technical aspects and some techniques, but I haven’t seen any yet that are complete. Let’s face it, Direct Marketing (by Direct Mail and Mail Order) is a complex business requiring many skills and to teach it properly would require a full-time University course or a set of manuals the size of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. In practise, it is largely learned by experience and listening to others in the business.

Incidentally, what is the difference between Direct Mail and Mail Order? Very little. They both come under the umbrella of Direct Response Marketing. Direct Mail marketing is commonly initiated by sending out a mailing piece to thousands of people; they respond by mail, phone, internet, or in person. Mail Order can be advertised in the press or other media, including mail, but the response is usually by mail (hence mail order). So today, with all the media available, including the internet, the more descriptive term is Direct Response Marketing (DRM).

DRM is a business whereby the marketing message is delivered by advertising through one or more of the media, including mail, and orders or responses are sought by telephone, mail, email, internet or personal visit. Delivery is effected by post, courier, download (in the case of electronic products) and any other available means.

The overriding intention of DRM is to attract positive attention to the ad or mailing piece, cultivate a positive interest in the offer, provide information on how to order and pay for the product, and make an urgent call to take action. In other words, to promote a direct response.

One of the most common traps for young players in Direct Marketing is to produce or secure a product, then look for someone to sell it to.

Hey! I made that mistake too. I wrote this super book on the value of vegetable and fruit juices in health, with lots of recipes to treat many common ailments. It was a great book and I printed up a lot ready to sell. It would be a best seller, I was sure.

Not so! People ought to be vitally interested in their health, and should be willing to pay a measly 20 bucks for a book that would help them get healthy, right?

Wrong! People, lots of people that is, don’t buy that sort of book. I still have few copies at home, but most made it to the garbage disposal on my last move.

So, how can you tell what people will buy?

The answer is simple! Check out what people are buying now. To be reasonably sure you won’t be left with a garage full of widgets, you must identify what people want, and are currently buying. And sell more of the same or similar.

If 5,000 people a day are buying dog collars, chance are you can sell dog collars; or name tags to attach to dog collars. Chances are that people will buy other dog related products too.

If 50,000 people a month are buying books on how to succeed in an internet business, chances are they’ll buy a similar product from you.

The answer in short to the question what will people buy in DRM (including the internet) is this: “What they are already buying.”

If you go into the supermarket and walk down the aisles you’ll likely see a whole aisle devoted to dog food and dog products. Another whole aisle will be devoted to cat food and cat products. People love their pets. So you know that products related to pets are usually good sellers.

Keep going and you’ll come to another aisle devoted to babies. Yes people have babies every day, some say there are 120,000 babies born in America every month. So baby related products will be a sure winner.

Every month a similar number of people die, get married, get divorced. Can you see a market there?

Do you want to make it easy on yourself and find an almost endless source of markets for all kinds of products?

Then get yourself a copy of the SRDS, the world’s largest list of lists of people in all kinds of categories buying all kinds of things.

© 2005, Leslie H Sprankling. All Rights Reserved. Leslie H Sprankling is a Business and Marketing Consultant with 30+ years in business and the author of several books. Leslie is the author of “The Amazing Roadmap to Success in Direct Marketing” which is available now at his website http://www.better-n-chocolate.com/drm.htm. There you will find many other business and personal software programs & business publications to help you develop and grow your business that are not available anywhere else on the internet. Also, you can get many free business articles like this one, for your own use or for publication and distribution.

NOTE: This article may be freely used, published or distributed in ezines, newsletters or websites providing the articles remain unchanged in any way and this resource box is included intact. For more information or inquiries please contact Leslie at mityoaks@bigpond.com.

Are you constantly loosing ground to your online competitors?

Do they win all the sales, get all the great reviews and
generally ooze success? Well now it is time to fight back. Now
it is time to really start competing online.

The funny thing not many businesses are actively competing
online. Sure the big boys will always be in active competition.

But take it down a few levels and you’ll find that smaller web
ventures just do not compete.

The first business in your industry to start actively competing
online is going to come out a big winner.

Before you can effectively compete online, you need to know
everything about competitors. Only by knowing exactly what your
competitors are up are you able to compete.

Each of the search engines can tell you who is linked to your
competitors’ web site. This should give you an idea about how
they are advertising, and where they have mentions such as
reviews, articles and links. Make a note of this…these are the
places where you should be too.

Different search engines require certain information in their
search box to list links going into a site:

* Altavista: In the search box type “link:competitor.com” where
your competitor’s domain is competitor.com.

* Northern Light: In the search box type “competitor.com”
without the “www”.

* Excite: In the search box type “www.competitor.com”.

* Infoseek: In the search box type “link:www.competitor.com“.

* Hotbot: In the search box type “http://www.competitor.com”,
then change the pull-down menu to “links to this URL”.

You need to make the effort to be at least everywhere your
competition is. If your competitor is featured on a particular
site there is no reason why you shouldn’t’t be featured too.

If a web site features a competitor’s product, write to the
webmaster to see if they would like to try your product. Bribe
your way onto the site with free samples if you have to. Search,
infiltrate and destroy your competitions promotional territory.

Go to Dejanews (http://www.deja.com) and search for their
company or product names through the newsgroups. This will give
you a great idea about what people actually think about their
products and of any problems or success they have experienced
with your competitors.

You should also be able to find out where they are
advertising…this can be tricky as there are a lot of
possibilities. Check out the archives of e-zines and e-mail
lists to see if you can spot them. A good place to find e-mail
lists is at: http://www.topica.com/ http://www.liszt.com

You might even be able to find out what books your competitors
have been buying. Take a look in at Amazon.com’s purchase lists
and see if your competitors company name is listed. From here
you will be able to track what popular book titles have been
purchased through your competitors. Check it out at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/community/community.html/

If your competitors have affiliate sales programs, assume a new
internet identity and join up as a sales agent. From here you
should have access to a range of their marketing and promotional
material. As an affiliate you might also be sent regular e-mail
from your competitor offering information such sales details and
future directions.

Remember, before you even start to action an online marketing
campaign ensure you know how, where and why your competition is
marketing online.

For attendees of my Telesales Rep Colleges, and customized training programs for clients, I have a standing offer of evaluating their opening statements afterward. Here are a few submitted by the pros at Dobbs Publishing, a group of niched magazines for auto enthusiasts.

Joe Galloway faxed over several openers. The first one:
“Good morning Mr. Grabowski, my name is Joe Galloway. I am with Dobbs Publishing and Super Ford magazine. If I’ve caught you at a good time I’d like to discuss your mail order program to determine if we might be able to help increase your profitability in this area of your business.”

Not bad, but we can make it better. First, this opener touches on the time issue before mentioning the possible result the prospect will get. Although I like this method of respecting the listener’s time, I suggest it appear after the possible benefit.

Although the remainder of it has a better chance of creating interest than resistance, let’s spice it up by getting a bit more specific with the possible benefits.

Here’s a suggestion.

After introducing himself and the magazine, Joe could say, “I notice that you target Ford enthusiasts with your mail and phone order ads. Our magazine reaches proven direct marketing buyers, and if I’ve caught you at a good time, I’d like to discuss some potential opportunities to promote to Ford owners who you might not be reaching now.”

Here’s another Joe submitted.

“I’m Joe Galloway with Dobbs Publishing. We specialize in reaching mail order customers through seven very targeted automotive magazines. If I’ve caught you at a good time, I’d like to review the opportunities that these titles might afford you to strengthen your mail order programs, and ultimately maximize your profitability.”

I like the first part, but the second half got a bit wordy and formal. Let’s make it more conversational with “If I’ve caught you at a good time, I’d like to discuss some ways you might be able to get more catalog and mail order customers.”

A Call to an Existing Customer

Matt French submitted one for a call to a regular advertiser, with the call objective being to increase the ad size.

“This is Matt French from Super Ford Magazine. I’m calling this morning in regards to the current ad you are running with us. I’ve noticed you have quite a few products in your 2/3 page ad, and I was wondering, depending on how much you plan on growing your business this year, if you would have a few minutes to discuss the opportunities that exist in gaining more market share by increasing your ad size?”

First, referring to the customer’s existing situation is good, since it lets him know you’re actually thinking about him as opposed to just “smilin and dialin.” What I would avoid, though, is any mention in the opening statement about increasing ad size. They’re not ready yet; they’ll look at that as an expense, not at the potential return.

Here’s an alternative. “I was reviewing the products in the ad you’re now running with us, and came up with some ideas. Depending on what your growth and promotional plans are for the next year or so, I might have a few options worth considering to generate more revenue from your ads.”

Notice that instead of talking about increasing ad size, we mention increasing the revenue, which is really all the advertiser is interested in. After getting into the questioning part of the call, then we can make the recommendation on the larger ad size, and he’ll be much more receptive to it, since we will have explained how it will increase the revenue.

Overall, nice job guys.

Two months ago, I had the pleasure of working with the technical training group for one of my clients. You know these guys. They are the techies who teach your customers how to use the software and operate the equipment we sell. They often come along on demos just to make sure we don’t make total fools of ourselves. Unfortunately, too often we fear that they will stray from their role and start talking. Who knows what will happen then!

This group had asked me to teach them how to sell since they not only talk with their own sales people, but their customers are usually resellers and interested in sales, too. They believed that if they understood a little about sales, they would be able to do a better job helping sales people use their information as a tool to make more sales. They wanted to talk their language.

What a concept!
I talked with them on a teleconference today and I’m happy to report that they are doing great, except for one issue. The techies showed the sales people how to find customers for each product. They tied all the features and benefits into customer value points. They even showed the sales people how to do a demo that closes a sale. Bravo!

Then came the big question…
Tim said that some sales people consistently asked him to reduce each offering down to one sentence or ‘elevator speech’. They wanted canned lines for everything. He came back a little frustrated with these individuals, and I don’t blame him. I had taught them a consultative approach. One that was based on questions and intelligent responses that connected with the prospect, not canned pitches that require little thought or probing.

What would you say to a prospect who asked you, “What can that do for me?” Would you throw out a litany of canned feature and benefit statements, hoping that one or two would hit the mark? Or would you say, “I don’t know. Tell me a little about your needs and I’ll tell you how this might fit in your situation”?

Selling does not have to be complicated, but it does take some effort. Let’s can the canned responses and make the effort to connect with every prospect through knowing their needs.

Ps: Respect your technical support team. They just might be the best sales tool you have.

You might also be interested in my article, “20 Questions That Uncover Your Value”. To get a free copy, simply email article17@waterhousegroup.com.

Happy Selling,

Steve

Stephen Waterhouse is Principal and Founder of Waterhouse Group (http://www.waterhousegroup.com), a sales training company that helps companies increase their sales and profits. He can be reached at 1-800-57-LEARN or steve@waterhousegroup.com.

Obtaining merchant status will help to increase your sales.

Consumers are becoming creatures of convenience; when dealing with businesses—large or small—they desire ease of transaction. That most frequently translates into the ability to pay for services rendered or product purchases via credit card.

Small businesses are often denied merchant status because they can’t prove to the bank that they are good risks. You must establish and demonstrate a track record before a bank or independent sales organization (ISO) will agree to back your business. Even today, some banks also hesitate to provide merchant status to companies without storefronts, to mail order firms or to individuals with a past history of personal or business bankruptcy. Although thankfully, it is getting easier today than it was even 15 to 20 years ago.

In this article we will help you to understand the reasons you may not be able to obtain merchant status, so that we can help you find ways to more favorably present yourself and your business as candidates for merchant status.

1. Start with your own bank. When shopping for a merchant account, the first place to stop is your own bank.

When banks look at an application, they consider three critical things: the principals, the product and the process. In other words, they need to know about you, what you are selling and how you are selling it. Be sure to take the time to carefully develop your proposal. It can really pay off. Show your bank that you’re serious about obtaining merchant status and you take your business very seriously.

In spite of your best efforts, the bank may still turn you down. The next step is to approach other banks in your area. If you’re still running into roadblocks, there is another option.

2. Investigate ISOs selling on behalf of other banks. ISOs serve as a liaison between banks and merchants. Your odds of getting merchant status from an ISO may be greater than from a bank, but the costs—and risks—may also be greater.

Most ISOs are legitimate businesses, but it pays to be wary. The first thing you should ask any service provider is what banks they represent. When considering an ISO, a merchant should know which bank they are working for, and should check with MasterCard and Visa to ensure the ISO is properly registered. Keep in mind that this service you are buying can have a significant impact on the cash flow of your business, and don’t be shy about asking for references.

A good bank or ISO should provide reliable and trouble-free processing, with responsive customer service whenever you have a problem, all at a fair price. What’s fair depends on the risk level of your business and the terms being offered by competing ISOs. Make sure the merchant bankcard provider you choose fully supports you as a merchant with a variety of services, like check guarantee, acceptance of all major credit cards, debit cards, etc. Also make sure they fully support the equipment or software they sell you. If they don’t, ask them who does and how much extra this costs. Some programs may be appealing, but require hidden costs for assistance.

3. Clearly understand the costs involved. To better grasp the issue of costs, you must understand how credit card sales are processed. Simply stated, when you conduct a charge transaction, you will receive the cost of that sale, less a previously agreed-upon discount (from two to more than five percent), from the bank or service company. The more stable your business is, the lower your discount rate will be.

Fees are a substantial cost: ISOs typically charge fees for minimum activity, if yours doesn’t reach a pre-determined amount; fees for each transaction made, above and beyond the two to five percent discount; and fees for processing customer statements. Another cost is that of equipment. Most merchants today use an electronic draft capture terminal to process sales, which you can lease or purchase. It is more economical to purchase the equipment, but your choices will be limited by the ISO you choose. You might be able to purchase a used terminal from your ISO or buy a new or used terminal from another source. Check with your ISO first!

If you have a personal computer and a modem, there are several software packages currently on the market that perform authorization and draft capture. Make sure that any software you buy is compatible with the system used by your ISO.

4. Caveat emptor. As with any other business decision, carefully consider your options and shop around. Research the requirements, costs and services of banks and ISOs offering merchant status, and talk to other business people who are already offering credit card service. There are many reputable companies out there and, of course, there are also bad apples. As a merchant, ask questions about any company you are choosing to use. The company should be willing to answer any questions you might have, as well as to tell you openly if they can’t!

While the information presented might seen very disheartening to your getting merchant status, listen to this. Many individuals who have filed bankruptcy and have terrible credit have received merchant status.

While you may pay more fees going through an ISO, it is worth it to be able to say, Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover. For those of you doing any kind of consulting it is a big plus. If you eventually sell products, again it is a great convenience for your customers and many times will close the sale.

So, GIVE YOUR CLIENTS THE PLASTIC OPTION!

Copyright 2004 DeFiore Enterprises

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our “how to” Home Business Solutions Digest, it’s like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com

What Do Your Customers Really Want? Ask Your Competition by
Karon Thackston © 2004 http://www.marketingwords.com

It’s not always an easy task. Sometimes discovering what your
customers really want is like pulling teeth. It is imperative
for any business owner who hopes to develop new
products/services or to write effective advertising copy to know
what is important to his customers. But when direct questions
don’t deliver the results you need, what’s the next step?

Actually, your competition can often lend a hand in this area…
and without even knowing it! Many marketing pieces such as
brochures, sales letters, or Web sites include testimonials.
I’ve found over the years that this is an untapped source for
“customer intelligence.”

Look at this example from a Web-design site:

“I’m truly speechless! I knew my site design was in need of
revamping, but I never imagined how exceptional it could look.
You have done an amazing job! The colors, the graphics, the
layout… everything shows that you have a good understanding of
my business and my target audience. You’ve made me look as
professional as IBM! I often bring the site up in my browser
just to remind myself that this really IS my site. I am a loyal
customer and would not hesitate to recommend you to anyone in
need of professional Web design services.”

What do you think this customer wanted based on his comments? A
few things he mentioned were:

1. colors 2. graphics 3. layout 4. his target audience 5.
professional

Here’s another one from a copywriting site:

“I just wanted to thank you for everything. Thank you for
bringing my vision to life in words. Thank you for “getting” me.
And thanks for your patience.”

This customer needed:

1. someone to express his vision in words 2. someone who
understood what he had to say

Here’s one more:

“You had the product I wanted, it was in stock, at the lowest
price I could find. There was no shipping charge or sales tax.
Your website was easy to use; you followed up immediately by
Email; I was able to track the shipment; and the product arrived
on time and in good condition. What is there not to like?”

This customer of an appliance-sales Web site was obviously
impressed with:

1. item being in stock 2. low price 3. no shipping charges 4.
customer service 5. timely arrival

Doing a good bit of research into the testimonials customers
give to your competition can shed a bright light on what they’re
looking for. I’d recommend visiting several sites each week and
creating a chart to track what you find.

Just as I did above, jot down specifically what impressed the
customer in each case. Then look for trends. The more times a
particular service is mentioned, the more importance it will
hold.

Now, look back over your own business. Can you offer what your
competition offers? Can you offer something better? Is there a
way to improve your service in the areas that those who wrote
the testimonials mentioned? If so, do it!

Staying in touch with your customers’ needs should be top
priority. When you take the time to understand what your
customers really want, you stand a better chance of improving
sales and increasing customer loyalty.

In his classic book, “Think and Grow Rich”, Napoleon Hill discussed the eleven secrets of leadership. In reading this work, it appears that the attributes of strong leadership and effective selling have a tremendous amount in common. After all, to be really successful in sales, you need to be a leader, both within your own organization, as well as to your clients and customers.

To paraphrase management guru Peter Drucker, a leader is someone who not only does things right, but who also does the right things, while helping others do the same. The same holds true in sales: how better to serve your clients than to really know and understand what they do, and to truly help them do it better?

With that in mind, here are Mr. Hill’s eleven secrets to leadership, as they apply to leadership in selling:

1. “Unwavering Courage”: Selling successfully requires courage; taking a risk where the odds may seem stacked against you; courage to make that extra call, to deal with the tough client or prospect, and to not let anything deter you. As Hill says, courage is “based upon knowledge of self and one’s occupation.

2. “Self-Control”: The ability to set a course for yourself and take disciplined action each day is a key attribute of all successful salespeople.

3. “A keen sense of justice”: Knowing right from wrong - understanding what is fair and just - allows you to make, wise informed decisions.

4. “Definiteness of decision”: Deciding on what you want to achieve, and then doing whatever it takes to get there, even in the face of obstacles and setbacks, is crucial to your success. For those who don’t quite make it, failure can usually be traced back to a lack of decisiveness about what they really want.

5. “Definiteness of plans”: In Hill’s words, “the successful leader must plan his work, and work his plan. Truer words were never spoken when it comes to selling. Plan your time, and then take action on your plan each and every day.

6. “The habit of doing more than paid for”: Want to sell more? Go the extra mile for your clients. Want to get the respect, admiration, and cooperation from your internal “clients” – the people you need to rely on to implement or help you close sales? Go the distance for them as well.

7. “A pleasing personality”: Is selling a popularity contest? No, but would you buy something from someone who was nasty and rude?

8. “Sympathy and understanding:” Selling is about understanding what people DO, and then helping them do it better. Plain and simple.

9. “Mastery of detail”: Ah, yes… The devil, as they say, is in the details. Ever work really hard to close a sale, only to have it fall apart because of some small detail that falls through the cracks? What may seem like a small detail to you can be a crucial one, maybe even a deal-breaker, to your prospect, customer, or client.

10. “Willingness to assume full responsibility”: No matter how much customer support your company provides, you are the prime representative of your organization. If you try to pass the buck to someone else, you lose respect and credibility. “But it really wasn’t my fault that the shipment was delayed in customs and then the delivery truck was attacked a pack of wild dogs…” Doesn’t matter; accept the responsibility for any problem and all details, and then do whatever needs to be done to make things right. Your clients need to know that you are their advocate.

11. “Cooperation”: You can’t do it alone. Sales is a collaborative effort. Your prospects need to collaborate with you; you need the cooperation and assistance of others both inside and outside your organization to make things happen. The best salespeople are those who can work well with others, and with whom other people want to work.

Think about these eleven areas of leadership, and ask yourself how you do on each of these items. Find areas where you can make improvements and chart your course to work on improving what you do each day; incremental improvements each day become exponential over time.

Mark Dembo and Thomas J. Baskind are Managing Partners in DEI/Lexien of Greater New York, a sales performance improvement and management consulting company. They invite you to visit their website, http://www.lexien.com/, and welcome your comments and inquiries.

No doubt, cigar smoking is a pleasure. Over the period, it is
considered as the symbol of status of wealth and class. But, do
you wonder from where this fashion of cigar smoking came into
limelight and who started this? According to research, cigars
have been around for over 1,000 years. It was started by the
original native population of the islands in the Caribbean as
well as the rest of Mesoamerica in as early as 900 AD. In fact,
a ceramic vessel at a Mayan dig site in Uaxactun, Guatemala have
been found, which was painted with the likeness of a man smoking
a cigar that’s says the glowing past of cigars.

Later Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus had introduced the
smoking to Europe. With two of his colleagues Rodrigo de Jerez
and Luis de Torres, Columbus had taken puffs of tobacco wrapped
in maize husks, thus becoming the first European cigar smokers.

During 19th century, the popularity of cigars was on its
heights. In fact, all the states of United States had a cigar
factory. Cigars were more popular than cigarettes making almost
everyone a smoker, or lived with one. Later, in the early part
of the 20th century, cigar sales were at its peak. According to
a report, the weight of tobacco sold in the United States alone
in one year would equal the weight of the entire population of
10 states combined. Found everywhere in the united states,
cigars were priced as per the size of the pocket of the general
population as earlier Americans were not allowed to buy the
Cuban cigars.

Online Cigars Market The passion of smoking cigars increased
with the time. There has been a tremendous rise in the number of
cigar smokers now in comparison of past years. Order whether an
oscuro cigar, the black one or choose the claro, light brown
cigar, make sure you get the right cigar to enjoy that
unforgettable experience that lasts forever. By buying cigars
online, you can also protect yourself from the duplicate cigars
that are common these days. In fact, it also gives you the
facility to get cigars at your doorsteps too, no matters you are
the resident of any corner of the world.

Cigars are the ultimate experience of smoking. From last 1000
years, the fashion of cigar smoking is in practice and still
alluring many aficionados to carry on this great passion.

For more information on buy
cigars online visit http://www.selective-cigars.com

Once or twice in the last five years I’ve read one of those inordinately lengthy sales letters from start to finish. (You know, the ones that Internet marketing gurus claim are essential to make huge sales.) They must have been some of the better written, interesting letters. Or I must have been starved for some literary stimulation.

Now I realise that I really don’t have time to read all the hackneyed stuff inserted to establish credibility and to show how many testimonials one has collected. After the third or fourth testimonial, it all gets a bit ‘ho hum’. We get the message.

Similarly, audio snippets are of little benefit and I usually pass them by. The ones I have listened to were simply readings of the written test. Why would I need to read it and hear it?

Today I came across one of those long sales letters and this time I took special note of how I process the information. First I read the opening paragraph to make sure that the program I had seen advertised was the one discussed here. Yes, it was. Yes, I was able to get a good overview of what this program was about right up front. I didn’t have to wade through a tonne of fluff to find out what in hell this program was all about.

Next, I needed to know how much I was going to have to pay to own this program. Was that up front? No way. I scrolled down to the bottom of the six foot long page and eventually found a “Buy Now” button. Still no dollar signs anywhere to be seen. So I clicked on the Buy Now button and went to a processing site. Yes, the price was $97 and according to the writer, a terribly good bargain for a product who has made literally millions for so many people. If only I were to buy this program, my Internet marketing woes would all vanish and one day I’d be rolling in money like all of those about whom testimonials had been written.

While deciding whether I needed yet another program telling me how to make millions, I suddenly saw the freight fee of $75 and decided that today I could do without this product. ($172US is a fair stack of money in any currency).

So I backed out of the credit card processing pages and looked for another site I had on my list.

Now you know my MO. First, I verify what the program or service is … does it promote link management, is it MLM, a pyramid scheme, or simply an ebook you buy? Next, I want to know how much it costs and specifically if the fee is recurring (these can be a real trap!). After that I look for some additional information if I need it that will give me some reason to believe it’s worth the fee being charged. Most of the ebooks and other digital media I come across are over-priced when considering what you pay for similar type information in hard copy format.

I spoke with several of my colleagues who buy information products and services online and asked how they handle long sales letters. Without exception, they do the same as me; get an overview, look for the price and then make a decision about whether to purchase. Also without exception, they are annoyed when they can’t find a price until they click on an order button.

I strongly suspect that the reason why long copy is being used and ’said’ to be so much more successful is that copywriters earn more producing long copy. Now, I may be completely off track, but one has to wonder. What would be more conclusive is for one of the high fliers of Internet marketing to run some different advertisements, some short, the others long and see what works best.

Now there’s a challenge. One option for the short sales letters is to either provide two options for users - one long, one short and let them choose (click through statistics would reveal preferences). Alternatively, brief information could be provided at the sales letter stage and a link provided to further information for anyone who wants to read it.

While I’m deciding whether length is better than quality, I’ve changed one of my ebook sites to a shorter version with a subscription box where visitors can get further information by autoresponder if required. That way I get an email address too.

I’ll see what eventuates with this altered approach and determine whether my belief that surfers are fatigued by the long-winded sales letter and now prefer the concise, succinct version. Watch this space for a reply.

Copyright Robin Henry 2005

Robin Henry is an educator, human resources specialist and Internet entrepreneur. He helps small and home-based businesses and individuals improve performance by applying smart technology and processes and developing personally. He runs his business Desert Wave Enterprises from his home base at Alice Springs in Central Australia, although at present he is working in the United Arab Emirates.