Use a Swipe File to Write Promotions Better and Faster

A “swipe” file is a collection of promotions — mailed by successful marketers — that you have saved. “A good swipe file is better than a college education,” says my old direct-marketing “professor,” master copywriter Milt Pierce. The swipe file provides inspiration and ideas that you may be able to use in your own promotions.…

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What Is the Tipping Point for Online Success?

KJ, like many of my subscribers these days, wants to get into Internet marketing. But she feels frustrated and unable to move forward. “Where should I begin?” KJ asked in her e-mail. “What was your tipping point to online success?” My answer: “The tipping point in Internet marketing success is to stop reading about it…

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Keyword due diligence

Before you optimize your website or buy pay-per-click (PPC) traffic, you should perform “keyword due diligence.” That means you must check to see that Internet users are actually searching for information on your product by using the same keywords you assumed they would use. When I tell this to people, they often pooh-pooh it. “It’s…

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The 6 Stages of Growing an Internet Business

When you’re building an Internet business, it’s useful to step back and evaluate your progress every now and then. You will be at one of the following levels … Level One: The “getting ready to start” phase. You are spending a lot of time and money buying and studying Internet marketing courses. But you aren’t…

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Is There Too Much Competition in Internet Information Marketing?

Does the idea of selling information products on the Internet appeal to you? It does to GL, one of my subscribers. But she is hesitating about whether to even start. GL is worried that there are already more than enough people hawking e-books, DVDs, and courses on the Internet. “Isn’t the Internet already overcrowded with…

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Are You Making a Mistake That Could Be Ticking Off Your Clients?

“Nate,” a freelancer I hired to write an e-book for me, e-mailed the first draft of the manuscript today as an attached Word file. Also attached: his invoice. Why did you do that, Nate? I just got your FIRST draft. I haven’t even opened the file, much less reviewed it. And I certainly haven’t given…

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One Website… or Many?

“When selling information products on the Internet, what are the pros and cons of having a home website with more than one product and having micro-sites only for the more expensive and lengthy products vs. having a micro-site for every product?”

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For the Pro, School Is Never Out

Recently, I casually mentioned in my e-newsletter that I was taking a writing course. One of my readers, JN, was absolutely shocked. “YOU are taking a WRITING course?” she asked incredulously. Her implication was that, for me – given that I have been a writer for three decades – taking a writing course is either…

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What Products and Services Sell Best in a Recession?

I recently read in a biography of Milton Hershey that he believed his business was recession-proof and depression-proof because he sold an affordable product. He reasoned that, even if a person couldn’t afford new shoes or a new car or a vacation, they could always afford a nickel for a Hershey’s chocolate bar. (That was the price in those days.)

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