Monthly Archives: May 2009

Who is Kilgore Trout? (no googling – that’s cheating)

Sometimes we in the internet marketing crowd get so caught up with Adwords, Twitter, Facebook, Conversion Rates, Split Testing, Blogging, SEO, and the like, we forget that the purpose of all marketing is to change the emotional state of your prospect.

That’s because people only buy based upon the promise of fulfilling human needs, … and emotion is what we experience in anticipation of having those needs fulfilled.   In other words, people give you money when you move them from feeling sad, scared, or mad –> to GLAD.

This is true even, or perhaps especially if you think what you’re selling has no emotional component.

For example, a guy looking for a particular wrench in a hardware store… something you might think is a pure commodity…  wants it so he can make or fix something at home.  At minimum, he wants to feel EMPOWERED or a SENSE OF CONTROL.  And in some cases, I’d go so far as to say he wants to feel “Attractive” (’cause fixing the sink might just get him a little booty from the Mrs.)

Now, here’s the thing.

Because selling is a transfer of enthusiasm, you have to feel inspired yourself or you’ve got nothing to transfer.  But the growing complexity of the internet tends to draw us away from those things which have inspired people for ages.  We think we have to reserve all our time for studying information products, reading marketing and business books, etc.

When was the last time you read a good novel?  Something that shook your perpsective and made you think differently?

You’d be surprised how valuable THAT can be for your business.

Something to think about.

Who is Kilgore Trout?

AdWords Broad Match Management Gold

Traditional management of keyword match types within Adwords has changed dramatically as the years have passed, in particular as Google seems to have expanded it’s definition of how broad “broad match” really is.

While the profit volume one can achieve using broad match is tremendous, the risk is of equal proportion if it’s not managed correctly.

Most recently, the RocketClicks.com team (at the suggestion of Jered, who you’ll hear interviewed here) has innovated a broad match management technique which gives you the ability to more specifically manage this risk.

I have to admit, as common-sense and obvious as this one was, I didn’t think of it myself and heard no one else talking about it.

Enjoy this short but powerful interview 🙂

Leads and Orders Generated For You by PPC Management Experts

AdWords Content Network Themes – Maximizing Results in Minimum Time

The Content Network is perhaps the world’s biggest advertising opportunity AND simultanously the most difficult to use because targeting is done by THEMES, not keywords. Here’s the EASIEST way to ‘get’ content network themes and develop your adgroups with little effort!

Leads and Orders Generated For You by PPC Management Experts

Hyper-Responsive AdWords Marketing

A very small percent of your customers  are responsible for a large percent of AdWords profits in most businesses.  These are ‘Hyper-Responsive’ AdWords because they buy everything you’ve got, beg for more, and tell all their friends.

It’s entirely possible to engineer your AdWords campaigns to more specifically attract Hyper-Responsive buyers.  It’s also possible to design your landing pages, prodcuts, and in fact your entire  sales funnels to convert and upsell them more quickly.  

Some people object “won’t you be minimizing volume if you focus on Hyper-Responsive customers since they’re such a small percent of your market?”

But practical experience suggests this fear is unfounded, because Hyper-Responsive customers seem to “lead the market”.  They know all the frustrations, concerns, and benefits available, so when you optimize your system for them,  you not only expand THEIR spending, but you become more attractive to ALL your prospects and customers.

In the 33 minute interview below you’ll hear specific examples to illustrate how YOU can start using Hyper-Responsive principles in all your AdWords marketing.   (For more in-depth step by step instruction, please see the hyper-responsive marketing club)

Copywriting Sucks! (Not)

Words sell.  The best buyers are readers.

Con artists use words to damage.  So do politicians.  Words used incorrectly can and do kill.  But words used correctly inspire and heal.

An ethical salesletter inspires the reader to act in their own best interest by truthfully and thoroughly answering 5 questions, with no reasons held back or toned down, yet nothing exaggerated or falsified:

– Why This

– Why You

– Why From Us

– Why at This Price

– Why Now

An unethical salesletter answers these with the goal of getting the reader to act against their own interest –OR– falsifies and exaggerates to move users towards action.  (Unethical even if the end is positive because the ends don’t justify the means).  

Armed with a thoroughly articulated verbal argument, one can (and should) consolidate a salesletter’s message using images.  But I’ve never seen this taken to the extreme of a wordless page.  (At least not one that converts)

Even if it could be done, a process of verbal reasoning would still be necessary to reach it.   Because while a picture certainly IS worth 1,000 words, you’ve gotta write those 1,000 words first if you’re going to choose the right picture.

Until people can reason wholly with images, we’ll need “words that sell” and experts who write them.

I think it behooves us to rebel not so much against language, but against the con artists who pervert it. And against them I’ll rage right along your side.

I hope that makes sense 🙂

(Note: I first read the 5 “whys” on Michael Fortin’s blog)

AdWords Marketing Updates

I’ve got a few important updates for you.

First, we’ve compiled an Emotional Marketing Cheat Sheet which I know you’ll find useful.   Getting the emotion right is especially important in small advertising space like AdWords and classified ads.   This free cheat sheet has a specific example, but more importantly now contains a printable form of the special 37 Emotions Linked to Purchase Behavior.  (Keep’m by your side when you write your AdWords ads!)

I’ve also re-posted the old Self Esteem and Purchase Behavior MP3s below, (now edited into one convenient file.  And there’s a transcript here

Last, I wanted to let you know about the NEW affiliate program, where you can make thousands of dollars in passive, residual income on a single referral to our online advertising services.  Click the link for details… you’ll be glad you did.

Was It Really Worth The Postage?

Henry David  Thoreau once said of all the letters he’d received in a lifetime, only TWO were really worth the postage.

I think this suggests a valuable question to ask ourselves when …

– We read email (whether from friends and colleagues, or subscription lists)
– We WRITE emails 
– We compose our AdWords copy and Landing Pages
– We READ other people’s AdWords copy and Landing Pages
– We communicate in any meaningful form intended to persuade, connect, or even to repel

“Was it really worth the postage?”

Recently Jeff (my partner at Rocket Clicks)  proposed an  email experiment to increase our productivity and our sanity.  He suggested we all check and respond to email only 3x/day.  The Directors  rejected this emphatically in fear everything would come crashing down, clients would fire us, etc.

But during a recent trip when my laptop broke, I had gotten  more done with NO escalation in emergencies or fires to put out.  So I agreed to try this crazy thing with Jeff.

It was much harder than I thought.   I  didn’t realize how compulsive I had become.  It was as if a force outside me (an “Email Devil”)  had taken over.   But after every session the question lingered…  “was that  really worth the postage?”  

The disturbing answer was less than 10% of the emails I read, responded to, or initiated honestly and truly were.  Which meant not only 90% of  my email  time was wasted, but I was allowing 90% more interruption than necessary.  (It takes at least as much time to restore concentration AFTER reading a wasted email as it does to read the email itself)

Yet the damn Email Devil had me by the throat. It’s one thing to joke about it (we all do), but the costs are very real.I asked myself,  given my “conquer with focus and determination” values, how could I let the Email Devil beat me and maintain integrity?  WHY would I let the devil get the best of me?  

I found the answer repulsive.   (As answers so often are when we find we’re our own worst enemies).   Yet because it was so ugly, I know exposing it is the only cure.  

There are 3 reasons this marketer, who prides himself in self-direction and discipline, who strains and struggles over every PUBLIC communication, would allow himself to waste  90% of his PRIVATE email time with things not worth the postage.

1. Email brings desired, but harmful relief from the painful tasks which produce real value (and real income).

It’s the difficult tasks which bring the most results.   There’s a lot of hype about direct marketing being easy, but the truth is the whole premise of the industry is organizing and imparting value on information which is otherwise difficult to extract value from.  Otherwise, what are you really offering?

My job is turning complex information into something palatable and valuable for people.  (So is yours, especially if you think your industry doesn’t work like that).   Which means to make money, I’ve got to dive into the deep end of the pool.  

I’ve got to concentrate, organize, struggle with all the feelings and frustrations my market is experiencing, and give them solutions they can’t find elsewhere.  (So do you.)    It’s only natural to prefer email.   In fact, sometimes I’d prefer to pour hot coffee on my privates to sticking with the marketing task at hand… but at least to date, I can’t find anyone to pay me to do that. 

2. Email makes me feel important.

I know it may seem odd given my credentials, etc., but sometimes I really hunger to feel important, be recognized, and remember that I’m loved.  On second thought, this isn’t so ugly, it’s only human.  So connecting with friends and colleagues, and even reading emails from marketers who really DO empathize with my problems and try to provide value to solve them

The thing is, I get a lot more done when I can just recognize the need and set aside some focused time for it later.  (While these are human needs and I treasure them, it’s important for me to avoid becoming a slave to them… in fact, when I control my interruptions I have MORE time to proactively meet these needs)

3. Email lets me discharge my frustrations.

I’ve got lots of people working for me who’ll listen, and a lot of friends I can bitch to.   I have to admit, that’s much more fun than working.  But wouldn’t it be better to consciously and purposefully schedule time to do this, rather than letting the Email Devil be my master?

And truthfully, in fairness to my employees and my friends… if I really value them, aren’t they worth a more considered and loving communication?

I could go on, and I don’t mean to suggest that I’m perfect with email now.  It’s definitely a war, but I’ve won several major battles, and the tide has turned.   The real question I have to ask myself before I press send and receive is  “is this really the highest and best use of my time?”  (Thanks to Bryan Todd for this question by the way)

But I wanted to encourage you all to consider how this simple question might change your lives.  “Was it really worth the postage?”  Because it COSTS a lot more than you think to read an email.  
And here’s something most people rarely give much thought to.  It COSTS a lot more than you think to CLICK.
So when your prospects click your AdWords ads, are you doing all you can to ensure it was worth their attention?   Because the moment they hit your landing page is probably the single most important moment in your relationship with them.  (By the way, Rocket Clicks now offers landing page optimization services too … sorry … I couldn’t resist.  If you’re interested, fill out the PPC blueprint and mention you need a landing page consult too)

For what it’s worth,

Glenn 🙂

Compulsively addicted to email beyond all hope and reason.  (NOT!)

 PS – If managing your inbox is something you struggle with and would like to hear more from me about, I HAVE learned a lot eliminating spam  in the last few years.  If that’s of interest and I get enough comments/requests for it on this post, I’ll make a video about it this summer.

 

AdWords Quality Score Webinar Coming Up

I’ll make this brief.  We’ve got 9 full time people in the trenches of our AdWords management department at RocketClicks.com … these are people working 40 to 60 hours a week on real live accounts.

Who better to do a thorough analysis of AdWords Quality Score issues?

We’ll be recording an AdWords Quality Score Webinar shortly… but we’d like to know your toughest Quality Score issues.

Don’t hold back … and the more detailed you can be (especially with URLs for us to look at), the better job we can do.  Just LEAVE COMMENTS below with your toughest AdWords Quality Score issues and we’ll do our best to answer.

Oh … and watch your inbox (or subscribe to this blog) for the announcement if you’d like to be on the Webinar LIVE (limited number accepted).

Go!

Market Intelligence vs. Keyword Intelligence – The Critical Difference

Today I want to be sure you understand the distinction between keyword intelligence and market intelligence, because it’s an essential part of developing your hyper-responsive marketing message.  (Listen to the free MP3 – Keyword vs. Market Intelligence)

NOTE: If you’ve heard the audio “4 Ways to Corner Your Market” before, you’ll find it included in this one, but with an important perspective changing introduction (just in the interest of full disclosure)

You see, my opinion is that the proliferation of keyword tools on the internet today is actually making it more difficult for most marketers to connect with their prospects and customers. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that you can find out search volume, bid pricing, competition levels, and which keywords relate to which other keywords, etc. But these are only things COMPUTERS can tell you.

But what’s missing from them is the single most important thing in marketing … an understanding of the HUMAN NEEDS behind those keywords.   Because you see, people hate to search.   What they really want to do is solve.   And what they REALLY want is for a loving person (like you) to solve it for them.

For example, suppose I’ve got a splitting migraine today after having had a fight with uncle.   I haven’t seen my puppies all day long, and I wish I could just run around with them, but all I want to do is go hide in a dark closet, put pillows over my head and shut out the world until it goes away.

What I really want is someone to empathize with me, to tell me something I don’t know already about how to get rid of my migraine quickly, so I can enjoy my puppies for some refreshing renewal before I’ve got to start the whole work routine over again tomorrow.

Now, if you KNEW this about me as a migraine supplement marketer, (and you really DID have something which could help me), you’d know exactly how to design your landing page, what images to use, what stories to tell, what kind of language might be most appealing to me. In fact, if you knew this, you’d be able to write a killer AdWords ad, … I’d venture to say a better one than anyone else in the market. (And I’d be right!)

This is MARKET INTELLIGENCE, and it’s something you’ll NEVER get from a keyword tool, no matter how much you pay per month or how many hours you spend mining it.   Write this on your forehead so you’ll see it in the mirror every day “Search engines don’t know what people are feeling”, and keyword intelligence tells you nothing about the “conversation in people’s heads”.

It’s MARKET INTELLIGENCE which drives hyper-responsive marketing, and it’s market intelligence which will help you cut through the clutter and eliminate the overwhelm you’re feeling about your online marketing efforts.

Because UNDERSTANDING what your market wants on just a very few keywords BETTER THAN ALL YOUR COMPETITORS is infinitely more valuable than knowing thousands of keywords and seo traffic tricks. It’s also infinitely more stable.

And it leads you to a deeper, more heartfelt connection with your customer, and a feeling that what you’re doing in the world is actually making a difference while you’re making a (rather nice) living.

Isn’t that what you want?

Now … back to my puppies!  🙂

PS – I don’t get migraines anymore, that was just for illustration, but I DO have two absolutely wonderful puppies who make my day, every day, by doing something fabulously silly, giving me a special look, or just cuddling up to me when I need it most.
Zachary

Stewie

Are you wasting too much time in AdWords?