SALESPEOPLE HAVE LONG KNOWN THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DEMONSTRATION

from Bob Bly via Gary North

The reason I think it is so strong is that the commercial masterfully employs one of the most powerful -- and also one of the most neglected -- copywriting persuasion techniques:

Demonstration.

Direct marketers as well as salespeople have long known the effectiveness of demonstration.

Yet so many copywriters today strangely neglect it.

But Flex Tape makes full use of the tactic with one of the most dramatic, attention-getting, and convincing demonstrations I have seen in recent memory.

The TV pitchman cuts a small metal boat in half with a power saw, tapes it together with Flex Tape, and then takes it out on the lake for a ride.

He points out, and you can clearly see, that the interior of the boat is completely dry!

Obviously, he must be confident in the tape's ability to stick even when wet.

There's a lot of other good stuff in the spot I want to call your attention to as you view it:

There are multiple smaller demos packed into the 2-minute spot such as patching a leaking roof in the rain and instantly fixing a broken pipe.

The pitchman is sincere and enthusiastic without, at least IMHO, being over-the-top, irritating, or grating, as some are.

Quick descriptive phrases convey a lot of features and benefits; e.g., "super-wide," "triple-thick."

He implies the tape is equivalent to a weld without violating the law, saying it "virtually welds" as he slaps it over the hole in a water tank, immediately sealing it.

Now, as persuasive as the Flex Tape spot is, notice what it is NOT:

It's not clever, creative, funny, or entertaining -- as it would be if the typical Madison Avenue ad agency had produced the commercial.

It just sells.

So you can be pretty sure it was written, produced, and approved by a direct marketer who counts sales, not creative awards, as the indicator of a job well done.

Sincerely,

Bob Bly
Copywriter / Consultant 
31 Cheyenne Dr. 
Montville, NJ 07045 
Phone 973-263-0562 
Fax 973-263-0613
www.bly.com

GETTING FOUND ON YOUTUBE

Though the guy above is good with his tips, this guy may have some authority as well.  He's a head at YouTube.  h/t Bill Myers.

WHAT IS A COMPUTER PROGRAMMER TO DO?

Why would someone want to be a computer programmer?  What tasks do you do that employers pay for?  

Start with this:

Computer programmers typically do the following:

Write programs in a variety of computer languages, such as C++ and Java.

        Update and expand existing programs.

        Debug programs by testing for and fixing errors.

       Build and use computer-assisted software engineering (CASE) tools to automate the writing of some code.

        Use code libraries, which are collections of independent lines of code, to simplify the writing.

Programmers work closely with software developers, and in some businesses, their duties overlap. When this happens, programmers can do work that is typical of developers, such as designing the program. This entails initially planning the software, creating models and flowcharts detailing how the code is to be written, writing and debugging code, and designing an application or systems interface.

Some programs are relatively simple and usually take a few days to write, such as creating mobile applications for cell phones. Other programs, like computer operating systems, are more complex and can take a year or more to complete.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS), which consists of applications provided through the Internet, is a growing field. Although programmers typically need to rewrite their programs to work on different systems platforms such as Windows or OS X, applications created using SaaS work on all platforms. That is why programmers writing for software-as-a-service applications may not have to update as much code as other programmers and can instead spend more time writing new programs.  

This may even be better, meaning more specific. 

Computer Programmers write code through the use of computer languages, such as C++ and Java. Computer programmers create instructions for computers to generate meaningful output.

Overall, it is the responsibility of the computer programmer to write code and manipulate it into a language that the computer can understand and follow. 

They work closely with IT staff, managers, and end users in their organization or client organizations to develop, maintain, and test computer programs. Computer programmers respond to notifications by users of flaws in programs, identify malfunctioning code and rewrite programs.

Computer Programmers are commonly employed by software companies. However, with the surge in access to computer programmers, many governmental and private sector companies, such as banks and law firms, have begun to employ computer programmers. It is not uncommon to see computer programmers working as freelancers, moving from project to project within technology consulting firms or as independent contractors. 

This site came recommended.  

BUILD EMAIL LISTS

Here is how you build email lists.  This e-book costs $12 and is probably worth it.  Finally, for a step-by-step overview of email marketing — building a list and then knowing what to mail to that list — check out our eBook/mini-course combo, Email List Building Explained.

Here is what is promised:

1.  Why email marketing is crucial in any business.
2.  How to set up and create an autoresponder (the program you'll use to send out emails to your list) and opt-in.
3.  How to create a landing page to build your list of email addresses.  
4.  How to persuade people to part with their email addresses. 
5.  How to get visitors to your site so you can build your email list. 
6.  How to write emails your list will be anxious to read. 
7.  How to earn money from your list by selling your own products or through affiliate marketing. 
8.  How often you should send email to your list (nearly everyone gets this wrong), and much more. 

Getting traffic to your Squeeze page is important.  You want more than 1 source of traffic.  

Use Google Analytics to track your traffic. 

FREE v. PAID TRAFFIC: these are the two main kinds of traffic.  

FREE TRAFFIC IS FREE AND IT'S UNLIMITED.  
DOWNSIDE IS THAT IT TAKES TIME TO BUILD UP THIS FREE TRAFFIC AND SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT MY SITE/SQUEEZE PAGE.  IT'S NOT RELIABLE.  YOU CAN COMPLAIN BUT YOU CAN'T REALLY COMPLAIN.  HARD TO MEASURE ITS EFFECTIVENESS AND MAKE CHANGES.

PAID TRAFFIC: PROS & CONS.
PROS:  CAN START SENDING TRAFFIC RIGHT AWAY AND YOU CAN MEASURE ITS EFFECTIVENESS.
EASY TO MAKE CHANGES OR FINE-TUNE IT.  CHANGES TO ADVERTISING COPY, MAKE CHANGES TO PAID EMAIL AND MEASURE THEIR EFFECTIVENESS.
CONS:  COST INVOLVED.  NEED DOUGH TO MEET THAT COST.  
SOME PAY-PER-CLICK WON'T SEND TRAFFIC TO SQUEEZE PAGES, AND THAT'S PARTICULARLY TRUE OF GOOGLE ADWORDS.  IT USED TO BE A GREAT WAY TO SEND TRAFFIC TO SQUEEZE PAGES.  THEY WILL SHUT YOUR ACCOUNT DOWN.  THEY DO NOT ALLOW THAT AT ALL NOW.  

SOURCES OF FREE TRAFFIC
Search engines, SEO to achieve a high ranking on your search engine.  YouTube is the 2nd most popular search engine.  A lot of folks will put up a clickable link in the video, Part I of a Two-Part Video.  And this is an effective way of driving traffic. 

FACEBOOK, TWITTER, PINTEREST.

FREE AD SITES: CRAIGSLIST, GUMTREE (is Australian), ETC. 

LIST SWAPS.  You do this after you have a reasonable number of people on your list.   

VIRAL MARKETING.  This takes a little time.  Free ebook or free report and a link to your squeeze page and an invitation.  Encourage people to give the report away as a free bonus.  That takes a long time.  It's all free.  

REFERRALS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND WORD OF MOUTH.

SOURCES OF PAID TRAFFIC
Solo Ads.  The best for email marketing, sort of like List Swaps.  It's not reciprocal.  Pay amount depends on list owner and the size of their list. 
Forum Advertising, Forum Sigs. good for getting traffic to free giveaways.  
Paid Website Advertising.

JV ZOO

Affiliate marketing—

Classified ads if they allow them.

Social networking sites, facebook fan page. 

Blog. 

Press Release.  Different ways to promote.  Best way is an email list or listbuilding.  That’s where the real money is made. 

JV Zoo is similar to ClickBank.  As soon as you pay for that product/service, there is no waiting like there is for a physical product.  Digital product is instant.  They pay more than physical products. 

1.  You're going to need a PayPal business account.  Need this to collect payments through JV Zoo.  Set up the account then head back to JV Zoo and hook the two accounts up.  

2.  What products to promote?  He's in the internet marketing niche, so he's bias.  Tons of categories to promote.  Look for a good product with a good sales page, something that you yourself might buy.  He goes to TopSellers, a menu item at JV Zoo.  Top Sellers for the Past 30 Days that have generated the most sales.  Check that one out.  It will say "Affiliate Details."  Click on that.  

At 9:15, he covers delay payments and Permission requests.  Those are important details.  If you don't have a reputation or a sale, you're going to have to wait to get paid.  If you're a trusted affiliate, like 7 years worth of sales, you'll get approved for instant payments.  It's directly deposited into his PayPal Business Account.  Very fewer refunds on the JV Zoo network.  Good to know.  If you are new, you can request to get commissions instantly instead of delayed.  I think you'll need to have had 25 products sold.  The more products in a sales funnel, the better for obviously you're creating more chance to increase commissions by promoting that product.  

Your affiliate link is how you get paid.  See the 14:40 mark.  At the 14:55 mark, he shows you how to paste your affiliate link into a blog post (wordpress).  

If you're promoting through a Facebook Fan Page, He's used US Free Ads.  Said that it is a good one.  He said he puts affiliate marketing links on his Twitter account.  How does that work?  

All kinds of ways that you can promote JVZoo products.  Tons of ways you can drive traffic to your affiliate links, traffic, blog posts, but what I'm gonna do is leave one of . . . Jay'sonlinereviews.com.  How to drive traffic to JVZoo through your affiliate links.  It's going to be a big.  

 
Okay, this guy wants to point a common mistake that affiliate marketers make and explain that that is why when they first start out that they don't make any money.  That common mistake?  Sending traffic directly to the Affiliate Link.  Okay.  Why is that a mistake?  He's got this funny diagram that starts with TRAFFIC then an arrow leading to LEAD CAPTURE PAGE, another arrow leading to a THANK YOU SPECIAL OFFER [where apparently the affiliate link goes] toward a dollar's sign $$$$$.  Like we'er supposed to know what the pattern or logic or flow means.  Oy, vey.  Then he has another arrow running away from, to the left of LEAD CAPTURE PAGE to AUTO RESPONDER.  Again, he knows things that only he knows.  What does this mean?  Another arrow runs away from AUTO RESPONDER to EMAIL then to CASH, $$$$$.  

He says that the proper way to promote an affiliate link is that you need to have a system or a sales funnel.  Before you send your traffic to your affiliate link, you need to have a LEAD CAPTURE PAGE, i.e., a LANDING PAGE.  Main goal of a LANDING PAGE is to get an email address.  When someone lands on your landing page and they pu8t their email address and they hit submit, they will be taken to the THANK YOU page, and in your THANK YOU page you have your AFFILIATE LINK or you have the link going to your AFFILIATE LINK or AFFILIATE PRODUCT that you are promoting.  The purpose of capturing the email in the LEAD CAPTURE page is that 

You need to be BUILDING YOUR LIST.  

Okay, so this sounds like PRIORITY #1: BUILD YOUR LIST.  But how?  In your AUTO RESPONDER, you have your EMAIL FOLLOW-UP.  And each EMAIL has an AFFILIATE LINK.  So that's the basic set-up.  

To do this, we have to start with getting the AFFILIATE LINK.  To get the AFFILIATE LINK, go to JVZOO.  Most of what  is at JVZoo is a digital market place, whe most of the products sold here are software or make money online training and digital products.  When you sign up on JVZoo, you go to TOP SELLERS.  

He uses a program called ClickFunnels.  Their program provides both a Landing Page and a Follow-up "Thank you" email.  He recommends that you create a free account.  Lead Capture Page is followed by a "Thank you" Page that comes with the freebie--ebook, video, pdf file, etc.  So the video is embedded in the Sales Page where a sale is offered.  Once you have this system set up, you are now ready to set up web traffic through site visitors, Facebook ads, YouTube ads, any ad anywhere on the Internet.  The traffic that he uses, the most effective way to get traffic, is called Udimi.com, not Udemy.com.  He mentions a series of ads called Solo Ad Vendors.  More studying.  You pay for an email to be sent on your behalf.  They will click on that email and visit your landing page.  If they visit your landing page and put their email, they will be taken to the Sales Page.  They will become part of your email list--that is the goal.  So then you can email them with your affiliate links.  To do this, all you have to do is click on one of these names and purchase a solo ad.  That's how he promotes his JV Zoo links.  Traffic is coming from Udimi.com.  Okay, he offers a $497 program at the end of his video, and you can find it here at PaoloBeringuel @ affiliate marketing mastery.

BE AN ACTUARY

Okay, well this is interesting.  If one wants to work in the insurance industry as an actuary, there are at least three beginning exams one must pass.  ASA [or Associate of the Society of Actuaries], CERA [Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst], FSA [Fellow of the Societies of Actuaries].  So what this means is that you've got to be credentialed by way of membership through these societies before you can earn gainful employment as an actuary?  Who hires actuaries?  Insurance companies?  It looks like any company can hire an actuary, for these guys assess risk.  That knowledge allows businesses to decide on certain purchases to reduce their risk on some aspect of a business.  That is interesting.  

Actuaries analyze the financial costs of risk and uncertainty. They use mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to assess the risk that an event will occur, and they help businesses and clients develop policies that minimize the cost of that risk. Actuaries' work is essential to the insurance industry. 

Definitely consider being an Actuary.  Here is the BLS profile of what it means to be an actuary.  

There is the Casualty Actuary Society
4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 250
Arlington, Virginia 22203
(703) 276-3100, Phone.
(703) 276-3108, Fax.
Hours: M-F, 8:45 to 5pm, EST.

This was more helpful.  Bizarre that a site doesn't simply list the exams required for what license and then what the license grants you permission to do.  Bizarre. 

While a degree in actuarial sciences is not essential to becoming an actuary, getting certified is. Before you can work as an actuary, you must begin the process of becoming certified through either the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) or the Society of Actuaries (SOA). 

Must be certified before taking any test?  Bizarre.

The first certification you must pursue is an associate certification, which you can earn by following these steps:

1) Pass a Validation of Educational Experience (VEE) in applied statistics, corporate finance, and economics. A committee will review your college coursework, grades, and/or examination scores to see if you have been adequately educated on essential topics in these areas. Complete online courses in professionalism and in the fundamentals of actuarial practice. These classes are offered by each actuarial society. Pass several actuarial examinations. If you seek certification through the CAS, you will take 7 exams. The SOA requires five exams. Each exam demands hundreds of hours of study and preparation. Once you have your associate certification and gain a few years of working experience, you can pursue a fellowship certification through the CAS. 

Okay, the Exams are numbered here.  They are numbered 1 through ST9.  ST9 is a Specialist exam.  

Exam 1:  Probability.
Exam 2:  Financial Mathematics.
Exam 3F:  Models for Financial Economics. 
Exam 4: Construction and Evaluation of Actuarial Models Exam.
Exam 5: Basic Techniques for Ratemaking and Estimating Claim Liabilities.
Exam 6: Regulation and Financial Reporting (Nation Specific).
Exam 7: CAS Syllabus of Basic Education.  Exam 7 is Estimation of Policy Liabilities, Insurance Company Valuation, and Enterprise Risk Management.
Exam 8: Advanced Ratemaking.
Exam 9: Financial Risk and Rate of Return. 
ST9 Exam:  Enterprise Risk Management Specialist Technical Exam.  

Actuarial Jobs from Indeed.  One of the jobs calls for the MAAA, or Member of American Academy of Actuaries.  

ASPPA, American Society of Pension and Professionals & Actuaries. 

Jobs to apply for this week:
1.  Anaheim.
2.  Insurance Eligibility Clerk, West LA.
3.  Insurance call center, Downey.
4.  Business Consultant, Culver City.
5.  Teach in China.
6.  Aflac.
7.  Support Specialist.
8.  
9.
10.

I've never heard of a DiSC Testing.  What does this mean and what kinds of skills are tested?  Dominance / Influence / Steadiness / Conscientiousness.

Useful resources on commissions.

EXTRA MONEY PER MONTH: NO PROOF, FEWER SOLUTIONS

I don't know how many times I've searched online to find out how to make an extra $500 a month, sometimes the headline reads "How to make an extra $1,000 a month in your spare time."  These headlines are lies that play on people's fears of not being able to keep up with their monthly expenses.  Invariably I read about thrift store shopping as a way to make that extra money.  The authors of these desperate screeds even cite phantom friends who've made $800 "buying items in good conditions from Good Will, consignment shops and garage sales."  I know someone who did that as well but they didn't buy these items to resell them; they bought them to place inside their homes.  You absolutely can find deals at these venues, but if the deal is so good you might not want to offer it to anyone else.  So you're assessing products versus their price all the time.  The same author who recommended Good Will shops recommends buying these items, "clean them up and sell them at a higher price . . . ," says that she had a "friend who did this (she mostly went to garage sales) and she made an extra $800 per month!"  I love the exclamation mark.  She tries to use excitement to hide the desperation, cost in money and in time in these projects.  What's annoying about these types of articles is that they never mention the cost to showcase whether or not that $800 was pure profit or offset against $250 of expense.  Without telling us how much she spent in gas, in repair or maintenance of an item or how much time it took her driving around, cleaning the item up, posting it up at eBay, then driving to the Post Office and pay for shipping.  We don’t hear about any of this.  

One idea that might work to make extra money that I've long been working at is writing articles.  But the question is still the same, "How does one make money at this?  To whom do you submit the articles?  For whom do you write?"  One may as well be a copywriter where you write White Papers, B2B copy, brochures, SEO, and so forth.  If all writing is copy anyway, which it is.  I found on my Facebook page a flyer from AWAI whose headline read "No Writing Samples?  Here's the Solution . . . ."  

Okay, I'll bite.  And bite I did.  My teeth are hurting, chipping them all the time on false promises.  So much copy is pure clickbait.  And author of "No Writing Samples?  Here's the Solution," Steve Slaunwhite is no different.  He writes

One strategy is to put together a portfolio of related writing samples. For example, you may not have written a white paper before, but you may have written an e-book or long-form magazine article. Those projects are comparable in length and style and require similar skills, such as research, interviewing, and clear writing and storytelling. 

Oh, I see, so you actually DO need writing samples, right Steve?  So it's not that there is any magic trick to the answer of writing samples; instead, you actually do need writing samples.  "See how tricky I am?" teases Slaunwhite.  I am not saying that I cannot learn anything from Slaunwhite, but I don't really like his copy.  If the only thing that he's selling is information in this AWAI, then sell information, accurate information, reliable information, relevant information.  Act like a teacher and teach, don't bait.  Like I said I can still learn from him, and his point about storytelling is well-taken, but nothing that I haven't heard before and in greater detail. 

And speaking of storytelling, case studies—one of the most fun and lucrative projects in B2B—also require interviewing and storytelling skills. (A case study is a customer success story. As the writer, you will be interviewing your client's customer to get that story.) 

You see when someone says ". . . one of the most fun and lucrative projects in B2B . . . ," I want to say "prove it."  But he doesn't provide anything of value; instead, he simply goes onto something else posing it as some kind of solution.

Take a look at the writing you've done. Pull together some samples that are related to typical B2B writing projects. I know one copywriter who recently landed her first $4,200 white paper project. Although she had no experience crafting white papers, the example of a persuasive sales proposal she wrote for her previous employer clinched the deal. 

Hell, I can make similar statements, "My friend, William, wrote three white papers for Fortune 500 companies and netted $8,000 with each one."  See?  I am mad with sentences.  Proof?  PROOF!  You want proof?  How dare you?  What kind of information copywriter do you think I am?  These are private friends to which only I am privvy.  I could never share anything with the general public . . . certainly not for free.  If you want to know, it'll cost you.  I charge $5,000 for consulting.  So it's dishonest.

When speaking to a prospective client about a project where you don't have the perfect writing sample to show, here's an example of how to handle that conversation. 

Oh, look.  Steve is going to tell us how to speak, which words to use, and so forth.  Yippie!

"I haven't worked on this specific type of project yet. However, I'm confident I can put together an excellent case study for your company. And here's why. I've written several email newsletter articles for similar clients which require the same set of skills: interviewing customers, telling a great story, and effective copywriting. So your case study would benefit from my experience in those areas. In addition, I'm familiar with the format and know how a case study should be written." 

This is a guy who is writing for a general audience, a generally dumbdowned, inexperienced audience to whom he can charge $7,500 for a copywriting course.  Way to go, Steve.  I wonder if Steve has writing samples up at AWAI.  Real writers I know have a saying, "You can't beat something with nothing," which is absolutely true.  You can't beat the Devil with nothing.  You can't beat poverty without doing something with your tools.  Slaunwhite champions the above statement as that "something" in order to beat nothing.

Can you see how this kind of response would increase your chances of getting the work? It sure beats saying something like, "Oh, ah, well, I haven't actually written one of those before."

Well, I for one do not know of anyone who would go into a presentation with nothing, which is the whole point of Slaunwhite's piece here.  And he's a standard bearer at AWAI?  Wow.  

Like I said, I can still learn from Slaunwhite.  It's just that you have to sift through a whole of time-wasting, disappointing gibberish.  

The key is to be honest and confident as you explain to the prospective client what it is about your knowledge, skills, and experience that make you a good fit for the project — in addition to showing related samples that show off your writing abilities.

What makes Slaunwhite a good representative for B2B copy, where to get clients, how to pitch them, what to offer, at what price, etc.?  Why all the omissions?  Lying by omission is just as much a lie as commission.

Of course, nothing beats having the right samples in your portfolio. If a B2B marketing director is looking for a writer for her email campaign, you'll dramatically boost your chances of landing the project if you have one of those in your portfolio! Even if it is a "practice" piece you created during a course.

In my opinion, the ideal samples to have on hand when breaking into writing for B2B companies are:

Email marketing pieceProduct descriptionCase studyAdvertisementBlog post 

Okay, this is a start.  This is good.  Like I said, I can still learn from him.  Very little else in his piece is valuable. 

In fact, that's why I include those portfolio-building assignments when teaching the B2B Copywriting Mastery program for AWAI. If you have those samples in your portfolio, B2B marketing directors are definitely going to feel more confident in hiring you.

Do you have any questions about generating samples for prospective clients? Please share with us in the comments below so we can help.