Copy-Cat-Copywriting

Yesterday I sent out a solo mailing to promote a product I really believe in -- a collection of information products by Kathleen Gage plus bonuses totalling over $1000. The price? $49. A good deal. Amazing, in fact. One bonus was my very own guide to boosting business through book reviews!

If you click this link on or before August 12, you'll be eligible for the special. The 13th is iffy...I don't know exactly when the sale will end and she doesn't either. It's one of those, "Well, if I feel I've sold enough, time to make room for a new promotion!"

So...why do I do this and why should you actually look forward to them?

Occasionally I send out solos to promote products and services I really like. Some readers sign off immediately. Some buy. Some just ignore them, saying, "It's the price of getting the articles and regular messages."

But I am here to share something I just figured out myself. Even if you never buy from me, you can learn from solo mailings. And if you have an Internet-based business, consider sending oout a solo mailing of your own.

A "solo mailing" is a sales letter sent to a mailing list. Typically everyone on the list gets a regular ezine. The solos are extra.

And typically the solos aim to sell. Most of us send out a regular ezine with an occasional solo mailing. A few marketers, such as
Perry Marshall , send out articles without a single word of sales copy, along with the usual ezine and sales letters. Others never send articles or information - just sales announcements.

So why should you care?

(1) Get ready to discover new products you'd never find otherwise.

There's absolutely no way any one person can find every product. Ezines serve as information channels. Each ezine publisher has her own world of connections and now they become yours.

If you've studied theories of social networks, you're getting access to what weak ties (more strangers) to supplement strong ties (people you see all the time). Weak ties tend to be more powerful when you need to make connections. (References available on request, if you're academically minded.)

Here's a $7 ebook on traffic building. I would never have found this one on my own:
Traffic Building

(2) Learn about a consultant before you invest big bucks.

Before hiring consultants or investing in their big manuals, read their ezines and pay attention to solo mailings.

Solos offer great clues because the decision to send out a solo mailing is tougher than you might think. We can't send messages every day (or sometimes every week): we'd lose our lists! So we have to be selective.

And as a reader, you'll get a sense for what the ezine publisher cares about. Does she seem to send everything but the kitchen sink, as long as the price tag is four figures or more? Does he send offers that seem to be targeted to a niche audience?

Do they promote only big ticket items? Or do they have a knack for finding low-cost, high value products and services?

Do they promote products and services with values, such as Law of Attraction or Wealth Creation products? Or do they focus on nuts and bolts "how to do it" products and services?

Special Tip: Be curious an Internet marketer who never promotes anyone else's products or services. Good consultants are eager to seize on new products and new ideas. Many are junkies who have to restrain themselves from trying everything.

One very successful marketing guru never, ever sends a solo mailing. Her own ezine rarely (if ever) includes links to other products. When I foolishly hired her for a consulting project, I discovered she wasn't trying to save her list from excess sales pitches. She was clueless about what was out there. She knew her own system -- not a bad system, but sadly dated and limited.

(3) Discover the ethics of the consultant who's sending out messages.

Let's face it: very few ezine publishers will promote anything unless they're members of an affiliate program. In other words, when you buy, they get commission. It's a fact of Internet life.

Most of us cloak our affiliate links because those links tend to be extremely long and complicated - and they're subject to fraud and abuse. So you'll see "tinyurl," "snipurl" and links to redirect pages.

For example, here's the "tinyurl" for the link to the special sale above:
http://tinyurl.com/2uw5mb

and here's a redirected link to a very good program for newbies:

www.makewritingpay.com/crashcourse.html

So what's wrong?

I had always admired "Horatio," a savvy and sophisticated marketing consultant. But one day I got a solo message from Horatio promising, "I recommend Oxana's ezine. I don't get a dime from this referral - I just think it's great."

Uh oh. Here's the bitter truth. When I click through to Oxana's ezine, I get into her database. If Oxana sells me a product later, Horatio will get a commission (unless I've clicked through from another site...too complex to get into).

For example: Click on
http://tinyurl.com/3ytqbx
and you can sign up for Perry Marshall's free e-course.

I hope you do. Perry Marshall shares some of the best business information anywhere, even if you never use his pay-per-click system.

But after you read his e-course, you may decide to buy his adwords manual. (I did.) And yes...I'll get a commission.

So I *could* say I won't make a dime if you sign up for Perry's free e-course. But it's not full self-disclosure.

Incidentally, you don't pay more when you click on an affiliate link. And you probably can't become an affiliate yourself and click on your own link for a discount. Just about everybody disallows commissions for self-referrals.

When I get a big commission (a subjective decision), I typically offer buyers at least one consultation as a thank you. Look for those offers from me and from others. In effect, you jut got a bonus gift along with your purchase.

And when you become an affiliate...

Once you buy, go ahead and become an affiliate in your own right. Some programs will allow you to become an affiliate only if you buy first. At first I resented this idea, but then I realized it's almost impossible to sell a product you haven't tried yourself.

And here's a bonus tip. If you go to
my page of recommended services you'll see a long list.

But I find readers consistently click on just a few. I pay attention. It's another way for me to learn about my target market, so I can create my own products and services to meet their needs.

You can do the same!

Labels: affiliate programs, ezines, kathleen gage, perry marshall, promotion, solo mailings