Ugly Marketing, Beautiful Profits

This marketing tactic is as easy to use as pen and paper.

In fact, it is pen and paper.

Here’s the tactic: Write your next sales letter by hand, with a pen. Then print and mail it.

When you do this, 3 good things happen:

1) You create a promotion that is instantly creative and 100% unique to you

2) Your recipients will appreciate the time you took to write a message “just for them” ... even if the original letter is mass-printed

3) Your recipients are more likely to read and respond to your letter

Here's an example, from one of my clients ...

When the dust settled, he earned $104,000 from $4,038 invested in that handwritten sales letter. 

That's an astounding ROI of 25.76 to 1.

I wrote the copy. He hand-wrote the letter. Then we printed and mailed it.

Why do hand-written letters work so well?

Think about it. Your prospects spend more of their life communicating by computer or smart phone than by pen and paper. Every day, they get credit card offers and bills in the mail. Maybe a catalog or two. But actual handwritten letters? Why, those are so rare, they're treated like gold ...

... which is EXACTLY how you want your sales letter to be treated.

A handwritten letter can work in any B2C or B2B market because markets don’t buy, people do. A person must read your promotion before they can respond to your offer.

And if you're thinking, "My handwriting is terrible!" -- sorry, that's not a valid excuse. Find someone who can write neatly. Start with your family. Do you have a teenager, as I do? Congratulations. You have child labor. And your costs to make a handwritten letter at home will be lower than Nike’s costs to make shoes in China.

Besides, you don’t need stylish handwriting. Ugly can be beautiful.

Case in point: The butt-ugly issue of my newsletter below ...

It was handwritten by me. And it's still the most-talked-about and responded-to issue I ever did. Ugly handwriting can be like a traffic accident -- people slow down to look at it. However, your ugly handwritten message must be relevant to your audience, or they will speed past it.

And here’s another twist: Hand-write your letter in crayon, instead of pen, and make the “author” one of your children or a relative’s child.

That’s what my client Bill Gough did for his insurance agency a few years ago. Take a look below. This is not hard ...

One more thing that should motivate you to try this: Your competition is, quite simply, NOT going to hand-write anything. Prove it to yourself. Answer this question: How many handwritten sales letters or messages of any kind have you seen from your competitors? I thought so. Now, do you see the opportunity?

Remember, when you turn the usual into the unusual, you can make your business remarkable, by creating an atmosphere where your prospects and clients tell others. When others are remarking about you to their friends, family, and co-workers, you are -- literally -- remarkable.  

Now take the next step.

Let's talk by phone about growing your business. I'll give you as many insights as I can fit into 30 minutes -- a micro seminar, if you will :-) No obligation. No sales pressure. Click below ...

Click here to book a call with Kevin Donlin now

The Strange Marketing Power of Chocolate

Do you love chocolate?

I thought so.

Well, here’s one more reason to love chocolate: It can build your business.

Below is a transcript of a conversation I had with copywriter Tom Trush, from Phoenix, AZ.

Read it to discover the strange secret of how chocolate can boost your profits ... 

Kevin Donlin: "Tom, you had a story and it was kind of prompted from something you read in my Marketing Multipliers program where I often talk about creating new experience for your business using food, specifically, chocolate."

Tom Trush: "I was talking to a client who was definitely frustrated. He had a big deal lined up, so big that he had flown to Denver to meet with the prospect. 

"He thought the meeting went great and he followed up by email and it sounded like it was just a matter of getting the deal signed. But the prospect would not respond. He sent multiple emails over and over."

Kevin: "So, the trail went cold. Lots of emails, but nothing from the prospect?"

Tom: "Right. I know that you are a huge fan of direct mail, and I am, too. So I told him to change the medium from email -- because it’s just so easy to ignore -- and use regular mail.

"I suggested to he should put together a package and take the same information you’re sending by email, but change your format and send it by mail.

"Even better, send it FedEx or UPS. That would show some urgency and show you’re dedicated to this project.

"And I remembered what you suggested, Kevin, about how including a food gift like chocolate is an easy way to turn a direct mail piece into a sensory experience."

Kevin: "So what happened?"

Tom: "He popped some chocolates into the package and sent it off UPS ... and he said within two days he was on a call with the prospect to close the deal."

"Changing the format and delivering it via UPS really helped. But I think the chocolate was a big deal, too. It’s such a little thing, but how can you ignore chocolate? It adds an experience, you eat it and you remember it."

Kevin: "Right on all counts. Whether you send an express letter by UPS or FedEx, it can’t possibly go into a spam folder. It has to be opened. Keep that in mind when you compare the “cost” of email, which is free but increasingly ineffective, vs. the “cost” of an overnight letter.

"Second idea: Chocolate. When you’re eating chocolate, it’s impossible to be unhappy. So when you’re grinning and you’re reading a letter, your brain is making a connection between the two. It’s a powerful sensory experience.

"Compare that to reading an email on a laptop, iPad, or -- worst of all -- a mobile phone. That’s just text on a screen, visible for 3-5 seconds and then, poof! Deleted or achieved. Not nearly in the same league as a tangible letter plus a chocolate gift. And not nearly the same results."

Bottom line: Anyone can execute this idea. Find your best sales message, print it, add a nice gift of chocolate, and send it all FedEx or UPS.

But first, let me drop some science on you. There’s a chemical compound in chocolate, called phenethylamine (PEA).

PEA mimics the chemistry of your brain when you’re in love. Maybe that’s why chocolate is said to be an aphrodisiac. In any case, the chemicals in chocolate make people HAPPY ... and if you can make people HAPPY in business, you can do WELL in business.
 
Now, if you don’t see the value in investing $20 for all this, especially when it could make you back many hundreds or thousands of dollars ... well, you don’t have a business. You have a hobby. And you should stop pretending otherwise.

One more thing. 

If you found this idea helpful … and you want more clients like your best clients ... claim your Free Client Cloning Kit at www.clientcloningsystems.com

3 Marketing Secrets from 575 Blog Posts

After writing 575 blog posts since 2010, I've learned a few things about how business owners want to attract more new clients.

If you own a service business and you want more clients, here are 3 insights to help you:

Insight #1: Marketing tools beat marketing skills

Since 2010, I've written dozens of posts about skills: how to write better copy, deliver extraordinary client service, etc.

But 3 of my 7 most-popular blog posts are about tools:

• Client Reactivation Letter
• Thank-You Note
• Postcards

Implication: Entrepreneurs (like you?) are busy. They would rather use a tool to grow their business than learn a skill.

Insight #2: Simple marketing tools are good

Take another look at the 3 most-popular marketing tools I've written about:

• Client Reactivation Letter
• Thank-You Note
• Postcards

What do they have in common? They are SIMPLE.

If you can read and speak English clearly, you can write and mail a Client Reactivation Letter to your past clients ... a Thank-You Note to prospects, partners, and clients ... and Postcards to anyone.

Implication: You don't need super-sophisticated technology to build a business that supports you in style. You need only use a few simple tools consistently.

Insight #3: Direct mail is the marketing tool of successful entrepreneurs

Take another look. What do these tools have in common?

• Client Reactivation Letter
• Thank-You Note
• Postcards

They are printed on paper and arrive in your mailbox, with a stamp. They are real mail. And they get real results.

By mailing a few simple letters to reactivate past clients, you reap windfalls from the buyers you have already "bought and paid for" -- this is incredibly profitable.

By mailing thank-you notes to prospects, partners, and clients, you demonstrate your gratitude for the time, attention, and money they give you. This increases your sales conversions, your client retention, and your referrals -- not to mention the self-esteem of you and the recipients of your thank-you notes.

By mailing postcards to anyone, you stand apart from the 99% of other entrepreneurs who are content to stop at email, texts, tweets, or other ephemeral online communications. A postcard is a simple, tangible reminder of you and your message.

Implication: Direct mail is proof that you're running a real business. That's a good thing.

One last thing. If you own a business, there's a box of 11 Marketing Multipliers waiting to be shipped to you by U.S. Mail. You can try it Free. Click here now.

Postcards: The Insanely Simple (and Effective) Marketing Tool

Here's a story about a shocking pink postcard that might change the game for your business.

The postcard is from my good friend Vance Morris. The letters "DYGYSD" stand for "Did you get your 'stuff' done?"

Vance and I are in the same mastermind group and we hold each other accountable for achieving our goals. Every 7-10 days, he drops in unexpectedly to see how I'm doing. Thanks, Vance.

But in addition to holding me accountable, Vance is being memorable and getting my full attention with this postcard. That's something you can NOT do with an email.

And that's the point of this blog post: As a business owner, anytime you catch yourself thinking, "I'll just send an email" to your prospects or clients, think again. Can you send that same message by postcard? If so do that. 

Send a postcard, in addition to or instead of an email. You'll get more attention and better results. 

And no, I don't mean Send Out Cards or some other robotic crap. Write the message on the postcard. By hand. And mail it. With a stamp.

I keep a collection of postcards on hand and mail one almost every day. Whether it's for holidays or to thank people for referrals, a postcard is a simple tactical tool that's quick and easy.

Plus, a postcard can be physically held and is difficult to ignore -- completely different from an email.

Another nice thing is that postcards are a simple tool. They are pretty much goof proof. They require almost no skills to deploy correctly. Just like striking a match.

Postcards are simple, inexpensive, and they fit into any marketing strategy you may have.

All of which make postcards a true Marketing Multiplier -- little tools that can deliver big profits.

Now. Do you own a business in the U.S.?

If so, get your own box of 11 Marketing Multipliers delivered FREE at www.MarketingMultipliers.com

Online Marketing + Offline Marketing = More Sales

Want more prospects to return your phone calls ... and buy?

Here's an idea: Give them a "While you were out" message.

By mail.

This is how I do it, with a postcard I created for that purpose:

In case you can't see clearly, the message on the pink postcard reads:

You'll get an email from me on July 7 that explains this postcard, but here's a hint: Synergy.

Okay, one more hint: Following up with your prospects can be fun for you and them!

Watch your email ...

Key: I don't want to bug people into calling me back. I want to intrigue them into doing so.

And even if they don't call back, by tying this postcard into an email I'll send a few days later (as promised, without fail!) I increase the impact of both this postcard and that email.

By combining your online and offline marketing touches this way, you get synergy. You get more bang for your buck. More sales, too.

You can achieve online + offline marketing synergy any number of ways:

• phone call + email
• postcard + email
• letter + email + phone call
• email + phone call + thank you note

Get the idea? When it comes to combining your online and offline marketing, you're limited only by your imagination.

Now, you don't have to create customized postcards as I've done; marketing is my business, so this is the kind of thing I do every day.

But you do have to think creatively if you want to stand out and get noticed by your prospects in a world of ephemeral tweets, posts, blurbs, and blogs.

How do you know if your prospects are noticing you? If your sales go up. That's the only metric that really matters in marketing. And, yes, postcards like this hot pink "While You Were Out" message can make your sales go up. I've used them to close deals north of $7,500.

So, think synergy: Online Marketing + Offline Marketing = More Sales.

One more thing: I just created a new Cheat Sheet that reveals 4 ways to "force" Amazon to build your business, at NO cost. Click To Download Now

More Sales From More Trust: 3 Direct-Mail Shortcuts

As a business owner or sales pro, you may think you don't need direct mail in your business.

Think again.

If you're selling a service or product that costs more than $100, you will struggle mightily to sell it entirely online.

Why?

The higher your price, the more your prospects must trust you before opening their wallet. And it's very hard to trust a business that's 100% intangible -- all website, emails, social media, webinars, and phone calls.

What's the answer?

Make your intangible relationship tangible. The faster you can do this -- by meeting your prospects in person, giving them something they can hold in their hands, or both -- the faster you can make more sales.

And while it's impossible to meet every prospect in person, it's fairly easy and cost effective to meet them by mail.

Bonus: When you combine good direct mail with good online marketing, you get great synergy. The sum of your integrated marketing results will be much greater than what you could have achieved if you marketing only online or offline. It's like 1+1=3.

Let me show you three ways to make more sales by making your relationships more tangible.

1) Postcard after an email
After you send an email to a prospect you can also send them a postcard. Nobody does that right? That's the point. I can write and mail 5 postcards in less than 20 minutes over lunch. So can you.

2) Thank-you note after a webinar or teleseminar
When was the last time you got a thank-you note after a webinar or teleseminar? Never, right? See the opportunity here?

Do NOT complain about not having access to your prospects' U.S. Mailing address either. It's simple to find their mailing address by looking up the website from the email address they used to register for your webinar or teleseminar.

Example: The email joe@SuperDeluxeWidgets.com will lead you to the SuperDeluxeWidgets.com website, where you can find their mailing address. IF their website has no mailing address, or if the email they used to register was joestonerdude@aol.com ... they have self-identified as a prospect not worth sending mail to.

3) Article after a phone call
After a phone call with a prospect, print and mail them a helpful article they would enjoy reading. Include a Post-it Note that says, "I thought you might find this useful."

Nobody does that right? Again, that's my point.

None of these methods costs you more than 50 cents each. But each has about a 100% open rate, when mailed to your prospects by direct mail (compare that to your typical 30% open rate for email).

And each of these can make an intangible relationship into a tangible one, which makes you more trustworthy, which improves everything else you're doing in your sales and marketing.

Now. If your business is doing at least $100,000 in revenue, my Free Client Cloning Kit can give you a slight edge -- and then some. It's NOT another download. This is a real business-building kit you can hold in your hands. Grab yours now, while you can.

Direct Mail for Solopreneurs: Postcard Example

One reason you need to include direct mail in your marketing mix as a solopreneur: Most of the trends I see for email marketing are negative.

Of course, email marketing should always have a place in your toolbox. But don't put all your eggs in that email toolbox (to mangle a metaphor). Just because it's efficient to push "send" and zap out a message at no cost to 5 ... 500 ... or 5,000 names, doesn't mean it's also effective.

Let's put it another way: How would you send your mother a birthday card, by email or real mail? How about your spouse -- would you send him/her an anniversary card by email or real mail?

I thought so.

Treat your prospects and clients the same as any other VIP in your life. When the message really matters, send it by real mail (in addition to email, phone, in person, video, etc.).

Now, if you're like most solopreneurs, you've got a big objection in mind when it comes to direct mail: Cost. And the time it takes to mail stuff. Okay, that's two objections.

Well, I get that. Time and money are the two constraints on much of your growth as a solopreneur.

So here's an easy answer to both those objections to using direct mail: Postcards. They're cheap and fast to deploy.

You print and mail them for less than 50 cents with a service like Click2Mail. Or spend a bit more and do them yourself.

Like the UGLY postcard I wrote and mailed below, from a hotel room in Dallas ...

It helped cement a sale for $7,500 to a busy prospect who had ignored two emails from me the week before. Sure, it's butt-ugly and my handwriting is awful. But the message was 100% personalized and relevant to this prospect.

He got the postcard on Monday and signed up 24 hours later.

Now. Big caveat: No small ugly postcard -- or big beautiful postcard -- is enough to make a sale for $7,500 (or even $75) in 99 cases out of 100. But a postcard can be that one tap of the hammer that splits a big rock.

As a solopreneur, you have a family and/or a livelihood to support every morning you turn on the lights and fire up your computer. You're doing a serious job and you need serious tools.

Direct mail is a serious tool. And postcards are seriously simple. That makes postcards, done right, what I call a Marketing Multiplier -- a simple tool that delivers big profits.

There's a box of 11 Marketing Multipliers waiting for you now. Try them Free here.

Direct Mail Demystified for Solopreneurs

Much of my work as a copywriter and marketing adviser is for mid-sized businesses in the $2-20 million range.

And a lot of that work is direct mail: lead-generation pieces and sales letters to acquire new clients.

But there's a BIG place in my heart for the solopreneur -- the one-man band or one-woman army who fights every day to earn a good living to support their family.

Maybe it's because I've been a solopreneur myself for 16 years. I understand solopreneurs, I empathize with solopreneur marketing problems, and I want to see them do better.

So it kills me to see so many solopreneurs buy into the myth that direct mail is too expensive or complicated to grow their business. Nonsense.

The same principles my bigger clients use to rake in 6 and 7 figures with direct mail can ABSOLUTELY work for smaller businesses. In fact, done right, direct mail can deliver clients on demand for almost any solopreneur -- whether you sell a product, a service, or your consulting.

First, some unsettling facts about email ...

One in seven commercial emails never makes it to the recipient. Worse, at least 30% of those 85% emails that get delivered ... are deleted unread. And all current trends for the effectiveness of email are negative (sources: Return Path and The Freedman Company).

By contrast, direct mail is one of the most effective ways to acquire new clients. Perhaps because it's so much easier to stand out in a mailbox compared to an email inbox (or Twitter feed, or Facebook news feed).

"You can send targeted, relevant direct mail to anyone with a mailing address. People generally trust direct mail, know how to respond to a direct mail offer, and don't need the  technological savvy required by e-mail or social media platforms. These are the major reasons direct mail works," according to Clif McDougall, VP of Business Development, Com-Pak Services.

Finally, "direct mail is 10 to 30 times more effective than e-mail," according to The Direct Marketing Association. In a study, 34 out of 1,000 customers responded to direct mail, while just one out of 1,000 responded to an e-mail.

In the next few posts, I'll share with you examples of direct-mail that's working right now for solopreneurs.

But for today, ask yourself 3 questions:

1) Do you honestly wish you got more email or less?

2) Do you think your prospects want more email or less?

3) If you're leaving direct mail out of your marketing mix, how much money do you think you're leaving on the table?

Meanwhile, dp you own a business?

Want more clients?

If so, there's a box of 11 Marketing Multipliers waiting for you now. Try them Free here.

Marketing Synergy: 1 + 1 = 6?

Synergy is what happens when the sum is greater than the parts.

Examples ...

• flour + water + yeast + heat = bread
• John + Paul + George + Ringo = The Beatles
• Email + Direct Mail = 6 ... as in it's possible to get 6 times more response using email and direct mail together, rather than separately.

That last example is Marketing Synergy.

Let me explain ...

Last year, the Canadian division of Staples did an experiment. To one group of people, they sent an email promotion. To a second group, they sent email plus a direct-mail letter.

The results?

The response rate was 6 times higher from people who got a direct mail piece and an email, compared to those who got only email, according to the study, done by Canada Post.

There are two valuable lessons here:

1) Multiple marketing methods can produce synergy. By combining email and direct mail ... or phone and email ... or phone, email, and direct mail ... you get MORE results than using one method by itself.

2) If a big bureaucratic company like Staples can produce 6x higher results with their marketing, imagine the results you can enjoy, if you're a small, agile, smart business owner?

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here

You? 10x Profits and Growth?

Think back to a time when you made only 10% of your current income.

It might have been in college or high school.

Why did you make only 10% of what you do now? Were you a loser/slacker/dunderhead?

No.

You were simply less valuable in the marketplace. You earned 90% less because you delivered 90% less value. Today you deliver 10 times more value, so you earn 10 times more money.

What made the difference?

Perhaps your skills are 10 times more valuable. You want from fry cook ($5.00 an hour) to software developer ($50.00 an hour), for example. Or maybe the average amount you saved your clients on taxes increased from $500 to $5,000. You are more valuable.

Or maybe you reach 10 times more people. You went from cutting grass (5 lawns a day) to owning a landscaping business with 10 employees (50 lawns a day). Or perhaps your list of prospects increased from 100 to 1,000. You are reaching more people.

So, increasing your income by 10 times is not only possible, but you've done it at least once before. Maybe several times.

Now fast forward to the future. Imagine yourself earning 10 times more than today. Are you 10 times more valuable? Are you helping 10 times more people? Both?

Here's an example from my own business ...

My client Ryan, a real estate investor from California. By making phone calls and meeting with home sellers in person, he and his business partner had a nice little business going.

After the departure of his partner who did the sales, Ryan faced a potential loss in income ... hours spent banging the phones to sell his service ... loads of frustration. In a word, problems.

But I solved those problems for Ryan.

How? Two ways ...

1) We made him more valuable. We improved his phone sales pitch to push certain hot buttons that made people eager to sell their homes.

2) We helped him reach more people. We turned his phone sales pitch (one-to-one selling) into a sales letter (one-to-many selling), AND we found new lists of people to mail to, AND we're mailing those people more often.

So, more value reaching more people.

Results?

We put $250,000 of cash and equity into Ryan's pipeline in 7 days. Nearly $700,000 in 12 months. At this pace, he will enjoy 10 times more profits in less than 2-3 years.

This is life-changing stuff. And it's possible for you, me, Ryan -- anyone.

Just ask yourself two questions: 1) How can I make myself 10 times more valuable?
2) How can I reach 10 times more people?

You've done it before. You can do it again. Why not start today? 

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here

Can make it to that event? My free Client Cloning Kit can help. It's not some cheapo download -- this is a real business-building kit you can hold in your hands. Grab yours now, while you can.

How to Explode Your Direct-Mail Response by 108%

Want a higher response from your sales letters -- up to 108% higher?

Try a sticky note.

Social scientist Randy Garner ran a study in which he sent out surveys to people, with a request to complete them.

The survey was mailed in one of 3 ways:

1. with a handwritten sticky note requesting completion of the survey, attached to a cover letter;
2. with a similar handwritten message on the cover letter itself; or 
3. with a cover letter only -- no handwritten message

The little yellow square packed a big persuasive punch: More than 75% of people who got the survey with the sticky note request filled it out and returned it ... while only 48% of the second group and 36% of the third group did so.

That difference is huge -- 108% higher response for a letter with a sticky note compared to a letter without one. More than double.

Garner suggests that people recognize the extra effort and personal touch required to add a sticky note, and that they feel a need to reciprocate by agreeing to the request.

As I’m sure you know from the classic book, Influence by Robert Cialdini, reciprocity is the social glue that helps bind people together in cooperative relationships. As this study shows, a simple sticky note can trigger reciprocity -- and increase response.

Bottom line: Little sticky notes swing big doors ... and an ounce of personalized effort is worth a pound of persuasion.

The above is adapted from the article, “How to Make Your Influence Stickier,” by Bob Adams, and is based on the book "Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive" by Robert Cialdini, Noah Goldstein, and Steve Martin.

Now.

How can you use this idea in your marketing? What’s the next letter you plan to mail that could be improved by adding a sticky note? Please let me know -- leave a comment below.

Update: A few days after writing this post, I got this letter in the mail from Xfinity/Comcast ...

They send hundreds of thousands of mail pieces each week. And they're testing the sticky note to see if it boosts response. You might want to try it, too.

Meanwhile, do you own a business? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Training Session. Grab your spot here


Can't make that event? My FREE Client Cloning Kit can help. It's not some cheapo download -- this is a real business-building kit you can hold in your hands. Grab yours now, while you can.

How to Microwave Your Cold Prospects

What's a good way to get attention?

Be impossible to ignore.

What's a good way to quickly "warm up" cold prospects in your business and turn them into new clients?

Send them a message that's impossible to ignore.

Here's Exhibit A in my arsenal of tools to do just that -- a message in a bottle.

Twice in the last few weeks, I've mailed it to potential clients who once seemed eager to hire me, but had fallen silent.

Rather than send them email after email, hoping for a response, I spent a few minutes writing a relevant letter and shipped it out in a bottle like the one you see at left.

In both cases, response from those cold prospects came the same day -- "Let's talk!"

And the resulting revenue from both prospects was in the mid four figures.

Why does this work?

Lots of reasons:

• Unlike an email, you canNOT delete a message in a bottle. You MUST open and read this
• Big, lumpy mail like this canNOT go anywhere but the top of the pile. Therefore, it likely gets opened first ... by someone wearing a grin
• Rather than claim to prospects that I can write sales letters that get opened and read, I prove it to them. In spades

So, yeah, this works. Four figures is a nice ROI on a bottle and postage that cost less than four bucks.

Now, you may not have access to the dozens of direct-mail tools at my disposal. After all, I am a professional copywriter. Getting my letters opened, read, and responded to is how I earn my living.

But you can adopt this same idea in your business. If you have leads with high potential value that have gone cold, spend a few minutes and dollars to send them a message they can't ignore.

Meanwhile, if you want to more clients like your best clients, my free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your free copy now, while they last. 

How to Send a Sales Letter to Get New Customers

If you want to send a sales letter to get new customers, you have several options.

Here are three:

Option #1: Record yourself on the phone when you're selling to prospects. Pick the

Pick up a digital recorder and deliver your best sales pitch, as if you were selling to a prospect by phone. (Better: Record a phone call on which you do make a sale.)

Transcribe every word you said. Edit for clarity. Congratulations. You now have the makings of a pretty good sales letter.

Your letter won't be as good as something written by a professional copywriter, but it will probably be better than anything you've mailed before. Because a sales letter is simply words that sell on paper.

Option #2: Invest a few bucks to hire a professional copywriter. When I say "invest," I mean it. Because once you have a sales letter that works, it's like owning a printing press that prints dollar bills.

Look for a copywriter with at least 10 years of experience in direct-response marketing, who offers a money-back guarantee. That way, there's no risk for you in hiring him or her.

Option #3: The option I describe in the video above. Add a handwritten thank-you note to whatever else you're doing, and watch your sales soar.

And if you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, my free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your copy here, while they last.

Can Your Ezine Do This?

Why did one reader send me this photo? The answer is below

Can your ezine do this?

Now. You may sneer and say, "Heh! See what happens when you mail a newsletter? The Postal Service mangles it."

Well, yes, there is that.

But ... when your ezine arrives in readers' email in-box, is it an event? Do they say, "Huzzah! Another ezine. Let me clear out 5 minutes from my schedule and read every word!"

Not likely. In survey after survey, people complain about getting too much email.

About this over-reliance on email, business professor Gregory Northcraft says: “Technology has made us much more efficient, but much less effective.” And I agree.

Now, contrast email with direct mail. 

Every person who gets direct mail -- which is all of us -- carves out at least 5-10 minutes a day to read it. And if your direct-mail letter gets to them and gets opened, it will get read. At that point, you have your reader's complete attention. Huzzah.

Do your ezine readers email you on a Saturday to start a fun conversation? That's how I got the picture above. My subscriber wrote: "Thought you would enjoy seeing how the Postal Service treats your mail."
 

Yes, the Postal Service did fold, spindle, AND mutilate my newsletter ... which would seen like a loss. 

But because my newsletter did not arrive intact, as it usually does each month, my reader wrote to let me know. This tells me that my newsletter is important (at least to this reader). And our relationship is now a little bit stronger as a result of our email discussion about the virtues of the U.S. Postal Service (which I will spare you here). 

So this incident is a win for me.

Bottom line: Your email newsletter may be more efficient than a printed newsletter, but is it more effective?

And if you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, my free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your Free Kit here, while they last.

How Do You Combine Your Online and Offline Marketing?

So, how do you combine your online and offline marketing?

Here's an easy way: re-purpose your content.

Example: print and mail a popular post blog from your blog or article from your email newsletter. Even better -- create a printed newsletter to boost the results of any online newsletter.
Because, the faster you take your online marketing offline -- whether in the form of a face-to-face meeting, or a printed letter (mailed with a stamp) -- the faster you can increase trust and sales for your business.

Meanwhile ... if you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, my free Client Cloning Kit can help you. Grab your copy here, while they last.  

Direct Mail or Die?

Here's another reason why you MUST include direct mail in your marketing mix ...

I just got a call from a prospect who downloaded my Free Client Cloning Kit about 4 weeks ago.

But my records show that he never opened ANY of the emails that I sent him to follow up.

So, why did he call me back?

Because I also sent him a printed letter by MAIL.

Not a tweet or a chirp or a DM or a text or an update or anything virtual ...

No. I printed and mailed him an actual letter, delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. On paper. With a stamp.

As a result, he called this morning and was very excited to talk to me. He said, and I quote: "The letter you sent was so interesting that my wife called me while I was out of town to tell me about it."

Can your email do that? Can any email do that?

Meanwhile, we had a very nice talk by phone. He's sold on my abilities as a copywriter. And none of this would have ever happened if I hadn't used direct mail to augment my email marketing.

Something to think about in your business, eh? Especially if you've come to depend heavily (too heavily?) on email or social media to find, get, and keep clients.

Resource: Want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business? My Client Cloning Kit can do that for you. Grab your copy here.

How to Create a Permanent Business Asset

Here's a marketing lesson you'll want to devour, from a Wall Street Journal story about a popular San Fransisco deli ...

 

The owners of Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen started their business with a dream: to bring traditional Jewish foods such as hand-sliced pastrami and house-smoked trout, to San Francisco.

But the economics of opening a location—costs can range between $300,000 and $500,000 for a 1,500-square-foot space with a liquor license in San Francisco—pushed the young restaurateurs to launch with a more temporary approach: the pop-up.

Pop-up restaurants [are] temporary eateries that set up shop for a few days, weeks or months in spaces such as hotel lobbies or other restaurants that close for the night.

Start up costs: About $2,000 to $2,500 a week, which covered rental space in a commissary kitchen, ingredients, and liability insurance, and was equivalent to what the partners, who worked without pay, earned during each service.

The Wise Sons pop-up soon began gathering crowds and garnering attention in the local press. In late February, just over a year since starting the pop-up, which still operates once a week, the partners opened a fixed location in the city's Mission District.

The obvious lesson? If your idea is good and you work hard, you can turn humble origins into grand success.

But there's another, more-important lesson buried in the story ...

Pop-ups also appeal to established restaurateurs such as Bill Chait, managing partner of Sprout LA, which operates six Los Angeles restaurants.

Pop-ups are an ideal way to reach a younger audience, he said. For Mr. Chait, who was already paying for the location and some of the staff salaries, input costs were minimal, and he made a margin of about 20% on each event, he said.

"The circle of people we have in this universe, it's our target market. It's social-media driven and younger," Mr. Chait said. A mailing list of more than 4,000 names accrued through the pop-ups "are big diners at our restaurants" now, Mr. Chait said.

Get that?

Chait used his temporary restaurants to build a permanent asset -- a mailing list of more than 4,000 customers. And they're coming back to dine at his permanent restaurants.

Chait is the only restaurateur in the article to mention a mailing list. My guess is Chait will be the only one in business 5 years hence -- because he's the only one building a permanent foundation.

A mailing list and/or customer database is the most valuable asset you can own. It's a rock upon which you can build a business that lasts.

You may have 1,000 followers on Twitter, but Twitter owns them -- not you.

You may have 1,000 friends on Facebook, but Facebook owns them -- not you.

If you don't have a customer database or mailing list, any success you have now is temporary. In the long run, you will get owned -- by the competition.

Bio: Kevin Donlin can help you grow your business and enjoy the breakthrough results your hard work deserves. If you're interested in boosting your revenues and profits, please click here.