Some call it noise while others call it music.

A buddy of mine, copywriter Craig Garber and I (check him out at http://www.kingofcopy.com) shoot the bull about music sometimes. My musical tastes are pretty wide… from Pink Floyd to Black Flag to Public Enemy (no line-dancing).

I read an interview a while back, I think it was with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, where he said that there’s a fine line between music and noise.

The thing that’s so attractive about music is the pattern of beats, repetition of familiar notes, and the harmony. If a song misses these things it becomes abrasive on the ears, it becomes noise pretty much.

The same can be said about your marketing. The pattern and repetition of not just your marketing message, but your tone, images, theme and delivery of the message all contribute to your overall success.

From your pay-per-click ad, to your landing page, to your copy, to your email follow-up, to your sales process. It actually goes pretty deep into your attractive character and authority position which we’ll talk more about later…

The more these elements are in line the catchier your tune will be. When you have a catchy tune you attract more buyers… catchy enough and you create raving fans. Get this right and the clicks and customers will keep on coming like schoolgirls to a rock star.

Sing it with me: “money, money, money.”

When they’re out of whack, well, let’s just say you’ll turn people away… there’s a disconnect which brings about a lack of momentum. At that point, it’s just noise and we all know there’s already enough noise in the marketplace.

I actually did a video a while back that better illustrates what I’m talking about.

“The 3 Rings of Conversion”
http://www.clickfluence.com/?p=14 <– make with the clicky

Keep ‘em clickin’

-Mark Eckenrode
“The King of Click, Buy and Beg”

P.S. I’ve had this song in my head for about a week. First person to tell me the song will get a 15-minute coaching session with me:

“I’m a Terminator, like Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

When was the last time you sat and watched live TV?

I mostly try and TIVO everything so I can get my entertainment on demand but the other day I actually dropped into my couch and turned on live TV (wow, what a concept, right?).

On the tube was some fantasy show with an old witchdoctor throwing chicken bones trying to foretell the proper course of action for our hero. It may seem silly and superstitious to some but…

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Does “hornhollerin” have it’s privileges? Got me, I just made the word up… sort of like how American Express coined the term “Cardmembership” (notice the capitalization).

And, believe it or not, it’s done them quite profitably.

Creating your own terminology can do wonders for your position in the marketplace. Just look at lawyers… they’ve pretty much “termed” their way into necessary permanence.

AmEx did a bit more than create their own term, though. They connected it with a tribe… a tribe of exclusivity, of perceived value, a VIP tribe. And now everyone wants in.

Perceived Cardmembership does have it’s privileges, especially if you’re American Express.

Check out this short four-minute video of copywriter Peter Stone showcasing an ad AmEx sent to 280 million addresses and pulled in over a Billion dollars.

http://www.screencast.com/t/Ziax48YfuY <–

He was staring at her with an almost predatory glee. Standing next to him I could definitely sense his energy level rising. I’d witnessed this scene play out numerous times and knew what was coming next.

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Yesterday I received an email and in it I was asked..

“You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”

It was from a friend of mine and there were a number of other memorable movie quotes in it. Here’s a few of them:

“A, B, C. A, Always. B, Be. C, Closing. Always be
closing, always be closing.”

“Hasta la vista, baby.”

“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is
right. Greed works.”

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

“You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth.”

“Wax on… wax off.”

“You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?
Well, do ya, punk?”

“Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me.”

Ask yourself “Why are these quotes so memorable? Why are they a part of our culture?”

The answer to that is also what makes your marketing so damn good.

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“The cleanliness of a person’s home/car/clothing is a good sign of how together they are as a person.”

Whether we admit it or not, we do tend to judge people by the cleanliness of their environment.

Online, your environment includes your website and it’s “cleanliness” affects people’s willingness to do business with you…

Lacking in website conversions? Chances are your website is too cluttered.

Follow these simple guidelines to a clutter-free website and watch your visitors move into action.

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Tired of tweaking copy, running split-tests, and messing with scripts to interact with visitors? Then here’s an extremely simple conversion boosting tip that you can have up on your site within 3 minutes (less if you’re savvy).

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Your headline is the ad for your ad (or your webpage, article, email, etc). It’s what gets your stuff read.

So, how long should your headline be to get your stuff read AND persuade more folks to buy?

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McDonald’s had the right idea when it came to the packaged upsell ("Value meal #1, super-sized, please"). It’s gotten a bit out of control with about 15 different Value Meal options now which does nothing for removing indecision from the buyer. But, I digress…

The packaged purchase is an easy bump due to the value and ease of purchase… but there’s a good way and an even better way to do it.

Take a look at these two examples and tell me which you find more compelling… …continue reading “” »

Quick note, I’m pretty much fully recovered from my bout with pneumonia. The lingering cough attacks are still with me but I’m feeling strong.

So much so, in fact, that last weekend I attended a Sales Dogs training seminar here in Phoenix with Blair Singer. Blair asked me to spend some time talking about USPs and competitive advantages. Luckily no cough or wheezing episodes followed (praise the medicine!).

What did follow was a dandy little workshop that spurred a number of folks to think about their businesses differently. With more clarity.

For some folks, determining their competitive advantages can be tricky and confusing. Especially when words like “service” or “best” or “quality” come in to play. First off, scratch those words - don’t use ‘em. They’re what I call fat words because they have no real substance, no meat.

A quick and easy way to start, though, is with the following method - the Ben Franklin. Watch this video.
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