STOP ME BEFORE I SAY SOMETHING OUTRAGEOUS......
Im sick of these spiritual people crawling out of the woodwork spouting the Laws of Attraction. These people look like models and obviously cant land the gig!
So they are becoming marketers.
Lucky Us !! I have seen some of these women border on grand larceny and charge as much as 100K per client per year. I ask men, what do you get for that kind of money....? Do you learn how to Tweet? Do you learn how to get a traffic system? Please tell me you get a little bit of SEO.
NOPE.
You get ZILCHO.
You get perfect teeth, and some gibberish about the Laws of Attraction and how to be nice to people.... for a hundred grand.
You're better off buying a low grade racehorse. Good luck getting your moneys worth back. We are living in the age of high ROI. People are losing their homes, they are no jobs -- and now we are being bombarded with these miserable failures.
Still, I have to give them some credit. They aren't posing for mens magazines. Apparently, ripping off the Universe pays better. But it is appalling to see so many of these floozies flaunt the almighty dollar with some peppered philosophies on high end spirituality.
At least I studied Judaism, Hinduism, and Kabbalah. I have studied Kundalini too for the last 6 years. I come from a place from knowing. I never felt the urge to take my shirt off and offer an intergalactic stud service for the disempowered.
People are nuts.
Pick up a book. Learn how to sell something. But I would think twice before I would fork over a hundred grand to any one of these runway con artists.
I saw some of their courses and I was shocked and outraged and what you get. There is one person, who shall remain nameless who has about 20 DVDs - without an ounce of worth to any of them.... We are talking about Kingergarten principals here.
Wealth attraction? Don't make me vomit.
I will.... I will seriously vomit.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Napoleon Hill - THE LAWS OF SUCCESS -- BACK IN PRINT
Im going to write about the new re-release of NAPOLEON HILL'S - LAWS OF SUCCESS -- its back in print in its original form -- a first since 1925. There were only 100 original printings of the first edition -- according to legend. But recently there has been a demand to see the entire - original printing. It is now available through late night television.
Listen to what it says about the buyer - seller relationship.....
""It is the personalities back of a business which determine the measure of success the business will enjoy. Modify those personalities so they are more pleasing and more attractive to the patrons of the business and the business will thrive.
In any of the great cities of the United States one may purchase merchandise of similar nature and price in scores of stores, yet you will find there is always one outstanding store which does more business than any of the others, and the reason for this is that back of that store is a man, or men, who has attended to the personalities of those who come in contact with the public.
People buy personalities as much as merchandise, and it is a question if they are not influenced more by the personalities with which they come in contact than they are by the merchandise."
This really pertains to our game -- selling real estate. People do buy into the seller, so personality is very important -- or just AS important, as the property you are selling.
Interesting stuff.....
Ted Cantu posted this on Sept 4 2010 - at 11:58PM - is the author of two books, works out of Metro Detroit
Listen to what it says about the buyer - seller relationship.....
""It is the personalities back of a business which determine the measure of success the business will enjoy. Modify those personalities so they are more pleasing and more attractive to the patrons of the business and the business will thrive.
In any of the great cities of the United States one may purchase merchandise of similar nature and price in scores of stores, yet you will find there is always one outstanding store which does more business than any of the others, and the reason for this is that back of that store is a man, or men, who has attended to the personalities of those who come in contact with the public.
People buy personalities as much as merchandise, and it is a question if they are not influenced more by the personalities with which they come in contact than they are by the merchandise."
This really pertains to our game -- selling real estate. People do buy into the seller, so personality is very important -- or just AS important, as the property you are selling.
Interesting stuff.....
Ted Cantu posted this on Sept 4 2010 - at 11:58PM - is the author of two books, works out of Metro Detroit
Friday, August 13, 2010
Has Google Stepped Over The Line?
In regards to privacy... some people have had it with Google.....
And to some extent.... they should be upset.... Here is the latest....
The Google Wave That Crashed
19 by MG Siegler on Aug 10, 2010
When I first heard the news that Google Wave was dead last week, I was surprised. I wasn’t surprised because it was a thriving, successful product (obviously, it wasn’t). I was surprised because of the gushing I heard about it from within Google leading up to and immediately following its introduction. To hear them tell it, this was the future. So I was obviously surprised that they only gave the “future” one year to prove itself. And that’s being generous.
Obviously, I knew part of that gushing was the same bullshit hype and marketing that any company applies to any new product. But it really did seem as if some key executives — everyone from Vic Gundotra to Sergey Brin — were genuinely excited about Wave. And rightfully so. As I wrote at the time, it was ambitious as hell.
But my full quote on it, as remembered by Business Insider last week, is more fitting:
It’s ambitious as hell — which we love — but that also leaves it open to the possibility of it falling on its face. But that’s how great products are born.
Obviously, Wave ended up falling on its face. It crashed, as it were. No great product was born.
But I’m getting the nagging feeling that it crashed because Google just didn’t handle it properly. Was it hard to understand? Yes. But so what — so is email when you really stop to think about it. Did it solve a problem? No. But so what — neither does Twitter.
I think Wave is simply a case where Google’s get-it-out-there-early mentality failed. Because the product was somewhat complex and Google itself didn’t know what to do with it, or how to pitch it, it flopped. It really is that simple.
In my view (obviously, with the benefit of hindsight), Wave should have been an experimental productivity tool that was wrapped into Google Docs. It should not have been billed as some sort of next generation communication tool for the masses. At least not at first.
Or, if Google really wanted to try and shove it in peoples’ faces in that way, they should have done what they did with Buzz, and crammed it into Gmail.
Read the rest of this original article here....
http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/10/google-wave-death/
Posted by Ted Cantu, and icantu media
And to some extent.... they should be upset.... Here is the latest....
The Google Wave That Crashed
19 by MG Siegler on Aug 10, 2010
When I first heard the news that Google Wave was dead last week, I was surprised. I wasn’t surprised because it was a thriving, successful product (obviously, it wasn’t). I was surprised because of the gushing I heard about it from within Google leading up to and immediately following its introduction. To hear them tell it, this was the future. So I was obviously surprised that they only gave the “future” one year to prove itself. And that’s being generous.
Obviously, I knew part of that gushing was the same bullshit hype and marketing that any company applies to any new product. But it really did seem as if some key executives — everyone from Vic Gundotra to Sergey Brin — were genuinely excited about Wave. And rightfully so. As I wrote at the time, it was ambitious as hell.
But my full quote on it, as remembered by Business Insider last week, is more fitting:
It’s ambitious as hell — which we love — but that also leaves it open to the possibility of it falling on its face. But that’s how great products are born.
Obviously, Wave ended up falling on its face. It crashed, as it were. No great product was born.
But I’m getting the nagging feeling that it crashed because Google just didn’t handle it properly. Was it hard to understand? Yes. But so what — so is email when you really stop to think about it. Did it solve a problem? No. But so what — neither does Twitter.
I think Wave is simply a case where Google’s get-it-out-there-early mentality failed. Because the product was somewhat complex and Google itself didn’t know what to do with it, or how to pitch it, it flopped. It really is that simple.
In my view (obviously, with the benefit of hindsight), Wave should have been an experimental productivity tool that was wrapped into Google Docs. It should not have been billed as some sort of next generation communication tool for the masses. At least not at first.
Or, if Google really wanted to try and shove it in peoples’ faces in that way, they should have done what they did with Buzz, and crammed it into Gmail.
Read the rest of this original article here....
http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/10/google-wave-death/
Posted by Ted Cantu, and icantu media
PR4 Rank Rising: In Just 4 Weeks
UPSETTING THE HERD COMES NATURAL TO ME
A few years back I made a ton of enemies. I upset the herd. I was asked for my humble opinion about web marketing and I gave it and all hell broke loose. I am used to this sort of thing from time to time. I've rocked the boat in MLM groups like Market America and have had threatening letters sent to my house by ex-defunct uber alles web leader - Steve Sawyer and his ilk. Sawyer was later cut loose by the parent company and was denied wages and he later sued Market America.
I didn't have to lift a finger -- All I had to do was sit back and watch it all unfold. Sometimes, life is beautiful.
This was back in 2007. What had outraged Mr. Sawyer and JR Riddenger was that I had figured out how to use search engine technology. I actually was cleared of any wrong doing. You see, other members of the Market America group were contacting me and asking me how to become popular online as well.
Once I was cleared of all "criminal" yes... I said criminal... charges I was allowed to continue to sell their crappy products unharmed. After I was cleared I said thank you... and then gave them a big F.U. letter and walked out, three days after I was cleared and never looked back.
In spite of threats of future endeavors I became a certified SEO. As far as I know, this is within my legal rights. This is still America, the last time I checked.
CANTU STRIKES AGAIN.....
Recently, I was thrown out of the popular NING Automotive group -- well sort of. I was defending some basic SEO tactics and was attacked by a bunch of flat footed showroom flunkies turned SEO "experts". These over night academics were appalled by my frankness... and careful study. I pointed out several flaws with their approach in a conservative tone. This was met with bile and spit.
My comments were quickly taken down off of the message boards. I then asked to be removed from the group. But alas, they just cannot seem to live and exist without my SEO manliness. I am still on their roster to this day.
I have several examples of this as I continue through my online marketing journey. I am not sure to take this as a compliment or as an insult. I have been attacked, stabbed in the back by other organizations as well.... GKIC Kennedy comes to mind. But I continue to shoot my mouth off and help companies get on page one.
What you are supposed to do is drop everything and purchase the new $3,800 a month coaching program from the SEO flavor of the month gurus instead of listening to reason. You are supposed to drop two payments of $7,500 each for crap that does not work and many people do but I am here to tell you something from the world of real experience.....
I expect more hate mail from CBS radio and all the others for what I am about to share with you. But once again, this is my own real world experience and it is going to run counter to everything else you hear in the current.... popular.... search engine optimization realm.
And no, I am not talking about, (or even defending) social media.....
THE UNCOMMON PR4 RESULT --- IN JUST 6 WEEKS
Now, with a past like that I am about to upset all of my "friends" out there once again with some new stuff. I promise to not disappoint.
I grabbed a domain name recently and created a simple 5 page site. The speed of this process is the most important part of the story. I did not plan. I did not sweat the small stuff. I did not even do a soft launch or a pre launch or throw a party. I just bought a domain and threw together a site and then published it.
Thats upsetting... hell, its downright..... offensive... to somebody.
You have to read the stuff people send me to understand the sheer comedic idiocy of it all. I do not plan stuff out to death. I make money. I never apologize for that. I just do it. I make money, I create sites, thats what I do. I sell.
The site was aimed at a niche market. I did not want to overthink it. I got enough to worry about with my marketing and clients sites. All I want to do is create an impact in my niche and do it quick. You see I never know what the search engines are going to pick up right away or what pages they are even going to index. Thats important to remember because BING reads pages a bit differently and they will grab what appears to be random stuff. Bing never has your content in order. In short, they rarely grab the index page off of your site. It will grab a page that sits deep in your root directory.
Yahoo will grab your site in about 6 days if you get the right kind of domain. I train companies how to purchase domains so this can speed up the process. I will only share that with my clients..... But lets focus on the main part of the conversation.....
Another thing I want to stress here is sitemaps. I recently had a conversation with some SEO experts and they were very cocky about it. You only need one style they said.... HTML... NO KIDDING !!!! But there are three other styles out there now... TEXT, ROR, AND XML... Don't be a dope... you should use all 4 styles....
WHY?
Because in just 6 days in combination with full site optimization I was able to jump over 30 million competing web pages and land on page 1 of Yahoo and Google. I was also able to create three other sites and completely corner a market and get the phones ringing..... Thats kind of important if you want to stay in business. Especially in todays economy.
Its life or death.... Sorry if that offends people. But this game of search engine optimization is designed only for the players. Only 15% of all websites are even archived to begin with. MLM guys never want to admit that, and either do real estate or insurance guys.... But face it... If you know what I know it would cut down all the stress and alcoholism in those industries.... so get intelligent, and pretty please... with sugar on top... put all four sitemaps in your websites.
There is an added touch of two things concerning..... authority sites and press releases but this is the point.... My site, the one I built in one day.... reached page 1 of Google with nothing less than PR4 ranking. Yes, its making money, and people know me but that is exactly the point.
The smartest guy in the room always makes the bigwigs nervous. Someimes jealousy ensues and people get fired. People make threats.... I was told after leaving Market America that I would be watched very closely. That wasn't out of friendship. I was warned....
Well boys, I hope you are watching.
Its 2010. Maybe you will learn something.
From your master.
Ted Cantu hates MLM companies world wide - and sleeps at night with a peaceful conscious and helps 50+ industries to the top of the search engines. He is a published author on Amazon, and continues to stun the conformed.
A few years back I made a ton of enemies. I upset the herd. I was asked for my humble opinion about web marketing and I gave it and all hell broke loose. I am used to this sort of thing from time to time. I've rocked the boat in MLM groups like Market America and have had threatening letters sent to my house by ex-defunct uber alles web leader - Steve Sawyer and his ilk. Sawyer was later cut loose by the parent company and was denied wages and he later sued Market America.
I didn't have to lift a finger -- All I had to do was sit back and watch it all unfold. Sometimes, life is beautiful.
This was back in 2007. What had outraged Mr. Sawyer and JR Riddenger was that I had figured out how to use search engine technology. I actually was cleared of any wrong doing. You see, other members of the Market America group were contacting me and asking me how to become popular online as well.
Once I was cleared of all "criminal" yes... I said criminal... charges I was allowed to continue to sell their crappy products unharmed. After I was cleared I said thank you... and then gave them a big F.U. letter and walked out, three days after I was cleared and never looked back.
In spite of threats of future endeavors I became a certified SEO. As far as I know, this is within my legal rights. This is still America, the last time I checked.
CANTU STRIKES AGAIN.....
Recently, I was thrown out of the popular NING Automotive group -- well sort of. I was defending some basic SEO tactics and was attacked by a bunch of flat footed showroom flunkies turned SEO "experts". These over night academics were appalled by my frankness... and careful study. I pointed out several flaws with their approach in a conservative tone. This was met with bile and spit.
My comments were quickly taken down off of the message boards. I then asked to be removed from the group. But alas, they just cannot seem to live and exist without my SEO manliness. I am still on their roster to this day.
I have several examples of this as I continue through my online marketing journey. I am not sure to take this as a compliment or as an insult. I have been attacked, stabbed in the back by other organizations as well.... GKIC Kennedy comes to mind. But I continue to shoot my mouth off and help companies get on page one.
What you are supposed to do is drop everything and purchase the new $3,800 a month coaching program from the SEO flavor of the month gurus instead of listening to reason. You are supposed to drop two payments of $7,500 each for crap that does not work and many people do but I am here to tell you something from the world of real experience.....
I expect more hate mail from CBS radio and all the others for what I am about to share with you. But once again, this is my own real world experience and it is going to run counter to everything else you hear in the current.... popular.... search engine optimization realm.
And no, I am not talking about, (or even defending) social media.....
THE UNCOMMON PR4 RESULT --- IN JUST 6 WEEKS
Now, with a past like that I am about to upset all of my "friends" out there once again with some new stuff. I promise to not disappoint.
I grabbed a domain name recently and created a simple 5 page site. The speed of this process is the most important part of the story. I did not plan. I did not sweat the small stuff. I did not even do a soft launch or a pre launch or throw a party. I just bought a domain and threw together a site and then published it.
Thats upsetting... hell, its downright..... offensive... to somebody.
You have to read the stuff people send me to understand the sheer comedic idiocy of it all. I do not plan stuff out to death. I make money. I never apologize for that. I just do it. I make money, I create sites, thats what I do. I sell.
The site was aimed at a niche market. I did not want to overthink it. I got enough to worry about with my marketing and clients sites. All I want to do is create an impact in my niche and do it quick. You see I never know what the search engines are going to pick up right away or what pages they are even going to index. Thats important to remember because BING reads pages a bit differently and they will grab what appears to be random stuff. Bing never has your content in order. In short, they rarely grab the index page off of your site. It will grab a page that sits deep in your root directory.
Yahoo will grab your site in about 6 days if you get the right kind of domain. I train companies how to purchase domains so this can speed up the process. I will only share that with my clients..... But lets focus on the main part of the conversation.....
Another thing I want to stress here is sitemaps. I recently had a conversation with some SEO experts and they were very cocky about it. You only need one style they said.... HTML... NO KIDDING !!!! But there are three other styles out there now... TEXT, ROR, AND XML... Don't be a dope... you should use all 4 styles....
WHY?
Because in just 6 days in combination with full site optimization I was able to jump over 30 million competing web pages and land on page 1 of Yahoo and Google. I was also able to create three other sites and completely corner a market and get the phones ringing..... Thats kind of important if you want to stay in business. Especially in todays economy.
Its life or death.... Sorry if that offends people. But this game of search engine optimization is designed only for the players. Only 15% of all websites are even archived to begin with. MLM guys never want to admit that, and either do real estate or insurance guys.... But face it... If you know what I know it would cut down all the stress and alcoholism in those industries.... so get intelligent, and pretty please... with sugar on top... put all four sitemaps in your websites.
There is an added touch of two things concerning..... authority sites and press releases but this is the point.... My site, the one I built in one day.... reached page 1 of Google with nothing less than PR4 ranking. Yes, its making money, and people know me but that is exactly the point.
The smartest guy in the room always makes the bigwigs nervous. Someimes jealousy ensues and people get fired. People make threats.... I was told after leaving Market America that I would be watched very closely. That wasn't out of friendship. I was warned....
Well boys, I hope you are watching.
Its 2010. Maybe you will learn something.
From your master.
Ted Cantu hates MLM companies world wide - and sleeps at night with a peaceful conscious and helps 50+ industries to the top of the search engines. He is a published author on Amazon, and continues to stun the conformed.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
WARNING: Do Not Forsake The One Thing That Makes Your Brand !!
LESS NEVER FORGET THE PEPPER BAR !!
I never knew what a pepper bar was before I saw this commercial. I never knew I needed one. But I was sure glad to have encountered one once I found it. This makes all the difference between a great sub and a mediocre one. I took this advice from a couple of singing dust balls and this introduced me to Quiznos. Apparently, it introduced a lot of people to this amazing food chain. I saw this on Comedy Central and I was intrigued.... and I started to go.
This was actually before the Great Recession and I was paying full price for these sandwhiches. Quiznos did not have the discount menu that offer today. And the pepper bar was actually spectacular. It was chock full of pepper rings, creamy horseradish sauce, honey mustard, pepperoncini, and jalepenos. The best though was this thing called, Batch Sauce... it set the entire toasted sandwhich over the edge. I haven't stepped foot into a Subway in years since I experienced this toasty goodness.
QUIZNOS HITS BIG -- THE PEOPLE TOOK NOTICE
I was stunned to hear that my East Coast friends had never heard of this sub giant. With so many local sub shops in the E.C. it would be hard for a chain like this to make much of an impact.
Meanwhile back in the Midwest the population is filled with these Quiznos sub shops. Its like an infestation. I'm not saying that in a bad way but it was really amazing how quickly it grew. As the popularity grew the chain yanked the dust mite commercial and got a little more serious with the brand. I took notice of this too and was somewhat taken aback.
Then something odd happened. Little by little Quiznos franchisees started to fizzle out of certain neighborhoods. And the ones that did survive did not always comply to the franchises wishes. The free X-Box games were suddenly dismantled. The free internet screens were turned off. And worse.... the one thing that made them famous in the first place... the holy of holies... the famed PEPPER BAR .... WAS STRIPPED CLEAN, WIPED DOWN, AND EMPTIED. The glorious stand with its green countertop and multi-holed service station is vacant, abandoned and unloved.
You have to go up to the sandwhich artists and plead for them to give you one little bucket of Batch sauce or peppers. They charge you extra for it of course but they missed the point. This was the star attraction. And now it is completely left out of the Quiznos sandwhich equation.
They forgot the thing that made their brand unique in the first place. Without all the little extras its just not the same stellar experience. Its not Subways of course. But it is NOT the same experience.
This is something that we must remember as we build our brands. That is to NOT kill the uniqueness that made us so incredible in the first place. We have to remember to not destroy the one thing that is going to set us apart from all the others out there.
Ted Cantu coaches companies on how to brand themselves on the web with SEO, viral marketing, and sales copy. Cantu lives in Metro Detroit.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
SEO Sales Copy Software - Just Add Words
IS THERE REALLY A GREAT - DO IT FOR YOU - SEO SALES COPY SOFTWARE OUT THERE?
I used to believe that there was a, "Do It For Your" over the counter software you could buy for sales copy. I held onto that myth for quite some time. I used to really want to believe that. But as the years grew by and I grew with my marketing and business these tools seemed small to me. After awhile I stopped paying close attention to what they could do.
There was a few that made me stop and turn my head like, Do It For You Sales Letters by Yanik Silver. That was where I first started to poke around. I ordered it and was somewhat fascinated with the idea of getting my solutions figured out for me. I printed out some of these letters and started to sell with them initially. But I did not hit that magic "spark reaction" that I got as when I started to use my own sales copy years later.
Then there was a sales copy software from Brett McFall called Burpies which really got my attention. I actually used that one and liked it. I was creating solid 7 step sales letters off of it and these letters were pre-formated for the web and even gave me an HTML template that I could modify. I thought this was pretty impressive.
The Quest Continued For An Amazing 5 Years....
Along the way I found a program from the Internet Marketing Center that allowed you to put in your keywords and phrases into it and voila... you would get a sales letter! The program turned out to be somewhat low in demand. The only way you could get it was to order some of their larger Internet marketing packages then they would throw it in.... So to get to this puny $299 software I would have to invest somewhere in the 8 grand range.... Hmmm..... sorry guys.....
I decided to learn how to do it myself.....
But where could I start? This seemed to be a daunting task. The idea of getting into the field of copywriting was overwhelming and dark and there was no torch to lead the way. I had absolutely no idea of what I was getting myself into.
Where would I start? How could something going? And who would help me when I get stuck?
I started buying anything I could get my hands on about copywriting from Ebay of all places. There was some gems there to an extent and it was certainly cheap. I hauled in a lot of junk too but you have to start somewhere. Many of these courses I still have today.
INTERESTING NOTE: The Dan Kennedy Copywriting material I bought here was very interesting because I now think that it was bootlegged material. After going through this trauma I realize now that who ever created these recordings used a tape player because I picked up a lot of air conditioning sounds, lighting sounds and other high pitched frequencies that blurs out the voices at times. All in all I was able to pull some things out of these recordings and it led to other discoveries.
The Kings Bookstore in Detroit, Michigan
This place is a hidden gem when it comes to old books. Although it is hardley hidden. You will drive smack into it if you are coming off of M10. Its the big blue warehouse with a big brick exterior. It has the words KINGS BOOK STORE written right on it so you cannot miss it. You will need to either crawl up the stairs, (there is no air in the stairway) or travel up the creepy freight elevator to get to the advertising section. Once you get to the third floor you will find out of print advertising books that contain samples of some of the best copywriting ever done in the last 100 years.
I purchsed a lot of books from this place and I can say that was the basis of my education. I spent a good $200 here and got a lot more meat from here than from other places. Then, you have to hear this, I picked up this one book for $2 bucks and it was a simple guidebook to write effective sales copy. It was handed out to U.S. troops during WWII should they ever want to pursue a career in the field. I was astounded with this book. There was a time when sales copy was alive and well respected as a field of earning a living in this country.
The other thing I found was peculiar was that this was a well written book. In fact, it is much better than the many books I had purchased in my quest of learning direct response marketing. It was a bit more technical but it clearly laid out the foundations on how to write effective copy. I have not seen many of these out there so I assume these are hard to find.
As far as ads go. I liked the ones I found in old Popular Mechanics issues from the 50's. These are incredible ads and are worth studying. They will cost you $5 bucks an issue but you need to pick up a couple of these and just start studying the ad copy and the mechanics of what it takes to get solid communication across.
** To sum things up I never did find the Golden Goose - a sales copy software that did everything for me -- I ended up doing a lot of this hard work myself. This has been adventatgeous for me becaus I have been able to test what I do and get in front of the right people. Here is the important thing. My sales copy has been tested and I now have sales letters that work and continue to get response from my clients. As a result of learning how to write my own sales copy I have a solid control on what is going to work for my business. Some of my control pieces have an 87% response rate on them.... that is to say I can close with them 87% of the time.
This is a skill worth having.
Ted Cantu writes sales copy for seo campaigns, internet marketing campaigns and runs a video studio out of Farmington Hills, Michigan
I used to believe that there was a, "Do It For Your" over the counter software you could buy for sales copy. I held onto that myth for quite some time. I used to really want to believe that. But as the years grew by and I grew with my marketing and business these tools seemed small to me. After awhile I stopped paying close attention to what they could do.
There was a few that made me stop and turn my head like, Do It For You Sales Letters by Yanik Silver. That was where I first started to poke around. I ordered it and was somewhat fascinated with the idea of getting my solutions figured out for me. I printed out some of these letters and started to sell with them initially. But I did not hit that magic "spark reaction" that I got as when I started to use my own sales copy years later.
Then there was a sales copy software from Brett McFall called Burpies which really got my attention. I actually used that one and liked it. I was creating solid 7 step sales letters off of it and these letters were pre-formated for the web and even gave me an HTML template that I could modify. I thought this was pretty impressive.
The Quest Continued For An Amazing 5 Years....
Along the way I found a program from the Internet Marketing Center that allowed you to put in your keywords and phrases into it and voila... you would get a sales letter! The program turned out to be somewhat low in demand. The only way you could get it was to order some of their larger Internet marketing packages then they would throw it in.... So to get to this puny $299 software I would have to invest somewhere in the 8 grand range.... Hmmm..... sorry guys.....
I decided to learn how to do it myself.....
But where could I start? This seemed to be a daunting task. The idea of getting into the field of copywriting was overwhelming and dark and there was no torch to lead the way. I had absolutely no idea of what I was getting myself into.
Where would I start? How could something going? And who would help me when I get stuck?
I started buying anything I could get my hands on about copywriting from Ebay of all places. There was some gems there to an extent and it was certainly cheap. I hauled in a lot of junk too but you have to start somewhere. Many of these courses I still have today.
INTERESTING NOTE: The Dan Kennedy Copywriting material I bought here was very interesting because I now think that it was bootlegged material. After going through this trauma I realize now that who ever created these recordings used a tape player because I picked up a lot of air conditioning sounds, lighting sounds and other high pitched frequencies that blurs out the voices at times. All in all I was able to pull some things out of these recordings and it led to other discoveries.
The Kings Bookstore in Detroit, Michigan
This place is a hidden gem when it comes to old books. Although it is hardley hidden. You will drive smack into it if you are coming off of M10. Its the big blue warehouse with a big brick exterior. It has the words KINGS BOOK STORE written right on it so you cannot miss it. You will need to either crawl up the stairs, (there is no air in the stairway) or travel up the creepy freight elevator to get to the advertising section. Once you get to the third floor you will find out of print advertising books that contain samples of some of the best copywriting ever done in the last 100 years.
I purchsed a lot of books from this place and I can say that was the basis of my education. I spent a good $200 here and got a lot more meat from here than from other places. Then, you have to hear this, I picked up this one book for $2 bucks and it was a simple guidebook to write effective sales copy. It was handed out to U.S. troops during WWII should they ever want to pursue a career in the field. I was astounded with this book. There was a time when sales copy was alive and well respected as a field of earning a living in this country.
The other thing I found was peculiar was that this was a well written book. In fact, it is much better than the many books I had purchased in my quest of learning direct response marketing. It was a bit more technical but it clearly laid out the foundations on how to write effective copy. I have not seen many of these out there so I assume these are hard to find.
As far as ads go. I liked the ones I found in old Popular Mechanics issues from the 50's. These are incredible ads and are worth studying. They will cost you $5 bucks an issue but you need to pick up a couple of these and just start studying the ad copy and the mechanics of what it takes to get solid communication across.
** To sum things up I never did find the Golden Goose - a sales copy software that did everything for me -- I ended up doing a lot of this hard work myself. This has been adventatgeous for me becaus I have been able to test what I do and get in front of the right people. Here is the important thing. My sales copy has been tested and I now have sales letters that work and continue to get response from my clients. As a result of learning how to write my own sales copy I have a solid control on what is going to work for my business. Some of my control pieces have an 87% response rate on them.... that is to say I can close with them 87% of the time.
This is a skill worth having.
Ted Cantu writes sales copy for seo campaigns, internet marketing campaigns and runs a video studio out of Farmington Hills, Michigan
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