In the 260 weeks that accounted for the first half of the 1970s, it was 26. (hat tip to John Marks for the stat).

Sometimes, we define a golden age in a market as a time of stability, when one or a few giants capture all of our attention. AT&T telephones, Superman comics, Beatles records, IBM computers, The New York Times… and now Google. Choices are easy, the market grows without a lot of effort and we marvel over the ease of success. Ironically, the success of these winners attracts quixotic entrepreneurs, people who set out to challenge the few who are winning. While we might root for these underdogs, it turns out that they're not the ones who usually change everything. The powerful are still too powerful.

The real growth and development and the foundations for the next era are laid during the chaotic times, the times that come after the leaders have stumbled. Harry Chapin didn't trip up the Beatles, but the breakup of the Beatles allowed Harry Chapin his chance. The next golden age of journalism, of communications, of fashion, of car design–those are being established now, in a moment when it's not so crowded at the top.

The very best time to launch a new product or service is when the market appears exhausted or depleted. There's more room at the top and fewer people in a hurry to get there.

I visited eight sites. Six of them hide their email address. They use forms of one sort of another. One firm refused to accept more than 500 characters in the "how can we help you" box, while three of them wanted to know what state I was in, etc.

Email contact is like a first date. If you show up with a clipboard and a questionnaire, it's not going to go well, I'm afraid. The object is to earn permission to respond.

If you sell something, set up an address like "sales@xyz.com". Put this on your home page, "contact us if you're looking for more information or a price quote." Sure, you'll get a lot of spam, but deleting spam is a lot easier than finding customers. (Hint, ask your IT people to make it a mailto link, with a subject line built in. That way, you can use the subject line to find the good email).

[click picture to enlarge]

Our Culture (high and popular) is usually created by people who are happy with the systems the world has given them. Magazine editors don't spend a lot of time wishing for better technology. Opera singers focus more on their singing than on microphone technologies. Novelists proudly use typewriters.

Sure, there are exceptions like Les Paul (who developed the electric guitar) and Mitch Miller (who invented reverb) but these exceptions prove the rule: often, culture is invented by people who are too busy to seek out new technology.

(The bottom left corner of the grid shows the tech-phobic culture-phobic contingent. Not relevant to this discussion so much, but scary nonetheless).

If you take a look at this chart, you can see the danger anyone who introduces new technology faces. While you'll attract Les Paul and the 37Signals guys, you're more likely to attract spammers, scammers, opportunity seekers and others that will bring our culture down as easily as they'll bring it up.

The challenge is in designing structures and transparency that will attract the good guys while burying or repelling those that seek the new technology (because they can't find anywhere else to go). In other words, you either need to move the top left to the top right (not easy, but possible*), or educate the bottom left of the grid in how to contribute to the culture (really difficult indeed). The best new media (like blogs and possibly twitter) open doors to people who didn't used to have a voice. The worst ones (like blogs and possibly twitter) merely create new venues for scams and senseless yelling.

*The much-anticipated folding of Gourmet magazine is proof of what happens when the top left refuses to move right. Most of the Conde Nast empire is facing the abyss of this problem right now.

The long tail is real, but sometimes the longest parts reach underwater. When there’s enough choices, it means that some things will never get picked.

Charles Blow reports in the NY Times that:

“A study last year conducted by members of PRS for
Music, a nonprofit royalty collection agency, found that of the 13
million songs for sale online last year, 10 million never got a single
buyer and 80 percent of all revenue came from about 52,000 songs.
That’s less than one percent of the songs.”

The internet has allowed ease of entry into the market. You can advertise anything, any service, any good, any piece of junk in your garage–essentially for zero. You can go into business effortlessly, telling yourself you’ll just hang out on the long tail and do just fine. Understand that zero is a very real probability, perhaps even a likelihood. Derek reminds us that 0% of a really big number is still zero.

What direct marketers have always understood is that you must make something work in the small before you bet the farm and market it to the masses. If you can’t sell to 1 in 1000, why market to a million?

After much research, I’d like to share three tips:

This book is the single best one on the topic. It’s smart and practical.

You might buy a nasal irrigator and use it twice a day. It’s super weird, and it costs $100, and it works. Really.

And you could (I know, it’s horrible) drink two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar every day.

This post is totally off topic, but if I can help a few of you make it through a long winter, it was worth it.

(Actually, to bring it back on topic, the question is: why didn’t you know about this stuff already? The answer is that people don’t like to talk about it. They don’t like recommending a book about health because what if you don’t like it or it backfires? And they certainly don’t like talking about nasal irrigation. Who would? At a dinner party? At a golf game? When, exactly, does it come up in conversation? It turns out that word of mouth is a complex beast. Certain ideas spread merely because they’re fun to talk about. Others, even if they’re good ideas, languish. Not a lot you can do about this, unless you can hook your product or service to an idea that’s naturally viral, as opposed to insisting that the market do the right thing.)

In my presentations, I don’t often go into detail about the tactics I’ve used on books I’ve marketed, so if that’s something you’re interested in, here you go. I hope the lessons from the book business work for you, whatever you sell.

[It's possible that you won't see the visuals at the link above. Try this if that one doesn't work--or change the source on the right just below the box that holds the video.]

“Our product is as remarkable as we can make it, and we’re trying really hard and it’s very important to us that people buy it, but despite our hard work, it’s not selling!” (Hint: calling it a purple cow doesn’t make it one).

and

“Our business is built around the status quo, and it’s not fair that the market wants something else now.”

In both cases, the marketing pitch is focused around the seller, not the buyer. You wouldn’t (and don’t) buy from someone who says you ought to choose them even though there’s a cooler, more remarkable, cheaper, better product. You don’t seek out or talk about status quo brands merely because the marketer is trying really hard.

If it’s not good enough for you as a consumer, why should it be good enough for you as a marketer?

I also haven’t done my favorite kind, though, which is a seminar for organizations that are good causes. If you work for (or run) a 501 3(c) organization, I hope you’ll consider applying to come to a free session I’m going to run in New York on October 22nd.

If I can help you think through issues related to the new marketing, fundraising, earning permission and building ideas that spread, it will be an afternoon well spent for both of us. I don’t do any consulting, so this is as close as I can come to working directly with your organization and helping you leverage the good work you’re already doing.

There are limited seats, so please be sure to fill out the entire application. Deadline to apply is Monday, October 5. We’ll send out invitations the next day.

PS an inspiring new book came out today. Worth a look.

*****

Read This Article For a Key To Hypnotic Writing

By John Torre

Welcome back!

I hope your Labor Day holiday was enjoyable. Mine was good, but I have to say I felt a bit deceived by the weatherman. A sunny, beautiful weekend was predicted here in Jersey, and indeed that prediction held true for most of the state. But down the shore where I was it remained pretty much overcast except for Saturday. But, at least it didn’t rain, and with the good fortune of being able to generate a bit of “liquid sunshine” in lieu of the real thing, a good time was had by all.

By-the way, I realize that to most of the other coastal parts of the country, “the shore” refers to the strip of sand that meets the ocean.

Not in Jersey. To us, that’s “the beach.” While the beach is indeed an essential part of the overall shore experience, here in Tony Soprano land “the shore” encompasses so much more.

If I had to define it, I’d say that the Jersey shore is more “attitude” than location. It’s comprised of approximately 127 miles of resort and residential towns that feature endless rows of vacation bungalows, multi-million dollar homes, roadside motels, and seedy honky tonks from which blare the sounds of Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Frankie Valli, or the latest local tribute band.

On the famed boardwalks of tourist traps like Seaside Heights, it’s all about greasy cheese steaks, sausage sandwiches, slices of pizza the size of road cones, and wheels of “chance” where prizes range from stuffed animals to televisions, bicycles, and more. You’ll also find souvenir shops, beach gear stores, arcades and ice cream parlors, as well as two 300-foot long piers that feature amusement rides, carousels, log flumes, roller coasters, Ferris wheels and other attrations that’ll make you lose your lunch quicker than a quarter through the cracks of the boards.

Every few steps you’ll come upon attractions that test your skills, bearing compelling names like “Frog Bog” and “Shoot the Geek,” where barkers dare you to shoot paint balls at a poor kid dressed up in an Osama Bin Laden costume who’s being paid about six bucks an hour for nothing more than cultivating welts on his head and body.

From the snap of paint balls hitting body … to the blaring sounds of rock-n-roll … to the bells and whistles of Lucky Leo’s Arcade … to the screams and sirens from the rides on Casino Pier … to the tat-tat-tat sound of leather slapping metal prongs as it slows down the spinning wheels of chance … it’s all part of the aura of the Jersey shore.

Is it unique to New Jersey? I don’t know … you tell me. All I can promise is you’ll have the time of your life when you visit the Jersey shore, and you’ll understand why it’s an experience all unto itself.

Okay, ‘nuff said about that. In the spirit of the holiday past (and in anticipation of the ones to come…), what do you say we get back to work?

A couple weeks ago we started talking about some psychological devices that will help your sales copy transform readers into buyers. Today we’ll take a look at another one that has almost a hypnotic quality about it … literally and figuratively.

It’s called, “Neuro-Linguistic Programming,” or “NLP” for short.

Co-founded in the 1970’s by American author and mathematician, Richard Bandler, and Dr. John Grinder, an American linguist at the University of California at Santa Cruz, NLP, in its most basic definition, is the study of helping people change by teaching them to program their brains.

Or, in our case, perhaps subtly programming it for them.

Now understand right up front that NLP is as complex as any psychological field of study out there, and it would be ludicrous to try and use this space to dissect it past the miniscule scope of it that applies to us.

Nevertheless, we can still examine the logic behind certain aspects of it and how they might be used to our benefit as copywriters. And the first aspect we’re going to take a look at this week is…

Embedded Commands

The “Golden Rule” of web copywriting (or any copywriting, for that matter…) is to generate a response of some kind. Whether it’s to call for more information, subscribe to a newsletter or mailing list, or purchase a product or service … you want your reader to take action!

Using embedded commands to elicit that action involves “embedding” the action you want your reader to take in the form of a casual, conversational sentence.

Consider the following sentence:

“Let me know when you are going to purchase this product and I’ll make sure you receive a free bonus report.”

On the surface it seems like a harmless enough sentence. But notice the almost hypnotic embedded command: …you are going to purchase this product.

Embedded commands are frequently used by public speakers to get their point across. Whether it’s a sales presentation or a political speech, the speaker will use voice inflections such as a lower tone or speaking more slowly for emphasis to produce the hypnotic effect.

We, as copywriters, don’t have that luxury so we have to depend on other means of delivering our embedded commands. This normally involves using boldface type, italics, quotation marks, dashes, ellipses, or colors.

In the example above, I set off my embedded command by putting it in italics, thus establishing the effectiveness in which the command is communicated. A person will subconsciously zero in on that part of the sentence as a command, and will likely follow the command without consciously realizing it.

The whole point is to gain effortless compliance from your reader without ever having them perceive that they’ve been given a command. What’s happening when you utilize an embedded command is you’re circumventing the scrutiny of a person’s logical “left brain,” and thus appealing directly to your reader’s intuitive and subjective “right brain” mode.

It is a very powerful tool, but like I said a couple weeks ago, it can be dangerous and unethical (if not illegal!) if used incorrectly, so be careful and do it right.

Crafting an Embedded Command

Start by constructing your command. This is usually expressed in three to seven words in the imperative voice and begins with an action verb. For example:

Pick up the phone…

Learn the secret to…

Act on this now…

Purchase (product name) today and get…

After you’ve constructed your command, simply incorporate it into a full sentence, such as:

Pick up the phone today and speak to a knowledgeable representative who can help you pick out the perfect pattern to compliment your home décor.

Learn the secret to a longer, healthier, and better life through meditation.

An additional bonus report will be sent with your order if you act on this now.

Purchase this widget today and get three more widgets for the just the cost of shipping and handling.

Take a look at some of the projects you’re working on and see where you might be able to edit your copy in order to insert an embedded command. It will make the copy more powerful, more compelling, and elicit your reader to take the action you want him to!

Oh … by the way … knowing where we were going with this post, I embedded a command up above when I was talking about the shore. Can you find it? (It shouldn’t be too hard to spot!) And for that matter, there’s one in the headline. Let me know what you think.

Till next week, and as always …

Good health and good writing!

*****

Now, if that don’t help you out, I don’t know what will. This is one of the most effective tools in your copywriting tool box. Learn what the masters do and jumpstart your career as a copywriter:

The Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting

Until next time,

Mike Lawson,
www.BluegrassSolutions.org

PS: This article appears courtesy of American Writers & Artists Inc. (AWAI) Writer’s Blog. For a complimentary subscription to AWAI free newsletter that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on the best wealth careers, lifestyle careers and work-at-home careers available, visit http://www.awaionline.com/signup/.

Join us on our bi-weekly training calls and see if maybe this is what you’ve been missing in your business. Our next call is scheduled for:

1 September, 2009

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