Levis Proves Selling on Facebook is OK
Posted by Marty Dickinson on May 11, 2010
Whenever I give a workshop and start talking about selling on Facebook, someone eventually raises their hand and comments, “I thought if I try to sell something on Facebook that they would shut me down.” If you try to blatently spam your followers like crazy from your main Facebook account, then sure, you run the possibility of Facebook blocking your account.
But Levis are selling on Facebook just fine according to DMNews, where they talked about how Levis has made a page for their pants and are building quite the following as a result of their Facebook page promotions.
You don’t have to be Levis to sell product through Facebook. You just need to create individual Facebook “pages” for the product you’re wanting to promote and do all your promotions through those pages.
1ShoppingCart Review for 2010
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Dec 12, 2009
I got an email from a good friend in the business a few days ago asking if 1ShoppingCart is still my favorite cart to use and I thought I would feature my answer here:
1ShoppingCart is still the favorite when these five pieces are needed in a single 3rd party managed system:
1. cart
2. affiliate program
3. auto-responders
4. security pieces that make a cart secure, and
5. tele-phone shopping cart support, all for $100 a month or less
However…
Anyone should go into 1ShoppingCart knowing its limitations too:
1. “Some” FireFox browser users and some MAC users will have trouble making purchases through 1ShoppingCart. Their support knows about it and they continue to refuse to address the issue in their software. And, of course, if someone can’t order through the form, they probably won’t contact you to let you know.
2. 1ShoppingCart has, we’ll say, a “lower than optimum” delivery rate on the emails they send out through their auto-responder system. It’s probably because they’re just so big that recipient email server companies just ban them altogether figuring people are just all using 1ShoppingCart for spam.
So, you can expect to get emails from people saying they only got 3 of your 10 auto-responder messages and you will need to send them the rest manually.
3. There are many short-cuts and tricks to 1ShoppingCart that you only learn after you’ve picked and poked at the system for a few months. Why 1ShoppingCart doesn’t know how to use their own system better I don’t know. I’ve made a list of them and give them to people when they sign-up through my affiliate link. So, that would be my suggestion too when referring to others is to have them sign-up through 1ShoppingCartFree.com (which is free for 30 days) and have them send me an e-mail once they have registered, requesting the list.
Of course, 1ShoppingCart should by no means be thought of as purely “the best” cart system on the market today. NetSuite is probably the best in the category of under $20,000 but plan on paying $10,000-$15,000 every year for it.
Our “new” solution that we will be unveiling in 2010 will be a cart that is setup on our own secured server and supported directly by my own team at HereNextYear.
It will be a combination of our cart + our broadcast email system + integration with a 3rd party affiliate program.
What I don’t quite have for you yet is what we will be charging for all three pieces combined. It will be a payment made by the year though for best rate instead of by the month.
Hope that helps.
Coupons by E-mail is Best Way to Announce a Bargain
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Dec 11, 2008
DM News reported in its 11/24/2008 issue that a survey conducted of 1000 adults in October by Guidance/Synovate (wanted to make sure I gave full credit to everyone there) revealed that 45% consider E-mail to be the BEST way to learn about online bargains. What does that tell us? That almost half of us “spam haters” (and that would be you and me) actually prefer to learn about bargains by E-mail. In short…we “say” we hate spam, but we actually PREFER it too!
Now, let’s think about this for a minute. We’re willing to tie-up a commercial spammer by his fingertips for sending even one junk email that causes us to spend the energy to click a mouse to delete it from our email servers. But, we welcome emails telling us of sales and special deals?
Another statistic in the same issue from Retailermenot.com/Harris suggested 33% at lest occasionally visit coupon websites. 9% don’t buy hardly anything without checking for online coupons.
A couple of weeks ago I was watching a news program and some company that makes coupons was about to hire 50 new employees because their coupon business was booming. Can’t remember who it was, but put thtat statisic together with that news program and it appears coupons are taking off.
And, one last statisic by Allen & Gerritsen showing 52% of women reported cutting back on their spending.
Put all of these buying statistics together and it means:
1. People are startving for good deals
2. Many will ONLY buy if there is a special deal
3. They want coupons
4. Email is the best way to deliver special deals
5. Therefore, make a coupon and send it to your list by email
So, the next thing I thought of is…I wonder how someone goes about creating a coupon? And, can one be created online…for free? Without a designer?
So, naturally I went on the prowl to find a free web-based coupon creator and found this one at http://marluckmarketing.com/couponmaker/.
I tried their process and in about 5 minutes of thinking about it created this coupon using the screen they’ve provided:
No graphic design skills needed! Didn’t even have to give my email address to this website.
Does this seem like something you can do? I’ll bet it is. So, what kind of coupon can YOU create to offer to your customers and prospects this week?
When you come up with the right offer, send it by email. Apparently it’s the most preferred way to learn about a bargain.
362 Verbs that SELL When Writing Copy for Your Website
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Dec 4, 2008
This is really more of a list for me than anything. I always find myself getting hung up on finding verbs to use in my writing copy on the web.
Writing features and benefits of a product is always the toughest part for me about copywriting for the web; just that first word in the sentence. There’s no better word to begin a with than a verb when it comes to bullet points.
Verbs are “action words” which goes to show why they’re so important in copywriting. Without verbs, we would never get anyone take action with anything.
There would be no “Click Here” or “Sign-up Now!” Verbs are not only just “important” to have in your sales writing, they are the very heartbeat of any sales process, online or off-line.
So, with that in mind, here is a list of verbs that sell. Let me know if they help you in your copywriting efforts and make sure to add a comment if you can think of a verb that I haven’t listed here.
Verbs that Start with A:
Accelerate
Accomplish
Achieve
Acquire
Act
Activate
Adapt
Adopt
Address
Administer
Advise
Alter
Amaze (added)
Analyze
Anticipate
Apply
Appoint
Appraise
Approve
Arrange
Astound (added)
Assemble
Assess
Assist
Assure
Attain
Audit
Verbs that Start with B:
Believe (added)
Boast (added)
Brief
Budget
Build
Buy
Verbs that Start with C:
Calculate
Chart
Check
Claim
Clarify
Classify
Cleanse
Click
Close
Coach
Collect
Command
Communicate
Compare
Compile
Complete
Compose
Compress (added)
Compute
Conceive
Conceptualize
Conclude
Conduct
Confront
Conserve
Consolidate
Construct
Consult
Continue
Contract
Control
Convert
Coordinate
Correct
Correlate
Counsel
Create
Critique
Verbs that Start with D:
Deal
Decide
Define
Delegate
Deliver
Demonstrate
Depend
Designe
Detail
Detect
Determine
Develop
Devise
Diagnose
Direct
Discover
Dispense
Display
Disprove
Dissect
Distribute
Divert
Double
Draft
Dramatize
Draw
Drive
Verbs that Start with E:
Earn
Edit
Educate
Effect
Eliminate
Enact
Encourage
Endure
Enforce
Engineer
Enhance
Enlist
Ensure
Entertain
Establish
Estimate
Evaluate
Examine
Exceed
Execute
Exhibit
Expand
Expedite
Explain
Experiment
Express
Extract
Verbs that Start with F:
Facilitate
File
Finalize
Finance
Fix
Follow
Formalize
Form
Formulate
Find
Found
Verbs that Start with G:
Gather
Generate
Govern
Graduate
Guide
Verbs that Start with H:
Handle
Head
Help
Hire
Hypothesize
Verbs that Start with I:
Identify
Illustrate
Imagine
Implement
Improve
Improvise
Increase
Induce
Influence
Inform
Initiate
Innovate
Inspect
Inspire
Install
Institute
Instruct
Insure
Integrate
Intensify
Interpret
Interview
Introduce
Invent
Inventory
Investigate
Verbs that Start with J:
Judge
Justify
Verbs that Start with K:
Keep
Verbs that Start with L:
Launch
Lecture
Lead
Learn
License
Lift
Listen
Locate
Log
Verbs that Start with M:
Maintain
Magnify (Recent Addition)
Manage
Manipulate
Manufacture
Map
Market
Measure
Mediate
Memorize
Mentore
Model
Modify
Monitor
Motivate
Verbs that Start with N:
Name
Navigate
Negotiate
Nominate
Normalize
Note
Verbs that Start with O:
Observe
Obtain
Offer
Officiate
Operate
Order
Organize
Oriente
Originate
Overcome
Oversee
Verbs that Start with P:
Paint
Participate
Perceive
Perfect
Perform
Persuade
Photograph
Pilot
Pinpoint
Pioneer
Place
Plan
Play
Praise
Predict
Prepare
Prescribe
Present
Preside
Print
Process
Procure
Produce
Profess
Programm
Progress
Project
Promote
Proofread
Propose
Protect
Prove
Provide
Publicize
Purchase
Verbs that Start with Q:
Qualify
Question
Verbs that Start with R:
Raise
Rank
Rate
Realign
Realize
Reason
Receive
Recognize
Recommend
Reconcile
Record
Recruit
Reduce
Refer
Regulate
Rehabilitate
Reinforce
Relate
Relax (added)
Remodel (added)
Render
Renovate (added)
Reorganize
Repair
Report
Represent
Research
Resolve
Respond
Restore
Retrieve
Restructure
Review
Revise
Risk
Verbs that Start with S:
Satisfy
Schedule
Secure
Select
Sense
Separate
Serve
Service
Shape
Share
Show
Sketch
Simplify
Sell
Solve
Sort
Specify
Speak
Stimulate
Streamline
Structure
Study
Succeed
Suggest
Summarize
Supervise
Supply
Support
Symbolize
Synthesize
Systematize
Verbs that Start with T:
Tabulate
Tackle
Tackling
Talk
Target
Teach
Test
Train
Transcribe
Transfer
Transform
Translate
Treat
Travel
Troubleshoot
Tutor
Type
Verbs that Start with U:
Unify
Unite
Update
Upgrade
Use
Utilize
Verbs that Start with V:
Verbalize
Verify
Verbs that Start with W:
Weigh
Win
Write
Wrote
Are there any verbs I left out from this list? Please let me know by adding a comment.
Web Marketing All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies Due March 2009
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Aug 26, 2008
I finally came out of my cave Monday afternoon after finishing the required 70% complete deadline for my portion of the Web Marketing All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies book due in bookstores everywhere March/April 2009 (Wiley Publishing, publishers of the “For Dummies” books). John Arnold of Constant Contact (E-mail), Ian Lurie & Elizabeth Marsten of Portent Interactive (SEO, AdWords, Social Networking, blogs), and just added, Michael Becker (Mobile Marketing) from Iloop Mobile (personally can hardly wait to see what he’ll be adding about THAT very hot topic!).
It is a true honor to be sharing pages with these industry experts as we make our contributions to what I believe will be the most talked about Internet strategy book in years.
When I was asked what I would like to write about, I immediately said, “the money part of course” So, I get the first section of the book which will be covering topics like:
- Converting more visitors to paying customers
- Writing promotional copy that sells
- Shopping cart setup
- Finding and promoting affiliate products
- Starting and building your own affiliate program
- Joint venturing
- Which website type is the best for you
- Design components that sell
- Hiring helpers so you’re not doing everything yourself
More coming on this topic coming soon but I have to mention that something else has happened in the process of writing this book, which is now listed on Amazon by the way. I think I’ve had more leads for business in the past two months than the first six months of this year combined. How could that be? I haven’t been doing anything differently in my promotions than usual. Must be the book. Just by telling people about it, people are talking about it. The book isn’t even out yet and people are talking about it. We’re not even finished writing it yet and people are already talking about it. Strange but true.
How to Create Squeeze Pages
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Aug 23, 2008
The combination of squeeze pages and affiliate programs are a match made in heaven. You can churn out a squeeze page in under an hour with no web design experience and begin promoting affiliate products within the same afternoon.
Creating squeeze pages and promoting affiliate programs came up as a topic on one of my favorite forums, SitePoint.com, where I replied as much as I could in the public area but there just comes a time where you have to show examples and give links to your examples. Forum moderators hate when you post links for fear that you’re self-promoting.
So, I replied to the original poster and then offered if anyone else wanted to know what I sent to him, I’d be glad to forward a copy. Now I’m getting enough P.M.s from readers where it’s just easier to put my response into a blog post so I don’t have to dig up my notepad file and copy and paste the response.
Guess we’re kind of taking the forum conversation to-the-blog as you are welcome to post your comments and questions here and I will respond personally.
But, first, here is the response I gave for the “how to create squeeze pages” part and I have made a separate post for how to promote affiliate programs.
Hello [poster] and thanks for writing. I’d like to start off mentioning that my goal for the rest of the year is
to add a new squeeze page to promote a new product every month. My most recent I did just in a single afternoon last friday (e.d. that was in mid-July by the way). That’s how easy it is once you get the process down). And, 3/4 of that time was writing the 14-page free document as part of the incentive for people to
opt-in. You probably don’t have to go that overboard to start selling.
By the end of this week, it looks like I’ll be on track for $400 a month in affiliate revenue or so. Takes a few days to figure out the right google adwords to get the right kind of traffic. Here’s the link to it so you can see an an example:
www.LaughAtLayoffs.com (Has averaged 15-25% opt-in rates)
To create everything that you see there, the page, the layout, the auto-responder series, the form, the thank you page, everything is in one simple online product tool. I purposely did not use any fancy graphic design because I wanted to show that even such a basic page can bring results as incentive to others who are on the non-technical side of the spectrum.
Here’s my affiliate link for the online tool. Hopefully you won’t mind if I get a few bucks from recommending it to you if you sign-up. (Incidentally, since this post was written, I’ve created a cheat sheet of sorts for using this product I’m recommending. So, you will definitely want to sign-up through my affiliate link and let me know when you do so that I can get the checklist to you.)
The same product does have a built-in feature that will let you send email to the list of people who have opted in as well. So, it’s all there.
That’s pretty much all you need to get started.
All the best,
Marty Dickinson
Denver CO
P.S. Check out my part 2 of this response related to how to promote an affiliate program.
Speed Boot-Up Time for Windows XP by at Least 200 Percent
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Aug 23, 2008
Need to speed up your bootup time on your PC with Windows XP installed without calling in your computer fixer? I found the perfect set of walk-through videos that speeded up my bootup process on my laptop from 22 minutes to 2 minutes! First, you’re probably wondering 22 MINUTES! Marty!
Well, I let one of my helpers borrow one of my laptops for a few months and when it came back, I fired it up and, yep, 22 minutes to boot. Now, I might have a thing or two up my sleeve when it comes to Internet stuff, but that does NOT mean I’m a computer geek. In fact anyone who knows me (especially my highly competent techie helpers, knows how technically-SAD (as opposed to savvy) I really am. But, don’t tell anyone, okay??
Anyway, I couldn’t wait to get my computer guy scheduled to come look at my laptop, and I’m pretty good on the research front, so, I went to Google and started searching. I came across a series of videos that I’d like to share with you for a couple of reasons.
First, go ahead and try the recommendations to speed up your own boot time if you’re on Windows XP. Actually, two of my computers with Vista I also used this process for and it worked just great.
But, also, even if you don’t need to speed your boot-up time,
visit the site to see how they’ve laid out the videos along with the little commercial they have going on the front end and back-end of the short videos. Then, click on the button to take you to the next step.
Notice how short these videos are. They take you through an ever-so-short series of steps and then you have to take the next move to go to the next page in the sequence and click the video button. It’s really an ingenious layout and a play on peoples’ need for speed. We just want the info and we want it quick. Good job guys and a great example to the rest of us for using instructional video to provide AMAZING and useful content for free to gain trust and brand loyalty. Definitely will go back to this site when I need something they offer. See how that works?
Big Seminar Oct 3-5 2008 is a Must Attend
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Aug 22, 2008
Whenever the conversation turns to Internet Marketing one name comes up more often than any other name…Armand Morin. Armand is the Expert that the experts turn to and watch for direction.
I first met Armand in 2000 at a conference where he was NOT a speaker. Yes he too was once an “attendee” sitting in an audience learning form other speakers. And, that’s my point. People are always asking me, “Marty, HOW do you learn this Internet marketing stuff?” And, I tell them how much I spend a year on attending conferences and buying educational materials.
In the BIGinning
The BIG Seminar is the place where it all starts. It’s the only Internet marketing conference I attend EVERY time. Why? Because Armand only picks truly cutting edge presenters and gives them plenty of time to deliver tons of content I usually begin implementing throughout the weekend of the conference! Yes, I don’t even wait until I get back to start. I’m too energized to wait! While others are partying at the bar, I’m up until 3am trying out what I learned on my laptop.
Who Attends Big Seminar
The audience is made up of about 40% that are brand stinkin’ new to the web, but you could be sitting next to a multi-millionaire who has dozens or even hundreds of websites. And, that’s one of my favorite things about Big Seminar. You just never know who you’re going to meet.
Money Tight?
If you are strapped for cash, Big Seminar is the ONLY conference I would recommend you attend coming this October 3, 4, and 5 in Atlanta Georgia. And, if you can’t afford a couple thousand dollars toward your own education, you NEED to attend more than others! It’s the only conference I can honestly say pays for itself, for me, within the first week after the conference. It’s that good.
Now, let’s be real…
Big Seminar has an affiliate program. That means if I refer others to attend, I get some of the bucks. Basic sales and basic Internet stuff. And sure, when you register, of course I want you to Register Here through my affiliate link. But, there’s something more…
I always offer to my clients that when they attend the Big Seminar, if they’ve registered through my link (which they always do), they will get to meet with me as a small focus group on Friday and Saturday night in a private meeting room where we can go over what was covered during the day. I answer any questions they have and it really helps to have someone to put everything together into a summary of steps and fill in the blanks. Then, when we get back (because I always fly home on late Sunday afternoon), we schedule a conference call to go over what was covered on Sunday.
See, going to something like Armand Morin’s Big Seminar is not only overwhelming from a content and learning standpoint, but just the sheer experience of it all requires some savvy to navigate through. After all, you’re in an audience with typically 500 or more people. Just meeting the one right person you needed to meet could change your whole life…and your income! But, how do you navigate through Big Seminar?
You need a guide. Someone who’s been there. Someone who knows most of the presenters, staff, and a good chunk of who will be in the audience too. Let me be your guide.
Not Sure Yet?
One of Armand’s trademarks is having phone interviews with the speakers leading up to the conference. Would you like to sit-in as Armand talks with other experts and they discuss their Internet Marketing Secrets?
You can…and it’s free.
Every Tuesday and Thursday up until the BigSeminar Armand will host a FREE training call with one of the expert Faculty from his upcoming Big Seminar. They will discuss what they’re doing on the Internet and how they do it.
The calls are FREE…click here now to register for the calls.
Calls times, phone number Passcode etc. will be immediately sent to you via email.
In Summary:
If you’re wondering where all those Internet marketing folks go to learn what’s new and what really works to build a business and increase sales, Armand’s Big Seminar is the place to be. I hope you’ll join me and take me up on my invitation to attend the after-hours meetings to go through things. After you register, be sure to let me know. You can contact me through the Ask Marty contact form.
And, I hope to see YOU at Big Seminar October 3, 4, and 5 2008 in Atlanta!
Scooters Free Shipping
Posted by Marty Dickinson on Jun 18, 2008
On CNN this morning, they reported a 25% increase in production for road scooters. Not the kind the kids stand up and push with one foot, but the kind you ride. We used to call them mopeds. But, then mopeds evolved into more horsepower and a sturdier ride that boasts 75 miles per gallon!
So, “scooter” it is. Now think about this. Detroit is laying off people right and left in the car manufacturing business, right? Scooter manufacturers are ramping up staffing to meet demand. Stores are selling out before you can get from looking at the website to their storefront.
Can you see the problem coming? Sure. You get to the store only to find one or two types of scooter left for sale. “Next shipment will be coming in next week sometime.”
So, what’s the answer? Selling scooters online of course…and the secret sauce…offering free shipping! Check it out. Here’s one of the top sellers I found where you can buy a scooter online and have it shipped to you for free.
These guys are pretty smart. They even have an online chat feature. Wouldn’t you want to ask people questions before you bought a scooter? Of course. This is the only website I’ve seen selling scooters that both offers the low prices, free shipping AND online chat. Good job guys.
Visit this site just to get some ideas for layout or maybe you’re even interested in buying a scooter online as they’ve done their homework with making things easy to find. If it was my site, I would have the online chat piece up top in the right corner as a main feature. They’d double their sales in a week I’ll bet. But, that’s just me.
Tell me what you think of the scooter website. Or share your view/experience with the scooter craze happening right now. Add your comments below.
