I just got back from a live event in Las Vegas where Mark Hoverson shared his secrets to successful direct response (email) marketing.  Since all this is fresh in my mind, I’m revealing the essentials in a series of videos and blog posts.   In case you are unfamiliar with Mark’s work, he is a master at creating a “buyers rush” for his trainings and products.  A “buyers rush” is a frenzy of respondants eager to buy what you are promoting.

Direct Response Email

The video below walks you through one of Mark’s direct response emails.  This email was sent to Ann Sieg’s customer list.  It was part of a 1 week promotion that led up to the Las Vegas event I just attended.  During this event, Hoverson interviewed both Ann Sieg and Mike Klingler as we mentioned in the previous post.

In the video, I take you through each paragraph and explain why Mark wrote it the way he did.   After watching this video, you should be able to construct a similar direct response email yourself.  Here’s the video.

Tony Passera Reveals Secrets Of Mark Hoverson’s Emails from Tony Passera on Vimeo.

Triggers

You may have noticed that I talk about “triggers” a lot during the video.  The idea of psychological triggers comes from Joe Sugarman’s book, “Triggers.”   During the trainings, Hoverson mentioned that he learned most of what he knows about writing for direct response from this book.  If you enter your information in the box below, I’ll email a copy of the book to you (in pdf format) absolutely free.  You can also download the book from various sources on the web, if you prefer.

I just attended a webinar series given by a direct response marketing expert, Mark Hoverson.  Toward the end of the series, Hoverson said that his goal for this series had been to do an industry wide training.  He accomplished this goal by hooking up with Ann Sieg and Mike Dillard, and offering the webinar series to both of their customer “LISTS”.  Since I was on both of their lists myself, I got his email and succumbed.

To get the attention of Sieg and Dillard, you’d have to be a rising star.  My 10 months in internet marketing taught me that the best way to become a rising star yourself, is to hook up with one and learn what you can from him or her.   And not just learn.  As much as possible, you want to do what he (or she) did.  Or at least adapt it to your context. This is often referred to as ‘duplication.’

Duplication

The first step in “doing what he did” is to study what he studied.  Hoverson is completely open about how he got where he is.  He mentioned that he did a lot of study BEFORE he began his direct response campaigns.  As a result, he claims that nearly all of his campaigns have been successful, creating what he calls a “buyers’ rush.”

As an aside, it should be mentioned that direct response marketing, Hoverson style, involves emailing marketing and sales letters to everyone on a list of prospects and customers.  What is being sold, in this case, is either his MLM opportunity (with Global Resorts) or his training webinars.

First Step: Master What He Mastered

Getting back to the topic.. What I’d like to share with you today are some of the mentors he worked with or whose books he studied.  This list is invaluable to anyone who intends to master internet marketing.  Mark’s particular talent is writing compelling and persuasive sales letters.  I.e. Copywriting.  Hoverson’s letters and videos are so compelling, in fact, that he routinely creates “buyer’s rush”, which is a frenzy of repondants scrambling to buy what he’s selling.

Recommended Trainers and Authors

Here’s the list of Hoverson’s trainers and recommended authors that I jotted down during his webinars.

• Timothy Ferriss

  The first book Hoverson recommended was Tim Ferriss’ NY Times bestseller “The 4 Hour Workweek: Escape 95, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich.” The title says it all. However, there are a lot of ideas in this book on how to work efficiently and really leverage as many resources as possible. Most importantly, though, is that the book advocates a particular kind of lifestyle. And this is the lifestyle that Hoverson is depicting (and ultimately selling) in his direct response emails.

• Dan S. Kennedy

  On numerous occasions during the webinars, Mark mentioned that he’s read (and rereads) everything that Dan Kennedy wrote. Kennedy also has a subscription site at www.dankennedy.com. Here are some of his best known books.

  • “The Ultimate Sales Letter. Attract New Customers. Boost Your Sales.”
  • “No B.S. Business Success.”
  • “No B.S. Sales Success in the New Economy”
  • “No B.S. Business Success in the New Economy”
  • “No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent: The No Holds Barred, Kick Butt,
    Take No Prisoners Guide to Getting Really Rich”
  • “No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs”
  • “No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs”
• Jim Rohn

  Jim Rohn is another individual, who Mark considers a primary mentor. He’s read every one of his books and continues to re-read them and listen to the CD’s. Here’s a few of Rohn’s books.

  • “7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness: Power Ideas from America’s Foremost
    Business Philosopher.”
  • “5 Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle”
  • “The Art of Exceptional Living”
  • “Lessons on Life: How to Live a Successful Life”
  • “Building Your Network Marketing Business” Audio CD
• Joe Sugarman

  Hoverson flat out said that Joe Sugarman is the secret behind his ad copy. That’s a strong recommendation. In particular, he recommends Sugarman’s book “Triggers “, which can be downloaded free (search for ‘Joe Sugarman Triggers). Mark reminded us to download and read “Triggers” several times during the course. He also recommends that you discover additional triggers by observing when you get excited about something in your daily life. Note what it was that triggered your excitement. For example, things like getting a package in the mail, or tropical adventure vacations are among his personal triggers. It’s very important to think about your AVATAR and what his or her triggers would be. You’ll write better sales letters.

  Mark is an advocate of giving your prospects click-by-click instructions on how to buy. He indicated that this idea came from Joe Sugarman.

• Joe Vitale

  Another book that Mark referred to frequently was Joe Vitale’s “Hypnotic Writing: How to Seduce and Persuade Customers with Only Your Words.” Mark indicated that he’s read this book 3 times. Three’s a charm.

• Frank Kerns

  Frank Kerns’ “Mass Control” newsletter (at $299/month) is highly recommended. He is a launch and buying frenzy expert. It’s not difficult to guess where Hoverson acquired this skill.

• Brian Tracy

  Mark H. specifically recommended that we read “Eat That Frog.” Some of Tracy’s other books are listed here.

  • “The Art of Closing the Sale: The Key to Making More Money Faster in the World of Professional Selling”
  • “Speak to Win: How to Present with Power in Any Situation”
  • “Reinvention: How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life”
  • “Flight Plan: The Real Secret of Success; How to Achieve More Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible”
  • “The Power of Charm: How to Win Anyone Over in Any Situation”
• Alex Mandosian

  Mark took an information marketing course from Mandosian. He’s one of Mark’s “absolute heros.” In one of the webinars, Mark discusses why some artists are able to sell their art and others are not. He learned this from Mandosian. Artists make the most money when they are at a live show and they unpack and describe the story (inspiration) behind the painting. This gives depth and allows people to actually see the painting for what it really is, instead of just a dollar sign. “The difference between a millionaire and someone who is trying is a matter of deep distinctions.” Alex Mandosian is also recommended by Mike Dillard, particularly for his video interviews.

• Eben Pagan

  Mark mentions studying with Eben Pagan on numerous occasions.
  His “Guru Mastermind Complete Marketing Course” is reasonably priced and highly recommended.

• Jeffrey Combs

  Mark mentioned Jeffrey Combs as one of his mentors in passing. No specifics.

• Tony Robbins

  Mark also mentioned Tony Robbins on a few occasions, but didn’t provide any details. Here are a few references.

  • “Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Control of Your Mental,
    Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny”
  • “Get the Edge: A 7-Day Program to Transform Your Life”
  • “Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement”
  • “Relationship Breakthrough: How to Create Outstanding Relationships
    in Every Area of Your Life (with Cloe Mandanes).
• Zig Ziglar

  Mentioned in passing as a mentor. Here are a few of his books.

  • “Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale”
  • “Selling 101: What Every Successful Sales Professional Needs to Knwo”
  • “See You at the Top”
  • “How to Get What You Want”
  • “Embrace the Struggle: Living Life on Life’s Terms”
  • “Better Than Good: Creating a Life You Can’t Wait to Live”
• Dani Johnson

  Mentioned Dani twice as a mentor. Here are two relevant titles.

  • “Grooming the Next Generation for Success”
  • “Spirit Driven Success”
• Daegan Smith
  Daegan was mentioned once as a mentor, especially with regard to PPC (pay-per-click) marketing.

Avoiding Overwhelm

I don’t know about you, but I’m both eager to read these books and a little intimidated. It’s a long list. Exciting and inspiring, yes. But they are going to take some time. A good way to avoid overwhelm is to pick a few that you need to master the most and give yourself a fixed amount of time each day to read (an hour, say). That way, you’ll make steady progress.

Ann Sieg is sponsoring David Garfinkel, who is giving a 6 week webinar in copywriting. This webinar is for folks who have little or no experience in copywriting, but would like to get up to speed fast. The course is designed to make you an effective copywriter as quickly as possible. It is probably not going to make you an expert, but it will make you effective enough to significantly improve your conversion rates. David Garfinkel is well known as a leading coach and teacher of copywriting. He has developed a template method that gives you a good starting place for different kinds of copy as well as a lot of confidence.

Free Sample Interview with David Garfinkel

If you would like to listen to an interview with David Garfinkel, to get a sense of how he is as a teacher, click here.

Initial Session and Sign Up for Course

If you would like more information about the copywriting crash course, or if you would like to sign up, click here. The first live session of the course will be Wednesday, August 19 at 9pm est. So, signing up as early as possible is a good thing. The sessions will be recorded and available for anyone who misses them.

My Notes on an Interview with David Garfinkel

I have an earlier post with a brief summary of the Garfinkel interview here.

This promises to be a terrific course. I’m certainly going to be there..

Ad 1:

Only Way Left For Little Guy To Get Rich …

Here is the uncensored message my wife asked me not to write

Ad 2:

DANGER

All Your Personal Assets Could Be Wiped Out Overnight

There is only one completely safe way to protect your car, home, cash, and other personal assets from business risks

—

You can read the full text of both ads here: Can You Tell A Break-Even Ad From A Blockbuster?

I’m not going to repeat the full ads here, though I highly recommend reading them.  The first ad appeals more to greed through the tax benefits of incorporating, while the second ad appeals to the fear of losing all your assets if you don’t incorporate. What I found so surprising is that the two ads aren’t even close in performance. The lesson here is to split test your ads!

Which do you think was the blockbuster?

My bet’s on Ad 2.  Fear trumps greed.  It also seems to me that the second ad appeals more to professionals.  I would expect the book to appeal to them more, and that they would be the larger market.   I could be wrong.  The answer will be posted next week on www.makepeacetotalpackage.com.  I’ll post it here as well.

Update (8-21-09):
Well, the results are in. I was wrong. The blockbuster ad was Ad 1.  You can read Ted Nicholas’ million dollar lesson here:  The Blockbuster Ad Revealed..

What was the key to the difference?  Recall that Ad 2 is fear based.  There’s always a danger with a fear based ad.  When you evoke negative emotions too much and for too long, the audience feels the heaviness and wants to exit.   If you use fear to draw an audience in, you must quickly transmute it into something more positive (e.g. by offering a solution).  Another drawback of Ad2 is that it is selling prevention.  Moving away from a hypothetical danger is a harder sell than asking someone to move toward something they want.

Ad 1, on the other hand, uses anger as the dominant emotion.  Anger is more actionable.  While fear gets your attention, fear is more likely to cause the audience to shut down or run away.  But when people get angry, they want to do something about it.  Ad 1 offers them something they can do.  Buy the book.

Perhaps the most important element that makes Ad1 a blockbuster is the way it is not only story based but speaks in an authentic voice.  It’s not just text, but a character right off the street.  The character is speaking with intimacy and talking directly to you.  These elements taken together create believability and trust.

Incidently, the vote from the commentors was 65% thought that Ad 1 was the blockbuster, while 35% thought Ad 2 was the blockbuster.

Quite a nice lesson.

If you doubt that developing your copywriting skills is the single most important thing you can do for your business (and maybe your life), please listen to this interview of David Garfinkel by Ann Sieg.  David Garfinkel is perhaps the leading copywriting coach and mentor.  Click here to listen to the interview.

Last year Ann hired David to train herself and several members of her team.   More recently the launch of the Renegade Professional trainings generated over $1.1 million in sales in 72 hours.  Ann attributes this success to Garfinkel’s coaching.

Not About Money

I didn’t grasp the significance of copywriting to the whole picture until I heard this interview.   During the interview Garfinkel takes an unexpected perspective.

“Copywriting is not all about money. Copywriting is inspiring people to take action.”

Building on this point he remarks that “The practise of copywriting helps people become much more effective communicators.”  The reason is that good copywriting necessitates putting your audience first.  You imagine yourself in their position and you write from it.   You use their language and acknowledge their concerns and feelings.  To Garfinkel, copywriting is the skill of communication in its highest form.  Indeed, he gave the Preamble to the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence as prime examples of this skill.

An Empowering Skill

There are many benefits to having copywriting skill beyond marketing.   For many, learning copywriting is empowering.  Ann indicated that communications among her staff improved because of this skill.  Once you adopt the “copywriting mindset” you treat every communication as important.  It’s about understanding what your audience is thinking and then finding the simplest way to get your point across to them.

A Dangerous Skill

This is a dangerous skill to have.  There are certainly those who abuse it. And that may be why selling can be so distasteful to many of us.  However, we all have the choice to use it responsibly and ethically. When used correctly, copywriting is about identifying the people who are interested in what you have, and giving them an invitation to it. When used properly, there’s nothing manipulative about it.

Ann Siegs Comments

Here are some of Ann’s comments about the interview from a promotional email.

“This interview is as much of a mental transformation
about the way money is made as it is about producing
short term results.

We get into some heavy-duty subjects like…

-Is sales EVIL?

-How does making money tie in with serving people?

-How you can apply our million dollar launch
strategies to your entire downline

-The most powerful form of copywriting EVER (hint: the
United States Government uses it)

-Plus, you’ll even get to hear David critique me!

The interview is absolutely free.”    Ann Sieg

Here’s the link to the Garfinkel interview again:
http://renegadeproblog.com/wealthexperiment/

Conclusion

Listening to the interview, I felt that what I was hearing was in sync with my own values.  Hearing the emphasis on service, ethics and responsibility was refreshing.  I’ve spent many years working for corporations where business practices, though considered normal for the US, were at times not only unethical, but downright abusive.  It’s a welcome relief to find a training program, and an occupation where my own values are not only appreciated, but taken to heart and acted upon.

“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.”

This was the ad that Ernest Shackleton posted in The Times of London in 1913. He was recruiting for an expedition to cross the Antarctic continent from sea to sea via the south pole. He received about 5000 immediate responses.

Truth in Advertising

The ad is remarkable in its honesty. There’s nothing sugar-coated about “Safe return doubtful.” Shackleton could have left that sentence out. Yet he chose to include it. As a result, you trust that you’re getting the whole truth. You either want to go on the expedition or you don’t. Either way, you trust Shackleton.

How often do you see ads on the internet for business opportunities that you completely trust? Not many I’m sure.  Every day, I see ads claiming 5 figure monthly incomes for very little work. All you have to do is buy their report and all secrets will be revealed to you. Right?

Reveal vs. Conceal

So what can we do differently to make the internet work for us? Taking a hint from Shackleton, be completely straight with your prospects. This means taking a more revealing approach than the concealing approach so common today.

When there’s an absence of information, when we sense that something is being concealed, we instinctively lose trust. On the other hand, when something is being revealed to us, particularly if it takes courage to reveal it, we instinctively trust.

A Concealing Ad

For example, here’s a an ad that conceals most of the information you need to make an intelligent choice. I made this ad up, though many current ads give you about as much information before they ask for your credit card.

“Riches Overnight: The Lazy Man’s Guide to Internet Wealth. I’ll tell you how I made $100k in two weeks using Twitter. Click here to buy my report.”

A Revealing Ad

Compare that to a more revealing ad. I made this one up too.

“Want More Customers? The secret to success on the internet is writing compelling ad copy. Discover how the copywriting masters of our time made their fortunes. With our training program, you will need 4 months of study and practice to master the skill. You’ll read hundreds of pages of copy and listen to hours of videos by the masters. You’ll work hard, writing dozens of ads and articles yourself. But in that 4 months you will produce a credible on-line presence. Click here to sample our unique training program for 2 weeks, absolutely free and with no obligation. Or click here to enroll in our copywriting masterclass.”

Comparison

Even if the first ad were legitimate, who would trust it? It’s asking you to take all the risk, without offering anything for that risk. It has given you no reason to believe that it can deliver what it promises.

The second ad reveals the level of effort needed to be successful: 4 months. That’s taking a risk. The Lazy Man is outta there. The ad takes even more of a risk by giving you access to the training program. You could learn a lot about copywriting without paying a penny. That’s putting skin in the game. Wouldn’t you be more likely to believe that the second could deliver on its promises?

Conclusion

So when you’re promoting your business, consider taking the risk of revealing more to your prospects. Be straight with them. It will give you an edge that your competitors will miss.

And when you’re looking at training or opportunities, this is a good way to separate the trustworthy ones from the ones to avoid. If they reveal a lot, and you feel good about what you’re reading, go for it. Otherwise, let it go.

Incidently, here’s the post on Lawrence Bernstein’s blog that provoked me to make this post.

P.S. Everyone on Shackleton’s expedition survived. Shackleton tells the amazing story of his journey in “South: The Last Antarctic Expedition of Shackleton and the Endurance.”

I found out about David Garfinkel’s article in a newsletter from Ann Sieg.  I’m including her news letter below because it’s an instructive piece of marketing in its own right.  Notice how she lures you in with questions she knows you want answered, and little bits of bait along the way.

Here’s what Ann Sieg wrote.

“Are your prospects reading your emails?
If you’re like a lot of marketers, you’re lucky if
ONE out of every TEN of your emails even gets
opened.

What if you could increase this number to two or three
out of every ten by simply rearranging the words in your
subject lines?

That doesn’t sound too hard does it?
By doing so, you can very realistically double or triple
the amount of sales you’re currently generating.
Today I have a very special guest on my blog who’s going
to show you 5 different ways to get more attention with
your subject lines and headlines.

His name’s David Garfinkel and he’s considered by many
people to be the best copywriting coach in the world.
He helped me generate over 4,500 new customers in one
month this year… and I know he’ll be able to help you
pocket a few additional sales as well.

Find out how a few well-chosen words can do magic for
your business here:

http://www.renegadeproblog.com/19/

To Your Success,

Ann Sieg”

Left Brain Approach

Appealing to the left brain means appealing to reason. In other words, you are providing the rational reasons, or benefits, for buying a product. An appeal to the left brain would involve the following steps when writing the ad copy.

• List the benefits of having the product.
• Use the most powerful of these benefits to craft a Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
• Establish the USP right up front and repeat throughout your copy.
• Fully develop every “Reason Why” your prospects should buy.

Right Brain Approach

Appealing to the right brain means appealing to the prospect’s emotions. These are the emotions in areas that the product addresses. For example, if your product is health related, the emotions you might address could be the fear of being sick if you don’t use the product, or the positive feeling of well being if you do use the product. To elicit these emotions you paint the appropriate picture for you target market (best done by telling a story).

Mix Right Brain with Left

In the article, Clayton presents us with the question, “What could possibly be better than leading with a tangible benefit?” His answer is to mix the left brain with the right, leading with the right.  In other words, sell with emotion (and relevant imagery) and justify with reason (benefits).   This involves the following steps, as presented by Clayton.

• Figure out what the prospect’s resident emotions are regarding areas the product addresses.
• Figure out which of those resident emotions are the strongest, most compelling, most “dominant” in his or her life.
• Identify the benefits the product offers that will most effectively enhance his strongest positive emotions and/or resolve his negative ones.
• Address those benefits in ways that keep the prospect’s dominant emotions working with you, and never against you.
• As you review and edit your sales copy, keep making this kind of emotional connection at every opportunity.

Conclusion

While these notes are here to summarize the key points of the article, you really should read it. Education should always be this much fun!

Click here to read Clayton’s article.

Generally, blog designers don’t pay enough attention to what’s in the sidebars. And guess what? It matters. Well chosen sidebar content can increase readership, increase stickiness and increase responses to promotionals.

These points are addressed in depth in a recent article by Clayton Makepeace. The article discusses the do’s and don’t’s of sidebars. Though the context of the discussion is the magalog, the points apply equally well to blogs and websites.   Incidently, according to Wikipedia, ‘A magalog is a promotional copy of a magazine, usually in a 12-page catalog format.’ Magalog = magazine + catalog.

To summarize briefly, there are two kinds of readers: casual scanners, and straight-through readers. The readers will read through most of the article from beginning to end. However, the casual scanners will flip through the article, sometimes in no particular order, looking for something that catches their attention. The scanners are more likely to find something that interests them if the sidebar guides them to it.  In other words, “great sidebars turn scanners into readers.”

For 21 smart kinds of sidebar content, you’ll have to read the article, which is here. You’ll be amazed at the number of good ideas you’ll get for your sidebars.

By the way, you can see a beautiful example of a well designed sidebar on Clayton’s website, www.makepeacetotalpackage.com.

Click here for Clayton’s article, “How to Create a Killer Ad”.