Ignorant Twitter Bias and First Impressions

Have you ever met someone for the first time, and for whatever reason, you immediately decided that you didn't like that person? Then after getting to know the person, you discovered that he or she wasn't so bad after all?

Of course you have - we all have. Fair or not, it's human nature to form erroneous judgements and opinions about people we really don't know. And while it may be human nature to do this, it's also ignorant.

I was guilty of this type of ignorance myself recently - but not with a person, with an entity. I formed a negative opinion about Twitter, based on erroneous hearsay information. I had heard from some in the media that Twitter was a silly waste of time, and not really a useful marketing tool.

Because those opinions comported with my own negative opinion of Twitter, I bought into the negativity, and ignorantly began badmouthing Twitter at every turn, instead of doing my own due diligence.

Finally, wanting to check things out for myself, I visited Twitter's website, and there they were - four words which would confirm my negative opinion about Twitter.

Those four words? "What are you doing?"

What are you doing? "Who cares what I'm doing, I thought to myself. I'm eating breakfast, that's what I'm doing - but who cares?"

Well, apparently millions of Twitter subscribers care about what other Twitter subscribers are doing, because Twitter has an estimated 10 million users worldwide.

And as impressive as those numbers are, it took having lunch with a good friend of mine to finally make me see the truth about Twitter. My friend showed me how Twitter had dramatically improved his financial bottom line. He showed me before and after numbers. He showed me cold, hard proof, and I became a believer.

Bottom line: I was wrong about Twitter, and I don't have a problem admitting that. Twitter is an excellent marketing and networking tool, which can be used to build relationships and promote virtually any type of business - profit or non-profit. In fact, you are limited only by your imagination.

As a result, I will be using Twitter myself this summer, when I launch my new website. I already have a million ideas about how to promote my business via Twitter. I can't wait to get started!

In the words of Dick Jones from Robo Cop... "Good business is where you find it!"

How to Motivate Potential Prospects

There are two basic factors that motivate all prospects, and turn them into customers:

1. Discontentment.

2. A Desire For Change.

And as complicated as some people try to make it, if you simply focus your advertising message around those two psychological points of fact, the better off you'll be.

The most effective advertising focuses on a clear and succinct message that will emotionally arouse the discontentment that prospects may be feeling, and offers a clear solution that will light a spark for the desired change.

As an advertiser, it is your job to create discontentment inside the psyche of your prospects, and make them desire the change that you're offering. For example, people aren't going to sign up for Jenny Craig or NutriSystem diet programs if they are satisfied with the way they look. And people aren't going to go out and buy a shiny brand new car with GPS and all the other bells and whistles if they're content driving their beat-up old jalopy.

Diet commercials work because the target audience sees how much thinner they could look in just a few short weeks, and they desire that change. New car commercials work because they make the target audience see just how crappy their old car really is, and they have a desire to trade up for a shiny new model.

That's what effective advertising does - creates discontentment inside the psyche of your prospects, and make them desire the change that you're offering. And if you're selling something, that's what your advertising is supposed to do. Right?

When you get right down to it, advertising is really simple, as long as you don't make it complicated!

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By the way, I'll be launching my new website this fall. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It will feature "real" customer reviews of top online copywriting, hosting, website design, ISP, printing, SEO services and more! Follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews for further updates.

Why You Need a Subscriber List to Grow Your Business

If you're a reader of mine, you've probably heard me say before that a good subscriber list is "guaranteed income." That's because it is. Whenever I mail to my list it always brings back income - ALWAYS! But you don't have to take my word for it. Read top marketing blogs like ProBlogger or OnlineMarketingBlog, and see how much value their readers place in their lists. Or ask any successful online marketer like Rich Sloan of StartupNation or Adam Urbanski of TheMarketingMentors and they will tell you the same thing. "The money is in the list!"

Let me explain why. For the most part, visitors to your website are complete strangers. They don't know you, therefore they don't trust you. They drop by, window shop a bit, and then leave after a few seconds. That's right, seconds. Don't believe me? Check your website logs. How long is the typical visitor spending on your site?

See what you're up against? That's why on average, 99% of visitors to your website leave without purchasing anything. And unless you have a system in place to collect their name and e-mail address, many of those visitors will be lost forever. That's good potential income down the drain.

There's an old saying in marketing. "It takes seven contacts with a prospect to convert them into a customer." That means a prospect has to see your marketing message at least seven times before they're comfortable enough to buy from you.

That's why your subscriber list is so important. Even if they haven't purchased anything yet, these are people who are interested in what you have to say. They are guaranteed future income. Think about it. These people have taken the time and made the effort to subscribe to receive your newsletter, blog updates, whatever. This gives you the ability to have contact with these people over and over again. Eventually, these people will develop enough trust in you to purchase your products and services. And if you treat them right, they'll keep on purchasing from you. Heck, they might even bring their friends and family members with them.

Remember what I said earlier? 99% of visitors to your website will leave without purchasing anything. That means out of every one hundred visitors to your website, if you're lucky, you may get one sale. Conversely, your subscriber list will convert at a much higher rate. My list consistently converts at around 15%. That means for every 100 people who receive my mailing, fifteen of them buy something. And I'm not talking results I get sometimes. I get these kinds of results every time I mail to my list.

Which would you rather have, one sale per hundred visitors or fifteen sales? When you compare the numbers, building a subscriber list is really a no-brainer, isn't it?

And it's easier than its ever been to manage your list. E-mail marketing services like Costant Contact or VerticalResponse will handle everything for you - and at a reasonable cost.

So, what are you waiting for? If you haven't started building your subscriber list, get started today!

By the way, I'll be launching my new website this summer. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It will feature "real" customer reviews of top online hosting, website design, ISP, SEO services and more! Follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews for further updates.

Avoiding the New Website Spam Blitz

I just received an interesting e-mail from one of my blog subscribers. Here's what the e-mail said:

"David, I just put my brand new website online, and I'm already being besieged by spammers. How did they find out about my website so quickly?"

Here's what I told my subscriber:

"Professional spammers scour the Internet, looking for new domain registrations. Here's how to counter their activities: After registering a new domain, wait a few weeks before putting your website online.

Is this techique 100% foolproof? No, but I can tell you from personal experience, it will drastically reduce the amount of spam your new website receives.

Sure, the spammers will catch up with you eventually. After all, they're relentless. But at least you'll buy yourself a little time before they do."

By the way, I'll be launching my new website this summer. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It will feature "real" customer reviews of top online hosting, website design, ISP, SEO services and more! Follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews for further updates.