The Rich Marketing and Copywriting Secrets of the Tabloids

Listen up, people.

Homework assignment for all marketers and copywriters here.

Here's the story: For eons, almost every top copywriter willing to spill secrets about writing killer ads has revealed a common sordid fact - the headlines of the tabloids like the National Enquirer are among the best study materials around.

It's a standard part of my speech at seminars. Check out the tabs. You'll discover what America is really interested in.

Tabloids still outsell "real" newspapers and magazines by astronomical numbers. It's not even a contest.

And the headline writers pay very close attention to what boosts sales. They are wired into the national psyche.

You'd have to be nuts to skip this mini-education on word-to-sales truth. So what if your spouse is embarrassed when you pick up the latest Weekly World News (the one with the "Cannibal fetus chews through Mom" headline).

No one ever said advertising was nice work. Sometimes you end up facing dark and disturbing insight into the mind of your fellow man.

Ah, the power of words.

Other veteran copywriters who cop to scouring the tabs: Gary Halbert, Gene Schwartz, Gary Bencivenga, Jeff Paul, Dan Kennedy, David Deutsch, Michel Fortin... the list goes on forever.

And yet... rookie writers remain skeptical.

Like we're kidding them or something. "Ha, ha, ha, you top writers are all alike! So quit with the tabloid jokes already!"

All right. Don't believe me.

Instead, believe the top television shows in existence.

Really...it won't kill you to go buy an actual magazine for once in your virtual life - but the candid truths revealed are just gold for savvy marketers.

The audience for these shows are 70% female... just like most general markets in the economy... and thus, there are "rules" that must be followed for success. These rules aren't made up - they were realized, after fifty years of testing, and paying VERY close attention.

See, these morning shows like "The View" earn hundreds of millions in ad revenue each year. They carry the water for the networks.

So the producers leave their egos and their "common sense" out of all decisions.

They do what they do because they see that it works. They count up the ratings, and test everything in painful detail.

So, what works? First - as I've been saying for years now - it's all about personality.

Not hard news. Celebrity, slander, silliness and outrageous social behavior. The run-away bride, the lost kids, the latest blonde murder investigation, Michael Jackson's passing... the stories closer to UFO landings than earnest Senate committee reports.

That's what opens the profit pumps.

And yes, it works for male-dominated markets just as well. Even your staid old CEO perks up when a celebrity walks by (or self-destructs on the national stage).

Now, just as I warn seminar audiences... this doesn't mean you need to start referring to Bat Boy or Sasquatch in your next online posting.

What it means is that... again... the best written headlines are NOT boring, pedantic recitations of the facts.

Rather... the best are attention-jarring wake-up calls to your prospect's brain.

There's an old saw in marketing that goes like this: First, sell them what they want. You can sell them what they need later.

What that means is simple - it's a much easier path to offer something your prospect is already predisposed to like. Trying to educate him on why he needs what you have is a losing proposition.

However, once you've established that you can deliver what he wants, he will begin to trust you. And you can THEN start the process of working him into the more complex relationship where you give him what you clearly know he needs.

It's the same with headlines. You have a split second to get his attention, and you won't do it by trying to educate him.

Instead, go in through the already-open door in his brain - the door that is ALWAYS open to anything fun, or gossipy, or titillating. Or that makes him do the "whaaaaaaa?" double-take.

It's the fastest way to bump the numbers.

John Carlton's 25-year career is legendary... as an expert copywriter, a pioneer in online marketing, and a teacher of killer sales copy. He knows marketing inside and out. To read more from John (including accessing the 5-years-deep archive of hard-core tactics and insight and advice, for free) just dive into his globally-read blog:
http://www.john-carlton.com/
http://www.marketingrebel.com/

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5 Ways to Proactively Promote Your Website

A few months ago, I posted an article on my blog titled Did You Advance The Ball Today? In a nutshell, the article was all about doing something proactive every single day to advance your business.

You see, I'm a proactive marketer. I believe in trying to make things happen, as opposed to being reactive - waiting for something to happen.

In my opinion, success is achieved by doing lots of little things consistently over time. Doing the little things over and over and over again.

So what are the types of things you should be doing every single day? Well, we all have different ways of promoting our business. But these are a few of the methods I use everyday to proactively promote my various websites:

1. Article Marketing

Out of all the marketing methods I use, article marketing is my absolute favorite. Why? Well, there are a variety of reasons. But the main reason is because article marketing allows you to laser target your traffic to the nth degree.

Here's how: When you write an article and submit it to authority sites like SiteProNews or Promotion World, people go searching for those articles based on the subject matter they're interested in.

For example, bloggers seek out and read articles about blogging. Techies read articles about technology, and people interested in search engine optimization read articles about SEO, and so on and so forth.

The point is, people read about things that interest them. That means if you write articles about specific topics, the people reading your articles are already pre-targeted.

2. Social Networking

You've no doubt heard the expression "there's power in numbers." And social networking sites like FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace and a host of other social networking sites have a huge number of users - tens of millions, in fact. So, how can you use those numbers to your advantage?

Well, if you use social networking sites strictly for business purposes like I do, you can quickly build up a network of serious business contacts, and keep them informed of your business activities. For example, notification of new product launches, special sales, updates, announce seminars and teleconferences, etc.

I'm a Twitter user, and one of the ways I use Twitter to generate free traffic to my website is by posting free marketing tips for others to benefit from. I also post links to my latest articles.

Giving away something of value for free is a highly effective marketing technique, and an excellent way to build up your credibility and develop followers - as well as grow your mailing list. In addition, whenever I make a new blog post, I post a link to it on Twitter.

3. Search Engine Optimization

Optimizing your website should be one of the first things you do, after building your site. Focus your attention on basic SEO techniques. For example, make sure your title tags contain your primary keywords.

Also, make sure your description and keyword tags are all properly optimized. And don't repeat your keywords more than twice. Any more than that could be interpreted as spamming by the search engines, and your website could be penalized as a result. Using different variations of your keywords is the best approach.

Believe it or not, these simple but basic steps really do make a difference. One of my favorite resources for learning basic search engine optimization techniques is Jill Whalen's, HighRankings.com.

4. Blogging

Search engines love blogs. Why? Because of their constantly changing, high content value. Also, relevancy. Relevant keywords is one of the primary reasons why blogs do so well in the search engines.

If you're not yet blogging and you'd like to give blogging a try, both Blogger and WordPress make it relatively easy to get started.

Okay, once you have a blog, what should you blog about? That's really up to you. I'm knowledgeable about marketing, so that's what I blog about. My advice: Blog about something you're passionate about. Blog about what you know.

5. Forum Participation

Topical forums are an excellent way for you to promote your business. And the possibilities are endless. Name the topic, and there's probably a forum for it.

For example, if you were a virtual assistant targeting small business owners, you could join small business forums like StartupNation or Small Business Ideas forum.

The key to having success with forums is participation. You have to participate in the various discussions to get free exposure for your business.

So how does participating in forum discussions benefit your business? On most forums you are allowed to promote your business with something called a "signature file."

What's a signature file? A signature or "sig" file is basically a little advertisement (similar to a classified ad) about your business that is automatically attached to every forum post you make.

Anyway, the more you participate in forum discussions, the more members get to know and trust you - especially if you provide solid, useful advice. As a consequence, forum members as well as lurkers (people who visit forums but aren't members) will read your sig file and click on it.

I should mention that in order to receive a significant number of click-throughs, your sig file needs to be interesting and well-written. You need to give people a compelling reason to click-through to your site.

For example, this is one of my sig file:

"Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com - Free, common sense marketing tips to help grow your business!"

Notice how I peak the readers curiosity with a compelling statement? By the way, you can find forums that you're interested in by going to your favorite search engine and typing in a topic of your choosing followed by the word "forums." For example, "entertainment forums."

Article Marketing - Top 8 Out-of-the-Box Ideas to Get Your Articles Published Online

Even though I use an amazing article distribution service, not all publications or blogs serving my industry or my target market are on the distribution list for this service or for the well-known, high traffic article directories. So, to ramp up the syndication of my articles yet another notch, I also submit them to specialty or niche publications that I have discovered over the years.

It's not always easy to find these publications and sites. Here are my 7 best out-of-the-box ideas to find publications and sites that are frequented by your target market and might publish your articles:

1. Blogs. Research blogs written for your target market at Blogcatalog.com, Technorati.com, and Google Blog Search. Many of the blog owners will willing publish posts of guest authors. And, if you subscribe to Cathy Stucker's BloggerLinkUp.com, you'll receive weekly notices of bloggers looking for content for their blogs.

2. Associations and print publications. Research the trade and professional associations for your target market. You can create a query in your search engine for combinations like "target market" + "association" or "target market" + "magazine" to get you started.

When you locate the associations, examine their trade publications, newsletters, and industry-related magazines for information about online blogs, ezines, forums, or the online edition of their publication. Many publications well-known for their print versions now have online versions where the publication lead time is much shorter and the stipulations for publications aren't as restrictive. And, don't forget to look at the online versions of your local newspaper, magazines, and media outlets. They are often seeking experts with content to beef up their online offerings.

3. Your competition. Google the name of your competitors and examine the results. Note where their content is being published. Chances are that you can be published on the same sites, as well.

4. Trainers of your target market. In your search engine look up "training" + "target market." Whatever associations, portals, training companies, consultants, etc. that are providing education and information for your target market probably also need content for their sites and blogs.

5. Gender specific or business specific groups. If your target market is women, there are countless numbers of women's business and networking associations and portals online. Simply search for "women" + "networking" or "women" + "association" or "business networking" + "association." Many of these sites need content for their blogs, ezines, or web sites.

6. Niche article directories. You might find article banks or expert sites geared for particular niches, so look up "target market" + "article directory." Some of the better known niche article directories are SelfGrowth.com, for self-improvement and holistic healing experts. Many of these sites will let you create a profile and publish your articles free of charge but require a fee to move your articles to a prominent place on their site.

7. Large portal sites. Look for portal sites like About.com and iVillage.com where the sites have guides, editors, or experts in specific areas. Many times these experts must publish a regular ezine or blog and are constantly seeking content. One of their editors at About.com used to publish a lot of my articles on her section on Online Business. Check out information portals like Squidoo.com and Hubpages.com as well for ideas on where to submit your articles. You might also find large portals geared specifically for your industry or your target market.

8. Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a large online encyclopedia to which the public contributes. Some areas are very well documented on Wikipedia. Additionally, Wikipedia's References section, See Also section, and External Links area are often good online sources as well.

The content that you create is a primary business asset. Don't let it languish on your computer's hard drive. Make it work for you over and over again by seeking out new sites seeking useful content like yours.

Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.turbochargeyouronlinemarketing.com/

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