The Amazing True Story Of The Commodity Trader

I’ve always loved this approach. It seems to be a timeless way to tell a story and sell a product.

Linwood

God Bless Billy Mays

I have long believed that advertising men are the greatest blessings to the world. Why? Because advertising men/business men are the home of honesty and health and well-being to us all.

You cannot be a lair in advertising or business. If you are a liar…You will soon be found out. And no one will buy from you a second time. Businesses live for the 2nd-sale. If you advertise, say your car, as the greatest engineering feat of the world and it breaks down in 30 days, word gets around and you’re doomed as a seller of cars.

NOTE: The first sale, is often unprofitable due to all the costs involved in winning a customer. The second sale is where the larger profits come in as manufacturing costs, management costs and marketing costs for 2nd time buyers are greatly reduced.

(This is not condone the advertising of politicians, where lying is legalized art form.)

But good advertising is informative and helpful. It is often entertaining and charming. It invites trust and promises service.

Billy Mays projected all this and more.

I had no personal dealings with him, but I always admired his commercials. I never bought Oxi-Clean or his Magic Putty… but I thought about it.

If you’re looking for a perfect model to advertise your products and services you could to worse than imitating his style, candor and warmth.

Here he is ordering from a fast food drive-thru:

Watch Billy

God Bless You Mr. Pitchman. Rest In Peace.
Billy Mays, July 20, 1958 – June 28, 2009

How To Use The Internet To Promote Your Business And Get Amazing Results.

You Can Even Start Promoting Your Business Without Spending A Dime Of Your Own Money. And you can see results in as little as 4 hours from now.

Dear Marketing Friend….

My name is Linwood Austin. I’ve been a direct marketing consultant and copywriter for longer than I care to admit.

Let me be perfectly honest with you. I’ve spent the last twenty-some years ignoring the internet. Hell, why should I spend oodles and oodles of time learning a new medium, when I was a master of direct mail and radio and space ads, etc.

For example… regarding direct mail… I could write a 1,000 page volume on do’s and don’ts.  Envelope design… letter content… letter length… offer… approach… testimonials… lift notes… post it notes… premiums… neuro-linguistic programming… calls to action placed at the right moment… and so forth.

The coolest thing about direct mail was the availability of mailing lists. I could get lists of people who were 91-days late on a credit card… people who had second mortgages… people who drove a Ford… people who had just moved into a new house… just started a new business… people who were overweight… people who were church members… democrat donors… people seeking a business opportunity… school teachers… home gardeners… hunters… You name it… there was likely to be a list for it. I was a happy marketing camper with what I knew.

The concept behind all this “zeroing in” is called “database marketing”. And it bleeds over into magazine advertising too. I’ve created full-page ads for men’s magazines… business opportunity magazines… woman’s magazine… you name it. It was all TARGETED to a specific audience.

But now I’m forced to admit… times are “a changing”. Magazines and newspapers are closing up shop. THEY are moving to the internet.

But I’m happy to tell you that I have discovered that DATABASE marketing is now possible on the net.

You can, with a little bit of work discover internet magazines and blogs that cater to all kinds of TARGETED AUDIENCES. Fishermen… home shoppers… bargain hunters… opportunity seekers… democrat and republicans… and more.

The problem has been HOW do you find and market to these guys using the internet.

Since I admit… I’m “old school”… I’ve ignored the net for a long time. But lately I’ve been asking around to my “old school” marketing buddies… if there is ONE SOURCE that can teach anyone every thing they need to know about marketing on the internet.

For months… the closest answer I got from my buddies was a service that costs about $1,000 a month in subscription costs. I wasn’t about to cough up that kind of money to study internet marketing. It was partly the money… but mostly the TIME it would require to follow that group. My time is precious. I’m 56 years old… I’m mostly retired. But I still take on a client or two now and then. Plus my darling and I just had a new baby boy. What a delight! I don’t want to miss out on a moment with him.

So… you can see that I was NOT looking forward to the “learning curve” of this new medium that has intruded into everyone’s life.

Lucky for me… someone who reads my blog… and knows I’ve been around since the early days of Gary Halbert (I made Gary Halbert’s list of “Who’s Who in Direct Marketing” in 1987)… answered my question… about the ONE SOURCE of “killer” internet marketing information.

That one source is HERE.

It’s an internet marketing club. It’s got several thousand members signed up. And it has about 200 training videos posted which you can watch at your own pace. And the club costs peanuts to join.

And I must confess… I’ve actually enjoyed and learned a ton of methods, techniques and “tricks” from this club membership.

The guy’s name is Mack Michaels. I had never heard of him before one of my marketing buddies sent me to his site.

But lo and behold… you’re about to learn all kinds of ways to increase your sales and profits… even if you don’t have a business or product… this guy will show you how to promote other people’s business and products and make $400 to $1,000 a day.

He’s got tricks on how to manipulate google… yahoo… myspace… MSN… He’s got tricks on how to spy on your competitors to see how much money they are spending… where they are spending it… how much they are making… So you can duplicate their efforts.

He’s got tricks on how to develop your own business… how to make Ebay give you $700 profits on a $2 item… how to develop your core business… how to do video marketing… How to go around google if they slap you down… how to become a so-called “super affiliate”… how to instantly see “trends” on the internet to you can match your marketing to ride on the coattails of the trends.

There’s even a bunch of training videos on copywriting. Plus insider tricks on traffic generation… website creation… SEO domination… cheap domain names… idea generation… a rolodex of sources you’ll need for every aspect of your ongoing success… and more.

He’s got ebooks you can download and read or market for free.

I’ve tested out his “support desk” and they are “Johnny-on-The-Spot” to return calls and answer emails.

This “club” is like an online university of internet marketing mastery.

It will reduce your “learning curve” from YEARS of screwing around on the net… testing… wasting money… frustration… down to a matter of a few days or weeks… depending on how many training videos you want to watch each day.

I have found myself watching some of his videos 2 and 3 times each because they were so informative and jammed-packed.

What are you waiting for… If you’re still reading this… you know in your heart… this just might be the information about marketing on the net that you’ve been waiting for… just like me.

I’m “old-school” when it comes to direct marketing. And I’m happy to report that everything you’re about to learn is direct marketing as applied to the amazing new medium of with world wide web.

Stop what you’re doing and sign up for Mack’s club. Click Here… to see his intro page. You won’t regret it. I promise.

Then, after you become an “internet marketing genius”… and you want help expanding your business even more… call me. I might have some time… if the price is right.

Yours for greater profits,

Linwood Austin
Phone: 801-201-9026
Email: yourlinwood@gmail.com

P.S. Knowing marketing and media “tricks” is the name of the game. The goal is to get buyers eager to give you their money in exchange for satisfying their wants and needs. This “club” is an amazing place to learn more, perhaps, than you ever thought was possible about internet marketing.

How To Advertise On The Radio And Make A Ton Of Profits.

So many profit seekers are hacking at internet-marketing these days. It’s so easy to forget that marketing is marketing. Every medium has power. Billboard advertising has its advantages. Post cards have power. Business cards have some power. (I once did a mailing and sent out three business cards in an envelope. No letter. No explanation. I got a whopping response off that mailing. Curiosity got them. They called in bundles asking “Why am I getting this card?” My only failure was not having a prepared sales script ready to make a pitch. I forgot why we did the mailing. It was years ago. But we got a surprising response.)

Anyway… I’m writing to give you some ideas on radio advertising. Radio is an overlooked darling in the marketing mix. Radio has a loyal following. Radio is intimate. Radio is immediate.

Here are my random thoughts on radio advertising.

1.    Use 60-second spots. 30’s and 15’s are too short to do any real selling. If you can get them, use 120 seconds.
2.    Be human and make mistakes. My example is the old Paul Harvey ads. Mr. Harvey would pause, sta… sta…stutter and sound very earnest when he was endorsing this or that product.
3.    If you’re going to follow my advice, avoid “donuts”. Donuts are radio spots with music at the beginning and the end, and your message in the middle. The companies who use donuts mostly do not measure RESPONSE. If they measured response they’d know that the music at the beginning and end is the equivalent of white space in your print ads. White space sells nothing. In your print advertising you want to want to pack your ad with convincing copy. Over the years I’ve collected many ads that were mostly white space. For fun. I even have one ad from the NY Times that was ALL WHITE SPACE except for the address of the seller in the middle of the ad. No name of the company. No message. No offer. No convincing. No reason to pause. No reason to reflect. No reason to slip a check under the door… no matter what the address of the business was. The creators of the ad, were full of themselves. But buyers could care less about you the seller. They only care about what’s in it for them. So… fill your radio ad with persuasive, convincing REASON WHY copy. Don’t waste your money on music. Let the radio station supply the music. Your job is to convince the listener to stop what he’s doing and change the course of his/her life and buy what you’re selling.
4.    Make sure you MEASURE your response. Ask the listener to do something RIGHT NOW. Call this toll free number NOW. Go to this web site NOW. Write down this number NOW. Mention this offer code x889. Etc.
5.    Identify yourself at the beginning of the ad. Listeners want to know who is speaking to them. It also implies authority.
6.    Preach BENEFITS in your ad. Benefits are different than the FEATURES. You need some features to make the benefits they get believable. But BENEFITS are the key to getting response.
7.    Don’t try to be too cute, clever or funny. People don’t buy from clowns. They buy from serious presenters who present a deal that will really give them an advantage in their lives.
8.    If the people at the radio station tell you your ad is good. Kill the ad. They are so used to hearing it all, that they typically think an ad that is funny, clever or cute…is the winner. NO. NO. NO. You want your ad to be INVISIBLE. If people say yours is a good ad, you’re in trouble. Instead, you want people to hear the ad and say “Wow, that sounds like a good product/service.” If you can make the PRODUCT or SERVICE shine… you ad becomes invisible. You can get the wrong kind of attention. You’re goal is seven-fold: To (1) Attract and (2) Hold the (3) Favorable (4) Attention of the (5) Right Kind of people (buyers) while a (6) Selling Story is told and a (7) Desired Reaction is induced. It’s not to entertain.
9.    Identify your buyers right at the beginning. “If you’re a home owner, listen up… I’ve got good news for you.” Or… “If you’re looking to supplement your income, here is a tested, proven way to make money in today’s tough economic world.” Etc.
10.    Use enthusiasm. You cannot bore people into listening and buying from you. If you’re excited about your product or service, let your excitement shine.
11.    If you want to know WHICH station(s) to advertise on… go to the local car wash. People will tell you they listen to this station or that station… because people say one thing but actually do another. But if you go to a car wash, you can grab some towel wipes and wipe down the inside of their car. While sitting there, turn on the radio. You’ll see for yourself exactly what people are listening to the most. A surprising number of people listen to talk radio. The Rush Limbaugh stations are hot and have been for a long time.
12.    Negotiate the price. Some radio stations will do “Per-Inquiry” ads. But you have to have a track record of paying off on those deals. Or be associated with a legit inbound call center that tracks inquiries and sales. Also, remember that a radio only has TIME to sell. And if they don’t fill those spots, they can never recover that lost income potential. They will negotiate. I often say… “What do you want for 5 spots a day for 10 days?” … and they say “$X amount.” Then I say, “I was thinking only half that amount… what if we meet in the middle?” You goal is to make a profit. Not to profit the radio stations. Know your numbers. If you sell a product for say $100… you need to sell at least one product for every $100 dollars of advertising expenditures. You’ll be losing money, but know your numbers. Most companies lost money on the “front end” when they market a product or service. But they make it up in spades on the “back end”. The “back end” is when a one-time buyer becomes a multiple buyer. Know your numbers.
13.    Test in small markets. Roll out in larger markets. You can buy radio time in small towns like Beaver, Utah… or Clinton, N.C. for $5 or $10 bucks a spot. Bigger towns demand $100 to $400 a spot.
14.    Mix your radio with other media. Even with a 60-seond ad, you’ll likely need to do more convincing. Have your telephone people ready with a prepared, convincing script. Drive them to your website. Tell them to watch their mail for a special offer from you.
15.    If you’re going to do radio in mass… slightly change your message around so the listener won’t shut you out. Perhaps you’ve read about Broca’s area of the brain. If things get too predictable this is the area of the brain that gets bored and seeks something new and more entertaining. By slightly changing your message every other ad, the brain says “wait… didn’t I hear that differently before?” They suddenly become more engaged.
16.    Use celebrities if appropriate. There are lots of actors and actresses who are out of work. If you can find one that fits your target audience… or fits your product model, a celebrity can boost response.

Hope these ideas help. If you want to talk, my contact information is below.