Don’t Be Duped By Sales Copy

Sales Copy can help you earn money. But you also must recognize when you are being sold, to make a less biased purchasing decision.

This article is mainly for the last reason. To show you how not to be duped, I will give you some sales copy. From an undisclosed site:

Learn the ONLY steps you’ll need to…

This is attractive because you will not have to spent time or money anywhere else to get it. But has this person searched the globe to know these are the only steps? No.

Get 3 proven tips for finding…

This is the BE SPECIFIC tactic. You have to say 3, and even if there are no three, you have to make up 3 because it is more specific.

Why does this work? There is so much junk on the Internet, people scan instinctively for specifics. The word Proven is a buzzword. So this is a combination of two dirty tactics.

Go “behind the scenes” for my proven strategy…

This is the SECRECY tactic. If there is mystery, especially if you are given exclusive access to that mystery, it attracts. However, if everyone can go behind the scenes, it’s not a secret, is it?

Discover the #1 thing to avoid…

Another curiosity builder. You are not told what it is until you sign up. But it’s just a builder, nothing else!

To make the builder even more powerful FEAR is used. Now you are thinking, what is the one thing I am doing wrong?  Even if you’re not doing it!

Start building your qualified email list BEFORE you launch

Here is the TIME SAVING tactic. WOW you think, this can save me a lot of time, I can get started before I even think!

Easy hints (and real-life examples)… Step-by-step instructions to…

If it’s easy it’s great. This is another reason to buy.

…that really sells — and keeps selling

We all love something that will do all the work for us while we relax on the beach. But how true is this in real life?

Turn Casual Fans Into Paying Customers

This is what we want, what we dream. But for most people it will remain a dream until they start learning to stop being sold to, and actually start doing some work!

Spaces will fill up fast

Here is the FEAR OF LOSS tactic and the EVERYONE IS DOING IT tactic rolled into one, used everywhere. I can guarantee you, there will always be room left!

If you read too much of this type of low and dirty sales copy you will almost get sick. I have to trawl my way through this stuff and it can almost be mesmerizing if you do not know how to recognize the special bits:

The Headline

You will recognize this because every first letter in the headline will be capitalized.

But this will be nothing to do with the product. It will be what the product does for you – makes you happier, or richer etc.

From the headline, you will not even know what the product is. Your next move is to do a visual scan of the page to the bottom.

The Introduction

There may be a sub-headline or it goes straight into it. But it does not actually go straight into it at all.

You often get predictions here of what your life is like, and how you want it to change, dotted with curiosity builders everywhere to keep you hooked.

You learn nothing at all, but you get some life story to get you emotionally involved.

This is actually to confuse the reader, because it is not what he expects, and with this information overload you are ready to accept anything.

It is just down and dirty hypnotism.

The Testimonials

Here you see the story of a third party, because this is subconsciously more believable. But here it will again perhaps not even mention what the thing does. It will only say how happy the person is, or how their life was changed etc.

The Problems

After predicting what your life is like, you’re almost saying, Hey that’s me. Now your ready to hear about the problems that you’re facing. And while reading this, you assume the thing will solve all these problems, whatever it is.

The Features

So now, the part we’ve all been waiting for. Can it do what I want it to do? By now you are emotionally attached to the maker of this page who put so much time and effort to write this emotional story and made his or her heart bare to you. They feel like your friend, someone you can trust.

The Bonuses

As if that is not enough, here you get even more stuff. You get the VALUE of these bonuses thrown in your face and then realize that these are coming to you free if you get this now.

The (Fake) Price

Before getting the price, you will be told the price of similar products (that are much better than this trash). You will get a comparison of this with other products which will show you how much better this one is.

Then you are given a price. Even though it is much lower than comparison products, this is still only the fake high price.

Guarantee

If you are not satisfied then you will get your money back. Often you will see here a certificate on the screen which is supposed to be some sort of quality seal of this product.

Summary

As if you don’t know already you are told what the features mean. You are given benefits – richer, faster, happier, mixed with a few more ‘testimonies’ dashed here and there.

Then you are told what the bonuses really mean. They are listed again but this time with how they will make you happy.

The idea of making it long is that there will be something in there that rings true.

The Special (real) Price

Now you are given the special discount price today, which is actually all it’s worth. You have every reason now to click on the buy now button which appears around about here on the page, next to the silly crossed out money 100 27 dollars.

Fear of Loss

Here you might learn what you will miss if you don’t buy. This tactic is used on 99% of all copy.

Mugshot

If you haven’t already seen their mug at the top, Here you see their face (again) and a signature, to be really personal. But hey, if you think it’s over, it’s not.

The PS.

A study has shown that people scan through the page visually until they get to the bottom and read what’s there before they actually read the page. This is why there is a PS. at the bottom of each sales copy page, and often some more testimonials.

Reasons To Buy

In a short point form list, you now get the reasons to buy. Not the features mind you, but the result it will give you – happiness, time-saving, all emotional. Here are a few:

Sell while you sleep

It’s FREE to get started

You’ll save money

Round about this point, you will also have another buy now button. Right at the buy now button you will see a caption Try the entire system FREE for 14 days and then pay x per day.

Pep Talk

Here you will find a final blurb about how it’s “even BETTER than risk free”

You pay nothing

You get x dollars (in bonuses)

And then something which makes you think the person is doing it specially for you because he cares for you.

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There are variations of this Sales Junk trolling around the Internet, but they generally follow the same pattern:

One thing common to them all is that they have no date on them. Therefore you don’t know whether you are looking at a page written yesterday or 10 years ago. If there is a date, it will probably be set to today automatically or to a recent date.

The Long Sales letter (what I just described) Unless you haven’t already noticed, the page is as long as about 100 yards until you reach the bottom. This disorientation is a part of making your brain shut down, so that you will just get out your credit card and buy.

The Video Sales letter This time someone tells it to you on a video with sharp clean graphics. These are very similar to the long sales letter in terms of actual content, and often it is combined with a long sales letter below the video.

The Squeeze Page. With razor sharp graphics you soon see the email box where you can’t resist putting in your email. The creator of the page aims for about 15% of visitors of that page to enter their email in.

There are no links to other pages of course so once you’re on the page, there is no such thing as browsing.

Then of course is that obnoxious second pop up which pulls you back if you try to exit the page “Leaving so soon?” offering you a further reduction or incentive.

Armed 

Get what you have to, but don’t buy any ridiculous junk digital products on the  Internet which may be 10 years old. Now you are armed to face the world of Sales Copy.

The 2 Best Products To Have Online

Whenever people are ambitious to succeed in life, they try to have the perfect product.

Students strive to get the best grades. Workers strive to be the best in their field and so on.

But you may know of people with Einstein’s brain, jobless.

Or they may get a job in a museum or a university where there is just no money.

Why? They forgot one link in the chain.

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An Engineering Business

Perhaps you studied Engineering and want to start a business. Most likely you will start an Engineering business.

But the words Engineering and Business are two different words with two different meanings. You do not learn the second word in school.

If you understood the meaning of Business, you probably wouldn’t choose the same area of business suggested by your education.

Beyond learning to read and write and add numbers, you don’t learn business in school because if you did, perhaps you’d leave. There’d be no point remaining there once you knew what it was.

I once went to a bank for a loan for education. I was swiftly turned down. The only people giving scholarships now are governments and universities. Education is simply not worthwhile for a bank. This should tell you something. And why teachers get paid the least.

Would it surprise you to know that commercial banks never did give scholarships for education? If they ever did give scholarships it was for another reason besides profit.

True, education will help you get a job. And a job can help you if you’re still learning how to sell, but if you get too much job experience, you never will have the motivation to learn SELLING, period. Why wait till after you’re stuffed with degrees and diplomas, or even till after you become the general manager of X corporation?

But what are the two best products to have online?

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1. DEMAND

Learning the meaning of this word will put you ahead of your peers right from the beginning.

There may be a better demand for a physical product which is different from your experience. And you must be willing to swallow your pride and let go of what has little meaning in today’s world.

The hardest thing is for people to just let go of their career accomplishments. Often the more educated and career oriented the person, the harder it becomes.

There are better products

There may be a lot of competition for the job you are seeking. But most people still stick to a job because it is a unique product – there is only one ‘me’.

The problem is, this striving for uniqueness is why people are often trapped in a job with no way out. Even worse, when that ‘me’ becomes redundant they are really stuck.

They don’t know how to deal with a product which is not unique. A product which is not made by them.

Let’s face it, ‘I’ was involved in the production of ‘me’ from beginning to end. I don’t know how to handle quitting production, and still making money on what somebody else produced.

In short, I don’t know how to sell a type of product which is freely available in large quantity made by somebody else, without feeling like an idiot.

That would be like Einstein selling chickens. But why not, if there’s a gap in the market. Or maybe you feel you should sell something prestigious. This still comes down to the same thing of being too proud to sell chickens.

“What did I go to university for?” Good question.

This is why people are often trapped in a job not knowing the way out, or worse.

There is another mystery. You may have the perfect product in terms of demand, but the final link in the chain is

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2. POSITIONING

There is a lot of demand for what you have out there, but unless you are in front of the client when he wants to buy, you are no better than if you had no product at all.

The meaning of competition is simply this:

They have more data on the clients who want to buy than you do

The work of a businessman after researching a product, is to gather data about individual clients which tells him when they are ready to buy.

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At this stage it may be helpful to explain why I write this blog. I am not working on chance. More than likely you want the services I offer. You want data on customers using the Internet to your best advantage. Contact me now to find out how to get the most out of your online campaign:

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What’s Wrong With Network Marketing?

“You can make money with a home business today. And if you’re smart, you’ll choose network marketing” – but how true is this?

At a time when more people go broke on pensions than ever, people are looking for a more secure retirement plan. Since they do not have the necessary savings to invest, they are looking to network marketing.

Financial Expert Robert Kiyosaki, best known for his successful CASHFLOW game, recommends network marketing as the best form of business. He talks out of experience of going bust on 3 traditional businesses, and comes to the conclusion that Network Marketing is the best.

It is even claimed that Warren Buffet stated “the best investment decision I ever made” when buying his first network marketing company and getting involved in an industry that helps and impacts so many people –

However, there are strong criticisms. I hate to dash people’s hopes that network marketing cannot help them. I know you may be in a dire situation. Perhaps you are approaching retirement or possible long-term unemployment. You have really nothing else but Network Marketing.

The criticisms may best be summarized by a blog post on http://www.skepdic.com/mlm.html

This is not to say there is no benefit to MLM membership. You get certain tax write-offs. You get to buy products, some of which you will be happy with. You get to go to inspirational meetings, some of which will make you feel good. You may meet new friends and you may even make a few bucks. But more than likely you will end up alienating some family and friends. You will probably end up buying more stuff than you sell. And you will learn a lot about deceiving yourself and others. You won’t be allowed to tell anyone how you are really doing, for example. You will always have to think positive, even if that means lying. You will have to tell anyone who asks that you are doing great, that business is wonderful, that you’ve never seen anything go so fast and bring you income so quickly, even if it isn’t true. 

This paints a realistic picture of how it is for most people. I have been part of several Network Marketing companies, and I have seen the main flaws. Opening my diary, I had some real moral issues with it. This is what I wrote:

Network Marketing Is A Sin For Several Reasons:

It promotes vanity (there are poor people in the world who just want bread to eat, and vain things are an insult)

It promotes the love of money (people no longer care about poor people)

It promotes fashion (for the same reasons above – showing off does nothing for suffering people)

It leads others to be covetous in the strongest way (stamping on the poor and weak – first you insult them, then you make them drool after your success)

It is stealing by getting people to pay money for useless articles (to be frank, some of the products the people just do not need)

It twists nature in telling lies about money promises (because mostly it is based on an impulsive buy strategy)

It is deceptive

It causes a person to harden their heart and sear their conscience (you could not longer care about others if you are willing to deceive them)

Training meetings are fellowships without God – Diamonds are worshipped (well the most successful people are worshipped like gods aren’t they?)

The result in my family has been disaster

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Ok so that is my take on Network Marketing based on my experience. That’s all the bad stuff but,

Can Network Marketing Really Work Today?

For every bad side there is a good side, and I hope you will not cast off something before you consider the good.

Let’s face it. If you start a traditional business, you will face everything I have mentioned above.

You will be tempted to take advantage of people and to lie to them. But whether you do it or not, that is your own choice.

There is nothing inherently wrong with Network Marketing, just as there is nothing inherently wrong with traditional business. In both cases you can make your choice. You don’t have to do it in a certain way if you don’t want to.

The biggest plus for network marketing is you are taking advantage of working in a team, therefore you can be more efficient in whatever you do.

The the relevant question is:

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Is Sales Moral?

In all cases you have to decide whether you do it in a moral way or not. Whether it’s network marketing or any other form of sales.

We are constantly bombareded with “immoral” sales pitches on the Internet

The Ultimate Guide to Network Marketing: 37 Top Network Marketing Income-Earners Share Their Most Preciously-Guarded Secrets to Building Extreme Wealth

But the secret is, there is no secret! One title shows you how to handle objections:

MLM: Recruiting and Handling Objections

This makes it very confusing for the average Joe Bloggs who wants to start a business.

Will he have to learn certain words? Will he have to learn a certain procedure?

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No Single Procedure Works

If you want to know, there is no one procedure which will guarantee success, because success does not depend on the procedure, or on you, or even on the product, but on the buyer (or more precisely, the TIME he wants to buy).

Have you heard somebody say “It depends on you and your positivity”, etc. Then we wonder what mysterious special quality it is that we lack. Perhaps you may have looked in the mirror and wondered if that quality is there. You may have tried “Selling from the Soul, Ancient Wisdoms” etc.

This constant bombardment has taken the focus off the real answer:

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Loyal Customers Do Not Buy On A Sales Pitch

People will buy when they want to, and not when you say the right thing or act in a certain way.

At least if we talk about loyal customers, this is the case. And the aim of business is to build loyalty. If we get customers by forcing them, persuading them etc. we will lose them just as fast.

So we may as well put the costume and acting script away, right now, because it will not succeed.

Your success will depend on finding the right people who want what you have to offer at the moment when you offer it. IF you are more efficient than anyone else in doing that, then you are in business.

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Final Analysis

When analyzing Network Marketing we ask, Does a network of distributors provide the most efficient way to get what a customer wants WHEN he wants it? And most importantly, does it build a stable repeat business for the distributor? Maybe 10 years ago when there was no Internet.

Now the only advantage over the Internet is word of mouth – the customer can trust the product based on a personal recommendation.

But as for repeat business, you can blow that to the wind. Once they’re convinced about a product, it is much more cost effective to order online. And you can buy just about any network marketing product on eBay. Sure you have to pay for postage, but is the post fee all the network marketer is now worth?

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The Good News

If you expect to retain customers the traditional way, you can only expect postman fees.

Instead of the traditional way, you can build customer loyalty through social media online. But it is now direct selling and no longer MLM.

Therefore, you may develop a lot of sales and leads, but as soon as you stop blogging, they stop buying. That’s residual income gone.

In that case, why bother with a network marketing company at all? You might as well sell Coca Cola if there’s a gap in the market and you can make a 25% profit.

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For The Die Hard Network Marketers

There is light at the end of the tunnel if you completely change the way things are done. Or better yet, if you sell a product which is better to sell online.

For the multiplication effect, which produces residual income, you would have to make the blogging itself MLM.

There are people who have tried this. Tim Sales of Brilliant Compensation made his prospecting system MLM. This is the headline on his site:

Earn Recurring Monthly Commissions by Promoting our (Online) Effective, Generic MLM Prospecting Presentations

You will earn a 40% commission on the monthly subscription fee ($29.95).

10 subscribers @ $12/month = $120/month OR $1,440/year
100 subscribers @ $12/month = $1,200/month OR $14,400/year
500 subscribers @ $12/month – $6,000/month OR $72,000/year

From http://www.mlmbrilliance.com/affiliates.cfm

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The way ahead in not a simple one. People now have to create their own MLM system using social media platforms to yield a residual income. Either that, or wait for a social media giant like Facebook to create something better.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS

All things considered, if you want to go into business and not need to employ anyone, or invest a lot of money, then Network marketing is the solution.

Every business will have its disappointments, and if you’re willing to overcome the ones I mentioned, then it is the answer. Maybe it just takes the right company to partner with.

Business Survival Guide: Can You Survive 2013?

The winners in business are not those with the best sales copy and the best websites.

The winners are those who know how to analyse their prospects and find the hot ones among them all.

There is a lot of top-notch sales copy out there today. There are also many search engines and many sites which copy Facebook and even Twitter. So it’s foolishness to reinvent the wheel and build a super website. It has all been done before. It’s now best to try get in front of trends.

Google taught us that search results could be improved by introducing a human element. Whenever somebody clicks on a link, it gets higher points. And with this human element, it became number 1.

Then Facebook showed us how to follow the identity of one individual, thus attaching the results of a search to a known individual.

Finally, Twitter rose to the top by introducing even more human input while remaining concise, via short recommendations of websites.

Google+ the world’s number 1 has revealed it’s future strategy – to become more personal – like Facebook, because the search results can become even more personal  to an individuals’ preferences.

SO WHAT?

What impact does this have on the average person who wants to make money online or even survive? Whatever customers you may have, your communication has to become more personal and intelligent to the choices they have made in the past.

For Internet business consulting services for your precise requirements, contact me. You could pay a lot less for a better service. Leave your contact details below, and a little more information about your project.

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Survival Guide

The success of any online business will therefore depend on it’s capacity to gather and retain this data on their prospects, and to access this data at the appropriate time to make a sale.

This presents vast opportunities. But it also kills those not following the trends. If you are in business already you may be aware of the impact the Internet has had on your customers. Have you been losing customers? Have you ever asked “to who?”

I believe you may have found the answer in this article if you don’t know it already. Traditional businesses are trying to get online, but they are throwing money at Google to get them there. They do not realize that Google will not give them the answers. That was yesterday.

Meanwhile, social websites are making headway because of their capacity to retain information on individual clients.

Do you have the capacity to hold onto your clients’ wishes and the means to access that information and act according their responses?

This will be the one thing that determines your success or failure in the coming years.

How To Make Money On The Phone

To survive, you must know how to make a stranger buy from you – somebody on the other end of the phone.

This is called prospecting or cold selling or lead generation. It is very relevant to survival in today’s world.

Even if you don’t like the idea, and think it is scary or nasty, your wages come from someone who does it – The company which employs you has clients.

Existing clients leave. Warm and hot prospects are not there. You have to get new clients. Cold selling is your only option.

The problem is, strangers don’t want to buy from you.

At this point we are not actually exchanging money. I use the term ‘selling’ to describe getting somebody to trust you.

Have you ever tried to call somebody to sell something, and immediately they put the phone down on you?

Why do they do that? There is only one reason. Here it is.

You do not know anything about them, so you could not possibly benefit them.

Therefore, You can only be doing it for yourself.

This reasoning is absolutely valid.

If you understand this fundamental reason you will know how to approach somebody cold.

Whatever words you say, you first need to show that you have some information about somebody, which becomes the reason why you contact them.

If you have no reason to call, you are plainly doing it for yourself. And nobody will ever allow this.

This is the basic psychology of any selling situation. And it operates significantly in a cold sell.

So we must change our approach to first know about a person before we call them.

I will give you a few examples.

“If you have a moment you could save money on your bills…”

Although you have offered a clear benefit, the inward response says, “do you know me? how then do you know you can save me money on my bills? What makes me different to everyone else? You are not calling to benefit me as an individual.”

This happens subconsciously in a split second.

The conversation is then shut down.

If they ever listen to you (and only 1 in 50 will listen) it is not a natural buy, but an impulsive buy. They are in the ‘mood’ or you accidentally called a “hot” prospect – they happen to be looking for what you offer at the precise moment when you call. You are no more than a sounding billboard.

And you come under the DO NOT CALL legislation.

The very first step then is to make the person understand that you know them.

But how do you do that to a total stranger? If you lie, you’re caught and it’s game over.

You can’t say anything doubtful such as “you look familiar” – you must be definite.

You can’t say “the reason for my call is…” that is unbelievable, and loses time.

You only have seconds, and what you IMPLY in what you say speaks faster than anything else. They will recognize it in a split second subconsciously.

THE KING SCRIPT:

I got your name from… but I’m not sure if it’s for you.

(and do not say the telephone directory- anything is better!)

Without saying it, you are implying in a split second that you are calling on behalf of somebody who knows them and you have certain criteria which they must fulfil before you continue with the offer.

In the same breath, you also imply that you might have mistaken them for somebody else, you may have the wrong number. The truth is you don’t know them and so correctly you can assume that you may not have the right person. This doubt you just created gives you the extra seconds you need.

But most critically, it opens the door to get further information from them – for a second call a few days later.

All you need is one piece of information:

“So what do you do?” will be the second thing you say.

“Are you happy with that?” (if you feel the person warming up)

In every case, even if they ask you questions say:

“I first have to speak to… but can I call you back?” (based on the info they just gave you this is a reasonable request)

The first call lasts less than a minute.

Shutting the call down at this point also authorizes you to get further contact details – this is called POSTURE. On their question you say:

“Is this the best number to reach you on?” (get their cell number)

“Do you have an email address?” (you may have to say “what is it?”)

Here you have created a solid reason to call back. And a reason to hang up. You must exit quickly leaving the impression that you will do them a favour by calling them back.

After consultation and consideration of their case in particular you will have a REASON TO CALL the second time.

This information will help you swiftly get through the second call. Congratulations, you are now IN. They are a warm contact.

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THE SECOND CALL

Even if you have not considered them in particular, you imply that you have, by calling back and saying “Remember when you said…”

This second call a few days later will be greeted wonderfully.

If you want to know exactly how to handle the second call, leave your email below:

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MORE TIPS

And if they want to just end the conversation on the first call, then it was NOT FOR THEM just as you said.

So you are not working against the tide, but with the tide. When they want to end the call say, “It’s not actually for now, but can I call you back in about a month to see if you’d be looking then?”

Which is just repeating what they are saying. They are telling you it is not for now and you are agreeing with them for a future contact.

REVEALED: The Best Investments in 2013

Why Your Cash Savings Are Worthless – 

Cash is not an asset, and a bank account full of cash is a liability.

This may surprise you, but cash was specifically designed to lose value.

Cash was designed? Yes it was. Cash is not real. It once was real, but not any more.

Cash used to be backed by gold and it was possible for money to increase in value. But now friend, it’s a hole.

Let me back up a bit.

What if your employer decided to pay you in shares alone. All you got at the end of the month was a piece of paper, a share of a company.

You would want to get rid of that paper as soon as possible, wouldn’t you, and try to trade it for something real.

Well that is exactly what cash is – a piece of paper.

Many people, a little wise, have tried to convert their paper into something real (whatever they don’t spend of it). Here are the 7 main vehicles:

The Seven Vehicles Of Investment

(LISTED FROM BAD TO GOOD)

A managed fund (eg. pension, CD, high interest savings)
A pile of shares
A cookie-cutter business franchise
A commodity (eg silver)
A piece of real estate
A tax lien
A royalty right

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Each of these has their own specific qualities, but the best way is for me to explain them using the cutous calculator.

I’m really talking to people who are interested in their financial future. There are people who know something has to be done, but are clueless because of the figures.

What, for instance is the impact of a 5% interest rate on savings? What will happen to pension funds?

I don’t need to tell you this, but if you want the real interest rate on your savings, you have to subtract inflation.

If inflation is 4% and your savings are 5% your actual interest is 1%, which may buy you a happy meal at McDonalds.

But let us look at this in detail.

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FIRST CALCULATION

Take the number 72 and divide it by your real interest rate. This will give you the number of years your money will double.

In the case of 1%, 72/1 is 72 years, if you live that long. This is what I will call a cycle. The cycle in this case is 72 years.

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SECOND CALCULATION

The next factor to consider is yield. You want to just knock off two zeros at the end of your savings to tell you your monthly income.

For example with savings of 64,000 your monthly income would be 640 (pounds, dollars, whatever).

But this is possible only with 12% interest – impossible with savings. There are other avenues which have higher yields, including investment propety.

Money lenders take advantage of giving you credit cards with similar yields. This is why they do it.

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THIRD CALCULATION

With higher interest it is possible to have shorter cycles, and the amount of money generated this way increases exponentially when you pay into the fund regularly without withdrawing for 30 years.

This is the case with managed funds (the most popular form of investment).

if you double the amount you pay in, you double your yield (monthly payout after the end of the investment)

But what they do not tell you is if you double your interest (ie. find a better investment) your monthly payout increases by 16 times (which is what they do with your money).

This shows that if you half your interest rate, you more than tenth your payout. You double your interest rate, you more than ten times your payout (16 x to be precise).

At least this basic understanding of the figures will help you measure the average investment fund. Is 5% good or bad? Or is this only a subject for your financial advisor at the bank?

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A PENSION FUND

According to a recent survey, “falling investment returns combined with lower annuity rates have driven potential retirement income down from £9,000 per year a decade ago to £2,500 now.”

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-1688943/How-pension-income-has-collapsed-by-70.html#ixzz1mx4ua4RX

What does this mean in plain English?

According to the survey, someone who had paid £100 gross per month into a balanced managed fund for the preceding 20 years* would have built up a pension fund of £40,749 if they retired now, compared with £103,914 if they had retired a decade ago.

*100 x 12 x 20 years / 2 = 12,000 effective investment (you didn’t invest 24,000 all at once, but evenly over the period. So an effective investment, or mean, is half this amount over the whole period).

Fund after 20 years is 40,749 from 12,000

On my calculation this is equivalent to a return of 6% on investment, compared to 8.5% – 10 years ago (Fund after 25 years of 103,914 from 12,000)

The article then hints that people must now increase their monthly contributions from 5% to 15% (for 30 years)** of their current income. This will allow them two-thirds of their current income as a pension income.

“Savers need to substantially increase their contributions, if they are to enjoy the same level of retirement as their predecessors.”

**To get 1000 cashflow after 30 years at 6% yields, you have to pay 210 per month instead of 70 per month (for 40 years, payments can be as low as 140 at 6% yields for the same cashflow at retirement).

OF COURSE ASSUMING THERE ARE NO FURTHER DROPS

But the 70% drop between 2000 and 2010 can surely happen even more dramatically in the next 40 years! Contributors have no control over the fund. Unless they make their own private investment plan elsewhere.

So it is stupid to triple the contributions from 5% to 15% of income. Return is directly proportional to input amount, but exponentially proportional (to the power 4) to interest rate. All you have to do is find an investment vehicle with at least 8.5% interest. With the exact same payments:

proportion of cashflow increase = 

(interest rate increase factor) TO THE POWER 4

Remember, if you double the interest rate you x 16 the monthly cashflow. So simply changing investment vehicle and changing interest from 6% to 12%, monthly cashflow is multiplied by 16.

Better (16 times better) to chose a higher interest investment vehicle. The inherent risk is offset by the 16-fold return potential

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ASK YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR

And have you ever asked your financial advisor why he still has a job advising you? If his advice really worked, wouldn’t he have quit his job by now, living on all his investments?

It gets worse. He is paid by the bad guys to give you this advice which just makes them wealthier! Your financial advisor belongs to the same organisation which issues credit cards at 12% interest or more.

He also gets paid in cash to offer you advice that does not work. Perhaps I have to clarify what I mean by ‘paid in cash’

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PAID IN CASH

Many people may not realize there are different ways to get paid.

Cash is the most useless way to get paid, but we have to start here if we have nothing.

You can also get paid by

Rental Income
Business Income

Have you noticed how rent just keeps going up, and your wages don’t?

This should be a hint that some incomes are better than others.

Wages do not, and never will grow above inflation.

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IN CONSTANT DECLINE

Wages are based on an ancient work contract system which is in constant decline.

In addition, there are never more jobs available than 10 years ago. But there are always more people willing to work for less.

So if you want to invest in a growing future, you need to look outside of a job to do it.

People are just going to have to learn to sell something better.

If you have a job, you sold yourself once, or a few times. So everyone has to sell.

But as I said, a job is a shrinking opportunity for two reasons:

1. It pays you in cash, which is worthless, and you get taxed the highest for this very reason

2. There is more and more demand for jobs, therefore, wages are continually dropping, and will never match inflation.

Inflation is a key indicator of the importance of cash. Those who cling to cash, hate the word ‘inflation’.

But inflation was also created to tell us the truth that hanging onto cash is a bad idea.

So what should we convert our cash to? What can we buy with cash today? Get my detailed report here:

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7 Secrets to making £17 000 Sterling on Adwords

I will give you 7 secrets which Google does not tell you that enabled me to make money then, and it still works now, but the margins are smaller.

In 2007 and 2008 I made a total of £17 000 sterling turnover using adwords.

Today it’s 2012 and I have my doubts because there are twice as many people running ads now, so there is half the money.

But hey, it’s still a lot.

The cost? This may stagger you. I was paying 30 pounds a day and my clicks cost on average 90 pence each. Today the same scenario would probably cost me £ 1.50 per click – increase the demand (ie the competition) and the price goes up, profits go down, so its a sad story for people who have projected growth using adwords alone.

Here is my two cents worth.

Of the £17 000 pounds turnover, I spent approximately one third on advertising.

When you look at it that way, the £6 000 sterling I gave away to adwords was worth it.

But what if you don’t make money? That would be a lot just to go down the drain.

FIRSTLY, I UNDERSTOOD THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WARM AND A HOT PROSPECT

A warm prospect is someone who is not actually thinking about your product when you come along. They respond by clicking on your ad, which may appear on another website slightly related to yours.

However, what you need to understand is they do not need your product now.

You may need to find something to retain them until they are ready to buy, otherwise your advertising money is down the drain. But even if you do retain them, they are still a poor quality prospect compared.

The key to effortless sales however, is finding people who want what you have NOW. These are hot prospects.

SO, SECONDLY, I UNDERSTOOD HOW TO MAKE ADS TO ATTRACT HOT PROSPECTS

Google has 2 different types of ads. Content Match and Search Engine ads.

Clearly, content match will only find you warm contacts. These ads appear like I said, on another website, and the person viewing them did not actually choose to view them.

Have you ever received unsolicited mail in your post box? It is exactly the same. They do serve a purpose, but they are warm contacts, even if they contact you. They will always be poorer quality prospects.

The major difference is who initiates the interaction. That is a key you should never forget.

If the prospect initiates the interaction, then they are a hot prospect, and they are a high quality prospect.

Back to google.

Content match ads should actually cost one tenth of search engine ads, to reflect the difference in quality, but what you will see is you pay almost the same amount of money.

So when a person types in “buy shoes” in any search engine, they want to buy shoes and they initiated the interaction. These prospects are worth 10 of the warmer prospects. And they pay 10 times more.

You can specify in adwords to shut down content match (warm contacts) and open up search contacts.

Google adwords was great a few years ago, because they had the final word, so to speak. Yahoo and everyone else did not have the best. So my earnings from Yahoo was precisely nill (I won’t mention bing).

But hey, there is promise on the horizon for bing etc, if you are willing to wait for it. Facebook ads of course are just like content match. Poor quality prospects compared. But the advantage of facebook ads is you can target by exact location, exact age (who lies about their age too much on facebook?) and gender (no one lies about this). This is impossible to do on adwords, but then again, once a warm prospect, always a warm prospect in my books – in every instance a poor quality prospect compared.

If I can get warm prospects for free, that is another question, hey maybe I can turn them into hot over time. But why should I pay for something I can get for free?

THIRDLY, I CHOSE PAYING KEYWORDS

There are may DIY enthusiasts who just want information and do not want to part with cash. With a little thought you can filter these people out by correctly choosing keywords.

For example if I am a money lender, there may be a lot of traffic bidding for ‘mortgage rates’. But are those information seekers, or money payers? This is an important question which may determine your success or failure. Better to bid for ‘insurance broker’.

This varies from sector to sector, but make your money spent to be a worthwhile endeavour by testing one keyword for a week (in isolation) and then another, till you hit one that finds qualified (ie paying) prospects.

This may take time but it will reward you in the end. Yes you do need traffic, and you can use the Adwords Keyword tool to find these traffic generating keywords.

But now you must use your brain to get paying traffic.

FOURTHLY, I SHUT DOWN MONEY-EATING KEYWORDS

Feels great to have so many visitors to your site doesn’t it? But if those people are info seekers rather than wallet openers, you had better shut down those keywords as fast as you can read this line again.

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FIFTHLY, I CHOSE A SUITABLE DOMAIN NAME

People often miss this, but the domain name is where people look first when they see an ad. If you can put paying keywords in your domain name, then bingo!

A domain name which matches your search phrases can double your click through rate. And the higher your click through, the less you pay per click.

SIXTHLY, I MONITORED ACTUAL SEARCH PHRASES

In the above example, if I am in London, and someone types “buy shoes in New York” I have just paid 90 pence for nothing! And it builds up, believe me.

So by using a php http referrer code (ask me) you can determine exactly what people type which triggers the keyword you bid for “buy shoes”

Then you add ‘New York’ to the negative keywords list as you discover these issues that will shut down that problem.

LASTLY, MY LANDING PAGE WAS A SQUEEZE PAGE

No outside links, just a pure contact number. Now looking back, the landing page I used was not good, but hey it paid. This proves what I assert time and time again:

It is much better to be in front of a hot contact with a lousy pitch, than in front of a warm contact with the best sales persuasion techniques on the planet!

How I turned failure into success with 6 Simple Steps

FIRSTLY, I STOPPED LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACES

The telephone directory is a fine source but not for every product.
This is probably the lowest quality of prospects because it is accessible to everybody, hence you have to be bulletproof if you plan to cold call.
Unless you offer people jobs or something equally credible you are going to struggle here.
But when you begin you may have no other option – unless you spend some time or money developing prospects.

SECONDLY, I STOPPED DOING THE WRONG THING FOR TOO LONG

The result of unproductive habits is burn out
This is the one single reason why people are afraid of sales.
They have tried to persuade the wrong people for too long and have come out baffled.
No, it is not you. Those were impossible prospects (people who will not buy, no matter what you do).
So now you may have settled down for something second best, perhaps a poorer paid position which does not put you in these selling situations.

SO, THIRDLY, I KEPT RECORDS ALL THE TIME TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I WAS DOING WRONG

You will never know until you try, but you will continue to never know after, unless you keep records.
For instance, If you run an email campaign, for a given message do you know what percentage of the people clicked on a link?
I dare say if you don’t, you are wasting your time and effort and are likely to burn out.
Do all your emails contain a link to check the pulse, so to speak?
Is your feedback mechanism in effect? Aweber has a system like this but it is inadequate and incompete, and often has missing or corrupt data. What use is that?
Do you know which links a given user has clicked and in which messages?
Whether the message you sent was written or oral (by phone), the same rule applies.
Or can you only conclude that something you did was wrong, but you don’t know exactly what, because you have no data?

FOURTHLY, I FOCUSSED ON DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR LONG ENOUGH

Do you know what an acceptable percentage of response is?
What is your threshold, to know if something is worth your while?
Do you have solid figures to tell you out of 15 people, for a given method and demographic, how many of them will be prospects? 5? 2?
The difference between 5 and 2 could make a huge difference in whether you balance your books at the end of it.
This knowledge will help you to not quit after contacting only 5 people!
You need to base your decisions on 50-100 similar people (depending on your method) to make a decent evaluation.

FIFTHLY, I USED APPROPRIATE FOLLOW-UP STEPS UNTIL PROSPECTS WERE READY TO BUY

Have you painted a permanent mark before your prospects, a brand identity? Do you own at least a list of qualified prospects who associate a specific need with you?
Do you send a targeted accurate follow up to the people who click, depending on what they click?
Amazon is one among many, setting the trend by sending follow up emails depending on what a person puts on their wish list. The amazing thing about the Internet is it is totally scalable. What amazon can do online, anyone can do (apart from offline things such as delivery, sourcing etc)
Do you tailor your follow ups depending on which link they clicked?
Are you investing in the right technology to automate the process once you have fine-tuned it?
Do you nurture the people with a specific theme who have clicked on a specific link until they are ready to buy?
Or do you bunch them up with the rest?
This means you could struggle as email campaigns become more and more targeted in future and yours don’t.
It certainly means you are not focusing where you need to, or at least not refining and retaining the fruits of your efforts.

LASTLY, I FOLLOWED UP-TO-DATE ADVICE

The old school network marketing strategy was to randomly phone 10 people on your list a week – put in everybody, aunts, uncles etc. But you cannot recruit people from one network marketing company to another in this so-called ‘free enterprise’ system. Apart from that, it won’t work today, and the reasons are all too obvious. Random calling is an eroding industry. The payouts are getting smaller and the competition harder.
Well as an Engineering graduate, they didn’t teach me all this at university – or at least it was not obvious to me.
I thought I just needed to study hard or work hard and send out my CV and wait for the job offers to roll in.
But like google adwords, this is an outdated method because there are just too many people doing it.
The outcome is an underpriced and eroding commodity (who doesn’t complain about wages not keeping up with inflation?)
So I struggled in that way for a number of years. Sound familiar?
I finally decided to stop being the product for at least 10% of the time, and to start learning how to sell the product by making the best use of today’s technology.