Why Do We Buy?

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When Was The Last Time That You Purchased Something On-line?

Do you remember just why you bought it?
You will probably say “Because I needed it.”
Do you remember what it was?
Did you actually use it?
You honestly believe that you are telling the truth. But are you?
Just stop and think what would have happened if you had decided not to make that particular purchase.

Would you have been any worse off? Would it have prevented you from doing something that could not have been done in another way?
Would your partner have left you and would your dog have bitten you just to show its displeasure? I doubt it. In fact, would anything of any real importance have occurred if you had declined the offer?
But you bought it just the same.

Now is the time to be honest with yourself. You bought it because you wanted it. Not because you needed it. You could have managed quite well without it but something about the advert convinced you that you would be better off with than without it.

Don’t feel bad. It happens to us all. You’re no different from the rest of us It’s what is known as ‘Human Nature’. The point I am getting at is, how can we as business people cash in on this phenomenon?

We can’t make someone buy something that they don’t need. We have to make them want it. That’s what advertising is all about. Whether they need it or not. Convince them that they need it and they will want it. If they want it they will buy it. There is nothing wrong with that. It’s business. If people only purchased things that they genuinely needed. Commerce would come to a standstill. We could all wrap up and go home.

How do we go about convincing the general public that they should buy things that they don’t need? As I said above, we must make them want what we are selling. It doesn’t matter if they need it. Our job is to sell. Theirs is to buy. Whatever you do, don’t lose sight of that fact.

Before you can sell anything you must get your prospect’s attention. Our only means to this end are the headlines that we place at the top of the advert. Don’t be timid. Shout if you need to. Even if you have to compose your headline in bright red with yellow flashing lights. Get their attention.

Once you have their attention you must have something to say. Something that will play on their emotions. Give them a hint of something interesting if only they will pause for a moment and read the rest of the advert. Ask a question that can only be answered by reading the advert. Warn them of an imminent disaster that can be averted if only they will read you advert.

O.K. Your headline has convinced them to read the ad. Now what? Most adverts in ezines are restricted to a certain number of lines. The small ads are anywhere between three and six lines. There is an art in putting your sales message across in such a small space. It can be done but it takes a lot of practice.

The best and most profitable place for your ad is at the top of the page. It will cost you quite a bit more than a simple small ad further down the page but it will stand out and be read by a lot more people. Which means more clicks through with will mean far more sales. These are the adverts that I use. Not only that, you get more lines of text to enable you to get your message across.

Remember, need and want are two different things. It matters not if a person needs something. If you can make them want it, you have a much better chance of making a sale.

I have only one last thing to say. Use every legitimate way that you know of to make your sales. There is one thing that you must be careful of. Always make sure that you tell the truth. Just one small lie can ruin your reputation for ever. It’s not worth the risk. There is always a chance that you may not be found out. But you will know, and you have to live with the shame.
R J Farey.
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Profile:
Bob has been working on the internet in various capacities since 2000. He uses ezines and short articles to market his products simply because, if you do it right, it works.
You will find his latest venture at: www.rjf08.com "It’s a no brainer."

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WHAT'S IN A HEADLINE?

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HEADLINES

The trouble with advertising via the internet is that there is no body language involved. When you are talking to someone face to face your body language tells your prospect a lot about you as a person. A good salesman will sell himself before he starts to sell a product.

Where does that leave the internet salesperson? He/She cannot see the prospect. To the prospect you are just a stranger who wants to take up some of his/her valuable time to talk about something that they are probably not interested in. How are you going to attract their attention? You can’t go up to the prospect and introduce yourself. (You are invisible.) You must use your headline. Your advert must have a compelling headline. Something that will stop him in his tracks. Something that will make him take a closer look.

What makes a good headline, either on an email or on any other written advert? As a rule it is something that is of interest to that particular person. Something that gives a hint that it will be worth their while to inquire further..
Just suppose that you were advertising a website dealing with container gardening. You would most likely publish it in a gardening e-magazine with perhaps a readership of 10,000. We will assume that 5,000 never read the adverts anyway.

Leaving us with only 5,000 who will scan the ads out of curiosity. Amongst those 5,000, who we assume are interested in gardening. How many of them are interested in ‘container gardening’? These are the ones that we must attract. Our headline must be aimed directly at this minor proportion of the subscribers to the magazine. We are in what we call a ‘niche’ market’. The headline must be aimed directly at this niche. It must contain words that attract the attention of those ‘Container gardeners’

What I am attempting to show is that just because you publish your advert in a magazine with 10,000 subscribers. If your business is a niche within a much broader subject, Such as Container Gardening within the broader subject of Gardening in general. Your headline must be capable of attracting the attention of the smaller group of people that your advert is aimed at.

A better idea is to find ezines that deal exclusively with the niche that you want to promote. It is what we call ‘Targeted Marketing’. If you can do that, you can be sure that you have a very responsive audience who will be sure to at least read your advert. The more people who read it, the more chances you have of making sales.

It is a proven fact that an ad with a compelling headline with indifferent subject matter will perform better than one with an indifferent headline but superb text and graphics. The moral of the story is to practice writing headlines. For every advert write at least ten different headlines and pick the very best one for publication.
Robert J Farey
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BOB’S PROFILE
Bob has been working on the internet in various capacities since 2000. He uses ezines and articles to market his products simply because, done the right way, it works.
You will find his latest venture at: http://www.rjf08.com "It’s a no brainer."

R J Farey.

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