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TURNING LETTUCE INTO SALAD

No, this is not a cooking lesson!

However, if you are a salad lover, you know that
a good salad needs to be crisp, taste glorious and
be exquisitely presented.

This applies equally to a good website or sales letter.

If you want to make sales, have an ad that entices
and a sales site that sizzles.

It's that simple.

SMORGASBORDS CAN MAKE YOU ILL.

Have you ever noticed how some ads and some
websites look like a buffet table at some grand
dining establishment? You open up the ad or
website and there are so many   goodies offered,
you don't know where to look or where to go first.
If you try to eat it all, you are liable to end up
with a stomach ache.

To illustrate this:

Take a day to surf marketing sites at google.com
and the first thing you will notice is the number
of sites that leave you with the question, "What
on earth were they selling?"

Some sites are more like shopping lists than sites
selling a specific product or service. You usually
encounter banners or links whizzing you off to
15 to 20 other sites and the product that interested
you in the first place is strategically hidden so you
need to be a bonafide detective to find it easily.

All this does is help you get lost in cyberspace
and ensure you never find your way back to the
site you started at.

Our point is this:

If you want to make sales, state your offer clearly
and concisely, so that people get the idea in one
take or one glance.

SIMPLE IS BEST

Sell one thing and one thing only. When you serve
a creative meal you don't serve your guests multiple
salads.

Get them to your site using the essentials....

Here are the essential elements of a profit-pulling
heading...

Example: Ad Heading:

Solo Ads: Proven Results. Mail Today!

This heading tells you what the product, is, what
it will do and when it will do it. It is designed to
get people to open your ad and read on...

You have one chance to chance to grab your
readers attention and interest and compel them
to act.

WEBSITE COPY - CLOSE THE DEAL.

It's in the copy that you need to convince your
prospect to do the one thing you want them to
do. Whip out their credit card right now and
order your product or service or join your
opportunity!

Don't distract them or take them anywhere else
but to your order page. Like your ad copy, you
want to keep your sales site copy simple and on
point and you want to close the deal and make
the sale.

ADD VALUE: TURN LETTUCE INTO SALAD:

Most business owners think the only way to
compete against the big boys is to cut prices.
Large companies can often afford to cut prices
but small business owners can't. This is not
the only way to compete and often it's not the
best way.

Try adding value to existing products and be
sure that the additions are in keeping with your
main offer. Example...

If you are selling fax machines, don't give away
a mobile phone. Better to give away a roll of
fax paper. This fits with what you are selling
and adds value to the offer.

If you are selling solo ads, ad value by offering
a free course on Ad writing or a piece of
software that helps create headlines. Don't offer
an ebook on gardening.

Decide at whom you aiming your advertising
and marketing and serve up something that
complements the main course.

Stop selling lettuce, anyone can do that. Become
a gourmet chef and serve your customers a
creative salad. Creative salads are simple, fresh,
well presented and get your readers mouths
watering to get at the extra goodies included.

If you can entice your customers with the first
course, you can bet they will come back for more.

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This article is an excerpt from a Soon-to-be-
released Ebook, Titled "Success In a Nutshell"
by Phil Basten & Jane Mark of JPE Advertising
http://jpeadvertising.com
Co-Editors of: WebPro Times Ezine
http://webprotimes.com
Authors of: Joe? Yes, Mable? Are We Rich Yet?
http://jpeadvertising.com/jandm/
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