Week 1 For Month 1 MMI - Headlines

Welcome to the Marketing Master Insider ( Marketing Master Insider (MMI or Marketing Insider)!

Congratulations for starting this 12 month journey to become a Marketing Master.  We all went to school to learn the basics to become an employee, but very little have a marketing education that's meant to train us to become wildly successful entrepreneurs.

Yes, read that again.

Before you buy a franchise, become a partner in a business, try to do freelancing or sideline businesses - you must be great at marketing. Not good, not knowledgeable, not educated. 

You must be great marketer to guarantee your business success.

In this email series you will learn the short cut to all the marketing I've learned after 6 years of non-stop learning.  I can confidently say that your teacher, me - have exceeded the requisite 10,000 hours of mastery that Malcolm Gladwell attributed to experts in his book "Outliers". If you studied (using audio books on an IPOD) for 8 hours every day for 3.4 years you would have the 10,000 hours. This email series is an entertaining "brain dump" of what I know, what I have done and what my old book and reference materials tell me to be great marketing.

Some of you will expect the newsletters to be long. SORRY. This is a crash course of substance. So there will be nothing here you won't need. You'll need everything I'm going to teach you. Be happy that I've shortened it as much as I can - otherwise you're better off reading all the books that I've read and listened to.

Ah yes, in the next newsletter I'll tell you the LIST OF RESOURCES I've consulted to get you these materials. Just for fun, in case you want to go to the source and learn first hand. It's long -hence it's going to be a fun read.

Let's begin, marketing master!


Note: Here's the PDF VERSION FOR DOWNLOADING AND PRINTING: RIGHT CLICK here and select Save file As or Save Target As to get your own copy for printing or reading offline.

For the first MMI newsletter we will tackle headlines.  Headlines are either Blog Post Titles, Email Subjects or Article and Poster Headlines.  Yes poster - as in paper poster for concerts, posters for Facebook events and posters for Facebook Wall posts and Facebook Welcome pages. 

Creating the right and attractive headline (words) is the most important thing to guerrilla marketing (guerrilla = inexpensive).

Whereas you can make a poster- like the one below- that contains a celebrity's name and huge recognizable face:

Most businesses do not have access/budget to big name celebrities. So if you try to use the same style in your promotion of your non-celebrity product or service -putting the name of the company on the poster / blog post / article- for example - it doesn't work.

So say good bye to the kinds of clever marketing you see on magazines and billboards. They simply will not work for SMEs (small and medium sized businesses).

Here's another example of what you can't do :

Yes, it's creative- contains no celebrities and will probably win awards. But notice the message - save lives stub it out-is extremely small. Put this in a Facebook page and nobody can read it or understand that the flames are also engulfing homes.  This doesn't work. It's clever - the kind of work your novice officemates will say "NICE" but none of them will quit smoking. This poster is a work of art that doesn't move the viewer. I'm talking of the context of bringing the same image to printed paper or on a website or Facebook page.

Our kind of marketing uses mostly words without images required.

But Jomar, I will not create posters. Oh you will, you may not print it but once you create a Facebook PROFILE PHOTO , that's a poster, invite people to an event via Facebook - you'll need an event poster - see the image on the left:

Even your blog design needs to invite people to do one thing ("Please enter your email address below to receive top secret interior design tips..") - hence the need to use the correct words.

Remember, we're using words to market, NOT SELL.

Let's differentiate:

Marketing is all that preparation that you do to enable sales persons to sell - the brochures, their sales script, their demos, the product design.  Selling is when you ask people to buy.

The best marketing makes selling a non-requirement (Peter Drucker). A great product or service makes people want to buy it. Like most Apple, iPad, iPod and mac products. When they're announced, people don't say "Is there a discount?" or "What are the bonuses". They say "When and how soon can you get one for me and for each member of my entire family?"

That's a great goal for us to have.

Hence the goal of our marketing is to relay emotion to the reader.  -any kind of emotion that will move them to "buy" the message.  Now look at this:

Yes, but something is missing from this poster. Now look at another version:

You don't need to read the small text. The large text and image makes you understand what the message is. So the big text is correct along with the image of the toilet.   Disgusting and the answer to the question is "No"!.

Now guess what's wrong with the poster?

Guess.

Guess.

Guess.

Don't read further until you've guessed. 

Even better write down your guesses in the Facebook Group so you will be kept honest. Here's the Facebook group for all MM insiders:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketinginsider/

Okay. Look at the poster one last time and type in your guesses here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketinginsider/

Reader?

Spoilers ahead!

What's missing in this poster is a LARGER "Action Step".  An action step is when you tell the reader to DO SOMETHING. A poster (or Facebook profile photo) that doesn't tell the person to do anything is a failure as a marketing tool.  The action in this poster is "Stir Your World --Website". "Stir" doesn't mean much to me. I'd much prefer they said what they want you to do in a more emotional way like:

"Make a difference to thirsty dying people now - visit stir.org.au.".  It's more direct and not fancy-clever "STIR YOUR WORLD."

By the way, this is a WorldVision project, hence the end "sell" is to donate to charity to support children - w/c is not visible to this poster (that's okay).

If you didn't guess right, that's okay. Our goal is that before 12 months is over I can show you a poster and you can tell me exactly what's working and not working just from looking at it for 20 seconds or less. That goes for showing you any thing- menu,  brochure, sign, storefront or website.

At this point, I can honestly tell you that I'm deciding to end this edition of the newsletter. But I suspect that you'll be "bitin" so here's the continuation of what you're supposed to receive next time:

(Btw, tell me if my decision to make this longer is correct, let me know at : https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketinginsider/)

The classics! 

This is where they say it all began. Check out this old ad - yes read the whole thing:

Famous copywriter, John Caples, wrote this ad that was considered the very best of its time and is still a classic. [Headline] They Laughed When I Sat Down At the Piano But When I Started to Play! -- [Caption] "Can he really play?" a girl whispered. "Heavens no!" Arthur exclaimed. "He never played a note in his life." [Body Copy] Arthur had just played "The Rosary." The room rang with applause. I decided that this would be a dramatic moment for me to make my debut. To the amazement of all my friends, I strode confidently over to the piano and sat down. "Jack is up to his old tricks," somebody chuckled. The crowd laughed. They were all certain that I couldn't play a single note. "Can he really play?" I heard a girl whisper to Arthur. "Heavens, no!" Arthur exclaimed "He never played a note in all his life... But just you watch him. This is going to be good." I decided to make the most of the situation. With mock dignity I drew out a silk handkerchief and lightly dusted off the piano keys. Then I rose and gave the revolving piano stool a quarter of a turn, just as I had seen an imitator of Paderewski do in a vaudeville sketch. "What do you think of his execution?" called a voice from the rear. "We're in favor of it!" came back the answer, and the crowd rocked with laughter. [Subhead] Then I Started to Play [Body Copy] Instantly a tense silence fell on the guests. The laughter died on their lips as if by magic. I played through the first few bars of Beethoven's immortal Moonlight Sonata. I heard gasps of amazement. My friends sat breathless -- spellbound! I played on and as I played I forgot the people around me. I forgot the hour, the place, the breathless listeners. The little world I lived in seemed to fade -- seemed to grow dim -- unreal. Only the music was real. Only the music and visions it brought me. Visions as beautiful and as changing as the wind blown clouds and drifting moonlight that long ago inspired the master composer. It seemed as if the master musician himself were speaking to me -- speaking through the medium of music -- not in words but in chords. Not in sentences but in exquisite melodies! [Subhead] A Complete Triumph! [Body Copy] As the last notes of the Moonlight Sonata died away, the room resounded with a sudden roar of applause. I found myself surrounded by excited faces. How my friends carried on! Men shook my hand -- wildly congratulated me -- pounded me on the back in their enthusiasm! Everybody was exclaiming with delight -- plying me with rapid questions... "Jack! Why didn't you tell us you could play like that?"... "Where did you learn?" -- "How long have you studied?" -- "Who was your teacher?" "I have never even seen my teacher," I replied. "And just a short while ago I couldn't play a note." "Quit your kidding," laughed Arthur, himself an accomplished pianist. "You've been studying for years. I can tell." "I have been studying only a short while," I insisted. "I decided to keep it a secret so that I could surprise all you folks." Then I told them the whole story. "Have you ever heard of the U.S. School of Music?" I asked. A few of my friends nodded. "That's a correspondence school, isn't it?" they exclaimed. "Exactly," I replied. "They have a new simplified method that can teach you to play any instrument by mail in just a few months." [Subhead] How I Learned to Play Without a Teacher [Body Copy] And then I explained how for years I had longed to play the piano. "A few months ago," I continued, "I saw an interesting ad for the U.S. School of Music -- a new method of learning to play which only cost a few cents a day! The ad told how a woman had mastered the piano in her spare time at home -- and without a teacher! Best of all, the wonderful new method she used, required no laborious scales -- no heartless exercises -- no tiresome practising. It sounded so convincing that I filled out the coupon requesting the Free Demonstration Lesson. "The free book arrived promptly and I started in that very night to study the Demonstration Lesson. I was amazed to see how easy it was to play this new way. Then I sent for the course. "When the course arrived I found it was just as the ad said -- as easy as A.B.C.! And, as the lessons continued they got easier and easier. Before I knew it I was playing all the pieces I liked best. Nothing stopped me. I could play ballads or classical numbers or jazz, all with equal ease! And I never did have any special talent for music!" [Subhead] Play Any Instrument [Body Copy] You too, can now teach yourself to be an accomplished musician -- right at home -- in half the usual time. You can't go wrong with this simple new method which has already shown 350,000 people how to play their favorite instruments. Forget the old-fashioned idea that you need special "talent." Just read the list of instruments in the panel, decide which one you want to play and the U.S. School will do the rest. And bear in mind no matter which instrument you choose, the cost in each case will be the same -- just a few cents a day. No matter whether you are a mere beginner or already a good performer, you will be interested in learning about this new and wonderful method. [Subhead] Send for Our Free Booklet and Demonstration Lesson [Body Copy] Thousands of successful students never dreamed they possessed musical ability until it was revealed to them by a remarkable "Musical Ability Test" which we send entirely without cost with our interesting free booklet. If you are in earnest about wanting to play your favorite instrument -- if you really want to gain happiness and increase your popularity -- send at once for the free booklet and Demonstration Lesson. No cost -- no obligation. Right now we are making a Special offer for a limited number of new students. Sign and send the convenient coupon now -- before it's too late to gain the benefits of this offer. Instruments supplied when needed, cash or credit. U.S. School of Music, 1031 Brunswick Bldg., New York City.

Now that's a classic magazine ad.  The image helps but the secret to it's outstanding success (in sales of the product) is in the words.  Remember the smile you had when you were reading the text?  Oh you're denying that you were excited to see if he can play? Or that you were happy to see he got the applause after?  

That's a great use of words and of marketing using words.

Now see how it's used today:

No images! Some format. 

"They laughed when I __(proposed activity)___, but when  __(incredible result hinted at )____"

Your ability to copy ads like these will determine your success in any kind of marketing. Yup, any kind.

Now, can you make up your own versions of this?

Please go ahead and type them into the Facebook Group or your own personal notebook (paper).

Jay Abraham one of the most highly paid marketing consultants in North America, gave away a list of top selling headlines years ago. Here's a sample of those:

“How I improved my memory in one evening”

“I’d like to share with you how we’ve taught businesses 

“How to double their revenues in 90 days or less”

“Discover the fortune that lies hidden…in your salary, …in your client base…in your current finances”

“Discover the joy that lies hidden…in your personal life”

“How I made a fortune with a fool idea”

“Whose fault is it when children disobey?”

“Have you any of these symptoms of nervous exhaustion?”

“Have you a worry stock?”

“How a new kind of clay improved my complexion in 30days”

“161 ways to a man’s heart in this fascinating report for cooks”

“Is the life of a child worth a dollar to you?”

“Today add $10,000 more to your estate for the price of a good dinner”

“Does your child ever embarrass you?”

“How to do wonders with a little land”

“Little leaks that keep men poor”

“How much is worker tension costing your company?”

“Did you ever see a telegram from the heart?”

“It’s a shame for you not to make more money when these men do it so easily”

“Thousands now play who never thought they could”

“Make this one-minute test of an amazing new kind of shaving cream”

“17,000 blooms from a single plant”

“In 2 seconds Bayer Aspirin begins to dissolve in your glass”

“Six times whiter washes”

You don't read the list to use these headlines but you need to extract the pattern of how they're made, what emotion they're trying to give to the reader and how many times you see the word "you" in the list above.

To get the complete list of headlines, click here:http://www.google.com.ph/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=jay+abraham+headlines

Yes, it's a google search. Telling you that it's really simple if you know what you're looking for.

Headlines are important because they make people READ ON. If the beginning of the email, poster or blog post isn't interesting to you - you wouldn't have read about the piano playing man. You would only care if the headline promised something interesting or great.

Ok. I'll end this here.  You have a lot of reading to do and analysis of what kind of headline you can use in your own business. For example, to introduce yourself as a great VA, what headline will you use?

Now live a marvelous life, Marketing Master!

Jomar Hilario

Coming up in the Next Issue: (Still this September)

1. The list of resources you can dig into for in-depth knowledge.  Some of these will be very expensive , some free.

2. Examples of blogposts and blogpost topics that gets people's attentions. And here's a teaser for that:

*later!

P.S. Let me know, is this too long, too short? Send comments via https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketinginsider/


PDF VERSION FOR DOWNLOADING AND PRINTING HERE, RIGHT CLICK here and select Save file As or Save Target As.




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