Pick ewenmack's brain for free...got a reason for it

17 replies
Bob Ross is recording a interview with me
next week for his members.

So I thought I'd better brush up on my
q & a skills.

Wanna pick my brain on anything now?

Best,
Ewen
#brain #ewenmack #freegot #pick #reason
  • Profile picture of the author .
    You have 10K to generate offline leads and build a lead generation machine - where would you put the money?
    Telesales?
    VA's
    paid traffic?

    Will having 10K vs 20K makes a difference ... or is all about the "system in place? "
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      Originally Posted by rankinghero View Post

      You have 10K to generate offline leads and build a lead generation machine - where would you put the money?
      Telesales?
      VA's
      paid traffic?

      Will having 10K vs 20K makes a difference ... or is all about the "system in place? "
      First I'd ask what skills you have for using
      the different media available.

      Then I'd point you in the right direction
      to get the resources you need to get you
      up to speed.

      The difference between 10k and 20k isn't a determiner of success.

      The other questions I'd ask will be around
      the message and target audience because
      they are the other 2 out of the 3 parts which determine
      your success rate.

      Your list is the delivery of message medium,
      which is the 3'rd part.

      Best,
      Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author socialentry
    How did you get into/learn about ad writing?

    It seems to me it would take a long time.
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      Originally Posted by socialentry View Post

      How did you get into/learn about ad writing?

      It seems to me it would take a long time.
      It was at the start of the 90's when I ran my first
      classified newspaper ads for a weight loss product.

      Continued to roll it out in other papers.

      Back then there was no Internet.

      You had to sell the callers on the phone,
      then get them to drive to the bank and deposit
      money into my bank account. Next they had to phone
      back with a reference number so Zi could phone my bank to confirm
      fhe deposit was made.

      Talk about having to get them to jump through
      hoops to make a sale!

      From there I read books from Dan Kennedy
      and Jack Trout, Al Ries.

      It wasn't until mid 2000 that I got hooked up
      to ghd Internet. This helped me really speed up my
      knowledge of direct response advertising.

      Just fascinates me how you can get people to
      respond and take action from words.

      About it takes a long time.
      You can compare it to any profession and skill set.
      Your dedication and desire plus a heaping of natural talent
      all come into play.

      Best,
      Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author The Voices
    I'm fairly new to all this, so a bit of a basic question and I'm sure it depends on both the advertiser and their target market, but for a new offline business with a relatively small, specific market, what do you think will be the most effective advertising medium?

    What do you believe is more important: the ad itself (wording, layout, etc.) or the advertising medium?
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      Originally Posted by The Voices View Post

      I'm fairly new to all this, so a bit of a basic question and I'm sure it depends on both the advertiser and their target market, but for a new offline business with a relatively small, specific market, what do you think will be the most effective advertising medium?

      What do you believe is more important: the ad itself (wording, layout, etc.) or the advertising medium?
      The first starting point is your target market.

      Then see if you can reach them
      at a price that makes sense.

      The last is matching your message to your reader as close as
      you can, so they know it's for them and only them.

      Best,
      Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author fated82
    Ppl approach me for copywriting service. But after discussing indepth with them, I realize they need more than just writing services. They need to learn how to track, how to measure success, design of they layout etc.

    Question is, should I just sell them what they want or what they need?
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      Originally Posted by fated82 View Post

      Ppl approach me for copywriting service. But after discussing indepth with them, I realize they need more than just writing services. They need to learn how to track, how to measure success, design of they layout etc.

      Question is, should I just sell them what they want or what they need?
      Gave answer in your thread.

      Was it the same as this question?

      Best,
      Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
    So many magazine and newspaper ads so unengaging and often have no real call to action or immediacy about them , how would you solve that issue for the businesses that advertise
    Signature

    Mike

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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      Originally Posted by mjbmedia View Post

      So many magazine and newspaper ads so unengaging and often have no real call to action or immediacy about them , how would you solve that issue for the businesses that advertise
      Mike, for many of those ad owners, if we were to craft one as you described,
      it most likely won't pass their "looks good" test.

      An accountant added a nice looking woman to his ad
      and made no other changes.

      It immediately got more response and more clients.

      Then the "Oh my goodness, what will our associates, family and friends think"
      came from his wife.

      "Darling, don't you like the extra money we have now?"

      "Yes of course I do...but..."

      And on and on the horror she voiced at him.

      In the end he gave up on it to shut her up.

      Response dropped to the floor...again!

      So that's the problem. A much bigger percentage of offline businesses owners
      fit into that category than we would suspect.

      Shocking even.

      Therefore it really is almost a pointless subject on how to make them better,
      because they don't buy into what it takes.

      Best,
      Ewen
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      • Profile picture of the author Ron Lafuddy
        Ewen, you're describing the "self saboteurs".

        It's important to weed them out......because
        ultimately you will be the one blamed for lack
        of results.

        1. They will blame you and whatever program you
        provided.

        2. Worse, they will tell others that what you offer
        doesn't work.

        3. Worst, you can find yourself entangled in the legal
        system.

        The solution: Get rid of them as fast as possible.

        Jim Camp's "non-needy" approach to gaining new clients
        is absolutely critical to your business health (and your
        sanity).
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        • Profile picture of the author socialentry
          Hey ewen,

          I wonder what's your system for keeping stats on your ads?

          When do you decide when an ad does poorly (or well)?
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          • Profile picture of the author upmatthews
            Ewen

            We al know that testimonials are great in advertising. What do you do if you are new at your business and do not have testimonials yet?

            Also, what would your response be if your prospect said "I've never heard of you or your business"

            Thank you
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            • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
              Originally Posted by upmatthews View Post

              Ewen

              We al know that testimonials are great in advertising. What do you do if you are new at your business and do not have testimonials yet?

              Also, what would your response be if your prospect said "I've never heard of you or your business"

              Thank you
              I've never heard of the question asked of me before..."I've never heard of you or your business".

              Have you been told it before?

              Great question about not having testimonials when you are new.

              When I wrote the Craigslist ad for a guy new to web design, which has become the most ripped off ad for web design on the internet, he had no
              testimonials too.

              I don't think he was trained in the field and I believe he outsourced the design work.

              What I set out for him to be the most knowledgeable and most bottom line helpful to a business owner who has decided he wants a new website and
              is deciding who to hire.

              Part of the ad was about the cost of making a wrong design desicion with test results with real company names.

              Left enough out so it will keep the curiosity high.

              You can use case studies that you have come across, industry stats
              and mould them into a piece which prevents a buyer making costly mistakes in his decision making process.

              90-95% of the piece is just helpful information and
              the last is asking the reader to contact you for imlenting what has been stated.

              That's a great model for more complex business to business sales.

              Best,
              Ewen
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              • Profile picture of the author JayBay
                Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post


                What I set out for him to be the most knowledgeable and most bottom line helpful to a business owner who has decided he wants a new website and
                is deciding who to hire.
                Basically my question. Did you suggest any resources to appear knowledgeable or did he study seo and design for a couple of months before venturing with the ad since he was new?
                Signature

                What can I do to be more helpful to you?

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                • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
                  Originally Posted by JayBay View Post

                  Basically my question. Did you suggest any resources to appear knowledgeable or did he study seo and design for a couple of months before venturing with the ad since he was new?
                  I had already seen split test results for landing pages
                  at Marketing Experiments.

                  Just had to dig up ones for what I thought would match different
                  types of businesses and had different call to action needs.

                  On a recent project which I had no prior experience or knowledge about,
                  I did a lot of research on what could go wrong and the consequences of those mistakes.

                  Even though my client is the industry expert,
                  I wanted to go deeper.

                  This allowed me to write a more helpful piece which warned the buyer
                  to look out for the hidden traps.

                  It's one thing being a expert on a subject,
                  but a different thing to be useful to a buyer.

                  The ideal situation is to help the prospective buyer
                  make a right decision.

                  And she comes to that conclusion herself.

                  Best,
                  Ewen
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          • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
            Originally Posted by socialentry View Post

            Hey ewen,

            I wonder what's your system for keeping stats on your ads?

            When do you decide when an ad does poorly (or well)?
            When there is only one ad running in one media,
            then tracking is the number of phone calls.
            Simply write it down.

            If there is more than one ad running then we would ask
            "Bye the way, where did you find out about us?

            This is written down as part of the number of phone ins and the
            number of conversions to customers.

            Deciding on whether a ad is doing poorly or good is a function
            of did it bring in customers?

            Since it is asking for a response, then if it isn't paying for itself,
            then you have to stop it.

            You may set out to break even or lose a little on the initial sale
            if you know you have a great repeat business model.

            In this case you think of your advertising as buying customers.
            If you invest $10 to buy a customer, you get your money back in 7 days
            and you'll get $500 over the next 12 months would be a return on investment
            scenario.

            Best,
            Ewen
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