Recorded Message Magic

Recorded Message Magic!

The Best Kept Mortgage Advertising Secret That Can More Than Double Your Responses!

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

In the mortgage profession, there's confusion about what people should put in advertisements for their firm, what can and can't be said, and whether or not it's okay for others to pay or split advertising or other marketing expenses and so on.

We want to stress clearly that the suggestions and ad copy we're providing are not intended to cover every legal and regulatory possibility for every mortgage profession in all fifty states, as well as rules for numerous associations and organizations you may belong to.

Always, we do our best to provide direct response marketing materials and suggestions that are not only effective but also comply with laws and ethics requirements in a general way. For example, in some states, all advertising materials for mortgage brokers must have the broker's name on ads, regardless of content. In other states, the broker's name need not appear under certain circumstances. Because of such differences, many ads found here provide a place to put your name. This will serve as a reminder for you to check whether name requirements apply to advertising in your field.

Likewise, business association and national organization requirements sometimes conflict with federal agency requirements. If you think marketing/advertising for your business may be subject to conflicting rules, you must obtain competent counsel to advise you about what activities and/or language are acceptable for your use.

As you know, working professionally in any field means you must be aware of or check out rules that might apply to your business and specific marketing efforts. Yes, we know rules can be ambiguous and confusing. That's why you should hire competent counsel to advise you. Attorneys are trained to wade through legal options and duties. Let them contact the appropriate regulators and get opinions for you.

So, if something we offer conflicts with rules or regulations that apply to you, simply adjust the material and/or suggestions, according to your counsel's advice. Please understand, we always advocate following regulatory requirements in any business dealing! While we do our best to provide materials and suggestions that comply, we cannot guarantee that for every circumstance and location our copy and ideas will follow your particular professions' requirements. We're happy to assist you in any way we can; but keep in mind, we're not attorneys. We cannot practice law or give legal advice.

Remember, too, that some businesses are more highly regulated than others...and that changes are made to rules all the time. You must stay current. Does that mean you should abandon the approaches we teach? No! It just means that you should NEVER ASSUME that anything is exempt from some new regulation. Again, check things out with competent counsel BEFORE following our suggestions.

Because it bears repeating, we stress again that we are not attorneys; we cannot provide you with legal advice. We are experienced business consultants and trainers. We have operated successfully for many years in direct-response marketing, and we've worked in specialties that have many watchdogs. We are confident we're giving you suggestions that generally comply. As long as you do your homework, obtain competent counsel, and stay up-to-date, you shouldn't experience problems.

Remember: You are ultimately responsible for your actions. We cannot assume liability for any marketing activity you pursue. Forewarned is forearmed!

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Special Note

We have set up a special program to provide a complete Lead Generation Hotline System at the following link:

http://www.instantmortgagemarketing.com _________________________________________________________

Chapter #1: Marketing is Everything!

When you first went into business or sales, whether working for yourself or someone else, you probably thought "technical" knowledge about your product or service was all you really needed to be successful.

That expertise and "professionalism" would be the keys to your success.

Those customers would seek you out when they heard how "good" you were.

Perhaps you set up an office of your own. You had phone lines and equipment installed. You learned to make coffee your way. Then you sat down and perused the phone book to start making cold calls or get the Yellow Pages rep in to see you.

You may have had ideas in mind about "personal promotion," or other image-building techniques.

Most certainly, you had all kinds of information about your product or service and how to be "the best" in your field.

You believed you or your company really had built a better mousetrap. That with a few ads, some phone calls, and publicity the world would pay attention and indeed beat a path to your door!

But something happened that you didn’t expect.

Even though you have a great business, and DO have the best loan products and service…people haven’t beaten a path to your door! In fact, the hardest thing about being in business IS getting people to buy from you!

Am I right?

Let's speak candidly.

I know what’s wrong. I know why you don’t sell as much as you could. I know why you don’t make the kind of money you deserve to make.

By the way, my answers are based on years of experience and results. That's what I'll be sharing. In direct response marketing, it's the only thing that counts.

You see, I'm not in love with all the secrets I'm revealing because I made them up or because I think I'm smart...or anything based on ego.

In fact, I'm only interested in winning and seeing others win. Basing my suggestions on anything other than proven winners just isn't going to happen. It's a waste of time and money. I wanted to share that up front so you know where I'm coming from. I enjoy helping people. And I want to help you make more money, to enjoy your business more, to feel the power that comes from success and a high level of self-esteem.

It's true! I really feel good when you not only make more money...but gain the inner peace that comes from feeling great about yourself and your life!

See, showing you how to get customers and clients without wasting money on useless, non-responsive advertising or pushy, cold marketing is the best way I know to help you feel great!

Which brings me to my first, and possibly most important, point?

Knowing how to get customers to buy now and forever…is infinitely more important than any other knowledge you may attain!

That's it. I've never known any way to make my business (and thus my personal life) better unless I have a constant, never-ending flow of prospects and customers who all come to me!

I know this statement upsets some people. That's really not my intent. But the fact is – and it's a very important fact that every business person must grasp – you're not in the business you think you're in, whether self-employed or working for someone else...you’re in the business of…

MARKETING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES!

That's the bottom line.

It's true. No matter what business you're in, no matter what you sell, you're not really in that business! You're in the marketing of that business!

So, what does this mean?

Well, it means you must change your thinking. You must accept the fact that you are a marketer first and a business owner, loan officer, mortgage broker , consultant, or whatever second. Until you do this, you'll never make the kind of money you want to make.

The acceptance of your role as marketer is paramount. It's the only way to change the size of your bankbook and gain success otherwise unattainable.

Let's face it, in any business...and yours is no different...the best marketer wins!

Period.

Is this rule breakable or flexible in any way? No! Why not? Because it's true. It's always been true and always will be true. He or she who markets best makes more money.

Now, beware. This doesn't mean you can market better and deliver substandard services.

No way. You must not only work to be the best marketer; you must also work to be the best mortgage originator and advisor, as well. People want and deserve the best.

But...and this is a big but...it doesn't matter if you're "the best" if you have no one to talk to except co-workers and family. They're nice enough people, I'm sure, but they're not substitutes for clients and customers.

Getting clients and customers is the name of the game and direct marketing is the way to get clients and customers!

Now, as you move along in this course, keep in mind that the kind of marketing we teach here is different from anything you may have seen or heard before.

We show you how marketing can be fun! Fun because it's easy and fun because it works!

As you read through the system and learn our marketing techniques, you'll quickly recognize the difference between two ways to market:

1. Traditional, wasteful, pushy ways that leave you feeling stressed, and

2. Inexpensive, response-oriented ways that leave you feeling great – and your bank account feeling greater!

We'll focus on # 2, if that's okay with you.

What's not available anywhere are the marketing techniques you're about to embrace. We teach them because they work, they're fun, and they're legal (see "Important Notice" in the front of this book). Our secrets are direct response-oriented. They're never sleazy or obnoxious. They're simply ways to market products and services so people are touched emotionally and respond accordingly. In short, they're ways that WORK! But, they are admittedly "different."

Unfortunately, many people think "different" means "heretical."

That's fine, because we're not trying to impress anyone.

We're trying to be successful and make our customers happy, not look a certain way to our peers.

The same is true for you, right?

So, it's time! Fasten your seat belt, and open your mind; we're taking a marketing drive!

Chapter #2: Image Advertising and Name Recognition Do Not Make Telephones Ring Or Get People Into Your Establishment!

Have you ever asked associates in your field what the response rates are to their advertising dollar?

If so, I can guess a common answer. How about, "I have no idea; most of my business comes from referrals"?

Now, if you've read carefully what I've said up to now, you realize what's most important to your success as a mortgage professional:

1. Attracting a constant flow of clients and customers who come in or call to buy or refer others over and over, and…

2. Knowing as much as possible about your loan products and how to give great service.

The problem? We're too often taught the wrong things about business in the wrong order!

In the world of theory, like at colleges and big corporations, they teach “rules” about making money in business, and how you should advertise to get business. But, unless you are as wealthy as a Fortune 500 company, the methods they teach fail to attract clients and customers. They say advertising is a job of "Getting your name out there" with messages that merely identify your business, but they don't create immediate responses.

Is it any wonder that 95 % of new businesses and salespeople fail within five years? Is it any mystery why over 95 % of all small business owners and salespeople who manage to stick around make less than $100K a year...and less than 1% of these make more than $250,0000 a year? Those salespeople nationwide average less than $40,000?

Most businesses are filled with owners who struggle for each and every customer or client. Why? Because they've never had the kind of "real world" training in marketing, psychology and advertising needed to make the phone ring and bring in business. Instead, there's a myth floating in business minds that says, "Once you get your name out there, people “will seek you out."

What a pile of garbage!

Yes, I'll admit – as I already did – having your name recognized never hurts. But I must ask – as I also did – does it really help?

In the previous chapter, we talked about how name recognition can get business, but only after long periods of time and incredible amounts of money are spent. Your time, especially if you're in business for yourself, your money.

If you want image marketing to be your primary source for attracting business, be prepared to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for several years. (A back-up source of income from another job or a spouse will come in handy...for three, four, even five years or more!)

Why? Because that's how it works. To get name recognition, you have to pour money into advertising and personal promotion. Big money. Then you sit and wait for people to come in or for the phone to ring. And sit. And sit. And sit some more.

Ask yourself where income enters while you're building this name recognition. How do you pay your bills? Will you make mortgage payments in the meantime?

And, if you've been around a while and already have name recognition, shouldn't you realize some immediate return on every dollar spent on ads?

These are important questions. If you learn nothing else from us, I hope you come to realize that every dollar spent on marketing or advertising – regardless of form or medium – should be immediately returned to you with a profit added to it. If not, it's a waste of money...your hard-earned money!

So, unless you have a thick bankroll and all the time in the world, you need to know how to generate responses and get clients and customers immediately!

The key, then, is to generate responses immediately. Doing so will dramatically improve business (and, hopefully, your life). I'm serious...it's like nothing you've ever experienced.

Having leads roll in day after day...well your business will never be the same.

So can you, or should you, spend money on image? That's entirely up to you. But I can honestly say we have members who have been in business for years, who completely abandoned old image ads when their first batch of leads came in from an ad you'll be seeing later on. They never looked back.

Never again will they spend $350 on an image ad that generates no calls or prospects. Why should they? They're spending the same money running direct response ads and receiving thirty or more calls each!

You know, it's hard to feel good about spending money with no hope of receiving qualified leads. It's even harder to feel good about it once you've experienced the joy of getting calls every time you run an ad! That rush of excitement – it's hard to describe. But it's there each and every time the leads start flowing in. Like other members, you'll have a problem going back to "wish-and-pray" marketing!

Now, if you're different from me, and you want to continue with image ads, that’s fine. It really is your dime. When you spend it, however, please realize that the only people making money off image advertising are printers and ad agency people. Enough said?

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Other Resources

For dozens of no-cost and low-cost Mortgage Marketing ideas see “Mortgage Marketing Secrets Revealed” at the following link:

http://www.mortgage-marketing-secrets.com

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Chapter #3: If You Want Your Phone To Ring, Your Advertising Must Get People's Attention... And Arouse Emotions!

If you remember just one secret from this book, remember to follow this proven five-step formula in every bit of marketing and advertising you do!

1. Get Attention!

2. Arouse interest and emotion.

3. Tell an interesting story in a believable way.

4. Offer an incentive to take action...NOW.

5. Ask for action, and make it easy for people to do it.

****WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THE MIRACLE OF RECORDED MESSAGES AND HOW THEY INCREASE RESPONSES TO ADVERTISING BY 100% OR MORE IN JUST A MINUTE…SO PLEASE KEEP READING!****

The first and most important step is to get attention. Your advertising will not stimulate responses unless it gets read. It will not be read if it is not noticed. And it will not be noticed unless it:

Gets People's Attention!

See, what we mean?

Check out the cover of a Cosmopolitan Magazine or any successful publication. We're going to start your education on response marketing with examples from real magazines and publications that compete with each other at your grocery store's checkout counter. Love, hate, murder, fear, anger, beauty, money, sex, power, control, passion, ecstasy, betrayal

- these, and lots more, are the emotional ingredients of headlines that get attention and get read.

In Fact, 80 - 90% Of The Success Of Any Ad Is The Direct Result Of How Well The Headline Gets...

Attention!!!

(Just like this headline gets your attention!)

Read the headlines from the publications I mentioned the next time you go to the store. You’ll see they’re ALL like this:

Ten Ways to Keep Your Man Happy!

Drop Ten Pounds In Two Weeks — Without Dieting!

O.J.'s Shocking Revelation Sinks Defense!

How to Double Your Money in One Year!

The Amazing Truth About Breast Cancer:

What Your Doctor Hasn't Told You!

Sound familiar?

Do these headlines sound too "unprofessional" for professional business people to use?

Maybe the words. But not the formula.

Warning - What you’re About To Read May Shock You!

Whether or not you read...like...or even approve of...any of the publications we just discussed, you'd have to be blind to get past a magazine rack or grocery checkout line without at least noticing these covers and attention-getting headlines.

o Can you say the same about your advertising?

o Are you’re advertising messages exciting or boring?

o What do your business cards, marketing letters and brochures look like?

o Are you really saying or doing anything different from anybody else???

Every month, the editors of all these magazines and newspapers do everything they can possibly think of, including putting alluring women on their cover and racy titles on their articles:

TO GRAB YOUR ATTENTION!

While you may not agree with the pictures or underlying messages, millions of these magazines are sold each week because...

Emotions stir up more sales than logic ever will!

The biggest mistake you can make in your marketing is to use a straightforward, "professional" approach that attempts to appeal to people's sensibilities. Logical advertising is dead advertising. Emotions are what motivate people to take notice and respond.

If Your Advertising Is Boring...It Won't Get Read!

Now stop for a moment and think.

Think about your advertising.

Think about your company's advertising.

Think about the mailers you send out.

Are people beating down your doors and ringing your phone off the hook to get to you because of what you do...the titles you hold...or the colorful personal brochures and "ABC" letters behind your name. (Only in your wildest dreams - right?)

Look at this example. Are you starting to see why most advertising fails to get responses?

Headlines And Ads Like This Do Not Get People's Attention!

Please don't blame the good folks in San Rafael for this advertisement. It looks like thousands of other ads that you see all over the place.

The problem? The ad simply doesn't:

Get Your Attention!!!

What you see here is a typical "business card-style" advertisement that many professionals use to get their name and phone number in front of the public

The ad includes a ho-hum grocery list of features or services that any similar business provides. There is absolutely nothing in the ad that gets attention or arouses emotions about why you should choose this business over any other company listed in the directory.

No curiosity is aroused...no emotions...just very plain-looking ads.

Just like everyone else's. Remember what we said about thinking and being like everyone else?

If you want to get people's attention, you have to be saying things that will actually get their attention!

This ad is just another example of boring advertising like that found in any Yellow Pages anywhere in the country. Most Yellow Pages ads are just a big blur! They all look exactly the same and do nothing to get anyone's attention! Can you spot one truly noticeable and different reason why a customer or client would be motivated to pick up the telephone and call the company listed here?

The problem? Yellow pages "advertising" like this is just one big blur of sameness. There's nothing unique. Everybody looks the same and says the same stuff. You could literally swap names and phone numbers — even kinds of businesses — on the ads, and no one would even know the difference!

People Don't Read Ads That Look Like Advertising!

This example is of the kind of "fill in the blanks" advertising you see on postcards and in the newspapers all the time.

The problem? People don't really pay attention to ads about you, your company, your services, or your professional titles. (Is your phone ringing off the hook?) It doesn't matter how big, how good, how nice or caring you tell people you are. Most people don't read image ads like this because they so obviously look like advertising, and because they do not get anyone's attention. Every day, your prospects' minds are being flooded with thousands of advertising messages:

Television and radio commercials.
Posters and billboards.
On-line advertising and email.
Newspaper and magazine ads.
Faxes.
Mailboxes filled with sales letters.
Advertising on buses, trucks, streetcars, subways and taxicabs.
You even find advertising pasted on public bathroom walls!

There is no way to stop this daily assault, but we have learned to tune out advertising pictures and messages...unless they get our attention and arouse our interest.

Are you starting to get the idea of what kind of emotional headlines get responses?

The Secret Is All In The Headlines, Topics And Offers You Use!

Cosmopolitan uses them.

People Magazine uses them.

Readers Digest does too!

If you don't like to prospect, you need to create low-cost advertising that motivates clients and customers to come in or call you instead! Top advertising copywriters use words and emotions to sell millions of dollars of products and services every day.

You can use the same techniques to get new clients and customers.

Once again, it's a proven formula. You should follow it every time you advertise yourself and the products or services you provide:

1. Get attention!

2. Arouse interest and emotion.

3. Tell an interesting story in a believable way.

4. Offer an incentive to take action...NOW.

5. Ask for action, and make it easy for people to do it.

Take a look at the postcard below. Do you see how it follows the five-step formula? When you combine the look and feel of these attention-getting postcards with a 24-hour FREE recorded message and report offer, your phone will ring with calls from interested prospects!

WARNING - Don't Hire Any Mortgage Broker Until You Read This FREE Report!

Anytown, ST - Did you know that all brokers are not the same? And, if you need to get some help planning your financial future, you need to be sure about whom you're dealing with before you make any moves! Most people really don't know what questions to ask or what things they should be aware of. When it comes to your mortgage, you had better know!

Picking the right broker can be wonderful, but picking the wrong one can be a big mistake.

In today's economy, you cannot afford to take any chances with the wrong advice or the wrong mortgage broker. We have prepared a FREE REPORT called "The Nine Questions You Must Ask mortgage brokers Before You Hire Them!" To get a FREE copy of this report, call 1-800-555-1040, 24 hours, for a free recorded message. Call NOW...and find out the questions most agents would prefer you never asked them about!

As you keep learning, you'll quickly see that there is a HUGE difference between spending money on "getting your name out there" and investing in marketing that gets people to CALL YOU!

As you can see, this type of advertising is different.

It gets people's attention. It creates curiosity.

You will learn how to use this type of marketing as you move along in your journey of understanding and awareness of the reality of marketing.

For now, we just want you to begin to see the new paradigm and new way of life awaiting you!

It's OK, by the way, to have small size body copy. People will read teeny tiny little print, if you:

Don't forget how important a headline is!

If you're going to write your own, please study headlines very, very carefully. I promise you that a headline can make or break your ad, your sales letters, and your life!

NOTE—EVERYTHING YOU DO MUST HAVE A HEADLINE!

THIS MEANS ADS, SALES LETTERS, POSTCARDS, YELLOW PAGES, FLYERS, NEWSLETTERS, ETC!

IF IT DOESN'T HAVE A HEADLINE, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!

If you want to get an almost-FREE headline education, just study the publications that sit at the checkout counter.

Another extremely helpful resource is "Great Headlines Instantly!" by Robert Boduch. This comprehensive and up to date course includes 7 Quick And Easy Headline Formulas to get you started quickly. The course is fully downloadable and available by clicking on the link below.

http://www.leadgenerationadvertising.com/headline.htm

There are also some excellent books. Some are available at bookstores or on-line booksellers, and some are out of print and harder to find.

Robert Collier Letter Book by Robert Collier (1931)

Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples (1974)

How to Write an Advertisement by Victor Schwab (1962)

How To Make Your Advertising make More Money by John Caples (1983)

Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins (1923)

The First Hundred Million by E. Julious-Haldeman (1928)

he Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy (1990)

That should keep you busy reading for a while!

Did you notice that most of these books were written a long, long time ago?

Let me tell you, the time period we're in now...it's no different from any other era.

Human nature is human nature.

Actually, with the exception of Dan Kennedy's book (the best modern book on writing copy that sells), the old books are just as effective, if not more so, than ever!

You'll see that people are people, and their curiosity about things is the same now as it was in 1923! Nothing has changed.

Except that most business people waste tons of money on marketing with poor (or no) headlines and lousy copy that sounds "professional." But, you are no longer in that group! Now you are learning secrets that literally a handful of people know. You are in a group of marketers who can write their own ticket in life, because you know how to write headlines that work!

Chapter #4: News-Style Advertising Gets Up To 500% Greater Response Than Image And Name Recognition Advertising!

Yes, you read right. It's a proven advertising fact. News-style advertising gets up to 500% greater response than color brochures, business cards, and all other forms of product or image advertising. Do you know why?

News style advertising doesn't look like advertising! It looks like news.

Very few people read advertising...but a lot of people read news and other stories. This doesn't mean I'm telling you to toss out those good looking (and probably expensive) color brochures and business cards you've had printed up. I'm sure that you may get nice comments about how they look. (Actually, I'm lying. I do want you to throw out all that stuff. Because if you continue to waste money on it, you're never going to get where you want to go!)

Anyway, I am simply telling you what will make your office fill up with clients or make your phone ring!

Image advertising does get your name and "image" out there. (Although someone still has to explain to me how one can pay bills with "image”.) But, it is not the best or fastest way to get prospects to call you!

If It Looks Like Advertising, Most People Won't Read It.

The human brain would literally fry if it tried to process the thousands of advertising messages it gets hit with everyday. To protect ourselves, we have learned to quickly identify things that look, sound or smell like advertising. Unless an ad or commercial gets our attention and interest, we turn the page or hit the remote control zapper and flush it out of our minds!

You may not have thought about this consciously, but most advertising does have an identifiable look and feel to it - doesn't it? Like a radar detector, our brain can instantly scan and sense advertising pictures and messages largely from their shape and size.

This is precisely why the best marketing approach is to do everything you possibly can to make sure that your advertising does not look like advertising! The secret is to make your advertising look like a newspaper story. People don't trust advertising. But we have been conditioned since childhood to trust and accept the look and feel of what we read in newsprint. News-style advertising has been proven for decades to get 500% more responses than advertising that looks like advertising! (This technique was started over 100 years ago. Believe me, I didn't invent it.)

But If It Looks Like a News Story,

People Will Be

Much More Likely To Read It! Remember, They Can't Respond If They Don't Read It!

See what we mean?

Take a look at this sample ad, and see if you get the idea.

See how this ad has:

§ No graphics

§ No pictures

§ No slogans

§ No logos

§ No "image," etc.

All it has is a headline, copy, and a non-threatening response device (recorded message - which we'll talk about later!)

Do these ads work better than "regular" ads? Well, how about a real story that is just one of literally hundreds that we hear about from our members? (Keep in mind that this story isn't making any promises that you will get the same results. It's only an illustration of the difference between unproductive, image advertising and results-driven editorial advertising.)

Anyway, one of our members spent $650 running a large, typical ad with his picture, a laundry list of services, and a "catchy" slogan. On the same page, he ran a much smaller ad based on our methods, which only cost $75. Wanna' guess the results? This member got two calls from the "normal, image" ad and 84 calls from the tiny, emotional, editorial, "unprofessional" ad!

This happens all the time. Not that we guarantee that an editorial ad will always be a winner. There are lots of variables that can affect any ad.

What we do guarantee, however, is that this formula we're teaching is the best producing, lowest-cost formula ever proven in real world testing.

I'd love to say I invented this formula, but that would be a lie.

Rather, this formula was discovered almost 100 years ago and rediscovered by us a few years ago.

We are giving you the best field-tested knowledge we know of. But, that doesn't mean in your paper, on a given day, your ad will work.

Sometimes changing a headline, or the location of the ad, or the day of the week can make a huge difference. For now, please understand that emotional, curiosity-provoking ads, in editorial style, are the only worthwhile way to get results, not "your name out there"!

It's Proven That Emotional News Headlines Sell More!

Today's television, newspaper and magazine headlines are filled with bad news.

Why???

Because emotional news sells a lot more newspapers and magazines.

Look at all the different tabloids and gossip type TV shows that are so popular.

National Enquirer, Star, Globe, Weekly World, Oprah Winfrey, Rikki Lake, Geraldo Rivera, Jerry Springer, Sally Jessy Raphael, Jenny Jones, Hard Copy, Inside Edition, Current Affair, Divorce Court, Judge Judy, Cops, Survivor, Maury Povich, etc., etc.

Like never before, millions of people all across the country are tuning in their television sets every day to watch Oprah, Geraldo, and dozens of new celebrity talk show hosts cover every topic under the sun, from the front pages to the freak show.

A whole new breed of tabloid news shows like Hard Copy and Inside Edition have surfaced, as well...giving viewers a leering look inside human interest stories about crime, passion, greed, heartbreak, hope...you name it! Not to mention all the reality shows that are nothing more than different forms of gossip, romance, intrigue and curiosity combined with voyeurism.

Let me share a fact with you that may startle you...

8 Million Copies Of Tabloids Are Sold Each Week!

Yes, you read it right.

Over 8 million copies of National Enquirer, Star and other news tabloids are sold every week! And this doesn't include the more "upscale" gossip magazines like People and Us.

Don't kid yourself...lots of people like to read this stuff. Not just "Harrv and Marge" down at the bowling alley. Take a look around your dentist's office. Check out your doctor's office. Look on the coffee table, and what do you see?

These magazines!

You'll find them in the wealthiest homes in America, too.

You May Not Read Them...But You’re Prospects and Customers Do!

A truly fatal mistake in advertising is to think that your prospects and clients and customers think like you do...and like the same things that you do.

Wrong!...Wrong!...Wrong!

Just because YOU may think that tabloids like the Enquirer and gossip magazines like People and Us are food for the mindless, don't make the mistake of thinking that your prospects and clients and customers feel the same way.

Don't underestimate the power of this kind of media. It made OJ a household name in millions of homes throughout the country. These same tabloid-style techniques can be used to make your phone ring off the hook with calls from interested prospects! (Without being obnoxious or sleazy or unethical or illegal!) You can use the same type of psychology that these types of publications and shows use...without resorting to using the offensive and low-class content. It's the STYLE that makes it work, and you can use the same STYLE for yourself!

Did it occur to you that people who buy and sell homes, balance checkbooks on computers, dine in coffee shops and fine restaurants, shop at Brooks Brothers or K-Mart? People from all walks of life, buy gossipy magazines...along with Time, Forbes, and Fortune?

Why???

Because they're easy to read. They're entertaining. They offer a simple escape from reality.

People enjoy hearing or reading human-interest stories... (And the nosier, the better!)

Tabloid Headlines Like These Get People's Interest!

Look around on the newsstand, and you'll see dozens of consumer magazine publications like Money, Consumer Report, or Changing Times. Study their covers and you'll see that they all use attention-getting headlines, human interest stories, and "insider information" appeals to get people to buy or subscribe. Each month it's a new financial angle, tip or story.

These glossy, picture-filled magazines are good...but they don't hold a candle to the financial marketing wizards at ...publishers of the best selling financial newsletter, Bottom Line, and a whole library of truly fascinating and informative books including such titles as:

"The Book Of Inside Information"

"The Book Of Tax Knowledge"

"The Complete Book of Money Secrets"

Keep in mind, I'm not advocating that you advertise like a tabloid, or that you should like or read them just because your prospects do. It would help, but that's not my point.

The Same Principles of Successful Advertising Apply to any and all industries!

I can't emphasize this enough.

Your advertising will not stimulate responses unless it gets read; it will not be read if it is not noticed; and, it will not be noticed unless it gets people's attention. If you look at most advertising that you see in the Yellow Pages, on marketing brochures, letters, post cards, flyers etc., it miserably fails to do these things:

1. Get attention!

2. Arouse interest and emotion.

3. Tell an interesting story in a believable way.

4. Offer an incentive to take action...NOW.

5. Ask for action...and make it easy for people to do it.

Look at the ad below. Do you see how it follows the five-step formula? I guarantee you that people will definitely notice and read whatever you say on such cards. The possibilities of what you can say are literally endless....

If you’re Changing Jobs, Retiring, Or Getting Laid Off...

Warning! FREE Report Reveals Deadly Trap The IRS Uses To Destroy Your Retirement Savings!

Your Town, ST - Making any one or more of the 10 biggest mistakes when investing for your retirement can literally cost you thousands upon thousands of dollars!

Hard to believe, but its true! Every day, people unknowingly fall victim to a law - yes, law - that the IRS can use to confiscate your nest egg. It's beyond belief, but it is legal. How can you keep this disaster from hitting you? So you can keep your hard-earned money for yourself? By reading our FREE report. It reveals what the IRS doesn't want you to know.

Call 1-800-XXX-XXXX for a FREE recorded message and your copy of this report. It's helped thousands of people avoid mistakes and stay in control of what the IRS wants - money. Don't give yours away!

See the difference?

There are no pictures. No advertising "traditions." Just a headline that GRABS attention and copy that gets people to call you! (WITH A RECORDED MESSAGE AS THE ONLY RESPONSE DEVICE! WHY DO WE DO THIS? WHY AREN’T THE RESPONDERS BEING ASKED TO JUST CALL THE ADVERTISER? KEEP READING AS WE’LL BE EXPLAINING THIS MIRACLE OF RESPONSE IN A FEW MINUTES!!)

What else is advertising supposed to do? Now, if it bothers you that people aren't calling because they want you, but rather because they want the information...you have to decide what's more important. I'll bet that after you get some responses to an ad like this, you'll no longer care why they're calling...but be happy they are calling at all!!!

Remember in most if not all businesses, the sale is a process not an event. Consumers have to go through the sale process before an eventual decision is made on the product or service, or if in fact a decision is made at all. Part of the process is information gathering!

Chapter #5: You Must Have A Non-Threatening, Appealing Offer!

The highest and best purpose of advertising is to get people to respond. To make your phone ring. To get qualified clients and customers to come in or call you to do business. To get them to respond so you can contact them!

Every single business card, letter, post card, advertisement, flyer or report that leaves your office should be solely designed to make your phone ring. It should always include an interesting story or appealing offer that motivates prospects to call you!

Don't be content to just get your name and face in front of the public.

Sure, we all know from having talked enough about why getting your name out in front of other people isn't worth anything. But any ad (even one with an interesting headline) that doesn't give them an offer that they want will, most likely, not pull responses.

You'll notice as you go through the entire system here our ads and marketing pieces that we recommend always offer a "FREE report."

Why a FREE report? Because FREE reports are things people want!

You see, if your marketing gets their attention with a headline that draws them into the copy, and the copy is interesting but ends with nothing, or a boring close, or says, call our office for more information, that's not going to work.

We have found that offering them a "FREE report" seems to be the easiest way to get people to respond because 1) it's free and 2) it explains more about why they became curious with the headline and the ad to start with. (Although I admit, I could be completely wrong about why they work so well. Actually, I don't even care why they work so well. All I know is that they do work!)

These reports can be used with many different headlines and many different offers.

See, for example, a FREE report for a book like this could have any number of headlines or themes or titles to the advertising to get the people to respond and get a copy of that same report. Things like, "FREE Report Reveals How Small Business Owners Can Save Big Money And Triple Their Sales By Using The Best Kept Secret In Advertising The Ad Agencies Don't Want You To Know!" is one example of a headline.

Or, "FREE Report Helps Frustrated Homeowners Who Work Hard And Write Big Checks To Contractors — Unnecessarily." Or any number of other headlines at all that appeal to prospective clients and customers.

See the offer has to be compelling and has to follow through on the curiosity that you have generated. You can't just leave people hanging and expect them to call you or your office.

No, your offer must be something that they really want and that they are interested in. We have found there is nothing cheaper to print up and produce than free information. This free information is compelling for people who want something.

It is also very non-threatening, which is critical.

See, if you used an ad or mailer that offers a chance to talk to you, many people—even those who are interested—might not call because they are afraid of having a pushy "salesperson" all over them and in their face.

(It doesn't matter if you're not that type of salesperson. There are so many who are that most people don't want to subject themselves to high pressure. Particularly if they are only mildly curious at this point. They'd rather take a pass on calling than be subjected to the chance of a salesperson pestering or pressuring them.

For example: Before he built his home an acquaintance of mine and his wife, would drive around checking out signs. In almost every case, when he called to get more information, he felt compelled to use a false name and phone number. He always explained that he was only curious about the price or whatever and was not a serious buyer. And, in almost every case, the agent was all over him with high pressure and seminar-learned tactics that totally turned him off. He ended up buying through the only agent who was low-keyed and empathetic. I just wanted to mention it so that you'd be aware of what happens to prospects, and why they won't respond to threatening offers as readily as non-threatening offers like a free report!)

Now, if you find a better offer than a FREE report, that's great.

My point is, if you want maximum responses, you must have a curiosity-provoking, non-threatening offer!

The FREE reports are cheap, and they start you off on the right foot.

PLUS IF YOU USE A RECORDED MESSAGE DEVICE AS THE ONLY RESPONSE MECHANISM, YOU WILL SEE HUGE JUMPS IN RESPONSE VERSUS USING A TOLL-FREE WITHOUT A RECORDED MESSAGE OFFER! WE’RE ALMOST THERE, SO BEAR WITH ME!

Chapter #6: The Use of A Multi-Step Process

Another gigantic secret we are going to teach you here is the use of the multi-step process in direct response marketing.

Let me explain what the opposite is first so you have a better idea what I am talking about when I describe how to use multi-step marketing.

For example, single-step marketing could be defined as sending out a flyer in the neighborhood, telling people about a neighbor's home that has just been sold by you...or as running a one-time ad in a local paper advertising any product offering you have...or as running an ad in the paper that says "Call me before you redecorate (or landscape)!" and so forth. In other words, anything where you do a single step in the hope that you will get sales.

Now, true - you may run the same ad more than one time in your paper over a period of a few months and you may send out farming flyers or postcards to people over a period of time. But that is not what we are talking about here, because each of those particular efforts is really a single-step process. You send out the piece, and prospects are supposed to buy.

Now, while this seems easy and logical, it also has been proven over time that is doesn’t work. In fact, if any of this stuff did work, we wouldn't be here, and you wouldn't be reading this program right now.

The real secret to direct response marketing is to use little, bite-size chunks for people so that they are responding to what is easy and non-threatening...allowing them to take little steps, one at a time.

For example, let's say you run an ad that says:

"Tired Of High Interest Rate Loans?”

If so, call 1-800-XXX-XXXX, 24 hours, for a FREE recorded message to get a copy of an amazing report that reveals the secrets of how to get rid of your high interest rate loans. Discover what loan officers won’t tell you!"

When you run that ad in the paper, what is the purpose of that ad? Is the purpose of that ad to sell a product? Is the purpose of that ad to secure an appointment for a presentation?

No - the purpose of that ad is one thing only - to get people to call your toll-free number and listen to the recorded message!

In fact, we should take it back a step farther. The purpose of the headline on the ad is to get somebody's attention and cause them to stop going through their publication.

The purpose of the headline is not to sell or solve anything. The headline, then, has a single purpose. The headline's function is to identify potential prospects and get those people to read the copy of your ad. The copy is, then, the next step, keeping people interested enough to follow through and call the toll-free number.

Now when prospects call the toll-free number and listen to the message, what's the purpose there? Is the purpose of the message to make a sale or get a client? No - again, the purpose of the message is only to get people to leave their names, addresses and numbers.

Once prospects leave their names, addresses and numbers or we get their phone number through the Caller ID what is the purpose of the follow-up that we do on the phone and the report?

Is it to sell? Is it to get prospects to hire you? No - the purpose of the report going out is to get people familiar with you, and to get them familiar with what you have to offer, and to answer the questions they have.

Once they've gotten the report, you move into the multi-step sequence and follow-up.

See, the real secret of direct response marketing is, after you've gotten somebody's interest, you must try not to make them do any more than they are comfortable with doing at any particular step. To make all the steps combined work up to the sale.

But each individual step is small, and simple, and doesn't ask people to do more than ease them into the next step.

The purpose of each individual step is to do only what it is supposed to do. The purpose of the recorded message is not to make a sale; again, it is to get a prospect to leave his or her name and address.

We see members repeatedly doing things like using the recorded message to talk about their company, and how big they are, and how many clients and customers they have, and so forth. These things are totally inappropriate for that step.

The only purpose of the recorded message is to get prospects to leave a name and address. You're not trying to sell them or convince them of anything. We see people running seminars, for example, and their recorded message talks about how great they are and how big they are and how smart they are, etc....all these things that are of no interest to the prospects whatsoever.

They are asking the prospects to do way too much. You see, the bottom line is that people are afraid and confused. The old single-step marketing - the old "shove it in their face" approach, does not work. For the present and the future, to get people interested and wanting to do business with you, you have to take it slow and easy! Remember the sale is a process not an event. You cannot expect your marketing to do things that it is not capable of doing.

If you think you need single-step marketing to create sales instantly, just forget it. Please don't forget this lesson about the multi-step approach, and please don't forget this concept of asking each step to do only what it is supposed to do!

You should not try to incorporate multiple steps into a single step! You don't want to mix up your product presentation stuff into your copy in the ads, for example. That is not the time or the place to bring that up. If you follow this process you will see your leads go up and you will see your business go up. But even more important, if you follow this process, the pressure will be off! There will be no more feeling like you have to close, or that you have to make a certain step do multiple things. It doesn't work anyway, so why put yourself under all that pressure?

Here is a sample flow chart of getting customers (from the customers’ point of view) using a multi-step approach with recorded messages: