From the category archives:

Conversion

It’s 100% true…

Glenn Livingston was arrested for drinking on January 4th, 2012, and you can see his mugshot here.

It’s pretty scary what you can learn using Google Alerts!

Like most marketers, I have routine alerts out on my name, and for just a moment when I saw this come through I wondered if perhaps I’d been out on a bender I’d forgotten last week (even though I haven’t had a drink in 20+ years… not ’cause I’m an alcoholic–I detest that term–just because I find life more interesting and satisfactory without screwing with my mental state)

I also learned, of course, about the myriad of people stealing my products (we pursue them legally now), and a few things about yet ANOTHER Glenn Livingston who’s a pastor in Illinois up to some interesting things from time to time.

But none of these rather mundane results from Google Alerts come anywhere close to the REAL power of this FREE utility…

(Even though tracking your namesakes’ activities can from time to time generate an attention getting headline)

Because most marketers have absolutely NO idea how to use it…

The REAL way to leverage Google Alerts is to first know with crystal clarity EXACTLY what keyword defines your ideal prospect, plus a very small set of related keywords which surround it.  Taken together these become your “archery target”… the small space which defines EXACTLY WHO YOU WANT TO BE on the internet, and allows you to more or less ignore everything else.

Once you’ve done that, you can combine Google Alerts with Google Reader Feeds (and some anti-RSS-spam code) to automatically collect pretty much EVERYTHING that happens on the internet that’s relevant to you…

And stop getting distracted by everything else…

Which is the ONLY way to build a hyper-responsive marketing system in my humble opinion.

Have any of you found effective-yet-novel uses for Google Alerts we should know about?

Tell me, I’d like to know!

Dr. G :-)

PS – I’m considering organizing my network and resources to build a “performance-pay-based-conversion boosting-done-for-you” service.  Curious if that’s of interest to any of my readers today

{ 9 comments }

I thought I’d end 2011 with a series of contrarian psychological marketing insights.  After all, what good’s  being a marketing shrink if you don’t get to talk about it, right?

Seriously though, there are a few things I think marketers casually banty about as if they were psychological fact which really bother me… And there are others which tell only HALF the story.

So let’s start there with…

UNUSUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL MARKETING FACT #1: “Impulse Isn’t Everything”

Impulse isn’t everything.

Yes, it’s true you’ve gotta appeal to the Lizard Brain with greed, lust, envy, jealousy, etc in order to induce action on your offer. (Which is one of the reasons I’m fond of saying “try to appeal to the lizard brain without seeming like a lizard”)

But the other half of the story is,  this only produces TRIAL BUT NOT NECESSARILY REPEAT…

Satisfying the lizard brain is only PART of what we need in this world…

As sappy as it sounds, the other half is help mastering our environments, our relationships, our place in society, and life as a whole.

Don’t get me wrong, you won’t get ANYWHERE trying to sell people self-actualization, self-improvement, or simple self-mastery solutions unless you can link them to the lizard brain…

It’s just that lizard brain satisfaction is a necessary but not sufficient condition for REPEAT purchase and customer loyalty.

So it’s not enough to sell luster and shine if you’re selling shampoo…

Or even to sell the emotional end benefit (I feel attractive)

To really take the market you need to sell the aspirational character… how your product is going to MAKE YOUR PROSPECT INTO THE PERSON THEY WANT TO BE…

Think L’Oreal “Because You’re Worth It”: when a woman buys L’Oreal, she’s not just trying to look sexy, she’s supporting a character trait which translates to self-care across a wide variety of life areas… she’ll also more likely invest in vitamins, a gym membership, life insurance, a spa, etc

Or think Gillette “The Best a Man Can Get”:  a guy’s not just buying Gillette razors to get the cleanest shave possible, or to attract a desired mate… he’s partaking of the best the world has to offer alpha males, and this informs WHO he wants to be across market categories

Or Intel “Intel Inside”:  when you buy Intel, you’re not just getting a high speed processor, you’re committing (whether you know it or not) to recognizing, developing, and leveraging the value of intelligence across many areas of your life…

Or Kodak “Share the Moments, Share the Life”:  when you buy Kodak, you’re not just getting sharp pictures, or even crystallizing memories… you’re committing to family and community as a value you want to demonstrate as a person… it enhances your sense of participation in life with others, and re-affirms your desire to build more of these relationships as part of WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON…

See what I mean?

These brands engender MASSIVE REPEAT PURCHASE and loyalty because they’ve managed to integrate themselves with the user’s aspirational self image!

What you should be asking yourself now is, WHAT KIND OF PERSON DOES YOUR PROSPECT BECOME when they purchase your product or service?   Is your advertising set up to support this message?

Onward and Upward in 2012,

Dr. G :-)

PS – When you join Hyper Responsive Marketing Secrets you affirm yourself as a person who gets enormous leverage for their  time  and consistently “organizes and executes around priorities” because you know HALF your profits are driven by only ONE in 2,000 visitors.   This radical paradigm shift not only transforms your business, but syncs with your commitment to apply the 80/20 rule throughout your life to achieve maximum results with minimum time.   Join now

PPS – Keep your eyes glued to your inbox for “weird psychological marketing fact #2″, coming soon.

{ 1 comment }

My Dog is Better Than Your Dog

August 11, 2011

I know you’ll say this is thoroughly obnoxious, but I’ve got a strong marketing point, so please hear me out…

MY DOG IS BETTER THAN YOUR DOG!  (Really he is)
In his eleven and 1/2 years on this planet…

He’s kept me company while climbing  the highest mountains…
He’s been by my side in the depths of anxiety and [...]

Read the full article →

Emotional Web Stories That Sell (MP3)

April 19, 2011

Continuing along with Sharon’s advice on emotional marketing stories that sell, I’d like to give you this FREE MP3 (below).  (Also, if you haven’t seen her video about “web interviews that sell“, you can still grab that one too)
Enjoy!

Read the full article →

Surprising Conversion Test Results

March 30, 2011

During the recording sessions for the final modules of The Total Conversion Code, Terry and I reviewed results from our testing diaries.  I’ll save the juiciest morsels for the product, but there was one surprising  finding which should have an immediate impact on YOUR tests and your conversion …
And this finding rather perplexed me at [...]

Read the full article →

Conversion Photo Caption Contest

March 4, 2011

PHOTO CAPTION CONTEST:  Choose any picture you like… best caption
gets 30 minute consultation with Glenn.  (Runner up gets 10 minutes)
Additional 15 minutes for person who tells the best sequential STORY using
ALL the photos in order.   Only rule is… the captions have to appeal to
an internet marketing audience, and be geared to help sell a [...]

Read the full article →

Cockroach Conversion Secrets (Video)

February 16, 2011

This is probably the most disgusting conversion lesson you’ll ever watch…
But among the most powerful…
View at your own risk:

Get on the Early Bird List for Total Conversion Code

Read the full article →

Copywriting is a Big Hairy Myth

February 4, 2011

I’ve spent the last several years thinking I was missing some vital marketing skill, intimately connected to my writing ability.    Now, I’m a good writer… you don’t get to be a Ph.D. without that skill.  But I always thought I was a mediocre  ”copywriter” at best…
That is, until I realized (in the course of [...]

Read the full article →

Why Emotional Copywriting is So Difficult (Video)

January 15, 2011

People are endlessly fascinated with the emotional marketing model Sharon and I have discussed for years.  Yet it seems so elusive for so many…
Here’s one of the central obstacles I think is preventing most people from really infusing their copy, websites, and imagery with the emotional tone necessary to induce purchase:

Guaranteed Targeted Traffic |   [...]

Read the full article →

Effective Guarantees – The Vomit Principle

January 9, 2011

Here’s a thought for you…
A REAL guarantee in today’s day and age should be so strong it makes you feel like throwing up.
Because the very essence of a guarantee is RISK REVERSAL.
You know when you’ve done it right when YOU FEEL THE RISK.  And if you’re not feeling much risk when you consider your guarantee… [...]

Read the full article →