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

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.

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 financial despair…
• He’s never even considered biting anyone (not sure he knows how)…
• He’s brought suicidal teenagers (and their moms) out of their deepest depression by doing nothing more than “knocking” on my office door and cuddling up to their knees…
• He’s learned to open doorknobs…
• He’s completely overcome his separation anxiety…
• He’s taught me (and countless others) how to smile in a whole new way…
• He’s kept me warm when the heat failed in January in New Hampshire…
• He’s sniffed out a fire before it started…
• He’s accepted a younger brother without fuss (well, OK, without too much fuss)…
• He’s helped me get to sleep many nights when Sharon was traveling…
• He’s made me tens of thousands of dollars by letting me feature his picture in various specials and internet offers…
• He survived Lyme disease (just like me)…
• And he’s still going strong after 11 1/2 years.  (I just don’t know what I’m going to do when it’s his time to pass)

When people meet my dog they say “now THAT is a good dog!”, and they really mean it.  Some people have even commented “The only way you get such a good dog is by pouring all your love into him!”  (And they’re mostly right)

See?  My dog really IS better than your dog!

“HOW DARE YOU!”, you say?

“That’s just bragging, and bragging doesn’t work in life or in marketing”

“Dan Kennedy says ‘let them say it for you’” (don’t say it yourself).

But he’s only half right…

Because if you don’t 100% believe your dog (project, business, offer, etc) is far and away better than anything and everything else out there, you’re NEVER going to get people telling you it is.

The love, enthusiasm, passion, and heartfelt 150% commitment to (and belief in) your project MUST come from you first and foremost.. to the point that you almost can’t help bragging about it, or else nobody’s gonna “feel” it or “say it for you”, despite all the best testimonial collection techniques in the world, despite all the fancy technology which gets videos on your screen for pennies, and despite all the marketing books, courses, and seminars you’ve paid for.

You’ve got to KNOW in your heart of hearts that you’ve done more work than anyone else in the market, to understand the market better than anyone else, and deliver a benefit nobody else can (or will) deliver.

If you’re not willing to get out there and tell everyone how much better your dog is than theirs… why should anyone buy it?

So, how good is your dog?

(Go on, tell me, I really want to know!)

Dr. G

www.HyperResponsiveMarketingSecrets.com

PS – In the near future, I’m seriously considering “going dark” for two years to concentrate on serving the mental health community with my marketing skills.   (I’m getting older and feel a need to make more of a contribution… plus frankly, I spend way too much time TEACHING and not nearly enough time DOING these days… it’s becoming a little bit of a burden). Not saying 100% yet this is what I’m doing, but if and when I do I’ll be taking my products off the market and only existing customers will be able to access them… so consider this fair notice.  (To head off concerns, existing coaching clients needn’t worry)

Enjoy!

And this finding rather perplexed me at first, until Terry and I had a chance to talk it through and come up with a reasonable explanation…

You see…

I’ve always been a rather hard core direct response marketer of the mindset that WHAT you say to your prospect is more important than how you say it.  Which is why I’ve always agreed with marketers who say to be very careful with your DESIGN… because attractive designs online have the potential to distract people from the sales conversation…

Essentially, I’ve always screamed from the rooftops –  ”CONVERSATION CONVERTS, NOT PICTURES”.

Which is why, for example, the design on this blog is Plain Vanilla boring.  (To avoid distracting people from well-researched–and often carefully crafted–words on the page)

Now… my most ardent fans will note that in recent years I HAVE begun integrating fancy design on my salesletters… but you’ll also recall I did this begrudgingly, all the while chastising Google for forcing this unpleasant course of events  so they could “kiss the big brands’ shiny little behinds”

But today I’m going to tell you something surprisingly different…

The test results we reviewed suggest that rather than distracting from the headline… the graphical design of your page–and in particular the pictures which appear above the fold–may very well be equal in importance to your headline when it comes to SALES conversion!

Here’s what we think is going on…

People are so incredibly overwhelmed with information and choices in today’s modern online environment, that before they’ll even expend the effort necessary to even scan your headline, they take a nano-second visual imprint of your site and ask themselves “does this site FEEL worth exploring?”

It’s almost like you’ve got to visually encapsulate the emotional benefit of your headline in graphical form… to SHOW the prospect how your solution is going to make them feel…BEFORE you can start talking to them.

Searchers now need to be instantly transported to another world…

Where all their problems evaporate…

And where a skilled copywriter used to paint the picture for them in words…

Now you’ve gotta actually paint that picture with—uh–pictures—before your words can do their magic!

Of course, you know I’m going to tell you you’ve gotta choose the RIGHT picture, and know the right emotional mood and tone to convey…

Which makes research more important than ever (especially the post-survey interviews and groups… and any other form of actual person to person communication designed to teach you what your prospect smells like!)

But even without extensive research, you probably have a modest guess about the kind of world you need to paint for your prospect…

And I’m here to tell you…

It’s time to test those pictures.  Above the fold.  And (God forbid!) right next to the headlines.

For what it’s worth,

Dr. Glenn

PS – We have The Total Conversion Code in stock now and will begin releasing it to the early bird list (at an extra discount) next week.  But you’ve gotta be on the list to get it.

PPS – If you haven’t done anything for the Tsunami victims yet and you’re feeling charitable, there’s a cool little project one of my customers is involved with called “Beats for Change” – get a $5 mp3 of unreleased music and 100% goes to the Red Cross Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Response.

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 product on
conversion.

Speaking of which… the Total Conversion Code launches very, very shortly!

Submit your entries below… and enjoy!  :-)

But among the most powerful…

View at your own risk:

Get on the Early Bird List for Total Conversion Code

That is, until I realized (in the course of developing the Total Conversion Code with Terry for the last few months) that copywriting is a big hairy myth.

It’s really not about writing…

It’s more about listening and “detecting”

A great copywriter looks at the market more like a sculptor looks at a block of marble…

You listen carefully (research), then chip away what doesn’t belong until the beauty comes out.

Yes, there are words to be put on the page (or in the video, or the audio, etc)…

But those are the words the market gives you… they’re already there, you don’t have to be some Hemmingway with a glass of brandy sitting in a snowy log cabin toiling away the hours by the fireplace.

And depending upon the market, a Beavis and Butthead personality might suit you better (seriously)

Which is not to say I’ve lost any respect for copywriters… to the contrary, it’s an extraordinarily valuable skill worth every penny you pay for it when you find a good one!  (Really – they’re the life blood of any direct response business)

It’s just not what you think it is, that’s all.

OK – enough rambling for today, just wanted to share my short thought with you.

Copywriting is a big hairy myth.

So let’s all stop being so frightened of it and get out selling!

Dr. G

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 |   Web Conversion Mastery |  Coaching | Club

Enjoy!

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… if you’ve never felt like vomiting  (at least at first),  it’s probably not strong enough.

Of course, I’m not suggesting you do anything foolish.

• You’ve gotta know the economics of your business inside and out…
• You’ve gotta KNOW which customers you can satisfy and which ones are gonna be nothing but trouble (the stronger your guarantee is the better screening and filtering mechanisms you’ve got to have in place)…
• You’ve gotta review everything with an attorney to be sure you’re totally covered…
• And most importantly, you’ve got to be THAT GOOD!

I honestly believe the days of the wimpy guarantee are numbered.

It’s simply not good enough anymore to give people 90 days on a digital product… you’re probably comfortable doing that because you know you’re not really risking anything.  (Even on a physical product, a simple money back guarantee is often not sufficient)

Here are some examples I’m releasing (or planning to release) this quarter:

• How to Choose Profitable Markets – Personally Customizable 2011 Version:  ”Even after the first 60 days, you’re protected by a second guarantee.  I call this the “Double Confidence” guarantee.  If you follow the strategies we lay out, and you don’t find a market which proves to be profitable for you, we’ll give you DOUBLE your money back for one full year”… see the site for full details of guarantee, etc.    (Note: this product is also available as a FREE  bonus for my hyper-responsive club members until Thursday morning.  If you’re already a member, just go download it from the bonus section.  If not, you can still click the CLUB tab above and receive before the deadline )
• Guaranteed First Page Video Listings on Google for the Keywords of Your Choice or Your Money Back:   Everyone knows Video SEO is the “next wave” in emerging media.  The major engines are 5,000% more likely to index a video as a static site(according to Forrester Research). While other video seo companies are charging up a storm to even attempt ranking for you, I’m about to launch a company (most likely next week) which GUARANTEES it.  That’s not “satisfaction guaranteed”, that’s RANKING guaranteed.  As in, you’ll see your video on the first page for your keyword or you don’t pay! (Please see the site when we launch for full details and terms of offer)
• I’ll Build You an Affiliate Business and Guarantee $7,500 Income by December 31st… Or I’ll Buy It Back From You at Full Price! (Please see the site when we launch for full details of guarantee and terms of offer, etc)

Now, I’ve gotta tell you, I felt completely nauseous the first time I put these guarantees on paper.  I spent lots of time looking over the way they’re worded, and especially for the higher ticket items,  working on the exact definitions and terms.

But I no longer do.  I’m no longer frightened, because I’ve done what it takes to (a) ensure I can deliver; (b) ensure I’m truly in a position to honor the guarantee if I don’t. (Actually, I’m still working on the third offer, but I’ll have it figured out in a few weeks)

So I submit to you that these types of “nauseating guarantees” provide a very strong competitive advantage in the market place.

Now… IF the above aren’t enough to get you considering “the vomit principle” for your own guarantees, consider this…

There was a recent article in the paper (I think it was in Philadelphia) about a car dealership that said “Come on in. Take one of our new cars home and drive it for a month.  If you don’t like it for any reason, we’ll buy it back” (Thanks to Ian Hollander at Karmic Consulting for pointing this out to me)

Sales went through the roof.  (Economically way in excess of returns)

I think, in an internet full of con men, TRUE RISK REVERSAL is a refreshing oasis for the often jilted consumer.

Using More Powerful Guarantees is just ONE of dozens of dramatically effective conversion tactics Terry Dean and I will be covering when we launchTotalConversionCode.com (anticipated date near Valentine’s Day)

Food for thought,

Glenn

PS – The How to Choose Profitable Markets 2011 Version really is a radically revised, fully customizable method.  (For those of you who don’t know, my initial claim to fame  was entering 16 markets profitably with an 80%+ hit rate).   It’s available as a separate product, or as a free bonus in the hyper-responsive marketing club until Thursday morning only)