Higher Response Direct Marketing Strategist, Advisor, Consultant, Writer & Mentor

URGENT: Here's Why In 2019 a Renaissance In YOUR Direct Marketing is Urgently Needed ... 

 Uncertainty is a Massive Problem: Because According To Business Owners Like You ... "NOTHING'S WORKING!" 

• Social Media - the RESULTS are in - doesn't work - likes and shares with no sales - who cares!

• Adwords - brutally IMPOSSIBLE to get decent clicks and conversions (Snippets have killed them anyway)

• SEO - like a cat chasing a mouse - Keywords and tags are IRRELEVANT no longer considered by Google

• Another new website - forget it - makes NO difference without a tested strategy and tactics to support

• Traffic and conversions - INEXPERIENCED and untested strategies failing!

• Being BETTER-THAN-GOOD - isn't good enough to drive your business forward!

AND BREXIT and OTHER GLOBAL CONDITIONS have created a survive environment … OR HAVE THEY?

I think 2019 CAN BE the most opportunistic year for you and your business, but only if you are smart and act right now.

Dear Entrepreneur,

"WHY Is My Marketing Not Working and Will Work Even Less in 2019?"

First, let's understand how we got here… Also read trends here.

The Huge CREATIVE and Detached Void

There is now a glaring a gap in the TRUE EXPERIENCED DIRECT RESPONSE EXPERT that has worked deep inside the heart of what really works within direct response marketing. I'm talking about really knowing and understanding what makes your buyers - BUY - how they think, the mental journey they take until they purchase, why they buy, how they buy, the triggers and elements of real selling without forced PERSUASION.

And this is exactly why a RENAISSANCE in direct response marketing has never been so critical for your business.

I think you'll now agree that the likes of digital marketing agencies and the modern Ad agency seem to find it more exciting to sit behind desks in a warm expensive corporate offices space or 'googloid play space' where team masterminds, open discussions and a lazy approach to building a marketing strategy for clients like you are now favoured with a 'PLUG & PLAY' or 'top-drawer' approach to marketing.

CREATIVITY has been lost to technology. The creative mind has been given a 2nd, a 3rd and even 4th and lower place to asking Google for an answer on what to do next do build your business - Your future. It's a DISGRACE!

They seem to prefer the 'little thought approach' and almost 'everything marketing' created for you are ready to go for them. All they have to do is fill in the blanks without thought or real knowledge of what it actually takes to actually engage, create a response or increase conversions for your business.

I don't think marketing has ever been so bad yet it’s never before offered the OPPORTUNITY to be so incredibly good, innovative and opportunity packed to race one step ahead of your competition. When everyone is doing the same standing out should be easier right?

Yet, you’ve probably tried just about everything your ‘marketing experts’ or ‘external experts’ have shown you and still... nothings working.

First, I’ll explain WHY it isn't working and then I’ll show you how to FIX IT. I'll even drop in a few examples and front-line tips and tricks along the way.

This Definitely WILL NOT Work For You ...

You probably have experienced a marketing expert saying the following to you; let’s get your website redone, create social media to create buzz and stir, run Adwords, run PPC, post endless content to engage, build likes and fans, create a new logo, install analytics, and then all you have to do is pay £xxx each month and well make sure you’re busy.

I’m sure you’ve heard that before by many a marketing ‘expert’

It's CHEAP SCRIPTED MARKETING. It's a nothing. It's a NAIL-IN-THE-COFFIN killer for your business.

Why Cheap Scripted Marketing Will Never Work For Higher and More Direct Response

YOU ARE unique. Your buyer is unique. Their internal conversation from thought to buying from you is unique. Any approach you take in your business when direct marketing must be unique. And even if you sell something the same as everyone else ... you must still take a UNIQUE approach with an ANGLE so strong it gives you an edge on your competition. It's always worth remembering there were many MP3 players before APPLE arrived with their iPod yet where are they now? They used the same SCRIPT as everyone else whilst APPLE created a new ANGLE and a whole new WINNERS game! 

Over the past three decades and more I never fail to be amazed at the VERY SUBTLE differences changing words or an image or to a strategy can have to any campaign. I once changed a headline from twenty words to twelve words. The response rate went THROUGH-THE-ROOF. I also tested images. One image had a CLICK-THROUGH rate online of just 4 while another image on the same advert had a click-through rate of almost 250 CLICKS. I also tested long copy against short copy, video against audio and many other layouts and technical mechanisms that can increase or decrease response rates.

That's REAL marketing power. That's REAL marketing results. That's the REAL difference it can make to your business.

What I Know From Over Three Decades of Direct Response Marketing and Building Business Experiences

If It Works - WORK IT Until It Stops Working... OR...

There isn’t anything wrong with taking any route that works including social media and digital but what I have seen is this. It takes more than a routine plug & play marketing system to give you an INCREDIBLE MARKETING CAMPAIGN. I’ve seen it time and time again and regardless of how modern your customers become the basic human being and the way your customer reacts to certain things really never changes.

YOUR CUSTOMERS are human beings. They want to be treated like humans. They want to be part of your business family. They want to enjoy your business and feel a part of it.

The way your customer buys from you is very specific to you. For example, if you are selling headphones your buyer WANTS MORE than simple headphones. Headphones might sound like something simple but they aren’t – not to your buyer.

Headphones today have become symbolic of something MUCH MORE than listening to sound. If your buyer is buying headphones yes they want to know the quality of the sound yet there are things that come before the quality. Things like brand, look color and acceptability within a peer group.

THE CRITICAL CONVERSATION: This means your ads and messages have to cover the questions your buyers have. This means you must address the words or thoughts in the minds of your buyers because if you don’t deliver answers – they simply won't buy.

EXAMPLE: A Perfect Headphone Ad for BEATS and APPLE - They Do This Incredibly Well.

• They are perceived as beyond current

• They are outrageously cool

• They represent something beyond the headphone, after all, you can buy headphones cheaper anywhere but these guys sell tons of them!

BEFORE YOUR CUSTOMER BUYS... 

Before your buyer actually buys from you they have already bought what they want from you in their MIND.

This means they have a prefixed internal conversation in their heads about your product. Let me explain more.

The Finer Art of Headlines - The TINY but EXPLOSIVE Higher Response Detail

Many years ago when I had hairdressing salons I discovered that almost everyone wanted a restyle yet most stylists would simply ask the client did they want a trim today. This meant lost sales. So, I thought about this and came to a solution I tested. The test WORKED LIKE CRAZY!

I decided to create an advert with a headline that said this…

"When Is The Last Time You Changed Your Hair?"

It wasn't persuading anything. It simply repeated the question the buyer was already asking. It simply tapped into an existing mental conversation. It was the most SUCCESSFUL advert I ever ran. I ran that ad for well over a decade!

The headline about hair addressed exactly what the person was thinking every time they looked into the mirror each day. The headline and the words stepped right into an EXISTING CONVERSATION. Nothing new had been created. It was an idea and an angle that was TUNED-IN.

You should know the following ... This will help you in a BIG way.

• Almost 100% of your readers WILL NOT read beyond your headline. What does this tell you?

• Headlines that contain NEWS will get more attention

• Your BRAND name should always be in your headline

• A headline should step into an EXISTING conversation or question

• Headlines with a 'FLAG' will capture the eye of your buyer

• When writing headlines the brand logo should take SECOND place

• You get just 3-SECONDS once the headline has been read - will your readers go further?

• A headline in QUOTES gets more attention than one without quotes

• SINGLE WORD headlines supported by a strong sub-headline GRAB readers but only when part of the internal CONVERSATION

• NEVER allow and amateur to write this critical part of your marketing

Your marketing messages or WORD CHOICE must address what your buyer is already thinking. Despite what you might read or be told to do... you CANNOT persuade them to buy, you simply have to join their conversation rather than try to create a new conversation. However -  PERSUADED buyers will always suffer from buyers remorse. This means refunds. That's what you don't want.

If you start a NEW CONVERSATION this also takes a new thought and a new thought takes time to embed. For you, this means a longer route to selling more of what you want to sell.

What modern marketing experts are doing TO YOUR BUSINESS is alienating your customers by doing lazy marketing that hasn’t been thought through, has no existing conversation in the messages and images and in many cases actually has nothing to do with the conversation your buyer is already having with themselves.

And you know it. If that weren’t true you wouldn’t be here searching for answers.

Here’s  Why You Urgently Need a RENAISSANCE In Your Direct Response Marketing

Does Your Choice Of Images Matter?

Think about this.

NO RESPONSE IMAGE: One of the biggest real-estate companies in the UK sent me an advert to review and critique. They were baffled as it just wasn't working. The Advert had a photo of a glass or orange juice with a straw in the glass. The headline said... "Time for Refreshment"

HIGH RESPONSE IMAGE: If you have just 3-seconds the use of an image can tell the story that a page that won't get read. A campaign I worked on was for an artist. The artist wanted to sell his paintings. To sell his paintings he needed to fill the gallery with buyers. Now I took an advert of his that was run mainly online. One image had just four click-throughs. The image was one of his famous paintings. I changed the image to one of him actually painting. This image had an INCREASE of just over 240 click throughs. No words were changed just the image.

• You cannot underestimate the POWER of an image

• Every image delivers a PERCEPTIVE quality that is read by your customer

• An image should tell a STORY related to your product in a second

• An image should have the ability to take a person to a different place in a second

• Images in colour OUTPULL black and white

• ACTIVE life images always outpull static images

• The WRONG image can kill a campaign dead in its tracks

• BEFORE and AFTER images outpull simple product images

• UNIQUE characters in images outsell generic images

• Make your images MEMORABLE

• In the 'INSTA' age it's harder to get good images that GRAB so don't settle for less than you demand

• TEST TEST TEST all images. I am constantly surprised at the WINNERS and losers

• Keep the image SIMPLE but keep it as POWERFUL or memorable as possible

Hire a photographer - just because you have the latest iPhone it will never make you a brilliant photographer with an eye for good pictures.

The Obvious and NOT SO Obvious SUBTLETIES of Words

Words can, will and do make a huge MOUNTAINOUS difference to response rates - absolutely no question.

WORDS: I have no idea how many words I have written over the years. It must be millions upon millions (and my 20-plus books). I write at least 300 long emails every year. I also write sales pages, blogs and more. I have also created series of words that have delivered sales going into the millions. I have also had the unique experience of seeing RESPONSE RATES from words and words changes as HIGH as 83%, 47%, 33% and a low 11%.

Here is what I can share with you right now from over three decades of writing words for a response.

• Write everything if you are writing to just one person and NEVER to a group of people

• Imagine just you and him/her talking over a table - Keep it CONVERSATIONAL at all times

• Arouse CURIOSITY where applicable

• Keep your paragraphs short for readability

• Length - write until you get to the end of the story - as long or as short as needed

• Stories sell period but stories should also be avoided in certain products

• STACCATO works

• Use FUTURE thinking

• Each paragraph should seamlessly FLOW into the next

• Two writers create two voices keep it to ONE writer always

• Don't be scared of saying the unthinkable in copy

• NEVER NEVER NEVER send copy to a room for opinions and mutiple edits

• Allow EXPERTS only to create the words

• Be honest

• Be clear

• Be ethical

• NEVER try and sell crap ... KARMA works somehow

The Eye and The 3-Second Decision & The MICRO Detail That Makes a MACRO Difference

You've been reading and read too since you were a child. All of your life words have been presented to you in a certain way. A diversion from the normal way of reading creates a STOP in reading motion.

That stop can be from as simple as a wrong FONT choice. Historically your font should be SERIF type.

Even Google has developed new SERIF fonts because they also understand that to get a reader to read you must give the reader or THE EYE what the eye is used to. Your eyes and your reader's eyes are used to SERIF so give them a serif font in the copy.

If you are using images in your copy the best way to increase your response rate is to add a small headline under each image. It is what I call SNAPSHOT or TRASH copy. Think of how a magazine uses images to get a better idea. I love this kind of copy but it has to be done very well. Every single word MUST count.

And of course lets not forget about who your buyer actually is?

I Boast Over Three Decades of Results Driven Direct Marketing

In all my years involved with direct marketing, it’s impossible to move away from the fact that your conversation must be tied in closely to your buyer's internal conversation.

The most effective marketing campaigns will weave this through every aspect of marketing including effective social media, emails, and web pages and even over the phone. It has to be a single message that steps into your buyer's conversation otherwise your results will be reduced.

Online Marketing That DOESN'T and Will Never Work

It's clearly critical you have a web presence. You need to be seen. You need to be found in a search. Over 80% of you being found is now coming via mobile search, You should be seen locally or globally but more important you should be seen online where your BUYERS are searching.

Here's the mistake I see time and again. TRAFFIC is usually not BUYERS. Digital agents are great at inflating numbers but SHOCKING when it comes to locating buyers. You must know your numbers online.

TRAFFIC (buyers) and CONVERSION is what your website is all about.

This Will Help You Online …

• I sent over 5000 new customers to one business online by changing WORDS and IMAGES

• I have seen TRAFFIC SLASHED and then SALES RISING after putting new strategy in place

• Over-relying on Adwords and Social media is a huge PROFIT-LOSING

• A BRANDING and MEME strategy should always be used online to create trust, memory and perception

• POSITIONING is critical in a world of sameness

• If you are not MOBILE optimised you WILL LOSE sales in the thumb generation

• SEO is an unwinnable battle. Most SEO is now irrelevant and makes no real difference.

• Adwords: Numbers show less and less click on Adwords because they know its an Ad. They choose organic first.

• Social media pages and likes: Those that succeed on social media are the few. Social media isn’t part of a buying conversation, it is a place to be nosey, be seen and hang-out

• A client of mine that has gone from NEW START-UP to $12 MILLION online stripped back all the BELLS and WHISTLES by going back to old-fashioned DIRECT RESPONSE MARKETING

• After installing LIVECHAT on a website I watched sales rise by over 80%

• IMPORTANT: Avoid getting wrapped up in FADS and HYPE and NEW online. YES, they can peak but also drop fast

• LONG SALES COPY sells but WILL NOT WORK for most products online

• OPTIMISATION and TARGETING BUYERS does increase sales and domination dramatically

• RESEARCH is always the difference between MORE and LESS online. FEED THE SEARCH to increase your sales

• MULTI-OUTLET selling outstrips website selling by thousands of a percent!

• TEST & MEASURE EVERYTHING online - EVERYTHING only then SCALE-UP!

Stop Playing With This Online

• Social Media - the RESULTS are in - doesn't work - likes and shares with no sales - who cares!

• Adwords - brutally IMPOSSIBLE to get decent clicks and conversions

• SEO - like a cat chasing a mouse - Keywords and tags are IRRELEVANT no longer considered by Google

• Another new website - forget it - makes NO difference without a tested strategy

• Traffic and conversions - INEXPERIENCED and untested strategies failing!

• Being BETTER-THAN-GOOD - isn't good enough to drive your business forward!

There is more of course but the underlying problem for people like you is that you need to know how to sell more yet the majority of agencies and experts appear to be taking huge risks with your business rather than tune into the conversation.

If You DEMAND a Higher Response Business Don't Be Fooled By The Marketing Experts Hype

• People NEVER change (even when habits do change)

• Peoples REASON for buying also never change

• Basic human emotions and thinking is what DRIVE your sales

• Buyers want AMAZING service and want to feel part of something special

• NEW FADS take TIME to become habits

• Marketing isn't a one-off event it must be a SEAMLESS CONTINUUM

• CONVERSATIONAL SELLING – stepping into the conversation rather than trying too hard to start a new one

• MIND-SET HEADLINES that are tuned into what your buyer is already thinking because MOST of your readers and buyers will never read past your headlines.

• BODY COPY that is simple, direct and again is conversational

• Images that reveal exactly what the product does for your buyer (headphones – guy looking cool wearing them – COOL)

• Multi-outlet approach to selling rather than trying to sell solely from your website

• Leveraging existing traffic sources rather than trying to create new ones

• Attractioneering strategies that pull strategies

• Engagement on a one-to-one level rather than on mass

• Trust and rating marketing strategies

• A mark of distinction approach as the USP is dead

Here are some very BIG IDEAS I am working with

And they are working like crazy for businesses like yours. This slashes marketing budgets and lets you know quickly what is working (and failing).

• Old School New School Direct Response

• BOOTS-ON-THE-GROUND MARKETING

• WhatApp Marketing

• ATTRACTION marketing - create a buzz, a stir, a DISTINCTION and they will come to you

• ARTISAN marketing - grassroots old school marketing, stripped back, simplified and results driven

• ENGAGED marketing - NOT the social way but tapping into the MIND with STICKY MEMES

• CONVERSATIONAL marketing - words, thoughts, images, habits based on INTERNAL CONVERSATION

• MULTI-OUTLET tactical approach to selling is current and can be as big as you want it to be

• 4th DIMENSION marketing - Tuning into something more than the obvious

• And more ...

• LOVE & RATE marketing

• GENERATION THUMB 1-second press marketing

• Alliance marketing

• The BIG IDEA higher response marketing

• DISTINCTION marketing

• And more.

Ultimately it is this.

Because it works!

URGENT FOR 2019: A RENAISSANCE in DIRECT MARKETING

A renaissance in your direct marketing approach is urgently required if you are to gain, grow, maintain and build your success with your business. It has never been harder yet from what I do here it has never been easier.

Historical and recent the world’s best marketing campaigns that were ever created were created by original thinkers, creative artists, and almost philosophical marketing writers. I saw this on TV again today. But ...

... did you realize the ‘holidays are coming’; Coca-Cola campaign was actually created in the 1930s?

The original successful Admen saw things like people saw them. Like your buyers saw them. They used words the way your customer used words.

They got it. They added the colour RED as a sticky meme. The added the snow as another meme. Ultimately they even added Santa and then in the 1990s added the brilliant truck (sleigh) to the campaign. This for me is probably one of the best piece of marketing ever created for many reasons. They understood and they created something that is as much a part of Christmas as Santa himself.

What Happens When You STOP and Make CHANGES For 2019?

• MORE SALES: I have changed headlines online and offline only to watch sales respond.

• LONG COPY: I’ve created long copy of 10,000 words and watched sales pour in from long copy.

• STORY-TELLING: I wrote an ad for a TV company that told a story of a cameraman and response and sales poured in.

• 30-WORD RESULT: I changed an offer on a great advert once. I changed just 30-words. That 30-words generated over $100,000 in sales from a webpage

• $8 MILLION: One client I advised and consulted with on their message-to-market. I changed all of their headlines and advised on them to change all of the images. The results is a company that is currently turning over $8 million last year.

• OLD SCHOOL DIRECT MAIL: In a series of letters I crafted for a new cosmetic company not only did their response rate go through the roof, the director managed to build a company he eventually sold for millions.

• HIGHER RESPONSE: And for all of my children, I have created the ultimate CV that looks and reads nothing like a CV. Without fail, all of my children received phone calls and emails with offers of interviews due to the way the CV was tuned into the mind of the employer.

A Renaissance in Direct Marketing & Results Can Look Like This In Your Business

• BREAKTHROUGH: 223.7% Increase In Turnover In Just 23-DAYS

• DRAMATICALLY increased her salon turnover by 53.4% in just 4 weeks (but actually increased her cash in her drawer the day after we met)

• BREAKTHROUGH: Like the printer that generated over £42,000 in sales from a single email after we re-wrote his email messages to his list ( this guy was almost bankrupt – after our breakthrough, he GENERATED over £2 Million in sales over a year)

• BREAKTHROUGH: Like the promoter that struggled to sell seats and slashed over £100,000 from his marketing budget only to INCREASE his sales by over £800,000

• BREAKTHROUGH: Like the security company that went from 1 lead a day to a MASSIVE 17 leads per hour. The phone line went so crazy they called and asked me to switch off what I had switched on.

• BREAKTHROUGH: Like the lawyer that EXPLODED his leads from 3 per month to over 330 per month! (He then went out and got himself a Rolls Royce as his reward for his new breakthrough.

• BREAKTHROUGH: Like the consultant that went from as good as no sales to sales of over £74,000 in sales after her breakthrough. She also went from £20 per hour to £250 per hour

• BREAKTHROUGH: Like the Yoga teacher who’s sales messages couldn’t sell a thing to SUDDENLY selling out her classes with one class taking in over $117,000 from one campaign

As you can see there's a huge difference between lazy marketing and higher response direct marketing that will work for you.

2019 Will Be a Huge Year Of Change and Opportunity - Are You Ready?

Never has there been a greater need to plugin old-school direct response into 21st-century marketing. It's the missing link into more sales. It's the one thing I have seen last week, last month, last year and over the previous THREE DECADES that never fails to make a difference.

Despite all of the new technologies, new delivery methods and new ways of thinking on DIRECT RESPONSE strategy is the key to tapping into your marketplace, your buyers like never before. It might sound old but today more than ever direct response marketing is fresh, measurable, precise and an incredibly low-cost way to increase sales by huge amounts.

Today it is mostly forgotten yet all of the BIG RESULTS I see time and time again come from the use of DIRECT RESPONSE.

To get more success and a higher response in 2019 you need a creative mind that is creating a renaissance in marketing with a deeper connection to your buyers. You need someone with a track record of creating and tapping into the minds of your buyers. Online and offline, your buyers want that internal conversation to materialize in your marketing.

You need someone with a creative reputation, a genius that can think way outside the regular boundaries and a mind that can deliver the answers to why your buyers really want.

I'd love to help you and I would love to have a conversation to see what I can help you with.

How To Get Hold of Me Right Now

• WhatsApp: +44 7793069486

• iMessage: + 44 7793069486

• FaceTime: +44 7793 069486

• Text: + 44 7793069486

• SkypePhone: +44 161 818 6010

• Email: alan@orangebeetle.com