Author Archive | Carl Weinfurtner II

Things that entertain us – well, that’s not entirely our choice. When you satisfy your need for entertainment, (eat ice-cream, watch a movie, win a game) the reward centers in your brain fire off a weaker dose of the same chemical rewards that you would get for actually gathering rich food, finding a partner and winning a fight.

These chemicals stay in your brain telling you the behavior that triggered them is really good for you and forcing you to seek more of this ‘high’ state. Essentially, you don’t need entertainment, you won’t die without it- but the more you have, the more you think you need… you want it like a drug.

Advertising is the biggest business on the planet – why? Because they know this deep addictive need in human beings to want to be entertained so they weave a good feeling story or an adventure into their product brand and just like that – people are buying four pairs of the same shoes with different shapes on it.

I guess the lesson is this: Want someone to buy your products? Want someone to love/remember you?

ENTERTAIN THEM. Make them laugh or cry, make them say yes! Make them want more videos, more options, more of your approach. Give them value.

This idea dates back to the Roman era when the Colosseum delivered people to their death in the name of entertainment; showing how important it has been to us for centuries to feel occupied and given a certain standard of entertainment in order to maintain interest. This fact doesn’t escape us as Internet marketers. Just because we are not film directors doesn’t mean we cannot use what we have and know to entertain and keep people engaged with us.

My first bit of advice is this – we live in social media times so it is irrelevant if your business is well-established, new or you are selling nails and think you don’t need to know what the ‘crowd’ is doing – because you do. Make sure your social media strategy is up to date and always try to be ahead of what is happening. What are people interested in? What’s happening now? If you don’t know what is going on, I’ll bet that your competitor will and I’d say they’ll use that strategy to keep people entertained, and focused on their business – not yours.

In the same way as a face-to-face conversation, make sure your posts, tweets, content and images are unique and entertaining. People get bored in dull conversation all the time so it’s not a surprise that uninteresting social media webpages and irrelevant, boring posts will not get people coming back to your social media page or engaging in your online ‘conversations’. No talking about you? No sales. It’s really that simple.

Invest a little in finding out what really gets people talking and update yourself to be authentic, current and cool. Maybe you’ll find your inner entertainer in all sorts of unexpected ways, and in turn create more of a tribe following for your business that you can grow to ever-increasing heights.

Making your customers feel like they are more than just a buyer is not that difficult. As you always do, thank them for their business, but there is more that you can do. Thanking them is one thing, but remembering them on a special occasion is a big plus.

No one will get to know their customers overnight, but an effort to get to know them over time can pay big dividends in your business. For starters, since they are your customers, you do know at least something about them because they like the products and services you offer.

Do keep in mind; you should never assume that they always want the same things. You probably think you know what your customers want but you cannot be 100% sure. One of the main reasons businesses fail is because they are trying to create demand where there isn’t any. Also, businesses will build themselves around ideas that are untested and unproven. Those ideas will often make it difficult to attract even a small number of customers.

Always give your customer what they want, and always do what you say you will do. If you say you will give them something for free, make sure they get it. Don’t say they will get it and then they are waiting for it and it never arrives. Or if you say the product will be delivered by a certain date, make sure it is. People won’t want to buy from you if they are misled. If you are not able to deliver something by the promised date, let them know why; don’t make them wait.

Aside from delivering what you promised, it is a good idea to create and personalize a loyalty program. For instance, if you are an Internet marketer or blog owner, you can create a program where customers receive a discount after earning so many points and they can earn points when they buy from you or refer people to your products.

Staying connected is really important too. You don’t want too much time passing where the customer never hears from you. Every now and then, you should send a letter to your subscribers and customers giving updates or good news or something they may find interesting. Always have something prepared to send and schedule it with your autoresponder.

This may sound funny, but give a little favoritism to your buyers. While you always want to get new customers, you cannot forget about people who already buy from you. Make them feel as if they are really important by creating a loyal customer or VIP program.

One thing I’ve learned through experience is to reach out to your customers when they have a birthday, or if someone is getting married or having a baby. Of course you will only know as much information about someone as they will tell you, but use what you do know about them and let them know you are thinking about them when the time is right.

Lastly, the way you handle customer service is crucial. If someone has a problem or a concern, always stay level headed. Never make excuses. You know and they know that you have more than one customer, but people always feel as if they are the only one. Give them that personal touch.

Now you have some tips to help you make your customers feel like they want to do business with you. The more you practice these skills, the better you will become as a business owner and your customers will want to continue to buy from you over and over again.

As you already may know, videos are the most popular type of media on the web today. More and more people are looking for a video to watch than simply reading an article. With the written word, there may be misinterpretations as compared to watching a video. People like to have visuals to help them understand something better.

Think about this: YouTube is the second largest search engine on the World Wide Web today. Millions upon millions of visitors go to YouTube every day to watch a music video, something entertaining, or even something informative. Because videos are so popular, many people have vlogs (video blogs).

You don’t even need to invest in a website for uploading your videos. If you have a YouTube channel, that can be your vlog. YouTube has many ways to help you monetize your videos, so you definitely want to use YouTube and your own site together.

There is more than one way to make money with YouTube. You can either put up a video with a backlink to your site, to an affiliate site, or you can become a partner with them and make money with ads.

As an experienced marketer, you know how important video is today. I have touched on using video in other articles, but now I want to go more in depth. Let’s start by talking about different types of videos you can make, which will encourage people to check out your site. This will be a way to make income before you use more technical approaches with your videos.

For starters one of the highest searches for videos is a tutorial. Say someone wants to build a website for themselves and they don’t know how to do it. They will search YouTube for a tutorial on it. They will watch step by step as someone shows them by screencast how to build a site from beginning to end. Tutorial videos are not limited to just showing someone how to build a website of course.

You can also demonstrate a product for people. If you are selling a tablet computer for example, you can show people some of its features and what it can do and how to use it. How well you explain the product and how to use its features will depend on whether people will tune in and watch your videos. If they like what they see, they are more likely to check out any other videos you have on your channel.

A great presentation about not just the computer, buy any product you can demonstrate will give people more of an incentive to purchase it. Since you are the one who created the demonstration, they are more likely to buy the product from you.

There are many other subjects and niches you can vlog about. If you keep a journal of your travels, you can turn it into a video journal. Make it exciting and give people interesting facts about the places you visit. You can film yourself walking around or you can make a slideshow of pictures. However, people will more likely watch a video of you walking around.

Another vlog can be website reviews. These websites can be ones that you are an affiliate for or they can be sites that people are interested in and you want to share your experience with them. After people watch the video, you want to direct them to your site where they can learn more. So give them enough information at the start, but not everything they need to know. You want to encourage them to learn more by visiting your site.

Commercials are another great idea still as popular as they were when TV was invented. You can make your own commercial by simply being a spokesperson for your product or affiliate program. No matter how you put it together, if you grab the interest of your target audience, it should work out for you just fine.

You can use a video to provide certain information to a viewer and give them the option to purchase or request more information in the end. This is where a squeeze page comes in handy. If you like, you can put a video on the squeeze page, or just have them click a link to take you to the page after viewing the video. Whatever way you choose to do it doesn’t matter as long as you can encourage people to give you their information so they can now be on your list.

Some people out there may have very large lists of clients. One thing you can do is to start a joint venture with those people. You can charge a fee for others to use your video on their site, or you can cross promote each other’s products or services. This gives you more exposure and traffic to your vlog as well as exposure for your partner. It’s a win-win situation.

One more idea for creating videos is to give people tips and advice. Start a tip of the week vlog to keep people tuning in to your show. Keep the tips related to your niche, and never give them too much information to take in. Keep it short, simple and to the point.

So as you can see, thinking outside of the box is essential to attract people to your product or service with this method. It really isn’t hard to do, and there are lots of resources available on the web today that will help you create your video blog. If you want to grow your list, then consider partnering with other marketers. There are endless possibilities with vlogging. Take some of the information here and begin your journey today!

When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and you just have to live your life inside that world as best you can.

Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. Don’t step on toes, don’t be too cocky.

That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call ‘life’ was made up by people that were relatively no smarter than you and so if you want to change something in your world… you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use too.

You are more useful than you know. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.

This is the advice I learned from Steve Jobs. You know that billionaire guy with the Apple fetish? He rocked. And more than that, he knew he did.

That was the biggest secret to his success on and offline – like you, he initially thought ‘I don’t want a job. I want to be an entrepreneur. Most of us end there and then let self-doubt cloud any potential of getting any further. We make a few bucks, we live pretty comfortably and we dream realistically. We see the obstacles. But obstacles don’t stop us from going further as we may think – it is actually how resourceful we are in dealing with them. We can’t let a few trials dictate to us where our ceiling of success is.

And while being safe instead of bold is a good strategy if you like this life… there is no harm in a little self -love. It is this that creates the boldness.

If you wonder what being bold has to do with being successful or you think that talking about self-love is a little too ‘new-agey’… then let’s get scientific.

55% of all of our communication (that is how we present ourselves to the world) is not what we say and do. It is our body language. It is what we do with our face and our tone. The words you say are a side note. And so, it is essential to believe in yourself each day before you ever set foot online thinking you’re going to make a million because – heck – if you don’t believe it and you are not congruent, not one customer is going to believe that you’re the one to solve all their problems either.

So next time you say ‘I don’t want to sell myself’ or ‘I’m not sure people will like my product’ or ‘Am I charging/asking too much?’, make sure that the answer to that is in line with how much you value yourself. Be the value and people will pick up on it. Tell yourself you have lots to offer and that you can do it.

And why not… many people talk to themselves negatively all day long and this is not a great strategy for motivation is it?

I’ll say it one last time… you want to succeed.

Do it from the inside out – believe you can first. Believe you are worth that money. It is from a place of fear and worry that most people never pick up that phone and call when they should, most people never ask for what they want (at the price they want) when they know they should. That’s what separates the people that do things from the people who just dream about them. You’ve got to act. You’ve got to be willing to fail. You’ve got to be willing to crash and burn. And when it is all done and it’s time to get up, it’s not your legs that will lift you… it’ll be your self-belief.

Deep breath and say it – You’re worth it.

Coupons have been around since the beginning of man’s shopping experience. People love coupons because it gives them an extra discount on something that is much needed and wanted. They are an incentive to buy, and leave you with a pleasant feeling that you saved money. In fact, coupons are a very powerful tool to grow your business and brand.

You aren’t just giving the customer a reason to buy, but allowing them to save their hard earned money and not spend it all in one place. This will always get you on their good side and also gain trust that you really want them to save money.

How creative can you be with coupons? There are many different types of coupons to give. One type of coupon is an amount that is discounted from the total price. Simply put $5, $10, $15 dollars off a product for example.

Another type of coupon is “BOGO” or “Buy One Get One” free or half off. It is for you to determine which products and services go together to give someone half off or even a free product with their purchase.

A different variation of the “BOGO” coupon or discount is to buy multiple products to get one free or half off. You can have them buy as many as you like, but the price needs to be reasonable. It can be any price you set, but it has to be something that a customer would feel is worth buying and useful to them.

You can also be creative and give people a discount for referring your business to others. You can give a money amount or a percentage off their next order. Again people are saving money and also it is a way of inexpensive advertising. When people learn they will save money with you, the potential to gain more customers is stronger.

If you sell physical goods you can offer free shipping. As you know amazon.com offers free shipping to Prime members on many products. You can do the same if you have your own private store online. You may want to be a little more competitive and offer free shipping on items of lower prices. Make sure it is cost effective though.

You can also take a percentage off the total price if someone spends a certain amount with you. For instance, say you will give 10% off if they spend $50, or $100, but only if it meets or exceeds the amount. This will help you out in making money, but also encourage customers to buy more from you.

Rebate coupons are also great. Do you remember the last time you bought something and got a rebate? You have to send a slip in the mail and wait for the money to come back, but on the Internet you can make it more instantaneous. You know in today’s day and age, instant gratification is in high demand.

What you can do with coupons is really up to you. You can combine them, or give them out weekly or monthly. You can be as creative with this as you can imagine. Sometimes people like to combine coupons with offers, or use multiple coupons at one time. Whatever you think will make the customer the happiest, and still work to grow your business and brand.

With a number of different coupon options available for your use, now it’s to put some of these ideas into practice. Don’t just throw them in front of the customer and try to persuade them to buy just because they are getting a discount. That’s not actually good business practice, but throughout many years, people believed it worked.

Buyers will come to you because they like your products, they like your brand, or they like your attitude. Just reach out to those who are interested, and treat them nicely by offering coupons and discounts to build customer loyalty, and gain more referrals. This is a sure-fired way to grow your business over time.

You know, not just as Internet marketers but as people, we crave perfection. And because of that fact, we fail to act when we probably should.

I think you’ll recognize the following examples:

– Planning a party and then putting it off to the following weekend because there’s more time to get it ‘just perfect’.

– Waiting until the year after to go on that course, because the deadline this year is just too soon; you’re not quite ready.

– Writing that book that never quite gets finished because it’s not reading just as you’d like yet.

– Putting that concert off: sure, he/she will be around this part of the country next year – won’t they? You don’t have the money right now anyway… or the time… this time…

And specifically as an Internet marketer, you’ll notice that we are always (in the same way) trying to create the perfectly perfect product. We want to wait until it’s just right or just ready and at the best time in the most apt niche.

Careful is good, don’t get me wrong – you don’t want to invest in everything shiny you see like some mindless raven but there is also a danger in being too cautious.

If you wait until you’re ready… really ready it will queue your success and put you after those others that will dare to try and fail with the products that they have now. Not perfect products – working products. You see, if you’ve been in this game as long as I have, you’ll understand this:

There won’t EVER be a perfect product.

Every product, service, investment, niche and sales related system has risks. In fact, to cheer you up, I’ll tell you this: every moment of life, whether you think about it or not, has risks. You could go outside today and be hit by a bus with no greater or less risk realistically than if you were skydiving. You have to just work with the circumstances you’re in.

There will always be a product ready today, that sells today. And even failing to generate sales will teach you how to reach success next time. Because there are no failures, just learnings. Every product that sells less than another tells you many, many useful things about your market – about your consumer. And once you are inside the buying brain of a consumer – well, that’s when the money rolls in.

Do not delay in your experiments. Run with what you have today and make it work the best it can, for now. Stop trying to make everything work out perfectly because frankly you’re wasting time and missing out on valuable lessons and challenges that could have benefitted you as a very successful Internet marketer.

Sometimes you just have to rip the plaster off. Just pull and stop thinking about the how’s and whys. Doing things too carefully often delays the inevitable anyway and drags out the whole affair, causing pain. On a similar note, for you and for your life (on and offline) – If you need to walk away from something, just do it now. Waiting is more stressful than the act itself and once you’re on the other side, you can begin anew. But never before then. There’s never a good time. The time is NOW.

Certainly, don’t wait for approval to do something either. I have noted a lot of Internet marketers worrying about what their families etc. will think of their trial and error mode. And I don’t blame them – the jobs we have are more risky when you’re self-employed, naturally. But you’re here because you do not want to be a corporate slave, you want freedom. Let that freedom of choice be reflected in your next decisions too then, because life waits for no man and no woman.

Move with it, act now, make your own decisions – be free to make mistakes and to try different things. Products don’t sell themselves, you sell them. And the more you try, the better your methods will become.

Don’t wait for the perfect thing – it’s not coming. Make use of what you can do now – today. Your imperfection is all of our imperfections. It is what makes us human. It is what makes us great. Harness your imperfections, take action and work toward your greatness every day.

There is an interesting analogy of fear that I like and that is:

F – False
E – Evidence
A – Appearing
R – Real

You see, most Internet Marketers imagine that they’re doing everything they can to succeed and yet often ask – “Why then am I not further along?”

“Where are my millions?”

If you feel this way too, then you’re probably a victim of ‘fear’ – of false evidence appearing real.

Fear stops you from doing many things:

– Taking risks
– Going for it NOW (not tomorrow)
– Worrying about investments/spending money
– Overriding your natural abilities
– Fear of not making enough money
– Fear of what people will think of you and your ‘virtual’ job
– Thinking it’s all a scam
– Worrying you are doing it ‘wrong’
– Having too many ideas as a back-up and, therefore, diluting your power in too many ventures
– Starting and not finishing

The list is endless. But it’s not real. It may feel real, but it isn’t. It is a future-based thought projection, and it is causing you to suffer and to, ultimately, hold you back.

You see, if you constantly picture it going wrong, worry about the future, keep changing your mind or venture and procrastinating – it’s all self-protection so that if it goes bottom up – you think you won’t feel so bad.

I am here to tell you if you want to get over this for good, you must pick an adventure online – hyper-focus on seeing it through to the end, forget about the ‘how,’ remember why you started, and disregard any thoughts of pain or failure that ‘might’ occur.

Why? Well, the difference between you and someone really successful in your field isn’t the system they are using. It is the mindset.

I guarantee you if it was the system, then everyone who bought the system thereafter would be rich. No, it is how you feel about it and what you are willing to do with it. Most of that process of success is inside of your head.

How can you make any system or process work for you? Don’t keep changing the idea – change you.

Simply put – stop being afraid of things that haven’t happened or that may happen or that have happened. Focus now on one or two good projects and STICK with it/them. See it/them through. Face the obstacles and tell your fear that you can do it and will do it no matter what. That is the only secret.

Why do we not like this word ‘failure’? Because the possibility of it (of letting ourselves down or others) causes us PAIN.

We are all afraid of pain and want to move away from it. That is how procrastination happens – you want to put the pain off for another time. It could be the pain of hard work, of talking to people if you are shy, of seeing yourself or of failing in your goals. But it is all nonsense caused by thought.

Pain is overrated. Why? Because again, FEAR is the main ingredient of all pain.

After that, it’s just the physical feeling, which can be managed.

That’s right. You can liken it to pulling out a loose tooth with a pair of pliers. Sounds barbaric, scary… however, how much do we dramatize the potential of pain in that scenario?

This is the same as fearing the future of your finances or overall success online.

But remember this…

Walking to get the pliers isn’t painful, lifting them isn’t painful, holding the tooth isn’t painful; wiggling the pliers and pulling – now that’s painful (the actual discomfort of doing it) – but for what, five seconds? Five seconds of pain.

And it’s over. Sure beats a week of panicking about the dentist.

It’s a strange analogy, but most of us live our whole lives making a whole day, week, or month out of pain when if we just lived in the moment without fear, it’s often just a five-second event.

If we just pick an idea, go for it and face fear – and just see it through!

Fear of failure is the element that keeps you down, with no hope of success on a massive scale. But there is no such thing as failure! Some of the greatest ‘failures,’ or lessons, as I call them, developed some of the most incredible inventions to date.

Failure is an exposure to what works and what doesn’t, and one can only reach success or failure when getting out of his/her safe or comfort zone. So if you are failing, you’re doing better than most… because while they’re sitting around, you have already gotten up and started making it happen!

Benjamin Franklin said:

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

And Thomas Edison said the following:

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

He added – “Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.”

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

And my favorite – “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Like Edison and like any great out there now… there is only one key difference in their approach – they are not afraid to see their work to the end.

See it to the end, and you too will have success.

Do not be afraid anymore. Get to work, take massive and consistent action toward your dreams, and build your dream life NOW.

There’s thousands of Internet Marketers out there – and you are one of them. So, here is my question for the day: Who are you?

Because as you can see, when you search through products, people, and services online – mediocrity and conformity is already 99% of everyone else’s day.

Not to sound harsh, but most people just follow what is trending or what is hot, and while that is an awesome way to just make money – regarding a long-term and life purpose – it is not exactly fulfilling, is it?

It is just a means to an end if we think about it that way.

But you probably started online to make money – that is a given.

You also probably wanted to have the flexibility and freedom it brings. IM has great potential to earn a large amount of money in a short amount of time. It’s a great way to learn. Most times, it is easier than your best friend’s 9-5 job, isn’t it?

However, when we skip from one affiliate product to another or try different things aimlessly with no real long-term goal or life design, we are not really building a future for ourselves overall. And as human beings, our long-term goal always stretches beyond money.

In fact, as we get older, it is much more about –

How can I serve and add value?
How can I discover my life’s purpose?
What really makes me happy?
Who am I?

The most difficult part in life is to discover who you really are (you: not the kid of your parents, not the wife of your husband, not the student in school, not what society thinks about you or expects from you, etc.).

Once we go away and discover the answer to that – to what we really want from life, we can then apply our knowledge of who we really are to what we really enjoy doing – and in marketing terms – that can also bring money to the table. That’s where the start is. Trust me: Do what you love and what adds value in your personal opinion –and the money will follow.

Picking a job or service or product is not the first thing to do, not yet anyway.

Discovering yourself is the starting point. There is nothing before that point. The only other thing is what others are and what your position is in THEIR circles – not what is your position in YOUR life. Go away today and make a list.

List all of the things you loved as a child that you have forgotten about and like doing. Then name five strengths you have in business and by nature. Also list five weaknesses. After a while, you will start to see a pattern – things you are good at and what you can offer.

There is a reason you have the set skills you do; you are unique in these delivery skills and traits. Focus on what you LOVE to do and what you are good at and live from that end first before you decide what path to take.

You are here for a reason. Find out what that reason is.

“You did not come into this world; you came out of it. Like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here.” – Alan Watts

Someone once asked me when is the best time to launch a product, to start up that new business, to go for something a bit risky or to change strategy.

Is it the market, the timing, the product itself… When, when, when should I start in order for it to be the most effective?

In reply, I always say the same thing: Now. Start now.

And you then reply with the same fear – “But I am not ready…”

I tell you this, no matter who you are, you’ll never be ready. Those who wait for the conditions online to become ideal (and indeed offline in life) tend to never be ready. The fear will hold you back, the procrastination will hold you back, the lack of ‘going for it’ will harm your confidence. It’ll never be enough, it’ll never be just right. And if you’re not sure about it, you’ll be correct because no one will believe in you.

You must strike now and that means you’re not wasting any time. Yes, there are ideal circumstances in which to be successful, of course but the girl or guy who sits back waiting and doesn’t launch or doesn’t take that step forward will be quickly overtaken by the competitor; the one with the courage who knows that they’re not fully ready but is still going ahead with it. Why will it work better than you who is getting everything just right?

Because while they’re out doing these things and failing and getting back up and tweaking, perfecting and indirectly becoming a master of their craft… you’re still waiting for the right time. Practice and determination make the master.

In life, we are always waiting. Sitting back, looking for external guidance on what to do next and exactly how to do it. While this is great, sometimes you have to just do it. Experience is the best teacher – “Will it work?” you ask – “Go and do it, try it out. Right now. Don’t wait for tomorrow because it’s a lesson less tomorrow that you could have learned and incorporated into your wisdom.”

Timing can be perfect sometimes and it can create a lot of luck but not so much as the will and drive you can begin to use now inside of yourself – throwing away that fear of acting on something new. Tell yourself you can be happy now. You can focus on the things that matter now. From this head space of confidence, MONEY FOLLOWS. Always, because in this state of mind – that we are ready to have it all, right now as we are – we become extremely resourceful naturally.

It is us that holds us back. Our fears and inadequate thinking. Our waiting…

Think about why you became an IMer – you clearly wanted freedom from the rat race. You were maybe told to do your exams, don’t party and do well at school- then you’ll be happy. Successful. But then there’s more to do, go to university, get a degree… Oh, then you’ll be happy.

And after four more years, you need a good job and lots of money and if you do, then you’ll be happy. And now you’re working all the time to pay off your house and car and get financially free…when you don’t worry… you’ll be happy.

But now they tell you you’re at that age where all this money means nothing without a partner, so settle down, have a family and then you’ll be happy.

But time to yourself may be more limited now with these new responsibilities, so don’t worry, when you retire and the kids are raised well, then you’ll be happy.

And now you’re old… you might find another theological or philosophical force and even decide that when you die and go to heaven, you’ll be happy then.

Do you realize that when you live a life of ‘If I get this, if I wait for the right time… I’ll be happy’ most of us will spend our whole lives chasing a dream in the FUTURE? Always out of reach…

Happiness is just moments like these. WE can make miracles happen today…

Don’t wait for the right time to take a risk. Every minute is a risk regardless, (we cannot guarantee the future) and so all that exists is what step we can take right now to make our dreams come true.

Do something today – now – that is a step further than what you were yesterday. Lay a brick each day, don’t set out to build the wall… and one day you will have a wall without realizing it. All you had to do was:

Don’t wait. Take action NOW.

When creating article content for your blog, the headline itself can very much make or break your campaign. It has been shown that inbound traffic can be increased by as much as 500% based upon the headline alone. Let’s take a look at six sure-fire ways to attract your audience and keep them reading on.

Keep it Simple

Countless online “experts” claim that creativity is key in capturing an audience. However, let’s keep in mind that most readers and visitors will want to know what it is that they are reading. Cut out the fluff and bring the crux of the article to the table. Consider these two headlines:

“Leveraging the Power of Email in the 21st Century Digital World” “How Your Email Can Generate Massive Amounts of Revenue”

Which one tells you more about the article? It is more than likely that a potential reader will be attracted to the second statement. Technical jargon generally should be supplanted with a more “down-to-earth” feel in order to entice the average reader.

Generate Curiosity

It is always good to have a headline that captures the attention of the visitor. This is particularly effective in blog posts that may revolve around a wide variety of topics. In fact, there is nothing wrong with starting off an article with a question such as:

“Do You Know the Top Ways to Drive in Online Revenue? You Might be Surprised!”

This short headline does two things. First, it causes the reader to begin thinking about the answer to the question put forth. Secondly, it entices them to continue perusing the article to find out what they may be missing. Curiosity is key to engagement and in this case, the title can be just as important as the content.

Numbered Lists

Numbered lists have been used by clickbait sites for a very long time, and for good reason. This type of introduction prepares readers for what is in store (the length of the article, for instance). In other words, you are quantifying what it is that you are offering to the reader. This is one of the reasons why sites such as BuzzFeed are so very popular (even if the information that they present is sometimes common knowledge).

One word of advice should be mentioned. Some numbers work better than others and it is always good to place them in the beginning of the text. For instance:

– 7 Reasons why Obesity Kills
– 10 Advantages of Our Product Over Our Competitor
– The Top 15 Ways to Increase Your ROI with Our Product

Numbers such as 5, 7, 10 and even 20 will work well. Many feel that this has to do with a bit of psychology and the comfort that these known quantities offer (as opposed to a random number such as 19). Finally, discrete numbers tend to signal that the article is put together well.

The Sale

Any headline should begin selling your product or service before the reader gets into the text. In some ways, you can consider this to be the “open” in an average sales pitch. As opposed to merely stating a fact about your service, it is better to tempt the reader into discovering what you are able to offer. Here are the wrong and right ways to accomplish this (assuming that you are marketing a weight loss supplement):

– How to Lose Weight
– 5 Products We (the name of the company) Provide to Help You Lose Weight
The first headline is bland and if punched into a normal search engine, thousands of results will pop up. The second headline attaches your company with an action. As the name of the firm is in the title, this is also a great way to increase SEO and exposure. Place yourself in the shoes of a potential customer and ask what their frustration is and how your company can fix the problem.
Going Viral with an Audience

Should your article go viral and be shared by a massive amount of readers, the positive effects of ROI are obvious. The best way to accomplish this is to know what your target audience needs. Many digital strategists state that this is associated with how novel the article is. While this is indeed true, novelty should never be confused with fancy prose and the use of a thesaurus. Instead, novel signifies simplicity and a clever presentation that is memorable. Although this will naturally revolve around the product that you are promoting, adding a bit of flair into a title can help the entire post or blog go viral.

A Bit of an Ultimatum

Generating interest and inbound traffic can also be caused by a title that reflects a certain amount of finality. Certain “power” words will reflect a confidence within your company and entice the reader to continue to find out what he or she may have been missing. Let us assume that you are marketing a way to make money from home. Some headlines using this approach can include:

– The Top 10 Reasons You’re Not Making Money
– The Ultimate Guide to Making Money Online
– We Guarantee that Our Product Will Make You Money
The underscored words utilized in these titles all signal power, strength and confidence. The chances are high that the reader is looking to enjoy these very same traits.
These six tips should be used in conjunction whenever possible. Not only are headlines important in terms of search engine optimization, but they are just as critical (if not more so) to “hook” a reader, keep him or her interested, and transform this interest into action.