I just got back from giving a talk tonight.

The thing was supposed to be about 1 hour. Ended up being 2 and a half.

It was exhausting – and great. And because it was a small group we got to interact a lot. You know, just kick back and do a lot of question / answer type stuff.

They were a cool group too. A hungry group. They sucked me dry of more copywriting knowledge than I've ever given away in such a short period of time. The basterds

Which leads me to…

…One of the most powerful ways I know of building credibility, trust, and getting new business: public speaking.

And there are a few reasons why…

For one, we’re conditioned to view speakers as experts. By default, if someone takes the stage, and gives a presentation…

They’re an expert on that subject.

Next, it gives you a chance to show off “how good you are.” If you give a talk, and people walk away with awesome, practical advice – you’re showing them before they even do business with you that you deliver results.

And finally…

People like to do business with people they like –

so by letting them get to know you in your speech, you can start to build a relationship with them, and increase their chances of hiring you / buying your products.

But the key is to making this all work is by making an AMAZING impression on your audience… Here are a few ways to do that…

1. Give away an awesome gift.

I like to provide everyone with awesome, printed materials they can walk away with. I’ll also provide pens and paper for note taking.

People really appreciate small stuff like that. It shows you really care, and that you really want to help.

2. Really stack on the value.

Provide a HIGH level of value in your content. Give the kind of content for FREE that people pay for.

They will love you to pieces. Trust me. And a side effect of really helping people is they want to help you back. This is where you get business and referrals.

I’ve walked away from a presentation with a full page of leads before – filled from top to bottom (even the margins).

Oh, and it was only a 5 minute presentation!

3. Tell stories about your customers / clients.

One thing I like to do is to tell success stories of clients – and then break down for my audience how everything worked.

This accomplishes three things…

1. It shows that I help people succeed in their goals.

2. It lets the audience imagine what it would be like to work with me, and decide if they want a similar experience.

3. It shows them real world examples that they can apply to their businesses / lives. I’m not giving “abstract” information. It’s very real, and very practical.

4. At the end of your talk – tell people what to do next!

Just like any good ad – a good talk should end with a call to action.

You can tell people about a product you’re promoting, offer your services, a free consultation – anything.

Just make sure you tell them how to get in touch with you. Tell them to call – and give your number. Or give your e-mail address and tell them to write.

Just make sure you give clear, concise instructions.

Now, this stuff takes practice.

You won't become a Martin Luther King over night. Trust me – I'm still on the learning curve of public speaking myself. 

But I can tell you this – it's one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever come across.

What are your thoughts?

I’d love to hear them. Did you learn something new? Or maybe you think this is all "rubbish" (to be British for a second)?

Leave a comment in the comment box below and let me know.

Talk soon,
David

p.s. Part 2 of my "incredible revealation" is coming up soon… If you don't remember, you can check out part 1 here:

http://acupofcopy.net/http:/acupofcopy.net/my-newest-revelation

Keep a look out…

It’s about 2 am here in Georgia. I’ve been up thinking about a couple situations I’ve run across lately, and I realized that it’s so crucial that I had to share it with you.

It has to do with a mistake that is costing many business owners literally tens of thousands of dollars.

Actually, so many across the WORLD are making this mistake that I’d even say millions are being wasted on DEAD-END advertising.

This is what I mean…

(By the way everything I’m writing from here on out is not meant to be abrasive – it’s just really true, and really important. I want you to succeed so I feel that it’s my obligation to tell you about it.)

Advertising is for one person, and one person alone: your reader.

It honestly has nothing to do with you, except for the fact that you’re the one putting out the ad. Other than that, your ad/website/etc. is for your reader.

Sometimes this means setting your ego aside (I know as well as anyone that this isn’t always the easiest thing in the world).

Sometimes, you’re so in line with your target market that you could practically write to yourself and it’ll do just fine.

Most of the time though, your target market isn’t you. You’re someone who’s already solved a problem that they have. You’re providing the solution. You’re the expert.

So you’re writing to people with a PROBLEM. And you need to always remember that.

Yeah, you may have won 10 awards. Yeah, you may have 17 degrees and 22 certifications…

But the bottom line is, someone is going to call an ad that speaks directly to them over an ad that talks about how many degrees someone has.

Let’s stop and be brutally honest for a second:

The last time you sat down to write copy, choose a design for your website, or anything else relating to marketing -

Did you think, “What would my target market want to see?”

or did you think, “What do I prefer?”

It’s okay if you asked yourself the second question – but asking yourself the first question is what makes sales.

Dale Carnegie said it beautifully.

He said that he loves strawberry shortcake – but when he goes fishing he doesn’t put it on the line. He puts what the fish like.

That’s the golden rule of marketing. If you’re breaking it – now’s the perfect time to head in a new direction. I have literally fought with clients for hours to get them to see this when they couldn’t understand why I wrote copy in the way that I did.

And that also goes for colors, fonts, graphics – anything! It all has to be for your reader – not for you (unless the two of you happen to have the same aesthetic).

But I’m so passionate about getting people results that I’d rather my client hate me and make a ton of money then like me because I wrote it the way they wanted and have the ad get zero response.

Maybe that’s not the healthiest mindset – but it’s how I feel.

Luckily, 99% of the time I don’t have this conflict, but lately it’s been popping up in my life like those gofers in the arcade game where you whack them on the head.

What do you think?

Anyway, don’t make this mistake! Focus on who you’re writing to, and you’re already ahead of the curve.

Till next time,

David

I hope you are having an awesome day/night/morning/whenever it is you’re reading this.

I have a very special interview for you with my very own brother, Steve Hochman, who has personally been a mentor to me both in business and in life.

Steve went from living on the hardwood floor of his ex-girlfriend’s mother’s floor, to now earning close to 7 figures a year (and without a doubt he’s hitting 7 figures this year).

And the cool thing is he constantly helps personal trainers and boot camp owners skyrocket their incomes to live the incredible life that he now does.

Anyway, click play below to get started. Steve reveals some CRAZY-GOOD marketing/copywriting tips that you can instantly apply to your own business.

Oh, and if the audio seems to skip at places, it’s because our connection cut out a couple times, but we always picked back up where we left off.

(By the way – the first 2:30 is me and Steve laughing and goofing off. So if you just want the pure content, skip ahead to 2:30)

Also – in the beginning we talked about special ed for a second. Steve really was in special ed all through school, so we’re not two jerks picking on people who were born with mental deficiencies!

Actually, that’s part of why Steve’s story is so cool because he was a kid who no one thought would succeed, yet he didn’t listen to a word of anyone, took massive success by the reins, and now lives an awesome life with his wife and two daughters out in California.

Here’s the interview. Enjoy

To learn more about Steve Hochman, and pick up some incredible marketing tips, click this link: Fitness Marketing.

Talk soon,

David

“What’s the next piece of information this guy’s gonna feed me?”

“Is he just trying to get me to buy something?”

“How do I know I can trust him?”

“How do I know this isn’t a scam?”

Everyone who is currently your client, is thinking about becoming your client, or who used to be your client has asked themselves these questions. Or they’re asking themselves these questions right now.

Your job as copywriter, marketer, entrepeneur is to first off…

Accept that everyone has these doubts. You have them too! In fact, if you’re like most of us, you’ve never bought a single thing in your adult life without answering each of these questions, be it consciously or sub-consciously.

Then…

Answer these questions to yourself about your business, as honestly as possible. What I mean by this is if you really are just trying to get people to buy something – be open about it! Or if you have other motives besides money, think about what those might be. How do people know they can trust you? Who are you anyways? Why should anyone listen to you?

And finally…

Communicate your answers to your customers (that’s where the copywriting/ phone calls come in).

I’ll go through these 3 steps about my own business, so you can see what I mean.

1. Am I just trying to get you to buy something?

Yes and no. Yes, I want to make money because to me money means time with my loved ones, vacations, the ability to help others. But I’ve chosen a profession that helps other people make money so that they can accomplish their dreams too.

Who am I anyway?

I’m a guy who happens to be passionate about copywriting and marketing. I’ve done quite a bit of it and have a good sense of what works and what doesn’t. I’m not the greatest copywriter in the world, but I’m a good one who knows how to get results, and I like sharing what I know. It makes me feel special and warm inside. lol..

How do you know you can trust me?

Well, I wish I had a great answer for this but I struggle with the question myself.

I have only two things I can offer you as answers: 1, the testimonials of my clients whose results show that I can be trusted when it comes to copywriting and marketing, and 2, the information on this blog. If you read through it, and decide for yourself that I know what I’m talking about, then I believe I’ve earned your trust.

So, there you have it.

I’ve just poured out my heart and soul for you! (and hopefully I haven’t sent you running!)

Sometimes admitting that you don’t have a good answer, or that you don’t know the answer, shows just how genuine and trustworthy you are.

That’s really what the point of this exercise is – it’s to show you that when you’re in front of your customers, either in person, in writing, or on the phone – keep in mind that these questions are perculating inside of them. The best thing you could do is be like a mind reader – answer these questions before they can even ask them.

And answer them honestly, even if it means admitting a fault or saying “I don’t know”.

Keep in mind, making sales is not a Miss America contest!

Customers aren’t judges – they’re ordinary people like you and me who want to do business with someone who will treat them like a dignified human being and who can solve a problem or two that they have.

Till next time,

David

I’m about to let you in on what are probably the 2 most important sales lessons I’ve ever learned. And to demonstrate what those lessons are I’m going to tell you a (true) story about something that happened to me the other day, involving a business that completely tossed aside each of these lessons, pushing away my sale (and probably the sale of a lot of other angry customers).

I mean, it was bad. These guys could publish a book called: “1,001 sales-killing mistakes we make on a regular basis”

If you’re making these mistakes, this might be the most important thing you’ve ever read.

Now for the story…

The other day I was looking to join a gym. So I went down the street to a gym which had sent me a flier in the mail for $10/month membership. I mean, $10 a month – what can beat that, right? So off I went to see what this place was all about.

When I got there – it was perfect. Clean hardwood floors, a small crowd (I don’t like a lot of people around when I work out), and good equipment.

The only thing left was to discuss price. It turned out that to get the $10 a month deal, you have to put $300 down. That came as a bit of a shocker to me. I mean, I walked into that gym thinking I was going to spend $10, and somehow that became $300 – are they trying to lose sales?

–Which leads us to sales lesson #1:

Don’t have any “catches” – or if you do, say them up front. I read that flier over probably 5 times before going to the gym and couldn’t find one single sentence talking about $300 down. Catches lead to customers feeling like they’ve been cheated, ripped off, and scammed.

But here’s the real lesson… When you admit that there’s a catch, and you come clean, you build trust and rapport with your customers because they feel like you’re confiding in them.

The flier should’ve said…

“$10 a month gym membership”

When you put $300 down on a membership, your monthly fees are just $10. Our normal rates, and the rates of every other gym around, are around $110 down and $35 a month. So yes, you’re putting a little more down up front, but after just 6 months the membership pays for itself, and you have a $10/month membership for the rest of your life.

So if you know that 6 months from now you’re still going to be working out, staying healthy, and taking active steps toward a healthier, happier life – this is the membership for you.

Back to our story…

So after being thrown a curve ball, I wanted to check out other gyms and compare the rates. I told the guy I appreciated his time and I’d get back to him. He then said something that completely killed the sale.

“What’re you waiting for?” he said, and snickered.

“Sorry, what was that?” I asked, thinking I must’ve been hearing things.

He then let out a burst of condescending laughter (can you believe it?) and said, “What’re you waiting for? I mean, you said you were ready to go. So why are you waiting? What’s gonna change when you go home? Are you gonna magically make a decision?” or something like that. I don’t totally remember what he said because astonishment overtook me.

So I looked him in the eyes for a second, waiting for him to tell me he was just kidding. No dice. I then realized that this guy was seriously talking down to me! It’s as if he read a book on how to completely and utterly lose any chance of making a sale, and was using every tactic from that book.

–Which brings us to lesson #2:

There’s a time to come on strong and a time to lay back. He should’ve let me go – there’s a good chance I would’ve gone home, ran the numbers, and decided that in the long run it was the better deal. In fact, I definitely would have because when I checked out the other gym it was noisy, crowded, and more expensive. Instead, he pushed me to buy a membership, and came off as extremely rude (he snickered at me!).

Often, letting a customer go is a better tactic than keeping them around when they want to leave.

Yes, some customers won’t come back, but you probably wouldn’t have had their sale in the first place. But more often than not, the customers will come back, and they’ll be loyal and appreciative because you gave them the respect they deserve.

And they’ll tell all their friends about the great customer service you have, and before you know it, you’ll be getting boatloads of referrals, all because you were a breath of fresh air when it comes to sales.

Until next time,

David

p.s. What are some mistakes you’ve made in sales? And what did you learn from them? I’d love to know!

So I got a couple of really great responses when I sent out my e-mail last week that asked you the question,

“What is the biggest challenge that you face in your business?”

In fact, it’s because of the responses that I got that I’m doing this blog post today. It’s about a very simple, effective way to start making money while you’re away from your business. All you need is Craigslist, too. It’s that easy.

And by the way, the question is still open – if there’s a struggle you’re facing in your business that you would like help with, e-mail me at DTendrich@gmail.com a question, and I’ll do my best to answer you. I make your questions my priority when I’m writing my next post.

Anyways… Here’s how it’s done…

Back when I was a guitar teacher – I got kinda burnt out. I’d gotten so many clients, that my business, on top of school and my girl friend, was just TOO much. So I needed a way to keep up my income stream, but without working!

…The birth of my outsourcing method…

Here’s exactly what to do to solve this problem:

1. Put an ad on Craigslist that looks like this (only for whatever field you’re in):

“Fellow guitar teachers – I have too many clients! I need to give some away to teachers I can trust!”

Every month I advertise my guitar lessons business pretty aggressively – which is great, because I have tons of clients – but at the same time, I’m at a point where I’m turning down business. I really hate to turn down business.

So I’m looking for other teachers who I can give clients to, but you have to meet these requirements:

• You have to be passionate and energetic, because my clients need to have an awesome experience, not dry, dispassionate lessons
• You have to be responsible, which means showing up early for every lesson!
• You have to love what you do, and love having fun, and love working with people…

If this sounds like you, then give me a call right now -

Call David Tendrich at xxx-xxx-xxxx

(But if I were you, I’d hurry, because I’m only looking for 3 teachers and we all know how fast offers like these come and go on Craigslist. So call me right now! I’d hate for you to miss out on a chance to instantly get more clients!)

2.  Interview the people

3. Split the profit with them 50/50.

That’s it! That’s how you do it! And the great thing is, the more consultants you get, the better your business looks, because you can say that you have teachers/trainers/whatever you do in more areas. And more areas = more prospects = more cash.

Looking forward to your comments,

David

When a lot of us hear the word “meditation” we think of monks sitting cross-legged with their hands in some weird shape, saying the word “ohmmmmm….” for hours and hours.

Well, that’s their version of meditation – but it doesn’t have to be yours.

For some, meditation is cooking, playing music, taking a walk. It’s anything you do that makes you forget your stresses, and allows you to find some inner-peace, and let your imagination loose.

To becoming successful, meditation is as important as breathing.

And here’s why: you actually have a mechanism inside of your mind that accomplishes all of the goals you give it. In fact, your life right now is a collection of accomplished goals that you gave your mind to accomplish, most likely without knowing it.

For instance, for years I put myself in situations where I had no money because I believed money was bad. So I gave myself the goal of “put me in situations where I am destitute.” I did that through the images, feelings, and thoughts I had when money came up in a conversation, or when I thought about money. And you know what? I became great at accomplishing that goal.

But then I tried something different…

I became aware of my thoughts about money and success, and I tried to “re-program” them. And that is where meditation came in. For me, meditation is playing guitar, or taking a walk in nature. When I do these things, I feel relaxed, calm, and I imagine my life the way I want it to be. I imagine every single detail of it, including how the hardwood floors of my million dollar home will feel against my heels.

Often music is an extremely powerful gateway into meditation. The right song can trigger such a peaceful, meditative state. That’s why I’ve compiled some of my favorite tracks to meditate with.

Each track is one-minute long, so you can have “one-minute power meditation” sessions

Here’s how you use these tracks – press play, close your eyes, and imagine your life the way you want it to be. Feel how it would feel to be successful, to have no more money worries, to have unlimited time for the people, places, and events you love most. The more detail you imagine, the faster it will happen. I know this from experience.

Jazz:

Experiment:

Venture Out:

Old Soul:

To your success,

David

p.s. I created these tracks myself Enjoy.

David Ogilvy

This company was smaller than the #1 company, it didn’t have the same number of employees, and it had fewer locations.

And you know what? David used every one of these “weaknesses” to present this #2 company as the stronger choice for rental cars.

In his ad, he said something to the extent of:

“Yes, we’re the #2 rental car company in America. And because of it, we have to work extra hard to make sure you are happy, because unlike the #1 company, we can’t afford to have you walk away unsatisfied.

“That is why when you get into your rental car, the gas tank will always be full, the ash tray emptied, and the seats clean to boot – it will feel like stepping into a brand new car.

“Plus, our lines are shorter.”

My business partner and I use a similar technique when pitching our services to potential clients.

When they express concern at the fact that we’re new to the marketing/copywriting business, I tell them,

“You know what? You’re absolutely right. And it’s because we’re new that every single client we take on has to walk away completely happy with their product, and with more money in their pockets.

“Because unlike a big agency, or an experienced business that has a large client base, we can’t afford to let one single client walk away unhappy. We need your testimonial, and we need you to say great things about our business. For us to become successful, you have to become successful too.

“If not, we’re doomed to fail. So when we take on your project, we’re not just doing it for you – we’re doing it for ourselves, too.”

And you know what? It’s true! Being the underdog has its advantages. We know that what we produce is just as good, if not often better, than what many experienced agencies produce – but our prospect doesn’t yet know that because we’re so fresh to the industry.

Underdog!

But once they see what we’re capable of, it’s a different story.

So if you’re launching a new business – use that to your advantage! If you don’t yet have testimonials – use that to your advantage! Don’t try to hide it!

Instead, look your prospect in the eyes, and tell them,

“You’re right. We don’t have testimonials, and we’re not as well known as our competition. But you know what..”

And tell them why that’s such a blessing.

To better writing (and more money),

David