People today are bombarded with advertising. If you’re in business trying to sell anything, you face a real battle to cut through the hundreds of other voices competing for your customer’s attention. Consumers today are also highly sceptical of anything that looks like it’s trying to SELL them something. They want to see rock solid […]
The secret to getting truly great testimonials
We all realise the importance of testimonials in marketing. But most small business websites neglect testimonials or, if they do use them, they tend to be the usual “blah, blah, blah” that no one bothers to read. Often hidden away on an inner page. I was reminded today of the great potential of testimonials – […]
Do Eskimos really need to eat ice cream?
Honestly, I feel sick to the stomach when I read some of the over-hyped sales copy on the internet. Granted, it’s persuasive. And it works. Some of these A-list copywriters could literally sell the proverbial ice cream to Eskimos. This kind of super-hyped, hypnotic sales copy is particularly prevalent in the online marketing world. But […]
The No.1 copywriting secret of all time
As human beings, we’re a selfish bunch. We love to talk about ourselves. And if we’re in business, we love to talk about our business, our products or services. And who can blame us? It’s what we love, it’s what we do. The problem is, when it comes to advertising, the natural inclination of all […]
The “missing link” in most Google AdWords campaigns
This is for any business running Google AdWords, wondering if you are pouring too much money down a deep, black hole. It might offend some AdWords geeks – but I’m going to call it as I see it. The dilemma with AdWords is the admin interface is so complex, it’s like an aircraft cockpit. It […]
What I learned (painfully) about SEO during 2014
After being hammered by Google’s algorithm changes in 2013, I was determined to be “squeaky clean” with search engine optimisation during 2014. Nice idea. But I still had an awful lot to learn. And more pain to go through. My mantra was “quality content” upon more quality content. Of course, the fundamentals never change – […]
Authenticity versus hype in marketing – which works better?
This morning I received an email from a well known North American marketer. He was promoting a webinar. The headline read: “How to Craft Simple Stories to Vaporize Buyer Resistance… Create Deeper, More Meaningful Connections With Your Best Clients… And Sell Your Products and Services for MORE MONEY Instead of Less” A few years ago, […]
How Much Is a Website Really Worth?
I met today with a small business owner (a florist) who has just paid $20,000 for an ecommerce website. The site works OK technically, i.e. customers can buy a product, checkout and pay with their credit card. But from a marketing viewpoint, this $20,000 website is an absolute disaster. It’s a disgrace to the web […]
Google AdWords versus Facebook Advertising
If you’re looking to advertise your business online, you might be trying to decide whether Google AdWords or Facebook pay-per-click advertising is a better option. I’ve used both successfully. So here is my assessment of the pros and cons of each. AdWords and Facebook: Similarities If you’re a small business, Facebook paid ads and Google […]
Google AdWords management – are agencies ripping off their clients?
I’m probably going to upset a few AdWords agencies with this post, but I feel many of them are ripping off their clients by charging a percentage of ad spend to manage an AdWords campaign. This type of pricing structure has nothing to do with the level of work the agency actually does for the […]