Cara Lumen | Sing a Deeper Song

Sing a Deeper Song

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How to Organize Your Content so it Practically Writes Itself

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I once wrote a play. Well actually I wrote a lot of scenes and found myself laying them out all over my bed trying to sort them in some sort of sequence. (This was before computers). It was the only way I could take what had emerged from my imagination and make any sense out of it.

Of course, now I know better. Even now if simply start writing content as I get inspired, I find it much, much harder to organize than if I had a plan in the first place. Being able to see the overview of what you are going to create is actually a talent, but it is also a skill you can learn. Here’s my method.

Find your core message

Why are you writing this? What one point do you wish to make above all else? I’ll use the example of a book I’m working on now. It’s “How to Write Magnetic Sales Pages.” My purpose is to create a ebook/workbook that helps people pull their ideas and phrases from their subconscious and put it into a specific structure in order to create a compelling sales page. That makes sense. This core message is the clothes line that will go from beginning to end upon which I will hang my points, one chapter “clothes pin” at a time.

Find your beginner’s mind

Who are you writing to? How much do they know? What foundational material do you have to include in order to orient them to your content? I’m beginning my book with information on why people buy. That makes sense. We’re writing sales pages to get people to purchase so understanding that process is an invaluable foundation upon which to build.

Build your path

Lay out your stepping stones. What do they need to know next? What after that? These are your chapter headings. Don’t worry about the name for them, just get the idea. In my case, I need for people to get very clear about the purpose of their sales page so I have organized my chapters and exercises to help them make internal decisions that will affect their content. It takes them step-by-step to a finished product.

Choose your equipment

What “tools” will your readers need in order to reach the conclusion you are taking them toward? Again, in my example, it’s fairly easy to see. We have to talk about the mechanics of creating content – headlines, subheads, keywords, the circular paragraph, etc. Fill your reader’s toolkit before you move on.

The key question

Now comes the magic organizer. Imagine that you have just mapped out a nature walk. You have posted signs along the path to mark the places you will stop and discuss with your students the scene before them. Why did you choose one viewing point rather than another? You have to know exactly what you want them to learn. The most powerful phrase you can ask yourself is “Students leave with an understanding of….” If you place that question at the beginning of every chapter heading you have created and answer it, your content will practically write itself.

The first time I created a Table of Contents for the Magnetic Sales Page book I found that on one chapter heading, when put in the line “Students leave with an understanding of….” I had to answer it with “I have no clue.” Needless to say I rearranged that particular point.

This key question is a powerful measuring stick for making certain your content is heard and understood.

Review your overview From your work so far, create your table of contents and look it over for a logical sequence. Do you need to move the chapter on one topic higher up? Have you answered a question in another place? Do chapters need to be combined? Remember your beginner’s mind and build your case one logical sequential step at a time. Look at your core “clothesline” theme. Look at the “garment” chapters you have hung on that line. If you have made your point, if you know what your students will leave with an understanding of… start writing.

Are they students or readers? We all want to be heard. We don’t write unless we want to communicate. Whether it is fiction, a how to book or a sales page, we want our content to be understood, So of course, we want to make our point. For me a reader can be a casual observer. A student, on the other hand, really wants to “get it.” That’s why I use “Students leave with an understanding of…” and let my content write itself.

Cara Lumen, The Vision Distiller, helps pro-active entrepreneurs translate their passion into a profitable presence on the internet. As a content strategist she guides you to copy that compels and sells. Her own information products are noted for their clarity and richness. Through The Magnetic Marketing Method she offers innovative, inexpensive, and impactful ideas for internet marketing, content strategy, and signature product development. Find more articles like this in The Success Magnets Emagazine at www.caralumen.com

The Psychology of Pricing – How to Position Your Products to Sell

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In his article “Pricing tips for selling in a tough market” in the Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Clements presented pricing tips for the difficult housing marketing. Using this universal psychology of pricing I have translated his concepts to help you price your products to sell.

Make your first number count

Have you noticed how $4.99 looks like and feels like a lot less than $5.00? Manoj Thomas, a marketing professor at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management explains, “We read from left to right so we anchor our judgment on the first thing we see. We make that judgment in a fraction of a second.” A $99 home study course will look more affordable than a $100 one. A $124.75 teleclass series will feel like a better bargain than the same one at $125. Pay attention to number on the left. It’s the one your prospect will remember.

Make effective price comparisons

One study of price comparisons found that, if the left digits are the same, buyers will focus on the right hand numbers. Thus an ebook at $12.75 feels a lot more expensive than one at $12.54. Have you ever been on Amazon ordering a book from an outside source? The prices vary by only one penny, but you inevitably go for the cheapest one. We love bargains.

It also turns out that buyers perceive the discount to be larger if those numbers on the right are declining from two to one rather than from nine to eight. Go figure.

Sometimes comparisons get out of hand. Have you ever been on a sales page that says you are getting $3,572 worth of bonuses? I personally don’t need that much information, so it is a comparison that is not compelling to me. But if you tell me there is an Early Bird Special in which a $125 teleclass I’m considering is available for $99 I may jump on it. And you know what, that’s a 20% savings. Which number did you respond to—the dollar amount or the percentage amount? I’m a dollar and cents type of person but it doesn’t hurt to use both in your copy providing it’s a good percentage drop.

What is a reasonable price?

The best way to make a pricing decision has never been determined. There are guidelines, but no easy to apply rule. Obviously you want to be within the range your market dictates. When I priced my first ebook, a colleague said, “Oh well, you can always offer a discount.” I knew then that I had priced it too high. You may not be able to sell an ebook for $29.95 since you are probably sitting there with a bookshelf full of very informative hard cover business books that average $12 each. It’s very common to look at the amount of effort that went into creating your product and over price it.

Another decision is what your target market can afford. Eckhart Tolle prices his book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose at $7.70. In doing so he made it available to anyone who wants it. He wants to get his message out. And it will be since he’s an Oprah book club selection. Suze Orman felt so strongly about getting her message to women that for 24 hours she recently gave away a free PDF of her book Women and Money also through Oprah. If you have a book that you want to reach as many people as possible, keep it in a price range that will entice them.

Another consideration is that academics are used to paying more for a text book than the average reader. Research your market and stay within a reasonable price range for those you want to buy your product and services.

Do you want to convey quality or a bargain?

An interesting discovery about the psychology of pricing is that a round number will convey quality. A precise number will indicate a bargain. Vicki Morwitz, a marketing professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business says that’s because we associate precise numbers with lower-priced products. A precise number also indicates you have given a lot of thought to your pricing. Look at Amazon prices, the last two numbers are all sorts of un-rounded numbers – $14.37, $12. 64. It makes you feel like you are really getting a bargain because you assume they have arrived at those prices in order to be the lowest source for that product.

Make the discount easy to calculate

Make it easy for your buyer to relate to the price cut. If it is difficult to do the math, they will perceive the savings as small. A drop from $149.85 to $127.48 taxes anyone’s math skills. But with a drop from $149.85 to $129.85 you can see a $20 savings. And in a drop from $150 to $130 the $20 savings is extremely clear.

Instead of cutting prices, add bonuses

In my coaching practice I have two ways for people to pay for my major package. They can pay in two payments, or if they pay in one payment, they get a bonus of four of my ebooks that are related to what they will be doing in our coaching sessions. My reasoning? Every time a prospect pulls out her credit card, she has the opportunity to reconsider the purchase. Fortunately my shopping cart can automatically charge monthly payments but my clients have an opportunity for some valuable bonuses if they pay in full. What kind of added value can you add to your bundles?

Don’t stay married to your price

Price your product or service reasonably and if it doesn’t sell lower your price. If it rushes out the door, consider raising your price. You could easily do some split testing by having identical sales pages with different prices and send half your list to one and half to the other and monitor the results.

Give it time

It takes prospects as many as nine exposures before they purchase. That’s why building your list is vital to your success. An opt in list gives you permission to market. The prospects are willing to hear from you again. Through emagazines and special offer promotions, you will have time to speak to them often enough to build their trust and get ultimately them to purchase.

One last thought on information products

An information product is not your business, it is an adjunct to your business. It enhances your expert status, it lets people move up your marketing funnel. When people come to me for help in developing an information product, I make certain they have a strong name capturing system in place on a compelling web site with strong content that stimulates conversion. Laying that strong foundation is paramount to your success. Then you can create all the products you wish and use the psychology of pricing to position your products to sell.

Want to post this article in your emagazine? You may as long as the unedited article is printed in its entirety, and you include the copyright notice and the following statement:

Cara Lumen, The Vision Distiller, helps pro-active entrepreneurs translate their passion into a profitable presence on the internet with a minimum investment by using time, energy, information, and imagination. Through The Magnetic Marketing Method she offers innovative, inexpensive, and impactful ideas for internet marketing, content strategy, and signature product development. Her own information products are noted for their clarity and richness. Find more articles like this in The Success Magnets Emagazine at www.caralumen.com

How to use testimonials to handle objections

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There will always be objections raised in the selling process. What if…I can’t…maybe… An objection means they don’t have enough information. It’s that simple.

Now it’s one thing to be in conversation and hear an objection voiced, you can immediately begin to determine what they are thinking and ask questions to identify and clarify their objections. But what do you do when you are writing a landing page and are essentially having a conversation with yourself?

You have to anticipate.

Make the “what if’s” part of your content

When you do your homework to identify the problems of your target market, also write down some of the perceived objections that might be raised. If you have had conversations with friends that represent your target market, be certain to explore their possible objections. Put yourself in the shoes your target market. Is the objection money, time, fear, lack of information, lack of need?

You want to beat them to the draw, so to speak, by addressing those objections in your sales page content. And what better way than to have someone else tell them what your product or service did for them.

Let testimonials handle the objections

“Although I’ve been a professional magazine writer for years, I didn’t realize the incredible marketing potential of articles until I took Cara’s class, Article Magnetism, How to Write Articles that Attract. Cara’s class material was worth ten times the cost of the class and her vast experience helped point me in directions I would not have thought of on my own. If you want to learn the nuts and bolts of effective article marketing, Article Magnetism is the one class you can’t afford to miss.”

Nancy Hendrickson
www.CyberBookBuzz.com

Nancy identifies herself as a knowledgeable person, indicates her problem of not having realized the marketing potential of writing articles, and indicates the class raised her awareness and moved her to a new level. This well-crafted testimonial is only three sentences long and addresses value, benefits and results.

I’ve been interested in article marketing for nearly a year now but I felt stuck and hadn’t done much with the information I’d received. In three weeks of Cara’s class I’ve been inspired to write 7 articles and have brainstormed a list of 27 more article ideas to write about. She’s really pulled this topic together for me so that I can write with confidence, ease, speed, organization and pleasure. I don’t feel like I have to write an article anymore. I want to write an article!

Cara gets herself and her students right into the beat of this topic, with each and every session. No one is looking at their watch, multi-tasking or asking “where’s the beef” in this content rich class. Her original (and really generous) bonus materials are great and her tips and resources are not the usual ones that everybody lists.

I really loved this course. Anyone who orders it will be richly rewarded.

Beth Borray
www.redpeony.com

This is actually a bit long and I could easily edit it but I include it because Beth speaks of her emotion, how stuck she felt and how relieved she was to actually want to write an article instead of feeling she had to. And she gives insights into the richness of the content and value of the course.

And I didn’t have to say a thing. You sometimes don’t have to do anything more than include the testimonial in your marketing material.

Use the parts and pieces

Some of my best testimonials come unsolicited in an email comment from people I interact with. First, I save them all in my “Acknowledgment” file so if I ever start feeling dumpy I can go look at the great things people see in me. But I also email them back and ask if I can use an excerpt as a testimonial and if so, how would they like their name and URL listed on my web site. Who can turn down an offer like that!

By asking for an excerpt I can take the short, juicy phrases out of a longer rambling testimonial and make a major point with just a few words. Don’t hesitate to edit the testimonials that are offered.

Place the testimonials where they count

A good testimonial helps overcome objections so place them strategically on your sales page where an objection might come up in a conversation or the natural thought process might be “I’m not sure…”

You could even go so far as to have a sub heading “Not convinced? Read what Nancy has to say about this class.” But more often setting the testimonial apart by indented italics or in a colored box is enough to help them stand out.

I’m not a fan of complete pages of testimonials. I don’t think many people go read them, but a short well-placed testimonial in a sales page can humanize you and your process.

Keep them colloquial

You want testimonials to be written as people speak, not as a slick, well-crafted advertisement. Keeping them colloquial makes them more believable. Testimonials are like a pat on the back, congratulations on a job well done, an expression of gratitude. Let others see how much your offerings are appreciated and more importantly, what they helped others achieve.

If you don’t have them, ask for them

Here are the questions you’d like to see answered in a testimonial:

  • Why they came to you in the first place
  • What was decision that made them say “yes?”
  • What happened?
  • What was the result of the process?
  • What the future will be because of this process

Use testimonials to convey your benefits and help you achieve credibility. Ask for feedback when you give a teleclass or a workshop and from your clients and ask for permission to use excerpts when you do. Sure, you can write leaders in your field for a testimonial but the voice of the person whose heart you touched will count for a lot more.

Cara Lumen, The Vision Distiller, helps you focus your passion into profitable course of action. Through internet marketing, content strategy, signature product development and her own information products she helps pro-active entrepreneurs become Success Magnets. www.caralumen.com

Teaching made prosperous!!! Take your love of teaching to a new level

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It’s like going to college again. Or graduate school, or being in any stimulating learning environment that gets you excited about what you are learning, eager to put it to use, and continually amazed at the clarity it offers.

I’m talking about Teaching Sells an incredible learning site with Brian Clark and Tony Clark focused on helping you create your own membership site. They sure do know what they are doing and they are doing it well.

I’m no slouch at this. I’ve been studying and interacting with some very knowledgeable internet players for a good number of years, but this is the place that is bringing it all together in one, cohesive learning environment and I’m thrilled with what I am discovering.

But then I love to learn. I love to explore. I love to create. And with every “lesson” I read, I either get greater clarity on a topic I’m now ready to explore, validation of what I already know, or I am inundated with exciting new ideas that will make an immediate difference in profitability.

There is no stone unturned. And the navigation is beautifully clear.

The cornerstone of teaching is to be a step-by-step guide, being certain that the first step is grasped before using that foundation to build the second step. This amazing learning environment builds clear parallel steps that gently lead you to a total understanding of the topic – creating information in an environment that earns you money. I’m an educator and this is about becoming an even better teacher and making money in the process.

This course is about how to build a membership site. Why would you want to join if a membership site is not on your radar screen? Because it talks about so much more. Yes, it talks about how to build a membership site, but it also shows you how you should build your content and sales pages, the best way to approach a joint venture partner, profitable use of web 2.0 and technical tools to expand the impact of your business. It gives business models and marketing ideas that are applicable anywhere.

Just join. And plan on taking every course they have to offer. It’s all great. It’s all dynamic. It’s all relevant. Check out Teaching Sells.

Cara Lumen, The Vision Distiller, helps distill your vision into a specific and profitable course of action. Her specialty is internet marketing, content strategy, and signature product development. Through her Magnetic Marketing Method, Cara offers innovative, inexpensive, and impactful ideas for the pro-active entrepreneur. Become a Success Magnet at www.caralumen.com

The Single Biggest Mistake You Can Make On Your Web Site

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We all do it. It is such a natural thing to do. We know how hard we worked and how excited we are with what we offer and we want to share it with everyone who comes to our web site.

But wait, what’s wrong with that picture.

People only want to know what’s in it for them

Isn’t that a bummer. All the why’s and wherefores of how we have created our business is not important to them. All they want to know is how it will solve their problem or make them feel better or do better or be more successful. And that’s exactly what we have to tell them on every page of our web site.

People want to know they will feel better after using your product or service

One of the most interesting aspects of marketing is to know that you are most successful when people feel good about the decision they make. They must be able to feel and imagine how different their life will be after they make the purchase. They must have a positive kinesthetic response to the idea of using your products or services.

Always make promises you can keep

What can you assure people will happen to improve their business or their life if they purchase from you? Will they make more money? If so, how much? Will they feel better? If so, how soon? Will they know more? If so, how much? You get the picture. Give them measurable results that they can expect from what you have to offer.

Emphasize your benefits

Keep the phrase “so that” handy as you write your benefit copy. Start with the list of the benefits you offer people. Then add “so that” to help further clarify the benefit. For instance:

“I help you write compelling copy so that you can convert more visitors on your web site.”

“I help you focus your services so that your target market can easily understand your offerings and want to purchase them.”

These might then turn into bullet points like
• Convert more visitors on your web site
• Earn greater profit by laser focusing your services

You see, the visitor doesn’t care how I might go about doing that for them, as in helping them write compelling copy or focusing their services, they want the bottom line, the end result. They want to know what’s in it for them.

When you finally do talk about yourself keep it relevant

After you have written about the benefits of your services and listed some of the features, which are the form your offering takes, then you can add your credentials for being the right person to deliver the results. Don’t go back to your early life, don’t go through your process of arriving at this business; speak instead of your unique skill or talent or training that is relevant for producing the results you are offering. Even when you write for your media page, keep your bio relevant to the subject you are an expert on.

It’s hard when we’ve put so much into it

I know this goes against every grain. We’ve worked so hard and studied so much and put our hearts into our offering. But we have to be satisfied that we know what it has meant to us. We have to focus on the other person, the visitor to our web site. It’s not about us, it’s about them. That’s how to have a successful web site.

Cara Lumen, The Vision Distiller, specializes in internet content strategy. Through her Magnetic Marketing Method, she offers innovative, inexpensive, and impactful ideas for the proactive entrepreneur. Subscribe to The Success Magnet Emagazine at www.caralumen.com