Couple weeks back I ranted about “gimmicky” marketing tactics. These techniques work initially because they’re novel—web browsers aren’t used to them, and that curiosity factor makes these techniques seem a lot more effective than they wind up being. Subscriber Fiona wonders whether a popular list building tactic falls in this camp: I’ve been stalking your […]
Continue readingEver buy a book—only to stick it on the shelf and forget all about it? C’mon, get those hands up… Recently I read an analysis by Barnes & Noble showing that 60% of the ebooks people buy are never even *opened*. Not read, OPENED. 60%! Now here’s the scary thing… You know that lead magnet […]
Continue readingMy short take on giving “homework” in email courses is: DON’T DO IT! Almost no one actually follows through on your assignments, and you’re just adding guilt and stress to your subscribers’ lives. Subscriber Ed calls me out though: Interesting. So you’re suggesting a “pure info” course with no homework? And yet, on Simple Programmer, […]
Continue readingThe other day I read a news story about a teacher who banned homework in her classroom. She sent the students home with a note that said, “Studies have failed to prove that homework improves performance. Spend time together as a family and go to bed early instead.” So what about email courses? Does homework […]
Continue readingBack in college I edited the student newspaper, so I was always sniffing around campus for juicy rumors. One of my favorite sources for stories was the “faculty senate”—a giant monthly committee meeting where all the professors would get together to debate college policies. Now the reason I liked going to faculty senate was NOT […]
Continue readingLove this one: “Ask me, ‘What is the secret of comedy?’” “OK, what is the secret -” “TIMING!!!” That’s from one of my all-time favorite writing books, Wired for Story. This question of timing comes up with email courses too. Namely: When should I pitch my product? Timing is a HUGE factor in making sales—and […]
Continue readingThis is an embarrassing story I’ve never admitted in public. It’s kinda gross too—consider yourself warned. When I was around 10 years old, I used to spend the whole summer playing outside in our little suburban yard. And one summer in particular, I remember noticing that my arms were getting pretty tanned. This was a […]
Continue readingYesterday I showed how teaching flips an “analytical switch” in your would-be customer’s brain that more often than not will kill your sales. When I first got into marketing, I really struggled with this. Teaching is fun—it comes natural to me and I really enjoy it. The idea of teaching *less* in my emails just […]
Continue readingOne of the best marketing books I’ve read in a while is Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. (It’s a bit ironic, because the Heath brothers take lots of potshots at marketing, including copywriting legend John Caples.) To me the most fascinating part of the whole book was the anecdote that starts on […]
Continue readingInquiring minds want to know: How long should my email course be? I have an easy rule of thumb that I usually follow. But before I just give you a rule to follow mindlessly, here’s the thought process behind it. Now I’m going to assume for this discussion that you’re creating your course because you […]
Continue reading