| (c) 1999,
Dale Armin Miller
People always ask me,
"What kinds of webpage presentations work
best?" And "How do I go about making the best
banner?" "What ads make the most money?"
"Which press releases generate the most
traffic?"
I always answer,
"The ones written backwards." They always
scream at me.
"What the hell
does that mean!?!"
I calm them down and
explain:
First, you need to find
a large group of people that you know you can get your
webpage, ad, sign, TV commercial, banner, press release
in front of ... repeatedly ... for very low cost.
(They're all over the place; just pick one.)
Now, consider this
group of people. What are they like? What are their
fears, desires, hopes? In short, what do they want?
Next, even if you don't
need an ad, write an ad for it.
"An ad about
what?!"
Telling them what they
want.
"They already know
what they want!"
Well, then, this is
going to be easy: All you have to do is tell them that
you've got it!
"Got what? Where
did I get it? I'm not even sure exactly what it
IS."
Precisely: You only
discover exactly what it is while you're writing.
"Are you
drunk?"
Now you're being
forward!
"I guess I didn't
mean to be."
But I want you to try
being BACKWARD.
And you do that by
starting to write about what will excite your audience,
about what will ease their fears or fulfill their needs.
Make them salivate. Forget the grammer, ignore the
spelling; just write from enthusiasm. Not much more than
a first draft, mind you; but keep writing until the idea
is so specific that you're *certain* you don't have it.
"You're obviously
GIVEN medication -- you're just not SWALLOWING."
And make sure your copy
is so exciting that even *you* want it. Because then
you're motivated enough to go out and find it, buy it,
join it, invent it, write it, make it, hire someone to
do that, ... or discover that you really had it all
along, Toto. (If none of that is possible, then start
over again on another idea about a different subject.
Hence, "not much more than a first draft.")
So, now you have an
'it' -- your Ultra-Web-Widget 9000, an
Employment-Opportunities-For-Hamsters Site,
"Nuclear Arms Negotiating For Dummies," or
whatever. And you have the first draft of your copy
about it.
NOW you can maximize
your copy's impact using benefit translation, power
phrases, branding, closing, repetition, graphics, and
all the rest.
But, as long as you
began your idea "backwards," it will actually
be hard for you to not make some money from it. (I know
that it's made me a millionaire twice, and it's proving
itself again, now on the web.)
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This is from
the Creating Value section of The
Internet Marketing Success Arsenal![sm] The author
is busy there stockpiling Internet- marketing resources,
tactics, and tools for small and home businesses. You
don't need a security clearance just to visit -- but no
smoking within 500 feet. http://successarsenal.com/wow/reprt3482a/index.html
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