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Informative Articles

FOND OF AUTORESPONDERS? WRITE 'EM RIGHT!
Autoresponders are one of the most popular forms of marketing today. The reason for this is a simple one: they work. However, writing a truly effective autoresponder series can frustrating, even for the professional marketer. To come up with an...

My Favorite Expert Advice on Writing the Stories of Our Lives, Gleaned From My Favorite Books on the Subject
This outline is adapted from a handout I give to my lifewriting students. The points made here apply to writing in general as well as to writing our life stories in particular. I. Why should we write? A. Frank McCourt in Writer’s Digest, Feb....

Weaving words for the web
WHILE Luddites toll the death knell for books, we who have made the transition to “new media” look to the future with confidence. The Internet does not spell the end of the written word but the beginning of fresh opportunities and renewed status...

Where To Find the Best Copywriting Clients
In my life, I've had two freelance careers, one that limped along miserably for a number of years, and one that took off like a rocket after only three months of marketing. What happened in between was eight year of excitement, growth and...

Your Headlines Are Key To Your Success Or Failure. Do You Know What To Write?
Most professional copywriters would say that headlines account for 80% percent of more of the effectiveness of an ad or sales letter. After all, it's the headline that gets your reader to stop and read further into your sales copy. If the headline...

 
The Magic Free Offer



I'm always amazed at how little original thought many advertisers put into their ads. And how they consequently throw away money. Right now I am looking at several full-page Yellow Page ads for local law firms. These are mostly general practice firms who handle the usual plaintiff's cases: personal injury, personal bankruptcy, family law and criminal defense.

They aren't blue chip firms on Wall Street, their business is on Main Street. There is a need for these types of firms and they don't appear to be ambulance chasers. But there really is nothing about their ads that set them apart from their competitors. In fact, each ad says essentially the same thing as the next ad: 1) a laundry list of the cases they handle, 2) how much experience they have, and 3) grim, no nonsense photographs of lawyers who mean business and are ready to go to war on your behalf.

One thing is for certain; all of these full-page ads cost these firms a lot of money. But what if they could greatly increase their response rates from these ads, and make their ads outperform all of their competitors' ads, without spending an extra dollar?

Here's how: By offering free information. Free information lowers the bar for a person to respond to your ad. Instead of having to call, set an appointment and meet with a lawyer, the person can just call or send an email for a free booklet (or you can send a free white paper, a free ebook, a free audio CD, a free DVD, a free tip sheet, a free interactive software program or anything you like as long as it is genuinely informative).

What kind of free booklet? Let's just focus on criminal cases for now. What if your ad offered the following free booklets:

· 10 Things You Must Do If You Are Accused of A Crime;

· Know Your Rights!


Foreclosures Slow Considerably In February
Fears remain about the hundreds of thousands of homeowners who are still being evaluated for help under loan modification programs. Many analysts say most of those borrowers will eventually lose their homes, sparking a new round of foreclosures later this year.

Insurance Mandate May Need Strict Penalties
The health care plans before Congress require individuals to purchase insurance. But the penalty for violating the individual mandate may be so low that healthy people might be tempted to pay it instead of buying insurance. That would leave insurers with less healthy customers, prompting companies to raise their rates, prompting more people to drop out, and so forth.


What You Must Know If the Police Want to Search Your Home or Your Car;
or · What To Do If Your Son or Daughter is Arrested?



Before people make a serious decision they want to gather information. They may ask their friends or coworkers, they may do a Google search or they go to the library. If they see your ad offering free information, along the lines of the booklets listed above, while they are in the information-seeking mode, they will respond.

But guess what? Not only does offering information lower the response bar, it also generates a lead. Now you have captured an interested person's name, telephone number, address and email address. You also know something about this person's need, which enables you to recontact this person in the future. This means that you can turn that single exposure of the person skimming through the Yellow Pages into multiple exposures through your free booklet and your follow up letters or email messages. Your competitors won't have a chance.

But most of all, the information you provide in you booklet (or article or white paper or ebook or whatever) enhances your perceived level of expertise in that person's eyes. You have transformed yourself from an advertiser to an expert. And nothing could be better than that.

COPYRIGHT (C) 2005, Charles Brown

About the author:

Do you need to turn the written word into profits? Charles Brown is a freelance commercial writer located in Dallas-Fort Worth area, who is available to help write professional web content, organizational newsletters, direct marketing material and other copywriting projects for business and non-profits. Put Mr. Brown on your team today. Visit him at www.bizwriterstudio.blogspot.com or you may contact him at 817.715.3852 or charbrow@gmail.com.