The latest issue of ROC Talk, the quarterly Red Oak Cart Client “Use-letter” has been posted.

http://redoakcart.com/roctalk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ROCTalk2ndQtr2012_web.pdf

SendOutCards is a great system for acknowledging your clients, prospects, employees, or whoever you want to remember.

One of the biggest mistakes we see with websites is a lack of identity, something that the visitor can recognize as your brand, whether it’s a definable logo; tag line; or color theme. Be sure to carry that identifier through the whole sales process.

Too many times we see an optin page (the page a visitor comes to first when they visit your site and give you their name and email) that either was pretty basic or had one look and feel. Then, after the visitor opts in, the page they’re sent to has a different look and feel, only to be followed up by the shopping cart or order page that yet a third different look and feel. This can create a total disconnect for your visitor.

In some cases it’s hard to customize your shopping cart page to look exactly  like your website. But, in most cases, you can upload or use a secure link for your logo. You can also customize some or all of the color settings to make those match your optin, sales and thank you pages.

Be sure to be consistent with your tag line or catch phrase as well. Also, the email address you use for communicating with your visitors is part of your branding.

While cleaning out an inbox recently email was sorted based on the “From” field and so many emails from the same marketers were totally inconsistent with their “from” line or even their email address.

Please understand we’re not pointing fingers at all marketers, just stating the fact that I think some forget this rule. It’s hard enough to get emails delivered consistently, so why make it more difficult by changing the way your name is formatted or the email address you use to send it from? There needs to be a
certain identity carried through the whole process from the website and back to the website for follow ups.

If you visit any of Frank Deardurff’s websites you will see some type of carry through to all of the sites. Most will have Frank’s “That One” logo somewhere on the page and will either be Orange with Blue accent or Blue with Orange accent. And most, if not all, will have in the copyright section either “That One Corporation” or “That One Web Guy”.

Also, when sending out email, autoresponders, newsletters or promotions all of my email comes from Frank – That One Web Guy! Unless it is from one of my joint ventures with a partner and we generally have a set email we use for communications for that partnership such as a support address or an info address.

Look around and you’ll see branding all around you. There are certain companies you immediately recognize either because of the color, font or logo and you’re immediately reassured this is a company you’ve learned to know, like, and trust over the lifetime of your relationship with that company.

You should follow the lead of the corporate giants. Even on a small scale this can be done. Think about your branding and stick with it.

“The biggest mistake most copywriters make is they don’t prove the promise.”

- Alex Mandossian – author of Marketing with Postcards, noted copywriter and premier student of the copywriting masters.

This blogpost is pulled from Bret Ridgway’s Copywriting Classics Quick Tips and is excerpted from a ninety minute interview with Alex Mandossian.  Alex is the best-selling author of the postcard-marketing manual titled ‘Marketing with Postcards,’ and a well-known marketing coach and teacher.  He works with some of the biggest names in Internet marketing, such as the Dale Carnegie organization, the University of Phoenix, Tony Robbins, and mutuals.com.

One of his specialties is website traffic conversion and a while back I had the privilege of participating in an outstanding teleseminar with Alex on that topic.  Alex is also a top-notch copywriter and our interview focused specifically on the subject of copywriting.

Alex says there are two copywriting models:  John E. Kennedy (not to be confused with Dan Kennedy, who is an amazing copywriter and marketer and probably one of the greatest contemporary direct marketers of all time).  But John E. Kennedy lived 100 years earlier.  He was a Canadian Mountie and probably the first millionaire to be a copywriter of all time.  Here’s his formula.  There are three parts to it.

1.  Make a clear promise.  Make the promise clear, and hit ‘em right between the eyes.  It could be the first sentence, it could be the headline, but make a clear promise.

2.  Give reason-why proof.  You make a promise, and then you’ve got to prove it.  Reason-why proof is using the word ‘because.’ For example – ‘You know, I’m going to let you save $100 if youpurchase this, because I have no testimonials, and I just want to promise that you’ll give me a testimonial, and I’ll let you save 100 bucks from it.’  You know? – as a reciprocity motion on my part.

If you’re going to say, ‘I’m giving these bonuses for free,’ give them good reasons why…’I'm going to promise you that you will make an extra $5000 this month.’  Well, give them the reasons why they’re going to make an extra $5000.  Don’t give an empty promise.

The biggest mistake most copywriters make is that they don’t prove the promise.

They just make the promise because they know that they have to make it, but they don’t give good reasons why.  And the magic word is ‘because.’  You can say almost anything after ‘because,’ and it becomes memorable and convincing.

And so, step 1 is, Make the promise; step 2 is, Reason-why proof (using the John E. Kennedy model); and no.3, the third step is simple:  the Call to Action.  You make a promise, you give reasons why (you’re proving that promise), and then, get them to do something.  Order now, click this link, call me, get a free consultation, opt in to three free chapters – whatever.  Make the Call to Action clear, so that people actually do it.

Your Action Plan:  Do you prove the promise?  On your website, in your salesletter, or wherever you’re selling your products or services?  Take a look at what you’re doing and make sure the proof is there.

50 Biggest Website Mistakes

If you’re an online marketer then you’ve probably
seen it all online – the good, the bad and the ugly.
There’s definitely a lot of little things that go into
the creation of a successful website and a lot of
mistakes website owners make that can kill the
success of their site.

Learning to avoid some of these common mistakes
is a major step in the right direction – the direction
of success.

That’s why SFS and ROC co-founder Bret Ridgway has teamed up with That One Web Guy – Frank Deardurff, to release a new book “The 50 Biggest Mistakes We See Online Business Owners Make.”

This content packed guide can save your hours of time and tons of frustration by not having to go back and fix things after the fact.  Learn to do it right the first time!

Pick up your copy today at 50 Biggest Websites Mistakes.

Red Oak Cart has the, in our opinion, best integration out there with Infusionsoft to get your order information from their system into ROC for product fulfillment.  That’s why ROC’s sister company, Speaker Fulfillment Services will be sponsoring, for the first time, Infusioncon.

Be sure to come by and meet SFS and ROC co-founders Bryan Hane in Phoenix, Arizona from April 2 – 4, 2012.  Look for them in Booth #30  at the event.

If you’re an Infusionsoft user this is an event you should check out.  Visit Infusioncon.com for more information.

We’re excited to announce the release of six new audio products designed to help information marketers grow a more successful Information Products business.  Called the “Best of Bret and Bryan”, these content-rich audio CDs are packed with the specific how-to information you need to increase your chances for success.

Available exclusively on Amazon.com at the time of this post, there are six titles initially available to you and, best thing is, they’re only $7 each.  Available titles include:

• 7 Key Concepts You Must Understand as an Information Marketer
• 6 Keys to Building a Successful Info Products Business
• 6 Keys to Standing Out from the Crowd as an Info Marketer
• 6 Keys to Taking Your Info Products Business to the Next Level
• Looking at Live Events for Speakers and Promoters
• Running the Online Side of an Info Marketing Business

Simply go to Amazon.com and search for “Best of Bret and Bryan” to make your selections.

Red Oak Cart’s sister company, Speaker
Fulfillment Services, publishes a
monthly digital newsletter titled the
“Info Marketers Newsletter”.  This quick,
easy to read newsletter contains five or
six articles designed to help you grow an
information marketing business.

Featuring contributions from industry experts like Dan Kennedy, James Roche, Michele Pariza Wacek, Frank Deardurff, Robert Skrob, Bryan Hane, Bret Ridgway and others, the Info Marketers Newsletter is highly recommended reading.

To sign up for your own free subscription simply visit http://InfoMarketersNewsletter.com.

Red Oak Cart co-founder Bryan Hane and his business partner Bret Ridgway will both be in Los Angeles from March 1- 4 for Rick Frishman’s excellent Author 101 University.

For information on the event visit Author 101 University.

To save a whopping 50% off the registration fee enter the coupon code “Cody” on your registration form.

Hope we’ll see you in LA!

You remember the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang starring Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes? You know, the one with the magical car that could also float and fly? Still one of my all-time favorite movies.

In that movie there was a creepy character called the Child Catcher, whose job it was to capture kids because they were banned in the mythical land of Vulgaria. In one particular scene he is attempting to lure out two children who are hiding by bribing them with treats and in the course of his efforts he utters the line “All free today.” So naturally, the children are captured and hauled off to be imprisoned in the castle.

“All free today.” That’s kind of like the promise made by those who urge information marketers to deliver all of their information products digitally. No production costs, no graphics design costs, no shipping costs. All free today, right?

Well maybe, maybe not.

If you’re an information marketer there will be some segment of your potential market that definitely wants the immediate gratification of digital delivery. And since you’ve avoided those production, graphics and shipping costs you may feel like you’re getting something for free.

But what portion of your potential market prefers the tangible? Wants to hold in their hands your binder, CD and DVDs? Likes to receive that big box at their door?

Remember, it’s about maximum total profit. If you have a number of people who will not buy your product because they don’t want digital only delivery then your profit per unit sold may be less, but your total overall profits may be greater.

Don’t assume that digital only is the way to go. Make sure you know your market and test to see which gets you get greater overall profit.

“All free today.” Those words keep coming back to me. Be careful to not get blindly lured into the digital only world without doing your homework first.