Straight Talk - An Open Letter To You

The Art of War, Internet Marketing and You!

by John Glube, © 2003 and forward, all rights reserved of
Head's Up - A Copywriter's Journal

Did I get your attention, while arousing your curiosity? Good. Now, you might ask 'What the heck has the Art of War got to do with Internet marketing?' 'I mean, aren't we supposed to smother our customers with love and kindness?'

Know anything about the 'Art of War'?

It is a study of various military strategic principles, written over 2,000 years ago by Sun Tzu, a mysterious Chinese philosopher, showing the reader how to apply these principles in different tactical situations in the field of war.

Let me show you something fascinating. Take this statement and apply it to the world of Internet marketing. Here is what you get:

"The science of internet marketing is the study of strategic principles and learning how to apply these principles in different tactical situations while doing business online."

Sound familiar? So is this just word play, or is there a point?

Seven points actually.

Speaking as a student of Internet marketing:

* You want to understand why people act, or respond in certain ways. These triggering principles are well known, including the power of telling a story, candor and the reason why. Master these and you will master the art of writing compelling copy.

* Read, understand and apply the core work on direct marketing, being 'Scientific Advertising', by Claude Hopkins, the key primer on how to generate traffic being '7 Secrets to Unlimited Traffic', by Allen Says and the 'Affiliate Master's Course' by Ken Evoy. Of course, there are other valuable marketing books and reports, but master these three and you will be well on the way.

* Copy the marketing works of the 'leaders' to gain the rhythm and flow of the words, so learning how to put together your marketing messages.

* Use the medium as your message. The Internet is the information highway, not the advertising thruway, which is why in my view and based on my limited testing, advertorial style copy and news headlines make more compelling copy for the web.

(This one is hard to follow, 'cause we tend to fall into what I call 'advertising speak'.)

* Always remember to write to you, not I. After finishing your material, put it aside until the next day. Then read it aloud to yourself. Ask yourself:

* Does it sound like a sell job, or does it come from within?

* Does it sound stand-offish, or personal and familiar?

* Put yourself in the shoes of the reader and imagine you are writing to only one person. Does your guard go up? Or do you feel compelled to buy without being sold?

* Apply what you learn on a daily basis, be methodical and consistent in marketing your business, (boring perhaps, but true), retain your focus, and continually test and measure your results.

Soon, before you know it, you will find yourself transformed into a Marketer.

Click here for the next article - "Looking Into The Eyes Of The Dragon"