"Bucket brigade" is a copywriting technique that has been around for over a century, and probably goes back to before the invention of the printing press. It's not magic or some secret skill, but instead is a simple copywriting technique that works really, really well.

What is the bucket brigade?

It is the thing that makes a 16 page sales letter be read all the way through, by reader after reader. It is an extremely simple concept that is unbelievably effective. In fact, it's so effective that it almost seems like magic. Want to get your pitch delivered? Use a bucket brigade!

So, what am I talking about?

Every copywriter worth his salt uses the bucket brigade to get his sales letters read. It has to be one of the most effective tools in a marketer's toolbox. Copywriter's ignore it to their peril. The good one's always use it in some form or another.

Here's one example...

If you've been around internet marketing for very long, you have heard, or read, about Yanik Silver's Instant Sales Letters. When Yanik released them some years ago, they were an absolute sensation.  In fact, Yanik's still selling them. The sales letter for the product is over 15 pages long, and it's quite effective.

How do I get people to read 15 pages of sales pitch?

Aren't you listening?
THE BUCKET BRIGADE!

I use it to write all of my sales letters in one form or another.  Sometimes I'm a bit more subtle about it, but it's always there. I use it to pitch my best selling products.  Shoot, I use it to sell ALL my products.

For crying out loud... exactly what is the bucket brigade?

You guessed it! It's what you've been reading all through this article. the bucket brigade is words that grab folks and force them to read the next paragraph. They are emotionally charged words that grab the reader's interest.

Where did they get this unique concept?

When a bucket brigade is used to put out a fire the bucket is passed quickly from one person to the next until the water is thrown on the fire. Then, the buckets are handed back up the line to be filled again and again.

It's a fact...

With copy writing, the reader is passed from one paragraph to another by high tension words. Words like you've seen in this article. "What is ", "So, what am I talking about", "Aren't you listening? ", "For crying out loud ", "Where did they get", "It's a fact" are all hooked into the bucket brigade. There are tons more.

So obviously, years ago copywriters adopted the term bucket brigade to describe the work of the "high tension" / "keep reading" words and their placement in their sales letters. They are used at the beginning of important paragraphs.

Here’s the scoop: These words tell the reader one thing. Don't quit reading now, or you'll miss the most important point of all. Just keep on a little bit more and the secrets of the universe will be revealed. This part is really important! Don't miss it!

See if this rings a bell...

The television industry even picked up on this in the early days, and it continues yet today.

So, what is TV's answer to the bucket brigade?

Yep, you got it, the cliffhanger. How many soap operas, or weekly serials have you watched when the story was interrupted in the most exciting part, to be continued in the next show? The networks use it everyday to keep interest at a highly charged level.

Can you believe it? TV even uses the bucket brigade with news shows. They'll give you a little taste of the piece, then switch to a commercial. When they come back, they might give you the whole thing, or you might have to wait until after the NEXT commercial. It all depends on how diabolical the writers are feeling that day.

Be sure and stick around... were going to show you Jessica Simpson's big secret... right after this commercial break.

Bottom line; good copy writers know that the instant you bore or confuse the reader, he's gone. The pitch is over and the sale is lost. You have to avoid this at all costs.

And check this out...

You don't have to memorize a whole bunch of high tension phrases. There are just two things you need to do. The first one is, keep your sales letters. When you read a bucket brigade phrase copy it to a list of phrases for future use.

And it gets even better, the second thing you need to remember is to just keep in mind an old journalism trick. "Who, why, what, where, when, and how. "Who is important in your life?, " Why do you need this?", "What is important to you" , "Where did they get this", "When will you ever learn?", "How is this done?".

One last thing...

Use the bucket brigade in your sales letters, and you WILL see you conversion rates soar. It will keep the tension high so that your reader HAS to finish it.
Friday, December 19, 2008 3:53:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  

The Black Ink Project is a course on how to create and develop an affiliate marketing campaign. It covers everything from site design, to keyword research, to monetization. For some, it might be slightly technical, but I found it to be refreshingly detailed.

Rather than use generalizations about this method or that procedure, as most of the marketing courses on the internet do, Jeremy Palmer takes you through the whole process, step by step. If you follow his video tutorials to the letter, you will undoubtedly end up with a website, indeed web sites, that will have a professional appearance, and more importantly, make lots of cash.

I've been designing web sites for years, and Jeremy taught me some new ways to create web sites that is faster, easier, and have a nicer presentation than the methods I've been using. His information will be valuable to the beginner as well. He also gets into outsourcing your website design to others, so that you can spend your time working on the marketing aspects of your campaign if that is your preference.

The basic part of the course is thirteen videos, and various supporting files such as Power Point presentations, spreadsheet files, and .pdf files. It is broken down into days. Each video along with it's supporting files covers a day's lesson. Of course, you can cover the information at your own pace, but dividing the course into days give it an easy to digest framework.

The Black Ink Project includes:

If you are into the comparatively simple world of being a Clickbank affiliate, you may be more interested in The Commission Blueprint. You can read about that here. The Black Ink Project deals with more general affiliate programs like The Pepperjam Network or Commission Junction, but it will work with Clickbank as well. These affiliate networks will allow you to find a niche with much less competition.

Find out more

Tuesday, December 09, 2008 5:10:38 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  

The economy is certainly slowing down. We hear it in the news every day. The banks aren't lending, real estate prices are dropping, the automotive industry is on it's last legs. They're trying to get a government loan.The construction industry is nearly dead in the water.

As the plants close, people lose their jobs and wind up sitting at home collecting unemployment. They stop spending money causing more closings which just starts the circle over again. Our economy will take some time to find a new equilibrium, and we are all involved. As things slow down, we really have no way to guess how far it will go. We just know the going will get tougher before it gets better.

Perhaps you've tried to make some money marketing products on the internet, and just never got things going well enough to get anywhere. Maybe you're one of the folks who look at the many complicated courses and money making information, and just found it too complicated to make any sense. You keep studying, but you can't find the missing link. The info that's left out that is the key to the whole thing.

Well, we found an excellent way to get tough. Instead of waiting for the world to crash down around you, use your time to create new income streams. You really need to check out Commission Blueprint. The thing that makes Commission Blueprint stand out from all the rest is that it's a whole step by step system that takes you from start to finish. I've gone through their system. It works, and it doesn't take a genius to make it happen!

The brain child of Steve Clayton and Tim Godfrey, Commission Blueprint is truly easy to follow. There are 14 videos that walk you through the procedure, along with written outlines, website templates, and all the resources you need to get a successful campaign off the ground. They've simplified the process so that anyone can do it.

What is so cool about this system is that it is step by step and all the steps are there for you. Steve also gets into some great tips and resources that will help you with your existing web sites and campaigns. It's worth triple what they're asking for it.

Check it out right here!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008 5:28:35 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  

You’ve probably been hearing about the recession so often that the news is starting to fall on deaf ears. I know it is with me. I’m sick of hearing about it.

The stock market goes down, and it goes back up. Rest assured that it will not come back to last year’s levels anytime soon. The analysts call these bear market rallies a "dead cat bounce". When it's done bouncing, the cat's still dead.

I’ve been spending the last few weeks looking for real marketing products that will propel your sales into the atmosphere. The first one is about dominating your market. If you follow the procedures…

To learn the rest of the story and find out more about these important marketing tools, follow the link below, or copy and paste it into your web browser.

http://www.YourCyberWorld.com/namr1.aspx

Thursday, October 30, 2008 10:33:05 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  

I wanted to take this opportunity to provide a bit of help to you in the area of writing advertising copy. We all know that one of the most important skills in internet marketing is writing easy to read, informative, articles and web content. In this post I want to focus on headlines.

You may already have a talent for writing powerful headlines. More likely, you will be in the majority of people who have trouble writing a headline that draws. Here are some simple methods, you can use, to help you write effective headlines. 

The only purpose of the headline is to make the reader read on. No more, no less. Once your reader moves on to the content of your article, your headline has done it's job. If he moves away your headline has failed, at least with that reader.

The very first thing you need to do is research what others are doing with their headlines. Every time you see a headline that catches your eye, and creates a desire to read more, save a copy in your "swipe file". Swipe files are files in which copywriters "swipe" other copywriter's good marketing ideas. They check out the swipe file when they are ready to work on their own material.

Often, the best headlines are already written. If can find a headline that works, you will have no need reinvent the wheel. Use the best ideas that you come across every day in your normal reading. I'm constantly coming across headlines that drive me to read on. Does the headline shock you? Is it exciting, strange, unbelievable? Maybe it just made you curious.

There are lots of very compelling headlines you can use just by filing in the blanks. You can work on a person's curiosity with, "Are You _______"? Examples such as: "Are You Ashamed of Your Children's Behavior?", or in today's economy, "Are You Worried Your Paychecks Will Stop?".

This one will send the message that the reader will learn something of importance. "How to _______" uses two of the most powerful words in a headline. Examples are: "How to Build a Fence", "How to Make a Million Dollars", or "How to Compose a Compelling Headline".

Another headline is "If You Are_________ You Can ________". Examples being: "If You Are a Non-smoker You Can Save 15% on Homeowners Insurance", and "If You Are Short on Money You Can Qualify For $10,000.00 Cash". This headline starts by focusing on a particular group and solves a problem for them.

You're not trying to sell anything with a headline. You just want to get enough interest from the reader so he will continue to read the rest of your letter or article. If you were a door to door salesman, this would be like putting your foot in the door, holding it open long enough to get your pitch out.

Make your headlines bold, punchy, and interest grabbing. Use them to bring your reader to the sub headline, or first paragraph where you will make your case that he needs to read on.

Thursday, October 23, 2008 9:58:48 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  

For those of you working on website SEO for local businesses, Google's new rules will be difficult to deal with. You can no longer use a keyword rich phrase to name you business on Google Maps. You have to use the actual name.

While some of the rule changes will help the user find what they are looking for, not being able to use keywords in the naming at all could easily leave out many businesses who would fit the search very well.

Also, if your business exists in several areas, or cities, you will no longer be able to create multiple listings for keywords that are specific to a particular location.

So far most businesses that are in Google Maps haven't defined the attributes to describe their business. If you're using Google Maps for advertising, you could get a jump on the competition by adding these.

Check out the new rules in Google's Business Listing Quality Guidelines

Friday, October 10, 2008 9:55:13 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  

Customers ask me daily how they can advertise their website. It is not terribly difficult, but it does take quite a bit of time and effort. I happen to be from the school of targeted traffic. That is, I'm much more interested in traffic that has a need to view my site, rather than traffic that is generated on a random basis.

To get a site going quickly, I find that pay per click (PPC) works very well. You have to be careful that your revenues are greater than your expenses here though. Once you get started with PPC, it is necessary to constantly tweak it using split-testing techniques to improve your conversion rates.

There are many ways to generate targeted traffic, but some of the best that I have found are:

• Article Marketing
• Blogging
• Email lists
• Social networking and forum participation.

There are a number of  article directories that are worthwhile. Here are a few of the best.

• EzineArticles.com
• Article Alley
• articledashboard.com

Write articles on your subject and link them back to your website.

A blog is a necessity. Try to post to it regularly if not every day. For myself, I find it very difficult to keep it up when I involved in a software project, which is why I haven't posted anything for some time.

Email lists are essential. The best company to handle your list is AWeber. You can setup auto-responders so that your customers hear from you on a regular basis automatically.

As to social networking, you should hook up to digital point forums, Twitter, and as many others as you have time for. It's also good to post to other peoples blogs because the links will point to your website.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008 12:26:07 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  

From everything I'm reading about Google Chrome, their new web browser, it's best to stay away for now. It looks like it will be an excellent platform, but they need to get some bugs and security holes worked out first.

Security researchers have found a buffer overflow vulnerability that could allow hackers to take control of your computer. They have found a half dozen other problems, and it's only been out a week. It's to be expected though as this is a new product that has to go through some growing pains.

I looks like it will be quite the contender in the browser wars, but for now it's probably best to stay with your old standby.

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Thursday, September 11, 2008 4:58:02 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  internet news