Which makes more sense when dealing with vendors?

A–Pay them top dollar to get top work from them. Vendors will go the extra yard when they are well compensated.

B–Nickel and dime vendors to get them to lower their price. The less you pay your vendors, the better it is for you.

To watch a free video of how clients haggle with vendors, click here now:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThMu3MFCC60

Should we use humor in selling?

The reason not to is fairly compelling:

Of all writing, humor is the most subjective.

Therefore, what you think is funny may leave your reader cold.

To prove that humor is subjective, I submit for your approval my 10 favorite comedy films of all time:

1?Dirty Work.
2?Rat Race.
3?Billy Madison.
4?Men in Black.
5?Scary Movie 3.
6?40 Year Old Virgin.
7?Wedding Crashers.
8?Austin Powers.
9?The Naked Gun.
10?Anchor Man.

Now I ask you: How many of these are also on your list? Not many, I bet.

Which of your favorite comedies did I leave off the list?

How many do you actually think are NOT funny? Probably one or two — proving my thesis that humor is indeed subjective.

A local furniture retailer here features his rather sleazy looking self and his cute little kid in a TV commercial where together they proclaim, smiling, “We have the BEST furniture!”

And that’s the whole of their sales pitch and unique selling proposition (USP) — that they have the best furniture.

Well, best may sound good — after all, everyone wants the best, right?

But as a USP or ad copy, it’s terribly weak and ineffective.

Why?

Two reasons.

First, EVERYBODY says they are the best — there’s no differentiation.

Second, the very fact that it’s the ADVERTISER saying he is the best creates immediate skepticism — the viewer does not believe it.

Can I give you an example of a stronger USP?

Sure.

Wonder Bread.

They wanted to say their white bread was the best — and their USP was: “Wonder Bread helps build strong bodies 12 ways.”

Memorable, different, unique, and with a benefit (“builds strong bodies”).

If someone asks you why they should buy from YOU instead of your competitors, and your answer is “because we are better” — you’d better come up with a stronger USP.

Or — do you have a better idea for gaining customers and building market share without a good USP?

Here’s a secret working Internet information marketers all know that newbies don’t: you will know within the first 10 minutes whether your e-mail marketing message for that day is going to be a winner or a loser.

For instance, let’s say, for your list, your successful e-mails generate, on average, 50 to 100 orders within 48 hours.

If an e-mail is going to be successful, you will get 5% to 7% of your orders within 10 minutes or so after you distribute the e-mail to your list.

Therefore, if you check your e-mail 10 minutes after the e-mail distributes, and you find half a dozen or so orders have come in right away, the e-mail blast is going to produce nice sales.

On the other hand, if 10 to 15 minutes pass and you have no orders … or just one or two orders … it will probably be a bomb.

Every e-mail marketer looks for a “mini-flood” — a group of immediate orders — a few minutes after distributing the e-mail.

We know if there’s a half a dozen orders we’re all right, but if there is none or one, we’re going to take a bath that day.

Nobody writes about this, as far as I can see, but everyone I talk with acknowledges it is so.

Have you had similar experience? Or are early orders not a real indicator in your business?

As it happens, I know a lot of rich people ? a slew of hard-driving individuals whose wealth and accomplishments put the rest of the population to shame.

I?ve also spent a lot of my life ? too much, in fact ? comparing myself to them ? and of course, coming up short.

So I?m not going to do it any more.

And you neither should you.

If you judge yourself only in comparison to others ? who they are, what they have, what they?ve done ? you can always find someone who outperforms you in any given area.

As Max Ehrlich observed in his 1923 essay Desiradata, ?There will always be those both greater and lesser than you.?

We obsess about those who are ?greater? ? and feel bad that we don?t measure up to their success and accomplishments.

Psychologists call this unhealthy obsession ?compare despair.?

So what can you do about it?

To begin with, stop comparing yourself to others ? because unless you?re Bill Gates, there?s always someone who makes more money than you.

Unless you?re George Clooney or Jessica Alba, there?s always someone either more famous ? or better looking ? or both.

So quit worrying about how you stack up against other people.

Instead, figure out what?s important to you ? helping others in need, writing good books or great copy, being a terrific parent, becoming a guru in your industry or market niche, building an Internet marketing business lucrative enough that you can quit your job, or giving your clients a level of service they can?t get anywhere else.

Then, when you know you?ve made the absolute best effort you can in pursuit of these objectives ? take a minute to feel good about yourself.

After all, you deserve it.

P.S. Am I a lone weirdo in the wilderness always comparing myself to those who are richer and more successful than I am? Or do you too ever indulge in “compare despair”?

I am often asked by aspiring authors, “What’s better — self publishing or traditional publishing — for getting my book published?”

Here are your choices today … and the pros and cons of each:

>> Traditional publishing (selling your book to a major NYC publishing house or smaller press) — has the most prestige … the least work for the author … no cost … my choice if you are writing books to promote yourself as an expert in your field.

>> Self-publishing — less prestige than mainstream publishing … cost can be moderate to considerable … higher profit margin per book sold … lots of work to produce and market the book … my choice if you are a speaker who needs a physical book for your speaker’s kit and a product to sell back of the room (BOR).

>> E-books — least prestigous of the 3 options … almost no cost … highest profit margin … can make a lot of money selling it online … my choice if your goal is maximum revenues and profits.

Here’s the secret: most successful authors and information marketers use a combination of all three options.

Which are you choosing for your first or next book … and why?

I am not a huge fan of copy pre-testing with focus groups, surveys, or other methods soliciting subjective opinions.

It’s not that these opinions aren’t interesting. They are. It’s that what people SAY they like in advertising vs. what they actually respond to are two different things.

But let’s try it. Below are 3 possible headlines for a course on getting started in Internet information marketing.

Which do you like best — and why?

A–Make $4,000 a week on the Internet.

B–Make $1 million a year on the Internet.

C–Make $1 million on the Internet in just 36 hours.

Or would you completely rewrite, and if so, what would YOUR headline be?

Myth #1: It’s easy.

Reality: It’s a lot easier and more fun than most of the careers and businesses you can do. But it isn’t really easy. To paraphrase Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own, if it was THAT easy, EVERYBODY would be doing it.

Myth #2: It’s the lazy man’s way to riches — no work.

Reality: Because online marketing generates passive income, it is much less work than many other businesses ONCE IT GETS GOING.

But it takes an enormous amount of work to get it set up and started at the beginning.

Myth #3: You’ll make a million dollars within 12 months.

Reality: Maybe you will. Most of us don’t.

“But Bob, what about all those Internet marketing promoters whose online ads SAY they are making a zillion dollars a week?”

To quote my friend Fred Gleeck: “The only numbers you can really know and trust are your own.”

Am I saying that perhaps some of these promoters exaggerate their success?

I don’t really know HOW much money they make. And neither do you. So I follow Fred’s dictum and you should too.

Now, do you agree with the above?

What has been your experience and degree of satisfaction with the “Get rich on the Internet” programs you’ve purchased and conferences you’ve attended?

Any other Internet marketing myths or lies you’d like to puncture here?

Be my guest!