Brands.  Any company has one, whether it be great or not so great.  Even if the company doesn’t want to admit it, they are responsible for what their brand portrays to their customers.

Today I heard about an up and coming internet reality tv show which was dirtied (in my opinion) by one of the coaches.  I won’t go into detail with that, you can do your own research, but it just goes to show you that if you don’t keep tabs on what your employees are doing, you will likely suffer to some extent.

Here are some things that might help keep the people who don’t know any better from doing something stupid:

• Flat out tell them that they are not allowed to discuss the project, business, or whatever with other people.
• If something does get out, then publicly address it.  If you have to, then reprimand your employee.
• Along the same lines as discussion, don’t allow them to release any media without your approval.

In business your brand is your image.  It is often your customer’s first impression of you.  No matter what you do, you brand will at some point get tainted.  How you deal with it is up to you.

Every couple of months I read a post about someone selling their blog for X amount of dollars, and every time I lose a little bit of interest in those blogs.  The only blogs that I ever see posting this are the “make money online blogs.”

Why Make Money Online Blogs?

My guess is they can use it as publicity for the actual sale.  If you think about it, most of these blogs are very popular in some circles.  When they post something such as a potential sale, information spreads quickly, and soon everyone is talking about it.

I personally don’t like to buy into the hype.  It was interesting with the first couple sales, but after I saw what the new authors did with the blogs, I just stopped visiting any sold blogs.

I don’t think you can sell a blog and still retain the long-time readers.  That is unless you have a staff of writers that will stay on with the new owner.  I visit certain blogs on a daily basis because I connect with the author.  He/she gives me something that I can’t find anywhere else.  So handing over the reigns to a different author and assuming that I won’t have a problem with it is a little misjudged on the seller’s part.

Lately you have probably noticed a lot of complaints being passed around about the new Facebook Gift feature.  Well, as far as I am concerned I don’t think it was a bad move on Facebook’s end at all. 

Imagine a product that takes only a short time to create and then you can sell it again and again.  You also don’t have to worry much about cost for creating the product because it is an image.

If you managed millions of people within a social network, would you not produce and “optional” form of communication?  It is not as though Facebook is telling their members to use the gift feature.  They are simply supplying a product and giving the user the choice of using it. 

So you can’t get upset or angry with Facebook because they are just trying something out to see if it is profitable.  If you are still going to complain, then you really don’t understand good business.

You might know one, in an office possibly. The type of person works like a horse or mule, non-stop until the work day is done. But after awhile, thing fall apart and that person usually breaks down from exhaustion.

There is a reason that we take breaks from our work. Whether you work for yourself or someone else, you need time to give your mind relief. Working straight through on a project might save time, but in the end, you lose quality and in turn you lose money.

Working for someone else makes it a bit easier to take breaks. They tell you when to sit, when to stand-up, and when to take a break. So how you spend your time on these timed breaks is crucial. The art of taking your breaks when working for someone else is simple- relax. Whatever it takes to separate your job and you, just do it. You might have to take a walk outside. Or perhaps you have to surf the internet and check e-mail.

Working from home or for yourself is a bit more tricky. Your level of self-control will determine how well you manage your time. The television is definitely something to steer clear of when resting your mind. It will guide you from program to program and turn your fifteen to twenty minute break into an hour or two. Another thing to consider is that even though you are at home, you can still change the scenery. If you sit down at the computer all day, take a walk around the house or go outside for awhile.

Conclusion
Give your mind the time it needs to ponder, explore, and create.

If you are interested in making money online, then you have of course read money making sales letters before. The funny thing is, even though most people who blog tend to hate these products, I don’t. My reason for this admiration is due to the simple fact that these sites actually draw ME into to wanting to buy the product. The feeling is the type you get when watching a late night infomercial which tells you how to get rich as quick as possible. In this post I am going to dissect these sites to determine what it is that is drawing you to buy, and hopefully we will learn something useful from it.

The Title

Every good sales page has to have a great title. This is the first thing the visitor sees and thus is the most important. Almost every title I have seen serves as the product description. It gives an enticing phrase or sentence to make you read more. Usually you will see mysterious words such as: Insider, Money, Secret, Mystery, Tactics, Strategy, Debunk, etc… Basically anything that will make you believe you are reading something secret, difficult to find, or not common knowledge.

With every good title you also have a certain amount of money. For some reason, you never really see an even amount like $200 or $4,000. Yet, you tend to see something such as, “$45,326.00.” First of all, this is probably being used for believability. The amount seems to be specific, so this guy must have made it somehow. Second, the number is a little more eye catching (at least for me) when I read a sales page.

Introduction

The next thing you will see is something describing what you are about to see. This might include some strange but impressive statistic. Or perhaps it will state the time sensitive status of the information you are about to read. Again, this is an introduction, so you are going to see something intriguing to make you scroll down.

Experience?

Somewhere shortly after you will see a list (often bullet pointed) of requirements to join or buy the program. Of course you are always going to meet at half if not all of these, “requirements.” The so called requirements are simply here to get rid of any doubt or impressions you might have about the product. Generally, the statements are stating that there is practically no learning curve when beginning the program.

Images are proof…

If you have a good sales page, you have to have great images. I usually see images of money, but other times will see pictures of nice houses or cars. Why are these images here? They subconsciously tell your mind that this is what you are going to achieve. Who doesn’t want a nicer car or house?

As far as images go, you will sometimes even see this proof from checks, bank statements, and online accounts.

Snippets

Every sales page has engaging snippets or excerpts from the actual product. They might not actually tell you anything useful, but will always make you want to buy. Most often, I will see some facts that are common knowledge on the internet and are only twisted to sound more exciting.

Induction and Conversational Hypnosis Techniques

A month or so ago I posted in reference to a product I had purchased called Conversational Hypnosis. The interesting thing I noticed about a sales letter I came across just now is that it uses some of the same techniques from that program. Here is the paragraph I am referring to:

“Buy Low, Sell High”

Let me tell you what that means…

This idea of “buy low, sell high” applies to traffic the same way it applies to all the goods and services sold in the world today. In fact, it applies to traffic in the same way that it applies to your life, right now, in your job. After all, your boss is buying up pieces of your life in order to take huge profit from these investments: buying low, selling high.

Now pay close attention as I tell you what Arbitrage is: it’s the art of exploiting the gap between what something is worth to somebody and what you can acquire it for.

As you consider this, you notice that it’s the same prinsiple. Buy Low, Sell High, that’s the idea.

But right now, this may sound as abstract to you as hearing that somewhere in the far reaches of South America, there is a city named El Dorado, and it is made of gold.

Except now you can have the map. So stick with me. We’ll get to that in a minute.

from Google Payload.com

Anything seem strange to you? Fundamentally, it is stating first a simple rule that everyone knows. After which it is anchoring it to your feelings with income (a boss) and a word, “Arbitrage,” (used earlier in the title). Also take note of the way that the writer places, “As you consider this…,” right after anchoring this in your mind. This makes everything feel fluid as you read it. There is no break when the writer goes back to reference the prior rule he first stated. So in your mind you are believing that there is indeed a clear connection between what you were just told and whatever the writer wants to make you believe. In this case you are even straight out told the connection in the first two sentences of the paragraph.

Reviews

By far the most important part of any sales page is the review. The review is here to tell you that this product is legitimate. You may see reviews from people who are already rich or maybe just someone who is well known in this field. Each review is almost always authentic, but it makes you wonder how the writer was able to get the reviews… You don’t very well think that all these successful people are just going to freely review this product do you?

The review should engage the reader and let him/her know that this reviewer is a source in this field and how this product is superior.

Conclusion

As your side scroll bar reaches its end to a long journey from the top, you ask yourself again – Why do I feel like buying? Hopefully now you have your answer. What seemed like a simple sales page, was actually a very well thought out and targeted approach to making your decision for you.

Please share your ideas and thoughts on the subject of sales pages. Does this have any applications to blogging?