Aligned Marketing Blog

Getting someone to read your online advertising is not easy. Beyond being memorable, online advertising should create interest in your value proposition and, in its best form, overcome sales objections. That's asking a lot, but it is possible.

Online advertising is different than offline (print) advertising because it is more intimate. Done well, you can get people to read your copy. That's why I believe the long-form (more than 150 words) sales message is not dead.

In fact using well written copy in story form that conveys your value such as a customer testimony, case study or white-paper is a terrific way to deliver your sales message.


The challenge we all face and the reason we usually use short copy, which includes tag-lines, elevator speeches, and anything less than 150 words, is we assume the average reader's attention span is short to the point of being miniscule. Collectively, we've made Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) a national treasure. That's silly, it's an excuse many people use to explain away their lack of seriousness. But no matter, that perception has consequences for those of us who write copy that sells for a living.

Too many of us believe that only the bored or the most desperate buyer will take the time to read the traditional long sales letters we  associate with internet marketing. The problem is not the length of the copy. The problem is most of what we read online is tacky, heavy-handed and just plain uninteresting.

A good way around this dilemma is to use stories. But not just any stories. I'm talking about stories that are interesting and fun to read. Stories that, at the same time, communicate each step of your sales sequence over time without ever being tacky or heavy-handed, “salesy.” Stories spread out over time in a series of emails and blog postings.

The first few emails entice the reader, your prospect, to investigate your services further. Once you get a click through the next series of emails describes your service benefits in more detail and, through stories and testimonials, are designed to overcome objections and encourage a purchase.

You can use a series of interesting stories to attract attention, describe benefits, create desire for your product or service, demonstrate the product in action, overcome objections, promote a strong call to action, and convey every other copywriting purpose just as effectively, perhaps more so, in a story (your content) as you would in a traditional sales message.

The goal is to make your content so interesting, entertaining and valuable that the underlying "advertising" will be read, retained, shared and, ultimately, result in a purchase.

When you combine the best aspects of advertising with quality storytelling, that's what I call Storytising.

Ebooks are electronic books. Some are e-versions of hardbound books and some exist solely in an electronic format, typically pdf. Ebooks have become very popular and really proliferated as a marketing tool.


Many are free but most seem to be under $20.00 range. I saw one that was being sold for $2,000.00, which blew me away. I’ve read dozens of ebooks and most are actually very good, despite their free-to-modest cost.

I’m interested in Dave Navarro’s book, “How to Launch The *** Out Of Your Ebook.” For the most part the reviews are very good. I follow Dave’s blogs and articles. He knows his niche and is considered the guy when it comes to launching online products.

But every review is not glowing and, at $100.00, I’ve been slow to pull the trigger and buy his book. That got me to thinking: Can a person borrow an ebook? We certainly borrow hardbound books. I loan out books regularly and don’t think anything about it. So why does it feel different when it’s a pdf file?

Part of the answer is many ebooks contain some kind of legalese prohibiting redistribution. Here’s one example:

This product may not be sold, given away, or redistributed in any way. You may only use this for personal reading.

So do those types of statements legally prohibit redistribution? They probably do. This is probably another area where the online world and the offline world are different but I’m not 100% sure.

I’ve started a discussion on LinkedIn (you'll need to join The Blog Zone group to participate) to poll the writers and lawyers in the group and see if there's a consensus.

In the offline world we lend books openly. Those friendly activities are largely untraceable and that may explain the lack of concern. It’s legal to quote from other people’s books in one’s own writing but there are limits to how much repurposing a writer can do.

Creative Commons (www.creativecommons.org) does a great job of laying out an author’s rights and providing ways for redistribution, sharing and collaboration.

I’ve got 5 ebooks in development and will be launching an information site in a few weeks. Part of me wants to get paid for every download and part of me says, heck, a little redistribution is just another form of advertising, so have at it, boys.

What do you think? Should you be able to borrow an ebook?

Part 2 of 3:


Now that you've spend a good bit of time and energy getting your site linked on a couple hundred directories, it's time to roll up your sleeves and really get to work. You're excited, I can tell.

2. Intermediate Tactics
Intermediate tactics require more time and typically a financial investment. The effort is worth it since this is when the multiplier effect (viral marketing) can take place and take you to unexpected heights.

Intermediate Tactics are (1) article and press release writing and marketing and (2) advanced networking. Both of these tactics require you to create relevant content that will appeal to your market and, potentially, be worthy of being shared, of going viral and the ability to create meaningful relationships. Viral, in marketing terms, means it spreads, like a virus. In other words you send me an article or a press release that is so compelling and so interesting that I take the time out of my busy schedule to forward it to someone else. I spread it, they spread it, and so on and so on.

Creating that kind of content is not easy but here's the key: After you write your article or press release ask yourself this question, "Will this be shared?" If the answer is "Yes" then you completed the most difficult step. If the answer is "No" then you still have work to do. At first you may not be able to tell if your content is spread-worthy or not but, as with anything, you should get better over time and with effort, with practice. Writing content that is worthy of being shared is tough but, after that, things get easier since you can hire/rent the additional expertise you need.

The process of getting your articles syndicated, spread across the net, and your press releases submitted to online outlets is something I suggest you outsource. Article syndicating services and press release service providers are two of the fastest growing services you'll find online and, as such, the providers are improving the quality of their services and lowering their costs. I'll leave it to you to find find the best firm to meet your specific needs but feel free to contact me directly if you want a recommendation. Most of the press release services charge a fee, which can range from $50.00 to several hundred dollars, monthly subscription packages are also popular. Free services exist but the results may be less than you desire.

Hiring an expert to help you fine-tune your content, coordinate an online PR firm and develop a structured SEO program is wise if you're serious about being successful because all these tasks require a relatively high level of specialized talent to be effective. Here's what I used to say to my bosses when I was in Corporate America and they told me to do something outside our department's area of expertise, "Sure, we can do it ourselves but I'm concerned because amateur work usually produces amateur results." Or, "part-time work produces part-time results." They loved getting that kind of feedback. Yeah, right! But it's true, hire a pro if you want professional results, the benefits outweigh the expense. Besides, even if you hire a pro there's still so much that you can and should do on your own.

Link building is like cold calling in sales. Persistence alone will produce some results. But networking to secure referrals and giving value before asking for value are the best ways to secure new opportunities and, eventually, new clients. To maximize effectiveness, build personal relationships with webmasters, bloggers and other people who you want posting a link to your website on their website. The way to do this is to make yourself valuable and, therefore, visible to the right people. It's self promotion through added value, a win-win.

A good way to start is by reading other people's blogs and leaving (valuable) comments. Typically what will happen is they will start reading your blog (you must have one!) and leaving comments in return. Social media sites such as Twitter, StumbleUpon and Digg are also great relationship tools. You simply point (ReTweet, for example) people to content you think they'll find interesting or useful. Again, you're adding value and as your relationships grows the opportunity, or mutual self-interest, in providing each other an inbound link will surface.  Depending on the strength of your relationship this might take days, weeks or months.

From a link building perspective, if the relationship is solid enough and based on mutual respect and appropriate self-interest, you may even be asked to post a guest blog on their site. If that happens, jump on it and ask permission to link your guest post to relevant links as well as your website and blog. Those links will open you up to a whole new audience and will also improve your keyword rankings on the search engines.

If done correctly these Intermediate Tactics - writing great content, outsourcing submissions and building new meaningful relationships - will significantly increase the links to your site and move you up in search engine rankings. In addition, if your articles and press releases are linked tightly to a sound keyword strategy, the increase in search engine rankings for specific keywords and phrases will skyrocket. As Stephen Covey says, begin with the end in mind.

We're not done yet but now have a blueprint so get going. Monday we'll discuss some really Advanced Tactics.

Steve