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First, a question – If you have to PAY for something – even if it’s at a 50% discount – is it really a GIFT??

Um . . . not only, no! But hell no!

I got an email today from someone I respect and whose work and products I admire. I usually read their newsletter from beginning to end every time it’s in my inbox.

So, today, their email arrives and says there’s a gift of one of this persons products and it’s just for customers and newsletter readers only. A special gift for Christmas. Just go to the link and grab it.

And when I get there, I scroll down the order page to see what info it requires for the order and to get the details of exactly what’s in the “gift” . . . only to find out it costs $150!

What the heck?

“Since when do you PAY for GIFTS??” I thought.

I went back to the email to re-read it to see if I missed something. And no, it CLEARLY states it’s a GIFT.

Now, I’m pretty sure I understand what the term gift means . . . but just in case, let’s look in the dictionary . . .

Yep, just as I thought . . .

GIFT
NOUN: 1. Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation. 2. The act, right, or power of giving. 3. A talent, endowment, aptitude, or inclination.

This, to me, is clearly false advertising and the respect I had for this person has just plummeted to the bottom of the ladder. In fact, I’m thinking of unsubscribing from their newsletter and never reading or listening to anything of theirs ever again. And I might even send them an email and tell them so.

Additionally, I think it’s not only false advertising but it’s extremely unethical.

What do you think?

In the arena,

Want to work with an award-winning writer? Now is your chance! Hurry and book for the 2009 before the calendar is full. I still have some space available. Check out the Hire Me tab above for info on how to contact me and your reserve your spot now. And don’t worry – I’ll never promise you a gift and then turn around and ask you to pay $150 – or any $$ – for it.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

Welcome back!

I’ve spent the last few days going over some of the stuff I’d saved from last years 30 Day Challenge and remembered some great gems. I posted some of my favorites over on Annie Anderson | Blog so I won’t rehash them here but I do want to talk about marketing.

Perhaps you’ve heard it said that your business is “only as good as your marketing” and I would agree with that. I mean, how in world are your customers going to find you otherwise? Sure, there’s word of mouth or viral marketing but how do you get that point in your business does “go viral?”

Well, the short answer is that you have to have something so spectacular or so unusual or so rememberable or whatever that it spreads like wildfire. How often does that happen? Probably not much. But it can happen. The question then is, how do we make it happen?

I’ve noticed several websites in recent weeks that are using tools to get you tell to your friends and family when you sign up. This is also what hotmail did when they launched – tell your friends and family your new email address and in that message, there was a link so they could get one too. Pretty soon it seemed like everyone had a hotmail email address. Google did something similar with gmail originally as well. They gave you “invites” so you could invite your friends and family to try gmail and you could only get a gmail account if someone invited you. It worked like a charm also.

So that’s one way – create a wildfire by asking your customers to tell everyone they know and making it super easy for them to do so.

But marketing is much more than getting your customers to be your billboards and spokespeople. A well rounded marketing campaign will include other advertising mediums as well such as print (newspapers, press releases, flyers) and a direct mail campaign. Now, these things might be slightly different for online and offline businesses but advertising, no matter the business, is essential to your bottom line.

As a direct response copywriter, I can tell you it’s the life-blood of your existence. Without some form of advertising, you’ll sink. I’ve seen so many people come to me when their business is failing and they tell me they have no idea why. When I ask them about their marketing and advertising, what they often tell me is something like “I can’t afford it/can’t afford much” and that tells me it’s either too small to be effective or non-existent. More often than not, it’s the latter – non-existent.

You know, there’s not reason to not advertise. Excuses like “I can’t afford it” are lame and useless. Your business budget should always include marketing and advertising. Take some of every dollar and put it towards advertising. And there are many free ways to advertise, too (maybe we’ll talk about that next week).

Most of it you can do on a simple budget in any case. You don’t need a million dollar budget to market effectively. Just like Microsoft and Google used the viral “tell a friend” tool to spread hotmail and gmail, you can use simple techniques like that to get word out about what you do.

Make advertising a part of your business routine. Use Google AdSense, use Craigslist.org, use your business cards – but do something. Don’t just sit there and languish because nothing is happening.

Find a way to start a wildfire.

See you again soon!
~ Annie

Last August I participated in Ed Dale and Dan Raine’s Thirty Day Challenge so for my around the web post today, I’m going to focus on the challenge a bit and share some of my favorite challenge blogs that are still blogging.

If you’ve never participated in the 30dc and you’re wondering how to make some money online, it’s a great beginning. The best part aside from the community and support, is that it’s totally free. You learn tools to embark on your own internet journey as well as the basics of making a business out of the internet and you even learn all of this using free resources.

The tag line for the 30dc last year was “It’s what Willis was talkin’ about” and Ed and Dan are now looking for suggestions for this years tag line. While I have no ideas for that, I do plan to participate again this year. It’s incredibly fun and energetic.

My 30dc blog is still up and running. I just used a free WordPress hosted site that I had setup months before but wasn’t doing anything with. I haven’t posted much over there since last year, but I’ve decided to go ahead and “revive” it. I may move it to it’s own domain at some point but for now, it’ll continue to be where it is. Feel free to check it out. And go check out these as well:

• Caroline Middlebrook – http://www.caroline-middlebrook.com/blog
• Income Hero – http://www.incomehero.com/
• A Dent in the Universe – http://www.adentintheuniverse.com/content/blogsection/5/76/
• My Thirty Day Challenge – http://mythirtydaychallenge.com/
• Mike Mindel 30 Day Challenger – http://www.webventurer.com/blog/thirty-day-challenge-3/
• 30 Day Challenge Official Blog – http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com/blog/
• Newest on the Net – http://newestonthenet.com/

And this one isn’t a blog, but it’s a great resource. It’s an outline of each day of the challenge from 2007 and includes all the links and tools used.

• Thirty Day Challenge Action List – http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dfwbrpjr_25gmbwdw

Also, on my 30dc blog, you’ll find a tab listing several additional 30dc blogs. Now, I have not checked that list in a while, so there could possibly be some broken links. If you do find one, let me know so I can remove or update it.

Have fun surfing around the Challenge blogs and consider participating this August if you have the chance. It’s great fun as well as a good education in internet and marketing. Plus, you meet lots of cool people.

I hope you had a blessed Easter. Check out the post below if you haven’t already done so. I created and uploaded some Easter desktop wallpapers that you can download.

Until next time,
Annie

Alright – let’s get this blog restarted, shall we?

You might remember way back in September or October last year I announced I was heading back to school. I wanted to learn new design stuff that occurred in graphics since I had originally gone to college.

Well, it’s been going good. I’ve gotten through Fall and Winter quarters with great grades and have learned quite a bit. A lot of it has been basic stuff like Perspective, Drawing, Art History and the like but I think it’s been productive. My plan is to take Spring and Summer quarters off now and then return in the Fall. I think that will allow me to do everything I need to do without neglecting something. Like this place!

So, expect to see a lot more happening here again. My tentative schedule for this blog is as follows:

Monday – Marketing. I’ll post marketing concepts I’ve learned or am learning, things I’ve tried and tested, and whatever is related to marketing in general.

Tuesday – Web Stuff. I hate it when I write something cryptic to myself, expecting I’ll remember all the details later and then don’t. But I think what I had in mind here was stuff like links and what-not from around the web that I’ve found interesting. (At least, that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!)

Wednesday – Projects. Updates and insights on projects I’m working on. These might be writing or design or school or household or family or marketing or anything, really.

Thursday – Cool Stuff. This will be programs, web-based stuff (like Bloglines or something), software that I’m using or hope to try. I previously did a series on this blog about some of the tools I use like Adium (chat client for Mac), MarsEdit (blog posting app for Mac) and such and I’ll continue those with this topic.

Friday – Money. Ways to make money, investing, budgeting, money tips for small business and all things related to the topic of money.

Saturday/Sunday – Weekends will be mix-up days. I’ll post something from the other categories that I don’t want to put off until the next week. Or maybe I’ll just post something fun. Who knows? I guess you’ll just have to wait and see!

Let me know if you have suggestions, comments, thoughts, ideas. What would you like to see outlined here? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Also, check out my website for some new posts about current projects and of course info on writing, real estate and design. You’ll find that stuff at AnnieAndersonBlog.com.

Until tomorrow,
Annie

Jay Conrad Levinson, the marketing mind
responsible for the Marlboro Man, and author of
the best selling marketing book series of all
time will be answering your questions

You can get the details to listen live at
http://www.febene.com/?rid=117 and also…

…when you register you’ll be able to submit
your questions for the training on February 26…

I’ll be listening,…

Regards,

Annie Anderson

PS This is not the same-ol’, same-ol’ interview.

Jay rarely speaks on webcasts and it is the only
one he has scheduled so far this year.  So be sure
to register now at http://www.febene.com/?rid=117

On the bookshelf this week -

• Conquer the 7 Lies Blocking You From Success by Farrah Gray
• Wealth Cycle Investing by Loral Langemeier
• Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan S. Kennedy
• Simple•ology by Mark Joyner
• Guerrila Marketing for Writers by Jay Conrad Levinson
• Your Immortal Reality by Gary Rennard

Lots of good stuff this week! And even more on the way.

~ Annie

On the Reading List this week:

• The Ultimate Marketing Plan by Dan S. Kennedy
• Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port
• Allergies: Fight Them With the Blood Type Diet by Peter D’Adamo
• The Irresistible Offer by Mark Joyner
• The Sinus Cure by Debra Fulghum Bruce

And that’s it for now. If you’ve read any of these, let me know what you thought. Feel free to post a comment or email me.

~ Annie