Thursday, June 01, 2006

Jim Edwards

Jim Edwards is one of the greatest article writers that I know. I have learnt a lot from reading his material. He shows you step by step how to make a great article that will bring flows of traffic to your website. Just to show you how great his articles are here's one my favourite articles by him.

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Increase Sales By Flying Under Your Prospects' "Radar
Defenses"

- by Jim Edwards

(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
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How do you persuade someone to do what you want them to
do?

A whole world of marketing exists around us trying to do
that every minute of the day. Do you even notice it
anymore or, like your prospects, have you subconsciously
set up a system of "radar defenses" against the daily
bombardment of marketing messages?

Take a minute and count up the advertising methods which
fight for your attention (and money) every day. Just
the basic list includes:

· Yellow page ads

· Newspaper and magazine ads

· Postcards, catalogs, and direct mail circulars in your
"snail mail" box

· Radio pitches interrupting the flow of your favorite
songs

· TV ads - about 20 minutes worth per hour now

· Hundreds of storefronts, "mega" malls, and strip malls

· Highway billboards by the thousands

· Circulars hung on your doorknob

· Illegal signs on stop signs and telephone poles

· Legitimate email messages

· Spam email or UCE (unsolicited commercial email)

Just these 11 sources can overwhelm your brain with
marketing messages. Like trapped rats, people develop
defenses against this never-ending onslaught. They
throw up a wall or a "radar defense" that goes into
action the minute they smell a "pitch" or a sales job.
Don't blame them. We all do it!

So how can you get around this psychological wall
against the constant sales and marketing messages? Well,
the answer does NOT lie in hitting people with more
frequent and obnoxious advertising or sly, sneaky
tactics. You might get them to trust you for a minute,
but it will backfire in the long run.

You must do two things instead:

1. First, you must establish credibility for yourself
and your business as an expert.

2. Second, you must reduce their fears about doing
business with you.

Doing these two things will get you past their defenses
and allow you the opportunity to persuade them to buy
your product.

So how do you accomplish these two "simple" things? What
will win someone's attention, raise your credibility,
and lower their fear factor all at the same time? The
one-word answer really applies to most everyone.

Trust!

If a seller can get behind your defenses with
information which makes you trust them, then that
credibility will carry over into a sale much of the
time.

How can you get this credibility?

Well, take this next fact as online marketing "gospel,"
for many people have proven its effectiveness.

Fact: Publishing and promoting with free articles gives
you one of the most powerful opportunities available to
tip the buyer's credibility scale in your favor.

How can we prove this works? Quite easily actually. Take
a break from reading this and go check out a newspaper
or magazine for a minute.

Which do you trust more, the ads or the articles? Most
people will choose the articles hands down. Why?
Because the articles don't try to "sell" you anything.
Instead, they hand out useful information for
educational or other practical purposes.

Most of us grew up in a culture which says we can
believe and "trust" what appears in the standard "news"
or "information" format. In other words, if it appears
in print, then we can believe and trust the author.

So go ahead! Use this lifetime of conditioning to your
advantage in selling your products and services!

Very few things will create an atmosphere of trust and
confidence in people as reading one of your articles on
a subject that greatly interests them. It shows you
know your business. It also demonstrates you will do
more than just try to sell them something.

Publishing articles literally lets you fly under their
advertising "radar defenses."

So remember these points when deciding whether or not to
use articles to promote your business:

1. Few things create as much trust and confidence in the
minds of potential customers as reading an article you
wrote on a subject which specifically and intensely
interests them.

2. Articles establish credibility quickly because, right
or wrong, we've all been trained to trust the "news."

3. An article, or series of articles, will differentiate
you from the competition, who bombard people with
nothing but sales messages.

4. Providing content-rich, non-sales-oriented articles
will also help build and solidify your relationship with
existing customers so they give you repeat business.

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Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the
co-author of an amazing new ebook, "Turn Words Into
Traffic," that will teach you how to use free articles
to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your
website or affiliate link!
Click Here ==> www.turnwordsintotraffic.com

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