Check out this video of a baseball playing doing a flip over a catcher to avoid getting tagged:

Of course after watching this I wasn’t content… I wanted to know the player’s story.

Does he have a gymnastics background? Did he hurt himself? What was going through his mind before deciding to do the flip? Where did he grow up?

He’s an ordinary player who plays for a team with a losing record, yet he managed to do something extraordinary. This play happened two days ago and the video has more than a million views already.

The marketing (and life) lesson here is pretty obvious. If it seems for all the world like you’re going to get called out, there’s probably a way you can flip over the catcher too, so to speak.

And when you do, be ready with your story. Nothing makes people want to hear your story more than when you do something remarkable.

If you want more details about this baseball player’s story, click here.

Sometimes copywriters wonder how much they have contributed to the more negative aspects of internet marketing.

I’ve pondered that too from time to time and, specifically, I’ve wondered at times if I’m merely selling feelings instead of products.

There’s that great line from Don Draper (head of the creative department in a 1960s ad agency) in Mad Men where he says, “I sell products, not advertising.”

He wasn’t interested in just selling clients on slick marketing campaigns… he wanted to actually sell their products.

But like Don also says to one of his copywriters, “You are the product. You are feeling something. That’s what sells.”

So there’s no avoiding feelings in copy. The key is to avoid contributing to the never-ending festival of hype that only helps create Ralph Wolves instead of Sam Sheepdogs.

Also, I’ve taken encouragement from what Brian Eno said last year in an interview about how he works with U2 in the studio:

They feed on their own excitement… the point is to keep offering ladders that people can climb up to another place and then you can throw the ladder away afterwards, it doesn’t matter.”

So even if your product isn’t the greatest or most unique product out there, as long as it’s a ladder, then it’s OK, because ultimately it’s not your product itself that makes the difference but how it motivates customers to use their own strength to climb up to another place.

Way back in the day, my first full time job was as a consumer respondent at Parker Brothers games.

I answered questions about the rules to the various games they make (Monopoly, Ouija board, Sorry and so on).

One time an elderly lady wrote a letter requesting a copy of the rules to the game of Sorry because she had lost them.

She then went on for several paragraphs about how sad she was because her husband had died, she was estranged from a daughter, etc. etc. I was so struck by how she poured her heart out to a stranger.

People would often call and ask things like, “The Ouija board says I’m going to die tomorrow. What do I do????”

The way I handled calls like this is worthy of a blog post of its own.

Suffice to say I had to do a tremendous amount of listening to customers about things that had nothing to do about the actual products we sold.

Listening is powerful and effective but how can you use it in your marketing?

I’ll describe two of the ways you can do this.

The first is a listening technique called BATHE that was developed by two doctors as a way to quickly get to the heart of a patient’s story in a busy doctor’s office and also show empathy at the same time.

I’ve used this technique in marketing as well.

For example, I once created a survey that asked questions based on these questions and it received a huge response.

One can use this technique in other ways as well, such as questions you ask on you Facebook fan pages, etc.

Here’s how it works:

B = Background. Ask the question, “What happened to you?”

In marketing, the questions would be something like, “Tell me a little about your background and experience with email marketing.”

A = Affect. Ask the question, “And how does that make you feel?”

Yes, you should ask that question in your business too because as copywriters and marketers it’s very important to know what their dominant feeling is about their problem.

T = Trouble. Ask the question, “And what troubles you the most now?” This helps focus the person’s mind.

In marketing, asking something like, “What is your greatest difficulty with email marketing?”

You’ll get specific answers that will even inspire product ideas sometimes.

This happened to me after creating a survey using these questions.

H = Handling. Ask the question, “And what helps you the most to handle this?” This question focuses the attention on the resources around them that can help them to cope and take action.

In marketing this question can give you an opportunity to follow up by showing what you have to offer them.

E = Empathy. Sincerely express the feelings you experienced as you listened to the other person.

In marketing this would take the form of simple statements like, “I’m very sorry you had difficult with our product” while interacting with a customer.

Or telling a story in your email or web copy that shows you have once been in their shoes.

The second way to listen to your customers is to write emails and blog posts that they want to reply to.

An email is more than an opportunity to get a customer to click on your link.

It’s an opportunity to listen as well. The listening benefits the customer… and you and your bottom line.

If you want to read more about how to use BATHE in your personal life (after all, the great thing about marketing is how these skills can make you a better person too) read my How Listening is Like Prozac post on my personal blog. I have other posts there about listening as well.

And thanks to Doberman Dan for making a video that reminded me I’ve been wanting to write this post for a long time.

A couple of months ago I went to one of my favorite restaurants for lunch.

I showed up at 11:30 but the door was locked, even though they open at 11:00.

I saw workers inside so I knocked. I waited a couple of minutes and almost left.

Finally someone opened the door. She noticed the time and said, “Yikes, I wonder how much business we lost by accidentally keeping the door locked?!”

That’s an excellent question and one you should ask yourself regularly, even if yours is an online business.

Today I want to address two specific areas where I see a lot of marketers keeping the door locked:

Sending out teaser emails that link to a blog post instead of including the entire content in the email.

And:

Not including the entire blog post in the RSS feed. So only a snippet appears in people’s Google Reader inbox.

To me this is the equivalent of a locked door.

When I’m looking at my email inbox I’m almost always in a hurry and focused on which emails I need to reply to. I’m not usually in the mood to click on a link.

I’m also seeing which emails I can quickly delete. If there’s an email from a marketer with the complete blog post in the email there’s at least a chance I will read it right away or save it for later.

If there is only a teaser, the email gets deleted. I usually subscribe to their RSS feed instead so I can see their blog posts that way and avoid the teaser email.

But sometimes those same marketers don’t let their entire post appear in Google Reader either. Argh!

That’s too bad because when I’m in Google Reader I’m actually in the frame of mind to read more leisurely, unlike when I’m looking at my email inbox.

Google Reader doesn’t have the urgency and pressure that an email inbox has, so don’t irritate your readers there by making them have to click to read the post.

Please don’t overlook the importance of Google Reader in your email marketing. If you send out blog posts as emails (as you should, as I’ve written about before) then please check the reading setting of your blog and make sure “full text” is checked instead of “summary” in the feed section.

I know there are those that will say they get higher conversion rates by only sending teasers. That’s cool.

My recommendations are based on what I’ve seen my clients do and all the high profile bloggers I read who let their complete posts appear in Reader. In my opinion, I think this is one door you won’t want to keep locked.

As much as I like Bugs Bunny, I think my favorite Loony Tunes character is Sam Sheepdog.

What does this have to do with marketing?

Well…

Sam Sheepdog spends his days protecting the sheep from Ralph Wolf.

On the surface it often seems like Sam is doing nothing.

He just sits there and his eyes are covered with fur.

Yet 100% of the time, without fail, he’s all over it when Ralph tries to steal a sheep.

He either whips out just the right tool from under his fur to disrupt Ralph or gets himself to the right location with amazing speed.

By contrast, Ralph spends his days in constant motion.

He orders various Acme products in the hopes of trying to catch a sheep without Sam noticing.

He digs tunnels, climbs trees, hangs out on cliffs.

All so he can finally snag a sheep.

In the meantime Sam Sheepdog just sits… even if a boulder is rolling towards him. He knows that at the last minute the boulder will hit a rock and stray off course so he doesn’t budge.

Ralph Wolf reminds me of a lot of marketers just starting out… and even of some goo-roos.

Always chasing some new product or trying to outwit competitors.

Constant motion in the form of product launches and testing the latest strategies… but getting nowhere.

Always trying too hard to get a sale.

Whereas Sam Sheepdog reminds me of marketers who put the hours in and get the job done.

When they face a challenge they don’t flinch. Like Sam in the path of a rolling boulder, they know no harm will ultimately befall them so they stay the course and don’t panic.

It might seem like the Sam Sheepdog marketers are doing nothing. They aren’t posting in all the forums or using all of the latest and greatest tools.

But like Sam whipping out a magnet from his fur to foil Ralph as he bounces on springs, they always have the *right* tools and know how to use them.

The Sam Sheepdogs don’t chase after sales. There’s nothing desperate about Sam Sheepdog. Whereas Ralph Wolfs are the very definition of desperate.

If you want more of a Sam Sheepdog approach to your own marketing, and want to keep the Ralph Wolfs away, one of the best ways is to load your autoresponder with high-quality emails.

Like Sam, you won’t have to budge and can instead keep scanning the horizon for new opportunities as l do all the writing – you’ll just copy and paste and drop them into your autoresponder when I’m done.

Each day you don’t send an email to your list – or send a lousy email – you lose sales.

Send an email to me anitaashland @ gmail.com and let’s talk.

P. S.  If you’re an affiliate marketer and money is tight, I’m pretty sure Sam Sheepdog would approve of my pre-written Money Making Email email packs.

This week I was able to work in the flower garden for this first time since last fall.

It seems like every time I work in the flower beds I get new encouragement as a copywriter and entrepreneur.

Even when none of the flowers are blooming yet, as was the case this week.

There was something satisfying about clearing away the dead branches and debris from last year’s garden to make way for the new shoots pushing their way through the dirt.

An early spring garden reminds me of a business that has hunkered down after going through a difficult time.

On the surface there aren’t many signs of life.

There is evidence of the successes of the past (last year’s dead blooms and branches)… but it’s hard to take encouragement from that.

So what are the upsides?

Here are 3:

*It’s obvious what you need to clear away and what’s not working.

When a garden is in full bloom it’s not always easy to tell the weeds from the regular flowers. And even when you can, it’s difficult to pull out the weeds because they have deep roots. Also, there are so many weeds it’s often hard to take them time to get rid of them all.

Whereas in early spring it’s easy to scoop up the dead blooms and leaves and throw them on the brush pile. The dead weeds pull out effortlessly.

So it is in business. When your business is thriving it’s easy to ignore the stuff that isn’t working. But when you go through a dry spell, it’s far easier to cast out the dead products and ineffective ad campaigns.

*There are fewer distractions. As wonderful as it is to gaze at a beautiful garden, a certain complacency kicks in.

Sometimes there are so many flowers that it’s hard to appreciate them all, as I discovered last December. And one starts taking the flowers for granted.

Not so in early spring. Or in your business if you’re struggling right now.

When you no longer have the distractions of a successful business you have the freedom to experiment and try new things.

Maybe that will include letting a copywriter write your copy instead of taking the DIY approach.

Perhaps it means developing that new product you’ve had on the back burner for a long time.

Whatever it is, take full advantage of the silences in your business and let yourself try new things the busier businesses don’t have time to do.

*Nothing fancy is required. I used a small clippers and my bare hands to totally clear my garden and get it ready for spring.

I didn’t need a lawn mower, weed eater or the assistance of family members, like I do later in the season.

As a result, I was able to get results quickly and can now see the shoots that are poking through the dirt, which give me encouragement about the possibilities ahead. I wasn’t able to see them before.

So it is in your business if it’s not realizing its full potential right now.

Inexpensive low-tech things like a blog, social media campaign or local Meetup group will get you some quick results to help motivate you as you move forward and see the new possibilities start to appear on the horizon.

I hear this all the time and you probably do too: the money’s in the list!

As an email copywriter you might expect me agree with that.

I do agree that a list is of great importance to your business. Whenever I send an email I get many more visits to my website than when I put a link to it on Twitter or Facebook.

Except there’s one problem… this “The money’s in the list!” attitude usually results in endless emails that are just boring pitches.

So what should be in your list?

Your art.

Your gifts (no, I don’t just mean free reports or ebooks….I also mean the generous sharing of your ideas).

Your superpower.

Your stories.

Your magic.

Notice I haven’t said anything about open rates and click thrus and opt-ins and opt-outs.

That’s because the people on your list aren’t buying your products…

They’re buying relationships and stories and magic.

When you send an email your sole motivation should be to connect with your reader and make a difference in their lives.

Respect the bond that exists between you and the people reading your email.

The irony is, if you remember that it’s your magic that is in the list, not money, then it’s likely that the money will follow eventually.

When I look out at my bird feeder the scene out there often
reminds me of an online business in action.