Open up your mind and learn…

Have you ever heard the saying "the pen is mightier than the sword"? Believe me, it’s true and is the adage that would most apply to the gurus of internet marketing. Because of the absence of face to face interaction between the merchant and the prospective purchaser, the merchant must ‘speak’ to his prospects through the written word and media.

To do this, the internet marketer must learn the art of communicating through powerful, compelling copy that almost has the effect of hypnosis on the prospect, convincing the prospective buyer that they really need this product.

So, how do they do it?

To be a successful marketer or ‘guru’, there are certain tried and true principles of sales technology you must learn in order to write compelling copy. Each of these principles are addressed below.

1. Personalization

It is a fact that people are more likely to respond to friends than acquaintances or strangers. The exception is with someone so well-known in his field of expertise, like Tony Robbins in self-improvement. In such case, people will trust in the person who is the expert in his field. In every other situation, all things being equal, people trust their own friends more than mere acquaintances.

Using this principle, the successful marketer knows how to write their copy in a manner that conveys friendship and you soon come to trust him. He uses words that are seen as friendly, informal and personable, using personal pronouns as much as possible. They do so both in their ad copy as well as in follow up emails, continuing on with this line of friendship and trust. So their emails would contain your first name rather than 'Dear Sir' or 'Dear Madam'.

Another trick of personalization is to identify with problems or issues that the prospect may be facing. For instance, if you are looking into a particular aspect of internet marketing, the ‘guru’ may tell you of having a similar problem and how he overcame the problem.

Or supposing you are reading a website about internet marketing, the marketer may well tell you that he is very fed-up with all those gurus who mislead newbies like you and that he knows how you feel because he was once misled also. Having said that, it’s important to remember that quite a few things you read are actually written by ghostwriters as no one person can expect to be an expert in each and every niche.

That's why all marketers use pen names at times. This way, they assume different identities according to the different niches they market to. All these methods are not wrong, as long as the marketer delivers useful content in a sincere, non-manipulative and respectful way in all his correspondences with you.

Is everything making sense so far? If not, I'm sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.

So be aware of what the marketers are trying to do. There are times you might need to take their words with a pinch of salt. This leads to the second principle.

2. Engagement

A successful internet marketer is very much like a novelist. He gives you the big picture first to engage your interest. He then thickens the plot and goes into details about what he is trying to sell to you. However, the internet marketer has to do all of this within a matter of seconds before you lose interest and leave the site.

Because of this, the first thing every internet marketer must do to engage with you is to write an attention grabbing headline. Headlines using the words, "How to....", "Discover the ways to...." or "Who else wants to know the...." are very effective in engaging with you because it arouses your curiosity. This way, the marketer lets you know immediately just what’s in it for you.

Make sure you analyze the marketer’s claims before you pull your wallet out. They must fulfill two criteria, these being that it must be believable and not just hype, and that it must be fair with either minimal or no risk for you. To fulfill the first criteria, some show testimonials from past customers or show their income statistics. They will often offer a money back guarantee in order to fulfill the second criteria.

3. Action

Everything the marketer has written thus far is geared towards getting you to take action. It would be either to buy the product or give your email address or some other form of action. Successful marketers use two time-tested methods to do so. They are urgency and scarcity (or a combination of the two). The urgency method is by saying that there will be a price increase after a certain time. The scarcity method is by saying there will only be a limited number of units of the product sold. There are modifications and combinations of these two methods.

With all this information, you can see through all the gurus' methods of making you buy their stuff. This will help you be more selective in buying as well as equip you to make your own offers to your prospects as well.

Now you can be a confident expert on product. OK, maybe not an expert. But you should have something to bring to the table next time you join a discussion on product.

Anne has worked primarily within health and welfare for around 35 years. She has always loved to write and has a wide range of interests. She is the owner of http://www.ozebizwiz.com.and http://www.ozehealthbiz.com