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The “A listers” already know it.

They may not always admit it, mainly because A+ copywriters have healthy egos and that’s ok. But they know exactly what we are about to discuss is the proven truth.

They know that “Copy is King”. And that there are three components that govern the success of any promotion: the quality of the list and media you select, the offer you present to the prospect, and the copy you use.

Of these three, the list is the most important, the offer is next, and the copy is third.

The right offer with great copy mailed to a bad list will produce zero results. Mediocre copy with a mediocre offer mailed to a great list can produce good results. That said, selecting qualified lists and framing attractive offers is less difficult than crafting great copy. That is why in direct response advertising, copy is king.

Even if you never plan on writing your own advertising copy, you MUST understand the fundamental rules of writing effective copy so that you can increase your results and your bottom line.

Learn it or perish

Don’t proselytize. Preach to the converted.

One of the tenets of direct-response marketing is to target the sales effort to qualified prospects: people who have already demonstrated an interest in buying products and services similar to those you are selling. Trying to sell a watch to someone who has never bought a watch before is an uphill battle at best. Most of the time, your advertising will be directed at proven buyers—enthusiasts, as it were. When writing to enthusiasts, you should write enthusiastically and remind them constantly of what they already believe—that buying your product will make them feel good, the same way it has made them feel in the past.

The 10 Golden Rules of Power Packed Copy!

1. Start with the prospect. Many beginning direct response copywriters make the mistake of spending too much ink touting the product, describing all its features at length and in detail. This is an understandable mistake when writing about a new and exciting product. But the direct marketer must keep in mind that the prospect doesn’t really care about the product. All he really cares about is himself and how the product might be able to help him. Keep that in mind when you write copy. Ask: “What is my best customer thinking about? What’s keeping him up at night? What is he dreaming about?” Figure out the answers to those questions, and your copy will never stray far from the mark.

2. Long copy out-pulls short copy. This principle is highly controversial. Many Internet copywriters believe that the nature of the Internet—which makes it necessary for prospects to read copy on a screen—favors short copy. Although short copy can sometimes work very well, hundreds of tests that we have seen prove the old direct-mail maxim to be true: Other things being equal, longer copy is usually better.

3. When it comes to long copy, the lead is 80 percent of the game. A typical direct-mail or e-mail promotion has three parts: the lead, the body, and the close. The lead is usually less than 20 percent of the whole, but it carries the responsibility of conveying the “big idea” of the sales message and provoking an appropriate emotion in the reader. If you can do that consistently in your e-mail promotions, you will have a great deal of success.

4. In crafting a lead, stick with the proven six. There are dozens of ways to begin a long-form sales letter, but in the history of direct response, six have dominated. These are: offer/promise, invitation, problem/solution, secret, story, and prediction. If you can figure out which of these six leads works best for the offer you are making, your chances of success will skyrocket.

5. All leads range from being very direct to very indirect. Direct leads are those that are obviously sales pitches. Indirect leads appear to be doing something else. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses. Effective e-mail marketers make wise use of both.

6. Given two packages with equally strong leads, the one that is well-balanced will do better. A well-balanced promotion has four aspects: idea, benefit, credibility, and track record. We call this “the secret of the four-legged stool,” because if your promotion has all four of these “legs,” it will be well balanced and it won’t topple over.

7. When composing headlines and bullets, details matter. Make your headlines and bullets more powerful by focusing on what we call “the four U’s”: uniqueness, usefulness, urgency, and ultra-specificity.

8. Every product needs a unique selling proposition (USP). Essentially, the USP is what makes your product stand out from the competition and gives your prospect a good reason to buy from you. Ignore this principle at your peril.

9. Benefits are better than features—and deeper benefits are better than superficial benefits. For example, don’t tell a prospect that the car you are selling has good tires and suspension. Those are features. Instead, describe how, because of those features, they’ll be able to maneuver easily through rush-hour traffic and avoid accidents with dangerous drivers. If you understand the deeper benefits your product offers, suggest them (indirectly, not directly) in the copy.

10. Write to one person at a time in the language you would use if you were talking to that person face-to-face. That doesn’t always mean informal language. But it does mean conversational language.

Those are not the only principles that govern direct mail and e-mail marketing, but they are 10 of the most important.

If you want to get a head start on mastering the fundamentals of direct response marketing and putting your competition to shame, check out my #1 Amazon.com best-seller, Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business.

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What would you do if you could operate your business from anywhere in the world and still make a profit? And what if you could earn that money and not have to be in a traditional office? With just an Internet connection, you can work from anywhere in the world, and at any time you want.

Take me for example. I recently returned from a long, overdue, relaxing vacation on a warm tropical beach. Because I had my iPad with me, I could have replied to online messages or done some out-of-office work since I had wireless Internet connection while I was by the ocean side. Luckily for me, I had a work-free vacation.  If I needed to work, however, I “could” have.

I can still do the same thing now that I have returned from my vacation. I can control my business operations from anywhere, even a coffee shop. My business partner Denise and I often like to get out of the office and go to our local Starbucks to grab a cup of our favorite java and to work. It’s incredible what you can finish while sipping on coffee and using the Wifi connection.

You may think that it is impossible to run a business from a local coffee shop, a beach, or any other location outside of the office. If so, you are mistaken. Nowadays, if you have an Internet connection, you truly can run any type of business anywhere in the world.

So, if you are one of those people who do not enjoy being in the office all the time and are looking to begin your own business or to even make some money on the side, now is the best time to do just that.

For the remainder of this article, I will give you examples of three businesses you can operate from a coffee shop (or from anywhere in the world).

Business #1: Market Other People’s Products As An Affiliate

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online. This is especially true if you don’t have your own products to sell or if you want to add diversity to what you already sell.

As an affiliate marketer, you are given your own unique links to a product so the seller knows when a customer you referred buys their product. The seller then pays you a commission, generally a percentage of the sale, in return for referring the buyer.

To find the types of products you may want to sell initially, you can research some of the hottest trends in the market. You can do this by searching on some of the most popular places on the Internet.

For example, you can use Google’s Keyword Tool. With this tool, you simply type in the different key words that you think people would use to search for a product. Then Google spits out the data on how many people are searching on that topic each day on Google’s search engine.

The Google Keyword Tool is a great way to figure out what products consumers are looking for. In fact, it’s one of the best free tools that currently exists.

After you have determined the type of products you want to sell, the next step is to find the companies that actually sell those products.

You can also search online marketplaces. For example, Clickbank is an affiliate marketplace of over 50,000 digital products that allows publishers of digital products to find affiliates who want to promote their products. Once you find a product you want to promote, you then sign up to become an affiliate of that company so that you can start promoting the product.

Business #2:  Get Paid To Play Around On Social Media Sites For Other Businesses

Are you on Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis, or do you use Facebook and Twitter to market your blog, web site or products and services? Do you participate in forums of your favorite online communities a couple of times of week? If you answered “Yes,” to any of these questions, then you are already well accustomed to the world of social media and online communities. Here’s where your love of social media can start to pay you real rewards.

One of the hottest jobs in demand today is for social media managers. Businesses are in search of individuals to set up and manage their Twitter accounts and Facebook Pages (as well as other social media web sites) so that they can stay connected with their potential customers to promote their business online.

If you enjoy talking to others, making connections and being part of a community, than becoming a social media manager could be perfect for you. After all, it’s all about social networking. From making connections on Facebook, having people follow you on Twitter, to posting in blogs, to participating in other social networks on the internet, it is all about being engaged.

And even if you are not a social butterfly, you can still use social media to make money too. For example, if you enjoy building the buzz around a product or company that it becomes the hottest sensation in the market, then social media could still be the perfect field for you. The beauty is that you can make money by merely interacting with people online.

Business #3: Work As A Freelance Writer

If you enjoy writing, then you may want to consider becoming a freelance content writer. More and more businesses these days are looking to provide their readers with helpful content, and they need someone to help them write that content.

That person could be you.

With great content, a business can attract readers to their web site, get their site ranked higher in the search engines, and increase their online presence by mentioning the content on social networking sites.

Businesses can also further leverage their content by repurposing or syndicating it on other sites. This not only can increase their online presence but can also increase their sales.

Those are three good examples of the types of businesses you can run from anywhere in the world, even from a coffee shop.

About This Author:
Jynell Berkshire is the Vice President and Associate Editor of ThrivingBusiness.com Inc.  ThrivingBusiness.com offers various free and paid training programs to help people start and grow their own businesses, while having a thriving life.

Jynell has a unique background in business, law, public policy, and entrepreneurship.  Jynell has more than fifteen years of experience in government relations and assisting start-up and existing companies with initial formation, growth, and funding challenges.  Jynell also has been featured in various newspapers and magazines, and has been a frequent speaker at various television, radio, and industry events for her expertise.

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Listen to our previous call here.

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Boy, was I stunned to see the number responses to the recent survey we sent to you and the rest of the Working Moms Only community.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a few things. I was equally disappointed to learn about a few others. And, frankly some answers were exactly as I thought they would be.

Today, I want to share some of those results with you as well as help you overcome your biggest challenges.

Sharing is Caring

So, lets start off with some general sharing of experiences.

Eighty six percent of our community said that they do indeed have children. This was a slight increase from the last time we asked. Out of those moms, 64.3% of them have between 2 to 3 kids. I am right there with you sister!

I found it very interesting that 50.8% of our community were between the ages of 41 to 55 years old. Again, I am right there with you.

Here is another interesting fact about our community. Fifty four percent are the primary breadwinner. That is a mammoth number. Especially when you take into account that only 22.9% of our community are single parents.

Work Smarter Not Harder

Well, now we need to address the upsetting part.

I was surprised to learn that 66% of our community worked more than 40 hours a week. Even worse, 14% worked more than 50 hours a week.

The reason that is upsetting is because 55% said their job was “ok” because it paid the bills or that they did not like their job at all!

And, when asked what was your biggest source of stress, you replied “time management”.

Of course, we needed to know what your biggest challenge was and the majority of you replied with “finding balance”.

“No.” is a Complete Sentence

Let’s start with the work hours.

It is our nature as women and as moms to want to please everyone. Well, that is simply not a reality. We have to set boundaries and we need to learn how to say “no”.

We have to respect ourselves. By constantly putting ourselves last, we are teaching our kids how to be victims, not leaders.

Here’s the thing, when you constantly say “yes” to everything, most things are not getting done because of the pure overwhelm. And, the tasks that are getting done are simply not up to par.

The quality of your life will increase ten fold when you start saying “no” to requests. And, here’s the best part – you do not have to justify it or give any reason whatsoever. “No” really is a complete sentence!

Balance: Myth or Reality?

Before you decide if you have a balanced life or not, let’s define a balanced life. Let’s also discuss obtaining a blended lifestyle.

Most people think a balanced life is spending the same amount of time at work as they do in their personal life.

This is not true.

A balance life is going to bed MOST nights with a feeling of complete and utter satisfaction.

A blended life is knowing that the majority of your day is filled with purposeful activity. You understand that some of that purpose activity yields you revenue while some of it does not.

This is how I live my life. All of my activity is purposeful. I do not waste time on things that anger me or I do not enjoy doing.

In order to have a blended lifestyle you need to truly love what you do to earn a living. If you are not happy in your work, you will never go to bed with a feeling of satisfaction and feel like your activity is purposeful.

Balanced or Blended – Your Choice

Regardless if you choose “balanced” or “blended”, the following steps are a must.

Step #1: Develop a support system. Even though 60% of our community said they are part of a two-parent household, this does not mean that they have the support of their spouses.

Even if you do, you still need external “team” members. For example, I do not have one graphic artist that I turn to when I need one. I have several lined up on oDesk. So that if the first one I call is busy, I move on to the next. I used the exact same strategy when my kids were all small. I did not have one babysitter to call. I had several in case one was sick or busy. The point is I am never stuck without resources.

Step #2: Check Your Priorities. People ask me all the time how I manage to play tennis four times a week. They generally add another sentence after that saying they simply don’t have the time.

Well, NEWS FLASH – we all have the same 24 hours in a day. In order for me to play tennis, I need to get up around 4:30 in the morning. This way I can work before the kids get up and before I head out to the courts. In order to get up at 4:30, I need to go to bed at a decent time. So guess what, I don’t watch TV. So many of the moms who claim they don’t have time are often up all night watching their favorite shows or on Facebook or doing something that does not move them forward.

You see the priority for me is to stay in shape by doing something I love doing. This is not only enjoyable, but it moves me forward which leads to better productivity, which leads to more money!

Step #3: Make Smart Decisions. We are all faced with hundreds of decisions a day. Some are big and some are small.  Most people think that the small decisions do not matter but they do.

Here’s why . . .

All decisions over time become habit.  Suppose your small decision today was to skip working out because you needed a little more sleep. You have full intentions of getting back to your work out tomorrow. Then, tomorrow comes and you were up all night on Facebook again; it’s even easier to hit the alarm and roll back over. Once this happens for several days in a roll – your small decision just cost you a lot.

I know if you start setting boundaries by saying “no” and put these three easy steps into play, you will start going to bed with that feeling of complete and utter satisfaction!

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